Ebenezer Methodist Church | COVID-19: News on activities by our PIckles Team

Ebenezer will be re-starting their ‘Friends@4’ on 27th September with a family friendly Harvest themed service at 4 pm. We have a great story lined up and the crafts will be set up in individual packets in line with government advice for Covid-19 restrictions. Unfortunately we can't sing, but we can join in with the actions! Due to restrictions, we will not be having the usual meal after the service, but there will be an opportunity for continued fellowship with light refreshments in the Church.
All are very welcome , so please email Kirsty on k.lecouilliard@gmail.com to pre register if you would like to join us, as numbers are limited as per Government guidelines.

Pickles is reopening but due to new gov. restrictions, numbers are very limited. Our Hall & all equipment has had a deep clean to get ready.

Therefore our Community Worker has had to ask people to enrole for the first time ever.

We received this lovely thank you note from JYPA for using our church for their rehearsals in early summer.

During lockdown we had a good tidy up & found this old hymn book. ! Amazing how over 100 years later this is exactly the message TEAM EB, are aiming for during this pandemic. A ' Band of Hope', a message of hope & support for these difficult times in 2020.

BBC Radio Jersey interviewed our administrator Sunday 30th August on Generations, & how we were running the events/activities during lockdown.

AFTERNOON TEA FOR GENERATIONS August 2020: After all the social isolating it was lovely to be able to restart Generations with 30 special guests from around the island join us. Our first meeting since February!

JYPA- See poster below,This is their latest show. They used our church for rehearsals & some of us went to the performance last night. It was amazing, such talent in our young Jersey people. Because of Jersey Covid-19 restrictions only 40 people can attend each performance.
They hope to be able to run again later this year if our Arts Centre can open for business. Well worth going to see if they do again. Brilliant !

JERSEY YOUTH PERFOMERS ARTS (JYPA)- Parents, teachers and youth workers have come together to launch a new charity aimed at giving children access to the performing arts, regardless of their means or abilities.
Jersey Youth Performing Arts (‘JYPA’), is open to young enthusiastic islanders between the ages of nine and 18 who want to take to the stage or help behind the scenes.
JYPA also opes to provide young performers with a safe space where they can be themselves. “Quite often, particularly for the boys, they get teased or bullied because they are involved in performing arts. It’s great for them to have a room of people who are all interested in the same thing. They all have different backgrounds and experiences, but they all blend together.”
Sponsored by Ogier, the charity is run by a group of volunteers who include teachers, people who have been involved in youth work and parents. “We also have a special education needs teacher,” Rhona said.“In the future we would like to be able to expand so that we can have children of all abilities. The more we can build on the charity, the more audience we have, the more we will be able to do.”
In the future JYPA hopes to forge links with adult schools so that it can push its young performers towards the local adult clubs. “It’s the new generation,” Rhona said.

Sunday 9th August: Go to our LINKS folder, or Facebook page & view the children's craft activity in our on line cirucit service. Well worth a view!

Pickles activity box is still proving very popular, so will be stocked up throughout the summer holidays

GENERATIONS: We have now set a date for 'Afternoon Tea' in our church on Thursday 27th August from 3 pm. Our first get together since lockdown at the end of March. Photo of our Afternoon Tea in 2019 !

BBC Radio Jersey interview re. UK Web Archive at The British
Breakfast on BBC Radio Jersey - Matthew Price 26/07/2020 - BBC Sounds..... We have received a request from The British Library for permission to place our website in their archives for future posterity. This will be one example of how' churches' had to adapt & adopt new ways of doing things during Covid-19 crisis. 'The British Library would like to archive Ebenezer Jersey website in the UK Web Archive and to make it publicly available; under topic...'Independent & Free Churches or Jersey collection'. The UK Web Archive was established in 2004 to capture and archive websites from the UK domain and across the web, responding to the challenge of a digital black hole in the nations memory. It contains specially selected websites that represent different aspects of UK heritage on the web, as well as important global events. We work closely with leading international institutions to collect and permanently preserve the web, and the open UK Web Archive can be seen at http://www.webarchive.org.uk/'. BBC RADIO JERSEY- MATTHEW PRICE INTERVIEWED OUR ADMINISTRATOR DURING HIS SUNDAY FAITH PROGRAMME SLOT 26TH JULY 2020
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08km84s

14th July 2020: We have received a request from The British Library for permission to place our website in their archives for future posterity. This will be one example of how' churches' had to adapt & adopt new ways of doing things during Covid-19 crisis.

'The British Library would like to archive Ebenezer Jersey website in the UK Web Archive and to make it publicly available; under topic...'Independent & Free Churches' or our Jersey collection'.

The UK Web Archive was established in 2004 to capture and archive websites from the UK domain and across the web, responding to the challenge of a digital black hole in the nations memory.It contains specially selected websites that represent different aspects of UK heritage on the web, as well as important global events. We work closely with leading international institutions to collect and permanently preserve the web, and the open UK Web Archive can be seen at http://www.webarchive.org.uk/'.

GENERATIONS: No starting date as yet. However, we are planning an Afternoon Tea, perhaps towards the end of August with social distancing in church which has the space. Some of our loyal monthly guests are very keen to meet up & missing the group, & catch up on all their news. If you would like to join us please let Michael/Anne know please.

5th July: Praise be finally open for worship. The bunting that we flew on the front of our church during the early lockdown period was taken down on Monday.
We decided to leave it up to demonstrate that our church was indeed 'open' , supporting our young families & elderley folk around the island,even though the buildings themsleves were closed.

July 2020: We are delighted that Pickles annual 'Graduation' ceremony will take place again this year. But with restrictions this will be held at an outside venue & a much smaller gathering, with only those families with children graduating being able to attend.

June 2020: The Methodist Church London Media Office produce a quarterly magazine 'The Connexion' & this summer issue featured our intergenerational work. This magazine is circulated around the British Isles & to our global partners. Our article is towards the end of the magazine with stories from around the world.

Friday 5th June: Another Butterfly to add to our collection to wing out to our island community. More flying in !
See 7 beautiful butterflies in photos album - Pickles folder.

"Love is like a butterfly. It goes where it pleases and pleases wherever it goes".

Sunday 31st May: A thank you card from one of the ladies from Jersey Re-engage Group who comes to Generations.

FRIDAY 22ND MAY METHODIST RECORDER: The Methodist Recorder is an independent weekly newspaper that examines events and current affairs within the Methodist community in Britain and worldwide. It has been published continuously since 1861.

With the annual celebration of Aldersgate Sunday, please find attached a well-known quote from John Wesley, which is very appropriate in these times & with the community outreach work by our Pickles Team. ( Church service for Aldersgate Sunday 24th May can be viewed in our VIDEO folder)

This article has appeared in The Methodist Recorder a national newspapaer. Unfortunately, they have got the wrong island !!
The entire culture and lifestyle around the Methodist Church is a vibrant and uniquely beautiful culture. This weekly newspaper gives you the latest on big news and how the church responds to it, news about the Methodist church itself, and more! Buy a single copy or subscription to Methodist Recorder magazine.

Wednesday 20th May: PICKLES ACTIVITY BOX- NEW BITS + change of location.
Hi everyone, so I have given the Pickles Activity Box a revamp and it is now full of new exciting things to do, all connected with a very loose garden/outdoors theme. Feel free to pick it up and take it to your car for kids to have a rummage, just pls return it afterwards.I have been very aware that not all children enjoy art & craft and colouring, but it’s super tricky to provide other things in the box, so I have popped in a little wildlife scavenger hunt and a sheet with a few of my ideas for sensory play that you can do at home with stuff you already have. I am working on some other ideas too!And for those who do like it, there are also some lovely flower and mini beast colouring sheets (one folder suitable for over 5s and another for under 5s) and some really nice foldable ‘cards’ for sending a little love out into the world.
The last folder contains butterflies for our DESIGN A BUTTERFLY COMPETITION. Please get your children to decorate their butterflies using whatever they like, then write their name and age on the BACK in pencil and pop it through the church letterbox again. An external adjudicator will choose one winner from the under 5s and one from the 5 and overs and they will receive prizes!
The final day to give your butterflies in will be Friday 12th June.
That should be plenty to keep you nice and busy (and out in the sunshine) during half term.Stay safe, I miss you all! A xxx

Thank you note from one of our Generations ladies who comes to us from the Jersey branch of Re-engage. So sad that Nessie thinks we will meet soon! The loneliness felt by the elderly in our community is becoming more evident now lockdown continues for them.

Two more items of artwork, but this time by 2 young members of our 'church family' . Now have new owners & displayed on their window sill to brighten up each day.

Friday 16th May : Pauline who attends Generations is in hospital, over the weekend, so one of our young Pickles has prepared a Get Well card, See below.

Thursday 14th May: EXCITING NEW PROJECT ALERT! Some of you may know Amy has a brother who runs his own media company in the UK, and he has said that he will edit together for her our very own, super professional Pickles Music Video!!!
We are going to create a video montage of our Pickles, Pickles Plussers and their family members (yes Mums, this means you too) making some shapes and generally doing some awesome dancing to the timeless classic that is ‘Wiggle wiggle Freeze,’!
Now before you go digging out your leg warmers and setting up your tripod, tomorrow I will be posting the ‘rules’ for making your family’s video, so please wait and read them first. In the mean time you could get downloading the ‘New Wine’ version of ‘The Wiggle Song’ which is the one we use at Pickles. You can get it on either iTunes or Spotify. Then watch this space for more info... 🎶😆🎶

Sunday 10th May 2020: Amongst the recipients of the artwork of PICKLES @ EBENEZER is Nessie of St Helier.
She loves the inspiring rainbows etc from the children and wishes the children to know just how much their artwork lifts her patio and indeed her day.

VE Day Friday 8th May 2020: JEP article on 'virtual' Liberation Day service Sat 9th May.

The Methodist Podcast The Methodist Church Subscribe A series of weekly podcasts considering the life of the Methodist Church in Britain

Available episodes ON GOOGLE PODCASTS . In the latest episode (16) our Administrator was interviewed about our community outreach work. Starts 4 minutes into the recording.

Monday 1st May 2020: Dear Mike,Thank you very much for your email and photographs.We will have a look on the website and add the content to our web collections for the 'social history record ' during Covid-19 2020.
Kind regards, Linda Romeril
Archives and Collections Director / Directrice ès Archives et Collections. JERSEY HERITAGE

Pouor achteu en travas en cârr'rie siez mé / Currently working remotely from home. Jersey Archive, Clarence Road, St Helier, Jersey JE2 4JY

LIBERATION 75 WEEKEND: These are 2 flags drawn by S & E for us to post to all our special friends of EB. & church community.

Saturday 2nd May 2020 : JEP article in their section Jersey Together Community Noticeboard.

COVID-19. SUNDAY WORSHIP & other resources for this pandemic:
Broadcast service for Sunday mornings. USE THE LINK BELOW: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLapCu7RqUoebklgouaAkDA • The service will be recorded weekly by a rota of ministers • The service will be available to view from Sunday mornings on our own Youtube channel. Just click into www.youtube.com and search Methodist Circuit Jersey UK • Alternatively the link will also be available on the Circuit website home page hand the Circuit Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Jersey-Methodist-Circuit • The order of service is attached if you would like to follow it • If you ‘subscribe’ you will probably get notification when another video has been added to the channel and you will be able to see previous services and other material which we are downloading • It is still early days for our broadcasting initiative but any constructive comments would be warmly welcomed • For our members who are ‘off-line’ we will be posting out hard copies of the order of service. Please let me know of anyone who you think would appreciate a copy.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLapCu7RqUoebklgouaAkDA

Big thanks to the lovely people at Jersey Post. Amy cheekily asked if we could give a home to any of their gorgeous postcards that they had left over and these arrived in the post yesterday. They are now in another folder in the Pickles activity box! 😍🌈👍😀☀️

Wednesday 29th April: Introducing...the Pickles Activity Box!
This will live outside the back door of church until things go back to normal and I will fill it with fun things for you guys to do. At the moment it contains sunflower seeds (both giant ones for people with gardens and mini ones that you can grow on a windowsill or balcony) and pots to grow them in - once enough people have picked them up I will start a sunflower growing competition - prizes for both the tallest and the most beautiful sunflowers.
There are also 4 folders of colourings: 1) Jersey flags, 2) Jersey maps, 3) a variety of positivity colourings and 4) a variety of colourings for younger children.
Please go any time and help yourself to things that will help to entertain your small people at home.
Please use the hand gel and wipes provided in order to keep everyone safe!

Monday 27th April 2020- Friends@4 update:Kirsty will send out a craft pack to all our Friends @ 4 children. Our theme for April would have been Jonah and the Whale and she has a couple of simple crafts that could easily be done at home, along with a picture to colour suitable for our wide age range.Kirsty will get the packs all organized this week and get them posted out..
Amy doing some Liberation craft to P and P+. She will leave a box outside Church, with wipes and gel. It will be a colour sheet , flag and maps.
Amy will also do a sunflower competition, we will supply pots & seeds, some for outside growing & miniture for those growing on window sills..
Flags for our members & friends of EB. discussed and agreed that we copy the children's drawings, one or 2 which will have a message on. (E and S)

MONDAY 27th APRIL: As you may know we were all asked if we could fly flags from our buildings if we can, to raise people’s spirits during Covid-19.We were going to have a service of celebration & thanksgiving on VE Day 8^th May ,& to also Inc. our usual 9^th May Liberation Service.So we’ve been busy at EB . & decorated our church to cover both the request & for next week’s Liberation 75 weekend.The porch bunting forms an inverted V for victory , which was used during Occupation & at Liberation.

Friday 24th April: 'PICKLES VILLAGE TEAM': If there is anyone who would like to have a new pen pal & especially those of you who come to Generations & know one of the children.Then if you would like to have a child pen pal (as we’re trying to build meaningful relationships), please let Michael know if you would like to join in.Joyce and Federico (‘a little friend from Generations’) have started the ball rolling already.
We cannot do this for loads of people. We have about 15 children who want to do it, maybe a few more, this is more about building something deep and important for those we think would really benefit.
Hope you all like the idea, I am hoping maybe we could do a meet up of all the pen pals when this is all over.

Wednesday 22nd April:A retired activity instructor is climbing the world’s highest mountain during lockdown to raise money to support vulnerable islanders through the virus crisis...using ladders in his garden.
Peter Picot (64), a member of Ebenezer M C is aiming to climb 1,000 metres per day until he reaches the equivalent height of Mount Everest – 8,848 metres.He's hoping the challenge will raise £850 for the Salvation Army, which recently set up a food bank - and, not long after starting, he's already more than three quarters of the way towards his fundraising goal."It should take around 9 to 10 days in total, but it depends how my legs hold out. I may need to do smaller daily climbs, but it will be done!" Peter told Express.The idea for the challenge arose when he was climbing up and down a ladder to do odd jobs around the house during isolation.

Pictured: Peter Picot climbed 1,204 metres in 2 hours 10 minutes on the first day of his challenge. As a semi-retired outdoor activity and ski instructor, the concept that climbing the ladder was 'like climbing a mountain' came to mind."I did some mathematics and decided I could ladder up Everest."Mr Picot originally set his fundraising target at £250, but in just two days donations surpassed his goal on his JustGiving page.He has since had to increase his target many times in response to the generous donations, which have come from as far as Singapore.
So far over £1,600 amazing result. to support the "brilliant" efforts of the Salvation Army during the pandemic."The Salvation Army are doing fantastic work supporting the vulnerable people in the community at this time. They deserve our support," Peter said.
CLICK HERE to donate.
NEWS CENTRE
All the latest news from the Salvation Army, UK breadcrumb navigation: HOME / / PETER CLIMBS EVEREST DURING LOCKDOWN FOR THE SALVATION ARMY, JERSEY
22 April 2020You are here: Peter climbs Everest during lockdown for The Salvation Army, JERSEY

Peter climbing Everest

A Jersey man has been scaling new heights during the lockdown and climbing Everest - without leaving his garden, to raise money for The Salvation Army’s coronavirus relief work.Retired policeman and grandfather of three Peter Picot is climbing the height of tallest mountain in the world up his ladder - almost 9,000 meters, for ‘Peter’s Ladder Up Everest Challenge’.The 64-year-old has been climbing a kilometre -that’s 1,000 meters, every day and said the idea for his Salvation Army fundraiser came to him when he was clearing his gutters one day.
“I wanted to fundraise for a charity that is supporting the covid-19 crisis. I chose The Salvation Army because they are doing fantastic work to support the vulnerable in our community at this time and they deserve our support”, said Peter. Peter’s original plan for his Salvation Army fundraiser was to collect £250 for our church and charity which has a centre on Minden Street in St Helier.But thanks to the support of his friends, family and well-wishers he is now on course to reaching £2,250 for The Salvation Army’s covid-19 relief work.
“I originally set my target at £250 and thought I’d be lucky to get to £500, but I’ve reached that target several times since then due to people’s generosity. I couldn’t have done it without my sons Iain and Richard who put it on social media and it’s brilliant that so many people have decided to donate to The Salvation Army – it’s really helps me to push through when I’m going up and down the ladder.”
Peter will be completing his ‘Peter’s Ladder Up Everest Challenge’ on Thursday 23 April at which point he will be planting a Jersey flag on the summit (his roof). You can support him by donating at his Just Giving pagehttps://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Peter-Picot

Sunday 20th: Our 3rd 'virtual bible study' seesion since lockdown, led by Rev Derek. Screen shot of some of the faces joining us .All of us embracing new technology to carry on our church life in these difficult times. We even had 1 very special friend of EB. join us from Scotland !

Saturday 18th April: Our group working like a 'factory' producing more items. This time for our Jersey Nightingale Hospital & Capt. Tom !
Hi guys, a couple of things to keep you busy this weekend. One is making colourful artwork, and then emailing a photo or a scan of it to the company fitting out the Jersey Nightingale hospital.
The deadline to do this is Sunday at 6 p.m., hence why I’m posting now.
The other is making a 100th birthday card for the wonderful Captain Tom Moore. His birthday is at the end of the month and the address to send it to is in the photo below.🌈❤️

Tuesday 14th April: A member of the public passing our church took thsi picture !

Mum wanted you and the Ebenezer team to know that she loves her pictures from the children and they are up for her to look at.

.... xx

The lady who recieved this envelope has major health issues & one of many we included in our distribution.

Wednesday 8th April: This a small example of the wonderful work that our Pickles Village Team have created over the last 10 days. It has been in 72 hours quarantine , ready to post to our young families & senior folk in our 'church family', other freinds of EB. ,& also our very special guests who attend Generations

Our Leadership Team gave some thought of how we would celebrate Easter during this national emergency.
So an EB. Team effort & social distancing !
The cross was put in our church porch for the first time ever on a Good Friday . Ebenezer is on a main road in Jersey, so quite a lot of traffic pass by.
This is to remind us all of the sacrifice our dear Lord made that first Good Friday.

But also in this crisis to remind us all of the sacrifice our health workers here & globally, & all essential workers are making to support us all.

Then we decorated our cross as usual for Easter . And in this crisis shining out with light, love & hope for this Easter message

Hymn ' Father I place into your hands.'..... this is a hymn that Anne, Rosemary & Mike use the first 2 verses as a PRAYER

Father, I place into your hands, The things I cannot do.
Father, I place into your hands, The things that I've been through.
Father, I place into your hands,The way that I should go,
For I know I always can trust You.

Father, I place into your hands, My friends and family.
Father, I place into your hands,The things that trouble me.
Father, I place into your hands, The person I would be.
For I know I always can trust You.

Bible verses: In these very difficult times if you would like to read from the bible,
we suggest these short readings………… John 14 verse 27,
& also, 1 Peter 5: 7 John 3: 16 2 Timothy 4:17

There are 4 ways to access our weekly Sunday morning broadcast from SHMC: The first is the easiest:

www.Jerseymethodist.org.uk and click into the pale blue News circle for the link to the broadcast and also the order of service

www.youtube.com then ‘Methodist Circuit Jersey UK’ for our own channel. You will also see other services and videos which we post

Lord Jesus Christ, you taught us to love our neighbour, and to care for those in need as if we were caring for you.
In this time of anxiety, give us strength to comfort the fearful, to tend the sick, and to assure the isolated of our love and your love, for your name’s sake. Amen. ( Supplied by The Anglican Dean of Jersey )

With Easter this weekend, we want to get the message far and wide that the Church is here for the nation. This Easter we are asking 1000 UK Church leaders to publicly commit to supporting their local communities, to bring a message of hope, so that no-one will be alone, without the help they need, during the COVID-19 crisis.
We are working with press and media to publish this pledge this weekend.
Our pledge: Our nation is suffering. This crisis is causing hardship for many millions of individuals and families across the UK. Daily life is out of balance.
In the last weeks, millions of people across the UK have participated in online church services and more will take part this weekend. Churches have been providing food and essentials, caring for the isolated and the lonely, and offering counselling and practical support for those in need. While our buildings may be closed, our churches are open for business. This is our pledge as church leaders across the UK.
We are committed to playing our role, alongside other groups, institutions and organisations, to bring much needed hope to our communities in the weeks & years ahead..

For those who need help with food, medicine and essential supplies, or simply want someone to talk to on the phone or online:

We are here for you
For those struggling with anxiety and bereavement or who need help and advice on finance, employment or other challenging issues:

For those working on the frontline, fighting COVID-19 and sustaining our essential public services:

For those serving in national or local government who are looking for organisations that can lend their staff, volunteers, buildings and assets to support our national effort to beat this disease:

Whatever the future holds, churches in the UK stand ready, willing and able to serve.
We are praying for our country and our communities, and committed to caring for our neighbours in days and years to come.

An intercessory prayer
You call us to speak to you in prayer– even when the places we would usually go to are not available.
Help us to know you Spirit’s presence wherever we pray.
Today we especially pray for those who are living in fear – give them your strength.
For those who have not yet realised the urgency of the situation – protect them, and all of us from harm.
Today I especially want to pray for …….
In the name of Jesus. Amen

CRISIS APPEALS: we are still receiving appeals for food &/ or cash to help those in our local community, who will now find themselves in desperate circumstances. If anyone can offer help let me know & I can send you the emails with all the necessary info. on

OUR PICKLES VILLAGE LOGO.
Below is some of the artwork that our Pickles Village Team have been creating to send to our 'church families' & other friends of EB.

COVID-19: News on activities by our PIckles Team

COVID-19.News on activities by our Pickles Village Team & also church news, bibl