Churchwardens' Report to the Annual General Meeting

3 April 2005

Demystification

Early in the year, we discussed with Stephen the need for some form of reference leaflet explaining some of the "jargon" we use both as Christians and more specifically as Anglicans. Being relatively new to the church, Lara was particularly conscious of how much we often take for granted and how obscure we can sometimes be. The reference leaflet never materialised, but similar suggestions were made in the context of the proposal for the second service and have been incorporated into our regular worship pattern.

Involvement

To help alleviate some of Stephen's tasks, we took on the responsibility for organising the monthly rotas, with a determined attempt to get more people involved by approaching them directly and inviting them to do jobs. The response was very encouraging and a wider spectrum of the congregation is now involved on a regular basis with these many duties. Lara also began to do the weekly notice announcements, but with the purchase of the new projector, Stephen once again took over the job of putting them together for overhead display.

Peace and unity

This year has not been without its ups and downs within the church. The proposal for the second service, the question of the old web site and issues related to Sunday School work all caused unhappiness and misunderstanding to varying degrees. It is one of our duties as wardens to try and assist the chaplain to maintain harmony within the congregation. We were perhaps not as effective as we could have been in this, and more regular feedback and discussion with Stephen might have been helpful. We do urge you to talk to the churchwardens when you feel unhappy (or even happy!) about issues within the church. We are supposed to represent you, and we can only do that if we know what you actually think!

Looking ahead

We were pleased to have a visit from ICS Chief Executive Ian Watson in October and discuss with him the way we felt the chaplaincy was/should be heading. It was good to see that people wholeheartedly endorsed the idea of extending Stephen's contract for a further 3 years when it ends in the autumn and that he and Marian accepted to stay on. We looked at the areas Stephen feels should be our priorities in the next few years and at ways in which the church could focus more on outreach. We are becoming increasingly conscious that we need to be "mission-shaped".

Inventory

The main additions to the church's property this past year have been the overhead projector we purchased, the computer that runs it, kindly donated by Troy Simoni, and the new wooden lectern bought on our behalf by Selina Wesley in memory of John. These have considerably enhanced our Sunday worship in their different ways.

Lastly, we wish to thank Stephen and Marian, Alan and Val for all the hard work they do and for their commitment to this church, to Richard, Mark and to all those who have worked on the Church Council, and all those who contribute in many ways to the life of the church.

Lara Confort – David Bailey