December 2015 January 2016

Transcription

1 THE NEWS December 2015 January 2016 The magazine of Potters Bar United Reformed Church Christmas Services Sunday 13th December Toy & Gift Service Tuesday 15th December Town Carols at St Mary s, The Walk Friday 18th December Festival of Lessons and Carols Thursday 24th December pm Welcome to Christmas Friday 25th December am Christmas Day Service

2 The News - December/January 2016 Page 1 Pastoral Message from Revd Dr Nick Brindley Dear friends I love the season of Advent, which marks the beginning of the Church s liturgical year. During the weeks before Christmas, when we Christians are preparing for the feast of the remembering of Jesus birth we have the chance to explore and reflect on some of the deepest mysteries and also the greatest joys of our faith. We proclaim that a baby, born in an obscure part of the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago, is the one God, creator of all that is. In our Bible study we have been wrestling in recent months with what a strange claim that is and this is the time of the year when the whole Church is encouraged to grapple with it. We also say that this event was a culmination of that same God s centuries long relationship with a people He had chosen and created, the people of Israel. This idea of the universal God, from whom all things have their being, entering into a covenant with one particular nation is not much less strange than that of His being incarnate in a baby boy, yet it is essential to the Christmas story, with its assertion of the importance of Jesus descent from the covenant king David and of the significance of the prophetic words of Isaiah, adviser to some of those who ruled in Jerusalem as David s successors. At Christmas we are faced with the central feature of our faith, that the universal God makes himself known in the history of particular people in a special way. Indeed at Christmas we are reminded that he doesn t simply make himself known, He actually comes to dwell among human beings AS a particular person, Jesus of Nazareth, the Word made flesh. This incarnation of God as human person defines the unique and peculiar nature of the Christian Church and of Christian discipleship within it. We say that we, those gathered by God into the Church, have been commissioned to join the Body of Christ. It is our responsibility and our duty to continue the redeeming work that had a new beginning in a stable in Bethlehem and reached a climax in the events of the first Easter. Christ s mission continues today in what we do and say as a gathering of that universal Church. During Advent we are reminded that we are a people who are still waiting for the final conclusion of God s saving work. That reminder carries with it the implication that we are not simply to wait. God is working to complete his perfection of Creation and is calling on us to join in. Blessings to you Nick

3 Page 2 The News - December/January 2016 Christmas Prayer 2015 Loving, giving Father, Thank you for Jesus, Emmanuel. Thank you that he came at Christmas and is alive and just as relevant today as he was all those years ago, and will be forever. As many of us celebrate your coming to us, with our families, in warm, safe homes, in a democratic country, we pray for everyone who has left their homeland because of persecution, for everyone who is without shelter, or food, or family. Give us compassionate hearts, like yours, Lord. Help us, as Christ s body here on earth, to love and serve and make room for each other this Christmas. In Jesus name. Amen By Daphne Kitching Church Officers and Elders Minister: Revd Dr Nick Brindley Tel: Mob: Serving Elders Secretary Vacancy t.b.a. Margaret Barton Kacey Brown Tony Corfe Mary Deller Janet Green Robert Hillyard Kathy Howe David Morris Janet O Connor Frank Palmer Anne Walton Martin Willis Treasurer Letting Officer Robert Hillyard Tel: Pauline Morris Tel: Fabric David Morris Warden Tel: Chairman Laurie Cahill-Smith Premises & Tel: Finance Committee

4 The News - December/January 2016 Page 3 Church Family Darkes Fayre When Pauline opened the curtains on Saturday morning and saw the early morning snow, she commented that s it!. In fact it was to the contrary, what a great day. There was a good buzz through the day within the building. This year Father Christmas had to delay his departure as he still had customers at 3.30pm. We would like to express our sincere appreciation and thanks to all who helped in any way, however large or small, to make the event such a success. Pauline and David Shoe boxes We delivered 69 shoe boxes to the collection centre. The destination is unknown, those who paid on line will be able to track their box journey to its destination. We would like to express our sincere thanks to: St Johns Church, Friendship House Leisure Centre and Lunch Club for the Elderly in Hatfield, Tilbury Nursery and all Church members and friends who supported this wonderful venture. Pauline and David Christmas Cards The dates for internal distribution of your Christmas Cards is 13th and 20th December. As usual please put them in alphabetical order, with a rubber band around the bundle for ease of sorting. As this is not a delivery service please don t forget to collect them by 20th December. Thank you. We were very sorry to hear that Betty Teather died at Mayfair Lodge recently. Until she was unwell she attended Sunday morning services regularly and became a member in Her funeral was on 9th December at 12 noon at Enfield Crematorium and was led by our Minister, Rev Dr Nick Brindley. We send our deepest sympathy to her family and friends. * * * * We were very sorry to hear that Barbara and John Potts have been unwell recently. We hope to see you back at church and choir soon and send you both our love and prayers. * * * * We wish you all every blessing for the Christmas season and a healthy, happy and peaceful New Year

5 Page 4 The News - December/January 2016 The Purcell Concert A most enjoyable evening on the 6th November and the largest number of attendees (over 80) we've had to date. We were almost standing room only! The nine very talented musicians did us proud as usual, on piano, violin, flute, recorder, horn, percussion, djembas and marimba. The programme was varied and exciting: the duo on the marimba at the close of part 1 being especially humorous as the two musicians vied to take the top spot on the marimba (pushing and shoving whilst playing superbly). Our offering of wine and nibbles was well received. We raised just over 900 in total, including Gift Aid. After deduction of our costs for food and wine we have shared the balance and will shortly be sending the Purcell School a cheque for which will go to support their Commonwealth Resounds initiative - this year in Malta. Janet O'Connor as our organiser should take a well justified bow! My camera decided to take black and white pictures last evening - I was a bit careless in the set-up. Robert (I hasten to add that I (Janet) was very well supported by Robert & Margaret Hillyard throughout the day, and they bought the Wine and Cheese. Racheele Howes Leah Saltoun Hamish Webb Sam Every & Joe Parks

6 The News -December/January 2016 Page 5 Darkes Fayre - s.s. Tilbury Those of you who were in church this morning will have heard that we raised ~ 7000 (and counting) at this year s Darkes Fayre. The format had changed a little: the stalls were in Tilbury Hall and the church was given over to activities for young people. Where I was in the vestibule I could see just how well the activities in the church were received. At times it was full to bursting. We thank all those who contributed, but in particular David & Pauline Morris, who not only masterminded this year s Fayre and arranged the activities in the church, but who also seemed to be working both day and night in the weeks before the Fayre, making modifications to the stalls and producing much of the artwork that adds that professional touch on the day. (More pictures elsewhere). A very successful and colourful day. Thank you. Robert

7 Page 6 The News - December/January 2016 UP...UP...UP...UP This two-letter word in English has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is UP. It is listed in the dictionary as an [adv.], [prep], [adj.], [n] or [v]. It s easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election (if there is a tie, it is a toss UP ) and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends, brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the Jam Jars kitchen. We lock UP the house and fix UP the old car. At other times, this little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special. And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is blocked UP.. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don t give UP, you may wind UP with ( UP to) a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out, we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it soaks UP the earth. When it does not rain for a while, things dry UP. One could go on and on, but I ll wrap it UP, for now... My time is UP! Oh... One more thing: Don t screw UP.. Now I ll shut UP! Earlier this year I decided that, after Darkes Fayre, I would be hanging up my aprons and putting my jam spoons into storage, therefore I will not be needing any more jam or pickle jars. I would like to say a HUGE Thank You to everyone who, over the years, has kept me supplied with the empty jars, for the supply of fabric for the pretty tops and not forgetting the ladies who, over the years, have contributed large quantities of jam in order to fill the preserve stalls. During 2012/2013/2014/2015 fayres we have sold approximately 1,800 jars of preserves! Again, many thanks to you all for your help and suppport. Pauline

8 The News - December/January 2016 Page 7 Mission Action Planning I have now been at Potters Bar for a little over three years and feel that my ministry here is just really beginning. Over the last few months I have prayed and reflected and have found that the Holy Spirit is leading me to work with this congregation to begin a new and hopeful chapter in our common life. A variety of people, writings and other inspirations have contributed and I am now sure that we can and we should, as a church, renew and strengthen our service and our witness. I have begun discussion of this with the elders and have found a warm and positive response from them. We are all determined to seek diligently the work that God intends us to do in service to his kingdom. In doing so we are aware of a range of factors that will shape how best we can answer God's call. After a long period of numerical decline our members are mostly elderly but maintain a good range of activities. We have an active weekly Bible study, our fortnightly Tuesday Friendship group, weekly Toddlers, charity lunches and a good programme of social and musical events through the year. Darkes Fayre is a major annual undertaking, recently refreshed through our partnership with Act 4 by adding the school choirs competition. Our Nursery is outstanding (according to OFSTED!) and nurtures a real and vibrant community among the families who come to us. Our talented Director of Music leads our choir in contributing to our worship. With all that there is little spare capacity to add to our programme from our own efforts but the programme we have, while maintaining our own faith and witness, is not drawing new people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ. On the other hand we have the great blessing of a building that is both well-maintained and well used and a significant endowment of monetary reserves through gifts and bequests made to the church over the years of its life. We have a talented and committed group of elders and a good number of people with a real desire to share God's love with our neighbours. Bearing all these things in mind we (the elders and I) have decided that we will actively seek the Spirit's guidance by following the steps of the Mission Action Planning method that has been developed and refined in the Church of England over the last 20 years. This has four steps; review, choose, plan and act. The first involves a careful assessment of the current life of the church, its mission field in its community and neighbourhood, and the resources it has. Having gathered this information choices are made about mission priorities during the choose stage. This involves identifying particular groups or areas of work on which the church will concentrate and creating a vision of what it wants to achieve. From this a concrete plan of actions to be taken is developed before, finally, this plan is put into operation and monitored for its effectiveness and feasibility. For the review phase we have been blessed with the assistance of two highly experienced ministers. Revd John Hardaker is minister at Christ Church Hitchin (a Local Ecumenical Partnership between the Methodist and United Reformed Churches) and is additionally an Evangelism and Renewal Advocate, supported by the Group for Evangelism and Renewal in the United Reformed Church. In this latter role John is going to help us identify any areas of our church life that need refreshing or strengthening. Revd Roger Taylor, whom many of you will know, is a Baptist minister currently working to build up new forms of Christian community in the Oakmere estate here in Potters Bar. Roger is going to help us identify what spiritual needs in our community we are being called to meet. The results of their work, along with my review of the strengths and resources we bring to God's service, are going to be shared with a wider leadership group (consisting of all members of our church who have been ordained as elders whether currently serving or not) on the 24th January. We will have the benefit of the presence of the Revd Peter Blackband, minister at Adeyfield Free URC in Hemel Hempstead, who has agreed to act as facilitator and guide for that session. We hope that this review stage will equip us to move on to the discernment of the areas of work our congregation is being called to in the next phase of its life, and that this work will be fruitful in the service of God's kingdom. We ask for all your prayers and support.

9 Page 8 The News - December/January 2016 Tuesday Friendship We were delighted to welcome Revd Alison Facey from St John s Methodist Church on 3rd October, to talk about the culture and church in Chile where she lived with her husband and son between She was a Mission Partner with the churches in Chile and was based in Iquique to the north of the country where it was mainly desert and rock. At that time there was a military dictatorship ruling over Chile which is 2500 miles long and 110 miles wide with a population of approximately 17.9 milion. Alison began her work in a school attempting to teach Religious Education in English, which she did not feel was very popular, as the main language spoken was Spanish in which she was not very fluent! Further south the land is more fertile with penguins, volcanos and the Pacific Ocean. Copper mining in the deserts brings in wealth and people are very hard working, studying at evening classes very late after their day job. There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor but they all enjoy living for the moment with very frequent fiestas and celebration days with colourful national dress, dancing, singing and brass bands. The religion is mainly Catholic with a pilgrimage once a year. The Methodist church has about 80 ministers and the Pentecostal church is growing. There are three high schools where the Methodists teach with ages from 3-18 years. In 2006 a female President was elected and gradually the very strict conditions were eased and the more conservative rule drove the economy forward. In the larger towns such as the capital Santiago, life is very busy with shopping malls and markets. The people are used to living in fear of earthquakes, volcanoes and sunamies. In 2010 thousands died with 1.5 million homes damaged resulting in a falling economy and people are still living in tents years later. On the bright side many women escaped from prison and only a few re-captured! More recently the river flooded causing devastation affecting the economy again with the price of copper falling. Happily, Alison s Spanish improved enough for her to become the Minister of the church next door to the school. From here they set up a project to help those women suffering social and domestic abuse. Many suffer violence and in were killed. In time the Police began to take a serious view and responded better. The project offered protection, helped to re-build lives and assist in finding employment. Mixed professions were involved in helping the Minister and other churches were included. Alison was impressed with the Caledivos/Taxis who would pick people up and stop anywhere requested with passengers sharing. (She really missed these on return to England). Throughout her talk Alison showed slides and we saw the site of the famous mine where a few years ago 33 miners were rescued after 59 days underground, thanks to many nations working together. There is now an exhibition there in the desert showing how the men survived by praying and had meetings daily. Thank you Alison for such a delightful preseentation which we all enjoyed and found so informative. On 17th November we asked ourselves Who was Prudence. Our friend Mike Findley was our guest speaker and the title of his talk was Travels with Prudence and we were soon to find out who she was! In 1963 Mike was studying on an Electrical Engineering sandwich course for about 54 people, at the end of which 18 young men and women decided they would like to travel. An advert was seen for the sale of a World War Bedford army lorry. They went to see it and decided it was ideal for their purpose with room for 18 people. Mike was in charge of all documentation, tax and insurance which was very difficult to obtain but finally a German company agreed to do it. Decision time - where to go? Istanbul was decided upon and once the engine was tuned, travel documents, vizas, currency etc was procured, they set off complete with seats, mattresses and hammocks for the Dover- Ostend ferry. Mike was often navigator as he was good with maps and he kept us amused with various comical and sometimes scary incidents that happened all through the journey. Passing through Belgium to the German border only three of them were allowed to stay in the vehicle so the rest got out and had to bus it. On to Cologne and Munich to the Austrian border which was crossed by night. The area changed in Yogoslavia and the Alps - there were many lorries and bullock carts and a slower way of life with beautiful scenery. In Sofia the capital of Bulgaria, they were guarded by armed plain clothes police while Cont d on page 9

10 The News - December/January 2016 Page 9 Tuesday Friendship cont d... they parked! They enjoyed a meal with the Bulgarian Navy then over the Turkish border to a campside in Istanbul which was excellent and they stayed for a week, enjoying sight seeing. There was some bombing going on in the region so they flew the Union Jack on Prudence to get them safely to the Greek border. Here they had to cross a 300 yard bridge having been warned to drive slowly as the Turks were fixing dynamite to it. The engine on their lorry was getting very dodgy at this point and they were advised to avoid hills, so many of them walked. On to Thessaloniki to the Albanion border. The road was beautiful and lined with peach trees. The people were mostly Moslems wearing white skull caps and they were surprised to find a few chatting in Welsh, apparently taught by a pilot shot down there in On to the coast round very scary hair pin bends through Yugloslavia and Austria to Munich. By this time they had all run out of money and so they went to the British Consulate who gave them enough for a meal and train fare back to Ostend and home. They had had a wonderful holiday, full of surprises for about shillings each. Mike is still in touch with several of the friends and some of them had married each other. He has been back since to some of these regions, much changed of course. We saw photos throughout his talk, mostly black and white and Mike answered our questions and we were amazed how much he remembered with barely looking at his notes. Sadly they had to leave Prudence behind but she had got them through most of their travels safely with a few mechanical adjustments on the way. Many thanks to Mike for such an enjoyable talk. Margaret Hill I thought the time had come to bake That rather special Christmas cake And so I started to prepare And weigh the fruit and flour with care. I warmed the oven, greased the tin And felt a certain pride within It smelled so good in just a while I thought it sure to raise a smile. But later I was not amused I found the eggs I should have used So, bakers, now this warning take. Be careful with that special cake! A man walked into a surgery and the receptionist asked what he had. He replied I got shingles. She said: Fill out this form and give your name, address, medical insurance number. When you re done please take a seat. 15 mins later a nurse came out and asked what he had. He said Shingles. So she took down his height, weight and medical history, then said, Change into this gown and wait in the examining room. A hour later the doctor came in and asked him what he had. He said Shingles. The doctor gave him a full-cavity exam and then said, I just checked you out and I can t find shingles anywhere. The man replied: They re outside in the truck, where do you want them? With thanks to Brookmans Park URC

11 Page 10 The News - December/January and we came unto Perga... Recently Heather and I took a trip to mainland Turkey, that s Asia Minor in our old school atlas days, we are prone to the occasional adventure and a trip in the autumn, when its getting colder in England, appeals to us. Why did we chose Turkey?, well I suppose really it was because the price was right!, although for me I wanted to see some of the Places that Paul visited on his early journey of spreading the word of the Good News. In the early history of Israel the newly forming tribe of Abraham was sometimes harassed by the Hittites, they came from the unruly mountain area of northern Turkey. Perhaps too, the Ark that Noah built was marooned on the Taurus mountains bordering the Black Sea On of the wonderful things about Paul and his life was that he sets out from Jerusalem determined to stamp out the new religion that was making inroads into the Jewish belief and way of life. On the way the Risen Jesus met him, challenged him and knocked him down - read the story in Acts 9 and later in the Acts as Paul recounts the event. When he picked himself up he went to Jerusalem and met with Peter and the friends there, he went to Antioch (careful, there are 16 of these!) and met up with the church there. It was here that Paul, and Barnabus were set apart by the church and the Holy Ghost to do a special work. With John Mark they set off for Cyprus. They walked across the Island from Famagusta to Paphos, spreading the Good News, always first to the Jews and then, when thrown out of the Synagogues, to the non Jewish peoples who received them gladly. From Paphos they travelled to Turkey, to the coastal zone called Pamphylia. We have been to Cyprus and followed the trail there, and I have also been to Philippi, but we have never been to Asia Minor, which in many ways is a cradle of Humanity. There will have been many little ports along this coast and Paul and his party will have sailed to one, then they will have looked for a city. Just inland was a big Roman garrison city called Perga or Perge. It was here that John Mark left them, to go back to Jerusalem, I wonder why? Did his mother, Mary, call him home, and why? We went to Perge, now its a large excavated site, in its day it must have been a huge city. We wandered along colonnaded streets, saw the Aqueduct, the Bath house complex and some of the shops, but in reality these are all just ruins, nothing recognisable is left standing now. Close by at Aspendos there is an enormous Amphitheatre, and we visited this striking building, now restored by Turkish pride. We did enjoy this theatre, but climbing the steps to the seats was quite frightening!. From Perga Paul and his friends went to Antioch in Pisidia. Now Pisidia is inland in Central Turkey, the trip is about 150 miles but over the Taurus mountains which rise to in excess of 6,000 feet. The road weaves through the valleys then over the winding, twisting mountain pass. We took most of a day to do this journey, in a coach. Paul and Barnabus walked it! In Antioch they meet up with friends, both Jews and Christian and spent time with them encouraging them in the Faith. Nowadays there is nothing to be seen of this big Roman garrison town except the aqueduct. They are thrown out of Antioch after a riot and go to Iconium, about 60 miles to the east. Here again they bring the Good News. Today Iconium is Konya a very large city, then it was a democratic, Greek city. Nothing remains there of Christian history, We visited an interesting old place of worship used by a post- Muslim sect of Dervishes and learned something about them, too. Later we were treated to dancing display, the priests and learners giving us a most eerie display. Paul and his friends were welcome in Iconium but subsequently fled to Lystra, about 25 miles eastwards, here they are mistaken for Greek Gods and trouble breaks out, so they go on to Derbye. There are no visible remains of these two big towns either. Paul and Barnabus then retrace their steps to Iconium, then Antioch, across what is barren, highland Cont;d on page 15

12 The News - December/January 2016 Page 11 Diary for December Tue Tuesday Friendship More about South Mimms Speaker: Mr Mike Allen Thu Church Meeting Fri Charity Lunch Choir Practice Sat Community Choir Concert Admission Free. Retiring Collection in aid of Herts Carers Sun Family Service led by Mrs Anne Walton Mon Communications Group Meeting Events Group Meeting Bible Study led by our Minister? Wed Elders Meeting Sun Toy and Gift Service led by our Minister Mon until Extra Choir Practice for Carol Service Tue Town Carols at St Mary s, The Walk Fri Season of Invitation Festival of Lessons and Carols with our Choir and led by our Minister Sun Family Service and Holy Communion Led by our Minister Mon Bible Study led by our Minister Thu Welcome to Christmas Service Led by our Minister Fri Christmas Day Service led by Mrs Anne Walton Sun Family Service led by Mr Tony Alderman

13 Page 12 The News - December/January 2016 Rotas for December Duty Officer & Stewards 6 Dec Michael Deller... Joyce Hickson, Margaret Hill 13 Dec Jennifer Cameron... Elisabeth Parker, Marian Poulton 20 Dec Mary Deller... The Brown Family 24 Dec Laurie Cahill-Smith... Rosemary Sargeant, Gay Potter CHRISTMAS DAY - VOLUNTEERS PLEASE 27 Dec Janet O Connor... Joan Gooding, David & Chris Ramsay Preparation of Communion 6 Dec Margaret Miller, Mary Deller 20 Dec Margaret Barton, Margaret Hill Communion Servers 6 Dec Not needed 20 Dec Kathy Howe, Janet O Connor, Frank Green, Tony Corfe Flower Rota (Albert Waite) 6 Dec Tuesday Friendship 13 Dec? 20 Dec CHRISTMAS 27 Dec Coffee Rota 6 Dec Jan & Laurie Cahill-Smith 13 Dec Lilla & Ken Smithson 20 Dec Margaret Miller, Joan Gooding 27 Dec? Vestry Elder 6 Dec? 13 Dec Tony Corfe 20 Dec Janet Green 27 Dec Frank Palmer Charity Lunches 4 Dec Janet O Connor, Margaret Hill, Margaret Miller, Albert Waite 8 Jan Margaret & Robert Hillyard, Daphne Maclean, Jean Morse

14 The News - December/January 2016 Page 13 ROTAS FOR JANUARY Duty Officer & Stewards 3 Jan Frank Palmer... Gay Potter, Frank Green 10 Jan Robert Hillyard... Janet O Connor, Margaret Barton 17 Jan Ken Smithson... Margaret Hillyard, LillaSmithson 24 Jan Mary Deller... Joan Gooding, Joyce Hickson 31 Jan Michael Deller... Marian Poulton, David & Chris Ramsay (Joint Service... at Potters Bar) 7 Feb Janet O Connor... Elisabeth Parker, Rosemary Sargeant Preparation of Communion 3 Jan Ken & Lilla Smithson 17 Jan Frank Green & Joan Gooding 7 Feb Janet Green & Eileen Porter Communion Servers 3 Jan Not needed 17 Jan Mary Deller, Janet Green, Frank Palmer, 7 Feb Not needed Flower Rota (Jean Morse & Barbara Corfe) 3 Jan Joyce Hickson 10 Jan Tony & Barbara Corfe 17 Jan Margaret Barton 24 Jan Jennifer Cameron 31 Jan Albert Waite 7 Feb Maurice & Gwen Kench Coffee Rota 3 Jan Jan & Laurie Cahill-Smith 10 Jan Margaret & Robert Hillyard 17 Jan Elisabeth Parker & Margaret Hill 24 Jan Marian Poulton & Frank Green 31 Jan Pam Brindley & Rosemary Sargeant Vestry Elder 3 Jan Martin Willis 10 Jan Janet O Connor 17 Jan Mary Deller 24 Jan David Morris 31 Jan Margaret Barton 7 Feb Kacey Brown The News Editor: Janet O Connor 8 Heath Road, EN6 llq Tel: Assistant Editor: Mary Deller Tel: All copy must be in the hands of the Editor by 15th of the preceding month The next issue of The News will be available for collection on Sunday 31st January Charity Lunches 8 Jan Margaret Hillyard, Robert Hillyard, Daphne Maclean, Jean Morse 5 Feb Mary Deller, Heather Rae, Marian Poulton,Frank Green

15 Page 14 The News - December/January 2016 Diary for January Sun Family Service led by Anne Walton Evening Worship and Holy Communion Led by our Minister? Mon Bible Study led by our Minister Tue Tuesday Friendship Travels round Iceland Speakers: David & Pauline Morris Fri Charity Lunch Choir Practice Sun Season of Invitation New Year Service Led by our Minister Mon Bible Study led by our Minister Wed Elders Meeting Sun Family Service led by our Minister Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins Mon Bible Study led by our Minister Tue Tuesday Friendship Speaker: Revd Dr Nick Brindley Fri Choir Practice Sat 23?? Pub Miscellany Evening Sun End of Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Mon Bible Study led by our Minister Thu Church Meeting Fri Choir Practice Sat URC Treasurers Meeting until Sun Joint Service at Potters Bar Date for your Diary - Church Dinner This will take place on 6th February so that is the Saturday following the next News which comes out on 31st January. Pam and Brian Coombe will be providing the fabulous dinner once again for the 20th year so I expect they will be selling tickets during January.

16 The News - December/January 2016 Page 15...and we came unto Perga (cont d...) steppe country. Where they did they stay whilst travelling?. This area is called Galatia and the route of a Silk Road route passes through it. This trading route has existed from prehistory. Along the way were Caravanserai, enclosed, fortified, hostelries, basic resting places. In some of these they will have dossed with the animals of burden, the donkeys, the camels and the goods. We visited one such, in the middle of nowhere, in the bleak steppe, windswept and in winter would have been rain lashed or snow covered. We now travelled a little north and east to the region of Cappadocia. Here the land is almost impenetrable, secluded, barren. Its made of volcanic tuffa, and over aeons it has eroded into tall pillars of rock, miles and miles of it; the pinnacles stand like icicles some hundreds of feet high. Here ancient peoples moved to cut houses and churches for themselves into the soft rock - and to be away from troublesome people. Paul and Barnabus travelled back the same way to Antalya on the coast, on foot, encouraging the believers on the way, and being thrown out of towns too, then by sea to Jerusalem, to meet up there with the believers and tell there story, and what a story! The Good News was on its way to the wide world! That message was that God s salvation was for all mankind and was given - by Grace, through faith For ourselves we too went back to Antalya, to a rather nice Beach resort for a week to ponder on the adventure. Heather and Geoff Stories from Dick Van Dyke Evidently children assume that God goes right to sleep after prayer time, too. A girl was allowed to watch TV far into the night for the first time finally stumbled into bed, sank down on her knees and prayed. I hope you don t mind me bothering you so late. Some children seem to regard God as a celestial Santa Claus. Four-year-old Betty slipped into bed without saying her prayers one night, explaining to her mother, There are some nights when I don t want anything. A boy who was very fond of his pastor was saddened to hear that his beloved minister had died and gone to Heavebn. That night he added a postscript to his prayer: Dear God, our pastor is on his way up. Please be good to him when he gets there. Starting School Come on Johnny, up you get, Mother s anxious hardly slept Will he be OK today? Maybe, but it s hard to say. She s tried to say it will be fun Promised sweeties when the day is done, Uniform s all pressed and ready. Hope he won t want to take his teddy! Father s off to work he s cool Says he ll be fine when he gets to school Mother s tum is jumping around. Johnny s still not making a sound. Hiding under the covers, is he? It ll be great, can t he see? Making new friends and playing games. Learning lots and lots of new names, At last he stirs and gives a stretch Jumps out of bed, his clothes to fetch. OK, I ll go, though it ll be a pain As long as I don t have to go again!

17 Page 16 The News - December/January 2016 The Dream One night Len Chimbley had a dream. He dreamt he met God. And their conversation went like this... The old man with the long, white beard and the limitations of human language. Excuse me Yes? Am I right in thinking you are...er...god? That is correct. Can I introduce myself. I m Len Chimbley I know Yes of course you do. Silly of me. Anyway, Lord, I m very pleased to meet you. And I m very pleased to meet you, Len. The funny thing is, I recognised you immediately. Does that surprise you? It does a bit. Why? Well. I d always thought of you as an old man with a long white beard sitting on a cloud but I didn t think you d really be like that. What did you think I d be like? I don t know...but everyone keeps saying you re not an old man with a long white beard sitting on a cloud. And here I am, an old man with a long white beard.. Len.:..sitting on a cloud. It s amazing. I was right all along. Sorry to disappoint you. Len. What do you mean? The truth is you were not right all along. You mean, your re not an old man with a long white beard sitting on a cloud? Of course not. How could I be? But there you are in front of me. Granted. But this is your dream, Len, not mine. Oh, so I m only dreaming you re an old man with a long white beard? Correct. So when I wake up, I ll have to stop thinking of you like that? Not if you don t want to. What do you mean? I mean it s fine by me if you think of me like that. But you ve just said you re not like that True. I m not. But it s all right by me if you picture me like that. But it s a false picture. Oh yes. Then why is it all right by you if I have that picture? Because any picture you have of me will be false, so the dafter your picture is, the less likely you are to be taken in by it. And my picture of you is daft? Absolutely barmy. Oh! But still fine by me. So I can still think of you as an old man with a long white beard sitting on a cloud? Of course. As long as you remember that I m not old, I m not a man, I haven t got a long white beard, and I don t sit on a cloud. I see. Does that mean I can go on talking to you now?

18 The Dream cont d Led: Comfy? Yes thanks Good Er,,,,It s been nice again, hasn t it? Yes it has. But is that all you want to talk about, the weather? No. I ve got lots I want to talk about. But I must admit I do feel a bit nervous. Why? Well you are the almightly, the all-powerful creator of the universe. And that makes you nervous? Of course it does. It would make anybodty nervous What are you nervous about? I m scared of saying the wrong thing, or not being reverent enough. I shouldn t worry about that. I already know your thoughts so there s no point in hiding them, is there? I suppose not., But there are lots of questions I want to ask - questons about you. And it just seems a bit impertinent. What does? Asking you questions at all. Why? What s wrong with asking questions? It makes it look as though I have doubts about you. Does it? Well doesn t it? Not as far as I m concerned. You mean, you don t mind me asking questions? Not in the least. Why should I? Every question leads to me in the end. So asking questions doesn t mean my faith is weak? Quite the opposite. Believing anything and everything is the enemy of faith, not genuine searching. Wow! This is wonderful. Now I ll be able to get the answers to all the questions I ever wanted to ask. Sorry to disappoint you, Len, but I don t think you will. But you just said you don t mind me asking questions. I don t. You can ask as many as you like. It s just that you may not get the answers. What, you ll refuse to answer me? No, of course not. I ll do my very best to answer you. But you must realise that the answers I give may not be very satisfactyory. But that s absurd. Why? Because if you re God, you should know the answers to all my questions. I didn t say I don t know the answers to your questions. I said I may not be able to give you a satisfactory answer. So trying to explain to your dog what you were doing when you were reading the newspaper would be an impossible task? I suppose it would be. Well, now do you understand why I might have difficulty in answering your questions about me? You mean, human languaage can t cope with divine things? Let s put it this way. It can t cope adequately. But it s not totally useless Not totally. If it were totally useless there d be no point in you asking me any questions at all. But if you ask questions you ve always got to remember that your questions are limited by what you can understand; and my answers have to be limited by what you can understand. It s no help if I give you answers you can t understand, is it? That s true. So where do we go from here?