17th July 2022 All Saints Church, Childwall
Read: Luke 10:38/42
“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha,
Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Reflect: As I read the passage, I can almost imagine the scene; Mary sitting at Jesus feet, listening intently to his words of wisdom whilst, in the background, there is a lot of noise coming from the kitchen, lots of banging of pots and dishes and lots of aggravated muttering. Then Martha erupts from the kitchen asking Jesus, in an exasperated voice, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” Jesus answers “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Then, in my imagination, Jesus pats the seat next to him and invites Martha to join them!
Ordinarily, women in Jesus’ day, would not have had the opportunity to sit at a Rabbi’s feet and to learn from him, so Mary leaps at the chance to do so, but Martha gets busy in the kitchen! It isn’t that the things Martha is doing aren’t good or necessary, but they are secondary in Jesus’ eyes. Martha has forgotten [or never learned] that Jesus wants us [ourselves] first and foremost and our service only second. Martha thought that it was more important that she should provide rest and food for Jesus’ body, but Mary knew that it was more important to allow Jesus to provide food and rest for her soul.
This story is not licence for laziness, but a reminder that Jesus wants us to sit with Him, to speak to/listen to/learn from Him first, so that as we seek to serve God we can be sure that we are doing it in the way He wants us to and with the necessary spiritual resources to do so! And when I talk about serving God, I am not only thinking of ‘churchy’ things, but of serving God in our daily lives; within our family, amongst our friends, colleagues and neighbours.
It is often said that, in Martha and Mary, we see two different personality types, two different temperaments; one activist and the other reflective; one more comfortable ‘doing’ and the other good at ‘being’ and, whilst that may be true, I think the account is less about personalities and more about priorities. No doubt we each have our own preferred operating mode, but a key question is where does ‘sitting at Jesus’ feet’ fit in to our lives? What priority do we give Him?
Respond: How do you think of yourself? Are you an activist or a more reflective person? Are you a workaholic? Is your work – life balance correct? If not, how are you going to correct that? We all need ‘times of refreshing’ in our daily lives so, if “you are worried and upset about many things”, why not take the opportunity to consciously make some space to sit at Jesus’ feet, each day, to allow Him to refresh you and to listen to what He may wish to say to you?
Pray: Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified: hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people, that in our vocations and ministries we may serve you in holiness and truth to the glory of your name; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen. [Collect for the week].
Bill Forster (Associate Minister at All Saints)
Church services
Sunday 17th July – 9.15am – Service of the Word 11am – Holy Communion
6pm – Holy communion with prayers for healing. (in the church hall followed by tea & coffee)
Thursday 21st July – 10.45am – BCP Holy Communion
Sunday 24th July – 9.15am – Holy Communion 11am – Baptism Service 12.30pm – Baptism Service
Wednesday 10th August – 1pm Funeral of Margaret Whitehead
One Sunday Morning service at 10am during the summer
We will be having one Sunday morning service at 10am from Sunday 31st July throughout the summer up
to and including Sunday 4th September. These 10am services will be Communion services each week,
except for Sunday 28th August when it will be a Baptism service and Communion will be in the evening.
Tea & Coffee will be served in the church hall after our 10am morning service during the Summer
Would you be willing to help serve tea & coffee after our Sunday morning 10am service during the
summer? If you would be willing to be on a rota please will you sign up on one of the sheets at the back of
church. Thank you very much, Barbara Critchley – Churchwarden
Deputy Churchwarden’s
I am pleased to inform you that we have 3 members of our church family who have offered to be deputy wardens. They are Pam Baines, Malcolm Baines and Margaret Thwaite. I am very grateful to them for their support in this practical area of ministry. Barbara Critchley – Churchwarden
Message from David Holland
I am so appreciative of the support from church and for the wonderful service of Celebration for Eileen’s
life that was held in All Saints last Monday, the worship was amazing. The worship and the reception have
created a truly wonderful memory for us as a family. We really did give Eileen a great send-off.
My heartfelt appreciation to everyone at All Saints. To the musicians, to Norman and the choir, those on
duty and all those who came to support. Thank you, David
News from former Curate Becca Phillips
We’d love for our All Saints family to be praying for us, and to visit if they like!!
After 7 years in Kings Lynn, Tim and Becca are moving to East London. For over a year now, a lot of Tim’s work has been in the London area, so they have been praying about a move. Becca is starting 2 part-time posts: Associate Minister, at Ascension Church, Custom House with a focus on discipleship and community engagement, and Chaplain with the Margaret Clitherow Trust, who work with Roma, Gypsy and Travelling communities. Both roles feel really right, and a nice change from full-time incumbency.
Tim continues to do his photography and videography, and we are excited to see what opportunities there will be for Tim to launch this in a much busier area! He also does some supporting acting on the side. Becca’s licensing is likely to be early October, so do get in touch with her if you’d like to come along!
They both remain so grateful for their time at All Saints and send lots of love.
Bookworms – Our Church reading group has its next meeting on Monday 1st August at 7.30pm in the function room of the Childwall Abbey. We are looking at the book: The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce, a heartwarming novel about the potential strength of local community.
We are looking for young musicians to join our Youth Worship Team Project.
We are currently hoping to build a Youth Worship Team, to perform possibly once a month in the future. The project will take time, the young musician’s confidence is paramount to us all, and we want them to succeed! This will be a gradual process as we slowly build the Young Musicians confidence.
Basically, any young person who can play an instrument or sing, is a pianist, guitarist or a drummer, or can play any other type of instrument all are most welcome. The Young Musicians will be supported by our Musical Director, Leader and musicians. If you would like to meet with us and maybe play something. We would happily arrange that. The kind of worship music we play is normally of the modern style of worship.
We look forward to hearing from you, For further information contact
John McLoughlin, on 0776 222 8339 or come and chat to us at the end of our 11am Sunday Service.
Morning Prayer – Monday and Friday at 8:00am – Common Worship Morning prayer service with words on screen. Optional Chat after the service. Meeting ID: 948 786 2454 Passcode: 4allsaints
Weekly prayer meeting – Thursday 6.30pm on Zoom. Why not join a group of us at All Saints that pray regularly. It lasts 40 minutes, you can pray, sit and listen or just contemplate. – Aidan Holmes
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8802380315?pwd=cGxQTnQ0QVRjU1gyUnBrYnJMMzZldz09
Please note joining ID. Meeting ID: 880 238 0315
Passcode: yt76bq
Vestry Hour – every Tuesday 7pm – 8pm. There will be NO Vestry hour during August.
To book a Baptism or a Wedding or speak to a member of the clergy, please come to Vestry Hour which is held in the church every Tuesday, no appointment is necessary.
Weekly Prayer requests – Please pray for all those who are unwell at this time particularly praying for Stan Cowley, Alison Kefford, Shirley Rawlinson, Diane Deacon, Doris Springer, Sandra Ward, Nicoli Gray (Carole Turner’s daughter) & Jennie Moore. We also pray for the bereaved family and friends of Alan Woods, Norman Bell, John Wright, Eileen Holland, John Canavan & Margaret Whitehead.
Andrew Colmer – Vicar – Tel: 07305 842257 – vicar.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com Helen Deegan – Curate – Tel: 07984 933467 – curate.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com Bill Forster – Associate Minister – william.forster1@btinternet.com Adeyinka Olushonde – Ordinand – adeyinka.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
