​Our May 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 April 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 March 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 February 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 December/ January 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 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 June Colley for a paper version.

It was with a mixture of joy and sadness that we met to say farewell to Richard and Jane, and their son Tim, at a lunch after the service on the 7th January.

Speeches were made and gifts given, including a handsome cheque from the Forest Group via a collection from members and churches.

The following poem was written by Helen Tindall, formerly of Highams Park URC, and we are sure it is echoed by many members, who will remember our time with Richard and Jane very fondly.

Dear Richard, you’re leaving, you’ve come to the end
Of your journey in London – Farewell from your friends!
And now a new highway is waiting for you -
With hobbies and days out and nice things to do.
The Forest Group thanks you for all of your work
In Chingford and Woodford and ex-Highams Perk!
You’ve shared all your wisdom and made us more good,
Had more tea and biscuits than anyone should,
You’ve put up with quiz nights and concerts and shows,
And stood by our side through our highs and our lows.
You’ll see no more babies that you have to Christen,
No hymns sung so badly you can’t even listen,
No more Messy Church with the children so sticky,
And no more church politics – subjects so tricky.
No more church meetings and watching the clock,
For now this good shepherd is leaving his flock.
Just throw your old dog collar up in the air,
Dye your beard ginger and let down your hair!
It’s time for retirement up in the Wirral,
Where Laura and Jane can hang out with the squirrels.
Walk into the sunset with Jane, hand-in-hand –
We wish you good luck and we hope things are grand.
It’s farewell now, Richard, your sentence is served
And we wish you the happiness that you deserve!

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.
​

​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!

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

Our November newsletter will be available in printed format in our churches throughout November or you can click on the link below to download a PDF version.

Dear Friends,

Last week it was announced that Bob Dylan had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, because he had minted new forms of expression for the Great American Songbook.

I am old enough to remember Dylan hailed as a prophet of the alternative society, and reports of some bitter rows in Portsmouth folk clubs when he went electric. But then I got to reflecting that the same sort of journey, from suspicion and “what does he know?” put-downs to laurels in maturity or in retrospect, happened to writers of books in the Bible.

In the division between major prophets and minor prophets the major prophetic books are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel (and Lamentations ). The beginning of the book of Jeremiah details his call and commission, which took place before he was born, and provokes a response of fear because of his youth. God replies, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you”, and “I have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall, against the whole land – kings, princes, priests and people”. In other words, even though you are young, only a boy and even though everyone will be against you, I will be with you because what you have to say matters.

Jeremiah lived through a time when everything got worse, when he was regarded as a pessimistic moaning miseryguts. But history showed him to be right. He bought a piece of land as a hope for the future, prophesied a new covenant and a new relationship, and defined the principle by which all exiles should live in chapter 29, verse 7 “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, that in its welfare you will find your welfare”.

When I think of Dylan as a Nobel Laureate I find myself thinking of Jeremiah, and when I think of Jeremiah I take comfort in current political uncertainties.

Every blessing,

​Richard