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Lymington United Reformed Church Lymington United Reformed Church Lymington United Reformed Church Lymington United Reformed Church

MARCH MARCH MARCH MARCH 2011201120112011

FROM AN ELDER

God’s Gifts are free for all of us..... Imagine a young boy standing across from the village grocery store. In the front window are various fruits. Inside the shop is full of all foods one could imagine – bread, chocolate, meat, puddings etc. This little boy has not eaten all day and has no money. All he can do is look and wish. Then the Shop Keeper seeing the little boy comes out and asks the little boy in and then asks him what he would like. The little boy explains that he has no money. However the Shopkeeper invites him and asks him to help himself – free of charge. The Shop Keeper positively encourages the little boy to take more and more, not only to feed himself but to share with others. This is not what most Shop Keepers would do. This is what God does. We find these words in Isaiah “Come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!” In the Bible we are taught that God invites everyone to come and enjoy his gifts – He has given them to us freely. We are totally loved by our Father – however we have to turn to Him and accept His gifts. Knowing God and allowing His Holy Spirit into us is such a privilege that we want to share. How do we share our gifts to others – how do we tell others about Jesus? As a Church Family let us each challenge ourselves on how we can tell people about Jesus? How can we share our Faith? How do we use our gifts we have been given? This may be in

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many different ways – making a cake for a friend, offering a listening ear, giving someone a lift etc. As we come to the Annual General Meeting I ask that we each look at the gifts we have been given and how we can use them and also share with others ? God’s gifts are freely given to you and me – all we need to do is ask.

Cathy

SECRETARY'S NOTES MARCH 2011 There's lots to think about this month. Ash Wednesday falls on the 9th and Lent begins. One of the Lent Study Groups will be at our Church in the Open Door Cafe, from 2.30 to 4 p.m. If you haven't committed yourself to the course you are welcome to 'pop in’ to our group. The Lent Lunches begin on Thursday, 10th and we hope there will be better support this year. It's a chance to meet with people from other Churches and also help Christian Aid, not to mention enjoying home-made soup. Churches take it in turn to provide the lunch and we're in charge on the 7th April. The Lent Services will be a little different this year. They will take place in the hall alongside the lunches and will be a more informal selection of readings and music. Talking of food, don't forget our St. Patrick's Day Lunch after the Service on the 13th. Our Centre Manager, Helena, is going to share with us tales of her childhood in Northern Ireland. It promises to be a great opportunity to join in fellowship and enjoy fabulous food and a great deal of fun! Please come!!

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We turn to the future as we consider our Eldership. Elders' Nomination Forms will be going out to all members on the 13th. Our Elders have done a brilliant job over the last few years and it's important we maintain a strong team, especially as we are in a vacancy. Please think and pray about who you could nominate and be open to the possibility that God may be calling you to this vital office within the Church. Lastly, we will be holding our Annual Church Meeting after the Service and BYO lunch on the 20th. I appeal to all secretaries and spokespeople for all the groups to prepare a written report to share with the meeting. It's a chance to review and celebrate what has happened over the year, but it will be tinged with sadness and regret for us this year. We will look a little at the year ahead, too. We hope our Church Family will be well represented at this meeting. It is essential for us to meet together to support and encourage each other as much as possible.

Sandra

Good news! The Rev’d Eddie Boon, the Minister of Hythe Cornerstone URC has agreed to be our Interim Moderator. We are very grateful to him and look forward to meeting him early this month.

BASICS BANK Time and again we realise how much our volunteers do. We really appreciate their commitment to the Basics Bank. If there wasn't a high degree of team work we would sometimes never get through a morning! We're particularly grateful to the people who will, literally, go many extra miles as they offer to deliver

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parcels when there has been a hiccup in the rota system. Heartfelt thanks to you all!! We had some excitement at the beginning of February when a Meridian TV reporter turned up on a Tuesday morning with a camera. Peter Bassett from the Catholic Church was brave enough to agree to be interviewed 'on camera', John Wiseman, from 'InTouch', one of our agencies and one of our young lady clients were also in action. Jo and Marcelle were filmed making up a parcel. After editing etc., it was broadcast, that evening, on their local news programme. We have been aware that we probably will not receive much money in grants this year due to the current economic climate, so we have been overwhelmed by the amount of money that has come in during the first few weeks of the year from churches, a school and individuals. Our treasurer banked £2000 one Tuesday. We're very grateful for such generosity. Thank you, too, for continuing to donate tinned, packet and dried food etc.. Please ensure they are basic food stuffs and small tins and packets are more useful and feed more people than the large economy packs God bless you for helping us to help others!

CHILDREN'S BIRTHDAY Happy Birthday greetings go, this month, to: Byron Smith (6) on the 11th Julia Saqui (16) on the 16th Matthew Turberville (9) on the 23rd. We hope you each have a wonderful day!

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LYMINGTON URC DIARY

MARCH 2011 EVERY WEDNESDAY the Prayer Group will meet in the Church from 9.15 a.m. until 10.00 a.m. Everyone welcome.

COFFEE MORNINGS

EVERY MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY, from 10.00 a.m.—12 noon, in the Open Door Café. On Tuesday 15th, Carers' Café.

EVERY SATURDAY, from 9.30 a.m.—11.30 a.m., in the hall.

SUNDAY WORSHIP 6th 10.15 a.m. Elders’ Prayer Time in Vestry 10.30 a.m. Worship including Communion led by Rev’d Margaret Tilley 13th 10.15 a.m. Elders’ Prayer Time in Vestry 10.30 a.m. Worship led by Mrs Angela Bevan Followed by ST Patrick’s Day lunch and talk by Helena Carr. Elders nomination letters to go out. 20th 10.15 a.m. Elders’ Prayer Time in Vestry 10.30 a.m. Worship led by Mrs Mary Ann Jardine Followed by BYO lunch and Annual Church Meeting 27th 10.15 a.m. Elders’ Prayer Time in Vestry 10.30 a.m. Worship led by Mr Tony Coghlan 6.30 p.m. Solent Mead Service EVERY WEEK there will be Junior Church and coffee/tea after the service.

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OTHER EVENTS EVERY FIRST MONDAY OF THE MONTH, New Forest Disability Information Service Outreach Session in the Open Door Café, 10am to 12noon, with Jean Reece. EVERY THIRD WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH, Samaritans Service in the Open Door Café, 10am to 12noon, trained representatives will be available. EVERY 3RD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH, Cruse Bereavement Care New Forest are holding outreach sessions in the Open Door Café, 2.30pm to 4pm. Cruse New Forest is part of a national charity that provides information and support to anyone who has been bereaved (children, young people and adults), whenever or however the death occurred. The service, provided by trained volunteers, is confidential and free. Helpline: 01425 628375 Free Wi Fi connection to the internet available in the Open Door Cafe, Balcony and Main Hall areas. Just ask for the required password!

FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT 28th FEBRUARY — 13th MARCH

Fri. 4th 2,00 p.m. Women’s World Day of Prayer Service at All Saints’, Woodside prepared by the Women of Chile Speaker: Mrs Margaret Havers of the Methodist Church. Tue. 8th 7.00 p.m. Elders’ meeting. Thu. 10th 12 noon Lent Lunch at All Saints in St Thomas’ Hall. Fri. 11th 10.00 a.m. Food Hygiene Course in hall.

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Sat. 12th 10.00 a.m. Wessex Synod meets at the United Church, Winchester. Tue. 15th 7.30 p.m. Churches Together Committee meeting at St Mark’s Church Wed 16th 2.30 p.m. Lent Group in Open Door Café. Thu. 17th 12 noon Lent Lunch at All Saints in St Thomas’ Hall. Mon. 21st 7.30 p.m. United Prayer and Praise Fellowship meets in Pennington Church Centre led by St Mark’s Church. Wed. 23rd 2.30 p.m. Lent Group in Open Door Café. Thu. 24th 12 noon Lent Lunch at All Saints in St Thomas’ Hall. Wed. 30th 2.30 p.m. Lent Group in Open Door Café. Thu. 31st 12 noon Lent Lunch at All Saints in St Thomas’ Hall.

CLOSING DATE FOR APRIL 'OPEN DOOR’: 13th MARCH

AMAZING CHILDREN Did you know we have some amazing children in Junior church. This Sunday the theme was Show and Tell and we listened to the story of John the Baptist who God chose to show and tell people just how special Jesus was. The children

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admitted it was difficult to tell their friends about Jesus as most didn’t know anything about him. We had a practise at showing an object and telling the rest of the group three things about it. Then we asked each one of them, to tell the rest of the group one thing about Jesus that they could tell their friends at school and these were their answers:- • He is kind • He is caring • He was born in a stable • He is the light of the world • We celebrate his birth at Christmas • He is with us always • He loves everyone Sometimes we need our youngest church family to teach us the simple way to share the Good News Next time you have an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus, don’t hesitate and say nothing, be bold and share the important things he means to you.

Jane and Judith PS On that Sunday (16

th January) our youngest child was 5yrs

and oldest 12yrs.

FLOWERS Thank you to everyone who provided flowers for the church in 2010. If there is a special date you would like to remember, please fill your name and the date on the list at the back of church. If you would like to arrange the flowers yourself, please put an A after your name, but if you want us to arrange them, please speak to me.

Pauline

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CHURCH VOLUNTEERS To those who do not realise it we do have volunteers who work in our Open Door Cafe and the Church who are not associated with the Church as such. On that note......................we introduce Maria Fray, Trevor Levis, Gordon Dear, Kevin Pearson and his wife Viv!

Kevin helps out most Mondays and Thursdays (and when Helena is holiday Kevin also gets the piano, stool and table in to the Sanctuary for the choir on Thursdays). Kevin is very dedicated, so much so that when he cannot attend he arranges for his wife Viv to step in!

Maria volunteers on Wednesdays and is so welcomes with a big smile all who come in our Open Door. Maria chats to everyone, is very helpful and attentive to the needs of others.

Trevor does odd jobs around the Church for Helena like, brushing the forecourt and pathway, helping with chairs etc. He enjoys it so much he has made it clear that when he goes on holiday we are not to give the role to anyone else!! Trevor is a hard worker and enjoys the outside jobs.

We thank Maria, Trevor, Kevin and Viv for volunteering their time in the Open Door Cafe and the Church - they are valued and we are so

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grateful for their help. So when you see them - say hello, they will enjoy having a chat!! Gordon Dear works in the Basics Bank every Friday and he says that "he loves and looks forward coming in to Basics Bank on Fridays to help". Gordon likes helping others and offering a helping hand to those in need - this is dedication and caring in action!

THANKS1 Some of you may have noticed a table with items for sale that the Basics Bank could not use in their emergency food parcels. Rather than disposing of items and recognising the kindness of those who donated them, they were offered for sale with a donation request during the week day Open Door Cafe and Saturday Coffee Morning................doing this has raised £70! Basics Bank will certainly be doing this again!

Peter Mills lone Santa Dash with Baxter the dog on the 19th December 2010 raised £600.00 for Oakhaven Hospice. How great is that! Well done Peter (and Baxter of course).

REBUILDING OUR PLACE We may feel that our Church is trying to pick itself up and restore its Spirit after the upheavals of the past year, but let us also spare a thought for the congregation of St John’s Church, Hororata, in New Zealand. In the early hours of the morning of 4

th September 2010, in an

area previously thought to be at relatively low risk, the city of Christchurch and the surrounding area were struck by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. Fortunately no-one was killed but the devastation to property and facilities was immense. Among the

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buildings affected was the lovely old Anglican Church of St John’s at Hororata. In addition to the Church, Hororata has lost its Community Hall, its Café, its Pub and the War Memorial obelisk was broken in half. Also many of the houses were badly damaged and some will have to be completely rebuilt. The Diocese of Christchurch appears to be preoccupied with repairing the damage to the Cathedral and to many other Churches in Christchurch, so Hororata feels a little forgotten. Nevertheless this small community intends to rebuild their much-loved old Church and are seeking ways to raise money for the project, on their own if necessary.

I know St John’s well, because it is the Church where I worship when I visit my sister in New Zealand and I feel

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greatly for the worshippers and their Vicar, Jenni Carter. The area is still suffering from aftershocks and the task ahead of them is daunting. However they are tough New Zealanders and I am sure that they will succeed. I think that we may all have been feeling a little depressed and adrift after the tragic loss of our Minister, Monica Mills, last December, but God guided us through the long years when we were restoring our old Church and achieving our Vision of a Church with an Open Door. So long as we continue to trust in Him, He will always show us the way to overcome the shocks and adversity that inevitably come our way from time to time. As I am writing this I have just heard that we have been appointed an Interim Moderator, the Revd Eddie Boon, from Hythe URC. Halleluiah! God will provide.

Mary Ann

FROM ALAN GREEN I am conscious that one year has passed since I was your Interim Moderator. Brenda and I can only imagine what you as a congregation have gone through since then. This is to let you know that we have not forgotten you and that you are frequently in our thoughts and prayers. When the weather improves we hope to visit Lymington from time to time and we plan to drop in for coffee at one of the morning sessions. We look forward to seeing some of you then.

Alan and Brenda Green

THANKS2 Thank you to.....Jan Lawrence and the Lymington Painters Group who gave our coffee ladies (alias the "Two Marys", "Gert & Daisy" and "The Old Girls") a bit of a make over!! Jan hires the hall every

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Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon offering painting classes. If you would like to join them please contact Jan Lawrence direct for more details on 07813 181714.

CHRISTIAN AID Christian Aid week is to be held this year from 15th to 21st May. We have recently taken on the responsibility for this for our church from Jill and Peter Haslett, and we would like to thank them, on behalf of all of us, for the work they put in over many years for this very worthwhile charity. In addition to organising the URC share of the street collection for Lymington, we shall be participating in the Church Together in Lymington Lent Lunches which start on Thursday 10th March in St Thomas Church Hall. We are responsible for preparing soup and serving lunch on Thursday 7th April. We are also intending to hold a Zanzibar Supper and slideshow in aid of Christian Aid on Friday 13th May, 2011 in our church hall. Please put the evening in your diaries now - there will be more information nearer the time. This year we are looking for volunteers for the following: • Help make soup for the lunch on 7th April • Help prepare the hall and serve lunch on 7th April • Help prepare supper on 13th May • Come to supper on 13th May • Help with street collections for Christian Aid between 15th and

21st May • Donate generously to the collection. Please contact either of us if you can help in any of the ways listed to support this Christian charity. We accept email -

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firstcottage7@aol.com, telephone - 01590 676645, texts - 07766663055 or just speak to us! We look forward to hearing from you.

Shelagh and Peter Richardson

THANKS3 From the Women, Children and Staff at the Hythe and Pennington refuges. To all at the United Reformed Church (Basics Bank) We would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to everyone at the church who made it possible for us to receive the kind donations that we did for the women and children in our refuges. These donations made a big difference to the women and children at the festive period and allowed them to enjoy a wonderful Christmas dinner and toys to play with for the children. This also took a lot of pressure of the women who were finding it difficult to provide things for their children whilst in their current situations. The donations from your organisation were very much appreciated by everyone. Kind regards

FOR SALE Elka electric organ, two manual keyboards, foot pedals and a wide selection of instruments and a rhythm section. Anyone interested please contact Liz Griffiths, 01590 679391 evenings.

MORE REASONS WHY THE ENGLISH

LANGUAGE IS DIFFICULT TO LEARN:

I take it you already know

Of tough and bough and cough and dough?

Others may stumble but not you

On hiccough, thorough, slough and through.

Well done! And now you wish perhaps,

To learn of less familiar traps?

Beware of heard, a dreadful word

That looks like beard and sounds like bird.

And dead, it's said like bed, not bead-

for goodness' sake don't call it 'deed'!

Watch out for meat and great and threat

(they rhyme with suite and straight and debt).

A moth is not a moth in mother,

Nor both in bother, broth, or brother,

And here is not a match for there,

Nor dear and fear for bear and pear,

And then there's doze and rose and lose-

Just look them up- and goose and choose,

And cork and work and card and ward

And font and front and word and sword,

And do and go and thwart and cart-

Come, I've hardly made a start!

A dreadful language? Man alive!

I'd mastered it when I was five!

And yet to write it, the more I sigh,

I'll not learn how 'til the day I die.

Let's face it--English is a crazy language even without

the odd Americanism!

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UPDATE ON THE ARK FOR SALE

Dear Friends, Just to let you know that we are still looking for that special person to take over the ownership of The Ark later this year. We want to explore thoroughly the Christian market for potential buyers before giving it to Estate Agents, who will only be interested in marketing the premises commer-cially. So, with Spring approaching and thoughts turning to fresh beginnings, would you or anyone you know like to pick up a new challenge and take on this very rewarding ministry and outreach? All details and Particulars of Sale can be found on our website, www.arkbookshop.co.uk Please join us in praying for the right person or persons to come forward in order to maintain our Christian presence on the High Street. With many thanks and kind regards

Ginny Ayling The Ark Café & Christian Bookshop 11 St Thomas’ Street Lymington SO41 9NA theark@waitrose.com

t: 01590 675588

f: 01590 676937

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OPEN DOOR FUNDRAISING

Forthcoming events:

We have an outline calendar of events for the year as follows:

• St Patrick’s Day lunch, March 13th,

• Lymington Town Band in the forecourt, April

9th, 10—12 noon,

• Forecourt sale, April 23rd,

• Zanzibar Supper and slideshow in aid of Chris-

tian Aid on Friday 13th May, in our church hall

• Zing Choir, June 10th.

Please watch this space for details, look out for posters in the

hall or listen for the notices.

Minister: Vacancy

Secretary: Sandra Jackson. Tel 01590 676306

Editorial Team: Wyn Davies. Tel 01425 616384 e-mail: WynBDavies@sky.com Church: Web site: http://www.lymurc.org.uk/ Tel 01590 676306 e-mail: adminurclym@btinternet.com

Basics Bank web site: http://www.basicsbank.org.uk/ Tel 01590 610008 e-mail: info@lymurc.org.uk

ROTAS FOR MARCH COMMUNION SUNDAY: 6th COMMUNION ELDERS: Catherine and Margaret. If you cannot do a particular date, please swap with someone to cover that date. DUTY ELDER READING IN CHURCH 6th John Wiseman John Wiseman 13th Mary Ann Jardine Janice Perkins 20th Sandra Jackson Helena Carr 27th Margaret Clark Margaret Clark STEWARDS SOUND SYSTEM 6th Gill Wiseman Ron Parker Mike Saqui 13th Janice Perkins Jenny Henderson Margaret Clark 20th Ann and David Hooper Gerry Copperi 27th Ann Longney Kate Noon Peter Richardson COFFEE MORNING ROTAS Saturday Sunday 5th Ann Webber 6th Ann Webber 12th Mary Ann Jardine 13th Shelagh Richardson 19th Judith Baker 20th Ann Longney 26th June Copperi 27th Ann Hooper

PLEASE NOTE: This magazine is printed on paper from renewable sources out of our concern for the environment.