Eco tip
Manchester Diocese is running an Ecology and Creation course as part of the General Lay Training Pathway. Anyone can apply, the deadline for applications is the 6th April. More details on the Diocesan website.
Living Hope in Lent
Our Lent course this year is just two evenings: Thursdays 3rd and 10th April, starting at 7.30pm each time and lasting approximately one hour. Reverends Rodney and Debra will host the sessions, and the subject is “Living Hope”. The hope God offers to us all is real and alive. The sessions will focus on short Bible readings, reflections, discussion, prayers and singing.
The hope God offers to us all is of a future where all things are healed and made new. So come along and join on our journey together. Each session is a standalone evening – don’t worry if you can’t make both sessions.
Farewell … and get Messy!
Sunday 6th April is a busy day. At 10.30am Rev. Nick Watson, our Area Dean, will be preaching and presiding for the last time before he and Joanna move to Lichfield, where he is to be an archdeacon. Do come along to wish him well. Then at 2.30pm it is Messy Church: there will be crafts, light refreshments and the Easter Story. Bring along your friends and family – it is always a fun event, and all free!
Holy Week at St John’s
Sunday 13th April (Palm Sunday): Our morning service will be at 10.30am as usual; we will bless the palms and remember Jesus’ journey into Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week.
Thursday 17th April, (Maundy Thursday): We mark the day with a Holy Communion service in the side chapel at 10.30am.
Friday 18th April (Good Friday): We unite with Christians from Flixton Fellowship and St Michael’s Church in a Walk of Witness, starting at 1pm from St John’s, and going to St Michael’s, via The Ark in Ambleside Road, witnessing to the Christian message for the people of Flixton. You can come for all or part of the walk.
Friday 18th April (Good Friday): At 7pm, “It Happened on the Cross”: a meditation with music and reflection, presented by members of St John’s Church and Flixton Fellowship. Join us for an hour on this very special evening to remember.
Sunday 20th April (Easter Sunday): Our celebration service is at 10.30am, with an Easter egg hunt for the young people. It’s the holiest of days – do invite people along to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour.
The church annual meeting
On Sunday 27th April, after the morning service, there will be the Annual Parishioners’ Meeting, followed by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM). This is when we receive our Financial Statement for 2024, with reports on the work of the church during the past year, and also elect our churchwardens and PCC (Parochial Church Council) members for the forthcoming year. There are special forms for the nomination of PCC members and churchwardens – please use one if you would like to make a nomination, and remember you need to ask your nominee if they are willing to stand and also find a seconder. Please also pray for this very important meeting.
The last main PCC meeting before the APCM is on Tuesday 8th April, and all reports for the APCM should be with Angela Easdon, our PCC secretary, at least a week before that.
On Saturday 12th April the Electoral Roll for the APCM closes. If you wish to be included on the Roll, and so able to vote at the APCM, please complete a form as soon as possible.
Thank you!
A big thank you to everyone who delivered leaflets to all of the houses in our parish before Easter. The leaflets went out inside 10 days, which is a truly remarkable achievement (and lots of people got their “steps” quota in for the week!).
Please note . . .
Our Tuesday tea, coffee and chat times continue on the first Tuesday of every month. Come along and bring others to this free social event.
Thursday Holy Communion services are to be held at St. John’s at 10.30am on 3rd and 17th April and on 1st May, and at St Michael’s Flixton at 10.15am on 10th and 24th April.
Everyone is invited to the opening of the New Cornerstone Centre at the Nag’s Head circle on Saturday 3rd May. From 10am to 2pm people can drop in and look around, and at 1pm the Chair of the North West Methodist Church and the Mayor of Trafford will conduct the official opening ceremony.
Our house groups re-start on Thursday 8th May, both the evening groups and the afternoon group in church. Anyone can join.
FACEBOOK PAGE
St. John’s in Flixton has a Facebook page – search St. John’s Flixton for regular Facebook updates on events and activities taking place in church. Please “like” the page and encourage neighbours, family and friends to do the same to help us grow our followers.
Licensing of Rev Debra Blair as Incumbent of St John's
The Rev Debra Blair was licensed as the Incumbent of St John's Flixton on Sunday 23rd October 2022, in a service at St John's led by the Bishop of Middleton, the Rt. Rev. Mark Davies, and the Archdeacon of Manchester, the Ven. Karen Lund. Guests were welcomed from both our parish and the wider church in our area for this special celebration of a new phase of ministry.
Join the JC Squad!
'The J C Squad' is the new name for our Sunday School, and it runs at 10.30am during morning service. Children rejoin their parents in church at the end of the main service and often share with the whole congregation something of what they've been doing that day.
The Annual Parochial Church Meeting 2024 was held on Sunday 16th April. The Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2023 are available here. The Churchwardens' Report is available here. The Deanery Synod Report is available here.