LONGING FOR LIGHT
I’m writing this letter just before 4 o’clock and it’s getting dark already! At this time of the year in the UK, we often only have 7 or 8 hours of daylight every day. Oh, how it makes me crave the long, light nights of summer.
However, this darkness pales in comparison when we acknowledge the darkness of the news: where we see and hear the ongoing war in Israel/Palestine, Ukraine and beyond; the destructiveness of climate change, the suffering of refugees on unsafe boats and camps. There is also the darkness in our lives: in the midst of illness and grief; the cost-of-living crisis.
And yet in our darkness, God will meet us there. In our darkness, God is present. A God of faith, hope and love. A God revealed in Jesus.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus was born into a world characterised by the occupation and oppression of the Roman Empire. An Empire which impacted on so many parts of a person’s life and must have felt like it could last forever.
We talk about Jesus’ coming into the world, as light shining in darkness. The light of Jesus reveals how darkness in our lives and world can be overcome. To quote one of the Gospel writers, John: “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it”.
Christmas is about Jesus Christ entering the pain and darkness of every time and place, including ours, to bring light. A light of faith, hope and love that each and every one of us, can share with our families, our communities, our world.
So, my hope and prayer is that Jesus’ light can provide each and every one of us with peace and hope this Christmas.
Nicola
In Memoriam: It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Linden Jarvis on Thursday 14th November. Linden set up the Claire Jarvis Memorial Fund which still supports the work of the URC chaplain at the Leeds Universities. Linden worshipped at Headingley St Columba with his family for many years and Ailsa, Laura, Ian and Eleanor were able to join us for worship the following Sunday. It was a joy, too, to meet two grand-children.
The funeral will take place at Headingley St Columba on Monday, 9th December at 11.30 am and will be led by the Revd Samantha Sheehan, URC Chaplain to the Leeds Universities.
| CALENDAR | |||
| DECEMBER | |||
| 1st | SUNDAY | 10.45am | ADVENT SUNDAY. Morning Worship led by Rev Phil Chilvers |
| 12 noon | Advent Lunch | ||
| 8th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Christmas Gift Service. Morning Worship led by our Minister, Rev Dr Nicola Robinson |
| 10th | Tuesday | 12.30pm | Guild Christmas Lunch |
| 15th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Christmas Carol Service led by Rev Phil Chilvers. We shall be joined by our friends from Headingley Methodist Church |
| 22nd | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship led by Rev Angela Hughes, Leeds Partnership Ministerial Team |
| 25th | Wednesday | 10.30am | CHRISTMAS DAY Worship led by Rev Phil Chilvers |
| 29th | SUNDAY | 10.30am | Morning Worship at West Park URC led by Rev Alan Griffith |
| JANUARY | |||
| 5th | SUNDAY | 10.45am | Morning Worship led by Rev Phil Chilvers |
A reminder that our Advent Lunch will follow Morning Worship on Sunday, 1st December
GIFT SERVICE
Our Gift Service will be on Sunday, 8th December. Monetary donations, toiletries or toys will be divided between Leeds Women’s Aid and the Salvation Army.
Teenagers are usually the age group most difficult to buy for and the Leeds Women’s Aid make sure they are included by giving them gift cards to spend on items they would like. Monetary donations can be either cheque or cash made out to either charity.
CHRISTIAN AID: A special collection was made last month for the work of Christian Aid, specifically for their work in the Middle East. Our thanks to Joan McShane and Kate Henderson for distributing, collecting and counting the envelopes. We are grateful to St Chad’s Garage for continuing to keep a collecting tin on their premises.
Church Collection:- £562.40 (£500 of this was Gift aided)
Garage Collection:- £ 59.72
TOTAL £622.12
CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
Roger and Janette Morley wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
‘For God so loved the world. . . ’
As some of us chatted over coffee, remarking, yet again, on the rapid approach of Christmas, it was not long before we started swapping memories of Christmases past. I am sure we all have memories of the churches we attended as children; of Gift Services, Nativity Plays and Services of Nine Lessons and Carols which, even to the young, conveyed a feeling of wonder and awe as the story was re-told.
We created our own Christmas traditions here, too, when Bill Frame held ‘Christingle Services’ on Christmas Eve and we continued to hold somewhat boisterous parties for our own children and special guests-(somehow managing to avoid A&E despite ‘Musical Chairs’) . Anyone attending them will never forget the excitement when Santa arrived.
So, our memories here are of Family times and my thanks to Gladys, Susan, Kate and Elissa for sharing some of them through the newsletter and to Rosemary for a more modern take. I have one too and perhaps you can guess who provided which story.
Childhood Memories of Christmas
My early memories of Christmas are the traditional Santa Claus, presents and a stocking at the end of the bed with chocolates and an orange. Decorations were restricted to holly, ivy and, of course, mistletoe.
However, my brother, who was in the Army on the Rhine, came home on holiday with new ideas for Christmas celebrations. Under his supervision, we decorated a tree with tinsel ribbons, coloured baubles and a fairy on top, made paper garlands to hang from the ceiling and listened to modern music, aka jazz, on the wind-up gramophone.
We were joined on Christmas evening by our cousins, tucking-into home-made Christmas party food with a glass of sherry for some! We played games and the boys attempted to lure the girls under the mistletoe without success. On the now rare occasions when I meet up with my cousins, they never fail to recall how much they enjoyed those Christmas evenings created by my mother, their beloved ‘Aunt Maggie’.
A time for reflection and discussion over four weeks, led by the Leeds URC Partnership Ministry Team
Beginning on:
Tuesday 26 November 2:15pm,
West Park URC, Spen Lane, LS16 5BB
Wednesday 27 November 10:45am,
Beeston Hill Church, Malvern Road, LS11 8PD
Thursday 28 November 7:30pm,
on Zoom
For more information, email: revnicola.robinson@gmail.com
As a little girl climbed onto Santa’s lap, Santa asked the usual, ‘And what would you like for Christmas?’
The child stared at him open-mouthed and horrified, then gasped; ‘Didn’t you get my email?’
Christmas memories
My earliest memories of Christmas were being given a doll. The doll went everywhere with me. I also had a Silver Cross pram and loved pushing her in it and being her mummy. I named her Mary because if you tipped her up, she made a noise which was, most likely, ‘mama,’ but I always called her Mary. My Gran knitted new clothes for her every Christmas. She stayed with me until I was about 15 when I reluctantly passed her on to a family who didn’t have much money.
Another memory is going to see my Great Aunts on Boxing Day before we went to my grandparents. They were spinsters and were very set in their ways. My brother and I had to sit very still and not speak unless we were spoken to – a thing of the past now! We were each given six old pence as a Christmas present and thought we were very rich! We were mightily relieved when it was time to leave.
THE GUILD CHRISTMAS LUNCH
We shall be holding our Christmas Celebration on Tuesday, 10th September, meeting, as usual at about 12.30pm for lunch at 1 o’clock. You are welcome whether you are able to join us regularly each month or not. Sadly, but not surprisingly, we shall have to charge a little more this year – so the cost will be £6.
My mother-in-law has come to our house seven years running. This year we are having a change. We are going to let her in!
It was the Christmas that my sister and I asked Santa for a bike.
On Christmas morning we could see from the crack in the door that he had been. My dad had done our bikes up; the bikes were painted shiny black – even the handle bars – and we were thrilled with them.
After breakfast we went out on our new bikes and what did I do? I fell off and skinned my knees. Happy memories!
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No cheese for us with Christmas cake! Us Londoners wanted Royal icing with a snow scene at the very least. But in our family we had some very fancy designs often with trellis icing and stars and silver balls (just right for cracking the odd tooth). All this required a lot of preparation and a cake with a good smooth base coat of icing.
‘I’ll help you, mum. I’ll turn the cake round while you smooth the icing’. Fatal. As we scraped the cake plus icing off the kitchen floor – ‘ Never mind, darling. If we remove the icing carefully and cover it up, they’ll never know’. They didn’t!! Dear old, loving Mum.
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A significant childhood memory of mine is being woken on Christmas morning by a great commotion and a very strange aroma coming from our kitchen. Upon exploring further, I discovered that our magnificent turkey was in a sorry state and beyond all help. This was happening in the mid-sixties; all the shops were closed and there was no opportunity to purchase a replacement bird. My parents decided that we should give the turkey a decent burial. My father dug a hole in the garden and we all gathered round to witness the sad event. Miraculously, just before my father did the deed an elderly neighbour appeared with a horrified look on her face. My father explained what was happening and she quickly described a solution to our plight. She prepared a bath of diluted vinegar and various herbs and spices and the turkey was lowered into the improbable concoction. After soaking for a couple of hours, hallelujah, the bird was restored and oven ready once again. Our Christmas dinner had been saved thanks to the knowledge and ingenuity of our, by now, favourite neighbour.
