40 days of Prayer Please join us in 40 days of prayer this Lent. Loving Father, bless the community of St. Martin’s with your love, compassion and care. Fill us with your Spirit that we might walk in your ways. Open our eyes to see your hand at work in our lives and glorify your name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Upcoming special events for Lent: Ash Wednesday – 5th March We will mark the start of Lent with services at 12 noon and 6pm on Ash Wednesday. Both services will include the opportunity to receive the imposition of ashes as a mark of this season of penitence. The 6pm service will be Holy Communion. All welcome. Lent Course Last week 27 Anglican bishops wrote an open letter to the government to protest about people going hungry in the UK. This is part of the End Hunger Fast campaign (see www.endhungerfast.co.uk). The Lent course is called Parables & Possessions and looks at issues of poverty and our relationship with money. It will be on Wednesday evenings from

It was like a spring day when we had our HOTS session at St Martin’s.  We even enjoyed the sun warming our faces at times. The Market place was busy and there were lots of people from all faiths, cultures, social and economic backgrounds.  This is an extract of last March’s HOTS feedback. How weird this is –  I could write this all over again for this year’s feedback .The weather was just like a year ago!!!! The Bible reading for that day in the Church of England lectionary was James 5: 13-end. We read that ‘Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it didn’t. Again he prayed that it would rain and the heavens gave rain and it produced its crops…’ Two things called my attention in this reading: Elijah was a man like us He prayed for something and it happened and then he prayed exactly for the opposite and it happened too! Why? What is going on here? Without turning this feedback into a sermon, I’d just like to say this to encourage us as we pra

14th-19th April 2014  A stranger arrives in Birmingham City Centre as the biggest festival in its history begins. The events of the next few days will turn the world upside down. A Passion For Birmingham is a new promenade play retelling the Passion story in modern-day Birmingham. An event for the diocese and beyond, the promenade production will lead its audience around three venues: Birmingham Cathedral and grounds, The Old Joint Stock Pub & Theatre, and the Wellington Pub. In each new location, a new scene unfolds. Tickets are available now from the Old Joint Stock Box Office or on their website www.oldjointstocktheatre.co.uk. Monday 14th April 6:30pm & 8:30pm Tuesday 15th April 2pm Wednesday 16th April 6:30pm & 8:30pm Thursday 17th April 2pm Friday 18th April 8:30pm Saturday 19th April 1pm & 6:30pm & 8:30pm Running time: 1hr 15 approx. Please wear suitable footwear. We apologise that due to the nature of the promenade style, the production is unfortunately not w

Cuppa and Chat continues to go from strength to strength! We are getting a really good group of regulars now who all have an interesting story or two to tell. It has been wonderful to see people over a period of time gradually come out of their shell and talk more especially about things that might be bothering them. We also continue to get people who just happen to wander into the church and are delighted at the thought of a free cup of tea or coffee. We have started working more closely with West Midlands police to run an informal monthly police surgery where a local policewoman called Beth comes along and chats to people that attend to see if there are ways that she can provide advice and support to people. This has been a new initiative piloted by the police in order to build relationships with more vulnerable people in a safe and non threatening environment. We look forward to seeing how that develops. We have also been working In partnership with The Community Navigators Scheme w