May News Letter

Christian Aid week always falls in May each year. Not only is it the single largest expression of practical love and compassion to the poorest most struggling members of the human family, but it is also the principle way in which the churches work together for the good of others. These are two ways in which we can know that we are doing the will of our Lord.

Locally we will be celebrating with a united service at Wickhambrook Methodist church on Thursday 5th May, beginning at 7.30pm. This will be preceded by a ‘bring and buy’ sale, beginning at 7.00pm. Everyone is, of course, very welcome. The theme of the service will be the excellent work being done by Christian Aid and its partner organisations in Nicaragua.

We are often tempted to think that the problem of world poverty is so vast that we can’t possibly make a difference. But if we make a difference to one person or family, then we have made a difference.

Gustavo Adolfo Talavera is a coffee farmer and community leader in Jinotega, Nicaragua. He is one of the founding members of a cooperative which has been selling coffee through Christian Aid partner Soppexcca (pronounced so-pecks-ka) for over 12 years.

He says: "I don’t know how to read or write and I did not want my children to be like me. I did not have the opportunity to go to school, so I tell my children to study and do what I couldn’t. We fight so that the new generation, the children, are able to steer this boat."

Gustavo is illiterate. But he wanted his children to be educated. There was no school in the village so school lessons were held in his front yard with the children sitting on the ground. When it rained, they got soaking wet. This happened for many years. And then Soppexcca, funded by proceeds from Christian Aid Week, came along. It gave the community a better price for their coffee, helped them improve the quality of what they were producing and, crucially, pooled their efforts as a community to start building a school. That was nine years ago. Farmers started producing high-quality coffee and began receiving a higher price for their coffee beans. Their quality of life improved and an end to poverty came into sight. They ploughed their profits back into their own community and not only managed to build the school Gustavo dreamt of, but a health centre as well.

Now the children in Gustavo’s community are looking at a future where poverty doesn’t define their lives. For example, Gustavo’s daughter and other young people in his community now go to university, and his niece Martha is being trained in the Soppexcca youth-movement programme. She is taught to protect the environment, to learn new skills, to take control of her future and to be part of a community working its own way out of poverty. This is what Christian Aid Week can achieve. What we can achieve.

This year the Archdeacon’s Visitation will be held at the Cathedral at 7.30pm on Thursday 12th May. During this act of worship the Archdeacon, acting on behalf of the Bishop, will formally admit the Churchwardens to Office. This service is always an uplifting occasion and it would be very good indeed if members of our congregations were able to come to the service, to which you are warmly invited, to support the Churchwardens with your presence and with your prayers.

Usually quietly and behind the scenes, the Churchwardens do an enormous amount for us and for the Church as a whole. They not only look after the church and its contents, they also have legal, spiritual and pastoral responsibilities. They are actively involved in the whole life and work of the church and without them I cannot imagine how the continuing life of our parishes would be possible at all. We are very fortunate to have excellent wardens and I would like to express my grateful thanks to them all for their hard work and dedication.

With every blessing.

Stephen

World Development News Letter

The latest World Development news letter for April 2011 is now available.

Easter Day

On Easter Day we had a glorious service at All Saint' church Wickhambrook. Over 130 people were in attendance to enjoy the service and celebrate Christ's triumphal resurrection. The Benefice choir performed two anthems, the new Easter candle was lit and the church looked lovely with all the flowers for the occasion. Easter eggs were given out at the end of the service and people stayed to chat over coffee, tea and refreshments in the Benefice Hall. And throughout the weather was glorious with so many spring flowers in bloom in the churchyard.

A very special day. Happy Easter.

Good Friday Walk of Witness

Every Good Friday churches from the Wickhambrook URC and Methodist community join up with the RC church in Kirtling and Anglican churches of the Bansfield Benefice for the Good Friday Walk of Witness from the URC to the Methodist chapel in Wickhambrook. This year the weather for this Churches Together event was lovely. Please see the photos from teh walk at

http://www.bansfieldbenefice.org.uk/services/special/goodfriday.html

April News Letter

Holy Week And Easter

Palm Sunday commemorates Christ's triumphant arrival in Jerusalem riding on a donkey, a beast of burden, to the cheers of the crowd. Palm Sunday, this year, falls on 17th April. There will be a Family service at All Saints' Church, Wickhambrook, beginning with a procession with Palm Crosses from the Benefice Hall at 9.30am. There are also services at 9.30am at Denston, Cowlinge and Lidgate. Services later in the day are at Ousden at 11.00am and at Stradishall at 6.00pm.

Holy Communion will be celebrated at 10.00am on Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week - 18th and 19th April, at All Saints' Church, Wickhambrook.

Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter. Christians remember it as the day of the Last Supper, when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples in the upper room and established the service now known as the Eucharist, or Holy Communion. The night of Maundy Thursday is the night on which Jesus was betrayed by Judas with a kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane. The word "Maundy" comes from the command given by Jesus at the Last Supper, that we should love one another. The service for Maundy Thursday, 21st April, will take place at 7.00pm at Ousden Church. This will be followed by the Watch of the Passion for one hour. People gather, for as long or short a time as they wish, to remember, in prayer, the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on the eve of his brutal death for our sakes.

Good Friday is the Friday before Easter. It commemorates the execution of Jesus by crucifixion. Good Friday services, on 22nd April, begin with the Churches Together United Walk of Witness, with readings, prayers and hymns, setting out from the URC at 10.00am and walking together to the Methodist Church. Then there are two devotional services later in the day - "An Hour at the Cross" at Stradishall at 2.00pm and then "Stations of the Cross" at Lidgate at 6.00pm.

Holy Saturday, or Easter Eve, is the day before Easter Sunday - the day of the entombment of Christ. It is the Lord's Day of rest, when Christ's body lay in His tomb. The Easter Vigil, also called the Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in many Christian churches as the official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. On Easter Eve, 23rd April, we return to Lidgate Church, where we celebrate the Easter Vigil starting at 8.00pm. This is a service rich in symbolism and drama, as we rejoice that Jesus has burst from the tomb. We start with a new fire in the darkness of the churchyard to bless the Paschal Candle, and then we enter the Candlelit church, before we build up to the blaze of the church lights, which herald the Resurrection.

Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the most important Christian festival, and the one celebrated with the greatest joy. Easter Day, 24th April, is the Sunday of Sundays. We joyfully celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, and the new life, which he brings to us.

The Benefice shares in the glory of the Risen Christ with a Eucharist at All Saints' Church, Wickhambrook at 10.00am. There is also an evening service at Denston beginning at 6.00pm.

Everyone is most welcome to attend any or all of our services.

With every blessing for a holy and joyful Easter,

Stephen

Lent Course - Rich Inheritance - Jesus' Legacy Of Love

Our Lent Course this year is entitled: "Rich Inheritance - Jesus' legacy of love" We shall meet on Mondays 14th, 21st, and 28th March and on Mondays 4th and 11th April at 7.30pm in the Benefice Hall. Everyone is very welcome.

Jesus didn't write a will. He left no written instructions. He didn't seem to have a plan. At the end, as he hung dying on the cross, almost all of his followers had abandoned him. By most worldly estimates his ministry was a failure. Nevertheless, Jesus' message of reconciliation with God lived on. It is the central message of the Bible. With this good news his disciples changed the world. How did they do it? What else did Jesus leave behind his physical presence - what is his 'legacy of love?' This course addresses these questions.

The course booklet, written by Bishop Stephen Cottrell, includes questions aimed at provoking wide-ranging discussion.

The participants on the course CD are RC Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, Writer and lecturer in Biblical studies, Paula Gooder, and author and public theologian, Jim Wallis. Dr David Hope introduces the course and Methodist minister Inderjit Bhogal provides the Closing Reflection at the end of each session.

There will also be the opportunity to chat informally over tea or coffee. Please consider joining us, if you are able to.

Monday evenings at 7.30pm in the Benefice Hall, next to All Saints' Church, Wickhambrook.

Children's Society Fundraising

It is that time of year when the Children's Society Boxes are handed in and the monies counted. This year the Bansfield Benefice's 18 Children's Society Box holders raised £400 for the Society.

Well done to them and many thanks to Ruth (Volunteer Parish Co-ordinator) for her organisation of this fund raising project again this year.