The Church of St John, Ainsdale
The Parish Church of Ainsdale, in the Diocese of Liverpool, Church of England
Rev. Graham Birch will be instituted and inducted as vicar of our parish on Tuesday, 4th September 2007. We are very much looking forward to Graham starting his work in the parish and to officially welcoming him and his family.
Some practicalities for the service itself: Because of the size of the church entry to the service is by invitation only (if you have an invitation, please bring it with you), there may be a small number of seats in the School Hall where we are providing a video link but even these are not guaranteed (unless your invitation was to the School Hall relay). Similarly, entry to the church car park will be by permit only. Car park permit holders are asked to be at the church by 7.15 pm so that we can close the car park and get everyone seated. The service starts at 7.30 pm.
On Sunday 2nd September, St John's will be lining up against other Churches and organisations in Southport in a Dragon Boar Race. We need a crew! We are looking for 20 people to make up our team, which must comprise of people of the age ranges 9-11, 11-16 and over 16s. No experience or super-fitness is required. The race will take place on the Marine Lake in Southport, there is a BBQ at 1pm and the first race is at 2pm. For more information contact John Forshaw on Sundays or use our Contact Us form.
On May 13th 2007 it was announced that our new Vicar will be Rev. Graham Birch, currently at St. Catherine's Wigan. We very much look forward to welcoming Graham and his family to the parish. Graham will be instituted by the Bishop of Warrington on September 4 2007.
Alan Overend, our former Vicar, moved to the parish of St. Aidan's, Billinge in April 2007. We will be without out our own Vicar until September 2007. During this time our services, and other parish activities, will continue as normal.
You can also read our Parish Profile that has been sent to the Bishops as part of the process to appoint a new vicar
We've added a new page to our site that lists all the organisations we supported last year. Links to it can be found on our links page or finance page (or just go direct).
The annual reports from 2006 are now available. Click on 'Giving & Finance' in the menu on the left.
We are having a Church Weekend Away and we are going to Cloverley Hall near Whitchurch in Shropshire in June 2007. The theme of this weekend will be “Which way now?” allowing us to look at both, where we are going and in what direction our church needs to move.
Chris York (one of our Churchwardens) has submitted some of his Harvest pictures to BBC Liverpool's 'Faith In Photos' picture gallery. Chris' photos can also be seen on this site here.
A new events database has been created that allows the organisers of the events at St John's to maintain their own information. More...
We have recently raised some money to work on our remembrance garden (no plots where ashes are buried will be affected). The garden now has its own page on the church virtual tour.
See pictures from our harvest Sunday.
The new youth group @ St John's Hall, Thursdays 19.45-21.00 (restarts after Summer break on 7th September).
Due to illness our organist, Mr Goronwy Owen, is to move to the newly created post of 'Organist Emeritus'. We therefore have a vacancy for an Organist - Choirmaster/mistress. (the post has now been filled)
This year our Harvest Sunday is 8th October. Gifts of flowers and plants will be collected at our 11am service for distribution to some of the sick and housebound of the parish. We will also be having a faith lunch after this service.
As part of our harvest appeal we will be supporting the Hunter Trust, a charity that helps educate young people in Malawi - one of the poorest countries in the world. The trust supports over 360 youngsters at primary school. It helps build classrooms and teachers' houses and provides educational materials. There will be a separate retiring collection for this appeal.
We are looking to appoint a full-time youthworker, on a nine month contract, to continue and develop youthwork in the Ainsdale area. This position has now been filled.
This is a short series of informal sessions on Christian life and belief. Every Wednesday at 8pm or Thusday at 2pm for four weeks starting on 12 April, 2006. Come along and join us as we explore the life of faith together.
'Changing Lives' Mission1st - 8th April 2006
The churches in Southport are getting together to put on a week long series of fun and thought-provoking events. Find out more about God and change your life for good. Read more...
Our school has a new website of its own, see
http://www.ainsdalestjohns.com/
Download the latest newsletter from our 11am Morning Praise service.
Ainsdale High School became Ainsdale Hope CofE School this September, now only a couple of months later Sefton Borough Council is proposing to close the school. Read more...
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