News

Inspired by the huge online success of The Blessing UK a number of churches in Leeds have come together to make THE LEEDS BLESSING. This superb work which lasts just over eight minutes is performed by singers and musicians from across the city including some from here at MBC.

You can watch it in full here… let us know how many people you recognise.  

We are having a church meeting on Tuesday 9th June by zoom. This meeting will run from 7.30pm and finish by 9pm. We shall be giving some important updates and focusing together on what we are learning and experiencing through lockdown and the next steps we can take as church.

Every member shall receive an email giving details on how to attend the meeting.
Firstly, we are holding a practice meeting just to try out the technology and make sure it works – this will be on Tuesday 2nd June at 7.30pm and will only be for about 20/30 minutes. This is a chance to check how things go and take the stress out of the following week.
You will receive an email for the meeting on 2nd June, on Monday 1st June and an email for the meeting on 9th June shortly after we have held the practice meeting.

If you don’t receive either of these emails by the dates mention please get in touch with a Graham, Shona or another member of the Leadership Team.

ACC, the Association of Christian Counsellors is now offering up to ten free sessions for NHS workers and for people who during but not necessarily because of the Covid-19 pandemic have been beavered. 

The flyer above gives a bit more information about this service but for far more detail and to find out how to access this service please follow this link. 

The last time our Lunch Club was able to meet was on the 11^th March, when we played adapted table tennis together.  It feels a long time ago now, but we haven’t forgotten about our seniors!  Our 28 members are telephoned every week by the fantastic Lunch Club team, which brings a welcome chance for a chat and a catch-up.  As we speak to the same people each week, we are getting to know more about them  – there has been a discovery of a former competitive female cyclist in our midst, a keen gardener who is growing his own veg during the lockdown, and a teenager present at VE day in 1945 who sat on top of the lions outside the Leeds Town Hall!

Carole Smith, MBC Seniors’ Worker (left) is also sending a mailout of information and activities every few weeks to Lunch Club members.

The latest mailout is themed around ‘Eating Well and Self-Care’.  It includes a recipe leaflet with culinary contributions from the team, a craft activity, sunflower seeds, and ideas about how to be kind to ourselves and others.  Also, an issue of SHINE magazine from the Leeds charity Time to Shine is being added to the pack for the first time. SHINE magazine is being produced for older people in Leeds during lockdown as a way of helping them to feel connected – printed copies are being delivered to those who don’t have access to the internet.  It is also published online: https://timetoshineleeds.org/projects/shine-magazine

Carole says: ‘It is great to be in contact with our wonderful seniors at this time to let them know that we are thinking of them and to hear about how life is for them at the moment.  We are hearing about their resourcefulness, their resilience and their care of others, as well as their difficulties – older people have so much to give and to teach us about coping in hard times.  SHINE magazine are looking for local older people to tell their stories and share their memories, poems, advice and more – the magazine is about them and for them.  I hope that some of the Lunch Club seniors will do that, and perhaps there are others from MBC or their families who might be interested to contribute too.’

If you are an older person who would like to contribute to SHINE magazine, you can ring 0113 2441697, or email hello@shinealight.org.uk or post a contribution to: Shine magazine, PO Box 908, Elland, HX1 9WF.

Make me your church and be with me, always with me; a song of comfort and reassurance from Zsuszi and Andor 

Zsuzsi and Andor Ferco and their two children, whom many here at MBC have known for a good number of years, are currently living and working in a Hungarian speaking part of Romania, and during this time of isolation and lock-down they have recorded a beautiful old Hungarian hymn. 

Pastors Zsuzsi and Ferkő Andor like us are working remotely as alongside a third pastor they address the needs of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Odorheiu. Their church which is called Belvaros Reformatos Egyhazkozseg in Hungarian is featured in the video, which can be found at by clicking on this link or on the photo. 

The words of the hymn are:

Always with me Lord, even when my sinful eye cannot see you.
That is why I sing to the Lord, because He is always with me.

You promised to Your people that your Holy Spirit will live in them.
Make me your church and be with me, always with me.

In my despair and in my fear and in my sadness I know that I am safe in your arms.
During the  days and in the nights of  sorrow the Lord is with me, the Lord is with me, always with me.

When I will see you in the home where sin, disappointment and death cannot harm me,
I will sing forever the Lord is with me, the Lord is with me, always with me. 

Karen crafts some beautiful cards

During the lockdown Karen Ross has started to make cards and pictures using quilling. For the uninitiated (and that includes me) quilling is  an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is rolled, looped, curled, twisted and otherwise manipulated to create shapes which make up designs to decorate greetings cards, pictures, boxes, eggs, and to make models, jewellery, mobiles etc.

Karen says she had not done it before but is now really enjoying it. So far she has produced  lots of pictures, mainly birds and flowers. Here are a rainbow of smaller ones!

Another home group takes to Zoom.  This picture was sent in by David Casson.

And finally a few more pictures from MBC’s picture archive including: 

Youth Pastor Jonathan Hayward (1988 – 1992), a couple of images from Pulse, day trips (ancient and fairly modern) and a couple of wacky ones from Rewind and Moortots. 

mbcnewspics@gmail.com  WITHOUT YOUR INPUT THIS PAGE WOULDN’T EXIST. PLEASE KEEP YOUR STORIES AND PICTURES COMING IN. 

Mental Health Awareness Week (18^th – 24^th May 2020) is an annual event hosted by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF). Mark Rowland, the chief executive, made a decision to change the planned theme, this year, in response to the coronavirus outbreak when he was moved by an act of kindness from a supermarket staff member who brought umbrellas for people queuing in the rain. As the MHF says: “…kindness is an antidote to isolation and creates a sense of belonging. It helps reduce stress, brings a fresh perspective and deepens friendships. Kindness to ourselves can prevent shame from corroding our sense of identity and help boost our self-esteem. Kindness can even improve feelings of confidence and optimism.”

Carole Smith, MBC Seniors’ Worker says ‘Reading this quote about the power of kindness, reminded me of Jesus’ command to ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (Matthew 22 v 39.  I think that sometimes as Christians, there is a tendency to absorb the first part of that command but not the second! We can only love others well if we also love ourselves well. 

In this difficult time of uncertainty and isolation, it is so important that we take care of ourselves and that includes our mental health and wellbeing, as well as our physical health.  Each of us is precious to God and to those around us, and treating ourselves with kindness acknowledges that worth and value. 

In our mailout to Lunch Club seniors this week we have included a ‘Week of Kindness’ planner which Mindwell Leeds have created as a way of encouraging people to consider how to recognise and respond to their own need for kindness, and also how kindness can be spread to others. 

Perhaps this resource would be an encouragement and help to you and your families too?”

 

Issue 47 of Engage, the BMS World Mission magazine is quite an eye-opener. Yes there are four words on the cover and admittedly much of page 4 is given over to the launch of a “Christian response to a global pandemic” appeal but apart from that neither Coronavirus nor Covid-19 get a mention. 

Instead, amongst other features we find a story about about The Big Read, a challenge set by one London church to read the entire New Testament in a single weekend. We meet Esther Sarker an inspirational teacher providing pre-school learning in Bangladesh. We read a letter from physiotherapist Rexhina Uzuni who helps rebuild the broken lives of earthquake victims and who is based in a BMS supported community centre in Albania. And when we do finally reach the back cover we are met with a stern warning in bold black capitals that coming soon is a new BMS video featuring Operation CHAD that will “inspire your church.” 

If you want a break from the daily grind of lockdown charts and stats and instead want to read something positive look no further than ENGAGE. 

Engage and its accompanying Prayer Guide are both available free of charge either through the post or online here. To read Issue 47 or to sign up for future editions simply follow the link.