Cockerton Methodist Church
Contact information:
Senior Steward: – Jan Sams (359173)
Church Admin: - Jan Cossins (241124)
25th June 2017
Sunday 25th June 2017
10.30am – Worship led by Mrs S Jaleel
6.00pm – Worship at Bondgate
Sunday 2nd July 2017
10.00am – Worship Together at Bondgate
6.00pm – Worship at Elm Ridge
Sunday 9th July 2017
10.30am – Worship - Local Arrangement
6.00pm – Worship led by Rev A Stobart - to include Sacrament
Please note there are No evening service at Cockerton this month except 9th. Please refer to Plan or poster on church door,
to establish where services are taking place
Prayerfully consider before the service:
Bruised not broken, dimly lit,
a smouldering wick, we share Your glory,
dented and battered, limping, crawling,
holding out the light we have, we share Your glory,
and You receive us, lift us, heal us, over and over,
You help and fill us and we go on, bruised not broken,
dimly lit a smouldering wick, we share Your glory...
(c) Sally Coleman
Prayer focus: Please pray 1. for those who are suffering due to recent tragic events, not only in this country but around the world, pray for
healing and a binding up of the broken hearted.
2. for the residents of Redrose Close and Sherbourne Avenue
3. for those who are struggling with illness or recovering from surgery - Geoff & Anne Bosworth; Alan Shier; Brian
Hildon; Joy Frauts; Joan Kelsall; Ken Learoyd; Bill McAllister; Alma Ottolini; Molly Elsworth; Ken & Mary
Collins; Sylvia Smith and Jan Cossins’ broken foot!
(If you have any prayer requests - please ensure the person to be prayed for is agreeable to this, or you feel that you don’t need
to be on the prayer list anymore, please let me know, I don’t always get to know these things - thanks ~ Jan - this includes
birthdays and celebrations)
Prayerline: If you need prayer, for yourself or others, long – or short-term, please contact Brian & Irene Cooper (467573) or
Fran Atkinson (356471). This is a discreet and confidential service,
Clarification: There seems to be some confusion about the Prayerline service. The team consists of about 20
people, not all members of our church, who have offered to pray on a regular basis for events or people who have
Themselves, or through a representative, specifically requested prayer. These requests are treated confidentially, are
often given a nome di plume, and are not posted on the Prayer Focus in the Notices. Should you wish to join this
service I should be delighted to give you more information. Irene Cooper
Food Bank: Thank you for your continued support of the Foodbank, your donations are greatly appreciated. There
are many in our community struggling to feed their family and themselves. ~ Many thanks.
URGENT: Due to increased demand, the Food Bank is very short of supplies. Donations of all kinds, eg tins of
meat, tuna, vegetables, soups, sauces for pasta, pasta & rice would be very gratefully received. Donations of cash
also allow us to buy in extra stocks. Many thanks
Thanks:
Brenda Youngs thanks the church family for the lovely flowers.
The Prayer Room: Please note that the Prayer Room upstairs is now being hired out and will no longer be available.
A new business will start in the room from 19th June by a couple who wish to provide a professional counselling
service for the community and will use the room for their clients. They have booked the room on a regular basis .~
Sue Ashmore
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Methodist Women in Britain: I am a Committee Member of MWiB in Darlington. I shall be retiring from my post at the end of
2017. I am in my 9th year and feel it is time to relax more. The Committee consists of 5 active members who are friendly and
supportive. I hope that someone from our Church will be interested in learning more about MWiB and decide to join the team.
This is the second time of asking - Jan included this in the October /November notices without success. Please call
Doris Davies Tel 461260. email [email protected].
Darlington Town Mission: It is with great pleasure that we can announce the appointment of a new Missioner for our charity.
After prayerful consideration of the applications received and conducting short list interviews on Tuesday, we offered the
position to Mrs Susan J Allison and she has accepted. She was clearly overjoyed to be given the chance to work for the charity
and to follow in her father’s footsteps. Her dad, Derrick Hewitson gave many years of faithful service to DTM and Sue has such
a very strong affinity with us. She told us that the Missioner’s role came as an answer to prayer just at the right time.
Whilst Sue Allison has been appointed to the role as Missioner, she is unable to take on the work until she is allowed to take early
retirement in January. Consequently, Sue Case has kindly agreed to continue on a 15 hour per week basis until Sue A can join
us. We are eternally grateful to Sue Case for her willingness to help out for far longer than first envisaged. We believe that this
is an ideal appointment that will enhance the work and witness of our charity in the future. Please join us in praying for our two
Sue’s in their respective ministries for DTM – one current and one to commence on 1st February 2018.
Creating Safer Spaces: The issue of Safeguarding was discussed at the recent Church AGM, where we were
informed that those on Church Council and others need to complete/up-date training.
Elm Ridge are going to facilitate this, the date is Thursday, 27th July. There are 3 sessions available
(8:45am, 12:45pm and the last one is 6.45 for a prompt 7pm start - not 6pm as previously published) and you
have a choice of which one you choose. Please see the attached paperwork on notice board outside the vestry, for
more details and a booking form. Please complete the form and return it to Lyn
at: [email protected]
Please don’t consider this as an optional extra, your role/responsibility determines whether you need to do this
training. A list of roles requiring training is with the paperwork is also on the notice board.
Foundation Module Refresher 2016 Edition The Methodist Church has developed refresher safeguarding training
for those undertaking various roles and responsibilities in the Methodist Church, who completed the Foundation
Module between 2011 and 2016.
Darlington Town Mission - warmly invites you to come to the Annual Summer Barbecue on Saturday 1st July 2017
at All Saints Church grounds and hall, Ravensdale Road, Darlington at 5.00pm Tickets £8.00. See Sue Case, Brian
Simpson or telephone Anne on 0799 563 0712
Hurworth Methodist Church Annual Fun Day - Saturday 1st July 12.00 - 3.00pm at Hurworth Primary School.
Lots of activities, refreshments. Admission - Adults £2.00 children free. Supporting The Hurworth Rogers
Charitable Trust and church funds. All welcome
Wyvern Academy PTA (formerly Branksome School & DSMS) are holding a fayre Saturday 1st July, 12-4pm
It would be great to support the school in their new venture.
As we are approaching the summer months would groups please let me have start and finish dates - Jan C
Please Note that there will not be any notices produced next week due to it being Together at
Bondgate.
Please see a message regarding the Grenfell tragedy from President and Vice President of Methodist
Conference.at the end of the Notice sheet.
This weeks Church Diary:
Tues 27
Ladies Group ~ 7.30pm “Trip to Lesotho” with Sarah McTimoney
Wed 28
Babies & Toddlers ~ 9.00 - 11.00am & 1.00 – 3.00pm
Art Group ~ 1.15pm – in the upstairs hall
Thurs 29
Food Bank ~ 1 - 3pm at St Mary’s hall
Fri 30
Girl’s Brigade ~ 6pm
June
Tues 27
July
Tues 4
Thurs 6
Thurs 6
Mon 10
Tues 11
Tuesday Afternoon Fellowship @ 1.15pm (356097)
Ladies Group Choir ~ 7.30pm
Sue’s Fellowship ~ 7.30pm (480521)
House Fellowship ~ 7.30pm @ 88 Lunedale Road (462196)
Women’s Fellowship Lunch ~ 12.30pm
Tuesday Afternoon Fellowship @ 1.15pm (356097)
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Tues 11
Fri 14
Sat 15
Tues 18
Thurs 20
Thurs 20
Tues 25
Ladies Group ~ 7.30pm - Coffee & Chat
GB Awards night - last session until 8th September
Church Walk
Ladies Group Choir ~ 7.30pm
Sue’s Fellowship ~ 7.30pm (480521)
House Fellowship ~ 7.30pm @ 88 Lunedale Road (462196)
Tuesday Afternoon Fellowship @ 1.15pm (356097)
Notices: Jan (241124) [email protected] Deadline: 12noon- Thursday for Sunday
Notices via email: For those people who wish to receive a copy of the notices electronically please email
[email protected] as this will help the environment by saving on paper.
The Darlington Methodist Church website is now on-line so any members who are Internet users may like to have a look at it The web address is www.darlingtoncircuit.org.uk this includes information for Cockerton
The Church Walking group Away Day
Message from the President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference, Rev Dr Roger Walton and Ms
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Rachel Lampard
The horror of the burning tower in Notting Hill will be imprinted on many people’s minds for a long time. Our
shared grief has, however, only intensified as we heard the stories: of the people who are lost, people who have lost
everything, and people still searching for the lost. Few of us will have been able to witness these events unfold
without weeping. And now comes the anger, at those with power, at past decisions, at powerlessness.
The Methodist Church in Notting Hill has been at the forefront over the last few days. It is the first public building
outside the police cordon, and has been a focus for grief and practical help. The people there and its leaders will need
our prayers and support long into the future.
At times of such heartbreaking events we risk being overwhelmed. How can we respond?
Our first response, along with the prophet Ezekiel who was among a people from whom everything had been taken,
has to be one of being alongside people and holding silence (Ezekiel 3.15). To sit with people. To listen to them. To
lament for and with them. To offer care and to remain silent as we feel the loss, the pain, the fear, the anger.
For there is certainly anger, and it is not to be dismissed or condemned. There is much to be angry about. People will
feel angry at God. Angry at those who had the power to act, but didn’t. At a society which values less those who are
the poorest or most disadvantaged in society.
We are often afraid of anger. We have an image of Jesus as “meek and mild”. But we also see Jesus in the temple,
who was angry to the point of overturning tables. Yet this was not an act of violence but a symbolic expression of
anger in the prophetic tradition, disrupting the actions of those who would discriminate against and exploit the
poorest at the door of God’s house. We should be angry at the kind of injustices emerging from this catastrophe: the
apparent underinvesting in the well-being of poorest and the ignoring of their concerns. And we should all repent
where we have been complicit with injustice in the past.
But the anger of Jesus is focused not on retaliation but on the righting of injustice. Matthew tells how, after
overthrowing the tables, the blind and the lame came to Jesus, the very people who had been excluded from the
temple by those with power. They came to Jesus and they were healed. Jesus’s anger led to justice. It showed that a
different way was not only possible, but was required of the people who followed Jesus.
Our time as President and Vice-President has been one of change: we have had the resignation of a prime minister,
the signing of Article 50, a new US President and a General Election. We have had horrific terrorist attacks in
Manchester and London, as well as in so many countries around the world. And now we are rocked by Grenfell
Tower. It is increasingly clear that we are a divided country, and a much more divided world.
Is this a turning point? Is God asking of us a new and radical response? The love of God, and the command to care
for our neighbour, does not finish at the end of our street, or even at our national borders. And if that is the case, then
we have to consider – and prioritise – the needs and voices of the poorest and the most disadvantaged, not only in this
country, but in around the world.
So what do we do? We face the reality that we cannot change everything tomorrow. But we must hold in front of us
this alternative way, the picture of the kingdom of God. And then we have to proclaim it and live it out, in our own
lives and in our communities. But it must not stop there. It needs to spill out into a passion for transforming the
political and economic world, working with all who share a vision for justice and the common good. We remember
that judgement in Matthew 25 is reserved for those who have not lived out the ways of the kingdom.
During this year as President and Vice-President we have taken the text from Micah: “What does the Lord require of
you, but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God”. Now is a time to cling to those words, realise that
they demand of us repentance for our past actions and present privileges, and to commit ourselves to love without
measure, act for justice whatever the cost, and do so whilst walking humbly with a God of love and justice.
Please turn over.
Message from Revds Michaela Youngson & Nigel Cowgill Chairs of the London District of the Methodist Church
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We have received many calls today from those who wish to donate to the community of Grenfell Tower. We would ask
that at the moment financial donations are sent through the District so that we can collect and process them. This will
then be sent to help the families and emergency services affected by the fire.
Please ask your treasurers to either send a cheque made payable to ‘The London District of the Methodist Church’
noting on the back for ‘Grenfell’, or contact the District Office at [email protected] for details
for how to make a bank transfer payment. The address for cheques is London District of the Methodist Church, 1
Central Buildings, Westminster, London SW1H 9NH.
The Revd Mike Long, Superintendent at Notting Hill, has reported that the church have been inundated with physical
donations of clothing and food – we have warmly welcomed these, but at present they do not have the capacity to
receive any more donations. He is seeking space at Methodist churches nearby. We will update you on this as we
receive more information.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
Revds Michaela Youngson & Nigel Cowgill
Chairs of the London District of the Methodist Church
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