Notification of Church Meeting
Sunday 26th November 2023 1.00 p.m.
Following morning worship we will have a “Bring & Share Lunch” and a Church Meeting which is open to any who are interested in the witness of the church. I would encourage both members and congregation to come along to the lunch and meeting and take part in the discussions.
The next two months give us ample opportunity to join in the fellowship at Carey and the services planned show a wide variety of witness with an opportunity to invite friends and family along.
In last months newsletter you may have seen a mysterious thing called “Cafe Cello” which is happening on the 12th November in the afternoon. As the name suggests it’s going to be cafe style and it will be Laura and her cello. It’s something that Laura has done at other churches, sometimes on her own and sometimes along with others and it seemed to work quite well, so she thought we would have a go at Carey.
The deacons have been talking about possibly having some Sunday afternoon events now and again which would be something that is welcoming to people. So it’s something that you could feel comfortable inviting your friends and family to. It would be nothing too heavy so it would be encouraging rather than challenging and as this name suggests this one is going to be mainly music.
What will happen is there will be some refreshments, some readings and Laura will play her cello, including some hymn tunes, some classical music, some popular songs and some film music.
You can either join in or just listen, but do come along and check it out with your family and friends. This time Laura will be on her own but in future events anybody who wants to contribute by playing instruments or reading can do so – please let Laura know. Then in the future we can have more of a communal effort but hopefully this will kick it off.
Advent starts on Sunday, 3rd December and you are invited to join us for a fun afternoon with light refreshments looking at the Nativity story as portrayed in the Bible. To think a little about what it can mean to us today and what Christmas is really about through song, story and creative activities.
Another date I would encourage you to pencil in would be 13th December when we will be carol singing in the car park in Nelson Street. A list of events is on the back page.
It is always good to welcome visitors to any of our activities but there is a special welcome for those who come to take our services. We have many friends who come regularly and over the last month we have welcomed Dean Clark-Peasey, Susan Deacon, Michael Vidler and Charity Nkosi.
To finish I have some good news, our missionaries, Andrea and Mark are returning to Chad after an extended stay in the UK. They will stop over in Ndjamena where they will study Teda (language), prepare teaching materials, liaise with the hospital to purchase much needed drugs, and visit the Ministry of Health. Then, after the annual mission conference, they will return to Bardai on a planned MAF flight. If you would like to receive updates from Badai, Carol can send you the regular emails from Mark and Andrea.
Membership News
Back in August 2023 the church agreed to the transfer of Bill Martin to the membership of Carey, this was followed on Sunday 15th October by the “official” welcome of Bill.
The communion service was taken by Rev Michael Vidler with Marion Elmore (right) reading the lesson. Bill had chosen his favourite hymn, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God”, which we sang in a round. One half of the church led by Sandra (keyboard) and Laura (cello) and the other half led by Carol (clarinet) and Mark (trombone).
I am sure everyone would agree that this was a moving service which concluded by singing “Bind us together” with everyone linking hands as one family.
Bill has been worshipping with us since he popped into coffee morning to see Neil (Humphrey) and the rest is history as they say.
To explain the front cover headlines, Bill was born in King Street before moving around the county but has now joined Carey from Burton Latimer Methodist Church with love and affection.
Bill was welcomed with the right hand of fellowship and a certificate (left) along with the flowers from the church to welcome him to our fellowship and we wish him well as he continues along his Christian path.
“WELCOME BILL”
Our thanks to Michael Vidler for leading our worship and to Mark Welch from Burton Latimer Baptist Church for his input as a guest to the music group with his trombone.
50 Years of Preaching
On a very wet Wednesday evening we went along with Charles Chambers to Earls Barton Methodist Church to share a celebration service of 50 years of Lay Preaching by Jonathan Thompson (2nd from left in photo below).
When we arrived we were warmly welcomed by Ann Bonsor, an old work colleague of Keith’s (from Barker Shoes). The church was already nearly full and we had to sit on the front row!
There were representatives from the Methodist Church nationally, Rev Helen Cameron (far left), President Elect of the Methodist Church, the Methodist Circuit locally Rev. Lesley Dinham (3rd from left), along with Jenny Bland, (Right) the Vicar of Earls Barton, as well as The Boys’ Brigade from Northamptonshire and his own Church in Earls Barton.
Some of these people spoke about their memories of John over the years, and John himself told us about his life in the Church, Earls Barton and The Boys’ Brigade.
Three young people (the Forey family) from the Methodist Church in Earls Barton, sang beautifully and played their instruments, John, his wife Dianne, along with Tom and Susan Partridge-Underwood also sang his Uncle Horace’s favourite hymn, ‘Sweet is the work, my God, my King.’ He was a great influence throughout John’s life, and had tried to teach him the bass notes, but he never quite mastered them.
Sitting at the front of the Church the singing of all of the hymns was very rousing! The service was followed by tea and coffee and cake, when there was time to catch up with friends old and new. All together a very special service.