15th August 2021 Trinity 11 All Saints Church, Childwall
(The festival of the blessed virgin Mary)
READ: Luke 1:46-55, The Message
And Mary said, I’m bursting with God-news; I’m dancing the song of my Saviour God. God took one good look at me, and look what happened—I’m the most fortunate woman on earth! What God has done for me will never be forgotten, the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others. His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him. He bared his arm and showed his strength,scattered the bluffing braggarts. He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud. The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold. He embraced his chosen child, Israel; he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high. it’s exactly what he promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now.
REFLECT: Every family has one, don’t they, the ‘interesting’ relative that you don’t quite know what to do with. It’s a bit like that with the Virgin Mary. The Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches venerate her,the Protestant Churches keep an acquaintance of sorts, remembering her in and around Christmas, and the Church of England – as a Reformed Catholic Church – doesn’t know quite what to do. I inherited this unease, and took it with me to Spain, a very Roman Catholic country, with alien traditions surrounding the ‘Blessed Virgin’. Thus, a biblical figure, who I usually packed neatly away with the Christmas decorations, suddenly loomed large in my life. This coincided with my attempts to discern whether I was being called to ordination and my mindset led me to appreciate her in a different way. She transformed from, a passive, inoffensive figure of idealised femininity to a feisty revolutionary and role model. I learned that Mary’s yes to God was not simply a passive submission to his will but an active participation in his plan. A plan revealed in today’s reading, Mary’s Marseillaise, the Magnificat. A song about a wild and powerful reordering of the world which remains provocative and vitally necessary today. With courage, born of faith, she responds to God’s rallying cry and expresses her joy on discovering the part she is to play. She has found her vocation; she knows what God is calling her to be and do. This is cause for great celebration. According to William Barclay, “There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we are born and the day we discover why.” Everyone has a vocation.
“God calls all of us to be disciples and to be church, and we hold this call in common. But God also calls all of us by name: specifically, individually, uniquely. This is when we speak of vocation: the specific path that our response to God’s love and grace will take in our own lives…Vocation has multiple threads – from being a friend, worker, parent, sibling, church member, carer, volunteer and many others, to taking up specific responsibilities in life, work or church.” Justin Welby
As a person wearing a collar, people often ask me how I found my calling. Unfortunately, I have no tales to tell about angelic visitations and road to Damascus moments. In my case, it was more about trial and error. God just led me to the right places at the right times to get stuck in. Opportunities presented themselves and I volunteered. It wasn’t until later that I began to pray that he would reveal his plan and, when I did, I realised that through my pattern of failures and successes he already was.
I was thrilled to see our young people taking part in the ‘Youth Serve’ initiative this week. I pray that this may be, for them, a start of a journey of discovery. I pray that they will find their vocations, collaborate in God’s mission to change the world, and experience Mary’s Joy. Has your journey begun?
RESPOND: Go for a quiet walk asking God to open your eyes, ears and heart – to be stretched so you might begin to imagine all that he longs to do through you.
PRAY: Father, you call each one of us. May our hearts search for your truth, may our souls listen for your voice, may our lives follow in your path. Christ, you call each one of us. Help us respond to your call. Amen.
Rev Helen Deegan (Curate at All Saints, Childwall)
Church Services
Sunday 15th August – 9.15am – Service of the Word 11am – Service with Holy Communion
Thursday 19th August – 10.45am BCP Holy Communion
Sunday 22nd August – 9.15am – Service with Holy Communion 11am– Service of the Word
Zoom Sunday Coffee – Every Sunday at 10.45am – Meeting ID:842 767 1496 Password: 4allsaintshttps://us04web.zoom.us/j/8427671496?pwd=K2dMMnlvTHpwTkxDNEV6bDYwQXBDQT09
Online Church Services – We are continuing to record our Sunday morning service in church. It will be uploaded to our website to be viewed each week soon after 11am. www.allsaintschildwall.org.uk
Morning Prayer– Monday and Friday at 8:00am – Common Worship Morning prayer service with words on screen. Optional Chat after the service. Meeting ID: 865 694 0214 Passcode: mprayer
Evening Prayer – Sunday evening at 6pm led by the Readers. The liturgy and the readings will be on the screen and there will be a short reflection on the New Testament passage which has been set for the day. Please join us. Meeting ID: 789 873 7449 Passcode: Newsman1
HERITAGE WEEKEND 28th – 19th September 2021
Thanks to all those who have volunteered to be stewards when All Saints is open to the public at Heritage Weekend. We still need some more people to help on Saturday, 18th September. We are asking stewards to do a 2 hour slot: 10.00am – 12.00pm, 12.00 – 2.00pm or 2.00 – 4.00pm. Your task will be to greet visitors and make them feel welcome. You don’t need a comprehensive knowledge of the history of the Church. If you would like to volunteer please contact Helen Ford on 07950718759 or h.h.ford@btinternet.com
Help needed from September – Could you be on duty at any of the following times?
Sunday evening Service at 6.30pm restarting in church from September
We need more people to be on duty as part of our side person teams on a rota – could you help?
We also need people to be on car park duty on Sunday evenings whilst the service is happening.
Vestry hour on Tuesday evenings at 7pm in church will also be restarting – Would you be willing to be on our security team rota? If you would be willing to serve in any of these ways please speak to Barbara Critchley one of our Wardens or email her on: barbara.critchley24@gmail.com
Children and Youth over the summer holidays
Youth Serve was a great success last week with 14 Young people involved over 3 days. We started the day with bacon butties and some teaching on service and then worked on the Church Acre.
Over the 3 days we removed a lot of old rubbish that had been tipped. Hundreds of bottles and cans along with old carpets, a mattress, old car batteries and 2 wheels to name just a few! The top part of the Church Acre is now ready to be dug over for our community growing area and Bee Hives for the apiary will be arriving soon. A massive thank you to Gypsey who organised and planned Youth Serve and all those Young People and leaders that helped and served in numerous ways.
Children’s work – Rock Club
If you would like to receive specific information about our Children’s and Youth work please email Gypsey, our Youth and children’s worker directly, who will add your email to her master list for youth and children. gypsey.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com Unfortunately, we are still currently not able to re-open our Crèche.
Pastoral visiting – If you would value a visit or know anyone who would please let Helen or me know, our phone numbers and emails are below.
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 new joining ID. Meeting ID: 880 238 0315 Passcode: yt76bq
Weekly Prayer requests – If you would like other members of our church family to pray for you or a family member, please send me their names for this sheet, please ask permission from the person. Please pray for all those who are unwell at this time particularly praying for Nicoli Gray (Carole Turner’s daughter), David Miller, Patricia Horne, Margaret Whitehead and Alan Kirk.
We also pray for the bereaved family and friends of Hazel Watson, John Wright and Shirley Powell.
With our prayers for you all at this time
Andrew Colmer – Vicar – Tel: 07305 842257 – vicar.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Helen Deegan – Curate – Tel: 07984 933467 – curate.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Gypsey Tait – Youth & Children’s Worker – Tel: 07961 793435 –gypsey.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Bill Forster – Associate Minister – william.forster1@btinternet.com
Adeyinka Olushonde – Ordinand – adeyinka.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
