I am planning to be away on holiday (of which more anon) for the weeks either side of the August Bank Holiday. This will mean that I will not be here to produce a NewsLetter for 5^th September, the first Sunday of that month. I am therefore planning an issue to cover the two months to be published around the middle of August. This should contain information on all events up to, say, 10^th October. This will include the new start dates of organisations after their summer break, arrangements for Harvest Festival and the lunch, CWM Sunday, September Church Meeting, and so on. Similarly, the July issue, due out on 4^th July, will need to carry information relevant to the period up to 22^nd August. Will all contributors please take note of this – thanks,

Everything should have settled down again by 26^th September, copy date, and 3^rd October, when the October NewsLetter is due out.

Pamela Galliers

Once again Pamela features in our pages, and I’m pleased to devote space to recording her exploits. Now Pamela’s retired (at the end of the summer session, actually) will we stop hearing about her? I doubt it!

Musings from the Manse

Dear Friends;

It was nice to come back from Australia in time for the coffee morning on Tuesday and for the Spring Event on the following Saturday, both providing opportunities to catch up with people that I hadn’t seen for over three weeks.

Nearly every year since I have been living in England, I have had visitors from Canada. It is a real pleasure having them and showing them around. Once I even had the opportunity of helping one of my friends learn to drive here.  And I learned that I would not make a good driving instructor! One of the gifts of having these visitors from Canada is that they are seeing this country with fresh eyes, and they help me to see anew what it looks like, and to appreciate things all over again. How quickly we get used to things and start taking them for granted! They help me to see and hear what I have in many ways become used to. Many places in the Bible speak to us about new life. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 5:17, says "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" As Christians, we need each other to help us to keep things new. We need children to remind us of how precious some things are. Once in a morning service, when people were being invited to stay for coffee following worship, one of the young children exclaimed, " Oh! Coffee!" He was genuinely delighted, as apparently in his experience, coffee was a nice thing to "do". 

We were delighted with his response, because we as adults often take such things for granted. We were helped by this child to see the gift of fellowship and hospitality with new eyes. The new creation that Paul wrote about doesn't just happen. We need each other to keep us seeing and being this new creation. We need a variety of people to do this, both old and young, newcomers and long-time members, people from a variety of backgrounds. What might be the sources of new life for us? For Epsom URC? What might be up God’s sleeve for us?

Charles Senior is making very good progress and is in good heart. He has been able to get out to Stoneleigh Broadway and back, and if his convalescence continues to go so well, we’ll have him back with us ‘as good as new’ before you know it!

Both Mary Hallifax and Marjorie Thomson have been with us for Family Worship recently, and it’s good to see them. Lynne and Del, too, we are always delighted to have you with us.

Unfortunately, Phyl Cary is not too good at present. We hope that the doctor can sort her out, particularly with her current house-moving plans.

And we are sorry to hear that Sybil has had a fall and has been taken into hospital.

A full account of the meeting held on Monday May 24th will be posted as soon as the Minutes arrive. Meanwhile here are some thought following that meeting. I think that Churches Together in Epsom are going through a rough spell at the moment, somewhat unsure of the their way. There have been some changes; but too often, I believe these have been through expediency rather than the result of careful, balanced thought.

A year or so ago, a decision was made that they would be less active in actually organising events, etc., and that the churches would do their own thing, inviting others to join in whatever was being arranged. A little longer ago, the three Anglican churches of our area had pondered their services to the community. One conclusion was that the communication between the three churches was inadequate, that they just did their own thing and did not talk to each other enough. So were the rest of the churches any better? In other cases in Churches Together, discussions had been left to individuals or a small group, which then went ahead without referring back to the organisation, i.e., the other churches. Some churches begin to feel left out of the conversation.

Now we have a new Chairman: he is the Rev. Canon Adrian Esdaile, now retired, and attached to St Martin’s. He is new to Churches Together and lacks deep knowledge of our ways, but he is beginning to see areas where some modifications could be usefully made in the interests of the majority For instance, he was interested in getting back to Lenten House Groups, which some had never wanted to abandon, only improve, for example, as the Chairman said, with our own guide book rather than some centrally published work.

Another of his suggestions referred to the hoary old problems of distributing notices of Christmas and Easter services. He came up with investigating costs, etc., of asking the Royal Mail to distribute - an idea not without merit! When he suggested that he get together with a small group, I saw a chance to air the thinking of some of the smaller congregations and offered to join this group. We meet for the first time on Monday June 14th. If you have any views or ideas please let me have them well in advance. And please pray for this new process.

One of the greatest difficulties which some of us encounter with Churches Together comes from the fact that we do not take the trouble find out what is going on, and give it little or no support. We are not interested. But we should be. It is our community that they are trying to serve. For instance there is a "Job" going at the moment for someone to represent Churches Together in Epsom at the Town Hall meetings of the Police Crime Report Committee. I understand these are very interesting meetings. Any offers? Please let me know.

All meetings of Churches Together in Epsom are open to everyone, not just representatives. Unfortunately I had to miss the last two meetings, once for personal reasons and the other clashed with the pre-Induction Church meeting. Most people at the last meeting seemed to think that the recent simple Good Friday Act of Witness in raising the Cross more impressive than a public sermon at this point. Do you agree-or did you just not know about it?

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE DOVECOTE CHRISTIAN BOOKSHOP was formally re-opened last week, by our local MP. It is now housed in the old house immediately next to the Methodist Church. It was a happy occasion and much is hoped from this new location. But it needs our prayers and support. So go and look for yourselves.

We aim to offer to Epsom residents and visitors a place for the selection and
purchase of Christian publications, music and associated products.

Open Monday to Saturday from 10.00am to 5.00pm
Telephone - (01372) 817707

The Dovecote Bookshop was opened in its new premises next door to
Epsom Methodist Church on 24^th May by local MP Chris Grayling.

Sydney Carter (1915-2004)

‘Born in Camden Town, London, on 6 May 1915, and educated at Christ’s Hospital and Balliol College Oxford, Sydney spent his early years as a schoolmaster before enrolling for wartime service with the Friends’ Ambulance Unit in Greece and the Middle East, where his encounter with traditional Greek dance made a lasting influence.

‘His career as a poet and folk singer began in the 1950s, when he was approached by Donald Swann for new revue material. In the following decades, it burgeoned into a diversity of activities that included writing material for television and cabaret, with hits such as My Last Cigarette, sung by Sheila Hancock, as well as the composition of the earliest of his classic songs on themes of belief and doubt that have subsequently entered the popular imagination as enduring anthems of our time.

‘By nature a radical, Sydney was no stranger to controversy, and for a long period after joining the Stainer & Bell ‘family’ he remained a marginal figure, outside the theological establishment. That his work now belongs firmly in the mainstream of worship material used in churches and schools worldwide is a potent symbol both of evolving attitudes in society and of the integrity and scope of his vision.

‘Associated with Stainer & Bell for forty years, Sydney’s songs have offered inspiration and support to countless individuals for whom this sad news will likewise be felt as a very personal loss. Yet while we mourn his passing, we also take hope from the fact that, in the corpus of songs that includes One More Step, When I Needed a Neighbour and Lord of the Dance, there lies his enduring legacy.’

Sydney Carter once said, "Sometimes, for a change I sing the whole song in the present tense. 'I dance in the morning when the world is begun...'. It's worth a try".

This year is the 20^th Anniversary of the Christian Resources Exhibition (CRE), and some 56 CREs have been staged in various venues, both nationally and internationally. The range of products and services on display needs to be seen to be believed, and an hour with the catalogue planning your visit is an hour well spent.

I was particularly interested in office equipment, computer software, visual presentation and web-hosting services. I had earmarked about twenty stands to visit in about five hours; plenty of time, I had thought, to get round with time to spare. But no: what with having arranged to have a cup of coffee with an old school friend, and then having one’s attention grabbed by some particularly attractive display, and spending longer than scheduled at some interesting stands, I was left with three stands to see in quarter of an hour! It came down to running – well, walking fast – between the stands, focussing on the particular aspect in which I was interested, and grabbing the free hand-outs for later perusal. It was a good job that the exhibition halls were getting less crowded by then.

As a result of my visit to the CRE, we’ve had the large duplicator serviced by an expert, for, I believe, the first time since we got it; I’ve bought a very good value video data projector; picked up demonstration discs with examples of church-based software; got a very good deal on a collator and booklet maker that will make production of the Newsletter much easier for both Ewell and ourselves; information about the Disability Discrimination Act (see elsewhere in our pages); and some information about church heating that Archie already had! Oh, and some more clip art to make your Newsletter even more attractive!

I hope you will notice and appreciate the changes and improvements as they are introduced in the future – starting with the NewsLetter, which should be copied better and collated much quicker than erstwhile!

It was brought to our attention that bookings for the Longhurst Room had not been confirmed with David Philip, resulting in an embarrassing situation with a guest coming to view the premises that, unknown to David, were occupied by another group.

Apologies were made to David for the misunderstanding that had caused this situation. It was decided to use the pages of the NewsLetter to put out a plea to all actual and potential users of the church and/or Longhurst Room to ensure that they refer all bookings to David so that he can keep everything under control.

Bookings for Unity Hall, having started off on the right basis with Tom Lockett in charge, are working properly; let’s get the same attitude with respect to the Longhurst Room and church. 

Blessed with good weather, a very friendly happy spirit was evident and we thank al those who gave gifts for sale, all those who helped in so many ways and all who made purchases, resulting in the magnificent total of £500.

The lucky ticket prize of a pen and pencil set was won by Lynne Lewis; the basket of fruit went to David and Paula’s daughter, Moira; and Judith Ellis correctly guessed the weight of the cake ‘spot on’, with 3lbs 3 oz. Congratulations to them.

On Sunday May 16th family and friends and Guiders past and present met in Unity Hall to wish Pamela Galliers well in her retirement from Guiding.  She has served as a Brownie Guider, the District secretary and finally a Rainbow Guider for a total of forty-four years.  Before this she was herself a Brownie and a Guide. 

Pamela has never held any high up positions, such as Division or County appointments, preferring to run her units and help the District in any way she can.  This was pointed out by the County Commissioner, Kate Brown, when she presented Pamela with the Silver Surrey Lion, for outstanding service.  As she said, long and loyal service is as important as holding high office.  Pamela was also presented with a Thank-you Badge from Spring Downs District, and a leaving present of two "Pudding Lane" ornaments and a bouquet.  Those who could not be present sent messages to be put into a book, and everyone there added their own written good wishes.

 It would be strange to be in Guiding in Spring Downs without the presence of Pamela, but with the number of "little jobs" that were being found for her at her retirement event I don't think we will be seeing the last of her for some time!  

 I would like to thank the District Commissioner, Elaine Edwards, for organising the event, and also Valerie Wood and Margaret Holland for their work in the kitchen providing what must have seemed endless cups of tea and coffee, as well as distributing slices of the celebration cake.

Our gratitude to all the good folk who have already arranged or made donations towards the flower displays this year. There are, however, still some dates uncoveredf – please help if you can.

As you know, after the Sunday morning service, the pulpit arrangement is divided and distributed, each with a small card attached, bringing a greeting from the church. Alan has had another bright idea, and designed a new card for us, which is printed in colour – most appropriate!

Opening Devotions at the May Church Meeting took the story in Mark Ch. 2 about the paralysed man whose friends managed to get him to Jesus by lowering him through a hole in the roof of the house in which Jesus was; Pat encouraged us to indulge in a bit of lateral thinking in order to find ways round problems. I thought that the example demonstrated vertical thinking, but managed to keep quiet – till now!

Did you know that there is a charity, based in Epsom, called ‘Through The Roof"? Its mission is to make the Christian gospel accessible to everyone affected by disability, and helps organisations and churches ensure that their premises are suitably equipped. They had a stand at the recent Christian Resources Exhibition, and some very useful information was obtained. Although our church buildings are pretty well equipped, there may be some things that can be improved, especially as the Disability Discrimination Act comes into force later this year!

The subject of drains is not one that exercises the minds of most of our congregation! But your ever-watchful and caring F&GP Committee has been aware that the drainage was perhaps not all it should be, that the man-hole cover by the bay tree had not been lifted for many years, and the drain was long overdue for an inspection.

The cover was lifted a couple of weeks ago, dislodging a couple of very large worms who had made their home in the gap around the cover. In fact, it could well have been their secretions in the earth in the gap that made the lid so hard to break free!

A further inspection, under Confined Spaces regulations, will be conducted soon, and it is hoped that the root can be removed, following which a CCTV survey will be carried out to show the extent of the damage caused.

This is to give you advance notice of a Coffee Morning to be held in Unity Hall on Saturday, 17^th July. This gives those to whom access to the Tuesday morning WCC Coffee Mornings in the Longhurst Room is just a little too difficult a chance to meet friends in a convivial atmosphere. The previous Unity Hall Coffee Morning proved sufficiently popular to encourage us to repeat the exercise. Thought is even now going into how best to advertise the event, to attract the passers-by both in Church Street and in Depot Road Car Park. Please make a note of this date now.

.
Photograph from last year's Coffee Morning

Once again, by kind invitation of Evelyn and Jock and Phyllis, we are invited to their lovely garden after morning service on 20^th June. Our minister, Rev. Pat Hall, will be conducting Family Worship at 10:30, and will be with us at ‘Hessle Top’. Don’t forget to bring your lunch; tea is served later in the afternoon. Drivers are asked to bring their garden chairs, and to be ready to take people requiring transport.

Last year's Family Day

Your Hosts

Sheila, our hard-working secretary, has received through the website the following appeal, which speaks for itself. If you want to help, please contact Sheila :

Dear Mrs. Smith,

My name is Betina and I am a 24-year-old Portuguese student. I am doing a two months' work placement (September,October2004) in Epsom at a Portuguese company called Portucel. The thing is, I haven't managed to find a flat or a room where I could stay. I am really desperate, I would be very thankful if you could help me.

Thank you

Yours sincerely

Betina Martins Teixeira

An internet search gives the following details:

Portucel Ltd., 4 West Street, Epsom, KT18 7RG; Tel: 01372 720203

‘I am calling my people to:

        Take My Love to all you meet;
        Be My Hands, My Voice, My Feet.

Our A.G.M. took place on Thursday, 27^th May. We are so pleased that Barbara Wood was willing to stand as President. She was unanimously elected, as was the secretary and treasurer. Thus the officers are as follows:

President: Barbara Wood
Secretary: Daphne Dawe
Treasurer: David Philip

Pat joined us for tea, and now we have a summer break. The first meeting of the 2004-05 session will be on Thursday, 23^rd September, at 2:30 p.m.

At the May meeting we welcomed Mrs Rosalind Stew from Epsom Age Concern, and a most informative talk it was. We had a really comprehensive account of the services and goods available to us, most of them free of charge, like smoke alarms with a ten-year guarantee, and help with transport at a nominal cost for people attending hospital.

Financial support is greatly appreciated.

The A.G.M and Supper is on 7^th June, and savoury and sweet contributions will be welcome.

The Coffee Morning on 11^th May raised the very good sum of £80 for the Bradbury Centre; this is the more remarkable, considering the proximity of the Spring Event. Our grateful thanks go to all our contributors and donors.

The next Coffee Morning on Tuesday, 8^th June, 10:30 – 12:00, will be for the MacMillan Nurses. They give a selfless devotion to those many folk suffering from cancer and great support to the families involved. We hope to have the pleasure of your company.

Four of our Brownies went with 8^th Brownies to a weekend Pack Holiday at Weyside and all had a wonderful time.

The Brownies had a very interesting ‘Animal’ evening, when they made their own animal mask, solved several animal puzzles in groups and decided which animal they are most like in times of trouble, and which animal they most resemble. They had a lot of fun with that.

At their next meeting the Brownies decorated plastic pots and made flapjacks for sale at the Spring Event. Several of the Brownies helped out on the Saturday.

On Sunday 16^th May about fifty people who have known Pamela Galliers during her many years of guiding had a party for her as she retires from Rainbows, having reached the age of 65. There were several presentations for all her hard work through the years and we all celebrated with a piece of cake specially decorated for her.

The Brownies are working towards their Gardener’s badge at the moment. They all planted the seeds of three different herbs and sowed some cress in a small yoghurt pot, which they are to care for at home. They have been told that to earn the badge they will have to bring in photographic evidence that their herbs have all grown successfully. The Brownies have also replanted the two troughs beside the church, and the pot behind the hall.

The Brownies have once again taken part in the ‘Children with Leukaemia Marathon’. This year we were all sponsored to sing twenty-six songs. This we did successfully on Wednesday, 26^th May, at our meeting. We were grateful to Judith Rice-Jones for providing the necessary music, and to Rie Stanton for providing us all with a drink and hot dog to keep us going. I would especially like to thank those church members who so generously supported me.

We have got two very enterprising Brownies who have produced a magazine for the other Brownies, and have sold copies in aid of Brownie funds. They are intending to produce the magazine once a fortnight and have asked if they can ask the girls for their views on various subjects for future issues.

To celebrate the Brownies’ 90^th Anniversary this year, a special Brownie Rose has been grown by Harkness Roses for Girlguiding UK.  With bright yellow petals symbolising friendship and with a light, herbal scent, the Floribunda rose has been carefully selected to reflect today’s vivacious and adventurous Brownies.  The Brownie Rose was launched at the Chelsea Flower Show in London on 24^th May, 2004.  The 12^th Epsom Pack has ordered a rose that they intend to present to the church when it is received in October.

The activities for the last few weeks have included making hot air balloons and watching them ‘fly’ from the gallery, making their own magnetic fishing game and making a Jack-in-the-Box.

Pauline is finding it increasingly difficult to find the time to come to Anchor Boys and suggested that with so few boys she and Tuck could come on alternate weeks. She is not prepared to continue into September as we are, but we are very hopeful that after half term there will be some ex-toddlers coming to see what we do and to see if they would like to join us.

And Finally . . .

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