John Sherbourne

Saturday January 25th was a very special day for many of our congregation, as for them it was New Years Day. The Chinese New Year which last weekend saw in the Year of the Rat is a hugely important date in the Chinese calendar.

It originates from several ancient myths and customs. The festival was traditionally a time to honour deities as well as ancestors today, and while certain elements are considered universal local and regional customs and traditions vary widely.

It was fascinating to hear and see first hand from Maria, Ivan, Charles and Teresa how they themselves are keeping these traditions going here in Leeds.

With parts of China currently at the centre of a new and potentially deadly virus we pray for this great nation and its massive population.

Meanwhile at the other end of last Sunday’s second service the children who make up Faith Builders and Pulse came back into church to share with us some of the things they have doing.

In Pulse they had been looking into the difference between knowing of something and knowing about something. Their analogy was a Mars bar. We all know, said Shelley what a Mars bar is but until you have actually tasted one (whether that’s as it comes, as a flavour for an ice cream or as is the custom in Scotland deep fried) you can’t really talk about one with any degree of knowledge. Substitute the Mars bar for God/Jesus/faith and you’ll get some idea of where this particular example was heading. As for the props, two bags of bite sized Mars bars, they were handed out.

Faith Builders, meanwhile, had been unpacking Proverbs Chapter 2 and verse 6. The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge and understanding, all come from his mouth. And it was good to hear that on the second time of asking the congregation got the gist and joined in: wisdom, knowledge and understanding indeed.  

James Wilde is organising a youth residential between the 3rd to the 5th of April at West End Outdoor Centre, near Harrogate.

If you’d like to go see James asap to get hold of a consent form.

Also if you’d like more information about the centre itself visit https://www.westendoutdoorcentre.co.uk/

Ever since Diane Towns and Pauline Bridle stepped back from leading Moortots, the responsibility for running this long standing and much loved MBC project has been in the very capable hands of Holly Button.

However, last Thursday was Holly’s last day with us as she too is bowing out only in her case to develop her counselling and family support work skills within the prison service.

Presenting Holly with gifts and cards Shelley thanked her for all she had done for Moortots and wished her well for the future. Holly won’t, though, be leaving us completely as she hopes that she and her toddler Billy will when work and study permit still be able to pop in; but from here on in as a mum not a leader.   

There’s a few more pictures taken at this week’s Moortots Christmas party below.

Oasis, MBC’s Tuesday morning café is usually just that; an oasis. Somewhere for travellers to rest, in our case where mums, dads, grandparents, carers etc. etc. can find refreshment, where they can drink tea and coffee, sit, chat and chill while their little ones play.

This week, however, all that changed when despite an incredibly heavy work load Santa popped in. Now I’m far too old to recall my first encounter with the man in the big red suit but judging by the response he received yesterday it would have been one of two…. an immediate clamber to sit on his knee and to tell him my entire life story or a mix of blind panic and fear! Luckily on this visit there was more of the former than the latter.

As luck would have it (or some might call it planning) Santa wasn’t the only one dressed up in something special. Following his 45 minute spell under the Christmas tree it was time for him to join Shelley as she gathered everyone together, plundered the dressing up box and turned both the willing and the doubters into angels, shepherds and kings. 

Oasis, like Moortots is taking a break now but will return in the New Year. In the meantime I just hope that on Christmas morning all those dinosaurs and dollies that Santa was asked for find their way to their new owners.

What better way for a church to continue it’s already buoyant Christmas programme than with a service of carols and readings. And that’s exactly what happened here at MBC last Sunday evening. With a ten piece orchestra and almost twice that number singing in the choir the hour long service was a skilfully blended mix of ancient and modern.

With Rachel, James, Joan, Ben, Kofi and Joe sharing the narration and with a powerful address from Nathan in which he urged us all to focus on relationships and embrace the mess that Christmas creates just, he said, as everyone did in Bethlehem, a packed church lapped up this so well known yet so so precious message.

One particularly memorable highlight of the Service was a short but amazingly thought provoking contribution called Not Just a Baby which our young people presented.

Naturally no self respecting Carol Service finishes without the congregation continuing their time together by sharing mince pies and mulled wine. So in addition to us thanking our ministers – Graham and Shona, our brilliant musicians, our wonderful choristers – led once again by Claire, our ever willing stewards and our genius tech team let’s (if only metaphorically) also give a huge round of applause to our small but highly efficient kitchen team and their considerably younger helpers.  

Overseas Mission Group: The next meeting of the group on Monday 6th Jan at 7pm will be open to anyone interested in the church’s support for Overseas Mission.

Please come along to share ideas and your own interests and to plan the future of our work in this area of our Christian service.