Hello everyone,
Welcome to the latest issue of our church newsletter. Hope that you are all continuing to keep well and stay safe. This newsletter is one of our ways of trying to maintain contact and a sense of community during this time when we cannot meet together as a church family. You can find previous issues of the newsletter here. We would love to hear from you and are looking for uplifting and encouraging content to share in future issues of this newsletter. If you have any ideas or content that we can share, please do email them to Louise (publicity@christchurchuxbridge.org.uk)
This week’s prayer is a hymn that was shared in our virtual church parade service last week. The words for this hymn have been re-written by Denise Creed to fit the circumstances that we are currently living in. Denise is currently a Deacon in the South Holderness Circuit, but some of you may remember her when she was at South Ruislip and was our District Chaplain. Hope you find these words helpful for the current times:
Father, I place into your hands the things I now can’t do.
Father, I place into your hands the times we’re going through.
Father, I place into your hands the world as it is now,
for we need your courage, strength and hope.
Father, I place into your hands my friends and family
Father, I place into your hands the people I can’t see.
Father, I place into your hands those finding life lonely,
for I trust that you are with us all.
Father, I place into your hands all of the NHS.
Father, I place into your hands all those now full of stress.
Father, I place into your hands my prayers for you to bless,
for I know you hear my requests.
Father, help me to see your face, help me to hear your voice.
Father, help me to sing your praise and in your name rejoice
Father, give to me peace of mind, and to the dying – rest,
for I know how much we need you now.
Father, I want to be with you and do the things you do.
Father, I want to speak the words that you are speaking too.
Father, I want to love the ones that you are loving too,
may I know that I am one with you.
(Adapted by Denise Creed from the original hymn by Jenny Hewer (b. 1945)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 519
Words and Music: © 1975, Thankyou Music. Administered by worshiptogether.com Songs, excluding UK & Europe, administered by Kingswaysongs, a division of David C Cook <tym@kingsway.co.uk> Used by permission.)
Our readings for this week:
John 14:15-21 (NIV)
Jesus promises the Holy Spirit
15 ‘If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you for ever – 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me any more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.’
Further readings from the lectionary this week are as follows:
- Psalm 66:8-20
- Acts 17:22-31
- 1 Peter 3:13-22
Our worship
We are now live-streaming services via Facebook each Sunday at 11am. You can find our services here. You do not have to be a Facebook user to watch this – our services are publicly viewable.
We are also holding weekly prayer meetings via Zoom on Wednesdays at 7pm. We are also holding weekly prayer meetings via Zoom on Wednesdays at 7pm. If you would like to join us for this or have any prayer requests that you would like us to include, please contact the Church Office.
Links for worship material from the URC and Methodist Church and youth devotional material from #BBatHome are available on the Worship page on the church website.
My life after retirement: part 1
Some of our church members may remember Syd Wilson sharing memories from his childhood and life after school over several issues of Look-in. Here Syd shares some of his memories of life after retirement:
I wanted to retire in March 1987 but was persuaded to stay on until the end of July so that I could organise the BISFA (British Industrial and Scientific Film Association) annual festival. This was a collection of the hundred largest companies in the country. As several industries were still nationalised it included those. I had helped organise the annual festival of the last nine years and this would be the tenth. The first five years were held at Brighton and the last we held at Bristol and we agreed to hold this one there again.
The festival consisted of all the members showing the various films they had made showing off all their latest products. The different companies used to sponsor and organise a lunch or dinner. For our company, I organised a lunch. I tried to find unusual places to hold our dos, such as taking over the Engineerium at Brighton for several hours. I used the same catering company for all the festivals that I did; they were very good and reliable.
On my first festival at Bristol, I was very lucky that Brunel’s original station had just been completely renovated to its original condition. We were allowed to use it, being the first ones to do so. I managed to organise this with the help of the people at the Tourist Information Centre.
On my last festival dinner, I had David Jason as my guest. He was quite miserable at the time. I asked him why. They had just finished the last episode of the series ‘Open All Hours’ with Ronnie Barker and he had no more offers. Little did he know that he would soon be Del Boy; the role which really made him.
They held a retirement party for me at the lab. Several well-known people of the industry including the MDs of all the labs were there. Ken Maidment gave a little speech about my life: how he met me many years before and we had been family friends ever since. I was given a very good set of garden chairs and table with an umbrella etc. and Ken gave me a superb quad sound hi-fi system as a present.
Soon after I retired, we started to go down to Salcome in Devon for our holidays. The hotel had been recommended by Anthea. It was halfway up the hill overlooking the sea. We had room No.1 which looked out straight up the estuary. We went there three years running. We met a couple who were very friendly so while there we booked the next year with them.
After that we started to go to the Isle of Wight to a guest house in Freshwater, owned by a couple called Pat and John. They were very friendly, and Pat’s food was very good. We went there for several years until they moved. We liked the Island very much so continued to go there.
We were very much involved with the History Society and I had been elected to the committee early on. We enjoyed going on the outings each year. There was a coach company which had a catalogue of day outings picking up at York Road and we went on many of these.
Children’s Corner
Taken from this week’s Roots activity sheet
© ROOTS for Churches Ltd (www.rootsontheweb.com) 2002-2020.
Reproduced with permission.
Life in lockdown
Bell-ringing
Some readers will know that as well as attending Christ Church, I am also bell tower Captain at St Mary’s Church in Denham where I grew up. A team of us normally ring before services, but that has obviously stopped for now.
We are lucky to have a mechanism known as an Ellacombe chime, which by hammers, ropes and pulleys lets one person do a sort of octopus impression and ring all 8 bells from a cabinet at ground level. The sound is quieter than when the full weight of each bell swings full circle, but the chimes can also be used to play tunes, which isn’t possible when ringing in the usual way. Initially I started using it on a Sunday morning in the run-up to Easter as a reminder of hope in rather a dark world and a bit of normality for the village; with no-one else in the building it is perfectly safe and counts as my daily exercise. Spurred on by some rather nice comments from local residents, I’m now doing it every Sunday at 10 before St Mary’s online service at 10.30, so if you take a stroll across the fields or along the canal towards Denham one Sunday morning you might hear the sound drifting across.
Andrew Simpson
Creative Challenge
In issue #1 I set you all the challenge of creating a 21cm² ‘coronavirus square’. I’m so pleased to report that some of you have taken up this challenge and have been very busy creating.
Joanne has given permission for us to share her square with you. It is made from the fabric that she’s been using to make her daughter Jess andhusband Benjamin a Wedding quilt. I’m sure she’ll explain the relevance of all the fabrics when we meet back together after lockdown. Thank you, Joanne.
Please check back at issue #1 for dimensions and instructions/ideas to create your own (it does not have to be fabric) and let us know if you’d like to share it in a future newsletter.
Denise Hinton
If you have any photos of any other things that you’ve been doing while in lockdown to share, we’d love to see them!
How to make a face mask from a T-shirt
With lockdown rules starting to be eased, the government is now advising that people wear face coverings in enclosed public spaces where social distancing is not possible or where you are more likely to come into contact with people you do not normally meet, e.g. on public transport. There are some instructions on the government’s website about how to make your own face mask, including this simple one made from an old T-shirt:
You will need:
- an old T-shirt that you do not want anymore (ideally size small or extra small)
- scissors
Step 1: Cut a straight line across the width of the T-shirt (front and back) approximately 20cm from the bottom of the T-shirt.
Step 2: From a point 2cm below the top right-hand corner of the fabric, make a 15cm horizontal cut through both sides of the fabric that is parallel to the top of the rectangle.
Step 3: Cut down towards the bottom of the fabric until you reach approximately 2cm above the bottom edge. From here, make another 15cm cut that runs parallel to the bottom of the fabric to make a rectangle that can be discarded.
Step 4: To make the ties, cut open the edge of the 2 long strips of fabric. Unfold the main piece of fabric and place over the mouth and the nose. The 4 strips act as ties to hold the cloth face covering in place and should be tied behind the head and around the neck.
Advice for using face masks
Wash your hands or use hand sanitiser before putting your face mask on and after taking it off and after use. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth at all times and store used face coverings in a plastic bag until you have an opportunity to wash them. When wearing a face covering, take care to tuck away any loose ends.
Do not touch the front of the face covering, or the part of the face covering that has been in contact with your mouth and nose. Once removed, make sure you clean any surfaces the face covering has touched.
You should wash a face covering regularly. It can go in with other laundry, using your normal detergent.
Praying for other churches
This week we hold the following churches in our prayers:
- South Harrow Methodist church
- St Margaret’s & St George’s church, Harlesden (URC/Moravian)
Closing prayer
Lord, we thank you for our church community and for the ways that we can come together remotely even though we cannot meet physically at the moment. Help us to keep finding ways to show your love to those around us. We thank you that you are our constant throughout changing and uncertain times. Give us your strength and guide us throughout the days ahead.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and evermore. Amen.
