August Newsletter
Dear friends
As I write this letter and ask ‘how are you?’ we are all aware that the beginning of September is a few days away, a month which often comes with new opportunities, a new stage in life, perhaps a time of uncertainty. Three verses in Scripture speak to me and I share them with you. Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Psalm 86:11 “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” My prayer is that we will all be encouraged by at least one of those verses as we journey into September because our confidence is in the power of the Holy Spirit, mindful that there is nothing we cannot bring to God in prayer. When we used bubbles in worship last Sunday we were prompted to focus on a bubble, and then another bubble and so on, and to pray and as the bubble popped to thank God that he had heard our prayer. How he answers and when he answers demands of us. I pray God’s sustaining power and blessings may be known by us all at this coming season of the year.
As we continue to saturate the world in prayer and as today among so many other situations we pray for Nepal and Tibet, I am grateful to Lorna for sharing what she describes as the very moving scene below in Manchester Cathedral focusing on prayer for Ukraine. Lorna describes the scene as one in which the white peace doves led her through paintings from churches in Ukraine which included a picture of a country church before the war now reduced to a pile of rubble.
We have two letters of thanks to share with you.
From The Leprosy Mission, Wendy Piccinini, the Community Partnerships Manager, London and the South East, writes following the visit from Rosemary Downey to us on June 28th and her much appreciated input during the service. Wendy Piccinini writes, ‘Thanks to the generosity of kind supporters across the region, the match-fund target has been reached! So your wonderful gift of £437-07 [from June and July], will ensure that even more children are reached and spared leprosy heartache. Thank you for bringing God’s light into young lives. For believing in the power of shared compassion to replace brokenness with joy, I remain forever grateful.’
From Sharon at Medway Foodbank following decision at our July Church Meeting:
Dear friends at Gillingham URC. Your generosity is more than a gift, it’s a lifeline. Your donation of £500 received on 24th July 2026 will go into our general funds helping to support those in need in our local community. Thank you for standing with us and making hope possible. Yours sincerely, Sharon on behalf of the Medway Foodbank Team.
September includes two special services as Fiona’s poster above reminds us. We look forward to celebrating Creation Sunday on 6th September with a reminder to please bring something with you that morning which prompts you to be thankful for God’s creation and then we look forward to our Harvest service on 27th September followed by bring and share lunch. Jo Patterson, the Synod Mission and Development Officer, will be with us on that day and we look forward to her coming.
For the Harvest service we have the opportunity to make a tangible contribution to the work of Medway Foodbank. We are grateful to have plenty of notice with regard to the support which they would appreciate for their Harvest Appeal 2026. If you are able please contribute one or two of the following: cup-a-soup; fruit juice – long life; coffee; tea bags; instant mash; tinned rice pudding; tinned custard; tinned ham; tinned meat/fish; tinned fruit; tinned potatoes; tinned tomatoes; tinned spaghetti; shampoo; shower gel; toilet roll. We are also grateful to the Guides and Rangers who will decorate the church for harvest. If you are able to bring a contribution by Sunday 20th September that would be very helpful.
Staying with dates for September, Lorna is organising a sponsored knit in support of Blythswood’s Shoebox Appeal on 28th September. If you would like to sponsor or to knit please speak to Lorna.
From Fiona, our Eco representative, we have some useful information. The next Repair Café is on Saturday 12th September at Hempstead Library from 10.30 am to 1 pm. The next Clothes and Toy Swap is also on 12th September at Gillingham Library from 11am to 3 pm.
Advice for caring for trees and wildlife in this hot period: If you see a young street tree under stress feel free to give it a drink; for wildlife place a dish of water on the ground along with meaty cat or dog food if hedgehogs are around.
Our attention is also drawn to Medway Matters and A Cleaner Medway. We are grateful for the opportunities to keep abreast of advice, encouragement and what is going on in the local area. Other useful information currently includes advice on saving water, signing up for pollution forecasts, the Refill App to find places to top up your reusable water bottle and how to sign up for the warm homes local grant scheme. Of particular interest might be Medway Community Climate Fair on Saturday 3rd October at St John’s Church, Chatham from 10 am to 1 pm. The publicity says: find out about climate-friendly actions you can take locally; meet community groups and organisations working across Medway; discover practical, positive ways to make a difference; share ideas and connect with others who care about our environment. On the same day, 3rd October, from 2.30 to 4.30 pm [doors open at 2.15 pm] St John’s Church, Chatham is hosting a screening of The People’s National Emergency Briefing: Nature and Climate film followed by a facilitated discussion, giving participants the opportunity to reflect, share their thoughts and explore practical responses to our changing climate. The film brings together excerpts from briefings by leading climate scientists presented to MPs at Westminster in November 2025 and is presented by Chris Packham. Book tickets for the afternoon from Eventbrite.
From the Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer of the United Reformed Church we, with all other members and adherents of United Reformed Churches and our Local Ecumenical Partnerships, have received a thank you letter as below
Dear Friends,
This letter is designed to give you an indication of the denomination’s central finances but is necessarily a brief over-view. Your church (or group) treasurer has a letter giving more detail which we are sure they will be delighted to share with you.
In recent years, on the Ministry and Mission (M&M) Fund, we have seen a gradual decline in church contributions and the shortfall on synod’s pledges have been made up by the synods themselves.
We are hugely grateful to the synods for their generosity but recognise this is not sustainable over the long term. It is also of concern that the weakness of church contributions weakens the covenant that binds us together as a denomination, namely that those with resources contribute to supporting those who have less.
The central URC budget for expenditure (for 2026) includes a number of areas of expected costs reduction, significantly in staffing. Some very hard choices have been made and implemented. On the other hand, the URC needs to buy in expertise that we need for our world of increasing regulation and oversight, in view of the scarce resources available from volunteers. We hope that at local church level you will take a moment to reflect on the expertise (paid and unpaid) that steers the URC through all we have to do to be compliant with complex regulation. (Please pray for us!).
We know you have some of these challenges at local level too. We hope that one of the outcomes of the Church Life Review and Church Life Fund going forward will be the availability of URC resources and advice that can be accessed by local congregations. Ask your Church Secretary about these and look at this year’s General Assembly decisions.
The annual audited accounts of the URC (for the year ended 31 December 2025) are now finalised and were published just before General Assembly. You can find a copy at https://urc.org.uk/trustees-report-and-financial-statements/
The accounts of the M&M Fund (the greater, but not only part of the URC Trust finances) show our total income £670,000 ahead of budget, but our costs were around £610,000 higher than expected. The deficit for the year on the M&M fund was around £650,000. We had hoped for much better.
So, thank you to all who continued to contribute to your local church, thank you to all those churches who met their commitment for 2025 in full, and thank you to all those who, in adversity, continued to treat the M&M Fund as the first priority and paid what they could.
If you have any questions or comments arising from this letter, please speak to your church treasurer who has been provided with more detailed information. If they are not able to help directly then they can get in touch with the finance team at Church House.
Yours in Christ,
Alan Yates (Treasurer); Vaughan Griffiths (Deputy Treasurer)
Among other dates on the horizon.
Our Bible study group next meets on Wednesday 9th September at 2 pm unless deferred to 16th September nearer the time.
Church Meeting on Sunday 13th September following morning worship.
Our next Christian Puppet Ministry time is on Friday 18th September 4.30 pm to 5.45 pm.
The afternoon includes a craft activity and tea. No charge. All children to be accompanied by parents or adult carer throughout.
Wednesday 7th October, Lorna is organising a coffee morning in support of Macmillan Cancer.
Our next coffee morning in co-operation with Thomas Fowle, Funeral Directors here in Balmoral Road, is Friday 16th October at 10.30 am in support of Medway Foodbank. Come along for coffee and chat. Voluntary donations. No admission charge.
On Saturday November 7th The Revd Neil Thorogood, Moderator of General Assembly of the United Reformed Church, will be in Kent. Details are yet to be known but immediately we remain encouraged to reserve the date. Revd Paul Robinson, Moderator of Southern Synod, will be inducted on Saturday 31st October at 2 pm. The service will be held at Petts Wood United Reformed Church. We continue to pray for them both and indeed for everyone within Southern Synod including the Pastoral Committee for the Kent and East Sussex Synod Area.
I am aware that this is a longer than usual Newsletter.
God bless you all as we journey into September.
Pam