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NEWSLETTER FROM ST JOHN’S URC

Ministers: Rev Adam Earle and Rev David Rees Office:

Abbreviated notes from E astern Synod Meeting 9th Mar ch 2024 (by Rev Joh n Cook) The meeting was constituted by t he Modera to r, Revd Lythan Nevard, and began with worship led by the minister o f Downing Place, Cambridge , using Ps alm 24. A rep from A Rocha gave an informe d presentation about working towards ne t Zero and the church Eco Awards o f Bronze, Silver, and Gold [46 cross the UK] There a re Synod gr ant s available to help fund major environme ntal projects. We were encouraged t o think about the suitability of our buildings, how they ca n be improved, and how we c an c alcula te our carbon usage. The appointments and vacancies noted t hat there ar e severa l vac ant pos ts within the Synod including Treasurer. Church closures were note d a nd we prayed fo r the disbanding congregations .

A reminder was issued t hat c hurc h records nee d t o be s to re d with the loc al county archive – i.e. public docum ents, Church Meeting Minutes, but not Elder s Minutes. Elders meet ings are non- conciliar and therefor e a re private and con fi dent ial. Notes on other chur ch es fro m SSAP Meeting (Joh n B Ed) Saxmun dham Prayer Point (PP) Start the Week with a Cuppa – growing well, lots of activities, games, musi c. Monthly Saturday afternoon film club Sue says never lose th e key fro m a Victorian Iron Safe. Leiston • PP Extended use of the upst airs of the building. Felixstowe Celebration of U2F (Ukrain e to Felixstowe) which has been meeting for 18 months Trying to work m or e closely wit h Felixstowe Metho dis t C hurc h PP a plan o f action foll owing Quinquennial report with a great deal o f money require d. Castle Hill Ipswic h • Warm Welcome “Hub” e very Tuesday since November. Numbers vary but on firs t Tuesday of the mont h there a re 20-25 to eat the cakes. Once a month we are getting 10- 12 peo ple t o a Sunday aft er noo n s ervice of 30-35 minut es. PP We have been working with Whit to n Church and having a joint Service and hoping t o bring the communities together. Ipswich Christ Ch urch Tamsin Philby came on 4t h Fe brua ry fo r a special café style ser vice to celebr ate 150 Years o f the Brit ish Leprosy Miss ion Fairtrade Co ffe e Morning fr om 10-12:30 on 2nd Mar ch. PP Two new members, Rev David and Mairi Thomson, have joined the church. A mother has brought a child fro m T ots and has settled into Junior Church well. Centra l Su ffolk C hurches Stowmarket Church Annivers ar y on 3r d March wit h Lyt han pr ea ching. PP They are having terrible t rouble wit h

Thursday Forum at Christ Church Tacket Street Refreshments 12 noon - 1.  00 pm Talks  1:10 -1:50

Season 2023/2024

Apr 11th Can

cer Awaren

ess and Pr

evention

Imani Sorhaindo, Holis

tic Health Practitioner

Apr 18th Who’s Buried in the ch

ur

ch Graveyard?

Mike Smith; local histor

ian an

d chu

rch

archivist

Apr 25th The Soup Kitchen

of Ipswich

Ian Walters

May 2nd Home for Good Suff

olk, conn

ecting an

d

supporting families

involved in

foster

ing an

d adoption

Elaine Ingram

In 1990, as NASA’s Voyager 1 sp acecraft was about to leave the solar system, Carl Sagan – a member of the mission’s imaging team – asked that the camera be turned around to take one la st look back at Eart h. The image it captured of our world, as a speck less than 0.12pixels in size, became known as ‘the pale blue dot’. In his book, published in 1994, Carl Sagan wrote: “There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to d eal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.” Carl Sagan (1934-1996), Pale blue dot: a vision of the human fu ture in spa ce (1994)

their tower and so prayers are needed to help them resolve t he significant difficul ties. • Robert is Needham Market’s interim minister and may become their Minister s ubject to discussions cur re ntly unde rwa y. Framlingham LEP : we are pressing o n wit h t he plans t o repair our premises af te r the fl ood. Insurers are being very supporti ve, al l clearing out is done and drying out is going well. We have made a decision to change the outside doors to fl ood resistant ones and ne ed t o r aise s ome money for that, but most of t he r es t should be cover ed by our claim. Hadleigh & Monks Eleigh In December, they had 23 di ff erent nativity scenes displayed in the church with a favourite with the children being the Moose Nativity scene from Canada. Lythan led a mornin g service in F ebr uar y with a s oup lunc h, followe d by a bible st udy. PP They are in vacancy with Rev John Cook as inter im ministe r. It i s very di ffi cult to lo ok a t the bigger picture with s o many day activities having to be carried o ut by fi ve people and a considerable number of people in care homes. Important Dat es in April