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Shelley’s News – 6 June

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Dear friends
 
We look forward to continuing to look at Pentecost and the character of Peter at all age café church on Sunday. We start at 11am so make sure you come a bit beforehand to pick up your breakfast snacks and drinks.
 
Rock Solid youth groups meet again 7-8pm in the church building, that includes both age groups. Looking forward to seeing you all there.
 
Throughout the week we have a number of house groups, plus all the usual groups that meet in the church each week. If you would like a reminder about what happens in the building, you can pick up a leaflet in the foyer or contact Lesley in the office if you want to go on the email list. Also check out the website www.moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk or follow us on facebook.
 
Having said that Lesley our administrator is not in the office this week so she will respond to emails and/or messages when she comes back. In the meantime, do get in touch with myself or a deacon or the group leader if you know who they are.
 
Here’s what’s coming up in the week!
 
Monday 8th June 10-12 Beacon warm welcome café for all. Food pantry available. The Big Lunch! 12pm-1pm after Beacon Café, inviting people of all faiths and none to share lunch and get to know each other a bit more. Lunch is free, invite your friends. If you are working that day but can nip out for lunch in the middle of the day then do come along, you don’t need to have been at Beacon.  Do pray too that God will help build relationships and an openness to each other.
 
Stepping Stones take a break this week as some of the leaders are away.  The group begins again on the 16th June.
 
Tuesday 9th June bible study 1.00 – 2.30pm in church. See Howard D or Lesley for more information.
 
2.30/2.40pm Mission group in the music room following the Bible study. More information for Phil C or Shelley.
 
Deacons meeting 7.30pm in the music room.
 
Wednesday 10th June Lunch Club for those booked on and the volunteer team. Talk to Rachel B for more information or if you would like a place or want to help.
 
Wednesday 10th June Bible Study in the Music Room at 7.30pm.  Speak to Shelley this week for more information.
 
Thursday 11th June Craft group warm welcome space 2.00 – 4.00pm. All welcome to come along and chat, volunteer, make something or learn a new skill – speak to
Karen for more information.
 
Thursday 11th June Bible Study in the Music Room 7.00pm – 9.00pm Speak to Gareth or John C.
 
Friday 12th June Bible Study in the Music room 10.00 – 11.00am speak to Shelley for more information.
 
Friday 12th June Parkinson’s Exercise Class in the church building 6.30 – 7.30pm. Speak to Phil Commons or Lesley for more information.
 
Sunday 14th June service at 11am with group for our younger friends to explore the theme creatively. Rock Solid Youth groups in the evening 7-8pm.
 
Wednesday 17th June house group with Diane S.  Talk to Diane S for more information.
 
Remember the Gardening Day on the 20th June, all welcome (children need to be supervised by an adult but are very welcome)
 
Baptist Missionary Society are putting on a zoom webinar on the 10th June on Mission and Community.  “Want to see your church and your local community thrive and flourish alongside one another? This webinar will give you a taste of some of the tools being used by Christians across the globe to generate real change that starts within church families and ripples outwards” Click on the link below to find out more click here https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/cb8c065c-6965-4318-aae4-517ae4896be9@c8ac5271-dd2a-4ca8-b49a-eedecec8f9dc
 
The next whole church meeting will be after the service on July 5th.  All welcome.
 
Outdoor community event hosted by Alwoodley Parish Council on Alwoodley Village Green (where we held our Easter outdoor worship) on 21st June 2026 1pm-5pm.  The Manhattan Sound Big Band who will be playing from 2:30 – 4:30. They said…”Bring a picnic, bring your family and friends, meet new people, enjoy the live band and discover the amazing community groups that help make Alwoodley a great place to live.  This year we are also celebrating Leeds 400 which marks the moment that Leeds became a city so this is a way to get involved and find out more about our city and Alwoodley.
 
We are looking at how we engage with communities around us in relation to the Leeds 400 events. We’ll keep in touch.
Thanks to those who have offered to help with the alpha course after we mentioned it at the last church meeting. There will be more information coming out in the next two weeks for those interested in helping.
 
Also more information coming up next week about our Sunday themes over the next few weeks.
 
“The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off…” (Acts 2:39)
 
In Christ
 
Shelley
Minister
Moortown Baptist Church

Gareth lines up for another super human challenge

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Nine years ago, on the same day that the ITU World Triathlon Series hit Leeds, Gareth Davies, a member here at Moortown and also Chair of the Leeds and Moortown Furniture Store took part in a slightly less exhausting challenge called The Sprint Triathlon, which was made up of a mere 1500 meter swim in Roundhay Park Lake, a 20km bike ride and finally a 7.5km run.  

Well this Sunday, that’s June 7th, Gareth is at it again only this time the event takes place in Chester. In essence The Deva Centurion 100k is pretty similar to the 2017 event in that it’s a 2km swim, a 80km bike ride and a 18km run but on this occasion Gareth is swimming, riding and running in aid of one of MBC’s most respected home grown projects: The Leeds and Moortown Furniture Store. 

There’s a copy of a Facebook post below that the Store’s General Manager Rachel Dodson is using to publicise the event, so should you be so inclined, the link you will need to sponser Gareth is right HERE 

What Matters… fifteen years on and we take a look back on one of MBC’s most wide ranging projects

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Fifteen years ago MBC mounted one of the most challenging projects in its then fifty six year history. It was called What Matters and it ran between Friday the 16th and Sunday the 19th of September 2011.

The object of the initiative was to ask not just the people we knew but local school children, churches and community groups to show and tell what matters to them. 

After weeks of planning and prayer the result was an art installation of more than three hundred photographs which ran the height and width of the sactuary, alongside ten display boards that between them explored the myriad themes their captions revealed.  

Without doubt, however, the longest lasting legacy of What Matters is The Wall. 

Still there in our Sports Hall, what you see on The Wall is what you get when you ask forty or so teenagers to show you what matters to them. The answers, from clean running water to ten pin bowling, and from family and friends to recognising national flags was an illuminating insight into what they truly felt. 

The next time you’re in church, why not pop into the Sports Hall and have a look at The Wall for yourself. And if you’ve got time, pause and look carefully at each of the painted breeze blocks and ask yourself what if anything has changed. 

Oh and while you’re there you might like to take a minute or two to try and fathom out where the letters that make up the WHAT MATTERS headline came from. 

But if you haven’t, don’t worry, here are the answers… WHAT MATTERS is made up of…

W = Waitrose

H = Homebase

a = Manning Stainton Estate Agents

t = Comet

M = Metro

a = a long gone Chinese takeaway on Stonegate Road

TT = Netto (in the Meanwood Shopping precinct 

ER = letters taken from Marks and Spencer at Moortown

And S = Sainsburys

MBC’s garden is taking shape, but there’s still more to do

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I don’t know if you have noticed, but the area around our paved garden has undergone a quite major renovation. As you can see from the picture above weeds have been dug out, bushes have been trimmed and new plants planted.

However, that doesn’t mean that we no longer need your help which means that the garden makeover day planned for Saturday June 20th between 10am and 1pm is still on.

If you can come along that would be great, and if you could bring your own tools that would be even better as to be honest our selection of spades, forks and hoes etc is quite limited. 

Who, what, where and when? A guide to all that’s happening here at MBC in 2026

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www.moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk 

Following Jesus and serving the community

Lasting for just over an hour our Sunday Service starts in church and on YouTube at 11am. The first Sunday of each month is Café Church and on the third Sunday we celebrate Communion.

An important part of our weekly worship is Sunday School. Here a small group of young children learn all about Jesus and the love of God.

Rounding off Sunday we have Rock Solid. Meeting between 7 & 8pm and majoring around having fun, Rock Solid regularly sets our teenagers some serious and not so serious challenges and tasks.

Monday…    Our free Warm Space Beacon Café, 10am to 12noon.

Tuesday…    Stepping Stones, a toddler group 10 to 11.30am.

Tuesday…   The first of our Housegroups, only this one is in church between 12noon and 2pm.

Wednesday… 10.30am – 2pm. Lunch Club, games, quizzes and always a hearty lunch for our seniors.

Wednesday… 7.30 to 9.30pm. Our hybrid Housegroup. With half the group meeting at church and the other half online.

Wednesday…  7.30pm – 9.30ish. Ladies Housegroup in the comfort of someone’s home.

Wednesday…  7.30 to 9pm. Country Dancing.

Thursday…      2pm to 4. Open Door Craft Group. Our second Warm Space of the week. No experience needed, Free refreshments and always lots of chat.

Thursday…      7pm to 9pm. Bible Study, in church.

Friday…           10am to 11am. A second Bible Study, again in church.

Friday…           And finally, between 8pm – 10pm, another Housegroup, again in someone’s home.

In addition to all this we also host or provide a Pastoral Team, which without overstepping the mark provides confidential support to anyone who needs it, we host a Parkinson’s Exercise Class, two Extend Exercise Classes (ideal for our older friends), Pilates, Pathways, a Christian Counselling team, Leeds and Moortown Furniture Store, PACT (Neighbourhood Policing Teams) and local councillor surgeries. In addition, and particularly at certain times of the year we host special Services such as those associated with Easter, Nativities, Christingles, Baptisms, Mission weekends etc. etc.

For more information about Moortown Baptist Church please email

 admin@moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk

Moortown Baptist Church. 204 King Lane, Leeds LS17 7AA

www.moortownbaptistchurch.org.uk

Shelley’s news for week commencing Sunday 31 May

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Dear friends

We continue to explore Pentecost tomorrow and at café church on the 7th June.  We’ll be considering some of the things Peter says in Acts and see what we can learn through his experiences with the help of the Holy Spirit!

There will be no Rock Solid youth groups tomorrow night but it will be on again on the 7th June.  Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Thanks to all those who came to activities last week including housegroups, the paint your own psalms, PACT meeting and craft group.  If you would like a reminder about what happens in the building, you can pick up a leaflet in the foyer.  Or, do email Lesley at admin@moortownbaptistchurch.org,uk if you want to go on the email list, check out the website www.moortownbaptistchurch.org,uk or follow us on facebook.  This week we have shared some artwork created by children, youth and adults at the Create your own psalms art group based on the theme of ‘living water’.  This group meets the last Wednesday of the month at 7pm, all welcome.

Thankyou for joining together last week to pray for Katt who was baptised and for all those who helped in making it such a great morning together. Do keep praying for her and if you would like to be baptised or become a member, get in touch with myself or Lesley.  We are looking at doing an alpha course soon, a couple of you have said you’d like to help if timings work which is great. 

Here’s whats coming up in the week!

Monday 1st June 10-12 Beacon warm welcome café for all. Food pantry available

Tuesday 2nd June 10.00 – 11.30am Stepping Stones for under-fives and their parents and carers.

Tuesday 2nd June bible study 1.00 – 2.30pm in church. See Howard D or Lesley for more information.

Tuesday 2nd June Mission group.  Starting just after 2.30/2.45pm in the meeting room.  See Phil Coates or ask Lesley for more information.

Wednesday 3rd June Lunch Club for those booked on and the volunteer team. Talk to Rachel B for more information or if you would like a place or want to help.

Wednesday 3rd June Bible Study in the Music Room at 7.30pm.  Speak to Andy or Ruth or Shelley or contact Lesley for more information.

Wednesday 3rd June house group with Diane S.  Talk to Diane S for more information.

Thursday 4th June Craft group warm welcome space 2.00 – 4.00pm All welcome to come along and chat, volunteer or make something or learn a new skill – speak to Karen for more information.

Thursday 4th June Bible Study in the Music Room 7.00pm – 9.00pm Speak to Gareth, John C or Lesley

Friday 5th June Bible Study in the Music room – 10.00 – 11.00am speak to Shelley or contact Lesley for more information.

Friday 5th June Parkinson’s Exercise Class in the church building 6.30 – 7.30pm Speak to Phil Commons or Lesley for more information

Sunday 7th June11am Café church with refreshments, breakfast pastries and drinks.

Rock-Solid youth group is back this week. Talk to Martyn, Ruth, Val, Nathan 7-8pm in the ebuilding

Monday 8th June we’ll be joining in with The Big Lunch. Find out more information here The Big Lunch 2026 | Eden Project Communities.  12pm-1pm after Beacon Café, inviting people of all faiths and none to share lunch and get to know each other a bit more.  Lunch is free, if you want to book a place, contact Lesley.  If you are working that day but can nip out for lunch in the middle of the day then do come along, you don’t need to have been at Beacon.  Do pray too that God will help build relationships and an openness to each other.

Deacons and Shelley meet 9th June at 7.30pm in the church building

Stepping Stones take a break the week of the 9th as some of the leaders are away that day.  They are back on the 16th June.

Remember the Gardening Day on the 20th June, all welcome (children need to be supervised by an adult)

MBC’s garden is taking shape, but there’s still more to do – Moortown Baptist Church

Baptist Missionary Society are putting on a zoom webinar on the 10th June on Mission and Community.  Want to see your church and your local community thrive and flourish alongside one another? This webinar will give you a taste of some of the tools being used by Christians across the globe to generate real change that starts within church families and ripples outwards.  Click on the link below to find out more… 

Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

The next whole church meeting will be after the service on July 5th.  All welcome.

The Alwoodley Parish Council got in touch with us to let us know that they will be hosting an outdoor community event on Alwoodley Village Green (where we held our Easter outdoor worship) on 21st June 2026 1pm-5pm.  The Manhattan Sound Big Band who will be playing from 2:30 – 4:30. They said…”Bring a picnic, bring your family and friends, meet new people, enjoy the live band and discover the amazing community groups that help make Alwoodley a great place to live.  This year we are also celebrating Leeds 400 which marks the moment that Leeds became a city so this is a way to get involved and find out more about our city and Alwoodley.  There is an opportunity to showcase what you do in the community, maybe by having a stall.  If you have an idea you would like to run with or sound out then do get in touch.  I realise there isn’t a lot of time but you never know…otherwise, just turn up.  If anyone knows they are definitely going we can let others know too.

“The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off…” (Acts 2:39)

In Christ

Shelley

Shelley Dring

Minister

Moortown Baptist Church

MRS G (the Moortown Romania Support Group) report on how over the last year they, on MBC’s behalf, have helped our friends in Romania

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We have recently sent our annual financial support to the churches we are linked with in Romania.  This now goes to four churches; Manastur Baptist Church in Cluj, the gypsy church at Floresti in Cluj, the Hungarian Reformed Church in Udvarhely where Zsuzsi and Andor Ferko are pastors, and the Hungarian Reformed church in Cserefalva where Noemi Soos was pastor.  Shortly before the time when we needed to send the money to Romania our bank balance reached the level for us to be able to send the same amount as last year.

We have sent £1,800 to Manastur Church £600 each to be used for people in need, young people’s work and student sponsorships.  We sent £600 to the church in Floresti which is an outreach to the very poor gypsy community and £350 to support the work of Florin and Dana Fodor, who visited us 4 years ago, with Campus Crusade.  We sent £800 each to the churches in Udvarhely and Cserefalva which will be used mainly for young people’s work. This totals £4,350.

In addition we sent £1,000 in the autumn and a further £1,000 recently which was earmarked giving for the needs of the Ukrainian refugees who are still attending Manastur Church in Cluj.  This brings the total amount sent from the church to help the refugees to £19,500. 

Pastor Daniel Lacatos at Manastur Baptist Church in Cluj wrote

We are pleased to let you know that the funds have been received into our account today, and we are deeply grateful for your continued and generous support. We sincerely appreciate the love, care, and financial help you have been offering us. Because of this support, we are able to continue God’s work in many areas and help more people in need. It means a great deal to us and is a real encouragement in everything we do. Thank you once again for your trust and partnership. We wish you good health, peace, and a blessed summer with your loved ones. With gratitude and respect, On behalf of Mănăștur Baptist Church, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Florin Fodor Elder at Manastur Baptist Church and working for Campus Crusade wrote:

Greetings from Cluj! We thank you so much for your church’s generosity towards our congregation. Your kindness and willingness to stand with us mean more than words can express. May God bless all of you abundantly for your faithfulness and love for us, over the years. We thank God for you. We will use the money as you instructed. With sincere gratitude,

Andor Ferko (who together with his wife Zsuzsi visited us after Easter) wrote from the Hungarian Reformed Church in Udvarhely:

Thank you very much – the transferred amount has arrived. Last week we already spoke with the young people about organising a camp together again this year, and we would like to use this amount to help cover the costs. I will keep you informed of the good use we were able to make of it.  We would also like to sincerely thank the Romanian committee for not forgetting about us year after year, for sharing your blessings with us, and for supporting the mission work here.  May the Lord bless you.    

Előd Marton the new pastor in Cserefalva wrote:

Greetings from Cserefalva Church. God bless you! Thank you very much for your kindness, that you have us, our congregation in your plans and in your soul. Last year we use you financial support at summer children camp and at spiritual days. We organise spiritual days for adults two times in a year, in the spring and in autumn. Last year in December we celebrate our church building existence of 240 years. I mentioned at the last elder assembly about your support plan for this year. The elder groups receive grateful the good news. Thank you very much that your support already arrived. We pray for you, we appreciate very much your support, not only the financial but also the spiritual support. Let us remain in prayer and love above the the borders, above the distance.

Greetings, best wishes.  Előd & family

Thanks to everyone who has given to this work over the last year or supported the fund raising events we have organised.

The big picture at the top of this post shows Ukranian refugees who are now living in Romania. The images in the gallery are (left to right) Cserefalva, the Gypsy Church in Floresti, Pastor Daniel from Manastur Baptist Church, Cluj and the Hungarian Reform Church in Udvarhely where Zsuzsi and Andor work. 

Painting in two very different styles

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Over the last few days, as temperatures soared to record levels a few of us took to recording this somewhat freak phenomenon in a couple of very different ways.

The first, as part of our garden makeover agenda was to begin sprucing up the benches in MBC’s garden. Nothing too demanding, just a quick rub down followed by a couple of coats of fence paint, and hey presto this one looks as good as new.

The second was slightly more cultured and it took place last Wednesday evening when those who attended our mid-week art session turned their minds to cooling down by pondering the subject of ‘living water.’ 

I hope you’ll agree that which ever genre you prefer they both accomplished precisely what they set out to achieve. 

MBC celebrates a Pentecost baptism

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What better time to celebrate a baptism than at Pentecost. And that’s precisely what we did here at MBC last Sunday, Pentecost Sunday when Katt came into membership. 

The festival of Pentecost originates from the Greek word meaning fiftieth and it took place fifty days after Passover. It comes from the Old Testament Feast of Weeks, also known as the Feast of Harvest which in the Old Testament was a day of thanksgiving on which people offered the first fruits of the harvest to God, thanking Him for the wind, rain, grain and provision He had given.

It’s fitting, then, that with Jerusalem packed with people, through driving winds, tongues of fire and the gift of speaking in foreign languages God would choose this precise moment to usher in the Holy Spirit, to enter an upper room and change the exclusivity of Old Testament belief to something new, to something not given to just a few but to all who believe in Jesus Christ.

And it was this belief, that Jesus Christ is her personal saviour that Katt shared with us through the simple act of baptism. 

Welcome Katt, it’s great to have you with us. 

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