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Image by Aaron Burden

February 2025

For Room Bookings please phone the church on 020 8550 1518

For all other inquiries, please phone Sue on 020 8500 5386

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Our Church Guest WiFi Policy

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Links for Sunday live-streamed services

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Sunday worship plan - February​​

  •      2nd Feb,   9.30am  United service at Barkingside led by Revd Jacqueline Jones            

  •      9th Feb,  10.00am  Service led by Revd. Jacqueline Jones​

  •    16th Feb,  10.00am  Service led by the Worship Leaders                                                       

  •    23rd Feb , 10.00am  Service led by Revd. Jacqueline Jones                                                                                                                                                                  

Open Thursday

All are welcome to our Thursday Café between 12 noon and 4pm. Come and enjoy real coffee and snacks, join in a game of Scrabble – or just come and chat. 

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Forthcoming Events
The World Day of Prayer will be celebrated on Friday 7th March
at 2pm at St Augustine’s Church IG6 1AU. All are welcome.

The Lent Lunches will be held  during March. Details in our March News Sheet.

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!5th February 10.30am to 1.00pm, Becontree Heath Church Coffee Morning and Sale
 

​Whitechapel Mission 
Donations collected during December totalled £190. Thank you to everyone for your generosity.

 

​​Grange Hill Methodist Community Centre

 The Foodbank is supporting 5 – 10 families weekly and free legal Advice is offered monthly by the local Councilor. Please continue to support the Foodbank if you are able – there is a box in the Vestibule at Gantshill.

Items most needed:
Dried noodles, long-life orange juice, shampoo, washing tabs,
cat and dog food.

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​Stamps for the Leprosy Mission
Please remember to save the stamps from your Christmas Cards.
There is a box in the Creche, or you can give them to Don.
The proceeds provide vital funds for the Mission.

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A Word in Time 
One of our commitments to the Methodist Way of Life is looking and listening to God in Scripture

A Word in Time is a daily resource provided by The Methodist Church. It includes a short verse from the Bible passage for the day, one for each day of the year, with some background information to help you understand it further. It concludes with some questions to ponder, asking you to think about how it applies to your life. 
Each week's studies are written by volunteers across the Connexion (you can read the author's biography after each study). The writers are usually Methodist ministers.
It can be found on-line at 
https://www.methodist.org.uk/faith/the-bible/​


 â€‹East London Model Railway Group

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The Group meets in the Church Parlour on Tuesdays and Thursday from 10am to 5pm.

Bring your own models to work on, work on the Club layout, or just enjoy tea and a chat. New members are most welcome. For more information contact John 07414755365

 

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Image by Aaron Burden

Letter to the Circuit: February 2024

From Jacqui

​Dear friends

​I greet you in the name of our Lord and Saviour and pray that you are well.
It is fantastic to contemplate what it means to be in a new season. As many of you would know, on February 1, we are expecting our first grandchild. It's been a wonderful and soulful time preparing for a new baby. While settling into a new country and vocation, the beginning of 2025 has undoubtedly been a year for me to anticipate and reflect on what it means to embrace new beginnings.


I imagine many of you by now have had your Covenant Service; these promises have been a great blessing for so many reasons. It gives us a sense of God's love and purpose, as well as direction in our lives and deep connection with one another globally. The Methodist Covenant Service seems to ground our faith and bring our imagination to Godly possibilities while reminding us of how audacious and vulnerable these promises are. The Covenant Service exquisitely confronts us with the idea of surrender. The covenant prayer says that sometimes our covenant promises are against our human nature. I often wonder how life presents us with situations that feel a little against our human nature and capacity and how the grace of God enables us to imagine new things even when they seem impossible. In some churches I've preached, people have made their Covenant promises for more than 75 years, a faithful presence of God’s Disciples. 

Living our lives as people of faith has many ups and downs; these extracts from John Wesley's Diaries attest to his life's uncertainties and challenges –

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“Sunday, A.M., May 5: Preached in St. Anne’s. Was asked not to come back anymore. Sunday, P.M., May 5: Preached in St. John’s. Deacons said “Get out and stay out.” Sunday, A.M., May 12: Preached in St. Jude’s. Can’t go back there, either. Sunday, A.M., May 19: Preached in St. Somebody Else’s. Deacons called special meeting and said I couldn’t return. Sunday, P.M., May 19: Preached on street. Kicked off street. Sunday, A.M., May 26: Preached in meadow. Chased out of meadow as bull was turned loose during service. Sunday, A.M., June 2: Preached out at the edge of town. Kicked off the highway. Sunday, P.M., June 2: Afternoon, preached in a pasture. Ten thousand people came out to hear me.”

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Quite staggering and a sober reminder of what it takes to sometimes keep our faith amidst perplexing times. I pray that February will find you gifted with the joy of being the witness of Christ, remembering God is faithful and present in all seasons.
I pray that the presence of new beginnings, the gift of grace, and the promise of the covenant will align deeply with your soul and spirit. 

In Christ's love,
               Jacqui

18 Gantshill Crescent, Ilford, Essex, United Kingdom, IG2 6TU / Tel: 020 8550 1518  

 © 2024 by Gantshill Methodist Church

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