Please
note that there is a Nursery Service every Wednesday during termtime.
A
Time of Prayer:
Every
Sunday,
9.30-9.45am
,
in the Crèche Room
WEEKLY
PRAYERS:
9.45am
Wednesdays (Communion 4th Wed)
The
Church Vestry is staffed on Saturdays between
9.30am
and
11.00am
.
If you would like to arrange a
Thanksgiving for the birth of a child,
a Baptism or a Marriage, or discuss
any pastoral matters, please come then,
or ring the Church Office on 0118 931 3124.
Nick‘s
day off is Friday.
Easter
is upon us this month. It is
always an extraordinary festival – the touch of God on a lost world,
bringing new hope and new life!
We
have been preparing for Easter this year, as a church, in Lent groups focusing
on prayer, growing together and opening ourselves to God in new ways.
When
the day comes, many of us will be celebrating Easter in church.
Where else would we go? Faith
is not a private matter, despite what some would say.
Those who discovered fearfully that Jesus was risen went to tell
others. In time, those with faith
and hope in Jesus Christ formed communities.
They came together, shared together, took risks together and devoted
themselves to God and his world together.
And
so we do still today. Church is
not a very popular institution in modern times.
It is slated often as irrelevant, old fashioned and inward looking by
many and yet and yet ...
It
has been really pleasing to see that Trinity’s congregations have been
growing through 2007 so far. In a
world which seems lost in its own cynicism and emptiness, people are always
looking for something more.
There
was a recent study called “Beyond Belief” which listened to 41 people who
had made a recent public profession of faith and tried to understand why.
Three
key factors stand out:
1.
The
importance of other people. It is
people who bring others to Christ – ordinary people – “our son ... my
sister ... my gran ... my ex-girlfriend ... this family I teach ... my wife’s
colleague.” Or, in other words,
people like you and I!
2.
God.
This may seem obvious but in the conversations there was that distinct sense
of God in people’s journeys – that the whole of each person’s story was
somehow greater than the sum of its parts, that God had become very real.
3.
Church.
The importance of Church really stood out, perhaps surprisingly.
People spoke of that “feeling of togetherness and unconditional
acceptance, the only unconditional relationship I’ve had in my life”.
Church
is the environment in which we have to grow our Easter faith.
It is not always a comfortable place but it should be a real place
where we worship, pray, laugh and sometimes struggle together.
Paul
sets us high targets:
“Live
in harmony with one another.” (Romans
12:16)
“Carry
each other’s burdens.” (Galatians
6:2)
“Make
every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
(Ephesians 4:3)
“Bear
with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one
another.” (Colossians 3:13)
Often
we fail lamentably to get anywhere near this and yet ...
sometimes, by the grace of God, he helps us to create a fragile, loving
community – a space for broken people to meet a healing Saviour.
So,
I hope and pray that this Easter is a time of real celebration and discovery
for us all. And I hope that, as a
church, we go forward, renewed and trusting in God for all that he has for us.
That he will help us most immediately to meet the challenge of the
completion of the Building Project together.
That he will help us to continue to grow together and share his New
Life with the world in which he has placed us.
Happy
Easter!
God
Bless.
Nick
Giles
Murphy was elected as a Church Steward for a first term of three years.
Brenda
de Souza and Allan Moore were elected as members of Church Council for a first
term of one year.
Sandy
Godfrey was elected as a member of Church Council for a further term of one
year.
The
following
appointments for a first term of three
years were approved:
Robert Adamson as Property Administrator
Catherine
Jackson as Minute Secretary for Church Council
Elaine
Munday as Pastoral Link Secretary
Catherine
Jackson as Sunday Coffee Co-ordinator.
The
following
re-appointments for a further three
years were approved:
Oliver and Helen Dyson as Communion Stewards
Kay Slack as Magazine Editor
Peter Musgrove as Chair of Church Council
Tony
Bonnett as Room Bookings Officer
Cathy MacLennan as Church Archivist
Sally
Brimicombe as a member of the Pastoral Committee.
The
meeting was invited to adjourn in its Church Session and to convene in its
Parishioners’ Session. The
appointments of Richard Cocks and Roger Mead as Churchwardens for a
period of one year commencing
1/3/2007
were confirmed.
The meeting was invited to adjourn in its Parishioners’ Session and to
convene in its Parochial Session. The
election of the following to the
Parochial Church Council for the next year was confirmed:
Robert Adamson, Tony Bonnett, Norman Briggs, Richard Cocks,
(Carole Cull), Brenda de Souza, John Goddard, Sandy Godfrey, Vronwyn Hutch,
Wendy Keeley, (Nina Mead), Roger Mead, Alan Minns, Allan Moore, Giles Murphy,
Peter Musgrove, David Newell, (Nick Thompson) and Emma Thorne.
The meeting was invited to adjourn in its
Parochial Session and to convene in its Church Session.
Thanks
to those completing terms of service: Sandy
Catchick as Church Steward, Ian Brickell as Property Administrator, Kathy
Johns as Minute Secretary and Sunday Coffee Co-ordinator and Lynda Brannelly as a member of Church Council.
Thanks to all who are continuing to serve the church in many, many ways.
Note:
There are still vacancies for three Church Stewards, four Communion Stewards
and representatives to Deanery Synod.
5
April 2007
at
Trinity
Church
7.30pm
Passover Meal
8.00pm
Holy Communion
10.45pm
Night
Prayers
11.00pm
Close
If
you would like to come for the meal, please sign the list in church, or
contact Margaret Evans in the church office, so that we have an idea of
numbers.
6
April 2007
Walk
of Witness
Assembling
at
10am
in
Forbury
Gardens
and
walking through
Broad
Street
in silence
to
The Minister Church of St Mary's
where
there will be a brief act of worship, ending by
11:30am
.
Everyone
is encouraged to take part,
as
the organisers are hoping to see 2007 people on the walk!
Wear
some red clothing if possible.
2.00pm
Holy
Hour at
Trinity
Church
When
our new chapel is complete, we will need to be buying some items to furnish
it. Several meetings and
discussions have taken place and identified a list of items we will need.
When
the church was first built, many people made donations to purchase a
particular item of furniture (such as the cross, or the font, or a chair). Some
of the items were dedicated in memory of loved ones – you may have seen the
brass plaques, eg on the backs of the chairs.
This
is your opportunity to purchase one of the items of furniture for our new
chapel (and to dedicate it in memory of a loved one if you wish).
The
list of items and their estimated costs are: