Rector’s Letters
June 2010
“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in
perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:14)
This month I’d like to highlight some exciting recent developments within the life of the church and benefice.
The first is the announcement that we’ve found a new House for Duty Associate Minister for Aldford and Bruera. The successful candidate (whose name I cannot reveal until a formal announcement has been made) has a wide range of experience and ministry in a variety of contexts including overseas, but more importantly, including a rural multi-parish benefice like ours. He and his wife have a gentle nature and I believe will very naturally and quickly fit in and join in. This is a great answer to our prayers for which we thank God. There’s a slight possibility that he may be able to start at the beginning of February 2011 (earlier than we initially thought). In the meantime, to bridge the gap, I have offered the post to Trevor Davies who of course is already well known to the churches. My warm thanks go to him (and Evelyn!) for his willingness to help out in this way. As you can imagine, it is a sudden change of routine for Trevor and Eveline, but it is very good news for our friends in Aldford and Bruera who now have someone on the doorstep to be there and minister to them.
Secondly, I want to keep you up to speed with the latest GAP developments. After hearing all the very thoughtful and fruitful suggestions that arose from every stage of the process (SWOT review, meeting at Tattenhall and the goal-setting meeting at the Burley Hall), the PCC met on Monday night to decide what new projects and initiatives we should develop this year. We heard enough suggestions to keep us going for 10-15 years! As promised, the PCC took into account all the ideas and suggestions, but in the light of the two big new initiatives in 2009 (the ‘Little Fishes’ and Midweek Communion) we wanted to be careful not to overstretch ourselves with anything too demanding or large. So these are the three areas we agreed to focus on in 2011:
1. The Family Service. This service has room for improvement; notably greater involvement from children (and grown-ups!) and better communication with the Sunday Club. We therefore proposed that I would meet regularly with the Sunday Club and with some of the staff team, to plan the services (theme, readings, choice of songs/hymns, etc). Some of you will know already that I have been persuading some families to lead the prayers, but there’s a need to sharpen up all the small details of the service to make it the best it can be.
2. A New Pastoral Care System. The proposal is that we offer a well co-ordinated and well-communicated system of pastoral care - offering to do the shopping, write letters, fill out forms, give lifts to hospital, etc. The details will be explored further, but the general idea is that there's somebody acting
as a contact-point for people to phone. who finds a volunteer (from a list) to help out with the particular skill required. The list of skills offered gets published and well promoted. The system may allow for any number of people to act as 'contact point', using a mobile phone that gets passed on (in a briefcase – like a mobile office) together with the list of volunteers.
3. Re-design the Welcome Area in church. At Tattenhall, you may remember, Kath Wentel outlined some of the issues of our ‘welcome’ in the church. The present layout has some problems and the new design will seek to create space for sidespersons to hand out books, better lighting, smart-looking notice-boards, bookshop and space to browse, etc, with a modern feel that respects the old. With a small team to help him, Peter Williams will draw up some plans and report to the next PCC meeting.
Although none of these are plans to grow numerically in a direct way, they will give most of us an opportunity to use our gifts for service (especially under point 2) and, I believe, lay some really good foundations for future growth.
What we invite people to, matters. And so in all of this, the way we manage these projects will be much more significant than the results. When we work together in a spirit of unity, love and gentleness, bearing with each other’s differences, listening hard to those with whom we disagree and seeking their welfare, that’s when we find ourselves glad to be part of this church family. That’s when this group of people will become increasingly attractive to others as we grow more perfect in Christ.
Richest blessings in Christ.
Jules