News & Views September 2018

Transcription

1 News & Views September 2018 Elmers End Free Church, Goddard Road, Elmers End, Beckenham, Kent

2 The shared ministry of Elmers End Free Church & Emmanuel URC, West Wickham Minister Rev. Bill Bowman B Th. FCIBS Telephone: Office E.mail: wfbowman@hotmail.com Monday is the Minister s day off. Please do not disturb him except in the case of real emergency. Services The Sunday service is at 11am. Holy Communion is usually held in the morning of the 3rd Sunday of the month. Junior Church at 11am. Children from 3 years old are welcome. A crèche is available for younger children. Weddings, Funerals and Baptisms Please contact the Minister. Elmers End Free Church is a member of Churches Together in Beckenham. 2

3 Services in September 2nd 11am Morning Service. Minister tbc Organist Peter Dowling 9th 11am Morning Service led by Rev. Bryn Thomas to include Holy Communion. Organist Peter Dowling 16th 11am Harvest Festival Service led by Rev. Bill Bowman Organist tbc 23rd 11am Morning Service Led by Alan Kielan Organist tbc 30th 11am Morning Service led by Rev. Graham Thompson Organist Peter Dowling Dates for your Diary 16th Harvest lunch after morning service October News & Views Any articles or news for the October 2018 edition of News & Views should be with Barbara by Sunday 23rd September. If you would like to your article please send this to

4 Pastoral Letter Dear Friends, September is a month of change. Primary school children change to a different class, year 6 to a different school. Secondary pupils change to a different year or change from school to university or college and for some they change from school to the world of work. In the natural world the seasons change throughout the year and in September, officially at least, summer gives way to autumn. The changing seasons are celebrated in our Harvest Thanksgiving services which take place this month. At harvest we give thanks for God s provision of food for another year. It is also a time for us to help change other people s lives for the better with our special harvest gifts for the local Food Bank as well as Commitment for Life. The Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement usually fall in September and Jewish people from the time of Moses to the present take the opportunity on these Holy Days to assess how they could change their own lives for the better and be more helpful kind and loving to their fellow human beings. For Christians change is an ongoing process and we need to continually consider what things we should change in our daily lives as well as in our church life. In Christ there is always the invitation to change and start again. Some changes can be exciting and challenging but other changes are unwelcome and can be frightening. But one thing we can be sure of amid all the changes and uncertainties of life God s love for us in Christ Jesus remains constant. God has promised us never will I leave you, never will I desert you. 4

5 As the prophet Samuel reminds us He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind. (I Samuel 15:29) Shalom, Bill Harvest Thanksgiving Our harvest celebrations this year will be on Sunday 16th September. Our Family and Parade service will be the main focus of our Harvest Festival. Members and friends are invited to bring gifts of tins and packets to be donated to the local food bank administered by Holy Trinity Church in Lennard Road. Our service on the 16th will be followed by our harvest lunch. A list at the back of the church will be available soon for those wishing to attend the lunch to sign up. We are grateful to Katherine and Barbara for preparing the lunch this year. Volunteers who are able to come to decorate the church for harvest on the morning of Saturday 15th September will be very welcome. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. (Genesis 8:22) Fabric Steward For more years than possibly even she can remember Barbara has not only been our treasurer but also our fabric steward. We are very grateful to Barbara for fulfilling these roles so diligently over the years. We are pleased that Crystal is taking on the treasurer s job but we still require someone to be responsible for the fabric. Barbara will be able to advise what the role involves and I would ask church members and friends to prayerfully consider if this is a role you feel in which you could serve Christ and his church. 5

6 Please do think about it and let myself or Barbara know if you feel you can help. Thank you. Bill A Harvest Prayer We bless you, God of Seed and Harvest, And we bless each other, That the beauty of this world, And the love that created it, Might be expressed though our lives And be a blessing to others, Now and always Amen. 6 Harvest Customs from around the world. Vendimia, Mendoza, Argentina On the final Sunday of February, the Archbishop of Mendoza sprinkles the season s first grapes with holy water and offers the new vintage to God, setting off a month of celebrations in Argentina s Mendoza region. Crowds line the streets to watch a parade of competing beauty queens atop their regional floats, and the festival culminates with a spectacular show at the amphitheatre musicians, entertainers, and dancers take to the stage before a Harvest Queen is chosen amid a backdrop of spectacular fireworks. Rice Harvest, Bali, Indonesia Dewi Sri, the rice goddess, is venerated as a matter of course in Bali, where rice is the staple crop. During the harvest, villages are festooned with flags, and simple bamboo temples dedicated to the

7 goddess are erected in the upstream, most sacred corners of the rice fields. Small dolls of rice stalks representing Dewi Sri are placed in granaries as offerings. Chanthaburi Fruit Fair, Chanthaburi, Thailand Chanthaburi, Thailand, is known for gemstones and for its profusion of beautiful native fruits, as colourful as jewels. During the summer harvest, the annual Fruit Fair exhibits exotic durians, rambutans, longans, and mangosteens in vibrant arrangements as elaborate as Buddhist mandalas. There are produce competitions and art displays, and the opening-day parade features floats made from thousands of tropical fruits and vegetables. Sukkot, Jerusalem, Israel Sukkot celebrates Israel s bountiful harvests and recalls the time when the Israelites wandered the desert living in temporary shelters. Families build makeshift huts, or sukkah, with roofs open to the sky. Here they eat, and sometimes sleep, for the next seven days. Wands of willow, myrtle, and palm, together with a citron (a kind of lemon), are shaken every day in all directions to honour the gifts from the land. Olivagando, Magione, Italy In Italy, Magione s two-day festival in November celebrates both the feast day of St. Clement and the local olive harvest, bringing together everyone involved in the production of olive oil. A priest blesses the new oil at a special Mass, and the town hosts a lavish medieval dinner at its 12th-century castle. Lammas Festival, United Kingdom Lammas marks the beginning of the harvest season, when food is abundant and the light begins to wane. Early Britons baked bread from the new crop to leave on church altars, and corn dolls decorated bounteous feast tables. 7

8 News of Members Jenny Godber has been in St Christophers for the last 2 weeks. She was in a lot of pain and was finding it difficult to walk and mobilise. Thankfully she reports that the pain is now under control and she has been going to the gym so her mobility has improved and she is hoping to come home on Wednesday. Please keep her in your prayers. Churches Together in Hayes Saturday 3rd November for 7.30pm In Hayes Free Church, Large Hall 111 Pickhurst Lane, Hayes Tickets 10 (includes Fish & Chip Supper, bring your own drinks and cutlery) Contact Alistair Wilson for tickets. Phone In aid of Living Well, Bromley Harvest Lunch The cost for Harvest Lunch on Sunday 16th September will be for adults and 5.00 for children under 8 years old. Please put your name on the list at the back of church if you would like to come. 8

9 Dig This Why do potatoes make good detectives? They keep their eyes peeled! How do you lead a horse to water? With lots of carrots! Why do cowboys always die with their boots on? So they don t stub their toes when they kick the bucket! What does everyone have on their face? Tulips! What vegetable can tie your stomach in knots? String beans! 9

10 Four seasons: salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar! What do you call two young married spiders? Newly webs! What gets bigger the more you take away? A hole! When is a barn too noisy? When all the cows have horns! What s red and invisible? A lack of tomatoes! Why did the gardener hand in his notice? Because his celery wasn t big enough! What happens if worms take over the world? Global worming! Why didn t anyone find the gardener s jokes funny? They were too corny! What vegetables need a plumber? A leek! What never gets tired when it runs? Water! What s a gardener s favourite novel? War and Peas! What did Father Christmas say when he walked into the garden? Hoe, hoe, hoe! What is small, red and whispers? A hoarse radish! Gardeners learn by trowel and error! When s Honeydew? Thyme s moving on! Why did the potatoes get divorced? They couldn t see eye to eye! With grateful thanks to Ray Hagley for the above. 10

11 Rotary Clubs of Addiscombe & Shirley and West Wickham 50 s,60 s,70 s MUSIC QUIZ With Professional Callers Emmanuel Church Hall The Grove, West Wickham SATURDAY 27 OCTOBER pm for 7.30pm start End Polio Now ******* Tickets per person including fish & chip supper Please bring your own drink and glasses Form your own team of 8 people, or we will find a team for you to join on the evening Bookings to: Christine Ross-Smith ross.104@talktalk.net 11

12 Weekly Activities Brownie Guides Monday 6.30pm Leader Miss Katherine Bayley Langley Pre-School Monday Friday Please contact Mrs Jenny Jupp Telephone: E.mail: News & Views Editor Mrs Barbara Heppell Distribution Ms Katherine Bayley