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MARCH 22nd MOTHERING SUNDAY MESSAGE
Video Message from Revd Liz Chamberlain
Coronavirus Guidance
St John the Baptist is taking every action to ensure the health of its congregation; the leadership team and visitors to the church. We are closley following the advice of the Church of England – click here – and introducing a wide variety of measures to minimise the impact to public health.
We will continue to monitor the situation and follow directions given by the Church of England and government and will continue to take whatever action is necerssary to protect the health of everyone involved in the daily life of St John the Bapitist and those visiting.
St John’s Lights Up for Christmas
St John’s reflected each and every aspect of Christmas last year with a whole range of events.
It was the youngsters from Early Birds that started the special services with their own Christmas Service that included the giving of gifts to the Lichfield women’s refuge.
Carols by Candlelight did not disappoint with the joint village choir led by Paul Glover performing a mixture of traditional and contemporary as the full church was led through the Christmas story.
Then on Christnas Eve it was the Crib and Christingle Service with parents and children taking time out to remember that Christmas is not just about presents but about the birth of Jesus.
Candles though were replaced with glow sticks, for safety reasons, culminating in a highly effective church blackout.
Pictures by Ian Law
Church to Set New Goals
Shenstone’s church leadership will start reviewing its aims for this year.
The church Parochial Church Council (PCC) is set to look back and forward later this year as part of its Mission Action Plan.
This was announced at the annual meeting (APCM) when the vicar, the Revd Liz Chamberlain, said that not only would it be reviewing its 2015 MAP but also setting out just what had been achieved.
There are five headings within the MAP, which acts as aid to helping set priorities.
To see the 2015 MAP click here.
For a copy of the APCM Booklet incorporating reports etc click here.
APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCED
Liz Chamberlain is to be the new vicar of Shenstone and Stonnall. The 55-year-old, former accountant, will be the first woman full-time incumbent of the two parishes.
‘It’s very exciting,’ said Liz, ‘and I feel very privileged and my prayer for the future is for us all to deepen our faith and discipleship, and for us to have a brilliant time while we’re doing that.’
Ordained in 2010, she has been curate at St. Matthew’s in Walsall for the past three years. ‘I saw the vacancy on the CPAS website and said ‘this is the one for me’. Her husband Ray, a former Staffordshire firefighter, is in his first year of training to be a Reader, but is also a worship leader. ‘It’s absolutely fantastic,’ he said.
She becomes the 38th incumbent and the first woman to hold the post since the first vicar was appointed at Shenstone in 1274. The couple, have two daughters, one, Sara, a teacher in Essex who marries in July and another, Clair, who is a qualified nurse. For fuller details on the new vicar click here.
