Every year the church holds the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM), an opportunity to reflect on the previous year, celebrate growth and successes, discuss challenges, review finances and building upkeep, and elect representatives for the church council and wider Deanery and Diocesan councils. Anyone on the church electoral role can vote at the meeting, in the same way that you can only vote in local and general political elections if you are registered on the electoral r

This weekend, 15 of St Paul’s young people headed to Lineham Farm for our annual youth residential. Set just outside Leeds, Lineham Farm gave us the perfect setting to escape the busyness of daily life and feel like a real retreat. Surrounded by countryside, away from school pressures, phones, and routines, our young people were given space. Space to have fun, deepen friendships, and encounter God in fresh ways. From the moment we arrived on Friday, we shared food, explored t

Hello, I want to spend a little time reflecting on growth—not just personal growth, but how growth happens within the church, and how the church becomes a place of love, belonging, and restoration. In Colossians 2:7, Paul writes: “Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him.” I love that picture of being rooted. A tree doesn’t strain to grow; it grows because it is planted, watered, and sustained. I think that’s what the church can be: a place where

If you’ve ever watched the film Yes Man, you’ll know the premise: what happens when someone starts saying " Yes" to every opportunity? In the movie, that choice leads to an unexpected adventure - and even helps save a life. For St Paul’s Mission Partners Jason & Rachel, saying Yes to God works in a similar way. Their lives - and the lives of many others - have been transformed simply because they decided that when God invites, they respond with Yes . The First Yeses Both Ja

As we approached the end of Lent, we finished our ‘Try’ sermon series, based on Jesus’ sermon on the mount. The last sermon was titled “Try Discernment” – how do we know if we are walking the right path in our life with Jesus? Discernment dictionary definition = to recognise, the ability to judge well There are many decisions that require discernment – what job to apply for, which church to go to, which people to let influence your life, or what God is asking you to do. Most

In my sermon on Sunday 15th March, I spoke on the theme of ‘Try Generosity’ and how our generosity towards others flows from God’s abundant generosity towards us, which in turn leads to thanksgiving to God. I spoke about how we can be generous with what we have, focussing particularly on being generous with what we give financially. You can listen on our website here: https://www.stpaulsirelandwood.org/podcast/episode/295b5ec2/try-generosity When was the last time you had a c

Each year, Christians all over the world embrace Lent, a time of preparation for the death and resurrection of Jesus. There is build up and anticipation which concludes in Holy week, the week building up to Easter Day. Most churches, and ours is no different - are full of extra services and events. Holy week, Good Friday and ultimately Resurrection Sunday give us an invitation to retell, remember and relive this culmination of the life and ministry of Jesus on earth. Every ti

Hello, my name is Claire Evans. I recently joined the team at St Paul's as a Community Development Worker. From the moment I stepped through the door for the interview I was made to feel so welcome that when I was offered the role I didn't hesitate to accept it. I'm excited as well as this is a new role for St Paul's with the intention of supporting life in and around St Paul's and its parish through community connections. My journey into community development started in 2019

Following Jesus is not safe ... not now, not ever. But St Paul’s mission partners Jonathan and Laura Beatham see that every day of the week. They live in Leeds, but they provide Scriptures in a country where being known as a follower of Jesus can get you killed. Some of our congregation at St Paul’s came from that country originally, and it breaks their hearts to hear of the terrible things that are happening back home. Jonathan and Laura play their part in encouraging people

If you are anything like me, then I am sure you have also tried many times to fast from something during Lent. Lent is the 40-day period to test our willpower against abstaining from things we love - Chocolate, social media, coffee (hardest one for me!). But somewhere along the 40 days, it becomes tough, and we slip up. We see someone doing a much more amazing thing, and we think '' What's the point of Lent anyway?'' But here is a thought I have had recently: what if my foc

Try simplicity… that can feel like a tall order in a world that feels like it’s getting more complex every day. When I wrote my sermon last week, the threat of war in the Middle East was bubbling. By the time I spoke, and broke open Jesus’s words about what we treasure, the conflict and violence had broken. Ever since, our news bulletins have been full of analysis, questions, second-guessing what global leaders are thinking and intending, and yet more horror. On Sunday, I to

Fasting from food has been a regular part of my walk with Jesus for several years. Most weeks I set aside a day when I don’t eat breakfast or lunch, and then I join in the family evening meal. At different points, I have fasted for a full 24 hours, and very occasionally for 48 hours. During holidays, I usually pause fasting. Recently, I only just started again after recovering from a broken leg, which significantly affected my stamina, resilience, and rhythms. In that season,

I find it hard to make time with God. Between work, kids, school runs, clubs, dinner, bedtime… and then somehow doing it all again the next day, by the time evening comes I’m exhausted. My willpower is gone. I know what usually happens next: a bit of doom-scrolling, half an hour of TV — anything that feels easy. I tell myself "I’ll pray tomorrow." The frustrating thing is, I know that time with God is what actually restores me. Jesus says, “I am the vine; remain in me and you

I have done a couple of previous blogs on Games Community and what led me to start this group in 2018. This blog will be focussed on the Games Days that as a community and with the support of St Pauls we run 3 times a year. We have just run our 14th Games Day and what a fun day we had. This was our highest attended event (bar Pokémon hybrid last year) with 106 adults and kids attending. What is Games Day I hear you ask!? It is an all day Board games event that welcomes people

Plans for the plant to St Andrew's, Moor Grange, continue to progress. The final funding bid has been submitted by the diocese, with news about it expected early March. The outcome of the bid will determine the nature and scale of what might be possible and will mean we can start making concrete plans around the building, team, dates and more. In the meantime, Bev and Dave will be taking a small team to the 'Planting course', working alongside two other Leeds church planting

If you ever come to the church hall on a Wednesday afternoon, you will be greeted by noise and a flurry of activity. This is our youth drop-in, where children and young people from across the parish come for a time of games, food, rest, and even a short time of worship or discussion. Drop-in is split into two sessions, the first running from 15:15–16:30 for children in school years 5–7. This group is attended by around 8–10 children each week. The second session is for childr

In a few weeks’ time, St Paul’s will be taking part in a simple but powerful mission initiative called Try Praying . We’ll be launching this together on Sunday 8th February , and over the weeks that follow we’ll be inviting one another – and those beyond our church – to explore prayer. At its heart, Try Praying is exactly what it sounds like: an invitation to try praying. Not to have all the answers, not to get the words right, not to suddenly become “good at prayer”, but si

Happy New Year! We’re off to an encouraging start to 2026 with the news that we now have the planning permissions from the Diocese as well as Leeds City Council for our church hall extension and renovation. It has felt like a long wait but now we can move on with the hard work of turning the plans into an achievable project. Over the next few months, we have two main goals – to complete detailed designs to meet building regulations and to raise further funds. When funds are s

A Monday Behind the Scenes at Baby Basics Leeds Every Monday is Baby Basics day in Leeds — our baby bank volunteers meet to pack and deliver essential items for expectant and new mums across the city. Over the weekend I shared our new referrals and what each one needs. Seven volunteers could make it this week. Sorting Donations and Packing Referrals By 9:30am we are at St Paul’s Church in Ireland Wood sorting donations and packing bundles. We aim to get items to mum around a

Hi everyone — I’m Sarah, the Parish Safeguarding Officer here at St Paul’s. This week marks Safeguarding Sunday , and as someone once wisely said to me, “Every Sunday should be safeguarding Sunday!” So, what is Safeguarding Sunday and why are we mentioning it? Safeguarding Sunday is now in its 7 th year. It aims to inspire churches to talk about safeguarding and to reflect on our past failings, whilst striving to move forwards towards a world in which every child and adult