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N God’s Love is for All E Our Mission is to Show it, W Share it, Live it S L E T December 2020 T January 2021 E 44 Heath Road, Upton By Chester, CH2 1HX R Telephone 01244 373854 Visit our Website at: www.uptonurc.org.uk Email: [email protected] Message from the Manse The year 2020 has been a year of complications, restrictions and a few “never before” times. Thinking back of the year, I looked at my January message, which included the following: A New Year With The Lord (By M.S.Lowndes) A new year is about to unfold With new opportunities to explore Doors will open for new experiences, New adventures with the Lord. Remember not the former things, The things of this past year, The Lord will do new things in us, Much more than we are aware. For He will make a way for us As we put our trust in Him And He will guide our every step By His presence we have within. What God has placed within our hearts, We find we'll be able to do If we look for the opportunities, We'll see the door to go through. We mustn't let anything hold us back But rise up and take our place And be all that God wants us to be With a fresh touch of His grace. 2 How apt these words are as I reflect on them today. 2020 has offered many of us, the chance to have 20/20 vision. With the Covid-19 restrictions we have been given space and time to remove obstacles that blur our sight and prevent us from seeing the work of our Triune God. The space has allowed us to look afresh and see what really matters in our lives, in our communities, in the nation and in the world. As people of faith we knew already that the world has enough people interested in material possessions and positions of influence or power. For us, God is showing us the value of sharing the things money cannot buy: love, compassion and faith in His way. This Christmas as we celebrate the greatest gift, the birth of Jesus Christ, may we also continue to prepare for His return by letting the Holy Spirit lead us towards living out the good news and being Christ’s light to all we meet. Then we will be truly able to “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:4-7) Grace and peace. Revd Ruth Dec 2020 3 Reset the debt At Synod on Saturday 17th October we were told about a campaign called “Reset the debt” launched on 4 October by a group of four denominations representing two-thirds of a million Christians and ecumenical charity, Church Action on Poverty. The United Reformed Church, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Church Action on Poverty, the Church of Scotland, and the Methodist Church urge the government to create a Jubilee Fund to provide grants to pay off and cancel unavoidable debt accrued by the poorest households during the lockdown period, giving them a more stable platform from which to face the difficult winter ahead. An estimated six million people in the UK have fallen behind on one or more household bill as a result of Covid-19, with the biggest increases in debt amongst the poorest households. Almost one in five have borrowed money to pay for everyday essentials such as food. People who were previously able to keep their head above water are now in severe difficulty. Others, who had been just staying afloat, now face being overwhelmed by circumstances entirely beyond their control. This is an urgent problem that demands a solution. It is not right that those with the fewest resources should bear the heaviest burden of the lockdown, potentially for years to come. If you feel called to support this initiative, please write to your MP, calling on them to ask the Chancellor what the Government’s plans are to address the crisis. Further information about the campaign can be found on the web: www.resetthedebt.uk 4 Dear Friends, You have no doubt seen in the media recently about the amount of food poverty we are experiencing in the country at the moment. Although it has been an issue for some time we are now experiencing a whole new group of families who are suffering as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many families who were comfortable in their jobs and responsibilities have now found themselves being jobless, on reduced incomes or even unable to work for extended amounts of time due to illness. I have recently had a conversation with a local lady whose husband has been made redundant. She is on reduced hours; they have a mortgage, responsibilities and wonderful children who are known to us here at Upton URC. They are managing for now but it was very obvious that she is struggling with the added pressure and she is worried about how much longer their savings will manage to carry them for. This is not an unusual story at the moment and unfortunately a lot of these families with do not know how to access help, are not eligible for a period of time or feel that they shouldn’t access the support for numerous reasons 5 At Upton United Reformed we have, in recent years, worked hard to support those who are in need and I am asking for your support to extend what we are able to provide during the coming Christmas holidays. After speaking with local schools they too are worried and are very willing to work with us to ensure that the families who are in dire need due to the current conditions are able to receive any support we can offer. Very basically: Schools would supply us with numbers. We would deliver a ‘shopping bag’ of essentials to the school containing a number of essentials for the cupboards, a full meal for the family and maybe a treat for Christmas (if we can secure some sweet treat donations). School would then distribute to families so as we comply with GDPR regulations. ‘Support local this Christmas’ This is a term we have been hearing for many years but this year we have the opportunity to take it to a whole new level. I am asking for your support to help our local families, to spread a little Christian love and to share the good news in a different way this festive period. Thank you for your time and consideration; this is an initiative that is very important to many in our local area and even though the Government have changed their stance 6 over food provision there will still be many struggling this Christmas. If you feel that you could support this then please consider that we can take donations of money for us to be able to shop but also we can take physical donations in a similar way to we would for Foodbank. We are looking for items to strengthen family cupboards: rice, pasta, cereal, jars, longer life vegetables such as root veg. Christine Walsh is willing to offer a collection of such items, if you would like her to collect then please contact her directly on 07887 933976 or if you have any queries contact myself on 07756 092779 Terri Ann Dudley URC Families, Chester Copy date for the FEBRUARY newsletter is 11th January Contributions to Margaret Hainsworth, please 7 Report from the Church Treasurer I would normally have presented the November Church meeting with a report on the current state of the accounts, a forecast for the end of the year, and submitted a budget for approval for 2021. This year my reports were only given to the November Elders meeting. The outcome for 2020 is now reasonably clear but the budget for 2021 must be regarded as tentative as we still don't know to what extent we will be able to return to some sort of normality and to what extent outside lettings of the buildings will be possible. Our 2020 budget envisaged a balance of income and expenditure, omitting special projects such as the Children & Family Worker project and Feeding the Hungry. My current forecast is that expenditure will exceed income by about £4,000. This excess can be covered from our funds in the General Reserve. Forecasting for 2021 is more difficult. I am assuming that contributors via Standing Order will continue at the present levels. In addition, we are now receiving about half of our normal contributions through the Free Will Offering envelopes but the Loose Cash collection is minimal due to the limited times we have been able to hold services and the limited number in the congregation. We are very grateful for your continuing financial support during this difficult period and I am assuming that contributions will continue at this level during next year. During September and October some of our outside users were able to resume and the income was running at about half the previous level (some groups, especially those with older and more vulnerable 8 members did not feel it safe to resume and the need to comply with the Covid safety regulations reduced users' income and involved more time in preparation).