JANUARY 2019 SUNDAY SERVICE a.m. ALL ARE WELCOME

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1 JANUARY 2019 SUNDAY SERVICE a.m. ALL ARE WELCOME 50p Unitarians are a religious denomination that believe in a united world community and individual freedom.

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3 JANUARY CALENDAR 4 th Jan Taking Down the Tree am 6 th Jan Sunday Worship am 13 th Jan Sunday Worship am 13 th Jan Church Committee Meeting pm 20 th Jan Sunday Worship am 20 th Jan Churches Together Unity Service 3.00pm 25 th Jan Film Club The Greatest Showman 7.30pm 27 th Jan Sunday Worship am THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH You don t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens. Mandy Hale TUESDAY MORNING IS COFFEE MORNING! Our weekly coffee morning on Tuesdays in the church hall will begin again on Tuesday 8 th January, with refreshments and companionship available from 10am till 12pm,do please tell your friends about it. There is no charge for the refreshments, though donations of cakes or biscuits to share on the day will always be welcome! - 3 -

4 MINISTER S LETTER Dear Friends Welcome to the New Year (almost!). I hope that your Christmas season has treated you kindly, and that you are feeling prepared for the arrival of I am so grateful for the wonderful Advent and Christmas we have shared together this year, with our customary Christmas services, and our brand new Christmas Tree Festival, and want to pay tribute to everyone who has helped make it such a wonderful experience. This giving of ourselves to each other and our world is such a special thing to be able to do. And now we are entering a new year, filled with new opportunities for giving. But there is something we must do first. On TV and radio we've had the usual suspects of 'end of year programming', including the overviews of the year, whether of politics, music, weather... And this looking back is something that we must all do to evaluate, and plan afresh. It s a hard thing to do while some of us will have had a good year to look back at, with successes, joys, and exciting discoveries, others will have struggled with griefs and loneliness and regrets, and be facing the year ahead with trepidation and fear. But we need to tell the truth if it is all to have been worthwhile to admit the times we went wrong, take responsibility for the people we hurt, confess our failure to reach our own standards. We must be honest with each other, and honest with ourselves. And then we can fashion the next year s living into a bridge for the future, and start building our hopes into realities. Here, in our church community, we provide a safe space for all who wish to do so, offering encouragement, healing and comfort. And we offer a space in which we can dare to hope for healing, for peace and for joy. If you'd like to join us, you'll find a warm welcome waiting for you

5 And so my hope for each of us this new year, is that we can find some peace of mind, that our love for each other and all those around us grows yet stronger as we face the challenges ahead, and that we can dare to hope, can dare to dream, and can work together to bring those dreams a little closer to reality. Many blessings Rev Anna WELCOMING AND COFFEE ROTA ON SUNDAYS Thank you to our welcomers, who greet us so warmly each Sunday morning at the door and make sure we have everything we need for the service. And thank you so much to everyone who makes us tea and coffee, and provides us with biscuits and yummy cakes after our services. The fellowship we enjoy in our worship is made even more special by the welcome that greets us beforehand and the fellowship we enjoy afterwards! If you want to become one of our welcomers, or one of our brewers and servers, just sign up on the list on the hall noticeboard

6 TAKING DOWN THE TREE On Friday 4 th January, at 10.30am, there will be a ceremonial Taking Down the Tree party. Anyone wishing to join us to help take down the tree and all the Christmas decorations around the church, and get the building ready for a new year is welcome to join us. We ll make it a happy, if wistful event, with music, refreshments, tales of Christmases past and well, just past - and lots of laughter. We look forward to seeing you there! CHURCH COMMITTEE MEETING Our January church committee meeting will be held on Sunday 13 th at 12.30pm. If you have any issues that you wish to be raised, please do contact Michael Couser our chairman, or speak to Rev Anna

7 ECCLES UNITY SERVICE Churches Together in Eccles holds a Unity Service every year, to which members of all the churches in Eccles are invited. This year it is on Sunday 20 th January, at 3pm, in Patricroft United Reformed Church. Rev Anna will be going, and is happy to offer lifts to anyone who needs one, please just give her a call. JANUARY FLOWERS 6 th January Mr G N Booth in memory of Mr & Mrs Booth. 13 th January Mr & Mrs A Taylor in memory of Vicky & Frank Meeghan. Mr G Knight in memory of Shirley a loving Wife & Mother. 20 th January Mavis Sumner in memory of her Daughter Julie. 27 th January In memory of late Church members

8 CHURCH BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS This time last year we were celebrating putting in our new heating system. It was wonderful this year to welcome Eccles Borough Band into our warm church! It may look like nothing has happened since then, but there has been work going on under the surface we are beginning 2019 by developing a plan to provide a permanent wheelchair ramp, toilet and easy access around the church. Bids for grants are being written, full plans are being drawn up, and fundraising fun and games will be happening shortly just watch this space! MDA NEWS I attended the quarterly MDA meeting on 4 th December. An excellent report was written by Val Jackson on her experience of attending the GA conference last April as representative for the MDA. The President asked the interesting question :- did she feel confident on the way she had voted on motions that her vote represented the views and thinking of the MDA. I think Val was slightly embarrassed by this question as she had obviously voted on what SHE thought was right and correct. She didn t know the MDA s position on the motions. However, this highlighted the crazy situation that the motions are not communicated to Churches or MDA prior to the conference. There is therefore no opportunity made available for Churches and organisations to discuss and vote upon motions prior to the delegate attending the conference. So how are representatives expected to convey the wishes of the Church they represent? Michael Couser - 8 -

9 FILM CLUB 2019 So the film club continues for We re moving back to the last Friday in the month because of other scheduling, so the dates for the next four months are as follows: January Friday 25 th 7.30pm February Friday 22 nd 7.30pm March Friday 29 th 7.30pm April Easter Kids Sat 20 th 2.30pm April Friday 26 th 7.30pm The Greatest Showman As Good as it Gets Dead Poet Society Moana Pride As usual, no entry fee is charged for this event, though donations are welcome towards our easy-access project

10 VISITS FROM THE MINISTER I can be contacted throughout the week on for a chat. If you know of anyone else who might appreciate a call or visit, please do let me know so I can get in touch with them. MONTON UNITARIAN CHURCH ON THE INTERNET Website: Instagram: Facebook page: Facebook group: MAGAZINE If anyone would like to contribute any articles for the magazine, please send them to the editor by the second weekend of the month by post or by . Please contact me by phone for address. Thank you to everyone who has contributed over Debbie

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12 MONTON CHURCH is open to all who wish to worship with an open mind, in a spirit of freedom, reason and tolerance. No doctrinal tests are imposed on anyone. Rather, each person is encouraged to develop his or her own faith. Our Congregation is affiliated to the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches