Barnes in Common

the magazine of Churches Together in Barnes
July/August 2007

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Church News

Baptist Church   |   Holy Trinity   |   Methodist Church
St Mary's   |   St Michael's   |   St Osmund's

Baptist Church

Wednesday 30th May and the Church was filled with members of the fellowship and friends who had come to commemorate and give thanks for the life of Winifred Stafford. Winnie had been a member and involved in various aspects of ministry for over eighty years. She was welcomed into her Lord's presence just short of her 105th birthday and will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.

The downpours of May hampered our work in the garden and affected our decorating plans for the inside of the Church but we hope to be back into action as soon as the weather allows. It might not sound very spiritual but the bottom line is stewardship of our resources and making the most of what we've got to enable us to play our part in the Lord's commission to His Church (Matt 28:19-20).

We will shortly be starting a new DVD led course for our Thursday evening mid-week fellowship. 'Christian Life and the Bible' has been produced by the London School of Theology and is designed to help us better understand and engage with God's Word. Interested? Please ring for more details.

Graham Pulham

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Holy Trinity

At the beginning of June there was great excitement at Holy Trinity when two of our congregation, Adam Mitchell and Zoe Greatwood were married. This was our first wedding in a while and my first at Holy Trinity. It was a very joyous celebration and I look forward to more.

Our recent PCC discussion day was expertly facilitated by Wendy Robins from the Southwark Diocesan Office who helped us prepare for our Stewardship Campaign in the Autumn. We also hope to take part in the Back2Church Sunday at the end of September.

Our Patronal Festival on Trinity Sunday was a very busy day for us with two services in the morning in which we rededicated ourselves, our church and our PCC to the ongoing life and witness of Holy Trinity church. These were followed by a Spear lunch for some of the homeless in our area and my very special thanks go to all who helped make this so worthwhile, especially as our homeless friends felt valued and welcomed. The day ended with a special evening service of Holy Communion using words and music from the Iona Community which was attended by friends from our churches in Barnes.

We have also had the great joy of opening the church for a week to display the artwork of the children of Lowther School which was the outcome of their Creative Arts Week. The exhibition was very impressive and there are a lot of talented and potential artists in the making!

Jean Boulton-Reynolds

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Methodist Church

As I've looked out from the Methodist church porch in the past weeks, I've often been delighted by the scene on the Common. Families wander and stop to play games. Groups of families with balloons celebrate a birthday. Young parents or nannies sit on the grass chatting while their charges potter around. There is the occasional sun-bather whenever the golden glow is in the sky. Illegal cyclists use the paths (mostly, it seems, without causing any problems), and over at the Pond the new planting and surround seem to be working well. It's a real privilege to have this space around us.

Some of these neighbours enter our buildings - for the Village Nursery, or for various activities. Some simply use the toilets, which is fine. Some come for coffee on Saturdays - and no doubt for more sustenance on Barnes Fair day. Our new grand piano is enhancing our musical events. What we hope, though, is that gradually as the church is used and people find a welcome there, some will find their way into our life of Christian worship and service. There's been a marked increase in visitors to our worship in recent months. But perhaps 'visitors' is a wrong word. Those who occasionally find their way into acts of worship are more accurately those who are our sisters and brothers in Christ.

Roger Hutchings

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St Mary's

We have able to celebrate a broad range of events recently. Our Choral Evensongs continue to be well attended and we look forward to October 7th when we will celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of Charles Wesley with the Reverend Roger Hutchings as our preacher. We will hope to welcome many of you to this. We have also been delighted to see regular parties from Veira Gray House at our services recently and look forward to that continuing. We had our admission to communion service in May, which was very special as always. In the past few months, our family service has been going from strength to strength and we have been fortunate to have received a generous donation from a parishioner to help develop the service. At the beginning of June, we appointed Emma Powell as assistant pastor to the congregation. Her role is help make it a more family-led service, bring new ideas to the liturgy and raise its profile in the community. Her background is in acting, administration, children's entertaining and she is currently training to be a primary school teacher, so we believe she is well placed to make a success of this opportunity.

Ross Collins

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St Michael's Church

The new community centre was officially opened my Charles Hazelwood who gave a very moving and witty talk. It was a great event with two past Vicars there, Fr Joe and Fr Bruce. We had the Pauline Jazz Band entertaining us throughout the afternoon. There was a real sense of occasion and joy. Many thanks for all who came to support this major event in the life of St Michael's. The sense of celebration continued into Whitsunday where Fr Bruce preached a splendid sermon on the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The centre is in great demand which is very heartening. We have yet to complete the garden space in front of the centre. It has been a long journey to this point and so many people have contributed to its success. We owe a great debt to Peter Howe whose energy has kept the project moving forward. The music room where the choir practice is now to be called "The Howe Room". There will be another party to celebrate the naming of this room. If you are in the area do come round and have a look inside you will not be disappointed.

Paul Holland

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St Osmund's Church

The First Holy Communion mass for year three children at St Osmund’s School was on Saturday morning, May 12th. With the numbers of children, their families and friends, it is no longer possible to accommodate this congregation at the Sunday 10-30 mass. It was a very prayerful ceremony. The children leading us in readings and hymns were a credit to their school and their teachers. There will be another First Communion ceremony on July 1st for a small group of children who are pupils at other schools. The school has been entrusted with two life-size marble groups, one of the Holy Family and the other depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Bernadette. They were formerly at the Jesuit college, Campion House, in Osterley. The Jesuit order organised the transport here and their erection. Mass was celebrated at the school in conjunction with the re-dedication of the statues which make an attractive feature in the school grounds, underlining the Christian character of the place - bringing back memories of the days when it was a Convent School.

A Christian Meditation group meets now on Wednesday evenings, following the method of John Main OSB. The Pentecost Banquet at lunchtime on the eve of the feast was much appreciated and enjoyed by the guests.

The holiday season is fast approaching and the parish barbecue is on Sunday, July 8th. Later that month Father Romano from Uganda will return for another short break.

Fiona Keen and Father Logan

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