This is where we’ll try to provide weekly items in addition to our other updates and letters – please keep coming back here regularly.

12th April:

HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Following the sad announcement on Friday of the death of HRH The Prince Philip, a prayer of thanksgiving for his life was said at the beginning of our service of Morning Worship in church on Sunday, along with a prayer for HM The Queen and the Royal Family.

Service of Commemoration

On Friday 16^th April, ahead of the Prince’s Funeral Service on Saturday, we will be holding a short service of commemoration in St. Peter’s Church.  This will take place at 8pm.  All are welcome to attend.

Online book of Condolence
Government restrictions to manage the Coronavirus pandemic means that we cannot have a physical book of condolence. However, you can leave a message on the national Church of England’s online book of condolence –
You can post your message here

8th April:

Lots of love and links to follow in this latest letter from Kip!

Great work from Sue too in cramming the techie linky stuff in!

You didn’t think Kip did it all himself did you??

6th April:

Here’s a recording of the latest update from ECD!

The formal Notice regarding the Revision of Electoral Roll is now HERE

27th March:

In this week’s Pastoral letter, Kip shares the  church plans for Easter and beyond.

The Electoral Roll application form Kip mentions is HERE . This form can be downloaded to your device and completed in a number of ways:

• It’s in PDF format and by using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader app, it can be filled in and signed digitally, saved to your device and then emailed back to [email protected]
• You can print it out, fill in it by hand and then pop it through the letterbox of the Simon Peter Centre whenever it’s ready.
• You can pick up a ready-printed copy from the door of the Simon Peter Centre and return it once completed.

20th March:

In his latest message to the church family, Kip anticipates the week ahead and reflects on the year gone by.

18th March:

Living in Love and Faith

The Church of England has this year produced a course and other learning resources which focus upon issues of human identity, sexuality, relationships, and marriage.  This material is entitled “Living in Love and Faith”.

All churches are being encouraged to engage with these resources, to have conversations in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

“This church-wide learning together, listening to one another, and listening to God is part of discerning a way forward for the Church of England …. The purpose of the resources is to enable the Church of England churches across the country to participate in a process of learning and praying together as part of discerning a way forward in relation to matters of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage”.

(About Living in Love and Faith | The Church of England) 

Here at St. Peter’s, we will be running the 5 week Living in Love and Faith course, which will start on Sunday 18^th April at 7pm.  Each session will run for an hour and a half and will be held on Zoom.  If you would like to join this course, please email Julia Pratt ([email protected]).

Further details about Living in Love and Faith can be found on the Church of England’s website: Living in Love and Faith | The Church of England

Please look into Kip’s latest letter here – packed with news and reflections!

5th March:

Mission Updates

You may remember an earlier post where we explained that at St Peter’s we seek to embrace the world and its needs alongside our mission in the parish and on our individual ‘front lines’ in the local community and beyond.

In December we introduced the work of one of our partnerships, City Hearts (see earlier in this section), and now we turn the spotlight towards Voice.

Voice is a Christian charity that gives young people the opportunity to grow in their musical gifts whilst exploring and sharing their faith with others through music.

Voice activities include:

Five different youth music groups, throughout Merseyside and further afield, made up of singers and instrumentalists from years 7 to 13. These groups then come together to form a bigger choir and music group for larger events, recordings and residentials.

Four Junior Voice choirs, in Merseyside and greater Manchester, for children in years 3 to 6. “We sing great songs, have lots of fun and use our music to explore who God is and His incredible love for us!”

Voice Creative Artists provides mentoring and training to young people with the specific gift of songwriting and gives them the opportunity to get their own music recorded, published and shared, whilst being encouraged to live lives of integrity and sincerity that reflect the heart of worship expressed through their music

Every year Voice run residentials for primary and secondary aged children, bringing together young musicians from all over the country – “ to make exceptional music, have loads of fun and learn more about our incredible God”

Schools work – a range of projects have been carried out including the teaching of songs over several weeks ending in a performance; the creation of a voice choir within the school, song-writing, workshops and assemblies.

While it is not possible to meet face to face, the different voice groups have gone online with fortnightly zoom sessions. Voice has arranged mentoring for the members of voice to team up with other members/ leaders so they can watch out for each other, pray and discuss the bible and other matters together. There are also online meetings for worship, separate from the group meetings.

Voice has recently launched an online stream of called ‘Tuned In’ which, as well as incorporating mentoring, covers discipleship days, and focused social media content.

To help raise funds Voice undertook a sing-a-thon back in June 2020 and started a praise choir about the same time, that adult supporters of Voice could join on a Sunday afternoon, giving a contribution of £5 each to take part. The fund raising, together with regular funding and a £4,000 donation from St Peter’s has meant that Voice has been able to continue through this most challenging of times. To read more about Voice, hear some great music and see the groups in action, go to www.voicemusic.org.uk

1st March:

Domestic abuse:

In line with Church of England guidance, St. Peter’s PCC recently voted in favour of agreeing a parish domestic abuse statement.  A copy of this can be found in the Safeguarding section of the church website, along with details of organisations who can offer help and support to victims, survivors, and perpetrators of domestic abuse.

28th February:

There’s a great update HERE from Patrick at Encontro com Deus!

You’ll just need to copy and paste in this passcode when prompted wV73Bq2$

21st February:

Some surprises here in this week’s pastoral letter from Kip!

St Peter’s Church Fairtrade Drawing Competition

Competition rules:

Create a poster to celebrate something that is Fairtrade. You could also draw something that can be made with Fairtrade ingredients or materials. Such as Fairtrade pancakes! Older children and adults: have a look online to see what you can find in shops and supermarkets that can be bought Fairtrade.

On your poster please include three things:

• A picture of your Fairtrade item
• A nice big title with the name of your item
• A Fairtrade logo

What will happen to my poster? St Peter’s Church is applying to become a Fairtrade church. We want to celebrate the award with a window of all your posters. People who walk up Church Road will see all the Fairtrade things you can make and buy.

How do I enter? Simply pop your entry in an envelope through the door of the Simon Peter Centre no later than 21 March 2021.Please make sure you put the following information on the back of the poster.

• Entrant’s name
• Entrant’s age (if under 15)
• Category of entry
• Parent/carer’s name
• Parent/carer’s phone number

Easter egg prizes!

There will be three age categories in the competition, the winner of each category will receive a Fairtrade Easter egg.

• 0 to 7 years
• 7 to 14 years
• 15 years to adult

For inspiration for your poster or to find out more about Fairtrade then look here what is Faitrade and if you want to continue your learning then there are some great online Fairtrade games here for you to learn through play!

There’s a great competition poster HERE if you want to download and send it to your friends and family!

8th February:

We are asking everyone, for Shrove Tuesday (16 February), in the run up to Fairtrade fortnight to get involved with making their pancakes fair!

This means using at least one ingredient that is Fairtrade in or on your pancake day celebrations!

This could be Fairtrade sugar, chocolate, bananas or anything else that fits the bill.

Post a picture of your pancake, and say what Fairtrade ingredients you used, on the St Peters virtual congregation Facebook or Instagram pages or send to [email protected] and we will share your wonderful fair pancake creations!

Tip: You could also have Fairtrade tea, coffee, or juice to go with your pancake!

7th February:

Kip tells us how to #SHOWTHELOVE in his message this week!

29th January:

Here’s a very hummable message from Kip!

11th January:

Please be encouraged by Kip’s first pastoral letter for the new year.

Coffee and Chat

While we are no longer meeting for worship in church again, we thought that it would be good to resume “Coffee and Chat” on Sundays after the online YouTube service with effect from Sunday 17^th January.

This is an opportunity to catch up on Zoom with church friends or to get to know people we might not have spoken to before.

So, if you would like to join us on Sunday mornings between 11:30 – 12:15 please email Julia Pratt ([email protected]).

6th January:

Kip’s notice makes for disappointing, but not wholly unexpected news.

We hope you and your families and colleagues all stay safe and well enough to join us as soon as we possibly can.

28th December:

For those not on our mailing list, please see Kip’s latest Pastoral letter ,which includes details of the on-line services planned for January 2021 (please note that in-church services have now been suspended)

19th December:

Following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court John Roberts, a former Rector at St Peter’s Woolton, has been found guilty on all counts against him. These relate to non-current safeguarding-related matters.

We are aware that that very many members of our congregations and community know people connected to this case. The verdict will have created strong emotions for many of them. We are particularly aware of, and grateful for, the courage of victims and survivors who have come forward to share their deeply painful experiences.

We want to acknowledge two things: firstly, that a verdict of guilty has been given, and secondly, that we recognise the hurt of many and the healing that is needed.

To contribute to this healing, we want to listen to all those affected by these things, and to do all we can support people in our community. We will therefore not be making any further public comment.

We continue to take safeguarding very seriously and we will continue to follow the best national and local guidance and practice to ensure that St Peter’s is a safe place for all. We assure you of our prayers, and ask for your own prayers for all involved.

If you, or anyone you know, want to talk to someone independently please call the Safe Spaces helpline on 0300 303 1056 or email [email protected]. There are also other support services available. You could also contact the Diocesan safeguarding advisor: [email protected].

Kip Crooks
19.12.20

1st December:

Mission Updates

In St Peter’s we seek to embrace the world and its needs alongside our mission in the parish and on our individual ‘front lines’ in the local community and beyond.  To give this a strong focus we have initiated partnerships with four agencies engaged in addressing a variety of needs, two in the city and two overseas: Encontro com Deus in Brazil, Christian Aid’s Pigeon Peas Project in Malawi, City Hearts Northwest and Voice.  We are hoping to provide a short item here about each of these in turn on a monthly cycle.  This month we are putting the spotlight on City Hearts.

City Hearts

City Hearts works to restore the lives of people who have been rescued from modern slavery.  They run safe houses and, before the pandemic, had a regular drop-in facility which catered for people who had moved on from the safe houses, which offered social support and educational experiences.   Their work in Liverpool is based at Hope City Church in Islington.

The need to suspend the drop-in service and the effect of lockdown on the safe houses has left many of their clients facing an extremely challenging situation.  “Because of the similarities to their time in exploitation, we are concerned they are facing traumatic flashbacks and other symptoms which have a negative impact on their mental health, however we are doing everything we can to help alleviate the negative impact” says Development Manager Kirsty Allan.

To address this situation they have filmed tutorials for clients on everything from exercise to sculpting and embroidery.  They are also distributing wellbeing packs for clients, which are full of exercises, mindfulness techniques, apps to download, games and activities for kids, ideas for home projects and health guidance.

We in St Peter’s donated £4,000 to them at the beginning of this year which was originally earmarked to extend a programme of educational and recreational group outings which they were starting.  Again, because of the pandemic, this had to be suspended, so they have used some of our donation for these wellbeing packs.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has launched a free national phone line as a simple new way to bring worship and prayer into people’s homes while church buildings are closed because of the coronavirus.

Daily Hope offers music, prayers and reflections as well as full worship services from the Church of England at the end of a telephone line.

The line – which is available 24 hours a day on 0800 804 8044 – has been set up particularly with those unable to join online church services during the period of restrictions in mind.

Find out more by following this link.