Our stewardship programme

During October you’ll be hearing quite a lot about Christian giving and the idea of Christian stewardship at All Saints’.  We occasionally talk about money and giving in sermons, and there is always a reflection on our needs at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting.  But it can be really helpful every few years to think more deeply about our giving – why we give and what we give for.  It can give the opportunity for each of us to review what we give and whether its realistic and generous.

The title and theme of the programme we will follow is ‘Giving in Grace’.  It is the opposite of banging a drum of ‘the church is in desperate need, please give us your coppers’ or of inducing giving out of guilt or obligation.  The keynote is grace – reflecting on God’s grace to us and how that might affect the entire way we look at what we have and how we might graciously in turn give to the work of God today.

I hope that you will find the sermons during October informative and interesting as well as challenging.  Please don’t stay away!  It is only a few weeks and it really is an important topic for all of us to address as we seek to grow as Christians.  Those who are on our electoral roll or parish database, including current planned givers, will all be receiving a personal letter and leaflet – and there will be plenty of copies for anyone not on these lists.  Do give the literature your attention and reply in the confidential envelopeson or before the 4th November.  Thank you.

On 4th November, as we celebrate All Saints’ Sunday, we will bring our stewardship programme to a conclusion and give thanks for all God’s blessings past, present and future.  After the Eucharist we will have a potato pie lunch at Enfield Cricket Club (as per last year) and then at 4pm will hold our annual Memorial service for the faithful departed.  Look out for sheets to book for the lunch and to list loved ones departed for inclusion in the list later this month.

Congratulations to Rev Toby and Rebecca

On the birth of your lovely baby boy – Aidan, we are delighted that mother and baby are doing well.

Very best wishes to you and your family from all the congregation.

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Mothers’ Union 5K run – Thanks to all

The day was wet but members turned out despite the weather. Thanks to all those who turned up for the event, for those who organised welcomed refreshments and for all those that sponsored the walkers.

Mothers’ Union is a unique community of over 4 million members across the world, running projects to make a difference in their communities. This includes parenting programmes, literacy circles, prison parent and child centres, disaster relief and much more.

If you would like to find out more about our Mother’s Union why not visit  their All Saints’ website page.

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Parish weekend away – a great success !

Everyone who went to the church weekend away at Scargill House near Kettlewell in the Yorkshire Dales had a wonderful time.

Scargill Christian community were very warm and  welcoming. They put on fun activities for the children; who thoroughly enjoyed themselves; and ran a range of thought provoking workshops  around ‘The journey to Emmaus’ for the rest of us. There was time to wander the beautiful gardens, go for exhilarating walks or just sit, relax and watch the great variety of birds that came to the bird feeders.

It was lovely to see that the full cross – section of our church community was represented –  little Aidan at just 2 weeks old, young families as well  as some of our older members of the congregation. It was great to spend quality time talking to each other and getting to know our ‘fellow church- goes’ better.

The weekend culminated in an all inclusive quite informal Sunday Service followed by lunch!

The setting of Scargill House and the lovely weather helped to make the weekend special.

A big thank you to all those involved in organising the event.

 

 

 

 

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Rev Toby’s September Newsletter

Dear friends
I hope that you have enjoyed the summer. What glorious weather we enjoyed for much of it, even if August wasn’t quite so good. We were blessed with fine weather for the special church events we enjoyed, including the songs of praise in the vicarage garden and the children’s activity day in All Saints’ School. That was a great occasion, with 70-odd children in attendance – from all four Clayton and Altham schools and others too, grandchildren of helpers. Everyone enjoyed thinking about their superheroes, dramatizing the heroics of Joshua and David and thinking about how ‘Super Jesus’ is the greatest superhero of all. If you haven’t yet done so, why not look at the photos on All Saints’ website or Facebook page? And all summer, the team at Altham have been busy opening the church to visitors, not least to show off the Lydia Becker exhibition.
Now we look ahead to all that September and a new school year brings. September includes a special Back to Church family worship at each church on 9th September, at which Lisa Horobin, Diocesan Schools’ Adviser, will be our guest speaker. Two days before that we will – I’m sure – enjoy some excellent popular music played by the Haslingden Concert Band in Altham Church. The end of the month will see 40 adults and 24 children heading off to Scargill House for a weekend of fun, fellowship and faith in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. On that Sunday, 30th, the rest of us will join together for a united service at Altham.
The autumn term always brings opportunities for Christian learning and discipleship. Can I draw your attention to two?
On Tuesdays from 25th September there will be a short 6 week course looking at the basics of the Christian faith. It is open to any adults, including those who may be considering confirmation this time around, those unsure of what they believe, or those wanting to brush up on the core Christian beliefs. We offer a relaxed environment in which no question is too daft and we can share as much or little as we wish.
On Thursdays from 4th October there will be an 8 week ecumenical course at the Baptist Church ‘Transformed Living’. It is based on chapters 4-6 of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and is an invitation to explore how to live out the Christian life. It follows on from the course ‘Transformed Life’ which took place last year (a good number from the benefice took part and much appreciated it.) However, please be assured that it can stand alone – so whether or not you came last time, why not join us this year? Each session includes some worship, a video, then discussion in a shall group. Participants each get a book with a short devotional reading for each day.
Our Wednesday bible group also resumes in September and anyone is welcome to join – 11:15-12:30. At present the group is looking at Jesus’ parables.
October will then bring a special focus on stewardship and Christian giving at All Saints’. We will launch this at harvest festival (7th October) and carry it through the next few weeks, bringing things together with a celebration on 5th November. More will be in next month’s magazine on this.
At the vicarage we are looking forward to another exciting new start – the birth of our third baby, due early in the month. As a result I will be on paternity leave for two weeks from whenever he or she appears (due date 5th Sept!)
Over the summer we read over successive Sundays John Chapter 6 – Jesus feeding the five thousand and then explaining how he is the bread of life. Some went away, scared off by Jesus’ teaching. But the disciples said, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’ Whatever the autumn brings each of us, may we look to Him to sustain us with his life day by day. And may we all make it a priority to come together each and every week (health permitting) to feed on the living bread, our Lord Jesus, in both word and sacrament, that we may abide in him and he in us.
With every blessing
Toby

1st September Church cleaning – can you spare an hour?

The Church relies on volunteers to help keep it clean and tidy. Although  volunteers do cleaning tasks weekly, we are aiming to give the church a good ‘spring’ clean about every six weeks.  There are a variety of tasks to do – from sweeping to mopping; dusting & polishing and of course the more volunteers there are the quicker the jobs get done.

Please you can give an hour of your time to help. The Church is open for cleaning at 10:00am.

Thank you.

 

Rev Toby’s July /August letter

Dear friends
Ministry, ordination and vocation are in my mind as I write this month’s letter.
The changing face of bishops is crystalised in the arrival of the first woman bishop to serve in our diocese. When you receive this magazine, Dr Jill Duff will be the newly ordained Bishop of Lancaster. She is well known to Jane, having set up and run the North West hub of St Mellitus theological training institute. She has brought to this plenty of flair and a real enthusiasm for the gospel which I’m sure will shine in her ministry as a bishop. And she is no ivory-tower academic – before her last role, Jill was a parish priest in some pretty tough and deprived parishes, so she knows what its like on the ground.
At the same time Jane is just one year away from her ordination as a deacon (and subsequently all being well as a priest a year later). We continue to benefit so much from all she brings to the life of our parishes and I know that you will continue to support her through this coming year which will be a busy and fast one for her. She will be away from the benefice from 23rd September to end October, on a short-term placement in Chorley (at the parish where I was curate.)
Thinking of St Laurence’s Chorley reminds me that its now 15 years I’ve served as a priest, 16 as a deacon. Where does the time go? It remains an amazing privilege to serve God in this way, and to share so many special occasions, happy and sad, with so many people. Thank you for your continued support.
God is always in the business of calling people to his service – all Christians through their baptism are called to use their gifts to serve him. And from the great company of God’s people he calls some to be priests and deacons, and specific lay ministries such as reader. Maybe that’s you. If you’ve an inkling God may be calling you to a new form of service in our parishes, or perhaps even to an authorised or ordained ministry in the wider church, don’t keep that to yourself, but do have a word.
In the meantime please pray for Bishop Jill, for Jane, for those being ordained at this time of year as deacons and priests, and for me your friend and vicar

Toby

Stewardship
If you were at All Saints’ annual meeting in April, you will have heard John Blysniuk talk about the stewardship programme planned for the autumn. A small group is continuing to plan for the programme and you will hear a little more about it across our services in the middle of July. The main programme will run from harvest – which this year will be held on 7th October – to All Saints’ Sunday on 4th November. Stewardship is the principle that undergirds Christian giving. It is the conviction that all that is, and all that we have, belongs to God. What is in our hands has been entrusted to us by God and we must use it wisely – and give from it towards the work of the church and the spread of the gospel. Such giving should be generous, willing and proportionate to our means. There is a financial focus, but the stewardship principal applies equally to how we see our time, talents and gifts. Please join me in praying that the programme will help us all to respond to God’s generosity with open hearts and minds, remembering that it is not intended as a fundraising appeal but as a chance for us all to grow in our understanding and in our response to God.
At St James’ we are also looking to hold a stewardship programme, maybe in 2019.
Have you heard of Cursillo?
Cursillo is a movement in the Anglican church that seeks to inspire and support Christians to have a living faith and to make a difference for Christ in their parishes and wherever they find themselves – at home, work or leisure. It fits in very well with the themes of the diocesan vision.
Cursillo is a Spanish word (the movement began in Spain after the War, originally in the Catholic Church, before spreading to the Anglican Communion). Cursillo literally means ‘short course’ – it is a short course in Christianity, aimed not at seekers, but at baptised, practising Christians who want to grow in their faith and action. The short course is a three day programme, which locally takes place in Whalley Abbey. The rest of life is then considered as the ‘fourth day’ living in the light of the gospel.
Cursillo teaches participants to have a rule whereby you are active in prayer, study and action. To encourage each other, people are encouraged to attend gatherings or ‘ultreyas’ – another Spanish word, which means keep going! You can gather regularly as part of a small group, but also attend diocesan gatherings several times a year. We are hosting the next one here at All Saints’ on the evening of Tuesday 10th July at 7pm. Everyone is very welcome and it would be an easy way to find out a little bit more about Cursillo and meet some of the people who are involved.
I found my Cursillo to be a valuable experience, and I know that for a lot of people their Cursillo has had a lasting (positive!) effect on their faith. If you’d like to find out more, including details of the next Cursillo weekend, which comes up in late October, please have a word with the vicar.
School anniversary services and leavers
July gives us a chance to celebrate the life of our very special parish primary schools and the good work of teaching and learning within a Christian context that takes place within them. Do come and support the school anniversary services at Altham (1st) or All Saints (8th) – and do keep all the leavers in your prayers as they prepare for new beginnings in their high schools. This year we have a large group of confirmation candidates beginning their preparation, so please pray for them too – and look out for them at church and given them a warm welcome!
Dementia Friendly Church
We are working towards being dementia friendly churches. One step in this gradual programme is that Dr David Woodcock will give a talk on dementia awareness in place of the sermon on Sunday 1st July. Then on Thursday 5th July (which fortuitously is the 70th birthday of the National Health Service) there will be a special meeting on the theme of dementia friendly churches with Brian Topping who chairs the very active ‘Dementia Friendly Rossendale’. If you’d like to attend this meeting please contact David or Caroline Woodcock.
Garden Party and Songs of Praise
Everyone is welcome to the vicarage garden (weather permitting – if wet in church) on Sunday 15th July for tea and cake from 3pm and informal ‘songs of praise’ at 4pm. We’ve had a lovely time doing this over the last two years so if you’ve not been before do come and join those who have!
Benefice service and brunch
On 22nd July everyone is invited to Altham to celebrate the feast of their patron saint, James the Apostle, at 9:30am, followed by ‘brunch’ at Simply Classic. The cooked breakfast will cost c.£8.50 and booking sheets are now at the back of both churches. Do come and enjoy this simple time of worship and fellowship for people from all congregations in our benefice.
Summer Activity Day – 21 August
Our theme this summer will be super heroes. All children have heroes, and superheroes are quite a thing. We will be thinking especially of some of the heroes of the Old Testmanet and of Jesus our greatest hero of all. If you can help on the day please speak to Barbara Anderson or Elaine Lockwood. Last year we welcomed almost 90 children, from all four local schools, so this is a significant outreach for our parish which appreciates your support and prayers.

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Haslingden Concert Band Event

Back by popular request – Haslingden Concert Band will be giving another performance of popular music in Altham Church on Friday 7th September at 7:00pm. Tickets cost just £5 each – A highly enjoyable evening not to be missed!

21st July Church cleaning – can you spare an hour? –

The Church relies on volunteers to help keep it clean and tidy. Although  volunteers do cleaning tasks weekly, we are aiming to give the church a good ‘spring’ clean about every six weeks.  There are a variety of tasks to do – from sweeping to mopping; dusting & polishing and of course the more volunteers there are the quicker the jobs get done.

Please you can give an hour of your time to help. The Church is open for cleaning at 10:00am.

Thank you.

 

Benefice Service and Brunch 22nd July

In celebration of St James’ Day – Communion at Altham Church followed by breakfast at Simply Classic. (Approx. £8.50). Please sign at the back of the church if you wish to go.

Thank you.