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Newsletter May 2010 PRAYER FOCUS
SERVICES MAY 2010. Ploërmel 2nd 5th of Easter 11-00 H C order 1 9th 6th of Easter 11-00 Prayer and Praise followed by bring and share lunch. 16th 7th of Easter 11-00 H C order 1 23rd Pentecost 11-00 Family Service with Holy Communion 30th Trinity Sunday 11-00 H C order 1 (something different) Rostrenen (Chapelle de Manoir du Campostal.) 9th 6th of Easter 10-30 H C Order 1 23rd Pentecost 10.30 H C Order 1 Huelgoat (Parish Church in the town centre.) 9th 6th of Easter 18.30 HC Order 1 For further information about any of these services please get in touch with The Rev’d Hazel Door, Churchwarden or the local contacts. DATES FOR YOUR DIARY/FORTHCOMING EVENTS Home Group and Fellowship Meetings – May 2010 St Vran The meetings during May will be held on the 6th and 20th and will commence with a shared lunch. Everyone is welcome and for further information please contact Joyce and Alex Fraser on 02 96 56 13 22 or e-mail alex.fraser@wanadoo.fr. Redon Area The next meeting will be held on Friday 28th May for further information or to hear more about the Group in general please contact Joy Morin on 02 99 71 12 30 or Maureen Wilson on 02 99 08 21 94. Rostrenen The next Home Group meeting will take place on Wednesday May 19th at 2.30 pm at the home of Julia Evans, Kertanguellou, Glomel. For further information please contact Julia on tel 02 96 24 22 53. Ploërmel A new Home Group is starting in Ploërmel at the home of Chris & Liz Barge. Meetings will take place on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month starting at 3.00pm. For information please contact Chris or Liz on 02 97 72 45 33 or e-mail lizzieandchris@wanadoo.fr. Bannalec There is a fellowship meeting for English speakers which usually take place at the Chapel at David and Rebecca Pugh’s on Tuesday evenings at 5.00pm. For further information and to check on dates beforehand please contact Rebecca or David on 02 98 35 46 59. Garden Tea Party Open Garden. Kate and Bob Nicholas are opening their lovely garden at Coët Cado, Berné, near Plouay, on Saturday May 15 from 2 to 6 pm. There will be cream teas and book and plant stalls. Admission free, donations in aid of church funds and charities. Please come and support us and enjoy a great afternoon out. For directions see the church website or phone 02 97 51 69 93. Summer Fete A Summer Fete is being held at Maison Mère des Frère, Ploërmel, on the afternoon of Saturday 12th June 2010. There will be plenty of stalls selling various goods and teas and cakes will also be available, so there will be plenty of things to see and do. If you are able to help please add your name to the list in the coffee room at Ploërmel or contact Barbara Dunford on 02 97 27 19 37. Social Evenings – Ploërmel The social evenings are held on the 1st and 3rd Friday of the month, commencing at 7.30pm. For further information please telephone John & Helen Edge 02 97 74 97 96 OTHER NEWS AND MATTERS Church Council 2010 Following the elections held at the Annual General Meeting held on 28th March at Ploërmel and appointments duly made by Council at a meeting immediately following the AGM the members on your church council are now as follows: President/Priest in Charge Revd Hazel Door Churchwardens Barbara Dunford Also Vice Lay Chairman Chris Wilson Archdeaconry Synod Reps Martin Door Laura Hillman Also Secretary Robin Hillman Elected Council Members Guy Barnard Brenda Franklin Also Stewardship Officer Alan Mason Brian Parker Norma Parker Ian Reynolds Derek Richards Carole Turner Also Treasurer Greg West Huelgoat Congregation It has been a busy time at Huelgoat with our congregation now averaging 27 after an amazing period of growth. With that growth and new faces there is a feel good factor, we managed a good turn out to represent us at the AGM as well as participating in the Palm Sunday Service. Many people are getting involved in the running of services, giving input to fund-raising ideas and generally being enthusiastic Church members. We recently took the opportunity to say goodbye to David Clarke & his wife and give them a small token of our love and affection, he has supported many of our Services, and we shall miss him. Our Easter Service and Holy Communion the following week were both well attended and we are always so pleased to see our holiday homers returning like long lost friends and delighted as ever to welcome members of other Congregations within Christ Church and on Easter Sunday 2 of the Catholic congregation attended our service. The use of e-mail as a means of communication and newly circulated e mail listing really comes into its own when distance and limited contact can sometimes result in loss of stimulus, by ensuring everyone who wishes to is on the circulation it means we can keep in touch even when not in the Country. There have been marvellous examples of our Congregations working together too, Rostrenen is our nearest neighbour and some joint working around fundraising is now underway. A Fellowship group is starting in June at the home of Keith and Mary and we are anticipating that this will fill a need. It is a positive move indicating growing confidence and maturity within the membership. Our Monthly Quiz is now underway at 1 euro per entry, so if you would like to be involved just drop Carole Turner an e:mail, caroleturner@orange.fr don’t worry we will ensure the money is collected somehow! Next one will be out on May 10th. It’s for Fun and to raise funds for our Charities. Carole Turner: Huelgoat Congregation. VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED If you are capable of putting a plug into a socket then YOU could be the answer to a need. Christ Church, Ploërmel needs the services of some of you, male or female, who would be willing to set up the sound system before the service on Sunday mornings. No skill required since training will given! At the moment, if I am absent, there is no sound system, and since the hearing loop will shortly be in operation, it is important that someone sets this up. Please help!! Your Church needs YOU!! Alan Mason Visit to the Stations of the Cross in Callac on Good Friday. This year, my husband and I decided to spend Easter in Brittany and, on Good Friday, we joined a party of people from Christ Church, Ploermel on a visit to the Stations of the Cross at the sixteenth-century Chapelle du Calvaire in Callac. It had poured with rain earlier but, as we all met together in the Car park, the sun emerged and began to shine very strongly seeming to bless our forthcoming walk. Led by Hazel, we began our climb up the rugged, uneven steps of the rocky outcrop pausing before each Station for the reading of a passage from Scripture, a period of silence and the recital of a short prayer. As we arrived at the first Station, I suddenly felt overwhelmed by the sheer size of the stone figures depicting Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilate. Indeed, as the climb progressed, I began to feel as if I was actually present at each scene portrayed and that I was an eye-witness of the events leading up to Jesus’ death. The slate hill we were climbing became Golgotha and the life-like figures revealed more and more of Jesus’ sufferings as he climbed to his death. His three falls under the weight of the cross and finally his painful position as he was raised onto the cross were unbearable to see. However, it was there at the twelfth Station, the place of His Crucifixion, that the realisation finally dawned upon me of the true magnitude of the sacrifice he had made for us all. The pain and the great suffering he had undergone became intensely real. Yet, even in the midst of the darkness, which had surrounded him at this time, the light of his love shone out in his concern for others rather than for himself. He was acutely aware of the fate of his beloved mother even whilst he suffered on the cross, placing her with his disciple John to ensure her comfort. He also granted a pardon to a believing sinner on a cross beside him who asked him to remember him when he came into his kingdom. This pardon granted even at the last minutes of the sinner’s life helps us to know and believe in our hearts that forgiveness for our sins is there for the asking At the fourteenth Station, where we saw the figure of Jesus lying in a tomb, a chaffinch sang repeatedly a joyful song as if rejoicing that Jesus’ cruel suffering on the cross was finally over. Hazel explained to us as we moved on to a fifteenth Station that Pope John-Paul II had felt that the Stations were incomplete without the addition of the Resurrection scene. This last Station depicted the empty tomb providing us with visible proof that Jesus has been raised from the dead. After a quick visit to the Chapelle du Calvaire, we made our way back to Christ Church. There we listened to a beautiful Meditation on Jesus’ last words before we left for home. Our thanks go out to Hazel and the members of Christ Church who allowed us to participate in such a wonderful activity on Good Friday. Mary and Michael Sumner Médecins sans Frontières When the Council was discussing which causes to support, it was felt that at least one should be a French organization. We decided unanimously on Médecins sans Frontières, sometimes rather clumsily translated as Doctors without Borders. MSF was founded in 1971 by a small group of French doctors who were disturbed by the treatment of the Biafrans by the Red Cross and others after the War of Secession from Nigeria. They determined that the new organization should give priority to the needs of all people, regardless of race, religion, creed or political affiliation. They provide health care and medical training to the populations in more than 60 countries and in 1999 MSF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This was given in recognition of its members’ continuous effort to provide medical care in acute crises as well as raising international awareness of potential humanitarian disasters. By 2007 the organisation had a staff of 26,000 workers. 80% of their funding comes from individuals and only 20% from governments or corporations. In Haïti, after the terrible earthquake of January 12th, MSF teams worked non-stop for 2 days and nights to tend the injured, the only available light being that from car headlights. In many cases they could do little but try to relieve the pain of the dying. They rigged up shelters with plastic sheeting and within a fortnight had treated 18,000 patients and carried out 2,000 operations and life-saving amputations. Tent hospitals were erected which proved to be a blessing in disguise as many patients could not bear to be under a roof in case it fell in on them. Needs are now changing from the immediate concern to save lives to more long-term care –physiotherapy, skin grafts and prosthetics are needed as well as routine medical care and mental health treatment for the traumatized. In all, since the earthquake, 92,500 patients have been treated and 40,000 have received psychiatric care. Last autumn parts of North India suffered severe flooding. In the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh many were left homeless. Fishermen’s nets and farmers’ fields were completely destroyed, wrecking peoples’ livelihood. MSF distributed thousands of emergency kits containing kitchen utensils, blankets, hygiene materials and plastic sheeting. Once the flood waters had receded 1000 mosquito nets were handed out as a protection against malaria. Helicopters were brought in to try to locate pockets of people in isolated areas who might otherwise have been overlooked. And in case you should think that all these problems are in far flung parts of the world, MSF is also at work in Italy. Southern Italy has long been a destination and transit area for illegal immigrants and asylum seekers, often escaping from countries where there is conflict, deprivation and widespread violation of human rights. The estimated number of undocumented migrants living in Italy in 2008 was 651,000. Many cross the Mediterranean in small boats from N Africa; although since May 2009 when laws were tightened, the Italian government has taken to sending them straight back to Libya. You may remember that in August last year 73 migrants drowned at sea and only 5 survivors arrived in Lampedusa where they were taken care of by MSF. They now mostly work with seasonal immigrant workers, many of whom are in poor health. This is what a 20 year old from the Côte d’Ivoire who is employed picking tomatoes in Puglia had to say: “I have been in Italy for 2 months. I travelled to Sicily on a boat. It was a horrible journey. We were more than 15 people, there were people throwing up, they didn’t have food or water. The time I spent in Libya had been even worse. After crossing the desert, we were put in prison without any explanation. For 6 months I lived in a cell measuring 5 by 10 metres with 20 other people. There was no toilet and we could hardly ever go out. Food was insufficient and the police would often beat us up. Now I have come here to pick tomatoes. They pay us 3 to 4 euros for a box. If all goes well I will earn 30 euros per day here but I don’t have work every day. I live in a shack and I sleep on a mattress on the floor. I didn’t think I would have such a bad life in Italy.' Christ Church Brittany has charitable status – SO WHAT? At the AGM it was announced that Christ Church Brittany had been granted Charitable Status by the French authorities. This achievement is notable and is the result of lengthy and numerous representations by members of the Council. What does it mean to Christ Church Brittany and to you? It means that the Treasurer of Christ Church Brittany can now issue a receipt for your annual total personal donations which you may be able to use to obtain a substantial reduction in your French income tax, i.e. an income tax credit; note that a personal donation is one for which you, the donor, can be identified by the Treasurer only and which you give weekly in a pink envelope or monthly by standing order on your bank; your donations in the collection plate are not personal donations as they cannot be identified. However, in practice, there are two conditions which have to be met in order to obtain this income tax credit, and there is a limitation on the amount of income tax reduction given. Firstly, you must be resident or ordinarily resident in France for tax purposes. Secondly, you must actually pay some income tax on your income taxable in France. Then, the reduction of income tax or income tax credit is given on an annual total of your donations to organisations with a Charitable Status equal to or less than 20% of your annual income taxable in France. In France the fiscal year is the same as the calendar year. For 2009 the Charitable Status granted to Christ Church Brittany carries a rate of income tax reduction or credit of 66%. It is important to note that the income tax reduction on personal donations made in 2009 is effectively payable in 2010. A scenario, including examples of tax reduction calculations, is set out below. Firstly, assume that you donate to only one organisation with Charitable Status, namely Christ Church Brittany, €6.00 each week in a pink envelope or €26.00 each month by standing order on your bank. Then your annual total of personal donations is €312.00. At present without a tax reduction:- Christ Church Brittany benefits by €312.00 and the cost to you is also €312.00 However, with the tax reduction of 66% of €312.00, namely, €205.92:- Christ Church Brittany benefits by €312.00 and the net cost to you is €106.08, provided 20% of your French taxable income is more than €312.00. But if, for example, you double your donation to €12.00 each week or €52.00 each month, then your annual total of personal donations becomes €624.00. The tax reduction becomes 66% of €624.00, namely €411.84 and:- then Christ Church Brittany benefits by €624.00 and the net cost to you is €212.16, provided 20% of your French taxable income is more than €624.00. Furthermore if, for example, you treble your donation to €18.00 each week or €78.00 each month, then your annual total of personal donations becomes €936.00. The tax reduction becomes 66% of €936.00, namely €617.76 and:- then Christ Church Brittany benefits by €936.00 and the net cost to you is €318.24, provided 20% of your French taxable income is more than €936.00. In other words, the annual total of your initially assumed personal donations to Christ Church Brittany, namely €312.00, costing you without a tax deduction €312.00, can now be trebled, provided 20% of your French taxable income is more than €936.00, costing you €318.24, including the tax reduction, i.e. only €6.24 more! Therefore, if you have some income taxed in France, it is likely that you are now able to increase considerably your current personal donations to Christ Church Brittany at a similar or at a reduced cost to you. It is hoped that the above examples of tax calculations will provide you with the means to determine your new tax beneficial donations to Christ Church Brittany. However, do not forget that income tax credits granted in one year are effectively payable next year. The process to obtain the income tax reduction or credit is straight forward. Obtain from the Treasurer at the end of the year a receipt for the total of your donations to Christ Church Brittany made in that year. Add this total to the totals of donations to other organisations with the same Charitable Status, if any. Enter this combined total into box UF in Section 7 of your Déclaration Revenus No. 2042K for that year. Finally attach a photocopy of your receipt to your Déclaration Revenus No.2042K and post them both to your local Centre des Impôts If you can, why not help Christ Church Brittany and, if you really need to, help yourself? Derek Richards AND FINALLY……… Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 3:38 At our church of St Thomas’, Aldridge in the UK, the promise and truth of this verse have been wonderfully demonstrated. One example was during the time that a major extension to this modern church was being finished. There was a shortfall of about £6000 in funds needed to pay for the building. The church was in the habit of giving away any remaining monies in its account at the end of the year, but this year, because of the building fund shortage, the £1500 in the account was retained. However, in the New Year, our minister the Rev David Butterfield, currently Archdeacon of the East Riding, preached on Luke 6:38, asking the church to pray about the promise of the verse and whether we should give away the £1500. This was done; the money was given to the outreach causes supported by the church, and as a result of an appeal to the congregation, more than £6500 was given enabling the final building costs to be more than met. All of the monies raised came from the sacrificial giving of the church members. Bronwen and I, and a number of other members of the church also personally experienced the truth of that verse from Luke 3:38, since the money we gave came back to us in totally unexpected ways. It is an experience that we have known more than once, because God is faithful to his promises! Sadly, it would seem that it is an experience that Christ Church, Brittany will not know, since a majority at the AGM voted against fulfilling a commitment made by council in 2007 to give 10% of income to charity. The arguments that “We can’t afford it!” (there is more than 28,000€ in the bank), or that the pledge could not be met in accordance with French law, do not hold water. Do not the members of Christ Church trust their elected council members to administer the church finances in a responsible and law abiding manner? I have to ask, “Where is the faith in God? Where is the vision for His work through Christ Church?” And those are not just the province of the minister; they should be the concern of every follower of Christ as we try to fulfil His commission to tell all the world of His love and salvation! Is the mission statement of Christ Church, “To know Jesus Christ and make Him known,” just a nice thing to have at the top of the Newsletter, or a statement by Christ Church and its members of their intention to follow Jesus Christ and reach out into the English speaking community and try to make Christ known to them too? I am fully aware of the financial difficulties that the current exchange rate, rising costs and increased taxes are having on our incomes in France, but if Christ Church is to grow and flourish and meet its financial commitments both in and outside the church, our giving needs to be both consistent and sacrificial. Then and only then will Christ Church and its members experience the truth of God’s promise in Luke 6:38. May God bless you in your giving and commitment to God through Christ Church. He is faithful and will meet all our needs, as a Church and individually, according to His perfect will. Alan Mason - Stewardship Co-ordinator. Christ Church Newsletter Contributions: for the June 2010 issue, please e-mail your contributions to Chris Wilson at wilson.christopher@orange.fr, the deadline is Monday 17th May 2010.
Please note that any views expressed in this Newsletter are not necessarily those held by Christ Church Brittany but are those of the individual contributor.
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