Cooke Magazine

Flowers for the Sanctuary

3rd October - Mrs Jamison 10th October - In Memory of Roy Matthews 17th October - Harvest

October 2010

at Harvest

In the book of Joshua there is a wonderful passage in the 4th Chapter. It is all about the children of Israel crossing over the Jordan. When all have passed over each tribe is asked to place a standing stone where they have crossed. The text then says “when your children ask you in time to come, what mean these stones?......then you shall say to them……” In other words each generation expected the following generation to want to know what the stones meant and so be introduced to the tradition and history of the faith. As young people pass up and down the Ormeau or Lisburn road I would love to think that young people would ask their parents “what are those big buildings there for and what do they do? Then it would be hoped that their parents could say that is Cooke Church or that is Malone Church and those buildings speak of the love of God in Jesus Christ and go on to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love. But I wonder???? I wonder. Have we now come to a time when older people haven’t a clue why the big buildings we love are there.

We have a French neighbour who is Jewish, an admirable family with whom we have close ties. Each Friday evening as the sun sets and the Sabbath begins we hear them recite the old familiar passages from the Old Testament which remind them of the faith which they are about to celebrate. Sometimes on a Saturday morning I hear him read with his grandson some passages from the Old Testament in Hebrew. “When your children ask you in time to come etc etc” I hope you get my point. As the whole work of Christian education gets under way again in Cooke, as in Malone, and in hundreds of congregations we should not only remember all teachers and leaders in Sunday Schools and in Bible classes but we should remember the crucial importance of HOME and FAMILY in all this. If we are not careful the days will come when our children don’t even ask….”what do these stones mean” Think about it. Derek Boden

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Will they ask you?

RECEPTION & COUNT Mrs P Emerson Mrs B Reid RECEPTION ONLY Mrs. I Burns

Corrymeela 2011 RECEPTION

DUTIES

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Come and join us for a Cooke weekend away to Corrymeela from 15th – 17th April 2011 (the weekend before the Easter weekend). Some of you will remember previous Cooke trips to Corrymeela. Corrymeela is an ecumenical Christian Community with a residential centre in the hills near Ballycastle overlooking Fairhead and Rathlin. It’s a great venue for a weekend away, with beautiful scenery and lots of space for children to run about and the rest of us to relax. We are hoping that it will be a time for us to get to know each other better and to think about Cooke’s role and purpose here on the Ormeau Road. As well as spending time together there will be time to enjoy everything that the Ballycastle area has to offer – beaches, shops, cafes, the Causeway, beautiful scenery. We are hoping that if we have appointed a new minister by this time, he or she will be able to join us and it will be a chance to get to know that person better, and for them to get to know us. The weekend runs from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. Accommodation is in a mixture of single, double, triple and family rooms. We have 44 spaces available. The cost is £78 per adult for the weekend, with reduced costs for young people - £68 for 12-17yr olds, £58 for 5-11yr olds, and £22 for 2-4 yr olds. Under twos are free. This includes all food. At this stage we would like to get an indication of interest, so we would ask you to sign up on the sheets in the Church foyer if you think you might be interested, or contact me on 90648909. We need to have an idea of numbers by mid-October. Expressing interest at this stage does not commit you financially. Please do think about joining us for a great opportunity to get to know each other and strengthen our church community. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like to find out more. You can also see pictures of Corrymeela and find out more about the centre on the Corrymeela website, www.corrymeela.org. Susie Morrow

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Harvest 2010 The annual Harvest Thanksgiving service is a service of celebration which we all enjoy and look forward to each year. The church is always beautifully decorated with gifts of flowers, fruit and vegetables and the atmosphere is one of immense contentment and joy as we breathe in the scents and smells of God’s good creation. Our Harvest Thanksgiving service this year will be held on Sunday 17th Oc-tober and will be led by Rev Derek Boden. After the service, all of the flowers fruit and vegetables will be distributed to members of our congregation who for various reasons are unable to attend our services. Harvest Gift envelopes support the many worthy causes identified through the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s United Appeal. Again this year we look forward to your generous support at this time of giv-ing thanks to God for all of His good gifts to us. Gifts to decorate the church may be brought to the back door between 10.00am – 11.00am on Saturday 16th October. Thank you.

The Genesis youth group which meets each Sunday evening in the up-stairs MacMillan Hall now meets at the slightly earlier time of between 7.45pm - 9.00pm. All young people are very welcome to come along and join in the games, discussion and activities any Sunday evening. For more information please contact Cecil Hetherington 90 642981.

Change of time for Genesis

Mission Collection for August £589 Church Planting (Glass bottle) £19 FWO £34,384 Property Fund £15,687 Moderators Appeal for Pakistan Total £700

The end of September is an important time in finance for every organisation as it denotes the end of the first ½ of the financial year. For us in Cooke, financially the end of September marks ¾ of the year, as our accounts are budgeted and monitored from the start of January. At the end of September we will prepare our Gift Aid claim for submission to the Inland Revenue and we will also provide all contributing members with information showing contributions that have been received until that date. If you currently pay Income Tax, we can claim Gift Aid on your financial contributions to Cooke. This is a valuable source of income to us, at no extra cost to you. If you would like more information about Gift Aid, please speak to our Treasurer Keith Savage, who will be happy to provide you with any further information. Thank you for your continued financial support.

Finance Update MONEY

MATTERS

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PW Update P.W. meetings for October as follows; 12th October: "Birds in your Garden" RSPB. Speaker: Eleanor Brennan

26th October: "My trip to Uganda" Speaker; Fiona Clements All ladies will be given a very warm welcome

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Although we may not notice them, we are surrounded by people from other lands who are working in our hospitals and nursing homes, involved in the food-processing and catering industries and serving our community in many different ways. Often they live just around the corner from our churches. Many of these people come from deeply Christian backgrounds yet few are found within our churches. Those from non-Christian backgrounds often return to their homelands without having any meaningful contact with the Christian Church while here. The World Mission Committee of the Irish Council of Churches has organised two study days (Belfast & Dublin) to consider the main issues which this situation poses for the Christian Community in Ireland. The Belfast event will be held on -

Friday, 1st October 2010, 10.15 am – 3.50 pm at St John’s Presbyterian Church, Newtownbreda,

Three central questions will be discussed:- 1. How do we welcome the stranger; 2. How do we integrate such people into the Church; 3. How do we reach out in love with the message of the Gospel? Keynote Address – “Migration and Mission” will be provided by Dr Afe Adogame who is recognised as a world expert on migration and mission. Other speakers include Margaret McNulty (EMBRACE) & Keith Preston (Presbyterian Mission in Ireland), Everyone is welcome. Please bring your own lunch. Tea & coffee provided. Charge for the day £5.00

A World on the Move Migration and Mission

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The Annual Autumn Seminar of the Churches’ Council for Health and Healing will be held in Cooke Church on Tuesday, 19th October from 9.45am to 12.30pm. The speaker, Pat Collins, will give two talks in which he will examine some of the anxieties and stresses that can cripple our lives and will sug-gest ways in which God can cure such fears. Pat has written 19 books and speaks at conferences throughout the world. All members of the congregation are invited and there is no charge for attending the seminar.

“God’s Healing of Anxiety,

Depression and Stress”

The first meeting to prepare for the January production for our pantomime Cinderella has been organised for –

Thursday 7th October 6.30 – 7.30pm in Cordner Hall

Everyone is invited to come along and hear all that we need to do to make the production a success.

There are many parts to be filled and behind-the-scenes and technical crew needed for lighting, sound and music as well as people to help with scenery, costumes, props etc. On the performance nights we will need stage crew, front-of-house staff and a refreshments team. If you cannot come along on Thursday evening please note on the sign up sheets in the Reception area of the church how you, or your organisation, can be involved, or speak to Ditanya, Elaine, Carol or Olive.

Pantomime

Dates For Your Diary Cooke Services

3rd October - Communion Rev. W Haslett 11:30am 10th October Rev. Victor Sinclair 11:30am 17th October - Harvest Rev. Derek J Boden 11:30am 24th October Rev Victor Sinclair 11:30am 31st October Rev. W Haslett 11:30am

Phone: (028) 90642981 Email: magazine@cookecentenary.org.uk or raymondgilmore@hotmail.co.uk Web: www.cookecentenary.org.uk

The Manse 15 Park Road Belfast BT7 2FW (028) 90642981 www.cookecentenary.org.uk info@cookecentenary.org.uk

Contact Information

Meetings

Kirk Session Meeting Monday 11th October 2010 7:30pm

Deadline for the November Church Magazine: Sunday 24th October