During the Blitz West Ham was raided 194 times, many hundreds of people took shelter night after night in the crypt of St John's. The building was badly damaged by bombing: in particular all the windows were blown out. The churchyard railings were also removed for the war effort. Many of the faithful members were bombed out or evacuted during the war and others moved out as a result of demolition and new developments.

The Friends of St John's was formed in 1944 to keep members in touch with each other. The Friends contributed towards the cost of repairs to the building and St John's was finally restored from war damage in 1951, the new East Window being dedicated in 1955. Each year at St. John's we hold a 'Friends Service and Lunch' when all our past members are invited to join us in a special celebration and the vicar sends a special greeting and report to all of those absent friends.

The flags above represent the countries from which members of St. John's Friends come.

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From the Vicar:

Greetings to all friends of St. John's, wherever you are!

We do hope that you will be able to join us for the Annual Friends' Service on Sunday 3rd July 2011, 11am, to be followed by a buffet lunch in the Christchurch Room.

The service this year is earlier than usual because the second weekend in July will be taken up by our latest mini-mission, The Ultimate Dream, another rehearsal for The Ultimate Gold, in 2012. This year there will not be a guest preacher - after 21 years I thought it was time I preached at the Friends Service, (last time was 1990 - does anyone remember?)

Our partnership with Through Faith Missions continues. Following on from The Ultimate Goal mission, last June, we had a very successful mission training weekend in February, where 13 St John's members completed the basic TFM evangelist training. 4 members will join the TFM Walk West Dorset in the autumn to sharpen up their skills before 2012.

We are still planning the 2012 mission, and have now added Open Air Campaigners and the Salvation Army to our team of partners. We also hope to be joined by some performers from YWAM. Our aim, in partnership with others, is to be open for 16 hours per day during this time. Please pray for our planning.

PEOPLE......

• Peter Ngugi was ordained Deacon on 4th July. He was with us until October but then, sadly, had to return to Kenya because the Diocese had not managed to sort out his work-permit. We hope he will be back with us soon. Please pray for him at this difficult time.
• Cheryl Ramballi completed her training and was licensed as a Reader on 9th October 2010. She is a huge asset to our team.
• Robert Otule began training for Reader Ministry last autumn. We hope he will be licensed in 2012.

BUILDING WORK......

• 2010 was a quiet year for building work, but there are several projects in the pipeline.
• We plan to do some work on the organ in October - the coupler mechanism will be dismantled and re-leathered, after almost 100 years of faithful service!
• We need to do some re-pointing on the high-level parapet walls on the north side of the church.
• We need to fit overflows to the remaining two gutter sumps on the north side of the church, which are subject to blockages in the very heavy rain which we sometimes experience.
• We hope to remove some fence panels which are currently being displaced by a very large plane tree. These will be used to replace 2 damaged panels and a new, lower, fence erected behind the tree. We hope insurance will cover this cost.
• Our numbers at Sunday services continue to grow and we continue to look at ways to fit more seats into the church and to give us more flexible space. We still hope to improve the Prayer Chapel sometime, but there are so many other priorities.....
• Newham Council were planning to improve our access onto the south side of the Broadway, as part of a major programme to improve the town centre, but we understand that this work has been scaled down, so St. John's main access will remain where it has been, since carriages first drove into the churchyard in 1834!

We appreciate all the help and prayer given by Friends in maintaining our building.

FRIENDS' NEWS......

• Dave and Carol, together with Adrian Clarke, were able to attend the Induction service for Darren McIndoe as Rector of Burslem with Middleport, (near Stoke on Trent). Please pray for Darren in this challenging area. There is a link to photos on the website.
• David Ibiayo was inducted as Rector of Vange and Bowers Gifford (near Basildon) in Spring 2011. A large number of St. John's members went to cheer him on. Please pray for God's guidance for him as he begins this new ministry.
• Christy Asinugo was ordained Priest on 27th June 2010. She continues as curate at St. Mary's Becontree, and becomes full-time from 1st August 2011.
• Cornelius Henry was ordained Priest on 27th June. He is currently Curate at St Andrew's Hornchurch. Karlene, his wife, sadly passed away last autumn after a very courageous battle against cancer.
• Gautam and Sabrina Money, working in India with CMS, continue as our Mission Partners.
• Nick and Heidi Munn had a second child during 2010, Peter Kenneth, on 2nd July 2010.

PLEASE PRAY

• For our Curate, Rev. Peter Ngugi, that he may be able to return to us very soon.
• For our continuing ministry and mission to the local community.
• For our continuing partnership with other Stratford Churches through www.stratfordchurches.co.uk
• For the plans for 2012 Olympic Mission - The Ultimate Gold.
• For the Olympic Legacy, that local people will see some benefit.
• For the inSpire project, opening on 13th September, aiming to offer ministry and mission to the Westfield Stratford City development, through Chaplaincy and a Quiet Space. Please pray also for Rev. Julia Murphy, recently appointed as part-time co-ordinating chaplain to inSpire. (Dave is Chair of this project).
• For Christy as she moves on to a new phase in her ministry
• For Cornelius and his son Nathaniel, as they come to terms with their bereavement.
• For Darren McIndoe as he ministers at Burslem with Middleport.
• For David Ibiayo in his new post at Vange
• For Gautam and Sabrina and their work in India.
• For Pat, Eula, Kay and Yvy as they join teams for TFM's Walk West Dorset in the autumn.
• For our Sunday and Midweek Services as we work to show God's love at the centre of Stratford.
• For our mini mission weekend, The Ultimate Dream 6th-10th July and our planned Open Air Services, beginning 24th July and continuing through August.
• For all Friends of St. John's, wherever they may be.