St. Paul’s Church, Chippenham

The start of a new term and there seems to be lots going on ……

JAMES & INGER DENNISTON - are sadly leaving us and we will have opportunities to say Goodbye! The final service will be a BRING A BOTTLE service at 6.30pm on Sunday 7th October at Langley Burrell. The idea is that we will have a short service to pray for James & Inger and send them on their way – followed by drinks & nibbles. Just come along and wish them well!

If you can’t manage that time they will say farewell at St Pauls at the 10am Holy Communion service on Sunday 30th September – which will include a time of prayer ministry. On Sunday 7th October they will be at the Harvest festival services at 9.30am at Kington St Michael and 11am at Hardenhuish church.

HARVEST FESTIVALS - will take place as follows:
Sunday 23rd September - 10.00am St Pauls
30th September - 10.00am Langley Burrell
7th October - 9.30am Kington St Michael
7th October - 11.00am Hardenhuish
…come along and praise the Lord of the Harvest!

FUTURE MINISTER - please read the article in this edition of CLARION by Alan Hawker, the Archdeacon of Malmesbury. It looks likely that we shall be given some sort of replacement minister by the diocese (which is good news!) I think the person is likely to be working more on the edge of church life and encouraging mission and outreach in new and imaginative ways. We have lots of people willing and able to pastor the flock and we need someone helping us to get out into the wider world beyond our church walls. Please pray for the process of trying to work out what God is wanting for us at this time. The Group Leadership has met and we are prayerfully considering how and when to take this forward. (PLEASE PRAY FOR US & OUR NEXT MEETING ON 20th SEPTEMBER.)

TALKING OF MINISTERS - you will probably have caught up with the fact that Malcolm Herbert has moved on to a parish in London where he will be the Vicar – and so he has moved on from Bristol diocese and working as the DDO (Diocesan Director of Ordinands). Please pray for him and Sheryl and their move and settling into Hounslow and for his licensing on Sunday 16th September. Thank you to him for all the services he as covered and the support he has given to me!

DAVID, ANJALI & TIM - please pray for David Kilmister as he is ordained Priest on Sunday 30th September at 3.30pm at Bristol Cathedral. And for Anjali Kanagaratnam & Tim Woodward as they are licensed as Readers/Lay Ministers on Saturday 6th October at 5.30pm at Bristol Cathedral. I am delighted that these people are taking this step and that God has called them all to a public ministry. And I hope that many will be able to come along to these services at the cathedral.

MUSICAL EVENING - I want to acknowledge a massive THANK YOU to Paul Bambrough who led a wonderful Musical Evening on Friday 10th August at Kington St Michael church. He brought along 8 talented young musicians and they gave us a treat of an evening with a variety of music. About 80 people enjoyed the event and Paul offered to repeat it another year. YES, PLEASE! Also, thanks are due to the stalwarts who (yet again) sorted things out for the event – as always, refreshments and everything went really well! (And the church coffers were also boosted – a win all ways, it seems!)

GROUP SERVICE - for September is on Sunday 2nd at 6.30pm at Kington St Michael.

9th SEPTEMBER - at the St Paul’s 6.30pm Holy Communion service on Sunday 9th September we will offer Prayer for Healing and Anointing with Oil. This is just a lovely opportunity to receive deeply from God and bring to him those people and issues we struggle with. The Oil is used simply as a sign of God’s blessing and promise that, in the words of Moses, the Lord “will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). Come and be blessed!

ST PAUL’S CHURCH BARBEQUE - takes place at lunch time on Sunday 16th September (details will follow on the notice sheet and at church) but please put this date in your diary and come along for a fun afternoon for all ages!

OPEN TO GOD - will not take place this month on the 3rd Sunday! Instead we are supporting the TRANSFORM service event which is run by various local churches. This will take place at 7.30pm on Sunday 16th September at Station Hill Baptist Church. The speaker is Jenny Campbell who has links with St Thomas’ Crooks (Anglican/Baptist) church in Sheffield and has a ministry working to empower the church in its prophetic life and role.

AND SO - the following Sunday evening 23rd September we will hold a more informal evening Communion service at St Pauls. With music group involvement, it will begin at 6.30pm and should include the opportunity for ministry and sharing communion one with another.

ST PAUL’S 8.30am SERVICE - or how many women does it take to replace one man? We are very fortunate that 4 women have stepped forward to carry on the role of verger at the 8.30am service. And I want to thank Anne Clifford, Lisa Bennett (soon to be Sheppard), Nel Warner & Jane Humphries and I look forward to working with you all!

ALHPA COURSES - I am writing this too soon to know exact details but I understand that there will be a Wednesday evening ALPHA course (starting 26th) and also a Monday morning course. We will have more details in early September. Please contact me or the office if you want to know more.

KIDZOWN & IMMERSE - I am really glad that lots of good ideas are coming out about St Paul’s Sunday morning children & youth work. We start back on 9th September and it looks likely that the groups will happen most Sundays – and we will have less all-age services. The 2nd Sunday will no longer be an all-age service but will include the KIDZOWN & IMMERSE groups. Discussions and planning are on-going so….as they say….watch this space!

ST PAULS & RE-ORDERING - I know it can feel like a long slow process but …..we are really trying to discover what God wants for us and who the people are who are able and willing to pilot any re-ordering process we get into. Most of the people I talk to about St Paul’s church & hall know that something needs to be done – the question is what? And by whom?

Recently the PCC decided that we needed to be sure of our Vision & Mission and so a group have been sent away to think and pray about this. What does God want of us at this time? What work should we be involved with? What are the priorities for St Paul’s church as we reach out to the local community? Until we can clearly answer these questions we won’t know what the reasoning behind our re-ordering will be. Please pray that we do indeed catch a vision for what God requires of us at this time – and what resources we need for it.

STUART TOWNEND - a date for your diary – on Thursday 4th October at 7.30pm Stuart Townend will lead an evening of worship, performance and chat from one of today’s leading worship songwriters. And in case you are wondering …. Stuart wrote How Deep The Father’s
Love; In Christ Alone;The Lord’s My Shepherd (and I will trust) and many others!

VISION FOR MISSION - 3 Wednesday Evenings

• September 12: Lucy Moore “Reflecting on Messy Church”
• September 19: Martin Cavender “The Holy Spirit and Mission”
• September 26: Steven Croft “Fresh Expressions and the Local Church: The National picture

This is hosted by OPEN DOOR (a Fresh Expressions church plant) at Fynamore School, Calne

It looks potentially an excellent series of 3 evenings with speakers who are all involved (or in Steve Croft’s case head up) the CofE FRESH EXPRESSIONS movement. I know Steve from my time in Wakefield diocese and have a lot of time for him - and I came across Martin Cavender as we were both working in Bath & Wells diocese together. (As an aside I have not heard of Lucy Moore - but Karin Needham told me she has just bought a book of hers at Lee Abbey!)

As you know FRESH EXPRESSIONS is a very slippery concept - but, put simply, it is about us (the church) getting out amongst folk and helping them to find God in ways other than merely through our main church worship. I don’t know what exactly these folk will speak on but they have been invited by OPEN DOOR to help think through strategies of moving forward. That could be very timely! If you might like to go, please could you tell me so I can pass numbers on to the organisers.

THEMES & READINGS - we are commencing an autumn series called A WORLD ON THE MOVE during our morning services in September. We will follow the Book of Ruth and see how God provides for vulnerable people, foreigners in a strange land. These will be the main readings:

• September 2nd - Called to Leave - Genesis 12:1-9
• September 9th - Fleeing Famine - Ruth 1:1-22
• September 16th - Kindness Demonstrated - Ruth 2:1-23
• September 23rd - Finding a Home - Ruth 3:1-18 (*)
• September 30th - Settling Down - Ruth 4:1-22 (*)

• (*) 23/9 Harvest at St Pauls and 30/9 Harvest at Langley Burrell - Psalm 67:1-7

The Ruth series continues until 7th October.

MIDWEEK BIBLE READINGS - at our midweek services of Holy Communion (10am on Wednesdays at St Pauls – and 10am Thursdays at Kington St Michael) we are going to be continuing with the theme of 2 CORINTHIANS. I hope it is not too much for those who come to these services – but I have found it really helpful to follow the whole of 2 Corinthians over a 6 month period!

• September 5th/6th - 2 Corinthians 8:16-24
• September 12th /13th - 2 Corinthians 9:1-5
• September 19th/20th - 2 Corinthians 9:6-15
• September 26th/27th - 2 Corinthians 10:1-6

PRAYER FOR THE MONTH – is the Bristol Diocesan Collect for Growth which are being encouraged to use as seek to create COMMUNITIES OF WHOLENESS WITH CHRIST AT THE CENTRE.

Gracious God,
grant us the imagination
to see fresh possibilities for growth
and the passion to bring them to birth.

Deepen our commitment to your ways;
expand our partnership in your cause;
increase our influence for your purpose;
and add to the numbers of those who
acclaim you as Lord.

Lead us from the fear of failure
to that confidence which flows from faith
and to lives of fruitfulness and joy.

In the power of your Spirit
help us to create communities of wholeness
with Christ at the centre;
for in his Holy name we ask.
Amen.

Simon Tyndall