Contact us at:

St. Stephen's Church

St. Stephen's Street

Worcester WR3 7HS

Please note that these are all personal phone numbers.  

There is no phone in the church.

Reverend Andy Todd           

Priest-in-charge

Tel: 07806892165  

Email: revandyt@outlook.com 

Geoff Hill,

Churchwarden

Tel: 01905 453312

Email:hill.89parkave@btinternet.com

Michelle Walsh

Parish Administrator 
Tel: 07961 097497  

Email: mwalsh.ststephens@outlook.com 

Worcester Foodbank

2020 is likely to see the Foodbank feeding upwards of 10,000 people, and nearly 40% of those will be children. The Foodbank fed more than 1,300  people during January and February- that’s about a fifth more than the same period last year.

There is a new February/March shopping list in the porch. At the moment they are running really short of small packs of washing podwer/liquid, crackers, long life milk and fruit juice. 

Copies of the full list can be found in the church porch and donations box inside the church. Please no food that needs refrigerating as the Foodbank can't accept it. The Foodbank are also grateful for money donations as this helps towards the rent and allows them to go and buy essentials if they run out of something. They will also accept clean children's clothes. 
 

As you may have read in the press, the Foodbank has seen a big drop in donations this week because people are 'panic buying' food and keeping stocked up in their homes. The people they work with cannot stockpile and need food on a daily basis to tackle food poverty, living hand to mouth.

Also, in order to reduce the risk of infection, they are asking for individually wrapped biscuits and drinks that they can serve in the client cafe. Thank you for your continued support of local people in crisis.

A Better Way to Give Regularly to the Church

The Church of England has introduced a new Parish Giving Scheme (PGS), administered by a charity controlled by various Dioceses and based in Gloucester. The new scheme should be a win-win situation – better for givers, and better for the church. We are asking for a few people to sign-up initially, before we encourage more general take-up.

PGS collect regular donations on the First of the month by Direct Debit, and then on a monthly basis recover the associated Gift Aid if appropriate. The monies are paid over in full and the Diocese covers the cost.

The intention is to reduce the amount of administrative work done within the Parish. At present we have to record 81 standing orders each month and then complete a HMCE form to recover Gift Aid every quarter.

The Treasurer has set up his own payment with PGS and reports that it has run smoothly on the first two monthly payments PGS have collected!

There is a small supply of booklets at the back of Church. If you want to know more, speak to Andy or Richard Hemmings, or look at PGS’s website: www.parishgivingscheme.org.uk

Exploring Prayer with the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

Over five short interviews, Archbishop Justin explores different ways of praying. From asking for things and giving thanks, to expressing deep sadness and anger, Exploring Prayer may help you to develop your conversation with God.  https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/exploring-prayer

Keswick Convention 2020 Alison Oakley is wondering whether anyone is going to this year's Keswick Convention, and would like to coordinate with her? If so, please either speak to her directly, or ask Andy for her contact number.
 

Christian Aid

Many thanks to everyone who contributed so generously to help the work of Christian Aid.  We raised a wonderful £445 from the lunch and donations. An amazing total, thank you all, Margaret.

Electoral Roll - It’s that time of year again when we talk about the Electoral Roll. The Electoral Roll is the list of those who consider themselves members of our church, are over 16, and regularly take communion with us. It allows members to vote in elections for Wardens, PCC members and Synod Representatives and to take a full part in the running of our church. This is not a complete rebuild this time, just a revision. If you have filled in a form in the last couple of years then you only need to re-apply if your circumstances have changed (eg name, address etc). If you are not on the Roll and would like to be, then please fill in a form and leave it in the box by the entrance.

This year's APCM (Annual Parochial Church Meeting) will take place on Sunday 26th April, immediately after the 10am service.  Everyone with an interest in the life and activity of the church is warmly encouraged to attend.  It is never too early to start thinking about reports, so if this task falls to you, please email your report to Michelle (mwalsh.ststephens@outlook.com).

Community Fun Day - Saturday June 13th 2020. 12-3pm

The Events Group has been discussing whether or not to hold a summer fayre this year, bearing in mind the onus this places on a few people, and has now decided to focus on an event aimed at bringing the community in to share some fun time. We will again work in partnership with Sticky Fingers and look to have a range of activities run by others, reserving a smaller number of stalls run by the Church. This means we will have stalls selling cakes, plants, a tombola, a coconut shy, refreshments and a barbecue, and of course a raffle. We will not be having a book stall or sell nearly new/bric-a-brac items as these involve a great deal of work both before and after the event. All other activities and stalls will be run by others who will pay for a pitch. We want to ensure we at least break even with this approach and hopefully make a profit.

We will therefore be asking for tombola prizes and cakes nearer the time. We are really lucky in that some people have already agreed to run most of our stalls but we do still need helpers particularly to manage the traffic (we will not be allowing any vehicle on the site during the event), run the refreshments and help with the barbecue. It would also be wonderful if someone would offer to work on producing a programme with local advertisers!

We would like to spread the load more this year and to that end invite anyone interested to hear more or get involved (including those who have already volunteered).  It would be great to have more ideas and plenty of people to make this a real community sharing event. Thanks. Events Group.

Filling Station opposite St Stephens Do you use the filling station opposite the church? If you do not have your own loyalty card when you pay ask then to swipe the existing card for St Stephens Church Our target is £100+