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Newsletter of St. George’s URC Hartlepool AugAugAugAug----Sept 2012Sept 2012Sept 2012Sept 2012

Dear Friends, I did my best to enjoy every minute of my holiday near Dunoon in Scotland, even when it rained for 24 hours without stopping. We stayed in a spacious and comfortable wooden ‘lodge’ with a view over Holy Loch; the scenery was amazing, the natives were friendly and there wasn’t a midge in sight! I met up with Jan Maxwell, formerly the minister in Chester-le-Street, Stanley and Blackhill, who now lives in Sandbank, a couple of miles away from Dunoon. We drove to Inellan on the Cowal peninsula, where she showed me a very special church, with which I was thrilled and delighted. A brown sign pointed up the road towards it, saying ‘Matheson Church’, for it was where George Matheson had been minister. I first read about him many years ago, and greatly admired his courage, wisdom and complete trust in God. To refresh the memories of those who know about George Matheson, and to enlighten those who don’t, he was not only a minister but also wrote several hymns, in-cluding my favourite, ‘O love that wilt not let me go.’ He was born in Glasgow in March 1842, and when he was still young it was discovered that he suffered from a disease that would eventually cause him to become completely blind. In spite of this – or perhaps be-cause of it – George made great efforts to read and learn as much as he could, worked really hard and graduated with honours from Glasgow University at the age of 19. While he was at university, he met and fell in love with a fellow student, and they began to think about getting married. Unfortunately, when George told his fiancé that his eyesight was worsening and that he would probably soon be blind, her response was, ‘I do not want to be the wife of a blind man’. And with that they parted. A couple of years later, on the eve of his sister’s wedding, the memory of that awful day came flooding back, and within five minutes he had written the hymn. After leaving university, George spent four years studying theology’ preparing him-self for entering the ministry. Inellan was his first pastorate and he was there for 18 years, during which time he received a summons to preach before Her Majesty Queen Victo-ria. She was so impressed by his preaching and prayers that she gave him a small sculpture of herself rather than a photo-graph as was her custom, so that he could feel it. George’s ministry continued, long, faithful and fruitful, until he died in August 1906. I hope that you have been able to en-joy your summer, Wishing you every blessing, Val Inellan Church

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Dates for your Diaries Sept 3

rd 10am Elders Meeting at the Manse

Sept 11th 7pm Church Meeting

Sept 22nd 10am -2.30pm Synod Organised First Aid Course – Booking Required.

Sept 29th St. George’s Village Show and preparation of the church for Harvest.

Sept 30th Harvest Thanksgiving Service – followed by Harvest Lunch.

Tea and Coffee Rota

AUGUST - 5th - Graham, Gillian Burgon and Family. 12th - Enid and Alistair Bushnell. Sheila Deacon. 19th - Ros Walker. Brian Carter. Dick Fletcher. 26th - Paula Adams. Joanne Jewson. Elma Welsh. SEPTEMBER- 2nd - Aileen and Frank Whittaker. Joan Metcalf. 9th - Service at Grange Road. 16th - Chris and Cathy Eddowes. Nancy Stephenson. 23rd - Sheila and Robert Harrison. Elizabeth Granger. 30th - Andrew and Margaret Fraser. Brian Carter. OCTOBER - 7th - Gillian Cartman. Val Rigg. Rose Hastings. 14th - May Ord. Margaret Welford. Jackie Burnett. 21st - Sheila Deacon. Valerie Waite. Joan Metcalfe. 28th - Gail, Tarryn and Ashley Hoad. Please make sure you are at Church early enough to set out the tea and coffee things and get everything ready before service starts. Please use Fair Trade goods. Tea, Coffee and sugar are provided. Bring milk(2 litres) and biscuits. If you cannot do your turn please swap with someone else on the list. There is no need to leave your seat before the end of the service to make tea and coffee, there is plenty of time for everyone to get to the hall area and the boiler is ready to use.

Have you thought what you are going to enter for the

St. George’s Village Show yet? Don’t forget to pick up your entry forms and get

knitting, growing, photographing, baking etc., etc., etc

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PROJECT AFRICA The total for our ‘Turn on the Tap’ and ‘Craft Shack’ appeal now stands at £207-17p. Thank you to everyone who is sup-porting our appeal, please, please, keep saving your coppers etc. Wyn Parkinson SHOEBOX APPEAL HOW YOU CAN HELP. Please continue to bring in medium size covered or uncov-ered shoeboxes. Boxes will be made up for boys and girls age 2-4,5-9,10-14 Leaflets on the table. Gifts of soft toys,hats,gloves mitts,scarves(many thanks to the knitters)pens crayons etc.toothpaste,toothbrushes,soap,small games,balls,sweets,sell by date March 2013.to be placed in the box under the ta-ble.Donations to help us send them £2.50 per box. Diary. Thursday 18th October Pilots will need help to cover boxes. Thursday 25th October Pilots will need help to fill boxes. Dedication will be at the service on 28th October. Boxes will be on the road in early November in good time for Christmas. Many thanks A Whittaker . Cornerstone: Notice to Volunteers: If you are unable to find a substitute yourself to cover any absence, please, please phone Shei la D e a c o n (871901) to let her know and she will arrange cover for you.

.THANK YOU to all the church family for the beautiful flowers we have received on our special days. They have been much appreciated. A special thanks to the ‘flower girls’ who distribute them week by week Johnson and Mary Thank you from Cathie and Declan for all the lovely gifts, cards and good wishes on the birth of their son, Max Eddowes-Cahill. Everybody has been so kind and thought-ful CRB Checks In the June /July newsletter I said that CRB checks were due to be renewed. As I learned at General Assembly that some changes are being made to the process at the end of August I have decided to wait until after that to contact people about their renewal. Margaret The Minister’s Sabbatical Our minister Val will be on Sabbatical from mid September until mid December. Please contact me in the first instance, for any pastoral circumstances which may arise during that time. Thank you Margaret Olympic jokes courtesy of Woodhouse Close Methodist/Anglican Church Why isn’t “suntanning” an Olympic sport? Because the best you can ever get is bronze. Alan Woodhall turned up for the Olympics with some barbed wire under his arm– he came third in the fencing. Apparently the cleaner I hired to clean the house while I was watching the Olympics was only second best. She just walked off with the silver.

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News from Town Centre Churches Dates:

Monday evening 3 September – 7pm - Welcome service for Rev Barrie Morris at Grange Road Church

Wednesday 5 September - 7pm - Service for licensing of Rev Linda Butler at St Lukes

Monday 17 September - 7.30pm - Open meeting about the Food Bank at Stranton Church

Wednesday 26 September - 11am-4.30pm - Volunteer Training Day for Food Bank volunteers at Church Street (Hope Church)

Congratulations to the Eddowes family team on winning the Town Centre Churches Together quiz. See trophy on the piano. St George's will now host the event next year and set the quiz.

The new priest in charge at Stranton Church, the Rev Dr Norman Shave was wel-comed in July. There is a new assistant curate at Stranton - Rev Sarah Jay.

Traidcraft launches UK’s widest fair trade range

Traidcraft, the UK’s leading fair trade organisation, launches its autumn 2012 catalogue,

which offers the UK’s widest choice of fair trade products.

The new Traidcraft range offers more than 450 ethically-made products, which celebrate

indigenous craftsmanship from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Many are handcrafted by artisans

using traditional skills.

The new product range is available locally from The Cornerstone or ask Chris Eddowes

The brand new fair trade range features beautifully handcrafted homewares, stylish jewel-

lery and accessories and children’s toys, as well as groceries, gift foods and drinks. Each item is

unique – and each has its own story

The gift of friendship

The handmade Friendship Dolls (page 45) come from CreArte in Guatemala, an organisation that

works with traditional craft groups. One of the groups is run by Maria Salome Perez Lopez

(below) – known to everyone as Salome.

Salome’s home is a hive of activity as the women gather to meet on the shaded porch of her house.

They work around a big table with all the materials needed to make the dolls close at hand. They

begin working at 8am and finish around 4pm, taking a break to go home and prepare lunch for

their families.“I went door to door visiting friends and asking who was interested in working with

me on this project,” Salome said. “They are my friends first and we work together. The money

from the dolls, the profit that we get is for food and family. I feel it is a good help. Group members

always say when we have enough to eat, we are happy.”

There will be Christmas (!) cards available to order soon. Profits go to St. George’s. Last year, Traidcraft were able to share £1000,000 between Christian Aid, Cafod and Sciaf from sales of cards

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Harvest Giving As usual our giving over Harvest will be supporting the work of Commitment for life. En-velopes will be available as usual. Those people who still receive a paper copy of the newsletter will find their envelope inside as is the usual practice. Those who now receive their newsletter via email will need to collect their envelope from the church.

Our partner country is Zimbabwe—here’s just one story from Silveira House.

When a bottle of juice means more than just a drink

Christian Aid partner, Silveira House, has been working in Nyama-panda, a growth town in Zimbabwe, near the Mozambique border, to re-duce poverty through the creation of self-employment opportunities.

Chipo Chaparata is the chair-person of the drinks group. Follow-ing training from Silveira House she and the group are now able to sell around 300 bottles a month of a fruit flavoured juice. Learning to mix the right amount of concentrate and clean water and store the product correctly has meant they can now sell the juice in local shops. They

even have a label with a bar code. This juice brings in much needed income for women in the community, many of whom are widows from HIV related illnesses and who have been affected by the violence of the last few years.

Chipo is so grateful to Silveira House for the opportunity to earn a living

“This project has had real benefits as I can survive on my own. My husband died and I need to look after my family. With this I can do it. Life was very harsh and I felt like killing myself but it has made life much better now. Projects like this one have really changed our community. The bottle means so much more than a drink.”

Other group members agreed with Chipo that it had changed their lives for the bet-ter. Some remembered how they used to get a few pence for carrying bags for visitors passing through. Now with income generating schemes and HIV training they have real-ised that both men and women need to be involved in earning. Learning a skill or setting up a small business helps if one of them dies. The person that is left will then be able to support their children and give them a future. “So it is a matter of inheritance” they all agreed.

Chipo wanted to send this message to those who have supported the work of Silveira House over many years.

“We have kept on praying to God for continued support, not only to help us but to help others too. Thank you for what you do”

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Baptisms 24 June Lincoln Zane Edwards, son of Tracy and Lee 29 July Maisie Faye Bettinson, daughter of Lauren and Jonathan Weddings 2 June David Singleton and Christine May Jason Ardle and Victoria Crompton

Could you name the places where the Bible tells us that these events hap-pened? Moses received the Ten Commandments – Mount Sinai The Israelites were enslaved for 400 years - Egypt Paul was shipwrecked and made landfall - Malta Judas gave Jesus a kiss - Gethsemane The people repented in response to Jonah’s preaching - Nineveh Moses parted the waters – the Red Sea John had his revelation - Patmos The prophet Amos was tending sheep when God called him - Tekoa One of the seven churches named in Revelations – Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum,

Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea Noah’s Ark came to rest – Mount Ararat

Have you ever thought, “I wish I could pick the hymns? Many years ago– over 30 in fact– we were in a vacancy and our Interim Moderator, Peter Poulter, decided the thing that was needed was a Worship Team. The reaction of many people in the original team was “I can’t do that!”. This progressed to “I could do a reading” to “I suppose it’s my turn to do a section of the service.” Every body’s reaction is the same (just look at the reaction to those sent by God in so many Bible stories). Many years later there has been some changes in personnel in the team but some of us are the originals. While we have a minister, there is not such a need for somebody else to do the worship, but the team has been resurrected many times and if we need somebody to do a service, it’s good to be able to produce a home grown group. Some of the original team are now getting a bit long in the tooth ( correction– all the original team are now long in the tooth) and the time is coming when we will have to fill the pulpit more often. We are a very rare church, one who has its own minister, and this will change when Val retires. We will not get a minister all to ourselves. It would be very silly to wait until this happens before we look to the future. Nobody is expecting you to suddenly preach a sermon, but I’ll bet a lot of you have skills in acting, singing or writing prayers, which you might like to develop for the future of St. George’s. Have a word with me, or Sheila, or Valerie or Bill if you want to know what it involves. And you sometimes get to pick the Hymns!

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Remembering Minnie

As I prepare this Newsletter, we are mourning the death of Minnie Callender. Mourning somehow

seems the wrong word to use for a person like her; she was so full of life and fun that perhaps

“celebrating” is the real word to use.

When I was Minni’s elder, I used to visit her on my way home from school and there was

always a hug, a kiss and a cup of tea with a Rington’s biscuit, followed by a wonderful chat that

certainly always did me good. I felt it almost a selfish pleasure to visit her. There were her stories:

of the Bombardment, the eclipse, the goat, the parrot, the wheelbarrow and the police raid,

amongst others—all told with great fun and enjoyment. One day she told me about a dream she’d

had—about her funeral! It was a burial, and, after everyone had left, she crept out from where

she’d been hiding behind the tombstone to look at the cards on the flowers to see who had sent

them. In reality, she left instructions for donations to the Hospice instead of flowers—but these are

from me, Minnie, with love and thanks for knowing such a wonderful person.

Chris

MINNIE CALLENDER (nee: Kirkpatrick)

Minnie`s passing is truly the end of an era for she is, I think, the last of the generation who

actually remembers the `Old Tin Chapel` down in the area of town that is still called Belle Vue.

The corrugated iron building preceded the Belle Vue Congregational Church, which was built in

Ashgrove Avenue in the 1920s. Minnie worshipped in the old chapel as a youngster and, apart

from her years away from the town, was always associated with Belle Vue Congs. She had a short

spell away in the late 40s and early 50s because the minister of the time would not accept her be-

cause of her marriage to Herbert, who was a divorcee. This did not deter Minnie since she was not

one to hold grudges and she returned once the minister concerned had moved on. She wouldn`t be

parted from her church and from corporate worship for long.

Minnie`s work in the church was often in the background, bustling about in the kitchen or at

bazaars or jumble sales, but eventually she did become an elder and always went about her work

quietly and willingly. Perhaps, though, `quietly` is the wrong word for wherever she was and no

matter what she was doing she would be talking, giggling or singing!! Singing was one of her

great loves and, in her younger days, she would sing solos with great gusto at the Sisterhood Ral-

lies, and she was a member of the choir in the days when Belle Vue still had one. Her repertoire,

over the years, would include hymns from `Moody and Sankey`, often used by the Belle Vue Sis-

terhood, as well as many of the more classical anthems that the choir sang. So `unassumingly`

rather than `quietly` is perhaps a better way of describing her work as a church member and elder!!

Being an only one and having no children of her own she has been extremely glad of her

church family in recent years. When Belle Vue U.R.C. closed she made the transition to St.

George`s with grace and dignity and was happy to adapt to her new surroundings and to her new

friends and `family`. She seemed to have the gift of looking forwards, even when the future en-

tailed challenge and change, rather than looking back to try to retain the past. It is people like

Minnie who state by their witness and actions that churches never close for she showed that

`church` is wherever God`s people worship and serve. And she knew that she was blessed by

God`s love and care through her `family` at St. George`s.

Margaret Robb

A Moment with Minnie

News of People Once again we think of those in our church family who are unwell. Amongst them is John Ross, who is making a slow recovery from his illness. Sheila Deacon and Anne Foster who have recently had falls, and Dick Fletcher who is presently being treated for TB. We send our best wishes to them all, and assure them of our prayers. Stan and Ann Foster have recently moved into a new home, and we wish them every happiness there. Also Hannah Slater has moved from Four Winds, via a short period in hospital into Ascot Nursing Home. We remember her in our prayers as she settles into new surroundings.

Church Flower Donors Sandra Twist (tel.273447) Ruth Miller (tel. 268481)

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Aug 5th Mr.& Mrs.A.Ord

12th

19th

26th

Sept 2nd Mr.E.Burrell.

9th Mrs.G.Cartman.

16th

23rd

30th Mrs.S.Twist.

Oct 7th Mrs.S.Deacon

Stewards’ Rota

August 12 Mr. A. Fraser Miss E. Rodgers

Mr. F. Whittaker Dr. J. Daniel * Mr. P. Humberston *

August 19 Mrs. G. Hoad Miss A. Hoad

Mr. G. Parkinson Mr. R. Fletcher * Mr. A. Fraser *

August 26 Mr. K. Hoad Mrs. M. Hoad

Mr. A. Hoad Dr. J. Daniel * Mr. R. Fletcher *

September 2 Mr. A. Bushnell Mrs. E. Bushnell

Mr. F. Whittaker Mr. P. Humberston * Mr. A. Fraser *

September 16 Mrs. G. Hoad Miss A. Hoad

Dr. J. Daniel Mr. R. Fletcher * Mr. P. Humberston *

September 23 Mr. A. Fraser Miss E. Rodgers

Mr. G. Parkinson Mr. F. Whittaker *Mr. R. Fletcher *

September 30 Mr. K. Hoad Mrs. M. Hoad

Mr. A. Hoad Mr. P. Humberston * Mr. A. Fraser *

October 7 Mr. A. Bushnell Mrs. E. Bushnell

Dr. J. Daniel Mr. G. Parkinson * Mr. P. Humberston *

If unable to be present, please arrange own substitute. Stewards marked * *will be responsible for

locking and unlocking fire exit doors and main entrance door. All stewards please help with col-

lecting and putting away hymn books after the service. A. Fraser

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The Flower Ladies are arranging deliveries on

each Sunday morning. If you would like to help on

any particular day– just offer.

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Worship in St Georges’

August

5th 10.30am Rev V Towler – Communion Service

12th 10.30am Rev V Towler – United Service with Grange Road in St George’s

17th 10.30am Rev V Towler

26th 10.30am Rev V Towler – Family Service

September

2nd 10.30am Rev V Towler – Communion Service

9th 10.30am United Service at Grange Road

16th 10.30am Rev V Towler

23rd 10.30am Mrs C Eddowes

30th 10.30am Rev V Towler – Harvest Thanksgiving

October

7th 10.30am Rev Rowena Francis – Synod Moderator - Communion

Church Officers MINISTER

Rev.V.A.Towler, 26 Tunstall Ave. TS26 8NE

tel. 409841

CHURCH SECRETARY

Mrs M Humberston 25 Belmont Gdns

TS26 9LS tel 425847

CHURCH TREASURER

Mrs Sandra Twist, 17, Granville Ave

tel 273447

FREEWILL OFFERING TREASURER

Mr W White 43 Grosmont Road Seaton Carew

Hartlepool TS25 1EP tel. 280986

HALL BOOKINGS STEWARD

Mrs J White 43 Grosmont Road Seaton Carew

Hartlepool TS25 1EP tel.: 280986

From the editor

Copy for the next issue to be with me by

lunchtime Sun Sept 30th please ( or earlier)

Reach me by e-mail on:

chris.richard.eddowes @ntlworld.com

St George’s Regular Activities

Sun 10.30am Family Worship

Mon 2.00pm Monday Meeting at Grange

Road

6.30pm Beaver and Cub Scouts

7.0pm Scouts

3rd Tues in month Prayer meeting 11.00am

Thur 10am Hobbies Club

Newsletter editor Mrs

C Eddowes

65 Hutton Ave

TS26 9PP

(269412)

Communion Rota

Elders in bold please set up the Communion Table.

Other elders please help to clear at the end

Sept Chris Eddowes Paul Rodgers

Sandra Twist Brian Carter

Oct Bill White Janet White

Andrew Fraser May Ord

Creche Rota

Aug 12 Miss T Hoad Mrs E S Welsh

19 Mrs S Harrison Mrs E S Welsh

26 Mrs M Ord Mrs G Cartman

Sept 2 Miss T Hoad Mrs E S Welsh

9 Mrs G Cartman Mrs E S Welsh

16 Miss T Hoad Mrs E S Welsh

23 Mrs S Harrison Mrs E S Welsh

30 Mrs M Ord Mrs S Harrison

Oct 7 Mrs G Cartman Mrs E S Welsh

14 Miss T Hoad Mrs E S Welsh

Please arrange own substitute if unable to attend

E S Welsh

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Church office

Mr P Humberston

25 Belmont Gardens

TS26 9LS

(425847)