Worship
and Prayer
Life of
the Church
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Worship
has generally followed in the traditional format with occasional reflective
services which have usually been held on an evening. The themed preaching during Lent on the Lord’s prayer was
received well and gave an opportunity to explore this so familiar prayer. The
choir have continued to lead us in our singing and have made valuable
contribution at special services. Our All age worship continues to be well
supported by our uniformed organisation and breakfast club has been well
attended. The re-launch of Junior Church has seen some children in our worship
on the fourth Sunday of the month as well as All Age worship and this has added
another dimension to our worship. Numbers attending worship have fluctuated and
can range from 20 – 80 but usually are within the mid range.
The Church has been decorated with usual expertise for special occasions
and Jean Walton and team continue to do an excellent job not only in church but
in the foyer so that even before the main body of the church has been entered
then thoughts and worship has begun, thank you for your creative skills. The
Prayer meeting on a Thursday prior to Shoppers Service continues to be supported
by a faithful 8-10 people. The Advent Candle and Holy Week Devotional Sheet were
well received by members of the congregation. We have had within the church a
number of funerals, weddings and baptisms which have given opportunity for
outreach and at the end of May we will be holding out annual Thanksgiving
Service. Thanks to all who help in our acts of worship in whatever shape or form
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The
Stewards Report
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The Stewards are on duty usually once every five or six weeks
and whilst we try to make sure everything runs smoothly during the service
for the Minister and the congregation we owe a big debt of thanks to the Book
Stewards, Organist and members of the Choir who are on duty every week.
Thanks also to all those who are involved in whatever capacity helping to
organise Trinity. As stewards we are also very interested to receive your
views on any matter. Your comments on whatever subject are always listened
to and where possible acted upon. Being a steward is one way we can serve
our God and each other on a practical level and it is certainly not a difficult
task. Someone is always around to help and offer support. There is
also a sense of fulfilment when the last member of the congregation leaves, you
blow the candle out, turn the lights off and lock the door behind you.
We are a friendly team and would love you to join us!
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Kathryn
Stainburn – Senior Steward
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Trinity
Art Group
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2007
has been a very active year. We invited Crofton Art Group to join us in a
visit to Manchester Art Gallery which turned out to be a huge success and
resulted in invitations from Crofton to join them In a visit to Patchings Art
Exhibition, held annually near Nottingham, and also the Ferens Art Gallery and Museum at Hull. This link up
with Crofton is ideal as it enables us to fill a coach, and also socialise
with people with similar interests. Our most experienced artist, Lawrence
Clarke, gave a full one day workshop which everyone enjoyed, and promises to
give more this coming year. The October exhibition was of a high standard in the
opinion of the visitors. We were very happy with it and we shall be striving for
improvement this year. Careful budgeting enabled us to make a £500 donation to
Trinity, and we expect to donate a similar sum this year. It will probably have
already been made as our AGM is on 14th April Finally, as this is the last year
of Reverend Crompton’s ministry, we would all like to acknowledge the support
she has given us. Since Ruth came to Castleford, she has called in almost
every week and walked round showing genuine interest in our work, and we have
appreciated her visits.
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D.Wright
(Secretary) |
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Shoppers
Service / Mid Week Break
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This
meeting is now in its 23rd year and is continuing in good heart.
Average attendance is around 15 with members from other Churches as well
as Trinity. We have a regular rota of speakers with varied topics and
enjoy refreshments and a chat after each meeting.
The meeting is open to anyone who wishes to come along and listen, the
more the merrier.
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The
Property Report
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The Property and Finance Committee
have met on many occasions over the last year. The Building again this has seen
many alterations, improvements and continues to support the work of the church
and community here in Castleford. The ramped access has been completed
between the building. The Gents
toilets have at last been renovated and also several areas of the building have
been painted. The Small Hall is
especially looking better than it has for a long time.
The painting has lifted the room and the blinds and paintings on the wall
add to the feel of a more modern up-to-date premises.
I offer my continued thanks to all who help in any small way to keep the
premises looking and feeling loved. From the cleaning teams who look after the
church to the grass cutter to the litter picker to the gardener and to all who
do any of the small tasks that keep a big building running efficiently, all who
know who they are and also to the stalwart Property Stewards who work hard to
maintain the fabric of the building and continue to find parts and pieces of
equipment long forgotten and lost in a darkest garage that come in very handy
when you have to maintain a 44 year old building.
Steve
Hindle – Property Secretary
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Trinity
Scout Group |
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Beaver Scouts
(Aged 6 – 8 yrs.) The
Beaver Scouts are enjoying a new programme of activities which includes an
Olympic Challenge and Healthy Eating. Who’d have thought that a Wednesday
night would see Beavers “Ski-ing” in the large hall !” Their next project
is the Animal Friend Badge which
will include a visit to a working farm, and making a pet !
Cub Scouts
(Aged 8 – 10 ½ yrs.) The Cub Scouts have also been getting fit & active
by completing the Fitness Challenge Badge – improving in sports and
activities.
Cubs
are now working towards the Global challenge. Learning about different
traditions and cultures. An Italian
Night proved successful with making an Italian Pasta Flag, home made pizza and
finishing off with Neapolitan Ice Cream.
Scouts (aged
10 ½ - 14 yrs)
The
Scouts are also going Global! Following the success of last years pre Jamboree
Friendship Camp with a Dutch Contingent, the Scouts were invited to attend the
Dutch National Jamboree in July 2008 and are now busy raisings funds.
Scouts are preparing for a Back to Basics camp, learning traditional
Scouting Skills such as Backwards Cooking (cooking without pans/utensils),
tracking and raft building. The Scouts have also completed the Fitness Challenge and are
now working towards the Creative Challenge.
All
the Scout Sections are looking forward to the St Georges Day camp with Scouts
from the North Leeds area, and will enjoy a Group Camp later in the year.
As a special group project, all sections are working towards the Scouting
Climate Change programme.
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The
Church Choir
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We
are happy to report that the number of people in the Church Choir continues to
increase and a recent innovation has been to invite singers from other churches
in the Circuit to form a Concert Choir which appears under the title of Trinity
Singers. The compliment
of this choir now stands at 24 singers and with the increase in resources the
repertoire of the choir is also enlarging.
Inevitably there is the
“Mix and Match” element of singers but the end result seems to tend towards
a more accomplished choir singing either secular or liturgical music.
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Brian Howe – Musical Director
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The Projects and
Resources Group
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A
small but very hard working group of people continues to meet to plan and
organise the social and entertaining side of church life with a specific aim to raise money to assist the continuing work of
the Church. The P. & R.
Group presents, on average, three or four concerts per annum and looks towards
12 to 18 months into the future to plan these events. In addition to the concerts the annual Christmas Fayre remains the anchor
event and provides the Church Exchequer with about £2,000 every year.
The next concert, which you will not want to miss, will be
held on Friday, 6th June, when the Sid
Alan Big Band make a welcome return to Trinity
Further dates for your diary in 2008
are :-
Saturday, 13th September
Castleford Male Voice Choir
Saturday, 25th October
Trinity
Singers
Friday, 28th November
Castleford Young Musicians
Saturday, 6th December
Christmas Fayre
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Brian Howe - Chairman
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The
Pastoral Committee
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At
the present time the Church membership at Trinity stands at 100. The
Pastoral Committee consists of 14 leaders whose role is to be in regular touch
with the people in their care and help by listening to any problems or anxieties
which they may wish to share. The Pastoral Carers also take
responsibility for looking after a number of people who attend Sunday services
on a fairly regular basis but who are not members.
The Group also supports other events taking place at Trinity in relation to the
care of those in need. At the present time a “Listening Ear”
system is in the process of being set up for anyone visiting the café who may
need a friendly and sympathetic ear.
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Jen Howe - Secretary |
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Christian
Aid in Castleford
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The
main event in the year is House to House collecting which as well as the much
needed financial income, raises awareness of the work of Christian Aid.
The other income is from events arranged by the Christian Aid Group,
events arranged by Churches and appeals in times of disasters.
The Christian Aid Group comprises of ten churches in Castleford. Our
meetings are open to all who have an interest in Christian Aid.
We collect used postage stamps foreign coins and old mobile phones.
Apart from fund-raising, Christian Aid promotes fair trade, raises
awareness of climate change and its effects on the worlds poorest communities
and tackles the causes and consequences of poverty and injustice regardless of
race or faith. The next event
is Quiz Aid at Trinity on Saturday 26 April at 7.00 p.m. there will be a pie and
pea supper cost £3.00 and we need teams of maximum four players per team for
the quiz. 0.50p per person to
enter.
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Vera
and Gillian Walsh
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TMC’s
Cafe
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The
café is in its second year of trading and I am delighted to report that we
continue to make a steady profit to help the running of the church.
Without the help and support of all the volunteers some 35 plus in
number, we would not be able to run such a vibrant and sometimes somewhat noisy
venture. As ever it is nice to see the whole church family supporting the café.
It was a disappointment when we decided to cease trading on a Monday with
TMC’s but with the effort that is needed by all the volunteers it was the
right decision at the time. The café group continue to meet regularly to steer
the café by looking at new menu items, issues that arise on a weekly bases and
how we might attract the funding for the development of the Hope Centre into a
world class café. |
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Steve Hindle – Café Co-ordinator
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Junior
Church
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Junior
Church was established last September and since that time we have had a regular
group of between four and six
children sharing worship. The children who come along seem to enjoy
themselves and I am also impressed and heartened by their knowledge of the bible
story. We meet on the fourth Sunday of the month. After
spending a short time in Sunday morning worship we move into the
Coffee Lounge, where we say prayers, recount a story from the bible, undertake
craft activities, games and puzzles and finish with juice and biscuits.
Gerald Crompton and I are currently the only adults from Trinity
involved in Junior Church. When Gerald leaves we will require at least an
extra helper and I hope there will be several volunteers! I am also
hoping we can expand Junior Church to include the young people who come into
Trinity for the uniformed organisations and also those who attend All Age
Worship. |
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Kathryn Stainburn
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Ladies
Fellowship
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The Ladies Fellowship is maintaining its role in the
Church with 12 members. We lost
Mrs.J.Appleyard and Mrs G.Humphries over the past year and we have 1 member who
is not in good health and 2 members who are not able to attend.
We are pleased to have a supply of speakers and other meetings are of a
DIY nature. It would be nice if
more ladies came to join us on a Monday afternoon for the hour that we meet.
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Open
House
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We have 16 members on roll with an average weekly
attendance of between 12 and 14 people. We
are a group of bereaved people who meet for a friendly chat and a cup of tea.
ON the 5th May 10 of our members are going on a Welsh’s
holiday tour to Cumbria and then in June and July – day trips have been
organised for some members with Kee Travel – Visiting Lancashire ( Shop and
Steam) and also the Scenic North Pennines & Weardale Railway.
We meet on a Wednesday afternoon in the Coffee Lounge between 1.30 p.m.
and 3.30 p.m. and anyone wishing to join us would be made most welcome.
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Betty Hindle
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Cradle
Roll |
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Jesus said "I am the light of the
world" and with these words we, as a congregation, have welcomed five
children, their families and friends to share in God's love at Trinity.
Hopefully we will be able to welcome them back at various stages of their lives
as members of junior church, the uniformed branches or just for a cup of coffee
in “TMC’s” as we try and maintain contact with the families. |
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Lesley |
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