Our News

Our Minister with Pastoral Care, Rev’d Pat Billsborrow, sends the following Message for the month of  May 2020 ….

Dear Friends

How strange it is to be sitting at my computer writing this letter when we have not been able to gather for worship in the physical sense for three weeks and have more separation time to follow. Those of us with the technology and the ability to use it have been able to join together from a distance and we can be grateful to Chris and the Circuit Team for their hard work in putting the services together, but we might ask the question where will we be at the end of it all. Will we all flock back to Church the Sunday after the Government say that we can, and be exactly the same as we were before, or will we have spent the sabbatical time reflecting on what our faith means to us and where it is taking us in the future. I had a telephone call a few days ago from a lady who got to know me through a pastoral matter a while ago, she was asking how I was coping and in conversation I asked after her father. Both of them father and daughter are practicing Roman Catholics, she said he was coping alright, she had taken some shopping and left it on the step, he was filling his time by reading the Bible, beginning at Genesis and moving on from there. I suspect he might get a bit confused as moves through the Old Testament but I found his decision to be a positive one, one which might give him much to talk to the priest about when this is all over. Many of us might well be doing something similar, taking a book of the shelf which has been there for many months and finding that it speaks to us in a particular way, or for those of us who are able to go out and exercise discovering what a wonderful world it is we live in when it is not filled with noise. I have noticed how much bird song there is around when it is not drowned out by the traffic, and seen nature blooming more and more each day as I have walked around the area with the dog. The creative world is not on lock down but is continuing apace as it always does and will continue to give us hope when so much of life seems hopeless to so many people.

So what of the future, I suspect that many of us will look forward to going back to a world as we knew it a few months ago, but in so many ways that will have changed and similarly within the church in some churches including Castle there will be spaces that were not there before, and we will be sad as well as the need to celebrate lives. But there will also be a challenge, if the church in general is to be a meaningful presence in the eighbourhood we need to be able to tell the story of Jesus in word and deed in a new and more vibrant way, it will perhaps feel strange opening our doors to those who have never before met him, but in the same way as we have many of us found new neighbours through this darkness helping us to see the light, so perhaps we need to look to our wider community with a new vigour to be evangelists as well as disciples.

My prayers are with you during this stressful time, and I look forward to the day when we can celebrate together and actually cry in the cry we were not able to make on Easter Day,

Christ is risen, he is risen indeed, Alleluia.

Pat Billsborrow

Our Minister, Rev’d Chris Pritchard, sends the following Message for the month of  April 2020 ….

Dear Friends,

Whilst eating a bacon sandwich with my family one Saturday lunch in early March we were discussing the effects of the Coronavirus on all kinds of things. This was in part because I was lamenting the lack of any sport whatsoever to watch that afternoon and Ruth was concerned because when I go off to the football she gets a bit of peace and quiet for herself! I even asked whether Easter would have to be postponed! Little did I know that just a couple of weeks later church worship would be suspended for the foreseeable future. Of course Easter can’t be postponed although the way we mark the death and resurrection of Jesus will be affected by events.

I think it is important to say that the Coronavirus will not last forever. Where the outbreak began in China the number of new cases is falling and eventually things will get back to normal but there is little doubt that things in Britain will get worse before they get better.

One important question to ask ourselves is how we as Christians are going to respond to this situation. In this respect I think we have to remember our calling to love God and to love our neighbours. The normal way in which we show our love for God is through prayer, worship and service. We can still do all of those things it is just that we cannot do them at 10:30 on a Sunday morning in church. We can worship God where ever we are. We also need to think about what part we can play in helping support our friends and neighbours through this difficult time. While we should never put ourselves in
danger there will be ways in which we can support people through the next few months.

The other point I would make is that some things are transient and other things are eternal. Coronavirus however horrible and disruptive it maybe will pass but even though we have to mark Easter in a quieter way this year, the death and resurrection of Jesus will still shape our lives. The belief we have that Christ is alive will still be there and the hope we have in Jesus will not be diminished even if we can’t sing the great Easter hymns quite as loudly this year.

The truth of Easter is that Christ is alive, having overcome great suffering and death itself! That is the message we proclaim at Easter and that means that he, Jesus, is with us always, even in the midst of a terrible crisis like the Coronavirus pandemic. Jesus hasn’t left us in the lurch, Jesus is here with us now, helping us, encouraging us and loving us always.

God bless us and be with each and every one of us.

Chris Pritchard

Our Minister, Rev’d Alma Fritchley, sends the following Message for the month of  March 2019 ….

Dear Friends,

The work I do in my Care Home certainly has its moments! And this week, which of course included Valentine’s Day has been no exception.

We began the week with a Songs of Praise style Service and the piano playing and singing was provided by the sister of one of the Residents. Betty has a beautiful alto voice which she uses to wonderful effect in various Methodist Church choirs. She told me she wanted to do more for Laurel Court, the Home where I work as Chaplain, ‘to pay something back’. She explained that she had seen her sister get exemplary care from staff and as God had given them both the gift of musical ability, well, that was the one thing she could put to good use. Sadly, her sister is too poorly now to play or even sing.

So she sang for us and accompanied herself on our slightly clapped out piano. Residents joined in each to their own ability. I shared a story of my experience here at Castle Community Church and this congregation was included in the prayers.

We sang old favourites; The Lord’s my Shepherd, O Jesus I have promised and Abide with me amongst others. She even persuaded me to sing a solo and I gave my best shot at Finlandia (a first for me and possibly a last!!) which got a polite round of applause.

We finished with a prayer and a blessing, tea and cakes. What made it all the more extraordinary was that Betty had driven from Burnley that morning to deliver the concert and visit her beloved sister, despite hail and torrential rain. ‘A bit of weather won’t stop me’ she said in her broad Lancashire accent. It reminded me of the sometimes, blustery journey we take to get here when ‘there is a bit of weather’!

The following day we witnessed the sudden death of a gentleman who had only been in the Home a week or so. His family and friends were obviously devastated by this news. Yet they have shown such love towards his widow who continues to live there. Despite their own grief they have rallied around this lady with complete selflessness.

The next day, as though to balance this sad time, a staff member confided that, as it was a leap year, she was going to ’pop the question’ to her long-standing boyfriend. She told me she had a good feeling that he would say yes. She also wanted me to bless the ring that she had bought him.

So we along with her colleagues and the manager had a short ceremony of prayers, Bible reading and a blessing. Photos were taken for our ‘Staff Matters’ magazine.

Many fingers and toes are crossed because we won’t know the outcome until Tuesday!!

The reading taken for this lovely occasion was from 1 Corinthians 13.

It sums up the very real love that was exposed in all its rawness on both of these events. The love held between two people who had lived many years together and the optimistic love and bravery shown by a woman who wanted to pledge herself to the one she loves. Here is a little of what we shared;

‘Love is patient, love is kind, love is not boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way, it is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. . . . . And now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love’.

And that resonates for me with my friends here at Castle Community Church. Somehow through God’s wonderful grace we have found ourselves on this journey together.

In sharing this journey that we here have undertaken, even though for me it has been such a short time, I have every faith that we will continue to be blessed by the love we share through Jesus Christ. And in knowing that, I believe that our work together will continue to carry us forward into even greater understanding with faith, hope and love.

May God bless and keep you

Alma

 

Our Minister with Pastoral Care, Rev’d Pat Billsborrow, sends the following Message for the month of  February 2020 ….

Dear Friends

The Wednesday of the first week of March this year sees us move into the season in which we walk with Jesus towards Holy Week and the events of Good Friday. This leads me to consider what such a season means to we who would consider that we have heard Jesus say to us, “Follow me”, and also whether we have ever fully understood the implications of giving over our lives to the journey that walking in his footsteps might require.

Let’s think first of what Jesus was giving up when he started his ministry at his Baptism by his cousin John, a conventional home life, the support of the local synagogue in which he had been brought up, and to some extent the alienation of the people who had known him and his parents as he grew to maturity. The journey he began that day transformed the lives of those who met him, the fishermen, the women who began to support and follow him, the outcasts and those rejected by the society he had known, but of course, we who know the story also lead inevitably to his death on the cross. Why? Because his life was so different, what he expected of his followers was alien to the Temple Officials and others, they began to feel threatened and so he had to go, and the rest is history so to speak. But what does it mean for us in our own generation if we say we are followers of Jesus, well of courses he spells it out for us very clearly in the Commandments we are given by him.

Firstly that we should love God with all our hearts and minds and strength, and then that we should love our Neighbours as we love ourselves. In these three short phrases we have a tick list for our faith lives if we consider it carefully, and it can give us an excise to consider as we go through this period of repentance leading up to the sacrifice and then the joy of Easter Day.

1. To do our best to strengthen our prayer life as we go through these weeks, perhaps in a group of friends or even in our own homes, setting aside a time each day to walk with God and hear him speak in our hearts.

2. To love our neighbours, well I can hear you say I do love my neighbour, well those I like at any rate, others well as far as possible I ignore them or do not see the need to interact with them. They are not like me, they have not got the same values as I was brought up with, they don’t follow the same lifestyle or faith, so ……………….but Jesus said “love your neighbours” and he did not differentiate between friends and others and told the story of the Good Samaritan, an enemy of the Jews who became the salvation of the man in trouble. Perhaps we need to consider whether it is we who are sometimes the aliens the odd ones out if we hold back from trying to understand the neighbours we do not yet know.

3. As we love ourselves, this is perhaps the hardest part of the Commandments, for how many of us go through a period of self-analysis looking back in our lives and seeing what the influences have been which have made us the people we are and the attitudes we hold. Do we indeed love ourselves, look at ourselves as if we were someone outside looking in, and do we learn from that experience to look at the world with different eyes, I wonder.

And so as we move into Lent this month, can I suggest that we truly use the season as a time of reflection so that when it comes to that day, 12th April this year, we can truly cry out “He is risen, He is risen indeed, Alleluia” and move on as new people in our faith.

Blessings
Pat Billsborrow

Our Minister, Rev’d Alma Fritchley, sends the following Message for the month of  December 2019 ….

Dear Friends,

By the time you read this I will have, God willing, been Ordained into the URC and inducted as a Minister at Castle Community Church. I also expect to have started getting to know some of you quite well and those ongoing conversations will be something I cherish.

When I think about the journey that has led me to the wonderful town of Northwich and this exciting new chapter in my life that will take shape at this church, I have had reason to ponder God’s remarkable way of doing things!

When I was young, I attended Methodist church in my hometown of Retford in Nottinghamshire. Happy to go along with my sister, and mum and dad, I learned about the church, my faith and the Bible stories that were in turn exciting or terrifying! I’m thinking in particular of David and Goliath (thrilling stuff) to the murder of the baby boys as Mary and her small family fled to Egypt (horrific, really, especially with my somewhat graphic Children’s Bible story book – not uncommon in those days).
And then of course I hit my teens and the church had to go.

God let me meander my own agnostic way for many years and then, well, God decided on another path for me and like most paths it wandered a bit, had a few dead ends, went down a one-way street the wrong way for a while until finally the penny dropped and God’s tap on the shoulder got rather more insistent.

And I wonder how many people have had a similar experience. That moment when God draws us in, draws us back or even drives us on. Perhaps the story of the Prodigal son resonates a little here. This young chap was headstrong, wanting to forge his own path, forgetting his past and distancing himself from his family to concentrate on the new and exciting adventure that surely just lay ahead.

And though I don’t quite see myself as the Prodigal daughter (an adventurer in that sense I am not!) there are a couple of similarities going on here. That putting aside what has been the bedrock to search for new dreams and fresh ideas. And for our biblical character that ‘go it alone’ adventure that proved to be such a disappointment. The Prodigal son had no idea where his path would lead – though it eventually led him home to safety and acceptance.

And I had no idea where my path with God would lead either. Learn a bit more about the Bible at college? Great. Take on a role as an Elder? Fantastic. Working as a Chaplain in a Care Home? Why not?

All these things were steppingstones on the path to now.

Like countless others, indeed like the young man in Luke’s gospel,  God’s steady but insistent encouragement brings us face to face with faith and forgiveness.

I look forward to sharing this continuing expedition with my friends at Castle Community Church, for who knows where it may lead, because when God draws us in, we discover that journeying with God is the biggest adventure of them all.

God bless and God speed!

Alma

 

 

Our Minister, Rev’d Chris Pritchard, sends the following Message for the month of  November 2019 ….

Dear Friends,

At a recent Church meeting I reflected on a verse from Proverbs 23 “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” It struck me that as we continue to grow together as Castle Community Church we need a huge amount of wisdom and understanding and of course some knowledge. This wisdom, understanding and knowledge comes of course from the Holy Spirit.

As I reflected on that proverb one of my favourite modern hymns came to mind the first verse of which is:

Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,
a place where saints and children tell
how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions,
rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.

That verse really helps me to think about my understanding of church as a place where people live together in a safe environment, where we can forgive and find forgiveness based on our faith in Jesus Christ and our knowledge of his love. For me church must always be a place where all are welcome.

As I think about Castle Community Church I realise that we are entering a new phase in the life of the church. Over the last five or more years we have formed the church and we really do feel like we are one church not a partnership of two different congregations and that is a really good thing. However very shortly we are going to see some significant changes as Alma Fritchley is ordained and inducted as our URC minister and we say good-byes to David Spence as our URC Link minister. I pray that we will be led by the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Wisdom and understanding into a new phase of church life so that as it says in our mission and discipleship policy we may continue to be Committed to Worshipping Christ and Serving the Community

God Bless

Chris Pritchard

 

 

Our Link Minister, Rev’d David Spence, sends the following Message for the month of  October 2019 ….

Dear Friends,

In the days when lots of women used to make their own clothes and curtains, they would go shopping in search of some nice material which was not too expensive. A particular bargain was if they found some good quality cloth which was being sold as a remnant. Material came from the manufacturers on large rolls, and a remnant was the last part of the roll. It was the few yards left after the rest of the roll and been sold. Some beautiful dresses and smart skirts were often made from such remnants.

A similar thing can happen with a household carpet. If you have a room which is not too large, a bedroom or dining room, perhaps, you can sometimes cover the floor with a good quality carpet by buying a remnant. You can use the few yards that were left at the end of the roll to make the room look beautiful and homely.

In the Bible, some of the Old Testament prophets use the word ‘remnant’ in their preaching and writing. They are not speaking about cloth or carpet, but about God’s people. Sometimes they are talking about the people who are left after the land has been invaded and towns destroyed. At other times, the word refers to those who remain faithful when everyone else has deserted God and gone after foreign idols. The faithful remnant is the small number left to continue the faith, and to pass it on to future generations.

Throughout history there have been periods when the people of God, and the faith they hold, have gone through difficult times. Sometimes the threat has come from outside, through evil rulers and oppressive regimes. In recent history, Soviet Russia and China tried to destroy the church and wipe out Christianity.

At other times the problem has been internal, where people desert the church, no longer come to worship, and gradually drift away from God. Many of the churches in this country today have been going through that kind of experience. Yet always there remains a faithful remnant.

Yes, God always has his faithful remnant. There will always be those who remain loyal and steadfast, people of courage and conviction who hold fast to faith and worship, men and women who are not afraid to stand up and be counted. These are the ones who will pass on their knowledge of God to present and future generations, who will be a means of bringing others to faith. Through them, people will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour; through them people will learn of life eternal.

The question is, will you and I be amongst that faithful remnant, or will we join the vast majority, and drift further and further away from God. If we remain loyal and steadfast, though we be few, God will make us into something beautiful, like the fine quality cloth at the end of the roll. We will be a church which brings glory to God. We will be a means of sharing his love and salvation with those who do not know him, and those who have somehow forgotten him long ago.

Yours in Christian love,

David

 

Our Minister, Rev’d Chris Pritchard, sends the following Message for the month of  April 2019 ….

Dear Friends,

I think September is a strange kind of month, let me explain what I mean. For children, parents and those working in education September marks the end of the summer as another school or college year begins. For some it is a nervous time bringing many changes. Each student enters a different year and gains a new teacher or perhaps there is a whole new school or college to go to. For some this is hard to deal with but for others it is exciting with the possibility of a fresh start with new friends to make and different things to learn. For the staff there is the return to school with new children to work with and that can be difficult as well. We must pray for all these people.

Of course it is not just in education where September is seen as the start of a new year. For us in the Methodist church we sometimes talk about September as the beginning of the new church year. It certainly is that for Helen Kirk who has just become the Chair of the Chester and Stoke-on-Trent District and for Deacon Shirley Hassall who has moved into our Circuit and begins her ministry with us on September 1st. I would ask you to remember both Helen and Shirley in your prayers as well.

I also know that some people think of September as the time when things start to get going again, projects can be started after the summer break and groups begin to meet once more. In the church we seem to be more active. I know when I look in my diary there are more meetings in September than there were in July and August.Please remember in your prayers all those activities that re-start in September and those who lead them.

Other people see September in a different way. I know some people who look forward to a holiday in September. While everyone else is getting back into things after the summer September can be a good time for a holiday. For most people however September isn’t that much different to March or November, to a lot of people September is just another month in the year. I am also aware that there will be some people who because of age or infirmity are not looking forward to September; indeed they may be finding it hard to look much beyond tomorrow. We pray for God’s healing, we pray for peace and we pray for hope for these people.

God Bless

Chris Pritchard

 

 

Our Link Minister, Rev’d David Spence, sends the following Message for the month of  July 2019 ….

Dear Friends,

When I first became a Minister in the United Reformed Church, my personal vision of the local church was that of an extended family. I pictured a small community of women, men and children, bound together by the love of God, and their love for one another. The Christian family I had in mind was an all inclusive family, one that embraced people of every age and all kinds of backgrounds, and which was always ready to welcome new members into its home. It was also a family that looked beyond its own home and had a genuine care for its neighbours and for the wider community, I still cling to that vision, and rejoice every time a church takes another step towards making it a reality.

Can I just share with you a few thoughts about the nature of a true family? Being a family is far more than possessing the same name and having the same address. Just because the electoral roll lists four people called Jones living at 46 Broadway Drive, that doesn’t mean they are a true family. They may hardly see one another, and have no life together at all. They may not even be on speaking terms, and their home may be completely devoid of any love and affection.

In contrast, a true family spends as much time as possible together, sharing day to day experiences, getting to know and understand one another better, growing in love. When there exists a healthy family relationship, they regularly share in meals and other activities. They have fun together, learn from one another, and grow together. When one of the family is worried or upset, the others give support and encouragement. If one is poorly, the others will look after them until they are better. When a family member is away, the others miss them, and long to have them back.

Now let me turn our thoughts to the church family. You and I may claim the same name, ‘Christian’, and look upon Castle Community Church, Beeston Street, Northwich as our spiritual address, but are we a real family? Do we spend enough time together, sharing our Christian Faith, and getting to know each member of our little community? Do we really worship together as a family, or do we just do our own private thing in our own little space. Do we care for each other? Do we try to learn from one another? Do we have fun together? Or is our commitment to ‘family life’ rather reluctant and half-hearted? What about when a family member is missing from our ‘family gatherings’? Do we notice, are we concerned, or do we not know our church family well enough to even notice.

I realise that these are difficult and searching questions. You may even feel uneasy about me raising the subject, but they are questions we need to address if we are going to build ourselves into a true Christian community in the years to come.

Within society, the last two generations have seen a disintegration of family life and a break up of close communities. This has led to a great deal of loneliness and isolation, unhappiness and loss of self-worth. There is more need than ever for the church to be a true family, a dynamic community of love and care.

So, next time you come to worship, or attend a function at church, look around at the church family. Try to get to know them. Spend a few moments chatting with them. Mix and mingle rather than staying with the folk you know well. Look out for the new faces and help them to feel at home. Be aware of those who are missing, especially if they struggle with poor health. A quick phone call to make sure they are all right shows them that you care. Do all that you can to help everyone to feel that they belong, and are a valued member of our Christian family.

Yours in Christian love,

David