Converting to an MHA Care Home was quite a culture change for the staff of Pennystone Court Care Home, and having a chaplain on the scene was quite an innovation. But by working together, home manager Frances, Chaplain Revd Bev and MHA Chaplaincy Advisor Andrew Norris came up with a team model that others may wish to consider. Bev is a member of the Blackpool Circuit staff and a full-time presbyter with pastoral charge of three Churches, so being chaplain at an MHA Home is not easy to slot in to an already busy schedule.
 
However, a chaplaincy team approach has been developed whereby Bev leads a team of lay volunteers (who all happen to be local preachers) who share together in the responsibilities of chaplaincy. An act of worship or bible study is held every week, with Bev offering communion every month. Each member of the team offers pastoral support to the staff and residents when they are on-site and the team take part in special events and services during the year.

Worship at Pennystone appears on the Circuit Worship and Preaching Plan, affirming that Pennystone is a part of the Circuit's commitment to mission in the neighbourhood. The chaplaincy team share in both the joys and sorrows of the home.

Over two hundred children from thirteen schools contributed to a hand-written copy of Mark's Gospel. The schools are all primary schools in the Houghton le Spring area of Durham. The project started in the Summer Term of 2010. Feint ruled paper was provided for each chapter and the completed chapters were bound professionally to produce the Gilpin Gospel.

John Wall, Active Supernumerary in the East Durham Circuit, said: “We used the name Gilpin after an Anglican cleric of the 16th Century. Bernard Gilpin was Rector of Houghton le Spring and was known as the Apostle of the North. He was a generous man who provided a roast ox every fortnight for his parishioners. He was active in opposing clerical slackness and founded a Grammar School in Houghton.”

The completed Gilpin Gospel is being used extensively in the schools that produced it and also in local churches.

An art project linked to a Methodist church took Plymouth by storm this year. Just over two thousand years ago a comet, or star, moved across the eastern Mediterranean skies to herald the birth of a child. The Gathering was a contemporary art installation created as a Fringe event during the final week of the British Art Show 7 in Plymouth. It featured around 60 life-sized figures, created by community, church and school groups, to represent the millions whose lives have been transformed by Jesus. The Gathering, hosted by Plymouth Central Hall, reminded its participants of the significance of this historical moment for every individual and for the future of our planet.

A partnership between Oxford Place Methodist Church and St George’s Crypt was celebrated with the official opening of the St George’s Crypt Nurture café by the Rt. Hon. Hilary Benn. 

Nurture is a Community Interest Company set up earlier this year to provide former clients and residents of St George’s Crypt with the opportunity to learn employability skills and to undertake "on the job" training and experience in horticulture and catering. It’s a natural follow on to developing a “places of change” concept for Crypt clients which is now fundamental to the way the Crypt works.

Martin Patterson, Director of Fundraising, said today: “We are delighted to be able to partner with Oxford Place Methodist Church in reviving their café and allowing it to branch out in such an exciting partnership.”

Dr Adrian Burdon, Superintendent Minister of The Methodist Church at Oxford Place, said: “St George’s Crypt and Leeds Methodist Mission share a common concern for the vulnerable people of this city. It is phenomenal that we can work together on this project which brings our resources together to make a difference.”

The Crypt is hopeful that local businesses will use the café as a meeting and networking place and, in so doing, support its work and those who will be working in the café.