December Advance The version available here can be read online or downloaded.

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.

RECREATING CHRISTMAS? “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7 I remember, from childhood, the annual Christmas ritual of purchasing copies of the Radio and TV Times. Each member of the family, armed with a pen, would work through the bumper editions indicating things we would like to watch. There was then the challenge of resolving the problems if two programmes clashed - we had no way of recording things off air to watch later. Christmas TV was a rich diet of familiar and new items. For me the “Two Ronnies Christmas Special”, the “Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special” and the Walt Disney film clips compilation were high on the list of essential viewing. Since then, part of my Christmas routine is re-watching on DVD or via “on-demand” services – such treasures as Delia Smith’s Christmas, various comedy specials and, if I want to experience a combination of horror and humorous disbelief, “Fanny Cradock’s Cooks for Christmas”. She really was breathtakingly patronising and bossy. There is a hankering for the viewing treasures of the past. This is part of something that I have caught myself doing every year ever since I passed from the magical days of childhood into the sobering days of adulthood. Each year I get excited by the prospect of Christmas and invest considerable time and, probably, far too much money in trying to re-create the feelings of Christmas from my youth. Each year I cling to the hope that, somehow, this year I will succeed in recapturing that sense of wonder and anticipation. When the “big day” finally passes there is a sense that it wasn’t all that I had hoped. No amount of time and money invested in what Betjeman wisely identified as “fripperies”, will somehow achieve the unachievable. Preachers, pastors, priests and ministers have, for centuries, entreated us not to become so engaged with the trappings and trimmings of the celebration that we lose sight of the reality of Christmas. This we find in the humble nature of Christ’s birth and the experience of Christmas for the majority of the world’s population today. For so many, Christmas is a worrying and stressful time when the expectations of others and those we impose on ourselves pile on the pressure and stretch already limited resources to breaking point. For many, Christmas will bring no relief from the struggle and fear or conflict, war or abuse and the day will pass unnoticed or without any distinction. There is nothing wrong with celebration, in gathering with friends and family to share a special time especially in the dark days of winter, but it does us well to approach these things with an honest and realistic perspective. At the heart of Christmas is, or should be, the shocking, even scandalous humility of the first Christmas – it was not, on the face or it, an extraordinary day – business as usual, struggle as usual, danger as usual even for the family of Jesus. He was just as vulnerable as any newborn, just as needy as any child born into a poor family. He was born into an occupied nation and early in life joined the many refugees that continue to seek safety in other nations. But… this child, this tiny, helpless, humble child, is the source of all hope - an expression of God’s love and care beyond our wildest imaginings - salvation and life for all. True satisfaction is not found in recreating the past or investing in the fleeting pleasures of the season – true satisfaction is found in God alone, made known and available to us through Christ. Let’s celebrate Christ this Christmas and do so with a prayerful eye to the reality of the world and the hope that only Jesus Christ can bring. Revd Adam Earle

Initial Considerations When? Day? Time? 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 Alcohol, No Exit Blocking You Must

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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 Please use the adjacent contact form. Minister: Rev David Rees/Rev Adam Earle (Ipswich and East) or email: minister@stjohnsurcipswich.org.uk