Please visit our Home page for our latest news about Services.
(FIND OUR LATEST ACTIVITY SHEET HERE TOO)
The theme is wonder and inspiration.
Join our online worship and access more resources
Keep in touch - we will continue to produce our weekly bulletin (an abridged, hard copy version of this page) available by ‘joining our mailing list’ from the link in the header above.
Please tell others about this!
May God bless you and keep you and your loved ones in His peace,
David.
Revd David Robinson, Vicar of St. Matthew’s Church, Chapel Allerton
0113 2683072 revdavidrobinson@talktalk.net
SUPPORTING GOOD MENTAL HEALTH
a booklet produced by the Church of England. You can read thirteen daily reflections written by Professor Chris Cook and accompanied by "have a go" habits developed by Ruth Rice.
The effects of mental health problems are huge. Nearly nine out of ten people with mental health problems have been affected by stigma and discrimination. Given the challenging times we are living in with coronavirus, the reflections in this booklet were updated and new resources written in March 2020. They seek to provide hope, reassurance and comfort. If you want to speak to someone, please visit the Mental Health Foundation website, which has lots of helpful resources and contacts. Visit www.mentalhealth.org.uk
PLANNED GIVING
If you would like to contribute to the upkeep of our beautiful building and make it a place for worship, meetings, drama and music. Please help by making a regular payment to our scheme this is to help with our charitable giving and payment of the various bills we have to pay to keep this building in good working order, for all that seek to find God and also help our local community and those less fortunate.
Please use the attached form by clicking the donate button this will take you to our donation form which you can then fill in. And if you are a UK tax payer please consider gift aiding your contribution this will not affect your pocket, but the Tax Man will give us .25p for every £1.00 you give us. Thank you in advance and remember click donate.
OUR WEBSITE IS STILL DEVELOPING -
This is our (fairly) new and evolving website. Thanks to Fred Rowland for setting this up. The content is still being edited and any comments welcome to Fred or David Keighley.
PLEASE LET US KNOW
if you are aware of anyone from Church who is poorly, or become housebound or in need of some support, and especially those in hospital, and if you yourselves are going to hospital, so that the Pastoral Visiting Team can arrange for someone to visit. Please contact any of the staff team.
InterACT WINTER SUPPORT NEEDED
Could you help with any of these roles as we enter the Autumn and Winter season?
Contact Ness: vanessa@interact.uk.net 07961 535 767
Welfare Calls
One-off phone calls or doorstep visits, signposting on or passing back to the team if you uncover ongoing support needs.
Telephone Befriending
Regular and more structured phone calls, aiming to build a longer term support network.
Parcel and gift deliveries
Pick up and delivery of food parcels. These will be short distance journeys, but you will definitely need a car and be OK with a bit of lifting. We hope also to have some gifts (warm blankets, travel mugs) to deliver over the winter period and would love a team of people to help with this.
Food Voucher Distribution
Depending on the situation, the Council use supermarket vouchers to support people who are finding things difficult in the current climate. We need someone to help distribute these vouchers to those who are referred to us. This is a computer based role and needs a small amount of computer literacy.
FOOD FOR InterACT
Please can you help. We are currently in need of: Sugar, Long life juice, Dilute juice, Jam, Puddings (esp if they can be microwaved), Custard, Tinned fruit, Tinned stewed steak and other tinned meat, Part baked bread, Crisps, Cake / bun mix / pastry / sweet treats, Toilet rolls, Washing powder / liquid, small jars coffee, long life milk, instant mash, size 6 nappies/ pull ups. Thank you.
Please take to Stainbeck Church rear entrance (Car Park) and press the buzzer.
Mondays 9.30 - 10.30am
Wednesdays 1 - 2pm
Fridays 5 - 6pm
Also on Wednesdays 9.30 - 10.30am - Holy Trinity Community Hall
Memorial Drive, LS6 4LF. (Please use the main door, which is the one facing the Church).
Thank you Visit InterACT website
WORK BEGINS IN CHURCH
The internal walls will be re-furbished, with old paper and plaster removed and a new porous plaster added and then painted. This work will take about 12 weeks to complete. During this time we will not be able to hold services in Church. We will be holding regular Zoom Services - Details on the Home page.
There will also be work done on the outside of the Church.
LENT GROUPS
This year we will once again be joining with Chapel Allerton Methodists for our Lent Groups. Because of the pandemic the sessions will be held on the internet. The title of the five sessions will be "Christian Faith Patterns" developed by Rev Mark Stennett. There will be both afternoon and evening sessions and you can join whichever is most convenient. They are:
(1) 7.30pm on Mondays starting on 22nd February for five weeks Join Zoom here
(ID: 882 8066 5988 Passcode: 451997)
(2) 2pm on Tuesdays starting on 23rd February for five weeks Join Zoom here
(ID: 817 7428 0138 Passcode: 148818)
THRIVE AGM
It’d be great to have you join us for our AGM when we will be:
1. Sharing stories of the work of the project
2. Hearing from young people
3. Looking ahead as we develop our work locally
Gather with us on Thursday 25th February at 7.30pm on Zoom
Meeting ID: 953 5800 4801 Passcode: 236833
HOME SCHOOLING (from Libby Kennedy)
If you, or anyone you know needs advice on home schooling primary school aged children, please get in touch. I can offer assessments, catch-up lessons, materials to work from, teaching tips for parents or just a chat for reassurance and ideas. Please contact Libby Kennedy.
CHURCH DIARIES 2021
Because of the disruption with COVID last year we have only just received Church Diaries for this year. I know most people will already have other diaries, but if you do want one please let me know and I will try to deliver in the next couple of weeks – David on 0113 2683072
CHILDREN'S SOCIETY (from Jenny Smith)
I have been St. Matthew’s Honorary Local representative since August 2004 and feel ready to retire from this role. The box collections were suspended by the Children’s Society in March 2020, but it is my intention to empty any collection boxes still held by members of St. Matthew’s Church and then to step down. The box collections have raised over £1000 annually and the Christingle Service raises about £800. This has been a considerable portion of the charitable giving from our generous Church members. I hope to find my replacement.
If anyone would like to know what is involved with this role and is interested in taking my place please contact me: Jenny Smith
TWO TRUSTEES NEEDED FOR InterACT AND THRIVE
There will shortly be a vacancy for both positions. Both organisations do superb work within the community, have strong leadership teams and continue to be creative and innovative. Both organisations also have strong trustee teams.
Thrive Leeds is a partnership between four local churches which exists to work alongside
children and young people in the local area. We work with 0-18 year olds and their families, and love to give space for them to gather together, find support and friendship, feel valued and think through faith and things that are important to them. Have a look at our latest newsletter here.
InterACT
We believe communities are important: they give us belonging, human contact and shape our identity. And we believe that we all have something to learn from one another. Getting to know one another is a pretty important part of community, so when we began as a project around 15 years ago, we were all about meeting other people - mainly through creative arts activities. Since then, we've expanded what we do a little, reflecting the needs and passions of our local area. However, the vision remains to bring people together from across the various neighbourhoods that make up and connect to Meanwood, so that we all have opportunity to share in what it offers, what we can learn from one another, and what we can give. As a partnership of 5 local churches, we seek spiritual wellbeing and fullness of life for all. And because we work alongside other agencies in the area, we are able to signpost people to other services where needed. Our Official Vision Statement:
Hearing Christ’s call to unity and recognising that we are stronger together than we are apart, the Partnership seeks to:
Work together to demonstrate God's love in word and actions
Serve and witness in Meanwood and beyond.
Work with other agencies in reaching out to our local communities.
Please contact me, David, for further details, 0113 268 3072 or by email.
PARISH PEN PALS - Stay Connected
As Winter is still here and Covid restrictions are still in place, we are mindful that keeping connected is all the more important. So if you find yourself with some spare time, would you like to become a Parish Pen Pal - Young and not so young are welcome to join.
Pens and pencils may be used to write a letter or draw a picture... use your talents and imagination! If you would like to be involved please contact Sue Sanderson and we will connect you.
RHYTHM OF LIFE
Inspired by the work of religious communities, the initiative offers an opportunity for Christians to re-align and keep Christ at the centre of our daily lives. Speaking in support of the new discipleship venture, The Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds said, “During the Covid 19 crisis, we’ve had to adjust to very different rhythms of life. As Christians, we believe Jesus should be at the heart of our rhythms of life, whatever our circumstances. This will have a far-reaching impact on our own wellbeing and the good of others – on our loving, living and learning. I would like to invite you to join the diocesan ‘Rhythm of Life’ venture. This
will involve individual commitments, accessing resources and mutual support. Some key areas will be praying, encouraging, sharing, reflecting, celebrating, resting and creating. My prayer is that by taking these steps, we will experience more fully the ‘rhythms of grace’ promised by Jesus to all those who follow him.”
To get started, everyone is encouraged to read the quick start guide and invitation leaflet.
The Rhythm of Life DLP page includes further details and lots of suggested resources.
SUDAN EMERGENCY APPEAL
People in the Diocese of Leeds have raised some £70,000 for the Church in Sudan, through an emergency relief Appeal. The appeal came against a backdrop of the worst monsoon seasonal floods in fifty years, political upheaval, economic collapse and the COVID-19 pandemic, all putting huge pressure on the people of Sudan. Reports from the five dioceses in Sudan say that the first set of funding provided help for over 750 families, including the disabled, widows, orphans and refugees. The money has also provided for people in refugee camps to get blankets and plastic sheeting to form shelters from the rain. Basic medicines such as aspirin and paracetamol have also been purchased and shared. The main agency of distribution has been the Mothers’ Union in the country, whose members last year took part in training about planning relief and development projects, and now have been putting those skills to good use. See link:. Please click here for more information and how to give
FROM DARKNESS INTO LIGHT
We want to share the light with all our community.
Our beautiful building already provides:
- Night Shelter for destitute asylum seekers.
- Performance space for youth musical theatre.
- Community Cafe.
- Bookable Meeting Room and Kitchen for local groups.
- Classical concerts with opportunities for amateur participation.
- Welcome for our local schools
as well as a place of Worship and Prayer.
When we can open up again, we would love to have enough light for all of this, but our current lighting system is quickly fading. Please consider making a donation if you can.
THRIVE LEEDS From Hannah, Helen and the trustees.
Thank you for partnering with Thrive Leeds to love and serve children, young people and families locally - it is wonderful to do this together as four churches, so thank you for being one of them!
Please visit our website where you will find a recent newsletter, which tells the story of the year so far. It has been our first year as Thrive Leeds - after 14 years as Chapel Allerton Youth Project - and it has been quite a year for all of us! Please have a read and see what we are up to together as churches locally.
It includes some things to pray for: For children, young people and families as they navigate their way, with all that there has been to mark, celebrate and grieve. For wisdom as we make decisions about how we gather and spend time together again, and that we would hear God’s voice. For those young people who have a transition to make and had a disrupted end to primary or secondary school, or sixth form.
And a particular need, which we'd love to see met so we can keep growing the WOW group: two leaders to help with WOW, as we’re welcoming a large group up from Totally Tuesday. The group are aged 12-15 and meet from 7:30-9pm on a Wednesday night, spending time hanging out and being part of a small group. No prep required, unless you’d like to – just turn up and get involved. Please get in touch if you’re interested in this.
Thank you for your support financially, prayerfully, with time and encouragement - we appreciate you.
From Hannah, Helen and the trustees
EXCITING NEWS of BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
We have been awarded a grant of £65,000 from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund. This is to enable us to complete the re-plastering and decoration of the internal walls, to replace the North Aisle gutter and to re-point areas of the external walls where there is imminent danger of water penetration.
This is great news, and we are very thankful to our architect Richard Crooks for submitting the application for us. Over the past ten years (and more) we have been working hard, as finances have allowed, to make our building ‘Fit for Purpose’, especially to stop the damage being caused by water penetration. This grant will enable us to complete much of this work. However we do have to find 20% of the cost and as most of you know we have very limited reserves, and our income this year has been reduced significantly due to COVID.
The PCC has had a robust discussion and decided unanimously that this is an opportunity that is not likely to be repeated and therefore we should go ahead with this work. This will mean using most of our reserves. We have decided that we must keep £10,000 contingency for emergency repairs etc. We also need some £18,000 to pay out for VAT, which can later be reclaimed. So we need your immediate help. We need to obtain a total of £18,000 in loans from the congregation before we can accept the grant, which we must do in the next 10 days. The good news (again) is that we already have £8,000 of this pledged from PCC members. Please contact John Greenwood if you can help.
The work will be done through January-end of March next year.
FABRIC COMMITTEE
As we begin to return into our wonderful Church building, we are very grateful for those who keep the building maintained. Every five years our architect produces a report on the condition of the fabric and there is a list of jobs that need doing, now or in the next few years. We need to plan to do these jobs. At the moment Fred Rowland and Colin Powell (thank you Colin) are doing this by themselves. We need others to join them. Please have a word with me or Fred. Let’s keep our wonderful building in good order now and for the future. David Robinson.
ROGER QUICK "Entertaining Saints"
Some of us remember that Revd. Roger Quick was curate of St. Matthew’s from 1996-2000. Since 2013 he has been Chaplain to St George’s Crypt, the homeless charity in Leeds which St. Matthew’s has supported for many years. Roger has now written a book about life in the Crypt, called Entertaining Saints. He describes every day as being a mixture of laughter and tears. The new Archbishop of York has written the foreword, in which he describes Roger’s book as “Vivid and engaging”. Due to be published in September, pre-publication copies can now be bought on Amazon. Please follow the link. The illustrations are by the Leeds-based artist Si Smith.
FINANCE MATTERS
We give thanks that we have received a legacy of some £12,000. This has enabled us to pay for the repairs to our central heating boiler, our organ blower motor and essential roof repairs. However we have still fallen short of the income we require to pay our full commitment to the Diocese, called Parish Share. We have made every effort in the last three years to do so but this year we will be short. This underlines our need to increase our regular giving. Thank you for all those who responded to our ‘Seeds for Growth’ stewardship. We need to continue to build up our regular giving and if you can help, please do so. Further information from Martin Smith (Head of Finance), John Greenwood (Treasurer) or David Robinson
DAILY HOPE
The Church of England has launched a free national phone line as a simple new way to bring worship and prayer into people’s homes. ‘Daily Hope’ offers music, prayers and reflections as well as full worship services at the end of a telephone line. The line – which is available 24 hours a day on 0800 804 8044.
FOODBANK
has a Collection Point at the Co-op in Chapel Allerton. It is a large blue plastic wheeled basket by the exit doors. Please can you leave an item or two from the following list. MILK (UHT OR POWDERED), LONG LIFE FRUIT JUICE, TINNED SOUP, PASTA SAUCES, TINNED-SPONGE PUDDINGS, TOMATOES & VEGETABLES, RICE PUDDING, CEREALS, TEA BAGS/INSTANT COFFEE, INSTANT MASHED AND TINNED POTATOES, TINNED: MEAT/FISH, FRUIT, SPAGHETTI.JAM, BISCUITS, SNACK BARS, CLEANING PRODUCTS, SOAP AND TOILET ROLLS.
Financial donations can be made by visiting https://leedsnorthandwest.foodbank.org.uk
PAFRAS
We continue to support Asylum Seekers through our gifts of food for PAFRAS – thank you for your donations of food.
IBY KNILL
If you would like to order Iby's book ‘The Woman with Nine Lives’ or her first book, now in it's tenth reprint, 'The Woman Without a Number', please search for Iby's publisher's website.
STRUGGLING WITH DEBT?
Free debt counselling for everyone from an award winning charity. This service has recently expanded to cover our area, with sponsorship from Chapel A Baptist Church. If you know anyone who would benefit from this expert service, please ask them to call free on 0800 328 0006.
EVENTS
If you would like to hear about upcoming social events at St. Matthew's (including Loose Women and Men on the Loose), please send your contact details to eventsatStMatthews@yahoo.com to be put on the mailing list. Thanks, Tina.
To submit a notice, please contact the Vicar, David Robinson
(St. Matthew's Church is not responsible for content of external websites)