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Farewell and hello again From Fazer Hawkes: It was good to see you all there at our farewell service on Sunday 18th July, though in the madding crowd I may have missed talking with some of you. Your encouraging words after the service were appreciated; in the midst of ministry you are often not aware of the affects your words and actions are making. Thank you so much for the generous gift given from the circuit churches; it will be put towards an item or items in our new home that will remind us of you all. Over the last eight years it has been a privilege to work with you as a circuit minister, and for four years as superintendent minister. Those eight years seem to have flown by—we have enjoyed that time. Thank you all for being so supportive and faithful in the work of the Kingdom of God. At the moment we still don't know when we will be moving to Higham Park, London. We will let you know our new address nearer the time. Thank you again. Love, Frazer & Evelyn Hawkes Having finally retired last July after eleven very enjoyable years as Chaplain at Queenswood School in Hertfordshire, I have spent the past year happily golfing, singing with Basildon Choral Society, getting to know Basildon’s Woodlands School as I eased into my new role as a governor, and transforming the garden of my house in Rayleigh into a low maintenance one. I have also greatly appreciated being nearer to my daughter Bev, and have come to look forward to my regular Saturday morning cinema trips with my grandson Leo who, as any self-respecting six year old should, is widening his grandmother’s cinematic repertoire. (I can especially recommend ‘Up’, ‘Shrek 3’, and ‘The Karate Kid’!). My memories of the nine years I previously spent in South Essex are very happy ones, and I am really looking forward both to getting to know people in Stanford-Le-Hope better and to renewing old circuit acquaintances. Rev Shirley Clayton Linford's day of fun
Saturday 19th June saw the third annual community fun day put on by the Linford & East Tilbury Forum in association with the local schools. As I am secretary and Bob is treasurer of the committee it is a dangerous time to be one of our friends because you will get roped in to help! The fun day is held just to be that— a day for the local community to enjoy themselves; we do not aim to raise money we just hope to break even on the day. Although the weather was cold enough for a winter bazaar, we still had over a thousand people join us on the day, on the stage they enjoyed the live music from school choirs to local rock bands to line dancing. In the arena we had medieval re- enactments, birds of prey, Tilbury Majorettes, a magician and Tilbury Band. Of course no day would be complete without bouncing castles and inflatable’s; we also had craft stalls, games, ferret racing, And much to the children’s delight but not some of the ladies, we had a 10ft python, luckily a very well behaved one, although he did seem intent on slithering his way over to see the ferrets. As for refreshments, well this is where Linford Methodist Church excelled, a third year of running an extremely successful tea and cake tent by the ladies, with the men folk doing an excellent trade in burgers and hot dogs —plus fizzy drinks and of course everyone helping to set up and pack away before collapsing in a heap. Hopefully we will be able to repeat the performance next June. Marion Kuyper Linford's annual BBQ On the 4th July after our church service we fired up the barbie for our annual BBQ. We never know how many are going to turn up for this so it is always a tense time. We throw the afternoon open to all the local churches plus our Methodist friends at this end of the circuit. This time the weather was on our side, nice and sunny with a slight breeze. There were lots of salads, the meat turned up and so did the people. As you may know, we share our church with the local Roman Catholic congregation and the Redeemed Church of God, who both came and joined us. We had members from St Catherine’s (our local Anglican Church who we meet with for bible study and other village activities) and friends from Horndon-on-the-Hill and Grays. Unfortunately, we clashed with the Stanford-le-Hope Festival but will be more careful next year so they will be able to join us. As usual we were reminded of the old Bible favourite, the feeding of the 5,000, and we had enough food and yes, we did have a small amount left over. Marian & Bob Kuyper Are you prepared for the Pope's visit? In September this year, Pope Benedict XVI will visit England and Scotland. During his four-day trip he will take in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham and London, following in the footsteps of his predecessor John Paul II, who visited the country on a pastoral trip in 1982.
The Pope will lead the beatification ceremony of Cardinal John Henry Newman at Rednal in Birmingham. Newman is buried there and is likely to become the first Englishman since the 17th century to be made a saint, and the first British, non-martyred saint since St John Twenge in 1379.
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From the Superintendent Dear Friends: We begin the Methodist year 2010-11 with a word of thanks to Rev Frazer Hawkes who retired in July. It was a privilege to share his farewell service with colleagues and Frazer himself. Those of you who came to the post- service tea will have heard some new and interesting things about Frazer. It felt like a happy ending to many years of faithful Methodist ministry, and a good send off into the future. The process for the replacement of Frazer at Christ Church, Wickford, lies primarily with the URC. We pray that the interim arrangements and final appointment will be a time of spiritual blessing for them. On 5th September at 6.30 pm at Stanford-le-Hope there will be a Circuit service to welcome Rev Shirley Clayton, who will have pastoral oversight for that church. Some of you will recall Shirley was once a minister in Basildon. Shirley is ‘retired’ and her appointment is part-time. I write ‘retired’, because we have and continue to greatly benefit from so-called ‘retired’ ministers in our circuit. Without their contribution our worship and spiritual life would be greatly impoverished. On 26th September at 6.30 pm at Langdon Hills we have another evening circuit service. This is to give thanks for 50 years of Norris Ryan’s ministry as a local preacher. Please come to these services. It is important that we acknowledge the service of others, and join in worshipping God together. Looking forward to 2011, this is the year that marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, which was authorised by King James I of England. Translation from the Greek by Church of England scholars was begun in 1604. Whilst not the first translation of the Bible into English, but because it was approved (authorised) by King James I of England, this translation was used, and it enabled more people to read and hear Scripture in English than ever before. You might like to think ahead, and find out what the Methodist Church is encouraging us to do to deepen our discipleship by focusing on the Bible. The discipleship website is here, where you can get the latest news and register to be sent updates. Rev Dr Marion Cole Christians against poverty At present, many people are finding it difficult to make ends meet, and have limited budgeting skills. If you are interested in helping others to make ends meet, you could become a volunteer money coach. Christians Against Poverty (see here) are holding a training day on Saturday 25th September in London. We are hoping that there will be people from among the Basildon churches who will join us on that day. If you are interested in the training in September please contact Susanne Booty, as soon as possible, on 01268 271706. A call to lead worship Is there any one out there who feels called to be more involved with leading worship— perhaps through leading prayers, choosing the music, leading activities or reflections, but is daunted by the prospect of preaching a sermon? Have you considered becoming a worship leader? A course of 6-8 sessions can provide training in subjects of worship, flow of the service, prayers &c— but definitely no preaching involved. Attending the course carries no obligation to becoming an accredited worship leader. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Marion 01268 411896 or Christine 01268 490039. A family-friendly weekend at Grays In July we were privileged to welcome Rev Dr Mike Bossingham and his daughter Sally to spend the weekend with us. Mike has made a study of the Methodist churches in England. In recent years most have decreased in membership; however, there are some that are bucking this trend. These he has visited in an effort to discover their secret for success. Mike outlined to us some of their ideas. For example, café church, bread church and multiplex. He also noted that their system of delivery was important; many use worship leaders and also modern technology, PowerPoint, &c. Mike has also made a large series of DVDs based on the three years of the lectionary, prayers, &c. All are designed to make the service more cohesive and user friendly. The young people had enormous fun with Sally. They made an excellent film using puppets which gave the message in a child friendly style, but with ‘punch’. Mike emphasised the value of using Bible stories but updating them to today’s situations. The Sunday Service was an excellent demonstration of many of the ideas expressed on the Saturday and was greatly enjoyed by everyone. This was a valuable and pleasant learning opportunity which we hope will be a useful future guide to our thinking and planning. Margaret Fowler Sunday evening worship in Basildon For the last 12 months the three churches in Basildon have met together for a monthly act of worship on a Sunday evening. The services encompass a range of styles differing from morning worship— and have included Taize, African, reflective, quiet spaces and Songs of Praise. Plans are in hand to include Celtic and film services. The theme of the service is notified in advance so people know what to expect (or miss) so on Oct 10th there will be Godly Play and Nov 14th sees a Taize style. The opportunity to expand and develop experiences of worship are appreciated by many. Numbers attending range from 10 to 40. A small group of worship leaders and local preachers plan the themes, and then two or three from the group take responsibility for one service in order to avoid overloading any one person with a monthly service. The themes of the services should be in the plan and anyone wishing to come and worship with us will be very welcome. Christine Welham Circuit News Is published by the South Essex Circuit Office (at secircuit@yahoo.co.uk) and is also distributed in paper form at circuit churches. |
Trinity celebrates its 50th anniversary
Trinity remembered the opening of its new church in Basildon in 1960 with a weekend of celebrations in June. And one or two members present could recall the origin of the church (in Gordon Hall on the opposite corner) and the tennis court plot on which the church was built. The weekend was universally acclaimed as outstanding in many ways. As visitors arrived on Saturday 12th June they passed through an arrangement of balloons formed to represent an archway into the organised elements of the event. Centrepieces of the day were a flower festival in the church itself, and an exhibition of photos, documents, memorabilia and videos in the church hall. The flower festival displayed superb arrangements based on the church festivals and there was a large mobile in the welcome area which depicted past events in the church and world in each decade over the 50 years. Alongside the exhibition was what proved to be a very popular café serving drinks and ploughman’s lunches, and later, cream teas. During the morning we were pleased to welcome our new MP, Stephen Metcalfe. From lunchtime onwards there were exhibits, demonstrations and performances by groups who use the church premises week by week. The latter included a twirler group and a very active jazz exercise group. The local community youth group had a stall and sold refreshments whilst providing some games and fun for the children. Exhibitors included a display of incredible sugar craft objects and artistic pictures and items made by the embroiderers group. Trinity’s congregation was represented by some of the young people performing Christian sketches and by Carol Owens and her daughter Jenny who splendidly sang some popular songs. A cake stall and children’s colouring competition provided added interest. The happy day was rounded off by a barbecue on the lawn which concluded with the eagerly awaited reappearance of the Clay Hill Cloggers and the Mrs Mops—last seen 25 years ago at a similar event! The focus of the weekend was the service of thanksgiving on Sunday 13th June led by Rev Anne Brown, Chair of the District. Many former members and friends had attended on the Saturday including Revs Carol Foyn and Brian Gameson (with his wife Christine). More were able to come on Sunday including previous ministers Jack Porter, Shirley Clayton and Gill Walsh and again Brian Gameson. It was a truly uplifting occasion with the newly re-decorated church, decked out with all the banners made over the years, resounding to the praise of an extra large congregation. After the refreshment of some anniversary cake many stayed to enjoy a super bring-and-share lunch before the weekend concluded with a thoughtful Songs of Praise on the lawn. I shall never forget the joyful conclusion when we actually marched together round the lawn singing, “We are marching!" Special thanks are due to the many people who planned, implemented and contributed to a very special celebration. Steve Nice Feast & Fayre at Horndon-on-the-Hill In 1277, during the reign of King Edward 1st and Queen Eleanor of Castile, the village of Horndon-on- the-Hill was granted the right to have a Fayre on the Feast Day of St Peter and St Paul, at the parish church. The Fayre and accompanying market continued throughout the middle ages, but ceased in1871. It was revived in1974, and since then the main road through the village has been closed for two days to allow the Fayre to take place. Each year since then, the Methodist Church has taken an active part with a flower festival and historic photos in the chapel. These are always very popular and often provide an opportunity to start a conversation with the many visitors we receive. This year we also had an exhibition called ‘The Ultimate Goal’, which was linked to the football World Cup that was taking place in South Africa. We gave out booklets on the World Cup in which several international stars such as Lucio, the Brazilian Captain and Kaka, possibly the best player in the world, spoke about their Christian faith. There were several posters echoing that theme. My favourite was ‘Man United with God— you’ll never walk alone’. At various times we showed two DVDs which showed some football action and several players giving their testimonies. In the hall we were kept busy both days providing refreshments, which, along with a stall selling a range of items, provided some welcome funds for the church. The highlights of Saturday were several performances in the car park by the ‘Energise’ puppets from Belfairs Methodist Church, singing Christian songs to well known ‘pop’ tunes. This was very popular, especially with our younger visitors. On the Sunday, ‘Soul Revival’ choir, which practises weekly in our church, performed some of their songs, which were well received. We also had services to start and end the day with an act of worship. Although the weekend is hard work, we received a lot of help and support from members and friends and also appreciated the assistance given by friends from Stanford, Grays & Linford. Most important of all the weekend gave us an opportunity to open our doors and welcome people in to show that we think the Church is still relevant to life in the village today. Cleveland Key Read Circuit News on your computer You have discovered that Circuit News is available on line as well as in printed form. To share it with your friends, we suggest that you give them the address of the circuit website, www.methodist-sec.co.uk, where they will see a link to Circuit News. The circuit preaching plan is also available on line. Look for the link on the circuit website home page. John Greenway |
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