November 2011

The Local Preachers Fellowship meeting was held in tandem with the Ministers and Pastors meeting at Jump Wesleyan Reform Church, near Barnsley.
Later in the week, we went to Barnsley and we passed Salem Wesleyan Reform Church, one of the oldest churches in the Union.

Our preachers in November were all asked to preach to the theme "Echoes of the Old Testament in the New". Jonathan and Susannah were two of these preachers.

The Union "Half Yearly Meeting" was held in our Philadelphia Church on Saturday 19th and Susannah was part of the team responsible for Lunch. Both of us went to the worship after tea.

Our annual Christmas Fair Trade Fayre was held on the 26th and was a great success.

September and October 2011

Is September we went to the circuit meeting at our Coal Aston Church. Brian Kay, one of our members at Mayfield, was presented with a certificate to commemorate his 40 years service as a local preacher. He spoke briefly on his training and experiences.

Our plum tree had a good year, and quite some time was spent picking, preparing and preserving the fruit. Quantities of jam and chutney were sold in support of Martin House Hospice.

One of our visitors suggested that we might be involved in the restoration of the causeways on David Lane and Mayfield Road. We will be canvassing support for this in early 2012. Please get in touch if you are interested.
On the 8th of September we hosted the pie and pea supper for the Sheffield and District Organists and Choirmasters Society, which involved the usual shopping and baking associated with wuch meals.

Similar work was involved on ther Friday, clearoing up after the meal, and preparing for the Ladies' Quiet Day, "Reflections". The following week, we had to produce songsheets and notes for the Fanny Crosby evening.

Susannah preached at Tapton Hill congregational church twice, and Jonathan preached at Grimersthorpe wesleyan reform church on the occasion of their Harvest Festival. Towards the end of the month we held our Church meeting at Mayfield, the circuit meeting (see above) at Coal Aston, and a coffee morning in aid of MacMillan.

October was a busy month opening with the Harvest Festival, together with coffee morning. The Harvest meal was replaced with "Five Crops and Choruses" this year so there was a substantial couple of days shopping and cooking. This was a good event and will be repeated.

Susannah went to Youlgreave to helpo with leading a quiet day for the union on Saturday 8th Oct. "Mosaics of Peace".

Our preacher on the 9th was provided by the Connexion and Cliff Darby came from our Griffydam Church. Lunch was provided after the service.

On 15th we hosted a concert by the Jubal gospel choir, organised by the Sheffield and District Organists'and Choirmasters Accociation.
Susannah addressed the Hatfield House Lane Methodist Ladies' Meeting and the Dodworth Methodist meeting during the month. Jonathan preached at Denby Dale and Coal Aston Wesleyan Reform Churches and Tapton Hill Congregational Church in October.

On Sunday 30th, the church had to be prepared for the Festival of Light on Monday. During the day on Monday food had to be prepared and the craft activities organised.

July and August 2011

In order to reduce the task of bringing everybody up to date, I am going to miss out all the routine things like shopping, grass cutting and cleaning for the next few months. However, rest assured that they all happened as normal, otherwise most of the other things could not have happened!
In July and August, Jonathan preached at: Tapton Hill Congregational Church, Philadelphia Wesleyan Reform Church, and Mayfield Wesleyan Reform Church; Susannah preached at: Mayfield Wesleyan Reform Church (twice), Grimesthorpe Wesleyan Reform Church and Philadephia Wesleyan Reform Church (twice).
Meetings took place with contractors about the alterations to the kitchen.
Susannah prepared for the annual animal and pet service on the 31st July.
August required some preparation for the coffee morning in aid of Martin House, and the camp weekend.

An apology:

We have been experiencing a few difficulties with our hardware recently which means that the blog has not been updated for some time. We hope to bring you the edited highlights of the last few months as soon as possible, but because December is a busy time, it may take a few days to get up to date. Please bear with us, and Merry Christmas.

June 2011

June was a busy month for both of us. It started with printing and distributing about 500 copies of the "Summer 2011" what's on leaflet. These were taken round the area of the chapel to that people knew about the upcoming events, especially the flower festival at the start of July.

On the 4th, Susannah was at a prayer and prophecy meeting at St. Peter's, Ellesmere. On the 6th she led the ladies' fellowship at Hatfield House Lane Methodist church, her theme was "Hymns of my life."

On &th July Susannah was taking a funeral, and then on the 8th, she was attending a meeting to plan the W.R.U. half yearly meeting when it comes to Sheffield in November.

The 9th was the circuit meeting, at Mayfield.

In the evenings of 16th and 21st, Jonathan was mowing the field at chapel. The church ride-on mower is in need of a service, but this did not deter Susannah from deciding that the grass needed mowing, so Jonathan had to do it with the flymo!

The 16th to the 18th saw Susannah at the W.R.U. conference at Swanwick. Whilst the evening of the 18th saw Jonathan baking for the "Open Gate" on the 19th.

The following week meant that Jonathan had to print the programmes, newsletters and leaflets for the flower festival. On 21st, Susannah and Jonathan were shopping for the supper club.

On 25th, susannah was at Peterborough for a celebration of the anniversary of "Christians against Poverty".

On 26th, Susannah, Jamie and Nathan led our Sunday service based on the ideas which had come from the "Redefine Sheffield" events which the boys had been on.

On 29th and 30th, we were both at chapel preparing for the flower festival at the start of July.

May

May began with a visit to Firth Park Methodist Church on sunday 8th May. This was a flower festival to celebrate their centenary. Jonathan's family were originally from Firth Park and he had provided some of the materials for the historic display.

Monday 9th was the mens' breakfast and Jonathan had to cook breakfast because Dave was in London for the day with work.

Tuesday 10th, Susannah had to be at chapel to allow the piano tuner in.

Wednesday 18th, Susannah was off with the alterations sub committee to look at kitchen equipment. Later that day she was at the Ladies meeting, and finally represented the church at a meeting of the friends of the Mayfield Environmental Education Centre.

After Church on 22nd May, Jonathan stayed behind in order to try to complete the mowing of the grass, started previously.

Tuesday 22nd May was a Tuesday, but we were shopping for the supper club. On Wednesday Nathan, Susannah and Jonathan made several visits to chapel to transport the shopping. After work, Susannah and Jonathan were cooking, preparing and setting the tables ready for Thursday.

Friday 27th, we both went down after work to clean and tidy after the meal.

The bank holiday weekend was spent printing leaflets, newsletters, posters and letters ready for the next few months.

April and Easter 2011

Susannah went to lead the morning service at our Denby Dale church on April 3rd for Mothering Sunday. This meant catching the first train and being met at the station at the time when the service was due to start.
On Friday 8th April Susannah travelled to Bradford to meet the pastor's wife at one of our churches there. There was some discussion about possibilities for mission, both in this country and elsewhere. Following the visit Jonathan collected a selection of the materials which have been used at Mayfield in recent years, and posted them for the people at Bradford to look at.
9th and 10th April saw the centenary of our Owlerton church and Susannah visited the exhibition on Saturday. She was preaching on Sunday so Jonathan visited the evening service and looked at the exhibition then.
Susannah preached at Mayfield at 10-30a.m. and Grimesthorpe at 6-15p.m. on April 10th.
Saturday 16th saw Susannah visiting Coal Aston for the A.G.M. of the Women of Action.
21st April saw Jonathan mowing the grass round the bog garden in order to allow the plants to flourish. Susannah got the chapel ready for the Friday evening service.
Susannah led the circuit service at St. Mary's Wesleyan Reform Church at 8-00a.m. After the service, Jonathan went to the bakery to collect the hot cross buns ordered for the weekend events.
After the Easter weekend, Jonathan had to start sorting out the church deeds ready for the land registry and the appointment of new trustees. As part of the process, he photographed the documents to provide a permanent record.
Wednesday April 27th saw both Susannah and Jonathan shopping for the supper club.