Vicar’s newsletter 20 August 2021
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Church administrator news
In mid September, our administrator Clare Bell is moving on to pastures new. She’s been in the role for 12 months, been a real blessing to us, and we’ll miss her presence enormously.
But her departure creates an opportunity for someone, and it could be you!
If you’d like to know more, download an application form here.
Good Friday – hot cross bun all-age service
Join us for our annual Good Friday “hot cross bun” all-age service as we think about the meaning of Jesus dying on the cross.
Today’s service is lead by Alison Martin. And before you start the video you should know – you’ll be making something – so you might want to have a few ingredients handy (and remember you can also pause the video while you do things!) For this activity you’ll need some round biscuits, icing sugar or jam/syrup/chocolate sauce or even some chocolate to melt. And some little sweets, cake decorations like silver balls, hundreds and thousands to mini-marshmallows – really you can use anything you find. You’ll also need a teaspoon!
If you have difficulties playing the video through our website, or if you’d like to chat back to us, then leave us a comment, via the Hope Church Family Youtube Channel here.
Here’s the video…and remember you can make it “full screen” by clicking the [ ] box in the bottom right corner of the video.
Daily Prayer 24 March 2020
Welcome to Daily Prayer for 24 March, a chance to pray daily throughout the Coronavirus Crisis.
Each day we’ll publish a video lasting 5-10 minutes with some simple liturgy, prayers, and a bible reading, along with a couple of questions for reflection.
We hope this will help you through the coming days and weeks, and if it’s helpful, do pass it on to others.
Do let me have any comments, feedback and suggestions on how to improve it!
Here’s the video…and remember you can make it “full screen” by clicking the [ ] box in the bottom right corner of the video.
Think you can help get us organised?
Administrator – Hope Church Family
14 hours per week, £10 per hour.
The Hope Church Family is a group of Church of England churches working to share the love of Jesus Christ in Upton upon Severn and its surrounding villages.
We’re a complex family of churches, and communications and good governance are vital. Your job is to help us maximise the impact of our team, buildings and resources by helping us with publicity, information flows, enquiries, as well as keeping us legal, safe and accountable;
Detail matters in this role – but you’ll have the wisdom to know which details really matter, to enable others to get on with their work.
Please do not send a CV, as we will only consider applications on our official application form.
Application deadline is Wednesday July 10th 2019. Interviews (probably) Tue 16th July 2019.
A new look to the church office
Decorating isn’t something I normally get excited about, but I’m going to make an exception for last week’s decorating work in the Church Office in Upton Parish Church.
Ever since Upton Parish Church opened in 1879, people have been wondering whether the dull pink plaster that makes the interior so gloomy was really what the architect intended. Other churches by the same architect were painted, often in white, but not Upton Parish Church.
Last year to accommodate our Benefice Administrator Helen, we began transforming the office space established back in 2013. First we replaced the drab carpet, bought some new furniture, and added secondary glazing to the windows. Then we installed an electric radiator, and to help us get the most out of the heating, we fitted a suspended ceiling with new LED lighting.
However, the walls continued to make the room drab. So earlier this year we asked the Diocesan Advisory Committee if we could paint them, and with permission given and a special paint bought, a decorator arrived last week to transform the office. And we think the results are quite remarkable!
Big thanks then to Church Wardens Tim Toman and Roger Davies for helping write the faculty application , as well as handling the arrangements for the decorating process!
If you’d like to see the new, brighter, church office, do call in and see Helen during office hours (9:30am-1pm, Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri).
Next, the PCC wants to begin to transform the side (or “Lady”) chapel. Once again they’ll paint the walls a shade of white, as well as replacing the carpet, lighting, heating and furniture, with the ultimate aim of creating a small contemporary, comfortable and user-friendly worship and meeting space that can accommodate choir rehearsals, prayer meetings, small services and could even be hired out to external groups.
Barry Unwin
3 March 2019
May events update
To see the May’s vicar’s events bulletin, click here.
Music Programme at St Peter and St Paul, Upton, April-July 2017
Music at St Peter and St Paul, April – July 2017
Saturday April 8th 7.30 pm Hanley Voices – A Celebration of 25 Years. Will Todd – Mass in Blue
Friday April 14th 7.30 pm Philomusica present a programme for Good Friday including Bob Chilcott’s ‘Requiem’.
Wednesday April 19th 12.30 pm Organ Recital by Simon Dinsdale, organist at The Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
Saturday May 13th 7.30 pm The Arrow Valley Band are joined by the Church Choir and Jayne Swann (soprano).
Monday May 29th 2.00 pm Upton Choral Festival.
Sunday June 11th 6.00 pm Choral Evensong Upton Church Choir.
Saturday July 1st 7.30 pm Philomusica present a Summer programme.
Tickets are available from Hanley Voices and Philomusica for their events and from members of the Upton Parish Church Choir for The Arrow Valley Band concert.
A date for your diary: Saturday September 30th in St Peter and St Paul – Come and Sing Mozart’s Requiem.
February and March events update
To see the February & March vicar’s events bulletin, click here.
My Greatest Adventure – Bear Grylls
Over the past few years Bear Grylls has become the embodiment of adventure and outdoor survival in the public imagination. A former reservist in the SAS, Bear has climbed Everest, navigated the Northwest Passage and Paramotored over the Himalayas.
Whether it’s from the streets of the Philippines or the sidewalks of New York it’s great to be reminded that everyone’s journey is different, and everyone’s story is unique.
Bear’s is one of millions of different stories of exploration—of asking life’s biggest questions without knowing what will be found. Despite a life characterised by risk, danger and the unknown, it is this exploration that he describes as his ‘greatest adventure’. Watch Bear’s story: