St. Andrew's Shared Church

Cippenham, Slough

A Welcoming message from Bishop Peter

  The Church is more than an institution: it’s something alive – it is alive with the Life of Christ. Our parishes reflect this Life.

  On behalf of the Catholic Church, I would like to welcome you to this website for the shared church of St Andrew in Cippenham.  Through it you will find a living community – a community made of two strands, Catholic and Anglican, living together, working together and praying together.  In doing this, the parish has become a place of welcome and of outreach, bringing the Gospel to others.

  I hope that the friendship and joy which make this joint parish community so unique will make you feel welcome as you look at this website.

   

  Right Reverend Peter Doyle

  Bishop of Northampton

 

 

 

Faith in Focus, News and Information

August

 

Faith in Focus: Jackpot Prayer?

  A woman who was on a diet came into work with a huge chocolate cream cake.   When her friends asked if she had stopped dieting she told them that God wanted her to have the cake.   "I saw it in the bakery and prayed to God to let there be a parking spot outside, if he wanted me to have the cake.   And on the 10th time round, there was the parking place!"

  Prayer is a strange thing.   Some people feel the need to tell God a shopping list of things that they want, as if he didn't already know what they need!   And often we ourselves don't realise what we really need and we pray for things that we think will make life better, but which everyone else knows will be our ruin.   The same happens when an alcoholic prays for a bottle of whisky.

  There are those who tend to think that prayer is like a religious fruit machine, a divine one-arm-bandit.   You put your request in, pull the handle and eventually you hit the jackpot.   Of course, this would be to treat God like some sort of robot that did not have our welfare at heart.   It's the sort of prayer that people make to win the lottery.

  So it's hardly surprising that people talk about unanswered prayer.   The very thought that God would completely ignore us when we turn to him is ridiculous.   But scripture tells us that sometimes we are asking for the wrong thing or with the wrong motives and that's why we don't receive what we want.   Prayer is always answered; it's just that sometimes the answer is "no", or it comes in a way we didn't expect.

  When we look at the prayer that Jesus taught us, the Our Father or the Lord's Prayer, we notice that there is a lot of emphasis at the beginning on God's will being done in all things, and the values of God's kingdom permeating our thoughts and actions.   Maybe if we remained open in our prayer, telling God of our needs and desires, but asking him to help us become conformed to his will, then we would start to change our approach to prayer, wanting to be part of God's plan rather than getting him to change his plans to suit ours.   Prayer would become a request to change us.

  And maybe that's why we have to wait until the second half of the Our Father before we get round to asking for things…

 

Information and News

For more detailed information - log onto the 'Our Lady of Peace' site link below

     Holy Hour - Every Tuesday at 7.30pm at Our Lady of Peace with Exposition and Prayers.

  Morning Prayer - is celebrated at Our Lady of Peace Monday - Saturday at 9.15am.

  Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament - Tuesdays 7.30 - 8.30pm at Our Lady of Peace.

  Thinking of becoming a Catholic? - We plan to start a new course for those thinking of joining the Catholic Church. Please contact Sheila for more information (Tel: 01628 605764)

   Dates For Your Diary

    Friends of Northampton Cathedral - The Cathedral is the Mother Church of our Diocese and as such is worthy of our special love.   By joining the Friends you will be preserving it, promoting its work and helping to progress the work of the Cathedral through fundraising for future projects.   For further details contact 01604 714556, email: office@northamptoncathedral.org, or visit the website www.northamptoncathedral.org

 

 

 

 

Home - Thoughts - Building Blocks - Anglicans Sharing Life - Training with Angels - What's on Anglican - News & Information - What's on Catholic - Catholic Parish News - Community - Youth Page - Children's Page - History - Find Us

Links to other Catholic Web Sites

Our Lady of Peace - Northampton Diocese - www.northamptoncathedral.org - Burnham Lighthouse - Harvesters - Our Lady of the Sacred Heart