march and april 2013 - st john's united reformed …...15 may simon brown 22 june outing ? to...

From the Minister....

There’s a tongue-in-cheek prayerthat goes, “God, grant mepatience…and I want it NOW!” Iexpect many of us who haveexperienced frustration can relate tothis. Something I find that tests mypatience is when a password oraccess code required and I can’tremember it nor can I find whereI’ve written it down! Others tell meof their frustration when the mind orfingers or eyes are not clear ornimble or focussed enough for a task.We marvel, and often rely on, thosewho have learned to be patient: theengineer or mechanic who patientlyinvestigates and repairs the faultymachine; the teacher who patientlyexplains to the puzzled student allover again; the gardener whopatiently plants, feeds and tends theplant, and starts all over again whenthe slugs devour it. On the otherhand, there are some things of whichwe are right to be impatient: waffle,injustice, and abuse.

There are some people whosepatience is probably tested morethan most: the frail and long-term illable to do little for themselves; theunemployed whose search for workyields nothing, not even the courtesyof a reply to their inquiry. Thosetreated in a medical practice orhospital are called ‘patients’. Thereis good reason for this. A patient hasto wait on the expertise of anotherand often her or his treatment willrequire patience! In the synopticGospels there is a striking exampleof waiting and patience that occursfrom the point at which Jesus ishanded over to his accusers in theGarden of Gethsemane. Prior to thisevent, Jesus has been making therunning: he teaches, heals, comforts,and challenges people wherever hegoes. “My Father is working and Imust work too” says Jesus. But fromthe point of his handing-over to thereligious authorities, he is almostcompletely passive. Others do thingsto Jesus, yet he puts up little or noresistance. This is sometimes knownas Jesus’ passion or suffering.

St. John’s Church (United Reformed) Somerset and Mowbray Roads , New Barnet, EN5 1RH


March - April 2013

C O N T E N T S P a t i e n c e a n d P a s s i o n

Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. Thelight shines through the darkness, and the darkness can neverextinguish it. John 1:4-5

.....

As WH Vanstone notes in his book, passion

originally meant ‘to have thingsdone to one’; and those things maybe bad, indifferent or good.

We tend to think of passion, in theeveryday sense of the word, asemotionally–charged activity. That


March/April 2013, St. John’s Church Record

5 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r yPremiere of the cantata

The BridgeFriday 26th April 8:00pm

Music

by Richard Harvey

Libretto

by Julian Templeton

Anniversary DinnerSaturday 27th, 7:00pm

£10 per person,

BYO drink and glasses

Service of WorshipLed by Julian Templeton and

Former Ministers of

St. John’s Church

Sunday 28th April, 11:00am

There will be a temporary exhibition of the past and present life of St. John’s Church in the Small Hall, curated byDavid Paul

Members and Friends should have received an invitation to the 50th Anniversary. Please can you return yourinvitation as soon as possible indicating which events you wish to attend. If you have not received an invitation andwould like to attend please contact Tony Alderman or Alison Cousins.

is one side of passion. But in Jesus’arrest, humiliation, trial andcrucifixion we see another: passion asthe love that waits. Vanstone sees inJesus’ passion a surprising insightinto the nature of God. The God whois always ‘working’, who is ‘pureactivity’, reveals in Jesus’ actions,from his arrest to the cross, that

there is another side to his nature:he waits. This suggests that thosewho wait patiently may be moreclosely aligned to God’s way of beingthan those who are constantly busy.

Julian Templeton

The Bridge

On Friday 26 April, 8:00 pm, at St John’s Church, a new Cantata will be premiered. Entry is free; aretiring collection will be taken. Julian Templeton has written the libretto based on a poem, drawing alsofrom the Bible and spirituals. Richard Harvey has composed, and will lead, the music. It will featurechoir, soprano and baritone soloists, and a chamber ensemble of instrumentalists. Actor, Rachel Snider,is the Producer, and plans to project images to complement the themes. It explores and celebrates JesusChrist as “the bridge between despair and hope.” will launch the anniversary weekend ofcelebrations marking 50 years since Presbyterians and Congregationalists in New Barnet united tobecome St John’s Church.



ST JOHN’S FELLOWSHIP - JANUARY

Alice Mujtaba gave us a fascinatingtalk about growing up in a Swissvillage. Zeglingen was established afew thousand years before the birthof Christ. From 1372 Zeglingen andneighbouring villages were governedfrom Basel. It becamepart of the SwissConfederation and in1951 the villagecelebrated 450 years ofentering theConfederation. Alice wasproud to be one of thetwo children chosen torepresent the village.The village had apopulation ofapproximately 500 madeup of farmers, business people andtradesmen. Alice’s grandfatherstarted a carpentry business in 1905and it stayed in the family for over100 years. There was no train service

but it had an excellent coach service.There was a quarry and Alice wasone of the children who carried themid-day meal for the workers. Shedid this for 2 or 3 years come rain orshine 5 days a week. In those days

there were no fridges, freezers orelectric cookers. The woman’s placewas definitely in the home. Theywere kept busy preparing andcooking food and looking after the

animals. The children did not havemuch time to play but were happy.

Christmas celebrations started onSt. Nicholas Day (6th December) andthere was a nativity play in thechurch on Christmas Eve. Alice waspleased to be asked to sing a solo oneyear. She attended playgroup from

the age of 5 until 7 when shestarted primary school. Herfamily spoke Swiss German athome but at school she had tospeak German.

When Alice came to Englandin 1959 she could not speakEnglish. She worked as an aupair to a German Jewishfamily who were very good toher and helped her with herEnglish. She later married and

had two sons one of whom nowworks in Switzerland.

Anne Bannerman

My Childhood in Zeglingen (Switzerland)

ST JOHN’S FELLOWSHIP - FEBRUARY

At the Fellowship meeting onWednesday 20th Feb an audience of30 members and friends were

Mount Rushmore National Memorial inthe Black Hills of South Dakota.

entertained by a very informativeand picturesque slide show of theNorth American Wild West. Iconicviews of the Western Bad Lands, theRockies and the spectacular carvingsof the faces of USA presidents atMount Rushmore. The presentationwas made by Pam Wright (a regularspeaker at the Fellowship) whosecommentary greatly enhanced thepictures.

Ken Sutherland-Thomas

St John’s FellowshipProgramme : March -July

20 March Aubrey Rose

17 April Jean & Colin Hedges

15 May Simon Brown

22 June Outing ? To Be Confirmed17 July Nigel Picken



A guiding hand towards new employment....

Julian recently received an emailform Peter Sutton, Project Leader ofThe Transition Project based at St.Barnabas Church in Woodside Park,Finchley.

Peter writes......

I would like to introduce theTransition Project which we arerunning at St. Barnabas Church.This project aims to help people whoare out of work write CV’s, jobsearch and become more aware oftheir transferable skills, soimproving their chances ofemployment. We have to-datehelped nearly 60 people who havevisited our project.

We need more volunteers andwonder if any of your congregation

would be interested in helping uswith this. We are looking for peoplewho have previous or presentexperience of working in Business,Human Resources or the City andwho would be available on a Mondaymorning from 10.30am – 12.30pm(obviously we would not expect acommitment for every Monday).Churches in this area have workedso well together in providing nightshelters for the homeless and itwould be wonderful if we could worktogether in helping those in ourcommunity who are out of work,which can be so devastating.

We provide a free, open door,welcoming and encouraging serviceto those who are facingunemployment/redundancy or areout of work and are looking to getback into employment. It is staffed

by a group of experienced volunteersand we are keen to expand thisnumber and ideally attract inputfrom other churches and synagogues. Our free weekly drop in clinicsprovide practical support andguidance to make the next step backinto the workplace including:

Potential volunteers would need tohave experience in the above areas.Our essential ingredient is that weare able to give our clients timewhich is not always availableelsewhere. If you know of anyonewho could be part of Transition itwould be great to hear from them.More information is available on ourwebsite

(www.stbarnabas.co.uk/transition).

The following reflection for Easter Sunday is taken from SGM Lifewords’ HolyWeek reflections for Easter 2008. If you would like to follow each day of the eightday reflections then go to the following link..... www.sgmlifewords.com/easter

Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying thespices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from theentrance to the tomb, so they went in; but they did not find the body of theLord Jesus. They stood there puzzled about this, when suddenly two men inbright shining clothes stood by them. Full of fear, the women bowed down tothe ground, as the men said to them, “Why are you looking among the deadfor one who is alive? He is not here; he has been raised. Remember what hesaid to you while he was in Galilee:Luke 24:1-6

There is a timefor words, and atime for silence. Atime to reflect, todissect andunderstand, and

there is a time to just stand and look.

Later comes the thankfulness, thefuture and the promise.

Thankfulness for this bruised reednot broken, this smouldering wicknot snuffed out; that our fragilehopes have not been crushed, and weare still standing when the lightscome back on.

©SGM Lifewords 2008

Reflections for Easter



C H A R I T I E S U P D A T E

Following the closure of thelocal branch of Save the Children, Iheard that the total amount raisedby them over 43 years was just over£402,000. As it costs £3 to treat 8children with life-threateningdiarrhoea, this means that the livesof over a million children have beensaved by these local efforts. St. Johnsmade a significant contribution tothis by supporting Grace Kirby’sstall at Coffee Mornings and bygiving me used postage stamps to be

sold in aid of this charity. So, onceagain on behalf of over a millionchildren, THANK YOU VERYMUCH.

Hugh Martin.

From every £1 that is given...

Save the Children spends 89p tobenefit children

the remaining sum is used toraise the next £1



C H R I S T I A N A I D W E E K

“Bite Back at Hunger”12 - 18 May 2013

Last year, the volunteers from St.John’s helped raise £1,573 from thehouse-to-house collection along localroads. This wonderful result, wasonly made possible through the will-ingness of a large number of peopleto give some of their time to supportChristian Aid. We have several loyalsupporters who help every year, butinevitably, we are always welcomenew people to ensure that we canstill cover all our allocated roads.So, if you can spare just a little timeto help with any (or even all!) of thefollowing, do please speak to me assoon as possible:

Those are the practical ways you canbecome involved with Christian AidWeek, but don’t forget that it is alsoan opportunity to give and to pray.

Christian Aid currently works with507 partner organisations in 47countries around the world, helping

communities to make their voicesheard and look towards a brighterfuture. St John’s will be just one ofthe thousands of churches that willstand together this Christian AidWeek to speak out for change. It is areal opportunity to go out and putour faith into action, raising funds tohelp some of the world’s poorest andmost vulnerable people. Thisincludes Britain’s largest house-to-house collection – an extraordinaryact of witness, demonstrating to ourcommunities that we care aboutpoverty and justice. For moreinformation, have a look at:www.caweek.org . Alison Bond (020 8440 1941)

Our first Coffee Morning this year will be on Saturday 20th Aprilopening at 10.30 until 12 noon. We have held the admission price at avery reasonable 80p for adults and 50p for children for another year,with money raised by church run stalls and admission going to theNorth London Hospice and church funds.

Please make a note in your diaries that there will be an afternoon CreamTea on Saturday 15th June between 3.00 and 5.00pm. This will be a bitspecial as it will be the 50th fundraising social event Rosemary and Ihave helped organise since we took on the challenge 13 years ago.David Paul

C O F F E EM O R N I N G

&

S P E C I A LC R E A M

T E A


Upcoming Church Meetings AGM and ‘Fit for Purpose?’


I hope as many as possible will cometo the

to hear andrespond to reports given on allaspects of the church’s life.It will be preceded by a Ploughman’sLunch with Soup in the Large Hall.

On

at which the Elderswill present some of the points theyhave discussed, with the expectationof further discussion anddevelopment by those present at themeeting. In order that you can beginthinking about your contribution tothe discussion, I include below someof the provisional thinking of theElders, which came out of a recentmeeting devoted to discussing ‘Howcan St John’s Church be fit forpurpose?’

The following points came out ofdiscussion:

A lot of people do not know orunderstand what the UnitedReformed Church is. Should weinclude the words ‘Congregational’& ‘Presbyterian’, which are morewidely known, on the notice board?For others, especially youngerpeople, denominational labels havelittle or no meaning. Should we bepromoting more widely the tolerantand thinking approach of the URC?

New visitors to the church are mostlikely to come from personalinvitation by existing members andfriends rather than by leaflet dropsetc. What kind of events might

members and friends feel able toinvite others to?

The average age of the St John’scongregation has been increasing inrecent years with fewer youngfamilies attending regularly. Thispresents many challenges, especiallyto our future viability. The recentappointment of Georgie Wilson asChildren’s Worker attempts toaddress this through deploying paidleadership resource. How else mightwe appeal to a wider age-range ofpeople?

Are our sermons/addresses ‘Fitfor Purpose’? Should technology beused more to enhance the message?It was recognised that this should bean aid and not a distraction to themessage. A sermon is ‘God speakingthrough the preacher’; God mayprompt us by just one aspect orphrase. In what other ways mightGod speak to us?

The church can offer people theopportunity of being involved inpractical expressions of their faith,for example, helping out at theWinter Shelter and the foodbank.Several people outside of the regularchurch-goers have asked to play apart in these ventures. Do we usethis opportunity to explain that asChristians, this is our response tothe gospel message? Do we knowwhat we would say?

Are many put off by the churchbecause it makes them feel guilty?Some outside the church mistakenlybelieve that church-goers are freefrom sin. How do we explain to thoseoutside the church that we come toseek forgiveness?

Do newcomers feel comfortablewith our service format? Are weopen to making changes? Are wemindful not to dilute the messagewhen trying to broaden the appeal ofworship?

We can influence others andhopefully encourage them to come tochurch, by the example we set andthe way we live our lives. St Francisof Assisi quote: “Preach the Gospelat all times. Use words if necessary.”

Many have admired the StJohn’s church building and halls –what does it say about what webelieve? Should we reflect theinfluence of Calvin by having theTen Commandments, the Lord’sPrayer and The Creed on display?

We are aiming to enable people tomeet God and God to meet peopleWe recognise the importance of theneed to ‘Listen to Jesus’ tounderstand GodWe also need to listen to othersThe church can help you to make adifference à ‘Come and Help!’

.....



I would add one thing that did notform part of our discussion thatevening: stipendiary Ministry in theUnited Reformed Church isincreasingly spread across multiplecongregations, which means thatcooperating, resource sharing, andgrouping is becoming the norm. Howmight 5 URC congregations inBarnet, Whetstone and Totteridgebegin to develop a shared vision thatcould mean that rather than fivedwindling congregations inhabitingseparate buildings, we could combineour resources to create somethingthat will flourish?

Please think and pray about thesethings, and come to our meeting on21 April ready to share your ideas.

Julian Templeton

Lent Discussion GroupThe Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness

Led by Julian Templeton.

March 7: Introduction and Chapter 1March 14: Chapter 2March 21: Chapter 3

Either: Thursday Afternoons in MemorialRoom, 2:30 – 4:00 pm

Or: Thursday Evenings in Vestry, 8:00 – 9:30 pm

Free copies of book available on table in back ofSanctuary with sign-up sheet.

I n t r o d u c i n g . . . . G e o r g i e W i l s o n

Last year aftermuch prayer myfamily relocated tothe Watford area.Our middledaughter Amy-Janehad justcommenced

studying for a degree in Music,Worship and Theology at theLondon School 0f Theology inNorthwood. She is a harpist and wehave always known that part of our

service for the Lord is being availableto transport the harp around! TheLord led me to a part time Children’sand Youth Worker position at StLuke’s Church in Bricket Wood. Ialso provide peripatetic and an afterschool club 1 day a week at a schoolin Waltham Abbey. However, I feltthat there was more the Lord wantedme to explore and do in His service.So I applied for the position at StJohn’s. I started working at StJohn’s in January 2013.

My children have always shaped mycareer. We have five LucyKate,Hannah, Amy-Jane, and twinsBethlynn & Jonathan. Only Beth &Jon are living at home now as theyare in 6th form.

As a family we have lead youthgroups and we also serve as worshipband once a month at St Luke’s. Weare really enjoying worshiping andserving at St John’s. Thank you forsuch a warm welcome.

Georgie Wilson is St. John’s new Children’s Worker. She started here in January and will be with us on two Sundaysa month - 1st and 4th. She will also be involved in an exciting new venture, 4WEDS-4KIDS, an after school activityevery 4th Wednesday in the month from 4 -5pm. Please pray for Georgie and all the Junior Church Leaders.

NEXT EVENT : 27th March, 4-5pm

Games/Quizzes/Music/Craft/Activities

All ages welcome , Parent/Carer must stay on premises



‘The Bridge’ - Rehearsal Schedule

F r i d a y 1 5 M a r c h 8 : 0 0 - 9 : 3 0 p m C h o i rF r i d a y 2 2 M a r c h 8 : 0 0 p m S o l o i s t s o n l yS a t u r d a y 2 3 M a r c h 2 : 0 0 - 5 : 0 0 p m C h o i r & s o l o i s t sG o o d F r i d a y 2 9 M a r c h N o r e h e a r s a lF r i d a y 5 A p r i l 8 : 0 0 - 9 : 3 0 p m C h o i r ( s o l o i s t s )F r i d a y 1 2 A p r i l 8 : 0 0 - 9 : 3 0 p m C h o i r ( s o l o i s t s )F r i d a y 1 9 A p r i l 8 : 0 0 - 9 : 3 0 p m C h o i r ( s o l o i s t s )T h u r s d a y 2 5 A p r i l 7 : 0 0 - 1 0 : 0 0 p m C h o i r , s o l o i s t s & o r c h e s t r aF r i d a y 2 6 A p r i l 8 : 0 0 p m ( W a r m u p a t 7 : 0 0 p m ) P e r f o r m a n c e

Revised Common Lectionary

3 March Luke 13:1-9; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-810 March Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 3217 March John 12:1-8; Philippians 3:4b-14; Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 12624 March : Luke 19:28-40; Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

: Luke 22:14 – 23:56; Philippians 2:5-11; Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-1629 March : John 18:1 – 19:42; Hebrews 10:16-25; Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12; Psalm 2231 March : Luke 24:1-12; Acts 10:34-43; Isaiah 65:17-25; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-247 April John 20:19-31; Acts 5:27-32; Revelation 1:4-8; Psalm 118:14-29 or 15014 April John 21:1-19; Acts 9:1-6 (7-20); Revelation 5:11-14; Psalm 3021 April John 10:22-30; Acts 9:36-43; Revelation 7:9-17; Psalm 2328 April John 13:31-35; Acts 11:1-18; Revelation 21:1-6; Psalm 1485 May John 14:23-29; Acts: 16:9-15; Revelation 21:10, 22 – 22:5; Psalm 6712 May John 17:20-26; Acts 16:16-34; Revelation 22:12-14; Psalm 97

Sunday 3 11:00 am Lent 3, Worship with Holy Communion led by Julian Templeton

Monday 4 1.30-3.00pm Little John's

Wednesday 6 7:00pm Nosh and Natter at 10 Leicester Road

Thursday 7 2:30 pm Lent Discussion Group, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, Memorial Room

8:00 pm Lent Discussion Group, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, Vestry

Sunday 10 11:00 am Lent 4, Mothering Sunday, Worship led by Alison Bond and Alison Cousins

(note: no Soul Food due to key people being otherwise engaged)


Tuesday 12 8:00 pm Elders' Meeting

Thursday 14 2:30 pm Lent Discussion Group, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, Memorial Room


Friday 15 8:00pm Rehearsal for 'The Bridge', Small Hall

Sunday 17 11:00 am Lent 5, Worship led by Julian Templeton (Ploughmans and Soup Lunch)

2:30 pm Church Annual General Meeting


March/April 2013, St. John’s Church Recordhttp://www.stjohnsnewbarnet.org.uk

Monday 17 1.30-3.00pm Little John'sThursday 21 2:30 pm Lent Discussion Group, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness,Memorial Room


Saturday 23 2:00-5:00pm Rehearsal for 'The Bridge', Sanctuary

Sunday 24 11:00 am Worship led by Paul Elsdon and Meg HardieMonday 25th 1.30-3.00pm Little John'sTuesday 26th 8.00pm Prayer and Discussion GroupWednesday 27 4.00-5.00pm 4Weds4Kids

8:00 pm Judas's Tale by The Guild Players

Thursday 28 7.30 pm , at URC Chesterfield Road led by Allan Down.Friday 29 2:00 pm , Worship led by Julian Templeton

Sunday 31 11:00 am , Worship with Holy Communion led by Roger Orme(British Summer Time begins)

Wednesday 3 7:00pm Nosh and Natter at 10 Leicester RoadFriday 5 8:00pm Rehearsal for 'The Bridge' Small Hall

Sunday 7 11:00 am Worship led by Sarah Beaumont and Roz Douglas

3:00pm Causeway

Friday 12 8:00pm Rehearsal for 'The Bridge' Small Hall

Sunday 14 11:00 am Worship led by Andrew and Valerie Mills

8:00 pm Soul Food led by Julian Templeton


Friday 19 8:00pm Rehearsal for 'The Bridge', Sanctuary

Saturday 20 10:30am Coffee MorningSunday 21 11:00 am 30-Minute Worship led by Julian Templeton followed by Church Meeting

discussing 'Fit for Purpose?'


Wednesday 24 4.00-5.00pm 4Weds4Kids

Thursday 25 7:00-10:00pm Final Rehearsal for 'The Bridge', Sanctuary

Friday 26 8:00 pm 'The Bridge

Saturday 27 7:00 pm , Anniversary Dinner

Sunday 28 11:00 am , Service of Worship led by Julian Templeton andformer Ministers


Tuesday 30 8.00pm Prayer and Discussion Group

Wednesday 1 7:00pm Nosh and Natter at 10 Leicester Road

Sunday 5 11:00 am Worship led by Julian Templeton

march and april 2013 - st john's united reformed …...15 may simon brown 22 june outing ? to...

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