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Dear friends,

As you know, each year, as well as on going forms of mission and ministry, we

also have a focus on a specific theme each year. 2016 was our year of

fellowship, 2017 our year of spiritual growth, 2018 our year of mission and last

year was our year of celebrating creation, our eco year.

So, what are some of the things that happened during the last year?

Last year we had a range of opportunities and activities related to being

environmentally friendly. These included special eco- based services, raising

awareness of the environment including setting up a re-cycling area, making

eco bricks, fund raising for water aid (Sunday School) and an eco-week, where

we invited local schools to come to church for a range of fun, eco-based

activities. This led to us achieving the bronze church eco award.

We also continued with a highly successful staycation, had our usual retreat to

Parcivall Hall and an additional retreat to Foxhills. Sue was priested in the

summer and Andrew was commissioned as our ALM for pastoral care.

Maggie’s Music Makers have gone from strength to strength. We have

continued with our prayer blankets and have now given away 500 and of

course, we had our knitted angel project, which was highly successful. Thank

you to everyone who has bee involved in any way in the life of the church at St.

Margaret’s and St. George’s. These are just a few of the many things that have

happened throughput 2019. God has really blessed us.

But what about this year, 2020?

Our theme is ‘Year of Service’, and we hope to look at some of the ways in

which we can serve each other and our community, as well as continuing our

ongoing activities.

One of the things that we want to explore is how we can help those feeling lonely and isolated, including those with living with dementia and their carers. We are exploring the opportunity of setting up a ‘place of welcome’ to which people can ‘drop in’, possibly based at St. Margaret’s Youth and Community Centre. One of the questions we need to ask is ‘is there a need for something like this?’ and also if there are volunteers within our community who would like to be involved in such a project. If you are interested in either helping out or know of anyone who may be interested in coming to such a group, please

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contact us via the St. Margaret’s Church website (https://stmargaretsprestwich.com/)

Very much related to this, we also want to raise awareness of dementia by

becoming a dementia friendly church and by encouraging people to become

dementia friends.

We want to celebrate the contributions our children and young people make

to our church and local community and explore how we can increase the

number coming to church and make it more accessible and inclusive.

We also want to focus on acts of kindness – small things that make a difference

to people and encourage mental well-being.

In addition, we will be continuing with our usual services, baptisms, funerals

and weddings, social events and fellowship opportunities, schools work. Messy

Church, Espresso Church, supporting charities and offering opportunities for

prayer, faith and spiritual growth.

Please feel free to join us at any time, either for a service or a social event or

just to see what we do. You will be more than welcome.

Every blessing,

Deborah

________________________________________________________________

FROM THE PARISH REGISTERS

FUNERALS We commend into the loving hands of Almighty God: Jean Gould on 8th January 2020 at Agecroft Crematorium

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________________________________________________________________

CALENDAR FOR FEB 2020

Morning Prayer will be said in the Chancel Monday-Friday at 8.30am: On Tuesday and Friday the Peregrini Service will be used. Parish Office is every Thursday, 7.00-8.00pm in church.

Sunday 2nd Feb THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE (family service)

8.00am Holy Communion (St. M’s) 9.45am Sung Eucharist (St. M’s) 11.15am Holy Communion (St. G’s)

Mon 3rd Feb 6.45pm Espresso Church Wed 5th Feb 10.00am Holy Communion followed by coffee Thurs 6th Feb 7.30pm Churches Together (Prestwich Methodist) Fri 7th Feb 2.00pm MU AGM

Sunday 9th Feb THE THIRD SUNDAY BEFORE LENT (Laying on of hands)

8.00am Holy Communion (St. M’s) 9.45am Sung Eucharist (St. M’s) 11.15am Holy Communion (St. G’s)

Mon 10th Feb 7.00pm Peregini (in church) Tues 11th Feb 2.30pm Finance/stewardship meeting 3.45pm Standing committee Wed 12th Feb 10.00am Holy Communion followed by coffee 4.00pm Messy Church

7.30pm YCC meeting Sat 15th Feb 1.00pm Wedding

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Sunday 16th Feb THE SECOND SUNDAY BEFORE LENT 8.00am Holy Communion (St. M’s) 9.45am Sung Eucharist (St. M’s) 11.15am Holy Communion (St. G’s)

Wed 19th Feb 10.00am Holy Communion followed by coffee

Sunday 23rd Feb THE SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE LENT 8.00am Holy Communion (St. M’s) 9.45am Sung Eucharist (St. M’s) 11.15am Holy Communion (St. G’s) 3.45pm Service of wholeness and healing

Mon 24th Feb 7.30pm PCC meeting (Prep for APCM) Tues 25th Feb 6.00pm Pancake Party at the Vicarage (Shrove Tuesday) Wed 26th Feb ASH WEDNESDAY

10.00am Holy Communion (with the imposition of ashes) 7.00pm Holy Communion (with the imposition of ashes)

Sunday 1st Mar THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT 8.00am Holy Communion (St. M’s) 9.45am Sung Eucharist (St. M’s) 11.15am Holy Communion (St. G’s)

Mon 2nd Mar 6.45pm Espresso Church Wed 4th Mar 10.00am Holy Communion followed by coffee Fri 6th Mar 2.00pm MU

ST. GEORGE’S CHURCH, SIMISTER

February 2020 at St. George’s

Invitation to everybody, all activities are in the Lady Wilton Hall

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*WHIST DRIVE :- Start 7:30pm

Saturday 8th February

Everybody welcome come and enjoy an evening out.

All proceeds go to the church. Thank you all for your continued support.

*TEAPOT TIME 1:00pm to 3:00

Monday 10th and 24th February

Thank you to everybody for your support all proceeds given to St. George’s.

For information please ring Barbara Lashwood 0161 773 6244

Why not bring a friend it is an enjoyable 2 hours..

MESSY CHURCH 4:00pm to 5:30pm in the Lady Wilton Hall

February meeting will be on Wednesday 12th

February

Please join us for fun, food and fellowship. Why not bring a friend?

ALTAR FLOWERS In memory of

Feb. 2nd Mrs. Kirby Vera Holt and Roy King

9th Mrs.Woodcock John Peter Woodcock

16th Mrs. Duckworth The Family

Thank you to everyone for all the flowers and especially to

Barbara Ashurst for the beautiful arrangements

If you wish to put flowers in church or have any problems please contact:

Barbara Ashurst 07922655013 or Joan Knott 0161 773 6879

CLEANING ROTA

Week ending 15th February Margaret

29th “ Lois

We are very short of cleaners in church if anybody feels that they could help

please contact either Joan Knott or Carol Knaggs

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St. Margaret’s Church REREDOS FLOWERS

FEBRUARY 2nd Vera Swallow

9th Sheila & Jack Gale 16th George Smethurst 23rd Lilian Johnson

Vicky Crookes 07936 548439

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March at 7.30pm the Manchester Chorale will be performing Mass in Blue by

Will Todd, accompanied by a live jazz band. Do come along for an evening of

superb sacred music.

Love your enemies

For all of us there are people we find it difficult to love, because they have

harmed us, upset us or simply irritate us. We know we should, but it’s hard to

do. Here’s a practice I find helpful. The idea is to work up to the difficult

person in small steps. Give it a try, but perhaps it is better to use it a few times

and have found it effective before you include someone who has hurt you

deeply.

Sit quietly and relax.

Pray for yourself, for good health, happiness and peace.

Visualise someone you find easy to love. Pray for the same things for them.

Now pray for someone you have no strong feelings about – it could be a

neighbour you often greet and then pass on, or someone in church you don’t

know well.

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Only then, pray for the person you find difficult. Visualise health, happiness

and peace for him or her.

Finally pray for God’s blessing on everyone and all of creation.

As with all spiritual practices, our prayer is primarily because God desires it,

and for the benefit of others, but you will also find you become a happier,

calmer and more loving person.

I would be interested to know whether this works for you.

Rev Sue

CHURCH CLEANING ROTA 2020

Volunteers prior to ALTERNATE 1st Sunday (normally Saturday, 9.00am)

1st FEB, 4TH APR, 6th JUNE, 1st AUG, 3rd OCT, 5th DEC, 6th FEBRUARY 2021

Gail Prosser, Anne Williams, Patricia Waghorn, Brenda Griffiths

Volunteers prior to ALTERNATE 2nd Sunday (normally Friday, 11.00am)

9th JAN, 6TH MAR, 8THMAY, 10TH JULY, 11th SEPT, 6TH NOV, 9th JANUARY 2021

Ellen Lord, Vivienne Jones, Zandra Lewis, Barbara Chafer, Angela Cox

Volunteers prior to ALTERNATE 3rd Sunday (normally Friday, 9.00am)

14TH FEB, 17TH APR, 19TH JUN, 14TH AUG, 16TH OCT, 18TH DEC, 20TH FEB 2021

Sheila Johnson, Sheila Gale, Mary Simmons, Patricia Coleman, Ray Coleman

Volunteers prior to 4th Sunday (normally Saturday, 10 am)

25TH JAN, 21ST MAR, 23TH MAY, 25TH JULY, 26th SEPT, 21st NOV, 23TH JAN 2021

Laurel Avery, Irene Kellett, Gwen Robinson, Jean Mundy, Dani Joksimovic-

Zenko

Additional help is always required – contact Angela Cox for details.

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1st Sunday in Month

Commencing February quiet/silent prayer will be held in the choir

stalls from 9.15-9.30am. During this period some quiet music will

be played in Church.

Wednesday Evening in Month

Church will be open from 6.45-7.15pm for quiet prayer, following

the same format as above, on one Wednesday evening each month,

for anyone who wishes to have some quiet prayer time. Dates

confirmed are:

February 26th. March 25th.

A reminder of these dates will be printed on the weekly news sheet.

For more information please see Carol Olive.

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World Day of Prayer - ZIMBABWE

Rise! Take Your Mat and Walk

Friday 6th March 1.30pm

St. Margaret’s Church

All Welcome

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Thank you so much for all your love, support and prayers during my

recent health issues.

Carol P

________________________________________________________________ The Coventry Carol

Wikipedia tells us that this is an English Christmas Carol dating from the 16th

century. The original author is unknown, although the oldest known text was

recorded by Robert Croo in 1534. It was performed in Coventry as part of a

mystery play called the Pageant of the Shearman and Tailors. Way back when,

as an O level music student at Gordano School in Portishead I was conscripted

into the school’s SATB choir, it was the first ‘non-standard’ 4-part carol I

learned. It gave me shivers down my spine – and it still does each time I sing it.

Lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,

Bye bye, lully, lullay.

Thou little tiny child,

Bye bye, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do

For to preserve this day

This poor youngling for whom we sing,

"Bye bye, lully, lullay"?

Herod the king, in his raging,

Chargèd he hath this day

His men of might in his own sight

All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor child, for thee

And ever mourn and may

For thy parting neither say nor sing,

"Bye bye, lully, lullay."

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But this is the February issue of our parish magazine and we have only just

celebrated Candlemas, the close of the Christmas and Epiphany season. Why

am I writing about a Christmas Carol? Because it highlights a less palatable part

of the Christmas story, which is often glossed over: the massacre of the

innocents. The first verse, which is often repeated at the end, is a mother softly

singing her child to sleep in hope that silence will protect him. The middle

three verses form a lullaby of unimaginable grief, a song of woe for young

mothers mourning the vicious murder of their babies. The Wise Men, seeking

to protect Jesus from Herod, returned to their homeland by a different route,

without reporting back to Herod where he might find Jesus. Undeterred,

Herod, King at the time of Jesus’ birth, felt the threat to his crown, and ordered

his soldiers to kill all male babies under the age of two throughout the land. He

was too late. Mary and Joseph had already fled the country, having been

warned in a dream. The slaughter was utterly pointless.

The story told by the text of this carol is in stark contrast to the sublime beauty

of the music. The melody is simple, the harmonies deliberately clash and

resolve in a manner typical of early music.

You can listen to a Pentatonix recording of the Coventry Carol here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iCklc-j04M

Carol P ________________________________________________________________

WELCOME TO MESSY CHURCH

Messy Church meets in the Lady Wilton Hall,

Simister for fun, fellowship and food, from

4.00-5.30pm. Our dates for 2020 are:-

• Wednesday February 12th

• Wednesday March 18th

• Wednesday April 22nd

• Wednesday May 20th

• Wednesday June 17th

• Wednesday July 15th

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OUR DAILY BREAD FEBRUARY 2020

Psalms is a collection of 150 poems, prayers, hymns and meditations. They’re all addressed to God, giving thanks for what he’s done or crying out for help in a crisis. They’re full of human emotion and can speak to us powerfully today.

Saturday 1st: Be Be still Be still and know Be still and know that I am God. Just simply be.

The Psalm for this week is 111 Sunday 2nd: Candlemas

Almighty and ever-living God, clothed in majesty, whose beloved Son was this day presented in the Temple, in substance of our flesh: grant that we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts, by your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity

of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen Monday 3rd: Praise the Lord all living creatures! Praise the Lord. Psalm 150:6 Tuesday 4th: When we find it difficult to forgive others, it helps to remember all that Jesus has done for us. “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13 Wednesday 5th: There is nothing in all creation that will be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39 Thursday 6th: The Accession of Queen Elizabeth II Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ exchanged the glory of a heavenly throne for the form of a servant, we thank you that you have given Elizabeth our Queen a heart to serve her people, and have kept her devoted in this service beyond all who were before her: encourage us by her example to serve one another, and to seek the common good, until you call us all to reign with Christ in your eternal kingdom. Amen.

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Friday 7th: It brings such peace to think that Jesus never leaves us. “When I awake, I am still with You.” Psalm 139: 18 Saturday 8th: May we learn from each other how to give, how to receive, how, in joy, to celebrate and how, in pain, to grieve; how to fight for what is right yet not do any wrong; how to be the family to which we all belong.

Psalm for this week is 112 Sunday 9th: In the Middle East, people continue to seek Jesus – demand for Bibles is higher than ever. Please pray for God’s blessing and peace over this troubled region. Monday 10th: "The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size."- Gertrude S. Wister Tuesday 11th: In my distress O Lord, I called to you. And you answered me. Jonah 2:2 Jonah – probably one of the best loved stories ikn the Old Testament. There’s a storm, a fish, a repentant city and some sulky remonstrations with God. Ultimately, it’s about God’s great mercy. Wednesday 12th: Thank you, dear God, for the joy of life and the everyday things that make life a joy. Amen Thursday 13th: Though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Psalm 23:4 Thank you, God, for being with us even in the darkest valley as we imagine the glories of heaven. Amen Friday 14th: If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Matthew 5:46 Jesus pour your love into me so I may pour it out to others-even those who can’t repay the favour.

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Saturday 15th: Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away our sins, have mercy on us and help us to extend mercy and love to others. Show us how we might share Your love with others today. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice who died to give us life.

Psalm for this week is 113 Sunday 16th: Wisdom is worth much more than precious jewels or anything else you desire. Proverbs 8:10 Illustrating Wisdom is a challenge, but Psalm 119 says that Wisdom is found in God’s word. Monday 17th: "Surely as cometh the Winter, I know there are Spring violets under the snow." - R. H. Newell Tuesday 18th: God help me give my insecurities to You and trust in Your goodness and faithfulness Wednesday 19th: "Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour." - John Boswell Thursday 20th: For it is by God’s grace you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts but God’s gift so that no one can boast about it. Ephesians 2: 8-9 Friday 21st: Anyone who listens to the word, but does not do what it says, is like one who looks at his face in a mirror, and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. James 1: 23-24 Just as a mirror is a very useful object. James is full of very practical and challenging instructions for us every day. Saturday 22nd: Dear God, guard our friendships, encourage us, inspire us, strengthen us, and remember us that we may encourage, inspire, strengthen and remember one another. Amen

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Psalm for this week is 114

Sunday 23rd: The Lord gives me light and savbes me.

Why should I fear anyone? The Lord is my place of safety.

Why should I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

Monday 24th: Wherever you go I will go, wherever you live I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God Ruth1: 16-17 Tuesday 25th: The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1:21 Wednesday 26th: Ash Wednesday

Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return

Thursday 27th: George Herbert Priest King of glory, King of peace, who called your servant George Herbert from the pursuit of worldly honours to be a priest in the temple of his God and King: grant us also the grace to offer ourselves with singleness of heart in humble obedience to your service; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen Friday 28th: God will show us the way, because that’s what good shepherds do. “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” Psalm 23: 2-3. Saturday 29th:

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God’s own peace to the mountain, God’s own peace to the plain: God’s own Paradise garden grow in the world again. Lois Rock

The real vine and my Father is the Gardener The bread of life – those who come to me will never be hungry The Good Shepherd who is willing to die for the sheep

There are 7 ‘I am’ statements by Jesus in the book of John. Can you remember the other 4?

SUNDAY HEALING ROTA NOVEMBER 2019 - APRIL 2020

09 February 2020 Carol Sue

08 March 2020 Andrew Hedley

19 April 2020 Ray Judith

Maggie’s Music Makers New Year New You? Come and enjoy the health, physical and spiritual benefits of singing together. You’ll even get to learn the hymns for the coming Sunday services! We meet for weekly singing practices every Wednesday in church from 5.30-6.30pm.

Do come along – everyone is welcome! No experience necessary, no need to be able to read music.

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Articles for future editions of our parish magazine should be emailed as

an attachment (Word doc, A4, portrait, no columns) to

stmargaretsprestwich@gmail.com no later than:

March magazine 23 February April magazine 22 March May magazine 26 April

Large print version of the magazine. We are

planning to produce a lager print version of

the magazine. If text this size easier for you to

read, let whoever brings your magazine know.

Candlemas Colouring

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