Chingford URC is delighted to be hosting our Christmas Fair on Saturday 7 December.

The fair will commence at 9:30am, when we will be serving full English breakfast.

Admission is £1.
​

This year’s Bradwell Pilgrimage & Gathering is on 6 July.

​This is a wonderful free day for all the family that’s worth going to.

For more information and answers to frequently asked questions, visit bradwellpilgrimage.co.uk.

The Three Faiths Forum meeting at 8.00pm on Thursday 13th June was held at East London and Essex Synagogue, which is near South Woodford Station.

The topic for the evening was ‘Teaching Religious Truths by Parable’ and was a Scriptural Reasoning session when we split up into groups, with at least one Jewish person, one Muslim and one Christian in each group.

In my group we first looked at a parable from the Hebrew Scriptures: 2 Samuel 12:1-15. This is where the prophet Nathan tells a story to King David about a poor man having his pet lamb taken from him by a rich man who wanted to use it to feed a guest. The king is outraged by the story but Nathan then tells David that he is like that rich man, when he took the wife of another poor man for his own pleasure.

So the parable is used to make a point and David realises he has sinned and repents.

The second parable we looked at was the story of The Prodigal Son from Luke’s Gospel, showing how God welcomes back sinners if they have repented.

The third parable we considered was from the Qur’an. It concerned two men, one of whom had two very fruitful gardens and ascribed this to his own efforts, boasting about his good fortune. The other
man reminded him that all good gifts come from Allah and not through our own efforts. In course of time the rich man’s property fell into ruin so he lost all he had and realised he was in the wrong.

It was interesting reading these three parables from each of the three faiths and seeing how parables can be used as a means of religious teaching.

I had not expected to find parables outside the teaching of Jesus, so I learned something new, as I expect others did in our groups.

The next meeting of the Forum will be at 8.00pm on Thursday 10 October, when we will be discussing ‘Welcoming the Stranger’ which should be interesting. The venue is yet to be announced.

Isabel Bala

Trafalgar Square will be transformed into a joyful family festival and Service. The day is packed with festivities; live performances from acts including worship leader and Grammy award winner Matt Redman and The Kingdom Choir, made famous around the world for a memorable performance of Stand By Me at the wedding of HRH Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle last May. There will be something for everyone, from uplifting live music, spoken word, dance, prayer workshops and crafts – to family fun and activities to keep the kids entertained.

– Festival & family fun: 12-4pm From live music, spoken word, craft booths, and visual art to prayer workshops – there’s something for everyone. In the ‘Kids Kingdom’ there will be lots of children’s activities including storytelling, balloon artists, street performers and face painting. The food stalls open at 12 noon, so get there early for popular vendors.

– Pentecost service: 4-6pm -Praise, Worship, Witness, Word and Prayer

Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement, which invites Christians around the world to pray during the 11 days from Ascension to Pentecost (30th May – 9th June 2019). What started out as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in 2016 to the Church of England has grown into an international, interdenominational call to prayer for more people to know Christ.

65 different denominations in 114 countries around the world have taken part in the initiative. Since its inception it has been celebrated at Beacon events in churches and Cathedrals around the country. This year in London it is in Trafalgar Square.

All Christian denominations and their church leaders will be taking part, including: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby; Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols; Archbishop Angaelos, General Bishop in the UK of the Coptic Orthodox Church; Bishop of London. Sarah Mullally; Pastor Agu Irukwu, the Pentecostal President and Revd Trey Hall, Director of Evangelism and Growth for the Methodist Church of Great Britain.