Notices

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HELP and ASSISTANCE REQUIRED
Can you spare some time? Like to get more involved?
Click HERE for a list of current requirements

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RECORDING SERMONS - From Sun 3rd Feb
Sermons will now be recorded onto CD to make them available to more people.
The recordings will be left on the book library table for people to borrow.
Please return as soon as possible - so that others may also benefit.

ELECTORAL ROLE
Before this years Annual Parochial Church Meeting, we need to revise the Electoral Role. If you are not enrolled and would like to be,
Click HERE for further information.
Closing date for submission of forms is the 30th March.

SUNSHINE CAFE - every Tue 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Please drop in for lunch at the Sunshine Cafe at SWCC any Tuesday.
Two course meal for £1.50 to £2.50 - lots of choice!
Bring a friend or neighbour or someone who is lonely - they will make a good friend to chat with over lunch.
NO need to book!

A NEW DAY-TIME SMALL GROUP Mondays
A new small group is forming - meeting Monday mornings (probably), especially for people with young children or those wanting to join a group during the day.
For more details, please contact Emma Willert via the Church Office.

BIBLES FOR INDIA Sun 13th Apr until 11th May
Operation Mobilisation are collecting used Bibles for distrbution n India.
If you have any you would like to donate, please bring to the church centre and leave them at the collection point in the foyer.

SUPPORT OUR SOLDIERS
Do please pick up a card from the basket by the SOS box in the foyer and write a quick note of support for a soldier. Encourage them, wish them a safe return home, let them know we are praying for them and that they are not forgotten!
A HUGE THANKS to those who have contributed so many items for care parcels to the serving troops in Irag and Afghanistan.
More information from Amanda Hilll

DINNERS FOR EIGHT Sign Up by Sun 20th Apr
It's new and it looks good!
Three nights out for the price of none! Sign Up sheets are available in the foyer now.
If you sign your name on the sheet, its because you like the thought of spending one evening a month, for three months (early May, June & July) in the company of seven others for dinner.
Everyone who signs up by the cut-off date wll be allocated to a group and contacted by the 'host' for the first evening and asked to bring either a starter, a main course or a dessert. Each month the groups will be changed - so over the three months you will have had the chance to meet with a good number of new people. There wll be two possible evenings for each week - indicate on the Sign Up form which one you would prefer, or tick both and be prepared for a surprise!
For further details - contact John Sharples

MANCHESTER NEW WINE NETWORK Thu 8th May 10:30am-1:00pm
Meeting will be held at St James' Church, Hollincross Lane, Glossop SK13 8JQ
Worship will be lead by Andy Perry and the speaker will be Phil Rawlings.
Full details are on the Noticeboard in the Foyer.

SOAPBOX SPRING FETE Mon 5th May 11:00am-3.00pm
A fun day for all the family. Traditional stalls, games and food!
To help fund Soapbox trips to Uganda, South Africa and the Phillippines.

MEN'S PRAYER BREAKFAST Sat 10th May 8:00am-9.00am
All men connected to St Mary's and Sale West are warmly invited to the prayer breakfast in the church centre.
It will be very informal and a chance to get to know each other a little further.
Avtar Diggwa - a member of the group - will be drawing our thoughts together for 5 mins or so during the event.
We'll finish promptly at 9am
Sign up sheet in the church foyer.

SALE METHODIST SINGERS PRESENT all start at 7:30pm
A Tapistry of Song
In aid of Methodist Homes for the Aged and the RNIB.
Sat 10th May - Trinity Methodist Church
Sat 17th May - Avenue Methodist Church
Fri 23rd May - Carrington Lane Methodist Church
Tickets are £5 - available from Dave Kellor

SWCC CHILDREN'S HOUSEPARTY @ QUINTA Fri 16th May to Sun 18th May
Put these dates in your new diary for the 08 Houseparty.
Watch this space for more details soon!

TEENAGERS! WHAT EVERY PARENT HAS TO KNOW Wed 4th Jun - 7:30pm
At New Century House, Corporation Street, Manchester.
This is a Care for the Family Seminar, led by Rob Parsons - best selling family relationships author.
Attendance fee £7.50 includes a copy of the book.
If booked through the church, there may be a price deduction - but please let us know by 18th May at the latest if you would like to go.
More details from Stephanie Grimshaw or the Church Office.

CONFIRMATION/RENEWAL OF VOWS Sun 8th Jun - 11:000am
Bishop Geoff Turner will be conducting confirmations, adult baptisms and renewal of baptism and confirmation vows.
An wonderful opportunity to affirm your faith.
Please speak to Steve if you are interested in any of the forementioned.

CHURCH HOUSE PARTY WEEKEND @ QUINTA - Fri 20th Jun - Sun 22nd Jun
This year's houseparty will again be held at Quinta Christian Conference Centre at Oswestry.
We will worship together, learn together, relax together and have some fun.
This year's theme is The Inner Compass - Using Ignatian Spirituality to help us discover and deepen our faith.
Booking forms now available from the Church Centre Foyer.
Book Early and get a discount! Click HERE for further information.

NEW WINE 2008 - 26 Jul to 2 Aug - Newark
Many of you will have heard the wonderful feedback from last year's New Wine Conference.
Please book the dates for New Wine 2008 in your diaries and let Steve or Gerry know as soon as possible that you want to come.
Bookings will be made centrally from StMM from mid October, which can afford us a group discount.
Reserve the dates in your diaries! We don't want anyone missing out!

BOOK OF TESTIMONIES
Would you like to tell the story of how you became a Christian or of how God has touched your life for the next Testimonies book?
Several more stories needed as soon as possible please.
E-mail to Graham Hume at testimonies@hotmail.co.uk

PASTORAL CARE VISITING SCHEME
A team of trained church members is available to offer continued contact and support to those members of our congregation who are ill, short or long term, at home or in hospital, or housebound because of infirmity or age, and so can't get to church.
If you would like someone to visit you or if you know of someone else who might appreciate being visited - please contact the Church Centre.
Click HERE for more information.

SHRINKING THE FOOTPRINT
The Church of England has over 16,000 churches, many of which are far removed from the sustainable standards used in today’s building industry. Even churches built in recent years often lack insulation, lighting & heating facilities now available to ensure maximum efficiency providing minimum costs, maintenance & waste. Saving energy in church buildings is going to be a challenge but it can & needs to be done. Shrinking the Footprint is the Church of England’s national campaign to enable the Church’s members & institutions to address - in faith, practice, & mission - the issue of climate change.
It will comprise a growing series of initiatives & partnerships developing at the national level but aimed at supporting individuals, parishes and dioceses wanting to respond to this challenge locally.
Measuring our Footprint - the Church of England’s National Energy Audit, seeks to fulfil the General Synod motion to encourage all dioceses & parishes to reduce their consumption by a measurable amount. We at STMM have taken part in this exercise, undertaking a mini-audit of energy used in 2005, which was repeated in 2007 so as to identify any reductions in energy used.
A report of OUR footprint can be read by clicking HERE
More information can be found at www.shrinkingthefootprint.cofe.anglican.org or contact our coordinator David Shimmings.

LUNCH FELLOWSHIP - Mondays at 12:30pm
Lunch Fellowship still has a few vacant chairs for Men and Women.
Don't be on your own.
Do join us for lunch every Monday in the Church Center.
More information from Barbara Shimmings

BABES and TOTS
The B+T Group meet every Tuesday afternoon (finishing in time for school pick ups).

OVER 18 AND UNFIT? every Thursday evening in the Centre
Come and join us for Badminton & Table Tennis - No previous experience required!
For more information contact Gladwin Duckworth

5-A-SIDE FOOTBALL - Every Sat - 4pm-5pm
Every Sat afternoon from 4-5pm for the over 16's at Ashton on Mersey School.
Just turn up or phone Jon Sharples for details.

SMALL GROUP WITH TODDLERS
This group is aimed to support those parents who would like to be involved in a small group but find it difficult to get out in the evening because of young children (or for those without children if you don't mind a group with little ones in it!). We meet in the Music Room each Thurs (term time) from 9.30am-11.00am. ALSO Have you any sit and ride toys you could donate - Little Fishes could also use them. Contact Emma Handley.

VISION Sermons & Meetings - Sep/Nov 07
During September, Steve addressed the subject of Vision and Mission in a short sermon series.
There was also a series of church meetings held at St Mary's to look at how we can better be a missional church for our times.
Each Sermon and Meeting was recorded and made available through this web site.
FOLLOW UP
There were two more All Church Meetings at which it was discussed as to how we can implement the proposed new service patterns:
These final meetings have been recorded and added to the previous list as Meeting 4.
Click HERE to gain access to ALL the recordings.

MAGAZINE and ‘THE BUILDING OF FAITH’
The 'Building of Faith’ was the title given to our major project between 1992-1996 – ‘reordering our buildings to meet our needs’. This included a change to the furniture and layout of the inside of the church building and the building of the Church Centre. The cost was well over £700,000 (paid for almost entirely by us – the Church Family). The prayer life of the church and our faith was stretched to its limit as we faced many challenges together.

HEARING LOOP
The church is fitted with a loop system for those people who wear hearing aids. If you are one of these please let the person on the sound desk know if the loop was good or bad during the service so that we can look into improving the provision if necessary or contact Mike Arnold.

NOTICE SHEET
If you wish to put a notice in the weekly notice sheet please hand it into the office by no later than the Tuesday morning before the following Sunday. Alternatively you can e-mail it to the office (stmmaom@uk2.net). It would be helpful if you could specify the date you want it to start from and for how many consecutive weeks you wish it to run for. Thank you.

MAGAZINE ARTICLES
Any articles for the Magazine can now be sent via email to (stmarysmag@uk2.net)
If you are submitting a photo or a graphic to accompany your article please send it as a separate (attached) JPG or GIF file.
Next deadline is Monday 7th April for the May magazine.
Also note that it is Monday 5th May for the June issue.

ALL CONTACTs & INFORMATION
may be effected direct or though the Church Office.
Click HERE if you wish to use the internet email facility.