Contents

Contents

Minister’s Letter

Congratulations to Jon,

Do you feel you can contribute more to the life of Trinity?

Choosing a Name for the Chapel

Moon Walk

Trinity Church – Historical Records

Credit Unions:  Banking with a Human Face!

Christian Aid Week

Notes from Church Council Meeting, Monday 14 April

Drop the Debt Fast

Poem of the Month

Letter to the Editor

Light

Chalfont Club

Church Walk

Earley Youth Net

Come and explore the Bible with The Wednesday Group.

Nursery Service

Prayer & Praise

Trinity Pilots

News in Brief

Pastoral Pages

Prayers for the Parish

Prayers for those who live outside the Parish

Deadline for June Diary and Magazine:

Diary

Services

NB:  Evening services are now at 7pm.

Minister’s Letter

I would like to say a massive thank you to all who sponsored me to run the London Marathon for Christian Aid.  At present I’m not sure of the exact total raised but it looks to be in the region of £2,800 which is brilliant.  If you have sponsored me and not paid yet, I’d be delighted if you could let me have cash or cheques payable to ‘Christian Aid’ by mid May.   Thanks too to David Rains, Margaret Evans and Karen Green for their help.  I’ve felt very well supported by you through this for which I’m very grateful.  Please note that Christian Aid Week is coming up this month, 11-17 May, so look out for more detailed information on this, or speak to David Rains.

We’re beginning to come to the end of our series on Trinity’s key words of CARING, GROWING, UNITY and COMMUNITY.  For me, this time has been very helpful in having a fresh look at how we can relate to God as individuals and as a church, and together how we can engage with the non-church world.  I hope you’ve got things from it.  I continue to think these are good words for Trinity but I’d like to encourage us all to see that a common thread linking them all together is the business of RELATIONSHIPS.  We can’t care for one another or those in the community, we can’t grow, we can’t develop our unity with God or each other, and we can’t build community, or reach out into it, without meaningful relationships with God, each other and people in the community.  I believe a key challenge for us is how we can go about developing stronger relationships.  This was a clear message from the Lent groups this year. 

Over 60 of us took part in the Lent groups, which is a fairly good number.  Feedback from the groups emphasised that they think developing ongoing small groups is a sensible way to go about developing relationships and helping to improve how we care, grow and build both unity and community.  Whilst over 60 isn’t the majority at Trinity, it does represent a good mandate so, in light of this, and with the agreement from the Lent Feedback meeting held on 20 April after the 10am service, the Education and Nurture and Pastoral Committees will explore how the development of ongoing small groups could move forwards.  This work will be channelled to the Church Council.  No new developments will take place until a lot more work has been done and been agreed appropriately, but the majority of the Lent groups are keen to continue meeting.  I’m very happy for this and will be meeting with the group leaders in the near future.  Please pray about this agenda and seek God’s will for us.  If you have ideas, comments, please do get in touch.

A couple of other things to keep you in the loop with, so to speak, and these are, firstly, some advanced notice that, at the end of June, we’re going to set up a 24/1 prayer room in the chapel.  Joan Guile, Jo Salmon and Jill Duncan are taking this forward and there’ll be more information (possibly even in this mag!) issuing soon.  A 24/1 is 24 hours of prayer and is usually held in a room set up with loads of different information to pray about, with lots of aids to prayer as well.  The 24 hour period is divided into one hour or 30 minute slots and people sign up for a slot or two, so one person, at least, is praying at any one point in the 24 hours.  They are loads of fun but are important events too and can be really helpful in encouraging togetherness and inspiring more prayer in a church.  Speaking of which, I shall be starting a short and informal prayer meeting every Saturday morning, in the Chapel, at 8.30am from 3 May.  This is open to anyone.  The aim is to pray for Trinity in the fullest sense.  30-45 mins should see us done.  Please do come along.  I shall commit myself to this for 2 months initially.  My prayer is that a core of folk will commit to it and share the responsibility for it.  Prayer is so important.  This came out of the Lent groups too.

Then, starting on 12 May, each week on Mondays, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm, I’m also going to set up shop in the Chapel so I can be available if you want to come and have a chat or pray about something for 20 mins or so.  I’m aware that, after services on Sundays, many people want to ask me things and it’s hard for you and me to do whatever business is needed.  I’ll not commit myself to this forever but will see how it goes.  You can obviously let me know if you want to pop in but the idea isn’t to fix appointments.  Equally, the idea isn’t to have a really long in-depth discussion.  It’s a time to ask questions, register a concern, share an idea and the like.  So, it’ll be great to see you if you want to come by.

Lastly, I want to draw your attention to RE-Inspired, which we are very involved with at Trinity.  Pete Stone, the project manager, has just been selected to train for ordained ministry in the Church of England.  I’ve passed on congratulations to him.  He will be an asset to the Church but will, by the same token, be a considerable loss to RE-Inspired.  Please pray for this important project and its way forward.  Funding is a challenge at the moment and Pete’s departure at the end of the summer term adds to the challenge for those involved.

I was looking at Philippians this morning.  Have a look at chapter 1:27-28a.

Enjoy the blossom and the warmer moments!

Every blessing.

Jon

Congratulations to Jon,

who ran the London Marathon on 13 April in 3 hours 46 minutes.

This raised more that £2,700 for Christian Aid.

Do you feel you can contribute more to the life of Trinity?

I have a suspicion that there are people in the congregation who are able and willing to get more involved in the work of Trinity Church but they are simply unsure how to go about it.  Are you one of them?  If so, don’t wait for someone to approach you and ask you to take on a job.  Don’t hide your light under a bushel.  (See Mark 4:21.)  We would love to hear from you.

We are all individuals and we have different gifts we can offer.  With what gifts has God blessed you?  He wants us to use our talents and time to serve Him.  There are many opportunities for service, from the practical (eg cleaning the church, making coffee, getting the church ready for worship) to the creative (eg playing a musical instrument) or the spiritual (eg leading prayers of intercession).  Perhaps you have a gift for working with children (you could help in Junior Church or at Pilots) or for administration (you could organise a rota, do typing or copying) or you are good with figures (the finance team needs you).  Would you like to welcome people to services or get involved in prayer ministry?  Perhaps you have a talent for reading aloud, looking after babies, pastoral work, preaching, singing or arranging flowers.  Perhaps you would be interested in being trained to do something new, like leading a small study group or helping with pastoral work.

We have job vacancies, in particular, at the moment for stewards and people to help with the money but there may be things you can do which we haven’t thought of.  Perhaps you feel a little unsure about what part you can play – if so, please speak to John Goddard without any obligation.  He would be happy to meet with you for a coffee and a chat about what you would like to do.  You could perhaps shadow someone to find out what a particular job entails.  If you want to know more, you can ring John or email him on goddard_john(at)hotmail.com. 

Kay Slack

“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them.  There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served.  There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to everyone for their particular service.  The Spirit’s presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.”  (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

Choosing a Name for the Chapel

In the April magazine, the Chapel Group published the results of the recent survey on a name for the chapel.  In particular, it reported that:

·         Around 40% wanted to continue with the name “chapel”,

·         66% included “chapel” as one of their 4 options, and

·         around 70% wanted “chapel” to appear in the name somewhere.

These results where considered at the April meeting of Church Council and they agreed that the room would continue to be called “The Chapel”.

However, since the survey showed that many people preferred something different, it was also decided that the name should be reviewed in a year’s time, having particular regard to the way the use of the chapel develops.

John Goddard

Moon Walk

Sian Minns is planning to walk the “Full Moon” this year on 17 May, starting at midnight.  She walked a Half Moon last year and raised just over £1,000 for Breast Cancer Awareness.  If you would like to sponsor Sian , please speak to her at church or you can sponsor her online at www.justgiving.com/sianminns.

Trinity Church – Historical Records

While Trinity’s hard copy records are fairly well complete right back to the birth of Trinity Church in 1983, such records are quite difficult to search.  It would be nice if we could have as much of this as possible on computer.  It makes it much easier to search: 

·         say for identifying earlier decisions,

·         or for perhaps someone in the future who might like to write up a history of Trinity.

It would also be possible to let members have copies of records on disk.  If all the data were in a single file, it would be easy to search using keywords.

At the moment, I have electronic copies of minutes of Church Meetings and Church Council going back to 1997, although this collection is far from complete.  For 1997, I only have minutes of an Extraordinary Meeting of Church Council in December.  In 1998, I only have minutes for Church Council meetings in October and November.

At this stage, I would be grateful if anyone could let me have any electronic copies of Trinity documents created prior to 1999 and, in particular, church council, church meeting and committee minutes.  I somehow suspect there are very few out there.

If you have more recent electronic copies, please keep them safe, I shall be asking for these in future months.

Of course, it is a two way process.  I can provide copies if you want them and if I have them.

John Goddard

Credit Unions:  Banking with a Human Face!

Time and again, the picture we see from the Bible is not of money as something bad but as a resource, even though it can be misused and its power abused, (it is “the love of” money that is “the root of all kinds of evil” in 1 Timothy 6:10).  The challenge is to use it positively (The Parable of the Good Samaritan), creatively (The Parable of the Talents), and as a means of justly balancing interests and needs (Paul’s collection for the church at Jerusalem ).  Sometimes this seems to be unconnected with the world we know. 

Credit Unions have been formed to be more responsive to people’s financial needs and opportunities.  Credit Unions:

·         are democratic, non profit-making financial co-operatives owned by their members.

·         their directors, officers and many of those who serve at their collection points are volunteers.

·         their aim is to encourage savings, provide loans to members at low rates of interest and help with money management.

·         are usually local and have collection points at which money can be paid in and withdrawn and loans discussed.

·         are regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Members pay in regularly to their ‘share’ account and will usually receive an annual dividend rather than interest.  The accumulated share capital of the Credit Union is used to offer loans to members at low rates of interest, especially for smaller sums.

Credit Unions are responsive to their members’ particular needs and, whilst they have guidelines for issuing loans, they do not adhere rigidly to set formulas of eligibility.

In practice, this means that, on many occasions, people who are indebted to lenders who charge very high rates of interest are able to pay off these loans through the Credit Union with much more manageable levels of repayment.  On other occasions, Credit Unions have enabled people to cover the costs of higher education or to move into a flat of their own from hostel accommodation.  Personally, I have used loans from my Credit Union to purchase a computer and to replace my car.

How can churches be involved?  Here are three ways:

1.      Credit Unions need members to build up share capital and to make decisions about how they operate.

2.     Credit Unions are always in need of volunteers to serve at the collection points, on the board or on one of their committees.  Training is always provided.

3.     Credit Unions often need premises for their collection points.

Credit Unions have a national body, ABCUL, which can be found at www.abcul.coop.  This will provide you with further information and the location of your nearest Credit Union.  Why not visit the site now?

Adrian Thomas

[Adrian is Team Leader, IBEX - The Churches Working with the Economy on the South Coast .  He works closely with the credit union in the Bournemouth / Poole area.]

Christian Aid Week

11-17 May

You can help bring justice to the world’s poor by taking part in the volunteers’ door-to-door collection.  There is a sign up sheet on the board in the church hall.  Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Notes from Church Council Meeting, Monday 14 April

Prayer Ministry – Jon Salmon

·         Jon wants to make more opportunities around services for individuals to pray with others; ideally after every 10am service at least.  He will be working on this with the Prayer Ministry team.

·         He is also starting a Saturday morning prayer meeting in May.

Community Outreach Report - Ann Baker and Jon Salmon

·         A large number of groups use the building, most regularly the Parent and Toddler groups and youth groups.  Making good use of the chapel as a place for the community to use in appropriate ways is a new challenge.

·         Our involvement with the wider community is growing, particularly through our growing relationships with JAC, the Crescent Centre, and with the managements of “The Earley Retreat” and ASDA.

·         As individuals, we can deepen our own relationships with neighbours and other contacts in the community and support each other in “relational evangelism”.

Choosing a Name for the Chapel - John Goddard

·         The church’s vote on the name had produced a clear preference for “The Chapel”; a resolution was passed to confirm this name.

Feedback on new Pattern of Services - Jon Salmon

·         There had been some surprise about there being no communion on one Sunday of the month, but no complaints.

·         Most of the normal evening congregation do not attend the P3 meeting which has replaced it twice a month, and is largely attended by people who have already attended a conventional service.

·         The changes remain under review.

Lent Discussion Groups – Jon Salmon

·         There had been seven groups, looking at visions for Trinity around the themes of Caring, Growing, Community and Unity.  Feedback from leaders was that they had been enjoyable and successful.

·         Several of the groups are continuing to meet.

Appointments - John Goddard

·         We have three steward vacancies.

·         We need a new team to take care of refreshments at Church Meetings.

Other business

·         Vronwyn Hutch is looking into the possibility of the church buying an “instant” real coffee machine.

·         It was agreed that some toys would be kept in a box in the chapel for restless children who need to be temporarily taken out of services.

·         We need to decide on our requirements for noticeboards and get on and buy them.  The communications group will work on this.

Please get in touch with me if you have any feedback on any of the above.  Thanks.

Richard Cocks

Drop the Debt Fast

Trinity is taking part in this activity to highlight the plight of 36 poor countries which still need substantial debt cancellation.  Each day focuses on a different country from 12 April to 18 May.  More information can be found at www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk.

Poem of the Month

Divine Meditation Number 7

At the round earth’s imagined corners, blow

Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise

From death, you numberless infinities

Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go,

All whom the flood did, and fire shall o’erthrow,

All whom war, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies,

Despair, law, chance, hath slain, and you whose eyes,

Shall behold God, and never taste death’s woe.

But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space,

For, if above all these, my sins abound,

‘Tis late to ask abundance of thy grace,

When we are there; here on this lowly ground,

Teach me how to repent; for that’s as good

As if thou hadst sealed my pardon, with thy blood.

John Donne

(1572-1631)

Letter to the Editor

This is a new section featuring a personal point of view.

Responses are invited.

“I wonder if I could trigger a discussion about the hymns we sing?  

I realise that we come from various traditions, and also have different personal preferences.  Some of the “Victorian” hymns are truly dreadful!  And yes, I do know that there are many very fine modern hymns, and enjoy singing these myself.  They too will become part of that rich resource of hymns which should be the heritage of all Christians.

I know I will not have been alone in calling on some hymn or other during difficult times.  These times come to everyone, and perhaps you too have found yourself praying that prayer, “Lord, please just help me through the next half-hour; and then the next half-hour after that”.  At such times, verses memorised from the Bible are of course an enormous help.  But so too can be words from a hymn, perhaps sung long ago and only dimly remembered.  Once looked up, that hymn can turn out to be just the prayer one needs, and repeated as such.  A lifeline indeed.

But how is our memory to be jogged at these times of need if the hymns are not present in our memory bank in the first place?  I believe that, because of changes in education, we are in the presence of the fi