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.