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)
We start with our opening prayer:
In your love we trust, creator God:
your love for your world;
your love for each one of us;
your love that invites us to love others,
to love ourselves, and to love you.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
receive our love now, and our thanks.
Amen.
(Taken from ROOTS at Home)
What’s out there?
What’s out there?
When all this is said and done,
What waits beyond the big dark clouds
Beyond the mist that us surrounds?
When freedom to, not freedom from
The words now on our lips upon.
Once more hold all our loved ones near,
Not just this overwhelming fear.
What waits our eager ears and eyes,
The sounds and sights – a sea sunrise?
People gathering – glad to meet,
Laughter spilling in the street.
One day, we’ll get there
I know we will
Just hope and pray – keep vigil still
Life better will become, we’ll see.
What’s out there
For you and me?
Doreen Smith
Our readings for this week:
Acts 1:6-14 (NIV)
6 Then they gathered round him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’
7 He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’
Matthias chosen to replace Judas
12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Further readings from the lectionary this week are as follows:
- Psalm 68: 1-10, 32-35
- 1 Peter 4: 12-14; 5:6-11
- John 17: 1-11
Coffee morning
We will be hosting a virtual coffee morning via Zoom from 10.30 – 11.30 on Saturday 30 May. This will just be an informal chance to get together online. If you would like to join in, please contact Louise (publicity@christchurchuxbridge.org.uk) for details.
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.
Neil Mackin will be sharing a reflection in this week’s service. Next Sunday, 31st May, is Pentecost. Our online service at 11.00 am will include Holy Communion.
If you would like to participate, please have bread (or equivalent) and wine (or equivalent) ready.
And please download and/or print the picture below and have it with you also. (Children of all ages are allowed to colour it!)
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.
Gift Aid
When the two churches (Uxbridge Methodist Church and Old Meeting House) united in September 1972 there were two Gift Aid (or as it was called then covenants) secretaries; Rex Edgeworth (father of Paul and Stephanie) looking after the Methodists while Jim Sims dealt with URC members. This continued until Jim gave up and passed his half to the treasurer. Jim dealt with the Inland Revenue directly while Rex provided information to the Methodist finance office. Jim always said ‘The Methodist side is simple’.
At some stage Rex relinquished his role and passed that to the treasurer. Bearing in mind the words of Jim, I put everyone onto the Methodist system. Over the years they have introduced a computer system and refined the procedures. The odd hiccup but reasonably straightforward.
In the middle of March this year Methodist House sent the 37 pages of rules about what can and cannot be claimed as Gift Aid. In the middle of April they sent the seven pages of instruction on how to complete the Gift Aid return for tax year 2019/20. I followed instructions and submitted our return on May 1st.
During this period of ‘lock down’ the church revenue has almost disappeared. Some of you have arranged standing orders – thank you. Whether you Gift Aid your church giving or not, it’s important to set aside a little money each week so that we play catch up when we are able to.
Brian Moere
My life after retirement: part 2
This is the second of two parts, sharing some of Syd’s memories of life after retirement. You can read Part 1 in ‘Look-In’ in Lockdown #4
In early 1993, while sorting out stuff in the garage, I came across an item (I can’t remember what it was exactly) which made me wonder if the library had a museum collection as there had been a small museum in the previous civic buildings. When I went to the library to ask, I was invited to see the collection and introduced to various people, including Caroline Cotton, the head of the department. The museum collection was held in the basement of the civic centre, which is a very spread out building. Half of the basement was racked out from floor to ceiling and was full of archives – almost anything from a safety pin to a manual fire engine.
After the tour, Caroline asked if I would consider doing voluntary work for them. I was the first to be asked that question. I agreed immediately. It was suggested that I look after the Uxbridge and District collection of photographs. I thought that a very good idea and said so. It gradually got round the town and I started getting photographs sent to me and given to me in the street.
One day I visited Joyce Randall with Ken. We had been to interview her on her life. I told her about my work at the library and asked her if she had any photographs that I could copy. A few days later, she called me to say that she had a lot of photographs on the dining table that I could look at. When I went along a couple of days later, I found the dining table completely covered with a great heap of photos. There must have been many hundred. I sorted out a hundred or so as a start. As the table was never used, the photos were left out so that I could gradually find all the ones that would enhance the library collection, copying them at home.
About a year later, Caroline said, “You never told me that you were in the film industry and that you were awarded an Oscar.”
I said, “How did you find that out?”
She had just been on a three-day course to the Imperial War Museum. On mentioning that she came from Uxbridge, they asked if she knew a chap named Syd Wilson. She said she did and so she was told of my history with the film archives. She said if I had been younger, she would have given me a full-time job as I had such experience of archive work.
One day I was told that the library had been given a refrigerator for the collection but not find out how to plug it in so they could see if it worked. When I went up to the collection to look at it, I could see straight away that it was a gas refrigerator. They had never heard of a gas fridge. As a result of that, Caroline asked me if I would like to spend time at the collection to identify, date and catalogue items.
1995 was the hundredth year of cinematography. Caroline asked me if I could give a talk to an audience at the library on the history of cinematography. I felt that my days of talks were over, so instead contacted the managing director of Pinewood Studios at the time (who I knew well), and the previous MD – they were friends – and organised for them to talk on the history of Pinewood. Ken and I went to hear I asked them if they would give the same talk to the Uxbridge History Society and they agreed.
I carried on doing voluntary work for the library for 20 years.
After retiring, we seemed to go to either Rowena or Anthea each Sunday or they came to us. Carmen was always worrying about the families. Her worrying about things became worse as the years rolled on. We continued both history society and coach company outings until the last which was a history society outing. Carmen was very sick and unwell on this trip. While the coach was filling up, I asked if the coach could go straight home. I got no answer and the journey home took diverse ways rather than going straight home which was very unkind. That was about two years before Carmen passed away on 29th January 1999.
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
Graham has sent us a picture of the Girls’ Brigade centenary commemorative rose which is currently blooming in his garden.
Posies and palm crosses
Lock-down has meant that we missed out on our Mothering Sunday service on 22nd March and Palm Sunday service on 5th April where we would have handed out daffodil posies and palm crosses. Graham would like to remind us that we’ll meet again and when we do we’ll catch up on our posies and palm crosses.
Until then, please download and/or print these reminders and keep them by you (The artists among you are allowed to colour them.)
If you have any photos of any of the things that you’ve been doing while in lockdown to share, we’d love to see them!
Praying for other churches
This week we hold Trinity Church (URC and Methodist) in Harrow in our prayers.
Closing prayer
God of heaven and earth,
in these times of isolation,
apart from loved ones
distant from friends
away from neighbours
thank you that there is nothing
in all of creation,
not even coronavirus,
that is able to separate us from your love.
And may your love that never fails
continue to be shared
through the kindness of strangers
looking out for each other,
for neighbours near and far
all recognising our shared vulnerability,
each of us grateful for every breath,
and willing everyone to know the gift
of a full and healthy life.
Keep us all in your care.
Amen.
(taken from Christian Aid’s prayers for coronavirus)
