THE MESSENGER MARCH

Transcription

1 THE MESSENGER MARCH

2 EASTER AT LANESFIELD Sunday 1st April Palm Sunday am Mr. A. Black 6.00 pm Mr. Harold Dale with musical items by the choir at both services Friday 6th April Good Friday 7.30 pm Lenten Cross service led by Mr. Adam Biddlestone with musical items by the choir Sunday 8th April Easter Sunday am Rev. Suzanne Newton (Parade) 6.00 pm Mr. Adam Biddleston Please bring a single flower to any service to decorate the Lenten Cross

3 FOR PRAYER We remember the house-bound - Mary Newell, Audrey Wigg, Vera Spittle, Dorothy Turley, Iris Thorne and Eric Marson, along with the people who care for them. We pray for Harold and Jeremy Newell, Mary Davies and Sylvia Griffiths, Stephen Podmore, Anna Clutton, Alan Crowe, Rachael Meese, Barry Showell, Neil Harris, Betty Bowen, Gemma and Jodie Simner, Vera Stuchfield, Ken Nash, Sheila Tucker, Dorothy Roberts, Alan Barker, Roland Jones, June Webley and Andrew Davies, that they may know of God s care for them. To John Wilkes we send our love and pray God s continued protection. For Margaret Cresswell, Jane Reynolds and others in similar circumstances we ask God s continued care. We send our best wishes to Joyce Winwood, Betty Harris, Vida Dugmore, Barrie Hockley, Sylvia and Trevor Genge who are unwell at the moment. Our sympathies are extended to the families of the late Charles Morris and Sidney Hopkins whose funerals have been held recently. Through baptism we are delighted to welcome into the family of our church Hallie May Parker Musgrove and Ethan Alex Boyce. Pat Arnold Pastoral Secretary

4 St. John s Methodist Church invite Lanesfield Methodist Church to the following events During Lent they will be holding a time of mediation at 12.00pm on Wednesdays followed by a light lunch. A warm invitation to everyone at Lanesfield to join them. On Easter Sunday Morning there will be a joint communion service at St John s at 8.00am. This will be followed by breakfast at 9.15am. St John s mini bus will be at Lanesfield at 7.45am to collect anyone who wants to go and will return to Lanesfield after the breakfast. If you require transport please give your names on the notice in the vestibule.

5 CHRISTMAS DONATIONS Many thanks to everyone who donated money, in any way, to Action for Children. Christingle Service Christmas Eve Service Carol Singing Communal cards Sale of Christmas cards TOTAL This is an amazing amount of money and it will be used to help many children, young people and their families. If you would like more information on the work of Action for Children then go to the website or you can make a donation on my.actionforchildren.org.uk. GOD BLESS YOU ALL SALLY PARKER

6 Church 50 th Celebrations The 50 th year of the building celebrations took part on Friday 16 th December; the guests included Lord & Lady Bilston, Rev David Lavender, Rev Paddy Hunter, Rev John Barrett and Rev Alan Fisher. The evening started with a thanksgiving service conducted by Rev Steve Singleton, with items by the Church Choir and Gospel Singers. After moving to the rear hall for tea, coffee and mince pies, everyone sat down to a concert with items from the groups within the church: the Wives, Friends of the Youth, The Boys Brigade, The Girls Brigade, The Challengers, Grapevine, The Social Activities Group finishing with Lanesfield BB/GB playing a selection of carols. During the evening letters were read from Mrs Margaret Rushton, the wife of the first minister at Laburnum Rd, Rev Bill Middlemiss, Rev Richard Chapple and Rev Frank Drenner 3 rd So, everyone was treated to a three course meal which comprised of the Past, Present and the Future! On the following day, the Sunday morning service was taken by the Challengers, with the Sunday School performing The Nativity with carols sung to both the organ and the band. The Sunday Evening carol service led by Rev Steve Singleton also included music by Barrie Shinton and the choir and carols played by the band.

7 The members of the band split into two groups on the Sunday afternoon, with half going to Island Court Nursing Home, to play carols for the residents, which include Mrs Mary Newell, whilst the other half played at Sunrise for Mr John Wilkes and his colleagues. May I express my sincere thanks to everyone for a fantastic weekend of fellowship. Yours in Christ s service Anthony J. Davis

8 CHURCH CHOIR Barrie Shinton At our choir AGM on 20th January the following dates for 2012 were discussed. The Easter Music service on Palm Sunday 1st April will be taken at 10.30am by Mr. A. Black and at 6.00pm by Mr. Harold Dale. The choir will be singing five pieces, one of which is the pop tune of the 70s Mull of Kintrye written by Paul McCartney Laine, and sung by the group Wings. Our words have been written by Audrey Wigg and is very appropriate for Easter. The title is It was for me (that Jesus my Saviour died) and it has been arranged by myself. It is so sad that Audrey is unaware of this, but it is good that she is still making a contribution to our worship at Lanesfield. The choir will also be taking part in the Lenten Cross service on Good Friday 6th April at 7.30pm when Adam Biddlestone will be leading the service. Whit Sunday - Pentecost - on 27th May, the choir have decided to sing and celebrate the Golden Jubilee which takes place the following weekend. This year we will revert to a Music Festival on Sunday 1st July and a Songs of Praise as usual on Monday 2nd at 7.30 pm. We have not been able to arrange the preachers at this stage, but details will be announced later. We are also hoping that one of the local schools will be able to arrange a concert on the Saturday evening for us. You will be aware now of Gareth Malone and the huge success he has had with choirs, and there are many choirs springing up all over the country following his lead. There is one locally in Dudley where I understand 80 folk turned up at the first rehearsal. What is it about Lanesfield? I know we are a church choir, but we try to sing more listenable pieces. I would never dream of singing ancient hymns and canticles or psalms, as we might hear at St. Peter s in Wolverhampton, where incidentally they have 71 school-aged youngsters singing in two choirs at three traditional service each week, which doesn t seem to put them off. Back to Lanesfield. Is there anybody out there who is willing to help? We are dwindling in numbers each week, and desperately require some extra voices in all sections. Surely someone enjoys singing and is willing to have a go. Please speak to me if you can help.

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10 Our Girls Brigade meets on Monday evenings and is appealing for help! Could you spare a couple of hours each week, or even occasionally? If so, please see Julia Rivett. Each week we commence our evening with devotions, lasting about ten minutes. Would you like to lead this one Monday evening? If so, please see Ann Latham. If you would like to give regularly either through the envelope scheme or directly through the direct debit scheme please see Catherine Waddison. You do not have to pay tax to have a box of envelopes or give through direct debit. Do you have news to share with others? Please give any items for the June edition of The Messenger no later than Sunday 13th May 2012 to Ann Latham

11 GIRLS BRIGADE Those of you who attend regularly on Sunday morning Parade services will be aware a collection is taken as you leave Church by Girls Brigade. This began in the early 1990s when we began to sponsor a young girl through Action Aid. The Church agreed to Girls Brigade having a retiring collection after Parade services and the Company would make up any shortfall themselves. Now the girl is an adult we support the village in which she lives. Regular updates of Action Aid newsletters are displayed on the G.B. notice board in the large schoolroom. We know that some of you have similar sponsored arrangements and we are grateful for what you all do in making donations. Below is a list of collections made in February April May 8.00 September October December Currently the Girls Brigade pay 200 per year to support the village. Many thanks for your continued support.

12 I would like to ask you again this year, instead of giving up something for Lent, please consider giving something for Lent. You may have read in previous Messengers about our trip to Africa, and our continuation to help and support the Trust Community School in Zambia, where I worked as a volunteer teacher for a few weeks in Trust Community School is a charity based school which allows some children who would not otherwise be able to go to school a chance of an education. The vision of the school is to try and educate the most vulnerable youths and orphans, especially those affected/infected by HIV/AIDS. The school has very little in the way of resources. I have recently received their latest newsletter and would be pleased to give a copy to anyone who is interested. Can I share some good news with you from the newsletter: We are in a process of receiving new desks from the Ministry of Education free of charge after writing letters of appeal on behalf of the school. We have been doing a number of pushing and follow-ups and it s really promising and soon the children and the school will have new desks although they will not seat every child, a major difference will be there! This is a major breakthrough for the school! and also one of their greatest challenges: This has been a major challenge to pay the teachers their monthly allowances and most of the times the school owes them two to three months payments! If you would like to support the school by helping to meet the daily needs of teachers salaries, payment of rental for the school building, purchasing of supplies or help them build their new proposed school building, an endless list of things that they so desperately need, then please consider giving something for Lent. I would like to thank all those who have supported the Trust Community School in the past. I will shortly be sending another monetary donation and any donation, however small, would be extremely welcome. Sarah Martin (nee Latham)

13 Update regarding the Memorial Fund Thanks to all those who have put 20p pieces in the jar in Church. Thanks also to Sandra and Alex and families for a further donation and the Crane family of Sherran s Dell for their kind donation. We now have 3,190 plus whatever is in the jar still to be counted. Thanks to everyone and donations still welcome! Sandra Harrington