Annual report of
WORLD
SERVICE AND MISSION FINANCIAL REPORT
1ST
HARLINGTON BOYS’ BRIGADE COMPANY
LADIES
BRIGHT HOUR WEEKLY FELLOWSHIP
Dear Friends,
This has been another good year to be your minister! You continue to inspire, challenge and
support me and you keep me busy!
Together we are working out our calling as disciples of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Let us never lose sight of this
purpose for our church.
In fact, I have given Harlington rather less of my time than
previously. This has been due to David Jenkins’ sabbatical, then the
implications of Lucille Kaye’s arrival as Superintendent and at The Square, and
just lately an unprecedented number of funerals. I have been glad of your understanding, and
also I know by now that you are not dependent on your minister for day-to-day
decisions. Thank you to everyone who has being holding office, and getting on
with your job.
Obviously there has been some sadness and there are always
opportunities to grow and develop. The numbers in worship are lower than in
previous years. We have had 2 older members die recently, and several others
from the community. We have needed our pastoral visitors and all the other ways
in which we show our care.
But we have welcomed one new member, and several new people
attending worship and Sunday School. We
have young people and they are taking their place in the life of the
church. We have been active in support
for the Jaffa Club, and many of the initiatives reported last year have been
working. We remain a church which looks beyond itself, to the village,
including our ecumenical partners, and recognises that we have responsibilities
to the Circuit, District and the Connexion, as well as to the world church.
Some of these factors have come together with the church’s financial and
practical support to the Village “Contact” going into every home.
During the year I have particularly enjoyed sharing in
worship with you, and I know that other preachers say the same about
Harlington. It isn’t always easy to hold
together our varied tastes, experiences and needs in worship, but I trust that
we will continue to aim to do this, through our input to the Plan, and through
the Singing Group, the Worship Group etc. Do become involved in the Worship
Consultation, if you can.
I am pleased there has been a growing commitment to the
building project, with a larger number of people directly involved in giving
and fundraising efforts. I am excited that during the year the Church Council
has decided to go ahead with the whole scheme, because we can see our way to
paying for it. As I write we are
preparing to move off site for six months, and again I am pleased that your
approach to this has been creative, tolerant and united. As we anticipate the dislocation ahead, I
sense that people are in good heart.
The building work will not
be the only challenge in the year ahead, and I am looking forward to working
with you, God willing, for two and a bit more years!
May God bless you.
Helen Caine
7 Up continues to meet on alternate
Fridays from 8.15 to 9.30 pm. Our
membership is up to 21, but because of the clash in timing with Explorers, the
maximum attendance has been 17. If you
can imagine 17 teenagers in our current hall, you will understand the need for
more space! The two girls who spent a
year in
The influx of 5 new boys at the bottom
of the age range has meant that we now share the BB’s pool table, as well as
using our own - thanks to Brian for arranging this. We have also had to develop a way of making
sure everyone who wants to play in an evening can - no chance of the same
people hogging the table all evening.
Our lowest attendance has been 2 - when
they were the only ones unable to go to the Red Nose event at the Square. Since Mike started liaising with the Square
for MAYC events, there have been a number of evenings (not always clashing with
7 Up) where our young people have gone to events at the Square. Again, return events will be possible when we
have larger premises to run events in.
Knowing how much space our own can take up is a bit daunting when
considering doubling the attendance!
7 Up will also be transferring its
meeting place to the Village Hall - so many of our more active games will be
transferred also, but we will look forward to our return to larger premises of
our own.
TS
Methodist Relief and Development –
There was a retiring collection for the Tsunami disaster. The total collected was £790.00. A lot of the donations were made through Gift
Aid, which increased the donations by £215.76.
The total amount was therefore £1,005.76.
NCH – The house to house collection in
September 2004 was £895.87, an increase of £46.56. The Christmas Day collection was
£121.18. The annual boxes and collection
from the Ladies Bright Hour totalled £178.99.
Quiz books sold = £12.
Christian Aid – The total Village
collection was £1,693.74.
Network – The income from the Easter
Offering was £112.38. Ladies Bright Hour
box = £77.50. August Tea Party = £81.
RNMDSF (Fishermen’s
SI
Traidcraft continues to ‘tick over’
thanks to several of our loyal customers here in Church, several members of the
At the moment we have £260 in our
Traidcraft bank account; if there are any queries as to why we have a bank
account at all, I’ll be happy to explain.
Last year we were able to give £200 from the account to our Building
Fund and another £200 back to Traidcraft Exchange; perhaps we shall be able to
do something similar in another year or two.
We receive two catalogues each year
(one in Autumn and one in Spring) which not only show items which Traidcraft
sell, but also give details of the people in other countries who produce them
and it is reassuring to learn what a difference Traidcraft makes to the lives
of these people.
Since our last A.G.M. I have given
talks on Traidcraft to groups of students at the
Last year we lost girls to the 7 Up,
this year we lost boys - 5 of them. With
some concern we have noted that we shall only lose one this coming September,
but the following September we shall lose 12 children, most of them girls. To a Club with a membership in the middle
20s, to lose half in one year is slightly worrying. If you know of any youngsters in the six-plus
age group, we would welcome them.
We are continuing to play a wide
variety of active games, with the able assistance of Brian, and the 4 adult
leaders can still run rings around the children when it comes to passball -
although with a number of the older girls now playing netball in local clubs,
they are giving us a run for our money!
With so many of the children in the same academic year, irrespective of
size, we have rethought the way in which the Story Game is graduated, and now
organise the teams by age, rather than size.
We are also developing activities on
the quiet side, with the hope of starting 626 Quiet when we have more space in
the new building. One new member of the
club likes to watch the noisy activities while enjoying quiet activities
herself! So craft activities are putting
in more appearances, and a number of the children are showing mild
interest. Christine has more ideas in
the pipeline!
Bookings have been made for 626 to
happen at the village hall when we have to leave the building, so space for the
children will continue to be available during the rebuilding.
If you would like to experience any of
these activities, please come along on any Friday between 6.30 and 8.00pm. I can promise that you will be made welcome!
The Worship Consultation meets once a
quarter, about 3 weeks before the entry for the plan is made to our
Superintendent Minister, Lucille Kaye.
Our remit is to discuss all aspects of worship in our church, and part
of that is to make sure that all the types of worship we expect as a church are
included on the plan.
So we make sure that our All Age
Worship services are included, and a reasonable number of Communion Services
also. We work out the best (hopefully)
time for holding Youth and Sunday School Celebration Services, and fit in the
Worship Group as well. If other groups
within the Church would like to lead worship, they should talk to Helen or one
of the Stewards, and they can be fitted in also.
The stewards then invite preachers for
the All Age Worship and Youth services, and any other special service. We are grateful to Betty Hinson for arranging
preachers for our
The Worship Consultation is also
responsible (with the stewards) for making sure that other aspects of worship
are given the same care: that there is
quiet before the service, so people can prepare for worship; that all tastes in
music are fulfilled at least some of the time; that the church is decorated
appropriately for various occasions; and that our church is welcoming in all
ways. In this respect, we keep a
database of hymns sung, so that we can see the variety used. We keep lists of numbers attending worship,
and we keep charts of attendance at morning services, to try to see where and
why people attend, and what might be the reasons we can affect for changes in
attendance.
The Worship Consultation is open to
anyone who would like to attend. There
is no fixed membership - if you would like to come, or to make suggestions,
speak to any of the stewards.
We celebrate our tenth year as a company in Harlington in 2005. Over the last ten years we have maintained a proven method to encourage boys to challenge and improve their individual skills and at the same time work within a team with Christian attitudes. Team and individual learning are important in any walk of life, and here with the BB our boys are given every opportunity to develop their life skills at their own pace.
Did you spot the difference this year at the annual
Remembrance Day Service? The last post
was played in duet. James Norris joined
our regular bugler ‘Beany’ to play for you this year for the first time. James holds the silver bugle award and plays
solo in our band regularly. It takes
great courage and determination for a young man like James to play in front of
a crowd on such an occasion, and we would like to congratulate James on his
performance at one of the most important events in the Harlington
calendar. May I also send Beany our
thanks from the 1st Harlington company. Beany attends this and other special company
events. What you will not be aware of is
that Beany first came to Harlington ten years ago when he was in the 1st
Bebington BB Company based in the Wirral on Merseyside. His company came to our village to support us
in our effort to get the BB started here in Harlington. He has journeyed from
Our Junior Section Figure Marching Team was again the
Battalion Champions, and not forgetting our young Anchor Boys who won the
Battalion Ten Pin Bowling Competition.
The lads always enjoy the Battalion competitions. It gives them the opportunity to meet fellow
members of the Brigade within the Beds, Herts and Bucks area.
If you have lived in the village over the last ten years,
you will undoubtably have seen or heard our band on the Sunday Morning march
around the village, usually after our church parades. We are noted throughout Beds, Herts and Bucks
for our work with the lads in the band.
Indeed we have performed at various events locally and further
afield. We have an annual booking for
our Bugle and Drum band in
I am pleased to say that we have a varied programme of
activity throughout the year – you do not have to be in our band if that’s not
your interest, just be ‘willing to have a go’ at one of our many other
activities. As your local company, we
can always accept new members (we do not have a waiting list) so why not come
along on a Thursday evening and join in the fun. If you are 5 or older we would encourage you
to join. A very warm welcome awaits
all. We continue our work as we
celebrate our 10th Annual Inspection and Display. This is an ideal occasion to visit us and see
for yourself just what it is like to be in the BB.
If you would
like to join us for one of our weekly parade nights at the
NO WAITING LISTS:
ANCHORS Age 5-8 yrs Thursdays 6.15-7.30 p.m.
JUNIOR SECTION Age 8-11 yrs Thursdays 6.45-7.30 p.m.
BAND (Junior & Company Section) Thursdays 7.30-8.00 p.m.
COMPANY SECTION Age
11 yrs+ Thursdays 7.30-9.15 p.m.
Hope to see you at one of our
forthcoming events.
We continue to meet every Thursday afternoon when we have
two or three hymns, prayers, listen to a speaker and finish with a cup of tea!
Our speakers entertain and educate us on a great many topics
and we are grateful to them all for giving their time to come to talk to
us. Special thanks must go to Helen
Caine and our other Ministers who come frequently.
We have a faithful group of 18 members who enjoy the fellowship of our meetings. Sadly three members passed away and one moved during the year but we have been joined by two new members.
At present we are unable to hold our monthly meetings at
Orchard House because of their building work.
We were delighted to welcome the ladies from Westoning
Friday Group to our Christmas Party and good fun and good food was had by
all. We held a well attended Tea Party
in aid of Network.
Our outing this year was to Southend and we enjoyed a garden
party at Helen Caine’s home. Members
also attended the Toddington Daffodil Rally and the Spring Celebration at The
Square.
All women are welcome to join us, regularly or just
occasionally.
NB
The JAFFA Club (Jesus
A Friend For All) was started by Jenny Asbury in the
autumn of 2004. Jenny has
The Club is for children of Lower School age i.e. ‘rising 5’
to 8 years old. It meets on Tuesday
afternoons in the
The leaders are very happy with the way the Club is going so
far – they have had a good response from parents and welcome our support for
this excellent new venture on our Church premises.
The Youth Group continues to meet on occasional Sunday evenings. Usually six or seven young people attend and the meetings are led by Helen and take place in members’ homes.
Activities which have taken place have included:
1.
Watching
and discussing videos, which have included the life of
2.
Dramatising
and filming a story for presentation to the church congregation.
3.
Craftwork
e.g. making Christmas gift tags and a Christmas tree out of green plastic
bottles.
4.
Eating
countless biscuits and home-made cakes and drinking gallons of fizzy drinks!
Accounts
As you will see by the accounts
included in this report the Church Funds increased by £41,161 during the year
ended 31st August 2004. This was solely due to the income received
on the building project either by fundraising or donation.
We have recently had confirmation that we have approval for two grants. These are £10,000 from the London Committee and £16,000 from the Rank Trust.
The average weekly collection for the year ended 31st August 2004 was £209.80 per week which is much higher than the year before average of £189.70. This increase has continued for the first 6 months of the current year. We ask every member to review their weekly giving at least once a year to see if they are able to give more.
During the year ended 31st
August 2004 we made the following payments:
Methodist Homes £402.29 NCH £106.69
Relief & Development Fund £305.76 Home
Missions £303.67
World Missions £273.71 Easter
Offering £185.01
Local Preachers M A £242.00 Property Fund £242.00
The Church has
successfully reclaimed Tax on all donations made under Gift Aid. This includes
donations for Methodist Charities such as MRDF and MHA, weekly collections and
donations to the Building project. If you are a tax payer and haven’t
considered putting your payments to the Church through Gift Aid please talk to
Cathy Sheehan.
Accounts for the year ended 31st August 2004
Income
Collections 10,910
Tax Refund 248
Direct Giving 1,436
Other Income 1,174
13,768
Expenditure
Property expenses 3,975
Circuit Assessment 8,200
Direct Giving 2,414
General Expenses 746
15,335
Deficit on General Funds (1,567)
Income on Building project 60,242
Porch and other Building expenses (17,514)
Total increase in funds 41,161
Fund brought forward 40,467
Funds Carried forward
£81,628
General Funds 175
Building Fund 81,453
Total Funds £
81,628
CS
Sheila works among women and girls. As she spoke to us her sincerity and love for the work she has been called to do and the women with whom she works came across in a gentle but meaningful way.
During the
service Sheila presented all the members of the congregation with a small
origami crane made by the women with whom she works. Cranes are much admired in
We are
grateful to Sheila for coming to speak to us about her work. We also appreciate the reminder she gave us of
the amount of suffering which continues in
This year’s
B&DH
This arose out of the desire to do some more bible study
after last year’s Lent course.
We have met slightly erratically rather than regularly on
Friday mornings with coffee at 10.30 and going through ‘til 12 noon. Helen leads us and we have been quite a mixed
group ecumenically with attendance varying between about 4 and 8 people. It’s always interesting to have other
denominations represented as you get a different perspective on issues and
learn about other peoples’ hopes and ideas.
Our studies have focussed on “The Fruits
of the Spirit” a study book supplied by Helen, and then as a contrast we read
and talked about the first ten books of Genesis from the creation to the
We are very grateful to Helen for leading us and we hope to
continue with this group, although finding a morning to suit everyone can prove
difficult and one does need some continuity for the best effect.
JG
We have 17 regular scholars, although
the actual attendance from week to week is very variable, normally being
between 8 and 15, depending on holidays and other commitments. We have recently seen three new children
attending on occasions.
Following a change in the style of the
lesson material produced by Scripture Union, the Sunday School has gone high-tech,
and it is not uncommon to see up to four lap-top computers in the hall. This enables us to use the newer media,
including moving images as part of the lessons.
The message does not change, but the medium reflects today’s approaches
to communications for the young.
In our anniversary services this year,
we looked at miracles with the younger children, retelling some biblical
miracles. The seniors looked at
water. Both services were well attended,
with the BB parading for the first service.
Technology was again evident in the presentation of new and old songs
and hymns, and in making visual aids available.
This is a learning time for us all, as we find what works, when, why and
how.
In common with the whole church, we
anticipate with trepidation, the time when we will be rebuilding. This will force experiment on us, and we hope
that the challenge will refresh and strengthen us. We look forward to the new
building enabling a growth of integrated work for the future.
CS
This has been a year of marking time on the property front
whilst waiting for our building work to commence. However, the porch, the first stage in the
plans, was built last summer giving room for the new disabled parking and
lay-by for dropping off passengers.
After a few teething troubles, we seem to have established that the
parking area belongs to the church and the notices to that effect have paid
off.
To comply with our Methodist Insurance, a Risk Management Survey was required this year and this resulted in various requirements being met, which kept us busy. The only expense was the P.A.T. (Portable Appliance Testing) on all our portable electrical items. Our Spring cleaning day last year was a success and we shall need to book another one soon which will be a packing up day prior to vacating the building for six months. This will be a testing time for our organisational skills as we prepare to worship every Sunday and continue with our activities and meetings. Storage needs to be found in willing members’ homes for items we shall need regularly during this time. We’re looking forward to this time next year when we shall be established in our refurbished surroundings.
The past year has been a busy one resulting in £3,042.40
being raised for the Building Fund, 10% of which went to Operation Mobilisation
in
Lots of social events have provided pleasure whilst
moneymaking. There have been the
Caveneys’ famous Sunday dinners, the
The coming year will be a challenge as we must maintain our
fundraising without premises. We have a
few ideas in the melting pot but we really do want ideas and offers of help so,
over to you!
JG
I have been running Rainbows now since September. We have 10 girls enrolled at the moment aged between 5 and 7.
Rainbow programmes are structured to include five essential activities over the period of the term. These are:
· Being able to work together in small groups
· Encouraged to govern themselves
· Enjoying a balanced and varied programme
· Care for individuals
· Commitment to a common standard
So far we have enjoyed activities such as planting flowers, making chocolates (for Mothers Day), joining Toddington Guides for a sing-a-long, making our own games and lots of craft projects.
I have had great fun doing all of this and I believe the Rainbows have enjoyed
themselves as well! I now have 2 unit
helpers - a great success as the Rainbow unit was going to close at one time.
We do have a waiting list at the moment and after Easter I hope to invite two
more children to join us.
The Church web site continues to be visited by 3 or 4 people each day. Over the past year the main highlight has been the addition of the photos taken as the porch was replaced. It is hoped that pictures of the major building work that we anticipate happening this summer will also be posted. You should also be able to find copies of documents such as this annual report on the site.
Keeping the site up to date is proving to be quite difficult
so if anyone would like to help, please let me know. In order to help with this
you are likely to see more documents appearing as pdf files in the future.
You can access the site at http://harlington.methodist.faithweb.com
MW
At the annual Pastoral Committee meeting on 17th January we recorded a membership of 56, but since then, sadly, two elderly members have died; Isabel Ward of Monmouth Road and Edna Lummus of Westoning, both faithful witnesses to their Lord.
Our church family continues to grow, and it is good to see people representing
a wide age range worshipping together.
There is scope for expanding the team of pastoral workers, so if anyone
is interested in this work, please speak to me or Helen.
Later in the year, with building work taking place on our premises, activities
will be continuing in various locations. We are particularly keen to maintain
contact with members and friends during this time. If you know of a pastoral
need that is not being met, or someone who would appreciate flowers from the
communion table, please speak to me, one of the stewards, or any member of the
committee.
2004 has seen great progress towards our vision for our
premises.
We have secured grants of £46,000 from Shanks First Fund and
£5,246 from Mid Beds District Council.
Methodist Connexional grants are being applied for and this, together
with continued fundraising and the generosity of members/friends has put us in
the happy position of being able to ask our architect to put the scheme out to
tender. Tender packages should be ready by the end of March 2005 with the work
starting at the end of May.
A small ‘furnishings & fittings‘ group has put forward
details of the floor/wall coverings and various fittings that will be needed.
We have decided that it will be best to vacate the site completely during the
building work which should take around six months.
It will be worth it!
NB