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Published on 06 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

Sunday 8th November - Remembrance Sunday a Special service where we remember All victims of War

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

This Week’s Services

For details of the Scripture readings see here.

Sunday 8th November to Sunday 15th 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,

Anglo-Catholic worship is often described as ‘bells and smells’, a phrase that refers to two of the most distinctive features of our worship. Whilst Anglo-Catholicism is about so much more than just ‘bells and smells’, they provide an important place for us to start as we think about why we worship in the way that we do. Specifically, I want to address why we burn incense during Mass.

For some (myself included), the smell of incense brings back happy childhood memories and makes even the most mundane church service that little bit more special. For others, incense is an unpleasant distraction that is more likely to trigger a coughing fit than an encounter with God. Here at St Matthew’s, we burn incense every Sunday, but do we ever stop to ask ourselves why we do this?

Incense has a long history as part of the worship of God. In the Old Testament, incense was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, and it has been used by Christians from the early Church to the present day. Indeed, the Bible even suggests that there will be incense in heaven (take a look at the Book of Revelation if you don’t believe me!)

When we use incense at Mass, it has three main purposes. Firstly, it reminds us that our worship is something which engages all the senses, thus bringing our whole selves into a posture of prayer and praise. Secondly, the rising smoke gives us a visual image of our prayers being offered to God. And thirdly, we use incense as a sign of reverence, to recognise the holiness of the altar, the Gospels, the ministers, and the entire congregation. Next time you come to church, try noticing what gets censed during Mass – it is a reminder that each of us is sacred in the eyes of God and called to a life of holiness.

Of course, we don’t need incense to worship God. There are plenty of churches where incense is never used, including most of our fellow Anglican churches. God doesn’t need anything that we offer him, but we do need signs and symbols that break us out of the mundane routines of our daily lives and point us back to him, highlighting the sacredness that surrounds us and giving us a glimpse of the heavenly worship in which we too will one day participate.

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