July & August Newsletter

Welcome... to the Summer Newsletter

The Election will soon be over, the European Football decided, the covers will be back on at Wimbledon and the summer holidays will have arrived. But as the Angels say "fear not!" this is a double issue of the Newsletter and has all the information needed to guide you through the summer holiday. Remember, if you worship at a church while away on holiday  please bring a service sheet back with you so we can borrow any good ideas. We will include all the places which have been visited in the next Newsletter and a prize for the best and most innovative one.

In this month's newsletter

• Church News

• Services for June

• Dates for the Diary

• Prayer Resources

  Community News

• Closing Thoughts

Church News

Car Parking

The long awaited results following the consultation on the proposed changes to the car parking in Prestbury have now been announced.Charging is going to start from 8 July. The impact on school pick-up, health visits and local businesses have been highlighted elsewhere. The impact on Church will probably be mixed: the good news is that Sunday parking is free, as is parking after 6pm and so evening meetings, choir practice and bell ringers should be unaffected. Wedding and funeral guests will now have to pay but it may be easier for them to find a space?  Holy Communion on Wednesdays, Holy Dusters and Pram Service on Thursdays all take place within pay periods and we will have to watch to see the impact on these.
Charges apply from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday:
0-1 hour 80p
1-2 hours £1.40
2-3 hours £2.00
3-4 hours £2.70
4-6 hours £3.70
 

Christian Aid Week update

Monastic garden

It has been amazing to see how quickly the garden has grown but more amazingly how quickly it has become a Spiritual Space. There has been a constant stream of visitors and it's lovely to see people of all ages engaging; those who sit and pray or think, small children who chase round the paths, regular visitors who make it part of their daily pattern. We are making slow progress on the benches and are  looking forward to producing the interpretative boards.
In the next Newsletter will be details of another of the garden's plantings and what the plants were once used for.

Church Mission, Priorities 2024

In this year's APCM we highlighted two areas which we wanted to focus on for mission. Both areas where historically the Church has been very strong but where there is huge potential for further growth and development.
1) Developing our ministry to families. Breakfast Church, Pram Service, Wild Church, Baptisms, Nursery Worship and our school's work all give us contact with a large pool of families. In recent years we have not succeeded in integrating them into Church life. This is a huge area of potential ministry and has multiple possibilities... but what should we do and what is God calling us to do?
2) Growing the Choir: we have a wonderful choir providing choral music not just in the evening but for special services and many funerals and weddings. Choirs are more popular than ever but recruiting for a church choir is harder than ever. What could be done and who could do it? If we want a choir in twenty years' time now is the time to lay the foundations for it.
To further these areas of mission two PCC sub-groups are being formed, but we are looking for those within the wider congregation, its fringe and beyond, for those with a passion for either area to be involved in developing a project or strategy to deliver these priorities.
If you would like to be involved (or are reluctant but sense God is saying you should be) please have a chat with Patrick (Vicar) or Sheila Andrews (our PCC Lay Chair).

Evening Worship

After analysing the responses to the questionnaire, meeting with the choir and talking and praying things through as a ministry team, from September our afternoon services will be either be:

Cathedral Evensong: This will take place with both congregation and choir in the chancel. The service will have two hymns, no sermon and cathedral style intercessions. Sometimes it will be followed by a shortened service of Holy Communion.
or
Parish Evensong: The congregation will be seated in the nave and the choir in the chancel. There will be three hymns and a sermon.

Both the Cathedral and Parish Services will make full use of our wonderful choral resources and will include settings for the Nunc Dimittis or Magnificat, or settings for the responses depending on the choral resources available. Similarly, both services will have an Introit and Anthem.  These services will take place at the same time throughout the year, at 4.30pm and our prayer is that regularity and continuity, along with improved publicity, will help draw in new worshippers and singers and grow the congregation.
Please note that this pattern will begin in September as during the August Summer Break there will be no Evening Services.

School Governors

School 50th Anniversary

On Sunday 15 September we will be celebrating 50 years of the opening of  our new Church school building. At the morning service we will be joined by staff and pupils from school, the Diocesan Director of Education will be the preacher and we will be delighted to welcome former pupils and parents for this special service.

St Peter's Day Celebration

Worship Services for July

St Peter's Church, Sunday Services

Worship Services for August

St Peter's Church, Sunday Services

Mission Congregation Services for July

Mission Congregation Services for August 

Mid-Week Summer Worship for July and August

Diary for July & August                    

Monday 8 July                 Mothers' Union Summer Strawberry tea at 2.00pm

Thursdays:                          Holy Dusters      9.30am or 11.30am
                                               Pram Service     last of term 11 July 10.15am

Fridays:                               Choir Practice 7.45pm in St Peter's

Saturday 1st                       Litter Pickers 10.30am outside church

During the summer the regular pattern of morning and evening prayers at St Peter's , St John's and on Zoom will not be happening. The Church will be open as usual for personal prayer for 9.00am to 5.00pm. Entrance through the south porch.

Prayer Resources 

During the summer pray daily one or two of the following prayers. Find a space and a time that works for you, over the days note how the meaning of the prayer and the way you pray it changes.

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light,
look favourably on your whole Church,
that wonderful and sacred mystery,
and by the tranquil operation of your perpetual providence
carry out the work of our salvation:
and let the whole world feel and see
that things which were cast down are being raised up
and things which had grown old are being made new
and that all things are returning to perfection
through him from whom they took their origin,
even Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

O Holy Spirit, giver of light and life,
impart to us thoughts better than our own thoughts,
and prayers better than our own prayers,
and powers better than our own powers,
that we may spend and be spent
in the ways of love and goodness,
after the perfect image of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of the living God,
set your passion, cross and death
between your judgement and our souls,
now and in the hour of our death.
Grant mercy and grace to the living,
rest to the departed,
to your Church peace and concord
and to us sinners forgiveness,
and everlasting life and glory;
for, with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
you are alive and reign,
God, now and for ever.
Amen.
 

Those who are sick

Liz Potter
 

Those who have died

Freda Berrington
Peter Papprill

Community News 

General Election

Quiz the Candidates! Hustings in Macclesfield announced

The hustings is open to everyone and gives voters the chance to quiz all seven of the town‘s General Election candidates.and will be on Monday 1 July at 7.30pm in St Michael’s Church, Market Place, Macclesfield.
For more than 100 years, our Macclesfield constituency has been a safe Conservative seat, but this is no longer necessarily the case. Every vote will matter and with a record seven candidates standing on Thursday 4 July there is a range of views to choose from.
The event will start with the seven candidates each setting out the reasons why they believe they should be elected Macclesfield’s next MP. This will be followed by live questions from the audience, which the candidates won’t have seen in advance. Anyone registering to attend can submit a question beforehand for consideration by the organisers.
The candidates are: Stephen Broadhurst (Reform UK), Neil Christian (Liberal Democrats), Dickon Fletcher (SDP), Amanda Iremonger (Green Party), Tim Roca (Labour Party), David Rutley (Conservative and Unionist Party) and Chris Wellavize (Independent). 
The St Michael‘s event is being put together by a team of volunteers in association with Entropy Events. "We want voters to be more connected to the election process and feel they can make an informed decision" said Lynne Jones, one of the organisers. 








 

Northern Chamber Orchestra

The Northern Chamber Orchestra new Season is about to begin and is built on the theme 'Mozart on Tour' and celebrates the journeys that Mozart undertook during his life which significantly influenced his music. There will be four concerts that highlight symphonies linked to particular places - Paris, Linz, Vienna and Prague - and will include his final masterpiece the Requiem. Tickets for all concerts go on sale on Monday 1 July. Further details may be found here:
NCO: www.ncorch.co.uk or on 0161 7061990 and there are season tickets and group discounts available.
Press Release from Hope in North East Cheshire

Life Under the Sun

Felicitations All
I write today about an event at the forthcoming Buxton Fringe, that may be of interest to your congregation.
Strangers & Exiles, is a Christian theatre ministry, affiliated with YWAM, that travels to theatres and churches around Britain, telling God's story through one-man shows.
Life Under The Sun - Part 1, is a black comedy delivered by a man in his underpants.
Based off Ecclesiastes and well described as Blackadder meets the Bible, Solomon's lament/rant is dark, deeply human and very, very funny.
With a 4* review, multiple festival runs and shows around the world it is a proven hit, performed to pastors, punks, hippies, LGBT, atheists, refugees and even a Muslim imam. In the post-show Q&A we talk, laugh and ponder the point of life together. Why are we here? What's the point of it all?
This is not the gospel story but like John the Baptist it might prepare you to hear it.
- Friday 19 July 6.30pm
- Buxton URC, Hardwick Square. East, SK17 6PT
Press release

Closing Thought

D Day 80th anniversary celebration

A wonderful community celebration many thanks to the Parish Council, local British Legion and all from St Peters who helped make it special.

Newsletter Information

Items to be included in the next month's newsletter should be sent to the office by the last Tuesday of the month or to the Vicar by the last Wednesday.