INFORM
NOVEMBER 2008

 

INFORM is the monthly magazine of the Methodist churches in
Foxton, Orwell, Papworth & Royston

                       

At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them

This is an extract from our magazine - if you would like to request a full copy of INFORM, please click on the cover picture on the left.

 

Links to articles in INFORM

 

From The Manse

 

Thursday at Eight

“Our Page”

 

Foxton

Orwell

Papworth

Royston

 

Services

 

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

 

 

NEXT ISSUE:  Items for the next issue of INFORM may be passed directly to the Editor not later than 13th November

 

CHURCH INFORMATION

 

FOXTON

Station Road
Service:       9.30am
Correspondent:      Mrs Janice Pepper

 

ORWELL

Town Green Road
Service:       10.15am
Correspondent:      Mr Jim Chapman

 

PAPWORTH

Church Lane
Service:       6.30pm.
Correspondent:      Mr Keith Easter

 

ROYSTON

Queen’s Road
Services:      10.00am & 6.30pm.
                   Junior Church 10.00am.     Crèche 10.00am.
Correspondent:      Mr Peter Stallard

 

 

MINISTER

 

The Minister for the four churches is:
                             Rev Ian Smart BSc., The Manse,
                             68 Melbourn Road, Royston, SG8 7DG

 

EDITOR

For further information about any item, activity or group
mentioned in this magazine, contact the Editor:
                             Mr Peter Stallard

 

Deputy Editor

                             Mr Richard Elcock

 

 

www.royston-methodist.org.uk

 

 

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Letter from the Manse

 

 

How well do you remember the 1960’s? As I was only born in 1963 I have to confess that the Beatles are a vague memory, and flower power was nothing but an excuse that my Mum used once to put flowered patches on the knees of my jeans when I wore them through. However, those memories that I do have, are supplemented by the television of that era which seems to live on, with shows such as The Prisoner, Thunderbirds, The Avengers and many others still gracing the schedules of the huge number of television channels that we now have available to us.

 

One show that you may remember is “The man from U.N.C.L.E.”. You may also remember that its ground breaking premise was that it starred Robert Vaughn and David McCallum as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, an American and a Russian agent who contrary to the global politics of the time, worked along with Leo G. Carroll who played Alexander Waverly, the British head of the U.N.C.L.E. organization, to take on the forces of THRUSH. THRUSH posed such a threat to the world that they needed to be tackled by all the world powers working together. And what was the threat that THRUSH posed that was so terrible? Well their aim was to conquer the world, and to impose their will on all the nations. Because, as Napoleon Solo himself said in one episode, "THRUSH believes in the two-party system: the masters and the slaves".

 

In case you were trying to remember, U.N.C.L.E. stood for “United Network Command for Law Enforcement”, and I have to say that I find the idea of a united global organisation that is committed to oppose a system of haves and have-nots really is one that I can warm to. What is so upsetting is to look at the world that we have now, forty years later and to see that we are in so many ways developing into a world of masters and slaves. The rich and powerful industrial nations of the west, specifying the trade rules that prevent the developing world from being able to get a fair price for their goods. The World Bank imposing on effectively bankrupted nations conditions which force them to do things in the way that the west wants them to; when it was often the policies of the those same western nations that bankrupted them in the first place. Despite the huge progress that the different fair trade organisations have made in the past few years, we know that this is a drop in the ocean of what is required for a truly fair and equal sharing of the good gifts that God has given us. Yes, we seem to live in a world of masters and slaves.

 

In terms of putting things right, we know that fair trade has an important part to play, but this is only part of the total solution that is needed. One of the other ways that the inequalities can be addressed is by helping people in the developing world to help themselves to become self-sufficient. This can be by their production of goods that can be sold in the west at western prices, with the money all being returned to them so that they may benefit fully from the fruits of their labours.

Likewise, if we can enable them to properly educate their children, this provides another route out of poverty, as it enables the setting up of better paying industry at home, and the migration of workers to better paying parts of the world, who can then in turn, send money back to bolster up the communities that they come from.

 

Our support of the many different organisations, who work towards these ends, is part of our calling to contribute to moving the world away from a system of masters and slaves, to one where everyone sees that we are all God’s Children, responsible for sharing the good gifts that God has provided. As we read the Gospel accounts, we are constantly being presented with examples of Jesus challenging us to stand alongside the weak, the poor and the vulnerable, so that they may be raised up. He also showed us how we are to call the rich and the powerful to repentance, for he taught a Gospel of radical social justice, and showed us how embracing this is a key part of what being a Christian is all about.

 

So, looking at the state of our planet, is now the time for us to really set up our own version of U.N.C.L.E.; to conquer the imbalance that we see exists in our world? Well actually, it is funny that you should mention that . . .

 

On the evening of the 23rd of November at 6:30pm, following a Methodist tea (see advert elsewhere in this Inform), the new UK registered charity “UNCLE” will be being launched at the Circuit Mission Service at Royston. In this act of worship we will be being joined by Michael and Maureen Hawksworth, who are now back in the UK having been our Methodist Mission Partners in Kathmandu in Nepal. In this case, UNCLE stands for “Uplifting Nepal’s Children with Love and Education”, and this is the charity which will be owning the UK based work of supporting the Glorious Ministry and the Himalayan Holy Church in the coming years. It will both free the churches of the Southern Section of any commitment to carry on supporting the work in Nepal, whilst also providing an independent means of enabling the wonderful work that has already been done by so many to flourish and grow.

 

Without boring you with the 16 pages of detail in our Model Trust Deed, suffice it to say that the purposes of UNCLE are “to assist with:

 

·          advancing the education and health of children living in orphanages in Nepal by providing funding for their education and further education, a healthy and sustaining diet and their medical fees

·          the relief of financial hardship for those living in poverty in Kathmandu

·          advancing Christianity in Nepal for the benefit of the public through the provision of places of worship, accommodation and financial support for those in Christian Ministry, support for the public celebration of Christian religious festivals and other means to enlighten others about the Christian faith”

 

 

If I were to share with you that UNCLE’s overall financial target is to raise a figure in the region of £150,000 over the next ten years, then I hope you will see that this is definitely a long term vision that is being put into practice. But we believe that we have been called by God to this work, and that he will enable us to do this work in his name. I say “we”, I mean Paul Harris, Graham Blair, Geoff Grainger and myself as trustees, and the myriad of people who have said that they will support us in this venture. It is so appropriate for us to have Michael and Maureen with us to share in our joy on this day, for we simply would never have made it without them. It is also right that this work should now be allowed to grow independent of the churches in this section that have supported it so well so far. The churches need to be allowed to explore the other areas of mission that they wish to devote their energies to, and the new minister also needs to be able to lay before the churches his or her own concerns that they would like to support, without being hampered by any existing commitments. Whilst at the same time, as UNCLE, we need to be able to share our vision with a wider audience, whilst growing the different commercial possibilities that we hope will enable that goal of self-sufficiency to become a reality.

 

The aims of UNCLE may be slightly smaller than those of the fictional U.N.C.L.E. of the 1960’s, but they are similar in many ways - to prevent a world of masters and slaves, of haves and have-nots. Please pray for all involved in this venture as we set out on the next part of our Nepali journey. “The men from UNCLE” know that God has guided us so far, and we know that he will carry on guiding us in the future, hopefully with the assistance of some “women from UNCLE” who will join us along the way. We believe that we are stepping out in faith in this work that God has called us to, and everyone is welcome to help us.

 

Namaste and God Bless,

 

Ian

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Queens Road Methodist Church, Royston

 

Overseas Missions Sunday

 

23rd November 2008

 

 

Worship to be led by

Michael and Maureen Hawksworth

 

(Returning Methodist Mission Partners – Kathmandu, Nepal)

 

10.00am – Morning Worship

 

5.15pm – Tea (tickets from members of the Missions Committee)

 

6.30pm – Circuit Missions Service

to include the launch of

 

 

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Å Back to top

 

AN IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!

As from Tuesday 7th October, and on subsequent Tuesdays, Vestry Hours will be from 5.00pm to 6.30pm when the Revd Ian Smart will available, without prior appointment, in the vestry of the Methodist Church, Queen’s Road, Royston. The change is due to Ian’s schedule within the circuit and it is hoped that this will not cause undue inconvenience. Alternatively, he can be seen by prior arrangement, at The Manse, 68 Melbourn Road, Royston  (Tel: 01763 230210), or in your own home. Please avoid disturbing him on Saturdays (Ian’s day off) except in emergencies

 

V  V  V  V  V

 

 

MIDWEEK WORSHIP AT ROYSTON – ONLY MORE SO

 

Following the success of the Iona Communion that was held in the Eldon Room on Wednesday the 22nd of October, further Midweek acts of Worship are planned to enable us to explore new styles of worshipping together. As we have said before, you may not like it, or feel that it is what you would be looking for on a Sunday, but we hope that it will be a time to be challenged by God, and a time of growing together. In addition, it should give us a common language for when we discuss how we will worship in the new worship area.

Wednesday 10th December – A Goth Communion

(Using Music drawn from Goth culture, such as The Fields of Nephilim,
The Mission, All about Eve, etc, we will explore the how God can
speak to our inner darkness and bring light to these places).

 

Wednesday 7th January 2009 – On Jordan’s Bank . . .

(Worship with a great deal of movement as we explore the story of John
the Baptist from the perspective of a person on the bank who is preparing
to enter the river “Jordan” which will be “flowing” through our midst)
.

 

 

 

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FROM THE EDITOR

 

No longer shall we hear the cry of “Strings!” or “Mine’s a niner!” As, sadly, I have to report the likely demise of a time honoured autumnal sport enjoyed by schoolboys and a few men who refuse to grow up……playing conkers!

A game that was once a ‘must’ in all school playgrounds at this time of year is no longer seen, for fear of injury from a flying conker fragment and an ensuing claim for damages.

 

Now, however, it has become much more serious because the organisers of the World Conker Championships are having to import conkers, due to the scarcity, together with poor size and quality of British conkers. The reason for this is twofold. The first is due to the chestnut leaf miner moth, borne here on the wind from Greece and Macedonia its caterpillars have been devouring leaves and subsequently shortened the tree’s life cycle.

 

The second problem, which I am sure you will all have seen as the trees in this area have suffered badly, is bleeding canker disease. This appears to be the most serious, as it causes the leaves to turn brown, shrivel and die. If a means of treating this disease cannot be found quickly it will result in nearly all the horse chestnut trees in this country dying, in the same way that Dutch elm disease wiped out our elm trees.

 

There could also be another contributing factor, our current ‘enemy’……. climate change. There seems to be a shift in the seasons, for as I write this we are enjoying the summer we should have had three months ago. This may be upsetting the growth and maturity of the conkers. If so, I’m afraid it’s ‘goodbye’ to the good old British conker and this will have an impact on our wildlife, including the delightful black squirrels that visit my garden.

 

PETER STALLARD

 

 

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Remember……

“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach and you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’…and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it”   Ecclesiastes 12:1,7(NIV)

 

As the green leaves of summer turn bronze and flaming red, when there hangs in the air that jabbing bite of approaching frost, and the ground hardens in the grip of winter, our thoughts turn to the dead of two World Wars.  On the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, the guns fell silent in the war to end all wars.  We gather around the Cenotaph in London and at countless memorials in countless cities around the world to pay tribute to the millions who gave of their ‘todays’ that we might have a brighter ‘tomorrow’. This is the season of Remembrance.

 

“Not yet will those measureless fields be green again

Where only yesterday the wild sweet blood of wonderful youth was shed;

There is a grave whose earth must hold too long, too deep a stain,

Though for ever over it we may speak as proudly as we may tread.

But here, where the watchers by lonely hearths from the thrust of an

inward sword have more slowly bled,

We shall build the Cenotaph: Victory, winged, with Peace, winged too, at the column's head.

And over the stairway, at the foot -- oh! here, leave desolate, passionate hands to spread

Violets, roses, and laurel, with the small, sweet, tinkling country things

Speaking so wistfully of other Springs,

From the little gardens of little places where son or sweetheart was born and bred.

In splendid sleep, with a thousand brothers

To lovers - to mothers

Here, too, lies he: Under the purple, the green, the red,

It is all young life: it must break some women's hearts to see

Such a brave, gay coverlet to such a bed!

Only, when all is done and said,

God is not mocked and neither are the dead

For this will stand in our Market-place -

Who'll sell, who'll buy?  (Will you or I

Lie each to each with the better grace?)

While looking into every busy whore's and huckster's face

As they drive their bargains, is the Face

Of God: and some young, piteous, murdered face.”                   Charlotte Mew, 1919

 

 

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The  5  Minute  Meditation – on the greatest thing in the world

 

The greatest thing in all the world – is?  Different people would complete this sentence according to their outlook and hopes and ambitions. 

 

For the Christian the greatest thing in all the world is – the love of God.  It is the biggest thing, the most powerful thing, the longest-enduring thing, for God himself IS love. Tucked away in John’s First Letter are the three words ‘God is love’ (4:16). What truth in a few words! What profundity in simplicity!  What theology in nine letters! 

 

Of course God’s character is also holiness, righteousness, justice, mercy, unchangeableness.  But there is something so beautiful, so simple, so immediate in these three words - God is love. 

 

The well-known incident in the life of Professor Karl Barth illustrates the theme. At the height of his power and influence as the world’s greatest Christian theologian, Barth was asked, during a lecture tour in America, what was the most important truth he had discovered. He thought a moment and then said.  ‘Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’

 

And it is the Bible that tells us this.  All the books of the Bible are employed to show us this great truth. Historians, psalmists, biographers, prophets, apostles and evangelists join, from Genesis to Revelation, each to tell us in their own words that God is love. 

 

The love of God is a biblical theme with many variations. Paul talks about the love of God in four dimensions; its length, and breadth, and height, and depth (Eph. 3:18).  John puts it another way when he says that in God ‘there is no darkness at all’ (1 John 1:5). There is no darkness in the love of God!  It is utterly pure and holy, like a perfect diamond without a flaw. Not only is the love of God without sin, it is without stain or shadow or suspicion.  In it there is no ambiguity, no compromise, no moral indifference, no hidden agendas. God loves us with a holy love, a love that cares and sympathizes and pays the price of our salvation for it led our Lord to the cross.

 

It is this combination of love and light that meets us in our meditation when we turn the pages of the Bible. The God who loves us with an everlasting love dwells in ‘the light unapproachable’ (1 Tim. 6:16) and so we are led to worship him. Hear what the psalmist says. ‘Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool’ (99:5). The prophet concurs. ‘The high and lofty One whose name is holy’ (Is. 57:15).

 

The cherubim add their confirmation. ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts’ (Is. 6:3).  As we listen to Jesus praying he says. ‘Holy Father’ (John 17:11).  And the hymns of the Apocalypse have the same theme. ‘They rest not day or night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty’ (Rev. 4:8). Love’s height is love’s holiness.  God is light!   God is truth!  God is love!  And he loves you and me!

 

Rev. Dr. Herbert McGonigle

 

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Drink an Oke smoothie – and help a poor farmer into fair trade...

 

There are two new products out this autumn which look and taste as good as any other, but which can also help poor farmers in the developing world.   They are two new smoothies with the exotic name of OKÉ. 

 

OKÉ smoothies are the first products to be developed by AgroFair, which was itself created by Solidaridad, a Dutch NGO established by the Protestant and Catholic churches.

 

Several years ago Solidaridad objected to the terrible conditions experienced by banana farmers. Harsh social conditions and extensive use of hazardous agrochemicals led to serious health issues.  And so Solidaridad established its own company, ‘AgroFair’, 50% owned by fruit farmers in poorer countries and 50% by Fairtrade organisations.

 

AgroFair’s new OKÉ smoothies are delicious and nutritious, with no concentrate, just 100% top quality fruit.  Fairtrade farmer Roberto Ugalde from Costa Rica explains: “If we can sell more Fairtrade pineapple purée this will give us money to bring water where there are no fresh supplies...”

 

So next time you are shopping, look out for an OKÉ smoothie.  It is good for you, and good for farmers  on the other side of the world.

 

More information is at:  http://www.okefairtrade.com/

 

 

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Conference Report to Synod 2008

 

1. People came from near and far                  2. Led by Graham, our District Chair,

To gather in the Scarb’rough Spa.                Mary, Ian and Hannah were there,

“Are we yet alive” the people sang,               Hev and Bev and I went too,

And in the hall the rafters rang.                      There’s one missing. That’s Aunty Sue.

 

3. First two days for leaders’ inductions,

Welcomes, service and ordinations

Then Monday prompt at nine fifteen,

Cogs engage the conference machine.

 

4. Overseas Friends helped us to pray           5. We spoke of dis-ability

At start of business every day,                      And human sexuality,

We set the Gambia District free                     Debated embryology

To govern with autonomy.                            Considered our society.

 

6.Of strategies, youth and training too,

What we should and shouldn’t do.

Speeches made on matters Mission,

The J.I.C. on ecumenism.

 

7.NCH has changed its name                        8. There were stalls to visit in each break,

Action for Children, it’s not the same,           With tea or coffee to partake,

And MHA is sixty-five,                                 And sometimes as a special treat,

Working and very much alive.                       Delicious cakes were given to eat.

 

9. My time is short to tell you all

That happened in the conference hall.

But if the rest you’d like to know,

To the Church’s website you must go.

 

10.To east and west, to south and north,       11. Gray, don’t you think you’ve done enough

By train, car, plane I’ve sallied forth.             Reading of that Conference stuff?

But when a voice comes from on high           You’re much too old, your time is done

I know the end is drawing nigh.                     And I agree at seventy-one.

 

Graham Lindsay

 

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Julie Andrews turns 69.….

 

To commemorate her 69th birthday on 1st October 2007, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of AARP. One of the musical numbers she performed was ‘My Favourite Things’ from ‘The Sound of Music’ with these lyrics:

 

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,

Walkers and hand rails and new dental fittings,

Bundles of magazines tied up with string,

These are a few of my favourite things.

 

Cadillacs and cataracts, and hearing aids and glasses,

Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,

Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,

These are a few of my favourite things.

 

When the pipes leak,

When the knees go bad,

I simply remember my favourite things
And then I don’t feel so bad.

 

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,

No spicy hot food cooked with onions,

Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,

These are a few of my favourite things.

 

Back pains, confused brains, and no need for sinnin’,

Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin’,

And we won’t mention our short, shrunken frames.

As we remember our favourite things,

 

When the joints ache,

When the hips break,

When the eyes grow dim,

Then I’ll remember the great life I’ve had,

And then I won’t feel so bad.

 

  Taken, with thanks, from the Christchurch Link magazine.

 

Note: AARP is the American Association of Retired Persons.

Maalox are antacid tablets.

 

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COWS CHANGING LIVES IN UGANDA

 

What do you get if you give a woman a cow?

 

‘A changed community’, says Margaret Nakato, Director of MRDF’s partner in Uganda.

 

When a fishing ban was imposed around the Lake Victoria Basin in 2000, the women in the nearby Mukono District were left without their main source of income. The business of exporting fish from Uganda had been a profitable one. But there were those who wanted to increase the number of fish for sale by poisoning them. The government had to take action and imposed a fishing ban.

 

Margaret said, “When the ban was imposed, the whole community came almost to a standstill.”

 

At a local meeting, one of the women suggested that they try zero-grazing - a system where food is given to an animal that lives in a shed. MRDF supported the group by providing agricultural and livestock training and by donating the first cows. They were all pregnant and every calf was passed on to another woman in the group - a system that continues today.

 

The recipients were soon able to get an income  from selling the cow’s milk, and the manure acted as an organic fertiliser for their crops. MRDF supplied the group with a cooler, so the women could preserve their milk and sell it at a later date.

 

The women are now able to pay their children’s school fees, family medical expenses and save a little in the group’s savings scheme.

 

“Before, I saw women with no sense of direction,” says Margaret. “But now they say ‘I’m going to build a farm, I’m sending my children to school.’”