St Nicholas Parish Church Fleetwood. Week beginning 4th September 2022 We seek to be a church that lives by faith, is known by love and is a voice of hope to the community we serve. Website https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/11671 Sunday 4th September 8.30 am Holy Communion in Church 9.30 am Worship via Zoom 10.45 am Holy Communion in Church Sides persons Elizabeth & Margaret. Reader –Sandra 1.30 pm Baptism of Harry Wilson Welcome and set up – Dorothy Angel Tuesday 6th September 2.00 pm Holy Communion in Church 3.30 pm Hymn Practice in the Jubilee Room Thursday 8th September 10.00 am Community Coffee Morning Friday 9th September 9.00 am Little Gang in the Broadway Rooms Sunday 11th September 8.30 am Holy Communion in Church 9.30 am Worship via Zoom 10.45 am Holy Communion in Church Sides persons Karen & June. Reader –ElizabethChurch Sitting – Work is due to start on the roof this week. Scaffolding will be erected and workmen will be in and out of church and hammering on the roof. For this reason and for safety reasons we will not be opening church each week day morning for private prayer until further notice. Once the work is completed it is our intention to resume this important ministry of ‘open church.’ We are sincerely grateful to Karen and the ‘Sitters’ who have made it happen. Please do consider being part of the team going forward.Harvest – We are planning to celebrate Harvest with a number of different events this year. First will be our Harvest Messy Church on Saturday 1st October. A morning of crafts, singing, puppets and ending with a picnic. With this in mind we need to collect some magazines which contain pictures of food items. If you are able to leave the magazines at the back of church in good time for the Saturday that would be really helpful. On the same evening, the Dream Team Singers are holding a concert in church, with all the proceeds going towards the roof fund. Knowing this choir, it will be a real ‘feel good,’ fun evening. So, save the date, and we’ll have more details about tickets next week. On Sunday 9th October will be our Harvest Festival in Church, followed by a harvest lunch and auction, with the proceeds of this event going to charity. All of these events are great opportunities to invite and bring spouses, family, friends and neighbours. Let’s be bold. One in five people say they would come to church if someone invited them!!Creator God, forgive our moments of ingratitude, the spiritual blindness that prevents us from appreciating the wonder that is this world, the endless cycle of nature, of life and death and rebirth. Forgive us for taking without giving and reaping without sowing. Open our eyes to see, our lips to praise, our hands to share. May our feet tread lightly on the path we tread and our footsteps be worthy of following, for they lead to you.Jesus at the Mount – Coming soon! Wednesday 14th September at 5.00 pm you are invited to join the Vicar and Canon Dick Cartmell on the Mount in Fleetwood! We will hear contemporary parables, sing, contemplate, pray, and share some food, as Jesus and his disciples often did together at the seashore. 100 Club – Winners last week were Dorothy Cox, Nancy Burr, and Dorothy Jones. Please remember in your prayers – Rev Jane Everitt, Tony and Maureen Hardman, Rev Martin Keighley, Gillian & Elizabeth King, Mike Rimmer, Edna Jenkins, and Callum Boyle. Also, the families of Chris Boe, Clive Brigden, and Terrance Jackson whose funerals are due to take place.
St Nicholas Parish Church Fleetwood. Week beginning 21st August 2022 We seek to be a church that lives by faith, is known by love and is a voice of hope to the community we serve. Website https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/11671 Sunday 21st August 8.30 am Holy Communion in Church 9.30 am Worship via Zoom 10.45 am Holy Communion in Church Sides persons Judith & Dorothy W. Reader –Karen Monday 22nd August 1.15 pm Funeral of Stephen Cunliffe at Carleton Tuesday 23rd August 2.00 pm Holy Communion in Church Wednesday 24th August 10.30 am Funeral of Margaret P in Church 5.00 pm Baptisms of Sophie and Lily Myers Thursday 25th August 10.00 am Community Coffee Morning Friday 26th August 12.00 pm Funeral of Barbara Blundell in Church Sunday 28th August 8.30 am Holy Communion in Church 9.30 am Worship via Zoom 10.45 am Holy Communion in Church Sides persons Susan & Christine. Reader –Margaret Pook 12.30 pm Baptisms of Sienna Collins and Autumn O’Donnell Welcome and set up – Margaret KershawAs at this weekend we have £29,000 in the roof fund against a target of £50,000. We are sincerely grateful for so many amazing gifts. If you would still like to donate, you can do so online. Just go to the menu on this website.Jesus at the Mount - Save the date! On Wednesday 14th September at 5.00 pm you are invited to join the Vicar and Canon Dick Cartmell on the Mount in Fleetwood! Dick has a keen interest in community, but an even keener interest in how the Church can be a more integrated part of the community, seeking out the lost and serving the poor and rejected. We will hear contemporary parables, sing, contemplate, pray and share some food, as Jesus and his disciples often did together at the seashore. Dick is going to say a bit more about the purpose of us meeting in this way in the next week or so, but in the meantime please do consider joining us for this ‘taster event’. Praying for our community - Could be the first step in changing the world. Do you sometimes leave church and think to yourself, “How am I going to make a difference for Christ? I can’t fly to another country and care for orphans.” Have you attended a meeting and said to yourself, “What use am I? I can’t sew. I’m not crafty. I can’t cook.” Do you watch the evening news and think, “So sad all this violence.” Many of us think there is nothing that we can do to make a difference. But we can pray! Prayer makes the difference. There are many times we feel powerless in our lives, especially in the face of difficult circumstances. By ourselves, we can do nothing. The bible confirms this. In John 15:5, Jesus says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” So, let’s all commit to specific and persistent prayer and expect to see the results.Holy Spirit, our Comforter, and our Friend, we ask that You rain down on us. Let Your power fall on us and change our hearts. Open heaven wide and pour out the rain of Your Holy Spirit over our church, our lives and our community. Change us, renew us, empower us. We need Your touch again. Send us Your cleansing rain. Amen.100 Club – Winners last week were Barbara Quirk, Muriel Freestone, and Freda Wayman. The summer winners were Elizabeth King, Dorothy Warren, Paula Meekins, Pat Warrington, and Berny McCarthy Please remember in your prayers – Rev Jane Everitt, Tony and Maureen Hardman, Rev Martin Keighley, Gillian & Elizabeth King, Fiona, Eily, Mike Rimmer, Callum Boyle, and John Richardson. Also, the families of Stephen Cunliffe, Barbara Blundell, Chris Boe, Doris Queen and Margaret P whose funerals are due to take place.
St Nicholas Parish Church Fleetwood. Week beginning 14th August 2022 We seek to be a church that lives by faith, is known by love and is a voice of hope to the community we serve. Website https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/11671 Sunday 14th August 8.30 am Holy Communion in Church 9.30 am Worship via Zoom 10.45 am Holy Communion in Church Sides persons – Carole & Sandra. Reader – Elizabeth Tuesday 16th August 12.00 pm Funeral of Peter Harrison in Church 2.00 pm Holy Communion in Church Thursday 18th August 10.00 am Community Coffee Morning Sunday 21st August 8.30 am Holy Communion in Church 9.30 am Worship via Zoom 10.45 am Holy Communion in Church Sides persons Judith & Dorothy W. Reader –Karen Roof Repairs – We had our first site meeting last week with the architect and the contractors who are going to be working on the roof. The start date is planned for 5th September and work should be completed by the beginning of November. We have received several unexpected and generous gifts in the last couple of weeks towards the cost of the repairs, for which we are sincerely grateful. We now have £26,600 in the roof fund against a target of £50,000.Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 THESSALONIANS 5:16–18 Do you know that joy and gratitude are linked? It’s a fact that people who describe themselves as living a joyful life, practice gratitude and attribute their joyfulness to a habit of thankfulness. There are lots of ways to ‘practice’ gratitude but one of the most obvious ways for us is in daily prayers of thanks to God for his bountiful provision.It’s also a fact that when the practice of gratitude becomes a discipline, we protect ourselves from the more negative impulses of envy, resentment, greed and bitterness. Ancient Israel’s calendar included several annual festivals to remind the people of God’s acts of deliverance and provision, so that they would renew their sense of gratitude and reliance upon the Lord. In Deuteronomy, Moses warns the people that they would be tempted to forget the Lord once they began to enjoy the blessings of the promised land. As a result, they would become proud, ‘worshipping’ their own skills and abilities in place of God. Gratitude counters this. Perhaps one of the greatest obstacles to gratitude is the sheer bounty of God’s generosity – our temptation is to take it for granted. Take time each day to be thankful, to count your blessings. Ask God to show you the things that you are taking for granted. It's important to recognise that being thankful in all circumstances is not the same as being thankful for every situation in which we find ourselves, but then thankfulness expresses our trust that, whatever the enemy meant for harm, God can use for good.Thanks be to you, our Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which you have given us, for all the pains and insults which you have borne for us. Most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother, may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day. Amen.100 Club – Elizabeth King, David Ashworth and Margery Bond Please remember in your prayers – Rev Jane Everitt, Tony and Maureen Hardman, Rev Martin Keighley, Gillian & Elizabeth King, Fiona, Eily, Mike Rimmer and John Richardson. Also, the families of Peter Harrison, Stephen Cunliffe, Barbara Blundell and Margaret P whose funerals are due to take place.
St Nicholas Parish Church Fleetwood. Week beginning 7th August 2022 We seek to be a church that lives by faith, is known by love and is a voice of hope to the community we serve. Website https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/11671 Sunday 7th August 8.30 am Holy Communion in Church 9.30 am Worship via Zoom 10.45 am Holy Communion in Church Sides persons – Susan & Christine. Reader – Joy 12.30 am Baptisms of Posie and Dylan-Jae Welcome and Set-up Ruth Aspinall Tuesday 9th August 2.00 pm Holy Communion in Church Thursday 11th August 10.00 am Community Coffee Morning Sunday 14th August 8.30 am Holy Communion in Church 9.30 am Worship via Zoom 10.45 am Holy Communion in Church Sides persons – Carole & Sandra. Reader – ElizabethThe Transfiguration of our Lord – This Feast Day is celebrated on the 6th of August, and therefore, falls on a different day of the week every year. Next year it will fall on a Sunday and will therefore be the focus of our worship together. But this is one event in the New Testament that we actually encounter twice a year. That’s because, the Transfiguration, when Jesus takes his inner core of disciples up a mountain and is suddenly bathed in brilliant light and flanked by Moses and Elijah, appears in all three synoptic Gospels and for good measure, it comes up again in 2 Peter. The set bible readings we use in church, (the lectionary) follow a three-year cycle, focusing on one of the synoptic gospels each year, which means that we come across the transfiguration during Lent and then again on the ‘official feast day’ in August. One of the central aspects of this story is how Moses and Elijah point to Christ; the Law and the Prophets all lead to Jesus. And here’s the point for us and our worshipping community: everything we do as his Church, all our efforts, must point to Jesus. Do we, as God’s church point to Christ without any ambiguity in all that we do and say? Do we point clearly and plainly to Jesus Christ, the Son of God in whom the hopes of the world and the longings of every human heart are brought to peace? If not, then something must change! God of Light, Your Son was a perfect example of how to live as Christians here on earth, thank You for His life and purpose. Lord, whilst Your Son was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. Thank You for this account of the manifestation of Your power, because this example of Your power gives us hope as we too hold this power within us. Lord, continue to be with us. Summer Hols – If you would like the Vicar to call for a cuppa and a catch up, please do feel able to ring the Vicarage (874402) and arrange a suitable time. Be assured, it is one of the great joys of being a parish priest, so don’t be shy! The Vicar is never too busy for a brew.100 Club – Here is a list of the lucky winners for the last 4 weeks: - Richard Quirk, Kevin & Kath Parker, Linda Cawley, Bernice Meekins, Mandy Ryan, Judith Crosby, Dorothy Cox, Paul Meekins, Karen Hay, Ethel Chantler, Suzanne King and Nancy Burr. Congratulations everyone and thank you for supporting the work and ministry of St Nic’s through this initiative. Please remember in your prayers – Rev Jane Everitt, Tony and Maureen Hardman, Rev Martin Keighley, Gillian & Elizabeth King, Fiona, Eily, Mike Rimmer and John Richardson. Also, the families of Peter Harrison, Stephen Cunliffe and Margaret P whose funerals are due to take place.
