News from the NW Synod 13 th January 2016

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1 News from the NW Synod 13 th January : New Website and Photos of our congregations 2: Moderator s snapshots 3: News from Dandelion Community 4: Carver Uniting Church Windermere 5: Luther King House Events 6: Cockermouth URC Floods 7: Safeguarding Sessions in : News from Wharton & Cleggs Lane Sponsored walk 9: Death of the Revd Stanley Hodges 10: Burnley & Nelson United Reformed Church 11: Forton URC 12: Hest Bank URC 13: Devotions for Lent 1: New Website and Photos of our congregations As you know we have been working on putting together a new website for the Synod which would be useful to people outside the church to understand us a little better and to be a resource for our churches. The website is now live the normal web address can be used. We have some photos still to put up (and could do with many more!). Please give any feedback to Andy Braunston via clerk@nwsynod.org.uk We need high quality photographs in digital format of our congregations for our new Synod website. Please a picture of your congregation to Andy Braunston via clerk@nwsynod.org.uk. 2: Moderator s snapshot - Ordination and Induction of the Revd Catherine Lewis- Smith On Saturday 9 th January the church at Central United Reformed Church (Duckworth Street, Darwen) acted as host for the Ordination and Induction Service of the Revd Catherine Lewis-Smith (3 rd from left in picture, with Dwfrig her husband 2 nd from left). A packed church provided a warm atmosphere for a service of celebration followed by the customary bountiful refreshments afterwards (not that the Moderator managed to lay his hands on a morsel!). Catherine comes from her period of training at Westminster College, and in addition successfully handed in her PhD on the 23 rd December. Her supervisor, Revd Dr Janet Tollington, was the invited preacher. Please pray for Catherine and Dwfrig as they settle in to their new home and find their way around the area, and also for the pastorate with the new opportunities that are possible with Catherine s ministry within the pastorate and more widely in the Darwen area.

2 Moderators Snapshot (2) - Christian Aid/Commitment for Life Last week I met with Bex Turner (middle) as one of the Manchester regional coordinators for Christian Aid, together with John Griffiths (left) who in a URC volunteer capacity has an advocacy role for Christian Aid/Commitment for Life in the Mersey Synod. For those of you who attended the Big Day Out last year you may have had the opportunity to chat with John as he manned one of the stalls. If you are passionate about seeing Commitment for Life promoted within our North Western Synod I would be pleased to hear from you (please contact Hazel at admin@nwsynod.org.uk ). It would be great for our Synod to have an advocate who will help us to strengthen our support and praying for the projects supported in Bangladesh, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, and Zimbabwe.

3 3: News from Dandelion Community Happy Diamond Anniversary to Roy and Isabel Warburton On the 5 th September 2015 families and friends joined Roy and Isabel in the celebrating of their sixtieth years of wedding bliss. What a wonderful achievement. Amongst the many presents and cards received was pride of place a letter of acknowledgement from the queen. Congratulations. 4: Carver Uniting Church Windermere Three Lay Preachers from the Cumbria Area were commissioned following successful completion of the TLS course at a special service at Carver Uniting Church, Windermere on Sunday 3rd January. Congratulations to Pam Carpenter, David Lamb and Moira Rose on their achievement and we pray that God may bless their ministries as they continue in service among us.

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7 6: Cockermouth URC Floods The floods in West Cumbria created havoc for hundreds of people, their homes and their businesses. The U R C was flooded again although the depth of the water was only just over two feet, much better than 6 years ago. The first floor Sanctuary was not damaged but the flood damage below and the subsequent damp wasn't the greatest Advent and Christmas gift. The Community facilities on the ground floor meant many organisations from Mothers and Toddlers all the way to AgeUK had to find alternative accommodation very quickly. Church members and others started the clearing and cleaning and the Insurers have been most helpful Worship is again taking place but when the ground floor will be back in use is not yet known Thanks are due to all who have helped and to those who have sent money to help towards the restoration. Please remember those members and friends who had to be rescued from their homes and are now living in temporary accommodation. 7: Safeguarding Sessions in 2016 The sessions last approximately 2.5 hours. Leo says It is the responsibility of the Synod to make safeguarding training available and accessible. It is the responsibility of local churches to ensure that they avail themselves of it; and the legal, and possibly financial, consequences of NOT doing so are potentially severe should an incident occur. So PLEASE try and ensure that Elders and workers are aware of sessions More workshops will be announced as venues offer themselves. If your church would like to offer itself as a venue for the area particularly in South, Lancashire or Cumbria, please contact Leo on cydo@nwsynod.org.uk Area Date Time Venue Central 20/01/2016 7pm Littleborough URC Central 21/01/2016 7:15pm Hurst Nook URC Cancelled South 25/01/2016 7pm St Mark s, Wythenshawe Lancashire 27/01/16 7:15pm Poulton-le-Fylde URC Central 01/02/2016 2pm Alkrington & Providence URC Lancashire 03/02/2016 7pm Westbury Gardens URC Central 04/02/2016 7:15pm Red Lane URC Lancashire 16/02/16 7pm St Anne s URC It is important that you book in to a session so that Leo can ensure he has enough resources for each session. Please him (using the address above).

8 8: News from Wharton & Cleggs Lane Sponsored walk Our sponsored walk in September was a tremendous success, with a grand total of 1, being raised. The proceeds have been shared equally between church and St Ann s Hospice and the picture below shows some of the walkers handing over a cheque for to St Ann s fundraiser Jill Kirkham during our carol service. Jill expressed her gratitude on behalf of the Hospice to everyone who took part and supported the walk. It makes all those aching legs and sore feet worthwhile! 9: Death of the Revd Stanley Hodges On Saturday 16 th January at 11.30am at Broadway URC, Worcs. There will be a Service of Thanksgiving for the life and work of the Rev Stanley Hodges. The service will celebrate Stanley s 97-year pilgrimage through life, from the little URC (then Congregational) chapel in Twyford, Buckinghamshire, where he grew up, to his ministry in Tewkesbury, Melbourn, Wickford and Broadway. 10: Burnley & Nelson United Reformed Church

9 During Advent, church members, including the Junior Church, prepared for our first ever Festival of Christmas Trees, Cribs and Angels. They enlisted the help of Coffee Cup customers to see how many different trees could be made from recycling rubbish. Milk bottle tops were used along with empty cardboard tubes, paper cases and wood, with scraps of lace, wool, glitter and ribbon to decorate. The whole church was involved ~ friends and members alike. Everyone was given a star to decorate, Once they were completed, Kathleen Smith ~ one of the Junior Church leaders, created an amazing Christmas tree from them. Folks in the community were invited to be part of the Festival by displaying and decorating a tree. Those who responded to the invitation included Pendleside Hospice, Weatherspoons, The Girl Guides Trefoil Guild, Friends of the Canal, Rob Frost Estate Agents, Burnley Light Opera, The British Red Cross, Building Bridges Burnley and many more besides.

10 The Worshipful the Mayor, Councillor Elizabeth Monk, who is also a long-standing church member, declared the Festival officially open on Wednesday morning at a short service held in the church. The Festival concluded on the Sunday afternoon with a community carol service as part of our Back to Church/Invitation Sunday. The Christmas celebrations were rounded up with some of the church members performing a simple nativity to a packed church. The cast included: Mary ~ Fiona Burton; Joseph ~ David Dunlop; The Innkeeper ~ Peter Hunt; Angels ~ Jayne Jenkins, Dorothea Dunlop, Jennifer Peckson; Barbara Moorehead; Shepherd ~ Kathryn Rawlinson; Wise People ~ Kathleen Smith; Freda Wills, Sally McKelvey and Herod ~ Rob McKelvey 11: Forton URC Robinson Seeds, home of the famous Mammoth Onion at Forton is holding a Potato weekend on the 6 th and 7 th of February from 10am to 3pm. They shall have over 60 varieties of seed potatoes as well as their range of vegetable plants, onion sets and seeds. For further info go to or the face book page at facebook.com/mammothvegetables At this event we shall once again be having a Pop Up Café. All funds raised are in aid of church funds. If you are in the area and would like a coffee, cake and chat please drop in we should be delighted to see you. Just enter PR3 0BN in the sat nav to find us.

11 12: Hest Bank URC This year Hest Bank URC celebrated 20 years of Agape lunches. The Agape lunch is held once a month and is for people who live alone. It s always a happy occasion a two course lunch and the tables are decorated with colourful napkins and matching flowers. This is a photograph of those who attended the anniversary lunch... 13: Devotions for Lent Following the success, and wide take up, of the Advent and Christmas devotions sent out by the North West Synod Andy Braunston and Lis Mullen are working together to get a team of people from the North Western and Northern Synods to write some daily devotions for Lent. These will be sent out by to those who sign up and also placed on the Northern Synod website. They will run from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday (we hope to have another set for Easter to Pentecost). If you would like to sign up for these please go to and fill in the form