A year in the life of Great Ayton Methodist Church

Are we a church which doesn’t really ‘do’ anything? As we read through this review, it would appear that we actually do quite a lot and continually make plans for the refreshing of the church’s programme through the prayers and vision of our Portfolio Stewards and Leadership Team.  We are continually seeking God’s will for the Church and its role within the community of Great Ayton and beyond. God has blessed us with a wonderful church membership with a diversity of experience, age, churchmanship, gifts and skills. We praise God ‘our help in ages past, our Hope for years to come’, surrendering our will to ‘the one who makes all things new.’ 

Last Easter, we began our preparations on Palm Sunday with the second ever ‘cafe-style service’.  Following Jesus’ journey through Holy Week, we learnt about the route that took Jesus to the cross.  Flags were waved, prayers were prayed, dice were rolled and we found ourselves at the foot of the cross. Cafe worship has a strong ‘for everyone’ ethos and I have been delighted to see all generations of the church joining together as we celebrate through craft, competition, worship and prayer with the assistance of plenty of coffee and cake. We celebrated summer in this way too, with the HUGE catch of fish that had been crafted by many people for the little ones’ use on Sundays. (These fish are hugely enjoyed by our youngest children) We had further cafe services for Harvest and Christmas celebrations too, which were lots of fun – and plenty of hard work. Many thanks to all who work behind the scenes to make these occasions happen.

During Holy Week, we launched a ‘simple supper’ of bread and cheese.  The church family were invited to eat together as an act of worship as the disciples did with Jesus at the ‘last supper’.  This was the brain-child of Margaret Petch, and was a wonderful occasion of fellowship and worship as well as being a poignant moment to reflect on Jesus’ coming sacrifice.  Easter day began bright and early with the walk to Captain Cook’s monument to rejoice in resurrection hope.  Egg-rolling and the morning Sacrament service followed with the singing of wonderful resurrection hymns of hope.  We all enjoyed our traditional Easter Breakfast which was Marion Whayman’s swan song as she bowed out of leadership after many years of making sure that food was correctly provided for the important occasions in Church life.  We have not yet managed to replace Marion, and look forward to finding the right person to be our Portfolio Leader for Socials and Fundraising.  The All Age Easter celebration was well received and involved much chocolate.

The coffee and craft group are always busy when I see them on a Wednesday.  As well as crafting their own personal projects, there is often an offer of making something for the Church.  I look forward to the 5000 people arriving duly hand-crafted!! I feel it is a privilege to receive these gifts to the children who often ask to come to church as they like it so much. Many, many thanks to all of you who use their gifts for the benefit others.

Last spring saw the final First Tuesday meeting take place.  As we launched the new portfolio for ‘Church in the Community’, Doreen Hunt gathered a team around her to develop a regular community lunch for older people.  This has gained momentum and is proving popular.  We are looking at how this can be expanded as our ‘new’ kitchen is feeling the strain and now needs some upgrading.

We confirmed three new members last spring, Hannah Smith, Ben Smith and Sam Thomas.  We enjoyed hearing how their faith had grown since childhood and were delighted that they made this commitment. Ed Land also gave his testimony with the other young people and we prayed for him to continue to keep in step with Jesus.  Celebrations continued at the Manse with BBQ and bouncy slide.

We were very happy to see Dick and Janet marry in the summer and also to welcome Janet to the church as a member. 

There have been a number of very good healing services with excellent speakers over the past 12 months.  Thanks to the Healing Team for their work and support for this area of ministry.

 he Housegroups are going strong and are grappling well with the subjects prepared for them by the Worship Committee.  There is an emphasis on building up a sense of care for each other within the group and also a regular challenge to act for mission in the community.  We particularly enjoyed studies on the Book of Ruth and Covenant.  We were pleased to Welcome Revd Dr Peter Phillips to speak to us about God’s Covenant with his people.  Pete holds connexional office and is a regular speaker and seminar leader at Spring Harvest and other national events.  We hope to invite further speakers of this calibre in the future.

We welcomed Mr Alan Carter to bring our Harvest message last year. Alan is a farmer’s son from Garstang. It was good to hear from him.  We celebrated further with afternoon tea and Harvest Songs of Praise.  Boxes of treats from this tea (and on other occasions) were taken by volunteers to people who were unable to come out to worship.  We have been trying new ways of helping the whole church family to know they are loved. 

It was a tough winter, with the snow arriving early.  Many of our older people were unable to get to church due to the excess of snow or the extremely icy road and pathways.  It was good to see that there was concern and care being shown for those who were ‘shut-in’ during this period.

Christmas was a lot of fun.  We gathered money and gifts to help the work of Stockton Salvation Army.  We  enjoyed a wonderful Roast Christmas Dinner – thanks to Gavin Hutton for organising this and for cooking the turkeys.  We were pleased that Roseberry School reception and years one and two brought their Christmas musical for us all to enjoy, despite a rearranged date and some bad weather.  Our puppet adventure saw Aled the Camel find purpose as he stopped his aimless wanderings after meeting the baby Jesus.  A whole host of people were involved in making Christmas special, with care taken to make the building festive in decor, warm with the aroma of mince pies, wonderful in carol and song and with the mystery that is best seen in the eyes of our smallest children.  We also celebrated Margaret Petch’s 50 years at the organ during our popular 9am lessons and carols service. I am thankful for Margaret’s commitment and skill as organist as well as her love for Jesus and her other creative talents.

We have had some sad moments too. Brian, Hilary, Sally, Laura and Megan Hull have relocated to Herefordshire with Brian’s work.  They are very much missed.  Betty retired from her cleaning duties in Church after 60 years of wielding the duster. We were sad when Don Zellweger died this summer and again when Olive Teasdale died in autumn.  Ivy Knox died between Christmas and New Year.  Our thoughts and prayers are still with June, Reg and Thomas.  

We are currently engaging with the Big Read which the whole of the Darlington and Newcastle Methodist Districts have committed to this year.  Pick up your copy of Tom Wright’s Lent for Everyone: Matthew from the foyer table. 

We are looking forward to Mark Topping’s passion play ‘Impossible God’ on March 20^th at 6pm.

We are planning a mission fortnight during the summer of 2012 and are looking to employ a permanent part-time youth worker to replace Emile van Loo who has been working with the young people since September 2010.

I am taking my sabbatical (two years late) from the 1^st May to the 1^st August this year.  I look forward to spending time writing about prayer, visiting friends in Colorado, taking a trip to Israel (maybe we can all go next time!) and visiting some other churches.  I will also use this time to pray and continue to hold the church here in Great Ayton up to God for his blessing and strength.

We are doing a lot of things, but we need to make sure that our motive is always to give Glory to God and to extend the work of his kingdom.

Reverend Catherine Hutton

Property Report

 The major (noticeable) works that have taken place during the year are the fitting of double glazed windows to the North side of the church and the erection of a new notice board.

Repairs have been carried out to the roof, as required following weather damage and vandalism.  Other repairs and equipment servicing has also taken place or has been arranged as required.

Assessment of the feasibility to upgrading the electricity supply and find the associated costs is underway, the outcome of this will influence the plans for upgrading the catering facilities in the kitchen and also improvements to the lower hall. 

Help and support at working parties and the ‘minding of contractors’ by Gavin, Peter Jackson, Jamie and John Huddart is much appreciated.

 Andy Smith

Pastoral Report

The current membership is 147. Since the last report to the General Church Meeting, 4 people have come into membership and 1 transfer in. Sadly, 3 members have passed away. 2 members ‘cease to meet’.

Both morning services are well attended with the majority of members meeting regularly for worship and fellowship. Housegroups and other groups continue to provide valuable pastoral support.

Pastoral visiting continues to the sick, housebound and those needing support. Communion is offered on request.

Hannah Jackson

Children's Work

The children continue to enjoy a range of activities on Sunday mornings. The combining of the two older groups of children has given us the scope to explore more exciting projects. We are currently coming to end of the work filming a response to the question "What does Great Ayton Methodist Church mean to us". The children have learnt a lot from interviewing members of the church community, and have been able to reflect on why being a member of this church family is important to them as they develop an understanding of their faith and the support they receive from church members.  The next unit that the children will explore will be 'Mission' and will be linked to the material from the preaching programme.

The younger children have been enjoying lots of active and practical activities based around their leader’s favourite bible stories. Much fun is had and much is noise is made! We have noticed this whilst interviewing for our documentary!

The smallest children in J Tots continue to love the fish and sheep, and are looking forward to welcoming 'people' to play with very soon.

Discussions have taken place about the refurbishment of the downstairs room to allow it to be used by the children on Sunday mornings, and by other groups at other times.  The current plan is to redecorate, renew the flooring, increase electrical sockets and to provide benching along one wall that could be used for ICT work.  In order to make a useable space for children's groups some additional furniture (small tables and chairs and storage) will also be needed. A projector and screen or TV would also be an asset to the room.

Treasurer’s Report

A summary for the church accounts for the financial year 2009/10 is available with  several copies in the foyer. 

Key points are that giving to general church funds is slightly up on previous years. With that increase and a significant rise in the money we get from hiring out the building we have covered our ordinary running costs.  We also raised over £3000 for the project and other special collections. Thank you for your generous support of the church and circuit.

As you will hear, we have plans to develop the building further to support our mission work and we look to you for a donation to support this work. We are also looking to set up a new ongoing fund to support and grow the youth work fund.

Jamie Harvie

Church in the Community

Community Church Lunch 

The church opened it's doors up to a new mission within the community in May 2010 after passing the inspection with the Standard Food Agency.
We developed a team of volunteers and a cook, and set about to deliver a two course lunch on alternate Tuesdays.  Over the year the numbers have grown, word has got around and people are now coming along from as far as Guisborough.  We serve on average 30 - 35 people each time who enjoy a two course lunch for £3.50.

The lunch is proving to be very popular and a meeting point for many , where new friendships are being formed and old ones carry on.  It is very easy for the elderly to become isolated within their own homes, the Community Church Lunch has given many a sense of worth, a place to belong, and even help.

Doreen Hunt

Youth Work Report 2010-2011

We have enjoyed an incredibly busy 12 months.  Last year, we enjoyed the help of Tabitha Rosebaum from Waco, Texas in the period from February to summer.  Tabitha worked with the minister, leading and preparing the younger youth session and assisting and supporting with the older group.  As a result of Tabitha’s involvement, we were able to participate and help with the mission team from her home church as they came to Stokesley to work in the School and with the Christian Fellowship in Stokesley.  As ever, our young people thoroughly enjoyed and benefitted from this international dimension to our work.

We enjoyed a series of studies based around the Pixar film ‘Up’ which caught the imagination of the young people, and various other themes were also developed.  During the exam period, we ran a series of ‘wind-down Wednesday’ support meetings for the young people.  Sometimes, these would be outings, other times prayer and worship at the manse or in Church.  We had a short overnight retreat to Robin Hood’s Bay for some bracing fresh air and to listen to God.  It turned out that the minister’s cooking skills were unappreciated by the group ...   Later in summer, we took a group to the Harvest youth camp at Sexhow. The young people had a lot of fun and the weather, although somewhat breezy (!) managed to be generally favourable.  Several of the young people made or renewed their commitment to Jesus and several more were challenged in their faith or experienced God’s healing.

Our young people achieved excellent GCSE and A level results.  Andrew, Becci, James, Martina, Jonathan, Oli, Rachel and Andrew are currently at university.  Graeme and Matt, whom you regularly see leading and playing in the church worship band are now doing A levels. Jonathan is offering his services as a Church Steward.

We have been developing a new piece of work over the last 12 months with youth groups in Darlington. We have called this Manna: feed your faith. After eating together, Manna continues with peer-driven worship, prayer and testimony, waiting for God to speak and offering opportunity to respond.  The theme of the event follows the testimonies brought by the young people (aged 11-25) and these are responded to by prayer or worship as the Spirit leads.  Manna encourages young people from a diversity of social and economic backgrounds to learn the art of discipleship from one another with guidance. Manna encourages leadership to develop among the young people as they discover how to minister to one another through the Bible, prayer and in using the gifts of the spirit. Manna also has a social element which has naturally arisen from the current urban-rural partnership.  Developing friendships are making opportunities for peer-accountability on lifestyle and faith. On 3^rd April, Manna is holding its first open meeting for other youth groups to come and ‘taste’ what God is doing.  This is in line with the Circuit Review directive to ‘be intentionally invitational’.

Since September, we have been delighted to welcome Emile van Loo as our youth worker.  Emile used to attend our youth group when he was at school and it has been wonderful to receive teaching and leadership from him over the past few months as he has led the younger group and assisted with the older group as well as developing Manna.  Emile will be taking overall charge of the youth work during Catherine’s Sabbatical until his marriage to Alison Shave mid July.  We wish him well as he and Ali move to Edinburgh to set up home while Ali completes her Art degree at the university.  We look forward to our university students helping with and running the youth work until Catherine’s return from Sabbatical in August when we will take a mission trip to Lisburn in Ireland and make our annual trip to Harvest.

Manna is taking the basis of discipleship on which it has grown to a further development this summer in a mission to Northern Ireland.  Here, we hope to apply the skills we have learnt for furthering the kingdom of God in assisting His Church. We are intending to develop a strong ethos of mission among these young disciples, learning how to purposefully work together towards a given outcome.  We will also discover our areas of strength and weakness as a group.

In August 2012, we are intending to take the mission a step further as Manna goes to Uganda to assist with Summer camp.  This pushes the cross-cultural nature of Manna still further and will teach new skills and understandings of the Gospel to all who participate. We are very excited about this mission and ask that you will pray for our young people as they prepare to go and serve.

We are looking to develop and expand our youth work. Building on the success of Emile’s appointment, Church intends to employ a permanent part time youth worker. This new youth worker  would help with leading our young people, work with the minister to develop the church’s vision for youth work and develop a community-based ‘club’ event for reaching out into the village. This appointment would complement the Youth for Christ work currently led by Neil Harris at Stokesley School and also work with the school where opportunities arise.

Thank you all for your continued prayers for our young people.  They are all wonderful young Christians and each of them offers so much potential for God’s kingdom as they grow in maturity, faith and confidence.

Catherine Hutton