The service tomorrow will be in church or on zoom. The zoom
link is below.
NOTE after the service we will be having a short meeting
regarding the church heating and decorating. You are all invited to stay on for
the meeting but it’s also fine to leave us after the service/chat time.
As you will have guessed, we are unable to hold the ‘Crisis’ coffee morning in St. James’ Church this year. However, we know that some people have been preparing for it from January. So, at the Crossroads pop up shop on November 7th we will be selling handmade crafts and Mandy’s gift baskets and sweets.
Additionally, we have set up a ‘Just Giving’ page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/richard-whiteley4. You could have coffee and a slice of cake on November 28th (you may even be able to meet up with a friend) and have a virtual coffee morning and donate or you can, of course, donate at any time.
Jean Burhouse has kindly made the following offer to raise money for ‘Crisis’:
Box containing a rich fruit Christmas loaf and a dozen mince pies for £15. Happy to take up to 10 or 12 orders.
Also 3 tray bakes (each of 12 pieces) to be delivered at intervals of choice for £20 happy to take up to 5 orders.
Mandy Taylor has kindly made the following offers to raise funds for ‘Crisis’.
TayTrans Ltd will donate 12 Bottles (5 Orders)
3 Bottles of Red, 3 Bottle of White, 3 Bottles of Rose, 3 Bottles of Prosecco
All good quality wines = £60.00 per 12 bottles (5 orders)
TayTrans will donate 6 Cases (5 Orders)
3 Cases of Lagers, 3 Cases of Beers
All good quality = £30.00 per 6 Cases (5 orders)
If you would like to order some baking or alcohol, please email me at alisonwhiteley@ntlworld.com
The Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) will take place on Wednesday 28th October at 7pm in St Bartholomew’s Church, #Meltham (subject to social distancing etc.) This meeting would usually take place by the end of April but has been delayed due to the Covid pandemic. Due to this there has been a special measure granted by Bishop Nick to additionally allow people to attend the meeting online via Zoom. There is also an option to participate via telephone using these details below: Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7595196115?pwd=d3NhNFVOaWR4RVk2QWswd1QvZ2xNdz09
NOTES ON THIS YEARS APCM Due to our new constitution we will be holding our elections differently this year than we have in the past.
All Church Wardens must be Elected (2 for each Parish Church serving a 1-year term of office) at the Annual Meeting of Parishioners which will be a short meeting held before the APCM. This is only for the purpose of electing Church Wardens and so it will start at 7:00pm with the main meeting/APCM beginning immediately afterwards.
12 people
will be elected to the Parochial Church Council (PCC). This will mean 3 members per Church. We would normally
elect a third of the membership each year. Therefore, one third of those
elected will serve one year (until the end of the next APCM), one third will
serve 2 years, and one third will serve 3 years. In this case the length of
office for each member elected will be decided by the drawing of lots.
4
representatives of the parish will be elected for the Deanery Synod, this will mean 1 representative per
Church. As this is the year in which we would normally be electing Deanery
representatives they will serve for a full 3-year term.
6 people will be elected from each Church to be representatives on their own Parish Church Steering group. These steering groups will assist the PCC and Vicar in furthering the mission of the Church. There would normally be 2 new representatives elected each year. Therefore, one third of those elected will serve one year (until the end of the next APCM), one third will serve 2 years, and one third will serve 3 years. In this case the length of office for each member elected will be decided by the drawing of lots.
If you wish to stand for election to any of these offices, please fill out a nomination form in advance of the meetings.
21 “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.22 Why do you pursue me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?23 “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll,24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on] lead, or engraved in rock forever 25 I know that my redeemer] lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth]26 And after my skin has beendestroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Job is the richest of all the peoples around, with family, herds of animals, servants. He was fair and just in all his dealings, and righteous in the sight of God. In the story the accuser Satan has patrolled the earth watching all that is going on. The Lord asks Satan “have you noticed my servant Job he is the finest in all the world. He is blameless – a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. Wiley Satan gains access from God to remove His protection and allow Satan to test Job in a whole series of calamities.
Job loses everything but remains Righteous. At the loss of his family Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worshipand said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job is suffering, even though he knows he has done nothing wrong. Yet he doesn’t lose his trust in God’s loving care.
REFLECTION
Does what we have read about Job recall any testing times that we might have experienced in our own life?
The name that Job gives to God, “my Redeemer” literally means – something like the one who releases hostages or lets those in prison go free.
Where might you, or those close to you, need a Redeemer like this?
Job speaks of a God who is on His side in his discussion with those who sought to help him. Do you know that feeling at all; the feeling of having God on your side? What’s that like?
Think also about the Testing Time the world is experiencing at present remembering all the disruption and loss through the Coronavirus. Add to your thoughts the fact that there will possibly be no Trade agreement with Europe in the New Year.
A Prayer by Thomas Merton – Sent in by Daphne Green.
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will, does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the Shadow of death: I will not fear, , for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
A word from the book of Job
“ I know that my Redeemer lives”
Job 19.23
Let us continue to pray for the work of the Crossroads Shop, Crossroads Centre and Meltham Food Bank.
Let us also continue to pray for the work of Teams4U and Meltham Shoebox volunteers as they prepare to send Shoeboxes to children in Eastern Europe.
And let us remember the work of CRISIS – the national organization for the homeless. As mentioned previously we cannot this year hold our CRISIS coffee morning due to Covid but gifts will be on sale in the Church Hall at the Crossroads Pop Up Shop on 7th November. If you would like to donate to the work of CRISIS there has also been set up a giving page where you can give your donation https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/richard-whiteley4
The Live stream was not possible today as the mobile phone network in #Meltham was down. Here is an updated link for the service now it has been uploaded afterwards: https://youtu.be/ZRIbDJh3Alo
Saturday 17th October – Wilshaw clearing and levelling rubbish heap
DO YOU feel like some exercise that is cost free, in the open air and where the chat and laughter is as important as the work? If so, then you are most welcome to join our band of merry helpers. We aim for this to be an informal group, where friendships can grow as the weeds are subdued!!
All groups run from about 9:30am to 12:30pm but don’t feel you have to be there the whole time. Please bring own tea/coffee and tools.
Please contact Mike on 07867 951512 for further details, or to let him know you can help.
Join us for our Harvest Festival as we celebrate and give thanks for God’s wonderful gifts – Sunday 11th October at 9:30am – join us in church or at home on our live stream. Food donations will be distributed via Meltham Food Bank. https://youtu.be/X0aTwZ8RrZQ
Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice; seek the Lord and be strengthened, seek his face always.
Entering prayer today, we seek the Lord, seeking his face, looking for the signs of his presence in our lives. Looking for His gentle hand guiding us into truth, peace and love.
Isaiah 55:6-9 Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “
Jesus spent a lot of His time with unpopular people. A good example can be seen in Luke’s gospel where a woman anoints the feet of Jesus with precious oil and wipes them clean with her hair. This, and other events recorded in the gospels, scandalised onlookers – it did not accord with how they thought God should work, with how the Messiah should behave. During the Pandemic the majority of us conformed whilst others blatantly broke the set rules.
God is looking for men and women to whom He can communicate what needs to be done to rescue humanity. Like Moses we must spend time with God before we can communicate the Heart of God to those around us and to the world.
So, Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.” If sometimes your thoughts dwell on the past, regretting that you did not do this or that, or on the future, speculating or worrying about what the outcome will be like, is there a message here for you? A message to attend to the present, to the now.
If you sometimes think that God is somewhere else, and that you could really do God’s will if only you were somewhere else, if only you had made different life choices, if only you weren’t living among such impossible people…. is there a message for you here? That God is not somewhere else, but where you are now?
Read the passage from Isaiah 55 again, notice the balance between the nearness of God and the transcendence of God. God is not like us, yet God is close to us.
Your path to God is the one you are on right now, and there is no other. You cannot start, or move on, from anywhere but here. So perhaps now would be a good time to ask God for the help you need to get closer to him.
A PRAYER FOR OUR TIMES
God of compassion, have mercy on this Nation and our world in this time of fear and confusion:
We bring before you those who are struggling and those who tend to their needs; may those in isolation know your comfort and company and may neighbours show your love in works of care, kindness and prayer;
we pray for the National Health Service and all engaged in scientific research and we pray too for those upon whose shoulders the yolk of leadership rests that in their conversation and communication your still small voice may be heard; We ask this in the Power of the Holy Spirit, through to the One who stretched out His hands to bless and to heal even Jesus Christ our Lord Amen
KEEP SAFE – KEEP PRAYING
Peter
PS from Peter – I confess to looking back to those outstanding moments where God chose to seek me out – rather than seeking Him out, listening to the still small voice, and watching to see where God is in the here and now.
Join us at church or online for a service of Holy Communion led by Rev’d Dennis Shields on Sunday 4th October at 9:30am. Live stream available via YouTube: https://youtu.be/PR62t9enpT0
