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Epsom United Reformed ChurchNewsletter for May 2005 |
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Alan Wood St. George’s Day "Bangers and Mash Bash" When I suggested, back in the February NewsLetter, that St. George’s Day was on a Saturday, and asked whether we were going to celebrate it, I never envisaged – well, lots of things! The work, for one thing; the uncertainty, for another. ‘Would it be supported?’ I wondered. ‘How will "Pyramus and Thisbe" go, with a week to go and only half a cast?’ In the end, we had, I believe, a rousing success. And you only have to read the bits by Phemie and Judith to see how successful it was, on different fronts. It was a good, enjoyable social occasion, with over sixty people sitting down to a meal, expertly provided by Phemie and her helpers; it also raised about £300 for Christian Aid. Unity Hall looked very festive, with England flags festooned around, and lovely floral decorations on the tables (thanks, Joan); and I’m sure there has never been a Thisbe like Paul Bullock gave us! My heartfelt thanks to all who helped, especially Phemie, who unaccountably left her name out of the list of people in her article. At times I wondered why I had opened my big mouth. On St. George’s Day I found out why. Charities It looks as if half the NewsLetter deals with charities of one kind or another. Don’t forget the Saturday Coffee Morning in Unity Hall on 7th May, with proceeds again to go to Christian Aid. And then the WCC Coffee Morning on 10th May in aid of DebRA. I’ve been reading about Epidermolysis Bullosa on the DebRA website, and it brings a lump to your throat to read about what the sufferers and their families go through. Please support their work. Do you realise that the Chernobyl disaster was 19 years ago? The local population is still suffering from the effects of radio-active contamination. Please consider the appeal for host families, and see if you can help. There will be leaflets in the foyer, giving more details. While on about charities, read about George’s visit to the Shooting Star Hospice – this’ll tell you why so much money is needed by these charities. And as I write, remember the Princess Alice Hospice, currently undergoing an extensive renovation, while the patients are distributed round various hospitals in the area. [P.S. The total raised by The St George's Day Bash, the Unity Hall Coffee Morning and the Afternoon Fellowship 'At Home', has exceeded £400. This is being donated to Christian Aid. Surely this is more than we could have raised by door-to-door collections, and was certainly more enjoyable! Thanks to everyone for their support and generosity!] With May being a five-Sunday month, I thought that I would take the opportunity to bring the publication date of the NewsLetter to the last Sunday of the previous month. So the next NewsLetter, for June, will be out on 29th May, and will, hopefully, give you a week’s notice of events at the beginning of the month. Will all my contributors please note? Thanks. (top Eileen Horsler has not been at all well. She is awaiting further tests. Betty Hay is still in a lot of discomfort. Hopefully she will get an admission date soon. Evelyn Beer has also had severe pain and difficulty in walking. Steve Keates is home again following surgery, and we wish him well. Lynne and Del will be celebrating their 63rd wedding anniversary this month with love and gratitude. We wish Daphne a restful few days while on holiday in Suffolk, and bon voyage to Pat as she goes off to Canada for her holiday. To all we send our love and remember them in prayer. Musings from the
Minister Dear Friends, As you already know, I have been reading a book called ‘Re-pitching the Tent’ by Richard Giles. I told you a bit about it in the last magazine, remember? Giles suggests that a good starting point for any change in the use of church buildings is the desire to be hospitable. He goes on to say that "The entrance to our house of the church - the way in to the community’s worship, its hospitality, its bandaging of the wounds of life- needs to catch the eye of those most in need of God’s love, for whatever reason. It needs to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to be accessible to all and to say ‘welcome’". "But we already do that!" I hear some of you saying. Perhaps it is welcoming to you who have been coming here for a long time, but what about new people? People who haven’t ever been inside a church before or for a very long time? Can we really expect to attract new people and be a more vibrant part of the community as we are now? Giles says that "Part of the secret of unlocking our buildings – literally as well as figuratively – is to employ devices which will ensure that people are coming in and out of them all day, that there is something going on there, that the coffee is always on the boil." We already do some of these things, don’t we? We’ve already made a good start! What other activities can we develop, or how could what we are already doing, be done, so that we clearly say that we are ‘open for business’? How can our building help us to carry out our mission of sharing God’s love with the wider community? Peace Pat Secretary’s
Letter April seems to have passed so quickly, I cannot believe it is almost May. To keep you all up to date, the reports for our Pastoral Consultation have now been completed and delivered to the Convenor. We now wait for the meeting on 24th May. We had an interesting joint Elders’ Meeting with Ewell, which was very well attended. The Evening Services were discussed and everyone felt it was successful under the joint arrangement. These will carry on in the same pattern. Following the successful joint Morning Worship in January, a date has been arranged to hold another at Epsom on 4th September, and more details will follow nearer the time. Ewell Elders have offered to hold a "Workshop" for anyone interested in forming a "Worship Group" for Epsom. This could be an interesting and worthwhile thing for us to take part in. Please let Pat or myself know if you are interested. Sunday, 8th May, sees the English Church Census. I have received the relevant information, so on that Sunday we will be completing the forms. They have to be sent back by the end of May – just when I thought I had finished the paperwork for a while!!
Pat and
Peter invite the congregations of Epsom and Ewell If your surname begins with If your surname begins with A-K L-Z then please come
on
then please come on 14:30/16:30 14:30/16:30 If you can’t manage the designated day then please come on the alternative. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. CHURCHES TOGETHER
IN EPSOM On Monday May 18th The Chairman's working committee met. The following are items of news emerging from that meeting which it would be useful to know. A. Following the Lenten House Groups, Canon Esdaile has put together a list of the items suggested by the various groups for consideration by Churches Together in Epsom. It is quite a long list, so I will put it up on the Notice Board for you to see. Some of them will be put forward for discussion at the next ordinary meeting of CTE for consideration. This will be on 25th July at the Baptist Church. Anyone can attend. B. The General Election. By the time you read this it will be almost upon us. There was, therefore, a hastily convened Quiz Night to put questions to the three local candidates, held at the Methodist Church, last Thursday. C. The following meeting of Churches Together in Epsom will be held on September 20th AT OUR CHURCH at 8.pm following a short act of worship. D. THE WEEK OF PRAYER FOR PEACE. September 17th to 24th. At St. Barnabas Church a seven-day Prayer Vigil is being organised. to pray for Epsom, its practical and spiritual needs. There will be prayer cards and published schemes, as well as special events for children and also prayer walks. Most of Surrey will be involved in this, the baton being passed on to Epsom from Staines. Earlier this year it began in Sussex and has travelled through to Surrey. There will be a prayer rota set up for you to be responsible for 1 hour (or more) of the continuous day and night vigil. If you want to know more about this venture there is going to be a special speaker at the July CTE meeting (at 9 pm if you cannot come earlier). E. Make Poverty History in Epsom. The Committee would like to organise something about the time of the G8 conference on 9th/10th July. The Kindergarten I would like to thank the church members for all their kindness and helpfulness while I have been the owner of The Kindergarten, and especially for allowing us to use the church for our navity plays at Christmas. I have now retired and have passed The Kindergarten over to Mrs. Louise Kirby and I hope her time as owner is as happy and rewarding as mine has been. Linda Jeeves, who has worked for me for over 4 years has also moved on, to work at Tadworth Court. I wish her much happiness.St. George’s
Day * * *
£322 raised for * * * St George’s Day 2005 I do not normally mark St George’s Day in any special way but this year was different. To begin with, my German friend, Jutta, and I went with Route Call to Chichester. On entering the cathedral, we found that a St George’s Day service of Remembrance for the Royal Sussex Regiment was just about to begin. As we moved around the aisles of the cathedral, we could hear the service in progress but, as we completed our walk, a new tune started. It took me a few moments to realise it was the song, " Sussex by the Sea". I assume that this song has significance for the Sussex Regiment for whom the St George’s Chapel has been dedicated as a memorial chapel. We returned to Epsom and were soon out again to the St George’s Day Bangers and Mash Bash, a new venture for our church. We were a little late and arrived to find the hall full of people eagerly anticipating the evening ahead. We were not to be disappointed.
A glass of warm fruit punch was put into our hands and after looking at the table of raffle prizes and purchasing some tickets, we found places to sit. We quickly made new friends round the table and all set to to try to answer the various quizzes sprinkled over the tabletop. The questions taxed us considerably during the meal and beyond and there were many wild guesses at the solutions. A fancy dress parade took place before the meal from which we were invited to vote for the best three.
Before the meal, Pat led us in a short prayer. We all enjoyed the traditional English meal of bangers and mash, onions and baked beans followed by Phemie’s delicious apple pie or mousse and cream, coffee and mints. It must have been a mammoth task to cook and serve so many meals as I understand there were seventy diners. Many thanks to everyone who helped make the meal such a success. Speeches followed or, rather, a tribute from Archie Patterson, a favourite foreigner, to the English. He made us laugh (at ourselves) and feel proud (not too proud, that wouldn’t be English) to be English. After the toast to St George, we all joined in the singing of a new song, ‘Good St George’s Day’, written by Gwyneth.
The entertainment began with an English country dance to shake the meal down. Those people with enough energy to take part seemed thoroughly to enjoy it. This was followed by the raffling of the first eight prizes. Then, as 23rd April is also the birthday of William Shakespeare, we were treated to ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’, the play within a play of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. It was a real treat with a moving wall, a roaring lion and a man acting the heroine’s part, so very Shakespeare. In spite of the fact that both hero and ‘heroine’ died before us on stage, we managed to have quite a few laughs. Our thanks to all those taking part.
Alas, the time flew and it was past ten o’clock. The last of the raffle prizes were drawn but there was no time for more dancing. The quiz answers were collected up, the winner to be announced at a later date. (I would be interested to have the answers to the questions, please). Jutta and I went home feeling we’d had a St George’s Day like no other. The "St George’s Day Bash" To have a successful evening like the one last Saturday is not possible without hard work by many people. I would like to thank Valerie, Alan Joan, Marion, Bettie, Gwyneth and Diana as well as many others with willing hands. It was very satisfying to see so many people from a wide age range, enjoying each other’s company. I am sure that more money was raised for Christian Aid than by door-to-door collecting. It is only a rough estimate, but in the first four months of this year some £1,400 has been raised for charities – by the four Coffee Mornings of the WCC, the Burns Night and now St George’s Day. This is a huge sum for a small congregation. To everyone who came on 23rd April, thank you for your support. Chernobyl
Childr
en Lif Could you welcome two Belarusian children into your home for two weeks this summer and treat them like your own? The children come to the UK for a four-week recuperative break from the after-effects of the Chernobyl disaster. It is believed that the resulting boost to their immune system may add up to two years to their life expectancy. Outings and activities are organised for the children, and their host and support families can join in with many of these if they wish. We are looking for hosts for a fortnight from July 17th or from July 31st, and also for people to support the hosts, helping them out while the visitors are staying with them. For more information, please call Liz Taylor on 01372 720419, or visit our website at www.midsurreylink.org. Organists' Rota 8th May Ron Perkins We thank our band of organists for their help in this way. Our recent Saturday Coffee Morning in Unity Hall was on 7th May at 11:00, and was arranged by members of the Afternoon and Evening Church Fellowships. £35 was raised for Christian Aid. As well as our regular Tuesday Coffee Morning supporters, these Saturday dates do allow friends to come who, for various reasons, are unable to join with us in the Longhurst Room on Tuesdays. Church Flowers in May 1st In Memory of May Waters 8th In Celebration of Del’s and Lynne’s 63rd Wedding Anniversary 15th In remembrance of Eve Ellis’ Wedding Anniversary 22nd In remembrance of Marjorie’s and Tommy’s Wedding Anniversary and in thanks for 58 wonderful years. 29th Not specified Surprise, Surprise! Valerie received a letter via the Church last Friday. Mrs. Angela McGregor from Northamptonshire had seen Valerie’s plea for knitted blanket squares on the Church website, and has some knitted ready for despatch, and is asking whether more are required. Thanks, Mrs McGregor! Oh, the power of the Internet! Incidentally, the hit counter has been running for a year now, and registered 1575 the last time I looked. This represents about 130 each month. I know that I probably put a dozen or so hits each month when I come to update the site, but that still leaves well over a hundred people reading its pages every month. Very gratifying!! Evening Church Fellowship Our meeting on 9th May (delayed a week by the Bank Holiday) will be a Musical Evening conducted by Rev Robert Blows. We can be assured of a very pleasant evening – come and join us if you can. Afternoon Fellowship We enjoyed a very successful meeting in April when we were "At Home" to members of kindred organisations. Pat treated us to memories of her upbringing in Canada. A collection raised over £50 for Christian Aid. Our next meeting on 26th May at 2.30 p.m. will be our AGM, and we welcome you to see the workings of the business side of our group. Afternoon Fellowship It was lovely to see about forty people gathered together in the Longhurst Room to hear Pat Hall tell us about her early life in Canada. There were people from the St. Martin’s Mother’s Union, and from fellowships from St. Joseph’s, the Methodist and Ewell U.R.C.; apologies had been received from the Baptist Church. Barbara Wood introduced Pat, saying that although she had only been with us for fifteen months, it felt like we had known her for longer, and we thought we knew quite a lot about her. Pat had entitled her talk ‘Pat Hall, Part I’ and we hope for the sequel soon. Pat began by telling us a bit about Saskatchewan where she was born and brought up. She told us that she had lived on a farm for most of youth, but did not have any sort of affinity with animals. Her first school was about three miles away and she would either walk there or go by horse and cart; later the school was closed and she went on a yellow school bus to school ten miles away. She told us about her family and circumstances, and how she spread her wings and became very much involved in the community and thence into the study of theology. She was ordained in 1980 and eventually came to England and took up her Ministry in Farnham. Pat was very pleased to answer all our questions and spent a while talking with many of the guests as we were served some wonderful refreshments. A collection was taken and £54 was raised for Christian Aid. Thank you to the Afternoon Fellowship for hosting the event. Women's Church Council Our next Coffee Morning will be on Tuesday, 10th May, from 10:30 – 12:00. Our chosen charity is one we haven’t supported before, and many may not be familiar with "DebRA". DebRA is the only national charity committed to the support and care of families affected by Epidermolysis Bullosa, which is the breakdown and blistering of the skin. EB is currently an incurable condition. There is no effective treatment. It is a most painful and distressing genetic condition. About 5,000 people are affected by EB in the United Kingdom. DebRA’s work is dedicated to the care & cure of people with EB, and over the years DebRA has greatly extended its range of services: these now include funding research and providing specialist nurses for children and adults with all forms of EB. We trust that you will help us support this cause. Anchor Boys We have only held two meeting since the Easter break, the first was on the theme of space and the boys filled in a dot-to-dot picture of a rocket, made a space wheel and a Martian mask, and played space games. The other meeting had the theme of football, and so after demonstrating their dribbling skills outside, the boys made finger footballer puppets and a goal and had a silver paper ball to shoot into the goal. (top)12th Epsom Brownie Guide Pack The big news event over the Easter holiday was the wedding of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker-Bowles. In celebration of this the Brownies had a Royal evening. There was a picture quiz of past Royal weddings and the girls each designed a Royal wedding dress. Each Six then dressed one of their members in a wedding dress made of newspaper and the rest of the Six each made a hat.
The following week we celebrated St. George’s Day a few days early. The Brownies each made a paper rose and a clay dragon, and in Sixes had a race to collect as many pictures of St. George and dragons as possible. The Brownies love acting and so we held a drama evening when each Six had to make up and act out a play depicting a certain mood, and the rest had to guess what they were conveying. The school classroom proved to be a popular venue to display their moods with one Six showing anger, another were miserable and a third dramatic. The fourth Six showed some originality and portrayed an enthusiastic shopping trip. Since the Easter break six of our Brownies have decided to move on to Guides. We are sorry that they have left us but wish them all well and hope they have as happy a time at Guides as they say they had at Brownies. Our numbers have now dropped to twenty, but there are several names on the waiting list ready to start after half term. The Brownie rose is flourishing and I hope that some time it will be moved so that everyone at the church can appreciate it. Community Lunch Meetings at
EMC Community Lunch Meetings are held every couple of months at Epsom Methodist Church in Ashley Road; they provide a valuable opportunity for networking and include a light lunch (a small charge is made) followed by an informal talk from a speaker. The next Community Lunch Meeting is to be held on 19th May, from 12:30 to 13:30, and the speaker is to be Barbara Watts from the Mole Valley Volunteering Centre. To reserve your place please contact the EMC Office on 01372-728535, or email methodistsutton.circuit@btinternet.com A Visit to the Shooting Star
Children’s Hospice Sheila and I felt very privileged to receive a guided tour over the almost completed building during their open week. The term ‘for children with a life-limiting illness or condition’ will almost always leave any adult feeling a mixture of compassion tinged with dread. For those intimately involved with such a child, they just have to get on with giving all the love and care they can. Respite Care for the whole family, even only for a brief period, must be a Godsend to most of those concerned families. This new children’s hospice hopes to receive full approval during May and early June, thus allowing it to receive the first families towards the end of June. It will take several months to reach its full potential: this will depend on how long it takes to recruit all the skilled staff required. The building with all the facilities can only be described as magnificent; it sweeps round in a semi-circle embracing a central courtyard and play gardens. Ten children’s bedrooms with en-suites and full nursing facilities face on to the courtyard on the ground floor. Close to them are the support facilities such as the Day Room and Dining Facilities, Hobbies area, TV Room, Library and ‘Sparkles’ Activity Area. Along the corridor is the most fantastic Hydrotherapy pool and also an equally fantastic Multi-Sensory room. On the first floor are six family bedrooms with full facilities, also a guest lounge and pantry; these lead out onto a large balcony that overlooks the play area. The love and thought that has gone into the design and furnishing of this project defies description - just to say that they have got it right. The atmosphere generated by the building is one of calm and serenity, which I am sure any visiting child and family will find comforting. It was good to see that the Hospice has many long-term sponsors – and it is going to need them, as the day-to-day running costs are high:
Be assured that our donations to date have been well spent and I think we should continue to support "Shooting Star" in the future.
Church Street, Epsom Saturday, 21st May 10:30 am
PLANTS, PRESERVES,BOOKS, GOOD-AS-NEW GREETINGS CARDS COSTUME JEWELLERY P LOUGHMAN’S LUNCHESAdmission £1.00
United Reformed Church ‘Spring Event’ – here at last! For two months now you have had the details of the ‘Spring Event’ in your diaries and, hopefully, you have been collecting saleable items. Now is the time to be making cakes, sweets and preserves. They are always good money-spinners. Plants, too, will be welcome, together with ‘good-as-new’, costume jewellery, videos, CDs, and books. Programmes are on sale from any member of the Women’s Church Council at £1.00. Offers of help to man (or woman!) a stall for an hour or two are requested. Please give your name to Daphne Dawe or Bettie Foster if you can help. Ploughman’s Lunches will be served in Unity Hall. Please sign the list in the foyer, giving the number of lunches required. The cost of each lunch will be £3.00, which will include an apple or a banana. Help is especially requested for Friday, 20th May, when we shall hope to set up the tables for plants in the foyer and prepare the Longhurst Room, as we did last year. We would welcome offers of help, especially from any menfolk able to come for a short time, from 3.15 p.m., after the Art Class has left. Trefoil Guild
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