Recent Events in the Church
Managers' Coffee Morning
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The Managers' Coffee Morning is an annual event designed to provide some Winter warmth as well as an opportunity to buy gifts donated by members of the churchas surplus Christmas or other presents. The gift stall itself was well-packed this year and did a very brisk trade. The morning is also designed to allow the sale of cards, to participate in a raffle with some excellent prizes and to join the popular 100's Club. There is also the opportunity to sit with friends over a cup of coffee and some very good scones and the cafe did a roaring trade throughout the morning.
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Christmas Tree Festival 2018 in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis Research and Relief Fund. The pictures below show some of the wonderful trees provided by organisations in and around Morpeth
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The Trees are from many donors including E. Price, Girl Guides, Morpeth Poetry, Body electric, Morpeth Flower Club, Goosehill Private Nursery, Great British Interiors, Henry Dancer Days, Knit and Natter, Lateral Art, Lavender Blue, Little Movers, Morpeth Camera Club and Womens' Meeting Point, and opposite are two wider pictures showing beautiful arrangements.
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Ladies' Coffee Club Annual Sale - this was held at the same time as the Christmas-Tree Festival and in addition to cakes and conserves, orders were taken for floral decorations and the Knit and Natter Group had a sale of Christmas Gifts.
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Christmas Lunchtime Concert 2018
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The final lunchtime concert of 2018 was given by Graeme Danby, principal soloist with English National Opera, and Valerie Reid, also of English National Opera. They performed together in a varied programme of light music, opera and Gilbert and Sullivan to a highly appreciative audience.
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The Christmas Social 2018
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The Christmas Social for 2018 was again played to a packed house of highly appreciative friends and members. It was based on the play "The Wrong Pantomime" by Richard Coleman, the main plot being based on the arrival of a large number of pantomime characters from different pantomimes on the same set owing to confusion amongst the agents. The villains realise that this is their golden opportunity to remove the 'goodies' once and for all, using a poison cake. The plot is revealed by Aladdin's genie summoned for the occasion and the play ends with the villains rushing from the stage pursued by their nemeses, including a very memorable crocodile. The play was directed by Joann Evans, who also played the central role of Tonkerbell, the band played a series of well-known songs that fitted the actions, and many other members of the church and friends played parts that included the ugly sisters Lily (Jared) and Grace (Ron), Cinderella and Prince Charming, Peter Pan, Captain Hook (a very convincing villain with his chief mates Starkey and Smee), King Rat (with his nemesis Dick Whittington and the Cat), Abanazer (the wicked wizard from Aladdin) and parts also for Widow Twankey, Mother Goose and Jack (of the beanstalk). The show finished with the entire cast singing "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with the audience joining in with enthusiasm. Photographs courtesy Allen Oakes.
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Christmas Toy Service
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The Christmas Toy Service gives an opportunity for the congregation to present gifts to children who might otherwise go without. Before the service the Christmas Angels were assembled, during the service the young people presented and the orchestra played, afterwards the banners of the uniformed organisations were taken out and all the presents prepared for distribution.
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Christmas Lunchtime Concert
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The Pre Christmas Lunchtime Concert took place on the 5th December and was given by Graeme Danby and Valerie Reid from English National Opera, seen in the photograph by Gillian Irvine. The concert had the largest audience to date for these events: between 145 and 150 who enjoyed complimentary mulled wine and mince pies. The event generated over £700 in donations to the Henry Dancer Days charity, which will finance one full grant to a family whose child has aggressive bone cancer plus four storytelling therapy sessions at the Great North Children’s Hospital.
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Sunday Nativity Blessing 8th November
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A very beautiful knitted nativity set was presented to the church on Sunday and blessed. The most remarkable, and a fine example of knitting skills, was the camel, which proved a great attraction after the service. Photograph by Joan Cooper.
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Meet the Lions Event at St George's Church 18th November
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The church bore an unusually festive air in the sanctuary on Sunday. About 100 older folk and people with disabilities enjoyed an afternoon of entertainment and tea with Morpeth Lions.The atmosphere was great, and both Lions and their guests had a wonderful afternoon.
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Harvest Festival at St George's Church
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Harvest Festival at St George's was held this year on 23rd September led by Mrs. Margery Tate and with the singing led by the church orchestra. The congregation was joined by Rainbow and Brownies who sang a song and the congregation sang a new harvest samba!
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St George's Summer Picnic and Ceilidh
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St George's held a Summer Picnic and Ceilidh which was attended by a grown-ups and children in equal measure, the latter making up in enthusiasm what they may have lacked in precision. The evening started at 5.00 pm with a picnic outside in the sunshine; the SGURC Ceilidh band announced the second part of the evening. The children were still full of energy, the grown ups a little less so, but who can resist a "come on" from a little girl in her party frock when the dance was called or a teenager about the age of one of my granddaughters who said "you're still agile " when the Cumberland square eight was called. Here are some photos from Joan Cooper: we hope you can feel the fun.
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Recent Music Events in the Church - April to July 2018
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There have been some wonderful concerts at St George's in the last few months. In April, Alex Banfield, originally from Morpeth, together with friends Wally Giunta and Sarah Foubert delighted a large audience with a mix of operatic arias, lieder and local songs from Northumberland. In May, Gabriel Waite, Jane Nossek, Iona Brown, and Mike Garrard of the Da Vinci Quartet from Royal Northern Sinfonia gave a concert of very high quality as our May Lunchtime Concert. Finally, in July, David Murray, a well-known local pianist and accompanist, and Bradley Creswick, Leader of The Royal Northern Sinfonia gave a Sunday Evening Concert again of the highest quality. Photos by Gillian Irvine.
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Annual Plant Sale May 2018
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The Annual Plant Sale took place this year on 26th May and was a very great success with a substantial sum raised for the church and a continuous flow of customers stocking up their gardens for the Summer. In addition to the plants, shown below, a wide variety of plant pots, cakes and other items were on offer, and the coffee stall did a roaring trade.
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Recent Music Events in the Church
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The church has had a busy Spring with concerts and the Wansbeck Music Festival Prizewinners' Concert. The photograph on the left shows one of the major winners of the Wansbeck Music Festival with the Mayor and Mayoress of Morpeth and the Chairman of the Festival.
The photograph below left shows a recent Lunchtime Concert with performers from the Royal Northern Sinfonia and below right another recent Lunchtime Concert with performers from Durham University School of Music |
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The Younger Generation at The Knitter and Natter Group
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The younger generation are as anxious to help as the older ones; the ;icture on the left shows grandma and helping the grandchildren to start to knit, and on the right a young visitor to the stand at the Morpeth Gathering also tries her hand.
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Soup and Pud Lunch with the Knitter and Natter Group
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The lift at St George's needed major repairs recently and many groups have set about helping to raise funds to pay for this. On Wednesday April 4th, the Knitter and Natter group held a soup and pud lunch and the pictures show some of the guests enjoying the occasion.
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Easter Sunday at St George's
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Easter Sunday at St George's saw some beautiful flower arrangements from the Flower Committee, two of which are shown on the left. In addition, the Brownies gifted the church a really striking Egg Tree shown below, which has proved extremely popular in the congregation. Many thanks to them and to everyone who worked so hard to make the church a special place on Easter Sunday.
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Country Dance Club Ceilidh at St George's
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The Country Dance Club meets regularly at St George's Church in the upper Hall and the dancing is to the SGURC Ceilidh Band. The photograph on the left shows Jared Johnson, the caller, with the band and on the right dancers of all ages enjoying themselves.
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Pancake Tuesday at St George's Church
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Some of the members of the knitter natter group enjoying pancakes after their meeting as a fundraiser for the Church lift appeal.
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Christmas Tree Festival 2017
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This Christmas saw a new venture for the church, as it hosted a Christmas-Tree Festival organised by the Multiple Sclerosis Research and Relief Fund. Trees were provided by local organisations: reading across the rows they were: The multiple Sclerosis Research and Relief Fund itself; Morpeth Methodist Church; The Salvation Army; Price's Grocers; Lateral Art; The Sewing Box; Unique Boutique; The Girl Guides; The Great British Curtain Company Ltd; Inside Morpeth; Goosehill Private Nursery; Morpeth Poetry Group, Hardy's Florists; Watson House Holistic Therapy Centre; The Henry Dancer Days Charity; Lavender Blue and the Tap and Spile.
The exhibitors produced some lovely and highly creative decorated trees as shown in the pictures, and clearly invested a great deal of time and effort to give support to the Multiple Sclerosis Research and Relief Fund. The total sum raised was £2750 for multiple sclerosis and the Church would like to thank everyone who participated and worked to make this a highly successful venture. |
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St George's Annual Toy Service and Blessing of the Angels
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The Annual Toy Service and Blessing of the Angels took place on Sunday 3rd December at St George's. The toys will be collected and wrapped by Joan and Robin Cooper and other members of the Morpeth Lions Club and distributed to children through the Children's Support Team in Ashington, who identified the children most at need. Morpeth Lions Club would like to say a big Thankyou to all those members of the congregation who donated toys and cash at the Sunday Toy service. We have lots more toys and clothing etc. than needed for the initial children. However, the Children's Support Team workers have many other children that will benefit from these extras that we will give them.
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Late Autumn Lunchtime Concerts
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The November and December Lunchtime concerts featured some delightful music. On the left are Rosie Burgering (left) and Abigail Ingram from Durham University who sang a wide variety of solos and duets and on the right are James Birkett (left) & Bradley Johnson jazz guitarists {both from Newcastle) who played in the December Concert.
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St George's Christmas Social 2017
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The Annual Christmas Social at St George's was held on Friday evening 1st December, directed by Joann Evans supported by a cast that made up in enthusiasm what might have been lacking in the terpsichorean arts. The theme was the seasons and the music hall: numbers included "I do like to be beside the seaside"; "Some enchanted Evening"; "Daddy wouldn't buy me a bow-wow"; "Burlington Bertie"; "I Love to go a-wandering"; "Nobody loves a Fairy when she's Forty"; "Here we go a-wassailing"; "The twelve days of Christmas" and the "Zither Carol". The kitchen provided an excellent meal and the Hall was a sell-out for the occasion. It was a great get-together.
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Annual Church Autumn Fair 2017
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The annual church Autumn Fair place on Saturday 7th October in the morning, and as always was well-attended with the home-baked stalls proving particularly attractive. Some of the stalls are shown in the photographs as well as the scene in the hall during the fair.
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Christian Aid Ceilidh
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Saturday 14th October saw the St George's Ceilidh band in full flow at a Ceilidh in support of Christian Aid. The caller was Jared Johnson and a great deal of fun was had mastering the traditional dances of Northumberland.
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50th Anniversary of the Ladies' Coffee Club
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The Ladies' Coffee Club celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a tea on Friday 13th October in the Church Hall. Lots of memories were exchanged, photographs of the 40th Anniversary exhibited, and some of the original founders of the club reminisced about its early days. The photos are courtesy Stephanie Robson.
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Some Autumn Musical Events
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The musical life of the church is once again in full swing this Autumn. The photos on the left show Jessica Graham and Karen Wigham of Abbey Strings with pianist Ken Irvine and on the right is the Bewick Orchestra which gave a concert with the Northern Winds Group raising funds for the Henry Dancer Days Charity. Details of upcoming events are in the Calendar.
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Ron Forster's Retirement Service
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Ron Forster's official retirement service took place on Sunday 23rd July with former Synod Moderator Liz Mullen preaching the sermon and the band playing de-do-ron-ron (amongst other pieces). Afterwards a retirement cake was presented to Ron and Shirley, showing the pair in traditional dress at the last Morpeth Gathering. Ron was asked to make the first cut, revealing a highly multi-coloured cake
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Garden Party at St George's URC
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The Church garden party took place on Saturday 22nd July, though this year we retreated to the church hall owing to the weather. The hall was filled to capacity, the band serenaded us all and conversation was highly animated! Extra tea was needed in prodigious quantities and Ron and Shirley Forster were present to receive our best wishes. Pictures from Gillian Irvine.
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Junior Church Graduation 2017
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On July 16th The Junior Church broke up for the Summer and made a presentation to the congregation showing a montage they had constructed. It is also the last Sunday for Shirley Forster who has led the Junior Church for many years and who is now stepping down. A presentation was made to Shirley as well as to all the Junior Church members to say a heartfelt thank you for all her hard work. Some pictures of the final presentation are shown courtesy Stephanie Robson.
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Farewell Ceilidh for Ron Forster
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On 8th July the Church Hall saw a great evening of dancing and a marvellous buffet to celebrate the nineteen years of Ron's ministry at St George's. The photographs show both Ron and Shirley and some of the dancers, as well as one of the two bands playing that evening. Photos from Gillian Irvine.
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Installation of new chairs in the Church
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Thursday 15th June marked a major change in the appearance of the church. We installed a set of 150 new chairs, after spending a week removing the old pews and cleaning the carpet. The pictures show the new views from the pulpit and some of the helpers.
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Away Weekend at Windermere 5 - 7th May
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The Church organised a weekend away in the first weekend of May to prepare for the departure of our minister Revd. Ron Forster and to enjoy spiritual renewal with the recently retired moderator, LIz Mullen. The two photographs on the left show the garden at the Windermere Centre and some of our group awaiting lunch on Sunday morning.
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The programme for the weekend had us watching the film 'Whistle Down the Wind' on Friday evening, a still very thought-provoking drama starring Hayley Mills, with a marvellous performance by the child actor Alan Barnes. On Saturday, Liz led a discussion of the film that broadened out into a very interesting set of reflections by members on the role of the church. On Saturday evening, after dinner (left above) Taffy Thomas gave one of his inimitable performances as a story-teller (above, centre) and then we got ready (above right) for a quiz, that was won handsomely by the team shown on the left. Many congratulations to them!
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Junior Church on Easter Day
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The Junior Church were busy on Easter Day organising the bread for the communion service and coming in for the communion part of the service to join the rest of the congregation. They were clearly enjoying the whole experience.
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Walk of Witness, Morpeth 2017
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Each Good Friday the Churches of Morpeth organise an ecumenical service at Morpeth Methodist Church at 10.00 am followed by a Walk of Witness from St James' Church to the town centre, starting at 11.30 am. The photograph shows the cross leading the walk in Bridge Street, Morpeth and the substantial number who turn out each year for this important part of the town's witness to Holy Week.
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Women's World Day of Prayer 2017
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This year's Women's World Day of Prayer was held on the 3rd March at St George's Church in Morpeth and over 100 people were present either as organisers, band or congregation. The materials were provided by women from the Philippines and the tea afterwards was excellent, even the men enjoying the experience!
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Junior Church at Costa Coffee
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The Junior Church went to Costa Coffee for a treat this week; parent teachers and children had a great (if slightly indigestible) time!
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The Morpeth Angels
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For the last two years,members of the church and their many friends and relatives outside, have knitted little angels; these are blessed and then distributed to local shops and businesses and also left in highways and byways to be picked up and taken home to remind us all that Christmas is more than a secular festival. Some of the (more than 400) angels are shown in the photographs, one in Korea!
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One of the angels was found on a Christmas Tree and one in the woods, shown also in close-up. There have been lots of comments on FaceBook about the angels; those finding them have said how much it means to them: "Thank-you for my lovely angel ,found it on Lady's Walk whilst out walking"; "Found my lovely angel attached to a tree on our way out of Lancaster Park this morning! How delightful. Our little girl was very excited"; "Big thank-you to Ron Forster and his knitting elves for brightening up a grey Monday morning.. Look out for this one’s friends dotted around the town, you might be lucky enough to find one"; "A wonderful gift from St. George’s Church I found on my doggie walk. Feeling quite blessed! A welcome little angel for my granddaughter now safe and sound on my Christmas tree."
Joint Carol Service
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Every year, St George's Church Morpeth hold a joint Carol Service with Morpeth Methodist Church. This year the service was held at St George's and a specially convened choir sang three pieces: an old Appalachian Carol ("I wonder as I wander"), and two songs by Warlock and Singer. The Service also had severn congregational carols and bible readings, as well as two other readings: one specially written by Revd. Stuart Brock and the other the "Journey of the Magi" by T.S. Eliot. The photograph shows the congregation in fellowship after the service was over.
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Cradle Roll Service
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Every three months St George's Church holds a cradle-roll service inviting all children recently baptised in the church, together with their parents, to come along for an hour of play and fellowship. The photograph shows a rather magical scene as the first Christmas was re-enacted for and with the children and the adults present.
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Church Nativity Play
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Each Year St George's Church Morpeth and Morpeth Methodist Church jointly organise a Nativity Play. This year the play was performed at the Methodist Church with children from both churches taking part; the photogaph on the left shows the scene during the rehearsal and the photograph on the bottom left the actual performance with the Revd. Ron Forster, our minister, presiding. The Nativity play was accompanied by the St George's orchestra who are shown in festive garb in the photograph below.
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Light in the Darkness Service
Each Year the Morpeth Funeral Directors, Jacob Conroy and Son, in association with St George's Church organises a service to bring together at Christmas those who have lost a loved one in the recent past. Each person attending is invited to light a candle in memory of their loved one, and the photograph shows the communion table with the candles lit at the end of the service. The service on this occasion was conducted by Revd. Ron Forster with prayers said by the Rector of Morpeth, the Revd. Simon White. The order of service is available below.
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Service sheet for the Light in the Darkness Service at St George's Church on 15th December.
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Junior Church makes the Christmas Crib Figures
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Every year the Junior church design and make the Christmas Crib for display outside the church. You can see them busy at their tasks on the left and the result just outside the church is on the right. Just visible is one of the knitted angels if you look very hard. The actual crib frame is a rabbit hutch; it is at least waterproof!
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The Junior Church doing activities
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The Junior Church engages in a wide range of activities throughout the year. The left -hand picture shows the children engaged in planting seedlings in the Spring and the right-hand picture shows the children cooking biscuits for Sunday Coffee in the Hall.
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St George's Autumn Fair
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A highlight of the St George's year is the Autumn Fair organised this year by Lorna Anderson and Patricia Gatherum and with many others manning the stalls and working in the kitchen. Some of the stalls are shown below as well as the coffee area and the fair raised over £2,000 for church funds. Stalls were busy all morning and clearly everyone enjoyed themselves immensely. A big thank-you to all those who helped make it such as success.
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Two recent very successful Lunchtime Concerts
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Two recent concerts given as part of the St George's Lunchtime Concert series have received high praise. Michael Fu and Nicole Souter played at the opening concert of the 2016/7 series and delighted the audience with a wide-ranging programme, and Nicolas Nowicki gave a splendid recital of music by Beethoven, Gershwin and Brahms showing his great versatility and talent.
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A Taste of Summer at St George's Church
On 30th July the Church organised a Strawberry Cream Tea with orchestral accompaniment to welcome Summer in the most traditional way. Remarkably, the rain held off for the afternoon and periodically even the Sun came out. To guard against sudden changes in the weather, we held the event both inside and outside the church, and we owe a big vote of thanks to Gillian Irvine, Stephanie Robson and a team of tireless volunteers serving strawberries, cream, shortbreads and tea and coffee, and running stalls. Some of the photographs taken by Gillian are shown below.
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The first two photographs show the orchestra who played for much of the afternoon; many thanks to Shirley Forster for gathering such a good team together. The other two photographs show people outside and inside the church enjoying themselves. You can see a film of the event on Morpeth News TV by following the link, and we are very grateful to Terry Hackett for recording the event.
Our Minister involved in the Community
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The Revd. Ron Forster has been heavily involved in Community activities throughout his ministry here at St George's but this week was very special. On 22nd May Morpeth Town Football Club played Hereford FC at Wembley and Ron is shown in the picture having blessed the shirts of the players. The remarkable double rainbow may have been a favourable response from on high, as the Morpeth team won 4-1 in a thrilling match. They will parade with their trophy on Morpeth Fair Day 12th June, when the whole town will welcome them back. Three days later, at a ceremony in the Town Hall on May 25th, Ron was unanimously elected Deputy Mayor of Morpeth with Shirley, his wife, as his official consort to general acclamation. This was a popular appointment and a tribute to the affection in which Ron is held in the town.
Ron can be heard on BBC Radio Newcastle talking about the Team The segment on Morpeth AFC starts at 01:48:26 in the link. Picture courtesy Councillor David Clark. |
Twenty Years of Ministry Celebration for Suzanne
Suzanne Hamnett, one of the ministers associated with St George's Church in Morpeth, was ordained in 1995 after three years study at the North-East Oecumenical Course and she celebrated 20 years of ministry on 27th December at the church.