The 2005-2006 church council was composed of :

• The chaplain, Stephen Coffin,
• Elected members: David Bailey and Mark Lewis (Churchwardens) Alison Coulavin and Valerie Golton (Synod representatives), Elizabeth Cherhal-Cleverly (Secretary), Richard Sheppard (Treasurer), Jon Bateman, Marie Colbert, Gloria Ugonwali, Penny Vincent-Sweet
• Co-opted members: Alan Golton (Assistant Chaplain), Howard Diehl
• Alison Coulavin was also elected child protection officer.

The council has met every month except in August. Attendance at meetings is good, with only one or two people absent each time. The agenda and minutes are sent to members a week before meetings, and published on the church website.
In addition to the council, there are 4 committees :

• Evangelism and outreach, lead by Alan Golton
• Events, lead by John Stinton
• Social, lead by Val Golton
• Finance, lead by Richard Sheppard

The council. has discussed, and dealt with, many topics this year:

• Welcome to newcomers: a welcome pack has been updated and a newcomer’s welcome meeting organised in October.
• Prayer Teams: prayer teams have been organised to pray with people at the end of services and a healing service is organised every fifth Sunday.
• Teaching: we have discussed the general teaching in the church, and in particular the 2 lent campaigns “purpose driven life” and “encountering Jesus”.
• Student worker: we have held discussions with Sally Mc Namee while she was here.
• The “what are our strengths” study: this was lead by Howard Diehl, and undertaken at 2 successive council meetings. Schematically, the conclusions were that :
  • Core Values for our church were
    • care, loving, fellowship and diversity
  • Gifts most mentioned were
    • music, serving others, involvement
  • Among the “3 wishes for the church” were
    • reaching the unreached, deeper relationship to Christ, welcoming more people into our church.
• Job descriptions : We have drawn up job descriptions for the churchwardens, the child protection officer and the council members.

The council has endeavoured to give its full support to Mark and Carine Lewis, preparing to go off to Burkina Fasso on mission, and to Tilly Leuring, Tearfund coordinator in Democratic Republic of Congo. The council also decides which charities to support.

Other matters are discussed by the council, such as the budget, voting of special funds to support charities, relations with the Council of Grenoble Churches, the (Anglican) diocese of Europe, the archdeaconery synod,…

Naturally we also discussed the creation of the new “ICG” in Corenc and the consequences for St Marc's church. Although this was a difficult moment for a lot of us in more ways than one, we have strived to focus on the positive side of this issue. Our feeling is that everything must be done to bring people to Jesus, and all efforts in this direction must be encouraged.

My personal feeling is that this year’s council has discussed things in depth, made many good decisions, and endeavoured to keep a Christian spirit of love alive among its members and generally in the church body.

I pray that the next council takes things forward in love and unity for the glory of Jesus.

Elizabeth Cherhal-Cleverly, March 20th 2007