Circuit News | Wirral Methodist Circuit

Family Activity afternoon at Greasby

by Pete Wildman | Nov 25, 2025 | Circuit News

Working in partnership with the Circuit Children and Youth team we continue to welcome families for a fun afternoon during each half term break.

This time we held a fabulous Family Activity afternoon on Thursday 30^th October. It was a joy to welcome approx. 60 visitors (we welcomed 80+ last time so we did have to limit numbers, we are always oversubscribed). We all enjoyed celebrating Our Superheroes!

Firstly, children decorated a gift bag, ready to take various goodies home in. They visited the photo booth and dressed up as a superhero to have their photo taken. Then completed a Lego Challenge to build our Lego City, whilst younger ones built in Duplo. After playing Superhero Bingo, they coloured sheets describing Jesus as our hero and enjoyed firework painting. After games including the impossibly heavy box, we sat and considered how Jesus is better than any of these heroes. He is always with us and, compared with Hulk Superman or Spiderman, He is more powerful than them all! Families enjoyed plenty of tea time treats and told us it was the best ‘non-Halloween’ party they have ever attended before collecting gift bags with a bookmark, stickers, some sweets and invitations to Lego Church 9^th November and our All-Age Nativity 14^th December.

We have a clear gospel to share – Jesus is the best Superhero! I do want to thank the Circuit Children and Youth team for their inspiration and support which made this event possible

At Greasby our mission is to build relationships with families who attend weekly Church Mice, monthly Lego Church, the Summer Holiday Club and our special events eg Easter on The Car Park and the annual Celebrate Greasby Day, as well as sharing the gospel in assemblies on alternate weeks at all three local schools in Greasby. It is a joy that the schools continue to engage in all 7 Hope Journeys (one for each year group). HJ Remembering took place on 6^th November. The Year 6 children have attended a HJ every year throughout their school life and shared lots of their memories from each one. What a joy that every (non catholic) child in Greasby attends Greasby Methodist for a Hope Journey once a year. Working ecumenically each school attends our churches for Christmas and Easter worship. We are now planning our annual Breakfast with Santa and hope to welcome more families into All Age Worship. Make every contact count! Our prayer is that more families commit to a life of following Jesus as a personal Lord and Saviour. – Sue Elliott, Steward /Schools, Children and Families co-ordinator

Claremount Hub lunches

by Pete Wildman | Nov 25, 2025 | Circuit News

Our hub friends, church congregation and people from the community met to enjoy a special lunch to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day. This began with a speech from, Iain Henderson acting the part of Winston Churchill and was followed by Beryl Hewson’s account of childhood wartime experiences in the Claremount vicinity. After the meal we enjoyed singing some of the well-known songs of the era.A good time was had by all.

In October we shared a hot lunch of stew and apple pie to celebrate Harvest. Afterwards we were entertained by the Wallasey U3A, ukulele band, the UkeeBlinders.

Please come and join us for our next special Hub meal in the New Year. – Janet Herd

Good News from Bromborough

by Pete Wildman | Nov 25, 2025 | Circuit News

Church Services during Advent include for a “Service of light” on the 30^th November to be led by Rev. Barbara Banton remembering those no longer with us. There will be two Carol Services on Sunday, 21^st December. The morning Service will be traditional and led by Peter Colyer and the evening will be an “All age Service” which will be conducted by Emma Sofayo. A reverse Advent Calendar Poster will be in our Welcome Area in support of the Foodbank.

The Friendship Group continues to meet every fortnight on a Tuesday afternoon with different speakers or activities as part of its programme. The following was a highlight during the current year:-

VE DAY CELEBRATION AT BROMBOROUGH

On 13^th May we celebrated VE Day by decorating the outside garden and our meeting room. We had some memorabilia/medals etc. on display and members who were very young at the time told us of their memories and stories of family members who had been away from home.Rita Evans played the music and all joined in the songs of the time and afternoon tea was much enjoyed. We normally have a Quiz or local speakers come and talk to us, which we find very interesting. – Barbara and Norman Green

1st Bromborough Boys Brigade

Boys’ Brigade continues to meet each Friday and we held our first Enrolment Service in Church since pre-Covid times when membership cards were issued for the current BB Session and promotion Certificates for boys moving up to the next Sections (one from the Junior to the Company and two from the Anchor to the Junior Section). We have been working for and have just achieved the RHS level 3 Certificate for the work carried out by boys and staff in our garden. It was a fruitful year with a full plum tree harvest and crops of carrots, strawberries, leeks, chives, tomatoes and several potted flowers.

The Company has continued with our normal activities over the past year but with the closure of the Wirral & West Cheshire Battalion we are now officially a member of the Liverpool & District Battalion as from 1^st September 2023. We look forward to working with other Companies across the Liverpool area. We were invited, as Officers, to attend the District presentation of the last Queen’s Badge Awards at All Saints Church, Childwall. The next group of young people in the District will now be working for the Kings Badge having had the award officially approved.

Our Senior boy, Tom Warren, gained the President’s Badge which is the second highest award in Boys’ Brigade but has recently left the Company to study at Sheffield University so we wish him well in his academic career and hope to see him back with us from time to time. Tom made “Chocolate Bouquets” as a badge activity which were presented to various people at our awards evening and later to our District Officials.

Our programme continued with trips over the past year to St. Helens World of Glass Museum, the two Cathedral’s in Liverpool and the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port. Each of these became part of a Badge Activity or Project.

As we enter the time of Advent we praise the birth of Jesus and our Company has welcomed two new members, one whose father was a BB member in Brunei and gained his Queen’s whilst a member.

Boys’ Brigade is now 141 years and celebrates Founder’s Day on the 4^th October. In the last year Ryan, one of our Anchor Boys, gained a “140 Badge” by designing a 140 from various materials

“Old Toy-New Adventure” was an activity to collect near new plastic toys for a Charity to send them on to countries where children have no toys to play with.

We are planning similar activities and trips for the coming months ahead. – Ken Chalton (Captain)

“Sitting Down” as a Local Preacher after 64 years ‘on the plan’

by Pete Wildman | Nov 25, 2025 | Circuit News

June to August 2025 was the last time I took services ‘face to face. In June I was joined in my service at Bromborough by two of my fellow preachers Peter Collyer and Andrew Clough), a good experience

I was recognised as a fully accredited local preacher in Sheffield in 1961 before we moved to Bromborough in January 1962, but I preached my first sermon when I was 16.

1953 was a memorable year for me. Of course, we all remember it as coronation year of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; but personally, I had just finished O levels (GCSE), and had a breathing space before I entered the sixth form to start work for my A levels. Then my church steward, Mr Fisher, who was also Sunday School Superintendent at the church where I had grown up, said to me “Pat we’ve not got anyone to take the service at the end of August, it’s time you started – go away and think of a text and prepare a sermon and then come and talk to me and ‘Auntie Nellie’, and we’ll look it over”. Forerunner of ‘Own Arrangements?

I was 16 and a member of a small church – Kent Road in Brunswick circuit in Sheffield – I was a Sunday School teacher and a member of Christian Endeavour, and ‘Auntie Nellie’ was our leader. She and Mr. Fisher her brother-in-law were preachers in the circuit. After the service, they on behalf of the church submitted my name to the circuit and I was duly given a ‘note to preach’. Certainly a different expression of a ‘Call to Preach’.

My ‘On Note’ and ‘On Trial’ were duly carried out in that circuit, but took longer, first because I was away at college for two years (55-57) and then after Keith and I married in September 1959 we moved to live in Germany, so I was given permission to study for exams by correspondence course, and exam papers sent to Keith to invigilate in Germany. He was a tough invigilator! Fortunately, all that was completed by the time we returned to Sheffield, and my final service and interview took place, and my recognition service arranged before we moved to Wirral in October 1961.

The rest, as they say, is history. I arrived in the then Bebington circuit and have very happy memories of the churches in those days, Over the years I have been privileged to preach in all the churches in the Wirral circuit, as well as many in Liverpool. One of the questions that was asked about us when we were presenting ourselves for Recognition, to be admitted to the company of the preachers, was “Do they have the gifts and graces?” Preaching is a privilege and a high calling.

Pat Jones