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| timeline: 2000-2024 |
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| 2000 |
| January - Millenium bell ringing The new century rung in by the bellringers on the morning of 1 January 2000 |
| March - Memorial garden Memorial Garden and and memorial plaques - as work around the church reached completion, the memorial plaque scheme is announced in February. On 26 March Bishop of Stockport dedicated the Memorial Garden. |
| August - Paul Robinson leaves St Paul's Paul's last service was on 13 August 2000 before moving to St Hilary's Church, Wallasey |
| 2001 |
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August - Youth Club St Paul’s Youth Club participated in the Chester Diocese Annual Football Tournament, where one of the teams got through to the final, losing by only one goal. |
| 2002 |
February - Richard Lawry
February 1st, 2002,
Richard Lawry becomes Priest in Charge
at St Paul's -
He introduced himself thus: For the last 4 years or so, we’ve been living in
Macclesfield, where I’ve been Curate at St Michael’s Church in the
Macclesfield Team Parish.
We’ve been in that part of Cheshire for around 7 years altogether,
though neither of us come from that neck of the woods originally.Brenda is from Yorkshire – she lived in Sheffield until she left
home – and I’m originally from Colwyn Bay in North Wales, where I spent
my childhood. Before coming
back up north, we both lived in London (and various other places!) for
quite a few years.
I started training for ordained ministry 5 years
ago, much of that time combining my studies in Nottingham with my work
in Macclesfield. Before
that, I’d worked as an actor for about 12 years – mostly in the theatre,
but also now and again on the TV(It’s been pointed out to me that, as an actor turned priest, I
must have a thing about wearing strange costumes!).
Brenda is a pianist.
Her main job is as staff accompanist at Chetham’s School of Music in
Manchester, but she also does a fair bit of performing here and abroad.So these days, I tend to be the one who’s at home more often!
What about our main interests?Well, we’re both very keen on music of different sorts, and
travelling (preferably where the sun shines). I’m a bit of a sport nut, although I suppose in general I watch
more and do less than I used to! We love walking in the hills, and one look out of the vicarage
window tells us we’ve come to the right place for that.
We’re both very excited about moving to Stalybridge
and working with everyone at St Paul’s. |
| April - Concert Concert by Stalybridge Band and the Stayley Singers |
| May - Confirmation at St Paul's |
| June - Hymn Book A new hymn-book, called Complete Mission Praise was introduced.This replaced Hymns Ancient & Modern. |
| June - Organist Barbara and Derek Jones retire after eight years as organist and choir master. They are succeeded by Stuart Steels and Brenda Lawry. |
| September - Prayer Vigil Silent prayer vigil in church 8:30am - 8:30pm Wednesday September 11 to pray for the events of 9/11 the previous year in New York. |
| October - Restoration Fund Relaunch Church Restoration Fund re-launched. The name of the fund was changed from `Development' to 'Restoration', as we wanted to define more clearly the use to which it is put. (This fund has always been for work on the church building itself; while the churchyard project has been self-financing.) |
| 2003 |
| January - Alpha First Alpha Course takes place at St Paul's. |
| February - Creche Creche now available in church during Sunday morning services. |
| April - Website The parish website went live. |
| June - Deanery Day The Deanery Day was held at St Paul's. The theme of the day was "Getting in touch". On offer were: a drama workshop for children by a special outside drama group, discussions and workshops on baptism, the Bible, teenagers' needs, using our buildings, prayer, "Praise and Play" and similar ventures for small kids, and much more. People were able to choose seminar options and activities. The day ended with an all-age celebration service. |
| September - Canal Mission - "Beyond the Ring" ....reaching its conclusion in Stalybridge on the weekend of 27th/28th September. This was the major outreach event of the year in our Chester Diocese, with a flotilla of canal boats making their way round the Cheshire Canal ring system. The main purpose of it is to share what we have to offer with others - to encourage the people in our communities to take a look at what we're about in church, and to feel welcomed. We have a great message to spread - that there is more to life than meets the eye, and a whole new world to discover in the love of God shown to us in Jesus. All the churches of the area anywhere near the canal are putting on a huge variety of 'happenings', including curry evenings, concerts, services, entertainments, pub events and meetings of various kinds. At St Paul's, various celebrations were planned: The climax was a jazz concert at 7.30pm on the evening of Sunday 28th. "This is no ordinary jazz-band. 'Wellspring' are a unique outfit. They are all professional musicians from the North-West who are also Christians." Earlier in the day, the 10.30am morning service will be a celebration Family Communion. Roly Bain the Clown will be with us, as well as Paul Brown, the Church Mission Society representative for the North-West, and guest preacher for the day. At 3.00pm that afternoon, we'll be coming together with other churches in the middle of Stalybridge for a joint open-air service - weather permitting!. Launching the weekend (if you'll pardon the pun!) will be the Saturday afternoon open event at church, where things will be given a special canal/water theme! I won't undermine the novelty by giving too many details away..... you'll just have to come and experience it! Many of the groups who meet at church or who use it will be in evidence to show what they do and to host activities and games. The main "outside" attraction will be the entertainer-conjurer Ian Otto, who will provide a show to delight and bamboozle. There will be refreshments, too, and various surprises. The afternoon will have a particular attraction for children, but is intended for "punters of all ages"! - Website News item from 2003 |
| October - Restoration Fundraiser The event is a variety entertainment evening of fun and laughter, in aid of our Restoration Fund. The date is Friday 24 October, at 7.30pm. And the venue is - just for a change - at "the other end of the parish"!........ at the Roe Cross Inn, by the cutting on the way to Mottram. |
| November - Remembering - a Service of Remembrance for the Bereaved. This is not replacing the traditional Remembrance Service - but it's to fulfil a complementary function on the same day. |
| November - Friday night youth group After a short break, the Friday night youth group has reopened and looks forward to welcoming any children aged 7 upwards for an evening of crafts, games and meeting new friends. The group meets from 6:30 to 8:30 in the upstairs room at the church centre. Admission is 75p and there is a tuck shop available. |
| November - Choir Christmas CD. The Choir recorded a CD of Christmas music - proceeds of the sale of the CD going to the Restoration Fund. |
| December - Healing Services First of the monthly Healing Services during the evening Holy Communion Service. |
| 2004 |
| January - Mission Statement St Paul's Mission Statement published. |
| February - Welcome Team Welcome Team introduced to greet people as they arrive for the main service on Sundays. |
| April - Early PrayerSt Paul's experimented with opening the church from 6.30 am - 7.30 am each Wednesday for prayer. The scheme had limited success and was discontinued. |
| June - Confirmation service at St Paul's There were eight candidates from St Paul's. |
| June - Restoration Comedy A great evening of entertainment by home-grown talent and outside friends - sketches, monologues, songs, music - all in aid of St Paul's Restoration Fund. Last year's show at the Roe Cross was a hit! This year, it's held at the Labour Club in Stalybridge, Friday 2 July, starting at 7.30pm. |
| October - Notice Boards New notice boards installed at both entrances to the church from Huddersfield Road. |
| October - Harvest St Paul's hosted a joint Harvest evening service with representation from St George's, St Peter's Roman Catholic Church,the Baptist Church and the Unitarian Church. The service of Evening Prayer and was led by Richard. A compelling sermon was delivered by Rev'd Ian Stubbs (St George's), the readings were given by two members of St Peter's congregation and the prayers were led by Rev'd Pat Ingle (Baptist Church). |
| November - Choir CD New CD: A new CD from St Paul's choir is planned for the end of the year. This time two of the tracks will be congregational items |
| December - Chetham's Concert Saturday 11th December a group of students from Chetham's School of Music in Manchester came to St Paul's for an gala concert. They were accompanied on the piano by Brenda Blewett (more familiar to us at St Paul's as Brenda Lawry!) - joint head of accompaniment at Chetham's. |
| 2005 |
| January - Alpha Course There were 19 participants enjoying the 10 weekly sessions, a mixture of people who've been at St Paul's for many years, and people who've only recently arrived. |
| April - Good Friday St Paul's decided to revert to a more traditional scheme offering one extended service between 12.00-3.00pm, corresponding to the last three hours of the crucifixion. |
| May - Pulpit swap Fr Bernard Forshaw (from St Peter’s RC Church) and Richard Lawry swap pulpits. Richard preached at St Peter’s ‘Vigil for Pentecost Eve’ on Saturday 14 May at 6.30pm, and Fr Bernard came to St Paul's on 22 May (Trinity Sunday) to preach at our special service of Choral Evensong. |
| June - Confirmation Service with 12 candidates from St Paul's |
| September - Parish Weekend A time for making new friendships, growing together, having fun, making space for God, and enjoying trips and activities in the beautiful Peak District setting. It was held at Cliff College, near Calver, a Christian training college and conference centre, and a lovely place with excellent facilities for this kind of event. |
| September - Restoration work The scaffolding has gone up in preparation for the restoration building work to start in earnest, and by the time you read this, things should be in full swing in the north transept and chancel. |
| October - Harvest This year, we’re encouraging members of the congregation to take a box of harvest gifts away after the service on 2 October and give it to a neighbour, rather than sending them to house-bound church members. The intention is to create another means of reaching out to others in our community, who wouldn’t normally have that contact with the church.Secondly, a new “Harvest Breakfast”. Due to lack of space during the building work, and an extra baptism service, a lunch would not be possible, so we’re doing breakfast instead! We’ll be serving a “Celebration Harvest Continental Breakfast” at 9.00am - i.e. between the early and main services - croissants, fruit, coffee/tea etc. Tickets will be £2.50, and, as always, the money raised will be for Christian Aid. |
| December - Floodlighting The first phase of floodlighting the church is now complete. The tower end of the church is now floodlit. The official switch-on took place on 19 December. |
| December - Night of Miracles Things have to be slightly different this year, because the organ is out of commission during the building works, and the choir is currently relocated in the Memorial Chapel! So we won’t be able to hold a traditional Carol Service in quite the normal way. It will still take place (18 December, 6.30pm), but with more congregational participation, and without some of the more elaborate choral pieces. So in addition to that, the evening before, we’re putting on “Night of Miracles”, a relatively modern Christmas cantata to be performed by the choir, telling the Christmas story in words and music (with some great tunes!). |
| 2006 |
| February - Celebration The 10.30am service on 26 February will be one in which we’ll celebrate lots of things. We’re moving back into the whole church, and marking the end of the current phase of the restoration work - and enjoying the newly-refurbished chancel and North transept. We’ll also be marking the new plaque that’s to be put up for Iain Frith. And in the same service, we’ll be welcoming the Bishop and other diocesan representatives who will be with us to carry out my induction as vicar of St Paul’s. That might surprise a few people who thought I was already the vicar!! In fact, I was licensed as ‘priest-in-charge’ 4 years ago. Recently, the Bishop asked the PCC if they’d like me to be their vicar, and they very kindly said yes! I was licensed as (temporary) priest-in-charge, because there was the possibility of St Paul’s joining with two other churches to form a ‘team ministry’. In the event, that didn’t happen, and the diocese felt it right to suggest this current development. In practice, in day-to-day life, it will make little difference. But since it makes me ‘incumbent’ of the parish, it puts pastoral arrangements here on a more permanent footing, and means that the diocese has confidence in our church and is acknowledging St Paul’s viability and potential. It should be a special day, and we hope many of you will be able to be with us. |
| June - Confirmation Service |
| July - Choral Evensong On Sunday 16 July, we are being joined by St George’s Church and choir for a service of Choral Evensong. This will take place at St Paul’s, at 6.00pm. The service will include a wealth of beautiful sacred music: a setting by CV Stanford, the wonderful anthem “Cantique de Jean Racine” by Gabriel Faure, some new responses, and some fine congregational hymns. The preacher is to be Ven Richard Gillings, the Archdeacon of Macclesfield. And it will all be preceded by a strawberry tea, to give an extra festival feel! |
| July - Floodlighting The second phase of the scheme to floodlight St Paul's Church came into operation on Tuesday 4 July |
| September - New boilers We are getting two new boilers to replace the old church boiler, and one new one to provide heating for the upstairs room and the hot water in the centre. All of the boilers will now be located in the downstairs kitchen, for ease of servicing and control-setting. |
| September - Memorial Garden The next phase of the Memorial Garden in the churchyard - creating flower beds by the paths on the north side of the church - is about to start. On Saturday 14 October, we hope to have a team of people together to make headway on digging out, putting footings in, and, we hope,starting to build walls. |
| September - Spotlight Youth Drama Group A new drama group is starting for young people (10 years old and upwards). Every Monday night, at St Paul’s, from 6.15-7.15pm. David Stockwell is leading it, with help from various others. Games, exercises, and work on dramas and sketches. A great opportunity for young people to hone their performance skills and have fun! We’re inviting young people from other churches to join too. |
| December - The Letter Rhema Theatre Company (a professional Christian theatre company) are coming to St Paul’s on Friday 1st December (7.30pm) to perform their new play “The Letter”, based on the dramatic life of St Paul. |
| December - Christmas Cardboard We’re putting on a home-grown, alternative Christmas play. It’s called Christmas Cardboard, written and produced by David Stockwell, and inspired by the plight of homeless people in London. It’s amusing and thought-provoking. We’re doing this in collaboration with All Saints, Micklehurst and St James, Millbrook. The cast are drawn from all three churches, and they have started rehearsing already. The performance is on Saturday 16 December, in St Paul’s. |
| 2007 |
| January - Piano Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester offered us a Steinway grand piano for nothing! It needed some standard work to bring it back to tip-top condition, the cost of that would be defrayed by the proceeds of a concert, once in situ. It will be a marvellous asset to St Paul’s, both for use in some services and for concerts, (not to mention as a financial asset!). We’re very grateful to Chetham’s for their generous offer. |
| June - Confirmation at St Paul's |
| September - Memorial Plaques With the new Memorial Garden now largely completed, we are able to start the process of moving plaques to their permanent site. |
| November - White Hart Dinner a major fund-raising and social event, dinner at the White Hart Inn in Lydgate. The White Hart is a marvellous place on the edge of the countryside beyond Mossley, and it’s renowned as a splendid venue with superb food. |
| November - The Holy Land talk by Richard Lawry - "When I came back from my pilgrimage to the Holy Land at the end of March this year, several people asked if I might show some pictures or give a talk about it". Richard |
| November - Remembrance Day The morning service will be on the theme of “Peace and Remembrance”. Traditional elements of the Remembrance Service will be interwoven with readings and music to aid prayer and reflection. Among other items, the choir will be singing two anthems, setting appropriate Biblical texts to music. The evening will be our Service for the Bereaved, to which all are invited, and especially those who have lost loved ones in recent times. This is intended as an act of worship, thanksgiving, remembrance and healing. We hope you’ll be able to join us for one or both of these services. |
| 2008 |
| January - Prayer Day for St Paul's We’ve decided there could be no better way to start the year than with a day of prayer for our church. We’re going to hold this on Saturday 12 January, and I’d like to encourage every (mobile!) church member to come into church at some point that day, even if just for 10 minutes. |
| February - Candle stand An anonymous donation was recently made to St Paul’s to buy a candle stand for church. The PCC warmly welcomed the offer, and the item has now been purchased and placed in the Memorial Chapel. This offers the opportunity, for any who might so wish, to light a votive candle, perhaps in memory of a loved one, on the anniversary of a death, as a way of offering thanks or a prayer, or perhaps to accompany prayer for some other person or need. There will also be occasions when we’ll bring the stand into the main church and use it in special services. We’re very grateful for the generosity and thoughtfulness of the donors. |
| March - Concert Following the successful event two years ago, another group of Chetham's students will come to St Paul's to give a concert in aid of the Restoration Fund on Friday 14 March - with Brenda Lawry (aka Brenda Blewett) as accompanist using our new piano. Update - Peter Moore who featured in the gala concert by students from Chetham’s School of Music on 14 March at St Paul's, yesterday (May 11) was named as overall winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year for 2008. |
| April - Sunday Serenade Many of us enjoyed the gala concert by students from Chetham’s School of Music on 14 March in church. Now we have another chance to enjoy some fine music-making by very talented young people – and this time it’s free! Two exceptional violinists – Jiafeng Chen and Mari Poll – both ex-Chetham’s and now studying at music college will perform in this one-hour recital, accompanied again by Brenda, on Sunday 6th April at 3.00pm, in St Paul’s. This concert will be part of their build-up to participating in the prestigious Menuhin International Violin Competition later in the month. ( Jiafeng Chen won second prize in the Senior Competition of the prestigious Menuhin International Violin Competition). |
| August - Hope 08 The weekend of 30 & 31 August is the Hope 08 Tameside Big Weekend. On Sunday people will be gathering at Stamford Park Ashton for a free family funday for all. There will be puppets, an amazing fire-eater, a children's magician, bouncy castles, face-painting, interactive works of art and children's craft, there really is something for everyone. There will be music on the main stage, with the line-up including Make Jesus Known and LZ7! |
| August - Theft of lead from church roof In April of this year, and several times since, we have had lead thefts from the roof and gutter areas of the church roof. |
| September - Back to Church Sunday It’s a ideal opportunity to invite a friend or neighbour to church – someone who used to go in the past but has drifted away. Very often people would love to come back to church, but just need a personal invitation in order to encourage them. It can be daunting to make that journey over the door-step on your own. As last year, we’ll be putting on a buffet lunch after the main morning service, and also food and activities for children, as part of the welcome we’re offering people. |
| October - Colin Ashworth Colin Ashworth will be licensed as a Lay Reader for St Paul's at a service in Chrster Cathedral on Saturday 18 October. |
| December - Concert We are launching our new series of lunchtime concerts on Tuesday 2nd December. The intention is to put on one of these concerts approximately every half term. The concert will be given by a group of students from Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, accompanied by Brenda Blewett (aka Lawry!). The concerts will start at 1.00 (lasting about an hour), with a soup-and-sandwich lunch beforehand, in the church lounge. |
| 2009 |
| January - Richard Lawry to leave The Vicar of St Paul's, Richard Lawry, announced that he would be moving to a new post within the Chester diocese - at Norbury, in Stockport. He anticipates that he will leave St Paul's in June 2009. |
| January - Memorial Chapel An anonymous donation was used to buy three new chairs for the chapel, and a beautiful table has been provided too. On the table we have placed a lovely wooden cross which has been hand-carved and anonymously donated in memory of a loved one. All of this complements the votive candle stand introduced recently, and the memorial book cabinet and other existing features. Thank you to all those who have generously contributed to the improvements of various sorts. Do use the chapel – go in and sit, pray, light a candle, and so on – whenever the church is open. Perhaps you may want to come early before a service, or stay afterwards for some quiet moments. There are prayer request cards, which you can fill in if there is someone or something you would like us to pray for. There is a small basket to place the cards in, and they will be brought up to the altar table during Healing Services, and added to the prayers. |
| April - Concert Concert at St Pauls on 25 April at 7:30pm featuring Jiafeng Chen - who won second prize in the Senior Competition of the 2008 Menuhin International Violin Competition - and Brenda Blewett aka Brenda Lawry. The programme will include works by Paganini, Bach and Ravel. |
| April - Restoration The restoration work on the tower (and high-level stone-work) is due to start on 20 April. This is the penultimate phase of the restoration programme for St Paul’s. The final phase of the programme will be the south transept and organ chamber, which may happen next year. We had some financial good news recently when the Historic Cheshire Churches Preservation Trust gave us a very generous grant of £10,000. We now have a significant proportion of the money needed for the remaining work, and so the light can be glimpsed at the end of the tunnel. |
| May - Concert Tuesday 5th May. Once again, students from Chetham’s School of Music, accompanied by Brenda Blewett (aka Lawry!) will come and give a varied programme in a one-hour recital at church (1.00-2.00pm). |
| May - Richard Lawry leaves From Richard & Brenda: Thank you all so much for the wonderful send-off you gave us on 31 May. It was a day we will never forget. It wasn’t easy for us (as you will have noticed!) to say goodbye to you all, but the sadness of the day was balanced with such a sense of love and even celebration. The gifts you gave us were just marvellous, and we were deeply touched not just by your generosity but by your thoughtfulness. The blessing which the children sang for us at the end of the service was so moving, and their presentation too. And the wonderful shared lunch and the Whit Walks in the afternoon made the whole day particularly memorable. |
| June - Confirmation Service at St Paul's There were six candidates from St Paul's. |
| June - Family Fun Day Saturday 13th June 2-5pm, held on the lawn of Staley House, next to the Vicarage. Barbecue, children's games and races - a lovely annual event. |
| September - Concert Saint Paul's presents a concert by The Adamson Military Band in church on Saturday 19 September 2009 |
| 2010 |
 May - Tim Robinson
Rev. Dr
Tim Robinson becomes Vicar of St Paul's and was inducted on 11 May 2010.
From the church website: "Tim was formerly curate at St Mary's, Nantwich. He is 53, a Geordie, and was previously a geology teacher. He is married to Norma, who is a part-time nurse
and also currently studying for the non-stipendary ministry. They have two
daughters, the youngest of whom, Jenna, will also be coming to Stalybridge."
In his spare time Tim loves walking and playing golf with his wife Norma.
He also enjoys listening to music and plays the trombone |
| October - Restoration The area of church where work is being carried out has been boarded off to allow services to carry on as normal. The contractors hope to finish the work by Christmas. The work required on the organ is now found to be less extensive than previously thought - and thus, also less expensive! However, on the advice of the architect, the stained glass windows in the South Transept have had to be removed prior to being re-leaded. They will then be put back into place. |
| October - Growth Action Plan We will be asked to state of Growth Action Plan priorities for 2011 in the new year. A PCC Away Day in October discussed issues in two areas: "Welcome and integration" and "Accessibility of Worship" but there may be other things which members of the church feel strongly about. |
| 2011 |
| February - E100 Challenge This is a challenge to read the Bible in one year, forcusing on the essential 100 passages of the Bible including the Old and New Testaments. Some of our services would be based on this challenge |
| June - Confirmation ....at St Paul's with the Bishop of Chester. 14 candidates from St Paul's. |
| June - Money PCC discusses shortfall in income to cover general expenses |
| September - Restoration of the organ In 2009, the final stage of the restoration of the church building was due to start and it was known that the organ would have to be removed to deal with dry rot in the organ chamber. The firm of David Wells of Liverpool was engaged and the work began in September 2010. Most of the organ was removed at least to sound board level and the existing capture system scrapped and a new and much improved system installed. This final stage of the restoration of the building was completed in 2012 |
| September - AV system A Faculty for the new Public Address and Audio Visual Systems has been granted. It was decided to implement the PA work as soon as possible, but the AV work will have to go on hold due to financial constraints. |
| September - Bread of Life Food Bank This is jointly run by St James, St Paul's and All Saints. There was an excellent response by church members to the request to sign up to provide items for the food parcels. |
| November - Evening Services The Sunday evening Holy Communion with Healing Service was discontinued. The numbers attending have dropped to an average of less than 10. The heating costs over the winter months do not justify this service. |
| 2012 |
| January - Cup licensing a list of 16 members of the church was approved to present before the Bishop of Stockport. |
| January - PCC Away Day In the morning sessions we looked at the Strengths and Weaknesses of the church, and the Opportunities and Threats these posed. In the afternoon we put together our GAP, which was much easier to do than the SWOT analysis, hopefully because our morning discussions had been productive. .....more |
| February - Lent Appeal - Wateraid. Saint Paul’s can save lives this Lent by turning Jars of Change into jars of water. Just set aside a jar and drop some money into it every time you have a shower, or wash the car, wash up or use water in any way. Do this to show your appreciation of our unlimited access to safe water at the turn of a tap and to raise funds to provide safe water in countries in the developing world. |
| June - Bogus Poet Tim Robinson, the Vicar of St Paul's, produced a book of poems during Lent copies of which have been sold to support church funds. In June, the Chester Diocese website featured Tim and included two of the poems. Copies of the book are still available from the church price £2. |
| June - Jubilee Bells St Paul's bell ringers rang for half an hour on Monday 4 June to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. An 8 bell ring of bells mounted on a barge took part in the River Pageant on the Thames with bells struck by the Whitechapel Foundry - who made the first set of bells for St Paul's. |
| October - Men's Fellowship The first meeting of the Men's Fellowship Group was held in the Station Buffet Bar of Stalybridge Railway Station on Thursday 11 October at 8 pm. The theme was an informal sharing of "how we came to faith". |
| December - Festival Choir - Christmas Carol Service Members of the congregation were invited to join the choir for the Christmas Carol Service. The idea is that for certain special occasions we will have a larger, festival choir, made up of the present choir and others who may not necessarily be able to commit to weekly services. |
| 2014 |
| February - Pilgrim Course begins at St Paul's Pilgrim is a major new teaching and discipleship resource from the Church of England. It aims to help every local church create a place where people can explore the Christian faith together and see how it can be lived out each day. |
| April - Choral Evensong Choral Evensong on Easter Sunday (20th April) followed by a High Tea. For this event we were joined by the choir of St Michael’s and All Angels, Mottram. Music included Stanford’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in C and the anthems The Strife Is O'er (Ley) and With a Voice of Singing (Shaw). |
| July - PCC Away Day to consider Growth Action Plan....more |
| October - 175th Anniversary Service The preacher at this service was the Ven. Richard Gillings, former Archdeacon of Macclesfield. This anthem "I lift up my eyes" was specially commissioned for the church's 175th anniversary concert in June. The composer, Gavin Wayte, teaches composition at Chetham's School of Music. Contributions also came from the morning choir, festival choir and brass band as well as an organ and piano recital. |
| October - Tim Robinson's last service Tim Robinson's last service as Vicar took place on 12 October 2015 before moving to the parish of St Thomas, Henbury. |
November - Advent
Carol Service
and Organ Recital
Sunday November 30 at 4:00 pm
Programme
4:00 pm
Carols, anthems and readings for
Advent—Saint Paul’s Choir.
5:00
Refreshments
5:20 pm
Organ recital—Dr Steven Robinson,
Director of Music at St Paul’s |
| November - Bread of Life Food Bank Bread of Life Foodbank in numbers In the period from the beginning of January to the end of October - BOL distributed over 12000 items of food—an average of about 1200 a month. The most frequently used items were: milk, tins and packets of soup, tins of tuna, salmon etc., rice pudding and baked beans. The Bread of Life Foodbank was a joint initiative between St Paul's, St James' Millbrook and All Saints, Micklehurst. |
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December - Carol Singing at the Railway Station Carol Singing at Stalybridge Railway Station 18 December 5-7pm Join members of St George’s and Holy Trinity churches for some carol singing to spread cheer to the local community! - Thursday 18th December at Stalybridge Station (near Buffet bar) from 5pm till 7pm to sing some carols to weary commuters. There will be a brass band and all levels of singers are welcome! |
| December-Bishop of Stockport The new Bishop of Stockport— and the first female bishop of the Church of England - is to be the Rev Libby Lane. She has been vicar of St Peter's Hale and St Elizabeth's Ashley, in the diocese of Chester, since 2007. She was born in Glossop, Derbyshire and educated at Manchester High School for Girls and St Peter’s College, Oxford. She trained for ministry at Cranmer Hall in Durham. She was ordained a deacon in 1993 and a priest in 1994, serving her curacy in Blackburn. She is to be consecrated on Monday 26 January 2015 |
| 2015 |
March - Stalybridge Patchwork & Quilting Group 7th Patchwork and Quilting Exhibition Saturday 21st March 2015 11.00am to 4 pm St Paul’s Church Admission £2. Refreshments available. Traders—Patchwork Gallery; Patchwork Parade |
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April - The Annual General Meeting held after the morning service on 19 April 2015 Janet McBride and Viv Dawson were elected as Church Wardens for the next year. The following were elected to the PCC: Margaret Leitch; Alison Monks; Jacintha Manchester; Stuart Hobday; Keith Dawson; Sheila Pearson The Treasurer presented a detailed printed report on the church finances. She made the following important points: · We have to address the underpayment of the Parish Share to avoid it affecting the appointment of a new incumbent. (The PCC has already begun to deal with this issue). · The Treasurer summed up our position thus: Our income from all sources is about £80,000 while our expenditure is £104,000 to £105,000, meaning there is an annual shortfall of about £25,000. This will have to be high on the agenda of the new PCC. |
| May - Talk on Musicals Writer and broadcaster Malcolm MacFarlane presents an illustrated talk with music from the Great Musicals of Stage and Screen-from “Showboat” to “Mamma Mia”. St Paul’s Church, Huddersfield Road, Stalybridge. Saturday 2nd May 7.30pm. |
May - The Organist Entertains - a concert by Nigel Ogden Saturday 16 May ; 7:30 pm Nigel started playing the organ when he was 12, having studied the piano for a number of years. His father was a church organist, so he says he had plenty of opportunity to find out about and discover the instrument for himself. Nevertheless, it was the family trips to see Reginald Dixon at the Wurlitzer in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom that really got him hooked on the beauty of the instrument. After training as a schoolteacher, Nigel endeavoured to get involved in the music business. His first job was that of a salesman/demonstrator in an electronic organ retail business in Hyde, Cheshire. Later he opened his own electronic organ business in Sale, Cheshire. It was during this time that he also started presenting 'The Organist Entertains'; a programme on which he'd featured many times as a player since 1972. 'The Organist Entertains' has been running as a regular weekly feature since 1969, following a pilot show in April that same year. Nigel took over as the regular presenter of the show, following the retirement of the programme's founder and first host, Robin Richmond. When Nigel isn't presenting or preparing for the programme, he spends much of his spare time travelling around the country, playing concerts of popular light and light classical music on theatre organs and in churches, cathedrals and church halls. |
| May - Morning Praise Next Sunday, 31st May, at 10.30 will be a service of Morning Praise. This is a trial service to give our church an opportunity to explore an alternative pattern of worship for Morning Prayer. |
| June - Confirmation Service at St Paul's on 10 June was taken by the Bishop of Stockport, the Right Reverend Libby Lane, the first woman to be consecrated bishop in the Church of England. |
| September - The Vacancy The Diocese of Chester has agreed to the appointment of a Priest in Charge for St Paul's. |
December - Colin Ashworth Reader Colin Ashworth who was to move to another part of Cheshire, leaves St Paul's |
| 2016 |
| January - Thurday Morning Communion services These services had to be suspended due to difficulties of finding clergy to lead them. |
| January - Priest in Charge for St Paul’s It was not possible to make an appointment following the recent interviews. The post will now be re-advertised. |
| March - Emma Handley We are glad to announce that Rev Emma Handley is to be the new incumbent at St Paul's. Emma is currently the Curate at St Mark's, Bredbury and was ordained deacon in 2014 and priest in 2015. A former secondary school teacher, she and her husband, Graham, have three daughters. We hope that Emma will be inducted in June 2016 |
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July - Bread of Life Food Bank closes
At the recent AGM of BofL it was
decided to close the food bank in its
present form. Existing stock will be
distributed to other food banks or
families in need.
Since BofL started in 2011 food bank
provision in the area has increased
and BofL has had a reduction in the
number of clients referred to it.
The Chairman, Secretary, Stock
Controller and Treasurer are each
stepping down and no-one has come
forward to replace them. |
| July - St Paul ’s : a Fair Trade Church. The PCC has renewed its commitment to making St Paul's a Fair Trade church. Fair Trade means the farmers who produce the tea, coffee or sugar we use, get a better deal. It also means that they can make their own decisions, control their futures - and that of their families - and lead the dignified life everyone deserves. “Wake up and smell the coffee”! - we will soon have the use of a modern coffee maker which has been donated to the church to deliver cups of freshly brewed Fair trade coffee. |
| September - concert by the Renaissance Choir Saint Paul’s Church Saturday 24 September 2016 @ 7:30 pm Admission £7.50 including cheese and wine. |
| October - Messy Church @St Paul’s is being launched Saturday 8th October 4-5.50pm This month’s theme – ‘Thankfulness’. Bring along a responsible adult and come and enjoy biblically based crafts, games, songs, stories and stay for your tea! |
| 2017 |
January - PCC Away Day On January 21st, we will be holding a PCC away day where we will be starting to pray and seek God’s will for our church, envision God’s plan for St Paul’s, and to look ahead to our future direction. In preparation for this I am inviting you all to have a say in where you would like to see St Paul’s in the future. In the lounge, there will be three boards displaying three questions: What do you love about St Paul’s? What might we adjust? What ideas and dreams do you have for our church?. There will be opportunity to write your suggestions (anonymously or accredited) and to have a part in shaping the future of St Paul’s. Summary of your feedback Thank you to everyone who took the time to post your views on our comments boards. In general what we are hearing is positive. In the ‘what you love about St Paul’s’ section, a strong sense of belonging and of being part of a loving community which encompasses and appreciates all ages, comes through. In the ‘what could we adjust?’ section, better communication was mentioned, for example the lack of feedback to the church about decisions being made on your behalf. As a PCC we decided to make the minutes of the meeting public (they are public documents anyway) by putting them up on the board in the lounge so that everyone can have access to them. In the ‘what new dreams/ideas do you have?’ section whilst there was a general consensus that you liked the more traditional style of worship here, there was a positive attitude to more modern worship styles and the desire to encourage our younger ones to be involved in worship and music. I envisage that the all-age service will become the means to develop these areas whilst leaving the communion and morning prayer services (including the quieter Sunday 8am and Thursday 11am communions) with their more traditional style. There was an acknowledgment that we need and want to encourage our children and young people in the development of their faith as well as ourselves. In the autumn we will run the Alpha course - an excellent course which enables us to explore what the Christian faith is all about, as well as modelling the principle of fellowship by eating together and discussion. We will be looking at how we can all grow in our faith and become more confident in what we believe and in our relationship with God. Growing our discipleship groups would be one means of doing this. The particular need to encourage our men was mentioned and the possibility of re-establishing some kind of men’s group suggested. |
| March - Lent Course This year’s Lent course begins on Thursday 7 March and will run for 5 weeks. It will be held in the church lounge and will follow a simple format of reflecting on a passage from the Bible followed by a discussion on its application in our the present day with a particular emphasis on Discipleship. There will be tea, coffee etc and the evening will end with a closing prayer. There will be some study booklets available, but anyone who is interested and has access to internet can download or read the material at www.uspg.org.uk/resources/disciple ship/. The sessions would start at 7.30 and aim to finish at 9 pm. Everyone is very welcome, gor more information please see Jacintha Manchester or Helen Whitelegg. |
| April - Holy Week Services Maundy Thursday Agape Meal and Communion, 6pm - a sit down meal in church based around the Passover, followed by communion. It is anticipated that this will cost £6 for adults and £2 for children. Good Friday Meditation 1pm - a focus on Jesus’ last hours and the words that he spoke. Easter Sunday 16 April 201 7 6:00am Easter Sunrise Service Join other Christians from Stalybridge to welcome in Easter Day from the top of Ridge Hill Lane/Arlies Lane (SK15 3PZ) and afterwards for hot cross buns at the Baptist church. 10:30am Family Communion with baptism |
| May - Prayer for Manchester after the Arena Bombing God of compassion, You hear the cries of all who are in trouble or distress; accept our prayers for those whose lives are affected by the bombing in Manchester; we pray especially for those suddenly facing a future without a child, parent or loved one, young ones who are in deep distress, those who are injured, traumatized or awaiting news. Strengthen them in their hour of need, grant them perseverance and courage to face the future and be to them a firm foundation on which to build their lives; this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen |
| July - Confirmation and Baptism Service Sunday 2nd July 6.30pm We are delighted that Bishop Libby will be leading this service of confirmation and baptism at our church. |
| September - The Alpha Course An 11 week course that provides the opportunity for an exploration of the Christian faith and some of the big questions in life that we ponder from time to time. It begins by asking the question ‘Is there more to life than this?’. The evening begins with a meal, followed by a short video addressing the topic for that session and ending with a group discussion where you are able to address some of your questions in a more informal setting. There will be one 'away day' where we look at Holy Spirit. |
| October - Rocktober: concert St. Paul's Brass presents Rocktober Friday 13th October at 7.30pm. Tickets: £5 and include refreshments. The proceeds from the raffle will be donated to Willow Wood Hospice. |
| November - Youth Events Sunday 19th Nov 5-7 pm DRAMA WORKSHOP, in the Church Lounge where we’ll put something together that can be used in the Nativity on 17th December. Sunday 26th November 5-7 pm St Matthew’s Centre: Kairos Youth Service . This is a good chance to get together with the youth at Holy Trinity for some snacks, games, worship and to hear a relevant message. December 1st 7-9 pm 'DANCE OFF' in church - food and glow sticks and dancing in the dark. |
| December - Christmas at St Paul’s 2017 3rd December : All-age parade and Toy Service 10.30 am where toys are brought up as offerings that will be sent out to those children in need this Christmas. (Please put your gift unwrapped into a gift bag so that it can be distributed more easily). 10th December: Nine Lessons and Carols 18.30 17th December: Nativity Service 10.30am Where our young people bring us their version of the nativity story. Welcome to the Vicarage 2-4pm on 17th December for Christmas drinks and desserts. 24th December: Holy Communion 10.30am Christingle 16.00 Midnight Communion 11.30pm 25th December: All-age celebration 10.30am |
| 2018 |
January - Prayer A Churches Together endeavour is a baton of prayer this new year. A book of prayer is being passed on to each church in Stalybridge in turn, starting this Sunday with St George’s and coming to us between 11th and 24th March. We are encouraged to creatively record our prayers for other churches in Stalybridge as well as for our own community. This prayer initiative will end on 19th May, coinciding with the beginning of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s call to prayer: ‘Thy Kingdom Come’. We will be hosting 12 hours of continuous prayer at St Paul’s starting at 7pm on Friday 18th and ending at 8am the following morning with a prayer breakfast in the lounge. Please think about signing up in twos for the hour prayer slots that will take us through the night. For this event and for the following week of ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ we will be setting up a series of prayer stations in our church and opening up the church for prayer and hopefully to the schools as well to encourage people to engage creatively in prayer and to become more confident in this important discipline. If anyone is interested in being part of this prayer station initiative then please see me, it would be great to involve as many of us as possible in turning St Paul’s into a house of prayer. |
| January - Beyond Alpha
A homegroup is being formed as a followup to the Alpha course. It will be called the Bible Book Club, and will meet once a month initially, at 7.30pm on either Tuesday or Thursday night depending on people's preferences. We will discuss a Bible passage (taken from the Bible Society website which has been sent out in advance) - over coffee and biscuits. This will just require a little reading of the passage in preparation which will also allow you to note down questions or insights. It will be a lovely time to catch up with people and share some of what the Bible says to us. |
| February - Knit and Stitch Knit and Stitch Group 1st Wednesday of each month 1.30- 3.30pm starting February 7th. Bring any handcraft to knit, crochet, sew and chat. Cost £1 including refreshments |
| March - Lent and Easter at St Paul's Mothering Sunday - March 11 Holy Communion at 10.30 am which includes all-ages and the traditional distribution of flowers .. Palm Sunday - March 25 10:30 Holy Communion with the distribution of palm crosses. .. 18:30 The Cross of Christ A choral evensong devotion for congregation and choir to mark the beginning of Holy Week. We will be joined by the choir of Mottram Church. .. Wednesday 28 March 18.00-20.00 Church open for prayer The church will be open for private prayer. Prayer stations marking the journey of Jesus to the cross will be available to help guide your prayer. .. Maundy Thursday - 29 March 18.30-20.30 A family meal including elements of the Passover will be provided. Tickets - £6 or £10 for a family ticket - will be on sale nearer the time. This will be followed by a simple Communion and the stripping of the church. Good Friday - Friday 30 March 13:00 A dramatic presentation of the events of the crucifixion performed by members of St Paul’s Church. Easter Sunday - Sunday 1 April 06:00 A dawn service to mark the resurrection of Christ from the tomb. Held at the top of Ridge Hill (Ridge Hill Lane/Arlies Lane SK15 3PZ) and united with other churches of Stalybridge. 10:30 An all-age holy communion with baptisms to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. An Easter egg hunt will follow the service. |
| May - Thy Kindom Come: Prayer We will be setting up prayer stations in our church on Sunday 13th May. The church is open every morning between 8.30 and 11am for prayer. Kairos Youth Event 6.30-8 pm at St Paulfs Sunday 13th May which Bishop Libby and Archdeacon Ian Bishop will be at. We will be focussing on Prayer. Year 7s upwards welcome to attend. We will open the church on Tuesday 15th May between 6 and 8pm for private prayer. We are also hosting a 12 hours of prayer overnight from 8 am till 8 pm on Friday 18th till Saturday 19th May. |
| June - Setting God's People Free As part of a Diocesan initiative to change the culture of its churches to one that places a higher emphasis on mission and evangelism, 25 churches have been asked to take part in a project that has come out of the Church of England’s report called ‘Setting God’s People Free’ We are one of those churches! We have been asked to begin with an honest, anonymous questionnaire that helps us measure where we are at as a church in terms of our confidence in our faith. This will be repeated in about two years to see if there has been any change in how we feel about sharing our story with those who do not yet know Jesus. |
| September - Screens in Church One of our former members, Walter Nelson, who sadly passed away two years ago, generously bequeathed some money to the church. In discussion as a PCC we have decided that a good investment of that money would be to install LED screens in the church. Many churches now, including Chester Cathedral, have LED screens installed. We think this would be a good option for our building as the configuration of the church means that visibility of the current screen is poor. In addition, each time it is needed, the current screen takes around an hour to set up with the projector. If we were to install a number of smaller, wall mounted LED screens it would enhance the church as a worship space by increasing its flexibility and allowing full visibility. Screens would enable us to be more creative in our worship by enabling us to use more of the vast resource of liturgy produced by the Church of England and new songs without having to buy a whole new set of song books which rapidly become dated. |
| September - Licensing of Jacintha Manchester
as Reader It’s a delight that Jacintha has reached the end of her official training as a Reader here at St Paul’s She will be licensed at Chester Cathedral on Saturday 13th October at 16.15 and it would be great if we could go and support her. |
| September - Bell Ringing Private Arthur Reginald Fielding, Stalybridge, St Paul’s, Chester Diocese. Died 30/09/1918 age 33. South Wales Borderers 11th Bn. Service No.44393. Commemorated at Tournai Communal Cemetery Allied Extension, Belgium. Husband of Edith Fielding (née Shaw), whom he married in 1908 at St Paul’s Stalybridge, He was closely connected to St Paul’s Church, Stalybridge, having been a chorister and a member of both the cricket and football clubs, as well as the Young Men’s Institute. He was reported missing in April 1918 and died of pneumonia while a prisoner of war. His brother, Private Fred Fielding, Northumberland Fusiliers, also a bellringer, died on 16/10/1917, and is buried in Poelcapelle British cemetery, Belgium. We are dedicating our Bell Ringing today, 30th September 2018 and the 100th anniversary of the death of Arthur, in remembrance of Arthur and Fred. |
| October - A church without, a meeting house within A church without, a meeting house within: a history of St Paul's Church, Stalybridge 1835-1869 by George Maddock This book, based on ten years’ research, covers the history of our church from the first meeting of the Building Committee in 1835 to the death of William Worth Hoare, the first Vicar, in 1869. The building and development of the church and its schools are dealt with in detail, as also is the rich social life of the community connected with St Paul’s. The clergy, Whit Walks, Whitsuntide trips, tea parties, lectures, music and bell-ringing all get attention. The Sunday School gets a chapter on its own, as do the Lancashire Cotton Famine and the anti-catholic Murphy Riots which dominated the life of the town in the 1860s. Available from Amazon isbn 1724050559 |
| 2019 |
| January - Alpha Course The Alpha Couse began on 9 January |
January - Helping Children with Loss Course |
February - Kairos Youth Event at St Paul's Aimed at 11-18 year olds with worship and games and a chanace to meet other young people from churches in the town |
2023 |
December - Tornado |
