GOLCAR
Members of the men's group welcomed the congregation to Providence Methodist Church on Sunday. The service was led by Deacon Gill Atkinson-Heck, whose theme was Self and God. Mrs C Heeley led the prayers and Mrs G Iredale read the lesson. Mrs M Israel was the organist. Coffee was served in the schoolroom afterwards.
The Bright Hour Group met at Providence Methodist Church on Tuesday. Mrs B Hallas welcomed and thanked Mrs F Lloyd who talked on The Lake District and Life of William Wordsworth. Mrs N Meadows was the pianist.
The Friendship Group enjoyed a slide show titled Life On The Home Front by Mr Ken Kaye. This was followed by a sing-a-long of World War Two songs. Mrs Gwen Iredale chaired the meeting.
The annual craft fayre was held at the Methodist Church on Saturday. Over £1,200 was raised for the church funds.
Church warden Helen Davis welcomed the congregation at St John’s to the Worship In Today’s World service. The general theme for the service was In The Troubled World, Who Is My Neighbour? and Helen led an interesting discussion on What would Jesus do in today’s World? The readings from 1 Peter chapter 3 8-14 was given by Nora Beaumont and Betty Taylor led the prayers. Sunday Club had been talking about the importance of Friendship with its ups and downs and had painted hands of friendship on to a large card and made Friendship bracelets. Sunday Youth talked about the disciples who followed Jesus at a welcome service. In the afternoon, the Rev Canon Martyn Crompton baptised Farron John Trepak, Nicola and Lee Farnsworth baby and babies Liam, Connor Wormald and Grace Ruby Trepak.
At Golcar Baptist Church the Socks Young People’s Group met and had a talk about Uganda and the different lifestyles from the Rev Pam Ward and Daniel Preston. They all made a pancake and they played various games. On Sunday the service was conducted by the Rev Chris Thompson, the organist was Calinda Stockhill and the pianist was Cheryl Woodhead. Chairlady for the forum was Connie Pearson and five of the members presented memories. The tea hostesses were Annie and Mary Sykes.
LINTHWAITE
The congregation at Linthwaite Methodist Church was joined by members of Marsden United and Slaithwaite Methodist Churches where the Rev Colin Vere led morning worship on the first Sunday in Lent. In his opening prayers Rev Colin remembered amongst others the people caught up in both the Civil War in Libya, and the earthquake and all the subsequent disasters in Japan. Colin spoke to the young people about ‘doing things right’ before they left for Junior Church with their leaders Andrea Morley and Diane Loftus. Ali Dwyer read from Roman 5 v12-17 – ‘Death through Adam, Life through Christ.' and the Rev Colin based his sermon on Matthew 5 17-20 which is part of the Sermon on the Mount, after which, the congregation were left with the thought 'What God can do for us, rather than what we do for God.' Linda Marshall assisted Rev Colin in reading the prayers during Holy Communion. Peter Stead operated the Audio Visual equipment and Linda Nuttall was the organist. A retiring collection for the Methodist Relief and Development Fund to send aid and help to the people in Japan raised over £130.
The morning service at Christ Church was led by the Rev Jenni Honeyman who celebrated Holy Communion and gave a blessing. Ian Blakeley preached and prayed and the organist was Derek Horne. The evening service was led by the Rev Jenni Honeyman who read a lesson and gave a blessing. Margaret McQuillan preached and prayed, Derek Horne read a lesson and Rhona Jepson was the organist. There will be a coffee morning and book sale on Saturday, March 26 in church from 10am-noon.
LONGWOOD
The Sung Eucharistic Family Service on the first Sunday morning in Lent at St Mark’s Church was led by Parish Priest, the Rev Canon Martyn Crompton. Music was provided by Philip Turner, on keyboard, his group of musicians and an augmented choir. Together with opening prayers and greetings, Martyn proclaimed wedding banns for David Andrew Barnes and Katie Louise Heaume, for the second time of asking. This was followed by a special prayer for the couple, who were present. The first song Christ Be Our Light was followed with a prayer of preparation., The Collect and Living Lord was sung and young Caitlin Bannerman lit the Gospel candle. An interpretation by Freya Gregory, Emily Jones and Caitlin Bannerman preceded Martyn’s reading of The Gospel, which was about The Temptations of Our Lord. This led to Martyn’s address, which involved a small stone he had collected from a visit to the wilderness overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Commenting on the many talents we all possess, Martyn drew attention to the many talents in our music group and in particularly the singer who also used her body to emphasise the words. The talk was followed with the affirmation of faith and short intercession prayers were presented by Judith Pearson before everyone shared The Peace. The Eucharistic prayer was performed as a dialogue between young Lottie Ross and Martyn before the administration of Communion, when Martyn was assisted by Chris Jones as server. The final hymn, O Jesus I Have Promised brought the service to a conclusion. The church AGM will be held in two weeks’ time and the family service on April 10 will be honoured with the presence of the Bishop of Wakefield, Stephen Patten who is expected to preach and take part. Finally, as the Vicar and server led the children to the west end of church the Celtic blessing was sang by all. The first of the three Lent lunches this year took place in the Parish and Community Centre following the morning service.
MARSDEN
On Ash Wednesday a service of Holy Communion and Imposition of Ashes was led by the vicar, the Rev Geoff Garside, at St Bartholomew’s Church.Readings were given by Christine Garside And Joan Biggs.
On Sunday there was a service of Sung Eucharist and Junior Church. The Rev Geoff Garside was assisted at Communion by Pastoral Minister Margaret O’Connor, Elizabeth Knight and David Fisher.Louise Clark gave the readings from Genesis Chapter 2 and Romans Chapter 5.The vicar read the Gospel from Matthew Chapter 4. Prayers were offered by Diane Ellis. Ian Hunt was the organist. Sidesmen were Alison Gibson and Diane Ellis.Coffee was served by Bunny Lonnen, Christine Garside and Susan Everill. Services continue on Tuesdays at 9-30am.
Lenten House Group meetings are on Tuesdays at 7.30pm in the Vicarage and Confirmation classes on Thursdays 6pm-7pm for children and 7.30pm-9pm for adults.
A Table Top Sale will be held in the Parochial Hall on Saturday March 26 9am-12-30pm. For details ring 844660.
Cuckoo Day is Saturday April 16 . St Bartholomew’s Church open for visitors and refreshments and stalls in the hall.
Friday May 6 sees the anniversary of the service to consecrate the tower and baptistery. Special bell ringing that weekend and on the Sunday May 8 Eucharist will be led by the Bishop of Pontefract the Rt Rev Tony Robinson. Afterwards a faith lunch in the Hall. Everyone very welcome.
MILNSBRIDGE
At the Milnsbridge Christadelphian's on Sunday at 6pm, following a family tea, a special family lecture was held. The president for the meeting was James Walker and the speaker Paul Tovell from Burton-on-Trent. His subject was Can The Bible Predict The Future? Many of the Sunday school children attended and took an active role in the readings and discussion.
On Tuesday at 10.30am, the very popular coffee morning reading group met to read and discuss the Bible. Readings for the day were from Leviticus Chapter 23, Psalms 128,129 and 130 and Luke chapter 6.The discussion was led by Andrew Walker from Doncaster.
On Wednesday evening at 7.30pm at the Bible class, David McEvoy gave a presentation entitled The Day of Atonement. The Bible seminar group met on Thursday evening at 7pm, led by James Walker.On Sunday March 20 at 6pm Stephen Leng from Macclesfield is to speak on The God Of The Second Chance. An open invitation as always is extended to all who may be interested.
PARKWOOD
A drop in lunch was held at Parkwood Methodist Church on Wednesday, organised by Linda Murray. Menu - sausages with onion gravy, mash potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, cabbage and carrots, sticky toffee pudding, apple and strawberry meringue pie and apple and bilberry crumble, custard or cream, tea or coffee. Ladies of the church assisted.
Joe Lloyd welcomed the congregation to a communion service at Parkwood Methodist Church on Sunday morning. Preacher was the Rev Pam Ward, assisted by Gareth Beaumont. Lenten cross readers were Sandra and Philip McSweeney and bread and wine were placed by the Lenten cross. Communion stewards were Reene Wyatt and Audrey Holdsworth. Organist was Kenneth Rothery, visual aids Joe Lloyd. Coffee was served after the service by Christine Johnson and Margaret Noble.
A community breakfast will be held today, 9.30am-noon at Parkwood Methodist Church and in the evening at 6.30pm a beetle drive with either a pie and peas supper or hot dog sandwiches will be held. Children welcome.
SLAITHWAITE
On Thursday at Slaithwaite Good Companions, Patricia Parkinson introduced speaker Josephine Daker, who entertained with poems and articles, both humorous and sad. She also sang, accompanied by her husband Arthur. She was thanked by Bessie Whitwam. There will definitely be another booking next year. There was a birthday celebration for Jean Watson and Maureen Weaving was the pianist.
St James Parish Church Holy Communion service was led by Rev Robin Townsend, assisted by Raymond Denton. After hymns and prayers the J John film was Commandment number one and most important – You must have no other God but me or What are your Priorities. Putting God first in your life, schedule time with Jesus each day, in your prayers, your relationships, he is your anchor in times of trouble, lean on him and know his presence. After a hymn and prayers Holy Communion was celebrated. The organist was Alvi Whitehead.
The first of five shared Lenten meetings was held at St James Parish Church led by Rev Robin and Rev Jo Archer-Siddall. Next week’s meeting, Monday, Slaithwaite Methodist Church, Carr Lane, 7-7.30pm.
Wesley Guild met on Thursday evening. Sandra Dalton of the musical section opened with prayer and introduced Neil Jowett, the conductor of Lindley Band who spoke of his early life and showed his expertise on the various instruments he had brought along. His friend Steve Burnby was his accompanist on the piano and Steve also played a waltz by Scott Joplin. Supper was service by the Section Ladies.
The Slaithwaite Methodist Church joined with Linthwaite for a United service led by the Rev Colin Vere of Halifax. The service included holy communion.
The speaker at the Women’s Fellowship meeting was Granville Broadley. He was welcomed by Anne Walker who led prayers in memory of Steve Perkins. Anne read the words he had written for the February Medley and the group remembered Jenny in her sad lost. Granville’s talk was on the Slaithwaite Band of which he is the president. He told us of the history of the band and his various conductors and had brought along photographs to illustrate his talk. A very interesting afternoon. Birthday greetings were sung for Linda and afternoon tea enjoyed by members.
Members and friends of the Slaithwaite Methodist Film Nights met together on Tuesday evening and watched the film Marley and Me. Jennifer Twycross was in charge of the arrangements.
