Pewsheets

From the Burstons…

Pewsheets

So here we are – not our last Service in the Parish – and having looked at our diary with several Weddings and the odd baptism in the coming months at St Nicholas’ – you won’t be getting rid of Steve completely for a while! But today is our last service at St Barnabas’. It wasn’t the wow of St Nicholas’ or the smooth words of Anthony that wooed us to the Parish. When we first visited it was the rather less salubrious setting of St Barnabas’ Church Hall.

3I6A0741 A (Steves Wife & Daughters)It was Liz who stood in it and said ‘What potential!’ And we – the Burston family – have been privileged in the past 2+ years to see God release only fraction of that potential – Messy Church and the Youth Club have been highlights for us – and we couldn’t have led them without the amazing volunteers many of you are. It is always dangerous to highlight one individual over another – however – we will in our last pew sheet. Not because this person is any better than anyone else, but because he embodies the quiet way many of you associated with St Barnabas’ go about his or her business.

Mark Dobson has volunteered at Youth Club since it began, every other Friday, wholeheartedly, quietly, humbly and loyally. After a busy week he turns up and serves 30 plus kids with love and encouragement. And that is the story and the potential of St Barnabas’. Clergy as you know – and probably on occasions are relieved to know – come and go, but all you Mark Dobsons (because there are many of you) are the air that breathes life into a place we dearly love and will dearly miss.

Steve, Liz, Grace, Alice, Lily and of course – Digger!!

August Hymns

Pewsheets

Hymns that will be sung this month (no choir) are shown below:

7th             The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity       

327           Awake, awake: fling off the night

641ii         Glorious things of thee are spoken

291           Christ is made the sure foundation (v.5, 7, 8, 9)

757           One more step along the road I go

652           Guide me, O thou great Redeemer

 

14th           The Blessed Virgin Mary  10am Parish Eucharist at St Barnabas’

258           O thou who camst from above

315           Sing we of the blessèd Mother

232           The head that once was crowned with thorns

602           Blest are the pure in heart

394           Tell out, my soul

 

21st           The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

766           Praise my soul, the king of heaven

520           Thine arm, O Lord, in days of old

132           O for a heart to praise my God

679           In Christ there is no east or west

814           Thy hand, O God, has guided

 

28th                  The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity   

584           All my hope on God is founded

704           Let all the world in every corner sing

664           How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

695           Jesus, these eyes have never seen

238           Come down, O Love divine

Pewsheet for Week Beginning 7th August 2016

Pewsheets

Click here for the pewsheet for the week beginning Sunday 7th August 2016.

Tip: If this, or any other, PDF document opens at too large a size, here’s what you do:

  1. Open Adobe Reader, for example, by opening a *.pdf document you have on your computer.
  2. From the Edit menu, click Preferences.
  3. With Page Display selected in the left hand list of Categories, on the right hand side of the window, choose a Page Layout and Zoom level that suits you, for example Single Page and Fit Page.
  4. Now any time you open a PDF, it will open at this zoom level.

Pewsheet for Week Beginning 24th July 2016

Pewsheets

Click here for the pewsheet for the week beginning Sunday 24th July 2016.

Tip: If this, or any other, PDF document opens at too large a size, here’s what you do:

  1. Open Adobe Reader, for example, by opening a *.pdf document you have on your computer.
  2. From the Edit menu, click Preferences.
  3. With Page Display selected in the left hand list of Categories, on the right hand side of the window, choose a Page Layout and Zoom level that suits you, for example Single Page and Fit Page.
  4. Now any time you open a PDF, it will open at this zoom level.

The Rector Writes…

Pewsheets

The last couple of weeks have been very full so I can certainly resonate with Martha and the distraction of “many tasks”.  Getting things done assumes a natural priority in our lives – we can sacrifice things that are for ourselves (as Martha might have seen the “luxury” of sitting at Jesus’ feet as her sister was doing) but when others are depending on us the sense of duty (and love) takes over and the tasks have priority (as the demands of hospitality for an honoured guest for Martha).

For me, the needs of the parish, the international development charity which I chair, the school of which I am a governor and the family (school holidays and all the preparations needed to get our new home ready for the move) have led to a certain amount of burning the candle at both ends.  Sound familiar?  I was, however, reminded in the week that you can only ‘give’ and draw on your reserves (spiritual, emotional and physical) if you take care to ensure that those reserves are regularly replenished.  “Love your neighbour as yourself”. For Christians prayer and worship, Mary-like, are crucial elements of such recharging. So, agreeing the schedule of worship during the ‘interregnum’ has been a crucial task.  The Sunday and mid-week services will remain as now except that a Parish Eucharist will be celebrated on the 5th Sunday and the Baptism services at St Nicholas’ will move to 11.30 a.m. – allowing some of the regular congregation to help with the welcome.

Enjoy the summer!

Anthony

From the Curate…

Pewsheets

In 1856, as he looked out across the Bristol Channel, the world looked very different to the Revd John Ashley than it does to us today.  Ashley saw hundreds of sailing ships at anchor far from the shore.  He devoted his life to preaching the Good News of Jesus to those at sea. The ‘Mission to Seafarers’ was begun.

Today the legacy of Ashley’s visionary work continues with seafarers continues with vigour, dedication and energy.  There are over 100 ordained and lay chaplains across the world.  At sea there are many tragedies and chaplains are there to help.  As the chaplain to the port of Dunkirk notes ‘an essential part of the role of the chaplain is to maintain a presence throughout all the different stages of an emergency situation; constant, calm and reassuring to those in need’.

They need our prayers and our support as they work in the margins of our society.  As we know St Paul travelled a lot by sea, sometimes successfully, and as we read Acts, sometimes horrendously unsuccessfully (as he was shipwrecked).  What was constant in his travels, however, was his faith in Jesus Christ.  No matter how hard the situation, he kept focused on Christ, even as he faced death in Rome.  It is this perspective that the Seafarer’s Mission gives to seafarers.  No matter the storm, that if they have faith in Christ, all will be well.

Steve

Read more about the Seafarers Work here.

Quick Guide to St Nicholas’ Launched

Pewsheets

Today we’ve launched a quick guide for visitors – a double-sided laminate which you can borrow when you’re walking round the church, detailing some of the highlights of the building to ensure you don’t miss them on your visit.

If you want your own copy, print it from here.

Come and see us soon !