G'day from the Vicarage - March 2011

Dearly Beloved in the Lord

Looking Backwards

The New Crown in Southgate weren’t able to have us for the Men’s Breakfast in January, so we moved to a café at Oakwood Tube Station, Zone 5, where more than 25 of us enjoyed a good breakfast, and I spoke about prayer. I encourage more of us to form prayer triplets.

St Thomas’s welcomed the other churches of the Southgate Oakwood and Cockfosters Churches Together to the annual Agape meal on the 21st of January. The meal was delicious, but the best thing was the wonderful service by ten members of the youth group. I read from Ephesians 5 in the 1611 Authorised Version of the Bible, to mark the 400th anniversary.

Enfield Deanery Synod on the 3rd of February debated the proposed Measure to allow female bishops. The Synod was not united in supporting the Measure as it stands, and wanted there to be more generous provision made for those who were opposed.

At the Thursday Fellowship in February Kaushal informed us with an illustrated talk about the state of the Christian church in Sri Lanka. On Wednesday 23rd we had a very happy Over 60s Holiday Club, with talks on birds of the Enfield area, Bible reading, and Archaeology; candle stick decorating, table tennis, air-hockey and pool; community singing and pass the parcel; and a tasty lunch with 27 Over 60s and a good number of helpers.

We had a Bring and Share lunch on 27th of February with a vast and delicious array of foods, and almost a hundred people eating together.

I am writing this on the last day of February, before I leave on the 1st of March for a month of study leave in Canberra. I plan to be there for my mother’s 80th birthday, and hope she will remember me.

Looking Forwards

The rehearsals for Handel’s Messiah are soon to begin: as is the set painting and filming for our Easter Holiday Club, 12-15th April. This year Kathryn Smith has written the holiday club, and the theme is Escape from Egypt – and how the Exodus points forward to rescue by Jesus.

One of the long term members of St Thomas’s Eric Bruce passed on in hospital, and his funeral will be on the 3rd of March. One year we had a great coach trip to Maldon in Essex that Carl Royan organised and Eric was the life of the party.

Our church Annual General Meeting will be on Wednesday 27th April, by then we will have held a Gift Day towards replacing our Spire, which will help us to know what sort of a budget we have to offer the architect.

We are also looking forward to a Church Weekend Away at High Leigh on the weekend 13-15th May. Jonathan Pryke from Jesmond Parish Church will be teaching us to go on with faith.

With thanks for our partnership in the gospel,

Christopher

From the Registers

Funerals

Alice Watkins

Winifred Bailey (née Pressland, formerly Mrs Weatherley)