“Life Together” will be taking place from Wednesday 12th February to Sunday 16th February. Andrew Emison is looking for volunteers to cook and be present during the sessions. Please help if you can. If you are not able to help in this way, please pray for our young people as they share in discipleship in this way. We, the leaders and representatives of ten British Church denominations and networks, speak together as the UK prepares to leave the European Union on Friday 31 January 2020.
Three and a half years after the UK voted to leave the European Union, the point of departure has now been reached. The process of arriving at this point has been bruising and divisive. For some this date will mark the realisation of a long-held ambition and a moment of celebration. For others, however, it will be an occasion of great loss, marking the moment when deeply held desires for the nations of the UK are placed beyond reach. Church members in good conscience continue to hold a wide range of views about Brexit. As Church leaders and representatives, we are united in wishing to seek God’s guidance and a sense of common purpose as we move from this chapter of the Brexit process into the next. As the UK leaves the EU there are important choices to be made about the values that we as a country live out. As Christians, we affirm our belief that all people are equally created in God’s image. Our country should be one that offers sanctuary to refugees and is intolerant of those who hate because of a person’s race or nationality. Both Leave and Remain campaigns agreed on this – we must now make it a reality. The continuing challenges of the climate crisis, global inequality and conflict will require both resolve and close international cooperation to be addressed effectively. We greatly value the love and friendship of our sisters and brothers in other European churches, and a group of us are writing to them publicly today to assure them that these relationships will continue. We also recognise that 31 January will bring uncertainty and anxiety to many EU citizens living in the UK and British citizens living in the EU. Leaving the EU cannot mean abandoning our responsibilities towards these families. Brexit exposed and exacerbated divisions in British society. The deeply held convictions that fuelled the Brexit debate will not simply go away, but our Christian faith urges us to be people of peace and reconciliation. If the bitterness of the last four years is not to persist in polluting our national life, we will all need to resist the temptation to hold on onto the hurts of the past, or to act in ways which will be perceived as triumphalist. We will only be able to move towards having a sense of common purpose, despite our differences, when we choose to act with kindness, humility and respect towards those with whom we disagree. We call on our political leaders to set an example over the next weeks and months as we move towards negotiations which will require further decisions about priorities for the nations of the UK. For our part, our Churches will be working and praying for: a society where the poorest and most marginalised are at the centre a society that welcomes the stranger a just economy that enables the flourishing of all life a planet where the environment is renewed a world which actively works for peace a politics characterised by listening, kindness and truthfulness. Rev'd. Dr. Barbara Glasson and Professor Clive Marsh, President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference Rev'd. David Mayne, Moderator of Council, Baptist Union of Great Britain The Right Rev'd. Colin Sinclair, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Rev'd. Nigel Uden and Mr. Derek Estill, Moderators of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church Most Rev'd. Father Olu Abiola OBE and Archbishop Fidelia Onyuku-Opukiri, Council of African and Caribbean Churches UK Yvonne Campbell, General Secretary, on behalf of the Council of the Congregational Federation Rev'd. Dr. Noel A Davies, Chair, Cytûn: Churches Together in Wales' Working Party on Wales and Europe Bishop Simon Iheanacho, Overseer, UK World Evangelism Churches Paul Parker, Recording Clerk, Quakers in Britain Most Rev'd. Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church In an address on Saturday to the Conference outlining the theme for her Presidential year, ‘So what’s the story…?’, the Revd Dr Barbara Glasson used stories from her own life and ministry to reveal how we can find a “fragile strength” and from being present in difficult places we can, “surprise ourselves once again with the way of Jesus”.
She said: “We are called to tell stories, to listen to stories and to wrestle with stories, to search for truth not fake news, to challenge the malicious stories we tell about each other and to go on believing that as people of creation, exodus, crucifixion, wilderness wandering and even in exile we can still claim the hope of resurrection and the gracious promise of life in all its fullness.” Dr Glasson’s ministry has been with the Bread Church in Liverpool, Touchstone, a Methodist interfaith project in Bradford, and with people who have experienced abuse following the Past Cases Review. She arrived at the Conference, being held this year in Birmingham, on foot having walked 133 miles from Huddersfield, stopping frequently en route to share and listen to the stories of communities along the way. On a trip to China in 2017, Dr Glasson heard of the story of nineteenth century Cornish missionary, Samuel Pollard, brought up to date in a country with the fastest growing Christian population on earth. On another journey to Myanmar she encountered Shanti Kana, or safe space, a project run by All We Can for women, so that they can feel safe and cool and rest, away from the cramped, claustrophobic and often violent shacks of the nearby refugee camp. The people of these stories she said, “live the Jesus story and so can we, we who are Methodist and Methodish, we who are marinaded in faith or just dipping a tentative toe, Conference buffs and Conference rookies, big wigs and small fry, gay or straight or trans or undefined, broken, diffident or downright scared, all of us, each of us is called to this simple, costly way, living out our stories within the eternal, challenging, costly, glorious stories of God - because nothing in all creation can separate us from it.” In her address Dr Glasson called for more than just telling of stories but to push for change and to listen: “We will need to be people of reconciliation and peace in an increasingly angry and divided Britain. We will need to commit ourselves to not only making the church inclusive, but allowing those who we might think ‘on the edge’ to challenge and transform us. We need to listen in three dimensions to what is told and what lies in the dark spaces between the words.” To watch a video and read the full text of Dr Glasson delivering her address click here. What a wonderful Service of Welcome for Rev'd. Andrew Emison and his family last night.
We were delighted to be joined in a packed Church by:- the Mayor of Frodsham, Cllr. Mallie Poulton; representatives from the other churches in Frodsham, Fr. James Kenny of St. Luke Roman Catholic Church, Fr. Michael Mills of St. Laurence Church of England Parish Church, Rev'd. Mansell Morgan of King's Church, and Mrs. Sue Spilman of Main Street Community Church; Mrs. Aelison Wilson of Frodsham Churches Together; and, Suzie Treeton of Chapel Fields MHA Nursing & Dementia Care Home, Frodsham. We were also pleased to welcome Rev'd. Neil Stacey, Superintendent of the Chester & Delamere Forest Circuit of the Methodist Church, and Rev'd. Peter Barber, Chair of the Chester & Stoke-on-Trent District of the Methodist Church. There are two further district-run workshops to examine the issue of whether the Methodist Church should reconsider its definition of marriage in the light of civil same-sex marriage. How do we use the Bible to help us in this matter?
The first, already publicised, is at North St, Crewe (CW1 4NJ) on Thursday 21 January at 7:00pm and an extra one has been arranged for Saturday 23 January at Wellspring Methodist Church Congleton (CW12 3AP) at 10:00am. Both will last 2 ¼ hours, and consist of input plus small group conversations and feedback. Refreshments are provided. These workshops are open to anyone in the Methodist Church but booking is required. Please book with The District Office for the evening of 21 January at Crewe: chester.stoke@btconnect.com or 01270 627774. Please book with Dane & Trent Circuit office for the morning of 23 January at Congleton: office@danetrentmethodist.org.uk 01260 270899. For further info. contact David Pickles: picklesd@methodistchurch.co.uk 07799 902565 Churches Together in Cheshire's service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be held at Chester Cathedral on Sunday 24th January 2016 at 4.00pm, the preacher will be Rev'd. The Lord Leslie Griffiths. Leslie Griffiths, a former President of the Methodist Conference and currently the Minister at Wesley's Chapel in London, is a well-known Methodist voice and those from the churches in and around Cheshire may appreciate this opportunity to hear him, as well as to join with others in celebrating our Christian unity.
Dear Friends,
Please find below the new strategy for our Church, which we are launching today. This is an exciting document which sets out the new vision and mission statement for our Church, and how we hope to deliver it over the next five years. Please take time to carefully read it and let Mr. John Holmes, Mr. Alan Carter or any of the Leadership Team know if you have any queries or want more information. Please use the sign up sheet in the Church Hall, or e-mail enquiries@frodshammethodist.org, if you would like to:-
Many thanks, The Leadership Team We are delighted to hear that Heather Rowland, our friend from Kelsall, will be received as a fully accredited local preacher at a special service at Kelsall Methodist Church on Friday October 16th at 7.30pm. The preacher will be Rev'd. Ashley Cooper, formerly a minister in our Circuit. All are welcome. Please hold Heather in your prayers.
The Methodist Church of Britain aims to review all 'safeguarding cases' since 1950. For the purposes of the review, a 'safeguarding concern' is defined as any concern that a child or adult may be at risk, be suffering or have suffered abuse, or that someone represents a risk of abuse to others.
Anyone who would appreciate support through this difficult process should contact either their District Safeguarding Coordinators or Hilary Walker and Brendan Stephens on 0207 486 5502 or e-mail pastcasesreview@methodistchurch.org.uk Please look here for all the information you may require (or contact Revd Denise Harding if you do not have internet access): In particular, please feel free to complete the response form and send it in either by email to pastcasesreview@methodistchurch.org.uk or post it to Methodist Church House, 25 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5JR. Please send responses before the end of February if possible. For further questions please contact Patricia Tagumigwa, Past Cases Review assistant, via Methodist Church helpdesk 020 7486 5502 or e-mail pastcasesreview@methodistchurch.org.uk Chester and Delamere Forest Circuit require an Administrator, based at Frodsham Church but occasionally working from home. This will be a permanent appointment to assist the Minister in the daily running of the churches in her care.
The hours of work are 7 hours per week worked on a flexible basis. Salary will be £9.25 per hour The date of commencement will be week commencing 30th September 2013 (or earlier if the successful applicant is available). The closing date for applications is 30th August, 2013. For an application pack and a full job description, please contact Peter Sandercock (01352 711761 or e-mail peter.sandercock@btinternet.com). On Saturday 2nd February, a small group headed down to Swan Bank Methodist Mission in Burslem for a Children & Youth Conference entitled ‘Unite’. The day consisted of three sessions, with a variety of options to choose from ranging from ‘bongo madness’ to a workshop on the ethical use of social media and a sport workshop to a session on leading worship. This was followed by a fabulous meal shared together. The evening saw performances by two Christian bands and a short talk by the Rev’d. Ashley Cooper, the senior pastor (who was formerly at Helsby Methodist Church). All in all there were over 160 young people in attendance and it was enriching to see so many gathered together to share, learn and grow in faith. Below are the comments made by those from our Church who attended. I enjoyed this trip loads. The drumming lesson was fantastic, and I greatly enjoyed the games in the sports hall. I also liked the social lesson, where we watched lots of funny clips. Also, the food there was great and very filling! I especially enjoyed the singing and being part of it. Eve This trip was amazing! I loved playing the fun games and activities. We made some cool foam fish and had a lovely dinner. Emma R. I loved the activities that went on at Swan Bank. Emma and me were doing sports and made foam fish in the craft room. Emma H. I really liked this trip. All three activities I did were really fun and interesting. I did bongo drumming, sports and a social media lesson. I also really enjoyed the bands at the end. Jodie I enjoyed the workshops, especially the sports one because it was fun. The bands were really good and Ash was really funny and he used to live in Helsby! Georgina In his Christmas message, the Rev'd. Dr Mark Wakelin, President of the Methodist Conference, urges people to discover a "vulnerable God" in Jesus this festive season. The full text of the message follows: "Truly this was the Son of God! "I was asked once by a well-known broadcaster, ‘do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?’ I replied, as you do, by asking him, ‘it depends on what you mean by, ‘Son of God.’ His reply shook me because he then said, ‘It’s a perfectly simple question, ‘Is Jesus Christ the Son of God?' My own thought was immediately, ‘I wonder which bit of ‘Son of God’ he is finding simple?' "I presume he meant do I believe in a literal way? But that is hardly simple. Literal language is OK for baked beans and possibly sunsets, but it gets a bit thin when talking about most of the things that really matter such as love, sadness and wonder. It runs out of steam totally when talking of God. You can’t say anything literal about God! "I was once in an argument about the new hymn book (I am afraid I get a bit grumpy about some of the alterations to ancient poems that we make and think that our desire to modernise the old is a little like the Christians who wanted to cover the modesty of the paintings in the Sistine Chapel). My colleague disliked the word ‘ineffable’ because he felt no one would understand it. There is a certain irony in that as you can imagine! Given that ‘ineffable’ basically means something we can’t understand, I would have thought it was a useful word to hang on to if we also want to talk about God. God is ‘ineffable’ – and that’s the point. "That’s the point of Christmas. How does God communicate with us when words are not adequate? How can we even try to talk of God when literal language so lets us down? God’s answer is, of course, the ‘self sending’ – of a God who in Charles Wesley’s words is, ‘contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man.’ What we can ever understand of God has to begin by taking account of God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Who is written about in Colossians 1:15: ‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation’ and verse 19: ‘For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.’ "The ‘Word’ is God, says John. Now this isn’t simple language either, but it directs you a kind of struggle to understand that is different from, for example, trying to get your head around Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity! Because it is truth revealed and held in a person, understanding and engaging with that truth is as much about love and obedience as it is about intellectual capacity and linguistic dexterity. We are not so much asked to assent to a philosophical or religious claim, ‘yes I agree that Jesus is the Son of God,’ but inhabit a story, the Christmas story, to live within ancient tale of human struggle and courage, of wonder and delight, of mystery and of angels declaring good news. Children get this much more easily than adults who want the whys and the wherefores of an extraordinary story which is far more than an odd biological claim on the Universe. "Do I believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Of course, wonder of wonders, ‘Let earth and heaven combine, angels and men agree, to praise in songs divine the incarnate deity.’ I inhabit this ancient story and find it to be true. Wrapped in our clay we may not immediately recognise the creator of all things. But it is our life task, to discover a vulnerable God who is on a mission to finish the ‘new creation’ and is looking for followers. "Happy Christmas!" On behalf of JMA, a big thank you to all our collectors who have raised £531.79. Our top collector this year is William Deakin, who raised £94. Well done William! He has won the shield, and we have also won the new Circuit's shield for the first time. So well done everyone!
Pat Worrall L-R: David Ray (Minister for Hamilton Street Methodist Church, Chester), Denise Harding (Minister for Frodsham, Tarvin and Oakmere with Ashton Methodist Churches, Peter Barber (Chair of the Chester and Stoke-on-Trent District), Ruth Pickles (District Synod Secretary and past Vice President of Conference), Neil Stacey (Superintendent Minister) Sunday 2nd September, 2012, saw a momentous occasion in the life of Frodsham Methodist Church. The Inauguration Service was held for the combining of the Delamere Forest and Chester Circuits to form one, much larger, circuit, better equipped for mission. The event was held at Frodsham Methodist Church starting at 5.00pm with Tea and Cakes (scrumptious!) followed by Worship at 6.00pm. It was combined with the Welcome Service for The Rev'd. Denise Harding, the new minister for Frodsham, Tarvin and Oakmere with Ashton Methodist Churches and the Rev'd. David Ray, who is to take up a new post at Hamilton Street Methodist Church, Chester . The Rev'd. Neil Stacey was comfirmed as the Superintendent of the new Circuit. An exhibition of modern Christian art 22nd September to 27th October at Wesley Methodist Church, St John St, Chester (next to the main Post Office) This inspiring exhibition is taken from the Methodist Art Collection, and is well worth seeing. The Wesley Coffee Bar is open 10am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday and they also run a Fairtrade shop. Alongside the exhibition there is an extensive programme of talks and workshops. For more information pick up an event programme from our own Church Hall or foyer. Alternatively, visit Wesley's website or visit the Methodist Art Collection's website. The Methodist Art Collection is one of the largest collections of Christian art in Britain. A full transcript of the Rev'd. Dr. Mark Wakelin's presidential address to the 2012 Methodist Conference is available to read here and you can still listen to it here. Dr. Wakelin is the President of the Methodist Conference for the year 2012-2013. Peter Sandercock, Circuit and Church Administrator, is ordering copies of the new Handbook called Crossing the Chasm. If any member of the congregation would like to order a copy, the cost will be £3.15 each (assuming we order ten or more!). If you would like to order a copy, please speak to Ken Blasbery, Senior Steward, by the end of July or contact Peter in the Church office (enquiries@fromdshammethodist.org or (01928) 735312). Large print versions are available at no additional cost. Susie Treeton is pictured third from right. What a happy afternoon we enjoyed! Residents of Chapel Fields Care Home for Older People, their family members, friends and staff joined together for a service of welcome to Susie Treeton and to mark her commissioning as M.H.A. Chaplain to Chapel Fields. The service was led by Rev’d. Pat Christopher and the Chaplaincy Adviser for the West of England gave a short address. I think we will all remember his visual aid – a very small salt spoon. The purpose of a spoon is to stir, so here we had a mini – stir (minister - oh dear!!) which is what Susie has been called to be. She is obviously very much at home at Chapel Fields and already known and loved by the residents. The service included prayers, familiar hymns and Bible readings reminding us that in serving others we are serving Christ. We ended on a rousing note singing the hymn ‘God is our strength and our refuge’ to the tune ‘The Dam Busters March’ after which we were all ready for a welcome cup of tea! As part of the commissioning we said together: Susie we welcome you! May the Lord make you a blessing amongst us and us a blessing to you, as we work together for Christ. I’m sure we can all say ‘Amen’ to that. Sylvia Langley Presbyters from the local Methodist Church circuit, of which Frodsham Methodist Church is part, have begun holding monthly services of Holy Communion in the Care Home. |
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