March 2013 Newsletter

Welcome to this first newsletter of 2013 and a belated Happy New Year to you all. Our newsletters are here to keep you all informed of up and coming events and improvements in the Church. Any comments, ideas, contributions you have regarding the newsletter are most welcome. These should be handed to Tony, Steve or Colin.
If you have any questions or ideas for the Church or events, please contact Tony, Steve or Colin

Christening

During this coming spring of 2013 we are delighted to announce that the church will host the christening of a newborn. We believe that this will be the first ever registered, since the church was established in 1956 as a Spiritualist Church

Readers Corner - A Time for Reflection

ANGELS IN THE POST OFFICE

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. She dictated and I wrote:

Dear God,
Will you please take special care of our dog, Abbey? She died yesterday and is in heaven. We miss her very much. We are happy that you let us have her as our dog even though she got sick. I hope that you will play with her. She liked to play with balls and swim before she got sick. I am sending some pictures of her so that when you see her in heaven you will know she is our special dog. But I really do miss her.

Love, Meredith Claire

P.S. Mummy wrote the words after I told them to her.

We put that in an envelope with two pictures of Abbey, and addressed it to God in Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith stuck some stamps on the front (because, as she said, it may take lots of stamps to get a letter all the way to heaven) and that afternoon I let her drop it into the letter box at the post office. For a few days, she would ask if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch. Curious, I went to look at it. It had a gold star card on the front and said "To Meredith" in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith took it in and opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers, "When a Pet Dies". Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God, in its opened envelope (which was marked Return to sender: Insufficient address). On the opposite page, one of the pictures of Abbey was taped under the words "For Meredith" We turned to the back cover, and there was the other picture of Abbey, and this handwritten note on pink paper:

Dear Meredith, I know that you will be happy to know that Abbey arrived safely and soundly in Heaven! Having the pictures you sent to me was such a big help. I recognized Abbey right away. You know, Meredith, she isn’t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me - just like she stays in your heart - young and running and playing. Abbey loved being your dog, you know. Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets, so I can’t keep your beautiful letter.

I am sending it to you with the pictures so that you will have this book to keep and remember Abbey.

One of my angels is taking care of this for me. I hope the little book helps. Thank you for the beautiful letter. Thank your mother for sending it. What a wonderful mother you have! I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much!

By the way, I am in heaven but wherever there is love, I am there also.

Love, God and the special angel who wrote this after God told her the words.

Author (and Post Office Angel) Unknown

Progress in the Church

New Tea making facilities area

The work is progressing well with the only major jobs left to do being to lay the new flooring and construct the new doorway/serving area.

Existing Tea making facilities area

Once the new area is up and running, work will then commence on decorating and tidying the redundant facilities and incorporating that space into the church. Planning permission from the local authority is being sought to change the three windows in the old area into stained glass ones to match the rest of the church. Once that has been obtained then we will begin to look at grant/funding opportunities to carry out the work as three windows are very expensive. Most of our volunteers have full time jobs and other commitments, and so devoting time to extra projects such as this is difficult. If YOU think you may be able to help, why not contact Tony or Steve? A stained glass specialist has already been commissioned to undertake detailed designs and provide quotations to meet our specification. Please take a look at Clare's work by visiting her website: Clares Beautiful Windows

General repairs, such as the roof, are also being carried out at the moment, as, unfortunately, due to the winter storms and excessive rain, water has seeped through to the ceilings. However, this is now being repaired.

Sunday Divine Services. Click here

For details of events taking place in the Church click here for the Events page

Workshops

There are no workshops currently planned. Please look at the Church notice board for announcements of future events

New Open Development Circle with Sandra Andrews

Due the ever increasing numbers at Sandra’s Wednesday evening circle, it was decided to run a morning circle in addition on the first Thursday of every month. This will commence from 4th April at 11am. All welcome.

Psychic News - available again!

And finally, the church now has a regular supply of Psychic News. It is published once a fortnight, and costs £1.40. You can get your copy at the church.

CHURCH WEBSITE

Don’t forget that the church now has a website. Please take a look and add the web address to your favourites list. You can download the newsletter here or sign up to receive an email copy.

Any late alterations or amendments can usually be found on the website.

Contact numbers

Tony 07831 104896, Steve 07951 239315

Website address: mineheadspiritualistchurch.co.uk