| NEW BEGINNINGS |
| The service of Licensing and Installation of the Revd Robert Pestell as Priest-in-Charge of the Parishes of St Luke & St John and St Michael on 18 October is an occasion for great solemnity and tradition, with formal declarations and oaths, as Robert takes on the "cure of souls" in the parishes. It is also an opportunity for us to welcome Robert and to share in dedicating ourselves to his new ministry. |
| At the end of the service we are to say: "Together, by God's grace, we will be Christ's people at work in the world." When we say this, we will be thinking not only of our individual relationship with Robert, and our own share in his ministry, but we will be aware that the people making this declaration are from different churches in two separate parishes and that we need to work together, by God's grace. |
| Although we may breathe a sigh of relief as we come to the end of the interregnum, this is a time for new beginnings, not for reverting to patterns that may no longer be appropriate. The balance of roles between clergy and people has always needed continuous review. I can recall away days at Harnhill with both Jeremy Whales and Mike Lodge when we worked on this problem: what can only be done by the priest and what should not be done by the priest? Getting the right balance will be more important than ever, and we need to ensure that Robert - and Revd Rob Merchant, Associate Priest - are not left with tasks that can equally well be done by others. We must keep moving! |
| Simon Barton |
| END OF THE INTERREGNUM |
| Any statement of thanks for the help we have received over the last 18 months runs the risk of inadvertent omissions. We beg forgiveness in advance! |
| First of all, we wish to thank the many clergy who have led us in worship, and who have allowed us to maintain our traditional pattern of services. |
| We are particularly grateful to Geoffrey Cox for his anchor role, leading and preaching at many 10am services as well as conducting several weddings; to Margaret Thame, Robert Llewelyn, Jeremy Whales, John Patterson at our 8am services; and to Victor Searle-Barnes, Brian Horne and Margaret Thame at our Wednesday services. Victor has led Wednesday services for many years in support of Mike Lodge. He has now had to give this up; we wish him every blessing and thank him for his devoted ministry to us. |
| There have been 12 baptism services, 10 weddings and 4 funerals or memorial services. |
| Finally (without naming names!), we are so grateful for all the support we have received; and for all the work that has gone on day by day to build our prayer life and our worship, to make the church clean and beautiful for our worship and to maintain the church grounds. We thank those who have pressed forward with many initiatives in the life of St Luke's. |
| Peter Ralphs and Simon Barton |
| ST LUKE'S GIFT DAY |
| We are very pleased that the response to the Gift Day has been so positive, both in terms of the money raised - at least £10,500 with Gift Aid at the latest report from the Treasurer- but also because many people have reviewed their regular giving. This is a great encouragement and leads us to hope that we may be able to move forward on some outstanding projects. |
| Peter Ralphs and Simon Barton |
| Cheltenham Youth for Christ |
| Cheltenham YFC is taking part in the Echo and Citizens Community Chest Fund competition to win £10,000 towards their work. This money would make a huge difference in helping them take Good News relevantly to the young people of Cheltenham. Please collect the tokens printed daily in the Echo and Citizen and send them in as detailed in the paper. You can also vote for them by texting GC COM23 to 84070. Texts cost 25p plus your networks standard text charge. Thank you for supporting us. |
| The tokens will be printed until 27th October and text votes can be sent up to and including 31st October. Please collect and text. |
| Pyramid Rock |
| The Pyramid Rock children's holiday was from August 31st to September 2nd and was run in conjunction with Highbury Congregational Church. It was for all primary school age children and we had 48 children over the 3 days. All the children seem to really enjoy it. |
| The theme was the story of Joseph and was based in Egypt. We had lots of wonderful colourful posters, lent by St Mark's church and lots of palms, camels and hieroglyphics around Highbury Church. The all-together times included very energetic exercises to warm us up, Kim's game and a lively song. The Open the Book team from St Luke's brought us the story each day. |
| In craft time we made telescopes to see the star formations, headdresses, masks and collars and a pyramid moneybox. We also coloured in a multicoloured cloth, which was made into a cloak for Richard to wear at the Sunday Service. There were also lots of games to play. It was a hectic time. |
| On the Saturday evening there was a showing of the video 'Joseph and his amazing Technicoloured Dream Coat' starring Donny Osmond for us all to sing along to. Many families came along to this. |
| The Sunday saw a joint service at Highbury Church and the children showed the adults what they had been doing and tried to teach them the actions to the songs. |
| Throughout the holiday club and Sunday service we looked at the story of Joseph and how God watched over him and helped him through his difficulties. |
| I would like to thank all who helped with the holiday club. It was a great team of people from both St Luke's and Highbury. It is great that we as two churches can work together so well. I would also like to thank the Open the Book team, those who collected and donated props and craft stuff to us and finally to all those who prayed for us. Now the preparation for next year's club starts! Keep your diaries free. |
| Linda Ralphs |
| FUTURE OF CHURCHES TOGETHER IN CHELTENHAM |
| Following a meeting, in March, of the Executive Committee and representatives of the local clergy it was proposed that Churches Together in Cheltenham, having existed for 20 years with little change, should be restructured. |
| At the 2006 Annual General Meeting, held in June, it was agreed that the vision of ecumenical activity in Cheltenham should be of clusters of churches working together in their neighbourhoods and the local church leaders meeting together to enable the Christian community to speak with a united voice in relation to Cheltenham Borough Council and other town-wide issues. |
| Local clusters would continue to promote events under the "Churches Together in Cheltenham" banner. Ann Warren, Secretary, Churches Together in Cheltenham |
| How was Argentina? |
| Being part of Latin Link's 35-plus team was an amazing experience: the church people, the team, the country, the project. I'm sure it was thanks to the prayers from back here that it all went so well. |
| We were a team of 11, plus a very adaptable 3-year old, from very different backgrounds and churches. We had only met over one weekend beforehand and were all sharing a 4-bedroomed bungalow. Amazingly we get on well and there was tremendous support one for another. |
| The new extended church room WAS inaugurated before we left. That day saw many of the church people and their families join us in the final scrub and clean with much sloshing of water and much laughter. By the time of the evening meeting the room looked really spruce - curtains up, balloons flying! It was a very moving service and we were sad to say our goodbyes, or so we thought! |
| However, on our last evening, first one family, then more people began to arrive at our house, and the meal for 12 stretched to over 20! Someone mentioned tango dancing: "But I'm a teacher" said one lady. From there things moved fast. A neighbour brought her music centre, 2 guitars appeared, and so the dancing went on until late. |
| We travelled next day. The airline's overbooking gave us 2 nights in Buenos Aires; an enjoyable end to the trip. |
| Sue Garcia |
| St John's Church of England Primary School |
| We are now in full swing at school. We have been pleased to welcome many new families to St John's Primary School, including some from overseas. The new Reception children have happily settled into their new routines and have experienced all the exciting things that school has to offer. |
| The Hickory Dickory Summer Play scheme, which ran in school for the summer holidays, was a great success and not only provided much needed child care for St John's children but also those from other schools too. Hopefully there will be more such schemes planned for future holidays. |
| The continuing glorious weather has meant that all of the classes have been benefiting from plenty of outside PE and playtimes before the onset of Winter. We celebrated Harvest time in Church on 3 October with a variety of songs, poems and role play. All of the classes played a part in the Service and the generous contributions have been distributed by 'The Open Door Project' in Grosvenor Street. |
| There is an opportunity for both perspective and current parents to see the school in action when we hold our Open Day on 10 October and raise money for the 'Jeans for Genes' charity which researches into genetic disorders. |
| As I write this the Year 5 and 6 children are looking forward to their residential trip to Osmington Bay, as are Mrs Calder, Mr Brown and Mrs Ashford! The children will be away for 5 days and will experience many different activities including archery, orienteering and canoeing! The week will fly by! |
| Tescos have started their voucher scheme for equipment in schools and we would be grateful for any vouchers. Thank you. |
| Many Thanks, |
| Fiona Hadden Reception Class teacher. |
| Making a drama out of the water crisis |
| 20 & 21 October |
| Water is the subject of a new play to be taken on tour this autumn by the Riding Lights Theatre Company. Pipe Dreams, described as a 'whodunnit about what's happening to our water' is being staged in churches around the UK to mark the 25th anniversary of WaterAid, a UK charity dedicated to providing safe water and sanitation to the poorest countries. For details of the tour, please visit www.ridinglights.org/whatson/future. |
| Many of the venues hosting performances of PIPE DREAMS are churches concerned with an ongoing commitment to justice, tying the show in to harvest events and fair-trade work. The tour will equip the communities of each venue to make a practical contribution to the international work of WaterAid. |
| Performances on Friday 20 October at St Matthew's in Cheltenham and Saturday 21 at St Philip & St James, Hucclecote. See poster at back of church for booking details or contact Marion Burke tel. 574773 if you want to go to the Saturday performance. |
| SALTMINE THEATRE COMPANY |
| The Screwtape Letters by C.S Lewis |
| Friday 17 November at 7.30pm |
| The Bacon Theatre, Cheltenham, 01242 258002 |
| This award winning* satirical comedy brings to life C. S. Lewis' classic book, in which a senior devil, Screwtape, instructs his junior apprentices in the fine art of temptation. With David Robinson's "impressive Screwtape" and Nigel Forde's "sparkling script" (The Stage 2005) this adaptation remains faithful to the original text, exploring the characters and themes created by Lewis, including perhaps the most serious subject of all, damnation. |
| *Edinburgh Festival Fringe Sellout Show Award 2004 & 2005. |