Donaghadee Methodist Church

Donaghadee Methodist Church

Church Magazine – September 2010

Minister: Rev. Ruth Craig

34 Breckenridge, Donaghadee.

Tel. 91883568

Circuit Steward: Mr. Brian Douglas,

4 Morey Drive, Donaghadee.

Tel: 91888994

Society Steward: Mr. Joe Wright

1 Carshaulton Rd, Donaghadee.

Tel: 91883480

Church Secretary: Mr Kit Chivers,

6 Saltworks St, Donaghadee.

Tel: 91889180

Website: www.donaghadeemethodist.com

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From the Minister

Dear Friends

It is said that in 21 days a habit can either be formed or broken. Other research says that it takes a month and a half to fully form or fully break any habit.

When talking to people who no longer attend church the reason behind them no longer attending appears to be that they just got out of the habit of going. When we think of the world in which we live today in many respects I can see how this could happen. It was easier to go to church years ago when the majority of people had Saturdays off to do their shopping and visiting and washing the car or the dog or whatever and Sunday was very much recognised at the day when people went to church. How things have changed. Often the weekends can be busier than the week, and there are many jobs where people not only have to work on Saturdays but on Sundays as well and somehow, somewhere along the way the time of rest that was generally known as the Sabbath has disintegrated and disappeared.

Yet the reality remains that we all need time to rest, to recharge our batteries and to spend time with the One who created us, the One who knows us better than we know ourselves.

Often we live in a world where we are surrounded by noise and busyness where we seldom get opportunity to stop and rest and reflect on God’s love for us and our response to that love.

Church offers us such a place. A place to come and to meet with God, to praise and thank him for all of his goodness to us and also an opportunity to bring our worries and concerns and burdens to him, a place to be still and to know that He is God.

That is why in this magazine I would like to take the opportunity to tell you about Back to Church Sunday which is happening on the 26th September. Back to Church Sunday has been happening in the UK since 2004 and this year the Methodist Church in Ireland decided to recommend that we as churches participate in this venture. Back to Church Sunday gives people who have been thinking about coming back to church the perfect opportunity to do so.

So if you are a regular attender and receive the invitation along with this magazine I would encourage you to think if there is anyone whom you know who might just be waiting for an opportunity either to go to church for the first time or to go back to church after a time of non attendance. If you think of someone then I would encourage you to pray about it and give the invitation to that person along with the encouragement that they might need to come along.

If on the other hand you yourself have not been to church for a while but feel you might like to come along again then please accept this invitation from Donaghadee Methodist Church to come along and share worship with us on that Sunday. It also happens to be our Harvest Sunday so it would be a wonderful opportunity to give thanks to God for all of his goodness and grace in our lives.

In the midst of a busy and demanding world, we can forget that we need to attend to not only our physical and emotional state but also our spiritual state. We need rest for our souls as well as our bodies. Church can be a place where we can receive that rest.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

(Matt 11:28-29)

Ruth

Baptism:

Melissa Gillian Watts.

Deaths:

Valerie Foster

Thomas Neill

Ethan John Wright

Valerie Foster

Valerie Foster was born on the 26th October 1943 to Lily and Bobby Foster and spent her early days in 16 Edward Street before the family moved to Barnagh Park.

On completing her education she first of all worked in Cyril Lord’s carpet factory after which she took up employment with Brice, the Estate Agents, where she remained until her retirement. Due to her dedication and skills being so highly thought of she was asked back, by the firm, to help train her successor.

As she grew up in Donaghadee a close friendship was formed with five other girls and they continued to meet regularly for coffee and to reminisce. Three of those girls were also members of our church choir.

Apart from her work Valerie’s life centred round this church as well as helping for a few years in Shore Street GLB and then as Captain of the newly named GB in the same church. When the company started in our church she served as an officer for many years.

Inheriting her love of singing from her Dad she joined the church choir at the age of 13, rarely missing the weekly practice and both services on a Sunday and indeed occupied her usual seat in the choir the Sunday before she died. She also sang in the MWI choir.

She was a faithful member of the MWI and loved to go to District Rallies where we are told she enjoyed the suppers, especially the cream buns.

Being a member of the Bowling Club and also its treasurer for some years she was an accomplished player regularly winning competitions.

Valerie also served as Cradle Roll secretary and secretary to the Class Leaders’ meeting. She would often visit the elderly members of the congregation and would keep the minister informed of any illness or problems.

Two words I believe sum up Valerie’s life Loyalty and Faithfulness. She had a quiet but firm faith in God and displayed this in her loyalty and devotion to the church which she loved.

The large congregation that attended her thanksgiving service bore testimony to the esteem in which Valerie was held throughout Donaghadee.

Robert Watson

Reflections

As we drive around the countryside at the moment we are surrounded by signs of harvest with fields of grain growing riper every day.

We can rejoice in the crop that will be reaped and stored. but if we recall what Jesus said this harvest only comes because the seeds die.

It made me think about self-denial and this was the result:- ,

‘Except a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone’ Christ said.

For a harvest worthy of the name comes only from seeds that were dead.

It is only because of that lonely, willing death in the winter’s field

That we can raise our songs of praise for the harvest’s yield

Only by a life laid down and a cross taken up each day, Christ said,

Can a man or woman truly live, though they once were dead

The growth of the spirit comes from our death with Him, self-nailed to His cross,

For letting go of our will and accepting His, is the secret of life. All else is loss.

The hands must be emptied and cupped to receive – not clenched in a fist.

Holding tight to what we possess – our life, ourselves. That way we have missed

What the Lord would give us – His life, His self - that way alone can we show

That only from a life that has died to self can a harvest grow.

It’s worth thinking about.

Maeve Lennie

FocusFest 2010

Mum and I went to FocusFest last year and had such a good time we couldn’t wait to go again this year! The speaker was Christine Caine from Hillsongs Church in Australia who neither of us knew anything about.

FocusFest is on a Friday evening and all day Saturday but we only planned to go on the Saturday. When we arrived at Belfast Waterfront Hall on Saturday morning, it was fantastic to see so many women of all ages happy and eager to spend a day worshipping God and learning more about Him! We got our programmes and saw that in addition to Christine Caine, there were two other speakers – Beth Redman and Angela Mills. The day opened with the organisers thanking everyone for coming and then the band came on to lead everyone in a time of worship. Sarahanne Wilmont was leading the worship and she introduced some of her own songs – she is a very gifted songwriter.

Christine Caine then took the stage. Well, in chatting about the event with a co-worker who was also there, she mentioned that ‘Christine is certainly a live wire!’ She is right! Christine had a capacity crowd eating out of the palm of her hand as she challenged us, inspired us, encouraged us and made us roar with laughter! The theme of her talk came from two recent books she has written – ‘Stop Acting Like A Christian, Just Be One’ and ‘Can I Have and Do It All, Please?’

I wish I had time and space here to give you every word she spoke as I have rarely been as challenged by any speaker as I was by her. Christine noted that as Christians, we are called to be in the world but not of it, yet too many of us are of the world but not in it, basically we have things backward! We are not supposed to pat ourselves on the back for not doing some of the things we did before we were a Christian, while still being guilty of gossiping or laziness or being judgemental. We are supposed to be different, we are called to be a holy priesthood, set apart for God, and we must be visibly different than everyone else or our witness will not be effective. Yet we must not draw apart, we have to be in the world for this witness to be effective.

Christine said this is not optional, it is not for us to think ‘oh that’s not my gift’, ‘someone else, someone younger/older, will do that’. We are all called to reach the lost. Matthew 4 v 19 states ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men’, God will make us fit for the task He has called us to do.

After a short break for lunch we were back in time for Christine’s question and answer session and Beth Redman spoke again and related stories from her life illustrating what God has taught her along the way.

There is a good long break for dinner to allow everyone time to go and get something to eat, then once back in the Waterfront, there were a few announcements, a lovely dance performance and some more praise and worship before Christine Caine once again took to the stage. Once again, her talk was challenging, hard-hitting and inspiring.

Christine travels all over the world speaking to groups of people and on travels through Greece, she frequently noticed posters of women lining the walls of Thessaloniki airport. One day, she asked about the posters and was told they are pictures of women who are missing, who have vanished as a result of human trafficking. Christine then reduced a hall full of thousands of women to silence as she announced the horrifying fact that there are 27 MILLION people enslaved in the world today. There is more traffic in people, in God’s precious creation, than in guns or drugs.

Christine advised that she had always thought of herself as compassionate, when she read the story of the good Samaritan she identified with the Samaritan. God brought it home to her that she wasn’t, when she walked past those pictures, when she ignored the need of someone, she was the priest and the Levite who walked on past and didn’t stop. She said it horrified her and I am sure I was not the only one in the crowd horrified as I felt the truth sink in to me that I too had ignored need in the world.

Christine related some of the work currently being carried out by The A21 Campaign with which she is involved and which is active in the fight to end human trafficking. She told the story of one of the girls who had found safety in one of the shelters operated by The A21 Campaign. A group of 75 girls had been lured from their homes with promises of well paying jobs in a different country. They were smuggled in a large transport ship and by the time the ship neared its destination, half of the girls had starved to death. The survivors were put in boats to make the final stage of the journey to the country they were being taken, when customs boats approached, they were put overboard, of these 35 girls, almost half again drowned before they could reach shore. Those few who did survive this ordeal survived only to live a life of slavery. This girl escaped to tell her story thanks to the work of The A21 Campaign and people like them who have devoted their lives to stamping out slavery.

Christine mentioned in the morning seminar that we need to reach the lost and broken generation and she mentioned each parable Jesus told. A lost sheep; sheep don’t try to get lost, they don’t understand boundaries between one farmer’s land and another, they are wandering along and suddenly they are lost. This is true of some people - we need to go after them with determination and compassion. The prodigal son; he, like many people, chose his own path and was lost from the embrace of his family, from God. He still needed welcomed back with love and help finding his way, we need to show people that the way with God is better. A lost coin; a woman was careless with her coins and lost one. People have been careless with the lives of the 27 million people in this world who are enslaved. The women who lure young girls to avoid sharing their fate, the men who make false promises of jobs that will enable young men to feed their family, they have been careless with the lives of their fellow man. It is our job to search for them, to help them.