The Magazine, October 2005 (Section 1)

Magazine Production Team
Deadline for November magazine: 15th October

Team News

St. Andrew’s
We have now had two congregational meetings at St Andrew’s and St Paul’s respectively. At St Andrew’s a lot of positive comments were made that have been put into the profile for the post of Team Vicar: both the congregation and Bishop Stephen have been most helpful to the Profile Group and all the documents can be seen on the parish website. The advertisement was in the Church Times twice last month and we will await interest and hopefully, applications. Short listing will be on 31st October and we have planned interviews for 15th and 16th November: on the evening of Tuesday, 15th November there will be an opportunity for the St Andrew’s District Council to meet the candidates informally, and the interviews proper will be on 16th November after tours of the parish.

St. Paul’s
The meeting at St Paul’s was of a different nature as we explore its future. There are some anxious voices, and some differing views at this stage. There were some telling points made by the congregation and these will be explored. However, St Paul’s will never be without a priest and the various options for the future will be fully discussed with the DCC and PCC as things unfold. It is unlikely that any early decision will be made, and certainly not before full consultations with all concerned.

Fresh Expressions
The Archbishop’s advisor on Fresh Expressions, the Revd Stephen Croft, came to see the Fresh Expressions group last month and was very helpful. He has produced a new pamphlet that we will give to all members of the DCCs and PCC so that they can be kept up to date with developments. We have also consulted the Cutting Edge initiative of the Diocese, a body which funds such projects, and we have also looked at an initiative in Sheffield where there is established Fresh Expressions work going on.
The group is committed to reporting to Bishop Stephen this month with firm proposals and the PCC meeting on 19th October has Fresh Expressions on its agenda. After that, we shall put in the November Magazine all that is being proposed.

Civic Service
The Mayor of Bracknell Forest Borough, Cllr Jacqui Ryder will be holding her Civic Service on Sunday October 2nd at 2.30pm in St Andrew’s Church. St Andrew’s is in the Mayor’s electoral ward and the choir and other members of the congregation will be sharing in the service.

Memorial Service
There will be a Memorial Service on Sunday afternoon, 30th October at 2.30pm in Holy Trinity for all those families for whom we have taken funerals in the last twelve months. This is a very popular service and one that is important to those who come to it. We shall need some help with the various duties, offers of help would be appreciated: there will be tea in the Langley Hall after the service.

Ranelagh School
The application process for entry into Ranelagh School in 2006 has begun and a meeting held in the Langley Hall last month. For applications to succeed it is important that the clergy know of your intentions and we also are willing to help in the process of applying.

St Luke’s Sunday
We shall be observing St Luke’s-tide on Sunday 16th October. The theme of all our services in all three churches will be wholeness and healing, there will be the laying on of hands offered at the same time for those who would wish this.

David

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News from Holy Trinity

Harvest Festival is Sunday October 2nd and our service will be at 10am as usual. At the service we shall be collecting goods for Ann Potts to take to her adopted school in Uganda: we are appealing for anything that could be used in a school and can be carried onto an aeroplane.
After the service there will be Harvest Lunch and tickets are on sale priced £2.50 for adults and £1 for children: this is a ‘bring and share’ lunch so you will need to sign up on the sheet at the back of church or see Helen if you are unable to do the shopping. Helen also has some nice pottery for sale that she has got from the Stoke factory outlets.
Then after the lunch, the Sunday School is going ice-skating!

Alarm System
The Diocesan Advisory Council has agreed we can have faculty for installing an alarm in the Church so we shall continue with that. The system is now ready in the Langley Hall with the fine-tuning taking place: the plans for a new kitchen are well advanced and we are getting estimates to repair the roof at the same time.

The application for listing status is coming along, and we have discovered some priceless material that Michael Jackson has come up with about the history of Holy Trinity. It is so good that we shall be making it into a booklet and copies will be on sale later.

The Holy Trinity Sale is on Saturday October 15th in the Tea House from 10am until 4pm. We would like each member of the congregation to donate one good item from their home for us to sell. Please look round and help us with this and bring it to church during this month. The sale will also be pottery on sale, cards from Margaret Smith and a tombola. Please see Debbie Dimmock for more details.

Choral Evensong
We had a very good Evensong last month to mark the 500th anniversary of Thomas Tallis and the service was much appreciated by all who came. We shall hold another Sung Evensong on Sunday 27th November at 6.30pm to mark the beginning of Advent.

Science and Religion
There will be series of House Groups this autumn on Science and Religion. They will be on Tuesdays in The Rectory starting at 7.30pm on Tuesday 18th October and running for 5 Tuesdays thereafter. We shall begin with a bit of potted history involving Charles Darwin and then move on to the contentious matters of cloning and embryonic research in later sessions. They are not highbrow or over intellectual, but will hopefully appeal to a number of people who would like to know more and understand the Christian perspectives.

Good-bye
Last month the choir sang Elin Davies' favourite anthem ' The Gaelic Blessing' to mark her going off to Cardiff University. We wish her well and many thanks for all that she has done and the many years she has been a member of the choir - she has been the soloist for example for 'Once in Royal' for some time now. Like her sister Bethan, we hope that she hasn't left us for good and that we shall continue to see them both in the choir stalls when they are here.

David

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News from St Andrew's

Farewells
September seems to have been the month for farewells. On the 9th of September over 60 people went to Father Jeremy’s licensing and installation at All Saints Boyne Hill in Maidenhead. It was a very moving service and it was a pleasure to see many of his past colleagues there to support him.
On the 18th September we said goodbye to John, Hema and Kissinger who are moving to a new home in Kent. We are very sorry to see them go and thank them for their friendship and contributions to the life of St. Andrew’s. Special thanks go to John for his work as District Warden and treasurer of the 100 club.

Congregation meeting.
After morning service on the 4th September the Reverend David Osborn chaired a meeting of the congregation which gave people the opportunity to express their views about the kind of priest they would like to see at St. Andrew’s. It was a very fruitful meeting and many of the suggestions will be incorporated into the profile which is being prepared for the applicants. We all need to pray that the right person will come forward.

District Warden
We are pleased to announce that Simon Sellick has agreed to take over the role of District warden. Simon is a long standing member of St Andrew’s congregation and choir. He has served as a District Warden before and we are very grateful that he is willing to assume that responsibility again.

Harvest Celebrations
Harvest Supper is on Saturday 24th September. As usual the Harvest Supper will be shared with our friends at Shepherd’s Lane Methodist Church.

The Harvest Festival Service will be on Sunday October 2nd.

Brenda Mullins
Parish Warden

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News from St Paul's

Autumn
As the autumn begins St Paul’s is looking forward to a busy season as we have our harvest celebrations, our parade service, our shared remembrance service and the anniversary of our Plan for Partnership all coming up within the next couple of months.
Most of these events are shared with the United Reformed Church, with the exception of our parade service because the URC do a Boy’s and Girl’s Brigade parade on the same day…usually resulting in about 300 people passing through the doors of St Paul’s in a morning!

Baptisms
St Paul’s has few baptisms and so we are delighted that three couple have chosen St Paul’s as the venue for their children’s baptism service. We look forward to welcoming Chloe Rance, Samuel Mason and Cerys Wilson into the Lord’s family at St Paul’s this autumn.

Changes
It is, of course, still a time for change at St Paul’s and we are still working through the implications that creating a ‘Fresh Expressions’ post within the Bracknell Team might mean for the congregation. The DCC will discuss the latest meetings the congregation have had about the subject and though some are excited about the prospect of liberating time, money and housing for mission, others are finding the prospect of change hard and we would value your prayers as we explore the implications of these

Future Events
In the meantime life goes on - so don’t forget:
‘Coffee and Cakes’, on the first Saturday of the month in St Paul’s church hall (get there early if you want a coffee walnut cake)
Small Time, on Thursdays from 9.30am. Coffee, chat and ‘time out’ for adults. Great fun for children with a bible story, songs creative activities and a chance to play

Catherine Blundell

PS The St. Paul’s Harvest services raised money for the Send-a-Cow charity.

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Parish Register

Please remember them all in your prayers

Baptisms

We welcome into the God's family

Holy Trinity
Jessica Oldham
Charles James Philpott
Samuel Edward Stone
Ellie Marie Todd

St Andrew's
Charlotte Elizabeth Baldwin
Lucy Ann Howarth

St Paul's
Aaron Steven Nsub

Funerals

We commit to God's care

Holy Trinity

Reginald Gow (Reg)	Aged 91
Irene Riddle (Rene)	Aged 90
John Jones	Aged 89
Robert Allen (Bob)	Aged 78
Michael Gurney (Mick)	Aged 46
Karris Morrison	stillborn

St Andrew's

Lilian Everard (Lil)	Aged 98
George Wise	Aged 90
Olive Dee (Myrtle)	Aged 80
Rose Uren	Aged 79
Lilian Talbot (Lily)	Aged 79
Roma Somner	Aged 74
Victor Barley (Vic)	Aged 74
James Williams	Aged 65
Michael Wallingham (Mick)	Aged 63
Josephine Harmer	Aged 62
John Talbot	Aged 54
James Cruikshanks (Jim)	Aged 50

St Paul's

Margaret Rosina Shrubb	Aged 88
Olive Lillian Wood	Aged 78
George Hall	Aged 76

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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.

Psalm 16
Someone who possesses nothing discovers he has everything because he has God. Psalm 16 could be summed up quite well in those words. The believer who expresses himself here undoubtedly possesses nothing because he belongs to the tribe of Levi, which did not receive its portion of the Promised Land, because that tribe was devoted to the service of God.

The fact of possessing nothing could have led to bitterness or to extreme insecurity. The author of the psalm discovers just the opposite. But when he says: “I bless the Lord who counsels me; even at night my inner being instructs me,” we can understand that the discovery was a progressive one. Everything may have begun with the awareness that something was lacking. It was in the night, gradually, that this person realized that he was filled. Now he is grasped by a clear conviction: his land is God. “My heritage is beautiful to me.”

A certainty? Perhaps. But also the awareness of great fragility, because what this believer can sing about so admirably—a fullness found in God—can only be grasped in faith, a faith that is necessarily vulnerable. That is why, on the threshold of a psalm filled with strong affirmations, he asks God to keep him firm in this faith: “Protect me; I have no good without you.”

In this psalm we have one of the rare texts in the First Testament that speaks of eternal life. It does not do so based on a creed that was handed down (in Israel no one yet dared make any clear statements on this subject), but by drawing the final consequences from the meaning of intimacy with God: if God is life and I am God’s friend, then God cannot abandon his friend in death. There is no speculation about life after death. The psalm is wonderstruck at a friendship, which is welcomed in all its fullness and escorts the believer to the gates of this discovery: “my flesh will dwell in confidence… joy to the full in your presence.”

- Have I sometimes understood better, in a situation of need, what possesses true value?

- What does it mean to say that God speaks to us in the night?

- How does this psalm help us better to understand the condition of believers?

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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