Secretary: Mrs Jane Gibson Tel. 0115 8774056

Asst. Secretary Mrs Betty Chadwick Tel. 01509 508874 Treasurers: Mr Keith Clarke Tel. 0115 9724269

Mrs Hilda Wright Tel. 0115 9734177

Pastoral Secretary: Mrs Audrey Nall Tel. 0115 9734035

JULY/AUGUST 2013 Dear Friends,

Another different opening letter, Douglas and Sheila did a

lovely family one in April, so I am doing the second.

At the moment Lewis and I are on holiday in Corfu, and

right now we are at the beach with Tricia, she has just been

in for a swim and Lewis and I are on loungers with the sea

lapping at our feet, it's 36 C at 1.20pm, does that sound

good? Well perfect for where we are just now, but too hot

for shopping, cooking or housework, even worse trying to

sleep at night!

A lot of our friends know that we are here for our

granddaughter Samantha's wedding as well. We arrived

late Monday evening and spent Tuesday and Wednesday

helping with the final arrangements for the wedding in

Corfu Town on Thursday. Sam and John arrived from

Beeston the week before us. Tradition has it that the house

the bride leaves from is decorated outside. So as she was

leaving from Tricia's house, we made lilac tulle bows for all

the downstairs windows and door.

Thursday morning arrived with the same temperature, sun

and blue sky! The hairdresser came at 9am to do the

bride, 2 bridesmaids, Tricia and myself. It was all go and the three hours till the car arrived, at 12 noon for the

wedding at 1pm, just flew by! Another Greek tradition is for

the driver of the bride's car to keep his hand on the horn,

and passing cars do the same in acknowledgement.

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The car was decorated with ribbons and a beautiful

arrangement of cream roses and lillies.

Sam had her Dad's best friend to give her away. She looked stunning, as did our two Greek granddaughters,

who were the bridesmaids.

The ceremony was different too, a civil ceremony held in

the 'Old Ionian Parliament' building. It was a large round

room with a high ceiling, all cream and wall to wall red

carpet. There was a large ornate table at the back and

chairs around the wall, no seats to sit where the ceremony

took place. We stood in two lines as Sam and Patrick

walked in to 'At last' by Etta James and we were all invited

to stand around the bridal party.

The Mayoress of Corfu Town conducted the ceremony in Greek, and it was translated into English by the Wedding

Coordinator. I did a reading, which was based on a passage

from of St. Paul’s letters. Sam and John then exchanged

their vows and rings. It was very simple but tasteful and

over in a short time, very different, but lovely and there

were lots of tears from the ladies (all happy ones).

If anyone knows Corfu Town, we walked through part of the

old town, to the Liston. All 28 guests in our wedding finery!

The Liston is a colonnaded promenade built by the French

in the same style as the 'Rue de Rivoli' in Paris. We had

tables reserved at one of the many restaurants at the

Liston. Cool drinks were needed, as we waited for the bride and groom to join us after their 'photo-shoot' at the Palace.

The bridal car dropped them off at the far end of the Liston

and they walked along hand in hand to meet us just like a

scene from a movie, everyone clapping as they passed just

a dream.

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We continued with a lovely traditional Greek wedding meal

at Romantic Palace Hotel in Agios Gordios, ending with

Greek music and dancing to finish a wonderful day!

I hope you are not all bored now! We will be back on 1st July, in time for the Garden Party

and we will do our best to bring the sun with us.

CHRISTIAN AID COFFEE MORNING

Thank you to everyone who helped with the Christian Aid

Coffee Morning. We were fortunate to have so many

visitors from other Churches, as well as members of the

Christian Aid Committee who helped on the stalls. The

Committee is trying to raise the profile of Christian Aid in

the town. All the Churches have their own events for

Christian Aid but it is difficult to get in touch with the wider

public since we were stopped from taking a market stall to

sell cakes and advertise to others who do not attend the

Church events. We are fortunate to have outside space to

have a cake stall when the weather is good enough. The

next event is arranged for August 31st at Trinity Church 10

am., weather permitting outside! The committee is making a bag pack event at ASDA and Tesco later in the year. We

thank everyone for their contributions and the Church

Meeting has agreed to make the total donation to Christian

Aid up to £500.

Sincerely Betty

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I have often thought that sometimes the lessons from the

lectionary, which give the Christian message through the

Church year, can be a bit difficult to understand, especially

for people who may be hard of hearing. If these readings are published in the Newsletter worshippers can read them

before the service or even afterwards at home and have

more enjoyment from the services. Please tell me if you

don't like the idea!

These are the readings for July. Most of our preachers do

use the set lessons but not all of them in one service or we

would be very late for lunch!

For JULY the recommended readings are:

Sunday 7th

{2 Kings Chapter 5 verses 1-14} OR {Isaiah 66:10-14}

{Psalm 30} {Psalm 66} Galatians 6:1-6, 7-16

St Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20

Sunday 14th July

{Amos 7: 7-17} OR {Deuteronomy 30: 9-14}

{Psalm 82} {Psalm 25: 1-10}

Colossians 1: 15-28

St. Luke 10: 38-42

Sunday 28th July

{Hosea 1: 2-10} OR {Genesis 18: 20-32}

{Psalm 85} {Psalm 138}

Colossians 2: 6-15 (16-19)

St. Luke 11: 1-13

Betty

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NEWS OF THE FAMILY

This month the news is from me, Jane, as Audrey, bless

her, is very poorly.

She is not a person to complain and I know she is having a

rough time, with always feeling so sick.

She has been in and out of hospital and cannot seem to

find out what is wrong. She is now awaiting an

appointment for the gastric clinic, so for now she is staying

with her son and family, who will look after her very well.

We are thinking of you Audrey, get well soon.

Can we all think of Barbara Bell, she has had lots of

problems and life seems to be getting her down, a phone

call from some of us would cheer her up, and I know Barbara is always the first to phone when any of us is not

well and she supports all the fund raising events.

Barbara Hardy, one of our Ladies Group, her son Christopher

is very ill indeed and needs all of our prayers at this time.

She has a good family who I know will support her very

well.

It is good to know that some of our members have

improved in health. Anne and Alan seem a lot better, so are

Barry and Gill even though Barry finds it hard to slow

down,

I know he loves his garden and he will be like me at times,

very frustrated when he can't get on. Celia is looking very

well now, I hope her last operation later this year will see her back to normal health.

Marjorie seems to be well and happy with occasional

outings and lots of visitors.

We must think of May and Lewis, who leave for Corfu this

week to visit their family and attend the wedding of

Samantha. Safe journey to them both.

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A good Church meeting was had this week, with a busy

Church Calendar ahead, starting with our Garden Party.

We must think of Jill rushing about making things right for

the day.

Bless everyone at Church who come along faithfully

whatever the weather even though many have aches and

pains, it's good to enjoy each others company and all our

children who do us proud.

I hope I have not missed any special birthdays, but I do

know that Violet Dawson is soon to be 4 years old on July

1st.

Love to you all,

Jane

CHURCH OFFERTORY

Loose Committed Total Weekly

Cash Gifts Average

March £231 £491 £722 £144

April £219 £462 £681 £170

May £259 £421 £680 £170

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On a lighter note:

A Sunday School teacher decided to have her young class

memorise one of the most quoted passages in the Bible:

Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the

verses. Little Ricky was excited about the task but....he

just couldn't remember the Psalm. After much practice, he

could barely get past the first line. On the day that the

children were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Ricky was very nervous. When his turn

came, he stepped up to the microphone and said proudly,

'The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all I need to know'.

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On Saturday 18th May and Saturday 1st June fund-raising

events were held at the United Reformed Church to raise

money for abused and neglected children in Zimbabwe,

Africa. On the 18th May we catered for 50 people providing them with a three course Indian meal and added

entertainment, then on Saturday 1st June held a coffee

morning, which held a variety of stalls. Altogether we

raised over £1000, allowing us to travel to Zimbabwe this

August and make a big difference to the local community

and orphanage. However we realise we could not have

accomplished this on or own and would like to say a big

thank you to the Church for providing the facilities and

everyone who donated their time and money into both

events.

Lakshmi Shajpal and Alice Park – (Jane Gibson's granddaughter)

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FERRETING ABOUT

Not all may know that a female ferret is called a Jill;

-the Jill that we know trains our choir with some skill.

Once known as a Potter – with plants, she is one still.

-the choir's on holiday now – will return in March with a will.

All the choir performers, they will have to toe the line, Ferreting out the weaknesses and Pottering with the rhyme,

performance day approaches – reaching standards just in time,

extra concentration – no worries, will all go off just fine.

From 'Christmas Concerts' to 'Music in May',

'Jerusalem Joy' to 'Camembert and Caberet'

with 'Love Transcending', 'The Circle of Life' 'A Grain of Mustard Seed' performed without strife.

What with 'Christmas Cracker' and 'Midsummer Feast',

'Flower Festivals' and 'Songs of Praise', not the least.

Excerpts then selected from 'G.F.Handel's Messiah',

'Old Tyme Music Hall' as fresh challenge for the choir.

What's coming next? Was the question so often asked,

Will it be something to which we can all be relaxed?

-not likely, the answer at long last, eventually was told,

for a ten year celebration, we're doing 'Greater Than Gold'.

Jill's not like a ferret really and Potters at a nice pace, our lapses and shortcomings, accepted with good grace,

if by chance, a leadership election, held with democratic intent

-the result in Jill's favour would be maximum consent.

K.D. Clarke

December 2009

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Hello everyone

Firstly my grateful thanks go to all of you who have agreed

to help in all sorts of ways with the Garden Party on July 6th. Of course I realise that by the time you read this the

event will be over and we shall all know how kind or

otherwise the weather was to us. A full report will appear in

the September Issue.

The choir members have been very busy rehearsing for

their next concert which will be based on the 'Last Night of

the Proms'. This will be held on Saturday September 21st at

7.30pm and has a number of well-known songs in it as well

as featuring the band and guest soloists.

The tickets will be on sale at the end of this month price £4.50, inclusive of programme and refreshments and the

venue is the Church instead of the 'Albert Hall' but

hopefully you will be just as comfortable. There is limited

space as you know, so please book your tickets early to

avoid disappointment.

This time we have a change of ticket secretary. Hilda is still

happy to continue, but Keith has decided to finish with this

particular job. He has carried out a sterling job for us over

12/13 years and our very sincere thanks are due to him for

his efforts.

A lady from the choir – Sarah Richards has offered her help with ticket requirements and I'm sure this will work out

successfully.

The choir look forward to your continued support and thank

you for your past attendance at our events.

Jill

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VOICE MAIL

Be grateful God doesn’t have voice mail. Imagine praying

and hearing the following;

Thank you for calling Heaven,

Please select one of the following options:

Press 1 for requests

Press 2 for Thanksgiving

Press 3 for Complaints

Press 4 for all other enquiries.

I am sorry, all our other angels and saints are busy helping

other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important

to us and we will answer it in order it was received. Please

stay on line if you would like to speak to:

God press 1 Jesus press 2

The Holy Spirit press 3

If you would like to hear King David sing a psalm while you

are holding press 4.

To find a loved one that has been assigned to Heaven press

5 then enter his or her social security number, followed by

the pound sign. (If you get a negative response, please

hang up and try area code 666)

For reservations at Heaven please enter; J-O-H-N-3-1-6

For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age

of the earth, life on other planets, and where Noah's Ark is,

please wait until you arrive.

Our computers show that you have prayed once already today. Please hang up and try again tomorrow.

This office is now closed for the week-end to observe a

religious holiday: Please pray again on Monday after

9.30am.

If you are calling after hours and need emergency

assistance, please contact your local priest.

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SUNDAY SERVICES 10.45 am

July : 7 Mrs P Talkes - 5pm Songs of Praise

14 Rev. T Haggis

21 Mr Richard Dawson 28 Rev. Victor Lounder

Aug : 4 Mr B Blackamore

11 Mr R Parker

18 Mrs B Kean

25 Rev. R Hawkins

WEEKDAY ACTIVITIES

JULY

2 Tues. 2-3.30 Tea, Cake and Fellowship

6 Sat. Garden Party

8 Mon. Ladies Monday Club – Meal Out

9 Tues. 1.30 – 3 Hobby and Chat

13 Sat. 7am – 5pm Horticultural Show 18 Thurs. Sight Support

22 Mon. Ladies Monday Club @ Betty's

23 Tues. 1.30 – 3 Hobby and Chat

AUGUST

5 Mon. LMC- Speaker Ruth Beresford on Ghana

6 Tues. 2-3.30 Tea, Cake and Fellowship

13 Tues. 1.30 – 3 Hobby and Chat

15 Thurs. Sight Support

19 Mon. Ladies Monday Club @ Jean Dunham's

27 Tues. 1.30 – 3 Hobby and Chat

SEPTEMBER

2 Mon. Ladies Monday Club @ Church

3 Tues. 2-3.30 Tea, Cake and Fellowship 7 Sat. Model Show

Every Friday– 10am-1pm Coffee, tea and light refreshments

CHOIR PRACTISE Tuesday 7.30pm

LADIES MONDAY CLUB – Fortnightly at 8pm

RAINBOWS Monday at 5.45pm

BROWNIES Monday at 6.15pm

GUIDES Friday at 7pm