On Saturday 14th September 2013 David,
our minister, conducted the Wedding of Wendy Stoner Seed  to Jim Beagin. 
This was the first wedding in the church for many years, and the first one David had conducted for four years!

The bride and bridesmaides arrived in a double decker bus whice also took almost everybody to the reception afterwards.

Jim and Wendy expected about 70 family and friends to attend, but they just kept on coming.
We opened the screen and set out more chairs until about 120 guests were seated.

The service made use of our ‘free church’ status in that not only did the bride and groom choose the Bible readings and the Hymns, but also had a hand in choosing almost every word that was said by David.

Some of the words of the service they said - such as "The Blessing" at the end of the service,

They also each wrote a statement about why they wanted to get married to each other in church. These were particularly moving and were read out as part of the service.

The Register was signed on the Communion Table at the front of church as an integral part of the service, while ‘Interlude’  (a music group from the Dales URC)  played the music.

Revd David said "I love to watch the confetti being thrown – it is symbolic of the blessing everyone wants to shower onto the Bride and Groom. I also see the confetti lying in the church ground as a sign of life!"

If you are interest in getting married in church, contact the minister through the website.

Despite poor weather over 2400 people came into the church and grounds for the 2013 Sherwood Art Week Secret Garden Craft Fair to enjoy the crafts, sample the splendid food, and be entetained by top local Musicians.

This was the result of months of work by a small army of volunteers, and was complimented by the rest of the Art Week Activiuties - Yarn Bombing, Art in the Shops, Exhibitions, and Workshops.

Even the lead up to the was more exciting than usual as our MP Christpher Leslie came along to encourage groups in the preparation - not once but twice!

First he came to see the Scouts tidying up our Garden ready for the Fair and (above) helping Artists Anna Dixon with some Mosaic work which is destined for Woodborough Park	Then again to see people setting up on the Friday night before the Fair itself, invited by natash East, the artist who runs Sherwood Kids Art Group

On the day itself . . .

There were seven stalls inside the Sherwood Hall as we all artwork from Djanogli and the Kids Art Group	Sherwood Library ran the Children's Quarter with story telling and colouring Activities
Sherwood Sunrisers Rotary Club provided Strawberry Tea in the Main Hall...	...while outside Musicians created a wonderful atmosphere. This is Steel Magnolies, with Bronwyn in purple on the right who runs the 'Singing for Fun' Choir here at Sherwood URC

You can find more about the whole Art Week at www.sherwoodartweek.co.uk

Photographs from the annual
Good Friday Walk of Witness.

Members of the United Reformed Church joined others from St Martin's CofE, Sherwood Methodist Church and St John's CofE for the annual Good Friday Walk of Witness. 

This is the third station outside our chrurch
taken just as we moved off to walk down Mansfield Road.

The snow held off and the sun even shone, offering a vain hope of warmth. Perhaps it was the weather that made it feel like we were fewer in numbers, but at fifty people, we had a dozen more than last year!

The walk consisted of several 'stations' each consisting of sentences, a reading from the gospel story and prayers.

We gathered as usual inside the church of St Martin before walking on the the various stations.
1. The first station outside St Martins
2: Outside the Coop
3: Outside The U.R.C.
4. We kept to the west side of Mansfield Road to stay in the sun and held the fourth Station just below Nissa. It was a bit of a squash as the pavement was much narrower, and the sun so feeble in it warmth was it worth it?
5 At the Library. Could not hear a thing - It is a good job the booklets contain all the words!
6 Outside the Methodist Church.
7 In the grounds at St Johns
8 The final station, before going in for a warm and a propper Coffee!

Here are nine of the eighteen women involved in presenting the Women's World Day of Prayer this year (2012). The service this year was written for us by the ladies in the churched of Malaysia, and a tourism video of Malaysiaplayedwhile the congregation gathered.

The service began with a special treat – the Children of Seely infant School brought a Chinese dragon and sang a Chinese song as the dragon danced. That certainly created an oriental atmosphere! The children were also involved in setting the display on the communion table – bringing up candles and fruit as part of the service.

The service was very thought provoking as was the reflection given by Revd Dr. Deborah Anderson. The morning was rounded off over a faith lunch, where the adult participants and congregation were able to talk about what they had heard.

It was a shame that the children had to leave early to get back to school for their lunch, but they did enjoy being a part of the day, and want to explore other ways of working with us as a church! Watch this space!

Photographs from the annual
Good Friday Walk of Witness.

As you can see, members of the United Reformed Church joined others from St Martin's CofE, Sherwood Methodist Church and St John's CofE for the annual Good Friday Walk of Witness.

It was a cold and breezy day, but 38 adults and a handfull of children gathered for the walk.

The walk consisted of several 'stations' each consisting of sentences, a reading from the gospel story and prayers.

We gathered as usual inside the church of St Martin before walking on the the various stations.
The first station outside St Martins
2: Outside the Coop
3: Outside The U.R.C.
Crossing over to Wilkinsons
4. The traffic seemd to be a bit less noisy this year - or perhaps I could hear becuse I was standing next to the reader.
The Children loved to 'help' carry the cross
5 At the Library. Could not hear a thing - It is a good job the booklets contain all the words!
6 Outside the Methodist Church.
7 In the gronds at St Johns
8 The final station, before going in for a warm and a propper Coffee!

Our church was full to overflowing
as we hosted the Induction of our New Moderator,
Revd Peter Meek
on Saturday 17th September..

read more here

We were delighted to welcome
The Sometimes Singers
to our Church
on Saturday evening 3rd September.

The fourteen strong choir consisted of five Men and nine Ladies (including Alison, their professional Pianist who you can often see playing in the Royal Concert Hall) 

They even managed
to get the audience
to sing along!

They performed a delightful “potpourri” of well known songs, a duet, and solo plus an amusing poem. The event was well attended, and at the close coffee/tea and biscuits were provided in the Church Hall, where a raffle was drawn. The sum of £198.00 was raised for Family Care. Our thanks go to everybody who kindly helped in any way on this occasion.

What a wonderful day!
Thousands of people
came to see dozens
of stalls
displays
and performances
to sample the superbe
creative skills
of the people of  Sherwood.

Have of look!

ENTERTAINMENT . . . .

ART WORK

Two stalls showing the creativity of members of the church:

Fun-Stuff for children

In the morning - Christian Aid Coffee served by the Churh,
in the afternoon Cream Tea served by the "Sherwood Sunrisers" Rotary.

Craft Work Stalls - inside and out!

Once again Churches Together in Sherwood and Carrington
were out in force at the Sherwood Festival on Woodborough Park. . . .

Gale force winds and torrential rain did not dampen our spirits!
OK, I am exaggerating a bit - we did get wet from time to time but the sun soon dried us out!

The main thrust of the tent was the Bible - celebrating the 400th anniversary of the King James Version by inviting people to write out a verse in calligraphy style 'just like they use to do in days gone by'!

To get the little grey cells working
there were some work sheets and quizzes for children,
and the adults were invited to suggest
a 'commandment' for the 21st century (left)
(that's this century, now!)
or buy a book from the bookstall (run by OASIS)

Next to the Bible Tent
Sherwood Methodist Church
ran a taster for their Messy Church.

We brought our sandwiches,
so that after morning worship we could have a picnic and enjoy some family games.

It was a shame that the rain came down
otherwise we could have had the picnic in the Secret Garden!
We settled for the Hall! The adults stayed there and did a pentecost quiz.

If they has really been listening in the service they would all have got 10 out of 10 - but it was fun anyway! We watched an episode of SuperTed, part of which was shown in the service - the theme was "Jesus is our superhero and he gives away his super powers through the Holy Spirit"

Then we joined the youngsters and the young at heart in the back hall
- some joined in the games (Jenga, giant snakes and ladders, table tennis),
some sat and chatted. It was great to see several folk from Chill Out join us.

A large part of the work of Sherwood United Reformed Church is devoted to supporting Christian Aid. Christian Aid is a charity that was set up and run by the churches in England. It is our overseas Charity. That is one reason we support it.

We also support it because Jesus taught is to see him in other people, and especially in the poor and unfortunate people of the world, inviting us to feed them and care for them as if we were feeding and caring for Jesus directly.

This concert was part of our work as a church, one way in which we could join in the work of  Christian Aid: “Helping People To Improve Their Own Lives, Whatever Their Religion”.
Our evening began with an introduction to the churches work and this year's Christian Aid week film was shown in which we saw the support given to the people of Nicaragua. Working through through partner agency Soppexcca, Christian Aid helps poor coffee  farmers in Nicaragua to produce and process good-quality coffee and  then market it nationally and internationally.

By working together in  cooperatives, communities gain the confidence to take charge of their  own lives, and decide what kind of support they need to help  themselves. It helps them to negotiate a fair price for their product; and more than  that, it enables them to make real improvements in the life of their
communities. This support has enabled them to overcome  all the odds, and believe that a better life is possible. 

Thanks to the generosity of the Band, whose members took no fee and no expenses, we added £320.00 to the amounts raised in our Christian Aid Week house to house collecting. This means that we raised over £1000.00 for Christian aid week in just a couple of weeks.

You can read more in the church magazine.

Palm Sunday is always thought of as marking the start of the Easter Celebrations, and this was so here at the United Reformed Church in Sherwood. In our service we participated in the story as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey, we saw how the people of Masasi in Tanzania made our Palm Crosses (to increase their income which would be only £40 per year!), and we reflected on What a difference a Week made - as we wondered what made the crowd who had shouted "Hallelujah" and "Hosanna", change to "Crucify,Crucify"

On the Monday the children reflected on that same story as they helped in making the Easter garden and put up the cross in church ready for its transformation on Easter Sunday Morning.

In the Hall some of the older 'children' made a model of the Tomb in which Jesus body was laid - which was found empty on that first Easter Sunday

and we decorated biscuits - There is always some food somewhere!

Maundy Thursday was marked by an Evening Meal, Communion and Tenebrae around a cross of candles in the Garden room (the back of the Church) . The meal was simple - soup, cheese and biscuits ; the communion followed on at the tables; The Tenebrae several readings from the Bible relating to Jesus Crucifixion, after each of which a candle was extinguished. One candle was left burning - this was extinguished on Good Friday after the walk of witness in the evening.

Saturday saw the church and grounds being prepared for the great celebration Easter Day

Easter Sunday began with an early morning spoken service which led onto breakfast in the Hall for the select group who came. . .

. . . and onto our Easter Communion Service, where the crafts made on Monday could be seen.

After worship - refreshment of another kind:

Photographs from the annual
Good Friday Walk of Witness.

As you can see, members of the United Reformed Church joined others from St Martin's CofE, Sherwood Methodist Church and St John's CofE for the annual Good Friday Walk of Witness. Despite the poor weather and the cold, over forty gathered for the walk.

The walk consisted of several 'stations' each consisting of sentences, a reading from the gospel story and prayers.

We began inside St Martin's,
and we held 'stations' . . . .

outside St Martin's,

in the Co-op Car Park,

outside the URC,

Outside Wilinksons

on way to Sherwood Library . . .

  . . . 'Jesus' paused to buy a copy of the Big Issue!!!! . . .

. . . .and had to wait for the light to change by the Deli.

We gathered outside the front of the Methodist church,

in the grounds of St John's.

The final station was at the door of St John's,

and was followed by a welcome cuppa!

Christmas 2010 began with a "Christmas Messy Church"
where Children of all ages gathered together to make some decorations to go onto the tree.

We made stars with the words Love, Joy, Peace and Hope,
and coloured in other Christmas symbols and shapes,
and then went into the Church to decorate the tree.

We took the opportunity to do a practice for the Children's nativity and do some video recording! This was the next big event in Advent. The play, which was written by one of our older Junior Church members, was set in today's time. We saw the the shepherds on the cloud looking down at the earth from heaven and watching some modern day events which reminded them of that spectacular birth 2000 (and 10) years ago. The video was projected on the screen to show us what they were remembering. The shepherds remembered that birth and reflected on its relevance for today - some deep thinking for someone still at Junior School!

The same evening we held our "Carol's by Candlelight". This is not a traditional Nine Lessons and Carols, but carols interspersed with more modern readings, reflections and prayers (and some humour!). It was a most thought provoking service.

Christmas Eve began at 4.30pm in the Foyer with another messy event - making the Christingles. These are made from an orange representing to world into which are placed four cocktail sticks which represent the four corner of the earth (N, S E, W).

Tne sticks carry sweets or fruits to represent the bounty of the planet - God's gift to us. Around the middle of the organ goes a red ribbon - the blood shed by Jesus on the cross, and in the top a white candle - representing Jesus the Light of the World.

At 5.00pm we moved into the church for our Crib Service
where we sang carols and the children slowly built up the crib scene. 

At the end the lights were turned right down
and we lit the christingle candles.

Lovely!

At 11.00pm we met again, enjoyed tea and coffee, biscuits and mince pies before returning to the candle lit church for our midnight communion. Revd Sylvia from St Martin's preached and shared with David in the leading of the serve, we prepared the table and waited in silence for midnight to arrive. The last white advent candle was lit - announcing that they day had arrived to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and the bread and wine were shared.

On Christmas Day at 10.00am we joined
the Congregation at St Martin's.
The church was full for the service
which involved David, our own minister, (right)
in preaching and leading the service.

And now it is 2011!

A Happy new Year to you all!

Sherwood and Carrington Churches Together Good Friday Walk of Witness

Once again Good Friday was a time for the churches of Sherwood and Carrington to walk through the 'town' following the cross. We began at the URC for a change as St Martins' had an event on inside their church. We followed what was essentially the same liturgy as previous years, but tried to make it more interactive - especially at those stations on Mansfield Road, where it is hard to hear if you are not on the front row of 'the crowd'. We also included short prayers for the community.

We gathered inside Edwards Lane U.R.C. for a few words of introduction, a prayer and a Hymn.

At each station there was:

Opening sentences,
Bible reading,
Brief Reflection (- some),
Prayer
Hymn 

Gathering

Hymn: Take up thy cross, the Saviour said

1 Jesus is condemned to death

Bible: Mark 14.53-64

Hymn: My song is love unknown

2 Jesus receives and carries his cross

Bible: Mark 15.1-20

Hymn: When I survey the wondrous Cross

3 Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry the Cross

Bible: Mark 15.21-32

Hymn: There is a Redeemer, Jesus, God’s own Son

4 Jesus falls under the weight of the Cross

Bible: Isaiah 53.1-8

Hymn: O sacred head, sore wounded

5 Jesus is stripped of his garments

Bible: John 19.23-25a

Hymn: Just as I am, without one plea

6 Jesus is nailed to the cross

Bible: John 19.18-22

Hymn: Such love, pure as the whitest snow;

7 Jesus dies on the Cross

Bible: Mark 15.33-37

Hymn: It is a thing most wonderful

8 The body of Jesus is laid in the tomb

Bible: Mark 15.40-47

Hymn: In Christ alone my hope is found

The Craft Fair in "The Secret Garden" behind the church was a great day,
as I hope you can see from this selection of photographs.

You can read more about this event in the church magazine

Lots of people!

Sherwood United Reformed Church
hosted this years World Day of Prayer

Over forty folk attended (including a handful of men!) to experience a delightful, informative and uplifting time of worship created for us by women in Chile.

Hymns were a mixture of old, new, English and Chilean.
Entitled "How many Loaves have you?" both the service and the address, given by Revd Louise Gee, challenged us to consider the gifts God has given us and how we might share them.

The Communion Table is set out for the service:
In addition to the usual flowers, Bible and candle are:
Wheat,
a jar of earth,
a carafe of water,
a covered bowl containing bread,
a blue bag for the offering of money,
and a collection plate to receive our prayer offerings of gifts which, as part of the service, were written on cards printed with an outline of a loaf

The Sherwood Festival held in Woodborough Park at the end of the Arts week,
saw members from all the Sherwood and Carrington Churches
at our stall. The Prayer Tree / Post box received over a hundred prayer requests,
which were made during prayers in the churches in the following weeks.

We handed out dozens of books to do with the World Cup
- luckily for us, England managed to stay in untill just after the day!

Three events were packed into the Easter Sunday this Year - an early meditation service,
an Easter Breakfast
and an Easter Communion Service.

Fourteen people met in the Garden room for the early morning meditation, a spoken service in which we reflected on what the women might have experienced as they went to Jesus' tomb on that Sunday.

We then shared breakfast - cereals and fruit juice followed by a boiled egg.

The 10.30 service was held in the church,
which had been decorated by some of our young people on the Saturday.

The theme of this service was 'what happened next' - after the women had found the tomb empty. Mark's gospel originally ended with the women struck dumb, too afraid to say anything.

But we know they did not stay silent, we know the story was told. The gospels are designed to be read by people who know the ending!

But in one way we do not know the ending - because the gospel invited us to play our part in that continuing story.

The New life that is represented by that Easter cross covered in yellow chrysanthemums 
is to be worked out and lived out by Jesus 21st century disciples - and that includes us!

Those of us who were not rushing off to share Easter eggs with the family stayed for a cuppa!

The walk consisted of several 'stations' each consisting of sentences, a reading from the gospel story and prayers.

We began inside St Martin's,
and we held 'stations' . . . .

outside St Martin's,

in the Co-op Car Park,

inside the URC,

in the URC car park,

(OK, so the photo is not in the URC Car Park, but on the way down Mansfield Road. I was involved in the liturgy at the URC
and my lovely assistant had turned into a Taxi Driver!)

on the street near Sherwood Library,

outside the Methodist church

and in the grounds of St John's.

The final station was in St John's,
and was followed by a welcome cuppa!

Maundy Thursday

saw 22 people gather in the Garden Room for a simple meal

of Soup, Cheese & Biscuits, and Tea or Coffee
interlaced with the Liturgy of a Communion Service.

Based on an Evening Liturgy from the Iona Community Wild Worship Group, the service enabled us to remember the meal that Jesus had with his disciples on that Thursday when he was arrested.

We remembered that the word Maundy came from a Latin root meaning Command.

We remembered Jesus washing his disciples feet, and his command to 'love one-another as I have loved you'.

We remembered that Jesus loving us meant him going to die on the cross for us.

We rememered his call to serve others . . .