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Godly Play
Jenny Hyson, the Diocesan Youth Co-ordinator, came to St John's
last year to take a course for Sunday School leaders. One of
the sessions was on Godly Play. This is a new approach aimed
at creating an atmosphere in which children can experience a
deeper sense of worship.
The Diocese now has a room dedicated to Godly Play in Abingdon
and has encouraged all the Churches to go and see the Godly Play
Centre there.
Some of our Sunday School Leaders were also inspired by the principles
and approach of Godly Play. They obtained some of the reference
books and thought about how it might be applied at St John's.
At the heart of the Godly Play approach, is the use of a set
of biblical characters, normally made out of wood. Incredibly,
we found that one of our congregation, David Butler, is skilled
in turning wood and he offered to make us a complete set of the
figures. They are in production now. There are about 50 different
characters, including angels, sheep, disciples, a donkey etc.
We even have a boat!
We have also purchased some felt cloths which make the backgrounds
to the stories. We have yellow cloth for the desert, green for
the hillside and blue for the sea. We have trees and bushes and
rocks.
We are preparing a set of scripts for the various Bible stories
that we can tell to the children using these figures.
The children in Sunday School are of a wide range of ages (3-11).
We will use the figures in different ways, depending on their
level of understanding. The younger children will actually "play"
with them - they will be safe to handle and non-toxic of course.
Older children may learn and retell the stories to others using
the figures, much as the early Christians did.
The Godly Play text books recount some wonderful reactions of
children who have experienced the approach. We hope to have some
stories of our own when we start using these beautiful figures
to help us explain God's word.
We hope that the figures will soon be on display in the hall
and be available for use as appropriate.
Ken Perrett
Patronal Festival and Summer Buffet
Thank you to the social committee for organising a splendid and
sunny summer buffet. Thank you also, Brian and Pat, for the use
of your garden. We were pleased to welcome the Right Rev Michael
Perham, Bishop of Gloucester, as our preacher and guest. He was
an ordinand from Crowthorne and his sermon included his recollections
of his time here.
Copy for Newsletter
Please send to richard@ireson.org
by 25 August 2005
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BRIAN SPENCE
Brian's ministry at
St John's is coming to an end after nearly 20 years of unstinting
service to the parish and people of Crowthorne. We are deeply
grateful for all his efforts and the quality of his ministry
and preaching. We offer Brian and Pat every good wish for the
future and hope that they enjoy their new home and life together
in Brian's retirement post.
They are moving to:
St Mark's House,
Englefield, Reading, RG7 5EP
They have asked that their friends from Crowthorne keep in touch
as they are not that far away. In particular Brian would be pleased
to see us at his
Licensing Service at 7pm Sunday 11th September at St Mark's,
Englefield.
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Future Ministry arrangements
Brian Spence formally
remains the Vicar of Crowthorne until the end of July. The Parish
will follow Church practice and not take any formal or public
steps to seek a replacement until then. The Churchwardens and
PCC are, however, actively planning for a succession (the September
St John's News will give more detail). During the interregnum
they will ensure that services and parish activities continue
as normal. It is hoped that most parishioners will notice little
difference to them.
The Calendar shows the celebrants
for the principal services during July and August. LLMs will
take Sunday evensong. Wednesday morning's 10am communion will
be communion by extension (LLMs), but Rev Gerald Shaw will celebrate
communion on the 4th Wednesday of the month.
On Tuesday 5th July at 8pm
members are invited to our Social evening, which will be held
in the Church Hall. As usual there will be a splendid meal and
the cost will be £7.
On Wednesday 13th July at 2.15pm
it will be our annual Garden Party. However, as it is so close
to the 10th July which is the national day of commemoration of
the 60th anniversary of VE and VJ days, it has been decided to
have a "Street Party" in the Hall! So if you have any
photos or wartime memorabilia of VE and VJ parties, please bring
them along and you are also invited to wear red, white and blue!
The Prayer Meeting will be on Monday 18th July at 9.30am and
Corporate Communion on Wednesday 27th July at 10am, both in the
Lady Chapel.
We do not have any meetings
in August, but the Prayer Meeting will be on Monday 15th August
at 9.30 and Corporate Communion will be on Wednesday 24th August
at 10am. Here is an advance notice for your diaries: on Sunday
11th September at the 10am service, Fleur Dorrell from Mary Sumner
House will give a talk to promote the work of the Mothers' Union.
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