Don’t we get any money from the Church of England?
All ministry at St Michael’s is resourced by us.
We have amazing buildings, don’t we have lots of money?
The short answer is no. We still have daily running costs on our buildings, and we have loans which still need to be repaid.
Why is there a gap in our finances?
Expenditure is always tightly monitored. But there is a gap in our finances, because only 50% of those who worship here give financially to the Church.
Come and join us for a Mum’s Christmas Craft Evening with a two course supper on Monday 29 November at St Michael’s Centre, North Road, Stoke Gifford, BS34 8PD from 7.30 to 9.30 pm.
Tickets are £4 and include supper and all craft materials.
On Saturday 16 March, the Eco Group is holding a Clothes Swap from 10am – 12pm in the Lower Hall in St Michael’s Centre.
What is a Clothes Swap?
It is described as “where people gather to exchange clothing that they no longer wear. This helps in responsibly rehoming clothes that no longer have value to you but could be just the right thing for someone else’s wardrobe. In a world thriving on overproduction of clothes, a clothes swap is a way to extend the lifetime of the clothing we already own, and making our wardrobes more economic”.
For this event, please bring men’s, women’s or child’s (age 5 and above) clothes, shoes or accessories that are of good quality, clean, dry, and wearable (no underwear please) to swap and update your wardrobe! When you bring some clothes, you will be given a token to “buy” items that other people have brought along!
Donations for WaterAid as part of World Water Day.
Are you new to St Michael’s, or joined us within the last 6 months or so? If so, please join us for a Welcome Lunch at 12.30pm on Sunday 28 January in St Michael’s Centre It’s a great chance for us to get to know one another over a meal, and to find out a bit more about what goes on at St Michael’s.
Why not join us for a date night to invest in your marriage? Whether you have been married less than a year or more than 60 years (or any time in between), whether you have a good relationship or are struggling, this is a great opportunity to take stock of what is going well and identify areas that you’d like to improve.
David and Sarah Abell, the founders of The Relationships Academy, will be sharing about the importance of building and maintaining a strong connection. They’ll be looking at what can impact connection and how to identify and rebuild it when we experience conflict, stress or misunderstandings.
You’ll discover:
What strengthens connection for both of you How you react when hurt or stressed How you impact each other when disconnected How to repair and rebuild your connection How to develop a resilient relationship
David and Sarah Abell are the founders of The Relationships Academy and have developed a model of couple to couple Christian therapeutic coaching. They met on a Christian counselling course but in the distant past, David worked as a dentist and Sarah was a BBC TV reporter. Sarah has also helped to develop The Marriage Course and The Marriage Preparation Course, was the Agony Aunt for the Daily Telegraph and a columnist for Psychologies magazine and is the author of “Inside Out – How to have authentic relationships with everyone in your life.”
David and Sarah live in Bristol and have been working together, helping couples, since 2016. They have been married for 19 years and have one slightly cheeky teenage son and a very cheeky teenage (in dog years) Cavapoo.
St Michael’s Centre is delighted to be hosting this Bristol Diocese event on Saturday 20 January
Bristol Diocese say:
At Growing Faith. Together, we aim to create an informal and welcoming environment where individuals from all parts of our diocese can come together to explore and deepen their faith. Whether you are a long-time believer, in church leadership or just starting your spiritual journey, this event is for you! If you can come with others from your parish team you will be able to get even more from learning and reflecting together.
Throughout the day, there will be engaging speakers, thought-provoking discussions, and inspiring worship sessions.
Keynote Speaker: Christopher Jamison – Former Abbot of Worth Abbey; reluctant star of the BBC2 series, The Monastery; Director of Vocations for England and Wales from 2010-2017 will speak on spiritual patterns for everyday life and lead a workshop on learning from Benedictine rhythms.
Workshops and short talks throughout the day will enable us to hear from the experience of others across the whole diocese who are seeking to help people grow in their discipleship and to help their churches flourish including:
Holy Habits
Renewing culture and building hope
Sabbath rest
New resources for encouraging growth in faith
Growing faith with young people
Developing patterns of life that fit with our temperament and personality
and more to be announced
You will have the opportunity to connect, think and pray with others who are longing to grow in faith and see our churches thrive, share your experiences, and learn from one another.
St Michael’s has a vision to be a Christian heart at the centre of our communities. And we live to make that difference through learning and growing together, sharing Jesus together, and serving together. This gift day supports our resources and our building projects.
What have we done since last year’s gift day?
At our Gift day last year we gave away 10% of all that we raised to our Mission Partners. We invested £90,000 to complete the tiered seating in the auditorium, and reduced our loans by £238,000.
At a recent prayer meeting, someone shared a little thought, saying “God is not finished with us yet”. It’s true isn’t it that we do now have a beautiful community building, but we are still called to build a community.
What will donations achieve this year?
We have 4 main aims this year:
1: To significantly reduce our loans on the church centre. A £150,000 loan repayment will help to reduce loans to £481,000, compared to the £2 million in 2015.
2: Honour our commitment to the church refurbishment.
3: Fit solar panels to the roof of the church centre, making us more eco-friendly, and enhance the decor and audio-visual capabilities in the auditorium.
4: Give away £75,000 to our mission partners, having already given over £400,000 out of the project.
How Can We Get Involved?
Please think and pray about what you might give this year. We invite everyone at St Michael’s, to sow generously into God’s work by giving. How can we each play our part to make it happen, together?
Make a one-off financial gift
Start regular giving to St Michael’s Church Centre Ltd
Increase your current giving to St Michael’s Church Centre Ltd
How Do I Give?
We’re inviting everyone to complete this simple online Response form
Gathering our responses helps us to be able to plan next steps.
Please click on the button below:
For ways to give to the Heart of the Community Project click here.
Another popular day course on Mindfulness and Christian Spirituality with Revd Tim Stead
We are delighted to welcome Tim back for another Saturday workshop.
These workshops are a great opportunity to stop, reflect, learn, and develop tools that help us ‘practise the present moment’ and ‘practise the presence of God’.
We need these skills more and more in our hyper-distracted, 24/7 digital age!
Whether you are seasoned in mindfulness or want to find out more – there will be something for you in this workshop,
Intentions for the day:
– Explore how mindfulness practice can engage with and support the spiritual journey with particular reference to the Christian contemplative tradition – Serve as a quiet day where participants go away feeling they have had space for deep reflection. – Share ways that mindfulness could be taken forward for those who choose to.
There will be regular breaks throughout the day. Tea and coffee will be provided. Please bring a packed lunch with you.
Course leader Tim Stead is an accredited mindfulness teacher who trained with the Oxford Mindfulness Centre. He was a Church of England vicar for 23 years and now operates as a freelance mindfulness teacher, teaching eight week courses and leading retreats and quiet days. His books, Mindfulness and Christian Spirituality and See, Love, Be – mindfulness and the spiritual life are published by SPCK. He has also published a Grove Booklet: Mindfulness and prayer. www.timsteadmindfulness.org
What people have said about these workshops:
“I now I have the practical tools to spend time with God in silence on my own – these tools and practices have actually changed my prayer life!”
“It’s so good to explore the links between current learning in mindfulness practice and Christian Spirituality – I didn’t realise there were so many’.
“These workshops have taught me to appreciate the present moment more and more and notice God working in my life in the small things and the big.’
“I could listen to Tim for ages – he’s such a good communicator”.
Spaces are limited. Book early to avoid disappointment
