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Generators 2011

We had 3 children attending Generators most weeks in 2011, along with visits from another 13 children. Evie is around most Sundays but now stays in church however she is still considered part of Generators and does come out to help when we have visitors.

Generators started 2011 using different material than in 2010 in order to provide more resource and interest for a mixed group aged 1 to 15 years old.

Scripture Union lite is a web based resource which means we can use any age group material and only print what we need for the age groups who regularly attend. It means we can also expand on resource at times with lots of visitors such as baptisms.

Scripture Union is very biblical based and has allowed us to explore a variety of areas within the bible. This has included the miracles of Jesus, how and why we pray and when Isobel was baptised we explored Jesus baptism and why people are baptised.

For Harvest we looked at the harvest of the world working out which crops are key cash and food crops for different countries and then identified the country on the world map. You may have noticed the map and pictures of the crops when they were on the Generators board in the corner of the church. The Rainbow plat you saw was not only used for prayer thinking about all that God has given us, but was enjoyed by all as the children had to weave under and over each other to make the long strips of fabric into the plait.

Over the Advent period we made a puppet theatre - the scenery and the characters from the entire Christmas story were coloured and made into puppets and backdrops that could be interchanged. Ethan was very upset when we couldn't do it all on the same day as he wanted to finish the whole story on our first morning.

Kayleigh and I attended the FURY summer camp for a wet weekend in July. This gave us the opportunity to enjoy bible study, prayer and worship with over 80 11+ young people and various leaders. We also enjoyed an inflatable fair on the Saturday afternoon with the opportunity for face paining and candy floss taken up by many.

We had 3 youth services in 2011 which were lead and organised by Gill Craft and myself with support from all of the leaders and young people within Generators and the Scout troop, we may have had to twist arms occasionally. Hopefully these have been interesting for both the young people and any visiting parents as well as for all of you.

Anita showed us a video and spoke to Generators about the typical life of one of their children before they found a home with the 'street children' organisation. Although a little uncomfortable we found it interesting to see how there lives compare to ours and it made us more thankful for family and friends and the homes we have.

At this years gift service most of Generators requested to continue receiving the bible study notes which allows them to continue their Christian exploration outside our weekly meetings.

It is sometimes very difficult to make sure that you have the right range of material and to then make it work when the group most weeks ranges from 3 years to 12 years so I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the church family to thank the leaders who prepare the material, Rosemary Martin, David and Julie Bath. And also to thank all our helpers without whom we cannot meet within the guidelines of child protection agreements.

Please do look at the Generators board, we try and change it regularly and it shows some of the work the children have been doing, also please continue to pray for all the leaders and children of this church in all that we do both on a Sunday and at other times of the week.

FRIENDSHIP HOUR FOR 2011.

This has been a year during which we had increased membership due to a small club closing at St. Marys, Eastrop. The leader plus about 7 members have become regular attenders at our meetings. On the credit side of this is that our subs have increased and we have the money to spend on speakers.

Our membership roll now stands at 50 with a weekly attendance between 25 - 30.

The main aim of the group is Friendship and to this end Eileen Poulter as Secretary does an excellent job in keeping in touch with the members who no longer make it to the meetings through frail bodies or illness. Usually during the summer months it is easier for members to get to meetings.

Our programme includes afternoons with speakers on a very wide range of subjects,

Devotional speakers and members afternoons. On arrival we have a cup of tea or coffee and then the meeting opens with news of members and prayer before the meetings activity.

During the past year we had 6 outings which were very popular and a similar number are planned for 2012.

For our Christmas Lunch 42 of us met at the Maidenhead Inn and enjoyed a Christmas Lunch together.

The Officers of the Club are Eileen Poulter - Secretary, Pam Ralph - Treasurer,

Chairman and Programme Secretary - Joyce Cook, Vice Chairman - Christine Robertson.

Community Café Report 2011

This past year has seen many changes in the Café most of them for the better and most of them much appreciated by our customers.

Oasis

We continue to attract a wide variety of people as customers, many with disabilities and a lot of ladies who lunch, and there is now a loyal following of folk who come in each week on specific days. We are constantly seeing new customers and several groups are now meeting in the Café through the mornings as a way of saving money on room hire. This provides income for us at what is usually a slack time.

The teams have largely remained stable over the past year with the exception of Debs Stone whom we employed as part time cook manager. She left us in July due to family circumstances and was replaced by Liz Foster who has taken 10 hours of the 15 left by Debs and has very quickly proved a great blessing to us by providing much needed continuity.

Over the summer break the Café area was refurbished and both staff and customers have been delighted with the end results, apart from the main doors which do not close causing much angst to those of us who are energy conscious.

Youth café

In May 2011 we ran an Alpha course for 8 teenagers and this has successfully launched a small group called 'Life' which meets on Monday 4pm-5pm and brings church routine to the youth who have had no church contact before. We eat, pray, read and discuss the Bible and have communion in this time. John Downing kindly helps with this.

The loss of Debs has meant the youth work has suffered from lack of direction however there is still a good group of youth attending each week and we are building good relationships with them. A kind donation each month supplies us with free toast for those hungry after school and this enables a much happier atmosphere in the café after school. If you would like to donate please see Penny.

There are currently several opportunities to advance the youth work done in the café both in Costello and also at QMC however with no worker we are very limited in what we can do. I am doing a 'Grill a Christian' event at the end of March with some other youth workers from other churches at QMC.

This is a very exciting and challenging work and currently I see it as vital that we continue as so many resources for youth are being cut in council budgets and if the church does not do this work we may regret it.

The Bookstall

We sold just over £1000 worth of stock last year and banked £65 of our 10% takings after loss and breakages. Although small this is pleasing and shows us that there is scope for this business to grow. Ideally it would be great to have someone who was able to mange the bookstall and put some time and effort into it so if you know someone with enthusiasm for books please point them in our direction.

Prayer

Having read of the power of prayer over the summer holiday in a book called 'The Grace Outpouring' we have started to open the church regularly for prayer during the day on 3 occasions when possible, usually two. 9.30am, lunch time and 5 ish.

We have started to see members of the public coming in as the church is open and asking to pray, again this is a small start but we are hopeful this will continue and grow. If you have the time to give please consider whether you can come down regularly and pray with us. It would encourage us and I am sure make a difference in eternity.

I hope that as you read this you are as excited and challenged as I have been as I have written it.

Thank you all for your help in this work.