Here is your start-of-the-week newsletter. It should have all you need to know about what’s happening amongst us. And a quick look should mean you are updated each week.
Coming Up
Our Sunday Gatherings
We want to invite you to pray together before the service. From 11am there will be chance to gather together in the small room at the front of the church. It would be great if you could be there.
After each service there will be chance to be prayed with personally. This will be in the side chapel. If you have been part of the prayer team, or would like to pray with people, let Neil know.
What will be happening on Sundays in September
Next Sunday: Sunday 12 September: Shared Stories from Life
Sunday 19 September: Prayer and Ministry time
Sunday 26 September: Time to reflect on the sermon
Thursday 9 September, 7.30pm, Home groups begin again
One of the ways we help each other to keep growing as Christians is by meeting together to encourage one another to make sense of what God is doing in our lives so that we can live well wherever he has placed us. These groups happen twice a month.
We want to encourage everyone to belong to this sort of group.
At the moment we have 4 groups that meet on Thursday evenings. Two are online and two are in person.
If you have been part of the groups we will send you an email with the details of your group.
If you want to join in, then please let Neil know.
A Ladies’ prayer breakfast
On Saturday 18th September 9-11am at The Vine Community Hub 87-89 Cholmondeley Road M6 8PU
This is an invitation to meet together as the women, the feminine heartbeat of Salford Elim to eat together, share our stories, encourage and support each other and pray. Whether you know this will be something you definitely want to be part of or if you are simply intrigued, everyone is welcome. Cereal, toast and pastries will be provided but feel free to bring your own breakfast if preferred.
Contact Kate Blundell 07805 069 033 or Jumi Isibor 07703 028 936 for more details and to let us know you’re coming.
We have a Cleaning Team Leader!
We have said to St James that we will clean the church and hall once a month.
Phil Lockett is going to coordinate this team. If you would be willing to join this team, please contact him for more details. If you’re not sure who Phil is, ask someone who looks like they might know!
Midweek Small Groups
We have 4 midweek groups that meet on Thursday evenings. Two are in-person, two are online.
The Crafty Crew meet on Tuesday afternoons in The Vine to catch up with one another, and to engage in some sort of craft if they want to. I believe that just chatting is acceptable!
On Wednesday mornings in The Vine there will be a Prayer Meeting starting soon.
There is also a group of Young Adults who meet regularly.
As you can see all these groups are different, with slightly different emphases.
But in general they all exist to do three things:
- to help us pay careful attention to one another,
- to help us to be alert to what God is doing so that
- we can be good news to those around us.
You might want to start a group that does that. It might be a group that meets together regularly and shares a meal together. It might be a group that does something together – walking, fixing stuff, playing a sport – whatever. It doesn’t matter – as long as you can cover those three basic principles.
If you are interested in chatting about this, then please talk with Neil.
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. And of course, now we can do that in person.
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.
The Vine Community Hub – Launch Postponed
The intended launch for the new Vine was going to be on Saturday 11 September but unfortunately it is now clear that the lease will not be ready to be signed off by then.
One of the benefits of belonging to a denomination is the support they give you, but one of the downsides is that things can take longer to do than we would hope. So we will have to wait a little while longer before The Vine comes into our possession.
Please pray for Ian and the team as they deal with disappointments, frustrations and the practical issue of letting people know.
Alpha – who might you invite?
Following on from our successful Alpha courses last year, we’re providing three opportunities this year to invite friends, family, neighbours and colleagues to hear the good news of Jesus.
Who might you invite?
We will have flyers to hand out with the dates and times of the courses, as well as social media posts that you can share with your friends. Each course is 12 evenings and the first starts on Tuesday the 14th of September, from 7.30-9pm at The Vine (new premises!).
Please pray for God to draw people to himself and let Ian know if someone you’ve invited accepts the invitation, or you can sign up via our Alpha page.
