The Hub The Magazine of St. Augustine’s Halifax & Christ Church Pellon Price 50p June – July 2014 Regular events For Children Sundays Children are always welcome! Christ Church 10.45am - S.O.U.L. Patrol or all age service (4th Sundays). St. Augustine’s - a special children’s area with different activities. Uniformed Groups (all at Christ Church) Monday 6.00 – 7.00pm Rainbows(age 5-7) Jane Webster 885878 Monday 6.30 – 8.00pm Brownies(age 7-10) Tracey Jagger 248365 Monday 7.30 – 9.00pm Guides(age 10-15) Louise Cater 0775 9267671 Tuesday 6.00 – 7.00pm Beavers(age 6-8) Sam 07847 359969 Tuesday 7.00 – 8.00pm Cubs(age 8-11) Jo 07900 508700 Tuesday 7.00 – 8.00pm Scouts(age 11-14) Sam 07847 359969 SharX at Christ Church Alternate Wednesdays, 7.00—9.00pm. For ages 10+. Fun, friendship and chat., Karaoke, air hockey, table football, Wii games and lots more. Contact Norman McDonnell for more details 07851142694. Fellowship House Groups Various days. Get together for fellowship, faith and prayer. For details contact Brian 250321. Community Café Wednesdays 10.00 am—11.30am at Christ Church. Informal chat to meet other people, chat over coffee and cakes. Wednesday Lunch Last Wednesday of every month, 12.15pm at Christ Church. A lovely lunch followed by fantastic puddings, cheese and biscuits and a cup of tea, all for just £3. International Evening Fridays 6.30pm—9.30pm at Christ Church. A relaxed evening of games, food, and a chance to chill out, especially for those from other countries. Friday Group Friday evenings, bi-monthly. Ladies get-togethers and social events. See ’What’s Happening’ for more details, or contact Ann Gardner 341962. Men’s Breakfast Last Saturday of each month 8-10am. At The Fountainhead Inn, Pellon. Men only, worship, discussion, prayer and breakfast! Contact David Ramanauskas for more details 330770. Worship As well as Sundays, we have other regular worship: Monday 9.15 am Morning Prayer at St. Augustine’s Tuesday 12 noon Informal Worship at St. Augustine’s, followed by lunch Wednesday 11.30am Communion Service at Christ Church Interpreted Services. The first Sunday 10.45am service and the Second Sunday 6.30pm Celebration services at Christ Church will be BSL signed services. From the Vicar Dear Readers, As I write, the rain is pouring down and looks set in for the day. I don’t suppose I can complain since we’ve had some amazing weather over recent weeks – especially when our Italian and Tanzanian visitors were here, and it was wonderfully warm and sunny for Sarah’s wedding blessing earlier this month. But I do still moan – after all, I’ve got to go out and look for a grave in Christ Church graveyard now, and it’s not very appealing weather to be doing that in at the moment! The rain quickly soaks through, and the grass is quickly growing and very wet to be tramping through, soaking your shoes and socks far too quickly. I seem to be getting more enquiries about burials in the graveyard, and requests to help find the graves – tracing your ancestry is getting more and more popular. And maybe it’s not surprising. In a fast changing world with family who often live a long distance away, and families which are often more complicated nowadays because of separation and remarriage, we find a sense of belonging when we find out “where we’ve come from”. That history can be fascinating, surprising even. It is like our very own mystery tour, with clues we have to search sometimes long and hard for in order to dig deeper into the past. It also gives us some sense of not being alone – look at all those ancestors who are part of my story! That sense of belonging is important for everyone. How often do we hear about the loneliness and isolation of people in our modern society? Despite all our communication devices, and people seemingly permanently glued to their smartphones, we seem to be becoming increasingly insular – trapped in our own little (electronic) world. But it is not only belonging that is vital. It’s also important that we don’t forget our history – both national and personal. As Edmund Burke said in the eighteenth century, “Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it”. 3 We see that at a national level as nations repeat the same mistakes. The recent rise in popularity of parties promoting separation from Europe (and it’s not only in this country!) and standing alone is a very worrying trend as that path leads only to fear and hatred of others, and ultimately more conflict. We see it at family levels as children so often get dragged into the same cycle of addictions or habits of their parents, for good or ill. And we see it at a personal level as people repeatedly get drawn to the same kind of partner who turns out to be abusive or controlling. And if we’re not careful, we also see it in church life. As Rita Mae Brown wrote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” (Note – most people attribute this to Albert Einstein, but there is no evidence he actually said it). Things that ‘worked’ in church life in the past and have been repeated unthinkingly have lead the church in the West to the place we are today, with largely shrinking congregations. Eighteenth century music and sixteenth century language will not speak to today’s generation. So is the answer in our spiritual life to abandon the past? Of course not! The Bible says, “Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn” (Isaiah 51.1). In other words, look at what God has done in the past, and discover that you do belong – and that the one you belong to is dependable and faithful. No matter how alone you may feel, the truth is that God is with you, and longs for you to know his presence and his peace. And no matter what you are going through, God is there and will see you through it – either in this life or into the next. And nothing can change that – unless you decide to opt out of his love. So our security is not found in rituals, in words, in buildings, in particular ways of doing things, but in a particular person – Jesus, the God who became one of us. If we put our trust in him, then we find our situations transformed – and the life of our church transformed. So let’s find out history in the God who loved us so much that he gave his one and only Son for us! John Hellewell 4 WHAT’S HAPPENING This is a BSL interpreted service JUNE 1 Sunday: Seventh Sunday of Easter 10.45 am Communion at Christ Church 10.45 am Morning Worship at St. Augustine’s 6.30 pm Communion at Christ Church 2 Monday 9.15 am Morning Prayer at St. Augustine’s 3 Tuesday 10.30 am Communion at Asquith Court – all welcome! 12 noon Worship at St. Augustine’s, followed by lunch 4 Wednesday 10.00 am Community Café at Christ Church 11.30 am Communion at Christ Church 5 Thursday 3.00 pm Communion at Clement Court – all welcome! 6.00 pm Christian Meditation at Christ Church 6 Friday 9.30 am CC Chatterbox at Christ Church 7.30 pm Ladies Friday Group at Jane Webster’s 7 Saturday 3.00 pm Wedding at Christ Church 7.30 pm Prayer for Pentecost at Christ Church 8 Sunday: Pentecost Sunday 9.00 am Said Communion at Christ Church 10.45 am Morning Worship at Christ Church 10.45 am Communion at St. Augustine’s 1.30 pm International Bible Study at Christ Church 6.30 pm Celebration Service at Christ Church 9 Monday 9.15 am Morning Prayer at St. Augustine’s 10 Tuesday 12 noon Worship at St. Augustine’s, followed by lunch 11 Wednesday 10.00 am Community Café at Christ Church 11.30 am Communion at Christ Church 7.00 pm SharX at Christ Church 12 Thursday 6.00 pm Christian Meditation at Christ Church 13 Friday 9.30 am CC Chatterbox at Christ Church 6.30 pm International Evening at Christ Church 14 Saturday 7.30 pm Worship evening at Nolstar 15 Sunday: Trinity Sunday 10.45 am Communion at Christ Church 10.45 am Morning Worship at St. Augustine’s 6.30 pm Communion at Christ Church 5 16 Monday 9.15 am Morning Prayer at St. Augustine’s 7.30 pm Preacher’s meeting at the Vicarage 17 Tuesday 12 noon Worship at St. Augustine’s, followed by lunch 18 Wednesday 10.00 am Community Café at Christ Church 10.00 am Prayer for our communities at Christ Church 11.30 am Communion at Christ Church 12.15 pm Community Lunch at Christ Church 19 Thursday 6.00 pm Christian Meditation at Christ Church 20 Friday 9.30 am CC Chatterbox at Christ Church 7.30 pm Worship Group practice at Christ Church 22 Sunday: First Sunday after Trinity 9.00 am Said Communion at Christ Church 10.45 am Parade Service at Christ Church 10.45 am Communion service at St. Augustine’s 12.45 pm Baptisms at Christ Church 1.30 pm International Bible Study at Christ Church 6.30 pm Communion at Christ Church 23 Monday 9.15 am Morning Prayer at St.