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Dec 2014 - Jan 2015

Rochford Methodist Church is a member of Southend and Leigh Circuit, part of the Beds,

Essex & Herts District

The Newsletter of

Rochford Methodist Church

77-79 North Street

Rochford

SS4 1AD www.rochfordmethodist.org.uk Join our Facebook group

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Rochford Methodist Church matters

.. and the Wise Men said: “We saw his star in the East and we have come to worship him”.

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Sunday Services There are no evening services, except where shown. December 7th Gift Service for HARP (Worship Leaders) 14th Rev Chris Reeve (S) 21st KathyMcCullough Carol Service (4pm) Rev Phil Warrey 25th Worship Leaders (10.30am) 28th Phil Warrey

January 4th Rev Hannah Bucke 11th Annual Covenant Service led by Phil Warrey 18th Roger Thomas 25th Margaret Chipandambira

Correct as at 26th November 2014

Dates for your diary:

November 29 Bazaar at church, 9.30am 30 Baptism, 11am 30 Advent Service, St Andrew Ashingdon, 4pm 30 Flashmob rehearsal, Belle Vue Rd Baptist, 3-5pm

December See page 4 for dates and times of Carol singing sessions our church are involved in 7 Gift Service for HARP 19 Flashmob rehearsal, St John’s Church, Pier Hill, 7.30-9pm 20 Big Clean 20 Flashmob event, at a secret location, 12 noon 21 Carol Service, 4pm 24 Christingle Service, 4pm 25 Christmas morning family service (10.30am)

January 11 Annual Covenant Service

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Welcome to the ‘new-look’ Newsletter, with a new title which is supposed to reflect that the newsletter is (and always has been) a two-way process. The church tells you what’s happening and you tell the church what’s important to you.

There’s a new ‘default’ typeface which I hope is as easy to read as the old one and some parts of the layout have changed to make them easier to find. But what I do need is input from you. The last edition of the Rochford Methodist was the June / July 2014 edition - did you realise there hadn’t been an edition for 6 months?

There were two main reasons for the pause in publication

Firstly, although I had plenty of ‘page fillers’ I had run out of main articles.

Secondly, I had run out of time, and ideas, to research and produce new ones.

Out of the 25 responses from the church survey, 11 people said they got information about what goes on in the church from the (old) newsletter. As this is nearly a quarter of the congregation, it seems that the newsletter is providing some useful function so I have re-vamped it a bit.

But if it is to continue in any form, I do need something from you - preferably regularly (every two months in the middle of the month). Even better, if someone else wants to take over and do a complete makeover, I can quite happily step aside. As I have said over and over again, the newsletter is supposed to be one of the ways the congregation shares information:

Things you have done

Puzzles

Your interests and hobbies, no matter how ‘boring’ you might think it would be - personally I would be interested in crochet, what books you have read (and why), and even sports you like or participate in.

Thoughts you might have about topics in the papers, or what’s happening in the wider Methodist Church

Activities that have taken place in the church - what happened as far as you were concerned? Did it go well? Will you go to the next one?

Ideas for what Rochford Methodist Church can do in its mission and what Pilgrims Way can pick up

The hardest part is picking up your pen (or touching your keyboard) but anything about you or our church will do.

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All our members who are housebound:- Hugh Beehag Marie Denny Ida Hearn Jean Startup Jack Law Gwenda Andrews Wyn Hodges Helen Willson Mick Ellis

Please remember them. All would love to see anyone who could visit, any time. Just ask me for phone number or addresses.

We seem to be getting more invitations than ever! This year we will be going to the following places and we welcome anyone who wants to come along. If you can bring a musical instrument, a poem or something Christmassy to the homes, please let Margaret know so she can plan the evening. 2 St Luke's Place, 7.30pm 9 Broadoaks Residential Home, 10am 9 Coachman Court, 7.30pm 13 Holiday Inn (for HARP) 6.45 for

7pm start 16 Spa Court, Hockley, 7.30pm 17 At the church, for AA and general

drop-in, 7.30 20 Holiday Inn (for HARP) 6.45 for

7pm start 21 Carol Service, 4pm 24 Christingle Service, 4pm

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Just to remind you that once again we are supporting HARP this Christmas.

On 13th and 20th December we will be at the Holiday Inn, singing carols as the diners make their way to their Christmas meals. We start singing at 7pm, which means we need everybody to arrive by 6.45pm so we can start on time. A collecting bowl or similar will be made available and anything donated will go to the HARP £10 Christmas Meal Appeal. The more people who can make it ,the better the sound, so feel free to bring a friend or two as well.

On 7th December we are holding our Gift Service for HARP. The service will touch lightly on the work of HARP and we will receive donations of gifts for those who are being helped by HARP. All year round our church members donate food and basic toiletries which are taken to HARP’s Bradbury Centre every couple of weeks. A list of what they require is available (see Val), but at this time of year as the weather (usually) gets colder we begin to think of warm clothing and personal items to go into Christmas packages. HARP make the packages up for those in the Centre, those who have just moved into supported accommodation and those who use their services over Christmas so please do not wrap them.

So if you wish to donate, please bring along a gift (or gifts) of hats, scarves, gloves, male underwear, socks, ‘smellies’ suitable for males in their late teens/early 20s. Or you may have other ideas for this age group - just do not include anything that contains alcohol! A tip: if you wander round Aldi or Lidl (especially their ‘specials’) you will often find good quality clothing at half the price of other places - so you can help two people for the price of one

We will also accept money which we will put with the funds we raise from the Carol singing.

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December 7 14 Rosie Martin 21 Carole Glendenning

(Christmas display) 28 January 4 Helen Willson 11 18 Margaret Rayner 25

December 6 Judy Garner, Rosie Martin, Maureen Whalley 13 Dave & Val Dobbin, Colin & Margaret Rayner 20 Get the church clean for Christmas (from 9.30am). We welcome as many people as

possible to come and spend a couple of hours cleaning, polishing and mending your church so the whole building gleams. Check with Val nearer the time as this may change.

27 No cleaning

January 3 No cleaning 10 Bruce & Carole Glendenning, Sonia Worthington 17 Mike & Heather Sims, Jan Willson 24 Judy Garner, Rosie Martin, Maureen Whalley 31 Dave & Val Dobbin, Colin & Margaret Rayner

We are getting very short on the number of people who are able to help us keep your church up to scratch. If you are willing and able to join in occasionally (or regularly) please have a word with Val.

All the cleaning does not have to take place on a Saturday afternoon (for example) although some jobs can only be done once the dancing school have finished but any support will be appreciated.

You will see there are still some gaps in the flower rota. If you feel you can help out but want

more details about what’s involved please see Margaret Rayner. No major skill at flower

arranging is needed.

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As we start the run-up to Christmas, we begin on 1st December with our Christmas Lunch, followed by carols, music and a bit of DIY entertainment to follow.

On the 8th, Bruce will be amongst the girls as their guest speaker.

And on the 15th Carole will be leading a Carol (or should that be ‘Carole’?) Service.

And then it’s a break over the New Year. Keep an eye open for the date we restart.

All of December we will be off singing carols around Rochford and Hockley (see page 2). We have a break over Christmas and start again on 6th January with ‘A quiz with a difference’ (part Blockbusters, but definitely not Eggheads!).

George Edwards will be along on 13th January telling us a bit about St John’s Ambulance Brigade.

For those who have noticed the round sign in our window and wondered what it’s all about, then wonder no more as we have a speaker on the 20th telling us about the work of Alcoholics Anonymous

And, on the 27th, Bob Briant comes over from our Shoebury church to lead a Devotional evening. Bob is currently training to be a Local Preacher.

An advanced note for your diaries, the well-known Roger Buxton will be coming to tell us about his years in Local Radio on 3rd February. Roger has been a sports journalist as well as a broadcaster for many years so you must have come across his name at some stage. Someone once said that Roger and Dave look very much alike, so come along and see if it’s true.

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The next planned publication date is 3rd February 2014. Articles, etc, should be with

Dave by 13th January please.

Articles preferably by email, floppy disc or typed with a good DARK original - but

handwritten items still welcomed

© 2014 Rochford Methodist Church Any original material may be freely copied so long as full acknowledgement is given to Methodist. Talkback In addition, an original copy of the publication in which the copied item appears must be supplied free of all charges to the Editor at the address shown. These conditions will also apply to any other publication that may use the copied

Rochford Methodist Church matters is published on behalf of Rochford Methodist Church. Opinions expressed in this newsletter may not be those of the Methodist Church.

Minister: Rev Phil Warrey 259 Eastwood Road, Rayleigh, SS6 7LF Tel: 01268 770333

email: phil.warrey@methodist.org.uk

Editor: Dave Dobbin, 130 Ashingdon Road, Rochford, Essex, SS4 1RR (01702) 544096

email: dvdobbin@aol.com

Sunday 11.00 am Morning Service

Monday 2.30 - 4.30 pm Women’s Fellowship (Sept - May) 7.00 - 10.00 pm Alcoholics Anonymous

Tuesday 9.00 - 12.00 Cosy Toes Toddler Group 3.00 - 7.30 pm Hildale School of Dancing ** 8.00 pm Wesley Guild (Oct-Apr)

Wednesday 7.00 - 10.00 pm Alcoholics Anonymous

Thursday 9.30 - 11.30 Music Dreams (for 0-2 years) ** 3.45 - 7.30 pm Hildale School of Dancing** 7.30 - 9.30 pm Table Tennis

Friday 9.45 - 10.45am Diddi Dance (pre-school dance classes for boys and girls)

Saturday 9.00 am - 1.45 pm Hildale School of Dancing **

The premises are available for use outside the above times. Contact Margaret Rayner on 544252 for more information.

** Term time only

Our House Group meets each month in a different place each time, usually on the last Wednesday of the month. Look in the weekly notices for confirmation of the dates and venues.