St Johns Newsletter Issue 4

8/19/2019 St Johns Newsletter Issue 4

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Welcome

St John’s ChurchFelbridge

All change - well, it ’s not actually all change, but therehave been a few things changing recently at St. John’s aswe seek to position ourselves in the best place for the workGod has called us to.

Inside this issue you’ll nd details about the changes to theinterior of our church to maximise the potential and use ofthe amazing building God has given us. You’ll also nd outwhat’s changed with our children’s and youth groups and

our Sunday services, as well as stories of work going on inUganda and Cambodia to bring change to people’s lives inthese parts of the world.

In any organisation or community, there will be a healthymix of those who nd change hard as well as those whofeel it doesn’t happen fast enough. But one thing that’strue is that throughout history the church has always hadto change to face the challenges of each new generation.The message of the Bible, of the gospel of Jesus, stays thesame as it anchors us in our fast-changing world, but ourapproach to the work God has called us to must evolve withtimes. It has been said that,

“The great drama of the life of the church is that it has toreproduce itself in every generation”

MARK FRANCIS (vicar)

ISSUE 4


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OUT OF THIS WORLD

has been going from strength to strength with new children and

friends coming along. The group is for those aged between 3

and 11 and is a jam-packed, fun-lled three-quarters of an hour.

We play games, watch videos, sing songs, create crafts and

through all these various activities we explore Bible stories and

themes. Our aim is that the children will learn more about God in

a fun and safe environment.

BIBLE OVERVIEW

We have recently started a new teaching series exploring thestories of the Bible beginning with Creation, then moving through

the Old Testament and from there through the New Testament as

we discover more about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and

about the experiences of the very rst Christians. By following this

overview our hope is that the children will see how God’s plan of

salvation is worked out through the whole Bible.

JESUS STORYBOOK BIBLE DVDS

We’re using these as part of the teaching, which pull out the

main stories from the Bible and use aminations to retell them.

They’re short and engaging clips presenting the stories in a child-

appropriate manner. The children love them and learn so much

from them! At the end of each story there is a clear link to the

life of Jesus, showing the children how the whole Bible points to

Jesus as our King and Saviour. Through discussions and activities

the children explore how each story applies to them in their lives.

OUR HOPE

is that the children will remember these stories as they grow and

develop and that through them their knowledge of God and

relationship with Him will deepen, that they will experience for

themselves His love and forgiveness, and full their potential as

His children. So, the whole story of the Bible in just a year and a

half! Maybe that sounds rather ambitious to you? Well, we want

to have great ambitions and hopes for the children as we teach

them about God and where they t into His story for the world.

ALL CHILDRENare very welcome to come and try out our groups which run

during our 10am service, whether you are normally church-

goers or not. There is a real sense of friendship within the group,

with the children caring for each other and the older children

looking out for the younger ones. And it’s a joy to see young lives

changed and lasting friendships formed. Proverbs 22 verse 6

says,

“Start the children off on the way they should go, and even when

they are old they will not turn from it.”

Please pray with us that the children who meet together will

continue in what they have learnt about God for the rest of their

lives.

Our team of children’s leaders are all DBS checked and receive

Safeguarding training. In addition to our Out of this World group,

we also run a Crèche for 0-2s during the 10am service.

OUT OF THIS WORLD

Things are changing rapidly in the world around us, many things for good, and some not so good.But the message of the Bible stays the same. It holds us fast in a changing world. Here’s a bit about

what the children at St. John’s are discovering and learning this year...

Takes place during our 10am service


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XTB LUNCHTIME CLUB AT FELBRIDGE SCHOOLExplore the Bible Club (XTB) at Felbridge School is now running

for the 4th term and it has been a really exciting opportunity for

the junior children, aged between 7 and 11, to learn a bit more

about Jesus from the Bible. Mark Francis, Penny Jeffers and I

have been going into the school on a Thursday lunchtime each

week to teach stories from the Bible, whilst playing games and

making crafts with the children.

Last term, we traced Peter’s story through the Gospels to

see how his faith and friendship with Jesus developed and

deepened. This term the children have been discovering

more about God’s character through the stories of Joseph and

Moses; in particular how God kept His promises and how He

is the great Rescuer. The children have activity books to work

in each week: solving puzzles, spotting the difference, creating

crafts and cracking codes as they learn more about the true

stories from the Bible.

It has been a joy to see children learning and to see them

coming running down the corridor (no running in the corridors!)

week on week, eager and excited to be there.

Abby Benjamin

Sunday services at 10am and 6pm (and 8am on the 2nd & 4th Sundays)

WE’RE RELAUNCHING OUR 6PM SERVICE FOR 3 MAIN REASONS:

• Sunday mornings are not a good time for everyone, and so our 6pm service is

now a realistic alternative

• We’re aware of the need for us as a church to be doing more for young people

in Felbridge, and so our youth groups for 11-18s will run alongside our 6pm

service

• Our 10am service is often full, and so we hope to be able to continue moving

forward by building up our 6pm service.

So instead of a main service at 10am and a subsidiary one at 6pm, there will now

be two main services on an equal footing.

WHO IS THIS SERVICE FOR?

It’s for anyone at all, but…

Maybe you have sport or work or family commitments on a Sunday morning, or it’s

just your one chance in the week to have a lie-in?

Maybe you and your family would like to be part of the new Felbridge youth

setup?

Maybe you are often serving at our 10am service and don’t want to miss out on

being in church?

Maybe you just prefer the feel of the 6pm service?

Or maybe you like the idea of a Sunday tea before church each week?

Doors will open at 5:15 with tea served beforehand. The service starts at 6pm and

will nish at 7pm or shortly after. And the youth groups will run alongside all of this,

nishing at 7:30pm.

At both our services there will be music, prayer, and a talk from the Bible. We’re

very positive when it comes to the Bible – we believe and experience that God

speaks to each of us through these words today.

CHURCH FOR THOSE WHO DON’T DO

SUNDAY MORNINGS,

CHURCH FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T DO SUNDAY MORNINGS


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MAXIMISING THEPOTENTIAL OF OURCHURCH BUILDINGWHAT WE’VE DONE AND WHY?St. John’s was built in 1865 and the last major alterations to the interior of thechurch were in 1972/4. We are so grateful for a superb church building here inFelbridge that has been used to the glory of God for 150 years! But we had alsobecame increasingly aware of its limitations.

That’s why we undertook a project to update the interior of the church tomaximize its potential and use. We have upgraded the seating, heating, ooring,lighting and audio-visual system.

INCREASED FLEXIBILITY The building was being used for only 3-4 hours per week, but the increasedexibility concerning the sorts of meetings and events the church can be used for

will enable us to make the very best use of the church throughout the week.

INCREASED CAPACITY St. John’s is a relatively small church building and it had pews to seat 130 people.We are regularly over 80% full at our 10am service and the changes to the interiorhas now increased our capacity to up to 180-200 chairs.

A BUILDING THAT SPEAKSBuildings speak whether we like it or not and we are very pleased with the newfeel of the church. The changes have enhanced the building, bringing to thefore the attractive stonework and original features, and creating an uplifting andvibrant space that speaks of the “life to the full” that Jesus came to offer to all(John 10:10).

IMPROVED ACCESSThe exible space and removal of steps and levels in a number of places hasmade the building more accessible and welcoming to those with wheelchairs orbuggies, and those who are less mobile.

RENEWED FACILITIESReplacing our heating, lighting and audio-visual system was a real and immediateconcern and the up-to-date technology and equipment are already making a realdifference to what we are able to do.

We are very grateful to the contractors for their work and expertise, to themembers of the church who gave their time in a variety of ways to make thishappen, and to Imberhorne School for allowing us to meet there while the work

was taking place. We are also very grateful to those members of the church whohave given in the past to our building projects that has enabled us to pay for this

renovation work.

Before

Before

Before

After

After

After


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Before

Before

After

After


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Apologetics Explored 2016[Apologetics = the reasoned defence for the truth of Christian

beliefs]

For our Lent Course at St. John’s this year, we’ve had a great

time as Joe Clease has led us looking into the evidence

and arguments that can give us condence in the truth of

Christianity. We’ve been considering the most common

objections to faith in Jesus and thinking about what wecan truthfully say to respond to such objections. This is an

important part of contemporary Christianity: one example

that demonstrates this is that recent surveys show that a large

percentage of people in Britain do not even think Jesus was a

real historical person, despite almost unanimous agreement

on this among historians.

Here are the topics tackled, which often become barriers to

belief for people:

• Reliability & Historical Basis of the Bible

• Historical Basis for Jesus & the Resurrection

• Other Faith and Beliefs

• Creation of the World

• Science, Evidence and Evolution

• Suffering, Evil and Morality

If you would like to listen to presentations on these and similar

themes, please visit this page of our church website: http://

www.stjohnsfelbridge.com/explore-more/claims-of-christianity

The Search for God and the Path to

PersuasionWe are currently recommending

this excellent new book at

St. John’s, hot off the press. If

apologetics is something that

sparks your interest, this book

may be for you.

Former vicar of St. John’s,

Stephen Bowen, very sadly

died in November last year,

having served as vicar of the

church in Felbridge for 33

years. Before he died, he was able to carry out the rst edit of

this new book written by Peter May. Peter was a close friend

of Stephen’s and spoke at his funeral, paying tribute to him.

Stephen edited the book just before he went into hospital for

the last time, having also discussed it with Peter for a number

of years prior to this as the ideas for the book were coming

together. He endorsed it enthusiastically and Stephen and

Mandy have prayed the book into being over the years.

Stephen shared this passion for effective evangelism and

apologetics that Peter May speaks about in the book, and that

Joe Clease has led us to think about through our Lent Course

this year. This passion began for Stephen as a student during

his days as President of CICCU (Cambridge Inter Collegiate

Christian Union) and many of us will be so aware of how

Stephen put this into practice throughout all aspects of his

life and ministry. His desire was to point people to the Lord

who had transformed his life and who had given him immense

strength and unwavering hope in the face of death.

In Memory of StephenSpeaking at Stephen’s

funeral service,

churchwarden Andy

Brown reminded us that

pervading all that Stephen

did as vicar of Felbridge

was both his loving

pastoral care through

which he modelled the

Christian life for us; and

the priority he gave toproclaiming the good

news of Jesus by faithfully

and relevantly teaching

the Bible.

It is therefore hugely appropriate that the money given

at Stephen’s funeral in memory of him has been used to

purchase the new set of NIV 2011 church Bibles. We are

delighted to have these available for all to use as we begin life

in our newly refurbished church. May all be persuaded of the

truth about Jesus they nd inside!

John 17:17 Jesus says to God, his Father, “Your word is truth!”

BEING TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWINGOF OUR MINDS ROMANS CHAPTER 12 VERSE 2


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WRC runs a wide range of projects addressing many local

concerns. These range from food security, education and

healthcare to raising awareness of the dangers of child trafcking –

all of which show God’s love for the poor.

Brenda adds: “I would particularly like to tell you about a 15

year-old girl called Srey Noch who lives in Puk Reusey village in

Cambodia”.

As usual for most teenage girls, growing up Srey Noch spent

most of her time with her friends. However, as she got older she

began to stay away from home, avoid helping her family with the

housework, and became very rude towards them. She was causing

trouble at home and her parents really struggled to look after her.

It is funny how God guides us to the right places. Srey Noch and

her friends used to hang out every weekend, watching a puppet

show in their community. They always loved it. After a few months

she got chatting to the group putting on the show. It turned out

they were from World Relief Cambodia! They invited Srey Noch

and her friends to some of the events they put on for teenagers.

Srey Noch and her friends went along to one of their events and

have continued to do so. They are always fun and a place to build

good friendships, but also have a teaching element. The teaching

topics ranges from anti-trafcking to healthcare and to spiritual

well-being.

Through the love shown to her - a troublesome teenager - Srey

Noch found Jesus. Asking Him into her life was a world-changingmoment for her. “After I accepted Jesus, my life was transformed.

Jesus calls us to a different way of life and I realised that I should

love everyone, including my family - even when they asked me to

do housework! Now we have a much better relationship and I am

looking forward to joining a cell-church”.

Brenda particularly liked the idea that the children were reached

through the puppet shows as we have Bruno and Soli at

St. John’s to help us teach our young people about Jesus.

She concludes: “Through the Connected Church Scheme we willlearn about many more lives that have been transformed by WRC

and we will be hearing about projects that need our prayers. It

will be such an encouragement for us to know that our prayers

and nancial support are helping to bring about these changes”.

As a Tearfund Connected Church, we will be sharing regular

updates about WRC as we receive them.

St. John’s becomes a

Connected ChurchSt. John’s has become one of Tearfund’s

Connected Churches with a special link

to World Relief Cambodia (WRC).

Asked why this is so special, Brenda

Wilkinson explains: “We will develop

closer links with WRC and learn about

their work in greater detail. And we’ll

get regular updates about the projects

they are running and learn how people’s

lives are being transformed. As welearn more about Cambodia and its

problems and feel more connected to

WRC we will have the opportunity to ask

Tearfund to arrange for a small group

from our church family to go and see

WRC projects for ourselves”.

BRINGING CHANGE IN CAMBODIA


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The Marriage Course

When St John’s decided to run a marriagecourse at the end of last year, I was intrigued.Paul and I had been married for 10 yearsand when Mark explained that it wasn’t justfor newlyweds, but also for those who havebeen together for 5, 10, 25, even 50 years– as a sort of MOT for a relationship – I wassold.

We turned up each Thursday for 7 weeksand spent half an hour mingling with othercouples over a glass or two and then wereseated at our very own ‘table for two’ to

enjoy the mostfabulous meal prepared for us each weekby Chris Saunders and his family. It was like‘date night’ at a restaurant.

We watched a DVD in which an experiencedcouple covered topics with stories from

their own marriage as examples, as well asinput from other selected couples. Subjects

covered included: communication, resolvingconict, forgiveness, impact of family,good sex and love in action. Every nowand again we would break from the DVDto discuss in our couples different aspectsof our relationship, with activities andquestionnaires – we even had homework! Paul and I got a lot out of the MarriageCourse both in improving our communica-tion, being open about how we feel, and arenewed and much deeper love and respectfor each other. We also recognise how God

and His love for us helps make our marriageand family life happy and strong as we dealwith whatever comes our way. This course isa must for any couple, whatever stage theyare at!

Paul and Allison Phillips

Look out for news of similar courses on“Parenting” and “Living with Loss” this

coming autumn.

01342 [email protected]

CHANGING (TRANSLATING) THE BIBLE IN UGANDAN LANGUAGES

GIFT AND KATHRYN ASIKU,Working with Wycliffe BibleTranslators

In February I had the great joy and privilege ofreturning to Uganda (where I was born and grewup and later worked), to visit our Mission Partners,Gift and Kathryn Asiku and their two boys,James (7) and Simon Peter (5).

They live and work in Entebbe on the shores ofLake Victoria, about 20 miles from the capital,Kampala, but at least an hour away by road! Ashis name suggests, Gift is Ugandan from Arua,in the north of the country; Kathryn’s home isin Kent, but they met in Arua while Kathryn wasworking on literacy projects there, and after they

were married they moved to work in the WycliffeBible Translators office in Entebbe.

Gift facilitates a team of translators currentlyworking on 4 different languages acrossUganda, providing supervision, encouragementand training – which may involve travellingconsiderable distances. They have completed theNew Testament, and are now working on the OT.

Kathryn is involved with literacy projects,particularly the production of cheaply-printedbooks which are easily translated and accessible,covering a wide range of subjects from Bible

stories to healthcare, nutrition and goodagricultural practice.

Their two boys attend local schools, so Kathryn juggles her days between work and home: anearly-morning walk to collect the milk (straightfrom the cow!), getting the boys to school, timeat the office and daily shopping at the local shopor market. Although she has help during theweek with the laundry (no washing machine!)and preparing lunch, a very unreliable electricitysupply presents additional challenges!

I was honoured and privileged to share in their

lives whilst over there, to see some of theirwork, to meet their colleagues, and to visit theirchurch (also St John’s!) where I received a verywarm welcome. The Presidential Election tookplace while I was with them, and much prayer isneeded that the country will remain peaceful andstable so that daily life can continue unhindered.

Anne Butler

To all our friends at St. John’s,

Thank you for lending Anne to us for a few weeks! We have enjoyed having her with us and her time here has been a blessing and an

encouragement. We are excited that she will be able to bring you pictures and first-hand accounts of our lives and work here in Uganda. We hopethis will inspire you to pray for us and the people here who are waiting for God’s Word in their language. Thank you for praying for Uganda during the

elections. We are grateful to God for the peace we can enjoy. Thank you for your generous gift. We appreciate the love you have shown us.

Love, Kathryn, Gift, James and Simon-Peter

CHANGING MARRIAGES FOR THE BETTER

St Johns Newsletter Issue 4

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