Skip to main content

“Anything Betty’s can do………”

Sitting in Lidl car park at 9.30am with a chopping board and knife, sampling their quiche, just to make sure it was good, the thought ‘how do I get myself into these situations?’ crossed my mind. I had a busy two days ahead, before our fundraising lunch. Time to buy the final shopping, collect the profiteroles, decorate the cakes, make sandwich fillings, set up and decorate the tables and chairs in the church hall. I wanted the event to be St Andrew’s answer to Betty’s!

On the day, I knew I would have plenty of help at 10.30am, when the youth and Jennifer arrived and by 11.45, all was good. The girls, looking very professional, were ready to wait on our supportive and generous church members. Jennifer and I poured teas and coffees and then busied ourselves, along with the girls and a few helping hands, in the kitchen and afterwards, in the hall clearing up. Of course, that meant ensuring that all the cakes were consumed (well, we did work up quite an appetite)!

There were two reasons why I came up with this idea. I wanted all of our youth to have the opportunity to attend the Yorkshire West Young People’s Network Weekend Away at Carlton Lodge Outdoor Centre in Thirsk. I also hoped that this fundraiser would be a social event which the church could enjoy, without having any other responsibilities.

I was thrilled at the outcome. The fundraising was a huge success and it was lovely to see the girls working together and having fun, but for me the best part was seeing everyone happily sharing together and enjoying not only the food but each other’s company. Thanks to everyone who supported this event.

I recently used some Bible notes which focused on Paul’s letters and one thing which was frequently mentioned was how we need to look after each other within our churches. That doesn’t mean that we become inward looking, but if we don’t spend time within our congregations listening, chatting and supporting, then how can we hope to reach out into our communities and do the same for them? I think we need to put time aside every now and again to share socially as a church.

Debra, Junior Church Co-ordinator, St Andrew’s


On behalf of the youth at St Andrew’s, I would like to say a big thank you to those who attended Andy’s cafe (our take on Betty’s) for our afternoon tea, which helped us to raise £300 for our youth to have the opportunity to attend the Yorkshire West Young People’s Network Weekend Away.

It was a great experience becoming a waitress for the day with our laced aprons, serving the congregation who purchased a ticket. The preparation took place during the service as we worked together making sandwiches, putting together side salads, and displaying the confectionary on cake stands. I thoroughly enjoyed working as a team to raise funds so that we can spend a weekend building further friendships with people our age who share the same faith.

Abby, St Andrew’s

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Message from the Link

D ISSUE 16 OCTOBER 2012 ear Friends How many times have you heard people say in your church ‘Well, I didn’t know about that!’  Quickly followed by, ‘Well, if you read the notices …’ Communication within churches can be wonderful, it can be a little frustrating and it can be never quite what we had hoped.  The same is true across the Circuit, and very soon we will be reviewing methods and means of communication.  Part of this review may include looking at ‘The Link’ and ‘Outlook’ in the light of our focus upon Mission.  For example, it may be that we move more towards what has happened and how it worked to encourage churches to think about the stories that they have to share, rather than being a notice sheet of things to come. Which leads me to ask, have we ever wondered about who it is we are trying to communicate to, and about what?  For example, there have been many adverts in ‘ The Link’ about coffee mornings and cake....

News from Allerton Methodist Church

Allerton’s Community Play & Learn Hub In October we were approached by the Bradford Community Play Partnership to ask if they could use the church premises for their Allerton & Lower Grange Community Learning Hub. They had been running this from Ladyhill Park since 1st April but needed somewhere more suitable for the winter months. Supporting local families and linking with 5 local primary schools, 7 volunteers, including 3 of our own congregation, are working together to provide ‘Bags of Creativity’ during the pandemic. The group have provided over 5,000 packs to children, signed up over 700 children to a Summer Reading Challenge, engaged with 1,500 children in the Light Project with a physical literacy music lesson in the car park, with pallet Christmas trees, a grotto, forest school activities including making Bird Cake and incorporating: Exercise Counting, Measuring, Weighing Investigating natural materials Growing Sunflowers Reading Music The Hub will continue until Februa...

The Spirit of the Christmas Truce of WW1 Relived

The Spirit of the Christmas Truce of WW1 Relived During the 1st World War on Christmas Day1914 an amazing thing happened. There was a truce just for that day. Germans and the British stopped fighting and started singing carols. They came out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy. Photographs of families were shown to each other, small gifts were exchanged. Then they played a game of FOOTBALL! Just for that day it was PLAY not WAR! In remembrance of those men, and, their hopes for the Peace to come: Football Match 1.30 pm - 4.00 pm Sunday 10 November 2013 Bradford's Centenary Square Reflections, Poetry and Music on the theme of peace and war 7.30 pm - 9.00 pm The Delius Centre, Great Horton Road Come and join us!