The Magazine, August 2004 (Section 1)

Magazine Production Team
There is no September Magazine planned.
Deadline for October magazine: 15th September

Team News

Away Day
The Ministry Team met last month to consider the responses to the Away Day and as reported are planning a Day of Prayer on Sunday 6th February. Can you mark that date in your diary please? There will be just one service that day followed by lunch in the Langley Hall and then in the afternoon, workshops on the practice and presence of prayer.

St Paul’s
St Paul's are having conversations with the United Reformed Church about the nature of their partnership, and these will continue during this year.

Communion by Extension
The Communion by extension services are continuing and we would like to hear of anyone else who feels that they would value communion at home. We plan to offer a series of Christian Basic courses in October possibly leading to Confirmation.

Christianity and Sexuality
On Friday evening 8th October there will be a session on 'Christianity and Sexuality' - this will be led by an outside facilitator and is open to anyone who would like to come and share in the ongoing discussion.

Langley Hall
The Langley Hall project has moved forward a little and plans were presented to the PCC at the end of last month. We are in discussion with English Partnership, who are involved in the Town Centre Development and the Staff College site, about funding.

Christ Church Oxford
Are you visiting Christ Church Oxford this summer? If you are, we have in the parish office, vouchers to enable members of our congregations to get in free.

Parish Administrator
David Fulker is going into hospital this month for a major operation, and in the late autumn he will reach the venerable age of 70. David is stepping down from his role as Parish Administrator this month and we shall not only hold him and Joyce in our prayers, but also recognise the enormous debt we owe David. At a later date we shall find an opportunity to formally recognise his work but for the moment, we look forward to him recuperating. An advertisement will be placed in the local press in due course but I would be interested to hear from any one who might like to do this job which involves 5 mornings a week. Details of hours, pay and a job description are available.

David

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News from Holy Trinity

Mark Ackford has quickly established himself in the parish and it is a great delight for the team to have him share in Ministry. During August, there will be very few meetings, and the clergy look forward to visiting more people - do let us know if you would like the clergy to call round.

BYC
The Concert by the Berkshire Youth Choir was a tremendous success. Our thanks to Maldwyn Davies for making it all happen, and to the choir and instrumentalists for providing most enjoyable music. The wonderful sum of £900 was raised towards the building fund and this will help us towards repairing the roof.

Sunday School
The Sunday School said farewell to a number of people at the end of term and we thanked Donna, Gwen, Julie, Trish, Liz and Fiona for their work. The Sunday School will be jointly led by Helen Hastings and Tracey Williams - do remember them in your prayers as they begin their work and build on the good foundations laid down by Gwen and Gill.

Iona August
During August we shall use the Iona Rite for our Holy Communion services but the choir have decided they will not, as last year, be 'on holiday' during this month.

1662
We are now using the new book for 1662 Holy Communion on the first Sunday at 8am. We wonder what would be the answer to the question, 'Would the 8 o'clockers like 1662 every week? Please let us know

Harvest Festival
A reminder that the Harvest Supper is on Friday 17th September and the Harvest Festival Service is on 19th September when we shall be joined by the uniformed organisations as we were on Mothering Sunday.

David

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News from St Andrew's

1st July
Thanksgiving Service for the life of Julie Quinn
Over 330 children and adults gathered at St. Andrew's to give thanks for the life of Julie, a brilliant and much loved teacher at Meadow Vale school, who died tragically during a holiday in Switzerland. The service of prayers, readings, music and moving contributions from the children and teachers reflected the love and respect that everyone had for Julie.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Julie's family, Jimmy, Valerie, Linda, Grant and James and all the teachers and children of Meadow Vale school.

Walsingham Pilgrimage
You will find a more detailed reflection in the article the Walsingham Pilgrimage written by Len Barrett (in Section 3), but just to add that it was a pleasure to be part of a pilgrim journey where everyone was so friendly and positive about the weekend.

Cream Tea
Thank you to Joyce, Sue and all those who contributed to a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon. Over 30 people and two starving dogs visited St. Andrew's for a wonderful cream tea.

Spirituality and Worship Group at St. Andrew's
In response to one of the requests from the Parish away day, the group are planning a prayer group and quiet reflective services for the Autumn. Please look at the parish diary in the September magazine for information.

Fund Raising Group
The next event will be a skittles evening on Friday 3rd September. We hope to have a good response just like the last time we played skittles when over 50 people including children and adults had great fun as well as enjoying a bar meal. Read the bulletin for details nearer the date.

Fr Jeremy

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News from St Paul's

Summer Changes

St Paul’s is gearing itself up for a summer with a difference. Over the six weeks of the school summer holiday the Anglican and United Reformed Church Congregation are going to experiment with a new pattern of Sunday worship.
We’ll have a ‘Said’ communion service at 9.15 am followed by a 10.30 ‘Service of the Word’, an informal service with hymns, songs and a sermon.
This is all a bit of an experiment and was originally set up to try to share the ministry load over the summer months. As so many with younger children go away for holidays and older people often go visiting relatives, Peter Flint and I thought it would be a good time to help one another.
So we devised this service pattern so we could share the children’s work, the coffee rota and the need to find readers and those to lead intercessions. All I can ask is that people do come over the summer to experience these services; it will give us a good idea of what a more shared church will feel like and it should be a great time of community and well as a time to worship God together.

Can I also assure people that services will revert to ‘normal’ in September when we will resume our usual service pattern and begin to look forward to Harvest. And, of course, the Wednesday communion, which is a lovely service with a very friendly congregation, will continue as normal over the summer.
In the meantime things are moving forward with the church building. Not only do we now have enough pledged money to buy nearly 50 of our new chairs but as I write, someone has demolished the old and very manky kitchen and it is being replaced with new equipment, cupboards and work surfaces.
Our next and increasingly important concern is to make the building and especially the toilets accessible for all people.
My prayer for all of us over the summer is that we all find time to rest, reflect and recharge our batteries

Catherine

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Parish Register

Please remember them all in your prayers

Baptisms

We welcome into the God's family

St Andrew's
Ethan James Charles Thomas Bromley
Courtney Beth Winfield

St Paul's
Sharon Rosemarie Carlin
Richard Anthony Carlin
 

Funerals

We commit to God's care

Julie Quinn	Aged 29
Jean Wackett	Aged 62
Geoffrey Gammmon	Aged 75
Alfred Munns (Alf)	Aged 78

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August Diary

This can be found in For your Diary...

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August Prayer Diary

This can be found in Prayer Diary

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Taizé Meditation

These meditations are meant as a way of seeking God in silence and prayer in the midst of our daily life. During the course of a day, take a moment to read the Bible Passage with this short commentary and reflect on the questions which follow.

Isaiah 40:1-11
In a dark period in the history of his people, God became present through his prophet Isaiah. The message of the Book of Consolation (Isaiah ch 40-55) is clear: although the nation is in exile and feels abandoned, God is listening and responds to their prayer by sending a prophet to announce that the end of their misfortune is near.

The announcement begins with the word “comfort,” not just once but twice. God is not against his people, as their suffering might lead us to believe. On the contrary, we are his people (40:1) and God does not want human distress. He does not use suffering to win over his people, but he wants to open a road of life for them by giving them a future.

For this message to be rooted in our life, it has to “speak to the heart” (40:2) which is not just the seat of feelings but also of intellectual ability and of the will. The heart of a person is affected by the wounds they have received in the course of their life. These wounds can lead us to withdraw into ourselves. But God can make something unexpected spring up from our wounds, as long as we keep our hearts open to welcome a word that comes from him: “The word of God will last forever” (40:8).

God’s word comes to transform our life. It gives us the inner strength to find new vitality. “Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord” (40:3). Just as God’s people had to let themselves be led through the desert to enter the Promised Land and then experienced a new liberation by returning from their exile in Babylon to build a new future, we too must constantly cross over from discouragement to hope. This movement is possible because we know that the Lord is like a shepherd who goes before us (40:11 and Psalm 23).

In my life, when have I felt a “comfort” that came from God?

What people around me need words of comfort?

How can I “prepare the way of the Lord”? What helps me constantly to move from discouragement to hope? What words support me in this?
 
Take time at the end to pray, thanking God for his presence, asking for what you need for yourself, and for those things close to your heart.

Further information on Taizé can be obtained from the Community's website.

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