Church News March 2013

Transcription

1 BOLTON ROAD: CENTRAL Secretary: Room Lettings: NEW CHURCH Stewards: CHURCH DIRECTORY Secretary: Susan Blezard, 31 Cranberry Close, Darwen Danny Wilson, 57 Ivinson Road, Darwen Helen Robinson rooms@centralurcdarwen.org.uk Norman Yates, 53 Avondale Road, Darwen Anne Halliwell, 18A Woodbank Avenue, Darwen, Dorothy Smith, 43 Rectory Close, Darwen Jennifer Battrick, 62 Birch Hall Ave., Darwen Val Gregory Tel Darwen Churches Partnership Working together to learn, live, love and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Church News March 2013 BOLTON ROAD CENTRAL 20 Room Lettings: Marion Haslam, 4 Sunnyhurst Close, Darwen Tel: SPRING VALE Stewards: Janet Ashton, 11 Knowsley Meadows, Darwen Lilian Nicholson, 660 Bolton Road, Darwen Julie Claux, 137 Harwood Street, Darwen Chris Allan, 2 Sudell Close, Darwen TRINITY, LOWER DARWEN Secretary: Helen Williamson, 164 Sandy Lane, Lower Darwen TOCKHOLES: Secretary: Kathleen Knowles, 12 Alexandra View, Darwen CHURCH NEWS EDITOR Liz Rutherford 68 Barley Bank Street, Darwen Tel lizrutherford@live.co.uk FORMAL YOUTH ORGANISATIONS Trinity: Cubs Spring Vale: Guides, Brownies, Rainbows; New Church: Brownies, Rainbows PARENT AND TODDLER GROUPS Weekday Groups at Central, Spring Vale and Trinity ENQUIRIES: The Churches welcome all enquiries. For Baptisms, Marriages and Funerals please contact one of the Ministers before any other arrangements are made. Other enquiries may be made through the Ministers, Secretaries or Stewards. NEW CHURCH SPRING VALE TRINITY TOCKHOLES MINISTERS Rev Debbie Keegan, 2 Highercroft Road Lower Darwen, BB3 0QR ( ) Deacon Dave Keegan, Tel Rev Marie Crook, 4 Churchill Ave, Rishton, Blackburn, BB1 4EY (01254) Rev Terry Dyer, 40 The Sands, Whalley, Clitheroe, BB7 9TL ( ) Rev Yvonne Pearson, 10 Preston Old Road, Blackburn, BB2 2SS ( ) Re Albert Gayle, 35 Somerset Ave, Wilpshire BB1 9JD Rev Tim Horobin, St James Vicarage, Stopes Brow, Lower Darwen, BB3 0QP ( ) Partnership Website: Central Website: Methodist Website: 1

2 SUNDAY WORSHIP MARCH SUNDAY 3 rd MARCH Bolton Road 10.30am Rev Terry Young: Communion Junior Church Central New Church Spring Vale Trinity Tockholes Tockholes am Rev Geoff Tolley: Communion 10.30am Doreen Goodship 10.30am David Foster 10.45am Dc Dave Keegan: Parade Service 10.30am Rev Geoff Tolley: Communion 2.00pm Rev Steve Goodwin Zarqa Khavas SUNDAY 10 th MARCH Bolton Road 10.30am John East Jan Grimshaw Central 10.30am Rev Geoff Tolley: Communion Patrick Park New Church Spring Vale Trinity Tockholes 9.30am Rev Debbie Keegan: Communion 10.30am Rev Debbie Keegan / Brenda Rogers: Parade Service 10.45am Catherine Young 10.30am Rev Albert Gayle: Baptism 2.00pm Doreen Goodship SUNDAY!7 th MARCH Bolton Road 10.30am Colin Garley Janice Hassan Central 10.30am Danny Wilson Eileen Pye New Church 10.30am Simon Huggill Spring Vale 10.45am Myles Sumner Trinity Tockholes 10.30am Alan Williamson 2.00pm Rev Geoff Tolley: Communion PALM SUNDAY 24 th MARCH Bolton Road 10.30am Doreen Goodship Nancy Briggs Central 10.30am Barbara Duxbury to be arranged by Junior Church New Church Spring Vale Trinity Tockholes 10.30am Bryan Lamb 10.45am Rev Debbie Keegan: Communion 10.30am Colin Garley 2.00pm George Grime EASTER SUNDAY 31 st MARCH Bolton Road 10.30am George Grime: Communion Gordon Beveridge Central 10.30am Danny Wilson: Communion Jean Yates New Church Spring Vale Trinity 10.30am Rev Debbie Keegan: Communion 9.30am Rev Debbie Keegan: Communion 10.45am Kathryn Hodkinson 10.30am Rev Albert Gayle: Communion 2.00pm Rev Terry Young 1 Genesis end 2 Genesis , 28-end 3 Isaiah Genesis Genesis end of 48 6 Genesis Genesis end of 50 8 Exodus Exodus Corinthians 5.16-end 11 Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus Exodus 7.8-end BIBLE READINGS FOR MARCH 17 Philippians 3.4b Exodus Exodus 8.20-end 20 Exodus Exodus 9.13-end 22 Exodus Exodus Luke Luke Luke Luke end 28 Luke Luke John end 31 John HAVE YOU GOT FURNITURE OR HOUSEHOLD GOODS THAT YOU NO LONGER USE OR NEED? If it s in a re-saleable condition we will collect it for FREE for more details ring SECONDHAND FURNITURE SHOP Unit 2 Brunswick Street Whalley Bank Trading Estate Blackburn BB2 1NR OPENING TIMES Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 10 am to 4 pm Sat 10 am to 1 pm 19

3 18 FLOWER ROTAS MARCH Bolton Road Flower Rota 3 rd Flower Fund 10 th Betty, Mike and Family Memories 17 th Ron Walsh Birthday Memories of a Dear Mum 24 th Mr & Mrs Mel Henson Wedding Anniversary 31 st Flower Fund Spring Vale Flower Rota 3rd 10th 17th 24th 31st Irene Hindle Clarkson Family T Nightingale Margaret Huggill To be advised Tockholes Flower Rota 3rd Mr & Mrs A Gillett Birthday Memories of Joan 10th The Church 17th Mr & Mrs A Edmonds-Magee 24th Rev & Mrs Terry Young In Memory 31st Easter Sunday Mrs Grimshaw In Memory of Mrs Ainsworth Central Flower Rota 3rd In memory of Edith and Arnold Briggs the family 10th In memory Ken and Beryl Shaw 17th In memory of Frank Shaw Olwen Shaw 24th Wedding Anniversary Mike and Anne Adamson 31st In memory Lee and Patricia Campbell, Gary and Eileen Pye Central Coffee Rota 3rd Doreen Bannister, Kathleen Knowles, Margaret Burns. 10th Liz Rutherford, Margaret Williams, Barbara Duxbury. 17th Mavis Aspinall, Dorothy Yates, Annette Barker. 24th Palm Sunday, Cafe Church 31st Easter Sunday, Beryl Slater, Lynda Reay, Margaret East Central Communion Rota Ken Fish, Ken Shaw, Janet Goodship, *Janice Cowell *denotes who is to supply bread. If you are not available, please arrange a replacement and alter the list on the notice board. MINISTER S LETTER What a strange month March turns out to be in the church Calendar! We start the month well into Lent a time of self-examination and review of our personal spiritual commitment in worship, study, prayer and service. Some see this as a negative time what shall I give up? But to me Lent is a positive time how can I come closer to God through my relationship with Jesus, and how can the Father further His Kingdom through me? Then we come to Mothering Sunday traditionally a time of family appreciation both of our family at home and of the family of the worldwide church God s family. Nowadays we do tend to overlook the fact that Mothering Sunday was the time sons and husbands, who laboured on estates away from home, could return to their Mother Church, and used the opportunity to return to their womenfolk at home. Commercialism today seems to have reversed the priority of this day. Palm Sunday comes as great time of celebration as we remember the crowd welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem but even here there is a mixed message of the fickle nature of people to go with the crowd ; praising Jesus one day and calling for His crucifixion before the week s out. Perhaps it is significant that we wave Palm Crosses rather than palm branches. Then what is to me an incredibly powerful day Good Friday as I centre on the fact that God s own Son gave up His life for me: Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all Easter Saturday is an empty day a day when we find the disciples without hope, without purpose, lost and bewildered. And then the exuberant joy of Easter Day death and Satan conquered and the assurance that the love of God (both God s love of you and me, and our love of God) wins. And all this is celebrated in one month. 3

4 Minister s letter... Yes this March is a real challenge to seriously consider our relationship with, and commitment to, our loving God and His gift of new life for each one of us. Perhaps this year, as individuals and as the church, we can truly put aside the distractions of society and the commercial world. Let Lent be a time of examining our relationship with our loving Father and with Jesus, and come to the joys of the Easter resurrection with renewed commitment to Jesus. Then we might be more receptive to God s presence with us and like the early disciples at Pentecost welcome God s Holy Spirit anew. Terry (Over Darwen St James Church) FELLOWSHIP NEWS TRINITY BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT SERVICE DROP-IN ARE YOU GRIEVING FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS DIED AS A RESULT OF ILLNESS? You are welcome to attend our friendly and informal DROP-IN Service, free of charge, where you can talk and share your experiences in the company of others in a similar position, with a cup of tea or coffee The service will be welcoming, supportive and provided by trained volunteers who are supervised by the Hospice Bereavement Support Co-ordinator. It is not counselling or advice giving On 10th February we welcomed the family and friends of Sarah and Stuart to Trinity to share in the baptism of their son, Jayden. We wish the family all the best for the future. Those celebrating birthdays recently have included Judith Atkinson, George Grime, Colin Garley, John Atkinson and Sylvia Soltau. We congratulated Ruth and Bert Hilton on their wedding anniversary (51 years). In our prayers we have remembered Jack's brother Harold, Mildred, who has been in hospital and is now recovering at her daughter's, and Ruth's grandson, who is to have an operation. It was good to see Ned back in church after several weeks' absence. We pray for all the other members of our fellowship who are unable to be with us on Sundays. You do not need to have had any prior contact with Hospice services Unfortunately, we do not have facilities to cater for children If you wish to discuss different or additional support for yourself than that provided by the Drop-In please contact the Bereavement Support Co-ordinator East Lancashire Hospice On (Direct line and voic ) 4 17

5 SPRING VALE This month has seen the start of the Stay and Play sessions at Spring Vale, and we seem to have a few regular children, and hopefully the numbers will begin to build. A big thank you to Alice and Jenny who have been working in the kitchen preparing refreshments for children and parents. SEIGLEMAN HOUSE In the grounds of East Lancashire Hospice, Park Lee Road, Blackburn BB2 3NY 2nd Tuesday of every month am to 12 noon 8 May 12 June 10 July 14 August 11 September 9 October 13 November 11 December 8 January February March 2013 EAST LANCASHIRE HOSPICE SHOP DARWEN Upstairs room (access via stairs only) Bridge Street, Darwen, BB3 2AA 4th Thursday of every month pm 24 May 28 June 26 July 23 August 27 September 25 October 22 November 27 December 24 January February March 2013 We have also enjoyed this month a lovely church parade service lead by Deacon Dave Keegan, the theme of was camping, the brownies told us all about their recent camping trip to Pickup Bank and showed us many of the things that they had made. The guides shared with us some of their campfire songs. Afterwards we shared bacon butties and refreshments, it made for a lovely morning's worship. We are also looking forward to the start of the Bible Study Homegroup which is starting again soon, the last session was much enjoyed by some of our members, and we are sure that the next will be just as enjoyable for everyone. The theme this time will be 'Work, Rest and Play, hopefully we will all learn through the sessions how to get that balance in our lives. From March we are planning to start a Mid Week Holy Communion on the second Thursday of each month, the service will be held from 9.30am am and will be followed by coffee afterwards if anyone wants to share in fellowship. Dates going forward will be Thursday 14th March, Thursday 11th April, Thursday 9th May and Thursday 13th June. DROP-IN DATES FOR 2012/13 East Lancashire Hospice Website As always a big thank you to all who undertake their various jobs within the church, however as always we are looking for volunteers to help out with general maintenance and cleaning duties, and any help that anyone can give a lot or a little would be much appreciated. 16 5

6 BOLTON ROAD Once again, this month, our thoughts have been with those families known to us who have been mourning the loss of loved ones. One of our long standing members, Mrs Jean Hope who celebrated her one hundredth birthday before Christmas, passed away in January. Jean attended Bolton Road for many years until unable to do so and will be remembered fondly by those friends who knew her. Her funeral service in Church, which celebrated her long life, was taken by Geoff and included an address given by her son Ian and a lovely poem written by Kaye, one of her granddaughters. In our prayers, we ve also remembered the family of Jennie Naylor who passed away at the age of ninety two. Jennie often used to join us in Church for special services and we especially think of her daughter in law, Dorothy, also her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Two more friends of Bolton Road, Harold Kay and Clara Taylor, have also sadly passed away. Harold, who was ninety two, and his family were connected with the old Bolton Road Church and Harold kindly continued to support our Church over many years. Clara, aged ninety six, attended our Wednesday Fellowship until a few years ago and will also be remembered by friends in the local area. We give thanks for the long lives that these friends have had and continue to pray for God s blessing and comfort for their families and friends. Thank you also to Geoff who once again has helped our Fellowship at Bolton Road through his ministering to families in their time of need. Dates for your Diary Friday 1 st March Women s World Day of Prayer Service 2pm Wednesday 20 th March Elders Meeting CENTRAL CALENDAR MARCH Meditation Group every Wednesday 6.30 pm Upper Room Cafe Bible Study 13th March at 10 am Communion 20th March starting at 12 noon until further notice Central Monday Fellowship and Women's Guild meetings in March Monday March 4th 7.30 pm Carol Johnson :' Jam as it used to be' in Church Monday March 18th 7.30 pm Christine Hunter : Fitness for over fifties held at Ewood Park Enterprise Centre Thursday March 21st Women's Guild 2.15 p.m. Anne Hull: 'Darwen in its Heyday' held in the Coffee Lounge Book Club March 26th at the home of Anne Grimson March 26th 7-30pm Church AGM Deadline for April Magazine : Sunday 17th March Bible Studies for Lent at Central URC - all churches welcome Feb 25th.The dates below are only for the week. Each meeting will decide when the next one is. If interested contact Geoff Tolley There will be a morning one at Central at a.m. for one hour and an evening one in the Earnsdale Road Area at 7-30p.m. Feb 25th Matthew Ch 26 March 4th Mark ch 11 March 11th John ch 19 (part 1) March 18J John 19 (Part 2) April 1st 1 Corinthians Ch

7 Women s World Day of Prayer Friday 1 st March at 2pm Bolton Road United Reformed Church, Bolton Road, Darwen Speaker: Mrs G Armstrong Featuring the choirs of St Cuthbert s and St Joseph s Primary Schools. All welcome Good Friday Outing Good Friday this year is on March 29th. This year we shall be going to Holmfirth, 'Last of the Summer Wine' country in West Yorkshire. The Methodist Church in the centre of Holmfirth has been booked for the day. The coaches will leave Central at 9.30 a.m. Cost 13. Contact Barbara Duxbury or Anne Halliwell. TOCKHOLES When we think of March, we start to think of Spring. I noticed the bulbs were starting to come through when I came out of Church. March is always a busy time for me as all the family seem to have birthdays then, but this year will be special as my cousin (who is known as auntie to all the family) will be 100. She is at present in a Nursing Home at Harefield near London, which is near her daughter and son-in-law, so I am going down again for a family celebration. The family service on the 3rd March will be conducted by Eve s brother-in-law Steve Goodwin. March 10th will be our Mother s Day Service. The Hall will be open on Good Friday 1 5 pm for light refreshments and good company, so why not call you will be welcome. Kath Knowles The Happiness Course The start of a deeper journey? Life is full of paradoxes. Here s one: since World War Two, this nation s wealth has skyrocketed, but people s happiness or wellbeing has not it s flatlined. A Happy Life - what makes us happy? A Successful Life - what constitutes a 'Good Life'? A Relational Life - are relationships important? A Meaningful Life - can we know purpose and meaning? SINGERS WANTED Would anyone be interested in forming a church choir? Our service is every Sunday from 2 to 3 pm and may be one evening a week for a practice. We would also be looking for someone with musical expertise to coach the choir. This would certainly help the church and also be good fun. If you are interested please tell either Kathleen or Marion. This course provides an opportunity to minister to and build relationships with the local community. Churches might see this as a possible pre-alpha course for those who are on the early stages of a spiritual journey. Quotes "It was very deep and got me thinking a lot about future decisions. Thank you. "It has changed my life." "Really opened my eyes to think about certain aspects of my life." Read more at the Jubilee+ site at c.aspx 14 7

8 CENTRAL The worship has been very varied. Kathryn Hodkinson a.k.a Cracklin Rosie (she knows why) looked at the different gifts we as a church we have to offer and linked that as a group of churches we all have something to offer and to work together. The following week Andrew Mudaharara looked at 1 Corinthians 13 realising we must love others we find difficult to love. Geoff Tolley reminded us that we need to make time for Jesus and he illustrated this fact in one way with a clock he was presented with, which had the words 'Time for Jesus'. John East preached on the first Sunday in Lent on the subject of Temptation illustrating not only with chocolate (too irresistible for me to resist) but realising that both Christians and Muslims need to fast or do without something to give alms, pray, and study God's word in the form of meditation or bible study. It is good to see Lauren Campbell now as part of the guitar group who play the choruses and now included on the order of service are some which are found in Junior Praise, thus adding to the variety of hymns and choruses we sing. Ash Wednesday saw our meetings cancelled due to the snow. Those who have celebrated birthdays have included Zoey the granddaughter of Beryl and Ken Shaw (10), Lynda Reay and Bill Chynoweth (now four score). Lynda treated us to coffee on her birthday and Bill treated us to some lovely cake. We thank you for these kind gestures and wish all of you many more birthdays to come. Candid Mudharara has completed her strenuous training and her passing out parade took place a couple of weeks ago. She will be taking up a nursing position at Peterborough and we wish her every success for her future career. Those we have prayed for in recent weeks have included Olive Hargreaves, Esther Gissing, Joyce Howorth's husband, Marion Jepson, and Katherine Donnelly's grandson. We continue to pray for these people mentioned by name. Finally, we were pleased that Margaret Burns friend, whom we had prayed for a number of months has been given the all clear. It is so nice to hear good news. Ken Fish 8 13

9 Darwen Churches Food Larder For emergency food parcels Now at Cornfield Cliff House, Cornfield St, Darwen (off Olive Lane, by Bowling Green) Parcel Distribution by Nightsafe staff Referrals may be made 24 hours a day Telephone , (Please contact the staff yourself and do not give this number to the client) Darwen Blind Society If you are blind or partially sighted and feel that you need help, advice, support or perhaps just somewhere to go for a social afternoon. The Darwen Blind Society would be pleased to welcome you at Our Meeting Place. First Monday of the Month 1.30 pm to 3 pm Central United Reformed Church, Duckworth Street, Darwen Contact Kathleen Jebb for more details Local Alcoholics Anonymous Group meet at Central URC, Duckworth Street, Darwen every Monday at 7.30 pm (except public holidays) Do You have a drinking problem? Do you want help? Ring Alcoholics Anonymous Amendment from last month's magazine The Alcoholics Anonymous meet every week at 7.30 p.m. on Mondays except for public holidays. Apologies for any misunderstanding. Darwen Churches Together met at Darwen Vale High School on Saturday 26th January 2012 from 11a.m to 2.00 p.m. In spite of the weather about 50 people managed to get through the snow for this event organised by the Darwen Churches Partnership and led by the Rev. Albert Gayle. It was good to meet people from various churches in Darwen and to share quizzes, discussions, short acts of worship and an excellent buffet lunch. Thanks must go to the organisers who did such a lot to make it a successful day. We did not have time to finish all the discussions, so we hope to meet again soon and include all those who were snowed-in last time.! Walk to Tockholes This walk took place on the 9th February and was organised by Lesley Halliwell, who organised a walk for Christians Together in Darwen from Sunnyhurst to Tockholes and back. Those people who received s and completed the walk found it very enjoyable but very muddy.!. It was good to meet more people for the first time and we look forward to seeing each other again Jean Yates Pam Davis, wife of Neville, has contacted me to say how grateful she was for the tribute in the last Group News. I assured her that the family were still in the thoughts and prayers within the Darwen Churches. Geoff Tolley On April 1st this year changes in the Government Benefit Rules are to go through a massive change and they will/could affect any person on benefits including a new bedroom tax and changes on the how benefits are to be paid in future,. It will also affect people on Disability Allowance if they are under 65. I have never gone into this area before in a church magazine but it is important that those involved should go on the Benefits website or talk to the CAB, Town Hall Welfare etc. Geoff Tolley 12 9

10 Darwen Christians Together: Dear Friends, If you talk to people about Lent, sooner or later in the conversation they will talk about giving something up. Giving up chocolates is a common one. I think there are bigger things that are demanded of us than denying oneself extra luxuries. The Pope has not just given up being Pope for Lent, but for life. No Pope has done that for six hundred years. It cannot have been an easy decision to make. There must have been much prayer and wrestling. Perhaps Lent is about taking something on rather than giving something up. If we see Lent like that then it is about going the extra mile. That means following Christ more faithfully, with a determination to give him our wholehearted discipleship. It might mean more disciplined devotion, perhaps more practical service, maybe more effective witness, or possibly the offering of previously unused gifts. Whatever it is, it is more than giving something up; above all, it is giving something back to the one who gave us his all. Lent then is a time of preparation for something greater. Jesus started his ministry with a time of preparation in the desert. He needed to focus on what God was asking of him; so he needed time and space to wrestle with various challenges. He came through his desert experience with a revolutionary agenda. The song, Sent by the Lord am I could have been his song. The song goes on to say, my hands are ready now to make the earth a place in which the kingdom comes. Sent by the Lord am I; my hands are ready now to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes. The angels cannot change a world of hurt and pain into a world of love, of justice and of peace. The task is mine to do, to set it really free. Oh, help me to obey; help me to do your will. I have been excited with the people of Darwen who turned out on the 26 th January to go through their desert experience. Our desert was a white desert. I was so touched by the number of people who came to Darwen Vale School to focus on the way ahead. In spite of the conditions we had over forty people. People walked because they could not get their cars through the snow. We had worship, prayer, a quiz, food and a time of reflection through story and bible study. Many ideas were generated, which will be reflected on by a small group on the 28 th February. Even before the ideas are considered by the small group one of the ideas has already been put into action. Lesley Halliwell organised a walk to Roddlesworth, which hopefully will be the first of many in our pilgrimage together. I will let you know when the next Forum meeting will be as soon as possible after the 28 th February. The important think to remember about Lent is that it is a preparation for the new and exciting possibilities ahead through suffering, death and resurrection. Have a blessed Easter Albert Gayle. NEW CHURCH Message from Dorothy Law God is Far ahead of us in Problems He is in control and will guide 10 11