CALENDAR
| JANUARY | |||
| 5th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship led by Rev Phil Chilvers |
| 8th | Wednesday | 9.30am | Elders’ Meeting |
| 12th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship led by Rev Heston Groenewald |
| 14th | Tuesday | 12.30pm | Guild Lunch |
| 19th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship led by Rev Phil Chilvers |
| 26th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship, including the Sacrament of Holy Communion, led by our Minister, Rev Dr Nicola Robinson We shall be joined by our friends from West Park URC |
| 12 noon | Church Meeting | ||
| FEBRUARY | |||
| 2nd | SUNDAY | 9.30am | Morning Worship at Headingley Methodist Church |
A HUGE THANK YOU to all who donated both gifts and money for our Gift Service. The total amount raised was £922, of which £300 was Gift Aided. Broken down this was £486 to the Salvation Army of which £205 was Gift Aided. £436 to Leeds Women’s Aid of which £95 was Gift Aided. The gifts were distributed between both charities. Both charities were extremely grateful to receive so much and send their heartfelt thanks. When I visited Leeds Women’s Aid, they were getting ready for a children’s party at All Hallows Church. It’s good to know other churches in the district support them.
May I add my thanks to you all and wish everyone a happy and peaceful 2025.
Susan Bollon
GUILD LUNCH
Our first lunch in the New Year will be held on Tuesday, 14th January. You are welcome whether you can come every month or just once in a while. We serve a hot lunch in a warm atmosphere – join us and cheer up a possibly miserable day in what feels like the longest month in the year.
CHURCH CHARITIES
I am pleased to report that during December £519 was distributed between the charities we raise money for. Therefore, a grand total of £1193 has been raised this year.
I would like to thank my fund-raising team of David and Brenda Stephenson, Susan Bollon, Christine Tweedie and Norman Madill for giving me so much help during the year – without them this part of Church life would not be possible. Thanks are due to all the donors and buyers. Without them nothing would be raised, of course. More donors and buyers will be more than welcome!
Margaret Madill
A Happy Christmas Memory
As most of you know I look after my granddaughter, Maevie, on a Wednesday. I take her to a mums and tots in the afternoon at Tinshill Free Church which she thoroughly enjoys. The helpers who run the session put on a party for both adults and children on the last day before breaking up for Christmas. One of the helpers always tells a bible story at snack time but this session the children went on a pilgrimage. They all followed the bubble blowing and eventually reached Bethlehem where baby Jesus had been born in a stable and laid in a manger. As the story unfolded, they had to find pictures dotted about the room, donkey, stable, Mary and Joseph, star, shepherds, kings, which of course caused a lot of mayhem! I thought it was a great way to tell the story, and they certainly enjoyed it.
Susan Bollon
As we take down the Christmas decorations and may even consign the baby Jesus and his manger to the cupboard, we still await the arrival of the Wise Men. They are often known as the Magi – the official title of the astrologers of the Persian court who would have been well aware of a new star appearing in the sky.
The Magi depicted in the mosaic from Ravenna are wearing fabulous Eastern costumes and already in the 6th century they are depicted as a group of three perhaps because they brought the three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. So many traditions are attached to the wise men about whom we know so little; that their names were Melchior, Balthasar, and Caspar; that one was old, one middle aged and one young and that they represented the three known continents of Europe, Asia and Africa.
It is Matthew who tells us the story of the Men from the East, their meeting with Herod and their unease at his reaction. In doing so he begins to relay the good news that this baby has been born for all humanity not just the Jewish nation that had prophesied and awaited his coming.
