The Magazine, July/August 2006 (Section 1)

Magazine Production Team
Deadline for September magazine: 15th August

Team News

Welcome
Magazines have long lead times but we must welcome Andrew Frearson to Bracknell. It was a really good licensing service and the Bishop of Reading gave a very telling and musical sermon about the continuing growth and development of the church. Lynn and Emily will, by the time you read this, be hopefully living here in Bracknell and we look forward to welcoming them to their new home.

Alpha Plus
The Alpha Course finishes this month and has been a really good experience for everyone. When it does finish, there are plans to continue in the autumn with follow-up things and so watch out for news of these.

Men’s Breakfast
On July 1st, Steve Halls is inviting men to the Langley Hall for a Saturday breakfast and get-together. We don’t know what the programme will be yet, but the idea is to get men together to talk share ideas and see where it takes them. Thank you to Steve for taking the initiative.


David

[ Top Of Page ] [ Section 2] [ Section 3]

News from Holy Trinity

The Building
The Parish wardens have had further discussions with our architect and the archdeacon and we are very grateful for the input of people like Marcia Head and Richard Beaumont to the ongoing debate and strategy about the future of the building. At the moment, it is all very complicated but hopefully answers will emerge quite soon.

Patronal Festival
June 11th was a wonderful day. Lots of comments have been received about how happy a day it was to celebrate Trinity Sunday with the garden party. The food was magnificent, the music and laughter went well together, the sunshine and bouncy castle all combined to make a great day. Caroline C-S showed she has not lost her marbles and Deb Dimmock not only did a great tombola but son Elliot won a major tennis championship that afternoon as well. There was shade for everyone and our thanks to people like Mark, Steve, Andrew and Andrew, Colin, Michael, Katie, Olive, Anne and anyone I have inadvertently missed out.

Anniversary
On July 2nd, Andrew and Mary Cope will be renewing their marriage vows in the 10am service to celebrate 25 years of marriage. It might be an opportunity for all the ‘marrieds’ to be there and in concert renew their vows together whilst listening to Mary and Andrew. The service will not exclude any not married of course, but it will be a time of giving thanks for human love as a reflection of God’s love for us.

Moonwalk
The Moonwalk ladies, Donna, Helen and Tracey are grateful for all the support given to them. The total raised was approaching £2000 which will go to breast cancer research. They all did really well and actually enjoyed the experience and completed good times.

New Servers
Olivia Hastings and Jessica Law have been preparing to be servers at the Holy Communion. We look forward to seeing them in action and welcome them to this important role.

David

[ Top Of Page ] [ Section 2] [ Section 3]

News from St Andrew's

Welcome!
Andrew's Licensing Service on 23rd May was a very joyful occasion for the whole of Bracknell Team Ministry and especially for St Andrew's.

Andrew's wife Lynn came with Emily from America for the celebration, as did several of Andrew's friends from Finchampstead.

We pray for Andrew in his ministry here in Bracknell and we look forward to Lynn and Emily joining us in early July.

Services
It is good that Andrew joined us in time to celebrate with us several of the major Christian festivals - Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi. Anyone who is called upon to preach on the Trinity is faced with a particularly daunting challenge. Andrew used the helpful analogy of water, which can take the form of ice or steam; but that neither ice nor steam can exist without water.

This year we joined our friends at All Saints Ascot to celebrate Corpus Christi and were warmly welcomed. While we love St Andrew's church building, All Saints Ascot is a very beautiful and well-maintained "traditional" church from the Victorian era. Andrew was invited to preach at this service and spoke very movingly about some friends in America who welcomed him at their table and supported him during a time of difficulty. And he then showed us how Jesus is our friend who welcomes us to His Table.

Simon Sellick
District Warden, St. Andrew's

[ Top Of Page ] [ Section 2] [ Section 3]

News from St Paul's

Queen’s Award
The big news from St. Paul's this last month is that St. Paul's Family Meeting Place (now St Paul's Child Contact Centre) has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. This is a fabulous honour and is a wonderful recognition of all the hard work that has gone into running the Contact Centre over the years.

For those of you who don’t know about the contact centre, it is a voluntary organisation based at St. Paul's that provides ‘neutral ground’ for estranged parents to maintain contact with their children. Families are usually directed to the centre via the Family Court and, once they get to St. Paul's, there is a warm welcome, a supportive atmosphere and games, activities and refreshments provided for the adults and the children.

The volunteers are there to provide the refreshments, deal with the administrative work and provide a supportive presence. They work hard to keep the atmosphere relaxed and enjoyable. So, in honour of all their work four volunteers, Joan Knight, Russell Goodburn, Brenda Bailey and Alistair Telfer have been invited to Buckingham Place Garden Party to represent the Centre. The Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire will then present the award to the centre later in the year.

The volunteers for the contact centre are drawn from both congregations at St. Paul's and St. Paul's DCC opted to give part of their charitable giving to the contact centre this year. The centre does need continuing support so it can continue to provide this first class pastoral work.

Sad News
This month we also heard the sad news of the death of Anne Deardon, known and loved by many at St Paul's. We have been praying for Anne and her family for over a year now as she has bravely battled cancer and she will be much missed by her many friends and colleagues.
 
Future Events
Finally we are looking forward to our Full Church Meeting on the 18th June and our Flower Festival on 1st to 2nd July

Catherine Blundell

[ Top Of Page ] [ Section 2] [ Section 3]

Parish Register

Please remember them all in your prayers

Baptisms

We welcome into the God's family

Holy Trinity
Joshua Dear
Isaac James Odofin
Leah Molly O'Keeffe

St Andrew's
Harvey Alex Peter Michael Laming

St Paul's
Rebecca Springett

Funerals

We commit to God's care

Holy Trinity

Claire Greeno	Aged 87
Janet Eagles (Jan)	Aged 66

St Paul's

Gladys Darby	Aged 82
Norman Harris	Aged 81
Sion Pereia	Aged 2 months

[ Top Of Page ] [ Section 2] [ Section 3]

July/August Diary

This can be found in For your Diary...

[ Top Of Page ] [ Section 2] [ Section 3]

July/August Prayer Diary

This can be found in Prayer Diary

[ Top Of Page ] [ Section 2] [ Section 3]

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.

Hebrews 1: 1-4
Some think that the introduction to the Letter to the Hebrews, which is in fact one long Greek sentence, is the best constructed text in the entire New Testament. The author centers his reflections on the mystery of Christ, the Son of God and the culmination of God’s self-revelation. But if Christ is the high-point of revelation, this does not disqualify all the other ways in which God has communicated throughout the ages. For his part the author has in mind the history of the people of Israel recounted in Scripture, but could we not widen our outlook and say: while God has manifested himself in so many different ways to each nation and to each individual, the touchstone for us is the figure of Christ Jesus. Every revelation acquires its definitive importance by its link with the mystery of the Son.

If, in this book, the Son is the man Jesus of Nazareth, who lived in Palestine, died on a cross and is risen, he is not simply one individual among others. He is found both at the end (“heir”) and at the beginning of the universe, and he holds it in being. In these last assertions we can see the influence of the Wisdom tradition of Judaism: God creates by means of his Wisdom, who is also his Logos, his Word.

The entire New Testament affirms that Christ reveals God fully. Here this is expressed by two images: the Son is the radiance and the imprint or effigy of the Father. And, as in the other books of the New Testament, this communication occurs above all in his passion and resurrection. The passion is described as a “cleansing of sins”, thus introducing the theme of Christ our high priest, which will play such an important role in this letter. And by his exaltation, expressed in the language of the psalms, Christ becomes fully what he is from all eternity, at the pinnacle of all (v. 4). In this way the text keeps a balance between the two dimensions of (permanent) being and (dynamic) becoming, which is so important for grasping Christ’s identity and his saving mission.

- Does God still speak to our world, to each person, to me? How?

- What aspects of Jesus’ life help me to understand who God is?

- Who is Christ for me?

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.

[ Top Of Page ] [ Section 2] [ Section 3]