This document summarizes a church group's visit to Msitu wa Tembo village in Tanzania to learn about the work of Compassion International. Some key points: - Compassion International partners with local churches to support children living in poverty through education, healthcare, and community development programs. - The group visited Deeper Life Msitu wa Tembo church's Compassion-supported program serving 192 children through kindergarten and maternal health classes. - The group's sponsorship supports 23 children in the village kindergarten program. They met some of the children and their families to understand their challenges with poverty. - The group also met two young men who had graduated from Compassion's leadership

1. All Saints Church Marlow
The Bridge
Autumn 2018 - Free Copy
Lighthouse - A Week of Fun, Learning & Worship

2. What the Prophet Daniel Teaches Us Today - Roland Slade
In June I had the privilege of being fully
ordained as a priest in the Church of
England, and we enjoyed a wonderful service
in Great Missenden with Alan the Bishop of
Buckingham. This was the culmination of
four years of study and work, and means
that I can now lead all the different types of
services that happen in the parish. I was
very glad that Dave and Mieke could join me
to represent the 4U churches and pray for
me as I was ordained.
Throughout much of my training for
ordination, I was taught to look at the
characters of people in the Bible and to
reflect on my own character – a good
practice for all of us, regardless of our job.
Over the summer we enjoyed a series of
sermons on the book of Daniel, and since
then I have been reflecting on what it means
to be a person of distinctive character. We
might feel that our experience now is vastly
different from Daniel’s - he was an exile
living in a foreign land a long time ago,
and working under a tyrannical leader.
Thankfully, this is not an experience that
most of us can connect with. However,
the theologian Stanley Hauerwas wrote a
book called ‘Resident Aliens’, in which he
argued that we should all live a life which
acknowledges that we are different from the
culture around us. This is what he means by
‘aliens’ – people who aren’t shaped by the
dominant culture, even though we live within
it. So although Marlow is not the capital of a
great foreign superpower, it is where we are
called to live in a distinct way.
The key to Daniel’s success in his work is
attributed to his devotional life - his routine
of prayer is one of the first things that is
mentioned when he is introduced in the
book. This routine must have been formed
over the years before he was sent into exile,
so that he had something to sustain him
when he was forced to change situation.
This is a huge challenge to us as Christians
to have a spiritual routine that not only
sustains us now, but could also give us life
and hope if we were thrown into a much
more challenging situation.
For Daniel, that meant a routine of praying
multiple times a day. For us perhaps it is a
commitment to praying regularly, or reading
a certain amount of scripture each week,
or joining a church small group so that you
can walk through your Christian journey with
other people. Daniel found a routine that
could sustain him in any situation – do you
have one too?
At the beginning of August a number of
people from All Saints went to the New
Wine conference in Somerset. There were
great times of worship, inspiring talks and
seminars from theologians, church leaders
and Christian charities, and lots of fun with
films, quiz nights and live bands all on offer.
We all took away something different from our
experience – perhaps a new understanding
of a book of the Bible, or a new worship
song we enjoyed, or a personal moment of
revelation as someone prayed for us. We
often ended the day with a chat together
on the campsite over a few drinks and
snacks, talking about what we found most
inspiring. New Wine is a great example of an
occasional event that can help to reinvigorate
our day-to-day faith. Would you like to come
with us in 2019? Next year the conference
moves to a new site in Peterborough, so the
journey will be easier and there will be plenty
of options for nearby hotels and B&Bs, for
those who aren’t natural campers!
Daniel and his friends show us something
extraordinary about the character of
God and His relationship with us. Their
experiences in Babylon often left them in
metaphorical ‘hot water’, whether that was
in the lions’ den or in the fiery furnace. Their
decision to stand up for their faith led them
to places and situations that most of us
would rather avoid – but even before they
entered the fiery furnace, Daniel and his
friends were confident that God could deliver
them. However, the way God answered their
prayers was perhaps not what they were
expecting!
God did not save them from the experience
of the fire – but he was actually there with
them, and with Him by their side they were
able to eventually walk away from the
flames. In my opinion, this is one of the
greatest lessons from the book of Daniel:
when God answers our prayers, he does not
necessarily airlift us out of the situation.
The friends have to go through the hardship,
but God is with them at every moment. This
story challenges me to change my prayers
when I am in an extremely difficult situation,
from “Lord, take me out of this!” to “Lord, be
with me in this.” Daniel’s story has spurred
me on in my own walk with Christ. He shows
me that it is possible to keep a pattern of
prayer and faith in any situation, not just in
my familiar day-to-day life. Even when my
personal circumstances change, I know I
can rely on the unchanging character of God.
What have you learnt from our study of
Daniel? Perhaps you could join me around
a camp fire some time, and share the things
that keep us going with God every day.

3. as Mount Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, and
Lake Victoria. However, unemployment still
stands at 40%, and 68% of the population
live in poverty. Children in particular suffer
from problems related to malnutrition and
poor sanitation, as well as malaria which
is prevalent in the region. Compassion
currently works with 387Tanzanian churches,
reaching 85,000 children across the country.
One of these churches is Deeper Life Msitu
wa Tembo, led by Pastor Tumaini George.
Deeper Life Church set up a small-
scale project for local children in 2000 to
supplement their formal education at the
local primary school. It is evident from the
new classrooms, offices, and toilet block that
partnering with Compassion has enabled
this small project to burst into life, welcoming
192 children to their weekday Kindergarten
classes and Saturday programme.
Since Compassion came on board in
2017, Deeper Life has also implemented
a Child Survival Programme, working with
15 pregnant women and new mothers to
teach them skills such as nutrition, weaning,
personal care and income generation.
Compassion has had such an impact on this
community that the pastor’s eldest daughter
has decided to become a Compassion project
director herself. When we visited, the project
was just a few weeks away from having
electricity installed - a major improvement
which will allow them to use better teaching
resources, keep more accurate records
and connect with local services, as well as
providing lighting, and power for cooking.
Across the 4U churches, we sponsor 23
children who are all in Kindergarten. It was
an immense privilege for us to be invited
to some of their homes in the village. The
houses were simply built, with just two or
three rooms and an outhouse for cooking.
Some homes were furnished with sofas, a
At the beginning of July, a team from
Marlow visited the village of Msitu
wa Tembo (Elephant Hills) in Northern
Tanzania to discover more about the work of
Compassion International.
Compassion was founded in the 1950s after
thousands of children were orphaned by the
Korean War. The American Everett Swanson
had the original idea of finding individual
sponsors for children, who were housed in a
newly-built orphanage and cared for by local
teachers.
Swanson was motivated by Jesus’ loving
example of treating all people with dignity
and respect, allowing them to find a place
in their community. Today, Compassion still
uses a ‘Christ-centred, child-focused and
church-based’ model, meaning that they
always partner with local churches and
build on work they are already doing in their
communities. Compassion believes that one
child can transform an entire family through
coming to know the love of Jesus, and being
given the skills and resources to overcome
poverty.
Tanzania has a population of 51 million and
is one of the most politically stable countries
in East Africa. The current government has
made it a priority to eliminate corruption and
bribery, and to invest in infrastructure and
encourage tourism to famous sites such
few posters and a low table.
I felt deeply humbled as the families told us
of the difficulties they had in finding work -
many are casual farm labourers and walk
up to 2 hours each morning to find a single
day’s work - and as they expressed their
sincere thanks to God for Compassion, and
to us as a church for our sponsorship and
our prayers. As we exchanged gifts and
prayed for each family I realised how little I
give thanks to God for the comforts of my
own home, and was inspired by the culture
of gratitude in this community.
Back at our hotel we were joined by Eric
and Benson, two young men living in Arusha
who recently graduated from Compassion’s
Leadership Development Programme. We
had dinner together and listened as they told
us their stories of growing up through the
Compassion projects:
Eric is the eldest of four children and grew
up in a Christian home, but a lack of money
and education meant that the family were
unable to read the Bible for themselves.
Compassion sponsorship paid for Eric’s
school and university fees, provided new
mattresses, blankets and toiletries for the
family, and - most importantly to him - they
were given Bibles and all four children were
able to stay in school and learn to read the
Word of God for themselves. Eric recently
completed a degree and volunteers at his
old Compassion project, providing a role
model for the next generation.
Benson told us a heartbreaking story of
growing up with a violent, abusive stepfather
as well as his two younger siblings and his
mother, who scraped together a living by
selling bananas. He told us that until he was
sponsored, nobody had ever told him they
loved him. The love and encouragement of
his sponsors slowly transformed his own view
of himself, and he became more confident
and achieved better grades in school. His
sponsors helped him to identify his passion
for law, and sent him pictures of lawyers to
inspire him. Eric was so transformed by the
love of Jesus, demonstrated through this
couple, that he was baptised and led his
mother and siblings to Christ as well. He is
now a junior lawyer, engaged to Nancy (who
works for Compassion), and has set his
sights on becoming President! As he closed
his story he told us, “Everything you see,
everything I am, is Compassion.”
After this brief but moving insight into
Compassion’s work, we are convinced that
this is a programme worth supporting. We
were impressed by the diligence and detail
of their record keeping, the scope of the
curriculum and the ambition of their future
proposals.
We were delighted to meet not only the
babies being born into this programme, but
those who have graduated out of it and are
determined to use their skills and experience
to transform their communities. And
finally, we were amazed once again at the
transformative power of the Gospel and to
see that the values of love and compassion
shown by Jesus really can change an entire
nation.
For more information about Compassion,
visit their website www.compassion.com
There are still opportunities to sponsor
children at Msitu wa Tembo - for further
details on this please contact Liz Kendall-
Jones:lizziekj@btinternet.com
Compassion in Tanzania - Caroline Slade

4. Music Matters - Martin Seymour
By the time you read this another
academic year has started and the end
of this year will have seen me in post for
eight years. How time flies by!
The trebles will have returned from their
well-earned break following an exciting end
of year Choral Evensong back in July with
the magnificent setting of Howell’s Collegium
Regale and the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis
setting written for Kings College Cambridge.
Mind you, if you remember the heat wave we
were in, even without our choir cassocks we
still had a record number of choristers faint
in the heat. Not something I wish to repeat!
Leading up to our break we said a fond
‘see you at Christmas’ to Jade and Hannah
who have both got their university places so
will be off to Buckingham and Birmingham
respectively. Congratulations!
Congratulations also to Arthur who attended
the RSCM residential Bath Abbey course
again this year. Singing daily services in
such a building is a real privilege and to
be part of a tradition of continuous worship
through music over many centuries, is very
special indeed.
As some of the girls are now leaving for
university, who were the youngest when
I first came, thoughts turn to recruiting
again. Although we have had a long choral
tradition nothing is ever guaranteed, and
a regular supply of new boys and girls is
always needed. The situation has not been
easy over the last few years and if we are to
survive, this year will be critical.
The many positive and life affirming
experiences the choristers participate in
make a big difference to them (and often their
schooling) which is why it can be frustrating
when we can’t appear to get this message
through to potential new families. It does
need everyone in our church community,
if they value what we have, to go out and
shout out about it and tell those who you
think might not even be interested.
How often have we heard this message
maybe when we’re invited to bring someone
new along on a Sunday? I suspect some
people have been successful, but I would be
interested to know how many have tried. The
choir needs your support to find new junior
school age, year three and four boys and
girls (we operate right the way through to
year 12 at secondary school level).
The social media campaign will be underway
the flyers, banners will be out, I will be trying
to get into the schools etc etc, but it will
always be the personal approach that makes
the difference and there is only one of me.
So we face a challenge I hope you’ll come
along with me. Email Martin at music@4u-
team.org
The Rotary Club of Marlow proudly presents
Ascot Brass & Choir
Saturday September 29th
All Saints Church 7.30pm
Adults £12, under 18’s £6
including a glass of wine or soft drink
Tickets from Marlow Information Centre or at the door
www.marlow-rotary.org.uk 01628 484323 Reg. charity number 1024392
High Street, Marlow SL7 2AA
In aid of ROTARY Charities

5. Eco Church - Paul Taylor
Eco Church – Caring for God’s creation.
World trade has brought huge benefits to
rich countries and big companies. However,
imbalances of power and resources mean
that the poor often cannot compete and
are trapped in unjust cycles of exploitation
and inequality. Sometimes our search for
a bargain, or the latest gadget, is at the
expense of the natural world and other
people. If everyone on earth had a similar
lifestyle to us, and used as many natural
resources, we would need more than three
earths to cope with demand.
Earth’s climate is changing, significantly
beyond that solely caused by natural factors.
This is primarily due to the release of carbon
dioxide and methane from the burning of
fossil fuels, intensive farming, deforestation
and production of goods. Climate change
is a direct result of our lifestyle and the
way we consume; however, the effects of
climate change are being felt most harshly
by the poor of the world, who are the least
responsible and yet the most vulnerable.
This is why Christian organisations such as
Christian Aid, USPG and Tearfund agree that
taking action to reduce our negative impacts
on the environment is so urgent.
What are we doing to help care for God’s
creation?
In April 2017, the PCC agreed that I would
coordinate and facilitate the theme of
caring for creation within the 4U churches;
gathering and encouraging others who were
interested in taking action.
In September 2017, 4U churches had a
short series of sermons about ‘Creation and
Creativity’, exploring the rich vein of biblical
teaching around creator and creation,
drawing on the wisdom and literature of
the Old Testament. Through this series, we
thought about how to care for and steward
all that God has given us.
In March 2018, All Saints Church Council
approved an Environmental Policy which
recognises that our activities impact upon the
environment through our day-to-day actions
and through our influence and effects on the
wider community. The policy acknowledges
a responsibility for caring for God’s earth and
protecting the environment at all levels.
As a way to help structure our approach to
environmental management, and to track
our progress, the Church is participating in
the ‘Eco Church’ award scheme.
What is the ‘Eco Church’ award scheme?
Eco Church is an award scheme for
churches in England and Wales who want
to demonstrate that the gospel is good news
for God’s earth and that caring for creation
as an integral part of loving their neighbours
and following God faithfully. It is operated by
A Rocha UK – a charity committed to helping
Christians in the UK to care for the natural
world (see http://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk
for more details).
The free online survey and supporting
resources are designed to equip churches
to express care for God’s earth in worship
and teaching; in how to look after buildings
and land; in how to engage with the local
community and in global campaigns, and in
the personal lifestyles of the congregation.
Actions taken by the church and its members
count towards a prestigious Eco Church
Award at Bronze, Silver or Gold level. The
available resources can be used to help
move the church forward from one award
to the next, thereby improving performance
and depth of engagement.
What have we achieved so far?
We undertook the initial Eco Church survey
for All Saints Marlow in summer 2017 and
have been working towards the Bronze
award over the past year. Actions which
have raised awareness of ethical and
environmental issues, and contributed to
lessening our negative impacts, include the
use of LED floodlights and other low-energy
light bulbs, having the sermon series about
‘Creation and Creativity’, regularly having
a Traidcraft fair
trade stall,
printing church
n e w s l e t t e r s
double-sided,
‘twinning’ our
toilets and
having recycling
facilities in the
church building.
Our hard work
paid off in July
2018 when we
were awarded
the Eco Church
Bronze award,
so we are now
starting to work
towards the
Silver award
(which St John
the Baptist, Little
Marlow, recently
achieved).
We will be
u n d e r t a k i n g
further actions
in the coming
months, so
please look out
for ways in which
you could help
express care
for God’s earth
in our worship
and teaching;
in how we look
after buildings
and land; in how we engage with the local
community and in global campaigns, and in
your personal life and day-to-day decision
making. As a starting point, you could work
out your environmental footprint using the
WWF calculator at https://footprint.wwf.org.
uk For further information, or to get more
involved in the Eco Church scheme, please
contact Paul Taylor via paul.taylor@4u-
team.org

6. What I did On My Sabbatical - Sarah Fitzgerald
Irecently returned from a three month
sabbatical. It has been a great privilege
to have the opportunity to ‘rest, renew and
re-create’ after being ordained for 10 years.
First I went on retreat at Alnmouth Friary in
Northumberland. I find this a very special
‘thin place’ to meet with God and be held
by the life of prayer the brothers lead. It was
good to let go of the responsibilities I hold
as a vicar and focus on my relationship with
God as simply Sarah, his child.
I attended some conferences and courses,
did some reading and visited churches
to reflect on what facilitates worship that
connects us with God and with our lives. I
experienced a whole range of worship from
Anglo-Catholic, charismatic communion, to
meeting in a big top on a farm! It was good
to experience worship as a congregation
member not leader. One theme that
emerged was that of ‘participation’ and I
will be continuing to reflect on how we can
encourage this in our services.
To do something that was an adventure I
finished my sabbatical by going with Richard
on a month’s trip to Tanzania, a new part of
the world for us. We had a restful week on
the Island of Zanzibar enjoying the turquoise
sea of the Indian Ocean and exploring the
fascinating town of Stonetown. We were
very moved by the history of slavery there
which caused us to reflect on the problem
of modern day slavery. We then went on
a safari and we saw the most amazing
sights including zebra, giraffes, elephants,
lions, hundreds of migrating wilder beast,
a leopard walk clearly on a rocky outcrop,
and hippopotamus wallowing in mud. God’s
creatures are truly amazing!
We also visited charity projects including the
Compassion project, and some supported
by Workaid that Richard works for. It was
a privilege to meet some wonderful people
and hear about positive steps being taken to
bring about change; from ensuring access
to education and healthcare, to teaching
vocational skills such as tailoring and bee
keeping. Seeing how few resources many
people had and how they made use of those
resources, e.g. using cement bags as plant
containers, caused me to reflect on how
resource rich we are and how wasteful we
are of the resources we have. I have been
challenged to look at how I can be more
responsible in my use of resources and to
continue to support those projects which can
make a difference in people’s lives.
I have returned from my sabbatical refreshed
and energised, it has been an incredible
experience. I am thankful for this opportunity
and I hope you see the fruit in my ministry.
God bless, Sarah
The Prayer Chapel Altar - Linda Scott & Anne Morse
The journey to acquire a new altar for the
Prayer Chapel has been a long one and,
at times, it has been a challenge, retaining
its main purpose as a place of prayer whilst
allowing its identity to include a variety of
other functions.
At last, with God’s grace and with patient
negotiation, we now have a wonderful new
altar. We pray that everyone will appreciate
this fine new addition. It can be used in situ,
gives easier access to the Fire Exit and, if
required, can be moved to the chancel steps.
Its elegant, compact, contemporary design
THE BRIDGE
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relates to the scale and space within the
Chapel sympathetically. It is hoped that it
will provide a focus for prayer, quiet reflection
and meditation in conjunction with Art &
Spirituality installations and in periods of
24/7 prayer, be a space in which all creative
ideas can be expressed.
We hope that it will encourage people to
use the Chapel to enhance their spiritual
experience and to find solace and comfort
in this special space. We pray that everyone
will welcome this new altar and feel inspired
to use the Prayer Chapel even more in the
future.

7. The Chorale and the Prelude - Rhidian Jones
Iconcede – reluctantly – that the above
might just be one of the less appealing
headings in this magazine. I will nonetheless
plough on in the same thrilling vein with
some definitions.
Chorale: a German Lutheran hymn-tune
Prelude: a piece of music played before
something else
So what, you may well ask, if you are still
with me. Well, a member of the congregation
recently asked me what was meant by such
things as ‘Prelude on Come Holy Ghost
our Souls Inspire’ in the organ voluntaries
named in the weekly pew sheet.
Let me try to explain. When we are ready
to sing a hymn, it’s usual in this country for
the organist to ‘play over’ the first line or two
before the congregation starts to sing. It’s a
signal to stand up, it reminds us of the tune,
it gives the pitch, and it gives some idea of
the speed. (On this latter point, there is a
regrettable tendency for organists to play at
a different speed from the congregation’s
correct speed, but that’s another matter.)
That this procedure is not universally the
case came home to me when I attended a
service last year in an Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Germany. The service was
Hauptgottesdienst (‘Principal Worship’):
Holy Eucharist to us, and very similar to
our Anglican Communion services and the
Roman Catholic Mass.
The organ was situated in a gallery at the west
end of the church; I sat with the organist and
accompanied a part of the service. When
it came to the hymns – sorry, the chorales
– some differences were immediately plain.
The congregation remained seated. The
chorale book contained only the melody line,
the organist being expected to make up the
chords and harmonies differently for each
verse.
However, the clearest difference from our
practice was that there was no organist’s
play-over as described above. Instead, a
short prelude was played, based more or
less obviously upon the following chorale.
It gave the pitch of the chorale, but did not
indicate its speed. In one of these preludes,
the tune was clearly stated; in the others,
the tune was merely hinted at. You were
expected to know it from the words, and if
you didn’t know it, it would not have been
immediately apparent. One of the preludes
played that day was by Johann Gottfried
Walther (1684-1748), who was a cousin of
J S Bach; another was a jazz composition;
the others were improvised on the spot by
the organist.
The chorale prelude is one of the major forms
of organ music, and hundreds of examples
exist from the sixteenth century onwards.
British organists regard them as standard
repertoire; in Germany I experienced them in
their proper place as artistic, revisionist and
functional adornments to the liturgy.
Now admittedly there’s a problem with these
for us in Britain, one of accessibility. They
are based upon German melodies and texts.
As I thumbed through the chorale book,
I encountered dozens of chorales whose
melodies I happen to know from preludes by
composers such as Bach, Buxtehude, Reger
and Brahms, to mention merely the principal
composers. Few of these are in the Anglican
hymn books.
With Bach, it’s deeper. I returned recently to
that church to give a concert, and included
his prelude Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns
wend (‘Lord Jesus Christ, turn to us’).
This consists of some three minutes of
free composition reworking fragments, not
themes, from the chorale, followed by one
minute where the complete chorale appears
in the bass played by the organist’s feet,
above which the hands weave ingenious
Bachian wizardry. The family with whom
I was staying confirmed that the melody
they already knew was being adumbrated
throughout the piece.
What I was comprehending largely in an
intellectual sense was being heard by
them as something beyond the purely
musical. Understandably, this recognition
is not something we can easily share in this
country. When choosing a Lutheran chorale
prelude as a Sunday voluntary, even one
appropriate to the liturgy for the day, I am
conscious it is not easy to appreciate its
relevance as from the inside.
However, many of those chorales are known
to us in England. ‘Now thank we all our God’,
‘Praise to the Lord, the almighty the King of
Creation’, ‘O sacred head, sore wounded’,
‘Deck thyself, my soul with gladness’: these
are in our hymn books too, and preludes
exist on them by Bach and others. Bach told
his pupils to convey something of the text in
their playing of chorales. He undoubtedly
followed this principle when setting these
profound melodies as preludes of several
minutes’ duration. These hymns live now,
and these preludes are still relevant not just
to introduce the pieces but also to illuminate
them.
Nor is it finished. Preludes are still being
written. For instance, there’s a set of Carol-
Preludes written in 2008 by the English
composer John McCabe (1939-2015) on
Christmas pieces (a delightful transposition
of vowels in the title). There’s still more – but
I exceed my space. And that chorale book
also contained translations into German of
several English hymns, including ‘Abide with
me’, ‘The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended’,
‘Come down O love divine’. They even
sang one of these when I was there – but
in English.
The organ in St Martin’s Church, Bramsche, Lower Saxony, Germany,

8. Prayer & Fasting - Gill Taylor
At the beginning of the summer, I shared
with the staff team that I thought God
had encouraged me to call the church to
pray and fast on Wednesdays. In the space
of a few hours two other church leaders had
contacted Dave, feeling that God was calling
them and their churches to pray and fast for
us at All Saints Marlow. God was definitely
stirring us to pray.
That same week I sent an email to the
church family, inviting them to join in praying
and fasting each Wednesday for the coming
season. I gave the following suggestions as
topics for prayer:
• Pray for the Youth and Children’s teams.
As most of you will know, in the last few
months our Children’s Intern, Youth worker
and Children’s worker have left the staff
team. Pray for wisdom and encouragement
for our fantastic volunteers and our church
leadership as we seek to discern the way
forward. Pray for God’s blessing on our
children and young people.
• Pray for the WorshipTeam. Please continue
to pray for our Worship team; specifically for
Simon Fry, Martin Somers and David Clarke.
It does seem that there is a particular attack
on the health of this team; so please pray
specifically for God’s protection.
• Pray for the ClergyTeam. Please uphold this
team as Sarah returns from sabbatical, and
as Dave is away on his sabbatical. Please
continue to pray for Gabrielle’s complete
healing; and for the rest of the team as they
cope with their reduced numbers. Pray for
strength and resilience.
As with all the spiritual disciplines; you can
fast in whatever way seems right for you.
More information on fasting (and helpful tips
on prayer in general) are available here:
https://www.24-7prayer.com/fasting
So, here we are now, a few weeks down
the line; and I’d love to hear how you’ve
got on if you’ve been fasting. I’ve heard a
few of your stories already including some
breakthroughs in job situations; repaired
relationships and a number of people
experiencing God’s guidance whilst making
difficult decisions. I’ve been amazed by how
many answers to prayer I’ve seen in my own
life too.
All this means I plan to carry on with the
Wednesday fasting day, and I’d love it if you
would join me.
There are many people and situations still
in great need of our prayers. If you’d like
to receive prayer requests from people
in church via email, you can sign up via
the church website, or email me at gill.
taylor@4u-team.org and I’ll organise it for
you.
I’d also encourage you to find a time when
you can meet with others to pray together.
Prayer triplets, prayer meetings and small
groups can all give us encouragement to
pray; particularly when we’re struggling to
begin.
There are details about the times of gathered
prayer run by the church here: http://4u-
team.org/prayer/ so please do feel free to
join in with any of these which fit in your
diary. As Jesus said: “where two or three
gather in my name, there am I with them.”
(Matt 18:20)
Finally, to encourage us all, some words from
the book of James 5:16 (NLT): “The earnest
prayer of a righteous person has great power
and produces wonderful results.”
Let’s pray with that power which Jesus gives
us and look forward to the wonderful results
that God promises.
Churches Together in Marlow - Tony Threlfall
The final day of the Love Marlow festival
brought churches together for a service
of worship in Higginson Park conducted by
Keith Grafham of River Church, with music
directed by Gill Taylor and an inspiring
message given by Revd Sami Watts. Messy
Church was provided for the children, and
everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, even
if the latest dance routine had some of the
older folk floored.
The next CTM prayer meeting will be held
at St John the Baptist Church, Little Marlow,
on Saturday 8th
September at 9 am. A Men’s
Breakfast meeting will be held at Harleyford
Golf Club on Saturday 15th
September at 8.30
am. A talk will be given by Revd Ian Brown
RAF, titled ‘Why I am a Military Chaplain’.
The Harvest Supper will be hosted by River
Church and held at Christ Church URC on
Friday 12th
October at 7.30 pm. On Saturday
13th
October, a period of shared prayer for
today’s Armed Forces will be held at Marlow
Methodist Church from 10 am to 1 pm. This
is part of a prayer programme reflecting
the 100 days of the Amiens Campaign,
culminating in the cessation of hostilities
on Armistice Day 11th November 1918.
Everyone is invited to join in this time of
prayer for part or all of the 3-hour period.
Lighthouse Marlow is reported separately in
this issue, but Pat Reading recently brought
us up to date re Lighthouse Central.
‘Lighthouse Central is a charity set up to
support existing Lighthouses and help to
establish new ones across the UK. The
overriding vision is to bring churches and
communities together around children.
This year, Lighthouse weeks were run
at Beaconsfield, Burnham, Cressex,
Hazelmere, High Wycombe, Mansfield,
Marlow and Princes Risborough. Great
Missenden continues to run as an
independent Lighthouse.
Thame had a fallow year, regrouping and
re-energising, but will be back next year.
They will be joined by two new Lighthouses
in Langley, and a specialist Lighthouse in
Westfield School, Bourne End for children
with special educational needs. This is an
exciting new venture for Lighthouse.
In May, we registered 2400 children in 24
hours – a testament to the popularity of
Lighthouse. Eventually, there were 3800
children and over 2000 amazing volunteers
across the eight Lighthouse Central sites.
In 2019, there will be close to 6000 children
involved. The vision is for 200 Lighthouses -
so only 188 to go - and 50,000 children. You
can find out more at www.lighthousecentral.
org and if you know someone who has
moved away from Marlow and has a heart for
Lighthouse, please contact Pat at director@
lighthousecentral.org. And a huge thank you
to Churches Together in Marlow, the church
leaders and all the volunteers who do so
much to support Lighthouse in prayer and
action.’

9. Lighthouse - Sarah Jones & Photos by Ian Branch
As soon as Holy Trinity School broke
up for the summer holidays, a team of
volunteers got to work transforming the field
behind the school. Preparing the site to
welcome 470 children and 300 volunteers
for the Lighthouse Marlow holiday week is a
major operation!
However, planning and preparation for
this, the 14th
year of Lighthouse in Marlow,
started many months earlier. In the last
year Lighthouse Marlow has come under
the umbrella of Lighthouse Central, the
organisation whose aim is to spread
Lighthouse holiday clubs around the country.
For Marlow this meant we had to set up as a
new charity, with our own Board of Trustees.
Also, as Pat Reading now leads Lighthouse
Central, Marlow needed a new Chairman.
I had been involved with Lighthouse
Frills learned the skills - both practical and
spiritual - needed to survive on a desert
island and in life. He also got up to mischief,
including scaring our news broadcasters,
with a huge spider.
Children do love coming to Lighthouse. The
feedback we get from children and their
parents is extremely positive. And it can
have an effect well beyond the week:
►My daughter is so lucky to go to this
fantastic camp – it’s such a happy day and
the children sing songs for ages afterwards.
Thank you so much to the volunteers.◄
Lighthouse is open to children between the
ages of 5 and 11 and many return as helpers
once they move on to secondary school.
This year we had over 100 helpers aged 11-
17, a testament to how much young people
want to remain involved with Lighthouse.
The transition from participant to helper
can be a difficult one, so this year the Year
7 helpers were ‘Lamplighters in Training’
– each assisted a group of children in the
morning, but in the afternoon they took part
in team-building games and other activities.
►Thanks so much for making this happen
every year. My daughters have been coming
since they were young, and this year LOVED
being lamplighters. Thank you for this
wonderful event!◄
Lighthouse is a Christian event, but it is also
a community one. Many of those involved
are not linked to any church and involvement
from the wider community is welcomed.
Marlow from the start, and I was appointed
Chairman at the AGM in January. I hope to
involve all the local churches more fully and
to further develop the community aspects of
Lighthouse. In time we hope that the Trustee
Board will include representatives from
all the local churches and that Lighthouse
Marlow will be more visible in the wider
community and to local businesses.
Volunteers recruitment opened in March and
registration of children started mid-May. As
in previous years, some age groups were
oversubscribed within days.
At Lighthouse children enjoy a range of
activities including worship, games, sport,
drama, craft and learning about biblical
events. Everything links back to the theme
of the week. This year the theme was Sur-
Bible Island, and Marlow’s very own Bear Trinity House 10’s Team

10. We had a number of visitors, including Town
and County Councillors, Jocelyn Towns and
David Watson. The mayor, Chris Funnell,
was very impressed when he visited and
took time out to talk to both helpers and
children.
Large numbers of people from All Saints and
the other 4-U team churches volunteer, and
many play key roles in running Lighthouse
Marlow. Especial thanks are due to those
who are Trustees as well as taking significant
roles during the Lighthouse week – Wendy
Beckett, Ness Hill, Anne Morse and Sami
Watts.
Other volunteers are less visible but make
key contributions. Ian Branch is responsible
for ensuring we know who is on site at any
time through use of bar coded badges which
are scanned on entry and exit. Simon Bunt,
together with Tim Ashburner and Graham
Everitt of the Methodist Church, spend days
setting up the electrical and water systems
and ensure our audio-visual facilities are
second to none. Our many visitors from
Lighthouse Central and other Lighthouses
were massively impressed.
►Thank you for running such a wonderful
week of fun, varied activities and bringing
the community together◄
The main challenges to putting on Lighthouse
are getting enough adult volunteers and
raising funds to meet our costs. Although
all helpers are volunteers, it costs nearly
£24,000 to run Lighthouse in Marlow. No
charge is made for children to attend, but
donations from parents are sought to cover
the £15 per child per day running cost. Sadly,
in both 2016 and 2017 donations, including
those from local churches, have not met our
costs.
We are looking for more people willing to be
involved in fundraising, through both running
events and seeking donations and we would
welcome the involvement of local companies
in supporting this very popular community
event. Any individual or company wanting
to know more please contact us by email;
marlow@lighthousecentral.org.
Thank you to everyone who made Lighthouse
Marlow such a special and successful event
this year. See you in summer 2019!
Lamplighters in Training
The Sports Team
Lighthouse 2018 - Photo Album

11. Lighthouse 2018 - Photo Album
Sami Leading Drama Activities
The Refreshment Team
Young Helpers
Liz Ferris Taking a Well Earned Break