Church News – May 2025
May inside
By now I’m sure you will all have heard about my acceptance of a call to serve the Royton congregation from the 1st September and to continue to service yourselves. I was delighted to accept the call, although I will miss my brothers and sisters in Baildon. I’ve greatly appreciated the few months I’ve spent getting to know you and “filling in”. Now we get to continue to get to know each other and look forward towards the future.
During the service on the 27th April, when my call was announced, at Baildon we sang a hymn that speaks of trusting in God. The classic “trust and obey, for there’s no other way” written by J. H. Sammis. Whenever I’m picking hymns, I try my best to make sure they fit the theme of the readings and what I’m going to talk about but every now and then, I come across a verse that has new meaning even within the service, that speaks to something I’d either not noticed or that had occurred during the day. On Sunday the last verse of this particular hymn spoke out to me.
Then in fellowship sweet, we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go,
Never fear only trust and obey.
I’ve always been a defender of our call system. To me, in a church that places Christ at it’s head and believes that all are equally loved and valued, it is the fairest and simplest way of providing minsters. However, it is not without it’s challenges, especially for the families of ministers and that point is never lost on me. In my nearly 12 years of ministry, we have been called four times. We worked out that when we move in the summer, Charlotte will have moved house 4 times in her life, which given she’s 8 is a lot. Where God calls, I will answer and trust that all will be well.
It isn’t easy; being a Christian and following Christ isn’t meant to be, however much we might like it to be. Whenever I think about calls and moving my mind goes to the time we moved to Northern Ireland in 2000. We met with the church committees and my mum expressed her worries about things to do with my education and my dad’s job. Br Jim Findley, sadly no longer with us, just said, “the Lord will provide”. Within a month of moving my dad found a job he enjoyed and kept until they left, and I had the best time in education I had ever had and made some lifelong friends.
Whilst this is a time of excitement and we look forward to the future I do ask for your continued support and prayers as we try and get everything ready for our new call and the family prepare to move, again. With prayer, support and the love of God I’m sure we can all overcome any challenges we might face if we trust and obey.
God bless, James
NEWS
Well, now we know and I am sure we are all grateful that the Board have made such a wise request to James and his acceptance, in return is much appreciated. And so, the Dukinfield congregation starts a new chapter.
Don’t forget to buy your ticket for the Arnfield Brass Concert on 10th of this month. Tickets are available at £6 each, which includes refreshments.
And a prior notice: On 6th June, Nigel is holding another Family Quiz Night, which is really an event not to be missed. Tickets are available from Nigel.
You may have noticed that the tables have been left out at the back of the church following the Easter Egg collection. This is the place for people to leave items for the Summer Fayre on 19th July. Obviously no fresh produce yet but we would be grateful for unwanted gifts, bric-a-brac, bottles etc. Also, if anyone would like to man/woman a stall, would they please let Sue Selby know what items they would be offering.
Already well connected
The telephone rang in the church office of the church that the MP attended when visiting his constituency. An eager voice inquired: “Do you expect the MP to be in church on Sunday? If so, I was thinking of coming along.”
“That,” said the clergyman, “I cannot promise. But we do expect that God will be there, and we fancy that that should be incentive enough for a reasonably large attendance.”
| WHAT’S ON IN MAY 2025 | |||
| SUNDAY | 4th | MORNING WORSHIP Led by Br Peter Gubi | 11 a.m. |
| Wednesday | 7th | M.W.A. in the Schoolroom | 1.15 p.m. |
| Saturday | 10th | Arnfield Brass: Music from Stage and Screen | 7.30 p.m. |
| SUNDAY | 11th | M.W.A. SERVICE Led by Sr Mary Holmes followed by Holy Communion led by Br James | 11 a.m. |
| SUNDAY | 18th | LOVEFEAST SERVICE led by Sr Gillian Taylor | 11.00 a.m. |
| Monday | 19th | Church Committee meeting on Zoom | 7 p.m. |
| SUNDAY | 25th | PARADE AND YOUTH SERVICE Led by Br James | 11 a.m. |
| Thursday | 29th | Thursday Group Musical Evening in Schoolroom | 7.30 p.m. |
Life (Jn 6:68)
Life is not always fair, or kind.
Life batters, people betray, let us down,
Even those we trusted with our hearts and health.
Landscapes change,
Things we knew and understood are tossed in the air
To come down damaged and different.
It all seems too hard, too hard to bear.
And it isn’t fair.
What then? Give up, turn back,
Collapse and concentrate on the disintegration?
Or with Peter, look up and say,
“Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”
Life is not always fair, or kind.
That’s why Jesus came.
By Daphne Kitching
