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Magazine of Erdington Methodist Church !

Station Road - February 2014 1

Contents

Minister’s Letter! ! ! ! ! !

Worship Group seeks new members!!

New Year VISION Report! ! ! !

Thank you! ! ! ! ! ! !

Don’t Forget! ! ! ! ! ! !

Godly Play! ! ! ! ! ! !

Flowers! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Slow down - it is February!!! ! !

What the 23rd Psalm is really all about!

Let’s Get Together Again! ! ! !

Stop Press - Stop Press - Stop Press! !

All in the month of FEBRUARY!! !

Erdington VISION Events! ! ! !

Children’s Pages! ! ! ! ! !

Belisha Beacon! ! ! ! ! !

Fair Trade Fortnight goes bananas....!

Sandra Joseph! ! ! ! ! !

The Way I See It ! ! ! ! ! !

Valentine! ! ! ! ! ! !

BIG TUNES from the BIG SCREEN! !

Pudding Tasting Experience!! ! !

February Regular Meetings! ! !

Weekly Church Activities! ! ! !

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Minister’s Letter

" Dear friends!

God promised that through Abraham’s descendants every nation on earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3): since the beginning it has been God’s intention that the reach of his blessing would always increase. Jesus taught us to expect the Kingdom of God to grow.

See, for example, the parables of the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32), the fishermen (Matthew 13:47-48), the great banquet (Luke 14:22-24) and others. See also his expectation that the vine will grow in John 15:1-8. This growth in numbers has certainly been fulfilled in the history of the Church, where the church grew from about 120 (Acts 1:15) to over 3000 on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41) to 5000 men (Acts 4:4), and the growth continues so that today there are over 2 billion Christians worldwide. The decline in the British church is not normal and we should certainly not expect it.!

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Growth isn’t just about numbers. We should also expect to see growth in spiritual maturity, growth in the quality of our relationships and growth in our impact on the community. Growth doesn’t happen automatically, though. It requires several things. !

First, it requires healthy conditions. Plants grow when they have healthy soil, water, light and room to grow. Then, all by themselves, plants grow. Jesus likens the Kingdom to this in Mark 4:26-29. Healthy churches, like healthy plants, tend to grow.!

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Second, to be healthy, churches (like plants) sometimes need to do some pruning (John 15:2). Some churches are very good at starting new things; most are poor at stopping things that have had their day!!

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Third, growth requires our willingness to plan and to work. In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), Jesus spoke about this.

He also reminded us that the farmer went out to sow his seed (Mark 4:3). We need to be available to God and willing to be hardworking and adventurous in our service of him.!

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Over these next months, I want to look with you at the health of the churches of this section, to check that the conditions are favourable for growth. From this, we may see some things that need changing – some pruning to be done, some energy directed towards various opportunities. But we shall do so, carefully determining what pleases the Lord and trusting in him – because whatever we do, it’s God who will make it fruitful (1 Corinthians 3:6) and so the glory will be his.! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

God bless.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Your friend and minister!

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Rev Paul!

" " Worship Group seeks new members

The Worship Group overseen by David Hewitt and currently consisting of Hilary Price, Margaret Harries and Nick Riley are seeking new members to help lead worship on three or four occasions a year. We are interested in people who are prepared to help in any way to enrich our team lead services. If you are interested in being involved then please speak to any of the above.!

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New Year VISION Report

We start the year having raised £106,000 so far, with hopes of starting the first stage in a few months. We are waiting for detailed costs from the architect.!

The Project group has planned events for the year. Hopefully most of you have picked up details and added them to your diaries! You will also find them in this Contact. We held the first on January 12th with a film show of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” This was a successful experiment and we raised £95. We are grateful for feedback and will plan another film show, taking into account comments on timing, and considering a break half way through.!

Peter and Margaret’s house group are running the coffee morning on February 8th, with speciality pancakes!!

After that we are providing a light lunch with pudding tasting on Tuesday Feb 18th at 12.00. The cost will be £5.00 ( tickets available now ) and there is a sign up list in the foyer. PLEASE add your name to this, if you will be there, as it is essential to know how many to cater for.!

One of the highlights of the year will be on April 26th, when Midland Opera will be entertaining us with ‘Songs From the Big Screen’. They put on a more informal show each year in addition to their annual opera at the Crescent Theatre. This is an amateur choir with professional quality singers, some of whom go on to become professional. John and I went to one of their concerts last year and thought it was wonderful. Tickets are £8.00 and on sale now. There will, of course, be refreshments and a quality raffle.!

We need more people to run a Saturday coffee morning. Two more are earmarked during the year, but you don’t have to stick to those 5

dates. Apart from helping the project, the more dates that are filled in the less Lesley has to do herself. !

We are grateful for all your support giving your time and money. ! !

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Thank you.!

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Hilary Price for the Vision Group!

" Thank you

Thank you to everyone who supported us at our last coffee morning on the 16th November 2013. We managed to raise £145 towards our Jamboree fundraising which was greatly appreciated.!

Our next coffee morning is on Saturday 8th March, 10am - 1pm and this will include a variety of refreshments as well as the addition of a table top/craft sale. There will be plenty to choose from including books, DVD's, jewellery, homemade preserves and cakes, games, toys and bric a brac.!

You are all very welcome - please come along and join us.!

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Ryan Whiting, Volkan Ceylan and Andrew Horton!

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Explorers - 177th Birmingham Methodist!

" Don’t Forget

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.! !

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Maya Angelou!

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Flowers

by Wendy Cope!

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Some men never think of it.!

You did. You'd come along!

And say you'd nearly brought me flowers!

But something had gone wrong.!

" The shop was closed. Or you had doubts - !

The sort that minds like ours!

Dream up incessantly. You thought!

I might not want your flowers.!

" It made me smile and hug you then.!

Now I can only smile.!

But, Look, the flowers you nearly bought!

Have lasted all this while.!

" Flowers is a poem with a message which I think is appropriate as Valentine’s Day approaches. !

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Looking carefully at the last stanza, the whole purpose of the poem becomes crystal clear. The flowers were merely a tangible expression of his thoughts. She loved him for those thoughts which even now make her smile. More importantly, the fact that ‘the flowers you nearly bought have lasted all this while’ is an affirmation that their love continues.!

So, to sum up the poet’s message … it’s the thought that counts’.!

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Barbara Rawson!

" Slow down - it is February!

How are your energy levels? February is famous for being the time of year when people most want to hibernate – to sleep, to be left alone, and to do as little as possible. So instead of fighting the winter blues this year, why not go with the natural rhythms of nature? Set aside as much time as you can – to do nothing but rest.

It is no coincidence that February is when retreat bookings soar: people want to escape the crowds and renew themselves.

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“I think the human spirit is like a daffodil bulb, preparing for the Spring by refreshing its roots, so it can bloom again when the times comes.” So says Stafford Whiteaker, former monk, ex-hermit and editor of The Good Retreat Guide. The Bible makes clear that God blesses our times of rest: ‘In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.’ (Ps 4:8)!

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What the 23rd Psalm is really all about

The Lord is my Shepherd - that's relationship.

I shall not want - that's supply.

He makes me lie down in green pastures - that's rest.

He leads me beside the still waters - that's refreshment.

He restores my soul - that's healing.

He leads me in the paths of righteousness - that's guidance.

For his name’s sake - that's purpose.

Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death that's testing.

I will fear no evil - that's protection.

For You are with me - that's faithfulness.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me - that’s discipline.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies - that's hope.

You anoint my head with oil - that's consecration.

My cup runs over - that's abundance.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life that's blessing.

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever - that's security!!

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from the Parish Pump Website!

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Stop Press - Stop Press - Stop Press

" GOOD VISION NEWS!!!!

Wonderful News!! The Vision Project has been awarded £50000 from Veolia Environmental Trust - what we had asked for, which is brilliant.! !

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Hilary Price!

" All in the month of FEBRUARY

It was….!

150 years ago:- on 17th Feb 1864 that A B (Banjo) Paterson, Australian bush poet and journalist was born; best known for his song ‘Waltzing Matilda’.!

90 years ago:- on 5th Feb 1924 that BBC Radio broadcast the ‘sixpips’ Greenwich Time Signal for the first time.!

75 years ago:- on 25th Feb 1939 that the first Anderson air-raid shelters were delivered to households in Islington, north London, in anticipation of German bombing.!

50 years ago:- on 7th Feb 1964 that The Beatles arrived in New York City for their first tour of the USA, and were met by thousands of screaming fans.!

10 years ago:- on 4th Feb 2004 that the social networking site Facebook was launched.!

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ERDINGTON VISION EVENTS 2014 Sat. Feb 8th

10.00 - 12.00

May 11th

7.30 pm! £8.00 Afternoon

Coffee and pancakes Lunch with pudding tasting Coffee morning!

Tuesday Club Songs from Films’!

Midland Opera Car treasure hunt

Feb 18th

12.00 - 2.00

Sat. March 29th

10 - 12

June 21st!

6.00 pm

Beetle Drive

July 12th August 13th September!

afternoon 2.00 – 4.00

Garden party Afternoon tea

HARVEST eve

TBA

October!

11th or 18th

7.00 pm

Barn Dance

November 29th

All day/ weekend?

Christmas Tree Festival! and Market

April 26th

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" please contact Hilary Price for further details about any of these events.!

" Tel 354 255 or email: a1revsmum@blueyonder.co.uk!

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Belisha Beacon

Just as the evenings started to draw in I was driving through Wylde Green and I asked Moya, "What were Belisha Beacons called before they started to flash?" "Belisha Beacons," she said. It made me wonder where the name came from.!

" A few moments with Wikipedia tells me that Belisha Beacons are orange globes atop a black and white banded pole. On 4th July 1935 the first Belisha Beacon pole was erected in on the corner of Mesnes Street in Wigan. The Minister of Transport added these poles to the two rows of studs, which until that time had been the sole demarcation of where pedestrians might safely cross that road.

The Minister at the time was Leslie Hore-Belisha, hence the name. !

" This continued until 1951 when the black and white stripes were added in the road between the studs, so that the road looked like the poles - Zebra crossings. However it was soon discovered that in the dark and the wet the stripes in the road didn’t show up as well as they should, generating something of a panic in the Department. What could they do to avoid what they had thought was a road safety innovation becoming regarded as a death trap?!

" Minutes of meetings in 1952 show the Department of Transport acting to find a solution to the problem which would stop the return of the accidents, which had bedevilled the new crossings 16

that previous winter. Constant illumination was investigated but it was felt that would cost too much in electricity. By October 1952 a flashing mechanism had been sourced and the roll out began. This itself was not without controversy because councils were expected to organise this and some were not happy with the bill.!

" Apparently there was much debate about whether the beacons on each side of the crossing or multi-way were to flash in unison.

Supposedly they were, and given the accuracy of the timing mechanism someone must have made a good living out of resetting the mechanism of the thousands and thousands of beacons up and down the land. Interestingly, I don’t think I have ever noticed whether or not the beacons that I drive past are synchronised.!

" We now also have Pelican crossings and the more sophisticated Puffin crossing where there are sensors to detect the presence of pedestrians on the crossing. I was less sure whether to believe the web site which told me, in all seriousness, that a crossing designated for both pedestrians and cyclists was called a Toucan crossing, as in ‘two can cross’. Also the crossing for pedestrians and horses was a Pegasus crossing. I leave that to you as an urban myth.! !

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Fair Trade Fortnight goes bananas....

Fair Trade Fortnight this year (24 Feb – 9 Mar) will see the launch of a new campaign to increase the sales of Fair Trade bananas.

Although more than 1.2 billion Fairtrade bananas are now sold in the UK each year, that is still only one in three of the bananas sold.!

So ‘Abolish the Unfair Banana’ aims to carry on transforming the banana industry, in order to ensure that those at the sharp end of the supply chain – the millions of struggling banana farmers – get a fair deal. The campaign is the next part of Fair Trade’s three year initiative to Make Food Fair.!

Here is the profile of one particular Banana Producer . . .!

" Sandra Joseph

Banana Farmer - St Lucia, Windward Islands!

Introduction!

Sandra Joseph is a banana farmer from the island of St Lucia in the Eastern Caribbean. She is a member of her local Dennery Fairtrade group, part of the Windward Islands Farmers Association (WINFA) which also includes banana farmers from St Vincent & the Grenadines, Dominica and Grenada. WINFA was Fairtrade certified in 2000 and has a membership of around 3,500 banana farmers.!

Fairtrade Parnership!

More than 85 per cent of bananas grown in the Windward Islands are Fairtrade certified and it is access to the UK Fairtrade market that has enabled the banana industry to survive in the increasingly hostile global commercial environment.!

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Fairtrade Standards ensure farmers receive a price per box of bananas that covers their costs of production. In addition WINFA receives the Fairtrade Premium of $1.00 per box to fund community improvements and business development, including diversification into other agricultural products and income generation schemes.!

Why Fairtrade is needed!

Liberalisation of the global banana trade has put the Windwards banana industry under increasing competition from lower-cost bananas grown on vast plantations in Latin American and West Africa. These bananas are on the frontline of a 10-year supermarket price war in the UK which has resulted in loose bananas today selling for almost 50 per cent less than in 2002, devaluing them in the eyes of shoppers. This continuous downward pressure on prices makes it hard to see how anyone could be making a profit, or where investment in a more sustainable and fair banana industry for the future can come from.!

Low retail prices mean farmers like Sandra struggle to cover the costs of running small family farms that use more socially and environmentally friendly methods with fewer agrichemicals but have higher overall costs because of the hilly terrain, lower yields and higher transport, quality control, and labour costs.!

For plantation workers, low retail prices mean long hours, low wages, trade union repression, poor health and safety standards and intensive use of agrichemicals which are harmful to both workers and the environment.! ‘Without the intervention of Fairtrade we would be fighting a losing battle. Fairtrade is our last best chance, our choice, our future. Fig fini san Fairtrade – bananas are finished without Fairtrade.’!

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How farmers have invested the Fairtrade Premium! ! •! Farm improvements to meet GLOBALGAP health and safety standards (required by UK retailers): upgrading packing stations, installing pit toilets and lunch rooms for workers. ! ! •! Agro-tourism: an inter-island income diversification project to refurbish a processing plant to process members’ passion fruit, guava, other fruit into jams, juices and chutneys for sale locally. ! ! •! Health: medical equipment for rural clinics, construction of a medical store, wheelchairs for elderly, annual health checks for workers on members’ farms. ! ! •! Education: pre-school construction and equipment, computers for schools, scholarships for secondary school students, new school bus and bus shelter. ! ! •! Community development: refurbishment of community centres, installing street lighting. ! ! •! Infrastructure: improvement of farm access roads and bridges. ! ! •! Social security: supplementary contributions to farmers’ pension funds. ! ! •! Reduced use of agrichemicals has led to an increase in wildlife (worms, birds, snakes, and crayfish) and allowed animals to be grazed nearby and food crops to be grown. ! ! •! Regular campaigns to remove waste – e.g. the insecticideimpregnated plastic bags used to protect bananas on the trees – have resulted in a cleaner, healthier local environment. !

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! •! Buffer zones between banana plots and rivers/roads have reduced soil erosion, protected fruit from traffic pollution and provided space to plant fruit trees for domestic consumption. !

Decline of Windward Islands Banana Industry Bananas have been crucial to the economic and social development of the Windward Islands for more than 50 years – at one time employing 50 per cent of the workforce and contributing 50 per cent of export earnings. As recently as the 1990s the Windward Islands supplied 60 per cent of the UK’s bananas but liberalization of the global banana trade has almost wiped out the industry.!

The EU Banana Regime has traditionally given preferential treatment to imports from the Windward Islands and other former European colonies in recognition of the importance of the trade to their economic development. But in 1996 Latin American banana exporting countries and the US lodged the first of a series of legal challenges at the World Trade Organization complaining that the EU regime discriminated against Latin American producers. A new agreement signed in December 2009 resolved the long-running dispute and cemented the process of opening up the EU market to increased imports from Latin America by reducing the duty paid on them.!

Erosion of the trade preferences given to the Islands’ banana exports has led to a dramatic decline in the banana trade.

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has fallen from 274,000 tonnes in 1992 to around 15,000 tonnes in 2012 and the Windwards’ share of the UK banana market has plummeted to 9 per cent. The number of farmers has fallen from 27,000 to 3,500, with a consequent reduction in revenues and an increase in unemployment and related social problems among the islands.!

Natural Disasters also threaten the industry Uncertainties about the impact of EU reforms have been compounded by natural disasters. Following Hurricane Dean in 2007, farmers have faced the spread of Black Sigatoka fungal disease and the worst drought in living memory. In 2010 Hurricane Tomas devastated homes and infrastructure, wiped out 50 per cent of bananas in Dominica, and totally destroyed banana production throughout St Vincent and St Lucia. With help from donor agencies, WINFA deployed the small disaster fund put aside from Fairtrade Premiums to get on with replanting and rehabilitation. Production is recovering but the spread of Black Sigatoka continues to ravage crops. Fewer than 1,000 farmers are currently exporting and a co-ordinated effort from all stakeholders is needed to save the industry. But there remains a glimmer of hope for the livelihoods of farmers and their families as Fairtrade Windwards bananas are back on the shelves in Asda, The Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Ocado. !

Read more about WINFA’s struggle for survival and the work of the World Banana Forum towards a sustainable global banana industry on the Banana Link web site (www.bananalink.org.uk). !

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The Way I See It :

Surfing the Web - 22 years after it first began!

I suppose all of us, even if reluctantly, are familiar with the strange code ‘www’ - the prelude to a domain name for the internet. Tap it in, and at once you are somewhere else - a shop, a charity, a government organisation, a vet or a dancing school. I don’t suppose anyone knows how many of those strange ‘www’ names there are, but I think we’d be in the realms of Abraham’s ‘stars in the sky’ or ‘grains of sand on the sea-shore’. !

" The letters stand, of course, for ‘world wide web’, and this month is the 22nd anniversary of its birth, the brain-child of a British computer expert, Tim Berners-Lee. It may seem to have been around forever, but in fact it’s a mere whippersnapper. The next time you fume at the endless advice on the phone to ‘go to our web-site’, think of Mr Berners-Lee and you’ll know who to blame! !

" In fact, the world wide web is now an inescapable part of life for most people all over the world, and even those who aren’t on the internet are aware how dependent so much of modern life is on its working. Via the keys on an ordinary computer, or even the buttons on a Smart-phone, people can have access to an unlimited source of information, advice and resources. Increasingly people choose to shop online (or to cheat a bit, see it in the shop, and then go online to buy it at a discount!). It is a source of facts and 23

information, from train times to the names of medieval monarchs.

In one sense we are drowning in a sea of information, all there at our fingertips (literally) but daunting in its volume. “No”, we sometimes feel like screaming, “I don’t want to ‘go to our web-site’, I just want to talk to a human being.”!

" I used to wonder, as a child, how God could possibly cope with everybody’s prayers - millions of us, presumably, all trying to get through to him at once. How could I think of my little request making its way through this vast traffic jam to the Eternal Ear? Well, ‘www’ offers hope! If Mr Berners-Lee could work out a way to do it, surely it’s not beyond the Creator of the universe?! !

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By David Winter (or www.davidwinter-author.co.uk)!

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For God so loVed the world, That He gAve His onLy BegottEn SoN !

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Should Not perish, But have Everlasting life."

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John 3:16!

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ERDINGTON METHODIST CHURCH

VISION PROJECT

APRIL 26th 2014 @ 7.30pm! !

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BIG TUNES from the BIG SCREEN! " " Tickets £8 – call 0121 354 2555! or email : a1revsmum@blueyonder.co.uk! (inc. coffee/tea & CAKES)!

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TUESDAY FEBRUARY 18TH

12.00 NOON

LUNCH A light first course followed by a

PUDDING TASTING EXPERIENCE !!

Tickets!£5.00!

There!will! soon!be!a! sign/up!list! in!the!foyer!

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February Regular Meetings

" Coffee Mornings

Each Saturday 10.00 am to 12.00 noon!

" " Tuesday Club

Every 4th Tuesday in the month at 2.30 pm!

" " Sunday Worship

All worship starts at 10.30 am unless stated otherwise below. 


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2nd!!

9th! !

16th!! ! !

23rd!!

HOLY COMMUNION - Rev Paul Dunstan!

WORSHIP GROUP - David Hewitt!

ALL AGE WORSHIP & EDUCATION SUNDAY! - Tom Watts!

Glyn Constantine!

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Weekly Church Activities

" Sunday

10.30 am

MORNING WORSHIP and Young Church

Tuesday

9.30 - 12.30 pm 2.00 pm

Pre-School : Karen Homer Tuesday Afternoon Meeting : Ann Tomes (4th)

Wednesday

9.30 - 11.30 am 9.30 - 12.30 pm 12.30 pm

Stay and Play Pre-School : Karen Homer Luncheon Club - (1st and 3rd)

Thursday

9.30 - 12.30 pm

Pre-School : Karen Homer

Friday

9.30 - 12.30 pm 5.00 - 6.15 pm 6.15 - 7.45 pm 7.45 - 9.15 pm 7.45 - 9.15 pm 5.30 - 6.30 pm 5.00 - 6.30 pm 7.30 - 9.00 pm

Pre-School : Karen Homer Beavers : Lynn Turner Cubs : Elizabeth Baizon Scouts : Lisa Porter Explorers : Caroline Joyce Rainbows : Debbie Barnett Brownies : Lesley Carter Guides : Helen Rainsford

Saturday

10.00 - 12.00 noon 10.30 - 11.30 am

Coffee Morning : Lesley Morgan Church open for prayer : Margaret Curzon

" Please hand any items for the March CONTACT to any of the Editorial Team (Peter Farley, Christine Rankin, Ann Tomes & Nick Riley) by 15th February 2014 at the latest please or alternatively email me: nickriley@blueyonder.co.uk with the word ‘CONTACT’ in the title.

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