In Touch Keeping you informed

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1 March 2018 In Touch What s happening in the life of St Andrew s and St Bartholomew s Easter people, change and transformation the hallmarks of a growing church. We are called to be Easter people, a people who live life to the full in the power of the resurrection. A people who live this full-life in the gift of the lavish love of God, through the physical reality of the selfless love of Jesus and by the freedom and wild inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And the outpouring of these three persons of the Trinity lead to one thing transformation! As Easter people, we are being transformed! Transformed into the likeness of Jesus through the most extraordinary gift ever offered. We held and marveled at this gift through Christmas and now we look to the point where this gift is barbarically destroyed. And whilst the physical body is crushed, the presence of Emmanuel God with us is transformed. Jesus still longs to live in a body but now he makes his dwelling within us, within our bodies: Emmanuel - God with(in) us. So we too are transformed by the birth, life and death of Jesus. Easter and transformation are inextricably linked together in the world around us. We can see physical change all around, as spring gets into its stride and everything starts to *AWAKE*. The fabric of our landscape has remained largely the same, and yet everything has changed. Where there were only barren branches, leaves now rustle to life. Where there was only rotting leaf litter, the snowdrops and then the daffs and then the bluebells invade with vivid colour. The fabric of our landscape has remained largely the same, and yet everything has changed and continues to change: it s the hallmark of a healthy, flourishing landscape. Here too is the truth for Easter people, the fabric of our lives has remained largely the same, and yet everything has changed and we continue to be transformed. At this time, there is much change and transformation in the life of our own church, but this is right and good and is a hallmark of a healthy flourishing family of faith. The landscape will remain largely the same, and yet according to God s purposes everything will continue to be transformed. As Pope John Paul II once said; Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song! God even more succinctly said: behold I am making all things new! Easter Hope & Blessings! Your Curate, Ben P.S. On the subject of AWAKE why not commit to just one Thursday a month, to come to AWAKE and pray for more of Jesus in the life and community of our church? Advert over... 1

2 OUR CHURCH UP IN - OUT 5 YEAR PLAN IN ACTION IGNITE 24/2 PRAYER WEEKEND 16th-18th March Every Lent we endeavour to spend one weekend in extended prayer. This year our weekend is 16 th -18 th March. Our theme is Ignite, to be set on fire for God by his Holy Spirit. Many before have spoken of the need to be spiritually on fire: William Booth, founder of Salvation Army, said, I like me tea as I like me religion hot, very hot! To encourage his troops, Whatever you do, get the fire. Evan Roberts, Welsh Revival preacher I felt ablaze with a desire to preach the length and breadth of Wales. Samuel Chadwick, Edwardian theologian, Spirit-filled souls are ablaze for God. John Wesley on the secret of his success: First I set myself on fire, then people come to see me burn. Charles Wesley wrote his famous hymn: O thou who camest from above, the pure celestial fire to impart, kindle a flame of sacred love on the mean altar of my heart. There let it for thy glory burn with inextinguishable blaze.. The 20th century English Revivalist, Leonard Ravenhill, once said You don t have to advertise fire the most advertising thing in the world is fire. Fire attracts a crowd. We will start on the Friday night with Healing Prayer, and end on Sunday at FUEL. In between, there will be Space to Live worship times, a Women s Breakfast, family prayer times aimed at children, a youth sleepover/prayer-over, prophetic prayer, as well as plenty of opportunity to just come and pray to God to be ignited. More details will follow. Put the weekend in your diary. James Stewart, Scottish preacher, When all is said and done, the supreme need of the church is the same in the 20 th century as in the 1 st century; it is men and women on fire for Christ. Jonathan ASSOCIATE VICAR AN UPDATE All going ahead. The advert will appear in April, interview in May and start late summer. If you would like to see the Parish Profile, do ask in the Church Office. More news later when we get it. Jonathan HOTHORPE WEEKEND STOP PRESS STOP PRESS - Hothorpe Parish Weekend 7-9th June 2019 I have great pleasure in announcing that my brother and his wife, Paul and Christine Perkin, will be our speakers at the 2019 parish weekend away. I am biased, of course, but he is by far the best bible teacher I know. He has been Vicar of St.Mark's Battersea Rise since 1987, leading a thriving church and has produced many church plants. Christine is well known as a speaker within the New Wine Women's network. More details to follow, but do start saving up now. Jonathan 2

3 KEEPING YOU SAFE Reporting Accidents & Near Misses If you, or someone you know, has an accident at church please do tell the Activity Leader, Church Wardens or the Office. If an accident requires First Aid or other medical intervention, then please help by completing and handing in an Accident Record Form. We also complete these forms in the case of near misses - so that hopefully we can learn, and avoid future accidents. Opportunity to Serve: If you have the skills and desire to serve by becoming involved in keeping the church a safe place - please do speak to one of the Wardens or Jonathan. Ladder Training. If you wish to be able to use a ladder in your role in the church, and do not have previous training, then please sign up to attend a short ladder training meeting. Talk to the Church Office or the Church Wardens. Thank you. Richard BLUE BADGE PARKING SURVEY Traidcraft is the company that sources the gifts cards and groceries you can buy from the stall in the hall at coffee time, after the morning services and at St Andrews Coffee Shop on a Thursday morning. Traidcraft includes: Traidcraft PLC the trading company selling products from the world s poorest producers Traidcraft Exchange, a charity, which gives advice and support to producers and communities and also lobbies governments for fairer trade practices. WHY BUY FROM TRAIDCRAFT? Traidcraft is a fair trade company: the price we pay for products gives producers enough for them to afford food, education and healthcare. You can buy with confidence that the workers have safe working conditions, there is no discrimination or exploitation of people or environment. Traidcraft pays a premium that enables communities to buy things like bore holes for fresh water, or equipment such as a tractor, to improve farming techniques. For these producers and communities it is their only hope of reaching the UK market. You help them trade their way out of poverty, allowing them to live with dignity and pride. This month In Touch includes a short survey for Blue badge holders you will find it on the inside back cover. Please complete the survey and return it to the Church Office by 31st March. Thank you. Church Office All the money raised on the St Andrew s stall goes to Traidcraft Exchange, to be used in supporting producers and improving trade conditions. Traidcraft embraces the Christian principles of Remembering the poor and loving our neighbour as ourselves. 3

4 LENT GIVING This year we are dividing our Lent giving between a local charity and some of our mission partners. Gloucestershire Bundles is a charity providing emergency packs of toiletries, clothing and equipment to pregnant women and families with children up to the age of eleven who find themselves in crisis situations. They have asked us if we could donate the items listed below as they have a shortage. There will be a baby cot placed in the concourse shortly for you to place your donated items. We will also put up some posters listing the items required. The current list includes: Bibs Bottle teats Newborn nappies Nappy sacks Children s shampoo Disposable breast pads Maternity hygiene products Deodorant Shower gel, shampoo and conditioner for the mothers. planted several churches, and has an itinerant ministry of training and supporting other pastors and evangelists, as well as organising youth retreats and training conferences. He has recently been made a bishop of the Africa Inland Church and his consecration will take place in March. (Mission rep: Dan Button) Helen Wilson - Most of you know Helen as a member of St Andrew s, but for many years she has had a tranlation ministry to the Nyaboa people of the Ivory Coast. She is a member of Wycliffe and has been working very diligently on a recently completed grammar of the entire language. (Mission rep: Tim Door) Your continued support for the work of the Mission Team is greatly appreciated and it is a privilege to be able to share some of what God has blessed us with. Clare Corley, Mission Team We have designated monetary giving during Lent to our Africa-based mission and ministry partners. These include: Seurr Sang ida - a really wonderful, and greatly needed ministry to disabled children in the Maasai area of southern Kenya. (Mission reps: Ben & Becks Maugham) Daniel Lemadada - Pastor Daniel has worked for 30 years in a remote and mainly unreached area of northern Kenya, amongst isolated pastoralist tribes. He has The Gloucestershire Bundles charity say they have clothed thousands of children over the last five years. 4

5 DINKED, DUNKED OR DANKED? Confirmation or Baptism? The decision to be confirmed or baptised is a really important one, but does differ for different people. It is an ideal opportunity to declare publicly our faith in Jesus Christ and is often a great witness to our family and friends. They are great occasions for the whole church family too. We like to offer several options, whatever age you are. The options are: A: If you have been baptised already, either as an adult or a baby. There are now two options open to you: i) You can be confirmed by the Bishop. This is double confirmation act whereby the we confirm that we believe in Jesus Christ, and the Bishop confirms that we are accepted and loved by God. This is a great way to feel accepted as a Christian, and to feel part of the Anglican Church. ii) You can REAFFIRM your baptism vows by full immersion at a different occasion in a pool, either one erected in church or at the local pool of one of our church family. This is a great occasion to tell others of our faith. In this case you are reaffirming what has already happened at your baptism but you don t remember it because you were a baby. You can be baptised by sprinkling at a font in one of our morning services. So different options, depending on your personal preferences. Do speak to either myself or Ben if you wish to pursue one of them. The Confirmation service with Bishop Rachel is on Sunday 10 th June. More details later. MAKE A MOTHER S DAY There will be a cake stall after both services on Mothering Sunday, 11th March. This Appeal supports vulnerable and marginalised mothers worldwide, enabling them to learn new skills to support their families and thrive in their communities. There will be home made cakes to buy (by donation) and you are very welcome to bring along a cake/s to put on the stall as well. This month is our AGM, and Ben Lillie will be joining the meeting with a short talk too. There will also be refreshments and an update on MU projects/ campaigns. Jonathan Janet Ross B: If you have NOT been baptised before. You can be baptised by full immersion as above in option A(ii). You can be baptised (usually by sprinkling at a font) and be confirmed at the same time by the Bishop in the same service. This works quite well for those who are a bit wary of being fully immersed in water. Or, 5

6 BILLY GRAHAM: An extract from a tribute by Reverend Cannon J. John Let me suggest that there were three features to his life and ministry that are worth considering and celebrating. First, Billy Graham had a faith-filled life. The unshakeable foundation of all that Billy said and did was the God of the Bible. With that trust in God came the certainty that the Bible is God s true word to humanity and only in Jesus Christ can we be made right with God. For Billy, faith was not simply a matter of believing truth; it was expressing that truth in life. He was to use that now all-too-rare adjective a godly man. He loved God and he relied on him in all he did. That reliance on God as someone who could be trusted encouraged him to take risks. In today s terms, it may not seem as if Billy Graham was a risk taker, but he was. He brought the evangelistic rally into the modern technological age, he went to Russia and China in the darkest days of communism, he counselled morally compromised politicians and he even appeared on comedy programmes. In all this he put God at the centre and found, as others have, that when you do that, everything else falls into place. The secret to Billy Graham s ministry did not lie in his many natural gifts his height, looks, powerful voice and sharp mind it was the way that he saw everything as revolving around God. This protected him from the danger of pride. Second, Billy Graham had a faithful life. He not only believed in a God who could be relied on but he followed him without hesitation. From the age of 30 he knew that he was called to be a preacher of the gospel and for the rest of his long life he never turned aside from that call. That achievement is particularly remarkable because he faced trials and temptations that few of us can imagine. His success made him the focus of enormous attention. Theologically, there were those who attacked him for being a fundamentalist and those who attacked him for betraying the fundamentals of the faith. Politically, the uncomfortably intimate linkage between Christianity and politics in the United States meant that for years there were enormous pressures for him to get involved and to speak out for either the Left or the Right... Yet he stayed faithful to the One who had called him to be a preacher of the gospel. That singleminded dedication protected him; the abundant mud slung at him never stuck and while he was occasionally singed by controversy, he was never burnt by it. Finally, Billy Graham had a fruitful life. In terms of evangelism the figures are remarkable: a lifetime audience including radio and television broadcasts of over two billion, and more than three million responses to his gospel invitations. Yet his influence extended beyond his meetings. Billy started Christianity Today in 1956, was influential in supporting Christian music, authored a number of books and, perhaps most significantly, trained other evangelists. God blessed his faithful servant. I likened Billy earlier to a great tree dominating a landscape. Our sadness at his passing is tempered by the fact that this tree gave rise to a multitude of saplings that now grow over the entire world. He sowed good seed and it is bearing good fruit. In the book of Acts the apostle Paul is quoted as saying that King David served God s purpose in his own generation (Acts 13:36 niv). The same can indeed be said of Billy Graham. We should not seek to imitate him (the world has changed beyond recognition since he began his ministry) but we should be inspired by him. This side of Christ s return the church will always need leaders and evangelists like Billy Graham. For the full text go to 6

7 Car Parking Questionnaire For Driver/ Passenger with Disabilities/Blue Badge Recipients Please give as much detail as possible to help us review and plan future space within our car park. Blue Badge Details Blue Badge Owner? Yes / No (please delete as appropriate) Badge Number: Named Badge Owner: Expiry Date: Car Details Model & Make of Car Standard Estate Specialist Van (circle most appropriate) Approximate length if known: Rear exit for disabled person? Yes / No (delete as appropriate) Side Exit for disabled person? Yes / No Attending Church Which days do you attend St Andrews? Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Sunday (Please circle) In the week what sessions do you attend? (Please list) On Sunday which service? 9am Fuel (circle as appropriate) Please return to the church office before March 31 st Thank You 7

8 WORSHIP FOR MARCH 2018 All services will be at St Andrew s unless otherwise stated 4 th March Lent 3 9:00am Holy Communion 10.30am All Age Communion 3.30pm Evening St.Bartholomew 7pm FUEL 11 th March Lent 4 9:00am Holy Communion 10.30am Family Worship 11am St.Bartholomew 7pm FUEL 18 th March Lent am Holy Communion 10.30am Family Worship 7pm FUEL 25 th March Palm Sunday (Clocks go forward) 9.00am Holy Communion 10.30am Family Worship 6pm Holy Communion at St.Bartholomew 7pm FUEL 30 th March Good Friday 9:00am Walk of Witness from Innsworth 2pm Hour at the Cross (Adults) 3.30pm Good Friday All Age (Families) USEFUL CONTACTS The Vicar Jonathan Perkin Curate Ben Lillie Children s Workers Alison Summerskill & Laine Lewis Reader Alison Summerskill Youth Pastors Daisy Cordery & Jack Neave Creative Pastor Rhiannon Davies Churchwardens Richard Badley Kevin Sadler Administrator Loraine Yates Treasurer Rachel Limbrick Assistant Treasurers Alice Oakes, Di Rowe PCC Secretary Enid Castle st April 6.30am 8:00am 9am 10.30am 7pm Sunrise Service at St.Bartholomew Holy Communion at St.Bartholomew Holy Communion at St.Andrew s Easter Celebration at St.Andrew s Easter FUEL Weekday Services 9:00 am Monday to Friday in the Quiet Room - Morning Prayer 10:00 am every Thursday in the Quiet Room Holy Communion St Andrew s Church Centre Station Road, Churchdown Gloucester GL3 2JT T: admin@standrewschurchdown.org.uk Office Hours Monday-Friday pm 8