www.stivesmethodistchurch.org.

uk

March 2010 Newsletter

St Ives Methodist Church
27, The Waits,
St Ives,
Cambridgeshire.
PE27 5BY

Minister: Rev Matt Finch

Tel: 01480 462293
Mobile: 07968 692390
Email: matt.finch@simc.co.uk

Sunday Services
Matt Finch & Simon Oliver
7th March 10:30am
Holy communion

14th March 10:30am Don Moorman

Matt Finch
21st March 10:30am
All Age Worship

28th March 10:30am Barbara Churms

Matt Finch
8 am
4th April Holy Communion
Easter Sunday
10:30am Simon Oliver

A loop system is in use in this church. In order to

use this please put your hearing aid
to the ‘T’ position
 A warm welcome to anyone who is visiting
St Ives Methodist Church for the first time. Please stay for
a free cup of tea or coffee in the church after the service.

Children’s corner
Activities are available at the back of church. Please
feel free to join us at any time during the service.

Church Meetings
St Ives Methodist Church (SIMC) run various groups that meet on
different days of the week. For more details of a specific group’s
events, please pick up a leaflet from the leaflet rack in the
corridor opposite the kitchen.

Day Time Meeting

Mondays Fellowship and Bible
2-4 pm House Group
(alternate weeks) Study
9:30 – Morning Prayers / A special time of
Tuesdays
10am Communion reflection
10- Meet other parents,
Tuesdays 11:30am
Toddlers Group have a chat

10 -12 Drop in for a cup of

Tuesdays Open Door
noon tea and a chat

Afternoon Hymns, prayer,

Tuesdays 2 pm
Fellowship various speakers.
Thursdays Various speakers on
st rd 7:30 pm Open Circle topics of interest
(1 and 3 )

Grapple with what

Sundays 7:30 pm Lent Group Lent may mean for us
A letter from the Minister...
We are now well into the wilderness journey
with Jesus. Perhaps you are craving for the
Lenten contraband or have settled in to a
rhythm that will sustain you until Easter day.
Whatever your condition, lent remains a time of
change and renewal, of preparation and
equipping, of reflection and renewed
commitment.

Lent is a reminder that we must be looking for what God is doing next in
us and through us. Jesus did not enter the wilderness to simply be
tempted; he entered it to prepare for the ministry that lay ahead of him.

For the church February saw good things continuing and the trying of
some newer ventures. The cafe service was a great success; it was a
privilege leading the service from the front, taking in the atmosphere of
the sharing around tables. Thank you to all who made that happen and I
look forward to more in the future.

However, a good February does not mean God has done all that is
required in us this Lent. March (and every month) still hold great
opportunity. It may be that you have questions about life and faith? I
would encourage you to ask them- more than likely others are wondering
the same thing. It may be that you feel God calling you to something that
does not seem to fit into the church- I invite you to tell someone because
it could be that you hold the key for the next chapter in the life of our
church. May be you want to take a step of commitment towards God or
to become a member of the church. Again, come and see me, I would
love to chat.

Lent is not a time of standing still in the desert getting hungry, it is a time
to grapple with who God is calling us to be. So, let’s not remain where we
are but embrace where God is leading us, as individuals and as a church.

Every blessing, Matt

Church Events
Lent Activities at St Ives Methodist Church

Sunday Evening Lent Group

A small group are continuing to meet throughout lent on Sunday
evenings to discuss aspects of life and responses to lent based on
the film Chocolat. If you would like to join us on Sunday evenings,
7:30pm at 19 Audley Close, please let Matt know 01480 462293.

Monday Housegroup Lent Course

The Housegroup will be meeting fortnightly during Lent. We are
currently working through “Knowing God”, a Lent Course being
studied throughout the District, as part of the ‘Journey into Faith’
initiative for East Anglia. Meetings take place at 3 Clare Court at
2pm. The next meeting will be on Monday 15th March.

Churches Together in St Ives – Lent Studies

Churches Together are continuing their Lent study sessions
throughout March. The theme for 2010 is different aspects of
prayer. Sessions are held on Tuesday Evenings at 7:30pm (for
approximately 1 hour) and repeated on Friday Mornings, with a
lent lunch to follow at 12noon. The remaining sessions are:
Aspects of Prayer: Confession
Tuesday 9th March @ 7:30pm - Sacred Heart Church
Friday 12th March @ 11am – Sacred Heart Church
Aspects of Prayer: Intercession
Tuesday 16th March @ 7:30pm – St Ives Methodist Church
Friday 19th March @ 11am - St Ives Methodist Church
Aspects of Prayer: Thanksgiving
Tuesday 23rd March @ 7:30pm – The Free Church
Friday 26th March @ 11am – The Free Church
Holy Week Reflections
Holy Week is a precious time in the church year as we reflect
upon what Jesus has done for us. We hope this year that you
would join us and benefit from some of the reflections we are
providing. Every evening we are offering the opportunity to come
for thirty minutes to take in the love of God and the sacrifice of
Jesus. The meditations will be based upon the characters and
events of Christ’s passion. See the Holy Week page for details.

Church Services
In the February issue of the Newsletter, Matt informed us about
having an alternative service on the third Sunday of each month.
This month, we will have an All Age Worship Service. The all age
worship is just that, it is aimed at all ages seeking to blend
elements from all traditions so that everybody, no matter what
their age, can worship God. If we get it right, which we definitely
can, it will be a celebration of our unity in diversity.

Church Family News

We have all been saddened and concerned at the news of Katy
Dunn’s recent accident. We pray for healing. Please remember
her in your prayers, and also the Circuit staff who will need to
cover much of her work during her recovery.

We are sorry to have to record the unexpected death, early in

February, of Dennis Collins, a regular member of our
congregation, and our Tuesday Afternoon Fellowship. He is sadly
missed and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and
friends at this time.
Please also remember in your prayers the several elderly
members of our congregation for whom life is difficult,
particularly as the bad weather continues.

We think especially of Jim Dale, Bill Gurry (now in Hunter’s Down

residential Home); Ted and Jenny Woolford, Doris Law (in
Primrose Hill Nursing Home), and Connie and Ray Rogers - Ray is
at present in Hinchingbrooke Hospital which leaves Connie at
home alone dependant on her carers.

We also uphold in our prayers, John and Mary Hindley, Nan

Duplessis Bob Ketley, and Julia Johnson, as well as others
worried about their health, or that of loved ones.

We send congratulations to all those celebrating special birthdays

this month, including Pat Wass and Val Tester.

Two members of our congregation are taking part in charity

fundraising events over the next couple of months. Jill Mansfield,
one of our choir members, will be taking part in Trek Spain 2010,
which hopes to raise £70,000 for vital research projects into
Parkinson's Disease. John Finch is taking part in the gruelling 26-
mile Virgin London Marathon. He hopes to raise £2010 this year
for the charity Whizz Kidz, who provide mobility equipment and
support for disabled children and their families.

If you would like to support Jill or John through prayer or

sponsorship, please get in touch with them. Last month’s
newsletter has further details.

Congratulations to Ruth and Nick who will be getting married

on Saturday 3rd April. We wish them every blessing in their
married life together.
I would like to offer sincere thanks to all members of the church
for their prayers, lovely cards and telephone calls for my 97th
birthday. I wish I could attend church to thank you all personally.
Jim Dale

Please Pray...
As a church we believe that prayer makes a difference because
God listens and answers.

Pray for the individuals from our church family named on the
previous page and hold them in your prayers throughout March,
and pray for those not named whose needs are known to God.

We pray for those devastated by the earthquake last month in

Chile, and those continuing to recover in Haiti.

We pray for the lives wrecked across Europe in the recent

flooding, and pray for all those in positions of responsibility who
both assist relief efforts and plan for emergencies.

We also pray for families in our area, in and around St Ives, who
are continuing to struggle with stresses and strains of everyday
life. We pray especially for those struggling to clothe and clean
their families, and pray that the Black Bin appeal may reach out
to families in need this lent time.

If there are any items of family news, or if there is anything that

you would like to be prayed for please write it in the Prayer Book
at the back of the church, let the Leadership Team know or
contact prayer@simc.co.uk ..
Notices
Jumble Sale
The church is holding a fundraising jumble sale on Saturday 13th
March at 2pm in the church hall. Resalable clothes, towels,
bedding etc are required. Please no bric-a-brac unless it is
suitable for a nearly new stall. Admission will be 20p. Helpers are
required on the day and between 2pm and 4:30pm on Friday 12th
March to assist with setting up. Contact Christine Mealing on
(01487) 843686

Library Van visit

The Good News Library Van will once again be visiting the church
hall on Tuesday 23rd March from 10:30- 11:45 am. Browse
through a selection of Christian Resources whilst enjoying a cup
of tea or coffee. Resources may be borrowed free of charge.

R.E.S.T at Sawtry Methodist Church

There will be a chance to Relax, Eat, Share and Think on Thursday
25th March at Sawtry Methodist Church at 7pm. REST is an
informal time of contemporary worship designed to feed the
heart and stimulate the mind, beginning with a simple meal.
Contact rest@sawtrymethodist.org.uk for further details.

Black Bin Appeal returns for Lent.

On Sunday 21st February, Rev Matt Finch relaunched the “Black
Bin” appeal for the period of lent. You are invited to contribute
household goods, cleaning products, baby care items and
personal hygiene products. These will be distributed by social
services to families locally who are struggling to support
themselves. Please bring items to church at any time the
premises are open and leave in the black bin. Thank you.
Bank Holiday Market – Easter Monday 5th April
The Afternoon Fellowship will once again be serving
refreshments from the front of the church from 10am. There will
also be a bric-a-brac stall. Come along and support this
fundraising effort for the church.

Open Circle
A raffle at the meeting on 4th February raised £60 for the Haiti
emergency appeal. Open Circle will next be meeting on Thursday
18th March 7:30pm. The speaker for the evening will be Gary
O’Shea – Disaster Management- International Rescue Corps. The
next session after this will be the Spring Supper on Thursday 15th
April 7pm.Tickets are £5 each and are available from Evelyn
Watmore and Lilian Temple.

Church Council Meeting

The church council met on 25th January. Full details can be found on
the draft minutes, available to read on the church noticeboard.

Church Offerings for February

Feb 7th £396.58 Feb 14th £588.58
Feb 21st £390.26 Feb 28th £398.20

Theatre Trip 2010 – advance notice

The questionnaires that were completed and returned after the
theatre trip last year showed that the majority of theatre goers
would like to see ‘Mamma Mia’. The weekday matinee
performance is at 5pm on a Friday. It has also been suggested
that October might be a better month for our trip. Please watch
for the usual list at the back of church to reserve your place. For
any further information, contact Wendy Ware (01480) 370185.
Leadership Team Meeting Feedback
The church leadership team met on 18th February to discuss a
number of church matters. We have received the access report
for the new disabled toilet and the Property and Finance
Committee will now look at progressing this. Further feedback
from the foyer project has been received and the leadership
team hope to visit Bluntisham Baptist Church in the near future
to see a very different but very successful refurbishment project
– designed by the architect we are working with. Details for
Easter events were also finalised.

Pastoral Letter to The Methodist People

The Senior Leadership of The Methodist Church have written a
pastoral letter to Methodists, following their address to the
General Synod of The Church of England in February. This is
available from the back of the church and available to download
from our website for those interested.

Action for Children Home Collection boxes

We have raised £547.83 this year. Well done! One behalf of some
of the UK’s most vulnerable children and families, thank you for
your continued support. Every penny counts and allows work to
go ahead for the future. Please visit the noticeboard in the church
hall for examples of how the money helps. Pat Wass would like to
thank all collectors for their promptness is handing boxes in. If
you would like a home collection box to save spare small change,
please speak to Pat.

Pastoral Care at Our Church

As one or two of our regular Pastoral Visitors are no longer able
to continue in this role, we would like to speak to anyone who
feels they could help the Church community in this way. The
pastoral leaders are currently drawing up a job description of
what is involved and this will appear in a future newsletter.
If you feel this is something you would like to know more about,
please speak informally to one of our current Pastoral Leaders-
Ruth Judd; Ann Collingwood; Flo’ Craven Wilson; Margaret Down
or Barbara Cooper.

Help for Haiti – A Special Performance

A unique theatrical fundraising event will be taking place in our
church on Saturday 17th April at 7:30pm. Help for Haiti will
include a number of local groups, including SIMADS and The
Centre Players, coming together for a one-night-only special
performance evening. Put this date in your diaries and keep an
eye out for details coming soon. Details will also appear at
simc.co.uk/haiti as soon as they are confirmed! Tickets will be
expected to sell quickly so don’t miss out.

Thursday Afternoon Social Group

An informal mid-week afternoon social group is being planned,
which will meet (initially) on Thursdays between 2 and 4pm in the
small meeting room at our church.
If you are someone who enjoys spending an afternoon having a
game of scrabble; Rummikub; chess; dominoes etc. or if you
would like to bring along your knitting or embroidery and enjoy
company over a cup of tea, then do come along. We will welcome
any suggestions of things you would like to do.
The group will welcome men and women, any age. If you think
you might be interested then come along one Thursday and see
what is happening. If transport is needed then ring Gladys
(01480) 355218 or Barbara (01480) 381174.
Fairtrade Fortnight
March sees fairtrade fortnight drawing
to a close. The theme for 2010 was
The Big Swap and many of us saw
Fairtrade Fortnight launched at our Cafe
Service on 21st February. 2010.

We have all been challenged to swap to fairtrade. If you have the

internet, you can still register any swaps you have made on the
Fairtrade Foundation’s website at www.thebigswap.org.uk .

Have you made the swap to the tasty Banana or Chocolate Loaf
cakes, chocolate chip shortbread biscuits or brownies and
flapjacks all available from the Co-op? All of these were on offer
to enjoy at the Cafe service. If you enjoyed them at church, you
can enjoy them at home, too.

Have you made the swap to fairtrade Tea? It’s available in a huge
range of varieties, including decaffeinated and organic.
Have you made the swap to Fairtrade Chocolate? Divine,
Cadbury, Green & Blacks and Co-op all produce a wide range.

If you regularly visit the Costa coffee shop in town for a cuppa,
please ask them why they don’t serve fairtrade tea – Greggs just
a few doors down serve only fairtrade tea.

If major companies including Nestle, Cadbury and Tate & Lyle are
prepared to embrace fairtrade for some of their products, isn’t it
time that YOU did too?

There are farmers queuing up to join fairtrade. We need to show

that we are prepared to buy it – as part of our everyday shopping
- in order to make this happen.
 Holy Week 2010
Sunday 28th March
6pm – A Taize service at our church to begin our journey in a
moving, meditative and contemplative way.
Monday 29th March
7pm Holy Week Reflection at our church – Margaret Harris
7:30pm Holy Week Prayers at Brampton Methodist Church
Tuesday 30th March
9:30am Morning Communion – Rev Matt Finch
2:30pm Network Holy Communion at Buckden Methodist Church,
followed by refreshments.
7pm Holy Week Reflection at our church – Don Moorman
Wednesday 31st March
7pm Holy Week Reflection at our church – Madge Harrison
Maundy Thursday 1st April
7pm Holy Week Reflection at our church – Rev Matt Finch
7:30pm Joint Service with the Free Church at our church
Good Friday 2nd April
11:30am Walk of Witness starts at Crossways Car Park (Ramsey
Road, St Ives) to arrive outside our church (approx 11:45am) and
continuing to the market square in St Ives Town Centre
12:00noon – Good Friday Service in the Market Square, St Ives.
7pm Holy Week Reflection at church – Simon Oliver & Matt Finch
Easter Sunday 4th April
8am – Easter Morning Holy Communion – Rev Matt Finch
Followed by Easter Day Breakfast
10:30am – Easter Day Morning Worship – Simon Oliver
2:30pm - The Passion 2010: Bringing the crucifixion and
resurrection of Jesus to the streets of St Neots.
 March:feature
Each month the newsletter will include a special feature about one
particular part of our church or church members. For this month,
Ruth Horton, student minister from Wesley House on placement
with our circuit, shares a little about how she hopes to develop the
use of music in worship at St Ives.

Ruth Horton will soon be embarking upon her first stationing as a

minister this Autumn. She has been put to good use during her
training at Wesley House. One of her roles
has been to be involved in the forthcoming
revision to the Methodist Hymn Book.

Sung worship is something close to Ruth’s

heart. She is a talented musician and
wants to encourage other musicians across
the breadth of the church family to
become involved in the worship life of our church.

On Wednesday 10th March there will be

a meeting about the music ministry that
takes place here in St Ives. The meeting
aims to engage those interested in
offering something to the musical
worshiping experience of the church.

Ruth explains, “God can work very

powerfully through the music we
experience and participate in, especially
in the context of worship, so this is an
opportunity to explore how God wants to work in and through us
here and now.”
It is Ruth’s hope that this meeting will allow us to talk about what
we do already that we want to keep the same or even change, and
also explore what new things could be considered for the future.

“I would like to invite anyone who is interested in being part of this

music ministry, both in terms of playing an instrument and in
singing to come along and be involved,” added Ruth.

Musicians have always played a key

part in leading God’s people in
worship. If this is something you feel
called to assist with, or think that it
might be, please come along!

The Music Ministry Meeting is on

Wednesday 10th March at 7:30pm in
the church.

“
Forthcoming notices:
If you would like a notice to go into the next monthly
Newsletter, please contact Stuart Wilkinson.

Email: info@simc.co.uk
Telephone: 01480 389623
Write in the purple notice book at the back of the church.

Deadline for the next issue: 11am Tuesday 30th March.

Next issue available Sunday 4th April.
 Please see inside for full details of events for HOLY WEEK.
Sun 7th 7:30pm Lent Course – 19 Audley Close (no Phos group)
Tues 9th 9:30am Communion – Tony Perryman
Tues 9th 10 – 11:30am Parents and Toddlers
Tues 9th 10 – 12 noon Open Door
Tues 9th 2:00pm Afternoon Fellowship: Father Paul Maddison
Tues 9th 7:30-8:30pm Lent Course: Confession
Wed 10th 7:30pm Music Ministry Meeting
Fri 12th 11am-1pm Lent Course: Confession + Lunch

Sat 13th 2pm Jumble Sale

Sun 14th 7:30pm Lent Course – 19 Audley Close (no Phos group)
Mon 15th 2pm House Group (3 Clare Court)
Tues 16th 9:30am Communion – Rev Matt Finch
Tues 16th 10 – 11:30am Parents and Toddlers
Tues 16th 10 – 12 noon Open Door
Tues 16th 12:30-3:30pm Afternoon Fellowship Celebration
Tues 16th 3:30-5pm Circle of Light
Tues 16th 7:30-8:30pm Lent Course: Intercession
Thurs 18th 7:30pm Open Circle: Gary O’Shea
Fri 19th 11am-1pm Lent Course: Intercession + Lunch

Sun 21st 7:30pm Lent Course – 19 Audley Close (no Phos group)
Tues 23rd 9:30am Communion – Rev Chris Gyles
Tues 23rd 10 – 11:30am Parents and Toddlers
Tues 23rd 10 – 12 noon Open Door
Tues 23rd 10:30-11:45am Good News Library Van Visit
Tues 23rd 2:00pm Afternoon Fellowship: Madge Harrison
Tues 23rd 7:30-8:30pm Lent Course: Thanksgiving
Fri 26th 11am -1pm Lent Course: Thanksgiving + Lunch

Sun 28th 7:30pm Lent Course – 19 Audley Close (no Phos group)
Mon 29th 2:00pm House Group (3 Clare Court)
Tues 30th 9:30am Communion – Rev Matt Finch
Tues 30th 10 – 11:30am Parents and Toddlers
Tues 30th 10 – 12 noon Open Door