Contact - March 2015

CONTACT

Magazine of Erdington Methodist Church Station Road - March 2015 1

Contents Minister’s Letter Meeting Jesus Concert on April 18th at 7.30 pm Mother’s reward Our next Vision event...

Pre-school Coffee Morning Sweet News from Joe Carlon Noah had problems too!

Coffee Morning - Saturday 25th April 2015 Missing socks in your life Bronze Chief Scout Awards Foodbank Appeal QUIZ Vision Event - Photography competition - deadline August 31st Helping In Prosperity and Adversity Children’s Pages Driving on the Edge Seasick Methodist consultation on same sex marriage Now showing at a screen near you Celebration Weekend HYMN: The story behind ...

Don’t interrupt!

March Regular Meetings Coffee Mornings Tuesday Club Sunday Worship Weekly Church Activities 2

3 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 9 10 11 11 12 12 13 14 16 20 21 23 24 25 26 27 27 27 27 28

Minister’s Letter Dear friends Every year it seems we’ve hardly put the Christmas decorations away before it’s Lent and then Easter! On Easter Sunday, of course, we celebrate the greatest event in history. In the early Church, Easter Sunday also became the day on which new Christians were baptized. Those new Christians were often from pagan backgrounds in which they had worshipped idols. In becoming Christians they understood very clearly that they were passing from darkness to light, from death to life, from despair to hope, from fear to faith, and all of this is expressed in baptism. However, joining the Church through baptism also made them liable to persecution and suffering. Some found that their jobs weren’t compatible with their new faith. They knew what it meant to be converted: a total change of life. It wasn’t something to do lightly and was (and is) only possible when people realise what God has first done for us.

Because baptism was taken so seriously, in the 6 weeks leading up to Easter Christians prayed and fasted with new converts as they prepared for baptism. This became linked in people’s minds with Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness at the start of his ministry. Their goal was to align themselves more closely with God – to set quality time aside to work out what it means to be faithful to God in a world that still largely rejects him; and what it means to follow One who gave his life on a cross, in a world that glorifies power and strength.

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Today, for most people Lent exists as a faint shadow of these things.

People sometimes make noble sacrifices in Lent, but most people who give something up these days do it to raise money for charity, or for their health! So Lent, like so many things, has been made secular – the focus has been moved from what God has done, to what we do. God has been pushed from the centre to the edge.

How will you use the rest of Lent to draw closer to God? If you’re short of ideas, ask me for some suggestions. If drawing closer to God isn’t on your agenda, maybe you need to search yourself and reflect even more seriously about where you are with God. Again, do speak to me. I’m here to help!

God bless Rev Paul

Meeting Jesus After Easter there will be a series of six Bible studies looking at some of the meetings people had with Jesus – the disciples on the road to Emmaus, the rich ruler, the woman bent double and others.

The meetings will be at Stockland Green Methodist Church on Wednesdays from 22nd April to 27th May, starting at 7.30pm, and all are welcome!

Rev Paul

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Concert on April 18th at 7.30 pm We are welcoming the Immanuel’s Ground Quire in April as part of our Vision funding. This is a choir with some period instrument players. This will be something a little different, a varied programme , and having seen a YouTube clip, very enjoyable.

Please note the date. Tickets will be on sale from March 15th.

Please read on and check them out on the following website... http://www.immanuelsground.com/index.htm Immanuel's Ground - Warwick West Gallery Quire - bring their production of 'In Prosperity and Adversity' to Erdington Methodist Church on Saturday 18 April. They look at the times of George III, as seen through the eyes of some of the then residents of Erdington.

In those days it seems there was little enough Prosperity to go round, especially when it came to marrying a soldier...

There will be plenty of opportunity for audience participation in patriotic songs and other secular music of the period.

Mother’s reward A man was decorating his new den and decided it was a good place to display all the awards he and his two sons had won at various athletic competitions. When he had filled two whole walls, he remarked to his wife that it was a shame she had no awards to contribute. The following day, she produced, neatly framed, the birth certificates of their two sons, and added them to the display.

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Our next Vision event...

QUIZ

NIGHT

MARCH 14th at 6.00 pm

Tickets £7.00 for adults - £4.50 for children Tickets are on sale now and there is a sign up list in the foyer for us to keep track of numbers for fish and chips.

An evening of food and fun

Quiz Master will be Gerald Peel

Pre-school Coffee Morning March 21st 10.00 am to 12 Noon.

Cakes, books, Easter egg raffle, children's craft table.

All welcome Pre-school Team 6

Sweet News from Joe Carlon I have just started a new sweet and confectionary company called Sweet Heaven Events which I’m hoping the Contact readership may be interested in.

Some of the products and services we offer are: Sweet cones Sweet or chocolate bouquets Wedding favours Wishing wells Heart stands

Sweet cups Sweet trees Sweet carts Post boxes

If you want to find out more then email me or phone me at the details below.

Joe Carlon - Sweet Heaven Events

sweetheavenevents@outlook.com 07756548201

Noah had problems too!

When Noah sailed the waters blue, he had his troubles same as you. For forty days he drove the Ark before he found a place to park.

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Coffee Morning - Saturday 25th April 2015 The above Coffee Morning is a fundraising coffee morning for my daughter Jamie Eloise King.

This is a bit about her: Jamie is 18 years old and lives in Erdington. She attended preschool and Rainbows at Erdington Methodist Church. Jamie went to Osborne Nursery School, Osborne Primary, Kingsbury School and then James Brindley in Perry Common. Jamie also attended Solihull College where she undertook an Animal Care Course.

Jamie started to get headaches when she was 10 years old and in 2010 when she was 13 she was diagnosed with Arnold Chiari Malformation Type 1. This is when the brain is too big for the skull so the cerebellar tonsils descend into the spinal canal. Jamie's symptoms have got worse over the years - she has severe headaches, particularly at the base of her skull, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, pain in her back and legs amongst others.

As the symptoms have got worse Jamie's life has changed. She had to leave Kingsbury School and go to James Brindley because she could not attend full time. Although she was in a lot of pain she attained six GCSEs. Jamie then went on to Solihull College to do an Animal Care Course - she had to do much of the work at home as she could not attend College due to the worsening of her symptoms. Jamie passed the course with top marks - a distinction star. She started back there last September to do Level 3 Animal Management but unfortunately had to give it up after a short period of time due to the severity of pain and other symptoms.

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Jamie spends the majority of her time at home in bed as any movement makes her symptoms worse. She very rarely goes out to spend time with friends so has no real quality of life.

Jamie cannot get any help in this country to alleviate her pain and has recently been in contact with a specialist neurosurgeon in New York. He has confirmed that the Chiari is the cause of all her problems and said that she needs surgery. He says without this decompression surgery her symptoms will continue to worsen. The operation will cost approximately £150,000 so we need to start fundraising as soon as possible so that Jamie can get a good quality of life.

Jamie's story has recently been in the Sutton Coldfield Observer.

Local councillors Robert Alden and Gareth Moore have said that they will support the April coffee morning by attending themselves.

We would appreciate your support Many thanks Julie King (Jamie's Mom)

Missing socks in your life What does it mean when all the socks in your laundry match, with none left over? You’re now losing them in pairs!

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Bronze Chief Scout Awards Congratulations to seven of our Beavers from the 177th Beaver Scout Colony. On Friday 23rd January 2015 they were awarded their Bronze Chief Scout Award by Ahmeek, who is the Beaver leader.

The Beavers who received their awards, pictured left to right were as follows Katarina, Samuel, Ethan, Romone, Nana, Matthew and Rhys.

Lynn & Paul Turner

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Foodbank Appeal You may well be aware that we had a massive amount of food donated just before and over the Christmas period and we continue to receive a large amount weekly from the dropbox sited in the Tesco New Oscott store. Our problem at the moment is storing all the food. We are having to pay rental on a storage unit. We are confident that we will use all the food but it would be a great help to us if you could ask your church to buy foodstuffs with long shelf lives, sugar is a good one as it has no use by date, and store it at home until we can release some storage space at our warehouse.

We are extremely grateful to the continued support from local churches.

Best Wishes

Jean Morton Erdington Foodbank Co-ordinator

QUIZ at Sutton Coldfield Methodist Church Saturday, 28 March 2015 (7.00 pm for 7.15 pm start) Do join us with a team of 4 to 6 people or individually To register contact 373 2774 or 323 3425 The cost is £6.00 per person and includes a fish & chip supper Proceeds for the Church Project, John Taylor Hospice 11

Vision Event - Photography competition deadline August 31st We hope you all know about this by now and are starting to take some photos. While we all had eight months to think about it the time will pass quickly, and two of them have gone already!

There is still plenty of time and we don't need anything handed in yet, although any of the Vision group will accept photos at any time with names on the back of 6x4 snaps.

Just to remind you the choices are as below, with a class for children 10 and under on any subject: Landscape Macro (close ups) Winter Buildings Animals Night pictures Hilary Price

Helping If it's true that we are here to help others, what are the others doing here?

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In Prosperity and Adversity

IN PROSPERITY AND ADVERSITY 7.30 pm Saturday 18 April Concert at the

Methodist Church ERDINGTON with

IMMANUEL’S GROUND Warwick’s West Gallery Quire

For Tickets (£7) and Details Hilary Price Tel: 0121 354 2555 13

Children’s Pages

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Driving on the Edge Many of you will already know that the editor of this esteemed magazine is a bit of a geek. . . OK – a lot of a geek!

Technology really ‘floats my boat’ as it were and about twelve months ago I began a journey with the biggest gadget I’ve ever bought.

A Nissan Leaf electric car Now I can already picture many of you thinking about one of those little electric trikes or a golf cart and thinking that I must be a little bit mad or look pretty stupid driving one of these but the fact is it’s been parked on the Church car park each Sunday morning (and most Saturday mornings too) and you probably won’t have noticed it – because it just looks like a car!

I thought at least one or two of you might be interested in what my twelve months has been like with this rather cutting edge piece of technology – so here we go . . .

First of all – to dispel a few myths and to set the scene.

The average range of the car on a full charge is about 80 miles.

Now while I appreciate that doesn’t sound much in comparison to an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car, the fact is that the vast majority of us do less than 40 miles per day – never mind 80.

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The car takes about 8 hours to charge from flat on my home charger (which was fitted for free with a government grant) but . . . the car is rarely flat when I charge it – so averages about 4-5 hours. So I charge it on Economy 7, overnight.

It doesn’t have any petrol backup – it is pure electric. There are cars that have both – they are called hybrids.

It isn’t possible to carry spare batteries – I don’t think a couple of AAs would get me very far!!

It costs very little to run (although I do have it on lease so I have to pay that – but I was paying for cars that way before I had electric).

Even with the drop in petrol prices recently electric driving is considerably cheaper on a day to day basis.

It doesn’t drive like a golf cart! The fact is that the electric motor delivers maximum torque at 0 MPH so it’s rather nippy off the line – I often leave other cars for dust at traffic lights (and I’m not trying to . . . . . . honest!)

So – some myths dispelled – what has it been like to drive?

Actually, riding in the leaf is a very pleasant experience. There is very little motor noise on the inside. It whines a little but not obtrusively so and the majority of the noise is from the wind outside on the car and tyre noise on the road – safe to say it’s very quiet – a bit like riding in an expensive limousine. When I’m reversing, the car is silent (I have to keep checking my mirrors because people can’t hear me). When the car is travelling up to 20 17

mph forwards there is an artificial whistling noise generated by a speaker at the front of the car (for pedestrian safety).

What is day to day usage like?

Day to day is very simple. I’m lucky enough that my employer has charging points installed for electric vehicles. So I drive to work, charge the car while I’m working and drive home – and then repeat the next day.

How do longer journeys work?

On occasion I need to travel a greater distance and unlike an ICE car I do have to plan my journeys. Almost all motorway service stations now have rapid chargers. These will take the car from almost empty to 80% charged in about 30 minutes (just enough time for a cup of tea). I’ve had to use rapid chargers about 10 times during my 12 months with the car – the network can be a bit flaky at the moment so that can be a bit nerve wracking.

During my twelve months I’ve never run out of juice (though I have got quite low sometimes). This condition brings on a bout of ‘Range Anxiety’ and the first time it happens it is a little concerning – after a while you get used to what the car can do though and trust its nstruments to tell you the truth.

If I did run out then my free Rescue service will take me to the next rapid charger (at no extra cost to me – although I’m not sure they’d do it if I ran out on a weekly basis).

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Is it a geeks paradise?

To a certain extent yes. When I start the car it contacts Nissan’s servers and keeps track of my usage. Total mileage driven, power used in KwH, month by month records of distance travelled and motor power expended - all accessible through a web interface and various mobile phone apps. Unfortunately it also makes me realise just how many hours I spend in the car!!

What’s the best thing about the car?

The best bit, by far, is the fact that I can schedule the car to pre-heat itself in the morning – so while I watch my neighbours scraping at their windscreens I float away in warm and comfortable silence – bliss!

Do I like driving my electric car then?

Yes . . . most definitely YES! It’s really comfortable and works for my daily commuting and the occasional longer journey. Will I ever go back to an ICE?(see above if you can’t remember what this means). Not if I can help it – this is probably the best car I have ever owned and at the same time I’m helping the planet by running a car that doesn’t belch out any exhaust fumes Would I recommend it to others?

With a big ‘If it works for your daily driving’ clause, then wholeheartedly. I know some people drive hundreds of miles a day and I wouldn’t recommend it for them.

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Can I see what it is like to travel in one?

If you would like to see what a journey in an electric car is like then I’d be more than happy to bore you silly about it with a little ride around the locality. Just ask.

I went with Nick in his car this morning (21st February) to attend to some business. It's an eye opener - lovely car, drives beautifully and remarkably well thought out.

Take him up on his offer! - Barbara

My name is Nick Riley and I’m a technology junkie!

Seasick It was discovered on a cruise that a clergyman was a bad sailor.

Another passenger, a judge, found him leaning over the rail of a ship as it swayed to the heavy roll of the sea. “Can I do anything for you?” asked the judge, with sympathy.

“Yes,” pleaded the clergyman. “Overrule the motion.”

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Methodist consultation on same sex marriage At the Methodist Conference in 2013 a working party was set up “to consider whether the Methodist Church’s position on marriage needed revising in the light of the changes in society, undertaking this consideration with reference to scripture, tradition, reason and experience.�

On Monday 9th February a meeting of Circuit members was organised to discuss this topic here at Erdington. This was the next stage of the Connexional consultation following on from the national consultation survey that took place in 2014.

After a brief introduction the Superintendent sent us away into groups to discuss the questions posed by the working party. I cannot imagine that my group was any different from the others and the opening exchanges were dominated by contributions from polarised positions. We ascertained, early on, that Jesus' teaching was about divorce and not marriage. To find anything definitive about the marriage of a man and a woman one almost has to delve back into the Old Testament.

In answer to the first question, should we allow our churches to marry couples of the same sex? we agreed to differ. The result with the second and third questions, should Church Councils have a veto and should ministers be given a conscience clause was in effect the same. At its most basic our differences appeared to centre around the traditional wording of the marriage ceremony, which talks about the union of a man and a woman.

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Interestingly, however, it was when we discussed the last question, should we allow the blessing of previous civil ceremony? that we had the most trouble because it was here that the real question of what is a church marriage? finally came to the fore. Initially we were all agreed that a post Civil Ceremony blessing would be acceptable. Then our group leader posed the question "What is the difference between blessing a union and allowing the union to take place in the church in the first place?" He went on, in effect to ask the supplementary question; surely a blessing is a way for the Church to say that God is happy with this. However, if God were happy with the union after it has been completed why would He not be happy with being part of the completing? Unfortunately we didn’t have long enough to finish this part of the discussion.

All of the groups reported back very similar outcomes. By way of closing remarks the Superintendent summarised the results of the survey which had taken place in 2014, pointing out a few disconcerting results including: About 50% of the responders were male and given the demographics of the Methodist Church this is highly unlikely.

About 99% of the responders registered as heterosexual. Again that is either unusual or the Methodist Church presents a façade which is unwelcoming to the 10% of our population who would not classify themselves heterosexual.

Lastly about two thirds of under 25 year olds didn’t see any of this as a problem. On the other hand about three quarters of the over 65s thought it was a problem.

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The final thought from the front was how do we keep the church together when we are so polarised? Maybe the answer to this problem is in the turn out. This was a Circuit consultation in a relatively benign evening and the attendance was about 50. Does this actually represent the number of people in the Circuit who, in reality, think that this is worth debating one way or the other? Is everyone else almost indifferent to the outcome?

One final question was posed, what would you say if it were your child or grandchild?

Peter Farley

Now showing at a screen near you

Singing the Faith plus (the online resource site for StF users) has looked at the Oscar nominations again this year and picked out four films for discussion from a unique hymn-led perspective. Hymns and Hollywood reflects on movies that both echo and challenge Christian thinking, and we ask what hymn writers offer by way of response.

StF+ has also refreshed its online lent reflections and resources with suggestions for using Singing the Faith during Lent – hymns for worship plus resources for study, prayer and action. And Lent in other places explores beyond the Lent section of the hymn book to discover additional hymns suitable for this season. from the Methodist Church News Service 23

Celebration Weekend It would be good if others wrote about their experience of the weekend as well, to convey a general flavour of the event so please let Nick have any articles. We held it at this time, although there is still much to do to complete the project, because the Veolia Environmental Trust financed a large part of it, and this was part of their requirement in fulfilling our contract with them.

We had a super day on the Saturday – lots of people coming in – the scouts in uniform – free teas and coffees, reduced price and bacon baps, a wonderful Veolia cake and a real buzz of enthusiasm. Special thanks must go to the energetic and hot kitchen staff, Marion and Anthony, Lindsay, Anne and Sue, and others, who did a wonderful job, finally running out of food!

We were pleased that the Lord Mayor came to open the proceedings and entered into the spirit of the occasion, as did MP Jack Dromey, Pam and Derek Goodenough from Veolia and who were so friendly, staying most of the morning, and the three councilors Gareth, who had helped us to get a grant from Community First, Bob and Robert who were there later.

These events and all the others we have arranged have been as important as the money they have generated. We have met more people and talked to others we may not have spoken to before and are becoming a real church family. Saturday was not a moneymaking event, but £200 was raised and £100 sent to the Friends of John Taylor Hospice, and £100 for Vision Funds.

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Sunday was particularly a day of celebration for all that has been done so far, but particularly for Rose Waits’ beautiful fused glass window. This was an exciting extra to the Vision Project and gave a young artist her first large commission and a step towards her full time career, which we will follow with interest. A big thank you to Alex Dunstan who stepped in at the last minute in the middle of a very busy time at college and led an exciting and moving service.

For those interested, Rose’s website is www.rosewaits.com Hilary Price

HYMN: The story behind ...

Dear Lord and Father of mankind This is the nation’s second favourite hymn, according to a poll taken by the BBC Songs of Praise programme in 2013. But it did not originate in the UK, nor did it begin life as a hymn. It began in the USA, as part of a poem about a drug-induced religious frenzy.

John Greenleaf Whittier had been born in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1807. His family were part of a pious Quaker community, and so the young John had grown up in an atmosphere of reverence, of waiting upon God in prayerful silence. Whittier wanted to be a poet, but his father directed him to journalism instead, in order to be sure his son could earn a living. Obediently, Whittier took up his pen and began to write for the papers. He was soon engaged in the fight against slavery, which he called the ‘national crime’. He was frequently abused and criticised for his stand, and found his solace in turning to his first love, poetry.

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In 1872 he wrote a 17 verse ‘hymn-poem’ called ‘The Brewing of Soma’. It was an attempt to depict the futile ways in which mankind tries to engage with God. The story line is of priests of the Vedic religion (close to Hinduism) brewing soma, a sacred ritual drink with hallucinogenic properties. The priests are hoping that Soma will give them an experience of the divine, but instead they simply get drunk. This failure is then compared to some Christians' use of "music, incense, vigils drear, And trance, to bring the skies more near, Or lift men up to heaven!" But all their effort is in vain.

It is mere intoxicated folly.

And so the poem runs for 11 verses. Then, in verse 12, the whole scene changes, and we are not using props any longer, but simply looking into the loving face of the God of the Bible. We come to Him in penitence, and are met with grace and love. We encounter Jesus, and follow Him in obedience. The result is peace, stillness, and eternal life.

The poem became the hymn in 1884, when Garrett Horder took the poem’s final five verses and made them the hymn we love today.

Here in the UK we sing it to the tune ‘Repton’, by C Hubert H Parry.

Don’t interrupt!

Sir Winston Churchill rehearsed his speeches at every opportunity.

A true story about him relates how one morning, when Sir Winston was in his tub, his valet heard his voice above the splashing.

Opening the door, he asked; “Were you speaking to me, sir?”

“Not at all,” Churchill replied, annoyed at the interruption. “I was addressing the House of Commons.”

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March 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. 
 1st

HOLY COMMUNION - Rev Paul Dunstan

8th

Bob Dauncey

15th

ALL AGE WORSHIP - MOTHERING SUNDAY Lynne Crowe

22nd

Colin Topliss

29th

PALM SUNDAY - Rev Paul Dunstan

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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 : Margaret Hillman (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 : Lucy Porter 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 April CONTACT to any of the Editorial Team (Peter Farley, Christine Rankin, Ann Tomes & Nick Riley) by 15th March 2015 at the latest please or alternatively email me: nickriley@blueyonder.co.uk with the word ‘CONTACT’ in the title.

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