New Service Programme for August & September

The service programme for St Paul's forthe next two months has now been published. Link. In it, our new Vicar, Steven Bailey, writes:

It is a real pleasure and delight to be with you all in Oadby as part of the Church here at St. Paul’s. Thankyou for making us, as a family, all feel so welcome.

As we journey together through the summer holiday season and the start of the autumn term we continue to follow some of the readings from the Essential 100 book.

I know many of you have been working through this in your home groups or individually. May I encourage you, if like me you have not finished the book, to keep going.

Through August and into September we are going to be focusing on the miracles of Jesus using the 5 passages suggested in the E100 book. We pause for a week to join with friends at St Peter’s for a parish communion over the Bank Holiday weekend.

On the 18th September we celebrate Harvest together as we thank God for his faithful provision year by year and also remember those in need.

The following Sunday is Back to Church Sunday and I would strongly encourage you to consider prayerfully who you could invite to come along. Do take an invitation nearer the time and pass it on to as many people as you can think of.

In the evening of the 25th we are fortunate enough to be welcoming the newly appointed Bishop of Mount Kilimanjaro, Stanley Hotay, to a special evening service. Come along and hear from our link diocese in Tanzania.

My prayer is that together we can grow as the family of God as we learn from His word and live it out in our daily lives.

In Christ,

Steve

Revd Steve Bailey

It's the holiday season

As the schools have broken up and families go off on holiday I hope that this can be a time of rest and refereshment for many. However, the summer time can also be a lonely time for those who miss the fellowship and company of friends as various groups take a break. St Paul's is open and ready to welcome you week by week.

For those who are looking for a good book to read on these lazy summer days I would recommend Essential 100 the Scripture Union book of 100 selected Bible readings that we as a church have been working through this year. Bite sized chunks of scripture with a helpful explaination that will give you a good overview.

Happy reading, safe travelling, hope you have a good break and come back refreshed!

Meet the Baileys

It seemed a good idea when we first discussed it. ‘After Steve’s licensing we should have a get together so that everyone in the parish can come and meet the family!’

Sheridan and Gilda were asked to provide a barbecue and we set aside Sunday 10th July to have a meal together and use the church, car park and Barnabas for our venue. As the day approached the weather was decidedly mixed and I for one began to worry that it would rain. We closed off the car park in the expectation that we would be eating outside, and began our service at 10.00am. It still looked dodgy.

However by 12.00pm the sun was beating down and everyone who came had a great opportunity to eat burgers and sausages cooked to perfection . Thanks to Gilda and Sheridan for their expertise and cooking skills. I don’t know what Steve and Angie thought of it all, but 90 people were able to enjoy the sunshine and their company. Sometime later I managed to return home and have a sit down.

St Paul's to welcome Bishop Stanley Hotay of Tanzania

Leicester Diocese has links with several other dioceses across the Anglican Communion. Apart from links in Japan and India, one has been with the Diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro in Northern Tanzania. This large diocese has now been divided in two, Mount Kilimanjaro and Kiteto and the bishops from both have been invited to attend the Leicester Diocese Clergy Conference in October.

One of those bishops, the newly consecrated Stanley Hotay, from Mount Kilimanjaro, will be with us, at St Paul's, for a 6:30 p.m. evening service on Sunday 25 September, when he will preach. We look forward to welcoming him and showing him what life is like at St Paul's is like.

It will be good to meet with Bishop Stanley as the leader of a church in a very different situation to our own: rich in spiritual life and growing in numbers, while poor financially and short of many physical necessities.

Do take this opportunity to come and hear more about another part of the Worldwide Church

Greetings from our New Vicar, Revd Steve Bailey

Welcome to St Paul's, Oadby. We know that you will experience a warm and friendly welcome here from the worshipping community, because we have experienced it ourselves. Part of the joy of being part of the Christian family is that you are never far from friends, even if you have never met them before. We are so thankful for all that has been done to welcome us here. As we continue to settle in, get to know people and places and learn lots we are excited about all that God has in store. We look forward to sharing in His ministry under the guidance of His Spirit. Do come along and join with us as a church on the journey God has for us, you really will be made to feel most welcome!