Welcome

Welcome to the home page of St. Paul's Church, Oldham. St Paul's is one of many parish churches in the Church of England. It is part of the Diocese of Manchester.

St. Paul's church building stands on the corner of Ashton Road and Broadway Street Oldham.

Please note that this is the website for St. Paul's, Oldham - not St. Paul's, Royton.

We aim to live out the Christian Gospel faithfully, as individuals and as a community. We offer a range of activities for children and adults.

For any information regarding times of church services, uniformed organisations, church activities or parish personnel etc. please select the appropiate button on the left-hand side navigation list.

For information about booking a Baptism (Christening) or Renewal of Marriage Vows, please look under "Special Services" in the navigation menu on the left. Or you can contact Nick, the Vicar, by phone on 0161 624 1068 or by . Details on how to organise a Funeral, a Wedding etc will appear soon.

To see a larger version of any picture on this website, simply click on it.

What's new?

Ian Harvey and Kimbilio:
Update on the political situation in Lubumbashi.

Last year the prison in Lubumbashi was attacked, the guards killed and almost 1000 prisoners were released. The purpose of this prison break was to release Gedeon, a Mai Mai leader who had been imprisoned several years earlier

Since his release the Mai Mai have become more active in north Katanga around the towns of Mitwaba, Munono and Pweto. They have taken over these towns, looting and killing residents. This has resulted in a large number of internally displayed persons in this area. Recently they got as far as the town of Bunkeya which is closer to Lubumbashi. They appear to have changed their political agenda and now claim to be the Katangese army fighting for the independence of Katanga. They have given the Government an ultimatum saying they will march on Lubumbashi if their demands are not met. It is difficult to assess at this stage how serious a threat they pose to the security of the wider region but there is definitely a higher presence of military around key sites such as the airport and the Presidents palace.

There also appears locally to be a greater sense of insecurity with regular stories of military and police attacks on civilians. The police are currently paid 60,000 Congolese Francs approx £43.00 per month. Apparently they were recently awarded a pay rise but this has been creamed off at a higher level and has not made it to their pay packets resulting in a deep level of resentment. Last Friday, after a trip to a local monastery to buy trees to plant at Kimbilio I was caught up in a road block by local residents who had closed the main road into Lubumbashi. They refused to let us pass and threw stones and branches at some cars that tried to attempt to get passed. When they started to burn tyres we decided it would be safer to retreat. We ended up waiting at a distance for about an hour until the police came in full riot gear to reopen the road. The residents were complaining about the lack of electricity in their area. A relatively small incident which thankfully ended peacefully but which perhaps gives an indication of the level of tension, stress and anger that is not far beneath the surface for many people here these days.

Its not all doom and gloom! At Kimbilio we have just had 2 weeks of planning our future with John Cornwell, a community development worker. He helped us to look at our vision and mission as a project and to put together a plan of action for the next 5 years. The method he used was very participative with the outcome of the team feeling much more involved and stronger with a sense of responsibility of enacting the plan that they were involved in putting together.

Despite 2 of the boys at Maison Kimbilio being in hospital with malaria last week they are all doing well now. One boys who had returned to the streets (a rare event) came back to Kimbilio on Saturday, which is great news (especially as he is one who is great at watering trees)

Also Chancelle Vie Ian the baby, only a few hours old, that was abandoned at Kimbilio in July is doing very well in her new family who just adore her! At 7 months she is already able to 'give 5' when requested in English!

The programme for the next few weeks is to

complete the final touches on the kitchen which was built while I was back in the UK.
install the long awaited solar panels at Josue Manda House which will give 12 volt lights to the children and carers rooms at night.
clear the computers through customs (a potentially expensive operation, 'new and unexpected' charges appear at every turn!) we ordered from ComputerAid approximately 2 years ago and get the office wired up for the 'IT suite'!
plant the 80 trees (mixture of fruit, pine and palms) bought on the eventful trip to the monastery.
continue the implementation of the plan with the Kimbilio team.
prepare for the visit of Maggie Crewes from Retrak who is coming to give training around reintegration of children with their families to the team.
stay out of the way of road blocks and military!

Many thanks to you all for all your ongoing support, concern and prayer...

Ian Harvey

Ian has writes this article makes very interesting albeit sad reading.

Shopping Online

Recently many retailers have gone bankrupt, seemingly due to competition from the Internet. And particularly this may be due to unfair competition from internet traders which pay very little tax, on their profits and on their sales. This clearly gives them a massive competitive advantage against which many other internet traders, and many high street retailers, cannot compete. Furthermore the national and local economies are harmed by the effects of non-payment of tax, and unfair competition.

At the moment this website contains links to Amazon - a prime example of a company that has hit the headlines for precisely this reason. So we must ask ourselves the question, "Is it ethical to shop online at amazon?"

As usual there are no black or white answers to this question. But our answer to this question may well be affected by our answers to these questions:

Are there cheaper options elsewhere? or do we wrongly assume that amazon is the cheapest when it may not be.
Do we use third-party sellers? often these third party sellers simply pay a fee to amazon to take advantage of the advertising opportunities presented by amazon. The sellers may be smaller companies who are more likely to pay tax.
Do we buy second-hand? again, a question with an answer that is not straightforward, especially concerning books, since abebooks (a popular site for buying second-hand books) was bought by amazon. However this site excels at enabling individuals to purchase a wide range of cheap second-hand books from many local bookstores across the country, or world.
Do we try to use local shops? maybe the number of shop closures in Oldham is not just due to roadworks for the new Metrolink, but also our own decisions to shop elsewhere.

Ultimately, the question is up to the individual. It will be affected by a number of factors: how much time we have to shop around; whether we can afford a higher price; whether something second hand will meet our needs just as well; whether we can organise a range of passwords! It may not be a question of whether we use, for example, amazon, but how much.

Ethical Consumer has come up with a list of alternatives to amazon, who pay a fairer rate of tax. You can also find the link by clicking on the icon at the top of this section.

The Give As You Live and Easy Fundraising schemes donate to the St. Paul's Church, or a range of charities, at a very broad range of internet retailers, not just a single one.

Special Events and Services

Please click . Please be aware that we would send you about ten emails a year with details of Christmas and Easter Services, Carol Service, Christmas Fair, and Special Services: Mothering Sunday, Harvest, etc.

Christie Cancer Fund

Neil has finished his events for 2012. He's raised £890 so far.

Please see Neil if you would like to support The Christie, or click here to go to his page at justgiving.com.

We believe

. . . that a church should be a place where the generous, forgiving love of God in Christ is made real in practical ways.

. . . that a church should be a community that welcomes all people whatever their age, situation, or background.

. . . that a church should dedicate itself to the worship of Almighty God, using all the richness and variety of resources that God has given us.

. . . that we are not there yet - but by the grace of God, this is what we hope to become.

. . . that a church should work, alone and with others, for good in its community, and in the world: for justice, for a better quality of life, for stronger communities.

. . . that a church is not just a virtual community, but a real, physical community. We hope that this website will enrich our life as a church, and offer you ways to take part in it - or just provide you with resources to help you deepen your faith.