Here are a few photos from our Harvest Festival Parade Service at St James' URC on Sunday 15 September.

Rev Ulrike Bell brought a WaterAid message to 90+ attendees and we collected foodstuff for the Epping Forest Foodbank.

A huge thank you to Eileen and Mariana for the wonderful displays.

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally was the theme of the week I signed up for at Othona, Bradwell-on–Sea this summer. It was led by Malcolm Hardy, a Trustee of Essex Wildlife Trust and a biology teacher at a sixth form college in Hackney. He is a wildlife enthusiast and a keen conservationist.

The week was split between talks about wildlife, excursions and practical activities. On the first day we had a guided walk around the environs of Othona, looking at the reed beds where waste water is
filtered and looking at the habitat of the Shrill Carder Bumblebee, which is the rarest bumblebee in the UK.

In the evening we had a talk on the birds and insects of Othona which was very informative.

The next day some of us began making bird and bat boxes and I attempted making a bug hotel with some difficulty!

In the evening we had a talk on the Marine Environment around Bradwell, which may be affected, if plans for a new nuclear power station there go ahead.

The folllowing evening Tim Sapsford, from Essex Bat Group, came to talk to us about bats and then took us on a bat walk which was exciting. We heard lots of bats flying overhead near the car park and in a woodland area. They made quite a loud rattling noise and flew so quickly I only saw one, I think. Most of them were pipistrelles, although there are ten species of bats in Essex. 

Our final excursion, the next day, was down to the seashoe where we identified plants which can live in that salty environment and checked the different types of seashells on the beach. We also looked for male and female shore crabs under rocks and found lots of them!

I learned so much about wildlife in that week and how we must care for the environment.

One of the things I enjoy most about being at Othona is going to St. Peter’s Chapel twice a day to attend the services led by different people. There is no electricity in the chapel, so in the evening it is lit by candles, and walking there in the evening, watching the sun set with a panorama of sea and sky all around is amazing.

Inside the chapel, founded by St. Cedd in 654AD, there is a beautiful crucifix designed by Francis William Stephens, installed there over sixty years ago and St. Cedd is depicted at the foot of it, holding his bishop’s crook.

Three stones are set into the altar, one from Lindisfarne, where St. Cedd was trained as a monk, one from Iona where St. Columba founded a monastery and where the Celtic mission of St. Cedd began.

The third stone is fom Lastingham, where St. Cedd died of the plague in 664AD.

It is over seventy years now since Revd. Norman Motley set up the Othona Community, hoping to promote reconciliation between German and British people after the Second World War. He encountered considerable opposition and derision, but he was a very determined person and his vision bore fruit with many German people still coming to spend time at Bradwell each year along with people from many other countries.

While I was there there were seven VAPS (Volunteer Action for Peace) students from France, Spain, Italy and Mexico who helped out with various tasks during their two week stay. They all got on very well together considering they had never seen each other before.

Another of the good things about being at Othona is seeing old friends and making new ones, meeting a diverse mix of people, old and young, able and disabled and gifted in different ways.

If you have never been to stay there, or even to visit for a day, I would recommend it. You can check the website at www.othona-bradwell.org.uk to find out more about the community and its
programme of events.

Isabel Bala

Our next Holy Habit is “sharing resources”. We are told in Acts Chapter 2 that the first believers had everything in common, and that they would sell land or property from time to time and offer the proceeds to anyone in the group who had need. This is radically different from the world’s way of doing things, both then and now.

Down the centuries, monasteries would emulate this, but most of us in contemporary churches would not go that far. 

We see a more detailed description of this in Acts 4:32-37, but we also see this go spectacularly wrong in chapter 5 (Ananias and Sapphira).

I suspect that the early Christians shared resources partly in expectation of the imminent second coming of Jesus and partly because of the strong sense of unity and friendship they had within the group. As the numbers in the group increased so rapidly, it would have been more difficult to sustain.

However, it is still beneficial to think about what we can share with one another. After all, everything we have is a gift from God, and so we can honour Him by sharing, but only if we do it voluntarily, by faith, and not out of a sense of duty.
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Kevin Haigh

We are now moving onto the fifth of our Holy Habits topics and here is the introduction from the booklet:

​“In Acts 2:44-45 and 4:32-37, Luke presents pictures of the early Christian communities of disciples supporting one another and those in need in the wider community by the generous sharing of their resources. They shared and sold possessions to create a common fund which could be used to support those in need of income or resources.

The fund may also have supported the apostles and, later on, the deacons and others.

​It was a powerfully prophetic, counter-cultural expression of community then. It remains so today.

Much of 21st century Western culture encourages us to live separate, independent lives protecting our individuality, our privacy and our belongings. The same attitude is also becoming more prominent within the politics of nation states.

In Acts 2:44 we hear that the disciples were together and had ‘all things in common’.

As you explore this habit of Sharing Resources, you may like to reflect on what having all things in common meant to those early Christians, and how we relate that to our lives today personally and collectively in holy living.

This is a particularly challenging habit. It is not about offering others what you can spare. Nor is it about taking from others what you fancy. To share something requires us to change our relationship with that item, perhaps relinquishing our power over it, or taking more account of how we use it.

Sharing roles or gifts may mean accepting that a task is not completed to your own exacted standard. Sharing ideas or thoughts may make you vulnerable. True sharing is about working together in an open, honest and thoughtful manner without any hidden agendas.

Sharing can be costly and demanding but it is a way to life-giving and transformational experience.”

Andrew Roberts (ed) et al, Holy Habits. Sharing Resources, pg. 6

Dear friends,

Welcome back after the summer break – and a good start to all of those who are moving on for new exciting life adventures, like going to university, going to a new school or starting a new chapter work-wise or in any other way.

Leaving old and known things, places and people behind and starting something new is very exciting, but can be quite daunting, too.

Also, actually, for those who stay behind.

How is this new time in my life going to pan out? How are things going to be like? Will I cope, will I like it?

“One more step along the world I go…” – and we with them! Starting something new reminds us that life is all about development, transformation, even if we ourselves stay behind and go back to our routines and well-trodden paths. 

“Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” (Psalm 86,11)

Learning is at the heart of the Bible; at the heart of Judaism and at the heart of the Jesus movement.

Learning God’s ways – whatever that may be, in any given situation. Knowing ourselves as Learners (=”Disciples”).

And so, we will continue on our journey together, practicing “Holy Habits” alongside the early Christians – and hundreds of fellow Christians (mainly in UK) who have embarked on the same journey with their churches.

The coming two months we will face the first disciples’ practice of “Sharing Resources” – which may raise some interesting questions for ourselves and our communal living.

We will then have a little break in November, reflecting on the Habits we’ve learned and practiced so far, and will live the Advent and Christmas season for what it is.

In January we will start our second year with Holy Habits, beginning with the habit of “Making new
disciples”, followed by “Worship”, “Breaking bread”, “Serving” and, last but not least, “Fellowship”.

“Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” (Psalm 86,11)

Yours in Christ,

​Ulrike

Our September newsletter is now available to read.

Click here to download the newsletter as a PDF or contact Rev June Colley on rev@jcolley.plus.com  for a paper version.

Our July/ August newsletter is now available to read.

Click here to download the newsletter as a PDF or contact Rev June Colley on rev@jcolley.plus.com  for a paper version.
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