All Are Welcome

The Leicester Diocese is encouraging the parishes of St Cuthbert’s Great Glen, St Andrews, Burton Overy, and St Mary the virgin, Carlton Curlieu, to join with the churches of St Peters and of St Pauls, Oadby, in a Team Ministry.

Last Sunday morning, the congregations of all the churches were invited to meet together at St Peter’s for a joint service of Holy Communion. Clergy and laity from the different churches joined together in taking part in the service. The choir also represented people from different churches. Perhaps appropriately, the first hymn was “All are welcome.”

Kim Ford, the Vicar of Great Glen, preached the sermon, in which she picked up some of the thoughts from the story of Solomon consecrating the Jewish Temple and his awareness that God cannot be limited by buildings – rather, he demands the faith of people everywhere.

We look forward to working with Kim and her colleagues and other members of her parishes.

What did you Learn?

The normal pattern for our services is for the children to be present at the start of worship and then leave for “Supertroopers,” our Sunday school. When there is Communion, they rejoin their parents and come with them to the communion rail, where they receive a blessing.

Just before the end of the service, they are usually given the opportunity to show the rest of the congregation what they have been learning. This last Sunday they had been learning how Jesus went up the mountain with his disciples, who saw Moses and Elijah with Jesus and heard God the Father say: “‘This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!’

Not only had the children obviously been listening well, as they could recount the story in detail, but they had made an intricate model of it. Our thanks are due to Derek Bowering and his team for the way that they inspire our children.

Seeking Allah – Finding Jesus

Over recent years, Steve has recommended a book for holiday reading. This year, he recommended the above title. It is a fascinating book – much more than a simple history of a Muslim who turned Christian faith.

It gives a sympathetic insight into the life of a devout Muslim home. It also explains the details of Muslim faith and understanding. As Qureshi explores Christian faith, I wonder how much many Christians know as much about their faith and would be able to explain it.

It’s worth reading just to gain a deeper insight into one’s own faith. It’s also very valuable to understand more of the Muslim faith, if one is having discussions with Muslim friends and neighbours.

It’s fast moving and easy to read. If you haven’t read it, why not give it a go?

Happy Birthday Steve!

Opening Present                               Cutting Cake

Last week our vicar, Steve Bailey reached the grand milestone of 40. To mark this auspicious occasion, the congregation had contributed to buying him a tablet, an indication of the high respect in which he is held. This was presented to him during the All-Age service on the Sunday, which marked the end of Mega-Makers, our Holiday Club (see previous blog).

During the marvellous barbecue which took place in the church car park after the service, Steve was presented with a cake. He duly blew out the candles and then cut it.

We wish you God’s blessing for many more very happy years.

Holiday Club - Celebration Service

On Sunday we had a special service to celebrate all that we had done at Holiday Club. We invited the children and their families along and showed the whole church what we had been up to. Then everyone was invited to stay for a BBQ. Here are a few pictures...

The coloured ribbons represent our prayers and the robot is the mega machine we had been making through the week.
Thanks to everyone who came along and to all who helped make it such a success.
Thanks too to the lovely church family at St Paul's who also helped me celebrate my birthday which was during the week. I was overwhelmed by the card, kind gift and applause.

Holiday Club - Friday

Today was our last day together and we focused on the story of Jesus on the Cross, His great love for us as it was most visibly shown. Here are a few pictures from today...

It has been a great week with fantastic kids and a brilliant bunch of leaders. Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to make this Holiday Club a success. Come and join us for our celebration service followed by a BBQ at 10am on Sunday.

Holiday Club

This week St Paul's is putting on a Holiday Club using the Scripture Union material Mega Makers.
Here are some photo's from Wednesday & Thursday...

We have more on Friday and then a celebration service on Sunday at 10am followed by a BBQ!

An Essential

On Sunday evening, a group of us went to the Grange pub in Oadby. In this informal setting, gathered round a varied selection of drinks, we discussed an "essential" of the Christian faith. On this occasion, we were discussing the subject raised in the second chapter of the epistle of James – the value of faith compared with good works. Despite James's emphasis on good works, we concluded that this was not in opposition to faith, but was the way that one could see that a person's faith was genuine. Discussion ran into all sorts of interesting side issues.

Why not come and join us next time? "Essential" takes place every First Sunday evening  of the month at 7 PM.