During this penitential season of Lent we have Stations of the Cross every other week on a Friday at 12.30pm. Below is the full list of services from March to Easter Sunday. You are more than welcome to join us.
Sunday 1st March 10.30am Second Sunday of Lent – St David’s Day – Sung Mass Sunday 8th March 10.30am Third Sunday of Lent – Sung Mass Friday 13th March 12.30pm Stations of the Cross Sunday 15th March Fourth Sunday of Lent – MOTHERING SUNDAY- Sung Mass Sunday 22nd March 10.30am Fifth Sunday of Lent – Sung Mass Friday 27th March 12.30pm Stations of the Cross Sunday 29th March 10.30AM PALM SUNDAY – Sung Mass Thursday 2nd April MAUNDY THURSDAY – 7.30pm Mass with footwashing followed by Watch & Meditation until 9.30pm Friday 3rd April GOOD FRIDAY – 1pm Stations of the Cross 2pm Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion Sunday 5th April EASTER SUNDAY – 10.30am Sung Mass
Luke 22:20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Take a break from the hustle and bustle in Stockport Town Centre and join us for an informal Carol Service followed by festive refreshments in the community cafe area. The church will remain open for private prayer, reflection and candle lighting for an hour after the service so you can take time out to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. 1pm Service Open until 3pm Best wishes for a happy and healthy Christmas from all at St Peter’s!
St Peter’s will be open from 10am – 1pm for a 1940s themed tea party, and take part in the national two-minutes silence at 12noon at our war memorial.
Enjoy tea, coffee or cold drinks and cakes in our cafe area with 1940s music and traditional games.
Share memories of days gone by at our new ‘memories chat’ table with old pictures/books etc to spark conversations with new friends.
Read the harrowing stories of church members who never returned from the horrific Japanese prisoner of war camps, and whose names are forever remembered on our war memorial.
Take time out for quiet reflection/prayer or light a candle in the peaceful, traditional church.
Apart from a worthy date to remember, we hope the event will act as a successful pilot with a view to reopening our cafe area on a permanent basis. Volunteers wuld be most welcome to help us to achieve this and provide a cheap & cheerful space for people to socialise and take time out for prayer/reflection.
With the end of Lent and the celebration of our Risen Lord fast approaching, here are our Easter service times for you to make a note of and hopefully come and join us – all are welcome!
Palm Sunday 13th April 10.30am service with distribution of Palm Crosses
Maundy Thusday 17th April 7.30pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper with footwashing and Watch until 9.30pm
Good Friday 18th April 1.00pm Stations of the Cross, 2.00pm Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion
Easter Sunday 20th April 10.30am service with Easter Ceremonies
Luke 22:20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Psalm 33:20-22 We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.
During Lent Stations of the Cross will take place on 28th March and 11th April at 12.30pm
A reading and prayer is said at each of the stations around the church, with a different theme each session. It is a deep spiritual and contemplative experience during this time of Lent. All are welcome to join us.
We join with the nation, and indeed, the world, in mourning the loss our beloved Queen Elizabeth II, head of the Church of England, and diginified inspirational monarch. Stockport MBC have chosen St. Peter’s Square as the site of a Memorial Garden for people to lay flowers in remembrance of Her Majesty, so we at St. Peter’s Church will ensure the church is open as often as possible for those visiting to pause and light a candle, say a prayer, or find a moment of peace. There will also be light refreshments available, and the toilets of course.
The opening hours are planned as follows from Mon 12th September:
Mon, Tues, Weds and Fri , Sat 12 noon – 1.30pm and 5pm – 6.30pm
Thursday 15th Sept 5pm – 6.30pm
We will now also open on Sunday at 7.45pm as the nation comes together in a minute of silence at 8pm.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Everyone is very welcome to join our Holy Week Services as follows:
Sunday 10th April 10.30am
Blessing of Palms and Sung Mass. Reading of St. Luke Passion Gospel
Maundy Thursday 14th April
7.30pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper and Watch before the Blessed Sacrament
Good Friday 15th April
1pm Stations of the Cross
2pm Liturgy of the Day – Reading of St John Passion Gospel and Veneration of the Cross
Easter Day 17th April
10.30am Blessing of Paschal Candle, Sung Mass and Renewal of Baptismal Promises.
Allleluia! Christ is Risen!
We are still using the side door (opposite Cobden) instead of the main tower doors, and have hand sanitizer available on entry. Service books are placed on the pews, and current service sheet is available on the table near the door . If you are unable to get to church please see the lockdown Easter service which you can go through at home http://stpetersstockport.org.uk/uncategorized/an-easter-service-for-use-at-home/
During this latest lockdown we are still open for private prayer on Tuesdays and Fridays from 12pm to 1.30pm. Light a candle and take some peaceful time out.
The toilets are also open.
John 1:5 – The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray between Ascension Day (21 May) and Pentecost (31 May) for more people to come to know Jesus.
Praying for people to come to know the love, hope and peace found in Christ is at the heart of Thy Kingdom Come.
Daily Prayer for Thy Kingdom Come is a great way to set up regular, daily patterns of prayer to hold these people in prayer – whether you are doing so on your own, as a household, or joining with a small group or as a church virtually.
The resource is available in a range of offline and free online formats:
The booklet – in full-colour and complete with services, psalms and readings – is available now from Church House Publishing for just £1.99 with Free UK Delivery when you order online (with bulk discounts on 10s and 50s).
The free app for iOS and Android – containing audio for Morning, Evening, Day and Night Prayer from the booklet for all 11 days. The app has been updated with 2020 Sunday psalms and readings and a new feature that allows you to set reminders for any or all the services at times that suit you.
A podcast featuring all eight hours of the Daily Prayer for Thy Kingdom Come audio is also launching soon.
Smart speaker – from Thursday 21 May (Ascension Day), you can also get Alexa and Google Home to ‘Ask the Church of England for today’s Thy Kingdom Come’ to hear a short service of Prayer During the Day (before 7pm) and Night Prayer (after 7pm) throughout the 11 days.
Watch a special Thy Kingdom Come Pentecost Service with the Archbishop of Canterbury and a range of other contributors from 9am on Sunday 31st May here.
More new resources from Thy Kingdom Come
Due to the current Coronavirus pandemic, Thy Kingdom Come is going to look slightly different this year.
The Rt Revd Mark Tanner has been named by Downing Street as the next Bishop of Chester, succeeding the Rt Revd Dr Peter Forster who retired in September 2019. Bishop Mark is currently the Bishop of Berwick in the Diocese of Newcastle.
“It will be hard to say goodbye to the North East,” he says, “however, Lindsay and I are really excited to return to Chester where I was ordained, and both of our children were born.”
We warmly welcome Bishop Mark and wish him and his family a happy and fulfilling time here with us in Chester.
Life may not be as it was, and everyone’s experience of this ‘new normal’ will be very different, but it is important to remember that whilst God is with us we are never truly alone. With thoughts turning to how we will manage life after lockdown, the theme of Hope features prominently in this post’s notices.
Big Picnic For Hope – Lockdown V E Day Celebrations
The Big Picnic for Hope is an opportunity for your household to be part of a virtual get together, to help honour heroes past and present. If you are alone or pat of a busy household, everyone can take part by having their own V E Day picnic indoors or on your balcony/garden. Original Wartime recipes you may want to try can be found here. See the dedicated website for more information – http://bigpicnicforhope.com/
V E Day Celebrations – Stockport War MemorialRecapture the spirit of hope from these Stopfordians on VE Day
Free Daily Hope PhoneLine
Daily Hope offers music, prayers and reflections as well as full worship services from the Church of England at the end of a telephone line.
The line – which is available 24 hours a day on 0800 804 8044 – has been set up particularly with those unable to join online church services during the period of restrictions in mind.
“With many in our country on lockdown, it’s important that we support those who are feeling lonely and isolated, whatever age they are.”
A section called Hymn Line offers callers a small selection of hymns, updated daily. An option entitled ‘Hymns We Love’, provides a hymn and reflection and is based on an initiative by the Connections group.
If you know anywhere that you can display one of the posters for this free phone line, please download, print and display.
Latest news from Bishop Keith
Dear Friends
As the global impact of the pandemic worsens whatever good news that comes from some sense that the strategy in the UK is working, we are now into the next phase of wondering if any relaxation of the lockdown is possible without putting still more people at risk.
That will present us with new challenges, especially if there is any possibility of our church buildings being opened again even for limited use any time soon.
A question of concern for me this week, is how we are going to be sustained, especially as I know a number of clergy are already exhausted, and there is clear anxiety around many people in our communities of the risks attached to any relaxation.
Do listen to Archdeacon Mike’s video on the Good Shepherd and what he says about Psalm 23 and rest.
In this letter, I would like us to think about rest and “sabbath”, the weekly moment for rest and renewal in order for work to be sustained in the other 6 days.
You might ask: “How in such a time as this, do you actually rest?”
Maybe you are surprised that in this time of so-called enforced rest, many are experiencing exhaustion! If you work from home, when do you stop working? If your work is actually running the home, including supervising the homeschooling of children, when do you actually rest? As one week of lockdown goes into another, we can forget what day of the week it is, and one day can be very much like any other!
But you might also be asking “rest”? How can you not rest if you cannot go out, visit, go to your place of work, or do anything that previously you would have been free to do? “I’m fed up with rest, give me back my work”. If that is you, I pray you will find “work” which will balance the enforced rest, and lead to a renewed fulfillment that will alleviate some of the frustration.
In the readings this week in Morning Prayer one was Exodus 20, the chapter of the Bible which includes the 10 commandments, including the 4th commandment about the sabbath day which is all about rest (assuming you are working the other six days, see Exodus 20: 8-11).
And this means for now a key part of what God designed for a good life to be enjoyed as a weekly rhythm of grace has virtually disappeared.
In Exodus, the 4th commandment stands there as a pivot, the very sabbath enabling us to look at our relationship with God and to check whether in our lives there are other Gods before him, any kind of idolatry or abuse of his name AND to check out our relationship with others, our parents, our spouse, our neighbours and see if there is any hatred, lying, stealing, or coveting going on.
The sabbath as originally given was like a weekly health check, not in a gym, but in the presence of God, and not in isolation but together.
So, how in this time, with this lockdown, do we have sabbath? How do we establish boundaries where there are no boundaries? And if you think “Well, chance would be a fine thing?”, maybe you are working all the hours in hospital or in a care home, or in an essential service, getting food to the supermarket, how can you experience any kind of rhythm of grace, which enables you to keep going, and get real good rest?
I think the answer to the question may be found in the asking of it.
What I mean is, if we realise that God intends our lives to have a balance of rest and work and ask him how we are to find that balance now, even in the asking we give God the space to answer.
And if that answer cannot include meeting in our special place of worship, then can we let him show us how those boundaries and spaces can be created in our own homes?
Maybe allowing a meeting around a table to include a space for prayer and hearing the Bible; maybe resolving to have one day or part of a day when the computer or the phone will be switched off; maybe if we are on our own agreeing with just one or two with whom we can relax to pray on a call together; maybe extending the walk to follow Jesus words about looking at the birds and the flowers.
Isaiah spoke about remembering God’s promise “Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt, you shall raise up the foundations of many generations: you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorerof streets to live in” (Is 58:12). A great text if we are anywhere near coming out of lockdown. The key to receiving this promise is in the next verse:
“If you call the sabbath a delight …. Then you shall take delight in the Lord and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth” (Is 58:13,14)
There are simple things we can do. We can pray at 8.00pm on a Sunday night and light a candle in the window. We can go outside at 8.00pm each Thursday to say thank you to those in the NHS, I have found this simple act to be such a blessing to me!
The lockdown may be relaxed it may not. We do not know for how long this will go on. We will continue to pray for the world and the leaders of the world. We will remember that whatever we are enduring, our brothers and sisters in places where there is no NHS, no work, no self- isolation are suffering and also need us to keep going.
In whatever way our work is continuing and with whatever new work we are being asked to engage, may we find ways to experience on our own and together rhythms of grace which allow the Lord to give us rest and be restored so that however we work, we can, in his promise, be those who rebuild and restore.
With love in Christ
+Keith
Archdeacon Mike Gilbertson has produced a short reflection on John and Psalm 23, reminding us of God’s presence in these times and the truth that underlines the Christian faith….
Archdeacon Mike Gilbertson reflects on John & psalm 23
A Closing Prayer
We’ll conclude this post with a beautiful prayer which speaks of hope in the light of God:
