WEST KIRBY METHODIST CHURCH CHARITY NO. 1134134 TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT TO CHARITY COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 1[st] SEPTEMBER 2022 TO 31[ST] AUGUST 2023
We began the year by welcoming Rev Jackie Bellfield, a presbyter in the Wirral Circuit, who will have overall pastoral care of the congregation at West Kirby together with St. Luke’s, Hoylake for coming year.
On the first Sunday of the month we hold a more informal café style worship in the Church Hall commencing at 10 a.m. with tea, coffee, juice plus fruit and bacon butties.
We have letting rooms available to groups like flower arrangers, pilates. Rooms are also used by uniformed organisations
Our Community Development Worker continues as Chair of Churches Together in West Kirby and has helped organise events and activities involving other churches around West Kirby e.g. a prayer walk, prayers at churches in West Kirby for the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and carol singing outside the train station and supermarket over the Christmas period.
Our church hosted a Holiday@ Home event over two days in September for those elderly people who are not able to get out and about. Transport was provided to bring people to church to take part in activities including singing, a quiz and crafts as well as sharing food and fellowship. The event ended with a short service on the Sunday afternoon.
Also in September, along with many others around the country, we held a coffee morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. This was very well supported.
In November we held a thanksgiving dinner which included a traditional thanksgiving meal of turkey and pumpkin pie plus entertainment and crafts.
Along with other churches in West Kirby our church extended its usual Friday coffee morning to offer a warm welcoming space to anyone wishing to come in for a drink, toast and soup during the winter months.
Each year we hold a Christmas gift service with donated items going to young people between the ages of 10 & 19 years who have been in care and are helped by “Response” which is part of the local authority.
Our church’s Craft Group is very active in making items for the Christmas shoebox appeal which sends boxes to children in deprived parts of the world. Members of the congregation help fill them with items suitable to children aged from 4-14. This year the boxes went to Romania and the Ukrainian border.
Each month we run Techy Coffee when IT experts from Age UK Wirral come to our church and are on hand to help people who are having problems with their ipads, iphones & laptops.
Regular church activities continue to run successfully and include Little Lambs (preschool toddler group), shared reading group, craft group, social dancing, Lego club, carers soup ‘n’ support, Thursday Afternoon Fellowship, Spectrum ladies group plus a prayer group which meets in the home of a church member.
The year ended with a farewell service for Rev Jackie Bellfield who was leaving to become Superintendent Minister in another Circuit.
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