Photo kindly donated by Dave Stevenson
Here is this month's newsletter, with updates on a few things that have been happening with church. If you have any questions or would like to get in touch, please contact pastoral@kingscc.org
Welcome to the Summer by Chris Robins
Hello, and a welcome to the May edition of Life @ Kings.
Summer is almost on our doorsteps, restrictions are beginning to be eased and it seems that we will be able to get out more… enjoy this beautiful town and surrounding area. What a privilege to live in such a scenic part of the country.
Summer time can be a time when we can sit outside, enjoy the warmer weather and read a good book. I recently saw a recommendation for a book that has just been
published. It read 'Reading this book will make you feel as if you are tasting honey … Get prepared to be both challenged and encouraged from start to finish’.
These words were written by R T Kendall. The book? 'God’s Treasured Possession - Walk in the footsteps of Moses'. The author? Terry Virgo.
Can’t wait to get my copy. Happy reading…. Happy summer...
Chris
Easter Table Cloth by Joelle, Tim and Benji Raby Before Easter, an activity table cloth created by Zoe was delivered to all the families from church, the table cloth came with a book some pens and sweets. The table cloth had four sessions of activities for the lead up to Easter to do as a family, each with a prayer, a challenge, discussion questions around a bible passage and a prayer activity. The table cloth could be drawn on, coloured in and written on.
It was a lovely gift and a great tool to use in the run up to Easter, looking at different bits of the Easter story. We enjoyed sitting and doing the table cloth together as a family. Here's what Tim and Benji thought: ‘It was fun' 'We enjoyed learning about Easter and drawing on the table cloth' 'I liked the prayer ideas' 'It was fun because we got to learn about Jesus more’. A big thank you to King's Church and Zoe for creating it.
Molly's Fundraising Adventure by Becca Dunlop
Over the past month, Molly has raised an incredible £1500 for Little Princess Trust.
As well as fundraising she has also had her hair cut and donated 11" of it to be used in a real hair wig for a child who has lost their hair through illness.
Little Princess Trust is a charity that makes real hair wigs for children who have illnesses where they lose their hair. For example, if they have alopecia or have been through chemotherapy.
Molly said, "I have donated my hair and raised money for Little Princess Trust because I would like to make a girl with cancer happy. I have had some big adventures raising money. I have had my princess hair cut and have sent it in so someone else can feel like a princess.”
During April Molly held a Bake Sale outside our house as part of her fundraising. We baked lots of cakes and our neighbours and friends came to visit to buy them.
Molly also decided that she would like to climb a really big mountain as part of her fundraising. On 14th April she climbed all the way up and down Skiddaw!
Thank you to every one of you who have supported her during this adventure and have donated to Little Princess Trust. We are so very proud of her!
School of Leadership by Judy Johnson
This is a course for everyone wanting to deepen their own spiritual walk through the Bible landscape. Its application helps you be more prepared to work with each other in our church as well as the community we live in.
The course runs over two years and has two main components. Firstly, the Bible landscape which covers the Old and New Testament. This really deepens understanding of the whole ’salvation history’ of the Bible, seeing how all the different elements fit together and their context. Its material is informative and challenging, presented in an excellent way by Martin Charlesworth. Secondly the application of the biblical teaching covers challenging topics such as sexual ethics, the environment, spiritual warfare, the church and the poor, leadership and many other topics which you will be able to see on the link to the flyer for next year.
The course has worked well on zoom and is now moving towards a hybrid approach, with a combination of those attending on zoom and some attending in person in Sheffield. This hybrid approach is set to continue next year. The course runs on a Thursday and Friday once a month from September to June inclusively. On each day there are four sessions, each lasting 80 minutes. Half of this time is a lecture, followed by breakout rooms with four people in them for discussion and a final Q&A session together where each group will ask the speaker a question to be discussed. I have felt that this has worked very well, especially the lecture and small group discussions. During the course of the year there have been four extra forums on the Thursday evening. I think the fact that the course is continuing as a hybrid next year will mean that more people will be able to attend the course. This year there have been forty participants consisting of a mixture of all ages.
I can recommend the course, although it is quite a big commitment. You can just attend the course, which is what I have done or you can opt into an additional qualification alongside the course. We have excellent mentoring times, with a meeting once a month where Joelle, Becca and myself can raise questions and have more guidance. Maybe its time for you to consider School of Leadership and see what journey God takes you on….
For more info, go to: https://christcentralchurches.org/school-of-leadership/
SNYC Youth Weekend Away Every year, King’s Church takes young people to a weekend away run by Solway Network Youth Church (SNYC) each Spring at the Knock Centre. These weekends are always great fun with lots of different activities, Bible-based seminars, wide games, quiz and games nights, good food and a youth church service on the Sunday morning. Over the last few years, the King’s Church youth leaders have taken 10-15 young people (both Christian and non-Christian) away each year. It is a great opportunity to get to know the young people better while sharing about the Christian faith and discussing what we believe. This February 2021, the weekend was unable to go ahead due to Covid so SNYC are running a weekend away in October as well as the weekend away in February 2022. The second weekend will be offered at £25 instead of the price of £45 for those who can’t afford it and have attended the October holiday because the two weekends are so close together. SNYC felt it would be good for the young people not to miss out on the weekend away because the young people have missed out on so much over the last year, the focus of the October weekend will be Psalms 23 and how the Lord is our Shepherd and is with us always. If you would like to donate money to SNYC to make it possible for all young people to have the opportunity to come on these weekends, please contact joelle@kingscc.org.
Joelle and Zoe will both be attending the weekends away and are looking forward to inviting the youth from Mobilise and Move to come along too. If you have a young person who will in year 6-13 in September 2021 and would like a holiday form, please get in touch with Joelle at the email above and she will send you one when they are published (due June 2021).
Eco-church at King's and in our Community by Will Sellar Recently there has been some discussion about how we at King's could be responding to environmental issues and how best to care for the world around us. As a result of a meeting, we agreed that we could share a short column in the newsletter that might encourage us with ideas of how we can care for our world. We recognise that there is a wide range of views on climate change and actions that we could take. However, we feel that we have been given a beautiful planet to care for and steward and that someday God will indeed renew it and indwell it. Caring for the only world we live in is part of how we can love our neighbours. Lisa has already recommended "Planetwise" by Dave Bookless which is available from Cornerstone and other suppliers. Another interesting book is by David Attenborough called "A Life on Our Planet".
I would like to quote from the foreword to a third book called "A Christian guide to Environmental Issues" by MJ and MR Hodson, in which Andy Atkins, previously of Tearfund, says: "God loves us and nature. We should care for what God loves - from our neighbour to nature and the planetary systems, such as stable climate and healthy soil which sustain us all. Yet our species is trashing the environment and threatening its own survival in the process. Surely Christians should be in the forefront of the movement to understand how the environment works and how we depend on it and to cherish and restore it where we can. I long to see Christians everywhere demonstrating their love of God by standing up for the environment in their communities and globally". WHY NOT... As a church, we can make a difference to our environment, locally and globally. To start making that difference this week, you could try using less detergent as we live in a soft water area - try half the recommended amount of soap in your washing machine, half a soap tablet in your dishwasher and only a few drops of detergent when washing up or showering.
Your thoughts and ideas for making a difference would be very welcome. Please email me at: sellarpw@tiscali.co.uk
Kid's Challenge by Zoe Fielden
KIDS! It’s been great to see all your amazing crafts! So with Half Term around the corner, it’s
time for a challenge!
The challenge is to create a scene from your favourite Bible story, using anything you have in your house! It could be LEGO, Playdough, paints, lollypop sticks, crayons, pompoms, teddy bears…the sky is the limit! PLUS, there are prizes up for grabs!!
When you have made it take a picture and send it to zoe@kingscc.org – by 13th June!
Have fun!
New Books to Try by Ron Salmon
Ron Salmon’s third book is due to be published this Summer, under his pen name Harry Navinski, with profits from the book all being donated to charities combatting anti-trafficking.
The Duty is about a girl from rural West Bengal being trafficked into Kolkata and from there to Scotland, where she ends up dead, and the detective, DCI Suzanna McLeod tracking down the criminals. The novel draws on Ron’s six years experience working in India within the anti-human trafficking field. Advance orders are now possible. Ron already has two other books on Amazon: The Glass and The Test.
The Glass is first in the Suzanna McLeod series and sees her Edinburgh CID team chasing down armed robbers, and dealing with other crimes. These include the theft of Suzanna’s cherished magnifying glass that she inherited from her great-great-uncle, a Victorian era, consulting detective, after passing a test that he set.
The Test is Ron’s novella, an historical detective story based in 1920s London. It sets the test that Suzanna had to pass to gain her inheritance so although a stand-alone story, provides extra back-story on Suzanna McLeod. This novella is free in eBook form, for anyone signing up to Ron’s mailing list. Or available to buy on Amazon. Suzanna McLeod comes from a Christian family but has slid away from the faith. During the novels, Suzanna is slowly led towards a new found faith – but not yet! The books also promote the Alpha Course. More information on Harry Navinski/Ron Salmon can be found at: https://harrynavinski.com or on his amzon author page: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Harry-Navinski/e/B08DJDB7FM/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1.