District News – 22 September 2026

Stories from across the District

Community Spirit at the Scarecrow Festival

The Scarecrow Festival has been a much-loved part of life in Sprotbrough, Doncaster, for 11 years, with 10 festivals taking place due to a break during the Covid pandemic. Originally established by members of the Anglican Church to raise money for The Children's Society, the festival now supports a different local charity each year. This year, 75 scarecrows were displayed around the village, raising more than £5,000 for cancer awareness and support charity Firefly.

https://www.sheffieldmethodist.org/news/news-stories/community-spirit-at-scarecrow-festival.html

Eco Fest at The Grove

Saturday 26 September 10:00 am

From 10:00 a.m. there will be a Fairtrade Coffee Morning with items for sale from 'Good Taste' the fairtrade shop in Sheffield and 'Just Cards' in Retford. Both of the store owners will be sharing a few words about their work/ethos.
Members from Bassetlaw Environmental Network will be on hand to chat with us about ways to protect the planet.
Also the chance to make your own upcycled items throughout the day at our Eco Fashion Upcycling Lab. If you want to know how to make a bag from an old t-shirt, a keyring from fabric scraps or some doll clothes from an old top, then pop down and find Georgina!
We'll be serving soup for lunch from 12:00 noon and then there will be a preloved fashion show with items from the town's Sense store at 1:00 pm.
Drop into The Grove at any time between 10am-2pm, or why not come for the whole event!
Entry is free.

District Updates

£22,000 boost helps churches go greener

Three churches across Sheffield and Rotherham are cutting carbon emissions, reducing energy bills and investing in a greener future thanks to £22,000 in Action for Hope grant funding from the district.

https://www.sheffieldmethodist.org/news/news-stories/22000-boost-helps-churches-go-greener.html

Methodists on Mission – re watch online

https://www.sheffieldmethodist.org/about-us/synod/methodist-on-mission.html

Our ECO tips for September:

• September 21st – October 4th is Fair Trade Fortnight with a slogan of ‘Do it Fair’!  Look for the logo especially in places like the Co-op; M&S and sometimes in shops such as Lidl,  Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.
• Look for seasonal British grown fruit and veg – there are lots available – especially when we celebrate creation and harvest at this time of year. (lower the carbon footprint and budget-friendly).
• Continue to conserve water; in spite of the recent rain it will take weeks to replenish the depleted stocks.

Other News

Action for Children

We're excited to share our September news with you, including some (early!) news about Christmas, insights from our Supporter Survey, and a big thank you to some of our Home Collection Box donors.

It's never too early to start talking about Christmas!
Christmas is meant to be a time of joy, but sadly we know that for many children going without food, warmth and presents, it’s a time of sorrow.
So, this has inspired our theme for Christmas worship – bringing joy where it’s needed. We want to acknowledge the sorrow many are experiencing, share the joy of the Christmas message, and show the love of Jesus through practical action. Read more in our latest newsletter >

We will also be uploading our Christmas worship materials and latest newsletter to actionforchildren.uk/faithFR in due course.

Thank you to everyone who took part in our Annual Supporter Survey
Every year, we send out a survey to supporters to gain insights to help shape our future. Methodists made up a steady number of the survey respondents this year and we are so grateful for your feedback on our work.
We saw that the majority of supporters are motivated to support us because of our mission, view us as caring and believe that we make a difference. We also found that supporters want to see more local stories from real families we've helped. Your feedback has been invaluable. Thank you on behalf of the Action for Children Insights Team.

Home Collection Boxes add up
A huge thank you to all of you who use our Home Collection Boxes to donate to us. Each box is so important, and together they add up to help us make a powerful difference to children’s lives.

Want to hear more from Action for Children?
Sign up for regular updates from us.
Blessings,
Karis
Faith Partnerships Lead

Single Friendly Church Week

27th September – 4th October 2026  

You are invited to take part in Single Friendly Church Week!

For one week, churches, leaders, and individuals across the UK are coming together to say clearly: single people at every stage of life are welcomed, valued, and included here.
We can’t wait to see how your church might get involved. There are lots of ways you could take action – here are a few ideas:

• Include our prayer for Single Friendly Church Week in your services
• Have one of the Sundays in Single Friendly Church Week focused on the intrinsic value of single people in your church
• Run a conversation in your small groups
• Empower single people in your church to hold a fun social opportunity during the week
• Hold a panel Q&A with single people, or invite a speaker to talk on singleness

Free Resource Pack
More ideas and inspiring stories in our  free Resource Pack, which is full of single friendly ideas for all church contexts.

What Does Your Church Actually Run On?

Some churches pay for a church management platform; others use a spreadsheet and a good memory, or perhaps an ancient piece of software – but no one knows who pays for it.     
This anonymous survey seeks to measure the level of use of church management platforms across the Connexion. It takes five minutes to complete and findings form part of a paper for the Digital Transformation Programme.

Tell the Methodist Church what you use

Community Energy Workshop hosted by Sheffield Community Energy

Join us for a FREE collaborative session focused on bringing renewable energy and energy efficiency to faith buildings across Sheffield and the surrounding areas.
This event might also be useful for people with responsibility for community centres.

What is Community Energy?

Community energy is about taking collective action to move away from fossil fuels. Whether it’s generating our own clean power or finding ways to reduce energy use, it’s a grassroots way to reduce our impact on the natural world.

This event is located in Sheffield, but is intended to be of benefit to places of worship in the surrounding areas

More information and book your place here

Regional Officer for Safeguarding Update: 

Spotlight on Emotional and Psychological Abuse

Thank you to the Learning network for the following article:

Emotional and psychological abuse can be among the hardest forms of harm to recognise — both within society and within churches. There may be no visible injuries, no obvious incident and no single defining moment. Instead, the damage often emerges slowly through patterns of manipulation, intimidation, humiliation, coercion or control that gradually erode a person’s confidence, wellbeing and sense of self.

Churches need to take this seriously because emotional abuse can sometimes hide behind spiritual language, pastoral relationships or cultures of silence. Harmful behaviour may be excused as “strong leadership”, “discipleship”, “loyalty” or “conflict”. In reality, safeguarding requires us to recognise when relationships become unhealthy, controlling or psychologically unsafe.

One of the growing safeguarding conversations across churches in 2026 concerns the overlap between emotional abuse, spiritual abuse and coercive control. Survivors increasingly describe experiences where faith, theology or authority structures were used to manipulate behaviour, suppress challenge or create fear. This is not simply a pastoral disagreement. It can become a safeguarding concern.

Emotional abuse can affect anyone: children, young people, adults, volunteers, ministers or church officers. It may involve constant criticism, exclusion, threats, gaslighting, isolation, shaming or creating dependency. Sometimes the abuse comes from individuals; sometimes unhealthy culture itself becomes part of the problem.

Church communities can unintentionally make this harder to identify. Faith communities often value forgiveness, patience and reconciliation, all of which are deeply important. Yet safeguarding reminds us that forgiveness should never require people to remain unsafe, silent or unheard.

Recent conversations across wider church communities have also highlighted the importance of independent safeguarding processes and transparent accountability. Survivors frequently speak about the damage caused when institutional reputation becomes more important than listening well to concerns.

Healthy churches are not churches without disagreement or difficulty. They are churches where power is exercised responsibly, concerns can be raised safely, and people are treated with dignity even during conflict.

Safeguarding therefore asks important reflective questions:

• Do our churches encourage openness or fear?
• Can challenge be voiced safely?
• Do people feel emotionally secure in leadership relationships?
• Are we attentive to subtle patterns of manipulation or exclusion?
• Emotional safety is not separate from spiritual wellbeing. In many ways, it is part of the Church’s witness to the grace, justice and compassion of Christ.

If you ever have any questions or concerns about emotional abuse or any other issue, please give me a call on 07483 362 735 or email me at hilla@methodistchurch.org.uk

Many thanks
Alison Hill

Upcoming Events

Sheffield District MWiB

Annual Service of Dedication

Friday 16 October 2026 at 11.00am
Victoria Stafford Road Methodist Church S2 2SE
Preacher: Rev Liz Wills
Please bring your own lunch – tea/coffee will be provided
Following lunch Roger Thirlwell will give a presentation on Anna Chaplaincy
ALL WELCOME!

Explore OutoftheBox:

Fri 16th – Sat 17th October 2026

Our Explore OutoftheBox course takes place over two days. We playfully and creatively relax into stories together. The learning model is action-reflection with time to experience the approach, reflect on the experiences and to practise the art of OutoftheBox. The OutoftheBox approach will also be modelled in the learning process, drawing out the wisdom of the group to enable peer learning.
This course is subsidised by the Methodist Church for people living in the city of Sheffield. Please email kate@outofthebox.org to receive a coupon code which will give you a discount, bringing the cost of the course down to £125pp
More details here

Church Action on Poverty Sheffield: 2026 Pilgrimage

Sat 17 October

Start at Highfield Trinity Methodist Church   |   9:30am

The opening service will include an opportunity to hear about the church's varied and valuable work in the neighbourhood. The route then visits Heeley Parish Church, Heeley City Farm and St Wilfrid's Centre for the homeless, vulnerable and socially excluded, with stops along the way to pray for the homeless, education, healthcare, social justice and the environment.
The walk covers 2.2 miles and is expected to finish around 2pm. All are welcome to join.

Find out more

Loud Lament: Metal Methodist 

Saturday 21 November – All Saints, Aston

There’ll be loud music, moments of stillness, prayer, reflection and worship – creating space to bring the whole of who we are before God. Featuring Metal Methodist.
READ MORE

Regional Retreats – save the dates

The next Regional Retreat for presbyters, deacons and lay employees is:

• Tuesday 25 May – Thursday 27 May 2027
• Wydale Hall, North Yorkshire
• Led by Revd Professor David Wilkinson

The next Lay Employee retreat is

• Monday 7 June – Wednesday 9 June 
• Wydale Hall, North Yorkshire

Further details, including booking details, will follow in due course

And finally...

A message from our District Chair

For any Leonard Cohen fans among you, yesterday was his birthday. So, in his honour, I was listening to Anthem, with that wonderful and profound line:

“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

I hope that through the cracks you are facing this coming week, light can find its way in.

Prayer

Loving God,

In our fractured world,
when peace seems fragile
and the voices of power are louder than the voices of hope,
help us not to despair.

Teach us to begin again.

When we are tempted to wait
until we have the perfect words,
the perfect plan,
the perfect answer,
remind us that you have never asked for perfection.

You ask us simply to bring what we have:
our courage and our uncertainty,
our faith and our questions,
our gifts and our limitations.

And when we notice the cracks 
in our world,
in our churches,
in our communities,
and in ourselves 
help us not always to rush to cover them over.

May they become places
where light can enter.

Give us courage to speak when something needs to be said,
to love when it would be easier to withdraw,
to work for peace when peace feels distant,
and to keep believing that another way is possible.

And through all that is unfinished and imperfect,
keep turning our hearts towards love.

Let your light find its way in,
and through us,
find its way out again.

Amen.

Vicky