MISSION OR FELLOWSHIP? - Museum Street

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MISSION OR FELLOWSHIP?

Rev Derek Grimshaw shares his thoughts for the summer months

A new phrase was coined in the 1990’s when churches became iden�fied as

“Mission or Maintenance” the inference being that they were one or the other,

of course where this thinking got a bit lost was that most Churches easily

iden�fied themselves as being “Mission and Maintenance” accep�ng that

maintenance was necessary to do mission, the whole thing disappeared down a

hole somewhere, forgo%en by most and remembered only by a few sad people

like me.

In the twenty odd years that have passed, the general spiral in Church has been

downwards and recently this whole issue has become a subject of discussion

again, the second word has now been changed and Circuits are being advised

to iden�fy Churches as “Mission or Fellowship?” again the inference is that we

can only be one or the other, not both and again the sugges�on is that mission

is posi�ve, Fellowship is nega�ve.

I would argue that a good fellowship Church can be doing mission, the problem

comes when our emphasis in “In reach” rather than “Outreach” and ministers

are o,en condemned for not looking a,er those within the community of the

Church. Certainly, a model of ministry where we just look a,er the flock is very

Biblical and would be easy and very nice and so I would possibly defend the

model of Fellowship Church, while I know a lot of colleagues who would

condemn it.

The problem is that a key component of my theology degree focussed on

missiology and we were constantly reminded that Methodism in its birth was

an evangelical movement and a core part of our being is about taking the

Gospel out to people where they are. A huge part of my work in Ipswich has

centred on ensuring that the Methodist Church is si1ng amid the Chris�an

community where God’s word is being taken out of our Church buildings.

It is exci�ng to see that whilst we minister to on average around six hundred

and thirty people in our eighteen churches (thirty-five people per Church) we

are reaching hundreds every week through chaplaincy work and our outreach

ini�a�ves. For the Chris�an Church in Ipswich to grow, we need to do two

things, a) work with the other denomina�ons in the area and b) reach out to

where people are looking for God.

It is possibly a per�nent �me to be asking the ques�on “are we a Mission

Church or a Fellowship Church?”

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CONFERENCE MUSINGS

Chris & Maggie share a perspec�ve from Methodist Conference

A bell rings! 2.15pm. Saturday 24th

June, The Monarch Suite,

Hilton Metropole Hotel (Birmingham), and over

500 Methodists stand for the Past Presidents & Vice Presidents followed by the

singing of And Are We Yet Alive. So began the 2017 Methodist Conference.

The induc�on of the new President and Vice-President of the Methodist

Conference then took place and civic, ecumenical and World Church guests

were welcomed. In her Presiden�al address, the Revd Loraine Mellor asked:

“How are we disturbing the present in the Church today?” sharing her vision for

taking radical risks to change its culture of the church. Jill Baker, the Vice-

President, reflected

movingly on the need for

both laughter and lament in

the Church’s life.

Sunday morning saw the

Conference Worship &

Recep�on into Full

Connexion of 35 Presbyters, 5 Deacons & 9 (including Rev Alan Palmer)

“Received by Transfer”. Later in the day seven Ordina�on Services took place in

Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull and Shirley.

From Monday through to Thursday lunch�me the 330 Conference

Representa�ves worked their way through an agenda of 597 pages plus 36

Memorials and 23 No�ces of Mo�on!!!

T he Assistant Secretary of the Conference. The Revd Dr Jonathan R Hustler

was appointed Assistant Secretary of Conference from 1 September 2017.

C onnexional Finances. The Conference adopted the Connexional Central

Services Budget for 2017-18, The budget for income in 2017-18 is £36.6m

and the expenditure £41.3m, a net deficit of almost £4.7m. This reflects a

deliberate policy of reducing reserves on some funds in order to release

addi�onal amounts for grants.

S upervision. A programme of supervision, with one-to-one support for

ordained ministers was confirmed by Conference. This supervision will

mainly be carried out by Superintendents or District Chairs.

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CONFERENCE GOES ON..


S afeguarding implementa�on - Past Cases Review The Conference noted

that significant progress has been made on implemen�ng all 23

recommenda�ons from the 2015 Past Cases Review (PCR) into non-recent

abuse and a change of culture within the Church is becoming increasingly

apparent.

T he Gi& of Connexionalism. Conference reaffirmed the importance of

being an interdependent and diverse Church. In a report en�tled ‘The Gi�

of Connexionalism in the 21st Century’, Conference discussed and upheld the

fundamental importance of connexionalism to how Methodists understand

their own iden�ty. Originally referring to the way in which individuals, socie�es

and preachers were “in connexion with” John Wesley, connexionalism has

developed significant and theological meaning for Methodists. It is elaborated

and expressed through hymns, liturgy and the Church cons�tu�on as well as in

the faith and prac�ce of the Methodist people. Conference adopted the report

and commended it for study and reflec�on throughout the Connexion.

S ta�s�cs for Mission. The Conference received a report se1ng out a 3.5%

year-on-year decline in membership over the past decade, with the number

of members standing at 188,000. The sta�s�cs also revealed that engagement

in local churches through cafes, clubs, alterna�ve forms of church and other

bodies reached over 500,000 people each week.

Conference was reminded that while these sta�s�cs make for a challenging

read, it’s important to remember that membership figures alone don’t tell the

whole story. Across the country, thousands of Methodist communi�es are

impac�ng the lives of hundreds of thousands of people every week in a wide

variety of ways.

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AND ON..


3 Generate Con�nues to Grow. The Methodist Youth President, Tim Annan,

told the Conference about the con�nued growth of the Church’s annual

gathering for young people and adults aged 8–23, including a move to a new

venue to meet increasing numbers. 3Generate will move to Pon�ns in

Southport in November to accommodate more than 900 young people and

leaders – a massive growth in the five years of the event.

E quality, Diversity and Inclusion. The Conference recognised the

considerable amount of work s�ll required by the Connexion in order to

achieve greater equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

Conference also urged all churches & Circuits to engage with the EDI Toolkit

and to take steps to enable the Church to become a ‘more inclusive and

mul�cultural community of faith’.

T he 2018/2019 President and Vice President. The Conference designated

the Revd Michaela Youngson to be

President and Bala Gnanapragasam to

be Vice-President of the Methodist

Conference 2018/2019. The President-

Designate is one of the Chairs of the

London District. The Vice-President-

Designate is a Representa�ve from the

London District and serves on the

boards of Chris�an Aid and MHA and is

a trustee of the London HIV/Aids Chaplaincy.

S o on Thursday lunch�me, having concluded its business, the Daily Record

for each day was a%ested, the Conference Journal signed and with the

singing of Captain of Israel’s Host & Guide the 2017 Methodist Conference

adjourned (on the instruc�on of John Wesley the Methodist Conference never

“finishes”) to be reconvened in No1ngham next June.

“Connexionalism is not something that happens at Conference or in

Methodist Church House. It should be happening in every Church, Circuit &

District throughout the country. Every one of us is part of the Connexion”

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FROM THE VESTRY David Welbourn shares thoughts from Church Life Team mee�ngs

The Church Life Team (CLT) has met twice since the last magazine was

published. It is perhaps worth a reminder how we look to officers and

volunteers to ensure that we have a safe and secure church in which to gather

for worship and other mee�ngs. We are blessed with good premises and

rela�vely healthy finances, both of which are served well by their respec�ve

commi%ees, and everyone can know that the business of managing the church

is in good hands.

CLT is the place at which those involved in church leadership come together to

look in more depth at the life of the church. Our aim is to be confident that we

have a clear purpose that is God-centred and s�ll relevant to the place and

�me in which we live. It is at CLT, that we should be revisi�ng our purpose, and

making sure that the work we are doing is helping to fulfil that purpose in

God’s name.

Our purpose is summed up

in three statements:

• We are a town centre

Chris�an church

commi%ed to enriching

individual lives and the

wellbeing of community,

and we will achieve this

in two ways:

• we are a Chris�an community seeking to promote wholeness of life and

affirming the relevance of God within contemporary society;

• we seek to represent God in society, using our resources to draw alongside

wider communi�es and promote wholeness and jus�ce for all.

Far too o,en, the day-to-day logis�cs of keeping everything on track stops us

from commi1ng the quality �me we should be spending on these deeply

profound ques�ons about our worshipping life, suppor�ng the spiritual life of

our friends and members; offering prophe�c service to the community and

being representa�ves of God in this place, and encouraging others to meet

with God and commit their own lives to him.

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In these last two mee�ngs, the one aspect of our purpose we have been able to

explore, is the challenge of becoming a demen�a friendly church.

Instead, our �me has been diverted on the challenge of finding enough

volunteers who are not just keen to come to worship each week, but will also

help with some of the essen�al tasks. We rely heavily on income from the

premises to keep the finances sound, and a considerable part of our Chris�an

witness in this community happens because we do offer great mee�ng facili�es

used widely by many good causes. All of that

can only be maintained if we have people

willing to join the locking and unlocking rota –

for the coming winter, we can’t easily see a

workable solu�on. Can you help? On top of

that, since Mike Howell resigned as treasurer,

we s�ll urgently need to find someone to step

into that role. Don’t forget that the magazine

will need a new editor in three issues �me!

FINANCES A summary of finances from Colin Westren, ac�ng Treasurer.

WEEKLY COLLECTIONS

May June

Date Collection Budget Date Collection Budget

7 May £214.00 4 June £257.00

14 May £113.50 11 June £474.00

21 May £189.00 18 June £115.00

28 May £207.00 25 June £197.00

Direct £1,020.00 Direct £1,020.00

Tax Refund £500.00 Tax Refund £500.00

Month Total £2,243.50 £2,596.00 £2,563.00 £2,596.00

In the 10 months to June 25th giving is approximately £2400 short of budget

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WHAT IS SYNOD? Be8y Lindsay explains the mystery of Synod, and why you should help

SYNOD - A word that crops up at least twice a

year! What is it? Where it is held?

Who a%ends this gathering? Firstly.

It is the District mee�ng which includes representa�ves from every circuit

drawn from the East Anglia District. This includes all presbyters and ministers

unless given a dispensa�on from the Chair of the District not to a%end. Circuit

stewards from each Circuit, those who hold a posi�on within the District and

visitors for the day. Yes, it is possible to a%end just as a visitor.

The Synod deals with business sent down from Conference, reports from

groups or working par�es, and people share their stories following an

a%endance at Conference or anybody who has represented the District at

relevant weekends such as Youth Weekend, (MAYC) or local preachers retreats

etc. There are usually guest speakers. Not long ago Father John Thackray,

Priest at St. Mary in the Elms was invited to speak. Though not present I

understand he went down a storm. There are moments of fun and laughter and

the opening devo�ons are a privilege to a%end. The Synod is held at different

circuits throughout the District, from Fenland in the north to St. Neots in the

east of Cambridgeshire and Ipswich in the south.

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SYNOD: YOUR CHANCE

Be8y Lindsay explains the mystery of Synod, and why you should help

The Synod this September (16th) is to be held at the University of Suffolk here

in IPSWICH. This takes a lot of organisa�on and needs volunteers. COULD THIS

BE YOU? There is a need for people to deal with the car parking arrangements.

Other people are needed to make tea/coffee from 9am un�l Synod starts at

10am., then again to supply the above at lunch�me. A light a,ernoon tea is

provided before the final clear up and another Synod comes to a end.

New friends will have been formed and many will renew past friendships.

There are stalls available – an excellent bookstall which is always present from

Soham - Traidcra,, All you can, and lots of general informa�on from around the

District and Connexion.

This might look like just a day out, but I'm sure you would come away having

been informed, cheered by good news from the circuits and of being upli,ed by

the worship at the beginning and the end of Synod. Every Synod is different

and there are �mes when it seems like treading treacle and other �mes it will

be great. Please think hard about this and speak to any of the church stewards

if you can help.

ACTION FOR CHILDREN

Brian Pipe, AFC Box Secretary has a �mely reminder

With the old £1 coins being withdrawn in the

middle of October, could all Ac�on for

Children box holders please give their boxes

to Brian Pipe and

also any dona�ons,

no later than

Sunday 24th

September 2017.

Your co-opera�on is

much appreciated.

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CAR PARKING Grahame Lindsay encourages considerate parking

The beginning of a new Connexional year

seems a fi1ng �me to remind members of

the car parking scheme at Museum Street,

and those who park solely for Sunday

Services and to a%end events, of some

general rules regarding the use of the car

park.

Parking outside the designated parking

spaces at any �me is strictly forbidden as this

can cause great upset to those who are

blocked in by inconsiderate parking and

prevents easy access or exit in the case of an emergency. If there are insufficient

spaces on a Sunday morning the Church Stewards have permits which allow

parking in Blackhorse Lane. The permit needs to be placed on your car

windscreen so that traffic wardens can see the details. At any other �me I’m

afraid that you will have to use the public car parks.

The five reserved areas outside the house are for the use of people carrying out

Church/ Circuit Office du�es and are not for general use at any �me. The spaces

along the wall of the Black Horse Inn are for the sole use of Scru%on Bland on

Mondays to Fridays during office hours.

I would also remind you that the upper car park belongs to Birke%’s. They have

sole use Monday to Friday during office hours. Museum Street has sole use on a

Sunday. Both par�es have shared access on evenings & Saturdays.

Finally, please ensure that, if you have paid for a yearly parking permit, you

display your �cket in the front of your car. These are only valid for the car stated

on the permit. If you do not have a current parking permit you may only use the

church car park whilst a%ending a church event. Cars in the parking areas are

regularly checked by Property officers to ensure cars are not parked illegally.

Thank you for your help in using the car park considerately.

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TEA & TALK I wonder if Chris & Maggie got a souvenir for David & Jennifer

We have now reached the ‘half-way’ point in

our third year and will not be mee�ng again

un�l September.

Please look out for new posters, which will

be posi�oned in the usual spots, confirming

our mee�ng dates to the end of 2017.

On looking at the finances that we have

garnered through the generosity of our

patrons, we decided to donate a further sum

of £70 towards church funds.

We very much appreciate the support we

have received from everyone who has

‘dropped in’ for a,ernoon refreshment and ‘conversa�on’ and look forward to

seeing you again soon.

RIDE & STRIDE John Goodhand wants support for the historic cycle ride—September 9th

Saturday 9 September

2017

9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Any poten�al riders or walkers can

obtain sponsor forms from John

Goodhand.

John has agreed to look a,er the administra�on at Museum Street this year.

We will need people to sign in visitors, ideally two per hour. No experience is

necessary. Please sign on the list on the no�ce board if you are able to help.

Remember: you can be sponsored. Please see John if you have any queries.

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MORE TEA! Jackie Wells encourages you to book the date for the new season

Tuesday October 10th at 7:30pm

Kathryn Gosling, General Manager of the Teapot

Project will open the new GET TOGETHER season.

With a warm personality and a real sense of

humour, she will tell us how this award winning

project began, and how it benefits the whole

community.

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QUIZ NIGHT Ella Macartney invites you to show your compe��ve spirit for a good cause

Museum Street Methodist Church

Friday 8 September 2017 at 7.30pm This is the final event for our Zambezi

Mission Project.

Why not enter a team and help raise our giving to

this important project still further?

£4 per person to include light refreshments.

Maximum of 6 people in a team

or come and join a team on the night

Please sign up on sheet in corridor

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ANOTHER QUIZ Whilst you are in quiz mood—see if you can name this dame on the right

AN APOLOGY The editor sheds some tears

In the last edi�on, I unwi1ngly shortened

Jennifer Job’s name. I can’t tell you what

name I used, because I promised not to

use it again, but I am full of remorse!

From Dave the prostrate one!

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ENTERTAINMENT Ray Sawyer takes us to conference for the word search in this edi�on

Always helpful to have a guide to conference. Buried in the square below are

lots of words associated with conference. See if you can find your way around

conference.

Agenda; Annual; Birmingham; Church; Circuit, Conference; Connexion;

Deacon; District; Johnwesley; Methodist; Memorials; Minister; Lay;

Ordina�ons; President; Speaker; Structure; Vicepresident; Youthassembly.

Did you recognise Jim McNally on the opposite page ?

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WHO WROTE THAT?

John Goodhand bowls a new hymn writer at us!

A short while ago, while looking through the hymnbook, I no�ced number 122,

and wondered if we had ever sung it. It’s quite short so I reproduce it here:

God, whose farm is all crea�on,

Take the gra�tude we give;

Take the finest of our harvest,

Crops we grow that all may live.

Take our ploughing, seeding, reaping,

Hopes and fears of sun and rain,

All our thinking, planning, wai�ng,

Ripened in this fruit and grain.

All our labour, all our watching,

All our calendar of care,

In these crops of your crea�on,

Take, O God: they are our prayer.

The writer was Leslie Thomas John Arlo%. Yes, that John Arlo%, doyen of

cricket commentators. Cricket lovers of a certain age will always remember his

dis�nc�ve Hampshire burr when describing events on Test Match Special on

the radio.

John Arlo% was born in Basingstoke in 1914. He won a scholarship to Queen

Mary’s Grammar School, but became embroiled in a feud with the Headmaster

as the school was not ‘wholly recep�ve to his young, independent, enquiring

mind’. He eventually le, of his own accord. He worked briefly at the local

town hall, then as a records clerk at a mental hospital in Basingstoke before

serving for twelve years in the Southampton

County Borough Police Force, a%aining the rank

of sergeant. He enjoyed cricket at club level but

while not skilful enough to play for the

Southampton Police cricket eleven he was

some�mes called upon to use the public address

system

He joined the BBC in 1945 and was asked to do

some radio commentary on the warm-up games

of India’s tour of England in 1946; he was so

successful that he was invited to con�nue to

commentate on further matches, including Test

matches. From 1946 un�l he re�red in 1980 he

covered every single home Test match.

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He was a regular journalist, a writer on cricket and on wine, and a poet. In 1981

he re�red to Alderney in the Channel Islands where he died in December 1991.

It seems hard to believe that he re�red in 1980, nearly forty years ago. He had

a dis�nc�ve turn of phrase, and was so popular that we would frequently turn

down the volume on the television and watch the picture while listening to his

commentary on the ‘wireless’. What wonderful images he would conjure up:

“The umpire signals a bye with the air of a weary stork”…”Clive Lloyd hits him

high away over mid-wicket for four, the stroke of a man knocking a thistle top

with a walking s�ck”… and, my favourite, “He (Asif Masood) approaches the

wicket like Groucho Marx chasing a pre%y waitress".

SLEEP TIGHT Mary Haggar responds to John’s contribu�on in the last edi�on

Thank you John for your input to Museum Street Connec�ons about Thomas

Ken, the hymn writer. The first verse of the hymn is a prayer that I quietly sing

as I ascend the stairs each night.

“Glory to Thee my God this night…”

If I’m feeling a bit weary, which can slow me down, I then manage the third

verse which I know by heart.

“Oh may my soul on thee repose, and may sweet sleep mine eyelids close”

By that �me, I have safely reached my bed.

Goodnight all and sleep

well!

Editor’s mischief!

Can you see Mary singing

up these stairs on her way

to bed in the top bunk?

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FRIENDS Jim & Eileen McNally send news from Auchlochlan MHA Village

Lovely to hear from you. We are here now over

five years and don’t ask where that �me has flown

to as life here is busier than ever. Auchlochlan is

the most beau�ful re�rement village and indeed a

community of caring and loving people. Many

ac�vi�es are arranged - we had a Ceilidh with

accordion band, Quiz night, a,ernoon

ac�vi�es. There is a choir on Tuesday a,ernoons

whether or not one can sing but the cuppa and chat

a,erwards is not to be missed. The Chaplain is a

Bap�st Minister but originally from Salva�on Army -

a great guy from Northern Ireland !!!

We live in the last one of the co%ages before hi1ng the road which runs along

the back of our garden. It has two bedrooms and bathroom and en suite

downstairs and two more bedrooms upstairs - lounge - big kitchen - laundry

room and super conservatory, so we are not actually living in a li%le re�rement

property.

Jim and I belong to the nearest Methodist place

of Church which is actually about 15 miles from

here. Need I add that I am the organist there

with one other gentleman from Northern Ireland

who shares the Services with me on

occasions. We have from 60 - 90 folk a%ending

and up to 12 kids who go out to the Sunday

School during the Service.

You can imagine the decision we had to make

a,er 24 years in Ipswich but we have Graham

and his family nearby and when Philip and

Deepa come back from San Francisco, we are all together and that has been a

wonderful bonus for Jim and me a,er years of travelling 403 miles up and

down to Scotland and being so far from all our family in Ipswich.

The only drawback is the poli�cs but then the country is in a total mess

everywhere. Give our love to everyone at Museum Street.

Eileen and of course Himself

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GENEROSITY IN ACTION

Andy Taylor shares a good side of humanity

The circus had come to town! Jim announced to his family that they were going

tonight.

With moun�ng excitement, Jim, Dorothy and the children arrived at the site

where the circus was. A,er he had parked the car, Jim said “You wait here and

I’ll queue up for the �ckets”

In front of Jim in the queue was an obviously poor family, who were very

excited about seeing the circus. When the father got to the �cket booth, and

found that he could not afford the �ckets, he was very distraught. Seeing how

excited the rest of the family looked, Jim had great compassion on him. He felt

God saying “You pay for them, now”. Not wishing to embarrass the man by

giving him the money, Jim had a flash of inspira�on. “Look!” he said to the man

“You have just dropped this 20 dollar bill”, and he gave to the �cket seller. The

poor man was stunned. “Thank so much” he said to Jim, with tears in his eyes.

Jim felt good as he saw how

excited the poor family all

were with their �ckets. But

then it dawned on him! How

was he going to explain to

Dorothy and the children

what God had told him to

do? A,er all the build up,

how was he going to tell

them that they were not

going to see the show a,er

all?

As he was thinking about his

dilemma, he felt a tap on his

shoulder. Turning around he

saw a very smart gentleman.

“Good sir” said the man, “I am the owner of the circus, and I always like to mill

among the audience before each show. I saw what you just did for that poor

family, so I would like you and your family to be my guests for tonight’s

performance”.

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A very happy Jim gathered his family. They sat in the VIP sec�on, where there

were seemingly endless supplies of hot dogs, ice cream and lemonade.

A,er the show the owner took them to meet the performers and some of the

animals. “Mum, Dad that was fantas�c” chorused the children, before they

quickly fell asleep in the back of the car.

On the journey home a very

though[ul Dorothy asked,

“Darling, how did you managed

to get those seats in the VIP

sec�on, and all that went with

it, with the 20 dollars you

had?”

Jim just smiled and said. “I’ll

tell you one day”

PREACH THE NEWS Mike Parker mixes it up with bible and newspaper

I have just completed the Sermons page on the website and would welcome

your comments.

Whilst looking for the so,ware to run the page I came across this sermon

preached by Rev Dr Michael Paterson to the St Margaret’s congrega�on on 18

June 2017. I found it very interes�ng. It is

not the full version.

In his final speech as Archbishop of

Canterbury, Rowan Williams said that the task

of the church is to preach ‘with a Bible in one

hand and a newspaper in the other’. So taking

him at his word, I am going to interweave

what we find in today’s Bible readings with

what we have seen in this week’s

newspapers.

So let’s see what happens:

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The Bible

Abraham looked up and saw three

needy strangers standing nearby.

“Quick,” he said to his wife, “get

three bags of the finest flour and

bake some bread.” Then he ran to

the herd and selected a choice,

tender calf, had it cooked and

served it to the strangers.(Gen 18)

Suffering produces perseverance;

perseverance produces character;

and character produces hope.

(Romans 5:3b–4)

When Jesus saw the crowds, he

had compassion on them, because

they were harassed and helpless,

lost like sheep without a

shepherd.

These are the people Jesus called

as apostles: Simon, Andrew;

James and his brother John; Philip

and Bartholomew; Thomas and

Ma%hew the tax collector; James

and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot

and Judas Iscariot.

The Newspaper

A soup kitchen has spontaneously popped

up in the heart of the Borough of

Kensington to feed all those who have lost

everything in the Grenfell Tower fire.

Countless people have come from near and

far bringing clothing, shoes, bedding,

offering a bed for the night, toys for the

kids, a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on.

People of every tribe and na�on, race and

language are pulling together and pu1ng

their differences aside to bring good out of

the most awful adversity. The word on the

street is of new life rising up from the

ashes.

The tensions that have built up between

Muslims and ordinary Londoners has given

way to common expressions of humanity.

These are the people who came to help:

• firefighters and ambulance crews;

• paramedics and nurses;

• refugees and asylum seekers;

• people who voted Tory, Labour and UKIP;

• people with mental health issues and

addic�ons;

• people not at all like us and people every

bit like us;

• people who put their differences aside to

do what was needed to be done.

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24th

September deadline for next issue:

The deadline for contribu�ons for the next magazine is 24th

September. It is due out on Sunday 1st October.

Please email them to me at [email protected].

DEMENTIA—POSTLUDE

David Welbourn reflects on his own inability to cope with demen�a

If, as we come to one we love, We meet just staring eyes

That look at us in ignorance And fail to recognise,

How can we hold on to the love From which our care derives?

We ask, we plead, we hope, we trust Our love might s�ll survive.

If as we look to those who love, Dependant on their care,

We struggle, cannot speak their name, Inanimate, we stare,

How can they s�ll hold us in love From which their care derives?

We ask, we plead, we hope, we trust Their love might s�ll survive.

O God, we come to you in love In doubt as much as faith,

With frail and faltering hands we grasp The offer of your grace;

And can you recognise the ones Who barely know your name?

We ask, we plead, we hope, we trust Your love remains the same.

Demen�a has to be the most cruel of anything afflic�ng society. We are taught

to speak of people living with demen�a, rather than the more common phrase,

those suffering with demen�a. But even that misses the point. The friends

and loved ones are indeed those truly suffering from demen�a and its cruelty.

For those in whom demen�a is slowly eroding the person, there comes a point

when it is hard even to say they are living with demen�a – for mum, it was a

long �me ago that the usual meaning of life was lost, and when she died a few

days a,er her 91st birthday, it was a blessing to know she was now safe.

Demen�a is cruelty beyond measure that keeps on removing everything you

knew – piece by piece, pain by pain, even a,er you think there is nothing le,

s�ll to lose. It places an enormous burden on the resilience of our faith. I am

grateful to Andrew Pra% for these words, that echo that pain, firstly from the

viewpoint of loved ones, secondly from the one locked in with demen�a, and

finally we fall back on faith and trust alone, as we place the burden on God

alone to have sufficient love to carry us through the pain on all sides.

23

CHURCH DIARY

Coffee/tea are served every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:00

October

Sun 1st

10:45 am Communion led by Rev Michael Cassidy

Mon 2nd

7:30 pm Church Council

Wed 4th

12:30 pm Potato service

Sun 8th

10:45 Worship led by Rev Derek Grimshaw

Tue 10th

7:30 pm Get together – the Teapot Project

Thu 12th

1:00 pm Ipswich Arts lunch �me concert:

the Wednesday Men

Sun 15th

10:45 am Worship led by Mrs Jane Paterson

Tue 17th

2:00 pm Tea and Talk

Wed 18th

10:00 am Holy Communion

Sun 22nd

10:45 am World Church Service led by Rev M Griffin

Sun 22nd

12:30 pm World church lunch and launch of new

community project suppor�ng TWAM

Tue 24th

12:30 pm Community lunch

Sun 29th

10:45 am worship led by Mrs Carol Almond

Mon 30th

7:30 pm Church life team

November

Wed 1st

12:30 pm Potato service

Sun 5th

10:45 am Communion led by Rev Derek Grimshaw

Thu 9th

1:00 pm Ipswich Arts lunch�me lecture

Sun 12th

10:45 am Remembrance Sunday worship led by Mr Ray

Sawyer

Mon 13th

7:00 pm Property commi%ee

Tue 14th

7:30 pm Get together

Wed 15th

10:00 am Holy Communion

Sun 19th

10:45 am worship led by Mrs Gloria Theobald

Tue 21st

2:00 pm Tea and Talk

Sun 26th

10:45 am worship led by Mrs Janet Foster

Mon 27th

7:30 pm Church life team

Tue 28th


Please note that future dates are not guaranteed and may occasionally need to

be changed

24

CHURCH DIARY Looking ahead! Note tea/coffee served at 10:00 every Wed & Sat

CONTACTS We’d love to hear from you

Minister: Rev Derek Grimshaw, 01473 805486

Editor: David Welbourn, [email protected]

Webmaster: Mike Parker, parker.mj@b�nternet.com

Website: h8p://www.museumstreet.org.uk/

August

Sun 6th

10.45 am Communion led by Rev Derek Grimshaw

Wed 9th

7:30 pm Stewards’ mee�ng

Thu 10th

1.00 pm Ipswich Arts lunch �me concert: Silbury Hill

Sun 13th

10.45 am Worship led by Harry Chicken

Wed 16th

10.00 am Note: no mid-week communion in August

Sun 20th

10.45 am Worship led by Rev Jane Cassidy

Sun 27th

10.45 am Worship – Worship Leaders

September

Sun 3rd

10:45 am Covenant service Rev Derek Grimshaw

Mon 4th

7:30 pm Church Life Team

Wed 6th

12.30 pm Potato service

Fri 8th

7:30 pm Quiz night – for Zambezi Mission project

Sat 9th

9:00am – 5:00pm Ride & stride - volunteers wanted

Sun 10th

10:45 am Worship led by Rev Michael Ayden

Mon 11th

7:00 pm Property commi%ee

Thu 14th

2:00 pm Ipswich Arts lunch �me lecture:

Charles II and Ipswich Ancient House

Sat 16th

10:00 am District Synod at University of Suffolk

Sun 17th

10:45 am Worship led by Mr Harry Chicken

Tue 19th

2.00 pm Tea & talk

Tue 19th

7.30 pm Finance commi%ee

Thu 21st

7:00 pm Circuit Mee�ng at Museum Street

Sat 23rd

7.00 pm Harvest Supper – speaker Rev Stuart Veitch

Sun 24th

10:45 am Harvest service led by Rev Stuart Veitch

Sun 24th

Deadline for contribu�ons to next issue

Tue 26th


Sat 30th

10:00 am Pastoral commi%ee

MISSION OR FELLOWSHIP? - Museum Street

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