Welcome to the parish of St. Peter’s Halliwell.
Rev Alan writes…
It was uplifting to worship with everyone in a packed church at our Parish Vision Service last Sunday – thank you to everyone who came and especially to everyone who served to help make it such a special occasion.
In the service, I reminded everyone of our commitment as Jesus’ Family on Jesus’ Mission, to give, serve, meet, baptise and share, and pray – details of these can be found on this year’s bible text card, so please get one at any of our services if you haven’t already. Following on from this, I asked the question: What’s your next step? And considered what’s needed to help strengthen our fellowships drawing on our reading from Ephesians 4:11-16 in which the apostle Paul writes about the five-fold ministry of prophets, apostles, pastors, evangelists and teachers. I likened this to the cylinders of an engine and challenged us to consider how God might be calling us into these roles to help the church grow in strength as it fires on all cylinders. Could God be calling you into any of these roles?
Following this, Josh Openshaw gave an encouraging presentation on regeneration plans for Bolton town centre including business and residential building developments which will see hundreds of new homes and a growing population. Into this, Josh is preparing to plant a new church. Watch this space as new opportunities for prayer and ways to support Josh fulfil this vision. You can watch both mine and Josh’s talks on our YouTube channel.
Read more in this week’s newsletter.
Morning Service theme - Jesus with People
Jesus with People
During the autumn, we are looking at Jesus with People and exploring the examples of how Jesus interacted with people, particularly looking at how he understands our needs and helps us flourish in our lives.
- What did he say to them when they were afraid?
- How did he invite them into his mission?
- How did he respond to their limitations?
We will be instructed by Jesus, the master teacher, and seek to apply everything we learn. In addition, we will examine what Jesus did when the crowds thinned, and he was alone with his Father.
Our morning services from St. Peter’s Church are live-streamed and available to watch later on our YouTube channel.
Evening Sermon series - Why Follow?
Why Follow?
Our new sermon series focuses on the book of Ephesians. We ask an old question: “Why?” Why follow Jesus? With so many options to choose from concerning what we may follow in life, why choose to follow Jesus? The book of Ephesians lays out a compelling case for why following Jesus is the only appropriate response to God’s decisive action in the world. Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus can be divided into two parts. First, Paul makes sure his readers are certain of what God has done for them in Christ. Second, he moves to help his readers understand how their lives must be reordered to reflect the new foundation Christ offers. The two parts of Paul’s letters can be summed up like this: “You have been made alive in Christ; now live!”
Why follow Jesus? Because God has made you alive through Jesus and you now have the opportunity to truly live.
We meet every Sunday at 6.30pm in St. Peter’s Church and the reading and talk from this service is available on our YouTube channel.
Oasis
Oasis is our midweek service – a time of fellowship and friendship at St Peter’s!
Refreshments are served in the church lounge from 10.30am and at 11.30am there is a 30 minute service in church for those who would like to attend.
Do come and join us – everyone is very welcome for part or all of our time together.
Verse of the Year 2025
Joshua asked the Israelites, “Who are you going to serve?”.
He reminded them just how much God had done for them and encouraged them by his own words: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”
As we commit to serving the Lord this year, we pray together:
Lord Jesus, Thank you for the gift of the church as Jesus’ family on Jesus’ mission.
During 2025, help us to grow in our commitment to one another as your family here in St. Peter’s Parish.
Help us to grow in our commitment to your mission.
Give us strength, faith and wisdom throughout the year, to follow you and play our part in building your church and seeing your kingdom come on earth as in heaven.
Amen
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Newsletter Archive
Read the Newsletter from the last few weeks:
5th October
28th September
21st September
14th September
7th September
24th & 31st August
10th & 17th August
27th July & 3rd August
20th July
13th July
6th July
29th June
22nd June
15th June
8th June
25th May & 1st June
18th May
11th May
4th May
St. Peter's Church
Barrow Bridge Mission
Smithills Fellowship
St. Andrew's Church
Parish Centre
St. Peter’s parish church is an impressive Grade II listed building at the heart of the parish. In the 1980’s an extension provided a lounge, kitchen and toilets and more recently a welcoming entrance area has been created between this and the church.
Barrow Bridge Mission is situated in an important conservation area on the edge of Bolton. The attractive community is a former model community mill village and comprises former mill owner and worker cottages.
Smithills Fellowship meets in St. Peter’s Smithills Dean CE Primary School and Smithills Hall Chapel. The Chapel forms part of Smithills Hall and is leased from the council.
St. Andrew’s meets in the Hope Centre, which serves the Johnson Fold estate. The centre has been completely refurbished in the last 15 years, to better serve the needs of the surrounding community.
St. Peter’s Parish Centre is a hive of activity most days with church groups and other bookings.
It is also home to the administrative hub of the parish. The office is open Monday to Friday from 9.30am-3pm.
St. Peter's Church
St. Peter’s parish church is an impressive Grade II listed building at the heart of the parish. In the 1980’s an extension provided a lounge, kitchen and toilets and work is currently underway to provide a welcoming entrance area.
Barrow Bridge Mission
Barrow Bridge Mission is situated in an important conservation area on the edge of Bolton. The attractive community is a former model community mill village and comprises former mill owner and worker cottages.
Smithills Fellowship
Smithills Fellowship meets in St. Peter’s Smithills Dean CE Primary School and Smithills Hall Chapel. The Chapel forms part of Smithills Hall and is leased from the council.
St. Andrew's Church
St. Andrew’s meets in the Hope Centre, which serves the Johnson Fold estate. The centre has been completely refurbished in the last 15 years, to better serve the needs of the surrounding community.
Parish Centre
St. Peter’s Parish Centre is a hive of activity most days with church groups and other bookings.
It is also home to the administrative hub of the parish. The office is open Monday to Friday from 9.30am-3pm.
Safeguarding
At St. Peter’s Halliwell we work hard to maintain a safe environment for all. We are committed to implementing the House of Bishops’ safeguarding policies and good practice guidance.
If you have any concerns or enquiries regarding safeguarding, please visit our Safer Church page here for details of who to contact.