March Newsletter
Welcome... to March's Newsletter
When did you last go on an Easter egg hunt? Was it back in childhood, was it just the other day at a National Trust property? O maybe an Easter egg hunt is an annual activity part of the rituals of family connecting faith with fun in a memorable and enjoyable way. The question is, which part do you like best? Do you like the hunting or the finding best, is the enjoyment in searching for a chocolate egg or eating it?
As with the egg hunt, Lent and Easter are similarly in two stages: a time of preparation - Lent and a time of Celebration - Easter. Both are important.
In Lent we acknowledge our sinfulness and failure to be and do all that God calls us to to do and be. If we ignore this time then we underestimate the enormity of the price that is paid and the love God has for us that is demonstrated at the Cross, and in the Resurrection.
If however, we focus only on the Lenten disciples alone as some kind of self-help moral improvement programme without sharing in the events of Easter, we miss out on the celebration of all God has done in Jesus and the wonderful assurance of God's eternal love.
This Easter be both a seeker and an eater, not just of chocolate but of the amazing love and goodness of God.
In this month's newsletter:
Church News
Bunching of Mothering Sunday daffodils
Saturday 9 March 10.00am
St Peter’s Rooms
Come and join us for our annual ‘bunching’ morning. Many hands make light work, and we can get all the daffodil bunches made up easily by 12noon, as well as enjoying a chat with old friends and maybe making new ones.
If you have any branches of suitable small leaved foliage that you can spare from your garden please bring them along, and some secateurs if you have them.
Everybody is very welcome.
And of course there will be refreshments!
Lent Lunch
Wednesday 20 March 12noon – 2.00pm
St Peter’s Rooms
There are just two lunches this year, so do try to make this last one. There will be a good selection of delicious soups, sandwiches, tea & coffee. Also lots of interesting conversation and the churchyard will be at its most lovely!
You could add a nature stroll through the beautiful crocuses and listen to the birdsong before or after lunch. Why not bring a non-church friend? Everyone is most welcome.
All proceeds go to Christian Aid.
Reading the Gospel of Mark
Wednesday 27 March starting at 7.00pm
St Peter’s Rooms
As in previous years we will read a whole gospel in one go in the run up to Holy Week. This year we are reading Mark, and those who have been part of this before will know how special this can feel.
If you would like to read a section please put your name on the sign up sheet at the back of church. Everyone who would like to is welcome to read, you don’t have to be a regular church reader.
You might like to just come and listen? You will be welcome too.
Following in the footsteps of Jesus in Mark's Gospel
We hope that you are enjoying following Jesus through Mark's Gospel - and managing at least to check in with the reflection and key verse. Have you worked out which of the Ministry Team are writing which yet?
There is still time to join in either through these emails (7.00am each day) or on social media (7.00pm each day). Don't worry if you can't think about catching up - just begin where we are. If you are in church during the week the reflections can be found at the back in a folder - maybe just stop and enjoy one!
Journeying through the Bible Service
This service takes place on the fourth Sunday of each month at 4.30pm and is followed by a friendly discussion and refreshments in St Peter's Rooms. The next one will be on Palm Sunday (24 March) and we will have moved forward on to Exodus and the Ten Commandments. Come and enjoy!
Mothers’ Union
At our February meeting Fabienne Donbavand who is the manager at the Upton Food Pantry came to our meeting and told us all about how the Pantry works and the amazing progress they are making in providing food for the community at Upton Priory.
It was shocking to discover that members begin queueing an hour before the Pantry opens in the morning, and how Fabienne has organised a free coffee shop within the Pantry to help keep the people queueing out of the weather.
How important it is to realise what a comfortable ‘bubble’ we live in, and how different it can be for other people who live just round the corner from us. Fabienne is very grateful for all the provisions and items that are donated. These can be left in the Parish Office for her to collect.
March MU meeting
Monday 11 March 2.00pm
St Peter’s Rooms
This month come and meet Chris Brooks, who will bring to our meeting the story of “Silk”.
Our Mothers’ Union meetings are open to everyone and all are very welcome.
We continue to collect sanitary products for Upton Pantry.
Prayer Course II Unanswered Prayer
All are welcome to come along on Monday nights at 7.30pm. The course based upon the best selling book God on Mute, resources us as we wrestle with some of the challenges and difficulties in prayer.
The evening starts with refreshments as we gather then gentle worship, video input, reflective questions and prayer to close.
Advance Notice – Save the date!!
Church Family Lunch
Sunday 7 April
More details will follow, but do please keep this date free for our next whole church family, lunch event.
We will be asking for donations of prepared buffet items as before.
Everyone is very welcome to our lunches so get it in your diary!
Coffee Morning
Norman and Sue Jones are hosting a coffee morning on
Saturday 13 April from 10am -12 noon
Norman was the Interim Vicar at Christ Church Bangkok for about 2 1/2 years from 2019-2022 and the church there has supported, for about 30 years, a school called The Noh Bo Academy and 3 nurseries on the Thai/ Myanmar border, for Children of the Karen community. Many Karen left Myanmar to seek asylum in Thailand over the years during troubled times. The school is much in need of renovations in the dormitories, kitchens and classrooms so this fundraiser will greatly help that cause as well as with the Christian refugees served by Christ Church. Your support would be greatly welcomed.
Tickets will be on sale in mid March or on the day for coffee and cakes. There will be a cake stall and a Bric a Brac stall.
APCM
The Annual Parochial Church Meeting will be on Sunday 17 March after the10.30am morning service. This important day in the church year is when we say thank you to those retiring from their Church roles; we hear reports, answer questions, celebrate all the good things God has done and hear plans for the future. We will be electing: Church Wardens, Deanery Synod and PCC members. If you are interested in learning more about what those roles involve please talk to Sheila Andrews (the PCC lay chairperson) one of the Church Wardens or the Ministry Team.
What can bees tell us about Church?
One of our neighbours has bee hives, and in summer when we see our lavender bush swarming with small furry creatures, we watch them with thanks, knowing that later in the year we shall taste the pleasure of their work…
It’s not an exact image for our Church because the bees are all doing roughly the same thing, albeit in different bushes and flowers, but the numbers of them, the co-operation they manifest is a pretty good start. What is different for us is the massive range of possibilities there are for people to do their bit for God – in what we do and in what we give.
Whatever our talent (or the state of our finances) there is room for giving… In music, gardening, praying, cleaning… with tasks of organising, tech stuff, designing, making coffee… with welcoming, verging, wardening… small jobs and bigger commitments… too many to mention!
And what we gain is immense – making friends, understanding more of how Church works, and the joy of knowing, as we worship, that we are part of this in every way.
What do you feel you can do? Talk to the Vicar, the Ministry team, a warden, a PCC member… and do not miss the APCM! It takes hundreds of bees to make wonderful honey, how many people does it take to run a church?
Avril Ravenscroft
Church and Churchyard Spring work Party
Lent is where we Spiritually tidy up our lives, deal with the rubbish, clean out the hidden corners in preparation to celebrate the events of Easter and take the good news to the world.
Cleaning out, preparing and tidying is the plan for the working party on Saturday 23 March. There are tasks both outside and inside, small and large, easy and difficult, something for everyone.
Churchyard tasks:
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Clear weeds from behind The Rooms, prepare for seeding and seed with grass.
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Clear weed growth from areas of Monastic Garden around bench positions and trim edges.
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Remove moss accumulations from accessible (from ground level) parts of church stonework.
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Trim and remove scrubby growth and saplings along eastern boundary wall with Abbey Mill.
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Remove ivy from upright memorials.
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Gather and bag cut/fallen brash and rubbish.
Church and St Peter's Room tasks:
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De-cluttering cupboards in the young church room, kitchen, Vicar's vestry.
As always there will be refreshments afterwards. Sign up sheet at the back of Church.
Meeting ourselves in the Bible
Every so often a piece of new thinking on the Bible comes along that deepens our understanding of that infinitely profound and inexhaustible resource. If we’re lucky it comes in the form of a book that is approachable and involving. And if we are especially fortunate we may even find that the writer is actually someone who is part of our church community! On the Bible’s Back Roads is all these things in one, written as it is by Reverend Rob Green, who some of you will know from our Wednesday Communion service.
Rob shares with his readers a perspective on the Bible that I for one have never thought of. Just think of all those times when we are given no more than a brief, maybe unexplained, mention of a figure who appears faintly as a background character in some Biblical story. And who never appears again. This book investigates many such people and shows how each one of them has their place in the story of salvation. And, as the subtitle of the book says, Rob shows us ‘where old stories and our stories meet’. Because as he says, in meeting these people of old we actually meet ourselves, so like us in all our imperfections, our desires and our significance to God. Rob expertly brings these characters to life and with insight and compassion helps us to understand them and thereby to understand ourselves more faithfully. Showing us that in the eyes of God we too are a part of the story!
Patrick, Avril, Sue and I are unanimous in recommending what Rob has written and in thanking him for opening our eyes to so many hidden truths by writing it!You can find Rob’s book, On the Bible’s Back Roads, on Amazon and through Waterstones. Or any bookshop should be able to order it for you overnight.
Keith Ravenscroft
Watch and Pray
The Church of England's book of Lent daily reflection. There are still a few copies available to buy in the office or visit the Church of England website and follow on line.
News From St John's
Excellent progress is being made with the extension and everything is on course to meet our end of March deadline, which is quite an achievement for building during the winter months. The rooms are now all plastered and the kitchen is to be fitted out next week. There have been over twenty tradesmen to date with different skills bringing it all together. 
Jason, like all the tradesmen who have worked at St John’s, has all been most respectful to our place of worship and embraced the family ethos of our Church.
St John’s Team
Worship Services for March
St Peter's Church Sunday Services
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Date
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8.30am
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9.30am
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10.30am
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4.30pm
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Sunday
3rd
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Holy
Communion
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Holy Communion
with
Young Church
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Sung
Evensong
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Mothering
Sunday
10th
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Holy
Communion
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Family Worship
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Choral
Evensong
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Sunday
17th
APCM
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Holy
Communion
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Breakfast
Church
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Holy
Communion
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Choral
Communion
|
St Peter's Holy Week Services
Date
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8.30am
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10.30am
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4.30pm
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Palm
Sunday
March 24th
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Holy
Communion
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Palm Sunday Procession
& Service
gather at Prestbury School at 10.00am
or Church at 10.30am
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Exploring The Bible
Exodus and
Ten commandments |
Maundy
Thursday
28th
|
|
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7.30pm
Holy Communion
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Good Friday
29th
|
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10.00am
Good Friday
Family Service
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12noon
Meditation
on the Cross
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Easter
Sunday
31st
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6.00am
Easter Fire,
Holy Communion
and
Breakfast
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9.30am
Easter Family
Worship
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11.00am
Easter Choral
Communion
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Mission Congregation Services
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Mothering
Sunday
10th
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Sunday
17th
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Palm Sunday
23rd
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Good Friday
29th
|
Easter
Sunday
30th
|
St John's Church
Adlington
11.00am
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Family
Service
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|
Holy
Communion
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11.00am
Good Friday Service
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Holy Communion
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Church of the
Resurrection,
Upton Priory
10.00am
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Family
Service
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Holy
Communion
|
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12noon
stations of the Cross |
Holy
Communion
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St Peter's Mid-Week Worship
Day
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Time
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Service
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Church
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Monday
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9.00am
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Morning Prayer
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St Peter's Rooms
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Tuesday
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9.00am
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Morning Prayer (on Zoom)
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Zoom Code 503 346 024
Passcode 793684
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Wednesday
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10.00am
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Morning Prayer
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Upton Priory
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Wednesday
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10.30am
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Holy Communion
(with refreshments afterwards)
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St Peter's
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Thursday
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9.00am
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School Community Worship
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Church School
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Thursday
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9.30am
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Morning Prayer
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St John's
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2nd & 4th
Thursdays
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10.15am
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Pram Service
(in term time)
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St Peter's
& Rooms
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Diary for March
Parish Office is open Monday to Friday 9.00am to 12noon
Mondays The Prayer Course II Unanswered Prayer 7.30pm
Wednesdays: Bell ringers 8.00pm
Thursdays Holy Dusters 11.30am
Fridays: Choir Practice 7.45pm in St Peter's
Litter Pickers first Saturday of the month 10.30am meeting at the front of church - an hour keeping the village tidy, followed by refreshments in St Peter's Rooms at 11.45am.
Prayer Resources
Easter Prayers
Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be praise and honour, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.
All Amen.
God of glory,
by the raising of your Son
you have broken the chains of death and hell:
fill your Church with faith and hope;
for a new day has dawned
and the way to life stands open
in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
All Amen
Those who are sick
Mavis Lewis
Rosemary Birch
Rodney Thornley
Those whose ashes are being interred
Stephen (Jim) Barker (Friday 8 March)
Those who have died
Amelie
Community News
Go Green(er) for Lent
A dozen activities everyone could do to make a difference
We may be a couple of weeks into Lent but there is still time for you to have a greener Lent and think about the steps you can take to help fight the climate crisis, halt biodiversity loss or reduce our waste problem. So, as we head towards the lighter and brighter days of Spring, make a positive change for the planet this Lent by trying out one or some of these eco-friendly ideas. You might be surprised at what you can achieve by Easter!
1. Plant a seed. Planting a seed is synonymous with the new beginnings of January and February, the sacrificial element of Lent and the long-awaited arrival of Spring. And it’s not just symbolic – this is great time of year to begin sowing and growing. Maybe consider growing your own vegetables this year. Look for peat-free compost at your local garden centre or even better, pop a composter in your garden and make your own.
2. Become a second-hand buyer/borrower. How about changing the way you spend when you need something ‘new’? There are charity shops on most high streets so how about considering pledging to only buy second hand clothes for the next year? Or hiring something when you need it, like a tool or a piece of specialist equipment? Selling sites like Ebay, Vinted, Gumtree and Preloved, have grown massively and if you’re in need of replacement appliances, many independent shops will offer perfectly good, refurbished models.
3. Refill and Reuse. This lent, try buying your groceries like they did in the old days; by refilling instead of replacing. Pasta, oats, lentils – you name it, if it’s dry and with a relatively long shelf-life, you can probably find a place to refill your stocks without the packaging. Try visiting Scoop & Scales in Macclesfield or the Greener Grocer in Poynton.
4. Turn your kitchen and bathroom plastic-free. From bars of solid shampoo to coconut scourers, the choices for kitchen and bathroom swaps are in vast supply. Or consider sourcing your kitchen and bathroom products through an eco-friendly subscription service such as Smol (www.smolproducts.com).
5. Switch to cloth wipes. Disposable wipes are everywhere – from make up removing wipes, baby wipes to floor and surface wipes but they’re not great for the planet . Invest in the washable alternatives and help take the pressure off landfill.
6. Review your spending – who/what do you fund? There is a wealth of information online – a quick search will bring you helpful websites such as Ethical Consumer, which analyse companies based on their sustainability or ethics. Also, don’t be afraid to ask. A truly ethical company will already have a mission statement in place and will have full traceability in all its products. If a brand doesn’t know where the raw materials for their products come from, they probably aren’t very ethical. Be particularly demanding with clothes, coffee and chocolate, where modern-day slavery is still rife in the mainstream industry.
7. Insulate your home. This might be as easy as calling in the experts or having a go at some DIY. Start with loft insultation as this is where most heat is lost.
8. Swap to green energy. More than a quarter of the average UK household’s carbon footprint comes from the energy used at home, making it one of the best areas to make a real difference. Ecotricity and Good Energy both generate energy from renewable sources, making them two of the best UK options in terms of impact in the green energy space.
9. Have a use-everything-up-dinner once a week. Lent is the perfect time for an epic hunt through the depths of cupboards and the bottom of the freezer. With a few on-hand herbs and spices, you’ll be amazed what culinary joy can be created from an apparently empty kitchen... the average UK person’s ‘waste carbon footprint’ is around 700 kg CO2e per year. Even some small changes in this area will make a big difference.
10. Go vegan or have 2-3 vegan days a week. Easy to say but not always so easy to do—if it helps, you could think of this as ‘giving up animal products’ so that it aligns with traditional Lent practises. Why put yourself through this? It has been well-documented now that plant-based diets (even taking into account food miles and other elements) have a lower carbon footprint than the most sustainably produced meat diets so you would make a big contribution to the UK reaching net zero, as well as helping with health and food security (source: national food strategy). The Vegan Society has a wealth of tips for first-time vegans if you need them.
11. Become a citizen scientist! From birdwatching to counting stars – citizen science projects are fun, educational and provide those working hard to look after nature with much-needed data. Children are often enthusiastic participants and what better way to nurture earth-loving humans, than to get them inspired by hands-on natural science? The Natural History Museum has a hub which points people to lots of ways they can record biodiversity in their local patch or their own garden, here - https://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/monitor-and-encourage-nature/nature-recording-hub.html
12. Sign a petition or start a campaign. Up and down the country ordinary folk are fighting for climate justice and they need our help. Whether you go in search of a campaign, or just provide support to those sharing petitions when they land on your Facebook newsfeed; caring for the planet requires action. It might seem small, but great change can come from community response. Together we are powerful.