Rivertown United Reformed Church

Minister’s Letter – March 2010

“A never-ending journey!”

The longest step on a journey is always the first one. Paul McCartney’s decision to break away from the other Beatles. Tony Blair’s decision to join the US mission to set everything right in Iraq and remove what were thought to be weapons of mass destruction; the lover’s proposal of marriage; the alcoholic’s decision to seek help for his or her addiction.

Every step that we take brings us nearer to – or further away from the purposes, power and peace of God. Which way do you feel your life is going just now? Can you be sure?

Journeys – especially long or slow – are never popular –especially now. Unless for world records of one kind or another. Waiting of any kind in this madly rushing world is seen as unnecessary, a waste of time, a fault in the transport or state system. Are we afraid to “stand and stare”? In case we’re seen as strange, as folk who need to “get a life”?

Some of the young people from the Bible Busters junior church group tried out the prayer wigwams - thanks Ruth. Each wig wam had a theme like making a boat or weaving and provided the opportunity for contemplative prayer.

The Copenhagen Accord

by William Loader

The skies mourn. The clouds darken. Angry winds stir the leaves and shake the trees. Distant voices speaking from future generations cry, "Why? Why could you not agree? Why could you not find a way? Did you not see the ice melting?

24th January

We have now finished our 'Questions' series which has proven to be very challenging and informative and resulted in many different answers to the same question! There in lies the strength of sharing the Bible together - we share our own thoughts and when led by the Spirit we see differently.

As we draw the 'Bible' year to a close and start with the 'Prayer' year we are left with a legacy of three Bible studies - to continue in our search and encouragement of each other as we look at Bible passages and share our own thoughts. Have you ever read the same passage twice and come out with a different view each time?

Discovery is the name we have adopted to call each group - meeting on Monday afternoons, Wednesday evenings and Friday evenings.

20th November

We have held a number of sessions to reflect on the questions asked by people and they proven to be quite illuminating.

6th January 2010

The windows in the worship area (10 large windows on the two side walls) will be replaced by double glazed units between 27th and 29th January. This will improve the insulation and we are expecting it to improve the heating capability. Early this year we will be visiting a reference site to look at heating units for the same area.

The storage area is ready for use - all is left to do now is construct our new shelving units - planned for this week - and to paint the outside of the walls and doors.

20th November

The consultation sessions, for those who attended, were very successful in that we took the opportunity to share ideas and understanding of what we are planning to do next with the worship area and porch. Whilst we recognised that Phase 4 will be a lot a money and currently out of reach financially the concensus was to proceed in faith.

Welcome everybody to the new Rivertown United Reformed Church website. I hope it provides both promotion for the church and a productive community environment for you to create useful and interesting articles & information.

This is a new venture for the church, and I hope that as more of the congregation get used to new technologies such as the internet and e-mail, we'll increase the amount of content on the site, create a website editorial team for managing content and find more and more uses for the site other than simply an information repository. Already on the cards if the site takes off are:

• ability to subscribe to events, so you can be reminded of an important happening via e-mail or mobile phone;
• a secure, on-line version of the Rivertown Directory for church members;
• improved article submission: members will be able to submit stories and photos directly to the site, with a simple moderation check by the team of site editors;
• an improved weblink directory

So just because the site is now live doesn't mean its finished! Anybody can contribute to the site. If you have any articles, news, ideas or suggestions, please contact myself or Chris Byrne. Additionally, Chris will be looking to find additional editors and site moderators to help manage the site content, so if you're computer-literate and up for it, let us know!.

The site has been developed by Dylan and myself at leafish.co.uk, and I will be monitoring the site and making improvements as the site's content grows. Your feedback is, of course, wanted if not required to help make the site a success. You can contact us directly at support@leafish.co.uk

Please read the notes below (or click here) for a brief introduction to some of the features of the website.