Summer at St Cuthberts

God's not on holiday ... we aren't at St Cuthberts either!

Although there will be an inevitable slow down over the Summer, there is still plenty to look forward to during August at St Cuthberts. All of our regular services, small groups, childrens groups and so on will be continuing through the summer period, so there's no need to stop coming along to things unless you happen to be away from the area on holiday!

We have a couple of special things to mention. Firstly, the Gathering will be operating under a chilled out cafe format during August. This is partly because the Hall might well be unavailable for coffee for the first couple of Sundays and it will be better to have coffee in the Church. But it also presents an opportunity to have a more relaxed style of worship. The series on Mark's Gospel continues, together with our worship led by the worship group - although the cafe format perhaps gives us the chance to try one or two different things as well!

On three of the Sundays we will be having an optional 'after church' activity - basically as a 'getting to know you' exercise. This kicks off on Sunday August 2nd with a meal at the George and Dragon (2 for 1) followed by a short walk along the Canal. Let us know if you want to come!

Finally, the Sanctuary area of the Church will be revamped on an experiemental basis over the Summer. There will be a range of prayer stations provided and the seating will be re-organized into something more relaxed. Why not come along for Wednesday Communion (9.30 am) or any of the other special activities that will be announced via the weekly sheet.

Swine Flu and Communion

You may have heard recent press coverage about the response of the churches to the current Swine Flu outbreak.

As a result of this rapidly spreading infection, the Bishop of Bradford and the Archbishops have issued advice to parishes which we are now implementing at St Cuthberts. Principally this means the suspension of the common cup at Holy Communion. Where possible (for example at small midweek services) we shall offer communion wafers that have been 'intincted' with wine - but for main Sunday services this is not practical and we shall take communion in 'one kind'. As an additional measure, the sharing of the Peace will not be taking place during services. You are also asked to stay at home and not come to church if you think that you are suffering from the swine flu.

I have to say that I'm not at all convinced that these measures will make much difference in the likely spread of swine flu. However, we are part of the wider Church of England and as such will be heeding the advice offered. For those who want to see the actual letter that we have received it printed here.

All-Age Extravaganza - Sunday 19th july 2009

The 11.00 service will be one of our All Age events - and will be a lively mix of songs, stories, activities and fun.

Also don't miss our fabulous puppet group - they are supposed to be for the kids, but adults like them just as much!

Immediately following the service we'll having a FREE Barbeque outside the Church (or in the Hall if wet) so do stick around and have lunch with us. There will be a Bouncy Castle for the kids, face painting and children's games on the front lawn outside Church. It should be a whole lot of fun!

We want as many people as possible to come along on Sunday. It's fun for all ages, from babies upwards! Don't worry if you haven't been for a while, you will be more than welcome to come along and enjoy the day. Feel free to bring friends, neighbours, whoever you like.... just come!

Hope to see you there!

Guest Service with Max Wigley

We very much hope to see you in Church this coming Sunday when the preacher for our regular 1st Sunday of the month 'Guest Service' will be Max Wigley. As well as being a well known Vicar in Bradford for many years, Max was Chaplain at Bradford Alhambra, and will no doubt have many entertaining stories and anecdotes! Join us at 9.30 for our Holy Communion, and at 11.00 for The Gathering and hear what Max has to say.   Please stay with us after the service for coffee & chat.

Update on Sunday, July 5, 2009 at 01:22PM by Admin

If you would like to listen to Max's sermon then click on the 'Sermon' link in the sidebar and a page will open where it will 'stream'. Turn up your sound, and enjoy!

New Series on Mark's Gospel Kicks Off

For quite a while I have been looking for the opportunity to preach through a Gospel - and with all the special services of Easter, Ascension and Pentecost safely out of the way, and a long stretch of 'Ordinary Time' before us, it seemed like a good time.

So, starting on June 21st, we are going to be working our way through the Gospel of Mark. To get ready, here is a slideshow of the presentation that I gave in a talk called 'Nine things you maybe didn't know about Mark - but might come in handy for the new series' (how about that for a descriptive sermon title!!). This was given at the Evening Worship on June 14th. Here goes...

Nine Things You Never Knoew About Mark

View more PDF documents from Paul Walker.

Have a look at the presentation - I think it will help you to get into the mood for the series, which starts with a look at Jesus' dramatic arrival into his preaching ministry in Galilee in Mark chapter 1.

Guest Service with Andy Bowerman

We are hosting the first in a new series of Guest Services this coming Sunday at The Gathering.

Guest Services have a twin purpose. First, we can invite a really good and interesting guest speaker - maybe someone with a specific or unusual ministry who can come and share something that we wouldn't normally hear.

Second, they provide a specific opportunity for us to invite guests. Now, on one level, every service is a guest service - because guests are always welcome. But, nonetheless, it is a good idea to have specific services that are aimed at people who wouldn't usually come to Church.

So, for a guest service, we tend to pull back on things like sung worship, liturgy and prayers - stuff that regular churchgoers like, but which sometimes seems odd or strange to visitors!

Instead there will be things like interviews, video clips, testimonies and visual presentations. There'll also be coffee and cookies after the service so people can meet and chat...

This week we welcome Andy Boweman as our guest speaker. Andy heads up Vicar's Bistro in Saltaire, leads the emerging church called 'Gracespace', and is chaplain to Bradford City FC. It's an interesting CV - and Andy is a particularly interesting and engaging speaker.

You are invited to join us at 11.00 am for an hour of conversation, video input and exploration of what it means to be a Christian who happens to like football! Everyone welcome!

Getting Started in Prayer

The series of sermons and small groups on prayer has been interesting, to say the least - and many people have been challenged or encouraged to take a step of faith in their own prayer lives. Here are details of the two remaining weeks.

 Firstly, on Sunday May 24th there will be a basic primer in prayer called '8 things that I can do THIS week to get my prayer life moving'. It's the Bank Holiday weekend and I know that a lot of people will be away, so if you want to catch up, I have posted the 'hand out' leaflet to the 'Resources' section of the site. Go to the left menu and click 'Resources', then download 'Prayer leaflet' to your computer. It's in PDF format which most people should be able to open (using the free Abode Reader that everyone has) and print it out for yourself.

Then on Sunday May 31st we wrap up our series with a 'Liquid Prayer' event at The Gathering. For those who havent been to a Liquid Worship, it bascially consists of a series of 'prayer stations' that you move around in your own time, and in any order, trying out different and sometimes unusual forms of prayer. Join us at 11.00 to experience something just a bit different!

Why doesn't prayer get answered?

Here is the Keynote for this mornings sermon on 'The Top 5 reasons why it seemed my prayers never got answered'.

Top 5 Reasons

View more presentations from Paul Walker.

Teach us to pray

There's no doubt that most Christians find it hard to pray. Some people find it hard to find the right words, others struggle to keep going when it seems that our prayers go unanswered, whilst some just find it hard to even get started with prayer.

During May, the sermons at The Gathering will be taking a fresh look at the subject of Prayer. This started on Sunday May 3rd with a look at the basic question of 'Why do we pray' - this took the form of a bible study. Next Sunday we are looking at 'The top 5 reasons why it seems that prayers don't get answered', and the following week we change gear and look at what it means for a church to be a praying church!

Allied to the sermon series in a short series of practical workshops on prayer that will be taking part in the small groups. Here is a chance to talk about prayer in a safe environment, and to try out a few new forms of simple prayer. Look out for details in Church.

New Administrator Appointed

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Natalie Whiteley as our first ever paid Administrator - this was announced on Sunday, and Natalie actually started work today.

The post is for an initial 12 hours per week, flexible as regards time, and will be partly based in the Church Office (which be totally revamped and improved) and party at home. Natalie will taking over things like producing the church weekly bulletin, monthly rotas and other church materials with immediate effect, and will shortly be taking on many other roles such as the management of the Hall, this web site and other roles.

This is an exciting appointment and should lead to improved communication and resources, as well as freeing up time for the Vicar to do things like leading the church into growth - which is what he is supposed to be doing with his time!

You'll be hearing more about this shortly, but in the meantime you can contact Natalie via email on her new church email address of natalie@stcuthbertswrose.org.uk.