Sunday 10.45am Worship for All. Communion first Sunday of each month included with the online service. Monday Tuesday Wednesday 7.30pm Local AA Group Meeting Thursday 5.00pm 2nd Hamilton Rainbows 6.15pm 40th Ipswich Brownies 7.30pm or 2:30 Church Meeting (5 meetings per year)

Minister’s Letter When Conflict Hurts… and When Conflict Helps I f you’ve been around church life for more than about five minutes, you’ll know that conflict is basically inevitable. Put a bunch of humans in a room — people with different histories, personalities, hopes, and pet peeves — and sparks will eventually fly. But not all sparks start fires. Some actually forge stronger metal. One of the wise lines in the Bible about this comes from Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”  In other words, the bumping, scraping, disagreeing, and challenging we sometimes experience with each other can be part of growing together. But — and it’s a big but — not every clash sharpens. Some just cut. So let’s talk about the difference. 1. Conflict that hurts This is the sort of conflict where the goal slowly shifts from understanding to winning. We’ve all been there. Maybe in a church meeting where tensions rise, and suddenly the energy isn’t “How do we listen to one another?” but “How do I make sure my point lands harder?” I once heard about an Elders Meeting that spent forty minutes arguing — genuinely, passionately — about the colour of napkins for the Harvest Lunch. By the end, no one cared about napkins anymore; the room was heavy with bruised egos and angry words. That’s conflict that wounds: where people stop being people and start being obstacles. This kind of conflict is usually driven by fear — fear of losing control, losing tradition, losing identity, or just losing face. And fear rarely leads us anywhere good. 2. Conflict that leads to understanding Then there’s the other kind. The holy kind. The kind where two people genuinely disagree… but choose to stay at the table anyway. I think of a pair in one congregation who couldn’t have been more different: one adored contemporary worship, the other thought “modern” meant Wesley hymns. They clashed — politely — for months. But they kept talking. They agreed to visit the more traditional service, and then the All Age and quarterly Café style service together. They genuinely tried to see the world through the other’s eyes. And, surprisingly, they ended up with a blended service pattern that nobody thought possible at the start. More importantly, they gained a friendship. Conflict that leads to understanding is rooted not in fear but in curiosity: “Help me see what you see.” There’s humility in it. Patience. A stubborn commitment to each other’s dignity. That’s where the sharpening happens — not in point-scoring, but in mutual shaping. 3. How do we tell the difference? A few simple checks help: Does this conversation leave people feeling smaller or larger? Am I trying to protect something, or am I trying to learn something, encourage someone? Would I say this the same way if Jesus were physically sitting at the table? Because He is at the table — in the tension, in the listening, in the courage to stay present when it would be easier to walk away. The good news is that conflict isn’t a sign of spiritual failure. It’s a sign that we’re alive, growing, and trying. And when we choose the kind that sharpens rather than the kind that cuts, we become more like the community God calls us to be: not perfect, but honest, brave, and learning to love each other well. Blessings, David

Room Hire This is the hall upstairs used by Play Group during the daytime in school weekdays.