St. Paul's Church Magazine - May2021 £1 On-line and local edition

St. Paul’s Church
     Magazine

    On-line and local edition

  May 2021                      £1

PARISH OF ST. PAUL
                      The church is now open for worship
              Church website: www.achurchnearyou.com/11422
               School website: www.benjamin.lancsngfl.ac.uk

Vicar:             In Vacancy

Churchwardens: Mr Terry Jones, 36 Cobham Road                  232367
               Mr Andrew Crowe, 9 Badgers Close                389072

Treasurer:          Mr Terry Jones                             232367
Organist:           Mrs Kathleen Livesey                       694720

                                  SERVICES
                            Sunday Service: 9.15am
     This will be a shortened service with readings, prayers and a reflection.
             Communion services will include a wafer but no wine.
                Hymn singing is not allowed until further notice.
                        No refreshments after the service.
Baptisms, Marriages and Funerals:
Please contact the churchwardens who will be pleased to advise you.

Contacts:
Lay Minister Mr Tony Hindle                                     230977
Reader Emeritus: Mrs Joan Clark                                 233683
Café Church: Mr Tony Hindle                                     230977
Pastoral Assistant: Mrs Alison Worrall                          398413
Benjamin Hargreaves School:
Headteacher: Mrs Julie Nicol                                    232130

Church Hall: only open for School as a classroom Out of 233547
Safeguarding Officer: Mrs Heather Pitman           07921237592

School Days
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a school is always in need of pupils. This
was definitely the case for St Anne’s School, Fence in Pendle. The year was 1959, and
in desperation, the school accepted two three year old twins: myself and Kate. Neither
of us could ever remember that first day at school, but we clearly got used to it after a
while.
The school had two classes: infants for four to seven year olds, and juniors up to
eleven. The classrooms were in a large (or so it seemed) hall, separated by a partition.
This partition could be drawn back to make a single room, when needed for church or
school functions.
The building was basic, to say the least. When we first started, there were no indoor
toilets. The girls’ toilets were across the backyard and could only be described as
dustbins with plank seats. I can’t answer for the boys’ one in the front yard, but I guess
that was equally Spartan. Every so often, the ‘stink bomb wagon’ would arrive and the
men would come and empty the bins. There was no water supplied to either site, and I
can’t remember washing hands afterwards. Thankfully, after three or four years,
indoor toilets were built in the cloakroom - with wash basins.
Lunch came in metal tureens from a site in Nelson. Strangely, I don’t remember the
food being cold. Maybe we were just used to it? Any slops were put into a bucket and
the juniors took it in turns to take it up in pairs to the pigs at a local farm. It was only a
couple of hundred yards , but can you imagine that now? The farm was across the road
from what is now the Fence Gate Hotel, but was then the doctor’s house.
We had no sports field, but this didn’t matter as we were allowed to use the farmer’s
field next door. If the cows were there, they were encouraged to move to the top half
of the field beyond the trees. When we set up the rounders posts, we had to make sure
there were not any sneaky cowpats between bases. Because the class was so small, we
never had more than three bases.
When we went swimming, we had to go with pupils from four other schools. The
Rural Schools were Fence, Wheatley Lane, Newchurch, Roughlee and Blacko.
Occasionally, we had sports days with the other schools too.
I remember learning to read. This was long before Biff and Chip, and even before
Janet and John. We had Old Lob (whatever happened to him?) and his horse Dobbin.
Writing started with ‘writing patterns’. Every Christmas the two rooms were decorated
with crepe paper chains, always made freshly each year.
After Easter, when Kate and I were seven, we moved up to the junior class a term
early, to even up the classes. When we had moved up, there were eight pupils in each
class. Sadly, although we got more pupils after that, the LEA closed the school a few
years after we had left. Children now have to go to Wheatley Lane.The building is
now St Anne’s church hall.

Chris Tatum

We all want success
One of my friends was well-off yet felt lost. After much searching he found the
solution. He gave his life to Jesus and followed his new Lord‟s orders.
First step for him was to sell his business, which is how he discovered he was a
millionaire. Step Two on the road to happiness and success was to obey God and
start an orphanage in darkest Africa.
We all want success. If not in business then in home life, relations, at work and in
play
One of my books is Joshua - Power to Win. Joshua was Moses‟ apprentice in the
wilderness trek after escaping Egypt. He then stepped into the giant shoes of Moses
to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. On the eve of crossing the River
Jordon God gave Joshua his recipe for success.
“The Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it
day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you’ll
be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1: 8).
The Bible‟s full of wisdom about success. Here‟s what 1 Samuel 18: 13-14 says…
“So God sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men,
and David led the troops in their campaigns. In everything he did he had great
success, because the Lord was with him.”
Joseph, the youngest in his family, had many plotting his downfall, including his 11
brothers. They sold him into slavery yet he ended second only to the Pharaoh in
Egypt (Genesis Chapters 37 to 50).

You want success? First step... Invite God to run your life and study his manual
cover to cover. You‟ll end up a sure-fire winner. It‟s a joint effort - You and God.
                            S_CCESS – what’s missing?
                                Even God can’t spell
                                S_CCESS without U.

                                    Kevin Logan

Hi everyone,
                                             We are edging closer to seeing each
                                             other again. It has been so long I am
sure all of the girls will be taller than me by now – not hard I am only a short
owl! Any way, what have we been up to? I am writing and multitasking , as
many of the mums and dads amongst will understand, as I am attending a
very special Zoom session with 3 of our girls and a number from division to
celebrate the 95th birthday of the Queen. It is very interesting and we have just
discovered she was a Guide! I love to learn new facts and they are very
interesting. We have also had a virtual visit from an amazing man named
River who brought some of his pets to Zoom for us. Very exciting!
I‟ll start with River from Rivers Rodents and Reptiles who took time out of his
Good Friday to introduce us to Dude, Chanel, Robin, Mia and Moaning Myrtle.
We pulled out our tongue to Dude the Blue Tongued Skink, we waved a flipper
to Chanel the tortoise, we learnt a bout Robin the rat (he was very cute), we
hissed at Mia the corn snake and we all fell in love with Moaning Myrtle the
guinea pig. The session was brilliant and very informative – he taught us that
much that even the Brownies had no questions for him at the end. We also did
a little animal craft for Easter after he left too!
The special Zoom session some of the girls attended for the Queen‟s birthday
was very good. As I mentioned before we saw pictures of the queen in her
Brownie uniform and we looked at all the different places she lives, it would be
lovely to have so many beautiful houses to live in. The girls made some
special birthday bunting and a commemorative plate too. We enjoyed
designing something special and sent pictures to the leaders running the event
for them to send to the Queen. It‟s very nice to help her celebrate a special
day although a few of the girls said she may not feel like
celebrating! Those who took part will receive a very special
shiny badge as you can see in the picture and us guides will do
anything for a shiny badge, well any sort of badge really!
Well I‟m off to carry on making my bunting so I will leave you for now, I have
rabbitted on enough for this month. Remember if you have any potential
Brownies for us we are always looking for new recruits and you can contact
our Wise Owl (aka Angie) on 07523026031.
Hopefully we will have some exciting news to update you with next month,
Laughing Owl xx

REQUEST FROM THE EDITOR

                 As Editor of this Church Magazine,
             I'm looking for talent that I've never seen.
         I know there is plenty among our readers out there
            so PLEASE write about it for others to share.

           I love writing in rhyme as you may have guessed
           by writing your stories you could also be blessed
        and enjoy writing for others who just need some ideas
         you could inspire them to try, eliminating their fears.

          Everybody chatting about what they have read
           inspiring each other, there's a lot to be said.
        Reading your stories/verse that we could then share
             talking to each other and showing we care.

              Its lovely to know what we all enjoy most
        talking about our pass times we are allowed to boast!
        By writing in this magazine you can try something new
           and might find you enjoy it, like me, you can too!
                                  
                        
                                  
  Please contact Wendy if you would like to put something into the
 magazine. It can be stories or verse or talking about your hobbies.
Any subject close to your heart could be of great interest to others.
   All that we need is a little encouragement to put pen to paper,
                   and share it with our readers.

             Looking forward to receiving something new
                       for our June magazine!
Wendy

Our United Parish
The Diocese is keen to establish a United Parish of St. John and St. Paul.
Archdeacon Mark Ireland has recently spoken to each PCC about setting this up
using the Diocesan framework. Both PCC‟s have passed resolutions supporting this
and representatives from each church have already met on three occasions to plan
the way forward.
The first meeting took place two weeks ago at St. John‟s Church. Terry Jones and
Tony Hindle from St. Paul‟s met with Patricia Wilkinson and Paul Pountain from St.
John‟s. This turned out to be a good opportunity for the representatives to get to
know each other before they started work. We soon discovered there was a lot of
common ground and were in agreement about the qualities and experience we
were looking for in any applicant for the post of Vicar of the United Parish.
The second meeting took place in St. John‟s Lounge. Terry and Andrew represented
our church; with Patricia and Paul from St. John‟s. Before the Diocese advertise our
vacancy we are required to prepare a joint Parish Profile which is acceptable to both
churches. Patricia Wilkinson has kindly produced a draft based on the existing
profiles of and members of St. Paul‟s Church will review this next week.
Diocesan requirements:
Each church will have two wardens, one PCC with elected members from each
church, one treasurer (probably with an assistant)
Other important consideration such as times of services would be for the churches
and incumbent to decide.
Treasurers‟ meeting
I had a very constructive meeting with Barrie Grime, the treasurer of St. John‟s
Church. Once the United Parish had been set up he is prepared to set up new
accounts with Lloyds Bank. This is convenient for both churches to bank weekly
collections and other loose cash.
Money donated to either church for a specific purpose would be in a reserved fund.
Once the new parish is established we can get to know each other through joint
services, bible studies, prayer meetings, social and fund raising events.
A new world for all of us to take part in.

           Joan has prepared a prayer for us to use during the vacancy:
‘Lord Jesus, guard and grow our church and benefice as we serve you during this period
without a vicar or minister. We pray that you will call to our parish a true shepherd, a
servant of God, a minister of Christ. Guide us in this time of preparation to discover your
will for our community here at St. Paul’s.
We ask that you will help us to share responsibility, love one another, care for those in
need, reach out for others and welcome strangers. We need your wisdom so that we might
be receptive to change.
We need your grace to redirect our hearts that we will not allow fear, ignorance nor pride
to undermine the work of your Spirit.
Holy Spirit, please guide those who are seeking the right person for us,and those who are
seeking the right place for their ministry.
Lord, you have welcomed each one of us in Jesus and called us to be His Body in this place.
In faithfulness, keep us true to our calling, In Jesus’ name. Amen’

Informal Lay Ministry
Blackburn Diocese have published a booklet recently entitled ’Lay Ministry’. In the
letter sent with the booklet Bishop Philip writes: “As we all know well, healthy and
sustainable patterns of lay ministry are essential for a flourishing church. That is why
Vision 2026 commits us to offering Parishes all the support we can in the work of
discerning and developing lay ministry.”
What is Informal Lay Ministry?
Informal lay ministers are those members of our churches who exercise a specific
ministry with less formal training in areas such as pastoral care, children‟s ministry,
community outreach, toddler groups and leading small groups. Informal lay ministers
are the lifeblood of our churches, the majority of lay people who, for example, teach
our children, care for the elderly and vulnerable, outwork their faith on the frontlines
of their workplaces and communities, and lead various types of small groups and
organisations. Some have faithfully served in our churches and communities for
many years, some are new to faith and others are growing in faith and want to be
used in the Kingdom of God.
Is Informal Lay Ministry something I can do?
    • Are you enthusiastic about a particular area of ministry in the Church or
       community?
    • Do you have gifts and talents that you can use in God‟s service?
    • Do you want to sharpen your skills and build your knowledge through ongoing
       training?
    • Are you ready to jump in and get started?
   What training is available?
   Training for such roles is provided locally in the parish, or through a diocesan
   programme or parachurch organisation. Training to equip informal lay ministers
   typically lasts six to eight sessions and is not assessed. Informal lay ministers
   have the opportunity to sign up for authorised Lay Ministry Elective modules.
   If you would like to get involved in any area of Informal Lay Ministry, please chat
   to Tony Hindle or Heather Pitman, both of whom have recently undergone
   training with the Diocese, speak to Kevin or visit the Diocesan website:
   blackburn.anglican.org/informal-lay-ministry.
   Note: Copies of the booklet „Lay Ministry‟ are available in Church. Please collect
   one

May 2021
Baptismal anniversaries
6th May 2018 Eva Bronte Haining
13th May 2018 Kyla-Brooke Brown
Church Magazine
Thank you to everyone who has made a contribution towards the cost of producing
our Parish Magazine during the pandemic. The PCC agreed that from June there
will be a charge of £1 for each Magazine or a total for the year of £10. Please pay
the person who delivers your Magazine. We would like to encourage all our Church
families to take our monthly Magazine to keep in touch with all the developments in
the next few months.
If you would like to advertise in the Magazine, please contact the Editor, Wendy
Crowe (01254 235791). The cost for a half page advertisement for the year (10
issues) is £20 and for a full page £30.
St. Paul’s Annual Parochial Church Meeting
This will be held on Monday 24th May at 7 p.m. in the Church Hall, socially
distanced. We have been told, it is expected by then that permission will have been
given to hold the meeting face to face rather than by Zoom. The APCM will follow
the short Vestry Meeting at which two Church Wardens will be elected who during
the next few months will have additional responsibilities until the future of our
Church is sorted out. During the APCM we shall elect members to our PCC and
receive a copy of St. Paul‟s balance sheet for 2020. Anyone whose name is on our
Electoral Roll is entitled to attend the APCM.
If you would like to be considered for election please speak to one of our Church
wardens, Terry Jones and Andrew Crowe or Kath Jones, Chairman of the PCC or
Heather Pitman, our PCC Secretary. Nomination forms for PCC and church
wardens are available in Church or from Kath and must be submitted by 23rd May.
St. Paul’s Electoral Roll 2021
This has been updated and is available at the back of church. There are 116 names
on the new roll.
St. Paul’s Planned Giving 2021/22
In the past few years a significant number of our church members have chosen to
make their financial contribution directly through their bank either as a standing
order or direct debit. However it is still possible to use planned giving envelopes
which can be brought to Church weekly or as convenient. The new year for the
Planned Giving scheme is Sunday, 2nd May and boxes of envelopes can be
collected from Church or by contacting Terry, our Church Treasurer. Should anyone
else like to join the Planned Giving scheme do speak to Terry. For sound financial
management it is essential for the Treasurer to know how much money he can
expect to be donated to Church on a weekly/monthly basis.
Recycling of print cartridges for charity
If anyone has a contact for a local/national charity which recycles print cartridges as
part of their fundraising please let Ann Hindle or Kath Jones have their contact
details.

Rota for May

       DATE         SERVICE       READER/S        READING         INTERCESSOR
                   LEADER/S

     2nd May       Kath Jones,
  th
 5 Sunday of        Joan Clark        n/a
     Easter        &Ann Hindle                        n/a              n/a
All-Age Worship

    9th May        Revd. Kevin     Maureen
 6th Sunday of       Logan         Birtwistle
     Easter       & Tony Hindle   Jill Lamont   Acts 10: 44-end
                                                                   Ann Hindle
      Holy                                       John 15: 9-17
  Communion

    16th May       Tony Hindle    Avis Carter                     Lorraine Jones
 7th Sunday of                    Chris Tatum   Acts 1: 15-17,
     Easter                                     21-end
    Morning                                      John 17: 6-19
    Worship

   23rd May        Revd. Kevin     Maureen                        Heather Pitman
                                                 Acts 2: 1-21
  Pentecost          Logan         Birtwistle
                                                John 15: 26-27:
     Holy                         Jill Lamont
                                                   16:4b-15
 Communion

   30th May       Revd. Kevin     Terry Jones                     Allison Worrall
                                                Romans 8: 12-
Trinity Sunday    Logan     &     Ann Hindle
                                                     17
      Holy        Tony Hindle
                                                 John 3: 1-17
 Communion

              It is neither wealth nor splendour, but tranquillity
                                 and occupation,
                              which give happiness
                             [Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826]

Our Mission Statement
         We worship Jesus, welcome everyone, care for one another as
          family and serve God with generosity in our community.
                               Safeguarding
  The welfare of any person who is or feels vulnerable - child or adult- is of the
   greatest importance to us. Safeguarding protects their health, wellbeing and
keeps them safe from harm, abuse or neglect. We have church members who will
 respond to signs of abuse particularly in children and young people and work to
  prevent this happening. We will also take care to identify where a person may
 present a risk to others, and offer support to them whilst taking steps to mitigate
                                      such risks.
                         Church Organisations
   Re-opening dates to be announced
   Junior Church: Mrs Kerry Pickup                       07719835200
   Mothers Union: 7.30 p.m. 2nd Tuesday in month
   Branch Leader: Mrs Maureen Birtwistle                       381657
   Guides:                 Wednesday in the Church Hall
   Mrs Jill Lamont                                             236803
   Brownies (age 7-10)       Thursday in the Church Hall
   Angie Johnson                                      07523026031
  Rainbows: (age 5-7)      Monday in the Church Hall
  Angie Johnson                                      07523026031
  Group Scout Leader: Mr Gerry Tipling               07942042813
  Cub Scouts: (age 8-10½) Tuesday in the Church Hall
  Donna Emmett                                       07866746874
  Scouts: (age 10-14)      Friday in the Church Hall
  Mr Mark Longworth                                  07393933713
  Beavers: (age 6-8)        Tuesday in the school
  Karen/Gerry Tipling                                07942042813
  Flowers: Mrs Hilary Davies                              301286
  Keep Fit: Monday (details to be announced shortly)      235791
  Magazine Editor: Mrs Wendy Crowe                        235791
  e-mail: acrowe@talktalk.net