Welcome to the parish of St. Peter’s Halliwell.
Rev Alan writes…
Last Sunday was a wonderful celebration of faith as we saw 15 candidates getting confirmed in their faith by Bishop Matthew Porter. A number of the candidates shared their testimony, and it was a huge encouragement to everyone present to hear of the ways God has been working in their lives. … Bishop Matthew preached from Philippians 1:1-26 and focussed the subject of prayer, speaking of the impact that prayer had in the ministry and life of the apostle Paul, quoting verse 4: “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy”.
…
We are very fortunate to have such a prayer-fuelled and spirit-filled Bishop, and I am delighted to announce that he has agreed to join us as the speaker for our parish weekend away at Quinta from Fri 12 to Sun 14 Sept. I am sure we will all be inspired by his teaching and want to encourage you and your family to book a place on the weekend if you haven’t done so already. You can find out more here.
We have started a new morning sermon series for Lent, called Jesus the Forgiver. It’s part of our over-arching theme of Fix Our Eyes on Jesus, as we learn more about what it means to be part of Jesus’ Family on Jesus’ Mission. More details below.
Read more in this week’s newsletter.
Morning Service theme - Jesus the Forgiver
Fix our eyes on Jesus
In this new series, during the 7 weeks of Lent, we are continuing with the over-arching theme of Fix Our Eyes on Jesus and will look at Jesus the Forgiver.
We will ask questions like:
- How does Jesus forgive?
- Who does Jesus forgive?
- Who needs to be forgiven?
- Why does Jesus forgive?
Forgiveness plays a central role in the mission of Jesus. Mark records Jesus declaring the very reason he came like this, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” In addition to forgiveness being fundamental to why Jesus came, it is what his followers are told by Jesus to proclaim, “repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47).
Our morning services are live-streamed and available to watch later on our YouTube channel.
Evening Sermon series - The Great Explorers
In our 6.30pm Parish-wide services at St Peter’s each Sunday, we start a new series called The Great Explorers.
The Bible is full of great explorers. We read about men and women who heard and accepted God’s call to explore throughout the pages of Scripture. Abraham “obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Esther, knowing the perils of the journey that lay before her, cried out, “If I perish, I perish.” The Apostle Paul’s expeditions included three shipwrecks! He even spent “a night and a day…adrift at sea.”
This series will examine the lives of the Bible’s great explorers and teach us to long for the great adventure every great explorer experienced when they were obedient and set out on the expedition to which God called them.
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:
16th March
9th March
2nd March
23rd February
16th February
9th February
2nd February
26th January
19th January
12th January
5th January
22nd & 29th December
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.