i news i comment i faith i life i june 2011

I NEWS I COMMENT I FAITH I LIFE
I JUNE 2011
On Monday 18th April a group of volunteers worked with
Catherine to provide Messy Easter sessions for 60 children
linked to our church through Pushchair Club and Messy
Church
The art activities were designed to support the telling of the
Easter story and included decorating a purse and filling it with
salt dough silver coins ( Judas’ purse ), making an Easter
garden, rolling marbles dipped in paint to represent the
stone rolling away from the tomb, decorating crosses, making
chocolate crispy cakes with eggs and fluffy chicks and
decorating hard boiled eggs.
Even the smallest child ended the activity session with a
collection of hand-made goodies to take home!
After refreshments the group gathered to hear the Easter
story, told simply, using a homemade book of silhouette
pictures and examples from the day’s activities. This was
followed by singing time and parachute games, which
everyone enjoyed enormously. By the end of the day
EVERYONE was exhausted but happy!
Many thanks to all who helped to create such a memorable
day.
Look out for our display in the Church Hall.
In this Issue
Messy Easter
Family News
Mike’s Message
Green Tip/Christian Aid
Tim Flowers
New Stewards
Royal Wedding
“The Easter cross
is superb! Loved
the feel and the
strong statement
of hope it will
communicate to
the world who
notice it as they
pass by the
Church.
Easter wishes and
prayers for the
congregation in
Solihull.
We miss you!”
Betsy & Sarosh
Sent in by proud parents Denys and Margaret Nicol.
This is Malcolm Nicol and Nadia his wife, when he got his FRCS.
Malcolm started in SMC creche when he was 2 weeks old, and
progressed through all departments of Junior Church, collected
for JMA, and assisted Stan Field with lighting in the early days of
SMASH.
He was recently appointed Consultant in General Orthopedics
& Trauma at Raigmore Hospital, Inverness.
His catchment area includes the Falkland Isles!
Congratulations to the Willetts who become grandparents
for the 9th time. A new son Matthew Christopher for
Elisabeth and Chris Gregory.
Thomas.
Our love and prayers go out to Joyce and Bryan Fitter and
their family following the tragic death of their grandson
Congratulations to Mark Richmond, who you will
remember was selected to represent England in the Five
Nations squash competition at Easter, playing for the U13
Team. We are pleased to say that they won, but not only
did they win over all, each player in the team won every
match they played.
The new Lingard grandson.
Thomas, with Iain and Cristina.
A new baby for Bebin and Elsie Thomas who write;“Many thanks for your wishes. We still have not decided
on a name for Arun’s brother
Suggestions are welcome for a name starting with ’A”
Baby weighs 7lb 4oz. Both Elsie and baby are doing well.”
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On 1st May we celebrated the Baptism of Stuart
Andrew Bradbury. Here he is with his parents
Louise and Dale and his big brother Daniel.
GREEN TIP – Using up the left overs
Nowadays so much food is wasted. We either buy too much and it goes bad before we get round to eating it
or we cook too much and it does not get eaten. We are tempted by BOGOFs – buy one get one free – offers
which can be very wasteful, especially with fresh vegetables unless we have a plan!
On a Monday I get all the old veg from the bottom of the fridge and make it into soup. I boil it up, season it
well and then use a blender to make a delicious vegetable soup which we have for lunches throughout the
week. When we have a chicken at the weekend I boil up the carcass and add the stock to the soup.
Often some cooked vegetables are left over from a meal, particularly potatoes which can be fried up on a
second day. (At Christmas our granddaughter thought they were wonderful and asked Mummy to do
potatoes like Granny does!). ‘Bubble and squeak’ was a wartime favourite and can be made from any left
over greens plus potatoes.
Bread and cakes also do not last too well and I have come across a number of recipes for using up stale
bread. The Greener Church group is putting together a small booklet on ways to use up left over food.
Friends R Us have already contributed some recipes. If you have any other special recipes for using up left
overs we would love to have them. Please contact me  0121 711 7696 or suebalmer162@btinternet.com
Sue Balmer
Christian Aid Coffee Morning and Ploughman’s Lunch
The sun was shining with a keen wind) yet the car park
was soaking wet. What a fine band of people of all ages
greeted us and took our cars for their annual wash on
Saturday 14th May at the Christian Aid Coffee Morning
and Ploughman's Lunch which started our efforts for
Christian Aid Week. There was red bunting and balloons
everywhere. No one going past could have missed what
was going on. Once inside the hall there was such a
selection of stalls with a very brisk trade going on. Inside
the hall and out there was a stall with the very best of
plants with vegetables, bedding and perennials available
and of course inside was the cake stall. How are we
expected to pick a cake to take away with so many
favourites waiting for us? Early on there was quite a few
of puddings (especially crumbles) on this stall but how
quickly they had all disappeared. Add to this the books,
Traidcraft, toys and puzzles, and the Remnants stall from
Saltley with its beach bags and cushions – there was so
much worth spending our pennies on. And to cap it all a
super ploughman’s lunch with apple pie and cream to
follow.
What tremendous work from a delightfully ecumenical
team which as a provisional figure has beaten last year’s
amazing total by getting over the £1500 level for the first
time this year for this great cause. Well done everyone
who made this happen
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Mike’s Message
Minister
Our Church has a very clear
purpose. We are here in
Solihull today in order to link
our community with Christ. It
is clear to us that Jesus still has
something very real and
precious
to
offer
our
community and we feel the
responsibility to make that
known in the best and simplest
possible way.
Jesus stands out clearly on his
own for us as a teacher with
profound
insights
that
challenge the adult mind and
as a role model par excellence
for our children to follow with
imagination and vigour. For all
the Church’s faults and its
human misrepresentations of
Christ’s love, there is nothing
wrong with Jesus. He still is
someone we can be confident
to represent.
We want to share Jesus with
our community because Jesus
helps us to make sense of our
spirituality. He links us to God
in a way that is simple and
real. Divine’s of previous
generations have told us that
there is a God-shaped vacuum
that only Jesus can fill, and
that our hearts are restless till
they find their rest in him.
While from day to day we may
live with and among very
material things, each one
knows
there
exists
a
dimension ‘just out of reach’, a
‘bigger picture of things’ that
they long to explore.
There is more to life than this
life, and the ‘Jesus way’ has
proved over the last 2000
years to be a most helpful and
honest way to satisfy these
deep longings in our hearts.
We want to link our
community to Christ because
we know that the ‘Jesus way’
is also an excellent way for
society to live in true
community.
Bad
things
happen in our world everyday
and all around us. We are not
naive to this, but we also know
there are more good things
going on, more loving actions
taking place every day in our
world than the few exceptions
that dominate the headlines.
Jesus helps us to see each
other differently, to value
both the strong and the weak,
offers a safe place for the
vulnerable and an exuberance
of life and opportunity for the
creative and the adventurous.
Jesus comes that we might
have life in all its fullness.
Jesus opens up our humanity
in a way that shows its
sacredness. Etty Hillesum, who
at the age of 29 went to her
death
at
Auschwitz
in
November 1943, understood
that every person was a house
for God and that her prayer
was ”to find a dwelling place
and a refuge for you in as
many houses as possible.”
That is the same task God has
entrusted us with.
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Mike Crockett
705 5254
minister@solihull-methodist.org.uk
Available Saturday to Thursday
Lay Pastoral Worker
Deborah Humphries
01564 771686
pastoral@solihull-methodist.org.uk
Youth Worker
Catherine Ralph
07957 473209 or 603 1132
youth@solihull-methodist.org.uk
Available Wed to Mon
Church Office
office@solihull-methodist.org.uk
0121 705 7367
Lettings
lettings@solihull-methodist.org.uk
What’s on this month?
Sunday
5th
Tuesday
Sunday
7th
12th
Tuesday
Sunday
14th
19th
Tuesday
Sunday
21st
26th
Tuesday
28th
09.00 am
10.30am
09.30am
10.30am
6.30 pm
9.30am
10.30am
3.00 pm
09.30am
10.30am
6.00 pm
09.30 am
Holy Communion - Rev Mike Crockett
Morning Worship - Rev Mike Crockett
Tuesday Holy Communion
Church Anniversary Service and Holy Communion : Rev Chris Giles
JMA Walk
Tuesday Holy Communion
Morning Worship : Rev Mike Crockett
Circuit Celebrations at Lyndon
Tuesday Holy Communion
Morning Worship - Caz Hague
Local Preachers Recognition Service for Carol Kirchoff at Acocks Green
Tuesday Holy Communion
Closing Circuit Celebration on Sunday June 19th from 3.00 pm at
Lyndon Methodist Church
We have received an invitation from the Elmdon Circuit to this event, to give thanks as we prepare to become part of
the new circuit. The pattern for the day will be as follows:
3.00 p.m. A selection of displays (in the hall at Lyndon), representing the life and history of each church in the Circuit.
A series of short performances – drama, music…. (in the church) for those who simply want to sit and
listen.
5.00 p.m. A “bring and share” Tea (drinks provided)
6.30 p.m. Celebration Worship. Solihull Methodist Church will have a table top display, and it is hoped that there will be
time to share our stories, to sit and chat, to be inspired and challenged for wherever the future may take us –
as we give thanks for all that God has done, and as we offer thanks to those who have served us so faithfully.
PLEASE COME, EVERYONE WELCOME
The Messenger Team
Sue Balmer, Mike Crockett, Bryan Fitter,
Jeff Horton, Bill Penny and
Lawrie Rumens.
Material for publication to
messenger@solihull-methodist.org.uk
Please try to keep articles to 250 words.
We reserve the right to edit articles if
necessary.
Please send photographs separately as
jpeg files.
NB. Last date for July Messenger items
is
8th June
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Church Office
office@solihull-methodist.org.uk
Hi, my name is Tim Flowers and I live in the Black
Country Village of Gornal, which is just to the north
west of Dudley. I am a Student Presbyter in my first
year at Queens College in Edgbaston, and will be
spending May and June on placement working with
Mike and Deb at Solihull Methodist Church.
I am married to Julia and we have been blessed with
three children. Charlotte and Natasha will be 21 in
August, and both at university. Charlotte is in her final
year studying Theology at Oxford, Natasha is in her
third year studying music at the Birmingham
Conservatoire her main instrument is the oboe. Last but
not least our family is completed by our son Joshua who
is 10, and our two cats Bobby and Jade.
My working life has been mostly spent in the West
Midlands, firstly in the steel stockholding industry in a
variety of different roles for 21 years, before working as
a Project Manager for a sign manufacturing company
for six years and finally a short time in the civil service.
I have served as a local preacher in a number of circuits,
and served our home church in a variety of leadership
roles for many years. During this time as a family we
developed an understanding that the Lord wanted
more and more from us and we both felt that it was
right to follow his call to full time Ministry.
Thank you for the opportunity to work
with you over the next few months.
God Bless
Tim
Launch of New Birmingham Circuit - September 1st, 2011.
The new Birmingham Circuit is to be launched at a special
service on the evening of Thursday September 1st at 7.30 p.m
at Symphony Hall, Broad Street, Birmingham city centre. The
.
President and Vice-President of Conference will be present
Tickets can be booked by adding your name and ticket
requirements to the lists on the information table at the back
of church or by contacting the church office.
“Wish you all a Happy & Blessed Easter! Hope you all are doing
good. I had been extremely busy at work since the beginning of
this year until March. It is getting better now, where I have to
spend only 8 hrs at work a day! Interior work at our Bangalore
apartment is over and we have now moved to Hyderabad. We
plan to move back to Bangalore by May(end) / June(early), if
God willing. Here we all are doing fine by the Grace of God.
Once again - Wish you a great Easter from all of us.
With Love & Prayers, Elsie and Bebin”
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Jackie Farmer
Richard Burr
Margery Benson
I come originally from Cambridge
though grew up in Worcestershire.
As a family we were brought up in
the Anglican Church but I was finding
that a difficult road to walk. A friend
persuaded me to go with her to our
local Methodist Church and I have
been a Methodist ever since.
I came to Solihull Methodist Church
in 1959, with my parents Joan and
George, who still worship here and
many of you will know. In 1959 we
had afternoon Sunday School in the
old church by the nearby
roundabout, but soon it was sold,
and we had a Terrapin hut in the car
park outside the vestry, whilst the
new Hall was being built. The Hall
was ‘my’ Sunday School, Badminton
club, Young People’s Fellowship,
Seekers meeting and where teachers
like Lawrie Bailey and my parents
influenced my beliefs and thinking,
and encouraged my membership of
the Church.
After gaining my degree at
Nottingham in Quantity Surveying, I
worked in Cambridge for a short
time before joining Bond Foster in
Telford and marrying Christine. We
moved to Solihull, with our two
daughters Gillian & Joanne, in 1987
because my client base was then
mostly in London, and I wanted to
be at home with the family more
often than was possible in Telford.
This is my second time as a Church
Steward, having previously been a
Steward in the time of David
Blanchflower. I am looking forward
to working with Mike and fellow
Stewards and trust that I shall be
guided by the thought “What would
Jesus do?” in all that we do together.
I have been a member of Solihull
Methodist Church since 1980. My
husband, Peter, and I with our two
young daughters, had moved from
Lancashire where we worshipped at
a small Methodist Church in the
Rossendale Valley.
I was a Primary School teacher and
had worked in Adult Education and
run a Pre- school playgroup. No
surprise then that I was soon
teaching in Junior Church and
became a Brownie Guider leading
the Church Brownie pack for
fourteen years.This was a very
rewarding, enjoyable and
challenging role, the highlights being
especially the Pack holidays, filled
with fun for the children and the
leaders. During that time I returned
to part time teaching, working
alongside children with special
educational needs.
After early retirement I became
more involved with pastoral work
and served on the Church Council. I
was a joint Junior Church coordinator for a number of years
which enabled me to engage with
our younger families and children.
In my spare time, I love working in
our garden, flower arranging and
trying to improve my French
conversation. Peter and I also enjoy
walking, visits to the Symphony Hall
and Birmingham Repertory theatre,
and most importantly spending time
with our grandchildren and
extended family.I was first elected as
a Church Steward in 1988 and look
forward to the privilege of this
second opportunity to serve the
Church over the next twelve months.
Having trained as a teacher I worked
in Canada and Australia (a wonderful
way to travel) as well as here in the
West Midlands; my last school
before
retiring
was
in
Cambridgeshire. I returned to the
West Midlands as all my family are
in
this
area.
They
said
Cambridgeshire was too far to travel
to look after me – what could they
mean by that I wonder!
When working in the West Midlands
I attended Shirley Methodist Church
(before it was rebuilt) and in
Cambridgeshire I was a member of
Huntingdon Methodist Church.
I am finding that one of the
pleasures of living in Solihull is how
easy it is to get to concerts and the
theatre, two of my interests. Where I
live there is a small space outside
the flat and I am enjoying turning
that into a garden.
We are grateful to Mary
Buckels who will be joining
the team of pastoral
leaders. Please keep her in
your prayers as she takes on
this new challenge.
A big thank you to the stewards
stepping down----David Grey,
Marjorie Roper and Fiona Beadle
20th April 2011
Your Highness and Miss Middleton,
As President of the Conference of the
Methodist Church in Britain I offer on behalf
of the people called Methodist our greetings
and best wishes, our joy and our prayers on
the occasion of your marriage. May the Lord
bless you and grant you wisdom, grace and
love in your life together and in your service
of the country.
With all good wishes,
Alison Tomlin
President of the Methodist Conference
On the eve of the Royal Wedding a group of princesses and princes gathered in the Church Hall with their
parents and carers to enjoy a traditional Street Party. You will have guessed that Joyce Fitter and Catherine
Ralph were in the middle of it all!!
After making crowns and taking part in a Royal Parade they
settled down to a delicious banquet of sandwiches, sausage
rolls and crisps, fruit and jelly and fairy cakes. Then they played
pass the Wedding Present and sang and acted “ A princess
lived in castle so high”, and it was soon time to go home with a
piece of Royal Wedding cake and a flag to wave whilst
watching the great event on TV the next day.
The celebrations of the royal
wedding had begun in style.
In accordance with church policy
all the leftovers were recycled by
the Cubs!!
We have received a letter
acknowledging our cheque for
£2200, which was sent to the
disaster fund to help Japan and
New Zealand after the recent
earthquakes and tsunami.
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