News and Coming Up
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Wesley Cottage Quiet Garden. Jesus said, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31). This ‘virtual’ Quiet Day is intended for use after Easter 2021 as we move on with Jesus in his resurrection life. Prepared for use at Anthony Hick’s Wesley Cottage, the pack enables far more people to join in, on any day, in the comfort of your own venue of choice. Details can be obtained from Peter Shears. A reflection on the Stations of the Cross and Resurrection in glass in the light of COVID-19 has been created by the Revd Rachel Parkinson, Chair of the Wolverhampton & Shrewsbury District. Details can be found here: Stations of the pandemic (methodist.org.uk) We live in a world which seems to be permanently angry, from full on conflicts between countries to aggressive trolling on social media. Is it possible to live and work for peace? A Zoom webinar taking place on April 19th at 7.30pm (lasts approx. 1 hour, including Q&A time). Tickets £5 – book online through Eventbrite - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wes-talks-online-how-can-we-work-for-peace-in-an-angry-world-tickets-146420865751 The New Room – Emerging Hope. The New Room expects to re-open on 17th May. They want to share colour and hope with everyone who visits their courtyard in Broadmead. Consequently, they are inviting everyone to decorate a butterfly. These will be included in a display in the courtyard when they reopen as a message of Emerging Hope. For more details visit: Easter 2021 - Emerging Hope - The New Room Bristol, John Wesley’s Chapel The Methodist Church is to commit to a two-year project looking at how the Church speaks out on social issues and challenges injustices. The project will aim to make the Church more effective in speaking and acting for justice and transformation. The New Room is pleased to announce a live music event this July. Folk at The New Room returns on Thursday 22nd July with The Hut People, bringing a mix of global rhythms with folk tunes from Quebec to Spain, Scandinavia to Sussex and everywhere in between in a quirky celebration of our rich musical heritage. The Methodist Church has a modern art collection. This can be viewed on-line by visiting The Methodist Modern Art Collection Lectionary for 11th to 17th April. Acts 4.32-35; Psalm 133; 1 John 1.1-2.2; John 20.19-31. Testing truth. The story of ‘doubting Thomas’ is often seen as a negative one – the disciple who wouldn’t believe without seeing the risen Jesus – and yet he is someone who just wanted to see the evidence for himself. It would have been easy for Thomas to go along with his friends who had already seen Jesus, but Thomas wanted to experience it for himself in order to believe. The meeting with Jesus provides him with the chance to test the truth for himself. In the age of social media and fake news, what helps us to believe in something? Is it knowing where it comes from, personal experience, physical evidence? Very advance news. A Circuit farewell service for the Reverend David Alderman will be held on Sunday 18th July at 4pm. Either venue or zoom details will be published nearer the time. A Circuit welcome service for David’s replacement, the Reverend Novette Headley, will take place on Sunday 5th September at 4pm at Parkway Methodist Church. The Circuit, in partnership with Christian Aid, has launched a fundraising appeal to support their work to support communities during the COVID pandemic. The intention is that members of the Circuit make a donation in appreciation for their free COVID vaccinations. More details from Peter. A Zoom Webinar exploring questions around dementia, bereavement and grief will take place on Tuesday 20th April from 11am to 12:30. https://mcusercontent.com/bcf1bde8bc4a29dae7362b02a/images/94cad93a-bcf6-4449-97b6-dc8b9125fed3.jpg Details of this year's Methodist Women in Britain Easter Offering Appeal, including how to access the service via YouTube and how to donate to the appeal, can be found here: This year marks the 250th anniversary of Francis Asbury leaving Britain to begin his ministry in America. Asbury, who was the first Bishop of the American Methodist Church, is often referred to as the 'Prophet of the Long Road' due to his itinerant ministry that continued for over 40 years in his adopted homeland. It was at the 1771 annual Methodist Conference, held at the New Room, that Asbury responded to John Wesley's appeal for more preachers to go to America. He set sail from Pill, on the Somerset coast, in September that year and arrived in Philadelphia six weeks later. To celebrate this occasion, the New Room team are working with colleagues in both the British and American Methodist Churches to offer events and activities to mark this important anniversary. Shoe Box Appeal 2020. The numbers of shoe boxes donated were better than anticipated, due to the difficult year, and I thought you might be interested to know the overall figures. As you know we collected an amazing 80 boxes at KMC. Across South Bristol 4923 boxes were collected. From the UK 265,975 gifts of love were sent to ten different countries across Eastern Europe, Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East. 50,000 of these boxes were donated online. Globally 9,113,853 boxes have been sent to over 70 receiving countries and more will follow when restrictions have been lifted. Our creativity and determination to continue blessing children in need made these amazing results possible. Every shoe box, packed with love and fuelled by prayer, has the potential to impact a child’s life in a very special way. Thank you all once again for your on going support with this appeal. Liz Marks. And thank you Liz for your very big part in this. A reminder. Fund raising. Do you shop on line? Do you book travel on line? If so, if you do it via the web site easyfundraising,org.uk/panel you can raise funds for the church at no cost whatsoever to yourself. The retailer you purchase from – and there are something like 3,700 of them - will make a donation to the church. The Church AGM will be held at 10am on Saturday 12th June. It will be combined with the June Church Council. Whether it will take place by people attending the church or via zoom will be decided nearer the time. Later this year P. J. will be taking a sabbatical. She will be adding annual leave at the start and finish of it meaning that she will be not be available during the period 26th July to 30th November. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have urged people to take a moment each day to pause and remember the more than 100,000 people across the UK who have died after contracting Covid-19. In an open letter to the nation, the Most Rev Justin Welby and the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell invited people to "reflect on the enormity of this pandemic" following the reaching of the "terrible milestone". They wrote: "One hundred thousand isn't just an abstract figure. Each number is a person: someone we loved and someone who loved us. "We also believe that each of these people was known to God and cherished by God." Mr Welby and Mr Cottrell called on people, regardless of whether they have faith or not, to join in a "prayer for the nation" at 6pm every day from 1st February.
Wednesday Worship. Each Wednesday during lockdown, the Reverend David Alderman will prepare an act of worship at 2pm on the Circuit Youtube channel. Bristol & South Glos Methodist Circuit - YouTube. This will be available to watch at other times. Morning Prayers. 10am, Monday to Friday, from Wesley’s Chapel in London: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUAUqhmhevz5sqhh72LIMxA Every Friday the New Room share a reflection – details can be found here: Latest News Archives - The New Room Bristol, John Wesley’s Chapel There is a live service from Methodist Central Hall Westminster each Sunday at 11am - https://mchw.live. And also from Wesley's Chapel London at 11am www.youtube.com/channel/UCUAUqhmhevz5sqhh72LIMxA a present DailyHope, is a free national telephone line which offers music, prayers and reflections as well as full worship services from the Church of England at the end of the phone. The line – which is available 24 hours a day on 0800 804 8044 – has been set up particularly with those unable to join online church services during the period of restrictions in mind; to provide comfort and spiritual nourishment to the most isolated in our society. If you would still like to make your offertory during lockdown, there are a number of ways of doing this. One way is to send Peter a cheque, made payable to Kingswood Methodist Church (the bank will not accept just KMC). Another way is to set up a monthly direct debit, Peter can provide the details. A 3rd way is to ask Peter to call on you and collect your envelopes – he can then also deliver your new ones.
The purpose of Kingswood Methodist Church is to respond to God's Love in Christ and to live out that love in God's world. |