W arm Welcome - Dawlish Methodist Church

Psalms 74:17 Thou hast set all the
borders of the earth: thou hast made
summer and winter.
2014
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A little piece found on the Internet His Only Forgotten Son
Five-year-old Stephen was practicing his memory verse for Bible Club. John
3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only forgotten Son." So
writes Stuart M. Pederson of Onida, South Dakota.
Yet, could it be? This little slip of the tongue might be all too true! Jesus, other
than at Christmas, is ignored and mostly forgotten by the world in which we
live. It's so easy to do. Even people who claim to know Him on a personal
relationship basis forget Him until life dishes up something that can't be handled
without His help. In spite of knowing this, God the Heavenly Father loved this
world and you and me so much that He sent His only Son to live among us and
most importantly, die for us! What amazing love! So when you celebrate this
Christmas, make a renewed effort not to forget the reason for this season . . .
Jesus Christ!
from Mini Moments for Christmas by Robert Strand
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and that
you enjoy this festive issue of the Warm Welcome.
Ed.
P.S. Many thanks to all for your good wishes and prayers whilst
I was feeling poorly. I do appreciate all your kind thoughts..
Susan Moore
01626 862474
[email protected]
Church Website www.dawlishmethodistchurch.org.uk
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Dear friends
As I’m writing this I have just said, ‘Goodbye’ to my first set of
visitors to the manse. Before they came I ‘set to’ and gave the
house a good old clean up, prepared the beds and made sure I
had plenty of good things to give them to eat. I have no doubt
that many of you will be doing something very similar as we
draw nearer to Christmas. I wanted my visitors to be impressed by the
cleanliness and orderliness of it all, I wanted them to be comfortable with the
way I’d organised things but if I’m honest I didn’t want them to disturb the
way I’d got everything arranged!
Tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent when we celebrate God coming into
the world in Jesus and recall his promise that one day he will return. Before
that day however Christ comes into our lives each and every day if we ask
him. This is his Advent in us – so we are his presence in the world! Christ is no
ordinary visitor though. When we ask him into our hearts he comes to stay,
we don’t have to sort everything out before we ask him in but rather he helps
us to tidy up and give our lives a good spring clean, he guides us as we
discover the best way to live and if we continue to make room he offers us
new challenges. He might change things round a bit by challenging us to think
or act in new ways, he may ask more of us than we sometimes feel able to
give – that’s the risk, that’s the Advent adventure!
Jesus was born in a common stable, all that was needed was the invitation to
make room for the birth of God in that place – and Jesus transformed it!
That’s what he does when we make room for him into our very ordinary,
humble, sometimes messy lives – he comes in and our lives are never the
same again!
Have a truly blessed Christmas season, enjoy all the preparations and
activities and, as things get back to normal, stop and think… the Christ-child is
no temporary visitor – he will come and dwell in our hearts for ever if we ask
him; for, as Isaiah proclaimed, ‘he shall be called Emmanuel – God with us’!
God, in Christ, has come to stay, may his light shine in our hearts this
Christmas and for ever more.
Every blessing,
Catherine Wagstaffe
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Sensing God in the pain of others,
Accepting all that comes our way.
Crying out when all seems lost and
Reaching towards the heights of heaven
Is all we need to do.
For in faith, we can love to the utmost,
Inspired by the divine Spirit.
Creating within each one of us,
Enough desire not to journey alone.
Emma Morgan, minister, Shildon
Submitted by Anna Doherty
Black Swan Ringers
Just to bring you up to date, we have been practising hard for the
last four weeks ready for Christmas. We played our first Christmas
performance on November 24 at Upton Vale, Torquay. This went very
well and we are looking forward to the next one which will be on December
7 at Kingskerswell. Then we will be in Teignmouth and The Smugglers on
the 16 & 17 December. Our final performance is in our church on the
21 December, when we hope to see you all. We will have a few weeks
rest and then start again in the New Year.
Kathleen Fey
God is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace, surfeit and hunger.
Heraclitus
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Lucy Hodges, the blind granddaughter of Benny & Jim Parris, has been awarded the
MBE for services to Blind Sailing in The Queen’s New Year Honours list.
Lucy’s dream was always to win the World and International Blind Sailing
Championships. Despite being selected for the last 4 World Championships, winning 2
Silvers and 2 Bronze medals, selection wasn’t guaranteed and Lucy fought hard to
secure her place for the 2013 event in Japan.
Prior to the event Lucy sailed solo twice along the length of Lake Windermere to raise
money for the volunteers who helped support her at the Championships. She went on
to achieve her dream of a Gold Medal winning an incredible 12 of 15 races. She was
World Sailing Champion - Japan 1913. World Sailing Champion - America 1914
She has also dedicated a lot of time to ensure as many visually impaired athletes as
possible have had the opportunity to participate in the sport of sailing. She is the
commodore for the charity Great Britain Blind Sailing.
The MBE is deserved recognition for what Lucy has achieved both on and off the water.
It was presented to her by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace. Lucy said ‘It was quite
nerve-wracking, but once you’re there and in front of him all your nerves go away
because he puts you at ease. It’s a massive boost for the charity’.
We are very proud of her.
Benny and Jim Parris
And another winner!
“I recently received a phone message from my 10 year old Great
Granddaughter Caitlin, thanking me for her birthday money. She also told
me that she had now won 2 gold, 2 silver and a bronze medal for (wait for it) ‘taekwondo’ - whatever happened to nice girlie things? - I
must be getting old! “
Pat Neale.
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Enjoy these classified ads from newspapers!
FREE YORKSHIRE TERRIER..
8 years old,
Hateful little tyke.
Bites!
FREE PUPPIES
1/2 Cocker Spaniel, 1/2 sneaky neighbour’s dog.
FREE PUPPIES.
Mother is a Kennel Club registered German Shepherd.
Father is a Super Dog, able to leap tall fences in a single bound.
COWS, CALVES: NEVER BRED.
Also 1 gay bull for sale....
JOINING NUDIST COLONY!
Must sell washer and dryer £100...
WEDDING DRESS FOR SALE.
Worn once by mistake.
Call Stephanie.
FOR SALE,
one pair hardly worn dentures, only 2 teeth missing.
TURKEY FOR SALE
Partially eaten, only 8 days old, drumsticks still intact
.
WAITRESS NEEDED
Must be 18 years old with 20 years experience
LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO DO YARDWORK
must have hula hoop.
FOR SALE BY OWNER.
Complete set of Encyclopædia Britannica, 45 volumes.
Excellent condition, £200 or best offer. No longer needed, got married,
wife knows everything.
Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as
it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat.
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Submitted by Eddie Twigg.
A few words of explanation for those who have joined us more recently. Verity Phillips was
appointed as a Lay Worker in the (then Teignmouth) circuit in September 2000, and lived in
Dawlish. She had candidated for the Methodist Ministry and in September 2003 was appointed
as a Probationer Minister (like Catherine Wagstaff), and was stationed at Crowle, Lincs, in the
Epworth Circuit . She subsequently was ordained and moved to the Isle of Man, then to Nelson
in South Wales. Unfortunately, Verity had a bad skull injury, which affected her brain, and has
been recovering since, sufficiently to continue her ministerial duties. In September this year, she
moved to Chulmleigh, a few miles north-east of Exeter, which means that she is nearer to her
mother and family home in Ivybridge. The church is part of the Plymouth and Exeter Methodist
District, as are we, so Verity and Catherine could meet sometime.
Dear Friends,
This letter comes to let you know that I seem to be settling in to
my new home and circuit okay. I am now in a very rural circuit, so
there have been a lot of Harvest Festivals and Suppers. Quite a
few stable Carol Services and similar nativity events involving
both children and animals are coming up! The five small chapels in my care are
probably enough to manage properly for now with my low energy levels not helped by
uneven roads. And small chapels accommodate my head spasms better than large
spaces with reverberating instruments, be these large pipe organs or guitars and
drums! The schools are very small too, with only two primary classes and less than
thirty pupils, so assemblies are very different. But don’t think that it’s a quiet and
sleepy area - there’s always something going on. I even went to a Folk Concert the
other day (though I suffered a lot of fatigue for a few days afterwards, so I may have to
think more than twice in future!).
The manse has a view which looks over the rooftops of the very small town, beyond
the church tower and the fields, to the hazy outline of Dartmoor. This means I’m closer
to my family. My mother can make a day visit, using the train, without very great
expense (if I collect her from the station a few miles away) which pleases her of
course, as I’ve been away for most of my adult life. It was lovely to see her for an
afternoon the other day.
Everyone is very kind, and there is plenty to do. I just long to get over this silly fatigue
business! Then I remember that there are many people in far worse positions than
mine, and try hard to accept and trust God.
I hope all is well with you - please be assured of my prayers,
God Bless,
Verity.
People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.
Anton Chekhov
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Out of the Mouths -
submitted by Kathleen Fey
A little boy and girl were singing their favourite Christmas Carol,
‘Silent Night’
The boy concluded the rendition with the words ‘Sleep in
heavenly beans’.
His sister quickly corrected him, ‘it’s not beans …… it’s peas!’
Six year old Beth was asked what she was going to give her brother for Christmas. ‘I
don’t know she answered’. ‘What did you give him last year’ …..
‘Chicken Pox’.
Three young children were playing the parts of the wise
men in a school nativity play.
At one point they came to Mary and Joseph at the manger
and said the following Magi 1: Here this is gold.
Magi 2: This is Myrrh.
Magi 3: And Frank sent this!
In a nativity play, all was going well until the angel appeared and told
the little girl playing Mary that she was going to have a baby.
‘But how can this be?’ said Mary, ‘since I am a Viking’.
A Sunday school teacher asked her class ‘What was the name of Jesus’ mother’s
name?’ One child answered ‘Mary’.
The teacher then asked ‘Who knows what Jesus’ father’s name was?’
A little kid answered ‘Verge’.
Confused, the teacher asked ‘Where did you get that from?’
The kid said ‘Well, you know how they are always talking about ‘Verge and Mary’’.
And how times change As a little girl climbed onto Santa’s lap. Santa asked the usual: ‘
And what would you like for Christmas?’ The child stared at him open-mouthed and
horrified for a minute, then gasped: ‘Didn’t you get my E-mail?’
Winter bites with its teeth or lashes with its tail. Montenegrin Proverb
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Greetings from Cornerstone church in Cranbrook, (Extract from latest update)
I want to start by telling you about Lillie. Lillie is two years old. She came to Harvest
Messy Church with her brother Harry (6) and Mum, Lisa. They were one family of over 100
people who came to celebrate harvest and share a meal that day. Like many people in Cranbrook
they have little church background but love belonging to what is happening, be it coffee morning,
toddler group, running group, family worship, family film morning or, on this day, Messy Church.
At the end of the Harvest service we sang the very traditional ‘We plough the fields and
scatter’. Lillie (actually most people) didn’t know the words but she came to the front with many
other children, caught up in the atmosphere of worship and celebration and span around singing
her heart out. She sang her favourite song, the one she knew the words to - ‘Let it Go’ from
Frozen. It was heart-melting. Lisa starting bringing Lillie to church because a few months ago I
had taught some worship songs to the children at Cranbrook’s Primary School St Martin’s. Harry
had two favourites ’10,000 reasons’ and ‘Hide me now’. He loved them so much that he
persuaded his Mum to find them and play them on YouTube at home. Listening together the
family were drawn into an understanding of God that was new and they wanted to know more.
This is a tiny snapshot, a single story, from the myriad of encounters that people are
experiencing as doors are opened and the grace, love and inclusivity of the gospel is shared in
Cranbrook. Cornerstone church is at the heart of many of the activities that happen in a
development that now has more than 800 homes occupied and is planned to have more than
8000……
‘Cornerstone church includes everyone’. It is this ethos of inclusion and sharing God’s
blessing that underpins all we do and the reason we have: car washes, litter picks, film night, choir,
board game evenings, coffee mornings, quiz nights, toddler group, Messy Church, family fun
days, family film mornings, home church, family worship, an ‘Exploring Christianity’ course,
mothering day lunch, as well as harvest, Christmas, Easter and other celebrations.
I have now been working in Cranbrook for two years. It is not always easy, but I love
what I do and believe with all my heart that God is in it. There are so many opportunities here to
be ‘church’ in a completely new way and to encounter ‘gospel - good news’ in ways that I had
never dreamed of. Yet at the core there are a very few of us, and many are at the very start of their
Christian journey. Might I ask you to continue to support the work that has been started here by
praying for some more workers, called to serve in this amazing place.
So I will end with Lillie and pray that people will continue to be drawn into a deeper
understanding of their worth in the eyes of God, that they will learn to dance
and sing and delight in who they are, the way that they were created to be, and
that their songs will be included and joined with the songs of others as we
continue to learn what it means to be children of God, wherever we are.
Yours in Christ, Mark Gilborson
One kind word can warm three winter months.
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Japanese Proverb
Puffy Snowflake Paintings
Here’s how to make your own microwave puffy
paint.
In a bowl, mix equal parts salt and self-rising flour.
Next, add enough water to make it the consistency
of pancake batter.
Pour into empty clean washing-up liquid bottles (or
something similar). This makes a nice white snowflake after microwaving.
Squeeze snowflake designs on to thick card. The white snowflakes look
very good on a nice bright blue card. If you want to you can add a drop
of food colouring to the mixture and use a separate bottle for each
colour.
Getting permission from an adult, or
with an adults help, place your
painting in the microwave for 30
seconds on high (microwave times will
vary, of course.) and *poof* — Paint is
dry and super-puffy!
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A tale from Russia of Baboushka.
She was an old woman who lived alone and kept herself busy
all day cleaning her house. One morning as she was sweeping
her steps after a great fall of snow she saw three riders
approaching. She knew they had to be kings because they
wore crowns of gold and silver, although she did not know
what the strange animals were that they rode - larger than
horses with an odd hump on their backs.
To cut a long story short, the kings asked to stay with Baboushka and sleep
during the day because at night they followed a star which was going to lead
them to a newborn king. When it came time for the kings to leave they said to
Baboushka "Come with us to see the baby king". But Baboushka shook her
head. "I must sweep up first. I cannot leave my house in such a state".
The kings looked sad as they told her they must go without her because they
followed a star and did not know how long the star might shine. So Baboushka
shooed them out on their way like a mother hen with her chicks. Then she set
to and cleaned her house from top to bottom. When she finished she was
exhausted so she fell fast asleep. When she awoke snow had fallen and
covered the tracks of the three kings. Baboushka thought it must have been
a dream, but as the days passed she thought more and more about the baby
king and the more she wondered about him the more she wanted to find him.
So, one day she cleaned her house for the last time, locked the door and set
off to search for the baby king. Every baby she saw she peered into the
cradle asking "Are you the One?" In every cradle and in every child's bed she
dropped a little gift - just in case it was Him. She is still looking.
As we prepare for Christmas let us not be so busy with our preparations that
we miss the one for whom we are preparing!
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This Year’s Christian Aid Christmas Appeal.
Please pass any contributions to Janet Verney
HELP to improve the health prospects of young children in rural Kenya
by contributing to a fund for a mobile outreach clinic. Your gift of a
mobile health clinic could help mothers and children living in remote
Kenyan communities to secure the healthcare they need. Mobile
health outreach clinics in Kenyan villages give mothers antenatal
checkups and vaccinates young children against disease. This is vital in
a country where one in eleven children dies before his or her fifth
birthday.
£115
A GOATASTIC gift! Our locally sourced nanny goats produce milk to drink
and sell, plus fertiliser for crops. Widower Joyce was struggling to raise
her seven children, as well as several orphans. Her family lived in
extreme poverty and often went hungry, relying on handouts to survive.
Christian Aid has helped to bring some stability into her life by providing
her with a goat. The diet of her children has improved and she has been
able to boost her crop harvest by using the goat’s manure as fertiliser.
She says she is looking forward to the future, as she’ll be able to breed
the goat and increase her income by selling its kids.
£22
WHY NOT TIP THE SCALES in favour of poor children in the developing
world by purchasing this gift? The scales could help identify
underweight babies and ensure that their parents receive important
advice on nutrition. In Kenya, one child in six is underweight or too thin
for his or her age (WHO). In rural Kenya, maternity care is pretty basic.
Many hospitals lack the equipment needed to monitor the wellbeing of
newborns and their mothers. Your gift could help Christian Aid partners
to purchase weighing scales for a rural Kenyan hospital, allowing staff
to monitor the weight of vulnerable babies.
£55
HOW DO YOU TURN two wheels into a brighter future? Give a vulnerable
young girl a bicycle so she can travel safely to school and receive an
education. In rural Cambodia, gender discrimination and domestic
violence are rife. Christian Aid provides support to young girls most at
risk of such violence by giving them a bicycle to travel to school safely.
Receiving an education and learning about their legal rights helps girls to
stand up to discrimination, gender inequality and abuse, improving their
future prospects.
£33
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Do They Know It’s Christmas
By Janet Verney (2008)
The robin, blue tit, great and small
Do they know it’s a special day?
Hopping from branch to branch
Seeking berries for their lunch.
Do they know it’s Christmas Day
A special time for the human race?
Do animals, fish, reptiles too
Know something different about today?
Can we humans be aware
That today’s not just for gifts, food and beer?
Maybe the gift that God intended
One day will make us all astounded.
That this baby boy young and tender
Has brought us forgiveness, healing and hope
So the whole human race can mingle
Love God and each other, however different.
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‘Cross Search’ number 6 from Vincent Canning
In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy. William Blake
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This is a “Cross-search”, a cross between a crossword puzzle and a
word search. All the answers are hidden in the grid. That’s the word
search part. The crossword part is the series of clues you need to
solve to find what to look for in the grid. The references to help you,
and the spellings, have been checked against the NIV. Write them in
the spaces below to help you to see what you’re looking for in the
grid. It’s easier than you think!
Answers:- Lamech; Adah; Zillah; Shem; Japheth; Nimrod; Kedorlaomer; Melchizedek;
Eliezer; Hagar; Ishmael; Abraham; Sarah; Isaac; Abimelech; Ephron; Rebekah; Laban;
Keturah; Esau; Jacob; Leah; Zilpha; Rachel; Bilhah; Reuben; Simeon; Levi; Judah; Dan;
Naphtali; Gad; Asher; Issachar; Zebulon; Dinah; Joseph.
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Carols at Buckfast Abbey
Every year on the Saturday before the first Sunday in
Advent RSCM –affiliated choirs from Devon hold an
Advent Carol service in the beautiful setting of Buckfast
Abbey. Members of our choir like to take part and this
year four of us took the scenic route to the Abbey
magnificently chauffeured by John Stather.
On Saturday 29th November, John collected his passengers from around Dawlish.
Taking the scenic route on a very mild winter morning we arrived at the Abbey in
time for a leisurely lunch in the restaurant. We feasted well and maybe it’s not such
a good idea to follow a large meal by a singing practice - but that’s what we did.
After our lunch we joined the gathered masses of singers in the practice hall. I would
guess that about half the choir was taken up by sopranos. Voices A T and B at times
struggled to be heard against the volume of those who sing at the top. We’d
previously been sent copies of the music that we would sing during the service and
so now we were put to work pulling the disparate body of choirs together to form a
single unit. We began practice with the CHOIR pieces – the introit lead off by a
young lass with a stunning voice. She told me later that her ambition is to train as an
opera singer - I wish her well in her chosen career.
I must say I’ve had many a better choir practice experience. Not so bad in the hall
but once we moved into the Abbey to continue ….. No mic for the conductor (it had
broken!) so couldn’t hear what we were supposed to be doing, Basses lodged in
front of the Altos (I’m an Alto) – couldn’t see the conductor at all, organist didn’t
always seem to be playing our song! This did not bode well for the service to come
later.
Feeling rather jaded we adjourned to the restaurant for afternoon tea and thence
back to the hall to robe. With military precision we walked over to the Abbey and
processed up into the choir stalls. The Father Abbot, the Rt. Rev. David
Charlesworth, led the service and it was wonderful.
Despite all the concerns that had been raised at the practice everything fell into
place and I certainly returned to the hall to disrobe feeling that the season of Advent
was truly upon us and to round things off the Abbot in all his fine vestments came
into the hall (choir members in various states of disarray!) and Blessed us. God is
with us in this season of Advent. Rejoice and be merry for Christmas is coming.
Alethe Virgin
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There are two seasons in Scotland: June and Winter. ~Billy Connolly
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Love Wrapped In Majesty
by Nola Gendle Dec 12th 2012
In the clear air
a star shone bright,
Magi journeying
through day and night.
Shepherds not knowing
were dazzled by light.
Angels sang Gloria,
a wonderful sight
We bring our homage,
we offer a gift.
Tenderly, joyfully
our voices we lift.
Perfume of praises,
incense of joy.
Love wrapped in majesty,
God came as a boy.
Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so
that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. 1 Corinthians 16:6
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This is a page to bring Birthday Greetings to everyone
in the Church. Each edition I’ll be putting in the names
of members of the church who have a birthday in that
quarter. I’d be grateful if people could let me know
their names and the month they are celebrating
their birthdays in.
For instance - In the Autumn edition it will be the
months of September, October and November. The Winter edition will be the
months of December, January and February, the Spring one will be March, April and
May. and the Summer edition is for the months of June, July and August. Hopefully
I will be able to include more names as we go along. Anniversaries can be included
and please tell me if it is a very special occasion.
December – Irene Capstack, Kathleen Fey, Pat Neale(80), Jim Parris
(90), David Pyne, Joyce Salter, Jessica Sykes. Its also Ali & Martin Rowe’s
Anniversary.
January – Ivor Neale (80), Christine Newell, Hannah Pyne, Barbara
Robins, Ade Sasi, John Stather, Janet Verney
February – Annie Brightmore-Armour, Joan Smith
Many congratulations to all who are having a birthday
or anniversary in these months.
Youarecordiallyinvitedto
ABIRTHDAYCELEBRATION!!!
GuestofHonour:JesusChrist
Date:Everyday.Traditionally,December25butHe'salwaysaround,
sothedateisflexible....
Time:Wheneveryou'reready.
(Pleasedon'tbelate,though,oryou'llmissoutonallthefun!)
Place:Inyourheart....He'llmeetyouthere.
(You'llhearHimknock.)
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Our Weekly Church Programme
Sunday …………….…10.30 am
12.30 pm
5.30 pm
6.30 pm
Divine Worship and Junior Church
Sunday Lunch in the Hall
5.30 Fellowship in the Hall
Divine Worship once a month
Monday…………..……10.00 am
5.00 pm
7.30 pm
Handbells
Short Mat Bowls
The 7½ Club (Monthly)
Tuesday……………...10.30 am
Warrener’s House Group (Monthly)
Wed………..12.00 – 2.00 am
Wednesday Lunches in the Hall
Thursday…………..…7.30 pm
Table Tennis
Friday ……..10.00 – 12 noon
11.00 am
2.00 pm
3.45 pm
Wesley’s Café Mornings
Pause for Thought/Prayer Meeting
Choir Practice
Messy Church (Monthly)
…and finally
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