Dear Friends, Once more it’s my pleasure to wish you all a “Happy New Year” although I wish it didn’t come round quite so quickly! Each New Year gives us the opportunity to take stock of our lives and see what could be improved on leading to our making of New Year’s resolutions. Have you […]

The Vicar writes for December….. Dear Friends, Here we are already at the beginning of December and looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Lord once again. Have you ever wondered why we celebrate it on the 25th December? After all, nowhere in the Bible does it state that Jesus was born on that […]

The Vicar writes….. Dear Friends, “As an open and welcoming church our vision is to be at the heart of the community sharing faith and friendship to do God’s work. We aim to be a strong vibrant church committed to all ages.” This is our Vision Statement which has developed out of the work we […]

The Vicar writes…… Dear Friends, As July slips into August, the schools have broken up for six weeks or so, families are off to relax and enjoy their summer holidays, and the sun shines on. This month the Blackrod, Daisy Hill, Westhoughton and Wingates Team say more goodbyes and au revoirs.  Ian Hepburn who is […]

The Vicar writes….. Address given at the Annual Parochial Meeting on 22nd April At last year’s APCM I left you with a question. “What do you think we should do next?” You’ve heard a lot about MAPs (Mission Action Plans) this last year. The Bishop has asked every Parish to produce its own MAP and […]

Dear Friends, Very Early on Sunday morning at sunrise, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices to go and anoint the body of Jesus. On the way they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the tomb?” It was a very large stone. Then they […]

    Dear Friends, A month into 2018 and whatever other resolutions you may have made, I wonder how many of us have resolved to use less plastic or even try to live a plastic free life? The Blue Planet programme shocked us all with its images of the plastic filled oceans and the heart […]

I hope that you have all had an enjoyable Christmas and a chance to relax and spend time with family and friends. I also hope that you have not thrown out your Christmas tree yet or taken down your decorations! It seems to me that we see Christmas decorations going up earlier and earlier each […]

The Vicar writes……. A few years ago I went on a curates’ exchange visit to Braunschweig in Germany which is twinned with Blackburn Diocese. The main church in Germany is the Lutheran Church and our hosts were curates or “vikarin”. They were part way through their 7 year training which sounded extremely arduous and demanding, […]

  Dear Friends, It’s nearly my first anniversary of being appointed as Team Vicar for the Blackrod, Daisy Hill, Westhoughton and Wingates Team with special responsibility for St Katharine’s and St Thomas Chequerbent!  Doesn’t time fly?  (When you’re having fun!)  The only annual event I’ve yet to experience is the Harvest Festival on the 8th […]