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Covid 19 and our response as a Church by the Church Leadership Team
The Church Council met on 17th July 2020 (by Zoom) and recommitted itself to worship, study and prayer. We agreed to continue to pray for each other and seek discernment and wisdom at this time. Whilst the Church Council retains legal responsibility for the reopening of the church, it delegated the task of making and executing decisions regarding the phased reopening of the church to the Church Leadership Team. During the whole of the Covid-19 the Church Leadership Team has met together every three weeks online via Zoom to pray and carefully consider/plan how as a church we can continue to worship and grow as disciples, love and support each other, and how we can serve our wider community. We are reminded that through this difficult time we remain a community who love and care for each other. We have agreed to continue the online service via YouTube every Sunday morning at 10am for at least several more months. We also have a separate printed service sheet issued every week to those who can’t access the online service. We have taken the decision to not open or start Sunday services with people attending church in September – due to all of the restrictions we would need to impose, it would be very strange and different to what we remember as normal. There would be no singing, we would need to wear masks, seats would need to be booked, lots of people would not be able to attend, there could be no refreshments or social time after the service, and we may only be able to get up to 20/30 people safely in church. We are therefore considering and setting out a plan to get us from September to the New Year – this plan can be amended, speeded up, or slowed down to reflect changing local restrictions and government direction/legislation. Regular updates on the gradual reopening of church will be provided as we continue to react to the swift changing situation and national and local guidance, including guidance from the Methodist Church. We welcome any views on these proposals via email to leadership.team (@) frodshammethodist.org, via your pastoral visitor or to one of the Church Leadership team. Every activity/event which we propose and which eventually starts will be the subject of a detailed Covid-19 risk assessment, with the wider effect and risk assessment of the church and any collateral impact from one event/activity on another also assessed. We have noted that for some of these events and activities to take place, zoning of the whole of the Church premises including the hall, annexe etc. would be required (we would need to separate parts of the church premises to make sure no one from one event/activity went into another zone of church which was saved and cleaned for a separate activity) and/or enhanced cleaning will be needed. As part of this plan we hope in September to be able to move the online service to be streamed live from church. There will be no congregation present, but it will enable more flexibility and permit more than one person to be present and help lead it. There is also the potential for funerals restarting at church later in September, but numbers attending will be significantly restricted. It is possible that we may be able to restart youth group at church in some format and maybe the regular walking group. As we move later into October, there is a possibility that we may be able to permit a very small number of people to attend our live streamed services at church, but the services will continue to be streamed on YouTube for all to attend online or listen via their phone. Even later in October we are looking at if we can start some sort of short spoken prayer service for a small number of people, possibly midweek. During November and December, and into the New Year, we will look to gradually reopen activities and events at church. Sadly it is too early yet to give any real detail of what this may look like as, at the time of writing, we have no knowledge of any potential second waves of Covid-19, how Government advice may change, of the effect of local lockdowns etc. We will keep everyone updated and we appreciate everyone’s patience, love and support as we try to carefully pick our way through this difficult situation. The Leadership Team Frodsham Methodist Church
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As we cannot meet together face-to-face at present, during the online worship on Easter Sunday there will be an opportunity for the Frodsham Methodist Church Family to greet each other.
If you want to be part of this, please send a photograph or video of you and your family wishing the Church Family a Happy Easter by Thursday 9th April to: webmaster@frodshammethodist.org This could be recorded on a professional camera but a phone is also fine. Be as creative as you want. Your message could be delivered orally, in writing, or anything else you can think of! But do try to keep the message short so the service does not overrun (too much!). Do note that the service will be broadcast on YouTube so everyone in the photograph or video should be comfortable with their image being included in the service. And we will try our best to include all submissions received, as long as the format is compatible. Please help to spread the word!  Announcing the launch of "Frodsham and District Open Hands" (a project of Frodsham Open Hands Limited, of which Rev'd. Andrew Emison is the director), which launched on 30 March in full co-operation and support of Cheshire West & Chester Council, Chester West Voluntary Action in partnership with Frodsham Town Council and Frodsham Churches Together.
Equinox gave another wonderful concert this last Christmas. They raised £1,493.00 which was split between the Kimbutu Rural Development Programme (KRDP) and church funds.  Our walk in April was part of the Frodsham Festival of Walks and was led by Kevin and Sue Fairbanks. About 60 people met at Appleton Thorn to start our 4 mile walk though the Lumb Brook Valley, into the Dingle and along the Mersey Way, and into the Walled Garden at Grappenhall Heys, returning to our cars through woodland and field edges. We returned tired and a little bit muddy to have tea and cake at Frodsham Methodist Church. A very Happy and Blessed Christmas from all at Frodsham Methodist Church. Pictures from our Christmas Service this morning at 10am when we shared the Good News of Christ, and our presents, with others!   Church is packed with over 150 people this evening for the annual Singalong at Christmas with ‘Equinox’. Right now it is time for mince pies and tea/coffee!  Keep the Date ….. Carol Singing at Morrisons on Tuesday, 12th December, from 10.00am to 4.00 pm Donations to the Salvation Army UK fund for victims of Modern Slavery.
As part of our Harvest Festival weekend this year we want to celebrate all the God-given gifts of our Church family. We are holding a ‘Harvest of Talents’ on the afternoon of Saturday, 23rd September. There will be an exhibition of craft and other items for all to look at – produced by YOU.
There will be food, and in the early evening there will be a talent show, led mainly by our young people. This is a celebration of talent, not a competition – there will be no prizes! So if you like knitting or sewing? Are you good at crafting things from wood, or painting, or writing poetry? Is your jam-making or your cake-baking legendary? What about your skill in flower-arranging, photography, calligraphy, pottery? If the answer to any of those is yes, then now’s the time to start creating! Of course, that list is not exclusive – you may have other skills or hobbies which don’t appear on the list. There will be more information about this event in September. We will have a sign-up sheet for you to state what you wish to display (maximum of two items per person), whether you need table space or display board, and approximate size of the exhibit. A few photos from our first plant sale in recent years. Hopefully everyone managed to get a splash of summer colour for their gardens! Just a few pictures from our Christmas Tree Festival 2016 to keep everyone in the festive spirit. What a wonderful event and so good to see so many people there. A big thank you to the very many people who helped to make the Christmas Tree Festival such a success. Particular thanks to Jean and her team of ladies in the kitchen who worked so hard in keeping up with the demand for turkey barms, Beryl and Maureen for organising and running the raffle, Andrea for organising the children's activities and Rob and Roger for organising the electrics. Hundreds of people visited the church over the weekend, and there were lots of lovely comments. We raised over £1200 which will be divided between church funds and the Boaz Trust. Thanks, Carolyn.
 A big thank you to everyone who collected milk containers. As you can see they made a fabulous igloo!
Thanks again, Carolyn Last weekend 10 people walked along the canal to Llangollen and back, walking nearly 9 and a half miles. It was prefect weather and we all enjoyed ourselves; what a special time of fellowship. Over £150 was raised for the Boaz Trust, our Church Charity 2016. Thank you to all who gave and took part in the walk. Perhaps we can walk to Chirk next time? The Boaz Trust work with destitute asylum seekers. More information can be found about them 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.  Cllr. Mallie Poulton, Mayor of Frodsham, presents Rev'd. Andrew Emison with a Frodsham Bee pin. Frodsham Methodist Church were delighted yesterday, Sunday 12th June 2016, to host visitors at all three worship services. At 0930live! we were joined by visitors from Manor House Primary School and guests from Ghana. At 10.45 we welcomed our Superintendent Minister, Rev'd. Neil Stacey, who preached and celebrated Holy Communion. And at 6pm there was a Circuit Service attended by Methodists from all over Chester and this part of Cheshire where we celebrated the work of MHA (housing and care charity for older people) and launched the Circuit Project for 2016 to 2018. The project, which will run from June 2016 to January 2017, aims to raise funds and awareness for Cheshire Search and Rescue. We thank God for these expressions of his love in connections with community, country and internationally.  A few photos from a great afternoon - bouncy castle, activities, food and fun - and a visit from the ice cream van! We praise God for the joy of friendships and relationships. Monday 13th February saw the 55th Anniversary of the Frodsham Methodist Church Ladies Group, who meet on alternate Mondays. The group can trace it’s history back to Trinity Methodist Church in High Street, where it commenced all those years ago as ‘Trinity Young Wives’! When Trinity Church closed meetings were held in the Wellspring Centre in Church Street, later meeting at Main Street Chapel before moving on to what is now known as Frodsham Methodist Church in Kingsley Road.
Meetings were held in the evenings every fortnight until late 2015 when it was decided to implement the first major change in over 50 years by starting at 2.00pm in the afternoon. Membership is running at over 30 who meet to enjoy fellowship, friendship and entertainment. Speakers are often arranged covering a wide range of topics, meals out and theatre visits also fill the programme, but Monday saw a sumptuous celebration party with our friends from Helsby Methodist Church and St. Luke's R.C. Church, Frodsham, to celebrate this momentous occasion. We would like to thank ‘Cheshire Forest Singing Circle (pictured all in blue) who entertained us wonderfully with a selection ‘Songs from the Shows’. We hope that the group will be as strong as ever in the next 50 years, new members are always sure of a warm welcome. For more information, e-mail enquiries@frodshammethodist.org. 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 |
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