South Shields and Hebburn Joint Pastorate
NEWSLETTER
AUTUMN 2019
www.southshieldsandhebburnurc.org.uk.
Dear Friends,
As I write, a hot, butterfly summer seems to be quickly turning into a wet, cool autumn. I do hope you’ve been able to enjoy the sunshine and have had a refreshing time. The churches have all been active and there is change in the air.
St Andrew’s played their part as part of Churches Together at the Hebburn Festival, on a day with heavy showers, though thankfully the sun shone on us for our time on the main stage. We had much more contact with the local community than when we have held a service at the town centre, so we’ll no doubt be involved in future festivals. We are moving forward! I shall be leading our annual Prayer Walk on 1 September. We’ll start at 3.15 pm at the Hebburn Hub and walk and pray our way around and to St James’ for our Songs of Praise at 5.30 pm. You don’t have to belong to Hebburn to take part, but you do need to be able to walk a reasonable distance, even if our pace is fairly slow and we keep stopping to pray.
St Paul and St John’s have been busy – registering the Church Centre as a church, organising the work on the Church Centre doors and giving users their new keypad numbers, chasing payment from some user groups and working on our move and thanksgiving service. Thank you to all of you who have helped out in any way and especially to those who have taken major responsibility for different aspects of our busy schedule, often when life outside of the church has not been easy. We are moving forward!
I’ve had a frustrating summer with technological breakdown. Our telephone is now working again and back to our old number, I have a new mobile phone, my Gmail account is working again, and my computer is in much better working condition. I can’t recommend Age Concern’s Tuesday afternoon drop-in highly enough. One of the problems with my laptop was that I hadn’t been leaving it on for long enough, so updates were queueing up and slowing it down – I would never have guessed!
Even when just working in the office at the manse, I am linked to many people and dependent upon some of them to allow me to work efficiently. Some things I can learn, and others are beyond my skill and areas of expertise. It’s the same for us all. Our webs of communication and community stretch wide – often around the world. Personal contact is still vital though, as we all know.
St Margaret’s Garden Party was busy and now Carol and Adrienne are starting St Margaret’s Café, monthly. May it become a lively place where people can find new friends. Do pop in, to the Choir Room, last Fridays monthly, 11am – 1pm. We are moving on!
Soon we shall be cheering on the runners once again, on the Great North Run. We have already got some Jelly Babies but need a lot more. Do please help out if you can. In amongst our Harvest Festival celebrations, is our thanksgiving service for the life, work and witness of St Paul and St John’s Church. Everyone is welcome to come; we hope the church will be full and we can use the balcony if necessary. While we are sad to be leaving the lovely Victorian church building, we look forward to the future which God has in mind for us, in this new phase of our life, in the Church Centre. We pray for encouragement, growth and new life.
Churches inevitably go through times and seasons of change. While they are not the easiest of times, they do give us the opportunity to look again at our life and witness and spend time with God in prayer, to discover our new direction or role. Please do hold our churches, and especially St Paul and St John’s, in your prayers as we go forward. Thank you.
The life of the country and of the world also seem to be going through a time of change. We are fortunate here to have avoided widespread flooding and pray that we can all make the changes we need to, to bring any climate change under control. If you have any ideas as to what changes we could usefully make at church, to help in that way, please do pass them on.
As Brexit draws closer, please do keep the nation in your prayers. We are certainly in need of God’s guidance and presence with us. May the transition time be as smooth as possible, with real and substantial help for those whose livelihoods are disrupted, at least in the short term.
Wherever the future lies, let us hold on to the understanding that we are safe in God’s hands and surrounded by God’s love, even within the storms of life.
May God bless you always.
Helen
For your prayers …
Living God,
As the seasons change and life moves on, help us to move on with you.
We remember before you many people and events at St Paul & St John’s. Bless us in our celebrations and in our new venue in the Church Centre. Help it to be a truly sacred space, where we can know your presence and be encouraged in our faith, witness and work for your kingdom.
Thank you for all the charity fund-raising events which happen at this time of year – in our churches and outside. Thank you for the generosity and hard work of many. Be with us as we seek to serve the Great North Runners and bless them and others who selflessly give so much for others in need.
As anniversaries and commemorations come and go, thank you for what we have learned from the past. Help us to build a community of care and justice and find the ways to enable a stable, healthy environment and world, for the future.
May adequate support be in place for individuals, families and businesses which will suffer due to Brexit, or have suffered in recent floods, or for other reasons. Bless the work of KEY and the foodbanks and all that South Tyneside Churches Together achieves in your name. Guide the nation through Brexit and beyond, we pray.
We pray for your healing touch on those who are unwell; your encouragement in times and places of change and your blessing on us and our loved ones.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
JOINT PASTORATE DIARY
September
Fri 13th 5pm – 7pm Joint Pastorate meeting at St Margaret’s with Faith
Supper and entertainment
Fri 13th to Sun 22nd Heritage Open Days
Wed 18th ‘ Voices of Faith’ meeting – see notice board
Fri 20th Global general climate strike day
Fri 20th to Mon 23rd Great British Beach Clean Weekend
Sat 21st Retreat and Resourcing Day for Youth and Children’s Work
Volunteers at Roker URC
Fri 27th Global general climate strike day
October
Sat 5th Synod meets at Wooler URC
Sun 27th BST ends. Clocks fall back one hour
November
10th – 17th Interfaith Week 2019
Sun 10th Remembrance Sunday
Sat 16th 10.30am – 2.45pm Conducting Funerals workshop at St James’, Newcastle
Wed 20th ‘Voices of Faith’ meeting – see notice board
Sat 30th St Andrew’s Day
December
Sun 1st Advent Sunday
Found in an old church newsletter
The first 80 years are the hardest. The second 80, as far as my experience goes, is a succession of parties. Everybody wants to carry your luggage and help you up the stairs. If you forget your name, or your neighbour’s name, forget an appointment or promise to be in two places at the same time, or spell a word wrongly, all you need to do is explain that you are over 80! At 80 or over, you can relax with no misgivings – you’ve a perfect alibi for everything. Nobody expects anything of you – if you act silly it’s your second childhood. Everybody’s looking for symptoms of softening of the brain. It’s a great deal better than being 60 or 70. At the same time, folk expect you to retire to a little house in Timbuktu and become a discontented, fumbling, limping old ‘has-been’. If you survive to be 80 or more, everyone’s surprised you can walk. At 70, folk are mad at you for everything. So, if you ask me, life begins at 80.
Remember, old folk are worth a fortune. We’ve silver in our hair, gold in our teeth, stones in our kidneys, lead in our feet and gas in our stomachs! I’ve become a little older since I last saw you, and a few changes have come into my life since then. Frankly, I’ve become quite a frivolous old girl! I’m seeing five men each day. As soon as I wake up, Will Power helps me out of bed. I then visit Lou. Then Tom Catt comes along and takes up quite a lot of my time and attention. When he leaves, Arthur Ritis shows up and stays for the rest of the day. He doesn’t stay in one place for long, so he takes me from joint to joint. After such a busy day, I’m tired and glad to get to bed with Big Ben. What a life at my age!
The Preacher came to see me the other day. He said that at my time of life I should be thinking about the hereafter. I told him I do – all the time. No matter where I am, in the parlour, upstairs, in the kitchen or basement, I ask myself: ‘Now what am I here after?’.
Oh, the joy of being 80 or over!
From: The United Reformed Church Finance Committee
Date: August 2019
To: The members and friends of each local URC congregation
‘THANK YOU’ for what you help us achieve together in God’s name
The purpose of this letter is to say ‘Thank you’ to each and every one of you for all that you do for the Church and, especially, for your help in raising over £19 million in 2018 for the URC Ministry and Mission Fund. For Christians, any giving of ours is in response to the amazing generosity of God in pouring out his love through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and through his risen life in the world and the church today, through the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, it is important to say ‘thank you’.
The United Reformed Church is like a big family – about 46,000 members in 1,400 churches served by just under 400 ministers. In any thriving family, the members support each other and want the best for each other. In the URC, we are all seeking to ‘Walk the way: live the life of Jesus today’ – and to enable others to do so as well.
For most of us, this idea of the church as family is most easily seen in the life of our own local church. That is where we regularly worship God and also seek to serve our own community and share God’s love with them. There are 1,400 different ways in which this is happening and a colossal amount of worshipping and witnessing and working for the kingdom happening in URC congregations across our three nations. ‘THANK YOU’ for all you do for the kingdom in your local churches.
A crucial part of what your local church does, like any family, is support you in all that you do in your daily lives. That is where we all ‘Walk the way’. ‘THANK YOU’ for all you do for the kingdom in your daily discipleship.
But the wider family of the United Reformed Church is more than the sum of its parts. We belong to each other under God and through our sharing of resources as well as burdens, opportunities as well as challenges, we achieve more together. You can get a flavour of this from the reports of the last Mission Council on the URC website – from new resources for Pilots and children to disinvesting in fossil fuels; from the challenge to be better at safeguarding to the need for a new General Secretary. ‘THANK YOU’ for all you do for the kingdom through the wider Church, including your giving which enables your church to give to the Ministry and Mission Fund.
You might ask ‘how much should I give?’ That is a matter for you. The Church has sometimes suggested 5% of after-tax income, but that is only a guide. If your church is looking at ‘Holy habits’ then one of those covers giving. If not, there are other resources on the stewardship pages of the URC website.
The URC Finance Committee is responsible for the oversight of the finances of the central United Reformed Church. Each year, our local churches raise more than £19 million for the Ministry and Mission Fund. Over 80% of this money is used to pay for stipendiary ministers and church related community workers and their training.
For a long time, the number of ministers in the United Reformed Church has been falling at roughly the same rate as the number of church members. What has fallen more dramatically over the years has been the average size of URC congregations – now around 35. So, the challenge which is exercising people across the Church is not so much a shortage of ministers, but how to make the best use of the ministers we have got in the context of small, often widely dispersed, congregations.
It is an extraordinary demonstration of commitment and generosity that the average giving per member to the Ministry and Mission Fund continues to go up each year. Although the number of URC members has been going down by a few percent each year, the total amount raised has been going down much more slowly. The total raised in 2018 was less than 0.5% lower than the total for 2017. These contributions are voluntary, but they are not optional. They are an expression of our commitment to each other. The United Reformed Church could not function without them. ‘THANK YOU’ for your church’s contribution to the Ministry and Mission Fund.
NB: the contribution to the Ministry and Mission Fund requested from each local church is a matter for its Synod. The central Church is not directly involved.
If you have any questions or comments arising from this letter then please speak to your church treasurer, who has been provided with more detailed information. If they are not able to help then they will get in touch with the finance team at Church House.
Yours sincerely,
Ian Hardie John Piper
Treasurer Deputy Treasurer
Happy at Home
Happy at Home, a Churches Together project supporting frail elderly people, has been selected as a green token charity for the next three months in Asda South Shields.
If you do any shopping here please ask at the checkouts for a handful of green tokens and pop them in our box at the bottom of the escalators. They do not give them out automatically, you have to specifically ask for them! The more tokens we get the bigger the share of the pot we get!!
Bernadette Askins
KEY 2 LIFE FOOD BANK APPEAL – LETTER TO CHURCHES
In February, the food bank supported by Churches Together moved to new premises in what was previously the library at the Action Station in Boldon Lane, South Shields. Previously there were two separate foodbanks that worked closely together (KEY Project and Bread of Life) which have now merged to form one food bank which is named KEY 2 LIFE.
From March 1st – May 31st the food bank has provided food for 1,029 adults and children who were hungry. Referrals have come from Welfare Rights, Job Centre, clergy, head teachers, GPs. Some referrals are for individuals, but many are for families. We provide food for 3 meals each day for 5 days.
We want you to know how much we appreciate the support that local churches have already given to the food bank. Now, our food stocks are getting very low and we are making a special appeal to all local churches to help top up supplies, because of increased demand. We are asking churches in Harton, West Harton and Tyne Dock if they can help. I have attached a list of priority food needs. These are items that we regularly run out of. Donations of used strong plastic bags (bags for life) would also be very useful. We would be grateful if food could be delivered directly to the food bank. It is open weekdays 10 – 4pm. There is a small car park and volunteers will be there to help unload. If it isn’t possible to deliver, our volunteers will collect from your church.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Jo Benham Brown (Churches Together Poverty Alleviation development worker) on 07841 143482.
Thank you for your support.
PRIORITY ITEMS FOR FOOD BAGS: Tinned potatoes or individual packets of instant potato; jars of pasta sauce; tins of meat to serve hot e.g. steak, mince; tins of veg; UHT milk (litre cartons); Breakfast cereal (small packets); tins of fruit, tinned creamed rice, custard; tea bags (40, 60 or 80 bags), coffee (100g); Shower Gel; toilet rolls.
Bernadette Askins
ST ANDREW’S NEWS
We have been fortunate over the past few months to have regular attendance by those able to come to church, and have appreciated inspirational words from Helen, Greg and Mary.
Some of us were able to participate in the annual Hebburn Festival held in Hebburn Park on Saturday 20th July. Despite heavy downpours, the Festival was well attended, there were many stalls, food outlets, entertainment and amusements for the children. A short act of worship was conducted by Revd. Alan Maxwell from St Cuthbert’s church. Although we were unable to distribute ‘Hebburn Churches Together’ leaflets as planned, the children were happy to receive bubbles to blow during prayers. All together a very successful day.
Friends of Hebburn Cemetery invite everyone to the ‘Hebburn Remembers’ event to be held on Saturday 14th September, when the latest tribute to our fallen heroes will be unveiled at 2.00 pm. The tearoom will be open before and after the unveiling for refreshments. Organisers are also appealing for anyone to either knit or paint poppies in preparation for a Remembrance Day display in the cemetery.
Bible Study continues to explore ‘Holy Habits’ book by Andrew Roberts, all are welcome.
Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone at St Paul and St John’s, as they prepare for the final service in their beautiful church on 29th September.
As always, we think of those who are unable to attend church, you are all remembered in our prayers.
Sheila McNabola
Advance Notice
Churches Together in Hebburn will be singing Carols in local Care Homes, meeting at 2pm on Saturday, 7th December. We shall be Carol Singing in the town centre on Saturday, 14th December. Our Sunday service on 29th December will be a Joint Pastorate service at St Andrew’s.
ST PAUL & ST JOHN’S NEWS
QUIZ NIGHT
After the summer break Quiz Night starts again on Friday, 6th September. Come along and enjoy the company, the quiz, faith supper and the raffle.
Thank you to those who have volunteered to be Quiz Masters:
6th September Colin Bird
4th October Jane Alderson
1st November Alan and June Blythman
6th December Lillian Matimore
June Blythman
SPORTS CLUB
Hope the August break was relaxing and enjoyable.
Sports Night starts again on Tuesday, 3rd September at 7.30pm until 9.30pm. At 8.30pm there will be a tea-break and time for a chat.
Come along if you would like to try playing snooker, table-tennis or carpet bowls.
June Blythman
ST MARGARET’S NEWS
This eight-session interactive course is for anyone who wishes to learn more about the book that is at the heart of our Christian faith. It will be held over an eight-week period at venues to be arranged as the course progresses. Eight people have already signed up for the course but if you wish to join them please speak to Colin Bird.
Details for the first session are as follows:
Where: At the home of Beryl Welbrock – 56 Leafield Crescent South Shields
When: Monday 9th September 2019
At: 7.00pm
Venues and times for subsequent sessions can be discussed at this first meeting.
For more information about this course, contact: Colin Bird.
HARVEST WEEKEND, 5TH – 6TH OCTOBER
On Saturday, 5th October the Coffee Morning from 10am – noon will raise funds for Christian Aid. On the Sunday worship on 6th October, gifts for our Red Box will be welcome and these will go to South Tyneside KEY 2 LIFE FOODBANK, c/o The Library, Boldon Lane, South Shields. Thank you all so much for keeping the Red Box on the stage so full each week, and, with the help of the girls from ACTS on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have been able to give lots of bags full of good things every two or three weeks along to the foodbank, so thanks again.
Brenda Brownless
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD (Shoebox Appeal)
Leaflets for the shoeboxes will be out soon, so please take one and show that St Margaret’s cares about this appeal. Filled shoe boxes should be brought to church by Sunday, 3rd November please. Thank you.
Brenda Brownless
CHRISTMAS BAZAAR
The Christmas Bazaar takes place on Saturday, November 16th at 2pm. Here is a list of stall holders. Anyone willing to help in any way please see Hazel, Sylvia or Carol. Thank you.
Big Raffle: TBA
Jewellery / Cosmetics: Janet Pude
Cakes: Anne Price and Laura Ridley
Soft Toy Raffle: Hazel Singleton and Colin Bird
Tombola: Brownies
Toy Stall: Penny Maccoy
Books/DVDs/CDs: Kevin Liley
Bric-a-Brac: Robertson family
Mystery Parcels: Sylvia Briggs
Ginger Wine: Gareth Briggs
Hamper: Rainbows / Toddlers and Carers
Kitchen: Carol Asker, Edith Stephenson and Joan Glenny
Grotto: Santa, Margaret Atkinson and Brenda Brownless
All donations will be gratefully received. Please give them to the appropriate stall holder.
Hazel Singleton
ST MARGARET’S CAFÉ
On Friday, 30th August, St Margaret’s Café was well attended on its first day by six non-members and five members of church. All went well.
This is an on-going project so please keep it in your prayers.
St Margaret’s Café will be operating in the Choir Room on the last Friday of every month from 11am until 1pm.
Carol Asker and Adrienne Thompson
CAROL SINGING AT THE NOOK
We shall go carol singing on Harton Nook on Saturday, 21st December from 11am till noon. Do bring your friends along to join us. Our Christingle service will be the following day, Sunday, 22nd December at 6pm and we shall make the Christingles on the Saturday before going Carol Singing.
Revd Helen Drummond
NEW HYMNS FOR WORSHIP/NEW CAROLS FOR CHRISTMAS
We begin again on Monday, 2nd September at 7pm and meet fortnightly until 9th December and then, hopefully, go Carol Singing on 21st December. Do come and join us! We will not be singing on 28th October as we will be together for Church Meeting.
Revd Helen Drummond
RAINBOWS
The girls have been busy working on their badges on the new programme which they have all enjoyed very much.
We rounded off the term with them getting their Feel-Good Stage 1 badges. To get this they needed to learn about keeping fit and eating healthily amongst other things. For eating healthily, we tried fruit kebabs, for keeping fit we attended the climbing wall for end of term as well as bowling, and the Rainbow loved both of these events.
Unfortunately, the farm trip had to be cancelled due to the weather and the farm being water-logged. We have rescheduled for 5th October when hopefully the weather will be better.
Many thanks to all who attended the coffee morning and helping us raise funds for the church.
This term we have 5 new starts and also a leader coming back after finishing University. Welcome back, Jazmin.
I have no idea what we are doing next term as we do not return until 10th September, however I will let you all know in the next newsletter.
Linda Fernandez, Rainbow Guider
BROWNIES
Hello everyone,
Those of you that came to the Brownie/Rainbow coffee morning in June would have seen that the Brownies worked very hard to gain their hostess badge. They had sent out invitations, made menus, made beautiful paper flower table decorations and served teas and coffees on the day. They were kept very busy as it was very well attended and raised £206 for church funds. I am sure you will agree that they thoroughly deserved the badge.
We had a fun time at LUSH in Newcastle where the girls made their very own unicorn coloured bath bomb. They smelled divine and were absolutely LUSH (ha-ha, think this is where they got the name of the shop from). This little trip went down really well with the girls, they absolutely loved it. The photo shows them outside the shop just after we had finished making them and by their faces they were all very happy.
Outside LUSH Newcastle
We finished the term with a fun evening at Quasar Laser at Ocean Pleasure Park on the sea front. The girls enjoyed this friendly, zero contact game by scoring points by shooting at each other and as a team, with harmless, fluorescent high-tech lasers. They also tried the laser maze which was just like a puzzle from the TV show ‘The Crystal Maze’. All in all, the girls had a great time.
We are now enjoying our summer break but planning lots of fun and interesting things for the new term. I will let you know what we got up to in the next newsletter.
Julie Elliott, Brownie Guider
TODDLERS AND CARERS
Before we broke up for the 6 weeks school holidays we held a lovely party to say farewell to some of our older children who are moving on to nursery schools. We look forward to welcoming some new children from our waiting list at our first meeting back on 4th September.
At our party all the helpers were given some lovely flowers and chocolates as a ’Thank You’ for being there every Wednesday from all the families.
Brenda Brownless
THANK YOU
Thank you for money raised for church funds through the following events:
9th June Gift Day – £900
15th June Coffee Morning – £206 (Rainbows and Brownies)
13th July Garden Party – £553
Donations from Coffee and Chat mornings on Sundays and Thursdays
£30 was given to each of the following from your donations:
Macmillan Cancer Support; Parkinson Care South Tyneside Branch; Mercy Ships; Bible Society and the Children’s Society.
Brenda Brownless
SIGHTSAVERS
A donation of £100 has been sent to Sightsavers. Many thanks for your support.
Hazel Singleton
DAFT AS A BRUSH
I would like to thank everyone who helped in any way at the Coffee Morning for Daft as a Brush on 10th August – I really appreciated your help. I would also like to thank ACTS and the Zumba Ladies who helped towards the amount of £400 raised for this very worthwhile cause.
Anne Clapham
JANE TROTTER AND THE WEDNESDAY CRAFT LADIES
We would like to say a big ‘thank you’ for the use of the church on Saturday, 29th June, for our Coffee Morning. We are pleased to tell you that we have raised £262 for the VLS. Many thanks for all your support.
Jane and the Craft Ladies
St Andrew’s Calendar – September – December 2019
Sunday Worship at 11.15am – unless otherwise stated.
September
Sun 1st 3.15pm meet at Hebburn Hub for Walk of Witness/Prayer Walk to
St James’ for Songs of Praise at 5.30pm
Sun 8th No Service (Great North Run)
Thurs 12th 2pm Bible Study
Fri 13th 5pm – 7pm Joint Pastorate meeting at St Margaret’s, with Faith Supper
and entertainment
Sun 15th 11.00 am Holy Communion led by Revd Helen Drummond followed by
Church Meeting
Wed 18th 10.30 am Elders Meeting
Thurs 19th 7.00 pm Churches Together in Hebburn meeting at St Cuthbert’s
Sun 22nd 6.00 pm Joint Harvest Festival Service with IMC
Sat 28th 2.00 pm Celebration Service at St Paul & John’s
Sun 29th TO BE ADVISED
October
Sun 6th 5.30 pm Songs of Praise at IMC
Thurs 10th 2pm Bible Study
Sun 13th 11.00 am Revd Helen Drummond followed by Church Meeting
Sun 20th Holy Communion service led by Revd Helen Drummond
Sun 27th Revd Greg Thompson
November
Sun 3rd 5.30 pm Songs of Praise at St Cuthbert’s
Thurs 7th 2.00 pm Bible Study
Sun 10th 10.15 am Remembrance Service and parade at St John’s
Thurs 14th 7.00 pm Churches Together Meeting at St Andrew’s
Sun 17th Revd Helen Drummond
Sun 24th Revd Greg Thompson
Thurs 28th 2.00 pm Bible Study
December
Sun 1st 5.30 pm Songs of Praise at St Aloysius
Sun 8th Holy Communion service led by Revd Helen Drummond
St Paul & St John’s Calendar – September – December 2019
Service each Sunday at 11.15am except where stated. Any changes will be announced.
September
Sun 1st Holy Communion service led by Revd Helen Drummond, retiring collection
for Macmillan
Wed 4th 7pm Elders Meeting
7pm Sports and Social Evening
Fri 6th 7pm Quiz Night (Quiz set by Colin Bird)
Sun 8th 10am service at St Margaret’s. Great North Run. Jelly Babies for the
runners. 11.30am – 1pm or 3pm.
Mon 9th 7pm Central Area Churches Together AGM at Westoe Methodist
Mon 9th – Wed 11th Electrical Survey of the Church Centre
Fri 13th 5pm – 7pm Joint Pastorate meeting at St Margaret’s with Faith Supper
and entertainment
Sun 15th Elders
Sun 22nd Morning worship led by Revd Helen Drummond followed by Church
Meeting
Sat 28th 2pm Celebration Service for St Paul & St John’s church building and
light refreshments
Sun 29th Harvest Festival service led by Revd Helen Drummond and final
service in the church
October
Fri 4th 7pm Quiz Night (Quiz set by Jane Alderson)
Sun 6th Dedication of a church service led by Revd Helen Drummond
Sun 13th Revd David Hardiman
Sun 20th Revd Cynthia Hardiman
Sun 27th Marilyn Merrin
November
Sun 3rd 11am Morning worship led by Revd Helen Drummond followed by Church
Meeting
Sun 10th Marilyn Merrin
Sun 17th Praise Service
Mon 18th 7pm Central Area Churches Together meeting at Living Faith (formerly
New Hope)
Sun 24th Elders
Sat 30th 10am – noon Coffee Morning
December
Sun 1st Advent Sunday Holy Communion service led by Revd Helen Drummond
Sun 8th Revd Harold Stuteley (TBC)
St Margaret’s Calendar – September – December 2019
September
Sun 1st 10.00am Family worship led by Revd David Hardiman
6.00pm Evening worship with Holy Communion led by Revd Jane Rowell
Sun 8th 10.00am Great North Run – Family worship at St Margaret’s with St Paul &
St John’s led by Revd Helen Drummond, followed by giving out of
Jelly Babies to the runners 11.30am – 1pm or 3pm
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
Fri 13th 5pm – 7pm Joint Pastorate meeting at St Margaret’s with Faith Supper and
entertainment
Sun 15th 10.00am Family worship led by the Worship Group
6.00pm Ecumenical service at Harton Methodist with preacher from
St Mark & St Cuthbert’s
Sun 22nd 10.00am Family worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Greg Thompson
Sun 29th 10.00am Family worship led by the Worship Group
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
October
Sat 5th 10am – noon Harvest Festival Coffee Morning
Sun 6th 10.00am Harvest Festival café worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
6.00pm Evening worship led by the Revds Cynthia and David Hardiman
Sun 13th 10.00am Family worship led by Revds Cynthia and David Hardiman
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
Sun 20th 10.00am Family worship with Holy Communion led by Revd Helen
Drummond
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Harold Stuteley
Sat 26th 10am- noon Coffee Morning run by Guide Dogs for the Blind
Sun 27th 10.00am Family worship led by the Worship Group
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Greg Thompson
Mon 28th 7.00pm Quarterly Church Meeting
November
Sun 3rd 10.00am Family worship led by the Worship Group
6.00pm Evening worship led by Mrs Margaret Wright
Sun 10th 10.00am Remembrance Day Family worship led by Revd David Hardiman
6.00pm Remembrance Day Evening worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
Sat 16th 2pm – 4pm Christmas Bazaar
Sun 17th 10.00am Family worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revds Cynthia and David Hardiman
Sun 24th 10.00am Family worship led by the Worship Group
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Greg Thompson
December
Sun 1st 10.00am Advent 1, Rededication service led by Revd David Hardiman
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Cynthia Hardiman
Sun 8th 10.00am Advent 2, Carol Service
6.00pm Holy Communion service led by Revd Helen Drummond
Additional Diary Events for St Margaret’s
September – December 2019
September
Mon 2nd 7pm New Hymns for Worship in the Choir Room
Mon 9th 7pm Bible Course at Beryl’s home (see article)
Wed 11th 11.30am Fabric and Finance Committee in the Lounge
Thurs 12th 7pm Elders’ meeting in the Lounge
Fri 13th 5pm – 7pm Joint Pastorate meeting at St Margaret’s with Faith Supper and
entertainment
Mon 16th 7pm New Hymns for Worship in the Choir Room
Tues 17th 10am Harton Churches Together AGM at Harton Methodist
Tues 24th St Margaret’s Church anniversary (67 years)
Fri 27th 11am – 1pm St Margaret’s Café in the Choir Room
Mon 30th 7pm New Hymns for Worship in the Choir Room
October
Mon 14th 7pm New Hymns for Worship in the Choir Room
Fri 25th 11am – 1pm St Margaret’s Café in the Choir Room
November
Sun 3rd Filled ‘Operation Christmas Child’ shoe boxes should be brought to church
Thurs 7th 7pm Elders’ meeting in the Lounge
Mon 11th 7pm New Hymns for Worship in the Choir Room
Tues 19th 10.30am Harton Churches Together meeting at Harton Methodist
Mon 25th 7pm New Carols for Christmas in the Choir Room
Fri 29th 11am – 1pm St Margaret’s Café in the Choir Room
December
Sat 21st Carol Singing on Harton Nook from 11am till noon
South Shields
and Hebburn
Pastorate Newsletter
Autumn 2019
www.southshieldsandhebburnurc.org.uk.
Dear Friends,
As I write, a hot, butterfly summer seems to be quickly turning into a wet, cool autumn. I do hope you’ve been able to enjoy the sunshine and have had a refreshing time. The churches have all been active and there is change in the air.
St Andrew’s played their part as part of Churches Together at the Hebburn Festival, on a day with heavy showers, though thankfully the sun shone on us for our time on the main stage. We had much more contact with the local community than when we have held a service at the town centre, so we’ll no doubt be involved in future festivals. We are moving forward! I shall be leading our annual Prayer Walk on 1 September. We’ll start at 3.15 pm at the Hebburn Hub and walk and pray our way around and to St James’ for our Songs of Praise at 5.30 pm. You don’t have to belong to Hebburn to take part, but you do need to be able to walk a reasonable distance, even if our pace is fairly slow and we keep stopping to pray.
St Paul and St John’s have been busy – registering the Church Centre as a church, organising the work on the Church Centre doors and giving users their new keypad numbers, chasing payment from some user groups and working on our move and thanksgiving service. Thank you to all of you who have helped out in any way and especially to those who have taken major responsibility for different aspects of our busy schedule, often when life outside of the church has not been easy. We are moving forward!
I’ve had a frustrating summer with technological breakdown. Our telephone is now working again and back to our old number, I have a new mobile phone, my Gmail account is working again, and my computer is in much better working condition. I can’t recommend Age Concern’s Tuesday afternoon drop-in highly enough. One of the problems with my laptop was that I hadn’t been leaving it on for long enough, so updates were queueing up and slowing it down – I would never have guessed!
Even when just working in the office at the manse, I am linked to many people and dependent upon some of them to allow me to work efficiently. Some things I can learn, and others are beyond my skill and areas of expertise. It’s the same for us all. Our webs of communication and community stretch wide – often around the world. Personal contact is still vital though, as we all know.
St Margaret’s Garden Party was busy and now Carol and Adrienne are starting St Margaret’s Café, monthly. May it become a lively place where people can find new friends. Do pop in, to the Choir Room, last Fridays monthly, 11am – 1pm. We are moving on!
Soon we shall be cheering on the runners once again, on the Great North Run. We have already got some Jelly Babies but need a lot more. Do please help out if you can. In amongst our Harvest Festival celebrations, is our thanksgiving service for the life, work and witness of St Paul and St John’s Church. Everyone is welcome to come; we hope the church will be full and we can use the balcony if necessary. While we are sad to be leaving the lovely Victorian church building, we look forward to the future which God has in mind for us, in this new phase of our life, in the Church Centre. We pray for encouragement, growth and new life.
Churches inevitably go through times and seasons of change. While they are not the easiest of times, they do give us the opportunity to look again at our life and witness and spend time with God in prayer, to discover our new direction or role. Please do hold our churches, and especially St Paul and St John’s, in your prayers as we go forward. Thank you.
The life of the country and of the world also seem to be going through a time of change. We are fortunate here to have avoided widespread flooding and pray that we can all make the changes we need to, to bring any climate change under control. If you have any ideas as to what changes we could usefully make at church, to help in that way, please do pass them on.
As Brexit draws closer, please do keep the nation in your prayers. We are certainly in need of God’s guidance and presence with us. May the transition time be as smooth as possible, with real and substantial help for those whose livelihoods are disrupted, at least in the short term.
Wherever the future lies, let us hold on to the understanding that we are safe in God’s hands and surrounded by God’s love, even within the storms of life.
May God bless you always.
Helen
For your prayers …
Living God,
As the seasons change and life moves on, help us to move on with you.
We remember before you many people and events at St Paul & St John’s. Bless us in our celebrations and in our new venue in the Church Centre. Help it to be a truly sacred space, where we can know your presence and be encouraged in our faith, witness and work for your kingdom.
Thank you for all the charity fund-raising events which happen at this time of year – in our churches and outside. Thank you for the generosity and hard work of many. Be with us as we seek to serve the Great North Runners and bless them and others who selflessly give so much for others in need.
As anniversaries and commemorations come and go, thank you for what we have learned from the past. Help us to build a community of care and justice and find the ways to enable a stable, healthy environment and world, for the future.
May adequate support be in place for individuals, families and businesses which will suffer due to Brexit, or have suffered in recent floods, or for other reasons. Bless the work of KEY and the foodbanks and all that South Tyneside Churches Together achieves in your name. Guide the nation through Brexit and beyond, we pray.
We pray for your healing touch on those who are unwell; your encouragement in times and places of change and your blessing on us and our loved ones.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
JOINT PASTORATE DIARY
September
Fri 13th 5pm – 7pm Joint Pastorate meeting at St Margaret’s with Faith
Supper and entertainment
Fri 13th to Sun 22nd Heritage Open Days
Wed 18th ‘ Voices of Faith’ meeting – see notice board
Fri 20th Global general climate strike day
Fri 20th to Mon 23rd Great British Beach Clean Weekend
Sat 21st Retreat and Resourcing Day for Youth and Children’s Work
Volunteers at Roker URC
Fri 27th Global general climate strike day
October
Sat 5th Synod meets at Wooler URC
Sun 27th BST ends. Clocks fall back one hour
November
10th – 17th Interfaith Week 2019
Sun 10th Remembrance Sunday
Sat 16th 10.30am – 2.45pm Conducting Funerals workshop at St James’, Newcastle
Wed 20th ‘Voices of Faith’ meeting – see notice board
Sat 30th St Andrew’s Day
December
Sun 1st Advent Sunday
Found in an old church newsletter
The first 80 years are the hardest. The second 80, as far as my experience goes, is a succession of parties. Everybody wants to carry your luggage and help you up the stairs. If you forget your name, or your neighbour’s name, forget an appointment or promise to be in two places at the same time, or spell a word wrongly, all you need to do is explain that you are over 80! At 80 or over, you can relax with no misgivings – you’ve a perfect alibi for everything. Nobody expects anything of you – if you act silly it’s your second childhood. Everybody’s looking for symptoms of softening of the brain. It’s a great deal better than being 60 or 70. At the same time, folk expect you to retire to a little house in Timbuktu and become a discontented, fumbling, limping old ‘has-been’. If you survive to be 80 or more, everyone’s surprised you can walk. At 70, folk are mad at you for everything. So, if you ask me, life begins at 80.
Remember, old folk are worth a fortune. We’ve silver in our hair, gold in our teeth, stones in our kidneys, lead in our feet and gas in our stomachs! I’ve become a little older since I last saw you, and a few changes have come into my life since then. Frankly, I’ve become quite a frivolous old girl! I’m seeing five men each day. As soon as I wake up, Will Power helps me out of bed. I then visit Lou. Then Tom Catt comes along and takes up quite a lot of my time and attention. When he leaves, Arthur Ritis shows up and stays for the rest of the day. He doesn’t stay in one place for long, so he takes me from joint to joint. After such a busy day, I’m tired and glad to get to bed with Big Ben. What a life at my age!
The Preacher came to see me the other day. He said that at my time of life I should be thinking about the hereafter. I told him I do – all the time. No matter where I am, in the parlour, upstairs, in the kitchen or basement, I ask myself: ‘Now what am I here after?’.
Oh, the joy of being 80 or over!
From: The United Reformed Church Finance Committee
Date: August 2019
To: The members and friends of each local URC congregation
‘THANK YOU’ for what you help us achieve together in God’s name
The purpose of this letter is to say ‘Thank you’ to each and every one of you for all that you do for the Church and, especially, for your help in raising over £19 million in 2018 for the URC Ministry and Mission Fund. For Christians, any giving of ours is in response to the amazing generosity of God in pouring out his love through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and through his risen life in the world and the church today, through the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, it is important to say ‘thank you’.
The United Reformed Church is like a big family – about 46,000 members in 1,400 churches served by just under 400 ministers. In any thriving family, the members support each other and want the best for each other. In the URC, we are all seeking to ‘Walk the way: live the life of Jesus today’ – and to enable others to do so as well.
For most of us, this idea of the church as family is most easily seen in the life of our own local church. That is where we regularly worship God and also seek to serve our own community and share God’s love with them. There are 1,400 different ways in which this is happening and a colossal amount of worshipping and witnessing and working for the kingdom happening in URC congregations across our three nations. ‘THANK YOU’ for all you do for the kingdom in your local churches.
A crucial part of what your local church does, like any family, is support you in all that you do in your daily lives. That is where we all ‘Walk the way’. ‘THANK YOU’ for all you do for the kingdom in your daily discipleship.
But the wider family of the United Reformed Church is more than the sum of its parts. We belong to each other under God and through our sharing of resources as well as burdens, opportunities as well as challenges, we achieve more together. You can get a flavour of this from the reports of the last Mission Council on the URC website – from new resources for Pilots and children to disinvesting in fossil fuels; from the challenge to be better at safeguarding to the need for a new General Secretary. ‘THANK YOU’ for all you do for the kingdom through the wider Church, including your giving which enables your church to give to the Ministry and Mission Fund.
You might ask ‘how much should I give?’ That is a matter for you. The Church has sometimes suggested 5% of after-tax income, but that is only a guide. If your church is looking at ‘Holy habits’ then one of those covers giving. If not, there are other resources on the stewardship pages of the URC website.
The URC Finance Committee is responsible for the oversight of the finances of the central United Reformed Church. Each year, our local churches raise more than £19 million for the Ministry and Mission Fund. Over 80% of this money is used to pay for stipendiary ministers and church related community workers and their training.
For a long time, the number of ministers in the United Reformed Church has been falling at roughly the same rate as the number of church members. What has fallen more dramatically over the years has been the average size of URC congregations – now around 35. So, the challenge which is exercising people across the Church is not so much a shortage of ministers, but how to make the best use of the ministers we have got in the context of small, often widely dispersed, congregations.
It is an extraordinary demonstration of commitment and generosity that the average giving per member to the Ministry and Mission Fund continues to go up each year. Although the number of URC members has been going down by a few percent each year, the total amount raised has been going down much more slowly. The total raised in 2018 was less than 0.5% lower than the total for 2017. These contributions are voluntary, but they are not optional. They are an expression of our commitment to each other. The United Reformed Church could not function without them. ‘THANK YOU’ for your church’s contribution to the Ministry and Mission Fund.
NB: the contribution to the Ministry and Mission Fund requested from each local church is a matter for its Synod. The central Church is not directly involved.
If you have any questions or comments arising from this letter then please speak to your church treasurer, who has been provided with more detailed information. If they are not able to help then they will get in touch with the finance team at Church House.
Yours sincerely,
Ian Hardie John Piper
Treasurer Deputy Treasurer
Happy at Home
Happy at Home, a Churches Together project supporting frail elderly people, has been selected as a green token charity for the next three months in Asda South Shields.
If you do any shopping here please ask at the checkouts for a handful of green tokens and pop them in our box at the bottom of the escalators. They do not give them out automatically, you have to specifically ask for them! The more tokens we get the bigger the share of the pot we get!!
Bernadette Askins
KEY 2 LIFE FOOD BANK APPEAL – LETTER TO CHURCHES
In February, the food bank supported by Churches Together moved to new premises in what was previously the library at the Action Station in Boldon Lane, South Shields. Previously there were two separate foodbanks that worked closely together (KEY Project and Bread of Life) which have now merged to form one food bank which is named KEY 2 LIFE.
From March 1st – May 31st the food bank has provided food for 1,029 adults and children who were hungry. Referrals have come from Welfare Rights, Job Centre, clergy, head teachers, GPs. Some referrals are for individuals, but many are for families. We provide food for 3 meals each day for 5 days.
We want you to know how much we appreciate the support that local churches have already given to the food bank. Now, our food stocks are getting very low and we are making a special appeal to all local churches to help top up supplies, because of increased demand. We are asking churches in Harton, West Harton and Tyne Dock if they can help. I have attached a list of priority food needs. These are items that we regularly run out of. Donations of used strong plastic bags (bags for life) would also be very useful. We would be grateful if food could be delivered directly to the food bank. It is open weekdays 10 – 4pm. There is a small car park and volunteers will be there to help unload. If it isn’t possible to deliver, our volunteers will collect from your church.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Jo Benham Brown (Churches Together Poverty Alleviation development worker) on 07841 143482.
Thank you for your support.
PRIORITY ITEMS FOR FOOD BAGS: Tinned potatoes or individual packets of instant potato; jars of pasta sauce; tins of meat to serve hot e.g. steak, mince; tins of veg; UHT milk (litre cartons); Breakfast cereal (small packets); tins of fruit, tinned creamed rice, custard; tea bags (40, 60 or 80 bags), coffee (100g); Shower Gel; toilet rolls.
Bernadette Askins
ST ANDREW’S NEWS
We have been fortunate over the past few months to have regular attendance by those able to come to church, and have appreciated inspirational words from Helen, Greg and Mary.
Some of us were able to participate in the annual Hebburn Festival held in Hebburn Park on Saturday 20th July. Despite heavy downpours, the Festival was well attended, there were many stalls, food outlets, entertainment and amusements for the children. A short act of worship was conducted by Revd. Alan Maxwell from St Cuthbert’s church. Although we were unable to distribute ‘Hebburn Churches Together’ leaflets as planned, the children were happy to receive bubbles to blow during prayers. All together a very successful day.
Friends of Hebburn Cemetery invite everyone to the ‘Hebburn Remembers’ event to be held on Saturday 14th September, when the latest tribute to our fallen heroes will be unveiled at 2.00 pm. The tearoom will be open before and after the unveiling for refreshments. Organisers are also appealing for anyone to either knit or paint poppies in preparation for a Remembrance Day display in the cemetery.
Bible Study continues to explore ‘Holy Habits’ book by Andrew Roberts, all are welcome.
Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone at St Paul and St John’s, as they prepare for the final service in their beautiful church on 29th September.
As always, we think of those who are unable to attend church, you are all remembered in our prayers.
Sheila McNabola
Advance Notice
Churches Together in Hebburn will be singing Carols in local Care Homes, meeting at 2pm on Saturday, 7th December. We shall be Carol Singing in the town centre on Saturday, 14th December. Our Sunday service on 29th December will be a Joint Pastorate service at St Andrew’s.
ST PAUL & ST JOHN’S NEWS
QUIZ NIGHT
After the summer break Quiz Night starts again on Friday, 6th September. Come along and enjoy the company, the quiz, faith supper and the raffle.
Thank you to those who have volunteered to be Quiz Masters:
6th September Colin Bird
4th October Jane Alderson
1st November Alan and June Blythman
6th December Lillian Matimore
June Blythman
SPORTS CLUB
Hope the August break was relaxing and enjoyable.
Sports Night starts again on Tuesday, 3rd September at 7.30pm until 9.30pm. At 8.30pm there will be a tea-break and time for a chat.
Come along if you would like to try playing snooker, table-tennis or carpet bowls.
June Blythman
ST MARGARET’S NEWS
This eight-session interactive course is for anyone who wishes to learn more about the book that is at the heart of our Christian faith. It will be held over an eight-week period at venues to be arranged as the course progresses. Eight people have already signed up for the course but if you wish to join them please speak to Colin Bird.
Details for the first session are as follows:
Where: At the home of Beryl Welbrock – 56 Leafield Crescent South Shields
When: Monday 9th September 2019
At: 7.00pm
Venues and times for subsequent sessions can be discussed at this first meeting.
For more information about this course, contact: Colin Bird.
HARVEST WEEKEND, 5TH – 6TH OCTOBER
On Saturday, 5th October the Coffee Morning from 10am – noon will raise funds for Christian Aid. On the Sunday worship on 6th October, gifts for our Red Box will be welcome and these will go to South Tyneside KEY 2 LIFE FOODBANK, c/o The Library, Boldon Lane, South Shields. Thank you all so much for keeping the Red Box on the stage so full each week, and, with the help of the girls from ACTS on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have been able to give lots of bags full of good things every two or three weeks along to the foodbank, so thanks again.
Brenda Brownless
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD (Shoebox Appeal)
Leaflets for the shoeboxes will be out soon, so please take one and show that St Margaret’s cares about this appeal. Filled shoe boxes should be brought to church by Sunday, 3rd November please. Thank you.
Brenda Brownless
CHRISTMAS BAZAAR
The Christmas Bazaar takes place on Saturday, November 16th at 2pm. Here is a list of stall holders. Anyone willing to help in any way please see Hazel, Sylvia or Carol. Thank you.
Big Raffle: TBA
Jewellery / Cosmetics: Janet Pude
Cakes: Anne Price and Laura Ridley
Soft Toy Raffle: Hazel Singleton and Colin Bird
Tombola: Brownies
Toy Stall: Penny Maccoy
Books/DVDs/CDs: Kevin Liley
Bric-a-Brac: Robertson family
Mystery Parcels: Sylvia Briggs
Ginger Wine: Gareth Briggs
Hamper: Rainbows / Toddlers and Carers
Kitchen: Carol Asker, Edith Stephenson and Joan Glenny
Grotto: Santa, Margaret Atkinson and Brenda Brownless
All donations will be gratefully received. Please give them to the appropriate stall holder.
Hazel Singleton
ST MARGARET’S CAFÉ
On Friday, 30th August, St Margaret’s Café was well attended on its first day by six non-members and five members of church. All went well.
This is an on-going project so please keep it in your prayers.
St Margaret’s Café will be operating in the Choir Room on the last Friday of every month from 11am until 1pm.
Carol Asker and Adrienne Thompson
CAROL SINGING AT THE NOOK
We shall go carol singing on Harton Nook on Saturday, 21st December from 11am till noon. Do bring your friends along to join us. Our Christingle service will be the following day, Sunday, 22nd December at 6pm and we shall make the Christingles on the Saturday before going Carol Singing.
Revd Helen Drummond
NEW HYMNS FOR WORSHIP/NEW CAROLS FOR CHRISTMAS
We begin again on Monday, 2nd September at 7pm and meet fortnightly until 9th December and then, hopefully, go Carol Singing on 21st December. Do come and join us! We will not be singing on 28th October as we will be together for Church Meeting.
Revd Helen Drummond
RAINBOWS
The girls have been busy working on their badges on the new programme which they have all enjoyed very much.
We rounded off the term with them getting their Feel-Good Stage 1 badges. To get this they needed to learn about keeping fit and eating healthily amongst other things. For eating healthily, we tried fruit kebabs, for keeping fit we attended the climbing wall for end of term as well as bowling, and the Rainbow loved both of these events.
Unfortunately, the farm trip had to be cancelled due to the weather and the farm being water-logged. We have rescheduled for 5th October when hopefully the weather will be better.
Many thanks to all who attended the coffee morning and helping us raise funds for the church.
This term we have 5 new starts and also a leader coming back after finishing University. Welcome back, Jazmin.
I have no idea what we are doing next term as we do not return until 10th September, however I will let you all know in the next newsletter.
Linda Fernandez, Rainbow Guider
BROWNIES
Hello everyone,
Those of you that came to the Brownie/Rainbow coffee morning in June would have seen that the Brownies worked very hard to gain their hostess badge. They had sent out invitations, made menus, made beautiful paper flower table decorations and served teas and coffees on the day. They were kept very busy as it was very well attended and raised £206 for church funds. I am sure you will agree that they thoroughly deserved the badge.
We had a fun time at LUSH in Newcastle where the girls made their very own unicorn coloured bath bomb. They smelled divine and were absolutely LUSH (ha-ha, think this is where they got the name of the shop from). This little trip went down really well with the girls, they absolutely loved it. The photo shows them outside the shop just after we had finished making them and by their faces they were all very happy.
Outside LUSH Newcastle
We finished the term with a fun evening at Quasar Laser at Ocean Pleasure Park on the sea front. The girls enjoyed this friendly, zero contact game by scoring points by shooting at each other and as a team, with harmless, fluorescent high-tech lasers. They also tried the laser maze which was just like a puzzle from the TV show ‘The Crystal Maze’. All in all, the girls had a great time.
We are now enjoying our summer break but planning lots of fun and interesting things for the new term. I will let you know what we got up to in the next newsletter.
Julie Elliott, Brownie Guider
TODDLERS AND CARERS
Before we broke up for the 6 weeks school holidays we held a lovely party to say farewell to some of our older children who are moving on to nursery schools. We look forward to welcoming some new children from our waiting list at our first meeting back on 4th September.
At our party all the helpers were given some lovely flowers and chocolates as a ’Thank You’ for being there every Wednesday from all the families.
Brenda Brownless
THANK YOU
Thank you for money raised for church funds through the following events:
9th June Gift Day – £900
15th June Coffee Morning – £206 (Rainbows and Brownies)
13th July Garden Party – £553
Donations from Coffee and Chat mornings on Sundays and Thursdays
£30 was given to each of the following from your donations:
Macmillan Cancer Support; Parkinson Care South Tyneside Branch; Mercy Ships; Bible Society and the Children’s Society.
Brenda Brownless
SIGHTSAVERS
A donation of £100 has been sent to Sightsavers. Many thanks for your support.
Hazel Singleton
DAFT AS A BRUSH
I would like to thank everyone who helped in any way at the Coffee Morning for Daft as a Brush on 10th August – I really appreciated your help. I would also like to thank ACTS and the Zumba Ladies who helped towards the amount of £400 raised for this very worthwhile cause.
Anne Clapham
JANE TROTTER AND THE WEDNESDAY CRAFT LADIES
We would like to say a big ‘thank you’ for the use of the church on Saturday, 29th June, for our Coffee Morning. We are pleased to tell you that we have raised £262 for the VLS. Many thanks for all your support.
Jane and the Craft Ladies
St Andrew’s Calendar – September – December 2019
Sunday Worship at 11.15am – unless otherwise stated.
September
Sun 1st 3.15pm meet at Hebburn Hub for Walk of Witness/Prayer Walk to
St James’ for Songs of Praise at 5.30pm
Sun 8th No Service (Great North Run)
Thurs 12th 2pm Bible Study
Fri 13th 5pm – 7pm Joint Pastorate meeting at St Margaret’s, with Faith Supper
and entertainment
Sun 15th 11.00 am Holy Communion led by Revd Helen Drummond followed by
Church Meeting
Wed 18th 10.30 am Elders Meeting
Thurs 19th 7.00 pm Churches Together in Hebburn meeting at St Cuthbert’s
Sun 22nd 6.00 pm Joint Harvest Festival Service with IMC
Sat 28th 2.00 pm Celebration Service at St Paul & John’s
Sun 29th TO BE ADVISED
October
Sun 6th 5.30 pm Songs of Praise at IMC
Thurs 10th 2pm Bible Study
Sun 13th 11.00 am Revd Helen Drummond followed by Church Meeting
Sun 20th Holy Communion service led by Revd Helen Drummond
Sun 27th Revd Greg Thompson
November
Sun 3rd 5.30 pm Songs of Praise at St Cuthbert’s
Thurs 7th 2.00 pm Bible Study
Sun 10th 10.15 am Remembrance Service and parade at St John’s
Thurs 14th 7.00 pm Churches Together Meeting at St Andrew’s
Sun 17th Revd Helen Drummond
Sun 24th Revd Greg Thompson
Thurs 28th 2.00 pm Bible Study
December
Sun 1st 5.30 pm Songs of Praise at St Aloysius
Sun 8th Holy Communion service led by Revd Helen Drummond
St Paul & St John’s Calendar – September – December 2019
Service each Sunday at 11.15am except where stated. Any changes will be announced.
September
Sun 1st Holy Communion service led by Revd Helen Drummond, retiring collection
for Macmillan
Wed 4th 7pm Elders Meeting
7pm Sports and Social Evening
Fri 6th 7pm Quiz Night (Quiz set by Colin Bird)
Sun 8th 10am service at St Margaret’s. Great North Run. Jelly Babies for the
runners. 11.30am – 1pm or 3pm.
Mon 9th 7pm Central Area Churches Together AGM at Westoe Methodist
Mon 9th – Wed 11th Electrical Survey of the Church Centre
Fri 13th 5pm – 7pm Joint Pastorate meeting at St Margaret’s with Faith Supper
and entertainment
Sun 15th Elders
Sun 22nd Morning worship led by Revd Helen Drummond followed by Church
Meeting
Sat 28th 2pm Celebration Service for St Paul & St John’s church building and
light refreshments
Sun 29th Harvest Festival service led by Revd Helen Drummond and final
service in the church
October
Fri 4th 7pm Quiz Night (Quiz set by Jane Alderson)
Sun 6th Dedication of a church service led by Revd Helen Drummond
Sun 13th Revd David Hardiman
Sun 20th Revd Cynthia Hardiman
Sun 27th Marilyn Merrin
November
Sun 3rd 11am Morning worship led by Revd Helen Drummond followed by Church
Meeting
Sun 10th Marilyn Merrin
Sun 17th Praise Service
Mon 18th 7pm Central Area Churches Together meeting at Living Faith (formerly
New Hope)
Sun 24th Elders
Sat 30th 10am – noon Coffee Morning
December
Sun 1st Advent Sunday Holy Communion service led by Revd Helen Drummond
Sun 8th Revd Harold Stuteley (TBC)
St Margaret’s Calendar – September – December 2019
September
Sun 1st 10.00am Family worship led by Revd David Hardiman
6.00pm Evening worship with Holy Communion led by Revd Jane Rowell
Sun 8th 10.00am Great North Run – Family worship at St Margaret’s with St Paul &
St John’s led by Revd Helen Drummond, followed by giving out of
Jelly Babies to the runners 11.30am – 1pm or 3pm
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
Fri 13th 5pm – 7pm Joint Pastorate meeting at St Margaret’s with Faith Supper and
entertainment
Sun 15th 10.00am Family worship led by the Worship Group
6.00pm Ecumenical service at Harton Methodist with preacher from
St Mark & St Cuthbert’s
Sun 22nd 10.00am Family worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Greg Thompson
Sun 29th 10.00am Family worship led by the Worship Group
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
October
Sat 5th 10am – noon Harvest Festival Coffee Morning
Sun 6th 10.00am Harvest Festival café worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
6.00pm Evening worship led by the Revds Cynthia and David Hardiman
Sun 13th 10.00am Family worship led by Revds Cynthia and David Hardiman
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
Sun 20th 10.00am Family worship with Holy Communion led by Revd Helen
Drummond
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Harold Stuteley
Sat 26th 10am- noon Coffee Morning run by Guide Dogs for the Blind
Sun 27th 10.00am Family worship led by the Worship Group
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Greg Thompson
Mon 28th 7.00pm Quarterly Church Meeting
November
Sun 3rd 10.00am Family worship led by the Worship Group
6.00pm Evening worship led by Mrs Margaret Wright
Sun 10th 10.00am Remembrance Day Family worship led by Revd David Hardiman
6.00pm Remembrance Day Evening worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
Sat 16th 2pm – 4pm Christmas Bazaar
Sun 17th 10.00am Family worship led by Revd Helen Drummond
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revds Cynthia and David Hardiman
Sun 24th 10.00am Family worship led by the Worship Group
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Greg Thompson
December
Sun 1st 10.00am Advent 1, Rededication service led by Revd David Hardiman
6.00pm Evening worship led by Revd Cynthia Hardiman
Sun 8th 10.00am Advent 2, Carol Service
6.00pm Holy Communion service led by Revd Helen Drummond
Additional Diary Events for St Margaret’s
September – December 2019
September
Mon 2nd 7pm New Hymns for Worship in the Choir Room
Mon 9th 7pm Bible Course at Beryl’s home (see article)
Wed 11th 11.30am Fabric and Finance Committee in the Lounge
Thurs 12th 7pm Elders’ meeting in the Lounge
Fri 13th 5pm – 7pm Joint Pastorate meeting at St Margaret’s with Faith Supper and
entertainment
Mon 16th 7pm New Hymns for Worship in the Choir Room
Tues 17th 10am Harton Churches Together AGM at Harton Methodist
Tues 24th St Margaret’s Church anniversary (67 years)
Fri 27th 11am – 1pm St Margaret’s Café in the Choir Room
Mon 30th 7pm New Hymns for Worship in the Choir Room
October
Mon 14th 7pm New Hymns for Worship in the Choir Room
Fri 25th 11am – 1pm St Margaret’s Café in the Choir Room
November
Sun 3rd Filled ‘Operation Christmas Child’ shoe boxes should be brought to church
Thurs 7th 7pm Elders’ meeting in the Lounge
Mon 11th 7pm New Hymns for Worship in the Choir Room
Tues 19th 10.30am Harton Churches Together meeting at Harton Methodist
Mon 25th 7pm New Carols for Christmas in the Choir Room
Fri 29th 11am – 1pm St Margaret’s Café in the Choir Room
December
Sat 21st Carol Singing on Harton Nook from 11am till noon
