St Andrew's, Dearnley

St Andrew's, Dearnley and Smithy Bridge

Coffee mornings are to be held monthly at St Andrew's, the parish church of Dearnley and Smithy Bridge.

The first of these will take place in the parish room on Saturday, June 23, starting at 10.00am with proceeds going to the Wider Welcome project.

Money will be raised from the sale of cakes, fruit pies etc, all to be made by members of the congregation and taken along on the day.

Said Sheila Moore, social committee secretary: "The message to all and sundry is . . . get baking. We will be having coffee mornings once a month and the theme for the first one is to be called, 'The Big Cake Bake'.

"Many other fund-raising and social events will also be held between now and the end of the year. A full list has been drawn up and approved. It will be going up in church soon and then circulated to our various media outlets."

The Wider Welcome project team, meanwhile, will be meeting in the vicarage on Monday (June 18) at 7.30pm to receive updates on how the scheme is progressing, both from the point of view of funding and starting work.

Wider Welcome is a project to significantly improve the church's community facilities in order to cater for the ever-increasing number of community groups which are seeking to set up base with us.

The project team is currently in the process of making contact with the many existing user groups in order to get feedback about their requirements for submission to various bodies along with grant-aid applications.

The Rev Sharon Jones, our vicar, referred to Wider Welcome in her article in the June issue of The Fisherman, our church magazine.

She wrote: "One of the ways in which we demonstrate our commitment to Christ is by not being totally absorbed with ourselves or with the life of the church, but by finding ways to defend the weak, heal the sick or support those most in need.

"Our commitment to providing a 'Wider Welcome' for all is part of our commitment to Christ. It is a statement of our faith in God and our service of his people.

"Anything that builds community, personal responsibility and protection for the most vulnerable bears the marks of Christ.

"As his followers, let us bear the fruit of his life in us, not for ourselves, but for the world."

Our newly-formed branch of the Mothers Union, spearheaded by Jean Townshend, will be represented at the MU Diocesan Festival in Manchester Cathedral on Monday, June 25, starting at 7.30pm.

On Sunday we will have our usual two services, Eucharist at 8.00am and Sung Eucharist at 10.00am.

The parish rota is as follows: lay assistants, J Mills, J Townshend; readers, S Knight, D Knight; Intercessions, C Cook; sidespersons, P Paterson, C Phillips; refreshments, Dennis, Doris, Judith.