On Sunday as part of the series Making Sense of Change, we focussed on two big questions:
- What needs to change for you?
- What gets in the way of you making those changes?
What needs to change?
If you think of all the hats you are wearing at the moment, which ones no longer fit well? In reality there are some things you can’t change but from time to time it’s good to look at all you are doing and ask whether this is a time for change to happen.
As time goes by, there are change points where it’s possible, desirable and necessary to stop doing some things so you are free enough to pick new things up.
But what gets in the way?
I suggested there are three things that might stop you having the courage to make the changes:
Fear of failing.
What would you do if you were not afraid of failing?
Your personality-type.
Some of us are impulsive and love the prospect of change, but often make changes that have not been well-thought through. We can live like butterflies flitting from one thing to another, not keeping commitments, impatient, unwilling to learn the discipline of the ordinary.
We need friends we can check things out with, we need to wait, we need to make active commitments otherwise we might miss the depth of change.
Others are resistant to change. It frightens us, so we try and avoid it. We over-think things, become passive and judgmental of those who seem to find change easy.
We need to risk more, do things that might fail, take on challenges that need us to rely on God more. Otherwise we might miss the moment.
The soundtrack we live with.
This is the collection of voices we hear telling us that we are a disappointment, or will never be successful, or the voices that we fear are judging us.
There is a voice we need to tune in for, and it’s the voice of the One who promises to show us the right road to take, reassuring us of his presence with us all the way. (Isaiah 30:21)
This may be the moment that you need to embrace the changes that you sense God is offering you. Our lives are too precious to God for us to be living with a safety-first attitude. It’s worth diving off the high board!
This song by Ian and video by Frank helps us to remember why all this matters. It’s a way of making sure we live our lives for the benefit of others around us:
On Sunday we will ask: How do we know when to make the changes? And we will be praying this section of Psalm 119: 105-112.
Coming Up
Getting Involved in the New Phase of Church
We will be holding our first service in St James, Eccles Old Road on Sunday 6 June at 11.30am. Moving back to onsite worship means that we will have lots of opportunities to be involved in the ministry of the church.
You might be wondering where you fit into the church after all this time of scattered worship. You might wonder where your gifts and passions fit in. Or you might just want to know how you can serve generally.
Please talk to us – we want to help you feel confident in knowing how your gifts can be a blessing to us all.
Kids Church
Thank you to all those who have volunteered already to help out in Kids Church, it’s really appreciated! The good news is we are about half way there in getting the number of volunteers we need, and the even better news is that there’s still a chance for you to put your name forward! 😁
Roles that need filling are outlined below, so please do have a think about whether you could fill any gap and let Morag, Ian or Neil know 👌
- Creche Helpers
We still need 4 folks who can look after, entertain and facilitate play with the youngest members of our congregation. Each week we need 2 people in creche, so you will also have a little bit of adult company! (And who doesn’t like playing with Duplo?)
- Reception- Year 2 Group Helpers
We need 3 or 4 folks who can act like ‘Teaching Assistants’ with this age group, assisting the leader and children with things like cutting, sticking, threading, peeling…whatever activity little hands need a little help with 😊
- Year 3-Year 6
We still need 2 folks to fill the gaps of leading this age group.
- Year 7-Year 9
Again, we still need 2 people to lead a session a month with those in this age group.
- 1:1 Support
At the moment, we are looking for 2 people who feel they can help with supporting those with additional needs, working closely with a child, enabling them to be part of our Sunday Services at least once a month. Due to the nature of this role, you will have to spend some time getting to know the child you will be working with and so this will have to be organised outside of Sunday Service times.
For those considering one of the leader roles, you will be responsible for planning and delivering your session, using notes on the sermon series and session ideas provided by Morag and team.
The Vine Volunteers Meeting
Wednesday 26th May, 7.30pm
As you know, we are preparing to reopen The Vine Cafe on the 21st of June as ‘The Vine Community Hub’.
We want it to be a place of welcome, hospitality and support and are excited about what God will do as we engage with people again.
If you would like to consider volunteering to become part of the team, have a missional idea for The Vine you might like to explore, or just want to know what we are planning, please come along to the meeting.
Here is the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84740919484?pwd=LzNTMWFrVUFGZ3NlbGJqSnZSNGdldz09
Is it time you took the plunge?
We are planning to hold a baptismal service on Sunday 11 July. If you have been waiting for this moment, or are wondering if this is the next step for you in your discipleship journey, please talk with Neil.
You might have seen the new branding…
As we prepare to move into St James and as The Vine transitions from being a cafe into a community hub, we felt the time was right to update the logos of both of these, to signify this new chapter in our story.
We’ve adopted a pair of logos that we feel complement each other, creating a direct visual link between the church building and The Vine, which will work well both online and offline. This is more important than ever given the increased distance between two locations, while our new location sharing a building at St James presents an opportunity for us, as the more prominent location gives greater visibility of our church.
You’ll see these new logos appearing across our website, social media, emails and other communication over the next month, as well as at St James and The Vine buildings…
In June and July:
We will have a series entitled: The Return of the Church. For this series we will be reading the book of Ezra together. This book is the story of the return of Israel to their land after 70 years in exile. Then, out of the blue, they were able to return and had to find out what it meant to be the people in their own land again. They would encounter times of provision, of disappointment, of resistance, of breakthrough and joy and compromise.
The link between Ezra and our situation seems to connect well. As we change the place where we worship to St James, there is also the sense that we are about to begin a new story together. The lessons that people learned in the period of Ezra will prompt us to chart our new course together.
Getting Involved
Going forward, we will need help to form these teams:
- Welcome Team
- Prayer Team
- Worship Band
- Readers
- Operating the PA System
- Operating the Streaming Computer (we will show you how)
- Operating EasyWorship to project words
- Cleaning Team
The teams will have their own leaders, but in the first case if there are areas you would be willing to be involved with, can you let Neil know. Most of the teams will ask you to be available around once a month or so.
If you are already involved in any of these teams, it will help if you confirm that you will carry on.
An Offer of Counselling Support
One of the ministries we have as a church is the Community Counselling Service. During this Covid crisis we have continued to offer Counselling remotely via zoom or telephone. There are however, limitations with remote sessions.
We are now offering Walk And Talk Counselling to anyone from church who would benefit from counselling or those known to church members. We would agree a time to meet at the Tea Kiosk in Lightoaks Park and would walk at a slow pace for the 50 minute session.
If you feel you would benefit from this please don’t hesitate to contact Judith Thompson, Neil, or Ian or fill in the form on the church website.
Looking for Help
Yvonne and Martin run a food-poverty programme, Salford Food Parcels. They would be grateful if there are any of you available to deliver parcels to people who are unable to get to their offices on Langworthy Road. Please contact them if you are able to help.
Holiday Hunger Projects @ the Life Centre, Langworthy Road
This a message from Sam Pratt from the Life Centre:
We have a new Summer Project for the school holidays!
You may know that the Lifecentre runs the Holiday Hunger projects in the school holidays and this summer we are aiming to get 20 schools on board all over the city.
We are putting a call out to all Salford Churches for volunteers to come and help out.
The clubs are open to children on free school meals and they will be provided a hot meal and loads of games and activities. The clubs are run by the school staff and other paid staff so your role will just be helping with games, crafts and general support.
It’s really good fun, although quite tiring as children can be a handful sometimes!
Each club will run 9:30am-3:30pm Monday to Thursday
w/c 26th July
w/c 2nd August
w/c 9th August
w/c 16th August
Full training and DBS will be provided by the Lifecentre.
Now obviously none of us can do it every day! I’m putting a call out for volunteers who could commit to 1 week in a school near you. I appreciate that you may already have holidays, work or volunteering commitments so you may only be able to do a few days in that week.
But if you are interested please could you get back to me with dates that you could do. sam.lifecentreonline@gmail.com
Our Regular Gatherings
Sunday Service
Sundays at 10.30am
Zoom Link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/836810848
Meeting ID: 836 810 848
And on the new live service sections of our website: live.salfordelimchurch.org
And at 10am, led by Hannah:
If you would love the privilege of praying for our Sunday morning service, then we need you! Log on to the Sunday morning Zoom using the link above at 10am and we’ll go into a break out room for 15-20mins, to pray together for those involved in the service, as well as for the service itself.
I’d love to see you there xxx
Coffee Morning
Wednesday at 10.30am.
A Wednesday morning is the ideal time to catch up with people, have a brew, even involve yourself with a quiz.
Meeting link: https://zoom.us/j/94930624852?pwd=dlI0SnhwY3RaNnUrUGpSMTkrWm5hZz09
Home Groups
Thursday at 7.30pm
These small groups meet twice a month on Zoom and give s a chance to reflect on the questions that have been raised by the sermons. We catch up with one another, pray for one another and create a place where we can grow together. If you would like to be part of this, please contact Neil.
Prayer Meeting
Friday
Contact Corinne Baines or Gill Oldham or Neil Hudson and they’ll make sure you are able to connect.
If in doubt
All the links to the meetings are in ChurchSuite and on the ‘Calendar’ section of our church website: https://www.salfordelimchurch.org/events/
You’re not alone
If you need help and don’t know where to turn, you are always welcome to contact Neil on 07771 558058.
