From the Assistant Minister

The Minister heard a knock on the door and went to see who it was. A young teenage girl called Mary Jones stood on the doorstep. She had walked 26 miles to buy a Bible in her own language, Welsh. He sold her three for the price of one! From this encounter, just 4 years later, the organisation we now know as The Bible Society came into existence. Over the 220 years since then about 155 Bible societies have been formed around the World, to provide Bibles and Scripture portions to the nations.

Today is Bible Sunday, the date each year when we rejoice in God’s Word and remember why the Bible matters so much - “... the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Tim 3.15b-17.

50% of the world’s people now have a whole Bible translation, thanks to Bible Society. 5.6bn people have access to Bibles online through the Society’s YouVersion. The Society’s work in making Bible translations in more and more languages points toward another 600m people having access to Scripture in the next 20 years. Wycliffe Bible Translators does similar work and tell us that 1.5 billion people still wait for access to a Bible in their first language.

We worship a God who is real, is alive and is not silent. He is a God who speaks in words. We classically hear from Him as we read the Bible. The Scriptures we find in the Old Testament bear witness to Jesus – we know that because He told us so- John 5.39b. We find in the books that form the New Testament yet more testimony of God’s work for us in and through Christ – so that we can be “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

We hear the thrill of the Gospel message and can find joy as we immerse ourselves in God’s word, by reading and studying our Bibles faithfully and regularly. This is not an old-fashioned habit we can lay aside, it is our engagement with the vital tool for the advancement of God’s Kingdom, for the enrichment of our individual relationship with God and for the spreading of the Gospel of salvation - “For the word of God is alive and active” Heb 4.12.

May you have joyous reading

Godfrey

Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

From the Stewardship Team

Financial Stewardship: Seek the Lord, Serve the Church, Play your Part

Stewardship Sunday provides an opportunity to celebrate all that God is doing in and through our church, and for us all to prayerfully consider how to play our part through financial giving. We give thanks for the faithful financial generosity of many of our church family. We also give thanks for the many and varied activities of our church, and the way they have grown in recent years.

As we look back with thanks, we look ahead with faith, expectant of all that God will do in the year ahead. The big financial headline for 2025 is that to continue and develop all that we do to grow God’s Kingdom in this place, our collective regular giving needs to increase by 10% or £40,000. As part of your Christian discipleship and playing your part, could you increase your giving or be one of 25 new households to join our pledged giving scheme? We would love to reach the milestone of 225 households in 2025.

The Stewardship letter, available in church and electronically https://www.allsaintsecclesall.org.uk/stewardship-sunday-2024 , provides more details on our church finances and how to respond. We are seeking responses no later than the 3rd November to allow PCC to set budgets for 2025 at its meeting in November.

With thanks for your partnership in Christ’s work,

The Stewardship Team (Julia, Roland, and Simon)

From the Vicar

Good Lord deliver us

This is the title of an evening held at All Saints on Wednesday 6th of November at 7:30pm. I am delighted to share in this time with St Gabriel’s leading worship and sharing in ministry time. This event is primarily for our Parish family but we will also be resourcing other churches and Church leaders. I will be giving a talk of about 40 minutes on living a victorious life in Christ with reference to issues of mental health in caring for others and seeking the Lord’s protection in keeping with the prayer all disciples make in the Lord’s prayer, namely “deliver us from evil”.

I will include some input from the Church of England’s latest information on so called deliverance ministry and offer tried and tested methods (based on my own experience) as to how our evangelistic ministry to friends and communities can be enlivened. Amy will be sharing from her work and training as a clinical psychology to give a wider perspective on caring for others. The evening is open to everyone and my hope and prayer is that we will all become more confident of the resources we have in Christ for our own lives and in caring and sharing our faith with others. Do pray for myself, my daughter, those leading worship and offering prayers for the evening.

Yours in Christ’s service

Mark

From the Curate

On Harvest Sunday we celebrate God’s abundant goodness to us in its many and varied forms. Today is an annual reminder of all that God gives to us, and an opportunity to give joyfully out of the generosity that God has shown to us. Our gifts will be going to a variety of local charities including The Oakes, Gold Digger, Roundabout, The Grace Food Bank and The Archer Project.

Across the Scriptures, the term harvest appears 111 times and has a rich meaning. It encompasses God’s faithfulness to his creation, the call to celebrate his goodness, and to give generously. Jesus famously said that ‘the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few’ (Matthew 9.37). This reminds us of God’s purpose to bless all people with his abundant love so that we may live life to the full and be fruitful in his service.

For church family members, today also marks the beginning of our financial stewardship appeal for 2025. In the coming weeks we will celebrate all that God is doing in and through our church, and prayerfully consider how we can continue to play our part through our financial giving. Please check your emails, the Stewardship Sunday page on the church website or collect a Stewardship letter from the welcome area for more details.

With thanks,

Simon Oatridge

From the Operations Manager

As you will now know, I will be leaving All Saints at the end of November (22nd to be precise), I am sure I will include a few words in the notices closer to the time but I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has made my three years here so wonderful.

Getting the opportunity to work for the Church is something I wish everyone could have the chance to do. I have found it to be a safe space to grow and flourish, surrounded by people who genuinely want the best for you and who want to see you succeed. People who aren’t just interested in your output but also what fills you up and are committed to taking care of you as a whole person.

I couldn’t be leaving to do what I am going to do (Estates Operations Manager for Young Lives V Cancer) if it wasn’t for the multitude of lessons I have learnt here so thank you for the opportunities I have had and connections I have made.

I am very much looking forward to the Church Weekend on the 12th and 13th October as a chance for me to spend some time with the many friends I have made during my stint as All Saints Operations Manager, please don’t forget to book for your events, activities and food before Tuesday!

From the Youth Minister

September marks the start of a new year of youth ministry. It has been wonderful restarting Abide, Encounter groups and our schools work. I look forward to the development and new opportunities on the near horizon.

I would love to specifically draw your attention to our monthly youth services. They are the first 6pm service of the month. It's been great to see our young people take an active part in leadership at these services. We would really value your presence there, supporting our emerging generation of leaders, and a chance to worship God all together.

Cam Catto

From the Associate Vicar

In just a month I will be travelling to northern Tanzania to visit the Diocese of Kilimanjaro (7th – 15th October). Some people may know that I spent a year teaching in a university in central Tanzania in 2011 and also visited projects associated with the sponsorship charity ‘Compassion’ in north-east Tanzania in 2019.

The link with our parish and the Diocese of Kilimanjaro has been a successful one for many years and a number of you will have visited already. It was mediated by the Tearfund charity but around a year ago Tearfund said they would be need to restructure and would not be able to mediate the link for us. They encouraged us to continue the link, and this is something we have been keen to do.

The aim of this visit is to establish a meaningful and ongoing relationship with Christians and projects in the diocese. I will spend time at a training conference for reducing poverty in rural areas, meet the Bishop and his staff, worship on a Sunday and many other things yet to be determined! There is a hope that this might lead to members of the congregation visiting in the near future – for those who are might be interested, look out for evening event I will run on my return. Do pray for Roland on his travels, for the people that he will meet and the ongoing relationship that the parish has in Tanzania.

From the Curate

For many of us, September is a time of new beginnings. Children begin a new year at school, our older youth begin university soon. For some, our regular work or social routines return after pausing briefly over the summer. In our church life together, many of our activities begin again: Monday drop in, Thursday Open Door, our range of small groups, and toddlers - to name but a few.

In our 9.15 and 11am services over the next four weeks, we will hear the remarkable Old Testament story of Ruth, whose own new beginnings involved a new country, new family, and new faith. She, like us, would have known the joys and challenges of new beginnings: the sense of uncertainty, anxiety, and excitement. In her own new beginnings, she declares one of the great affirmations of faith in found Scripture: ‘your people will be my people, and your God my God’ (Ruth 1.16).

As the chapters unfold, God’s steadfast love and providential guiding lead to redemption and blessing not only for Ruth, but for the whole world – including us. If you would like to explore more as our sermon series begins, this is a brilliant 7 minute video produced by the Bible Project Book of Ruth Summary | Watch an Overview Video (bibleproject.com)