Bradford North Circuit

The snippets below are taken from Baildon Methodist Church report to the Charity Commissioners for the year ending August 2017. Church membership increased to 187 by the end of the year. As a further development of the Jesus Shaped People programme, which we found so inspiring, (https://www.jesusshapedpeople.net/) a five-week teaching programme entitled ‘Parables For Baildon’ again took place in the New Year, studying the relevance of the Parables in relation to living today. A ‘Family Focus’ leaflet, updated seasonally, was produced listing all activities and events available at Baildon Methodist Church for children and young families. Events during the year included a harvest supper and entertainment, a Gilbert & Sullivan evening, a comedy night, a Church Anniversary social, Action For Children Christmas Fayre and concerts by Village Voices, Aire Valley Male Voice choir and Woodhouse Grove School. In the autumn, the Church hosted a visit by a group of young Palestinian dan...

Pancakes and Poems, what a great evening we had on 13th February (Shrove Tuesday), in aid of 2nd Mile Project. People were invited to come along for tea/supper and enjoy a variety of pancakes both savoury and sweet. The selection was most tempting with fillings such as chilli. chicken and avocado, mushroom or cheese and onion. The sweet fillings were too many to mention, but my favourite was fresh fruits with ice cream – yum, yum. Throughout the evening, many people had brought poems to read to everyone. The genre of this was amazing with funny, romantic, knowledgeable and even a little bit naughty. It was good to be together with laughter and smiles all round. A special thank you to everyone who came and all who helped. Elaine B, Thornton

Ladies of the Bradford North Circuit, welcome to an introduction to MWiB! Methodist Women in Britain is a movement within the Methodist Church, which seeks to resource individual women and women's groups in a variety of ways. It came into being in July 2011, formed through the coming together of Women's Network and other women's meetings within Methodism. MWiB is more than a meeting. Many women may feel that it is not for them, because they do not already attend a women's meeting. The movement is there for ALL women in Methodism. There are opportunities for meetings within circuits, and at District and Connexional levels, which are all held on a regular basis. MWiB seeks to offer a broader menu for women today. There are many opportunities to meet locally, nationally and internationally. Resources are available for individuals to use at home, at work or within their families. MWiB is very active nationally; details of events can be found in the Methodist R...

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.” This was the theme of our one-church, all-age service which, as part of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was held this year at St Phillip’s Church in Girlington on Sunday 21st January. The service had been designed by churches in the Caribbean for united services held by churches throughout the Christian world and was but one of the events organised during this designated special week. The church was full to overflowing and the tempo was lively. Participation by a congregation of all ages and all branches of Christianity from most of the churches in Girlington, Heaton and Manningham was enthusiastic. The young people of the churches played a significant part by establishing areas of oppression through the creation of links of a chain and then, by using their own words and ideas, showed how the chain could be broken in ways that led to freedom - of both mind and spirit. The younger children in their own, sometimes noisy but always livel...

How would a gingerbread church with icing doors and chocolate finger organ pipes appeal? Junior Church at Thackley had been busy building such an edifice for a couple of weeks, before the part-completed church was creatively used as the basis of an inspired service, put together by worship leader, Gill Dobson. Using the Lectionary readings and carefully chosen hymns, poems and prayers, Gill gave us a timely reminder that our churches are the people, not the building, and that we are all part of God’s Church – all our churches belong to Him – not us! We considered how the children were building their gingerbread church on the groundwork of the Junior Church leaders and how in a similar way we were building Thackley Church, in the sense that the church is who we are and what we do. We were asked to think how we might describe Thackley - a busy church? A traditional church? An ageing church? A lively church? A tired church? A caring church? Rev David admiring the ...

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 rea...

I wonder what the weather’s like? Oh, no! Snow and ice. I will have to call off Holiday at Home; no-one will get out of their homes. Hold on! It is only Wednesday 17 January. We have a week to go! I wonder what the weather’s like? Oh, good! Rain and wind. At least the guests will arrive, now the ice has gone. 10:00am and most people have arrived and the buns and cakes are disappearing fast. Chris Ellerton transfixed everyone with his painting skills and his artistry with a paintbrush. Lunch was a fun affair, with lots of chatting and good food to eat. After lunch we were entertained by Stevie Long, who sang songs and had some people dancing. After the entertainer, we held a simple communion service to finish. We welcomed 54 guests and helpers to St. Andrew’s. We had a wonderful day of fun and companionship with each other. Our guests represented at least 7 Churches out of 15. I long to see all 15 churches represented. As well as our regular guests, we were glad to welc...

At the Circuit Meeting at Allerton on 6th March I challenged our circuit churches to be honest with themselves about their mission and ministry, and the obstacles and opportunities they face in fulfilling their calling to serve God in today’s world. Two factors led me to do this. Firstly, the fact that a number of our churches are facing difficulties, with various combinations of the following factors making life challenging: ageing congregations and a lack of people able to take on leadership roles; the continuing state of austerity in society, leading to reduction in groups wanting to use our buildings with subsequent loss of income;  changes in demographics, bringing questions of how ministry and mission should be exercised in areas where the majority of residents are Muslims; suites of buildings that are either not fit for purpose or unsustainable financially; a cumulative tiredness in those carrying the burden of leadership.  Secondly, the request from last year...