Friday 7^th March

The theme of this year’s Women’s World Day of Prayer is "Holy Spirit, Fill Us", prepared by Christian Women of the Lebanon. There will be two services, with the speaker at both of them Rev John Perkins.

During November and December we asked for your ideas and feedback on ideas for a new name for the lower hall. The aim was to find a name that was memorable, distinctive and could be used as a ‘standalone’ name – in the same way that "Cornerstone" is.

After working through many ideas, it was agreed by Church Council that the new name of "Waterside" should be used. Investigations are currently underway regarding installation of a sign – bearing in mind any planning restrictions.

For publicity outside the church, we will refer to "Waterside, Station Road" and for the next 3 - 6 months we will mention its previous name to help avoid any confusion eg. "Waterside (formerly the Lower Hall), Station Road"

Barn Dance

Ashbourne - Patna Partnership are holding a Barn Dance at Hulland Millennium Hall on Friday 7^th February at 8.00m p.m. Tickets, £6.00 including a Ploughman's Supper are available from Hedley Alcock. The fund-raising for the hospital roof is in its final stage, less than £2000 is now needed. Please support this event and help ACT to reach its target nearly one year ahead of schedule.

"A Fairtrade Feast"
on Friday 28^th February
in St. Oswald's Hall
at 7.30 p.m.

A meal with a delicious difference!
Three courses using recipes which include Fairtrade ingredients!

Tickets (price £6.00 and limited to 60 in number) are
available from Catherine or Stuart Green or from Natural Choice

The youth club continues to do well (so far) and there have been several new members in recent weeks and one new member each week this year so far. Before Christmas, for the first time ever in the 14-year history of the youth club, the young people put on a Christmas service that was held at the Methodist Chapel in Parwich. Despite concerns after a poor rehearsal (acknowledged by the young people themselves) the service went well and they did a great job. Approximately 30 people were present at the service.

The pulpit in the Church is imposing, but a very heavy item, making it extremely difficult to move when the whole of the raised area is required for concerts, drama etc.

The Communion Table, chairs and pulpit date from the late 60s, when the Church was previously refurbished and, for example, when the vestibule was constructed.

With the weekly use of the Communion Table for flowers, the occasional drip has created a badly damaged area in the middle of the table. The chairs in today’s world are very low-backed and the lectern is from an entirely different architectural era.

The Property Committee has been asked by the Church Council to investigate a number of options and they would like as wide an input as possible.

The views of everyone with an interest at Ashbourne Methodist Church are sought, in writing please, to Cliff Lewer by 28^th February.

The Property Committee will then consider all points of view, investigate costs and report to the Church Council with recommendations.

Since the last newsletter there have been two Saturday Night Live! events. These are lively worship sessions aimed at the young and both have been a great success, with 60 people at the most recent (we even had to take extra chairs downstairs from the Century Hall).

The next Saturday Night Live! is on 22^nd February. It is for young people and the young at heart who want to experience and enjoy worshipping God in a modern context with a worship band (drums, guitars & keyboard) to lead the music and worship together with the use of multi media equipment, lighting and sound equipment. The doors open at 7.45pm and worship starts at 8pm. It lasts for approximately 45 minutes and we stay open until 10pm for refreshments and to chill out. The venue is Waterside, Station Road. (Waterside is the renamed lower hall of the Methodist Church). Make it a date and support this new venture. Bring a friend too!

Are you intending to up-grade your existing phone?

If you or anyone you know can answer yes to either of the above questions then read on .... There are now an estimated 90 million obsolete mobile phones in the UK and 15 million more going out of use every year. Like all electronic goods, mobiles contain environmentally harmful parts and materials that won’t break down naturally.

Help is at hand that can not only avoid this harmful waste, but can also help other people and raise money for charity. Mobile phone company Orange is encouraging people to participate in Orange Recycle. Donated mobile phones are tested, cleaned and the memories wiped. They are then refurbished. After re-packaging the phones are sent overseas and sold at a cheaper rate than new phones. Phones that cannot be re-used are recycled. Think about how you dispose of unwanted mobile phones and participate in the scheme and tell others too. It’s easy and you don’t have to be an Orange customer (your phone can be on any network). After removing the SIM card and deleting the phone’s memory send your phone to FREEPOST ORANGE RECYCLE or order an envelope from www.orange.co.uk/recycle

For each re-usable phone received, Orange will donate £5 to NCH, so you will be helping vulnerable children in Britain as well as helping the planet. Equally, Tesco operate a similar phone recycling scheme promising a £5 donation to either NCH, The Alzheimer’s Society.

I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all (Romans 1,8)

"Ashbourne is a small place in England!" I remember John Hurfurt telling me this in Berlin. At that time I had no idea that I would come and spend almost three months (Oct. 2002-January 2003) in this nice place of Derbyshire, in the county of God, as Chris Eddy would say…

I have been here as part of my studies in British Culture with the Humboldt University in Berlin (this has been the nicest part of my studies, I must admit, but I hope you will not tell this to my Berlin supervisors; they might think I was on a continuous holiday here). I have been working in several places and with several people:

I would like to express a warm THANK YOU for all the people I have worked with, who have given me a very valuable insight into church life. I have learned so many things from you… I would also like to thank everybody I have met during my stay here who have been so open, friendly and caring. Thank you for the roses, cards, presents and the beautiful moments spent together (including those in the church kitchen, washing up or peeling potatoes!). I have never before felt so much part of a family-community!

I cannot find enough words of gratitude for all this and, unfortunately, I cannot mention all the people that I now have in front of my eyes; it would take so much space that this article would turn into a novel. But, please be assured that you are all in my thoughts and in my prayers! May God bless you and reward you in His Mercy and with His Love!

However, I cannot help mentioning John and Elizabeth Hurfurt and express my gratitude for having, first of all, had the courage to invite me to their place and, then, for having been so wonderful to me…

And, coming back to the initial description of Ashbourne, I must disagree with John. If I had to draw a map of Britain now, Ashbourne would not be a small place on it but the biggest place of all, as it is indeed in my heart!

Dates for your 2003 diaries:

Rev’d Dr Martine Stemerick writes about her visit to S.Africa in 2002:
"The purpose of my trip was a musical pilgrimage: to hear the stories and songs of the Church; to record traditional Xhosa music in the homelands and new gospel choruses in the townships; to hear the stories of people’s lives and faith. In the J.L. Zwane Church in Guguleto township throughout the service the rhythms and songs raised the roof and the spirits of all: four part harmonies clapped or beaten in rhythm, the only instruments a cow bell or a bow. In the townships people are fighting desperate poverty, exacerbated by the famine that is sweeping through Southern Africa. The price of food has risen by one third in the last year. Still worse is the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. By the year 2015, 30% of South Africa’s children will be orphans.

But there is hope. The church is focusing on HIV/AIDS in worship services. Congregations show great courage and strength in their fight against AIDS, especially in their songs. Most often heard is a Xhosa song: Bambelela. That means "Hold on" – hold on to Jesus, hold on to the cross – "Never give up!"

Wycliffe Associates (UK) have the purpose of serving missions and particularly Wycliffe Bible Translators in their work overseas, by helping normally in this country. One exception is being a "missionary for a couple of weeks" and having an experience of a lifetime by taking the opportunity to be part of a Kids Club Team. You will be seeing places where missionaries work and finding out about the lifestyle as well as sharing the Good News with children. The Kids Clubs need people of all ages from young people to the retired. For further details see our mission board. Further clubs will be arranged in 2004 so if you are interested and your free time this year is full do consider volunteering for next year. Ruth and Roger Mallard have experience of this work too and would be happy to chat to anyone interested.

Our regular meetings continue each fortnight on Tuesdays at 2.15pm in Cornerstone. Our next meetings will be:

If you would like transport, please ring Carole Thorpe (( 346535 ) no later than the Sunday evening before the meeting.

Please be assured of a very warm welcome – if you’d like more information, please contact me.

It is planned to start a twice-monthly morning service at Brailsford that will be unashamedly modern in its delivery and content. It is a major step of faith and we are sure God will bless their efforts. If you are able to support Brailsford in any way, please let us know. Also, extra musicians are required in whatever capacity as are technical support staff for operating the equipment we have. Please pray that God will richly bless Brailsford and fill the Chapel once again. It is not impossible to fill the Chapel. Prayer and faith are what is needed.

Willersley Week

This year the Days of Fellowship at Willersley Castle will be held during the week 7^th-11^th April. Places have been booked for Monday 7^th April. The leader will be June Anderson (a former Connexional President of Network). Her theme will be "Bad Girls of the Bible (and what we can learn from them)". The cost of the day is £9.25 which includes coffee, lunch and conference fees. If you would like to go, please book your place with Alma as soon as possible (( 343751 ). If Monday is not a good day for you and you would like to go another day, have a word with Alma.

District Days

10^th March – Queen’s Hall, Derby

This will actually be an Area Day hosted by our District. The format of the day will be slightly different from usual. We shall have our District business meeting at 10am and then break for coffee at 11am. We shall re-commence at 11.30am when we shall be joined by friends from Lincoln & Grimsby District and Leicester & Oxford District. There will be a break for lunch from around 12.30pm until 2pm (packed lunch required, drinks available). The speaker will be Margaret Sawyer, the Connexional Secretary. Why not come along and meet her?

12^th June – Uttoxeter & 8^th October – Ashby-de-la-Zouche

Please make a note of the above two District days. The one in June is nearby. In October, it would be great if a good number of us could go along to meet up with Harry and Lyn – do think about it!

I am planning a couple of holiday clubs during half term and will need some help. If you are willing to help during half term would you please let me know.

In addition, we normally take bookings by phone for the holiday club and I am seeking help in this matter. Would someone be willing to give out their phone number in our publicity and take the bookings for me? It will be a great help and a job worthwhile. Thank you. Contact me on (01335) 346107

We continue to ask for you to especially remember the following
things in your prayers this month:

Firstly we welcome Christian Peter Mallard, although it seems quite a while since he first came to see us before Christmas!

It was good to see Enid back with us on Sunday after her operation – it’s good to see you progressing well, and our prayers continue to be with you.

We also pray for Mrs Constable who is improving following her operation, and Heather Broadbent who is progressing well now. We continue to hold these people in our prayers.

We pray for all those who are currently in hospital and we ask for God’s blessings to rest on them. We think of Mrs Dadge who is in St Oswald’s Hospital, Mrs Lilian Shaw in the City Hospital following a stroke and Mrs Weston in St Oswald’s.

We also think of Jean Bailey of Tissington Chapel who has been in hospital for some time to try and resolve a problem with her knee. We hope and pray for a successful outcome for her soon and that she can enjoy better health this year.

We also pray for those who have been unwell over the past few weeks and we ask that they may soon be feeling better. We think of Peter Dawson, Dan Ffoulkes and Sue Coackley. We especially pray for Sue’s husband David, whose father is also unwell at the moment.

Many of you will have heard shortly before Christmas that Nestlé were seeking $6m (around £4m) from the government of Ethiopia. The claim, although legally accurate, was being challenged by the Ethiopian government on the basis that the claim should amount to only $1.5m and should not be payable immediately since the country faces a severe drought.

Several years of poor rains in Ethiopia have led to what many believe may be its worst drought in 20 years, and warnings by some aid agencies that it could be even worse than the 1984 famine.

Oxfam backed up Ethiopia’s case and brought it to the public’s attention in late December. On the first day alone, Nestlé received over 4,000 emails from people concerned about the effect of the compensation claim on people at risk of starvation. In all, Nestlé received 40,000 letters and emails and, thanks to the intervention of ordinary people like us, Nestlé have now announced that they will accept a payment of $1.5m, which will be handed straight over to the famine relief effort. Now all we need to do is persuade them to pay farmers a fair price for their coffee!

Your offerings for October, November and December 2002 are gratefully acknowedged.

The following special events and collections are also acknowledged

The first "warm-up" sessions for singers, actors and dancers have taken place, but now’s a perfect time to get involved in rehearsals for Encounters. This production will take place on 10^th, 11^th, 12^th April and should be a real witness to the town. Please come along on Friday’s at 8pm for singing or Monday’s at 7.30pm for dancing or acting. Call Tim Dutton (( 343494) for more details.

PowerPoint is the software we use to operate the laptop computer when giving multi media presentations. We are aware that a number of people would like to use the multi media equipment but do not have expertise in PowerPoint. We are holding a training day in Ashbourne on 8^th February (10am to 3.30pm) for those who would like to know more. Other dates may become available later in the year depending on demand. If you would like to know or attend, let Roger Mallard or Carole Thorpe know.

I am trying to put together a team of people that can move from chapel to chapel as required and play a variety of worship music. It’s part of a strategy to rejuvenate chapels and bring new people to worship of all ages and especially young people who are sadly missing. The more people we can bring together who can play instruments the less of a burden in time it will be as the task can be shared. I would also like to acquire a drum kit and so if you know of anyone who is selling one or if you can gift a kit, please let me know. ( 346107 .

51 Highfield Road, Ashbourne. ( 300338 or place items in the "Newsletter" pigeon-hole at church.