Sixty-five things we did last year

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Hurdsfield Tots, Mondays during term time
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Family Fun Day, May
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New Wine Festival, July
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Baptism Service, September
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Advent Craft Evening, November
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Nativity Service, December
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Carol Service, December
At HTH we want to increase discipleship. By this, we mean growth in:
  • individual discipleship, and 
  • the number of disciples.​
Accordingly, here are some of the things we did last year.

Church services
We held services each week at 8:30 and 10:30 am, also streaming the latter live on YouTube. Our 10:30 service included four groups for kids and youth: 
  • A baby corner with toys for pre-school kids and a sofa for their parents and carers
  • Superstars (pre-school to year 2)
  • Trailblazers (years 3 to 5), and 
  • Pathfinders (years 6 to 9).

Prayer​
  • Thy Kingdom Come prayer meeting at 7:15 am every Thursday in the Hurdsfield Community Hub and live online through Zoom.• Six evening prayer gatherings for the whole church to come together to pray.
  • No fewer than 13 small groups meeting weekly for fellowship, worship, Bible study and prayer, including Evergreens, a large daytime group for older and retired people.
  • Using our vestry as an interactive prayer space as part of wider Christian initiatives like Thy Kingdom Come and Season of Creation.
  • Prayer ministry team meeting before our 10:30 am service to listen to God and pray; then available to pray with anyone towards the end of the service.
  • Training and refresher session for those leading our intercessory prayers on Sundays.
  • HTH News (our weekly email newsletter with nearly 240 subscribers) includes a prayer diary, requesting prayer for specific individuals and situations.

Discipleship and mission
  • Running an Alpha course for 30 people, meeting once a week for 10 weeks plus a full day. Alpha is a series of group conversations to explore the basics of the Christian faith in an open, friendly environment.
  • More than 20 people going to New Wine summer festival in Shepton Mallet for teaching, worship, and ministry.
  • Working with eight other local Anglican churches in the Macclesfield Anglican Churches Revitalisation Initiative towards a Christ-centred, mission-focussed, integrated Anglican organisation in Macclesfield.
  • Allocating 10% of our unrestricted income (money not given for specific purposes) as part of the way we support a number of mission partners working locally and around the world.

Community
  • Visiting everyone moving onto a large new estate in the parish, with a welcome pack of church and community information and some homemade cake.
  • Visiting those who have recently been bereaved.
  • Visiting or telephoning 15-20 people each week who are housebound or otherwise isolated.
  • Weekly litter picking around the parish.
  • Weekly Drop In, providing company, refreshments, chat, games, and help with day-to-day matters like filling in forms.
  • Weekly food pantry (in conjunction with another charity, Cre8 Macclesfield), where Hurdsfield residents receive surplus food at very low cost.
  • Monthly evening community meal for 15-20 invited local residents. 
  • Making 25-30 meals for four local families.
  • Giving emergency food and clothing vouchers for those in desperate need through, for example, homelessness or benefits’ sanctions.
  • Harvest collection of food for the Silklife Foodbank.
  • Giving Christmas hampers to local households in need.
  • Taking an HTH Christmas card to every home in Hurdsfield.
  • Sharing our Hurdsfield Community Hub with two AA groups, Activity in Retirement, Higher Hurdsfield Parish Council, Macclesfield Recorders (music group), Parish Safeguarding Officers Network, Cheshire East NHS Authority, lots of kid’s birthday parties, and others.

Kids
  • Hurdsfield Tots: our weekly term-time group for pre-school kids, their parents and carers.
  • Leading assemblies at Hurdsfield and Puss Bank Primary Schools.
  • Weekly one-to-one reading with about 40 kids with at Hurdsfield Primary School. 
  • Hosting a Palm Sunday station at the town ‘Experience Easter’ event at St Michael’s church.
  • Family Fun Day for all the community in May.
  • Our curate and our youth minister joining some 15 kids regularly at a breakfast club at Hurdsfield Primary School.
  • Kids’ Lunch Club for a week in August.
  • Our youth minister joining Hurdsfield Primary School’s year 6 residential trip, and supporting other trips.
  • Messy Harvest craft event. 
  • Light-filled craft event for 40 kids at The Green In The Corner Café, as an alternative to Halloween.
  • Nativity trail.
  • Cupcake Christingle service on Christmas Eve, with more than 200 people attending.

Youth
  • Pathfinders: our weekly term-time early Sunday evening group for years 6-9.
  • Fusion: our weekly term-time Sunday evening group for years 10-13.
  • Taking 22 young people to the Limitless Christian Festival, part of a group of 67 with other local churches.
  • Four AMPLIFIED youth worship events and silent discos, in partnership with other local churches. 
  • Our youth minister supporting the Christian Union at Tytherington and Fallibroome High Schools and regularly joining meetings.
  • Supporting and resourcing other local churches through the Hope Youth Forum.
  • Providing a mentor for three young people to meet regularly.
  • Youth groups bonfire.
  • Our Fusion group packing hampers to bless particular people in our church family at Christmas.

Other services
  • Good Friday guided reflection in church.
  • Three whole-school services at church for Hurdsfield Primary School.
  • Outdoor baptism service at which four people were baptised, followed by barbeque and picnic.
  • Taking Home Communion to the housebound.
  • Service of Remembering for those who have been bereaved, whether recently or long ago.
  • Carol service at church.
  • Carols at church with Macclesfield Concert Band.
  • Scratch nativity service, with congregation in costume.

Social
  • Quiz night in aid of Tearfund.
  • Family bingo afternoon in aid of Tearfund.
  • Hosting a sung and spoken performance of the Book of Ruth, in aid of the charity Press Red.
  • Two board games afternoons. 
  • Craft evening for women on the theme of Advent.
  • Two Sunday picnics after our 10:30 service in our local park or our church building.
  • Two Hello and Welcome Teas for people new to our church. 
  • Five social events for people in the church aged 20-30.
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Staffing
  • Appointing Wendy Pattison as our kids and families minister.
  • Appointing Patty Lou Bryant to lead our Community Programme and Alice Beech to assist her.
  • Saying goodbye to our curate, Jonny Frost, after three years, and welcoming our new curate, Elle Bird, at the very same service.
Safeguarding

Here at Holy Trinity Hurdsfield we work hard to maintain a safe environment for all. 
We are committed to implementing the House of Bishops' safeguarding policies and good practice guidance. You can read about how we do this ​here

If you have any concerns or enquiries regarding safeguarding, please contact our safeguarding officer Jen Vincent: [email protected]