The United Reformed Church Chesham

From the Elders, March 2024

So here we are in our Tercentenary. We find ourselves in good heart in a splendid building after a major redevelopment in 2013 enhanced last year by the installation of our wonderful new lighting and this year our splendid new blinds.

You will find in this magazine many ways in which we plan to celebrate this momentous Tercentenary event.

We have recently shared worship with members of Chesham Methodist Church. Sharing services with our Methodist colleagues goes back to 1769 when John Wesley visited Chesham and as the Methodist meeting house was too small for the many who wished to hear him preach the Revd Thomas Spooner offered the larger Congregational Church which was on the site where our present church was built in 1886.

The new lighting illuminates the cross in our front window, bearing witness to the world outside. Our practical witness of love is shown through Urchins, Meet and Eat, Coffee mornings and ‘Souper’ lunch. Of prime importance is welcoming those who join us in worship.

All of this is possible thanks to the dedicated work of a small army of volunteers, arranging our witness, worship and JZone, organising our Tercentenary celebrations, maintaining the premises and looking forward as to how we can become Carbon neutral. A big thank you to all of you who work so hard and well.

We have reached the end of our excellent Bible study on Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome led by our Interim Moderator Alan Yates. If you have any ideas on what you would like our next Bible study to be do let me know.

We look forward to this special time in the Christian year when we remember our Christian faith goes back not 300 years but 2,000 years to the key event in history when God revealed his great love for us in giving his only Son to die for us on a cross at Calvary. It is good that once again the Christians in Chesham will gather in our church for a service on Good Friday followed by a Walk of Witness, and then a film (with the aid of our new blinds). We give thanks that together we experience the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise to send the Spirit of truth to indwell us and, as we meet, guide us to live out our faith in our world today.

On a personal note I would like to thank you all for your support and prayers after my badminton accident. I have had my second operation which was to remove the damaged lens and insert a new one. The doctors are pleased with the morning after check on my eye, hopefully my vision will steadily improve.

Alan Callow