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175th175th AnniversaryAnniversary Volume 84 Number 1 Autumn 2017 The Magazine of Newtownbreda (St John’s) Presbyterian Church FROM THE STUDY I know my eyesight is getting bad but I may have some way still to go in comparison to one of my former parishioners. Road works in Larne had resulted in a street being closed to traffic. To ensure that no vehicles would venture down this route, a huge sign was placed at the top, boldly stating ‘Pedestrians Only!’ An older gentleman was sedately making his way down the street. Suddenly a teenage boy flew past him on his bicycle. Outraged at such a blatant disregard for rules, the man pointed at the sign and shouted ‘Can’t you read? It’s Presbyterians Only!’ An easy mistake to make but as with most things, it could also contain a kernel of truth. We may not actually shout ‘Presbyterians Only!’ but sometimes our attitudes can give that very impression. We know that we have been called to serve our Heavenly Father, commanded to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and to love our neighbour as well as we love ourselves. Yet sometimes we water this down to loving God when we have the time and energy and loving only our neighbours who talk they way we talk and act the way we act and believe what we believe. People from different cultures, backgrounds, denominations and communities often challenge us to re-think some of the views and prejudices we have held our whole lives. In a society where racism and sectarianism is still rife, we need to be aware that God’s kingdom and his love and grace are not for ‘Presbyterians Only!’ 2 September is the start of the church year. Organisations begin again, the weekly calendar of events begins to fill up, preparations start for the high seasons of harvest and Christmas and very soon we will be in the midst of the usual busyness and routine of church. And in the busyness and routine it can be easy to get caught up in our own identity yet we are each called to be living stones showing grace and love to all we meet. May we start this new church year celebrating all that has gone before but anticipating with excitement all that God has planned for all his people – not ‘Presbyterians Only’! Rev Anne Harvest - Sunday 8th October 2017 Decorang the church will take place on Saturday 7th October from 10 to 12 am and from 2 to 5pm. All contribuons will be gratefully received of flowers, fruit and nned or dried produce. The laer for the Food Store. As usual each organisaon will decorate a window. 3 Harvest Lunch 2017 has been a very special year for the congregation of Newtownbreda Presbyterian. Reaching the grand old age of 175 years and celebrating the 125th anniversary of the church building, has kept us busy with special events, services and concerts, each reminding us of God’s goodness and faithfulness to His people throughout the years and from generation to generation. In keeping with that theme of celebration and praise, we are having a Harvest Lunch after the Harvest morning service on Sunday 8th October. Root Soup will be catering and this lunch is open to EVERYONE. It is a time to enjoy fellowship with one another as we remember God’s abundant provision and never ending kindness. The gifts of flowers, fruit, vegetable and food trolley groceries will have adorned our sanctuary that morning and after lunch there will be the usual opportunity to distribute these gifts around our congregation, remembering those who have been ill and bereaved and those who are no longer able to be with us in worship due to frailty and age. As God’s people we have been blessed to serve in the Ballynafeigh area for 175 years – providing support and witness within our community. With our harvest offerings and gifts we will continue to do just that as we share what we have been given in abundance. 4 Wintershall In June, I attended the annual production of The Life of Christ at Wintershall Estate in Surrey. The play has only one professional actor playing Jesus. The rest (amateurs from babies to school children to Senior Citizens) numbered around 200, many playing several roles. The stage is the landscape of the estate and the audience is required to move to various locations for different acts. Act One features the Angel’s visit to Mary, the journey to Bethlehem, the Nativity story, the killing of the children and the flight to Egypt. It ends with Jesus lost in the Temple. The audience moved to the second site beside a lake for Act Two. This begins with John the Baptist preaching and baptising the people and finally Jesus. It continues with the Temptation of Jesus, the calling of the disciples, the wedding in Cana and other well-known stories. It finishes with the feeding of the five thousand and there is audience participation. After a short intermission for lunch we moved to another location for Act Three which starts with the raising of Lazarus from the tomb and continues with the entry into Jerusalem, the eviction of the money changers etc from the Temple, the Last Supper, Jesus’s arrest and trial, Peter’s denial, the Crucifixion and Resurrection. The audience moved back to the Lake for the Ascension. A marvellous depiction of the Gospel and enjoyed by the audience of over a thousand who were also blessed with good weather for the nearly five hours it lasted. Ross Irvine 5 Congratulations to Stanley Cairns on his 54 years ordained as an elder. Congratulations to Victor Arnold on his 57 years ordained as an elder. 6 L’ARCHE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION MEETING, JUNE 2017 Our summer was kicked off by a visit from 500 people from L’Arche communities all over the world to our wee city for the L’Arche International Federation Meeting which happens once every 5 years. I was proud to be on the logistics team and got an insight into what a huge operation the whole thing was. Core-members, assistants, board members, directors and administrators from every L’Arche community in the world descended onto Queen’s University for one week in June. They all came together to attend various meetings, reports, group discussions and activities as well as closing ceremonies each day which were of an epic proportion, akin to the opening ceremony of the Olympics, with amazing dramatics by people from L’Arche Bethlehem and L’Arche Japan!. The representatives from our community were May and Naomi. We all had amazing conversations over breakfast, lunch and dinner and got insight into what life is like in all corners of the earth. One of the days the whole group, plus 100 more people from L’Arche communities all over Ireland including Belfast, travelled to Downpatrick for a day to see the countryside. We visited historic sites such as Inch Abbey, Ballynoe Stone Circle, St Patrick’s grave and Struell Wells. The sun shone and showed off Northern Ireland at its best. Root Soup was invited to cater breakfasts for those staying in Derryvolgie Halls so there was a whole team of people starting work at 5.30am each day! They also 7 succeeded in making 660 packed lunches for the Downpatrick trip! Between Root Soup, Downpatrick and the arrivals of all the delegates we had up to 150 volunteers helping out, many of whom were local people from the area including St John’s congregation and our own L’Arche Belfast core-members. All the delegates seemed to have a wonderful impression of Belfast and Northern Ireland. And now we have invitations to visit new friends in USA, Toronto, Croatia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Japan, France, Inverness, Liverpool, London, Mexico, Kenya, Cape Breton… the list goes on and on!!! You can watch short montage films of the week if you search for ‘L’ARCHE FEDERATION 2017’ in YouTube. They are well worth a watch! Susan Hughes Koinonia programme 2017-18 It will soon be October and time for another Koinonia autumn/winter programme to begin. This year we will have speakers on a wide variety of subjects – from local history to international travel, from bee keeping to Botanic Gardens, and we will have a visit from Belfast’s very own Lord Lieutenant. We meet on the first and third Thursday of each month at 10.30 for tea or coffee and a chat, before listening to our guest speaker at 11.00. We finish around 12.00 noon. Although most of our members are retired, there is no minimum entry age and everyone will be made very welcome. This year’s programme has some really interesting speakers so why not join us on a Thursday morning? We look forward to greeting any new members. 8 Our oldest member Mrs Gladys Holmes, formerly of Lowry Court, celebraƟng her 102nd birthday in Annahilt Care Home on 30th August, with her daughter Mrs Anna Hannah , the Rev Bill and the Mayor of Lisburn and Castlereagh Councillor Tim Morrow 9 FLAPJACKS Ingredients 125g Buer 80g dark brown so sugar 4 tablespoons golden syrup 250g rolled oats 30g raisins 30g chopped apricots Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. 2. Prepare the baking sheet with parchment. 3. Put into a saucepan the buer, brown sugar, and golden syrup. Cook gently unl the buer and sugar have melted. 4. Sr in the oats, fruit and mix well. Pour into the baking sheet and press down.