188 Years of The Stanhill Methodist Church

More devastating news, on October 20th 2006 Edna Banyard passed away. Unbelievable news. What would we do without our dear Edna.? A real blow for the church. Edna was such a hard worker for the church - she lived for Stanhill. Edna was the mainstay of us all. She touched hundreds of lives if not thousands - her Christian Faith shone through her – it was infectious. She was loyal, a very good listener and you knew whatever problem you shared with Edna, it would go no further. She was such a gifted lady, sewing, dancing just to name two of her talents. A wonderful human being who was everybody’s friend. Yet another friend left us in July 2007, sadly John Prescott passed away after a reasonably short illness. John, too was the mainstay of us all at Stanhill, with strong beliefs he willingly shared. He always said that his faith came to light again because of the influence of his father-in-law, Tom Broughton. John became treasurer and the ‘voice’ of Stanhill Methodist Church. He was passionate about the place, which he became fond of after his Presbyterian roots. A wonderful baker who fed us all in more ways than one! And of course passionate about Accrington Stanley!! His memory lives on. We move onto 2011 when we said more goodbyes – this time to Andrea & Tom Smallbone & their two children, Zac & Evie, who were both baptised at Stanhill. They emigrated to Canada, as did our good friend, Karen, who emigrated a few years before. Karen was a good help with the young people & was so much missed.

2012 was a busy year. The 175th Anniversary year.

A Community mini Flower Festival in June. Displays made by the Dancers, the Keep Fit Group, Village Residents & Fete Committee, West End Primary School & All Saints Church. Flowers and artefacts displayed of an era from 1837.

An Annual Quiz was in November. Very popular with people from other churches and the community - all competing to be the best team!

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