Recent Events

Village shares in our Easter joy

Our Easter Family Celebration proved even more popular than before with almost twenty young families involved in a joyous afternoon of fun, food and worship for all ages.

Starting with a short act of worship, led by Debbie, Judith and Ian, we sang about and heard the Easter story once again, as we made palm leaves to mark Palm Sunday.

Then it was into the “workshop" where among the many activities on offer were making Easter egg tags and flowers, painting salt-dough crosses, decorating stones and icing biscuits, all while our Easter ‘garden’ gradually took shape, with the help of many hands - and lots of glue!

It was a really lively and creative time for everyone and then the afternoon was rounded off (in traditional fashion) with singing songs and eating cake!

Once again our thanks go to all those (seen and unseen) who made it possible and who helped in all sorts of ways. Here’s looking forward to the next one!

Seeds sown at Lego Church

All photos used with permission.

Everyone was welcomed at the start of our session and we shared the highlights of our half-term week. Then it was time to watch a video of The Parable of the Sower.
We explored what a parable is and talked about what happened to the seed when it fell in different places. Then it was time to build!
Everyone got busy building gardens, plants, birds and even a racetrack and an extensive farm! One detailed model depicted the message of the parable very imaginatively.
After our ‘tell and show’ time, we shared a prayer and sang one of our favourite songs – Our God is a Great Big God!
And finally, we ended the session with a pizza party tea. Lovely!

Christingle adds the perfect touch

The Christingle Service on Christmas Eve proved as popular as ever with our normal congregation augmented by visiting family members and families from the village and the dale.

There was much fun and laughter to be had around the tables as the necessary 'ingredients' were identified and assembled but nothing can quite match that moment when the Christingle is assembled, the candles are lit, the lights are dimmed and the familiar carols are sung once again.

The perfect way to welcome the Christ-child.

Christmas lunch proves a festive treat

The annual Christmas lunch, hosted by the Pathway team, proved as popular as ever with the thirty guests who sat down to dine on December 23rd.

And, thanks to the generosity of the local Co-op and MacFarlane butchers, there were generous portions across each of the three courses - and enough to feed the ten helpers who had volunteered their services, as well as meals taken out to the homes of three people who were unable to attend in person.

In a lovely and much-appreciated touch, the Rainbows had made individual Christmas cards to be handed to each of the guests.

"It was an excellent community team effort," said Judith Tarn, who helped organise the event. "People who hadn't been before were blown away by both the quality and quantity of the meal we were able to provide!

"So we want to say a huge 'thank-you' to everyone who supported us or helped in any way," Judith added.

Village Christmas

We were delighted, once again to host the Village Christmas Celebration with contributions from across the community and involving all ages.

More than 70 people joined us for a programme of familiar carols and readings delivered by representatives of St. Mary's Church, the Women's Institute, the Lunch Club, Dawn to Dusk nursery, the Rainbows, the Scouts and Upper Teesdale Churches Together, along with contributions from St Aidan's RC Church, Middleton-in-Bloom, the Carnival Committee, the Christmas Lights group and UTASS.

And the whole community event - masterminded by the redoubtable Judith Tarn - was rounded off in traditional fashion with mince pies and tea and coffee. Lovely!

Familiar face at Chat & Play

The Chat & Play Christmas Party was another fun-filled morning for all concerned.

Following the refreshments half way through, it was time for the arrival of that familiar figure with his red suit and bulging sack and after the usual "Ho-Ho-Ho" stuff, Santa got down to the serious business of handing out the presents to all the children - and most of the adults as well (They must have been very good!).

He even joined in the singing of some familiar carols, accompanied this time, not by Rudolph, but by Alan and his accordion, after which it was time to head off on his busy schedule but not before he received his own present - lots of hugs. Lovely!

Family celebration as popular as ever

Our Family Celebrations have become increasingly popular with young families around the village and this year's Christmas Celebration proved no exception.

Upwards of twenty families were represented in what became a joyous afternoon of fun, food and worship for all ages.

It started with a short act of worship, led by the Rev Graham Cutler, in which we were invited to make cribs and mangers as we sang carols and listened to the familiar story of Jesus' birth.

Then it was into the aptly named "Joseph's Workshop" where a whole range of activities was on offer - building 'Bethlehem Stars' for the garden, decorating jam-jar candle lanterns, making nativity characters from modelling clay, baking Christmas biscuits and making a variety of seasonal decorations.

Both young and old had a great time and then it was time for tea and a "birthday cake" to mark the birth we were celebrating before heading home with our handiwork. Lovely!

Many thanks to all those (seen and unseen) who made it possible and who helped in all sorts of ways.

Altogether now!

The 'Altogether Choir', which meets in The Pathway, was called into action for the village-wide celebration marking the switching on of the Christmas lights in the centre of Middleton-in-Teesdale.

As colourful as ever, the lights sparkled almost as brightly as the choir, whose spirited rendition of popular carols provided a huge hit with the large crowd around the Christmas tree and nearby Christmas stalls. God bless you merry, gentlefolk!

Toy Service success

Our annual 'Toy Service' at the end of November, provided the feeling that Christmas was definitely on the way.

And, once again, Pathway members excelled themselves in their generosity with their donations of toys and cash, all of which went to our friends in the Salvation Army to help provide some Christmas joy for families across Teesside.

Thank you to all who made it possible.

Bright ideas at Lego Church

There was lots of fun to be had at our latest Lego Church during the October half-term. The theme was 'light' and we thought about Jesus being the Light of the World and how we could let our light shine too.

And then we produced these shining examples of Lego models.

School Harvest safely gathered in

We were delighted, once again, to welcome pupils and their teachers from the village school, Middleton-in-Teesdale Academy, for their Harvest Festival Celebration.

With their beautifully presented programme, they reminded us all of why the season is called a "festival" with their readings, prayers and joyous and infectious singing and actions (and watching Mrs Harris swaying to the "Harvest Samba" was a bit of a highlight as well!)

We're now all looking forward to the school's Christmas Carol Concert.

Family Harvest filled with fun

Our Harvest Family Celebration this year provided an action-packed, fun-filled afternoon for all ages.

Our short act of worship was based on the parable of the sower – brilliantly acted out - and in video format, with the songs “Autumn Days” and “Harvest Samba” lingering in memory long after the service had finished!

And then it was into the café and hall for an afternoon of activities that included making bread and scarecrows, flower making, planting seeds (cress), creating lovely vegetable prints and building harvest scenes with Lego.

And, of course, it was all rounded off with a Harvest Picnic Tea of sandwiches, crisps, sausages, cheese, cucumber, cake, biscuits and fruit – and even some of the bread we had baked earlier. Lovely!

Thanks to everyone who organised, helped, joined in or contributed in any way to a truly joyous celebration.

Pathway members were among the team at this year's Eggleston Show. Find out more at www.upperteesdalechurches.co.uk

Lego Church
goes for GOLD!

In the first week of the school holidays we had our first Summer Holiday Lego Church session.

It had an Olympic theme and was based on Hebrews 12. Everyone was really inspired and engaged.

Here are some of our amazing models!

Holiday At Home Club

This year, during the school summer break, we planned three Holiday at Home Club sessions as well as two Lego Church sessions.

We prepared activity packs and food bags for families to collect each week - and they've proved really popular, as usual.

Here's the programme:
Week 1 - ‘Running the Race’ based on Hebrews 12.
Week 2 - ‘Faith, Hope and Love’ based on 1 Corinthians 13.
Week 3 - ‘Let your light shine’ based on Matthew 5.

Watch out for more news of our next Holiday At Home programme!

Tennis theme serves up a treat

It was 'game, set and match' when we hosted the Upper Teesdale Churches Together "Strawberry Tea."

Coming as the All-England Championship neared its dramatic conclusion, the choice of theme was obvious from the start and, with the necessary licence being bought (thanks to a donation), we were able to show separate matches on each of our two screens.

Although numbers were not as high as we had hoped, those who were there greatly enjoyed the event as well as the home-made refreshments. Hopefully we may be able to stage a return 'match' next year.

Beach fun is a family celebration

We were very excited to hold our first Family Celebration Service on Sunday 23rd June when 30 children plus their families joined us for our time of interactive worship and activities.

The theme for our service was ‘Fish for Breakfast’ based on John 21: 1-14 and we started in the chapel area of the building where we built boats, sang, prayed and explored the story through role play.

The boat, net and fish all helped us to imagine the scene. We thought hard about what we could learn from the story, exploring this in a time of sharing together.

Following our worship, we moved into the café and hall areas which were full of activities linked to our theme.

There was a fishing game, an under-the-sea scene, a game of quoits, sea creatures to paint, bubbles, deck chairs, buckets and spades and of course………. our very own beach!

We ended our service with a time of sharing together over food - fishfinger sandwiches, cakes, choc ices and lollies. After tea, it was back to the beach for more fun, with no one wanting to go home!

We’re really looking forward to planning our next Family Celebration Service (but, maybe next time with less sand?!!!)

Christian Aid Week

We have been supporters of Christian Aid for many years and 2024 was no exception.

We donated the funds from two of our regular coffee mornings to this year's appeal and we rounded the week off with a 'soup and sweet' lunch (pictured right) after our communion service attended by more than 50 supporters whose generous donations also went to the appeal.

Thanks to everyone who contributed in cash or in kind!

Easter @ The Pathway

Hot Cross Bun giveaway

On Good Friday we took trays of hot cross buns and walked around the village offering them to locals as well as
visitors. Each hot cross bun had an Easter message with it from everyone at The Pathway

Egging goes on...

In the lead up to Easter we repeated an activity which we first started last year. We collected a selection of chocolate Easter eggs donated by members of The Pathway and selected two streets in the village to receive them.
Our eager Easter Egging team left an egg on the doorstep of each house and, again, the eggs came with an Easter message from everyone at The Pathway.

Easter Lego Church

During the school Easter holiday we held our Easter Lego Church. This began with an Easter egg hunt which was great fun! We watched a video of the Easter story, then spent some time building our models and sharing with others what we’d made. After a song and a time of prayer, we ended with a party tea.
Here are some of the Easter models we made...

Lenten journey

We travelled through Lent with our weekly Lent Group & and approached Holy Week with ‘Seven Last Words' a solo Cello & meditations event (see below).
On Palm Sunday Upper Teesdale Churches joined at The Pathway for worship led by our minister, the Rev Graham Cutler.
Our devotions for Holy week began with Middleton School’s full gathering at The Pathway for a service led, once more, by Rev Graham.
On Maundy Thursday we celebrated communion together led by the Rev Jim Coleman of our church and on Good Friday members led our journey through The Stations of The Cross. Then on Easter Day itself quite a crowd gathered for Sunday morning to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus.

Kenneth Wilson describes himself as an ex-vicar, failed property developer, and reformed vegetarian, who once ran an India travel company.
Now, as Highway Cello, he plays a wide variety of solo cello music – rangingfrom Bach to tango and Irish airs.
This Meditation on the Seven Last Words offers short meditative poems with a musical response. Taking the traditional
words of Jesus, spoken from the cross, Kenneth’s poems of meditation alternate with (mostly) the slow movements from Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello.
This performance was the culmination of a six-week, 23-church tour during Lent in which Kenneth performed in churches, abbeys and cathedrals in the East and West Midlands, East Anglia, North Yorkshire and Cumbria.
In 2022 Kenneth cycled with his cello from Hadrian’s Wall to Rome, performing every day en-route. .
For more details see:
website: https://kennethwilsoncello.com

Christmas blessings

The celebrations began with our annual Christmas Toy Service, followed by the school Christmas Concert and the return of the popular Village Christmas Advent Carol Service.

Add to that Christmas Lego Church, the Christmas Lunch, and on Christmas Eve, morning worship, the Christingle Service and Midnight Holy Communion and you can see we have enjoyed a really busy but blessed Christmas.

Thank you to everyone who contributed in any way and to all those who joined us.

Christmas Eve makes Christingle special

More than 50 adults and children from across the community joined us for the popular "Christingle Service" led by our own Minister, the Rev Graham Cutler.

With an ample supply of oranges, ribbons, candles, sticks, sweets and raisins the church was soon aglow with that special light that comes from a rapt congregation holding up their completed Christingles. And the fact it took place on Christmas Eve itself made it extra special. Lovely!

Festive lunch is the biggest yet!

Almost 40 people turned up to enjoy our traditional Christmas Lunch this year - the biggest we've hosted so far!

Thanks go to MacFarlane Butchers for the luxury turkeys, and the Co-op for their generous gift card. Volunteers from the community helped serve the food while church members, hand picked for their "bake-off" skills, donated fabulous puddings.

Jusith Tarn, who helped organise the lunch, said: "The atmosphere was fantastic and meals were plated up and driven to those unable to come due to health problems, so they didn't miss out either."

A wonderful memory for makers and eaters!!

Lego Church tells the story

Our Christmas Lego Church was another huge success. Popular with children of all ages(!) it produced these colourful and imaginative interpretations off the traditional Christmas story, which are now decorating the window ledges around the church.

Welcome return for Village Christmas

The return of the Village Christmas Celebration proved a huge success with more than 150 people enjoying a varied programme of carols, songs and readings celebrating the Christmas story and the festive season.

As well as our own team there were contributions from The Women's Institute; The Rainbows; Middleton Primary School; The Altogether Choir; Middleton Lunch Club; Middleton Nursery; our new Parish Nurse, Gladys Mugambi on behalf of UTASS; and Chat & Play making it a truly community-wide event.

And, of course, the ever reliable Middleton & Teesdale Silver Band were on hand to play for the singing and to entertain us as we enjoyed the tea, coffee and mince pies which followed.

The collection went to Action For Children's Christmas Appeal. Thank you to everyone who contributed in any way.

School Christmas Concert

Once agin we were delighted to welcome pupils and staff from Middleton Primary School for their Key Stage 2 Christmas Concert.

More than 50 pupils filled our church with carols, songs, poems and readings as they took us through the traditional Christmas story, cheered on (sometimes literally) by an enthusiastic audience of parents, grand-parents, aunts, uncles and supporters.

It was a lovely occasion and we're really looking forward to the school's return visit at Easter.

Christmas Toy Service

As in previous years, we held a Christmas Toy Service to support our friends in the Salvation Army in Stockton as they bring a touch of Christmas morning joy and excitement to children in some of the neediest households on Teesside.

And this year, the response has been more generous than ever with a magnificent selection of toys, games and gifts. Thank you to everyone who contributed in any way!

Prayer and reflection at
Egglestone Abbey

More than 50 members of the circuit met among the warm stones of the abbey (despite the prevailing weather!) and afterwards, all agreed it had been a great success.

For those unable to be there, the Rev Graham Cutler created a video which was shown simultaneously at Barnard Castle Methodist Church. It perfectly captures the atmosphere of the afternoon - so enjoy watching it!

The video can be found here: https://youtu.be/zFkzHDyAHM8

The booklet which prompted prayers and reflections at the Abbey can be found here: Information leaflet 1.pdf

Come, share our Easter joy...

Our Easter journey began on Wednesday of Holy Week with another successful Lego Church led by the Rev. Graham Cutler and our community development worker Debbie Andrew. There were sixteen youngsters and their families who took part and produced a wonderful collection of Lego models based on the Easter story.

The next evening the vicar, the Rev Alison Wallbank, led an Upper Teesdale Churches Together Maundy Thursday communion service in The Pathway, featuring material from Wild Goose Worship and Taize.

On Good Friday morning, we took to the streets of Middleton-in-Teesdale handing out hot cross buns and Easter eggs - not all to the same people, if we could avoid it!

The buns (carefully wrapped!) were given to shoppers, passers-by, visitors and even some local businesses. Each bun carried the message: “Good Friday is the day to remember the sadness of the Cross. But… shout with joy and celebrate Easter Day with the promise of new life and hope! Happy Easter from the Pathway.”

And while that was going on, homes on several streets in the village had chocolate Easter eggs (or the occasional Easter bunny) left on their doorstep with a “happy Easter” message attached.

The eggs had all been donated by Pathway members and we hope, with their continued generosity and support, to “egg” every home in the village over the next few years.

And, of course, the response has made the effort really worth while with many people expressing their surprise and delight at the unexpected gifts.

Our celebrations on Easter Day itself began with communion at 8am, led by the Rev John Howard, followed by a leisurely breakfast (at least for those who weren’t in the kitchen!) which also catered for the early arrivals for our 10:30am service led by our own Sheila Walton.

And at the close of the service, the beautiful floral cross, which had been assembled by Anne Tallentire during worship from blooms brought by worshippers, was taken outside to decorate our noticeboard as a reminder to all passers by of the glory of the Easter message.

All in all, a good Easter. Praise God.

Just click on any of the images to enlarge them

Who on earth...?

...well God's gift to us all, is the answer!
If you've found one of these decorated 'pebbles' somewhere around Middleton and wondered who put them there, well the answer is we did!

They're a simple link to our Christmas window display - "Jesus! The greatest gift of all," and a reminder of what it is we are actually celebrating.

Christmas 2022

It's been a wonderful Christmas here at The Pathway packed with worship, wonder, fun and feasting - and we've loved it!

Our Toy Service, at the end of November, got things started followed by carol-singing for the lights switch-on and then, later, around the village, organising the Christmas windows displays and getting the parties under way with Chat and Play.

In the week before Christmas the church rang to the sound of children's laughter and songs when Middleton School held its carol concert and we staged our first Lego Church, followed, later in the week, by a beautiful Christingle service enjoyed by all generations.

On Christmas Eve the Christmas meal was, once again, a huge success and greatly appreciated and the evening ended with a gentle and reflective communion service leading us into the joy of worship on Christmas Day.

Sincere thanks go to all who contributed in any way to making this Christmas so special for so many.

Christmas lunch (yeah, the real thing!)
The Christmas lunch, on Christmas Eve, was it's customary success with everyone enjoying a traditional taste of the season.
Thirty-one meals were provided and relished! Thanks to village businesses who willingly gave produce of various kinds, cooks who cooked food, and people who came to serve up, and another fantastic volunteer who came to help clear up. It’s been a poor party if there’s no clearing up to be done!

Christingle

Our Minister, the Rev Graham Cutler led a Christingle Service on 23rd December, which was an amazing success, despite the fact that another village venue threw a children’s party at the same time. Children of all ages made Christingles, we sang carols, and 'Rev G' delivered a lively message. Of course, coffee etc. had to follow - because that's the Methodist Law!

Lego Church!

Who doesn't enjoy playing with Lego? Well, almost no one it turns out - regardless or age or condition!

We held our first 'Lego Church' in the run up to Christmas and almost 40 children and adults (well 'big' children actually) had a great couple of hours hearing the nativity story and then re-creating it in everyone's favourite assembly kit.

There were the usual characters, of course, but the occasional crocodile, dinosaur and teddy bear also managed to put in an appearance.The results were outstanding and will grace our windows throughout the Christmas season.

And the afternoon was rounded off with a scrumptious Christmas tea, greatly enjoyed by all. Our thanks to Debbie and Graham and their helpers and everyone, big and small, who contributed to the food, fun and laughter.

(All photographs used with permission.)

School Carol Concert

It was a joy to host the Middleton-in-Teesdale Nursery & Primary School Carol Concert this year.
More than 150 pupils, parents and staff packed the church as we enjoyed a mix of seasonal carols, songs, readings and poems.
"I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas" was particularly popular - especially when it was played (accidentally!) for a second time.
It was lovely to hear our church ringing with children's voices and we are really looking forward to your next visit! You're welcome anytime.

Chat & Play party

The Chat and Play party took place on 12th December, and Santa paid a visit to hand out presents and it was amazing how much Santa knew about the children and families there. How could that have happened?!

Christmas windows

We're always involved in Middleton Christmas goings on, and organised the Christmas window displays, by inviting businesses, shops and private house dwellers to decorate their windows in a Christmas theme. The winner of the businesses was UTASS, with a huge wooden Advent Calendar which was a painted scene depicting Middleton with an amazing amount of detail. The best decorated house was Emma James’ home in Parkin Row. We joined in (as always) and decorated the entrance to the church.

A Prayer for Ukraine

The Methodist Church has issued this prayer in response to the developing situation in Ukraine:

Holy and Gracious God, we pray for the people of the Ukraine and the people of Russia; for their countries and their leaders.
We pray for all those who are afraid; that your everlasting arms hold them in this time of great fear.
We pray for all those who have the power over life and death; that they will choose for all people life, and life in all its fullness.
We pray for those who choose war; that they will remember that you direct your people to turn our swords into ploughshares and seek for peace.
We pray for leaders on the world stage; that they are inspired by the wisdom and courage of Christ. Above all, Lord, today we pray for peace for Ukraine.
And we ask this in the name of your blessed Son. Lord have mercy. Amen.

To download a copy, and the letter from the Rev Graham Cutler which accompanies it, click here.

Our Vigil: Over the course of the three hours more than 25 people took part and the vigil ended with some of those standing in silence at the war memorial. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

Below left: The Communion Table at the end of the Vigil.

2021

Toy Service

Our Annual Toy Service took place a week later than planned - thanks to the power outage caused by Storm Arwen!
But in spite of the delay, there was still a wonderful selection of toys and around £200 in donations to go to our friends in the Salvation Army, in Stockton, for their magnificent work among needy families on Teeside.
So a big 'thank you' to everyone who contributed in any way - and that includes you too, Judith Tarn!

Pumpkin party packed out!

Our Pathway Pumpkin Party has been another huge success for our outreach in the community programme.

More than 20 excited children, together with their just-as-excited mums, dads, grandmas and carers, enjoyed an afternoon of fun craft activities and games all based on the ‘Pumpkin Heroes’ theme from World Vision.

And because no party would be complete without food, the afternoon was rounded off with a super tea of fish fingers, beans, pumpkin toast, jelly and cake! and a chance to watch the ‘Pumpkin Heroes’ video.

Our development worker, Debbie Andrew, who organised the party with the help of other church members, said: “It was great to see so many young people in our church enjoying themselves - but it was hard to say who had more fun, the children or the adults who came with them!”

Well done, Debbie and the team. Watch out for details of our next community events.

(All photographs used with permission)

Success for Summer Holiday
at Home Club

(All photographs used with parental permission.)

The Pathway has once again hosted a hugely successful “Holiday At Home” Club over the six-week summer holiday - and this one was bigger than ever.

Advertised on social media and the village school app, the club drew applications from 22 families in and around Middleton-in-Teesdale with 36 children taking part. In total, 92 family members were involved.

The theme this time was ‘parables’ and each week the team provided ideas and resources for craft activities, games and songs based on a parable, along with recipes and ingredients to make a simple, healthy meal for all the family.

Debbie Andrew, the Pathway's development worker, said: “The families collected their packs from The Pathway, so we were able to connect with them for a short while each week. In addition many posted photos on our Facebook group.

“The club went really well and we’re especially pleased that we’re still connecting with many of the families that have joined in with this and previous Holiday at Home Clubs.”

Funding came from Durham County Council, The Stephen Mitchell Memorial Shoot, and Middleton Co-op, plus donations from members of The Pathway.

“We’re very grateful to everyone who helped in any way,” Debbie added. “Once again the club was really well received with lots of positive comments. When we asked what we could do better we were told: 'Do it for longer because I love it so much!’”

Some of the things we did during the first lockdown...