July 2012

Jonathan was preaching at Mayfield on Sunday July 1st, and was under instruction not to be long winded as we were setting off to Derbyshire.  After a brief coffee following the service, we set off.

Travelling along an apparently endless track,

 we eventually arrived at what passed for a car park, but which had space for rather fewer cars than had arrived.

 A rather picturesque farmhouse came into view, and we knew that we had arrived at the journey's end.

This was where we were to attend the annual love feast in a barn.  More details and pictures are available on the church blog.
Susannah was preaching at our Greenhead church on the 8th at 11-00a.m.
On Thursday 12th, we went to Hampden View Church for the quarterly Local Preachers and Leaders of Worship Fellowship.  Andy Wilcock led us in considering the use of story telling in the old testament and in worship.

Susannah preached at Mayfield on the 15th.  On the 17th she met with the Ladies meeting leader to discuss future developments.  Later in the week, both of us prepared the afternoon pet and animal service on a theme of Noah, and printed the orders of service.

Susannah preached at our Philadelphia church on 22nd at 10-45.

On the 24th and 25th we had to do the shopping for the supper club and then spent the evening of the 25th  preparing the beginnings of the meal.

Susannah preached at Tapton Hill Congregational Church on the 29th.

June 2012

The preparations for the Teddy Bears' Picnic were extensive, including collecting and displaying the items of jubilee memorabilia for the display.

Before the event, the New testaments and "No ordinary man" books had to be ordered, collected, and the commemorative plates inserted ready for the event.  Quizzes had to be written and duplicated, games equipment bought, and teddy bear biscuits cooked.

The bog garden continues to mature,and some of the plants which we thought had disappeared seem to have prospered this year.

The footpath outside the church, leading to the car park has started to look rather overgrown lately.  Since we were expecting large numbers of visitors to the flower festival, Jonathan spent an afternoon clearing the undergrowth.  Although not perfect, it is distinctly better than before.

Susannah was extremely busy collecting flowers and persuading shops to assist the festival by providing items.  Then she was therefor hours, getting things ready for the flower festival weekend.

Susannah decided to place a bible on the lectern for the flower festival, after the arrangements had been prepared.  She opened it at random, and was rather shocked at where it fell open.  Isaiah 35.

The desert and the parched land will be glad;

    the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. 

Like the crocus,  it will burst into bloom;

    it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. 

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

    the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; 

they will see the glory of the Lord,

    the splendor of our God. 

The month ended with a supper club for which the usual shopping and preparation had to be done.

May 2012

Early in May there was the coffee morning to shop and prepare for, and the grass to mow (again)

On 13th, Susannah and Jonathan were preaching at our Hampden View church on the Connexional plan.  This is the scheme whereby preachers are sent to churches centrally, rather than by the invitation of the churches themselves.

On Sunday 20th, Susannah was preaching at our Coal Aston church and on the 20th, we were both doing the shopping for the supper club.  Thursday 24th, we were both cooking for the meal.

Most of the rest of this week was spent in preparing the leaflets and posters for the coming events and posting them, not to mention hand delivering about 600 leaflets in the surrounding area.  

On Sunday 27thy, Susannah was preaching at Mayfield and Jonathan at our Greenhead Chapel in Chapeltown.

After these services we met with the people of Hampden View for Lunch and then went to Wesley Hall Methodist church for the "Whit Sing.".  This event is the direct descendant of the sings in the parks of former years

The Sunday School Union is now called Sheffield Christian Education Council, and is about to be reinvented again.

April 2012

 April has been a wet month, which has meant that the mowing has taken a back seat.  We are hoping that the ground will dry sufficiently before the grass requires a machete!
Susannah spent part of Monday the 16thshopping for the tea on Tuesday.  The she had to spend Tuesday preparing it. 
Thursday the 19th was the circuit  Local Preachers and Leaders of Worship Fellowship.  This was held at our Hampden View Church at 7-00p.m.  Jonathan Led the meeting on the theme of Sermon Preparation.  The topic was the cleansing of Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-19)
Jonathan was preaching at our Grimesthorpe Church in the evening of the 22nd.
On Tuesday 24th, most of the shopping for the supper club wasdone, so that the fresh produce and fish could be bought on Thursday.  Susannah and Jonathan then spent Thursday afternoon preparing the meal for about 30.  
Saturday, susannah took out posters for the coffee morning on May 5th.
On Sunday 29th, Susannah was preaching at our Grimesthorpe Church in the evening.

Easter 2012

Monday 2nd saw Jonathan and Susannah shopping for the meal on Tuesday. Since it was only a small group (about 10), this was not too difficult a task. Susannah still had to spend most of Tuesday cooking at church so that the rest ofus could enjoy: Spring vegetable soup, lamb casserole with new potatoes, and boiled and roast vegetables, followed by rhubarb fool. Tear and share bread was used at the start to remind us Jesus breaking bread and dipping it in the bowl . A jug of fruit juice was used as a palate cleanser after the meal to remind us that he took the cup and shared it after the meal.

Our circuit service on Good Friday morning at St Mary's Wesleyan Reform Church was led by Rev. Alan Hindmarch who challenged us to consider whether there were those who we found it difficult to love. The service was well attended, and 8 of the 12 churches in the circuit were represented.

After the service, Jonathan went to the bakery to collect the hot cross buns for Mayfield.

The coffeemorning on Saturday and services on Sunday passed off without incident. Saturday required Jonathan to be looking for pictures of the resurrection on the internet so that peoplecould be given an Aide-memoire on Sunday morning. there are lot out there!

March 2012

Susannah started the month by speaking at Zion church, Denby Dale,for the "Women's world day of prayer meeting.

Jonathan continued visiting churches in the circuit by going to our Grimesthorpe church. Interestingly, the topic of the speaker was the return of the Ark of the covenant to the people, where the topic at Hampden View the previous week was how the Ark was lost to the Philistines.

Susannah spoke at Hatfield House Lane Methodist Ladies' meeting on March 5th.

On Tuesday 6th, Susannah had to be at Mayfield Chapel early so that the contractors could gain access to lay the new floor in the toilets. Wednesday was spent buying food for the meal which was to be held after a funeral, the following day.

Thursday 8th was a busy day. It was the occasion of the funeral of Barbara who had been a regular attender at our Tuesday bible fellowship, as well as a regular member of the congregation at Grimesthorpe. The funeral was at Grimesthorpe church, and Susannah and Jonathan attended.

In the evening Jonathan chaired the circuit meeting at our Hampden View church.

Susannah preached at Mayfield on March 18th, and at Philadelphia on 25th.

Both of us attended the clean up day on 29th, when we were part of the group which got rid of a selection of items which were no longer useful.

During the month a variety of tasks were completed in the garden, including mowing, planting an apple tree from Barbara's garden, and splitting some plants elsewhere in the garden

February 2012

Susannah was due to preach at our Coal Aston church on Feb. 5th, but this was cancelled due to the bad weather. Coal Aston Chapel is at the top of a steep hill, and access was very tricky.
Jonathan continued visiting the churches in the circuit, getting to Owlerton (5th), Richmond(19th) and Hampden View(26th)
The mens' breakfast was unable to take place at chapel due to the building works, (see church blog for details), but we were unwilling to give up outr meeting, so we went to the "Pudding Ladies" cafe in Rivelin Park.
On Feb. 12th, we went to the evening service at our Grimesthorpe church where a party had been arranged to celebrate Bessie's 90th birthday. This had been due to happen a couple of weeks before, but unfortunately she had not been well, and the event had to be postponed

Bessie has been a stalwart at Grimesthorpe.Of course, other did the work on this occasion. Jonathan Preached at Phildelphia chapel on the 19th Feb., when our Mayfield congregation was joined with them, and again at Mayfield the following week.

Susannah preached at our Grimesthorpe chapel in the evening on 19th Feb.