st peter’s news - norwich...
TRANSCRIPT
May • June 2013
St Peter’s NewsST PETER’S PARK LANE METHODIST CHURCH,
NORWICH, NR2 3EQMinister : Rev Helen Freeston
COVER • St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church.
WEDNESDAYS 10.00 am - 12.00 midday
Tea, Coffee, and light refreshments, Traidcraft Stall, Toys available for children
Do come and support this community venture
Park Lane Coffee Stop
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Copy for next issue as soon as possible or by Wednesday 12th June at the latest please. Keith E Poltock.
St Peter’s News is published by Keith E Poltock at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, Park Lane, Norwich, NR2 3EQ.
St Peter’s News May • June 2013
Minister
Rev Helen Freeston, 123 Christchurch Road, Norwich, NR2 3PGTelephone 01603 452198
Editor
Keith Poltock, 127 Connaught Road, Norwich, NR2 3BSTelephone 01603 622805E mail: [email protected]
Back issues can be found on Norwich Methodist Circuit • http://www.norwichcircuit.org.uk/
St Peter’s News
Our MinisterWrites
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Dear Friends,
I have had a very busy few weeks but it has also been immensely productive. Alix and I are settling well into our new home and life in Queens Hills. We now have a lawn instead of builders rubble, I am the proud owner of a new car and a couple of days ago we got our phone line connected. The bruises that covered my legs and arms from moving stuff around are faded! All these things have combined to make life much easier and more pleasant.
We have begun our coffee mornings from the manse and I have established a Christian house group/house church and am going to be hosting a support group for parents with children with learning difficulties. Several other groups have ap-proached me and it seems that many people on the estate have heard what the church is doing and are very interested. It is very thrilling to be actively engaged in the kind of ministry I have always felt called to.
Change is in the air elsewhere. St. Peter’s have decided to pursue talks with Jessop Road United Reformed Church with a view to forming a Local Ecumenical Partnership and worshipping at Jessop Road. Over the years, as membership has dwindled, the amazing premises at Park Lane have become a burden to maintain and we have come to realise that they are no longer suitable for us. I am heartened by the positive attitude of the congregation there, who see God leading them on
to new adventures while still being able to serve the community in the Golden Triangle.
Leaving a place with so many fond memories is always going to be hard but the future for the members of St. Peters looks really exciting. We believe God is leading us into green pastures and a future of purpose.
May • June 2013
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CHURCH ADMINISTRATION 2013Property & Finance Committee • Tuesday 4th June, 10.00 am.
Church Council • Monday 17th June 7.30 pm.Property & Finance Committee • Tuesday 24th September, 10.00 am.
Church Council • Monday 7th October 7.30 pm.
NORWICH FOODBANKPlease note that the box for contributions to the Foodbank is on the back pew of the church, except on Wednesday mornings, when it is in the Welcome Room.
Over at Costessey we had a disaster when the roof suddenly gave up the ghost. As I write the builders are poised to make a start on replacing it but all the spring rain has made life difficult. Replacing the roof will be costly so expect plenty of fund-raising events in the near future !
Please hold all these things in your prayers.
Shalom,
Helen Freeston.
Church Action on Poverty.
Four more exciting initiatives from Methodist churches
The Buzz
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WORSHIP ‘D-Church’ online
From: Newcastle District
A Fresh Expression through social media called ‘D-church’ is exploring spiritual-ity and creating community in an online world. The team facilitating the project has been working together for over a year. They said that the growth of the project has out-stripped their expectations.
Up to 278 people have ‘liked’ the project’s
Facebook page, which means they have regular access to the online monthly service. The largest group of people accessing this are in the 35-44 age group.
Elaine Lindridge, Newcastle District Evan-gelism Enabler, said: “An example of the project’s outreach comes from one of the online gatherings. During the time of prayer, 18 people contributed something to the prayer wall, 155 accessed the prayers and at
least 215 saw the prayers. On one occasion the outreach extended to several hundred people at a time! The most popular post reached over 740 people virally. The team is particularly delighted to have made contact with several people who are on the edge of church or faith.”
D-church has become a regular ‘meeting’ place for some Christians for whom gath-ered worship is not always easily acces-sible. While it was always intended to be a virtual meeting, the team is considering how to develop this project in the ‘real’ world with ‘d-church live’ gatherings.
Visit D-church on Facebook, Twitter (@dchurchtweet) or blogspot: d-church.blogspot.co.uk
Email: Elaine Lindridge [email protected]
LEARNING AND CARING
Donkey Hunt
From: Bristol and South Gloucestershire Circuit
Over the school Easter break, Bristol and South Gloucestershire Circuit held a donkey hunt in the city centre shopping precinct, Broadmead.
Around 30 local schools decorated a donkey, each named after a biblical charac-ter. The donkeys were then placed in shops along with the biblical story associated with that character. Children were given maps and encouraged to find the names of all the donkeys and then claim a chocolate prize from John Wesley’s Chapel, the New Room, which is in the heart of Broadmead. Craft
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activities were run in the Chapel and over 100 children participated.
Andrew Dixon, member of Circuit Youth and Children’s Ministries committee, said: “Specsavers reported that over 500 children came into their store during the fortnight looking for Bartimaeus!”
Email: Andrew Dixon: [email protected] EVANGELISMThe Storytelling Cafe
From: Big Barn Lane Methodist Church, Mansfield Circuit
The Big Barn Lane Methodist church is located opposite the end of an alleyway that leads to a local primary school. At the end of the day, parents and carers often park around the church to pick up their children from school. The church decided to open up a weekly Storytelling Café to reach out to these commuters after hearing of a similar project in the Isle of Man.
Alan Darlington, church member, said:
“Each evening is fairly simple. At the end of school, the children and their carers call in. Drinks and biscuits are provided free of charge for everyone, served by a member of the church. While the adults enjoy a chat, the children have a free play time, either using a few games and toys or just having a run around. After about 15 minutes, the chil-dren are gathered together and listen to a Bible story. We are close to the parents so that they can hear what we are doing, but they are not necessarily expected to join in, although they are welcome to.”
Each week a prop relating to the story is produced from a large treasure chest. After the story, the children play until their parents are ready to take them home.
“This time has increased as the parents got more comfortable,” Alan continued. “Within about an hour, the activity is over. We have had up to eight children with their carers. Numbers fluctuate because of after school clubs, but the event is well received and enjoyed by all who attend.”
Email: Alan Darlington [email protected]
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SERVICE The Withington Elephant
From: Withington Methodist Church
in South Manchester
Needles and Yarns is a craft group that meets every fortnight at Withington Meth-odist Church in South Manchester. Its members are from the church and the wider community. Their needle work skills range from professional to “a bit rusty”. Some-times members bring their own knitting; sometimes the whole group engages in a project. Generous friends have donated
wool, patterns and even a knitting machine. And it was the machine that provided the in-spiration for the group’s last major project: The Withington Elephant.
The life size multicoloured pachyderm now proudly stands in the church porch along-
side a sign which reads: “Elephants never forget. Don’t forget God.”
The Revd Jane Wild said: “It took five months to knit and several hours to construct and sew together, but everyone agrees it was worth the effort. It is impossible to say how many people were involved in the project. The core group were the members of Needles and Yarns, but anyone who came through the busy coffee bar area was invited to knit a little. At first, many refused, but as time passed they were tempted to have a go and almost without exception partici-pants were not satisfied with just one go. As people knitted they were invited to offer a prayer or to think about their spirituality. Lots of amazing and moving conversations took place.”
The elephant was named Advent at the Church Christmas Fair and provides a talking point within the community of With-ington and beyond: a full-sized multicol-oured elephant is visible to the many buses stopping outside the church.
The group also knitted dozens of mug-hugs for Fairtrade Fortnight. Group coordinator, the Revd Jane Wild, said: “We’re having a break from a large project for the moment but I am sure we’ll start something major soon.”
Email: Jane Wild [email protected]
There is enough food in the world to feed everyone. But almost 1 billion go hungry, and every year 2.3 million children die from malnutrition. We need radical change if we’re going to put a stop to this global injustice.
According to OECD figures, developing countries lose three times more to tax havens than they receive in aid each year. That is why we need to end tax secrecy so that com-panies can be held to account and corruption can be rooted out. Developing countries will never be able to live themselves out of poverty if they cannot collect taxes to fund their own services.
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The rich manin his castleBrian Claxton writes
The passage of time brings about change to meanings, perceptions, outlooks and our very way of living. This has been so true of certain hymns, prayers and our way of worship. Here I will refer mainly to a certain hymn and the way part of it has been per-ceived and how meanings are open to question.
For some time now I have held an interest in a particular hymn that we must all have been familiar with as children, “All things bright and beautiful”. Some of us would have sung the verse, which referred to the rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate, and that God ordered their estate.
Mrs Alexander who wrote the original poem had it printed in her “Hymns for little chil-dren” in the year 1848. It was said that the offending verse was removed at a much later date and to quote:
As it showed a comprehensive forgetful-ness to the parable concerning Dives and Lazarus. Furthermore it was also said that this was a kind of forgetfulness to which the people of the mid nineteenth century were susceptible!
Mrs Alexander the original writer of the hymn had lived in an era when so many values were substantially at odds with those of more recent times. The offending words included in a verse later excluded from the hymn were “God ordered their estate”
The words are very challenging and I do wonder in what context they were actually written.
There can be little doubt that from birth none of us are equal in health or strength. Nor yet can it be said that we all have the same mental chances, for one is born to a great mental ability, whereas another may be born with very limited mental capacity. One can be born into very noble and grandiose cir-cumstances, whereas another is born into abject poverty and starvation. We certainly do not have a choice regarding the family and circumstances to which we are born. Uncomfortable as this may be, could this be the context in which the writer had chosen her words. We are indeed equal in that in order to die we must first be born. Likewise from dust we all came and to dust shall we all return. There is little else in which we are all equal.
If we are to accept and believe that our dear Lord in his infinite wisdom knows all things then we must accept that he alone already knows the destiny of each one of us. To that extent can it be said that our destiny or estate has been ordered, preordained, just as the prophets were informed regarding the future coming and destiny of Jesus himself! Indeed to say that God does not know our destiny would be to deny that he is infinite in all things,
Upon a much lighter vein I understand that
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there exists another verse which was in use in Canada, but the content is not very suited to Britain. The United Church of Canada uses the following verse:
The rocky mountain splendour, The lone wolfs haunting call,
The Great Lakes and the prairies, The forest in the fall.
If anyone holds any further verse or detail concerning this hymn please let Keith our editor know. As Christians we must all seek, pray and help those that are less fortu-nate, whilst at the same time pray that the world leaders are guided by the principals of all that is Godly and good. For ourselves, indeed for all people we all should perhaps regularly remember the words of another
children’s hymn, for they are so vital and positive.
“Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. We can only just ~begin to list the legion of good things that are normally taken completely for granted.
Mortally there is no wealth but life, for not one physical thing belongs to us after death. But spiritually our soul or spirit, through the Heavenly father, his only Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit can be granted eternal life, if we but believe. Through Jesus Christ and the atonement of all our sins death can become merely the gateway to eternal life and an that is positive and good.
Brian Claxton.
Traidcraft NewsLiz Sidebottom reports
I received an interesting and moving letter from Traidcraft the other day, and would like to share it with you. The statistics about the condition of the world’s women, that is over half the human population, are of particular interest, and I love the quote in the post script. This is a very serious matter that should concern us all. If the world’s women received what is justly theirs in terms not only of money but also of power and influence and above all education, there is no doubt that it would be a very different place. Liz Sidebottom.
Dear Friends,
I am writing today to ask for your help with a special project that will give women in one of the poorest areas of northern India the chance to earn a decent living for the first time in their lives.
As a woman who has worked with poor com-munities for many years, I feel passionately that women around the world must have the opportunity to work their way out of poverty - for their sake and that of their families.
Sushila Devi lives in Bagru, Rajasthan,
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where textiles have been hand-printed using carved wooden blocks for centuries. Demand is high, but until now many women like Sushila have found it hard to learn the skills they need to make a living from the craft.
But Sushila is determined. She wants to give her children a better start in life, no matter how hard she has to work.
Sushila was one of the first women to sign up for a Traidcraft training scheme to help build a sustainable textile industry in Bagru. She received free training covering everything from dyes and patterns to pre-paring fabric and improving quality.
Before, her printing skills were very basic. Sushila could only print bed sheets. Now she’s able to take on more complex jobs like saris and suits. Her monthly income has doubled to around 5-6,000 rupees (£60-£72). With this extra money she can afford to buy better food for her family and books and uniforms so her children can go to school.
Sushila’s also saving a little each month so she can build a bigger workshop in her house and take on more work. “My objective is to provide my children with a good educa-tion so they can get well established in their life,” she says.
Thanks to your support for Traidcraft in the past, we have been able to train over 800 women in textiles production. But with your help today we could train even more women like Sushila, so they can find work and earn
more money for their families.
There is so much more work to do in India, and right around the world, to give women like Sushila a chance to earn for their fami-lies, and stop the pattern of poverty repeat-ing itself. How can it be right that:
• women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours
• women produce half the world’s food
• yet women earn just 10% of the world’s pay
• and own less than 1% of the world’s property?
I felt so passionately that I had to write this letter to you today. I do not accept it’s fair that 70% of the poorest people in the world are women, do you?
Hard work is not the problem. Women are used to working hard. What are needed are more opportunities for women like Sushila to learn skills and be rewarded financially for their hard work - so they can give a better life to their children and grandchildren. And that’s exactly what Traidcraft is doing through projects like this in Raiasthan.
We’re not only working in Rajasthan, of course. In Nepal, we’re helping women earn a living in the felt-making industry, for example, to rebuild their lives after escaping prostitution. And in Guatemala we’re helping women craft makers improve their products and increase their income. But there is still so much work to be done.
That’s why we need your help today. Please will you give whatever you can afford so that
Women like Sudhila need just one thing to lift their families
out of poverty. The Chance.
St Peter’s News
we can give more women like those in Ra-jasthan the chance to earn a brighter future for their families?
Yours sincerely, Neeti Mahlotra, Traidcraft’s Country Director, India.
PS On the wall of my office in Banjara
Mille, Hyderabad is this quote from former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan: “There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women” I think it captures perfectly what Traidcraft wants to achieve through projects like this. Thank you so much for everything you are doing for Traidcraft and women like Sushila.
St Peter’s Park Lane
Traidcraft Stallat the Local ChurchesMay Family Event,Heigham Park,June 6th 2013.
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Our new report, ‘Who pays the price? Hunger: the hidden cost of tax injus-tice’, marks the launch of Chris-tian Aid Week and h igh l ights how tackling corporate
tax dodging could end world hunger by 2025.
One in eight people – some 868 million – still go to bed hungry every night. Yet our planet provides enough food for every-one. It’s unfair, it’s unjust, and - it’s totally preventable.
Developing countries could have lost as much as US$578bn when trading with or via one particular tax haven: Switzerland.
Read and share our report to help bite back at hunger this Christian Aid Week.
Download Who pays the price? Hunger: the hidden cost of tax injustice (PDF, 1.7mb)
Creating a ‘world free from hunger’
Tax dodging robs poor countries of billions they could invest in feeding their people. The scandal of world hunger could soon be ended if the revenues that developing coun-tries lose through tax dodging were availa-ble to invest in agricultural development.
According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), US$ 50.2bn per annum, on top of existing funding, would be the cost
Hunger and tax report :
how tax dodging
feeds world hunger
of creating a ‘world free from hunger’ by 2025.
Our report says that amount, and more, would be raised every year if governments ended tax haven secrecy and curtailed prof-it-shifting and tax dodging by multinationals in poor countries.
Impact of tax dodging
Economic growth isn’t helping to feed the people of El Salvador, Ghana and India. Their economies are strong enough to put them in the middle income bracket, yet mal-nutrition remains rife.
A survey of more than 1,500 multination-als in the three countries found that those with subsidiaries and/or shareholders in tax havens paid on average 28.9% less tax per unit of profit than those without such links. In India the figure rose to 30.3%.
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Swissploitation
The report also looks at the role that Swit-zerland plays in denying poor countries wealth they could use to tackle hunger. It es-timates that developing countries may have lost as much as US$ 578bn in capital from 2007-2010, and the tax revenue it would have brought, from trading with or via that one country alone.
What can be done ?
A new international convention on tax transparency is needed, and you can help us push for it by joining the Enough Food
for Everyone IF campaign ahead of the G8 summit this June.
The true ownership of companies and trusts should be put in the public domain, and new accounting rules introduced that oblige mul-tinationals to publish details of the profits made and taxes paid in every country where they operate, so that tax abuse can be quickly identified.
Bite back at hunger
IF we act together we can be the generation that gives everyone a life free from hunger.
I am worried about how an increasing number of poor and vulnerable members of society are being forced to rely on food banks.
The public response seems to be that it is great to see the ‘Big Society’ helping out and setting up the food banks. The reality for many people affected, though, is decreased control and choice in their lives.
I have an eating disorder. With my own choice
Food banks for peoplewith mental health problemsLiam Purcell observes
of when and what I eat, I can manage this disorder.
I am not yet dependent on food banks, but it would greatly heighten my problems with food and my general ability to cope with day-to-day life.
I also suffer from Social Anxiety, and the shame about using a food bank, as well as the dif-ficulty in having to interact with people, would again make my day-to-day life more difficult.
Living with mental health conditions is already very hard and often very dispiriting. Anything that makes this more difficult will lead to more misery, despair, homelessness and suicide.
We received this opinion from a supporter of Church Action on Poverty who wishes to remain anonymous.
Liam Purcell, Church Action on Poverty.
May • June 2013
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Grasshopper WarblersChris Preston writes
Last Sunday morning at 5.30 am we got up early which seemed like a good idea at the time, and as it turned out, it was well worth the effort, to join a dawn chorus walk over Eaton Marsh to hear the birds singing as they woke up in the morning. There were about 25 others including 3 chil-dren quite a few armed with binoculars. The walk leader was very experienced and was identifying birds by their songs as well as by sight. He was plucking their calls out of the sky and was naming lots of different birds as we walked round the marsh. To begin with it was misty but we were pleased to hear the sound of the cuckoo and some walkers at the back of the group said they actually saw it. For us the highlight was hearing (thanks to our leader) who identified the call of a grasshopper warbler which is on the red en-dangered list, so this was quite an achieve-ment. Unfortunately nobody could get a glimpse of this bird but when I returned last night with the same guide I saw and heard it. No grasshopper heard in Britain ever made a sound like the grasshopper warbler, but the chirping of some continental grasshoppers is close enough to justify this bird’s name. The song, known as reeling, sounds like an angler’s reel being wound in or like a free-wheeling bicycle, or some say it sounds like an alarm clock with a muffled clapper. After the grasshopper warbler arrives in Britain in April or May, the reeling can go on every
morning and evening with occasional bursts during the night. Grasshopper warblers are shy birds and spend most of their time scurrying, mouse-like in thick bushes or low cover, but some-times a male perches on an exposed stem to sing with it’s body quivering and head turning from side to side. The song can mislead you as to it’s whereabouts as it can throw it’s voice like a ventriloquist. The spread of dense young plantations of Britain has helped to increase the numbers breeding here, they like undisturbed thick vegetation. They have come a long way as their chief winter home is South of the Sahara. Like other warblers they are very difficult to identify as they are quite plain brown speckled birds with a streaked back, long tail and with buff underparts which is similar to many other warblers which arrive here in Spring but because of their distinc-tive song we were able to identify it. In my ‘Birds of Norfolk’ book it is noted that in the mid 1800s, grasshopper warblers were abundant in the neighbourhood of Norwich and 2 were heard crying in the Bishop’s Gardens of the Bishop’s Palace. These days their stronghold is in the Broadland vicinity. Our Guide identified 30 species of bird by their call that morning across Eaton Marshes. According to him one of the loudest calls comes from the most common
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St Peter’s News
bird, which at present is the little wren, which is very territorial, and calls to mark his boundaries warning off other birds. This is the whole purpose of bird calling to mark boundaries and warn off other birds.
At the end of the walk the mist was begin-ning to clear, the sun was shining and the scouts were serving up bacon butties and hot drinks which were well received!
STOP THE TRAFFIK PEOPLE SHOULDN’T BE BOUGHT & SOLD
www.stopthetraffik.org
On Friday evening, four members of the STOP THE TRAFFIK team in London attend-ed a preview screening of a documentary made for Channel 4 entitled “The Hunt for Britain’s Sex Gangs”. In short, it was power-ful, enthralling and absolutely vital viewing. It’s was shown on Channel 4 on Thursday 23rd May at 9.00 pm. If you missed it, use catch-up TV etc.
It is above all a brave piece of film-mak-ing. When director Anna Hall was granted access to the police investigation into child trafficking and sex abuse in the Telford area, she had no idea if the footage she was taking would ever be used. It was only after the conviction of seven men last October that the documentary team knew their work wasn’t in vain.
If you’re struggling to recall this case, it might jog your memory if I mention the ‘Asian grooming case’ or the ‘Asian gang’, as the traffickers have been referred to by various streams of media. The issue of race
Telford child trafficking: Why are we letting the issue of race distract us from the real crime?
has overshadowed the alarming and serious issue that widespread child trafficking was going on for years in a UK community.
The media can be partly blamed for this. On one side there are papers that have latched onto the race issue to sell copies. A Google search for “Telford Asian gang” returns six times as many hits as “Telford trafficking case”.
The use of the word “Asian” is a dangerous misnomer, by the way, as the convicted men were British-born Pakistanis. Since when did these two mean the same thing?
On the other side, the more liberal media have studiously avoided the subject, prefer-ring not to mention the R-word for fear of igniting controversy. In doing so, however, they offer no response to those who say that this crime was racially motivated. Channel 4 postponed the release of the second documentary in Hall’s series, “Britain’s Sex Gangs”, in case it caused race riots.
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When it was finally screened, no riots were forthcoming.
Well, here’s my response, and if you don’t mind I’m going to borrow a phrase from maths: correlation does not imply causation. In other words, just because the perpetra-tors were of one race, and the victims of another, it does not mean that the crime was racially motivated.
The crime was motivated, as all cases of human trafficking are, firstly by money, and secondly by power. By admission of the traf-fickers, the girls they targeted were chosen because they were believed to be the easiest
to groom. It was purely a business decision based on maximising profit – that doesn’t sound much like a race crime to me.
If that line of reasoning isn’t enough, we could always turn to actual statistical evi-dence. The Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking produced a report on trafficking in October 2012, which included a breakdown of Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) involved in human trafficking in the UK by nationality.
Out of the 92 identified in 2012, 1 was Paki-stani. 11 were British. 19 were “Asian”, and 52 were European. With at least 19 different
15 May 2013As the latest unemployment figures are announced by the Office for Na-tional Statistics (ONS) today, Action for Chil-dren, says that more needs to be done for vulnerable young people, particularly those with no or poor qualifications.
Whilst overall the figures have gone down, the analysis published today by IPPR shows that while the graduate unemployment rate up to the end of 2012 stood at almost 13 per cent, among those without good GCSEs it was almost 35 per cent, and worse still, 41 per cent for those with no qualifications at all.
Emma Scowcroft, Policy Manager at Action
for Children said: “We agree with the IPPR that for the vulnerable young people who have no qualifications at all the future is deeply concerning, and sadly we’re still seeing many who don’t have jobs, or who aren’t able to access education, accessing our support every day.
“Many vulnerable young people have to face obstacles that most adults would find too much to bear. They may be living in poverty or experiencing neglect on a daily basis, as a result, this puts employment and education opportunities even further out of reach.
“These young people need to be given a fighting chance. We know that with target-
News and up-to-date commentary from the Action for Children team
Vulnerable young people without qualifications need support
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nationalities represented by the identified OCGs, you can’t get much clearer evidence that this is not a racial issue.
So what are the important lessons from this case? One key element of the trial stuck out for me. A piece of legislation adopted from the Palermo Protocol was used by the police to show that, because the girls were children who had been trafficked, they could not legally consent to any sexual activity. This allowed them to pin convictions on the traffickers, and should serve as a landmark case for future prosecutions.
Secondly, education is key. All young girls
must be aware that grooming occurs, that under no circumstances should they be ex-pected to perform sexual acts on strangers, and how to stay safe and keep their friends safe from these perils.
Human trafficking is a crime that transcends ethnicity, gender and class. It is a perva-sive evil that exists anywhere where there is money to be made. We cannot let issues of race or religion cloud what is really impor-tant – communities must look within them-selves, and must look out for each other, to eradicate this crime.
ed and timely support we can address their needs and offer the stability and consistency needed to open up opportunities to the right education, training programmes, and jobs.
“We know supported training programmes
like Action for Children’s Youthbuild can transform their lives for the better, and can save society huge amounts of money in the long term.”
Bridget Batty writes
Football has pretty much dominated the news headlines these last few days! Even without being a football supporter it has been nigh on impossible to ignore the re-tirement announcement of Sir Alex Fergu-son from Manchester United Football Club.
The news has filled front pages, back pages and many pages in between about this man who will be noted in history as football’s greatest leader. Comments have been made stating that his leadership skills were so strong that he could have managed anything – so football were lucky to have him.
So what was it about his leadership that earned him such respect and what parallels can we draw from this in the Bible? Being full of great leaders we thought it would be useful to draw some analogies. Who were
those leaders and what strengths did they have compared to Sir Alex?
JOSEPH endured despite his circum-stance and had a vision to sustain him in difficult times.
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MOSES was willing to step up and lead and willing to stick up for people.
DAVID famous for not being afraid of giants had conviction and strength of resolve on his side.
DANIEL maintained resolve and regardless of consequences he remained steadfast to his conviction.
NOAH did what he thought was right even though he was alone in his decision making.
ABRAHAM embraced the unknown, managed risk and uncertainty.
ISAIAH credited for the words “Here I am send me”, showed his willingness to take action, even at a moment’s notice rose to the occasion and shunned inaction.
JOSHUA lead by example and inspired by example.
JOHN THE BAPTIST wasn’t afraid to call out like it is! Being brutally honest he called a group of people, “you brood of vipers”.
PETER recovered from failure, wasn’t discouraged despite denying Jesus he picked himself and carried on.
PAUL was a very zealous character and was passionate about what he believed in.
JESUS CHRIST himself was a servant; often great leaders focus on serving those who follow them.
So looking back at the leadership qualities Sir Alex displayed we can now draw some parallels.
Work Ethic • passion, dedication to the game, attention to detail, working very long hours and expecting very high standards from his players too.
Vision • which inspired and motivated everyone and also had a great eye for spotting talent.
Team Work • loyalty to the club and his players, appointed good people, supported his players. Created a positive impact by surrounding himself with good people.
Belief • he believed in himself, was never scared and was always ready to make a decision.
Mastery • he was famous for bouncing back from setbacks, had such an ability to learn and adapt and learn from those mistakes.
So once the news agenda focuses its attention on other stories and Sir Alex goes into retirement The Bible will still be able to teach us plenty about leadership.
Our PrayersOur prayers are asked especially for these members and friends.
Colin & Ann Clarke, Peter and Hilda Crowe, Margaret Dann, Helen Freeston,Colin Gillett, Connie Harvey, Janet Mickleburgh, Ken Tickle,
Joyce Rowe, Doris Volbrecht.
Please remember to save your postage stamps
Please place them in the box in the church vestibule where
David Finnemore will collect them.The stamps are sent to
various charities.
THE WEEK AT ST PETER’SSUNDAY ServicesMorning Worship • 10.30 am with Holy Communion usually on 1st Sunday Special Evening Services 6.30 pm or time as announced
MONDAY Lunch club • 11.00 am - 2.00 pm
TUESDAY Badminton • adults only 7.30 pm Park Lane Coffee Stop • Weekly, but see notices. Traidcraft Stall,
WEDNESDAY Park Lane Coffee Stop • Tea, Coffee, and light refreshments • Traidcraft Stall, 10.00 am - 12.30 midday
Church open for prayer • 10.30 am -12.00 am Monthly Communion • Second Wednesday 12.00 noon.
FRIDAY Senior Citizens Club • fortnightly - 14, 28, June, 12, 26, July • 11.00 am - 3.00 pm
Worship & fellowship dates for your diary
Weekday Communion ServiceSecond Wednesday 12.00 noon Rev Helen Freeston
Sunday Services 2 June 10.30 am Rev Ian Terry, BA • Communion • Ordinary 9
9 June 10.30 am Ecumenical at Jessopp Road URC • Ordinary 10 & MHA Led by Rev Alison Davis, Preacher Rev Helen Freeston
16 June 10.30 am Mr John Johnson • Ordinary 11
23 June 10.30 am Local Arrangement • Ordinary 12
30 June 10.30 am Rev Helen Freeston • Ordinary 13
7 July 10.30 am Rev Helen Freeston • Communion • Ordinary 14 • Conference
14 July 10.30 am Mr Peter Warner • Ordinary 15 & Action for Children
21 July 10.30 am Mr Paul Lawrence • Ordinary 16 6.30 pm Circuit Service at Hethersett
28 July 10.30 am Mr Stephen Osborn • Ordinary 17
4 Aug 10.30 am Rev Michael Corney • Communion • Ordinary 18
11 Aug 10.30 am Mr William Twist • Ordinary 19
28 Aug 10.30 am Mrs Jean Larner • Ordinary 20
25 Aug 10.30 am Mr Alan Martin • Ordinary 21
Action for Children Sunday14th July 2013.