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Gift Day 2018

from our Treasurer, Elizabeth Somerville

Last year at Northstead we celebrated our 50th Anniversary. We gave thanks for all those who have gone before us and had the faith to start a new Church in this place. Our basic building remains the same, but we have modernised and adapted to make it suitable for many purposes, and this will continue.

Our Annual Gift Day, on Saturday, March 10th, gives us the opportunity to support Northstead’s continuing mission. Our costs include paying for our Ministers, providing a building suitable for worship and for use by the community at large. Our building is used by Pre-school, Slimming World, Rainbows, Brownies and Guides, Red Cross, our Worshipping Community, fellowship groups, exercise groups, Singing for Fun group and lunches and coffee mornings. We are all aware that the costs of heating and lighting, water, telephone and insurances have to be met.

Over the past year we have spent £ 28,221 to remove asbestos from outside the main Church building and to make that part of the flat roof watertight. This has obviously reduced our funds considerably and we will not be able to do any other building works for now. Our monthly costs are considerable. Each month, we pay £ 1,875 to the Circuit as Continued on page 4

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From our Minister

At once the Spirit made him go into the desert, where he stayed forty days, being tempted by Satan. Wild animals were there also, but angels came and helped him. Mark 1:12

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

March heralds spring and once again in our church calendar we are in the season of Lent. 40 days to make a difference for ourselves or perhaps for others.

Signs of new life are all around us in the buds breaking through on tree branches, shoots rising in the ground and sheep farmers having long days and nights as lambing time looms. Our daylight hours are lengthening which many of you will be embracing with joy.

January through to March has given us opportunities within our church family to embrace the Holy Habit of eating together. We can eat together on many occasions: after service on a Sunday morning, Tuesday mornings at Pop-in, Saturdays with soup or butties, and just the joy of sharing a meal with another can be a welcome change from eating alone.

What is it that makes eating together holy? What makes eating any meal holy? How often do we recognise that our friend and saviour Jesus is with us whenever we eat? Can we experience holiness when eating on our own? Is this an occasion when we encounter Jesus in a more real way? When Jesus was in the desert he was looked after by angels and he was strengthened and fed by God. Jesus didn’t spend time eating meals, but feeding on the word of God, remembering scripture, Bible verses, and spending time in prayer, talking and listening to God.

As much as the earth in our western hemisphere is growing into spring, we too can grow towards Easter. During Lent, why

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In this issue!

Page 4. Mission Statement Looking forward

Page 5. Holy Habits. Weekly Offerings. Fundraising.

Page 6. Lent and Holy Week.

Page 7. Lay Synod. From the District. Thanks from Iona.

Page 8. Worship Events.

Page 9. Wednesday Fellowship. Circuit Events. Ladies’ Circle. Reading Music for Singers.

Page 10. Duncan’s Story.

Page 11. Pregnancy Crisis Support.

Page 12. Fairtrade Fortnight. LYRA Concert.

Page 13. Regular meetings. Prayer for Mothering Sunday.

Page 14. Message from Diane.

Page 15. Children’s Page.

Page 16. Diary Dates.

Women’s World

Day of Prayer

Friday, March 2nd 2018 is Women’s World Day of Prayer. The theme this year is “All God’s Creation is Very Good!” The worship has been planned by women in Suriname. Various services will take place around the Scarborough area:-

10 a.m. at Cober Hill, Cloughton.

10.30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church, Castle Road, attended by the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress. The speaker will be the vicar, Rev. Richard Walker.

2 p.m. at Snainton Methodist Church.

not simply give a little more time to actively being with God? You too, might experience angels helping you.

With love in Christ,

Emma.

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Our Mission

Statement

We are called to be a worshipping, welcoming, praying and caring Christian p r e s e n c e w i t h i n o u r community.

Our mission is to serve God and our community by :

• enabling people of all ages and abilities to hear and respond to the Good News of Jesus through worship, teaching and example

• raising awareness of poverty, cruelty and injustice, and taking appropriate action to relieve them

• and promoting peace between all God’s people.

Looking Forward!

On Saturday, March 17th at 10.30 a.m. there will be a follow-up to the open meeting we held in January, when we looked at our future at Northstead. Is it now time to put a bit of “meat” on some of the ideas that came up then?

We talked about working more closely with Wreyfield Drive and Scalby churches. We also considered using our building for community events during the summer months, when our regular meetings take a break. Do come along on March 17th and share your ideas.

our contribution to Ministry, over £ 500 in the winter for our gas, £110 for electricity and water

£ 64. Our average monthly collection so far this year is £ 1476 and our property lettings bring in around £ 1,000 a month. Last year’s Gift Day raised £2,165 for which we are really grateful.

On Saturday, March 10th, we invite you to coffee from 10.30 and a Spud and Pud lunch from 11.30 a.m. Come along to meet your friends and support Northstead. Please place your donation, large or small, in the envelope attached to your newsletter and, if you are a tax-payer, speak to me about Gift Aid. Many thanks.

From page 1.

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Holy Habits

from Ann Maynard

I’ve been reading the Holy Habits book by Andrew Roberts recently and I can recommend it. The chapter on giving got me thinking.

Most days we get emails, phone calls or post, offering to review our insurance or energy bills. When did I last review my giving in all its forms – not just money, but possessions, time, love, or hospitality. When we remember how much God has given us, how are we best able to respond? Maybe this is something we can all think and pray about over Lent.

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We continue in the Holy Habit of eating together with the Circuit Big Afternoon Tea at Filey Methodist Church from 2pm. on Saturday, March 24th. Watch your weekly notice sheet for more opportunities to share food and fellowship!

Fundraising

We have spent a great deal of money on our church in the last 12 months, so we now need to do some fundraising. If you would like to be part of a fundraising group, have any ideas for fundraising or would like to arrange an event, especially if it involves the FUN part, please speak to Ruth, email ruth.dale8@gmail.com or tel. 376783.

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Services for Lent and

Holy Week

Our service on Mothering Sunday, March 11th, will be an All-Age Parade

service led by Deacon Andrew Carter. Our thanks to the Rainbows who are preparing small posies to give out.

There will be evening services each night of Holy Week at different Scarborough churches for all the local churches:-

Monday 26th March at Cayton Tuesday 27th at Queen Street Wednesday 28th at Emmanuel St John’s. All these services start at 7 p.m.

On Maundy Thursday, March 29th, we meet at 3 p.m. at Wreyfield Drive for a service with our Scalby and Wreyfield friends.

Churches Together in Scarborough will be holding a Walk of

Witness with drama in the town centre on Good Friday, March 30th, starting from Alma Square at 9.45 a.m. and finishing at the Castle with a short act of worship. There will be an afternoon

service at Northstead at 3 p.m. led by Rev. Emma Morgan.

Our All-Age Communion service on Easter Day, April 1st, at 10.30 a.m. will be led by Rev. Pam Ward. Please bring along a few flowers to decorate the cross. Or if you can, come earlier and share in a Fairtrade Easter Breakfast from 9 a.m. onwards—another opportunity for Eating Together!

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Lay Synod

This is an opportunity for all lay people to gather for a day. A time of worship will be followed by a chance to hear from Doug Swanney, Connexional Secretary (the senior lay appointment in the Methodist Church) on our theme of Living Out Our Calling, Together. Doug will answer your questions, so come prepared! After lunch there will be time to discuss the issues raised in small groups, while networking with colleagues from around the district. This event has proved very popular over the last few years, so please register your interest as soon as you can.

When: Saturday March 10th, 10:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Where: Haxby and Wigginton Methodist Church, York

Cost: Free, including lunch

Booking is essential, email admin@yorkshirenemethodist.org

From Rev. Leslie Newton,

District Chair

As part of the Thy Kingdom Come initiative, the Methodist Church is arranging for four beacon events around the Connexion.

Our regional event will be in Leeds (venue tbc) on Pentecost Sunday, May 28th from 1.30 to 5.30 p.m. Worship will be led by Stuart Townend and the preacher will be Mrs Jill Baker (Vice President of Conference). More details to come.

Thank you

The Iona Community would like to say thank you for the generosity that made the evening with John Bell at Westborough possible.

£ 1613.71 was raised for the Iona Capital Appeal, which was much more than we had dared hope for. It was also a very good atmosphere and there has been some very positive feedback.

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Worship Events

We lead a short act of worship at Eagle View care home, on the first Wednesday of each month, sharing well-known hymns and short readings. The next one will be on March 7th, and will be based around Lent and Holy Week. We meet at 10.35 a.m. at Eagle View. Please

come along and join us, and boost our singing!

Midweek Praise this month will be on Wednesday, March 21st at 8 p.m. Refreshments will be served from 7.45 p.m. If you would like to suggest a hymn or reading, please call Gill Kirby, tel. 360330, or email gillykirby@talktalk.net

Messy Church meets on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3.15 p.m. with a warm welcome for children and their parents, grandparents, and friends, to share snacks, a time of worship and some craft work. The next session will be on March 22nd, so come along, join in the fun and get Messy!

We have two local worship

services planned in the near future, on April 15th and May 13th, the latter being a joint service with Wreyfield at the start of Christian Aid Week.

We will be holding a planning meeting on Thursday, March 15th at 10.30 a.m. at Anthea and Harry Purdy’s flat, 4 Renton Court, just below the church, when we will be looking at the Road to Emmaus story. We know that many people appreciate the local worship services, and we would love to see more people involved with organising them, so please come along with your ideas.

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Wednesday

Fellowship

O u r W e d n e s d a y Fellowship is open to everyone. We meet from 2 to 3.30 p.m. on Wednesday afternoons for a short time of worship, a speaker or entertainment, and a cuppa! The programme for this month is :-

Mar. 7th - Members’ Day, Songs with Memories.

Mar 14th— Pot-to-Doodle-Do! Mar. 21st—US National Parks,

slides with Nigel Spencer. Mar. 28th—Easter service.

Please note there will be no meetings on April 4th or 11th.

Ladies’ Circle

The Ladies’ Circle meets at 7.30 p.m. on alternate Tuesdays The next meeting will be on March 6th, when the speaker will be Diane Robinson. On the 20th, they have their AGM and games evening, and the season comes to a close on April 10th, when they go out for a meal together.

Circuit Events

The next Circuit Prayer meeting will be on Tuesday, March 20th at 1 p.m. at Emmanuel St John’s Church

There will be a Big Afternoon Tea at 2 p.m. on Saturday, 24th March at Filey Methodist Church.

ECG once again takes place at the Spa from Tuesday, 3rd April to Sunday, 8th April.

Reading Music for

Singers

Malcolm Peart is planning to lead a course for anyone interested in singing, but unable to read music. Details are still to be settled.

At this stage, a weekly class is being considered, possibly on Thursday mornings at South Cliff Church. It would run as long as necessary, perhaps 6 to 10 weeks initially, starting in May or June.

Enquiries or expressions of interest will be welcome. More details will be circulated in due course.

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Getting to know you—Duncan’s story

Duncan Gray was born in 1960 in Wetherby. He was the elder of 2 boys, his brother being 5 years younger than him. His Dad was Alwyn Edward Gray who was a draughtsman at Yorkshire Electric Board, later NEEB in Scarborough. His Mum was Mavis, and she worked at a poultry farm in Easingwold, in York and later at the Royal Hotel in Scarborough.

As a child Duncan loved to go for long country walks in the beautiful countryside around Wetherby. He went to Wetherby High School and later Raincliffe in Scarborough. He attended St Mark’s Church in the picture-postcard village of Kirkdeighton, then St James, Wetherby, and then joined us here at Northstead.

Duncan worked at Yorkshire Coast College in Scarborough in catering for over 26 years, working with James Martin, the famous chef, then the Golden Grid, where he has worked in the kitchens for over 11 years. Thanks to Duncan for organising a meal out for us recently at the Golden Grid.

Duncan loves writing, and has written 2 short stories (detective stories) as yet unpublished. He loves poetry and his favourite poet is John Donne. He also loves history and his historical hero is Charles Edward Stuart. He is also a big Harrogate Town Football Club supporter, and enjoys motorcycling, horse racing, golf and music. His favourite kind of music is rock, but he loves most music.

Duncan is very proud of his younger brother, Douglas, who is a very talented landscape artist. He has an ongoing exhibition in Tokyo, and others in New York, London and Harrogate. You can look at some of his art on the internet.

Duncan is really happy at Northstead where he has found everyone very friendly and helpful. He enjoys the services, and has made good friends at the Pop-in and Wednesday Fellowship and looks forward to spending many more years with us.

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Scarborough Pregnancy Crisis Support

from Michelle Williams Scarborough Pregnancy Crisis Support was established in February 1997, but we now feel it has run its course in its present format. We would like to thank CTIS, as well as several individual churches and people for their support, financially and in many other ways, enabling us to continue in this ministry. I would also like to thank all who have given of their time. Many of the voluntary counsellors who have trained with us have gone on to pastures new, in ministry, social work and in other areas. Thanks are also due to all those who donated baby clothes and equipment.

When we began, there were few places for information or pregnancy tests. Now everything is available online, and tests can be bought at the pound shop. Schools, colleges and universities have their own trained nursing staff.

With 1-in-3 women having an abortion during their lives, I still feel there is a need for support. 25% are believed to have post-traumatic symptoms. I would still like to help anyone you may feel needs help, and we are keeping on our website, and will continue with schools work. Please remember in prayer the many people who have received our help.

Memories over the years are the sadness of women with no support, the lovely baby garden at the Crem. created with our help, the invitation to our first baby's Christening, the despair of mothers who chose abortion and then were unable to undo their choice, and helping the Centre at York with their training.

I have learned a lot over the years, from how to speak on radio, to be as unjudgemental as possible, not to pressurise but to respect the person needing help, and to value our team from different churches in so many different ways 'all one in Christ.'

Many thanks, Michelle Williams.

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LYRA Concert

Those who were fortunate enough to hear LYRA, the Russian musical quartet, last year will be delighted to hear they will again be giving a concert at Northstead at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9th. They offer a varied programme of Russian songs, classical and church music.

If you didn’t hear them last year, don’t miss the opportunity this time! Tickets are £ 10, concessions £ 8, which includes programme and refreshments.

Fairtrade Fortnight Events,

February 26th to March 11th

Join us for a celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Fairtrade Borough of Scarborough, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Saturday, March 10th. You are invited to Fairtrade refreshments in the Coffee Lounge at Westborough Church followed by 'Fairtrade, the future?' at 6.30 p.m. with guest speakers: Linda McAvan MEP and Paul Chandler, former CEO of Traidcraft and non-executive director of the Co-op. Thoughts on Fairtrade and its future after Brexit, displays, discussion, stall and opportunities to ask questions. All welcome.

Saturday, March 3rd - Fairtrade Coffee Morning at St. Andrews URC, Ramshill Rd, YO11 2LN, 10.30 a.m. to 12 noon. Various stalls. All welcome.

Saturday, March 3rd—Coffee Morning with Traidcraft Stall at Scalby Methodist Church, 10.30 a.m. to 12 noon.

Thursday, March 8th, Fairtrade Tea Party at Northstead C.P. School, Maple Drive, YO12 6LP, 3 p.m. Fairtrade Stall.

Saturday, March 10th, Fairtrade Coffee/Tea from 10.30 a.m. and ‘Spud and Pud Lunch’ served from 11.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. with Traidcraft Stall at Northstead.

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Our Regular Meetings

2nd and 4th Sunday each month, 6 p.m. JAFFA.

Alternate Mondays, 7.30 p.m. Singing for Fun (March 5th and 19th)

Tuesday, 9.30 a.m. Pop-in for coffee and a chat. Alternate Tuesdays, 7.30 p.m. Ladies’ Circle (March 6th and 20th)

Wednesday, 6.15 p.m. Brownies. 7.30 p.m. Guides.

Thursday, 9.30 a.m. Parents and Tots. 1.45 p.m. Keep-fit Group. 3.15 p.m. Messy Church (monthly, March 22nd) 7.30 p.m. Badminton Club.

Friday, 6 p.m. Rainbows.

A prayer of Thanks for Mothering Sunday

Motherly God, thank you for life and living, even when we are weary and worn out. Thank you for challenge and change, even when we seek safety and security. Thank you for playfulness and pain, even when we seek moderation and mild-living. Thank you for companionship when we are lonely. Thank you for calling when we are settled. Thank you for creativity when we are uninspired. Bring us to newness of life as your people. Bring us to wholeness of life from out of its fragments. Bring us to fullness of life from your communion in

and with us.

Motherly God, to you we pray, Amen.

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Message to all readers

from Diane Robinson, our Pastoral Secretary

Northstead Methodist Church currently has 68 members, 10 pastoral visitors and a total of 20 newsletter deliverers, who deliver newsletters 10 times per year, by hand, post or by e-mail to 140 households on our Community Roll.

Periodically we review the Community Roll, which involves reassessing the newsletter delivery list and here we need your help. It may be that you are receiving a newsletter in error and if this is the case we apologise and you don’t need to respond to this in any way.

If you are a church member you do not need to do anything further - you will continue to receive the newsletter. If, however, you are not a church member, but would like to continue to have the newsletter delivered to you, we are very happy to do so, but ask you to please telephone or e-mail either Ros or Emma (contact details on the front of this newsletter) to let us know. If we don’t hear from you before Palm Sunday, March 25th, we will delete you from our distribution list, and this will be the final newsletter delivered to you. If you wish to continue and would also be happy to receive your newsletter by e-mail, please let us know that too. If you are not a member but would like to explore becoming a church member, please contact our minister, Emma Morgan.

Coffee at Scalby

Our Scalby friends will be holding their monthly Coffee Morning at 10 a.m. on March 3rd. This month the proceeds are for the Samaritans.

There will be the usual cake stall, book stall and Fairtrade stall, and everyone is welcome. It’s always good to see plenty of Northstead folk supporting this event.

Children’s Page

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When you have found all the words and worked out the Bible

verse, you could read about the temptations of Jesus in

Matthew’s gospel, chapter 4.

Diary Dates Fri. March 2nd, 6 p.m. Fairtrade Borough Anniversary, Westborough Church. Sat. March 3rd, 10 a.m. Coffee Morning, Scalby Church. Sun. March 4th, 10.30 a.m. Morning worship, Rev. E. Morgan. Wed. March 7th, 10.30 a.m. Service, Eagle View care home. Sat. March 10th, Gift Day, 10.30 a.m. Coffee. 11.30 a.m. Spud and Pud lunch. Sat. March 10th, 10.30 a.m. Lay Synod, Haxby Church. Sun. March 11th, 10.30 a.m. All-age Parade service, Deacon A. Carter. Sat. March 17th,10.30 a.m. Open Church meeting. Sun. March 18th, 10.30 a.m. Holy Communion, Rev. J. Staton. Tues. March 20th, 1 p.m. Circuit Prayer meeting, Emmauel St John Church. Wed. March 21st, 8 p.m. Midweek Praise. Thurs. March 22nd, 3.15 p.m. Messy Church. Sat. March 24th, 2 p.m. Circuit Big Afternoon Tea, Filey Methodist Church. Sun. March 25th, 10.30 a.m. Morning worship, Mrs. C. Herbert. Thurs. March 29th, 3 p.m. Maundy Thursday service, Wreyfield Drive Church. Friday, March 30th, 9.45 a.m. Good Friday Walk of Witness, from Alma Square. 3 p.m. Service, Rev. E. Morgan. Easter Day, April 1st, 9 a.m. Fairtrade Easter Breakfast. 10.30 a.m. All-age Communion service, Rev. P. Ward.

All events take place at Northstead, unless stated otherwise.

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Next News

The next Northstead News will be issued around March 31st. Please pass any items for inclusion to Ros by March 25th.