MCC Manchester News

Our next social event is on Saturday 10th May and is going to be fun!  We’ve booked a lovely room at Sedgley Park Police College where we are going to show Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 film “The 10 Commandments” and have a buffet meal together as well.

The film stars Charlton Heston as Moses and Yul Brynner as Rameses and is almost four hours long so we will break at half time for the food.  The college really are excellent at catering and we hope you enjoy this afternoon and evening – and bring your friends along too!

The cost is £10 but we don’t want to exclude anyone on the grounds of cost and have a few half price places.  Please sign up with Elen or contact the Pastor for details of time and venue (0161 249 0649) if you wish to come – we’ll collect money on the day.

We are having an evening for anyone who has started to attend recently.  This will be on Tuesday 29th January, at 8pm.  It is an evening designed to give information about MCC and to help us get to know each other a bit better.  Let Andy know if you plan to come along. 

On Saturday 8th December we are off to York for the day for a wander around the shops and minster. York is a wonderful medieval city with excellent restaurants and marvellous history. We will meet at Piccadilly train station on Saturday morning and travel up to York on the train. Please sign up in church, or email me back if you wish to come.

On Sunday 9th we have our Annual General Meeting and Christmas meal together at Sedgley Park centre in Prestwich. The meal costs £18, and you need to book! Neil will also sing some of his own songs to us after the meal.

On Monday 10th we are going to the Manchester Hospitals’ Carol Concert at the Bridgewater Hall. This raises money for the Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund and is a wonderful evening of music where we join in with many of the carols. Prices are £15. Sign up in church or email me to let you know if you are interested, if so we will book tickets.

After Christmas on 27th December we are off to the Bridgewater Hall again for the “Last Night of the Christmas Proms” this is a wonderful mixture of music from a range of classical sources. Tickets start at £17.50 and the concert starts at 7.30pm. Ian and I will offer a light tea that afternoon for anyone who wants to come round before the concert. Please either sign up or email me to say you are interested, and we will then book tickets.

Our Emmaus Group starts a new programme on Thursday 29th November.

The Emmaus Group is a small group of people who meet together every other week to pray, study the scriptures and get to know each other better.

In September and October they looked at Prayer using the Lord’s Prayer as a model, and after a short break, they are now going to look at the Old Testament (in three sessions!) to get a rough idea of the general sweep of history of the Old Testament and some of its key characters.  The Old Testament was the Bible that Jesus and the disciples knew and is the Bible of the Jewish people today.  These three sessions will help us get to know the history of the Old Testament better and cover the following areas:

Thursday 29th November     From Abraham to Joshua

Thursday 13th December      From Joshua to the Exile

Thursday 17th January         From the Exile to St John the Baptist.

Then on 31st January we will start a brief overview of the New Testament.

The group usually meets at Margaret and Gwen’s home in Altrincham, but this week will meet at Sue’s home nearby.  If you wish to come, and need directions, please email Margaret and Gwen on migwy4@ntlworld.com.

With much love

Andy

Each year we have our Annual General Meeting on the second Sunday of Advent whilst St Chrysostom’s host the Victoria Park Carol Service.  This year our AGM falls on Sunday 9th December.  We will, therefore, NOT be serving refreshments after church on that Sunday.  Instead we will travel to Sedgley Park Police College in Prestwich (lifts available) for a Christmas Dinner, AGM and concert from Neil.  The cost for the meal is £18 (unwaged £10) but we don’t want to exclude anyone on the grounds of cost.  Please use the bookings forms and return this with your payment to Andy.

Next Sunday, 18th November, after worship we are going to share a meal together at Croma in Chorlton.  This is a lovely Italian restaurant.  We can offer lifts as well - if you want to come please let me know so we can book a table.

On Friday some of us are off to a social at the Irish Club in Chorlton in aid of our friends at the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit.  It costs £5 to get in, there will be food, a chance to get to know each other better and dancing!  Let Andy know if you want to come and we will send you details of where the club is.

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to announce that a new mid-week group starts in September.  It is a group which will meet in Margaret and Gwen’s home in Altrincham and is called an “Emmaus Group”. 

Some of the first disciples came to faith in the Risen Lord when walking to the village of Emmaus one evening.  As they journeyed together they met Jesus and grew in their understanding of the faith.   Our new Emmaus Group will allow us to grow in faith and meet the Risen Jesus as we journey together. 

We will meet every other Thursday from 13th September  in Altrincham—just 8 miles south of the City Centre. 

Our first series of studies is about Growing in Prayer and will look at different methods and understandings of prayer and include practical help and  encouragement for each of us as we learn to pray more deeply.   This four session course is based on the Lord’s Prayer. 

Course Outline

• 13th September     Our Father in Heaven….
• 27th September     Your Kingdom Come….
• 11th October          Give us this day….
• 25th October        Yours is the Kingdom……

If you are interested in coming along please get more details from Margaret and Gwen or email me back (revandy@mccmanchester.co.uk) and I will pass your details onto them.

With every good wish,
Andy

Those of you who use the Facebook social networking site on the web might like to know that there is now a Metropolitan Community Church group which you can join.

On your Facebook home page, just enter Metropolitan Community Church in the ‘Search’ box, click on the ‘Groups’ tab when the results appear, and then click on ‘Join this group’.

As well as designating particular members of the group as your specific ‘friends’, you can contribute to ongoing discussions, or even start a new discussion thread of your own.

(To sign up to Facebook as a new member, just go to http://www.facebook.com and create a profile about yourself and your interests.)

Happy networking,
Philip
MCCM Webmaster 

On Sunday 29th July, after church, we are going into the Gay Village for a Chinese Meal together at Shanghai on Whitworth Street.

In August we are organising an MCC Mini Break in Northumbria together – details are on a separate posting.

In September we meet for lunch on Sunday 2nd at Sheer Khan in Curry Mile and then have a wander around Victoria Baths – these are close to church and won the first Restoration programme on TV.  The work is ongoing on these historic baths and they are well worth a visit.  We will come from the Baths on to Church. 

On the 29th September we are planning a day together in York.  We will travel up on the train, have a wander around the shops, have some lunch and attend Choral Evensong in the beautiful York Minister.  York is a wonderful medieval city and is well worth seeing. 

The Lesbian Community Project in Manchester offer lots of different activities.  They have:

• a discussion group on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at the L&G Centre on Sydney Street,
• the NW Older Lesbian Network meets on the 1st Saturday,
• Stepping Stones (at the LGF) for women new to the area, coming out, or coming out of a relationship on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday,
• as well as a football team! 
• They also run a walking group. 

More details from Lisa on 273 7128.

We are planning a church mini-break to the Lindisfarne area in Northumberland between 8th and 12th August. So far 13 people have booked to come for some or all of the time.

The beauty of the break is that it is entirely up to you for how long you come and join us for. Some are coming for the entire period (Weds evening – Sunday morning) others are coming just from Friday evening until Sunday, others still are coming Weds – Friday.

All you need to do is book your accommodation and let Andy know that you are coming and where you are staying. We hope to meet up with friends from MCCs Edinburgh and Newcastle on the Saturday as we explore Lindisfarne together. 

Accommodation is booking up fast in the area – it is prime tourist season after all - so if you are wanting to come please book quickly, and let Andy know where you are staying (this makes planning our activities easier). Harry is intending to camp on a nearby campsite. He has a huge tent which will easily take five or six people and is happy to share. The site only charges £6 per night per tent so this is a very inexpensive way to join us.

We can arrange lifts for people to and from the campsite too, and should be able to arrange transport up to Northumbria as well.