What’s On

  Noone will forget how the Covid virus spread in a global pandemic during 2020. During that year many people including churches developed their use of online technology to keep in touch with one another and to pray together even when we could not meet in the same place. Did you know that we meet twice a week on Zoom to pray? The times are Wednesday evenings at 9pm and Friday lunchtimes at 12.30pm. If you would like to join in, please get in touch.

Over recent years our Christingle celebration has become a very popular and important part of our Christmas worship. We look forward to joining together for this celebration at 11am on Sunday, 18th December. At 1pm, after the service we would like to sing carols outside church and distribute Christingle kits to families passing-by. This was very well-received by shoppers last Christmas. Would you consider staying after church to join in singing carols and helping to distribute the kits? If you would like to help please speak to matt – Matt@bullring.org Also on Saturday morning on 17th December we will need a team of people to help prepare the Christingles ready for the Sunday. If you would like to help then please let me know – Jeremy@bullring.org

Did you know that the word ‘Advent’ means ‘coming’ or ‘arrival’? The focus of the Season of Advent is to prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in his First Advent. We anticipate the return of Jesus Christ in his Second Advent. Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ that is marked by prayer. You are welcome to come and pray with us at the services listed in the poster below. If you are not able to be with us at the church, the services are available online. If you want to watch the service live on Sunday the link is: http://smitbr.shor.tn/Sunday-1030 If you want to watch the service at another time the link is: http://smitbr.shor.tn/ServiceRecordings

Remember, Celebrate, Hope World AIDS Day, Thursday 1 December 2022, 4.30pm St Martin’s-in-the-Bull Ring, Edgbaston Street, Birmingham, B5 5BB The unveiling of the Birmingham AIDS and HIV Memorial will be preceded at 4.30pm in St Martin’s in the Bull Ring by a community gathering marking World AIDS Day. This is an opportunity for people to remember those who have died, give thanks for medical advances, celebrate the Birmingham AIDS and HIV Memorial unveiling and offer hope for the complete eradication of the disease by 2030. This moving and uplifting service will include music, readings, reflections and an opportunity for members of the congregation to participate actively in a meaningful act of remembrance. Led by St Martin’s Rector, the Reverend Jeremy Alcock, the service will feature Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Principal Dancers Céline Gittens and Brandon Lawrence performing an extract from The Nutcracker, and a performance in song by The Choir With No Name, a local choir whose members

  No one should be alone and homeless. Christmas is a particularly harsh time of year to be sleeping rough. To help spread hope, Crisis, the charity that works to end homelessness, are putting on a Carol Concert here at St. Martin’s on Tuesday 6th December at 6pm.  If you would like to join us for an evening of singing and mince pies please reserve your tickets by following this link: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/crisis-christmas-carol-services/events/birmingham-carol-service/    

We are delighted to welcome back the West Midlands Fire Service who will be performing their Carol Concert on Sunday 11th December 2022 at 4.30pm.  

We are meeting once a month on Saturday mornings to enjoy a time of prayer, Bible reflection and fellowship together. Hot drinks and toast will also be available from 10.30am.

Join University Hospitals Birmingham Charity at St Martin’s Church for an evening of festivities at the annual Christmas Carol Concert on Wednesday 15 December. We will be joined by a children’s choir to welcome in the festive season. Doors open at 7pm, with the concert starting at 7:30pm. Tickets cost £10 for adults, £8 for NHS staff and are free for under 16s. Tickets are also available to purchase at the door on the day. (Please note you will still need to order your free ticket for under 16s who must be accompanied by at least one adult) We look forward to seeing you for an evening of festive fun! Tickets can be purchased through the link: https://www.hospitalcharity.org/shop/product/christmas-carol-concert

The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to show God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Since 1990, more than 186 million children in over 160 countries have experienced God’s love through the power of simple shoebox gifts from Operation Christmas Child. An amazing 265,975 shoebox gifts for children in eight countries across Eastern Europe, Africa and Central Asia in 2020! (samaritans-purse.org.uk) We are delighted to say that we were able to collect 95 boxes this year which have been passed on to the depot in Oldbury ready for distribution to children around the world. We pray that each shoebox will bring some joy and excitement to each child who receives one. At their warehouse in Oldbury they are very much in need of additional volunteers – if you think you might be able to give some time to help then go to: https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/operati

Beginning from Sunday 24th October we are delighted that our Evensong service will recommence once again. This is a choral service which follows the traditional liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer. Our choir will lead us to worship God during the service which will be held usually every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month at 5pm. Please do keep an eye on church notices, this website or our social media pages for updates of the dates and they may vary in December.

Please do come and join us for worship when you can – each  Sunday we continue to provide two services at 9.30am and at 11am. During November we will continuelooking at Our Vision. The details of our worship are as follows: Sunday 7th November 9.30 Holy Communion 11.00 Holy Communion: Focused on Overflowing in thankfulness Colossians 3 v 14 – 17 Sunday 14th November 9.30 Holy Communion 11.00 Morning Worship: Genuine in Friendship John 15 v 9 – 17 Sunday 21st November 9.30 Holy Communion 11.00 Holy Communion: Passionate in Worship Revelation 5 v 6 – 14 Sunday 28th November 9.30 Holy Communion 11.00 All Age: Unceasing in Prayer 1 Thessalonians 5 v 16 – 20 Sunday 31st October 9.30 Holy Communion 11.00 Holy Communion: Compassionate in support Philippians 2 v 1 – 4

Please do come and join us for worship when you can – each  Sunday we continue to provide two services at 9.30am and at 11am. During September we will be focusing on God’s wonderful creation and the enormous challenges we face in order to take far better care of the beautiful world we live in. Many thanks to the Caring for Creation working group who helped plan our worship for September and who will be asking throughout this month how each of us are engaging with the environmental challenges around us. Please note we will be celebrating Harvest at our all-age service on Sunday, 26th September – we will send out more information nearer the time about suitable Harvest gifts. The details for our worship are as follows: Sunday 5th September 9.30 Holy Communion            11.00 Holy Communion          Caring for creation – mission impossible? Genesis 1

‘A prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well.’ – James 5 v15 Starting on Tuesday 7th September, we are delighted that our Healing Service will be resuming each week at 12.30pm. This will be a simple service of worship with music, prayers, scripture reading, and reflections on God’s Word – all focusing on God’s healing power in our world and our lives, and encouraging us to seek the Lord’s healing through prayer for ourselves, our families and friends, our communities, and our city. Through the autumn we are going to be looking at healing stories from the Gospel of St. Mark. Every second and fourth Tuesday the service will also include holy communion.

We are delighted to be able to welcome people back to our Holy Communion service every Thursday at 12.30 pm. If you are in Birmingham city centre this is a lovely opportunity to take out from your busy day to spend time with meeting Jesus in this way. Our lunchtime service of holy communion will continue up to and including Thursday 23rd December and will resume on Thursday 6th January.

Free guided tours of St. Martin in the Bull Ring will start on 16 September from 11 am. These will take place throughout the day with the last tour at 3 pm. The tours will last about 50 minutes. The guided tours will include explanations of the stained glass windows, including the windows by Burns Jones and Craigie Aitchinson. The tours will also include the Guild Chapel, Birmingham’s oldest monument, the contemporary font and the prayer sculpture. Several quirky and unexpected features will also be revealed..! There is no need to book in advance for these tours. You can just turn up. We advise that whilst face coverings are not mandatory, if possible you consider wearing one whilst in the church. The tour to the Bell Ringing Chamber will include the history of bell ringing at St. Martin’s and an explanation of the ringing tradition. There will also be a demonstration of ringing and an opportunity to participate with hand bells. We look forward to welcoming you during Birmi