From the Churchwardens

Here we are, half way through the wonderful season of Advent and hasn’t it been wonderful to see more people back in church?  Even before Advent, we had some wonderful occasions, with baptisms, confirmations, even being joined by the Bishop for one service!  We also had the Memorial Service and a very special Remembrance Sunday’s service, joined by young people from the Scouts and Guides. 

We are looking forward to the Christmas services and to once again filling the church with singing, with joyful children and celebrating this very special time of year. 

We look forward to 2022 when new members of staff will be joining the team, when Mark, our Vicar, will have been with us for a whole year and we can move forward with confidence in our walk with God at All Saints.

Dave, Alison, Richard and Sue

From the Children's Minister

If you have been in our church building in the last week I hope you have enjoyed the beautiful advent banners made by some of our church family children.  The Advent and Christmas season is such a special time and often a very busy one so it is wonderful to take a moment to look at them, to pause and reflect.  

There are plenty of child friendly services to invite people to over the coming weeks, beginning with our Christmas Messy Church this Sunday at 4pm. 

The following Sunday (12th) is our Christingle service at 11am and the week after we have our carol services.  Children are welcome to attend our carol services but, at 4pm, there is also an opportunity to watch a fun film about the true meaning of Christmas instead, whilst parents/carers attend the service in church.  After that will be our fantastic nativity services on Christmas Eve and finally our Christmas Day All Age service.  Do have a think about who you could personally invite to one or all of these and pray for those who will come and may hear Jesus’ personal call for the first time.  

Please also pray for those who attend our Baby group and Toddlers as the children receive a copy of the Christmas story from a special visitor.

For me, there is also the wonderful privilege of leading Clifford All Saints’ carol service on the evening of Wednesday 8th December and jointly leading a Christingle service for the school with St Andrew’s Psalter Lane. I am also thrilled that the Y3 children from Ecclesall Primary are coming to church to record a Christingle service for the rest of the school and their family and friends. 

It truly is a busy but wonderful time of year and that’s without mentioning things like the angels who are starting to appear…. 

Rosie Blackett
Children’s Minister

Christians Against Poverty

On Sunday 5th December we are delighted to have Clare Hague from Christians Against Poverty (CAP) with us at our 9:15am, 11am and 6pm services.

Clare has detailed below the work that she does with CAP.

CAP partners with over 300 churches across the UK to bring freedom from unmanageable debt to the poorest in our communities and to bring hope for the future.  It’s a fantastic charity, CAP has now been running over 25 years and during that time we have seen tens of thousands of people go debt free and lives transformed.  Our services are free and available to all.  As an organisation, we are unashamedly Christian (the clue is in our name and we only work through the church) and we are upfront about that in everything we do and from the moment someone makes an appointment with us.  As part of our service, we offer to pray with people, look to share the love of Jesus with them and invite them to church - we find many people are open and respond positively - and many have found Christ through working with CAP, as well as becoming free from debt.  With CAP there’s ‘Always Hope’ and it’s ‘Always through the Church’.

Here in Sheffield, the CAP debt centre is run out of St Thomas Philadelphia church, but we are a team of 5 debt coaches from different churches across the city (e.g. from Crookes, Hillsborough) supported by further volunteers from the churches who we call ‘befrienders’.  We currently have over 50 clients and bookings up to a couple of months ahead.

As you can imagine, the need for our services is great and has increased massively since the pandemic and we are always looking to grow our team of supporters.  I’d like to ask if you would be willing to get involved as a befriender?  A befriender is someone who ‘becomes a friend’ of one or more of our clients and supports them on their CAP journey.  For example, by coming on appointment visits with a debt coach (when we see people in their homes, we always go in pairs),  regularly phoning a client to make sure they are ok or meeting them for a coffee, lending a listening ear, encouraging them and offering prayer as they go through their challenging journey to becoming debt free, perhaps inviting them to church or a church event, doing an emergency food shop for someone.   It could be for a couple of hours a month or half an hour/an hour a week, whatever you feel would be right for you.  

You won’t be thrown in at the deep end, there is a bit of training.  The most important thing is to have a caring heart, a willingness to help and to share the love of Christ here in our community with those who really need it.

To find out more information about the work that CAP does please watch the below video.

CAP Changing the nation together with the Church

If you would like more information then Clare Hague would love to speak to you after our 9:15am, 11am or 6pm services on Sunday 5th December. If you would like to get in touch with Clare directly please get in touch with the church office and we can put you in touch. For more information about CAP and it’s work you can see here

From the Vicarage

Dear Friends,

I commend the Advent prayer to you and suggest we use this for many who will connect with us during the month of December. Having had some time recently with our various partnerships that are connected to the All Saints family can I commend the prayer for their blessing too.

Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Amen

We pray for:

Whirlow Spirituality Centre that wonderful place of hospitality, welcome and prayer to many from All Saints and further afield.

St Gabriel’s as we give thanks for Alistair, Catherine and the team that went from All Saints – we join them to give thanks for all that God is doing.

Clifford All Saints we are grateful for increasing connections back into our church building and sterling work done by a team to support it through a time of change.

Our partnership in prayer and support extends of course to our mission partners at home and overseas and the Diocese of Sheffield.

May you sense Christ coming to you with light and love during this Advent season.

Mark

The Revd Canon Mark Brown

From the Vicarage

Announcing Advent

Yes it is nearly here! The season of Advent has nearly come and of course we all know what follows a month later! Whilst famous for the four last things (I am currently reimagining these for today  - so watch this space!!) it is also a time of preparation. Here are things we can be expectantly looking forward too and preparing for. This is for you and to share with others around you, for whom the Lord always seeks to come close to and bless.

A walk

We enjoy fellowship again with friends from St Gabriel’s. Alistair will be speaking at All Saints at 6pm and we will enjoy familiar advent tunes and hymns together. Light or torch in hand we will walk to St Gabriel’s for hymns prayers and another sermon from me! Yes a carol service is going on Safari – join in with the joy and pray for the local community as we go!

A read

I have chosen a recently published and popular advent read to unite our thoughts during this season, ‘The Whole Christmas Story: An Advent adventure through Genesis, Revelation, and points in between’ by Jo Swinney. If you would like to order a copy of this book please sign up in Church or contact the Church Office.

A rule

This could be for you if you are interested or even if you feel it really is not for you. God can work through challenges and this is a modest challenge that is being offered to our membership. A rule for life adopted by many across our Diocese and recently shared with us by Hannah Sandoval. The Sunday Service - 11am Morning Worship -07/11/2021 - YouTube.

The workshops will run on both 9th December 2021 and 25th January 2022. To book a place at one of the workshops please click here.

A card

Please use these cards which we have ordered in quantity to distribute to friends, neighbours and acquaintances nearby. We are seeking in traditional ways to mark our Saviour’s birth. Many outside our committed core would like to know when and where they can do that during this soon to arrive festive season. Why not be their postie and pick up a few to share?

if you would like an A4 poster to display in your home please do contact the Church Office.

Wishing you all a blessed start to Advent,

The Revd Canon Mark Brown

From the Vicarage

We remember them

Our thanks to Helen Miszczak, the creative and flowers teams for wonderfully assisting our important season of remembrance. Thank you also to Peggy Fearne for the loan of her interpretative hanging on remembrance. The visual impact of this creative work inspires our prayers and admiration for those who have given so much during times of conflict for our freedom.

We remember them and the discipline of current service personnel. The model they show should inspire our commitment in daily living. May I commend the presentation made last week by Hannah Sandoval available to view here. You are invited with my wholehearted recommendation to follow this process at the one of the Developing A Personal Rule Of Life workshops .

Hannah will be holding two workshops on Thursday 9 December and Tuesday 25 January. The workshops are the same so you only need to attend one. The workshop will include times of teaching, discussion, and personal reflection. If you wish to attend one of these workshops, please book your place here .

Hannah will be leading our first community musical outreach with a Harp Recital in church at which I will be speaking this coming Thursday 18 November. We hope to see you there.

Yours in Christ the one we should always remember

(2 Timothy 1: 8)

Mark

From the Vicarage

Thank you

For your prayers and support for the annual young person’s house party. I am most grateful to Sam Chubb for his magnificent co ordination and support for our time away. Considering the nine leaders had not worked together before and six had not been on the infamous ASE time away a remarkable amount was accomplished. We all came away impressed by the maturity, fun and openness of our young people. A tribute to their parents and carers and the children’s work of our church upon which good youth work is based. Thank you Sam and thank you to those of you who prayed us through the four days.

An opportunity

To re -connect with our spiritual lives by engaging in the process launched today. A personal rule of life. Do follow Hannah’s presentation on our livestream channel and consider whether this might be for you. I shall be formally asking all in a leadership position to be reflecting carefully upon their spiritual lives using this mechanism for spiritual growth.

A digital offering

Over on our YouTube channel and social media outlets for you use as you wish! I am asked how may I safely come back to Church. There is a brief message for you and those you share it with! There is also a collection of brief updates from some of the wider processes we are engaged with as a church family. Do share if you think someone you know might be interested.

We remember them

(The Blessing of the war crosses, Armistice day prayers and Remembrance Sunday)

Do use these straightforward invitation occasions to share with others in your networks. There are three distinct times that might appeal to different people. You will know and the hospitality of the church is once again open to our community during this poignant time. Find out more here

Thank you

To Stella Berry and her team for making Monday mornings at ASE so welcoming – it is really appreciated.

Christmas is coming

The Christmas Market amongst many other offerings will have some “Christmas Music – just for the record” that I will be enjoying and sharing amongst much else that is offered all to support the work of Connected Church in Tanzania. The market will take place on Saturday 27th November, 10:30 - 1pm.

Yours in Christ’s work

Mark

The Revd Canon Mark Brown

A Personal Rule of Life

Dear Friends,

I am writing to invite the All Saints family to a new resource called ‘A personal rule of life’ which will be led by Hannah Sandoval. I am conscious that there are a lot of changes happening with the All Saints staff and whatever is meant by living in a post Covid world, all of which can be de-stabilising.

I am delighted to commend Hannah’s work in our midst in November, with a sermon on Sunday 7th November at our 11am service. There will be a chance to ask any questions after the service. Hannah will also be holding two workshops on Thursday 9th December and Tuesday 25th  January. The workshops are the same so you only need to attend one. The workshop will include times of teaching, discussion, and personal reflection

Developing a personal rule of life can be helpful for our prayer and routine and reflection upon life and its many changes. Whilst it mentions a “rule” the intention is for this framework to be life giving and structured with some teaching and formal encouragement. We will be live streaming Hannah’s presentation so if you are not able to make that service then you will not be disadvantaged. I shall be mentioning this encouraging stream of our ongoing discipleship at our lunchtime concert and service on Thursday 18th November at 12:30pm where we are pleased to enjoy Hannah’s harp music making.

We really hope you are able to join us at any one of the events.

Mark Brown