What’s On

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. 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

After prayerful consideration, it has been decided to temporarily close our building for worship and prayer. We appreciate this decision will be disappointing and frustrating for some but our concern is to support the government in restricting the spread of the coronavirus, and encouraging us all to stay at home.This decision will be under constant review and as soon as it feels sufficiently safe and appropriate will once more re-open the building for worship and prayer.Please join us in praying: for our nation and the world;for our health services and care workers;for all who continue to work for our benefit;for those who are unwell and those who are bereaved. In the meantime, you can continue to join us for worship each week on the St. Martin in the Bull Ring page on YouTube – just click on the image below.

Each week there are three opportunities to join us for prayer via Zoom:Mondays 9.30am – Morning PrayerWednesdays 9.00pm – Compline/Night PrayerFridays at 12.30pm – Lunchtime Prayer We spend so much time educating businesses on marketing to-dos, but we don’t want to leave out our friends with religious organizations. We see so many companies neglect their web presence and faith-based groups like churches are no exception. It used to be that having a website was just a necessary tool for getting found; however, organizations like churches, who have learned how to use their website to engage their members through digital content, have learned their website can be much more than a place to just discover the address and church service times. Here are three reasons why it is important to have a modern website for churches and other non-profit organizations. Older websites may not have all of the sharing tools that a modern website will afford, if you are working on a budget

We are delighted that St. Martin in the Bull Ring has been included in the Winter Wonders trail around the southside of Birmingham city centre. Our theme is ‘Do not be afraid for everyday angels are among us’.Winter Wonders is a map based trail, created by the people of Birmingham – a fun, free and safe activity for children and families to enjoy over the Christmas season.To follow the trail and join the adventure, click on the image above to link to the WW website, download the special map, and start your search. There are 20 window displays to find. Enjoy the Winter Wonders trail!!

Celebrating the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel, ‘God with us’ is one of the most exciting and uplifting moments of the year. This Christmas season we invite you to join us for our Christmas worship at St. Martin in the Bull Ring as well as in Radiant Church to give thanks to God for the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Please join us for any of the following services: Sunday 20th December Our Christingle service at 10.30am. Thursday 24th December – Christmas Eve A service of carols and readings at noon and repeated at 4pmChristmas Eve Holy Communion at 11.30pm Friday 25th December – Christmas Day An all-age service of Holy Communion at 10.30am Sunday 27th December Christmas Holy Communion at 10.30am In addition to our services in church, our worship for Sunday 20th December, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be available online on the St. Martin in the Bull Ring page on YouTube. To view all our services posted to YouTube please click on the image above. “I bring you

St. Martin in the Bull Ring usually has the privilege of hosting a carol service on behalf of the West Midlands Fire Service. As this was not possible this year, the service has been produced online with contributions from across the whole West Midlands staff, the Fire Service Band, Mayfield School and our Rector, Jeremy, linking the whole thing together. To view the service on YouTube click on the image above.

During the present lockdown it is not possible to hold worship in the church building, but we continue to post new acts of worship each week on the St. Martin in the Bull Ring page on YouTube. To join us for worship and to view previous online services just click on the image above.

During the present lockdown restrictions, St. Martin in the Bull Ring will be open for private prayer during the following times:Thursdays 2-4pmSaturdays 2-4pmSundays 2-4pmPlease feel free to come in to the church during these times, find a quiet space to pray, and light a candle if you wish.

Many people have many preconceptions about God and especially the God Christians supposedly believe in. Many of our ideas about God we have inherited, absorbed or assumed – often influenced by art and culture, popular myth or family tradition.But who is God? What do Christians actually believe about God?The Bible says if we want to know what God is like we need to consider Jesus – his words, his actions, his character, his choices etc. Jesus loved to tell stories and in many of those stories he helps us to understand more about God and what God is really like. Throughout August we will be looking at several of those stories to discover all sorts of surprising truths about our unexpected God. Join us in church or online as we explore the following:Our Unexpected God…..invites us to a party – Luke 14 v15-24…..looks for the lost – Luke 15 v1-7…..longs for us to come home – Luke 15 v11-24…..gives us a second chance – Luke 13 v6-9…..gives good things R

While Sunday worship has resumed in the church building, we acknowledge for some people it remains much safer to stay at home to worship. So each Sunday we will continue to upload worship services to the St. Martin in the Bull Ring page on YouTube. These services are posted each Sunday but are available at any time. Please come and join us!