FROM ST GILES’ CLERGY
It’s still only the second week of January as I write, and early enough in the New Year to be using the traditional greeting ‘Happy New Year’. However, for this year at least, I will greet you with the words that we often use at the beginning of our services, ‘The Lord be with you’.
It was extremely good to be present at the Induction Service of the Revd. Bernie Collins and to be able to welcome him to Ickenham. We look forward to working with him and continuing the long history of joint activities run by our two churches. Our prayer for Bernie as he commences his ministry is ‘The Lord be with you’.
The ‘Lord be with you’ is not only a prayer asking for God to be active in someone’s life, guiding, comforting, forgiving, purifying and sustaining them to be the person God has made them to be, but it’s also a call to actively walk in God’s ways. It’s a greeting that recognises that sometimes our lives are filled with difficulties, sadness, and anxieties, where happiness eludes us, yet acknowledging that God doesn’t abandon us. Equally, God wants to deepen our experience in the good times, by being included in these experiences.
Sometimes we need the help of Christians to turn the theory of ‘The Lord be with you’ into a reality. Talking to a Christian about our difficulties and sharing our reasons for celebration is an important stage prior to asking them to pray for us to experience God’s presence in our lives. On the third Sunday of each month, we are offering such a prayer encounter after the 9.45 a.m. service. If you would like prayer for any situations, good or bad, why not attend the service and stay behind briefly at the end. We have a small Prayer Ministry Team who will be on call to pray for you asking that ‘The Lord be with you’. I have always found it very helpful to receive prayer from others and commend this practice to you.
Elsewhere in this edition of ICN you will find information about what’s happening in Lent – small groups and midweek meetings you can attend and book suggestions for Lent reading. Just a reminder that Lent begins on 21st February with Ash Wednesday Services at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. in St Giles’ Church.
‘The Lord be with you in 2007’.
Adrian
‘CAN WE BUILD A BETTER WORLD?’ - LENT GROUPS 2007
Inspired by the Christian Reformer, William Wilberforce who led the campaign for the abolition of slavery 200 years ago, this year’s Lent group material considers how Christians in the 21st Century can learn from these events and apply them to our world today. The five sessions follow this ‘then and now’ approach to the themes of Slavery, Friendship and Prayer, Change and Struggle, The Bible, and Redemption and Restitution. Please sign up for one of the groups in either of the churches.
When: Monday evenings
26th February-26th March 8-9.30 p.m.
Where: 1 Warren Road Leader: Rosemary Hodgson
When: Tuesday mornings
27th February-27th March 10-11.30 a.m.
Where: 28 Rectory Way Leader: Don Gwilt
When: Tuesday evenings
27th February-27th March 8-9.30 p.m.
Where: 17 Gilmore Close Leader: Kitty Harvey
When: Thursday afternoons
1st March-29th March 2-3.30 p.m.
Where: Hardwick Room, URC Leader: Celia Miller
When: Thursday evenings
1st March-29th March 8-9.30 p.m.
Where: 127 The Greenway Leader: Naomi Webb
‘YOUR KINGDOM COME’ – MIDWEEK LENT TALKS
These will be each Wednesday for 5 weeks starting on Ash Wednesday 21st February. Jesus taught us to pray for it, he spoke about it in the parables, and when he began his ministry on earth, he said that the kingdom was near, but what’s it all about? Adrian and Bernie will address the subject of the Kingdom of God in this year’s midweek talks during Lent commencing at 8 p.m. in St Giles’ Church. The first one will be part of the Ash Wednesday communion service, and subsequent talks will be followed by a short service of Night Prayer (traditionally known as Compline).
LENT READING
Two suggestions for a book to read this Lent:
L is for Lifestyle: Christian living that doesn't cost the earth price £5.99 by Ruth Valerio, published by IVP.
In this A-Z of lifestyle issues Ruth Valerio highlights the main threats to people and our planet, God’s beloved creation. She shows how, by making small changes to our everyday behaviour we can learn the secret of a life that is both fair and simple.
Lent & Easter Readings from Iona price £8.99 by Neil Paynter (ed), published by Wild Goose Publications
A book of readings aiming to help readers reappraise their lives during the period leading up to Easter.
FROM ST GILES’ REGISTERS
Baptisms
Nov. 12
th Harry Carter
Weddings
Dec. 9th Dean Collett and Charlotte Dack
Cremations at Breakspear Crematoriums
2006
Nov. 11th Rita Elsie May Bodimeade, aged 72
Dec. 1st Edward (Ted) James Wiseman, aged 72
15th Adrienne Esther Cowan, aged 60
17th George Albert Sentence, aged 91
19th George Legge, aged 85
Dennis Clot, aged 87
Elizabeth (Betty) Rose Gilvier, aged 86 (following a service at St Giles’ Church)
20th Audrey Bunker, aged 69
29th John Victor Foxford, aged 70 (followed by a memorial service in St Giles’ Church)
2007
Jan. 12th Alma Pannett, aged 79 (followed by a memorial service in St Giles’ Church)
ST GILES’ CHURCH MONTHLY STREET PRAYER LIST
Each week at St Giles’ Church we pray for all the people who live or work in a particular road in the Parish. During February we will pray for the following roads: 4th - The Mallows. 11th - The Paddock. 18th The Woods. 25th Thornhill Road.
If you live in one of these roads why not join us at our 8 a.m. or 9.45 a.m. services. You will be most welcome.
THANK YOU FROM ST GILES’ CHURCH
Many thanks to John Clements for organising a collection from the residents of The Avenue to coincide with the St Giles’ Church cycle of prayer for The Avenue. The generous gift will be used to support training activities for the Ickenham Churches Pastoral Support Group, which supplies visitors to those who have been recently bereaved in our parish and also run the monthly Drop-In for the Bereaved on the 3rd Monday of each month.
WHAT BEGAN AFTER THE 9.45 A.M. ST GILES’ CHURCH SERVICE ON 21ST JANUARY?
Answer: an opportunity to receive prayer for any matter important to you, large or small! Two people will be available to pray with you for your situation. Many people find it helpful to share their concerns with other Christians and ask them to commit the matter to God with a simple prayer of faith, following the leading of the Holy Spirit. On offer once a month on the third Sunday.
