Palmers Green United Reformed Church December Magazine...

1 | PGURC Magazine | December 2019 Issue

Palmers Green United Reformed Church

December Magazine 2019 For all people who seek and share the Good News of Jesus Christ

Member of Churches Together in Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill

In this issue Worship Services and Church Diary – December 2019 p.2

Pastoral Letter – Mark and Melanie p.4

Feeding the Spirit – Revd Fiona Thomas p.11

Our Mission Statement p.14

News of People and Events p.15

Provoking Poems – Harry Hunter p.27

Letters to the Editor p.28

Noticeboard p.29

Junior Church’s Advent Candles help us celebrate God’s love at Christmas


Date Time Service Worship Leader

Sun, Dec 1st 11am Communion Service Revd John Mackerness

Sun, Dec 8th 11am Morning Worship Dr Paul Ashitey

Sun, Dec 15th 11am Morning Worship Revd Melanie Smith

Thurs, Dec 19th 7pm Carol Service Revd Melanie Smith

Sun, Dec 22nd 11am Morning Worship Revd Dr Emmanuel Frimpong

Tues, Dec 24th 11:30pm M’night Communion Revd Lucy Berry

Wed, Dec 25th 10:30am Christmas Day Mrs Fredwyn Hosier

Sun, Dec 29th 11am Morning Worship Revd Melanie Smith

Morning Worship is held every Sunday and includes Holy Communion on the first or second Sunday of each month. Arrangements for additional services are publicised in advance. Christian Education for young people takes place during morning worship.

BIBLE READINGS FOR DECEMBER 2019 WORSHIP SERVICES

1st December 8th December 15th December 22nd December

Matt. 24.36-44 Isaiah 2.1-5 Psalm 122 Romans 13.11-14

Matt. 3.1-12 Isaiah 11.1-10 Psalm 72.1-7, 18-19 Romans 15.4-13

Matt. 11.2-11 Isaiah 35.1-10 Psalm 146.5-10 or Luke1.46b-55 James 5.7-10

Matt. 1.18-25 Isaiah 52.7-10 Psalm 98 Hebrews 1.1-4, (5-12)

25th December 29th December

John 1.1-14 Isaiah 52.7-10 Psalm 98 Heb. 1.1-4, (5-12)

Matt. 2.13-23 Isaiah 63.7-9 Psalm 148 Hebrews 2.10-18

W O R S H I P S E R V I C E S - D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9


Elders’ Meetings 2020 – 7.30pm, Margaret Russell Room ➢ Dates not yet announced.

Church Meetings 2019 - 2020 – 1.15pm, Burford Hall ➢ Sunday 24th November (Annual Forum) ➢ 2020 dates not yet announced.

‘A Place for Coffee’ is open every Saturday morning (10.30am - 12 noon)

Additional information about upcoming Enfield URC events can be found on pages 29 - 31 of this magazine. Please refer to the weekly Bulletin, available by email and at services each Sunday, and to NewsShare email messages, for more up-to-date information about events.

C H U R C H D I A R Y

HALLS LETTING: Contact Mikayla Coote, Bookings Manager Tel: 01366 348190 | email: [email protected]

Please visit our website for more details - http://www.palmersgreenurc.org.uk/halls.html

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.palmersgreenurc.org.uk/halls.html


vision2020

In 2010 the United Reformed Church

launched vision2020, a programme to

help us all look at our mission purpose. When it was first launched, it seemed that 2020 was a long way away; why were we thinking about that when we had more pressing concerns as a denomination?

But, guess what, 2020 is here! – well almost!

So how have we done on our Vision 2020 programme? What effect has it had on our churches?

Vision 2020 set out ten statements that we needed to look at in order to consider our mission as churches:

Spirituality and Prayer We will grow in our practice of prayer and spirituality, nurturing strength for our witness to Jesus Christ, and developing our discernment of where God is and what God is calling us to do by reading and studying the Bible and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Identity The URC will be a Church where every local congregation will be able to say who they are, what they do and why they do it.

Christian Ecumenical Partnerships We will be more confident in our identity, valuing the treasures of our tradition, discerning when to seek ecumenical partnership, and when and how to seek the further unity of the Church.

Community partnerships We will be a Church that is more active in the life of local neighbourhoods.

P A S T O R A L L E T T E R


Hospitality and diversity We will be a Church committed to becoming even more welcoming and hospitable, and embracing all people equally.

Evangelism We will be more confident to engage in evangelism, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God with friends, families and strangers, through story and action.

Church growth We will be a growing Church with an increasing membership.

Global partnerships We will be a Church that is an active partner in God’s global mission with other Churches around the world.

Justice and peace We will be a Church committed to peace-making and reconciliation that keeps faith with the poor and challenges injustice.

The integrity of creation We will be a Church that has taken significant steps to safeguard the integrity of creation, to sustain and renew the life of the earth.

It wasn’t expected that every church would develop in all these areas, but it was hoped that churches would take one or two of these statements and look at how it could apply them in the context in which it was working.

As we now enter 2020, we wonder how you feel the church that you’re a part of is doing when considering these statements?

Rather than beating ourselves up because perhaps we haven’t fulfilled some of these mission statements, we wonder if we could look at them a different way and ask one another which of these mission statements actually excites us, makes us want to respond?

As we find out what excites us, what enthuses us, we may find out that this is one of the ways that God speaks to us, and how God might actually be leading the church we’re a part of, to respond.


Could you share with somebody else in the church how you feel, and why you are interested in one (or more) of these mission statements? Could you pray with that person and ask God to show you how you could perhaps help the church to respond better to this statement today? Could you let us know what enthuses you, what excites you about the mission of the church?

This might not be quite what you were expecting to read in a Christmas magazine (December Edition) but, in the words of a well-used phrase, “Jesus is for life, not just for Christmas”, and the birth of the Christ-child set the world on course to be changed forever.

The church, now the hands and feet of Jesus in the world today, must work out how to be Christ’s presence in the world and proclaim the story of Christmas, the story of Christ, to a world still waiting to hear the story told.

Our mission statements send us in the direction of doing just that.

May God be with you, your families and your friends this Christmas and evermore,

Your ministers, Mark and Melanie

Advent Challenge Starting on the Advent Sunday, 1st December, why not challenge yourself to read one chapter of Luke’s Gospel each day. On Christmas Eve, you will finish the story, so you can wake up on Christmas morning knowing why Jesus is a gift to the whole world.

Stepwise Stepwise is a new part of the Walking the Way: Living the Life of Jesus Today initiative which is designed to help us reflect on and develop our Christian faith.


In the Enfield area we are intending to start the course in the New Year and are keen to hear from anyone who would be interested in signing up to join those who have already committed themselves to start the course.

So, what exactly is Stepwise?

It’s a discipleship development programme from the United Reformed Church for everyone: all ages, shapes and sizes. It is shaped around your strengths and needs, in the context of your own community and church, and emphasises the importance of learning from your daily life and your own relationship with God.

It is delivered through online material and through the regular meeting together in a group setting to review what has been discovered through the online material.

If you think this might be something for you to join in with then please do get in touch with either Mark or Melanie.

If you want to know a little more, please do look at the information about Stepwise on the URC website, www.urc.org.uk/stepwise ,or simply ask one of us, or Laura Marlow at Lancaster Road URC (who has been involved in a taster group following the course) about it!

City of Joy Since we’ve come back from India, we’ve heard the words, “We have people living under flyovers in our country!” on several occasions. And that is perfectly true. The prompt for that comment is my talking about the Hastings Community in Kolkata, supported by Cathedral Relief Services (CRS). It is a community of about 2,500 people, from tiny babes in arms, to elderly women and men. These are mainly illiterate Muslim families that have moved in from poor rural areas looking for work in the City of Joy, only to find

http://www.urc.org.uk/stepwise


themselves on a scrap of army land, with no water, sanitation or electricity. Drug addiction is a serious problem among men and children. The children are particularly vulnerable, and some are orphans. A lack of government schools in the area means that many older children are out of formal education. Some work as rag-pickers while others help to look after horses at the nearby racecourse.

Our friend, Rig David, who is the Director of CRS, was out walking with his son one day and came across this very poor community living under the concrete flyovers. He met one of the community leaders and they agreed that CRS could provide some assistance. Work started in 2013 with a small school. Now CRS is running an education programme for 60 children aged 3 and 13 years who live in the streets and in the slums nearby and under the flyovers. By attending the school, the children can catch up with any education they have lost so that, in time, they may successfully join a government school and not be left behind.

The school itself (above), uses one wall of the concrete leg of the flyover, and the other three sides are boards. Although no roof is required, the area is prone to flooding in the monsoon season. During our brief visit,


we were squeezed into the ramshackle small structure of the school, about 10ft x 18ft. We were presented with friendship bracelets as the children danced for us and sang to us in a mixture of English and Bengali. Despite the best efforts of CRS, several of the children showed signs of poverty related disease including ringworm and malnutrition. For the mothers of children attending the school, the women’s empowerment programme offers training in tailoring.

The community is also supported through a health programme; once a month, a mobile school health clinic visits. The service includes doctor’s check-up and distribution of medicines. There is referral to government hospitals when required. Many of the school children receive iron supplements for anaemia.

There is no doubt that it is a hard place. It left several of our group in tears. Yet those tears were about our own sense of helplessness in the situation; the community itself, although frustrated, did not lack dignity. We acknowledge that, ‘We have people living under flyovers in our country!’ and they deserve our help through the local churches winter respite (night shelter), the Big Issue, Crisis and Shelter. But even though we have seen Hastings with our own eyes, we must admit that the issues are far larger and more acute than we can imagine.


We need to work out creative ways of supporting organisations, such as CRS, who are working with these most disadvantaged of people, that they may have life, life in all its fulness.

Cathedral Relief Services’ Mission Statement is: “to provide education, healthcare and empowerment to women and children of all faiths and none and so motivate them to realise their full potential through individual and collective action and change.” We bring together people with different challenges to be strong and work as one to secure their rights.

Find out more at: www.cathedralreliefservice.net

Helping the homeless It can be difficult to know how to respond when you see an apparently homeless person begging for money on the street. We don’t want our money to go to alcohol or drugs, and so giving to homeless charities, especially our local churches winter respite (night shelter) hosted at Palmers Green URC this year, can be a very sensible alternative. However, if we see a person begging and think it may be someone who is part of a gang, then please call the Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700 or visit www.modernslaveryhelpline.org for advice.

Eco Tip Join the Wild Christian Community - We are keen to help individuals and families to live more joyfully, sustainably and radically with the rest of God’s Creation. Join the Wild Christian community and every month they’ll send you practical actions that you can take to help you enjoy, nurture and protect nature. Please get in touch on [email protected] if you are willing to share ideas. Specifically, they would love to hear from those who can write knowledgeably about different species of plants and animals in Britain and from anyone with a passion for writing or researching nature-inspired or eco-themed biblical reflections.

Editor’s Note: For those interested in learning more about the URC’s

vision2020 Mission Grants opportunities, this can be found at

https://urc.org.uk/vision2020.html .

http://www.cathedralreliefservice.net/

http://www.modernslaveryhelpline.org/


https://urc.org.uk/vision2020.html


‘Something to brag about?’

A sermon delivered by Revd Fiona Thomas (pictured right), URC Secretary for Education and Training, and visiting worship leader at our Communion Service on Sunday 3rd November 2019.

Bible Readings: Luke 19.1-10 2 Thessalonians 1.1-4, 11-12

Imagine you were designing a poster for this church, to tell the world (or at least Palmers Green) about its best features. What would they be? What's the story you want to tell about this church?

Of course, we're rarely in control of our own story - we can tell it, but it's up to others how they interpret and retell it. There's a character in our Gospel reading this morning called Zacchaeus. That name means ‘righteous’. And maybe Zacchaeus did feel he lived up to his name occasionally. But for the people around him there were three characteristics that mattered to them:

• He was shorter than average.

• He collected taxes on behalf of the Romans occupying their country, and was therefore seen as someone who did their dirty work for them.

• As far as they were concerned, he was a sinner - someone to keep away from.

F E E D I N G T H E S P I R I T


Zacchaeus knew that he had very little to brag about - maybe it was just as well he was shorter than average. It made it easier to keep a low profile.

And then Jesus came to town, and Jesus saw something in Zacchaeus that was surprising. We learn about it from the passage in Luke 19.

Many years ago, when I worked in India, there was a village that I often visited called Krishnapurem. On the surface it was like all the other villages where the project worked, but there was something special about the people there. They had energy, enthusiasm and liveliness. When I went there, I came away feeling encouraged. And it wasn't just me. I kept bumping into political activists and government people doing surveys there. We all gained encouragement from the people of Krishnapurem. I may have told you this story before, because the memory stayed with me.

The church of the Thessalonians was like that for Paul - the knowledge of who they were warmed his heart and kept him going during difficult times.

Thessaloniki (now) - Thessalonica then - a place of inequality. There were people who were very rich, and who kept in with the Romans for protection, and there were people who were much poorer - labourers, who lived with financial insecurity. Thessalonica was a place where there were many local Gods - the Romans absorbed these. The Emperor Augustus replaced Zeus' image on coins with that of his adoptive father Julius Caesar, making him to be some sort of God.

The labourers banded together and had occasional festivals - sometimes funded by a richer person who was trying to buy influence and status. It may be that the church of the Thessalonians was like a gathering of labourers, started by Paul (who was a tentmaker) and his companions. Acts 17 has him preaching in the synagogue, but there are clues in his two letters to the gathered Christians in Thessalonica that they were entirely Gentile. The letters don't mention any of the subjects relevant to Jewish Christians.

Maybe Paul and his companions found that a mutual association of labourers became “the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. They abandoned their previous God and didn't


seek the patronage of rich people trying to keep in with the Romans. They pledged their loyalty to Jesus rather than the local deities who were believed to keep the city safe. And by doing that, they were implicitly turning their back on Caesar.

It was the flip side of Zacchaeus' situation, ostracised because he was in with the Romans. Not keeping in with the way the society worked in Thessalonica was the source of the persecutions and afflictions that they had been enduring, and which caused Paul to promise to pray for them. He spoke well of them to other churches, holding them out as an example, and reminded them in this letter that their life and-work was all God's doing, sustained by prayer. As far as Paul was concerned such affliction was normal for Christians and would strengthen their faith.

It is a situation with which we are not generally familiar in Britain as Christians - we are not persecuted for our faith. Although we may sometimes feel that we are out of step with some of the ideas that are taken for granted in contemporary society we can usually find allies - we may sometimes go out on a limb, but there are people of other faiths and none sitting alongside us.

Like you, I have other stories, other memories that come back to me. I could have brought my ‘Beautiful Day’ hat, given to me by coincidence on my birthday in Vietnam, which was one of the countries that I visited when I worked for Christian Aid back in the late 80s to mid-90s. It was a time when the church was viewed with some suspicion by the political authorities, particularly in the North of the country, just as followers of other faiths had to be equally careful how they expressed themselves. Twenty-five years later I was struck by the news reports following the tragic deaths of 39 people in a container lorry in Essex, which spoke of church services and Buddhist rituals being held for the victims in Vietnam. The clues so far point to a region of north central Vietnam affected by poverty and environmental disaster where people are so desperate to leave that they put themselves in the hands of traffickers. In the 90s in Vietnam there seemed to be high levels of education, health care, and nutrition without much obvious wealth around, and not a lot of political freedom. Generations later, stark inequalities in society are reappearing, without loosening up of political control.


Politics may be on our minds. We will have decisions to make as the General Election approaches. We will need to pray hard about who to support, who to follow, who to trust as our representatives and leaders. Paul encouraged the church of the Thessalonians to be resolute and faithful, pointing to prayer as a comfort because it brought them closer to God.

As Brian Wren puts it in the first verse of one of his hymns,

“This we can do for justice and peace: we can pray, and work to answer prayers that other people say. This we can do in faith, and see it through - for Jesus is alive today.”

Amen

We are a group of different people looking for

and finding, strength and meaning in God’s love.

You will always be welcomed gladly.

We worship and pray together.

We learn about God’s love and forgiveness

through Jesus, the Bible and with the help of each

other.

Together we will work to make Jesus present

by loving actions done, and by loving words spoken,

in this church and beyond these doors.

O U R M I S S I O N S T A T E M E N T


Card Shop officially opened

The Cards for Good Causes Shop in the church officially opened on Sat 26 October and was attended by around 20 people. We welcomed our special guest this year, Revd Baroness Kathleen Richardson (pictured right with Jean Alderman), who spoke briefly about her work and performed the official ribbon-cutting ceremony. Here are some photos of the event below.

The shop is open each day from 10.00 until 4.00, Monday to Saturday. If you are buying Christmas cards this year, please do visit the shop and look at the wonderful selection available. It will stay open at Palmers Green URC until Wednesday 11 December 2019 at 4pm.

We were particularly pleased to see our former caretaker and church friend Mr Robin Saxton who is pictured with a cup of coffee on the left above with Martin van Staveren.

N E W S O F P E O P L E & E V E N T S


All Souls’ Day at PGURC on 2nd November

This was a wonderful opportunity for us to think about those loved ones we have lost, with prayer stations and reflection space open to the community between 10.30 and 3.00.

At 3.00pm, Revd Melanie Smith led the act of worship, that brought our thoughts together. Below are some photos of the evocative tableaux that assisted us in our quiet remembering. Each had quotations from scripture reflecting the individual themes. Viewing below (left to right and top to bottom) they included ‘Overflowing Waters’, ‘Lighting a Candle’, ‘Hearts’, ‘Still Waters’, ‘Tree of Life’ and ‘Contemplation’.


‘Poppies for everyone’ – Our brilliant Remembrance Parade Service on 10th November

Our Remembrance Day Worship, illustrated by these photos, was led by our Minister Revd Melanie Smith with members of the Uniformed Organisations, who had brought large poppies of different colours and ‘strewn’ them along the platform at the front of the sanctuary to commemorate those who died as a result of conflict. There were Red ones for the British, Blue ones (Cornflower) for the French, Purple ones for the animals, White ones for all, and Black ones for those of Colour.

We began with a prayer and sang our first hymn, ‘My song is love unknown’ by John Ireland and Samuel Crossman, and an Explorer read from Matthew 5.38-48. Part of the Beatitudes, this is where Jesus

instructs his disciples to “…Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven;”

Shortly afterwards Melanie talked about the small copies of the Book of John (left) that were given to members of the Armed Forces during WWI and brought out replicas of these to give to each group member at the service. Some can be seen still reading them after the service as they left the building.


However, the most interesting part of the service came when Melanie invited representatives of each group to join her at the front to locate where on the planet conflicts are currently raging. These were tagged using sticking plasters on a huge inflatable globe and all forty of the ones she had brought were used up. You can see this in the photos, during and after, when the globe was held aloft for all to see.

After the offering and a closing prayer, we sang our final hymn from Psalm 90, ‘Our God, our help in ages past,’ by William Croft and Isaac Watts. The groups then paraded out with the Colours while organist Robert Evans played Elgar’s ‘Nimrod’ from the Enigma Variations.

It was a very moving and thought-provoking service.

Editor


A trip to India’s East Coast By Brian Ball

I was originally planning to go on Melanie and Mark’s India trip in October. However, when I contacted my friend Ananth, who lives on the east coast of India, he invited me to stay with him and I thought that was too good an offer to miss. I had shown Ananth around London about 10 years ago when he was studying in Birmingham. He’s now a lawyer, working for the Andhra Pradesh state government in the city of Rajahmundry.

I arrived together with the others in Kolkata, old name Calcutta which most locals still use! I just had time to see the Victoria Monument in white marble (above), built towards the end of the British Empire.


Then I took the short ferry ride across the Hooghly River (bottom p.19), a distributary of the Ganges.

This took me to the enormous Howrah Junction station (below) from where my train to Rajahmundry was due to leave at 11pm. I had a very comfortable Air Conditioned ‘2-tier’, which is a bit like the old couchettes on the continent for those who may remember. I got quite a good night’s sleep and then the next day had the first of many interesting railway journey conversations. There was a family with a 1 year old and the father spoke very good English. He works for the government monitoring various initiatives, such as one he described on ‘cleanliness’. Unfortunately, India has a very long way to go!

Ananth was there to meet me at the station at 5pm after my 18-hour journey – I actually felt surprisingly fresh. Over the next few days I met several of Ananth’s family, including his wife and two children, age seven and one. I had so much great Andhra Pradesh home cooking (right), which is on the spicier side, even by Indian standards. I just about learned to eat using my fingers, but they would usually provide cutlery for me just in case.


Rajahmundry is a big Hindu pilgrimage place as it is on the Godavari River, second only to the Ganges in holiness. Ananth and his family are Christians; his father was a Lutheran Church Minister. He took me to the children’s home that his father set up. It offers accommodation to 15 boys

from the countryside, in order to give them the chance for a better education in the city. In fact, they would otherwise probably have to work on the family smallholding and miss their education altogether. I managed to remember a game to play with the boys (shown left).

On the Sunday, Ananth took me to a church in the countryside (below) where I received such a warm welcome. I was very honoured when they asked if I would lay hands on them for healing.


After four days there, I took the train halfway back up the east coast to a place called Puri (top right). This is another Hindu pilgrimage centre, having an important 12th century temple. I stayed 5 days there with the chance to visit another magnificent 13th century temple in Konark (right), all intricately carved.

I also had a day trip on the local bus to Chilika Lake (right). This is a lagoon with a mixture of seawater and freshwater. It’s home to Irrawaddy dolphins and I saw several of these on my boat trip: you have to just take my word for it, since they were too quick for my camera!

After lunch there I was waiting for the bus back to Puri. When it got to after 4 o’clock and there was no bus I got a bit worried – and I found out that I’d already missed the last bus back. Luckily there was an

Ananth, on the right with the minister of the church


autorickshaw there (3-wheeler with motorbike engine) and the driver agreed to take me back. So, I had a journey of over 50km taking nearly 2 hours, having to dodge even more cows than usual in the middle of the road. I thought £8 was very reasonable.

My last day in Puri I spent mainly on the beach (right) with loads of Indian tourists, paddling, playing games and taking camel rides. This beach was actually quite clean which was a great bonus.

Then there was my third overnight train journey to take me back to Kolkata. I hadn’t expected much on my last day, staying in a suburb called Dumdum, handy for the airport. But actually, I had a very enjoyable day.

On my way to find the Church of North India, I stumbled across a Sikh Gurdwara (left) where they were very friendly inviting me in for tea and a tour. They even offered me a free lunch too. Then I was looking for

somewhere to sit down and have a drink – I couldn’t see any cafes at all, so bought a drink from this little roadside hut where the shopkeeper invited me to come in and sit down and have a chat with him. His English was quite limited though of course better than my Bengali which is non-


existent. Eventually I found the Church of North India, but I’d missed the English service and it was all in Bengali.

This was my fourth trip to India. Some people said it must have changed a lot, but it still seemed very much the same to me. It is noisy, crowded and dirty, but also incredibly colourful and the people are so friendly. I loved it again, but I was also very glad to get back to the relative calm of London streets!

Brian

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Let the Organ Thunder??

In September I went to an interesting and informative visual and aural presentation on liturgical organ playing from 1600 to 2000 in St Andrew’s Church. Although primarily intended for organists, the talk would have been of interest to anyone involved in the musical aspects of church services.

After a brief introduction illustrated with views of Roman and medieval organs, Philip Norman explained how playing requirements and expectations have changed over the centuries. 18th century German and French organists had a much greater role in services than do those playing at modern rather shorter English services.

He explained how organ music was used in Latin Roman Catholic masses in Italy and France both to accompany the words of the mass (communion) and to play separate pieces of music before and between the sections of the mass. This gave the singers rests in services which could last for several hours.

He then turned to the Lutheran Protestant church in Germany. Here the organ was used in solo works and to accompany the choir and other instrumentalists in cantatas and the members of the congregation in chorales (which were simple tunes setting hymns or psalms and were sung in German).


The talk concluded by considering the use of the organ in English church services up to modern times. Philip Norman suggested that organists could expand their roles in services by playing preludes before the hymns and interludes between the verses.

Stephen Gilburt

Editor’s Note: Stephen (pictured right) is an Elder at Christ Church URC in Enfield. The talk he attended was promoted by the Enfield and District Organists’ Association, web address www.edoa.org.uk and was advertised in our September 2019 issue page 18. Thanks to Tom Boorman for sending us this article.

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Toilet Twinning News – Flushing away world poverty It was announced in the November 2019 issue that the church has successfully completed its campaign to raise £600 to donate to Toilettwinning.org, a Tearfund initiative to improve sanitation and personal hygiene

in some third world countries. In doing that, it earned ten framed certificates that have now been displayed in each of our ten toilet cubicles. Above is a photo of some of them, to aid identification, in case you bump into one, and want to thank Derek, Estelle and Stef (who installed them) for their efforts.

If you would like more information about Toilet Twinning look at their website: https://www.toilettwinning.org/twin-your-toilet/ .

http://www.edoa.org.uk/

https://www.toilettwinning.org/twin-your-toilet/


PGURC to host Winter Night Shelter in 2020

See notice from Estelle Müller right.

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PGURC Christmas Lunch 2019 If you have not yet made a commitment, please don’t forget to come to our Christmas Lunch on Sunday 1st December at 1:00pm. Contact Mary Bysouth asap for tickets: Adults £10, Under 12s £5, Family (2A + 2C) £25. Volunteers are needed for preparing food on Sat morning 30 Nov, and for washing up while cooking is taking place on Sun: contact Tina Ashitey.


Acrostic Seasons By Harry Hunter*

Advent After the old-style prophets had long gone, Desert-dwelling, locust-eating, hair-clad John Vented his venom on viperous visitors, Excoriated extortioners, faced down inquisitors: Now was the time to flee from the fire, To bear fruit of repentance for the promised Messiah.

Christmas Cold, fragile and aching, this carpenter’s wife Held her defenceless new-born fearfully; Responsible now for his every pulse of life, Isolated from kinswomen, intuitively and tearfully She somehow kept him warm and fed, Tried settling him in a makeshift bed: Motherhood was harsh on this young slip, barely wed. And then, bearing awestruck certainties, sent to reassure, Shepherds came rattling at the stable door.

Christmas extra! – Bethlehem Business booms for innkeepers – this census of population Emperor Augustus ordered has got the whole nation Travelling, each family to their native city. Hotels are crammed, inns full, there’s little pity Lost on two stragglers, the girl pregnant, needing a bed. Eventually there’s a hovel where she can rest her head; Hoping for warmth, they find a chill stable instead. Each huddles the other; they’d almost caught their death. Mary gasps in labour – and angels hold their breath.

*Reprinted from https://harryhunteronline.com/acrostic-seasons/ .

P R O V O K I N G P O E M S

https://harryhunteronline.com/acrostic-seasons/


Winchmore Hill Methodist Church final services Dear colleagues, I am writing to thank Palmers Green URC for sharing its excellent magazine with Winchmore Hill Methodist Church over many years. You may or may not be aware that after several years reflecting, discussing, and praying about what it means to 'be church' the church has decided to cease worship and close at the end of December 2019. We will share in a Thanksgiving Communion Service on 1st December at 10.30am followed by lunch, to which past members and friends have been invited, and in a Christmas Carol Service on Sunday 22nd December at 10.30am, which will be our final service together. Our congregation is to disperse rather than move together to one church. Some are looking to join another Methodist Church in the locality - of which there are several - and others a church near where they live no matter the denomination. We praise God for all that is past and trust God for all that's to come. May God continue to lead us all in love,

Julia The Revd Julia Wiktorska Minister of Winchmore Hill and Southgate Methodist Churches (Minister of Bush Hill Park, Grange Park, and Southgate Methodist Churches from 1st January 2020)

Advent Candles and Olive Trees The olive tree is a universal symbol of peace and a powerful symbol of Palestinian rootedness in their land. But in the political turmoil of the Middle East today, trees that have survived hundreds of years have become casualties in the struggle for the control of the land. Olive trees are also a major source of income for Palestinians for centuries, with trees covering over 50% of agricultural land. The olive oil industry supports the livelihoods of around 100,000 Palestinian families. Since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank began in 1967, Palestinian farmers have lost hundreds of thousands of olive trees.

Through an initiative called 'Keep Hope Alive', ‘Embrace the Middle East’, a charity working in Israel/Palestine, have partnered with the ‘Joint Advocacy Initiative’ (YMCA and YWCA) to plant saplings in Palestinian-

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R


owned areas that are at risk of confiscation. Throughout Advent we will be using words written by ‘Embrace’ in parts of our worship services.

If you would like to contribute to the planting of an olive tree sapling, please visit their website, www.embraceme.org/olive-tree-project. Revd Melanie Smith

Food Bank Donations Just a short note to inform you all that the food bank donation of approx. 41 kilos was accomplished this week (14 Nov). They are, as usual, very thankful and send their appreciation. Current shortages are: all drinks, cartons & bottles of anything like juices fizzy or not, coffee, hot chocolate etc. They are also very short of nappies size 5&6. Warm wishes, hoping to see you all soon. Jane Hessami

Upcoming Events in December 2019 1.00pm Sunday 1st Christmas Lunch at Palmers Green URC, Tickets from Mary Bysouth, Adults £10, Under 12s £5, Family (2A + 2C) £25 4.00pm Sunday 1st Festival of Light Parade in Enfield Town Centre - Lancaster Road URC and Christ Church URC's both open for refreshments 6.30pm Sunday 1st All Age Carol Service, Lancaster Road URC 8.00pm Thursday 5th Enfield Community Orchestra Winter Concert, Christ Church URC 2.00pm Saturday 7th Christmas Memory Tree, Ponders End URC 7.30pm Saturday 7th North London Symphony Orchestra Concert, Palmers Green URC, performing Sibelius, Brahms and Tchaikovsky, tickets see website: http://www.nlso.org.uk . 3.00pm Sunday 8th The London Gallery Quire present a Programme of Christmas Music - followed by refreshments and Country Dancing, Winchmore Hill URC 7.30pm Thursday 12th and Friday 13th A Christmas Carol by The Compton

N O T I C E B O A R D

http://www.embraceme.org/olive-tree-project

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Players, Winchmore Hill URC £10.00 Call 020 8360 1104 6.30pm Friday 13th Guides Christmas Presentation and Christingle, Christ Church URC 5.30pm Sunday 15th Carols by Candlelight, Ponders End URC with Enfield Brass Band Ensemble 6.30pm Sunday 15th YPCF Nativity, Lancaster Road URC 2.15pm Monday 16th Christ Church Friendship Club Christmas Party, Christ Church URC 7.00pm Thursday 19th Carols by Candlelight, Palmers Green URC 7.30pm Thursday 19th Carols and Poems by Candlelight, Christ Church URC 7.30pm Monday 23rd Beer and Carols, The Little Green Dragon, Green Lanes, Winchmore Hill. 9.30pm Tuesday 24th Christmas Eve Communion Service, Lancaster Road URC 11.30pm Tuesday 24th Midnight Communion Services, Palmers Green, Bush Hill Park and Christ Church URCs

See also Notices on following pages.

Regular Events Sunday Worship 10.30am Bush Hill Park, Ponders End, Trinity, Winchmore Hill 11.00am Christ Church, Lancaster Road, Palmers Green 6.30pm Lancaster Road (Café Church 1st Sunday), Trinity Mondays 2.15pm Friendship Club at Christ Church (3rd Monday each month) 8.00pm Book Club at Bush Hill Park (1st Monday each month) Tuesdays 10.30am Coffee Morning at Ponders End 8.00pm Bible Study at Bush Hill Park (2nd & 4th Tuesdays each month) 8.30pm Bible Study at Lancaster Road (2nd & 4th Tuesdays each month) Wednesdays 9.30am Toddlers at Bush Hill Park 9.45am Bible Study at Lancaster Road (fortnightly) 10.00am Prayers at Lancaster Road (fortnightly) Fridays 9.30am Prayers at Bush Hill Park 9.45am Toddlers at Bush Hill Park 10.00am Shoppers Coffee Morning at Lancaster Road

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Saturdays 9.00am Breakfast Club at Christ Church (1st & 3rd Saturdays) 10.30am A Place for Coffee at Palmers Green 10.30am Coffee Morning at Trinity 11.00am Lunchtime at Christ Church (3rd Saturday each month) 3.00pm Family Film Feast at Bush Hill Park (1st Saturday each month)

Please visit our church websites to read our latest newsletters. Our churches offer a wide range of uniformed organisations for children and young people - please visit individual websites for more information. Bush Hill Park Christ Church Lancaster Road Palmers Green Ponders End Trinity Methodist/URC Winchmore Hill

Don't forget! You can be kept up to date with all the news from our Enfield United Reformed Churches by subscribing to our occasional email at http://eepurl.com/dHm8TH , and on Enfield URC Facebook Page

Can you help with our young people? We are still looking for new volunteers to help with the young people during the service every Sunday. Two adults are required to be with the children, one who will plan an activity and one to be a second helper. We have a rota system to cover every week and we need more volunteers to enable us to continue our activities. Any amount of time you can offer will be a great help. If you want to plan activities, we welcome new ideas. You will require a DBS check which we can arrange. Please get in touch if you would like to get involved. [email protected] Nathalie Müller

CHILDREN’S INTERNATIONAL VOICES OF ENFIELD Invite you to our Christmas Celebrations on Sat. 7 Dec at 6pm and Sun 8 Dec 2019 at 3pm Dugdale Theatre, 39 London Road, Enfield EN2 GDS Tickets can be obtained from: www.dugdalecentre.co.uk or by phoning 020 8807 6680 See poster right.

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http://www.dugdalecentre.co.uk/


WE SHARE OUR PASTORATE WITH THE PONDERS END and WINCHMORE HILL URCs. Listed below are contact

details for their Church Secretaries: Ponders End Church Secretary: Mrs Pat Lewis

[[email protected]] Winchmore Hill Church Secretary: Vacant

We are part of the Thames North Synod in which there are 126 United Reformed churches in six Areas, headed by a Synod Moderator. The United Reformed Church in the United Kingdom has approx. 1,380 local Churches, 13 Synods and 46,880 members. It meets every two years in General Assembly and has its central offices at 86 Tavistock Place, London WC1 9RT. Through our membership of the Council for World Mission we belong to the world-wide Church of Jesus Christ. This is a Reformed and Congregational body for international exchange in Mission. The United Reformed Church is one of 32 member Churches.

We are a member of Churches Together in Palmers Green, Winchmore Hill and Grange Park (CTPGWHGP). In partnership with Church of England, Roman Catholic, Methodist and Baptist churches in our neighbourhood, we aim to explore the Christian faith together, and witness to the Gospel.

Minister – Revd Melanie Smith e-mail: [email protected]

Secretary - Mr Martin van Staveren e-mail: [email protected]

Treasurer (Interim) - Mr Brian Hosier e-mail: [email protected]

Palmers Green United Reformed Church is at the corner of Fox Lane and Burford Gardens, London N13 4AL and online at both www.palmersgreenurc.org.uk and www.facebook.com/PGURC/ . Our magazine is published monthly and is printed by ‘Office Interiors’ in Palmers Green using approx. 85% recycled paper.

A B O U T O U R C H U R C H

MAGAZINE COPY DATES FOR JANUARY 2020 ISSUE Publication is scheduled on or before Saturday 28th December 2019. All copy, including Church Diary information, to be sent to Harry Goforth (preferably by email to: [email protected]) by Monday morning 16th December 2019.




http://www.palmersgreenurc.org.uk/

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