Colchester Christ Church News - February 2018 - Christ Church Anglican Congregation Vision Statement "Through our worship, mission, nurture and ...

Page created by Keith Spencer
 
CONTINUE READING
Colchester Christ Church News - February 2018 - Christ Church Anglican Congregation Vision Statement "Through our worship, mission, nurture and ...
Colchester Christ Church
News – February 2018

         Christ Church Anglican Congregation Vision Statement
“Through our worship, mission, nurture and service we want to enable all
       people to enter into a living relationship with Jesus Christ”
Colchester Christ Church News - February 2018 - Christ Church Anglican Congregation Vision Statement "Through our worship, mission, nurture and ...
In this month’s news:
 •   The Rector writes – February 2018 – Lent a Sabbath Space
 •   Journeying together
 •   Introducing our new Colchester Episcopal Area Youth Advisor
 •   School in Church and Church in School
 •   Prayer of the month – New Beginnings
 •   Stages of Grief
 •   Pass Notes: The Licensed Lay Minister
 •   Carol Singing
 •   Bob Joyce
 •   Could you off a lift
 •   Fairtrade Fortnight
 •   Fairtrade Espresso Cupcakes
 •   Café Church
 •   Messy Church
 •   Support in Loss
 •   What’s on
 •   February diary
Colchester Christ Church News - February 2018 - Christ Church Anglican Congregation Vision Statement "Through our worship, mission, nurture and ...
The Rector Writes February 2018
                           ‘Lent a Sabbath Space’
   Jesus said to the man with the shrivelled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone." Then
Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or
                                to kill?" From Mark 3:3-4

I am feeling nostalgic. Things were              all Gods wonder and indeed thank
always much better back then!                    him for it.

As the NHS celebrates 70 years of                In the Christian Church, the Sabbath is
nursing, there is a sense of loss and            now the first day of the week and we
bewilderment      amongst      today’s           have Pope Gregory XIII and his
amazing nursing cohort. How is it                calendar to blame for that. We may
that so many came into this vocation             also remember the ‘Thou shalt not’
and now so many leave: it is reported,           Keep Sunday Special movement set
“Enough to staff 20 hospitals per                up in 1985 or even earlier, ‘The Lord’s
annum”. And what about Carillion? I              Day Observance Society’ set up in
remember being in hospital having                1831. In each case, the seventh day
bloods taken by Carillion staff. What            of rest finds itself amidst the first day
has happened to honesty, mutual                  of work!
respect and fairness with small
businesses facing ruin and young                 And of course, Sunday would have a
apprentices laid off while company               different meaning to everyone. But in
directors receive a salary that would            God’s gift and purpose, the Sabbath is
take the average person more than                more about celebrating life and rest
30 years to earn. And I expect all of            than living in an uncreative
us can remember those days when on               environment of rules and legal
the Sabbath, Sunday, everything                  expectations. Yes, perhaps things
stopped unless you had that rostered             were better back then!
place of being a nurse, doctor, engine
driver, a power station engineer or as           This is exactly what Jesus faced on
a farmer to feed the animals and so              that Sabbath with a man standing
on.                                              before him, a story from Mark 3: 1 to
                                                 6. It would be easy to say Jesus was a
In Gods ‘way’ the Sabbath, the                   rule breaker and in the eyes of the
seventh day of the week was to be                established rulers of the law, he was.
special, a day when we were to enjoy             Yet he was actually keeping more in
                                                 the spirit of the intentions of God
Colchester Christ Church News - February 2018 - Christ Church Anglican Congregation Vision Statement "Through our worship, mission, nurture and ...
than those who had somehow                 What about social pressure and legal
forgotten what the Sabbath was             sanction, where in the church do we
about.                                     need to address dogmatic and
                                           destructive attitudes that blind us and
The Sabbath was about celebrating          those were serve from our loving God
life and resting in the reality of God’s   who desires to heal and restore? And
grace. Yet the rulers of the day had       how indeed can we model Sabbath as
seemingly forgotten long ago that          a place of restoration, renewal and
they were Gods children with His           transformation? These are big
identity to be the light to the world.     questions with no easy answers. Yet
They had become a people of their          ‘God is’ and therefore it is very much
own creating their own nationalistic       about what we must be.
identity with all its rules and
regulations, which did                                  Lent is approaching and
not      celebrate     the                              perhaps we can use this
wonder of rest and                                      ‘space’ to reflect on
creation. The Sabbath                                   those social pressures,
had become a mixture                                    perceived           legal
of social pressure and                                  sanctions,   addressing
legal sanction. And so                                  the     dogmatic     and
Jesus challenges this                                   destructive    attitudes
notion. Is the Sabbath                                  that bind us. Use the
for life or death – you choose. Jesus      time well. One way would be to join
chooses to give life, which ultimately     one of the small groups as we share
takes him closer to losing his own life.   together Jesus’ wilderness journey
                                           and learn from him who was supreme
This raises questions for us. Was it       in his attitude to the Sabbath as a
always better back then? Nostalgia is      time to be made new.
of course often something about our        We pray Holy Spirit transform the
longings and not God’s.          His       poverty of our nature into the
intentions have always been true,          newness of life. Amen
what about ours? How do we
maintain our focus as a church to be       Yours ever
the opportunity to experience new
life and enable everyone to know,          Paul
experience and live this life out?
Colchester Christ Church News - February 2018 - Christ Church Anglican Congregation Vision Statement "Through our worship, mission, nurture and ...
Journeying together
Happy New Year Christ Church!      share with you the journey I and
                                   my family are taking, to move
My name is Emma Jarratt, and       back to the UK. I hope that what
I’m looking forward to working     God is teaching and showing us
with you from this summer, as      as a family, will help you too on
your Families and Youth            your journey this year with the
Minister. It was lovely to meet    Lord.
so many of you in November.
You made me feel very              We are not the only ones to
welcome. I saw what a big heart    journey with the Lord, today and
you have for God’s people and      throughout history.
your community.
                                   Here in Spain we have just
I am married to Jonathan (Jon)     celebrated Epiphany with the
and we have two children           Fiesta of the Reyes, the three
Joseph, 9yrs and Anna 6 (7yrs on   kings. This is usually an event
2nd Feb).                          involving 3 local men dressed up
                                   as the Magi, either riding
My family and I have been living   camels, horses, (or dumper
and ministering on the South       trucks in our village) and throw
Coast of Spain around Salobrena    sweets at the children in the
(1 hr East of Malaga, 45 mins      streets. Then the parade ends in
south of Granada), for the last    central plaza, where they give
8years. We are the local Pastors   out presents to the children.
of an International Church         This is still the main present
(English/Spanish Speaking). We     giving time in Spain. Even
are part of Fellowship of the      though western culture has
King network of Evangelical        brought Santa to Spain and so
churches     in    Spain.   The    many children in Spain now
Fellowship have recently been      have presents from Santa on
initiated into the International   Christmas Eve and presents
Network of Kingfisher Churches.    from the Kings! (I’m sure the
www.kingfisher.org.uk.             children in the UK would like to
                                   see this tradition brought in,
Over the next 4-5 months before    (maybe not the parents!). We
I officially start, I wanted to    have thankfully been in the UK
Colchester Christ Church News - February 2018 - Christ Church Anglican Congregation Vision Statement "Through our worship, mission, nurture and ...
for most of the Christmas and        precious person and moment.
New Year festivities, so our         The typical nativity scene is of
children celebrate with their UK     Jesus lying quietly in a manger.
family and friends.                  He may not have been quiet for
                                     all the time the Magi were there.
Like the Magi, we have done a        I’m sure there were moments
fair bit of travelling of the past   when he cried, and I’m sure
couple of months, either by          Mary instinctively fed him. So
plane, car, bus or train. We are     the Magi also witnessed this
blessed to be able to travel so      new family emerging and were
easily, whereas the Magi would       in awe of the way in which
have had a long, tiring and          heaven was being birthed
probably            uncomfortable    literally on earth, giving hope for
journey to meet Jesus on             all, through a humble family.
camels. They were willing to go      Families are very important to
through all this to meet the new     God. He revealed this afresh to
king. I wonder if they knew that     me on our plane trip back to
they had a part to play in this      Stansted in all the stress of
new thing that God was doing.        travelling back on Christmas
Their role was to be ready,          Eve, there was a moment in the
recognise, and respond. They         passport queue, when people
are known as wise men, they          from all over the world were
were in their mind and hearts,       crammed together, patiently
open and ready to recognise          waiting to be accepted into the
and interpret something special      country. Some were quiet,
was unfolding in the universe.       others a little fractious. Then a
They responded not just in their     piercing wail from a tiny baby
minds, but it moved their hearts     drew everyone’s attention. The
and feet to go and meet this         mum calmly breastfed the infant
new king and show their              in her arms in the queue.
worship to him. Maybe today          Instead       of       it    being
they would be called prophets        uncomfortable it seemed like
too, as each gift they brought       the most natural thing in the
was in line with Jesus’ mission.     world and the place went still
                                     and quiet. For a moment I
When they finally arrived and        thought of Jesus as this infant
saw baby Jesus, I am sure they       being fed and comforted by
were in awe, absorbing this          Mary and was in awe that my
Colchester Christ Church News - February 2018 - Christ Church Anglican Congregation Vision Statement "Through our worship, mission, nurture and ...
God would make himself             knowing we are part of his
vulnerable and helpless for me.    worldwide family and like the
                                   Magi we have an important part
I would love to have more God      to play in the adventure God is
moments like that, this year       unfolding    afresh   in   our
where I sense God stilling my      generation.
heart and mind and revealing
himself to me afresh. I hope you   May the Lord God bless and
will too. The spirit helps us to   keep you in his perfect peace
see Jesus around us in the         this new year.
people we meet and like the        Many Blessings
Magi, let’s go away from these     Emma
encounters, in awe, amazed and
Colchester Christ Church News - February 2018 - Christ Church Anglican Congregation Vision Statement "Through our worship, mission, nurture and ...
Introducing our new Colchester
Episcopal Area Youth Advisor
My name is Dot and I am the new            This is an
Diocesan Youth Adviser for the             opportunity
Colchester Episcopal Area. I am            for you to
passionate about supporting the            access and
churches and organisations in the          share
area with all things related to youth      resources,
work and ministry (relating to young       top tips, job
people aged 11-25), and I'm looking        adverts or spread the word about an
forward to working with Christ             event you are hosting.
Church in Colchester. I am keen to
visit, connect, pray for and encourage     The best way to contact me is via
churches, projects and provisions in       email:
the area. Over the past ten years I        dsalmon@chelmsford.anglican.org
have worked with children & young          or phone: 07972301305, Mon-Fri
people in various settings and             9am-5pm. Evening or weekend
capacities (incl. church based work,       support can be arranged upon
schools outreach work, outdoor             request.
education, secular youth work,             Please do contact me to:
management & strategy, staff and           •      ask for advice & support
volunteer recruitment & training).         •      ask her to deliver a
                                                  session/training with your
Apart from working for the Diocese,               young people, volunteers or
I'm married to Jon and enjoy running              congregation
on the roads and trails around             •      ask for support with recruiting
Coggeshall and the beautiful Essex                a youth worker and/or
countryside. I love organising Messy              volunteers
Church at my local church and I get        •      observe your provision and
excited about cooking & eating good               give feedback
food, working on a crochet project         •      facilitate training for your
and spending time outdoors. If you’d              young leaders
like to sign up to my newsletter to link   •      accompany you through and
into the area network of youth                    facilitate times of reflection,
workers, youth champions and                      revision or planning
volunteers, please send me an email.       •      say hi!
Colchester Christ Church News - February 2018 - Christ Church Anglican Congregation Vision Statement "Through our worship, mission, nurture and ...
School in Church and Church in School
A Hello from Hamilton Primary School     very kind to us every year and we
                                         finished 2017 by celebrating our
Dear Christ Church,                      Nativity and Carol services in the
                                         church, using all of the new lighting
I thought it would be good to            and sound equipment. We are very
introduce myself and let you know        proud of our link with the church and
what is happening at Hamilton            regularly see Paul and Pat coming in
Primary School. My name is Nick          to school on a Monday to take an
Hutchings and I am very proud to be      assembly.
the Headteacher at Hamilton Primary
School. I took up post in September      We are very grateful that we appear
2016, having been the Headteacher        in the parishes prayers and welcome
at St John’s CofE Primary School near    your support on ensuring the children
Highwoods Country Park. We have          have a super education and a brilliant
had a very busy year or so at school.    link with their local church.
We have had an exciting time
formulating some new core values,        Please do feel free to say hello if you
we have updated our website, school      see us about in the local area and if
logo and school uniform. In July 2017    you would like to regularly volunteer
our Year 6 children (11 year olds and    in the school by either listening to
the last year of Primary School) took    children read, sharing your skills or
part in some national tests. The         coming to support Paul or Pat, then
children performed brilliantly and the   do contact the school office.
school was one of the top 3 in the
Colchester Area. We don’t just work      Thank you for all of your support.
very hard for exams, as we have a
really exciting curriculum that we       Nick Hutchings
teach the children too. In the Autumn    Headteacher
Term we had a visit from the local
Firemen, our children went to Norfolk
on a weeks residential trip looking at
the local environment and history.
One of our year groups visited
Colchester Castle, the Roman Circus
and put on a wonderful play called
the Snow Queen. Christ Church is
Colchester Christ Church News - February 2018 - Christ Church Anglican Congregation Vision Statement "Through our worship, mission, nurture and ...
Prayer of the month
New beginnings
Recent services have brought us the story of the birth of Jesus, the
faithfulness of Mary and Joseph, the eagerness of the shepherds, and the
determination of the magi to return home by another route. As we look
forward to new beginnings for 2018 and the season changing to spring, may
the Lord give us the will to begin anew.

      Stir us up from our comfort zone. Give us a purpose and a
                        vision to work towards.
       Pray with us and for us to be a welcoming church which
                       shows our love for all.
      Rely on us to seek out the needs of our community and to
            work on ways to encourage others to join us.
      Inspire us to go out into the world and light up the lives of
                              all we meet.
       Nurture us and our ideas and encourage us in all we do.
       Make us confident to try new ventures and to step out in
                                 faith.
     Give us your grace, love and peace in our hearts to do your
          will whatever and wherever that takes us here at
                            Christchurch.
          Lord hear our prayer and we ask for your blessing.
                  This we ask in your name. AMEN.
Stages of Grief
Dear Friends
                                           3.   Bargaining – This stage is when
As a follow up to the article I wrote in
                                           the bereaved tries to bargain with
the December Magazine, ‘Alone at
                                           God or themselves to make the
Christmas’, and as part of our on-
                                           deceased reappear.
going ministry at Christchurch to
those who have been bereaved, I            4.    Depression – Depression is
thought perhaps it might be of             anger turned toward ourselves,
interest to think through together         causes us to feel powerless and
some of the ‘stages’ of grief. I have to   helpless over our grief. We can also
say that these often apply to other        be fearful about what the future will
losses – of a job, a relationship, of      be like without a significant person in
someone we love moving far away,           our lives. When the bereaved takes
and also to say that they don’t all        on the physical results of the mental
happen as the book says they might,        strain from grieving, depression can
and sometimes a ‘stage’ won’t              often surface. Depression is a time of
happen at all! These stages were first     extreme sadness and hopelessness.
identified in studies by Elisabeth
Kubler Ross & David Kessler, and are       5.     Acceptance – This stage is when
recognised as being true to humanity,      the bereaved reaches the theoretical
across boundaries of race and              “end” of the grieving process. We
culture.                                   begin to realize that the loss is real,
                                           and accept the fact that they must
1.    Denial – When the bereaved           move on in some way. Acceptance
denies that the loss has actually          does not mean we forget or ignore
occurred. This is at the initial time of   our grief and loss. Rather, we accept
loss, when we cannot believe what          our situation and begin to rebuild our
has actually happened.                     lives.
2.   Anger – The second stage is           Why is it helpful to recognise these
anger, when our grief causes us to be      stages? Hopefully, so that if or when
angry at the person we are grieving,       we journey through them, we feel
or angry at the situation that put us      less isolated in our grief, recognising
into grief. The bereaved may even          that others have trod a similar path.
focus anger toward themselves.             Sometimes we can find ourselves
                                           ‘stuck’ in one of the stages and it can
                                           be helpful to recognise that grieving is
a process, which can be worked           support and encourage and the
through.                                 gatherings are open to all. In fact in
                                         next month’s magazine I hope that
As always, our Support in Loss Group     we will have some ideas from that
meets every month on the first           group of what has helped us to move
Friday, at 36 Inglis Road, from 10.00-   through our grief process to share
11.30, for tea/coffee and cakes. Why?    with you.
So that we can help one another
through this journey of grief. Some of   Please do come along on Friday 2nd
us have travelled a long way along the   February or 2nd March if it would be
road, others are just starting out. It   of help to you.
doesn’t matter – we are here to
                                         Gordon and Pat Rodgers ( Prestney)
Pass Notes: The Licensed Lay Minister
(Clive, for example, or Sara)
Why are you writing to me about            though. It describes the job better
Licensed Lay Ministers? Well, you          than “Reader”.
asked.
                                           Can we shorten it to LLM?        Saves
No, I didn’t! OK, well some people         paper… Yes, fine by me.
did. They asked in the Worship
Questionnaire we completed last            So, how can I spot an LLM? Well,
Autumn.                                    they’re easy to spot in their Sunday
                                           plumage. They might be at the front
Did they now? Well, since you’ve           of the Church, leading the Service, or
started… Oh, so are you interested         preaching. They wear plain blue
now?                                       preaching scarves (if it’s not a Holy
                                           Communion Service). If it is, they
I might be. Try me. What is one            wear the plain white robe (called a
anyway? A Licensed Lay Minister?           cassock alb) and no scarf at all. Or
Well, he or she is a person who is         normal clothes on a Café Sunday.
“licensed”…
                                           And on other days? Simple! They’re
Ah! Like the licensee at the Hospital      just the very nicest people you come
Arms! I said I was interested… No, not     across; no special dress, no clerical
licensed quite like that – licensed by     collar, just sweetness and light.
the Bishop, to preach (that’s the
“Licensed” bit) and a Lay (not             And who are you exactly? Er, well,
ordained, as a priest is) and a Minister   since you ask, I’m an LLM… but
(because they are trained in theology      honestly, we’re all such a nice bunch.
and ministry, for leading worship,         Promise.
preaching and teaching).
                                           Hmm. And so what do you do, other
Oh. Sounds like a Lay Reader to me.        than wear blue scarves on odd Sunday
No coincidence there. The title of         mornings, and spread goodwill? Well,
“Reader”       is     pretty     much      if you’d been paying attention – that’s
interchangeable with “Licensed Lay         to say – let me help you with your
Minister”. The newer title of Licensed     excellent question… an LLM is (as the
Lay Minister is being used now,            label says) a Lay Minister. So he or
she will prepare and lead worship.      meet someone keen to hear from me!
Any of the services we hold; Morning    Well, no, probably not. Although
Worship, Café Worship, Holy             none of us knows what God will call
Communion, Evening Worship, a           us to do next. Being an LLM is a
Baptism or a Funeral. And as the LLM    vocation in itself; all of us – yes, you
is licensed to preach, he or she may    too - find ourselves called to serve
also preach the sermon or give the      God and enjoy him in ways that are
talk, whatever you like to call it.     different from each other. And being
                                        an LLM is just one of those ways. But
Are you out to take over from the       fair point, there are a good number of
Rector? No, not at all! The Rector      ordained priests who previously were
(Paul) and our Associate Priest (Pat)   LLMs. (Or “Readers”, in times past.)
are ordained ministers (not lay
ministers). The joy and privilege of    Well well. I must say I’m beginning to
celebrating Holy Communion and of       get seriously interested. That’s great!
baptising and celebrating the other     So glad! Unfortunately this is the end
sacraments are reserved to ordained     of this article though. Let’s continue
ministers. And Paul is the leader of    the conversation…
the Church. We’re in his team, not in
opposition!                             …down the Hospital Arms? Fine by
                                        me. The pub is a great place for the
So, will you grow up… Come again?!      Gospel, and for discovering vocations.

…will you grow up to be a Rector, a
priest? Er, without being ageist, I’m
already somewhat grown up. But,         These Pass Notes were brought to you
will I go on to be ordained, perhaps    by your Christ Church LLMs, Clive and
you mean?                               Sara.
Yes, yes, answer the question! OK,
hold your horses. Always nice to
Carol Singing
This year we visited five residential   join us – she brought out lots of
homes/sheltered housing venues          smiles among us all.
and The Hospital Arms to share the      This was a wonderful outreach into
Christmas message and sing carols.      our community - many thanks to
Our visits were much appreciated,       everyone involved – leaders, readers,
and it was lovely that baby Bethany     musicians and singers – your input
(along with her Mum!) was able to       made it all possible.
                                             Service Group
Bob Joyce
                     1926 – 2017

There will be a celebration of Bob’s life at Christ
Church on Friday 9 February at 12.30pm, followed
by light refreshments.

We would all be pleased to see you if you are able
to come.

Clive and family

COULD YOU OFFER A LIFT?
A good few of us need a lift to Church       wheelchair or walking up and down
on a Sunday. Happily, others of us           steps or other exertion! All offers
have cars and don't mind getting             most welcome!
them out occasionally to offer a lift
(maybe we use a car to get to Church         To find out more, or to offer to help,
anyway). We could do with a few              please speak to Sheila Godwin,
more cars with drivers please!               Pastoral Assistant (tel 578403)

If you could offer a lift, once a month,
or once every two months, or to be an
occasional "fill-in" when someone's
away or ill, that would be a kind
service and a real blessing to our
Church family.

It's fine to be "just a driver" - offering
a lift that doesn't involve handling a
Fairtrade Fortnight
As Fairtrade Fortnight approaches, let
                                         Coobana, a Fairtrade Cooperative in
is hear how fairtrade can help people
                                         Panama producing bananas that are
live better lives.
                                         sold in UK supermarkets. Coobana is
                                         made up of approximately 550
                                         members and workers who work
                                         cooperatively [together]. I have 4
                                         children and 3 grandchildren – 2 of
                                         my children and 2 grandchildren live
                                         with me. I’ve been working here on
                                         the banana farms since 1983. Back
                                         then [before we formed Coobana] we
                                         were part of a state-owned company
                                         growing bananas to sell on to a large
                                         multinational company.

Meet Florentina, our Fairtrade
Neighbour a banana farmer from the
Bocas Del Toro region of Panama
Florentina: My name is Florentina
Beitia, and I am a member of

                                         Why are you our neighbour if you live
                                         in Panama?
                                         Florentina: At Coobana we produce
                                         4,000 boxes of bananas per week
which are sold in The Coop, Waitrose      say over the price, and it wasn’t
and Sainsbury’s in the UK.                enough to cover our costs.
                                          It was very difficult with my children.
Bananas have been growing here for        I did not earn enough to be able to
over 100 years because the hot            give them everything that was
tropical climate is ideal for them to     necessary. There were times when
grow. Growing bananas is the main         the truth was that we did not have
economic activity for the region, and     enough to eat.
many livelihoods depend on them.          I will always remember, and I think
Working on a banana farm is hard,         that I will never forget, that there was
hard work. There are no machines          one day when my eldest son said to
that can grow and harvest bananas so      me, “Mama, there’s nothing more to
each stage of the process relies on       eat.” It hurt me so much because
human labour. It takes 9 months for       there wasn’t anything.
a banana plant to grow, and produce        The biggest problem we had then
a bunch of 80-120 bananas. We care        was communal toilets that 4-5
for each banana plant for those 9         families would have to share and we
months, weeding, protecting the           wanted to get rid of. They would all
fruits from insects and extreme           share one basic toilet and bathroom.
weather like hurricanes, before           We also had an unreliable water
harvesting and packaging them with        source. The children especially
care so that high quality fruit arrives   suffered a lot from diarrhoea and
in perfect condition on UK                from illnesses because of it.
supermarket shelves.                       For 17 years the price didn’t change,
                                          and our costs kept going up.
What was life like before Fairtrade        [Then] we were introduced to [a UK
Florentina: Before joining Fairtrade      supermarket working with Fairtrade].
the situation was very difficult. As      Three of us came to the UK to meet
there was only one company we             with [the supermarket]. It was
could sell our bananas too, we had no     honestly unimaginable because we
                                          had never been out to a meeting,
                                          never before had we known where
                                          our fruit went to or who was going to
                                          buy it.
                                          They agreed to buy our bananas and
                                          we were finally able to sell our first
                                          bananas as Fairtrade in 2011.
What difference does Fairtrade             box too, which has enabled us to
make?                                      achieve a lot.
Florentina: If it weren’t for Fairtrade,   The majority of the houses here were
[our farmer’s organisation] Coobana        small, cramped and lacked privacy

wouldn’t have survived. It would be        and security. Many families would
very difficult.                            share one room to sleep, cook and
As soon as we started selling as           live in, and had to share toilets
Fairtrade the price improved to $9.75      outside.
per box, and we received an extra          From then till now things changed.
dollar [the Fairtrade Premium] per         We give grants to workers and Co-op
                                           members to build new homes or
                                           improve what they have. Hundreds of
                                           families now have a new, safe and
                                           more comfortable home with privacy.
                                           I have improved and extended my
                                           home, adding a kitchen and
                                           bathroom so that we no longer need
                                           to use the communal latrine.
                                            The better price we receive now
                                           through Fairtrade also means that we
                                           are in a better position to plan our
                                           business and provide secure
                                           employment to all our workers. The
                                           Fairtrade premium has also been
                                           invested in our farms and business.
                                           This is very important to maintain our
                                           competitiveness      as    a    small,
                                           independent producer.
Last year was a successful year. And       that pupils can eat a decent meal at
this year, if God allows it, we are also   school as well as learn about where
going to do many more things.              food comes from.
 What are your hopes for the future?       Many thanks to Coobana I have been
Florentina: I would ask people in the      able to educate my children. The
UK to carry on buying Fairtrade fruit.     youngest one is now a policeman, my
Because there are a lot of people,         daughter is also a graduate and this is
men and women, who work very hard          what I want for my granddaughter.
in the hope that over there, the            We are working, fighting for [our
market buys our fruit.                     children] to have a better future so
 [The Fairtrade Premium] which we          that they can they can have a
receive has enabled                                          different life to
us to achieve a lot.                                         what I had and to
Especially           in                                      how I suffered.
education for the                                            Because working on
children, because if                                         a banana farm is
there’s no money,                                            hard. And they can
there’s            no                                        have               an
education.                                                   opportunity to do
Education here is                                            something else and
very expensive. We                                           to have a better life,
provide grants to                                            and to not have the
children of Coobana                                          problems which I
members to attend                                            had but instead to
school            and                                        have their children
university, as well as                                       in good housing,
investing in projects,                                       eating well, but we
like        vegetable                                        need the support
patches and chicken
coops at schools so

This Fairtrade Fortnight look out for      Clare Lankshear will have the new
the Fairtrade alternatives to your         Traidcraft Spring Catalogue – see her
supermarket shopping.                              for a copy to order some
Fairtrade makes such a                             beautiful cards and presents
difference to people like                          and great range of food and
Florentina and her family.                         household items.
Fairtrade Espresso Cupcakes
Ingredients
•240ml (8 ½ floz) milk
•20g (3/4oz) Fairtrade espresso powder
•80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened
•280g (10oz) caster sugar
•240g (8 ½ oz) plain flour
•1 tbsp baking powder
•¼ tsp salt
•2 large organic free range eggs

Frosting
•50ml (1 ¾ oz) whole milk
•16g ( ½ oz) Fairtrade espresso powder
•500g (1lb 2oz) icing sugar
•160g (5 ½ oz) unsalted butter, soften

Method:
• Pre-heat oven 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Prepare your muffin tin with cases.
• Lightly warm the milk, without boiling, and dissolve the espresso powder in to
   it.
• Beat the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt on a low speed until the
   consistency resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Whisk the milk mixture and eggs together.
• Pour three quarters of the mixture into the dry ingredients combine on a low
   speed.
• Increase speed to medium until smooth and thick, pour in the rest of the milk
   mixture and mix until smooth.
• Fill the muffin cases ¾ full and bake for 18-20 minutes.
Frosting
• Like before, slightly warm the milk and dissolve the Fairtrade espresso powder.
   Then set aside to cool completely.
• Using an electric whisk or freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment on a
   low speed combine the icing sugar and butter until sandy in consistency.
• Slowly start to add the milk mixture, once it’s all mixed together increase speed
   to high until light and fluffy.
• Spread or pipe your icing onto your cooled cupcakes and decorate as you wish
   with chocolate-coated coffee beans
February 2018 Diary
Sunday 4th February                  Wednesday 21st
8.00 am        Holy Communion in     10.00 am Holy Communion
              St Mary’s Chapel       Thursday 22nd
9.30 am        Morning Worship       9.00 am       Breakfast Café
                                              rd
4.30 pm        Messy Church          Friday 23
Monday 5   th                        8.00 pm        Youth Group
                                                 th
10.00 am Coffee +                    Sunday 25
Tuesday 6th                          9.30 am        Holy Communion
                                                  th
9.00 am        Morning prayer        Monday 26
10.00 am Time Together               10.00 am Coffee +
3.15 pm        Messy Crafts          Tuesday 27th
Wednesday 7th h                      9.00 am        Morning prayer
10.00 am Holy Communion              10.00 am Time Together
Friday 9th                           3.15 pm        Messy Crafts
8.00 pm        Splodgy Youth         Wednesday 28th
Sunday 11   th                       10.00 am Holy Communion
9.30 am        Holy Communion        Thursday 1st March
              Traidcraft             9.00 am       Breakfast Café
                                             nd
6.30 pm        Spirit Space          Friday 2
Monday 12    thh                     10.00 am Support in Loss Group
10.00 am Coffee +                    8.00 pm        Youth Group
                                               th
Tuesday 13th                         Sunday 4
9.00 am        Morning prayer        8.00 am        Holy Communion in
Wednesday 14th Ash Wednesday                       St Mary’s Chapel
10.00 am Holy Communion with         9.30 am        Morning Worship
               Ashing                4.30 pm        Messy Church
8.00 pm        Holy Communion with
               Ashing
               th
Thursday 15
9.00 am       Breakfast Café
Sunday 18th
9.30 am       Café Church
6.30 pm        Holy Communion
             th
Monday 19
10.00 am Coffee +
Tuesday 20th
9.00 am        Morning prayer
10.00 am Time Together
3.15 pm        Messy Crafts
www.colchesterchristchurch.org.uk
                     01206 542307
         christ-church-vestry@btconnect.com

              www.facebook.com/christchurchcolchester
            Rector:                      Associate Priest:
  Revd Canon Paul Norrington         Revd Canon Pat Prestney
        (01206) 563478                    07825 222780

Church Wardens:                                  Church Treasurer:
Rod Green                                             Brian Taylor
(01206) 768242                                     (01206) 827207

Judith Cronshaw                                      Church Office:
(01206) 543178                                               Liz Bird
                                                    (01206) 542307
                                christ-church-v estry@btconnect.com
You can also read