Appointment of our new Priest in Charge

The churchwardens and parish representatives elected by the PCC to act on their behalf throughout the vacancy selection process, are delighted to announce that Revd Mark Brown has been appointed to be Priest in Charge of All Saints, Ecclesall and Oversight Minister in this mission area, sharing that oversight with Revd Alistair Stevenson, Priest in Charge at St Gabriel's, Greystones.

Mark is currently Vicar of St Peter and St Paul parish church in Tonbridge, Kent and Honorary Canon of Rochester Cathedral, in the diocese of Rochester. Mark is planning to move to Sheffield in early January and we are hoping that he will be licensed to All Saints in the second half of January. This announcement is also being made at Tonbridge parish church this morning, and so it’s important that we pray for that church family as they receive this news and pray for Mark over the next few months as he prepares to join us. 

There will be more information about Mark in the November edition of 'From the Churchwardens'.

We Pray.....

Father God,

At this happy moment we pause to give you thanks. We look back at the last 18 months and recall your faithfulness, our prayers heard and now answered. Thank you for calling Mark Brown to serve with us here. Be close to both Mark and his wife Allison as they prepare for this new chapter, keep them in good health and allow them a smooth transition into life in Ecclesall. Prosper them here we pray. We think of your people in the parish of St Peter and St Paul in Tonbridge today as they hear the unexpected news. Give them hope and peace as they contemplate the coming months and the next season in their shared life. For the ministry and operation teams at All Saints, sustain each individual with your Holy Spirit, enable and make generous provision for them as they continue their demanding work and prepare to engage with a new priest in the new year. Unchanging God, in these turbulent times, may we encounter your grace and love in abundance, and the fullness of your Holy Spirit that we may partner with you in blessing others and making Jesus known.

Amen

Knitted Poppies Appeal 2020

In 2018 we created a poppy display for Remembrance Sunday for the 100 year anniversary of the end of the First World War.

2020 is the 75th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War and we want to create something to commemorate this.

Due to Covid-19 this will be outside the Church building and we need your help please.

We need lots of knitted, crochet or sewn poppies.

Sizes up to 30cm diameter if possible. There are loads of free and simple patterns on the internet, any design will do. A few green leaves would also be great.

Quantity is more important than quality. We need the poppies to reach us by 28th October.

Poppies can be left in the box in the Welcome Area at Church on Sunday or any weekday morning.

Any queries please contact the office on 0114 268 7574

Thank You.

From the Churchwardens - October 2020

Church Inside Out

‘You are a letter from Christ… written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on human hearts’ 2 Corinthians 3 v3

October already! How the months have rolled by since March, when the first wave of Coronavirus struck. ‘Lockdown’ was imposed and the routine of our daily lives was changed drastically. Any hopes we might have harboured then that, by October, we would be ‘coming out’ of the restrictions and resuming ‘normal’ social contact. We now know this to be false. Now we face more weeks and months risk-assessing and navigating our lives with Covid-19 in our midst until a successful vaccine arrives.

We now know that however much we may wish to return to worship at All Saints in person together as a ‘multi-generational family’, as we once did, all the various guidelines and restrictions make this impossible for the foreseeable future. We cannot all gather inside our church building in the same way to celebrate Harvest, Advent and Christmas, or join together as we used to do on Remembrance Sunday.

Hence the concept of ‘Doing Church Inside Out’. The Ministry Team have put together plans for all these services to reflect and celebrate through these coming weeks as much as possible in the way we used to do, following the theme of ‘What is the Church?’ within the concept of ‘Doing Church Inside Out.’  The hope had been that some aspects of different services could be held outside, but sadly this is looking less likely given the present situation.

What we do know, however, is that we are not dependent on a building for our faith, but that each of us is, in Paul’s words ’a letter from Christ Christ’, as we demonstrate His love for the world in the way we live our lives.

One way we can bring this ‘letter of Christ’ – a letter of love, forgiveness and hope - is simply by taking the message outside our church building to the surrounding grounds and pathways; thus, complimenting the church’s festivals with relevant visible displays throughout the coming months. In this way all who pass by can look up, acknowledge, and maybe take with them, a message of hope and love through these dark winter days to come.

Harvest: Look out for Harvest Hearts made from plaited straws of wheat. These will be hung from trees along the path with a Harvest message from All Saints. After services on the 18th October, the hearts will be given to the congregation to keep or give away as a gift of hope. An arch of flowers over the West door will be arranged by the Flower Team, led by Sue Smith. There will also be a planter of flowers on either side to celebrate Harvest Festival on 11th October.

This year arrangements for harvest gifts are different, with the option of making monetary donations to the charities we support instead of food. Please look in the notices to find out more details.

Small potted plants will still be distributed to those members of the church family in special need of our love and prayers at this time. They will be delivered in bags which have been colourfully decorated by some of the children from All Saints.

Remembrance: Alongside services of remembrance on Sunday 8th November, there are plans in progress for poppies to be displayed both inside and outside the church.

Advent to Christmas: The Ministry team are developing plans for services to celebrate these festivals inside the church in as many ways as current restrictions allow. At the same time we can decorate the outside in various ways, including stringing lights through the trees lining the paths- to lighten the darkness and carry a message of hope and salvation through Christ into the New Year.

These projects have evolved from PCC Exec meetings about how to ‘do Church Inside Out’ and so the notion of a small Creative Group was formed. If anyone would like to get involved, either with helping or making, or offering other ideas then please do contact Ruth Watkin email.

Lots of other ideas may be developed to use our outside space in witnessing to the community around us.

We already have a Prayer Labyrinth looked after by the Churchyard team. Prayer walks could be developed, maybe a Prayer Tree could be set aside for anyone passing by to use. We could explore making fact-finding history trails and nature trails throughout the churchyard.

Throughout these months we have been grateful for all the work that has been, and is still being, done by members of the PCC in three working groups:

Back to Church group; working out how to open church safely for services.

Fund-raising group; which has already organised two very successful Open Garden events and has plans for an event in November, depending on restrictions.

Halls group; navigating all the complex issues around opening up safely to groups that are able to return, plus exploring to what extent All Saints regards the Halls as being integral to its focus on mission within the local community.

Communication is the key factor for us all as we try to come to terms with where we are and where we go from here. Thankfully, we can be encouraged by the words of St Paul that as ‘letters from Christ’ we carry within us the spirit of the living God to share and spread as many messages of light, hope and compassion in every possible way to the world around us.

APCM Update

Work is in progress for our APM and APCM on Wednesday 21st October. All those who can are asked to register to join these meetings electronically. Sarah Leighton will be stepping down from the role of Senior Churchwarden after 18 months rather than the usual year. This has happened because from 2020 the final date by which APCMs needed to take place moved from April to May, then five more months have intervened owing to all the restrictions and challenges presented by Covid-19!

We are very grateful to all those members of the PCC whose term of office would have ended in May, but who have remained on PCC for these five extra months. Our thanks go to them for all the time they have given and all the ways they have served at All Saints.

We look forward to welcoming new members onto PCC following the APCM. We also look forward to welcoming two new senior churchwardens supported by two deputy churchwardens. Ruth Watkin and Dave Coleshill have agreed to stand for election into the office of Churchwarden, and Alison Fletcher and Richard Blyth have agreed to stand to be elected as Deputy Churchwardens. Our thanks go to Julia Newton, who is standing down from being a Deputy Churchwarden, having been elected as Treasurer at the PCC meeting in June. Please continue to uphold all those who hold office at All Saints in your prayers and discern, for yourself, whether you might stand for election onto PCC or as a Deanery Synod Representative at the APCM.

From the Churchwardens: September 2020

When Gary Wilton officially left All Saints twelve months ago, I do not think anyone could have predicted the year we have just experienced. Yet from some extraordinary times we have been blessed by God’s faithfulness and we have begun to really think anew about what church means to us.

While we have been thinking about our hopes for the future, the Diocese of Sheffield has been exploring and explaining what they believe should be the strategy for our community of churches. It is a vision based on the values of being ‘Renewed’, experiencing ‘Release’ and empowerment through being ‘Rejuvenated’. If you would like to explore this further, and to see how you can play your part, please view the strategy in full at https://www.sheffield.anglican.org/diocesanstrategy

As part of the Diocesan Strategy, and to allow for greater flexibility, following consultation with the All Saints PCC, the Bishop has Suspended the Presentation within our parish and, therefore, the appointment for a Priest in Charge, rather than a Vicar, has been advertised. The Priest in Charge at All Saints will share oversight for the Mission Area with the Priest in Charge of St.Gabriel's and both will be Oversight Ministers.

'The Bishop of Sheffield wishes to appoint an experienced priest to provide strategic leadership in one of our largest churches, and share in the oversight of a growing mission area. All Saints is a vibrant church community of all ages, with a dedicated staff team, strong children and youth ministry and a rich variety of worship and music styles. It is well placed to become a resourcing church and play a key role in the future flourishing of the Diocese.'

The closing date for applications is Monday 7th September and so it is hoped that, this month, the process of appointment can begin in earnest. Please continue to pray for all those involved in the selection process, in particular our Parish Representatives: Alison Fletcher and Michael Gordon, as they discern and select the person to be charged with growing the body, re-imagining ministry, forming and equipping the people of Christ.

As we wait on God to draw a new Priest in Charge to us in His timing, the Ministry Team, supported by the Churchwardens, PCC and Operation Team, continue to look at how we can meet together as a church. We are looking at how we can open church more widely and this has begun with opening the church building, initially for private prayer, and more recently, for simple communion services. It is wonderful to see more people coming back to church to worship God together in our wonderful church building. We are exploring how we can continue to move forward but also, how we can do church differently; how we can engage with the whole church family and the community...how we can take church 'Inside/Out'.

Sarah Leighton & Ruth Watkin Senior Churchwardens

Holiday Club 10th - 14th August 2020

Summer is often thought of as a time of rest or at the least an opportunity to slow down. Since the start of All Saints’ annual Holiday Club, this has never been the case for our Children’s Ministry and 2020 was to be no different.

Once it became apparent that we would not be able to hold Holiday Club safely in our church grounds, quickly I began to think and pray through the options available. Following the findings of a survey commissioned by Tearfund at the start of May, finding that a quarter of adults in the UK had watched or listened to a religious service since lockdown began, and one in five of those had never been to church before, there was no question in my mind that if we were able to do something online then we should. Also, that if we could do something that people can access at different times then we were more likely to reach a wider audience and thus plans for Holiday Club online were born.

After prayer and consideration I decided that the best option to replicate our usual Holiday Club experience would be to have videos that mirrored the morning sessions I would usually do in church, to have members of church family read the stories and help lead activities, such as the prayers, and action songs led by both adults and children. I wanted an element of fun, which is how Dan Christian ended up doing silly superhero challenges each day, and I wanted to be able to provide children and families with all the resources they would need to make different crafts, join in different games, scavenger hunts etc. With a small team of volunteers we quickly began to put this into action.

The team of volunteers were absolutely brilliant and I cannot thank them, or Dan, enough for all they did. We did a lot of work in a very short space of time and with various social distancing, copyright issues and other obstacles in our way. The feedback I have had from many of the children that took part helped show how worthwhile it was. They adored the packs they received and I am very grateful to those members of the church family who donated money meaning that we were able to put on Holiday Club this year without a charge to take part. 57 packs of resources were distributed with the children accessing the online programme with their adults. It really did bless our families; one parent commenting that the packs felt like love coming through the door. The children enjoyed the films and the activities and had a wonderful time learning more about some of God’s superheroes.

I was also delighted that our Holiday Club continued to be missional, with some children from school and Toddlers having signed up and some of our parents sharing links on their social media, once they had completed day one, as they were so comfortable sharing and promoting it with their friends.

Writing this now, at the end of the week, I am tired but very happy. God has taken what we offered and blessed it and I am so thankful to Him. My prayer is that all those who watched the videos or took part in any way would know more of Jesus in their lives and it would help deepen their relationship with Him.

Rosie Blackett
Children's Minister

Review of past safeguarding concerns

Back in March we let you know about the Past Cases Review that is happening across the Church of England. This is a review of all known past cases of concern about the behaviour of clergy, and church officers towards children and vulnerable adults to ascertain whether they have been dealt with appropriately. 

Like all churches across the Diocese we were asked by Bishop Pete to review our past safeguarding records, and raise awareness of the review with the church family and invite you to contribute if you wish to. We will be returning our review information to the Diocese at the end of July. We wanted to inform you again of this and give a final opportunity for anyone to get in touch about the review. As a church we are committed to ensuring that all our church-related activities are as safe as possible for children, young people and vulnerable adults. 

In January the Panorama documentary ‘The Church’s Darkest Secret’ brought to light the appalling abuse committed by Bishop Peter Ball. Other reports of abuse perpetrated by clergy have hit the headlines in recent years. What has been so disturbing, in some of these cases, is the extent to which these crimes were covered up, allowing abusers to continue in ministry and enabling further abuses to occur. The response, from the church, to the victims and survivors who have spoken out, has often been incredibly damaging. Victims talk of being blamed and shamed for the crimes committed against them. Survivors report carrying the damage of the initial trauma, and the damage caused by the harmful response from the church, for the rest of their lives.

In 2018, an Independent Scrutiny Panel conducted a review of the Church of England’s ‘Past Cases Review’ (which had been completed by all Dioceses in 2007-2009). The recommendation of this panel was for every Diocese to do further work.  In response, the Church of England is currently undertaking a review of all known past cases of concern about the behaviour of clergy, and church officers towards children and vulnerable adults to ascertain whether they have been dealt with appropriately. This has been called the Past Case Review 2 (PCR2). We have been asked by Bishop Pete to review our past safeguarding records, to raise awareness of the review with the church family, and to invite you to contribute if you wish to.

Bishop Pete writes:

The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. [John 1.5]

St John the Evangelist, like St Luke and St Paul, uses the imagery of light and darkness, where darkness represents concealment and shame, whereas light represents the revelation of truth. Darkness hides things that are forgotten, uncomfortable or broken and have been ‘put out of the way’ in cellars or behind closed doors.

They may be things that are inconvenient or of which we are ashamed or afraid. In darkness they lie where we can forget about them, but Christ is the Light of the World and brings to light things now hidden in darkness. He brings to light those deeds that have been concealed and the victims of sins who have been silenced or kept from view. The Light shines for those who need justice and healing and upon those misdeeds that have injured them.

Allowing light to shine on what has been hidden is a first step towards healing, not only for those who have been abused, but for those whose consciences are, or ought to be, troubled by those sins they have buried away beyond the sight of others.

Sometimes it will take an external prompting for those things to be opened to the light of day and to the light of Christ but with such prompting may begin the path to penitence and forgiveness, the path to healing of long-hidden wounds.

We are asking you to help shine a revealing light on any instances of abuse that have occurred in your parish/es and to help ensure that everything that ought to be brought into the light has been. Shining a light on what has hurt or frightened someone is a matter of justice for those who have been victims; sometimes it may also prevent further harm and sometimes it may be the first step towards healing. With that in mind, we thank you for your cooperation in working towards a safer Church.

Should you have any concerns about the past behaviour of clergy, staff or volunteers towards children, young people and vulnerable adults, you are invited to contact Kate Gerrish (Safeguarding Officer) via kate.gerrish@allsaintsecclesall.org.uk  or Beth Keith (Deputy Safeguarding Officer) via beth.keith@allsaintsecclesall.org.uk or speak to us after a church service. This may relate to your time at All Saints or at a previous church.

Any information you choose to share will be treated confidentially; it will not be shared with other clergy or members of All Saints, instead, where appropriate, it will be passed on to the Diocesan Safeguarding Team overseeing the review.

If you prefer you can make direct contact with our Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser (DSA) on 01709 309149. Alternatively, a dedicated helpline operated independently from the church by the NSPCC is available on 0800 802020. Anyone can use the helpline to provide information or to raise concerns regarding abuse within a Church of England context; whether they are reporting issues relating to children, adults or seeking to report poor safeguarding practice.  

More information from the Diocese about this can be found here (https://www.sheffield.anglican.org/pcr2) including a helpful questions and answer section  (https://www.sheffield.anglican.org/pcr2-faqs ).

Beth Keith Deputy Safeguarding Officer: beth.keith@allsaintsecclesall.org.uk

Kate Gerrish- Safeguarding Officer kate.gerrish@allsaintsecclesall.org.uk

From the Churchwardens: July & August 2020

Opening Doors!

‘Behold I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…..’ Revelation 3v20

In this season of Covid-19 when we have had to shut the doors of our church building, what a welcome invitation of freedom and release these words bring. The Lord’s presence is not confined to our communal places of worship, it is not bound by buildings, but He lives within us wherever we are. Many of us have been grateful also for the wonders of technology, opening virtual ‘doors’ that have enabled us to join in services not only from All Saints, but also with other church services throughout the country.

Nevertheless, there is something special about being able to come through the doors of a church building, especially All Saints, where generations have gathered together to worship the living God.

So it is, that the doors of All Saints will be open once more, initially for private prayer only, on Wednesdays and Sundays between 9.30-12.30 from July 1st. Once inside you will find that changes have been made to minimise potential areas of risk: the kitchen and toilets are closed, as are the cupboards and pigeon holes. The upholstered chairs have been replaced with wooden ones and the Bibles have been removed, so please come with your own Bible and a cushion if you wish.

There will be people on hand throughout these mornings to welcome you and to guide and help you in any way. For further information please click here.

In due course we will be able to hold services in church, and the Ministry team, led by Dave Coleshill and a PCC group, are exploring all options around when and how we may safely gather to worship together again. This will be something we will very much look forward to!

Vacancy News

At the beginning of June the Churchwardens and Parish Representatives received notification from the Archdeacon for Sheffield and Rotherham, Malcolm Chamberlain, that All Saints has been given the ‘go ahead’ to proceed with the appointment of an Oversight Minister at All Saints.

This is good news, however, it does mean that our Parish Representatives, along with others involved in the appointment process, will have to discern how best to move forward through the selection process.

The Parish Representatives, Alison Fletcher and Michael Gordon, along with the Churchwardens, Sarah Leighton and Ruth Watkin, met with the Archdeacon and the Patron’s Representative: Archdeacon John Hawley, via Zoom, on 23rd June. This meeting gave all parties an opportunity to discuss the proposal to appoint a Priest in Charge at All Saints who, along with the Priest in Charge at St.Gabriel’s, will have strategic oversight of the Mission Area of Ecclesall Bierlow and Greystones.

The process to appoint a new Minister at All Saints can now begin again. This starts by looking, again, at the Role Description and Person Specification, to ensure that both of these include the new criteria stated by the Diocese, as well as the specific requirements already identified by the All Saints PCC. It also involves work on the Parish Profile to ensure that this is up-to-date at the time of advertising. Work on all three of these documents has begun in earnest with the Vacancy Working Group working to produce new proposed documents to bring to the PCC as soon as possible.

Once the All Saints PCC has approved these documents, the Parish Representatives will work with the Archdeacon, and others involved in the appointment process, to produce the advert and discern the selection process. This would take time under ‘usual’ circumstances and is likely to take longer due to the current situation. It is, however, underway and this is good news. Please continue to pray for all those involved: the Vacancy Working Group, PCC and Parish Representatives; for wisdom, patience and understand as we discern the way forward and update the documentation.

Please continue to pray for the person God is preparing for All Saints, that He will stir in their hearts a desire to apply, and an excitement to come and minister at All Saints.

APCM update

As the church family are aware, we were not able to hold the Annual Parochial Church Meeting on 20th May 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

We very much hope that the All Saints PCC will be able to set a date for this meeting, along with the Annual Parish Meeting, in the Autumn (at the end of September or early October) but this continues to depend on government guidance regarding how restrictions are lifted.

The Annual Report was due to be made available prior to the planned APCM in May and work on this was taking place when lockdown began in March. Unfortunately, it was necessary to pause work to put together the annual reports to address challenges and changes brought about by Covid 19, and having to work and conduct the governance of the church in a different way.

Work on the Annual Report has now begun again and this will be brought to the All Saints PCC for approval as soon as possible following which it will be made available to the church family.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

#BlackLivesMatter | A message from the Bishop of Sheffield

The Bishop of Sheffield wrote to churches of the Diocese this week. 

 #BlackLivesMatter

Today it is exactly two weeks since the shocking death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. He was killed after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. The compassion of the Good Samaritan in Jesus’ parable stands in terrible contrast to that brutal act of inhumanity.

Racism is a pernicious evil. It’s an issue not just for the people of the USA, but for the UK too; it’s an issue not just in society generally, but for the Church of England too. As your bishops, we gladly associate ourselves with the statement issued by the Archbishops which you can find here.

But in one sense, statements are easily made. In February of this year, the General Synod voted by 295 votes to 0 not only to lament our past failure to confront racism within the Church of England and to acknowledge with gratitude the contribution of BAME Anglicans, but to increase their participation and representation in all parts of our church life. We firmly re-commit ourselves to that goal in the Diocese of Sheffield.

Meanwhile, if you are looking for a practical step that you can take, or that you can encourage the members of your church to take, then a good place to begin might be by investing in your own awareness of scale of the challenge we face in this area. We recommend an excellent webinar available on YouTube, which focuses on the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds but also engages with the wider challenges of, and tangible steps to address, racial inequalities in our church. You can watch it here.

The panel includes Ben Lindsay, author of “We Need to Talk About Race” and a digital version of his book is available from SPCK at just 99p until 19th June from here

Do also please look out for a forthcoming study of institutional racism and the Church of England called ‘Ghost Ship’ by Azariah France-Williams which is due for publication at the end of July. I commend these resources to every parish. 

From the Churchwardens: June 2020

Generous June

Generosity has always begun with God. Generosity began in the wondrous creation of the universe, not just in its glory, its complexity, its beauty, and its infinite nature but also in how God knitted it together with love. Genesis 1 tells of how God spoke creation into being, and at its culmination on the 6th day, declared it was very good! Our world belongs to the Creator and we are blessed by His generosity not just in its beauty but that He chooses to share it with us.

As Psalm 24 reminds us: The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it

Through the current COVID-19 crisis, there has been a wonderful outpouring of generosity, in our country, in our community and in our church. It began at the start of lockdown, when people identified those who were vulnerable in their neighbourhood around them. Phone trees and WhatsApp groups ushered in a wave of generosity. People have been generous with time, with money, with care and compassion as shopping has been bought and delivered, phone and zoom calls have been made. Generosity begins with God but it also brings out the best in us.

Yet as the crisis continues, we are going to continue to require generosity. Generosity to the frontline workers who are starting to tire in the marathon tasks and responsibilities they are facing. Generosity to those who are starting to experience the long-term effects of isolation, both physically and mentally. Generosity to children and young people who have lost a special time of their lives to the crisis. Generosity to those who have already started to feel financial pressures upon them and those who are already worried about their jobs and their livelihood. Generosity to organisations like All Saints that are funded through continuous generous giving.

Over the next month, we are going to be engaging with ‘Generous June’, a shared project between Diocese of Sheffield and the Diocese of Winchester. You can find out more at the website: https://www.generousjune.co.uk/. As the website declares on its frontpage – this is a month where we are looking at ‘Understanding God’s Generosity’. Over the next months through our daily reflections and in our Sunday services we are going to be looking at the theme of generosity, beginning with God’s generosity to us. Throughout this month, we will be reading through the Book of Luke. Please do join with us as we see that generosity is at the heart of the Gospel message. We will be hearing from Bishop Pete as well as Bishop David Williams, former curate of this church who was last with us at the Big Church Weekend Away. As we understand more about God’s generosity, our hope is that you will be challenged to think upon the places where you reflect that Divine generosity.

We hope you will be able to celebrate the many ways in which you are being generous already, as well as seeing other places where your generosity is needed too. Dan Christian

Alistair Stevenson

This is not so much as a farewell to Alistair and his family, as they move into the parish next door, but a message of heartfelt thanks. When Alistair arrived, as a fresh-faced enthusiastic, newly-married young man, he set about envisaging a plan for the young people of our church; transforming the work and leading so many young people to Jesus. That passion has never left: as his family grew so did his call to serve God in ordained ministry. Those whom he guided will be forever grateful for the part he played in their own discipleship journey. Houseparties, groups, cafes, sports clubs, small groups, music and worship, even a visit to Tanzania, are examples of his boundless energy and desire to encourage and serve.

Thank-you also to Catherine. Together they have shown unwavering support and love for the church family at All Saints, each playing their own part, and sacrificing family time. St Gabriel’s and the Greystones community will, undoubtedly, be blessed by Alistair’s full-time leadership and ministry; bringing all his talents and time to serving God there, talents and time that we will miss greatly at All Saints. Alistair and Catherine may God bless you and keep you as you continue your ministry to bring other to know the love of Jesus.

David Onac

We’ll be sorry to say ‘good-bye’ to David at the end of this month after two and a half years with us as Director of Choral Music. On the other hand, we’ll be pleased to ‘let him go’ as he leaves All Saints to get married and settle in Manchester. We’ve had the privilege of enjoying his many gifts as a very accomplished musician and composer. Inspired by his own living faith, David has encouraged the choir; has arranged many new settings for them, and organised and contributed to some wonderful festival celebrations, which have uplifted our spirits through praise and worship. Behind the scenes he has re-organised our music resources, including a method of identifying how hymns and songs are chosen for each service. By digitalising over 200 items from All Saints’ extensive music library, he will have left a valuable database which will be easily accessible for future musicians and worship leaders.

Our thanks go to David for his dedication and commitment to All Saints. He has blessed us in so many ways during his time with us, so we send him out now, with our blessings for a richly fulfilling future, as with his new wife Elena he embarks on the next stage of his journey.

All Saints financial update

We want to keep the church family informed as much as possible with updated information about the church finances. We are truly blessed by the giving of so many at All Saints: time, talents, experience, as well as financial. The church family has not received a financial update since the Stewardship Campaign and the brief update in January. A financial update was due to take place at the APCM scheduled for the 20th May. As this has been postponed and the financial position has changed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, Julia Newton, our Deputy Treasurer, has written a paper giving updated information regarding the current financial position. You can access the financial update by clicking here.

Please take time to read through this paper. If you have any comments or questions please contact Julia using the email address: julia.newton@allsaintsecclesall.org.uk or by ringing the church office on 0114 268 7574 and leaving your name, number and a short message so that Julia can get back to you.