Our Minister Rev David Rees, who
also looks after 3 other Churches:
Castle Hill, Felixstowe and
Saxmundham. These churches
and another 17 churches and
chapels are part of
the South Suffolk Area
Partnership
Advance
This is the regular publication
containing news of events and our
church life. The July version can be
downloaded or read in PDF format by
clicking here.
St John’s URC Ipswich Diary
Regular Events
Sunday 10.45am Worship for All. Communion first Sunday of each month. Monday Tuesday 6.15pm 23rd Ipswich Brownies 7.00pm Improvisations Craft Group (1st Tues each month) 8.00pm Ipswich Folk Dance Club (1st, 3rd and 5th Tues) Wednesday 12.30pm Monthly Church Lunch Club, except July and August. 7.30pm Local AA Group Meeting Thursday 5.00pm 2nd Hamilton Rainbows 6.15pm 40th Ipswich Brownies 7.30pm Elders Meeting (usually 2nd Thurs) 7.30pm Church Meeting (5 meetings per year) Friday Saturday 10.30am Community Coffee for All (2nd Sat in the month) 1.00pm Ramble Group (last Sat each month) Click here to view the Ramblers Page
Services
10.45 am on Sundays
Worship for All
at which you will find a warm welcome
Services last about an hour followed by coffee/tea and a chat. Our Worship Leaders include Ministers, such as our own Ipswich and East Minister Rev David Rees, and some excellent lay preachers, including our own two lay preachers, Sara Pells and Peter Dawson. Whenever possible we use a screen to project elements of the service including the hymns. There is also a printed Order of Service.
Minister’s Letter
Enjoying Life… and God. We are in the Summer period where many of us take a few weeks out from the hustle and bustle of normal life and have a holiday. Some of us like to be very active on holiday – packing as much as possible into each day (and night), others want nothing more than to be lying down with a trashy blockbuster where the brain cells don’t really have much to do. But all of us want to the have ‘space’ to do the things that we normally wouldn’t be able to. The influential architect Frank Lloyd Wright was fond of an incident that may have seemed insignificant at the time but had a profound influence on the rest of his life. The winter he was 9, he went walking across a snow-covered field with his reserved, no-nonsense uncle. As the two of them reached the far end of the field, his uncle stopped him. He pointed out his own tracks in the snow, straight and true as an arrow’s flight, and then young Frank’s tracks meandering all over the field. “Notice how your tracks wander aimlessly from the fence to the cattle to the woods and back again,” his uncle said. “And see how my tracks aim directly to my goal. There is an important lesson in that.” Years later the Wright liked to tell how the experience had contributed to his philosophy in life. “I determined right then,” he’d say with a twinkle in his eye, “not to miss the things in life, that my uncle had missed.” He saw in those tracks what his uncle could not: It is easy to let the demands of life keep us from the joys of living. We all recognise that any goals in life worth achieving demand a great deal of our energy. If you are a doctor you must spend vast hours alone and as a junior doctor studying the human body. The life of your patient demands it. If you are a carpenter, you must patiently measure for the building before you drive the first nail. The integrity of the structure depends on it. If you are a parent you must sacrifice your time for another. Your children require it. We could not live if we did not set goals and work to fulfil them. But here’s what young Wright discovered at the tender age of 9, and what some don’t learn until 89: The objective in life is not the goal but the journey on the way to the goal. In Mark 1:29-39 the whole city had gathered around the door, pressing in to see Jesus. The demands on him were already piling up. He cured many, cast out demons, and taught constantly. And his disciples didn’t help matters. When he left in the morning early to pray, they went searching for him. And when they found him they said, “What are you doing, everyone is searching for you?” But rather than return to Capernaum as his disciples wanted, he moved to the other villages in the area, spreading God’s message. Hopefully, within the next month or so you will find some time to reflect on your life. How do we enjoy the journey when everyone and everything is searching for us, wanting a piece of us, and demanding our time? Perhaps from Jesus’ example in this passage we can learn three things. Firstly, remember that hard work is required. Secondly, remember not to let others define your goals. And finally, remember that Jesus needed to pray as we all do. I am not suggesting that all of this will just fall into place. But it is so easy to get caught up in life that there is no time to enjoy the sights along the way. May you truly ‘re-create’ over the summer break. David
Specification of the Organ
The
1916
two
manual
and
pedal
tubular
pneumatic
organ
by
Bishop
from
the
previous
building
was
rebuilt
with
electric
action
by
W
&
A
Boggis
of
Diss
in
the
new
church.
It
is
placed
in
an
elevated
position
in
the
Worship
Area
and
is
controlled
from
a
detached,
moveable console.
Certain
specifications
changes
were
made
to
take
account
of
the
new
acoustic
conditions
and a few ranks were added.
The Pedal reed pipes (which had been prepared for) were installed in 1993.
This Week’s Service
Welcome to St John’s URC Cowper Street Ipswich
Sunday 21 July
Worship for All
Led by Liz Fox
Theme: Life through the world’s eyes verses God’s eyes.
Welcome and Notices
Call to Worship
Hymn: R&S 603: Lord for the years.
First reading: Colossians 1:15-28
Prayer
Lord’s Prayer
Second reading: Amos 8:1-12
Hymn: R &S 67 Immortal, invisible.
Third reading: Psalm 52
Hymn R&S 74: Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.
Sermon:
Hymn: R &S All my hope on God us founded.
Prayers: Thanksgiving
Intercession
Offering and dedication
Hymn: R & S 104 Praise my Soul, the King of Heaven.
Blessing
Next Week’s (28 July) Worship for all is led by William Glasse
Room Hire
Below is an interactive guide to hiring a room
in St John’s.
The Main Hall
This is used for Pre-school every weekday during term-time. Also by Brownies and Rainbows on Tuesdays and Thursdays and by the Folk Dancing Group. Other than the Sanctuary, it is the largest space in the building and has kitchen facilities just off the hall.Room 1
This is a regulary used space, including use as a Polling Station! It is easy to make all sorts of furniture arrangements. It is also straight off the main lobby so makes 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 flexibility in the setting of the furniture .The Sanctuary
The sanctuary is also very flexible in layout, but as the chairs are more substantial, re-arrangements require much more work. There is a loop sound system and a projection screen. The organ console seen in the picture to the left is moveable. The organ pipes can be seen above the congregation seating area in the picture below.Last, but not least, are the supporting areas.
There are toilets on both floors including baby changing and disabled facilities on the ground floor. There is a small lift in the entrance lobby for people to get to and from the upper floor. Finally, each floor has kitchen facilities. The pictures are of the downstairs kithen. See the forms and conditions on the Forms Page
Below is an interactive Booking Enquiry Form - the simplest way to make an enquiry.
This is secure entry and the information you add is encrypted; and this still applies if you are out and
about and not on a secure WiFi setting.
Otherwise you can download a PDF form here. Print it, complete it and mail to St John’s or email it to:
roombooking@stjohnsurcipswich.org.uk
Note: This form is fillable if you have an appropriate PDF reader.
News
The main news is that
this is a new website.
We have all the same things as before, such as the diary and this week’s service, but they should be easier and speedier to access. This new website should work well on a reasonably up to date smartphone. You can scroll through the main pages swiftly rather than relying on the navigation bar. However, you can still use the navigation bar if you wish. Please let the webmaster know about any difficulties, what you like and what you would like added. Use the contact page to do so. We know there are friends of St John’s Ipswich around the world, including several in Australia. We also have two members in Tanzania (and we would like to display news of their work here as we did previously).For a short time there will
be gaps for the rest of
the page until I get some
news!
Ramble Group
Introduction The St John's Rambling Group was formed in 1996 as an activity of the church. They walk on the last Saturday every month. The group welcomes friends from other churches and those simply interested in walking in enjoyable company. Walk Programme 2019/2020 is shown below. Ramblers meet in the church car park, ready to leave at 1.00pm unless indicated differently in the programme. For further information about the St John's United Reformed Church Ramblers, e-mail the leaders at Ramble LeadersWalk Programme 2019/2020
Monthly Walks Meet at the church at Cowper St. on last Saturday of the month so we are ready to leave the church at 1.00 p.m. (except July - see *** below) The mileages given above are approximate and might change once the walk has been tried out. Usually, it will be possible for a shorter walk to be taken.
Date
Location
Approx. Mileage
23 February
Hintlesham/Burstall
4.5 miles
30 March
Holbrook/Stutton
5 miles
27 April
Bentley
6 miles
25 May
Campsea Ashe
5.75 miles
29 June
Elmsett/Offton
6 miles
27 July
Long Melford ***
***
31 August
Coastal
5 miles
28 September
Boxford
6 miles
26 October
Brantham
6 miles
30 November
Bramford
6 miles
28 December
Melton
25 January
2020
Newbourne
4.75 miles
*** Possible whole day - meet at church at 10.00.a.m.
Figure Eight walk of 4 and 5.5 miles, with picnic lunch in middle
Contact Details
St John’s URC Ipswich
Our Postal Address is: St John’s United Reformed Church 1 Cowper Street Ipswich Suffolk IP4 5JD United Kingdom Office Telephone (Answer Machine) 01473 724961 Minister: Rev David Rees (Ipswich and East) email: minister@stjohnsurcipswich.org.uk Church Secretary:Mr Adrian Cubitt email: Secretary@stjohnsurcipswich.org.uk Webmaster webmaster@stjohnsurcipswich.org.uk Website which is https for security www.stjohnsurcipswich.org.uk