Newsletter September-November 2014
FAMILY NEWS
We are very sad to report the death of Arthur Webb in June. We will miss him in church and, most especially, the fund of stories which kept us all amused at Thursday Coffee Morning. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the whole family, especially to Margaret and their daughters.
Also in our thoughts and prayers are Elsie, Ruth Erasmus and Roy, all of whom are struggling with health issues at the moment. We send them all our good wishes for a speedy recovery.
W e are pleased to welcome two new members, Bridget and Roger Carter, who come to us from Gomshall.
There was an addition to the Chapman clan earlier this summer with the safe and very speedy arrival of Hugo Michael, a son for Roz and Tim and a brother for Sylvana. Hugo came to Darlene's leaving party on August 9th. We're not sure how impressed he was!
With the end of the academic year there are exams, results and, soon, many family members off to pastures new.
Ruth's grandson, Fred, graduated from the University of York and Jack has accepted a place at Durham University
Jean Stephenson's grandsons Stephen and Gareth are off to Oxford Brookes and Exeter Universities respectively. Their mum is trying to teach them to cook! Jean is not holding out much hope that they will be on the next series of Bake-Off. Pasta seems to be more to their taste.
Joe Bruton, eldest grandson of Jean and Mike is off to King Edward VI School in Bath on a sports scholarship. Apparently he is the first Bruton to have shown any sign of sporting ability.
We congratulate all the young people on their success and wish them all well as they take the next step on their journey through life.
Catherine Bruton, who is the daughter-in-law of Jean and Mike, is speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival and is about to have a third novel "I Predict a Riot" published. Many of us remember with great fondness her grandparents Colin and Elsie Price, who latterly lived in Weston Lea and worshipped in our church.
Geoff Willot's grandson, Thomas is progressing very well in his cricketing career.
Heather and Bob recently visited Angie, their daughter-in-law when she and the grandchildren came from Japan to visit her relatives in Bedfordshire. David is working in Japan until next summer.
So, with the retirement of our dear friend Darlene, the summer has had its share of hellos and goodbyes. The next newsletter will take us through Christmas. Where does the time go?
CLAIRE HARGREAVES
It is with very great pleasure and excitement that we welcome the Reverend Claire Hargreaves to West Horsley as our minister. Claire will be with us on a part time basis and she is still part of the chaplaincy team at the University of Surrey. We must respect this and not put unreasonable demands on the time that she is able to give us.
Claire is no stranger to West Horsley and we have always found her Sunday services inspiring and helpful. Those of us who took part in the Worship Leaders' course, led by Claire and Allan Taylor, were challenged by her fresh approach to worship. As a result, three of our members elected to become Worship Leaders.
We look forward to what we hope will be a blessed and constructive partnership with Claire and we consider ourselves very fortunate to have someone of her calibre to guide us.
Ruth Isaac
LOCAL NEWS
Occasional Lunches the dates for the next lunches will be after the coffee mornings on Thursdays 18th Sept, 20th Nov and 15th January. The coffee morning on 18th December will have a Christmas theme.
Harvest Festival will be celebrated on September 21st. We will be making a collection for MRDF (All We Can) and we hope to have a stall with Fairtrade goods.
The house group will be meeting at 7.00 on the following dates:
September 25th at Ruth’s - Do we live in a Christian Country?
October 23rd at Di’s - Claire Hargreaves
November 27th at Ruth’s - World War 1 Chaplaincy and Poetry.
Effingham Methodists are celebrating their 160th Anniversary with a Flower Festival and exhibition on 3rd and 4th Oct from 10.00 to 4.00.
There will be a chance to see some of the Church Archives on 3rd December, at a coffee morning at Mike and Jean Bruton’s home.
MIKE BRUTON’S TRIBUTE TO DARLENE AT HER LAST SERVICE
We have all said several goodbyes to Darlene. But this is Darlene’s last service with us. And so we say thank you today, but au revoir rather than adieu. Like the Vera Lynn song ‘We’ll meet again’.
Darlene has looked after us, her flock, for eleven years, and Merrow and Guildford. Perhaps we do not understand how challenging, difficult and at times how traumatic it has been to merge the Guildford Methodist Church with St Mary’s. After all the Church of England and the Methodists have been talking about merging ever since many of us were children and has yet to do so. We congratulate Darlene on that achievement.
What has always impressed has been Darlene’s carefully thought out sermons. They have always been relevant, creative and theologically challenging. One always leaves a Darlene service with ideas to take one through the coming week. But Darlene is human with it. She has occasionally been late, forgotten to turn up once, double booked, and even carried out an unfortunate chemistry experiment in the Wesley Room .
Darlene’s humanity has touched us all. She has told us about her own life and overcoming adversity. That has given Darlene extra strength when dealing with the sadness of others. Life is a mixture of sadness and joy and celebration. Darlene manages brilliantly to handle each occasion with the right words and prayers.
We wish Darlene well in retirement. We can expect her not to sit back overlong but to become fully engaged in whatever she does. She epitomises the saying that ‘if you want something done – then ask a busy person to do it’.
I would like to end this thank you with a Gaelic Blessing which I discovered recently, which I hope summarises our good wishes and thanks to Darlene.
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm on your face
The rain fall softly on your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
MESSAGE FROM DARLENE
Dear Members and Friends,
There is so much to say thank you for, 11 years of grace on your part for start. But I would also like to thank you all for your generous leaving present and let you know how I am using it. Over the past year I have restarted the family (and very American West) quilting tradition from my childhood and I have put some of the money I have received into lessons on more up to date methods and designs and equipment. The remainder going towards my holiday in America at Christmas. Thank you again for your patience, tolerance, generosity and friendship.
Yours in Christ,
Darlene
CHURCHES TOGETHER IN HORSLEY AND OCKHAM
The AGM will be held on Wednesday 15th October. With the loss of clergy at St Martins and Ockham and Mike Binnie moving away from the village, we will be looking for more representatives from these churches. And for a new chairman to lead us as a way in which local Christians can join together in fellowship and outreach and be seen to work together in this divisive world.
CIRCUIT NEWS
STOUGHTON CHURCH will be open for The Heritage Days, Thursday 11th- Saturday 14th, from 10.00 a.m. until 2.00 p.m. There will be refreshments (tea/coffee) during that time.
FACE TO FACE - a conversation with Jonathan Aitken at Godalming United Church on Wednesday 17th September at 7.30pm.
FUSION Meeting on Wednesday October 8th at Guildford St Mary’s, at 7.30 for refreshments, a chance to meet Claire Potter.
NEW SUPERINTENDENT MINISTER
On Tuesday 2 September, Cranleigh Methodist Church was full to capacity to welcome the Revd Dr Claire Potter as our new Superintendent Minister. During the splendid service Claire was welcomed by local civic leaders, a number of ecumenical partners and members of the Circuit and District. The address was given by the Revd Conrad Hicks, Assistant Chair of our District.
Looking forward to her new appointment, Claire said: “I am excited to be joining the Guildford Methodist Circuit at this time, with all the opportunities it has to offer.”
Meet Claire at FUSION on 8th Oct and here at West Horsley, on16th November, when she will be leading our service.
FAMILY NEWS
We are very sad to report the death of Arthur Webb in June. We will miss him in church and, most especially, the fund of stories which kept us all amused at Thursday Coffee Morning. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the whole family, especially to Margaret and their daughters.
Also in our thoughts and prayers are Elsie, Ruth Erasmus and Roy, all of whom are struggling with health issues at the moment. We send them all our good wishes for a speedy recovery.
W e are pleased to welcome two new members, Bridget and Roger Carter, who come to us from Gomshall.
There was an addition to the Chapman clan earlier this summer with the safe and very speedy arrival of Hugo Michael, a son for Roz and Tim and a brother for Sylvana. Hugo came to Darlene's leaving party on August 9th. We're not sure how impressed he was!
With the end of the academic year there are exams, results and, soon, many family members off to pastures new.
Ruth's grandson, Fred, graduated from the University of York and Jack has accepted a place at Durham University
Jean Stephenson's grandsons Stephen and Gareth are off to Oxford Brookes and Exeter Universities respectively. Their mum is trying to teach them to cook! Jean is not holding out much hope that they will be on the next series of Bake-Off. Pasta seems to be more to their taste.
Joe Bruton, eldest grandson of Jean and Mike is off to King Edward VI School in Bath on a sports scholarship. Apparently he is the first Bruton to have shown any sign of sporting ability.
We congratulate all the young people on their success and wish them all well as they take the next step on their journey through life.
Catherine Bruton, who is the daughter-in-law of Jean and Mike, is speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival and is about to have a third novel "I Predict a Riot" published. Many of us remember with great fondness her grandparents Colin and Elsie Price, who latterly lived in Weston Lea and worshipped in our church.
Geoff Willot's grandson, Thomas is progressing very well in his cricketing career.
Heather and Bob recently visited Angie, their daughter-in-law when she and the grandchildren came from Japan to visit her relatives in Bedfordshire. David is working in Japan until next summer.
So, with the retirement of our dear friend Darlene, the summer has had its share of hellos and goodbyes. The next newsletter will take us through Christmas. Where does the time go?
CLAIRE HARGREAVES
It is with very great pleasure and excitement that we welcome the Reverend Claire Hargreaves to West Horsley as our minister. Claire will be with us on a part time basis and she is still part of the chaplaincy team at the University of Surrey. We must respect this and not put unreasonable demands on the time that she is able to give us.
Claire is no stranger to West Horsley and we have always found her Sunday services inspiring and helpful. Those of us who took part in the Worship Leaders' course, led by Claire and Allan Taylor, were challenged by her fresh approach to worship. As a result, three of our members elected to become Worship Leaders.
We look forward to what we hope will be a blessed and constructive partnership with Claire and we consider ourselves very fortunate to have someone of her calibre to guide us.
Ruth Isaac
LOCAL NEWS
Occasional Lunches the dates for the next lunches will be after the coffee mornings on Thursdays 18th Sept, 20th Nov and 15th January. The coffee morning on 18th December will have a Christmas theme.
Harvest Festival will be celebrated on September 21st. We will be making a collection for MRDF (All We Can) and we hope to have a stall with Fairtrade goods.
The house group will be meeting at 7.00 on the following dates:
September 25th at Ruth’s - Do we live in a Christian Country?
October 23rd at Di’s - Claire Hargreaves
November 27th at Ruth’s - World War 1 Chaplaincy and Poetry.
Effingham Methodists are celebrating their 160th Anniversary with a Flower Festival and exhibition on 3rd and 4th Oct from 10.00 to 4.00.
There will be a chance to see some of the Church Archives on 3rd December, at a coffee morning at Mike and Jean Bruton’s home.
MIKE BRUTON’S TRIBUTE TO DARLENE AT HER LAST SERVICE
We have all said several goodbyes to Darlene. But this is Darlene’s last service with us. And so we say thank you today, but au revoir rather than adieu. Like the Vera Lynn song ‘We’ll meet again’.
Darlene has looked after us, her flock, for eleven years, and Merrow and Guildford. Perhaps we do not understand how challenging, difficult and at times how traumatic it has been to merge the Guildford Methodist Church with St Mary’s. After all the Church of England and the Methodists have been talking about merging ever since many of us were children and has yet to do so. We congratulate Darlene on that achievement.
What has always impressed has been Darlene’s carefully thought out sermons. They have always been relevant, creative and theologically challenging. One always leaves a Darlene service with ideas to take one through the coming week. But Darlene is human with it. She has occasionally been late, forgotten to turn up once, double booked, and even carried out an unfortunate chemistry experiment in the Wesley Room .
Darlene’s humanity has touched us all. She has told us about her own life and overcoming adversity. That has given Darlene extra strength when dealing with the sadness of others. Life is a mixture of sadness and joy and celebration. Darlene manages brilliantly to handle each occasion with the right words and prayers.
We wish Darlene well in retirement. We can expect her not to sit back overlong but to become fully engaged in whatever she does. She epitomises the saying that ‘if you want something done – then ask a busy person to do it’.
I would like to end this thank you with a Gaelic Blessing which I discovered recently, which I hope summarises our good wishes and thanks to Darlene.
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm on your face
The rain fall softly on your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
MESSAGE FROM DARLENE
Dear Members and Friends,
There is so much to say thank you for, 11 years of grace on your part for start. But I would also like to thank you all for your generous leaving present and let you know how I am using it. Over the past year I have restarted the family (and very American West) quilting tradition from my childhood and I have put some of the money I have received into lessons on more up to date methods and designs and equipment. The remainder going towards my holiday in America at Christmas. Thank you again for your patience, tolerance, generosity and friendship.
Yours in Christ,
Darlene
The AGM will be held on Wednesday 15th October. With the loss of clergy at St Martins and Ockham and Mike Binnie moving away from the village, we will be looking for more representatives from these churches. And for a new chairman to lead us as a way in which local Christians can join together in fellowship and outreach and be seen to work together in this divisive world.
CIRCUIT NEWS
STOUGHTON CHURCH will be open for The Heritage Days, Thursday 11th- Saturday 14th, from 10.00 a.m. until 2.00 p.m. There will be refreshments (tea/coffee) during that time.
FACE TO FACE - a conversation with Jonathan Aitken at Godalming United Church on Wednesday 17th September at 7.30pm.
FUSION Meeting on Wednesday October 8th at Guildford St Mary’s, at 7.30 for refreshments, a chance to meet Claire Potter.
NEW SUPERINTENDENT MINISTER
On Tuesday 2 September, Cranleigh Methodist Church was full to capacity to welcome the Revd Dr Claire Potter as our new Superintendent Minister. During the splendid service Claire was welcomed by local civic leaders, a number of ecumenical partners and members of the Circuit and District. The address was given by the Revd Conrad Hicks, Assistant Chair of our District.
Looking forward to her new appointment, Claire said: “I am excited to be joining the Guildford Methodist Circuit at this time, with all the opportunities it has to offer.”
Meet Claire at FUSION on 8th Oct and here at West Horsley, on16th November, when she will be leading our service.
Dates for your Diary
September
Monday 15th 2.00 Bible Study in the Wesley Room
Wed 18th 7.30 Face to Face Conversation with Jonathan Aitken at Godalming United Church
Thursday 18th 12.15 Occasional Lunch
Sunday 21st 10.30 Harvest Festival Service
Thursday 25th 7.00 House Group at Ruth Isaac’s - Are we a Christian Country? (part 2)
Monday 29th 2.00 Bible Study in the Wesley Room
October
Wed 8th 7.30 FUSION at Guildford St Mary’s, meet Rev Claire Potter
Monday 13th 2.00 Bible Study in the Vestry
Friday 24th 10.30 Church Council in the Wesley Room
Monday 27th 2.00 Bible Study in the Wesley Room
Thursday 30th 7.00 House Group at Di’s, led by Rev Claire Hargreaves
November
Monday 10th 2.00 Bible Study in the Vestry
Saturday 15th 10.30 – 4.00 Christmas Fayre at Stoughton
7.00 Quiz Night at Merrow
Thursday 20th 12.15 Occasional Lunch
Monday 24th 2.00 Bible Study in the Wesley Room
Thursday 27th 7.00 House Group at Ruth Isaac’s – World War I Chaplaincy and Poetry
December
Wednesday 3rd Coffee Morning at Hadlands, High Park Avenue to view the church Archives
Saturday 6th 7.00 Carol Praise
Thursday 18th 10.30 Coffee Morning with a Christmas Theme