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Epsom United Reformed ChurchNewsletter for May 2008 |
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Alan Wood This month there is again a Tail-piece, at the end. Phemie has been in Kingston Hospital and is still a patient there. We think of her so much and earnestly hope she will soon be more comfortable and in less pain and discomfort. She will shortly be visited by a specialist to devise a way to reduce the bone-to-bone contact that is the main cause of the pain. I know she appreciates all the good wishes that friends from the church have sent and the telephone calls. Please ask me if you wish to have the address or telephone number (premium rate, but it does you good to hear how cheerful and positive she is keeping). Some of us are hoping to have a visit with her soon. We send our love and all good wishes. It was indeed a shock to hear that Alan Wood had been admitted to St. Helier Hospital, and the following day to be operated on for appendicitis. Following the operation he needed to be an in-patient for rather longer than is usual these days [‘the largest appendix I’ve ever seen’, said one doctor! Ed.] but was allowed home on 22nd April. Now don't do too much, Alan! Everybody will understand if the ‘Newsletter’ isn’t out on time. The important thing is to really recover and regain your strength during this period of convalescence. Doris Swan is also having a difficult time. Having her ankle in plaster for several weeks, following a fall, she then fell and broke her hip. She is a patient at St. Anthony's, and following surgery, she has both legs in plaster. We wish her a good recovery and hope she won't be hospitalised for too long. She is having some physiotherapy. Archie Paterson also has been unwell. It seems the condition has improved somewhat but it will take some time and we wish him well soon. Dorothy and Frank were able to be at Lynne's party, as was Judith. We think of Marjorie, Sonia, Lily, and Mary with our love and prayers. Pat and Peter have been in Canada. They will be back with us shortly. Tom and Margaret Lockett's daughter, Debbie, was married in Devonshire on Friday, 18th April. We wish the newly-weds every happiness in their life together.
George preparing to blow out 70 years-worth of candles Pentecost Nine days after the Ascension of Jesus, and 49 days after his crucifixion, the Jews were doing what they always did this time of year, preparing for the Feast of Ingathering, or Harvest. It was held 50 days after the Passover, and with it, life in Israel looked set to return to normal, with Jesus well on the way to becoming just a memory. So no one paid any attention to a small group of Jesus' disciples who had gathered in a house in Jerusalem. There were only about 120 of them, and they were quiet and kept to themselves. The Jews, if they thought about it at all, would have assumed they were still grieving their lost leader. But the disciples, far from grieving Jesus' death, were eagerly awaiting for him to send them a gift, though they did not understand exactly what it might be. All they knew was that Jesus was alive, and that before he had ascended to heaven, he had told them to go to Jerusalem and wait there together for "the gift my father has promised" (Acts 1:4) He had said: "stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:49) These disciples, though they did not know it then, were already acting as the future church - the ecclesia, which literally means 'called-out ones'. For those disciples stuck together, together they waited for God's blessing. As with them, so with us today: even though each conversion is intensely personal, we are not converted to be alone in our faith. Far from it! We are not saved to solitude, but to a life in the fellowship of the Church. Jesus has ordained that his followers, TOGETHER, be his family on earth, his witness to the world. But it has never been a family built on likeness - the believers in the house that day came from very different backgrounds - from right-wing conservatives (Matthew) to radical left-wing zealots (Simon). There were some straight-forward fishermen and even women, for good measure. From the day of its birth, Jesus' family would include all kinds of people who would find their unity in him. The first thing the disciples did was to get down to the business of praying. They did not try and unite themselves by long discussions with each other. It was the "joining together constantly in prayer" (verse 14) that brought them together. The 19th century pastor FB Meyerer expressed well what awaited those disciples "The task that awaited that little group was one of unparalleled difficulty. …They were to disciple all nations, speaking different languages, scattered over the vast Roman Empire, which extended from the Atlantic to the Far East. … They were to substitute Christianity for paganism, as the foundation of a new type of civilization. …In fact, humanly speaking and without exaggeration, it depended on that tiny group of unknown and ordinary men and women, whether the Incarnation and Death, the Resurrection and Ascension, of the Son of God would obtain the audience and acceptance of mankind." Today the Christian Church faces the same challenge - of making Christ known. We can do "business as usual" in our strength and by our resources. But great manifestations of God's saving, healing and restoring power come only as God's people "stay for the Spirit" and "wait for the gift" as Jesus commanded (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4). Each of us would do well to "ask, seek and knock" for God's fullness day by day, if we are to enjoy his full anointing of power on our lives and ministry. We all 'leak', and need the continual in-filling that comes from abiding, persistent prayer. It was out of the context of prayer that this incipient church in Jerusalem was preparing for the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. For God's fullness in our lives and awakening in our church today we must believe that he is able and willing to fulfill his highest purpose for us. He wants to give us his "good gifts," namely, his Holy Spirit in fullness. That day in Jerusalem, when the Holy Spirit arrived in all his fullness, Peter stood up and preached the first ever Christian sermon to the astonished Jews in the city. So - the Jesus their rulers had crucified at Passover was not dead after all! That Jesus WAS the Messiah, and he was alive! 3,000 were converted that same day. In the power of the Spirit, the Church was born - and was growing fast!
The Lent 2008 Course – Christ and the
Chocolaterie This was my first Lent course. Yes, I admit I was seduced by the fact that it was to be based on the film Chocolat which I had already enjoyed. I admit I can talk limitlessly about chocolate and surely they couldn’t just talk about it without tasting any! I was given the book that accompanied the course and it was very easily digestible – but surely the best was to come. I joined the Lent group that met at the manse which was made up of folk from both Epsom and Ewell congregations – however, we seemed to ebb and flow with members of the Monday Lent group according individuals’ circumstances. No matter who was there it seemed to be a camaraderie that promoted easy discussion as a whole and in groups. The course prompted us to think about the complexity and background of the characters in the fictional community and how we interact within our communities. It made us question what life experiences must have made each other who we are today. I wonder if you have listened to a eulogy and learnt things about the person you didn’t know and spontaneously think “Oh, that’s really interesting. I must ask them about that”, only to realise the next second that it is too late. This is when we start to grieve for their loss and opportunities wasted. The course also brought up questions such as:
I thoroughly enjoyed discussing the many facets of the characters - it made me recognise these facets in me and helped me see myself differently. It was really good to hear people coming at an issue from a completely different angle I hadn’t thought of, as well as hearing exactly what I had thought voiced. “Lent was a time of preparation for a major life change.” I found the course refreshing. It helped me look in at myself and out at others – not just as they present themselves to me now, but at how God made them and brought us together as a community that he has engineered to serve him. I have really enjoyed my first Lent course and we haven’t even got to the chocolate-tasting bit yet—and I thought that it was going to be the best bit! THE SINGING POSTMAN
Sometimes a little nostalgia doesn’t come amiss. So let me nostalge... Remember Allan Smethurst, the singing postman? He was all the rage in the 1950s and 60s, when some of us were youngsters. Smethurst was a postman in East Anglia, but died some years ago in Grimsby, in a Salvation Army hostel, at the age of seventy-three. He was all but penniless, but his obituaries were full of praise. He was the singing voice of rural Norfolk and the only 20th century performer of dialect songs to acquire a national audience. One of Allan Smethurst’s songs was about a courtship, interrupted by a girl’s nicotine addiction: ‘I had a gal, a rare nice gal, down in Wroxham
way, Needless to say, ‘Hev Yew Got a Loight, Boy?’, went down like a storm. Postbags bulged and Smethurst accepted an engagement at the Great Yarmouth summer season. What went wrong was with Allan himself. Not much is known of his life, his habits and conduct. Never marrying, he was a shy and reclusive character. He was also prone to stage fright and terrified by rows of unfamiliar faces. Even now, several years after his death, opinion has never made up its mind about ‘the singing postman’. The songs turn out to be plaintive celebrations of a rural life that is fast disappearing. At the heart of Allan Smethurst’s songs there lies a sense of solitude and uncertainty in the face of great unknowns, like the song, ‘I Dunno!’: ‘Now we dun’t know where we come from, The singing postman’s questioning looks and his bucolic jinglings may appear somewhat fuddy duddy, but at least he was being true to himself and the reality of the world that formed him. A released video of ‘Hev Yew Got a Loight, Boy?’ would probably require a health warning nowadays. Even a
performer as idiosyncratic as Allan Smethurst needs to exist in the
right context. And the culture which brought us Molly Windley and
smokey assignations behind the cowshed has, I suspect, all but
ceased to exist. CHRISTIAN AID WEEK - 11th to 17th May
For us, this is the focus week for collecting for Commitment for Life which is the URC contributor to Christian Aid. As you know, because of our ageing congregation, we have chosen not to join in street collections, but to raise this money from events and activities within the church. The Quiz Night on 19th April was the first event for 2008. Look out for others. Last year we did quite well, raising some £800. Let us do even better this year. On the notice board you can find details of causes and movements which Christian Aid supports, e.g., Fairtrade Week earlier this year. There are our own special causes, ie. Bangladesh. Also World Debt, Cut the Carbon Campaign, World Justice, the provision of clean water for all, Climate Justice (see booklet) and others. Then there are the Christian Aid Partners in many lands like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh which are national, local efforts to do this kind of work and through which Christian Aid often works . DO LOOK AT THESE NOTICES written to help us understand the variety of causes supported through Christian Aid. Pray for the success of Christian Aid Week everywhere. Support our own efforts and collections now and later in the year (usually November). N.B. Christian Aid Week for us will close on 18th May when we are holding a special Christian Aid Week Service, incorporating audio-visual material provided by Christian Aid. This service will be a joint service with Ewell I feel I must write to you all with grateful thanks for all the kindnesses I received during my long indisposition in hospital and afterwards at home. After my major operation at St Helier six months ago, followed by my transfer to the New Cottage Hospital, I have had to exercise endless patience. They warned me of a slow and long recovery, which I have experienced, and now I am beginning to glimpse the end of it all. I hope to feel more like my old self again, or, rather, back to normality. The thing I most missed is coming to church. Life has not been the same, being house-bound for so long, but thanks to you all, I have been kept up with news of everyone. I was certainly not forgotten. I had thought of coming to church on Easter Sunday morning, which happened to be my 95th birthday, but considered it to be too much for me, when it was to be followed by lunch at John’s. George and Sheila called on their way from church and brought me the beautiful flowers and the remainder of the ‘Photo Cake’, and they told me of the get-together for coffee and some birthday cake. Imagine my surprise when I saw the cake with my photo on it! I must confess, I was greatly moved by it all. Well now, I look forward to seeing you all on 13th April for a celebration of my 95th birthday. My grateful thanks are due to the WCC for arranging this for me. I wonder what I would have done without my church family at this time. I do believe that your prayers on my behalf helped me along the way, and the many visits always cheered me. Once again, my love and thanks to you all. And here are some photos of Lynne's Party in Unity Hall:
Quiz Night – 19th April It was a cold dark, un-springlike evening outside on April 19th. But inside Unity Hall, all was bright and friendly as the teams from Epsom and Ewell URC's battled it out between them. It was Quiz Night and the teams were put through their paces by Quiz Master Malcolm Saunders from Ewell. Some of the questions were hard and some were teasing, but the excitement slowly built up. Meanwhile in the kitchen the production team, who had begun earlier, beavered away preparing to feed the ravenous guests. Even some of the team members stole from their places to give a whizz to the huge bowl of mash. Half-way through, having completed about half of the rounds, with some of the teams neck-and-neck, we lined up for our plate of sausages and mash, or vegetarian dish. A very adequate portion was handed to all and there was more if you wanted. Meanwhile the sale of raffle tickets had been completed and the raffle itself took place, presided over by our so-much-better-and-brighter Daphne, who had had much to do with arranging the evening. Every one had been so generous buying so many tickets that we kept picking the same Prize-winners. Replete, the teams settled to the second half of the rounds, and wheels moved into gear again. The final round came all too soon and points were totalled up, resulting in a win for a mixed team (mainly Ewell) in the middle of the Hall. The friendly happy evening thus drew to a close and clearing up began. We had gathered to be with one another and to raise funds for Epsom's contribution to Commitment for Life's Christian Aid Week. Of course, such an occasion could not succeed without a lot of hard work behind the scenes. We thank those who organised the food, in buying and preparation, organised the raffle and presented prizes and especially the clearing up. I heard next morning that the kitchen was so immaculate, with no signs of sausage splashes or spilt gravy anywhere, that the fairies must have been in. But we know better. And our special thanks go to our Quiz Master, without whom the evening would not have happened. We thank our friends from Ewell for supporting us. We are sorry some friends were unable to be with us, some through ill-health. But the awful hole was created by Alan Wood, who had gone off to have his appendix out. We wish him well and trust that he will be back with us soon. We all enjoyed it; it was fun. So here's to getting together, in the not-too-distant future, for more efforts for Commitment for Life. Cream Teas? Have you any ideas? Proceeds raised for Christian Aid after expenses amounted to £231. Biblelands Sponsorship Gwyneth has received the letter below, giving news about Muna Elias, the child sponsored by by Junior Church:
CTIE—Summer Meeting – 22nd
May We have offered our Longhurst Room to CTIE for their regular Summer Meeting. It starts at 7:30 p.m. with an ‘Opening’; this is followed by coffee and tea, with the business part of the meeting starting soon after 8 o’clock. This is an open meeting to which you are all invited. As we are host church it would be good to see some support from the home fans. Epsom URC Lunch Club The date of the next meeting was set, at the last meeting, for 8th May. As yet, no venue has been settled. Please watch the web-site, the notice board in the foyer and listen for the information when the venue has been decided. Currently the tendency is towards the Derby Arms, recently re-furbished. Please ensure that you sign the list in the foyer or otherwise indicate your attendance so that adequate space can be booked. This event is now so popular that the venue last meeting could not accommodate us all in the same area! Why isn't the number 11 pronounced onety-one? In the April issue we asked this question. Did anybody find out? How about this, then: Word History : The decimal system of counting is well established in the English names for numbers. Both the suffix -teen (as in fourteen) and the suffix -ty (as in forty) are related to the word ten. But what about the anomalous eleven and twelve? Why do we not say oneteen, twoteen, along the same pattern as thirteen, fourteen, fifteen?Eleven in Old English is endleofan, and related forms in the various Germanic languages point back to an original Germanic *ainlif, "eleven." *Ainlif is composed of *ain-, "one," the same as our one, and the suffix *-lif from the Germanic root *lib-, "to adhere, remain, remain left over." Thus, eleven is literally "one-left" (over, that is, past ten), and twelve is "two-left" (over past ten). OK, now you know! Christian Resources Exhibition—13-16th May—Sandown Park The first Christian Resources Exhibition was held in the Royal Horticultural Halls, London in 1985 with the vision of bringing together, under one roof, the widest range of resources to equip the church. When the doors opened on the first morning of the exhibition over 120 exhibitors, from Christian publishers to missionary agencies, waited in expectation to see if any visitors would arrive. To everyone's amazement and relief, over the three days of the exhibition, 8,200 people attended. Twenty-four years on and CRE continues to be the UK's biggest and most successful Christian exhibition with shows being held in London, Harrogate, Exeter, Glasgow, Telford and Belfast. Organisations from major charities and companies to smaller independent retailers have all benefited enormously from the contacts they have established at CRE over the years. The largest of the events is the annual exhibition held at Sandown Park, Esher, with over 11,000 visitors and 350 exhibitors. Visitors come every year because they know they will find the latest resources, catch up with friends and be inspired. This year the Exhibition is from 13th to 16th May. Rota for Organists and Flowers: Organists Flowers 4th May Sheila Stredwick Valerie Wood 11th May Sheila Carpenter Peggy Wilson 18th May Sheila Carpenter TBA 25th May Kathleen Hodgson TBA 12th Epsom Guides On behalf of 12th Epsom Guides, may I say a say a VERY BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has donated their unwanted Sainsbury's Active Kids vouchers. To date the total collected is 653 which means we are over half way to reaching our total. Please keep donating your vouchers. 12th Epsom Brownie Guide
Pack It was very disappointing to return to Brownies this week and be greeted by one of the girls saying to me “Ines, Carla and Sophie have quit.” Our numbers were already very low, but now we only have ten girls, two of them will be old enough for Guides in September. Our meeting on Wednesday fell on St. George’s Day and so the girls made cardboard puppets of St. George and the dragon, and some of them enjoyed doing them so much that they asked if they could make their own princess in the same way. To try to recruit more girls, each girl decorated two invitations to our meeting next week, and was asked to give them to two of her friends. Afternoon Fellowship By the time you read the "Newsletter" we will have had our "At Home”. We were looking forward to having Rev Barbara Pearson, minister of Tolworth URC, speak to us and to welcoming friends from other fellowships.
The AGM of the Afternoon Fellowship will be on Thursday 22nd May and that will close the session. Below are two photos of the Spring Downs Bell Ringers, who entertained in March
Evening Fellowship The ‘Beetle Drive’, which was postponed from January, took place in April. It is an evening that is always popular, and this was as good as ever. The May date is 12th at 8.00 p.m., when Gwyneth hopes to arrange another play-reading. If you would like to join us, a warm welcome awaits you.
Women’s Church Council The April Coffee Morning for The Alzheimer's Society was well supported and thank you to all who contributed by donations or by attending and purchasing from the many attractive items on sale. On 13th May our chosen charity is to be in aid of the Samaritans. What a service those many volunteers give in our country and, indeed, in many parts of the world. From its founding by Rev. Chad Varah in 1953, many branches have been formed and are continually being launched. The need for despairing folk to talk through problems is so necessary and so frequently is instrumental in assisting in helping to clarify the issues. Please come and join us on 13th May, 10.30-12.00 noon. Those able to join with Lynne and her family on Sunday 13th April to celebrate her 95th birthday were indeed privileged. It was a very special occasion and Lynne was really on form. She was determined to get to every table and talk with folks. The hall and the tables were most tastefully decorated and a delicious variety of food, for afternoon tea, was provided. With a few words from both Ceri and John, and from Tom on behalf of the church, Lynne cut the very attractive cake and we all joined in with singing to ‘Cwm Rhondda’ (what else!) Gwyneth's well-written verses, embracing many of Lynne's gifts and the caring that depicts so much of her life of service. (top)Tailpiece Last month I said that I’d put my jottings at the end of the magazine for a change, and asked for comments; there were no comments, so I'll carry on! As you will have read, I have been out of commission for a few days, courtesy of the NHS at St Helier while they removed my appendix. Not a nice procedure, but one that is well understood and guaranteed a fair chance of success—so please spare a thought – or more – for those people, whose durations of stay are not so easily foretold, nor the outcome so assured. Please Note: The Church Development Committee has decided that matters are not yet at a state where a second ‘Vision Day’ would be helpful. But please come along to the next Church Meeting, on Wednesday, 21st May, and hear what Tom Roberts has to say about his more recent investigations, and his conclusions from talking both inside the church and outside it. I’m afraid you have rather slim pickings this month. With both our Minister Pat and Secretary Sheila away, we’re not quite rudder-less, but I’m short of two regular pages. I hope you find the article on ‘Pentecost’, from ‘The Parish Pump’, interesting, and a suitable substitute. And if anyone’s going to the Pentecost Festival at Millwall FC Stadium, please tell us all about it! (top)Copy for the next issue should be with the Editor by 18th May for publication on 25th May, 2008 And Finally . . . Science Exam Answers! Name the four seasons: Salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard.Explain the process by which water may be made fit to drink: Flirtation makes the water fit to drink, as it removes large polluants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists. What are steroids? Things for keeping the carpet in place on the stairs.
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