April 2009
Christian
Aid Week May 10th-16th
‘Park’s Got
Talent!’ – in pictures
The views expressed in this magazine are those
of the individual contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views of
Park United Reformed Church.
Dear
Friends,
This Lent we have been reflecting on the message of John's gospel, it contains the story of Jesus life – but much more – it contains masses of information about God. In John's gospel we find the importance of the cross and the resurrection. The God we worship is alive and active in the world, for all eternity. The God we worship promises us life in all its fullness (John 10:10) and life for all eternity (John 11:25).
As we have been looking more closely at John's gospel I've been struck by the way certain threads run through the book, like a complex tapestry. The theme of seeing and believing, for example. Some people witness the events for themselves but do not understand the significance of what is happening – others do not see first hand but they do understand the message. The same happens today, we all see things happening around us, some of us recognise God at work – others are blind to the events, or the significance of the events.
I firmly believe that the developments in our fellowship are signs of our God at work. Some of the developments are within people, as they grow and mature in faith. Some of the developments are within our premises, as they change to meet the needs of our community today. You can read about some of the developments in this month's magazine!
The little booklets that I recommended last month called ‘Love Life Live Lent’ were really popular, which is great. The booklets encourage everyone to do one good thing a day – it might be to give a gift, to write a letter, recycle some items, plant a bulb - something small but something that makes a difference. This is a really good way of marking Lent, as we prepare to celebrate Jesus life-changing death and resurrection.
As part of our Vision4Life Bible year we are looking into Godly Play, particularly to enhance our work with children (see article on page...) There are many new initiatives to help people engage with the Bible, Godly Play is one of the best that I've seen in action and it is really powerful, bringing the Bible alive and allowing room for personal reflection. Please pray for those who will be developing the resources and experimenting with this approach.
By the end of April our worship space should look quite different, with the new carpet in place and the new chairs. This will give us some new possibilities to explore for our worship. In particular, it would be good to think about our pattern of evening worship services, when we often move the furniture in order to sit 'in the round' or to move round the building. Please pray for guidance as we seek new patterns in line with God's plan for us and our community.
Finally, let us rejoice in the good news of Jesus Christ, who has defeated death and evil, to give us life and hope. Let us rejoice in all the wonderful things that God is doing in our world: for the healing power of God that is bringing relief, for the comforting power of God that is bringing strength to the weak, for the penetrating power of God that is exposing injustice and malpractice, for the unending power of God that is giving hope to the hopeless.
This Easter, may
each of us deepen our faith in God, as we grow in knowledge and understanding
of God's awesome power!
Yours in Christ,
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Monday |
8.00pm |
Communion service at
Earley St. Peter’s Church ( |
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Tuesday |
8.00pm |
Communion service at Earley St. Peter’s Church |
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Wednesday |
8.00pm |
Communion service at Earley St. Peter’s Church |
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Thursday |
7.30pm |
Maundy Thursday
service |
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Friday |
10.00am |
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11.00am |
Service outside ASDA
by |
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Sunday |
8.30am |
Early Communion Service followed by Easter Breakfast |
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10.30am |
Easter Celebration with Holy Communion |
From Pentecost Sunday until Trinity Sunday we are joining with hundreds of other Christians in our area to pray for our world, or community and ourselves.
This
is the latest initiative from Churches Together in Earley and
We
will be allocated certain times when we are required to supply people to
supervise the prayer venue,
So
please look out for the sign-up sheet on display and make a note that from 31st
May - 7th June Trinity Church will be open for 24/7 prayer. If you can't be at
You
may already know that I am arranging a church fund-raising event by displaying
my collection of depictions of the Annunciation.
This event will take place on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th June and, weather permitting, you will be able to enjoy a cup of tea in my garden as well as looking at the collection which mainly consists of postcards bought in art galleries and photographs which I have taken in churches. Some of the pictures will be enlarged for the occasion.
You may be wondering why I started such a collection. Well, it all began nearly ten years ago when I was attending a course on medieval stained glass. The class visited a small 14th century church in Oxfordshire which contained some original stained glass and I photographed a window showing a pot of lilies. Being a keen gardener I thought it would be fun to look out for lilies in paintings.
I
hardly noticed the figure of the Virgin Mary and it didn’t register that this
had once been part of an Annunciation scene. Later I was visiting an art
gallery in
Walking along the side of Florence Cathedral I discovered the simple scene shown on this page. I hope it will encourage you to come and see more.
There will be more details about this event in the May issue.
Beryl Levett
Please
put this date in your diaries and think seriously about whether you could help
with the house-to-house collection this year.
We could always do with more collectors, and
if you are doubtful about collecting on your own, we can always arrange for
people to go out in pairs – this is a very good way of working.
Doreen Woods
If anyone is looking and wondering about joining a house group, our Monday night one has vacancies for one or two additional people and you can be assured of a warm welcome.
Currently we are studying the 'Sermon on the Mount' along with a social time with refreshments at the beginning of the evening. We meet every fortnight either at Doreen Woods' home or at Gaye and Ray Rees's. Lifts could be arranged. Come along - give it a try! Phone 01189340907
Please
continue to save your postcards (used or unused) in support of this mission
work. Either give them to me to forward, or send direct to: Rev. Ken Thom,
Linda Adkins.
The
Atheist Bus Campaign, launched in
Two things in particular struck me about the advertisements:
1. The use of the word ‘probably’. The definition of an atheist is someone who believes that God does not exist, so I’d have thought that they would have had the courage of their convictions and stated that.
2. The suggestion that the goal of humanity
is to ‘enjoy life’. I don’t believe that my goal in life is to have fun
(although it’s good to do so along the way!). I believe that my goal in life is
to make a difference in Jesus’ name. Wouldn’t it be great to see a banner
emblazoned along the side of
The United Reformed Church’s Mission Council
in December was inspired by hearing of the advertising campaign ‘God is Still
Speaking’ which is part of the mission of our partner denomination in the
Mission Council gave ‘in principle’ approval to using the same campaign within the United Reformed Church, linking with the evangelism year of Vision4Life. I’m really excited by that possibility, and at the prospect of the United Reformed Church standing tall as we proclaim that there is a God, that God is still speaking in twenty-first century Britain, and that God has called us each to make a difference where we are.
The Church Meeting was updated on progress with the church developments. The work on the church roof will begin after 3rd April. The new carpet for the church has been ordered and will be fitted on 14/15th April. The new chairs have been ordered and the expected delivery date is the last week in April.
As was agreed in February, the pews are
being donated to Yeldall Manor (a rehabilitation unit for drug users) in
Berkshire. Yeldall Manor has a woodworking workshop, specialising in bespoke furniture. The manager of the
workshop, Steve, said that this offer was 'a real answer to prayer' as they
have just finished using wood from a set of pews from
Rod King and family have approached Steve, to ask if the workshop could produce a set of bookshelves using our pew wood, in memory of Kathleen Hewett and Mavis Cordery. The bookshelves will be used in church to provide a library of Christian books in the Large Hall, for use by church members and friends.
Members will have noticed that the pews are being removed in batches, with the aim that most will be removed before the carpet fitters arrive on 14th April. This will mean that we shall be using the church hall chairs until the new chairs are delivered.
The church meeting agreed that we should use money from the Ridley family legacy to fit carpets to the stairs and first floor corridors. This work will also be completed on 14/15th April.
The church meeting heard that the introduction of offertory boxes (in place of bags) had made little difference to the amount of donations received from worshippers, with more people using the envelope system or using standing orders. After some discussion it was agreed that we would continue using the offertory boxes.
Beryl Levett has offered to run an exhibition of her collection of pictures of the Annunciation (when Mary received God's message via an angel) in aid of church funds. The meeting warmly welcomed this initiative and we look forward to seeing some of the 400 images that Beryl has collected.
CTEER are running a 7 day prayer event, with
people praying 24 hours a day form the
different churches in our area. The meeting agreed that Park URC should offer
to cover 2 or 3 six hour blocks of time
during the week. Everyone is invited to drop in at
Due to illness, our treasurer was unable to present the accounts for 2008 at this meeting, these will be presented at the next Church Meeting on 17th May 2009, at midday.
There will be a walk of about 4 miles on
Easter Monday, April 13th. All are
welcome.
It will start at 11 am from the lay-by near ‘The Seven Stars’,
A sheet will be on the
a)
if you are coming
b)
if you would like a lift
c)
if you can offer a lift
Please wear suitable footwear and bring a packed lunch.
Janet & Alan Pritchard
From 14th – 19th April a party from Park will be at Spring Harvest at Minehead – look out for a full report next month!
This was the title of the show which DRAPES presented on Sunday afternoon, March 29th, to an audience who had just enjoyed a very good lunch, also provided by DRAPES members.
As a showcase of talent this was very successful, and offered a wide variety of entertainment performed by all ages.
The young people’s drama workshops, which have been running for several months, showed some of their methods of working, and also performed two sketches, one mimed and one scripted. There is certainly a great deal of talent there, much of which we did not suspect. Thanks to Gordon and Karen Bird who have been leading these workshops.
Musical talent made a large contribution,
varying from a wind band composed of seven musicians of various ages and
playing a variety of instruments, to solo singing from Gaye and Edwin, and solo
items from Simon and
But the talent doesn’t end there – Jack and
Daisy provided a puppet show and and some very accomplished magic tricks which
kept us all on the edge of our seats. Joan Pearson brought us a monologue from
a rather eccentric flower shop.
I am sorry if I have forgotten anyone, but the show certainly lived up to its title; we have got plenty of talent.
We want to say a big thank you to DRAPES for having such a good idea, and for carrying it out; the lunch was delicious and made a very good social event, and the entertainment was the icing on the cake.
Les Dray
30th
Reading
This
term we have been spending quite a lot of time on the Girl Guiding
The
Brownies have also been working with another resource, ‘Aim Hi’, which they have
now completed, and for which they have received another badge. Finally, we have somehow managed to fit in a
Promise Ceremony for 5 new Brownies.
As
part of leading up to the centenary of Girl Guiding, we have all been
challenged to take action and change the world in which we live. Some of the leading charities have been
involved in producing projects specifically for Girl Guiding
We had
a choice of 19 charities, out of which – through discussion with the girls – we
had to choose one. Over a number of
weeks the girls looked at the various charities before narrowing it down to
four. We then found out a little bit more about each of these and about
activities we might be able to do.
The
Brownies eventually chose the Railway Children charity, which seeks to help children who have run away
from home. At least 100,000 children run
away from home every year – this can be to get away from violent parents, to
escape bullies or to avoid family arguments.
They end up sleeping rough in alley ways, fields and parks. They are often attacked and end up being
exploited by adults, with nowhere safe to go.
There are only 11 refuge beds in the whole of the
We are
taking part in a project called ‘The Power of Dreams’, through which, with our
help, more children will be given the help and opportunities they need – they
will be provided with somewhere safe to dream. So far the Brownies have explored how children
who have run away have the same hopes and dreams as everyone else. The Brownies have filled in dream bubbles and
thought about one thing that they hope for in the future. They have heard stories from runaway children
and made door hangers for their bedrooms.
By the
time you read this we will have held a sleepover at the Church – one of the
suggested activities in the project – and we will have made dream catchers. We
are looking forward to doing more activities from this project next term, and
also hope to raise some funds ourselves for the Railway Children. Our main effort will be our Spring Fair,
which we are holding at Park on Thursday May 7th from 6pm to 7pm. We
would be pleased to see anyone who is able to join us and support this
worthwhile cause.
Easter
by
Sue Batchelor
2010 is the Girl Guiding centenary and Guides all over the world will be coming together to celebrate 100 years of this amazing organisation and the unique friendships which we have all formed through our experiences as guides.
10 of the 30th Reading Guides
have the wonderful opportunity to go to 
get
to experience some incredible activities such as igloo building, ice skating,
spending a day at the wonderful Guiding World Centre, Our Chalet, exploring the
beautiful Swiss countryside and
culminating in a candle lit ceremony with over 1000 other guides from all over
the world.
Unfortunately this amazing opportunity is
costing us quite a lot of money. So over the next few months we are going to go
fundraising crazy to get us on our way to
This is where we are asking for your help, we are going to be organising all sorts of events and any support you are willing to give will be amazing. We will be holding a bingo night, having stalls at the May fair and many other events which are still in the planning stages.
We promise to keep you updated on everything that is going on and will also give you more details of our trip when we know them. Thank you everyone in anticipation of your support.
Martha & Gemma
The 73rd Reading (Park) Scout Group held a very successful open evening and Red Nose fundraising evening on 9th March. The evening was an excellent opportunity to explain to parents the different ways in which the group needs additional support to ensure 'Better Scouting for More Young People'.
The Scout executive committee is searching for a new Secretary and a new Treasurer. The Beaver Scout section is still searching for additional warranted adult leaders to help spread the workload. Please continue to pray for these volunteers to be found.
We record our thanks to Lorna McCarron who has been helping in the Church Office with some administrative tasks, this month. Lorna is giving these hours of service as part of Maiden Erlegh's School programme that encourages all pupils to volunteer time to serve the local community. Lorna has been busy putting up posters, photocopying, folding leaflets, and addressing envelopes.
If anyone else would like to offer time to
help with any administrative tasks, please talk to
Please make a note in your diaries, instead of holding a stall at the Woodley Precinct in May, this year we have agreed to hold a May Fair at Park URC using the halls (and the garden if it is dry enough).
The date will be Saturday 9th May from 10am until 2pm and the format will be similar to our very popular Christmas Fairs. Setting up will be from 7.00pm on Friday 8th May.
We have booked the Earley Folk Dance group to come and give a demonstration of Maypole dancing, following the success of last year's Picnic in the Park event.
REinspired (School's Work Project) continues
to grow and develop. In March a successful RE Matters day enabled us to share
with 30 people the model that we have developed in Earley and
These are exciting times for REinspired, please pray fro the Project Director Paul Haynes, the Chair of Trustees Jane Earl and the Primary Co-ordinators: Julia Jones, Suzanne Knight, Sue Rees, Alison Chevassut, and all who support the project.
Many thanks for the stamps that you have passed on to me for the Air Ambulance.
Please keep donating, pictorial stamps are especially welcome.
Putting them in an envelope would help me in my collection from the box.
Peter Short
We are delighted to have received a
significant amount of donations towards this year's Gift Day, which is to
support the newly appointed part-time youth worker ,
“There was a hush. 'We'd like to know how much coffee costs in
the shops of
John picked up one of his packets: “This
pack of Kilimanjaro coffee weighs half a pound and sells from about three
pounds. So a pound cost just over six
pounds or about $12.”
His audience may have been peasant farmers, but they knew how to add up. Jacob turned his head slowly, in his hand. “so you buy our coffee for one dollar 46. And sell it $12. Is that fair trade ?”
Such are the realities of global trade. True, there are others involved in the coffee making business. From shippers, to roasters, to packers, to supermarkets. Each has to make their profit. But for some, the ability to obtain a sustainable price for their products or services is severely constrained.
In the face of such stories, response can be to turn away. Unwilling to face such truths. Tired of being made to feel guilty. Feeling powerless to effect any change. But the truth is that we can make a difference. The injustices suffered by the Kenyan coffee growers are created by people, and can be resolved by people.
Fairtrade coffee is not fairly traded. The price is still dictated by market
conditions in
If we convince ourselves on a Saturday morning in Sainsbury's or Tesco. We are paying a truly fair price, giving the costly farmers a proper return, then we are deluding ourselves.
Similarly, with the clothes we buy, we
concentrate on the ticket price rather than the working conditions and
take-home pay of the people in the sweatshops of
It is not easy for us to break out of the retail systems we use. Locating fairly and ethically traded goods can involve a lot of effort. The working conditions of those who produce enough food and clothes are not written on the packaging.
Changing what you buy and how you buy it will have an effect on your lifestyle. Fundamentally, you will have less money available to buy stuff. So, are you motivated to make any changes? Or to put it another way, do you care enough about those who provide your food and clothes to trade fairly with them? Do you see all people as made in the image of God and worthy of respect?
Next, seek out the voices of those in other parts of the world. Many fair trade products have stories of the producers on the packaging. These stories are often encouraging, as well as motivating.
Exchange information with other people you know are interested in living a fair trade life. There's no reason why you have to do all the original research.
Ask supermarkets and retailers about their products. We are their customers, and they do care about what we think. Even, if only, for commercial reasons. The more we ask, the more the information will be provided. And as we express our preference to fairly traded goods these will become more readily available. The increased availability of Fairtrade goods in supermarkets is evidence of this.
Together we can build a better world.
I recommend the book from which the quotes in this article are taken. It is both informative and easy to read.
Mark Passenger
So many activities run during the summer
holidays for children aged 5 and over, but one is hard pushed to find anything
for younger children. Over the past couple of years, we have been thinking
about how we could respond to this need... Last summer, a group of us at
A Bible Holiday Club seemed like the ideal platform to provide both an event for this age group and their parents, but also a means to share something of our Christian faith. A Bible story, Christian songs and prayers would give those parents who wished to share a bit more about Jesus with their children an opportunity to do so. We offered Thursday mornings for the first three weeks of the holidays followed by a picnic in the park, for those who wished to stay on.
Keeping the Club local was another key aim so parents could walk (not all have a car), get to know people in their neighbourhood and discover a church near them. The response we got was overwhelming, we had almost twice as many demands as places available...
The feedback we got was tremendous: great cakes, fabulously well thought out crafts, and children being engaged – “yes, please do it again next year!” Following on from this response last summer, we are now aiming to provide more sessions and more venues for summer 2009 and are in touch with local churches to see who would like to take part in the initiative...
If you would like to help with the Summer Holiday Club for Under 5s, please do not hesitate to contact Lydia Bauge (926 2926, lydia.bauge@googlemail.com) or Angela Lawrence (935 2523) for more information. We will be meeting soon after the Easter break will all those interested to work out how this will operate in practice.
Lydia & Angela -
At the March Church Meeting it was agreed
that we would run a talent scheme, in which members would be able to take
either £10 or £20 and use it to generate more money for the church to use for
its ministry and mission.
As we explained in the last magazine, this scheme is based on the parable of the talents which is recorded in Matthew's gospel (Chapter 25) and in Luke's gospel (Chapter 19).
The parable is all about using your talents, gifts, skills – for example a baker might use their skills to bake a cake, a gardener might grow some plants from seed, an artist might paint some pictures, a cleaner might clean some cars...
It was agreed that the money would be distributed on Easter Sunday (12th April) and the day for returning with your donation would be 29th November (the day after our Christmas fair).
Love Life Live Lent – a little book with some big ideas! The idea is to use Lent as a time of preparation for Easter, by making one small act of kindness each day of Lent.
These little booklets are still available in church, there are two versions: one is aimed at children, the other is aimed at adults and young people. I was pleasantly surprised by the very positive take up of these books, I hope that you've enjoyed using them!
We are delighted to welcome more new groups to our premises and we thank Julie Cameron for managing all the enquiries and bookings each week.
Fridays are still quieter than most days but we welcome the Music and Dance (MAD) Academy who meet Friday mornings.
We welcome the Reading Macular Degeneration Support Group, meeting on Wednesday afternoons, once a month. In addition we have hosted a Wessex Synod interview panel, a National Pilots meeting, a meeting of the Association of Christians Against Torture.
We continue to help those who've had to find alternative accommodation whilst the halls at Our Lady of Peace are repaired: the Earley Preschool Group, the OLOP Confirmation Classes, and the Chopin Gala Fundraising Event on 16th May!
Godly Play
As part of our Vision4Life activities during
2009 (the Bible Year) we are exploring the use of the Godly Play approach to sharing
Bible stories. The principle is very simple, it is a way of telling stories
using artefacts and encouraging the listeners to ask 'wondering' questions ,
open-ended questions that allow for a range of responses. The Godly Play
approach has been used primarily for work with children but can be used with
all ages.
The
If you are interested in finding out more about Godly Play, or the trip to Abingdon (transport is being arranged) please see Elizabeth Knox.
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April 5th |
Mick Plummer |
Joan Pearson |
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April 12th |
Julia Marsh |
Rod King |
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April 19th |
John Davey |
Chris Gayford |
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April 26th |
Rose Gillett |
Lynda Fox |
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May 3rd |
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May 10th |
Maureen Plummer |
Barbara Mathers |
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May 17th |
Maureen Johnstone |
Roy Johnstone |
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May 24th |
Janet Pritchard |
Alan Pritchard |
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May 31st |
Mick Plummer |
Joan Pearson |
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Wed |
1st |
9.30 am |
Morning Prayers |
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8.00 pm |
Lent Bible Study |
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Sun |
5th |
10.30am |
Morning Worship for Palm Sunday with Holy Communion |
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4.00 pm |
Songs of Praise at |
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Wed |
8th |
9.30 am |
Morning Prayers |
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8.00 pm |
Lent Bible Study |
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Fri |
10th |
10.00 am |
Good Friday Service at Park |
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11.00 am |
Outdoor Service in ASDA Car Park, led by |
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Sat |
11th |
9.30 am |
Decoration of the Church for Easter services, and preparation of the
Easter Breakfast |
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Sun |
12th |
8.00 am |
Easter Worship at the |
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8.30am |
Communion Service followed by Breakfast |
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10.30am |
Morning Worship with Holy Communion (no evening service) |
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Mon |
13th |
11.00 am |
Easter Monday Ramble |
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Wed |
15th |
9.30 am |
Morning Prayers |
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Sun |
19th |
10.30am 6.00 pm |
Morning Worship Holy Communion with a time of prayer for healing and wholeness |
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Wed |
22nd |
9.30am |
Morning Prayers |
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Sat |
25th |
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Elders Away Day at |
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Sun |
26th |
10.30am |
Parade for |
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6.00 pm |
Evening Worship |
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Wed |
29th |
9.30 am |
Morning Prayers |
Rev Robert
Weston office:
0118 926 5003
e-mail: minister@parkurc.org.uk
e-mail: churchsecretary@parkurc.org.uk
Julie Cameron
phone:
0845 463 6426
e-mail: centremanager@parkurc.org.uk
Rod King
e-mail: magazine@parkurc.org.uk
Church
Website:
www.parkurc.org.uk
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Worship |
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SALT groups for young people |
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Crèche facilities |
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Holy Communion (1st
Sunday of month) |
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Worship at |
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Worship Holy Communion (3rd Sunday) |
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Monday |
9.30 am |
Earley Preschool Playgroup (Monday – Friday) |
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Cub-Scouts |
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Housegroup |
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Tuesday |
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Friendship Club |
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Badminton Club |
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7.30 pm |
Housegroup |
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Wednesday |
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Morning Prayers |
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Beavers |
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Thursday |
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Senior Citizens’ Luncheon Club |
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6.00 pm |
Rainbows & Brownies |
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7.15 pm |
Guides |
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Scouts |
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7.30 pm |
Housegroup |
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Friday |
9.00am |
Music and |
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Saturday |
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The |
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11.00 am |
Prayers |
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7.30 pm |
FIZZANG(Youth Club) |
Further information from the Church Office 0118 926 5003 /506
