Barnes in Common

the magazine of Churches Together in Barnes
March/April 2007

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

Baptist Church

'Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again'.

That threefold declaration will, of course, be at the heart of our Holy Week and Easter worship. 'Amidst the changes and chances of this fleeting world' how wonderful it is to have in our hearts the assurance of the God who has promised never to leave or forsake His people (Hebrews 13:5). Having just concluded a short series of Sunday morning sermons on the subject of Friendship we will gather around the Lord's Table for Communion remembering that the Lord Jesus calls His followers His friends (John 15:15).

At time of writing it's a little too early to say anything about this year's Lent Study Course, but I hope there will be positive feedback. Following on from our Lent and Easter observances and celebrations we will be switching back to our mid-week Bible study (Thurs 8pm). We welcome all who like to dig a little deeper into understanding the Bible and how it relates to daily life. The Ladies meet together on Tuesdays at 2.45pm and they also have a reputation for hospitality and fun.

Please note in your diaries the Bible Society Spring Meeting which will take place on Saturday 12 May 11.30 a.m. at East Sheen Baptist Church. It's an opportunity to hear about the impact the word of God is having around the world (and could have in Barnes!). A poster with further details will be available for your Church notice board.

Graham Pulham

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Holy Trinity

As I am writing this, the day is grey, the sky is full of rain and the wind is gathering its strength - and it's cold! I really want to wish the days away until the longer, warm and sunny days arrive again.

But as I look out of my window, I can see that many bare branches have buds beginning to swell with new life - a sign of hope and promise to come. Those branches remind me that it is so easy to lose sight of the fact that we are part of the natural rhythm of life surrounding us, when we are caught up in the pressures and the routine of our daily lives.

It only takes a few minutes to stop and take in these small signs of hope and yet what a difference they can make to the rest of our day. They help us to understand that God is with us all the time even though we might sometimes struggle to know it.

At Holy Trinity we are offering a monthly opportunity to make time to simply 'be'. Called Space To Be, you can read more about it in this magazine. We have also begun a monthly evening to explore our faith together.

As we celebrate Easter the signs of hope and promise are all around us even when the sky may be full of rain and the day is grey!

Jean Boulton-Reynolds

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Methodist Church

Barnes in Common is a quite remarkable publication. Perhaps we don't sing its praises loudly enough. Not very many neighbourhood groups of churches have a joint magazine at all, and certainly very few are as well established, well produced and well read as BiC. One of its strengths is that it looks beyond the local parishes and neighbourhood to remind us of the wider world.

It takes a good deal of work by (usually) a fairly small band of people to keep a local church ticking, and in recent times that's certainly been true of the Methodist church here on Station Road. What's also true is that if we focus continuously on our own, local church life, important though it is, it's easy to forget about that wider picture. It's been refreshing, over the autumn and winter, to welcome a monthly speaker to our First Sunday events. We've thought about media responsibility, the House of Commons, the NHS, private education, local government and climate change. The Methodist church nationally used to have a department called 'Christian Citizenship'. Although that title is no longer used, it's a significant part of our calling as Christians to be aware of, and contribute to, the world for which we pray.

Roger Hutchings

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St Mary's

Many of you will know of our involvement with the Under Tree Schools in Southern Sudan, where a new school is being built through the inspiration and guidance of the Reverend Joseph Ayok-Loewenberg, an assistant priest in the Barnes Anglican Team when he is in London with his family who are based here, though normally Director of Religious Affairs in the new Government of Southern Sudan. The school will be one of very few for girls in the country - and should be a beacon for other projects that will contribute to the rebuilding of a country ravaged by civil war. The project recently gained charitable status which will be a great help towards raising funds for the school. So far, nearly £80,000 has been raised, which is enough to complete the first phase of the building and cover running costs for most of the first year of the school (it opens, as its title suggests, under the trees, in April). If you are interested, you can find more information on our web-site www.stmarybarnes.org or look out for the events which will be put on to promote the project and our connection with it.

Ross Collins

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St Michael's Church

The interior of St Michael's has now been completely redecorated. The majority of the work was undertaken by members of the congregation leaving the sanctuary area to the professionals due to its height. This has taken a tremendous effort and everything was just ready for Christmas. We also have a new lighting around the High Altar which highlights the dome resplendent in gold.

Our new community centre is now in use and to mark the occasion we had an superb evening of "Intimate Opera" drawing together a group of international singers many from Covent Garden. This was a fund raising event for the new centre which was used on the occasion to great effect offering champagne and refreshments. The official opening of the centre will be in the spring when the garden area on the south side of the church will be restored with trees and shrubs offering the local community a pleasant space to enjoy.

We also enjoyed a remarkable evening of music given by "Cantus Firmus" a group of young singers who led us through the theme of Advent and we hope to have them back next year.

Paul Holland

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St Osmund's Church

On the first Sunday of the year we celebrated the feast of the Epiphany. At the 10.30 Mass Andy Keen-Downs was baptised. Andy is the director of the Prison Advice and Care Trust which exists to give pastoral support to prisoners and their families. The celebrant at the Mass was Monsignor Malachy Keegan, the senior Catholic prison Chaplain - he is a priest of the diocese of Wrexham, seconded for his present role.

The new year has started well with the Toddler group and Youth club up to speed. Our archbishop, Kevin McDonald has called for a process of consultation in each parish about our mission - meetings are being called during Lent. On Education Sunday, February 4th, we marked the contribution of the school to the life of the parish.

In the wider, national, scene we have been feeling harassed at present in relation to the responsibility for admissions to our schools and, most recently, to the work of our Children's Societies in the field of adoption. We are praying that these aspects of our mission and pastoral care may continue without hindrance.

Fiona Keen and Fr Anthony Logan

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