Please can you pray for the Officers and Elders of both churches as they seek to support one another and for all who will be finding this time very painful.

 Thank you.

 Bridget

Jesus asked “Who do you say I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

With Trinity’s decision to move their congregation to Pound Hill we all have a challenge set before us.  Jesus says, “I will build my church”, but what did Jesus have in mind when he said this?  And then, the second question that we have to ask is, are we then that kind of church?  In other words, what is essential to Jesus’ definition of what it means to be the church, His church?  The church we meet in the New Testament is very different from the church we have in the West today.  I wonder where parking lots fit in to Jesus’ definition of a church. How about pulpits, pipe organs, flower rotas, publicity teams and even ordained ministers?  All good things, but what is essential and what is merely what we have inherited?  However good or however bad it is part of our inheritance, it is part of what we live within, but it is not the core of who we are.

Over the summer I do hope most of you will have been aware of the various groups (made up of both churches) that have been working on your behalf in the church to look at what kind of new church we feel called to be: what are the core beliefs that are important to us as a new church?

Mission: A new mission statement has been written ready to bring to the churches on Sept 26th.

Worship: You will have been asked for your preferences on times, styles and music.

New name: Your thoughts will be brought to the churches on Sept 26th.

Finance and property: looking at the fabric of both buildings, deeds and covenants, finances.

Constitution: A new constitution has been written ready to bring to the churches on Sept 26th.

We have been offered a chance to question what we feel God is asking us to put in our new churches.  As both churches will effectively close, we can take what we feel God wants to the new church but also make this an opportunity to explore other new ways of being church.  As I often say we are not curators of a museum but participants in an active centre of faith.

It is your church; you will get out of it what you put into it.  Each of us is a part of the church and has the opportunity to build it. Make your voice heard.  Come to the meeting on September 26th and see what shape we can be, with God’s blessing.

Bridget

The weather held out until just as the empty plates were being cleared we had a shower of rain.  This did nothing to dampen our spirits and the Social Team are to be congratulated on a thoroughly enjoyable experience and we all look forward to a repeat performance next year.

Thank you, to everyone who helped or contributed.

The event was blessed by a beautiful blue sky, a slight warm breeze and lots of people, all appropriately dressed and looking very comfortable.  The food itself was to its usual high standard and I am sure that Jean Parry must have been a sales person as she persuaded all of us to indulge ourselves more than we had intended.  She really is lovely.

The food was good, the weather was good, the conversation was good and most of all the company was good!

Our sincerest thanks to Janet and Malcolm for opening their home to us and to all the Social Team and their helpers who made this event such a great success.

We pray to God that both sides honour this shred of hope for the region and remember that it is the innocent people not the militants who suffer in this kind of situation.

 Following the talk a traditional Palestinian meal was served in the Jubilee Room.  This was, indeed, a bonus and we send our grateful thanks to the Mission Team who prepared and served such a wonderful array of beautiful dishes.

 We also say a big Thank You to Dawn, Alistair and the Mission Team for arranging the evening.

 May God bring Peace and Sanity to seek a solution to this ongoing problem and alleviate the suffering of people on both sides of this sad situation. 

 There were many expressions of thanks from the delegates regarding the warm welcome they had received at Christ Church and the ideal location of the church.

 Unfortunately, it started to rain just before coffee break and then turned to heavy rain as the work continued.  However, everyone carried on despite several looking like drowned rats!

 About eight stayed for a homemade soup lunch (soup provided by Jean Roberts, Linda Gawtrey and Derek Russell) with bread and cheese.  Bridget Russell worked hard in the kitchen supplying the coffee, delicious biscuits and lunch preparation.

 Many thanks to all who turned up and worked so hard.

 The meetings were well attended and proved to be an interesting and invigorating series of events. The discussions were lively and, at times, revealing on how individuals approach the subject of prayer.

 The success of the group study was largely due to the way in which the meetings were presented and led by Bill Dagnall and the response of the participants.