Recently I spoke with someone who had left her family home with as many personal belongings as she could carry in a small van and walked away from her home and marriage of many years.  Why did she leave?  Because she could no longer bear the pain of living with a violent, alcoholic husband.  The journey she had been on and continues to travel is difficult; she feels scared, alone and constantly questions whether she has done the right thing.  Yet despite all this, the most shocking thing that she said to me was that one of the things she most feared was whether she would be judged by God for walking out of her marriage!

Unfortunately her situation is not uncommon today.  How many people are there here in Walton who suffer in despair brought on by causes as diverse as bereavement of a loved one or a broken relationship, financial hardship, depression, life changing illness, addictions, violence, bullying, the stresses of everyday life like having to live on a limited income, raising a family, job security or loneliness?  This is an often repeated occurrence, not only far away but also here in Walton, amongst our neighbours, members of our congregations, possibly even the person sitting next to you now.

In reply to her worry about judgement I reminded her that God does not judge us but actually shares our deepest pain as if it were his own.  He loves and cares for us so much that he sent his only son to be with us in human form, allowed us to put him to death and then gave us his resurrection and the promise of new life.

Jesus instructs us to go out and tell this good news to everyone, young and old alike and in this Parish we do that in many different ways.  All the different styles of worship we offer help to nurture and feed each one of us and reach out to all including those who have not yet heard the good news.  Some find nourishment from quiet communion, evensong or contemplative services, others will find it at a joyful rousing Youth Service or lively family service.  All of this ministry work costs money.  Fortunately we are blessed in this Parish with a trust fund which pays for the up keep of the fabric of our Churches, but our ministry and outreach is wholly paid for by our giving.  Our giving funds the employment costs of our Vicar, Curate, Church Army Evangelists, Children and Youth minister, ministry training, support for our unpaid ministers, administration, as well as enabling us to mount a vast array of ministries ranging from Sunday, weekday and seasonal services, Sunday Schools, 1^st Wednesdays, confirmations and baptisms to home communions, visitations, Alpha Courses, home groups, summer Holiday Clubs, youth groups, outreach initiatives into St John’s and Vicarage Fields estates and Walton Street Angels.

In response to Jesus’s instruction to go and tell the Good News, one way we can positively help is by Planning our Giving.  This means deciding how much of our income to regularly contribute to the continuing ministry in the Parish.  Some years ago the Church of England’s average giving per member reached the £5 per week mark. Many of us are able to give a lot more than £5 a week and it is our responsibility to not just sign up to the minimum but to give according to our means.  As you leave today, please collect your personally-addressed letter which includes a giving form and prepaid reply envelope.  If you pay income or capital gains tax, fill in and return the Gift Aid declaration as well.  This will increase the amount the PCC will receive by reclaiming tax you have already paid at no extra cost to you.  Currently, more than half of our congregations give nothing to Planned Giving.  Putting loose change into the collection doesn’t allow the PCC to budget for the year ahead and therefore we cannot commit to the future with confidence.

We all have a responsibility to make sure our mission continues, but without Planned Giving, we are not going to be able to continue at our current level let alone expand to meet the growing demand of Walton’s increasing population.  A few people in our churches give an enormous number of voluntary hours each week to help the Parish run and grow.  Too many people often say they are too busy to volunteer even a little of their time.  However, there is no excuse for us all not to give financially according to our means and therefore I challenge us all to examine our level of giving and respond to this challenge.

Jesus gave us the ultimate sacrifice of his life that we might live a new life.   Plan your giving now; don’t watch from the sidelines and hope others will respond, we all need to respond by being generous so that we may continue to work in this Parish making God’s unconditional love known here in Walton to you, me and all our neighbours.

Thank you very much.

“The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work …You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us … Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (from 2 Corinthians 9)

Every few years we run a Planned Giving Renewal programme to encourage parishioners to re-consider their committed level of giving, both money and time and talents. In this way the PCC is better able organise our life and direct our mission, knowing what income to expect.

Read about Planned Giving – Funding the Vision.

We are extremely grateful for all contributions, whatever form they take.

Bible Sunday

In February 2008, General Synod passed a resolution that there should be “unfettered access to Bibles in all Churches”. When I have preached on Bible Sunday here in past years, I have suggested that, for a number of reasons, it would be good if we had Bibles in both our Churches. This year I invited you to ‘Sponsor a Bible’ in a special collection at the end of all services on Bible Sunday. We will also have collections in both Churches for the next few weeks – or any donations can be posted through the Parish Office letterbox.

For £8.99 a Bible, we can make the Word of God readily available in both our churches in Walton. Please prayerfully consider what you can give and put any money in an envelope marked ‘Bible’. Include your own name(s) if you would like your donation acknowledged in the Bible(s) you give – or specify a name if your donation is in memory of someone else.

Buy a Bible – or some notes

There will be stalls at both churches after the main morning services on 7th November for you to look at and order Bibles and Bible reading notes. There will be a wide variety of material on offer, including children’s Bibles and many different Bible versions. Remember that a Bible would also make a lovely present for Christmas, Baptism or Confirmation.

BibleFresh

In 2011 there will be many celebrations taking place to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. This much loved translation was a fantastic effort to put the words of the Bible into the hands of the wider population rather than it being reserved for the chosen, well educated few. Now there are a whole variety of translations that bring the language of the Bible up to date for us today. The Bible Society, along with other Christian charities, under the heading of BibleFresh, is seeking to use this significant year to encourage everyone to delve deeper into the Word of God to gain appetite, confidence and passion.

E100 Bible Reading Challenge

Those of you who are fairly new to Bible reading could try taking on the E100 Bible Reading Challenge which is based around 100 carefully selected Bible readings (50 from the Old Testament and 50 from the New Testament) designed to give readers a good understanding of the overall Bible story from Genesis to Revelation. The ‘E’ stands for Essential and each of the Essential 100 readings ranges from a few verses to a few chapters. The E100 website has lots of info & resources – including this E100 Bible reading planner

One Year Bible

Others of you who are already quite experienced in Bible reading could try the challenge of reading the whole Bible in a year. I am currently doing this using a resource called ‘Cover to Cover’. I would suggest using the resources on the HTB website below – they provide you not only with a daily reading plan but also some notes to help you understand what you have read. It may seem a daunting task but it is as you explore more of God’s Word that you grow and learn.

HTB: ONE YEAR BIBLE

My prayer is that in some, or all, of these ways God will speak powerfully to you through the words of the Bible this next year.

Steve Bailey

As the confusion and debate continues to rage around Asia and the Arab World as to how to deal with conflicting approaches to peace, it is clear that there has never been a better time for Interserve to offer God’s message of unconditional love – the antidote to fear – to people of other faiths. I believe that this campaign is an outworking of a part of His plan to raise the profile of some of the work that has – is – and continues to be done by Interserve workers in over 35 countries in the world. The following is a brief outline of the projects that we are hoping to raise money for in the next 10 months.

Refuge Egypt
Refuge Egypt, is one of the first avenues of refuge for those fleeing their home countries, typically Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. In just one typical year, Refuge Egypt will help nearly 30,000 individuals, 11,200 of which will be children. Of those 30,000, Refuge Egypt’s medical team will offer medical assistance to 13,000 men, women and children.

In 2008, Refuge Egypt medical staff successfully delivered 387 babies into the world. Refuge Egypt will distribute more than 8,000 food packages to hungry families… and up to 1,500 people will receive clothing.

Christian Care FoundationIn Thailand many children born with disabilities are abandoned by their families. Their disabilities might range from Cerebral Palsy through to something as relatively minor as a missing toe or a cleft pallet. The reason for their abandonment is often due to poverty and to cultural and religious beliefs and the stigma surrounding disability.

CCD stands for ‘Christian Care Foundation for Children with Disabilities’ and has been operating since 1997. It was set up to offer better conditions for these abandoned orphans. CCD’s most exciting development recently has been the opening of ‘Rainbow House’, their own purpose-built home for disabled children. So far, almost 30 children from the government orphanage have been completely released into its care. At Rainbow House the children learn many necessary life skills that will enable them to be integrated back into society. They also receive lots of love and individual attention and often, perhaps for the first time, ‘normal’ things such as beds, toothpaste and schooling!

Today CCD is touching the lives of over 600 children. It has 50 Thai staff, many of whom are Christians, as well as volunteers from all over the world.

Oasis India
Mumbai is often a stopping point for so many south Asian women who have been trafficked out of their countries and into the sex trade.

They feel, and they are, trapped. Interserve workers, co-operating with Oasis India, are actively engaged in rescuing and supporting these women. Oasis runs drop in centres for women who feel the need to escape from what they are forced into. Many of the women become believers, but remain trapped. Interserve workers are a source of hope for these women, and their children.

Through the Roof is a charity that is dedicated to seeing disabled children and adults reaching their full potential in God. Internationally we take teams to developing countries to encourage people to remove the stigma of disability. We do this by visiting schools and encouraging inclusive education of disabled children. We also recycle wheelchairs from the UK and take teams of physiotherapists and occupational therapist to fit them and see people with the dignity and freedom of a chair.

We may think in the UK we are inclusive of disabled people but we often find that hidden disabilities such as mental illness, visual impairment and hearing impairment can leave people feeling very excluded in our churches.

Through the Roof offers advice, publications and training to raise awareness of these issues. We also run holidays for disabled people and families affected by autism and fellowship groups for disabled people.

We want to thank the member of St Mary’s with St John’s for partnering with us with your Outward Giving of £200 to transform the lives of disabled people both in developing countries and in our own country.

If you would like to learn more about out please look on our website www. throughtheroof.org

Choir ‘Vox Cordis’ (whose members sing with The Sixteen, The Gabrieli Consort, Tenebrae, The Monteverdi Choir and both English and Welsh National Operas) will sing sacred music by Byrd, Brahms, Gibbons and others, culminating in a performance of Fauré’s Requiem. Tickets (£10 adults / £8 concessions) available from Oatlands parish office on 01932 231274. All proceeds will go to the British Sjogren’s Syndrome Association.

The proposed work requires removal of the bells from the tower for fitting new headstocks, gudgeons and bearings, clapper assemblies, wheels and rope pulleys; then all to be rehung in a new steel frame.

The Tower Clock

The tower clock dates from 1905 and has to be manually wound each week. This is an ideal time to carry out repairs and cleaning. If automatic winding gear is installed at the same time, the clock work alone will cost £8,500.

How can you help?

The bell restoration project will cost about £100,000 and has the full support of the PCC and local Bell-ringing organisations. The PCC will request funding from the ‘Church Fund Trust’, and there are grants to be applied for but there is still a need for external fund raising.

Please, would you help by making a donation to keep the bells of St Mary’s, Walton ringing?

Much of the cost is in building work, transport and professional expertise but while we are seeking personal donations we are also looking for people or organisations who would like to sponsor a specific item on the list that follows.

Cost of some specific items
• Dismantle bells and old frame £6,686
• Build and install a new frame £13,664
• Weld the cracked 7th bell £3,255
• Headstocks, 8 required each at £827
• Bearings, 8 required each at £165
• Clappers, 8 required each at £424
• Wheels, 8 required each at £525
• Sliders and stays, 8 pairs each at £168
• Pulleys, 8 required each at £129
• Ropes, 8 required each at £200
• Clock repair and conversion £8,500

More Information

For further information, please contact the Tower Secretary, Hilary Brooks, on (01932) 227088.

About Bell Ringing

The Ringers are always pleased to welcome visitors at our Friday practice 7.45 – 9.15 PM. Please come up if you wish to see what we do or are interested in learning to ring.