Magazine March 2011

Current priorities of St Thomas’- as agreed by Church Council, September  2004

1.  Evangelism/Church Growth out of love for people and because we need new members.

2.  Worship, including Sunday School, Healing, Prayer and Music.

3.  Witness to Asians through individual friendships and through shared work with the community.

4.  Presence, that is letting people know that C of E Christians live and/or worship on the Coppice.

5.  Working with St Paul’s, as we have been requested by the Diocese.

Dear Friends

Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, is on 9 March.  Being the 2nd Wednesday in the month, the 9.30 Holy Communion will be at St Paul’s and(because this year the Maundy Thursday Holy Communion will be at St Thomas’) the 7.30 Holy Communion will also be in St Paul’s.  We have decided not to share worship on Easter Eve and to do so instead on Ash Wednesday. I do hope that you will take part in our Lent Course which I wrote about in our February magazine – we hope to announce days of the week, times and venues on 6 March at the latest when everyone taking part has said when they are free. There will be one session per week for 5 weeks starting in the week beginning 13 March.

Diary dates

4 March, Friday, 7.30 at the Unitarian Chapel / One World Centre: ‘A walk  in the Footsteps of the Retirada (Retreat) from Spain to France during the 1930s.  Mike Luft will give an illustrated talk about his walk in the Pyrenees. And about the work of Oldham Unity for Refugee Support.

5 March, Saturday, 7.15  at Holy Trinity, Bardsley:  Interchurch Quiz – tickets at £3 should be reserved in advance from Mary Fairhurst.

6  March, Fair Trade Sunday – see articleby Biddy Dawson.

9 March,  Ash Wednesday, 9.30 and 7.30 at St Paul’s: Holy Communion.

10 March, Thursday, 7 pm at Oldham Hulme Grammar School:

‘The King James Bible – its translation, its connection with  Oldham and its influence in the English-speaking world’ – a meeting of Oldham Interfaith Forum.

3 April, Mothering Sunday.

10 April, Sunday, 11.15 approx, Annual Parochial Church Meeting.

Yours sincerely

Andrew