| 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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As Sue is ordained and as we await the appointment of a new Bishop I want to share with you
a sermon the Dean, Peter Bradley, preached recently.
He began by saying he found the snapshots of the early church in the book of Acts
discouraging – not because they were bad news but because they were such rosy good news.
‘The picture given is that of awe, generosity, gladness, goodwill, not to mention hundreds of
baptisms every week. All this good cheer and extravagant success’, he went on to say, ‘make it
difficult to get excited about the churches we know, the real churches, the ones where we
worship, where its hard to build up a congregation ….where the budget’s an annual struggle,
and where people come every Sunday provided the weather isn’t too bad or too good.’
It’s tempting, he went on to say, to reassure ourselves by saying this snapshot was taken just
after Pentecost and we can’t expect Pentecost every week, can we? But Acts does seem to
expect Pentecost every week. So it seems ‘After Acts it’s been downhill for the Church ever
since……. unless there’s something deeper going on here.’
‘One of the fun things about my job, is that I am often sent copies of parish magazines…..
they give hundreds of snapshots of the life of our church and it always sounds good…. A
bring and share supper in Wath sounds like the messianic banquet; and adult confirmation in
Rotherham becomes as significant as the conversion of Russia….the writers of our
magazines…have such a love for the church that they have the capacity to see amid the
ragged fortunes and foibles or our struggling congregations the blessed community of Jesus
Christ shining through.
Theologically we could put it like this: they have the capacity to see the church as God sees it,
as the emerging presence of the reign of God. And this too is how Luke is writing in Acts…….
And this ability to see,’ he continues ‘is what I am praying for in our new Bishop. I pray that
our new Bishop will be the greatest parish magazine editor, able to look at our Diocese and
County and see God’s reign shining through.
But there’s more than that, because we must also pray that each of us will receive this gift with
our new Bishop. In the Old Testament when Joshua tried to restrict the gifts of the Holy Spirit
to an elite group of men, Moses rebuked him very sternly. The Scriptures are clear: all of us
are to be holy magazine editors, to see the diocese and our parishes, as God sees them and to
sustain ourselves with the confident hope that the endless reign of Christ is breaking
through.’
Tricia Impey
a sermon the Dean, Peter Bradley, preached recently.
He began by saying he found the snapshots of the early church in the book of Acts
discouraging – not because they were bad news but because they were such rosy good news.
‘The picture given is that of awe, generosity, gladness, goodwill, not to mention hundreds of
baptisms every week. All this good cheer and extravagant success’, he went on to say, ‘make it
difficult to get excited about the churches we know, the real churches, the ones where we
worship, where its hard to build up a congregation ….where the budget’s an annual struggle,
and where people come every Sunday provided the weather isn’t too bad or too good.’
It’s tempting, he went on to say, to reassure ourselves by saying this snapshot was taken just
after Pentecost and we can’t expect Pentecost every week, can we? But Acts does seem to
expect Pentecost every week. So it seems ‘After Acts it’s been downhill for the Church ever
since……. unless there’s something deeper going on here.’
‘One of the fun things about my job, is that I am often sent copies of parish magazines…..
they give hundreds of snapshots of the life of our church and it always sounds good…. A
bring and share supper in Wath sounds like the messianic banquet; and adult confirmation in
Rotherham becomes as significant as the conversion of Russia….the writers of our
magazines…have such a love for the church that they have the capacity to see amid the
ragged fortunes and foibles or our struggling congregations the blessed community of Jesus
Christ shining through.
Theologically we could put it like this: they have the capacity to see the church as God sees it,
as the emerging presence of the reign of God. And this too is how Luke is writing in Acts…….
And this ability to see,’ he continues ‘is what I am praying for in our new Bishop. I pray that
our new Bishop will be the greatest parish magazine editor, able to look at our Diocese and
County and see God’s reign shining through.
But there’s more than that, because we must also pray that each of us will receive this gift with
our new Bishop. In the Old Testament when Joshua tried to restrict the gifts of the Holy Spirit
to an elite group of men, Moses rebuked him very sternly. The Scriptures are clear: all of us
are to be holy magazine editors, to see the diocese and our parishes, as God sees them and to
sustain ourselves with the confident hope that the endless reign of Christ is breaking
through.’
Tricia Impey
| 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."
Rev'd. 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."
Rev'd. Canon 'Tricia Impey
| Below you will find:- Our Mission Statement, First Words..............., A Prayer for the Month And A Thought for the Month |
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| Give me a desire to see others reach their greatness; Give me a word to help another grow. May petty ways drop from us like scales. Step by step you lead us. Feed and remake us till we are glad to be givers, till we joy in being brothers, till we joy in being sisters, till heaven laughs in delight at our pleasure in each other. Amen Ray Simpson in Celtic Daily Light |
| Please consider the environment before printing pages from this website. |
| First Words............... |
| Legal Stuff: Copyright Licence No 670491 |
As I write several important things are taking place:
- Here at St Mary’s we have just had the rehearsal for the service at which Sue
Hammersley will be ordained priest by Bishop Cyril. This is an important time for Sue
and us. Her year as a Deacon has been both a time of training and a time for her and
the wider church to test her vocation to the priesthood. I think all of us who have come
to know Sue over this year will feel this is the right thing for her and wish her God’s
richest blessing on her ministry here and in the future.
- Within the Deanery the clergy have just met for a day as a follow up to the Deanery
Synod day conference to look at how we might work closer together. How we might
share resources and assist one another in the various aspects of ministry in the light of
the expected reduction in clergy numbers. A reduction due in part to a large number of
retirements in the near future and in part to finances.
- In the Diocese the Crown Nominations Commission is meeting to look at the names of
those who are being considered as the next Bishop of Sheffield and reflect on who
should be asked to follow Bishop Jack. Folk from the Diocese as well as the national
church are on this commission and we pray that they will be open to God’s guidance.
Due to the processes involved in the nomination and appointment of a new Bishop it
will still be some time before we know who has been chosen.
- Finally, as the end of term approaches and the Summer Holidays really get underway I
trust that everyone will have safe travel and an enjoyable summer – whatever the
weather!!
| Welcome to St Mary's Parish Church, Ecclesfield |
| Sue Hammersley’s Ordination The Sermon Bishop Cyril gave at Sue’s Ordination is now available to listen to online. Click on Listen Again to download or listen to his Sermon. Our thanks to The Right Reverend Cyril Ashton for his permission to publish this item. |
| Website Access Some of you may have experienced problems accessing our website and we are working to remedy this problem. If you experience problems accessing the site it would be helpful if you could e-mail us with the following information: - Your Location, The Date, Local Time and the name of your ISP (Internet Service Provider). All information received will be treated in confidence and you will not be contacted by us unless you specifically request a reply. Email the Webmaster |
| Seaside Rock ! A Holiday Club for 5 - 11 year olds Monday 11th to Friday 15th of August 2008 10 am to 12 pm in the Gatty Hall Cost £ 1.50 per Session With a Special Celebration Service on Sunday 17th August at 10.30 am. Click on image for a printable registration form. |