'Carols Down the Line'
Circuit Missions Committee Report
Circuit Prayer and Praise
Fairtrade
Pray Without Ceasing
Langley House Trust
'Operation Noah'
'Snakes and Ladders'
Torbay Civic Society 'Blue Plaque'
On behalf of Paignton (Palace Avenue) Methodist
Church the Coordinator will do everything possible to make ‘Carols Down the Line’
enjoyable. However, reservations are accepted on the express understanding that
Paignton (Palace Avenue) Methodist Church and the Coordinator are agents in
acquiring the services of others, and are therefore not liable for any delay,
damage or other inconvenience however caused.
Part of the proceeds of this event will be
donated to
NCH (The Children's
Charity)
(Helping the children who need it the most
- the child care charity of the Methodist Church)
Click here
for more information and to download an A4 Poster
Click here to download an A5 Flyer to pass on to your friends
Click here to download a Reservation Form
(These files are in .pdf format - you will need
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader to open these files)
We would be grateful if you
would kindly print A4 Posters and A5 Flyers distributing them to
organisations, friends and neighbours to help publicise the event - thank you
REPORT FROM CIRCUIT MISSIONS COMMITTEE
The Circuit
Missions Committee considered the national ecumenical campaign, HOPE 2008, and
which encourages Christians to get out of their churches to make Jesus known
through positive involvement in our communities.
The High
Points of HOPE 2008 are:
1. Fresh
HOPE: January, a fresh start in the New Year
2. Big
HOPE: exploring Holy Week
3. HOPE on the
Streets: May
4. HOPE
explored: September, inviting the Community to explore the Christian faith
5. A Gift of
HOPE: Christmas, unpacking the Christmas Message
Saturday 24 May
2008 -
Hope on the Streets
John Barrett
ran from Kingskerswell to Fore Street, via all the other churches in the Circuit
on 24 May 2008, to promote Circuit Unity and to raise money for the Langley
House Trust (inc. Factory Row).
There is still time for us to make plans for
HOPE in September and Christmas
-ooOOoo-
On
02 March there was a Fairtrade Service at Central Church at 18.30. Although
this was not officially a Circuit Service, people from other parts of the
Circuit did attend. At the service we took up the offering for Traidcraft
Exchange "Gifts for Life" scheme - £145.63.
Together with the donations for the Brixham Fairtrade shop we were able to
"buy":
Time to Train: training local export advisors in the
cotton industry in Bangladesh
She's the Boss: training women entrepeneurs in Vietnam
Cottoning On: helping cotton farmers in India with modern
organic farming techniques
2 x Get Creative: training in business skills for craftspeople in Africa
2 x Bee happy: help with business plans for bee farmers in
Tanzania
I did promise those present that I would pass on the final details - so please
publicise this in your church etc. so that any of those who contributed will
know where there money went.
many thanks,
regards,
Helen Barrett
Torbay
has at last been awarded Fairtrade status - the first Fairtrade Borough in the
South West!
The Story of
Brixham Fairtrade Short-let Shop
It started with
an empty shop in Fore Street and ended with sales of over £5300 of Fairtrade
goods; we brought life to a dead space on the street, and a better life for many
Fairtrade producers and craftspeople in many parts of the world.
The Co-op let
us have the premises free, they even paid for light and heat; we got free
insurance through the Fore Street Methodist Church policy.
We changed
premises twice and even publicised the wrong address - still people found us!
Ralph offered
labels and posters - A3 size!
John spent a
whole day washing the window; Chris and Shauna spent a whole morning vacuuming
the carpet, while Elsie patiently scraped the glue from the shelves.
A mention on a
web-site, by Phil, of the need for a till, produced one which happened to be in
Amanda’s garage.
Chrissie and
Elsie spent hours unpacking boxes, and setting out displays.
Exploring the
web, Helen found teas from Clipper, spices from Bart’s and Easter eggs from
Divine, to add to her Traidcraft stock, and ordered crosses & musical
instruments from Toy Box and sports balls from the Ethical superstore and extra
Traidcraft goods were brought over from South Brent - the dreaded green label
items - they had to be recorded separately!
We discovered
two local entrepreneurs - Shauna of Quail and Simon of Vert who filled part of
the shop with smart and colourful clothes and bags which sold much better than
anyone had dreamed.
Twice, Phil
sent Richard up a ladder to put up and take down the Fairtrade and Traidcraft
banners.
Opened by
Councillor Jackie Stockman, vice-chair of Brixham Town Council on Saturday 23
February, it lasted for 2 weeks - open from 10.00 to 16.30 every day except
Sunday, with at least 2 people on duty every morning an afternoon; filling up
the rota was a much easier job than expected, we even had to refuse offers of
help!
We had
organised face painting for the opening but had no takers!
All sorts of
people from all over South Devon volunteered to help, coming from Ipplepen,
Newton Abbot and Goodrington as well as Brixham; each person who helped is now
the proud owner of a yellow Traidcraft mug! On the principle of the workers in
the vineyard, all helpers got the same reward regardless.
Unexpectedly
there was a run on chamomile tea and muesli, while there was a steady demand on
the usual products - particularly cookies & chocolate.
Crafts from all
over the world were more popular than expected, including 2 hammocks, though the
sale of jewellery was a bit slow.
It took us a
week to set up, but only a day to dismantle; now the shop is empty again, but
the goodwill engendered, the information imparted and the fairtrade
achieved will last for a very long time.
Helen
Barrett
(let justice roll like a river and righteousness like an never failing stream)
-ooOOoo-
Pray Without Ceasing
"PRAY WITHOUT CEASING" PRAYER ZONES AT
PAIGNTON
(PALACE AVENUE) METHODIST CHURCH
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then use your Browser's Back Button to return to this page
-ooOOoo-
Langley House Trust
Desperately seeking Susan…and Bob and Eileen…..! It was a delight to
meet existing Langley House Trust supporters and to make new friends on our
stand at the Methodist Conference in Torquay. The Trust, which provides
support and accommodation for ex-offenders wishing to resettle crime-free, is
currently looking to recruit more people to join our mailing list and we
would like to ask you to prayerfully consider whether you would be willing to do
this. A simple form (on the reverse of our “Pass it on” brochure) is available
from our Head Office (tel: 01993 899594 or email:
info@langleyhousetrust.org) and
you get a Freepost envelope and a useful pen too, so it won’t take you a moment!
Simply tick the boxes to tell us what you’d like to receive. We can send you
spare brochures too, for you to pass to friends and colleagues.
By keeping in touch with developments at the Trust and by
praying for our work, you will be playing an important part in the process of
changing lives and breaking the cycle of re-offending which causes so much
damage to individuals and to Society.
For more information about the work of the Langley House
Trust please visit www.langleyhousetrust.org.
-ooOOoo-
Torbay’s Operation Noah - a Methodist Circuit Eco Rally
Operation Noah is an interdenominational,
national project founded by 2 Christian organisations, Christian Ecology Link
and the Environmental Issues Network of Churches Together in Britain and
Ireland.
In response to the "Operation Noah" campaign,
representatives of the Torbay Circuit Missions group agreed to organise a local
event that would focus attention on some of the human activities that are
escalating climate change.
The evening was free and was hosted by
Palace Avenue Methodist
church in Paignton on Friday 14 September. An audience of about 55 church
members and general public heard about a range of issues that impact on global
warming and our stewardship of the planet.
Richard Gomme, the Co-ordinator of the Devon
Community Recycling Centre, (DCRN), started the evening off by presenting
information about the network, an independent charity that works closely with,
the national Community Recycling Network (CRN). The CRN is the national voice of
the community waste sector. In Devon it:
- informs, supports, advises and represents
the community waste sector
- helps to develop new opportunities for the
sector and member groups
- liaises and works with Local Authorities
and other stakeholders to develop closer partnership working opportunities and
mutual benefits
He gave various practical examples of support
given to communities who want to help themselves live more sustainably.
After South West Water pulled out at the last
minute Gordon Chambers gave his own personal experiences in Water Conservation
and Rainwater Harvesting, showing that with a little ingenuity and minimal
expense it is possible to collect hundreds of gallons of water from one's own
roof and use this for everything from flushing the loo to garden
irrigation.
Gordon followed this up by explaining how we
can all "Grow our Own" whatever the size of our gardens and however inclement
the weather. He brought some samples of his labours – melons, tomatoes and
raspberries to name a few, as he said all grown in "God's good earth".
How to be more Energy Efficient was presented
by Laura Baker of Devon Energy Advice Centre. This is something we can all be
involved with by, for example, changing to energy efficient lightbulbs, lagging
hot pipes. She stressed that many of these small outlays will quickly save us
money, so it is a win-win situation
Finally David Calvert & Bob Wright from
Crediton Methodist church showed how it is possible to Green your Church (or
other community building). By involving everyone in the church, they ensure
that whatever activity is undertaken the environmental impact is considered and
the positive benefits this has produced have gained them an Eco Church Award.
During the coffee break there was a chance to
view the stands and pick up plenty of information on Energy Efficiency, Torbay
Council's Recycling and other green policies, while one of Palace Avenue
church's members, Sue Gibb brought samples and recipes for making cleaning
materials and washing solutions from eco friendly ingredients.
It is hoped to maintain the enthusiasm that
this meeting generated, providing local churches with the momentum to get
involved in this essential part of Christian life.
Where do we go from here?
The organisers of the meeting hope that the
enthusiasm of the meeting will encourage hands-on environmental action:
·
Goodrington Methodist Church
already have plans to become an eco-church!
·
If there is support, we could
arrange visits to actual projects like the Community Recycling Centre or a
travelling exhibition of conservation tools.
-ooOOoo-
Torbay Civic Society 'Blue Plaque'
As a result of a joint initiative between the
Torbay Circuit and the Torbay Civic Society,
a plaque was unveiled on Thursday 18 October 2001 to commemorate the beginnings of Methodism in
Torquay.
We had an excellent ceremony unveiling the plaque - the
venue was the Burger King restaurant in Fleet Street, Torquay which is the closest point
to where two cottages were converted in 1807 to form The Chapel In The Meadow,
the first Methodist "church". The plaque was unveiled by the Deputy Mayor of Torbay
(Councillor Heather Buckpit) together with 94 year old Leslie Callard whose brainchild the plaque was.
We were given splendid coverage by
BBC Radio Devon by our local evening
newspaper the Herald Express.
Some 60 people turned up and we surprised everyone by lustily singing
"Love Divine, All Loves Excelling". I doubt whether Burger King
patrons had ever experienced the like of it before.
Click here to read a history of
the Methodist Church in Torquay
Owen Nankivell
-ooOOoo-
'Snakes
and Ladders'
The Torbay Circuit came together to present four performances of a musical
‘Snakes & Ladders’ by Roger Jones & Alison Fuggle, at
Central
Church. The epic shows human history taken from the
Old and New Testaments, showing that God constantly offers to men and women the
ladder of His love. It takes certain key episodes from the first snake of
disobedience to the final ladder of Jesus’ death and resurrection, via Noah
and the Flood, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob’s dream, Moses & the Israelites
and Zechariah’s vision of salvation to come.
The music, provided by a group of nine musicians and a choir of approximately
40 under the direction of Ron Burrington, and the drama, provided by five
churches from the Circuit, attempted to bring these familiar stories alive, to
show God’s love for ordinary people, and calling them to follow Him, using
them in amazing ways.
A team of local dancers used their skills and colourful costumes to greatly
enhance the production. The narrators and soloists brought their talents which,
together with strong lighting and sound effects, completed the elaborate
staging.
It was the Producer Pete Trotman, who co-ordinated the whole event, the
proceeds went to NCH.
The show was enjoyed by all those who participated, and this spilled over to
give all four substantial audiences something to remember for a long time.
SCENES FROM A DRAMA REHEARSAL
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Circuit Prayer and Praise
SCENES FROM OUR CIRCUIT PRAYER AND PRAISE
SERVICE
PAIGNTON
(PALACE AVENUE) METHODIST CHURCH
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'Carols Down the
Line'
Circuit Missions Committee Report
Circuit Prayer and Praise
Fairtrade
Pray Without Ceasing
Langley House Trust
'Operation Noah'
'Snakes and Ladders'
Torbay Civic Society 'Blue Plaque'
Circuit Contact Information
- Telephone
- +44 (0)1803-555694
- Mobile
- +44 (0)7804-882582
- Postal address
- 75 Dolphin Crescent, PAIGNTON, Devon, TQ3 1JZ, United Kingdom
- Electronic mail
- Superintendent Minister:
Revd Paul Saunders
- Click here to see a list of
Circuit e-mail addresses
- Please refer to each church page for local details
Torbay Methodist Churches,
Devon, UK
