Dear Friends,

At the beginning of the summer period I had two rich experiences which will stay in my memory for a long time.  Firstly, I attended the URC Assembly at Loughborough with our Minister, Mary. We had four wonderful Bible Studies at the beginning of each session, which Mary spoke about during her sermon on July 11^th. I will be giving a full report at one of the Church Meetings in the autumn and hope to take it to our neighbours at Havant, Emsworth, Rowland's Castle, Finchdean and Petersfield. As I prepare that report, a number of words come to mind-: interesting, long, stimulating, tedious, stuffy (over 600 people in a sports hall for four hours at a time), moving, funny, controversial, friendly, Bible-based, in-depth debate, challenging, hard work – I could go on, but that's enough for now.

Secondly, a fortnight later, I visited Cockermouth. After the floods last year Marian Crack encouraged us to collect and send a donation to the URC Minister, Revd.Alistair Smeaton, who was very much involved in helping people who had been made homeless. I wanted to see how the town was recovering and found that it was very good, in parts, but my impression was that barely half of the damaged shops in the High Street had been dried out and refurbished. Most of the properties near the river had skips outside and men in hard hats busy working. The hose-pipe ban had just been put in place in Cumbria but the rain was pouring down and the Rivers Derwent (bringing water from the fells) and the Cocker, which converge in the town, looked as though they were going to burst the temporary banks again. It really brought home the terrible problems of the flood victims in Pakistan who have nothing like the resources that we have in this country.

Visiting the parish church, I picked up information about Churches Together in Cumbria. This comprises the Carlisle Anglican Diocese, Cumbria District of the Methodist Church, United Reformed Church in Cumbria, North Western Baptist Association, Salvation Army Northern Division and the Border Kirk of the Church of Scotland.

From what I read it appears to be a strong covenant; they produce a quarterly newspaper called The Way and come together as God's stewards on earth who are called to action. The action has three components: prayer, advocacy and action.  This is Good News. In the spring edition Alistair Smeaton was dealing with a contractor to restore the damaged church, but he was still asking members to raise their eyes beyond their own concerns to engage in prayer and personal giving for the people of Haiti. This August we must add the flood victims in Pakistan. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the desperate needs of so many.

As a church we support three young people – Jessica Morgan who takes medical aid to Cameroon, Vicky Adams who helps at an orphanage in Ghana and Rebecca Holden who supports another orphanage in Kenya. We have Wendy Evans who works very hard to promote Christian Aid, with a special project for Haiti. At our Harvest Service on September 26^th we will give tins and packets of food for St. Paul's House in Portsmouth. This year we are dividing the Sunshine Bag money between Christian Aid and Naomi House, a local hospice which has a special unit for terminally ill teenagers. At Christmas we give toys to Portsmouth Housing Association, we give again to Christian Aid and the Bible Society which promotes the Good News around the world.

While some of us are enjoying holidays or days out we must always remember the teachings of Jesus to love God and show that love in care for one another. There will always be people known to us who are going through tough times – the list on the Prayer Chain is no shorter in July and August than any other month. We are aware of need both local and far away and I sometimes use a prayer which was written after 9/11 but is appropriate for all disasters –

              "O God, our words cannot express

     the pain we feel this day

          Enraged, uncertain, we confess

               Our need to bow and pray

We grieve for all who've lost their lives

                  And for each injured one

                  We pray for children, husbands, wives,

                  All whose grief has just begun.

               O Lord, we're called to offer prayer

               For all the helpless too

               May they, amid such great despair

               Be wise in all they do.

                             We trust your mercy and your grace

                             In you we will not fear

                             May peace and justice now embrace

                             Be with your people everywhere."

And, a final note, while we plead for the needs of others we must also remember to say 'thank you' to God for all the blessings that each one of us has every day.

May God bless you all,

Mary.   (Cooper)

Readings for August

29^th  Sirach 10.12-18 or Proverbs 25.6-7
Psalm 112

Hebrews 13.1-8, 15-16     Luke 14.1, 7-14  

Readings for September

5 September
Deuteronomy 30.15-20
Psalm 1
Philemon 1-21
Luke 14.25-33    

12 September
Exodus 32.7-14
Psalm 51.1-10
1 Timothy 1.12-17    
Luke 15.1-10    

19 September
Amos 8.4-7
Psalm 113
1 Timothy 2.1-7
Luke 16.1-13    

26 September
Amos 6.1a, 4-7
Psalm 146
1 Timothy 6.6-19
Luke 16.19-31    

Notes on the Bible Readings

Philemon
Philemon, the shortest and most personal of Paul's letters, deals with a problematic relationship between two Christians. Philemon is a slave-owner, and his slave, Onesimus, seems to have left his master to join Paul in prison, perhaps to ask Paul to help him sort out the problem in his relationship with Philemon (v. 18). Philemon probably lived in Colossae (Colossians 4.9). It is not clear where Paul was in prison. The story needs him to be close to Colossae, and therefore some scholars suggest that he was imprisoned in

Ephesus, on the basis of his references to trouble there (1 Corinthians 15.32).

Paul probably converted Philemon, and this put Philemon in his debt. In this letter, Paul calls the debt in by asking Philemon to set Onesimus free, since he is no longer a useless slave (v. 11), but a brother in Christ (v. 16).

Paul is not addressing the problem of slavery in general (cf. 1 Corinthians 7.21), but is focusing specifically on the difficulties that arise when a Christian master owns a Christian slave. The shared faith demands that each recognise the other as a 'new creation' (2 Corinthians 5.17), the old status stripped away by the new life in Christ (Galatians 3.27). Philemon offers a fascinating pastoral exploration of the practical implications of Christian faith, and indicates the extreme sensitivity and delicacy with which Paul needed to handle this.

1 and 2 Timothy
With Titus, these two letters form a group known as the 'pastoral letters', concerned with pastoral leadership of the Church. Although these letters were once attributed to Paul, few scholars would now argue that he wrote them, or that they were addressed to the young men who had been Paul's companions (Acts 16.1, Galatians 2.1-3). Careful reading of the letters reveals many subtle differences of thought between the genuine letters and the pastorals, for example in the contrast between Paul's own description of God's call to him (Galatians 1.15, focusing on grace) and that given in 1 Timothy (1.13, where the change in Paul's life seems to be a consequence of his ignorance). The Church context is different too, with Timothy, unlike Paul, concerned about bishops and a hierarchical ordering of the Church. Most scholars would date these three letters (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) in the early second century. This fits with what we know of the developing life of the Church at that time.

But, if these letters were not written by Paul, they were written by someone steeped in his thought and claiming the inspiration to

write in his name, which was not uncommon in that period. Whether they were written as genuine letters, or whether the writer chose to use this form for a more general discussion of Church life, is unclear. They seem to fit together well in their consistent exposition of the themes of heresy and true doctrine and the life and conduct of the Church, and were therefore possibly composed as a group.

The writer is concerned to prevent the spread of heresy, probably a form of Gnosticism, which argued that believers could attain salvation through special knowledge but that creation was evil. It is harder to pin down the positive aspects of his belief, though he has an evident faith in Jesus as the mediator, the one who has appeared and will appear, to judge and inspire. His concern for Church order is paramount. The Church needs to be ordered along similar lines to contemporary society (this seems to be why he includes the infamous verses prohibiting women from speaking in Church), to ensure its long-term stability and to enable outreach into that world. This is a long way from Paul's lively expectation of Jesus' imminent return, and from his sense that law needed to be balanced by freedom in Christ. This writer inhabits the world of Greek thought, and is able to use this to explore the implications of Christian faith as it developed into a Church.

Luke
In the readings from Luke's Gospel during September, we find Jesus warning his followers that human existence is a risky endeavour. We must consider our plans carefully: who would build a tower or launch a battle without weighing up first whether they have adequate resources (Luke 14.25-33)? And, as his wealthy character Dives was to discover (Luke 16.19-31), even riches are no guarantee of security: it is a good story for a post-recession world - explore it with care.

Revd. Dr Caroline Wickens

Harvest Appeal 2010

At our June Church Meeting, it was agreed to support two projects with the money collected as our Harvest Donations.  Below are summaries of the work being undertaken by these projects.

St Stephen's Orphanage, Kenya, Project by Becky Holden

Here is a brief update about the orphanage in Kenya:

Building a new hospice for young people with life-limiting illnesses.

Medical advances mean that many children with life-limiting illnesses, who have grown up visiting Naomi House, are now living to become young adults. The environment at Naomi House is principally designed to suit children; the needs of young people are very different to theirs. Naomi House has recognised this and has consulted extensively with young people to design a facility that caters for their medical and social needs.

In 2007 Naomi House launched a major appeal to raise £12million to build, equip and run a new hospice for young people with life-limiting illnesses. The new hospice will enable Naomi House to provide care for young people over the age of 18 years old. The new hospice will be named jacksplace@naomihouse, after Jack Witham, whose generous bequest made the dream of a hospice for young people possible. The appeal aims to raise the remaining £6million that is required to build, equip and run jacksplace over the next three years.

jacksplace will be completed in the summer of 2009. The design of the new facility includes six specially designed bedrooms with en-suite facilities that give the youngsters privacy and dignity. There will be two bedrooms where families can stay and be close to their young person, and a butterfly suite for end-of-life care. Other facilities will include a wheelchair accessible kitchen, social areas, a sports field and gardens.

Exciting news

1st Hayling Island Girls' Brigade Company

will be starting on Sunday, 28th February, 2010, at South Hayling URC, 3.30 - 5 p.m.

Girls' Brigade is a worldwide Christian organisation catering for girls from the age of 4 years.  It has a four square programme covering spiritual, physical, educational and service activities, with the emphasis on having fun!

Barbara and Lizzie Hemsley will be leading the company and will be looking for volunteers to help us deliver badgework.  Depending on the type of activity, this might involve coming into Brigade for half an hour on one or two occasions.  Please let us know if you would be willing to help in any way.

Initially we will be aiming our advertising at girls of infant and junior school age, although we will happily accept older girls into the company.  If you have neighbours and friends with children between the ages of 4 and 10 years please tell them about Girls' Brigade and give us their names and addresses so we can send them a personal invitation.

Please pray for this exciting new outreach opportunity.

Barbara Hemsley

023 9246 6146

bahemsley@yahoo.co.uk

TODDLER GROUP

Main Church Hall.  Tuesdays 9.30-11.30 am

Thanks to all who have supported The Toddler Group over the past few months with offers of help and gifts of toys and games.  Without your help, we would not have been able to start.  Thanks also to Pullingers who have donated a piece of carpet for use in the parlour. 

Please continue to tell all friends and family you feel would be interested.  We aim to support parents and carers by providing a happy, welcoming and comfortable atmosphere. 

The cost will be £1.50 entry per family and tea or coffee will be

30 pence with squash provided for the children. 

If you have any further questions or toys/games that you no longer require and wish to donate, please contact any of those listed below.

Heidi Bailey – (92478654).

Rosemary Piper – 9246 1392

Mary Thomas – 9246 3521