DONALD JONES

It is with deep sadness that we have to inform you that a member of our church leadership team, DONALD JONES died today, but we do celebrate that he is Promoted to Glory - safe in the arms of Jesus. Donald was taken poorly yesterday and taken into the East Surrey Hospital. We sincerely thank God that for nearly four years Heather and Don have been such a special part of our church family, after many years worshipping Jesus with The Salvation Army in Penge. Donald held many roles and responsibilities within our church and worked hard. His greatest passion was for people to be introduced to Jesus, meet Jesus, experience Jesus and grow in their relationship with Jesus. It was because of this his appointment as Recruiting Sergeant was key. Donald would often speak of his excitement at being able to worship at Horsham Corps, and shared how disappointed he was the weeks he could not, because he could not wait to get back to be part of what GOD has been doing here. Recently he has loved the new anniversary song which we have used this week and spoke of how it brought great joy to him. The reality is that Don brought so much joy to us! We ask at this stage for prayers for his lovely wife, Heather, and their three children, Stuart, Alastair, Ian, and their families. They are all very precious and we love them all from the bottom of our hearts.

THIS WEEKEND is another special event for our church community. SATURDAY at 6pm we welcome the Boscome (Bournemouth) Songsters for a musical evening, do come and be a part of this, and then on SUNDAY Commissioner Bill Cochrane will be our speaker at 10.30am and then after our Sunday Feast.

This picture is of two of our church members a number of years ago, any ideas who and when?

The Vice Chairperson of West Sussex County Council opened CHLOES a new community shop in Horsham. The shop is a vision of Vida Lyne, a part of our church, who has worked hard to make this a reality. Many of us were able to attend the opening and support her at the start of this venture. We were also able to pray in the shop prior to the official opening.

NEW SOLDIER ENROLLED

Karen Everest is the latest soldier to be enrolled at Horsham Corps. Today, Sunday 20th May, Karen stood before the congregation and signed her covenant, which indicated that she wanted to be a radical disciple and stand up for Jesus. The whole meeting focussed on the theme - Stand Up, looking at Pauls Words from Ephesians and the importance of us all BEING STRONG IN THE LORD AND IN HIS MIGHTY POWER. We looked at how we can do that and reflected on the fact that Paul teaches we should stand up again the devils schemes; stand your ground (not opinions); stand firm. We recognised that the enemy is seeking to do all he can to destroy us and destroy His church, and we were encouraged to have nothing to do with that. To help illustrate this Ian introduced us to Barney who first appeared deflated. He had been knocked about by lives situations, but he too heard the words from Ephesians and wanted to stand firm in the Lord. We recognised at times we could be deflated and needed His Spirit to fill us and protect us and make us strong in Him.  Songs used today included:- Soldiers of our God Arise; All Hail the Lamb; Jesus Name above all names; Stand up and shout if you love my Jesus; Stand up for Jesus; At the Cross (Victory). After Karen signed her covenant at The Cross, several people came forward to make commitments, claim victory or for other reasons, and then as has become traditional here, people were invited to come forward and greet Karen and celebrate with her. This was a special moment as was many in this meeting.



Ian with Barney his deflated friend

Les Daniels was the speaker at Friendship Club this past Friday

THE PRAYER TORCH

Throughout the London South East Division a Prayer Torch is travelling from corps to corps. This links us together to pray for one another. Last Sunday we held the torch, sadly due to having visiting leaders we were not able to focus much on it, but a short period enabled us to pray for other corps. The torch then went onto Crawley.

RECENT PICTURES

CATCH UP

Its been a long time.... a lot has happened in recent weeks. Sunday 30th April was led by Captain Susan and Candidate Kate spoke on 'Be Prepared'. The following Sunday Captain Susan led a very powerful meeting on Holy Hands and God's Presence was awesome. Following this, a meal was shared with the children's ministry team, after which Doug Horley (Duggie Dug Dug) conducted a seminar for our own team and other local teams. In the evening DDD led a praise party for about 100 people. It was a great event and we all really enjoyed it. We are so grateful to Karen Everest for arranging this event. During the following week, a number attended the Christian Resources Exhibition at Sandown Park, and as always were inspired by the many exhibitors that we were able to visit. Kids Alive held a sports evening on the 11th May, and again saw new faces attending this.

Saturday 12th May was our annual GARDEN PARTY and despite the dreadful weather of recent weeks, we had amazing weather which meant activities could take part outside. Our performance area this year welcomed the Leechpool Primary School Choir; Brighton Congress Hall Puppets and Eastbourne Citadel Singing Group. Equally Ventran Olmpian Ian Richards, who attends The Salvation Army in Worthing, shared the Gospel through walking on glass and eating fire. Refreshments, stalls, kids craft and activities and so much more made the whole day the best it could be. There was so much happening and made it a real community event. The purpose was not for fundraising, although that helps, and we raised £2300 plus. We are overwhelmed at this and grateful to many who helped and took part, especially Catherine Jannels who arranged much. The event concluded with our annual SONGS OF PRAISE which featured our band, the Eastbourne Singing Group, the puppets and Ian Richards spoke.

Sunday 13th May welcomed the READING CENTRAL SONGSTERS OF THE SALVATION ARMY, reuninting with Captains Sue and Ian, who were associate officers at the corps a number of years ago. The Songsters led the morning meeting, then engaged in some open air outreach, after which we shared a meal together with over eighty people tucking in. The day concluded with a praise meeting.

SUNDAY 22ND APRIL 2012

The hall was full for our Celebration Meeting, which focussed on meeting with the Living Jesus. Scripture was split into sections from John 20 which gave us time to consider for ourselves the various meetings people have with Jesus and their reactions to them. As witness to this, five people were welcomed as adherent-members, and in this we celebrated the fact that people continue to meet with Jesus Christ today. Ann Potter, Adrian Rockall, Mervyn Tarrant, Hannah Mills and Sandra Mitchell were all warmly welcomed. We continue to thank GOD for the way in which He is sending people to be part of our family here in Horsham and Crawley. Every one is very precious and valued....that includes you reading this today!

THE SATURDAY EVENT - MAY 2012

Our monthly event for May, welcomed CHELMSFORD SONGSTERS from Essex. A good crowd gathered for this, and was well supported by our band who played brilliantly. The songsters shared great music and the Gospel of Jesus Christ was celebrated in many forms and means. Two great testimonies were also shared. We thank God for the ministry of our friends both here and where they serve at this time.

SPECIAL EVENTS COMING UP

Thursday evening at 7.30pm we host the divisional COME AND CELEBRATE meeting and our band will be playing, the Brighton Congress Hall Songsters will be singing. Our Divisional Commander will be the speaking. Do come and share in this event.

Saturday evening at 6pm we welcome the Chelmsford Songsters, a choir of Christian Musicians, for our monthly SATURDAY EVENT. We warmly invite you and your friends and family to come and not miss this event.

BASIC FIRE TRAINING

Horsham SA hosted a divisional basic fire training event today, presented by a facilitator from Chubb.

Sunday 15th April 2012

The Worship Hall was packed again for a further Celebration. Around 150 people gathered, as we celebrated the conclusion of the EASTER EGG VENTURE, and in this our children were featured in singing a song and were presented with a thank you prize alongside the adults. Slides also captured some of what was featured that week. The whole meeting looked at LIFE and celebrated LIFE as we saw today in baby Luke, who was dedicated to God by his family, and supported by Captain Ian. Recognising the 'problems' that mum had after the birth this really was a very special celebration for all gathered. Songs today included:- Low in the grave He lay; O Joyful sound; God is here; My Life is in You, Lord; O Happy Day; In Christ Alone; Thine be The Glory. The singing group sang a prayer for Luke, and the band played I Love You Lord. We explored how Life teaches us:-

L: Live at peace with One another

I; I have been crucified with Christ

F; Forgive one another

E: Everlasting Life 

During concluding moments a number of people came forward to commit to making the most of the LIFE that they have been given.

OUTING TO CANTERBURY

Fifty Seven people of all generations from our church family enjoyed a beautiful day out in CANTERBURY in Kent today.

EASTER EGG-VENTURE DAY THREE

OVER FIFTY CHILDREN attended the third and final day of the EASTER EGG-VENTURE and today was a day with a difference. The four teams were split into four things to do during the morning which included an egg hunt, games, craft and bouncy castles. Then to conclude it all we enjoyed food together when parents and friends also came and joined us. We so thank GOD for this wonderful opportunity of working together in this way

EASTER EGG-VENTURE DAY TWO

 

EVEN MORE children attended todays EASTER EGG-VENTURE which again included a whole mixture of fun, games, craft and more. The Challenge today for adults was to have an egg cracked over your head - three were hard boiled and one was runney....... and Auntie Jean got the runny one. What a great sport she was - as always. For the second day in a row the Green Team won as well. Is Barry adding up the scores correctly we ask? It was another great day anyway, and we look forward to our special fun day tomorrow.

EASTER EGG-VENTURE DAY ONE

 

The Easter Egg-Venture started this morning, its third year of running, and fifty people gathered together to enjoy a morning packed full of games, craft, singing, music and so much more. The pictures capture something of some of the fun the four teams had during the two hours together. Watch this space for more fun as the week unfolds.

EASTER WEEKEND

GOOD FRIDAY: The day started with some of our members joining with local churches in the town centres of Crawley and Horsham. Later in the day we all assembled at our hall for an evening of worship as we welcomed Cadets Matthew Brown, Anne-Marie and Philip Cole, Katrina Thurlow to lead our reflection and celebrations throughout the weekend. They were accompanied by Captain Catherine Cotterill, and on Sunday joined by her husband Captain Gordon. The reflection on Good Friday included our singing group, band and worship band which added to our time together. There was also time to reflect, some helpful videos. On Saturday alongside the Flower Festival, families shared together in craft and chat, food and more. Some stayed all day, and others just for a time. Some, including adults, enjoyed time on the bouncy castles.

EASTER SUNDAY started with breakfast at 8.30am, cooked by Captain Ian, and 30 shared this together. After this we shared morning worship with songs including:- Christ the Lord; He has Risen; See what a Morning; He is Lord. The meeting included the welcoming of a new adherent member, Sandra Malloney and new junior soldiers Zoe, Aylsha, Jodi, Emily, Tina. These moments were shared by Captain Ian and supported by our leadership team. They brought the message of Easter alive. At the end of the meeting, a number prayed at the mercy seat again! Praise God! An Easter Buffet saw 80 people enjoy food and chat together, and then we concluded the day with Easter Praise and Craft. This was a great time of music, craft and reflection. Songs were used also which included: Come on and celebrate; Hands, hands, finger, thumbs; He is Lord; O Joyful Sound.

We thank GOD again for a very special day...... and we look forward to the week ahead, and we thank GOD for those who have given themselves to share with us this weekend.

FLOWER FESTIVAL

June and Trevor Belcher arranged this years FLOWER FESTIVAL and created then theme HANDS OF CHRIST, which has been used throughout the Holy Week season. Many contributed flowers and June and Trevor used their creative skills and gifts to bless us in many ways. There was a real special time of people coming together to create and display flower arrangements protraying aspects around the theme. People joined us in our hall on Friday and Saturday, as well as Sunday to see the displays. A high was the Thursday evening when those attending the Hope In, were taken around the displays and the Gospel was shared with them through narratives about the flowers.