Bergvliet Methodist Church MAGAZINE A Vibrant Church Leading All People Closer to Christ. Bergvliet Methodist Church, 2 Wesley Ave, Bergvliet. 7945 Christmas Edition December 2014 Dear people of BMC, Two things are on my mind as I write to you today. One is to reflect CONTENTS briefly on the Week of Reflection (or focus 1 From the week) that we shared earlier in September. minister’s desk The experiment of having just one morning service on the opening Sunday, and thus 3 Getting to know the Society engaging what have become two separate Stewards congregations in a united act of worship, was 4 Teen Social well received. We made use of both the organ and the instrumentalists and, with judicious selection of 6 Rev. Steven Lottering hymnody and songs, enjoyed an experience of worship that was generally pleasing. This has led to a decision to do the same on 9 BMC Market the Sunday between Christmas and New Year when many 10 Leadership people are away and congregations are usually thin after the Training excitement of Christmas Day. There has been a suggestion that 13 Reflections on this could also be planned for the first Sunday of the new year. prayer 15 Global Leaders Other events during the week under review included a most Summit helpful and enjoyable joint meeting of the various Bible study 19 Visit to groups that meet regularly throughout the year. Mary Marsh Memorial Home Przybojewski spoke on “Prayer is a hunger” and offered down-to-earth and most helpful insights into this part of our 20 The Parent Centre walk with God. At the quarterly Church Council meeting on the Wednesday night the extended devotions consisted of a survey 22 BMC Ladies Social Club of the faith of a Methodist and the Wesleyan essentials of Christian faith. These two leaflets can be made available on 23 Farewell tea for Rev James request. At the Thursday morning Communion Service I spoke Gribble about our understanding of the meaning of this vital 24 Heatherdale & sacramental observance that our Lord enjoined upon his Marsh Memorial disciples. On the Saturday morning a large number met for a Christmas party delicious breakfast prepared for us by Lyn Verbeek, a relative 25 Important dates newcomer to the congregation with a passion and a flair for 26 Carols by catering. On the concluding Sunday services were led, as has Candlelight been the pattern this year on the third Sunday of the month ... continue to page 2 PAGE 2 by the Rev Ken Leverton. If the week served to accomplish anything it was to reinforce our awareness of being family together in Christ, with a shared spiritual identity and a common purpose to be people of God in the world about us. Secondly, now that we have entered the final quarter of 2014, the long wait for the arrival of a minister to succeed Kevin Needham is drawing to a close. The annual Conference of our denomination met in Durban two weeks ago, where the invitation extended to the Rev Steven Lottering by this Circuit was confirmed and sealed along with all the other ministerial appointments made for 2015. He and his family will now tackle in earnest the task of packing and preparing to move from Mossel Bay, and they should arrive in our midst during the early weeks of December. He will begin his ministry among us with the services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I believe that we as a congregation also have homework to do in preparing for this new chapter in the story of Bergvliet Methodist Church. Obviously the manse must be made ready for the Lottering family. There will be a very brief window of opportunity to accomplish this between the house being vacated by the present tenants and the arrival of the Lotterings and their goods. Plans have been made, and nearer the time there will be an appeal for the many hands required to blitz the house and garden. The deeper preparation required is within ourselves as church members. It calls for a spirit of open-mindedness, a readiness to embrace the unfamiliar and the new, and a willingness to accept that God’s truth is always “marching on”. Your new minister will not be like anybody you’ve known before because he is uniquely himself as a servant of Christ. We should not expect of him to be someone that he isn’t. So we will welcome him and his family as God’s gift to this congregation in these years of our lives, and we will continue our pilgrimage as Christ-followers together. The arrival of spring has been glorious, and we look forward to the balmy days of summer ahead. May God bless us all. Yours in the love of Christ, James Gribble PAGE 3 Getting to know the SOCIETY STEWARDS... We would like to get to know all the society stewards of our church a little better and their roll in our BMC community, so we’ve decided to have them introduce themselves and their position in the next few BMC Magazine Editions. I’m in my 3rd year of my first term as a Society Steward, and so have had a number of years to get to know many of the congregation. I have been married to Keith for 31 years, and we have two grown-up children, Dale and Caitlin. We both grew up on the East Rand, but moved to Cape Town in 1997, and have never regretted this move. My portfolio is the Care Commission and I have written a brief overview of the Pam Warburton and her husband, Keith. responsibilities of this commission. If you feel you would like to be part of this, I welcome your phone call. 021 794 8164/ 083 406 1000 or [email protected] God bless, Pam Warburton Caring Commission “If we don’t know, we can’t care” The aim of this group is become the caring church community we need to be. There are a number of areas where one can get involved. The flower ministry has two different areas, namely arranging for a Sunday service and delivering to hospital or a home of a member who needs some care. The catering ministry is more diverse. Collections are made to make-up food parcels for families in need. Shopping for these food parcels and occasionally the distribution of food vouchers. Meals are made, frozen and then used to drop-off to people following surgery or to fill a need when a spouse is in hospital or passed away. Catering for events, courses or workshops is offered. ... continue to page 4 PAGE 4 Cards are sent out to people celebrating birthdays, as well as follow-up cards after baptism and confirmation. Home-made bereavement cards are also posted when someone has had a family member pass away. Visits are made to members in hospital and phone calls after discharge to check on progress. The Minister, Bible study groups and prayer ministries like the prayer chain and prayer groups work together with the care commission to keep abreast of any needs of our community. TEEN SOCIAL This year during the June/July holidays, instead of having the usual holiday club for the younger children, which has mostly been attended by those who don’t attend our church, I decided to rather invest in the teens who we currently have at the church. We had one social outing each week which totalled to 3 outings. For the 1st outing we went Ten Pin bowling followed by lunch at Cavendish Square. Our 2nd outing was a very exciting and adventurous one as we went to Acrobranch, wearing harnesses, ziplining and basically completing an obstacle course in the tree tops, hence the 3rd outing was a more relaxed one... Ten Pin Bowling Cave golfing, also knows as Putt-putt at the V&A Waterfront followed by a stroll through the market and shops. It was great to have some of our older teens (those who have been confirmed) along with the younger ones, laughing, having fun and building relationships. I am looking forward to more of these socials! Sonika ... continue to page 5 PAGE 5 Acrobranch Putt-Putt “Wireless communication is nothing new. I’ve been praying for 75 years!” “Pastor, about this new idea to reach to teens...” PAGE 6 Let’s get to know our new Minister Rev. Steven Lottering... Sonika asked him a few fun questions about himself: Why did you want to be a minister? I didn’t really want to be a minister, but for some reason God seemed to want me to and you can only run from God for so long (ask Jonah) so I eventually submitted and I believe this is where God wants me for now. What did you want to be when you were 7? I wanted to be “all growed up”. Actually, I really can’t remember. What is your favourite food? I love too much food! ... continue to page 7 PAGE 7 What music do you like? I enjoy a huge range of music; I love classical music, but I also like rock music. My favourite band is probably U2. I’m not a huge fan of rap, hip-hop, or really heavy metal. Who is your favourite cartoon character? Calvin & Hobbes! If you could meet anyone in the world, who would it be, and what would you ask them? That’s just too tough to answer ;-) Coffee or Tea? Mainly coffee (good, strong coffee, not chicory!), but I also love Earl Grey Tea.