Category: Occasions

It was very special to visit Craster this morning to preach and preside. They have the most beautiful East windows given by Amy Craster in memory of her Father John Craster who died in 1895. They feature Faith , Hope and Charity and are a copy of part of Sir Joshua Reynolds’ design for the Chapel at New College,Oxford. Do go and have a look!……..& the congregation are beautiful too!
It was a treat to go to All Saints’ Church, Rennington for the first time too! What a stunning Easter garden set into this window sill (& the biscuits were gorgeous too!)
Did you know there are 42 days until Pentecost and 21 Chapters in my favourite Gospel-John’s Gospel??So I set the challenge to both congregations to read half a chapter a day between now and then!

“But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:31

I am visiting again soon so will find out if they did it!!!

The Vicar of St Michael’s Church, Alnwick, the Rev’d Paul Scott, has been made an Honorary Canon of St Nicholas’ Cathedral in Newcastle at an evening service on Sunday, 13^th March.

The title of Honorary Canon is given as a recognition of dedicated service in the diocese. Paul has been Vicar of Alnwick since 2012 and last year was made the local Area Dean. Following three years as Curate of North Shields he was then Vicar of St Mark’s, Shiremoor for nine years before coming to Alnwick. Born a little further up the coast in Cresswell, Paul is thought to be the first Northumbrian Vicar of Alnwick for over 200 years.

The ceremony, in St. Nicholas’ Cathedral, was presided over by the Bishop of Newcastle, the Right Reverend Christine Hardman and the installation carried out by the Dean of Newcastle, the Very Reverend Christopher Dalliston.

During his sermon, the Assistant Bishop of Newcastle, Right Rev’d Frank White said, “We are here to honour you for your service to God and our neighbours. It is appropriate that you receive this recognition in a time of prayer and worship, and we hope that this will be a springboard to greater things in the future.”

The Rev’d Canon Paul Scott said, “I was both humbled and honoured by the invitation to become an Honorary Canon of St. Nicholas’ Cathedral.  I have many happy associations with the Cathedral – not least as the place where I was ordained Deacon and Priest and where Jane and I were married.  I look forward to doing what I can to support the witness and ministry of the Cathedral and to promote its life, and the many exciting activities that happen there, in this part of Northumberland.”

A group from St Michael’s Church and other well-wishers from Alnwick also travelled to Newcastle to witness the ceremony alongside former parishioners from North Shields and Shiremoor.

Photos courtesy of the Diocese of Newcastle.

Article in the Northumberland Gazette

St Michael’s Church will be an explosion of flowers this year from Thursday 6th to Sunday 9th August for our Flower Festival. We have 44 sponsored arrangements around the church and unique items for sale.

Among the flowers you will find craft demonstrations with opportunities to take home a unique gift from our stalls.  Look out for the pop up photography studio and have your photo taken with a special floral theme.  A café serving freshly home baked cakes and scones will be running from Thursday to Saturday so you can sit and enjoy a break among the arrangements.

There will be different musicians performing during the Festival including acts from Alnwick International Music Festival on Thursday to Saturday and a group of Mediaeval Singers on Sunday.  All this and 3 children’s competitions for ages 4 – 12, entry forms available during the festival.

We shall also see a return of our popular Preview Evening on Wednesday 5th August with entertainment by Avril Huntly as well as wine and nibbles. Tickets are £5 and available from Michelle Duff, or contact the Office.

Opening Times

• 7pm – 9.30pm Wednesday 5th August (Preview Evening)
• 11am – 4pm Thursday 6th – Saturday 8th August
• 1pm – 5pm Sunday 9th August

Slideshow

Some pictures of flower arrangements from previous years.

On September 6th 2014 our Vicar, the Rev’d Paul Scott, was married to the Rev’d Jane Wood, Vicar of St Peter’s, Monkseaton, in Newcastle Cathedral by Bishop Martin.

More information and photos on the Diocesan website.

From the Curate

The Vicar has been a little pre-occupied last month…with his honeymoon! The Curate has sneaked into his slot to tell you about the Service of Thanksgiving for the Gracious Love of God with Farewell to Bishop Martin, on Sunday 21^st September 2014.

The service opened with one of Bishop Martin’s (and our Vicar’s) favourite hymns, ‘There’s a wideness in God’s mercy’, sung by a packed Cathedral. We also sang one of my favourites, ‘O Thou who camest from above’. The choir anthems sounded truly heavenly and I am pretty sure I heard a bit of Rutter that I last heard only two weeks ago in the Cathedral at the Vicar’s wedding. It was a joy to see Mr and Mrs Scott in attendance at their first diocesan event as a married couple! These things alone would have made it special for me but, as Bishop Martin has been my only Bishop, he sponsored my training and I was in the last cohort to be priested by him, it was a very moving occasion for me personally.

The esteem in which both Bishop Martin and Marlene are held became clear when gifts and speeches were given from various parts of the Diocese. They included a book of memories, a Newcastle United signed and framed shirt, a miner’s lamp from Ellington, which the Bishop had requested himself and a letter from Bishop Methle of Botswana. Following his ‘Thank You’, in which he paid tribute to the clergy of this Diocese, our Lord Bishop of 17 years (the 11^th and longest serving Bishop of Newcastle) received a standing ovation, just as he had at the clergy conference earlier in the year. I saw the tears of many which were also a tribute to this Christ-like man who lived out, (and probably invented) the Diocese’s strap-line of being ‘generous, engaged and open’. As he gave a final blessing from the High Altar, I thought how well the words reflected himself.

“Go forth into the world in peace.
be of good courage;
hold fast that which is good:
render to no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak;
help the afflicted; honour everyone;
love and serve the Lord…”

The Bishop was noticeably moved at times, and none more so than when he spoke about the ‘amazing, unconditional generosity and grace of God’ which precedes and leads us to repentance. ‘The church is a school for sinners not a museum for saints’, he announced in his farewell sermon. He described how he was brought up, as many of us were, to expect to have to earn God’s acceptance. ‘We turn it upside-down because it makes no worldly sense… We are prepared for a God who drives a hard bargain, not one who gives a day’s wages for an hour’s work.’ He spoke of the danger of a Christianity that defines itself by a set of rules to keep people out. Like the Father in the story of the Prodigal Son, God’s arms ‘…are always outstretched, waiting for us to come home’. It is not that God doesn’t care about wrong-doing, but he knows that only his love can change it. ‘God’s love enables us to be transformed…Our motivation for discipleship is not fear but love’. God’s grace and ‘sheer generosity’ means that ‘we have no choice but to respond in kind’. This means therefore that ‘no-one in our parishes can be beyond our concern’. Reminding us that the Good News must be good news and not simply good advice, he encouraged us to ‘proclaim that Good News magnificently for God’. He closed with the words of Archbishop Anthony Bloom, ‘Go now, on all ways and on all roads, …go with joy… because God is joy, he is life, he is intensity.’

I know that Paul, our Vicar, holds Bishop Martin in the highest esteem and it will be a difficult task for him and the rest of the Vacancy in See Committee to find his successor. It will probably be 2016 before that is announced and so we are especially grateful for Assistant Bishop Frank. We pray for him and our Archdeacons as they oversee and guide our diocese in the meantime.

As for me, I am glad that my family and I are now full-time residents of this lovely town and I look forward to bumping into you on the streets… Though hopefully not literally as I am still learning to ride my bike around town!

Julia Myles

St Michael’s runs a number of courses and groups throughout the year. Details of current groups are below.

Back to Basics

16th & 23rd October, 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th November

What do Christians believe? We come to church week by week, but rarely have an opportunity to consider the basic tenets of our faith. Beginning on Thursday evenings in mid-October and through November, Julia hopes to host a series of sessions in her new home which will look at some of these basic questions. Why not consider coming along. More details to follow – but put the dates in your diary now.

Living Theology North East

October 2014 – June 2015

Living Theology North East (LTNE) is a Lindisfarne RTP study course for Christian disciples. It will be held at St James’ URC Church in Alnwick on Monday evenings from October to June.

Who is it for?

• Any Christian people who wish to learn with others on the Christian journey in a reflective, relaxed way
• All who wish to reflect on God’s purpose for their lives
• Those who can commit to a course from October to June

Are you:

• ready to ask searching questions about faith?
• seeking to discern what discipleship means to you and your church?
• keen to apply your faith in the workplace and in every aspect of your daily life?
• eager to explore collaboratively with other Christian disciples?
• willing to travel to Alnwick?

LTNE enables participants to:

• Consider the place of the Church in the world
• Examine ways in which Christians can live the life of faith and share that life in mission
• Lay the foundations for further study in theology and ministry

For more information, including how to book a place, please visit the Lindisfarne RTP website.

 

19th October

This year’s Harvest Appeal is in aid of WaterAid. During the first half of September we picked up a free bottle of water from church, and have been filling them with our spare money. The bottles will be collected on the 19th October at our Harvest Festival service, and they will be sent to WaterAid.

Information about WaterAid

WaterAid was founded in 1981 in response to the UN’s Decade of Drinking Water and Sanitation (1981-1991.) Money was initially raised from members of the UK water industry. In the decades since, WaterAid has raised money from the public and industry across the world, and has funded projects and advocacy for many different countries.

They write that:

Between 2009 and 2015 our ambition is that a further 25 million people will have access to safe water, improved hygiene and sanitation as a direct result of our work; and that by influencing the policies and practices of governments and service providers we will have reached a further 100 million people.

Some Statistics

• 748 million people in the world do not have access to safe water. This is roughly one in ten of the world’s population.
• In 2013/14 WaterAid reached 1.9 million people with safe water and 2.9 million people with sanitation.
• Lack of water, sanitation and hygiene costs Sub-Saharan African countries more in lost GDP than the entire continent gets in development aid.
• Since 2004, WaterAid has reached 18 million people with sanitation.
• Diarrhoea is the third biggest killer of children under five years old in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Hygiene promotion is the most cost effective health intervention according to the World Bank.
• Hand-washing could reduce the risk of diarrhoea by nearly 50%.
• Just £15 can enable one person to access a lasting supply of safe water, improved hygiene and sanitation

Please consider supporting WaterAid through St Michael’s Harvest Appeal. Alternatively, you can find out more about WaterAid and how to support them on their website: wateraid.org

 

Sunday, 29th June 2014

Our Curate, Julia was ordained Priest at St Nicholas’ Cathedral, Newcastle and presided at the Eucharist for the first time at the 6pm Sung Eucharist at St Michael’s.  Many members of St Michael’s as well as other churches and the wider community attended this special occasion, and enjoyed refreshments afterwards. Following the service Julia was presented with gifts from St Michael’s and from the children of the church.

View photos on the Diocesan Flickr feed

This article was originally published on 12th June 2012 by the Northumberland Gazette: Visit the Gazette Website. Reprinted with permission.

For nearly 20 years, Paul Scott worked with money – but these days he’s putting prophets before profits as the new vicar of a parish church.

The 55-year-old was welcomed to Alnwick last Tuesday with a special service for his induction at St Michael’s, attended by Martin Wharton, Bishop of Newcastle.

Before his calling to the cloth, the 55-year-old served at the heart of local government as an accountant in the borough treasury of North Tyneside Council, before moving on to the NHS, where he was chief accountant for the Northern Regional Health Authority.

“Being an accountant was a way of getting some experience of the world,” said Paul, who is originally from Cresswell and attended King Edward VI Grammar School in Morpeth. “But I always knew that being a churchman was what I should be doing.

“Most of the priests who inspired me where people who had answered their calling and been ordained in mid-life, so it seemed right for me to do the same.”

After leaving the health service, Paul trained for ordination in the Church of England and spent three years as a curate at North Shields. He was then appointed vicar of Shiremoor, which he ministered for eight years, before the opportunity to move north arrived.

“The previous vicar at St Michael’s retired last summer and I heard the Bishop was looking for somebody new to put in place,” said Paul. “After what seemed like quite a protracted process, I ended up being asked to come here.

“Growing up in Cresswell, on the Northumberland coast, it seems like a homecoming.”

Paul moved into the vicarage near St Michael’s and is now settling into parish life. But there are some key differences to his old stamping ground, he says.

“I’ve just had my first Sunday service in Alnwick and it’s apparent just how much of a tourist attraction the town is,” he said.

“Living in my last parish, tourists and visitors were rarely seen and it was very much of a stable community.

“In Alnwick, I’ve already met people attending church who are visiting from other parts of the UK, such as Somerset and Cambridge, as well as some from America and Croatia. It’s made things very interesting.

“My first job here is to establish myself as vicar of St Michael’s and I think people will see a fair bit of me in the community.”

Paul also joins the governors of St Michael’s Church of England First School.

This article was originally published on 12th June 2012 by the Northumberland Gazette: Visit the Gazette Website. Reprinted with permission.