celebrations of Methodism at Cloud Chapel

The children made the scarecrows to go on display at The Grange gardens, Biddulph, Staffordshire, as part of a scarecrow exhibition.  They drew pictures of the sort of clothes they thought might have been worn and conducted a bit of computer research into each of the men. This improved knowledge of history helped our Sunday School children understand the association between Cloud Chapel and Hugh Bourne.

ROOD LANE GARDEN PARTY

Rood Lane Church held a garden party and bring-and-buy sale at the house of one of the church members.  Proceeds were for the Salvation Army and Church funds.

UNSUNG HEROES

You are unsung heroes. That’s how politicians described the churches who campaigned as part of 'Make Poverty History'. They concluded that faith groups might have had a low profile at national level, but were vital to the successes achieved.

We have to rediscover our heroism and to stand up against poverty, ensuring that promises are not forgotten. Global Call to Action Against Poverty campaigners called for a month of action. 

In the UK, this included reminding our government of one particular promise. Aid and debt relief often come with damaging strings attached: poor countries are forced to follow particular trade policies, or to make trading concessions that benefit rich countries rather than their own people.

Thanks to campaigning by churches and others, the UK government has recognised the harm caused by unfair conditions and has promised not to use them any more. But it continues to fund the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank which still enforce the very same conditions.

MRDF (Methodist Relief and Development Fund), Christian Aid and others were in London to 'drum the message home' and give ministers Gordon Brown and Hilary Benn an unforgettable send-off to the IMF and World Bank meetings.

What everyone can do

Whether it’s joining a rally, sending an email, writing to your MP, wearing your white 'Make Poverty History' armband or breaking a world record, you should do whatever you can to stand up against poverty!

Wellspring Weekend at Quinta Hall

Wellspring Church spent a weekend away at Quinta Hall in Shropshire.  It proved to be every bit as successful as the previous visit.   Over seventy ‘Wellspringers’ took part.  It was another fantastic weekend enjoyed thoroughly by young and old alike.  More importantly, everyone who attended has been been challenged to seek out and be open to God’s plans for Wellspring Church and to pray about the role we as individuals will have to play.

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Romania
A life-changing experience

The excellent joint choir and musicians sang and played six pieces:

> Glory
> The Lord is my shepherd ^[1]
> Providence
> Softly and tenderly
> Morte Criste
> My Lord my life my all ^[2]

^{**************************************}

footnotes
[1]  the version known to many as the theme tune of 'The Vicar of Dibley'
[2]  written by a member of the choir

Rev David Cooper, spoke of his idea of starting a young people's choir in the South Cheshire area. Any young person from the age of 12 or 13 who is interested in joining, either as a singer or as a musician, is asked to contact David.

We hope in the future that the North Shropshire and Altrincham youth choirs will make a return visit to Wellspring, thus enabling more people to enjoy what was a terrific evening of worship. 

The evening ended with refreshments. Many thanks to the choirs and to all who helped and supported the evening.

In November, Philip Berry and Joanna joined Doug Parker on one of his trips to Romania to see some of the children’s homes that he and his wife Hilary have been supporting through their charity, Children of Romania.

In Budapest, the Canadian Ambassador, no less, told us that what we would see would be a life-changing experience.  She was absolutely right.

The scale and depth of the problems we saw were such that many of the children – mainly ethnic Hungarians – could only be helped by being removed from their environment and put in places where they could be properly looked after, given a good education.....and loved.

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Pray without Ceasing

Four o'clock on a winter's morning may seem an improbable time for people to be gathered at Wellspring church for a short service of praise and worship but this was how our day of ‘Pray without Ceasing’ began.  Monica Rushton had organised a day of events at Wellspring, which included an act of worship to open the event, a closing act of worship at 6 pm and throughout the day there was a prayer journey as well as space for quiet and reflective prayer which many people found valuable.

The prayer walk started at Rood Lane and finished at Wellspring.  Other churches in the circuit also took part as prayer hours were held at Bosley, Lower Withington, Trinity and Brookhouse Green with Davenport.  

Sylvia Harrison

[from The Trinity Messenger]

Congleton Prayer Walk

It was a cold, rather damp, winter's day, approaching eight o’clock in the morning, when all sensible people are either in bed or just settling down to breakfast.  But something, and somebody, was afoot in the grey Congleton dawn because it was the day the Circuit had been allocated in the Connexional ‘Pray without Ceasing’ programme. A small group from churches around the circuit was about to embark on a Prayer Walk organised by Sylvia Harrison.

Our first port of call was Rood Lane Methodist Church where we were welcomed with tea, coffee and scrumptious biscuits. We shared a time of prayer and left a specially written prayer behind. Suitably fortified we headed for the United Reformed Church where we were led in prayer and again left a written prayer behind.  We continued to Visyon, the counselling service for young people coping with severe stress, where we repeated the process.  Then it was a quick dash to Readesmoor Medical Group Practice to pray and leave a prayer. 

This pattern was repeated at the Library, the Police Station, the Town Hall, the Congleton Chronicle newspaper, the Youth Information Shop (Vibes Cafe), Moody Hall Residential Home (now called Chapelbrook House), St. Peter’s Church and, finally, the War Memorial Hospital. Then, what was left of the weary band of ‘prayers’ descended on Wellspring Methodist Church for warm drinks and warm fellowship.

Sylvia had written to each place we were to visit and, as a result, at a number of places we were met and warmly welcomed, particularly at St. Peter’s and Rood Lane.  The Chronicle newspaper printed their prayer, Visyon and the Vibes Cafe framed theirs and put them in a prominent place, the United Reformed Church left theirs on their door for visitors and passers by to see.

It was a cold day, but a really heart-warming experience with noticeable, yet incalculable benefits.  We are all in Sylvia’s debt for the careful way she organised and led the event.  I, for one, would like to see it repeated in some form or another.

Rev. Ieuan Johnston

[from The Trinity Messenger]

WATCH Club Talent Night

The WATCH club at Wellspring held a talent night to which parents and friends were invited.

JMA Takes off at Wellspring

'JMA' stands for 'Junior Mission for All'.  In September, Wellspring held their first JMA annual awards ceremony. Beginning in January, when collectors started raising money for JMA, the 13 members raised a grand total of £108.84.  

The church also held an envelope donation event at the awards ceremony.  Donations from the congregation got JMA off to a flying start for the coming year, with £33.00 being donated by those present.

During the service the congregation heard about how JMA money, via the Methodist Church Missions Funds, has been used to help people in this country and abroad.  Projects include:

>   Giving grants to churches for post-tsunami relief work in India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

>   Helping the Church of North India train its leaders about HIV/AIDS.

>   Giving help to churches of the Caribbean recovering from hurricane Ivan.

>   Assisting the church of Zimbabwe to develop children and family services for those affected or infected by HIV/AIDS.

All JMA collectors receive copies of Rainbow magazine.  In one issue there is information about the church in Serbia and Nepal, and we are encouraged to pray for these people.  Rainbow also includes news from other JMA members around the country, so that we can feel part of the wider JMA community. 

JMA collectors receive a certificate telling them how much money they have collected during the year, a new collectors' badge featuring the JMA rainbow logo on a long ribbon, and a rainbow badge to pin on the ribbon of the other badge.  There is lots of space on the ribbon for badges awarded in subsequent years. 

Many thanks to the children who have been collecting this year, and to contributors.  We hope to continue the good work and promise to learn, pray and serve with the worldwide church of Jesus Christ.

New members are always welcome.  You sign up to hold a JMA box to collect money in, or you can have a book to record regular donations from family and friends.

Rachel Artis
JMA Secretary, Wellspring