Organ recital August 23rd

Promising young organist Christian Haigh is playing a free concert at St Peter and St Paul, Seal on Aug 23. The programme will include works by Bach, Vaughan Williams, Brahms and Handel. Christian is one of the many young organists who we have encouraged along the way, and it will be good to welcome him back to play.
Christian is now a rising sophomore at Harvard University. He studies economics whilst performing as assistant organist at All Saints Church, Ashmont. Last winter, he braved the tundra-like winter of Boston to perform continuo with students from Oberlin Music College, in a series of Bach Cantatas as part of the Bach Institute.

Put the date in your diary and come along for a great evening of music.

Messy Church this Sunday July 20th

Our next Messy Church session is this coming Sunday - 20th July - from 4 -5.30pm in the church hall, which is on the other side of the road from the church. 

Everyone is welcome. 

As you can see, we are taking a watery theme for this Messy Church, exploring some of the Gospel stories set on the Sea of Galilee. There will be real water! We don't plan on anyone getting soaking wet, but don't wear your Sunday Best, just in case... 

If you've never tried Messy Church before, please come along - you don't have to be a child or have a child to come. It is all very relaxed and informal, and everyone can join in with whatever they like, or just enjoy sitting and chatting with others if they want to. There are pictures on this blog from previous Messy Church sessions (e.g. here - or search for "Messy Church" in the search box in the right hand sidebar)  so that you can see what they are like (and how much fun they are!)

General Synod vote on Women Bishops

 On Monday 14 July the General Synod of the Church of England will be voting on revised legislation to allow women to become Bishops.

Please pray for all those involved in debating and voting on this important step in the Church of England’s ministry.

More information:

Live video stream when Synod is in session

About General Synod

Twitter feed

Watch : Women and the Church 

Mothers Union newsletter

MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER July 2014

We are back! After an unintentional month off from the newsletter here is all the latest news from Mothers' Union. The reason for our break was very much due to the huge workload we had whilst putting together and running this years' General Meeting. It was worth it though; the sun shone down on us in Belfast as we shared fellowship and worship together whilst discovering more about the work of Mothers' Union. This month's downloadable article gives a great overview of the meeting and don't forget whether you attended or not we are interested in your feedback for our 2014 General Meeting Survey Although I seem to write this every month July is looking very busy for us; this year's Wheels Appeal is now in full force, we are preparing for members week,  working on resources for next year's theme and lets not forget, staff are also hard at work training for the Richmond Park Run - why don't you dust of the cobwebs on your trainers and come and join us? Kind Regards Rachael Arding Newsletter Editor

Mothers' Union Theme 2015Mothers’ Union are thrilled to announce that the theme for 2015 will be "United in Prayer" Find out more Wheels Appeal Don't forget to get involved in this year's appeal, which raises money for the work of our CDCs across the world Access our updated resources                          Mary Sumner Day: New ResourcesWe have updated and added some new resources for this year's Mary Sumner Day which takes place on 9th August. The resources include ideas for your very own Mary Sumner Day service as well as relevant prayers and bible readings Click here General Meeting 2014 Feedback Thak you so much to everyone who attended this year's meeting. If you did or even if you didn't we want to find out more about your experience so please take the time to fill out our survey. Click here to complete survey Richmond Park RunWhy don't you join the Mothers' Union this Autumn for the Women Only Richmond Park Run? You can choose of a distance 5K, 10K or 15K and its fine if you want to run, jog or walk. Buggy pushers are also welcome! Find out how to sign up here Awards Galore! We were thrilled to find out that a group of members from Hull have recently won an award for our prison work, whilst Margaret Fulford has been awarded an MBE Read more                                    Downloadable Article: General Meeting 2014Find out more about our wonderful General Meeting which this year took place in Belfast Download the article here   Monthly Midday Prayers Join Mothers' Union members across the world in prayer every day with July Midday Prayers. Follow us on Twitter Our following on Twitter has grown rapidly over this year - thank you for your support. Faith & Policy Watch - July Keep informed about our faith motivation and how this is leading us to engage with key policy issues around the world. Buy Gifts Today Visit our online shop, which is full of gifts, jewellery and cards for all occasions. Profits from the shop help to fund Mothers' Union projects across the world. Join the discussion on Facebook Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with Mothers' Union members from all over the world.  Families First Our bimonthly magazine is now available in newsagents near you. Visit the website and follow us on twitter @FamiliesFirstMU Join Mothers' Union Mothers' Union is a worldwide fellowship of members who make a difference in their communities. Read more and join today. Not already subscribed to the enewsletter? If this email has been sent to you by a friend you can enter your details on the form to ensure you receive a copy of the enewsletter straight into your inbox every month. Sign up now >>

Strawberries in the rain

So... this year's Strawberry Tea in  celebration of our Patronal Festival had a theme of umbrellas...

It all started so well. People arrived happily and were settling down to enjoy a relaxed afternoon in the vicarage garden.

Then the rain started. As the first few drops fell, we embarked on the fastest "gazebo-putting-up" ever seen - fortunately Nicky had this down to a fine art, and the rest of us just did as we were told.

 We even managed to perfect the technique of putting up a gazebo while standing underneath it! It's not too clear in the photo, but I can promise you that by this stage it was raining quite hard.

We hoped it might just be a passing shower, but as it turned out, it rained from 4.10, just after people arrived to 5.50, just before they left...Hmm. 

Opinions varied on who was responsible for this. Some people thought it was my fault - perhaps I had accidentally offended the ancient spirits of the place in my sermon in the morning. Personally, as a believer in every-member ministry, I thought it was an indication that the laity needed to pay more attention to their prayers - I can't do everything, you know!

However, those who came were undaunted, and at least it meant that everyone huddled together and talked to one another, energised by their struggles against adversity (that pesky drip that always seemed to find the back of your neck!). Feedback afterwards seemed to suggest that people had enjoyed themselves anyway - we are made of strong stuff at St Peter and St Paul.
   

The strawberries, as ever, were delicious - thank you Stonepitts farm - and so were the cakes and sandwiches made by our intrepid team of bakers.
Many thanks to all who came, baked, put up gazebos (and then more gazebos!). With any luck we might have all dried out by next year.