Posts by Andrew

Young Peoples Sunday

A few weeks ago, a very full church celebrated Young People’s Day. We heard all about the recent 3Generate weekend and said thank you to all our JMA collectors for the money raised last year. Certificates were presented to the young people and to Celia, who has stepped down as a JMA leader and is now (un)officially called a ‘JMA aunty’! Thank you to Joyce, who has taken on the role, sharing it with Lyneth. It was a wonderful and…

Fireworks Evening

On Friday 2nd November we had our annual family fireworks fun. We welcomed over 60 people from our Church and wider family and guides and brownies too. A fun evening was had by all with board games, crafts, food and of course, the all important fireworks! Thank you to everyone who helped and came along to support the evening.

Harvest Festival

This weekend was our harvest festival. On Saturday we had a Christian Aid “Big Brekkie” where lots of people came to get their cooked breakfast/brunch/lunch! A grand total of £187 was raised. On Sunday Revd. Adam talked about celebration and living our faith, as well as presenting out ecochurch plaque. Photos of the harvest display can be seen below.

Getting Messy for Christmas

Yesterday we had our first Messy Church. During the afternoon we took part in different craft activities to make us think about Christmas. There was a picture of angels and sheep with plenty of glitter. A manger where we were encouraged to write something we would like to say to Jesus.  Racing Angels to talk about how God delivered messages.  Edible nativity scenes to tell the story of Christmas. All this was finished off with a giant Christmas wreath in…

Starting Advent with Paul Bell at Cafe Arts

Paul Bell kicked of our Advent and Christmas Celebrations with a wonderful evening of music, including his own songs (both Christmasy and others) as well as a selection of his other favourite carols. The evening was full of his now trademark humour and poignant lyrics. It was a wonderful way to start advent. You can find his music and order his Christmas album on his website http://paulbellmusic.com/

Dave Bilbrough at Café Arts

This weekend, Dave Bilbrough returned to Café Arts to kick off the new season. During the evening he shared songs from his new album “The Song That I Sing” as well as many of his other songs and enduring favourites. All this was accompanied by his son Dan Bilbrough on percussion which enhanced the music beautifully. You can find out more about Dave Bilbrough on his website at www.davebilbrough.com . Café Arts is our Christian Arts project which hosts singers,…

In Harmony with Creation – A Day Out

Last Sunday we had a church outing to Bedfont Lakes Country Park as part of our in harmony with creation campaign. After a picnic, people were invited to try their hand at a number of different activities including building shelters, exploring all the colours of creation, making land art and creating leaf based window hangers. The weather held out and a fantastic day was had by everyone.

Celebrating the Wonder of Creation

Last weekend we celebrated our harvest festival on the theme of “Wonder of Creation”. Saturday morning we held a Big Breakfast which was very well attended, had a great atmosphere and raised £110 for Christian Aid. Thank you to everyone who came. Sunday morning was a very special service, led by Revd. Adam (his first service with us!) when he preached on how wonderful creation is and launched our campaign against climate change and environmental abuse. You can hear the…

Revd. Emma’s welcome to her new circuit

Revd. Emma was welcomed into her new circuit (Wimbledon) and sent her thanks to the members of Bell Road who came along to support her. She also sent some photos for those who couldn’t make it. Please continue praying for Revd. Emma and Nana in their new church and circuit.  

Welcoming our new minister

On Monday we welcomed and celebrated with our new minister Revd. Adam as he was commissioned by the circuit to serve at Hounslow and Heston. At the service we also commissioned Ali, who is a member of our church, in her new role as urban missioner to the Alton Estate in Roehampton. You can see photos below, which also includes the picture coloured in separately and put together from across the circuit. If you missed the service and would like…

Statements from the Methodist Church following EU Referendum

The Revd Steve Wild and Jill Barber, the President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference, have released the following joint statement following the EU referendum. The people have spoken through the democratic process.  We recognise that the result will cause pain to some people who voted with passion and integrity and that now is the time to move forward together with goodwill. The structures have changed but our hopes for a fair, just and equal society continue. We must now…

Thursday Bible Study

Our Bible Study group has continued with great success and enthusiasm.  Thanks to our group of between 13 – 16 people.  Some have only joined during the Lent Studies, but we have been pleased to share with others from some churches in the Circuit. Many thanks to Rev. Emma for her guidance and leadership, to those who have been brave enough to lead some sessions too. At the end of the Lent session when we met weekly, we decided to…

Campaigning Report

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8) The campaigning group is delighted to be able to report back on what has been Bell Road’s third year of campaigning. What began as a one-year project to encourage the church community to raise its voice alongside the oppressed and the vulnerable has now become a…

Leprosy Mission Report

Our church has continued to support this charity, which does so much for those marginalised because they have Leprosy or a member of their family does. Each year in January, we hold a service in this church to raise awareness of the work of The Leprosy Mission (TLM).  How it is a lifeline for so many people who are affected by Leprosy. Either because they have the illness or where it affects their ability to work. People are still shunned…

World Mission Report

World Mission is part of the Methodist Church and carries out charitable activities. Funds are raised through the Easter Offering, JMA and individual giving. In 2014/15 Easter Offerings amounted to £267.35. The church from their own funds, in 2014/15 made two donations to this fund, one for £500 and the other for £100. Money raised is used to support various activities. It works through partnerships with other Methodist churches and other organisations; they also, run programmes helping underprivileged people in…

Technical Report

Worship and Church This year has seen a number of changes in the technological life of the church. One of the most noticeable changes is our fantastic new screens which have been paid for by a very generous anonymous donation. They have now been in use for some months and feedback has been positive and are certainly an improvement from the old worn out projector. Work is mostly completed with a few more changes and finishing off to do. A…

Christian Aid Report

We had our annual collection for Christian Aid Week in May 2015. We were also able to send money raised through The Coffee Stop. In June, there was a special day on promoting the Climate Campaign, which is where I went along to the Service in St Margaret’s (another was held at another venue at the same time as there were so many people wanting to go) although I wasn’t able to go with them to lobby MPs. Celia came…

JMA Report

From the church year beginning September 2015, presently on record, there are 24 JMA Collectors (5 fewer Collectors from the previous year – these five children no longer attend our church). We lost 5 Collectors and gained two new Collectors. Members of the church family, friends, and families of the Collectors continue to be Sponsors. They give generously and regularly small of money to the Collectors. The Collectors are encouraged to take their JMA boxes with their record book to…

Stewards Report

On record, the new church year began with 14 Church Stewards and 4 Holy Communion Stewards. General Responsibilities of Church Stewards, to support and lead whenever possible in different areas of the church’s life and activities in agreement with our Minister. We are committed to our calling to serve with God’s love, guidance with compassion.  Together, we try to serve at the heart of our church community, caring and supportive to others. We share with our Minister, in confident and…

Letter from the Minister

Dear Friends, From this, my final reflection, I want to express my sincere gratitude to each and every one of you, for your contributions and devotion to the ministry of this place and beyond.  Our vision, mission and ministry here would not have been noticeable if we hadn’t worked together and even most importantly prayed together.  So to God be the glory, great things He has done! Membership: Our total membership as at the beginning of May 2016 was 117…

Vapour

Look again at that dot.  That’s here.  That’s home.  That’s us.  On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives.  The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and…

Giving out easter blessings

On Holy Saturday members of the church spent the morning giving out over 130 hot cross buns to passers-by as a sign of easter joy. This was accompanied by a small card with an easter greeting attached. People were involved in all sorts of different ways including giving out the buns, wrapping them, designing the cards and through prayers.

Revd. Emma’s last Communion Breakfast

Last week Revd. Emma presided over her last communion breakfast with us as Minister. The breakfast took place at the start of lent and also coincided with St. Valentine’s Day. We will certainly miss Emma’s expert porridge making skills and enthusiasm first thing in the morning!

Connect, Challenge, Commit – Homeless Sunday

Connect During the service, we heard a number of statistics about homelessness in England. In 2014-15: 840 families and individuals were assessed as homeless 54,430 moved into Temporary Accommodation 1,368,312 families and individuals on council waiting lists 384,854 tenancies allocated last year 2,744 individuals were included in the Nov 2014 rough sleeper count. 7,581 people were found sleeping on London’s streets   Challenge Nicola told us the story of Billy, a fictional character but one which is based on many…

Rebuild Nepal – Leprosy Mission Sunday

This Sunday we heard the story of Krishna. When the earthquake of 25 April 2015 hit Nepal, Khrishna’s home was destroyed and his life changed forever by the death of his wife, who was inside the house when it collapsed. Already disabled by leprosy and now a lone parent to his two sons, life is desperately hard for Khrishna. The family is now living in a temporary shelter, which cannot protect them from the worst of the winter weather. You…

Kam’s diary on the Shelter Project as a first time volunteer

Kam visited the Shelter project for the first time last Thursday. She sent us a copy of her diary entry for the day. It shows brilliantly how the project benefits both the guests and volunteers and gives an overview of how the project works. Diary entry for the Shelter Project Hounslow, evening of Thursday 7 January 2016. Having volunteered to provide support in any way in the kitchen area, I undertook the role of General Kitchen Hand. I found the…

The Shelter Project has started

The Shelters opened yesterday (2nd) with Bell Road being used each Thursday. We, together with St Mary’s Osterley, are committed to running the Thursday shelter for the next 13 weeks. This involves welcoming the guests (up to 14 men each night), providing, cooking and serving a hot evening meal and cooked breakfast as well as setting up the beds etc. A volunteer sheet was given out before Christmas with all the information about the project on – if you didn’t get…

JMA Collectors

Our JMA collectors have been hard at work over the last year, well done to all collectors who raised a total of £1053.14 last year. A fantastic achievement that was celebrated in a service last month. The young people involved are grateful two all the people within the church and without who have agreed to give to JMA. You can find out more about JMA on the Methodist Church website.  

Christmas Is Coming – First Weekend in Advent

We kicked of advent in traditional Bell Road style with plenty going on! On Friday night we decorated the church and stuffed envelopes for SPEAR. People of all ages turned up and had a great time complete with pizza. We also put up the banners that were made during Café Worship the week before. Saturday saw Gareth Davies-Jones at Café Arts who entertained us all with Carols, Songs and Stories. It was a great evening and a fantastic way to…

Enough

“Poverty is not being able to do things that are necessities. Things that are important like gas and electric, showers, bus fares, and having to worry that your daughter has a hole in her shoes. She needs new shoes and I don’t have the money. What do I do? Do I get gas or do I get shoes?” – Poverty in Scotland 2015, a Scottish Government & Poverty Truth Commission publication. In the UK, children raised in families without enough…

Creating a Buzz….

As part of our Bee theme for this years harvest festival, based on All We Can’s appeal, we created a display at the front of church and on many of the windowsills. The display incorporated products produced from honey, a beehive and lots of flowers, all capped off with a bee buzzing across a screen during the service! Below are a series of photos of the displays for those who missed it or would like a reminder. Its not too…

Shelter Project – Good News!

Recently there has been, and still is to a certain extent, a concern about the future of The Shelter Project Hounslow for this coming season. The Steering Group of the whole project met this last week to make important decisions about this winter and the level of service, if any, that could be offered. This was also Margaret’s first meeting as a member of the Steering Group, coordinating fund raising in the future. The good news is that the project…

Christian Aid Walk 2015

Celia and myself were determined to go again and walk all 6 miles. We got there nice and early to get signed in and have a cuppa. Gradually about 30 people turned up so a good crowd. A display about the history of Christian Aid had been set up – I learnt they had helped to form Voluntary Service Overseas amongst other organisations so not just involved with development work and supporting people to get out of poverty. This year…

All We Can Harvest Appeal

 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. (Genesis 1:29) On sunday we heard all about All We Can’s (Formally Methodist Relief and Development) Harvest appeal Which focuses on Bee Keeping in Uganda. In addition to providing honey which can be sold, bee keeping increases the bee population which helps increase pollination and therefore the…

Computers to Ghana – Update

While in Ghana Emma delivered the computers and toys we refurbished as a church in May. She presented them to both the school and the sunday school and we are told there was plenty of excitement. She also took a lot of photos to share with us which you can see below.

Summer Seaside Celebration

Sunday July 26th was a special Sunday at Bell Road as we were holding a ‘Seaside Celebration’. Taking as a starting point the stories of Jesus that had a seaside association, John and Ali led us through many thoughts and activities. Worship all together was a time of praise and thanksgiving – and a challenge based on the call of the fishermen disciples. We were challenged about being ‘fishers of people’ as we were encourage to pray for people to find Jesus in their…

Computers for Ghana

On her trip to Ghana, Revd. Emma will be taking with her a suite of 15 computers provided by St. Mary’s and St. Peter’s Primary School and refurbished by members of the church to equip two schools; Sudbury Preparatory Junior Secondary School and Montessori Nursery and Primary School. In May a team of people of all ages from church refurbished the laptops which involved a thorough clean, securely wiping the hard drives and installing a new operating system so they…

God’s Love – A Poem by Janet Wilson

This is a poem written and read by Janet for our recent International Service – “Everything in Colour”. Jamaica, land of the golden sunGod, created the peaceful blue skiesHe filled the land with many peopleFrom all races, cultures and coloursGod gave them a heart to share His love. He sent His Son, so caring and kindWho promised a home, high up above!His Father’s house has many roomsWe just need – TO BELIEVE Jamaica, pearl in the azure seaMajestic Blue Mountains!…

Rachel & Rob take on Oxfam Trailwalker!

Shelter project volunteers (from St. Mary’s) Rachel and Rob, along with two others, will be attempting (and succeeding!) the Oxfam Trailwalker challenge. Below is what they say about it: If you’ve never heard of Oxfam’s Trailwalker before – It’s a 100km hike, day and night, across the south downs in under 30 hours. We’ll be setting off around 7am on the 25th July, and hopefully returning (bedraggled but triumphant) on the morning of the 26th. As a team we have to…

We are now a Fairtrade church!

As part of our continuing campaigning against injustices we have joined over 7400 other places of worship in becoming a fair trade church. We hope with this additional commitment we can continue to promote fairtrade in the future. In becoming a Fairtrade church we have committed to: Use Fairtrade tea and coffee after services and in all other events we run. Move forward on using other Fairtrade products such as sugar, biscuits and fruit. Promote Fairtrade during Fairtrade Fortnight and…

“For the love of…” – Report from the Services

Katrina Recently went to a service “For the love of…” at the beginning of the mass lobby of Parliament on Climate Change. It took place across two churches, St. Margaret’s and Emmanuel Church both in Westminster. These are her thoughts. Those of us at St Margaret’s heard the  Bishop of Salisbury  Right Rev Holtam  speak  of God having created the earth and it was very good. We were given earth to live in and to care for it.  Are we…

Kumon Annual Awards

Last week our minister, Emma Aikins, was invited to take part in an awards day with Kumon (one of our regular lettings) as a special guest. She had the following to say: It was such an honour to share with parents and children; the ways in which as a church we serve the community by providing the space not only for worship but also for them (Kumon). The highlight of the ceremony was when I had to present their certificates…

JMA Annual Report

Currently there are twenty five JMA Collectors. The children’s ages range from three years to thirteen years. They collect gifts of money monthly from their Sponsors. The Sponsors include their family members, friends and members from the church family. In October 2014, 20 happy JMA Collectors attended the special award service and they were presented with their badges and certificates by Rev Barbara McIntivey. Five new collectors have joined the group following the service. During the last Church year, the…

Stewards Annual Report

Presently there are 10 Church Stewards and 4 Holy Communion Stewards. Church Stewards share the responsibility in cooperation with our Minister; caring and supporting each other, and together we for and serve the Church Community. Church Stewards can be seen therefore as extra eyes and ears to the Minister. We share with our Minister confidentially and compassionately any concerns in regards to the Church Community and ministry. We meet with our Minister 3 to 4 times a year, or can…

Campaigning Group Report

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8) At last year’s General Church Meeting, Andrew reported on Bell Road’s ‘Year of Campaigning’ – including work on the campaign for justice for Bangladeshi garment workers, the ‘Flesh and Blood’ campaign (encouraging church members to see blood and organ donation as part of their Christian giving)…

The Shelter Project Annual Report

This was the second year of us coordinating the project here at Hounslow Methodist Bell Road. Again Margaret and I were the co-coordinators from Bell Rd. Steve with the help of Susan were the co- coordinators form St Mary’s. We had a full house straight away and most Thursday nights there were between 10-15 men staying over. We also for the first time people joining us just for a meal. On some Thursdays it felt like we were feeding the…

Technical Annual Report

Over this year we have started forming a Technical Team, it is still early days but in addition to myself both Charles and Kadeem have volunteered and are beginning to man the PA system and Projection during services. Like most roles in the church we are always looking for more people to get involved, ideally you need to be technically minded or willing to learn. It is also a perfect job for anyone who does not already have a regular…

Cafe Arts Annual Report

Café Arts is now nearing the end of its 8th year, and is still going strong. This season has seen the variety and quality that is now expected from the project. We kicked off the years programme with a favourite and regular at Café Arts, Rob Halligan, followed by Gershon Ward and friends providing us with an evening of Christmas themed gospel. In February we had a new artist, Sandra Godley, who provided us with an uplifting and encouraging evening…

Coffee Stop Annual Report

Each week we are continuing to offer bacon rolls, cakes (often homemade) and a range of hot drinks. The Traidcraft and Christian Bookstall are also open each week. The mornings are run by a team of volunteers and we are really pleased to see new faces on the team this year. With 30 or so different people involved over the past year nobody has to be there more than once a month and many just help out once a quarter…
  • 1
  • 2