What’s On

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.

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! If you would like to find out more about how to pack a shoebox visit How to Pack a Shoebox (samaritans-purse.org.uk) Please remember not to include toothpaste or sweets. Full guidelines of what you can can include and what to avoid can be found on What Goes In My Shoebox (samaritans-purse.org.uk) National Collection Week this year is 15 – 22 November. We are a Collection Point for Christmas Shoeboxes. The last day for receiving shoeboxes will be Sunday 21 November. We are open from 9am R

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 Thursday 2nd December at 6pm. Further details can be found on https://www.bullring.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Carol-Concert-1.pdf 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/

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. The dates of the services in November are: Sunday 14th November Sunday 28th November

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.

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

Starting on Pentecost, Sunday 23rd May, St. Martin in the Bull Ring will be resuming worship at 9.30am and 11am.Each Sunday, the 9.30am worship will be a more formal service of holy communion.11am worship is more informal with slightly different services throughout each month:1st Sunday: holy communion2nd Sunday: morning worship3rd Sunday: holy communion4th Sunday: all-age worshipIt will be possible to view the 11am worship via live-stream on Zoom.For more information on any of the above please e-mail life@bullring.orgWe hope to post information about the resumption of our Sunday activities for children and young people in the church building in the coming weeks.

To celebrate Ascension Day, there will be a service of Holy Communion at St. Martin in the Bull Ring at 3pm, Thursday, 13th May.In the evening our Growing Roots groups will also be sharing in worship and bible study for Ascension – for more information please e-mail life@bullring.orgAs part of our series on ‘Resurrection Life’, our worship at 10.30am on Sunday, 16th will also celebrate the ascension of Jesus Christ. All services are available to view via live-stream on Zoom – again, for more information please e-mail life@bullring.org

From Ascension to Pentecost, Christians of all denominations are joining in with this worldwide prayer initiative. From 13th to 23rd May we are encouraged to engage deeply in prayer and especially to pray for people to come to know Jesus.To visit the Thy Kingdom Come website for more information, special videos, multiple prayer resources, children’s activities or to sign up to the special app – click on the image above.At St. Martin’s, the church building is open for prayer on Thursday 13th and 20th from 2-4pm; Saturday 15th and 22nd from 2-4pm; and Sunday 16th and 23rd from noon till 2pm – and at each of these times visitors can make use of special prayer stations and other resources to encourage our conversation with God.

God of our lives,we give thanks for the life of Prince Philip,for his love of our country,and for his devotion to duty.We entrust him now to your love and mercy,through our Redeemer Jesus Christ. Amen. A PRAYER ON THE DEATH OF HRH THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH The church community of St. Martin in the Bull Ring offers our prayers in thanksgiving for the life of His Royal Highness, Prince Philip,and with love and condolences to Her Majesty, the Queen and all of their family. Buy Generic Levitra Online Those who live in the shelter of the Most Highwill find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.Psalm 91 v1 St. Martin in the Bull Ring will be open from 2-4pm onThursday 15th, Friday 16th and Saturday 17th April, to enable opportunity for prayer and to light a candle in the church building . At 3pm on Friday 16th there will be a short service of prayers in memory of the Duke of Edinburgh.

I was glad when they said to me,“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”Psalm 122 v1 St. Martin in the Bull Ring will be open for worship each Sunday at 10.30am. The church building will also be open for private prayer and the opportunity to light a candle at the following times:Every Thursday: 2 – 4pmEvery Saturday: 2 – 4pmEvery Sunday: noon – 2pm All are welcome.

Would you like someone to pray for you? Perhaps you would like prayer because you are not feeling well, you’re depressed, you are looking for a new job, you need to find somewhere to live or you know someone else who is in need of prayer. Maybe you would like to say thank you to God for something special or just for the blessings of everyday life. If you would like us to pray for you – and with you – please send your prayer request by e-mail to life@bullring.org and we promise to join you in prayer to the LORD. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4 v6