Rev Adam Earle and Rev David Rees
Look after St John’s and 5 other Churches:
Castle Hill, Felixstowe, Saxmundham
and Leiston LEP and recently Hadleigh.
We have a team of two ministers who work with our church. We share our ministers with the five churches in the Ipswich and East URC Pastorate. Revds. David and Adam work closely together so if, for the present, you need to contact a minister either of them would be willing to hear from you and offer help as necessary. The contact details for our ministers are: Revd. David Rees Email:revdrees@gmail.com Telephone: 01473 402721 Revd. Adam Earle Email:revaje@outlook.com Telephone: 01473 411316
St John’s URC Ipswich Diary
Regular Events at Present
Sunday 10.45am Worship for All. Communion first Sunday of each month included with the online service. Monday Tuesday Wednesday 7.30pm Local AA Group Meeting Thursday 5.00pm 2nd Hamilton Rainbows 6.15pm 40th Ipswich Brownies 7.30pm or 2:30 Church Meeting (5 meetings per year) Friday
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 project elements of the service including the hymns.
Minister’s Letter
Minister’s Letter
In
1959
the
singer,
songwriter
Pete
Seeger
wrote
the
song,
“Turn,
Turn,
Turn”.
It
became
an
international
hit
in
1965
when
performed
and
recorded
by
“The
Byrds”.
The
words
are
based
on
the
passage
from
Ecclesiastes
3:1-8
as
found
in
the King James Bible – words often attributed to King Solomon, renowned of course for his wisdom.
The
words
are
a
statement
of
reality
-
a
reality
which
is
sometimes
positive
and
sometimes
negative.
They
recognise
that
life
is
not
a
bed
of
roses
but
neither
is
it
a
vale
of
tears.
Each
action,
emotion,
experience
takes
its
place
in
the
big
picture.
The
timing
of
the
good
and
the
bad,
the
joyful
and
the
sorrowful
in
each
of
our
life
journeys
may
be
very
different.
The
balance
of
the
elements
is
also
different.
It
is
true
that
for
some
the
scales
seem
very
much
tipped
in
favour
of
the
good
things whilst others seem to gain more than their fair share of struggle.
The
words
are
open
to
interpretation.
Seeger
presented
them
as
protest
song
-
a
plea
for
peace.
The
line
“a
time
for
peace”
receives the addition of
“I swear it’s not too late.”
We
might
look
at
the
words
and
draw
from
them
a
sense
of
inevitability.
Perhaps
if
all
these
things
are
going
to
happen
–
if
they
are
all
part
of
the
plan,
then
we
might
as
well
just
steel
ourselves
to
these
things
and
get
on
with
life,
making
the
best
we
can
of
the
cards
we
are
dealt.
But
the
Christian
faith
is
not
one
to
give
up
and
abandon
ourselves
or
others
to
fate.
Fate
is
not
a
Christian
concept.
The
idea
that
life
is
beyond
our
control
and
whatever
we
do
we
cannot
influence
its
pattern
or
path
is
alien
to
Christ’s
way.
Many
of
the
decisions
and
choices
we
make
in
life
impact
on
our
experience
and
the path of our life – we are free to choose. But our Christian faith reminds us that, rather than being abandoned to fate,
we have the privilege to lean into the love and mercy of God.
Prayer
is
a
powerful
and
vital
part
of
our
faith
journey
and
our
relationship
with
God.
Coming
to
God
in
times
of
sorrow
and
in
times
of
Joy,
breaking
open
our
heart’s
desire
and
allowing
God
to
work
in
us
and
through
us
is
a
gift
of
grace
which God gives us all. God promises to hear and to answer our prayers.
However,
there
is
risk
in
prayer.
In
bringing
our
concerns,
our
fears
and
our
hopes
to
God
we
must
do
so
with
the
understanding
that
God’s
answer
may
not
be
the
one
we
want
or
expect.
Faith
demands
that
we
pray
in
faith
that
God
will answer, in the manner that He knows to be right.
We
need
to
come
to
God
with
the
open
faith
of
a
child,
trusting
that
God
knows
what
is
best
in
every
situation.
We
can
be
assured
that
whatever
we
face,
God
is
working
through
it
all
for
our
ultimate
good.
As
Paul
reminds
us,
in
his
letter
to
the
Romans (8:28):
“We
know
that
in
all
things
God
works
for
good
with
those
who
love
him,
those
whom
he
has
called
according
to
his purpose.”
God is with us – whatever we face – we are not abandoned to fate – we are held in God’s love now, and for ever.
Revd Adam Earle
Room Hire
Below are the main rooms available followed by an interactive guide on hiring space at St John’s. The Booking Forms page offers two ways to start the process of Booking. What is different between the methods can be seen in the interactive guide.The Main Hall
This is used for Pre-school every weekday during term-time. Also by Brownies and Rainbows on Thursdays. 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. There are toilets on both levels with a disabled facility on the ground floor.Below is a brief guide to hiring a room in St John’s.
Booking Rooms at St John's URC Ipswich
I
nitial Considerations
When?
Da
y?
Time?
How
long
needed
for
Booking
Including
:
Setting
Up
,
Clearing Up
W
hat Space Do You Really Need
What Sized Space? How Many People?
How Many Tables? How Many Chairs?
Do You Need Kitchen Facilities?
C
ar Parking
This is really difficult so assume it is NOT AVAILABLE
Conditions of Booking Summary
No Smoking, No Alcohol, No Exit Blocking
You Must
•
Take all precautions on safety
•
Have Public Liability Insurance - See Conditions Document
for Guidance on Public Liability Insurance requirements.
Comply with all Laws On:
Health and Safety
Safe-Guarding of vulnerable adults and children
Food Hygiene
Entertainment Licences
Disability
Equality
Clean and Tidy Up
after the event with everything returned
to its original place!
Complete Booking
Enquiry Form
There are 2 ways of doing this
1
Complete the enquiry Typeform
on the next page
The simplest and most secure way
2 Download a form and complete it
and return to:
roombooking@stjohnsurcipswich.org.uk
Simple and you can work on it when
you have time and can check
information.
The form is a fillable PDF but you may
need to print it still if your PDF reader
is not able to cope with it.
Download this Guide
Please Turn off Ad Blockers if you wish to Book a Room as they MAY prevent the forms appearing
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 Please use the adjacent contact form. Minister: Rev David Rees/Rev Adam Earle (Ipswich and East) or email: minister@stjohnsurcipswich.org.uk Church Secretary: Val Vertigans email: Secretary@stjohnsurcipswich.org.uk Webmaster webmaster@stjohnsurcipswich.org.uk Website which is https for security www.stjohnsurcipswich.org.ukYou can use the form below for any enquiry