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Showing posts from 2006

Prayer diary w/c 1 January 2007

Monday 1st - Louise has lost her father. Please hold her family before God in your prayers, that they may be comforted by our thoughts, love and support at this sad time. Tuesday 2nd - Please remember Mabel in your prayers as she struggles to walk again and maintain her independence in her own home. Wednesday 3rd - Please give thanks to God for his faithfulness to Jackie and Chris as Chris starts his new teaching job today. Thursday 4th - As our minister, Keith, flies out to India today, please pray for a safe journey for him and his friends. May his visit be successful and links built between our church and Bagalkot. Friday 5th - Please pray for Joyce and Karen in their grief over losing Bruce. May they know the comforting arms of Jesus around them at this time. Saturday 6th - Please ask God to bless Moira as she prepares to lead us in the family service tomorrow. Sunday 7th - Bless all who will attend our family service - may they find a warm welcome in the name of the Lord he

Prayer Mission

During 2007 we will be praying for our neighbours. Each month we will post a card through the letterboxes in one or two of the roads near to church to let residents know we are praying for them. We will also invite them to post a prayer request, ask for a visit or attend our services. We start in January by praying for those who live in Park Avenue, Park Mead and Keepers Fold. Please join us in this prayer mission. Loving Lord We ask your blessing on all who live in Park Avenue, Park Mead and Keepers Fold. You know their situations; their joys and sorrows; their hopes and fears; their needs and their concerns. May they know that they are in our thoughts and that we care for them. Help us to respond in love to the needs and pressures our modern world places upon them and show us ways in which we can serve and strengthen our community. Amen. (Image by www.heartlight.org )

We share your sorrow

We were saddened to hear that two of our members were bereaved over the Christmas period. We pray for Louise, Richard, Fran, Ben and the rest of the family following the sudden death of Louise's father, and for Joyce and her family following the death and release from Motor Neurones disease of her son, Bruce. Using the words of our dear friend Marjorie Dobson: May God bless you and be with you in this time of deep sorrow. In the tears of others, know that he weeps with you. In the touch of others, know that his arms are holding you. In the practical work of others, know that he is helping you to cope from day to day. In the words of others, know that he is speaking to you. In the prayers of others, know that he hears you. And in the desolation of this time, know that by each tear, touch, act, word and prayer, others are bringing God's love to you to filter into these empty spaces with his compassion and understanding. (Taken from A World of Blessing compiled by Geoffrey Duncan)

Joy to the world!

We were thrilled to welcome a number of visitors to our Christmas Eve carol service and Christmas morning service; we hope you will come again. On Christmas Eve Keith reminded us that in a busy world it is all too easy to remove the manger from Christmas. On Christmas morning Jackie cleverly used a white towel to remind us that the baby in the manger grew to a man, a man who served others and ultimately gave his life to wash away our sins; the manger and cross are inextricably linked. We hope that you glimpsed something of the manger over the Christmas period and wish you a peaceful New Year.

Goodbye Hilary

The Boys Brigade closed their year by gathering in church with parents to sing Christmas carols. They also presented Hilary with goodbye gifts. Hilary is retiring from Boys Brigade after many years of service. We thank her for her dedication and hard work and offer our best wishes for the future. We're proud that we're one of the largest companies in the area; however, it is essential that we have a full team of leaders in order to sustain this branch of our youth work. We are now seeking volunteers to plug the gap that Hilary leaves. If you can help, please let us know. All youth workers are required to have a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check.

Name the Teddy

Congratulations to Caitlin from Rainbows for picking the correct name of the teddy; he is called Stephen. Stephen was donated by Cadbury's along with the offer of match funding of £100. Thanks to all for taking part.

Twinkle, twinkle!

Twinkle, twinkle! What a joy it was to see the church almost full of children when they concluded their Christmas party with carols. They helped Keith with his nativity story by doing the actions and making the appropriate noises in all the right places. They had a great time and all left with a party bag. It was a great success. Well done Kim for your brilliant idea and for organising it all; many thanks to everyone else who helped. Thanks also to the Rock Solid helpers for organising a trip to the bowling alley as a Christmas treat for the Rock Solid gang. It's wonderful that we have so many people dedicated to youth work.

Shine 3-10 Dec

Junior Church has made a huge Christmas card for everyone to sign instead of sending individual cards. Donations will go to charity. We are asking for Christmas gifts for the Blenheim Project again. We have registered the Church for the Blue Peter Shoebiz appeal; so search out those old shoes that are in reasonable condition. Don't forget to get your Christmas quiz from Maria - £1.00 Please pray for Neville, Kim, Bruce, Joyce, Mabel and Paula. Best wishes to Lee as he celebrates his 50th birthday.

Christmas Fair

What a wonderful day we had last Saturday. We had lots of help with the stalls, some really great stalls and lots of people to come and help us raise the money. We had toys and games stalls, a big Christmas stall (thanks to Olive) a scrummy cake stall, tombola, chocolate tombola (a great favourite) a raffle (natch) and various charity Christmas card stalls. We also served teas and coffees with cakes and mince pies. We thought it wasn't really appropriate of a Methodist Church to encourage children to gamble, so any child who had a go on the tombola stalls was given a small prize every time. I think we shall continue to do this. We made a whopping £799.82, which has since risen to over £800, and I think we shall have a bit more to come. The Traidcraft stall took £113.55 and the Christmas cards for Candlelighters took £89.50, which is in addition to the above amount - a really excellent results. Every penny made on the Christmas Fair is going to India, to be taken there by Keith, our

Our Father

We enjoyed a thoughtful service this morning, in which Keith shared with us the next part of his sermon about the Lord's Prayer. We began at "Give us this day Our Daily bread", and thought about how easy it is for us to enjoy not just bread, but wonderful food from all around the world. The notion of forgiveness was also addressed, something which we often find difficult, but God's forgiveness is secured for us through Jesus. "Lead us not into temptation" ended this section of the prayer, and Keith proposed the idea that we would not face "too many trials", which I found reassuring! We also included a two minutes silence for Rememberance Sunday. I particulary appreciated the singing of the responses in the Communion Service, which was new to me. Thank you to all those who participated in leading this worship.

Wednesday Group

The Civic Affairs Manager of the Lord Mayor's Office came to speak to us about her work and that of the Mayor. We were amazed to find that during his/her year of office the Lord Mayor makes about 700 visits to many different organisations, charities and individuals - as long as they have nothing to do with politics!. We heard about the way that the Lord Mayor is chosen , the charities that they choose and the history of the mayoral chains. There are 16 members of staff in the department, engaged in organising events, keeping the diary, replying to all the letters received, driving the Lord Mayor, baking the scones, and cleaning the silver. We heard about all the organising that went into the Queen's visit when she came to distribute the Maundy Money at Bradford Cathedral, and many anecdotes about various Lord Mayors. We were particularly interested in this as one of our former church members was once Bradford's Lord Mayor. Our group meets every other Wednesday and welcomes

A Challenge to the reasonably fit members of our church family

We have been very lucky at Thackley recently in benefitting from grants and corporate volunteering to have many of our rooms redecorated. Waste Recycling paid for the upper hall painting, the Inland Revenue did the corridors outside the coffee lounge, the lounge itself was done by Hallmark Cards, and the other corridors, entance foyer and toilets were done by Yorkshire Water Services. We will get the professionals in to do the stairs (too high for amateurs!) and perhaps some other areas, but some rooms still remain that are reasonably accessable and in desperate need of a lick of paint - for example the resources room and the vestry. So I hereby throw out a challenge to all readers, to join me one Saturday afternoon for a little gentle roller-wielding. It is about time we "did our bit", and who knows, you might even enjoy it! T do either of the rooms I have mentioned would take three or four of us, so who feels like volunteering? Anyone over the age of say 14 could have a go.

Love actually

We had a great service this morning, which everyone seemed to appreciate. Poor Jackie wasn't feeling her best, but she gave a wonderful message and fortunately her voice held out. We wish her a speedy recovery from the cold bug she's got. As always, Lee, Heather and Pat did splendidly with the games and crafts. I still find it hard to believe that it's possible to weave prayer baskets out of a couple of strips of paper! Louise and Gill did great singing "In moments like these" and the congregation picked it up very quickly. It's good to learn new songs from time to time. As Jackie said, it was lovely to see the Boys Brigade colour party, and for them to take part in the service. As for Johnny's reading, all I can say is "Brilliant"; it was so clear and expressive - well done! Keith will be pleased to know we remembered his new birthday spot; we wish Lisa and Polly a really Happy Birthday. We continue to be blessed by our all age worship; the rela