Rivertown United Reformed Church

When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." Then, leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child, and he added a running obbligato.
Together, the old master and the young novice transformed what could have been a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was so mesmerised that they couldn't recall what else the great master played. Only the classic, " Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Perhaps that's the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren't always graceful flowing music. However, with the hand of the Master, our life's work can truly be beautiful. The next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You may hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit." "Keep playing."

Spark History

Reading Linsey’s detailed “behind the scenes” account about preparing the church magazine (or newsletter as some prefer to call it), has nudged me into writing something about the history of the magazine.

There should be a “fade-out” with strings playing here, as we delve into the past! During the latter part of his time with us, Gary McGowan suggested Rivertown had its own magazine as a means of keeping contact with housebound members. This would include letters, news of members and friends, poems, etc. Children were encouraged to contribute. Roy & I volunteered to take this on. Roy had a Gestetner duplicator – I supplied the typing. Everything had to be copied onto stencils (or skins). That wasn’t easy as they had to be typed “sideways” (not the typist, although it felt like it sometimes!!) to get two pages for copying – the top end (which fitted onto the Gestetner) had to be folded over. The stencils were then checked for errors. What fun that was! – we had a foul smelling pink liquid which enabled the mistake to be corrected! The stencil was then carefully fitted onto the Gestetner, making sure it was perfectly smooth, or there’d be strange malformation of some words! When the dreaded Gestetner ran out of ink, it was a force to be reckoned with. A tube of gooey black ink had to be squeezed into the appropriate “well.” Sometimes we’d end up with more black goo on us than in its rightful place!!

I have the pleasure of being the first to write the ‘Minister’s Letter’ just a couple of months since Greg moved to South Shields and married Adrienne. A number of us went to Adrienne’s and Greg’s blessing and their smiles still go from ear to ear!

The Elders agreed to take it in turns and step into Greg’s shoes and write a letter for the magazine. Whether we are as eloquent or as evocative as Greg is left to you to decide. As always, and especially now, the Elders will be grateful for any feedback and even more thankful for your support in the coming months. I am reminded of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 12:12-31) where he said ‘now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.’ This passage talks of the many parts of the body and that they are all important. Using the body to describe our faith and our community together in Christ has, I am sure, been the source for many a sermon. Reading this in the context of ‘losing’ Greg our minister brings to mind how a body would operate with out a major part. How did you see Greg? What part of the body did you see him as? Some would say the heart - the beat of Rivertown that ensured all parts of our fellowship received support and teaching as we grew; or maybe the head – seeing Greg as the leader to guide us, perhaps even to see for us; possibly the skeleton – keeping everything together!

Harvest Supper 2005

The practice for the past few years has been for a different group of people to produce the Harvest Supper each year. This year it was the turn of The Spooners. We organised volunteers to make the hotpots, apple pies and to purchase the ‘rest’ – pickles, beetroot, bread, cream etc.

By 5.30 p.m. the tables were beginning to fill up and, bang on the dot of 6.00 p.m. the hotpots were hot enough to serve. It’s hard to believe that the same hotpot recipe could produce so many variations! Each one was delicious and there were requests for seconds – a sure sign of enjoyment! The apple pies were duly divided and served and the meal was washed down with cups of tea.

The Deeside Silver Band arrived and, while they tuned up, everybody transferred to sit in church for the concert. Most of us haven’t heard the band since Christmas and it was impressive how much they have improved. We were treated to a wide selection of music, including a ‘try out’ of their new competition test piece. I’m sure the judges will appreciate it as much as we did. Well done! Although we had hotpot and apple pie ready for the band, most of them just needed a cup of tea after their thirsty work!

This took place at Garden city. It was an afternoon of mixed emotions: sad that Greg would be leaving us, but happy that he was leaving for such a joyous occasion - to get married. We shared a meal together with friends from Northop Hall and Garden city and people who have come to know and love Greg at the coffee mornings and from other churches. It was a joy to see Doris Johnston with us. The sun shone, and after the meal a relaxed time of fellowship was spent together, with the children gambolling on the grass outside, mostly over a very patient Evan. At 6pm Greg led a service that was filled with his favourite hymns and Dave Clarkson presented him with a cheque and an engraved candleholder from Rivertown.

The Trade Craft stall is available every Sunday after our morning service.

The Fairtrade stall provides the opportunity to buy fair traded goods and so ensure we support smaller farmers and traders - please continue to support the stall and look out for the fair trade goods in the supermarkets.

Rev Greg Thompson moved from Rivertown to the North East in September and some of us were delighted to go to South Shields and attend the blessing of their marriage. Adrienne and Greg extended an invite to Rivertown and this was one not to be missed. Twelve of us travelled to South Shields on Saturday 8th October and attended the blessing followed by a reception in the evening - lucky for us it was only across the car park from our hotel.

It was a special day for the happy couple and very enjoyable for us too!

One thing though - Greg was aware of the Spooners tradition of buying naff presents but had not told Adrienne. We always go to a lot of trouble to by the worst presents imaginable so we hope explanations are freely given before opening the parcels.

(PS Rivertown had already presented Greg with his real present!)

It was a privilege to be there and to represent Rivertown - we wish them both a long and happy life together.

Welcome everybody to the new Rivertown United Reformed Church website. I hope it provides both promotion for the church and a productive community environment for you to create useful and interesting articles & information.

This is a new venture for the church, and I hope that as more of the congregation get used to new technologies such as the internet and e-mail, we'll increase the amount of content on the site, create a website editorial team for managing content and find more and more uses for the site other than simply an information repository. Already on the cards if the site takes off are:

• ability to subscribe to events, so you can be reminded of an important happening via e-mail or mobile phone;
• a secure, on-line version of the Rivertown Directory for church members;
• improved article submission: members will be able to submit stories and photos directly to the site, with a simple moderation check by the team of site editors;
• an improved weblink directory

So just because the site is now live doesn't mean its finished! Anybody can contribute to the site. If you have any articles, news, ideas or suggestions, please contact myself or Chris Byrne. Additionally, Chris will be looking to find additional editors and site moderators to help manage the site content, so if you're computer-literate and up for it, let us know!.

The site has been developed by Dylan and myself at leafish.co.uk, and I will be monitoring the site and making improvements as the site's content grows. Your feedback is, of course, wanted if not required to help make the site a success. You can contact us directly at support@leafish.co.uk

Please read the notes below (or click here) for a brief introduction to some of the features of the website.

This is a youth club for the younger members of the Community. All children between the ages of 4 and 16 are welcome to come along a variety of activities including Overseas Project Work, Bible Project Work, Cooking, Art and Craft, Music and Drama, Discussions and Quizzes, Games (Badminton, Basket Ball, Volley Ball and Skill Games).

[img_assist|fid=49|thumb=0|alt=Pilots -enjoy a sing song|caption=Pilots take to the stage at the District Day]

Visit the Pilots website at www.pilots.org.uk.

The Pilots consist of Deckhands aged 4 to 7, Adventures aged 7 to 10, Voyagers aged 10 to 14 and Navigators aged 14 to 16. For more inforamtion go to our contacts page

My dear friends,

A few weeks ago, at the Elders' Meeting, I commented on how I was now in the process of doing the "last" of everything. It was my last meeting with the elders, and I felt quite sad about it. And now, as I write these words, I am deeply conscious that they may well be the last thoughts I share with you in The Spark. August is upon us and I only have four more weeks as your minister. Meanwhile, I am trying to ensure that life goes on as normally as possible - which is not easy, since August has always been a strange month in the life of every church! More than that, it is easier said than done: I realise that it is unsettling for all of us, and I enter this last month with a growing sense of sadness.

You have all become very dear to me, and I regard you as my friends, not simply the congregation I serve. Consequently, I shall miss you very much and will continue to cherish the friendships I have made. People say that it is the nature of life to change and move on, but it is never an easy decision to initiate the process ourselves. I am grateful, therefore, that you seem to appreciate and understand the reasons for my leaving you. God has a new and different future for me, as he has for you, and that is both a source of excitement and challenge. Please don't enter that future anxiously or fearfully, for whenever we make the service of God our chief delight, "our wants shall be his care."