Pivot is our quarterly church magazine, colourfully illustrated and packed with interesting articles. The articles below are a small sample from our magazine. If you would like to read more, please call in at our church to pick up a free copy.
The Worship Band makes a big contribution to worship at Broadstone Methodist Church. They give a strong and rhythmic lead to the singing at most of the regular family services, yet the seven members of the band are of a wide range of ages and of musical skills. Here are extracts from some of their stories.See full story...
I was born in Poole and amongst my ancestors there was a baker, a dressmaker and several teachers, so maybe it was pre-ordained that I should become a Home Economics teacher. My chosen college had been evacuated to Bournemouth with various hotels in Boscombe occupied as halls of residenceSee full story...
Dorset’s disability charity, Diverse Abilities, supports children and adults with profound physical and learning disabilities, and their families. The charity was founded in 1955 by Mrs Phyllis Edwards, who is now 99 and still involved with the charity today.See full story...
Talents come in various forms. It could be painting, writing, music or craftwork etc, and one of the many talents enjoyed in Broadstone Methodist Church every week is that of flower arranging.
We are fortunate to have several members in our congregation who have a skill in this area and every Sunday we are blessed with a new and vibrant arrangement at the front of the church.See full story...
We all have our talents and I think the Knit and Natter Group are great at using theirs to help others. We have several ladies who are very good at either reading the knitting patterns or who are able to help others when they have gone wrong in their knitting. Then we have others who are able to come up with a different stitch or pattern to use so we don’t get bored with the projects.See full story...
This Pivot we are focusing on the vegetable plot. Any garden, even a window box can provide some vegetables for the summer. By now you will have made a start with growing your vegetables and have planted runner beans.and tomatoes in the greenhouse or on a windowsill to give them a start.See full story...
Go on, drop the magazine if you have never heard those words or thought them yourself! On some car journeys, when I heard those words coming from the back seats, it usually prompted swift action to try and quieten things down before things got too distracting. I guess that I didn't like being reminded, again and again, that we're not there already either. So often we push on to the destination, and once we've set out we simply want to get there as soon as possible. Maybe it’s a more common experience than we care to admit. So often we focus so intensely on the getting there bit that we fail to make the most of the journey itself.See full story...
It's a new year with lots of exciting things happening, the first being the arrival of my granddaughter, Kaylee in America. This has led to my decision to cut back on my hours at the church as well as the church's decision to hire Jo Farmer to assist in the Children and Young Families' Ministry. What a lovely lady she is as well as a real asset to the ministry.
Following is an interview with Jo which I thought might help you get to know her a bit better.See full story...
In May 2014 Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer's Society, gave the opening address at a Dementia Awareness Conference held in Broadstone Methodist Church. The journey for Broadstone becoming a Dementia-Friendly Community had commenced. Subsequently the Alzheimer's Society has supplied the following article for Pivot.See full story...
Over the last two years our group has come a long way from when we used to meet in the small porch room at the front of the church. When I originally had the idea of setting up the group, I thought we could meet perhaps once a month, with people bringing their own projects along, and that we would occasionally work towards charity projects.See full story...
Writing this on a freezing, foggy day, it seems a long way to the spring and summer but we can plan now for great things to come!
Get out your seed catalogues and remainders of seeds from last year and plan which seeds to sow when and where. This can be done either for windowsill propagation or in the greenhouse.See full story...
As a funeral director, it is my job to help families through their journey of losing a loved one and putting them to rest. This involves many aspects, including those that are probably not often thought of, such as ongoing arrangements, liaising with the hospital, clergy, churches, crematorium, florists, gravediggers, etc and ensuring all is in order by the time of the funeral.See full story...
Contemplate, not a word we use very much! What does this mean in the context of worship? Well; to reflect, to be still, to give ourselves some space from our busy lives and times. Perhaps we could call this time “Slow Church”.See full story...
Nearly every Pilgrimage to the Holy Land begins at the top of the Mount of Olives with the panoramic view of Old Jerusalem and beyond. This is always a special moment for pilgrims realising that, after all the planning and preparations, they have actually arrived in Jerusalem. The scene is dominated by the 7th century Dome of the Rock. This mosque with the iconic golden dome commemorates Muhammad’s ascension to heaven. However, the ancient rock on which it stands is holy to the Jews as the rock where Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac.See full story...
Singing has always been a part of my life. All the La Rivieres sang in choirs, and still do. As a boy I joined the choir at Kenton Methodist Church when I was seventeen. I also belonged to the Kenton Male Voice Choir.
Conducting started with training the children for Sunday School Anniversary. A very big event at Kenton. I also trained and conducted at three Scout Gang Shows. That was great fun.See full story...
It is all too easy to think that we cannot make a difference through our individual actions. A lack of vision or a lack of motivation to achieve a particular change reinforces 'it is not worth bothering'. My favourite example to counter this view is the Fairtrade movement which proves we can tackle injustice and reduce exploitation by expressing our choices. And it is pretty easy to buy Fairtrade bananas!See full story...
This a recipe that I have used for a number of years. It's quick and can be done over two days, so you can fit it around other jobs.
I buy a years’ supply of Seville oranges and put them in 2lb lots into freezer bags and freeze them so that I can make batches of marmalade throughout the year. I have never failed with this recipe. I hope it works for you!See full story...
Over the summer the ladies of Broadstone Methodist Knit and Natter Group turned their skills to a variety of projects. They are thinking ahead and started knitting and crocheting poppies for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, and as I write this they are going very fast and have proved popular.See full story...
There has been much in the news of late about the worsening condition of the nation's homeless including those in Dorset. "Every day my situation gets worse" - Mel, one of Poole's homeless and a Routes to Roots' client, told the BBC in March. "The Untold - No Fixed Abode" later recounted Mel's story of going from parking for work in one multi storey to sleeping rough in another.See full story...
It’s almost 3 years since I started here at Broadstone Methodist Church and looking back the thing that first gave me a glimmer of hope that this ministry might prosper happened just before Christmas in my first year. It was the Young Ladies' Craft Group.See full story...
