St. Anne’s Church, Baslow

May 2017 Bulletin.

‘St Anne’s is a vibrant worshipping community that is Good News for

Baslow – a church that is praying, loving, growing and connecting.’

St. Anne’s Church, Baslow by kind permission of Michael Cummings

Welcome to another new venture for St. Anne’s Church, Baslow – it’s very own on-line Bulletin!

Put together by St. Anne’s Secretary, David Upton, it is something that has been talked about for a

year or so. The beauty of a publication such as this is that it costs the church nothing other than

someone’s time to put it together, so no one should be concerned that this is an extravagance that

the church can ill afford. On-line Bulletins such as this are a brilliant way of circulating information

that needs getting circulated quickly, but on the other hand it is not in any way intended to negate

the excellent work done by the Parish Magazine which will still continue to be published, so if you

need something circulating at very short notice, by all means consider this as a means of getting the

message out, otherwise please continue to make use of the Parish Magazine.

What has particularly prompted the commencement of this initiative, has been the recent launch of

another new venture for the church – the ‘Connect’ service, which took place on Sunday 7th May.

There has been a general feeling that it would be very good to let those of the church who could not

attend the service know more about how the service went.

Rather than just your Secretary sharing his own assessment – which I am happy to do, I felt it far

better to also have shared impressions from some others who were also present. The appeal went

out and within 48 hours others had very kindly offered their own thoughts. Taken in order of their

arriving, they appear below, so let’s see what a few of those who attended, made of the gathering.

Jenny Pederson writes:

“Last Sunday afternoon I decided to try the new Connect Service here at St. Anne’s. I wasn’t sure

what to expect. I’m used to worship (or was a few years ago) and have missed that sometimes.

This service was a mixture of new songs, a great hymn (to a new tune) and children enjoying

themselves. But more importantly, God’s Spirit was there and free to work in and amongst us. We

need to let the power of Jesus in; we need revival and the only way to do this is to enjoy worshipping

Jesus and be open to what He wants to do. Not everyone will agree. Let’s just open our hearts and

worship the Living God. His word says: “make a joyful noise”. I like to think that’s what God heard

with hearts and minds coming together as one, embracing our beloved Saviour in our beautiful

church. Thank you everyone who made this possible.”

Ann Mason writes:

“I thought it was very good indeed. The youth leadership and music team did an amazing job and

were totally anointed in this. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit several times. How about a full

Gospel Service occasionally? I love these services and the hymn, "my chains fell off and I was free......"

"No condemnation now I find....." After all its powerful for people to hear the message of salvation

and join a church, hopefully ours”.

Christine Upton writes:

“I must admit I was quite looking forward to the first ‘Connect’ service and I wasn’t disappointed! It

was a different kind of worship than maybe St. Anne’s is used to nevertheless you only have to look in

Scripture as far back as the Old Testament to see that this kind of worship was quite the norm. As the

writer of Ecclesiastes said: “there is nothing new under the sun...”

I thought Sarah was an excellent Worship leader and the musicians were brilliant. It was a nice touch

that a very informal tea was laid on first, a time in which folk could just sit and chat over a sandwich

and a cup of tea. The nice thing was that if you could only make the Service you didn’t feel as though

you were coming in half way through.

To attend a service where there are so many children was indeed heart warming to say the least,

there was a lovely sense of family being relaxed together which of course is what we all are. If you

would like to come along but are not sure whether this kind of worship is for you I would say just give

it a try, I’m sure you will be pleasantly surprised.”

Pat Wright pens the following:

“I was really looking forward to gathering with others just to worship the Lord. So refreshing to see

so many young faces! Its early days but I will pray that as Mike prophesied, that more shoots will

spring up in this desert!

Looking forward to the next service and much appreciate all who helped to make it happen.”

John Clark writes:

“It was clear that much thought, love and prayer had gone into the preparation. For me, I like to sing

familiar, well written hymn tunes – the first hymn: ‘To God be the Glory’ – Fanny Crosby’s

masterpiece, needs the old familiar tune, in my opinion, to give the start of worship a ‘lift’. I also felt

that the amplification was a tad too ‘full-on’ for me.

Nevertheless; a good message, well delivered. How challenging it would be to hear preaching on the

Baptism of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, giving an alter call for healing and Salvation.

Introducing at least two great gospel hymns to sing out our faith with hymns that are full of scripture

references. Our young people are in danger of not knowing the joy and depth of such wonderful,

Spirit filled hymns.

I realise that these are the thoughts of an ‘old guy’, who was saved at a ‘Mission England’, Billy

Graham Rally in 1984, yet I believe that great hymns, powerful preaching, challenging the unsaved

to commit to Jesus, is still a fine way of getting the love of God across to all ages.

I hope these observations are useful. Finding the right balance for all who are likely to attend is

paramount. In striking a good balance, so that all feel at home, we can with God’s help, win more

souls for the Kingdom.”

Church Warden Sue Campbell writes:

“I thought the Connect Service was great. It made me realise how much I miss the worship we used

to have at Eyam. I really felt God’s presence and I feel that this service will attract a lot of people who

don’t come to church at the moment and possibly cause the families with older children to come

back.”

I echo all of the above. It was particularly refreshing to gather in such a worshipping company of

believers. The next ‘Connect’ Service will take place on the first Sunday in June – the 4th. Meet first in

the Church Rooms at 4:30pm for some food and fellowship and then into the Church for 5:30pm and

the worship service.

In a complete change of subject, PCC Secretaries around the country are currently being sent a very

interesting two page article compiled by an organisation called ‘Strengthen the Faith’. The

correspondence looks at the spiritual state of our nation during WW2 and the state of it today. It

makes sobering reading. Getting the message out is being taken very seriously as the below

photograph shows – a pallets of printed article ready for distribution!

The full article is also attached with this Bulletin and is strongly recommended reading. On looking

into the subject, I have also found the below article which is also very interesting:

National Day of Prayer at the time of Dunkirk 1940

08 Jun 2015 Author: John Willans The above extraordinary photograph provides comforting reassurance that even in the most frightening of times there is always hope and help available, provided of course, it is sought for in the right place and in the right spirit.

When Britain was close to defeat during the 2nd World War, and the entire British Army was trapped at Dunkirk, in desperation George 6th called for a National Day of Prayer to be held on 26th May 1940. In a national broadcast he instructed the people of the UK to turn back to God in a spirit of repentance and plead for Divine help. Millions of people across the British Isles flocked into churches praying for deliverance and this photograph shows the extraordinary scene outside Westminster Abbey as people queued for prayer. Two events immediately followed. Firstly, a violent storm arose over the Dunkirk region grounding the Luftwaffe which had been killing thousands on the beaches. And then secondly, a great calm descended on the Channel, the like of which hadn’t been seen for a generation, which allowed hundreds of tiny boats to sail across and rescue 335,000 soldiers, rather than the estimated 20-30,000. From then on people referred to what happened as “the miracle of Dunkirk”. Sunday June 9th was officially appointed as a Day of National Thanksgiving. National Days of Prayer where held at critical times throughout the War. After each one, God responded with His Blessing and protection. Looking back, the Bishop of Chelmsford Dr H.A. Wilson wrote, “If ever a great nation was on the point of supreme and final disaster, and yet was saved and reinstated it was ourselves…it does not require an exceptionally religious mind to detect in all this the Hand of God.” But something has gone very wrong with our Country. Nationally we have been reduced to a position of weakness in an increasingly hostile world, the UK experienced apocalyptic flooding during the winter of 2014, (the worst for 250 years), has a National Debt of 1.5 Trillion pounds and the increasing demand for Scottish Independence is creating numerous constitutional problems. People are asking “What is happening to our Nation?” “What has gone wrong?” This photograph starkly shows how the UK has changed since the end of the 2nd World War. It almost seems to be a different country. Sadly, since the end of the War, Britain has largely rejected the moral Laws of God which are clearly stated in Scripture. In Ps 107 v 34 it warns “a fruitful nation will become impoverished because of the wickedness of its people” and in Proverbs Ch14v34 it adds “Righteousness will exalt a nation, but wickedness will destroy a people”. Without God’s blessing of protection upon our Nation, we are no longer shielded from evil and disaster. In Deuteronomy Ch 31v17 when referring to an immoral and corrupt nation God said “I will forsake them…and many evils and troubles will befall them so that they will say at that time …‘Have not these disasters come upon us because God is no longer protecting us?’ “. This is precisely the position our Nation finds itself in today. May we, like the Wartime generation before us, turn to God in a true spirit of repentance and plead for Divine help for our country. In 2nd Chronicles Ch 7v14 God promises, “If people humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.” If our country, once again sought God’s help as it did during Wartime, now, just as then, miracles of blessing and protection would begin to happen. A version of this article first appeared at the Church Society and is reprinted with the permission of the author, a priest of the Church of Ireland.

How about some uplifting news concerning St. Anne’s?

“Music for a Summer’s Evening”

Saturday June 17th, - with proceeds going to the Church Roof Fund, Bel Canto and Friends

will be performing ‘MUSIC FOR A SUMMER’S EVENING’. Tickets, which included a

complimentary glass of wine are £10 and are available from the village shop & Post Office – school

age children FREE!

Find out more about St. Anne’s, Baslow by visiting the church website:

http://www.stannesbaslow.org.uk/ or Bel Canto – go to Facebook and search Bel Canto, Baslow. If

you have anything which you feel might be appropriate to go out on a Church Bulletin then contact

david.upton335@gmail.com