St Michael’s, Stoke Gifford is a lively, growing Anglican church on the northern edge of Bristol. We are a welcoming crowd of everyday people, living to make a difference by being a Christian heart at the centre of our communities. Everyone is welcome at St Michael’s.
We live to make a difference by Learning and Growing in our faith. We do this together. All of the ministries below are a reflection of the desire to learn and grow together. It’s the definition of Discipleship, and it’s central to our work through our small groups and courses, and in our commitment to prayer, care and sharing the resources we’ve been given.
We are called to share our faith in Jesus. The Church exists to spread the good news of Jesus’ love & life. We are committed to achieving this locally. We also make a difference well beyond our parish boundaries. We support and work with teams that fight poverty and spread the good news of Jesus locally, nationally and around the world.
Jesus came not to be served, but to serve. Our attitude should be the same. Serving our communities is the heartbeat of life at St Michael’s. Our coffee shop, our meeting rooms and our professional pre-school and nursery are used by hundreds of local families, businesses, groups and individuals all year round. And the generosity of all those who volunteer is constantly bringing reality to our vision of living to make a difference by being a Christian heart at the centre of our communities.
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.
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 24 September 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.
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 in May.
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
On Saturday 11 March we are holding a Clothes Swap 1.30pm – 4.30pm taking donations to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
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 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 exchange up to 5 items, if you want to swap more you can, we just ask you make a donation. If you don’t have any clothes to bring you can still take items for a donation, suggestions would be a minimum of £1 or £2 per item.
We will be available to take clothes in exchange for tokens after the Sunday services on 5 March, and between 10-12 on Saturday 11 March (why not visit the Repair Café at the same time?)
There will be Refreshments available during the swap event.
If you are free to help on the day for some or all of the time, or can offer cakes for refreshments please get in touch.
We welcome all recent arrivals to the UK to join us on the Hong Kong Welcome Course running at St Michael’s Centre from Sunday 19 February to Sunday 26 March.
Each week we will eat together at 1pm and then run through the course from 1:45pm, finishing by 3pm.
We invite people to bring their friends and relatives to join the course as well – it is for people of all faiths and of none.
Please register here to join the course so we can plan for the food and the activities.
For more information please talk with James Wong, Elsa Ma or Chris & Lucy Reveley.
We are delighted to have a temporary art exhibit in the auditorium in St Michael’s Centre by artist Malcolm Bourne. The piece has come to us directly from Bristol Cathedral where it was recently exhibited.
Covenant is a depiction of a dream. The image is a symbolic representation of the almighty power, light and love of El Shaddai manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. The painting seeks to show the reality of the new covenant, Jesus metaphorically being divided into two as the ultimate covenant sacrifice-reunifying the people of the world to El Shaddai.
The piece has been painted on two 8 x 4ft plywood boards that were originally installed on College Green in 2014 as a prayer wall. The prayers of the Bristol public literally provide the base of this painting.
Produced by KiC November 2022
A symbolic journey from the old covenant to the mediator of the new covenant, Jesus Christ, depicted in Hebrews 12 v 18-24
Malcolm Bourne Biography
“As a painter, I’ve held exhibitions for my work and have limited edition prints of several of my paintings. I love to paint and draw, and rarely leave the house without a sketchbook. When I first moved to Bristol in 2005, I became a resident artist in the Leeky Gallery on Park Street. It was during this time that I realised how inspiring it is to belong to an active creative community. This became one of the sparks that envisioned the inception of Joseph Studios, the workshop and artist collective that I co-founded in 2015. I have a passion for the wellbeing of individuals and communities and have become an advocate of the great health benefits of engaging in the creative process. As a result, this has become an important focus in the coaching and mentoring work I do with individuals and businesses.”
Covenant Dream
“I remember experiencing a most vivid dream. I was in an intensely light-filled environment: the brightness of the light was physically painful and it seemed to penetrate every part of my being. Simultaneously there was a sound, or many sounds at once, it was overwhelming; a bass that created deep vibration and a piercingly sharp tone all of which emanated from the light. I felt transparent to the light and sound. The power, energy, vibration and brightness were unbearable, and they rendered me paralysed. I was terrified. My only response was to drop to my knees and remain as still as I possibly could. I sensed that if I moved even a centimetre, I would explode into a million pieces under this force that was pulsating through and around me.”
“From the centre of this light, I started to see a shadow form growing towards me. The shadow took the shape of a man. Once the shadow had fully formed the shadow began to stand, no longer being the projection of another being but somehow the shadow itself becoming a person. As soon as the form of the man was clear to be seen the atmosphere began to change: I sensed a deep love and peace around me although the sense of being transparent remained. I was no longer afraid. I knew immediately that it was Jesus standing in front of me revealed in this moment in the Trinity, confirming that he was my personal mediator, saviour King. Jesus walked towards me, and we began to talk. I woke up, my whole body shaking from the experience and reflected on its significance.”
A chance for us all to see in 2023 with worship, fun and fellowship in the auditorium in St Michael’s Centre. There will be games, a quiz, live music from The Usual Suspects, and worship to see in the New Year.
Please bring your own drinks and cups/glasses as well as any snacks you’d like!
All ages are very welcome.We’ll all be mucking in together to clear up and keep things running smoothly.
