January Newsletter
Dear friends
God bless you all as we journey into 2026 not knowing what lies ahead but, as ever, thankful for our faith which was so well summarised by Cleo in something which she wrote recently during the morning worship service – ‘Trust God, Believe in him.’ Life has been very difficult for many people during 2025, not least within this fellowship, but in so many situations in the wider world too and even in the first few days of 2026 as we have read of tragedy the other side of the world as well as here in Gillingham. As many people ask ‘Where is God in all of this?’ midst the many questions which so often come to the fore may Psalm 20:7 [NIV] sustain. ‘Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.’ Matthew 11:28 [Good News Bible] “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.’
The peace of the Lord be with you all.
And so I move on. Looking back to the latter weeks of 2025.
And to the very special occasion during worship on 21st December when we received Paa, Tamika and Malumbo into Membership. Such an important milestone in their lives, in the lives of their family and of course the church family. We are delighted and so much look forward to their contributions to life at Gillingham United Reformed Church, accepting that there will be stretches of time when life at university takes them away from Medway.
As we turn now to this month and look forward to what we hear at Church Meeting about how we can build on what we are already doing to take care of God’s created world, I am alerted to the fact that January is Buy-nothing-new-month. Access this link https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/our-work/ending-waste/buy-nothing-new-month to see what it is all about.
A reminder too that we are supporting Starfish Malawi again with knitted pencil cases.
Double knitting yarn. Size 6 (5mm) needles. Cast on 20 stitches and knit for 16″. Flap – knit 1 stitch. Knit 3 together and knit to end of row. Decrease in this way until 3 stitches remain. Knit 2 together and pull wool through. Break off yarn leaving about 12″ to crochet a chain to make a loop. Sew loop to top of flap and sew button on main case. Yarn can be provided. Please see Lorna if you would like to knit one or have any problems
Dates for your diary:
Sunday 11th January Church Meeting following morning worship
Sunday 11th January at 6 pm. United worship at St Augustine’s church, Rock Avenue hosted by AYF Uganda
Wednesday 14th January Bible study resumes – 2 pm to 3 pm
Friday 30th January 4.30 pm to 5.45 pm Christian puppet ministry for children accompanied by parent/adult carer.
God bless you all as we journey into 2026
Pam