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Month: January 2026

Surprise birthday lunch for Shelley, well let’s be honest, it’s not every day your’e 50

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Usually at MBC, if it’s your birthday you get to choose from a jar of sweets. Occasionally, but that’s only if it’s a big birthday you might just get a gift. Today, however, was something different, as tomorrow our minister Shelley reaches the grand old age of 50!

Quite how much Shelley new about this “secret” surprise I’m not at liberty to say, but with the Sports Hall suitably decked out with banners and balloons and with a lovely spread laid out before us it’s fair to say that she, Nathan, Rowan and Daisy certainly lapped it up.

On behalf of us all, thank you Shelley for who you are and for everything you do. 

May God bless you and yours. 

 

Better safe than sorry!

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You could be forgiven for thinking that the last thing a church member needs is a qualification in how to erect scaffolding.  

But that’s precisely what Martyn, Rod and Paul learned last week when it was deemed prudent that the ability to safely scale heights hitherto unexplored should be studied and added to the seemingly endless list of safety first protocols. 

Anyway, well done chaps, at least we’ll all now know who to come to when we next need a qualified scaffolder. 

Women’s Development Centre. Krys Gadd makes her annual visit to Sri Lanka, only this time her support team is considerably bigger. Read on to find out how you can help.

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The pictures above are some that Krys brought back from last year’s trip to Kandy.
 
Following on from her previous trips to Sri Lanka, Krys Gadd will very soon be setting off on a return visit. The purpose of Krys’ journey is once again to provide support to women and girls living in a refuge which is run by Women’s Development Centre (WDC) and is based in Kandy.
 
This year, however, alongside Krys will be four other people who will in their own specialist field pass on their expertise. They are: Tonie, an ex-head of special needs from a primary school now retired, who will be looking at how she can help/advise the teachers and parents of children in the WDC special needs school. Karen, a keen walker and fundraiser who will be able to see first hand what monies will need to be raised. Bela, our very own super crocheter, who went out with Krys last year and taught the girls to make some beautiful items that they were able to sell. And Jo, an ESOL (English as a second language) teacher and ex head of languages at a secondary school, who will be helping to improve the girls English and also help their teachers to teach more effectively.
 
In a letter she is circulating around church Krys writes…
 
“This year we have been asked to buy some underwear (with a high percentage of cotton) for the girls. It will be a really lovely way to bless the girls, who have so little, to have new underwear. These are the sizes they need: Pants 10, 12, 14, 16 (they are quite petite so more of the smaller sizes please). And bras sized 32A, 32B, 34A, 34B, 36A and 36B.”
 
HOW YOU CAN HELP: you can buy bras and pants and leave them with Lesley in the office, at the latest by SUNDAY 18th OF JANUARY. Or you can donate some money to MBC church (referencing Sri Lanka) and then we can buy some and take them with us. For this to work we need your donations at the latest by SUNDAY 11th JANUARY.
 
Krys ends her message by adding this “If anyone else thinks they might have skills/gifts they could share and want to know more about maybe joining a trip in 2027 then please get in touch with me at: Krystyna.gadd@icloud.com.” And also by inviting you to find out more about the WDC itself at https://womendev.org/
 
 

Hi, Shelley’s message for week commencing Sunday 11th of January

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Dear friends

Blessings at the start of January 2026

Here are the main things going on next week…

Sunday 11th January 11am Service with group for our younger friends followed by cake and drinks for everyone!  Service focus follows on from last week with Matthew 2: 13-23

Sunday 11th January 7-8pm Rock Solid youth group in church. 

Monday 12th January Beacon Warm Welcome Space 10.00am – 12.00pm – everyone welcome.  The Lord pantry will be available during this time.

Just to let you know that at the same time as Beacon café we will be hosting Ed Whiting, Leeds City Council Chief Executive – 10.00 – 10.15am as he meets Leeds City Council employees in the Moortown area.

Tuesday 13th Tuesday Steppingstones Group for under 5’s and parents and carers – 10.00 – 11.30am, speak to Diane S or Hilary D.

Tuesday 13th January House Group in the music Room 12.30 – 2.30pm, speak to Howard Dews

Tuesday 13th January Living Local Hub Craft Group 1.00 – 3.00pm in the meeting area.  We are hosting this group for a couple of weeks whilst the roof is repaired at Living Local Hub.  It’s an open group so any of you are welcome to go along.

Wednesday 14th January Lunch Club for those in the club and volunteers 10.15am – 1.15pm speak to Rachel or Lesley for more information.

Wednesday 14th January House group in the church building and on zoom 7.30 – 9.30pm Andy B and Ruth B can give more information if you are interested.

Thursday 15th January Warm Welcome Craft Group in the music room 2.00 – 4.00pm Contact Karen R or Lesley/ Shelley for more information.

Thursday 15th January Bible Study in the music room 7.00pm – 9.00pm Speak to Gareth, John C or Lesley for more information.

Friday 16th January Bible Study in the music room 10.00 – 11.00am – talk to Shelley for more information

Friday 16th January House group at 8pm See Jonathan, Hilary, Steve or Helen O

Sunday 18th January Service with Communion and creative group for our younger friends 11.00 – 12.00pm

Sunday 18th January Rock Solid Youth Group 7.00 – 8.00pm

Also coming up…

Wednesday 21st January – PACT Meeting (Policing and Communities together, Moortown area) 6.30 – 7.15pm in the music room.  All welcome to share and hear what’s going on in our community in terms of concerns and positives in the local area.

Wednesday 21st January Wednesday worship at 1.30-2pm

Thursday 22nd January  LJHA Women’s Self Defense Group –  1.00 – 5.00pm Sports Hall Do ask Lesley or Shelley for more information.

Wednesday 28th January Creative Psalm Writing  7.00 – 9.00pm in the Sports Hall in the church building.  See Krys and Cas for more information.  Anyone welcome, you don’t need to feel you are creative or an artist but do come and be open with a guided workshop using image and words. All resources provided.

A couple of you have mentioned some UK prayer initiatives in January…

Turn the Battle A national 3 days of prayer and fasting supported by the Evangelical Alliance and others including the Send, HTB… see here.. Team — Turn the Battle

And

A month of prayer organised by National Day of Prayer and Worship.  Click at the link below..

NDOPW – National Day Of Prayer and Worship

Church meeting dates are being finalized and will be out for the year in the next 2 weeks.

Next Monday to Wednesday, myself and some of the deacons will be at Fresh Streams Leadership Conference in Staffordshire.  We will be praying for the church as we did last Tuesday at our deacons meeting and looking to learn and share with others over the next few days.  You can find out more about the conference here Awaken Leadership Conference 2026 — Fresh Streams | Rooted. Alive. Together – Giving Courage!

There have been many things going on in our world locally and globally that we will be praying about, weeping over and asking for Gods wisdom on. This is as well as all the joys we see, the moments we are grateful for, every act of love and there is often more of this than we will ever know. We seek God’s face intentionally in 2026 and look to Jesus as we follow Him this year.

“This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.”

Hebrews 6:19

In Christ

Shelley

Shelley Dring

Minister

Moortown Baptist Church

At the start of a new year, a timely reminder that as followers of Jesus its not just Him, but we too who need to bring light to the world

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As the old year made way for the new our last Sunday service of 2025 reminded us that what we had just celebrated wasn’t simply the update of an age old tradition in which for many people Mary and Joseph, a bunch of shepherds and three learned stargazers have all but given way to the “joy” of exchanging Amazon vouchers, Pokemon and Secret Santas. No, what we were being reminded was that what we had all so recently celebrated was, is and always will be the day Jesus was born; Jesus – the light of the world. 

To demonstrate this seemingly simply yet enigmatic truth, Cas, in typical Cas style, set about creating a picture by squirting a single blob of white acrylic onto the top right hand corner of an inky blue canvas and randomly brushing shards of “light” into the dark world. 

Either side of Cas’s contribution were songs, readings and prayers all making the overriding message of the service as plain as the nose on your face: yes Jesus is the light of the world but as His followers we too need to be beacons of grace, hope and most especially light.

The service also featured a video about a renowned sculptor called Nic Fiddian – Green. Fiddian- Green excels in two fields. Firstly he’s an expert in sculpting horses heads, and secondly for crafting and casting personal depictions of how throughout his life Jesus might have looked and felt anytime, anywhere and in any particular circumstance.   

There are a couple of links here which I would encourage you to look at. The first is to the short video that was shown in church about the sculptor https://vimeo.com/1129579468?fl=pl&fe=sh   and the second is to MBC’s YouTube channel on which you can watch our entire service https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHz5u4vFTIs&t=1826she

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