27th March 2022 Lent 4 (Mothering Sunday) All Saints Church, Childwall
Read:
The Common Worship lectionary offers an additional set of options for churches who will be celebrating the Fourth Sunday of Lent as ‘Mothering Sunday’. These include two possible Old Testament passages – the story of the baby Moses being found in the bulrushes (Exodus 2.1-10) and of Hannah’s dedication of her longed-for son Samuel to God (1 Samuel 1.20-28). They also include two Gospel passages – Simeon’s prophecy to Mary that her child is destined for the falling and rising of nations and that ‘a sword shall pierce your own heart also’ (Luke 2.33-35) and Jesus’ commending of his mother and the beloved disciple into one another’s care (John 19.25-27) as they stand at the foot of his cross.
Reflect:
A pet hate of mine is when people refer to ‘Mothering Sunday’ as ‘Mother’s Day’. My grouchiness has nothing to do with the love and respect I have for my own mum, nor the fact that I have not been blessed with children of my own. I’m not even that bothered about the commercialism. For me, It’s all about the misplaced apostrophe. It irks me that
They are honest about the challenges facing parents and children, and those longing to be parents. They warn us against a rush to judge and stigmatise. They speak of God’s
presence and action in families on the margins of society and they call us to be a community of nurture and mutual care.
Not so long ago, Mothering Sunday
In the reading from St John’s Gospel we hear how Jesus created the first Christian community even while he was hanging on the cross. Two people especially
were left alone by his death, his mother and his closest friend. Through him they find a new place, a new hope and a new family. Perhaps we should chew over Jesus’
‘..truly as God is Father, so just as truly is he our mother.’ Explore the bible and you will find many images of a maternal God. A God who comforts, protects and nurtures his children.
If all that is not enough, you could choose to savour the character of Mary. The Most famous mother of them all. Be inspired by her courage and faithful obedience and consider how God may be calling you.
This Mothering Sunday, enjoy the feast. Give thanks for the Church as mother, remember Mary the mother of Jesus, rejoice that God cares for us like a mother and last but not least, show appreciation to those who mother you. I pray you have a blessed day.
Pray: God of love, passionate and strong, tender and careful: watch over us and hold us all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Helen Deegan (Curate)
adamant that the apostrophe be placed before the ‘s’
the founder of the American ‘Mother’s Day’, Anna Jarvis, was pretty
on which individual families recognised their own mothers and not all mothers in the world generally. Even
to indicate the singular
, as she wanted it to be a day
if I could change the punctuation, ‘Mothers’ Day’ is still too narrow and exclusive to compete with
‘Mothering Sunday’. Today is a day to celebrate and reflect on mothering in all it’s glory. This rightly
includes recognising the wonderful women who have raised us. However, this is just the cherry on the top
of a very rich dessert. Why not dig a little deeper? It won’t all be sweet and some of it will be hard to
digest, but it may be more satisfying.
You could begin with today’s readings. The first thing to observe is how unsentimental they are. The stories
all involve pain and disruption.
their ‘mother church’ where they had been baptised.
was the day when people were encouraged to return to worship in
is invitation to mother each other?
Room for more? Spend some time with ‘Mother God’. Tradition can make this term stick in the throat, but
as Julian of Norwich once said
Can you see God the mother fretting, agonizing over her insanely short-sighted children wandering in the
wilderness who won’t stop whining about their daily bread? Can you feel her worry and irritation when her
children again and again make foolish, dangerous choices?
Please remember the clocks go forward 1 hour this Sunday as we start British Summer Time Church services Sunday 27th March (Mothering Sunday) 9.15am – Holy Communion
11am – Service of the Word 6pm – Evening prayer (in the Church Hall) Thursday 31st March – 10.45am – BCP Holy Communion
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
Vestry Hour – every Tuesday in Church from 7pm – 8pm
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. Please use the wooden door to the left of the tower. You do not need to knock; just come in, take a seat and you will be seen privately in turn.
Bookworms – Since resuming Bookworms in December we’ve had two very enjoyable meetings at the Childwall Abbey pub. Our next meeting is on Monday April 4th at 7.30pm and the book we shall be discussing is Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. Please come and join us. Val Yates
Taking part in the Sleepout is a lot of fun! There are games, stories, as well as building cardboard shelters. To join in make sure you’ve
packed everything you need to have a great evening and a good night’s sleep! If you are under 16 you will need to bring a responsible adult with you.
Whitechapel Centre – Collection box in the Church hall – How you can help! Clothing: (Small / medium sizes)
Men’s boxer shorts (new)
Female underwear (new) Long sleeved tops Sweatshirts
Hooded tracksuits Tracksuit bottoms, jeans Women’s leggings Trainers, Socks
Coats, Gloves, hats & scarves
Bedding:
Duvets, pillows, covers & sheets – we are only able to accept new items, in its original packaging.
Sunday 3rd April 9.15am – Service of the Word 11am – Holy Communion Service
6pm – Celtic Evening Worship (in the Church Hall)
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8802380315?pwd=cGxQTnQ0QVRjU1gyUnBrYnJMMzZldz09
Please note joining ID. Meeting ID: 880 238 0315
Passcode: yt76bq
Singing in Church – A small group meet in church on a Thursday evening, at 7.45pm, to practice the hymns
for the 9.15am service on Sunday so as to lead and encourage our Sunday worship. We also enjoy
fellowship together, and sing all of our favourite hymns and songs. A warm welcome awaits anyone who
would like to join with us – no musical knowledge is required, just a love of singing praises to our Lord.
Norman. Email: norman.mason@uwclub.net, Tel: 428 6250, Mob: 07850 383836
Liverpool Cathedral Sleep Out – Join us on Friday 8th April as we partner with the Whitechapel Centre and
Liverpool Cathedral to raise money to help tackle homelessness in our city.
Visit https://www.liverpoolcathedralsleepout.org/ to find out
more and register. Please let Helen know if you plan to take part curate.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com.
Thank you for all your prayers, good wishes, cards and gifts before and after my operation.
I am progressing well and hope to see you all soon. Barbara Critchley
I would like to thank all at All Saints who have been praying for me. It is very much appreciated and has helped me immensely knowing how many lovely friends care. It has been a long 14 months, but the operation went very well and I am cancer free, thank the Lord. The first couple of months after the operation were not very pleasant. I was back into hospital twice with infections. I am now feeling great. I still have a few teething problems but I am well on the mend. I have a lot of groups and friends praying for me which is fantastic…. The power of prayer! with much love Charlotte Fitzsimon
Easter Egg Appeal – Once again we are supporting the Liverpool Homeless Football Club’s Easter Egg Appeal. All eggs donated will be distributed to children in temporary accommodation and domestic abuse refuges. In 2019 (before the pandemic) we donated over 200 eggs, let’s see if we can beat that total this year. Eggs can be left at the back of Church. With thanks, Garry and Barbara Critchley.
Easter Cards – We have a selection of Easter Cards (packets & individual) for sale at the back of Church.
John and Laura Groom help to run a week-long Christian summer camp and it is back this year having had two Covid years off.
This is a fantastic opportunity for a week away in a safe Christian environment learning more of the gospel whilst having lots of fun – Olly and Jess can tell you first hand!
Please come and talk to either John or Laura Groom if you’d like more details or information. Please also pass on this opportunity to your friends and families who might be interested.
who are unwell at this time particularly praying for Gary McCoy and Stan Cowley. Our prayers are also with
Weekly Prayer requests – Please pray for all those
the other members of the Cowley Family and all who mourn Diana. Finally, we pray for the bereaved family
and friends of Graham McCulloch.
Please continue to pray for all affected by the war in Ukraine. People have also been asking what else we can do to help the people of Ukraine. The Church of England released the following guidance …
“At present the single most productive thing you can donate is money to the charities that are already on the ground in Ukraine and bordering states. There are two safe and secure ways where your gift can support those most in need: The first is through the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal which is supported by a number of charities including Christian Aid, the ecumenical relief and development agency of the British and Irish churches. Your gift will help provide food, bedding and temporary accommodation for people who have fled the conflict in Ukraine. The second is through the USPG-Diocese in Europe Emergency Appeal which is looking to support the front line work of chaplaincies across Europe as well as Christian charities carrying out humanitarian work both in Ukraine and responding to the arrival of refugees in neighbouring countries. Although we appreciate the willingness and generosity many wish to show in the charitable collection of toys, clothes and bedding we would urge you to avoid this approach as it is often inappropriate and not what is most needed on the ground. If you, or someone you know, can speak Ukrainian, Russian, Hungarian, Polish, German, Czech, Romanian or Moldovan then those language skills could be very useful in translation work. That includes through Translators Without Borders who are supporting many refugees in translating and understanding forms and procedures.” Follow the links below to find out more. https://www.dec.org.uk https://ukraine-emergency-appeal.raisely.com/ https://translatorswithoutborders.org/
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
