| Hadleigh Healing Society |
| St Mary’s Church, Hadleigh |
| Hadleigh United Reformed Church |
| Hadleigh Baptist Church |
FORWARD PLANNER
Friday 30th November
6pm at Hadleigh Market Place. CtiH stall at the Christmas Market and lighting-up ceremony
Sunday 2nd December
6.30pm in St Mary’s Church: Advent Service
*Friday 18th January 2002
Provisional – 9.30am – Mass at St Joseph’s and Elmsett Methodist Church in the evening
*Saturday 19th January 2002
8.30 Matins & Prayer in St Mary’s, Hadleigh. 7.30pm Social Evening at the URC
Sunday 20th January 2002
6.30pm in United Reformed Church: Quarterly United Service
*Monday 21st January 2002
Afternoon/evening service at Elmsett Methodist Church
*Tuesday 22nd January 2002
11am – Matins at the Row Chapel
*Wednesday 23rd January 2002
7.30am Holy Communion & Breakfast at St Mary’s. 2.30pm Salvation Army Hall
*Thursday 24th January 2002
12 noon – Lunch and study at the Salvation Army Hall
*Friday 25th January 2002
9.30am – Toddlers Eucharist at St Mary’s Church
Saturday 24th March 2002
Am: Palm Sunday procession and United Service
Good Friday 29th March 2002
Procession of Witness
Sunday 12th May 2002
6.30pm in St Mary’s, Hadleigh: Quarterly United Service
Saturday 18th May 2002
Hadleigh May Show
Sunday 7th July 2002
Evening: Annual Open Air Service
*The entries so marked are provisional dates and times for events during next year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and will be updated as they become definite.
Thank you to those who supported the first of our Quarterly United services on 7th October – despite the wind and the rain. It was a very spiritual occasion, beautifully sung and played by St Mary’s Choir and organist Sandra Brook.
SPECIAL EVENT - Friday 30th November 2001: TOWN EVENING FAIR
CTiH will be having a stall giving free hot soup and telling people about the work done by the Christian Churches in Hadleigh. We shall also have our “Welcome to Hadleigh” leaflets available and our “Christian Way of Hadleigh” books for sale (£1). We will also have a collecting tin for EACH (East Anglian Children’s Hospices), which is our current charity.
Please do support our stall; if you have an hour to spare that evening would you like to help us serve soup etc. Ring Philip (822658) for details.
The new housing development in Hadleigh
CTiH would like to ensure that every new home in the development is eventually visited by members of our churches. Because the houses will be completed in phases, the plan is to spread the load by visiting ten or so houses at the same time, e.g. on a Sunday afternoon or at another time convenient to the visitors.
We do need several people, otherwise the load will fall on to a few willing souls. If you are a member of one of the CTiH churches, please give the matter your serious consideration, and if you are able to help please speak to me (822658), a CTiH committee member or to your minister.
Philip Mann, Chairman, Churches Together in Hadleigh
Advent Windows (see article in last month’s issue)
Thank you to all those (2) of you who requested an application form for the Advent Windows. It seems an awful shame that out of over 2000 houses we couldn’t find just 24 to take part. When you are decorating your houses up this year for the festive season, think how nice it could have been to share your lights and decorations with others in our town and invite them round for a drink and some company on a cold winters night.
Fiona Taylor, Secretary, Churches Together in Hadleigh
Churches Together in Suffolk – Fair Trade Meeting
We all waited with bated breath, as the eight feet wooden scales were filled with fair trade pledge cards at one end. They finally moved down at that end to more than balance the other scale pan containing a teddy bear, a calculator, trainers and bananas.
The 300 or so attendees at Stowmarket United Reformed Church on 6th October were taking an action pledge that trade should work in the interests of all people. The pledge also covered working to change the rules that govern international trade in order to attempt to eradicate poverty, protect the environment and ensure equal access to life in all its fullness.
Speakers on the day included Martin Drewry (Head of Campaigns-Christian Aid), George Gelber (Head of Campaigns – CAFOD), Richard Howitt MEP (with special interest in ethical trade) and a representative of Ipswich and Norwich Co-op. There were workshops covering fair trade aspects of multi-national companies, development targets, food security, the media, holidays, campaigning, lobbying and farming practice.
The meeting opened and closed with worship and was chaired by Maria Elena Arana from CAFOD.
We had a very though-provoking day and came away more aware of the problems of fair trade and wishing to do our bit in shopping wisely.
Michael A Roberts, St Mary’s, Hadleigh
Michael, along with Audrey and Philip Mann from St Mary’s, Jim Dalgleish, Joyce Wells, Philo Wells and Jan Hicks from the United Reformed Church, represented Hadleigh at this very important event.
This is an area to which everyone can make a real contribution and during the next few months items will be appearing in the Hadleigh, Layham and Shelley Parish Magazine and in the Hadleigh Community News which will draw your attention to these uncomfortable but nevertheless real issues.
So, here’s a starter for us; consider buying Café Direct and Fair-trade chocolate – either from the churches’ stalls or from the Co-op. The quality is superb and the cause worthwhile.
Our OPEN DAY & TABLE TOP SALE held on 22nd September was a great success, and we would like to thank everyone who contributed, whether by donating cash or goods for the sale, helping on the day, or simply by turning up on the day and supporting us.
The Table Top Sale made a net profit of £471, the best ever. (It is a pity that some of this money will have to be spent on replacing some of the items that went up in flames after someone saw fit to set light to our garden shed).
The Open Day was very well supported. Lots of people came for Readings and Healings. Our visiting complementary Therapists Heather McRoberts and David Skates dealt with many enquiries and were kept very busy too.
We are pleased to carry on the good work started by Sister Burrows and Sister Bulcock and hope that you will all feel welcome to come for Healing, or help when needed. As always we make no charge for Healing, although a free will donation towards running expenses would be welcomed.
Ray Walker, Secretary
Dear Friends,
In the spring we look forward to the warmer weather and hopefully lots of sun and good outdoor weather. When we get to autumn we tend to look back. Often we forget those really lovely days we have enjoyed, remember only the wet and windy ones and say, “where did the summer go?”
In spring we enjoy the new growth in our gardens and in the countryside around us. In the autumn we see that new growth has become tired and falls away, but nothing is wasted. So much returns to the soil and becomes the nourishment for the following spring.
November is very much a month when we look back in other ways. We begin with All Saints Day (All Hallows Day as it used to be called – remembering the hallowed or holy one, the Saints of God). We also have All Souls Day when we commemorate those loved ones who have departed this life. We remember them here at our special ALL SOULS SERVICE on Sunday 4th November at 4pm (see below). Then on the following Sunday we have Remembrance Sunday when we remember those many men and women who gave their lives in the great conflicts of war in the past. This year we will also be praying especially for justice and peace at the present time.
Yes we do well to remember, for the past has an immense bearing on the present and the future. Just as in the natural world nothing is wasted, so for us human beings nothing is wasted. What we as the human race have learnt and experienced go with us and can become the fertile ground upon which a healthy and meaningful tomorrow can grow.
But of course the opposite can also be true. The failures we make can leave devastation for the future generations to bear. This autumn and world scene has changed drastically. One might say that we have been woken up out of our deep lethargy. Suddenly we have become very much the ‘global village’ that many have been talking about. What happens in one place does affect the lives and livelihoods of others, not just in the same street but across the world.
After Cain killed his brother Abel in the Genesis story, God asked him where his brother was. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ came the reply. As one commentator once said – ‘my brother doesn’t need a keeper, he needs a brother’. Just as our lives are affected by those of others, so we have an effect on them as well. We do, therefore, have a responsibility towards other people. John Donne once wrote, ‘No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.’
While firm action has to be taken to bring under control those terrorists who wreak havoc on innocent lives, we do have to show active concern and care of those who suffer, the underprivileged, the vulnerable, the homeless refugees and the starving.
As we seek to do that, we have to take great care that in solving one crisis we do not sow the seeds of another even worse one. The consequences of whatever we do in today’s world will have to be faced by the generations yet to come. They too are our brothers and sisters.
These issues are not just for those in positions of power, for governments, for armed forces, for aid agencies, or for those decision-makers far away. We all have our part to play. By what we say, by what we do, by what we give, we are in a position to help move public opinion towards a more responsible way. We need to counter those who show prejudice against other groups of people and to speak out against sweeping statements that so easily cause innocent people to be condemned.
We do well to remember those who have faithfully served the people of their day and those who had the foresight to sow good things to be reaped by future generations. Let us pray that we in our day may have the courage and the determination to care for others and to make this world a fairer and more just place for all its peoples, both in the present day and for those yet unborn.
May God greatly bless you and your home.
David Stranack, Dean (Tel 822218)
OUR MAIN SERVICES AT ST MARY’S
Sundays
8am Holy Communion from the Book of Common Prayer
10.30am SUNG EUCHARIST (All Age Eucharist on 2nd Sunday usually)
6.30pm Forms of Evening Service vary (please see the Parish Magazine or phone 822218 for details). Healing Service monthly – see below
NB: Our next FAMILY SERVICE will be on Sunday 18th November at 10.30am
Weekdays
Tues 10am Holy Communion from the Book of Common Prayer
11am Row Chapel – Matins or Holy Communion from the Book of Common Prayer
Wed 7.30am Morning Prayer and Eucharist (and breakfast)
Fri 9.30am Toddlers Eucharist
Daily 8.30am Morning Prayer
5.30pm Evening prayer
You are always welcome to join with us.
ALL SOULS SERVICE
Our All Souls’ Service this year takes place on Sunday 4th November at St Mary’s Church starting at 4pm. This is the occasion when we remember those whose funerals have taken place during the last two years and also those departed loved ones whose names have been added to the list at the back of St Mary’s Church (see nearer the date). During the service members of the congregation are invited, if they wish, to come forward to light a candle in memory of a loved one. All who wish to come to that service will be most welcome.
REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY
This year the service for Remembrance Sunday will be on Sunday 11th November in St Mary’s Church at 3pm. The preacher will be the Revd Pat Aldred who is one of the Chaplains to the Forces at Wattisham Airfield. All are very welcome to attend. There will also be a Service of Remembrance at Layham starting in the Church Cemetery at 10.50am followed by a service in Church.
‘OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD’ – HAVE YOU GOT YOUR SHOE BOX? – a call to all ages
“I wish everyone in the United Kingdom and Ireland could see the smiles of millions of grateful children around the world who have received gift-filled shoe boxes through Operation Christmas Child. These children have suffered because of war, natural disaster, poverty, illness or neglect. But their faces light up as they dig through their boxes, uncovering their new treasures. Operation Christmas Child, a unique project of Samaritan’s Purse, delivers gifts to hurting children while also telling them about God’s greatest gift, his Son Jesus Christ”. Franklin Graham, President, Samaritan’s Purse.
If you would like to join in this project for Christmas to help support children in Eastern Europe (as already supported by the URC church) first of all find a shoebox! This then has to be filled with suitable items – please ask Winnie Lockwood for details. The filled and decorated boxes can be presented at our Family Service on 18th November (see below) or brought to St Mary’s School during the following week. Please support.
FAMILY SERVICE AT ST MARY’S
Our next Family Service, which will be non-eucharistic, will take place on Sunday 18th November, at 10.30am. At this Service the shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child (see above) will be presented so that they can begin their journey. After the service there will be a short Communion for those who wish to stay on.
HEALING SERVICE
The next Healing Service will take place at Evening Pray on Sunday 18th November at St Mary’s Church at 6.30pm. You are most welcome to come and there will be the opportunity, if you wish, to receive the laying-on of hands and anointing either for yourself or on behalf of another. Do come and join us. All will be very welcome.
SERVICE AT FRIARS HALL
This month the Churches Together in Hadleigh Service will be held at Friars Hall on Sunday 25th November starting at 3.30pm and is to be led by the Elmsett Methodist Church. Come and sing with the residents. If you would like a lift phone the Dean – please support this service if you possibly can, as it is very encouraging for the residents.
ADVENT SERVICE
This year the Advent Service on Sunday 2nd December will again be an ecumenical occasion arranged through the Churches Together in Hadleigh. It will take place at St Mary’s Church at 6.30pm. There will be choir items as well as congregational hymns and the service will be based on the four Advent ‘coming’ themes with the presentation of the four Advent candles. Do join us as we begin the season of Advent together in preparation for Christmas.
TAIZE SERVICES IN HADLEIGH
The next Taize Service will be on
Remembrance Sunday
Sunday 11th November, 6.30pm at St Mary’s Church, Hadleigh
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF VENUE
Everyone is very welcome to this ecumenical service of prayer, song and silence
The Children’s Society
ANNUAL CHRISTINGLE SERVICE
In St Mary’s, Hadleigh on Sunday 9th December at 3pm
Everyone is welcome to this colourful and joyous annual event when the children of all ages are invited to process round the church with their Christingle candles providing the illumination. Gift Envelopes, if not obtained through school or playgroup, can be obtained from Philip Mann (822658) and will also be available in church before the service.
WEDNESDAY – PARISH OFFICE
The Parish office at St Mary’s Church for arranging Baptisms and Weddings is open on Wednesdays from 7pm to 8pm BY APPOINTMENT please. Please phone the Deanery on 822218 between 6pm and 6.30pm from Tuesday to Friday inclusive to arrange an appointment.
Isn’t it a wonderful day?
A late afternoon in mid-October and people are making the most of the last of the sunshine as the temperature reaches into the 20’s. As it becomes cooler, some are moving to the fun-fair where noise and lights and movement provide the fun and excitement. Or perhaps they are being lured by the promise of the many fast-food outlets, where somehow the promise isn’t always delivered. Perhaps the ‘Kiss me quick’ hats on sale at the kiosks are a symbol of the desperate searching after pleasure that seems to be infecting the many people who are around.
As the evening begins to darken, the lights come on along the esplanade, a glittering show promising paradise, but of course it is all optical illusion. Illusion, too, is the promise of instant wealth held out by the casino that is now ablaze with attractive lights, or the suggestion of instant pleasure given by the sign directing you to the lap-dancing club. Down those less well lit streets the drugs trade and sex industry will be offering other means of self-fulfilment.
Perhaps it is the uncertainty of the events following 11th September that causes so many people to seek after instant pleasure and excitement now; to reach out for some sort of meaning to life. While some of the pleasures can be innocent and enjoyable, others perhaps less so, none of them really provide a satisfying answer to the fundamental questions. Whey are we here? What are we called to do? How should we live?
This world provides a multitude of pleasure, all given by God for our enjoyment. The greatest joy is knowing, especially in all the uncertainty of today’s troubles, that God loves us. He has shown us that quite clearly in Jesus. The only reasonable response to God’s love is to share it with those around us, so that they too experience it, so that this world becomes a better place for all humankind. Jesus told us to love God completely and to love our neighbour as ourselves. That is the only true way to self-fulfilment, the only way we can make sure that it will be a wonderful day.
Events this month:
We worship at 10.45am every Sunday morning, including the celebration of Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the Month. During these services there is available a crèche for the smallest children and Junior Church for all other ages. We meet at 6.30pm on the third Sunday of each month, when we celebrate Holy Communion within a quiet meditative form of service. This month this evening service will provide opportunity for healing prayer and the laying on of hands. You are most welcome to come and worship with us at any of these services.
It doesn’t take more than a quick glance at the news to know that there is something far wrong with the world. It is not as God intended it. God’s promise is that ultimately all of creation will be restored. Meanwhile it is good to turn to him to seek healing in our own lives. Everyone is in need of spiritual healing and many are in need of physical and emotional healing. The first step is to trust in God. Those who want to do that can receive healing prayer on the third Tuesday of each month at 10.15am, during Pause for Prayer in the church. This is also offered at our evening service, 6.30pm, November 18th, which will focus on healing. While there is a specific emphasis on healing on these occasions, anyone in need of prayer for healing need only ask and it will be available at any time and at any of our services of worship or prayer.
Work continues to be done to provide community facilities in the rooms attached to the back of the church. We plan to have a celebration service for the re-opening on 20th January at 6.30pm. The service will be an opportunity to give thanks to God for the refurbished facilities and to allow members of community groups who may be interested in using the rooms to have a look round during refreshments after the service.
If you have any redundant mobile phones, please bring them along to the Hadleigh Charity Shop in the High Street, or to the United Reformed Church Hall on Tuesday between 10am and 11.30am or on Sundays between 12 noon and 1pm. They can be recycled and the money used to feed street children in Eastern Europe.
At our morning service on the 11th November we will be offering shoeboxes of small gifts and toys for disadvantaged children in Eastern Europe. If you have contributed before, or would like to take part, please get in touch or come along on Tuesday between 10am and 11.30am to collect a leaflet giving details.
Women’s Institute Carol Service
The WI Group, covering Hadleigh and neighbouring towns and villages, are holding their annual carol service at Hadleigh United Reformed Church on the evening of Monday 3rd December at 7pm. The service will include many favourite carols and both biblical and other Christmas readings and will be followed by refreshments.
Further information:
For more information on any of the above or any other aspects of the life at Hadleigh United Reformed Church please contact Revd Jim Dalgleish (827895).
We would like to extend a really warm welcome for you and your family to join us at any of our weekly services and other church activities which are as follows:
10am Prayer Meeting
10.45am & 6.30pm Worship Services (a crèche is provided at the morning service
10am Sunday School & Bible Class for any child 3 years and upwards. Transport available. If you would like more details or would like picking up please ring Kevin Moran on 01473 827427
9.45am – 11am Mothers & Others (Dads welcome too!)
7pm – 8pm Intermediate FOY (School years 5-7)
Transport available
8.15pm – 10pm monthly 15plus (youth group for 15 year olds and upwards) Tel: Steve Roper on 01473 824861
8.15pm – 10pm monthly Men’s Night (15 to 150!) – Contact Pastor for details
8.15pm – 10pm monthly Ladies Night (15 to 150!) – Contact Pastor for details
2.15pm fortnightly Women’s Fellowship (all ladies welcome) Tel: Jean Chisholm on 01473 823576
7.30pm Prayer Meeting & Bible Study – Contact Pastor for details
6.15pm – 7.15pm Junior FOY (age 5 to School Year 4) Transport available. Tel: Paul Gant on 01473 824159
7.45pm – 9.15pm Senior Youth Club (School year 8+). Tel: Roger Balmer on 01206 337448
SPECIAL NOTICE:
We are currently running a series of talks with discussion called Christianity Explained. You do not need to know anything about the Bible. You will not be asked to read, pray, or answer questions. You will be given every chance to discuss. All you will need is an open mind. If you would like to attend please contact Pastor.
Sunday 25th November is our Youth Sunday and on this day our services will be aimed for young people. Our guest speaker will be Bryan Brown.
If you would like more information on any of the activities mentioned above, please do not hesitate to contact Pastor Greg Frost on 01473 823804
The death of the Lord Jesus Christ raises many questions. He was executed. Let us consider two questions. 1) Why was he crucified? 2) As His death was pre-ordained by God, what did it achieve?
The answer to the first question is found in the first three chapters of Genesis. These chapters describe the account of Creation. Adam and Eve were created without sin, but to be able to sin. Sin is man’s total inability to obey God’s Holy and Righteous Law.
God warned Adam of the consequences of disobedience. In Genesis chapter 2 we read, “And the Lord commanded the man saying, ‘Of every tree in the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die’”. This was a very clear instruction. We discover in chapter 3 that Satan deceived Adam and Eve, and they broke God’s command, and so sin entered the world through Adam. (Romans 5:12). The whole of creation was cursed by God because of man’s disobedience.
Up until then God had lived in perfect harmony with Adam and Eve. Death was unknown, but sin had created a barrier between God and man. Verse 15 of chapter 3 shows the unfolding of God’s plan for redemption. God is Holy and He wanted to be reconciled to man, and yet He was righteously angry at man’s disobedience. This is not just Adam and Eve’s sin for Romans 3:23 states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God is righteously angry with all of us.
Romans 3:21-26 describes bow we can be made right with God. Verse 24 mentions the word ‘redemption’. The imagery behind the Greek word comes from the ancient slave market. It means paying the ransom to obtain the slave’s release. The only adequate payment to redeem sinners from the slavery of sin is in Christ Jesus, and was paid to God to satisfy His justice. That was why the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified.
What did His death actually achieve? In Romans 3 the word ‘propitiation’ is used. (New King James Version). The sacrificial death of Christ satisfies the offended holiness and wrath of God. He became the substitute for all who truly believe and trust Him. In verse 24 the word “justified” is used. All why truly believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ are justified freely by His grace. This means we are declared righteous before God, and are pardoned from the guilt and penalty of sin.
God declares a sinner righteous on the basis of the merits of Christ’s righteousness. It is all of God’s grace. Our eternal destination is dependent on our response to the Gospel. Those who reject the Gospel will spend eternity in hell, but those who believe and trust the gospel will spend eternity in God’s presence, where there is no sin. What a glorious reality! Thanks be to God.
Peter Green.