Churches Together

United Reformed Church

Homelessness Sunday

We marked Homelessness Sunday at the end of January when we were pleased to welcome Lisa Wilson (a student from Westminster College) to lead our worship. Lisa dedicated the donations of knitted items from our Craft Group along with items of food, clothing and toiletries which were taken to Jimmy’s Night Shelter in Cambridge later that week where they were gratefully received. and His kingdom is open to all. We enjoyed a social time afterwards with cake, biscuits and a cuppa including some Welsh cakes as it was also St David’s day.

World Day of Prayer

All three denominations took part in the service held in our church on Friday 1st March. The service was prepared by the Christian women of Slovenia with the theme “Come Everything is Ready” based on Jesus’ parable from Luke’s Gospel chapter 14. The people invited to dinner did not come so the poor, crippled, blind, lame and others were brought in from the streets to dine instead. Those originally invited missed out. It is a reminder that we are all God’s children

Fairtrade Fortnight

Junior Church made some delicious cakes from Fairtrade ingredients on 3rd March for the congregation to enjoy after the Sunday service with their coffee. We were able to send £52 to the Fairtrade Foundation to support their work in addressing the injustices of conventional trade which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers.

Palm Sunday

Our morning worship was led by Maureen Kendall who brought with her various items representing Jesus’ betrayal and journey to the cross. The items were a handkerchief, thirty pieces of silver, bread roll, sword, cock feathers, flail and three nails. Maureen read the relevant passages from the bible which referred to these items. The children handed out palm crosses to the congregation.

Our Good Friday morning service was led by Eirwen Karner and took us through Jesus’ journey to the cross with bible readings interspersed with hymns and prayers. We also heard the thoughts of Peter, Pilate and a bystander at the crucifixion. Peter spoke of his denial of Jesus, Pilate spoke of his denial of responsibility and the bystander described what he had witnessed and although Jesus’ words were “It is finished” concluded that it was far from over and it was just the beginning. We enjoyed coffee and hot cross buns after the service. Easter Sunday we were able to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection who made the ultimate sacrifice for us on the cross on Good Friday so that we may have eternal life. The service included the sacrament of Holy Communion.

The 500 eggs decorating our tree and church grounds have been decorated over the last few years by a variety of groups in and around the village including our own church members. Christians celebrating the festival of Easter have long held the custom of decorating and giving eggs to celebrate “new life”.

Melbourn Baptist Church

The 40 days of Lent and the Easter weekend are always a very busy time at MBC.

On Mundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday we met together at 20.00 to celebrate Communion together, the breaking and sharing of bread and “wine”.

The following day saw us start our afternoon at 13.30 with a short outdoor reflection with music and song.

This was followed at 14.00 with a Reflection on Easter windows in the church while the children enjoyed doing many different crafts connected to Easter in the hall.

There were also free refreshments of coffee, tea etc and a mountain of Hot Cross buns plus cakes to enjoy.

Easter Sunday was a family service after which there was an Easter egg hunt for all the children.

Have you ever wondered about adult Baptism and what we do? There are one or two that will be taking place very soon!

For more information contact Stuart our Minister his number is on our notice board or someone you might know already connected with MBC.

We are excited that there will be another Primary school age children’s Summer Holiday Club, this will run between 6th August and 9th August in the mornings.

There will be a banner outside the church with all the details you need nearer the time. Booking is recommended.

All Saints’, Melbourn and Holy Trinity, Meldreth

We were delighted to welcome lots of people to both our churches once again to celebrate Holy Week and Easter, including our very special visitor, Bishop Stephen, the Bishop of Ely, for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Our churches looked splendid once again thanks to the efforts of our flower arrangers and church cleaners.

The summer months traditionally see lots of weddings at both our churches, and we are praying for warm, sunny weather for this year’s happy couples and their guests. If you are thinking about getting married, why not drop us a line and have a chat? We’d be delighted to hear from you!

Saturday June 15 at 12.30pm sees our annual Church Fete at Holy Trinity, Meldreth: this year we have lots of exciting games, stalls, and refreshments – entrance is free, so why not come along?

You’ll also have seen some scaffolding around All Saints’ in the past few months as our beautiful church desperately needs some repairs to the windows and the stonework. We’re also trying to raise funds to repair, amongst other things, the electrics and sound system and also to do some much needed decorating inside to stop the paint flaking and the damp and mould creeping up. Holy Trinity is also in the midst of much-needed repairs to fix its tower and outside paths.

Neither of our beautiful churches receives any money from the government to help us out – if you would like to see both Holy Trinity Meldreth and All Saints’ Melbourn be here for the next generation of our communities, please do think about making a donation either of your time or your money – our churches need your help!

As ever, there are lots of exciting events and services planned for the summer months – keep an eye out for what’s on at our website (www.allsaintsmelbournholytrinitymeldreth. co.uk) or our Facebook page (@ASMHTM). You can sign up for our monthly eNewsletter by contacting us at enquiries@ allsaintsmelbournholytrinitymeldreth.co.uk God bless you The Revd Lizzie Shipp, Parish Priest.

The Word of God

The law of The Lord is perfect, making wise. The statutes of The Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandments of The Lord are pure, enlightening the mind. Keeping them brings great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me Lord, from secret faults. From Israel’s King David in his Psalm 19 from verse 7–12 David Burbridge