St Paul’s, St Michael’s and St James’, Church of England

09/08/2026

At Breathe this evening we welcomed Br Clement to join us as we sang, prayed and made chaplets. We were also very pleased to welcome Loretta on guitar. And all of this took place in our new home for Breathe, St George's Church, Oakenrod They made us very welcome and we look forward to welcoming even more new people to come along and find a space to pause, relax, be restored and breathe.

09/08/2026

Today in our benefice we celebrated St Francis and our furry friends. It was a lot of fun to have our pet blessing with so many pets. Rev Kirsten and Rev Jason were kept busy blessing many loved pets. We also took poetry and prayers for the week ahead to help us give thanks for the wonder of the world around us and to marvel at the eclipse on Wednesday (please don't stare directly at the sun)

07/08/2026

🙏 Thank you The Diocese of Manchester

🙏

We pray for St Paul, Norden, with St James, Ashworth and St Michael, Bamford.

We give thanks for their LYCIG volunteers and heartbeat teams. They look forward with expectant hope for the work of the Holy Spirit.

St Paul’s, St Michael’s and St James’, Church of England

03/08/2026

This Sunday 9th Aug we will be having a Pet Blessing service at St Michael's Church, Bamford at 10am. Bring your pets and animals to church, or a picture or toy animal for those you would like to remember.

There will also be the usual services at St Paul's at 10am and St James 3pm.


The Diocese of Manchester

30/07/2026

Please note work has started on levelling and relaying the path at St Paul's Church, Norden.

The churchyard and graves are all still accessible via the steps and paths around the back of the church building.

St Paul's Church is very grateful to Rochdale Township Fund who have funded the relaying of the path to allow accessibility for all to the grounds, graveyard and church building.

Rochdale Borough Council

20/07/2026

We will be continuing to reflect on our Saints Series and for Saint Francis we will be having a Pet Blessing service at St Michael's Church, Bamford on Sunday 9th August, usual Sunday morning service time of 10am. Bring your pets and animals to church, or a picture or toy animal for those you would like to remember.

There will also be the usual services at St Paul's at 10am and St James 3pm.


The Diocese of Manchester

12/07/2026

We had a great morning at St Michael's and St Paul's learning and reflecting on St Chad of Mercia, the first in our 5 saints series.

We reflected on the importance of place and hallowed ground, and the qualities that we could learn from St Chad particularly humility.

Our younger members of the congregation reflected on the importance of place by creating their hallowed places with bricks. A big thank you to Oldham Parish Church for the loan of their bricks from their Brick Church.


The Diocese of Manchester

05/07/2026

We had a wonderful morning celebrating 150 years of Mothers' Union at St Michael's Church, Bamford.

We learnt about Mary Sumner and the background to Mothers' Union, the local, national and international work that MU is involved in, tackling ending poverty, violence and injustice. We learnt about the wave of prayer and how MU centres Christ and prayer in all that they do. We spent time at prayer stations praying for projects St Michael's branch are putting their faith into action with.

We finished the morning with a picnic and refreshments provided by the MU branch, and thank you to Bamford Scouts for the games and activities. What a joyful morning.


Mothers' Union Manchester The Diocese of Manchester

04/07/2026

Join us tomorrow, Sunday 5th July for the Morning Praise service at St Michael’s at 10am, where we will be including a celebration for the 150th anniversary of the Mothers’ Union, a global Christian charity.

Following the service there will be a free picnic provided and activities in the church grounds, weather permitting. Please note: If this goes ahead there will be no parking available in the car park.
However, there will be spaces along the front of the church for anyone who requires accessible parking.

Services as usual at St Paul's 10am Holy Communion and at St James 3pm Book of Common Prayer Holy Communion Service.

Mothers' Union Manchester