ACTIVITIES SCRAPBOOK

Bible Readathon

It was a challenge of Biblical proportions - but young and old rallied round to read aloud every word of the Good Book.

A Bible Readathon at St George's Church, Normanby, saw more than 300 volunteers read for more than 75 hours, covering all 66 books - that's a total of more than 31,000 verses!

The final passage, from Revelation, was read aloud yesterday afternoon by everyone who happened to be in the church at the time.

It wasn't a fundraising event - it was simply a way to spread God's word before Christmas.

And, according to Julian Blakeley, the rector of St George's and Christ Church, Eston, it worked wonderfully well.

He said: "The readathon has succeeded beyond our expectations. While some of the logistics have been a challenge, everyone has worked with us and our humour and enthusiasm remained undimmed.

"Folk have really taken it to their hearts, and have been prepared to come in at all times of the day and night - including the very early and very late slots. It has really brought the Bible to life in a very personal way for everyone involved."

Every name of every reader has been written down for posterity. And there was lots of fun along the way.

Julian said: "When we did the Psalms on the night, Robert Hughes and some people from the One Life church came down and we did it together as two churches. But because we were getting tired, we ended up marching around the church - and one guy crashed into a chair!

"There's been a common humanity in this - it has brought out the best in people."

Co-organiser Carol McIntosh said one of the highlights was the involvement of schools.

Ravensworth Junior pupils read passages from Jeremiah and Lamentations, Normanby Primary covered from Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians and Teesville Infants youngsters read the Book of James.

Five Ravensworth pupils also took part in Monday's launch by reading the story of Noah to guests including the mayor and mayoress.

(Used with the kind permission of the Evening Gazette.)

Good Friday Witness Walk

On Good Friday a procession of crosses congregated outside of Tesco's South Bank supermarket to bear witness to what Easter is actually about. Supported by almost 100 people from the various congregations that support Churches Together in Eston and Normanby, short talks were interspersed with a selection of songs.

The first cross departed from Christ Church near Eston square. This small group began walking towards South Bank and met with two other groups on the way, each bearing their own cross. A police escort was a great help when crossing busy road junctions, and added to the interest for passers-by who stopped to look. Three large wooden crosses made an excellent visual statement and brought us closer to what people were witnessing on that first Easter 2000 years ago.

Carols by Candlelight

This year our carol service was held on Christmas Eve to a full congregation. Folk began to arrive surprisingly early, obviously wanting to make sure that they had somewhere to sit. A wise move, as Christ Church filled to capacity with barely a seat left and some late arrivals chose to stand at the back rather than go in search of a possible space here and there.

The service was a mixture of carols, songs and narratives, each telling us something about the wondrous events that happened two thousand years ago. Flickering candlelight added to the atmosphere of awe and celebration of when God became incarnate in man.

If this was your first visit to us, please don't make it your last. We would love to see you again at either Christ Church or St. George's at any time of the year, not just at Christmas.

Carol Singing

A small group of hardy singers braved cold winds and sang their hearts out in Eston Square, at Normanby Top and later on in Asda (at the request of the management). It was a time of fun, happiness, sharing the joy of Christmas and inviting folk along to our carol service.

The Licensing of Dianne and Jason

Dianne Colbert and Jason Robinson were licensed as Church of England Readers on Saturday 15th November. A total of 12 new Readers were given their licence by Archbishop John Sentamu during the service, which took place in York Minster.

A coach full of church members from the Parish made the journey to York to be part of this occasion. Dianne and Jason were also supported by their Rector Rev Julian Blakeley, Reader Keith Allison from the parish, and Reader Peter Titchmarsh who is from Christ Church Great Ayton where Dianne had previously been on placement, as they robed up and joined the procession in the Minster. The service was a blessing to all who attended.

Later in the afternoon, there was a celebration service at St Georges, in which Dianne and Jason gave testimony regarding their calling to be a Reader, and Rev Julian Blakeley along with the church wardens prayed for them. The celebration was very well attended, and included many people who were unable to attend the service in York. This was followed by a faith meal.

Men's Breakfast

A group of over twenty men enjoyed a time of fellowship together early on a Saturday morning. Meeting for a cooked breakfast washed down with tea and coffee, an easy and relaxed time together was enjoyed by all.

Once the serious activity of eating was completed our unwavering attention was devoted to a young man who shared his testimony of God's saving grace. And of how he continues to share what he has been given of God among hardened prison inmates.

Jonah Study Notes

Julian has compiled a set of notes for housegroup study. These will be used by the congregations of Christ Church and St. Goerge's during the autumn months.

Does this sound like a topic that you would like to study yourself? If so you can download the notes here in PDF format. If you don't already have Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader, the latest version can be downloaded free here.

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