Please
note that there is a Nursery Service every Wednesday during termtime.
NB
Evening services and now at 6pm again.
A
Time of Prayer: Every
Sunday, from 9.30am, in the Chapel,before the 10am service
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.
Jon’s day off is Friday.
I’m determined to keep this letter a
bit shorter than normal! We’ll
see. There are several things I’d
like to draw your attention to. Firstly,
it’ll be good to see you at our Harvest parade service and supper (on 5th)
and then at the Autumn Fayre on the 11th.
Do invite friends along. With
rising food prices we perhaps have been getting just a tiny glimpse of how
important it is to have food security. Retrak,
the charity we’re supporting this Harvest and Autumn Fayre time, works with
street kids in
East Africa
who scrabble around in rubbish tips and scrounge and beg for food!
Their existence is unimaginable, so it’s tremendous that we can make
a contribution to supporting them.
There are a couple of practical things to
draw your attention to. We’ll be
going live with our digital projector on 12 October.
We plan to begin simply and see how we get on.
Please be supportive and encourage the volunteers who will be operating
the projector and laptop. We’ve
done some training but know we’ll make mistakes as we learn, so please love
your neighbour as yourself! In my
last church, when we introduced a digital projector, it was operated from the
back so, to begin with, when a mistake was made, 200 heads turned round to
look at you!!! At least at Trinity
it’ll be operated from the front. If
you fancy volunteering, then great. Please
get in touch.
The next thing is that the congregational
leadership team is now up and running. Giles
Murphy led last week at 10am and will be doing so again at the end of October.
It was great seeing him stepping out in faith.
Cath Bethell and I will be leading 10am services and preaching, and
Lisa Waite and Kate Robinson will be sharing the load in some of the evening
services. We have some visiting
preachers too. Joan Guile will be
helping to develop our prayer in and around services and Allan Moore and Keith
Waite have been developing the music and taking more of a lead in choosing the
music. I hope you read Allan’s
article in September’s magazine (p12). I
want to fully endorse what Allan writes, especially using music to lead our worship rather than just supporting it, and through this
to enable us to better approach God. Many
a church is divided by its music which seems crazy!
Musical worship should help us develop our relationship with God and
not keep us in the same place. Yes,
it’s a balancing act between old and new, fast and slow, and, dare I say it,
loud and not so loud, and it’s always hard to satisfy everyone’s
preferences. Please do, as Allan
asks, pray for our musicians and for our musical worship, so we can hear God
and do His will.
The next thing really requires some
serious sustained attention which will need to wait for another day, and that’s
stewardship. Within this is the
business of “giving”. We’re
setting our budget for this coming year at the moment and, looking back at
last year, we can see that we’d have benefited considerably had more of the
cash giving been made through the envelope scheme or by standing order, as we
could have claimed tax back on this. Norman
Briggs has included in this magazine a report on the finance (p5), and John
Medcraft wrote on the subject of gift aid in September’s issue (p16).
Have a look at the top three rows of
Norman
’s report. So, please do think
and pray about whether or not you could give what you give via the envelope
scheme or standing order. Thank
you. We’ll look in more detail
at all of this at some point in the next few months.
Penultimately, I feel God is prompting me
to really pray for growth at Trinity, and I’d like to encourage us all to do
this. By growth, I mean spiritual
and numerical. In term of
numerical, let’s pray in the people. We
should be asking God how many folk and praying for them.
What about 50 new people per year for the next 5 years – just another
250 people!!
Lastly, a few of you have asked what I’m
doing about my “Open Door” drop-in on Mondays in the Chapel.
I did it for three months, each Monday from 5.30-7.30pm (I did forget
once!) up to August, and always had at least one person, and sometimes three
or four. I shall start again this
month, October, but will try for a period doing it just on the first Monday of
the month. So, please feel free to
drop in. No appointment is needed,
though you may need to wait a few minutes.
Well, I’ve crammed a lot in and it may
be a tad shorter than usual!
Yours in Christ
Jon
The financial year ended on 31 August and
this is a preliminary report on some aspects of the church finances during the
past year.
|
|
2007-8
|
2006-7
|
|
Envelopes
|
£14,233.55
|
£16,333.08
|
|
Standing
orders
|
£40,046.97
|
£34,896.85
|
|
Cash
|
£12,031.80
|
£12,231.92
|
|
Total
Giving
|
£66,312.32
|
£63,461.85
|
|
Tax
Refunds
|
£13,947.57
|
£11,343.63
|
|
Room
lettings
|
£3,502.75
|
£2,371.25
|
|
Other
Income
|
£7,683.95
|
£3,308.76
|
|
Total
Income
|
£91,446.59
|
£80,485.49
|
|
Expenditure
|
£93,501.59
|
£84,879.14
|
|
Income
Less Expenditure
|
-£2,055.00
|
-£4,293.65
|
Our total income for general purposes has
increased, with a decrease in giving through envelopes being more than made up
by increases in standing orders. Income
from tax refunds has also increased and adds just over 21% to our voluntary
giving. There is scope for this to
be further increased if some of our cash income can be Gift Aided. With
the completion of the building work, our income from room lettings has also
increased. The increase in other
income includes some generous donations for specific purposes.
The significant and welcome increase in
our income has, unfortunately, been matched by increases in expenditure. There
have been inflationary increases in several areas but the most significant
increases have been planned expenditure on equipment and building maintenance.
The outcome is a deficit of
£2,055 which is a reduction on the previous year.
Our Reserves at the year end (bank
balances as a percentage of annual expenditure) stood at 20% which is the
minimum level allowed under our Reserves Policy. This
will be an important factor when the Finance Committee meets on 29 September
to set the budgets for this year. The
accounting system over the past year has been allocating income and
expenditure to various funds that correspond to the work of each of our
standing committees –
Mission
, Building maintenance, Education & Nurture, etc. We
will now be moving on to the next stage where the finance committee, through a
representative from each committee, can work with the committees to address
the financial implications of their work.
As we recover from the huge financial
effort that Trinity has made to achieve its building project, we must address
the continuing financial needs of the church to take its work forward. One
aspect of our income from voluntary giving is that we are critically dependent
upon the great generosity of a limited number of our members. This
makes our position vulnerable and we must seek to broaden the base of our
voluntary giving amongst all our members.
Norman Briggs
Treasurer
made
at
September
Church
Meeting
The following were appointed:
Sandy Catchick
Church Council member (2
years)
Graham Parker Property
Group member (3 years)
Sarah Pugh
Crèche Co-ordinator (3
years)
Karen Green
Publicity Officer (3 years)
The following were re-appointed for a 3 year term:
Vronwyn Hutch
Church Steward
John Brimicombe
Staffing Committee member
Keith Waite
Methodist Circuit lay representative
Kay Slack
Worship Committee member
Tony Bonnett
Crescent representative
David Rains
Equipment supervisor
The following congregational leadership team
appointments were announced:
Joan Guile (prayer);
Allan Moore and Keith Waite (music);
Lisa Waite, Kate Robinson, Cath Bethell, Giles Murphy and Jon (leading)
Thanks to David Newell (steward) and Sandy Godfrey
(Crèche Co-ordinator) who have finished their terms of office.
On a Sunday, Joy and I regularly have
family and friends over to join us for Sunday lunch.
On these occasions, we chat, swap news and generally get to know one
another better while enjoying a nice meal.
This helps us to strengthen relationships with our family and friends,
in an informal social environment.
When the idea of “small groups” was
raised at Church Meeting, we thought that we could extend our Sunday lunchtime
guest list to include members of Trinity Church.
It would be another way of meeting members of Trinity, in an informal
“small group” gathering, and getting to know one another better.
When we talked about this with other
friends at church, they felt that it was something that they would also like
to offer. So, we are tentatively
launching the scheme in October, when a list of hosts who would like to invite
you to join them for a Sunday lunch will posted on the notice board.
If you would like to accept one of these invitations, simply put your
name on the list. Normally,
the invitation would be for four guests, with the occasional possibility of
five or six guests (eg if there is a family group, or a group of friends).
It is intended that Sunday Fellowship
Lunches are an ongoing venture, and will continue as long as they are
supported by members of Trinity. Obviously,
there are a limited number of places at the dinner table, so if you can’t
make a particular day, there will be further opportunities to accept an
invitation in the future. If
there is a positive response, I see no reason why Sunday fellowship lunches
will not be continued and, hopefully, next summer, groups will be enjoying
BBQs together on sunny Sunday afternoons.
If you would like to host a Fellowship
Sunday Lunch, or would like to know more about the scheme, please feel free to
contact me
Remember, “A stranger is just a friend
you haven’t met yet”! So,
if you feel you would like to get to know people at Trinity better, and
hopefully make a few new friends, sign up for one of the Fellowship Sunday
Lunches.
Phil Hooper
October already! And
for most of the year a number of small groups have been meeting mid-week in
homes or in the church. I thought
it would be good to look at one of them and report on how things are going ...
Mike and Janette Bushnell host a group
with about 10 regular members on a Thursday evening. Over
the year, they have discussed the Lent material, Nooma DVDs, Jon’s Sermon
Notes and had social evenings. The
sessions are led by Dave Brayshaw and Mike.
I asked some probing questions to find
out what the members felt about the group and why they feel motivated to go
along every week. The answers were
quite similar, so I’ve just picked out a few –
Enjoyment
·
I enjoy
being able to discuss things with people in a safe environment.
·
I really
look forward to it.
·
(Which
part of the evening do you enjoy the most?) I
enjoy all of it!
Friendship
and Support
·
It’s
good to be with other Christians, deepen relationships, seek support; people
are encouraging.
·
Meeting
frequently has meant that we have been able to get to know each other quite
well.
·
It is a
small group of people that I have grown to trust.
·
It’s a
place where I am starting to feel happy to be vulnerable.
·
It’s a
time to talk or listen or just sit and eat the biscuits.
·
I am
getting to know people more deeply in church and there are people on a Sunday
who notice if I am not there.
·
There’s
a sense of belonging and community.
A
Safe Environment for Discussion
·
Its’
good to be able to discuss personal issues around faith, doubts and
uncertainty.
·
There is a
sense of trusting each other that is built up as a result of meeting regularly
and being open and honest with each other.
·
Sometimes
at church it can feel like you have to have all the answers – here I feel I
can be more open and honest about where I am with the whole ‘faith thing’.
·
The
discussion is good and the friendship is good.
·
You can
listen and learn from the experience of others.
This group clearly has Good Relationships at its heart and promotes open and honest
discussion and caring for each other. As
one member said, “There is no expectation on me to be Super Christian – it’s
just somewhere to hang out once a week, where I am welcome whatever state I
turn up in.”
Margaret
Evans
Church Administrator
For
more information about small groups at Trinity, please see the notice board in
the church hall or ring the church office (0118 931 3124).
Groups
of 2 to 3 people
usually clean the sanctuary, chapel and vestibule
once every two months for 1½ to 2 hours.
Your
help would be greatly appreciated.
Zena
Rains
Cleaning
Co-ordinator
An unusual
opportunity has arisen for someone with woodworking skills.
ASDA have given us permission to erect a notice board at the corner of
the church hall, adjacent to Chalfont Close and to the path leading from the
upper car park to ASDA, and we need someone to make it.
The board will
be largely for use by the public, like the large green council notice boards,
and we need it to be similarly robust and vandal-resistant.
Indeed, the council’s boards provide the ideal pattern to follow.
This is an
excellent site for a notice board and we don’t want to miss the opportunity
to use it. By providing
advertising space for users of the hall and others, we will remove the
temptation to stick notices on the hall windows.
And with a largely “public service” function, it should attract
wide readership and be a good place for putting notices about our own events
and programmes.
All materials
would of course be paid for. Please
contact me if you are interested and would like to know more.
Richard
Cocks
Wednesday
Mornings 10am – 12 noon
in
the Church Hall
VOLUNTEER
NEEDED
to
help with serving teas and coffees on an occasional basis.
If
you would like to help, please contact Ruth Bainton
“Operation Christmas Child” is one
way you can make a difference in a young person’s life. Since
1993, this Samaritan’s Purse project has shared the Good News of God’s
love with children in need through the simplest of gifts - shoe boxes, filled
with school supplies, toys and personal items that are packed by caring
people.
Clare Tran is once again organising the
shoe boxes for Trinity. The
leaflets with more information and a sticker to put on the outside of the box
are available in the church vestibule. As
you pack a shoe box for a child, please pray for the boy or girl who will
receive it.
Please
bring the shoe boxes back to Trinity by Sunday
2 November. More information
is available from Clare or by visiting www.samaritanspurse.org
Beginning on 25 September, on every fourth Thursday of the month, there
will be a Julian Meeting in the Upper Room at
Abbey
Baptist
Church
, established as part of our Regenerate project. Julian
meetings are ecumenical and we warmly invite you to join us for this
contemplative prayer session once a month. The meetings will be held from
10.00am to 10.45am and will be followed by coffee for those who wish to stay.
Sue
Sheppy
Queries
can be directed to mail(at)abbeybaptistchurch.org.uk
NCH
have changed their name and are now Action for
Children,
with
a new logo, as above.
We
have two events coming up to celebrate this:
Quiz
Night on Saturday 25 October
(See
later for details.)
&
10.00am
Sunday 30 November
at
Trinity
Church
This will be a parade service as usual,
which means that only the under 7s go out to Junior Church.
Elaine Allan from Action for Children’s
Margaret Wells-Furby Resource Centre (Bracknell)
will be speaking on the work of the centre.
This is where our toys will be going this year.
If you would like to donate a toy,
it should be new, suitable for under 5s and unwrapped.
If you are looking for somewhere to meet,
to learn a new skill, for help and advice on a wide range of subjects – or
even a home cooked lunch - then CResCent is the place to go.
Since opening five years ago, CResCent
has quickly become the hub of the Earley community. The
Centre is a registered charity and run almost entirely by volunteers every
weekday from 9am to 5pm.
Rooms both small and large are available
for hire and are currently well used by a variety of groups who include: a day
service for adults with learning difficulties, various voluntary and community
groups, free legal and police surgeries, line dancing, singing for fun, yoga,
Pilates and Tai Chi. There is also
a weekly foot clinic and plans for a regular hairdressing service. If
your group or committee is looking for somewhere to meet, just give CResCent a
call.
A range of training courses is also on
offer - IT and languages, arts and crafts, community development, family
learning plus a whole range of courses designed for those involved with
voluntary or community groups.
CResCent is keen to be green and also
provides a recycling centre for used stamps, spectacles, books, mobile phones,
foreign coins and ink cartridges. The
Centre offers free public access to computers, plus, for a small charge,
photocopying, laminating and fax facilities.
The CResCent Moon Café is open every
day, offering an informal meeting place and, on Wednesdays, a delicious home
cooked lunch is served between 12.30 and 1.30pm.
The Earley CResCent Community Resource
Centre provides a fully accessible meeting place for all local people.
It also has a Mobile Information Centre – called MICE - a purpose
built vehicle which ‘takes information
to people’ around the Wokingham Borough and, as well as having a wealth
of community information, it also promotes the work of the centre.
Pat Barber
Earley
CResCent
Resource Centre,
Warbler Drive
, Lower
Earley
,
RG6 4HB
Email:
earleycrescent(at)btconnect.com
Check out their website –
www.earleycrescent.org.
Thanks
to everyone who supported my day in aid of Cancer Research UK in August.
We raised £412.50p on the day and, with further donations, I was able
to send a cheque for £482 to the charity.
Jean
Crawley
Thanks to you too, Jean, and well done!
(Ed)
This year’s
Holiday Bible Club was on the theme of God’s creation and how to look after
it.
About 25 children came and they enjoyed cooking, crafts and playing
games. The drama sessions
throughout the day were focused on the creation, and us not spoiling it. The
centrepiece was the tree and river, which the children decorated with recycled
materials.
The craft
activities were centred around recycling too, and the children made house
number plaques from beads, screws, keys and tiles. They
also painted pop art scenes of things that are man made, and things that God
made in creation.
The children
also had fun making chocolate fridge cake and playing games.
A lot of
planning and preparation made the day very successful and we hope the children
will remember the day. A big thank you must go to the organisers - Vronwyn,
Cathy, Alison, Katherine and all the team.
Joanna Carrick
Rainbows,
age 5 to 7, Brownies,
age 7 to 10, Guides, age 10 to 14
The Rainbows have had a busy start to the
term with a trip to Maiden Erlegh Lake where they joined another Rainbow Unit
from Woodley. Their helper (who is
a Young Leader) attended the Berkshire International Selection Weekend in
July, and was fortunate to be selected to represent
Berkshire
and be put through to the next round, South West England Region International
Selection Weekend. If successful,
she will participate in a region international trip in 2009.
This is very exciting and the District are very proud of her
achievement.
2nd
Brownies have had five new girls start. They
have begun the term with book work, and are planning a Market Day theme
evening.
6th
Brownies are planning to do their Science Badge this term, and this will
include a trip out. They have six
new Brownies.
There
are nine new Guides and we are very pleased that the Unit is now able to take
up to 30 girls. The older Guides
have been starting work towards their BP Challenge.
Some Guides entered a cooking competition where they had to cook a 3
course meal.
At
the end of September, the whole District met for a campfire evening, with
games, songs, torches and hot chocolate!
.
We have a
large number of girls on our waiting lists; if you think that you could
volunteer to help run a unit, we would love to hear from you.
For further
details about Girlguiding in Lower Earley, please contact our District
Commissioner.
Thursdays from 2.00pm until 3.30pm
Trinity Church Hall
Everyone welcome.
Autumn Programme 2008
9
October
The Link Visiting Scheme
Marjie Walker
throughout WBC
Do you know about the local help and clubs available?
16
October
Traidcraft Christmas -
Pam Thompson
cards & gifts which will support the makers
23
October The
History of Costume Jewellery
Adrian Jefferies
a fascinating talk
You are invited to bring items of jewellery
for valuation.
30
October Life
on a Pacific Island -
Gordon Connell
an amusing & informative talk
6
November Travels
in Australia -
Peter Harms
no jet lag for us!
13
November Chocolates
continental
Bob Whelpton
Delicious Gifts!
20
November The
Pre-Raphaelite Painters
John Brearley
a welcome return of
this excellent speaker & historian
27
November The
British Newspaper Library -
Tony Weston
the amazing time capsule everyone
can freely visit
4
December Christmas
Lunch
11
December Christmas
Entertainment
Phil & Joy Hooper
18
December Christmas
Praise
Jon Salmon
Graham Iles
Restarts 8 January 2009
Contact Rosemary Reece for more
details
Men’s
Breakfast with Bishop John Pritchard Saturday 11 October at 8.30am
John
Pritchard, will be speaking on :
"Men and Spirituality" at Reading Blue Coat School.
Do
bring a friend, neighbour or work colleague to hear this challenging talk.
Please
contact John Ledger, Reading Churches Men's Group,
to book places (£7.50 each).
Youth
Net is for anyone aged between 11 to 18. It
is a chance to explore Christianity and what it means to you.
We
meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month from 7.15pm to 9.00pm. A
typical evening involves games, worship and small groups to explore the theme
of the evening in more depth.
For
more info, talk to Mike Bushnell, Martin Carrick or Bethan Jones.
AUTUMN MEETINGS:
8.10
Revelation 1:
Second coming
22.10
Revelation 2:
Application
29.10
Half
Term Social
12.11
Revelation 3:
Heaven and Hell
26.11
Drugs
10.12
Relationships
17.12
Rock
and Roll (SOS and talk)
Come and explore the Bible with
The
Wednesday Group.
"let
us not give up the habit of meeting together as some are doing"
(Hebrew
10:25)
We meet
each Wednesday at 8pm at
42 Clevedon Drive
For
further information, contact Christine and Robert Adamson
Nursery
Service at Trinity Church
begins
at 2pm and finishes around 3pm
every Wednesday during the school term.
Dates:
8,
15 & 22 October
Half Term Break
5, 12, 19 & 26 November
3 & 10 December
Christmas Praise Party: 17 December
For
further information,
call Ann or Trinity Church Office on 0118 931 3124.
Prayer
& Praise
will
be held in the chapel
for a time of prayer,
reflective praise and worship songs
Monday
13 October
at 8pm
ALL WELCOME.
Saturday 25 October
Morning walk with pub lunchled by Pam & John Medcraft
Meet
at Trinity at 10am.
Friday 24 October, 7.30pm: Wave,
wind and sun. Bill Bradshaw will
share the findings on the House of Lords’ committee on renewable energy. Cost:
donation
Saturday 25 October, 10am-4pm: Ray
Atwood from the Oxford Christian Institute for Counselling will run a day on
Listening.
Friday 31 October, 7.30pm-9.30pm: Circle
dancing: ‘Trick or Treat’. Lilly
Sell will lead us in an evening of dances which are a real treat, plus some
which are tricky enough to get the brain cells working. Cost:
£7.
Saturday 1 November, 10am-4pm: Rev
Brenda Woods will lead a quiet day entitled ‘Autumn Mists’. In
this season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, a Quiet Day offers the
opportunity to ponder God’s invitation to be as vulnerable to change as
trees, shedding old leaves and preparing for spring. This
is time for you to be! Cost: £20,
including a light lunch.
Saturday 29 November, 10am-4pm: Rev
Keith Green will lead this Quiet Day offering a still place to prepare
yourself for God’s gift of Love coming into the world. Book
early. Cost: £20. Lunch
included.
Our
meditation group, writing group and art group continue. For
more details of this or our Friends scheme, see our website: www.
reflect.freeuk.com
For
bookings, email coordinator(at)reflect.freeuk.com.
C4R
Spring Lane Aston Tirrold OX11 9EJ
INTERNATIONALLY
KNOWN AUTHOR AND STORY TELLER
is coming to
TRINITY CHURCH
8
OCTOBER 2008 - 7.30pm
In
partnership with REinspired, Bob will be using his skills in bringing the
Bible to life for children and young people of all ages
If
you are a youth worker, a Junior Church leader, a parent, a teacher or simply
someone who wants to see an expert at work,
this
evening is for you!
Bookstall
and refreshments
Admission £5 payable at the door
More
details from Wendy Neale: office(at)reinspired.org.uk
or
Lisa Waite (at Trinity)
Saturday
25 October 2008- 7.30pm
at
Christ
Church
, Woodley,
Reading
Tickets:
Adult £6 or OAP/Student £5
including
delicious desserts, coffee and mints
Soft
drinks for sale
All
proceeds to Action for Children
Tickets
available from Andrew Curnow email andrewcurnow(at)easy.com
Saturday 22 November 1:00pm to 4.00 pm
£1 adult entrance fee (Kids free). Proceeds to Trinity
Church
Handmade cards, Local Crafts
Candles, Jewelry
Refreshments, Face Painting
and lots more
At Trinity church.
