What's happening in Harden?

I asked Liz Maitland, Minister at Harden, about the church. Liz gave me a leaflet about church activities, which I've copied below. She also told me about their celebration weekend flower festival which they're holding on the 13th & 14th June. There are 23 flower displays, put together by local organisations and businesses as well as the groups which use the church. Coffees and lunches on the Saturday, from 10 to 4, quiet meditation on Sunday morning, then an anniversary/ordination service at 3pm. If you're in the area, please do go along and support them.
Jill

Harden Regular Activities:
Sunday Morning Worship – 10:30-11:30
We enjoy a relaxed atmosphere and a mixture of modern and more traditional styles of worship. The first part of the service particularly seeks to include the children.

All ages are invited to celebrate the Lord’s Supper during the morning service on the first Sunday of each month.

Junior Church
The children who attend church stay in the service for the first twenty minutes or so then go to the lounge where they enjoy Bible based activities suitable for their age. These include games, crafts, stories, drama, music and prayer time.

All Age Worship
On the third Sunday of each month, both adults and children stay in church to worship together. These services often include activities, quizzes, drama and modern songs to help present the message of God. Not just aimed at children, these services seek to bring something fresh and challenging to everyone.

Church Lunches
After some All Age Services many of the congregation stay and have a cooked lunch together in the lounge. This is a good time to catch up with news and chat with friends.

Pilots—Sundays 18:00-19:00 (Term Time)
Pilots is a group for children aged 7 to 12. Their activities include games, crafts, drama and projects.

The Ark—Sundays 19:30-21:00 (Term Time)
This is a discussion based group for teenagers. The young people like to talk about issues that affect them and explore the Bible together. They regularly plan and lead services as well as organising charity events. This is all done over cups of tea and lots of biscuits!

Bible Study
These sessions are Bible based discussions which tackle a wide range of topics. The members of the group take it in turns to host the discussions and aren’t afraid to ask difficult questions. Sometimes they even manage to find answers to them!

Prayer Circle
The prayer circle is made up of a number of the congregation who are dedicated to praying for those in need. Requests are received from many sources and for all sorts of situations. Requests are passed round the group to ensure the power of prayer is maximised.

Monday Club
Held on the first Monday of each month, this is evening’s entertainment, usually with a speaker or someone demonstrating an interesting skill. It is informal and there is no need to join, but just turn up when the subject is of interest. Look out for posters around the village to see what’s coming up next.

Photos of Harden

Four more photos of our visit to Harden, taken by my brother Roger

Harden visit

The day after the May Assembly, I travelled over to Harden in West Yorkshire, where Gofrit were in mid camp, to join in the morning service. And I wasn't the only one - past (and future) Presidents of the Federation were in abundance!

Jill

Harrogate

What an encouraging day for all of us.

Thank you to everyone who put a comment on the 'talent' board. We will be collating them and publishing a general overview on this blog soon.

Please continue to invite me to your churches. Pre-Christmas, most Sundays are already booked but I am more than happy to come mid-week and join in your weekly activities.

And do put your comments on this blog so the rest of the Congregational world can hear them.

Jill