Shanklin United Reformed Church

High Street, Shanklin, Isle of Wight. PO37 6LA
Registered Charity No. 1130459

A member of the Evangelical Alliance

MENU

Home

News


A Brief Outline

People

Services

Youth Activities


Other Activities

Support for Others

CatURpillars

The Building

Building For The Future

Bookshop


Minister's Message

Articles From 'The Link'

Communication

Diary of Events

Christians Working Together In Shanklin

How To Find Us

Links


Sermons
 

Vacancies

Articles From The Link

The Link

The magazine of Shanklin United Reformed Church


We Have Lost a True Brother

Maurice Wakeman died peacefully on 3rd January after a few days in hospital. After a number of mini strokes (TIA’s) over the last 12 years he had a more serious episode from which he did not recover. As he deteriorated on his final day in this life, Rose encouraged him to let Jesus receive him home. He died just a month before his 87th birthday and peace came over him as he crossed over into his new life with God in glory. He had a strong faith which had grown since they retired to the Island in 1987 and came along to this church.

Maurice was the editor of this magazine when I came to the church and he was very faithful, gracious and reliable in this role. When he gave this up, he didn’t mind at all giving way to new technology and fresh ideas. He helped each Tuesday lunch running the sound system and recording the talks. He had helped with taking photos in earlier years as he was always keen to use his camera. He also supplied a number of us with some delicious tomatoes over the summer months. Here was a true gentleman who brought such encouragement to us all. Though he has no children of his own, he provided fatherly love to many of us and invested a huge amount in to the next generation through his interest and enthusiasm for life. He loved the music here and it as fitting that many of the music group were able to play at the Thanksgiving Service on 11th January. He will of course be remembered for his part in the panto sketches and most recently as the lamp in an extract from Midsummer Night’s Dream.

He and Rose married in mid life and celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary on Christmas Eve – a joint event with Bob and Louise Duncan. This was a regular fixture, ending up at the church for the carols and Christmas Communion. He enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and was full of enthusiasm when I spoke to him after the informal worship “in the round” on 27th December, a conversation I shall long remember.

We shall miss Maurice greatly as he has contributed so much to the life of this Christian community and to Shanklin over the last 23 years. Our hearts go out to Rose who will miss her dear husband so much. He has also become her eyes in recent years. We thank the Lord that he is now enjoying the very best of life and health with all the saints in glory.

Rev Brian Harley  

Yaktrax – and all that!

As I lay on the icy Shanklin pavement in early January, I had a Victor Meldrew moment of ‘I don’t believe it!’ I was looking at my twisted left wrist - it was a textbook case of Colles fracture - thankfully not my dominant hand but still….

It was all so avoidable – I was carrying quite a heavy backpack full of stuff needed for my Junior Church session, the Resource File and a pair of shoes as I was walking in wellies, which were safer than my walking shoes!  I even had a large tin of Roses chocolates to give as a thank you to the Liberal Club for allowing us to use their rooms for Junior Church whilst the downstairs lounges were undergoing renewal and transformation!

What am I like??

I guess that at least half of the contents of my backpack were not really needed that particular day – so what was I trying to prove?

We had already had to postpone the youth worker interviews because of the weather so it might have been sensible to take some precautions myself. We are our own worst enemies when it comes to what we think we can achieve in our own strength and I started to wonder why God had allowed this ‘minor injury’ to happen to me and what He was trying to teach me:

1. 1. I didn’t realise how self-sufficient I have become.

2. I didn’t realise how hard it is to graciously accept help from others.

3. 3. I didn’t realise how hard it is to ask for help from others.

4. I had a bad case of ‘pride goes before a fall’- I was quite proud of the preparation that I had put in to the Junior Church session.

I didn’t know that I needed some time out to give God a chance to speak to me on certain issues, not least of all, how much time I give Him during the day and how much I was prepared to ‘be still and know that He is God’ (Well, I did really but chose to ignore it!)

However, I do want to say a massive thank you to so many of my friends who have helped me over the past few weeks – meals on wheels, meals out, helping me with zips, changing my bed linen, walking Freddie, taking me shopping, giving me lifts…. and praying and ringing me up…..and more!!

I am counting the days until I am out of plaster – I’m sure Ellen Robinson, who had a very similar injury, is too! How good of God to give us each other for mutual support.

After my accident, my brother sent me a pair of Yaktrax Walkers which promise to ‘give you better traction, confidence and safety on packed snow and ice’ – they fit on the sole of your shoe and are really good apparently. I have yet to try them but you can get them from:

Step Beyond (Yaktrax)

11, Wrythe Lane, Carshalton, Surrey SM5 2RL

I am looking forward to the Spring......going back to work, gardening, housework(?), cleaning the car, blitzing my paperwork, walks on the Downs with Tricia and Bess… hang on a minute though, have I learnt anything from this experience??

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Jane Watson

Book Review: Surprised By Hope – Tom Wright (SPCK 2007)

‘Tom’ Wright , the Anglican bishop of Durham, was recently described by Time magazine as “one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought.” So any new book from this theologically conservative scholar is worth paying serious attention to. Wright’s book “Surprised by Hope” is an exposition and defence of the Christian hope, drawing heavily on his more scholarly works, especially The Resurrection of the Son of God (which is far too much like hard work for your average believer- me included!))

‘Surprised by Hope’ (307 pages long) is an attempt to make the connection between future hope and present living; to show the logic of the church’s present mission in light of its future destiny.

Wright begins with the observation that most people, Christian and non-Christian, have a highly Platonised understanding of Christianity. They think that the Christian hope is simply that we will go to heaven when we die, leaving this poor world behind forever.

That view, he says, is unbiblical and damaging to the church’s incarnational mission here on earth.

In the core sections of the book, Wright shows that the overall plan and purpose of God is not just to snatch a few up to some ethereal heaven, but to redeem and restore and renew his creation and to reign over it as king. At the end of time, we don’t go up; the new Jerusalem comes down! There will be a new Heaven and new earth over which Jesus reigns, in person, and in which we will live as whole people in resurrected bodies. The good news is that this has already begun (through the resurrection of Jesus)

Headlines in the press have speculated that this Bishop no longer believes in heaven.

It is true that Wright is at pains in the book to re-examine the biblical basis for some of our thinking and inherited ideas. For me, his critique of the western worldview through which we do our theology is sound and convincing and leads to some ‘surprising’ conclusions .

These conclusions, thoroughly biblical in my opinion, will disturb some and excite others. What you can’t do with this book is read it and remain neutral. The bishop forces you back to some of the foundational biblical texts and makes you read them in a new way. I for one found that refreshing and exciting and it will certainly make me pay more attention this Easter in worship, bible study and preaching.

Reviewer: Howard Cunnington

F R O G News

Our Sunday evening high school age group, is where we encourage the youth to be Fully Reliant On God. This is still very much a going concern since the departure of Josh Norris, our last Youth Worker. We have a strong team of 5: Steve Jones, Tracy Barker, John Crago, Jeremy Fry and me. We are running a varied programme, to give variety and to keep things fresh as far as we can.

We usually start with an informal game which might be volley ball, dodge ball or charades before getting into the theme of the evening. We have times of discussion around the talk and lately, we have enjoyed the occasional input of the re-formed FROG Band. There is a lot of talent out there folks!

Tracy faithfully supplies loads of home made cakes every week – thanks Tracy!

Our programme for the next few weeks is as follows:

- 28th Feb Pancakes,   Jane on Shrove Tuesday and Lent

- 6th Mar (Saturday) FROG to VENUEtwo at Ventnor, instead of meeting on Sunday

- 7th Mar No FROG

- 14th Mar Love Others, Steve Jones with Nooma DVD

- 21st Mar Jews for Jesus at Shanklin URC, instead of FROG

- 28th Mar Walk to beach, including a prayer time

- 4th April Sunrise Service on Easter morning, no FROG that evening

- 11th April No FROG

- 18th April FROG as usual, to include Easter egg hunt

All high school age youth are very welcome to join us. Please see one of the Leaders if you want to know more.

Jane Watson (( 866067)

Uganda Links

We are delighted to have now raised over £4,000 towards the cost of the new classrooms at our partner church in the village of Kalasa. This is a fantastic total so a big thanks to everyone who has given so generously. On top of this amount, there is a large chunk of tax that can be reclaimed by Romans One Eleven Trust to help with their general expenses which included bringing occasional visitors over here....

By the time this is published, we will have welcomed Pastor  RICHARD TUSIIME from Uganda as a midweek visitor. Richard is Pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian Church at Ruti in Western Uganda, the daughter church of which is Nyamiyaga where R1:11 are building one of their four Spiritual Life Centres.

He is Stated Clerk of the Mbarara Presbytery and will be the Director and one of the teachers at Nyamiyaga Spiritual Life Centre.  He is also one of the students the Romans One Eleven Trust sponsored to do a course in Theology, and he got his Diploma. This is his first time out of Uganda so will be an eye opening experience.

Page Last Updated 28 February 2010