MONEY AND PROPERTY MATTERS – AND BARRY’S BABBLINGS! - October

As I write we have not yet celebrated our Harvest Festival but I am sure

that it will all go well. We are fortunate that our church is nearly always beautifully decorated with a floral display and are particularly grateful to Sue and Carol and others who prepare and distribute the displays. Very often the weekly diary explains who has donated the flowers – there is a list in the vestibule if you wish to look or add your name – to pay, and/or arrange or distribute some flowers. They do greatly enhance our worship.

Having come to the end of a Methodist Year (August 31st) I have managed to balance the books and am about to pass them to Paul Burson who is our independent examiner. This gives me an opportunity to thank you all for your generosity towards the church both in monetary terms and in many other ways. The premises are being used on more occasions and this income is a great help.

This is a good time to review your giving to the church (and maybe other charities) and this will further help us to meet our expenses. The church recently had a visit from the Fire Officer who later submitted a full report. We are in course of obtaining a Fire Risk Assessment and between the two documents there will be various changes and improvements to be made – no doubt you will see these is due course. This reminds me to thank you all for your co-operation when we performed a Fire Drill following a recent service. I did enjoy ringing the bell and I think that the stewards enjoyed their hi-vis jackets. However, it all went well and it was a very useful and necessary exercise. You now know what to do if there is a suspected fire!

If you have any old garden or carpentry tools that you no longer need there is a charity called ‘Tools with a Mission’ who bring the tools up to an acceptable standard and then send them abroad to where they are needed. You can take your unwanted tools to St Peter’s church in the Old Town on Saturday 5th October – details on the poster at church.

In the evening of Sunday 20th October at 6pm at our Little Common church there will be a United Circuit Service to welcome our new District Chairman, the Rev David Hinchcliffe – do try to come along to meet and support him.

Later in October there will be a meeting of the Property & Finance Committee (23rd) and the Church Council (29th) and if you have any matters that you wish to raise do please let us know.

Just a thought for the month:

‘Respect is earned, Honesty is appreciated, Trust is gained, Loyalty is returned’

Have a great month. Every blessing,

Barry Turnwell, Church Treasurer and a Property Steward.

Stewards Scribblings - October

As I write this, I’ve just heard on the television news that there are 100 days to Christmas! How the months are speeding past, but I’m pleased to say that Christchurch is moving forward positively.

Since our last Scribblings, Tricia was officially welcomed as our Superintendent for the year September 2019/2020 in a service held at St Leonards Methodist Church. It has also been confirmed that Tricia has delayed her retirement, and will be remaining with the Hastings, Bexhill and Rye Circuit for the year 2020/2021. Obviously she is going to have a very busy time being responsible for all the churches in our Circuit this year, but hopefully with everyone’s help she will deal with all that needs her attention - we wish her well of course. If you have any queries or problems with matters concerning Christchurch, Barry or Peter are the ones to contact and they in turn will pass on information to Tricia.

As you are aware, during the past few months Local Arrangement Services are becoming very frequent. These are when there is no available Presbyter, Local Preacher, or Worship Leader available to lead our worship, and so the service is undertaken by our Steward team. We are pleased that the services which we have undertaken so far, have all been well received by you, our church members, and we are very grateful for your support and encouragement.

The Steward team are working hard for the forthcoming annual Harvest Supper, and when you read this, it will have been held, and hopefully thoroughly enjoyed by all. Christchurch is so blessed to have such a supportive membership, and events like this are always a great success. There is an article elsewhere in this magazine regarding the event.

Our church attendance is picking up after the summer holiday period and we now average 40-45 people each week, which is good, but of course we have plenty of room for more! We would also love to welcome younger members, so please do your best to spread the word - everybody will be given a very warm welcome.

If anyone would like to join the Steward team, we would love to hear from you. Please speak with any one of us, Peter, Jill, Judy and Sandy, if you would like to know about what is involved. It really isn’t difficult, and we work as a team, we are there to help each other in all we do. Being a steward is an interesting eye opener as to what goes on within the church and the Circuit - think about it, we would love to hear from you.

Sandy Willard, Steward

Angel Yarn Bomb
We are planning a yarn bomb for Christmas 2019! To explain, we are encouraging anyone who would like to, to knit angels from this simple pattern. On a set day near to Christmas, they will be ‘released’ in public places all around the town and Sidley, with a label attached to explain they come with blessings from Christchurch, and that they may be taken home with our love!
Further details from Chris Cox: chriscox60@hotmail.com