Produced and distributed in paper form to the parish.
Chatburn Churches Together
Christ Church Chatburn and Chatburn Methodist Church
Priest-in-charge: Revd Andy Froud (01200) 423317
Mobile 0796 9576691 Email: andyfroud@gmail.com
Editor: Mr Howard Douglas (01200) 441624 hwrddgls@aol.com
Methodist Minister: Revd Ian Humphreys (01200) 443489
Hon Assistant Priest: Revd Anne Hardacre (01200) 429341
Pastoral Assistant: Mrs Ena Douglas (01200) 441624
Thought of the Month
Dear Friends,
C S Lewis wrote “I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God. It changes me.”
Change is at the heart of prayer - we pray because we want to see change in this dark world and change in ourselves.
Some people think that prayer comes naturally - but Jesus’ disciples felt they needed to ask him to teach them how to pray. His answer is what we call the Lord’s Prayer and at this time of year we focus on what “thy kingdom come” means in our daily lives and in communities and churches.
Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray for more people to come to know Jesus. What started in 2016 as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Church of England has grown into an international and ecumenical call to prayer. If you want to be part of this or to find out more, go to https://www.thykingdomcome.global.
During the 11 days of Thy Kingdom Come (10th - 20th May) , it is hoped that everyone who takes part will deepen their friendship with Jesus, bring others to know Jesus or know him better, and come to know that every aspect of their life is the stuff of prayer. I hope as many of you as can will join me at Blackburn Cathedral for the Beacon Prayer Event on 9th May 2018 at 7.30 pm - transport is available. There will be plenty of opportunities for prayer during Ascension Day and in the days afterwards
Yours in Christ
Andy
Christ Church, Chatburn, requires an organist to play on Sunday mornings at 11am as well as weddings and funerals as soon as possible. We have a 5-year old Allen “Protégé two manual organ. Further details and remuneration can be discussed with
Revd Andy Froud, 01200 423317 or with our churchwardens
Daphne Porter (01200 441690) or
Valerie Mewis (01200 440335).
We are holding a special service
on Sunday 20th May at 11.00am.
which is Pentecost Sunday
to which everyone is very welcome.
The children from Christ Church School
will be taking part in the service.
Following on there will be a Pentecost Barbecue.
Open the Door to Christ Church Chatburn for a
ROYAL VINTAGE AFTERNOON TEA
Saturday 12th May 2:00 – 4:30pm In celebration of the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Finger cut sandwiches, scrumptious home-made cakes and proper tea all for £7.
Including a Royal Wedding Exhibition
Pictures, interesting facts, vintage wedding dresses, artefacts and big screen slide show of British Royal Weddings since the church opened almost 200 years ago.
This is part of the Open the Door to Christ Church campaign to raise funds for attention to the doors and other repairs.
Manor House
Our Easter Bingo with Rosemary Norgrove calling numbers was great with Easter eggs for prizes. Relatives and friends joined in the fun. Over £100 was raised for the residents fund which helps to fund trips out and professional entertainers.
Now Spring has finally arrived, trips out have started. The first was a highly successful country run in glorious sunshine. The journey took us around Dunsop Bridge and Newton, finishing with an ice cream in Slaidburn.
Once again, we have been entertained by Tom who sang a mixture of jazz and ballads.
Our residents clapped and sang along, thoroughly enjoying themselves, and then at the end of the afternoon he belted out "Star" from Le miserables. A great afternoon was had by all.
The keen gardeners among the residents have been planting up tomatoes, cucumbers, geraniums, and marigolds, under the supervision of Joanna Devine - a keen gardener among the care team. The gardening group are trying their hand at making hanging baskets this year which hopefully will impress their relatives and visitors.
A fantastic afternoon was had as singer Arthur Geldard sang an array of songs from yesteryear. It was the icing on the cake for Alan (one of our residents) as Arthur is his grandson. At only 23 years old, he has already sung professionally in different parts of the world including Chicago. It was a brilliant afternoon with some of the residents up dancing.
Parish Council
A Parish Council Meeting was held in the Village Hall, Downham Road on Monday, 16th April at 8.10pm.
Councillor Whittaker presided and there were 4 electors present.
l. Minutes of the previous annual meeting were approved.
2. Matters arising from the minutes:
a) The refurbishment of the finger post is still ongoing. The Council has requested County Councillor Atkinson to attend a meeting to discuss this but no date has yet been arranged.
b) The Sawley Road benches have been painted
c)
d) Improvements have been made to the grassed island in an attempt to prevent further erosion of the grass.
3. Chairman's Report:
Councillor Whittaker reported on the work carried out by the Parish Council during the past 12 months.
4. Matters brought forward by residents:
a) Potholes are regularly reported to Lancashire Council but this is a major problem throughout Lancashire. The County Council has funded four machines that are capable of repairing 60 potholes a day.
b) The Village Hall Committee has purchased a light for the front door of the building.
c) The War Memorial will be restored this year and contributions to the cost are welcome.
School News
Class one have been learning all about Africa and have produced some lovely artwork. Children have been bringing in artefacts and very soon Mrs Shaw will talk to the class about her experiences of living and working in Africa and will show the children lots of photos of her time there. She is also bringing in some African drums for the children to try!
Class two have been learning about the blue whale and are busy producing a lovely display for the corridor. The RE topic for this half term is Baptism and they are hoping to go in to church to look at the font etc. Class two will shortly take part in a sports competition at Oakhill College.
Mrs Read and Mrs Fisher are busy organising the summer trip which will hopefully be to Blackpool Zoo.
Class Three are learning all about ordnance survey maps and have looked at some of the local area. They will shortly take a walk around the village to note some of the points of interest. They are also discovering fossils and many children are bringing in local ‘fossil-finds’.
Class Four re busy preparing for the SATs test which will take place mid-May.
For the next few weeks Miss Jessica Thompson will take year fives in the mornings whilst this preparation continues.
The class have been looking at features of Chatburn village, writing their own articles to publicise the area. After using a local Ribble Valley tourism magazine to help them to learn the features of a good article, they noticed that Chatburn was not in the magazine and so Mrs Ardern wrote to the local tourism officer at RVBC - Mr Pridmore - to ask him why not! He then came into school to talk to the children about editing tourist guides of this area and told them how advertising works. He brought many leaflets and booklets which promote the Ribble Valley and the children asked him questions about his job and the qualifications needed to become an Editor.
Newsletter
Future copies of this newsletter will be available on our new website, (address on back page.) If you require a hard copy please contact a member of the team listed on the front page. We also require a new editor to continue producing the monthly newsletter, help and instruction will be given to any applicant, along with a computer programme already set up to do this.
Contact Howard or Andy.
Soup Lunch
The next monthly soup lunch will be held on
Friday 18th May 11.45am-1.30pm
Come along and enjoy good food, good company and good music. As usual there is no charge but any donations are welcome. This lunch is to raise funds for the Renovation of the Parish church of Chatburn
Chapel
There is a Foodbank reception point in the Chapel Foyer. Also the Chapel Stewards, or contacts for Room-hire, are Neil Turpin 01200 441292, or Roy Porter 441690
"Joyful Noise” in May
21st May at Christ church - 7th May at the Methodist chapel.
Our pattern of meeting will then alternate between Chatburn Methodist and Christ Church.
Further details from Roy Porter (01200 441690) or royjames@royjporter.pluscom
Americana
Thanks to all from both churches who helped and supported the recent Americana music & BBQ event.
£338 was raised for chapel funds by a very enjoyable afternoon.
OPEN THE DOOR TO CHRIST CHURCH CHATBURN
Repairs costing around £30,000 are needed for the church to keep it weatherproof, safe and maintain the Grade II listed building status for future generations. Some work is to the entrance doors. So please Open the Door, come in and have fun while raising these essential funds.
War Memorial
The village war memorial is starting to deteriorate and needs urgent work to bring it back to new condition. The parish Council has contacted various stonemasons for quotes to do the work and have accepted a quote for £1,660.00 + VAT.
Finding the funds to undertake this work is always going to be difficult and if any villager would like to make a donation towards the restoration of the war memorial please contact a member of the Parish Council, any donations large or small will be greatly appreciated.