Please come along and enjoy an afternoon of music and song, with mulled wine and mince pies.
 Here is an overview of who will be leading our services on specific dates at St James', Chingford and Woodford Green.   The URC is running a Virtual Holiday Forum this year for the very first time.
This means you can join in for a weekend of faith, fun and fellowship from the comfort of your own home! I thought it would be lovely if we could all 'meet up' there and spend the weekend. Have a look at the programme: www.urcholidayforum.org.uk/wpsite Please think seriously about registering! This year would have been my first Holiday Forum so I'm hoping that to get a taster in a virtual way may be very helpful. Hoping to see you there, Margaret Minoletti  On the afternoon of 6 December, a small group from St. James’ sang carols for half an hour in Queens Road, Buckhurst Hill, as part of the Christmas Festival there.
Geoff Packe accompanied us on the mandolin, so hopefully we made a joyful noise! We gave out some leaflets about Christmas services and events at St. James’ to passersby in between singing, so we felt it had been worthwhile. On the evening of 19 December, eight of us went to Woodford Station and sang carols for about an hour to the people coming and going there, with Geoff playing for us again on the mandolin. We were collecting for the Redbridge Single Homeless Project and we raised £360, which was £145 more than last year. Thank you very much to everyone who turned up to help, at such a busy time of year, and especially to our musician, Geoff. Thanks also to Louise and Simon who counted all the money. Isabel Bala
On Saturday 26 October, I went to Vine URC, in Ilford, for a URC Church and Society Network event: Inside–Outside, attended by over fifty adults and young people. We were welcomed by Sandra Ackroyd and our opening worship was led by Revd Melanie Smith from Enfield.
This was followed by four presentations. Climate Change Ruth Musgrave, a member of Vine Church first talked to us about Climate Change – a very topical subject at present, telling us how we are now, as a global community, in a climate emergency, with rivers in Bangladesh being poisoned, soil losing its fertility and seas being polluted. She said we must tell a different story from the media which often claims we can exploit creation for our own use. We come from the soil and when oppression ends, creation rejoices. She quoted part of John 3:16 ‘God so loved the cosmos‘, which should make us think about caring for God’s creation. In the book of Revelation trees are said to be for ‘the healing of the nations.’ As people of faith, we know we are not strong enough on our own – we must pray and follow this with action. We must imagine a different future and give encouragement to those who are trying to achieve this. Poverty Alison Jackson, a retired civil servant, spoke to us about poverty in the UK. She is a member of Church Action on Poverty and Christians Against Poverty. She mentioned how women in the Rhonda Valley in Wales had been instrumental in ending poverty there and challenged us to think how we can end poverty in our localities. Celebrating Diversity Celebrating Diversity was the next topic and Tom Howells, the Children & Youth Development Officer, for the Synod, spoke about how diversity was important in our churches and we should celebrate it, dealing with cultural shifts when they occur. Media Representation Richard Reddie, Director of Justice for Churches Together in Britain and Ireland spoke next on Media representation – Justice/ Injustice. He encourages churches to engage in Refugee Networks. He mentioned how violent deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are often not reported by the media as they are not deemed newsworthy. It would appear certain lives are more important than others. There is serious youth violence in our country and often the media appear to infer that those killed deserved their fate. There is a lack of compassion for refugees who make perilous journeys to our country and moral panic is whipped up. Workshops After that, we split up into workshops. I first went to one led by Ruth Musgrave on Climate Change, which was interesting. She is a member of Vine URC and she told us how her church is in the process of becoming an eco-congregation. She mentioned Walter Wink, who was an American Biblical scholar and she recommended one of his books, ‘Engaging the Powers’. She told us many churches are now divesting from fossil fuels and have linked up with Operation Noah, a charity which promotes eco-friendly activities. Her church has worked along with Transition Ilford, planting trees locally. They also have joined forces with Greening Redbridge, an Interfaith group. Before enjoying a delicious vegan hot lunch, Seven Kings Gospel Choir sang to us and Mike Excell played his guitar to accompany a song on Climate Change. The second workshop I attended on Justice/ Injustice was led by Richard Reddie, who began by asking us, ‘What makes the news?’ We agreed that sensationalism sells newspapers and often we identify with people like ourselves. Celebrities are feted and bad news is highlighted. He said churches should get involved in reporting good news to their local newspapers and on their websites, as often it is bad news that hits the headlines. To finish the afternoon, we had a panel discussion, with the workshop leaders answering questions arising from the workshops. It was generally agreed that churches should speak ‘Truth to Power’ and proclaim a message of hope. Closing worship was a very lively rendition of ‘Lord of the Dance’ and the afternoon finished just after 4pm. I really enjoyed the day, meeting people from other churches of all ages and ethnicities and getting involved in lively discussions. It would be good if more people from the Forest Group could attend future Church and Society Network events. Isabel Bala We will be running a free six week course, starting on 30 January, entitled End of Life Matters.
This course is for people of all ages and covers questions to do with the end of life. It is open to people of any religion or no religion. Each session will have a time of information/ input (sometimes with guest speakers), a time of exchange and learning from each other, a prayer and a time of sharing cake and tea/ coffee. This course is free of charge. Donations welcome.
Location: St James' URC, Palmerston Road, Buckhurst Hill, IG9 5NG Time: Thursdays 10:30 – 12:00 For more information or to sign up, please contact Rev Ulrike Bell on 020 8505 5542 or [email protected]. On Sunday 2 February 2020 at St James' URC, Rev Ulrike Bell, will be reporting on her Interfaith Pilgrimage to Israel/ Palestine (a joint week's spiritual journey with Jews, Muslims and Christians of local/ South Woodford congregations plus Rabbi David Hulbert and Imam Dr Mohammed Fahim).
Rachael Williams of St Albans URC will also be reporting on the joint URC journey into Israel/ Palestine (for Commitment for Life), in search of better understanding of the political situation of the Holy Land. Date: Sunday 2 February 2020 Time: 4 - 7pm Location: St James' URC, Buckhurst Hill RSVP: [email protected]
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