Welcome to the website of the United Church, Crowborough (Methodist and URC).
The church is on Croft Road, at the corner with Myrtle Road - see sidebar for a map, and click on the icon there to enlarge.
This website is currently under development, so some information may not yet be available.
Minister June 24th, 2010
Sincere thanks and congratulations to all who took the opportunity to contribute generously to church funds on our Gift Day last Sunday (20 June). The amount raised through your donations (many of which were Gift-Aided enabling us to reclaim an additional tax refund) will make a really positive impact upon our finances this year.
For those who may have missed it - or who would like to listen again - the sermon from the Gift Day service is now online.
Minister June 22nd, 2010
Music for a Summer Evening
with the Langborough Singers & Friends
Saturday 26 June 2010, 7.00pm
at the United Church, Crowborough
Tickets £10 for concert with supper, or £5 for concert only. Proceeds will go towards the Nancy George Academy in Kenya, a mission project supported by the United Church through World in Need.
For further information or to book tickets contact the United Church office.
Minister June 11th, 2010
Revd Steve Mann, our Methodist Circuit Superintendent, writes:
The Circuit is delighted to be hosting His Eminence Dr Makinde Sunday Olatunji, Prelate of the Methodist Church in Nigeria, for three days at the end of next week. He is visiting the UK for the Methodist Conference and the World Church Partners’ Consultation in London. Dr Olatunji will also be preaching at a special celebration service for the Nigeria Health Care Project, to be held at Wesley’s Chapel on Saturday 19th June.
We would like as many people as possible to meet Dr Olatunji and find out more about the Methodist Church in Nigeria. To this end, we have organised a coffee afternoon on Thursday 17 June, 3pm until 5pm at the Circuit Superintendent’s manse in Tunbridge Wells. Please drop in at any time during the afternoon. Dr Olatunji will also be attending the Preachers’ Meeting at Crowborough that evening.
Stop Press: We have just heard that, unfortunately, Dr Olatunji’s travel plans have been changed and he will not be arriving until Friday. We very much regret that the coffee afternoon planned for tomorrow (Thursday 17 June) will therefore not take place.
Minister May 17th, 2010
From the United Reformed Church website, 12 May 2010:
The Revd John Marsh, moderator of the general assembly of the URC, believes that the Liberal Democrat-Conservative coalition may provide the UK with a unique opportunity to rebuild public trust in political institutions and the democratic process. Despite the clear differences in their policies - particularly over electoral reform, Europe and the economy - the two parties have expressed their commitment to work together in the national interest over the next five years.
In his first speech as Prime Minister, David Cameron highlighted the priority of rebuilding trust in our political system; talking about the need to clean up MP’s expenses, reform Parliament and to make sure that the general public are in control, with politicians acting as their servants and never their masters. ‘However,’ the moderator said, ‘public trust will not easily be regained in the aftermath of the expenses scandal , and the ‘new politics’ espoused by David Cameron and Nick Clegg will need to be translated into meaningful action at Westminster and in the local constituencies, if it is to achieve the desired outcomes in the years ahead.’
‘As the church we are well acquainted with coalitions’, he added. ‘After all, we are the community of the incompatible , called to be a sign to the world of disparate people and traditions summoned to be God’s own people to proclaim the mighty acts of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light.’
The moderator urged Christians to pray for the Prime Minister and his deputy as they continue to put together their Cabinet and Ministerial team. Mr Marsh concluded, ‘Let us hope that their commitment to the common good, and to cooperative politics, will withstand the storms that await them as they consider the challenges related to the fiscal deficit, unemployment, immigration, climate change and the war in Afghanistan.”
Minister April 25th, 2010
The date has been set, the parties mobilised, and within the first week of May we shall know the flavour of the nation’s government for the next few years.
At the heart of our political system, the democratic principle ensures that every adult has a legitimate and equal vote. Indeed it’s justifiably said that the sacrifices made to safeguard this principle – by soldiers and suffragettes alike – place upon us a moral duty to use our vote, and not to simply let elections pass us by.
It’s a little disconcerting, then, to reflect that the Bible has so little to say about democracy. The concept of electing political leaders was unknown to the peoples of the Old and New Testaments – for them it was more usually a matter of submitting to the divinely-appointed monarch or the prevailing military power (or just occasionally, of trying to do without political structures altogether – Judges 21.25).
So whereas during this election campaign we’ll have heard much about politicians’ accountability to their electorate (a concept to which Wealden’s candidates made reference at the recent Hustings in Crowborough), Scripture focuses instead on the responsibility that leaders bear - responsibility not primarily towards those who are strongest or most influential, but rather towards those who are weakest, most easily overlooked – even towards those who are most frequently shunned or suspected (e.g. Proverbs 29.14, Matthew 25.31-46).
In a democracy like ours, it follows that all of us must share in a measure of this responsibility. And that means encouraging each other - and our elected representatives - to reject the easy ways of self-interest, point-scoring or fear, and to work instead to build confidence, compassion and community: here and in every place, at mid-term and election-time alike.
For “what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6.8)
Minister April 15th, 2010
‘Question Time’ with Election Candidates: Crowborough & Rotherfield Churches Together are hosting a Hustings event with the parliamentary candidates for Wealden of the three main parties, on Friday 23 April, 8pm at All Saints, Chapel Green. All are welcome, whether members of churches or not, and questions for the candidates may be submitted in advance using the forms available in the Vestibule.
Brian February 23rd, 2010
To speak of Christian giving is to acknowledge God’s call to offer money, time, skills and attention in Christ’s service. This series of five Sunday morning services aims to explore the broad context of Christian giving, so that we may respond with confidence to the opportunities God places before us.
Recordings of all the sermons in this series have now been posted on the Sermons page on this website.
Sunday 21 February: ‘Giving Up’
Luke 4.1-13 – Mr Philip Leese
We may plan our Lenten Fasting as a particular discipline – yet whenever we give, it means we’re going to be ‘doing without’. How might we keep our focus upon God in circumstances of austerity?
This sermon is now available to listen online
Sunday 28 February: ‘Giving Back’
Deuteronomy 26.1-11 – Revd Dominic Grant
We come into the world with nothing – so whenever we give, it means we’re handing over something that we in turn have received. How might an awareness of ’salvation history’ – and our own history – impact upon our readiness to give?
This sermon is now available to listen online
Sunday 7 March: ‘Giving ear’
Isaiah 55.1-9 – Mr Keith Wood
We tend to think of giving as our initiative – yet whenever we give, it means we have in some sense heeded someone’s prompting. How might we learn to listen attentively and to discern God’s prompting?
This sermon is now available to listen online
Sunday 14 March: ‘Giving freely’
Luke 15.11-32 – Revd Dominic Grant (Communion Service)
We try to be wise in our handling of resources – so whenever we give, it means we’re surrendering control and opening ourselves to risk. How might we learn to display Godly generosity by balancing prudence with recklessness?
This sermon is now available to listen online
Sunday 21 March: ‘Giving forward’
John 12.1-8 – Miss Janet Hancock
We try to plan our finances with an eye to the future – yet whenever we give, we are likely to find that there are consequences beyond the limits of our foresight. How might our giving today become an investment in God’s future?
This sermon is now available to listen online
Admin January 12th, 2010
Join us for a Burns Supper Spectacular:
- fine Scottish fare (including haggis, neeps and tatties)
- traditional toasts and ceremonies
- selection of Burns’ poetry and songs
- performance by a Scottish Country Dance group
- Barn Dance with a Scottish flavour, with caller, for all who wish to join in
This unmissable Burns Supper Spectacular takes place on
Saturday 30 January at 7.30pm, here at the United Church Hall.
Tickets are priced £10 and are available via the church or from Broadway Books in Crowborough. Proceeds will go towards our link mission project, a Resources Centre for the Nancy George Academy school in Kenya, via World In Need.
8.00 am Morning Communion
Rev Steve Mann
10.30 am Morning Service
Keith Wood
6.30 pm Evening Service
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