ContactChester-le-Street

Methodist ChurchFebruary 2020

OUR VISIONThe Chester-le-Street Methodist Church is a people in

whom Christ's love is celebrated through Worship, expressed through Service and shared through Mission.

CIRCUIT MINISTERSRev. Ian KentTel: 0773 754 9881e-mail: ian.kent@methodist.org.uk

Rev. Dr. Liz KentTel.: 0191 388 3268email: lizzyp77@hotmail.com

Deacon Linda WatkinTel: 0191 410 2082e-mail: lindawatkin67@gmail.com

CHILDREN & FAMILIES WORKERNeil GarlickTel: 07855 386292e-mail: cfw.cornerstones@gmail.comFacebook: Cornerstones Children and Families

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MINISTER’S LETTERDear Friends,I wonder if you made a New Year’s resolution at the start of 2020, and if you did whether you have managed to keep it. I tend not to make new year’s resolutions, partly because I usually forget to keep them but also because for me the start of a New Year is more about anticipation and expectation. What will God do in our lives this year, both individually and as a Church?

By the time you read this we will be well into the New year, with Valentine’s Day approaching, when traditionally we give to our loved ones gifts or cards as a token of our affection for them. Whilst many people may not like the commercialisation attached to St Valentine’s Day, it is surely a good thing for us, at the start of the New Year, to remember those that we love in some way, and to tell them that we love them, whether by our words or our actions.

We have just celebrated Christmas when we remember how God showed his love for us by sending his Son into the world. God gave us a gift of love and as we think this Valentine’s Day of those we love, may we remember God’s love for each of us and resolve to respond to that love in some way, perhaps by passing on that message of God’s love to someone who needs to hear it, or by telling those closest to us that we love them, or by carrying out random acts of kindness or by caring for God’s creation, or by showing our love for others in our charitable giving. Whichever way you choose to respond to God’s call on our lives to show His love to the world, my prayer is that we may all know God’s love and peace during the coming year and share that gift of love with those around us.

Also in this month, Ash Wednesday is on 26 February – always

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the day after Shrove Tuesday and it marks the beginning of Lent. This year we are having a service at 7.30pm. We offer a short reflective service to help us mark the beginning of our journeying towards Easter. During the service we will be able to receive ashes which is a sign and symbol that we are saying sorry for our shortcomings, and that we want to use the season of Lent to prepare our hearts and minds to enable us to celebrate Easter with joy. The ashes are used as a symbol of our being created from dust and from dust we return. We would love to have you join with us on 26 February.

Every Blessing,

Deacon Linda

Why do we need leap years?The Gregorian calendar, which now serves as the standard calendar for civil use throughout the world, has both common years and leap years. A common year has 365 days and a leap year 366 days, with the extra--or intercalary--day designated as February 29.A leap year occurs every four years to help synchronise the calendar year with the solar year, or the length of time it takes the earth to complete its orbit around the sun, which is about 365¼ days.The extra day helps to reset the calendar and keep the calendar in sync with the seasons. If the extra was not added then ultimately, for us in the UK Christmas would move from winter, to spring, to summer, to autumn and eventually back to winter (or would it be winter, autumn, summer, spring?).The length of the solar year, however, is slightly less than 365¼ days - by about 11 minutes. To compensate for this discrepancy, the leap year is omitted three times every four hundred years.In other words, a century year cannot be a leap year unless it is divisible by 400. Thus 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but 1600, 2000, and 2400 are leap years.

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31 October 2019Dear Mary,

I should be grateful if you would pass on to everyone concerned my deep appreciation of the money you raised at your coffee morning at Chester-le-Street Methodist Church. £385 is a truly magnificent sum of money and will go a long way to help us buy items which will be needed to make the shoe boxes the best that they can be.

We are ready to go now and we are looking forward to an exciting season of shoe-boxing to bring Christmas joy to thousands of children.Thank you again, most sincerely.Wishing you and your congregation every blessing,

David Arbon (Lead Volunteer - Consett Warehouse)

Operation Christmas Child - the ShoeboxesWe sent 101 boxes and £435 in donations in 2019.I would like to say Thank You to everyone who has helped either filling boxes or with donations over all the years we have been doing the boxes.The following is a copy of the letter we have received from the local co-ordinator.Thank YouMary Sanderson

Flower ListFebruary2nd

9th Mrs Ann LawsonMrs Marjorie Mordue

16th Mrs Ann NewlandMr Bill OverallJoan Davison

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If anyone would like to make a donation towards the flowers there

are several dates available throughout the year.

Please see Gill Nairn or Mary Sanderson

March1st

8th Mrs Eileen PringleMrs Kathleen Wood

15th Mr Brian Hindmarsh22nd Mothers Day

Mrs D HorsfieldMrs GarbuttMrs V Gleason

29th Jean Boggon

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Women’s Fellowship Mondays at 2pmFebruary3rd Mr Gordon Robson10th United at the Salvation Army17th Major Liz Hancock24th Rev Brenda Forrester

All ladies welcome at any or all of these meetings!

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From the Stewards…What an amazing God we have!

Jesus came to save us. He truly is with us now and forever.

Our God makes big promises, one of them is unfailing love and we can see this in his son Jesus Christ.

However, unhappiness and emptiness are a consequence of living in a broken world, but Jesus came to save us from our brokenness and if we seek Him and follow Him this New Year we will find the happiness our hearts need.

It’s easy in our Church to get too busy between meetings, worship and Cornerstones activities and there is so much to be accomplished by so few people that sometime people can be overlooked. This month look at the people in our Church and on our premises with fresh eyes try to recognise someone who is wishing that someone would ask “Are you ok?”

Look at the visitor and smile. Ask a worn out Mother “Can I help you?”

Be willing to tell your story of healing and hope. Talk about the God who loves you, who gives you hope when situations seem bleak, who comforts you if you are feeling lonely.

In this life you are surrounded by others for a reason God enjoys making great things out of small things and using ordinary people to achieve extra ordinary things.May we continue to build on our reputation of being a welcoming, friendly, safe place for all the people who meet here week by week.

Let us look out for one another!

Every Blessing

Dorothy Hedley

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A Biopic of..?He was born in a barn, his father a carpenter, and his mother a decent woman, but they were of no significance, and certainly couldn’t have afforded to give the boy a private education, and yet, as a teenager, he was arguing the toss with his elders and betters in the council chambers.He never got a proper job, just roamed around the countryside, unshaven and living off bread and water and the occasional fish, while offering his opinions to those who cared to listen, and slagging off the authorities.He became the manager of a football team known as the Disciples, not one of them a star, the twelfth man rather letting the side down by accepting a bribe of 30 pieces of silver to play for the opposition.The authorities eventually arrested him as a rabble-rouser, but couldn’t decide with what to charge him, other than the fact that he claimed to be the Son of God.They strung him up with a couple of criminals, and when he finally gave up the ghost, they rather thought that would be the last they would hear of him.The Disciples were relegated at the end of the season, in fact the Captain claimed on several occasions that he’d never been a member of His team.When he died at the age of thirty-three there were no obituaries in the local press reporting his achievements, no glossy supplements highlighting his colourful career, no radio programmes to discuss his legacy, and no box sets recording any of his miracles.But then, he’d never relied on focus groups to advise him on current trends, or advertising gurus to spend millions promoting

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his brand, or spin doctors to sharpen his image, and he didn’t require social media to keep his followers up to date, so you could be forgiven for assuming he’d be forgotten in a few days.So how can one explain that over two thousand years later, Jesus Christ is still the best-known celebrity on earth?Could it just be that He was the Son of God?

A message from the past for the coming year?One of my cards had the following extract from a Psalm, and I thought it would be good idea to include in Contact, given the fact that the world seems to be in turmoil.

PSALM 100, VERSE 5 King James Version:

The Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting: and his truth

endures to all generations.

Margaret Stoyle

Lost in translationTwo American preachers were visiting in Germany and attended Sunday services. Since they couldn’t speak German, they decided to do as the man sitting in front of them did.A few minutes into the service the preacher from the pulpit said something and the man in front of them stood, and they stood also. The congregation burst into laughter. They then sat down when the man did.At the end of the service, they met the pastor and found that he spoke English. They asked him why everyone laughed so much when they stood?The pastor explained that he had announced that they would have a christening service that evening, and would the father of the child please rise.

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Church Family WeekendIt is with great sadness that we have had to take the decision to cancel the proposed Church Family Weekend which was due to take place at the end of March 2020 in Scarborough.The Family Weekend has been part of the Chester-le-Street Methodist Church programme for 47 years and has meant so much to generations of members and friends attached to our Church Family.As the numbers intending to be at the weekend this year had fallen we felt for various reasons that it was not viable to continue, which we know is disappointing to those who had booked.For so many who have attended over the years and enjoyed the fun and the fellowship of the weekend we have such wonderful memories.Our thanks to all who have over the years been involved in the organisation and contributed in any way to the weekend and give thanks to God for all the blessings we have shared.Gwynneth, Christine, Freda, Bill & Alan

 BrowniesIn May next year I will be celebrating 50 years of working with Brownies and have decided that the time has come to put my feet up and I will be retiring next July at the start of the summer holidays.At the present I have not managed to find someone who would be willing to take my place.  If you know of anyone who you think might be interested can you please have a word with me.Many thanks, Anthea Heel.

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CORNERSTONESSomewhat belatedly, the Management team wish a Happy New Year to all our readers. Many of us have long since given up making New Year resolutions as we all find them so difficult to keep. However there’s a traditional Irish blessing which we might like to keep in mind as we face whatever may come along in 2020:-

Count your blessings instead of your crosses,Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes,Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears,Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full times instead of your lean,Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth,Love your neighbour as much as yourself.

Count on your God instead of yourself.

There’ll be a Coffee Morning in aid of St Cuthbert’s Hospice on Tuesday, 4th February from 9.0 – 11.30am. Please come along and support this worthy cause. On Saturday, 8th February at 7.0pm, we have the popular annual James Etherington Musical Award 2020 Competition Final. This is an opportunity to hear a number of young musicians compete for the prize of £400. The concert usually lasts for 1 – 2 hours. Entrance is free. On Saturday, 15th February at 4.0pm there’ll be an Afternoon Tea and Quiz. More details can be found elsewhere in Contact. On Monday, 17th February and Wednesday, 19th February from 11.0am – 12.30pm there’ll be two more sessions of Make Lunch, the school holiday activity club which provides fun and hot meals for needy families. For more

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information contact Neil Garlick, the Children and Families Worker. On Tuesday, 25th February, from 12.30-2.30pm, a new Beginners’ Computing Course will begin. Contact the Office for more information. On Friday, 28th February, from 9.30am – 3.30pm, a Health and Safety Course will be held. To be eligible for this free training you must be 19+ and not employed. More information from the Office.

The year 2020 promises to be an exciting one for Cornerstones as, in October, we will be celebrating 10 years since its launch. Plans are still at an early stage but it is hoped to have a weekend of celebration for this milestone. Watch this space!!! In 2010 our Church was full of enthusiasm for the new venture and hopeful for its future. As we celebrate Cornerstones’ special anniversary year, let us all try to recapture some of that enthusiasm to ensure that Cornerstones will carry on into the future with its mission of service to the Community around us.

Jean Dobson

Christmas FayreCan I take this opportunity, although a little late, to thank everyone who helped on the day of the Christmas Fayre in any way, either by contributing so generously  to the many stalls or by manning a stall on the day. We had Santa pay us a visit, which I am sure delighted the children, and our own Minister Liz did face painting which went down well. With donations gratefully received and sale of items left that were sold by our ladies on the Friday Stall the final amount was an amazing £3,717.52. A wonderful effort, once again, by everyone working together.Doreen Hume (Fayre  Co-Ordinator )

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I would like to thank everyone who sent me beautiful birthday cards for my 80th , and all the kind good wishes too. I am blessed to be part of a loving and caring church. Dorothy FowlerThank you for the beautiful flower arrangement delivered. It was such a surprise and much appreciated. Yvonne TweddleAfter my first walk outside following my hip replacement I returned to find a beautiful flower arrangement delivered from Chapel. Thank you to the Church Family for all the prayers, cards, phone calls and visits I received while I recovered. Dorothy CarrThank you all so much for the flowers , cards and phone calls when my dear husband Wilf passed away so quickly in November. They were such a comfort to me and my family and your thoughts and prayers meant so much to us and helped us through an emotional time. I felt truly blessed to belong to such a caring Christian family. Thank you also for donations to Macmillan Nurses which was greatly appreciated. - God bless. Eileen Garbutt.We would like to say thank you for the beautiful flowers. After two weeks, they were still giving us pleasure. Your kindness is very much appreciated, especially as Dorothy was quite poorly at this time. Dorothy & Jim GlanvilleMany Thanks for the beautiful flower arrangement delivered just before Christmas. It was a lovely surprise and much appreciated. Margaret WalkerBob and Jean Watson wish to thank all the friends from our Church Family for the beautiful cards and gifts they received for their Diamond Wedding.  We had a wonderful celebration. Bless you all.

Thank you…

Chester-le-Street Methodist Church

Quiz and High TeaSaturday 15th February 2020

4.00 p.m.In the Upper room

Tickets priced £7. Available from Fundraising Team or the Office

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Mile of 2pThe third mile of thus fund raising scheme has just been completed on7th January.Since its inception on 12th August 2006 we have raised £3801, quite remarkable achievement due to the generosity of all donors. Another plan will shortly be displayed in the church showing a different route. Hopefully the response will be just as enthusiastic.Once again, thank you for all your donations.Ron Patterson

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The Church Family Weekend - a personal reflection…I have been privileged to go to every Church Family Weekend over the past 47 years. I would therefore like to thank all those who arranged such memorable times, not only at Whitby, but also Saltburn and Scarborough.At the first weekend in 1972, there were 11 of my family at Moorlands in Whitby and that night I thanked God that we were all together enjoying the fun and fellowship that have always been a big part of the weekend.Since then I’ve had the pleasure of seeing my grandsons, James and Matthew, enjoy the time at Whitby.Going to a Church Family Weekend has always been one of the highlights of my year. I’ve come home feeling uplifted, and my faith in God deepened.Once again, thanks to the many friends who have given me such treasured, happy memories.Mary Elliott

In New Testament times 40 days old was an important age for a baby boy: it was when they made their first ‘public appearance’. Mary, like all good Jewish mothers, went to the Temple with Jesus, her first male child - to ‘present him to the Lord’. At the same time, she, as a new mother, was ‘purified’. Thus we have the Festival of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, 40 days after Christmas. Jesus is described in the Bible as the Light of the World, and so early Christians developed the tradition of lighting many candles in celebration of this day. The Church also fell into the custom of blessing the year’s supply of candles for the church on this day - hence the name, Candlemas. The story can be found in Luke 2:22-40. Simeon’s great declaration of faith and recognition of who Jesus was is of course found in the Nunc Dimittis, which is embedded in the Office of Evening Prayer in the West.

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Word SearchFortyDaysBabyBoyPublic

AppearanceMaryJewishMothersTempleJesusPurifiedPresentLordFestival

PresentationLightWorldCandlemas

SimeonNuncDimittisOffice

EveningPrayerWest

James Etherington Music Award2020 Competition FinalSaturday 8th February

7.00 pmin

Chester le Street Methodist ChurchThis will be a wonderful opportunity to support a number of

young musicians from our area (some singing, some playing - Brass, Wind, Guitar or Piano)

as they compete for 1st Prize of £400.00.

In fact it will be a lovely Concert of 1½ to 2 hoursfor the Audience to appreciate

as each Finalist will provide 10 to 12 minutes of music (either singing or playing) to demonstrate their considerable talent.

So we encourage people to come along and listen.

Entrance is FREEbut there will be a retiring collection

for the benefit of the Charity that provides the Awards.

Supported by the Rotary Club of Chester le Street

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Children and Families Worker UpdateBelieve it or not, I’ve now been the Children and Families Worker here for over a year! Here’s some information about some of the things I’ve been involved in:

Make LunchWe launched our new project on 23rd December, with some Christmas activities, board games and a delicious Christmas dinner. We also held a session on 30th December, when we made calendars with marbling inks, pop-up cards and enjoyed eating sausage and mash together. Our volunteers created a brilliant environment, and we all enjoyed getting to know each other. I will always remember feeling God’s presence as we ate together.

We hope the families that joined us for our first sessions will return in February half term (17th and 20th February), and will help us spread the word to other families who would enjoy Make Lunch. We’ll also be doing more to get the word out to other families; if you know a family who would like an hour of activities and a meal during the school holidays please do come and speak to me and I will send them an invitation. You may also know an organisation who I can work with to invite families; do tell me about this too.

Finally, you may wish to volunteer. This could be preparing food on the day, supporting children with activities, getting to know the adults, or preparing resources ahead of the sessions. Do contact me if you’d like to find out more.

Tearfund QuizIt seems a long time ago, but we held a quiz in November which raised a whopping £265.65 for Tearfund and was a lot of fun! Thank you to all 51 people who came, and especially Anthea, Christine and Shaun for their work in the kitchen and in setting up and putting away. Thanks also to Daniel, Susan and Ian Miller who helped to prepare and run the quiz itself. Hopefully we’ll repeat this in November.

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Other activityI continue to enjoy leading assemblies for year 2 and year 4 classes at Cestria Primary, making visits to the children’s groups which meet here, being part of the team which prepares our monthly Jigsaw interactive worship event for families and I enjoyed taking a group of young people from our circuit to 3Generate, the Methodist Youth Conference.

I’m looking forward to what God has in store for the role in 2020. I’m sure it will be an exciting year! Do contact me if you want to know more, or tell me if you’d like to receive my monthly prayer email.

Blessings in Christ,

Neil

cfw.cornerstones@gmail.com, 07855 386292

Saturday 14th March9.00 - 12 noon.

Paperback books, jigsaws, CD’s, DVD’s and nearly new toys may be brought  into church during week commencing 8th March. Please no hardback books.

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DATES for your DIARYFebruary 4th Feb coffee morning for St.Cuthbert’s Hospice8th Feb James Etherington Musical Award 2020

Competition Final15th Feb Quiz and high tea17th Feb Make Lunch20th Feb Make Lunch25th Feb Beginners Computers 28th Feb Health & Safety Course

PULPIT APPOINTMENTSFebruary2nd 10.00am Local Arrangement

4.00pm JIGSAW6.00pm Rev. Dr. Liz Kent; Communion

9th 10.00am Rev. Ian Kent; Baptism & Communion6.00pm Rev Stephen & Rev Elaine Lindridge

17th 10.00am Maureen Simpson6.00pm Local Arrangement

23rd 10.00am Mrs Kathy Bevan6.00pm Rev. Ian Kent

BAPTISMWe welcomed GEORGE DANIEL IAN NELSON into the Church family by Baptism on 1st December, 2019And CHARLIE PETER DIXON on 12th January 2020.Miriam Proctor, Cradle Roll Secretary

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SAVE THE DATES!CORNERSTONES at CHESTER-LE-

STREET METHODIST CHURCH

10th ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND 2nd - 4th OCTOBER 2020

FRIDAY 2nd OCTOBEROPENING EVENT & CONCERT

SATURDAY 3rd OCTOBER9.00am—4.00pm

OPEN DAY WITH PRESENTATIONS, MUSIC, INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES, DISPLAYS.

REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED in the WALTER BEST HALL throughout the day.

SUNDAY 4th OCTOBER10.00am & 6.00pm

SERVICES of WORSHIP, THANKSGIVING & CELEBRATION

The President of Conference for 2020 / 2021, Rev. Richard Teal, will be joining us on this day.

Watch this space for more details

Change of telephone numberDavid Piercy would like to inform you that his new number is

07722 957440

WEEKLY ACTIVITIESSunday Worship I0:00am & 6:00pm

Jigsaw (1st Sunday in month) 4:00pm

Monday Pilates 10:00 - 11:00amYoga 11;00am - 12 noonAlzheimer's Society: 'Singing for the Brain' 1:30 - 3:30pmWomen's Fellowship 2:00pmDenchi Kai Academy 6:00 - 7:30pmBrownies 6:15pmWomen's Institute (4th Monday in month) 7:00pm

Tuesday Coffee Morning 9:00 - 11:30amYoga 10:00 - 11:30amBoys' Brigade (Anchor Section) 6:15pmBoys' Brigade (Junior Section) 6:30pmBoys' Brigade (Company & Senior Sections) 7:00pmRock Choir 7:45pm

Wednesday Carers & Toddlers 10:00 - 11:30am & 12:45 - 2:45pmRainbows 6:00pmSlimming World Group 1 5:30pmSlimming World Group 2 7:30pmHousegroup (fortnightly in various locations) 7:30pmBallroom Dancing 7:30pm

Thursday Carers & Toddlers 10:00 - 11:30amLunches 12 noonDrama Tree 4:00 - 5:30pmSlimming World Group l 3:30pmSlimming World Group 2 5:30pmGuides & Rangers 7:00pm

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WEEKLY ACTIVITIESFriday Coffee Morning 9:00 - 11:30am

Hear 4 U Listening Service 9:00 - 11:30amHoly Communion 10:00amCreative Crafts 10:00am - 1:00pmFriday Prayer Group 11:30 - 12:00Prayer Shawl Ministry (2nd & 4th) 1:300pmBrownies 6:00pm

Saturday Coffee Morning 9:00 - 11:30amSlimming World 8:00am, 10:00am & 12 noonFood Cycle 6:00 - 9:00pm

CORNERSTONESPROJECT DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

Debra DivanisTel: Office - 0191 3881313

Mobile - 07806745097e-mail - info@cornerstonescentre.co.uk

www.cornerstonescentre.coukCORNERSTONES MISSION STATEMENT

A permanent commitment by the whole Church to reach out and become more involved in the life of the community of Chester-le-Street and for the community to be supported

by the wider Church family.

Items for "Contact" to be handed in by the 10th of the month to:Derick Lawson, 2 Loweswater Avenue, Chester-le-Street, DH2 3HJ

Tel: 3884684 e-mail: - derick.lawson@btinternet.com

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