CHURCH NEWS December’19-January’20 Kingston United Reformed Church www.kingstonurc.org “And we know that in all things God works for those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” Front cover art beautifully produced by Carol Clack Romans 8:28 (niv) Registered charity no 1131880 Edited this month by Robin Pilbeam To make a financial donation to Kingston URC, please see inside back cover Letter from Lesley Dear All, ‘Do not be afraid. I am bringing you news of great joy’. (The angels talking to the shepherds) Can I not have the news anyway? Will the news not quell my fear? Why do I have to stop being afraid? Is it that being afraid means I cannot take in the joy? We do strange things when we are frightened. We do not work out of our thinking rational brain we act using well trained reflexes. If you had a direct encounter with something beyond the normal natural world surely fear would be a natural response. Yet fear for the rest of life is very disabling. It keeps people out of relationships and locked up in their homes. It stops them dancing at parties and speaking to strangers. Fear keeps people from living the full life that Jesus came to bring. If I am living driven by fear then I try to manage all of my life and I try to keep it small. Would I travel- too many bugs? Would I love? Too much chance my heart would be broken? Would I believe? Too much chance that people will laugh at me and demand answers I do not have. Jesus was frightened in the face of torture and death. But he also faced the cross. What are we afraid of? Is that reasonable? Could we do something about it? Does our fear stop us hearing the good news? Does it stop living life in all its fullness? Yours Lesley To make a financial donation to Kingston URC, please see inside back cover From the Church News Editorial Team Warm Christmas Greetings from all of your Editorial team! We are now on a mini-break until Vaughan produces the February issue of your Church News. We will now pray, read, listen and start developing ideas for how we move your Church News into 2020. Jean Robin Tony Vaughan Bron Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Robin Pilbeam Inside ♦ Lesley ♦ Greetings from the Church News Editorial Team ♦ December Worship Diary & Church Flowers ♦ January Worship Diary & Church Flowers ♦ Moderator’s letter & poem ♦ Pastoral News & Prayer ♦ Christmas Workshop & Margaret Mills letter ♦ Christmas Gift Service ♦ Away in a Manger ♦ Music at KURC in 2019 ♦ News form Sulhee ♦ KURC New Year’s Party ♦ Sue Shaw in Antigua ♦ Archive of the Month ♦ Christmas in Bulgaria ♦ A prayer for the departed ♦ News from Ted & Jane Bellingham ♦ IBRA Readings for December & January ♦ On the Margins ♦ Regular Activities ♦ KURC info♦♦ “We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives . not looking for flaws, but for potential”. Ellen Goodman To make a financial donation to Kingston URC, please see inside back cover Church Worship Diary: December 2019 Sunday 1 10am Traditional Worship with Communion 11.30am All-Age Worship 3.30pm-5.30pm Messy Church does Christmas 6.30pm Reflective Worship Tuesday 3 7.45pm Elder’s Meeting Wednesday 4 10.00am Tots’ Praise 1.10pm Lunchtime Service Friday 6 1.00pm Friday Prayers Saturday 7 10.00am Christmas Flower workshop to decorate the Church Sunday 8 10.30am Pop-up Nativity & Gift Service (collection for Cystic Fibrosis) 6.30pm Gift Service (collection for Cystic Fibrosis) Wednesday 11 10.00am Tots’ Praise 1.10pm Lunchtime Service 1.30pm Staff Christmas lunch Thursday 19 7pm to 8pm Christian Aid Carols (meet at KURC @ 18.30) Before moving onto M&S, Clarence St Friday 13 1.00pm Friday Prayers Sunday 15 10am Traditional Worship 11.30am All-Age Worship 6.30pm Relaxed Carols Monday 16 10am Jolly Toddlers Christmas Party Wednesday 18 10.00am Tots’ Praise Christmas celebration 1pm Carols in the foyer Friday 20 1.00pm Friday Prayers Saturday 21 10am Stay and Play Sunday 22 10.00am Traditional Worship 11.30am Coffee and Carols 6.30pm Carols by Candlelight Tuesday 24 4.00pm Crib Service for all the family 11.30pm Christmas Eve Communion Service Wednesday 25 10am Christmas Morning Service 12 noon A pre-booked Christmas lunch (ask in the office for a booking form) Thursday 26 Boxing Day Building closed Friday 27 1.00pm Friday Prayers Sunday 29 10am Traditional Worship 11.30am All-Age Worship with Communion 6.30pm Reflective Worship Monday 30 Tuesday 31 11.30pm New Year’s Eve Watchnight service to see in the New Year at New Malden URC Church flowers for December 1st Dec Teresa & Vaughan James 8th Dec Glyn Robinson & Gift Service 15th Dec Janine Goddard 22nd Dec Liz & Ken Bartlett 29th Dec Jihae Kim & Suk Joo Kang “Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall”. Larry Wilde To make a financial donation to Kingston URC, please see inside back cover Church Worship Diary: January 2020 At the time of going to press, the Church Diary for 2020 was still under construction on the Church web page. Details below are based on information received. Please check notices and service papers for up-to- date correct information. A detailed calendar is available on the KURC website: htpp://www.kingstonurc.org/kurc_calendar.html Wednesday 1 January A Happy New Year to all our readers! 10.00am Tots’ Praise 1.10pm Lunchtime Service Friday 3 1.00pm Friday Prayers Sunday 5 10.00am Traditional Worship with Communion 11.30am All-Age Worship 6.30pm Reflective Worship Tuesday 7 19.50pm Elder’s Meeting Wednesday 8 10.00am Tot’s Praise 1.10pm Lunchtime Service Friday 10 1.00pm Friday Prayers Sunday 12 10.30am All Age Worship followed by Church Meeting Church News contributions deadline (to Vaughan James) Wednesday 15 10.00am Tots’ Praise 1.10pm Lunchtime Service Friday 17 1.00pm Friday Prayers Saturday 18 10.00am Stay and Play Sunday 19 10.00am Traditional Worship 11.30am All-Age Worship 6.30pm Reflective Worship with Communion Wednesday 22 10.00am Tots’ Praise 1.10pm Lunchtime Service Friday 24 1.00pm Friday Prayers Sunday 26 10.00am Traditional Worship 11.30am All-Age Worship with Communion 3.30pm Messy Church 6.30pm Reflective Worship Wednesday 29 10.00am Tots’ Praise 1.10pm Lunchtime Service Friday 31 1.10pm Friday Prayers Church Flowers for January 5th January Brenda Parkins 12th January Margaret & John Davies 19th January Catherine & Kevin Treweek 26th January The Carnegie Family To make a financial donation to Kingston URC, please see inside back cover Dear Friends, All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth! At the October Synod Together meeting in October we said farewell to Revd Nicola Furley-Smith after 8 ½ years as Moderator of Southern Synod. We wish her well as she takes up her new role as Secretaries to Ministries in the URC nationally. She has certainly left a gap in our lives and for now that gap is being filled by the two of us (Revd Bridget Banks and Revd George Watt) supported by Revd Paul Dean covering the Ecumenical work of the Synod. We hope that someone will be in post by the summer next year. Please pray that the right person would be found to permanently fill the gap. But there is something endearing about the smile of someone missing their two front teeth! It makes you aware of the other teeth which are every bit as important as the front ones. And we would remind you that the Synod is also made up of the Office and Field Staff, the Ministers, Local Church Leaders, Elders and all the members and adherents of our local churches – all playing our part in the mission of the Church. Let us smile broadly and celebrate each other. As Christians what we long for isn’t shiny new incisors but more of God’s kingdom. At Christmas we celebrate the coming of Christ to fill the gaps in our lives and in our world. He comes to bring light in our darkness, hope in our despair and peace in our troubled world. We are invited to come and gaze on the baby born in a humble stable. He was the one that had been longed for and wished for to rescue and to save. But it wasn’t a one-off event. Christ comes afresh to the present troubled world to bring light, hope and peace. At the time of writing this letter we are preparing for a General Election and politicians are promising how to cure the ills of the present world. Promises can sound very easy, the hard thing is making it a reality. We rejoice that God didn’t just promise us that he would love us but he showed it in a very tangible way by sending Jesus into the world. As unbelievable as it may sound this was part of God ‘s plan to change hearts, minds and the whole world. As John Bell & Graham Maule from Wild Goose put it: To make a financial donation to Kingston URC, please see inside back cover Who would think that what was needed To transform and save the earth Might not be a plan or army, Proud in purpose, proved in worth? Who would think, despite derision, That a child should lead the way? God surprises earth with heaven, Coming here on Christmas Day.