Category: St Michael’s Church

Alpha

Sign-up to join the next course starting on Wednesday 8 May at 7pm – click here

We’ve been running Alpha at St Michael’s for many years, and hundreds of people have enjoyed the space to ask the big questions of life in a relaxed and open environment.

Alpha is a place where no subject is off-limits, and no question is too silly, too difficult, or too controversial (really!). It’s a place to find out what Christians believe, to see whether any of it adds up in practice, to decide what you think and – if you’re up for it – to give some of it a go.

We’d love you to join our next Alpha. For more info email Alpha@stmichaelsbristol.org

Sign-up to join the next course starting on Wednesday 8 May at 7pm – click here

How Alpha works:

We meet once a week, for 8 weeks. There is a Saturday together in the middle for a slightly longer time of food and discussion.

  • Alpha always starts with food; tea, coffee and cake in the morning, or a meal in the evening.
  • There’s usually some live music.
  • Then there’s a 30-minute presentation on different aspects of faith and Christianity, covering topics like, Who is Jesus? How and why should I pray? How does God guide us?
  • We then get to respond to what we’ve heard, share our own thoughts and experiences, and chew over any questions raised. These discussions are often the best part of the session, and we get to hear from others as well as contribute our own perspective – if we’re up for that.
  • The evening finishes at 9.30pm

Please get in touch

To find out more about Alpha, or to sign up for the next course, please contact us!

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#financialquestions

Why do we have two gift days a year?

St Michael’s is made up of two charities and we hold a Gift Day for each:

1: St Michael’s Church Centre (SMCC) – Gift Day for Buildings and Resources

2: St Michael’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) – Gift Day for Mission and Ministry

Click here for info on how to give

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.

Click here for info on how to give

Environment

Eco Church

We are thrilled to have achieved our Bronze Eco Church accreditation with A Rocha and are working towards achieving our Silver Award.

Eco Group

St Michael’s Eco Group was formed in October 2021 on the back of celebrating Climate Sunday the previous month. In the two years that have followed, we have achieved a lot and come a long way.

The following things we have set up and happen regularly:

  • *NEW* Ecover washing and washing up liquid refills available to buy at Repair Cafe and on first Sunday of the month.
  • Repair Café happens monthly
  • We buy Eco-friendly washing up liquid in bulk and sell
  • We grow some of our own vegetables
  • We have recycling facilities in every room and in the churchyard
  • We use ECO friendly paper
  • Our toilet paper is either recycled or Eco friendly
  • All our toilet roll holders are made from recycled tetra paks

We have put the following things in place:

  • We no longer use disposable cups in any of our Church Services
  • We have twinned all our toilets through a toilet twinning charity
  • We have held Clothes Swap Events
  • We have held Plant Swap Events
  • We have held community litter picks
  • We have installed solar panels on our Church Centre
  • We have put up a Bee pole in the Churchyard
  • We have a water butt on site
  • We have held a 5-week sermon series on God’s Creation
  • We have created, published and analysed a sustainable travel survey
  • We have updated our travel page to include all forms of sustainable transport
  • Left an area of the Churchyard un-mowed and wild
  • We no longer serve individually wrapped biscuits

It is hoped that by all of us making small changes we can help to influence the culture at St Michael’s to help us look after our Environment. If you would like any more information on the Eco Group please contact eco@stmichaelsbristol.org

Going forward we are looking to:

  • Have an energy audit on all our buildings
  • Plant wild flowers to encourage more wildlife
  • Buy more Eco-friendly items in bulk to sell
  • Look into having an electric charging point installed in our car park