“Our vision is to be a church with an Open Door for all people to come in and for us to reach out, responding to the needs of the community and spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.”
This is the second From an Elder since Richard left us. Since Margaret's first in the last magazine we've had Easter celebrations with the Good Friday Forecourt service led by Christians Together in Lymington.
As usual the service was well attended but not a capacity crowd. The service was also available on line, live and on catch-up on U Tube, thanks to Steve Turberville.
Nationally we've had the King’s Coronation in early May. The service shows continuity in these ever changing times with many traditional parts mixed with some modern elements. It was a chance for our King, leader of the Church of England, to publicly demonstrate his allegiance to our eternal King. I was very pleased to see such prominent parts played by members of other faiths and for representatives of other faiths to greet the newly crowned King as he left the Abbey.
Things within Lymington URC are changing following the departure of Richard and Virginia. One of the questions being asked is when are we starting the process of calling another minister.
At the last elders meeting we had a visit from Mary Thomas and Peter Clark from the Synod Pastoral Care committee.
Discussions were had with an outcome that due to changes at
both Synod and nationally we are not able to declare a vacancy at this time to start the process. This is due to an unequal distribution of ministers within the provinces with Wessex province having a higher percentage of ministers than many other provinces.
One positive is that we may be able to share a local minister on a 25% basis. Discussions and negotiation will be ongoing.
As this is being written preparations are underway for a forecourt service on Pentecost to be led by Paul O'Connor. Pentecost is a time seen by many as the Birthday of the Christian Church which we will celebrate.
May our lord be with us as we go forward into the territory of not having our own minister which we have been in before.
David BywaterHere we are in June and half way through the year already. Do make the time to go and have a cup of coffee and slice of cake in our Garden Café and sit in our Church garden. It’s a beautiful haven of peace and quiet away from the busyness of the High Street. Thanks again to our hard working gardening team for creating such a beautiful oasis for us, and to all the café volunteers.
Easter was a very special time for us. In particular the Good Friday service on the forecourt, when so many people came along to join in worship. We must thank all those who led us in worship for these services.
Our service for Pentecost, a very special day in the Christian calendar, on Sunday May 28th, will also be out on the forecourt, weather permitting. This will be led by Rev Paul O’Connor and our very own URC music group will be playing for the hymn singing.
Our next Church meeting will take place on Tuesday evening, 18th July at 7.00pm and will be our Annual Church Meeting. Please do try to come along to this. David Bywater has kindly agreed once again to co-ordinate and circulate our reports. If you produced one last year, he’ll be contacting you shortly to send him one for this year. We will also be holding our elders’ election, details about this below.
Our fund raising team has got lots of exciting events planned for the coming months, so keep your ears and eyes open - you won’t want to miss any of them.
A reminder that our summer car boot sales will start on Saturday May 27th, so unfortunately, there will be no parking on the Church forecourt on Saturdays until further notice.
Our Saturday coffee mornings are up and running successfully again, thanks to the small band of volunteers. If you feel able to help at all with these or the daily Garden Café, please contact
me – we are always grateful for additional help, especially during the summer months when some of our ‘regulars’ take holiday and it is difficult to find enough cover.
It is with sadness we record the deaths of Ann Longney, Merry Fay and Margaret Parker. All three have been part of our Church family for many years and will be sadly missed.
Enjoy the coming summer months in whatever you’re doing, although I think it’s a bit much to expect a repeat of the wonderful summer we experienced last year!
We will be holding an elders’ election at our ACM at our July Church meeting on Tuesday 18th July. We will elect elders to serve for the next three years. You are invited to nominate a Church member who you think would be suited to this ministry within the Church.
The full list of elders currently serving is:
Judith Baker
Chris Brown
David Bywater
Margaret Clark
Jenny Henderson
Richard Mallory
Barbara Waite
John Wiseman
Judith completes a three year term of office and Jenny a one year term and both are standing down. We thank them for all they have contributed to the elders’ team and wish them well.
Margaret and David have also completed a three year term and are willing, if nominated and elected, to serve a further term. We need FIVE new elders to return to our ideal number of nine elders. Please ask your nominee, obtain his/her consent and find two people to second your proposal. Only ONE form is required for each nominee. Nomination forms are available on the top of the cupboard in the ODC. Finally, please complete the form and give or send it to me by Sunday, 2nd July. Thanks.
MargaretThe Garden Café, hopefully every morning from 10 a.m.
Note: There will be no elders’ prayer time in the vestry at 10.15 on a Sunday. The Prayer Group meets on Wednesday at 10.00 at Church.
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
DOOR': 17th JULY 2023
Free Wi Fi connection to the internet available in the Open Door Cafe, balcony, main hall and cottage meeting room areas. Just ask for the required passwords!
We used to be able to drop ink cartridges for recycling into several shops in Lymington. Recently one of the charity shops told me they didn’t know of any local place now doing this.
Being an Open Sight Hampshire member since my sight difficulties, I approached them as they encourage recycling.
They have located a company that will recycle ink cartridges and Open Sight will receive a charity donation of up to £2 for each cartridge, depending on make. This is how you can do it:
1. You can drop off your cartridges to the Open Sight
Lymington Hub which meets on the fourth Wednesday in the month, from 10.00 am to 12 noon, at Lymington Library in North Close.
2. If you use this link:
http://www.recycle4charity.co.uk/Register/C145358
you will be directed to a page where you can print a prepaid postage label and send off your ink cartridges.
Your effort will help raise funds for Open Sight which is a registered chariy that helps blind or partially sighted people like me.
Tony ClarkReminder, from Ann Simmons comes notice that her address is now: Flat 3, Parish Court, Emsworth Road, Lymington SO41 9BS
Her telephone number remains 01590 670522
In the last Open Door magazine I wrote a story about the Dark Edged Bee-Fly and attached the chorus from 'All things bright and Beautiful'. So I have decided to write a story to go with each verse.
Each little flower that opens, Each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colours, He made their tiny wings:
During the summer after breakfast I often take my bicycle out and cycle around Normandy Lane which is close to the Salterns in Lymington. Very few people are out as early as I am, so one of my pleasures is trying to identify the birds by their song. There are quite a few Chiffchaffs, Chaffinches, Wrens, Great Tits and Nuthatches around, but my pleasure a few years ago was to hear a Yellowhammer. Some of you must remember their song if you grew up in the country - "A-little-bitof-bread-and-no-cheeeee'se". They certainly hammer out their song and perhaps that is why they are called Yellowhammers. They sit in a prominent position which makes them easy to see ... If only Christianity could be sung from the tree topsbecause our clothing can be recognised but our song is not always wanted to be heard.
One of my favourite hobbies is watching and identifying bugs and bees, probably not everyone's favourite hobby? However now that Spring is on its way perhaps some of you have
noticed the Dark Edged Bee-fly (Bombylius major) enjoying itself in your garden? II likes low growing flowers, particularly Primroses, Pulmonaria & Bugle. They fly around the garden often in small groups making a loud buzzing noise and trailing their long legs behind.
We rarely get the opportunity to see them settle so that we can have a good look. However last summer I was sitting at a table reading a book on my 'book-cushion' when, to my delight, a Bee-fly took a liking to my cushion and came for a long chat. It had its knees in a kneeling position and its long proboscis tucked underneath. I have been trying to see one of these properly for a number of years - lucky me it obviously thought I was friendly!
All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all:
Fran Cooke
The 15th of April saw the 50th anniversary of the United Reformed Church celebrations take place in London.
The celebrations lasted for a whole day and included a visit to URC HQ in Tavistock Place. We were greeted with tea and biscuits and then had an opportunity to look around our Headquarters at various presentations. One of these was the Trussell Trust which operates from our HQ. This was followed by a guided walk between Tavistock Place and the Methodist’s Central Hall, Westminster. A trifle optimistically we set out to walk. And some lesser known sites of interest were revealed to us along the way.
The walk should have lasted between two and three hours, but after passing the halfway mark we gave up, had some lunch and took a taxi into central London.
After queuing for a while, and negotiating a bag search, we entered Westminster Central Hall and were struck by its enduring splendour. The service itself was uplifting and gave us hope for the expansion of the United Reformed Church!
Not surprisingly, we slept on the train coming home! Judith
COMMUNION SUNDAY: 4th
COMMUNION ELDERS: Margaret and Chris
4th David Bywater Chris Brown
11th Jenny Henderson Keith Holmes
18th Barbara Waite John Wiseman
25th Chris Brown Pat Weaver
4th Shelagh and Peter Richardson DB/GC
11th Janice Perkins and Kate Noon WD/MC
18th Liz Griffiths and Barbara Waite DW/MC
25th Andrea and Dave Best DB/GC
COMMUNION SUNDAY: 2nd
COMMUNION ELDERS: John and Richard
2nd Richard Mallory Margaret Clark
9th John Wiseman Richard Mallory
16th Judith Baker Judith Baker
23rd Margaret Clark Andrea Best
30th David Bywater Jenny Henderson
2nd Pat Weaver and Anne Simmons WD/MC
9th Gill Wiseman and Peter Middleton DW/MC
16th Anne Gaines and Judith Baker DB/GC
23rd Lizbeth Eason and Fran Cooke WD/MC
30th Shelagh and Peter Richardson DW/MC
www.twocountiescleaning.co.uk
01425 613860
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PLEASE NOTE: This magazine is printed on paper from renewable sources out of our concern for the environment.
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