CROSSGATES METHODIST CHURCH NEWSLETTER DECEMBER - JANUARY 18

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1 CROSSGATES METHODIST CHURCH NEWSLETTER DECEMBER - JANUARY 18 Minister :Reverend Susan Greenhart Dear friends, I like that at this time of the year we roll December and January into one edition of our newsletter. It feels very fitting as we walk the journey through Advent to Christmas in December and then move on to Epiphany in January. Seeing the Christmas decorations at the beginning of November reminds me that the world is in a rush, preparing for the great day. But, for Christians, December is a time to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n, at least in our hearts and minds as we reflect on what Christmas is all about. As Mary and Joseph made their way to Bethlehem for the census, they may well have felt a pressing urgency, not least because Mary was soon to give birth. But I wonder how many of you mums remember feeling, towards the end of your pregnancy, that the world could go on rushing about, but that your most important job was being a vessel for another human being. And that is what Advent is all about even as the world pursues its frantic race, a miracle is unfolding in Mary s womb as she awaits the birth of the Son of God. In Luke s gospel, the shepherds make haste, hurry to Bethlehem after the angel has told them of the divine birth. But it is Mary who hangs on to that peaceful state of mind, wondering over this miracle. So go sit and pray for a while in Cross Gates centre watch and pray for all those preparations going on, and find the stillness of Christ within you. Urgency and peace are both part of the Christmas story the journey to Bethlehem, the shepherds rushing to see the infant King, the wise men s diligent search, and then the flight to Egypt as the holy family flee from Herod s soldiers. The birth of Jesus is not just a story. It is now, in our lives. This Christmas WYDAN, the West Yorkshire Destitute Asylum Network is looking to provide a room at the inn namely Moortown Methodist Centre - from the 20 th December to the 8 th January for Destitute Asylum Seekers. Volunteers are needed. Donations of food and toiletries for the guests. If you can help, contact firstseason@btinternet.com. From 15 th 22nd January we shall be hosting Asylum Seekers ourselves, working with Churches together in East Leeds, and we too shall need much support for this endeavour.offering care and support, and hospitality is part of the Christmas story making room for Jesus Christ our Lord. Christmas is not just a lovely seasonal story. Its message is at the heart of our faith, calling us to share God s love with one another, friend and stranger alike. I pray that as we welcome Jesus this Christmas, we ll experience the call to open our hearts to those, who like Mary and Joseph, found themselves on the road. God s blessing on you all. Susan

2 Appointment of New Minister "As you may know, in the Methodist Church November begins the stationing rounds for all Methodist ministers who will be moving on in the following year. We are very blessed that Connexional Stationing have matched the Revd Helen White with Cross Gates, Colton and Seacroft. Helen is currently serving in Derby. She visited our circuit on the 18th November, and has indicated her wish to take up the appointment. Helen will begin her ministry here in September Let us pray for her over the coming months as she prepares to leave Derby and makes the move here to the Leeds North and East Circuit. Let us also say special prayers for Susan as she continues God's chosen journey for her and Lee and all the circuit staff:: for the.deacon Sheila Dawson and Revd. John Mason as they go forward to their next appointments; for Revd. Palo Tshume as he "sits down"; and for all the circuit staff, who may have greater burdens to bear if all appointments are not filled. Let us trust, as always, that God will lead us as we go forward in faith." Services at Crossgates in Decemberm at unless stated 3rd Mr Paul Spencer 5pm Churches Together Advent Carol Service at St Marys Church Whitkirk 10th Rev Susan Greenhart 17th Mrs Mary Curl 4pm Carol Service 24th Rev Susan Greenhart 4pm Nativity Service pm Rev Susan Greenhart 25th 11.00am Rev Susan Greenhart Family Christmas Service 31st Mr John Summerwull Services at Crossgates in January 2018 at unless stated 7th Mrs Susan Howdle 14th Rev Susan Greenhart Covenant Service 21st Mrs Sue Mason 4pm United Service at Gartforth 28th Rev Susan Greenhart Communion Services in December & January Dec Tue 5th 11,00am Tranquility Court All welcome Sun 18th 10.30am Church Fri 22nd 10.00am Church Prayer Chapel Sun 24th 11,30pm Church Jan Tue 2nd 11.00am Tranquility Court All welcome Sun 14th 10.30am Church Covenant Service Fri 27th 10.00an Church Prayer Chapel Coffee Mornings in December & January 10, am Dec Fri 1st - Tranquility Court Everybody welcome Sat 2nd Toy Sale with coffee in lounge behind Church Hall Jan Fri 5th Tranquility Court Every Monday apart from Christmas Day and New Years Day in the Church Hall Congratulations To Lily Rhodes (Tranquility Court) who celebrated her 100th Birthday on Monday 27th November. To June & Ken Stoner who will be celebrating their Golden Wedding on the 16th December.

3 Christmas Greetings Once again there will be a large Christmas Card for people to sign and add their Christmas Greetings to friends at Church. This will be in the Galilee from Sunday 3rd December along with a box for your donations for Action for Children The Hub Cancer Support Group The group will meet in The Wesley Room on December 5th & 8th of January 2018 at am Proceeds to: Positive Action For Refugees and Asylum Seekers Yorkshire Cancer Centre Brownies and Church Christmas Fair Toy Sale Saturday 2 nd December 9:30am to 12noon Refreshments Night Shelter I was hungry and you gave me food, I was a stranger and you welcomed me As many of you will know, WYDAN,( West Yorkshire Destitute Asylum Network) have been running a night shelter with the help of churches, synagogues and mosques for the last few years. From our circuit, Garforth, Roscoe, Gipton and Moortown have been host churches. All volunteers have found the endeavour to be a real blessing to them. Acting as a host church is something we have considered at Cross Gates but have so far not offered. This year the need is more pressing. I had asked Katrina Burton, the Night Shelter project leader to speak at our last Church Council, but she was unfortunately ill on that date. So a group of us from Cross Gates MC visited St. Edward s at Lidgett Park to learn more about the project. Katrina approached me then to ask if we would be able to host a group from the 15th-22nd January. This would mean we would be following on from Garforth, and could pick up some experience ahead of time. A decision had to be made fairly quickly, and I felt strongly that if we worked as Churches Together we would be able to accomplish this, and follow Christ s call: I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Representatives from Churches Together met with Katrina, to learn more about the nuts and bolts of hosting. All the churches were eager to participate. However we shall need lots of volunteers from all the churches. Please watch out for further information and training dates which we shall be receiving shortly. I recognise that it would have been much better to have been able to address this at Church Council before taking this to Churches Together but, because of the urgency of the situation, we had to get things moving so for this I apologise. I recognise also that there is some anxiety about doing this those feelings are absolutely normal, but at the information meeting someone said, Think of the Blitz. That is more or less what the guests we shall host have been through. They have lost everything. We must help.

4 W.Y.D.A.N West Yorkshire Destitute Asylum Network (C.I.O) WYDAN WILL BE RUNNING THE SHELTER FOR DESTITUTE ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM 20TH DECEMBER 2017 To 8TH JANUARY WE NEED YOUR HELP SO THAT WE CAN PROVIDE A SAFE, WARM AND WELCOMING HOME FOR OUR GUESTS OVER THE CHRISTMAS PERIOD. THERE ARE MANY WAYS YOU CAN HELP: SHELTER VOLUNTEERS We need to cover all the shifts during this period. Welcome Role 5-7pm. When our guests arrive we welcome themthere will be tables set out for them to sit at, café style and you can offer them a hot drink, biscuit or cake. Cooks We are asking cooks working in a team of 2 to 3 to provide a meal for up to 15 people. To provide a choice of two main courses,at least one vegetarian. You can cook your dishes at home or there are adequate facilities at the church to prepare meals. Socialisers/Befrienders 7pm -10pm. Socialisers spend the evening with our guests, chatting, playing games and other activities Overnight 10pm 7am. We need at least two people per night with at least one person awake. Breakfast 7am 9.30am. Volunteers to prepare a basic breakfast ie cereals, toast, eggs. When necessary make packed lunches for our guests. PLEASE CONTACT KEITH MOLLISON firstseason@btinternet.com IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER. FOOD We need donations of food to cover us for three weeks. You could either provide a meal (see above), we also need donations of food to cover breakfasts, drinks, snacks and packed lunches. TOILETRIES/TOWELS We need donations of mens toiletries, soap, deodorant, shower gel. Toothpaste and tooth brushes razors etc. We also need donations of hand and bath towels. FUNDING We need funding to run the shelter for the Christmas period and also for the continuation of the shelter. If you could help us in any way we would be extremely grateful whether it be a financial contribution or you are able to help us fundraise in other ways.

5 Cheque payable to WYDAN Bridge House, Balm Road, Leeds LS10 2T Unity Trust Bank Sort Code Account Number We will be holding a training/information session on Wednesday 6th December 6.30pm For further information and to donate any of the above please get in touch wydan.shelter@gmail.com Charity Number A Big Thank You from Cross Gates Good Neighbours Many thanks to the Cross Gates Methodist Church for their generous donation of 100 again this year. We will certainly make good use of it, we were thinking of putting towards our annual report this year as we are celebrating our fifteenth year and are producing an A4 calendar for all our members. We will send you a copy when it is printed. Irene Midgley. Treasurer/Trustee CHURCH CHRISTM AS PARTY On Saturday 9th December Start pm with a meal An evening of fun, games, quizzes and dancing. Come along and join in the fun Please bring a donation towards the food. Christine & Richard Holdstock would welcome help with the party please speak to them if you are able to help Funny Religious Jokes from Christmas Crackers

6 Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible? Samson because he brought the house down. Beat the Christmas rush, come to church this Sunday! The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple. Tonight's sermon: 'What is hell?' Come early and listen to our carol practice. Please could you help to steward the Church on Thursday 21st, Friday 22nd & Sat 23rd December between 9.30am to 1.30pm. Please add your name to the list in the Galilee. Thank you Yorkshire West Young People s Network Connecting young people across the Yorkshire West District Why not come along to Gravity Trampolining, Xscape, Castleford WF10 4TA on Saturday 27th January from pm. This is for young people aged To share food, meet new people, play games, go trampolining. Cost 15 per person. To book please pick up a booking form from the stewards and send it in by Friday 12th January. Food Bank Centre November In November our Church delivered kg (60lb) of food and toiletries to the Food Bank Centre at Hunslet. From here they supply around 8 food distribution centres in South and East Leeds. Thank you for your continuing generous help in this important work. Table Top Sales - 9:30am - 12noon 2nd December - Christmas Fair and Toy Sale The December sale will include items for Christmas as well as beautiful flower arrangements, toys and tombola. Could you also be tempted by a Breakfast Bap with your tea or coffee? The Christmas Sale will be raising funds for PAFRAS, Yorkshire Cancer Centre and Brownies and Rainbows as well as church 6th January - No sale 3rd February & 3rd March will be back to sales as usual. If you would like more information or to book a table, at a cost of 5 for church funds, please see Lynda in The Wesley Room on a Sunday morning or telephone If you have any unwanted items that you would like to donate to raise funds for church please see Lynda. Carol Singing on the Church Steps Saturday 23rd December 11-am to 12 Noon Church Flowers We are very grateful to the following people who have donated money for flowers in November and December and to Barbara Leeming, Jean McCauley, Dorothy Weston and Jean Hornshaw for their beautiful flower arrangements also the people who very kindly distribute the flowers to people in need. Nov 5th The Holdstock family in memory of dad 12th Keith Tingle in memory of Jean 19th Tom Morrison in memory of Joyce 26th John Blyth in memory of Jenny Dec 3rd Geoff and Margaret Yapp

7 10th The Carr girls in memory of Mum and Dad 17th The Teal family in memory of Rosemary 24th Georgina Cressey in memory of past & present family Message from the Property Team Unfortunately, we have had to replace the padlocks for the barriers in the rear car park owing to " wear & tear Please note the existing keys will no longer work. Rudolf to Blitzen According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year (the only members of the deer family, Cervidae, to have females do so). Male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid December. Female reindeer, however, retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to every historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, every single one of them, from Rudolf to Blitzen... had to be a female. We should have known this when they were able to find their way. Appreciation Joan Chorley would like to thank the Church Family for the flowers and cards received after her fall. She is slowly improving and also send her best wishes for the coming year

8 MUSIC and LUNCH 2017/ 8 2ND TUESDAY IN THE MONTH 12:15 13:15 12th December ~ The Lawnswood Singers 8th January The Two Rivers Wind Quartet 13th February Aires and Graces Peter Reasbeck and Sinders 1 3th March The Dale Hurst Trio Tickets 6 Including lunch which must be booked in advance Ticket for Concert Only 3 Order Tick et s by Phone Frrom K ath Harwood

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