Dorset South and West Circuit

(Circuit 26/8 Registered Charity No 1150182)

In Partnership with the United Reformed Churchat Bridport United Churchand United Church Dorchester

In Covenant with the Church of England in Bridport, Broadmayne and Tolpuddle

‘Good News’

The Manse

Wimborne

November 2018

Dear all

Welcome to the first newsletter of the Dorset South and West Circuit. The following pages contain a snapshot of the good things that are happening around the circuit. I hope you will find the information both informative and encouraging as you read of ways in which God is active through people like you, dear reader.

It’s not so long ago that the gospel lectionary reading was Mark 10:46-52, the healing of blind Bartimaeus. As I read the passage through, I was struck by verse 49 where members of the crowd say to Bartimaeus,” Take heart, get up, he is calling you”. “He is calling you”. Those words are so central to our faith and discipleship, aren’t they? I guess most of us have a sense of knowing that Jesus Christ has stopped by us, so to speak, and called us over to him. This encounter has changed our lives, and continues to change our lives, as surely as it changed the life of Bartimaeus. And Christ hasn’t just called us once: he continues to call us as we follow him on the way of faith. And faith means trusting in him and in his ways.

Sometimes, all the work that is needed to run a church (or, indeed, a circuit) efficiently, can seem a real grind. Falling membership numbers, an increasing age profile and fewer people available for crucial roles within the life of the church may make us wonder why we carry on, may make us despondent. Well, part of the reason we carry on is because we are called, and the love and forgiveness of that call is persistent and overwhelming.

Another reason we carry on is because Christ needs us to go to others with those life-changing words that were on the lips of the crowd, “He is calling you”. If the crowd hadn’t passed on the message, Bartimaeus wouldn’t have budged from the gutter. Similarly, it is our business to find ways of inviting people to follow Christ and to experience the God who moves towards them and towards all in unswerving, suffering, compassionate love.

In this circuit, one of the ways in which we are trying to relate to the wider community beyond our church walls is by developing ministry teams made up of ordained ministers, paid and unpaid lay workers. Together, these teams will offer pastoral care, worship, learning and outreach – ways of engaging with the wider community to introduce them to the ways of Jesus Christ who is always calling for people to follow.

“Take heart, get up, he is calling you”. “Get up” literally means, “rise”. It’s the same word used to describe Jesus, “risen” from the dead. We are called to live the risen life of the crucified Christ. Ponder those last words – we are called to live the risen life of the crucified Christ. No one said it would be easy. And it is not. However, God relies on us to be faithful to our calling in order that others may join in the mystery of faith and know themselves to be found by the one who says, returning to Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?”

May we work together in pursuing our own answer to that question and helping others to do the same, for surely, we want to see as Christ sees, don’t we?

Warm wishes

Superintendent Minister

Hello! I am Janet Guy, the Community Outreach Worker/Pastor for the Dorset South and West Circuit. My work is focused in the Weymouth part of the circuit.

Since starting work on the 15th September 2018 (20 hours per week)I have been making contacts and trying to get round to all the Weymouth

churches. I have been welcomed at Weymouth Bay coffee morning, T@2 at Westham, coffee morning at St Mary’s, Chickerell coffee morning and shared worship in Wyke. I have also been making home visits and getting to know people who are housebound. Thank you for the warm welcome from all!

I am developing a team ministry with Revd Pete Brazier and others and we hope we will be able to seize new outreach opportunities as we work with local churches. Let’s try and encourage one another in our worship, learning and outreach.

Janet

Bridport United Church

We will once again be filling our church sanctuary with 70+ trees for our annual (and 22nd!) Christmas Tree Festival. Each tree is decorated by a different charity or community organisation and there will be the opportunity to both enjoy the variety of decorations but also to contribute to the various charities. Every year over 7,000 folk pass through the doors and over £2,000 is regularly raised. Such festivals are quite common these days but few are quite so impressive. Open 10-3pm from 5th to 16th December, with additional activities during that period, including bell ringers from the local Special School and the Women’s Institute Choir. Additionally on Saturday 8th December the Bridport Choral Society will be performing, on Sunday 9th December at

3:30pm a Churches Together Advent Taize Service, on Thursday 13th at 7pm a Churches Together in Bridport Choirs and Carol Event and at 4:30pm on Sunday the 16th the Festival ends with the United Church’s own Choral Carol service. All services delightfully held amongst the trees and by tree light.

Churches Together in Bridport and District are planning their annual live-action Bridport Nativity drama which, weather-permitting, will be held at 11am in Bucky doo Square, on Saturday 22nd December. This year as well as having Mary, Joseph, Jesus (a real live baby!), angels, shepherds and magi, the story will be told as if it were a BBC Spotlight-like news item on “Judea Tonight” - with script written by our own Rev’d Peter Clark. If the weather is poor (pray it isn’t!) it will be held in Bridport United Church.

Chickerell Methodist Church

The Craft and Chat Group meet in the chapel on the first and third Wednesday of each month from 2.00 – 4.00. Crafty Sew and Sews meet in the hall on Friday evenings every other week from 7.00 – 9.00. Accompanied young people are welcome. Bring your own craft – knitting, cross-stitch, card-making, etc. – and enjoy an afternoon or evening chatting with like-minded friends. You can learn a new craft or bring something you are already working on.Over the past months we have been making “fish and chip” baby jumpers to send abroad. These are for newly born babies who would be wrapped in newspaper as they have no other clothes.

This is a small part of over 200 we have sent during the past year. We also make hats for new-born babies at Poole Hospital and bonding squares for mothers and babies who may be separated at birth.

United Church Dorchester

Over several years now we have been presenting “Journey to the Stable” in December. It is an interactive experience helping to explain the true

meaning of Christmas. We open it to the schools (last year 200 children and teachers journeyed), and we open to the public as well.

Times/dates for this year are:

Saturday 8th December 11am -3pm

Wednesday 12th, Thursday 13th, Saturday 15th December 11am -3pm

Friday 14th December 11am -2pm

Everyone is very welcome to come along and experience for themselves the true meaning of Christmas. We look forward to welcoming you.

Feed Me, Change Me, Love Me

This is the theme that we have at the Dorset County Show which we replicate in Church in the week leading up to Christmas. It is for parents with young children who need to feed or change them in a safe and comfortable environment with activities for other children in the family while the parent is otherwise occupied. We hope that this helps the parents during this very busy time of year. Love came down at Christmas!

The Church will be open Monday 17th, Tuesday 18th, Thursday 20th, Friday 21st & Saturday 22nd December 10am -2pm. Wednesday 19th December 11-2pm.

This year, “Journey to the stable“ will be open at the same time for people to experience the true meaning of Christmas.

Knitted Christmas Angels

The idea is very simple and originated in North Shields and Whitley Bay Methodist Circuit: the Christmas story is filled with angels bringing messages; there are many people in our congregation and community who enjoy knitting, and love to knit for a good cause; and we are always looking for new ways of spreading our message and Christ’s love to people outside the church. Diana Leeming and Janice Young from our Action for Children Fundraising Committee took up the challenge and now many people are knitting angels, some part of our congregation, others not; we have over 400 angels ready and waiting to receive their little messages of peace, before they are given out to children during AFC Carol Singing events and Journey to the Stable.

Anyone who would like to join us Carol Singing in Dorchester on 17th, 18th and 19th December please contact Janice Young for more information. We are collecting for Action for Children.

Portesham Methodist Church

The organist at Portesham is currently unable to play due to poor health. Please, is there anyone out there who might be able to help out now or in the future?

Thinking a little wider, are there any musicians who might be prepared to be on a list that churches could call on if there is no organist available?If anyone is willing to help or wants to discuss this further get in touch with Circuit Administrator Jacqui Trent at weybaymc@yahoo.com

Weymouth Bay Methodist Church

Pizza and Play

Back in February of this year a group of 4 members at Weybay met to discuss how to bring in more people to use the church and to discuss offering activities that were intergenerational. We decided on a short list of four activities – board games, a quiz, a treasure hunt and a picnic. We launched Pizza and Play in March. A mid-afternoon event to play boardgames, make jigsaw puzzles and a break in the middle for pizza and chips (plus fruit for the healthy option!) We have now run two of these events – in March and again in June. The March event attracted around a dozen adults and one child (he came with grandma). The June event attracted more participants and, significantly, three young people. There is a modest charge of £2 per adult and £1 per child, however, once the food was paid for this has left a “profit” which can be used for the next event which will be FREE.

Our other ideas have yet to come to fruition. The car treasure hunt and the picnic will need to wait until next summer and we already have a quiz prepared and hope to run this, and another Pizza and Play, in the New Year.

At the end of September Weymouth Bay church hosted a Last Night of the Proms concert by Weymouth Concert Brass. It coincided with our Harvest Festival celebrations which made for a busy but enjoyable weekend.

On the Saturday morning we held a coffee morning at the church to which folk could bring their contributions for the Harvest, and various floral arrangements were prepared. After the coffee morning the church was made ready for the evening concert by willing helpers. It looked very patriotic with flags and red, white and blue bunting strung around the balcony. The concert was a lovely mixture of varied music including classical, jazz and of course all the usual Last Night favourites with much singing and flag waving. It was well attended and enjoyed by everyone.

Afterwards the church was put back to normal in readiness for Harvest Sunday morning. It was a lovely service of celebration led by Matthew Reed from Dorchester. The following day the fresh produce was taken to the Trimar Hospice on the seafront at Greenhill and the non-perishable goods went to the Lantern Centre for the vulnerable and homeless.

It was a lovely successful weekend and the evening concert brought fresh faces into the church, but maybe we need to be careful next year not to have two such events on the same weekend!

Helping to feed and clothe the homeless in Weymouth

Did you know that there is someone, somewhere in Weymouth every night of the week who is cooking food and providing clothing for the homeless? A few members from Weymouth Bay Methodist Church are among the many volunteers from churches and the Facebook group Help for Homeless Weymouth who turn out whatever the weather to serve up hot food. It was quite scary at first as we didn’t know what to expect but we were supported by members of Weymouth Family Church to get us going. We are only responsible for one Saturday night a month, although some of our members support other groups when they can. We provide a three-course meal of fresh soup, a hot main such as sausage casserole and then cake and fruit with tea and coffee to finish. Weymouth Bay church helped financially with set up costs, but often the food is donated. Donations of clothes for men and women, plus sleeping bags are always welcome so please get in touch via weybaymc@yahoo.com if you have anything to pass on. We have got to know the regulars and the recipients are always extremely grateful for the hot food. It has been a real eye opener - you never know what has forced these people onto the streets but the need is very real.

www.dsw.church