Bethany Times with Food4Thought Song of the Week The Sixty-second Edition 26th May 2021 In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found Your Wednesday He is my light my strength my song This Cornerstone this solid Ground Firm through the fiercest drought and storm Bethany Times What heights of love what depths of peace When fears are stilled when strivings cease With My Comforter my All in All Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone who took on flesh Food4Thought Fullness of God in helpless babe This gift of love and righteousness From Scorned by the ones He came to save Till on that cross as Jesus died Your Friends at The wrath of God was satisfied Newport Pagnell Baptist Church For every sin on Him was laid Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay Light of the world by darkness slain Then bursting forth in glorious Day Up from the grave He rose again And as He stands in victory Sin's curse has lost its grip on me For I am His and He is mine Bought with the precious blood of Christ Stop Press No guilt in life no fear in death -- We pay tribute to Councillor Douglas McCall in extra-extra This is the power of Christ in me -- Church member Jim writes a letter from Olney inside From life's first cry to final breath -- Pray for peace throughout our world especially the Middle East Jesus commands my destiny KEEP FIT—KEEP SAFE---KEEP SMILING No power of hell no scheme of man Can ever pluck me from His hand Till He returns or calls me home “May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, & the Here in the power of Christ I'll stand fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now & evermore. Amen” Words & Music /Stuart Townend

CCLI 4901 NEWPORT PAGNELL BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation – Charity No. 1175783 Lovat Hall, Silver Street, Newport Pagnell, Bucks. MK16 0EJ. www.npbc.org.uk E-mail: [email protected] Tel: Office (01908) 618898 Bookings (01908) 612100 For prayer or practical needs phone 07874 372708 (any time) Dear Bethany and Food4Thought Friends Information about “Song of the Week”

Apologies to Jim Finn, our long-term church member who wrote this week’s I have lived in Olney for 37 years and letter. Our letter writer normally chooses the “song of the week” and his have been a member of NPBC since choice was obviously “Be Thou My Vision” which we had only a few weeks 2007 when Paul Rosier was our ago. I used “editorial privilege” and in deference to Jim’s Irish heritage have Minister. I was born in Dublin in 1949 chosen a much more modern Irish hymn, “In Christ Alone” written by Irish and have been married to my wife composer, Keith Getty, in collaboration with English hymn writer, Stuart Louise for 46 years which is something Townend in 2001. of a record for a married couple! Getty was born in , , to Helen Getty (née Irwin) and The photo above was taken on one of our recent holidays in Pre Covid times John Getty. He is the eldest of four children. on one of the Italian lakes. I have missed being able to worship together in Getty began making music at age 11, learning to play the classical guitar; at Lovat hall but mostly the singing which I consider a very important part of 12 years old he began playing the flute. During school, Getty was influenced our worship of God. I am a member of the Milton Keynes U3A choir and we by classical music, Irish music, and church music of all kinds. As a young st rehearse each Tuesday afternoon using 21 century modern technology via adult, he studied Music at St Chad’s College, Durham University, graduating “Zoom,” not ideal but it gives me a lot of pleasure. I understand from the with his Bachelor of Arts in 1995. As a student, Getty completed special Government guidelines at present that as a choir we may not be able to meet conducting opportunities at the Canford Summer School of Music and the as a choir for some time. Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts. Getty participated in a summer Music and reading have been a very important part of my life for so long and master class under Irish flautist Sir James Galway. I cannot wait to be able to attend events like Theatre visits, concerts etc when Keith and his wife Kristyn have toured we are allowed. widely with their music and make regular As part of our life group at Church we have been looking at the Israelite exile appearances on “Songs of Praise” and the from the Holy land and certainly I have found it hard not to meet my fellow Royal Albert Hall. They have numerous Christians each Sunday. hymns to their name. God Bless them and thank them for “In Christ Alone”. My favourite Christin hymn is called “Be Thou my Vision” which is an 8th

Century Irish hymn translated by a lady named Elizabeth Hull in 1912. It “We’ll Meet Again”-----The plans. was very likely commonly sung in many Irish monastic settlements in Ireland when the Vikings invaded Ireland and England in the 9th and 10th In view of all the uncertainty over the relaxing of Covid regulations, it has Centuries and was meant to encourage the early Christian church in these been decided that the earliest we can re-commence Bethany and Food 4 islands. Thought will be September but we will keep you informed and advise you Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my Heart, as to our thinking as events move forward. We hope Boris has everything Nought be all else to me, save that Thou art, under control but viruses do not seem to be abiding to the rules we impose. Thou my best thought in the day and the night, We are taking a cautious approach but as a tentative start we are starting Waking or sleeping, your Presence my light. rd Sunday Services in Lovat Hall from 23 May on a strictly limited, booking These lines remind me of a loving Saviour God who is always present and only basis with strict observance to distancing rules. Details can be found on available to his followers and whose Grace and assistance will be with us no the NPBC Website. A small, tentative step forward. matter what our circumstances As Christians we believe in a powerful “We pray that we will be able to meet again as a Church Family, very soon Creator who wants a personal relationship with all his people. Amen. & in the meantime may we remain safe & healthy. Thank you, Lord” Amen May God Bless you all, Jim Finn As a councillor, Cabinet Member and more recently as Group Leader, I had Bethany Times with Food4Thought extra-extra to make speeches in the Council chamber and elsewhere, such as at the A Reflection of 25 Years as a Councillor Citizens Assembly. I must admit making speeches wasn’t my strength or my favourite part of the role. I was always happier doing things and helping by Douglas McCall people. Douglas McCall has been a member of NPBC for many years and we are delighted to give thanks and use this issue of Extra-extra to pay tribute to Douglas for his service to the community over the

past 25 years as he retired as councillor in May and did not stand Cllr Douglas McCall speaking at the in the recent election. (How can someone who has worked so hard Citizens Assembly in Milton Keynes. over those years, still look so young!!?)

Bethany Times says “Thank you” to our man with the listening ear, the man with the smiling face, the man who gets things done,

and makes sure our clock tells the right time.

Thank you, Douglas, for all you have done for the communities of Milton Keynes and Newport Pagnell.

Cllr Douglas McCall served on MK Council for 25 years - 1996 to 2021.

I was first elected to the newly formed Unitary Authority of Milton Keynes “Father, we give thanks for the service Douglas has given to our Council in May 1996 while in my late 30s. The new Council combined the community. May Your blessings flow upon him and his family as he enjoys functions of the old Borough Council (eg rubbish collections) as well as that his well-earned retirement. Thank you, Lord, for all who serve.” of the county council (eg social care). I retired this May after 25 years in my mid-60s. It has been a great privilege to have been able to serve people in this Amen way for so long. The role of councillor has two main parts; firstly, the representative role, Other things I am proud of during my time as a Cabinet member is the representing residents on the Council and dealing with individual issues, introduction of fair-trade products into the Council and tackling the forgotten known as ‘casework’, and secondly the corporate role where councillors issue of bereavement services. A growing city needed to deal with the collectively are ‘The Council’ and make decisions. increasing number of bereavements in the city and I was responsible for the provision of 2,400 additional burial spaces, including 600 in Newport Pagnell Helping residents with individual problems is very rewarding, although much and for the provision of the second crematorium at Crownhill, which was a casework is dealing with environmental type issues, eg getting broken street major capital investment by the Council. signs repaired, overgrown bushes cut back, white or yellow lines repainted or potholes filled. On the Strategic Planning side of my portfolio, I oversaw the ‘Local Plan’ which is how the Council manages the growth of the city. I set the M1 as the The Council has made most decisions via a Cabinet system of Government eastern boundary of city expansion, protecting Newport Pagnell and the since the turn of the century about 20 years ago. When my party, the Liberal villages, but the Government has run rough shod over that now and says MK Democrats, ran the Council I served on the Cabinet from 2002 to 2009 as Council must allow expansion of the city east of the M1, which is very Cabinet member for the Environment and Strategy Planning. During that controversial. time, I was responsible for making major changes to the waste system. I brought back weekly recycling and introduced the then pink sack system. I During my last 9 years on the Council, I was Leader of the Liberal Democrat also introduced the garden waste collections and later the kitchen waste Group, which has given me a very influential role, regularly meeting with the collections. These changes increased recycling rates fivefold from 11% to Council Chief Executive, Council directors and the other two Group Leaders. 55%. This is probably my biggest impact on the city as a whole.

Cllr Douglas McCall at the opening of the Old Bus Station for use by the Winter Night Shelter.

One of the issues I have championed has been homelessness. Some people will know that for 8 years my ‘day job’ was as Operations Manager for the homeless charity the Winter Night Shelter, so tackling homelessness has been an issue very close to my heart. My colleagues and I were instrumental in getting the Homeless Partnership set up, and I was able to use my influence to help the Winter Night Shelter acquire the old bus station in CMK as a base for their operations to help the Cllr Douglas McCall was responsible for the introduction of both garden homeless and the poor. and kitchen waste collections.