Welcome to The Buzz!
The Buzz brings all members of the Methodist Church in Britain together by sharing good news from across the Connexion. Your stories tell of the many different ways that the Church is working out the four aspects of Our Calling: Worship, Learning and Caring, Service and Evangelism.
What is God doing for you and in your area? Get in touch to share your stories.
Molly Richards
Media Officer
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All are Welcome
Bedale Methodist Church, Bedale
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Following the re-opening of the Methodist Church in Bedale, the building was buzzing with life when some of the students from nearby Mowbray School, where students with learning disabilities receive a wonderful education, came to give their summer concert.
The recent redevelopment features new sloped access to the now levelled floor, along with the removal of the pews, solar panels, an enlarged modern kitchen and accessible toilet facilities. The work has been funded through direct congregational giving and grants from the Connexional Property Fund, Methodist Insurance, TMCP, Allchurches Trust, the Yorkshire North and East District, the Ripon and Lower Dales Circuit, the proceeds from the sale of two chapels, and other grant giving bodies.
Bedale Methodist Church are very grateful for all the support they have received from Methodism in various ways and look forward to continuing the work of the Kingdom.
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Negative to Positive
Moving Stories, London District
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On 18 May, the London District reached the climax of the Moving Stories project that began in 2017 with the District Celebration Day at Wesley’s Chapel. The project focused on changing the toxic rhetoric of migration to one of optimism and welcome.
The day began with the ‘Transitions-Seen-Unseen’ Art Exhibition, produced in partnership with Applecart Arts. The exhibition showcased the stories of people and communities who have been influenced by their experience of migration and travel.
As guest speaker, the celebration service featured the award-winning author Onjali Q. Raúf, who delivered a stirring session on the importance of paying attention to the negative and dehumanising media narrative. He encouraged those present to be a part of changing that narrative.
The Ex-President of the Methodist Conference, the Revd Michaela Youngson was also in attendance, sharing on the nature of God’s people as migrants, with the Ex-Vice-President, Bala Gnanapragasam reflecting on the positive ways local churches in the Connexion engage in issues of migration.
Graeme Hodge, CEO of All We Can spoke about the work of the organisation in assisting those affected by migration. Three choirs sang over the course of the day, the Nigerian Fellowship Choir, the Eden Choir and the Susanna Wesley Auxiliary Mission Choir, before the day concluded with afternoon tea.
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Experience Church
Monton Methodist Church, Salford
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On Tuesday 4 June, Monton Methodist Church welcomed 40 year 6 pupils from Monton Green Primary School to Experience Church.
Experience Church is an interactive, multi-sensory way of engaging primary school children in learning about their local church and how Christians worship and practice their faith today.
During their trip, they visited five stations across the building, where they learnt:
- The Church Welcomes – baptisms and what happens when a person is welcomed into the church family. The children placed folded crosses into the water, which opened to reveal the word ‘Welcome’.
- The Church Teaches – at each service part of the Bible is read from the lectern. Jesus used birds and flowers to explain God’s care for all living creatures, the students made a bird to hang on the tree as a reminder.
- The Church Prays – the children learnt that Christians can pray anywhere and at any time, but in church they can pray together. The students wrote prayers for themselves on the upright of the cross, which is like a big ‘I’ and prayers for others on the crossbeam, reminding them of outstretched arms.
- The Church Serves – under the stained-glass window, the students learnt that Jesus wanted his followers to live lives that would light up the world with God’s love. They designed their own stained glass depicting what makes the world a brighter, happier place for them.
- The Church Celebrates – around the communion table, set for communion, they spoke about the Last Supper, the celebration meal that Jesus had with his disciples before he died, and how they were told to do this to remember him. They coloured in cards to decorate the table for the celebration.
The sessions were brought to a close with the idea that the ‘Church Shares’. Students shared what they had experienced and learnt about church while also learning about Jesus’s Great Commission to go and tell others about him.
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Toilet Twinning
Chester le Street Methodist Church, Chester le Street
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Chester le Street Methodist Church has been going potty in a bid to ‘twin’ all the toilets in their building.
The church has raised an admirable £1200 for Tearfund’s Toilet Twinning initiative.The funds will go to help communities in developing countries build their own facilities and so prevent sanitation-related diseases. The church and groups meeting in the building have raised enough money to twin ten toilets, and now have certificates showing photographs of the twinned toilets in countries from Afghanistan to the Central African Republic which are proudly displayed in their own WCs.
The church prayed for communities around the world who don’t yet have toilets, and celebrated everything they’d achieved so far at a special community service.
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The Buzz needs ‘good news’ stories from you!
Contact mediaoffice@methodistchurch.org.uk if you have a story for The Buzz. We cannot promise that your story will be used. Please ensure that you get permission for any photographs used.
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