June 2023 letter

This month we are starting our Summer sermon series from the Book of Daniel. It is from the Old Testament, and it is a book for our times.

Daniel was one of the young men who was taken from Jerusalem to Babylon, when the Babylonian Empire invaded and sought to dominate the Kingdom of Judah………

Very quickly, Daniel had to move from a society where worshipping the one true God was normal, to a society where normal was ‘competing worldviews and many gods’. In Babylon, the only god that all of the people had to worship was ‘whatever the Government says’.

If you have lived through the last 80 years in Britain, you have experienced a similar transition, albeit more gradual than Daniel’s………

Praying together at Ascension & Pentecost

Praying Together at Ascension and Pentecost @St Lukes, Holmes Chapel

O God, make speed to save us;
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Send your Holy Spirit upon us,
And clothe your people with power from on high.

Alleluia.

Church Electoral Roll 2023

The 2023 revision of the Church Electoral Roll is now complete and the revised Roll has been published as a list of 222 names for checking before the Annual Meetings in church at 10.50am on 14th May. The published Roll is now available to inspect in church after a service on request to the duty warden or the Electoral Roll Officer.

May 2023 letter

King Charles III still doesn’t quite roll off the tongue. I’m getting used to it as I pray for him by name every Sunday. But I’m taking a while to get used to it, as I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Elizabeth II in September. Her death was a shock. That’s one of the reasons why we have a delay between the accession of a new monarch and their coronation.

This month, the time has come for the coronation. In our Sunday morning services on 7th May, we shall be praying for the new king and queen, and praying for our nation, and singing the National Anthem. It is an important time. We want Charles’ leadership to be as good as it can be. We want our nation to pull together……..

MU Meeting April 2023

This month’s meeting on 19th April was attended by 25 members but we were first saddened to hear the news that our dear, long-standing member, Ann Stafford, had passed away that morning.

We went on to welcome our vicar, Canon Rob McLaren, who had been invited as our guest speaker, to learn how his being a choirboy had influenced his life.

Praying Together in the Easter Season

O God, make speed to save us;
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Let your ways be known on earth,
Your saving power among the nations.

In your resurrection, O Christ,
Let heaven and earth rejoice. Alleluia.

Risen Christ,
You filled your disciples with boldness
And with fresh hope:
Strengthen us to proclaim your risen life
And fill us with your peace,
To the glory of God the Father. Amen.

MU AGM March 2023

We were pleasantly surprised by the increased number of members who attended the branch AGM.

We read out the report of events over the last year and the financial report prepared by Dorothy.