URC Magazine July/August 2023

Dear friends in Christ

Here we are again, reading the double summer issue of our pastorate magazine! It doesn’t seem that long ago I was writing my contribution to last year’s July/August edition! Where does time go?

For many people the summer holidays are usually a time of ‘windingdown’ a bit, of relaxing – at home or away, of recuperation and ‘recreation’. For our personal and family life, as well as in our work and church life, it is important to spend quality time to gather strength and rest. One of the enduring images I took from my MA studies some years ago now (from a Celtic mystic of ancient times) is that we, in our Christian service to church and community, are like a fountain. Like a fountain, and its water, we can only give of that which overflows. If we give more than that too often, we dry up.

Holidays are times of re-filling with that energy, spiritual and physical, to enable us to give more effectively. After all, Jesus is our example here, often going apart from the everyday, from the crowds, alone or with his closest companions, to restore his energies.

Whether you are staying at home this summer or going away, and hoping the weather is fair, Marie and I wish you all a very pleasant holiday-time. I look forward to hearing of the various ways by which you found relaxation and recuperation, to ‘recharge your batteries’, that will better enable us to follow Jesus in his word and action, as in this little poem:

Through me let there be kind words, a warm smile, and a caring heart.

Through me let there be a willingness to listen and a readiness to understand.

Through me let there be dependability, steadfastness, trust and loyalty.

Through me let there be compassion, forgiveness, mercy and love.

Through me let there be every quality I find, O Lord, in Thee, Anon

In Christian love, Mike

MORNING PRAYER

If you would like to take the opportunity to reflect upon God’s word and to pray for the needs of the world and the Church in your own time during the week, here are the Psalm and Gospel readings for July and August:

July

2 Psalm 89:1-4 & 15-18

9 Psalm 145: 8-14

16 Psalm 65:1-8 & 9-13

23 Psalm 86: 11-17

30 Psalm 119:129-136

August

6 Psalm 145: 8-9 & 14-21

13 Psalm 85:8-13

20 Psalm 67

27 Psalm 138

Matthew 10:40-42

Matthew 11:16-19 & 25-30

Matthew 13:1-9 & 18-23

Matthew 13:24-30 & 36-43

Matthew 13:31-33 & 44-52

Matthew 14:13-21

Matthew 14:22-33

Matthew 15:10-28

Matthew 16:13-20

OUTREACH GROUP - HARVEST

Our next Outreach Group meeting will be held at 7.45pm on Wednesday, 12 July in the Church Office. Enter through the back door and up the stairs by the vestry. One of the topics for discussion will be our Harvest celebrations. Your views would be most welcome, either before the meeting or just come along and join in the discussion.

Our Harvest service is scheduled for Sunday 24 September. Would you prefer to follow this with a “Bring and Share” lunch or a provided ploughman’ spread. Alternatively, would you like a traditional Harvest Supper on the evening of 23 September, and do you have any ideas for entertainment.

We will also be looking at other ways in which the church can reach out to Romsey and beyond. All ideas welcome.

Andy

A few years ago, in one pastoral training session the topic for learning was prayer. At the beginning, during the brainstorming session, we were given 5-10 minutes to think what prayer is and what prayer isn’t. These are some of the answers that were given.

Prayer is: Communication Listening

Personal

Baring your soul Of the heart Crucial

Corporate Relationship Two-way

Thanksgiving

Spoken

Being with God

Making us available to God Sincere

Different to different people Silent

Not bound by right or wrong

Prayer isn’t: A shopping list An insurance policy

Coercive

Competitive Mechanical Empty words

An easy option Bargaining Prescriptive

Materialistic An information channel

An expectation of getting what we think we need.

I’ll leave it to you to think of what comes to mind if you were given a few minutes to consider what prayer is and what prayer means to you.

There is no shortage of material and books written about different types of prayer, whether individual or corporate. Prayer can be studied, as indeed can any topic, but how to put this into practice? As mentioned above, there are no right or wrong answers or ways of doing it.

Jesus himself has given us ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ as an example of how he himself lived and prayed. Also, let us remember that The Holy Spirit prays for us at times when we don’t know how to pray, or are unable to pray. We are reminded of this in Paul’s letter to Romans, Chapter 8.26.

Let us enjoy the beauty around us during these summer months and maybe also find time for relaxation and quiet reflection.

Leena

BEGGARS FAIR REFRESHMENTS

I am organising refreshments in the Abbey Hall during the Beggars Fair on 8 July from 10am-4pm. If you can help serve refreshments, or can provide cakes for the day, please contact me - the more the merrier! Contact me if you can help. Thank you.

THURSDAY COMMUNION

Gwen S

Our monthly Thursday Communion has now been changed to the Fourth Thursday of the month beginning at 4.15 pm. We join together for a 25minute service, then have a general chat. The new time will enable people to take advantage of the free car parking in Romsey which begins at 4 pm! We look forward to seeing you on 27 July (led by Derek H) and 24 August (led by Revd Mike). All welcome!

JULY AND AUGUST BIBLE STUDY

Our Bible study and discussion group will take place on 9 July (led by Revd Mike) and 6 August (led by Wai C) at 6.30pm on Zoom (ID 864 1780 6994 PC learning) when we will look more deeply at the Gospel verses we hear at our morning service at Abbey URC. Do contact Revd Mike for the 9th, and Wai for the 6th if you would like to participate and they will email you some notes in advance. All welcome!

Many thanks for all the cards and messages of condolence you sent to Marie at the death of her father. She very much appreciated your care and support.

Revd Mike

Friends will be sad to hear of the sudden death of Janet O'Callaghan. From Northern Ireland, Janet would visit us for morning worship with her husband Derek. She enjoyed the non-conformist experience that is the heart of URC .

Janet and Derek, lived in Whiteparish leading a busy ex-army life. Their large garden provided Janet with much interest whilst Derek is known in the village for his work preserving the memory of Veterans. A private funeral has taken place and a memorial service will be held later. We remember Janet in prayers of thanksgiving for her life, and for Derek and the family.

Jennifer P

We will be holding a church sale on Saturday, 4 November. Please start collecting items during the next few months for our stalls. Full details to follow. Thank you.

Gwen S

Thank you so much for all your support for the Romsey Chamber Music Festival. I am very grateful for all your help. Best wishes.

Laura Pickard, organizer of the Romsey Chamber Music Festival

Our prayer tree is in the front garden for ribbons to be added to, as a way of saying a silent prayer to God. It can be for support, help, thanks, in memory of a loved one.

Our coffee morning, held on 27 May in the Abbey Hall lounge, was extremely well attended and raised £183.52 for church funds. Thank you to everyone who helped by providing cakes or on the day, plus a huge thank you to all those who attended. We had a lovely morning chatting with everyone and catching up with church friends.

Sarah, Richard & Kathleen

THE OUTREACH GROUP

There are six groups to manage the activities which are needed to run our church. These are Fabric, Finance, Outreach, Pastoral, Worship and Youth. Each group has a Convener, note-taker, elders’ representative and volunteers. The volunteers have appropriate specialist knowledge or an interest in the group activity. The groups usually meet quarterly and report to the elders' meeting, where the elders’ representative can fill in and expand on the group report when necessary.

The Outreach group Convenor is Andy Bevan; note-taker is Revd Mike and elders’ representative is Howard Coulson. Members of the group are Geoff and Jen Prestage, John Horton and Chris Lambert. The aim of the group is to reach out into our community and ensure our church is an active part of the community. Not only do we aim to bring people into our church, but the long-term goal is to bring people into an awareness of God through church membership.

We are fortunate that our church, originally designed for preaching the word, is ideal for concerts and is seen as a good concert venue for choral music and chamber music. We had a chamber music festival in our church and Romsey Ladies Choir are staging a concert with proceeds to church funds. The church is being used by participants in the Romsey Festival with lunchtime and evening concerts.

Our church is a popular venue for weddings, and we have recently added the facility for same sex weddings. We also open the church to visitors on Saturday mornings for those wanting a few peaceful moments in an inspiring environment.

The hall is another asset and is used by a variety of organisations, including Slimmers World, choirs and for table tennis including those with handicaps such as dementia. The hall is sometimes used by people wanting a function room with kitchen, say, for family occasions. The lounge is used by us a for a short communion service, meetings and by organisations, such as Romsey U3A Social History Group.

We support local charities and raised money for Christian Aid and George’s Trust. We have a Toy Service with items for Southampton Social Services. We collect gifts for the charity Amber, food for Romsey Foodbank and Romsey Community Pantry, and give to Crisis for Christmas. Revd Mike Perrott represents us in Churches Together in Romsey.

Geoff and Jen Prestage represent us in Commitment for Life (CFL) for Palestine. We have an annual CFL service when collecting jars for CFL are returned and donated to CFL, proceeds from after church refreshment are given to CFL. Olive trees have also been donated to Palestinian farmers in memory of Dick Duley. John Horton is our link with Amnesty International, and fundraising events and card signings are held.

It all sounds good, but we have our challenges; we were not able to provide a Warm Space under the Warm Welcome Scheme this winter due to lack of volunteers.

A success story is our lovely new church history leaflet – which is free for visitors, written and laid out by Sarah. Copies are in church, hall and lounge, and we also have copies in the Romsey Tourist Office.

We have a huge challenge; our church facilities are widely used by the community and we have a large number of people passing through. How can we bring some of those people into church spiritually and lead them to membership?

Howard C

ART IN THE GARDEN

We are delighted to announce that D’Sculpted won the recent Little Forest Competition People’s Choice Award at Art in the Garden 2023. They said “This is a fantastic piece and has been getting great comments for the last two weeks.” Congratulations Darren, extremely well deserved!

This year’s event follows the success of the Woodland Trail at Art in the Garden 2022, with the different artworks and installations along the path and elsewhere. They built on last year’s idea and extended the variety of works on show for 2023.

Darren was one of the artists/makers invited to exhibit at Little Forest Open Competition’s Art in the Garden 2023. The art was displayed in the 3-acre wild meadow and woodland path. Artworks were by local and regional artists and makers.

COFFEE MORNINGS

It would be lovely to continue to hold a coffee event on a Saturday in the Abbey Hall Lounge once a month, or so, for members of the congregation andfriends, with donations going to church funds.

If you would be interested in hosting, please contact Angela Wolfe for availability to suit you. Once booked, please let Sarah Beaman know and she will publicise for you and co-ordinate.

It is important to share social time with our church fellowship, and this gives us an opportunity to catch up with friends who are unable to come on a Sunday morning. We look forward to enjoying some sociable time together.

QUARTERLY THEME: PEACE

The Outreach Group nominate a theme for us to explore each quarter and the theme for the third quarter of 2023 is peace.

As I write this article, our news carries details of the “march for justice” by the Wagner Group in Russia, the summer offensive of the war in Ukraine, the horror of the rebel attack and massacre of school children at the boarding school in Uganda and the rebel forces gaining control in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. Scores of other countries are suffering from violence within their boundaries, leaving people fleeing for their lives to increasingly overcrowded refugee camps or taking risks to cross the Mediterranean or even the Alps to seek a better life.

We give thanks to God for the courage of those operating with the United Nations Peacekeeping force, who help countries torn by conflict and create conditions for lasting peace. Peacekeeping has proven to be one of the most effective tools available to the UN to help countries navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace.

The United Nations tells us that peacekeeping has unique strengths, including legitimacy, burden sharing, and an ability to deploy and sustain troops and police from around the globe, integrating them with civilian peacekeepers to advance better conditions for the future. This helps provide security as well as the political and peacebuilding support needed to help countries make the difficult transition from conflict to peace.

United Nations Peacekeeping is guided by three basic principles:

• Consent of the parties;

• Impartiality;

• Non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate.

Over the past two decades United Nations Peacekeeping forces has been deployed in many configurations and are currently involved in 12 UN peacekeeping operations deployed on three continents.

Lasting peace in our world depends on such organisations as the United Nations, but peace starts with the individual. May we each set an example as we offer forgiveness to those who do us wrong, and show God’s love to all in everything we do.

Andy

BUILDING WORKS

Late last year small amounts of plaster fell from the ceiling of our church building, due to water ingress from the roof. Scaffolding has now been erected, inside and out, to enable repairs to the roof, and the makinggood of the ceiling. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes to anyone using our church. The works will be undertaken, and completed, as soon as possible.

WORLD JAMBOREE – IT’S NEARLY HERE!

We have been busy raising funds for Henry to attend the 25th World Scout Jamboree in Korea since January 2022. We have had raffles, collected coins in jars and enjoyed wonderful meals, cooked by Darren, giving an evening off the cooking chores and providing lovely social events.

However, what may have escaped our notice is that it is only a month until Henry starts his amazing adventure! Between now and 1 August, Henry has to ensure he is fully packed with all the kit he may require on his two-week trip – but he also has to ensure he has had all his vaccinations (6 in total!) and that he has his anti-malaria medication ready for the trip. Amazingly, the cost of his medication will be in the region of £500! Once he is jabbed up and packed, he will be on his way to SaeManGeum, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Korea Scout Association, which they will be celebrating during the Jamboree.

The Jamboree experience will enable young people to realise their dreams, make friendships with people from different cultures, and take part in a safe, inclusive and sustainable programme. The theme is "Draw your Dream", illustrating a willingness to accept young people's ideas and opinions, and create an opportunity for them to make their Jamboree dreams come true. "Draw your Dream!" expresses the desire for members of the Scout Movement to transform the 25th World Scout Jamboree into their own festival and grow their dreams through the event.

We wish Henry a safe trip and an amazing Jamboree – we can’t wait to hear all about his adventures when he returns.

6

REVD MIKE’S ANNUAL LEAVE

Please note that Mike will be on annual leave from Sunday, 23 July to Sunday, 13 August inclusive.

During this time, please contact Andy Bevan with any matters relating to Abbey URC, and for Braishfield URC Shirley Smith (pastoral) or Alison Symes (administration). Thank you.

CHRISTIAN AID WEEK

Thank you to all who supported the book stall or donated to Christian Aid during 14-20 May. The total raised from all the churches and Oasis was £1,704.79. After allowing for Gift Aid on known Gift Aided donations, the total should exceed £2,000 - a great effort in these difficult financial times. Thank you once again.

Braishfield United Reformed Church

Please note that the third Sunday of the month is the time to bring in tinned goods etc for the food bank collection.

News from Braishfield

It was good to celebrate our 205th Church Anniversary service with the Minister on 18 June. We can’t believe where the time has gone either (though we acknowledge we have some way to go to catch up with Romsey URC!).

Flower Festival

If you would like or know anyone who would like to put a flower arrangement into the church for the Flower Festival, please do so on Friday, 14 July. The church will be open from 10am to 6pm. You just need to find a place to put your arrangement, write your name on a small card (these will be in the church), and put that card in front of your arrangement.

The church will be open for visitors on Saturday, 15 and Sunday, 16 July from 10am to 6pm Please note on the Sunday, visitors are welcome after the church service finishes at 11am, though, naturally, we would love to have you join us in the congregation at 10am if you can make that. There is a donation box in the church. The money from this will go the church’s charity project, Mercy Ships.

On Monday, 17 July, the church will again be open from 10am to 6pm for you to come and collect your flower arrangements so you can enjoy them at home from that point.

We would like to say a huge thank you in advance to all who help with decorating the church with flowers for the festival. It always looks lovely.

Harvest Festival

The church will be open for decorating on Saturday, 23 September ahead of our always lovely Harvest Thanksgiving service on Sunday, 24 September. If you can help with the decorating of the church, please come along. The church will be open from 10am for this. Decorations will include flowers, vegetables, tinned and dried food. Suitable items will be donated to the Romsey Food Bank after the harvest weekend. Any help that can be offered here would be much appreciated. Thank you.

The church will be open for visitors to admire the wonderful decorations on Saturday, 23 and Sunday, 24 September from 10am to 6pm. Please note on the Sunday this will be after the church service which finishes at 11am but, as with the Flower Festival weekend, you would be more than welcome to join us for the service at 10am and sing some wonderful harvest hymns with us!

The church will be “undecorated” on Monday, 25 September. Again, any help with this would be much appreciated, please come along from 10am.

Braishfield always has a wonderful harvest display. Let’s keep that tradition going! I will share pictures in a future magazine.

May I share a quick reminder to those who can Gift Aid their offerings but don’t currently do so. Please do! This simple scheme enables the church to get back 25% on top of your offerings from the government (i.e. 25p from every £1 given). If you need further information, please do talk to Sharon Whitfield, she would be only too pleased to assist here! I should add it makes a considerable difference to the church.

Pastoral News

The church sends its love and support to all who are having a difficult time. We particularly think of Shirley, Alan, Dawn, Nicola, and Stephen, as Alan continues his treatment following major surgery.

We also send love and support to all who have experienced loss. It has been a difficult couple of years for many at Braishfield and Romsey. We do think of you all. Also in our thoughts are Hazel as she awaits further treatment, Richard, who has had further treatment, and Norma.

The church sends love and sympathy to Gill who has recently lost her sister. We were sorry to hear this news.

In happier tidings, congratulations go to Maggie and Jack on becoming great-grandparents to baby Finley Terrence John,the first child for Daniel and Hannah. Best wishes to great-great granny, Rhoda, too!

We remember in our prayers Alan Smith (Shirley and Rusty’s son) who has recently begun long-term treatment. We continue to pray for Dawn and family, and Shirley, praying that the expertise of the clinicians and doctors will bring Alan to a full recovery.

Revd Mike

Allison Symes

CHANGES TO THE ONLINE MAGAZINE PROVIDER

Since September 2017 we have been using a web-based publisher, Issuu for our e-magazine. Until now, the Issuu basic plan has been free for us to upload the finished magazine, produce a flip magazine and then share a link from their site onto our website and social media - whilst they host our magazine on-line. Anyone visiting Issuu can search any of our magazines since 2017 and find out more about our church, fellowship and outreach.

Unfortunately, Issuu have reviewed their basic plan and have decided to start charging anyone uploading more than 5 issues per year. To continue using this company, it was agreed at Elders at the end of June to subscribe to their Starter Plan at a cost of £15 per month.

As editor and Publicity Office, I believe it is important to continue to produce an e-magazine. It is an engaging document which keeps our congregation, and our wider fellowship, informed and up-to-date with our news and activities. It is also an excellent PR document which is shared with care homes and on our social media increasing our outreach and encouraging the larger community to engage with our church and activities.

The previous black and white printed magazine was heavily subsidised by advertisers and was charged at £5 per year Since starting the full colour magazine, this loss has increased as the charge was only increased by 50p per year. Since Covid, the number of advertisers have reduced, added to this, our printers have had to increase printing costs this year due to increasing overheads.

If you receive an e-magazine and would like to donate towards the cost, donations would be greatly appreciated, either by bank transfer or by passing your donation to Reg, making it clear this is towards the cost of the e-magazine.

I will provide a full breakdown of costs for the September magazine, and then this can be discussed at the next church meeting

Sarah

The afternoon tea, for invited guests, resumed with a lot of sunshine on 11 June at 3pm. Everybody who attended was pleased to see each other again, had a big smile on their face, happy to interact with each other and catch up with other friends within the church fellowship.

Andy opened the meeting with an introduction and prayer, then with Kirsty’s help everybody was asked if they had a favourite hymn to choose and sing along with the piano. Thank you very much Kirsty for allowing us to do this; she carried on with music in the background while the tea was being served.

We enjoyed home-made sandwiches, apple-cake and Victoria sponge cake, with fresh cream, strawberries and blackberries. At the end of the party the guests were given a bunch of flowers to take home.

Everyone had a great time and we would like to say a big THANK YOU to all who helped make this party a success.

Jean and Roy M

FORGING ON

Hello all! Since I last put a little bit in our magazine, I've taken part in a couple of farrier shoemaking competitions which I thought you might like to hear about.

Firstly, I went to the Bath & West Show; it was my first one this year, making me a bit more nervous than normal, but as soon as my round started all of that went away and I just got on with it! I had two shoes to make (both the same) and thankfully another apprentice agreed to look after my metal in the fire - so I didn't burn it.

The second competition I did was the South of England show where I entered two separate rounds; the first was the 3rd/4th year Apprentice and the second was the Open Round, which is for any farrier but more often those who are qualified enter. Both rounds went well and I was happy with how my shoes turned out, especially after my rounds were back-toback meaning nearly 2 hours of forging in very hot conditions!

I have a couple more upcoming competitions this year including the Romsey Show, where I might see a few of you again!

Kathleen x

WORK MORNINGS AT CHURCH

DIY and other odd jobs around the church. Everyone is welcome to join.

Saturday, 1 July 2023

Saturday, 5 August 2023 from 9am–12 noon

Contact Geoff Prestage for full work detail information

This year’s Romsey Festival runs from 116 July wtih over 250 events over the 17 days of the festival, which means that there is hopefully something for everyone. The festival is run by the Community for the Community; the organisers sincerely hope the community will enjoy the fortnight of festivities in and around their town. There is a programme of all the events on the website, which you can download or print. They recommend visiting the website for the most up to date details of the Festival Programme, www.romseyfestival.org.

Full details of concerts in our church can be found elsewhere within the magazine. We hope you enjoy the festival, and if you would like to volunteer to steward an event within our church, please contact Andy.

HAVE YOU SOME TIME ON YOUR HANDS?

Last Christmas (sorry!) we all enjoyed making angels to share with the community and getting them ready to send on their way, with our love and prayers. We hope their new families enjoyed finding them on our railings and taking them home to decorate their homes at Christmas, and for years to come.

It would be lovely to do this again in December this year If you have some time on your hands, or want to keep out of the heat, why not try your hand at crafting one or two angels to share?

All types of crafted angels are welcome so if you knit, craft or crochet please bring your completed angels to church and leave at the back for Sarah B. Thank you once again!

BROKENESS AND RESTORATION

This year, the United Reformed Church (URC) at Greenbelt is continuing with the theme of ‘Revolting Christians’ – people who take a stand to challenge or break the political, social and economic systems of our world in order to bring about justice.

The URC at Greenbelt Craft Team would like churches around the denomination to contribute to the URC’s tent decorations by creating Kintsugi hearts.

Brokenness and restoration

The Japanese art of Kintsugi takes broken objects, often ceramics, and repairs them with gold resin. The resulting ‘flaw’ becomes part of the object’s story and is seen as a unique piece in its history, adding to its beauty.

Stephanie Twilley, the craft team’s coordinator, said: “This made me think that as humans, we are all broken and flawed in some way. It is part of our faith that God can heal us and make us whole again and can transform and repair situations which at first seem impossible to us.

“Many revolting Christians have campaigned to create change in the world where there is conflict, injustice or seemingly impossible brokenness.

“We invite you and your church to try the following meditation activity, and then send us your Kintsugi hearts so we can display them at Greenbelt and encourage more revolting Christians!”

If you would like to join in, you will need a coloured paper heart approx. 10cm across, a piece of dark coloured card, glue and a gold or silver pen.

Pick up your paper heart. Think of a situation in the world that you know of where there is brokenness, conflict or injustice that seems impossible to change or heal. As you do this rip up your heart and hold the pieces in your hand.

We can feel broken and inadequate in our response. Less than perfect. Everything around us can feel dark and hopeless. Take a piece of dark coloured card.

Know that we can all be part of God’s plan for putting things right. Put your heart together again onto a dark piece of card.

Don’t try and hide the cracks. Leave an intentional gap that tells of the struggles that have to be gone through in order to put things right and make things complete again.

Stick your hearts down. Carefully colour the cracks in with a gold or silver pen until the heart is complete again. Imagine the love poured into us by God and by us as we work for the justice, peace and freedom of the Kingdom of God.

Broken restored beautiful

This kintsugi heart is a beautiful reminder that there is hope in the midst of brokenness.

Please send your Kintsugi hearts, by 14 August to: Stephanie Twilley, 116 Mount Road, Penn, Wolverhampton WV4 5RZ. Thank you!

Book your tickets for a comedy evening with the award-winning Paul Kerensa, writer of scripts for Miranda and Not Going Out. This will be Wednesday, 5 July at 7.30pm at the Methodist Church, as part of the Romsey Arts Festival. Hosted by Oasis, it is also a fundraiser for their building fund. The first half of the evening will be stand up, anecdotes etc, and the second half will be a light-hearted look at the first year of BBC Radio, so promises to be a great evening! Tickets £8 each from ComedyEvening.eventbrite.co.uk

If you are visiting the New Forest Show, from 25-27 July, pop into the church tent and say hello to Oasis, who will be attending with a large stall. Lyndhurst Deanery are running the pop-up coffee shop where the friendly and welcoming volunteers will welcome you with freshly made cups of tea, coffee and squash. The popular face painting and crafts will be run by the children’s ministry team. It’s a great 'chill out' tent, open from 8.30am till 5.30pm and a lovely place to take 5-minutes and rest tired feet Oasis have been a part of this ministry for 36 years!

Oasis would also like to pass on their grateful thanks for the ongoing support in their Buy a Brick building campaign. They have found it very humbling to receive donations large and small as they tackle loads of building issues in their, now, listed building. Scaffolding is due to arrive soon, but they will remain open so please call in and continue to support them. The plus side of their old building – it is cool inside too!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Taken from Revd Mike’s sermon of 25 June, "the Church was created to meet our five deepest needs:

1. A purpose to live for

2. People to live with

3. Principles to live by

4. A profession to live out

5. The power to live on

There is no other place on earth where we can find all five of these benefits in one place"

MAGAZINE DEADLINE

Material for September 2023 to be submitted by 2pm (latest) on Sunday, 20 August 2023 Please email to abbeyurcnews@gmail.com Alternatively, you could call Carole C, pop it in her letter box, or leave in the pigeon-hole at the back of the church. Thank you.

WISDOM CENTRE CREAM TEA

On 14 July from 2pm-4pm the Wisdom Centre are hosting a fundraising cream tea on their rose patio or in their dining room. The proceeds will support Revd Fiona going to a religious gathering/conference in France to support her work as a Friend of Wisdom and the learning and ministry at Wisdom Centre, including the work of their international community and their wide outreach in the community of Romsey and surrounding parishes.

Suggested offering is £6 per person, to include a choice of refreshments, scones, clotted cream and jam. Please book prior to the event and advise of any special dietary requirements which they will do their best to accommodate.

Please book via the leaflet on their website, or call reception on 01794 830206 or email reception@wisdomhouseromsey.co.uk

ROMSEY FESTIVAL OPENING SERVICE

On the Sunday evening of 2 July at 6.30pm, here at Abbey URC, we host the Romsey Festival Opening Service. Kirsty and Rod will be playing some special items of music and there will be participation by members of the Romsey Festival Committee. We look forward to seeing you!

BEGGARS FAIR COMES TO TOWN!

Over 70 acts, in 20+ venues, will fill Romsey with music and dance from 10.30am on 8 July when the 29th Beggars Fair takes over the town. As always, the entertainment is free. This community festival brings a whole range of music and dance to Romsey, from rock bands to acoustic music, there is something for everyone.

This annual festival is organised totally by volunteers and since 1993 has been offering a venue for local talent to entertain the Romsey community. The Beggars Fair 2023 Programme is now available to purchase from Romsey Visitor Information Centre and various shops and venues in the town, or visit the website on the week of the event.

Don’t forget, pop into the Abbey Hall to enjoy refreshments and homemade cakes!

PATHWAY AUDIO BIBLE PLAYER

Are you, or is someone you know, suffering from sight-loss? If so, the following article may be of interest.

Torch Trust, the Christian Sight Loss charity, is offering a free audio Bible player to people in the UK who have sight loss.

The audio players feature David Suchet reading the New Testament and Psalms. This small, easy to use MP3 player has an in-built speaker, preinstalled rechargeable batteries and comes with charging cable and in-ear headphones. The players have been tested by people with sight loss, with positive feedback about their ease of use and content.

These audio Bibles are the size of a small remote control. They have few easy-to-use buttons to make it simple to start and stop, to move forward or backward between different sections. They have an in-built speaker and also included are some in-ear headphones in case that would be better suited to your requirements. Rechargeable batteries are already installed and it comes with a charging cable for you to plug it in. Lastly there’s a lanyard included so you can put the player around your neck so it’s harder to lose!

Anyone living in the UK who is blind, or partially sighted, and who is not a current client of Torch is eligible to receive one of these free players. It is a gift – there is no obligation attached, however there is limited availability.

You can get in touch by:

• Completing the form on their website here

• Call their team on 01858 438260, or

• email info@torchtrust.org stating that you’d like to receive an audio Bible, confirming that you are living with sight loss and providing an address and telephone number.

Terms and conditions apply.