Services

10.45 am on Sundays Worship for All

at which you will find a warm welcome

Services last about 55 minutes. Our Worship Leaders include Ministers, such as our own Ipswich and East Minister Rev David Rees and Adam Earle, plus some excellent lay preachers, also including our own two lay preachers, Sara Pells and Peter Dawson. We use a large screen to pr oject elements of the service including the hymns.

Minister’s Letter

Our Communion Service is held on the first

Sunday in the Month

All age ‘Celebration Services’ are held with inputs from Rainbows, Brownies and Pre-School when circumstances permit.

All Are Welcome?

It is always good to participate in a special time of worship. On Saturday 21st September I was privileged to play the organ, and David Rees to preach, at the Induction of Revd Robert Sheard as minister of Christchurch Needham Market. Our opening hymn was “Let us build a house where love can dwell.” The chorus declares, sung with bold determination, “All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.” This is not the first time that the question of welcome has echoed round my head and the subject has been a theme of many a ministers’ pastoral letter. We all like to think of our churches as welcoming, but what does it mean to be a truly welcoming community of God’s people? “All are welcome!” What are we really saying when we write these words at the foot of a poster advertising some event or time of worship? What does welcome mean? Zach Lambert is a theologian and the lead pastor and founder of “Restore” a church movement which describes itself in these terms: • We are a church which locks arms with the community to help bring restoration to people and neighbourhoods in our city and around the world. • We don’t have everything figured out, but we are on a journey of restoration through Jesus who loves people without prejudice or qualification. Restore is a place where you can be yourself, ask questions, and won’t be pressured to conform to any stereotype. That is quite a powerful and demanding “headline” to place at the top of the church’s “About Us” page on their website. There are two kinds of “everyone is welcome” churches: 1. Everyone is welcome to conform to that church’s image of what a Christian looks like. 2. Everyone is welcome to fully embody the unique image God created them to be. Run away from the first and run toward the second. As we serve the call of God to make Christ known to all people, we have to learn to embrace all, as they are, to be welcoming to anyone and everyone, without caveat. Of course this is not restricted to the few that cross the threshold of our church buildings; the welcome of love extends to every moment and interaction, to everyone we encounter day by day. In summarising God’s law in Mark 12:30 & 31 We are called to love God with all we are and “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” The word interpreted love here is one we’ve encountered before, “Agapé” – the love with which God loves, welcoming, caring, and deep. This is the love that Christ exposes in its fullness on the cross – unconditional, unreserved and undeserved. Friends, let us seek to be welcoming as Christ welcomes, both as individuals and as the Church, the community of God’s kingdom. Blessings Adam

Room Hire

Below are the main rooms availab le followed by an interactive guide on hiring space at St John’s. The Booking Forms below the pictures of the spaces offer two ways to start the process of Booking. What is different between the methods can be seen in the interactive guide. The Main Hall Upstairs

This is used for Pre-school every weekday during term-time. Also by Brownies and Rainbows on Thursdays. Other than the Sanctuary, it is the largest space in the building and has kitchen fa ci lities just off the hall. Room 1 This is a regulary used space, including use as a Polling Station! It is easy to mak e all sorts of furnitur e arrangements. It is also straight off the main lobby so ma kes for easy access.

Rooms 4 and 5 A useful space, with a divider, so it can be made cosy or more open. It is used as a double room by the AA Group on a Wednesday evening regularly throughout the year. There is flexi bility in the setting of the furniture.

The Sanctuary The sanctuary is also very flexibl e in layout, but as the chairs are m ore substantial, re-arrangements r equire much more work. Ther e is a loop sound system and a projection screen. The organ console se en in the picture to the left is moveable. The organ pipes can be seen above the congregation seating ar ea in the picture below.

Last, but not least, are the supporting areas. There are toi lets on both floors including baby changing and disabled facilities on the gr ound floor. There is a small lift in the entrance lobby for people to get to and from the upper floor. Finally, each flo or has kit chen facilities. The pictures are of the downstairs kithen. There are toilets on both levels with a disabled facility on the ground floor.

Below is a brief guide to hiring a room in St John’s.

Download Roombooking PDF

Booking Rooms at St John's URC Ipswich

Initial Considerations When? Day? Time? Looking at the Church Diary will give you an indication of any availabilty Click here . How long needed for Booking Including : Setting Up, Clearing Up What Space Do You Really Need What Sized Space? How Many People? How Many Tables? How Many Chairs? Do You Need Kitchen Facilities? £ COST: Price on Application Please note that it will vary with the frequency of use and, in colder parts of the year, the heating requirements.

Car Parking This is really difficult so assume it is NOT AVAILABLE Conditions of Booking Summary No Smoking, No Exit Blocking Restrictions on Alcohol You Must

Take all precautions on safety Have Public Liability Insurance - See Conditions Document for Guidance on Public Liability Insurance requirements. Comply with all Laws On: • Health and Safety • Safe-Guarding of vulnerable adults and children • Food Hygiene • Entertainment Licences

• Disability • Equality • Clean and Tidy Up after the event with everything returned to its original place!

Complete Booking Enquiry Form There are 2 ways of doing this 1 Complete the enquiry Typeform on special page Click Here The simplest and most secure way

2 Download a form and complete it and return to: roombooking@stjohnsurcipswich.org.uk Simple and you can work on it when you have time and can check information. The form is a fillable PDF but you may need to print it still if your PDF reader is not able to cope with it.

Download this Guide

Conditions PDF