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Welcome to St John's

Built in 1782, our Grade 2 listed village Chapel is one of the oldest Methodist Churches in the world still in use as a place of worship. It is very much a living church with a small, caring congregation, forming part of the High Peak Partnership of churches in the Manchester and Stockport Methodist District. There is a car park, and a small garden kept as a quiet outdoor space.

It is located on the edge of the Peak District National park in Derbyshire on the A624 between Buxton and Glossop, about 100 yards from the junction with the A6015 to New Mills. There are regular bus services and good rail links via New Mills railway stations.

Normally weekly Sunday morning services are at 10.30am. Monthly evening services, generally of a reflective nature, are generally held monthly at 6pm. The chapel has an induction loop, wheelchair access, and a disabled toilet. Music is provided by either a pipe organ, a digital piano, or good quality recordings. The organ was built in1856/7 and had a partial rebuild in 1967. It is registered with the National Pipe Organ Register.

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We take a full part in Partnership and village life, and welcome anyone to join us, regularly or occasionally. A range of activities are offered. For example, we run an annual shoe box appeal, and have been a collecting point for clothing, toiletries etc. for the "Hope for Refugees" project.

All are welcome, and resources are available within the church for children to use as appropriate during services. Social distancing and mask wearing are acceptable but not required. All can be comfortably seated.

The High Peak partnership of Methodist churches, also “zooms” services from one of the partnership churches. These are ideal for people who are unable or unsure about leaving their home. A further option is to engage with live YouTube streamed services, such as those from Methodist Central Hall, Westminster. For occasional visits, these give a sense of belonging to something bigger than our delightful village chapel. These supplement, rather than replace, our usual activities.

Website Update March 24

As we pass through the Lenten period towards Easter our activities modified a little to reflect this.

Our Wednesday evenings (8pm) Home fellowship group has begun a new series entitled entitled “The Good Living Guide” which are interactive Bible studies based upon the Beatitudes. These seem appropriate for the Lenten period, after which it is likely that our focus will change to the work of the Holy Spirit in preparation for Pentecost.

Messy church is great fun for both adults and children and replaces the normal morning service. They are planned for 10.30am on 17th March, 14th April and 19th May. These are art, craft and, age appropriate, puzzle solving activities focussed around a biblical theme. An innovation is that we are trialling the use of stimulus materials to provoke discussion of aspects of our faith aimed at adults and older children on one of the activities tables. There is opportunity to chat informally and refreshments are available at its end.

A further visit to Primrose court sheltered housing in the village to hold a 10.30am service in their common room has been arranged for the 28th April. These are relaxing and much appreciated by the residents as well as our own members.

Other special services include Easter Sunday (31st March) which will be all age and include a celebration of Holy Communion. A further innovation is that we will also mark “Earth Day” on 21st April. The village May Queen festival is also not forgotten in that on Sunday (12th May)there will be a special celebratory, all age, service at one of the two village churches. Details are yet to be finalised. Contact us nearer the time if you are considering attending.

Reflective Sunday evening services (6pm) continue as usual on 3rd March, 17th March, 14th April, 28th April, 12th May and 26th May.

Hard-to-Recycle Items. We are a centre for collecting the following used items such as toothbrushes, contact lenses and packaging; glasses (spectacles); batteries, jewellery coins ans currency, stamps and various kinds of gadgets. You can bring them along for collection after our Sunday morning services (until about 12 noon).

If you would like to join in any of these activities then please contact us via our website (https://www.stjohnshayfield.org.uk/ ) or email us at info@stjohnshayfield.org.uk or use Twitter:@HayfMethodists.

This website is updated at least quarterly. For more up to date information please sign up for our newsletter by emailing the editor at stjohnshayfield@outlook.com. This comes out near the beginning of each month.

Christmas activities.

Children's faces have been blurred to comply with safeguarding concerns. The two camel puppets, operated by two of our members, were a huge success and conveyed the Christmas message in an appealing and accessible” way

Christmas Events 2023

Christingle service

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An innovation this year has been to hold a Christingle service on Christmas Eve. An all age congregation, larger in size than usual, had great fun in creating it. It successfully conveyed the Christmas message by putting it into a wider context

Further images of events can be found on our "Recent Events" page

"The Methodist Church in Britain is committed to safeguarding as an integral part of its life . This involves ensuring there is a safe environment for all activities and a quick response to any concerns. At St John’s we strive to ensure that all our activities are compliant with the national churches policies, procedures and guidelines details of which are on its website (https://www.methodist.org.uk/). You can raise any concerns by contacting our safeguarding officer, via this website or in church most Sundays".

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