High Cross Church, Knoll Road, Camberley, GU15 3SY

Telephone: 01276 66798

Email: office@highcross.org.uk

Web: www.highcrosscamberley.co.uk

Message from the Manse

This is the 4th Magazine since we have been able to meet together in person as a Church Family. In some ways it seems only yesterday that we met, and in others, a long time ago.

I want to be honest and say I miss you all, and it is so

odd not being able to physically meet together. Like many of you I long to be able to worship together again, but fear that if we meet too soon, we will miss so many of the elements of worship we find important. I hadn’t realised how much I miss singing (not always in tune), but that act of singing with a group of people is so special, and I look forward to being able to sing together. I also miss the cuppa and a chat after the service, the hugs, the handshakes and the shared ‘jokes’. Like you, I long to be back together.

We have to be careful though, and prayerfully consider when we are able,

There are so many factors that affect any decision. I promise you that Church Council are considering all the varying factors, and will seek to start worship again when it is safe for us to do so. Let’s not rush things but let’s appreciate the time we have and remember what we miss, so we can celebrate being back together when it happens.

In the meantime, continue to stay close to God and each other. Keep in

touch by phone, through the internet and even through the post. Share experiences and enjoy chatting. Keep your faith alive by linking into the ‘zoom’ bible study, and our weekly Facebook live services (also on the website). If you are not able to join us on the internet, keep your faith alive and active through the various BBC channels, ‘Songs of Praise’ is on each Sunday and the daily services on Radio 4 have been very good.

If you want to chat, please feel free to ring me, Gillian or the office. Above all

keep safe, and keep praying. May God continue to bless you this and every day. Mike

Get Reform free on-line There is a special and free opportunity to read the URC magazine Reform on line. Just follow this link to receive it http://ow.ly/lBUW50yT73A If there is any problem with this or with the Devotions and Service link above just go the URC website www.urc.org.uk Daily Devotions These cannot be recommended too highly at any time and particularly so at a time of isolation. The URC has been providing these for a long time and thousands receive them in their inbox daily. Over a thousand new readers have joined since ‘lock-down’. A reading, commentary and a prayer are provided every day. Just go to: www.devotions.urc.org.uk Weekly Worship at home https://www.rootsontheweb.com

Pause for Prayer

At this time, High Cross is in need of your prayers and support. Please join us

in praying for the world at this time. Pray for us that we will be able to

respond appropriately to the crisis and that good can come out of the

situation.

We are praying daily at 12 noon. Please join us on the Facebook page:

High Cross Church Pastoral Support Group.

Come and join us!

High Cross Church Facebook page at 12:00 noon for our Sunday

service.

FOCUS ON FRIENDS It was very sad to hear of the death of Bill Patrickson; we send our love and

sympathy to his family and friends.

We send our love and best wishes to Sharon and family and her mother who

has broken her hip.

We send our love to Brenda Davies, Jim Clinker, Jenny Hattersley, Richard

Salt and their families as they grieve for the loss of loved ones.

It is good to hear that David Slater continues to improve and we send our

love to David and Viv.

We send our love and best wishes to Sue Mason and family and her mum

who has broken her hip.

We pray for them all.

We welcome and look forward (when we are able) to getting to know Neil

our new youth and community worker.

As the lockdown begins to slowly ease, we think especially of those who are

shielding, those whose loved ones are too far away to visit, those who

grieve, those who have lost their jobs and those who are struggling and

fearful of the future. We remember them in our prayers.

We are very blessed to be part of a loving Church Family and we give thanks

for one another for all the care and love we receive.

I believe the verse of a lovely hymn sums up our Church Family.

Bind us together, Lord, bind us together

With cords that cannot be broken.

Bind us together, Lord, bind us together

Bind us together with Love.

God Bless,

Gillian

David Hattersley

31.12.1939-29.4.2020

Both the year of David’s birth and

this year in which his life has sadly

come to an end are significant and

life-changing for the world in which

we live. So too have they shaped his

life and those of his family.

David carried the hallmark of a life

of generosity, courage, faithfulness and always loving others

before himself. We as a family hope to hold a Service of

Thanksgiving for his life when High Cross is open again for

worship.

So many of you have sent us warm,

encouraging messages and we

thank you for these. We hope that

you will be able to join us to

celebrate his life as a much-travelled

civil engineer, a Methodist local

preacher of over 50 years, a would-

be professional sportsman as well as

a fantastic, faithful family-man!

Keeping in touch with our family, friends and

neighbours during ‘lockdown’

Many of us have either discovered new ways or rediscovered

existing ones to digitally keep in touch. Some of us have been

using Skype, Zoom, Facetime, WhatsApp and other ways of reaching out to

others.

Most of us have made far more extensive use of our telephones and

have greatly appreciated the High Cross Pastoral support, MOTO Camberley

both on Facebook, our own High Cross website and other online links

including those with other churches. I have appreciated contact with Woking

URC services and Fleet URC reflections. Both have been a great support to

me. It has also become a regular daily event to pause and pray at 12 which

gives a point in structuring each and every day. Thank you so much to Mike

and the team.

For those of us shielding, it has been especially difficult not to see

any family, neighbours or friends. When ‘lockdown’ began in March, my

neighbour and I decided to meet at 2pm each day, which we have done

every day. Our front doors are almost opposite each other, so initially we sat

in our own doorways which ensured we were socially distancing. We

persisted to do this whatever the weather and later, when the weather

improved, we found a place at the bottom of the garden where we can sit

either side of the fence. We usually chat and bring out own drinks to

consume which has given us a time in each day when we know we will see a

neighbour in a similar position.

I have been blessed by friends and neighbours telephoning and

bringing shopping for me. Supermarket deliveries have been a great help as I

am unable to go shopping. It will feel very strange, if not a bit scary, to enter

a shop again!

Glynis

A Lockdown Break:

I live in an apartment, one of ten, just as a break for freedom on the May Bank holiday six of us decided to ‘go mad’.

We arranged a lunch on our lawn beside the building, 8 feet apart, own plates, own drinks and glasses, we did bring food to share, nibbles etc. (naughty but lovely).

It was a beautiful day, such a welcome break, you can see we all kept our distance, so much so I could not get us all in.

We sat chatting for ages, most of us on our own, just what was needed.

Rita

The Passion Flower:

It is called that because:

It has ten petals—10 disciples

The central pillar, three parts—the Trinity

The colour purple—for lent or passion

The circle of filaments—the crown of thorns

Black Lives Matter

The protests arising from the murder of George Floyd may have prompted

you to wonder if there are any black people mentioned in the Bible. There

are indeed, and in the Old Testament, the clue to finding them lie in the

word “Cushite,” which means a person from Ethiopia. In Numbers 12.1 we

learn that Moses had married a Cushite woman, to the annoyance of his

siblings Aaron and Miriam. Moses however, stood by his unnamed Ethiopian

wife, and the Lord took his side, as the rest of the chapter recounts. Did

Moses ever have any offspring by this wife? None are mentioned, and as he

was well over 80 by this time, it seems rather unlikely!

The next Cushite mentioned was chosen as a runner in 2 Samuel 18.21 to

carry an urgent message to King David about the death of his son Absalom.

In this case the Ethiopian was outrun by another man, but the fact that he

was chosen at all suggests that the athletic reputation of Ethiopians was

known long before the modern Olympic games.

The next black person is found in Jeremiah 38.7, where he is called Ebed

Melech. This mean “servant of the king” so he may have been a slave. In

any case he is shown as a man who was not afraid to speak truth to power,

and when the prophet Jeremiah was unjustly imprisoned in a muddy cistern,

Ebed Melech appealed to King Zedekiah on his behalf, and was allowed to

rescue him.

The prophet Zephaniah may well have been of mixed race, as his father’s

name is Cushi (Zephaniah 1.1). Cushi’s father is named as Gedaliah, which

suggests that Cushi’s (unnamed) mother came from Ethiopia and that this

was recognised in her son’s name.

In the New Testament, the best known black person is the Ethiopian eunuch

in Acts 8.26-40., who eagerly responded to the gospel message as explained

to him by Philip, and carried the good news back to his own land.

We wait and pray

That soon some day

We will awake and find

That all are well and

Keeping fit

And we can share a little bit

Of good news far and near

And see the world – clean and new

And realise that all we knew

Can at a moment’s time – be changed

And begin to think anew.

To give full praise to all who cared and who worked so hard and true

To think again of what is right from wrong

To mark a chapter new

Oh to see that day to meet our family and our friends

and finally see the light shine and thank our God_

With songs and music with laughter and cheer

Then with one accord say - we saw this through!

Janette Hadfield May 2020

In Acts 13.1, one of the prophets and teachers in Antioch is named as

“Simeon called Niger.” “Niger” is the Latin word for “black” so presumably

here was a black man in a leadership role in the infant church. It is not

impossible that this is the same person as Simon of Cyrene, the man

compelled to carry the cross for Jesus (Matthew 27.32, Mark 15.21, Luke

23.26 ), though this cannot be proved. Cyrene is in North Africa (modern

Libya), and the difference between the names may be no more than a Greek

inconsistency in the spelling of a Hebrew name.

So we see that all the Bible passages we can find are positive in their

references to black people, a lesson so easily overlooked in our modern

world. David Clark

Spotlight on John and Janette Hadfield

Janette was born in 1948 and raised in a small village called Burnside in Glasgow. She has an elder brother Ronnie and younger sister Marie. It was Janette’s mother who encouraged the family to attend their local Church of Scotland in Burnside, Janette’s dad preferring to worship in his own quiet way. Janette attended Sunday school and latterly became a class teacher as well as joining the church youth club. Janette became a member in her late teens and took the role of Cradle Role secretary. Janette studied at the Glasgow School of Occupational Therapy and after graduating worked initially at the Glasgow General Hospital dealing with neurological conditions and then moved to community work in East Kilbride.

Janette’s brother and sister are both married with families; Ronnie in Manchester and Marie in California. Marie’s younger son was due to be married in April this year until the pandemic meant it had to be postponed.

John was born in 1945 – raised in Weybridge and attended the Congregational Church in Weybridge. He has two older brothers, one older sister and a younger brother. John went to a Quaker school called Bootham in York as did his brothers –his sister attended the Mount (the sister school to Bootham).

All John’s brothers and sister are married and have families and also grandchildren. They are spread far and wide from New Zealand, America as well as Norfolk and Southampton. John studied Mechanical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast and worked with 3M in Australia and EMI in the UK until retiring in 2009.

John and Janette met at a friend’s party in Ealing, Janette having moved one year prior to work as a Community Occupational Therapist at the London Borough of Hillingdon. Newly married they lived in East Molesey and then moved to Yateley when their first daughter Patricia was just 1 month old. They began to look for a church to worship in and visited URC in Camberley –where they immediately felt “at home” and were made welcome. It was there that

Patricia was christened by Rev. Tony Spring and three years later their second daughter Caroline was christened by Rev Graham Long. Caroline and Patricia were educated at Clewborough House and the Marist, Sunninghill. In 1986 the family moved from Yatelely to Camberley.

Janette was a full time mum at home until Patricia was around 8 years old and Caroline 6 years old and then returned to work as a Community Occupational Therapist with Surrey Social Services–working part time first in Woking and then Camberley.

In 1981 Janette’s father died, after enjoying only 6 months of his retirement. A year later Janette’s mother Marie Beattie took the brave decision to move to Sandhurst and then joined the URC in Southwell Park Road. She settled well and assisted Janette often with child care activities and enjoyed the fellowship of the church–both at Southwell Park Road, High Cross and Sandhurst Methodist church. She was a very active member of a range of activities and particularly enjoyed the choir until her death in 2000.

Latterly Janette was employed as Senior Care Manager for Adults–specialising in Physical Disability and Elderly. She enjoyed her work very much, retiring in 2007.

The church at High Cross has meant a great deal to John and Janette from earlier years at the URC Southwell Park Road and the 30 years at High Cross. John throughout the time at High Cross has been an assistant treasurer, secretary on the earlier property committee and member of management committee.

Both John and Janette are on Bible reading rota. The late Ken McAinsh, a church member introduced John to Remap, a charity devising ways of providing specialised equipment for disabled people. John continues to actively support.

In their retirement both are enjoying a variety of interests. For John he enjoys sailing, skiing, music, walking. Janette enjoys art, bridge, gardening, reading and travel.

Both daughters are married. Patricia and Amede live in Birmingham having been 2 years in Spain and 4 years in France. They have two girls Jenny 7 and Esme 5. Caroline and Christian live in London and have two boys, Lachlan 2 and Patrick 3 months. John and Janette are much involved with family and love spending time whenever possible.

Well done to the winning caption:

”Where has that High Cross rabbit got to now?”

Thank you, Rita, and thank you to all the other entrants.

From old expressions last month to new

expressions this month!

In recent weeks there have been many words that

are new to us or have acquired new meanings.

Self-isolation

Social distancing

Furlough

Zoom

Lockdown

Virtual Church Meetings

Extremely vulnerable

Keyworker

Pandemic

Covidiot

Covexit

Can you think of any more?

Caption Competition!

New Expressions due to Covid-19

THINKING OF THE PERSECUTED

Coronavirus is, of course, changing all our lives and making life difficult.

These are also difficult times for many in the Persecuted Church - the

spread of the virus and lockdown are having devastating effects. In many

countries huge numbers of people have lost their income and are desperate

for food. But it isn’t changing our God. He is steadfast, loving, strong and full

of grace.

Please pray for our Persecuted Brothers and Sisters during this pandemic:

Lord Jesus Christ

You, who hugged the leper and healed the lame,

Be with all those who are reaching out to you at this time.

We think especially of all who have already pay a high price for following

you:

those who are poor, and running out of food,

those who are hated by their community and are always the last to

receive help - if they receive it at all,

those to whom the fear of Covid-19 is just the latest in a long list of

fears which they must carry every day.

Encourage and protect the pastors who lead their flocks.

Bring courage to those who are afraid,

Strength to those who are weak,

Comfort to those who mourn,

and hope to us all. Amen

Prayer from Open Doors.

From Church Secretary, Sue

Meanwhile, for our Covid-riven times – below are some edited anonymous words

(thank you computer) about ‘Happiness’ reproduced to give us some food for

thought during the days and nights of uncertainty that many are experiencing:

Some of you will remember that many moons ago there was an advertisement that,

quite incredibly, assured us that ‘Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet’. Since time

immemorial the search has gone on for what happiness is Scientists, in their own

distinctive pursuit of happiness, have even been able to identify the chemical

seratonin as the neuro-transmitter that governs the mood of happiness.

But are we happy? Because of lockdown we telephone each other a lot now and

often start with the greeting, ‘How are you?’ Most people respond, ‘Oh I’m all

right… plodding on’, and then we jointly lament our boredom as well as our

blessings; our good fortune as well as our sorrow for those who have suffered loss,

pain and grief as a result of the virus. Would it be right, or possible, to describe

ourselves as happy at the moment?

There is that chorus that links happiness to the certainty, “I’m H-A-P-P-Y, I know I

am I’m sure I am…”. But also there is that rather less selfish song, “I want to be

happy, but I can’t be happy until I’ve made you happy, too.”

In the popular mind, happiness is associated with a mood of satisfaction brought

about by the right combination of health, wealth, and a fellow called Joe, or a girl

called Joanna, for rarely is it assumed that one can be happy alone. So to ask if you

are happy, according to this contemporary scale, will have you checking the

satisfaction you get from work, recreation, study or retirement. You will recall

whether your bank statement is in the black or the red, you will scan mind and body

for aches and pains, and weigh the relationships you have with partner, family,

friends, and your resilience/enjoyment in living alone.

Even if the bottom line reveals a plus, if we show real concern for our neighbours

we would not put up our hand to reveal our happiness publicly. After all, we may

know someone who is at present in deep depression, or unwell; there is someone

else we know who is unemployed and perhaps someone else’s marriage which is on

the rocks. And all that is apart from the guilt we carry about our wealth compared

with the state of the poor in our own country or the third world.

Happiness? Surely no one has the right to be happy in this miserable world?

As Christians we should realise that the only happiness worth enjoying is not a

stroke of luck, but a blessing from God. There are some words in Isaiah which

describe the foundation of such happiness.

“The Lord is a just God, happy are all who hope in Him.”

The source of happiness is described as being God, but the blessing comes when we

respond to His justice with hope. So here is an answer to all who wonder if it is

possible, or even appropriate, to be happy in such a world as this. The prophet is

assuring the Israelites, whatever their troubles, that the Lord is a just God. God will

do right by those who trust Him. It may not seem so at the time. Which one of us

would dare reproach a person undergoing great suffering or loss if they complain

against God? And yet Isaiah is saying, “have patience, God’s purposes for creation

and for us cannot always be seen clearly in the present moment”.

If you are one of those who could not have raised your hand to being happy because

of some despair in the past, or present, remember that there is movement in our

own personal history as much as in the history of the world. Happiness comes not

from a narrow view of present troubles but from a firm belief that in God’s good

time, in eternity, all will be well. This blessed assurance, an assurance of ultimate

happiness, is what will carry us through any despair of today.

After having children, Adam and Eve started getting a lot of questions from

them about why they no longer lived in Eden. Adam had a simple answer for

this: “Your mother ate us out of house and home.”

Dear Friends

During the zoom coffee morning on June 7th

some suggested they would like to do some Bible study and I agreed to

lead it. So I would like to invite you to a group which will meet twice a

month on a Tuesday evening. After some thought I have decided to take

Luke’s Gospel.

All are welcome to be part of this group. Mike will set up a zoom link. I

am aware that some are old hands at zoom whereas others may be

hesitant. Zoom can be accessed by ordinary telephone if you do not have

a computer and I can help with getting you joined up.

For each session, there will be some chapters to read and I will be

producing some questions before the study and it will be helpful if you

could read though but if you don’t have time please still join us.

If you would like to take part please let me or the church office know,

either by phone or email. I can be contacted on helen@alexeverard.co.uk

or on 01252 516 622 or 0778 606 63 07.

I can then send out the questions and passages to read. I hope you will

find that studying the whole of one gospel in this way is exciting and

illuminating. There are no “right” answers in studying the Bible, but a

whole lot of new discoveries, whether of familiar or unfamiliar material so

that we may love Jesus more dearly and follow Him more nearly as we

walk in His way together.

With best wishes

Helen

My Hobby-Painting

When I was approached by Glynis who suggested I write something for

Crosstalk about my painting hobby—I first thought—oh dear! What to

write! And then after a short while—the question of “why do you paint?”

encouraged me to think through the reasons.

I love the challenge of composition, of starting a new project with

sometimes little idea where it will take me and how the resulting end will

look. The freedom of expression of designing the layout the outline

drawing first perhaps or the random splashing of paint onto a pristine sheet

of watercolour paper—is always so exciting. I often only have a kernel of an

idea and through trial and experimentation suddenly I will achieve a

pleasing result. In an otherwise busy life, to suddenly find that one or two

hours have elapsed where I have been concentrating only on a piece of

work is especially restful and also invigorating. Not all paintings by any

means reach a state where I feel I have achieved all—but in that execution

there is an inner peace, a quietness of mind which is something to treasure.

I am very lucky also that the small painting group I belong to—is one which

is encouraging of all differing levels and abilities as well as having a special

bond of friendship which has developed over a number years. Our mentor

and long suffering teacher is frequently bemused by my diverse individual

process of painting—at times unconventional and I’m sure frustrating for

him. I treasure my talent such as it is being well aware of my limitations in

the difficult medium of

watercolour painting and will

continue to strive to attained or

to be the best I can.

Janette Hadfield

How well do you know our Hymns and Songs of

Fellowship? An important element of our worship is the collective

opportunity to express our love of God through singing.

Something that I am sure many of us are missing, and

look forward too when we can get back together. Our

hymns are a great store of Christian expression and can

be a great comfort in times of need. If we can't currently

sing them together, we can always read them in the

stillness of our hearts.

Set out below are certain lines from some of our well loved hymns and songs

from Hymns and Psalms and Songs of Fellowship. But do you know the first

line or two? Answers next month!

1. Sun and moon bow down before him, Dwellers all in time and

space. (lines 3 and 4 of V 4)

2. Lord, I come in your awesome presence, From the shadows into

your radiance. (lines 1 and 2 of V 2)

3. When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, and hear the

brook, and feel the gentle and breeze. (lines 3 and 4 of V2)

4. I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not in

vain. (lines 3 and 4 of V3)

5. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds and drives away his fears.

(lines 3 and 4 of V1)

6. Jesu, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art.

(lines 5 and 6 of V1)

7. He comes to cleanse and heal, to minister his grace, No work too

hard for him, in faith receive from him. (lines 2 and 3 of V2)

8. And both of this bear witness, One church, one faith, one Lord.

(lines 7 and 8 of V1)

9. Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with his goodness, lost

in his love. (lines 3 and 4 of V3)

10. Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

(lines 3 and 4 of V5)

David Markby

Another Translation Teaser

We all know that the Israelites spent 40 years in the desert after they

left Egypt, but how do you translate “desert” into a language whose

speakers live in a rain forest? This was the problem for some of the

tribal minority languages in North Thailand. They were traditionally

migrant slash-and-burn farmers, and had only two terms to describe

different kinds of terrain, one meaning “land that can be cultivated”

and the other “land that cannot be cultivated.” If the latter term were

used, it would imply a jungle area that was too steep or too muddy to

cultivate, and would give a completely wrong impression of the

terrain the Israelites had to travel through. What is a desert anyway?

When we hear the word, the first thing most of us think of is sand, and

it comes as a surprise to discover that in the Bible, sand is never once

mentioned in connection with a desert, only with the sea shore! So

how could the translators in Thailand handle the problem? They

decided to focus on what a desert does not contain, so it became either

“a place with no water” or “a place with no people,” according to the

different contexts. There is always a solution if you think hard

enough!

Answers to Geographical teasers: Did you get them all?

1. Edinburgh 2. Santiago 3. Alaska 4. Alaska 5. Hawaii 6. Alaska.

7. Alaska yet again (its Aleutian Islands cross the 180 degree meridian)

Disclaimer

Whilst every care is taken to ensure that all details, dates and telephone numbers are correct, no responsibility can be taken for changes or errors. All artwork is accepted on the understanding that permission has been granted for its use in this publication and on the High Cross website. We do not specifically endorse any of the businesses featured in this publication. You are advised to make your own checks.

Contacts Ministers Rev Mike Thomason

Rev Alan Costello via church office

Church Office

Debbie Welch office@highcross.org.uk 0330 100 47 78

Church Secretary Sue Shoveller 01276 507455 secretary@highcross.org.uk

Pastoral Secretary Gillian Foster 01276 501393 pastoral@highcross.org.uk

Church Treasurer Bob Jarvis treasurer@highcross.org.uk

Crosstalk Magazine

Crosstalk Team

Children & Family Worker Sam Salt

children@highcross.org.uk

Youth & Community Worker Neil Braybrooke-Tidy

Safeguarding Officer Mary Cooper

safeguarding@highcross.org.uk

Website www.highcrosscamberley.co.uk