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SUNDAY WORSHIP - OCTOBER 2017
1st Mrs. Marion Moore *
8th
Mr. Alan Kienlan
15th
Mrs. Marion Bayley – Harvest Parade Service **
22nd
Mr. Peter Cheshire
29th
Rev. Fiona Thomas
*Includes Holy Communion
** Followed by Church Meeting and Harvest Lunch
OTHER DIARY EVENTS
Wednesday 4th
October 2.30pm Bible Study
Tuesday 10th
October 2.30pm Crescent Club
Tuesday 10th
October 7.30p.m. Elders Meeting
Wednesday 18th
October 1.00p.m. Luncheon Club
Donors Arrangers
1st The Duncans Monica Duncan
8th
The Bayleys Marion Bayley
15th
HARVEST FESTIVAL
22nd
Muriel Aldcroft Muriel Aldcroft
29th
----------- Pat Power
OUR VISION
Our vision is to glorify God and to serve God throughout our lives,
always open to God working through us. We seek to share the good
news of love, forgiveness and grace with all in our local community
through our actions and our prayers.
Cover photo is of Michelangelo’s Pieta in St Peter’s Rome. © Anthony Bayley
Dear Friends,
At the start of my theatre tour recently, I attended the sung Eucharist
at the unusual but magnificent Sheffield Cathedral. The service
celebrated an event unmarked in the U.R.C. calendar – the birth of
Jesus’s mother Mary.
We often only seem to dwell on Mary as part of the Christmas story,
so it was refreshing to have her presented in a different context. Not
only did she give birth to the baby, being the bearer of the humanity of
our LORD Jesus Christ, but she raised him. God could easily have
sent Jesus to us as an adult, but instead chose to experience a mother’s
nurturing love first hand. Mary also had the responsibility of
instructing him “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when
he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22.6)
She obviously watched his ministry, but the bible makes it clear that
Jesus was looking to God for guidance rather than his family, which
must have been difficult for her. More difficult, without doubt, was
the pain she had to go through in witnessing his death on the cross.
God, the Father, chose a very special woman to carry out her role as
mother, one whose faith was strong and who could therefore endure
such an experience.
It was a joy to hear the choir in the Cathedral sing the Magnificat,
with those powerful opening words –
My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my
Saviour. A sentiment we could well learn to follow, to strengthen our
faith, and help us get through the trials life throws at us.
Julien Ball
PS A useful Top of the Pew fact to remember, Mary’s mother’s name
was Anne.
FROM THE SECRETARY
Over the past few weeks mainly due to holidays, there have been
fewer members attending Church. Our visiting preachers always say
they enjoy coming to us and do not mind having so few in the
congregation. They tell me they enjoy the warm welcome they
receive from us!
As I mentioned in last month’s Outlook, we will be joining up with
Widmore Road, Bromley. They run Project 5000 (which helps the
homeless and people with special needs.) It is hoped eventually we
will get a Special Category Minister for both Churches. We now
know that Hayes will be joining with Trinity, Bromley.
We have missed seeing Julien recently. Fortunately he is acting in a
play touring the country. We trust all is going well for him.
Sadly we heard of the death of Derek Akers. He passed away a few
days after the funeral of his wife last month. a sad time for their
family.
Apart from a few aches and pains, most of our members seem to be
keeping well at the moment.
We look forward to our Harvest Festival this coming month when we
will be joined not only by the Rainbows and Brownies, but hopefully
the Guides who are now meeting on our premises.
Gill Ross
AN INVITATION
Hayes Free Church have invited any members of our Church to their
Harvest Lunch to be held on Saturday 21st October. More
details to follow. Please let me know as soon as possible if you wish
to go so I can let them have the numbers.
Gill Ross
CHRISTMAS FAIR
Don’t forget Saturday November 25 is the day of our
Christmas Craft Fair. Make sure you have it firmly in
your diaries and start telling your friends about it!
Anthony Bayley
CRESCENT CLUB The first meeting after the summer break was held in our new venue.
As we are a very small membership now, it seemed silly to hire a
large hall. Now we are all cosy and warm in the Minister’s Vestry.
The theme of the afternoon was “brief encounters”, we all at some
time have met a VIP. Muriel began by telling us about meeting the
Queen and many Prime Ministers, some nice and some not so much.
Monica’s VIP’s were mostly Royals and she has met the Queen at
Buckingham Palace. Elma remembered being held up to see Princess
Margaret, when she visited Scotland. Mary, through her in-laws and
their love of music met many famous musicians. As a teenager in
Woolworths in Oxford Street I met the film star Rita Hayworth and
her then boyfriend the playboy Ali Khan. Two beautiful looking
people. My two cousins and I were at the make-up counter and Rita
treated us to an outdoor girl lipstick. We were on Cloud Nine!! Jo
used to see and often spoke to the future President of Botswana
Seretse Khama when he lived in Addiscombe. Marion and Gill in
their Prom Praise Choir days were once used as backing singers for
Cliff Richard and I think other well known names on occasion. The
whole afternoon was light hearted and good fun. Great to hear stories
of days long gone, famous people in those days were not bothered by
frantic fans or fans wanting “selfies”, they were admired but not
hassled as they are these days. The October meeting will be favourite
poems. As I’m writing this the heavens opened and I’m glad I’m
indoors and thinking about those poor victims of Hurricane Irma who
have lost everything. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they
rebuild their lives.
Patricia Power
Beckenham United Reformed Church seeks to ensure that all content
and information published in the magazine is current and accurate.
The information included does not in any way constitute legal or
professional advice and the church cannot be held liable for actions
arising from its use.
PRAYER FELLOWSHIP
Almighty and everlasting God,
We thank you for our harvest which feeds us so many times each day.
We are nourished with your forgiveness and hope.
We are sustained with your strength and patience.
We are filled with your grace and compassion.
We thank you for feeding us with a harvest of plenty.
We are restored through your generosity and healing.
We are replenished with your abundance and joy.
We are reminded of your selfless abandon.
We thank you for feeding us with the bread of heaven.
Your gift of Jesus Christ sustains our lives.
His presence restores the promise of your love.
His life fills our hearts with your everlasting light.
We thank you too for filling us with the water of life.
May we drink deeply that our thirst may be quenched.
May your river continue to flow over us, in us, through us
and out into the world you love.
Amen
In the happy moments
PRAISE GOD
In the difficult moments
SEEK GOD
In the quiet moments
WORSHIP GOD
In every moment
THANK GOD
“Hate” has 4 letters
but so does “love”.
“Enemies” has 7 letters
but so does “friends”.
“Lying” has 5 letters
but so does “truth”.
“Hurt” has 4 letters
but so does “heal”.
Transform any negative energy into an aura of possibility.
It is our perception that makes the difference in the way we feel.
On Sunday October 15th
we will be celebrating with joy the miracle of
the harvest and giving thanks to God for this annual gift. It is a
miracle which we, in this country, are inclined to take for granted.
There is always food in the local supermarket for us to buy, although
the ever increasing costs have made us all more aware of food. Often
we do not know where it comes from or even care. If the supermarket
has difficulty in obtaining its supplies from one place or the costs
increase they simply go somewhere else for their supplies. As
members of my family know I have something
of a fetish about seeing where things come from
and it is a fascinating thing to do. We are
isolated and separated from the harvest in our
towns and cities in the rich west, but our farmers
are not. They know all about the harvest, but even for them, it is not
usually, literally, a life or death affair. For many millions of people
throughout the world the harvest is indeed just that – a matter of life
or death. We have all seen pictures in the media of droughts and
flooding which have a ‘knock-on’ effect on all of us. The importance
of the harvest is a reality for us all.
For many years now we have expressed our gratitude for the Harvest
by giving, and this year once again our response will involve three
separate ways of giving and a different envelope for each one.
First of all there will be an opportunity to give to Commitment for
Life, the United Reformed Church’s pipeline, through Christian Aid,
by which certain projects in the Developing World are helped direct.
You will recall that our chosen country is now Palestine / Israel.
Readers of the Outlook will know of some of the problems and the
valuable work undertaken there, which needs our support. An article
appears elsewhere describing some of the work being undertaken
there.
Secondly, there will be an opportunity to give
once again to WaterAid. Many of you will know
of its work, as we have supported them on many
previous occasions. WaterAid is an
international charity whose mission is to
overcome poverty by enabling the world’s
poorest people to gain access to safe water,
sanitation and hygiene education. Please see a
further article on WaterAid elsewhere in this edition.
Thirdly there will be an opportunity to give to your own church. This
does not need any further explanation from me, I am sure.
There will thus be three types of envelope available from October 8th
& I hope you will make use of one or more types.
If you have previously signed one of our Gift Aid forms all you need
to do is write your name on the envelope(s). You do not need to
complete the envelopes in full as I will be arranging the
Gift Aid claims on everyone’s behalf. This will enable us
to increase the value of your gift by a quarter at no cost
to you. Please make all cheques payable to Beckenham
U.R.C. in order that I can do this.
This all sounds a little complicated but it isn’t really. If
you have any queries please do not hesitate to talk to me.
Thank you for your generous help, which I am sure will
be forthcoming.
Anthony Bayley
CONCERT
On Saturday October 14 there will be a concert of Gospel and Pop
music by the Singcronise Community Choir at Emmanuel Church,
The Grove, West Wickham at 7.30 p.m. Entry is free but there will be
a collection taken in aid of ‘The Vine’ Foodbank in New Addington.
I found this report which brings to life the reality of living without
clean water.
A representative from Water Aid, called Vicki, visited the village of
Vimphere deep in the countryside of Malawi in central Africa. She
met Esnart whose welcome was so warm that they were soon chatting
like old friends. Her face lit up when she smiled and her eyes sparkled
with love when she looked at her son Jafali. And yet, she faced a daily
struggle to fetch water. Esnart gets up at 3 am every morning when its
still pitch black outside. She leaves her village and walks in the dark
to a muddy hole in the ground, where she hopes there’s water. If there
isn’t, which happens more and more often, she waits for the water to
rise up through the mud. Often the wait is so long that she leaves her
bucket to hold her place in the queue, and goes home to start her daily
chores. Esnart often has to return to the water hole 3 or 4 times a day.
If there’s water there, she scoops it up and carries home on her head.
A 20 litre bucket full of water weighs 20kg’s – that’s the same as
carrying 40 pints of milk. The track she follows is rough and rugged,
with a steep climb. The weight of the water combined with Jafali on
her back make it hard to walk and yet Esnart knows she cannot afford
to lose a single drop. Where Esnart lives there are wild and dangerous
animals roaming around. One night, on her way to collect water, she
saw a hyena up ahead. With her heart thundering she turned and ran,
but stumbled and fell, right on top of her small son. Luckily they were
both OK. Esnart took Vicki to the water hole one morning and she
could see there were just a few inches of water at the bottom. It was
foul smelling and cloudy. Esnart knows this water can make her son
ill. He sufferes from diarrhoea several times a month, which in
Malawi (quite a small country) kills more than 4 children every day.
Even after Esnart has bathed her son he is still dirty from the water.
She hopes that he will have a healthy future. She wants him to go to
school and learn and to have a better life and perhaps work in an
office. But the fear of sickness is constantly hanging over them both,
which could shatter their world and bring an end to all her dreams of
happiness and a bright future for them both. Esnart & Vicki talked
about what clean, safe water would mean to them and the village.
Esnart said safe water would mean her son wouldn’t suffer so much
sickness and diarrhoea. She explained how a ready supply of water
would help her provide for her son. She could have a garden and grow
vegetables for them. Water also means work. Her village is a farming
community and with water there’ll be planting and harvesting work
for her on the farms. With the inevitable request for funding to make
this possible, that was basically the end of the story. But it wasn’t.
Elsewhere I found a further story about the same village. There had
been another visit by someone different from Water Aid who reported
as follows:-
During previous visits, the village had been a quiet place. But this
time I could only see one or two people going about their business.
Men, women – and especially children – were busy jumping from one
house to another sharing the good news. They had heard that
engineers were on their way to drill for water. And when they spotted
our vehicle with a WaterAid logo, they knew the rumours were true.
Surrounded by hills and the Kasungu mountain range, Vimphere
residents have been struggling to fetch water for a very long time. The
rocky terrain made it hard to dig deep wells to access water
underground. For hours people waited anxiously – even the village's
chief, Chidzuma. But when they saw a trail of dust and realised the rig
was approaching, there were happy songs and dancing. The beginning
of a life with no water woes was about to start. With a smiling face,
Chief Chidzuma offered strong handshakes to our team. It was a
moment to remember. The next day, the hard work began. In the
scorching heat, men and women worked hard to ferry rocky sand – all
the while smiling and singing happy tunes. The excitement was
everywhere. At around 10 am, the rigs struck water. Everyone
cheered so loudly that people from nearby villages heard, and started
flocking to see what was happening. As a token of appreciation, the
chief invited us all to share a meal with them. We danced and sang
together, and one of the young girls in the crowd shouted, “thank you
WaterAid for bringing us water!” As we left the village everyone,
including the chief bid us farewell with happy faces. I felt my heart
melt as I thought to myself “Oh how much I enjoy this job."
A.M.B.
COMMITMENT FOR LIFE
Khalid Mansau is a PARC (now called
the Palestine Agricultural Development
Association) staff member working out
of the Nablus office in the West Bank.
He oversees the many reclaimed land
projects supported by PARC in this
area. Land that was considered infertile
is cleared of rocks and planted with
fruit trees and vegetables.
Khalid’s family were originally from Haifa but settled in a refugee
camp in 1948 (following the declaration of the state of Israel).
Khalid was born in the camp and still lives there today with his wife,
two daughters and two sons. He is proud of what his children have
achieved. One son is an engineer whilst the other is still at school. His
daughters are in college studying engineering and multimedia. He still
remembers when the camp was full of tents in straight rows. It took
until 1949 before the UN started building houses for the refugee
families.
Having trained as an agriculturalist in Nigeria he returned home to
work for PARC in 2002. He would love to return to his original
village in Israel one day, “I have refugee papers, it gives me a status;
it means we are not forgotten. The world cannot forget.”
Part of Khalid’s work is to build good relationships with local
councils. He is confident this has been achieved because they can see
the good work PARC is doing with farmers. Long term development
means building trust and showing by example, change does not
happen quickly.
He said, “There is always hope but we need help from the world.
Thank you for your support”
PARC is involved in many irrigation and agricultural projects across
the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. Their work sends out a positive
message of hope to Palestinians living and working under Israeli
occupation. A.M.B.
LECTIONARY
1st October Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 78:1-4,12-16; Ezekiel 18:1-4,25-32;
Psalm 25:1-9; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32
8th
October Exodus 20:1-4,7-9,12-20; Psalm 19; Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm
80:7-15; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46
15th
October Exodus 32:1-14; Psalm 106:1-6,19-23; Isaiah 25:1-9;
Psalm 23; Philippians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14
22nd
October Exodus 33:12-23; Psalm 99; Isaiah 45:1-7; Psalm 96:
1-9,(10-13); 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22
29th
October Deuteronomy 34:1-12; Psalm 90:1-6,13-17; Leviticus 19
1-2,15-18; Psalm 1; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8; Matthew 22:34-46
COFFEE Our after-service coffee collections during October will
support the three charities for which we are raising money
this Harvest time.
Anthony Bayley
OFFERINGS The offerings during August were as follows:-
August 6 £180.50
August 13 £168.50
August 20 £165.00
August 27 £146.00
The after service coffee collections during August were in aid of
Scope and totalled £44.10
Anthony Bayley
Copy for the November Outlook
by 22nd
October please.
Extensions. Ground Works. Carpentry & Joinery.
Kitchens & Bathrooms. No Job Too Small
Peter’s Chemist 15 Bromley Road, Beckenham, BR3 5NT
Tel/Fax: 0208 650 1731
FREE Prescription Collection Service + Repeat Ordering Service
Simply leave your repeat slip at the pharmacy and call us 7 days before you need any of
your medications. We will then take care of everything at the surgery and have it
dispensed and ready for you to collect directly from the pharmacy.
Disability Aids
Our pharmacy offers a range of mobility and home-care aids. If you are looking for
something in particular that we do not currently stock, we are able to order it from our in-
store catalogue that has very competitive prices, and have it ready to collect by the next
working day.
Stockists for Fine Fragrances & Toiletries, Woods of Windsor, Bronnley and Yardley
BECKENHAM UNITED
REFORMED CHURCH
Oakhill Road (off Crescent Road)
Interim Moderator Mrs Hilary Miles
Secretary Mrs G Ross 020 8650 2959
Treasurer Mr. A. Bayley 07983 334946
Outlook Editor Mr J Ball 020 8659 5337
Asst. Editor Mr A Bayley 07983 334946
Church organisations
Crescent Club Mrs. M Aldcroft 020 8650 9518
Luncheon Club Mrs M Duncan 020 8658 3309
Brownies Miss L Minett 3rdbeckbrownies@gmail.com
Rainbows Mrs M Sloper martine.sloper@btinternet.com
Guides Mrs L Tullis secondbeckenham@hotmail.com
Pilates Monday 19.30 – 20.45
Tuesday 09.30 – 12.00
Thursday 09.30 – 12.00
U3A Arts Class Monday 14.00 – 16.00
Janie Harris Ballet School Monday 15.15 – 21.00
Tuesday 16.00 – 21.00
Thursday 16.00 – 17.45
Friday 16.45 – 19.15
Saturday 08.00 – 16.15
Montessori Mon - Fri 08.30 – 12.30
Spanish Dancing Tuesday 20.00 – 22.00
Saturday 14.30 – 16.30
U3A Guitars(2nd
& 4th
) Wednesday 14.00 – 16.30
Brownies Wednesday 18.30 – 20.00
Rainbows Wednesday 17.00 – 18.00
Guides Wednesday 19.00 – 20.30
For lettings apply to Mr. Anthony Bayley 07983 334946
This church is a member of CHURCHES TOGETHER IN
BECKENHAM in partnership with 14 other churches in the area
AUTUMN IN THE NEW FOREST
(Photographs © Anthony Bayley)
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