Letter from Our Associate Minister Revd Barbara Pearman
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Terrington St John, Tilney All Saints Tilney St Lawrence and Tilney Cum Islington 4th Qtr 2015 Letter from our Associate Minister Revd Barbara Pearman The season of Advent is here and no doubt excitement is building in many homes where there are children. The word ‘Advent’ derives from a Latin word meaning ‘coming’ and this is a time of expectant waiting. For Christians, it’s not only a time to remember the first coming of Jesus when he was born as a vulnerable infant in the stable at Bethlehem; but also to prepare for Jesus’ second coming at the end times. Of course we don’t know when this will be, yet Jesus warned us on many occasions to be ready for when it does come. Christmas is a time of fun for many but for others it can be a time of loneliness and fear. Not all children will have presents and good things to eat. Not all elderly people will have the comfort of a loving family around them. Some will find the season enormously painful as they experience it for the first time without a much loved partner or relative so please be sensitive to those around you. Often the weeks before Christmas are so busy with shopping and planning that we scarcely have time to think at all. There needs to be more about Christmas than spending money we can’t really afford on things we don’t really need. I’m often astonished by the sheer quantities of food and drink that people lay in for the Christmas season. Do they eat it all? Do they need to eat it all? It’s one of those little mysteries of the season. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to have a celebration; it’s even better if we can share it with our family and friends but for Christians it’s about so much more than this. Christmas is the time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. He was both God and human at the same time and he came to show us the nature of God. In the Old Testament, God is often depicted as angry, vengeful and unforgiving. Jesus came to show us that God is full of love for each one of us, that he wants the best from us. Jesus often described God as a loving Father, and those who are fortunate enough to have experienced a loving father will have a better understanding of the nature of God. This doesn’t mean that God will give us whatever we want. No loving parent would do that either. He will give us what we need so that we can learn about ourselves and become the amazing people we can be. I often hear people complain that they tried praying once but God didn’t answer them. Of course he answered them; but the answer may well have been ‘no’. He sees and understands things that we cannot possibly know or begin to understand. It’s pointless to pray with a ‘shopping list’ of expectations. God isn’t Father Christmas. We can’t try to be extra good to earn a new car. It doesn’t work like that. Yet when we live as Jesus asked us to, when we follow his example, care about others (even those we don’t know,) as much as we care about ourselves; when we truly see the face of Christ in the stranger and cease to worry about our own prestige and importance, then our hearts and minds will be filled with the true joy that has been promised to us since that first Christmas. May I wish a peaceful, joyful and loving Christmas to you all. Rev’d Barbara Pearman Winter – A poem by Gwen Spriggs Winter days are drawing nigh Dark clouds roll across the sky Trees stand bare their foliage gone Days grow cold, winds blow strong All the flowers gone to sleep Old Jack Frost begins to peep Migrating birds have left our shores All farm animals safe indoors Hibernation all long past Little creatures asleep at last November fogs arrive to haunt us Jack Frost roams around to taunt us Days are shorter, nights grow long Birds no longer sing their song Search for food in desperation Summer to winter such a transformation Trees and plants now lying dorm Ready to face the winter storms Snowflakes fall a wonderful sight Covering the ground a blanket of white Children’s laughter fills the air CHRISTMAS!! A magical time of the year Gwen Springs General News Diocesan Roadshow for the future of our mainly rural Diocese By Sarah Williams, Diocesan Communications Manager How is our Diocese going to look in the future - indeed what future does your local church have? The Diocese of Ely is about to formally launch a new strategy, unambiguously aimed at transformation and growth. This strategy has arisen out of Bishop Stephen’s call to imagine our future and from the development over the last few years of a diocesan vision and set of imperatives. ‘We pray to be generous and visible people of Jesus Christ’ is our diocesan vision. It gives us a picture of the kind of church and people of God we hope to be. It gives us something to aim for. The ‘we’ is the diocese in all its forms – individuals, PCCs, parishes, deaneries and diocesan bodies – all of us are invited on this journey to continue to discern what God is calling us to be: a people fully alive here in Cambridgeshire and West Norfolk. This autumn our Archdeacons Hugh and Alex, together with Diocesan Secretary, Paul Evans, will lead a series of roadshows around the diocese. These will give you the opportunity to hear more details of how the strategy is being implemented and what the key priorities and actions are. The Venue for us is: Thursday 12 November - Deanery of Wisbech Lynn Marshland.St Peters Church Hall - Love Lane, Wisbech PE13 1HP Please try to come: Other Dates and venues can be found on the diocesan website here: http://www.ely.anglican.org/about/strategy-consultation.html Please do come and find out more. Missing Traumatised Dog Lizuca Escaped Tilney All Saints – ID 89568 Would you be kind enough to feature Lizuca in your Village News. She is a traumatised Romanian street dog who is missing from Thriftfields, Cotts Lane, Tilney All Saints, Kings Lynn on 28th June and sadly there haven’t been any sightings. The tragedy is that she was due to be transported to a rescue in Dorset before going to her permanent home. Lizuca is terrified, is not used to human contact, and likely to be hiding and laying low during the day and coming out at night. Please contact Dog Lost on 0800 800 3220 for sightings only or offers of help and we will pass the information on to the people who are trying to help this girl. Please do not try to catch her - this will scare her and maybe move her on from where she is settled. Lizuca is microchipped. Yours sincerely Helen Jermy (area co-ordinator for Norfolk and Suffolk for Dog Lost) [email protected] FENLAND FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY As we look forward to our October meeting and also our last meeting of the year in November which will include welcoming Robert Parker as our October speaker on Thursday 22nd October giving a talk on ‘Searching for William’ the search was difficult and led him on a journey across the water to other countries. Also our Annual Festive Meeting in November on Thursday 26th November which will include a festive buffet and drinks also talks by members on how they on ‘Broke Down their Brick Wall’, and exchange ideas of how others can also do it. We also look back at the past months and our very busy September. We enjoyed attending the Garden & Craft Fair at Elgood’s Brewery meeting many very interesting people and hearing their stories about their families. The same weekend we attended the Cambridgeshire FHS Fair in Girton. Attending the Heritage Weekend is another of our annual events. We were delighted to be in St Augustine’s Church Wisbech with our display showing ‘Woman in the Two Wars’. The display includes many of the rarely acknowledged ways that woman played their part. On Thursday 24th September in St Peter’s Church Hall Wisbech we were delighted to welcome back our President Rev. Canon WIM ZWALF the previous RECTOR of WISBECH. Wim ran our Annual General Meeting and then became our guest speaker his talk was ‘Lies & Damned Lies in Family History’ a very interesting, amusing and informative talk. Our annual Family History Day was on Saturday 26th September in St Peter’s Church Hall Wisbech it included many stand from all over the East Anglia region, plus Dating of Old Photographs, Researching our ancestors in the wars. And help with research using all the library facilities on line. Our Computer Research Sessions continue to be well attended in Wisbech Library on the 1st Tuesday of each month from 10 – 12 noon. Our experienced researchers help with on line research using all the library facilities, if you have a laptop bring it along and we will show you how to log into the library on line facilities all for FREE. We have also been booked to give talks and join in events with our displays. Everyone welcome to our meetings for more information call 01945 587723. News from Terrington St John Terrington St John Parish Council Councillors Name Address Contact details Email Colin Clifton The Chestnuts, Main Road, TSJ, PE14 7RP 01945 881284 [email protected] Suzanne Cooper Middlegate, Main Road, TSJ, PE14 7RP 01945 881273/ [email protected] 07917792875 Robert Dye Cricketers Rest, Mill Road, TSJ, PE14 7SF 01945 880949 [email protected] Chris Gibbs 4 Orchard Way, TSJ, PE14 7TD 01945 880018 [email protected] Kevin Knight 47 Church Road, TSJ, PE14 7XA 01945 881427 [email protected] Veronica Nelson The Pines, New Road, TSJ, PE14 7RX 01945 880255 [email protected] Colin Cook Bramblegate, New Road, TSJ, PE14 7RX 01945 881204/ [email protected] 07597975985 Revd.