Welcome
Welcome to the Website for Chorley and Leyland Methodist Circuit.
We are proud to be Members of the METHODIST CHURCH in Great Britain. OUR CALLING was re-affirmed in 2018 and is expressed in the following 4 areas:
Worship Learning Service Evangelism
Not only does this website inform you about who we are and what we do, it also provides links to the Lancashire District, Partner Organisations and the wider community.
We are also now on Facebook 
, click the logo to visit.
The Three Priorities of our Circuit
Early in 2017, the Leadership Team of the Circuit discerned the following as God’s Priorities for the work we are called to. They continue to inform the use of our energies and other resources.
Members of the Methodist Church are disciples of Christ and we are almost a thousand strong in the Chorley & Leyland Circuit! Together we are called to many tasks and need to be encouraged and resourced in this work. Our “Growing Leaders” course is just one way that people are being empowered, but other wider initiatives are in the pipeline.
The Circuit, with District help, are funding a 5 year appointment of a Pioneer Ministry Enabler on Buckshaw from 2018. This is an exciting new work with ecumenical partners.
But we hope the creative exploration of such ministry will be catching and all our local churches will be inspired for new initiatives.
Our ongoing Schools worker project expresses our commitment to working with children. This Schools Plus Priority seeks to expand & integrate work in schools with the important children’s work in churches, including Messy Church. We aim to strengthen existing church/school links through school “Champions" & establish new links with community schools.
Warm Hubs
WARM AND WELCOMING SPACES
Lancashire County
Council have approached Churches Together in Lancashire to raise awareness of
their plans to use the idea of Warm and Welcoming Spaces (sometimes called Warm
Hubs) as part of their response to the cost-of-living crisis. Through the
availability of buildings and experience in providing hospitality, this is a
situation where churches could play an active role in a community response.
We are aware of a number of churches from our denominations who are already
actively exploring whether they can help in this way through the coming winter.
Encouragingly, several are already in dialogue with other churches in their
neighbourhood about how churches could work together in this aspect of mission.
There is no one-size fits all model for this, just four key principles,
that your offer must be:
- Free to access (and ideally offer a free drink on arrival)
- Warm
- Welcoming
- Safe
Some 5 years ago, Community
Action Northumberland (CAN) developed the idea of Warm Hubs, and some useful
information can be found on the CAN
website.
You can develop your offer to fit around, or indeed use, existing
activities as long as your offer is open to all at a consistent time each week
through the winter.
There was an excellent webinar on Warm Spaces run by colleagues from the
Methodist church earlier this month which can be viewed Here. Based on experience,
this provides a lot of really good ideas and information that you need to think
about when considering getting involved.
If you decide to get involved, you can pledge your church’s input Here
Meanwhile some district councils are already asking community groups,
including churches, for details of when they can be open to provide a warm
welcome. If you are able to provide this information to your local authority,
that too will be useful.
Many thanks for your
interest and support for this important work.
Mike Hart and Peter Lumsden
Churches Together in Lancashire Working Group on Social Justice
Christian Aid East Africa Appeal
East Africa faces a humanitarian disaster – but
it’s not too late to act
The heatwave that
impacted several parts of the UK recently was a stark reminder to many that
climate change is warming the world and creating, in some countries, huge problems.
In Kenya, Ethiopia
and Somalia, communities are experiencing the worst drought in 40 years with
four consecutive failed rainy seasons, causing a hunger crisis for millions of
vulnerable people. According to United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, 18.4m people across the
three countries are missing meals.
Cont.../
Methodists in Lviv
On Friday, May 6th, the Rev Roger Stubbings recorded an interview with Volodymyr Prokip, United Methodist minister in Lviv, Ukraine. Roger met Volodymyr briefly at the 2018 British Methodist Conference in Nottingham, at which Volodymyr was a World Church Representative.
In this video Volodymyr gives a moving account of how the Methodist congregation in Lviv has responded to the desperate situation of refugees fleeing westward from the war torn areas in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine, and of the longer term plans they have to help people in the longer term.
Orthodox Church
For those who may know of Ukranian Orthodox faithful searching for an Orthodox church, there are two churches in Preston - Greek and Romanian - and several in Manchester.
Here are two flyers one in Ukranian and one in English with more details
Godly Play Bus Project
OUR PROJECT NEEDS MORE DRIVER
The Godly Play Bus Project is supported by the
Lancashire District.
Following a very successful week in a school, we would like to make the Godly
Play Bus available to more venues across our District and beyond, sharing the
gospel of God’s love in schools and communities. To do this, we need more
drivers.
Could you offer your time and skills to part of our team?
If you have a clean driving licence (issued before 1999), aged under 75
years and are able to commit to offering a few hours of your time per month, to
drive the bus from Freckleton to the required venue and back, we would love to
hear from you! No passengers are
taken on the bus.
Driving instruction will be provided on the bus!
For more information and details of what the role entails, please contact:
Deacon Kim Gabbatiss - 01772 635858, or kim.gabbatiss@methodist.org.uk
Evangelism and Growth
The Methodist Church is committed to being a growing, evangelistic, inclusive, justice-seeking Church – so that new people become disciples of Jesus Christ, faith deepens for everyone, and diverse communities and churches experience transformation.
“Evangelism” comes from a biblical Greek word that literally means “good news”. All Christians – not just some – are called to listen for, speak of, and live out the good news. We all have good news to share! Watch this video to hear how different people are sharing good news from their own experience of God.
Worship Video from Sunday - 25th September 2022
Weekly Meditation
Meditation may deepen one's experience of the presence of God, enhance self-awareness, and reduce stress and anxiety, valuable during this time of isolation.
Join a half-hour Zoom ‘guided meditation’ session, led by Peter Lumsden (local preacher in the Clitheroe circuit), every Monday evening at 7 p.m.
The sessions follow a pattern of 15 mins of spiritual reflection, combined with a focus on breathing, leading into a period of about 15 mins of silence.
Contact Peter Lumsden: pjlumsden58@gmail.com
Monday 19th September 2022
Worship Sheets Sunday 2nd October 2022
These short acts of worship have been produced for you if you are unable to attend church. If you are well enough why not spend a few moments with God, knowing that other people are sharing this act of worship with you?
Click Here for Word copy of worship sheet for 2nd October 2022
Click Here for pdf copy of worship sheet for 2nd October 2022
Click Here for Large Print pdf of worship sheet for 2nd October 2022
DIAL-A-PRAYER
FREE phone lines for prayers and news from the Methodist Church
Listen to a prayer: 0808 281 2514
Listen to news: 0808 281 2478
Content is updated weekly on Thursday afternoon
Click Here to visit Methodist Church Website
General Data Protection Regulations
The Church has always been interested in individuals in a caring, pastoral way and has sought to undertake its mission by having sufficient information available to function effectively and communicate efficiently. From the start of Methodism, John Wesley knew the value of lists!
The church, like all other bodies that hold information on people, is now required to follow regulations about how that such information is held and used. GDPR is being embraced by the church as a way to ensure the very best “good practice” as well as compliance with the law.
Click Here for more information
Natasha's Law
The Food Information (Amendment)
(England) Regulations 2019 (known as “Natasha's Law”) came into
effect from 1 October 2021 in England and Wales.
Natasha’s Law is named in memory of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse who died in July 2016 following an allergic reaction to a prepacked sandwich bought from Pret-A-Manger. This law makes provision to ensure all food businesses provide full ingredient lists and allergen labelling on foods that are pre-packed for sale on their premises. These types of packaged foods were not caught by the pre-existing legislation.
Click Here to read more
Cliff College
Cliff College are delighted to welcome any prospective students to come and explore our various programmes throughout the year. Our undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees are all validated by The University of Manchester.
For most of the year, visits to the college are run on a personal or small group basis on request. If you are interested in the BA Theology programme, or the new developments in the part time BA Mission and Ministry programme, the part-time MA taught programme, or any of our Research degrees, then do get in touch using the details below to arrange one of these visits. We would love to see you, introduce you to our facilities, meet staff and students, and talk through the right options for you here at Cliff.
We also run more public Taster Days across especially the undergraduate courses. Dates for these days will appear on this page when they are available.
Click Here for more information. Click Here to visit their website.