Plus and minus

The editor puts himself greatly about, not least in Hurworth. "I know him very well," says Anne Sanderson, senior steward of the village Methodist church, evincing not just unspoken parenthesis but silently clangorous alarm bells.

Anne, it should at once be added, is wholly charming, the comment entirely conversational. There is a potential problem, for all that.

Last weekend was Hurworth's flower festival and harvest thanksgiving, a happy and vibrant occasion with a Sunday morning family service well attended by Girl Guides, Brownies, and Rainbows - a sort of sub-Brownies, under sevens enchanting in their tabards.

The flowers were lovely, the people friendly, the children involved in everything.

There were more visual aids than at the Darlington branch of Specsavers, more props than at a colliery washing day, a put upon scarecrow played resolutely by Anna Miller.

Margaret Smith, the minister, bounced about the place, spoke engagingly, talked afterwards of a lovely village and of the church's plans for the future.

It was three days later that we read her piece in the chapel newsletter, telling of her "difficult" past 12 months.

It was an extraordinarily soul searching letter, talked of changing church life and of "dark" times, of others' unhappiness and of assurances that some people had given her.

"I cannot say it feels easier because the assurance only confirms the difficult and often lonely path I must lead our chapel along."

She is an evangelical Christian, more faithful than some to the word of the Bible and probably more conversant with it, too. Chapel membership has fallen "drastically" at Hurworth, says Margaret, now around 45 of whom several are very old and many over 60.

It appears not to be everyone's cup of tea.

Hurworth is a large village three miles south of Darlington, once best known as the home of William Emerson, an 18th century mathematician and all-round genius who wore his shirts back to front. One of the pubs is named after him. Now it's better known as a playground for the rich and famous, that is to say the site of Middlesbrough Football Club's training ground, sumptuously appointed and fiercely guarded.

The Methodist church is 177 years old, was extensively modernised eight years ago - not least by removing some of the galleries and replacing pews with individual chairs - and has recently had extensive work done on the roof.

"It was a case of having to," says Doreen Nixon, the treasurer. "We had dry rot, rising damp and no real foundations.

"We were quite flabbergasted to learn that we were worshipping where it could have all come falling around our ears, but people have been very kind.

"It was amazing how many donations we got from people who mightn't often go to church but didn't want to see it close."

Now they face another bill, around £24,000 for rewiring and associated work. If it never rains but it pours, as might reasonably be supposed, at least it wouldn't get in through the roof.

"It just seems endless," says Margaret. "They've done a fantastic job and now they have to do it all over again, and that with a congregation of people mainly over 60.

"It's why I try to get people to see that their priority is God, and that He will sort out the rest."

Maybe 80 are present, mainly from the girls' uniformed organisations. The theme is "cheerful givers".

There's a mix of traditional and more recent harvest songs, including one called "I want to be a tree that's bearing fruit", which the kids manifestly love and which contains the lines:

More colours than daisies,

More fruit than Sainsbury's

You'll be a blooming tree.

Perhaps in exchange for the free plug, they might get Mr Sainsbury to pay for the rest of the rewiring.

At the end, the children are up in the gallery, happily singing their heads off. The adults are in the school room out the back, drinking coffee.

Margaret's talking about the problems they face, and how listening to God can make a difference. "I'm getting us to look at how we manage money, and to see what the Bible says.

"We do have support in the village, but there is only so much that they can do."

Her piece in the newsletter had ended on a similar theme. "Join with me in blessing God for the good and hard times, rejoice in Him for our strength and trust in Him to shape our future." Time may tell.

l Sunday services at Hurworth Methodist church are at 10.30am - family services every second Sunday - and 6pm. The Rev Margaret Smith is on (01325) 720301.

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