April 2009

Minister’s Letter

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,

Holy Week and Easter Services

24/7 Prayer Week

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 East Reading – one that will give all of us the opportunity to discern God's calling together.

We will be allocated certain times when we are required to supply people to supervise the prayer venue, Trinity Church in Lower Earley.

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 Trinity Church, you can still join in prayer and this would be really valued.

The Annunciation

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 Italy where there were several Annunciation scenes and I noticed that the Angel Gabriel sometimes held a lily as he gave Mary his message or a vase of lilies might stand between the two figures. I felt that this could be a much more interesting subject to concentrate on, and it has certainly proved to be so.

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.

Christian Aid Week May 10^th-16^th

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.

Monday Night House Group

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

Mission Aviation Fellowship

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, 78 Marlborough Crescent, Sevenoaks, TN13 2HR. Thank you

The Atheist Bus Campaign

The Atheist Bus Campaign, launched in London in January, received extensive coverage in the press, not just in London and the UK, but from Paris to Washington and from Perth to Montreal.

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 London buses reading ‘There probably is a God – now give God the glory by making a difference where you are’.

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 United States – the United Church of Christ. ‘God is Still Speaking’ is a précis of part of the sermon of Pastor John Robinson to the departing ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ on the ‘Mayflower’ in 1620 in which he said, ‘the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of his holy word’. It has the strap line, ‘never place a full stop where God has placed a comma’.

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.

March Church Meeting

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 Slough.

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 Trinity Church, Lower Earley between 31st May and 7th June.

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.

Easter Monday Ramble

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’, Bath Road, (A4) at Knowl Hill.

A sheet will be on the hall Church noticeboard nearer the time for you to sign:

1. if you are coming
2. if you would like a lift
3. if you can offer a lift

Please wear suitable footwear and bring a packed lunch.

Spring Harvest 2009

From 14th – 19th April a party from Park will be at Spring Harvest at Minehead – look out for a full report next month!

‘Park’s Got Talent!’

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 Jenny King. All these items were accompanied by Simon.

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.

‘Park’s Got Talent!’ – in pictures

30^th Reading Brownies

This term we have been spending quite a lot of time on the Girl Guiding UK project ‘Changing the World’ – but more of that later!  We were also pleased to have a visit from Karen Bird who came and talked to the Brownies about her job as a Community Police Support Officer.  The Brownies enjoyed this evening and in particular had fun trying on some of the uniform!  Karen was able to take the girls through parts of the Crime Prevention badge and we are looking forward to her return at the beginning of next term to complete this. 

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 UK.  The idea is that not only are we going to make a big impact in the world, but we will also be showing the world how girls are active in their communities through modern and relevant projects. 

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 UK and currently Railway Children funds five of these.

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 Art

Easter Sunrise by Sue Batchelor

30^th Reading Guides

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 Switzerland for a week to participate in a celebration with guides from all over the world. During this week the girls will 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 Switzerland and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that awaits us.

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.

Scout Group News

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.

Community Service

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 Robert Weston.

May Fair

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 News

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 East Reading. In May we have been invited to Spalding to take the model to an even wider audience! Discussions are in progress with BRF (the publishers) who are interested in publishing the REinspired story, with the hope that more church groups will be inspired to support schools in this way.

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.

Stamps for the Air Ambulance

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.

Gift Day Donations

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 , Laura Peirce. If you still have a donation that you would like to make, please see our Treasurer, Alistair Knox.

Fair Trade?

“There was a hush.  'We'd like to know how much coffee costs in the shops of England ?”

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 Britain, rather than living conditions in Tanzania.  But the fault is with us, the consumers.

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 Asia.

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.

Under 5s Summer Holiday Club

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 Anderson Baptist Church decided to provide a meeting point during the summer holidays for parents, carers and children aged 5 and under.

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.

Talent Scheme

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

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!

Community Use of Church Halls

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 United Church in Abingdon has a special classroom set aside for use as a Godly Play centre and we have arranged to spend the day there on Saturday 20th June. This will give us an opportunity to learn more and experience Godly Play ourselves.  We will also be inviting friends from local churches to join us.

If you are interested in finding out more about Godly Play, or the trip to Abingdon (transport is being arranged) please see Elizabeth Knox.

Stewards Rota

April Calendar

Weekly Activities at Park

Further information from the Church Office 0118 926 5003/506