District Visit - Argentina to Cumbria

 

Cumbria District and the Methodist Church in Argentina have a rich ongoing twinning relationship.  After the Methodist Conference this year they hosted visitors from Argentina, this is their diary

Cumbria Argentina Methodist Partnership: Visit of Pastor Maria Esther June 2023

This is a short description of the places and people that we met during Maria Esther’s  stay in the southern end of the Cumbria Methodist District:

Tuesday 27 June

A.M. : A visit to the Barrow Foodbank which is housed in the Baptist Church, Abbey Road, Barrow-in-Furness. The visit was facilitated by Kathryn Aldred, a volunteer at the Foodbank and a circuit steward in the South West Cumbria United Area (SWCUA). The deputy manager of the Foodbank spent time with Maria Esther answering questions and showing her around the warehouse (with the help of Google translate).

(From left to right : Deputy manager Matthew, Kathryn Aldred and Maria Esther.)

A.M. Following the visit to the Foodbank, Kathryn escorted us into Barrow town centre and guided us to the Re:New Community Charity Shop. Here Maria Esther met and spent time with the shop manager Tim Jeffries, learning about the work with the community done through the shop as well as his involvement with Cumbria Pride. Again, thanks to the availability of WiFi, it was possible to use ‘Google translate’ to help with communication.

(From left to right: Glenda Clark, Volunteer Sheena Miles, Maria Esther, Kathryn Aldred, Tim Jeffries)

P.M. Lunch in Ulverston at Gillam’s with Rev. Dr. Helen Hooley and Rev. Kate Hunt of the SWCUA. The lunch-time chat was lively, but unfortunately there was no WiFi available here, so Kate valiantly cudgelled her brains to retrieve her Spanish conversation …

(From left to right: Maria Esther, Kate Hunt, Helen Hooley, Glenda Clark.)

P.M. Despite the weather – it was a very “Lakeland” sort of day – we took our visitor to Cartmel on the way back to Allithwaite/Grange. Here there was an opportunity to look around the Priory, visit Cartmel Methodist Church and walk around the village square.

Maria Esther with Glenda Clark in the Methodist Chapel, Cartmel.

Wednesday 28 June

10:30 a.m. Drop-in at the weekly coffee morning held at Grange Methodist Church; coffee and chat with a number of the regulars, as well as an opportunity to see the buildings and learn more  about Grange MC past, present and future!

 

Thursday 29 June

A sunny day! First stop, Hawkshead Methodist Church for a mid-morning act of worship. The door was already open when we arrived … and the visitors’ book shows that many tourists and others come through the door.

(Glenda and Maria outside Hawkshead MC.)

 

The remainder of the morning was spent visiting Hawkshead Hill Baptist Church before going on to Windermere for some lunch, followed by a ride up through the Lakes to Penrith, stopping at Rheged for a cup of tea before leaving Maria Esther at the District manse.  

Ruth Briddock / 30 June 2023