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Circuit News
Ashbourne Methodist Circuit Magazine
October 2004
Dear friends,
Of the reports discussed at Conference in Loughborough this year, perhaps
the most important was the one entitled "Priorities for the Methodist
Church". This was written after a consultation process across the Methodist
connexion. Here is the statement the Conference produced:-
Priorities for the Methodist Church:
In partnership with others wherever possible, the Methodist Church will concentrate
its prayers, resources, imagination and commitments on this priority:
To proclaim and affirm its conviction of God's love in Christ, for us and
for all the world; and renew confidence in God's presence and action in the
world and in the church
As ways towards realising this priority, the Methodist church will give particular
attention to the following:
Underpinning everything we do with God-centred worship and prayer.
Supporting community development and action for justice, especially among
the most deprived and poor - in Britain and worldwide.
Developing confidence in evangelism and in the capacity to speak of God and
faith in ways that make sense to all involved.
Encouraging fresh ways of being church.
Nurturing a culture in the church which is people-centred and flexible.
A lot of words. What does this mean for us? What priorities should we have,
in our chapels, and in our circuit?
Jesus had a clear priority in his mission. He came "to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel". While following his priority he trained a group
of 12 others who would then extend his mission worldwide after his death.
What are our priorities? A small church cannot do everything. But if it can
focus on one thing, and when everyone pulls together in doing it, then it
can accomplish something.
The report begins by saying "we should work with others wherever possible".
In a village situation it makes sense for the Christians in the village to
work together towards a common goal.
"Everything must be underpinned by prayer". This is God's mission
and nothing is accomplished except by prayer.
"Encouraging fresh ways of being church". Is the format of worship
that served previous generations the one we need to serve the present age?
Would a mid-week evening in someones home be a better setting, more attractive
to people who work out of the village and who have other commitments on a
Sunday?
What does our village, our community need? What are the issues people face?
How can we as the Christian body in the community address those issues?
These are some of the questions to ask, to reflect on, and to talk about with
others. The question will come to our Church Councils in October. What are
our priorities?
God Bless,
Chris
Seed time, Feed time
Give us this day our daily bread,
We expect each day that we'll be fed,
We expect each seed we plant will grow,
Our gratitude we seldom show.
The rain has damaged this year's wheat,
The grower has his costs to meet,
He's nothing to look forward for,
Until the grain is in the store.
Our God is providential care,
Will never leave our larder bare,
Our Father always knows what's best,
And never takes off time for rest.
Our part is, the toil and strife,
God's part is, the spark of life,
Our prayers, our prayers so easily said,
Give us this day our daily bread.
By Wilf Ward
Cards for Good Causes
On Saturday 16th October from 10am, the One World Group will be holding their
annual "Cards for Good Causes" event. Many different organisations
will be selling charity Christmas cards and other items, so please come along.
Admission is free, with refreshments for sale. For more information, please
see Stuart or Catherine Green or Natural Choice.
One World Group
News from Kniveton & Kirk Ireton
The new quarterly plan reminds us that this is one of the most exciting quarters
of the Methodist Church year; with special services and important annual events
to re-think, to offer to the Lord, to celebrate.
Harvest Festivals begin this month. Each place of worship on the plan celebrates
their Harvest Festival in a unique way, bringing a special message of God's
creativity, faithfulness and love. Sometimes, that message speaks to us of
the needs of God's family, far away and a thoughtful loving response to that
need.
Other congregations gather the community of the village to the Harvest sale
and revive old traditions of fun and good-natured rivalry, but emphasising
the bountiful goodness of God's gift to us, through the natural world and
above all, His saving gift of our Lord Jesus.
This year the children from Kniveton School will be sharing in the evening
service at Kniveton: we love this company and they enjoy the experience of
worship and joy in the chapel. For our prayers, Mrs Rayworth who continues
gallantly to struggle with discomfort and illness.
The funeral of Mr Jim Woodhouse has taken place recently. For some seven years,
Jim and Emily worshipped at Kirk Ireton Chapel. Indeed, Emily was a Kirk Ireton
person. Her father was a prominent local preacher for many years. Emily and
the family are very much in our prayers as they have been during Jim's long
illness.
We remember and congratulate Mrs L Hodkinson who was 90 years of age on 12th
September and we also pray for Mrs Margaret Booth who is still unwell.
There is so much on offer in the Circuit, to enlarge and deepen our love and
commitment to the Lord Jesus. If, for any reason, you are unable to share
in the actual meetings and groups there is another way of participating and
you know the way: it is by setting time aside to pray and lay before the Lord
the opportunities and blessings present at each meeting.
Finally, a sincere word of thanks for your prayers and concern for us as a
family following the death of Betty, my brother's wife. We have been upheld
and borne lovingly through the long night of Betty's illness and she was at
peace.
Thank you and the blessings of the Lord upon you,
Sister Merle Wilde
Autumn Synod
The Autumn Synod of the Notts & Derby District was held on Saturday 4th
September at St Benedict's RC School in the Derby Derwent Mission Circuit.
The day started with devotions and we were welcomed by the school chaplain,
who told us briefly of what his job involved.
The business side of synod was completed and a vote was taken to choose eight
representatives to the 2005 Conference from 15 nominees. A second vote was
taken for two representatives to go to the Youth Conference.
It has been decided that a memorial book is to be kept to record the deaths
of Local Preachers in the District. The record will be backdated to the Millennium
and the book will be sent to Conference each year. There were devotions again
and a roll-call of Local Preachers who had died in the past year.
There is a proposal that the numbers attending synod may be reduced, hopefully
enabling synod to be held in District Churches rather than an outside venue
as this was becoming very expensive. Numbers are possibly to be reduced from
429 to 344 if everyone eligible attended.
Rev Ted Ager introduced a speaker from the new multi-faith centre at the Kedleston
Road campus of Derby University. This was opened on 11th September 2004. The
autumn programme at the centre is starting on Mondays from 4th October to
13th December at 7pm. It will be entitled "This Week's Big Question"
and a discussion will take place between three panellists, each from different
faiths or none. They will discuss life's big questions, such as 'can life
have a meaning if death is the end?', 'is there progress in religion?' and
'has the advance of science made religion unnecessary?' On Thursdays from
7th October to 16th December at 7pm, "World Religions" will be discussed
- a basic understanding of nine religious traditions.
An interesting talk on chaplaincy was given by Rev Andrew Letby an industrial
chaplain from the Newcastle District.
We had our lunch outside in the school garden and enjoyed the fresh air and
sunshine, then spending some time in the marketplace before reconvening for
the afternoon session.
Frances Hopwood and Christine Cameron told us about the devotional side of
Conference. Marie Mathieson thanked everyone in the District who had helped
support the invaluable work done by NCH.
Judith Wood, the District Training and Development Officer, told of her recent
visit to Kenya and World Church links - as she said, "God works in a
mysterious way".
The afternoon concluded with devotions led by Rev Wesley Blakey, Chair of
the District.
Elizabeth Heap, Circuit Steward
Mission Matters
JMA & Mission Service
On Sunday 24th October 10.30am at Ashbourne Methodist Church, with our special
JMA guest, Steve Pearce, from Methodist House, London.
Anyone interested in JMA please take a leaflet and see the JMA notice board
in the passageway near the church kitchen and speak to Ruth Mallard. Tel:
348342 or email: ruth@mallards.me.uk
THIS YEAR'S GIFTS OF LOVE FROM JMA MONEY
Through the money raised by children and young people, their families and
friends this year, JMA has:
o Helped poor and hungry people in Zimbabwe
o Supported the new Methodist churches in Guinea established by refugees from
the fighting in Sierra Leone and given motorbikes to four circuit superintendents
in Sandaru, Segbwema, Bunumbu and Kailahun in Sierra Leone itself
o Given help to the youth work at Sid Methodist Church in Serbia
o Assisted in the development of an Open Door Centre for disadvantaged and
unemployed people in Lancashire
o Enabled training for teams of evangelists in Bolivia
o Given support for food, shelter and education for the children of prisoners
in Nepal
o Helped the Church of South India with a project to enable disabled children
to learn skills so that they can become self sufficient
Thank you to all the collectors and supporters of JMA. Over £500,000 was raised nationally in 2003/4 to help other people throughout the world.
Please pray for the partner churches who run the projects that receive funding from JMA and for all the people who are helped by these projects.
Olive Tree Campaign: "Keep Hope Alive"
Since the beginning of the second Intifada in October 2000, over 112,000 olive
trees providing income and employment for many Palestinians have been destroyed
by the Israeli Occupation Army. But the people have not lost hope and are
working with the YMCA in projects like the Olive Tree Campaign to show solidarity
that encourages Palestinians to keep their hope alive. If you wish to know
more about this initiative contact: The East Jerusalem YMCA Olive Tree Campaign,
POB 19023, East Jerusalem or olivetree@ywca-palestine.org
(Information taken from Network's Magnet magazine. Summer 2004 edition).
Christian books in schools
The British CLC Books4Schools programme is an organisation, which gets Christian
books into primary schools. There are 2 different packages of brand new Christian
books, for younger and older children. Each package contains between 70-85
books. There is a wide variety of illustrated Bibles, kids Bible help books,
Bible stories and modern day stories with Christian morals. For a donation
of £99.00 the organisation send the school £230.00 worth of books.
This resource comes highly recommended. There is now also a pack available
for secondary schools. If anyone is interested or wants to know more call
CLC Books4Schools on 0121 422 5755.
(Information from FEBV Village News Aug.2004 edition).
Ruth Mallard
Greenbelt
This year, twenty people from Ashbourne went to Greenbelt and had a great
time. Although the group was mainly made up of young people (ie. under 18s)
there were a few of us older ones there.
As always, there was loads to do from 9am to 1am! It has to be said that there
was a bit of a split in the group, which went something like this:
Younger people (under 18s): Go to The Mix or Humanic (tents specifically for
11-14s and 14-18s) and maybe hang out with new friends during the day. Head
out to hear a band or two in the evening.
Older people (18 pluses): During the daytime, seek out a few interesting speakers
each day (probably 2, 3 or 4), go to a worship session and maybe chill-out
for a while over lunch. In the evening, listen to a couple of bands and maybe
do one of the comedy sessions or late-night worship.
I think that different people definitely get different things out of Greenbelt.
This was our third year as 'leaders' of the group and we seemed to get a lot
more out of the weekend than in our first year. You have to be prepared, though,
to go to lots of things and accept that some of them won't be great for where
you're at. You'll hear different things to what you'd hear at "normal"
church and you'll experience new things.
The younger ones enjoy the experience of being "free" to do whatever
they want, and it's a safe environment for them to do it. It's great for them
to see 20,000 other Christians in one place and especially when many of them
are of a similar age.
So, if you've wondered about going, I'd definitely recommend it - it's a great
weekend away and it's definitely not just for kids.
Hope you can join us next year!
Stuart Green
Ashbourne Family News
We have received the following message from Teresa Hall and Danny Ffoulkes:
"We would like to thank everyone who attending our South Africa Evening
on 6th September. We hope that you found it both interesting and enjoyable.
Also, may we say a huge thank-you to everyone who has supported Youth Fellowship
in our fundraising for Mooiplaas as well as for the support we received during
our trip. If you have not seen a copy of our diaries, please contact Stuart
or Catherine Green."
We pray for all our young people who are moving on to pastures new. Lorna
Bale has now been in Lima, Peru for a while and we continue to pray for her.
Danny Ffoulkes has been at University in Hull for a couple of weeks, and has
started his lectures on his Business Studies & Human Resource Management
course. Both Teresa Hall and Laura McKeown went to Nottingham to study Pharmacy
last weekend, and we pray for them as they settle in. We also pray for John
Mawdsley heading off to New Zealand at the start of a year out and Hannah
Lowe who has recently gone to Thailand to work in an orphanage.
Joy and Arthur Watts have sent us the following note:
When we told our friends in Surrey we were moving to Derbyshire, although
they were polite, we suspect they thought we'd 'lost our marbles'! After all
we were in our sixties, lived all our life south of the Thames, what were
we doing contemplating going 'up north?' Well we're very glad we've moved
and this is in no small measure due to the very warm welcome we've received
from the community of Ashbourne generally and the folk at Ashbourne Methodist
Church in particular. Having spent 28 years in our previous church we were
a little apprehensive about the change, but we need not have been and we are
grateful for the hand of friendship extended to us, and we look forward with
some excitement to playing a full part in the life and work of the church
here.
We pray for all those who are unwell in our congregation, but we think especially
of Marjorie Maher, Christine Edwards and David Illingworth.
CLPD?
What is it? It stands for Continuing Local Preacher Development. It's a training
aid for Local Preachers, not just those 'On Note' or 'On Trial', which helps
Local Preachers not to stand still in their faith and worship. It helps them
to grow and, in turn, enhances worship.
One aspect of it is to have a Study Day, with a guest speaker, one of which
we had in 2004 with Rev Dr Brian Greet as the speaker. We hope to have another
study day in the early part of 2005.
In the meantime, we would encourage all in the congregations of our Circuit
to help, in that if a service has been a blessing to you, please do let the
people know. If the service has not been a blessing to you, still let us know.
We would like to encourage feedback to all our preachers to help in the work
of CLPD. Our thanks to you all.
Tom Parkinson, Circuit Local Preachers Secretary
News From Parwich
Having spent 5 weeks in Australia and New Zealand, I have seen amazing sights
in this wonderful world that we live in. The sunsets on the west coast over
Perth and later a little township called Wanganui thrilled me.
The volcanic activity and great dams and reservoirs that man has harnessed
to provide power in New Zealand left me speechless. The vastness of the outback,
the great mountain ranges and the enormous oceans that I flew over reminded
me of the splendour of God's creation. The 8 safe take offs and landings made
me grateful for the engineers' skill and the inventors' foresight. I have
renewed friendships and made new ones and those are the memories that will
probably stay with me longer than anything - although of course there are
the odd photos to remind me!
It is a wonderful world but of course not everyone is as fortunate as we are
in the western world and so it is at this time of year that we think of others
particularly in Eastern Europe. At Parwich we are joining with Ashbourne Churches
Together to support the people of Belarus when Chris will lead our harvest
festival on 3rd October. This is a change of date from the current plan but
we hope that some of our friends in the circuit will support us on this occasion.
Jan Smith
NCH Coffee Morning
The annual NCH Coffee Morning will be held this year on Saturday 6th November
at Hurtswood, Buxton Road, Ashbourne from 10am-12noon. This may be the last
one to be hosted by Betty and Michael Hadley at Hurtswood as they expect to
be moving house quite soon. We have been fortunate to have had such an excellent
venue for the past 6 years or so and are grateful to the family for extending
a welcome. There will be the usual stalls: "Bring and buy" cakes
and home produce, NCH Christmas cards, Christmas gifts, and a book stall.
The entrance price of £1 will include coffee or tea, plus biscuits and
cakes. Do come and enjoy an excellent social occasion. You will be made very
welcome.
Val Howse, Support Group Chairperson.
News from Tissington
We now have a seat outside the Chapel in memory of former villager Harry Oakden
(1919-2003) which will be appreciated by visitors and locals alike. Thanks
to Mrs Oakden.
Thanks also to everyone who provided the refreshments and attended our Anniversary
Service in August. Sister Merle gave a lovely service and we enjoyed reminiscing
about the chapel.
We send our congratulations to Brenda and Malcolm on their recent wedding.
Sandra Alcock
Book Review
In view of the continuing emergency in the Sudan, perhaps readers may be interested
to read "Baroness Cox: a voice for the voiceless" by Andrew Boyd.
Lady Caroline Cox was the Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords (1998) but
it is what she was doing outside Parliament that is so wonderful. This is
an account of her humanitarian work behind the Iron Curtain in Poland and
Russia in the 1980s, Nagorno Karabakh (a small enclave between Armenia and
Azerbaijan) in the 1990 and the Sudan in the late 1990s.
This book describes the appalling conditions which prevailed in these countries
- terrible ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh and Burma and the slave trade
in the Sudan, when whole villages in the south of the country were razed to
the ground and crops destroyed. The black Dinka inhabitants, who are mainly
Christian, were killed or removed to labour camps. The women and children
were used as slaves and forced to adopt the Islamic faith. This is still carried
on today, resulting in pleas for money and aid worldwide.
Lady Caroline, who relies on constant prayer to sustain her in dangerous situations,
is the UK President of Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Her bravery, compassion,
witness and influence in delivering medical supplies and other necessities
to these countries in person, makes reading her book a very inspiring and
moving experience. It may be obtained from the Ashbourne Library.
Dorothy Prior
News from Brailsford
We have been "Going for Gold" during the Summer holidays. Each Wednesday
we have had a holiday club attended by around 20 children. The room was decorated
with flags from around the World and the Olympic Games arrived in Brailsford.
We even had our own Olympic Flame!!
Our closing ceremony was during a holiday club service on Sunday 12th September.
On Monday 13th September an Alpha supper was held and our course begins on
20th September, led by Rev Chris.Eddy.
Please remember this in your prayers.
John Stubbs
Women's Network
DISTRICT DAY
This District Day will be held at Trinity Methodist Church, Burton-on-Trent
on Wednesday 6th October. The day will commence with registration (£1)
and coffee from 10am, followed by a business meeting at 10.30am. During this
meeting, the current District President, Barbara Brown, will be handing over
a cheque to Methodist Homes for the total of her appeal for Maple Leaf House
in Ripley. There will be a break for lunch at approximately 12.30pm (packed
lunch required, drinks available). This is a chance to look around the stalls
- books, resources, bring & buy and Traidcraft. The afternoon service
will commence at 2pm, during which Pam Kilby will be inducted as the new District
President. The speaker will be the Chair of the District, Rev Wesley Blakey.
If you would like to go, please contact Alma Swan.
PIZZA, PIES & POETRY
Make sure you have the date of Monday 1st November in your diary and watch
out for further details and the sale of tickets.
Alma Swan
Ashbourne Fairtrade Town
A new group has been set up with the aim of promoting Fairtrade in the town
and ultimately gaining accreditation for Ashbourne as "A Fairtrade Town".
Over the coming months, we will be visiting shops, cafes, restaurants and
bars to explain what Fairtrade is all about and how they can get hold of it.
A part of this campaign will include showing public support for Fairtrade
- so watch out for more information on what you can do to help. If you are
interested in being involved, please have a word with Stuart or Catherine
Green.
For more information on the campaign, visit www.ashbournefairtradetown.supanet.com
Stuart & Catherine Green
One World Week
Moving On…
We are very pleased to announce an exciting evening of tales about "Moving
On…" as a part of One World Week. Please join us at St Oswald's
Church Hall on Thursday 21st October at 7.30pm for:
Moving On - Join Steve Parker on a charity trek through the mountains of Peru
Moving On - Link-up LIVE with Lorna Bale - direct from her school in Lima
Moving On - Visit a Peruvian Co-op to buy fairly traded clothes with Carry
Somers
The evening will be entertaining and thought-provoking - what will Your Move
be?
A South American buffet will be available and tickets will be on sale from
early October. One World Week is not aiming to make a profit, so ticket prices
are set to cover costs at £3 for adults and £1 for children.
Walking with Llamas
Tell your friends, your children, your parents and your neighbours! Real,
live llamas in Ashbourne! Come and "Walk with Llamas" (it's a lot
safer than walking with dinosaurs!) and learn a bit more about what Peru is
really like.
As a part of One World Week 2004, come along to the grass beside the Henmore
Centre where we will be telling you about three different ways in which people
from Ashbourne have been "Moving On" to Peru. We will be there from
10am-1pm, so please come along - and bring your friends!
For more information, or if you are able to help in any way, please contact
Stuart or Catherine Green or John or Liz Hurfurt.
Ashbourne One World Group
A candle is but a simple thing.
It starts with just a piece of string.
Yet dipped and dipped with patient hands
It gathers wax upon the strands.
Until, complete and snowy white,
It grows at last a lovely light.
Life seems so like that piece of string.
Each deed we do a simple thing.
Yet, day by day, if on life's strand
We work with patient heart and hand.
It gathers joy, makes dark days bright.
Anon.
26th Sept MPs responding to the Trade Justice campaign
27th Sept Young people away from home
28th Sept Women's Fellowship members
29th Sept The work of Derbyshire Dales Careline
30th Sept Those involved in pastoral care
1st Oct The work of NCH
2nd Oct Staff working at Cornerstone Coffee Shop
3rd Oct The young people of our churches
4th Oct Women's Network
5th Oct Ashbourne Youth Club members and helpers
6th Oct People visiting Milldale Chapel
7th Oct The work of Christian Aid
8th Oct Christians in South Africa
9th Oct Those preparing to lead sessions for young people tomorrow
10th Oct Those preaching today
11th Oct People visiting the Citizens' Advice Bureau today
12th Oct The work of Oxfam
13th Oct The Middle East
14th Oct Helpers at Cornerstone Coffee Shop
15th Oct The Church of North India
16th Oct Charities raising money through selling Christmas cards today
17th Oct Our friends at other local churches
18th Oct Children & helpers at the Ashbourne holiday club
19th Oct The Trade Justice Campaign
20th Oct Local farmers
21st Oct The world community, and particularly those in South America
22nd Oct The work of Methodist Homes
23rd Oct Those preparing to be involved in services tomorrow
24th Oct All those involved in mission work
25th Oct Those involved in promoting Fairtrade in the area
26th Oct Those at the Church Lunch in Ashbourne
27th Oct People visiting the area
28th Oct Politicians who can help make the world fairer
29th Oct Visitors to the Cornerstone
30th Oct Leaders preparing for the new Heart course
The Basement
The Basement is a new idea for young people in Ashbourne. It will be a place
where young people can go and relax, out of the rain, away from parents and
without hassle. Several people who are interested in setting this project
up met recently, and we are getting on well with preparing to open in late-October.
However, we need extra help with setting-up for the evenings, clearing away
and staffing. It is likely to mean a couple of hours' work each week for six
weeks and then six weeks off. If you think you might be interested in helping,
or would like to contribute to setting the project up (even if you're not
sure about long-term help) please speak to Stuart Green, Roger Mallard or
John Hurfurt. We will be having another planning meeting on this Wednesday
29th September at 8pm in Cornerstone - and all who are interested are welcome
to come and contribute.
LONG-STANDING PROBLEM?
TRY KNEELING
Dates for your Diary
SEPTEMBER
Tue 28th 12.30pm Ashbourne Church Lunch Century Hall
OCTOBER
Wed 6th Network District Day Burton-on-Trent
Fri-Sun 15th-17th Ashbourne Church Weekend Away
Sat 16th 10am Cards for Good Causes Ashbourne Town Hall
17th-23rd One World Week:
Thu 21st 7.30pm - Moving On… St Oswald's Hall
Sat 23rd 10am - Walking with Llamas Ashbourne
Sun 24th 10.30am JMA & Mission Service Ashbourne
Tue 26th 12.30pm Ashbourne Church Lunch Century Hall
NOVEMBER
Mon 1st Network Pizza, Pies & Poetry Ashbourne
Sat 6th 10am-12 NCH Coffee Morning Hurtswood
Sat 13th 8pm Bassline Elim
Sat 20th 7pm Praise Worship Ashbourne
Tue 30th 12.30pm Ashbourne Church Lunch Century Hall
If you have any dates for the diary or if you would like to contribute an
article for the magazine, I will be happy to publish it.
Items for the November Ashbourne Church magazine to Stuart Green by 9pm on
Wednesday 20th October