The Magazine, October 2004 (Section 1)

Magazine Production Team
Deadline for November magazine: 15th October

Team News

Ministry of Healing
October 17th is the Sunday nearest St Luke’s day and we shall be offering the laying on of hands as a ministry of healing in our churches that day. Many people have appreciated this ministry and we hope it will be more of a regular feature of our services.

Memorial Service at Holy Trinity
Next month on Sunday 7th November there will be the Memorial Service for families who have been bereaved this last 12 months and we hope that many of our regular congregations will come along and share in the service and chat afterwards in the Langley Hall.

Sunday Tea Meetings
One of the things that the Ministry Team hope to do is to have a series of Sunday afternoon tea meetings and again we would invite people to come and share in these, to serve tea and be listeners.

Langley Hall Project
The Langley Hall Project is on the move again. The risk tables have all been done and the business plan almost complete. There is a meeting with the Borough this month to determine how we proceed with a project manager. Thank you to those people who made comments on the provisional plans that have been in Holy Trinity

Communion by Extension
The licensed people who take communion to those unable to get to church say that this ministry is much appreciated. If there are people who would value receiving communion at home please let one of the clergy know and we will arrange for it to happen.

All Saints
Sunday 31st October is not just Halloween, it is All Saints time and we shall observe the festival in our churches on that Sunday. The Ministry Team are planning Christmas and you might like to know that because Christmas Day is on a Saturday, there will be one service only on Sunday 26th December which will be in Holy Trinity at 10.30am. The Christingle Service will be on Friday 10th December at 6.30pm in Holy Trinity.

Parish Administrator
We welcome Nigel Bearne as our new Parish Administrator. Nigel has spent most of his working life as a computer software engineer and is looking forward to a different sphere of work in the Bracknell Team. He has been Church Warden at Easthampstead and knows much already about churches in Bracknell. The foundation that David Fulker has laid will stand the parish in good stead as we build on all that he achieved. Nigel will be in the parish office every morning from 9.00am until 12 noon and he will be pleased to deal with any administration matters.

Cheques
The banks are being a little particular about the name of the payee on cheques we write to the parish. The payee needs to be ‘Bracknell PCC’ in every case.

Financial Up-Date
Cathy and Mark Carson did their 6-month update to the PCC last month and the bad news is that we are having to use our reserves. The parish share meeting happens before we go to press but again our share is going to go up and we need on average £10 per week from persons attending church and hopefully for it to be gift aided. Can we again ask people to think twice before putting cash into an offertory plate and instead put the money into a gift aid envelope?

St Andrew’s Heating
The heating at St Andrew’s is giving us a little angst. It has now broken down completely and the Buildings Committee along with Jeremy are working hard to assess the right kind of heating system to replace the present one and how we get the process sorted with the diocese as we shall need a faculty to do the work. Whatever happens, we shall ensure the church has adequate temporary heating if necessary, but you might need your woollies if the installation is delayed.

Bracknell Bowling
All the young people of our parish are welcome to our bowling evening at Bracknell on 15th October at 7pm followed by Jacket potatoes at Langley Hall. We hope to discover what the young people would like to see provided for them in terms of youth clubs.
As a follow up to this event on the 21st November the Diocesan Youth adviser is visiting us at Langley Hall . We do hope that as many people as possible will support the afternoon as we plan for our youth work.

Choir Request
We no longer have a choir to sing at weddings in Holy Trinity and we wondered if there are a few people who currently do not sing in the choir that would be prepared to form a wedding choir. We need a choir about 6/7 times a year and there would be payment – not a lot but some! Please have a word with either Geoffrey or David if you are interested.

Canal Cruise
The Canal Cruise was a great success this year and we were blessed with fine weather. We enjoyed the Black Country Museum and we got our picture in the local paper and in a Canal Magazine. There are many stories to tell and lots of happy memories. We are thinking about next year and we have earmarked the week 23rd – 30th July, Steve Richards will circulate details later on.

David

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News from Holy Trinity

Church Tower
The repairs to the tower have now been completed and our grateful thanks go to Graham Dives for organising all the arrangements. We are proceeding with our application for listed building status and we are grateful for the help David Elen has given us. Did you know that the same man who designed Olympia in West London designed Holy Trinity Church?

Working Party
On Saturday 9th October we shall have a working morning both in the grounds and inside the church. Can you spare an hour any time from 8.30am until 11.30am to do a little bit towards tidying up the whole site. Malcolm Taylor will be giving details as to what tools are needed, but rakes, secateurs, shears, and electric hedge cutters would be useful.

Harvest Festival
The magazine is written before the harvest festival but many thanks to those who are involved in the preparation of the harvest supper and the service.

Altar Service Book
Marjorie Briggs has written the names of donors and those who are specially remembered in the new Altar Service Book used for the 1662 service. Our grateful thanks to her and all who have contributed to the provision of the book. We asked the ‘8 O’Clockers’ if they wanted 1662 every week, and whilst one or two did, the majority gave us no clear cut answer, so we have decided to stick with the current arrangements and have the 1662 service on the 1st Sunday of the month.

Cherie Sherwill
We say goodbye to Cherie Sherwill this month who is going off to Lancaster University to read Psychology. Our grateful thanks to her for all her faithful service in the choir over many years. A number of young people did amazingly well in their recent exams and we congratulate them on their achievements.

COSTCO
If you are arranging events that require catering, the parish now belongs to the trading hypermarket COSTCO in Reading. Call the office if you would like to have details – they sell virtually everything!

David

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News from St Andrew's

Skittles Evening
30 people of all ages shared an evening of skittles at the beginning of September. The first game involved two teams trying to score the highest total and this was followed by a game called 'Killer', a game of knockout. Basically if you missed the skittles on three occasions you were 'killed'. Young Lucy Byron-Guest certainly seemed to enjoy this game, surviving much
longer than myself and many others. Thank you to Bernard and Sarah for planning the skittles games and ordering the pub food. A lovely evening was had by all.

CRoW
Thank you to Len Barrett, Sarah Groombridge and Jessica Smith for walking and cycling around churches in Berkshire to raise money for the churches. Thank you also to the people who gave walkers and cyclists a cup of tea and a biscuit as they visited our church.

St. Andrew's and Bracknell Methodist links Harvest Celebrations
By the time this magazine is read the two congregations will have shared in another Harvest supper at Shepherds Lane Methodist church. Following last years successful evening Brian Davies and his Jazz band will be playing their tunes for us and Bernard will be test our general knowledge.

Bible Study
In November we will be sharing a bible study with our Methodist friends starting with lunch and discussing a part of the bible over 4 weeks leading up to Advent. Although this is planned by the two churches anyone from other congregations are welcome to share in the bible study and lunch. More
details will follow in the weekly bulletin and next months magazine.

Wholeness and Healing
On the morning of 17th October at 10.30am we will celebrate the Feast of St. Luke and the Eucharist will have the theme of wholeness and healing. There will be an opportunity to receive the Laying on of Hands and anointing as well as praying for those who we know are in need of our prayers. The following day the 18th October at 7.30pm St. Andrew's there will be a Team service organised by the Wholeness and Healing group celebrating wholeness in the community. 300 groups from the community who are involved in the care and welfare of people in the community are invited to share in a simple service followed by refreshments. Last year the sharing of information by the various groups was very helpful.

Water Aid
Again by the time you read this magazine St. Andrew's will have been raising money for Water Aid our Harvest charity this year supporting those people throughout the world who lack clean water.

Jocks Lane Trains
Continuing the theme of fund raising the annual Jocks Lane Train rides will have taken place. News as to how these two events went will be in next months magazine.

100 Birthday Congratulations
Congratulations to Irene Sainsbury, one of our worshippers of many years. Irene reached the remarkable age of 100 on Harvest Festival day 19th September. Until fairly recently Irene was still walking to our Coffee mornings and Sunday morning worship. Congratulations on reaching such a wonderful age Irene.

Fr Jeremy

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News from St Paul's

Let’s Get Together
As I write this, our wonderful new kitchen is being fitted, thanks to the generosity, efforts and enthusiasm of our members and with this in mind I would like to approach you with the following………………….

At our last Elders/DCC meeting it was agreed we would form a social committee comprising members from both St Paul's congregations. The enthusiasm for this initiative has been very encouraging and it has become obvious that this is an area that members feel passionate about! Ann Woods is the contact for the Anglican side of things and I am doing the same for the URC. Several people have already indicated they are interested in joining the committee and if we can gather together a fair sized team, the task will be spread lightly over many, not falling heavily on just one or two people. Hopefully this will also generate a broader range of ideas for joint social and/or fundraising events. We know that some members are able to offer a great deal of experience and skill in this field but also in great demand will be enthusiasm, adaptability and some good ideas! We do hope to get an initial meeting together in a couple of weeks time so if you're interested in attempting to re-invent the social life of St Paul's and perhaps even raising some much needed funds at the same time PLEASE either add your name to the list on the notice board in the hall or let me or Anne Woods know.

Ann Baker. 01344 459596

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Parish Register

Please remember them all in your prayers

Baptisms

We welcome into the God's family

Holy Trinity

Adam Arthur Bailey	Jasmine Leigh Mullenger
Amelia Jasmine Birch	Joshua Dean Mullenger
Stephanie Leah Blundell	Ryan Okor
James Edward Dijzel	Katherine Louise Skibinski
Oliver Richard Dijzel	William Shaun Skibinski
Thomas Henry Dijzel	Louise Emily Tomlinson
Emma Carol Horn	Jay Andrew Young
Harrison Jack Knight

St Andrew's
Jasper Mitchell Chambers
Ethan Reuben Hawkins

Funerals

We commit to God's care

David Hodgetts	Aged 66
Marjorie Bell	Aged 71
Kenneth Smith	Aged 72
Evelyn (Eve) McClean	Aged 73
Iris Tibble	Aged 76
Eileen Robinson	Aged 77
Kathleen Morris	Aged 83
Leonard Taylor	Aged 84
Winifred Smith	Aged 85
Cyril Alexander Gooden	Aged 89
Constance (Connie) Sharp	Aged 90
William (Bill) Walker	Aged 92

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October Diary

This can be found in For your Diary...

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October 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.

Deuteronomy 7:7-9
There are Bible passages that sum up, in a few lines, a powerful and essential teaching. One of these is found in Deuteronomy 7. Speaking to the assembly of the people of Israel, Moses tells how God “set his heart” on them and “chose” them. God “redeemed” them from slavery and will continue to love those who “love him and keep his commandments.”

To “set one’s heart on” and “choose” someone means uniting our life to theirs. It means sharing someone’s fate because we want what is good for them, because their future matters to us. What has motivated this concern of God’s, says Moses, is love, a love that looks beyond outward appearances, for Israel was not a powerful or prestigious nation but rather an unimpressive one, “the smallest of all,” says the text.

“To redeem”: God showed his love by turning their destiny around, by an act of liberation. Moses says that by doing this God “kept the oath which he swore to your ancestors” (v. 8), a reference to the Book of Genesis and to the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This love is not a passing fancy. It is something lasting; it remains faithful.

“To love God and keep his commandments.” For true love to be possible, there must be reciprocity. God’s love calls for a response. According to Moses, this response has two aspects. On the one hand it means “loving God”—being loved by God leads us to recognize what love is and to love in return the living Wellspring of all love, God himself. And secondly, it means “keeping his commandments”—letting God love us leads us to love others, to love them as God loves. In the Bible, the calls to love God and to love others will always be linked, as they are in this text, in the memory of a precarious nation that nonetheless was loved and saved. God’s love is recognized first and foremost by our attitude towards the weak, towards those who are defenceless.

In what events and people can I see signs of God’s liberating activity?

Where can we recognize God’s love in our life? How does that love grow in us?

Who is “weak” or “defenceless” around me, among my family and friends, in my neighbourhood?

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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