Welcome!

Welcome to the website of the churches of St Michael’s &
St Barnabas, Devonport.

There are frequent posts of news and photos on this front page, as well as regular updates on the ‘What’s On’ calendar. Use the contact page to find out more. Recent sermons are available from links on the Ministry page, and see the GIFT Groups page for bible study materials being used in the groups.

Contributions of photos and reports of the life of the churches, book reviews, testimonies, stories of answered prayer are all welcome for inclusion on the church blog – contact Lynda directly or use the contact page

For details of our services and other events, see What’s On
or get in touch by using the contact page

(This site is best viewed with FireFox)

Summer 2010

As ever, a number of our regular activities stop for the school summer holidays … but our Community Coffee afternoons at St Barnabas are continuing … 2pm on Tuesdays. Everyone is welcome to join us for a home-made cakes, good company and fellowship. In recent weeks, the Tuesday afternoon group have held a couple of special events. One Tuesday over 50 people came to a meeting to protest to the local bus company about the loss of local services – which will now be restored in one form or other! Today, we have a visit from the police as part of their local community initiative. They want to talk to us about scam callers, but are willing to answer any questions we may have about the things that concern us.

Following the summer break …

Daily Prayer resumes 6th September, 4pm

St Michael’s Toddler Group resumes 7th September, 9.15am

St Barnabas Toddler Group resumes 8th September, 9.15am

St Michael’s GIFT Group resumes 15th September, 7.30 pm

St Barnabas GIFT Group resumes 16th September, 2pm

See What’s On for full details of what’s happening when.

Our website – your views

The statistics for the number of views on our website shows that we have a number of regular users, as well as the occasional visitor …

We’d love to hear what you think of St Barnacles … why not use the contact page to let us know?

New, updated Gallery pages

With the advent of slide-shows now available on the website, we’ve had a revamp of the Gallery pages … visit the page and click on any of the titles or pictures to go to the individual galleries, where you’ll find collections of pictures in thumbnail format (click on the individual picture for an enlargement) as well as a slide-show feature. We’ll be adding to the galleries from time to time, but there are currently photographs of the churches and a number of church events, too.

St Michael’s Church Family 2010

To see how we’ve changed over the years – click on this link to visit the St Michael’s pages and picture gallery!

Summer in the Church Garden

After the service on Sunday 13th June, St Michael’s welcomed the church family – and anyone else who happened to come along! – to the church garden for a BBQ. The sun shone and a good time was had by all!

We were entertained by Jazzacadabra, featuring Church Warden Ian …

and well fed by the catering team lead by Clive, John & Mike.

More pictures …

Many thanks to everyone who made the event possible. If you weren’t there, listen out for details of future events – you’ll find details here on the website or on the weekly notice sheet (also available online here).

125 years of history

Rev Tim has been asking the city council for a sign for several years ... it arrived the day before the exhibition opened!

St Barnabas always tries to offer a warm welcome to everyone

Open Day at St Barnabas with displays and refreshments

Memories of past events at St Barnabas

Picture gallery of previous ministers at St Barnabas

A display of local history

Rev Tim by the display showing the development of the parish around St Barnabas

The weather was perfect for the opening day of the exhibition

St Barnabas 125th Anniversary

On Friday, June 11th, it will be 125 years since the foundation stone of St Barnabas church was laid by Mrs Arthur Lowe. To celebrate this historic occasion, we are holding an exhibition of local history, not only of the church but also of the surrounding area …

YOU ARE INVITED
to our
Exhibition of local history, with photographs, displays and refreshments
open on Friday 11th June, 10am-6pm
and Saturday 12th June, 10am-4pm

SONGS OF PRAISE
6pm, Friday 11th June

COMMUNITY WORSHIP
9.30am, Sunday 13th June

CONFIRMATION SERVICE
4pm, Sunday 13th June
with the Bishop of Plymouth

How to read the Bible

If you believe that the Bible is God’s word to us today, telling us the history of his relationship with his creation and outlining the best way to live our lives, then it’s important to read it regularly.

But how do you begin to read the Bible? Do you start at the beginning and simply read through to the end? Do you choose familiar passages and miss out the hard or apparently incomprehensible ones? Do you read the exciting bits and ignore the boring bits?

It can be  a daunting task. So as part of our GIFT group material, there is now a Bible Reading Guide based on the daily reading notes published by Scripture Union for over 100 years. Therefore, it’s a tried and tested method … see the guide for links to a range of materials to help you read the Bible.

Here are the questions that form the basis of the reading guide …

PRAY
Prayer is the starting point; remember, you’re beginning a dialogue. Before you read the Bible, ask God to help you understand the passage for the day. God, through the Holy Spirit, is the “author” of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21). He’s given us his written Word to communicate his eternal truth. So ask God to speak to you as you read. As the boy Samuel was taught to pray “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9), so let that be your prayerful attitude as you start your time with God.

READ
Then read slowly and carefully through the Bible passage. Sometimes, you’ll want to read the passage more than once. You may also find it helpful to read the preceding or following passages to get the context. Take the time to read it as thoroughly as you can, expecting God to answer your prayer for understanding of his Word.

REFLECT & APPLY

Ask these questions …

• What does this passage say? What is its main point?
• What does this passage teach me about God―the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit?
• What does it reveal about God, or about me?
• What does this passage teach me about the Christian life? Is there a command to obey, a promise to claim, a warning to heed? Is there an example to follow or an error to avoid?
• What is the main lesson of the passage?
• What does it require of me now, in thought, word or action? at home, work, school or church?

Your goal is to use what you’ve learned to become more like Jesus.

PRAY
End your time in God’s Word as you began, in prayer. Make your discoveries from the Bible the basis of your prayer time. Ask God to help you live out and apply what you learned that day. Thank God for meeting with you and sharing his Word with you.

REMEMBER
Pray it in, live it out!

Community Coffee Afternoons

Following the success of our Lent coffee afternoons, we’ve decided to continue meeting together each week … so if you are in need of some company, why not join us on Tuesdays at 2pm in the church lounge at St Barnabas? You can be sure of a warm welcome!

New GIFT group for St Michael’s

It’s Time to Grow in Faith Together!

Come along to the St Michael’s GIFT Group for:

Fellowship
Prayer
Learning more about God’s word to us
Maybe even a cup of coffee!

Can you afford to miss out?

Wednesday 7.30pm at St Michael’s on

28th April
12th May
26th May
9th June
23rd June
7th July
21st July

See you there!

We are stronger together…

A Summer of Events at St Barnabas

Sunday 2nd May
4pm – BBQ & Fun in the Garden

Friday 14th May
7pm – Quiz Night Tickets £3, includes supper

Sunday 23rd May
4pm – BBQ & Fun in the Garden

Friday 11th June (10am-6pm)
Saturday 12th June (10am-4pm)
St Barnabas Day Exhibition
History and Reminiscences of ‘Our Community’
in and around St Barnabas Terrace

Sunday 27th June
4pm – Picnic & Games in the Garden.
Bring your own picnic and enjoy the family fun

Friday 2nd July
7pm – A Evening of Games and Fun in the Garden
(indoors if weather is inclement!)
Tickets £3, includes supper

Sunday 18th July
4pm – Eden Project: The Big Lunch

For more details contact Bob Hall (07971 582575)

Don’t forget …
…as well as our busy social calendar, we have our regular Sunday services each week at 9.30am.
Why not try one of our family friendly All-Age-Worship services on the
4th Sunday of each month. All are welcome

Easter is cancelled!

Of course, Easter wasn’t cancelled … but at the last minute, Rev Tim was taken ill with gastro-enteritis and was unable to attend either service. But God was clearly in control … someone had prepared a sermon ‘just in case’, others stepped in to lead services and play the piano … and the general consensus is that God was very much involved in all our worship and fellowship together on this special day. Hallelujah!

Joy’s sermon is now available here, including a meditation that followed her talk. Do take the time to prayerfully read it through … Easter may only be one day a year, but the reality of the resurrection is ours each day.

(Rev Tim – and the family – are recovering and will be back in action at the services on April 18th)

Good Friday walk and meditation

To mark Good Friday, church members walked through the two parishes carrying a cross, before spending time in prayer reflecting on the events of Good Friday.

The Last Supper

Maundy Thursday marks the day of the last Passover meal that Jesus shared with his disciples …

Our Easter Events

Come and celebrate Easter this year with us at St Michael’s and St Barnabas!

Maundy Thursday 1st April We are holding a Passover Meal at St Barnabas at 7.30pm. Discover and experience the Passover Jesus knew. This will include a simple pasta meal, so please contact us to let us know you are coming.

Good Friday 2nd April We will be taking our crosses from St Barnabas at 11.30am to arrive at St Michael’s at 12am. We will then have three hours of prayer at St Michael’s from 12am to 3pm, and the church will be open to all.

Easter Sunday 4th April Join us for a special All-Age Holy Communion, at the usual times – 9.30am at St Barnabas and 11am at St Michael’s. This will be the first Easter at the new St Michael’s  and it should be a really significant occasion.