ANNUAL CHURCH MEETING – RECTOR’S REPORT 2005

At a packed Annual Church Meeting – certainly the best attended I have seen in almost twenty years – Roger took the opportunity to offer us encouragement by reflecting on what is good in our Church life, and to offer us some challenges for the coming year. Here I pick out some points that struck me.

Roger began with worship, especially our Sacramental worship, where we have been blessed not only with growing numbers, but with a growing sense of community. The changes in worship patterns have given us the opportunity to become more properly congregations, with an increased awareness of one another. There is now a real feel that in our worship there is a community that means business with God, and wants others to be a part of that.

Our Youth Work, which has been a concern for several years, is beginning to move forward in an exciting way. We now have a shared group with the United Reformed Church, and the Methodists will soon be sharing in this group as well. The URC youth worker, Dan Sach, has been released by the URC so that he can be a shared worker for this ecumenical group.

Roger also noted the signs of the Lord at work in the different ministries that have emerged: Jude Padfield’s preaching ministry, the continual renewal of the Sunday School teams, the building up of our Pastoral Link, ministries of prayer and healing, and the way that House Groups are developing their own leadership. And he also gave thanks for the upfront ministries of David and Malcolm, and for the retired clergy and lay people, all of whom give him a real sense of shared ministry. And we should not forget the everyday ministries that we all have, as we go out into our other communities, Monday to Friday. Roger’s Lent course on Celtic spirituality had reminded us that God can be sought – and found – in ordinary things, in the humdrum tasks of daily life.

As to the challenges: first there is money. We can no longer look forward to the surpluses we have enjoyed in previous years, and we will all need to grasp afresh the concept of regular, prayerful and proportionate giving. Next we need to find ways of bringing our two Churches even closer together. Third, as the Parish Office becomes a reality, we need to address the way the Parish is run and to develop effective structures for administration.

Finally we need to plan and consult together for the future. Nearly five years ago we held a Parish Conference and produced a Parish Plan. Much of what has happened since has flowed from that plan, but now we need to start thinking towards the next five years. There will be a Parish Conference on 15^th October, but now is time to begin to pray for the grace of discernment, so that we can find the Lord’s vision for his people here in St Bridget’s and Caldy.

Trevor Bench-Capon

May 2005