Blessings
Ruth
Revd Ruth Barry
Vicar, St Philip's Church, Cambridge
Dear all,
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13
This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost – the coming of the Holy Spirit, poured out on the disciples. Tongues of fire resting on people’s heads, the sudden ability to converse in languages previously unknown – these are the weird and wonderful events of Pentecost which might fill you with excitement or might turn you off completely! I’ll be talking a lot more about the Holy Spirit on Sunday but however you feel about the events that took place in that upper room for the disciples it is important for us to have an understanding of the nature of God’s Spirit. And this wonderful verse in Romans sums up for me one of the key features of the Spirit – yes there might be strange and incomprehensible things that sometimes come from the Spirit, speaking in tongues, prophesy, uncontrollable laughter, sudden falling down, I’m sure you’ve heard the sensational ones – but one of the most profound and transformational actions of the Spirit is the power to empower and to empower through hope. Hope that enables trust to form and trust that brings joy and peace. These are fruits that grow in our lives and can transform our communities when the Spirit rests on us. So I invite you to pray this weekend – to pray for the Spirit to come and rest on us all. We may not see the manifestation in terms of tongues of fire coming to rest on our heads but I pray we will feel the power of the Spirit filling us all – transforming our thoughts, perspectives, attitudes and feelings so that hope reigns!
News and Upcoming Events
Monday Small Group. A new small group for Bible study, discussion and prayer will meet for 6 weeks, starting May 27th, on Mondays 11am-12.30. We’ll meet in the Prayer Room with tea/coffee and discuss passages from Mark’s gospel. Email lucy@stphilipschurch.org.uk if you would like to come or have questions!
Prayer Room furniture. Now that we have small groups meeting in the Prayer Room, we would love to make it cosier by replacing the green church chairs with living-room furniture. Please talk to Ruth or Lucy if you have a chair, cushion or throw that you no longer need. We hope to find things that are comfortable, sturdy and go with each other. It would be great to do this with second-hand, home-like items but please be aware we can only accept furniture with soft furnishings that have fire safety certificates (there should be a tag on them!)
Warm Spaces (Young Adults’ Version). From May 29th, Warm Spaces will be open on Wednesday evenings (7-9pm) to provide a relaxed social space, tea and snacks, friendship and maybe some board games for younger adults. The aim is to create a coffee-shop-type atmosphere, for people who may be at work while cafes are open, house-sharing or living with family, and short of opportunities to socialize and meet new people. Please do spread the word among 20s/30s you know!
Warm Spaces Volunteering. Warm Spaces relies on volunteers who make tea and coffee, chat to guests and make sure the space is safe and welcoming. If you could help out on Wednesday morning or evening, Friday afternoon, or occasional Thursdays after Romsey Music Project concerts, do speak to Lucy (01223 414775 / lucy@stphilipschurch.org.uk) to learn more about this role.
Tuesday 21st May – 2.00-7.00pm - East West Rail Community Conversation taking place at St Philip’s Church East West Rail is a new rail link connecting people and businesses in the communities between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge. They are hosting a series of community conversations explaining how and when individuals can get involved in the consultation process, so that communities are well informed before the launch of the first stage of statutory consultation in the summer. Find out more at https://eastwestrail.co.uk/news/latest-stories/community-conversation-events
Thursday 23rd May – 1.15pm Romsey Music Project Concert This concert will be from Cathy Tsang (chamber group)
It’s Your Move 2024 GenR8 are looking for young people in Year 11 and 13 who will have finished college and exams to take part in It’s Your Move workshop tour in July 2024. It would also suit university students back for the summer. Each workshop is an hour long and they visit up to 15 primary schools in a week in July after exams/college are finished. The workshop mainly involves being with small groups of Year 6 students sharing experiences and giving encouragement to the students as they approach the transition to Secondary School. It will take place Monday 8th July to Friday 12th July and two preparation days: Monday 1st July and Thursday 4th July. For more information including pictures from past years, please visit: https://genr8.org/what-we-do/its-your-move-plus/
Toilet Refurbishment these are progressing – thanks for bearing with us as various toilets have been out of action.
Opportunities
Heritage School full-time (term time only) TA for 1 year– An opportunity for any young person who might benefit from working next year? The role will suit a young person who would like to explore work with children or young people and who would like to obtain significant work experience in a school setting prior to further education or training. Those who are interested, should visit https://heritageschool.org.uk/about-heritage/job-opportunities/ where they will find information about how to request an application pack. Closing date: 3rd June.
Diocesan Synod Representative – Ely Diocese has some exciting changes ahead next year with the arrival (hopefully) of a new Bishop and of course the CofE has lots of decisions in the pipeline, not least about Prayers of Love and Faith. If you’ve ever wanted to be a part of that decision making process or at least closer to the action then now is the opportunity to be elected on to Diocesan Synod (Deanery Synod is the local level of central decision making – then Diocesan – then General ie National). Ask Ruth for an application form if you are interested.
Eco-Bite – our new green “nugget” each week:
Would you like to join a community of Christians who care about creation? Have a look at https://greenchristian.org.uk/ They describe themselves as “a community of ordinary Christians from all backgrounds and traditions. Inspired by our faith, we work to care for creation. We do this through prayer, living simply, public witness, campaigning and mutual encouragement. We walk alongside those of faith and no faith. Join us.”
Last Week’s sermon
Last week’s sermon if you want to catch up: sermon 12.5.24.mp3
The link to our sermon archive: St Philip's sermon archive
This Sunday 19th May – Pentecost
8.30am – Reflective Holy Communion Our readings will be John 16:12-15 & Acts 2:1-21
10.30am – All Age Worship We will be exploring all things Spirit! As we hear about the events at Pentecost and think what it means for us today.
If you can't attend church in person you can always use this Zoom link:
meeting ID: 976 3739 9129 and Passcode: 330714
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/97637399129?pwd=TGhKWWxOcWF1S242aVhrWDlJdUkxZz09
Prayers
If any of you have specific prayers you would like us to include in this newsletter do please get in touch.
Please also pray for our Mission Partner this month:
CPAS – Making Mission Possible
CPAS is an Anglican evangelical mission agency, who believe that the message of the gospel is relevant to all people, and that effective local church ministry is the key to seeing men, women, young people and children come to faith in Christ.
Regular Weekly events to join:
Friday 12noon Lunchtime Bible Club A relaxed look at the bible passage/s for the upcoming Sunday. Bring along a packed lunch and explore scripture whilst eating lunch together.
Wednesday 12noon Reflective Holy Communion A quiet time to help find space and peace in the middle of the week.
Monday & Friday 8.30pm – Compline on zoom
Meeting ID: 836 5965 9953
Passcode: 749968
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83659659953?pwd=btP5AjGMu1s-dE_2W9T0MMFqnnPKSS.1
Wednesday 10.30-12noon & Friday 1.30-3.00 – Wednesday & Friday Friends
Both are “Warm Spaces” with Tea/coffee, cake/biscuits and chat Just turn up if you’d like to join us for a cuppa/read the paper/do some of the jigsaw/knit/colour/sit quietly watching the world go by.
Wednesdays 7.00-7.30pm - Weekly Prayers on zoom: -
Meeting ID: 852 1105 2733 Password: 397987
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85211052733?pwd=OE52bm9NS1RtQVQ0ZytTc0xBZnVsUT09
Saturdays 8.15am - Morning Bible Discussion and Prayer on zoom:
Meeting ID: 143 338 655 Password: 824271
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/143338655?pwd=L1JJTFZJNU9EaFZjaUFjQzVlalpMZz09
With love and prayers
Ruth
Need to unsubscribe? Email Bekki: bekki@theclarks.biz