One of the highlights of the arts’ festival is the chance to have a go at different arts and crafts, thanks to people who are willing to share their talents with us.

After Tim finished on stage, he led circus skills’ workshops for people to learn how to juggle, walk on stilts and spin plates.

Asmaa Chaudhry led workshops on henna designs and making flowers:

Karen Dunn from Furlong Road Methodist Church had her hands full with clay modelling workshops.

Alison Taylor-Fellows was also kept busy with sand art pictures.

Needle felting also proved popular.

We also learned about upholstery, 3D printing, virtual reality cinema and pyrography.

Our thanks to all who led different workshops and demonstrated their skills!

We also had some great performances on stage, celebrating circus skills, music, writing and reading and dance.

The amazing TIm Byrom from Greentop Circus

Pat and Andy Moore

Author John Irving Clarke with members of his writing group

Chris McShane and the ukulele group he teaches in Goldthorpe

The Deborah Clayton School of Dance from Thurnscoe

Our very own Grace Martin performing on stage

The Dearne Community Arts’ Festival 2019 took place yesterday at Astrea Academy Dearne. It was another fantastic day of championing creativity and celebrating community and I’m so privileged to know so many amazing creatives! Thanks to all who participated, volunteered and attended.

The Mayor of Barnsley, Cllr Pauline Markham, came to open the event and chat with everyone:

The community mosaic project was also unveiled at the arts’ festival. With 252 people involved in the creation of this mosaic designed by Ruth Waterworth, this was a fantastic project for bringing people together and we hope the mosaic will be displayed locally on a permanent basis.

Another community arts’ project was the ‘Go Wild In Thurnscoe!’ sculpture trail, and Vincent the Sun Bear and Hilda the Hippo (from Station House) were both on display at the festival.

We had loads of exhibitions with paintings, crafts, jewellery, clothing and cards for sale.

Thanks to all who attended today’s Macmillan Coffee Morning! Even though I was busy elsewhere at the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival, the volunteers who served at the coffee morning sent all these photos to show us it was a good time. Final amount raised to be announced tomorrow when we’ve counted everything up.

The most frequent kind of prayer prayed is the ‘quick fix’ prayer: the prayer we pray in desperation (‘Lord, save me!’) The psalms are full of these prayers (Ps 6:4, Ps 22:41, Ps 31:16, Ps 40:13) and there’s clearly nothing wrong with such prayers. Nonetheless, it is interesting that at a critical point in Jesus’ life, this was not the prayer he prayed.

Jesus said, ‘“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”’ (John 12:27-28) Wayne Jacobsen describes this as the prayer God always answers and it’s true that our experience of unanswered prayer (which demoralises us) is sometimes rooted in the fact we are more interested in being rescued from a situation which to us seems baffling and unpleasant than in being transformed through that situation. It would have been entirely understandable if Jesus had asked His Father to rescue Him from the horrors of the cross, but He knew that the cross was God’s purpose for Him and the only way the world could be saved. He put God’s glory and wishes before His desire for a life free from pain and suffering.

It can be just as hard for us to trust God’s goodness and kindness in situations which are painful, unpleasant and seem so utterly random and pointless to us. Yet God has greater purposes for us than our short-term happiness and is working in all situations for our good, redeeming and refining often through the tough times. May we all learn to pray ‘Father, glorify your name’ more than ‘Father, save me.’

Events are like buses, it seems: you can go months without anything happening, and then all at once, there are two events in one day!

On Saturday 28th September, we have our Macmillan Coffee Morning at church between 10 a.m. and 12 noon. The buns and cakes are all made and we can’t wait to welcome people back on a Saturday morning. Do come along to support this worthwhile cause!

Then there is the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival happening at Astrea Academy Dearne (the secondary school in Goldthorpe, on the left as you head into Bolton-on-Dearne). This arts’ festival aims to champion creativity and celebrate community, with many local residents taking part in exhibitions of arts and crafts and workshops and demonstrations where you can see first hand what creativity can look like. Come along between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. for a chance to buy Christmas presents, be wowed at all the beautiful things people make day-in, day-out in our area, have a go at something different and just be uplifted by all the beautiful creations made locally. Entry is free and there will be refreshments available served by the Snap Tin Cafe.

Some examples of what you will find are:

• circus skills (fancy a go at plate spinning or riding a unicycle?)

• paintings & drawings

• sand art

• hot wax painting

• clay modelling

• children’s clothing for sale (handmade sewing and knitted items)

• crafts & Christmas gifts

• woodwork

• face painting

• henna designs

• storytelling & poetry

Plus we have performances on stage (dance, music, circus skills, book readings) and the unveiling of the Community Mosaic started at GPCC on 1st June as well as guest appearances from Vincent the Sun Bear and Hilda the Hippo, from the ‘Go Wild in Thurnscoe!’ sculpture trail this summer.