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Home , Carnmoney, Dunadry, Glengormley

Parish Church ‘The Church of the Holy Evangelists’ Carnmoney Review Vicar: Rev. Andy Heber, 20 Glebe Road, BT36 6UW. Tel: (028) 9083 6337 Website: www.carnmoney.connor.anglican.org Registered with the Charity Commission for Northern - NIC102377 January 2020 A.CA.C.. MeaMeatsts Unit 3, 119-129, Road, Newtownabbey BT36 6AA Tel: 028 9086 6510 Finest Quality Produce Beef, Lamb & Pork Grade “A” Poultry Cooked Foods Seasonal Vegetables Weekly Special Offers

Quality Produce - Quality Service

2 In this month’s issue..... Reflections from the Glebe House...... p4 JOY - Just Older Youth...... p10 Parish Register...... p5 Body Beautiful...... p10 Diary for January...... p6 Sign Language for Beginners...... p12 Readings & Readers...... p7 Men’s Society & Mother’s Union...... p13 Select Vestry Away Day...... p8 Why Do We Need a Church Website..... p14 Carnmoney Youth Club...... p9 Mouse Makes for our younger readers..... p15

Who’s Who Vicar Curate Rev. Andy Heber 028 9083 6337 Rev. Carol Harvey 07860 696800 [email protected] Sexton Lay Reader Harry Hamilton 9083 5848 Valerie Murray 9083 5761 Organist Vicar’s Warden David Rutherford 9028 7515 John Beck 9084 7026 People’s Warden Hon. Secretary Jim Magowan 028 9083 5556 Janet Crilly 9083 6166 Hon. Treasurer Vicar’s Glebewarden Joyce Lardie 9084 9584 Maurice Atkinson 9084 4093 People’s Glebewarden Church Envelopes Robert Campbell 9084 3505 Roy Williams, 5a Dorchester Gardens, Church Restoration Fund N’Abbey BT36 5JJ. 9084 1752 Renee Norwood 07990 673010 Gift Aid Secretary Faith Factory David Gibson 9086 2237 Linda McCullagh 07503 298562 CMS Globes Jayne Gray 07512 039565 John Beck 9084 7026 Elaine Steenson 07796 446189 Magazine Distributor Rosemary Williams 07751 783074 Georgie Gibb 9083 6967 Bible Reading Secretary Parish Website Georgie Siberry 9083 7015 Elaine Munn 07477 574247 Church of Ireland Gazette [email protected] - Weekly Notice Sheet Carnmoney Review Joan Bradbury 9083 6035 Harry Beckinsale 9336 6788 [email protected] [email protected]

Wed. 8.00pm Fri. 6.30pm What’s On Choir Practice Church Lads’ Brigade Mon. 7.30pm Maurice Carson Tel: 9334 2342 Dana Henderson Tel: 07889 779858 Indoor Bowling Club Thu. 7.00pm John Fenton Tel: 9083 5409 Church Girls’ Brigade Church 2nd Tue. 7.30pm Amanda Kenny C.o.I. Men’s Society Hall Tel: 07468 486801 Trevor Gibb Tel: 9083 6967 Telephone 4th Tue. 7.30pm 3rd Thu. 8.00pm Mothers’ Union Healing Service Shirley Earley Tel: 9084 2008 Pat Archbold Tel: 9443 3618 028 9080 0770 3 Reflections from the Glebe House I was just thinking... ...how encouraging it’s been to see the many green shoots of new growth over the last few months at Carnmoney! Real signs that God is moving! One of my favourite passages in the bible (which Lynne and I chose for our wedding as it really spoke to us) is from Isaiah 43, where God says, “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” Our task during our ‘What Kind of Church?’ course in the autumn and the subsequent decisions made on the Select Vestry Away Day hasn’t been to totally forget the former things, but to take what is best about our worship and church life and also introduce new ways of doing things and new activities that, in a sense, scratch where people itch and will enable us to share the gospel in relevant and up-to-date ways with the current generation. A phrase that Carol and I used frequently in these meetings was, “We need to combine the best of the old with the best of the new.” During these last four months, there has been a real sense that the Holy Spirit has been leading us and enabling, not only a tremendous sense of agreement and unity over the ways forward as we formulate our vision for the next few years, but also providing us with new (and often unexpected) groups, activities, opportunities and ministries. The ‘What Kind of Church?’ course itself was full of life, with good numbers attending and many lively discussions over the six weeks. This culminated in our Select Vestry Away Day on 3rd November, in which we discussed and critically appraised the life of our church and together formulated and agreed our development plan for the future. This has been largely kept under wraps up until now, but as we move into the new year, we will be sharing this Development Plan, which we hope will guide and inform our life together with all of our members, over three Sunday sermons, beginning on Sunday 12th January, and also in written articles in the Carnmoney Review, beginning with this issue. Already, it seems that God is moving before, us bringing new groups and initiatives into life. Since our Away Day, three new groups have already either started or are ready to go: • In November, our teenagers met together for the first time as our new Youth Group was launched, and a varied programme of monthly activities and outings has been planned for the year ahead, the first of which is a Murder Mystery evening in January. Eight enthusiastic adult leaders will be working with them. • A group of women met informally for coffee and have decided to start a monthly group on Friday evenings called JOY (Just Older Youth). Again, there will be lots of laughter and fun but also a chance to grow closer to each other, God, and the local community. This group is for anyone female who considers themselves Just Older Youth! (See page 10 for more details). • Our Christmas Social on 11th December was a prequel to ‘The Carnmoney Community Friendship Club’, which will meet in the Church Hall on the first Wednesday afternoon of every month beginning on 5th February, providing friendship, fellowship and fun, along with a cup of tea for anyone of whatever faith, or none, in our local community. Over the past few weeks, we have also held our first Children’s Light Party at Halloween, our first Memorial Service around All Souls Day, and our first S.A.N.D.S. Carol Service in December, all of which were new initiatives and well supported. In the new year, we are also starting monthly services in two more of our nursing homes and are also eagerly awaiting, and are very excited about, our first Newtownabbey Churches Bible Week: ‘Body Beautiful’, led by Bishop Ken Clarke, in January. So lots is happening, and certainly God seems to be doing a new thing among us; yet our regular worship, groups and activities continue the same, week after week and month after month, continuing to feed and nurture us. Do look around and perceive these works of the Holy Spirit this new year, and please don’t just sit on the fence and observe. Plunge in and get involved: your church needs every one of us to be followers rather than spectators as we move into an exciting future together. “See I am doing a new thing! Do you not perceive it?” 4 Parish Register Christian Burial “I am the Resurrection and the Life” says the Lord 22nd November Ashley Morrow, Barra Street, Antrim 6th December Elizabeth Gilmour, Fairfields Care Centre, Cookstown 11th December Edith Thompson, Elmfield Road (service held at Roselawn)

In Memoriam Ashley Morrow - Ashley tragically was found dead, having suffered a heart attack in his flat on Sunday 17th November. A service of thanksgiving for his life was held at Carnmoney Parish Church on Friday 22nd November, followed by a burial in the Borough Cemetery. Ashley was born in Kenya, only returning to when he was six, when he began attending Mossgrove Primary School and then later Grammar School. On leaving school, he went on to study Environmental Science at Coleraine University before getting a job in the family business, working in the garage in . However, after only two years, the garage closed, and Ashley was left without a job. In the years that followed, he experienced a number of health problems and lived in a number of different properties but throughout maintained a good relationship with his brother Lawrence and his sister-in-law Hazel. Amidst the difficulties of his life, Ashley enjoyed a number of interests. He once came second in the Northern Ireland Disco Dancing Championships; he played rugby with his brother Lawrence for Ophir Rugby Club, and he also enjoyed playing music in a band. He will be greatly missed by his family. Elizabeth Gilmour - Elizabeth Josephina Gilmour, devoted wife to the late Bill and mother to Michael. died peacefully in hospital on Wednesday 4th December 2019. A celebration of her life took place in Steenson’s Funeral Home on Friday 6th December and afterwards to Antrim Cemetery, where she was laid to rest beside her beloved husband Bill. Known to her family as Ena, she was brought up in and spent most of her working life in the bank in . She met and married the great love of her life, Bill Gilmour, and they lived in Glengormley, moving to Londonderry with their son Michael when Bill’s job took them there. As time went on, they moved back to Glengormley and settled in Collinbridge, where they continued their association with the Parish. Ena and Bill travelled widely with Bill’s work, and they enjoyed a busy social life. In between travelling, Ena enjoyed hand crafts and created some beautiful pictures in cross stitch, including one of the church, the last supper, and the roof tops of Jerusalem. She was skilled with both sewing and knitting needles and enjoyed knitting for Michael and providing the furnishings for her home. Ena also had a great love of dogs, especially Labradors. Her last Labrador, called Bill, after her late husband, was her constant guard and companion until a few years ago. When her husband Bill died, Ena and Michael, in memory of Bill, presented the church with the wonderful cartwheel lights adorning the roof. A memorial plaque to Bill can be seen at the back of the church. It was with great joy that Ena attended the wedding of her son Michael with Lorraine in 2016, and she was delighted to be an adopted grandmother to Natalie and Vanessa and great grandmother to Harry and Charlotte. She will be greatly missed by her devoted son Michael and his family, and we commend them to your prayers. Edith Thompson - Edith Thompson passed away peacefully in the Mater Hospital on Wednesday 4th December. A service of Cremation was held at Roselawn Crematorium on Wednesday 11th December. Edith was originally from the Shankill Road and worked as a seamstress on leaving school. She married her husband Tommy in 1961, and a year later their son Paul was born. They lived in Canada for a period before returning home to the Shankill and later moving to Glengormley in 1970s. In later years, Edith worked on the assembly line at Standard Telephones before retiring at the same time as Tommy. During retirement they travelled extensively, especially enjoying time in America. Tommy died in 2007, but since then, Edith has remained close to her sisters, Paul, and particularly her granddaughter, Katie, with whom she enjoyed many shopping trips. She died peacefully after a short illness, surrounded by her family. 5 Diary for January Thursday 2nd January 2.30pm Glenabbey Care Home Services Sunday 5th January The Epiphany 9.30am Holy Communion 11.00am Parish Communion & Faith Factory Wednesday 8th January 2.00pm Glebe - Community Friendship Club Planning Group 7.30pm Joint Churches Prayer Meeting (N’abbey Elim Church) Thursday 9th January 10.30am Memorial Room - Knitting B 2.00pm Ashwood Care Home Service Sunday 12th January The Baptism of Our Lord 9.30am Holy Communion (One) 11.00am Morning Prayer and Faith Factory 7.00pm Memorial Room - Youth Club Monday 13th January 7.30pm Glebe - Faith Factory Teachers Meet Tuesday 14th January 7.30pm Memorial Room - Men’s Society Film Night Wednesday 15th January 7.30pm Joint Churches Prayer Meeting (Glenvarna Christian Centre) Thursday 16th January 10.30am Memorial Room - Knitting B 2.00pm Dunnaney and the Glebe Nursing Home Services 7.30pm Choir Vestry - Intercessors Meet 8.00pm Healing Service (The service may be cancelled in the event of frosty or snowy weather. If this is the case, please ring the vicar early that evening to check whether or not the service is taking place.) Saturday 18th January 11am-1pm Cloughfern Hall - Deanery Planning and Visioning Day Sunday 19th January 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany 9.30am Holy Communion 11.00am Family Service Wednesday 22nd January 7.30pm Joint Churches Prayer Meeting (Holy Spirit, Mossley) Thursday 23rd January 10.30am Memorial Room - Knitting B Friday 24th January 7.30pm Memorial Room - JOY (Just Older Youth) Saturday 25th January 2pm-4pm Glebe - Choir Party Sunday 26th January 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany 9.30am Holy Communion 11.00am Service of the Word and Faith Factory 7.30pm Body Beautiful: Newtownabbey Bible Week 1 (Mossley Primary School) Monday 27th January 7.30pm Body Beautiful: Newtownabbey Bible Week 2 (Mossley Primary School) Tuesday 28th January 2.30pm Mothers’ Union Church Service 7.30pm Body Beautiful: Newtownabbey Bible Week 3 (Mossley Primary School) Wednesday 29th January 7.30pm Body Beautiful: Newtownabbey Bible Week 4 (Mossley Primary School) Thursday 30th January 10.30am Memorial Room - Knitting B 7.30pm Body Beautiful: Newtownabbey Bible Week 5 (Mossley Primary School) Friday 31st January 7.30pm Church Hall - C.L.B. and C.G.B Table Quiz Sunday 2nd February 4th Sunday after the Epiphany 9.30am Holy Communion 11.00am Parish Communion and Faith Factory 6 Readings & Readers Date Readings Reader 5th January Isaiah 60:1-6...... Mrs J. Crilly Matthew 2:1-12 12th January Isaiah 42:1-9...... Mrs S. Earley Matthew 3:13-17 19th January Isaiah 49:1-7...... Faith Factory Children John 1:29-42 26th January Isaiah 9:1-4...... Mrs P. White Matthew 4:12-23 2nd February Malachi 3:1-5...... Mr D. Gibson Luke 2:22-40 * If you are unable to carry out your reading please contact either of the Churchwardens. F.W.O. Counters Restoration Counters 5th January ...... Mrs M. Robinson 5th January ...... Mr J. Walker 12th January ...... Mr T. Prenter 12th January ...... Mr & Mrs H. Douglas 19th January ...... Mr J. Magowan 19th January ...... Mrs E. Carlisle 26th January...... Mr J. Beck 26th January...... Mr M. Atkinson

Flower Rota 5th January...... 12th January ...... The Beckinsale family 19th January ...... Mr & Mrs M. Atkinson 26th January...... Anna Brandon Flower arranger - Joan Wilson 9083 2738

Elevenses * Linda Smith, Janet Crilly, Anne Harper, Diane Lee. * Responsible for shopping and organising. Georgie Gibb - Tel: 9083 6967

Thank you to all those who distribute the church magazines each month. Also those who help serving the tea/coffee after the Family Service. Your help is very much appreciated.

I wish you all a lovely Christmas and a happy and healthy 2020. Georgie Gibb 7 Select Vestry Away Day at St Peter’s () Sixteen members of the Select Vestry spent a very productive and enjoyable day away together on Saturday 3rd November, in which we discussed the life of our church and the plans for the future which arose from the discussions held during the ‘What Kind of Church?’ course. After opening worship, we began by considering who we are as a church, in small groups discussing our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Each group was asked to draw an animal which, for them, summed up Carnmoney Church (one of the groups drew four!). These animals included: • A camel, which takes in resources and stores them in their hump before giving out to others • An ostrich, which buries it’s head in the sand • A giraffe, which is tall and graceful, beautiful and strong • A sleeping lion,which is waiting to wake up and roar • Two donkeys pulling in opposite directions, symbolising the tension between traditional and modern • Ants: lots of people working very hard Strengths identified included: • Caring attitudes • The numbers of people who volunteer to help • Sharing and support offered to each other • The organisations • The Pastoral Ministry Team • The beautiful building • Generous in every way • Financially strong • People work well together • The choir • The clergy • The camaraderie • The rich history • Ambitious and want to grow Weaknesses or things that could be worked on included: • The caring could be a lot better (‘Do we really care?’) • Only a small group of people volunteer, working very hard • We’re an ageing congregation • Some organisations are not well supported • Some people are reluctant to change or are scared of change • Lack of toilet facilities • There’s no covered walkway from the church to the hall for when weather is bad • People are reluctant to volunteer • The age range of the congregation (especially the big gap between 14 and 40) • Negativity in people • People lose contact when they can’t get to church anymore • Upkeep of an old building • Lack of activities • Lack of children and young families • Not very involved in our neighbourhood and community Opportunities identified included: • The abundance of skills and talents within the congregation that are currently not being utilised • We can become more outward looking and involved in our community • We can be better at welcoming people, especially visitors • More bold in inviting others to church and events • To start a Youth Club 8 • Bigger children’s events • Our great hall is under used • Could make more banners for hall • Banner making Threats which need to be recognised include: • The ageing congregation: the church will decline unless we grow • Our geographical location is off the beaten track • Dangers of being isolated in where we are / lack of street lighting and signage • Distrust of the church in society and antagonism towards it • Traditionalism could hold us back • People no longer see church as relevant to their lives • Fewer Protestants in the area to attract What on earth is the Church for? We then considered what the church should be doing, and in particular what our priorities should be. Images of the church were considered, including: Institution, museum, The Body of Christ, The Family of God, an army, a hospital, a servant, a herald, salt and light, branches connected to the vine and the Bride of Christ. We then read the passage from Acts 2:42-47, which described how the early church operated when it was at its best. This church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. Miracles and wonders occurred; they shared everything, giving to anyone in need; they met together daily and shared meals together, praising God; they were popular with everyone and grew in numbers every day. In groups, we then discussed fifteen functions of the church, marking them as absolutely essential, very important, important, or not important, before the groups tried to agree on the most important three functions. The consensus was that we should have two main priorities: • Preaching the Gospel • Worshipping God Other priorities mentioned once were: • Comforting and supporting people • Preparing people for eternal life • Helping people live and witness as Christians • Being a sign of God’s reconciling love for the world Having worked hard all morning, the Vestry then adjourned to the Lansdowne Hotel next door for a very enjoyable lunch. The afternoon session consisted of Select Vestry business and a discussion on ‘The Good Way Forward’, in the form of a development plan, which was presented by the clergy. Future articles in the Carnmoney Review will share this plan, which we have now adopted; so watch this space! Carnmoney Youth Club Carnmoney Youth Club enjoyed its inaugural meeting on Sunday 10th November, with seven teenagers attending. The evening consisted of introductions, a number of games, and then a pizza feast, before discussion was held as to the activities the teenagers would like to undertake moving into the new year. It was decided that the Youth Club would continue to meet between 7pm and 8.30pm in the Memorial Room on the second Sunday evening of each month. A list of activities was decided, and before the summer, there will also be Saturday trips out to Inflata Land, The Great Connor Contest, and the Zoo, as well as the regular club nights. Our next two evenings look particularly interesting! On Sunday 12th January, we will be holding a Murder Mystery (trying to work out who killed Steve Butler and how). Then on Sunday 9th February, we will be holding a Valentine Bake Off evening. Anyone aged 13 and over is very welcome to come along to our evenings; parents will just have to fill in a consent form.For further details, talk to Andy or one of the other Youth Club leaders: Maggie, Heather, Rosemary, Amanda, Gillian, Colin or Aaron. 9 A new year is about to begin, and 366 days of blank pages are waiting to be filled (yes, it is a leap year!). Would you like an opportunity to try a new thing here in Carnmoney? I want to let you know about an exciting new group, just for women, that we hope to launch on Friday 24th January, which we plan to name JOY (Just Older Youth). This has come out of a few women meeting for coffee and sharing their ideas (a very dangerous thing!). We are a small group of women whose hearts desire is to connect with Christ, with each other, and with our community, while having fun and making new friends. JOY will be a place where women can come together for friendship, fellowship, encouragement and support. We plan to meet once a month at 7.30pm in the Memorial Room and hope to provide lots of fun activities, such as curry nights, pamper nights, karaoke nights and game nights etc., combined with a short spiritual reflection. Whatever your age, if you are female and up for some fun, then this is for you and we would love you to come. So come along on 24th January, and bring your friends and neighbours, and let’s journey through this New Year together! Let’s be stronger together! If you want to know more, just give me a ring. See you there! Lynne Heber - 07787 803343 ‘Body Beautiful- a Fresh Look at the Church’ Newtownabbey Bible Week with Bishop Ken Clarke Sunday 26th to Thursday 30th January with all meetings at 7.30pm in Mossley Primary School Many of you will have been at our Confirmation Service in June and would have heard Bishop Ken Clarke preaching then. If you were, you will know that our upcoming Bible Week will be something not to be missed! Ken is one of the top bible teachers in the country and keeps you captivated, so we are very excited that he has agreed to come and lead our first bible week here in Newtownabbey. Church leaders from the different denominations in our area have been meeting together for some months to put plans into place for this week, the aims of which are twofold: Firstly, to gather Christians from our local churches together to encourage and build them up in their faith through the opportunity to hear the bible expounded, and secondly, to encourage them to invite those who don’t know Christ or come to church, to come with them into an environment where they will hear a very clear gospel message preached. The meetings will all be held in the main hall at Mossley Primary School, which comfortably holds 400 people. There will be lively worship, testimonies, information from various missionary organisations, and a bookstall and free literature available. The meetings will culminate in a bible exposition from Bishop Ken, unpacking for us the biblical vision of what a church should look like and be doing. Already, the Bible Week is being soaked in prayer as we feel this week could have a significant impact on our town and surrounding areas if the churches engage with the opportunity. Prayer will be continuing throughout January, with ecumenical prayer meetings being held on the three Wednesday evenings prior to the event. These will all begin at 7.30pm in the following venues: Wednesday 8th January: Newtownabbey Elim Church in Mossley Wednesday 15th January: Glenvarna Christian Centre Wednesday 22nd January: Holy Spirit, Mossley Church of Ireland Everyone is very welcome at these meetings; please chat to Andy or Carol if you would like a lift. We are enormously excited about what God may do among us during the Bible Week. Please do opt in and get involved, and more importantly, please be praying for your family and friends who don’t know Christ and ask them to come along with you. Hopefully we will be able to fill the school hall every evening during Body Beautiful. 10 The Knitting B

The ladies from the Knitting B enjoying their Christmas outing. Meetings will resume on Thursday 9th January at 10.30am in the Memorial Room. A happy new year friends and knitters, and I look forward to seeing you all in January. Curate Carol Confirmation at Carnmoney Our confirmation service will be held in Carnmoney on Sunday 7th June. This year, we won’t be holding a teenagers preparation group, but we do have a small group of adults who have expressed an interest, who will be meeting together in the Glebe House to prepare for confirmation. We will be studying a video- based course called ‘Christianity Xplored’, which works its way through Mark’s gospel, outlining the key message of Jesus and why he came to earth. The course will run on a weekday evening beginning in early February and will continue for seven weeks. It may be that you are an adult who was never confirmed as a teenager, or you may have come to Carnmoney having previously belonged to another denomination. If so, this is a great opportunity to meet informally with others to discuss the basics of the Christian Faith, and after the course, if you wish, become a fully signed up member of the Anglican Church. The course is also open to anyone who has already been confirmed and would just like the opportunity to explore and understand their faith more deeply. The more people who come, the merrier! There is still time to opt in to this course; please chat to Andy over the next few weeks if you would be interested, and there is no compulsion to get confirmed at the end of it if you don’t want to. 11 Sign Language For Beginners A British Sign Language Course for Everyday Signs will take place in the Memorial Room. The course will commence on Saturday 7th March 2020 from 11.00am-12.30pm for five consecutive weeks at a total cost of £20. The course will be conducted by a tutor from St Joseph’s Centre for the Deaf and will cover the following topics - Alphabet, Numbers, Time, Home, Family, Food, Countries, Seasons, Colours and Social Language. I completed the course recently and can recommend it for those wishing to learn sign language for the first time or as a refresher. Numbers will be limited, so don’t delay and maybe miss out. To get enrolled, forward your details along with £20 to: Roy Williams 5a Dorchester Gardens, Newtownabbey BT36 5JJ Tel. 9084 1752.

H A P P Y

C H R I S T M A S

FAITH FACTORY Restarts Sunday 5th January @ 11am The children enjoyed a Christmas treat to see the pantomime Aladdin at the Courtyard Theatre Ballyearl. Santa also made an appearance and gave all the children a present. The children’s Nativity on Sunday 15th December was ‘SUPER’. There was plenty of fun and laughter as the Christmas message was delivered. Thanks to Robert and James for the sound and lighting - well done. A very special thanks of course goes to all of the children who featured as super heroes, shepherds, angels, Mary and Joseph. The acting and singing was really fantastic - what talent we have in Carnmoney Parish. I would like to thank Linda and Jayne for the warm welcome Elaine and I received when we joined the Faith Factory family. All children are very welcome at Faith Factory, so come along. I wish you all a Happy New Year. Rosemary Recycling for Restoration Fund We have raised £118 from clothes, £41.50 from books and £32 from scrap metal this month. Please keep collecting non-magnetic scrap metal, wiring, leads, cables, motors and drinks cans (no glass in bags please). Remember to leave clothes, curtains and bed clothes excluding duvets, pillows and cushions in the church hall. Please leave scrap at 7 Glebecoole Park. (Please call Maurice or Doreen on 028 9084 4093 before calling). 12 Church of Ireland Men’s Society The pre-Christmas Men’s Breakfast, held in the Church Hall at the beginning of December, was again a great success according to all those who attended, and although the cooking was carried out by members of the branch, everyone survived. In fact, it was agreed that the meal was excellent, and our thanks go out to the members who did the cooking. The speaker at the breakfast was Wesley Bonnar, who gave a talk on work that he was involved with in helping the children of Moldovia. Wesley told us much and showed us slides of this little-known country and how it is divided between Russia and the rest of Europe. As in so many cases, it is the poorer people, and especially the children, who suffer most in situations like this. I doubt very much if there was anyone in the room who was not moved by this thought-provoking presentation, and we were pleased to be able to give Wesley a donation, collected on the day, of £210 to help with the work being carried out there. Our first meeting of 2020 (seems no time since the millennium) will be held at 7.30pm on Tuesday 14th January and will be our regular January Film Show - bring your own popcorn and ice cream. This has been very popular over the last few years with everyone invited. As usual, a variety of movies will be on offer and a selection made from them by the audience. If anyone has a particular film they would like put into the draw, then let me know and I will try to get hold of it. The committee of the branch hope you all had a very good Christmas and that you will have a happy and prosperous New Year, and don’t forget our Annual Dinner on 11th February. Trevor Gibb, Hon. Secretary

A very happy New Year to all our members. Our opening service will take place in church on Tuesday 28th January at 2.30pm. Following the service, refreshments will be served in the Church Hall, and copies of the 2020 annual programme will be available. The annual subscription of £24 (as agreed at the November meeting) will be collected, together with the Overseas Boxes (MU Worldwide Fund). Those members unable to join us at our January event, due to work and other commitments, will be able to submit subscriptions and Overseas Boxes at our February Meeting. We look forward to a new year of interesting and varied speakers. If you are not already a member and are interested in hearing about our programme and work, do come along, you will be made very welcome. Anna Brandon All in the Month of January It was: 75 years ago, on 26th January 1945, the Soviet Red Army liberated Auschwitz concentration camp in southern Poland. It was the largest Nazi concentration camp, and at least 1.1 million prisoners died there. 70 years ago, on 26th Jan 1950, India became an independent republic. President Rajendra Prasad replaced King George VI as head of state. This day is now marked as Republic Day in India. 50 years ago, on 22nd Jan 1970, the Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo Jet’ went into service on its first regularly scheduled commercial flight, from New York to London. 20 years ago, on 1st Jan 2000, the calendar switched over to the year 2000, with no major computer problems from the so-called Y2K ‘Millennium Bug’. Finally, 10 years ago on 12th Jan 2010, the Haiti earthquake killed at least 100,000 people, and devastated the capital, Port-au-Prince. 13 Why Do We Need a Church Website? The internet has made the world a very small place; it wasn’t always like that. I’m from the pre- internet generation. If we wanted to communicate with someone at the other side of the world, we wrote a letter, or for research, we went to the library and looked up an encyclopaedia, and if we needed to telephone, we went to the phone box at the bottom of the road. But from the beginning of the internet age in 1992, things have changed dramatically. Most of us are online now; we can send a message or see someone on the other side of the world in an instant. The internet is truly amazing. It’s important that our church has an online presence, and in using the website, we can reach out to people all over the world. There are many reasons individuals will look up our website - folks who have moved and still want to see what is happening in our church community etc. Available on our website is our magazine, the Carnmoney Review, news and images, upcoming events, the Who’s Who for contact details, information about our different groups and youth organisations, and stories about our past history. Google Analytics is a website tool. With this, I can create reports of the browser history of the website. I think the most interesting reports for me are seeing what country, or even city, people are in when they are searching our website. I can also see what pages are being visited the most. In the last year, Andy has been keen to get the website up to scratch and keep it up to date with news and images of what has been happening in our church. In the last year, 3,078 people searched our website from 32 different countries and from 241 different cities/towns/villages, too many to list. Some of these places I’ve never heard of, like Wuhan in China or Hindhead, a village in Surrey, or Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. If anyone is interested, I can send them a full report. Our website address is www.carnmoneyparish.com, so check it out and see what’s happening in our church, or if you would like to add any information, send me an email at [email protected] The Lord’s Prayer and you in 2020 I cannot pray ‘our’ if I am not in communion with I cannot pray ‘forgive us our trespasses as fellow Christians. we forgive those who trespass against us’ if I I cannot pray ‘Father’ if I do not treat Him as harbour a grudge against anyone. such, on a daily basis. I cannot pray ‘lead us not into temptation’ if I I cannot pray ‘Who art in Heaven’ if all my interests are on earthly things. deliberately remain somewhere where I am likely I cannot pray ‘hallowed by thy name’ if I am not to be tempted. striving, with God’s help, to be holy myself. I cannot pray ‘Thine is the Kingdom’ if I live as if I cannot pray ‘Thy Kingdom come’ if I don’t live the world is my kingdom. as if I am within His kingdom now. I cannot pray ‘Thine is the power and the glory’ I cannot pray ‘Thy Will be Done’ if I am disobedient to His commands. if I am seeking power for myself and my own I cannot pray ‘on earth as it is in Heaven’ unless glory. I am truly ready to give my life to God’s service I cannot pray ‘forever and ever’ if all my here and now. attention is on daily affairs. I cannot pray ‘give us this day our daily bread’ if I am not also willing to work for it, and to share I cannot pray ‘Amen’, unless I honestly say, ‘Cost with my neighbour in need. what it may, this is my prayer.’ Pray for the Following Families in January 5th Jan. - Adams, Adrain, Albury, Allen, Arnott, Ashbridge, Atkinson, Baird, Barrett. 12th Jan. - Barefield, Bates, Beacom, Beasant, Beattie, Beck, Beckinsale, Beggs. 19th Jan. - Bell, Bloomfield, Bond, Bradbury, Brandon, Briggs, Brown, Burrows. 26th Jan. - Byers, Cairncross, Cameron, Campbell, Carlisle, Carson, Cassells, Caughey. 14 15