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Welcome to the September newsletter from St Peter's Church. In this newsletter you'll see the dates and times of our services in September, and details about what else we're up to as a church family.
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A word from Jess Davis, our new priest
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Well, it feels like it's been a long time coming but we've finally moved into the vicarage. Thank you so much for the flowers, cards and gifts, we really do feel so welcome already.
I'm really excited to be starting this new chapter with you all and for all that the future holds. There's going to be lots to do once I've officially started so for the next few weeks we'll be keeping a bit of a low profile as we get the children settled into their schools and get the house set up. We're still waiting for a couple of carpets and a few bits of furniture to arrive so please excuse us if we don't invite you all round to the house just yet.
That doesn't mean you can't say hello. Please feel free to come and introduce yourselves to us if you see us out and about and I will try really hard to remember everyone's names. If you are a keen social media user, please feel free to friend me or follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers and good wishes for us and we want you to know that we are thinking of you and praying for you too.
With love
Jess
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St Peter's Playtime
As COVID restrictions continue to be lifted, we are moving towards church life being somewhat more "normal".
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John and Jean Frankland are therefore happy to announce that St Peter's Playtime is opening again for pre-school children and their parents and carers, on Thursday September 16th, 1-3pm.
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If you have pre-school children, grand-children (or even great-grand-children!), feel free to come down and enjoy some much-needed "us time". Or if know someone who would appreciate a friendly, supportive and nurturing group please do spread the word.
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What's on in September
We hope that you can join us each Sunday in church for our 10AM service, but if not then we have something else for you. We will continue to post short messages from the church on Facebook and YouTube each week for those who can't join us in person.
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Some of our less mobile members find it difficult to get to church on their own. If anyone can help with offers of lifts, or if you would like a lift, please let Leif or Wendy know and they will do their best to coordinate.
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- Sunday 5th September: Communion service with Revd Hugh Baker, joint Area Dean, at 10AM
- Sunday 12th September: Sunday worship at 10AM
- Thursday 16th September: St Peter's Playtime 1-3PM
- Sunday 19th September
- Sunday worship at 10AM
- Licensing Service for Rev Jess Davis at 4PM.
Please note: Jess' licensing is an invitation-only service with strict limits on numbers. We are sorry that we cannot welcome everyone who may wish to come. However, we plan to live-stream the service so you can watch from the comfort of your own screen. More details will be available on our website about that in due course.
- Thursday 23rd September: St Peter's Playtime 1-3PM
- Sunday 26th September: Sunday worship at 10AM
- Thursday 30th September: St Peter's Playtime 1-3PM
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Prayer Ministry Team members will be available every Sunday to pray with anyone should the need arise. If you aren't in church for the Sunday service but would like prayer, please contact us - the Holy Spirit can cope with a telephone call. Please don't worry or suffer alone.
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Did you know?
If you look in history books for what happened between the 3rd and 13th September 1752 you'll find nothing. Not only did nothing happen - those days didn't exist!
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That's because in 1752 Great Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar, first introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a minor modification to the Julian calendar which had been used since Roman times.
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That change required us to fast-forward 11 days to get in sync with other countries using the Gregorian calendar. So people went to bed on the 2nd September, and woke up on the 14th. Some didn't like this, thinking their lives were being shortened, and protested in the streets about the 11 days "stolen" from them!
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One of the other strange things about this time is that the month of September is named after the Latin word for seven - "septem". July and August are grandly named after Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar respectively - so naming a month after the number seven seems boring and confusing. After all, it's the ninth month!
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Well, September was indeed the seventh month of the old Roman republican calendar, which contained ten months in all. And there I will stop, as it gets very confusing very quickly!
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Prayer for September
O God, the strength of my life,
make known your will for me in this place:
help me to discover friends among strangers,
to meet opportunities and challenges eagerly,
and to do my daily tasks in your name.
Give me strength to overcome my worries,
and preserve me in your safe keeping,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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And finally
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We hope you enjoyed this newsletter. If you have suggestions for things we can put in it please do get in touch.
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Thanks for reading. God bless you all.
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St Peter's Church, Birstall
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