….at St Gregory’s Church Hall, Prince St, starting at 7.30 pm with refreshments from 7 pm.

In addition to updates on the regular activities of Churches Together, we expect to hear more about becoming a Fairtrade Town, and a progress report on outreach to the 18 to 30 age group.

The minutes may now be downloaded as can the 18-30 Report.

Attached are

• The agenda
• Financial report
• Other reorts
• Eden Report

The main focus will be “Sudbury – A Fairtrade Town?”, introduced by the Revd John Boardman.

There will be written and verbal reports on some of our many activities and linked organisations.

You can also  view a photo-montage of Eden’s “The Noise 2010”.

Please download the poster.

All are welcome.

Ben Gardner writes: “Hi! I’m Ben and I have the privilege to lead FORM WOODBRIDGE. Before undertaking this fantastic job I spent two years working and undertaking a discipleship course at St Thomas Crookes Church, Sheffield. I then went on to Durham University to complete a degree in Church Based Youth and Community Work. I also work for Fresh Expression, which seeks to encourage and equip people to do ‘church’ in a new way!”
(From www.stjohnswoodbridge.org.uk )

Click for Forum Minutes+Reports

Click for Ben’s handout,  Reaching Young Adults

Open Forum at CCF Dec 2009

Nearly forty people from thirteen organisations gathered at Cornard Christian Fellowship for the Open Forum. We started with a time of worship and prayer, and an outline of recent developments at the host church. After considering organisational and financial matters, we heard how Christians Against Poverty’s CAP Money courses help people to learn how to manage their own money, and of the need for greater publicity of this work.

Churches Together is involved with a wide range of activities, and we had reports of some.

Town Pastors are already on the streets of Sudbury, and hope to extend to more evenings with more volunteers.

The Marriage Focus Group continues to promote Christian Marriage and support couples encountering problems with their relationship.

Planning for Easter Story in Sudbury on Saturday 3 April is well under way, although some roles remain to be filled.

For a fuller report, please see the minutes (click below).

Click for

• A report
• Farewell to Jamie
• AGM Minutes
• Annual Report
• Secretary’s Report
• A note from outgoing chairman
• Annual Accounts
• Finances Report
• Sudbury Watch Report
• Peter Halden and Chris Proffitt’s candidate statements
• Photos

Farewell to Jamie at CTiS Open Forum 21^st September 2009

On first hearing of Jamie in the middle of 2005 we were told that he was the priest brave enough to have taken part in a TV documentary series on the ‘Life of country priest …? in about 2002 – most of us had watched several episodes of the series and I remember thinking how brave to stand up to parishioners who had ideas that the church should remain as it had always been………  We were obviously going to be part of an interesting experience if Jamie were to become part of our patch in Suffolk…… one good thing in his favour was that we heard that he had grown up in Woodbridge..…we would watch developments carefully…..

We welcomed Jamie at a similar Open Forum in December 2005 and soon met Suzy, and their crew of little angels, Danielle, Carrie, and Katie (baby Roxanne was welcomed into their family with great joy in the summer of 2007). In no time at all we became aware of wonderful things beginning to happen in Great Cornard.  A busy Rectory, a busy church, soon a Junior Choir, St Andrew’s was waking up to new ideas and new dreams which were being accomplished and headlines were hitting the local papers…. “Priest all night on church roof” …”Plastic ducks race on river at Sudbury”…. “The opening of the Bannister Room”  – a church answering a call to minister to the needs of a very varied population in Great Cornard – several schools, retirement homes, social housing, wide areas of new-build housing – with an open door and a hand of friendship outstretched to all.

Jamie has been like the conductor of an orchestra – with his gift of insight and vision he has been able to inspire and encourage everyone around him to be part of turning that vision into reality.  No bridge too far, no obstacle too high we have seen him grasp that dream fearlessly …. The word ‘Action Man’ comes to mind, and a wisp from an old song from my childhood – ‘for I’m not afraid of anything….’ Another attribute infectious enthusiasm – a lesson for all of us.

…..And he has not worked just in his Parish, he has taken a vital part in Churches Together by setting up the Marriage Focus Group – challenging the churches to find ways to stem the dwindling numbers of church weddings.  With Jamie’s enthusiastic backing we’ve astonished crowds at local commercial wedding fairs by ensuring a Church presence; we’ve helped to produce a widely circulated booklet detailing where it is possible to have a church wedding in our area;  initiated courses for those contemplating marriage whether first timers or for those previously divorced or co-habiting of any age; and a number of people from the churches have undertaken training courses in order to be counsellors for those courses.  Marriage Focus is an ongoing project for which we thank Jamie.

But he has also brought his wonderful touch to Market Hill at Christmas time with his junior choir and the Salvation Army band, in rain and shine, and again on Good Fridays – the walk of witness from St Andrew’s, and outside St Peter’s,  words for inquisitive onlookers in the middle of their shopping.  As a fellow traveller along the road he has walked with those nursing loved ones at home, bringing comfort to the dying; times of fellowship and a listening ear for those who are hurting, whether brothers in ministry, or lay people;  bringing most of all, blessing wherever he goes.

Jamie, the chameleon, the pied piper, the man for all seasons, we shall miss you and your family. We have grieved with you as you have had to face the uncertainty of Carrie’s illness but, with the many prayers that have surrounded you, we feel that the victory will surely be yours, and we pray God’s blessing on you all as you set forth on this new journey to New Zealand with all its fresh challenges……… to give God the Glory!

And now in the words of the Irish Blessing:

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
May the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Lovingly, thank you Jamie!!

Jane Kohler

21.09.09

“Nearly fifty people from sixteen churches came to the Friends Meeting House to hear news of the forthcoming Town Pastors scheme, and decided to present the Easter Story on the streets of Sudbury in 2010, at the June Open Forum of ‘Churches Together in Sudbury & District’. There was a good discussion of many other items of business.”

Photograph attributed to David Paul Ohmer

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Read the minutes and reports – click to download

The CTiS&D Constitution was approved – click to download

A nomination notice and form for the AGM in September is available – click to download

Here is a summary of his talk.

Discerning how God is calling us to be Salt and Light to our community…

• Our Gospel is of justice and peace in a troubled nation; in the face of consumerism we stand for not what we have but how we love one-another. In the face of no value on commitment and permenance we stand for marriage and strong family values. Where there is much isolation, we stand for hospitality and welcome of strangers and immigrants. We are concerned not with material richness, but how we care for the weakest among us.

• Has God placed on your heart a burden of prayer for your community ? We shared some of these, which included being church to Springlands and valuing that community; providing a safe space for youth in Glemsford (which has been brought to fruition) and providing support for families in need of parenting help.

• Matthew 5:13-16 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?… You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden… Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

• Not a lot of salt is required to make a remarkable difference to a meal… and just the right amount must be added. It also has remarkable preservative characteristics. So what does being that salt mean in terms of discipleship and mission – it means not staying in the salt pot, even it’s a very beautiful one, but of course mingling as part of the recipe. Salt of the earth, not of the church.

• Radically (!) its worth reflecting on the fact that in some ways our church buildings are a blessing to us – because they give us a physical presence in a community or a parish and are a springboard to us taking action in that community. They are anchors of hope. There are also a physical expression of ourselves in that place. So what do they say about us ? Do they appear open or closed ? Are they used during the week regularly for prayer ? How easy is it to cross the threshold ?

• ‘You really have to go down to the ground to find the very poorest who have no voice. Local churches work with everyone. They know the poorest people in the village, because they live there.’ Pastor Cuthbert Gondwe (Malawi) -
‘They used to tell us that the Christians are compassionate, yet we are dubious; but today we believe it. In all of our history, no one has ever given us food aid. This time we have been taken notice of. The Christians are welcome among us.’ Recipient of food aid, Niger…. sounds good – but what about Sudbury ?! How about our immediate communities – are we focused on loving them in this way ?

• Remembering Jesus standing up in the temple and reading from the Isaiah scroll, through grace we are also called to :

* bring “good news to the poor” (the redundant ?)

* bring “liberty to captives” – (by addiction or violence or poor health?

* bring “new sight to the blind” (think of some aspects of the internet)

* “set the downtrodden free” (offering hope where there is little)
…and must answer to how we are serving “the least of these” if we are followers of Jesus. We are called in a special way to serve the poor and vulnerable in our communities – are we getting stuck in ?

• SO given that our churches are called to be the starting points for “salt” and “light” to be mingled into the recipe, we briefly discussed the following questions as pointers in this :

• What do our next-door neighbours in the street of our building think of us ?
• Have we asked them ? What three good points / not-so-good points might they respond with ?
• What are we doing for our immediate community ?
• How do we look :
- Open ?
- Shut ? (Is daily prayer visibly going on ?)
- Safe to cross the threshold ?
• What is our prayer burden ? And are there ways that we can gather others in our church with a similar prayer burden, and work together in bringing a project into being ?
• We discussed how believing can often start with belonging. But how can we encourage people to belong… it is perhaps obliquely through this kind of simply saltiness, because building relationships which are founded on self-giving love without judgment (leaving this aspect entirely to the Holy Spirit) can be the basis of trust being formed. That trust can then enable people to cross the thresholds of our churches and feel safe to explore faith and what it is to worship.

Forum Minutes & Reports, December 2008.