Deacon Michelle (pictured right) came to us in 2017 and has been very much involved in

community activities - such as Together 4 Dover, the Dover Pantry and the London Road Community Forum - as well as the life of the Beacon, of course.

Sadly, our Deacon has now left us to take up an appointment in London as Deputy Warden with the Diaconal Order. We had an emotional but wonderful farewell service for Michelle and Dave on Sunday 4 August when people from all around our circuit came to thank Michelle for her Ministry and to pray God's blessing on them for the future. And we were pleased that some members of our church were able to be there for her welcome service and for the opening of the Diaconal Centre.

We are grateful for all Michelle and Dave have done here at the Beacon during the past seven years.

Community Cuppa is here ...

Our coffee mornings are held on Wednesdays EVERY WEEK! 

We look forward to welcoming friends old and new to our Community Cuppa sessions on Wednesdays from 10am to 12 noon. Drop in for as long or as short a time as you wish. You can be assured of a warm welcome, and a tasty cup of tea or coffee.

Thanks to our rota of volunteers who are giving up their time to ensure Footprints is open every week.

Our adult Craft Group meets on Thursday mornings from 9.30 to 11.30am, and Friendly Friday from 12 noon to 4pm. Do please come and join us, bring your lunch or a cuppa and have a chat meet others! We always end with a short reflection and name those people on our hearts and minds who need our prayer. We look forward to seeing you. 

Opportunities to be together during the week …

As well as our Sunday morning services at The Beacon, we have a time of worship together on Zoom on the first Thursday of each month followed by coffee and a chat - bring your own cuppa, and a biscuit if you want one, and join some friends for a natter!!

Our Zoom prayer meeting takes place on the other Thursdays at 10am and provides an opportunity to gather and share together our thanksgivings and concerns and bring them to God in prayer. There is no demand on anyone to pray aloud – it is just a wonderful time to sit together in God’s presence.

Bible Study

We have a number of opportunties to take part in studying the Bible and you are very welcome to join us. We are currently looking at St Luke's Gospel, a glorious Gospel packed full of our favourite stories of Jesus.

The sessions are on alternate Wednesdays from 12.30 to 2pm in Footprints @ The Beacon. Our Advent Sessions end this Wednesday 18 December.

Nativity Play

Our thanks to the leaders, children and parents of Creative Church who performed their Nativity Play as part of our morning service on Sunday 15 December.

We were thinking about the things that Christmas would not be complete without - decorations, gifts, Christmas pudding, and sprouts! But most of all, of course, Christmas would not be complete without Jesus. Our thanks to the angels for their poem, Mary for her dancing, the shepherds for their singing, all the other actors for their readings and performances, and, of course the donkey for its Ee-aw!

Christmas

We don't have a morning service on Sunday 22 December but our Candlelight Carol Service is at 6.30pm and all are welcome.

On Christmas Day we have a service at 10.30am.

There will bot be a service at The Beacon on Sunday morning 29 December, but we will be joining with our friends at River Methodist Church to sing some of our favourite carols as well as siome of those that perhaps we haven't already sung this year yet. As always, everyone is welcome to join us.

Harvest Festival

We held our Harvest Festival thanksgiving service on Sunday 6 October, led by our Minister, the Rev Catherine Wagstaff.

We welcomed the children and parents from Creative Church at the beginning of the service as we all brought our harvest gifts. Then we joined in the Harvest Samba before Creative Church went off to their own session - hearing how God makes all things, and making a harvest garland - while we concentrated on the three Rs, Receive, Rejoice and Respond.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for this special time of worship, giving thanks for all God's gifts and asking for His guidance in how we use them.

All the gifts of food we brought were passed on to the Dover Pantry.

Good Friday and Easter

 

 

Domestic abuse affects large numbers of people both inside and outside the church, and children as well as adults. The Methodist church has worked with partner churches and agencies to bring about the second of two reports for Conference.

 

To find out more about the Love or Abuse campaign, scan this QR code.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Period Poverty

 

We are keen to support women and girls who are experiencing period poverty and we have free period products available in the toilets at Footprints.

 

For more information about support please click here

 

 

Click here for Amazing Grace, sung by people from 50 countries around the world affected by the coronavirus. Some of them have their faces hidden because they would be persecuted for professing their Christian faith.

 

Jesus is worthy of our praise wherever we are, at home, at work, at school, in our villages, towns and cities, in the countryside, on our streets, in isolation, or meeting with others - everywhere. Here's a song about it,

Is He Worthy?

 

We pray that God will bless you wherever you are.

 

You can atill take part in Methodist worship services on-line. Our Canterbury and East Kent Methodist Circuit has services based at St Peter's Methodist Church, Canterbury, which includes our Ministers and members, and there is also an audio service from the United Reformed Church.

 

Other on-line services include those at Wesley's Chapel in London, and Westminster Central Hall. Click on the church names.

 

Would you like to know more about the Methodist way of life? Click here.

 

 

BEACON BLOG   How difficult and challenging is it to give your life to God?   In our covenant service we say: I am no longer my own, but Yours.   What does it mean for us - and for you?   Click here to read more.

Helping to clean up Dover

 

We were pleased to support the Great British Clean by encouraging people to clean up Dover.

 

Litter pickers were busy during the two weeks taking part in the event.

 

Volunteers from the Beacon were among those who took part in a successful litterpick along London Road, organised by the London Road Community Forum.

 

They collected 21 bags of rubbish! Thank you to everyone who came along, and please help keep our streets FREE of litter! A week later, another volunteer collected more empty cans, sweet papers, an empty plastic sack and other items from outside our church.

 

During the week, someone dumped a bag full of soil outside our church in Bartholomew Street, and a few days later more items were dumped from the back of a car. The district council was notified and investigated both incidents.

 

Find out how you can help make a difference to your part of the community, at any time, by visiting keepbritaintidy.org 

 

 

Action for Children 

 

We have always been enthusiastic supporters of Action for Children and now, more than ever, the charity needs our support. So please visit their website by clicking here and seeing what you can do to help Action for Children look after some of the most vulnerable children in our country. There is a booklet with a service outline, a prayer bookmark and a link to a video about Lyle, one of the children their work has helped to support. If you need help at this crucial and difficult time, click here. Resources include the chance to chat one-to-one with someone online. You can also read their latest newsletter here and you can donate by clicking here.

 

Together 4 DOVER

 

The Beacon was one of the organisations which came together to provide support for people who were in isolation and had no family or neighbours to help them during the covid 19 pandemic.

 

Together4DOVER (Covid 19 Support) was established by a core team of representatives from various local groups and organisations and operated under the umbrella of Dover Big Local.

 

They recruited a number of volunteers to do essential shopping and picking up prescriptions from local pharmacies, working with other support organisations, and referring residents to additional help where needed.

 

Working in conjunction with Dover District Council, they set up a single helpline phone number which people could ring if they needed help, but had no-one else to support them. As well as covering the whole of Dover – from Aycliffe to Buckland Estate and St Radigund's to Maxton – the organisation also covered surrounding villages. 

When restrictions eased and shielding was no longer necessary for the vast majority of people, T4D decided to suspend the Helpline service at the end of July. All their 'regular' callers were contacted to ensure as far as possible that they had the ongoing support they needed.

During subsequent lockdowns, Together4Dover was activated again, offering support to the residents of Dover and the surrounding area with essential shopping requirements (paid for by the resident).

 

Harmony Holistic trained therapists are also available to offer free listening therapy for those who suffer with some of the consequences of Covid19, e.g. anxiety, stress, sleeplessness, gaining weight, feeling of abandonment and loss. Please call the helpline for a referral.

Thanks are expressed to every one of the amazing volunteers (more than 80 in total) for their sterling commitment, enthusiasm and caring approach during these difficult times.

We are delighted that Dover District Council awarded a grant of £2,500 to help fund this vital work.

 

As our Deacon Michelle explains: "T4D provided support for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Some had lost their jobs, some struggled financially and some struggled for food. We were able to give away free food from local supermarkets which would otherwise have been thrown away. We also arranged hot meals to be delivered which were cooked by staff at the Dover Marina Hotel for free.

 

"It has been such a joy to work alongside others who wanted to work together for the sake of those people most in need within the Dover area. 

 

"We arranged for clothes washing for people without washing machines or who could not get to a launderette, and we refered people for counselling who may have been suffering from stress, anxiety or loss during this difficult time.

 

"The support was temporary to help people until they could get back onto their feet. Some people were out of work for the first time; some had their own business but had lost most or all of their clients during the lockdown. Some people had no family or friends to do their weekly shopping. People are extremely grateful for the service we provided.

 

"God has brought people together and made this happen."

 

 

FOODBANK

 

Dover Foodbank is always available to help those in need. It has previously been based at our church.

 

 

If you're facing challenges and require food assistance from Dover foodbank you must get a referral or food bank voucher from a registered agency. Once you have been referred the agency will send us your food voucher, we will then invite you to visit our shop in the Charlton centre, where a member of the team will sit with you to assess your requirements and create your personalised shopping list.

 

Just like a regular shopping list, once you have your list from the team you are able to shop for your items from our instore shelves. When you have everything, you need our team will process your voucher at the checkout, we do have bags available, but you are also welcome to bring you own if you wish.

 

Click here for more information.

 

THE CHURCH / HALL is in Bartholomew Street, a turning off Beaconsfield Road (CT16 2LH)

 

FOOTPRINTS @ THE BEACON is in London Road, in the lay-by near the junction with Beaconsfield Road (CT17 0SS)
 

Looking back ...

 

The Beacon is at the forefront of a campaign, led by Deacon Michelle, taking a pride in our environment, particularly in the London Road area of Dover.

 

We had a day of activities, working with local residents and tradespeople, in March to clear away litter, remove graffiti and generally make the area look more attractive. We are grateful to all those who took part, and we look forward to more sessions in the future.

 

 

For previous news of that's been happening at The Beacon, please click on the appropriate year: 2019   2020   2021   2022