Coming Events
Spring Harevest 2010 Different Eyes
Spring Harvest is a Christian event which takes place over Easter.
It's for people of all ages and church backgrounds and features inspirational Bible teaching, seminars, and spirit-filled worship. It's about one thing: deepening your walk with God, so you return home inspired to impact your community and your friends, for Jesus.
Greenbelt calling — help us keep in touch with you better
An all-age inclusive friendly arts festival with its roots in the Christian faith which offers a host of world music, international and home-grown acts from big names to new artists. The dates for 2010 will be the bank holiday weekend from Friday 27th to Monday 30th August 2010.
http://www.toursforchurches.co.uk/?gclid=CIib_PLp9JcCFQ4i3god4lDoDQ
This group is for all members and friends of the United Reformed Church (URC) in England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2213288399
Some of our young members completed the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Expedition. They were out for five days camping and walking within the Snowdonia Mountin side. The weather was Rain, Rain, and Heavy Rain for the five days but all made it back safely.
More photos to follow
Need a bit of quiet?
A Quiet Garden
for anyone to use
anytime
behind
HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH
(next to Tesco)
go through the car park, across the grass, down to the garden
Enjoy peace and quiet and beauty
Heswall URC Quiet Garden
In May 2004 a group from our church went on a pilgrimage to Holy Island. When there, amidst the peace and quiet of the Northumbria community, we felt that we should build a quiet garden in our own church grounds. This could give to all the people of Heswall a place of serenity, peace and quiet that was sorely lacking in the centre of our busy community. It would be somewhere to feel close to God and to his creation. We were blessed in that we had a large, if neglected, area just ripe for developing into somewhere beautiful
By March 2005, the Church Meeting, the forum where decisions are taken in the URC, approved our plan and construction work started in May. Our church architect, Chris Bennett, drew up the plans. We wanted a water feature, we wanted to use natural materials, slate and stone, and we wanted a variety of shrubs and plants. Our minister, Rev Gwynfor Evans, suggested that the water feature should be based on one of our church windows which represents the open tomb on Easter morning. The head of water at the top of the waterfall rushes out, issuing life-giving water and movement. Chris also integrated a dry slate wall, in keeping with the slate waterfall, to accommodate the rather steep slope of the land.
The planting, started in late July, was left to Avril Lock who had grown many of the plants and shrubs. Ivy and shrubs and wild flowers soon clothed the banks of the waterfall and the garden started to look and feel as if it had always been there. As the congregation began to take more interest we were given bequests of garden benches and arbours where people could sit privately and be still or chat in the company of friends.
As time has gone by we now have an escallonia hedge separating the Quiet Garden from the large grassy play area, all the borders are complete and flowers and shrubs are in bloom nearly every week on the year. Even in February this year we had cyclamen flowering under the trees, witchhazel, wintersweet and saroccoca perfuming the air, and pansies, primulas and snowdrops giving us colour and beauty everywhere. The daffodils followed and now all the spring flowering shrubs have come into their own. The arbours are being clothed with honeysuckle, roses and clematis. The garden has taken on a maturity we did not dream possible just under three years ago. As we are an eco-congregation we are keen to encourage wildlife. We have been given a slate birdbath and our Brownies are going to design and build bird boxes.
We are now ready to invite formally all the local shop workers to eat their lunch in our garden in summertime, to circulate an invitation to other churches and community groups, all of whom are welcome to visit the garden whenever they wish. Our toddlers group play there; we take our tea and coffee out into the garden in the summer; we hold receptions there.
We have recently become affiliated to The Quiet Garden Movement, the second garden in Merseyside to affiliate. We hope to hold occasional days, open to everyone, for prayer, silence, meditation and the appreciation of God’s beauty.
Avril Lock
| more events to follow |