Come and Join Us at Fareham United Reformed Church

 

We hope that you will find much to interest you here and will want to join with us as Christians in Fareham. Our church mission statement is "Sharing Jesus' love with the world today". This means we, all ages, come together each week for Sunday worship to listen for God's word for us. The rest of the week we try our best to act on what we have heard both in church and through our own prayers. We try to care for each other to the very best, and this love and care then flows out through all of us in our work, leisure and home lives. Wherever you are as regards faith in God, come among us and help us together, to grow closer to him day by day.

You may or may not be aware that there are now daily reflections, written by all kinds of contributors, made available by the United Reformed Church as emails. You can subscribe here to receive them.You can also find them on our website or on  Facebook. 

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Service

Christians Together In Fareham's annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Service will be held on Sunday, 19th January 2025, 4pm at Holy Trinity Church, West Street, Fareham, PO16 0EL. All are welcome.

 

Happy New Year from Fareham United Reformed Church

 

We hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and are prepared for the freshness that the New Year brings.

Have you ever watched the film The Polar Express? In the story a little boy is given a precious bell that he has to keep safe, but loses it because he has a hole in his pocket.

Pockets.......they’re where we keep the things we need. If our pockets are full we are equipped and ready for any situation. As we journey with God, it’s so easy to let holes wear into our spiritual pockets, meaning we lose some of the precious things God gives us. Or maybe our spiritual pockets are full of rubbish, and we need a good clear out at the start of the year in order to fill them up with faith. So right at the start of the year let’s clear out our pockets, mend those holes and be ready to receive all that God has for us in 2024.

We at Fareham United Reformed Church pray that we will continue to share Jesus' love with the world today, that we will see many lives transformed in our church, family, community and world - and that our pockets and our lives are full and overflowing with faith, hope, love and peace.

For everything a season...

God of grace, at the start of a new year, we offer you our thanks for the gifts of the year just ended, for the possibility of new beginnings, for time to reflect and look ahead.

We offer you our hopes for peace among nations, for forgiveness and reconciliation, for understanding within our communities, for health and wellbeing.

We offer you our dreams and desires, and the deepest thoughts of our hearts.

God of grace, you make all things new. We commit this year to you. Guide us, bless us and work within us, so that we may honour you in all we do.

Amen.

(Prayer written by Sue McCann, taken from 'Full to the Brim', United Reformed Church Prayer Handbook (2024).

Ecumenical Prayers for Peace - A Prayer Vigil for Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and the Middle East

 

We pray for the people of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

We long for peace and for an end to violence and destruction of every kind.

We unite our hearts with all who are suffering,

with those who have lost loved ones, and with all who cry out in anguish.

The Prayer of the Mothers:

God of Life: You who heals the broken-hearted, binding up our wounds.

Please hear this prayer of mothers.

You did not create us to kill each other

Nor to live in fear or rage or hatred in your world.

You created us so that we allow each other to sustain.

Your Name in this world: Your name is Life, your name is Peace.

For these I weep, my eye sheds water:

For our children crying in the night,

For parents holding infants, despair and darkness in their hearts.

For a gate that is closing – who will rise to open it before the day is gone?

With my tears and with my constant prayers,

With the tears of all women deeply pained at these harsh times I raise my hands to you in supplication:

Please God have mercy on us.

Hear our voice that we not despair

That we will witness life with each other,

That we have mercy one for another

That we share sorrow one with the other

That we hope, together, one for another.

Inscribe our lives in the book of Life

For Your sake, our God of Life

Let us choose Life.

For You are Peace, Your world is Peace and all that is Yours is Peace,

May this be your will. And let us say

Amen.

Co-written by Sheikha Ibtisam Mahameed and Rabba Tamar Elad-Appelbaum and translated by Amichai Lau-Lavie The full liturgy can be downloaded at https://urc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Ecumenical-Prayers-for-Pea...

Intercessions in Difficult Times

 

Eternal One, we praise and give you thanks for all that is good in our lives

  • for those we love,
  • for those whose company we enjoy,
  • for the beauty that surrounds us in the created order,
  • for the random acts of kindness we see day by day,
  • and for all that adds value and worth to our living.

Lord Jesus, you often told the rich off for ignoring the poor, you weren’t a great guest at dinner parties, rebuking the host for the guest list, telling folk not to grab the best seats, and to give without any hope of earthly reward. We lift to you, dear Lord

  • all who are desperate in these days,
  • all who already struggle to pay their bills,
  • all who are in worry about heating their home,
  • all who cannot make any further savings, and
  • all who will go cold and hungry.

Holy Spirit, you are the creative spark which sets us ablaze, you are the warmth of love that leads us to serve the poor, you are the fire in our bellies that leads us to cry for justice; Inspire, we beg you, those who aspire to lead our nations

  • to work for justice,
  • to be creative with building our economy, and
  • to offer relief to all who dread the coming days, weeks and months.

Eternal One, in the midst of our praises and our prayers, we’re worried,

  • worried about our own bills,
  • worried about our church’s bills,
  • worried about how the groups who use our church will afford to continue,
  • worried about how we can make a difference in these difficult times.

Keep us ever alive to your spirit, allow us to find ways to open our doors and our hearts to your promptings, to unleash our resources of time, talent and treasure, that none may go cold or hungry.

Amen

A prayer for Ukraine