Henshaw with Beltingham Branch Programme 2023
The branch meets in Henshaw Church Room at 2.30.pm on the 4th Wednesday of the month. All will be welcome.
18th March - Make a Mother's Day Coffee Morning, Bardon Mill Village Hall 10.00 - 12.00 noon.
22nd March - Lady Day Holy Communion and members meeting. Rev Dr John Harrison.
31st March - MU Diocesan Council, St John's Church Kingston Park. 6.00pm.
26th April - Beltingham Yew and Surrounding Area, Ms Hazel Barron Cooper
24th May - Tyndale Hospice at Home Volunteering, Mrs Anne Galbraith
28th June - Garden Party at Whitegates, Henshaw.
26th July - 60-80-30 The Challenge of Domestic Violence , Ms Sharon Brown
9th August - Mary Sumner Day, Deanery Outing to Ovingham Church and Afternoon Tea.
27th September - In the Footsteps of Saints , Ms Lexi Knowles
13th October - MU Diocesan Council, St John's Church, Kingston Park. 10.00am
25th October - How being abroad has shaped me, Rev. Canon Steve Wright.
22nd November - Adventures in the Himalayas, Ms Bev Redfern
4th December - Deanery Advent Service at Hexham Abbey 1.00pm
The work of the Mothers'Union is exremely wide ranging. MU members and friends in Newcastle Diocese support many people in need locally through a variety of initiatives.
These include:-
People's Kitchen. MU members make up CHristmas gift bags of warm clothing and toiletries for the People's Kitchen to distribute to homeless men and women at Christmastime.
Changing Lives MU members donate small Christmas bags for vulnerable young women at their GAP ( Girls Are Proud) Hostel
Walking With supports asylum seekers and refugees. MU supplies bags of toiletries, clothes, toys and bedding.
Ukranian and Syrian refugees Young mothers arrive with little warm clothing. MU lends support with warm clothes, food hampers and boxes of essentials for new-born babies
Cathedral LInk. Members are knitting Baptism shawls for the Cathedral to give to refugee families. MU is also designing and making kneelers for the Chapel of the Ascension
Refugees MU branches support local refugees. Families arrive with very few personal possesions and MU helps to provide underwear, sleepwear and toiletries. Even Christmas lunch has been provided and help towards a sensory room for traumatised children.
Fresh Start Many ex-offenders are withiut homes to go to when they are released from HM Prison Northumberland. MU members provide them with a back-pack of essential items such as toiletries, T-shirt, warm joggers and fleece, hat and gloves.
Fishermen's Mission North Shields MU supports fishermen and their families with items such as hats, wellies and gloves.
AFIA ( Away From It All) MU in Newcastle organise caravan holidaays for families who are unable to afford a life-giving break away.
Green Canopy MU planted a tree at Howick |Hall to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
Hospital Emergency Bags are provided across the region with overnight essentials for those who arrive with nothing.
Additional information about the Mothers' Union can be found on the websites :
www.mothersunion.org and at www.munewcastle.org.uk
Rev'd Anne Marr spoke about what it means to be a pebble.
As a Deacon I was accustomed to being invisible. I asked my vicar, What is it like to have a Deacon in the team? He thought a bit and then said 'It's like having a pebble in my shoe' I wondered, is this a compliment or a criticism? Afraid of the answer, I didn't ask the question! I settled for accepting it as a 'spirit-gift', which I could unwrap some other time.
The next day I had a pebble in my shoe. I was in a hurry, but the grit was sharp and forced me to stop . As I bent to unfasten my shoe I saw an earthworm stranded on the paving, its skin beginning to dry. I picked it up and placed it on the soil. Without a word of thanks ,it wriggled instinctively into the earth. I took off my shoe and shook out the offending stone.....so tiny, I could barely see it.
My spirit-gift was unwrapped.
25 years later at a MU gathering in Belfast a bishop spoke about MU being a pebble in the church's shoes!....an irritant when things are not as they should be.
If we are pebbles that make walkers stop...then we are enabling people to see what they would otherwise miss... their personal 'earthworm' perhaps a casualty in life, an issue to be addressed, an opportunity to be a good neighbour.
If we are pebbles we don't have to be very big to make our point sharply- we simply have to be in the right place at the right time. Ever wondered how a pebble gets into your shoe? Who puts it there? And why just then?
If we are pebbles, we are readily discarded as mere irritants. The secret of being an effective pebble is not to complain, but to shed light on an overlooked issue and to be prepared to be a partner in resolving it.
As pebbles go I don't profess to be a very effective one. I'm often too round and smooth and happy to nestle between the toes of those who carry me. Now and then my sharp edges dig in but I don't always see the result. But I am encouraged by the incisive qualities and achievements of many of the pebbles I have met in life
Across the world there are godly pebbles working in situations of great need. Some of them are Mothers' Union members working within teams to challenge despair and bring hope. You may never hear of them but they are there: pebbles challenging injustice and abuse: setting up literacy projects; visiting prisons and hospitals....
So be prepared to be a godly pebble in someone's shoe- whether shy or sharp- and leave the rest upto God. And be thankful for the pebble in your own shoe!
Rev'd Anne Marr. Service at All Hallows' Sunday 5th February 2023
Epiphany beginning 6th January
During the season of Epiphany, with the Rev'd Canon Steve Wright and Rev'd Keith Teasdale we have followed 'The Journey of the Magi' , 'The Baptism of Jesus' and the story of Simeon and Anna and 'The Presentation of Christ in the Temple' (Luke 22:22 -40)
In the morning prayer service four weeks after Christmas, led by Mrs Anne Galbraith and Mrs Carol Adams, Anne spoke about the demands of a new baby and the harsh conditions Mary and Joseph had to cope with. Anne also considered how the behaviour of babies can teach us some important life lessons, for example, commitment, resiliance, perseverance, and flexibilty.
An extract from Anne's relection is available in the Parish Newsletter for February / March.
Candlemas 2nd February
Candlemas marks ' The Presentation of Christ in the Temple' occuring 40 days after Christmas on 2nd February.
Sunday 5th February Benefice Holy Communion..
A Benefice Holy Communion Service was held at All Hallows' Church presided over by Rev'd Canon Steve Wright and was attended by parishioners from St Cuthbert's Greenhead, Holy Cross Haltwhistle, as well as Beltingham with Henshaw.
Steve welcomed to the service Rev'd Anne Marr, Mothers' Union Chaplain for Newcastle Diocese. In her address Anne spoke about the wide ranging work of the Mothers' Union and explained the five marks of mission which are Tell, Teach, Tend, Transform and Treasure.
