News

WEEK BEGINNING 28th April 2024 

Worship

We will have a service of Holy Communion on 28th April at St James' at 10.00 AM, it will be led by Rev'd Carol Pharaoh and Rev'd Dr Malcolm Wearing

It will be followed by the church APCM

The link for the Church of England online service is below 

https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/church-online/weekly-online-services

Confirmation 2024

This year's Confirmation Service will be held on Tuesday 2nd July at 7 pm at St Katharine's Church Blackrod with Bishop Matthew.  Young people in Year 6 or above, or any adults who wish to be confirmed, should complete a booking form available in church and return by Sunday 5th May.  Anyone wishing to be confirmed should be regular attenders at our church services and be prepared to attend a short course.  Young people are asked to also attend our Team Youth Church called Ignite Youth.  Ignite Youth meets monthly on a Saturday evening at St John's Church Wingates at 7 pm - 8.30 pm.  The dates for the next two sessions are Saturday 20th April and Saturday 18th May.  If you need any more information, please speak to a member of the clergy team or a Church Warden.  I would really encourage any adults who are not currently taking communion to consider being confirmed, it is a really moving thing to do, and adult classes are separate to children’s ones, and look at faith and what it means to us as adult Christians.  

Front Cover Book Club

The book for this next month is The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam, meeting will be Thursday 2nd May 1.30pm - 2.30pm 

at St James vicarage 30 Lower Leigh Road.  See flyer below for more details

Study Group

We will have our next regular study group on Sunday 12th May, everyone is welcome.  

Future dates are 9th June and 7th July

Tins and candles for Ukraine

Please can we save all our empty tin cans along with any half used candles or candles that you don’t want anymore,  as the Women of Ukraine are asking for these items so they can make them into night lights for use when there is no electricity.  As well as helping them we will be being eco -friendly as well !   

There is a box at the back of church, please help if you can. 

Plant Sale and Craft Fair

Our annual plant Sale and craft fair will be on Saturday 18th May 2024, if you are growing things, hope they are going well, if you can let us know what you are growing and how many that would be really useful, so we can plan what stalls and how many plants we may have.

2024 Team Retreat

Building on the great success of the retreat in 2022 and 2023, we have booked a weekend at the Foxhill Retreat Centre in Cheshire for 24th to 26th May 2024. Cost will be £190 per person for the whole weekend, or  £45 for just the Saturday (including lunch).  Most rooms are en-suite rooms all have private bathrooms.  Please contact Malcolm Wearing to book a place on the retreat for 2024.

Messy Church 

Messy church dates for the following year are set out below, please come along of you can, from 10.00 AM until 12.00 PM, with a light sandwich lunch at the end.

20 April 2024

29 June 2024

TALKIN' TABLES - Conquering Loneliness one Table at a Time!

Another new group is opening, this time at St John's Wingates  The two events each week will be:

The group at St John’s Wingates is on a Wednesday from 10.30AM to 11.30 AM, starting next Wednesday (10th January).

The other group  meets every Tuesday from 10 am to 11 am at Thyme for Tea, 96 Church Street, Westhoughton BL5 3RZ.  

Everyone is welcome and it's free.  For more information, please visit www.talkintables.co.uk

IGNITE YOUTH (The new name for Team Youth Church)

Young people from across the team in Year 6 and above are welcome to attend this event which is held monthly at St John's Church on a Saturday evening. Those children who are thinking about being Confirmed in the autumn this year are especially invited and strongly encouraged to come. (Ignite Youth meetings will form part of the preparation for Confirmation.)

If you would like to know more about IGNITE YOUTH or to book your place, please email parishteammusic@gmail.com