John Heatley Glenys Lamb Alan Lang Lucilla Lang

Transcription

1 July 2006

2 Interim Minister Rev. Kevin Jones Tel: Secretary Mrs. Jenny Scott, Elder Hanbury Rd., Dorridge, Solihull. B93 8DW Tel: Hall Secretary Mrs. Edna Grimmett, Tel: Rest Day: Friday Treasurer Dr Graham Tall, 432 Station Rd., Dorridge, Solihull. B93 8EU Tel: Property Secretary Mr Ron Squire Tel: Magazine Editor Mary Kirwan Elder Newton Rd., Knowle, Solihull. B93 8HN Tel: Serving Elders in addition: Judy Preece 1997 Eileen Pitkeathly 1997 Isobel Robertson 2000 Clive Griffiths 2002 Stephenie Tall 2005 Non-serving Elders: Margaret Allen Kenneth Always Jones Jack Deakin Edna Grimmett John Heatley Glenys Lamb Alan Lang Lucilla Lang Typesetter Dr. Graham Tall Church Notices Mike Robertson Elder 2006 Tel: New Elders agreed at AGM: Jan Richardson 2006 Brian Richardson 2006 Mike Robertson 2006 Kath Vale 2006 Pat McKee Mauvine Squire Ron Squire Graham Tall Note: This magazine is free to all members and friends of Knowle URC. We rely on donations to help cover the costs. A Gift Aid envelope is included this month, if you are able to help please return it with your donation either to the editor or the treasurer. 2

3 Minister s Letter One of the key challenges to the Church is how our faith affects the lives we lead. Many of us would like to be more spiritual people but the challenge is do our lifestyles and our attitudes reflect the fact that we are people who follow Jesus Christ, or do other things get in the way? There are many passages in the Gospels about how material possessions and wealth can affect a person's faith: the rich young man who came to Jesus to ask what he should do to get eternal life and ultimately went away sad because he couldn t go and sell everything he had and give the money to the poor; the man who stored up his wealth in barns, and wasn t satisfied so he kept on building bigger and bigger barns until he dropped down dead; and Zacchaeus who was a wealthy tax collector and whose life was changed once he had met Jesus. The burning question for us is this - does our concern about possessions, money and wealth block off an increased awareness of God in our lives? Do we think more about bills, savings and new purchases than God? Joel Edwards (the General Director of the Evangelical Alliance) wrote: "Material things do not always determine spiritual blessings. So often my experience of Christian joy and empowerment is from those who have very little. My visit to the shanty town of Quesan City, Philippines, made the point. People with very little were able to give so much warmth and gratitude to God and to others. Out of poverty came great wealth. It appeared that, although their roof was leaking, their joy was sealed. In our relative affluence, bare feet and broad smiles don't go together, but they had both." As followers of Jesus our lifestyles are meant to be distinctive. Some of us are quite well-off; others are struggling: but for every one of us we need to be sure that God comes first and not money if we want to have life in all its richness. Jesus said "Store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are." (Matthew 6:20&21) Kevin 3

4 Church Events Saturday July 8 th Festival in Knowle Park 10 till 4pm Please give Pat & Isobel every support, unfortunately due to other commitments Kath, Edna, Chris & Mary will not be able to help on this occasion. SATURDAY JULY 29 th CHURCH OPEN & GIFT AID DAY Our Church will be open from 10am till 4pm for all to visit, refreshments available, stalls will include Fairtrade, Church Merchandise, Books & Cakes. Photographs & Memorabilia on display also. It is not too early to start baking so please bake plenty of cakes for the stall as this is a very popular stall! Let s make this a very successful day! Kath Vale Thank You to John & Sue Heatley for their Coffee morning, the weather was perfect and we enjoyed good fellowship together. As Mr Bernell Burroughs said to us the next day the Lord provides for us with Blessings each and every day. Beware - Over respond to Mary s camera and you ll definitely live to regret it. I put this photo in under protest! Graham 4

5 Jack & Marjory Deakin s Diamond Wedding Anniversary Jack & Marjory having married at Knowle URC 60 years ago, celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary with us! Our Thanks to David Hall, Isobel & Fiona for making their celebrations extra special with an anniversary card from the queen. Kath Vale Recycling! Used postage stamps: Mary Kirwan or Knowle Library for the Blind. Knitting Wool: Joan Pulley ( )for Premature Baby clothes and blankets. Glass,papers,clothes,& shoes can be put in containers in Tesco& Knowle School car parks Mobile phones and Ink cartridges can be taken to boxes in Knowle Library Spectacles: hand in at Dolland & Aitcheson Solihull for World in Sight Silver Foil: Margaret Powell Books and Music for Oxfam - Tesco Car Park, Knowle If anyone has any other outlets for recycling please let me know and we will print the details as above. Let s try and protect the environment, every little helps! 5

6 Glenys Lamb relaxing after preparing a lovely lunch for the walkers on Sunday June 11 th. Suitably fortified and prepared Margaret Allan led us on a tranquil walk along the canal. Fortunately the 14 th walker, Mary, took the photograph! 6 6

7 Songs Of Praise Eileen, Pat, Edna, Chris & myself attended the Songs of Praise picnic & Service at Himley Hall we met up with Kevin, Helen and many other members of Digbeth in the Field URC and one from Olton URC, there were many people there, it was very well organised as far as toilets, refreshment tent, and car parking was concerned and much of the grounds cordoned off for the actual service, (although it was a little frustrating exiting the grounds afterwards as there were a few thousand people trying to leave at the same time, indeed we were very understanding about it all) Among the Hymns sung were Make me a Channel of your Peace, The Power of your Love & Praise my Soul the King of Heaven. The rain held off well for us although it was rather chilly towards the end. Next year s date is June 17 th put it in your diary! Many thanks to Pat for transporting us. Mary Advance Notice Kath & Mary will again take part in the Holiday Happening event at Bentley Heath School in August; this is jointly run by Dorridge Methodist, St.James and St Philips Churches as part of their contribution to the community. It is planned & staffed by members of the churches who want to share God s message of love. It involves all school age children. 7

8 Partner s Prayer For July Above any government and sovereignty, Above the riot police and the tanks, Above vested interests and corruption, Above political establishments, Above all things-the reign of Christ. Lord, we were going to do something about poverty, about hunger, ignorance and disease, but it was all too much for us, beyond our giving and our understanding. Lord we were going to do something about the violence, the arms race, nuclear weapons, but we couldn t make sense of it, and we couldn t see what we should do. Lord we were going to do something about ecology, the disappearance of forests, the rare species and irreplaceable plants, but it is really difficult, and none of us is expert in these matters. Lord we are good at learning a little, and wringing our hands in helplessness, May we take the power you have given? And set about claiming our inheritance. Stephen Orchard; reproduced with permission. From All the Glorious Names, Prayer Fellowship Handbook Gift and Open Day Saturday July 29 th The Elders have planned a Gift day for church members and combined this with an open day for visitors. At the AGM, I explained that, with increasing costs, I felt that a gift day would be the only way to tackle some of the work that still needed to be done at the Church. The most pressing task facing us is paying for the link improvements: water-proofing the roof, new ceiling, creating a smooth wall where the coats are hung and, retile the link and the kitchen. If we can raise enough to cover that work (circa 4000) then we will have funds available to tackle other work that needs doing: we will be able to replace the Hall fire door and plan work on improving the damp area beside the altar. If members are very generous, then we will be able to improve the tarmac beside and in front of the Church AND consider tarmacing the area on the side of the churchgoing up to the Hall to create extra parking spaces. For the open day, we will also want books by popular authors, videos, DVD s and cakes. But more of that later. Graham Tall, Treasurer 8

9 On Saturday July 1 st we are asked to join in Prayer for the United Reformed Church as they prepare for the URC General Assembly taking place at Exeter University from 7 th to 10 th of July, we are asked to pray for all taking part and for the grace of God s wisdom as they consider and decide on matters as varied as: The structures of the Church Our calling as Peacemakers New patterns of learning and training Improved communication Vocational development Our ecumenical vision and The Budget Fairtrade Judy presents her stall every two weeks in the Church Hall after the service when Fairtrade items can be purchased or ordered (she does have a catalogue with a great variety of goods) so please continue to support Fairtrade. Christian Aid Envelop Collection A total of p was collected through the Christian Aid Envelop Collection recently and Pat McKee sends a big Thank You. This is also acknowledged at the back of Church. Good Advice The following was spotted on the back of each pew of a lovely little URC Church near Exeter Before the Service Talk to God During the Service Listen to God talking to You After the Service Talk to Your Neighbour Thought how nice if we did the same! Ron & Mauvine 9

10 Prayer Fellowship As usual at Prayer Fellowship we asked the Lord s Blessing for our own Church Family, for Edna & Dave s Family as they travelled to Australia, we gave thanks for Betty Reeves it was wonderful to see her back amongst us on a Sunday morning again, we were asked to pray for Kathleen Reilly, Peggy & John, Merrick, Marjorie Evans, Mary Wilkinson, Ken of the Parish Church, Vic, and especially Friends of Jan, 3 bereavements with young families, Jan s Mom and for all who look after Elderly Folk. Our next meeting is on July 9 th, am in the Vestry. Kath Vale Church Family We are delighted to hear that Dave Grimmett has been given the all clear from the Hospital after his recent heart operation and wish him continued good health. It is wonderful to see Betty Reeves amongst us again on Sunday mornings. Our Sympathy & Prayers are with Ashton McIntosh and Family from Sparkhill United Church on the loss of his Sister recently Ashton often preaches at our Church. Also our Sympathy & Prayers are with Rosina Forsyth & Family on the loss of her Husband, Reverend John Gibson Forsyth who was known to many in our Church, may they rest in peace. A little light humour! An Irish Toast Remember And, finally, 10 A friend is someone Who thinks you re A good egg Even though you re slightly cracked! You are not as young as you used to be, But you are not as old as you are going to be So watch it! You may be only one person in the world But you may also be the world to one person: Birthday s are good for you: The more you have, The longer you live!

11 Rotas Vestry and Communion Elders July 2 nd Jenny Scott & Isobel Robertson July 9 th Stephenie Tall July 16 th Judy Preece July 23 rd Mary Kirwan July 30 th Clive Griffiths & Mary Kirwan Aug 6 th Eileen Pitkeathly Door Stewards July 2 nd Judy Preece & Sue Bateman July 9 th Brian & Jan Richardson July 16 th Ron & Mauvine Squire July 23 rd Graham & Stephenie Tall July 30 th Pat McKee & Glenys Lamb Aug 6 th John & Sue Heatley Junior Church July 2-30 Pat McKee & Isobel Robertson (Crèche) Aug. 6 th Stephenie Tall & Pam Archer (Crèche) Flower Rota July 2 nd Margaret Allan July 9 th Jenny Scott July 16 th Fiona Kellond July 23 rd Isobel Robertson July 30 th Mauvine Aug 6 th? Lectionary Readings July 2 nd Clive Griffiths Mark 5; Corinthians 8; 1-7 July 9 th Eileen Pitkeathly Mark 6; Corinthians 8; 8-15 July 16 th Heather Robertson Mark 6; Ephesians 1; July 23 rd Graham Tall Mark6; July 30 th Sue Heatley Preacher to advise Aug 6 th Stephenie Tall John; Sam 11 v26 to Sam 12 v7 Did you know?! We have tea-towels for sale at 2.50 each, notelets 1, URC Car sticker 50p, key rings 50p and pens (now ½ price) 25p each. Please contact Mary for purchases. 11

12 Church Diary Note we have Communion Services on July 2 nd & 30 th. Sun July 2 nd 9.30 am Communion Rev d Kenneth Alway-Jones Wed July 5 th am Midweek Service Sun July 9 th 9.30 am Mr Blair Kessler am Prayer Fellowship Sun July 16 th 9.30 am Mr Peter Tonks Sun July 23 rd 9.30 am Dr. Adrian Miles Wed July 26 th am Midweek Service Wed July 26 th 7.30 pm Elders Meeting Sat July 29 th 10.00am pm Gift Day See article page 8 Sun July 30 th 9.30 am Communion Revd. Kevin Jones (Cluster Exchange) Local Events that may be of interest: Sat July 15 th 2.00 pm 2.00 adults, 50p children WW Trust Gary Farmer will lead a What to Spot in Summer walk Wed July 19 th am Discovery walk - Oliver Bird Horse statue to Malvern Park, Meet the Beekeepers Wed July 26 th am pm Malvern Park, Bring a pic-nic, Kids rides, Magic Shows, Lots of fun Ranger activities Knowle Festival in the Park, July 8 th 10 am to 4pm I am sure that you are all looking forward to this event and we will be represented! We are basing an activity around the bible quotation from Isaiah 52, v7, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings... The idea is to paint the soles of the peoples feet, ask them to walk along a stretch of paper and then do a little symbolic washing of same feet at the other end. We can give them the quotation and information about our church services along with a small reward. It sounds a little mad but then people will remember doing it and will, hopefully, remember us and our church! It has been tried before and proven popular. I am keen to have as many helpers as possible on the day because it will need two people on duty and there are 6 hours to cover! Please let me know if you can spare an hour. Many thanks, Pat The date for August/September's magazine.!! ARTICLES IN BY SUNDAY July 23 rd Thanks Mary 12