Editor’s letter November 2010
Dear Friends
There is a lot of doom and gloom about but good news is still out there! The sight of the miners being rescued was show to behold and the fact that so many were praying for their safe escape and that to many their faith in God kept them going during their long time waiting to be rescued especially for the 17 days before contact was made with them
Other good news stories are that in Niger we have been able to fund another 35 water wells and a new supply of seeds which will expand the crop growing project which did so well for them during the recent famine.
The money raised for Pakistan ( over £30K at the Town Hall) is currently being spent to provide filtered clean water : we are also sponsoring another 80 cataract operations in Northern Pakistan which will give 80 people the ability to see again and allow them to earn a living and cease begging.
I got a surprise call from a lady called Nita Elmufti who I had not heard from for 20 years ago when I directly assisted the release of her doctor husband from a Libyan jail where he had been ‘left to rot’ in the words of Gaddafi for questioning the corruption in local health projects. I ghosted a letter form the cast of ‘ Yes Minister’ and sent to Gaddafi who was addicted to that programme and so reversed the sentence and released him. I just happened to be listening to desert island discs where Paul Eddington was the castaway and he mentioned about Gaddafi so liking that programme. ! Strange how these coincidences show a way out of such difficult situations!
God can show us the way many times in mysterious ways
Regards
Ian
Friday, October 29, 2010
November News
Notices November 2010
Pulpit Arrangements Services start at 11.0 am
Sunday 7th November Gilbert Rowley
Sunday 14th November Rev Franziska Herring
Remembrance Sunday start 10.45am
Sunday 21st November Frank Clare
Sunday 28th November Ges Murray
Communion
You will be most welcome to join us.
Porch and Offertory
Judy Sumner Lillian Mason
Elder Duty
Ges Murray
Communion Servers
Kath and Maurice Phillips
Coffee Rota
7th November Audrey Wright
14th November Sheila Wooton and Doreen Boucher
21st November Cynthia Murray
28th November Gwen Smith
Pulpit Arrangements Services start at 11.0 am
Sunday 7th November Gilbert Rowley
Sunday 14th November Rev Franziska Herring
Remembrance Sunday start 10.45am
Sunday 21st November Frank Clare
Sunday 28th November Ges Murray
Communion
You will be most welcome to join us.
Porch and Offertory
Judy Sumner Lillian Mason
Elder Duty
Ges Murray
Communion Servers
Kath and Maurice Phillips
Coffee Rota
7th November Audrey Wright
14th November Sheila Wooton and Doreen Boucher
21st November Cynthia Murray
28th November Gwen Smith
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
More October news
Other Dates for your October diary
6th October Elders Meeting 7.30pm.
7th October F & M Meeting 7.30pm.
9th October Synod Meeting
11th October Coffee Morning 11.00am.
11th October Harvest Supper 7.00pm.
25th October Coffee Morning 11.00am.
31st October Joint Service at Hatherton 11.00am.
1st November Child Protection Meeting 7.30pm.
Brownie meetings
Thursday evening 6pm to 7.30pm
Girls between ages of 7 to 10 years
For details please ring Fiona 01922 685063
Or Yvonne on 01922 682078
Brownies is the only uniformed organisation to meet on Thursdays..
This month the Church will be praying especially for the people who live in the following streets :
Victoria Avenue , Hamilton Str, Ryle Str, Field Str, Ingram Rd and Place
Shoeboxes for Europe
Although Christmas is a few months away, it is time to start thinking about filling shoeboxes for children who otherwise would not have anything for Christmas.
Operation Christmas Child is 20 years old this year so it would be wonderful if we could send a few extra boxes this year to celebrate and also make this Christmas a happier one for a few more children.
To make it easier I thought I would bring some things suitable for boxes to church for sale so you do not have to fill a whole box on your own but together we shall end up with more filled boxes to send.
I have wrapped quite a few boxes up during the year but we still need more, so if you do have any medium sized shoe boxes please bring them to the church
Many thanks
Jill Langford and Jean Harper
6th October Elders Meeting 7.30pm.
7th October F & M Meeting 7.30pm.
9th October Synod Meeting
11th October Coffee Morning 11.00am.
11th October Harvest Supper 7.00pm.
25th October Coffee Morning 11.00am.
31st October Joint Service at Hatherton 11.00am.
1st November Child Protection Meeting 7.30pm.
Brownie meetings
Thursday evening 6pm to 7.30pm
Girls between ages of 7 to 10 years
For details please ring Fiona 01922 685063
Or Yvonne on 01922 682078
Brownies is the only uniformed organisation to meet on Thursdays..
This month the Church will be praying especially for the people who live in the following streets :
Victoria Avenue , Hamilton Str, Ryle Str, Field Str, Ingram Rd and Place
Shoeboxes for Europe
Although Christmas is a few months away, it is time to start thinking about filling shoeboxes for children who otherwise would not have anything for Christmas.
Operation Christmas Child is 20 years old this year so it would be wonderful if we could send a few extra boxes this year to celebrate and also make this Christmas a happier one for a few more children.
To make it easier I thought I would bring some things suitable for boxes to church for sale so you do not have to fill a whole box on your own but together we shall end up with more filled boxes to send.
I have wrapped quite a few boxes up during the year but we still need more, so if you do have any medium sized shoe boxes please bring them to the church
Many thanks
Jill Langford and Jean Harper
October news
Notices October 2010
Pulpit Arrangements Services start at 11.0 am
Sunday 3rd October Anton Baker
Sunday 10th October Rev Franziska Herring
Sunday 17th October Ges Murray
Sunday 24th October Joan Winterbottom
Sunday 31st October Joint service with Broadway ( 11am) no service at Blakenall
You will be most welcome to join us.
Porch and Offertory
Elder Duty
Kath Phillips
Communion Servers
Ges Murray and Ian Robertson
Coffee Rota
3rd October Cynth Murray
10th October Kath Phillips
17th October Liilian Mason
24th October Chris Moorhouse
31st October at Broadway
Editor’s letter October 2010
Dear Friends
I have been lucky to have been away on holiday in September.. Celebrating Ruby wedding anniversary in Italy.
One memorable experience was the Sunday service at a monastery in the hills on Tuscany.. All in Gregorian chant…
Now back home, back to work!
Our project in Niger to provide water wells and seeds is going very well and has saved lives at a time of famine; we have sent more funds to expand this project to cover a wider area and more people.
Fund raising for Pakistan has installed water purification plants and hot food distribution with a successful fund raining event at Walsall Town Hall raising over £30000 to directly help the victims of those floods.
We also will fund more cataract operations .. Each one frees the patient from dependency on begging with their new sight giving them the ability to earn a living.
While away on that holiday ! I read again the story of William Wilberforce born in the same city of Hull as myself… such dedication to the cause of abolition of slavery… it seems amazing now that we at that time we used our fellow human beings as slaves and treated them so dreadfully. However he did not give up and as a Christian he soldiered on despite initially overwhelming odds .. I am sure we all can in our small way gain inspiration from such heroes and work against evil large and small that threatens our world.
Hope we can support the efforts of Jean and Jill to supply shoe boxes for Christmas to those who have nothing
Regards
Ian
Ian
Dear Friends,
As I write, the visit of Pope Benedict to Britain has just ended. What have you made of this visit? We’ve had anxiety over security and the cost to the taxpayer, publicity for the failings of the church and for the way a saint is made, and we’ve had tens of thousands of people coming together to worship God.
But what has it meant to us Christians in the United Reformed Church?
There was a time when the differences between the Roman Catholics and us would have come to mind over and above anything else: Priests abusing children – couldn’t happen in our church, not because we are faultless, but because we don’t have priest!
Nowadays, the process of Christian Unity is enabling us to meet with our brothers and sisters in other parts of the Church and to recognise in all areas true faith and honest attempts to follow Jesus. Nowadays, we have Christian friends everywhere; we worship together and even exchange pulpits on a regular basis. Nowadays we know that the differences stem mainly from the way we organise our church lives. John Henry Newman was reported to have converted to Roman Catholicism because he felt the need to be in a church with a clear structure and clear lines of command.
Among Roman Catholics, people who dedicate their entire lives to the service of God are set aside as priests. They become intermediaries between God and lay people and help with the church’s task of interpreting the Bible for today’s generation. As they rise in the ranks, their responsibilities of discerning the will of God and listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit increase until one man(!) per generation is deemed to be so perfect in his discernment of God’s will that his word is everybody’s command.
In the United Reformed Church, we have plenty of people who dedicate their lives to the service of God. We may yearn for some firmer leadership, but we don’t have priests. The reason for this is our Free Church interpretation of the Bible when it comes to the gospel accounts of the death of Jesus that the curtain in the temple was torn in two. We believe this means that the death of Jesus has once and for all done away with the separation between believers and God: now we all have access to God directly and no longer need priests or saints to pray for us.
In the United Reformed Church, we take the idea of the priesthood of all believers so seriously, that we have done away with any kind of hierarchy. Each and every one of us can pray to God and expect an answer. Each and every one of us can read the Bible for ourselves and, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, discern its truth for our generation. What a privilege and what a responsibility!
As we are all fallible and prone to listen to our selfish will more intently than to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we recognise that leadership of God’s Church can only be undertaken by a group of Christians who get together to discern the Spirit’s guidance. That is our Church Meeting! On becoming a church member, every single one of us has pledged to make attendance at Church Meetings as much of a priority as attendance at worship – and we need every one to be there, simply because we don’t have a Pope to tell us how to order our affairs.
God bless you all,
Franziska
Pulpit Arrangements Services start at 11.0 am
Sunday 3rd October Anton Baker
Sunday 10th October Rev Franziska Herring
Sunday 17th October Ges Murray
Sunday 24th October Joan Winterbottom
Sunday 31st October Joint service with Broadway ( 11am) no service at Blakenall
You will be most welcome to join us.
Porch and Offertory
Elder Duty
Kath Phillips
Communion Servers
Ges Murray and Ian Robertson
Coffee Rota
3rd October Cynth Murray
10th October Kath Phillips
17th October Liilian Mason
24th October Chris Moorhouse
31st October at Broadway
Editor’s letter October 2010
Dear Friends
I have been lucky to have been away on holiday in September.. Celebrating Ruby wedding anniversary in Italy.
One memorable experience was the Sunday service at a monastery in the hills on Tuscany.. All in Gregorian chant…
Now back home, back to work!
Our project in Niger to provide water wells and seeds is going very well and has saved lives at a time of famine; we have sent more funds to expand this project to cover a wider area and more people.
Fund raising for Pakistan has installed water purification plants and hot food distribution with a successful fund raining event at Walsall Town Hall raising over £30000 to directly help the victims of those floods.
We also will fund more cataract operations .. Each one frees the patient from dependency on begging with their new sight giving them the ability to earn a living.
While away on that holiday ! I read again the story of William Wilberforce born in the same city of Hull as myself… such dedication to the cause of abolition of slavery… it seems amazing now that we at that time we used our fellow human beings as slaves and treated them so dreadfully. However he did not give up and as a Christian he soldiered on despite initially overwhelming odds .. I am sure we all can in our small way gain inspiration from such heroes and work against evil large and small that threatens our world.
Hope we can support the efforts of Jean and Jill to supply shoe boxes for Christmas to those who have nothing
Regards
Ian
Ian
Dear Friends,
As I write, the visit of Pope Benedict to Britain has just ended. What have you made of this visit? We’ve had anxiety over security and the cost to the taxpayer, publicity for the failings of the church and for the way a saint is made, and we’ve had tens of thousands of people coming together to worship God.
But what has it meant to us Christians in the United Reformed Church?
There was a time when the differences between the Roman Catholics and us would have come to mind over and above anything else: Priests abusing children – couldn’t happen in our church, not because we are faultless, but because we don’t have priest!
Nowadays, the process of Christian Unity is enabling us to meet with our brothers and sisters in other parts of the Church and to recognise in all areas true faith and honest attempts to follow Jesus. Nowadays, we have Christian friends everywhere; we worship together and even exchange pulpits on a regular basis. Nowadays we know that the differences stem mainly from the way we organise our church lives. John Henry Newman was reported to have converted to Roman Catholicism because he felt the need to be in a church with a clear structure and clear lines of command.
Among Roman Catholics, people who dedicate their entire lives to the service of God are set aside as priests. They become intermediaries between God and lay people and help with the church’s task of interpreting the Bible for today’s generation. As they rise in the ranks, their responsibilities of discerning the will of God and listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit increase until one man(!) per generation is deemed to be so perfect in his discernment of God’s will that his word is everybody’s command.
In the United Reformed Church, we have plenty of people who dedicate their lives to the service of God. We may yearn for some firmer leadership, but we don’t have priests. The reason for this is our Free Church interpretation of the Bible when it comes to the gospel accounts of the death of Jesus that the curtain in the temple was torn in two. We believe this means that the death of Jesus has once and for all done away with the separation between believers and God: now we all have access to God directly and no longer need priests or saints to pray for us.
In the United Reformed Church, we take the idea of the priesthood of all believers so seriously, that we have done away with any kind of hierarchy. Each and every one of us can pray to God and expect an answer. Each and every one of us can read the Bible for ourselves and, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, discern its truth for our generation. What a privilege and what a responsibility!
As we are all fallible and prone to listen to our selfish will more intently than to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we recognise that leadership of God’s Church can only be undertaken by a group of Christians who get together to discern the Spirit’s guidance. That is our Church Meeting! On becoming a church member, every single one of us has pledged to make attendance at Church Meetings as much of a priority as attendance at worship – and we need every one to be there, simply because we don’t have a Pope to tell us how to order our affairs.
God bless you all,
Franziska
Friday, September 3, 2010
editor
August 2010
I am sure those who watched the programme on Haiti would have been concerned that most of the aid promised from the major agencies has not got there mainly because of Government red tape. It has been my experience that often raising the donations is much easier than the business of transporting or transferring the aid to the right place and to the right people in need, which is why I have always taken the principle to look after that side with great diligence , aiming support to areas that the major agencies do not reach… small communities off the main routes and build very direct links with that local community often using trusted partner charities to ensure sustainable follow up support and communication..
We have planned support with our partner organisation in Walsall to provide cataract camps in the hills of northern Pakistan in October and in Walsall provide the usual free meal at sunset at St pauls probably on 10th September where Christians will join our Muslim friends to give out an outdoor meal to those invited disadvantaged in Walsall.
Other projects will involve a health project in Malawi and more water wells with seed provision in Niger… that project has been very successful in an area currently nearly in famine conditions..
I have been a bit busy with my daughter’s wedding this month which did go well. It is to me magical when two people make those vows before God and two families also come together...sadly the numbers marrying is falling…
However we must as a church outreach to especially those young people who unfortunately see religion ( and politics!) as not relevant to their future. I hope at Blakenall we can be guided to find a successful way to attract this part of the community
we celebrate 40 years this year… maybe the secret is always to have the last word…’yes dear’ I hope we all enjoy the summer break.
Regards
Ian
Editor… links to web sites and newsletters are as follows
http://www.stone-home.demon.co.uk/
August notices
Notices August 2010
Pulpit Arrangements Services start at 11.0 am
Sunday 1st August Ges Murray
Sunday 8th August Ges Murray
Sunday 15th August Cynthia Dunn
Sunday 22nd August Ges Murray
Sunday 29th August Rev Franziska Herring Communion
You will be most welcome to join us.
Porch and Offertory
Bernard and Audrey Wright
Elder Duty
Ms Wayde Taylor
Communion Servers
Kath Phillips and Jean Harper
Coffee Rota
1st August Cynth Murray
8th August Sheila Wooten and Doreen Boucher
15th August Ray and Chris Moorhouse
22nd August Lilian Mason
29th August Kath Phillips
Friday, August 20, 2010
August newsletter
Notices August 2010
Pulpit Arrangements Services start at 11.0 am
Sunday 1st August Ges Murray
Sunday 8th August Ges Murray
Sunday 15th August Cynthia Dunn
Sunday 22nd August Ges Murray
Sunday 29th August Rev Franziska Herring Communion
You will be most welcome to join us.
Porch and Offertory
Bernard and Audrey Wright
Elder Duty
Ms Wayde Taylor
Communion Servers
Kath Phillips and Jean Harper
Coffee Rota
1st August Cynth Murray
8th August Sheila Wooten and Doreen Boucher
15th August Ray and Chris Moorhouse
22nd August Lilian Mason
29th August Kath Phillips
I am sure those who watched the programme on Haiti would have been concerned that most of the aid promised from the major agencies has not got there mainly because of Government red tape. It has been my experience that often raising the donations is much easier than the business of transporting or transferring the aid to the right place and to the right people in need, which is why I have always taken the principle to look after that side with great diligence , aiming support to areas that the major agencies do not reach… small communities off the main routes and build very direct links with that local community often using trusted partner charities to ensure sustainable follow up support and communication..
We have planned support with our partner organisation in Walsall to provide cataract camps in the hills of northern Pakistan in October and in Walsall provide the usual free meal at sunset at St pauls probably on 10th September where Christians will join our Muslim friends to give out an outdoor meal to those invited disadvantaged in Walsall.
Other projects will involve a health project in Malawi and more water wells with seed provision in Niger… that project has been very successful in an area currently nearly in famine conditions..
I have been a bit busy with my daughter’s wedding this month which did go well. It is to me magical when two people make those vows before God and two families also come together...sadly the numbers marrying is falling…
However we must as a church outreach to especially those young people who unfortunately see religion ( and politics!) as not relevant to their future. I hope at Blakenall we can be guided to find a successful way to attract this part of the community
we celebrate 40 years this year… maybe the secret is always to have the last word…’yes dear’ I hope we all enjoy the summer break.
Regards
Ian
Editor… links to web sites and newsletters are as follows
http://www.stone-home.demon.co.uk/
Reacting to Disasters
Whenever there is a disaster in the world, we find ourselves both troubled by the suffering and loss of life involved and by the questions asked about why God allows such things to happen.
There are no ‘easy’ answers, as Job was to discover as he struggled with the catastrophes that overtook him and his family. Of course his friends were convinced that he was being deliberately punished by God. But their understanding was discredited by God himself, who declared they had “not spoken of me what is right” (Job 42:7).
Many years later, the Lord Jesus Christ was asked about the massacre of Galileans in Jerusalem by Roman soldiers. The case of the Tower of Siloam, also in Jerusalem, was also fresh in their minds. It had collapsed and killed eighteen people. Jesus asks the rhetorical question: “Do you think that [the people who suffered] were worse sinners than all other men?” He provides the answer: “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5).
Monday 9th August 11am Coffee Morning
Monday 23rd August 11am Coffee Morning
For those of you who wish to have a go at the internet!!!
Updated news on
blakenallurc.blogspot.com
You can also leave comments there.
Broadway has a web site at
www.stone-home.demon.co.uk
Brownie meetings
Thursday evening 6pm to 7.30pm
Girls between ages of 7 to 10 years
For details please ring Fiona 01922 685063
Or Yvonne on 01922 682078
Brownies is the only uniformed organisation to meet on Thursdays..
This month the Church will be praying especially for the people who live in the following streets :
Woodhall House and Woodhall Street : Church Street : Church View Close : Usk Close
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