As you will probably have heard already, Bill will be taking his final service here on the morning of Sunday 2^nd June.  This will be a joint communion service of the three congregations – Emmanuel URC, Elmers End Free Church and Emmanuel Messy Church – and who knows how many visitors!

 Lunch numbers – to help with numbers, if you are coming for lunch, can you please ask for a ticket from Sue Beynon or Janet Pickering.  Any visitors from further afield can email me instead at ian.km555@gmail.com please.  However, don’t worry if you turn up on the day without a ticket, there’ll still be food to go round.

Photos – if you have any particularly good photos from the last 13 years of Bill’s ministry here, please let me know as we will be trying to put together a display.

Please make a note in your diaries that this year’s Summer Fair and Barbecue is being held at the church after the Family and Parade service on 23rd June.

The proceeds of this event will be going to our charity for 2018/19 – Hope, Health, Action which is based in West Wickham. The charity runs hospitals and health care facilities in Haiti and Uganda, two of the neediest countries in the world.

The event is very much in the planning stages at the moment but we intend to have stalls, a barbecue, bouncy castle and games to name but a few. Nearer the time there will be more information in Emmanuel Life but if any one would like to run a stall, please let me know.

Sue Carr

Please make a note in your diaries that this year’s Summer Fair and Barbecue is being held at the church after the Family and Parade service on 23rd June.

The proceeds of this event will be going to our charity for 2018/19 – Hope, Health, Action which is based in West Wickham. The charity runs hospitals and health care facilities in Haiti and Uganda, two of the neediest countries in the world.

The event is very much in the planning stages at the moment but we intend to have stalls, a barbecue, bouncy castle and games to name but a few. Nearer the time there will be more information in Emmanuel Life but if any one would like to run a stall, please let me know.

As you will be aware Marion and I have led quite a few pilgrimages during our time at Emmanuel and Elmers End.

We have visited Israel several times as well as Turkey taking in “The Seven Churches of Asia” featured in the Book of Revelation. Most recently we led a pilgrimage to Greece following in “The Steps of St Paul.” The Holy Land is a place almost everyone who has visited it feels drawn back to and Marion and I are no exception. Although I will be retired we are planning to lead another pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2021, only this time with a difference.

Jordan is the often neglected part of the Holy Land but many times Jesus crossed over to the east side of the River Jordan (the present day country of Jordan was known as “Moab” in Biblical times, Ruth was born there). In fact, most scholars believe the site where John actually baptised Jesus was on the east side of the river. We shall visit Mount Nebo where Moses viewed the Promised Land. Undoubtedly the highlight of any visit to Jordan will be the magnificently preserved Nabatean city of Petra. This we shall definitely include on the itinerary.

Our plan is to add a few days in Jordan onto a visit to the traditional sites in Israel taking in both Jerusalem and Galilee. We are flagging up the possibility at this time to gauge what interest there may be for such a trip from members and friends at Emmanuel and Elmers End. If you feel this is something you would be interested in please let Marion or I know before my “exodus” at the end of May.

“Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab – there the Lord showed him the whole land.” (Deuteronomy 34:1)

Bill