Church News
Café Together
Café Together at Bell Road has been open on Thursday evenings in November, December and January providing a free two-course home-cooked meal to anyone who comes whatever their need. Our guests range from people who are homeless or in temporary accommodation to those who are finding life very difficult financially and emotionally and are grateful for the meal and company. We have a wonderful team of volunteers mostly from Bell Road andSt Mary’s, Osterley, with whom we share the evenings.…
Christmas with the Bell Road Band III
We had a good crowd for the Christmas gig with the Bell Road Band. The stage set (and church Christmas decorations) took on a new look with luminous Christmas trees providing a bright and colourful front. The gig was in two halves. In the first half the Band shared some old and new versions of carols and Christmas songs including a jaunty version of ‘O Come all ye Faithful’ and ‘What Child is this’ as well as some modern songs,including…
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…
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…
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…
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!
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Bookstall Annual Report
We are pleased to be able to continue to offer a regular range of Christian books, CDs, cards and gifts and are pleased by the interest shown in the stall. It is open each Sunday, on Saturday mornings and at Café Arts. All the books etc are supplied by Canaan Christian Bookshop in Staines on a ‘sale or return’ basis and they give us 10% commission on all sales. This is given to our fund for The Shelter Project Hounslow.…
Traidcraft Annual Report
A big ‘Thankyou’ to all who buy regularly from the Traidcraft Stall. The importance of considering how we can use our influence as consumers and being aware of ethical issues surrounding trade remains as important as it ever was. Considering adding more Fairtrade goods to our shopping lists is one way we can do this. Everything on the Traidcraft stall is Fairtrade, meaning that it has been produced and bought directly from producers at better, fairer prices that reflect the…
Junior Church Annual Report
I will start off with saying how blessed we are with our junior church. We have over 45 children and young people on our registers, God is Good! This last year has been exciting as usual. We had our annual fireworks night which had a good turnout of children, young people and their families. During the Christmas and Advent period we did our usual children and young people’s service where the children and young people made gift boxes and gave…
Worship Annual Report
The worship life of the church continues to be the high spot of our church life. Our attendance figures have shown continual growth in Sunday morning attendance over a four year period with an average of 62 in 2011 growing up to an average of 89 in last October’s figures. This is a good news story and we thank God for the growth. During the year we have looked at ways to encourage continuity and this has included our themes…
Ministers Annual Report
Dear Friends, As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us. So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us. 2 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary,…
UNCLE – Uplifting Nepal’s Children with Love and Education
In light of the recent events in Nepal the church is proud to be supporting the UNCLE, a small charity supporting two orphanages and communities in Nepal. The charity, UNCLE, (standing for Uplifting Nepal’s Children with Love and Education) was set up a few years ago by the then minister, Rev Ian Smart and a few people from the church in Royston after Ian met up with someone who came from a small church in a small village near Kathmandu. Initially it started…
Report: The Unlock London Walk 2015
This is what Unlock London say about the event: “The aims are to raise money for work in deprived urban areas around the UK/ to raise awareness of the issues of exclusion that Unlock exists to address/ to show what God is doing in the city/ to encourage churches in more affluent parts to support the Christians in the inner city/ to give people an opportunity for an unusual and enlightening day out in London” Celia, Diane, Beate and myself…
Letters to Persecuted Christians
I am happy to know that people are praying for us… Now I do not feel alone. – Martha Geleta, widow of Yadeta Dinsa During our Easter Sunday service we sent letters of greeting and encouragement to persecuted Christians around the world via Open Doors, a charity serving those who are persecuted or even killed for their faith. It is such a simple thing to write a letter but it is also an enormous help to those suffering for their…
Lent Prayer Book
Our lent prayer book has sold out again and several people during this mornings service were asking for a copy. So here is a digital version! It is in PDF format so should work on most devices. Download PDF
A Word in Time – Bible Study and Prayer from the Methodist Church
Have you ever looked at the daily Bible Readings and reflections and the daily prayer posted online by the Methodist Church? It’s well worth a look. I (Margaret) use it regularly and one reason why I like it is because it is written by a different person each week which I find particularly refreshing. This week the reflections on the Bible passage are written by our very own Naomi Oates – so perhaps it’s a good week to start having a look at it! The Daily bible studies…
Christmas isn’t over!
The decorations are down, the cards and letters read, diets started – but actually its still Christmas! Liturgically the Christmas season continues until Candlemas on February 2nd. That traditionally is when crib scenes are packed away and if you visit many churches and cathedrals you will see that they still have their crib scenes on display. So this year our nativity set is still on display on a windowsill, to remind us of the wonder of the very special gift of Jesus to the…
At journeys end….
On Christmas Eve, during the Christingle service, our Posada reached its last stop on the journey to Christmas. Posada is a South American custom of taking Mary and Joseph on a journey to different homes during Advent. Posada is a Spanish word meaning “inn”. It reminds us of the journey Mary and Joseph made from Nazareth to Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Beginning on the first Sunday of Advent, 30th November, nativity figures of Mary and Joseph travelled around the…
- 1
- 2