| Super Soup Lunch In support of ‘Christian Aid’. Friday the 26th of March – Serving 12 noon until 1.30 pm. On Friday the 26th of March we are holding a ‘Super Soup Lunch’; the proceeds from this event will help to change the lives of some of the world’s poorest people. Soup and a Bread Roll for £3 will be served from 12 noon until 1.30 pm. Support the Super Soup Lunch and help bowl over poverty . |
The vision statement sets our direction of travel. More detailed plans are being developed to
support it and take us forward.
The Synod also heard a call to hold a period of prayer for the Diocese in 2010, which was
very warmly received.
We have now agreed to set aside ten days for prayer between the feasts of Ascension and
Pentecost and to ask all parishes and deaneries to mark this in a way which is appropriate
locally. Some resources and ideas will be provided, but many more, I am sure, will be
created in parishes.
I hope that your prayers through this period will be grounded in thanksgiving and centred
on the life of God. We need also to keep three things in focus
As you plan special events for these ten days of prayer, please be aware of the need to invite
other churches and the wider community to come and pray with us for God’s world. Please
keep me in touch with what you are planning at tendaysofprayer@bishopofsheffield.org.uk.
The Diocese has produced a simple printed prayer card and copies will be distributed to
parishes at the Shrove Tuesday lectures and the Diocesan Synod. I will be saying more on
this theme in my Presidential Address to the Synod on 20 February.
We face a significant challenge as we seek to grow Christ-like communities where we are and
our journey must be rooted and grounded in prayer. Please join me as we commit ourselves
to this task of prayer for all that lies ahead.
In the season of Lent and for this ten days of prayer: “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping
alert in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4.2).
Your servant in Christ
support it and take us forward.
The Synod also heard a call to hold a period of prayer for the Diocese in 2010, which was
very warmly received.
We have now agreed to set aside ten days for prayer between the feasts of Ascension and
Pentecost and to ask all parishes and deaneries to mark this in a way which is appropriate
locally. Some resources and ideas will be provided, but many more, I am sure, will be
created in parishes.
I hope that your prayers through this period will be grounded in thanksgiving and centred
on the life of God. We need also to keep three things in focus
- Prayers for renewing of vision and hope across the Diocese as we commit ourselves
afresh to a common vision. - Prayers for the spiritual gifts, people and material resources we need for the mission of
God in this place - Prayers for our communities which stand in need of regeneration and God’s grace
As you plan special events for these ten days of prayer, please be aware of the need to invite
other churches and the wider community to come and pray with us for God’s world. Please
keep me in touch with what you are planning at tendaysofprayer@bishopofsheffield.org.uk.
The Diocese has produced a simple printed prayer card and copies will be distributed to
parishes at the Shrove Tuesday lectures and the Diocesan Synod. I will be saying more on
this theme in my Presidential Address to the Synod on 20 February.
We face a significant challenge as we seek to grow Christ-like communities where we are and
our journey must be rooted and grounded in prayer. Please join me as we commit ourselves
to this task of prayer for all that lies ahead.
In the season of Lent and for this ten days of prayer: “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping
alert in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4.2).
Your servant in Christ
| The Church is an ancient one which boasts many fine windows and architectural features |
| The Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin stands above the High Street in Ecclesfield on the northern perimeter of the City of Sheffield |
| The Church Family at St. Mary's is made up of all ages, shapes and sizes! |
| St Mary's Mission Statement. We are here to help people love and worship God. We aim to be, and encourage others to become, committed and active disciples of Jesus, who love God and worship him, who know the power of the Holy Spirit and who show God’s love in every part of their lives. |
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Surely people of faith should be celebrating the good things in life not
denying themselves pleasure?
In the autumn I was one of a number of representatives of faith
communities who took part in a week of discussions at Ecclesfield
Secondary School during “Interfaith Week”. There was no lack of
interest from the young people in the classes who were eager to know
what we believed and how our beliefs made a difference in our lives.
denying themselves pleasure?
In the autumn I was one of a number of representatives of faith
communities who took part in a week of discussions at Ecclesfield
Secondary School during “Interfaith Week”. There was no lack of
interest from the young people in the classes who were eager to know
what we believed and how our beliefs made a difference in our lives.
| Prayer for the Month |
| Thought for the month |
Welcome to St Mary's website.
"As well as having an old and very interesting building
historically, St Mary's Church is a lively community of all ages
seeking to be active disciples of Christ today.
I hope you will enjoy coming back again and again as we
build up the site and may even be encouraged to come and
meet us."
Revd. Canon 'Tricia Impey
"As well as having an old and very interesting building
historically, St Mary's Church is a lively community of all ages
seeking to be active disciples of Christ today.
I hope you will enjoy coming back again and again as we
build up the site and may even be encouraged to come and
meet us."
Revd. Canon 'Tricia Impey
| Below you will find extracts from this month's Parish Magazine First Words..............., A Prayer for the Month and A Thought for the Month |
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| May it come soon to the hungry, to the weeping to those who thirst for your justice, to those who have waited centuries for a truly human life. Grant us the patience to smooth the way on which your Kingdom comes to us. Grant us hope, that we may not weary in proclaiming and working for it, despite so many conflicts, threats and shortcomings. Grant us a clear vision that in this hour of our history we may see the horizon, and know the way on which your Kingdom comes to us. Amen. |
| Legal Stuff: CCL Copyright Licence No 670491 |
| First Words....... |
- Lent has begun and we are about to start exploring the parables of Jesus with the Dean
of Sheffield, Peter Bradley, on a Wednesday evening. Some of us have had a little
taster at the Fellowship Meal in church with which we began Lent and these times
promise to be stimulating, challenging and fun. Do come and join us on this journey
even if you haven’t been inside St Mary’s before. Bring a friend and spread the news.
- Right at the beginning of this month on 2nd March at 7.30 pm we shall be having a
Deanery Confirmation Service here at St Mary’s. Traditionally Easter has always been
the time for baptism and confirmation. But it is also a good way to mark the beginning
of Lent re-affirming, along with the candidates, our own faith in Christ and our
intention to follow him. A confirmation service also provides us with a good
opportunity to put our toes in the water and to be reminded of what we are about as a
church, so do come along whether you know anyone who is going to be confirmed or
not, whether you are a regular churchgoer or not.
- Mothering Sunday falls in this month and we are again taking up the Mothers’ Union
offer of sending money to help mothers in developing countries. This also helps those of
us whose mothers have died to mark this day in a special way. Please make a special
note that our service time on that day will be 10.30 am.
- You will see in the diary that there are also a number of social events happening over
the coming weeks. Professor Mel Jones is giving a talk on Wentworth Woodhouse, the
Bell Ringers have the Ecclesfield Hand Bell ringers and Grenoside Singers in concert
and there are also a number of coffee mornings coming up on a Saturday as well as
coffee shop in church on a Tuesday and Friday morning. Finally maybe I’ll see you at
our Lent lunches of a soup and a roll 12 – 1.00 on a Tuesday following coffee shop.
‘Tricia Impey
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| An introduction to our Lent gatherings ‘Everything comes in parables’ |
This year The Dean of Sheffield, Peter Bradley, will lead you on a tour
through the parables of Jesus as together we enter their world, enjoy their
stories and word puzzles, and find in them games that all of us can play.
We will be studying some of the latest scholarship on the parables, and
discussing the new challenges this opens up to us in the Scriptures.
through the parables of Jesus as together we enter their world, enjoy their
stories and word puzzles, and find in them games that all of us can play.
We will be studying some of the latest scholarship on the parables, and
discussing the new challenges this opens up to us in the Scriptures.
Dates and times of meetings are below.
- Wednesday 24th February 6.30 pm - Fellowship Meeting & Introduction
- Wednesday 3rd March at 7.30 pm - Lent Gathering
- Wednesday 10th March at 7.30 pm - Lent Gathering
- Wednesday 17th March at 7.30 pm - Lent Gathering
- Wednesday 24th March at 7.30 pm - Lent Gathering
- Wednesday 31st March at 7.30 pm - A Seder meal in Church to complete our Lenten
Gatherings. See also - Passover in the Christian tradition.
During one discussion I was alongside a pagan woman. She spoke passionately about her
love of nature and the richness of the earth’s resources and she said that pagans celebrate the
goodness of the earth so they don’t give anything up, they prefer feasting to fasting (my
words).
We are very fortunate in this country because we have a rich variety of seasons which give us
fertile land and plentiful harvests. We can look out over England’s “green and pleasant
land” and thank God (or mother earth) for its beauty and produce. But we also know that
other parts of the world do not have the same ability to rely on their land for food and
livestock. Is it OK for us to feast while others in the world go without?
Christians are certainly not the only people who care about issues of justice and a fairer
distribution of the earth’s resources. However the self-discipline of deliberately going without
something that we might usually take for granted can provide us with an opportunity to
reflect on how fortunate we are to have enough to eat and spare, and to think carefully about
how God might want the earth’s resources distributing.
More recently I was fortunate enough to be part of another discussion between members of
different faith communities in Sheffield. This time we were looking at how we might
respond to the increasing interest in extreme political groups in this country. I was hugely
encouraged that the voice of the meeting was to celebrate the diversity of the City of
Sheffield, to value the different cultures and faiths we live alongside.
God’s Kingdom is a vision of a world where all belong, where all are fed and where people
are known for who they are not by race, religion or culture. This Lent may we have the
courage that we need to pray and work for justice and may we take time to celebrate with
those who are different from us...
Sue Hammersley
love of nature and the richness of the earth’s resources and she said that pagans celebrate the
goodness of the earth so they don’t give anything up, they prefer feasting to fasting (my
words).
We are very fortunate in this country because we have a rich variety of seasons which give us
fertile land and plentiful harvests. We can look out over England’s “green and pleasant
land” and thank God (or mother earth) for its beauty and produce. But we also know that
other parts of the world do not have the same ability to rely on their land for food and
livestock. Is it OK for us to feast while others in the world go without?
Christians are certainly not the only people who care about issues of justice and a fairer
distribution of the earth’s resources. However the self-discipline of deliberately going without
something that we might usually take for granted can provide us with an opportunity to
reflect on how fortunate we are to have enough to eat and spare, and to think carefully about
how God might want the earth’s resources distributing.
More recently I was fortunate enough to be part of another discussion between members of
different faith communities in Sheffield. This time we were looking at how we might
respond to the increasing interest in extreme political groups in this country. I was hugely
encouraged that the voice of the meeting was to celebrate the diversity of the City of
Sheffield, to value the different cultures and faiths we live alongside.
God’s Kingdom is a vision of a world where all belong, where all are fed and where people
are known for who they are not by race, religion or culture. This Lent may we have the
courage that we need to pray and work for justice and may we take time to celebrate with
those who are different from us...
Sue Hammersley
| Why do Christians have to give good things up during Lent? |
| Lent Lunches. In support of ‘Christian Aid’. Home Made Soup and a Bread Roll for £ 3.00. Each Tuesday of Lent we will be serving from 12.00 pm – 1.00 pm. Please join us on one or more of the dates below |
| Tuesday 23rd February Tuesday 2nd March Tuesday 9th March |
| Tuesday 16th March Tuesday 23rd March Tuesday 30st March |
| Palm Sunday - 28th of March at 6.30 pm. A Performance of the Lenten Cantata - The Darkest Hour The Choir will perform the Lenten Cantata ‘The Darkest Hour’ on Palm Sunday evening at 6.30pm in the Church. This Cantata which was written by Harold Moore aims to prepare believers for the most important event in the church’s life, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Do come and bring your friends, let us try to make an impact on our locality, and on all who seek a Christian life. The choir will be augmented and the soloists will be: - Jean Jenkins – Soprano, Gary Baldwin – Tenor and Tony White - Bass |
Dear Colleagues
Warm greetings in Christ as you prepare to mark Lent across the Diocese.
The November Diocesan Synod agreed a vision statement for the future
direction of the Diocese. The final version of this reads:
Warm greetings in Christ as you prepare to mark Lent across the Diocese.
The November Diocesan Synod agreed a vision statement for the future
direction of the Diocese. The final version of this reads:
| Bishop Steven writes. |
| The Diocese of Sheffield is called to grow a sustainable network of Christ-like, lively and diverse Christian communities in every place which are effective in making disciples and in seeking to transform our society and God’s world. |