Church Officers
Rector: The Revd Derek A Baines– Tel: 01772 641521; E-mail:
Churchwardens
Mr Eric Barker OBE JP – Tel: 614385; E-mail:
Mr Robert Hawthornthwaite – Tel: 612952
PCC Secretary
Mrs Andrea Susnik – Tel: 615336; E-mail:
PCC Treasurer
Mrs Barbara Wood – Tel: 617679: E-mail:
Deanery Synod Representatives
Mrs Avril Wright, Mrs Jane Elphick
Stewardship Recorder/Gift Aid Secretary
Mr Philip Norton – Tel: 07970 798345; E-mail:
Magazine Secretary
Mrs Elsie Kirkham – Tel: 615832.
Flower Secretaries
Mrs Althea Slater – Tel: 614966, and Mrs E Wignall – Tel: 615675
Electoral Roll Secretary
Mrs Julie Tanham – Tel: 612992
Verger: Mrs Irene Pickles – Tel: 615708
Assistant Verger: Mr Stuart Tighe – Tel: 612963
Weekly Giving Envelopes: Please contact the Churchwardens.
Organisations
Sunday School – meets 10.15 in School, first three Sundays of the month.
Leader: Mrs Kathleen Leigh – Tel: 612196.
Hoole Church Ladies’ Group – meets 7.30pm, 3rd Tuesday, in School.
Leader: Mrs Erika Penrose – Tel 613816; E-mail:
St Michael’s Men’s Fellowship – meets 7.30pm, 2nd Tuesday, in School.
Secretary: Mr Ted Hopkins – Tel: 617002.
Friends of St. Michael’s – Caring for the fabric of our ancient church
Chairman: Mr Eric Barker – Tel 614385.
Secretary: Mr David Turner – Tel 617485.
Social Committee – Contact: Sheila Taylor, Tel: 616850
Hoole StMichaelCEPrimary School
Head Teacher: Mrs Jo Duckworth – Tel: 613219.
1st St. Michael’s Hoole Scout and Guide Groups – Group Scout Leader: Mandy Clark –Tel: 617761; E-mail: .
Church Web Site:
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The Rector’s Ramblings
What a busy time we have all had, learning new carols for the Christingle, preparing for all of the services and nativities and, at home, getting ready for the family visits. Hopefully Advent allowed some time for quiet reflection and preparation for the ‘renewal’ that we receive for our faith in the birth of the Christ child.
In the Pantomimes Aladdin will be looking at the ‘new lamps for old’ sign and wondering whether to hand over the bashed and bent lamp that he found. The story would have been so different had he been tempted and the evil Ebenezer would have ruled. The sales beckon now and promise us new shiny kitchen appliances and TV’s or cars or modern replacements for old stuff. And of course on New Year’s Eve the towns will be filled with merriment as we swap something old for something new for the sake of ‘Auld Lang Syne’.
Oftentimes we are led down strange paths by the allure of something new to replace something that is not quite ‘modern’ enough – ‘ahh but!’ You say – ‘they don’t make things like they used to!!’
How true this seems and yet when we come to our faith can we really transform something that is 2000 years old into something new? Take a look at our church building with its 384 year old carved furniture and pulpit, the 150 year old doors with the great studs and the traditions that we hold so dear. Can we really make something new within our religious lives?
BUT – Jesus says in the Gospel “See I am making everything new”.
The ‘old’ was suffering, pain, evil, tears and death.
The ‘new’ was their abolition: ‘God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’ Given that choice, who would settle for the ‘old’?
The truth is that clothes and kitchens and cars get old, but God doesn’t, no matter how old-fashioned the Church may sometimes seem. God’s real name is ‘Yahweh’ (we used to call it ‘Jehovah’), which means ‘I am’. God is present tense, always and forever.
You can’t be more up to date than that!
God loves us for who we are and not who we might be. We can be renewed and polished up within our Spiritual lives by our worship, sharing God’s peace with one another and being the community that God sets us up to be, open, outward looking and caring for those less fortunate and simply being there for friends, family and strangers.
We renew by ‘going to the sales’, reading the Bible, our ‘catalogue’, or joining study or prayer groups, our ‘looking and deciding’, or by joining renewal courses such as Cursillo, our ‘research and development’. God will guide each of us this year as we seek to be all shiny in his presence, the most modern of Christians, sharing the Gospel by allowing St Michael’s to be a beacon that is fuelled by each one of us reflecting God’s love and glory into our community.
So here’s hoping that you all enjoyed a blessed Christmas and that 2013 is a great Christian year for each of us individually and as a Christian community.
Your brother pilgrim,
Derek
Looking back, with a glance forward!
We began the month with the School Advent service in church when the children looked at the meaning of Advent and all classes had prepared something for us to hear.
Some of us attended a meeting about the new Fees Measure laid out by the Church Commissioners and the new rules associated with these set by the Charities Commission.
The competition for new names for our young people’s Sunday Group (presently Sunday School) was well received by the pupils in school and by the time you read this Kathleen, Andrea and Yvonne will have decided on new names for our different sections.
Both of our schools have held their various Nativity plays – Derek has attended most and thoroughly enjoyed himself.
The Christingle service, a new addition to our calendar will have been held after this piece was written and hopefully enjoyed by many.
Following our various Christmas services we enter 2013 on something of a high with a positive feel in the church. Some folks have asked that we set up a small group to review our Morning Prayer and Family Praise services and perhaps rewrite them. More of this during January when Derek will start the ball rolling – listen for the announcements as this is a parish led change and will involve a degree of work.
16th January sees a Diocesan Cursillo Gathering at 7.00 in Thornton Cleveleys – if anybody would like to find out more speak to Derek.
Confirmation classes continue and the first of our 2013 weddings takes place later in the month.
What is a retreat?
This is a question that I have been asked on one or two occasions.
A retreat is exactly what it sounds like — the chance to step aside from life for a while, to rest and just 'be' in a welcoming, peaceful place.
Who goes on retreat?
Retreats are for ordinary people at any time in their lives. There are no expectations on anyone going on retreat and you don't need to be a churchgoer.
Is a retreat right for you?
Do you:
Wish for some quiet time?
Want a weekend to develop your interests?
Long to know more about prayer?
Need some time away from work or family?
Want to deepen your spiritual life?
Then a retreat might be just for you.
A retreat can be a few hours away from home or a full month at a retreat centre and gives an opportunity to be quiet.
Retreats can be guided where a leader (lay or clergy) gives ideas for thought and allows time to reflect. This can be a single evening or a full day but some are for a few days.
Finally there is the silent retreat for 8, 10 or 30 days where one is led through a series of contemplations or exercises and you can really feel a proximity to God – these can be life changing experiences – certainly your faith is well & truly bolstered.
As Priests Sharon and I are expected to go on retreat once a year and, as many of you know, we will be going on retreat on Lindisfarne for a week in February. We will be taking a self guided retreat joining in worship 3 times a day at St Mary’s Church with quiet mornings doing ‘our own thing’ with God – reading, painting, walking the island etc all in prayer and quiet contemplation before enjoying the latter part of the day walking and chatting together. (The hostelry may see us as well!)
Why not look on the Retreats Association website or chat to Derek if you wish to know more. Perhaps, if there is enough interest we can arrange a quiet day at the Tabor Centre in Preston or one of the other centres around the area.
Derek
Services for January:
6th January - Epiphany
9.00 BCP Holy Communion
10.30 CW Holy Communion
3.00 BCP Evening Prayer
4.00 Holy Communion (Old Mill Court)
13th January – Baptism of Christ
9.00 BCP Holy Communion
10.30 Morning Prayer
20th January – Epiphany 3
Week of prayer for Christian Unity
9.00 BCP Holy Communion
10.30 CW Holy Communion
3.00 BCP Evening Prayer
27th January – Epiphany 4
9.00 BCP Holy Communion
10.30 FAMILY PRAISE
12.30 Wedding
3rd February – Presentation of Christ
9.00 BCP Holy CommunionReverend Graham Ashworth
10.30CW Holy CommunionReverend Graham Ashworth
3.00 BCP Evening PrayerMr Ian Wells
N.B. No Evening Prayer on the 4th February and no Eucharist at 10.15 on the 7th.
Every Monday evening we hold Evening Prayer at 7.00pm. unless notified otherwise on the previous Sunday.
Every Thursday we hold a ‘said’ Eucharist at 10.15.
Prayer intentions
New Year Prayer
Sovereign Lord, Here we are at the gateway of another year. A gateway we have to go through, leaving behind all the events and memories of the old year – all of that now known and recorded and part of our history.
Here we are, with no choice but to step out into the unknown, into the uncertainty of the future. But while we may not know what lies ahead, we thank you that we can know who lies ahead, if we put our trust in Jesus. He promises to be the Way, the Truth and the Life for all time. Thank you that no matter what this New Year may bring, we do not move into it or through it alone. You are already there, as you were in the beginning.
So in this and every year we say, Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as we walk forward with confidence and in faith. Amen.
A prayer by Daphne Kitching
During the month we pray for:
We pray for the Holy Land and an end to oppression, conflict and acts of violence. Praying for peace between people of different religions and peoples.
The world, as we bring before God those less fortunate than ourselves.
We give thanks for the work of local Christian charities.
Our mission and ministry to the villages. That God will guide us in our planning and action. For our ideas that will enable us to be a beacon within the community.
We pray for the children and young people of our parish, for our Sunday School and for the two schools in the villages.
Saint of the month
25 January - The Conversion of St Paul
January is a month of the beginning of great things! As well as the naming of the Son of God, we celebrate the conversion of the greatest ever apostle of the Christian faith. Many books have been written on Paul, and here is the briefest of introductions.
He was a Jew, born as ‘Saul’ at Tarsus, and brought up by the rabbi Gamaliel as a Pharisee. A devout, fanatical Jew, Saul persecuted the Christians, and watched with satisfaction the first Christian martyrdom, the stoning of Stephen. Then on his way to Damascus Saul had a vision of Christ that stopped him, literally, in his tracks. He realised that this Jesus whom he was persecuting was in fact the Messiah for whom he had longed.
Saul changed overnight. He took a new name, Paul, and became an evangelist for the cause of Christ. He became a leader in the early Church, and his special calling was as an apostle to the Gentiles. He wrote many epistles to the young churches he founded - and thus, inadvertently, wrote a great part of the New Testament.
Life as the greatest apostle was hardly full of perks: he was stoned, beaten, mobbed, homeless, hated, imprisoned, and finally martyred. Tradition has it that he was beheaded in Rome during the persecution of Nero in AD 64, and buried where the basilica of St Paul ‘outside the walls’ now stands. His mighty faith in Christ has kindled similar belief in many millions of people down the centuries.
From the Parish Registers – December
Holy Baptism “We welcome into the Lord’s Family”
HARRY THOMAS HELLIWELL, SON OF Richard Charles Helliwell and Faye Dorothy Hesketh, of Much Hoole
LYDIA JEAN TURNER, daughter of Philip David Turner and Lisa Jane Turner, of Little Hoole
TOM DAVID TURNER, son of Philip David Turner and Lisa Jane Turner, of Little Hoole
Holy Matrimony “Those whom God hath joined together”
The Departed “Rest eternal grant unto them”
From the Register of Services
Attendance Communicants Collections
Nov25th14323£450.60
Dec 2nd10173 £389.35
9th8622£374.50
Baptisms, Weddings & Funerals: £20.56
Church Flowers
DateArrangersDonor
Jan6thMrs J Martland & Mrs J WilsonAltar: Miss E Swarbrick
Children’s Corner:
Mrs S Birtles
13thMrs J Aughton & Mrs S WestellVacant
20thMrs B Wignall & Mrs A DaltonMrs K Leigh
27thMrs H JohnsonMr & Mrs P Blakeley
Feb3rdMrs A Slater & Mrs E KirkhamMrs M Swarbrick
Sidespersons’ Rota
Jan6th9.00Jeremy Leigh
10.30Jean & John Aughton, Jock Davidson
3.00Sylvia Douglas
13th9.00Val Van Holsbeke
10.30Ted Hopkins, Norman Skelhorn & Tom Wignall
20th9.00Andrew Cornwell
10.30Bill Carr, David Turner & Beryl Blakeley
3.00Clifford Orritt
27th9.00Ken Bishop
10.30Philip Wilson, Avril Wright & Paul Johnson
Feb3rd9.00Henry Redshaw
10.30Jean & John Aughton, Jock Davidson
3.00Peter Smallwood
Readers’ Rota
9.00am10.30am
Jan6th---E HopkinsIsaiah 60: v 1-6
S TigheG SlingerEphesians 3: v 1-12
13th---C BamberIsaiah 43: v 1-7
V Van HolsbekeD TurnerActs 8: v 14-17
20th---A WrightIsaiah 62: v 1-5
M RedshawJ Ashcroft1 Corinthians 12: v 1-11
27th---C DalgleishNehemiah 8: v1-3, 5-6, 8-10
J WilsonJ Dewhurst1 Corinthians 12: v 12-31a
Feb3rd---B WoodMalachi 3: v1-5
S TigheJ ElphickHebrews 2: v14-18
Parish Magazine Subscription
The PCC has been able to keep the price of your magazine the same for several years. Because of rising costs we now find it necessary to raise the annual subscription to £8.00, so please have this ready when your distributor calls round.
Ladies’ Group
Many thanks to Mona Lewis and “Mona’s Friends” who very kindly filled in at our Christmas Coffee Evening when the group we had booked weren’t able to attend. They played and sang a variety of songs for us and the evening raised the commendable sum of £538 for the Rosemere Cancer Foundation. Thanks also to everyone for coming along to support the evening.
We are pleased to let you know that donations were made at the end of 2012 to the following organisations:
Hoole Uniformed GroupsSt Catherine’s Hospice
St Michael’s Morris DancersDerian House Children’s Hospice
St Michael’s Sunday SchoolNW Air Ambulance
TraceyTaylorSchool of DancingBowlandPennineMountain Rescue
Friends of MulanjeOrphans (FOMO)
We would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Our AGM will take place on the 15th of this month at 7.30pm at St Michael’s School. Subscriptions are due (these have been kept to the very reasonable sum of £5.00), and please bring a small, wrapped present. We shall also have entertainment!
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
Tea/Coffee Rota following our 10.30 services
Dec23rd / Carole / Gill30th / Diane / Pauline
Jan 6th / Beryl / Rona
13th / Kath / Iris
20th / Althea / Erika
Feb3rd / Carole / Gill
If you would like to join the rota of volunteers then please add your name into any of the vacant dates on the notice board in the church porch.
If you are not available on the dates allocated or wish to change the published date can you please find a replacement or arrange a swap.
Thanks. Kathleen Clarke – Tel: 01772 812349
The Parish Share for 2013
Our Church’s commitment this year is £26,802 and we have been very successful in paying this in full, every year, for the past 4 years or more. This is achieved by many means, one ofd which is your fantastic support, in the way of collections at services both by cash and by the envelope system (both regular and ad hoc). The envelope method is of particular benefit to us if you are a UK tax payer (our tax refund in 2011 was over £4,000 from this source – so well worth doing). The services we provide the parish and community by way of weddings and funerals, also add to our income in quite a significant way, but not as much as your financial support which is by far the greater. Without it we would struggle to keep this lovely Church going, both materially and spiritually. So thank you very much on behalf of the PCC and all who enjoy our Church, its services and its benefit and keep up the good work and whilst keeping your attention, could you please have a look at my little blurb on the Envelope System.
The Envelope System
- Have you got your box of “regular giving” envelopes this year?
- If not, check at the back of the church as soon as you can - look for your name, as numbers can change from year to year, although we do try to be consistent.
- Remember to throw away any old envelopes that you may still have from previous years, these are now out of date.
- If you are unable to collect your box of envelopes for whatever reason, contact either Phil or me, and we will be glad to deliver.
- If you cannot find your box, please contact Phil Norton our gift aid recorder (and organist).
- If you would like to join (tax payer or otherwise)or want to know more about the envelope system, get hold of Phil, he would be delighted to enrol you.
Phil's contact details are in the front of the magazine, or grab him when he is having a cuppa after a Sunday Service.
Alternatively, give me a call or drop me an email, my details are in the front of the magazine also.Many thanks.
Barbara Wood
Treasurer to the PCC
Kids’ Corner