Christian Aid
CEEMC Churches Together will be hosting “Desert Island Hymns” at 4pm at Christchurch on May 15th to mark the start of Christian Aid week. To celebrate this, we are pleased to be able to invite guest speakers from Christian Aid to join us at the service where friends from several local churches and organisations will announce their favourite hymns and the reasons for their choices.
Read more “Christian Aid”
Minister's Message
The late lamented “Room 101” was a comedy programme on which people could talk about the things that made them angry. Well, I don’t know about you, but over the last couple of years I’ve definitely become more and more angry about more and more things. Some of those things are trivial and make me sound obnoxiously self-righteous: I get annoyed by people who get on the bus and only then start rummaging around for their purse and credit card; I get angry (though I never say anything) with people who swim too fast in the slow lane of the pool; and I get really cross every time I see the long line of cars – all with their engines running – queueing at the McDonald’s Drive Thru.
Read more “Minister’s Message – April 24, 2022”
Virtual Worship
During the Coronavirus pandemic, ‘virtual’ worship will be posted on the Christchurch United Church Facebook page. These videos will also be available on the website shortly afterwards. Please click on title above.
Read more “Virtual Worship – An Easter Reflection”
Minister's Message
The people who run the TV networks don’t want us to be adversely affected or upset by their programmes. So they quite often give us warnings to make sure that this doesn’t happen – in fact they may be required to do so by the television regulator. The warning we hear most often comes on the news, and is of course designed to protect people with epilepsy: “This report contains flashing images”. But there are many others: a murder mystery may be preceded by the warning that “it contains scenes of violence from the start”, a drama may come with the comment that it “contains strong language”, we can be told that characters in a historical documentary display “historic attitudes which some viewers may find offensive”. My favourite advisory though is the one that’s given before Channel 5 programmes about a hospital Accident and Emergency Department: “contains scenes of trauma and surgery”. To be honest, I’d feel a bit short-changed if it didn’t!
Read more “Minister’s Message – Good Friday, April 15, 2022”
Virtual Worship
During the Coronavirus pandemic, ‘virtual’ worship will be posted on the Christchurch United Church Facebook page. These videos will also be available on the website shortly afterwards. Please click on title above.
Read more “Virtual Worship – Good Friday April 15th, 11am”
Minister's Message
You probably all know the story of Jones the Welsh spy. At the height of the Cold War a Russian secret agent is sent (I can’t think why) to a village in the Rhondda with instructions to make contact with a fellow-traveller called Mr Jones. The Russian has never met Mr Jones, he hasn’t been told his first name, and has no idea what he looks like. All he has is a coded message: “The tulips are blooming well today”.
Read more “Minister’s Message – April 10, 2022”
Virtual Worship
During the Coronavirus pandemic, ‘virtual’ worship will be posted on the Christchurch United Church Facebook page. These videos will also be available on the website shortly afterwards. Please click on title above.
Read more “Virtual Worship – Sunday April 10th, 11am”
Minister's Message
Shumukh is the world’s most expensive perfume. It’s made from “a stunning combination of ingredients” including Indian agarwood, sandalwood, musk, Turkish rose and others that haven’t been made public. The packaging features a leather display case nearly 2 metres high, while the bottle itself – all three litres of it! – is decorated with symbols of the United Arab Emirates, who commissioned it. So it has three gold Arab horses and three silver clamshells on its base, each (naturally) containing a real pearl. Elsewhere there are three roses in pink gold and diamond dust, and a mini globe with gold continents; while three marble pillars support a golden dome topped with a diamond-studded gold falcon. Altogether the bottle is studded with 3,571 jewels: diamonds, gold, silver, pearls and topazes. I have to say that you can’t buy Shumukh at your local Boots or even on London’s Bond Street: there’s only one bottle in existence and it’s valued at well over a million pounds – which I think is pretty good value for what you get. I wonder if they throw in free gift-wrapping and delivery?
Read more “Minister’s Message – April 3, 2022”
Virtual Worship
During the Coronavirus pandemic, ‘virtual’ worship will be posted on the Christchurch United Church Facebook page. These videos will also be available on the website shortly afterwards. Please click on title above.
Read more “Virtual Worship – Sunday April 3rd, 11am”