Past, present and future have been honoured and prayed for this morning during a special service at St Paul’s Church on Wordsworth Avenue.
Today’s event is an anniversary of St Paul’s Church Hall being opened in 1949, the building which was used as a worship space for 10 years before the permanent church building opened in 1959.
St Paul’s had been in a state of decline in 2018 with just 9 people forming the congregation. It had been feared the church wouldn’t exist into the 2020s, but there has been a turnaround and revitalisation since the appointment of an Interim Pioneer Minister (now permanent Oversight Minister – Revd Andy Poultney). The congregation now comprises of 25-30 adults plus many children, with the church’s various ministries impacting more than 200 people each week.
Today’s celebrations have helped to launch Project 75: a plan to redevelop the whole site and look ahead to the future. The Archbishop of York, the Most Revd and Rt Hon Stephen Cottrell, was among the visitors and was welcomed to St Paul’s by Revd Andy Poultney and the Venerable Malcolm Chamberlain, Archdeacon of Sheffield and Rotherham.
“Surely the Lord has done great things!”
Various church leaders and community representatives were also in attendance, including Cllr Jayne Dunn, the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, local councillors, headteachers and representatives from various local partner organisations.
Archbishop Stephen gave an address to the congregation as he paid tribute to the missional work taking place in the area. The readings, Joel 2: 21-27 and Matthew 6: 25-33, were also preached on by Andy at his first service at St Paul’s back in 2018.
“Celebrating what has been, and planning for what will be”
Part of the service included a thanks to organist John Roch for serving the church from 1963 – 2019. John was awarded Maundy Money in 2020, but was sadly unable to attend the usual presentation by the Queen at Windsor Castle, due to Covid restrictions. Today was an opportunity to honour and thank him publicly.
There was also a strong focus on looking to the future with Project 75’s strapline: “Celebrating what has been, and planning for what will be”.
Part of the plans looking ahead include the licensing of a Church Army Evangelist and celebrating the licencing of Andy’s Oversight Minister role into a permanent post.
The service finished with a buffet lunch and opportunities for various church and community leaders to meet with both long-term members of the church and people visiting for the first time.
Revd Andy Poultney, Oversight Minister and Parson Cross Pioneer Minister, said:
“We are thankful for all that God has done in the first 75 years of St Paul’s and are looking forward with anticipation to all that is to come. It has been wonderful to mark this new chapter today with so many fabulous people, including Archbishop Stephen.”
The Archbishop of York, the Most Revd and Rt Hon Stephen Cottrell, said:
“This 75th anniversary is a story of great joy, and a testament to God’s work even when it seems as if, by our human standards, things are failing. It is so good to celebrate the local Church and the many ways that faith and ministry bear fruit in the service of local communities. May the next 75 years of ministry in this place be filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit.”
With thanks to Maria Ellmore for the photos.