Poster available to download, courtesy of  Kathleen Ben Rabha, C of E Community Affairs Adviser.

From: Julie Mansfield, Churches Together in Suffolk’s County Ecumenical Officer

Churches Together in Sudbury & District have organised the following event:

On Thursday 1^st July 2010 at St Gregory’s Church Hall, Sudbury and commencing at 7.30pm.

The Rev’d Dr John Parr, team Rector of the North Bury Team Ministry and advisor on mental health matters to the Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich, will be presenting a seminar entitled ‘A Healthy Mind’ illustrating the impact the mind has over the body and how body, mind and spirit are inextricably linked.

Dr Parr is well known for his excellent, interesting and very informative lectures.

Entrance is free and refreshments are available.

For further details and to reserve your place please contact

Lynda on 01787 466180 or email: lseb@uk2.net

For some time the founders of Justice Mail, John Andrews of The Church of the Martyrs in Leicester and myself have been feeling that in order to grow the movement we needed to put it on a sound organisational basis. We have therefore drawn up a constitution and asked the two parish councils of our respective churches to appoint trustees who will become the Board of Management of the organisation. Three trustees were appointed and we met for the first time on Saturday May 8 where we formally signed the constitution. I am attaching it for your information.

The basic idea is that Justice Mail is owned by the participating churches who are described as “member churches”. At present there are only two of these one in Leicester and one in Birmingham but we are hoping that more churches will be added.

In each of the two churches the email lists seem to have stabilised at about 80 users. Of course, as you know, you don’t have to be associated with these two churches to join Justice Mail since the lists are open to anyone who wants to participate. Nevertheless, we seem to have reached a point where in order to grow we need to find new churches to draw upon new circles of people. I am writing this message to you in the hope that there might be someone on our present list who is a member of a church other than the two original congregations, and might be interested in forming a new email list and building up a new group of users.

John Andrews and I reckon that it takes us between 20 minutes and 1 hour twice a month to locate a suitable action and send the suggestion to our users. The suggestions for action are drawn from a specific number of approved campaigning bodies, so choosing one is often not difficult. If you would like to start a local group, you can do so with only 3 or 4 users, and watch it grow! You can ask your church to appoint you as a trustee of Justice Mail and take an active part in the development of this enterprise.

You would not be on this list at all if you were not committed to taking actions for justice and peace. If you are also a church member, I invite you to consider whether you might be called to this as a Christian service. Please get in touch with me if you feel so called, and we will work together to start your group.

Yours Faithfully

John M Hull

Honorary Professor of Practical Theology in The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education and Emeritus Professor of Religious Education in The University of Birmingham

You can download the constitution here.

Lynda Lunn

Flower Festival, Fete and Concert on weekend of 26^th and 27^th June 2010

St Andrew’s are holding a fundraising event that will bring together a wide range of community groups, schools and so on from Great Cornard and Sudbury to showcase their activities in the church and churchyard over the weekend of 26/27 June 2010.

The main attraction will be forty beautiful floral displays in church, provided by the various organisations (somewhat akin to a Christmas Tree festival) The intention is that these displays, will showcase the organisations and so give visitors some taste of what each group is and does.

As well as the displays, we are planning a weekend of entertainment, concerts, and a variety of stalls and displays. There will be refreshments throughout, and we will welcome the public of Great Cornard and Sudbury, from across the generations, young and old, from Saturday morning to Sunday evening.

There is a separate concert on Saturday evening by the Gainsborough Concert Group.

Do come along – you would be very welcome.

Please download our flower festival and concert posters?

John Bleazard
Revd John Bleazard
curate at St Andrew’s, Gt Cornard

58 Canhams Rd
Great Cornard
Sudbury
CO10 0ER

01787 377397
john@standrews-gc.org.uk

…..is the comment Inspector Paul Crick gave at a recent reception held at Sudbury Police Headquarters for the town’s Town Pastor scheme.  The reception was held to say ‘thank you’ to the Town Pastors and to present a cheque for £100 which had been kindly provided via Councillor John Sayers by Suffolk County Council’s Locality budget in recognition of the work undertaken since the launch of Town Pastors last August. Already the police are able to report a drop in crime since the scheme commenced and Inspector Crick explained that late night revellers respond more to the pastors than uniformed police; importantly, the pastors are able to diffuse situations that could escalate into more serious trouble:  “We see the Town Pastors as part of our night time economy team and they play a vital role in helping keep the town safe” commented Inspector Crick.

Also in attendance at the presentation was Sudbury Mayor, Cllr Adrian Osborne, who concurred with the police about the effectiveness of the scheme saying:  “The Town Pastors provide a sense of calm and reassurance to the community and are a real credit to the town. I am absolutely delighted about how well they have done and the support they have given to the police – it has made a great deal of difference to Sudbury, there is definitely a much more friendly atmosphere in the town now.”

As the cheque was handed over to Chairman of the Town Pastors, Pastor Peter Avery from Living Waters Fellowship, Peter responded with thanks to the police for allowing them to undertake the scheme in Sudbury explaining: “the team want to give glory to God and we are thankful we can do this and at the same time serve the wider family of God here in Sudbury”.

It was suggested by the police that the pastors use the money towards anything needed to help them make the work easier – even if it is a year’s supply of chocolate biscuits – because it is a gift to say ‘thank you’ and ‘keep up the good work’!

Please read the attached document: Future Vision

On Easter Saturday, in Sudbury, from 11am, beginning on the Croft and moving up Gainsborough Road, down North Street, through the Market Hill and back to the Croft, there will be a re-enactment of that event. From agony and betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane, the trials Jesus underwent, the painful journey to the place of crucifixion and the defeat of death in the resurrection. In many ways it will be more than that for those participating. It will represent a recommitment of faith, a witness to that faith and a proclamation of that faith for others to see. We hope and pray that many folk in Sudbury will be touched by what they see, will ask questions of the Christians around them and in God’s time will realise their need to form a relationship with him.

An altogether less dramatic presentation of the Easter story will take place in Siam Gardens, at the Gaol Lane end of the North Street car-park, on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. A tableau focusing on the tomb and the resurrection will allow for quiet reflection, as well as activities for children to enjoy. 

Kettle & Fish wishes you a wonderful Easter and a very warm invitation to attend the events Churches Together in Sudbury & District are sponsoring.                        Malcolm Offord

Read SLUM MILLIONAIRES .

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