Life Worth Living - the Alpha follow up course

This is a 9-week course based on the book of Philippians and it is presented in a similar way to the Alpha Course. We are running this course on Monday afternoons and it will start on February 5th running through to April 2nd. Each session will start at 12.30pm for a light lunch together and then we will start the video presentation soon after 1pm. If you are interested please come along on the 5th and join us in the Norfolk Room at 12.30pm.

Bob

Soup Run

This is a joint venture with all the city centre churches and takes place every Friday night between 8-9pm on the Eldon Street car park.  Up to 40 homeless men and women gather to have hot soup, sandwiches, cake and/or biscuits followed by drinks of hot chocolate, tea or coffee.  For many of them it's the only food they will have eaten since breakfast - if they were fortunate enough to have any then. They also appreciate having someone to talk to and many of us have built up quite a rapport with individuals.

 We have a number of folk who have already signed up to help on a rota basis, either as sandwich makers, or car drivers/servers.  Unfortunately, due to re-location for work or change in commitments, we have lost vital members of the team and therefore are looking for new folk to join us.

At the moment, we are on the rota once, sometimes twice per month (as a server/driver) and only once per quarter as a sandwich maker.  Obviously the more people who are involved, the fewer times we would need to go out.

 Please think carefully about this - don't just think "this is not for me".  It is so rewarding - the folk we feed are so grateful and remember, there but for the grace of God ............ it could be you, or me!

Ann Hammond

Lent Course 2007

This year the ecumenical Lent Course will take place at the Cathedral in the new conference facilities and will meet on three consecutive Wednesday evenings. At each session we will watch a specially chosen thought-provoking film followed by a discussion and this series will be led by Will Lamb, the Anglican Chaplain to Sheffield University.

7th,    March         Chocolat – The unconventional outsider
14th  March          The Constant Gardener –Political Activists
21st   March         Pay it Forward- Making the world a better place

They all start at 7pm.

Advance Notice

Cast your mind back to last year - in fact 12 months ago exactly. The decision was taken to cease fund-raising as from the end of June as we were within sight of repaying the bank loan for the redevelopment of our church building.

At a church meeting later in the year, members present agreed that certain events should be part of the church calendar even though they had been on the fund-raising agenda. One of those events was Snooker Snax - an event which we feel is really a wonderful chance for mission in the city centre. We have built up quite a regular visiting clientele from all over the country and it's like meeting up with old friends.

So, we will be opening up from Monday 23 April through to Saturday 6 May (with the exception of Sunday 29 April of course) and Sylvia will shortly be looking for volunteers. Please put these dates in your diary and offer your name to Sylvia. We'll give more details later.

Ann Hammond

Holy Week - Staffing the Cross

We have been asked by the City Centre Churches to start planning for Holy Week and I have a supply of forms to help us to do our bit in staffing the Cross outside the Town Hall.

If you remember, last year we were asked to look at our diaries and fill in a form in order to formulate an ecumenical rota rather than each church covering one day of the week.  It seemed a bit complicated to start with but what we are asked to do is to offer as many one-hour slots as possible, but state how many times during the week we are prepared to do.  This gives more flexibility for the people drawing up the rota,  but still means you only commit yourself to how many times you want to be involved.   If we all offer just one time slot, and it happens to be the same slot,  then it becomes impossible to complete the rota.  I do hope this makes sense but if it requires further explanation, please have a word with me.  Thank you.

Ann Hammond

Monday Morning Prayer for the Week

These are the people and organisations that we have prayed for in our sessions so far.

Third Thursday Talks

The first Third Thursday Talk was a great success and, despite the appalling weather, attracted about thirty people to come and listen to Ron Craigie present the subject of human trafficking.
The next two “Third Thursday Talks” will be as follows:

Thursday 15th February, at 7pm with Craig Barnett speaking about Sheffield, the City of Sanctuary.

Thursday 15th March at 7pm with Ian Maher, Chaplain at the Multi-Faith Centre of Sheffield Hallam University, speaking about his work as a chaplain.

Please come along and discover some of the exciting which are happening in Sheffield.

Bob

On a wind-swept evening on 18 January, we came to hear a talk by Ron Craigie, Victim Care Co-ordinator of the newly-formed United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC) based in Sheffield. Ron was a police constable until he had a very serious accident whilst on duty, thereby ending his career. He has since taken on this new role with enthusiasm and commitment. Although there no longer exists a sanctioned slave trade in civilised countries, the worldwide multi-million pound industry in buying and selling of men, women and children still thrives in the dark recesses of society. Not only is this linked to sex exploitation, but modern slavery or Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) also includes the exploitation of people for bonded servitude such as domestic service or the labour markets in industry and agriculture. The United Kingdom is now at the forefront of combating this evil trade and the law enforcement agencies are assisted in this work by the UKHTC based in Sheffield that was formed in October 2006. He told us the distressing story of a young girl (15 years old) from Bosnia who had been persuaded to come to this country with the promise of work and had been sold into prostitution. Fortunately she was rescued through her own bravery and the help of outsiders, and has seen her 'masters' imprisoned for a long time. Ron said he worked with government and non-government agencies to provide accommodation, and social, physical and emotional support for victims of human trafficking. They provide a safe and comforting environment which allows the victims to recover from their ordeal which could take many months. Much of this care is provided by volunteers. It is hoped that a 'safe house' can be set up in South Yorkshire and the agencies involved rely heavily on grants and contributions from generous benefactors. Ron has found from his visits to congregations that they would like to help but feel there is little they can do alone. He therefore feels that churches could combine to support a post or item of furniture or provide clothing or toiletries. What do you think? Can we help in any way?

Margaret Riley

Post Script

Can you imagine what it must be like – having to choose between toothpaste or a bag of rice; soap or a loaf of bread; shampoo or a tin of beans? One could go on…. but these are the problems that face our ASSIST friends and those who have been degraded by being trafficked.

There will be a box available for on-going contributions to help both groups, so that there will not be as much need for an invidious choice to be made. Look in your bathroom and think of all the toiletries there that you take for granted and would be horrified if you could not buy them. Those are the things needed!!!

Editor

Passion Play

Following the success of the Passion Play last year it is being repeated on Saturday 31 March this year.  It was a very successful outreach event but it needs people to help keep it that way.  There is a need for a variety of people:

Caterers – to feed the actors here at Central before the event and provide tea & coffee to the public who will follow them back afterwards.  It is not necessarily the same team.  If you would like to lead one of the teams or just be a member of one them please give your name to Elaine.

Stewards – our church has to provide up to 10 people to marshal the audience around the city centre.  If you would like to be our link person or just be one of the stewards please see Elaine.

Seamstresses – If you can help in this way please ring Tony on 07913 760768.

Elaine

CART

They have written to say thank you for your Christmas donations.  We sent over £90 along with the stationery gifts.  They will go towards equipping a school in Liberia.

Welcome to the members of the Victoria Hall

They will be joining us for our evening communion services in February,
March and April as Revd Noel Irwin will be on a three month sabbatical doing work towards his PhD.

The Windemere Centre

A letter from the Director

The United Reformed Church is at a make or break point in its life. We all know the statistics and projections. The hard truth is that, with the Catch the Vision review, we have this one chance to get things right. If we don’t, we will quite properly decline into extinction. We’ve opted for something different. We haven’t decided to merge with another denomination or close shop, because we believe that we have something to offer the Christian Church that ought not to be lost.

That’s why I’m excited about being a member of the URC. There are genuinely enormous and exciting opportunities. We have a chance to show the wider Church what a Church committed to evangelism right across the spectrum of spirituality looks like, for example. And we are the only ones keeping alive the ecumenical vision of an organically united Christian Church.

Yet we have to find ways of engaging with a wider spectrum of people if our faith is to have any meaning in a postmodern world (and that is different from saying, “…If we’re to survive”!) The Centre’s programme is designed to help us do things differently, while recognising squarely who we are.

Don’t you want to be excited about Church life, rather than continually either depressed or worrying about survival? This is something that we all have to create and build. There are no kits, programmes or easy answers. But there are ways. It means looking at all areas of our lives, becoming more creative, and providing spaces for people to do things differently from the way we do – while being a genuine part of us.

Please look carefully and closely  at the programme. Ask how your minister, elders and members might benefit. Then encourage and resource them. It isn’t about making the Centre a success – it’s about being faithful in our discipleship of Jesus Christ. That’s worth the time, effort and money. If the Centre helps the Church do that, then it’s worth maintaining the Centre. But if it doesn’t, or if people don’t want what the Centre is offering, we haven’t the wherewithal to maintain this as part of the URC’s life and witness. It’s a case of “Use it or lose it”!

Letter from Madascar

Hello and happy new year to you all,

 Some volunteers at Akany Avoko sometimes express their dislike of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. I'm the opposite. It gives me a thrill every time I go. The city is built on a hill that rises up above the rice plains and can be seen from miles around. On top of the hill are the old Prime Minister's palace and the fire-ruined remains of the old Queen's palace or rova. It makes Tana look like a fairytale city. It was sitting on the church steps at Bevalala last year looking at this view that made me want to come back for this year.

 Tana was alive at Christmas time. People had set up stalls selling Chinese tat on every conceivable pavement space and the place was heaving with people. Along the main street, Avenue d'Independance, there were little tents set up for people to have their pictures taken with Father Christmas or even Spider-Man. There were also fair rides and bingo stalls as well as gambling games. The smell of barbequed meat wafted around us as we walked along the street one night before Christmas. It was a special occasion.

 Things start again in earnest this week after a relaxing Christmas holiday. Most post things have come: thanks to the Dicksons for Observers (especially the one with Great Britain rugby league on the front. I'm imagining history stops after that win over Australia), parents and in-laws for cards, David Hill, Central URC and Intake too. Also, to Parkhead Congregational Church in Glasgow, although I don't know why they've sent us a card. I'm thankful though. It's nice to know people are thinking of us.

Take care and God bless,

Phil

Summer Concert

The Escafeld choir is  holding a concert on 14th July 2007.  All proceeds will be shared between the choir and ASSIST.  Please put this date in your diary and tickets will be available nearer the time.

Fiddler on the Roof

This was the first event to be organised under the wing of the social committee and I think all who went to the show thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  We had 30 tickets for the Friday evening performance and 13 for Saturday afternoon.  Our thanks go to Peter and Joan Spinks for volunteering and organising an excellent lunch for the Saturday crowd.  Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make the event such a success.

Family Outing to the Deep

This will take place on 12th May 2007.  We have organised a coach to pick us up at church take us to The Deep and bring us home again.  The Deep is a lovely day out; you walk along tunnels and see fish of all shapes and sizes swimming around you.  The Deep is a charitable public aquarium dedicated to increasing people’s enjoyment and understanding of the World’s oceans.  It first opened its doors in March 2002 and so far has welcomed over 2 million visitors from the UK and abroad.  There is a café and also a picnic area if you would like to bring sandwiches.  The price will be £15 each for adults and £6 for children, which covers the bus and entry.  I will put a list on the notice board for anyone who would like to go and I will let you have a ticket when they are available.

Christmas Crackers

The church meeting asked for a Christmas Social to be organised for next Christmas so this will be on 15th December 2007.  There will be games, items and eats,  with a party atmosphere, so please put this date in your diary