This year, we will take part in the Church of England’s #LiveLent campaign, which focuses on Caring for God’s Earth. Over the coming weeks we will be sending out more information about how we can engage in this, and how we as Christians can respond to the climate emergency by making changes within our own lives.
You can follow the campaign through the Church of England App and social media, which can be accessed by clicking on this link.
So, here we are in February already! The lights, the decorations and the Christmas celebrations are all behind us. The Epiphany kings have come and gone with the Star. Settling back into ‘routine’ again in early January can be something of a relief. All is dark, all is quiet, even drab and dreary, but February beckons. When we look, we can see green shoots thrusting through the brown rotting leaves and the delicate heads of Snowdrops daring to appear. These signs of new life and hope that have lain hidden are now out in the open. The bulbs planted in faith months ago have flowered! It never ceases to amaze! It’s easy to take this as an analogy of our situation in a Vacancy, as we await a ‘green light’ from the Diocese allowing us to advertise for a new incumbent. As Alison Fletcher and Michael Gordon, our Parish representatives, so carefully explained in their letter which they read out at all the services during one week in January, what we can do for now is ‘to commit to praying during this season of waiting’ and to trust ‘that it will be a very hopeful and positive time, as opposed to one of frustration.’ We need to prepare to be amazed! ‘Jesus was Amazed’ at the Centurion’s faith! Alistair highlighted this in one of the recent 6pm service series ‘Stories of the Faith’. Looking at different aspects of faith displayed by lesser known New Testament characters, combined with testimonies from within our congregation of how their faith has impacted on their lives, is both uplifting and inspiring to hear just now. It reflects on how we need to be willing to be open and receptive to hearing from God, in all the ways that are possible. Answers and help may come from the least expected sources and lead in the most unexpected directions, if we are willing to be amazed.
On 31st January 2020, the UK will leave the European Union. We wish to extend an open invitation to everyone to pop in and join us at All Saints in an act of unity. The church will be open from 10am-12pm and then from 6pm-8pm for prayer, a chat, a cup of tea and a piece of cake. Feel free to bring neighbours, colleagues and friends. On this day we ask our church family to pray for each other, especially for our church family members from other European countries. We remember our political leaders, that they may find common ground and negotiate in friendship, and for out country to be united, not divided. There will a prayer station near the cross across the whole weekend to allow people an opportunity to offer these prayers to God.
Firstly please let us introduce ourselves - Michael Gordon & Alison Fletcher . We are up here this morning / evening as your parish representatives involved in the process of selecting our next incumbent/vicar and importantly representing you . We are speaking at all the services today , to the youth this evening & at the 10.30 service on Wednesday morning . We want everyone to hear the same information so we’ve decided to read from a script to save us from waffling or missing parts out!
Most of you will know that we said farewell to Gary Wilton our previous Vicar back in June last year however our vacancy did not officially start until early September - after Gary’s notice period . Within the Church of England there is a formal process to go through when selecting a Vicar and we would like to briefly outline the process, explain where we are up to & what will happen next . The ‘ From the Wardens’ monthly updates have mentioned some of the information already but we feel it’s important we recap at this stage. We want to say at the outset that if you have any questions as a result of anything we say , we will be around after the service so do feel free to come and ask us then.
Back in July the PCC elected the two of us to take on the role of parish representatives and it also set up a group of 8 people to prepare three draft documents to be used in the selection process . The documents covered an outline of the parish, known as the parish profile , a role description and very importantly a person specification outlining the sort of person we want as our next Vicar. The group met a number of times over the summer and after consultation with the church family throughout August , took the draft documents to a PCC meeting in September where they were considered , tweaked and then approved . We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who contributed to that process during August - we had lots of contributions which helped us compile the final documents. The next formal meeting happened in early December when the PCC met with the Archdeacon , Malcolm Chamberlain- who was representing the Bishop . There were other guests at the meeting - John Hawley who is to be the the patron for this process, who is a retired Archdeacon and will be on the interview panel ,together with the Rev Toby Hole the Area Dean. At the meeting all three documents were looked at again and we were pleasantly surprised when the Archdeacon and the other visitors were happy with what we had produced with only a few minor alterations. So that meant that as a church we were now ready to move ahead to the next stage to agree the details of the selection process and advertise the vacancy. However the Archdeacon made it clear at that meeting that the Diocese was not yet ready to proceed with the appointment process.
So to bring you right up to date we are now waiting for the Bishop to allow us to advertise for a new Vicar. You may quite reasonably ask ......Why the wait? Our understanding is this. As you will all know we are part of the Diocese of Sheffield and like many other Dioceses it has found itself with a number of competing demands for its limited budget. In recent times there has been a 12 month moratorium when there were no Vicar appointments at all and so many churches across the Diocese with a vacancy have found themselves not able to appoint a new Vicar. They are still waiting. However since mid October the moratorium has been lifted and things have eased a little. The Diocese is hopeful there may be a small number of appointments during 2020. Whilst we are not 100% certain All Saints will be one of the churches able to advertise their vacancy during this year , we remain fairly confident that we will be able to but .........we simply don’t know when. That decision is out of our hands and with the Bishop. So we are ‘waiting ‘ which is a very Biblical theme and we have recently celebrated Advent - the season of waiting. We are meeting with the archdeacon Malcolm Chamberlain on January 22nd to try to ensure that the waiting period is no longer than necessary.
In a moment we will be leading us all in a prayer and our plea to the church family on behalf of the PCC is that you will commit to praying with us during this season of waiting.
Thank you Prayer Father God, We want to start by saying thank you for all your good gifts, to us, as individuals, and as a body of believers here at All Saints. Thank you for your faithfulness over the years and the generosity of your provision. Thank you that we do not need to fear in the face of uncertainty. You are the creator God who forms wonderful things out of dust from your unlimited resources. We pray that you will have your creative way with us as individuals and as a church. Be close to those here at All Saints who are working hard in the life of the church during these months of vacancy. Would you watch over them and give them energy, peace and inspiration. Give wisdom to those in the Diocese who will be involved in decision making in the coming months. For those required to re-imagine be at the centre of their thinking. For us as we engage with the diocesan representatives would you give us clarity of thought and a sense of your direction as we proceed through the appointment process. And finally would you be at work, preparing, calling and guiding your servant, in readiness to serve you in this place. We ask these prayers in Jesus name. Amen.
As 2020 begins and we look forward to the year ahead of us, we will each have hopes and perhaps anxieties about the months ahead. Perhaps you have made New Year’s resolutions; committed yourself to live better, be healthier, and cut back on some of the excesses of last month.
As a church we are looking forward confident of God’s promise to us, but also aware of the challenges ahead. For this year we have chosen to take a couple of verses from Psalm 62 for our ‘Verse for the Year’. These verses speak of our reliance on God. He is our hope, our rock, and our salvation. God remains constant in all our changing circumstances and we can trust in Him.
As we have prayed about the church and the year ahead, we were drawn to these verses. In all the challenges that we will face, as individuals, and as All Saints, our God is our fortress, and there is no reason for us to feel shaken. We want to encourage the church family to continue to be faithful in prayer.
Advent: a season of expectation and preparation
Advent marks the beginning of the season of expectation and preparation in the life of All Saints. As we consider the disciplines of patience and hopefulness, we look forward to celebrate the coming of Jesus in the Christmas Story and His coming again to restore all things.
This is very much a season of promises. Politicians are busy painting a picture of a more hopeful country as they attempt to persuade us that in exchange for our votes they will deliver all they have promised on the campaign trail. Shops sell us a picture of a perfect Christmas, if we would just buy the right things, create the right mood, and, unleash our ‘inner Delia’ and cook the perfect meal. It is all too easy to get distracted by the sideshow and forget the main event.
Two of the more forgotten characters in the Christmas Story are Simeon and Anna. Their lives of patience and expectation were rewarded as they held the baby Jesus in their arms and witnessed all that their hopes had prepared for. As Bach’s beautiful Cantata on the words of Simeon state ‘Ich habe genug’... ‘I have enough’.
There is a wonderful programme of services and events to look forward to at All Saints this Advent and Christmas season to help us to prepare and grasp with eager anticipation the conviction that in Jesus we ‘have enough’. Please invite family, friends and colleagues to join with us and may we reflect the welcome that God has extended to us to all who enter our doors.
As we look forward, we anticipate with hopefulness being able to appoint a new vicar. A significant meeting of the PCC, chaired by the Archdeacon and attended by others from the diocese, is due to take place on 5th December.
In the New Year, the Parish Representatives: Alison Fletcher and Michael Gordon will introduce themselves and update the church family at all four Sunday services.
Please continue to pray for our church throughout this period of Vacancy.
On behalf of the wardens, PCC and staff team we wish you a joyous Christmas.
We are really excited to share our Advent and Christmas programme with you.
Whatever you are doing as part of this special season, please know that you are so welcome to join us, worship with us, share in the celebration with us, but above all, our prayer is that through this season you may know more fully the love of Jesus Christ.
Please note that our Remembrance Sunday service will be taking place with Sunday at 10.45am. We expect this service to be very busy so please arrive early if possible.
We will be visiting the Cenotaph on Ecclesall Road South at 11.45am.
Please note that there will be NO 9.15am service this Sunday. The 8am and 6pm services will take place as normal.
