CONTACT 2012

CONTACT

Magazine of Erdington Methodist Church Station Road - February 2012 1

Contents Minister’s Letter In CONTACT this month . . .

Family News Pre-school coffee morning Fashion Show - Erdington to Jerusalem Roadside Assistance Thank you Don Children’s media use and attitudes Ash Wednesday: a good time to admit you are sorry Who did it?

Latest news from the Methodist Church in Fiji SATs examination answers?

What’s orange and sticky and worth preserving?

What time?

Find the misspelled word Voyagers?

Nursing Prize A prayer in time of need Children’s Pages Diamond Jubilee: Elizabeth - Child of Destiny Sutton Chamber Choir The praise bus & Lent Groups All in the month of FEBRUARY What it’s worth Big Toddle, Big Fun! Witton Church Anniversary Concert £500 malaria appeal to churches Mow Cop Castle Rules for Singing MRDF - Methodist Relief & Development Fund Puzzle’s for all - the solutions Answers - Misspelled words The Boss, The Internet’s a wonderful thing! and Self Defence?

February 2012 - Regular Meetings Weekly Church Activities 2

3 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 10 11 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 23 24 25 26 27 28 30 30 31 32

Minister’s Letter Dear Friends I’ve been reading a book about the “Somewhere Else” church in Liverpool.

A few years ago, after most of the churches in inner city Liverpool had been closed, the Methodist Church decided to send a minister to work in the city centre but without a church. The minister, Barbara Glasson, found this to be a real challenge, spending many hours just wandering the streets, meeting people and discovering their needs as well as her own. Eventually she got together with a few people and started making bread on a regular basis. This bread-making has now evolved into the “Somewhere Else” church. It is an amazing story about quite ordinary people who have somehow joined together to meet each other’s needs – and in the meeting of those needs they have discovered God. Who would think such a simple activity as making bread would lead to the starting of a new church? And yet there are quite a few stories in the gospels where Jesus uses bread in quite a fundamental way – the feeding of the 5000, teaching his disciples to pray “Give us this day our daily bread”, talking of himself as the “bread of life” and then passing round the bread at the Last Supper and saying “Take, eat, this is my body which will be given up for you”, and then being recognised by the disciples on the road to Emmaus when he broke the bread with them.

In Liverpool bread-making leads to the sharing of stories as the bread is kneaded and left to rise. Once cooked it is shared or given away. They only cook enough for one day at a time. Maybe we can learn from their experience. When we are engaged in even the simplest of tasks together we are able to talk in a new way. When we start to concentrate on someone else’s need often we find our own need being met along the way. And even in the very ordinary things of life God can break through and make each moment a holy moment.

Recently we have worked together in worship, especially so at our harvest celebrations and at the children’s service on Christmas Eve. Is God saying 3

something to us about how to involve others and reach out to those around us? Let me know what you think.

Jane

In CONTACT this month . . .

There are some thank yous We get the latest news from Fuji Our resident proof reader puts your spelling to the test We learn why Margaret and her team look so glamorous The children learn about George Herbert . . . what’s that? Oh the adults read those pages too - OK - we all learn about George Herbert.

We learn a bit about our monarchy and their history We find out what happened in February in history We learn about Mow Cop and it’s significance to Methodists We learn John Wesley’s rules for singing and many of them seem pertinent today - 250 years later (please note item 6 particularly - with my organist head on!)

There are the answers to Christmas’s extended puzzle section We ask for you help in keeping our magazine lively and relevant and maybe even a little titter here and there . . .

Enjoy - ed 4

Family News Hello, My name is Alice Walker – Shakespeare and in May 2012 I will be going on the annual school pilgrimage to Lourdes. With us we take many sick and disabled people from Birmingham and it is our job to make sure they are looked after whilst we are there. We currently have to fundraise £500 each to be able to secure a place for ourselves and the people we will be assisting.

As many of you know I ran a coffee morning at church on the 3rd of December 2011 in order to raise money to attend the pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Thanks to everyone because on that morning I managed to raise £116.27.

I would just like to thank everyone for coming, especially those who helped me make the coffee morning a great success. I would also like to thank those people who did not attend the coffee morning but still kindly donated money. All donations have been much appreciated as it is going towards a great cause.

Thanks again.

Alice Walker - Shakespeare

Pre-school coffee morning.

Thank you to everyone who supported our coffee morning in November, We raised £173.00.

Best wishes from all pre-school staff

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Fashion Show - Erdington to Jerusalem The fashion show, which we held at church last March, raised a profit of £540.00. of which half went to church funds, and the other £270.00 was sent to Rev Nichola Jones to use in one of her Palestine projects. Nichola took this with her when she went in November and gave it to the Spafford Children’s Centre in Jerusalem.

The centre works with children in health care, with remedial teaching and psycho-social treatment of traumatized children. Donations to the centre also help towards the cost of a Play Therapist for young children with ‘developmental delay and emotional problems’.

The head of the centre, Dr Jantien Dajani, sent us a copy of their newsletter with a hand-written attachment. I have quoted it below.

‘Dear friends of Erdington Methodist Church, It must have been a nice fashion show that it generated so much money to send us £270.00. Thank you very much for this. It gave me an idea to do a fashion show with the children. They love dressing up and it would be great fun.

Thank you and many greetings from Jerusalem.’

What a lovely idea! When we raise money for such needy causes we don’t realize that we send so much more as well.

Hilary Price

Roadside Assistance I was driving this morning when I saw an RAC van parked by the road. The driver was sobbing uncontrollably. I thought to myself, "That guy's heading for a breakdown."

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Thank you Don Over the years our CONTACT magazine has had many and varied covers.

Since it’s rebirth several years ago all of the covers have been hand crafted by our resident artist Don Rawson.

They have made us think, made us laugh and been a wonderful ‘front door’ to our magazine over the years, and one year even won an award!

Don now feels that it is time to step down after many years and many, many covers. Don . . . we can’t thank you enough for all your hard work, for your inspiration and for your fantastic artwork. We will miss you.

The Editor - on behalf of the whole church

Children’s media use and attitudes The independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, Ofcom has recently produced a research document on media use and attitudes of children and young people aged between 5 and 15.

It found that children aged 12 to 15 are now more likely to miss their mobile phone or the internet than television. 91% of children in the UK have internet access via a PC/laptop, up from 87% in 2010. 43% of 12 to 15s having internet access in their bedroom, compared with 14% of 8 to 11s and 4% of 5 to 7s.

According to BARB data, children aged between 4 and 15 watch an average of 17 hours 34 minutes of television per week, up from 15 hours 37 minutes in 2010. At least 50% of 12 to 15s go on social networking sites once a week or more. It also found that parents express high levels of trust in their child to use the internet safely. from Parish Pump

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Ash Wednesday:

a good time to admit you are sorry Have you done something which haunts you? Which makes you feel restless and defensive, every time you think of it? Why not deal with it this month, and put it behind you? Whatever your mistake has been, consider what the Bible has to say to you: ‘I have not come to call the virtuous but sinners to repentance’ (said Jesus).

(Luke 5.32) ‘Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55.7) ‘Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing.

Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.’ (Joel 2:12-13) God is inviting you to come to him this Ash Wednesday. What a wonderful offer! Make the most of it, and remember how the prodigal son was welcomed back by his compassionate father.

Who did it?

A solicitor, doctor, and minister went hunting red deer together in the Highlands. When a deer ran past them, they all fired at the exact same moment, and the deer dropped. However, when they went to look, there was only one bullet hole. They didn't know which of them shot it, and asked one of the stalkers what they should do.

The stalker said: "Let me look at the deer. Sometimes I can figure it out."

He asked a few questions, examined the deer carefully, and declared, "The minister shot this buck!" Amazed, they all asked how he knew. Stooping down, he pointed out the wound. "See here. It went in one ear and out the other."

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Latest news from the Methodist Church in Fiji On 7 January 2012 the government in Fiji lifted the public emergency regulations which seriously restricted the activities of the Methodist Church there. However they were immediately replaced by a revised public order act.

This act means that the Methodist Church in Fiji is now allowed to apply for permission to hold meetings, rather than not even being allowed to apply. They are now trying to organise themselves as it has been three years since many Church meetings have been held.

The Revd Tevita Nawadra, the assistant general secretary of the Methodist Church in Fiji, has written to thank “our friends and partners who have shared our stories and given time to think and pray for the Church in Fiji; their prayers have been answered. May God bless them all. We still have a long way to go still, but it is starting anyway”.

Please continue to pray for the nation.

A prayer for Fiji: God of truth and love, Lord of the day and the night We pray for our brothers and sisters in Fiji.

They have day while we have night and night during our day but we walk alongside them in this difficult time together we need the light of your truth and the warmth of your love in every hour.

May all the people of Fiji work together for good The Methodist Church, the Government, the Hindus, the Christians Till justice rolls like the waters of the ocean And peace rests as securely as the land.Amen. from the Methodist Church News Service 9

SATs examination answers?

This is one of those articles that ‘does the rounds’ on the internet. It purports to be recent example examination answers but, like most of these things, I think they were probably made up - check out question at the bottom of this page!! But they are amusing so I thought I’d share them with you. Thanks to St Paul’s Dronfield newsletter from whence they have made their way to us - ed.

Q How are the main 20 parts of the body categorised (e.g. The abdomen?

A The body is consisted into 3 parts – the branium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The branium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels: A, E, I, O, U. Q What is a fibula?

A A small lie.

Q What does ‘varicose’ mean?

A Nearby.

Q Give the meaning of the term ‘Caesarean section’?

A The caesarean section is a district in Rome.

Q What is a seizure?

A A Roman Emporer.

Q What is a terminal illness?

A When you are sick at the airport.

Q Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature?

A Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like umbrellas.

Q Use the word ‘judicious’ in a sentence to show you understand its meaning.

A Hands that judicious can be as soft as your face.

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Q What does the word ‘benign’ mean?

A Benign is what you will be after you are eight.

Q What is a turbine?

A Something an Arab or Shreik wears on his head.

What’s orange and sticky and worth preserving?

This month sees the first ever National Marmalade Week (25th Feb to 3rd Mar). If you really want to celebrate, go to Dalemain Mansion and Gardens in Cumbria, where they will have dozens of samples on offer at a Marmalade Festival, and are even giving out awards.

If you like marmalade, ever wonder where it comes from? One tradition traces it to a storm-damaged Spanish ship which took refuge in Dundee Harbour in 1700. It was full of Seville oranges that the captain was desperate to sell before they went mouldy. A local down-on-luck merchant, one James Keiller, bought the lot. He didn’t know what to do with the oranges either, but fortunately he had a resourceful wife. She set about turning a ship-load of Seville oranges into a preserve, and so the first marmalade factory was born.

Marmalade has been at the heart of British breakfasts for centuries.

Winston Churchill fought the Second World War on it (washed down with a flute of Pol Roger each morning). DH Lawrence wrote novels on it.

Paddington Bear’s sandwiches were all marmalade. If you want to get your fingers sticky, visit: www.marmaladeawards.com. from Parish Pump

What time?

My neighbour knocked on my door at 2:30 this morning, can you believe that? 2:30am? Luckily for him I was still up playing my bagpipes.

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Find the misspelled word A year or two ago I made up a few grammatically incorrect sentences. Now I have written ten sentences all of which contain one spelling error. Can you find the misspelled word?

1. A daily vigorous walk is definately beneficial to our well being.

2. The commitee discussed all the issues that were on the agenda.

3. In much of Shostakovich’s music the xylophone plays a considerable amount of rythmic passages.

4. If your going to Scotland on holiday, make sure you take wet weather equipment.

5. Searching for suitable accomodation in holiday magazines can be very confusing.

6. Several people find that a calender is one of life’s essential commodities.

7. Most of us have experienced at least one embarassing moment in our lives.

8. There is a knack in managing to seperate an egg yolk from the white.

9. The ongoing arguement about pensions continues to cause controversy.

10. The vast array of sumptuous cakes looked absolutely irresistable.

Barbara Rawson (Proof reader for Contact)

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Voyagers?

Recently NASA announced that sometime during 2012 the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts would leave the Solar System. They were launched from Cape Canaveral in August and September 1977. Their initial mission was to fly-by and send back images of Saturn and Jupiter. Both craft made a string of important scientific discoveries, including, most notably, pictures of a volcano on Io, one the moons of Jupiter.

As the satellites were still in such good condition after completing their primary objectives NASA decided to send them on secondary missions.

They were sent to explore the outer planets Uranus and Neptune, still the only spacecraft to visit these destinations.

Apparently to get these two satellites to where they are now required about 11,000 work years. NASA suggests that this is about one third of the effort that went into building the great Pyramid at Giza. When you look at it in those kinds of terms it is no wonder that they are still flying onwards, at about 35,000mph, sending back information about the environment through which it is travelling.

Why am I writing this? Well it occurs to me that the start of a year is always a time to review and think about the opportunities that the New Year will present. In this respect Station Road is no different to any other organisation. We are thinking about how we might improve our premises to the benefit of all who use them. Maybe we should be heartened by the journeys of the Voyager twins because I doubt that even in their wildest dreams the people who set out the original specification for the Voyager missions in the late 1960s would have dreamt that they might travel so far.

Who knows what we might achieve here in our church?

Peter Farley

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Nursing Prize It seemed appropriate that we should include a belated mention of Margaret Harries’ recent achievement at work. As the lead nurse for Older Adults at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Margaret’s team won the Nursing Times Care for Older People award on Wednesday 2nd November. Margaret and the Team are delighted and appeared on local television twice on the day after the awards - one very early in the morning following the awards ceremony in London the night before!!

Well done Margaret, keep up the good work. Many of us are approaching the time when we will need such care!

Peter Farley

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A prayer in time of need “Songs are a way of connecting with the things that people are experiencing,” says Clare Stainsby, a Methodist minister in Scarborough. She finds that she most usually writes in response to something that is happening at the time. Her hymn ‘Here as we kneel, here as we pray’ (Singing the Faith, no. 521) is one very good example.

“In this instance I was with a group that had come together one evening to pray for the 18-month old son of friends,” Clare says. “He was due to go into hospital for surgery the following day. There had been concerns during the day that the operation would have to be cancelled, so it was a time of anxious prayer.

“But, after a while, we stopped praying because we realised that we just needed to trust God; to know that his hand is upon each of us everyday; and to recognise that God’s grace is enough.” Clare wrote the song that evening when she got home, finishing it with the words “Lord, we believe that your grace is sufficient for today”, and popping it through the letterbox of her friends’ house the following day. Their son made a good recovery, says Clare, and is now a keen 19-year old climber!

Clare has four other hymns in Singing the Faith, including two for Advent and Christmas. She says that, nowadays, she hasn’t time to write many songs; her time is spent writing sermons instead! “But that’s no bad thing,” she adds, “as sermons are a different way of connecting with the things that people are experiencing.”

(This article is reproduced with the permission of Clare Stainsby and courtesy of www.singingthefaithplus.org.uk, a website of The Methodist Church in Britain.)

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Diamond Jubilee: Elizabeth - Child of Destiny In 1926 a baby girl was born to the younger son of King George V. She was named Elizabeth and was joined a few years later by a sister, Margaret Rose.

Growing up in royal circles, in the custom of the time they were privately educated at home.

Elizabeth knew from an early age that her father was a royal prince, but it would probably never have occurred to her that he might one day be the King nor, even more improbably, that she would one day be Queen. After all, the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne was the very popular and personable Edward. Her father was altogether of a more retiring nature and - as the whole world now knows - was handicapped by a serious stutter.

When Elizabeth was ten an event occurred which shook the nation and was destined to change the whole course of her life. Edward, Prince of Wales, had become king on the death of his father in 1936. However, before his coronation he made it known that he wished to marry an American woman, Wallis Simpson, who was divorced. That would probably not seem an insurmountable problem today - after all, the current heir to the throne is married to a divorced woman - but in 1936 it provoked a constitutional crisis.

The Archbishop of Canterbury was opposed to the marriage. The Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, and his cabinet came to the conclusion that despite Edward’s popularity it was unlikely that the people would ever accept Mrs Simpson as his Consort, let alone their Queen.

The newspapers had a field day, the nation was in uproar, and a new ditty was added to children’s playground repertoire: Hark the herald angels sing, Mrs Simpson stole our king.

Of course, she hadn’t ‘stolen’ him. Far from it. Everything he said indicated that - as he put it in his last broadcast speech to the nation - he could not achieve anything ‘without the support of the woman I love’.

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The final outcome was inevitable. Edward signed an Act of Abdication, and as he did so his younger brother George automatically became king - and the young Elizabeth (though she may not at that moment have realised it) became heir to the throne.

A story was told at the time of the two sisters, Elizabeth and Margaret, being challenged in Windsor Great Park, where they were playing, by a security guard who didn’t realise who they were. ‘Now then, you two, what are you doing here? Who are you?’.

Elizabeth, taking responsibility for her younger sister, replied, ‘Oh, we’re nobody. But our daddy is the King’. So he was - somewhat reluctantly. But he had an almost painful aversion to the public spotlight that now inevitably followed him, his strong and dedicated wife (another Elizabeth) and the two small girls.

Storm clouds were gathering over Europe. Hitler was demanding more territory in which to build his Arian dreamland. Already Jews were being rounded up and labelled in Germany and Austria. The new King and his family, together with the people he was pledged to serve, were about to face a monumental test of courage, character and resolve. from Parish Pump

Sutton Chamber Choir Sutton Chamber Choir are giving another concert at Stockland Green on Saturday 25th February at 7.30 pm. They are a very accomplished choir and well worth taking time out to go and listen to. They are singing in support of the Ear Foundation for children with profound hearing difficulties.

Tickets are £6 from Brian Round (Stockland Green) - 07821 865508 or at the door on the night.

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The praise bus As part of the Olympics celebration, Escalls Chapel is sending a half open top bus around the country, ahead of the Olympic flame, with local Christian bands/groups, playing in rotation, bringing praise to the nation.

Three different groups of musicians need to be on the bus, each morning, before the Olympic flame starts its journey. They will need to be on board at around 5.30am – 6.00am in order to set off before the police close the roads!

There will be various stops but the musicians will remain with the bus, playing continuously, in rotation (one hour playing, two hours off) until it reaches its destination, ahead of the Olympic flame at about 6.00pm or 7.00pm.

Escalls Methodist Chapel in Penzance are leading on this initiative called ‘The Journey’ and describe it as one of the most exciting journeys ever undertaken in the UK. Can you or your church help with either bands, solo artists, choirs or groups to join the bus as it travels around the country, or by offering hospitality to those on board when they get to your part of the UK?

For more details check out their webpage - www.thejourneyfromescalls.co.uk from the Methodist Church News Service

Lent Groups By the time you read this our list of attendees to the Churches Together in Erdington Lent Groups will have been submitted and the usual two or three people will be joining in. It’s a real shame that there isn’t more enthusiasm to join in with our brothers and sisters from other Erdington churches. We meet in a volunteers home for five weeks and share our thoughts on a particular topic.

The theme this year is ‘Life Attitudes’ a five session course on the Beatitudes.

I will be joining in as in previous years and maybe next year a few more of you might like to give it a try. Go on . . . they don’t bite!

Nick Riley 20

All in the month of FEBRUARY It was....

200 years ago:- on 7th Feb 1812 that Charles Dickens, celebrated British novelist, was born.

150 years ago:- on 1st Feb 1862 that Julia Ward Howe’s poem ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’ was first published in Georgia, USA. 100 years ago:- on 6th Feb 1912 that Eva Braun, German mistress and (briefly) wife of Adolf Hitler was born.

90 years ago:- on 8th Feb 1922 that the first radio was installed in the White House.

Also 90 years ago:- on 28th Feb 1922 that Egypt became independent from the UK. 80 years ago:- on 24th Feb 1932 that British racing driver Sir Malcolm Campbell set a new land speed record of 253.96 mph at Daytona Beach, Florida.

70 years ago:- on 9th Feb 1942 that soap rationing began in the UK (so that oils and fats could be saved for food production during WW2) 65 years ago:- on 7th Feb 1947 that the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves in Khirbat Qumran (now in the West Bank, Palestine).

Also 65 years ago:- on 24th Feb 1947 that Louis Mountbatten, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, was sworn in as the last viceroy of India.

60 years ago:- on 6th Feb 1952 that King George Vl died, and was succeeded by his daughter, Queen Elizabeth ll.

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40 years ago:- on 2nd Feb 1972 that anti-British protestors burned down the British Embassy in Dublin, in retaliation for ‘Bloody Sunday’ on 30th Jan. Also 40 years ago:- on 9th Feb 1972 that the British Government declared a state of emergency over the miners’ strike which began a month earlier.

Also 40 years ago:- on 17th Feb 1972 that the House of Commons voted narrowly in favour (by 8 votes) of joining the Common Market (now the European Union).

30 years ago:- on 2nd Feb 1982 that the Syrian Government quashed an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood, killing about 25,000 people.

20 years ago:- on 7th Feb 1992 that the Maastricht Treaty was signed, establishing the European Union.

15 years ago:- on 22nd Feb 1997 that scientists at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh announced they had successfully cloned an animal for the first time: Dolly the sheep.

10 years ago:- on 9th Feb 2002 that Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, sister to the Queen, died. from Parish Pump

What it’s worth A man and his ten-year-old son were on a fishing trip miles from home. At the boy's insistence, they decided to attend the Sunday worship service at a small rural church. The father forgot to bring any cash, so he reached in his pocket and gave his son 10p to drop in the offering plate as it was passed.

As they walked back to their car after the service, the father complained.

"The service was too long," he lamented. "The sermon was boring, and the singing was off key." Finally the boy said, "Daddy, I thought it was pretty good for 10p."

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Big Toddle, Big Fun! If you work with children under 5 then, this year, why not consider joining a Barnardo’s Big Toddle? It is a short, sponsored walk which last year saw almost 500,000 Toddlers and more than 10,000 groups register. The Big Toddle 2012 has an optional superheroes dressing up theme, so you can get creative with your costumes!

All the money raised by the Big Toddle goes to local Barnardo’s projects for children under 5 throughout the UK. The children’s charity works with vulnerable and disadvantaged children and their families. It’s all about children helping children.

Whether you are a nursery, an early years group or a childminder, you can register now for the Big Toddle 2012. Simply go to www.bigtoddle.co.uk or call 0845 270 9900. from Parish Pump

Witton Church Anniversary Concert You are invited to hear the Davies Singers and support Witton church as they raise funds to replace carpets and chairs.

Date is 28th February at 7.30 pm Tickets are £5 for adults and £2.50 for children and include supper.

Tickets available from Chris Chick 354 6013 or Diane Forsythe 353 2366

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£500 malaria appeal to churches Christian aid is asking churches in Britain to join the fight against malaria in africa by raising at least £500 each to support the work of a volunteer malaria control agent for a year. This initiative aims to raise funds to start a new antimalaria programme in sierra Leone.

Volunteers play a vital role in combating malaria in africa. Kelezo Nganga from the Western Province of Zambia lost her six-year-old son to malaria in 2002. Determined that other parents would not suffer in the same way, she trained to become one of Christian aid partner the Zambia Anglican Council’s volunteer malaria control agents.

Now Kelezo teaches other parents how to reduce the vulnerability of their children to the disease, how to recognise its signs and symptoms, and where they can go for immediate treatment. Kelezo says that she now feels confident about keeping her second son, Eric, safe. This latest church appeal is designed to raise money to start a similar volunteer programme in the Eastern Province of sierra Leone.

Malaria is one of sierra Leone’s most deadly diseases, accounting for the death of thousands of children every year. The project is centred on the provincial capital of Kenema and plans are in place to recruit around 40 volunteers to provide communities with life-saving education about malaria prevention and treatment. At least 30,000 people will benefit.

The £500 raised by each church will cover the cost of training, equipping and supporting a volunteer and running complementary activities, such as radio programmes and sports events, which can be used to reach large numbers.

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You can find out more about how your church can be involved in this special appeal by calling Eleanor Ledesma on 020 7523 2368 or by visiting christianaid.org.uk/tacklemalaria This doesn’t sound like an insurmountable amount to raise - anyone else join me in supporting this cause? - ed

Mow Cop Castle

Primitive Methodism put Mow Cop on the map.

Hugh Bourne was born April 3, 1772, in Stoke-on-Trent. He organised the first English Camp Methodists Meetings at Mow Cop because he found the people living there were a particularly godless lot. Gradually these meetings grew in popularity even though the Methodist authorities claimed they were ‘highly improper in England’. In 1811 William Clowes added his support to the camp meeting Methodists. The result of this union resulted in the formation of the Primitive Methodists.

Primitive Methodism continued to be very active in English Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932.

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Rules for Singing From John Wesley's Select Hymns, 1761 1. Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.

2. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can.

3. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can.

Let not a single degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.

4. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, then when you sung the songs of Satan.

5. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.

6. Sing in time. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.

7. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing.

Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

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MRDF - Methodist Relief & Development Fund If you read your December/January CONTACT carefully you would have noticed that MRDF was one of the charities we supported over the Christmas period - you may be interested in a little snapshot of what they achieved during 2011 and what they hope to achieve during 2012 - ed This year MRDF: • Supported 110,000 people to improve their quality of life through 45 longterm development projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America • Provided vital humanitarian aid in 22 separate emergencies in 18 countries • Supported campaigning on issues of debt, trade and climate change • Were ranked 3rd out of 25 charities for overall satisfaction in an anonymous survey of overseas partners about the way they work • Provided capacity building support to 36 overseas partners • In the UK, over 620 churches used their Abundant Harvest resources, while a further 300 small groups used their study pack What does the Bible say about food?

Their future plans include: • Expanding programmes in East Africa (in particular Ethiopia and Tanzania), and India • Collaborating with our existing partners to help more communities to recognise and claim their rights to services such as education and healthcare • Continuing to provide partners with the training and resources that they need to increase their financial stability – enabling them to have a long and secure future after the partnership ends • Holding a conference for all our African and Asian partners, enabling them to come together and learn from one another • Stepping up our campaigning activity, working in close conjunction with our UK and overseas partners • Launching a major new resource that helps people in the UK to discover more about development issues.

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Puzzle’s for all - the solutions I hope you enjoyed our extended puzzles section over the Christmas period - here are the solutions - ed

December Crossword

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An Intermediate Sudoku

A December Wordsearch

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Answers - Misspelled words 1. definitely 2. committee 3. rhythmic 5. accommodation 6. calendar 7. embarrassing 9. argument 10. irresistible

4. you’re 8. separate

The boss My boss was complaining in a staff meeting the other day that he wasn't getting any respect. Later that morning he went out and got a small sign that read, "I'm the Boss". He then taped it to his office door.

Later that day when he returned from lunch, he found that someone had taped a note to the sign that said.

"Your wife called, she wants her sign back!"

The Internet’s a wonderful thing!

My daughter asked me for a pet spider for her birthday, so I went to our local pet shop and they were £70. "Blow this," I thought, "I can get one cheaper off the web."

Self Defence?

The Grim Reaper came for me last night, and I beat him off with a vacuum cleaner. Talk about Dyson with death.

Take a Brake!

A mate of mine admitted to being addicted to brake fluid.

When I quizzed him on it, he reckoned he could stop any time.

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February 2012 Regular Meetings Coffee Mornings Each Saturday 10.00 am to 12.00 noon

Tuesday Club Every 4th Tuesday in the month at 2.30 pm

Sunday Worship All worship starts at 10.30 am unless stated otherwise below 5th

Mrs L Jones

12th

HOLY COMMUNION - Rev Jane Ashplant

19th

ALL AGE WORSHIP - Rev Jane Ashplant

26th

Worship Group - David Hewitt

We are always in need of new articles Do you know how difficult it is to put this magazine together each month?

No, you probably don’t. One thing that can help the editorial team a great deal is new content from as many different people as possible.

This gives our magazine variety and keeps it alive. So . . .

If you do something that is even a little bit unusual - if you have an unusual talent or belong to an interesting group then please share it with us. It may seem everyday to you but can be fascinating to others.

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Weekly Church Activities Sunday

10.30 am

MORNING WORSHIP and Young Church (with crèche : Margaret Hillman)

Tuesday

9.30 - 11.30 am 9.30 - 12.30 pm 2.00 pm

Stay and Play Pre-School : Karen Homer Tuesday Afternoon Meeting : Valerie Long (4th)

Wednesday

9.30 - 11.30 am 9.30 - 12.30 pm 12.30 pm

Stay and Play Pre-School : Karen Homer Luncheon Club - (1st and 3rd)

Thursday

9.30 - 12.30 pm

Pre-School : Karen Homer

Friday

9.30 - 12.30 pm 5.00 - 6.15 pm 6.15 - 7.45 pm 7.45 - 9.15 pm 7.45 - 9.15 pm 5.30 - 6.30 pm 5.00 - 6.30 pm 7.30 - 9.00 pm

Pre-School : Karen Homer Beavers : Lynn Turner Cubs : Elizabeth Baizon Scouts : Lisa Porter Explorers : Caroline Joyce Rainbows : Louise Rawson Brownies : Lesley Carter Guides : Helen Rainsford

Saturday

10.00 - 12.00 noon Coffee Morning : Lesley Morgan 10.30 - 11.30 am Church open for prayer : Margaret Curzon

Please hand any items for the March CONTACT to any of the Editorial Team (Elizabeth Baizon, Peter Farley, Christine Rankin, Ann Tomes & Nick Riley) by 15th February 2012 at the latest please or alternatively email me: nickriley@blueyonder.co.uk 32