Church News (Click on an image for a larger version.)
Farewell Service for Rev Julie Letts We were pleased to welcome over 150 people from near and far at the Farewell Service for Rev Julie on 13 July 2025. We joined together to give thanks for Julie’s ministry, and to give our best wishes to Julie and Malcolm well as they move into retirement.
New energy efficient doors fitted In July 2025 we had new energy efficient doors fitted to the church hall and corridor, replacing our old draughty wooden doors. The new doors are close-fitting so better at keeping in the heat, and are made of aluminium so should last for many years. This is the latest stage of our Eco Fund work to improve the energy efficiency of the building. Big thanks for all the fundraising support, especially for the grant specifically towards the doors from the Better Derbyshire Dales Fund (which is funded by Derbyshire County Council Public Health, Derbyshire Dales District Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group.)
Wifi and new sound system In February 2025 we were pleased to finally get Wi-fi set up in our building. There were a few logistical challenges, not least because our building is a giant u-shape with a car park in the middle! However thanks to support from local provider Gigapeak and some nifty wiring, we now have a strong Wifi signal throughout the building. We have also improved our Hall facilities by installing a new sound system in the Hall and a permanent ceiling projector, all of which is a benefit to building users.
Repair Café celebrates third anniversary Hathersage Repair Café is run jointly by the Anglican and Methodist Churches in Hathersage , with support from Alpkit. The first Repair Café took place in October 2021, and on 26th October 2024 we held our 12th event. During those three years our volunteer experts have repaired a total of 912 items, including 99 pieces of furniture, 101 items of clothing, 80 electrical items, 20 bicycles and 422 tools/ knifes sharpened. The Repair Café has also raised £1,865 in donations which has been split between Christian Aid,Tools with a Mission and local foodbanks. Thanks for everyone who helps make the Repair Café happen - doing our bit to protect the environment by enabling stuff to be re-used and keeping items out of landfill.
Coat of Hopes, August 2024 We were honoured to host the Coat of Hopes in church for the weekend whilst it was travelling around the Hope Valley. The Coat of Hopes is a patchwork, pilgrimage cloak which is travelling the country raising awareness about climate change. Hundreds of people have embroidered patches for the coat over the past three years, to express their prayers, griefs, remembrances and hopes for the planet. We were glad to have the opportunity to display the coat in church for people to see or wear, and a few people added new patches. The coat is now continuing its journey towards the south coast, but whilst it was with us we made our own paper version capturing our own fears and hopes for our world.
Click here for more information on the Coat of Hopes.
Eco Fund reaches £20,000! We're delighted that we have now raised over £20,000 for our Eco Fund, to install insulation and solar panels on the church building. Huge thanks to all those who have given donations, made cakes to sell, supported our fundraising events and helped spread the word. We are hoping to reach £35k by the end of 2024. You can make a donation online via our Dona portal https://donate.mydona.com/hathersage-methodist-church.
Peak Wesley Way open for bookings
The Peak Wesley Way is a new pilgrimage route across the Peak District with overnight stays in Methodist chapels- including in Hathersage! The six-day walking route goes from Matlock to Edale with no-frills overnight accommodation in chapels along the way, including camp beds and kitchens/ showers on site. We’re looking forward to welcoming the first pilgrims soon. Visit https://peakwesleyway.com/
Sunday Club In September 2023 we launched a weekly Sunday Club for children aged 2 to 12 taking place during our Sunday morning 10.30am services. We've been having fun together with Bible stories, songs, craft activities and more. (As well as doing the important preparatory work on safeguarding arrangements and training for volunteers.) We've had one or two families join us so far and are looking forward to welcoming more!
Church Hall ceiling insulation now complete We’re delighted to have completed the insulation of our church hall ceiling, ready for the winter. This hall gets a lot of use throughout the year, so the insulation will mean less energy is being used, which is better for our bills and better for the planet! Big thanks to Abbeycliffe builders for their hard work on the insulation. The next steps on our energy efficiency plan are to install new draught-proof external doors, and finish draught-proofing the internal doors.
Hathersage Gala, July 2023
We had a busy time celebrating Hathersage Gala, with the well dressing on the church drive, bunting around the church and a prize for the church's entry for the Scarecrow Competition!
Our Spring Fair was a great success with lots of coffee and chat, bacon butties and baked potatoes, face painting and treasure hunting, stalls and raffle. Over £1000 was raised for church funds, many thanks to all who took part.
During the first few months of 2023 we held our Sunday services in the church Hall rather than the church building. The hall is much easier to heat than the church, and stays warmer for longer, so it was a way for us to reduce energy usage during the colder months. It was also an opportunity to try some different formats for our services, and turned out to be a very positive experience. To mark the end of our time in the hall we had a 'Bring and Share' lunch together on Palm Sunday.
70th anniversary of the church hall Tocelebrate the 70th anniversary of the church hall we held a Tea and Cakes afternoon. This was also the start of our fund raising project to improve the energy efficiency of the building so that it is more sustainable in the future.
Links with Cliff College A working party in the church grounds and after a morning service led by Tom Donoghue and some of the students.
Harvest Festival For our harvest we welcomed our friends from the parish church and the junior school choir. Harvest gifts were taken to the local food bank with the fresh produce being used by the luncheon centre. Everyone enjoyed coffee and cake after the service.
Jubilee parade.
Repair Café and Christian Aid Breakfast
The Repair Café on Saturday was extremely well supported with yet another eclectic mix of items brought in for some expert advice and expertise, while others were happy just to catch up over a bacon or sausage butty and a welcome cup of tea or coffee. We are delighted that almost £600 was raised on behalf of Christian Aid in support of their work, particularly in Ukraine and Zimbabwe.
Solidarity and prayer for Ukraine We have been saddened and stunned by the situation in Ukraine and are responding in prayer, practical support and acts of solidarity. For the last few months we have had a prayer for Ukraine on our notice board and invited people passing by the church to tie a ribbon to the cross symbolise their own prayer. For Orthodox Easter on 24 April we opened up the church for 'Togetherness with Ukraine', an afternoon of reflection and solidarity , with music, readings and times of silence.
