On Saturday 15th July, the new Macedonia URC building was dedicated to the service of God. The date had to be settled at short notice (due to the stop-start nature of the building project) which meant a number of key folk were unable to be with us and others were on holiday.
But nevertheless, we had a good turnout, including former Macedonians from various places – Cumbria, Shropshire and even Germany – to share in the celebration and it was a lovely opportunity to rekindle old friendships as we formally begin a new innings. There was also strong representation from Failsworth Churches Unite! and from the URC Central Area churches.
Huge thanks to two key batsmen – Revd John Piper (who, amongst other things, represented Synod) who led the prayers of dedication and to Revd David Ireland (of Union Street and Francis House Children’s Hospice) who brought a thought-provoking message. Needless to say, we suffered one or two no-balls when the IT (bowled by an expert – not!) took its bat home but play continued regardless.
A lovely celebration cake was made by, Naomi, the daughter of Wallace and Tracey – even the church was edible (made of rice crispies) and Naomi admitted “the church took the longest time” – oh how true was that!
The Cricket Club First XI were playing away that day (otherwise we wouldn’t have got on the car park!) but kindly allowed us to use the pavilion for refreshments and helped serving tea and coffee. Although rain didn’t stop play, it sadly did mean the picnic benches were too damp to sit on outside.
So after all these years, we must now sit down and plan our fixture list and set to work to build up a strong and committed team of batters, bowlers, fielders and supporters.
Macedonia URC 