Fareham United Reformed Church

A while ago I was asked by Cams Hill school in Fareham, whether I thought it might be possible for them to stage an exhibition of their children’s art work in this church.

Having been involved in two very successful Art and Flower Festivals at Christ Church Milton, it seemed to me that we could put on a similar event here.

This will help to make a connection with the school and since the children’s parents will be invited along to see and will give us an opportunity to meet people who would not normally come inside our buildings.

The children’s work will be based on a jungle theme and the whole event will go under the heading,’ All creation Sings’ with, hopefully, lots of flowers depicting various aspects of creation provided by us.

So if have an urge to be creative with flowers, whether you are skilled at it, or not, you will be very welcome to come and have a go. We would also like each of the groups in the church to produce an arrangement.

We hope to begin setting up on Thursday 1st Sept and to be open from 1pm-5pm on Friday; all day Saturday from 9am-5pm and again on Sunday afternoon.1-5pm. The weekend will conclude with a service of celebration at 6.30pm on the Sunday evening, preceded by tea and cakes.

Since exhibitions can make us thirsty, we will be laying on some refreshments during our open times and would therefore appreciate offerings of cakes to sell, together with offers of help, both for the refreshments and for stewarding the event.

Any money we receive in donations will go towards the cost of our new Combined Mission Praise hymn books.So if you can help in any way, please come and see me and let’s make this a really good weekend. Thank you

On Friday 15th July, Helena, Miriam, Sandy, Imogen and I arrived at FURY camp with the theme ‘Receive’.

We started by putting our tents up in the rain and having a light supper. We then went straight into worship after being introduced to the staff for that weekend. We had a talk on different ways that God is mentioned in the bible and the images to do with Him. We had a campfire and hot chocolate before going to bed in what felt like a hurricane!

The next morning we woke to yet more rain and did a number of workshops such as graffiti and den building. In the afternoon an inflatable fun fair came with side show attractions as well; needless to say it was very enjoyable when the sun decided to make a brief appearance. That evening we had our ‘Re’: themed party with various costumes including red, reporter, rebel and Imogen as a Reliant Robin!

We went to bed well fed and yet again in more rain. Sunday morning was nicer and we did some more workshops such as building animal habitats and making a banner to represent camp in years to come. We finished with worship and then put our tents down in the short time that the rain held off. All in all it was a great weekend despite the weather which meant we had to tread carefully on the grass, but we all enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

Dear Friends,

Raindrops keep falling…...

I think it was at the end of the Spring Term of 1972 in Southampton Guildhall that I had the joy of taking part in a performance of Mendelssohn’s “Elijah”.
Now a friend of mine once told me that if you couldn’t get a tune out of your head then your mind was not as full as it might be – to put it politely! - a theory that was obviously around when WS Gilbert wrote “The Mikado” and the singer enquires of the little Tom Tit whether it was weakness of intellect or a rather tough worm in his little inside that caused him so plaintively to sing “Willow–tit-willow–tit–willow”!
Be that as it may(!) as the recent very long dry spell ended I found myself singing the chorus from “Elijah” which comes at the end of the drought, “Thanks be to God, he loveth the thirsty land”!
We forget so soon. It was a blessed relief to have rain once more, even here, not one of the hardest-hit parts of the country. I know the rain has been inconvenient since then, with a Pentecost Picnic being washed out, or rather washed in to St Paul’s, Sarisbury Green, and a Synod Fun Day that kept us on tenterhooks till the last gazebo was stowed and the last trailer was towed off that hill in Henley. But, a British “drought” makes us all the more mindful of the blessing of water, and more conscious of the needs of those in the developing world where fresh water has to be bored for, or walked for, and streams and rivers get used for all purposes till they become quite fetid.
We should be thankful, too, for Jesus offering us the water of life: a faith in Him and the gift of eternal life.
We love to talk about the weather; it oils conversation. In the light of the above, it could also lead to conversations on faith, even if it be as little as to say, genuinely, “Thank God for the rain”.
Yours ever, in Christ,
Paul

PS Some are away during the school holidays and we hope you will have a very happy time, whatever the weather!

PPS I am sure the congregations of Fareham and Sarisbury Green will join me in congratulating Gill Bailey most heartily on obtaining her Bachelor of Divinity degree through Spurgeon’s College in London. This, including Gill’s work on the URC’s TLS (“Training for Learning and Serving”) course, is the culmination of some nine years’ work. Well done, Gill.

Recently I was in Birmingham for a Christian Education Publications Board meeting. The opening worship was taken by a member of the Board, a retired school inspector. He began the worship with a story:

Some time earlier he had attended a meeting in London and had arranged to meet a friend, a retired clergyman, who had served in South Africa for many years, but was now living in London in a very small flat near Victoria. Reminiscing about his time in South Africa he told of meeting a rather sad small boy in a school sick bay. To cheer the boy up he asked if there was anything he could get to make him feel better. The small boy looked at him in all seriousness and said that what he really wanted was a trumpet!

The clergyman was nonplussed, but promised to see what he could do. He had little hope that he would find anything he could afford, but eventually he found one for the equivalent of £25 today. He thought very hard about spending that much money as funds were very low indeed at that time, but he scraped together the necessary amount and bought the instrument. He said that he would never forget the look on the child’s face when he gave the trumpet to him. He was sure that he slept with it in his arms.

The clergyman - well you may have guessed – was Trevor Huddleston. And the small boy? That was Hugh Ramopolo Masekela the famous South African trumpeter. Father Huddleston not only provided the trumpet, but also arranged for music lessons and set him on the path to a eminent musical career. That is the sort of encouragement that every potential musician needs.

A is for the animal all humans have inside,
N is for the naughtiness we try so hard to hide.
O is for the ordinary things that we all do.
N is for the niceness that is found inside us too.
Y is for the questions ,why and how and when and where?
M is for the memories that remind us that we care.
O is also original; we are all the only one.
U is for unpredictable; life and all we’ve done.
S is for Special, that is all of us,
God knows us through and through, we are not anonymous!
Nicky Gilbert

Love Light Romania, is the small charity helping children from former Romanian orphanages who have, or who been affected by, HIV/Aids, plus thirteen families who live on a nearby rubbish tip.
Just before Christmas we sent parcels of pasta,rice and flour to them and at the Christmas Fair stuck coins on paper stockings in order to help raise £5000 to buy a bus, which it was hoped, would be fitted out to provide schooling, health care and general help/advice to these ‘invisible’ and suffering people.
The good news is that an elderly couple, on hearing about the project, offered to buy them a house instead; the bad news is that it will take time to acquire and set up as the Romanian authorities are not very keen on this kind of ‘interference’ and can be very obstructive.
In the mean time, Jo, the lady who runs the charity, visited the rubbish tip and found a new family with a recently born baby, sleeping in a box of straw. Jo left, collected some blankets and clothing and took it to the grateful mother. A week later she returned to find the baby naked again, —- the clothes and blankets had been sold for food!
These people do not exist as far as the authorities are concerned and receive no help whatsoever. This in a EU country in 2011!
So what can we do? Well firstly we can remember them in our prayers, and secondly donations of money however small are always received with astonished delight; they are just so grateful that anyone cares.
There are some pictures on the notice board in the vestibule and if you would like to know more go to :www.lovelightromania.com
I will pass on any donations that you would like to make,directly, so that we can be sure they receive them.
Gill B

Dear Friends,
As I begin my first Minister’s Letter, may I thank you all for your welcome, and especially for all your efforts to make the Induction day so splendid. Susan and I were pleased that friends had come from very many places, not least Wellingborough, to share with us in that act of worship and welcome. Thank you for looking after them so well. It was a moving day, which banished the memory of the Moving Days of a couple of weeks before!!
We look forward to all that life and the Lord have in store for us. It is important to stress, at the outset, that I have not come with some grand plan; some template that I have seen elsewhere and which I believe we are called to fit in to. It would of course be presumptuous, and foolish, if I had. The way I ministered in Coventry, was different from that which emerged in Wellingborough, and it will be different again here. I am already doing a lot of listening to your stories as pilgrims, in your lives in Fareham and elsewhere, and look forward greatly as we renew our trust in the living God who leads: the God who has yet more light and truth to break forth from His word.
The days are lengthening as Spring comes. The Christian season of Lent comes directly from the word lengthen, and the warmth and energy shown in the Spring assist us to try to do something fresh and new in our spiritual lives.
Habits can be ingrained in about 20-30 repetitions, I believe, and so the 40 days of Lent give us a great opportunity maybe to do without something in order to concentrate our minds more on God, but equally to take up something new that might bring us closer to Him.
One might start taking Bible reading notes, or try reading longer passages of scripture at a sitting. Prayer might be your need and Lent could give you the chance to explore different ways of praying, either alone or with friends/relatives. Music, and the treasury which is in our hymn books, might be your resource to read, play or sing.
If you want any guidance, at any time not just towards Lent, please feel to free to contact me in confidence and I will, with the Lord’s help, try to guide you into new paths, for we are nothing if we are not Pilgrims together.

Yours ever, in Christ,
Paul

The Revd Paul Bedford

The choir was very busy before Christmas. In addition to contributing to the church services we visited two residential homes, Abbeyfield in East Street and Acacia lodge in Trinity Street. We have been to Abbyfield for a number of years now and as usual we sang items which we had specially prepared, interspersed with carols so that their residents could join in. It was our first visit to Acacia lodge where several of our members now live and we sang a selection of carols, some of which were requested by the residents. It was new outreach for us and one we hope to repeat. We were told that it was the first time they had welcomed carol singers for seven years and the first time ever with adult singers. On a personal note I would like to thank the choir for their hard work while I was substituting for Dennis, who was on holiday especially those who took solo parts ,you made my life very easy. Harold Wonham

The maker of all human beings (God) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart.
This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been technically termed “ Sub- sequential Internal Non- Morality,” more commonly known as S.I.N.
Some of the symptoms include:;
Loss of direction
Amnesia of origin
Lack of peace and joy
Selfish or violent behaviour
Depression or confusion
Fearfulness
Idolatry
Rebellion
The manufacturer, who is neither liable, nor at fault for this defect, is providing a factory-authorised repair service free of charge to correct the fault. The repair technician, JESUS, has most generously offered to bare the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required.
The number to call for the repair service in all areas is P-R-A-Y-E-R.
Once connected please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure. Next, download ATTONEMENT from the repair technican JESUS into the heart component.
No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, JESUS will replace it with
Love, Joy, Peace ,Patience ,Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness,
Gentleness and Self-control.

Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth)

WARNING! Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on JESUS.
DANGER! The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter heaven so as to prevent contamination of the facility.
Thank you for your attention!
GOD
PS Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice. You may contact the Father at any time by Knee mail..
www.god@heavenlybeings.com

Sarisbury Green URC
checked and packed 8,320 of the 41,541 shoeboxes that were handled by the Eastleigh warehouse. Destinations this year were;
Swaziland: 8,583
Ukraine, 10,748
Bosnia,: 12,455
Serbia : 4,395
Romania.: 1,892
A further 3,478 boxes will be shipped out shortly.