An apology:

Unfortunately, we have experienced a few I.T. difficulties recently and we have not been able to update the blog. We hope to be able to give you the edited highlights of our activities for the last few months soon, but please bear with us as Christmas makes December rather busy.

Pet and animal service.

Our annual pet and animal service was held on Sunday July 31st. A number of old friends, both human and animal turned up. We welcomed a visiting family from Japan.

Especially welcome was the fox cub from the Mill house animal sanctuary. Find out more about their work at http://animalsheltersheffield.co.uk

The bog garden continues to thrive and produce different blooms at different times of the year, although it has been a bit dry this year.

July 2011

July started with the flower festival (see previous post). The bible fellowship met on Tuesdays 5th and 19th to continue the study of Acts. Craftastic held a needlework day on Saturday 9th which was followed by a barbecue for participants. But we had no sink (see below) so washing up had to be outside.The opportunity was taken to try out the erection of a gazebo.The mens' breakfast was held on Monday 11th.

The plan had been to instal the new floor in the kitchen this month, and then put the new units and cooker etc next month, but the contractors preferred to do the whole job this month. This meant that it was a bit of a rush, so the sink had to be removed earlier than planned.

In among the work, the Ladies' meeting was led by our pastor Susannah.

The floor was laid in the week beginning 18th July, and the units were delivered on the 21st. The fitting of the cooker and hood began on 21st. This meant that the work to fit the new sink could not begin until Tuesday. We had a supper club planned for the Thursday, but we had reached "Dinner minus 47 hours" before we could definitely say that it would go ahead. The menu was: Melon with ginger sugar, Chinese style pork with sweet and sour sauce, potatoes and broccoli, followed by mixed plums poached in grape syrup and custard. Our speakers told of the work of the St. Wilfrid's Centre in the centre of Sheffield.

Much work remains to be done in the kitchen before it can be considered complete, and then we have other projects to start in our programme.

Flower Festival 2011

Our annual flower festival took place over the weekend of July 2nd and 3rd. Much preparation went into the event; members and friends were busy for most of the week before putting their flowers into their allocated spaces. Eventually the furniture was moved, the oasis cut and soaked, the programmes printed, and the flowers positioned. At 10-30a.m. on Saturday the doors were opened and the visitors welcomed in.
Our service on Suinday was led by Carole Parkinson, who stayed with our theme by making another flower display as part of her service. Evening worship was led by Phil Hartshorn.
The theme of the weekend was "Bible Stories" in honour of the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the bible. As an additional celebration, we put a display of different editions of the bible in the back room for people to story alongside the refreshments.
The weekend was a huge success with many visitors enjoying the displays.
More pictures are available at the website. Follow the link at the side of the page.

June 2011

The bible fellowship met on Tuesdays 7th and 21st June, when we continued our studies of the book of Acts. We are averaging a chapter per session.
The needlework day on 11th was well attended, as was the men's breakfast on 13th.
The "Open Gate" on June 19th was on the theme; "Why Levi became Matthew. Money, but not happy. I something missing?"
The supper club was held on Thursday 23rd and we are a menu of: Tortilla chips and Tuna mayonnaise dip, pork pie salad with new potatoes, peach medley with cream followed by tea, coffee and mints. The speakers were from the Church on the Rock and spoke to us about their work as "Street Pastors" on the streets of Sheffield.
Throughout the month, much preparation work has been done for the renovations in the kitchen. There has been pipework to box in, plastering to be done, and ideas to put into practise. All this has been done with minimal disruption to our other activities.

May 2011

May 3rd, and May 17th, were the evenings of our bible fellowship when we started our look at the book of Acts.

The 7th was the Needlework day and the 9th was the second Mens' breakfast. We looked at current newspapers and discussed a number of issues of current and Christian interest.

The 15th was the second "Open Gate" on a theme of "Am I good enough for God?"

26th of May was our supper club when we ate a menu of: Chilled Greek soup, Delphi chicken with roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips, strawberries Romanoff and tea/coffee and mint biscuits. Philip Nuttall then entertained us with his stories of Magnificent motoring madness.

During the month the various works have started, and the new boiler and hot water system have been installed. Some preparation works for the kitchen improvements have also been done.

April and Easter

April was another busy month. Our events started on April 2nd with a needlework day.

Monday 4th April was our first mens' breakfast, when Dave cooked us breakfast and we discussed what we would be doing at future breakfasts.

Wednesday April 6th was the date of an extraordinary church meeting.

The bible fellowship group met on 5th and 12th to continue our study of what mission is. On 19th we looked at the celebration of Passover in the Seder meal, trying to follow modern practise.

Thursday 14th April was the occasion of our "Throw out Day" when we tried to get rid of some rubbish and find places for some of the rest.

The Ladies' meeting took place on 20th April, the theme was Bonsai Trees.

Good Friday, April 22nd, we held a service at 7-30p.m. where Susannah helped us to explore the meaning of the "Stations of the Cross." Tea/Coffee and hot cross buns followed the service.

Saturday, 23rd April, St. George's Day, was a coffee morning at church when we met an interesting variety of visitors.

Easter Day was an early start for the 8-30 communion service led by our pastor, Jonathan. David and Elaine cooked breakfast for us following the service. Susannah and Jonathan then led the 10-30a.m. service.

Thursday 28th was the first supper club of the season, where we ate a meal of : Spring vegetable soup and roll, minted lamb grillsteak, potatoes, peas and broccoli, rhubarb tart and whipped crea, coffee and mints. Our speaker then addressed us on "Wheels for the world", a charity which helps recycle wheelchairs for use in developing countries.

March 2011

More activities took place in March. Starting on the 15th of March, the Bible Fellowship met every Tuesday as we followed our Lent Studies. These are based on the story of "The Woman at the Well" and have the themes of: What is Mission? Where does Mission happen? Who does Mission? Why do we do Mission? How do we do Mission? We are basing our thoughts on the story from the bible and on the church's experiences in Ghana. Wednesday the 16th was the monthly Ladies' Fellowship. On Saturday 19th we held a coffee morning, and at the same time, there was a carwash in support of the Don District Explorer Scouts' camp in Scotland later this year.

February 2011

February was a fairly quiet month. We started with the bible fellowship meeting on Tuesday 1st where we continued our series on the "elements" , Jonathan leading our thoughts on the theme of "Air", and its links to spirit and life. The next meeting on Tuesday 15th was on the theme of "Fire". The Ladies' Fellowship met on Wednesday 16th. Saturday 26th was a Needlework Day led by "Craftastic".

January 2011

Happy new year!
The first service of 2011 was at 10-30a.m. on Sunday January 2nd. This was our annual Covenant Service where we renew our promises to God. The service was led by our pastor Jonathan.
Our midweek bible fellowship meetings re-started on Tuesday 4th January. We are holding a short series of studies on the elements: earth, air, fire and water. Specifically we are looking at the significance of these images in the scriptures.Brian started us off with a study on "water".
The church party on Saturday January 15th was a great success, members, friends and preachers and families met for about 2 hours. After complaints that the quizzes were too intellectual at previous parties, we had a quiz about catch phrases. The final catchphrase being: "all people need to be saved, all people can be saved, all people can know that they are saved, all people can know that they are saved to the uttermost." If you don't know who said this, the answer will be given next month!
Susannah led opur bible fellowship on Jan 18th on the theme of "Earth."
The ladies' fellowship met on Jan. 19th and was led by Susannah, our pastor. She brought a quiz, and then the members ate a "bring and share" meal.
Sunday January 23rd was one of our "Fellowship" services when members brought items to contribute to worship. Many brought contributions, and we were surprised at how well they all fitted together (perhaps we shouldn't have been, but we were!)
The church meeting was on Jan 26th, and was very productive. Details of most of the decisions taken are on the website on the "Newsletter" and "Events" pages.

December 2010

December was something of a disappointment due to the adverse weather conditions! Several events were cancelled and several more were severely reduced in attendance.

The bible fellowship on Tuesday 7th was cancelled due to the snow. The Fair Trade Cghristmas Fayre on the 11th was cancelled because the visitor with the stuff for sale was unable to get her car out, although the coffee morning did go ahead for those who could get. A few hardy souls managed it!

The Advent Carol service on Sunday 12th was led by Rev. Alan Hindmarch.

Carol singing with the Salvation Army was a success on Wednesday 15th, but a severe frost on 16th reduced the attendance at 5 courses and carols somewhat. Nonetheless, those who made it enjoyed a meal of: Christmas trees with golden apple dip; Egg mayonnaise crown; Shepherds pie, roasted parsnips, sprouts and carrots; Christmas pudding and cream; Cheese board, tea and coffee.

Sunday 19th was another extremely cold day, and many people decided that they did not wish to risk falling on the ice. By the afternoon, Mayfield Road had been gritted and a number of people made it safely to the chapel.

Monday 20th was the day for singing round the area, and we visited a number of our regular sites, as well as singing outside the local coop.

Saturday 25th was the culmination of our celebrations with the Christmas day service at 10-30a.m. led by pastor Jonathan.

November 2010

November was another busy month. We started at the beginning with our Bible fellowship meeting on Tesday 2nd. Saturday 6th was the day of our annual bonfire. This was a huge success with a large number of visitors. The barbecue was popular, and many of our visitors also took part in making more lanterns and stained glass windows left over from the previous week's activities. The collection was in aid of the Alzheimer's society, one of the charities which we have been supporting this year.

Sunday was "Christians against Poverty Sunday" and our Pastor Susannah led our thoughts on the subject. This service was held in the back room as the chapel was out of action being decorated.

Wednesday the 10th was our annual planning meeting where we discussed proposals for the coming year. Details of the outcome of this discussion can be found on the website.

Saturday 13th was the "Created" coffee morning and Christmas Fayre where fairly traded craft goods were on sale.

Tuesday 16th was the next bible fellowship; and Wednesday 17th was the Ladies' fellowship which was a bring and buy sale.

Most of the rest of the month was spent in getting ready for Christmas, culminating in the first Sunday in Advent on 28th November when our pastor Jonathan led our thoughts on the people of God in every age.