Please
note that there is a Nursery Service every Wednesday during termtime.
NB:
Evening services are 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.
Well, here we are in the twilight of
summer, the Olympics behind us, exam results out, the new school term about to
get underway. We had a great time
in
Southern Brittany
. I was struck by how friendly and
welcoming and polite the Bretons are. Their
pace of life was pleasantly relaxed too!!
It was good to have a break coming pretty much at the end of our first
year here. I felt I needed one, as
quite a bit has happened over the past year and I was beginning to feel tired.
So, a rest was welcome.
God is good and it’ll be exciting to
see where He leads us. Are we up
for the challenge of listening to Him and following Him wherever He might take
us? I believe God wants to
encourage and lead us along in three key ways as we continue to journey with
Him. The three areas are: i)
discipleship, ii) becoming a house of prayer, iii) learning new ways to reach
out. This is a big agenda and we
need to be praying about these things and then responding.
The further development of ongoing small groups will be important for
this too. It’s been really
encouraging to hear some good positive experiences coming from the groups.
Over the next few months we’ll spend time looking at these three
areas, how groups may help us, and at the values which underpin our faith –
and plugging into God’s power.
Becoming a house of prayer - God wants us
to learn how to be more effective pray-ers.
Throughout the Bible and history, it’s the praying which has made the
difference. I’m reading Bill
Hybels’ book called “Too Busy Not to Pray:
Slowing Down to be With God” – it’s very interesting.
We need to be able to pray effectively together and privately, both of
which can be difficult. Let’s
support each other and share our experiences.
The feedback from the 24/1 in June was very positive and encouraging,
especially because several people commented how it had opened their eyes to
new and different ways to pray. It
would be good to do another before the end of the year.
I’ve enjoyed the Saturday morning prayer meetings which pray for
Trinity, its future and the local area, but would love to see more people come
along. Or, why not start another
prayer meeting at some other time, if Saturday morning isn’t any good.
Remember too we have the mid-week prayer meeting on Wednesday mornings.
I hope we can continue to explore how to pray more effectively.
The prayer ministry and new congregational leadership teams are working
afresh at exploring how we pray before, during and after our services.
Do please make the most of the chance to pray with someone after the
services. It can be for small or
big things, and can be for giving thanks too.
I’m keen to make sure that I get the
balance right in my life between work, family life and play.
Somehow I need to make sure there aren’t too many church meetings so
I can spend time properly getting to know you, building strong and real
relationships, and making other friends too and trying to be more effective in
showing and sharing God’s love. I
don’t know about you but church life can be something of a bore at times and
so far removed from what God intended life to be about.
I want to make sure that we continue heading for God’s purposes in
the coming year, which, to repeat, I believe are about becoming
more effective disciples, learning how to be better pray-ers and finding new
ways to reach out, BUT we must
have some FUN with some good social
stuff, on whatever scale.
Coming up is Harvest (5 October).
We have Dave Mann, from Retrak (the charity that works with street
children in
Kenya
and
Uganda
, whom I drew our attention to in January).
Dave’s a great guy. This
year we’re not doing Back to Church Sunday but why not invite someone along
on Harvest Sunday.
I hope and pray that you and your
families are looking forward to the new term.
I shall be the only non-student at home.
Jack is doing his last year at college (National Diploma in Sport),
Lily is going into Year 11, so GCSEs for her, and
Nancy
is going into Year 8, while Jo is starting a degree in Social Work at Reading
Uni. Do please pray for us as we
adjust to a new tempo of life.
Every blessing,
Jon
Help:
We need volunteers.
Can you help, particularly in the Loddon, Hawkedon & Radstock Team?
If you would like to know more details
about being a volunteer, then please could you make yourself known to Lisa
Waite. It can be arranged for you to come along to a session, so you can see
what it’s all about!
Finance:
Thank you, we have received a number of
financial gifts and pledges which has enabled us to advertise the post of
Project Director.
Events:
Tuesday
30 September
– RE Inspired Annual Meeting, 7.30pm at St Nicolas’ Church, Earley.
Wednesday
8 October
– Bob Hartman, author and story teller, will be coming to Reading, to train
RE Inspired volunteers and primary teachers as well as host an evening open to
everyone at Trinity Church at 7.30pm. All
welcome. More details later in
this magazine.
Lisa Waite
Please note that all
evening services will be starting at 6pm again from September, following an
experiment over the summer with a later start time.
However, we will be maintaining the
new pattern of services which means there will continue to be one Sunday a
month without a communion service.
Do
come along on:
Monday
15 September 2008 8.00pm
A draft agenda is shown below but you can
still make suggestions for other important items to be included.
Speak to or email John Goddard (or Richard Cocks after 9 September).
Draft
Agenda
8.00 Opening
Worship
8.10 Minutes
of
Last
Church
Meeting (16 June 2008)
Matters arising – not on the agenda
8.15
Any other Business
(preferably notified to the Secretary or Senior Steward in advance)
8.20 Committee
Reports:
Staffing Committee
Missions Committee
8.35 Review
of Patterns of Service Exercise
8.45 Development of Small Groups
8.55 Pastoral Report
9.00
Refreshments
9.15 Appointments
9.25
Orientation
9.35 Outstanding
matters related to the Building Extension
9.45 (to
be decided)
9.50 Finance update
10.00
Closing Prayer
Next Church Meeting:
Monday 8
December 2008
John Goddard
Church
Secretary
Why
not get more involved in the work of Trinity? If
you feel you would like to contribute more, please speak to the Church
Secretary (John Goddard). We are
particularly concerned to fill the following vacancies:
1. Church
Council Member (non-steward)
2. Appointments’
Secretary
3. Two
Property Group Members
4. Missions
Committee Members
5. Crèche
Co-ordinator
6. Office
Equipment Supervisor
7. Sunday
School Teachers for Nursery (age 3-5) & Youth (age 13 up),
8. Helpers
on Sundays for Crèche and Infant Class (age 5-7)
Members
holding the following posts may be elected for a further term of three years
but you may seek appointment if you wish:
Church Steward*
Staffing Committee Member*
Crescent Representative
Methodist Circuit Lay Representative
Equipment Supervisor (Non-Office)*
Worship Committee Member
*
Yet to confirm they wish to stand for a further term.
If
you wish to seek election for any of the above posts, could you please:
(a) Complete a nomination form and place
it in the Secretary’s Pigeonhole OR
(b)
Send the
Secretary an email, copied to the 2 members nominating you OR
(c)
Ring the
Church Secretary. Please contact
Richard Cocks after 9 September.
Note:
For
Sunday School Teachers and Helpers, please contact Sarah Moore.
Rules governing appointments are as
agreed at Church Meeting, December 2007. Please
see notices in the Church and Hall for details.
John Goddard, Church Secretary
A churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor
of a local newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church
every Sunday.
"I've gone for 30 years now,"
he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons.
But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them.
So, I think I am wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by
giving sermons at all."
This started a real controversy in the
'Letters to the Editor' column, much to the delight of the Editor.
It went on for some weeks, until someone
wrote this clincher:
"I've been married for 30 years now.
In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals.
But for the life of me, I can't recall the entire menu for a single one
of those meals. But I do know
this: they nourished me and gave
me the strength I needed to do my work. If
my wife had not given me those meals, I would be physically dead today.
Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be
spiritually dead today!"
I wasn't sure what to expect when I
signed up at the last minute, to fill some gaps in the rota for the 24/1
Prayer event. As I arrived with
Evie (3) and Esther (8 months), I thought I would be lucky to last 15 minutes!
One and a half hours later, we
left. Initially, I was anxious
about how much prayer I would be able to manage but I had a sense that God was
just pleased that I'd made it there. There
was something for all of us in each of the different areas. Evie
loved all of the hands-on activities and she ate quite a lot of the jelly
beans!! Esther enjoyed watching
everything from the comfort of her beanbag. We
were able to listen to music, read, draw and write our prayers. The
whole experience opened my mind to new and more exciting ways to communicate
with God and him with me. I hope
the organisers will have enough enthusiasm and energy to do it again soon.
Joanna
Hassan
The Trinity Church email address has
recently changed. To reach me in
the office, please would you now email:
trinityearley(at)btconnect.com
Receive News by Email
Would you like to receive Trinity news by
email? In addition to this
comprehensive magazine*, edited each month by Kay Slack, we also send out
extra news and information on a regular basis by email ... (usually about once
a week, but it may be more or less frequent).
When there are lots of exciting events going on, it is good to be able
to reach people quickly with the news.
If you would like to be a recipient,
please do contact me.
Sending in Items for the News Emails
The news emails are primarily for items
of news relating directly to Trinity. If
you would like me to consider an item for inclusion, please send in the
wording, making sure all the information is there.
News for Sunday Morning Notices
If you would like an item of news
included on the back of the service sheet or on the occasional Sunday news
flyer, please submit it by noon on Wednesdays, either by email, phone, or by
post to myself at the church.
Notices can also be read out on a Sunday
morning. If you miss the Wednesday
news deadline, please ring the office on Saturday morning (9.30am – 11am)
when a steward will be staffing the phone.
Trinity Church Office: 0118 931 3124
trinityearley(at)btconnect.com
Margaret Evans
(
Trinity
Church
Administrator)
September
2008
Dear Friends
One of the joys of my rôle as District
Chair is to visit many of our churches to preach on a Sunday.
Here I learn what is causing joy or anxiety in the life of the local
church and meet the people who, by their dedication, faithful witness, worship
and service make it possible for our local churches to exist at all.
I hear stories of the history and witness of the church and its hopes
for the future. I’d like to
thank all those churches for their hospitality and generosity of spirit which
I’ve been shown week by week. It’s
at these times, as well as at meetings with Superintendents, ministers and
Circuit Stewards, that I sense the challenge facing us in these times.
We face an uncertain future, yes. However,
that much has been true of God’s people in many times and places.
Our Bible is full of stories about how God speaks in difficult times
and about Jesus who calls those who are prepared to take risks for the Kingdom’s
sake.
It seems to me that the greatest
challenge facing us is how to use what resources we have - and to put them at
the disposal of mission rather than merely self-preservation.
In all this, the job of the District is to enable you to do that and to
give support to those places and people who are stepping out in faith.
We do this with practical support through grants, with help through the
stationing system for ministers and by a willingness to talk together whenever
possible. In addition, this year,
we are appointing a District Development Enabler whose role will be to work
with the circuits to help with creative thinking for mission.
As we move into a new phase of our District staff team, we say goodbye
to Jenny Ellis, our Training & Development Officer, with whom many of you
have worked and shared hopes and dreams. Jenny
is moving to a new post as Discipleship and Spirituality Officer in the
Connexional Team.
In a recent interview in the “Methodist
Recorder”, (well worth looking at if you are a housegroup leader), our
retiring General Secretary, David Deeks, spoke of the immense changes which
are underway at Connexion, District and Circuit level:
“I do sense in the church now a mood which says: I
know we’ve got to change; we’ve got a steer for our change in Our Calling
& Priorities of the Church; it’s not going to be easy, it’s going to
be difficult and painful but let’s pull together; and while we can’t
foretell what the outcomes may be, we are people of faith who trust God to
lead us to a better place, meaning a more confident group of disciples
emerging who will understand what is entailed in engaging with the world
around them with courage and confidence and generosity.”
I
see that courage and confidence and generosity in many different places, and I
have no doubt that we can become the people God wishes us to be.
I have no doubt also that this will involve re-discovering what
discipleship is in our learning and our stewardship and our vision of ‘church’.
Another new appointment we are making from September is that of a
dedicated District Training Officer, to help equip us with the skills for our
future in mission and service.
As
District Chair, I am here simply to help you do mission locally, to enable you
to find your own patterns of ‘church’.
I hope to share more of this with you in future letters like this.
But, for now, I hope you can share with me a sense of excitement at
being disciples of Jesus in these times, of being Methodists who want to
understand more of what God is asking of us.
With
good wishes to you all.
Andrew
Wood
is Collecting Mobile Phones and Laptops
REAP is looking to
collect old working mobile phones and laptops, as they can make use of them
in
Kenya
. If you have either to donate,
please contact Roger Sharland. See the
website: http://www.reap-eastafrica.org/reap/
for more information about REAP.
For some months now, a group of us has
been looking at ways to develop the worship music at Trinity. The
first fruit of this discussion was the music for the 10am Palm Sunday service,
about which many have given feedback, and for which we’re grateful. This
group of musicians will be making other outings from time to time, in
conjunction with other, varied groups of musicians, particularly over the next
three to four months, but we thought this would be a good opportunity to
explain some of the thinking behind what’s been going on.
Although music at Trinity differs from
service to service, it can be characterised, we believe, in terms of
supporting worship. In other
words, music exists to accompany hymns, and to provide some incidental music
(at the beginnings and ends of services, while children are going out to their
classes, and while the offering is taken). Music,
however, has the potential to add so much more to our worship than that, a
potential we feel we ought to be tapping.
Within the group, we have been looking at
how music can develop from simply supporting
worship to taking a role in leading
worship, to enabling us better to
approach God. One key reason why
this seems to be a good idea is that in the most effective congregations (and
there are plenty of books on worship which attest to this), music seems to
take on a greater role. A few of
the ways we believe music can lead worship have already been put into
practice, and these are ways we will try to develop. They
include the use from time to time of fewer, but longer, stretches of music. Music
used in this way (rather than just as part of a ‘hymn sandwich’) can help
us to focus better on praise, or reflection. This
is also one reason why we have tried running similar songs together (although
I admit that five songs without a break has probably been one too many!). It
is also a reason behind the creation, in the music, of short stretches where
the congregation is not singing, in order to allow us all to concentrate for a
moment on the words we have been using, to really make them our own. This
is also why we are looking to use leaders for singing, to actually help us to
use our own voices in praise; if you’re not a confident singer, it is so
much easier to join another voice in song than simply to sing to musical
instruments.
A further reason for trying to develop
our music concerns outreach. While
it is important to feel part of worship, we need to remember that it is at
least as important to provide a setting whereby others are attracted in. Now
that is something of a hit and miss situation, and we’re not aiming simply
to copy what any other particular church may do (with such a wealth of
musicians wanting to be involved at Trinity, there seems no reason why our
solution should not be ‘home grown’), but that principle has been behind
what we’re doing. And please do
not worry, the aim is not simply to provide loud, modern music for worship. Our
plans include using music for contemplation, and we shall certainly aim to
continue to use the best of the ‘traditional’ hymns, while music for the
other Sunday services is likely to be more conventional, at least at the
moment.
At 10am, we shall gradually be trying out
various other combinations of instruments over the coming months and, if you
have some experience as a musician and would like to get involved, the band
which Peter Whiteman organises will continue to play for some services, and
will be the means by which musicians are introduced to playing for worship at
Trinity. Do please pray for the
musicians and for our musical worship, as hearing God on this is exciting and
challenging. We want to do God's
will.
Allan Moore,
on behalf of the Music Group
COME ALONG TO HARVEST THIS YEAR
AND INVITE SOMONE.
Harvest is
on 5 October
We’ve got a
parade service at 10am on Sunday 5 October with Dave Mann speaking.
Dave is the UK Support Co-ordinator for the charity RETRAK, which
supports street children in
East Africa
. Dave is a great guy and is
greatly committed to street children. Dave
will also be speaking at our Harvest Supper at 6pm.
There’s an auction too at the supper.
More details to follow.
Why not invite
a friend, family member, neighbour or colleague to come along to either or
both of these events. They will be lots of fun, will honour God, and will
raise money for street children in
East Africa
.
More info on
RETRAK can be found at www.retrak.org
.
Jon
Salmon
Sharing
our faith – how difficult we find this!
Perhaps
we take refuge in the hope that our life will do the talking for us; well,
perhaps it will … it certainly should.
And
we can be frighteningly tongue-tied when faced with a direct question, for
instance, “You don’t really believe in the Resurrection, do you?”.
But
Paul said, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to
give a reason for the hope that you have”.
Trinity’s
library has a selection of books in the EVAngelism section which aim to help
us face up better to this challenge of talking about our faith to friends and
family in a natural way, without appearing to be a religious freak – not
exactly the impression we want to give! Titles
like the following, among others:
Hughes, S
Sharing your faith
Little, P How
to give away your faith
McGrath, A
Explaining your faith
Willis, G Won
by one
Pritchard, J
How to explain your faith
(by
our Bishop of Oxford, with a 2nd copy in the FAI section; deals
brilliantly and succinctly with the usual objections raised to the
Resurrection, in more modern language than Morison’s classic “Who moved
the stone?”.)
Gaynor
Davies
We
have all experienced the recent effect of dramatic price increases in food,
fuel and many other aspects of our daily lives. The
expenses of Trinity are suffering too and the finance committee has been
looking at ways we can meet these increases.
One
of the simplest ways to increase the church’s income is to use the gift aid
scheme for all donations made by income tax payers, ie the great majority.
The
government encourages us to use this scheme as a way of helping charities meet
their ever-increasing expenses. To enable us to claim gift aid, we need to be
able to identify the donor. This
can be simply achieved by making donations by standing order or by use of the
weekly envelope scheme. Both these
methods are widely used at Trinity but, despite this, we still receive an
average of £200 cash in collection bags each week. Much
of this will have been given by taxpayers and therefore eligible for gift aid.
This would increase the value to
Trinity by up to £56 each week without any effort on the donor’s behalf.
We
have provided envelopes suitable for gift aid in the vestibule and near the
side door entrance, which are available for all visitors to use.
If
you do not already make donations by monthly standing order or by using the
weekly envelopes, please give serious consideration to using one of them. The
weekly envelopes do not rely on a fixed contribution, so can be used for
varying amounts, but nevertheless remind us of the fact that Trinity still
needs our support when we are unable to attend.
Failing
this, please pick up a gift aid envelope as you enter church, add your
personal details and enable us to reclaim additional income from your
donation.
Further
details are available from John Medcraft, any other member of the finance
committee (Norman Briggs, Sandy Godfrey, Corinne Rees, Jon Salmon) or take a
look at the official government website, www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities
.
My
husband bought me a lovely book for my birthday (he excelled himself this year
as he has been known to forget my birthday!!). The
book was about the
Middlesbrough
born artist, Mackenzie Thorpe and I loved it. I
was reading a description of one of his sculptures and was struck by how
relevant it was to our response to small groups in Trinity. The
sculpture is called “Skipping” and depicts a child in mid air with a
skipping rope. It is made from
bronze and the child's head is disproportionately large. Mackenzie reflects on
a child's capacity to be 'open and receptive to new experiences, fresh
challenges, to meeting new people'. He
suggests that, as adults, this capacity diminishes and we become less willing
to adapt and consider new experiences.
I
thought a lot about this and how it was relevant to me and my Christian
journey. I wondered whether God
was waiting for me to embrace new experiences that might seem a bit scary
initially but that would ultimately help me to develop a closer relationship
with Him. My own experience of
being part of a small group has been an immensely positive one. I
feel God has used this to teach me more about Himself and it has helped me
develop in my Christian faith. I
feel loved and cared for by the other members of this group and I hope I can
love and care for them in a way that wouldn't be possible without this
structure. My hope for Trinity is
that more people would be prepared to give the “small group thing” a try. When
Jesus refers to us changing and becoming like small children, I wonder if this
could refer to a child's willingness to engage in new and different
experiences, as depicted in Mackenzie Thorpe's sculpture?
Joanna
Hassan
(on
behalf of the Education and Nurture Committee)
KARUDEC
(Kagando Rural Development Centre)
August 2008
Kagando
Hospital
PB
Kasese
Uganda
Dear Friends
“We
care, but God heals.” (Kagando’s new sign board)
We (Jen & Rob Morris) are writing
this three months after our return from a visit to Kagando.
The occasion was special – the visit of the Most Reverend Moses Henry
Orombi, Archbishop of Uganda. It
was his first visit to South Ruwenzori Diocese and, of course, his first visit
to Kagando. We felt overwhelmingly
privileged to be there to meet and hear (on two occasions, first at Kagando,
then in the new, unfinished but roofed, cathedral in Kasese) a great man of
God, and to witness the marking of outstanding achievements at Kagando.
For each of the six new buildings,
appropriate plaques were unveiled – students’ hostel for the Primary
School, a new Technical School building, a Mothers’ Union hostel for
pregnant mums, a new Guest House wing, a new X-ray / Diagnostic Imaging
building, and a truly magnificent new Community Hall.
We joined those there in rejoicing in what God has done through great
vision, careful planning and excellent use and co-ordination of resources,
with sacrificial giving by individuals and groups, many through Friends of
Kagando.
We are deeply grateful to so many who
have made these developments possible – too many to mention individually,
although we are especially grateful to MMN who have opened up a vital supply
route to Kagando through container transport, and have safely delivered the
new X-ray and ultrasound machines, 35 computers and very many other things.
At the end of January, 85 of us gathered
together in Reading, at Greyfriars Church, to celebrate the first five years
of Friends of Kagando. It was a
memorable time. Sue Wilmot set the
foundation for the day, challenging us all with an inspiring talk based on
Nehemiah – who cared enough to weep, pray, and go.
The highlight was having Canon Benson
Baghuma, Kagando’s project director, with us for the occasion.
He spoke about the way God had led them and blessed the work.
At his request, we sang ‘To God be the glory, great things He has
done’. He has indeed done and is
doing “great things”. We are
deeply grateful to so many of you who took the trouble to come, often long
distances, and to those who worked very hard organising, preparing, catering. Benson
then spent three weeks in the
UK
, visiting various churches and individuals, forging links and making plans
for the future.
Challenges remain.
The hospital is under resourced and staffed, the nurses’ and midwives’
training school lacks tutors, the local burgeoning population struggle to eat,
to send their children to school and further study, and find ways to be self
sustaining.
As Friends of Kagando, we feel challenged
more than ever to pray for the work there, to mobilise and release resources.
A highlight of our time was a visit to
the Church Technical School in Kisinga. Like
many other projects, (including the orphanage – NOTDEC – Nzirambi Orphans’
Training and Development Centre, - the Nurses’ & Midwives’ School,
Kagando Primary School, the Agriculture Outreach Centre, the Palliative Care
Programme, the Community Care Programme, the workshops, the AIDS testing,
Counselling and Treatment Programme, the Dental Unit, and so on …), the
Technical School shelters and is sustained under Kagando’s (KARUDEC’s)
umbrella. Using the minimum of
resources, a great team of staff teach 600 pupils, training them in practical
skills while following an academic programme.
With its many different activities and disciplines, KARUDEC plays a
significant rôle in helping to equip the local population to be self
sustaining.
Last month, Canon Benson shared needs for
prayer at Kagando today:
“Dear Friends, Christian Greetings to you this day.
Thank you for your love and support and may our good Lord
bless you richly.
Receive our prayer points this month.
1. Thanks to God for the continued work, the support received
and growing partnerships.
2. We have organised mission for the institution beginning 18
to 24 August with the purpose of spiritual renewal and commitment to our
calling both as staff and the community of Kagando. The
budget is Ug Sh 3.5m.
3. Pray that we shall make wise decisions on salary
increments not to get back into the previous debt burden but also for the
staff being realistic with the demands of their increment especially doctors,
who have asked for very significant increases.
4. Pray for our communities which are undergoing strange
diseases like gut perforations, the cause for which has not yet been
established.
5. Stability of staff, especially those who are now feeling
the need to open up private clinics as they work at Kagando. Pray
that we get wisdom to handle these situations.
6. Pray for my time away from station to do my exams 18th -
24th which has actually coincided with the mission week.
Hoping to keep in touch with the Assurance of God's provision
in abundance to those who trust in Him.
In Christ, Canon Benson.”
And with our love,
Rob & Jen Morris
Thursdays
from 2.00pm until 3.30pm Trinity Church Hall
Everyone
welcome.
Autumn Programme 2008
11
September The
Fabulous Forties to the
Kate Bradford
Swinging Sixties
Great fun!
18
September Running
“The Reading Chronicle”
Maurice O’Brien
amusing stories from the contents editor
25
September Visit to
Green Park Wind Turbine
Ian Gough
2
October
Harvest Praise
Jon Salmon
Committee meeting
Graham Iles
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.
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.
SEPTEMBER MEETINGS:
10/9 Why do we worship?
24/9 Why does God allow suffering?
26-28
September: Re:Vive weekend away
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.
begins
at 2pm and finishes around 3pm at Trinity Church
every
Wednesday during the school term.
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
8 September
Monday
22 September
at
8pm
ALL WELCOME.
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
Saturday 27 September
Morning
walk with pub lunch
Led
by Kate & Alex Robinson
Meet
at Trinity at 10am.
Please
join the SAFARI
SUPPER
on
Saturday 27 September 7.30pm
See
notice board in church for details.
Please
sign up by Sunday 14 September.
Contact
Gemma & Wendy Keeley or Joanna Hassan.
Big Ministries for Children
Lower
Earley
Baptist
Church
is inviting the Big Ministries team to
Reading
on Saturday 11 October. Their
passion is to “lead little people in worship of the BIG God who loves them”.
They run “BIG Parties”,
children’s ministry, all-age worship services, holiday clubs, workshops and
more. More details are available
at http://www.bigministries.co.uk/Home.html.
They
are running a BIG Party for children in the area during the afternoon but
before that they will be running a training
session on how to really engage with children from 10-12
in the morning. People from local
churches are invited to come along and join this training session in Maiden
Place Community Centre. There will
be a small charge of £3 per person.
Please
email graham.criddle(at)btopenworld.com if you would like to register for this
event or find out more.
RCN 24 Hour Retreat
The
RCN will be sponsoring a 24 hour retreat at St Katherine’s in Parmoor on 15
-16 October (Wednesday to Thursday) 2008.
Bob Hartman coming to Reading
Bob
Hartman is the author of “The Lion Storyteller Bible” and various other
children’s books and he will be spending the day with RE INSPIRED volunteers
and teachers on Wednesday
8 October. During
the evening, from 7.30pm to 9pm, he
will be speaking at
Trinity
Church
. The event will be open to anyone
from the local churches and there will be a small charge. Bob
is a gifted author and speaker and regularly trains those involved in children’s
ministry around the country in how to engage both KS1 & KS2 with stories,
whether in churches, lessons or in collective worship. More
information about him can be found at http://www.lionhudson.com.
Congratulations
to
Emily Travers, Frances Jackson, Anna Cocks and Sarah Johns on graduating with
honours degrees this summer.
Well done
to
all our young people on their recent exam results.
Best wishes
to
Elizabeth Goddard, Lucy Evans and Adam Slack, who are off to university this
autumn.
Birth
Lynne
Hill is pleased to announce the arrival of her new granddaughter, Evelyn Mary.
Congratulations to Evie's parents
Kathryn and Philip.
July Baptism
Ava
Marie, daughter of Melanie and Simon Rowland.
Thank-you
for
all the prayers and good wishes, following my accident.
Richard
Cocks
Congratulations
to
Sarah Johns and Pat Smith, on their marriage at Trinity on Saturday 30 August.
Bon Voyage
ave
and Elsie Sellar are going to Peru for the next two years and our thoughts and
prayers go with them.
On the move
After
28 years in our family home, we have downsized to a bungalow.
Our new address is in he church magazine. Email:
alan.langdon(at)talktalk.net
Alan
and Jackie Langdon
Thank
you
I
would like to thank all who sponsored me in The BUPA London 10k on May Bank
Holiday Monday.
Because
of the torrential rain, I was unfortunately forced to abort the event. However,
I had a large number of pledges in sponsorship. Chestnut
Tree House Children’s Hospice, the charity for which I was raising the funds
agreed for me to complete the event locally.
I
completed the event on 21 July by propelling my wheelchair three circuits of
Black
Swan
Lake
at
Dinton
Pastures
Country
Park
in just under ten hours in the soaring heat, and raised £2,700.
Thank
you all for your most kind generosity. Kind
regards.
Michael
Wise
Please pray for
·
Doreen Newell, who is back home after a
major operation.
·
All those undergoing or recovering from
medical treatment.
·
Young people starting at a new school,
college or university.
·
People starting new jobs.
·
People moving to a new town or country.
·
People who are struggling with debt and
financial worries.
·
People who are looking for employment.
·
Sarah and Pat Smith, in their new
married life together.
Please
pray this month for those who live and work in these parts of our parish:
Area
A
