Site created Feb 97 Last update January 2003

Team Ministry: Deacon Lynne Sylvester and Reverend Geoffrey Cooke. Lynne's responsibilities primarily are in pastoral care and in making links with the community, she is the first point of contact for visiting and concerns are passed from the congregation directly or through church stewards or pastoral visitors. Lynne also takes home communion to people who are in hospital or housebound. Geoff is concerned mainly with preaching, leading the monthly communion services and co-ordinating special services and festivals and administrative matters.

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WHY ARE WE HERE

We are here as the Family of the Little Neston Methodist Church to worship Jesus as Lord, to encourage each other in our fellowship, and to serve others in His name.

OBJECTIVES

1. To spread the Good News of Jesus Christ in the neighbourhood.

2. To foster a deeper awareness of Him through worship and the nurture of faith within the church's fellowship.

3. To support activities that serve the wider community.

CONCERNS

1. Encouraging a deeper level of spirituality and commitment.

2. Nurturing faith among children and young people.

3. Increasing our level of outreach within the local community and the world.

4. Increasing our contacts with the various groups that comprise our church community.

5. To address the imbalance in ages, across the spectrum of membership.

WEEKLY GOINGS ON

There is a lot going on in the Chapel and not just on Sundays. Here is a run down on some of the meetings and services. SUNDAYS Services at 10.30 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. with Holy Communion once a month in the morning and once a month in the evening. The church has run ALPHA courses which are videos and discussions on Christian Discipleship.The last course finished in December '99 and we are considering the new Y course possibly on an ecumenical basis. Fortnightly on TUESDAY afternoons the Women's Fellowship, now called Network meet for a varied programme. The younger people are not forgotten there is a Mother & Toddler group thriving on FRIDAY afternoons, a shell club for slightly older children meet later on FRIDAYS with a games session on Sunday mornings. The Sunday Club is the new name for our Sunday School. Every Sunday we start with a games session 9.45 to 10.25 a.m. followed by 15 minutes worshipping with the adults in church and then Bible stories, singing and creative activities using Scripture Union material. Each January we have parties for the children and outings for the teenagers.We hold Holiday clubs every spring at half term, in 1999 it was based on "The Storykeeper" and in 1998 it had a "Circus theme". The church is conscious of the fact that it is part of the community and the church hall is also available for bookings for parties, over 60s clubs, weightwatcher groups etc also as a community service a luncheon club for the elderly is in operation. The church has been blessed over the last few years that we don't have to run to stand still like so many churches, being able to dedicate fund raising to outside projects, for this we give due thanks and praise to our Lord and Saviour. Mission is close to our hearts and the World Mission Services are well supported, the Sunday School children are very dedicated in their support for J.M.A. (Junior Mission for All) raising £535 in 1999. We have a weekly newsheet to keep all the events and meetings at the forefront of everyones minds and a 20 or 30 page Newsletter at Christmas and Easter which is well furnished with contributions from members and friends.

We are now registered as an Eco-congregation, ref www.encams.org/ecocongregation and the green team are following a set of resource modules. The adult team are following module 10 which guides us in encouraging the fellowship to live their lives "in a way that respects the well-being of God's creation and the heritage of future generations". The Sunday Club and Shell Club are following modules 5 and 6... Module 5 covers Youth Work and activities for young people around environmental issues, either within the church or the broader fellowship of Churches Together. Module 6 covers all age worship and adult education. To quote from the Module description "A good church is a place where people can grow in faith from cradle to grave. Relating key topics, like environmental issues, with Christian thinking can help make the Christian faith relevant and come alive, and guide people in their life. Growing in faith can also aid fellowship, particularly where the wisdom and experience of senior members intermingles with young people's knowledge, enthusiasm and conviction."

This is an image map run your mouse over the picture and click on hotspots for info on Church Officers

CHURCH HISTORY

The Church history was first published for the Centenary of the Church and our historian and church member Edward Hilditch updated it for the 125th Anniversary. The Church was built in 1872 as a Primitive Methodist Chapel. Records show that the church buildings and furnishings cost £645, considered a large sum in those days when the average farm worker's wage was just £39 per annum. New Sunday School extensions were completed in 1961 to cope with the influx of children as the area became a mixture of farming community and burgeoning dormitory town with the advent of commuting from the connurbations of Liverpool, Birkenhead and Chester. The Sunday School was further extended in 1971 as numbers rose still further.

John Wesley was a frequent visitor to Neston and sailed from Parkgate which was an embarkation port on the River Dee for crossings to Ireland. Little Neston Church later acquired the Communion Cup and Plate used by John Wesley when he preached in the Wesleyan Chapel on the road to Parkgate. The other Methodist church in Neston, Neston Methodist Church is situated near the Town centre closeby. The 125th Church Anniversary was celebrated in 1997, for details and pictures click on link.

Current membership stands at 84 and covers a broad spectrum of age groups with toddlers, younger children, teenagers, young marrieds, middle aged and senior citizens all represented.

WHERE ARE WE?

Neston is situated on the Dee side of the Wirral Peninsula 12 miles from Liverpool and 10 miles from Chester in the other direction. There are two Liverpool University teaching establishments in the area; the Botanic Gardens at Ness (hence the design theme of this page) and the Veterinary Teaching Field Station of Leahurst. Go Back to P.R.W. Homepage or Back to Neston Methodist page or Back to Nicola Westmoore page

If you are within reach of the church or visiting the area please call in and say hello, for further info on the church or this web page Send e.mail

We hosted a Rob Frost Mission when they were in the area a few years ago.

The Methodist Church of Great Britain link.

a new Christian web resource recommended by the Methodist Church among others.

FOOTNOTE FOR NEWSLETTER EDITORS

Sunrise Software have a Christian Interest Software catalogue out with lots of useful programmes and clip art for Macs and PCs. Also Christian Computer Art have some good C.D. Roms with clip art including all the illustrations from the Good News Bible.

This was me before I bought a Powermac and Inkjet Printer!! If you have any comments favourable or unfavourable about these pages please E.mail me MAIL

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