A very warm welcome to those who may be reading this for the first time. We hope you like it and find something that interests you in it. The magazine is available in our Churches or on the Church website: melthamparish.co.uk
Thank you to all who have contributed this month and throughout the last year. I really couldn’t make the magazine it is without you. This month is a great Christmas edition and you can find all about what is happening in our Churches this Christmas on the centre pages. Also there are ideas on how to make it a more greener Christmas on page 9 , and a lovely remake of 1 Corinthians 13 on page 13. There is BIG NEWS on page 11 on how this magazine is changing so do check that out.
The deadline of the February magazine will be Monday 22nd January 2024. Please send submissions via: melthamparishmagazine@gmail.com or via the vicarage letterbox (150 Huddersfield Rd, HD9 4AL).
Carols in the Park with Meltham & Meltham Mills Band.
Sunday 3rd December – 4pm at the Robert Ashton Memorial Park.
Celebrating Real Love at Christmas – Jesus born in Bethlehem, the Light shining in the Darkness!
Don’t forget your torch!
There will be hot chocolate and mince pies in St James’ Church afterwards along with some Christmas activities.
Please, if you’re able to offer help with stewarding or setting up etc. please contact Mike on 07867 951512 for further details, or to let him know you can help. Thank you!
St Bartholomew’s Church Christmas Market and Santa’s Grotto – Saturday 2nd December – 10am – 3pm. Put on your Christmas Jumpers and join us at Meltham Church Hall to celebrate the beginning of the festive season and find something truly special whilst supporting our local traders. We ho-ho-hope to see you there!
Supporting the CRISIS homeless charity, our popular annual Coffee Morning is back! Featuring the usual array of fab craft and gift stalls, the brilliant silent auction and much more!
Sat 25th Nov – 10am to 12 noon at St James’ Church – Meltham Mills (the one by the park). Come along and catch up with friends over a cuppa.
The Royal British Legion service of Remembrance in Meltham will take place outdoors around the War Memorial at St Bartholomew’s Church. Sunday 12th November 2023.
The parade led by Meltham & Meltham Mills band will leave the Carlile Institute at 10:30am and arrive at the church shortly afterwards. Please gather in the vicinity of the church yard. For those who feel unable to stay outside, it will still be possible to sit inside the church and take part in the service which will be shown on the tv screen.
Please note that Green End Road will be closed to traffic from 10:35am to approx. 11:10am. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
It’s here! The November edition of the Meltham Parish Magazine. Thank you so much once again to all who have contributed this month, this would really be boring if you hadn’t! Please accept my apologies once again for not changing the date on last month’s paper edition and for this month’s being so delayed. I hadn’t intended it to be, it just happened with half term etc. Sorry!
However on a happier note, there is lots to read about and catch up on like the Meltham mustard seed, (pg10). Toddler church moving (pg 25) and how to be more ‘greener’ this Christmas (pg9).
As always I am very grateful for your submissions so please continue to send them in. The deadline of the December magazine will be Monday 20th November 2023. Please send them via: melthamparishmagazine@gmail.com or via the vicarage letterbox (150 Huddersfield Rd, HD9 4AL)
Starting from Tuesday 7th November, the Toddler Church will take place at St Bartholomew’s Church in the centre of Meltham. Toddler Church welcomes pre school aged children with their carers every Tuesday, 9am – 11am (during term-time only).
We have been based at Helme Church for over a year but, as a team, we feel that the time has come for Toddler Church to leave Helme Church and set up our new base at St Bartholomew’s Church.
We are very grateful for the support that we have received from the Helme congregation but there are certain realities we have to face……
Due to the increased cost of heating, we had to reduce our meetings in the first quarter of 2023 to just once a month (similar to the weekly church services). This meant that any continuity was lost resulting in us losing some of our families who did not return after we resumed meeting weekly.
We would prefer to be able to run our weekly Toddler Church throughout the year (term time only). Heating costs continue to be high, and we are unable to make the church floor warmer. We cannot expect babies and toddlers to play on the cold draughty floor through the winter months.
Therefore we will be moving, after the October Half-Term break, to St Bart’s, and also changing the day to a Tuesday. This will enable us to slot into the current provision of work with toddlers, that currently takes place at the Methodist Church on Monday and Thursday mornings. Also, with the growing number of people worshipping at the Wednesday morning HC Service, then that also influenced us to holding Toddler Church on Tuesday mornings.
We firmly believe that it was the right thing for us to begin the Toddler Church at Helme. We have engaged with a few families in the area and hope they will continue to join us as much as they are able. We have grown as a team, as we work together, the morning sessions now run in a seamless way.
The team are looking forward to this next chapter in the life of Toddler Church, we would be grateful for your prayerful support as we seek to reach out to the young families in our village with the Good News of Jesus.
Last year, this wonderful display of 600 poppies was created in St Bartholomew’s church yard using the poppies from the wreaths laid the previous year. This year we are hoping to ‘plant’ over 2000 poppies to create an even bigger display for Remembrance 2023…………..but we need help!
All are welcome, we thought families especially may want to bring children, to help them reflect and contribute to Meltham’s act of Remembrance and be a part of creating something truly special.
The planting will be done on Saturday 4th November from 9.30am onwards. Please come along or ‘drop in’ and help us plant them – ALL WELCOME.
You are invited to our special memorial service on Sunday 5th November – 4pm at St Bartholomew’s Church, Meltham. This service offers an opportunity for anyone who would like some time and space to remember someone special to them who has passed away either recently or at any time in the past and to give thanks for their life and the memories they shared together. There will be an opportunity during this service for anyone who wishes to do so, to light a candle in remembrance of those people.
As many of you will know, Meltham Mustard Seed began its work in 1997 helping to support orphans in the village of Kyema in Uganda. Over the years this charity has supported many young people enabling them to grow up, importantly, in kindred foster families and be educated. Indeed, several have degree level qualifications and exciting careers ahead of them due to your support.
In 2019, we worked with the local committee in Kyema to put together a self-sustainability plan. After 4 years of hard work, the local Mustard Seed team in Kyema are now in a position to continue to provide support to orphans without the financial support of Meltham Mustard Seed. This is a fantastic achievement.
Visiting the sugar fields which will be harvested soon. Mary, nursey school head teacher and Rev Joan of KMS.These sugar fields will be harvested end of 2024, early 2025. Land acquisition continues for building small housing units in future.
This means that we can now formally close down the Meltham Mustard Seed charity, as our work is complete. There are a number of practical steps that we need to take to do this, including dialogue with the Charity Commission, our bank and our supporters.
We have asked supporters, who donate by standing order, to cancel these as we will make a final payment with any more final donations to Kyema in December this year.
We, the Mustard Seed committee, want to thank you for the support over many years that has enabled us to support many children, who otherwise would have had a very uncertain future.
Additionally, you have helped us create a lasting legacy, which was always the vision that John Bakanoba had when Mustard Seed first began.
Emmaton, one of current MMS orphans supported by his grandmother.
