- St Catherine's Church
- Church Road
- Tranmere
- Wirral
- CH42 0LQ
01516527379
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'Building Work at St Catherine's Church'
If you visit St Catherine’s you will notice that there is a major piece of work currently going on around the church. The current rainwater goods (ie the guttering and rainwater pipes) are being replaced with new cast iron gutters, along with some other associated works such as repointing at gutter level. Work began on February 22nd and will last for approximately 6 weeks. It is being carried out by Heritage Conservation Restoration Ltd.
It is a very necessary project as the Quinquennial Inspection Report in September 2014 highlighted how the existing aluminium rainwater goods are extensively damaged and failing. This will have a negative impact on the church building if repairs are not urgently made.
We are very thankful to the Listed Places of Worship Roof Fund who have awarded St Catherine’s a grant of £45,100 towards this project. We have also put some of our reserves towards this but without the LPOW Roof Fund award this project would not have been possible.
This government-sponsored fund was set up to help make the UK’s listed places of worship weathertight, safe and open for use. It is administered by the National Heritage Memorial Fund on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The programme was set up after the Chancellor of the Exchequer committed £15m of funding in 2014.
Thanks are also due to our church wardens and fabric group and church architect, Mark Pearce, for all their work on this project. It is much appreciated.
James Terry
Vicar, St Catherine’s, Tranmere
St Catherine’s Growth Action
Planning – Towards 2020!
Over the last 5 years Chester Diocese has encouraged parishes towards Growth Action Planning (GAP). The latest round of GAP (GAP4) occurred last year and in September the PCC agreed both a vision for the next 5 years and also some more immediate goals for 2014-15.
5 Year Vision Statement
By the end of 2020, under God, we would like to have grown to a congregation of 100 adults with 30 children. We desire to be a church community that is committed to:
- Building each other up with the word of God
- Caring for each other in the love of God
- Sharing with our parish and beyond the gospel of God (the good news of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ)
GAP4 Goals (2014/15)
The PCC have discerned four specific goals to work at over the next year:
1) Continue and grow discipleship opportunities
2) Keep reaching the younger generation and building links with new families
3) Further develop links and gospel opportunities with the local community
4) Develop our website and use of IT
We hope and pray that these goals are achievable and continue to build on our current mission and ministry.
It has been encouraging that since these goals were first worked on during the summer we now have a this new website. Derek Marshall, our curate, has also become chaplain of YMCA and our children’s work on Sunday has now split into two groups.
We wrote to Bishop Keith, Bishop of Birkenhead, informing him of our goals. In his reply back he described our new look website as “clear and informative” and that “St Catherine’s has some excellent ideas for developing links with the local community”. He ended by writing: “many thanks for all your thoughtful work on growth planning…I look forward to reading about the exciting things happening in St Catherine’s in the coming years”.
Equally, I hope that you will be exciting by hearing of what God is doing at St Catherine’s and can be part of that, perhaps for the first time! We pray that all this will be to God’s glory (see John 15:8, our verse for 2015!)
James Terry
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Below is an article from Richard Haswell who is one of our home group leaders.
Some words on Thessalonians 1
When James suggested last autumn that the house groups take Thessalonians as the theme for their studies, I was sceptical.
Many churches to which I have belonged and in which I have worshipped follow a lectionary which organises the bible readings by seasons so that half the year follows the story of the life of Christ and the other half fills in the rest of the picture. The result is that my knowledge of the bible is very fragmented. All I knew of Thessalonians is that it seemed to contain a list of instructions from Paul and, when set against his statement that we are saved by faith alone and not by the law, seemed, at least a little heavy-handed.
Our particular house group contains no one new to the faith; we have all been walking with the Lord for a long time. I wondered if a letter written to a very new church could be relevant.
But that was before I read straight through the letter. It’s very short; you could probably read it in the time you are waiting to see the doctor.
It’s not just by Paul; at
the very start we see that he has Silas and Timothy with him. Acts tells us
that he arrived in Thessalonica in a hurry from
Anyone who tries to write
simply knows that it is much more difficult than you think. It’s not known who
said, “I’m sorry I wrote such a long letter, I didn’t have time to write a
short one”, but it is perfectly true. The companions’ words flow. They are full
of love.
And all those
instructions: If you are trying to establish a new relationship with God it
makes perfect sense to set yourself apart from your pagan surroundings; nothing
is more damaging to a new community than lack of trust between its members.
This is not Paul being heavy handed but a universal truth that permeates the
scriptures.
So if you haven’t before,
sit down to just over two pages of the bible, easy to miss but a real gem. You
will see so many ideas that Paul later thought out and expanded.
Just before the letter
finishes we get a checklist; how do you measure up?
The answers are either Always, Sometimes or Never
Leaders
1 I have respect for hardworking people, especially my leaders.
2 I show respect publically for all my Pastors and Elders.
3 I openly show my love for and submission to our Pastors and Elders.
4 I have a friendly relationship with our Pastors and Elders.
Brethren
5 I am friendly and comfortable with everyone at St Catherine’s Church.
6 When I see things that are not getting done, I bring it to people’s attention.
7 I am an encouragement to those who are learning or are afraid to share their faith.
8 I willingly volunteer to help those who are weak or are new in the faith.
9 I do not have a “revengeful” attitude.
10 I am known as a kind person.
Me
11 I am always smiling and happy.
12 I am consistent and constant in praying.
13 I express thanks to someone every day.
Worship
14 I enjoy worship and encourage others to participate.
15 I enjoy God’s word and encourage others to share their knowledge with others and me.
16 I refuse to believe everything I hear until I can determine what is truth and error.
17 I can easily determine what is good and what is evil.
This article was reproduced with permission from Owen Greenley
For more information see www.greenleycommentary.wordpress.com