Minister's Letter |
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the December/January Newsletter, two months that promise to be full of celebration and excitement in the life of Glenfield Methodist Church. We are still hopeful that Phase 3 of 20-20 Project will be completed in early December, despite recent wet weather causing delays in the construction of the porch. Into the new year then we will be able to get to know the new facilities and begin to use them in the service of our community once again. It will be so wonderful to celebrate Jesus’ birth together this year with our new facilities and to give thanks to God for all that has been achieved through God’s grace and the generosity of members, friends, and grant-making bodies.
Although the official re-dedication of the whole site will not be until the weekend of March 18/19th 2023, we will be asking God’s blessing on the new facilities with a prayer walk onsite (date to be confirmed) and in February we are planning an Open Day for the community, so that they can see the completed scheme and be encouraged to join us for a variety of activities. I am delighted to say that the President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference will be joining us for the official re-dedication service on Saturday 18th March and there will be a special service of Thanksgiving on Sunday 19th March. More details about the whole weekend will be available in the February newsletter, as obviously there are many people we need to thank and invite to join us.
Thank you to everyone who came along to the three Team Joshua meetings held in October. A number of exciting suggestions were made during our discussions including: - creating a warm space for those struggling with heating bills; running a dementia café; crafting afternoons; more activities for families including table tennis and board games; movie nights for all ages; more engagement with Playgroup families; etc. We also agreed that we need to communicate better with the community we serve. The next step is to do a commitment audit of the congregation getting everyone to think what gifts they have to offer to our new programme of events and activities, but also to ask what time commitment folks are able to make some of these ideas a reality.
At this time of year life can feel very complicated and challenging for many, especially this year with the added cost of living crisis. It is so encouraging to remember as we look forward to and celebrate Jesus’ birth, that the infant Christ was born into poverty, became a refugee, and lived at a time of conflict and political opposition, and to remember that Jesus is the light of the world that can never be extinguished. May the Christ light burn brightly in your hearts this Advent, and however and wherever you are spending Christmas I pray you will know the joy, peace and hope that the Christ child brings.
God bless,
Helen
Welcome to the December/January Newsletter, two months that promise to be full of celebration and excitement in the life of Glenfield Methodist Church. We are still hopeful that Phase 3 of 20-20 Project will be completed in early December, despite recent wet weather causing delays in the construction of the porch. Into the new year then we will be able to get to know the new facilities and begin to use them in the service of our community once again. It will be so wonderful to celebrate Jesus’ birth together this year with our new facilities and to give thanks to God for all that has been achieved through God’s grace and the generosity of members, friends, and grant-making bodies.
Although the official re-dedication of the whole site will not be until the weekend of March 18/19th 2023, we will be asking God’s blessing on the new facilities with a prayer walk onsite (date to be confirmed) and in February we are planning an Open Day for the community, so that they can see the completed scheme and be encouraged to join us for a variety of activities. I am delighted to say that the President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference will be joining us for the official re-dedication service on Saturday 18th March and there will be a special service of Thanksgiving on Sunday 19th March. More details about the whole weekend will be available in the February newsletter, as obviously there are many people we need to thank and invite to join us.
Thank you to everyone who came along to the three Team Joshua meetings held in October. A number of exciting suggestions were made during our discussions including: - creating a warm space for those struggling with heating bills; running a dementia café; crafting afternoons; more activities for families including table tennis and board games; movie nights for all ages; more engagement with Playgroup families; etc. We also agreed that we need to communicate better with the community we serve. The next step is to do a commitment audit of the congregation getting everyone to think what gifts they have to offer to our new programme of events and activities, but also to ask what time commitment folks are able to make some of these ideas a reality.
At this time of year life can feel very complicated and challenging for many, especially this year with the added cost of living crisis. It is so encouraging to remember as we look forward to and celebrate Jesus’ birth, that the infant Christ was born into poverty, became a refugee, and lived at a time of conflict and political opposition, and to remember that Jesus is the light of the world that can never be extinguished. May the Christ light burn brightly in your hearts this Advent, and however and wherever you are spending Christmas I pray you will know the joy, peace and hope that the Christ child brings.
God bless,
Helen
