The Messenger - Wallingford Methodist Church

1 The MessengerWallingford Methodist ChurchIssue 360 December 2017 /January 2018 From our Minister, KatherineDear Friends,As many of you know, the Methodist Church plans well ahead and our circuit has recently been involved in the stationing process, seeking a new minister to follow on from me, as I will be moving on next summer. I m pleased to be able to give you an update. Rev. Jocelyn Bennett has been appointed to work in this circuit as minister at Wallingford , Didcot and Milton and to supervise the two chaplains at Great Western Park.

2 Jocelyn is currently a minister in the Hyde and Denton circuit, east of Manchester and she and her husband Neil, with their teenage son Elliott, will be moving next summer in time for Jocelyn to start in this circuit in September 2018. I have accepted an invitation from the SW Worcestershire circuit for next September, to be the minister of 2 Methodist churches in Worcester: Bromyard Road and Ombersley Road. I will be very sad to leave you when the time comes to move on next July but in the meantime I remain as committed as ever to ministry amongst you, serving God in this Church and have just returned from a weekend away in Southport with our circuit group of 10 young people and two other leaders at 3 Generate, the national Methodist weekend for children and young people.

3 And what a fantastic weekend it has been! My thanks to the children for being such a brilliant group and to Graham Ifill and Ian Pickering as leaders, busy supervising and encouraging the children to make the most of the full programme of events and activities. There were over 1000 children and young adults aged 8-23 and more than 600 leaders. It was fun, inspiring and challenging, and also very cold! It must have been the coldest weekend of the year in Southport and we had icy winds, hail and rain and yet we all had a thoroughly good time!

4 It was great to see the children getting on so well with each other and enjoying what was on offer. There were many options to choose from and one boy said he wished he could stay for a week to have time to do everything! They participated in: worship, tricky bikes, swimming, computer games, gospel singing, a silent disco(!), messy science, faith challenges, voting for the new Methodist youth president and learning how to be agents of change by engaging with some of the social and global issues of our world.

5 Late on Saturday evening our group met together for a time of chalet worship sharing thoughts, prayers and reflective comments about the weekend. Each group was given a worship bag containing a selection of craft materials and a challenge to choose a favourite Bible story (the children could have covered the whole Bible!) and then use the paper, clay, sticks and pipe cleaners to show a scene from the story. In less than an hour, interspersed with hot drinks, snacks and prayers, the group had completed a wonderful model of Moses and the burning bush, illuminated by some finger torches, acquired at the urban praise session earlier in the evening.

6 We concluded with prayers, sitting by the torchlight around the glowing burning bush, knowing we were in the presence of Jesus the light of the world who wants us all to be his light in our world. We are now in the season of Advent - a time of waiting and preparing for Christmas as we look forward once again to celebrating the birth of Jesus. Advent is also a time of anticipation- not only of the coming of Christ as a baby in Bethlehem, but also of the promise of the return of Christ and the healing and renewing of all creation.

7 It is a time of hope and of longing. It s a time when there is such a lot to be done with a busy programme of services and activities in our Church and many things to get ready at home- presents to buy, cards to write, people to visit, food to prepare. For many this is a time of joy with gatherings of family and friends. But for some people it s a time of anxiety about making ends meet, of sadness for missed loved ones, of tension when split families come together, or of loneliness in the midst of festive celebrations.

8 Into this world of joys and sorrows, of hopes and concerns, Jesus came, and not just for us but for the whole world. He is called Immanuel, which means God with us . Whatever your circumstances this Christmas, may you know something of the peace and joy of Christ who is with you. We hear the Christmas angels, The great glad tidings tell, O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Immanuel (STF 213) Every blessing this Christmas and in the coming year, KatherineLectionary ReadingsDec 3rd Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 80:1-7,17-19 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 Dec 10th Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 Dec 17th Isaiah 61.

9 1-4, 8-11 Psalm 126 1 Thess 5:16-24 John 1:6-8, 19-28 Dec 24th 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 Romans 16:25-27 Luke 1:26-38 Dec 25th Isaiah 9:2-7 Psalm 96 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-20 Dec 31st Isaiah 61:10-62:3 Psalm 148 Galations 4:4-7 Luke 2:22-40 Jan 7th Genesis 1:1-5 Psalm 29 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11 Jan 14th 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20) Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 John 1:43-51 Jan 21st Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Psalm 62:5-12 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20 Jan 28th Deut 18:15-20 Psalm 111 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Mark 1:21-28 Thank You We would like to say a very big thank you to all who contributed to the book tokens for our golden wedding anniversary.

10 Your generosity was overwhelming and very much appreciated. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who gave us gifts and cards and who came to share our celebrations. It was lovely to see so many friends and family enjoying our special day. Peter and Barbara GosdenThe Friendship GuildThank you all who, as requested in the November Messenger , gave positive consideration to the future of the Friendship Group and the Guild. After talking to members of both groups and the Church Council the positive solution came very quickly.