Hadfield Methodist Church - Newsletter

April 2025:
	spring notes first thaw dwarf rhododendrons colour the slope * spring offering the path to the shrine covered in primulas * the sky’s scarlet rim as if someone ordered it lights up the pines * gun metal sky the Plough faintly luminous. Sonam Chhoki (20th century) Bhutan Source: A Collection of Poems
Prayer Stations
Our service on March 30th was a "local arrangement" and we decided to set up prayer stations on various themes. This service proved very successful and you can see photos of each prayer station here (click on the image to see a bigger version). From left to right, top to bottom they depict: Information about our Lent Charities, here a prayer flower could be decorated; The Cruz de Ferro station is a dramatic waymark on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route: one could place a stone by the cross as a gesture of leaving burdens behind and the seeking of spiritual renewal; At the desert station there were ideas about how wildernesses can be transformed: people were invited to plant flowers from corms to take home as a sign of renewal; The sand and seals station: here people could interact with the sand, read a book passage and add to a list of species found in this environment; The tasting station was based on the bible phrase ‘O Taste and see how generous God is’ - there were small bread rolls to sample and some questions about food to consider.
Repair Cafe	Click on photo for full size)
At our March session, we looked at 29 items for repair. Of those items 24 were fixed and five were unable to be repaired. Items this month varied from a very old bear, to a bike, a clock and an oboe case, along with the usual sewing and electricals. As usual we were well supplied with brews and cakes - thanks to David. According to the repair cafe carbon calculator, we saved 508.5kg CO2 which is the equivalent of driving 2,112 miles, showering 318 times or flying 3,101 miles. The photos here are from past sessions, but gove an idea of the range of activitesi. If you fancy volunteering as a repairer - especially if you have electrical skills - please get in touch, either in person at one of our sessions, or email us.
Monthly Eco-tip
We are proud to be an Eco-church (we have the A Rocha Silver award). As part of this commitment we are staring a monthly section in our newsletter with an eco-tip. We hope that readers will find this useful, and perhaps something you can put into action. Spring cleaning: As spring is upon us, many of us think about having a good clean around the house. Avoid harsh chemicals when spring cleaning and opt for environmentally friendly alternatives instead. Vinegar, baking soda and citric acid are, for example, waste-avoiding all-rounders among the natural household remedies.
Toddler Group – Can you help
Bruce and Elspeth, David and Anne do a fantastic job with the toddlers but we do need some extra helpers if it is to happen every week. So if you can offer to help with Toddlers (we need cover about once every three weeks), please contact us as soon as possible. The group will re-open after the summer break in September.
Youth Club
Our youth club, called Youth Station, has run for many years with ups and downs in numbers of children attending. Currently there is plenty of space for new members, so if you have or know of children between 8 to 13 who might like like attend, see the Children & Young People page for details.
Thursday opening times We continue to open the church as a free community meeting place on Thursdays, serving free refreshments. For the present we have reduced the opening times to 10:15am-2:00pm and are serving food. We will continue to monitor the need and will extend the times again if it seems appropriate More details available on our Resources page. Help wanted! Obviously this kind of provision will only work if there are people to help run it. We are looking for volunteers who can help out (it doesn't have to be every week). If you think you can help, please get in touch by email at hadfieldcommunityspaces@gmail.com.