| PENTECOST |
| On Sunday 11th May we shall be celebrating Pentecost as we recall the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit and of how the Disciples were transformed into being effective evangelists for God's message of salvation. A group of ordinary people, hand picked by Jesus, who saw their potential, were inspired by the wind and flames of the Holy Spirit to become 'on fire for God' and spread the message of God's Love so that the Christian Church grew and developed and is still alive and active today. |
| Pentecost, or Whit Sunday as it used to be known, is traditionally regarded as the birthday of the church for it was from the event of the coming of the Holy Spirit that the church 'took off' with there being many converts to the faith. It is good to be reminded that the fire and power of the Holy Spirit is still here, Pentecost was not a one off event and God's Spirit is very much at work amongst us today. |
| I hope that you will be able to be present for the 10 a.m. service on the 11th May as we celebrate this important occasion and ask for the out pouring of God's Holy Spirit upon our church family and for renewed energy and enthusiasm as we seek to go about His work. |
| As we embark on our new journey together, accepting the new pattern of ministry that is emerging and embracing the new opportunities that God is giving us, so we need the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit to lead us and strengthen us as we face the new challenges that lie ahead. |
| May I wish you all a very happy and inspired Pentecost! |
| With every blessing, |
| Robert |
| Deanery Synod |
| Thursday 8 May - 7.30pm at St Matthew's |
| Open to everyone! The Chief Executive of Cheltenham Borough Council will attend. |
| Pentecost Praise |
| Sunday 11th May at 5pm |
| at St. Michael's |
| An Ecumenical Songs of Praise at the start of Christian Aid week |
| Quiz for Christian Aid |
| Wednesday 14th May at 7.30pm |
| at the Greyhound Inn in Hewlett Road |
| A Quiz in support of Christian Aid £2 per person teams of 4-6 |
| Health and Well-Being Day |
| Wednesday 21st May 10.30am-4pm |
| Health and Well Being Day ay Highbury Congregational Church., principally for the 55+ age group but everyone welcome. Part of HOPE'08 |
| Pastoral Visit |
| Wednesday 21st May |
| On Wednesday 21st May the Archdeacon of Cheltenham, Hedley Ringrose, will be visiting the two parishes as part of his programme of pastoral visits to the parishes in the Archdeaconary. I am preparing a timetable for the day and details will be in the Church Newsheet. I expect Hedley to be present for the 10 a.m. service at St. Luke's and also at the St. John's School Assembly. He will also be visiting the Health and Well Being Day at Highbury and a number of other activities both at St. Luke's and St. Michael's. Robert |
| United Service of Holy Communion |
| Thursday 22nd May 7.30pm at St. Michael's |
| A united service of Holy Communion for the day of Thanksgiving for Holy Communion - also known as Corpus Christi. |
| Notes from the March PCC meeting |
| Notes from the PCC Meeting on 10th March 2008. Sharon Wallington had been interviewed and appointed Robert's Personal Assistant. She was to take up the post the next day. She will be working Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 9.30-12.30 during term time. New equipment would be required for the office, plus broadband, new computer and software etc. |
| The new church structure had been presented to the congregation on Mothering Sunday and the diagram is up at the back of church to recruit people to particular areas via volunteering. A mini version of the diagram was proposed, with a tear off response sheet for expressions of interest in particular areas. Paul and Guy agreed to produce this. It was agreed to include this plan in the APCM report and ask people to support it, developing the detail further during the year. Robert would set up the Advisory team. Jonathan offered to draft a new constitution. |
| Preparations for APCM: 4 new PCC members were required, including a secretary, plus a new Churchwarden. The meeting would include photos etc and would be more informal. The 2007 accounts were accepted. |
| A Child Protection training evening had gone very well. Rob is to produce a leaflet advertising the "Way in" course that is now due to run in May and June. |
| (Brief) Notes from Annual Meetings |
| The Annual Meetings were held on 7 April and were well attended. Jonathan Chestney was elected Churchwarden, replacing Simon Barton who retires at the end of a 4-year term. The Trustees of the St Luke & St John Ecclesiastical Charity (St Luke's Church Hall) reported another busy and successful year. David and Jane Johnson, the Coordinators, were thanked for their work. |
| Chris Foy reported that the church finances were in good shape. Jean Allen retired from the PCC and was thanked for her work as Secretary, including a particularly busy time during the interregnum. Michelle Porter-Babbage was elected to the PCC, which needs to co-opt another member. Revd Robert Pestell summarised the highlights and achievements of 2007 and many signs of encouragement as we look to the future. |
| Audrey Hughes |
| 4 December 1919 - 9 April 2008 |
| Audrey's funeral on 21 April was conducted by the Revd Geoffrey Cox. Audrey had chosen the hymns and the readings and Geoffrey preached on John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you." Many friends and family attended, including many from St Luke's where Audrey had worshipped for many years - in earlier days with her dear husband Charles - and where she was much loved. |
| Emmaus Cheltenham Charity Shop |
| Helping the Homeless Help Themselves |
| All income generated from our second-hand furniture and charity shops is used to support our Community where formerly homeless people live, work and have an opportunity to regain their sense of self-worth and independence. |
| Our CHELTENHAM CHARITY SHOP needs volunteers to support our new, larger premises. By volunteering in your spare time you can make new friends and a valuable difference to those we serve. |
| Shop sales & customer service |
| Sorting & preparing donations |
| Pricing |
| Window dressing |
| eBay sales |
| If you are interested, please contact Geraldine Jacobs 01242 269734 info@emmaus.org.uk UK website: www.emmaus.org.uk |
| St John's Church of England Primary School |
| Where children flourish |
| Despite the lack of warm sunshine we have come back to School ready and refreshed for the Summer term. The junior children experienced an Indian Day in School. This created a huge stir of excitement with the staff and children wearing traditional Indian clothes. The children attended a series of workshops run by the staff in mixed age groups where they learnt about Indian playground games, played Indian music, created Indian patterns on the laptops and the favourite of all, tasting Indian food. In the afternoon they paraded around the Hall in Indian masks and hats made earlier on in the term for the benefit of the Infant children. They also played their music. Many parents contributed by supplying an impressive array of food and painting Mendhi patterns on the children's hands. |
| Year 6 and Year 4 have both been pond dipping in line with their Science topics at UCAS. Other classes have visited Sandford Park to study the local sculptures and will be following this up with a trip to the Sculpture trail in the Forest of Dean. Other events coming up this term include the Country Dance Festival and the School Summer Fayre on 14th June. |
| The school is involved in the Yellow Woods Challenge which runs until 19th May. We are asking for old Yellow pages directories to be brought into School for recycling. Cash prizes will be awarded to the three schools that recycle the highest number of old directories per pupil. If you would like to donate your old directories to School then we would be very grateful. |
| Finally, we have just received our SIAS inspection report which inspected on RE and Worship in School. We are very pleased with the report and very proud of our School which was judged as Outstanding for meeting the needs of all learners. |
| Fiona Hadden |
| Reception Class Teacher |
| Liz Williams in Chad/Cameroon |
| Ndjamena, 7 April 2008 |
| Dear everyone at St Luke's |
| I am writing to say thank you very much for the gift you sent to Wycliffe for me back in January. It was very kind of you, and I very much appreciate your support for our work in Chad. I hear that you have your APCM this coming Monday, so I am taking this opportunity to write my thanks, and to send greetings to everyone at St Luke's. I hope that God will bless your meeting, and that you will be encouraged by the things you have seen Him do in the last year, and by the plans you make for the coming year. |
| The last few months here in Chad have been very eventful, and didn't go quite as expected. At the beginning of February my SIL colleagues and I were evacuated due to a rebel attack on the capital. We have since spent several weeks in Cameroon, and were able to hold our branch retreat there, which was scheduled to be in Chad in late February. At this point we don't have the go-ahead to return to Chad permanently, because the situation is still unstable, but we are hoping and expecting that we will be able to return there for rainy season (June-October). So you can imagine it's been a challenging time for us. I was not in any way traumatised, I was spared being present anywhere where there was fighting. But it was difficult to leave our Chadian friends behind, not knowing what would happen to them. In the event, the rebels retreated back through the Guera, where I work, two days after we left, and they did quite a bit of harm there. The rebels took one of our SIL vehicles (belonging to my colleagues Martin & Silke Sauer) and some money from our office cash box (approx £1000), but it could have been much worse, and we are very thankful that none of our friends and colleagues there were killed or injured, although certainly it was a traumatic experience for them. |
| Then in late March, as things were a bit calmer in Chad, we were able to come back for a short visit, including visiting Mongo. It was so good to see everyone there, and hear their stories. In particular, it was wonderful to join in the Easter celebration in Mongo, which was a very joyful occasion with a bring and share meal, sketches, songs and dancing. We were amazed at the extent to which life has returned to normal. And above all we were very encouraged that the translation and literacy work out there has continued while we were gone. We had been afraid that things might fall apart because of the insecurity and uncertainty. But that didn't happen. Most of the literacy classes went ahead as planned, the literacy coordinators have been producing several new easy reading books, the translation workshops are stalled for now, as we really need to be there for that, but the individual translators are continuing their work. We were also encouraged to learn that the church is going ahead with their general assembly in early May, and that during it they plan to discuss a proposal for creating a translation department to support the translation work in the Guera. Whilst here visiting, my Guera team colleague Cindy Trotter was able to submit for printing the book of Acts and a book of Psalms in Kenga. At the Kenga church here in Ndjamena last Sunday she also sold out her stock of cassette recordings of the Kenga Psalms in song form. |
| We were able to have meetings with our partners, and discuss how the work can continue in the next few weeks and months. Now we are moving out to Maroua, in Northern Cameroon, and some of our partners will be coming to visit us there so that we can do some work with them on getting literacy materials ready for next year. |
| For myself, after a short stay in Maroua, I will be travelling a lot in the next few weeks, first to attend SIL meetings, and then for a holiday. I arrive back in Chad on 4 June. |
| Overall it's been very encouraging to see how things are moving ahead, and we are looking forward to coming back soon, and to spending rainy season in the Guera, God willing. |
| So we thank you for your support, and ask you to pray for peace in Chad, for a reasonable solution to the long-running conflict, and for joy and courage for the Chadian Christians who are continuing to live here and to be witnesses to the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. |
| Thank you again for your generous gift. |
| Yours in Christ, |
| Liz Williams |
| Every Child Deserves a Good Childhood |
| A wonderful effort by our house to house collectors trying to cover the parish of St. Luke & St. John who braved doorsteps and the vagaries of the English spring weather! WELL DONE to: Roger Bardwell, Simon Barton, Susan Garcia, Michael Gibson, Sheila Gorton, Vibeke Nair, Coralie Slade and Joan Tebbutt. |
| (If you feel you could cover your corner if only a few houses next year please let me know - it can be very interesting pounding the pavements!) |
| Many thanks also to all the generous boxholders and for donations from June Cox and Meg Lunt. If you could have a box at home- ideal for those fiddly pennies and 5ps (or as a swearbox?) - again please let me know - amazingly the Children's Society raises £2 million this way. |
| The Children's Society is a Christian organisation involved in projects all over England where 10,000 children run away from home every year, many underage children are on the streets, in trouble at school and in the courts. YOU have helped this work with this year's total of £968 (£863 plus gift aid). |
| Many thanks on their behalf, Heather Barton |
| Deep Cleaning The Church |
| The last "deep clean" was in February and I don't believe that anything was ever published to say "thank you" to all those who came along. The idea of the "deep clean" is to reach the parts that don't get cleaned month by month by the dedicated cleaning team. There is always something to be done; this time the work included polishing the eagle lectern and brass memorials, dusting the screen to the St John's Chapel, making the wood of the pulpit shine, dusting and cleaning in the Choir and Sanctuary, and the beginning of a tidy-up in the church office in readiness for occupation by Robert's PA - and I'm sure many other things I've forgotten! |
| One thing we could not manage was to clean the windows! This was remedied recently when we employed Andrew Gillespie, our regular Hall window cleaner, and a colleague, to clean the windows inside and out, removing much of the staining that has disfigured them for many years. Take a look! Thanks to Jane Johnson for arranging this. Simon Barton. |
| God And Mammon |
| Seventeen of us made a long daytrip to two London City Mission centres mercifully in more sunshine than showers. First to DEPARTURE in Limehouse and then to CAFÉ FOREVER on the Isle of Dogs, both fascinating areas in the heart of dockland, with 45% Bangladeshi population, about 25% white Eastenders and the rest young professionals working in business and finance, and international students. Limehouse has long been a magnet for immigration for Huguenots, Jews, Chinese and latterly the subcontinent. Christian missionaries have to tread a fine line with great sensitivity in such diverse communities. Ben and the team at DEPARTURE does this by way of the arts - it is an inviting (glass-fronted), relaxed cultural centre offering film shows, secondhand books, internet access, a café, and classes in pottery, sewing and English. There is no overtly Christian literature on display, volunteers work through long-term relationships, with wonderful love and enthusiasm for everyone using these beautiful facilities. |
| The second centre, CAFÉ FOREVER, where we had lunch, displayed a poster for the CITY OF PEACE (in Russian, Polish, Greek, German and several other languages) advertising Sunday worship, Bible study, halal food, and children's activities. Situated next to a multicultural primary school, it was on this latter that the work focussed, working with families with after-school club, sport in the nearby park, camps, holidays and trips to the City Farm, this a revelation with horseriding, real cows, chickens, pigs, goats… all with a backdrop of Canary Wharf. Skyscrapers in the midst of social housing; this is the task facing Carol, Marlene and the team who get alongside all-comers with chips and craft activities. |
| There are other LCM bases (indeed many other Christian missions) in London working with local churches, but with the attention of the world on a newly elected Mayor and forthcoming Olympic Games, please pray for the LCM at the cutting edge of life in our capital. Heather Barton |
| Sharon Wallington |
| Sharon Wallington, Personal Assistant to the Revd Robert Pestell, is based at St. Luke's and her working hours are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 9.30am- 12.30pm when she can be contacted on 01242 241910 or by email sharonwallington@btconnect.com or info@stlukes-church.org.uk. |