Annual Reports 2004 (Summary)

 

 

Holy Trinity Church District

Team Clergy

St Andrew's Church District

PCC Report

St Paul's Church District

Langley Centre Report

 

 

Holy Trinity Church District

From Bishops to Budgerigars by way of vandals - some of the visitors to Holy Trinity Church during 2004. On Sunday 21st June we held our first Animal Service and were honoured with the presence of the former Bishop of Salisbury, Bishop John Baker. The service was very well attended by parents, children and pets from across the parish and our congratulations go to Tracey Williams and her team for organising the event. On Thursday 11th November, The Bishop of Reading, Bishop Stephen, celebrated Holy Communion at the 10.00 service. He then spent the day in the Parish before licensing Nick Parish as Area Dean at St. Andrew's in the evening. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet Bishop Stephen and welcome him to the Parish.

On a more sombre note, as you are aware, in September, we suffered one of the worst acts of vandalism for many years. Graham has expressed thanks elsewhere in these reports to those who helped in the aftermath. Our thanks also go to the Builders who repaired the inner porch door so quickly. Following the break-in, it was agreed to extend the installation of the tower window grills to include the porch windows. At the time of writing, these have now been completed together with the replacement and repair of the Tower windows. The structural work on the tower was completed earlier in the year.

Our sincere thanks to Gwen Cooper who stood down from leading the Sunday School, your enthusiasm and dedication to the Sunday School will be missed but not forgotten. Helen Hastings and the Sunday School leaders have spent a considerable amount of time in looking at the All-Age and Family Services during the year and we have enjoyed several services with a new format that is still developing.

In the summer, a new BCP was purchased from donations received from the regular attendees of the 8.00 Service on Sundays, the previous version being in a very sorry state.

Maldwyn Davies organised a very memorable concert by members of the BYMT Youth Choir, many people have asked for a repeat performance and we hope this can be arranged.

Fund-raising took on a new look with our first Wine Tasting Evening. This was a great success and many thanks to all those who organised the event and to the poor people who had to taste the wine!

Encouraged by the success of the previous year, once again the Christmas service was by Candlelight and the Nativity Play was "Staged" using the new easy-assembly staging designed and made by Kevin Hastings, many thanks Kevin this will see a great usage in the coming years.

After more years than they would wish to "count", John Haynes and John Ward-Smith have decided to stand-down as the money counters for Holy Trinity. Every week they lock themselves in the office in Langley Hall, count the collections and take them to the Bank. On behalf of everyone, many thanks to you both for all your work and dedication.

Many thanks also to all those who play such an important part in the running and life of the church. To Daphne, to Amelia, to Joan, to the flower arrangers and the cleaners and of course to the members of the DCC and the District Wardens, Malcolm and Geoffrey. To Geoffrey Knight, the choir and other musicians who have each in you own way contributed so much to making 2004 another memorable year.

Graham Dives & Andrew Cope

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St Andrew's Church District

2004 will be remembered as the year that the heating finally broke down! For some months we were kept warm by large electric fires whilst quotes were obtained for a replacement system, and we worried about how to pay for it! We are so fortunate to have the help of John McNeill, who installed a new boiler whilst making good the existing pipe work and radiators. This should last us for another 5-10 years.

Worship
2004 was an encouraging year for St Andrew's - a significant number of members continued to attend the early morning Eucharists. The Worship and Spirituality committee continued to meet regularly to plan the early morning services and devotional services throughout the year. This year the St. Andrew's patronal festival was celebrated on 30th November with a Eucharist followed by a buffet. We were all very surprised to welcome back Fr. John Allen, a much-loved priest of the parish for 7 Years. Holy week and Easter was made so special by music, the flowers and the background efforts by Janet Murton in getting ready the church for our worship. Special thanks to Mary Townsend for the beautiful floral displays.
Special thanks as always to our wonderful organist, Chris Norman, and our choir.

The Walsingham pilgrimage was a great success, Thank you to all who supported it, especially to Fr. Jeremy for his preparation for the weekend. The pilgrimage began with a Eucharist at St. Andrews, followed by the long drive. On arrival we paid our first visit to the shrine church, including the dark and mysterious holy house. The public events included a Pilgrimage Mass and a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament. Our devotions included Sprinkling at the Well, the Laying-On of Hands and Anointing. Also we had a session on the rosary and, just before leaving, a Eucharist in the chapel of All Souls. In general it was a pleasure to be part of the pilgrim journey where everyone was so friendly and positive about the experience.

Sharing Common Life and Fellowship
The coffee morning and Pram Toddler group had another successful year, Thanks for the dedicated efforts from Janet Murton, Doreen Edwards, Pauline Byron and Frank Hatley. The pram and toddler celebrated a wonderful Christmas party followed by the children crib service. All the children stayed for the crib service.

Approximately 60 parishioners from our churches in Bracknell enjoyed the parish outing on 12th June to Christ church and Bournemouth. The day began with a communion service at the Christ church priory led by Rev. Hugh Williams followed by a guided tour about the priory. In the afternoon people spent time in Bournemouth, and as it was such a beautiful day many took the opportunity of spending time on the beach.

St. Andrews's people have participated in the Deanery course entitled 'Build Foundations - Leadership for 21st Century Church' at Ranelagh School.

St. Andrew's parish quiz night was a very good evening for the participants and also helped to raise over £200. Special thanks to Bernard and Sarah for their hard work. Congratulations to the team from St. Paul's who won for the third time (not that we're counting!!).

The Jock's Lane miniature railway society again provided train rides on a beautiful sunny afternoon in September which raise £185 and thanks to all those who supported the afternoon, Special thanks to members of the Jock's Lane miniature railway society.

The Wholeness and Healing group put together a moving and thought-provoking service on St Luke's day on 18th November. Thank you to Rev. Graham Theobald for his excellent talk, to Jacquie Ryder for her good news story from the community and to all those who supported the service and gave their time and energy to the evening.

Ecumenical and Community Links
The spiritual and social links with the Shepherds Lane Methodist church has continued to grow in recent years. It was a great delight to see so many people from Bracknell Methodist Church at the Palm Sunday service at St. Andrew's. The Church was packed and the singing was superb. Likewise it was good to share again the Lenten discussion group with the congregation of Bracknell Methodist Church and in the evenings with Peter Flint and the URC congregation. The two congregations shared another Harvest supper at Shepherds Lane Methodist church. Following recent years' successes Brian Davies and his jazz band played their tunes and Bernard tested our general knowledge. It was a fun filled social evening. The two congregations also shared discussion groups on the Lord's Prayer and sang Christmas Carols together outside Safeway's.

Thanks to Len Barret, Sarah Groombridge and Jessica Smith for taking part in CROW (cycle, run or walk) visiting churches in Berkshire to raise money for Berkshire churches.

In July over thirty people visited St. Andrews for a wonderful cream tea, Thanks to Joyce, Sue all those whom contributed to a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon. The skittles evening was another social event enjoyed by more than thirty people of all ages.

We continue to value our links with local schools. Meadow vale school visited us for their Christmas Carol Service and both Meadow Vale and Sandy Lane schools have visited St. Andrew's to find out about the church.

Other News
We at St. Andrew's have started a Fair Trade shop run by Janet Murton. Our coffee mornings, pram and toddler and early morning breakfasts will be using fair trade products as is the Tea House in town. We plan to start a 100 club to raise money for the heating costs already incurred and those we will face in 5-10 years time when a complete replacement system becomes our only option. We suspect that in the same time frame we may also need to replace the organ.

In support of fund-raising the Patrick Sheen Welsh choir is performing for us in April and a sponsored hymn singing is planned at St. Andrew's this summer.

Mark Byron has taken on the role of overseeing our building, and we are grateful to him for taking on this role that his father had fulfilled before him.

Brenda Mullins has become a Team Warden and John Jayaseelan has been selected for the St. Andrew's District Warden post. Len Barrett and Pearl Harvey have been selected as new members of the DCC. Thank you to Jenny Church for her contribution as Parish Treasurer over the last couple of years, Jan Lobar for her contributions on St. Andrew's DCC and as our secretary and Alison and Sue Mcllhargey for their 5 years work with the 14+ Youth Club.

A big thank you to Joyce Graham and Sue Bryan and number of others who organized various sale events at St. Andrew's that raised almost £800 for parish funds.

Thanks to St. Andrew's congregation for donating £200 to the work of WaterAid. Congratulations to Irene Sainsbury, one of our worshipers of many years have reached the remarkable age of 100 on Harvest Festival day 19th September.

The great tragedy of the year 2004 was the death of Julie, a brilliant and much loved teacher at Meadow Vale school, Who died tragically during a holiday in Switzerland. Over 330 children and adults are gathered at St. Andrew's to give thanks for the life of Julie.

We have lost four of our members namely Betty Webb, Betty Shorter, Nancy Tatham and Robert Muir and our thoughts and prayers are with their families.

Future Hopes
We have started a study group that looks at models of church, ordained ministry, lay ministry and ecumenical links. This group begins with a talk, then a discussion, followed by a meal and finishes with a Eucharist. Our hope is that this will encourage more people at St. Andrew's to play a part in the ministry of the church and for us to strengthen our links with the Methodist church. We look forward to this year's Walsingham pilgrimage trip with twenty-five or so friends on the weekend of 12th to the 15th of August 2005.

We hope to increase the Sunday school attendance in the coming year. We plan to improve communications in the church by using the parish database maintained from the baptism services to send out invitations to the Pram and Toddler events and special family services. We expect to organize various fund raising and community events.

The Pentecost Evensong was supported by a good number of people and we will now look to arrange a BCP evensong every few months, possibly for major festivals. This will be alongside our services of compline, the rosary and the Stations of the Cross.

Youth work and buildings and Health and safety were also identified as areas of need and DCC members have offered help for this important ministry.

John Jayaseelan & Brenda Mullins

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St Paul's Church District

Change is in the air at St Paul's after a busy and exciting year. The first change that will affect us all is the departure of Peter and Judith Flint in June. Peter has been the URC minister at St Paul's for eleven years and his wife, Judith, has been our organist for the last few years.

Three Anglican vicars have worked with Peter and the two congregations are much richer for the fact that they share worship and social events together. Peter's leadership and friendship will be much missed - as will Judith's talented music skills. It is hard to convey our sense of gratitude to this couple; they have been a blessing to us all.

Another change at St Paul's has been our newly revamped social committee. This group meets regularly to organise social events that this years activities have included

  • Pancake Party

  • Beetle Drive

  • Ceilidh

  • Harvest Supper

  • Peter Flint's 10th anniversary lunch

  • and, in the next few months, a 60's and 70's disco and the Summer Fayre

We also have our 'Coffee and Cakes' morning once a month and this is such a friendly and warm place to be on a Saturday morning. Many of the congregations join together for a drink, a chat and delicious cakes and all the proceeds go to our 'Raise the Roof fund.

However, just to show we haven't spent the year eating and partying, we also had an in-depth bible study, led by Peter, on the first chapters of Genesis.

A big thank you must go to all those who help with all our social events. Their faithfulness and generosity help make St Paul's a friendly and welcoming church.

Our fund raising has centred around our 'Raise the Roof' fund and this was given an enormous boost by our Sponsored Hymn Playing last autumn when Judith, our organist, was sponsored to play hymns for twelve hours. This raised over £1,000.

Change can be good, it can also be difficult and one change we experienced was the saddest of all, the loss of our much loved Bill Barton. He has left a gap no one can fill and we miss his smile, his laughter and even his jokes. Our hearts were also broken at the loss of Julie Quinn, Val and Jimmy's daughter, and our prayers remain with both these families as they grieve.

The main business of the year involved a potential change as the church set about discussing the formation of an official Local Ecumenical Partnership between St Paul's Anglican's and United Reformed Church. A small group was formed to explore the idea of sharing ministry between the congregations and they organised an excellent consultation day in January 05, where everyone was able to voice their concerns about ministry and worship at St Paul's.

The result of the consultation was that the churches didn't feel ready to have shared ministry and ministers yet, but there were many other ways we can share what we do to encourage our mission and ministry at St Paul's. The group will continue to meet to help shape the future and a huge thank you to all who have participated in this process; it was a very necessary task

Changes to our building have included our newly revamped kitchen, our new chairs and the re-sealed floor. With our new roof, and the heating is on full blast, St Paul's is indeed a very warm church. There is also a new congregation on a Sunday afternoon, the Elim Fellowship Pentecostal Church, and they are adding colour and sound as they share our building and worship in their native Ghanaian.

Finally a technological change as St Paul's is also seeking to use new media and technology during the services. We now have notices on the plasma screen at the beginning and end of the service and the use of the projector and slides shows has added variety to worsh...when it all works!!

We look forward to 2005 - 2006; it should be another year of exciting pilgrimage

Anne Wood & Russell Goodburn

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Team Clergy

My diary for 2004 stands idle on my shelf, and for some reason, it looks more battered than all its predecessors. Last year was a busy and significant year for the Bracknell Team Ministry and this part of the Diocese of Oxford. We welcomed Bishop Stephen and were glad that we had a Bishop to lead us in the mission and ministry of the church.

My thanks are due first of all to our parish wardens, Graham Dives and Brenda Mullins. Geoffrey Creber departed his office saying he needn't attend another meeting again! We are grateful to him for all that he did. In ministry, Mark Ackford joined us this year as assistant curate and it has been a real delight to welcome him, Suzanne, Joshua and Catharine to our parish. Bracknell is a good training parish because there are so many opportunities for ministry and Mark is using those opportunities so well - we are fortunate to have him as part of the team.

The Ministry Team has contributed much and our newest member, Tracey Williams has begun an exciting set of initiatives that include an Animal Service and the formation of the 11+ Group. This meets in the Tea House and there is a very strong leadership group who are doing such a wonderful job with our young people. The Communion before Confirmation Group again prepared the under 11's to receive communion and we welcomed them to their first communion on Easter Day.
The PCC had an important Away Day at Ascot Priory in the spring and each congregation came up with a plea to do more on Prayer. From this day too came our initiatives on communion by extension and we now have lay people taking communion out on a regular basis to people not able to come to church. I hope that this can be extended in the future, as there seem a lot of people who would value this ministry.

Peter Bestley has been given 'Permission to Officiate' by the Bishop of Reading and he has added so much to our team this year. His preaching and leading of services has been much appreciated. Jenny Colby, our Church Army Sister has joined the Ministry Team and she has particularly made an impact on the town by opening the Tea House on Fridays. This again is a valuable ministry, as is the job that she and her husband Stephen are now doing in editing the Magazine. Our thanks are due to Jill Ridgeon and all her team for the work that she has done with the magazine, and also the building committee. We also said goodbye to Gill and Kevin Lovell and were delighted to see Gill made deacon in June.

Graham Dives and his buildings committee looked after our church buildings. St Andrew's Church now has a heating system that works well and the repairs to Holy Trinity are complete, including the damage caused by unwelcome visitors. As the town centre development has stagnated so has the Langley Hall project, but the optimism remains high and the project is part of the hub awaiting building in the first phase. The PCC decided not to involve themselves in the tentative plans for the development of the Rectory site.

As last year, our finances worry us - our giving went down £12k and our deficit for the year is £15k. Again we shall need each person who comes to church to put £2 per week extra on top of what they give now to keep us in the black. If not, we shall quickly exhaust our reserves. Cathy and Mark Carson's work has been wonderful and their summary included in this report gives us an 'at a glance' summary.

We are blessed with some remarkable people and I would like to thank particularly, the Two Johns at Holy Trinity, John Ward-Smith and John Haynes. These two gentlemen have for 10 years counted the collection at Holy Trinity, and as they step down from this post, I would like to thank them most warmly for their dedication and quiet efficiency. During this year too Nigel Bearne took over from David Fulker as the Parish Administrator. David Fulker is a Christian gentleman of the first order and we owe him a huge debt of thanks for all that he has done in the parish office. Hopefully, David will lend us his talents in the future and we are glad that he has taken on the role of Electoral Roll Officer.

During this year we have seen some new ventures like the Wedding Choir begin and others continue - the Walsingham Pilgrimage, the Canal Cruise, House Groups like the Chocolat Course, the Mothers' Union now at El Alamein Court, Bracknell Blokes all continue to thrive. The Website goes from strength to strength and our grateful thanks to Warwick Comer-Stone for his most enthusiastic managing of the site. (See www.bracknell-parish.org.uk).

I would like to thank Catherine and Jeremy for their continued ministry and fellowship in the gospel. We are blessed with both of them, and also as I am with Helen who manages me and the Rectory so lovingly.

David

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PCC Report

The PCC met six times during 2004 and once again the main focus of the year was on the difficult issue of finance. The Parish Share had continued to rise, which our income could not support. The PCC looked at ways to emphasize the importance of increased giving per head, the tax advantages of Gift Aid and envelope rather than loose cash giving. It debated the serious issues involved with investment proposals, considered the potential for legacies and instituted fund raising initiatives, including a 100 club, but there was no significant improvement over the course of the year and it was recognised that we would need to draw on our reserves. There had been much debate over the Parish Share, the fairness of the formula applied, and our inability to pay and a small group met to put forward our views for the apportionment of the 2005 Share. It was explained that if we had to continue to use our reserves, it was estimated these would be depleted within 3-4 years. During the year the PCC were very sorry to lose the excellent services and achievements of Jenny Church as its Finance Manager, but warmly welcomed the partnership of Mark and Cathy Carson as Treasurers to continue with this essential area of work.

Financial matters and strategies were reflected upon at the Away Day on 22 May, along with our goals and aims for the next 3 years, which would remain as key agenda items for DCC meetings. It had been agreed that the Away Day was a valuable forum that should be held every two years.

The PCC meetings continued to incorporate the ongoing requirements of the Criminal Records Bureau, child protection issues and the impact of Health & Safety legislation and how they inter-related. CRB clearance progressed well and rated risk assessments across the Ministry were undertaken on the activities/risks within each building, including with respect to those working with children and lone workers. This resulted in policies and procedures being produced and the appointment of an Appointing Body Nominee. A small group was established to ensure this essential work continued for the care of children and young people, to consider and review good practice and training requirements, which included the need for a trained first-aider to attend at all children activities. It was acknowledged that legislative requirements impacted on the church in many areas and would need to be kept under constant review.

In the review of our financial situation and to meet legislative Data Protection requirements, it was necessary to confirm details held on the Electoral Roll and to advise individuals on the role, particularly those who appeared to no longer attend church, of the implications and cost to the church of their inclusion on the Roll, which they might wish to address.

In order to meet building and legislative regulations, Holy Trinity required a new path to enable disabled access, and St Paul's looked into expanding its facilities for the disabled (a lift and toilet facilities) in addition to raising funds for the roof and other building works. The debate on continuing to seek Listed building status continued, with no clear weight as to the advantages or disadvantages materialising. It was agreed however to work on a document which would be submitted for status application. St Andrew's required a new heating system and sought much guidance for this project. This resulted in a cost-effective option which was close to fruition by the end of 2004. The means of raising funds for these essential facilities, together with known future building works, especially at Holy Trinity, was a focus of discussion throughout the year. The PCC thanked all those involved in these building projects and in particular in the gifts of time and expertise that were offered to the churches.

The successful ethos of the Ministry Team continued and was strengthened further by the licensing of people to enable communion by extension to take place, which had been well received and enabled important pastoral activity, together with several new and exciting initiatives to enrich the work within the team, particularly for Youth Work and the successful Youth conference day. By the end of the year steps had been taken, including the views of the youth, to consider alternatives to the TAPS and 14+ activities, which had ceased during the year. The successful Communion before Confirmation course was repeated and again was very well received.

It had been identified that the trend for baptisms had increased, which required a large percentage of clergy time at the expense of other ministerial activities and quality of time to the parents. Further the time required for funerals and weddings caused a good deal of prayerful thought as to how clergy time should be divided and ways in which the expanded Ministry Team might be of assistance. The PCC was asked to reflect on what clergy should undertake without quality provision being compromised.

The renewal of Revd David Osborn's licence was unanimously agreed in October 2004. Mark Ackford was welcomed as the new curate in June, and grateful thanks and prayers were offered for the involvement of Jenny Colby and Peter Bestley within the Ministry and the gifts they brought with them. Prayers were also offered for the success of the Tea House, for Revd Ian James in his new work providing assistance in the Winkfield with Cranbourne area and for Revd Nick Parish in his appointment as Area Dean.

The PCC learned of the initiatives taking place between the URC and the Anglican church and prayed for the working group in this partnership venture for sustainable ministry.

The year end saw the appointment of Nigel Bearne as the new Parish Administrator to continue the excellent work initiated by David Fulker, and also the joint partnership for the editorial role of the Parish Magazine by Jenny and Stephen Colby, after Jill wished to step down at the end of 2004, following a long and most valued period in this role.

The Langley Centre project group continued to meet and make good process during the year but awaited the outcome of the Master Plan application before it could move to the next key stage of the project (see The Langley Centre report).
The PCC debated and met challenges throughout 2004 and whilst the financial aspects continued to cause concern, much was successfully achieved with further positive visions expected to be fulfilled in 2005.


Shelagh Richards
PCC Secretary

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Langley Centre Report

The Langley Centre project group met formally three times during the year, although sub-group and smaller meetings continued outside of this formal arena.

There had been organizational and role changes both within the Borough and BFVA, which had impacted on the constitution of the group. A new Director of the BFVA joined the group in the summer, however, with continued enthusiasm for the project, and the revised Borough representation remained positive about this exciting venture. In addition, the Rector had met with outside parties who had also expressed interest and enthusiasm for the project.

Progress had been made through the sub-group with the Project Initiation Document (PID) identifying timeframes and key deadline dates, drafting the Business Plan and identifying associated risks in terms of both the building and more importantly, the revenue required to run the facility. The group's work included detailed consideration of a Risk Register for overall project risks, based on non-commercial risk assessments (e.g. success or failure rather than cost), countermeasures and contingency aspects. It also spent time on the anticipated requirements of the Centre, based on essential and desirable criteria, assisted by the need to address specific questions in their deliberations eg for accessibility, parking, accommodation and shared facilities. It was however difficult for the group to refine its requirements without the certainty of which groups would be located within the building.

The outcome of the Leisure Services questionnaire was awaited which it was considered would better inform and assist the group with the draft Business Case, although the outcome had not been provided by the end of 2004, due to the amount of qualitative data returned to be analysed.

A Joint Vision Statement had been developed, which incorporated both the Church and BFVA's requirements, reflecting the partnership of the project and the joint vision for the Centre. The Business Plan had reached a stage where it would be necessary to form a Management Board, which would enable applications to the Community Fund, and to engage a Project Manager with professional expertise. As a Management Board would take time to establish, the PCC had agreed to an initiative by BFVA to seek funding on behalf of the Steering Group in this respect. The Joint Vision Statement thus also reflected the requirements of the Community Fund criteria.

The Borough architect had drafted a floor plan from the requirements put forward. It was acknowledged that it was a draft, and was deemed to be a good starting point for discussion. The draft established that there was a need to reconsider the access depicted (e.g. to become unrestricted for the church, rather than exclusive, which could be prohibitively expensive if costs were charged per square metre), together with certain shared facilities. More detailed information would, however, be required, to include the potential users of the Centre, in order to instruct building surveyors and obtain costs/revenue estimates from quantity surveyors.

Whilst the group had made good progress with the project, unfortunately the Town Centre development project lost momentum during the Spring. This impacted on the TLC project as it had reached a stage whereby the outcome of the Master Plan would be required to inform its decision making and direction, particularly as affordability was a key risk factor. In addition, the establishment of a Management Board with agreed Heads of Terms, and the appointment of a Project Manager were key activities but were linked to the Town Centre redevelopment outcome. Accordingly, the group meetings were put in abeyance until the outcome of the Master Planning application was known. It was hoped that the submission would be made to the Secretary of State in the Spring of 2005, following submission to the BFBC in March 2005. The group however had been pleased to learn that if the submission was accepted, the TLC would be part of the proposed central hub, which was also a section scheduled for early development within the Master Plan, and all parties looked forward to learning of a positive outcome in order to move into the next key stages of the TLC project.

Shelagh Richards
Secretary to TLC

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