‘Back to Church’ Sunday – Trinity 17 26 September 2021

Dear friends,

This week‟s New Testament Reading from James encourages us to PRAY and to SING !

It is so good that we are now able to sing in our churches without masks ...although still seated at the moment. As restrictions ease, and the infection rate falls (as it is currently doing in Bolton), may we start to gather again for more

social events. It was wonderful to be able to sit with a cuppa and cake amongst friends in Walmsley Parish Community Hall last Saturday.

Thank you to Kath & David Rushton for all the careful preparation for - and organisation of – the event; thank you to the ladies of Christ Church Walmsley for their cake-making skills and for „waiting on‟ and thank you to Gemma Gardiner, our Hall Manager, for facilitating this very welcome element of normality.

Reverend Carol SMASHED the 5 km ‘Race for Life’ on

1 September in memory of her husband Mike, who died in July 2020, raising 91% of her £5k target: £4,562.00 + £868.00 Gift Aid

Thank you to those who sponsored her. Well done to Gwen Charnock & „Michaela‟ Rawlinson from St. Andrew‟s, too!!

SERVICES in WALMSLEY PARISH

The 9.30am Communion Service at Christ Church Walmsley this Sunday (26 September) and the 11am at St. Andrew‟s, BX will both be led by Rev Carol Hayden.

There will be a mid-week Communion service at Walmsley: 11am on Wed 29 September

HARVEST SERVICES Christ Church Walmsley: Sunday 3 October 9.30am

St. Andrew‟s: Sunday 10 October 11am

Donations at our HARVEST SERVICES will this year be for (PTO: long life items, toiletries or cleaning stuff; thank you.)

If you feel unable to join us yet in church, the wealth of wonderful resources produced from across the Turton Moorland Team will continue. Stay well – stay safe.

Coffee mornings are BACK!! The Ladies of St. Andrew’s Church invite you to their

COFFEE MORNING on SATURDAY 2 OCTOBER 10am-midday.

LICENSING SERVICE FOR AUTHORISED LAY MINISTERS Sunday 26 September 2021 at Manchester Cathedral

We pass on our love and blessings to our Assistant Church Warden, Angie Foster, who will be licensed as an ALM for Prayer and Spirituality in a special service this Sunday. Numbers are restricted at the service, but we all wish her well for her future ministry here in this parish. [Please read on in this newsletter to see Angie’s shared reflection and prayers.]

Please use this list as a guide to what we need to help make up our food parcels. Items highlighted with * are what we need the most. For food safety / quality reasons, please don’t donate any bakery products or items that require refrigeration or freezing.

Thank you for your help and support Ambient / Long-Life Items

Tinned Soups (Any) *Tinned Minced Beef *Tinned Corned Beef *Tinned Stewing Steak *Tinned Meat Stews *Tinned Chicken Stews *Tinned meat or chicken curry Tinned Veg Curry *Tinned Ham *Tinned Meat Pies Tinned Fish (any) Tinned Carrots *Tinned Mushy Peas *Tinned Garden Peas *Tinned Processed Peas *Tinned Mixed Vegetables *Tinned Tomatoes *Tinned Potatoes *Instant Mash Dried Rice Microwave Rice Dried Pasta Cuppa Soup Small cooking oils (max 200ml) Cooking Sauces (jars) Gravy granules and cubes Herbs & Spices (any) Salt & Pepper Tomato Puree Pickled beetroot, onions or cabbage Salad Cream Tomato Sauce Brown Sauce Coffee Powder

Instant Hot Chocolate Long Life Fruit Juice (1 ltr or similar) *Cordial *Long Life Milk

Tinned Sweet Pie Fillings Tinned Sponge Puddings *Tinned Fruit (any) * Instant Custard Powder Tinned Custard Rice Pudding Sugar Biscuits Baking Products Flour (Plain & Self Raising) Angel Delight Evaporated Milk Trifle Mixes Jellies

Cleaning Equipment *Large food bags Antibacterial Spray Dish Cloths Bleach Toilet cleaner

Toiletries Shampoo and Conditioner Toothpaste Toothbrushes Toilet Rolls Baby Wipes *Nappies (all sizes but especially size 4 upwards)

Donations at our HARVEST SERVICES

on 3 or 10 October will this year be for

URBAN OUTREACH Thank you.

(We can also pass on

cash donations)

We include here the list from our Parish for those in our prayers: If you know of others to be included, please contact us. DH

Prayers of Intercession

Hear us dear Lord, as we pray for the sick, the suffering, and those in need. Comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind or spirit; give them courage and hope in their troubles and bring them the joy of your salvation. Our prayers and thoughts at this time are especially for: John Lewer; Yvonne Ashmore; Charles Hill; Patrick Daly; David Lord; Evelyn Smith; Rosemary Clegg; Penelope Booth; Tiffany Young; John Evans; Gordon Bullough;

For our community: Staff and workers of Fortalice and Urban Outreach; The teachers, ancillary staff and children in our schools; NHS staff and volunteers who have worked so hard.

We remember too those who mourn, that You may provide comfort and help in their loss and sustain them through their grief.

Recently departed: Roy Sumner whose funeral will take place in Overdale West Chapel on Monday 27 September at 1pm.

Hear us as we remember those who have died in the faith of Christ; according to your promises, grant us with them a share in your eternal kingdom.

29 August: Malcolm Bromelow; Kay Ainsworth;

26 September: Ken Binge; Bill Hill; Herbert Ramsden; Leonard Halliday; Maurice Slack; Thomas Alan Smith; 3 October: Ernest Latchford; Irene Holding; William Herd; Eleanor Page; Harold Gleaves; Florence Jones; Christopher Paul Davies; Charles Ennion; 10 October: Alex Crawford; Harold Warburton; Paul Stephen Webster; Alice Tobutt; Elsie Langley; Freda Halliwell; Annie Brown; Irene May Monk; 17 October: Jack Nelson; Vera Hunt; Susan Berry; 24 October: Allan Wilson; Cameron Duxbury; John Wallwork; Stuart Scott;

You are the Alpha and the Omega; may we one day rejoice with you in heaven. Rejoicing in the fellowship of all your saints, we commend ourselves and all the human family to your unfailing love. Amen.

Please note: as the newsletter is now MONTHLY, included on this page is information for the FOUR weeks ahead: We send our love and very best wishes to Roy Shipperbottom, who celebrated his 93rd birthday this week; to Marlene Holt, for 8 October and to Team Rector, Peter Reiss, for 19 October. Congratulations to you all xx

For those of you who don’t get a delivery of the HERE4YOU magazine, this is the article written for the OCTOBER edition by our Team Rector, Peter Reiss:

NEWS from the TURTON MOORLAND TEAM MINISTRY by Peter Reiss

St. Anne’s, Turton with St. James’, Edgworth; St. Maxentius, Bradshaw; Christ Church Walmsley, Egerton with St. Andrew’s, Bromley Cross & St. Peter’s, Belmont.

Traditionally this is the season of the Festival. Us older folk will remember churches decorated with a marrow in pride of place, apples on the window-sills (I remember big green cooking apples), various vegetables, and flowers, flowers filling the churches; often also a large fancy loaf of bread. Joyful and colourful.

If you have similar memories, you also remember that “back then” and it is not so long ago, we bought our fruit and veg, when it was in season at the green-grocer. There was virtually no plastic waste; potatoes were loose and weighed and poured straight in the basket; apples were all sorts!

it would be easy to be sentimental and wish those days back, but remember in “those days” flying was expensive and rare, car-journeys took much longer, medical treatments we now take for granted were not available, and grapes (I remember) were a real luxury! Things change, but with the good maybe we have also become demanding, greedy and wasteful as a society; however, we are maybe beginning to learn, and our younger generation is taking a lead.

We will have Harvest Services in the Turton Team - do come and join us. We will collect food but most of it will be packaged so we can then pass it on to those who need it, via Urban Outreach. Did you know that Urban Outreach have shared nearly 12,000 food parcels this year to those who need them in Bolton? We will sing the traditional Harvest hymns, like “we plough the fields and scatter” even though there is no ploughing round here. It does remind us that we rely on others who grow our food. We will celebrate God‟s good gifts around us.

Food is to be enjoyed; God has blessed us with so much and we should be grateful. The Bible enjoys feasts (and also calls us to fast), and it knows hunger and injustice too and calls on God‟s people to take sides against all that is wrong, all that harms others and all that harms the world.

Isaiah 2500 years ago speaks of a time when the desert will flower, when streams will gush forth in the wilderness, and we today, pray for the reversal of global warming and that we can contribute to a better world. We should lobby our MPs as the Glasgow Climate Conference gets under way, asking for real change, so deserts can again flower and streams flow.

So Harvest Festivals – yes let us celebrate, even have a party, enjoy good food, but let us also give generously, let us look to live more simply, and commit to shopping ethically.

All good gifts around us, they come from heaven above,

so thank the Lord, O thank the Lord, for all his love

Find us and all resources at www.turtonmoorlandteam.co.uk

If you wish to make contact with a church representative, please e-mail dawn@walmsleyparish.org

A message from Reverend Carol Hayden (as shared with PCC)

Worship in the Parish as we emerge from Covid-restrictions...

As we are now (finally?) emerging from the restrictions and difficulties of the past 18 months we could be tempted to try and put the clock back to how things were. But things have changed. Some for the better, as we now have a licensed Reader and more ALMs, but people’s habits and patterns of attending have also changed, and we need to look at how we can best be a worshipping, growing and transformative Christian presence (as our diocesan vision calls us to be).

We did have three services each Sunday at Christ Church and often a baptism as well at lunchtime, plus a midweek Communion and St Andrew’s had the one service on a Sunday.

Over the last 18 months we have had the one service on a Sunday in Christ Church and a midweek service on a Wednesday. We have also had the Sunday service at St Andrew’s.

There are a lot of baptisms currently requested and a large backlog.

In the coming months the new Mission Communities will be in the process of formation, and parishes will also have to prepare for fewer stipendiary clergy, or at least stipendiary clergy will be asked to cover more parishes. We have wonderful volunteers and people who do so much in our parish, but we must not overburden them; we need to be realistic about what we can take on. We do not need to be comparing ourselves with others or with a memorialised past, but checking ourselves as to whether we are seeking God’s will for now. The past can be a burden to carry which prevents us accepting the future.

The Team Rector is very keen that all the parishes look forward with hope and proper confidence. Covid has been difficult - even devastating - for some, but it has also made us take stock; and, if we choose to do so, it gives us the opportunity to make space for some new things, and to do some things differently.

Change is never easy; changes in churches do not please everyone. Jesus calls us to follow, to go forward, as well as to hold fast and to abide.

As a Team and as a future Mission Community of whatever size, we must also look to the well-being of all our local churches, not just ourselves. We can also enjoy shared things (e.g. the Covid Choir and the online resources).

The PCC have now agreed the following pattern of worship:

Christ Church

9.30am Holy Communion on all but one Sunday in the month

All Age Service once a month (9.30am)

8.00am Holy Communion service once a month (on the day of the All Age Service)

An early evening service 4.30pm: one Sunday a month would be Evensong, one

Sunday might be a service in the Celtic tradition, one Sunday might be a Taizé style

service, one Sunday might be a Bible exploration, or ... This could be offered to the

Team as other parishes do not have evening services at the moment.

Wednesday 11.00am Holy Communion

We would also like to look at a midweek service for families, possibly a Wednesday evening [rather like is happening at St. Maxentius, Bradshaw]. This would be a service that families who have currently come to the 8.00 or 6.30 services would be invited to and would be a service much more appropriate to them.

St Andrew’s 11.00am Holy Communion

The online Sunday services will – we hope - also continue for the Team. We may be able to provide other resources online as well if that is proving to be what people are asking for.

It is great that the Sunday School at St Andrew’s has kept going through the difficulties. A midweek service and a monthly all-age service at Christ Church would mean we could look again at the Sunday School provision at Christ Church, potentially making the demand on leaders less onerous.

As we look to being that growing and worshipping Christian presence in both locations, we will need to review whatever service provision we have. How do we best serve the local community: younger, older, the busy, those who see few people through the week?

This proposal allows us to make space for some new things, for other people to contribute and get involved, strengthening new leaders and so our churches. We think it is sustainable and we will review and adapt as necessary for the New Year. Rev Carol

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On Sunday 26 September, Angie Foster, our Assistant Church Warden at Christ Church Walmsley, will be licensed as an Authorised Lay Minister for Prayer and Spirituality at a special service in Manchester Cathedral.

We wish her well on her journey of faith and look forward to her bringing a fresh approach as she looks to helping to lead some of the worship here in Walmsley Parish.

Angie’s reflection for September 2021

This month I thought I might share one of the postings on the Lectio 365 Prayer App that has particularly interested me. Having read the books and seen the films it didn’t occur to me that the creator of the stories of the hobbits and the fantasy described in the Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien, was a committed Christian.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was a polymath Oxford professor, an expert in Anglo Saxon mythology and one of the most influential writers of the last century, best known for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Recognised as the father of the modern fantasy genre and as the man who led his friend C.S.Lewis to the Lord, Tolkien’s Christian worldwide view continues to shape the cultural landscape, affecting countless lives today.

“The chief purpose of life, for any one of us”, he once wrote, “is to increase according to our capacity our knowledge of God by all the means we have, and to be moved by it to praise and thanks.” [Jim Ware, Finding God in the Hobbits, p22]

Tolkien believed that within every person and within the stories of every culture, there are the fingerprints of God, waiting to be revealed…. “We have come from God and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God. Indeed, only by myth-making, only by becoming “sub-creator” and inventing stories can humans aspire to the state of perfection that we knew before the Fall. Our myths maybe misguided, but they steer however shakily towards the true harbour….” [H. Carpenter, J R R Tolkien: A Biography, p66]

The ultimate example of the power of such storytelling is not Tolkien, but Jesus.

Perhaps you can consider what opportunities you have to participate in creative acts of storytelling? Is there a novel or short story that is waiting to be written by you? Could you write a bedtime story for a child or grand-child? Or maybe there is someone you know who is your C. S. Lewis? Maybe you can pray for an opportunity to have an interesting conversation with them?

The last eighteen months have been difficult and challenging for many of us. The words of Tolkien’s hobbit, Frodo, to the wizard Gandalf resonate today: “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” [The Fellowship of the Ring, p50]

Powerful daily words from Rev Bill Braviner in his #MorningPrayers. We give thanks especially at this time for those who are following God’s calling in their lives.

Give us courage and faith, Lord, to be open to your work within us,

as you minister your healing and enabling love into our lives. Help us to be so filled with your love, that our voice and our vision

may be attuned to your kingdom, and released for your mission. Amen.

I would like to conclude with a prayer: Angie

Creator God, thank You that You are writing a story of great adventure with my little life. I yield to the challenges, the shadows and even the necessary pain. I trust You to bring me home eventually, like the Hobbits, to the shire with a song to sing and a story to tell. Amen

Prayers to share:

These prayers of inspiration were given by Angie Foster in the Communion service at Christ Church Walmsley last Sunday:

Let us come to God today with hearts and minds open to the new possibilities that may come before us in the coming week. As we enter prayer now, we pause to be still: to breathe slowly and to re-centre our scattered senses upon the presence of God.

Lord, give to your Church we pray, a profound concern for the world you made. Guide our leaders into decisions that are just and compassionate. Give them words that are wise and incisive. May they have time to ponder, experts to give them good advice, and the insight which comes from you alone. Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer

Lord, give to us also we pray, here in this church, a full and rounded gospel so that we may engage with our locality, through the Churches and Clergy of the Turton Moorland Team, particularly Rev Carol and Canon Peter. We bring before you the pupils, teachers, administrators and caring staff in our schools, especially at Walmsley and Canon Slade.

We pray for all hospital employees, including those so frequently overlooked: the porters, the cleaners and catering staff. We remember too, the staff at Fort Alice and Urban Outreach.

We pray for the fair treatment for the weak and marginalised members of our society. On a worldwide scale we pray for the Church of the Province of Uganda, for their Bishop and congregations. Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer

Lord, we know it is so much easier to relate our faith to our interior life, our home and our church, but your vision is so much bigger. What use is a cosy church if society around us is in despair? Open our minds and hearts to confront the darkness with justice, and to embrace the broken with love. Here in our thoughts are many people:

- A family who are having financial difficulties that are tearing their marriage apart: we pray for them

- A young man suffering from anxiety and depression: we pray for him - Adults whose childhood abuse has irrevocably changed their lives: we pray for them - An old lady who only received two cards at Christmas, still on her mantelpiece in

August: we pray for her

- All who are sick and suffering at this time: we pray for them. - Those who have departed this life. - Those who are in the Book of Remembrance - For all who mourn: we pray for them Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer

Lord, we pray that you will give to the gospel we proclaim, the radical edge that we see in the words and actions of Jesus, who came not to be served, but to serve and not to save his life, but to give it up for us.

Merciful Lord, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

WALMSLEY WOMBLES WALKING FELLOWSHIP

It is over ten years since Ken Holt set up our walking group. Although Ken cannot now join us on our walks, the group continues to thrive with our monthly walks taking us all over the Northwest of England.

Our walks take place on the fourth Saturday of each month and take us to various areas including the South Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales, the South Lakes, the Ribble Valley, the Lune Valley, the Lancashire Coast and some more local destinations.

The walks are usually between 6 and 8 miles long and we ensure that they are not too difficult by checking out each walk ourselves before our group undertakes the walk. We advise our group of any climbs, stiles and uneven paths, in advance, as far as possible.

The number of walkers in our group averages around 20 people per walk although often the numbers are higher or lower. We always take a packed lunch with us and we usually finish our walk with a visit to a convenient hostelry.

We are a very friendly group and everyone enjoys one another’s company on the walk. We can usually provide lifts to and from the start, if necessary. Anyone wishing to join our group will be ensured of a warm welcome.

In addition to our monthly walks we have an annual Christmas Walk shortly after Christmas Day which is a local walk of around 4 miles and we finish with a Jacob’s Join Lunch in a suitable venue. We have also arranged Walking Weekends for the group. This year we are going to the Shropshire Hills with our base at Church Stretton.

Our next walk is on Saturday 25th September when we walking the Old Roads around Bacup. This is a 7 mile walk on the pre turnpike tracks and lanes on the hills which surround Bacup. Like all of our walks we try to include areas of historical interest and of scenic beauty and this one is no exception.

If anyone would like to join us on this walk or any future walks I can provide you with more details. You can ring me on 01204-307885 or 07734-057141 or email me at stevegregory524@gmail.com. Steve Gregory

Photos taken in August on a circular walk from Litton in the Yorkshire Dales.

Walmsley Womblers are very appreciative of the organisation and preparation that goes in to planning these walks. The camaraderie is fabulous as we walk and talk whilst enjoying the magnificent scenery in our beautiful countryside. Thank you Steve !!

Thank you also to Ken Holt for his inspiration of the Team Walk to raise funds for Christian Aid and to Steve Gregory + Wombling MARSHALS for their lead and

care as we covered the 11.2 miles between the four parishes on Saturday 10 September.

As always, our heart-felt message to you is one of FAITH, HOPE, PEACE, JOY and LOVE. If we can help you in any way, please contact Dawn Hitchen or a member of the „Parish Team‟. You can give Dawn a call on 304142 or Reverend Carol on 07434 365971.

Love and blessings, Reverend Carol Hayden, Iain Stewart - Church Warden Dawn Hitchen - Church Warden & Authorised Lay Minister for Pastoral Care Angie Foster & Keith Lewis – Assistant Church Wardens

If you need to speak with a church representative, please contact: Dawn Hitchen dawn@walmsleyparish.org or telephone 304142.

Angie Foster angie@walmsleyparish.org Keith Lewis keith@walmsleyparish.org

Reverend Carol: revcarol@walmsleyparish.org or 07434 365971. Thank you.

A message from Jo and Stephen Woods:

The usual MacMillan Coffee morning is not taking place here this year. If you wish to donate to Macmillan, please let us have a cheque payable to MacMillan Cancer Support, or cash (you can drop off your jars of loose change) at Doe Hey, Dunscar Fold, Bolton, BL7 9EH. Or leave it in church, labelled, for Jo.Thank you.

Pause for thought: Inspirational images & messages are often shared on

social media ...here are a selection for your perusal...

"I Worried" from "Swan: Poems and Prose Poems" by Mary Oliver, Beacon Press (2010) #maryoliver

And finally, something to raise a smile

Last week, following the Cabinet reshuffle by the PM, a comment was tweeted by „@OurCofELike‟ wondering about if the Church of England were to re-organise the bishops at the whim of Justin Welby. This was the reply then shared...

Each month in the HERE4YOU magazine, we send an article from the Turton Moorland Team to be included. In September, it didn’t appear ...although apologies were given by the editor, Marilyn Hart. SO that we don’t miss out on a really good read, here is the article written for the SEPTEMBER edition by our Team Rector, Peter Reiss:

NEWS from the TURTON MOORLAND TEAM MINISTRY:

St. Anne’s, Turton with St. James’, Edgworth; St. Maxentius, Bradshaw; Christ Church Walmsley,

Egerton with St. Andrew’s, Bromley Cross & St. Peter’s, Belmont.

September is the seventh month of the year if you take its Latin root – septem / seventh. It is the ninth month of the year in our annual calendar but it is the beginning of the school-year for teachers and students. When I was sharing in a Methodist Church, the Methodist Financial Year went to the end of August, but our Anglican year went till December! We are actually quite used to having “years” which start

and finish at different times.

September is also one of those months when we hope for an “Indian Summer” a late warm, sunny period, but the pessimists fear it will be a month of storms

and wind and turbulent rain.

A highlight, we hope, for our churches in this area is our Team walk, scheduled for the 11th, walking from St Peter’s in Belmont down to Christ Church in Egerton, past St Andrew’s and on to St Maxentius in Bradshaw before turning up the Brook, past Jumbles ending at St Anne’s. We will take in all four of our Parish Churches; we will, we hope, enjoy a social event together (postponed first from 2020 and then from July 2021). And we hope to raise as much money as we can for Christian Aid, in donations and sponsorship. Our Team of churches straddles the borders of Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen, rural areas and more suburban areas. The little streams which will shape our walk down from Belmont and up to Turton provided the water for the industries which grew up in our area even if most are now gone. The reservoirs were built to hold the water so whatever the season there was water for

power.

As we walk along by the streams and past the reservoirs we are reminded of our nature and our history; we are reminded of the fresh water we have (and the love of God) and we are reminded of the constancy that the reservoirs offer (and the constancy of God to us). Whatever the season, whatever the time of year, may we enjoy the beauty of our area, and commit to looking after it and our world, and commit too, to supporting those less fortunate

than ourselves.

God’s desire is for the world and all its people to flourish. God’s gift is a beautiful and ever-changing world. Our call is to care for what is created and our fellow creatures, and to acknowledge with worship the Creator. Please do join us at our churches or online (search

for the online service from the Turton Moorland Team on Youtube).

May God guide us, guard us, bless us and keep us. Peter Reiss, Team Rector.