Chester-le-Street Methodist Church

39th Annual Church Family Weekend
at Red Lea Hotel, Scarborough,
 25^th-27^th February 2011

The Church Family weekend is a very special opportunity for members to get away and spend time together in fellowship. This year we had a new venue for the weekend, the Red Lea Hotel in Scarborough. Red Lea is a hotel with 68 bedrooms, a lift and a swimming pool, standing in a lovely position on the South Bay, close to The Spa and the Cliff Lift. The bedrooms were all en-suite, clean, spacious and comfortable, the staff were very attentive and helpful and the food was excellent. Everyone was delighted with our new venue. We were a little disappointed that numbers attending this year were down, just 28 adults and 2 children, but we hope that more will come along next year, especially after hearing all the glowing reports on the weekend. The weather was kind to us and we saw Scarborough at its sparkling best, especially on the Sunday morning.

The weekend began with dinner in the big dining room on Friday evening then we all met in the light and comfortable room which had been assigned to our group. Adrian, who was leading our studies for the weekend, outlined his topic `Biblefresh' for us. This linked in with the 'Biblefresh' meeting which was taking place in our own church that same weekend and which many of us were disappointed to be missing. Afterwards Anne Robson led us in our evening devotions.

For the first of the Saturday morning sessions we split into 3 groups and Adrian gave each group a psalm to study. Although they were familiar psalms we were all surprised at the new light we were able to shed upon them and how much we had to report back at the end of the session. After the coffee break we looked at the account in Acts 15 of the meeting between Paul and Barnabas and the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. Then followed a hilarious sketch depicting a present-day meeting of a Church Council - Church meetings can never be viewed with quite the same respect again!

After a sandwich lunch, our afternoon was free for strolls, shopping or snoozing. Bob led a group of 10 hardy folk on a walk in the Hackness area of Scarborough and was roundly blamed for the thick mud encountered in some places.

After another enjoyable dinner (we did seem to spend a lot of time eating) we met for very noisy games of cricket, golf and dominoes, none of which are taken seriously, and where everyone, young or old, is able to join in. Then came the Grand Concert where Colin was compere, little Jack had us all giggling at his jokes and Adrian wound up the proceedings with a song he'd written poking fun at the happenings of the day. Margaret Stoyle brought the day to a close with our evening devotions.

Sunday morning was bright and sunny and perfect for the short walk to Westborough Methodist Church where we were made to feel very welcome. The service was led by a lady supernumerary minister who talked of God's power and our need to put our trust in Him, and she chose some stirring and popular hymns. Afterwards we had coffee as we mingled with the members.

After a roast lunch there was free time before we met for our final session. We were united in a very uplifting service of Holy - Communion led by Adrian which was the culmination of a wonderful weekend of fellowship and growing closer together as a family.

Red lea proved to be an ideal venue for us, and the whole weekend had a lovely atmosphere of caring, sharing and companionship. The 40^th anniversary weekend will be held at Red Lea on 2^nd - 4^th March 2012 and we hope that as many members as possible will join us for that special celebration. Wouldn't it be great if we could take over the whole hotel and fill all 68 bedrooms? Even if you've never been on one of these weekends before why not give it a try? Put the dates in your diary now - we know you'll enjoy it.

Jean Dobson