Christ Church, Longridge

Next Sunday (June 22nd)
10.45am: Morning Service led by Rev Paul Pells
   2.30pm: Prayer Walk
   6.30pm: District Event at Lytham St Annes
   Ordinands Testimony Service and “Sending” of Rev S Poxon as President

• ‘Methodist Homes for the Aged’ The freewill donation envelopes are on the seats. If you missed it last week you can still respond to the valuable work of MHA by making a donation. Copies of the magazine “Heart and Soul” are available on the foyer table. Thank you - Henry Rose.
• Bible Study is on Monday is at 61 Chaigley Road. Everyone is welcome to the meeting – Elizabeth Hodgkiss.
• Ladies Guild Outing (June 15th)
  7.30pm: Theatre visit to Preston Playhouse to see Salad Days, tickets £6. Anyone wishing to join us please let me know as soon as possible - Olive Hurlstone.
• Circuit Meeting (June 17th)
  7.30pm: At Fulwood.

• Leave a comment...

Next Sunday (June 15th)
10.45am: Church Anniversary & Family Service
                  led by Reverend Helen Higgin-Botham
                        (followed by “Bring and Share” lunch)

• Today, the Church marks the 65th anniversary of ‘Methodist Homes for the Aged’. MHA exists to improve the quality of life for older people. Copies of the magazine ‘Heart and Soul’ are available on the table in the foyer. Further information is given on the freewill donation envelopes distributed on the chairs. Please remember MHA in your prayers and consider making a response by donating towards their valued work.
  Thank you - Henry Rose.
• Church Anniversary Service next Sunday morning will be followed by “Bring and Share” lunch. Please put your name on the list in the foyer as to whether you intend bringing savoury or sweet items - Helen.
• RBC Bible Reading notes are in the foyer. Please take one. They are free!
• Circuit Bible Study (June 9th)
  7.30pm: At Ribbleton Avenue.
• Ladies Guild Outing (June 15th)
  7.30pm: Theatre visit to Preston Playhouse to see Salad Days, tickets £6. Anyone wishing to join us please let me know as soon as possible - Olive Hurlstone.
• Tuesday at Two
  10.00am: A trip to Boundary Mills. Details on notice board.
• RBC Bible Reading notes are in the foyer. Please take one. They are free.

• Leave a comment...

Next Sunday (June 1st)
10.45am: Morning Service & Holy Communion led by Rev Helen Higgin-Botham
  6.30pm: Evening Service led by Sister Myrtle Poxon
–> Civic Service at St Paul’s

• Ladies Guild Outing (June 15th)
  7.30pm: Theatre visit to Preston Playhouse to see Salad Days, tickets £6. Anyone wishing to join us please let me know as soon as possible - Olive Hurlstone.
• Steward Rota - May, June & July
  The new rota for stewards and Sunday coffee teams is on the noticeboard. Please take your copy from the table in the front of church. Any problems please see me. Thank you - Henry.
• Bumps and Babes
  Bumps and Babes will have the last session on Tuesday. Continuation will depend on the result of a review in September.
• Please note that there is no Craft Club on the Bank Holiday Monday and that the Christ Church Ramblers are a week earlier to avoid coinciding with the Longridge Field Day.
• RBC Bible Reading notes are in the foyer. Please take one. They are free.
• Thank you to everyone who helped with the collection for Christian Aid. A total of £1499 was raised - Pam.

• Leave a comment...

Next Sunday (May 25th)
10.45am: Morning Service led by Mr Anthony Strong
  6.30pm: Evening Service & Holy Communion led by Rev Enid Balson

• Ladies Guild Outing (June 15th)
  7.30pm: Theatre visit to Preston Playhouse to see Salad Days, tickets £6. Anyone wishing to join us please let me know as soon as possible - Olive Hurlstone.
• Steward Rota - May, June & July
  Please would all council members, welcome stewards and Sunday coffee teams indicate their availability for duty by filling in the form on the noticeboard. As mentioned at our AGM, this is going to be a difficult quarter to allocate; so please be as generous as you can in order to spread the load for all of us. Thank you - Henry.
• Friday Coffee Mornings
  The Friday Rota would appreciate more volunteer helpers. If you would like to be involved, please see Janet Sommerville for details of what the responsibility entails. Thank you.
• The Minister will be on holiday from Monday May 12th to Monday May 26th.

• Leave a comment...

How do you feel about the Worship at Christ Church?

Whether you are actively involved in preparing worship or just an interested party – it is important that the worship we experience is meaningful and engaging.

At our last Church Council meeting, we discussed the possibility of setting up a Worship Consultation Group – a group of people with ideas and thoughts about preparing for the major festivals within the church year.

If you would be interested in becoming part of such a group – please speak to me, so that I can report back to the next council meeting on the 18th March. Thank you.

Yours in Christ, Helen

• Leave a comment...

Route

From the front door of church, cross the road to Victoria’s India. Walk down Berry Lane to Irwell Street and turn right as far as the Scout and Guide huts and pause for prayer (1).
Return to Berry Lane and continue down to the Millennium Cross and pause for prayer (2). Continue to the bottom of Berry Lane pausing near Booth’s (3) then turn right and continue as far as the travel agents and pause again (4).
Cross over Inglewhite Road and walk towards Barnacre Road as far as George Street. Turn left into George Street and left again into Mary Street West and proceed as far as St. Mary’s Close and pause for prayer (5).
Retrace steps along Mary Street West and George Street to Inglewhite Road. Turn left and proceed as far as Barnacre Road and turn left then go left again into Hesketh Road. Walk up the left side and return down the other side and turn left back into Barnacre Road and continue to the far end past the end of Nateby Close and pause for prayer (6).
Return to the end of Barnacre Road and cross over to Ireland’s Garage. Walk back along Inglewhite Road past Somerfields, Isabella Street and Davis Street to Crumpax Avenue. Turn left and proceed past Crumpax Croft and into Crumpax Meadows and pause for prayer (7).
Take footpath to Thornfield Avenue; cross over and take footpath to Willows Park Road. Turn right and return along Calder Avenue to Berry Lane and back to church.

Topics for Prayer at each pause

• 1. Pray for the staff and customers and the future of Victoria’s India; the staff and customers of Linnet’s, Advance Consulting, Edward Jones Investments, Debts4us, Bond Partners LLB and Threshers. Pray about the problems of debt in our society. Thank God and pray for the members and leaders of the Scouts, Cub Scouts and Beavers; Guides, Brownies and Rainbows.
• 2. Pray for the staff and customers of Bourne Fashions, the Post Office, Furness Building Society, Naphthen Solicitors, Longridge Electrical, Halifax Building Society and Cliffs, Lloyd’s Pharmacy, HSBC and Michael Rayners Architects.
  Pray for the staff and customers of the Vine House shop and for the work of Vine House. Pray for all the residents of today’s section of Berry Lane, Irwell Street, Mersey Street and Humber Street.
• 3. Pray for the staff and customers of Reads Rains, Submission, the Dry Cleaners, Dewhurst Estate Agents, Bradford and Bingley Building Society, Vincents Solicitors, Goldsmith’s Jewellers, Entwistle Green Estate Agents, Longridge Tandoori, Ducci, Holden’s Accountants, Emmett’s Solicitor, the Beauticians, Quench, Spar, Booths and Booths Garage.
• 4. Pray for the staff and customers of Poppy’s, Happy Valley Chinese (and all the Chinese inhabitants of Longridge at this time of the Chinese New Year), Harlequin Fashions, Event Cards, the Pound Shop, A Touch of Class Hairdressers, the Longridge Gallery, the Pet Shop, the Sewing Shop, the Bay Tree, World Choice Travel Agents, Overload Cleaners, THG Motor Bodies, Kim Yin and Carefoots butchers etc.
• 5. Pray for the staff and customers of the Forest Arms, Thyme, Flourish Recruitment and Forests. Pray for the residents of George Street, Mary Street West and St. Mary’s Close and this side of Inglewhite Road.
• 6. Pray for the residents of Barnacre Road, Hesketh Road and Nateby Close. Pray for the staff, children and parents of the Limes preschool and Barnacre Road Primary School. Pray for the housing development and also for children in care.
• 7. Pray for the staff and customers of Ireland’s Garage, Somerfield’s, and NSJ Hairdressing. Pray for the residents of this side of Inglewhite Road, Isabella Street, Davis Street, Crumpax Avenue, Crumpax Croft and Crumpax Meadows.

• Leave a comment...

Only five met at Green Ayre in Lancaster on a beautiful sunny morning, setting off on the Coastal path towards the castle. Taking a footpath on the left the group moved uphill, passing the ruins of the Roman bathhouse, on up to the Priory Church and around Lancaster Castle/Jail.

Walking downhill to the King’s Arms Hotel (where Charles Dickens once slept and it is hoped that he was more comfortable than this writer was when he slept there), turning right to look at the Penny Hospital, built 1720 by Guilermo Penny as alms houses.

Swinging left, the route led past the imposing Town Hall to the Lancaster Canal and onto the towpath. Following the canal south past new developments of apartments, then out into open country until Aldcliffe. Here the ramblers left the canal to walk up a road which had led to Aldcliffe Hall, unfortunately no longer extant, then on into the village.

A footpath on the left was taken, leading down thru’ a muddy lane to the Glasson Lancaster walkway where lunch was taken overlooking the Lune Estuary at high tide. Here hundreds of geese could be seen flying around. The walkers then took the walkway back to Lancaster, but on a whim decided to cross the Lune by the railway bridge ( a surprise climb towards the end of the ramble) and re-crossed the river by the Millennium bridge and returned to the car park.

A pleasant walk of 6.5 miles.

Jim & Janet Sommerville

• Leave a comment...

To mark the end of Fairtrade Fortnight, there will be a Fairtrade Open House at the Manse (9 Hurstway Close, Fulwood) on Saturday March 8th from 10am-4pm. Come along and sample some Fairtrade products. There will be some for sale, tea, coffee and fellowship comes free.

Money collected from donations or Fairtrade goods bought will go to help the work of PARC (Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee) and hopefully provide Olive Trees/Almond Trees and water tanks/supply to those on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Helen

• Leave a comment...

Route

From the front door of church turn left and proceed down Berry Lane past Clarence Street; Barclay Road; Towneley Road; entrance to Sharples Court and Stanley Street, pausing for prayer at the corner of Barclay Road (1); Towneley Road (2) and the bottom of Berry Lane (3).
Turn left along Derby Road to Warwick Street and turn left to the top of Warwick Street pausing at the top (4) corner of Warwick Street.
Cross Towneley Road and turn right past the Legion to Park and Towneley House and pause for prayer (5).
Go back along Towneley Road to Tyne Close and then down Fleet Street. Pause at the corner by the Police Station (6).
Turn left on to Derby Road past Neville Street and Astley Street to the end of Towneley Road West and pause for prayer (7).
Continue to Kestor Lane and turn left and continue to the entrance to the Rec. On Drivers Walk we will have a longer pause for prayer if the weather is not too bad (8, 9 and10).
Walk back to Berry Lane and then back to church.

Topics for prayer at each pause:-

• 1. The staff and customers of the Durham Ox and the Longridge Band;
  the staff and pupils of Berry Lane School and Irene Reid, the school crossing attendant; the staff and customers of the Conservative Club; Anji’s and the bathroom and kitchen shop thanking God for the contribution they make to the town; and the betting shop remembering also those whose problem gambling damages their own and other people’s lives; the residents of the flats in the old Co-Op building.
• 2. Pray and give thanks for the staff and customers of the Coop. and Fox’s Estate Agents; for Shona in the Council Offices and also local politicians – the mayor and members of Longridge and Ribble Valley Borough Councils and the members of the Longridge Partnership; the staff and customers of the Towneley Arms; the safety of the public toilets giving thanks for such provision; for Longridge Youth Club and all the young people and leaders who meet there, giving thanks for all the good work that they do.
• 3. Give thanks and pray for the following businesses:-
  Yorkshire Building Society, Alton’s Solicitors, Bite2Eat, Swifts, Creative Hair, Berry Antiques and Interiors, Cloud 9, No. 65 Delicatessen, Shoe Shop, Berry Lane Newsagents, Briggs Warehouse (on Stanley Street), Hush, Tienne, Briggs Carpets, Desire Handbags and Accessories, Dentists (H. Burns), SuperSaver, Whalley SwarbrickAccountants , Applejacks Fruit and Veg. Shop, Charisma Cards and Something Else; Also St. Catherine’s Hospice Shop remembering all the volunteers and all the work done by the Hospice; Everyone who lives over the shops and in Sharples Court.
• 4. Give thanks and pray for the following businesses:-
  Interior Design Shop, Brendan Anderton Butchers, Longridge Hire Shop.Enterprise Motors, ATS Tyres and Holdens Auctioneers; All the residents of Derby Road between Berry Lane and Warwick Street and all the residents of Warwick Street.
• 5. Pray for all who work in and use the Over 60’s Club; the British Legion; Towneley Gardens and the Bowling Greens. Pray for the staff and residents of Park and Towneley Houses remembering those who attend the Communion Services and monthly Evening Service.
• 6. Pray for the residents of Towneley Road, Tyne Close and Fleet Street including:-Pray for all the police and support officers who work in Longridge and the civilian staff who work in the police station.
• 7. Pray for the residents of Derby Road, Neville Street, Astley Street, and Towneley Road West ; Pray for the staff and customers of the Neville Street Garage (Greenwood’s); Dalton’s Motor Engineers; Mary Frances and Potters.
• 8. Pray for the residents of the houses we have passed on Kestor Lane and the staff and customers of Bonds Garage; Thank God for the provision of the Recreation Ground and all who use it remembering dog walkers, footballers, users of the skate park and children’s play area.
• 9. For a few minutes let us think about what is going on in the rest of the world. The Prime Minister is visiting China and India so let us pray for those two countries especially the problems of poverty and human rights. Let us remember Christians in India and China and all the great work they do and all the problems they experience.
  Let us also remember those affected by the troubles in Kenya and Zimbabwe.
• 10. Pray for the residents of the new houses on Barclay Road. Pray for all the work of the Berry Lane Surgery remembering the doctors, nurses, receptionists and ancillary staff. Pray for all the patients and all the members of our church who receive care here.

• Leave a comment...

Due to the poor walking conditions following the endless rain, Jim wisely decided to abandon the planned walk and substitute an alternative using hard paths and quiet country lanes. The forecast was for a very rare dry, calm day, which proved to be the case.

Having paid to park, (a first?), at the car park in Garstang by the river, we started the walk around the playing field and climbed the banking and had a look at the flood defence system, contemplating whether it will be put to use anytime soon?

From here, we followed good paths and farm tracks, heading north to arrive at the pretty village of Scorton. Here we enjoyed a leisurely lunch stop, after which we continued our walk, climbing up the very pretty Snow Hill Lane and crossing the M6 by means of the sloping bridge that is so prominent from the motorway. At the top of the lane, we arrived at a junction. At this point, we could have taken the path over Nicky Nook Fell and down Grize Dale, but under the circumstances, we opted to follow the narrow Higher Lane, but even from this height, we had a magnificent view to the west, over the Fylde Plain and the coast.

We were now heading south, crossing a couple of fords in full flow and steadily descending along Keepers Lane. Here, we observed a clump of very pretty flowers that our group botanist identified as Periwinkle. The motorway was then re-crossed, followed by the railway and the River Wyre by means of a footbridge next to a ford and on back to the car park.

Many thanks to Janet & Jim for providing us with a pleasant, mud free walk. Quite an achievement under the circumstances!

Linda & Eddie Grange

• Leave a comment...

Greetings to all our friends at Christ Church. We wish you all a Happy & Peaceful Christmas & God’s Blessing during 2008.
Sylvia & Peter Thomas

• Leave a comment...

Christmas is a wonderful time but it can also be a very difficult time for some people. Please remember in your prayers:-

• Children in families where there are drink or drug problems who are often at greater risk of violence during the ‘festive season’.
• Those who have no family to share Christmas with.
• Those who have lost a loved one since last Christmas especially Judith Dixon and her family and Ranjan Mazumdar and his family and all others known to you.
• Those whose families are separated by great distances which mean that they cannot get together.
• Those where there has been a break down of family relationships.
• Those who are seriously ill and those who care for them.

May they know the closeness of God our Father and the love and kindness of good neighbours.

• Leave a comment...