Are You Part of the Story?

On the Sunday after Christmas a lot of people, including many clergy are away. St Paul's and St Peter's therefore joined together at St Peters to celebrate Communion. The service was led by Canon Chris Oxley who also preached. He spoke about the importance of Christianity being rooted in real events, rather than myths, teaching or philosophy. Were we part of the story? Did Christ's birth and death impact on our lives?


Chris told us that during the vacancy at St Peters he would be back on other occasions. We look forward to welcoming him.

Christmas Family Communion Service

An excited congregation met at 10.00 Christmas day for the family Christmas Communion service. Bright Christmas sweaters were much in evidence. And many had brought Christmas presents they had already opened. Steve (our rector) asked people what experience they had had of celebrating Christmas in the different corners of the world. There were a variety of answers. In his sermon he highlighted the joy of being part of the worldwide church – all worshipping the one who came to the earth at Bethlehem – the one who called for our worship – and our hearts, today.

The celebrations concluded with Sherry and biscuits after the service

Happy Christmas!

It Came upon the Midnight Clear

At 11:30 PM just over 30 people met at St Pauls to celebrate the birthday of Christ, Christmas. With Christmas readings and carols we celebrated that first event, concluding with a celebration of Holy Communion at which we remembered the purpose of Christ’s coming at Bethlehem – to die 30 years later in Jerusalem, as a sacrifice for the  sins of humanity – and to offer eternal life.

Carols by Candlelight

We had a full church this evening (Sunday 22 December) for our service of carols by candlelight. In it we remembered the Christmas story – of how the God of creation became a baby in Bethlehem to share in our experience and then to die for us. We used carols, readings from the Bible and poems. A particular innovation this year was a group with a Tamil background who not only sang the beginning of a traditional Carol in Tamil, but also a Tamil lullaby to the Virgin Mary with her child. It reminded us that Christians all around the world are celebrating the birth of the Christ child at this time.

OUTSIDE/IN – Welcome into the Christmas story

Intercultural Worship

As we continue to explore what it means to be an intercultural worshiping community I am looking forward to our Carols by Candlelight this Sunday evening. During the service we will sing O Come all ye Faithful with the first verse and chorus sung in Tamil. Also in the service a small group will sing a lullaby in Tamil. 

As well as the usual Mince Pies and Mulled Wine after the service there will also be Samosas! 

Do come and join us!

Supertroopers Crafts

One of our leaders of Supertroopers (our primary school aged Sunday morning group) enjoys making things out of wood. Each time the children come back into church we are amazed at the creation he has come up with to help illustrate the Bible story.
A couple of weeks ago as they were exploring the Christmas story we were presented with this balancing machine and we had to guess if the statements were True or False. Once on the scales the correct answer was revealed!
The children thoroughly enjoyed it and everyone in church was impressed.
Thank you Derek for your faithful service in Supertroopers and for all your excellent woodwork crafts and games.

Bishops' Christmas Message

Bishops' Christmas Message

Good News for the Poor

Apart from today’s service having a multicultural theme, it was also a gift service. Presents of about £15 had been bought for nearly 70 children who will spend this Christmas in mother and baby homes, and women’s refuges, near to the church.

Those who had bought and wrapped these gifts brought them forward during a song. In addition, people brought unwrapped gift for the “Welcome Project” for asylum seekers, based at St Martin’s house.

All these gifts will be distributed in the next few weeks.

From Every Tribe and Tongue

In our service today we celebrated our different backgrounds. The church had been invited to come dressed in our culturally different clothes. Some “white British” found this request difficult, although one came in a dapper three-piece suit and umbrella! However, there were some outstanding displays from Nigeria, Uganda and north and south India – not to mention a Scot! All came forward and showed their finery.

When it came to a time of sung worship, we sang the children’s chorus “Jesus loves me, this I know” in a mixture of three languages, Tamil, Yoruba and English.

It’s good to know that we are “All one in Christ Jesus.”

Christmas Fare at Barneys

Every month we offer “Breakfast at Barneys,” a breakfast, including a full cooked breakfast, at a very reasonable price in the Barnabas centre. Today was the last such breakfast before Christmas.

In addition to the usual food, the tables were decorated with crackers and floral displays. The crackers were fun, although the jokes were no better than usual! A good time was had by all.

Thank you so much to all those who helped to make this happen.

Gift Service

This morning was our Gift Service at St Paul's. As in previous years we have been in contact with some local refuge's and found 68 children who will be in their care over Christmas. Members of the congregation were given the gender and age of these children and brought them a Christmas present which we collected in this morning. The Gifts will be distributed this week so that each child will have something to open on Christmas morning.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

At the invitation of Sainsbury’s, Oadby, near Leicester, a group from St Paul’s sang Christmas Carols to the shoppers for an hour this morning (14 December 2019). We sang most of the well-known Christian carols and also added “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” at the end.

To illustrate our best wishes for our local citizens we handed out sweets as well (in the case of children, only with their parents’ permission). At the height of the secular Christmas sales season it was a good opportunity to remind people of the spiritual meaning of Christmas. People seemed to appreciate it

School Visit

Today we welcomed Foundation Stage from Brookside Primary School to St Paul's. They had all made decoration that they hung on our tree. They also had a look around church, lit the advent candles, explored advent calendars and the nativity scene as well as listening to the Christmas story.

Jennie Frith

Last Friday a packed St Paul's said farewell to Jennie, one of the founder members of St Paul's and a leader of Coffee Pot. Jennie was a well known and loved character and will be sadly missed.

On Saturday we hosted a Hustings event at St Paul's run by Churches Together in Oadby. All 5 candidates for our constituency were present and had equal opportunity to speak. About 100 people from the local community gathered to hear them answer a huge variety of questions that were emailed in in advance.
Today the Barnabas Centre is a Polling Station and I encourage everyone to vote.
Here is a prayer the Church of England has written for the General Election.

God of grace and truth,Send your Spirit to guide usas we discover your will for our country.Help us to discuss the issues before us
with courtesy, truth and mutual respect,and grant that all who stand for parliamentwill seek to serve the common good,through him who came not to be served but to serve,Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

Alpha 2019 Testimonies

We shared this video of testimonies from our recent Alpha course in church this morning.

Nativity Story Birth to Cross Line Drawing

Fun@4 Advent

Last Sunday we held one of our Messy style Churches, Fun@4 when we explored the theme of Advent. We had one of our biggest attendances! We made advent wreaths, played games and sung songs. We thought about waiting for things and prayed together in our family groups for the light of Jesus to shine in different areas.

Hustings

Churches Together in Oadby is to host a Hustings Meeting on Saturday 7th December at 2pm. We will be hosting this at St Paul's.
If you wish to put forward a question for our General Election candidates to answer please email them in advance to oadbyhustings@gmail.com

Intercultural Pioneer Minister

We are looking to recruit and Intercultural Pioneer Minister for St Paul's! For more information click here to go to the Diocesan Website.

It’s Official – The Benefice of Oadby — Great Glen Is Inaugurated

There was a very packed congregation at St Peters Oadby this morning when Bishop Martyn Snow visited us to inaugurate the new Benefice. Members of the congregations of St Peters Oadby, St Paul’s Oadby, St Cuthbert’s Great Glen, St Andrews Burton Overy and St Mary the Virgin Carlton Curlieu joined to worship. Parts in the service were taken by members of the different churches.

A commitment was made by the clergy, church officers and the whole congregation to work together to build up the kingdom of God in the new Benefice.

 In his sermon Bishop Snow spoke of the slogans used by different organisations – including that of the diocese. He wondered if we would find one for the Benefice and what it would be. He pointed to Jesus’ “Nazareth manifesto” when he committed himself to heal the sick, free the captives and bind up the broken hearted. We too exist to help those around us in our community and to draw them to know the love of Christ.

 After this, there was a celebration of Holy Communion when we remember how Christ died for us and we partook of the bread and the wine, symbols of his body and blood which was given for us.

 After the service we crossed the main road to St Peter’s Parish Centre for biscuits and refreshments.

Don't Come to Church!

Don't Come to Church! At least not to St Paul's next Sunday, 27 October. That seems to be a strange message for us to give out. But if you do come to St Paul's then, you will find it empty as we are all going to a special service at St Peters, Oadby. Not only will we be there, but also congregations from St Cuthbert's, Great Glen, St Andrews, Burton Overy and St Mary the Virgin, Carlton Curlieu.

Together, we make up the new Benefice of Oadby-Great Glen and this service is a celebration of the start of the Benefice, led by the Bishop of Leicester, the Right Reverend Martyn Snow. It starts at 10:30 AM and is a service of Holy Communion. People from all the churches will be taking part.

So do come and join us at this very special event in the lives of our churches

'Paper' Witness #EverydayFaith

Quick Tips - Sharing your Faith

Last night at Deanery Synod we thought about Every Day Witness and how we share our faith with others. This is one of two videos that were talked about, both well worth a watch.

Principal Services — October - December

Dear Friends,

As we come towards the end of the year so we bring our journey through the theme of discipleship to a close by looking at Generosity and Hospitality. If you look at the gospel accounts of Jesus' ministry much of the significant moments are shared around a meal, over food. One of the things that Jesus speaks most frequently about is not just money but generosity. So both these hallmarks are important in our everyday discipleship.

Advent is a time for us to prepare and get ready for the greatest act of generosity and hospitality when God gave his Son Jesus, the greatest gift from the greatest giver. Let us make the most of this season to be generous and hospitably to those around us by sharing with others the reason for the hope we have within us. As ambassadors for Christ let's encourage others to join us over Christmas that they too might discover the gift of Jesus for themselves.

Every blessing,
0000
Steve.
See calendar of principal services

Intercultural Worshiping Communities Update

On Wednesday 4^th September a small group of representatives from both Oadby churches attended an evening at St Martin’s House when the Intercultural Worshipping Communities project was launched by the Diocese. The Diocese has received some funding from the Church Commissioners Strategic Development Fund for a 5 year project in Leicestershire. The project is to try and help 5 core churches, of which Oadby is one, explore what it means to be an Intercultural Worshipping Community. The project is spearheaded by Lusa Ngoy, the Diocesan Black, Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) Mission and Ministry Enabler who came to preach at St Paul’s on the 15^th September. Lusa reminded us that we are all part of a big story, God’s big story, which interweaves with the story of our own lives and the story of the church.

Often we refer to the local church as ‘our church’. In some ways this is good as it implies a sense of ownership, that we are fully invested in and committed to ‘our church’. But the danger with this language is that we forget the bigger picture, ‘our church’ existed before we did and we hope it will continue long after we are gone. It is also important to remember that the church is not the building; the church is the people of God gathered together. The other important thing is that we are part of something much bigger; our local, gathered community is a small part of a much bigger church. For us in Oadby this includes being part of a new, enlarged Benefice with churches in Great Glen, Burton Overy & Carlton Curlieu. It also includes being part of a Deanery (Gartree) and a Diocese (Leicester) as well as the Church of England and the Worldwide Anglican Communion. We have sisters and brothers in Christ locally, nationally and internationally.

Once we have recognised that we are part of something bigger we then need to ask why we exist as the church here in our local community. The Anglican parish system allows for a Christian presence in every community. The primary purpose of the church is to connect unchurched people to Jesus. This is why we exist, to make Christ known in the world and to share his love with all people. It was a former Archbishop William Temple who summed it up thus, “the church is the only organisation that exists primarily for the benefit of its non-members”.

We forget this at our peril. It is very easy to get sucked into keeping ‘our church’ going in the way we like so that it is a nice, safe, comfortable place for us. We have bought into the prevailing consumerist culture where we find a church full of people like us, who act in a way that we find acceptable thus making church a safe place that meets our needs. How far removed we are from the early church! My favourite description of church is ‘Messy Church’, which immediately conjures up images of the popular afternoon churches for families with lots of craft activities. But I would love to be part of a church that is ‘messy’ in the sense that it is mixture of very different types of people from all cultures, nationalities, backgrounds, ages and life stories. The thing that unites us all is our love for and need of Jesus. Together we grow and learn as followers of Jesus and together we share Jesus with those around us.

This is, in part, what the Intercultural Worshipping Communities are about. It starts with lifting our gaze to recognise that we are part of something bigger. Then being open to what we can learn from one another. And then growing together as the family of God as we find a deep connection, a new sense of belonging in the ever evolving story of God and of the family of God, of which we are all a part. 

Keep us Lord, from being infected
with a spirit of possessiveness,
whereby we start to think
that our church, our faith,
is ours to shape in our image.
Rather, keep us always open to your Spirit,
that we may be led in your way of love,
and shaped into your image.
Amen.

Connected Church Update

We have received an autumn update from Tearfund of our Connected Church PAG in Uganda, you can read it by clicking here.

Harvest

This morning we gathered at St Peter's for our Harvest Celebrations. We also said farewell to Liz and presented her with her leaving gifts including the pink stole she requested. Thanks to all who donated harvest goods, these have been shared between Oadby Food Bank and the Welcome Project.

Totally Forgiving Ourselves

"But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus" (Phil.3.14)

I was struck this week by one of my daily readings which came from RT Kendall's book Totally Forgiving Ourselves where he writes, 'I must now define what I mean by totally forgiving ourselves: it is accepting God's forgiveness of all my past sins and failures so completly that I equally let myself off the hook for my past as God himself has done. It also means I must forgive others totally. This is an example of what it means to love my neighbour as myself...Why should God require me to accept his forgiveness and command me to forgive others but close his eyes as to whether I have forgiven myself? He doesn't. I'm sorry, but this matter of forgiving ourselves is not an optional extra in God's plan for us; it is something we are required to do as obedient children of our heavenly Father.'

Alpha Testimony - Shane Taylor

Also found this testimony really moving in last night's Alpha talk...

Forgiveness

A great quote from Nicky Gumbel in last night's Alpha talk on 'Why did Jesus die?'

The first to apologise is the bravest.

The first to forgive is the strongest.

The first to forget is the happiest. 

"Everything happens for a reason" — and other lies I've loved

We have been sharing parts of this excellent TED talk as part of our assemblies in Manor High School this week. A real reminder that God is with us always, in the good times and in the tough times too.

Sign up to be a community reserve volunteer

Through Young People's Eyes - A Youth Work Sunday Poem

Youth Work Sunday 2019 CUs Video

Soul Survivor 2019

Multicultural Communities

Today  St. Paul’s gave a special welcome to the Revd Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy, the Diocesan Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Mission and Ministry Enabler.  He told us of the challenges and exciting opportunities facing the diocese and our parish, which is one of five churches selected to be multicultural communities.

Great North Run: 8 September

Congratulations to Steve for completing the 13.1 miles of the Great North Run in 1hr 56 minutes (an impressive personal best).  Mo Farrar watch out!
Thank you to everyone who sponsored him as, so far, he has raised around £700 for CSW.  However, it’s not too late if you would like to add to this total!  Sponsorship forms are at the back of church or go to: https://wonderful.org/fundraiser/greatnorthrun-5a19dcb6.

Giving a Voice to the Voiceless

Today, our rector, Steve Bailey was not in church. Instead, he was taking part in the Great North Run – a half Marathon which starts in Newcastle and runs to South Shields via Gateshead. He was doing this to support the work of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, whose work of trying to give everyone the right to worship, wherever they live in the world was described by our speaker last week. Many of the congregation had taken sponsor forms or had supported him by the Internet.

We wish him, and the work of CSW, well.

Brothers and Sisters Pray for Us

On Sunday we had a visiting speaker, Bill Lowe, from "Christian Solidarity Worldwide." He gave many examples from around the world where Christianity was unacceptable to the government or to society, or to a religion that does not have a culture of tolerance. Hostility to Christians varies from depriving them of civil rights right up to imprisonment and even death. Those who turn from another religion to Christianity are greatest at risk.

An Iranian in the congregation who had turned to Christ told of his persecution, which ultimately led to him having to leave the country.

Let's never forget our privilege of being able to worship without restriction, and pray for those less fortunate.

We are The Diocese of Leicester!

Joining Together

A record shade temperature and Ben Stokes' fantastic innings for England weren’t the only special events on Sunday 25 August. St Pauls and St Peters joined in a United service held at St Peter’s. It was led by the rector, Revd Steve Bailey.

It was the conclusion of the series on “Discipleship: A life worth living.” A series of talks which both churches have been studying from St Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This final talk was entitled “a New Generosity” as we considered the privilege of being able to contribute to God’s work.

The service concluded with communion – the fellowship meal that unites us as we remember Christ’s death for us on the cross.

Date Announced for Alpha 2019

The date for the Alpha Course 2019 at St Paul's has just been announced – 18 September, starting at 7.0 p.m. It will run for ten weeks.

It's an opportunity to explore the meaning of life and faith (– and food, which will be provided each week). If you would like to consider these basic issues in more detail, do come and join us. All ages are welcome and there will be a special youth table.

Don't miss this opportunity to discuss the vital issues of life.

For further details ring (0116) 271 0519

Great North Run

On 8th September I am running a half marathon and raising funds for Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). Sponsor forms are available in both churches on online at https://www.wonderful.org/fundraiser/greatnorthrun-5a19dcb6

Holiday Club 2019

Mayor's Civic Service

Last Sunday we welcomed the Mayor of Oadby & Wigston Cllr. Lynda Eaton to St Paul's for her Civic service. Among her guests were the Lord Lieutenant, other Mayor's from around the County and representatives from her chosen charity Leicester Children's Holidays. 

A Very Warm Welcome!

It is common for many churches to offer their visitors “a very warm welcome.” It couldn’t have been more literally true today as people came for the Midweek Communion Service and “Coffee Pot” afterwards. By 11 a.m. the shade temperature in the Church Car Park had already reached 33° C. We hear it is expected to go far higher.

At our service, this reminds us that today is the day when we remember St James, who was called by Jesus, with his brother John to leave their fishing boats and follow him. When their mother asked Jesus to give her sons the top position the side of him, when he returned in glory, he gently explained that that was not his to give. Like his master like his master, James did finish up being executed for his faith.

May we be as prepared to make sacrifices for our faith as was St James.

Yesterday, Today and Forever

Yesterday, the parish of St Paul's Oadby held its first Parochial Church Council. On the agenda was:
Apologies for Absence, followed by Bible Study and Prayer led by Steve Bailey. After this we approved the minutes of the last DCC as an accurate record of our last meeting, as also the last joint PCC and the Extraordinary Parochial Church meeting.

We then elected the Officers for the PCC, (the Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Electoral Roll Officer). It was agreed that the PCC would meet every other month, with LATs (Leadership Action Teams) in the month between. Five people were appointed to form a standing committee, which would prepare the PCC agenda and deal with urgent business.

Steve and Lou updated us on the plans for  Intercultural Worshipping Communities.

It was then explained how the plans for the enlarged benefice (the 2 Oadby churches, Great Glen, Burton Overy and Carlton Curlieu) were progressing and there was a report from the working group registering the parish of St Paul Oadby as a charity.

A discussion followed on the "Cockpit Crew." And we received reports from 2 LAT groups. We had also received reports from CTO, Deanery Synod and Diocesan Synod, but there was not time to debate them.

The next PCC meeting will be on Tuesday 3 September 2019.

Over our heads, on the wall at one end of the Barnabas Centre was the slogan that reminded us that, whatever the changes, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Principal Services – July – September

Dear Friends,

The 1^st July marked a significant change for the churches in Oadby as St Paul’s became its own parish, joining with St Peter’s and also the churches in Great Glen, Burton Overy & Carlton Curlieu to form a new Benefice of Oadby, Great Glen. At this time of pastoral reorganisation we are also preparing to say farewell to Liz who has been a Team Vicar based at St Peter’s, we will do this at a joint service on the 29^th September. Do pray for all the churches in the team at this time of restructuring and for all of us as we get used to a new way of working.

We continue with our summer sermon series through July and August focussing on Paul’s letter to the Philippians. It is good to share this series with St Peter’s and to hear from a variety of preachers.

Special services in these months include the Mayor’s Civic service on the 28^th July, our Holiday Club celebration on the 11^th August and a visiting speaker from Christian Solidarity Worldwide on the 1^st September. A week later on the 8^th September I shall be doing the Great North Run, a half marathon, to raise money for CSW.

Every blessing,

Steve

See the service card

For the Record

 On the last Sunday of June, just before the new organisation took place, at the end of the service the congregation followed Steve round to the noticeboard in the front of the church.

There, David Foulds took this photograph – an interesting record to look back to in the future.

We’re Legit

As part of the reorganisation into a larger benefice, the parish of Oadby has been divided into ourselves (St Pauls Oadby) and St Peter’s Oadby. This happened on 1 July. But for this last week there has been no Parochial Church Council (PCC) to officially govern the church.

Therefore, after this morning’s service the congregation stayed behind to hold an Extraordinary Parochial Church Meeting. This elected the 2 existing church wardens – Paul Webster and Anita Chettle, and 9 elected members of the PCC. Together with the Rector, 3 Readers, a Diocesan Synod member and 3 Deanery Synod members who are all ex-officio members of the PCC, this will give a PCC of nearly 20 people.

St Paul’s now becomes a charity in its own right and will have to be registered with the Charity Commission. The members of the PCC will be its trustees.

The church will be informed as the process continues.

Honoured!

We have just been delighted to discover that, back in April, one of our members, Emmanuel Oladipo had been granted one of the Lambeth awards by Archbishop Justin Welby. Emmanuel’s citation was as follows:

“Mr Emmanuel Oladipo, The Alphege Award for Evangelism and Witness for his exceptional contribution to the Scripture Union in Africa and worldwide”

Emmanuel was formerly the Director of Scripture Union International. Since his retirement he has continued to travel internationally to encourage the appropriate exposition of Scripture.

Alphege (or Ælfheah) 953-1012AD was Bishop of Winchester and later Archbishop of Canterbury. He was captured by the Vikings but refused to be ransomed, and so was killed.

It’s an honour to have Emmanuel with us.

Holiday at Home

The first “holidaymakers” have just been arriving at St Paul’s. This is “Holiday at Home” – three days of holiday activity, designed particularly for those not able to get away in the summer. Just at the moment we are being the blessed with ideal holiday weather.

Our thanks go to Paul and Teri Webster for organising holiday at home this year.

Pride of the Borough.

St Paul told the early churches to pray for the authorities, while Jesus told his disciples to love their neighbour as themselves. It therefore gives us great joy to support Oadby and Wigston Borough's  "Pride of the Borough" project.

After church yesterday, members of the congregation picked up litter pickers and collecting bags and went out into the surrounding streets, verges and grassy areas, to pick up litter.

Here are some pictures of it taking place.

Privilege Priority and Purpose and the Gospel

The preacher at St Paul’s morning service today was Liz Wilson, the vicar of St Peter’s, who has recently been appointed to the parish of St Anne’s, St Pauls and St Augustine’s in the city of Leicester. We wished her well.

In the 2^nd of a series on St Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians (end of chapter 1), Liz pointed to Paul’s sense of privilege, priority and purpose – a sense of privilege in being allowed to help spread the gospel, his sense of priority in spreading the good news of Christ, and his purpose; that whatever was done to him, including his imprisonment, was being used by God to spread his good news.

It was a challenge to us to see life in the same way. We shall miss Liz as she moves on.

Ute Short

Yesterday we said farewell to Ute who loved her garden and flowers. She planned and arranged most of her service herself and was keen for family and friends to enjoy time together with nice food to celebrate her life.

Father's Day

This morning in Church we gave all the men a certain chocolate bar and prayed for them. Watch this video from Care for the Family about the Fatherhood Journey.

Fun@4 - Pentecost

This welcome board in our foyer was cleverly created by Anona with the words 'Jesus Christ is Lord' displayed in many different languages. During Fun@4 the children made flame head bands to resemble the tongues of fire.

Another symbol of the Holy Spirit is a Dove. Derek used his wood work skills to make these jigsaws which the children had fun putting together.

More wood work, this time to assemble windmills which all worked when the fan was going. Reminding us to the wind of the Spirit and the breath of God.