{"id":822,"date":"2015-07-28T13:16:47","date_gmt":"2015-07-28T13:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/?p=822"},"modified":"2015-07-28T13:16:47","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T13:16:47","slug":"thank-you-ellen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/thank-you-ellen\/","title":{"rendered":"Thank you Ellen!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"float: left; width: 200px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"images\/2015_christ_church_ellen_maternity_leave_thanks_wide.jpg\" alt=\"Ellen speaking in Christ Church\" title=\"Ellen thanks Christ Church for our support during her time here\" width=\"200\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0px 0px 0px 220px; text-align: left;\">\n<p>Our youth worker <strong>Ellen Dann<\/strong> started maternity leave in July 2015. During the last few years she has made a huge contribution to the life of Christ Church, while her own life too has gone through dramatic changes. We give thanks for Ellen and all that God has done through her in Christ Church, and look forward to what is still to come.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 420px; margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; text-align: center;\">\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p>Since joining Christ Church in 2010 Ellen has touched the lives of dozens of young people, encouraging them to grow in faith and apply it to their everyday lives. Week by week she has led the Revive and Reloaded youth groups, as well as special events such as the visits to <a href=\"http:\/\/christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/soul-survivor-2014\/\" title=\"News article: Soul Survivor 2014\"><b>Soul Survivor<\/b><\/a>, youth weekends away, fundraising events and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/youth_africa_2013.html\" title=\"Youth Encounter page: East Africa 2013\"><b>Youth Encounter trip<\/b><\/a> to Kenya and Tanzania.<\/p>\n<p>Her work with young people has impacted on the wider church too. We\u2019ve learned more about global issues in a practical way through <a href=\"http:\/\/christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/community.html#brownriceday\" title=\"Community Action page: Brown Rice Day\"><b>Brown Rice Day<\/b><\/a>, the 24-hour <a href=\"http:\/\/christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/stop_the_traffik.html\" title=\"Stop the Traffik event against human trafficking\"><b>Stop the Traffik<\/b><\/a> event and <a href=\"http:\/\/christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/slum-survivor\/\" title=\"News article: Slum Survivor\"><b>Slum Survivor<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ellen\u2019s work goes far beyond her official r&ocirc;le as youth worker: she has led Sunday services, Caf\u00e9 Church sessions, a home group, holiday clubs and craft events, and helped to start and lead <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/messy_church.html\" title=\"Christ Church Messy Church page\"><b>Messy Church<\/b><\/a> through its first year.<\/p>\n<p>Although we will miss Ellen greatly our youth work will of course continue. <strong>Matt Churchouse<\/strong> will be leading on a part time basis, supported by a team of voluntary helpers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/images\/2010_ellen_youth_discussion_600.jpg\" alt=\"Ellen leads a discussion with young people in Christ Church\" title=\"Ellen leads a discussion with young people in Christ Church\" width=\"420\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ellen leads a discussion with one of the youth groups in Christ Church<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 430px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/images\/stop_the_traffik_ellen_early_morning_800.jpg\" alt=\"A conversation in a darkened building\" title=\"Early morning conversation during the Stop the Traffik event\" width=\"420\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">It&#8217;s 6.30 am and we&#8217;re more than half way through the 24-hour Stop the Traffik event<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 430px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/images\/2013_christ_church_africa_youth_encounter_team_commissioning_600.jpg\" alt=\"Commissioning the Youth Encounter team before they set off for East Africa\" title=\"Commissioning the Youth Encounter team before they set off for East Africa\" width=\"420\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Commissioning the Youth Encounter team before they set off for East Africa<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 430px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/images\/2013_christ_church_africa_youth_encounter_team_coach.jpg\" alt=\"With the Youth Encounter team on a coach in Kenya\" title=\"With the Youth Encounter team on a coach in Kenya\" width=\"420\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">With the Youth Encounter team on a coach in Kenya<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 230px; margin: 0px 0px 20px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; text-align: center;\"><div style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/images\/2013_christ_church_revive_residential_ellen_hard_hat_crop_600.jpg\" alt=\"Wearing a hard hat for grass sledging at a Revive residential\" title=\"Wearing a hard hat for grass sledging at a Revive residential\" width=\"230\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wearing a hard hat for grass sledging at a Revive residential<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 160px; margin: 0px 0px 20px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; text-align: center;\">\n<div class=\"quote\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding: 10px 15px 10px 15px;\">&ldquo;Ellen has always led gently and with love, but has so much fun along the way (whilst clutching on tightly to a risk assessment form of course!). We&#8217;re really going to miss her input&rdquo;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 180px; margin: 0px 10px 20px 0px; text-align: center;\">\n<div class=\"quote\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding: 10px 15px 10px 15px;\">&ldquo;I really appreciate the way that Ellen responds to the needs of the young people: setting up Spark for boys who would benefit from having the space to ask burning questions, organising a girls&#8217; sleep over<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 220px; margin: 0px 0px 20px 0px; text-align: center;\"><div style=\"width: 230px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/images\/2014_christ_church_slum_survivor_ellen_450.jpg\" alt=\"Wrapped up warm on a chilly evening at Slum Survivor\" title=\"Wrapped up warm on a chilly evening at Slum Survivor\" width=\"220\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wrapped up warm on a chilly evening at Slum Survivor<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 260px; margin: 0px 0px 20px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; text-align: center;\"><div style=\"width: 270px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/images\/2014_christ_church_messy_church_ellen_giraffe_draw_600.jpg\" alt=\"Ellen joins in an activity at Messy Church\" title=\"Ellen joins in an activity at Messy Church\" width=\"260\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A quieter moment at Messy Church<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 130px; margin: 0px 0px 20px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; text-align: center;\">\n<div class=\"quote\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding: 10px 15px 10px 15px;\">&ldquo;We really appreciate Ellen&#8217;s dedication and commitment&rdquo;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 180px; margin: 0px 10px 20px 0px; text-align: center;\">\n<div class=\"quote\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding: 10px 15px 10px 15px;\">&ldquo;We are particularly thankful to Ellen for introducing us all to Soul Survivor &#8211; our summers wouldn&#8217;t be the same without it&rdquo;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 220px; margin: 0px 0px 20px 0px; text-align: center;\"><div style=\"width: 230px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/images\/2015_christ_church_messy_church_ellen_dann_cake_600.jpg\" alt=\"Ellen was presented with a thank-you cake for all her work with Messy Church\" title=\"Ellen was presented with a thank-you cake for all her work with Messy Church\" width=\"220\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ellen was presented with a thank-you cake for all her work with Messy Church<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 185px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; text-align: center;\"><div style=\"width: 195px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/images\/2015_christ_church_messy_church_easter_ellen_silhouette_400.jpg\" alt=\"Ellen in silhouette: speaking at Messy Church\" title=\"Leading the celebration time at Messy Church\" width=\"184\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leading at Messy Church<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 215px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; text-align: center;\"><div style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/images\/2012_christ_church_cafe_church_ellen_2_500.jpg\" alt=\"Ellen speaking at Cafe Church\" title=\"Ellen speaking at Cafe Church\" width=\"213\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leading at Caf&eacute; Church<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; width: 310px; text-align: center;\">\n<div class=\"boxout\" style=\"margin: 10px 0px 10px 0px; padding: 10px 15px 5px 15px;\">\n<h2>A message of thanks from Ellen&#8230;<\/h2>\n<div style=\"width: 100%; margin: 10px 0px 10px 0px; text-align: center;\"><div style=\"width: 280px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/images\/2013_kenya_equator_colin_ellen.jpg\" alt=\"Colin and Ellen at the equator in Kenya\" title=\"Colin and Ellen at the equator in Kenya\" width=\"270\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Colin and Ellen on the 2013 Youth Encounter trip<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t believe that it has been five and half years since I first moved to Birmingham and became the youth worker at Christ Church. I knew I had come to a very special church right from the beginning. I received such a warm welcome and so much support. I would like to say a huge thank you to each of you! Thank you for the way you have supported me as a person and the young people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Colin and I were so overwhelmed by the amazing wedding reception that you gave us in 2013 and now we arrive at another momentous life change! Thank you for the gifts that you have given us for our new baby! We so appreciate your generosity and love. Thank you for your prayers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>Ellen, Colin and Baby<\/em>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 100%; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px;\"><div style=\"width: 230px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/images\/2013_christ_church_ellen_wedding_celebration_500.jpg\" alt=\"Ellen celebrates her wedding with Colin in Christ Church\" title=\"Ellen celebrates her wedding with Colin in Christ Church\" width=\"220\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">When Ellen and Colin got married they held a special celebration for all of us in Christ Church<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Find out more about youth activities on our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/youth.html\" title=\"Christ Church Youth page\"><b>youth&nbsp;page<\/b><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our youth worker Ellen Dann started maternity leave in July 2015. During the last few years she has made a huge contribution to the life of Christ Church, while her own life too has gone through dramatic changes. We give thanks for Ellen and all that God has done through her in Christ Church, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872,"href":"https:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions\/872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christ-church-selly-park.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}