Good News Reports

GOOD NEWS REPORTS

Richard's Message:

As I potter around the Circuit it would be so easy to be weighed down by talk of numbers, level of assessment, lack of people to hold certain roles and I know these concerns are real.
Instead, I would much prefer that these weekly offerings allow us to focus on the positives and build our awareness of where our God is at work. We all need to hear of where the new have arrived and helped transform, where faith has been deepened, where music has touched, where the Gospel is being lived out or a reminder of where God has touched in the past which then informs our present.
What stories can our people share?
It would be great if Pete Honeyball, who collates these weekly offerings, was inundated with suggestions of who to ask or even better with a piece of proper good news.
There is so much good news happening in our church which too often we do not share.
So, a few signs of good news in our midst:

• An ecumenical Christianity Explored course.
• New people arriving and staying in some of our churches.
• Times when the church acts through lunches, coffee mornings and such, and brings love and hope into lives.
• Where the church speaks for justice.
• Rooms full of excitement at Messy Church or toddler group.
• Any time faith is discussed.
• Where worship touches, where words inspire, where prayer is shared, where meaning is discerned, where tears or laughter are shared.
• Where we know Christ in our midst.

What good news is there that it would do your family in the Circuit good to hear?
Could you pen a few words to share with others?
Blessings
Richard

Previous 'Good News' reports are now archived and will be kept for 12 months.
see January February March April May June
July August September October November December

This Sunday, 9 November, the focus of our Circuit Prayers is on Christchurch Thame

Dear All.
Dorothy shares her story with us and it is good to learn how barriers have been dispensed with over the years,
leading to a greater acceptance of different denominations. Please pray this Sunday for the lovely people at Christchurch and the further removal of all the divisions that separate those who rejoice in the rich diversity of the Christian Church. There is one church and one Jesus Christ and it is He whom we serve.

Pete

Dorothy writes:

Other Denominations

I was Christened in the then Congregational Church in Hythe, Kent. My Father was the Church Treasurer and an
Elder and my Mother was also an Elder. I had two sisters, one thirteen years older and the other eight years older. When I started school I realised that my parents seemed much older than those of the other children.
It was a Church of England School and we were immediately classed as the “Other Denominations”. My Mother had to explain this to me when I got home.
Mother's best friend was from a Roman Catholic family and she had children the same ages as my sisters. Her youngest daughter was born 4 months after me, so we were wheeled out in prams and pushchairs side by side. We have kept in touch in touch for 92 yrs and she still lives in Hythe and works three mornings a week as a book-keeper!
When war broke out our mothers refused to let us be evacuated to Wales so we were the only children left in the town for the next two years.
Because Hythe was a likely invasion point being on the so-called “Hellfire Corner” we were classed as a “ghost town”.
One family of every trade was allowed to stay, everyone else was evacuated. We had no schooling for two years, till people started coming back in 1942 and the school reopened. Again we were classed as “Other Denominations“.
In September 1944 we were evacuated to Merthyr Tydfil. We passed the 11+ exams in an air raid shelter .
The following Easter we returned home as the threat of invasion was over. At least we were not the “Other Denominations“. The
Congregational Church became United Reformed by the time I was living in Kingston Blount and as the Chinnor Church was closed, I joined the (then) United Church in Thame. This then became Christchurch, Methodist/URC.
For the last 60 yrs it has been an important part of my life and my Church family are very dear to me.
We have many faiths in this country and I haven’t heard “Other Denominations“ used for years.
Suffice to say I am a Christian.

Dorothy Sydenham

On Sunday, 2 November, the focus of our Circuit Prayers was on Swanbourne

Dear All

Ruth shares her story of how she became a nurse and how her faith enabled her to offer love and
care to youngsters and adults in challenging circumstances. We give thanks and remember
in our prayers the lovely people of Swanbourne, and all those whose faith
inspires them to offer a ministry to the sick and suffering amongst us.

Pete

Ruth writes:

I was born in London and was baptised at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster. Having been bombed out during the war I have no recollection of childhood before the age of six.
My first memory was of trying to get out from under the rubble of our home to free my sister, Vera.
We were evacuated to Lacock in Wiltshire to live with my grandmother. I attended Sunday school at the Methodist chapel along with many of the other evacuees. This was a really happy time for me.
After the war we moved to Essex to live with my maternal grandmother who was a very strict lady and life suddenly changed!
My sister and I were sent to the Sunday school of the Peculiar People (now the Union of Evangelical Churches) morning and afternoon. In the evening we had a choice, either to attend the Congregational chapel with my parents or the Anglican church with my grandmother.
I moved to London to train as a children’s nurse where I attended a Methodist church. Unfortunately I had to leave London through ill-health caused by the smog.
In 1956 I moved to Swanbourne, newly married. I went to the Methodist church in Swanbourne and was made so very welcome as a newcomer to the village; sixty-nine years later I am still a member of the chapel, where a warm welcome is always received.
Throughout my career working with vulnerable children and adults my faith has helped me deal with some very difficult and challenging times. I hope that throughout my life I have been able to make a difference to those I have cared for.

Ruth