Pastoral Letter from Rev Ulrike Bell

Dear friends,

The year starts with some sad notes. First of all, we knew the Mortimers would go, but starting the new year without them does feel strange. It’ll take some time to get used to this and to somehow find new ways without them. Good to know though that they seem to have settled in well.
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​Secondly, Ray Lodge Church meeting decided on 21 January that they are too small to function as a church. There was no-one who could have taken over the roles of church secretary, hall manager, convener of the Toddler Group, pulpit supply, etc – all of these had been filled by Janet Jackson who in December retired to Shropshire, and Rev June Colley very kindly had stepped into the void that Janet had left, just for the time being.

The members, with sadness, decided to seek to amalgamate with Woodford Green URC, and their last act of worship will be Palm Sunday at 3:00pm, with a worship celebrating the life of the church through the years and decades. I hope that many of you will be able to attend.

​​And some exciting new things are happening, too, thank God!

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The architects have been round to the Woodford Green church and will present their ideas on February 21st from 10.00am. Please do come if you can.

​The presentation will be discussed at Woodford Green church meeting the Sunday after and at an open-to-all Forest Council meeting on March 4, 2pm at Woodford Green URC. Do come and help us discuss and discern this for our future.

Also, Chingford URC have decided to run a Holiday Club in Half Term break with the Red Balloon Foundation. It’ll be great to see how that picks up and if we can interest some families for our all-age worship or Messy Church.

May our Lord guide us and keep us and make us strong in focussing on joining into His work in our communities. May we walk the way with Jesus. May we be brave. May we continue to support each other and the people around us. May the Lord’s love for our broken world live in our hearts and guide our thoughts, words and deeds. The path that we walk on is never all straight and clear. Even so, may we walk in faith. May it be a blessed year of the Lord 2018!

Yours in Christ,
Ulrike

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