The Dearne Community Arts’ Festival (due to take place at Dearne ALC on Friday 31st August and Saturday 1st September between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.) has been successfulo in receiving funding from the Big Lottery Awards for All scheme and the local Ward Alliance, and customers at local Tesco branches can also vote for the project between 1st May and 30th June 2018 at Bolton-on-Dearne and Wath-upon-Dearne stores to secure additional funding.

The funding will cover the costs of running the festival (including the hire of Dearne ALC, publicity and marketing materials, insurances and payment of workshop costs) and will enable the festival, which champions creativity and celebrates community in the Dearne area, to offer a wider variety of arts, thanks in part to the larger venue.

Exhbitions, performances, workshops and demonstrations will be held over the two-day festival and the range of arts booked so far include painting, photography, sewing, tapestry, hardanger, paper crafts, virtual reality cinema, 3D printing, music, drama and dance. We also hope to host a circus skills workshop and there will be the opportunity to practise creative writing for all ages (with Ian McMillan and Jeannette Ayton leading workshops for adults and children on the Friday). Thurnscoe Harmonic Male Voice Choir will again perform for us on the Saturday.

Photograph courtesy of Ruth Bourne

Before the festival, there is the opportunity to win prizes and have your work exhibited through two competitions – one in creative writing (up to 500 words, poetry or prose) and one in photography, both on the theme ‘Loving Your Local Environment.’ Entries should be emailed to julie@gpcchurch.co.uk or handed in to Goldthorpe or Thurnscoe libraries by 11th July. There are 3 age categories (under 11s, 12-18s and adults) and entries should include the name, category and an email address and contact telephone number.

Please let us also know if you’re interested in exhibiting or performing at the festival.

CLC, the Christian bookshop in Sheffield, is moving!

The shop is currently based on West Street in Sheffield but is moving on 1st May to 2 Church Street, which is close to the cathedral. This is a much more central location (the blue corner building just to the left of the Cathedral as you look from the tramlines) and is therefore a real answer to prayer for the charity.

If you’re in Sheffield, do call in to view their impressive range of Christian literature, CDs, DVDs and gifts.

Here are some more photographs from the Good Friday Church Crawl, when we were at the Salvation Army. Good to tell Stacey took these – they are all about the people!

We had our first April birthday to celebrate tonight.

Our quiz tonight looked at different kinds of eggs and we had to identify the creature hatched from those eggs – these included not only chickens, but penguins, sea horses and other weird and wonderful creatures!

Then we had to ‘wrap up’ people rather as Lazarus was bound by the grave clothes…

There was a variety of prizes and all children received a book/ comic about Easter and a chocolate egg.

I am loving the ‘so what?’ of preaching lately! Jesus is alive! So what? Rend Collective’s song ‘Resurrection Day’ (now known in our house as the ‘oh-oh’ song, because this is what Esther sings when she hears the song start on CD – listen to the video and you’ll know why!) captures the ‘so what’ perfectly and summed up our service tonight:

‘Because You’re risen, I can rise.

Because You’re living, I’m alive.

Because Your cross is powerful,

Because You rose invincible,

I can get up off the floor.

Because You rolled my stone away,

Because my debt has all been paid,

Because You stand in victory,

Because You crushed the enemy,

I can get up off the floor.

This is my resurrection day.

Nothing’s gonna hold me in the grave.

This is my resurrection day.

Nothing’s gonna hold me down.

Say goodbye to my yesterdays,

Ever since I met You, I am changed,

This is my resurrection day.

Nothing’s gonna hold me down.

The good news is the good news,

‘Cause You chose the rugged cross.

The good news is the good news,

‘Cause You rose up from the dust.

Your gospel is the power that is saving all of us,

So I can get up off the floor,

Get up off the floor.’ (‘Resurrection Day’, Rend Collective)

Because Jesus is alive, we can live too. It’s as simple – and as profound – as that.