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In this edition

Page two Directory

Page three Holy Week & Easter Services

Forthcoming Events

Page four Clergybit

New Chair of Probus

Pray One for Me

Page five Redefining Marriage?

Stipendiary Provision after Easter

Congratulations & Celebrations

Page six ‘Let Justice Prevail’ in Malaysia

FairTrade Follow Up!

Page seven From the Registers

Spring Festival

Olympic Torch will visit Horwich

Page eight The power of acting together

Mistacks are easily made!

Jubilee Flower Festival

May Issue

Deadline: April 15

Publication Date: April 29

April 2012 THE MAGAZINE OF THE HORWICH & RIVINGTON TEAM CHURCHES Price 50p

As I entered Holy Trinity on 4

th March, I

was delighted to see the church so full for the Youth service. As the wife of one of the CYFA leaders I knew how much time and effort had gone into the

preparation. I did not however know what a treat was in store.

The service was led entirely by the young people; they had planned it themselves and appropriately called it ‘Get Stuck In’. A group of very talented musicians provided all the music, a varied selection and including one of my favourites and a new one that I am sure will become a favourite. Joe Ruaux played the drums, Jonathan Kent the piano, Beth Tomlin, the guitar and Becki Green provided the vocal lead.

Toby Harley appears to be following in his father’s footsteps as he produced an excellent computerised sketch that was both entertaining and thought provoking. He then spoke about the calling of the disciples and challenged us all to remember that we too are called to be Disciples of Christ. I wondered if I had been fishing that day two thousand years ago and had been called, would I have left everything behind to follow Jesus? We were left in no doubt that Beth Wood has that courage as she spoke of her journey to Christ with such confidence. She talked of being brought to church as a child and how her faith had grown as she joined CYFA and started looking for answers herself. As someone who has worked with Pathfinders and CYFA in the past I was moved by the realization of the impact youth work has on young

lives. Her trip to Namibia had further deepened her faith and she is clearly now proud to be a Christian and more than able to cope with the peer pressure that young people face today. A disciple, I am sure Christ is very proud of.

Beth Tomlin and Becki Green performed a beautiful song they had written especially for the service. Becki led the vocals and Beth accompanied on the guitar as well as singing. It brought tears to many eyes and reminded us that God is always with us fighting our battles for us. I am sure we will hear much more of the girls’ work.

Jonathon Kent is another who appears to be following in his father’s footsteps as he preached confidently encouraging us to ‘get stuck in’ and follow the plan that God has for us knowing that we can trust that He will be with us along the way.

The prayers were introduced by Gabriel Jennings and were very personal. People could sit quietly in prayer or visit one of the four prayer stations. Ricardo Shirres manned the station where you could ask for forgiveness; you wrote your sin on a piece of foil and watched it wash away as you put it in water. There was also opportunity for quiet reflection in front of candles in the form of a cross and places where you could pray for people and situations close to your heart.

After the service as we chatted and shared refreshments it was commented what a shame it was, that this service wasn’t going to be covered on the news tonight, rather than the negative images we often see of our young people today. I think everybody in church was very proud of these young people in Horwich.

Pam Smith

OUR YOUNG PEOPLE GOT STUCK IN!

The Editor and Editorial Team would like to wish all our readers a very Happy and Blessed Easter.

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HOLY WEEK & EASTER ACROSS THE TEAM & MISSION PARTNERSHIP

Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday (2nd, 3rd & 4th April)

7.30 pm at St. Katharine’s Blackrod

Holy Communion & Address with The Venerable David Bailey, Archdeacon of Bolton

Maundy Thursday (5th April)

7.30 pm at St. Catherine’s, Horwich Team Maundy Thursday Communion

7.30 pm at St Elizabeth’s, Horwich Passover Meal

7.30 pm at St. Katharine’s Blackrod Sung Eucharist & Address

Good Friday (6th April)

10.00 am at Rivington Church, Rivington Good Friday Reflections

10.30 am at St Catherine’s, Horwich Good Friday Reflections

10.00 am at St Elizabeth’s, Horwich Family Communion

11.15 am at St Elizabeth’s, Horwich Meditation

2.00 pm at Holy Trinity, Horwich Good Friday Reflections

2.00 pm at St Katharine’s, Blackrod Good Friday Liturgy & Address

Easter Eve (7th April)

8.00 pm at St Katharine’s, Blackrod The Easter Ceremonies & Address

Everyone is invited and welcome to attend any of the Holy Week Services

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH

presents

‘EASTER PRAISE’

on

Easter Sunday

8th April

6.30 pm Contemporary readings

and music

for the greatest day of the year

ALL WELCOME.

EASTER SUNDAY

Come and Celebrate the Risen Christ

at Communion services in all our Churches

10 am St Elizabeth’s

10 am St Katharine’s, Blackrod

10.30 am Holy Trinity

10.30 am St Catherine's

10.45 am Rivington

Holy Trinity Parish Church

and Horwich Art Society

present an

ART EXHIBITION at

Holy Trinity Church

Fri. 27th April 10.00am - 4pm

Sat. 28th April 10.00am - 4pm

Sun. 29th April 2.00pm - 4pm

Admission Free

10% of Sales to be donated

to Church Funds

Refreshments Available

34th BOLTON FESTIVAL

of

MALE VOICE PRAISE

in the Albert Hall,

Town Hall, Bolton

Saturday 14th April

6.45 pm

Speaker:

Canon Noel Proctor MBE

ADMISSION FREE

Tickets available in all churches

An Invitation to

2nd BOLTON PRAYER BREAKFAST

at Bolton Town Hall

27th April 7.30-9.15 am Cost £12.00

(includes full breakfast,

speakers expenses & room hire)

To pray for: the civic heart of the town To pray for:

the prosperity of the town and our business communities To uphold: vulnerable individuals and communities within the town

RSVP by 13th April to Susan Edmondson

0161 790 8289

Fit4Life Health & Exercise

for the over 50’s St Johns Methodist Church

Thursdays 10.15-11.15 am

Weekly class fee £4.00

Call Jenifer 01257 276471

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CLERGYBIT By Martyn Day

One of the earliest statements of

Christian belief was the phrase,

“Jesus is Lord”. It’s a creed that

can fall easily from our lips,

however do we not sometimes find

an uncomfortable tension between

that ancient confessional

declaration and the state of the

world? How is it that Jesus is the

“Prince of Peace” when nations

collide in theatres of war? We

wonder about the sovereignty of

Christ when despotic leaders still

hold sway. And what about Jesus

as the Just Judge when the richest

nations still refuse to cancel the

debt of poorer nations?

And up close and personal, do

we not feel a deep disappointment

when we call Jesus “Lord” of our

lives and yet still experience the

shame of bad habits that refuse to

be broken, and patterns of sin that

repeat? All of us know deep down,

if we are thoroughly honest, that

not all things about our lives are as

we would wish them to be. And

those who call themselves

Christians struggle particularly

because we feel it right to entertain

a hope that, somehow or other,

faith in Christ should break the

power of sin over us – yet it doesn’t

always appear to happen easily.

Is Jesus still Lord, when things

go wrong within and without us?

When we question the

legitimacy of the claim, “Jesus is

Lord”, because the world and our

lives seem not to change, we

need conviction that something

really has changed. It is in the

resurrection of Christ that we

celebrate this month, and only in

that event, that we receive the

conviction we need. The

resurrection proclaims that the

great enemy of the human race –

death – has been utterly

defeated. God’s new order of

creation has begun and the

Lordship of Christ has been

vindicated. Whatever we despair

of in the world or in our lives,

something significant has

changed. And if our trust is in

Christ, then our story has

become bound up in God’s story,

which is moving inexorably

towards a great hope for all his

creation. The New Testament

writers revelled to proclaim this

resurrection hope. So the ancient

creedal cry of the first Christians,

“Jesus is Lord”, is just as true

today as it was then. It’s in that

light that we live our lives.

A NEW CHAIRMAN! Horwich Probus has a new

chairman - David Griffiths one of

the honorary clergy of the Horwich

Team of churches and an

authorised Methodist Minister

helping at St John’s Methodist

Church.

Probus clubs are organizations

for those who have retired from

their profession or business and

want to maintain a social network

with others who have similar

interests. Philip Haworth is seen

here congratulating David on his

election at the recent annual

meeting. Probus meets on the

second and fourth Monday of each

month at the Old Links Golf Club.

Coffee at 10am Speaker at 10.30.

So far David has chaired a

speaker about the history of Uncle

Joe’s Mint Balls and Cliff Jones,

from Rivington Church, who has

been a professional safari guide,

broadcaster, journalist and

currently is a regular lecturer

aboard cruise ships talking about

natural history and global

warming. The full programme of

speakers for the year includes

Brian Halliwell on the Golden Age

of Comedy, David Leeming on

Alms Houses, Roy Sammons on

Advanced Motoring and many

other interesting topics. People

who may be interested in finding

out more about Horwich Probus

should contact Roger Freathy the

Secretary on 01204 403226.

The Bishop of Bolton launched

Pray One for Me, a Church of

England Facebook prayer site,

outside Bolton Town Hall, at the

beginning of Lent. They can be

found at www.facebook.com/

prayoneforme and the Website at

www.prayoneforme.org and offer

people the opportunity to post

prayer requests online. Churches

across the UK will be praying

prayers posted on the page.

Earlier prayer projects run by the

Church of England show that many

of the prayer requests will be for

family and friends, for healing and

worldwide

problems,

and thanking God. However, the

page will also encourage themed

prayers to focus prayer on some

of the life’s big events such as

Christian Aid week, the Queen’s

Jubilee, and the Olympics, and to

respond to events in the

news. The initiative is a reminder

of the importance for many of

prayer.

The Bishop of Bolton, Chris

Edmondson, said: “For many

people, there is a great desire to

seek spiritual engagement away

from what we might recognise as

the traditional faiths. Research

suggests that 20 million adults in

the country pray – that’s 42% of the

population. It is these facts that

have helped inspire Pray One for

Me. Many of these people are

those that the Church finds hard to

reach. So we are hoping they will

join in.”

http://www.facebook.com/prayoneformehttp://www.facebook.com/prayoneformehttp://www.prayoneforme.org/

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CELEBRATIONS & CONGRATULATIONS Susan and Jim Firth are celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary on 21st April. They have attended Rivington Church for many years, attended Holy Trinity in their youth and are well known within the Team Churches, We send our congratulations and best wishes to them

Objecting to this, the Archbishop

of York, John Sentamu who

opposes gay marriage, but

supports civil partnerships, which

he says have addressed the

injustices faced by same-sex

couples, said "I happen to believe

that to change the law would be

forcing an unjustified change." The

Catholic Archbishops Vincent

Nichols and Peter Smith, said, in a

letter read out in all Catholic

churches across England and

Wales that "Changing the legal

definition of marriage would be a

profoundly radical step. Its

consequences should be taken

seriously now." The Archbishop of

Canterbury Rowan Williams, has

said the law should not be used as

a tool to bring about social

changes such as gay marriage.

The Catholic Archbishops said

that "Our present law does not

discriminate unjustly when it

requires both a man and a

woman for marriage. It simply

recognises and protects the

distinctive nature of marriage."

They said “Understood as a

lifelong commitment between a

man and a woman, and for the

creation and upbringing of

children, marriage is an

expression of our fundamental

humanity. Its status in law is the

prudent fruit of experience, for

the good of the spouses and the

good of the family. In this way

society esteems the married

couple as the source and

guardians of the next generation.

As an institution marriage is at

the foundation of our society.

They went on: "A change in the law

would gradually and inevitably

transform society's understanding

of the purpose of marriage. It

would reduce it just to the

commitment of the two people

involved. There would be no

recognition of the complementarity

of male and female or that

marriage is intended for the

procreation and education of

children.”

The Archbishops have

commended the 'Coalition for

Marriage' (C4M), an ecumenical

initiative, which is petitioning the

Prime Minister to oppose any

attempt to re-define marriage. The

petition can be found at http://

c4m.org.uk/

Catholics and Anglicans united

in opposing re-defining Marriage The Government has just presented its 12 week consultation paper on a proposed change in the legal definition

of marriage by 2015 so as to open the institution of marriage to same-sex partnerships. The consultation

documents are available to view on the Home Office website and you can complete the consultation online there.

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/consultations/equal-civil-marriage

After Easter, when Rev Paul

Dever moves to his new post in

Cheam, his half-time Team Vicar’s

post here will not be replaced, so

discussions have been taking

place about who will take on that

responsibility from our remaining

stipendiary (paid) clergy. It was

announced at St. Elizabeth’s Vision

Day on Saturday 17th March that

Rev Michael Behrend will become

the stipendiary minister for both St.

Catherine’s and St. Elizabeth’s

churches, helped by Rev Terry

Litherland, Associate

Team OLM based at St.

Catherine’s, and Rev

Peter Harley, who

will be completing

his Curacy

training in the

summer and then become an

Associate Team OLM based at

St. Elizabeth’s. We hope to be

able to announce a service

welcoming Michael to his new

responsibility at St. Elizabeth’s

Church sometime in May.

With the arrival of our new

Team Curate, Kim Lafferty, in

July, St. Elizabeth’s Vicarage will

become our ‘Curacy

House’ but, although

living on site, plans will

be in place so that Kim will not

need to act as a ‘caretaker’ for the

Church building or Church Hall,

which is not her remit in this

training post.

Rev Stephen Fletcher will remain

as stipendiary minister responsible

for Holy Trinity and Rivington

Parish churches, but discussions

are continuing within the Mission

Partnership, in consultation with

the Diocese, which may see further

changes of responsibility following

the retirement of Canon

Roger Cooper as Area

Dean of Deane in May,

2012.

STIPENDIARY CLERGY CHANGES WITHIN OUR TEAM MINISTRY

& MISSION PARTNERSHIP

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/john-sentamuhttp://c4m.org.uk/http://c4m.org.uk/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/consultations/equal-civil-marriage

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I always feel privileged to

be a part of The Women’s

World Day of Prayer as it

is something my mum tells

me my much loved

paternal grandmother was

involved with, in York. The

origins date back to the

19th century when Christian

women in the USA and Canada

began a variety of cooperative

activities in support of women's

involvement in mission, at home

and abroad. Services started to

take place in the UK in the 1930s.

The service is written by a

different country each year and

that country then becomes the

focus of the world's prayers on the

day itself. The first service of the

day takes place on the Island of

Samoa and the last service takes

place on American Samoa.

This year’s service theme, written

by the Christian women of

preached on the reading taken

from the book of Habakkuk when

Habakkuk complains to the Lord of

injustice. We sang a variety of

hymns and songs, some modern

and some traditional.

I came away encouraged by the

Malaysian women who despite

their difficulties had put together a

beautiful service demonstrating

their great faith. I was also thankful

that I am free to live and worship

as I choose. Finally I was proud to

have been worshipping not just

with other Christians from Horwich

but all over the world as the songs

we sang and prayers we said

echoed those of others throughout

the day.

Next year’s service is at St Mary’s

on 1st March in the afternoon.

WOMENS WORLD DAY of PRAYER

by Pam Smith

Malaysia was ‘Let Justice

Prevail’.

Our Horwich service was held

at Horwich Evangelical

Church on 2nd of March. We

learned something of life in

Malaysia and particularly the

plight of women for whom there

have been some improvements

over the years. However,

despite this progress, women of

all races and classes still face

difficulties and discrimination at

all levels of society and even

today a girl child is seen as less

valuable than a boy and women

suffer violence without protest.

Some ladies put on Malaysian

costumes and told stories of

women who have fought for

better lives for all. Eric Kent

Thanks very much to everyone

who took part in our Horwich

Fairtrade Steps Coffee Mornings,

during Fairtrade Fortnight. Six

Churches hosted events which

varied greatly, so it was an exciting

journey around the town – so far

only two people have admitted to

getting to all six! As these were

the group chair and treasurer, we

are not sure whether this was

brought about by caffeine

dependency or a slightly

competitive edge! We know of

several people who managed four

venues, and many travelled

between at least two,

which was part of the

idea of “stepping out”.

The churches taking

part were: St

Elizabeth’s (gorgeous

cakes), St Catherine’s

(super stalls), St

Mary’s (enjoyed in a

lull whilst a service

was in progress),

Horwich Evangelical

Church (who agreed to join in the

project after the first list was

announced), Holy Trinity (busy

coffee bar with a great Fairtrade

stall), and last, but by no means

least, New Chapel (who combined

the event with their Spring Fair)

and, by continuing to 1pm, not only

allowed the group chair and

treasurer to get round in time, but

were serving soup too! Thanks also

to colleagues from Blackrod, who

staffed a stall at Horwich Resource

Centre on the first Saturday of

Fairtrade Fortnight.

To date, we know that £119.60

has been paid in donations to

various emergency funds. We are

trying to get a

rough estimate of

the number of

“Fairtrade Steps”

cards sent in –

hopefully Horwich

HOW MUCH COFFEE DID YOU DRINK?! FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT FOLLOW UP!

has made a

contribution to the

1.5million target for

2012!

We plan to publicise

Fairtrade and get

more Steps cards filled in at the

Festival of Racing, on June 17th

and Carnival, on June 24th.

The

next meeting of the Horwich

Fairtrade Group is 7.30pm on April

24th, at St John’s Methodist

Church, and the AGM at the same

venue at 7.30pm on May 16th.

Barbara Ronson (Chair)

Andrew Morley

(Treasurer)

Horwich

Fairtrade Group

Christine Cornes of St Catherine’s writes: For a change we were lucky to have a fine day for the FairTrade coffee morning. We had a steady stream of people coming through the door and I think everyone enjoyed the time to chat and sit down with refreshments. We all had a lovely morning and look forward to the next one.

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BAPTISMS

We welcome to the family of the Church: February 19 Rose Allman

February 26 Lily Watts

March 4 Archie James Noblett

March 11 Marcus Alan McKendrey

March 18 William Anthony Wynne

March 25 Henry Beck Wilson

March 25 Aimee-Rose Hope

WEDDINGS

We wish joy and happiness to: January 28 Simon Taylor & Emma Rayner (with apologies for ‘baptising’ them last month!)

February 24 Kristofer Arkwright & Leanne Clarkson

FUNERALS

We offer love and sympathy to the relatives and friends of: February 20 Thomas Monaghan, Wright Street, Horwich

February 23 Freda Muriel Cawley, Knightswood Care Home, Blackrod

February 23 Sheila Margaret Hart, Greenbank, Chorley New Road, Horwich

February 27 Lillian Whittle, Alexandra Road, Lostock

March 5 Margaret Elizabeth (Betty) Menzies, Hodgkinson’s Fold, Horwich

March 8 Derek Hine, Boardman Street, Blackrod

March 8 May Rudd, Vale House Care Home, Horwich

March 12 Leonard Krikken, Carwood Grove, Horwich

March 12 Jacqueline (Jackie) Howard, Pope’s Lane, Preston

March 30 Richard (Dick) Gregory, Hole Hose Farm, Heath Charnock

From the Registers

RIVINGTON

SPRING

FESTIVAL Friday, Saturday & Sunday

4th - 6th May

Friday 7.30 pm

Rivington

Music Society Concert

Saturday from 1 pm

Village Green Festival

with Brass band,

Morris Dancers, Stalls &

Afternoon Teas in the Hall

Sunday 10.45 am

Festival Service

Guest Preacher:

Rt. Rev. Chris Edmondson

Bishop of Bolton

OLYMPIC TORCH ROUTE TO HORWICH...

...BUT IT’S AN EARLY START! The London 2012 Olympic Torch features 8,000 small cut-out circles, representing the 8,000 inspirational people who will carry it on its journey around the UK. The circles run the length of the body of the Torch and offer a unique level of transparency. You can see to the heart of the Torch and view the burner system keeping the Olympic Flame alive. The triangular-shaped Torch was inspired by a series of 'threes', found in the history of the Olympic Games and the vision for the Olympic Movement:

The three Olympic values of respect, excellence and friendship;

The three words that make the Olympic motto – faster, higher, stronger;

The UK has hosted the Olympic Games in 1908, 1948 and 2012; and

The vision is to combine sport, education and culture. The torchbearers ages range from 11–100 and more than half will be young people, so the designers aimed to make the Torch as light as possible. The gold colour embraces the qualities of the Olympic Flame – the brightness and the warmth of the light that it shines. On Friday 1st June the torch will leave the Bolton Town Hall steps at 06.06, running along Deansgate, St George’s Road & Chorley New Road to Clevelands Prep school to catch the convoy to the Horwich Town sign at 06.42. Then running again along Chorley New Road to Dryfield Lane, where it will catch the convoy onto Chorley. Full details can be found at:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/19_03_12_day14_bolton_liverpool.pdf

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With thanks to Easiprint, Crown Lane, Horwich for printing this magazine.

ELIZABETH

60 GLORIOUS YEARS

A Flower Festival is being held to

celebrate the Queen's Diamond

Jubilee. Designed to depict many

events in the life and reign of HM

The Queen. As well as flower

arrangements there will be

musical events held each day

throughout the day. Refreshments

available.

Parish Church of

St Mary the Virgin, Leigh 7 June - 10 June 10.00 - 18.00

Admission £3.00

For more

information contact

Trevor Bailey on

01942 259257

‘Now all our children eat two

meals a day all year round,

whereas before it was one. They

are growing well, and can learn

more at school; and they don’t cry

around me because of hunger’,

said Tenneh. But the effects of the

food production group the

Methodist Church started has been

more wide-ranging than this. The

support and encouragement that

farmers give to each other, has

shown how much can be achieved

when the community comes

together. Now they are no longer

limited by hunger, the people of

Gbap (pronounced Bap) have

successfully lobbied for a new

school and an agricultural work

centre for the community. They

have taken their future into their

own hands.

Christian Aid currently works with

507 partners in 47 countries in

Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin

America and the Caribbean helping

people to make changes like this

happen. The money raised during

Christian Aid week is vital to the

continuation of this work, and all

the donations made will be

multiplied many times over as

many small actions come

together to make huge changes

within communities.

But Christian Aid Week is

much more than a call to our

generosity. It is also a reminder

of Jesus’ command to love our

neighbour, and a call for our unity

– an invitation for churches

across Horwich to come together

to celebrate the possibility of

hope and life in parts of the world

where mere survival can be a

struggle; to witness together of

Christians’ concern for the poor

and of our determination to act

together with our neighbours both

at home and as far away as

Gbap to fight all that leads to

violence and separation.

During Christian

Aid week 13–19

May there will

be the usual house to house

collection. But there will also be

collections at Asda & Tesco

Middlebrook Monday 14th

to

Wednesday 16th, the Barn on

Sunday 19th

May and after

morning services, while many

churches will be hosting other

events. Please think about how

you can be a part of Christian Aid

Week this year, watch your news

sheets for more information about

the various events and contact your

Christian Aid organiser to

volunteer. Remember that through

your small actions, people like

Tenneh will have the tools to make

big changes happen.

Horwich & Rivington

Christian Aid

Committee.

In Sierra Leone, Tenneh Keimbay’s life was turned around when the Methodist Church started to work in her town, distributing tools and teaching farmers simple, more efficient food production techniques. By acting together and sharing their new skills her community is now able to grow more food.

THE POWER

OF ACTING TOGETHER

WE ALL MAKE MISTACKS…. These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services: - the Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals. - remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say 'Hell' to someone who doesn't care much about you. - Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation. - for those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs. - Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days. - the church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility. - potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 pm - prayer and medication to follow. - the ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon. - the pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday. - Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 pm. Please use the back door. - the Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday: 'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours.