CHRISTIAN  AID

The Lenten Lunches and Frugal Feast raised £842- 09p our thanks for this excellent result..
Pictures of the Lenten Lunches have been added/
STOP PRESS NEWS
Alan our Christian Aid Co-ordinator has sent the following information.
The total raised by the Shifnal Christian Aid group amounted to £1651  - 90 and a big thank you to those who supported the charity and those who collected.

St Andrew's  £534 - 22
Trinity Methodist  £861 - 06
St Mary's  £256 - 62
The overall figure is down by about £400 compared to 2009 but Eileen and her team increased their figure so a big thank you to them.
 

Christian Aid:  Life before Death Dear Friends Thank you very much for the donations totalling £100, the result of the frugal feast following the Lent Lunches.  An extra special thank you to everyone who helped organise the meals and all who took part in raising a total of £842.09p for the Christian Aid:  we really value your efforts and support. Part of Christian Aid work is to enable everyone to have enough food to share with their families.  In giving thanks for your efforts, Christian Aid is able to share in the joy of people like Chandramma Moligeri in Andhra Pradesh, India, as she harvests enough food to feed her family - and hundreds more unable to grow crops themselves.  Chandramma has benefited from the work of Christian Aid partner Deccan Development Society who helped set us a local women's group or "sangham" in her area.  Through the group, women who are members of the oppressed Dalit community, learned about their rights to own land and about farming techniques.  Together they bought a stretch of drought - prone - waste land and slowly restored life to the land and started to reap harvests. Through sanghams, 5,000 women have been trained to farm.  Now they have decided their excess harvest should be donated to help feed 50,000 of the poorest people in their communities while also sharing skill and knowledge to help others become independent from handouts.  By supporting Christian Aid the people of Shifnal help poor people all over the world to reap their own harvests and share the beautiful fruits of our world.  Thank you for your generosity. With best wishes Rachel Vincent (Regional Administrator)

The Annual General Meeting of Churches Together in Shifnal District was held at the  Brooke Rom at St Andrew's on Monday March 23trd 2010
John Hume chaired the meeting.

Shirley Tart  was elected as Chairman
Zena Brown as Treasurer
Ann Small as Secretary.
Thanks were expressed to all the officers and volunteers who had worked hard for Churches Together and Oasis.
Thanks to John Hume who had done a tremendous amount of work for Churches together as Chairman, and is now retiring from that office

Appointment of Trustees
Rev Norman Owen had resigned. The following were re appointed
 Rev Sally Day,  Zena Brown, Angela Chatham,  Ann Dakin, Teresa Hampton,  Jabez Higgs, Ann Small and
Shirley Tart will replace John Hume, and the new nomination of Sylvia Harris was accepted.
Shirley Tart said she was pleased that Rev Norman Owen Had seconded her nomination as Chairperson and that he had been with CTISD since its inception and had worked tirelessly for it over the years. She therefore proposed that Norman  be
asked to become CTISD Life President.
This was accepted and Shirley would write to Norman.

 
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The business of the AGM went through smoothly and events for the future were discussed and planned.
 

Looking back at CTISD in 2009!!

1    OASIS shop had an increase in sales of nearly 40% with a trading excess of £607 up by approximately one third, compared to 2008

2.   The total income of CTISD was up by 15%.

3.   We had a very successful Harvest Praise at Drayton Lodge. thanks again to the huge generosity of Anne and Frank Dakin, raising approximately £800.

&   Likewise we held a similarly successful “Carols at Hatton” thanks to the continuing generosity and support of Rupert Kenyon- Slaney when a similar amount was raised.

5.   The Link Line Project is “now rolling” with a list of clients from St. Andrew’s and all the clergy in CTISD! Thanks are due to Shropshire LJC for financially supporting that project with just under £1,000 . We need clients brought to us from other than St. Andrew’s, Shifnal!

6.   We have continued to support the Stork project in South Africa by knitting then sending baby clothes to a huge maternity hospital in the _second  largest township in RSA via a wonderful Anglican priest there. Funds to pay for the freight have rapidly increased thanks to the knitting of Easter chicks and donation of eggs by a hard working band of volunteers, some not even residents of the CTISD area! The approximate £500 available now could pay tar almost 3 years of mailing costs

7    We received a gift of £1,000 from the V Festival and hope to do likewise this year We can have a presence at the V-fest subject to various conditions.

8.   A new slightly reduced rent was agreed for the next 2 years at the OASIS premises on Broadway. The new lease, very carefully checked by Sarah Thorpe, has been signed by the landlord and will expire in November 2011. Our funds should be able to ‘withstand” this huge burden for that period. Our unrestricted balance at the end of 2009 was approximately £10,000!

9.   We will repeat last year’s distribution of free hot cross buns in the “High Street” of Shifnal on Good Friday morning thanks to the generosity of Sainsbury’s store in Telford.

Thanks to everyone for their tremendous support, John Hume

 

APPOINTMENT OF YOUTH WORKER

 Our long hoped for Youth Worker has  been appointed.
Hus name is Graham Phillips he is excited to be working with us as we are to welcome him He will be working with our young people in Shifnal, Albrighton and the six Parishes area. He will start from the beginning of September, and you will be seeing him round about from this month. We wish Graham God speed in his new role.
More information later.


 

 Your Town Centre Chaplain in Shifnal

God cares about our Town

 The Town Centre Chaplaincy is a voluntary initiative of St Andrew’s Church, working with Churches Together in Shifnal to work with shops and businesses

within the town centre. When things are tough we need to know that God cares about our whole community. One of our main aims is simply to pop in and say hello, to build up good relationships, and to pray for the people and businesses that make up our town centre.

What is Chaplaincy?

Regular opportunities to meet a Lay Chaplain who offers Christian care to everyone in the workplace, and who appreciates their responsibilities and the pressures on them

Who is the Chaplaincy for?

For anyone who works in 5hifnal for all faith and of none, we want to be open to everyone. Our Chaplain is impartial and here to listen.

Confidentiality and respect for all.

The Chaplain works by respecting the confidentiality of those who confide in him. Whilst holding firm Christian convictions, Paul also respects members of other faiths and their insights.

Paul Warrender has lived in the Shropshire area for mare than 21 years and is a volunteer at St Andrew’s Church. He is a Lay Assistant, Intercessor, Server, and member of the Christian Aid team.

With more than 30 years retail and sales experience in the West Midlands and Shropshire, Paul knows the pressures and problems encountered in the sector retail for both employees and employers.

“I am very pleased to recommend Paul for this role in the life of our town” Rev Chris Thorpe, vicar of St Andrew’s

 Seeing God at the heart of our community

What help can a Chaplain offer?

Simply the gift of time and a listening ear! The Chaplain has time to

listen to anything which troubles you -

•       To be here and support you, in the heart of the community.

•       To keep you informed about the life of the local churches.

•       To link in with the Oasis Project

•       To support and encourage local businesses by encouraging people to buy locally.

Meeting you where you are

Paul will be calling to see you in the Town Centre, and will be avail­able for you to call for a coffee, chat or quiet prayer at the Oasis shop, or if preferred in the Lady Chapel at St Andrew’s church, or your own home by appointment.

Contact Paul

Call Paul on 07970 917728 to arrange an appointment, or leave a message at Oasis, or through one of the churches - he is here to listen and to help you.

 “l am glad to be able to support this new initiative”

John Hume, Churches Together Chairman