March E-Magazine 2024
Please click below for a printable copy of the magazine:
Services throughout the Parish
Sunday 3rd March 3rd Sunday of Lent - Purple Exodus 20:1-17 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 John 2:13-22
St Mary 8.15am Communion 10.30am Morning Worship 6.30pm 630 Praise
St Nix 10.30am Communion
St James 10.30am Communion
St Peter 4.00pm Evening Worship (Book of Common Prayer)
Sunday 10th March—Mothering Sunday 4th Sunday of Lent - Purple Samuel 1:20-end Ephesians 2:1-10 John 3:14-21
St Mary 8.15am Communion 10.30am Communion 6.30pm 630 Praise
St Nix 10.30am Morning Worship
St James 10.30am Morning Worship
St Peter 4.00pm Communion (Book of Common Prayer)
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Sunday 17th March 5th Sunday of Lent - Purple Jeremiah 31:31-34 Hebrews 5:5-10 John 12:20-33 St Mary 8.15am Communion 10.30am Morning Worship 6.30pm 630 Praise St Nix 10.30am Communion St James 10.30am Communion St Peter 4.00pm Evening Worship (Book of Common Prayer)
Sunday 24th March Palm Sunday—Red Liturgy of the Palms: Philippians 2:5-11 Mark 11.1-11 Psalm 118.1-2,19-24 St Mary 8.15am Communion 10.30am Communion 6.30pm 630 Praise St Nix 10.30am Morning Worship St James 10.30am Morning Worship St Peter 4.00pm Communion (Book of Common Prayer)
Sunday 31st March Easter Day - White Isaiah 25.6-9 Acts 10.34-43 John 20.1-18 St Mary 8.15am Communion 10.30am Easter Service 6.30pm 630 Praise St Nix 10.30am Easter Service St James 10.30am Easter Service St Peter 6.30am Sunrise Service
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Evaluation of the Mission Area
At the end of 2023 we completed six years as part of a Mission Area with our neighbours in the Fromeside Benefice; a lot has happened during that time. We have enjoyed a number of curates and an Associate Minister, shared a lot of ideas and initiatives, employed a Youth Missioner together and survived a pandemic! For the first five years I led the Mission Area but in 2022 I passed that leadership on to Revd. Malcolm Strange to ensure a continuity of leadership when I retire.
The end of the six-year period has had a number of consequences. No longer are we scrutinised so closely by the Diocese through the bi-monthly Programme Board meetings, but also the Strategic Development Funding which came from the Church Commissioners has come to an end. This means that Hywel is now paid by the Diocese out of the Parish Share that they receive from the churches across the Diocese, and the potential to draw down funding support for training and starting new initiatives (such as the TLG mentoring programme in St. Mary’s School) has ended. The end of the six-year period also meant that the success of the Mission Area initiative had to be evaluated by independent assessors. The Diocese appointed the Church Army Research Unit to carry out that evaluation through the autumn and their report was considered at the final programme Board in mid-December. They found that achievement of the ten outcomes that had been set out in the original proposal was mixed – three of the outcomes were fully met, six of the outcomes were met in part and one (relating to a projected increase in attendance) was not met. The evaluators recognised that COVID frustrated the achievement of some outcomes but noted that it was not the only factor. They did, however, recognise that “The programmes present significant examples of how mission can be put into practice in different contexts, and the learning that has emerged has the potential to be a valuable resource”.
Because of the experience across the three Mission Areas of Parishes working successfully together the Diocese has incorporated the idea of Mission Areas into their new strategy called Transforming Church. Together. Our Mission Area will, therefore, continue under this new strategy and I understand that a new Mission Area in the centre of the Diocese will be launched soon. Malcolm and I will be sharing some of our
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learning with the ministers in the new Mission Area in due course. The Diocese clearly believe that the Mission Area experiment which we were part of was sufficiently successful to merit replication elsewhere within the Diocese, so despite having not achieved all out outcomes we can be pleased with what has been achieved in the last six years. Ian Wallace |
Sound system in St. Mary’s
By the time you read this we should be enjoying a much-improved sound system in St. Mary’s Church. The old system was installed around 20 years ago and caused problems from the start – questions arose at an early stage as to the quality and professionalism of the installation. As a result, the DCC took the decision to renew the system for the following reasons:
* The old system had deteriorated to such an extent that it was no longer capable of providing good quality sound;
* the loop system used by those with hearing aids was suffering from interference from other electrical circuits within the church and was not capable of providing a clear signal;
* we are now providing a wider range of services than before (particularly with regard to young people), which has changed our needs in terms of being able to support video sound and live bands;
* during the past 20 years sound technology has moved on dramatically and can now provide us with a system that is much easier to operate for the various groups that use the church.
The new system has been designed by a company who specialise in Church installations and can be programmed with a number of pre-set configurations for the different services to make things simpler for Churchwardens and user groups. It can also be operated remotely via a tablet when no-one is available to man the sound desk. However, when we need full
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sound-desk support for live musicians that capability will also be there. With the exception of the loud-speakers (which should be more discreet than at present) all the equipment will be installed in one place within a purpose-built desk rather than spread across the church as before. The contractors met recently with our Parish Architect to agree how the wiring for the new system could be hidden so many of the wires serving the old system will disappear from view.
More importantly, we believe that the quality of sound will be much clearer. For those who use hearing aids there will be a new system which operates using an infra-red transmitter that links with a personal receiver paired directly with their hearing aids. This will give them the ability to adjust the volume and frequency range to suit their personal needs. As this is being written before the installation we cannot yet say how dramatic the improvement will be, but last autumn the DCC visited another church using the same system and were impressed with the sound quality.
And how is this all being paid for? Well, the majority of the funding comes from money that was set aside in a reserved fund many years ago with a small balance coming from the generosity of church members at the gift-day that we held last autumn. If you have any questions about the new system the best person to ask is Gus Smith who has been managing the project on our behalf. |
World Prayer Day - Friday 1st March Service 10am at Yate Methodist Church Moorland Road, Yate  |
See something! Do something!
Safeguarding Sunday is a day when churches of all denominations join together to focus and reflect on safeguarding.
What does this mean for us as Yate Parish and for us as individuals?
Both as a Parish and as individuals we are called to love our neighbour, and as we welcome people into our churches and into our activities for all ages we must do all we can to ensure that those individuals are safe, respected, understood, valued, and have a voice. This happens when we see safeguarding as not just a paper exercise but something that has a positive impact on us all and is an integral part of our faith – a light that shines in and into every part of our church communities.
As we recognise the potential risks, and are aware that both abuse and those who seek to harm others can hide in plain sight, we can see that safeguarding is about culture and behaviours. It can be a challenge but is an important part of our church life and ministry.
Our churches play a vital role in the lives of many children, young people and adults across our communities. All of us have a role to play in keeping those who are vulnerable safe and secure. We help to create, nurture and maintain a culture of ‘informed vigilance’ where anyone can feel safe to disclose an incident, make an allegation, or raise a concern, and know that what they say will be taken seriously and that the right action will be taken. We also play a role in responding effectively and compassionately when this happens. But, as importantly – or perhaps more importantly – we should not be afraid, when and wherever possible, to challenge circumstances where there is a risk of actual or potential abuse, neglect, harm or exploitation of any kind.
God cares about protecting people, particularly the vulnerable, and so should we. Safeguarding is everyone’s business because it must be at the heart of everything we do. You could even say that “every day is a Safeguarding Sunday”.
Beverley Hodgson Parish Safeguarding Officer
You’ll find how to contact me, or your church safeguarding officer, on posters and the website. |
ECO church report
Energy audits have been completed for St James, St Mary’s and St Peters and we now await the reports. David, who carried out the audits, was very helpful, taking time to discuss current lighting and heating, and gave us some initial thoughts. The audit of St Nix will soon be completed. It was fortunate that we waited for our audits because the Diocese has added to the scope, so each of our churches has now been scanned which will be helpful to us and to the Diocese.
The Eco Champions and I attended an online meeting. There was a representative from Herschel who are one of the suppliers of new types of heating equipment. This man spoke in terms we could all understand about the heritage range his firm supplies, suitable for Grade 1 and 2 listed buildings. He will be happy to visit the churches. We then split into small groups, and I was with a lady from St Matthews, Kingsdown who already have a new installation and a man from Marshfield who is awaiting an installation. Christine Dolton |
Mother’s Union March 2024
I pray that everyone is marvelling at the signs of spring, with God’s glorious colours peeking up through this cold earth. It’s a joy every day to check my garden and see which new flowers are sharing their
colours.
March means the World Day of Prayer on Friday 1st March, 10.30am at Yate Methodist Church.
Please join in united prayer with others of Yate and
Chipping Sodbury.
March means Mothering Sunday, and reminding us of Mary Sumner’s vision of love for the family through the Mothers’ Union. Please join us in St Mary’s at 10.30am on Sunday
10th March for the dedication of Wendy’s flag.
March means Norma is our speaker for our 21st March
meeting at 2pm in a warm St Nix: she will keep us on the edge of our seats!
Blessing for all, Louisa
News from St James The Friends of St James will then spring into action with their ever-popular village breakfasts on the second Saturday of each month starting on 13th April – come along and place your order any time between 9 and 11.45am.
All of these events are open to everyone, so please put them in your diary, and invite friends, neighbours and family to join you and enjoy good food and a very warm welcome in Westerleigh. |
Updated Contact Information Youth & Families Minister: Charlie Blackett Mobile: 07899 099 548 Email:Youthandfamilies@yateparish.org.uk |
Find out more
about The
Connection and Those Vicar Blokes on our website at yateparish,org
under the heading
Explore our Faith
A Weekly Group at St Nix Friday Re:fresh runs from 09:30 - 10:30 on a Friday during term-time held at St Nix.
A warm and welcoming group for adults and children (babies to school age) to spend time together chatting, playing, singing and pondering a spiritual thought of the day.
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Morning prayer in Yate Parish
Do you find prayer a little difficult? Would you like some inspiration? Go to the Yate Parish Facebook page to join in Morning Prayer led by our ministry team. You can watch live at 7.30am Monday to Saturday, or watch at any time later in the day. Many people have found it a great start to their day.
Weekly at St Mary’s
Thursday Communion at 10.00am
Compline @8pm
Before the lockdown happened, we had recorded the saying of Compline. We ask that each evening at 8pm we light a candle in our window and pray together for our nation using the words of the Compline service - it takes just over 5 minutes.
Visit the parish website and click on the recordings to listen; you will find the words of the service there too.