Webmaster@stmatthewsperrybeeches.org.uk

To View the PCC’s Data Privacy Policy click here

Published on 13 November 2026

SAFEGUARDING

If you have concerns regarding the welfare of any Child or Vulnerable Adult click here to view our Safeguarding policy and contacts, or in an emergency, phone 999

Friday Coffee Mornings

All are welcome for Coffee/Tea and Cake in The Lounge

Every Friday 11am – 1pm

Berevement and Friendship Group
If you’ve suffered a bereavement or are feeling isolated and lonely come and meet other who know how you are feeling.  Every Monday, 1:30 to 3:30 pm in The Lounge.

Book Club.
The next meeting of the Book Club is on Wednesday 2nd December.  The book for November is Needless Alley by Natalie Marlow.    If you love reading and would like to join us over a cup of tea/coffee you are warmly invited to our next meeting.

Guest Preachers
We are delighted to be welcoming a series of guest preachers at our 10am Parish mass during the season of Autumn and Advent.  See Notice above.

Christmas Services

The details of this years services are now available on a leaflet in Church, a copy of the schedule of services is above.

Dates for your Diary

Saturday 5th December - St. Matthews Christmas Fair, see poster above.

The next meeting of the PCC will be on Wednesday 18th November; Mass at 7pm, followed by the meeting.

This Week’s Services

For details of the Scripture readings see here.

Sunday 15th November to Sunday 22nd November

Forthcoming Events

Parish Giving Scheme

Thank you very much to members of our congregation who give regularly to enable our mission and ministry to continue.  If you have not already done so, please consider joining our Parish Giving Scheme and make a regular donation by direct debit.  This is very easy to do online at

www.parishgiving.org.uk/donors/find-your-parish/perry-beeches-st-matthew-birmingham

Or, see our Giving page for further details.

Other Giving Schemes

To make a one-off donation to the Church, a donation to our Sponsored Child or our work in Malawi use the appropriate link below.

Message from the Vicar

Dear friends,

One of the most distinctive features of Christian worship is the sharing of bread and wine. This is an act with many names – you may have heard it referred to as Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist. But here at St Matthew’s, as in many other Anglo-Catholic churches, it is most commonly referred to as the Mass.

The word ‘Mass’ comes from the Latin phrase ‘Ite missa est’, words traditionally spoken at the end of the service which roughly translate as ‘go, it is the dismissal’. In other words, by calling it Mass we remember that the reason we gather together for worship is so that we can be sent out into the world, to share the light of Christ with others.

The bread and the wine that we receive should therefore be understood as food for the journey. We only receive a small wafer and a sip of wine, but we believe that Christ is really present in these elements – they become for us his body and his blood. Christians have debated how exactly Christ is present, but we trust that this is more than just a symbolic act; as St Paul wrote in the earliest days of the Church, ‘The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?’ (1 Corinthians 10:16).

That is why we celebrate Mass so often. Whilst some other churches share Holy Communion less frequently, for Anglo-Catholics our worship must be centred on the Mass, because it is here that Christ feeds us with himself. That doesn’t mean that other aspects of our worship are unimportant – the reading and preaching of the Bible is also central to what we do in church – but we believe that Word and Sacrament belong together. We encounter Christ, the living Word, through both the written word of Scripture and the regular reception of Holy Communion. As our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters put it, the Mass is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life’ (Lumen Gentium, Second Vatican Council).

In bread and wine, we receive God’s love in the most intimate way imaginable, through tangible elements that we consume, kneeling side by side around the altar. We remember that ‘though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread’, and then we are then sent out to share that love with others.

With my prayers,
Father George

From 25th October-6th December, Fr Sam Rigby will be serving a placement in the Diocese of Birmingham, working in several churches including St Matthew’s. Fr Sam is currently Assistant Curate in the Wenlock Team Ministry in the Diocese of Hereford. He will be with us most Fridays, and will be preaching one Sunday during this time. We look forward to welcoming him here.  Fr. Sam will be preaching next Sunday, 15th November

A reminder that we welcome contributions towards the cost of flowers, perhaps in memory of a loved one. Please place any donations in the pot on the table.  

Contributions of food for the FOODBANK are always welcome. Please give as generously as you can and place any items in the basket by the door.

Our church relies on the generosity of visitors and worshippers. If you would like to make a contribution to the ministry and mission of St Matthew’s but don’t have any cash, there is a contactless card reader on the table by the front door.

Please put your request for prayers during the intercessions on the sheet on the table.

If you could offer a lift to someone to Church, please let us know.

We are buying a memorial stone to commemorate Fr Michael Westlake’s time at St. Matthew’s. Contribution towards the cost of this would be gratefully received

This Week’s Notices

Welcome to

St. Matthew’s Church

Perry Beeches

Aldridge Road/Birdbrook Road
Perry Beeches
Birmingham B44 8RB

Phone 07467 832601

e’mail: Administrator @stmatthewsperrybeeches.org.uk

Sunday School every Sunday at 10am

We will continue our usual weekly e’mail news sheet to help everyone keep in touch with activities at St. Matthews. This weeks news sheet is here. You can also keep in touch with our Facebook page.

Want to hire a room?

St. Matthews has several rooms available, Click here for details

We have a card reader on the desk by the main entrance, Simply enter the amount you want to donate and Tap and Go.

Got

No

Cash

Click on a poster to see it full size