Ashby and Coalville Methodist Circuit

Hall Lane Newsletter Summer 2006
Issue 11

Didn’t We Do Well?

Our Flower Festival in August was a resounding success - in many ways. It was good to see so many people walk through our doors. The flowers were beautiful, our two Sunday services were well attended, our catering was so successful we ran out of food and we worked together as a team to spread God’s message.

Flower arrangement

A New Era for Hall Lane

Deacon Barbara Crockett

I’m sure many of us have by now met Sister Barbara who has taken over from Drummond.

Barbara is currently on holiday in America, a holiday of a lifetime booked before she knew she was coming to the Ashby and Coalville Circuit. She will be back in circulation at the end of September, so if you haven’t yet met her, go and introduce yourself to her.

Whilst she is away, Barbara has asked us all to think and pray about our new start together. Where do we feel we are as individual churches and as a circuit? As Barbara says, “the recent flower festival at Hall Lane shows that people are willing to cross our doorstep for a public event.”

But how are we going to bring these people back on a regular basis? We must build on the success of the flower festival, and before people forget that Hall Lane Methodist Church is here, we must put a plan into action. Do we want to start a Sunday school or children’s club? Is a luncheon club a good way of reaching out into our community? Do we really need to wait months for a new kitchen before we even start to make plans? Do we want a men’s group? What thoughts do you have? Think about it and speak to one of the stewards about the ideas you have.

From Barbara: Prayer is our watchword:

Prayer for each other,

Prayer for our communities,

Prayer for the Holy Spirit,

And Prayer can be carried out
even by the frailest of us.

For anyone wanting to know more about the diaconal order log onto: www.methodistdiaconalorder.org.uk and read more.

Congratulations

Family and friends gathered together in August to help Joan and Maurice Fennell celebrate their Ruby Wedding Anniversary.

Joan and Maurice Fennell

Following a party held at the Hermitage Park Hotel Joan and Maurice went on holiday to Vienna.

Congratulations to you both!

Good Luck

Our best wishes are sent to Drummond and Yvonne as they start their new life in Sheffield.

Rev Drummond & Eddie Henderson

A small presentation was made at a service in August prior to them moving on.

Good luck in Sheffield!

It wasn’t all glamorous ...

The Flower Festival wasn’t just about flowers. As if you don’t know, preparation for the weekend started months before and involved paintbrushes, sweeping brushes and lots of hard work!

One of the best things about the Flower Festival was how the whole church pulled together in the preparations. Whether you helped with DIY jobs, helped with cleaning, attended one of the many fundraising events or simply offered support - thank you.

But despite the hard work, we all had good fun ...

A Perfect Day for a Wedding

Saturday 3rd June was the wedding day for Helen Brett and John Robinson and it was perfect – sunny and bright. Guests had arrived to attend the event from all over the world to wish the couple their very best wishes for their future together.

Wedding of Helen Brett and John Robinson

The service was held at Hall Lane Methodist Church and the reception and dance took place at the Members’ Club in Thringstone.

Congratulations!

Dance for Your Supper

A line dance took place to raise funds for the flower festival. It was held on Friday 25th May and tickets sold out as soon as they went on sale.

Pam Goodenough Line Dancing

Almost 60 people came and took part with Pam Goodenough showing everyone the steps. A salad supper was served afterwards and everyone went home after helping to raise £263 for the flower festival.

Sankey Night

Hall Lane Methodist Church hosted a Sankey Night on Saturday 10th June. Almost sixty people, made up of family and friends from the circuit turned up to sing along to some of good old Sankey hymns. We were also treated to songs sung by Gladys Watrett from Shepshed Methodist Church which included The Old Rugged Cross.

Sankey Evening

A total of £170 was raised towards the costs of the flower festival. Well done to Malcolm Godfrey who played the organ for the evening and Rev Roy Pape who provided the commentary throughout the night, joining things together with the history of where Sankey music came from.

Thanks too, to everyone who helped organise the evening and helped with the refreshments.

Easter Breakfast

Anyone awake at 9am was welcome to join together for the breakfast in the Richardson Room at Hall Lane. The Bennett family treated us all to a breakfast of cereals, porridge, bacon and sausage baps finished off with toast and marmalade on Easter Sunday.

The breakfast was then followed by our Easter Sunday service led by Rev Drummond Gillespie. The theme was ‘Do we need to believe in the Resurrection?’ The answer was certainly a resounding ‘yes’. Fair Trade chocolate Easter eggs were distributed amongst the children and other chocoholics after the service.

Ladies Fellowship

Sue Henderson has taken over the reins of the Ladies Fellowship from Val Hutchinson and is the President for 2006/07.

Val had a very good year of fundraising for her chosen charity, the County Air Ambulance. A grand total of £1800 was raised and a cheque for this amount was handed over at the AGM in June.

BBQ

Money was raised by holding charity stalls on Coalville market, barbeques, coffee mornings, and part of the proceeds of the organ concert and donations.

However the Ladies Fellowship isn’t just about fund raising. Over the past year a wide variety of speakers attended at the twice monthly meetings. These included a talk on Ladies of Leicestershire, Life as a Registrar and Adopting a Child from the Phillipines. We also had several social evenings with an auction, a beetle drive, a demonstration of how to make Christmas decorations and an evening with Peter Bunny who showed us how to draw cartoons.

Sue Henderson is President, Monica Gilliver Treasurer and Allison Gilliver secretary for the next 12 months. If you would like to join us just come along and join in the fun.