During our Sunday Worship we were delighted to commission our four new Authorised Lay Ministers (ALM) at St Bartholomew's. After 12 months of training in the Diocese they were commissioned as:Minister for Preaching and Youth– HeesooMinister for Children and Families – KarenMinister for Mission and Evangelism – Katy and DavidAs we move forward we will grow teams working towards the four vision strands of: Inspiring Young People; Evangelism; Discipleship and Worship.
During our Sunday Worship we were delighted to commission our four new Authorised Lay Ministers (ALM) at St Bartholomew's. After 12 months of training in the Diocese they were commissioned as:Minister for Preaching and Youth– HeesooMinister for Children and Families – KarenMinister for Mission and Evangelism – Katy and DavidAs we move forward we will grow teams working towards the four vision strands of: Inspiring Young People; Evangelism; Discipleship and Worship.
Fling wide the gates, unbar the ancient doors….. This line from the well known hymn based on Psalm 24, reflects some of the joy and relief we feel at finally being able to reopen the church building for worship and prayer, plans are now in place to open the doors of Colne Parish Church from Sunday 14th March!We often say, ‘The church is the people not a building’ - this is very true, but we must acknowledge that, in our community the building is symbolic of our Christian presence in Colne, of the presence of God and of his desire to be with us, therefore re-opening and returning to church should be a confident and joyful moment. So we look forward to entering our sacred space, our gathering place and the point from where we go out to share the good news of the Kingdom—See you in church soon!Psalm 100 v 4-5 “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations .”
It has been a privilege to be able to worship together for the last few months during the Covid pandemic but now we are asked to stay at home again to ease the spread of the virus. Our church building will be closed until the end of February.The Churchwardens write,After some careful consideration and with deep regret, the standing committee and Rev Nigel are recommending we close the church until the end of February at which time we can review the local situation.Despite careful preparation for everyone's safety we have agreed that the risk of spreading the new variant of Covid is too great at present. Whilst considering this decision Lancashire County Council Public Health department has asked that all faith communities consider closing to prayer and worship for the time being. We will use social media to share this information but will rely greatly on people contacting each other by message and telephone. We are happy to discuss this in more detail if anyone would like to contact either of us. Please stay safe, pray for each other and keep in touch,Best wishes,David Hawthorne & Louise Garnett Church Wardens
