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Journal Archive |
December
A Colourful Christmas Childrens Activity Morning
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Colourful Christmas was an activity morning for Primary aged children. We went round the "colours" of Christmas: gold for the angels announcing the birth of the son of God;purple for the kings that told us that Jesus is the greatest King of all; red like holly berries that remind us that the baby grew up and died to be our Saviour; green like the Christmas trees that point us to heaven and remind us that friends of Jesus will live with him forever; and blue for the stable where Immanuel was born - Jesus -God with us. We made wreaths and crowns or angel wings ready for Christmas eve or decorated candles and played games like fill the stocking and making a snowman from loo paper, a carrot and hat, scarf and gloves. Thanks to Alison for the photos and write up.
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November
The Scaffold
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No, not the comedy, poetry and music trio from Liverpool (not many would remember those!), but something far more serious. Following a regular inspection of the building, our architect’s report revealed the need for extensive work on the roof at St. Peter in Eastgate. If you look at the picture there is another roof behind the one you can see with a leaded valley joining the two roofs. Water is now getting in and it is getting worse by the month. Not only that but leaks in other parts of the roof have been found resulting in damp and damage to the organ mechanism. Apart from that we had all of the lead stolen from the vestry roof which is being replaced by another architecturally sympathetic material. Not lead! In order not to make matters worse, the church committee have authorised the works to begin now before the worst of the winter sets in. Hence the scaffold. The church committee tries to anticipate costs of this nature and over the last few years has built up a fabric fund which currently stands at just over £29,000. Unfortunately, this falls well short of the actual costs, which will be nearer £58,000, leaving a shortfall of £29,000. As a result an Advent appeal has been launched. If you would like to help you can download the appeal leaflet and gift aid form by clicking on the logo below.... .
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October
Pyramid Rock Holiday Club
This year our holiday club theme went to Egypt and followed the story of Joseph. We saw how God had a plan for Josephs life, and that it was part of God’s even bigger plan to save the whole world! The children listened to the story in three parts. Do you want to listen? Then here they are... We sang and danced, made pots, snakes and sand pictures—even mummy pencil boxes! Thanks to all the people who got involved and helped to make the three days a great fun, learning experience for the 42 children who came along. One mum said her daughter was so immersed in holiday club that she wanted it to last all week! ....mmmmm...not sure if all of the group leaders could have maintained their fantastic enthusiam for seven days. Want see see what happened? Then click play on the video to the right.............. |
Mens Walking Day
The Challenge - Mam Tor |
The Achievement - Top of Mam Tor |
The Reward - after Mam Tor! |
Late October in the Peak District was wonderful as eleven chaps from St Peter's took to the hills. We started and finished the 71/2 mile long walk in the village of Castleton and were blessed with fantastic autumn sunshine and whilst distinctly chilly on the summit of Mam Tor, the views were spectacular. Having finished the walk, legs were rested as we relaxed over a pint of Derbyshire's finest before sampling such delights as chilli and chololate fudge at the celebrated Real Fudge Company. A fine day indeed. Thanks to Martin Cooper for the article and photo's
Harvest Ceilidh
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Thanks to all the people who supplied the food at the harvest ceilidh this year. What a spread! A special thankyou to Katie, Alistair and Jo who did most of the organising. Thanks also to all the folks who bought a ticket and , made over £300 for our mission partner The Nomad Trust. |
St Peter in the Pub highlighted in Fresh Expressions
Fresh Expressions encourages new forms of church for a fast changing world, working with Christians from a variety of denominations and traditions. The initiative has resulted in hundreds of new congregations being formed alongside more traditional churches. It was initiated in 2005 by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York with the Methodist Council, but now also involves the United Reformed Church and a number of other partners. Here is the article.
September
Confirmation Service is uplifting
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Congratulations to Millie, Catherine, Darren, Matt, Pete, Verity, Faye, Stuart, Shirley and Heather, who all took a step forward by being confirmed in their Christian faith at a service conducted by Assistant Bishop David Tustin the retired Bishop of Grimsby. It was a double shuffle for Matt and Darren as they were also baptised. Brilliant - well done everyone and a special thankyou for all the cake you provided to celebrate the occasion at the conclusion of the service. |
St. Peter's develops new logo.
| With the advent of new mission initiatives like St Peter in the Pub, St Peter in Schools, St Peter on the web, and the possiblility of more to come, Jo Smith has been hard at work overseeing the development of a new church logo which is designed to tie all of the initiatives together. After seeking feedback on a number of designs it looks like the final design will be this one. |  |
Crisis at South Sudan Voices of Hope
Anxious, uncertain times have arrived at South Sudan Voices of Hope. Kenneth Elisapana , our mission partner discovered this when he visited Mvolo in August 2011. When Kenneth arrived in Mvolo he found the compound deserted, most of the fence had fallen down and some of the toilets were broken. Sadly all development, including the on-going building work of the Hope Clinic had ceased. Download the full story and how we can help through prayer here
Will Ward writes his final message
August
St. Peter's victorious in annual cricket match.
The annual cricket match against St George's took place on the West Common Cricket Ground and it finished up with a win for St. Peter's by 3 wickets. Sounded a pretty close match to me....Here are the pictures sent in by Nick...
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Cream teas, flowers, soft music and linen tablecloths
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Cream teas, flowers, soft music, and linen tablecloths were all provided by Margaret and Stan, making the Over Sixties Tea a pleasurable and relaxing experience. It's the attention to detail and the hours of preparation that Margaret and Stan put into events like this that make them so quintessentially 'English'. In fact one person was overheard to say 'Margaret you've missed your vocation in life; your cakes would take pride of place in the best cafe in Steep Hill'. So, if you are around about the sixty mark in life and like going out for tea in a cafe on Steep Hill in Lincoln or maybe at the Cathedral cafe....why not come along to the over sixties tea at St. Peter in Eastgate instead. They are at 2.30pm on the second Thursday of each month. You will be made really welcome, and of course you can meet Margaret and Stan. |
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New Sermon Series
Follow Peter, Phillip, and others as they travel far and wide with the good news of Jesus....Listen to 'Adventures with God' here...
July
Decision to be made on St. Peter's hosting wedding receptions.
July saw the first wedding evening celebration held at St. Peter's. Jason and Annabelle chose to celebrate their marriage by inviting 180 guests to a ceilidh and BBQ. They danced to Liam's Ceilidh Band and were entertained by St. Peter's Sunday Night Live Band. The grand buffet, (and wow! what a grand buffet), was provided by the W.I. This was somewhat of a trail to explore other uses for the now flexible space in the nave which can be created by moving the new chairs around.
Further discussions are taking place to see if this can be offered as a regular facility for church family or even wider.
Cafe style set up |
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The Happy Couple |
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The Ceilidh |
Sunday Night Live Band |
PCC Half Day Away; St George’s Church Stamford
St. Georges Church, Stamford |
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June
Parish Festival.
Temperatures soared again for the second year running as we held our parish festival in the grounds of St. Mary's School. They say a picture paints a thousand words so have a look at these photos....Looks like a real church family party to me.
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Who Are These People?
Here are some clues:
We have four of them which is unusual!
Every Anglican church has them (although I am open to be corrected here).
We can't operate without them (especially this dedicated bunch).
They are crucial to the life of our church.
They often work tirelessly behind the scenes.
They are pictured here with Edward (third from the left), and the Archdeacon (fourth from the left). Are you intrigued to learn more...want to know more about who they are and what they do?
Here's an article kindly sent in by one of them.
Will's Christian Camp BLOG.
Don't forget that Will WARD is still on his gap year. He is back his stint in the French Alps and is working for a Christian holiday company on waterfront safety boats in Samos Greece,.. He has decided to keep SPY (and everyone else) up to date with his BLOG! To follow him CLICK HERE.
May
Inflatables Day
On 7th May St. Peter's in the Pub and the Youth Team hosted “Inflatables Day” at the Carlton Boulevard sports ground. Sumo suits, bungee run, inflatable boxing ring, gladiator duel and a bouncy castle alongside a free bar-b-q attracted over 500 people! And against all predictions the weather was fantastic!
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As well as providing a great community event for the Carlton area, the aim was to publicise a youth event called 'The Bank' at the Lincoln City football ground. We also hosted two special Christians in Sport evenings at Yarborough Leisure Centre, and hundreds of flyers were given out. It's impossible to tell how many of those people went to the Bank but St Peters certainly made a strong contribution to the 3000+ strong crowd who visited Sincil Bank for the main event.
Ladies weekend away at Hothorpe Hall
We thoroughly enjoyed our weekend away, the venue was great, and we were looked after really well. The Hall set in beautiful 12 acre grounds.
The theme for the weekend was Psalms: a Spa for the Soul, and it certainly was. 50 of us enjoyed a wonderful day of study on the Saturday lead by Carolyn Ash. She spoke on the 3 Psalms that she loves, 126,131 and 103, and ‘it is an on going project to learn to pray through them’ – she was quite inspirational. This was punctuated with times of prayer, discussion, walks, art workshops, flower arranging and Nigerian headdress making.
Saturday night we celebrated Eurovision with our own Euroquiz – great fun was had by all.
On Sunday Margaret Ford lead us in St Peter’s at Hothorpe Hall and continued the theme of the weekend by preaching on Psalm 73.
It was a great opportunity for us all to get to know each other better and we were all encouraged to grow in our faith together.
Thank you Liz, Julia and Jo for your impeccable organisation and special touches. We look forward to repeating the experience in 2013 and hope that those who could not be with us this year can join us then. Article and photo - Julia Welch.
NB. Thanks also to Amy, Cate and Fiona who sent in this photo...
"We had a great weekend except for the 'flat' on the way home, but even that experience made us smile, no mattter how hard we tried to persaude the kind, AA man to pose in the photo he was very shy and just wanted to jump into his van and speed away!" they said....
April
Walk of Witness
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About 80 people came along to this years Good Friday communion service, and following the service they were invited to respond in a variety of ways.
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Passover Meal
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Thanks to Liz and all those who helped set up the church in a new and creative format for this years passover meal. All the preparation made for an enjoyable and meaningful occasion. Thanks also to Clinton for sending in the photo's. |
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Easter Story Two
You may recall that last Easter we ran an event in church called 'Experiencing Easter' where we took local school children on a journey through the church from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday (Journal Archive April 2010). We had very positive feedback from teachers and parents and for many children it was the first time that the meaning of easter hit home to them. This year we repeated the experience, but this time for St Marys school. About 80 children were split into small groups and taken on the Easter journey by visiting creatively built models of palm Sunday, Jesus washes His disciples feet, the last supper, Gethsemene, the cross, and resurrection. The children spent about 10 minutes at each 'model' and were told the story and given the opportunity to ask questions.
Easter Story One
A short video, called 'The Easter Story for Children', which was made by Nick and Joe and used at St Peter's in the Pub has recently rocketed to over 16,000 views on You Tube, during the run up to the Easter weekend.
March
Porch, Paint and a place to cook Pancakes!
If you walk into St. Peter's during March you are bound to notice a few new smells. The smell of new paint as the Louisa Smith rooms have now been fully redecorated. The smell of new varnish which sets off the new internal oak porch doors and the smell of cooking pancakes for the fairtrade pancake party on March 8th. The pancakes are being cooked on the new cooker in the new kitchen with ingredients from the new refrigerator. The transformation of the interior of St Peter's continues. Watch this space for news of the new serving hatch and maybe new carpets?
February
SPY run the All Age Service
The all age service this month was given over to SPY to run. They came up with the concept and the design of the service on their own, and then ran it from start to finish. Martin opened up by saying 'Does anyone know what day it is tomorrow (14th Feb)? mmmmm I wonder why they chose the theme of love?.
Well done to Phil Beswick our youth worker, on attachment, who gave his first talk to a congregation called 'Love is' which was based on Romans 5.1-8.
Here are a couple of comments overheard from members of the congregation after the service, as they munched the cakes SPY provided!........ 'It was like a breath of fresh air, 'SPY should do this every three months',
Don't forget that Will Ward a recent member of SPY is still writing his blog whilst away on his gap year at a Christian holiday resort in the French Alps.
January
Homelessness Sunday - Hunger Lunch
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The cancellation of the Christmas market had an impact not only on local businesses but on charities too. Normally St. Peter's would donate all the proceeds raised from serving refreshments at church to our mission partner, The Nomad Trust. So, to make up the shortfall, Julia Welch and friends thought they would do something for homelessness action week. They invited the whole congregation to stay for lunch after the morning service. Bread, cheese and soup were served in return for donations to the Nomad Trust. Julia said that the idea was to invite people to donate what they would otherwise have spent on their usual Sunday lunch. Watch this space to find out how much was raised. |
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Visit to Tirunelveli, South India
Outstanding! That’s the word that comes to mind when reflecting on our recent 12 day visit to our mission partners in Tirunelveli.
In many ways, the church is far stronger in India than it is here in England even though Hinduism is the main religion. We found a deeply prayerful people, who put their faith first before everything else.
There was a real sense of love for Christ and love for one’s neighbour, especially the poor and disadvantaged. It felt, in some ways, like walking into the pages of the Bible, with Christians meeting daily together, the church growing rapidly and church leaders being of one heart and mind [Acts 2.42-47].
Margaret Ford and Dr Carol Millns stayed with Dr Prem and his wife Ida, principal of St.John’s College, while I stayed with Rev’d Raja Christopher at the Chittenden Deaf Centre. Prem, Ida and Raja have all been to St.Peter’s in recent years and it was a joy to pay a return visit and see something of the ministries with which they are involved and which St.Peter’s have helped to support.
Raja showed us the diocese’s extensive ministry to the deaf. For children there was an excellent school for the deaf (costing only £10 a month to educate, feed and house each pupil). For adults, in addition to the deaf centre in the main city, we were privileged to help open a new building for the deaf in a nearby town. St.Peter’s now has its name engraved in stone as a result!
Dr Prem’s work with lepers and their families was something Carol, one of our churchwardens, was, as a doctor, keen to see. We joined a leper colony for a new year celebration and saw the nurses not just caring for their patients but sharing their faith through songs, sketches and a simple sermon. There are plans to build more homes and facilities for lepers in the future.
 Edward at Chittenden Deaf Centre |
 Garlands were often presented |
 A Confirmation Service |
The Bishop of tirunelveli, the Rt Rev JJ Christdoss, kindly looked after us, providing a driver to take us around the diocese. We accompanied him to a confirmation, a youth rally of over 1,000 teenagers, a clergy wives training day and shared an evening meal with us. I also had the opportunity to address some 200 clergy at their monthly meeting. You’ll be glad to know that I told them all about St.Peter’s!
We came away stuck by the Bishop’s gentle godliness and his passion for mission. His goal was for every existing congregation to plant a new church over the next few years. Also close to his heart was the creation of a Bible school to train the leaders of the future, something hopefully we might also be able to support.
I was also struck by the diocese’s ministry to some 300,000 children: summer camps, memory verse calendars, magazines, even Scripture examinations!
We left physically exhausted but spiritually refreshed by all that we had seen. We also left with a deeper awareness of what a mission partnership means. It’s about giving and receiving and learning from one another. It’s about thinking globally while living locally.
(Article by Edward Bowes-Smith - Photos Carol Millns)