(Partial Report)

Home Mission The Annual total to year ended 31st August 2001 was £224.35 also £27 had been sent to "The Foyer" to buy birthday cards for homeless people.

World Church – Total collected for year was £1,268,21 which included £893.77 J.M.A. CS wished to record her thanks to the children and contributors for helping to exceed the target of £750 quite comfortably. Unfortunately two collectors would not be collecting any more, so it may not be so easy to achieve this sum again this year. So far 5 months total is £254.89.

National Childrens Homes – House- to- house collection September 2001 was £650.16 this being an increase of £119.66 from last year. Christmas morning collection £110.74. League of Light boxes and collection at Ladies Bright Hour £153.60.

Methodist Homes for the Aged – The 2 boxes have realised £18.05.

Christian Aid – Village collection 2001 was £1,578.60 of which £686.76 had been collected by the Methodist Church.

Network – Income for 2001 Easter Offering was £147.75, box opened May £34.10 Tea party £56.50, box opened December £41 Total £279.35. On March 4^th 19 people from Harlington went to the Daffodil Rally at Westminster Central Hall. Easter Offering service this year will be held at Dagnall.

Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen – Amount raised in 2001 - £34.59

Traidcraft – WC was pleased with results but would welcome new customers. Bank balance £72.28, cash in hand £70. Spring catalogue now available. SI

Our visiting preacher for last year’s World Church Sunday was Rev Muriel Frampton who spent some years in Kenya as a Mission Partner training ministerial students. She had recently returned from a visit to Tanzania and was able to give us an up to date account of life and work in that country. She spoke of a people who seldom beg from Overseas visitors and have a deep faith in God. The evening service was illustrated by slides. Congregations were disappointing for a preacher who had travelled from Bournemouth to be with us.

This year’s World Church Service will be held on 23^rd June and will be led by Dr David and Mrs Rhona Burfield who will be on furlough from Malaysia. They are listed in the Methodist Prayer Manual as Mission Partners "on special assignment". Since Islam is the official religion of the country it will be interesting to hear how as Christians they fit into this situation.

Last year was "the first" for a Circuit Service featuring World Church. Rev Bernardino Mandlate from Mozambique but presently serving the church in London Circuit, gave a very informative and challenging address.

Our own Singing Group did us proud as they burst into the church singing dancing and rejoicing with the song "We are marching in the light of God". A group from The Square presented a Ghanaian interpretation of the Prodigal son. At the end of the service our Singing Group led the whole congregation outside to form a huge circle with everyone shaking hands and joining in the singing of "the Spirit lives to set us free, walk, walk in the light"

This year we shall be having a similar celebration at The Square on 18^th July. Leading the event will be Revs Maggie and David Stringer who until the middle of last year were serving as Mission Partners in Bolivia. They are very lively and interesting people who will have much to tell us as they invite us to travel "from Bolivia to England – One Church One World". The proceedings will start with our Singing Group inviting everyone to join them in some lively songs and Maggie and David will be teaching us some songs from Bolivia.

There will be some items on sale made by a womens charity in Bolivia. We are inviting those who come to this event to wear Overseas or colourful British dress! But this is optional of course everyone is welcome whatever their mode of dress. Come and join the celebration! BH

The committee has met regularly over the past 12 months, to consider, plan and activate a variety of fund raising ideas.

During the year 2001, we raised more than £3000, a significant improvement on our first year.

The perennial favourites, Beetle Drive, Pancake Parlour, Ladies Weekend and Salvation Army Concert were boosted by a variety of coffee mornings organised by different groups, coppers in the MM tubes and Buy a Brick. The main event of the summer was a photographic competition entitled ‘Penguin Shoot’ which just went to prove the old adage – "You don’t have to mad but it helps". Whilst it created considerable amusement and fun with the final results, it didn’t actually raise any money – it made a small loss. Laughter though is priceless. We are planning to do something similar this summer. Volunteers are still a problem with many events reliant upon the same stalwart staff. Fund Raising events are also largely limited to ideas generated from within the committee.

The committee is now in it’s third and final year and is pulling out the stops to maximise the profits. December 2002 will see the start of a new project presumably with a new team. We wish them luck.

Rainbows continues to go from strength to strength. There are currently 16 Rainbows in the Unit. Rainbow meetings mainly include craft activities and games. Rainbows had a trip to Kids World at the end of last year that was thoroughly enjoyed by all. They have also helped the Brownies and Guides with a Blue Peter Bring and Buy Sale.

The girls will be joining the other Rainbows, Brownies and Guides of the Toddington and Harlington District in a Danceathon at the end of March to raise funds or the District. They are also planning a day out to Broxbourne Paradise Park in June.

CS resigned in July last year after 5 and a half years of running the Rainbows since it was first started in the village. KS carried on running the Unit with JDW as her assistant. They continue to have a parents rota.

There is still the need for a second Rainbow Unit in the village. Especially as the number of girls currently outweighs the number of boys. If you know anyone who may be interested in running a second Rainbow Unit please ask them to e-mail us.

We started the year with no Property Steward

Essential maintenance carried out include:

• repairs to radiator tap and toilet cistern
• roof tiles and guttering put back in place
• side entrance door "unstuck" and window frame above door repaired
• front fence fixed to post.

The flat roof leaked badly and need extensive repairs

The sound system has been improved

The central heating boiler and fire extinguishers have been serviced.

Most work has been to the Worship area.

The windows were replaced with double glazed sealed units in hardwood frames at a cost of £21,103. The pews were removed before installing new panelling and carpet together with new chairs – this cost £4,987.

A 'creche' area for young children and their carers has been created in order to encourage young families to attend worship.

The committee has produced a draft policy for outlining acceptable activities in the Worship area. Organisations are aware of the policy and will help review it at next Church Council.

Our plans have been approved by the Technical Department at Manchester but the Council Conservation Officer has objections and Kevin Sherwood is revising the plans before re-submitting them for Planning Permission. Considerable funds will be have to be found if we are to go ahead with the scheme.

Our dealings with our previous architect, BH, seem to have stalled. With the agreement of Manchester and of our solicitor we sent him a cheque for £2,000. This he rejected and wrote that he would sue the church and has handed the case to his insurers. We have heard nothing since June 2001.

This is a busy and important time for our church property and we end the year as we began without a property steward.

NB

We currently have 54 members. The whole church was saddened by the loss of JG in December, and then we welcomed KT into the fellowship in January.

EH and SI have expressed a wish to stand down as Class Leaders and we thank them for their work. We hope to appoint replacements soon.

It has been good to see new people worshipping with us in recent weeks.

The Welcome Pack, which is given to newcomers to the village, is being updated, and will be available soon, so if you would like one for a new neighbour, please ask one of the stewards.

If you know anyone who would appreciate flowers from the communion table, or a pastoral need that is not being met, please speak to one of the stewards or to me

THE SINGING GROUP

This year has seen a growth in the Singing Group, including being joined by some younger members. It is good to have a group within the Church that brings together the youth and adult elements of the Church in a united activity.

The highlight of the year for us (if not our audience) was the concert in November. The aim of the concert was to explore the wealth of songs and hymns in Combined Songs of Fellowship. The group rose admirably to the challenge, learning new songs and finally succeeding in reducing the list of songs to be included to enable the audience to return home the same evening. For many it was the first time they had ever sung a solo and there was a lot of taking a deep breath and taking the plunge. Those of you who came will join me in saying "well done" to one and all. We even managed to raise some money for the Building Fund by inviting donations for cakes at the interval (the cakes were delicious and fortified the audience for the send half) and by asking people to pay to leave.

Another evening we enjoyed was taking part in the World Church celebration at Kensworth. Dancing down the aisle in costumes from various parts of Africa and India singing "We are marching in the light of God" was not only another first for many in the group, but I think it was also a new experience for some of the congregation!

At Christmas, we once again set off to terrorise the village with our carol singing. However, this year we were foiled as we were joined by members of the LIFE Church in the village and hopefully we will repeat this as a joint venture next year.

Most of you will have seen and heard the group joining in the services, singing as part of prayers, setting the mood with an Introit (or Into-it as they are more commonly known at our practices now) or adding harmonies to the congregational singing. We still try to ensure that we have had a go at any new hymns or songs that preachers have let us know will be included in any services so that there is always someone singing the tune out strongly.

We always welcome new members with the minimum requirement being enthusiasm. There is no audition, and we generally meet about once a fortnight. Please speak to me, or any other members of the singing group, if you wish to know more.

HW

This group continues to meet quarterly to discuss all aspects of our worship and to plan future services. Our services have been very varied this year with traditional and modern worship and we hope that there has been something to suit everyone.

Arising out of discussion at Worship Consultation was the need to review All Age Worship. We discovered that neither ends of the age spectrum were entirely happy with services as they are. On a Saturday afternoon in January our minister, Helen, arranged an All Age Worship Forum which was well attended. We had very useful discussions and it became apparent that the most successful services, in attendance, were those for special occasions or where different people took part. In future we hope to arrange some services where our various groups can take part, but will be preacher led. No great changes will take place but it was very good to be able to discuss our worship together and to have ideas (and criticisms!)

We have used Advent and Lenten Liturgy and have experimented with some sung communion and in the next few months we shall be discussing Children and Communion. The sound system is much improved with a new radio microphone and we are making full use of this and cassettes and CD’s whenever possible.

Regular United services have taken place with St Marys and the LIFE Church. We all joined together for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service, hosted by the LIFE Church in the Village Hall in January.

One memorable service was our District Chairman, Rev Garth Rogers’ final visit, which was well attended with Singing Group participation. We look forward to meeting our new Chairman this year.

We do invite anyone to attend our meetings. The dates are always in the Notices, it is an open meeting and all your comments are welcome.

JG

We are currently running with 26 enthusiastic Brownies. We have had a busy year. Last May we held our annual Pack Holiday at Windy Sayles, Whipsnade which was very successful, leading up to Christmas we did craft and a show and we joined the Beavers and went to see the Pantomime at Stevenage. We held a joint Fun Day with a Brownies Pack from St Albans during which we did craft, had lunch, went on a trail around the village and finished with hot dogs, soup and fireworks at Briarwood.

In February we caught the train to meet our friends in St Albans, had a Macdonalds and then went to the theatre to watch the St Albans Gang Show. Some of the older Brownies have already moved to Guides, others are preparing to go. Good luck to them all.

EH

Our ladies have continued to meet every week except during August.

Our speakers have again provided a great variety, managing to entertain and educate us and we record our thanks to them all.

Our monthly visits to Orchard House continue and we enjoyed our Christmas party there.

We try to look outwards, we support RNMDSF and NCH, we sponsor Tigist Tseveye at school in Ethiopia and we held a Tea Party for Network.

Recently some of us attended the Daffodil Rally at Westminster Central Hall, the Daffodil Service at Toddington and the Womens World Day of Prayer at Toddington Baptist Church.

NB