All Saints is a numerically small church with big ideas!
Back in 2002 our building was significantly reordered in order to realise our vision of a space where every area and activity was accessible to anyone and everyone no matter what their limitations is disabilities might be. And we pretty well achieved this!
Unfortunately we now have a problem. The disability platform (lift) giving universal access to our first floor hall is broken beyond repair and needs replacing. Without this a number of groups and individuals can no longer access this area, own main space for community activities.
To replace the lift will cost around £30,000. We are well n our way to achieving this target but we are still £5,000.
Please watch the short video below to give you an idea of the problem and the solution.
If you are able to help us at all please make a donation using this link;
To be clear from the outset, the refurbished ‘Grammar’ is certainly a magnificent improvement on the semi-derelict Heanor Grammar School from which it has evolved. Nobody could honestly take issue with the quality of workmanship and although some may question the use of contrasting brickwork in some places, this a matter of taste rather than quality.
The question is; ‘Now What/’
A number of ex-pupils of the Grammar school, having toured around the inside of the building, have remarked that, internally, little seems to have changed in terms of format and it largely looks like an updated 1950s school. Surely, the internal design should have reflected the purpose to which the buidling was to be put?
And there lies the rub. After over a decade of lobbying, planning and commissioning there appears to be no clear strategy as to how to put this very expensive project to good use. Although expressions of interest were canvassed with apparently a significant number of responses – were these followed up? Certainly not in all cases!
Rumours abound (or maybe more than rumours?) that Derbyshire County Council may move their offices from Matlock to the Grammar in Heanor. Now from a DCC perspective, that seems like a good idea. They had already made the decision to move out of the somewhat bleak, rambling Matlock offices, and moving to a refurbished building in Heanor surely ticks most of the boxes not least in terms of cost. Although this may no longer be the case?
But just a minute – wasn’t a principle tenet of the bid for Government funding that the building would be a community asset open to the community? The idea of the Grammar becoming Council offices has certainly caused a sense of humour failure among a significant number of Heanor residents. Again maybe a rumour; it has been suggested that the hall could be made available for community use at weekends.
So is that what it has come to? £8.6 million spent to bring a building back into community use for 2 days per week (always assuming that uses can be found for it for those periods)?
When this was queried with an AVBC councillor they replied that: ‘ We can’t afford it without letting (leasing?) to DCC. Didn’t anyone think to consider the oncosts (i.e. to costs to the Amber Valley taxpayer) when embarking on this project?
Now the DCC opportunity may be serendipitous and so Heanor could gain a quite attractive ‘monument’ at no additional cost to the taxpayer beyond the £1.6 million that AVBC have already splashed out on it. But a masterstroke of strategic thinking it isn’t.
And we still seem to be stuck with the unspeakably ugly derilict old science block since there are apparently no funds available to demolish it. Just a thought, but why not do a Grenfell Tower and cover the building with a wrap around banner?
So is the Grammar an asset to the Heanor community or a white elephant?
It’s too soon to tell but even those who fear the latter must hope that it’s the former.
The UK is the sixth richest nation in the world UK so you’d think that poverty, particularly child poverty, had long ago been banished; something that we only read about in Victorian novels?
Wrong! Today!! 4.5 million children are living in poverty in this country and things are expected to get worse. Difficult to believe?
Don’t take my word for it – Just read the article below; it makes uncomfortable reading.
Clearly the root causes of child poverty can only be addressed by our Government. But we can; raise this issue with our local MPs, start a petition or support an existing one – there are a number of online platforms which facilitate individual raising petitions, write directly to the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary, the Health Minister, write to local or national newspapers.
Locally we can support; food banks, clothing banks, charity shops to name but a few.
At All Saints, working with other churches under the umbrella of ‘Heanor Cornerstone’ we are planning to offer meals to all families in the Heanor area that have a child eligible for free school meals, during the February 2026 half term. That might not seem like much but this could take the pressure off as many of 1,000 families at a miserable time of year and when other costs are often at their greatest.
Can you help? – if you’d like to make a financial contribution towards this initiative or would be able to help in preparation and distribution during the February half term week please contact us for more details.
We are constantly bombarded with news about the horrific conditions caused by the wars in Gaza and in the Ukraine and wherever our sympathies might lie regarding the combatants, surely everyone of us hopes for peace or at least cessation of hostilities. Can things really get any worse?
Regrettably – YES! Almost entirely unreported and largely ignored by the world is the ongoing civil war in Sudan.
Wracked by violence in which thousands of civilians have been slaughtered, aid camps burned to the ground and hundreds of children raped, Africa’s largest war has torn Sudan apart and forced more than 12 million people from their homes.
The cataclysmic battle for supremacy has pitted the Sudanese military, controlled by the country’s top commander, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his former deputy, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Daglo Mousa — a former camel dealer widely known as Hemedti. The conflict has created the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations, which says at least 24,000 people have been killed, though activists say the number is far higher.
Both sides face war crimes accusations from the United States, which sanctioned the northeast African nation’s government for using chemical weapons — a claim it denied. The RSF meanwhile, has denied accusations of ethnic cleansing in the country where “some 30.4 million people — over two thirds of the total population — are in need of assistance, from health to food and other forms of humanitarian support,” according to a February report from the United Nations refugee agency.
The fighting has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in Darfur, according to the U.N. and international rights groups. In March the United Nations Children’s Fund reported that armed men have raped hundreds of children, including some as young as 1.
24.6 million people, or around half the population, face acute hunger, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification — an organization that sets a scale the United Nations and governments use to assess hunger.
Access to the country by aid agencies is very difficult and dangerous. The UN and individual nations are reluctant to get involved in an attempt to impose peace – in the past this approach has failed. There appears to be little common ground on which to base peace negotiations with the waring factions seemingly indifferent to the appalling suffering that thy are continuing to inflict.
What can we do?
There are aid agencies still operating in the Sudan who are desperate for financial support. (You can find these easily with an online search).
Contacting your local MP and/or the Foreign Secretary may contribute to raising the profile of this conflict in Parliament
Start or join a petition to get our UN representative to raise the issue in the United Nations (look online for guidance)
Constantly pray for peace in this most desperate and neglected corner of the world.
People who fled the Zamzam camp for the internally displaced after it fell under RSF control, rest in a makeshift encampment in an open field near the town of Tawila in war-torn Sudan’s western Darfur region on April 13, 2025. . (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
For most Christians in the UK, these words of Jesus probably seem a bit academic. The worst that we are likely to experience for being Christian is mild ridicule. It is unlikely that we will ever experience hatred because of our faith or be required to put our lives on the line because of it.
This is far from the case in many parts of the world, where Christians are frequently martyred. this is rarely reported in our media nor is it much discussed in our churches. The following is just one example of situations outside of Western ‘bubble.
The beheaded bodies of 70 Christians were found in a Protestant church in North Kivu Province in the Congo around Feb. 15, several religious freedom advocates said, blaming the extremist Allied Democratic Forces.
The ADF is accused of approaching homes in Mayba, in the Lumbero territory, beginning Feb. 12 and capturing as many as 100 Christians through Feb. 15, marching them to a Protestant church in Kasanga affiliated with the Evangelical Community in Central Africa 20 (CECA 20), binding and beheading them, reported advocates including Open Doors, International Christian Concern (ICC) and Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
The February massacre followed a January attack, reportedly by ADF, that killed 15, ICC reported.
Church leaders are asking the international community for prayer, describing a climate of unchecked violence at the hands of ADF and other Islamic extremist groups including March 23 Movement (M23) rebels.
“We are no longer talking about simple violence,” ICC quoted a pastor Feb. 21. “We are losing fellow innocent Christians time and again. Our churches are now remaining empty. … The people of the Lord are suffering, and it’s just not bearable to watch.”
ADF, a terrorist group aligned with ISIS and originally from neighboring Uganda, has intensified in the DRC the past decade, Open Doors reported. The violence prompted Open Doors to move the DRC up six places to 35th on its 2025 World Watch List of the 50 worst places for Christians to live.
“We don’t know what to do or how to pray; we’ve had enough of massacres,” Open Doors quoted an elder of the CECA 20 church. “May God’s will alone be done.”
Those beheaded, who included children and the elderly, were likely unable to complete the journey or duties the captors demanded of them, local sources told ACN, as the captives are required to carry the loot stolen from villages.
“It is likely that these victims were unable to resist or endure the forced march, because when the rebels take hostages, they make them travel with them, either as reinforcements for their group or as forced labour for the war effort,” ACN quoted a source who was unidentified for safety concerns. “If you get tired on the way, you’re done. I believe that is what happened to these 70 people.”
The terrorists arrived in Mayba around 4 a.m. Feb. 12 and commanded 20 villagers to exit their homes quietly. When about 50 other villagers gathered the next day to plan a response, the terrorists also captured them, it was widely reported. While most said 70 were captured, ACN put the number closer to 100.
John Samuel, Open Doors’ legal expert for its work in sub-Saharan Africa, strongly condemned the violence and called upon civil societies, governments and international organizations to prioritize protection for civilians in the targeted area.
“The violence takes place in a context of impunity, where almost no one is held accountable,” Samuel said in a Feb. 18 press release. “This massacre is a clear indicator of widespread human rights violations against civilians and vulnerable communities, often targeting Christians, perpetrated by ADF – a [so-called Islamic State] affiliate.
“We further call on the international Christian community to remain in prayer for Christians and vulnerable communities in eastern DRC.”
Pray that all levels of government in DRC will respond “diligently, impartially and transparently address the violence and its effects,” Samuel pleaded, while also seeking prayers for the church in Lumbero.
Open Doors counted 355 Christians killed for their faith in the DRC in 2024, an increase from the 261 killed the previous year. An estimated 10,000 were internally displaced, Open Doors said, putting the number at 10-fold the number in 2023.
About six million people have died and many more have been displaced in a decades-long conflict in the DRC, ICC said.
These are our Christian brothers and sisters. We may not know them or anything about them other than; they are a part of the same family as we are, they are loved by God as much as we are, they are just as valued as we are.
What can we do? We can pray for the Christians of the DRC along with those in other nations who are also ‘hated for their faith’. We may feel powerless but prayer is the exercise of power granted us through our Lord Jesus Christ. We can stand ready to act as God calls us.
As the Service of Thanksgiving as part of the Inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the USA, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, courteously and bravely spoke ‘truth to power’. From the pulpit she pleaded with the new president to have mercy, mercy for the weak and powerless in society. She particularly singled out immigrants and members of the LGBT community. Her sermon was full of grace and compassion. She did not berate or challenge the president or call for civil disobedience against his policies. She simply pleaded with him to show compassion on the voiceless in society (Click on the link below to hear what she said).
Responses to her address were widespread and perhaps unsurprising in a divided and divisive society where a large percentage of the population have turned Donald Trump into a demi-God, someone who is beyond criticism or challenge. Even some who claim to be Christians fall into this category. There are of course many both across the USA and internationally who applaud what Bishop Mariann has done but at, least in the US, the death threats, demands for her deportation, exhortations for her to be dismissed from her post and so on have drowned these out.
As Christians we should be prepared to emulate Bishop Mariann in our own situations. We may not have the ear of a president or access to worldwide media coverage but there is much going on in our own communities which ‘The Church’, irrespective of denomination or tradition should be challenging. “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first’. (John 15:18). Who is ‘The Church’? It is all of us who claim to be Christian, not just those in leadership positions. Even our own leaders should not be considered as ‘no go areas’. Paul the apostle challenged Peter, the one whom Jesus had declared to be the rock on which the church would be built (Galatians 2: 11-13). If Peter was not exempt from criticism why should our leaders be?
The run up to Christmas is pretty packed at All Saints
Saturday 7th December
Sunday 15th December2:30pm
‘The Shepherd’s Play‘
A unique re-enactment of the Christmas story in word and song by past staff and students of Michael House School.
It was a tradition going back many years that the students and staff of Michael House School would perform this play at the end of term. The school has closed but the tradition continues in its new home at All Saints.
Wednesday 18th December 6:00pm
Carols by Candlelight
The clue’s in the name! This is a very atmospheric traditional service of carols and Christmas readings led by an orchestra, no less, and including songs by ‘Rainbows’ (Junior Brownies)
Not to be missed! But if you really can’t make it, it is being recorded and will be available to watch on our Facebook page
Tuesday 24th December 3:00pm
Crafts and Christingle
Why not bring your children for a break from Christmas mayhem? Join in Christmas themed crafts and make a traditional Christingle. Top things off by a short service with well known carols.
Whatever your background, culture or faith, it’s very likely that you know at least something of the ‘Christmas Story’; the story of the baby Jesus, born in a stable and being visited by shepherds and by kings? It’s a lovely ‘cuddly’ story that never fails to produce a warm feeling in the hardest of hearts.
But is that all it is – a story?
Absolutely not and while it is true the version we all know and love is very sanitised. The unvarnished version is very different.
It all started in a ‘one-horse’ town called Nazareth in Galilee, a corner of the Middle East which at the time was part of the Roman Empire. A young girl, probably around 16 years old, has a surprise visitor – an angel called Gabriel. Now we don’t actually know what Gabriel looked like but it probably wasn’t some guy in very shiny white robes and giant wings as depicted in some pictures. Angels are messengers from God and generally speaking they are not instantly recognisable as such, so it seems likely that he looked to Mary like a pretty run of the mill individual. However, his message to her was anything but run of the mill. He announced himself by saying: “Greeting, you who are highly favoured, the Lord is with you”. In his Gospel, Luke records that ‘Mary was greatly troubled by his words’. I bet she was! God didn’t send angels to speak to teenage girls very often, to say the least! But Gabriel’s words were just the preamble. He went on to tell Mary that; she was favoured by God, she was going have a child, he would be a son, she would call him Jesus, he would be a king who’s kingdom would last forever. Whew! Some message.
When Mary had recovered from her initial shock, she pointed out to Gabriel that there was a bit of a snag – she was a virgin. Gabriel calmly informed her that that wasn’t a problem and that she would become pregnant, not in the usual way but by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Remarkably, Mary seemed to take this in her stride and simply replied :”I am the Lord’s servant”.
Now even in our modern society, for a young teenager to suddenly announce that she is pregnant is generally somewhat problematical, particularly when the father is unknown and not her boyfriend (Mary was engaged to be married). In Jewish society of the time, it was a disaster – the pregnant woman could even be stoned to death!
Amazingly, Joseph, her fiancé, after being spoken to by another (or maybe the same?) angel accepted Mary’s explanation.
So they all lived happily ever after?
Not a chance?
During the last month of Mary’s pregnancy, the Roman emperor had the bright idea of ensuring that the empire maximised its tax revenues, so he instructed that all adult men must return to their place of birth to be registered for tax. Now Joseph’s home town was Bethlehem, somewhat inconveniently, around ninety miles away from Nazareth. But how to get there? Well unless you could afford a horse or carriage, which Joseph most definitely couldn’t, the only option was to walk. Well that might have been an option for Joseph but not for Mary in her state, and he wasn’t about to leave for what would have been more than a week. Solution? Borrow a donkey. Anyone reading this who is or has been pregnant will testify that a ninety mile trip on the back of a donkey would not be much fun to say the least. And where would they spend the nights on the way? In all probability, huddled under blankets by the roadside, maybe with a fire to keep the chill off.
Things surely couldn’t get any worse could they? Yes they could and they were about to! Just outside Bethlehem, Mary went into labour. This was a long time before maternity hospitals, or any sort of hospitals for that matter, so Joseph went in search of some suitable accommodation in which Mary could give birth. Unfortunately no rooms could be found in any inn and time was running out. So, yes just as the story goes, Mary and Joseph found shelter in a stable. Now stables took all sorts of forms, some were caves, some lean-tos on the sides of houses or inns, some were little more than windbreaks. None of them were very hygienic, comfortable or warm but nevertheless it was in a stable of some sort that an exhausted, probably frightened and certainly in pain Mary gave birth to the baby Jesus.
All in all this whole episode was far from being an ideal start to family life and certainly was not how anyone would imagine the birth of a king.
And things didn’t get much better.
Yes there were certainly the portents of greatness; the visit of the shepherds directed by a host of angels and the gifts from kings who had travelled thousands of miles for this moment, but on the whole, things started tough and got tougher.
Why? What possible reason could God have to make things so difficult?
Jesus was Emmanuel, literally’ God with us’. If he was to show us the way back to God there could be no room for excuses. Jesus, the Son of God, had to live a truly human life, one that was as fraught as it could get. None of us could ever say: “ But it was alright for Jesus, he had it easy”.
Herod, the Roman’s puppet king of Israel, heard about this ‘new kid on the block’ and he wasn’t having any of it. He wasn’t having any challenge to his position so, after some research, he worked out that this ‘king’ had been born in Bethlehem some time over the past two years. But how to identify him? With great difficulty. So the solution? – Have all male children in Bethlehem under two years old killed! Unfortunately for Herod, Joseph had been warned in a dream to get his family out of there and escape from Herod’s clutches by becoming refugees in Egypt.
Not the best of starts for any child!
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