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Magazine of Erdington Methodist Church Station Road - March 2017 1

Contents From our Minister, Malcolm Regular Giving and Gift aid *NEW STEWARDS STILL URGENTLY REQUIRED FOR SEPTEMBER 2017* Coffee Morning & Gift Day Upcoming dates to note Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Our Active Beavers NHS Ageing?

Too Rough!

2017 Faith Easter Egg launched The Crucifixion – by Sir John Stainer The Wrong Turn How many words does it take?

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

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From our Minister, Malcolm Dear friends ‘Daddy, Can we cross over the road, we want to see the buds’ …

It’s a great joy to walk with our five year old twins to school…

Albeit due to the cold and sometimes icy weather of the past months we are glad to reach the destination! We look forward even more as winter turns to spring and summer . . . although wonder if the twins will ever go to bed before the sun sets for much of the year. In Moçambique and much of Africa the sun always sets (all 365 days) at a similar time . . . around 1800 hours.

‘Appreciating Beauty’ is one of the 24 Dispositions which children and young people focus on in Birmingham schools. (https:// www.faithmakesadifference.co.uk/dispositions) ‘Appreciating Beauty’ is about discovering a growing and deepening sensitivity for the world about us.

Isn’t it amazing that in the heart of winter already the signs of new life are shown in buds on what at first can appear as dead branches.

It’s a privilege to seek these buds with the twins… peeking out through undergrowth and reaching out through rusting fence railings. By the time you read this, many more signs of the wonders of God’s creation will be evident… and as we prepare during Lent for the journey to Easter day when we will once again be reminded that out of an end can come a new beginning.

I am always mindful of the difference in English between Resuscitation and Resurrection. Whilst some use these words 3

interchangeably, I think it is important to ponder on the profound difference . . . but more of that next time.

At present, let us ensure we continue ‘Appreciating Beauty’ in our daily lives and in our worship together as church. May we take every opportunity to reflect on the wonder, mystery, intricacy, fragility and goodness of God’s creation. Also how we can discover more about ‘Appreciating Beauty’ in the birth, life and death of Jesus who we know as the Son of God. As we strive towards ‘Appreciating Beauty’ may that more and more evoke in us the human response of respect and reverence both for the seen and also the unseen. May we, of differing ages and diverse roots, enable each other to see the ‘WOW’ in life’s journey so that we are never completely overcome by the snags of sin, hate, evil, despondency that can be so destructive.

May God bless us . . . as God blessed Jesus in his sometimes difficult journey not least as he struggled for a period in the wilderness (which we recall during Lent from Ash Wednesday to Holy Week). May we, like my twin daughters, look in places which may seem unlikely for ‘buds’ but which in time, can remind us how important it is to engage in ‘Appreciating Beauty’.

May God bless your seeing and searching, Your minister and friend, Malcolm

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Regular Giving and Gift aid Erdington Methodist Church raises funds not only for the work here in Erdington but also supports the work of the circuit and indeed the work and ministry of the Methodist movement.

The whole budget of how the money is spent is under the close control of the Church Council and subject to your scrutiny as members of the church. As you all are probably aware the church uses several mechanisms to raise funds. Local groups and societies use the premises for their activities and make the regular contributions, for example, the uniformed organisation, hobby activities, blood donors etc. However the church also relies on members of the church making regular and generous contributions to continue the work of the church. As Gift Aid and Covenant Secretary I would like to offer some explanation of the various ways available for you to make your contribution in the most convenient way and indeed for us to be able to get the maximum benefit from this contribution by claiming on the ‘Gift Aid’ provisions of the Tax legislation.

Regular Giving and Gift aid Regular giving does help the church to manage its financial affairs and perhaps help you to manage your own budgets. To that end during the month of March I will have available boxes containing an envelope for each Sunday of the year. Each box is numbered and that number will be registered to you. I have already prepared the boxes for those of you who are already regular givers but I do have adequate supplies to cover those of you who now wish to use this system.

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Gift Aid If you are a UK tax payer you can make a ‘one off’ Gift Aid Declaration to the Church. This enables us to reclaim the tax that you have paid; this makes every £1 you donate worth £1.25 to the church. Your box number will be cross-referenced to your declaration to eliminate any necessity for writing names on envelopes. Gift Aid Declaration forms are available from me or a Steward.

Ad hoc Donations and Gift Aid We do of course welcome any ‘one off’ ad hoc contributions and I have a supply of Gift Aid envelopes for that purpose; these will be put with the visitor book and at the Prayer table Standing Orders Nowadays you can now make your donations via a standing order to your bank to pay directly into the Church’s bank account. This is a very efficient method and it means you don’t have to hunt for the cash every week and the money is transferred very securely without having to be handled. If you wish to use this method Gerald Peel, the Church Treasurer, can supply you with the necessary forms and bank account details I hope the information above is very clear but do please feel free to contact me if you wish clarification on anything whatsoever on the information above Sue Turner. suelizzyturner@yahoo.co.uk 0121 384 8373 6

*NEW STEWARDS STILL URGENTLY REQUIRED FOR SEPTEMBER 2017* Please keep at the forefront of your minds and in your prayers the urgent need we have for new Stewards in September 2017 as detailed in last month’s Contact.

We really do need YOUR help!

Coffee Morning & Gift Day The next Coffee Morning for the Organ Fund will be on Saturday 18th March 2017. Normal time - from 10 - 12.

On this occasion we are also asking you to consider giving an extra special gift to help us progress getting the current organ repaired and cleaned.

As we approach the day, envelopes will be available for your gift both from the door stewards on a Sunday and also available on the day.

We are now past the £4000 mark and we only need about £5000 to get the urgent work done. Please do give if you are able.

Many thanks Nick Riley & the Fund Raising Group 7

Upcoming dates to note Unfortunately, because I’m perhaps not as organised as I’d like to be, a couple of activities recently passed people by simply because I forgot to mention them! Apologies for that. I’m looking at finding a way to keep up-coming activities in clear view including sending a diary page along with the church notices each week.

I am in the process of putting it together and it will appear in your inboxes soon.

For those of you without access to electronic forms of communication I will be putting the diary up on the noticeboard by the office too - so do remember to take a look when you pass and note down those important dates in your diaries (paper or otherwise).

Nick Riley (Senior Steward)

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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Somebody asked a Christian friend why he was eating doughnuts, when he had given them up for Lent! He answered, ‘At the bakers I told God, that if He wanted me to buy doughnuts, He should provide a parking space in front. On the eighth time around, there it was!’ Rather than seeing Lent simply as a time to give things up, let’s use it intentionally for self-examination, reading Scripture, penitence, fasting and prayer.

At Jesus’ baptism, God’s voice says, ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’ (Luke 3:22). The Holy Spirit then leads Jesus into the wilderness, where we find Him coming to terms with who He is. Satan’s temptations challenge Jesus in key three areas of His identity: social action, political power, and religious identity (Luke 4: 1-13). It is as though Jesus looked into the mirror at Himself to discern what kind of Saviour He would be.

We can also think of Lent as an opportunity to hold a mirror up to ourselves and ask the question, ‘who am I? It is a season of honest encounter with who we are, what we’ve done, and the world in which we live. How will you keep Lent period of 40 days running up to Easter? What will you see when you hold up the mirror to yourself? Alongside taking time to read Scripture, study a Christian book and pray with fasting, why not give up texting for Lent and simply talk on the phone; commit ourselves to just working 40 hours a week or spend five minutes each day in silence!

Whatever we do, Lent is a season for self-reflection, as we put ourselves in a position to receive afresh the forgiveness and healing that God offers. - from the Parish Pump Website 9

Our Active Beavers On Saturday 3rd December 2016 21 Beavers from our colony attended the Chasewater Railway Santa Special together with a further 89 Beavers from our district. First we went on the Santa

special train along by the reservoir and returned back to the station, then a visit to Santa's grotto which displayed model railway trains and other models which were very colourful.

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Then it was time to meet Santa himself.

Groups of 5 Beavers were taken into see Santa and he found time to talk to all the children and presented them with a special mug. Santa's elves then presented each Beaver with 2 further presents which we later found out to be fantastic gifts.

It was then time for lunch and then a visit to the museum before going on a hike to the country park where there was a playground so that the Beavers could have a good run around. Finally, a visit to the station shop before boarding our coach to come home.  Feedback from our Beavers proved that this day out was very special for them.

Lynn & Paul

NHS Blackpool and Fylde just announced that 3% of their population uses 50% of A&E resources.

I wonder how that compares with our area?

Peter Farley

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Ageing?

Just before Christmas 2015 my great aunt died and we got caught up in the great Christmas paperwork melange and the funeral was delayed until February whilst we waited for the death certificate. I had Power of Attorney for my aunt’s health and to the disappointment of at least one of her friends I would not sanction admission to hospital. She died in her nursing home surrounded not only by family and friends but also by the staff that she knew and knew her. On the day that she died one member of the staff sat with her all day, quite a different experience to that which she would have experienced on an acute geriatric ward in the run up to Christmas.

Then just before Christmas 2016 I had a conversation with my daughter about her geriatric training. During this time she was the most junior doctor for all the geriatric patients in her hospital.

Overnight one of her patients died and she said to me I worried about whether I could have done more. I said something fatherly and hopefully wise and the conversation moved on.

But afterwards when I thought about the importance of this conversation I decided that if she ever said that to me again I would interject, ‘not could have done but should have done’, because of my experience with my great aunt.

It is suggested that part of the problem with the NHS at the moment relates to bed blocking. Elderly people who are medically fit for discharge, but who have nowhere to go or no one to care for them in another place. Moya will have heard me say this many, many times. Because not everyone needs social care at the end of his or her life the problem has a low political priority. If we all 14

ended our days in a geriatric ward or a residential home something would have been done about the problems associated with social care a long time ago.

Recently, in The Observer, I saw a piece about Miriam Margolydes’ suggesting that we need to break open the conspiracy of silence about ageing. Politicians of all hues will comment that every day we live our average life expectancy goes up by about five hours and isn’t that something to celebrate, but still no one ever talks about the down side of this situation. Miriam reported that after a minor surgical procedure she now has a problem with continence.

I wondered whether this is a known risk for her particular procedure and that no one had bothered to warn her.

I think that we avoid talking about getting older to our detriment.

My son-in-law tells me not to worry, I have decades to live yet. But on the other hand my son comments that recently his father-in-law suddenly looks older. I really don’t know what to think except, as with social care, I suggest that we haven’t quite got it right. There was the appeal in the February Contact for members to befriend old people in Erdington. Also I noticed a piece the other day, elsewhere, suggesting that one of the solutions to the problem of accommodation for students was for them to live with elderly people who have plenty of space but need companionship. Both these need consideration but equally need to be approached with care, both for a giver and the receiver.

Since I wrote this the Government Minister for Care is quoted as saying, ‘We should care for our parents in the same way that we care for our children’. He suggested that we had much to learn from the Mediterranean culture of intergenerational care. I am sure 15

that this can be problematic but my aunt and uncle added a flat for an elderly parent which was successfully maintained until her death.

At the moment I am reading ‘Being Mortal’ by Atul Gawande. In this he starts by talking about the evolution of our current systems of care for the elderly. He then goes on to outline the problems and blessing associated with the different ways of caring for elderly people. The reading is as yet unfinished but for me the most important point that he makes is that we need to be aware of what people are giving up when they move into care. Suddenly their lives are not their own and they are prevented from doing anything which might be regarded as in any way dangerous i.e. living.

Those providing care are legally obliged to keep them safe, a feeling no doubt encouraged by their children: no cooking knives, no stairs and no walking down to the shop to buy a paper, just the lowest common denominator television and lump free food!

My aunt once said, no matter how nice your room is, if you can’t go out it is a prison. Watch this space for when I have finished my book!

Peter Farley

Too Rough!

A little girl asked her mother, "Can I go outside and play with the boys?" Her mother replied, "No, you can't play with the boys, they're too rough." The little girl thought about it for a few moments and asked, "If I can find a smooth one, can I play with him?"

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2017 Faith Easter Egg launched The new look Real Easter Egg 2017 range has been launched, and churches are being asked to encourage people to support this unique way of sharing the story of Easter.

This year a 24 page Easter story-activity book, illustrated by Alida Massari, is included in the original, Egg Hunt and Dark Eggs. The Special Edition has an Easter traditions booklet inside. The Sharing Box, with 30 eggs, comes with 30 colour-in posters.

Out of the 80 million Easter eggs sold in this part of the world every year, The Real Easter Egg is the only one which has a copy of the Easter story in the box, is made of Fairtrade chocolate and makes a donation to charity from sales.

The Real Easter Egg was launched in 2010 but the supermarkets turned down the idea. It was left to churches and church schools to place orders to fund The Meaningful Chocolate Company so they could make The Real Easter Egg. David Marshall, creator of the Real Easter Egg, said; “With the support of churches more than one million eggs have been sold with 750,000 of these sent through the post directly to churches and schools. The rest have been sold through independent retailers and supermarkets.

“The success of The Real Easter Egg has meant that the production of Fairtrade chocolate has moved to the UK. Over £250,000 has been raised from sales for charitable causes. Due to production 17

restrictions, this year we have slightly fewer eggs available so we recommend people to order as early as possible."

The whole range can be ordered online at www.realeasteregg.co.uk (with free delivery) or from Traidcraft, Eden.co.uk, TLM trading.com, Embrace the Middle East. Christian bookshops and some cathedrals also have stocks. You can also buy the blue Original egg from Tesco, Waitrose and Morrisons.

If you are interested in buying a ‘Real Easter Egg’ then please speak to Nick, as soon as possible, who (if there are enough people interested) will make a bulk order.

The Crucifixion – by Sir John Stainer A Circuit Service - 6.00pm on Palm Sunday Erdington Methodist Church I cannot remember when we last sang John Stainer’s “The Crucifixion” in this church but I do know it was sometime during the last century! The good news is that on Palm Sunday a choir, largely made up of people from the Sutton Park Circuit, will perform this Victorian Masterpiece.

There are those who claim that occasional sentimentality coupled with some archaic language, is apparent in this oratorio. While there is some truth in this, it cannot be denied that its popularity and broad appeal continues to thrive throughout churches all over the world.

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Stainer wrote The Crucifixion for members of church choirs.

Essentially, it is a modest work written for amateur singers with some understanding of choral music. It is to his credit that several professional choirs perform it during Holy Week. The performance lasts for about one hour – a sensible length of time for most churches. It is interesting that Stainer had the good sense to write the accompanying music for just one instrument, the organ. After all, how many small churches are able to afford an orchestra to accompany the choir and congregation?! In any case, a good church organ is absolutely the right choice for this Meditation on the Passion of the Holy Redeemer. (A personal opinion!)

The work begins with these words, “And they came to a place named Gethsemane” where Jesus prayed in the garden knowing that something terrible was about to happen. This is followed by events of The Passion. The chorus, “God so Loved the World” is the most beautiful, well-loved centrepiece in the whole oratorio.

Finally, everyone assembled joins together to sing “For the love of Jesus”. This magnificent hymn reaches out to us all as it proclaims: “All for Jesus”.

Nick and Barbara are leading the practices. There are one or two changes that you will notice as we progress through the score, but the essence of the work remains totally intact. For one thing, we have added a narrator and we thank David Hewitt for agreeing to do the narrating.

We hope to fill the church at this special service on Palm Sunday.

What’s more, a large congregation will be much needed to join in the singing of five glorious hymns. Come and join us!

Barbara Rawson 19

The Wrong Turn Many of you will know that I have been a skier for over 30 years.

This year we travelled to Banff in Canada to ski. It is reputed to be the powder skiing capital of the world, not that I have any great ability to ski in powder snow. It is just that when you see people doing it, gracefully from side to side, I think I would like to be able to do that. Here we were reminded that skiing in Canada is quite different from skiing in Europe. Canadians are consistently polite with the ready response ‘you are very welcome’ and people stopped in the street to help us. For a European skier it is almost incredible that there are no scrums around the entry into a lift stations. This is an amazing contrast to Italy where skis are consistently trodden on in the crush.

In addition we came across one lift where the seat was heated as it passed through the base station. It was nice to have a hot bot as we rode up in the biting wind.

We were booked onto an evening flight from Heathrow. The flight time was a nine-hour flight and Banff time is of plus seven hours.

This meant that we were chasing the dusk for much of our journey over Greenland.

But the long flights are not the only problem associated with transatlantic holidays. Anyone wanting to travel to Canada or the US requires an electronic visa. For Canada the process is relatively new and should be painless except for the $7.00 charge.

Unfortunately from my experience it is not quite as foolproof as it should have been. I ordered my eTA (electronic travel authorisation) for Canada a while ago which arrived within about 20

half and hour, informing me that I was approved to travel until my Passport expired. However, when I arrived at Heathrow my checkin was declined, no valid eTA. After a great deal of head scratching with a check-in supervisor it transpired that the passport number on my eTA did not match the number on my passport.

Inadvertently I had added the check digit onto the eTA system.

Computerised systems should be set up to be fail-safe. Therefore why did the system not reject my application which had ten digits rather than the nine on a UK passport?

Our problems, however, were not only electronic. On the way back to the airport my companion drove into a garage to fill up with petrol prior to returning our hire car. After we had filled up the tank she tried to turn the wrong way onto the duel carriageway running alongside the forecourt. Fortunately there were two drivers in the car.

However my problems with technology did not end on the way out. They continued on my way home. Because we both had electronic passports we opted for the rapid entry lane at Heathrow.

This was new for me and my skiing companion called cheerily over her shoulder, ‘It works better if you take off your glasses’, which I duly did. Unfortunately, without my glasses I could not read the sign which told me to remove my hat. My application for electronic entry was rejected with a suitable audible warning and I was referred to a guard.

Whilst we were skiing we came across a ski run signed ‘Wrong Turn’. Ski runs often have names suggestive of what you can expect to find after you leave the first bend. Therefore it would come as no surprise that ‘Wild Gully’ and ‘Eagles Beak’ are not on the list of 21

easy ski runs. However ‘Wrong Turn’ was quite a nice run down to the bottom and I wondered why it had been so named. The only conclusion we came to was that it was a more difficult branch from a route which was labelled as the easiest way down to the base station.

Life is full of opportunities to take wrong turns. I would suggest that there were two involved in my faulty application for an eTA. Firstly my original error that was compounded by the system, which was not specified well enough to reject such errors. There was no excuse during the re-entry process for taking off my glasses before I had read the warning signs. And when driving on the ‘wrong side’ of the road there are a myriad opportunities for wrong turns.

God did not promise us a trouble free life. What he said was that he would help us to cope with troubles when they came.

Fortunately both of us were sufficiently good skiers to cope with the hazards which confronted us when we took our ‘Wrong Turn’.

Peter Farley

How many words does it take?

Pythagorean Theorem: …………………………….. 24 words Lord’s Prayer:……………………………………….. 66 words Ten Commandments: …………………………….… 179 words US Declaration of Independence : ………………… 1,300 words US Constitution with all 27 Amendments: ……….. 7,818 words EU regulations on the sale of cabbage:…………….. 26,911 words Puts things into proper perspective, doesn’t it?

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March Regular Meetings Coffee Mornings Each Saturday 10.00 am to 12.00 noon

Tuesday Club Every 2nd Tuesday in the month at 2.00 pm

Sunday Worship All worship starts at 10.30 am unless stated otherwise below.

5th 12th 19th 26th

1ST SUNDAY IN LENT - Rev Stephen Willey HOLY COMMUNION - Rev Nic Blackwell ALL AGE WORSHIP & PARADE - Rev Malcolm Oliver MOTHERING SUNDAY - Young Church

Don’t forget that the clocks ‘spring forward’ on Sunday 26th March and British Summer Time begins.

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Weekly Church Activities Sunday

10.30 am

MORNING WORSHIP and Young Church

Tuesday

2.00 pm

Tuesday Afternoon Meeting : Margaret Hillman (2nd)

Wednesday

9.30 - 11.30 am 12.30 pm

Stay and Play Luncheon Club - (1st and 3rd)

Friday

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

Beavers : Lynn Turner Cubs : Elizabeth Baizon Scouts : Paul Harris 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 2017 CONTACT to any of the Editorial Team (Peter Farley, Christine Rankin, Ann Tomes & Nick Riley) by 15th March 2017 at the latest please, or alternatively email me: nickriley@blueyonder.co.uk with the word ‘CONTACT’ in the title.

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