Parish of Esher's Newsletter: Edition 3 -
Summer 2016

What does a healing society look like?

As I write, with the rain coming down,  two events sit heavy on my heart. The barbaric killing of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando and the horrific murder of MP Jo Cox.

Behind the events and there proclamation of a divided society, it
would seem, are ethnic loyalties, albeit complex manifestations thereof. In the first case, perhaps the complex interaction between a man claiming allegiance to Daesh (Islamic State) and, it has been speculated, wrestling with an internalised homophobia. In the second case, a man, it is suggested, with a history of mental illness and claiming allegiance
to a nationalistic ideology.

I was reminded of our communities recent wrestling with St. Paul's latter to the Corinthians. We heard of how similar divisions between those with Roman, Greek, and Jewish loyalties were tearing apart the young church in Corinth. St. Paul's answer to these divisions was the extraordinary composition of a hymn to the Cross (it can be found in 1 Corinthians 1.17-2.2). A hymn which pointed to the event of Jesus' death on  a cross carrying power to heal these divisions, in much the same way an antibiotic might carry power to destroys cells of bacteria. The event, marked by vulnerability and weakness,  which discloses God's self-giving love of Himself in Jesus in order to embrace and unite humankind.

I have found myself wondering about how this event of the cross  might carry important insights into how we might respond to the horrific killings I mentioned earlier, for it must or my faith is surely worthless. It seems to me the event of the cross, on the one hand,  recognises the depravity of humankind and its powerlessness to overcome it, while, on the other hand, speaks of the gifted creation of a community which truly values and embraces diversity - for all are embraced by Jesus, and encourages us to pay far more attention, with appropriate investment, in helping those with mental health issues. This might, I hope and pray, be to offer both a challenge and complement to other responses which will be articulated in the coming months.

As I now finish my writing, the sun has finally broken through on what has been a very wet day. My heart moves to give thanks for the communities of Esher and West End. Have a wonderful summer.

With my love and prayers,

Stefan
Rector, Esher

What a wonderful weekend as Nate is ordained

Nate was one diocese’s newest priests who were celebrated at Guildford cathedral on Saturday 2 July as Bishop Andrew performed a traditional priesting ceremony, witnessed by scores of friends and family of the new clergy.

The seven new priests progressed from their vocational journey as last year’s deacons and went on, as Nate did, to re-join their parishes where they can now give their first Communions – such an important landmark in the call to ministry.

This important step in Nate's personal journey into the ministry took place the next day in Christ Church when the whole parish came together for a special Parish Communion. This was followed by a celebratory lunch, with a special cake, where the congregation had the opportunity to welcome Nate into the priesthood.

Pictured left to right are: Susan Bolen, Frimley; Sophie Chatten, Stoughton; Fiona Gwynn, Haslemere and Grayswood; Nate Kurz, Esher; Jenn Riddlestone, Egham; Clare Shepherd, Shottermill and Eils Shipton, Chertsey.

                             

Photos by kind permission of the Guildford Diocese.

Another successful May Fair

The Esher May Fair was once again a huge success, as the Church opened its doors for its biggest event of the year.    This year there really was something for everyone. 

Whilst the weather wasn’t the greatest at least the rain held off (just!), the stall on the green enjoyed many visitors hoping to win a bottle or three!  The face painting was as popular as ever, plus the surprise hit was the toy tombola which the children loved! 

Inside the Church entertainment was non-stop from 12 noon with performances from Theatre4kids, Flipside Dance, Toddlers Praise, Noah’s Ark, Esher Church School and Claremont Fan Choirs. Not forgetting our very own Choir, who were a huge success.   The bells rang cheerfully all afternoon by all those who managed to climb the 56 steps, both young and old!  The range of cakes was delicious as ever and the Parish showed its creativity with all the diverse entries to the Flower Power competition. 

The Esher May Fair team, led by Stephanie Rough, said “We would like to thank everyone in the Parish who contributed to the event. We would not be able to put on such a show without the support of all the performers, the volunteers who helped, those who gave donations and of course everyone who visited on the day and supported us.”  Stephanie added, “it was brilliant to see the Parish coming together and we are over the moon with the total that we raised, which will help develop the support we give back to the Community.” 

The Church is extremely grateful for the sponsorship for the event provided by Surrey Homecare and Dairy Crest, together with the donation received from Moore Place Care Home.   So many local businesses were happy to provide raffle prizes meaning that there were over 20 prizes this year to be won, they included Woking Golf Club, Sandown Racing, Active Body Therapy massage, Kathryn Chapman Photography, Pavilion Health Club and many local restaurants. 

Overall, just under £2,000 was raised for the Church, double the total amount last year.  A huge success as I am sure you will agree!



The bells!

The opportunity to learn more about the art of bell-ringing proved a popular attraction at the Esher May Fair with 33 people ranging from toddlers to grandparents in age participating. They purchased their tickets and climbed the fifty-six stone spiral staircase to visit the bells.    

There they were entertained by a short talk on how the bells work and a demonstration of full circle ringing. Then the visitors were encouraged to chime and ring a bells. They were all surprised at the lack of effort required to make it strike and make a noise. 

If anyone wanted a longer go it was suggested they should come up on Wednesday evening during practice when there was more time. If you missed this opportunity and would like to know more about bell-ringing you will also be welcome in the bell tower on Wednesday evenings. 

News from St George’s, West End
St George's Day gathering

We were all very blessed to celebrate with  the lovely congregation of St. George's, West End,  the first ever St. George's Day 'at home' on a very sunny 23rd April evening. Fantastic food was made by all and lots of bubbles helped the evening to become the first of what is bound to become an annual event! 

An amazing £500 was raised for the parish by just having this friendly get together. However, the best element of the whole evening was to gather together, relax and enjoy the celebratory merriment.

A special big thanks to Mair and Julian for their organisation. 







The Easter Garden
 
On Good Friday morning there was a lovely gathering of children and adults to learn all about the significance of and then make an Easter Garden for St. George’s.
 
Easter Gardens are a method of retelling the story of Easter visually and the West End one was made in a wheelbarrow this year. Through making the garden children can imagine the Garden of Gethsemane, the three crosses (Jesus and the two robbers) on the hill in Golgotha. The tomb is covered and then uncovered on Easter Sunday. They can also experience the excitement of a new life with real plants sown and then grown on to demonstrate that while Jesus died for us it was the start of a new beginning.
 
The very knowledgeable gathering helped in retelling the story and the congregation celebrated the construction of the garden with delicious hot cross buns.
 
This is an annual tradition at St. George’s West End. In the past children built gardens in trays at Christ Church but never one as large as in a wheelbarrow – perhaps one for next year!


David Gerrard with eager gardeners!

Simon Donnan

PCC Secretary

Welcome to our new Churchwarden

A big 'thank you' to Beverley Eastwood-Taylor for agreeing to be our new Churchwarden, a demanding but fulfilling role in parish life.

Beverley is a familiar face in Christ Church having been active in our community for nearly 15 years. She moved to Esher in 1994, and began attending Christ Church in 2002 after sadly losing her partner.

At that point she quickly got involved with Kitchen duties
as the late Felix Palmer was declining in years and needed help, and then went on to take over his role.

Having retired in 2014 Beverley decided to take on voluntary work and is currently the Poppy Appeal Organiser for Esher, a role that she is very proud to have become involved with.

Beverley told the newsletter that, "My interest in the Church is part of my life and becoming a Churchwarden is a further progression of my involvement and commitment to the Church and my faith."

Are you ready to take the next step? 

Training for Intercessors, Chalice Assistants and Readers 

Being an intercessor, reader or chalice assistant are all very important roles in the life of the Church, they represent our priorities very clearly as Christians. Prayer, God’s word, and Holy Communion are the three profound ways in which we meet God. To serve in these roles is to facilitate that encounter with God for others, as well as opening up a new area of connection to God in your own faith. 

So it is not only a fantastic service for the rest of the Church, but it will also prove enriching for your own spiritual life. In each role you will be representing the Church: either interceding on behalf of God’s people, reading aloud God’s word, or administering Holy Communion for our spiritual sustenance. 

Whatever role suits you best, you will receive what I hope will be a fun and concise training, so no experience is necessary at all. 

If you are interested but have reservations, thinking ‘I can't do that', please come and have a chat with Stefan or myself about it - in my experience, God tends to call people in-spite of their perceived inadequacies. Moses and Sarah are just two of many examples from the Bible but God used them both in amazing ways, despite their doubts. 

This initiative is part of the desire within our Parish to grow vocations from inside our community. To see people serving in the ways that God has uniquely gifted them (even if they don't recognise them yet).  

We ask that you take a moment now to pray and ask God to show you the ways that he desires to see your unique gifts used. If you sense that any of the above, or anything else, has taken up a place in your heart, or if you have questions about God’s call, then do speak to Stefan or myself.

Nate Kurz                       

Date for your Diary - 16th July

Training for Intercessors, Chalice Assistants and Readers 

Being a reader, intercessor or chalice assistant are all important roles in the life of the Church. If you are interested in serving in this way, or if you are already, there will be three training sessions run on Saturday 16 July between 10am-12:30pm.

Successful first Parish Quiz Night

The inaurgural Parish quiz night at the end of June was a huge success and great fun for all.

The outcome was a very close match with ‘The Mercurial Tendencies’ winning by a third of a point over ‘The Confused Heroes’. Well done to Jenny & David Gerrard, Rosemary & Brian Elliott, Diana & Simon Stacey and Stewart & Carol Henderson. 

We are pleased to say that over £800 was raised for the parish from this event and many thanks go to Betsy and the fundraising team. Looking forward to the next one.
 

Outward Giving

At the PCC meeting in March, discussions took place regarding which causes should be beneficiaries of Esher Parish this year. It only seems fitting, that as we are all giving to these causes, we should understand a little bit about what they do. One way to communicate this is via the Newsletter, which will now include regular updates on the various activities and hard work undertaken by the different organisations with which we are involved.

One of the charities we agreed to support is Open Doors. The following is some extracts from their website, which give us an insight into what they stand for and how they work:
 
“Open Doors exists to strengthen the church and to be the church in the most hostile places around the World. In over 50 countries, Open Doors is supplying Bibles, training church leaders, delivering Bible-based literacy programmes and supporting Christians who suffer for their faith. In the UK and Ireland Open Doors works to raise awareness of global persecution, mobilising prayer, support and action among Christians.
We are a large family and the need is growing. That’s why we need to work together as partners in the body of Christ. Our brothers and sisters need our support to stand strong and serve their communities. They need to know they are not forgotten.
By praying regularly, supporting practically, and speaking up powerfully for the rights of our persecuted brothers and sisters, you can provide your persecuted brothers and sisters with the spiritual encouragement and practical support that they need.
There are huge benefits for your church, too. Having a relationship with persecuted Christians will inspire you to grow in faith, prayer and love.”
 
Open Doors also works to support victims of violence and disaster. One example is their work with Christians in Nigeria, who endured enormous hardship last year. Boko Haram militants kidnapped almost 300 girls from Chibok, suicide bombers claimed hundreds of lives, villages and communities were attacked and overrun. An estimated 3 million Nigerians were displaced through the insurgency in the northeast. Open Doors workers helped them to start to rebuild their lives. In a village near Jos, 15 families were provided with homes and found work in farming. Their children attend school and the teens are very active in church.


 
In Iraq, Open Doors supported thousands of refugees following the invasion of Mosul by Islamic State (IS) militants in June, 2014. Within 12 hours of the invasion, Open Doors was working through local churches and partners to provide relief. Over £1.5 million was donated to the Iraq emergency appeal by supporters from the UK and Ireland. This incredible response enabled Open Doors to help 80,000 refugees with water, food, medicine, hygiene kits and mattresses.

After the recent atrocities against Christians and those of other faiths in Pakistan, Open Doors have been working in cooperation with local churches and other partnering ministries, supporting the church in Pakistan through training, emergency aid to victims of violent persecution, women's ministry, Bible literacy, counselling and trauma therapy.

PLEASE PRAY:

• For protection for Christians in Pakistan, especially those who are in hospital
• That the government will be able to bring order and security to this area
• Pray for Open Doors partners. Our source reports that 'they are shaken up but NOT overcome by fear'. Pray for courage and hope.

 
Photos courtesy of Open Doors

Toddlers' Praise 

Toddlers' Praise began in Autumn 2014 and by the end of the year we had 14 children at its Christmas party. After that, unfortunately, numbers fell and it took a while for them to pick up but now I'm happy to tell you that we have a well established group weekly in Christ Church, enjoying a variety of worship songs, action songs and rhymes, prayers, Bible stories and popular stories; with parents, helpers and au pairs all joining in the fun!

Our songs are accompanied by CDs or piano and the children delight in playing a selection of instruments donated by kindly folk, in particular Eirian Williams, Natalie Craddock, Stuart Whatton and others. Our sincere thanks to everyone for their contributions. Melanie, Parish Secretary has produced attractive song books, and our thanks to her, though I would like everyone to learn the words! 
 
            

Helpers have been invaluable in their support and it is a big 'thank you' to Peggy Howell Jones, Wendy Tanqueray, Erica Watkins, Jackie Hinton and Veronica King.

An integral part of the success of the venture is the social gathering in the Leopold Room after the session, where drinks, hot cross buns and oranges are shared. We are indeed a happy band of pilgrims who readily welcome newcomers, so do come along and join us on Tuesdays at 10:30am.

Esher Church School News
Summer Term 2016

Another fabulous creative time was had by all in ECS this term as the children prepared the creative outcomes from their Big Enquiries. Year 1 children produced amazing passports as culmination of their enquiry ‘What makes Britain great?’ (This was nothing to do with Brexit!) Year 2 children undertook some brilliant design and technology work, making their own wooden framed houses in the style of the era of the Great Fire of London, and then seeing for themselves the effect of fire on them. 

Year 3 held a banquet to try to answer their enquiry, ‘Is it better to eat like a Tudor or a Caveman?’, as they combined history with their knowledge of healthy eating, and enjoyed sampling both the more and less healthy options!  Year 4 have been transformed into geographers as they demonstrated during a visit to Juniper Hall. 

In year 5 the children found out how Asian people, places and cultures compare with our own, enjoyed a Chinese day tasting Chinese food (very popular) and learnt to speak some Mandarin. Year 6 studied the many things that make Pembrokeshire special with a residential visit to St. David’s in June.

The school did, of course, focus on the Queen’s 90^th Birthday with a ‘street party’ style lunch for the children on her actual birthday. Many of the children were also having or going to street parties on 12^th June so this was particularly special for those children who were not attending a party on that day.

This term the focus is on the Christian values of Friendship, a very important topic at such a young age and one the children enjoyed learning about. 

The children from Year 6 took part in a ‘Dementia Friends’ workshop with the team at Moore Place Care Home in Esher. This helped to increase their understanding of dementia and the impacts it has. It is good that the children learn about the local community and the school is always keen to be contacted by local institutions.

ECS has again had a run of sporting success and achievements, including: Cricket, Football, Hockey et al. Of particular note is all children’s involvement in the Surrey-wide initiative of ‘Run to Rio’ The aim of the project is for children, as a school, to run 5700 miles, the distance from London to Rio, to mark the Olympic Games. The plan is for each child to complete at least 8 laps of the field every week until the end of term, in order to reach the total. This has been well received and is such a simple way to engage the children in regular exercise. On this note the school also went into a skipping frenzy as all children were given skipping lessons and subsequently, ‘skip offs’ are a regular sight on the playground!

There has been changes in the school governors and congratulations are in order to both Liz and Gerard Harper (both from St. George’s Congregation) and also Marion Hall and Becky Webb (parent governors). The school is blessed by the number of parents who give a considerable amount of time and effort. 

Here’s to the run up to the Summer Holidays with a summer disco for the children and the ball for the parents, sports days etc.! As always do pop along and see us! 

All events are on the website: www.Esherchurchschool.org.uk. 

   Diocesan Summer School 2016 explores Abundant Life
This year the annual Diocesan Summer School programme is themed Abundant Life: Exploring a Christian Vision for Living – resonating with the survey into our existing diocesan mission strategy Common Purpose with its themes of growth and abundance: growing deeper, bigger and wider.
Abundant Life offers 15 sessions between 4th - 16th July all around the diocese – many of them FREE – from a wide range of contributors offering a Christian vision of abundant life in the everyday activities of work and rest, art and play, prayer and friendship, as well as in the bigger picture of culture, environment and politics.
And Summer School fortnight ends with a FREE Abundant Life festival morning, with a keynote address by Pete Greig, the founder of the 24/7 prayer movement.
“We have a really exciting and varied range of content for this year’s programme – I hope there is something for everyone,” says organiser the Revd Matt Prior, discipleship development adviser. “From retired Major General Tim Cross, speaking on being a confident Christian in the heat of public life, the former Attorney General the Rt. Hon Dominic Grieve MP,  on the way ahead for Britain after June’s EU referendum, to the leading theologian Mike Ovey on what understanding God as Trinity has to offer to current debates about human identity.
More detail on Abundant Life and all 15 sessions is available online at www.cofeguildford.org.uk/summerschool

Pastoral Care Team

As many of you will be aware, I have set up this team in order to help anyone within the Parish of Christ Church whether they worship there or not.  We aim to visit anyone who is lonely, housebound, recently out of hospital, bereaved or in need of a regular visit.  We will do shopping on a temporary basis for those who are unable to do so themselves. However, our main aim is to let them know that we are there to help them and visit them on a regular basis, which will hopefully give them the opportunity to express their feelings in a non-judgmental atmosphere.  

Often we can direct them to self-help groups or organisations that can advise them on their particular problems.  Some of us invite the person we visit out to tea or take them to places such as Wisley just to give them a welcome change of routine.  

All our members have had to their DBS checks.  At present our team consists of Gillian Woolgar, who is our co-ordinator, Jan Sayer and Peter Lindow (our Pastoral Assistants), Andrea Lindow, Peggy Howell-Jones, Janet Bekenn, Joan Howell-Jones and myself.  We hope to have some younger members in our team before long.

If anyone knows someone who might require or benefit from help from my team, please contact me on 01372 464483 and if I am not there please leave a message and I will get back to you.  If the answerphone is switched off it means I am away, in which case please contact Gillian Woolgar on 01932 242700 or 07950 708241.  ONLY CONTACT GILLIAN IF I AM AWAY PLEASE.  

If anyone has any questions they would like to put to me, please do not hesitate to contact me - I am there to help!

Wendy Tanqueray
(wendytanqueray@gmail.com )