A letter from Jo Dolman

Dear ALL at Halmer End

How are you all? How are the celebrations going? WOW where has that year gone!!!
I moved to Yorkshire a year ago yesterday and what a year it has been. The start of new groups, challenges, excitement and growth.

Over the summer holidays, I have been involved in:-
- 'family fun days' where we have seen over 40 families come in spending time together making items out of lego or boxes and playing games together, including refreshments, plus a family film afternoon which is coming up next week
- 3 holiday clubs all scripture union based – 'Going bananas', 'Guardians of Ancora' and the one I organised and led which was 'Mega makers'. These are all well supported both by helpers and children.
- I have also done the administration and organised the planning meetings and updated risk assessments etc.

I am forward to September to new groups happening monthly to start. I am starting a drop-in once a month on Friday nights for 11-16s and a youth fellowship group once a month on Sunday evenings.

I am also holding a 15+ film night in September – unsure of the film yet though – this helps with the family side of my role.

We have a new minister joining us this September, Barbara Fairburn, from another circuit within our district and we have had 2 leave 1 a deacon and 1 a minister to pastures new.
It has been great to see and hear from you all. Great to see how Ryan is getting on with his course – which brings me to say I too have been put forward to do the whole local preaching course (not only the worship leaders bit), which is exciting and I had my first assessed whole service a couple of Sundays ago which went down great – fantastic feedback too. I am doing the assignments as we go along with each module. I am currently on module 2:2 but will soon be at a speedier pace come Thursday – so hoping I will fit it in.

For those on Facebook you can follow (if you would like to what I'm doing) on either my facebook wall or Silsden Methodist or Airedale Methodist circuit.

But to end I do miss you all and thank you for your support and continually pray for you and ask about how things are going.

God bless

Jo Dolman