Colchester Methodist Circuit
Newsletter
Edition 2 – March 2023

MISSION planning for all the Methodist churches in Colchester and it surrounds is
under way and launches formally this month with a day of discussion, prayer and
planning on Saturday 4th March at The Ark (Highwoods),
Everyone with a passion, vision or a simple suggestion for the further work of Christ in
their own churches and beyond is encouraged to attend this event which is supported
and led, in part, by the Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex Methodist District, of
which this Colchester circuit is a part.
The event will pause mid way for a bring and share lunch, and hot and cold
refreshments will be provided by The Ark throughout the day. Stewards from all seven
churches are co-ordinating donations of food for lunch and all are encouraged to attend.

LETTER: From the Superintendent, Rev Chris Preece
Dear Friends,
We undertake many journeys throughout our lives. On many
days we travel from one place to another even if it is only to
go to work, church or visit friends. Sometimes these journeys
may be somewhat longer and for different reasons including
travelling abroad on holiday. We also sometimes use the
metaphor of journeying in an emotional or spiritual sense as
well.
This letter will take us through the season of Lent and on into Easter. We follow
Jesus’ journey to the cross physically, emotionally and spiritually before sharing in the
joy of Easter Day with one another. There is much on which we focus as we travel
together during this time.
Lent is often a time where we reflect on our own discipleship. It may be a time
where we deliberately choose to spend more time with God, or through Lenten
devotionals consider particular aspects of our journey of faith. As I look back on the
first few months of my time in the Circuit it is with deep gratitude and joy for the
way in which I have been welcomed and supported. We are also journeying together
with one another as we begin to think more about how we reach out to the
communities in which each of the churches is based.
Part of our journeying is to come together for the SPA day which will be held from
10am to 3pm at The Ark on Saturday 4
th March. This is an invitation to everyone to
come as we begin to think through how we Serve the Present Age, hence the acronym
SPA. This is a valuable opportunity for us to come together, to share with one another
some of the things we are already doing, to get to know each other better and, above
all, to seek God’s voice through the Holy Spirit for where we may be being led
together for the future. Further details about the SPA day have been shared with all
of the churches with posters and information available.
The journeying, of course, doesn’t stop there. It will then be a time of reflection
and, I hope, joy as we sense God’s leading in the opportunities to share God’s love to
others in the areas in which we live. We can then begin to see how we can support
one another as we seek to serve this present age and fulfill our calling as Christ’s
disciples.
I look forward to all that is to come.
God bless,
Chris

NEWS: From the Circuit
WE are delighted to let you know that we have been matched with Rev. Hannah Chun
who will be joining the Colchester Circuit as a probationer presbyter in September. She
will be living at the manse in Robin Crescent, Stanway, and in particular will be looking
after the churches at Wimpole Road, Lexden, Wivenhoe and West Mersea. Hannah is
currently completing her pre-ordination training at The Queen’s Foundation in
Birmingham and as part of her programme she is currently working with the
Kingston-upon-Thames Methodist Circuit.
Hannah and her young family visited all the churches in the Circuit in January, taking
the opportunity to chat and answer questions from stewards. She will be welcomed to
the Circuit at a service on 1st September, which will be led by the chairman of the
District, Rev David Chapman. More details will appear in the next edition of this
newsletter.
A SPA day is not to be missed. This particular event on Saturday 4th March at The Ark.
Highwoods, Colchester, is an opportunity for us all to come together and think big and
small about how within the life of the church we Serve the Present Age, As disciples of
Christ, we are all called to share the message of God’s love to others but this isn’t
something we always find easy. Considering how we reach out to others and the plans
we make for this is the principle of mission planning that we agreed at the September
Circuit Meeting and to help all of the churches in the Circuit to consider ‘where next’ in
terms of seeking God’s leading and discerning where the hopes and dreams might be
for the churches, we are holding a Circuit SPA day on 4th March between 10am and
3pm. This will be a day to ‘springboard’ our thinking and help us to come together, share
with one another and begin to think about where we go next as churches and for this to
feed into wider Circuit thinking. Angela Brydon (District Discipleship Enabler) and Steve Watson (District Property Officer) have kindly agreed to come and lead our day and we
are delighted to welcome them and for them to share their expertise with us.
MONTHLY Circuit walks rather lost their way as a result of Covid, but have been
resurrected on a Tuesday afternoon at the start of each month. The next will be a 4.5
mile walk on Tuesday 7th March which will start from Lexden Methodist Church at
1.30pm and will make use of mainly surfaced paths via Prettygate and Boadicea Way
before skirting the military grounds to come out on Circular Road South and then
crossing Abbeyfields to reach the city centre and Castle Methodist Church.
Because the bluebell flowering season is going to be early this year, the walk in April will
be at West Bergholt so that we can walk through Hillhouse Woods which always has a
spectacular display of bluebells. The date of the April walk will be at the latter end of the
month but will not be finalised until the end of March.
A suggested pattern of walks through the year is to do two walks of approximately 5
miles in consecutive months and then to do one of nearer 3 miles before doing two
more of c5 miles, etc. Please let organiser Derek Coe at Castle know your thoughts on
this suggestion and also advise him of any local walks which you have enjoyed which
could be included in the programme.
From time to time, a day long/longer mileage walk may be organised. If you are
interested, please contact Derek via Castle to be added to the list of interested walkers.

NEWS: From Lexden
AS a Church Community we have now settled into a pattern of worship on the first and
third Sundays in the month. When there is a fifth Sunday we have an own arrangement
Songs of Praise Service. Members are asked to suggest their favourite hymns in
advance. Unfortunately we no longer have a resident organist but requests are fulfilled
by pre-recorded music, hence the need for advance warning! Members willingly
contribute with readings, poems and prayers.
Planning this Service in advance has enabled some of our housebound members to
make their contributions and this was particularly a source of enjoyment for John
Hampshire, one of our retired organists.
John was able to provide a hymn (and suggest the right tune!) as well as some
background information which was of interest to us all. John was then able to see and
hear the service via our DVD distribution arrangement.
It was with sadness that his family told us of John’s death in December after a very
short stay in hospital.
His celebratory funeral service was held at Lexden.

From The Ark
SINCE November we have opened our doors as a Warm Space every Monday morning,
offering free hot drinks and companionship, and are now able to offer free WiFi
connection. We have been blessed with the support of staff at Home Start who are
based at The Ark and regularly set up the worship area in advance for us. The event
has received excellent publicity on FaceBook by the local councillor, on our own
FaceBook page and via HomeStart who have good connections in the community.
Leaflets have been made available in the Bluebell community centre next door, which
houses the Highwoods branch of the Colchester Food Bank on the same day.
To date we have had a handful of visitors and for the last month we have had three
regular visitors who have enjoyed the opportunity to come in and chat and enjoy the
companionship we can offer. While we have no plans to continue Warm Space, as
such, beyond the end of March this has given us the opportunity to consider further
what more we can do to support our own church community as well as the wider
community in Highwoods.
PLANS are in hand for an outdoor service, to be led by Rev Chris, on Sunday May 7th,
after which there will be a bring and share lunch to celebrate the King’s Coronation
which again will be outside if the weather permits. We are hoping to make this a
community event and to welcome our neighbours to our service and celebration.
WE are pleased to have welcomed four more of our regular worshippers into
membership at a special service last month.

From Wimpole Road
GREETINGS to you all. We are thrilled to have achieved an Eco Church bronze award,
with many thanks to Sally Crafer who has been the inspiration behind this.
Eco Church is an A Rocha UK project, which encourages churches to care for God’s
Earth. Following on from a ‘Dreaming for the Future’ meeting in July, a small group met
to complete an Eco Survey which asked questions about four aspects of our church life.
The first section was about our worship and teaching, which we scored highly on as we
include care of creation in our services. Also our leadership team have made a formal
commitment to improving the environmental credentials of our church.
The next section was buildings. We achieved bronze standard because we are using a
green tariff for our church gas and electricity supply and have some double glazing. In
this section there is much we could do to improve, including calculating our carbon
footprint, knowing our energy efficiency of the main boiler on church premises; making
sure that all our light bulbs are energy efficient and to consider generating renewable
energy on/for our premises e.g., from solar panels or solar hot water.
The next section was about land. As we do not have any that we are responsible for,
this section is not applicable and did not contribute to our award application.

The final section was community and global engagement. It asked if any member were
involved in community projects such as litter picking, if members shared car lifts to
church and whether we encourage people to walk and cycle to church if possible. We
could really improve with more global engagement by participating in Tearfund ‘Toilet
Twinning’ scheme and registering with the Fairtrade Foundation as a Fairtrade Church.
We scored well in that our church tries to use locally grown food and includes
vegetarian and vegan options of meals we provide for community projects we run, such
as Make Lunch and Warm Space. Also, that our church funds are ethically invested.
The climate pledges we made as part of our worship together in October to show how
we can continue to care for the Lord’s earth.
· May we only use earth’s resources we really need
· Drive less
· Turn heating down and ensure church heats more efficiently
· Recycle more
· Stop wasting water
· Examine where food items have come from and so reduce ‘air miles’
· Reduce plastic in waste
. Encourage wildlife in garden
· Pledge to grow own food and fruits. Promote afforestation (plant trees in a
new area)
· Not to eat food other than locally sourced whenever possible
· No buying plants in plastic pots. Never use peat
· Avoid consumerism, being mindful not to waste produce. Care for the
voiceless animals of this world
· Grow lots of flowers for bees and insects. Save more water. Use less gas and
electricity.
Thank you Sally for all your hard work.

NEXT time you visit Wimpole Road, we hope you will notice that the front of the Church
is beginning to look a little smarter. The ground has been cleared and we are waiting
for a new resin surface to be laid; this surface is permeable so is part of our ongoing
quest to become more Eco friendly. There may even be a few pots with flowers
appearing to brighten up the space and bring a bit of colour. The front doors are next
on the list, they will be sanded and re-stained in the hope the front of the building will
look more welcoming and friendly. We realise this is long overdue and look forward to
the ‘new look’.
THE last of our news is that Joan Gomer has finished her Worship leader course and
along with Peter from Lexden would like to send a big thank you to Rev Chris for her
help and guidance throughout. Both Joan and Peter await the acceptance of their new
role from the Local preachers’ meeting and respective Church councils.
Congratulations to you both. Joan is raring to go and we look forward to your
contributions to our worship. We pray God’s blessing on your work.

From The Well

AT Christmas we had a new venture – something we inherited from West Bergholt. We
sang carols on a Friday evening outside the Co-op on the Chesterwell Estate. This was
well received and we collected £30 for Action for Children. We were grateful to Clive for
‘working’ the Circuit speaker system. Also, another new for us, was live transmission of
our United Christmas Day Service on You Tube. We are indebted to Bob, Clive and
Delia for making this happen.
WE envisage our Warm Space (weekly) and Community Food Pantry (fortnightly) to
continue into the foreseeable future. We open from 11.15am to 4.00pm on a Tuesday
and food is collected from FareShare Ipswich on the Monday afternoon of the week the
Food Pantry is open. The philosophy is not only to provide cheap food but also to
prevent food waste so that anyone in the community can become a member. It initially
costs £5 to join and then for subsequent weeks, £2 entitles a member to fill a bag of
food of their own choice. The economics are that we sell enough food to buy the next
consignment from FareShare, so that it is self-sustaining – at present we are achieving
this. We provide fresh, chilled and some frozen food, but, besides the provision of food,
we look to provide a warm welcome and friendly conversation, as well as activities, free
use of the internet and phone charging. Refreshments are also provided free. There is
good ecumenical involvement and enough volunteers – God is honouring our vision and
faith.
AS part of Myland Churches Together, for a number of years, members from our
churches have met on Palm Sunday at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, for a short service
and the blessing of Palm Crosses. We then attend our own services bearing Palm
Crosses for distribution to our congregations. There are four denominations involved –
St Michael’s, St Joseph’s, New Growth Ministry (Baptist) and The Well. This year we are
renewing our Covenant, a service of recognition and the signing of the Covenant is
planned for Saturday 15th July.

From Wivenhoe
OUR Sunday worship continues with average attendance at about 20 mostly elderly
people.
We celebrated Communion on Christmas Eve and were pleased to have Michael White
from Friends International in attendance with his daughters and an Indian student. Four
Chinese students also attended. Sadly we no longer have the active members able to
host students, run a monthly games evening and put on a Christmas dinner and party.
We have worked with Friends International for over 20 years on these and other
ventures, and while we continue to have close contact with Friends International and
have premises and equipment we are unable to run activities. This is a very important
and worthwhile outreach and we would welcome assistance from the Circuit in providing
more active support.
Given the advanced age and health issues of so many of our members, pastoral care
remains a top priority for us. Indeed two of our members have died since Christmas.
LADIES Fellowship on the 4 th Thursday of the month and Knit and Natter on the 2
nd
Thursday of the month at 2.30pm and pre-covid numbers are slowly returning. Circuit
friends would be welcome.
AN outside group of young mums, Bumps and Babies, meets alternate Thursday
mornings. Up to 30 mums plus babies attend and our own Betty Rampling attends
making drinks and toast and generally being a friend to them all.

OUR monthly Saturday Coffee Morning is on the second Saturday of the month from
10-12. It is always well attended by church people and the general public. It raises
money towards the Beacon of Hope Charity run by our own Bagamba and Banage
Araali in Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo. Banage reported recently that lots of
fighting continues around Bunia. It is a very dangerous area. There are many orphaned
children and widows in desperate need.
WE continue to play an active part in ‘Churches Together in Wivenhoe’ and our next
joint activities will be a series of events over Lent followed by a Good Friday Walk of
Witness culminating in Worship in the Methodist Church at 11am led by Rev Joe
Adams.

From West Mersea
OUR Christmas services went well and prepared us all for a splendid Christmas time.
As soon as January started we opened our church hall up for “Warm Spaces” where
people can come from 10am – 2 pm every Wednesday to be out of the cold, chat and
drink coffee and partake of a lunchtime snack. We are not the only church to run this
event, the Community Hall is open on Mondays the Methodists on Wednesday and the
Free Church on Fridays.
THE Chairman of the District took the morning service at Mersea on 26th February. The
World Day of Prayer will take place here in Mersea at the Catholic church on Friday, 3
rd
March, when members from all the churches play their part.
MOTHERING Sunday is 19th March and we always give our ladies a pot of primroses at
the end of the service. After that we look forward to the Lent groups all churches take
part in, then we look forward to Palm Sunday with the crosses then Good Friday and
Easter Day with a sunrise service on the beach at 6 am

From Castle
WE have been heartened at Castle by the response we have had to warm space. We
are currently looking at how we can keep the momentum going when warm space
officially ends. We hope to restart our Wednesday coffee mornings to continue the
work, with the hope we can attract more members of our local community.
WE continue to be joined by people of diverse cultural backgrounds at our Sunday
morning worship. We are aware that we need to work hard to ensure our brothers and
sisters feel welcome and included when English is not their first language, as they
always appreciate the fellowship we share.
FOR the first time in some years, we are looking forward to celebrating the events of
Holy week with face to face worship and fellowship. Following our April soup and snack
lunch on the 6th Rev Chris will be leading us in a service of Holy Communion for
Maundy Thursday. Then on Good Friday morning we will be sharing in a service of
witness and meditation, again led by Rev Chris, as we recall the suffering of our Lord.
This service will be followed by continuing fellowship over coffee and hot cross buns.
BRIDGEWAY MISSION is a small Christian charity working with Eastern and Middle Eastern
refugees who have been housed in Colchester, and with refugees and asylum seekers who are
living here temporarily. Bridgeway has been supported by Castle for nearly four years now, and
several members of the congregation work voluntarily with Bridgeway in the activities they
provide for our families and single people.
They are looking for more volunteers. Craft sessions and English conversation need volunteers
at present, with more in future. Usually it’s for an hour of two at the Bridgeway hub in
Colchester.

FROM THE CIRCUIT DIARY:
04 March – SPA ‘Serving the Present Age’ Day at The Ark
27 March – Circuit members meeting
22 April – Spring Synod (district)
08 June – Circuit leadership team meeting
27 June – Circuit members meeting
16 July – Farewell service for Rev Joe Adams
1 Sept – Welcome service for Hannah Chun