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Extracts
from St John's News - Jan 2004
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To share the news of the Gospel
in all the settings of work and leisure
To share our wealth and possessions with those in need
To give willingly of our time and abilities in Christian service |
In Lent St John's will run a major programme
Our Christian Challenge where we will take forward Christian
Stewardship in all its forms. We will be seeking involvement
from everyone in the Parish. Each week the Sunday sermons will
introduce the week's theme. Themes will include: Being the Church;
Discipleship; Christian Standards; Stewardship; and, Mission.
The Programme will be launched on Sunday 22 February
and over the following six weeks it will explore each of the
campaign's themes culminating in a Thanksgiving service on Palm
Sunday, 4 April.
The main part of the programme will be Housegroups that will
give everyone the opportunity to participate in Our Christian
Challenge. The groups will start in the first week of March and
will last for five weeks. There will be a wide choice of groups:
it is planned to run a group on each weekday evening, Tuesday
and Thursday afternoons, and Saturday morning. Now is the time
to think about which group might suit you and to put the dates
in your diaries (remember groups run between 1 March and
the 3 April).
The Housegroups will be important to the success of the programme.
We are looking for at least TEN leaders for the above groups.
Full training and preparation will be provided. Anyone who is
interested, or who would like to know more about what it might
involve, please contact Brian Spence ( 772413)
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Bible Discussion House
Groups
Would you like to know more about the
Bible?
Do you find it hard to find the time to read the Bible?
Would you like to meet other members of the congregation?
Yes?
Then join one of our new house
groups, which are being set up to study the Parables. Over fifty
of us enjoyed the fellowship of these groups in 2003.
We will be using a booklet costing £3.50 as a basis for
our discussions. There are 12 studies, which will be divided
into 2 blocks of 6 weeks. The first block will start in the week
commencing 5th January with the second half starting after Easter.
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Times and leaders for the groups are: |
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Tuesday 2pm (Full) |
Irene and Lewis Simmons |
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Tuesday 8pm |
Tom Jasper |
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Wednesday 10.15am |
June Lee |
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Wednesday 8pm |
Irene Wright |
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Saturday 9am |
Rev Brian Spence |
It is envisaged that the discussion about
the Parables will last an hour and that tea/coffee will be offered
to those who would like to stay on for a chat.
Booking forms are available in the foyer or contact the Vicar.
The booklets are available now.
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TOY SERVICE |
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Sunday 4th January
at 10.00 a.m.
This is a family service at which
children are most welcome.
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During the service we will collect good
toys etc. which you no longer require to take to PACT - our Church's
organisation that works with children and families.
Do come - bring your friends
and some toys!! |
PATHFINDERS
Pathfinders will be back in action after
the New Year, following the same timetable as Sunday School.
We have an action-packed programme to look forward to including:
preparations for our Pet Service (provisionally booked for 3pm
May 16) - we will be doing some serious pooper scooper training;
a long-overdue visit to CS Lewis' house in Oxford; and, subject
to support and ethusiasm, a repeat of last year's Questiontime.
We are also planning a new drama, The Last Supper, for the evening
of Palm Sunday - this will be a lively look at the final hours
leading up to Jesus' last shared meal with his disciples.
Pathfinders is open to anyone of secondary school age and meets
during the 10am service in the entrance hall of the church. Newcomers
are always welcome.
Pathfinders wakeover: On Saturday night 29 November the Pathfinders
had a sleepover at the church or should we call it a wakeover
because no one got to sleep. 14 of the Pathfinders went. There
was snooker to play, as well as table football and table tennis.
We had chips and then we watched a video. We went to bed at 2am.
It was difficult to get to sleep because there was a lot of noise
because people were enjoying themselves so much.
In the morning we got up and walked round to Yvonne's for a yummy
breakfast. We had hot dogs and toast. Then we walked to see Wellington
College to meet the Chaplain. He showed us round the College
Chapel, it was amazing. He also showed us the optical fibre display
that was amazing as well. We had a great time. Our thanks to
Nicky and Anna who organised the event.
Candlelight Supper
24 January 7pm for 7.30pm
Everyone welcome. This will be another fun meal for all the family
to be held in the Church Hall.
More details/tickets from the Social Committee. |
PRAYING FOR STREETS
Last year we were able to include prayer
requests from each of the streets in the Parish in our Sunday
services. In the preceding week we delivered leaflets asking
for prayer requests. Now we are starting the cycle again. In
January the streets covered will be:
On 11th January: The Avenue, Aldworth Gardens, Thornbury Close,
Lynham Road
On 19th January: Wellington Road, Mulberry Close, Coleridge Close,
Russsell House.
On 25th January: Church Road East, Kings Road, Albert Road, Albert
Walk.
A big thank you to everybody who has helped with this; people
in the office who have done the printing, people who have delivered
leaflets and all who have shared in the praying. We have covered
the whole parish over the past year. We have a new design of
leaflet for the New Year and hope that as many people will be
willing to help again. Also let the Vicar know if you have a
prayer request for someone in one of the streets above.
Eight
meets Ten at Nine
After last year's very successful breakfasts where worshippers
from the 8am and 10am services were able to meet and share a
breakfast at 9am, there will be another breakfast on 29 February.
Put the date in your diary now!
CHOIR NEWS
This is a busy season for the choir - and a wonderful time of
worship. We often have discussions among the choir members about
whether 'being in the choir' inhibits our ability to worship,
but our general conclusion is that singing is our own form of
worshipping God by serving Him with the talents He has given
us. So if there are any of you reading this who feel you have
a talent that you are not using (remembering the parable of the
talents...) do come and join us.
Our new choir director has been with us for nearly a year and
we have really appreciated her many talents. I am sure that the
congregation has noticed the difference too! We now sing an anthem
at nearly every Eucharist. We hope that those who came to the
service of Lessons and Carols enjoyed singing with us.
We have welcomed several new choristers into our stalls. One
now has his dark blue ribbon; and an adult has her red. Two other
adults are now officially ribboned in purple (Senior Bishop's
Choristers presented to +Richard in Oxford in November).
Here is one of the choir girl's acrostic for RSCM (Royal School
of Church Music to which we are affiliated):
R is for Reliable
S is for Skilled and Sociable
C is for Cheerful
M is for Musical talent
And a happy New Year to you all!
FAMILY FUN AFTERNOON
for families with children up to 11
years
Saturday 7 February
Hatch Ride School 4 to 6pm.
Children's Entertainer and all
the fun of a party.
Tickets now available £3 each or £11 per family
Please also bring a plate of simple party food. |
MAY FAIR
The May Fair Committee are due to start
their fun-filled, action-packed, suitably-provisioned (!!) meetings
once again after Christmas. The first meeting will be on Tuesday
6 January from 8pm. Please ask for location. All are welcome
and we will have some work for some new members - so if the grapevine
worked well last year you'll know that we intend enjoying these
meetings as much as the day itself! All are welcome, so come
along to enjoy some wine and whatever else we have left after
Christmas!
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THE
CAUSES SUPPORTED BY ST JOHN'S
At Christmas it is important to remember
those less fortunate. At St John's there are a number of Charities
that are supported. All the Christmas collections this year are
in aid of Helen House Hospice. The Christingle Service
was in aid of the Children's Society. The Toy Service
will aim to recycle toys through PACT. On 18th January
we will welcome a speaker from the Leprosy Mission. Below
is some background information about these.
Helen House,
in Oxford, was the first children's hospice in the world. It
has been running for 18 years under the leadership of Sister
Frances Dominica. Any family in need may apply for the special
care that Helen House can provide. Families who have a very sick
child usually want to look after their child at home, once hospital
no longer seems an appropriate place. However living with the
knowledge that their child will die puts an immeasurable strain
upon the whole family. It is an exhausting and lonely experience.
Helen House is a place where children and their families can
come to stay, and to find friendship and practical help.
The Children's Society
Christingle Service We celebrated
a wonderful Christingle service on the 7 December in St Johns
with many visitors joining us. The church always looks very special
when just lit by the Christingles and the children love parading
round with them - I think it is a bit more of a worry for the
adults though! Nearly everyone stayed for the tea, cakes and
mince pies after the service which gave us all a chance to mingle
and chat with people we did not know. I would like to say a big
thank you to all those who helped me assemble the Christingles,
we now have a very efficient production line going in my kitchen!
I would also like to thank the sides' people, those who marshal
the children round the church and especially a member of the
social committee who organised the tea after the service. It
makes a very warm and friendly end to a special Christmas service.
We raised £272.77 from the envelope collection of which,
with gift-aid, increased to over £300. A Christingle service
was also held at Broadmoor School and they sent a donation for
£23.00 - thank you.
Christmas Cards Once again I have sold out of The Children's
Society Christmas cards so a big thank you to all those of you
who bought cards. This is one of our major fundraisers during
the year. Just under £1,000 of cards were sold giving profit
to The Children's Society of over £600. Thank you too to
people who have opted for 'the one card for the whole church'
scheme and who have given donations, so far I have £92-19
to send.
The Children's Society does so much to help youngsters with all
sorts of problems from bullying to abuse, runaways and those
who have committed offences and need someone to help them understand
the legal processes that affect them. So at Christmas hopefully
we can feel that we have supported these children in some small
way.
The Leprosy Mission has been showing the love and compassion of Jesus
to leprosy suffers for almost 80 years. This ministry has been
to the poorest of the poor. Since 1982, when multidrug therapy
was introduced, over 11 million people have been cured (at an
average cost of £15). Most of these were treated before
they developed disabilities and were spared disability, disfigurement
and deformity. However leprosy is not a thing of the past and
it remains a public health problem in 15 of the world's poorest
countries.
PACT, Parents and Children Together, exists to ensure that the children and families
within the Diocese of Oxford have a highly professional family
support agency based on the Christian values of compassion, respect
for others and commitment to social justice. Coley PACT, in Reading,
provides a drop-in centre where parents can meet for a cup of
tea and a chat, share their problems and find new skills whilst
their children are in the Crèche.
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