Annual Review 2011
‘Living for Jesus; Knowing, Growing & Going’
Contents
From the Wardens 3
From the Vicar 5
Vision, Values & Structure 7
Knowing
Report from the Knowing Team 7
Prayer 8
Service 10
Teaching 10
Worship 10
Music 10
Children 11
Young People 13
Growing
Report from the Growing Team 16
Pastorates & Home Groups 18
Social Organising Team 20
Going
Report from the Going Team 21
(1) Locality
Toddlers 22
1
Eggsplore & Christingle 23
Messy Church 24
Playgroup 25
Child Protection 26
Cake & Company 27
Knightstone House 27
Stay & Play 27
(2) Wider World
Mission Partners 28
Context Students 29
Diocese 29
Deanery Synod 30
Supporting Ministries
Report from the Building Team 31
Church Gardens 32
Cleaning 32
Flowers 33
Coffee 33
Banner Group 33
Traidcraft 34
Bell Ringers 34
Sacristans 35
Technology Group 35
2 From the Churchwardens - Review of 2011
It is always good to have this opportunity to step back and reflect on the past year and God’s provision for us, as it is easy to miss all that is going on as St Matthew’s continues to grow and change.
The start of 2011 was tinged with sadness at the sudden death of Ted Stocks. Ted was a faithful member of St Matthew’s for many years. Amongst other things he will be remembered for his prayerful wisdom, bible teaching, sketch writing, acting, furniture making and in all his innovative solutions to many of the day-to-day building needs.
In May 2011, Tim Snowdon stood down after two-years as warden and we are grateful for all he did in the role as well as his continued support and vision. Throughout the year Tim, has been co-ordinating the creation of monthly prayer cards with messages for the local community, discerned by prayer. To date, 8 out of planned 12 cards have been delivered to 1500 homes each month, in the local area. In response, there have been conversations with people wanting to talk about issues of faith and several people have come to services at St Matthew’s as a result of receiving the cards.
As wardens we have been increasingly encouraged in the church’s vision of “Living for Jesus: Knowing, Growing and Going,” by the dedicated work undertaken by the three area teams; from new initiatives such as the podcasts of sermons available on-line and a wonderfully successful Christmas lunch downstairs in the hall, to thought-provoking sermon series in conjunction with the use of the chapel during advent. We have continued to grow in areas of outreach in Dove Street, Knightstone House and Messy Church whilst supporting new projects such as the Matthew Tree, which has led to strong links with St Matthew’s. The dedicated teams have worked hard to bring the Vision alive by enhancing our worship and discipleship, strengthening our relationships (individually and corporately), and leading the witness and mission in our wider community. There have been exciting youth work projects as well, including the Summer Football Scheme that took place in August, which was organised and delivered by some of our young people.
As with any year, there are staff changes. We were all sad to say goodbye to Vicky Wright in January 2012, when she left to take up her new post of Assistant Minister at St Bartholomew’s in Bishopston. We will miss her passion and commitment but know she will be a great blessing to those she will serve in her new community. Her involvement was instrumental in so many areas of worship, outreach and discipleship at St Matthew’s. She was a key member in exploring the Ark Project with BCF, co-ordinating the discussion with local businesses and residents; without her Kingsdown Homegrown would not have been nearly so successful and we would not have the strong relationships that have formed as a result of this event. Dove Street, Knightstone House, Messy Church are obvious areas of work associated with Vicky, but she was also passionate about Welcome and Communication and how St Matthew’s engages with those who come into contact with the church community for the first time, be that at a service or an event. She led the Going Team, ran training for students training for ordination & liaised with other groups in Bristol about community engagement, all with seemingly inexhaustible energy and a beaming smile. Finally, who can forget her various dramatic turns; playing
3 characters that were usually hilarious, but often unexpectedly moving? A person of great gifts, Vicky is already greatly missed.
With all the wonderful children’s work that goes on at St Matthew’s, the idea of Cath Hubbuck going on maternity leave felt an alarming prospect. Yet our unfailing God rescued us by bringing Charlotte Gompertz to take on this role, which she has embraced with great energy and for which we are very grateful. We continue to be blessed by our relationships with the Context Students and those exploring ministry at St Matthew’s. We praise God for the many gifts and the enthusiasm they and their families bring to our community and to our worship.
More than anything as Churchwardens, we are grateful to the many people, too numerous to mention who work quietly and tirelessly behind the scenes to make things happen. St Matthew’s is blessed with many gifted individuals, and many give generously of their time to help whenever it is needed. As caretakers of God’s building, there is always a list of things to be done but we are slowly working through it. The garden has been gradually tidied over the year and its beauty appreciated in conversation with those who live locally, contributing as it does to our welcome and to our presence in the local community.
We look forward to exciting developments in the year ahead; to welcoming Caleb and Billy Rowe as they join the Leadership Team, to continued growth in our worship and corporate life together, to all that God has planned for us.
Philip May Polly Wingate-Saul
4 From the Vicar – Review of 2011
2011 was a great year and as you read this review I hope that you will be as encouraged as I am at all God is doing amongst us and through us. As I reflect back on the year it has been a joy to see St Matthew’s vision ‘Living for Jesus’ bearing fruit by God’s grace; a real pleasure to see new people joining the community; a delight to see people discovering and using their gifts for the kingdom of God and a privilege to see individuals growing as they discover and follow Jesus.
There have of course been sad times too. The death of Ted Stocks at the beginning of the year was a shock and great loss. Many have struggled with illness and other stresses. It has been wonderful to see the community support and uphold those in need in prayer and practical service.
As we left 2011 we said goodbye to Vicky Wright who had given us so much in so many ways during her 4 years with us. During the next year we will welcome new staff members in Billy and Caleb. I pray that we will also welcome new community members and new Christians.
As this review testifies, we are a growing church. Some of that growth has been shown in our ministry in the Dove Street area as well as through our work with young families. I hope and pray that God will sustain us and know that he will provide the resources we need to do all he is calling us to do. Whilst it isn’t the only measure of growth our Sunday attendance figures show that our morning and evening services are growing in number. Our normal Sunday attendance figure is now 143 adults and 32 children. We have also seen an encouraging growth in giving which I believe reflects increased numbers and commitment.
We are a church that wholeheartedly seeks the growth of the kingdom of God alongside our partner churches and organisations. We seek the growth of our church in terms of numbers and influence across the city. Each of us plays our part in this, whether we serve coffee on a Sunday, or clean the church, or preach or lead children’s Sunday groups. We are all the body of Christ, ‘for in one Spirit we are all baptized into one body’ (1 Cor 12:13). Ephesians 4:15-16 reminds us that we are to ‘grow up into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.’ The key to our growth is commitment to Jesus our head; our living for Jesus. I am convinced that unless we continue to take seriously our call to be disciples of Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, with all the joys and challenges that that brings we will not see fruitful growth.
St Matthew’s is a ‘good’ church. It could be a better church. As I reflect on the past few years I see growth and that is good, but I also believe we ‘punch below our weight’ and don’t often fully allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us. There is more to come and I look forward to serving you and serving with you to achieve all that God is calling us to.
5 As I’ve reflected on 2011 I’ve been challenged once again by the St Matthew’s prayer (see below) which was adopted before my time here but is still highly significant for us. I am also continually drawn to the prayer of Paul for the Ephesian church in 3: 14-21. May it be true for us.
Yours in Christ
Rev Mat Ineson
Heavenly Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon St. Matthew’s. Grant us a new vision of your Glory, a new experience of your power, a new faithfulness to your Word, a new consecration to your service so that, through our renewed witness your Holy Name may be glorified and your Kingdom advanced, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
6 Vision, Values & Structure
St Matthew’s vision is ‘Living for Jesus: knowing, growing and going’. You’ll find that this annual review document is set out to reflect our vision.
‘Knowing’ is about our discipleship or following Jesus, it’s knowing God the Father, in Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. This is the basis of all that we are and do. ‘Growing’ is about our community, growing in numbers and depth of community. ‘Going’ is about our mission, going into the world to make disciples and serve those in need.
Alongside our vision we also defined our core values. These are:
• Putting God first at the heart of all we do. Matt 22: 36-38 • Loving each other and ourselves. Matt 22: 39-40 • Being a place of transformation, forgiveness and healing, where all are cherished, valued and not judged by the values of the world. John 8: 6-7 • Being the body of Christ where every member plays a part, is equally valued and uniquely gifted to serve God and others. Eph 4: 11-16, 1 Cor 12 • Being called by Jesus to make disciples of all people as we go about our daily lives. Matt 28:16 to end • Working with God to proclaim the kingdom of God and ‘make it happen’. Luke 4: 18-19
Our vision and values have been formulated and honed over a number of years but were articulated in this way in the early part of 2011. Since then we have worked at making sure all our activities are in line with these vision and values.
Our structures have also changed to serve these priorities. So we now have four teams of people who lead the ‘Knowing’, ‘Growing’, ‘Going’ and ‘Supporting’ areas of our church life. These are overseen by the PCC. The staff team of the church serve the community of St Matthew’s as we work together with God to build his kingdom.
Knowing
Report from the Knowing Team
The team that leads this area of work is led by Mat the vicar and includes PCC members and others who have a passion to see the people of St Matthew’s grow in their knowledge of, and relationship with, God in Jesus. The members of the team are Helen Aberdeen (PCC), Julia Dunn (PCC), Dom Hubbuck, Emma Ineson, Joyce Caithness, Ron Cross and Tracey Wheeler.
We met once every two months and talked about each of the areas below. The team agreed teaching series for children and adults, organised a men’s day, women’s days and retreats with other people; we spoke about mentoring and how we could better encourage people to discover their gifts; we discussed our worship reflecting on how we could encourage all people of all ages to engage with God.
If you want to know more please do speak to one of the team. Mat Ineson 7 Prayer
‘Of all the blessings of Christian salvation none is greater than this, that we have access to God in prayer’ D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (James Montgomery 1818)
It has, in many ways, been a year of discovery of the depth, length and breadth of prayer that goes on within the congregation at St Matthew’s. It has been a great encouragement and privilege to share in some of those prayers.
Church Prayer Meeting
The monthly church prayer meetings continue to be a time of listening to God and praying for the growth of St. Matthew’s and the kingdom of God. The meetings have been led by a variety of different people in very different ways, which has produced some great challenges and encouragements.
Chapel Prayer before Morning Services
On Sunday mornings between 10.00-10.25 am there is a time of prayer in the Chapel open to all to come and be part of, giving as much time as they are able. The focus of this time is on listening to God and praying for the church, the service, those involved in leading or taking part in it and for all of us as we meet to worship. These have been times of great blessing as we pause to give God time to speak and us to listen.
Praying during and after Morning and Evening Services It has been good to see people offering to pray and being prayed for after the morning and evening services. This has continued to happen both in a formal way (after service prayer team) and a less formal way as people naturally pray with those in need around them after the services. Our Prayer Team has welcomed several new members to its ranks during 2011/2012.
Prayer Ministry
Gwynneth Pugh-Jones and Adam Kishtainy continue to offer prayer ministry appointments and remain very keen to see this develop in the church.
Advent Quiet Day In November an Advent Quiet Day was held at Emmaus House, Clifton. This was led by The Revd. Canon Ray Brazier giving those who came the much needed opportunity to draw aside and reflect on the coming Christmas season. We were blessed by beautiful weather and were able to enjoy the lovely gardens at Emmaus House as part of the day.
Prayer Chains The St Matthew’s prayer chains (3 telephone and 1 ‘e chain’) are for people and situations in need of immediate prayer; the aim being to get as many people praying in as short a time as possible. Over the past year the e chain has significantly grown in numbers. We continue to receive requests on a fairly regular basis. 8 Back-up Pray-ers Our ‘back-up pray-ers’ for the PCC, Staff, Leadership, Prayer Walks, Alpha Course have faithfully continued to pray. My thanks and the thanks of all those involved in the various meetings, go to them for this very special ministry, as more often than not they are praying ‘in the dark’!
The Prayer Cycle This continues to be widely used and much appreciated. It is certainly comforting to know that at least once a month you have a lot of people praying for you all at the same time.
Online Prayer Wall The on line prayer wall continues on the St Matthew’s web pages (http://stmatthews- bristol.org.uk). At the present time the use of this in its present position on the web site is being reviewed.
Monday Intercessory Group
This group meets once a month on Monday mornings. We pray for mostly long term needs that are made known to us and also for the staff and others who are involved in all the various activities that happen as part of our church community. We do receive confidential requests for prayer and feel this is a useful service we can offer. We are now a group of four having been joined this year by Kate Hill, however it would be lovely to have more people in the group so if you feel you would like to join us please talk to one of us. Ann Baker, Kate Hill, Gillian Joomun, Margaret Williams
Sunday Intercessors Thank you to everyone who has led the intercessions at the Sunday morning & evening services during 2011. A few more people have been willing to pray and this has added variety & creativity to this very important ministry; a particular thank you to several of the Context students who have led intercessions sometimes at short notice. We still have a rather limited number of people on the rota. If you feel called to contribute to the life of the church in this way please speak to Joyce, Mat or Jackie (rota organiser).
Jackie Burnell
My thanks to all of you involved in whatever way with the above groups and activities may God continue to bless you greatly through the ministry of prayer. Joyce Caithness Prayer Coordinator
9 Service As this whole report shows more and more of the St Matthew’s community are becoming involved in serving God in church and the world. Research into how people grow in discipleship is clear that serving God by serving others is key. The church is not a machine that needs cogs but a dynamic body in which each member discovers their gifts of service and uses them for God. During this year we saw many people do just that. We also ran the CPAS course ‘Growing Leaders’ with Redland Parish Church and held a day aimed at helping us discover our gifts in October.
Teaching
Many people comment on the high quality of teaching that is delivered in our Sunday worship services, Messy Church, Eggsplore and Christingle and also through our small group / pastorate structure and other occasional groups such as our Lent Groups and the popular monthly Tea and Theology.
This year we delivered Sunday teaching based in the lectionary as well as specific series on ‘Faith at Work’, the ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus, ‘Acts; Turning the world upside down’, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is…’, ‘Places to meet God’ (remember the bears?), ‘Exploring Ephesians’, ‘Your Kingdom come in my …’ and ‘Encountering Jesus’. We were indebted to the hard work of all our preachers and leaders, and especially to Emma Ineson who designed much of our teaching programme. Our aim through our teaching is to help people live for Jesus in their everyday lives.
Worship
One of the great strengths of St Matthew’s is the variety of different people who take part in planning and leading worship. We seek to make our worship a corporate public expression of our life in Jesus, connecting together with God through it and declaring praise, thanksgiving and prayer. Thank you to all our lay ministers, ordained clergy, musicians, readers, intercessors, actors, flower arrangers, sound and visual operators, wardens, welcomers, sacristans, children’s and young people’s leaders and others who enable us to worship together.
This year I’d like to express a particular thank you to Sue Roulstone as she steps down from leading the flower arrangers and to Ann Baker who has been our lead sacristan for many, many years and will step down at Easter 2012. They have put a huge amount of time, effort and commitment into their roles, much of which is hidden.
Mat Ineson
Music
I am very grateful to Richard Wheeler and to Adam Kishtainy who have shared the planning and the leadership of the music each month. Music is continually evolving at St Matthew’s and there are now numerous musicians who play and sing each month. Adam
10 has been responsible for the development of the evening services especially and the growth in congregation numbers for the evenings is evidence of his commitment and hard work.
The plan of monthly morning services has settled into a plan of a choir- lead service on the first Sunday only (as opposed to first and third Sundays last year) with band-lead music on the others. I would welcome any feedback on this arrangement as it is difficult to gauge whether this is a good move or not but it has been great to welcome new musicians into our worship and I am grateful for their contribution which has enhanced and enriched our Sunday morning worship.
I was pleased with the end-product of our carol service this year. The singers came up trumps and I think it was very well received. Thank you to all who took part.
It has become increasingly evident that we need someone to help organise the musicians and the music within our services on an employed basis as it is a huge job with so many possibilities for expansion and development. In 2012 we are expecting to appoint someone to a role that will include these responsibilities.
More singers especially would aid our worship – a commitment of once-a-month is very welcome but as ever, I am eternally grateful for our loyal nucleus of singers and the regular instrumentalists / pianists who lead the worship with such spirit and commitment – thank you. Stephen Browne
Children
2011 has been another busy and fairly interesting year!
It has remained my overriding aim in the Children's Work at St Matthew's church to ensure that every Sunday morning provides a positive, warm, welcoming and hopefully fun experience of church for all children in attendance. It is also a joy to see the children at our church happily, willingly and naturally exploring and actively growing their own personal faith – a faith that feels exciting and relevant to their lives and experiences. I love to see children taking steps on their journey of faith and knowing Jesus more and more in their lives and nothing excites me more than to see them positively expressing the relevance and value of faith in their relationships and everyday lives. My prayer is always that through solid Bible-based teaching and consistent love-based relationships between children and their adult leaders, faith that is deep and life-long will grow.
Your ongoing support and your prayers for all aspects of the Children's work at St Matthew's are greatly appreciated. Since September - and the start of the new academic year – I have been on Maternity leave and therefore the children's provision on a Sunday morning has been the responsibility of Mat, Charlotte Gompertz and the Sunday Groups Leaders. Thank you all very much for making my time of leave so manageable.
Cath Hubbuck – Children's Minister
11 Crèche and Tiddlywinks
As 2010 drew to a close, it became clear that the number of children in the Tiddlywinks group had become rather too large for the space available. As a result a new Sunday School group formed for children in their preschool year. This has both eased things within the Crèche space (both physically and where the limitations of the Tiddlywinks material are concerned) and allowed those children aged 3 and 4 years old to flourish within the Sunday School.
Other than this, very little has changed during the past year with regard to the set-up on a Sunday morning, which still generally involves one volunteer allocated to 'Crèche duty' working alongside two volunteers (a leader and a helper) running a loosely structured Tiddlywinks programme of activities. These activities usually include some songs, a story and some themed play or craft activities. It continues to be a busy but happy space which provides a positive experience of church for the youngest members of our church.
Cath Hubbuck, with the Crèche & Tiddlywinks Team
Sunday School
Sunday Mornings have remained a relaxed and happy space for the children at St Matthew's and their adult leaders to spend time sharing and learning together about faith. For the first two terms of the year, the Sunday morning groups followed the online Scripture Union programme called 'Light Live'. This was the best option available to us since the number of children in the Crèche space upstairs required the Sunday School to change from two school-age groups (5-7s and 8-11s) to now include a small group for those children aged 3 or 4 years old who are in their preschool year. The Light Live material has so far been the only pre-written programme I have found that means that all three groups can focus on the same theme or Bible character/story at the same time. This has also meant that I can still begin the morning sessions with a time of 'gathering' and starting off together that then has relevance and a thread that continues in the children's group time.
Sunday sessions continue to be dependent on the skills, enthusiasm and commitment of a team that is still relatively quite small. While I have been on Maternity Leave, this commitment has been even more meaningful and I am grateful to the whole team for working together to keep the children's Sunday morning provision as consistent and stimulating as always. Thank you all for your involvement during this time. There is always a need for additional helpers in all areas of the children's provision – for leaders and helpers to join in regularly on a Sunday morning, but we would also always welcome offers of help from individuals who might have a special skill or talent that you wish to share with us on a short-term or one-off basis. As a whole church community, it still remains that the most effective and powerful way of supporting the faith development of our children is for them to be surrounded by others who will be witnesses for them of what it means to follow Christ.
We really do value your ongoing prayers for the children's work at St Matthew's. – Please do continue to pray for the children, their families and their adult leaders
Cath Hubbuck and The Sunday School Team
12 Young People
Youth Work Vision: Knowing, Growing and Going
The overall aim of our work with young people is to “share God’s love with young people so all can grow in faith in Christ”. We aim to communicate to young people the basic principles of Christian truth, encourage them to identify and use their gifts and skills in the church as a whole and in their everyday lives, and provide a safe, nurturing space where they can express themselves and explore questions of faith.
As of January 2012, we have 12 girls and 7 boys on our register, with 10 girls and 5 boys attending Sunday mornings at St Matthew’s at least once a month or 2-3 times a term. Generally speaking, the girls are aged 11-12 or 16+ (with some exceptions), while the boys fall between those age brackets.
In May 2011 I met with the youth leaders to review our provision for young people, identify possible opportunities for development and review anything that had not progressed. As a result of this meeting we developed a vision proposal, framed by the three principles of the whole church vision: knowing, growing and going. Our activities in 2011 are outlined below, according to the three strands of our vision. However, many activities are relevant to, and help to achieve, more than one strand:
Knowing (Discipleship)
“We have a passion to know God the Father in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, individually and corporately.”
Sunday Mornings
During 2011, Sunday morning sessions were devised so as to provide the young people with opportunities to revisit – or perhaps look for the first time – at one of the most important, but most complicated, questions of the Christian faith: the character and identity of God.
The first of the four topics was ‘Knowing God’, which also coincided with the sermon series of the same name. It examined the different ways the young people could ‘know God’, both in terms of the aspects of His character (knowing things about Him) and ways of engaging with Him (knowing Him). This was followed by a topic investigating the identity, mission and call of Christ, using the Christianity Explored ‘Soul’ resource and DVD. Our study of the Trinity concluded with a series about the Holy Spirit in the summer of 2011. Having learned about God as He is described in the Bible, the group concluded the year by exploring the impact that knowing Him can have on life in our rapidly-changing society – a society very different to that of the Bible. This involved using a Scripture Union resource and the TV show ‘Friends’.
Youth Services
The young people prepared and led two services at St Matthew’s in 2011. The first was in February, during the ‘Knowing God’ sermon series, and was entitled ‘What does ‘knowing God’ mean to us?’ It was framed by three questions: Who are we? Who is God? and Who are we in God?
13 The theme of the second service, ‘Seeing God’, developed during a creative project that the young people completed during the autumn term. Several members of the group had observed that the Youth Lounge was rather bare and it was suggested that we create something to decorate the walls. We were given a canvas and the group worked together to produce a three-dimensional collage artwork that not only expressed their identity as a group but also had symbolic significance. The group opted to keep the original design painted on the canvas – a large eye – and, as a result, the idea of ‘Seeing God’ developed. The canvas was unveiled at the second youth service in November when the young people led all-age worship and articulated the symbolism of three parts of the eye: seeing where God is needed; seeing God at work in our world; and seeing God moving in our lives.
Prayer-Poem Banner Project
In addition to the canvas project, detailed above, the young people began working with Ann Baker to develop a design for a banner to be hung in the church porch. The designs are based around the prayer-poem that was composed for the first youth service, in response to the theme of ‘knowing God’. This project will continue into 2012 and will culminate in the new banner being unveiled by the young people.
Growing (Community)
“Growing in numbers and depth of community.”
Partnership with other churches
Having established a youth work partnership with Redland in September 2010, I continued to support the leadership of their CYFA group (age 14+) in 2011. One young person from St Matthew’s regularly attended CYFA until going to university in September 2011 – she supported the church’s children’s work during the summer and took part in the CYFA mission trip to South Africa. Another young person from St Matthew’s joined in the joint social evening in November 2011. While the group has not been as popular as I had hoped, I foresee some of the younger members of the youth group benefitting from the opportunity to attend CYFA in a few years. Three of our younger young people also began attending Devotion at Woodlands on Friday evenings and continue to do so.
14 I find it inspiring and enjoyable to work with youth leaders from different churches and I feel that developing youth work partnerships benefits our churches and leaders, as well as our young people. There have been several occasions this year when I have incorporated activities and topics covered at CYFA into Sunday mornings at St Matthew’s – and vice versa.
Mentoring Programme
As of January 2011, six of our young people had been paired with a mentor, with whom they could meet to discuss questions of faith and any other matters that interest or challenge them. Vicky Wright and I made a series of major revisions and improvements to the youth mentoring policy in March 2011, following conversations with the Diocese Youth and Children’s Advisor. The programme’s ability to flourish and be of benefit relies heavily upon the participants’ interest and availability. As 2011 did not see all mentors and mentees meeting regularly, I will review the mentoring programme in 2012 to ensure that this decline in activity is not due to flaws in the programme.
Going (Mission)
“Going into the world to make disciples and serve those in need.”
Summer Football Project
During the school summer holidays, 14 young people aged 10-16 (all male) attended six days of football coaching at Coombe Dingle Sports Complex in Stoke Bishop. The scheme was organised and delivered by Jos Lucas, Tim Wood, Derek Brice, Matt Thorne and John Oliver, with support from myself and St Matthew’s. As well as organising tournaments, drills and coaching sessions, the leaders delivered a condensed version of the Youth Alpha course. The week culminated with a celebration evening for the young people and their families held at St Matthew’s. The scheme was a great success: the number of young people attending steadily increased as the week progressed and feedback was very positive. The leaders shared their faith with the young people passionately but in a manner that was engaging and not intimidating - I cannot praise them highly enough and have already been in touch with Jos Lucas about running the project again in 2012.
Girls’ day and girls’ night
The dynamic of the youth group changed considerably during 2011, with many younger boys joining what had been a predominantly female group. In response to requests from the older girls, we held a social day during the June half term. We also ran a joint social night for girls of Redland and St Matthew’s in November.
Conclusion
I am very fortunate to work with a committed, flexible and extremely capable team of volunteers in leading youth work at St Matthew’s. Ruth Rimmer, James Rimmer, Chris Smith and Margaret May continued to lead the young people with creativity and compassion this year, and we were delighted to welcome Ron Cross and Ann Baker to the team in late 2011. We were sad to say goodbye to Ali Berry, Ian Caithness and John 15 Stilwell, who stepped down after many years of working with the group, but I would like to thank them for their hard work and great care for the young people.
I feel we have much to celebrate and be thankful for in 2011. This year, an average of seven young people attended youth group on a Sunday morning and we welcomed five new members. The young people had many opportunities to exercise their creativity and explore their talents, particularly in preparing and leading the youth services and in creating artwork for the canvas and banner. Perhaps what gives me the greatest pleasure is seeing the young people so enthusiastic about participating in worship, asking ‘big questions’ about the impact of faith on daily living, and growing in their understanding of God and how we all play our parts in the Body of Christ.
I would like to thank you all for supporting me in my work and for encouraging our remarkable young people. 2011 was an inspiring year and, with God’s help, I hope to work with the young people to continue to learn, serve and achieve in 2012.
Rachel Clarke Youth Work Coordinator
Growing
Report from the Growing Team Members: Katheryn Caithness, Kate Hill, Cath Beseke, Chris Smith, Sally Wood, Mary Parsons, Helen Chick, Tanya Lord
During the year the Growing Team have been involved in the activities set out below
Spring Harvest
Tanya and Glenn took a party of 32 to Spring Harvest the week before Easter, 18 of which were from St Matt’s. We had a fabulous time together; worshipping, eating, chilling, knitting! Unfortunately due to the popularity of the Baptist flats where we stay only a smaller group will be going next year, the week after Easter. If any others want to join they could stay on the Butlin’s site as the Stroud family did last year.
http://www.springharvest.org/ Main Bible Speaker Andy Hickford.
Wholeness Course
Cath Beseke recommended the Woodlands Wholeness course and Cath, Vicky, Minty and Tanya put on the six week course in September. The course deals with issues such as God’s original plan,; our own human predicament; a spiritual spring clean, where we looked at our identity and how past experiences can define us and hold us from all God wants to do in us. We looked at healing, especially wounds from the past.
16 We had ‘pastoral prayers’ present throughout the evenings to offer prayer after the talks as well as ‘remote prayer’s praying’ covering the duration of the course. We had 13 women signed up with vey little promotion needed. Interestingly no men applied! The course was very well received and feed back was very encouraging. We would like to put on another course next year, possibly a male only version?
Baptism Preparation
We have a small team of four ready for training unfortunately this had to be postponed due to illness, but is imminent. We plan to have some ‘role play’ learning with the Hubbuck family as they prepare to bring Hattie for Baptism.
Bring & Share Lunches
We have encouraged and supported each Pastorate to host a Sunday bring and share lunch. These have been very successful and a great place for new comers to linger and chat. I have been delighted to observe congregation members actively seeking conversation with those on the fringe of these events. A few people that didn’t know about the lunch and therefore came unprepared were encouraged to change their minds, come and join in anyway. A really caring attitude was also evident with some visitors from Knightstone sheltered housing; those a bit unsteady on their feet were found places to sit served tea and a plate of food! I know it was greatly appreciated that in such a buzzing atmosphere they were noticed and cared for. We hope to make this a regular event on the fifth Sundays during the year.
Welcome Tea
A welcome tea was laid on to familiarize newcomers to the church, we didn’t have as many faces make it as we expected and wonder if this was a regular fixture, it may work better.
The usual St Matt’s welcome of coffee and cake were served by members of the growing team and some staff members spoke for a few minutes about different aspects of church life.
Women’s Weekend
Emma and Vicky led an excellent weekend; a really encouraging bonding time for many in the Congregation.
Christmas Lunch
David A, felt God was speaking to him about providing a lunch on Christmas day in the church; many agreed with him and set about planning and preparing the day. We are blessed with James Pickersgill (‘Administrator Extraordinaire’!), who with great attention to detail sorted food quantities for people to prepare at home and bring on the day. Apart from David and Tanya’s 8am butter rubbing of the turkeys it was a male only kitchen on the day. With David A, Glenn L, Barney P and Phil D running a strangely calm kitchen, even
17 burnt fingers barely raise a shout! We fed 72 people with an excellently succulent turkey and all the trimmings; we had games and quizzes whilst we enjoyed a buffet style starter. All families/ individuals went home with a gift bag, with a mug of chocolates, sweeties & party popper balloons, and for those thirteen guests not members of St Matt’s, a little book called ‘Why Jesus’.
The decision to give away 10% of all monies donated for the Christmas Day lunch to The Matthew Tree Project was hugely blessed by God.
When all the money had been collected, we had 20% left, amounting to just over two hundred pounds to give away. A leadership decision was made to give the whole amount to the Matthew Tree Project rather than keep it for a possible repeat lunch next year, in case the money got forgotten and it may not happen. In doing this I believe God stirred the hearts of many others in and out of the St Matt’s community and the money kept coming in; each additional donor was told we had covered all costs and there was plenty to give away, but each person insisted they make a contribution and we were able to give an astonishing £750 cheque to Mark Goodway, the founder of the project.
It is wonderful to know that our wonderful Christmas day full of fun and fellowship and welcome is still continuing to bless those less fortunate in our locality. Praise God!
Lee Abbey
We are preparing to visit Lee Abbey in March next year for a Church Weekend Away. The take up has been encouraging and we expect to have a full house. The speaker will be Rev Clive Jennings, Vicar of Christchurch, Clevedon.
Tanya Lord Curate & Growing Team leader
Small Groups/Home Groups/Pastorates
Home Groups continue to meet with 4 groups meeting in the evening & one group during the day. Some people attend Home Group on a fortnightly basis and go to a Pastorate on the alternative week. Four Pastorates have been meeting this year.
Church Pastorate
Our Pastorate has had steady numbers over the years with over 20 people as part of the group. We have used a variety of studies including following up sermons and a series on the Lords Prayer which Martin Stannistreet designed. Quite a number of the group have
18 lead sessions which is encouraging and there is a real sense of togetherness in the group. We have been joined by others during the year who have not been to church for a while and they have found the group welcoming and caring. We have a link to Takako who is a lecturer in Japan, a friendship forged by pastorate member Andrew MacAllister. She had not been in touch for a year following the Tsunami and we have been praying for her. We had the good news recently that she was alive and had been involved in the recovery plan in Japan, she shared a video of her work and the group have all written letters of support to her. We had an evening with Bryony Budd who had been working in Africa who spoke movingly about the plight of the children she worked with, for someone so young she impressed us with her commitment and initiative.
We look forward to the coming year with anticipation. Richard and Laura Pendlebury
Dove Street Pastorate
Having started in October 2010 we have now met together for our first full year. This has been a good year of seeing growth and passion from the group that meet at The Deaf Centre on King Square (next to Dove Street). The group have met fortnightly on the first and third Tuesday's in the month to enjoy each other's company, eat, pray and talk. Our primary focus as a St Matthew's Pastorate remains as being a presence in the Dove Street area and share what we have with anyone who comes along.
In our spiritual 'slot' we have enjoyed looking through aspects of Abraham's life, setting up prayer stations in the hall, trying different styles of worship and regularly praying with each other. Gradually different people from within the group have felt able to offer to lead, talk, pray at various points.
During the year we have enjoyed barbecues in the summer and the Carol Singing around the flats. We are also trying to support The Deaf Centre as it struggles with reduced funding which has in turn increased the stress on staff and management, for example a group from the Pastorate spring cleaned the kitchen to the delight of the staff.
We pray for their work and ours, we pray for the people in the flats near where we meet and those who regularly join us, we pray for the continued development of the pastorate and for clarity of our purpose as we meet together.
Dom and Cath Hubbuck Ineson Pastorate
Mat Ineson leads this pastorate that has plenty of space for new members. We meet in a couple of member’s houses on alternate Wednesday evening starting at 7.30. As we have been running for less than a year we are prayerfully seeking a mission focus.
We are a supportive group that enjoys praying for one another, sharing tea and cake, chatting and encouraging one another and studying the bible. In this past year we enjoyed and gained a lot from using the Bible Society’s LYFE material Mat Ineson 19 Come Dine With Jesus Pastorate
This Pastorate started in response to requests from a number of young women joining St Matthew’s. We began June 15th 2011 and fluctuate between 7-17 members in any one meeting. Vicky and Tanya started hosting the group and Nicola Such now co leads/ facilitates with Tanya; our aim is for the group to be peer led and continue meeting once Tanya has moved on to a new post. To this end we all share leading the sessions and now meet in each others houses rather than just the curate’s house. Presently we are looking at relationships and how modern day culture sits alongside Biblical teaching. Tanya Lord
Social Organising Team
2011 began well with the Burns Night in January. It’s always a slightly hectic schedule of preparation, coming as soon as it does after Christmas, but it’s worth the effort and a really fun evening, with lots of opportunity for those attending to join in with the various graces, addresses and poetry that are part of the tradition. Do think about joining us next year if you’ve never been to a Burns Night.
The Summer brought a major disappointment, having done all the planning for the Party in the Garden, we were thwarted by the inclement weather. I’m sorry if you, like us, were looking forward to the event and disappointed by the late cancellation but the set up would have been a mud bath! Perhaps we should consider moving the event to February, since the weather seems to be nearly as warm as Summer and probably drier!
Our third major event of the year was the Christmas Wine Tasting. As with previous years, this event was very well supported, with many of you bringing relatives, friends and neighbours; we like to think that the event shows what a great community we have at St Matthew’s. We took the opportunity this year to encourage anyone present to join in with the Church’s other activities.
Whilst not strictly an SOT event, it would be wrong to close this report without mentioning the Christmas Lunch that was held at the Church. This was fantastically well attended and a wonderful celebration of the Church community and our Saviour’s birth. I know that many of you were involved in some way in the preparation of the day but we would like to single out a couple of people whose contribution was particularly critical: David Aberdeen, for the courage to share the vision and see it through to leading the catering, and James Pickersgill for bringing so much to the planning and management of the event.
As we begin 2012, we bid a couple of farewells to long standing SOT members. As you know, Vicky Wright has moved onto pastures anew and Vanessa Conte has decided to step down for the present; we thank them for all their contributions.
Chris Smith, Simon Awcock, Katheryn Caithness, David & Helen Aberdeen
20 Going
Report from the Going Team
The Going Team (previously the 'Engaging Team') was Chaired by Vicky Wright during 2011 and we are indebted to Vicky for her hard work, leadership and enthusiasm. The Team's areas of work are shaped by the strategic goals set by the PCC. The remit of the group is mission - going into the world to make disciples. The goals for the team and the work during 2011 are summarised as follows.
1. Encourage the personal evangelism and witness of each member of the church During 2011 the church ran an Alpha course in partnership with the Redland and Bishopston churches which was well attended. In October, a session was held to enable members of the congregation to identify their gifts.
2. Support the Ark Project Vicky and members from St Matthew’s who had volunteered to be trustees of a Trust to develop The Ark project continued to discuss this possibility with Bristol Christian Fellowship (BCF). At the end of 2011 BCF put the building on the market and consequently this project will not be pursued; however the ideas, which were explored during the Ark consultation, will continue to inform the PCC strategy for our involvement in the local community.
3. To be a permanent, long-term presence in Dove St The church's presence and relationship building in Dove St continued to develop through the Monday drop-in at Fremantle House and the Tuesday pastorate at the Deaf Centre. There are plans to extend our involvement by starting a ‘Play and Stay’ initiative, one morning a week to engage with young families in the area. This will be run in conjunction with St Paul’s Children’s Centre,
This work in Dove Street has been enhanced through the church becoming a partner of The Matthew Tree - with members of the church donating food, collecting food from Asda, volunteering at the food store and being trained to work in outreach to families. We are excited about this new initiative. During the year the priorities have been to understand how we can appropriately meet the needs of those living locally, to build relationships with local partners and contacts within the community.
4. Communicate with, and be a central part of the community local to the church building
• A new quarterly magazine to aide communication with the local community was considered but not found to be viable. However, the local community started 'Kingsdown Chronicle' in late 2011. The church is invited to contribute to future editions to advertise forthcoming events
• The church hosted Kingsdown Homegrown for the fifth year and worked in partnership with the local organising team to organise stalls, competitions, tea and a Spanish evening of food and salsa
21
• Unfortunately inclement weather saw Party in the Garden rained off, but it will be back in the future!
• Messy Church continued to meet monthly with large numbers of families attending for fun, food and worship
• During Cath's maternity leave we have been delighted that Charlotte Gompertz has led the work; at this time the Saturday Morning Playtime has been put on pause, and the future is under review in the light of other opportunities in Dove St
• Eggsplore, with the Big Little Easter Story shoe box art displays, and Christingle continued to be fantastic times of worship and outreach with local families
• The church continues to provide Playgroup during the week
• Relationships with Colston's primary school are ongoing
• Members of the church have enjoyed getting to know residents at the Knightstone sheltered housing in Kingsdown through coffee mornings.
5. Support mission and outside our church and parish This group supports the work of the mission group, who provide a separate report of their work.
The team members during 2011 were: Vicky Wright (Chair), Ian Caithness*, Adam Gompertz**, Ruth Rimmer***, Rebecca Kishtainy, Jeanette Plum**, Gwynneth Pugh-Jones**, Nick Stroud & Polly Wingate-Saul. * Ian stepped down during the year. ** Adam, Jeanette and Gwynneth joined during the year. ***Ruth has taken over as Chair
Going
(1) Our Locality
Tuesday Toddlers
Tuesday Toddlers has continued to be consistently busy during this past year, and has seen a gradual but steady growth in the number of families attending. Tuesday mornings now regularly see around 50 children, bring with them a mixture of parents, grandparents, and childminders and much fun is had playing, chatting, making friends, snacking, singing, and listening to stories. This weekly term-time play session remains St Matthew's most consistent - and therefore arguably one of our most important - points of contact with young families in the local area. In Tuesday Toddlers, we aim to provide a space in which we can get to know children and parents, to hear about the everyday challenges that life brings and to informally offer support in whatever ways we can. 22
For some families it is also a 'gateway' into the wider church community – some of them try out Messy Church or come to Eggsplore or Christingle, for example. Others might choose to have their baby baptised. For those of us involved in staffing the Tuesday morning sessions, it feels important to show those who come and spend time within the four walls of our church building that being part of a church community is indeed more than just the four walls of the church building!
Staffing continues to be an issue - Tuesday morning appears to be a very difficult time for people to volunteer to help out! - and this does affect the quality of our interactions with those families attending Tuesday Toddlers. The more church volunteers there are on hand, the more opportunity there is to chat and listen and engage with people on a deeper level. With just two of us running the group, opportunities for engagement are often overtaken by the list of jobs and tasks that need to get done during the morning. We would therefore welcome any offers of help on a Tuesday morning on a regular or even a semi-regular basis.
As in previous years, despite Tuesday Toddlers only running during term-time we held four Family Coffee Mornings during August which were attended by over 100 people in all. These mornings – suitable for children up to the age of 8 years and their parents – were an enjoyable, laid back time for families to meet, chat and spend time together during the school holidays. There always seems to be a general sense of gratitude and relief that something 'consistent' remains open throughout the holidays, especially for families with pre-school children whose routine is often lost during the long summer break. These coffee mornings could not have run without the team of volunteers who helped out – so many thanks to you if you were involved this year!
From September to December, I was on maternity leave and Tuesday Toddlers was covered by Dominic Hubbuck. - Many thanks to him for taking this on and maintaining the running of the group so well.
Cath Hubbuck, with Fiona Cunningham
Eggsplore & Christingle
Eggsplore - our Easter event for families – was well-attended and blessed with lovely sunny weather. It was great to welcome many families to hear a retelling of the Easter story, and to be able to use both the church and the garden to do this. The Easter egg hunt afterwards was as popular as ever...!
Cath Hubbuck was on Maternity Leave this year during Advent. The organisation and delivery of the Christingle service this year was the responsibility of Mat and Charlotte Gompertz. The Christingle service was well- attended and gave the families who came a fun and thought-provoking start to their Christmas celebrations.
Cath Hubbuck
23 Messy Church
Messy Church has continued to run throughout this year, providing a fun and challenging way to do and be church, aimed at families with young children and incorporating aspects of play, creativity, worship and fellowship.
For those of you unfamiliar with how we 'do' Messy Church at St Matthew's, a session runs something like this: Once a month on a Friday, straight after the end of the school day, Messy Church opens the doors to a mix of families - some who are already Christians, some who have varying levels of church background and those who have never had any contact with church but are interested in finding out more about having a faith in God. Between 3:45 and 4:45 the hall is set out as a space within which drinks and snacks are available for children coming straight from school and widely varied, loosely themed play activities are provided. Around 4:45 everyone is encouraged to come up to the worship area for a time of discovering more about God, praising and praying together. To end the afternoon a shared meal is enjoyed by everyone back downstairs in the hall.
Messy Church continues to feel rather like a mix of a 'Discovering Christianity' programme and a Church plant, and in as much, raises questions about how to explore the basics of faith with others and also move people along in their own journey of faith. While sessions are fun and exciting, they are also rather frenetic, noisy, busy and lacking in the time and space to engage with individuals on a deeper level around issues of faith, belief and Christian life in general. In the year ahead it will be interesting and hopefully worthwhile to think about whether there needs to be something more than 'just Messy Church' on offer to families at St Matthew's. Messy Church as it stands continues to share something of the Gospel with young children and their families. We have learned about key characters, retold well-known stories and tackled some really big faith concepts – love, forgiveness, salvation, sin; most importantly, the children (and their parents!) who come, tell us that they enjoy doing so. This is a huge encouragement to those involved in planning and running the sessions, and we must never underestimate the impact of 'sowing the seeds' of the Good News in children's hearts and minds. It is my desire to see whole families growing and cultivating strong and sustaining faith – faith that is enjoyable and exciting to explore altogether. It is also my hope that Messy Church never becomes just another after-school club, but is always fresh, challenging and relevant to people's lives. Therefore we, like many other churches who run a Messy Church, are left asking ourselves the question of 'What next...?' Please do pray about this, asking God for wisdom and discernment about the path before us.
Each Messy Church session is heavy on people resources – especially people's time. Many many thanks therefore goes to all those who play their part in a huge variety of ways. Whether you print or deliver flyers, help create the meal that we share, wash-up the dishes after we have eaten, sweep the floor, sing, dance or do the actions to the worship songs, welcome on the door or help with craft and playing – THANK YOU! You are part of a fantastic team and you help to keep Messy Church at St Matthew's happening. Thank you also to the children who come, who tell their friends about Messy Church and in their own way, spread Jesus' good news amongst their friends. Cath Hubbuck
24 Playgroup
The St Matthew’s Playgroup meets downstairs in the hall on Monday and Wednesday all day and on Thursday & Friday morning. Lunch club is offered on Thursday and Friday.
Last year the playgroup ran at full capacity, with a slightly smaller group in the afternoon to accommodate the younger children. Playgroup continues to be very popular in the local area with a waiting list for both morning & afternoon sessions.
There were no changes to the staff team during the year but Jackie Burnell and Chris McConnell stood down from their posts on the Management Group. The playgroup staff would like to extend their thanks and gratitude to both of them for their years of support.
In the Summer Term Sue ran the ‘Growing Together’ course which was open to members of St Matthew’s congregation as well as to Playgroup parents. It was well attended and feedback was very positive.
Once again the growing area in the garden was well used. The children thoroughly enjoyed planting, caring for and eating the produce. The pumpkin soup was a particular success During the course of the year trips were organised to Weston-Super-Mare, Leigh Woods, The City Farm and Bristol Temple Meads. We also had several local outings to the letter box and launderette and just round the block to reinforce road safety messages and look for numerals and print in the environment. We had several social events for parents in the evenings, including a meeting to support parents in preparing their child for school and a picnic in the garden at the end of the summer term.
Rosie was awarded her Foundation Degree at Bath Spa University and is now working on the third year of her Degree in Early Years Education. Linda successfully completed her Early Years Professional Status qualification. Lydia and Stephanie have both enrolled on a level 3 Diploma in Early Years run by PEYTU.
During the course of the year staff attended a rich variety of training courses which included Fire Safety, Makaton, Children Thinking Mathematically, Story Telling, Every Child a Talker, Letters and Sounds, Enlivening Outdoors, and Conflict Resolution. Opportunities were created in house for staff to feedback training to colleagues.
We were able to invest in a staff laptop and an Ipod and speakers with what remained of our ICT grant. The soundproofing which was installed during the year made a very welcome difference to the atmosphere during the sessions.
The year concluded, as always, with an evening Christmas meal for parents and a nativity play put on by the children on the last day of term, with a surprise visit from Father Christmas.
Co-leaders: Sue Last, Linda Mallard; Deputy Leader: Paula Brown Helpers: Lydia Le Feuvre, Bernadette Caldwell, Rosie Trackman, Anne Nelson-Bates, Stephanie West PCC Management Group: Chair Laura Pendlebury , Dom Hubbuck, Mat Ineson, Paul Rowlands.
25 Child Protection 2011
St Matthew’s has a Child Protection policy, approved by the PCC, which underpins our extensive work with children and young people. This policy is reviewed annually by the PCC. Its purpose is to ensure that children and young people can be part of the church and grow in faith in God in a safe and secure environment.
Isabel Geissinger is the Child Protection Administrator who oversees the process by which people apply to work in any of the children’s/young people’s groups. Isabel provides the application form, keeps track of the paperwork and references, and ensures that a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check is completed. Every person who is involved in Children’s work (or works with vulnerable adults) is required to complete a CRB check. This report offers a chance to thank Isabel for another year of hard work and commitment, for her efficiency and her endless patience in dealing with the minutiae of the process and the, at times, frustrating delays in getting paper-work processed. She offers enormous help to the Nominated Person which is greatly appreciated.
Preventing child abuse (physical/emotional/sexual/spiritual/neglect) is what most people think of in connection with child protection (CP). However, child protection is about more than preventing abuse; it is positively about child care and welfare. The Diocesan CP guidelines adopted by St Matthew’s are to ensure the children’s safety and well-being and include
• A code of appropriate behaviour for those working with children • Recommended ratios of adults: children in children’s and young people’s groups • Safety check list to minimize the risk of accidents • Things to consider when planning off-site visits and activities.
Whilst the PCC holds the over-arching responsibility for Child Protection, everyone has an important role to play in maintaining vigilance and care. We would encourage everyone to read the child protection guidelines in our policy and act on them. St Matthew’s child protection policy can be downloaded from our website http://stmatthews-bristol.org.uk/ under the ‘Children’ tab’. Our policy is based on the Diocesan guidelines, Safe & Sound, which can be viewed on the Bristol Diocese website http://www.bristol.anglican.org/cyp. Both are also available in the Church Office. We would also encourage the whole community to look out for the overall well-being of our children and young people.
Should anyone at any time have any concern about a child or young person, no matter how small, please contact the Nominated Person, Mary Parsons. Even the slightest niggle about the safety of children is best passed on in this way and can be done in confidence. A little niggle may be a part of a bigger picture, where others also have such concerns.
Mary Parsons, as Nominated Person for Child Protection, continues to liaise with Isabel and the PCC over the ongoing processes of the system and to be available for anyone who wishes to contact her. She would like to encourage everyone to see “Child Protection” as not just dealing with the shocking and upsetting actions that are abuse of children but a much wider remit of child welfare and safety in more general day-to-day terms.
If you have any questions about the above or any concerns, however minor they may seem at the time, about the well-being of a child or young person in the church, please speak to Mary. Her contact details are on the website and the notice board in church.
Mary Parsons & Isabel Geissinger
26 Cake and Company
Cake & Company has been running weekly since June 2010 with visitors, numbering between 4 & 9 per session. Recently, however, we have had fewer visitors and there has been some uncertainty among the regular helpers, Tanya & Glenn, Ann Baker, Gillian Joomun, Kate Hill, Phil & Sonya Doragh, Folli O, Annie Venn, Jeanette Plumb, Joyce Stocks and Val Jeal as to whether we should continue or start again with a different focus or different day. We don’t seem to be reaching new people. However when we consider this option God encourages us with a new conversation or a new meeting, or someone joining in at the Dove Street Pastorate! So we have committed to continuing at present. With regular evaluation meetings, we are actively praying that other members of the congregation will join the team, it is a two hour commitment on Mondays once a month or even less if we have a larger core group.
Knightstone Housing
Vicky and Tanya have built up a lot of connections with many of the folks living at Knightstone so that when numbers went down for their own coffee morning our offer to host it for them was gratefully accepted. We started visiting weekly in November taking along real coffee and home made cake. Ann Baker and Sue Budd are the back bone of this outreach working alongside Sarah D, Nigel C, and Pat G. We were delighted to welcome some of our friends to Christmas Lunch in the church and many more to Vicky’s farewell lunch and service beforehand. One resident is now attending St Matt’s weekly. Walking to the church is difficult for some more elderly residents and every time Glenn Lord offers to collect people for church one or two people come. We need to consider how we might make this happen on a more regular basis.
Stay and Play
Tanya has been contacted by the manager of St Paul’s Nursery and Children’s Centre, they want to put on a ‘stay and play’ activity morning / support for young families in the Dove Street Area. They would like to work collaboratively with us; this might be just the support and expertise we are looking for in opening another ‘Drop In’ in the Flats in Dove Street to build up our presence there. Tanya has a meeting scheduled for January 13th next year. Thanks to Gwynneth for the contact.
Tanya Lord
27 Going (2) Wider World
Mission Partners Group
The aim of the Missions Group is to foster a prayerful and financial concern for what God is doing throughout the world, and to be a catalyst which encourages the Church to have a wider vision and concern than the Parish boundaries.
CURRENT LIST OF MISSION PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS REGULARLY SUPPORTED BY ST MATTHEW’S
Peter Kent: Street evangelism with Europe Now in France Richard and Kara Thompson, with Kristi, Kyle, Cody & Cady: Involved in street outreach & training young people in evangelism with YWAM in USA. Colin and Roni Jackson: With A Rocha Kenya – conservation and communication Busoga Trust: Providing wells for safe drinking water in Uganda. Changing Tunes: Reducing re-offending through music. Church Pastoral Aid Society: Training and resourcing church and youth work in the UK. John and Gillian Robinson, with Leah, Natalie and Joel: In Thailand working with prisoners.
We have been able to maintain awareness of the activities of our supported mission links in three main ways:
• The regular featuring of our mission links in the prayer rota for the morning and evening services • Making available news and prayer letters • The Mission Link page on the St Matthew’s website has information and hyperlinks to other related web-pages (http://stmatthews-bristol.org.uk/about-us/mission-links/)
There have been a few visits and other interaction with our supported links:
• We had visits from Colin Jackson and Peter Kent and Clive Burgess from CPAS • In addition to the above, we have benefited from the naturally close engagement with Changing Tunes that comes as a result of so many individuals within the congregation being part of the Changing Tunes team.
We supported one member from our congregation who travelled overseas on mission related activities:
• We supported Bryony Budd in her trip to Tanzania with Latitude Global Volunteering, working at Amani, a centre for the care and rehabilitation of mentally disabled children.
Members: Nick Stroud (co-ordinator), Margaret Williams, Shirley Gorst, Joyce Stocks, Margaret Thyer. We welcomed Folli Olokose as a member of the group. Ethel Wright, Ali Berry & Fiona Cunningham all gave up their membership – we thank them for the time and commitment they have given over the years. In particular we acknowledge the lifelong concern for Mission that characterises Ethel’s faith.
28 Trinity College Context Students
We are blessed by many Trinity College Students and their families who attend St Matthew's and contribute to the life and ministry of the church. Many of these students are training to become ordained ministers. Some of them are training on what is known as Context Based Training. Context students attend lectures at Trinity but contextualise their learning by taking an active role in the life of a church during their 2 or 3 years training.
We currently have 11 context students (8 ordinands and 3 independents) involved in St Matthew’s and connected with Woodlands who share with us in hosting the context group. The tutor to the group is Emma Ineson and Mat provides some supervisory support. During 2011 Vicky Wright led and coordinated their theological reflection sessions.
Whilst we commit time to the context we also receive an enormous amount of ministry, energy and ideas through their involvement with us. For example the Christmas Meal, Messy Church and Dove Street DropIin would not happen without their time and commitment, not to mention their involvement in preaching, leading and music.
We are very thankful and much blessed by the Trinity students and their families who become part of our church community and pray that they too are blessed in sharing our life.
The Diocese
Many will know that the Diocese of Bristol continues to face many challenges but how many know that we are a growing Diocese. According to the 2009 attendance statistics the Diocese grew by 11%, and the 2010 saw us maintain that level of church attendance. Financial giving to the churches, which is a measure of commitment, increased although the proportion of that giving that was passed to the Diocesan finances reduced. The hope is that the increase in money retained is a reflection of increased investment in growth in the kingdom of God at a local level.
The Diocese vision is ‘Creating Communities of Wholeness with Christ at the Centre’. This is worked out through a strategy of empowering church communities to engage in every member ministry and ‘release the energy’ of the whole people of God.
The financial challenges increased in 2011, mainly due to increased costs of pensions for clergy. The central support structures of the Diocese had to make some tough choices which resulted in redundancies of some support staff. The increased cost of pensions also means that the numbers of full time paid clergy continues to reduce although we are nearly at break-even point and should reach that by 2015. The Deaneries are developing plans for deployment of clergy at present. Mat Ineson is on Diocese Synod and Bishop’s council so do ask if you want to know more or look at the Diocese website http://www.bristol.anglican.org
Emma Ineson was elected onto the Church of England General Synod.
Mat Ineson 29 The Deanery
St Matthew’s is part of the City Deanery and Mat is the Area Dean. This takes 2 days a week of his time.
Deanery Synod Report
Members of clergy and congregation from churches within the City Deanery meet about five times a year to discuss issues, learn, encourage, pray and worship together. These meetings are an opportunity for the church to see beyond its own parish. As Mat is the Area Dean for the City Deanery he leads these meetings. Over the year we have discussed:
Women in the Episcopate
At its meeting in May, the House of Bishops discussed the Revision Committee’s report on the draft legislation to enable women to become bishops. This is obviously an area where Christians hold wide-ranging and strongly held views, so the issue was discussed at Deanery Synod. It was agreed that while a wide range of views were held, and that there was not going to be a solution that pleased everybody, it was the right time for a decision to be made. Within the meeting a majority of people felt that the time was right for Women to be able to become bishops, while a small minority held strong contrary views. This discussion was held in a positive atmosphere.
Finance
At a number of meetings parish and Deanery finance was discussed. We discussed different methods of calculating the Parish Share, and how we could ensure that the resources are used most effectively. This in particular involved us in discussion about deployment of future staff within the City Deanery. In 2006 we had an allocation of 24 Stipendiary Ministers in the Deanery, this will drop to 16 by 2015. This drop in numbers will be counterbalanced by an increase in OLM’s and SSM and others becoming increasingly involved in ministry.
Mat has held follow up meetings with individual parishes to discuss their long-term funding and staffing plans.
The City Deanery was the only Deanery of the seven in the diocese to increase its 2011 pledged income.
Introducing the new Archdeacon: The Venerable Christine Froude:
The Rev Christine Froude, the new Archdeacon of Malmesbury spoke at the July meeting. Christine explained that the role of Archdeacon changed about 18 months ago and the two Archdeacon roles were no longer split on a geographical basis but in terms of responsibility. Tim McClure’s role was to lead on the Diocesan Strategy. Christine has responsibility for the ‘traditional’ Archdeacon’s role including building maintenance, buildings and their development and general oversight on behalf of the Bishop.
30 Community Engagement
Community engagement was a common topic throughout the year. This involved presentations about overseas work, UK charities and parish based work. Vicky Wright spoke about the work she has done at St Matt’s in understanding and communicating with the local non-church community. We also heard from Jon Doble, the Director of ISR (Churches council for industry and social responsibility). ISR is a diverse organisation committed to 'Putting faith to work' in the community and in the workplace. They aim to express Christian values at work and in economic life and by working for social justice with church communities in the South West.
Tim Snowdon & Gwynneth Pugh-Jones
Supporting Ministries
Report from the Building Team
Over the last two years we have had to come to terms with the loss of two of the key people who had done so much in many ways over the years to look after the building – first Steve Osborne in 2010 and then Ted Stocks in January of last year. They are both sadly and greatly missed – and have left us with an unbelievably hard act to follow.
It soon became rapidly apparent that to make any proper attempt to continue this work, there was a need to pull together a larger and co-ordinated group. A number of people stepped up and so the ‘Building Team’ was formed.
Through the year we tackled several larger projects including the installation of sound attenuating ceiling tiles in the hall, the replacement of the fire alarm panel, the recarpeting, the repainting of the chapel, the repositioning and refurbishment of “the Eagle”, the repainting of the back wall in the hall, the “wet cleaning” of all the carpeted areas and the setting up of facilities to hang banners outside the church. We also dealt with various emergencies, including the replacement of the water heater in the servery and the replacement of the fridge freezer in the kitchen and managed all the routine ongoing maintenance of the building. We also instituted occasional “maintenance days” in which the church membership as a whole was invited to participate – and on these days significant amounts of other work (including the long overdue cleaning of the high level ledges in the worship space) were undertaken.
Two further projects were also identified this year as needing action. First it was agreed that the intruder alarm and access systems needed to be replaced and arrangements are now in hand to complete this. Secondly it was recognised that the heating control system, historically so lovingly and patiently managed by Steve, had exceeded its shelf-life. Steps have therefore now been taken to upgrade this with a view to making the whole system much more “intelligent” and efficient; substantial longer term cost-savings are envisaged. Hopefully all this will be in place well before next winter.
31 A stalwart group also continued working away at the clearing of the cellars behind the boiler house below the north east end of the church. This is not easy work – it is time consuming and hard manual labour. However significant progress has been achieved and our hope is that the place can be fully cleared and refurbished this year; this will create a large additional dry and secure storage space which will enable us to clear out some of the other cluttered areas in the church. In the longer run it may even be possible to adapt this space for other more exciting uses!
In the coming year a Quinquennial inspection will be due. The external masonry and pointing are still in a very poor condition, some of the windows still need repairs and the tower roof is still less than watertight. No doubt these and various other items will feature in the Team’s challenges over the next few months. With God’s support we will get through it all one way or another.
We are exceptionally fortunate to have such a fine building and it is a privilege for us to steward it for the time being. I cannot thank those people who have pitched in this year to help in this enough. There are many who work quietly behind the scenes who just make things happen without fuss or seeking recognition. But this year I must make particular mention of the people who have joined the Building Team and without whom none of the above would have been achieved: Polly Wingate- Saul, Simon Pugh-Jones, Andrew Wood, Ian Caithness, Laura Pendlebury, Rick Parsons, Mary Parsons and Tony Low – a very fine group of people indeed.
Church Gardens
The gardens are in good order. Last year (through the good offices of Simon Pugh-Jones) we acquired a ride-on cylinder mower, to work alongside the rotary mower, which Simon lovingly refurbished. Some work was carried out to level the grassed areas to suit the new mower and beautiful stripes appeared on the grass for the first time.
It was also decided that a number of the trees needed attention and tree surgeons were brought in to carry out the necessary work.
Through the year Simon Pugh-Jones has led a dedicated group of people (including Kyle Douglas, Ann Baker, Sue Budd and numerous other people) in regular mowing of the grass and tending to the flower beds. The overall effect is impressive. The gardens are well loved by our neighbours and the local community and it is important that they continue to create the right impression and give pleasure to all around. The playgroup also continue to make good use of the gardens on a regular basis.
Cleaning
Throughout the year the building was kept in excellent condition despite its heavy use. New external contractors were engaged to clean the downstairs areas twice a week and, despite occasional minor issues, this arrangement has worked satisfactorily. A further team of volunteers organised by Polly Wingate-Saul continue to undertake the regular cleaning of the upstairs worship space, chapel and crèche. Rubbish and recycling were also dealt with and day to day matters such as cleaning of tea towels was shared amongst a number of people. My thanks to all. Philip May
32 Flowers
As we marvel at the colours of the host of daffodils in the middle of the dual carraigeway or catch a scent of a hyacinth on a windowsill and a blaze of forsythia in a lovely garden we see a glimpse of God’s glory every day. So I am delighted to take on the flower rota and would like to say a huge thank you to Sue and express our appreciation for her warm welcome, encouragement and inspiration over the years.
We are always happy to welcome all contributions of flowers or greenery or just fixing jam jars with a cup of tea! If you would like to join the team on the rota once a term or so then please contact me.
Sue Budd
Coffee
Part of becoming a close-knit community is being able to spend some time together after each Sunday morning service to chat to each other and catch up about the week as well as to welcome new people into our church community. This is best done over a cup of coffee and, if you’re lucky and quick, a biscuit.
I would like to thank the great team of volunteers who turn up before the service each Sunday and organise the coffee, tea, squash etc and then provide service with a smile afterwards.
If you feel this is something you would like to do please contact me about joining the rota, the commitment would be 1 Sunday every 2 months.
Ian Caithness
Banner Group
After the banner over the stairs was completed in 2010 we looked for a new project. A lot of people had said it would be good to have banners in the porch and we did meet to consider ideas. However Rachel Clarke and the Young People’s Group then lead one of the services in which the subject was “ Knowing God “. During it they read out a prayer poem, composed of words from the Young People and made into a poem by Rachel.
The poem starts by asking questions about who God is and then goes on a journey of exploration to arrive at a place of meeting with God. It appealed as something that would give food for thought to anyone and seemed very suitable as a subject for the porch. Rachel was enthusiastic and supported the idea. I had an initial meeting with the Young People in July to put the idea forward and we started working on design ideas in early December 2011.
When the design has been chosen the plan is to begin making the banner after Easter. Many thanks to Rachel and the Young People’s Group for their ideas and enthusiasm.
Ann Baker 33 Traidcraft
‘A poor man's field may produce an abundant harvest but injustice sweeps it away’ Proverbs 13:23
St Matthew’s has had a thriving Traidcraft stall since at least 1997. For the past three years the stall has been run by Sean and Anna Collins, operating in the Church Hall after the 10:30 am service on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. The presence of the stall has helped highlight the work of Traidcraft as a Christian organization supporting disadvantaged producers throughout the world, while also giving everyone in the Church the chance to contribute to that work through their purchases!
Sean and Anna are now giving up responsibility for the stall and looking for new people to take over, otherwise the stall will cease trading. There is still much to do - although the wider availability of Fairtrade products in the shops and supermarkets can give the impression of success, the church's role is as significant today as it ever was in the struggle to bring the benefits to those who need it the most and to expand fair trade into new areas.
They would like to finish with a big 'Thank you' to all those who have supported the stall over the years, and a plea to anyone who would like to contribute to this work and take over the reins to come and talk to them after any of the Sunday services.
Sean & Anna Collins
Bell Ringers
The University of Bristol Society of Change Ringers (UBSCR) have this year rung St Matthew’s bells for both Sunday morning and evening services as well as a fortnightly practice on a Wednesday during term time.
Alongside this we have also rung for many of the weddings that happen at St Matthew’s throughout the year.
In the past year, 1 peal has been rung of 5058 Yorkshire Surprise Major, the first for nearly four years, rung by a resident University band to celebrate its Annual Dinner, whilst 3 quarter peals have been rung on the bells, including one also rung for the society’s dinner celebrations of 1280 Cambridge Surprise Major.
As well as ringing ourselves as a society we have also had visiting ringers come and ring on the bells at St Matthew’s, including a party from the University of Nottingham Society of Change Ringers as they visited the city.
I would like to thank both the church for the use of the bells and the congregation for their kind words as we come out of the tower on Sunday mornings and evenings.
Richard Barclay (Captain UBSCR)
34 Sacristan s
Sacristans are part of the ‘back room’ team who make sure everything is in place for Holy Communion and baptisms. This involves taking care of altar linen, altar cloths, communion vessels, making sure we have supplies of bread and wine, and preparing the altar before Communion and the font before baptism. As linen wears out we ensure it is replaced; we take care of the candles including making sure we have enough of the various different kinds we use.
We need to be aware of the pattern of the church year and of the symbolic use of colour. Christmas and Easter are particularly busy times for the sacristans.
This will be my last Annual Report as Sacristan as I’ve decided to step down after Easter Day 2012. I leave knowing that with Mary Parsons, Gina Coleman and Alison Edmonds the work of the sacristans is in very capable hands and I thank them for all their support over the years.
Ann Baker Technology Group
The Technology sub-committee keep a watching brief on all aspects of technology used in the church. In practice this is the sound system, the projector system, the computers and network and the web site. Andy Hogg manages the sound team while Rick looks after the remainder.
The biggest change for the sound system has been the purchase of a solid state recorder which is now used instead of the unreliable CD recorder. Using that source we now upload (morning) sermons to the church web site as a new podcast service. CDs are still created but afterwards at leisure rather than in real-time. The main mixing desk has held up all year with no further failures but the wiring in the console needs some attention after 20 years (dealt with early in 2012). Although I anticipate the desk needing replacement at some time, it is still not imminent. The portable system for the hall continues to give problems and we are hoping for an alternative becoming available with the imminent closure of the Ark building. A permanent (fixed) sound system for the hall has been designed using all radio mics and including a hearing aid loop and recording facility but, so far, the funding has not become available. We will review that again in 2012.
On the projector system we were unable to replace the small foldback monitor that failed and this will be a problem if the remaining one fails. Probably the most difficult problem we have experienced is due to a lot of the worship leaders using either Mac or modern Windows systems, which can generate material that the rather obsolete projector system can’t display. In due course we will have to upgrade the central computer and I have drawn up a specification. Andrew had a little fun generating a set of videos for the carol service which worked with the rest of the material. A portable projector has been obtained for downstairs use and the lounge has had the smart board installed (but we had no involvement in the latter).
35 A new printer/copier which can do full colour as well as routine black and white has been leased. It fits in with the rest of the office system well and the only disappointment was the lack of a Mac driver. The rather poor Orange Internet service just about holds up for what we need.
Apart from the introduction of the podcast service mentioned above, there has been very little change to the web site, just keeping it up to date. There are plans to update some of the banner images and add a new facility soon (watch that space). All content owners need to look regularly at their pages to make sure that they are accurate and up to date. If there are events relating to church activity then they SHOULD be on there and in good time so they get the publicity that they need – it is read both by church members and the public. The member’s area now has a full set of documentation for all the technology services. It may not be generally known but we maintain the web site for Cotham Parish as well, though only for routine maintenance, not content.
We still need volunteers in all areas – another projectionist (or two) would be welcome (the only skill required is to be able operate a computer in a simple fashion); Sound engineers are needed – training is given but a good ear and basic understanding of hi-fi would be helpful; finally we need a podcast editor, this requires more advanced computer skills but only for about ½ an hour a week in your own time.
Rick Parsons
36