| TO ARGENTINA WITH LATIN LINK |
| In August, I am going as a volunteer to Salta, north west Argentina, for three weeks. We shall be a team of twelve, working to improve the facilities of a local church by enlarging and refurbishing one of its buildings. We shall also participate in the life of the congregation and help with the children and young people. |
| Other teams are going to Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Cuba. |
| Please pray for all the 50 participating, especially the team leaders. |
| Sue Garcia |
| What is Latin Link? |
| It is an international community serving local churches throughout Latin America. (www.latinlink.org) |
| Notes of PCC meetings |
| 19th April and 12th June 2006 |
| The last two PCC meetings have largely been dominated by the job of finding a new priest in charge, to be shared with St. Michael's. This included drafting and approving the parish profile, the appointment of parish representatives, reporting on meetings with the archdeacon and the other legal formalities. |
| As part of this process, it was decided not to take a vote on "Resolution B" which would have closed the door to the appointment of a woman as priest in charge and possibly deterred other good candidates. |
| Life apart from this goes on and there have been other matters to consider. |
| The PCC has approved Becca Bell (already an accredited Methodist lay preacher) to preach and lead worship as she continues her teaching and theological studies. |
| An opportunity had occurred which has allowed the diocese to offer St. Luke's some additional clergy resources, for a limited period of three years. To this end, the PCC had met and chatted with Revd. Rob Merchant (the husband of Tamsin who is well known to those who attend the SundayONE service). Rob will be working with St. Luke's (& St. Michael's) part time from the autumn. He will continue his lecturing job in Staffordshire but he lives in Cheltenham and is an NSM with Cheltenham West Team Ministry. Rob is gifted and is sensitive to recent events at St. Luke's and the PCC were very encouraged and excited about the possibilities that this decision may present. |
| Finance has been regularly discussed. After the Bishop's plan was received, the PCC had decided to suspend payment of the Parish share until the future became clearer but recent progress and allocation of clergy resources have led to payment being resumed. |
| Full payment however will lead to an expected shortfall this year even if we have a "Gift Day" (it is about 2 years since we last had one!) Our planned and regular giving has remained steady but irregular giving is less than expected. Perhaps the arrival of a new minister will give us the chance to balance the books and ensure he does not arrive to face a financial deficit. |
| The visit of Liz Williams (the link missionary with Wycliffe/SIL) has prompted the possibility of a visit (probably for some of our teenagers with supervision) to Chad - perhaps in line with previous visits to Uganda. Plans are at an early stage and will depend on the political situation in Chad. It is not intended that any such visit should place a financial burden on the church. |
| The activity of some church committees in this period has reduced as the effects of a long interregnum and limited personnel starts to bite. |
| Holiday reading. |
| Do you have your summer holiday reading books? If you would like some Christian reading to take away with you or to read in the park on those hot sunny days (hopefully), then there will be a Wesley Owen Book stall in church for the first three Sundays in July. Count your pennies and come and see what we have. To whet your appetite there are some Wesley Owen magazines at the back of church. |
| St John's Church of England Primary School |
| We received some very exciting news just before we broke up for the holidays that we have achieved one of the 1220 Arts Council England Artsmark Awards. We achieved the Silver Award with 400 other Schools. Artsmark is a national arts award for School's that demonstrate a commitment to developing their arts provision - from drama to music, design to literature, dance and sculpture. The Scheme also encourages schools to work with artists and art organisations. Emily Bennett and Ellie Russell will be representing the School at an Award Ceremony in Bristol for the successful schools in the South West region. |
| Mrs Seabrook entered a competition in a national newspaper for tennis coaching. We were lucky enough to be one of the few schools selected and received 2 hours of free tennis coaching for 6 weeks. We also were given some free equipment. So look out for a St John's pupil at Wimbledon in 2015! |
| We welcomed the New Parents of the new September intake to the School for an information evening followed by wine and nibbles. All of the teachers also led curriculum evenings for the parents of their academic year. Hopefully, this will ease a smooth transition for all of the children (and parents) in September. |
| The School garden is looking lovely at the moment and we have received many favourable comments. Our grateful thanks go to Mr Bristol for his continuing help and 'green fingers'! |
| Finally, our Summer Fayre is being held on Saturday 1st July from 11am. Any donations for the tombola would be welcomed and we hope to see you there! |
| Fiona Hadden (Reception Class Teacher) |
| Visit To Poland |
| Following a 32-hour coach journey from Cheltenham we arrived safely in Torun. Next morning I was up at 5 o'clock for a 3½ hour train journey to Warsaw. My trip to Poland was organised by Cheltenham-based group: Global Footsteps. I was part of a group of 7 Russian and English visitors to Sochi & Cheltenham's partnership town of Torun. During this tour we visited an English Language School where we gave presentations about aspects of our own culture and respective towns. |
| My visit coincided with Pope Benedict XVI's tour of the country. I travelled a day early so that I could go to Warsaw and join in the Papal ceremony. From the time I arrived in Warsaw to the time I left it did not stop raining. I followed the crowds to the Square where the outdoor Mass took place - already soaked before the service had even begun. Even though most people may not have got a glimpse of the Pope the visit was shown on closed circuit monitors in the adjacent streets. I was less than a hundred yards from where the Pope was celebrating Mass before a faithful gathering of people from all over the world. |
| Even though I could not understand the language I did sense a strong feeling of love and unity. This was particularly evident at the peace prior to the Eucharist with the customary hand shaking, hugging and kissing their friends and loved ones. The Prayer prior to the peace was spoken in many languages including English. This was one aspect that did not need translation as the body language and behaviour of those taking part said it all. |
| The police seemed to have crowd control well organised. The Municipal Authorities & Emergency Services in Warsaw had done their homework and the first leg of the Papal visit got off to an excellent start. At one point I was very frightened by the accumulating crowd around me as I got closer to the Square. It was like being in a vacuum and once part of this spiritual event you were drawn in for the duration and there was no turning back. There did not appear to be any violence and no demonstrations. After the service a number of people whilst walking back to the City Centre were in high spirits. There was no evidence of drunkenness or antisocial behaviour only an atmosphere of love, friendship and unity. At a time when world peace is threatened by acts of terrorism & hatred we must not forget that the unity of love can overcome evil. Many of us can become very cynical constantly seeing the more negative aspects of human nature in our day to day lives. During my visit to Warsaw I saw the good side of human nature, something I am sure we would all like to see every day. I hope in due course that the Pope will be invited to the United Kingdom so that his impression in Poland will extend to here as well. |
| God Bless, Howard Marshall |
| *Global Footsteps is part of the Rendezvous Society, U.K. Registered Charity Number: 293357. Established 1985. Chief Editor Mr. Glenn Standish, Address: Rendezvous Society, 16, Portland Street, Cheltenham. GL52 2PB.* e-mail: exfamglocit@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 01242 577893. Fax: 01242 221274. www.global-footsteps.com |
| The 2005 Christmas Shelter at St Luke's Church Hall |
| An extract from the 2006 Spring Newsletter of Cheltenham Open Door. |
| When we started Open Door in 1992, under the name, as many will remember, of Open Door at Christmas, our first operation was a Christmas shelter that December, at Grosvenor Hall. Every year since we have run a similar shelter, which now takes place in St Luke's Church Hall. |
| We are grateful to everyone at St Luke's especially to the Hall administrators, Jane and David Johnson, for their help and patience, a major factor in the success of the shelter this last Christmas again. |
| Our concern is to provide a happy warm friendly and safe Christmas for our many guests who would otherwise be on their own with nowhere to celebrate it, and to provide a bed overnight for the 7-8 people needing it on the three evenings. Christmas lunch was served to 60 people. We were delighted for the opportunity this year to enjoy first class back-up at this lunch by members of the Salvation Army, whose own premises were in the process of rebuilding. |
| Cheltenham Open Door's objective remains to relieve poverty, hardship and distress among those of what is termed "a rootless way of life" suffering social or emotional distress. They are based at 39 Grosvenor Street, where they are open 9.45am to 11.45am on Sundays for a cooked breakfast and 10.30am to 1.45pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, with a hot meal at 12 o'clock. |
| For more information on any matter, please telephone Jeanne Flanagan, 01242 228990, or if unobtainable Pauline Beamish, 01242 510559, and leave a message. |
| Christian activity holidays for young people have a major spiritual impact |
| That is according to newly-published results from Christian Research. Nearly 800 young people were surveyed before and after a sample of 65 holidays which took place last summer. On almost every measure, their faith and practice grew significantly as a result of the holidays: they read the Bible more, their self-esteem improved, and they had greater belief in doctrines such as life after death. One in eight, 12%, had found faith on a Christian activity holiday. |
| Those who gained the most spiritually were the children of Christian parents in their early teenage years with little or no personal faith. The study found that holiday leaders were key to the spiritual impact of the events, and that most young people needed to come back several times to gain the full benefit. The survey was sponsored by a consortium of providers of Christian holidays. A parallel survey was also conducted of children attending Christian activity centres during term-time with their schools. |