rinity news & views · 2017-09-28 · rinity news & views oct /nov 2017 issue 37 "for...

Oct/Nov 2017 Issue 37

TrinityNews &Views

Oct /Nov 2017 Issue 37

"For I am the LORD your God, who upholds yourright hand, who says to you, 'Do not fear, I will

help you” Isaiah 41:13


Message from Rev. Dave Faulkner

Dear Friends,

There is a pious and well-meaning saying that I often hearChristians say, and it makes me wince. If I’m honest, I’ve saidit, too, but the more I ponder it the more I want to rephraseit. Of course, I could just be one of those annoying pedants.The saying in question is … ‘God is in control.’ With myspiritual gift of pedantry, I would rather say, ‘God is incharge.’

Maybe it’s how the words hit me, but to speak of God being incontrol makes him sound like a micro-manager, orderingevery tiny detail. I believe that God reigns, but I don’t believeGod is a puppet-master. Or to put it another way, God issovereign, but not a control freak.

Think of it like this: the New Testament speaks of the kingdomof God having been brought in by Jesus, yet it is clearly nothere in all its fulness. Sin and all kinds of brokenness are stillunwelcome guests in our world. That doesn’t change the factthat God reigns, any more than citizens disobeying the law ofthe land disprove that there is a monarch and a governmentin power in the UK.

So, yes: God is in charge but it is not right to speak of Godcontrolling things. As one recent book from the Methodisttradition put it in the title, we believe in ‘the uncontrolling loveof God.’

The flip side of that is that we’re not in control, either, and wecan find that unnerving. We long for certain people we careabout to do certain things, but we cannot control them. Itleaves us vulnerable. We are so used to flicking switches,pressing buttons, and clicking mice to make things happen


that we carry that attitude over into our approach to otherhuman beings (despite all that we affirm about free will).I was recently asked how I dealt with recalcitrant members ofcongregations. I think my questioner was looking for somesecret formula to make things right. However, I replied thatmy job is to witness to the truth, and to uphold what is rightin the church, but I could never guarantee a positive responsefrom such people. In fact, when I once advised such amember of the awkward squad that what she was proposingwould be counter-productive for the church, she simplyresponded, “You can’t control me!” More fool her, but I haddone my job of witness.

So what do we do when things are not going our way? Thereis no alternative but to pray. Not that God will force thesituation – although we need to remember that he has morefree will than us.

But if prayer is where this lands us, then that’s good news. Itmeans God has got us where he wants us: dependent uponhim.

That can’t be a bad thing, can it? God is in charge but not incontrol, and we bow the knee both in obedience anddependence.Your friend,


Dates for your Diaries

22nd October 08.45am Early Morning Communion

10.30am Compassion

16.00pm Neighbourhood Tea Party

28th October 18.00pm Talk & Dine

Building & Living in an Ice Hotel

5th November 16.00pm All Souls

12th November 10.30am Remembrance Sunday

26th November 08:45am Early Morning Communion

10th December 10.30am Nativity Service

17th December 18.30pm Carol Service

24th December 10.30am Morning Service

17.00pm Christingle

11.30pm Midnight Communion

25th December 10.00am Christmas Day Service

7th January 10.30am Covenant Service


The circuit team wish to extend a big thank you to everyonewho generously gave up their time on Saturday 23 Septemberto help at the District Synod held at Trinity Methodist church.The number of volunteers allowed tasks to be shared out andcompleted swiftly and efficiently resulting in a successful dayand allowing all district delegates to enjoy a fruitful timetogether.

Once again, thanks to all who were involved.

God bless The Circuit Leadership team

Pictures of Synod courtesy of John Nelson

Message from the Circuit Leadership Team


All Souls ServiceSunday 5 November, 4pm

Come and join us for a quiet time toremember friends and loved ones who have

recently passed away. A quiet time to reflecton their lives.

We light candles and have an opportunity tospeak, pray and listen, followed by

refreshments.If you would like to have the name of yourloved one read out, please send a note to

The Administrator, or [email protected]

Please feel free to pass this invitation tofriends or neighbours you know who have

been bereaved.Trinity Methodist Church, Brewery Road, Woking

GU21 4LH. Tel 01483 730754


Beyond Trinity

Refugee Tales walkersand supporters

The BBC 1 Panoramaprogramme at 9pm onMonday 4th September

was focused on an undercoverinvestigation of animmigration removal centre.The centre is Brook House atGatwick, where many of ourfriends have been detained.Detention Forum, the networkthat GDWG helps tocoordinate, have put out astatement which drawsattention not only to theallegations of abuse by G4Sstaff, but also to the need forscrutiny of the UKgovernment’s use of indefiniteimmigration detention.http://detentionforum.org.uk/our-response-to-brook-house-g4s-staff-abuse-allegations/

Please feel free to use thestatement to engage with yourMP, peers, family and friendswho might not yet be aware ofthe issue of indefiniteimmigration detention.

Charities of the Month

Amounts raisedJanuary

CAB

£125

February

SOS Children's Villages

£120

March

Brigitte Trust

£115

April

Syrian Refugees

£110

May

Christian Aid

£145

June

Agape

£90

July/August

Let’s Read

September

Crisis at Christmas

October

Harvest Appeal - TheGambiaNovember

Operation ChristmasChildDecember

Action for Children


Sing to the Lord a new song!:Personal reflections on music in July and

August

I am sure that many of youwill have your ownpersonal reflections on the

music during services in Julyand August, but as I havebeen instrumental in the‘experiment’, I thought Iwould share some of mine.My daughter, Anna, as you willhave gathered if you havebeen to the services, ispassionate about music andover the last year or so atTrinity has become moreinvolved in the leading ofmusic. As she has grown andmatured in her own faiththrough attending otherevents outside of Trinity, shehas experienced worship thathas inspired and challengedher and has taught her whatworship really is.Worship defined in thedictionary is: ‘The feeling orexpression of reverence andadoration for a deity’This led her to offer to lead theworship at Trinity for theservices during July andAugust as her exams werefinished and she had the timerequired. The leadership team

were all in favour of this andhave been most supportive ofit. We believe that only byhaving a sustained period ofmodern worship would wereally start to find out how itcan change and challenge usand, also, would give thecongregation a chance toreally get to know the songsso that they become familiarwith them, enabling people toconcentrate on the words andbegin to really sing them forthemselves. In all, we havelearnt in the region of 20 newsongs – isn’t that great?!Structure of servicesI know that some peoplemight wonder why we havebeen having such a sustainedperiod of worship at thebeginning of the services,often singing 2, 3, or even 4songs together, sometimeslasting for 15 – 20 minutes. Isthis really that long whenthinking about praising God?One of my favourite songs hasthe words ‘For endless days Iwill sing Your praise’. So let usnot complain about praisingGod for more than 5 minutes!


For me, the sustained timeenables me to begin to focusmy mind and my heart on GodHimself more and more. Themore I sing about howamazing He is, the more I wantto sing about Him and praiseand adore him. The otherthings that I have beenthinking about, worryingabout, felt anxious about, suchas; ‘What does the rest of thecongregation think aboutthis?’, ‘Is everyone elsesinging?’, ‘Should I stand up orsit down?’, ‘Can I raise myhands if I feel moved to?’….fade away and, as the weekshave gone on, I have been ableto leave these thoughts behindand make my worship betweenme and God. I have feltexcited, joyful, overwhelmed,loved, forgiven, inspired. Forme to worship fully I need to‘feel and express reverenceand adoration’ for my God and,unless I do this wholeheartedlyand give my all, it is not worthyand I may as well not bother.Jesus calls us to: “Love theLord your God with all yourheart, and with all your souland with all your mind”Matthew 22:37. Thiscommandment starts withheart and demands our all.Hearts are where we feelpassion, love, peace, joy… so

the way we love and worshipGod needs to be passionate,full of love and peace and joy.Another reason for having thisstyle of worship is that we arecalled to “Sing to the Lord anew song; sing to the Lord allthe earth” Psalm 96:1. A quickGoogle search will find at least9 Bible verses that speak aboutsinging new songs. At the riskof being facetious, I can’t finda single command that tells usto sing an old song! My pointis, that the Bible tells us to singnew songs (and isn’t itexciting when we learn newthings?!). Anna was very clearwhen starting out on thisproject that we would singsongs that have been writtenin the last 10 years. The songsthat we as a congregation havepreviously considered‘modern’, I’m afraid no longerare. There is a wholecommunity out there who arewriting such rich, inspiring,modern, relevant words andmusic, we are missing out bigtime unless we make efforts toget to know it.A church fit for 2017 andbeyondI understand that I might wellbe in the minority of thecongregation in myenthusiasm for, not justmodern worship music, but


also a change in style ofservice to a less formal, moreexpressive, freer format, but Ioften look around on a Sundaymorning and am struggling tofind more than 5 people whomight possibly be youngerthan me. As my daughtersremind me often – I am now‘middle aged’ and two of mydaughters are now adults andare soon to be leaving home.I can no longer truly put myselfin the ‘young’ age bracket,even if I feel young! We arelacking at Trinity swathes ofgenerations, which, unless thisis turned around, can onlymean one thing. Our servicesin many ways have notchanged in style and format inany significant way since Icame to Trinity as a childnearly 40 years ago. If abusiness fails, it can usually beput down to the fact that itdidn’t change with the times.If Marks and Spencer hadcontinued to sell clothes thatwere in fashion in theseventies, they would certainlyhave been out of business along time ago. You may findthis analogy rather simplisticor maybe even crude, but it isquite simple. When Paulpreached a few weeks ago, hetold us that modern music onits own is not going to bring

new people into Trinity and heis right, but he also said thatwe need to be ready andrelevant when people do come.Society around us is changingat a phenomenal rate in itsvalues, in the way itcommunicates, itsexpectations of life and, formost people, going to churchor developing a Christian faithis not anywhere near theirradar. Life for working people,teenagers and young childrencan be hugely pressured andstressful, but we have theanswer! Jesus is the answer!We need to be askingourselves how we cancommunicate that to so manyhundreds and thousands ofpeople in our town who don’tyet know about Jesus. If ourstyle of ‘expression ofreverence and adoration’ ofour God is not accessible to theworld around us, we becomeoutdated and irrelevant. Wehave lost our teenagers inrecent years and many of theirparents too and we need tostart asking why.I am aware that there hasbeen a very mixed response tothe changes in recent weeks.Some people have been mostappreciative and havedescribed it as ‘inspirational’,some have asked for copies of


the words to take home, thepreachers have beenencouraging and encouragedby it (the more observant ofyou will have noticed thatmany of the preachers havespontaneously referred to thewords of the songs in theirprayers or sermons). On theother hand, some have stayedaway from church during thistime, choosing not toexperience worship in this way,others have expressed howmuch they dislike it tomembers of the leadershipteam and to me and I’m surethere has been much talkabout it amongst people thatwe don’t know about.Everyone will have an opinion.I understand that it is noteveryone’s ‘cup of tea’ andthat if your upbringing hasbeen a 5 hymn sandwich allyour life, you will find it hardto adapt to a new style ofworship, but unless the wholechurch starts to embrace anew way of expressing itsreverence and adoration ofGod, I believe we are destinedto die and can see Trinityclosing within the next fewyears. We are each responsiblefor this in the way that wespeak about it, in our attitudestowards it and we must allstart to take that responsibility

seriously. If we take theattitude that ‘as long as theservices are conducted in astyle that I am used to andcomfortable with, then that’swhat’s important’, then whatwe are saying is that we don’tcare for the next generationand that if they don’t hearabout Jesus in their ownlanguage, or a way that isaccessible and relevant tothem, that’s OK. We ignore theyounger generation at ourabsolute peril.I know that what I have saidabove might seem all doomand gloom, but I do believe wecan change (or moreaccurately, that God canchange us). We must adapt toa new way of expressing ourworship or we are missing out.Our God is amazing – there arenot enough words, or wordsadequate enough to expressthis, so let us allow ourselvesto feel excited, inspired,passionate, joyful.. Let usspeak to each other aboutwhat God is doing in our livesand how our faith is deepeningand moving. Let us develop thedesire to move forwards withGod and praise and adore Himmore each day. Let us singwith all our hearts and shoutfor joy for all He has done for


us (and all that is to come ifwe let Him!).This period of experimentationon a very personal note haschanged me and myunderstanding of worship. Ithink for the first time ever, Ihave felt truly excited aboutcoming to church andworshipping God (which isquite a confession, so I hopeyou’ll forgive me!). Many of thesongs and their words andexpressions have come to mein the week and I have foundmyself singing and praisingGod far more than ever before.I hope that some others in thecongregation feel similarly. Wedon’t yet know the wayforward with music as Anna isleaving, but I would urge everymember of the congregation tothink about what we can learnfrom new ways of worshippingand what God might be sayingto us about it individually, sothat we can move forwardcollectively and become achurch that could be fit for2017 and beyond.I’ll finish with the words fromone of our new songs:‘Your love never fails, it nevergives up, it never runs out onme.’ Isn’t that great?!

Gill Kozlowski

Beyond Trinity would liketo invite all who knit toget out your needles and

wool and make some of theseChristmas Angels as part of ouroutreach. The idea is to offerthem as small Christmas giftsfrom Trinity to the communityaround us. Jill Willis will displaythem amongst her Advent potsand they would be free tomembers of the Church, or ourtenants or passers- by. Pleasefeel free to knit them in anycolour or any wool you chooseand either make them byyourself or why not invitesome friends round and havea knit and knatter group? It issuggested that each angel hasa small label attached saying“Please take me, I’m free –Happy Christmas from Trinity”.Beyond Trinity committee willarrange the labels for you andyou can give the completedones to me or Jill. So do pleaseget knitting!

Pattern on pages 13 &14

Daphne Lander

Knit and Knatter.


Over the past 25 years or more Trinity has hosted aNeighbourhood Party for house-bound people in the localarea. Each time we provide entertainment and high tea for

over 50 guests. The next party is booked for Sunday 22 October2017.Now it is time to get involved, because we only can do this withyour help. You can help by making Trinity aware of any potentialguests, such that the people, that really would enjoy the partymost, can be invited. Then by helping with the invitations,transport, welcoming, hosting, entertainment, tea, and, yes, evenwith the washing up. Any help, however small, is very muchappreciated and does not take a lot of time. For your convenienceI have attached a reply slip, which also can be found in the noticesnearer the time.

I look forward meeting you on 22-OCT.

Henk Innemee (W 762715)- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Neighbourhood Party, October 22, 4-6 pm: There areopportunities to join the team for this much-appreciated event,either by providing a lift, baking, hosting or helping to serve on theday. Contacts for more information, or to indicate your willingness,as follows (please tick and leave in the East Entrance):

Lifts on the day: John Craig W 762059 Host at a table: Peggy Windsor W 763605 Baking beforehand: Henk Innemee W 762715 Serving on the day: Pauline Robson W 773403

Name…………………………………………………………..

Tel No………………… Thanks on behalf of our guests!

Neighbourhood Party – how to get involved


Summer has seen themain island bed burstinginto bloom with spires of

deep blue salvias, massed darkred Bishop of Llandaff dahliasand bright yellow rudbeckiascheering up the rather gloomyweather. The bees love the

catmint , and the sedums havenow turned deep pink and areattracting all sorts of wingedinsects.

In the side beds the sunflowersand sweet peas are now over,but are replaced by aspectacular display of zinnias.The dazzling colours of theseamazing flowers, which grewfrom seed sown directly into

the ground in May, are causinggreat deal of interest topassers-by. The screening ofthe compost waste bins is nowcomplete, and already therehas been a beautiful display ofpink, blue and purple clematison the trellis. These havelooked lovely and create areally pretty area, offset by thelawns which have settled downunder Ian’s care.It will soon be time to overhaulthe Advent pots and to thinkabout the stable for Christmas!

There have been so manycomplimentary commentsfrom people who pass by, orthrough, our premises. Somejust smile as they pass and saythat the garden looks lovely,but others stop and chat.There is a cheerful man thatwe now know is a member ofChrist Church who comes mostweeks, and who loves thegarden. There is a lady with agrandson in a pushchair whosays that every time shecomes to Woking to visit herfamily, she always makes apoint of coming to see what weare doing. Just this morning alady paused to say that shewalks through the gardenevery morning on her way towork, and that the flowers‘give her a lift’. One man

The Garden - Update.

.............to set buddingmore

And still more, laterflowers for the bees,

Until they think warm dayswill never cease;

J.Keats.


jokingly told his wife that theyhad no need to go to Wisleyafter seeing our zinnias! TheCremona parents enjoy seeingthe plants, and there is oneyoung Dad who pops roundwhen his daughter is dancingto ask gardening questions, ashe has recently got a newgarden and isa bit daunted.It is not onlyg a r d e ncomments wereceive. Oneman was keen to start atheological discussion. He wasvisiting his mother and I wasglad to see him in church thenext day. A young lady askedif she could go into the churchto light a candle and pray. Wecouldn’t manage the candlebut we found her a peacefulplace in the Sanctuary.The garden at Trinity givespeople happiness andwitnesses to God’s love, and isa great point of contact withour friends and neighbours.

People talk to us when we arewatering and weeding in a waythat they otherwise would not.It must be the grubby handsand old clothes that make usapproachable!

Elaine Slatter

Rowan Williams, the lateArchbishop of Canterbury waswidely regarded as a mystic, aCeltic mystic at that, and aman not of this world. Hissuccessor, Justin Welby, is cutfrom a different cloth. Theproduct of a self-confessed“messy”, if well heeled,upbringing, he had been thegroup treasurer of a large oilcompany before taking HolyOrders. He seemed to be justthe man to deal with thebudgetary and humanresource issues that beset anylarge sprawling organisationsuch as the AnglicanCommunion.But there is more to him thanthat. This book, first publishedin 2016 as a series ofreflections for Lent, betrays adeep commitment to Christand Christian values. Theunderlying theme is thatMammon (money) enslavespeople: “the moreinterconnected the world

Book reviewDethroning Mammon

(making money serve grace).

The Archbishop of Canterbury’sLent Book 2017 published byBloomsbury Continuum


becomes, the more power isheld over individuals andnations, by economics, bymoney and the flows offinance. Mammon,- a namegiven by Jesus to this force -gains strength through ourobedience. The more we letourselves be governed byMammon, the more power hehas, and the more thevulnerable suffer”.This is not to say that weshould dismiss money as anevil force in our lives but ratherthat we should live our life asChrist would wish us to do andin so doing use Mammon asour servant and not ourmaster.There are six chapters. Eachexamines the way that werelate to the generosity of Godand the love of Christ and eachis underpinned by relevanttexts from the New Testament.Chapter one deals with ourtendency to value only whatwe see, what is immediatelyapparent. We value visiblewealth and are impressed byconfident people, particularlywhen they have a track recordof “success”. We tend todismiss the views of the poorand the needy. Jesuschallenges this way of seeingand valuing people

Chapter two looks at how wevalue things and the effect thatjudgement has on ourselvesand those around usChapter three reflects on thevery human tendency to holdon to possessions, to say that“what is ours is truly ours, nottruly God’s”. In this chapter heasks how we might overcomethis tendency.Chapter four “looks at the linksbetween power and money andthe way in which we settle intothinking that what we havegained is by our own effortsrather than by the grace ofGod” “the recovery of a senseof grace as the origin of allthings opens the way tohumble service, the commongood, and the love for oneanother that dethronesMammon”.Chapter five examines theprevailing assumptions aboutthe way that economies work.Awareness of the influencesthat shape our thinking shouldenable us ensure that ourinfluence is Christ notMammon.The book is not an easy readbut it provides a usefulintroduction to the moralpurpose that underpins ourfaith. As such it is a text thatone could proffer to non-churchgoers enquiring about


Christian beliefs. Some of Dr.Welby’s reflections may makeuncomfortable reading forthose of us who treat moneyas an essential tool foreveryday living withoutrealising that it has wrappedits coils around our thoughtsand activities. It could alsoserve as a warning to thecongregation at Trinity as itplans for the future of itsmission in the town of Woking.

Gareth Davies

The book was discussed at arecent meeting of the Trinitybook group (convener Lisa

Barrott). There will be a copy inthe Trinity library

The oldest computer can betraced back to Adam and Eve.It was an Apple, but with anextremely limited memory,just one byte and theneverything crashed.

Ripley village fair willtake place on Sunday3rd December

starting at 12 noon. Therewill be 100 stalls along thegrass verges through thevillage selling gifts,j e w e l l e r y , c l o t h i n g ,cupcakes, hot food etc.There will also be fairgroundrides on the village green,Father Christmas inRichardson’s shop and agrand procession of HarleyDavidsons at 3.50pmleading up to the switchingon the Christmas lights.

Put the date in your diaryand come and join in thefun.

Barbara Phillips


This book is a recent additionto Trinity’s library.A minor miracle has shakensections of the UK supermarketscene over the last 40 years.This book takes us behind thesupermarket facades, andshines a light on dubioustrading practices round theworld. Read just a few of thecontributions from peopledirectly involved in tradebetween producers, in thesouthern continents, andconsumers in Europe or U.S.A.and you’d agree YES somechanges on a revolutionaryscale have been achieved.The Fair Trade Revolutionedited by John Bowes, is aseries of reports straight fromthe front-line covering variousaspects of Fairtrade. Only adedicated economist wouldread this book cover to cover,but you can dip in to a sectionand find answers to manyFairtrade questions. There aredetails on Divine Chocolate’sclose links with Cocoa growersin Ghana, on how Fairtrade inItaly – or Japan - works in adistinctly different way fromBritain’s system of sales via

mainstream retailers. Thestory of Garstang in Lancashireshows how an Oxfam Groupovercame local inertia to makethis the first Fairtrade Townand underlines the value ofgrassroots campaigners –there are now more than 1000Fairtade Towns world-wide.I found BananaBreakthrough a Sainsbury’sbanana buyer’s blow-by-blowaccount the most eye-openingstory. He describes the firm’syear-long struggle to ‘make adifference’ by converting allSainsbury ‘s banana sales toFairtrade. He sheds light tooon the value of the FairtradeMark and the relatively poorreturn for producers viaRainforest AllianceBy 2010 7 million peopleworld-wide were said to benefitfrom Fairtrade. But thissuccess must be set againsthard facts, with the UK grocerytrade’s annual sales estimatedat £140 billion, only 1 %comes from Fairtrade sales.John Bowes assessment istimely and realistic :‘Fairtrade has come a long wayin a short period …. it still hasan awfully long way to go.’

Margot Craig

The Fair TradeRevolution


It is the nature of man tosee condemnation presideover Graciousness. Being

human even a preacher wouldin most cases want to seethose who have repented to bepunished. Saying sorry wouldnot be enough. People havebeen sacked from employmenteven after admitting havingmade a mistake and reflectingon the poor practices that theywould have performed. I haveseen this in the time I havebeen manager as well as asupport worker. You begin tosay to yourself who is reallythe perfect one who would notaccept people’s repentanceand give them a secondchance?

The above is reflected inJonah’s story of Nineva. Thequestion that comes into mindis ‘Why was Jonah angry thatthe Ninevites repented (Jonah4:1-2). It seems strange thata preacher is angry that hisaudience repented of theirsins, but this is exactly whathappens in human nature. Weflee away from people who

need repentance and condemnthem forever.

There are several possiblereasons for our desire to seeother people we think are evildestroyed. We might viewother people as ruthless andundisciplined to be membersof any society and enemies ofthe rest of the people in ourneighbourhood. This is exactlywhat Jonah saw of the peopleof Ninevah and so he decidedfirst to run away and go toTarshish. Our sense of justiceis not God’s sense of justice.God is a God of grace andpeace. God is a merciful God.We are always bent on seeingthe downfall of those weperceive to be trouble makers.We do not take time to thinkand put ourselves in their placeand say would I have loved itto happen to me.

I was disturbed to read anarticle of a Pastor boasting thathe is praying for the death ofa ruthless leader. He boastedthat he was fasting and doingall sorts of things to ask Godto kill the ruthless leader.There some people who comeout in the open on the hatredthey may have on individualsand also there are some peoplewho still keep to themselves

Condemnation isHuman Nature

Graciousness is Godly


and still would wish bad on thepeople they think causeproblems to society. This isnot what God is like. God giveseach one of us a chance torepent and turn away from theevil ways. God’s heart is for theredemption of all who willcome to Him. God extends hissalvation to all peopleirrespective of the evil theymight have committed. In thesight of God all people deserveto be saved. In God’sgoodness to the Assyrians,before sending judgement,gave them a chance to repent.This shows that God isconcerned for all people whichwe as preachers fall short oflike Jonah. We forget thegreat Commission in Matthew28:18-20 which centres onGod’s call to take the goodnews to all nations.

To live a gracious life willrequire us as people of Godnever to look at the negativeaspects of our fellow people beit children or spouses, peopleat work places and thecommunity around and ratherfocus on the positive and thosethings that they do best.Praise all the good, be it smallor meaningless. By so doingmany will be saved and willalso focus their attention on

aspects that bring harmony tosociety and the rest of theworld. We need to highlightour love and concern forfairness and not dwell on howjustice should have beencarried out. God is willing toforgive all those who repentand who are we to judge andpress for justice to be done.

Well that is human nature. Godworks exactly the opposite ofhuman nature. God cares forpeople of every kind.

Rabson Ziso

Deep Cleaning TheKitchen

Everything Out!

Just a bit higher!


Save the Date

Saturday 28TH October at 17:00 for aTalk & Dine event.

The talk will be on “Building and livingin The Ice Hotel” with Mike & Sue Tozer

Raising funds for the Trinity 2020building project.


Praying Together

I have been reading abiography of Mother Teresawritten by Kathryn Spink.

It is an extraordinary book thathighlights the faith of MotherTeresa.Mother Teresa was born in asmall village in Albania and

n a m e dA g n e sG o n x h aB o j a x h i u .A g n e sjoined theL o r e t o

sisters an Irish branch of theInstitute of the Blessed VirginMary. She changed her nameto Sister Teresa of the ChildJesus after Teresa of Lisieuxthe Little Flower who pointedthe way to becoming holythrough faithfulness in smallthings. She sailed to India tobegin work in Calcutta.God was her rock on which shebuilt her faith. Mother Teresatried to rely totally on God andher wish to look after the poorflowed out of because in themshe found Christ. MotherTeresa believed in a God wholived among us and she saw

Jesus as both fully God andalso fully human. Life she sawwas precious and something tobe every thankful about andpraise God.Life is – written by MotherTeresa and quoted in thepreface to Kathryn Spink’sbook

Life is an opportunity, benefitfrom it.Life is beauty, admire it.Life is a dream, realize it.Life is a challenge, meet it.Life is a duty, complete it.Life is a game, play it.Life is a promise, fulfil it.Life is sorrow, overcome it.Life is a song, sing it.Life is a struggle, accept it.Life is a tragedy, confront it.Life is an adventure, dare it.Life is luck, make it.Life is too precious, do notdestroy it.Life is life, fight for it.

To use this poem in prayertime - I wondered about tryingto add more Life is lines to itfor example Life is excitingenjoy it


Life is busy, slow it downLife is noisy quieten it downWhat would you add?Also you could try pondering aline – Life is beauty admire it– Where in your life is thebeauty? Thank God for it

Everyone matters to God. Thisidea was important to MotherTersa and she cared for thepoor always with this mind.J.B. Phillips New TestamentJesus himself was now inBethany in the house of Simonthe leper. As he was sitting attable, a woman approachedhim with an alabaster flask ofvery costly spikenard perfume.She broke the neck of the flaskand poured the perfume onJesus’ head. Some of thosepresent were highly indignantand muttered, “What is thepoint of such wicked waste ofperfume? It could have beensold for over thirty pounds andthe money could have beengiven to the poor.” And therewas a murmur of resentmentagainst her. But Jesus said,“Let her alone, why must youmake her feel uncomfortable?She has done a beautiful thingfor me. You have the poor withyou always and you can dogood to them whenever youlike, but you will not alwayshave me. She has done all she

could—for she has anointedmy body in preparation forburial. I assure you thatwherever the Gospel ispreached throughout thewhole world, this deed of herswill also be recounted, as hermemorial to me.”

Prayer written by Erin Finch page 53Prayer Handbook Freedom to share

2016/2017and adapted by me

Dear Lord, please wrap yourwarm loving arms around ourworldPlease protect the people inthe world who are sufferinggreat loss and griefPlease keep all your childrensafe and protected from wars,famine, natural disasters andplagues.Please help the people of theworld help their neighbours inmyriad small waysPlease help the people of theworld look for the good, andbanish bad and evil.May we not give up hope, inthe name of Jesus Christ. Amen

The verses below reportedlywere written on the wall ofMother Teresa's home forchildren in Calcutta, India, andare widely attributed to her.Some sources say that the


words below were written onthe wall in Mother Teresa'sown room. In any case, theirassociation with Mother Teresaand the Missionaries of Charityhas made them popularworldwide, expressing as theydo, the spirit in which theylived their lives.

People are often unreasonable,irrational, and self-centred.Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people mayaccuse you of selfish, ulteriormotives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you willwin some unfaithful friends andsome genuine enemies.Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincerepeople may deceive you. Behonest and sincere anyway.

What you spend yearscreating, others could destroyovernight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity andhappiness, some may bejealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, willoften be forgotten. Do goodanyway.

Give the best you have, and itwill never be enough. Giveyour best anyway.

In the final analysis, it isbetween you and God. It wasnever between you and themanyway.

From Mother Teresa website calledPrayer Foundation

Mother Teresa also wroteabout relying and trusting inGod. The sisters of theMissionaries of Charity, whichwas founded by Mother Teresa,spoke in terms of having thespirit of loving trust, totalsurrender and cheerfulness aslived by Jesus and mother.

Trust God from the bottom ofyour heart; don’t try to figureout everything on your own.Listen for God’s voice ineverything you do, everywhereyou go; he’s the one who willkeep you on track. Don’tassume that you know it all.Run to God! Run from evil!Your body will glow withhealth; your very bones willvibrate with life! Honour Godwith everything you own; givehim the first and the best. Yourbarns will burst; your winevats will brim over. But don’t,dear friend, resent God’s


discipline; don’t sulk under hisloving correction. It’s the childhe loves that God corrects; afather’s delight is behind allthis.Proverbs 3:5-12 The Message Bible

Lead me from death to life,From falsehood to truth;Lead me from despair to hope,From fear to trust;Lead me from hate to love,From war to peace.Let peace fill our heart,our world, our universe.Amen

World Peace prayer quoted on page185 of book written by Kathryn Spinks

Mother Teresa first publiclyused the prayer in July 1981 inthe Anglican Church, St.James’, Piccadilly in London.Each day at noon people of allfaiths and none use thisuniversal Prayer for Peace.This forms a wave of prayerand hope rippling each dayaround the globe.

Mother Teresa – An AuthorizedBiography – Kathryn Spink2011 edition, which wasupdated from 1998 edition

Ann Dawson

The week after Trinity BookCircle’s visit to Hull, theCouncil of Churches recreatedthe famous biblical story of thefeeding of the 5,000 as fryerscooked an average of 160portions of fish every 15minutes for the crowdsgathered at the Rosebowl areaof Queens Gardens Hull.Supported by the BibleSociety, North Atlantic FishingCompany and YorkshireBakery Cooplands, this was thebiggest community event to bestaged by Believe in Hull tocelebrate Hull’s City of Culturestatus.For the thousands of peoplewho tucked into a fishsandwich, there was alsoentertainment from a theatregroup, singing from someBrownies, drummers and apuppet show.The people were also handeda knitted fish with a greetingfrom the churches involved.Altogether 5,700 fish wereknitted by people all across thecounty as well as Hull.

Barbara Phillips

Feeding the 5,000 in Hull


October Half Term24th Tuesday 25th Wednesday 26th Thursday

10am -1pm

Free !Lunch included

Everyone welcome

Organised fun for the whole family

Abundance of Tea and coffee for the adults

Messy craft, Cooking, Science & lots more

Trinity Methodist Church, Brewery Road,Woking GU21 4LH

www.trinitywoking.org.uk01483 730754


All We Can helps find solutionsto poverty by engaging withlocal people and organisationsin some of the world’s poorestcommunities to end thesuffering caused by inequalityand injustice. All We Can isable to help communitiesbecome all that they can,because of our dedicated andgenerous supporters.

Malawi, often fondly titled the‘Warm Heart of Africa’, is anation known for itsfriendliness and stunningscenery but is also sadly oneof the world’s poorestcountries. All We Can hasstarted working in thesouthern-most regions ofMalawi with local organisationscommitted to seeing long-termand transformative change inthe communities they work in.

Unpredictable and insufficientrainfall has meant that poorrural communities inZimbabwe are struggling togrow enough food. All We Canis helping these communities

find alternative ways toprovide for their families’needs, such as by starting newbusinesses. This Harvest time,pray for the communities inZimbabwe who are faced withpoor harvests, through thesupport of All We Can maythey be successful indeveloping new ways toprovide for their families thatare reliable and long term.

Creator God

Thank you for your provisionthrough the world that youmadeHelp us to be good stewards,imaging you with our careMay we be willing to share thegood gifts of your earth so thatall people can flourish

Be with those who arestruggling to grow enough foodand stir us to respond in love

Amen


From the EditorThank you to everyone who has contributed and helped

with the preparation and distribution of this issue of TNV.

The picture on the front cover is “The man who bears thecross” and is a sculpture by Jan Fabre. It is installed in

Antwerp Cathedral

I will be editing the Dec/Jan 2018 issue & David will beback in charge for the Feb/Mar 2018 issue.

Jean Normington

Articles for the Dec/Jan issue should be submitted by

26th November 2017

A note to contributors

It is our practice to publish each edition of TNV onthe Trinity website. It is an important source of

information about church life at Trinity and somethingwe want to share with others. At the same time we

recognise that some contributors may beuncomfortable for their personal details to appear on

the internet in this way. We will be happy to omitnames and any other personal details in any future

issue if requested to do so.


TRINITY NEWS & VIEWS is the magazine of

TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH WOKING

“Trinity is a welcoming Church seeking to livein the love of God and share the message of

Jesus Christ

Church Address

Brewery Road Woking Surrey GU21 4LH

Telephone (01483) 730754

Email [email protected]

Web Address www.trinitywoking.org.uk

Minister Rev. Paul Chesworth

Editors Jean Normington & David Lander

Contributions to Trinity News & Views can bewritten, typed, left in the newsletter

pigeonhole at the Church or emailed [email protected]

This edition printed by Knaphill Print Co. Ltd.

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