Sunday, November 5, 2017

Messy Church - Saturday 11 November 2017 at St Hildeburgh's Church in Hoylake


Our next
"MESSY CHURCH"
is on
Saturday 11 November 2017
4.00pm to 6.00pm
at
St Hildeburgh's Parish Church
Stanley Road
Hoylake, Wirral

Worship
Craft
Songs
Games
Make your own “Messy Pud”
A hot meal for all
      … and more!

Our theme this time will be “HOPE
All Ages!
All Welcome!

Please Note:
Children MUST be accompanied by an adult(s)

If you would like to come along, please send an email to (stating number of children & adults):


“God is Doing a New Thing!”

St Hildeburgh's Church Website:


Saturday, September 30, 2017

Rev Paul (Vicar of Hoylake): Thoughts for October 2017

Rev Paul (Vicar of Hoylake)

Thoughts for October 2017


A few weeks ago, I was relaxing on the Queen Elizabeth liner - enjoying a very special holiday to celebrate a very significant birthday (not mine!) While onboard, I was enjoying the luxury of having some time to reflect on my ministry and the progress of our parish here in Hoylake.

Over the last twelve months, we have seen an increasing number of baptisms - and we have been privileged to have a significant number of them taking place as part of our regular Sunday morning service at St Hildeburgh's. I believe this is a huge step forward for us - seeing these little ones baptized into the community of faith - surrounded by the actual community of St. Hildeburgh’s. In the Bible, St. Peter tells us quite clearly in the Book of Acts (chapter 2, verse 38): 
"Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit"
This is important, because these children and their families come not only for baptism, but to be welcomed into the Church. It is therefore very important that all our congregation turn out for every baptism. The light of Christ is passed to each child as they are baptized - and the light of Christ is evident in the congregation as we pray together and welcome these little ones. You can’t afford not to be there! Our life depends on YOU. I am reminded of the words in the Bible from the Gospel according to St. Mark: 
‘When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”’
I know it can be noisy with lots of children in church, but let’s thank God for that. Let’s thank God for their presence among us. Let’s thank our amazing God that we have the freedom to worship him together with new members. The way we welcome these children and their families will reflect on how the Church grows. Each year we must face the passing away of some of the saints of our Church, they having played their part in our story of faith.

As we accept loss, we must also be thankful for their dedicated lives - and look to the future as we honour their contribution. Every generation brings great change and mostly for the good. Keeping hold of the very best of our traditions: The reading of Holy scripture, the singing of hymns and songs - along with the wonderful array of decorations and flowers that adorn the church especially at festivals is important. But if we take our eye off the goal - which is serving God in every generation - we may lose the Church of the future. St. Paul writing to the church in Rome said this: 
“For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.” 
Together, we must seek the common good. We must build up our family - both young and old - and especially, we must be Disciples of Christ, and welcome in ALL who have come through our doors. Again, in the words of St. Paul: 
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Your friend

Rev Paul

Friday, September 29, 2017

Christmas Tree Festival December 2017: Have Your Own Tree!

St Hildeburgh's Parish Church
Stanley Road, Hoylake

Annual Christmas Tree Festival

Friday 8 December to Sunday 10 December 2017

From Friday 8 December to Sunday 10 December 2017, St Hildeburgh's will be holding its eighth annual Christmas Tree Festival

This popular community event includes:

  • Dozens of Christmas trees decorated by local organizations and businesses
  • Live music and entertainment
  • Christmas stalls/market
  • Refreshments
  • ​Appearances by Santa

Full details about this year's festival will be posted nearer the time

How YOUR local organization or business can have its own Christmas tree at this year's Festival:

Local groups and charities can join in by having their own decorated Christmas Tree free of charge. For businesses, we ask for the small donation of ten pounds to have a tree. 
    The Festival attracts hundreds of visitors every year, and is a great way to publicize what your organization or business does. 
    If you are interested in having a tree, or would like further information, use the email address at the bottom of this message.

Arrangements for those who wish to have a Christmas Tree at the Festival:

  • Trees should be 4 to 6 feet in height
  • Please bring a small table to stand your tree on
  • Decorate your tree as you wish
  • ​Please label your tree with the name of your organization/business, and put a small box at its base to collect the votes of Festival visitors  - visitors have THREE votes, with the voting categories being: "Most Elegant", "Most Original" and "Most Fun" tree. There are prizes for each category
  • ​Trees should be put up on Thursday, 7 December, between 12.30 and 7.30pm
  • ​An electrician will be present on Thursday, 7 December, between 4.30pm and 6.30pm - all mains electric Christmas tree lights must be tested for safety (this does not apply to battery operated lights)
  • Please let us know well in advance whether you will be using mains power or battery operated tree lights


How to contact the Festival organizers:

If you would like to have a tree at this year's Festival, or would like any further information, please send an email (with a contact telephone number and details of your organization) to:

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Lifeboat Service September 2017 at St Hildeburgh's Parish Church Hoylake

Annual Lifeboat Service

Sunday, 17 September 2017
at
St Hildeburgh's Parish Church Hoylake

At 11.00am on Sunday, 17 September 2017, the annual Lifeboat Service was held at St Hildeburgh's Parish Church, Hoylake in Wirral.

This service is an opportunity for the whole community to give thanks for the hard work and dedication of Hoylake and West Kirby's Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboats' crew, support staff and volunteers. 

The service was well attended and we were delighted to have the Mayor of Wirral - Councillor Ann McLachlan - with us in the congregation.

The service was led by Rev Paul Rossiter, Vicar of Hoylake and chaplain to our local lifeboats. The preacher was Rev Karl Williams.

The service was followed by a hog roast for all the lifeboat crew, support staff and volunteers in the garden of Hoylake Vicarage (next to St Hildeburgh's Church on Stanley Road), accompanied by live music.

Thanks go to the Vicar (Rev Paul) and Rev Gillian Rossiter (Vicar of St John the Baptist, Meols), for their generous hospitality at the Vicarage.




















Saturday, July 8, 2017

Messy Church Picnic - Saturday 15 July 2017

Join us in Hoylake for a
MESSY CHURCH
PICNIC
on
SATURDAY
15 JULY 2017
at
St. Hildeburgh's Parish Church
Stanley Road
Hoylake
4.00pm to 6.00pm
The theme will be
"All Creatures, Great and Small"
All Welcome!
No Charge!
Please email number of adults & children to:


Sunday, June 25, 2017

Holy Trinity School Hoylake - Celebration Service on Sunday 9 July 2017

Celebration Service
for
HOLY TRINITY PRIMARY SCHOOL HOYLAKE
at
10.00am
on
SUNDAY
9 July 2017
at
St Hildeburgh's Parish Church
Stanley Road
Hoylake



All are welcome at  
St Hildeburgh's Parish Church 
(Stanley Road, Hoylake)
for a
 special celebration service 
for our church school of
 Holy Trinity Primary School 
at
 10.00am 
on
 Sunday 9 July 2017

We will all join together and give thanks for the recent successful inspection that took place at the school and the hard work of all at Holy Trinity School that made this success possible


Saturday, May 13, 2017

Don't miss our "Arty" fundraiser - Saturday, 3 June 2017 at St Hildeburgh's in Hoylake



OUR COFFEE MORNING IS GOING ARTY!


Saturday
3 June 2017
St Hildeburgh's Church Centre
Stanley Road, Hoylake

10.30am to 12noon

St Hildeburgh’s Church Guild, Hoylake, is going arty this year. Children from our church’s Mums & Tots group and from Hoylake’s Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School will brighten the scene by putting their paintings on show. Adult members of the art classes held at our Church Centre will also be displaying paintings, with some for sale.

This fun-and-friendly coffee morning, at our Church Centre (behind St Hildeburgh’s Church, Stanley Road, Hoylake) on Saturday, June 3, from 10.30am-12noon, will feature:
  • homemade cakes
  • jams and preserves
  • toiletries and gifts
  • table decorations
  • plants
  • face-painting for children (of any age!)
... and many other attractions!

Admission, on the door, will cost £2, to include unlimited tea, coffee and biscuits. Accompanied kids go free.

The event is run by St Hildeburgh's Guild to raise money for the church’s stunning floral displays at Easter, Harvest and Christmas.

The guild welcomes good-quality donations for the various stalls. Please ...
  • bake cakes
  • make jams and preserves
  • give new, unwanted presents
  • liberate treas­ures (not junk!) from your attic
  • donate high-class prizes for the raffle
Please put donations in the box at the back of church and bring cakes to the Church Centre from 7pm on Friday, June 2, or before 10am on the Saturday. Then come along on the day, enjoy yourself and spend a little cash!

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Rev Paul, Vicar of Hoylake: Report to the Annual Parish Meeting, 2017



It's been another busy year for us at St Hildeburgh's Parish Church in Hoylake - and it's my privilege to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped in any way and I include those who are less able physically these days but have supported us with their prayers.


This has been Paul Irvine’s last year as Churchwarden and I know you will all join me in thanking him for helping us through the last several years. His knowledge of the Parish has been invaluable and he has also been a support to Nancy as she took up the role of Churchwarden. Nancy continues as Churchwarden joined this year by Jane Langley - who has agreed to join the team.

Nancy has worked hard over the last year doing much more than we should expect of a warden, not least in her cleaning of the church, organizing the Tuesday community bacon butties and bringing all her creativity to enrich the church. I know that she will also ensure Jane is guided in her new role as a Churchwarden.

We are blessed with our ministry team and I would like to pay tribute to Ruth Calcott who, despite illness, soldiered on until her surgery. We wish her a full recovery but for now she must take it slowly and have time to get well again.  Jill and Mel have kept us on track and have worked tirelessly in all kinds of ways.  We have welcomed Chris Hegg to the team and we continue to be thankful for Peter Ham’s ministry as we look forward to his licensing later this year.

Our Parochial Church Council (PCC) led by Nigel Hall, Mel White and the Churchwardens have done a sterling job again this year and together we have achieved much: new heating, sorting out the roof repairs, and the day-to-day running of the church.

Our income continues to be supported by fees from weddings and funerals which seem to increase every year - which keep me busy! Of course, the main source of our income is from our planned giving scheme - which is vital to our ongoing  ministry. My thanks go to Mel White (Church Treasurer) and George Dafnis (Planned Giving Custodian) for all their hard work. Sadly, we have lost many members of the scheme through bereavement this year and this has had an impact on our finances - so in the coming year, we will be thinking about some sort of planned giving initiative.

There has been much to celebrate this year: Another very successful Christmas tree festival, a strengthening of our links with the local Air Training Corp (ATC) as I was made their official chaplain; continued links with our church school (Hoylake Holy Trinity Primary) and the Hoylake & West Kirby RNLI lifeboats. 

Through joint working with our sister Anglican Church, St. John's Meols, we share the annual lent lunches held at St Hildeburgh's this year, lent groups and the bereavement group and again my thanks to Nancy for providing the puddings!


Our ecumenical/inter-church links are important, so it was good to attend the induction of Rev Peter Sharpe, the new minister at St Andrews United Reformed Church, Meols. I look forward to sharing events with him in the future.

This year we also welcomed the Rev Karl Williams to work between the parishes of Hoylake and Meols, as we are entrusted with his training. Hopefully, many of us will go to support him as he is 'priested' at Chester Cathedral in June - followed on the Sunday by a party in the vicarage garden.

Our 'Messy Church', led by Peter Ham and Jane Langley, is flourishing and links into our regular family service - which is doing well, as we encourage families to join us at less formal services.

Thanks go to Rob and the choir for leading us in all our worship.

Looking outward, we have now established links with the Congo and one particular parish in the diocese or Aru. We support them by our prayers and I look forward for what future opportunities might bring us as we establish our relationship with them.

There have been five communions held in the community: Four in Holy Trinity School and one in a local bar - all successful, and I hope attracted local interest as we join in with and bring the church closer to our community

A big thank you also goes to Peter Surridge and his team who have kept the grounds looking so good and more recently Alex who has volunteered to mow the lawns. We continue to be thankful to our Ladies Guild, who look after the flowers, brass and so many other things.

Our Church Centre continues to assist our income, and Liz Ardus does a great job looking after it.

Val Howell ensures that our baptism families are visited and prepared.

In all, we have had a good year and we thank God for his many blessings. I am reminded of these words from the Bible's Book of Isaiah (chapter 41, verse 10): 

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”


Your friend, 

Rev Paul