February 2022

United Stockport Newsletter - February 2021

Editor's note - Before we start with our message from Rev'd Raj Patta I would like to thank all the churches for their great work over the last couple of months. We have a lot of notices this month and I would appreciate it if you could spend a bit of time at the end of Raj's message to read them. Don't forget that we love to hear about your church's good news. The due date for the March newsletter is 21 February (send to admin@stockportcircuit.org.uk).

The Circuit website will be unavailable from 21 February and will be back up with a new look on 25 February. 

Message from Rev'd Raj Patta

Let me wish you all a Happy New Year 2022. Some of you might be thinking it has already been a month in this year 2022, and why I am wishing you again? Well, the Chinese New Year falls on Tuesday the 1^st of February 2022, and they say this year is the year of Tiger. According to the legend, the Tiger which was confident of its vigour and strength thought no one could compete with him in the celestial race; and to everyone’s surprise, the rat came first, followed by ox, leaving the king of jungle to settle for the third place. There is a sermon in this story that the new year according to the Chinese lunar calendar offers to us, which is not to be over-confident and arrogant boasting about one’s strengths, power and privilege, for there will be surprises, with the simple, meek and those on the margins can overtake in the race of life. We have a similar story in the Bible, the vision of Isaiah in chapter 11, where he envisions that “the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf, and the lion and the fatling together and the little child shall lead them…” (6v). My prayer and wish for this new year is that the ferocious and the feeble shall dwell together in peace and justice and we will be willing to listen to the voices of those on the margins and strive for a liberative and transformative church and society today.
 
Apart from the Chinese New Year, February is also marked with events like ‘candle mass’ which is observed on the 2^nd of Feb, where people reflect on the presentation of Jesus Christ at the temple, inviting Christians to reflect on the gifts of life, light and love in the journey of our faith. February also marks the LGBT + History month, and this year 2022 is the 50^th anniversary of the very first Pride march in the UK in 1972. This year’s they have chosen ‘politics in art’ as their theme to celebrate art with a tag line from ‘The Arc is long'. This tag line is taken from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s quote, “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice,” which again is an invitation for us as churches to make conscious efforts for inclusion, celebrating the gift of love, which is the catch word for the month of February. To mark the start of this month, Rev. Jill Marsh from the Methodist Church has shared this beautiful prayer, which you can listen to it on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnJCSKMr_J4
On the 13^th of February, the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) has invited churches across the four nations to observe it as Racial Justice Sunday with the theme, “What’s it to do with me?” CTBI is encouraging churches to focus on 3R’s which are:
Remembering the importance of racial justice
Reflecting on human diversity and thanking God for it
Responding by working to end injustice, racism and ignorance through prayer and action.
 
The resources for this Sunday are available on this link: https://ctbi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/RJS-2022-edit.pdf

Both LGBT + History Month and Racial Justice Sunday are opportunities for us as churches to demonstrate our public witness in ma(r)king the love of Jesus Christ relevant for our times in our public squares today. If you are passionate about mission and evangelism, and want our churches to be spaces of faith, hope and love, this is the month to start with, and these are the opportunities to demonstrate it. If we want our churches to be outward looking and forward thinking, let us commit ourselves to standing in solidarity with people who have been excluded and pushed outside into the margins, and let us strive towards inclusion, equality, love and justice without any boundaries. If we want our churches to ‘grow’ it is time we reflect and introspect our mission strategies, and should engage in reimagining the love of Jesus Christ relevant and understood by the people in the public sphere. Let us therefore prayerfully join, envision together, asking the spirit of God to help us in making our churches, spaces of love for all in our communities.
 
Let me also encourage you to join in observing the Church Action and Poverty Sunday, on the 27^th of February and voice out for justice in addressing situations of poverty within the country and elsewhere. You can find the resources on this link: https://www.church-poverty.org.uk/sunday/  
 
On a final note, allow me to share with you the Join Public Issues Team’s Politics in the Pulpit podcast, which is a weekly lectionary resources and you can listen to it on this link: https://politicsinthepulpit.podbean.com/
 
May the love of God be with you all during this month and may we all continue to witness the gospel of Jesus Christ relevant for our public spheres today.
 Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta 28^th January 2022

Worship

Circuit Service 6th February at 4pm with Rev’d Adam Stevenson
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF VENUE - now at Woodley Methodist Church, Chapel St, Woodley, Stockport, SK6 1NF

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/99315022628?pwd=VEtRWkxpdjI2aFg1Ly9qa3hjR0EwZz09
Meeting ID: 993 1502 2628
Passcode: 428537

Palm Sunday

On 10th April we have booked St Petersgate square (SK1 1NZ) for our Palm Sunday Circuit service. We hope to spread the Good News throughout the town centre and adhere to our commitment of doing church differently to attract more disciples to our churches. Please join us for this exciting new venture. More details will follow but please put the date in your diaries! 

Notices

Yurt Project

From the 6th – 9th April United Stockport Circuit is running an exciting storytelling project in Stockport town centre. This project will centre a yurt – a flexible, mobile, intentional safe space for listening. The symbolism of the Yurt is powerful within a Christian context which is rooted in telling stories, crossing borders and healing.