A year in the life of Baildon Methodist Church

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 dancers.
• New groups introduced this year include an Afternoon Speakers club, Seedlings (a pre-school speech and language group) and Caterpillars (a pre-school balancing bike group).
• A special event, ‘The Great Get-Together’ took place in June, in memory of Jo Cox, MP with the aim of bringing communities and local people together.
• Church members supported the Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia by sewing blankets made up of knitted wool squares. A total of 261 blankets have been produced to date.
• The church continued successfully to fundraise towards its ‘Building For Growth Plan’ (2020 Vision), the first phase being to replace a current pre-fabricated building located beside the Church and provide up-to-date and eco-friendly community and pre-school accommodation; funding for this phase is nearing its target.

Chris F, Baildon