Please be aware that we are in the process of installing our new heating system. The North Aisle and the rear of the church is inaccessible. There is scaffolding inside the church as well as building equipment. The old heating is still working and will be on!PLEASE ENSURE THAT CHILDREN ARE SUPERVISED AT ALL TIMES.We are hoping the work will be complete within the next week.Thank you, kindly.
Congratulations to Elaine Shanks who was authorised today as Lay Minister of the Word to serve at St Paul's, Ryhope.Lay Ministers of the Word are to lead worship, preach and teach so as to build up th eBody of Christ in faith and action.Elaine has been studying all year and has put a huge amount of effort and dedication in to serving our church. It is a joy to see Elaine's ministry in Ryhope grow.A prayer from the service at Durham Cathedral this morning:Loving God,whose Spirit stirs us to care and calls us into service.We give thanks for the rich variety of ministrieswhich embody your compassion.We praise your nameBecause you have called women and men to serve you,bestowing the needful gifts of grace.Equip these your servants, we pray,for the growth of your Kingdom.Give them wisdom in listening and speaking,compassion in their actions and humility in their ministries.Make them channels of your love,that many may come to know and trust youthrough you Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ.Amen.
On Monday 7th July 2025 Professor Bill Clegg from Newcastle University joined us for an open discussion of science and faith. We begin with learning about Bill’s background, how he became both a Christian and a scientist. He is an accredited Baptist Lay Preacher and is chair to Christians in Science.Thank you to all who came along and participated this evening; and special thanks to Professor Bill Clegg.email: bill.clegg@ncl.ac.ukweb: https://bigquestions-anyanswers.org————————————————————Quotations:Johannes Kepler Astronomer and mathematician“Science is thinking God’s thoughts after him.”Galileo Galilei Astronomer“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered”Sir William Henry Bragg Physicist“From religion comes a man's purpose; from science, his power to achieve it. Sometimes people ask if religion and science are not opposed to one another. They are: in the same sense that the thumb and fingers of my hands are opposed to one another. It is an opposition by means of which anything can be grasped.”————————————————————Useful Links:Christians in ScienceRecorded talks. leaflets eventshttps://www.cis.org.uk/The Faraday Institute(Dr Ruth Bancewicz writes for Parish Pump, content provider for Ryhope Views)Seminars, courseshttps://www.faraday.cam.ac.uk/Local Science-faith website (Professor Clegg’s site)Short articleshttps://bigquestions-anyanswers.org/Email: bill.clegg@ncl.ac.ukTest of Faithonline short course from the faraday institutehttps://www.testoffaith.com/Science for the churchAmerican organisationhttps://scienceforthechurch.org/BiologosArticles podcasts videos etc from USAhttps://biologos.org/A RochaChristian Environmental Organisationhttps://arocha.org.uk/Baptist Union Environment Networkhttps://baptist.org.uk/groups/349554/Baptist_Union_Environment.aspx————————————————————Further Reading:Miracles of Exodus by Colin HumphreysHarper Collins 2003Creation or Evolution: Do we have to choose? By Denis Alexander.Monarch Books 2008Slaying the Dragons: Destroying myths in the history of science and faith. By Allan ChapmanLion Books 2013Galileo Goes To Jail and other myths about science and religion by Ronald Numbers.Harvard University Press 2009The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient cosmology and the origins debate by John WaltonIVP 2010Science and Religion: a new introduction by Alister McGrathWiley 2020 (3rd Edition)————————————————————Questions/Chapter Time Stamps15:16.17:02.19:04.19:41. Genesis 1 & 220:37. Isaiah 55:1221:09.22:20.24:29.25:30. Leviticus 19:19, Deuteronomy 6:5 & Matthew 22:3726:43. Genesis 2:729:27.30:56.31:20. John 433:21. Revelation34:35. Matthew 24:6-1336:07.44:41.49:31.50:15.52:38.53:54.1:00:29.1:05:34.1:08:20.1:10:08.1:13:04.1:13:53.1:15:49. Beneath The Cross of Jesus - Hymn by Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane (1868)1:17:14. Psalm 1391:19:15.1:21:12. Revelation 211:23:20.1:24:37.1:27:13.1:27:50.1:30:10.1:29:16. John 51:32:36.1:37:35. Quotations1:39:19. Closing thoughts———Other references:8:01. X-ray Crystallography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_crystallography39:38. Heisenberg's Indeterminacy Principle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle40:15.Planck's Constant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_constant40:53. Pendulum Experiment https://youtu.be/PrPYeu3GRLg?si=pLl-rsBxzaZ9Hy0842:07. Chaos Theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory52m28. Fermi Paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox1:13:27.Talmud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud1:13:33. Apocrypha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocrypha1:15:49. Beneath The Cross of Jesus - Hymn by Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane (1868) https://youtu.be/CYfaU_d8Jw0?si=oF-pz2h2MCdOHmgE1:19:46. Parthenogenesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis1:22:33. Laws of Thermodynamics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_thermodynamics1:28:42. Pool of Bethesda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_of_Bethesda1:29:02. Luke the Evangelist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_the_Evangelist1:35:25. Cosmology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmology & Quantum Theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics1:36:02. Newton’s Laws of Motion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_laws_of_motion
Sunderland Minster, along with Christians from around Sunderland and the surrounding areas, were at Sunderland Pride today supporting the LGBTQ + event. The Minster had a stall with knitted sheep and rainbows in various pride flag colours given out for free to those visiting it. Rev. Jacqui Tyson had a picture frame with “The image of God” written on it which we were invited to pose in. The annual event was well attended with adults, teenagers, families and friends enjoying an afternoon of musical entertainment after the march from Park Lane to Keel Square.This year is the 56th anniversary of the Stonewall riots which sparked the Pride marches. The Stonewall riots were sparked by a police raid on the Stonewall inn in Greenwich village in New York in 1969, after an increasingly oppressive approach to LGBTQ people by the police and US society and law in general. The riots continued for several days and led to organisations springing up advocating rights for LGBTQ people. These campaigning groups have won equal marriage rights and protection in law such as the Equality Act but there has been an erosion of rights in recent years throughout the world.By Elaine Shanks.
