Christmas Fair 2026

Christmas begins when the Good Shepherd Christmas Fair transforms the church into a joyfilled time of fundraising, gift purchasing, mulled wine consuming, game playing, hot food enjoying, and charity supporting.    The Good Shepherd Christmas fair raises funds for local charities, Diamond Riding Centre, Homestart, Sutton Community Works, Sutton Schoolswork, and further afield charities Christian Aid and Cry in the dark.

Do come along and help the local Parish church support these wonderful charities this Christmas.

Walking through the hallows

As we journey through the year we mark All Hallowtide through different ways from Halloween, where we remember that in Christ, death does not have the last word.    That although the pain of loss can debilitate at times, we can trust in Jesus the guy who said ‘I am the Resurrection and the life’,  then we move to All Saints and All Souls day where we hold space in our Hope Remembered Service.   Giving time to consider those we have loved and see no more and inviting God’s spirit to hold our pain with us, and bring the comfort of the trinity close by.   Remembrance Sunday ends this marked period (although not the journey) as we seek peace through the trials of war and we invite the Holy Spirits softening of our hearts towards our enemies, remembering that in God there is a bigger table.

Come gather round the mystery
Of love in our broken history
Where grace heals the fault lines in me
Time and time again it welcomes me into a

A house for the hungry
A well for the thirsty
Where all saints come together
Shoulder to shoulder
A welcome for the traveller
New wine for the vineyard
In all things God is able
Love has a bigger table

Show me who is my neighbour
The Christ hidden in the beggar
Cause love doesn’t meet a stranger
Love calls them friend
And welcomes them into a

A house for the hungry
A well for the thirsty
Where all saints come together
Shoulder to shoulder
A welcome for the traveler
New wine for the vineyard
In all things
God is able
Love has a bigger table

There’s an empty seat
Waiting next to me
We gotta make some room for each other
Let my enemy be my family
Fill my cup til it’s running over

11 & 25 October,  8 & 22 November

Gathering together for worship, prayer, thought and reflection.   All are welcome.

Thank you so much

Thank you to all who supported the Good Shepherd Harvest appeal.   Such a wonderful occasion, and an additional verse of We plough the fields and scatter referencing our local Supermarket.
As we face such complex things in the world around us, may we find the space to discover gratitude throughout our every day lives.

September Services

The church of England celebrates Creation tide in September as our young people return to the routine of education and summer begins to retreat into the hills.     As the Autumn leaves start to think about falling we find ourselves reminded of our place in the world.     Countries that have seasonal climates can particularly enable us to notice that we are part of something bigger than the small worlds that we live in our daily lives.   There is that beautiful song called ‘I hope you dance’ with the line ‘I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean…’.   That always helps me recognise that the negative things that I may be facing to not have the last word.   The ocean has been here for 1000’s of years and will continue on.   God as creator, holds it all in their hands and as we bring our fears and worries to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit may we find hope and reassurance in our day to day lives.

Do come and gather at the Good Shepherd in September to remember that we are part of something so much bigger than our immediate field of vision.   Sundays in September.

Why use a church to mark a life event?

Marriage

These days there are so many places people can get married.  Beautiful hotels, and wedding venues.   A local church is valuable when the focus is on  the long term, the wedding day is the beginning of new life together.   The Vicar of the Good Shepherd will be celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary this year and offers marriage prep sessions to all the couples that are married at the Good Shepherd church,  the couples are also held in prayer during the pre and post wedding celebrations.     There is also the invitation for any newly married couples to regularly attend the services at the Good Shepherd to grow in faith and encounter other couples who have lived in marriage for a variety of years.     No marriage is an island!

New Life

There is nothing more joyous than a baby’s first cry as they enter the world.   And how wonderful it is to celebrate new life.  Throughout it’s nearly 100 years of ministry the Good Shepherd has helped families celebrate new human life by offering infant baptism.     During a Sunday Service the family will be welcomed in with the new baby to be prayed for and welcomed in to the local community.   Do contact our church office if you are interested in having your gorgeous child baptised.

Funeral

‘…weep with those who weep’.    When we face the absence of a loved one through death it can be very disorientating.   Part of the ministry of the local parish church is to walk with people as they formally say goodbye to the ones they love.   A funeral is the place to hold space for the loved one, to tell the story of their life and to remember that death does not have the last word.   As we grieve and mourn the loss of our loved one, the church can be a place we can find support and other people who are walking the road of bereavement.   The Good Shepherd has many people who are familiar with the working out of grief and learning to live life in the absence of the beloved person.   We do not hold the answers,  but we do hold experience and faith that God renews all things, and we are learning that every grief journey is unique.
Holding a funeral at the Good Shepherd, will include conversations with the Vicar to create the service together using the Anglican Funeral service,   and then an invitation to come along to the BEES bereavement support group, and an invitation in October to attend Hope Remembered Memorial service in November.   Where the names of loved ones are spoken aloud.

You do not walk the path of life alone as you experience births, marriages and deaths,  your local church is here to walk alongside.

Fairytales and faithfulness

Throughout the summer, Good Shepherd have been delving into ancient fairytales.   The brothers grim gave us Cinderella and Snow-white,  Judith Kerr brought to life a Tiger coming to tea,  the old folk story of the three little pigs, and over the final weeks of summer Frozen and Red Riding Hood will open their gifts for us to see how faithfulness and scriptures find their way through the pages of ancient fairytales.

The services are so worth a listen, as Kevin got out his white board and engaged the congregation and revisiting familiar fairytales and weaving them into themes of Jesus.   Do check out the services.

Thank you for supporting Good Shepherd’s Summer Fair

What a glorious day was had on Saturday, not too hot and not rainy.   The Vicar was soaked in the stocks,  the stall stock was sold, Lemonade and Pimms were consumed.   The highlight of the day though had to be the arrival of a new stall – the human fruit machine.    Our wonderful Parish Nurse invited three lovely people to be the fruit Machine and David and Janet crafted the chairs so the humans could not see each other.    There was a handle and a squeaky ball and the fruit machine selected it’s fruit.   if you were lucky you won a treat.

It was a beautiful way to celebrate summer and raise funds for Home Start, Diamond Riding, Sutton Schools Work, Sutton Community Works, Cry in the dark and Christian Aid.    Thank you to the charities for coming along as well and joining in the fundraising.

Thank you to Chris again for organising the whole event and he asked to remind everyone that the Christmas fair will be on Saturday 5th December.

Sunday 14th June

Three years have passed quickly and we find ourselves approaching  Rev Ian and Caris last Sunday.    Their final service will be on Sunday 14th June and we will say goodbye in true Good Shepherd style with Service followed by a Holy Roast Lunch.

Ian arrived on a sunny day in June back in 2023 and was ordained Deacon on the day of the Summer Fair.    We have journeyed together through the rhythm of church life, seeking to point to Jesus through how we live out life, in services, baptisms, funerals, supporting people, courses, small groups, fairs, and all the many ways of leading people in their faith.   Ian and Caris will be very much missed at the Good Shepherd Church and Padiham Parish will be richly blessed with Ian leading the way.     May the Father, Son and Holy Spirit keep close company with them as they go through the waters of moving from one Parish to the next.

Jesus,  we thank you for Ian and Caris and we know you will continue your great work in both of them as they move on.   May you uphold their family as they adjust to a new phase of life and build them up in the love of the Holy Spirit.
May our Father sustain them and enrich them in their new life. May you whisper to their souls about what you are busy doing in Padiham and how you want them to join in and lead.   Amen.

Sunday 31st May 2026

8.30am & 10am

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday.   The pinacle of the story of the christian faith.    The Anglican year begins in Advent, as the church focuses on the account of the characters that enabled Jesus life, Father God, Holy Spirit, Jesus the Word, Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph bringing something new into the world.     The next level of the arrival of the Kingdom of God and here on a sunny Sunday in May we reach the beautiful new beginning of hope on earth,  the Trinity re-aligned, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit united and loving the world, inviting human beings to love God in the way that Jesus loves God.    Understanding the Trinity God continues to baffle human beings as we wrestle and wonder and argue about concepts of God.    These images below capture impressions of the relationship of the trinity, but there will always be more.   The Trinity’s story will always continue, and human beings are always welcomed in to join the story.   Everyone gets to play.   If you’re curious about who Jesus is do visit a local church, even visit Good Shepherd…..you never know you might discover there is more to life.   The irony that the church calendar moves into ‘ordinary time’ between now and Advent is amusing.   Life with the Trinity is extraordinary in it’s ordinary, because love is never ordinary.