Bible Sunday

This Sunday coming (25th October) is Bible Sunday.

This week, please pray for the work of the Bible Society.

You can find out more about the Bible Society by following the link below.

http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/

Cubs @ Forest Camp

The Cubs went to Forest Camp for the day...

The first activity was archery

Then they did map reading and orienteering
The branding is always an exctiting activity - lots of smoke and flames!

The first step in pioneering is learning to tie a knot...

... so that you can build a tent!

Practicing folding the flag

Backwoods cooking!

The last activity was the low ropes...

... a really fun way to end a busy day.

Church Project 2009

This years Church project was launched during our Harvest Service. Money donated during the Harvest services will be used to support the work of The Kings Cross Project, based at Trinity Church in Widnes.

http://www.kingscrossproject.org.uk/

Over the next few months we will continue to raise money for Kings Cross, and hopefully we will at least match the total of £2003 raised for last years project 'Nijera Shikhi'.

If you have any good fundraising ideas - please share them with the Stewards.

Harvest 2009

We celebrated our Harvest Festival on 11th October. The church had been beautifully decorated - thanks to all who donated produce, and to those who gave up their time to arrange it.

The morning service was a parade, and the church was full. The children brought offerings of fruit and vegetable baskets, bunches of flowers and boxes of cereals. Rev Neil Drayton led the service which involved lots of measuring (of leeks) and counting (of apples), and the children from the Shell Group, Beavers and Cubs sang "Always Remember, Never Forget to Say Thank You" with great gusto.

In the evening service, the theme of Measuring our Faith was further developed, as we thought of Christians who we measure ourselves against.

The choir sang the John Rutter anthem "Look at the World", which you can hear on the video file below.

Jesus Folk

On Friday, 16th October we are giving a repeat performance of the musical 'Jesus Folk' in our Church Hall at 7.30pm.
The musical tells the story of the Jesus Folk - mixing figures from the Bible with contemporary characters. It shows how Jesus changed the lives of those he met and challenges us to invite Jesus into our lives today.
It lasts about 1 hour 40 minutes with a 20 minute interval when tea and biscuits will be served.
Admission is free but there will be a plate for donations towards The Kings Cross Project and Overseas Medical Missions.
If you want to see pictures from our last performance, go to the blog posted on 11th of May.
Look forward to seeing you on Friday!

Summer Break Workload!

Not so slow during the Summer Break

Our regular weekday activities have been muted during the summer break, but not altogether absent, and we are ready to start on our new programme. Each Monday afternoon there is a working party of volunteers to attend to any jobs that need doing – changing light bulbs, plaster repairs, decorating, garden maintenance, boundary fence repairs, clearing gullies and drains, repairs to equipment – all the usual maintenance work.

Over summer we have arranged for external redecoration, painting and pointing, electrical and gas inspections, portable appliance testing (nearly 150 devices!) and conducted our Health and Safety Assessment and Fire Safety Assessment. We have arranged for fitted cupboards in the Lower Hall Store Room to replace free-standing cabinets – you can actually move around in there now – and we have had a thorough clear-out of two storerooms and under the stage, all of this done by our volunteer group, known affectionately as “Last of the Summer Wine”!

During and After

At the AGM several new proposals were accepted, one being this blog. Another is the Lending Library of faith related books that members have found helpful and are prepared to pass on. This is now established and a suitable display cabinet purchased. A further suggestion was a Prayer Garden, sited in an area currently unused and rather overgrown. It is a pity we have no photographs before work was started, but the undergrowth is now cleared and much effort has gone into removing significant sized tree stumps. Discussions have taken place on the proposal and we are working towards its completion. It should provide a space for quiet contemplation, and provide additional witness, as its situation is clearly visible from the road and the nearby bus stop.

New Library

Prayer Garden Proposal

Work has started

Heavy Work Underway

Mark shows us how!

They also serve, who only stand and wait!

The Mary Jones Walk 21st-23rd August

On the weekend of Friday, 21st August, the Church Rambling Group enjoyed (well, most of the time anyway!) a 26 mile sponsored walk from Llanfihangel-y-Pennant to Bala, re-tracing the steps of Mary Jones, the 15 year old Welsh girl who, 200 years earlier had walked that same route in order to buy a bible in her own language, having saved up for six years! Mary's story was part of the inspiration of the Bible Society for which we were collecting. So far we have raised £482 - a big thankyou to all our sponsors for your generosity.

The Happy Band Before The Ordeal

The Best Side Of Graham Smith

Rambo Potts Leading Us On The March

Women's Group Having A Meeting With Magnificent Scenery

Half Way Round. Have We Only Done 13 Miles?

Beautiful Scenery As Far As The Eye Could See

Who Said We Are Lost?

Weary Bodies, But the End Is Nigh (We Hope)

Made It At Last Without Losing Anybody

National Church Development Survey

It's now over a year since we did the first Natural Church Development survey, and our efforts over the last few months have focused on developing Passionate Spirituality.

It's now time for the second survey, to determine which of the 8 quality characteristics we should work on next.

A random sample of 30 church members have been given questionnaires to fill in. Some lucky people have got one for the second year running!

Questionnaires are due to be returned by this Sunday (23rd August).


Whether you are filling in a questionnaire this time or not, please remember the process in your prayers.

More infomation about the NCD process here http://www.ncd-international.org/public/profiles.html

Farnworth Methodist Walks - 20th June and 25th July

Two very different days

June Walk - wet and windy (but still enjoyable)

Despite everything we all kept on smiling!

July Walk - sunny and breezy - a great day to

celebrate Howard's birthday

End of a great day - Happy Birthday Howard!

Film Night - BOLT

We had over 50 people for the last film night before the summer break, and everyone enjoyed the animation Bolt. Film night returns in September, when our first film will be Miracle Maker.

Fun and Food (and it didn't rain!)

Lots of friends from around the circuit joined us for and afternoon of fun and games, followed by a picnic.


The afternoon was themed around the Old Testement story of Gideon. We acted out parts of the story, played lots of Gideon related games...

... and we finished off with the 'Israelites' charging into battle to find the 'Midianites' had run off. The perfect time to share our picnics.

Refugee Week

The 15th-21st June is Refugee Week.

The main focus this year is the Simple Acts Campaign, where people use small, everyday actions to change peoples perceptions of refugees.

Action 5 is - Say a Little Prayer for Me

When a butterfly flaps its wings, it makes a tiny change in the atmosphere, which in turn can change the path of a tornado or a big wave. This is the so-called Chaos Theory, which describes how small events can influence big events.
Now, if we apply this theory to human beings it works like this:
You say a prayer for refugees. In prayer you use your imagination to put yourself in their place. This experience creates a tiny change in you, which in turn creates changes in those close to you, which in turn sets off a wave of change coming from within your community and affecting the way others perceive refugees

To find about more about Refugee Week visit the website

http://www.refugeeweek.org.uk/

To find more simple actions you can perform click here.

http://www.refugeeweek.org.uk/simple-acts/simple-acts.htm