pickering Methodist church

            The new Methodist Church year begins on September 1st and, just as children and young people move from one phase in their education to the next, so many ministers and deacons within the Methodist Church are moving away from familiar places to unknown areas, new friends and fresh challenges. All, both children and adults, need our support and prayers. Here in the Methodist circuit we have said goodbye to Rev. Peter Cross and his wife Pauline. After seven years with us, Peter is continuing his ministry in Scarborough. Rev. Jane Cole, who has been the minister at Thornton-le-Dale, is now instead caring for Pickering Methodist Church (as well as several village congregations). Peter Hallsworth continues to be our Missional Community Leader.

            After the summer break many meetings and other events will be resuming. On Sunday mornings, with worship at 10.30, there are also activities for children and young people of all ages. Look out for PMC Cinema again - family films will be shown on Saturday evenings September 3rd,   October 1st, November 5th  and December 3rd, while the Monday Matinees will be September 19th, October 17th, November 21st and December 12th.

            In the spring issue of the Beacon we mentioned that three young people from our church, with two leaders, hoped to be travelling to Tecate, in north-west Mexico, in April, to put their Christian faith into action by helping to build houses in a rural community (subject to raising £1,040 each to fund the experience.) We can now report that they did! The project was called 'Rebuild', and was jointly organised by Urban Saints (previously Crusaders) and an American charity, Amor Ministries. Our young people were part of a group of 140 people from the UK who built six houses for poor families, camping at the site, with no running water or electricity and with few sanitation facilities. The houses they created were 22 feet by 11 feet and were made from wooden frames on a concrete foundation, with walls coated with stucco. One of the memorable moments for our group was handing over the door-keys to the family whose home they had built, as many families dream of owning a house. Team leader Dave Scaling said "We did it! While in Mexico we all experienced God in a new way. Our aim was to tell people that God loved them by our words and our actions. When we returned to Pickering I felt that five different people had come home." Since they returned we have heard and seen details of their life-changing journey and we have been glad to support them, practically and in our prayers, in these experiences.

            As usual, you can see details of our Sunday services in the Church Services section of this magazine, and they also appear, along with news of other events, on the boards outside the church on Potter Hill. We look forward to welcoming you and we also hope that you will feel able to talk with someone here or ask for prayer if you are going through a difficult time - we aim to be a family of people who support anyone who needs care, not just within the walls of the building, but in Pickering and the surrounding area.

Gill Freeman.

             Gill has told the Beacon that, ‘all being well’, she and her husband are leaving the area and this is her last Beacon report.

            I would like to thank Gill for all her work in keeping us up-to-date with both the Methodist Church’s work and Save the Children.

            The Beacon Team wish her and her husband best wishes and happiness for the future.

Alan Smith, Editor.