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Letters from the Rectory 2005
February 2005: LENT
No sooner have we finished celebrating Christmas than we
move straight into Lent. Ash Wednesday this year falls on 9th
February and as usual we will celebrate the Holy Eucharist at
11am and 7.30pm with the imposition of ashes. The Church of England expects all communicant members of
the church to attend one of these services in preparation for the solemn season of Lent which follows.
During the service ash – made from the burnt palm crosses of last year – is blessed and used for the mark of the
cross on our foreheads as a reminder that we are mortal. The words used by the priest, ‘Remember you are
dust and to dust you shall return, turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ’ are a stark reminder of the
nature of human life and its frailty.
This year it seems somehow more poignant as we have been reminded of the frailty of human existence by the
power of the Tsunami tragedy which has devastated so much of south east Asia. I have been struck by two
things which came from that disaster. Firstly by the amazing compassion of people all over the world in
responding so generously to the appeals for money to help the victims. For the first time in many years there
has been a united human race – one family – brought together through shock and grief at the scale of the
tragedy. It has been moving to witness this unity and sense of brother and sisterhood. We are reminded that
what affects others ultimately affects ourselves.
The second impression made upon me has been the number of people who have talked about our human
frailty. In a world which has become fast, glamorous and almost disposable this disaster has spoken strongly to
us of the nature of humanity. We are but dust. We are totally reliant on the great mercy of God.
This Ash Wednesday is a chance for us to place ourselves firmly into the hands of God once again. To
acknowledge before God and in the company of our fellow Christians our dependence on the God who creates
us, redeems us and sustains us. Without such knowledge of God’s power we would just be insignificant specks
on a huge planet earth in a colossal universe. There would be little hope and we could find ourselves lost in
such vastness. I often think about what it would be like to have no faith or belief in God and my biggest fear I
think would be to not know why we are here and or indeed how we came to be here. I don’t think that
Christianity – or any faith – can adequately answer these questions but my faith gives me the reassurance that
over-arching this vast universe and our small human lives is a God who knows us intimately. The Creator who
brought forth the stars, the planets and the whole of space also chooses to create us as individuals and not
leave us alone. We are held in God’s everlasting arms with such compassion, such love and such strength that
is almost inconceivable. The hairs on your head are indeed numbered by this all-powerful and loving God.
So my faith relies on the reality of Ash Wednesday because I need to know that when I cannot answer
questions of life, of disaster, of frailty or of my own mortality, I know at least one thing: that God has created
me, has given me life and through his Son Jesus Christ has opened up to me a share in his eternal life.
Fear not that you are but dust because it is in acknowledging this mortality that we can place ourselves in God’
s hand for him to care for us and protect us.
‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name: you are mine!’
May God bless you all during this solemn season of Lent that we may come to Easter with a sense of joy and
gratitude for the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection.
With my love and prayers,
Stephen
No sooner have we finished celebrating Christmas than we
move straight into Lent. Ash Wednesday this year falls on 9th
February and as usual we will celebrate the Holy Eucharist at
11am and 7.30pm with the imposition of ashes. The Church of England expects all communicant members of
the church to attend one of these services in preparation for the solemn season of Lent which follows.
During the service ash – made from the burnt palm crosses of last year – is blessed and used for the mark of the
cross on our foreheads as a reminder that we are mortal. The words used by the priest, ‘Remember you are
dust and to dust you shall return, turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ’ are a stark reminder of the
nature of human life and its frailty.
This year it seems somehow more poignant as we have been reminded of the frailty of human existence by the
power of the Tsunami tragedy which has devastated so much of south east Asia. I have been struck by two
things which came from that disaster. Firstly by the amazing compassion of people all over the world in
responding so generously to the appeals for money to help the victims. For the first time in many years there
has been a united human race – one family – brought together through shock and grief at the scale of the
tragedy. It has been moving to witness this unity and sense of brother and sisterhood. We are reminded that
what affects others ultimately affects ourselves.
The second impression made upon me has been the number of people who have talked about our human
frailty. In a world which has become fast, glamorous and almost disposable this disaster has spoken strongly to
us of the nature of humanity. We are but dust. We are totally reliant on the great mercy of God.
This Ash Wednesday is a chance for us to place ourselves firmly into the hands of God once again. To
acknowledge before God and in the company of our fellow Christians our dependence on the God who creates
us, redeems us and sustains us. Without such knowledge of God’s power we would just be insignificant specks
on a huge planet earth in a colossal universe. There would be little hope and we could find ourselves lost in
such vastness. I often think about what it would be like to have no faith or belief in God and my biggest fear I
think would be to not know why we are here and or indeed how we came to be here. I don’t think that
Christianity – or any faith – can adequately answer these questions but my faith gives me the reassurance that
over-arching this vast universe and our small human lives is a God who knows us intimately. The Creator who
brought forth the stars, the planets and the whole of space also chooses to create us as individuals and not
leave us alone. We are held in God’s everlasting arms with such compassion, such love and such strength that
is almost inconceivable. The hairs on your head are indeed numbered by this all-powerful and loving God.
So my faith relies on the reality of Ash Wednesday because I need to know that when I cannot answer
questions of life, of disaster, of frailty or of my own mortality, I know at least one thing: that God has created
me, has given me life and through his Son Jesus Christ has opened up to me a share in his eternal life.
Fear not that you are but dust because it is in acknowledging this mortality that we can place ourselves in God’
s hand for him to care for us and protect us.
‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name: you are mine!’
May God bless you all during this solemn season of Lent that we may come to Easter with a sense of joy and
gratitude for the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection.
With my love and prayers,
Stephen
MARCH 2005
The first Easter after I was ordained I remember waiting in the vestry before the service started
and the verger said to me, 'I hope you aren't going to preach a long sermon today. There is
nothing to say except "Christ is risen! Alleluia!"' Of course I then realised that the few pages of
notes I had in front of me were nothing very special compared with the plain truth and utter
simplicity of the four word sermon he had suggested to me. Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
No matter how many books are written, sermons preached or courses developed to try to
explain or understand the significance of the resurrection we celebrate each Easter Sunday, the
basic fact is that we can never fully understand or explain it. All we can do is live it.
To live the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is to feel his living presence in your life
through his Risen Spirit. We feel his his touch of comfort, his healing power, his life-giving
presence, his assuring peace. At times it may seem far away but we are certain of his presence
and of his involvement with our lives at every level. Even at the darkest moments of grief and
illness it is often the faint glimmer of faith that provides that light of hope in a world of
darkness. Even when all the rest of our faith may be confused and low it is often the case that
we can comfort ourselves with the truth of Christ's resurrection. This inexplicable part of our
faith - the supreme mystery of Christianity cannot be shaken by even the most difficult of
thoughts and times of life. The power of life over death, the power of Christ's resurrection
cannot be quenched.
As we come together as one family in this parish to celebrate Holy Week and Easter I pray that
we may all be more aware than ever of Christ's presence with us, both in our worship and in our
daily lives, that those who pass by our church and who come into contact with our lives may
truly know that, 'We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song.'
May Alleluia be in your hearts and minds this Easter and may God give you strength to go out
into the community and proclaim, Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
with my love and prayers,
Stephen
APRIL 2005
What if we closed St Agnes' Parish Church ?
Before you reach for the phone to spread any rumours can I just say that we are not closing!
Neither do we have any intention of closing! But as this month we are looking towards our
annual parish church meeting and the election of new wardens, PCC members and officers my
mind had inevitably been drawn towards looking at the future of our parish. Over the past few
months I have been to a number of meetings and conferences about the state of the church and
its future. I have read in papers and books, seen on TV and heard on radio - along with many of
you - about the challenging situation the Church of England finds itself in at the moment.
The problem with much of this news is that it often seems to have little or no importance to us
here in our parish. There is much to be grateful for here at St Agnes in terms of the strength of
numbers on seats, paying the parish share and general spiritual health of the parish. I believe we
are doing well - whatever that might mean.
However I think there is a serious need for the church - at every level, national, diocesan and
parish - to wake up to some very difficult truths about our future.
An ageing congregation. We can say at St Agnes that we have people in every age bracket - I
think we do. But look around the congregation or read the electoral roll and then think - who
will be here in 2015: just ten years time. Who will be here in 2020?
Rising costs of maintenance. We learnt in the last few months that St Agnes church building will
need £150,000 of work in the next few years. We may get some help from grants but not all of
that total. We need £650 a week at the moment - before mission - and yet our collections are
rarely over £300. If we do manage to repair\ the building and keep it open, who will be using it
and what for? Can we still keep a huge worship space standing up even though it is only used for
a few hours each week?
Falling clergy numbers. It is no secret that there are fewer clergy around these days and there is
less money to sustain as many posts for priest as there once was. Some talk has already been
given to the possibility of a team between ourselves and St Luke's and St Chrysostom's. If this
were to take place then it could be a possibility that in the future only two priests would look
after the three parishes. May be eventually just one priest.
I do not wish to sound alarmist or pessimistic in all that I say above. These are VERY REAL
problems and they affects us NOW and they affect US. We can no longer assume that because
we tick along quite nicely that all will stay the same. Even with the closure of St John's and the
creation of a new single parish there is still much to be done.
I write this now because of the Annual Meeting which is approaching on Sunday 24th April. I
urge you all to consider the following questions.
Do you care about the church of God here in Longsight?
Do you take an interest in the future of St Agnes?
Will you consider standing for election to any of the posts available?
Will you show a keener interest in the work of the PCC over the next few years?
What does it mean for there to be a parish church here in this part of Longsight?
Can we just remain as we are?
These are big questions with serious and difficult answers. Yet we are not alone. We share
these problems with other churches in the deanery and the diocese. But most importantly we
must approach all these questions with the strength that comes from our belief in the message
and Good News of Jesus Christ. If we believe we have nothing to say then we must give up now.
If we believe that God has called us to his service here at St Agnes then we must believe that
we are worthy and capable of that calling.
May the power of Jesus' resurrection strengthen you all in your calling.
with my love and prayers,
Stephen
Money, Money, Money…
Not everyone realises that true cost of maintaining ministry in a parish like ours. As well as
running and maintaining the building, and the cost of candles, bread, wine, photocopying and
resources there is also the contribution towards the wider ministry of the Diocese and the
Church of England. This contribution is known as the quota or Parish Share and is calculated in
different ways in different dioceses.
You may remember that last year we asked you to fill in an anonymous questionnaire about your
financial income. The results of this were used in connection with our weekly attendance
figures to calculate the amount of Parish Share we owe the Diocese of Manchester. Below you
can see the Share details for each of the parishes in Ardwick Deanery. You will notice that we
have the largest Share in the Deanery – nearly £17,000 – although this will decrease slowly over
the next two or three years because of new methods of calculation.
It may seem a lot of money to raise and to ‘give away’ however we must realise that this figure
helps pay towards a significant amount of work supplied by the Diocese.
The Parish Share helps towards the cost of ministry – the priest’s stipend (or salary), the upkeep
of parsonages, and the employment of diocesan officers – along with a variety of other things. If
we consider these costs you will realise that our Parish Share, although appearing quite big, is
actually heavily subsidised – as are all the Shares for this deanery.
The 2005 Share works out at £326 a week. When you add to that what we also need a week to
keep our own building and ministry running - £350 – then you realise that we need nearly £700
EACH WEEK to maintain the ministry of St Agnes’ Longsight.
Of course we also raise money through various social events: it is not just the weekly
collections. But may I please ask you to reconsider your financial giving regularly and also may I
thank you for your generous and continued support.
May 2005
ST AGNES’ PEACE & JUSTICE GROUP
Towards the end of last year the PCC discussed the need for a small group of people to meet
regularly to coordinate our mission and outreach as a parish on matters of peace and justice. I
am sure you can imagine the amount of material that arrives at the Rectory on such matters, and
this, combined with issues brought to light by other members of our parish family, mean that so
much useful and vital material is not given full and proper attention.
The PCC and I believe that our Christian calling and our baptismal promises require that we look
at such issues as a matter of duty. We therefore propose to meet regularly (monthly perhaps to
start) to sift through the vast amount of material that is sent to us and to recommend to the
PCC which issues or projects we feel the parish should be involved with and how.
I believe this is a matter of urgency with the current Make Poverty History campaign, the Trade
Justice and Britain’s presidency of the EU later this year. Britain will also host the G8 summit
this summer.
I therefore invite you to join us. The Peace & Justice group will meet monthly on a Wednesday
immediately after the 11am Eucharist when we will spend time looking at the latest issues, pray
and share a simple soup lunch.
We meet for the first time on Wednesday 18th May.
I would be delighted if you would accept this invitation and please encourage others to join us.
This is an open group to assist the PCC. I hope it will develop into an important time of prayer
and action, and, perhaps in time, be a point of contact with people of other faiths in our
community as we work together on issues which unite us in our working together for God’s
world.
Please do join us.
JUNE 2005
Are you reading this?
… is the question we asked a couple of months ago in our magazine questionnaire. A number of
you responded and next month we will publish some of the comments and suggestions that
were made. Thank you to everyone who returned their questionnaire – it is clear that most of
you are happy with the general content and appearance of the magazine but we will try to
include some new items that you suggested.
In the meantime could I encourage all you to send us your news and information? There is a lot
going on in the parish from the children in junior church, through Evergreens, to the various
social and worship activities we hold each week. Add to this the news from individuals and
families in the parish and we could probably have two or three extra pages each month just to
update everyone with what is going on. People who live away from the parish appreciate
hearing about all that is going on and to ensure that this information gets in to the magazine
ideally we need some ‘reporters’! Perhaps you would like to ask people to write their thoughts
down or you could write an article yourself? If there has been a particular event that you think
should be covered why not write something or make sure that the people involved know you
would like to hear more and read it in the magazine?
I know that some people are worried about their spelling or grammar when writing a piece for
the magazine. Please do not worry. If you want someone else to write it just ask me (or a
member of the magazine committee). You can just speak and we can write it down or you can
put some notes on a piece of paper and we can make it into a story. At the end of the day we
would much rather spend time presenting YOUR stories, news and articles than searching around
for general pieces.
So please give us your news, your hopes, dreams, your concerns, your thoughts; your recipes,
poems, prayers and jokes. Let us have news of what’s happening in the community. Your views
on Longsight, on Manchester; the church, the world and life itself! If it comes from you – we are
all interested.
We are all part of God’s family here in Longsight – let us share our news and views, our faith and
our lives with one another. The magazine committee and I look forward to your contribution!
Stephen
Thank you.
May I quickly thank all those who provided food for the Corpus Christi party. It was a great
evening and as usual at St Agnes the food, party and fellowship was perfect. Thank you all very
much – it is appreciated.
JULY 2005
St Agnes Church 1885-2005
In 1885, St Agnes Church was completed and dedicated as a mission church within the Parish of
St James Birch-in-Rusholme. It was looked after by one of the curates from St James’, the Rev
Henry Norburn who later was appointed as the first Rector of the newly formed parish of St
Agnes Birch-in-Rusholme. Today the mother-church of St James has closed and that parish
absorbed into the Holy Innocents’ Fallowfield, and we ourselves have expanded to join the
former parishes of St John Longsight and St Cyprian Kirkmanshulme.
120 years is a long time for many things: the world of 1885 seems light years away from the world
of today. In our parish Stockport Road would have been a wide lane for horse-drawn carriages,
and even the railway bridge was yet to be built over Slade Lane. Victoria was Queen not just of
Great Britain but head of a vast empire and William Gladstone was the Prime Minister.
Ten years later in 1895 the building was altered – the north aisle (now the Hall) was added. The
first rector of the parish, Henry Norburn remained in post throughout the first world war and
until 1923. At the moment I have very little information about the period that followed, covering
the second world war, until the fascinating information available in the Parish Magazines for
1955-1964 which have been kindly donated to us by the then Rector, Canon John Whittaker.
In these magazines we read of much the same scope and nature of ministry and mission as was
have today – the day school and Sunday school, the missionary societies, the various parties and
social events, the baptisms, weddings and funerals and, of course, the PCC meetings! I read
with interest that in August 1955 (the 70th anniversary) the Parish was £250 in debt – not
because of less support, in fact, the collections were increasing. The problem was increasing
expenditure. The Diocesan Share more than doubled between 1949 and 1955 from £40 to £100.
Today the story is slightly different but the same message comes through. Our bank accounts are
not in debt – we do have a little in the bank – but out Parish Share for 2005 is £17,000 and
whereas the bill for repairs in 1954 was £120 we now face a massive building project of £150,000.
We have a lively church and parish to celebrate this month in our 120th anniversary. We must
thank God for the varied and profitable ministry of the clergy and people of this parish since
1885 which have led to this day of celebration. We acknowledge too that there have been major
changes leading up to this date: the closure of St John’s and St Cyprian’s churches and the
amalgamation of the parishes into one was a huge painful process for those involved. The
closure of a building and the loss of a parish is never easy but thank God, and thanks to the
generosity faithfulness and understanding of all those involved, the Parish of St Agnes with St
John with St Cyprian is stronger and better placed than it ever could have been before. The
changing nature of Birch-in-Rusholme as an area has placed our 120 year old Church in the centre
of streets which are predominantly Muslim and a parish where Christianity is the religion of only
34% of the population and Islam 44%.
Longsight I believe is one of the liveliest and exciting places to live in Manchester. The
diversity, harmony and relative unity between people of different races, nationalities, faiths
and cultures is a credit to our area and a source of hope for the future. The place of the church
in all of this is considerable. For 120 years St Agnes has stood as a place of worship, prayer and
support in the centre of a community. The community has changed and so have we. With God’s
help, may we have the vision to see what is needed here in Birch-in-Rusholme for the next 120
years.
With my love and prayers
Stephen
August/September 2005
Summer at St Agnes…
The arrival of a bishop often sends a parish in to fast-forward: people busy putting up flags,
tables, chairs and notices, people cleaning, baking, practising, gardening. Our 120th Anniversary
celebrations were no exception – the whole parish came out in force it seemed – and not only on
the Sunday morning for the Bishop and the Ice Cream party. Thank you to everyone who helped
on the Saturday morning as well. The thing that is remarkable about all the activity and effort
however is that I don’t really believe it was because of the Bishop of Manchester was coming.
That’s not to say that we didn’t want the bishop here, or that we didn’t prepare for him! I
simply mean that the whole event was done to impress one another and not just the bishop. For
everyone present to share in a celebration and to extend fellowship to everyone - not just the
bishop. From his comments I know that the bishop realised that at St Agnes there is indeed a
Christian family atmosphere: a community of people, working together and sharing quite openly.
I hope that the 120th Anniversary celebrations have given us a new energy as a parish. Renewed
our sense of who we are, why we are here, and how we behave as a Christian community. I pray
that during the month of August you will all have a well deserved break from the day to day and
routine chores of both your own life and the life of the church.
So let’s leave the worries of parish shares, quinquennial inspections, committees, PCC meetings,
and rotas for a while. August is holiday month and gives us time to concentrate on refreshing
ourselves and our relationship with the God of joy and laughter. This is no excuse to fall away
from church though! The lightness of the month of August and summer should fill our worship
too. Sundays in August can be true celebrations of our faith in God our Creator. Remember: God
WANTS you to have fun, laughter and a life of joy. He wants us as his church to spread that
fullness of life. May God bless our leisure and our laughter.
If you do go away, please give our love to any churches you visit, and may God bless you all with
a wonderful summer and protect your journeys wherever you travel.
Peace & Joy
Stephen
October 2005 - no magazine letter, but a copy of an article from the Church in Wales
website
November 2005
Christian Remembrance
November sees the Christian calendar turning towards remembrance: remembering the holy men
and women of our faith at All Saints, remembering our own loved ones at All Souls’ and
remembering those who have died at war or as a result of war. This month I want to share two
articles with you. I don’t think either of them needs any comment – they speak clearly to us
about the true cost of war both in human and financial terms. The first is a short line I was sent
on a postcard. It simply reads:
It would be nice if hospitals and schools
had all the money they needed
and the army had to hold jumble sales to buy guns.
The second piece is an anonymous poem. Written on a scrap of paper, it fluttered into the
hands of a soldier sheltering in a slit trench, during the battle of El Agheila in January 1942.
Stay with Me, God
Stay with me, God. The night is dark,
The night is cold: my little spark
Of courage dies. The night is long;
Be with me, God, and make me strong.
I love a game. I love a fight.
I hate the dark; I love the light.
I love my child; I love my wife.
I am no coward. I love Life,
Life with its change of mood and shade.
I want to live. I'm not afraid,
But me and mine are hard to part;
Oh, unknown God, lift up my heart.
You stilled the waters at Dunkirk
And saved Your Servants. All your work
Is wonderful, dear God. You strode
Before us down that dreadful road,
We were alone, and hope had fled;
We loved our country and our dead,
And could not shame them; so we stayed
The course, and were not much afraid.
Dear God, that nightmare road! And then
That sea! We got there -- we were men.
My eyes were blind, my feet were torn,
My soul sang like a bird at dawn!
I knew that death is but a door.
I knew what we were fighting for:
Peace for the kids, our brothers freed,
A kinder world, a cleaner breed.
I'm but the son my mother bore,
A simple man, and nothing more.
But -- God of strength and gentleness,
Be pleased to make me nothing less.
Help me, O God, when Death is near
To mock the haggard face of fear,
That when I fall -- if fall I must --
My soul may triumph in the Dust.
So may November be a month of remembering for you. And as we pray that the souls of the
departed may rest in peace, let us do so in the joyful, sure and certain hope of the Resurrection
through Jesus Christ our King and our Lord.
With my love and prayers,
Stephen
DECEMBER 2005 / JANUARY 2006
Oh dear, it’s that time again…
I have spoken a couple of times this year in my sermons about the pressure I feel when I am in
the city centre! Pressure I mean from the adverts, the shop window displays and, if I am honest,
from other people when I see things they are wearing or buying or doing. I am thinking, ‘I want
that!’ or ‘Why can’t I have that?’ The city centre can at times become a place of temptation
which can put me in a bad mood, grumpy and frustrated for the rest of my shopping trip.
Of course the whole experience is even more fraught at Christmas time (which of course is
about the last quarter of the year) with pre-Christmas sales, the extra advertising and the
pressure of having to buy so many presents. Thankfully I am able to click myself out of the
temptation/depression mode quite quickly and get on with shopping calmly and sensibly.
This year I am more determined than ever to do things my way! To buy the presents that I feel
appropriate; to eat, drink and party the way I think appropriate; to celebrate Christmas the way
that is right for me. But I feel that I only have strength to do this by reminding myself of the
Christian faith which ultimately must be the centre of Christmas. I say ‘reminding myself’
because it seems that the commercial world and indeed much of our nation forgets the Christian
origin of Christmas. I need to remind myself and I believe it is my Christian duty to remind other
people.
We may complain about the secularisation of Christmas – or in fact our country as a whole – but
we cannot assume that other people will campaign on our behalf. It is us as Christians who must
stand up for the religious faith in which we believe and live and we must stand up, not just for
ourselves, but on behalf of all religious people. It comes as a shock to the councils who replace
the word ‘Christmas’ with ‘Winter’ in their publications (so not to offend people of other faiths)
that actually the people of other faiths are annoyed as much as we Christians are.
So on behalf of the Christian community, and on behalf of the religious community of this
country, we have a duty to place Christ back at the heart of our celebration of his birth. And I
believe in doing this we will also have an affect on people of no faith for whom the Christmas
season has become a stressful, expensive and overindulgent burden.
Christ came to bear our burdens, not add to them. If we put him back at the centre of our
Christmas celebration then even those who do not yet believe in him will at least see the joy,
relief and peace that his presence brings to those of us who do worship him as our King.
May Christ the infant king bring you his peace and his joy as you celebrate his birth.
With my love and prayers,
Stephen
The first Easter after I was ordained I remember waiting in the vestry before the service started
and the verger said to me, 'I hope you aren't going to preach a long sermon today. There is
nothing to say except "Christ is risen! Alleluia!"' Of course I then realised that the few pages of
notes I had in front of me were nothing very special compared with the plain truth and utter
simplicity of the four word sermon he had suggested to me. Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
No matter how many books are written, sermons preached or courses developed to try to
explain or understand the significance of the resurrection we celebrate each Easter Sunday, the
basic fact is that we can never fully understand or explain it. All we can do is live it.
To live the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is to feel his living presence in your life
through his Risen Spirit. We feel his his touch of comfort, his healing power, his life-giving
presence, his assuring peace. At times it may seem far away but we are certain of his presence
and of his involvement with our lives at every level. Even at the darkest moments of grief and
illness it is often the faint glimmer of faith that provides that light of hope in a world of
darkness. Even when all the rest of our faith may be confused and low it is often the case that
we can comfort ourselves with the truth of Christ's resurrection. This inexplicable part of our
faith - the supreme mystery of Christianity cannot be shaken by even the most difficult of
thoughts and times of life. The power of life over death, the power of Christ's resurrection
cannot be quenched.
As we come together as one family in this parish to celebrate Holy Week and Easter I pray that
we may all be more aware than ever of Christ's presence with us, both in our worship and in our
daily lives, that those who pass by our church and who come into contact with our lives may
truly know that, 'We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song.'
May Alleluia be in your hearts and minds this Easter and may God give you strength to go out
into the community and proclaim, Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
with my love and prayers,
Stephen
APRIL 2005
What if we closed St Agnes' Parish Church ?
Before you reach for the phone to spread any rumours can I just say that we are not closing!
Neither do we have any intention of closing! But as this month we are looking towards our
annual parish church meeting and the election of new wardens, PCC members and officers my
mind had inevitably been drawn towards looking at the future of our parish. Over the past few
months I have been to a number of meetings and conferences about the state of the church and
its future. I have read in papers and books, seen on TV and heard on radio - along with many of
you - about the challenging situation the Church of England finds itself in at the moment.
The problem with much of this news is that it often seems to have little or no importance to us
here in our parish. There is much to be grateful for here at St Agnes in terms of the strength of
numbers on seats, paying the parish share and general spiritual health of the parish. I believe we
are doing well - whatever that might mean.
However I think there is a serious need for the church - at every level, national, diocesan and
parish - to wake up to some very difficult truths about our future.
An ageing congregation. We can say at St Agnes that we have people in every age bracket - I
think we do. But look around the congregation or read the electoral roll and then think - who
will be here in 2015: just ten years time. Who will be here in 2020?
Rising costs of maintenance. We learnt in the last few months that St Agnes church building will
need £150,000 of work in the next few years. We may get some help from grants but not all of
that total. We need £650 a week at the moment - before mission - and yet our collections are
rarely over £300. If we do manage to repair\ the building and keep it open, who will be using it
and what for? Can we still keep a huge worship space standing up even though it is only used for
a few hours each week?
Falling clergy numbers. It is no secret that there are fewer clergy around these days and there is
less money to sustain as many posts for priest as there once was. Some talk has already been
given to the possibility of a team between ourselves and St Luke's and St Chrysostom's. If this
were to take place then it could be a possibility that in the future only two priests would look
after the three parishes. May be eventually just one priest.
I do not wish to sound alarmist or pessimistic in all that I say above. These are VERY REAL
problems and they affects us NOW and they affect US. We can no longer assume that because
we tick along quite nicely that all will stay the same. Even with the closure of St John's and the
creation of a new single parish there is still much to be done.
I write this now because of the Annual Meeting which is approaching on Sunday 24th April. I
urge you all to consider the following questions.
Do you care about the church of God here in Longsight?
Do you take an interest in the future of St Agnes?
Will you consider standing for election to any of the posts available?
Will you show a keener interest in the work of the PCC over the next few years?
What does it mean for there to be a parish church here in this part of Longsight?
Can we just remain as we are?
These are big questions with serious and difficult answers. Yet we are not alone. We share
these problems with other churches in the deanery and the diocese. But most importantly we
must approach all these questions with the strength that comes from our belief in the message
and Good News of Jesus Christ. If we believe we have nothing to say then we must give up now.
If we believe that God has called us to his service here at St Agnes then we must believe that
we are worthy and capable of that calling.
May the power of Jesus' resurrection strengthen you all in your calling.
with my love and prayers,
Stephen
Money, Money, Money…
Not everyone realises that true cost of maintaining ministry in a parish like ours. As well as
running and maintaining the building, and the cost of candles, bread, wine, photocopying and
resources there is also the contribution towards the wider ministry of the Diocese and the
Church of England. This contribution is known as the quota or Parish Share and is calculated in
different ways in different dioceses.
You may remember that last year we asked you to fill in an anonymous questionnaire about your
financial income. The results of this were used in connection with our weekly attendance
figures to calculate the amount of Parish Share we owe the Diocese of Manchester. Below you
can see the Share details for each of the parishes in Ardwick Deanery. You will notice that we
have the largest Share in the Deanery – nearly £17,000 – although this will decrease slowly over
the next two or three years because of new methods of calculation.
It may seem a lot of money to raise and to ‘give away’ however we must realise that this figure
helps pay towards a significant amount of work supplied by the Diocese.
The Parish Share helps towards the cost of ministry – the priest’s stipend (or salary), the upkeep
of parsonages, and the employment of diocesan officers – along with a variety of other things. If
we consider these costs you will realise that our Parish Share, although appearing quite big, is
actually heavily subsidised – as are all the Shares for this deanery.
The 2005 Share works out at £326 a week. When you add to that what we also need a week to
keep our own building and ministry running - £350 – then you realise that we need nearly £700
EACH WEEK to maintain the ministry of St Agnes’ Longsight.
Of course we also raise money through various social events: it is not just the weekly
collections. But may I please ask you to reconsider your financial giving regularly and also may I
thank you for your generous and continued support.
May 2005
ST AGNES’ PEACE & JUSTICE GROUP
Towards the end of last year the PCC discussed the need for a small group of people to meet
regularly to coordinate our mission and outreach as a parish on matters of peace and justice. I
am sure you can imagine the amount of material that arrives at the Rectory on such matters, and
this, combined with issues brought to light by other members of our parish family, mean that so
much useful and vital material is not given full and proper attention.
The PCC and I believe that our Christian calling and our baptismal promises require that we look
at such issues as a matter of duty. We therefore propose to meet regularly (monthly perhaps to
start) to sift through the vast amount of material that is sent to us and to recommend to the
PCC which issues or projects we feel the parish should be involved with and how.
I believe this is a matter of urgency with the current Make Poverty History campaign, the Trade
Justice and Britain’s presidency of the EU later this year. Britain will also host the G8 summit
this summer.
I therefore invite you to join us. The Peace & Justice group will meet monthly on a Wednesday
immediately after the 11am Eucharist when we will spend time looking at the latest issues, pray
and share a simple soup lunch.
We meet for the first time on Wednesday 18th May.
I would be delighted if you would accept this invitation and please encourage others to join us.
This is an open group to assist the PCC. I hope it will develop into an important time of prayer
and action, and, perhaps in time, be a point of contact with people of other faiths in our
community as we work together on issues which unite us in our working together for God’s
world.
Please do join us.
JUNE 2005
Are you reading this?
… is the question we asked a couple of months ago in our magazine questionnaire. A number of
you responded and next month we will publish some of the comments and suggestions that
were made. Thank you to everyone who returned their questionnaire – it is clear that most of
you are happy with the general content and appearance of the magazine but we will try to
include some new items that you suggested.
In the meantime could I encourage all you to send us your news and information? There is a lot
going on in the parish from the children in junior church, through Evergreens, to the various
social and worship activities we hold each week. Add to this the news from individuals and
families in the parish and we could probably have two or three extra pages each month just to
update everyone with what is going on. People who live away from the parish appreciate
hearing about all that is going on and to ensure that this information gets in to the magazine
ideally we need some ‘reporters’! Perhaps you would like to ask people to write their thoughts
down or you could write an article yourself? If there has been a particular event that you think
should be covered why not write something or make sure that the people involved know you
would like to hear more and read it in the magazine?
I know that some people are worried about their spelling or grammar when writing a piece for
the magazine. Please do not worry. If you want someone else to write it just ask me (or a
member of the magazine committee). You can just speak and we can write it down or you can
put some notes on a piece of paper and we can make it into a story. At the end of the day we
would much rather spend time presenting YOUR stories, news and articles than searching around
for general pieces.
So please give us your news, your hopes, dreams, your concerns, your thoughts; your recipes,
poems, prayers and jokes. Let us have news of what’s happening in the community. Your views
on Longsight, on Manchester; the church, the world and life itself! If it comes from you – we are
all interested.
We are all part of God’s family here in Longsight – let us share our news and views, our faith and
our lives with one another. The magazine committee and I look forward to your contribution!
Stephen
Thank you.
May I quickly thank all those who provided food for the Corpus Christi party. It was a great
evening and as usual at St Agnes the food, party and fellowship was perfect. Thank you all very
much – it is appreciated.
JULY 2005
St Agnes Church 1885-2005
In 1885, St Agnes Church was completed and dedicated as a mission church within the Parish of
St James Birch-in-Rusholme. It was looked after by one of the curates from St James’, the Rev
Henry Norburn who later was appointed as the first Rector of the newly formed parish of St
Agnes Birch-in-Rusholme. Today the mother-church of St James has closed and that parish
absorbed into the Holy Innocents’ Fallowfield, and we ourselves have expanded to join the
former parishes of St John Longsight and St Cyprian Kirkmanshulme.
120 years is a long time for many things: the world of 1885 seems light years away from the world
of today. In our parish Stockport Road would have been a wide lane for horse-drawn carriages,
and even the railway bridge was yet to be built over Slade Lane. Victoria was Queen not just of
Great Britain but head of a vast empire and William Gladstone was the Prime Minister.
Ten years later in 1895 the building was altered – the north aisle (now the Hall) was added. The
first rector of the parish, Henry Norburn remained in post throughout the first world war and
until 1923. At the moment I have very little information about the period that followed, covering
the second world war, until the fascinating information available in the Parish Magazines for
1955-1964 which have been kindly donated to us by the then Rector, Canon John Whittaker.
In these magazines we read of much the same scope and nature of ministry and mission as was
have today – the day school and Sunday school, the missionary societies, the various parties and
social events, the baptisms, weddings and funerals and, of course, the PCC meetings! I read
with interest that in August 1955 (the 70th anniversary) the Parish was £250 in debt – not
because of less support, in fact, the collections were increasing. The problem was increasing
expenditure. The Diocesan Share more than doubled between 1949 and 1955 from £40 to £100.
Today the story is slightly different but the same message comes through. Our bank accounts are
not in debt – we do have a little in the bank – but out Parish Share for 2005 is £17,000 and
whereas the bill for repairs in 1954 was £120 we now face a massive building project of £150,000.
We have a lively church and parish to celebrate this month in our 120th anniversary. We must
thank God for the varied and profitable ministry of the clergy and people of this parish since
1885 which have led to this day of celebration. We acknowledge too that there have been major
changes leading up to this date: the closure of St John’s and St Cyprian’s churches and the
amalgamation of the parishes into one was a huge painful process for those involved. The
closure of a building and the loss of a parish is never easy but thank God, and thanks to the
generosity faithfulness and understanding of all those involved, the Parish of St Agnes with St
John with St Cyprian is stronger and better placed than it ever could have been before. The
changing nature of Birch-in-Rusholme as an area has placed our 120 year old Church in the centre
of streets which are predominantly Muslim and a parish where Christianity is the religion of only
34% of the population and Islam 44%.
Longsight I believe is one of the liveliest and exciting places to live in Manchester. The
diversity, harmony and relative unity between people of different races, nationalities, faiths
and cultures is a credit to our area and a source of hope for the future. The place of the church
in all of this is considerable. For 120 years St Agnes has stood as a place of worship, prayer and
support in the centre of a community. The community has changed and so have we. With God’s
help, may we have the vision to see what is needed here in Birch-in-Rusholme for the next 120
years.
With my love and prayers
Stephen
August/September 2005
Summer at St Agnes…
The arrival of a bishop often sends a parish in to fast-forward: people busy putting up flags,
tables, chairs and notices, people cleaning, baking, practising, gardening. Our 120th Anniversary
celebrations were no exception – the whole parish came out in force it seemed – and not only on
the Sunday morning for the Bishop and the Ice Cream party. Thank you to everyone who helped
on the Saturday morning as well. The thing that is remarkable about all the activity and effort
however is that I don’t really believe it was because of the Bishop of Manchester was coming.
That’s not to say that we didn’t want the bishop here, or that we didn’t prepare for him! I
simply mean that the whole event was done to impress one another and not just the bishop. For
everyone present to share in a celebration and to extend fellowship to everyone - not just the
bishop. From his comments I know that the bishop realised that at St Agnes there is indeed a
Christian family atmosphere: a community of people, working together and sharing quite openly.
I hope that the 120th Anniversary celebrations have given us a new energy as a parish. Renewed
our sense of who we are, why we are here, and how we behave as a Christian community. I pray
that during the month of August you will all have a well deserved break from the day to day and
routine chores of both your own life and the life of the church.
So let’s leave the worries of parish shares, quinquennial inspections, committees, PCC meetings,
and rotas for a while. August is holiday month and gives us time to concentrate on refreshing
ourselves and our relationship with the God of joy and laughter. This is no excuse to fall away
from church though! The lightness of the month of August and summer should fill our worship
too. Sundays in August can be true celebrations of our faith in God our Creator. Remember: God
WANTS you to have fun, laughter and a life of joy. He wants us as his church to spread that
fullness of life. May God bless our leisure and our laughter.
If you do go away, please give our love to any churches you visit, and may God bless you all with
a wonderful summer and protect your journeys wherever you travel.
Peace & Joy
Stephen
October 2005 - no magazine letter, but a copy of an article from the Church in Wales
website
November 2005
Christian Remembrance
November sees the Christian calendar turning towards remembrance: remembering the holy men
and women of our faith at All Saints, remembering our own loved ones at All Souls’ and
remembering those who have died at war or as a result of war. This month I want to share two
articles with you. I don’t think either of them needs any comment – they speak clearly to us
about the true cost of war both in human and financial terms. The first is a short line I was sent
on a postcard. It simply reads:
It would be nice if hospitals and schools
had all the money they needed
and the army had to hold jumble sales to buy guns.
The second piece is an anonymous poem. Written on a scrap of paper, it fluttered into the
hands of a soldier sheltering in a slit trench, during the battle of El Agheila in January 1942.
Stay with Me, God
Stay with me, God. The night is dark,
The night is cold: my little spark
Of courage dies. The night is long;
Be with me, God, and make me strong.
I love a game. I love a fight.
I hate the dark; I love the light.
I love my child; I love my wife.
I am no coward. I love Life,
Life with its change of mood and shade.
I want to live. I'm not afraid,
But me and mine are hard to part;
Oh, unknown God, lift up my heart.
You stilled the waters at Dunkirk
And saved Your Servants. All your work
Is wonderful, dear God. You strode
Before us down that dreadful road,
We were alone, and hope had fled;
We loved our country and our dead,
And could not shame them; so we stayed
The course, and were not much afraid.
Dear God, that nightmare road! And then
That sea! We got there -- we were men.
My eyes were blind, my feet were torn,
My soul sang like a bird at dawn!
I knew that death is but a door.
I knew what we were fighting for:
Peace for the kids, our brothers freed,
A kinder world, a cleaner breed.
I'm but the son my mother bore,
A simple man, and nothing more.
But -- God of strength and gentleness,
Be pleased to make me nothing less.
Help me, O God, when Death is near
To mock the haggard face of fear,
That when I fall -- if fall I must --
My soul may triumph in the Dust.
So may November be a month of remembering for you. And as we pray that the souls of the
departed may rest in peace, let us do so in the joyful, sure and certain hope of the Resurrection
through Jesus Christ our King and our Lord.
With my love and prayers,
Stephen
DECEMBER 2005 / JANUARY 2006
Oh dear, it’s that time again…
I have spoken a couple of times this year in my sermons about the pressure I feel when I am in
the city centre! Pressure I mean from the adverts, the shop window displays and, if I am honest,
from other people when I see things they are wearing or buying or doing. I am thinking, ‘I want
that!’ or ‘Why can’t I have that?’ The city centre can at times become a place of temptation
which can put me in a bad mood, grumpy and frustrated for the rest of my shopping trip.
Of course the whole experience is even more fraught at Christmas time (which of course is
about the last quarter of the year) with pre-Christmas sales, the extra advertising and the
pressure of having to buy so many presents. Thankfully I am able to click myself out of the
temptation/depression mode quite quickly and get on with shopping calmly and sensibly.
This year I am more determined than ever to do things my way! To buy the presents that I feel
appropriate; to eat, drink and party the way I think appropriate; to celebrate Christmas the way
that is right for me. But I feel that I only have strength to do this by reminding myself of the
Christian faith which ultimately must be the centre of Christmas. I say ‘reminding myself’
because it seems that the commercial world and indeed much of our nation forgets the Christian
origin of Christmas. I need to remind myself and I believe it is my Christian duty to remind other
people.
We may complain about the secularisation of Christmas – or in fact our country as a whole – but
we cannot assume that other people will campaign on our behalf. It is us as Christians who must
stand up for the religious faith in which we believe and live and we must stand up, not just for
ourselves, but on behalf of all religious people. It comes as a shock to the councils who replace
the word ‘Christmas’ with ‘Winter’ in their publications (so not to offend people of other faiths)
that actually the people of other faiths are annoyed as much as we Christians are.
So on behalf of the Christian community, and on behalf of the religious community of this
country, we have a duty to place Christ back at the heart of our celebration of his birth. And I
believe in doing this we will also have an affect on people of no faith for whom the Christmas
season has become a stressful, expensive and overindulgent burden.
Christ came to bear our burdens, not add to them. If we put him back at the centre of our
Christmas celebration then even those who do not yet believe in him will at least see the joy,
relief and peace that his presence brings to those of us who do worship him as our King.
May Christ the infant king bring you his peace and his joy as you celebrate his birth.
With my love and prayers,
Stephen