Update 1st October 2020

Hello all friends and members at Barlaston Church,

Last Sunday we celebrated Harvest at church with a large attendance, hitting the maximum allowed during coronavirus. It was an excellent time, although as a congregation we are not allowed to sing, Stewart & Chris (organist) sang for us. This they are allowed to do. We have received an apology from Creation Software whose system locked us out for the last two weeks, despite our annual licence being renewed on time. We will be back to normal this Sunday and be able make good use of the projector and screen.

The lovely Flower arrangement created for the Harvest service was the work of Liz Hill. Here is a photo of the arrangement done as a rainbow, giving thanks for NHS Staff and many caring people in our community and ultimately giving thanks for all God's goodness. I'm told all the flowers came from her own garden!  Jane Hart provided Harvest Stoops that welcomed us as we entered the church.

Thank you so much for the all gifts of food that you provided for the Stoke on Trent Foodbank (Blurton Methodist Church) Magdalen Road. It has all been very gratefully received.

For those with smartphones - we have created a coronavirus NHS QR code for Barlaston Church and this is now on display in Church. Please scan the QR code when you arrive at Church, using the NHS COVID-19 app.  This is to help trace and stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). We will continue to keep our own record all who attend services.

You will be sad to hear that Sheila Whalley suddenly passed away last week. May she Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory. Please remember Sheila's husband Stan and family at this sad time.

We are quickly approaching the APCM (Annual Parochial Church Meeting). All the necessary papers and reports are available at church for you to collect. The meeting takes place on Sunday 10th October as part of the 10.30am morning service. There are vacancies to be filled and at the time of writing the following proposals have been made.

Churchwardens: Gill Brealey and Dennis Croome

Deanery Synod: Merrilyn Coutouvidis

PCC: Chris Burton, Gordon Reid, Ian Vandevalle and Barbara Whittle.

If you know of others who may be interested to stand for any of the above positions please ensure that their names are added to the list in church.

Congratulations to our Archdeacon Matthew Parker who has been appointed Bishop of Stafford. Matthew and Sarah will be moving into Broughton Close in Barlaston shortly, before his consecration early 2021. Let's give Matthew and Sarah a great welcome to Barlaston.

Stewart has received an email from Pastor Chris (Soweto Academy, Kibera) showing he is being thanked by his government for the work he is doing during the Coronavirus Pandemic. You will recall that we helped to send food and more recently masks. Thank God for Pastor Chris and his team.

Do hope you may be able to make it to church on Sunday at 10.30am and we also have a Wednesday 10.30 service each week too.

Sadly, we are not able to run Tot's or Mosaic currently. Both groups of children and young people have been receiving regular updates from their leaders which we know have been greatly appreciated.

Blessings

Dennis Croome

Churchwarden.