2023

St John’s Un it ed R eforme d Church 1 Cowper Street, Ipswich IP4 5JD Web Address: www.stjohnsu rcipswich.org.uk

Story Tel li ng I wonder if you have lined up a Summer read ing list? Books that you ho pe to h ave time to indulge in whe n o n ho liday o r sat o n a s un lounger i n the garden. Gillian (my wife) and I have a friend who, before t he advent o f t he Kindle o r iPad which enabled her t o ca rry hundreds of books in one little slip- o n cas e, would stock up o n paperba cks, t he tr as hier the better, to keep herself occupied as she sa t by the pool soaking up the r ays. I don’t know about you but I love a s to ry. From my earliest days I remem ber being s ea ted on one or other of m y parent s’ laps enjoying the delights of “Sam Pig”, “My Naughty Little Sister”, “Milly-Molly-Mandy” or, my particular favour ite , “The Three Billy-goats Gru ff ”. Inte gr al to muc h of my early life was the telling o f Bibl e Stories , my mother was in fac t m y fi r st Sunday school teac her a t the st ar t o f m y fait h journe y. I particularly enjoyed he ar ing about the feeding of the fi ve thousa nd, t he t urning o f wa te r into wine, and the miraculou s ca tch of fi s h - t her e may be a food theme developing t her e. Stories play a n important, even fundamenta l par t of hum an life and much of our conversation involves s torie s of o ne sort or another. As we gr ow and cha nge and our circumstances shift our live s are like a n unfolding story which, unlike that pa per back, and probably for the best, we can not take a sn eak previe w o f the fi nal c hapt er or pa ge t o fi nd out exactly how things will turn o ut. Although, as we walk life’s journey with Christ, the Holy Spirit at work in us, we do have the assurance o f whic h Billy G ra ham spoke wh en he said, “I've read the last pa ge o f the Bible , it's all going to turn out all r ight.” We have a pla ce in God’s eter nal kingdom.

Harvest Arrang ements It is o n Sun day 2 4th September . It would be appreciated if mem ber s o f th e congre gation would bring a jam jar fi lled with fl owers from the garden to put in the windows. Tinne d o r packet foods will be apprec iated and wi ll be going to FIND . The Service i s being taken by Re v. Adam Ea rle. It is GIFT DAY for the church a s well and it is very important this ye ar as t he church ha s had a variety of repairs this year which has taken a toll

on our financial situation. So your gift is r ea lly necessary to enable our churc h to be kept open. Quinquenni  al In  spection The elders have asked t he Building Gr oup t o organise this for the c hurc h s o t hat our building c an be inspected professiona lly t o asce rt ain what maintenance i s necessary t o ensure the fabric o f the building is maintained. It will cost us to enable this to happen but it may enable us t o approa ch Synod for fi nance to carry out their recommendations. Volunteer Needed: A volunteer is needed o n a Thursday from 4. 15 pm to 6 pm t o be on duty while Rainbows a re at t he church. Please volunteer as it is es sentia l as ou r current volunteer is o ff o n a cruise. Plea se see an elder i f you would like to help. Thank you. Sara

Some Dates for Your Diary Rev David Rees becomes a member of St Joh n’s on 03 Sept ember! Work Party and Coffee Morning 12 Augu st Elders Meetings: Thursday 31 Augu st, 12 October, 09 Nove mbe r, 4 Dec em ber. Church Meet ing 21 Sept ember TREASU RERS R EPORT You are t hanked for O ff e rings in J une o f £1,547.05 and donations i n July t o the Communion Fund of a furt he r £23 . This enabled us to send a t ot al donat ion of £65 to the Mission Aviation Fellowship. With regard t o our da maged gar den following the collision involving a n ambulance a nd a car , we c an advise we are in c ommunic ation with t he E ast of England Ambulance Insurers and c urr ent ly await in g their advice o n o ur claim. Our Annual Harves t Gif t D ay will be on 24t h September. Thanks for all your suppor t Mary A and Richard W FINANCE ! FINANCE ! FINANCE ! A boring subject for many, but one which a ff ects all of us, especially during the current co st o f living situation. It is also one which a ff ects YOUR CHURCH. Year on year , a nd c er tainly for the last few, our

C S Lewis (1898-1963), Mere Chri stianity To get in touch and send contributi ons to Adva nce please use the em ail: advanc e@stjohnsu rci pswich.org.uk Please note the deadline fo r the Se p te m be r Ad va nce is 2 5 th August

Expenditure has been in exc es s of our Inc ome, which is certainly not sustainable as we look to the future. For example, the actual deficits have been: 2017 - £4,658; 2018 - £1,154; 2019 - £1,679; 2020 - £3221; 2022 - £2,146. In 2021 – made a surplus of £7,746 due to the exceptional fi nancial circumstances arising out of the Covid pandemic t hat yea r. We rec eived £3,800 from our Insure rs for “loss of income”, activities and our Expenses of s ome £2,500 less a Council Grant o f £1,250 to a ssist restarting a s buildings wer e be ing used les s tha t year. Our only so urces of Incom e are from your generous giving via O ff erings, donations, Gift days, fund raising a nd let tings. On the Income side, direct giving has st eadily decreased from £33,00 0 in 2017 t o £30,400 la st year. On the Expenditure side, all costs, like everyo ne else’s, have incr eas ed. Ove r t he last fe w yea rs, we have incurred increasing costs r ela ting t o our building maintenanc e. For e xample in just t his year to date – fi r e esc ape repair - £1,200 , replacement of cold water tank in loft - £1,400 and plumbing updates to toilets and radiators - £1,250. We have prepared a budge t for ec ast for this current yea r a nd o n the basis of known and likely costs, we are predicting a shortfall of ar ound £4,500 by end Decembe r 2023. We feel it is right that you should all be aware o f St John’s fi nancial situation. We are ve ry tha nkful for all your generous giving for the wo rk and missio n of the Church, but if you feel able t o gi ve even just a small increase , th is would be gra tefully appreciated. Ri chard and t he E lders