NEWS

ALTRINCHAM INTERFAITH GROUP VISITS AURC

as part of AIG’s programme of visits to places of worship of member faith groups

Revd Brian Jolly welcomed members and associates of AURC and visitors from the faith groups represented in AIG - more than 50 people in all to Trinity Hale on Thursday 12th January. This was an opportunity to show the buildings to the visitors and to share something of the thought worship, work and life not only of this local church but of The United Reformed Church in England, Scotland and Wales and of Reformed Churches worldwide. Revd Dr John Parry, Acting Principal of Northern College led an exploration of the key features of a Reformed understanding of the Christian Faith.

CHRISTMAS FAIR – WOODLANDS

It seems a long time now since we had the Christmas Fair at Woodlands, but this is the first opportunity we have had to report on the success of this event and the amount of money which was raised.
First of all we must thank all the people who came to help on the day – in various ways – both from Woodlands and from Trinity Hale. We had the usual stalls – gifts, books, bric-a-brac, Fair Trade, Tombola, Guides chocolate tombola, cakes and toys. However, the one thing in the fair which was a great success, as usual, was the Café, which seemed to be full all the time and certainly kept the staff very busy!
The amount raised, for Church Funds, was £700, for which we are very grateful.

ONE MORE THOUGHT ON DICK WHITTINGTON

Before Christmas we did Dick Whittington with the children in Pilots. For them, we concentrated on the familiar story of how Dick went to London and became rich. He did it either through trade (French, achat) or through his cat (French, a chat), depending upon who you listen to!
For the grown-ups there is one more thing to be said about Dick Whittington. The media keep telling us that there is a need for a “new model” for the banking industry in this country, to replace the culture of ruthless self enrichment that exists at the moment and that underlies the economic crisis with which we are all threatened.
No new model is required. A perfectly good model exists already - yes, Dick Whittington.
The real Dick Whittington was a London merchant and indeed a banker who became fabulously rich through trade (and of course Lord Mayor of London in due course). The reason that he was so well remembered by posterity was that he used his wealth to enrich the community in which he lived. He was a benefactor of the poor on a huge scale, providing almshouses, places for apprentices and so on.

This is why his story went on being told for so long after his death.
To quote the carol, “Ye who now will bless the poor / Shall yourselves find blessing.”

AURC CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PARTY at Woodlands

On Saturday 10th December, 40 children associated with our church came along to the church’s annual Christmas Party. All the children had great fun making Christmas crackers and playing games. Many seemed reluctant to leave the table after their delicious refreshments! Thankfully none of them was sick, as we ensured they rested their tummies while they watched a Christmas DVD before they played more games. At the end of two exhausting hours, the children sang the hokey cokey and danced the conga round the church building before they went home carrying their party bags full of goodies.

WOODLANDS TODDLER GROUP

Eighteen babies and toddlers plus their parents or carers enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Party on Friday 16th December at Woodlands. Father Christmas (top secret - our very own Drummond Sharp) paid his usual visit and gave each one of them a present….shhhh -hope this article is not read by any very young children! The children loved playing pass the parcel, singing action songs, enjoying party food and listening to the Christmas Story being told using the knitted Nativity characters loaned to us each year by Jessie Davies.

CRIB SERVICE – Saturday December 24th

The Crib Service are always pleasing, but this year’s seemed to be better than ever. There were 80 people – adults and children – present and everyone helped to spread the Christmas spirit around.

All the children who were there joined in the service and were either Angels, Shepherds or Wise Men and, as you will see from the photographs, this made a great tableau at the end of the service.
All who were there agreed that this service is a wonderful way to bring the message of Christmas to us all and help us to worship the Christ Child.

CHRISTMAS GIVING

Members and friends of Altrincham URC will be encouraged to know that as a result of the donations which were received at Christmas and from money received from contributions to the “Church Post Box”, a total of £800-50 was received and this has been donated, half to Francis House Children’s Hospice and half to the Salvation Army, (Sale).

AFTERNOON TEA 22nd OCTOBER 2011
FELLOWSHIP AND FRIENDSHIP

As usual this afternoon tea was well attended and members and friends enjoyed a selection of delicious sandwiches and cakes. We were wonderfully entertained by Kenneth Lea on the piano and Mike Maratos on the guitar. There was no charge for the tea but donations were invited for Commitment for Life and a short period of worship led by our Minister reinforced our pledge as a church to share with others some of that which we so often take for granted. Over £180 was received during the afternoon and this was added to money already received from members and friends at the Harvest Festival Services held at Trinity Hale and Woodlands Timperley. These afternoon teas, held about twice a year, are an opportunity for people to meet socially and share fun and fellowship. If you were unable to attend on this occasion we hope you may be able to join us next time. Our thanks go to all those who helped by providing food and setting up the room.

SING FOR YOUR SUPPER

On Friday evening, 11th November, Christians from all the Churches in Timperley (and some from Altrincham), met at the Holy Cross Church, Timperley, to ‘Sing for their Supper’. This has been an annual event for over 23 years and is always eagerly looked forward to. It is primarily held to raise money for Christian Aid, but now is also held because it is a very enjoyable evening.

This year was no exception and, apart from communal singing, there were items of entertainment from members of the various churches. Our church was represented by three of our members – Jessie Davies, who planned the programme and played the piano throughout; Doreen Radcliffe who was the M.C. (because the person who normally does it was away sick) and Mike Maratos, who played his guitar.

The entertainment was very varied – solo singing; solo instrumentalists; choral singing and a music group. During the evening Linda Tiongco – North West Regional Manager for Christian Aid – spoke to us about the work of Christian Aid, especially in the Philippines. She was passionate about the work of Christian Aid week and encouraged us all to continue to collect and give during Christian Aid Week, because this is the only way in which they can get most of their money.

The Vicar of Timperley, Revd John Sutton finished the evening, as usual, with his supply of jokes, which were enjoyed by all. Unfortunately this was tinged with a bit of sadness, because this was John’s last Sing for Your Supper because he is retiring next April and to mark this, the Committee presented him with a present – a bottle (of what???).
The final piece of good news was that we had raised £1081.02p!
The money is to be used for schools and education in South Sudan.

HALE PILOTS VISIT TO FRESHFIELD

It was a grim grey day and everyone thought it would stay that way as a small staunch band of Pilots Set forth in their great big coach ...
But as we drew near to Formby the sun came out. We knew it would - it would never dare disobey Mrs Stratton!
Once in Freshfield we walked for a while, pausing for grim tales of the perils of crossing electric railway lines which everyone enjoyed, until we reached our lunch spot in the woods, where Phoebe found lots of spiders and we all collected pine cones. We also found a lovely wooden picnic table which had never been there before. On the sandy beach we set up base camp, then did our own thing.
The adults thought their sandcastles were amazing - Sue's Stegosaurus stalked the land once more, joined this year by Linda and Ceri's Pineapple and a mutating Elephant. Neil stayed well out of it! But the Pilots offered some stiff competition. Ellen and Jai recreated three Wonders of the World, while James tackled the Coliseum; Lucy's "Sea Shell Shore" was a masterpiece of delicacy; and Lola's fish could have swum away!

Some of us paddled in the sea, but Lucy was the only one brave enough for full immersion.
Forts were made in the sand dunes and no one wanted to leave, but we had to or we wouldn't have got an ice cream! In Formby Woods we made log shelters and climbed trees and were excited and delighted to see Red Squirrels again. Prizes went to Kelvin, Oliver, Jamie and Ruby for pointing them out to Mrs Stratton. It was a great day, and we enjoyed every minute of it!

HARVEST AT AURC

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Harvest this year. We have had a letter from Wood Street Mission expressing their thanks for the many gifts we had sent (please see the letter on the Notice Board at Trinity Hale and in the vestibule at Woodlands).

FUND RAISING FOR THE CHRISTIE

We would like to thank everyone who supported The Christie fund raising event on Saturday 1st October, when we were entertained by the Yerba Flamenco Dance Group and our very own Mike Maratos.
It was a great success raising £1225 in all. This included £200 from Jill Dobson’s sandwich and cake bar on the Sunday after church.
Thanks especially to all the tireless helpers – furniture movers, kitchen maids, waiters etc. It was a super team effort which made it a greatly entertaining evening.

Macmillan Coffee Event at Woodlands Timperley
– A Big Thank You

Thank you to all who helped and all who supported this event on Friday 23rd September. It was a busy time as we hold this annual event in conjunction with the toddler group but everyone seemed to enjoy the occasion and we raised £367.50 for this worthy cause.
Being Christian Today – Welcome – initial impressions

“You can’t sit in that seat because Florrie sits there!!” – What a welcome!

On Wednesday the 4th May, eleven people met, with Brian, to begin our new series of discussion on being Christian today.

This first session covered the topic of ‘being made welcome’ or ‘welcoming people into the Church’. Everyone had a story to tell of their experiences of going to new churches, some good and some bad and some of us had stories to tell of how we have welcomed people into our church (and in some cases found out that we have not been very welcoming).

We found that there were several things – some quite small – which could put people off coming to our church again. Some of these are : being asked to move because you are in somebody’s seat; not being told of arrangements for children; everyone going into groups for coffee and new-comers being left alone; parents being made to feel uncomfortable because their toddlers/children have made a little bit of noise; and being trapped by people when you really want to leave quietly.

Everyone wants to think that these things don’t happen in our church, but they do (perhaps without us knowing it) and we felt that we should be friendly but not overpowering, we should encourage people to join in and stay for coffee but accept their decision as being right for them.

As we continue through these various discussions on Being Christian Today, we hope that we will all bear these points in mind, so that both our congregations can become known as welcoming churches and see new people joining to worship with us.

Please come along to one or both of our June sessions :

Wednesday 1st June 7p.m. at Woodlands, and Thursday 16th June 10.a.m. at Trinity Hale

USED STAMPS – AN APPEAL

As many members and friends of Altrincham URC will know the collection of used postage stamps provides a source of income for many Charities. At my former Church we collected stamps for many years and now this appeal is for used stamps to aid Genesis and Arthritis Care, two charities which a number of Church members and friends support. Please pass all your used stamps to me, Eileen Jolly either at Church or let me have them at home. It is helpful if there is about two inches around each stamp but don’t worry if this is not possible. Thank you for your help.
Eileen Jolly

CHURCH BOOKSTALL

The Bookstall was established by the Elders with a grant of £500-00 and has received much help from the Booksellers, CLC During this last year the total sales were £496-70 and thus many thanks are due to all those who supported the Bookstall. The stock at present is valued at £447-03 and the cash on hand is £62-12 By arrangement with our suppliers we are able to return certain items for exchange and this enables the Church Bookstall to have a fresh look. In the year to come it is planned to announce specific dates when the Bookstall will be available at both Woodlands Timperley & Trinity Hale. Members & friends of Altrincham URC who feel they would like to help with the Bookstall are most welcome and should contact Ian Allan.