This group meets from 2.00pm - 3.15pm each Tuesday at Stanmore Baptist Church (except for school holidays) and have a varied programme of activities ranging from visiting Speakers, to Bible Studies, occasional lunches and fellowship (more informal) afternoons. A cup of tea and a warm welcome will be there for you. Tuesdays at Two The first meeting of this session was on April 13th when we enjoyed a lunch and the ‘fellowship’ part which involves much talking and  sharing of news.  After this Shaun gave a talk. The next Tuesday Glenn and Winifred Every-Clayton told us what the Bible has to say about growing old.  According to Psalm 92:12 it’s possible, even expected, that we will bear fruit in old age and stay ‘fresh and green.’  I think this must mean on the inside, because the outside tends to be grey and wrinkled! On the next occasion Alf Porter from Paxfold gave an illustrated talk on the Lake District which brought back happy memories to those of us who have holidayed there. Then Susan came to talk about Easter on Iona.  She and Geoffrey had just returned from Iona and a full account of their visit was in the May edition of Linklines. Pastor Bos Menzies from Culver Church came to talk to us shortly before his retirement up north.  He spoke first of the way we use our hands, creatively and for work.  We raise our hands in praise and place them on others in blessing.  Then he gave us some of the many references to God’s hand in scripture.  His mighty hand brought the Israelites out of Egypt, His right hand supports us, and we are engraved on the palms of His hands.  If we belong to Him no-one can pluck us out of His hands, but if we don’t belong to Him then it could be a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.  We were reminded that, to quote Graham Kendrick, ‘the hands that flung stars into space’ were the same hands that were nailed to the cross FOR US.  Bos gave us much to think about. During May Rhonomie Brignell-Barker who was visiting Stanmore from Australia with her delightful family (some of whose names    I can’t pronounce) came with Kiani, aged 8, to tell us about life ‘down under’.  Rhonomie said they love the people and their church but there is a small problem of sermons lasting too long, beyond most people’s attention span.   (Well done Shaun for keeping it short!)   Kiani, who must be our youngest speaker yet, told us all about Church Camp which sounded terribly exciting. The following week Ernie tested our brains with a quiz, so those of us who normally take a nap had to wake up! In June Connie Ellis came along to tell us about her work with blind people, in their homes (the word ‘blind’ is not much used now, the description ‘visually impaired’ being preferred).   Connie brought along a number of gadgets which are helpful to people who can’t see properly, including a talking clock and scales.  There is so much to help blind people live a more comfortable life and it was all very interesting.  Thank you Connie. The following Tuesday we enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon with John and Mary Little as they shared their gift  of music with us on the keyboard and accordion.  We finished with a strawberry tea. We then had a visit from Rev Martin Davies who, instead of giving us the latest news of the work of the Leprosy Mission, spoke on green issues “Make Greed History” using Leviticus 25, where God lays down his instructions about not culti-vating the land every 7th year in order to produce a better crop.  If this is why ministers take sabbaticals every 7 years, we jokingly asked if this applied also to congregations! Our next visitor was Mrs Neville-Rolfe from Berkham-sted who told us about her experiences while prison visiting.  Sadly statistics show the number of offenders has increased over the past few years and their average age is younger.  But an encouraging sign is that Alpha courses are well attended and some lives are being changed for the better.  Prisoners attend two or three courses before they begin to understand what it’s about because their know-ledge of the Bible is almost nil.   This lady needs much prayer support for her ministry. A musical afternoon arranged by Joan and Ernie will be followed by a Members Afternoon when several people will participate and anything could happen.  The final meeting before our summer break will find us listening to Mark Powell of SASRA, after a fellowship lunch.   Audrey Daykin