This year the PCC decided not to organise a house-to-house collection because of the difficulty of finding volunteers to carry it out. Instead it planned to arrange a collection at one of the local Underground stations (although this was later cancelled, again through a shortage of volunteers).
Because Christian Aid asks churches to organise house-to-house collections, we decided to go out collecting ourselves. During the Week we called at every house on the Haymills Estate and Boileau Road.
We collected £ 1315 from 189 donors. In addition, thanks to those who signed Gift Aid vouchers, Christian Aid will be able to claim a further £ 203.37. So the total raised was £ 1518.37.
The Christian Aid quiz we organised at the Spring Festival brought in a further £ 94.
Christian Aid collections in both churches also added a total (including Gift Aid) of £ 126.60 to the Week's income.
The second of two articles in which Philippa Bird, our overall Director of Music explores what we are doing and why when we sing and play music in church.
Last month's article covered why we use music in worship. This month we look at what we actually do.
When it's all written down, it becomes apparent that we use a lot of music in our morning worship and for a variety of purposes:
o Pre-service music - intended to help people prepare for worship
o Opening hymn/song - gathering, uplifting, inspiring
o Worship songs - expressing praise, honour, thanks, love to God
o Optional song as response to talk
o Optional sung creed or "credal" song which expresses what we believe
o Songs/music can be used in intercessions as a refrain
o "Offertory" hymn/song - preparing for communion and holding up a gift or offering of worship
o Reflective music to assist prayer during communion
o Closing hymn/song with outward focus to send us on our way
o End music - rounding off the service.
From looking at this list, it becomes apparent that music should be chosen on the basis of its appropriateness and quality rather than because it is of a particular style or genre. Whatever musical style is used we should aspire to excellence because God deserves the best that we can give.
What you can do :
Music is in the service for everybody to participate in. However it helps to have people to lead our worship. If you enjoy singing or play an instrument and would like to get involved, please speak to Philippa Bird (Ascension Singers) or Pete Harris (Worship Group, instrumentalists and singers). Contact details in the directory at the end of the magazine.
Philippa's article draws on a paper called "Music in Worship at the Ascension" agreed by the District Church Council in 2003 to help guide our musical development
Barn Dance . . .
(with live music from "Footnotes")
Barbecue . . .
Bar . . .
Starts 7pm, Saturday 12th July 2008
Tickets £ 12 (adults), £ 6 (children)
(includes food and first drink)
Available from Pete Harris (8997 7852)
or Lindsey Anne Carter (8997 1564)
It's difficult for me to comment on last month's speaker because it was me! (She was very good - Ed.!) However, we did have a full house and several people were kind enough to tell me how much they had enjoyed my talk. I had put together a slide show of our travels earlier this year. It brought together the busy-ness of Hong Kong, the beauty of New Zealand and the bustle and culture of Los Angeles. It really was the holiday of a lifetime and the most impressive thing for me was to experience the unspoilt natural beauty in New Zealand, which is respected and preserved by all who live there.
We are looking forward to another outing very soon. A group of us will be visiting Osterley Park and House and I hope we will have time to visit Gunnersbury Park Museum as well as there is an excellent local history exhibition there. More visits will follow later in the summer.
Our meeting this month will be later in the month than usual. We shall meet on Tuesday 22nd July at 2pm in the church hall and our speaker will be Mark Dishley who has just returned from India. His talk is entitled 'A trip to Mumbai' and he will tell us about his missionary work there. Do come and join us. If you've never been before you can be assured of a warm welcome and of course, a delicious home-made tea!
Be sure not to miss the World Premiere of yet another play written by our award winning author Alan Robinson. This one is an inter-active Murder Mystery with evening performances (including a meal) being staged on Friday 18th & Saturday 19th July and an afternoon matinee (with tea) on the Saturday afternoon.
'Bowing Out' is an ideal opportunity to test those little grey cells as you try to sort out the red-herrings from the clues, including the chance to interrogate the characters in order to find the killer(s) before all is revealed in the final denouement. You'll find full details on the flyer which appears elsewhere in the magazine, but please note that NO tickets will be available for sale on the door and we therefore suggest early booking to avoid possible disappointment as recent productions have sold-out. Table seating is unallocated for all performances & will be strictly limited to 8 people per table. Tickets can be booked through our mobile & landline numbers or via our on-line Box Office at www.beaufortplayers.org.uk at no extra cost.
We look forward to seeing you there!