The Tuesday Afternoon Fellowship , by Rene Fox

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As its name implies, this is a weekly meeting held on Tuesdays at 2.00pm in Room 5, to which everyone who cares to come and join us is very welcome. I'd like to try to give you a little picture of what this meeting is about and how we try to reach out to each other in love and fellowship, thus extending the blessings we receive through our Church and its ministry to the Knutsford Community.

The Fellowship started its life during the 2nd World War. In 1943 Mrs. Daintree, wife of the then Minister of the Church, together with a few ladies, including Mrs Davies (Cynthia's mother), started the meeting as part of the movement in the Methodist Church to set up these groups of women meeting regularly with defined Christian aims in fellowship meetings. We were therefore, for many years, 'The Women's Fellowship'. But by the time we celebrated the Diamond Jubilee in 2003 we were an 'open meeting', having changed the name in the year 2000 to indicate that men would be very welcome to join us. This was largely due to the efforts of Mary Maddock and since that time we have almost always had a few men in the Fellowship. At the moment we have two valued members and, from time to time, one or two husbands accompanying their wives. Peter, our accountant, together with Barbara are counted as members and friends.

Because we meet weekly, we are able to have a very varied programme with many different speakers, who Lesley, our Speakers Secretary, arranges to visit us. Many of the speakers are suggested by the members and about a third of them come from our own Church; members whose talents and hobbies are very wide-ranging. Our Minister, Paul, visits us six or seven times a year and these include a lovely Communion Service every February in our own Room and three special Services in Church when we celebrate Harvest, Christmas and Holy Week. Besides other devotional talks, other subjects covered in our last session included bee-keeping, the work of a Children's Hospice, travel and drama, painting, an anthology of words and music and an inspirational talk by Dr Barbara Phillips on her work for and with mothers and babies in

the Gambia. The representative of the Leprosy Mission is invited every year and his visits are usually in early November so that we can purchase Christmas cards and other beautifully produced gifts. He puts on an excellently produced visual programme. The monthly programme is shown in the Weekly Diary in 'Open Doors' and visitors are most welcome to join us when they would like to.

We enjoy our tea-time after the meeting and a good chat with our friends and we are great at putting on parties! We hold a New Year's Party soon after Christmas when we bring lovely things to eat and share together and are entertained often by a Church member. Other memorable parties, besides the Diamond Jubilee, include one in 2008 when four members celebrated their 80th birthdays together, and in 2009 when three 90 year-olds celebrated with us all. We are obviously a slightly older age-group than some in the Church!

However, when we had an 'Open' Meeting recently, many members said how much they'd enjoyed the Chair Aerobics led by Rosemary Johnson and indicated they'd like more – Rosemary watch out! And this was after many had partaken of the dinner downstairs in the Hall! At the 'Open' Meeting members were also encouraged to say where they would like some of their Weekly Offerings to go to, after our obvious obligations were met. During the session from September 2009 to the end of June 2010 over £900 was given to Charities, some of which had provided us with speakers during the session. We also sent over £300 to the Leprosy Mission during this period - the proceeds of the little collecting boxes held by a number of members individually and emptied twice a year. All this is regarded as Outreach; we can give and we can pray – and do.

None of this really gives the 'flavour' of the meeting. The talks form the focal point of each meeting but there is always a considerable devotional element; I sometimes wonder if the meeting in Room 6 can hear themselves above our rousing hymns. We share news of one another and pray for individuals and situations. Needs are passed on to Paul and Alison if they don't already know but we also share the caring between us. The members are the contacts and they let the President

and Ministry Team know also.

Birthday cards are sent to all members and 'special' birthdays are marked by gifts of plants or flowers. We sing 'The Lord bless you and keep you' instead of 'Happy Birthday'.

Some of our members no longer get to a place of Worship on Sundays but while they can get to the Fellowship, they don't miss out on their worship besides enjoying fellowship and fun together.