Annual Report 2019/20
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ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20 Welcome by Marc Baker, Vicar Dear Church Family, This past year we have seen God’s loving kindness and blessing in many different ways. What you are about to read in this Annual Report is evidence of that. I pray it will be an encouragement to you. I am more convinced than ever that God is at work in the South West, across Cornwall and in Truro and the surrounding localities. Back in 2018 at St Kea we clarified our beliefs and values as a church family, the principles that guide our life together. You can read more about them at stkea.org.uk/beliefs. We summarise them with the simple statement “seeing God transform lives”. Our great God is in the business of transforming lives through the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit - calling those who don’t know Him to follow Him and calling those who do know Him to live for Him. As churches together across Truro we also committed ourselves prayerfully to an audacious goal “that everyone who lives and works in Truro and the surrounding locality would have the opportunity to hear the gospel from someone who loves them”. For us at St Kea this has meant us growing the life of our four congregations (All Hallows, Truro, Old Kea and CAP Lanterns) to enable this to happen. It has also meant us supporting and encouraging others in gospel partnership. Staff Team In 2019 we completed the rebuilding of our staff team. Alongside Sian Goddard and Steve Murray, who both joined us in 2018, we welcomed Will Harwood as Curate and Hannah Green as our intern. Congregation Developments With the team complete and with a clear commitment to continue focusing on families, children and young people, we wrestled in 2019 with changing the structure of our congregations. Steve Murray took on the leadership of the All Hallows congregation and Will Harwood of the Truro congregation. My role changed, now training and supporting them in leadership and the overall work of the church. In 2019 we were able to move the All Hallows congregation to the earlier time of 10:15, now serving refreshments before the service and developing a more informal atmosphere for children. It has been a pleasure to welcome a good number of new church members over the last year, especially at All Hallows. Children's and Youth Work Our focus on children’s and youth work is now showing real signs of growth. Sky-Riders is established, both in Truro and at All Hallows. Friday Night Youth has grown in numbers and this year we are adding a mid-week girls cell group alongside our boys group. We have grown our work in schools (including our strong link with Kea School) and continued the work of Sunday Club. Building Improvements In 2019 we introduced a new AV system to All Hallows and produced plans that have now received positive feedback for the internal reordering of All Hallows. We have also raised the money for new toilets and kitchen facilities at Old Kea and they will be built this year. Moresk Centre in Truro We have been able to work in conjunction with Truro City Council who are right now investing £80k into refurbishing the Moresk Centre, a facility that we will open this year, run in conjunction with other churches in Truro to serve the local community. Discipleship As new people have joined our church we have welcomed some into small groups. We have seen the start of a new small group and this year we are planning for more new small groups to be launched. We have seen new ministers trained to be licensed for Local Pastoral Ministry. We have launched Christian Ministry Training (CMT) on Wednesday mornings for anyone involved with a Bible Teaching ministry in our church who is able to attend. This year we will offer CMT more widely to other churches and we are looking to find ways to train those who can not attend mid weekday sessions. You will read more details about these activities and news about many other aspects of the life of our church in this report. Challenges that Grow Faith Of course not everything has been positive and plain sailing. The Lord continues to provide wonderfully through many generous financial gifts but we still set significant deficit budgets. Some church family members have moved on from St Kea, some to be with the Lord, others to new ministries locally and in other parts of the country. For all the prayerfulness of our church I sense we could be more prayerful for our life together. I long for us to work more effectively with gospel partners in the South West and pray that we might see more people coming to trust in Christ for themselves. Thankfulness At the start of 2020 I have very much to be thankful for. What a privilege to be a part of St Kea with so many wonderful, committed and gifted people. I want to especially thank Neil Bridle and Martin Handford, churchwardens who have supported me. I am very grateful for our PCC, Standing Committee and the members of each of our Leadership Teams who share with me the responsibility for leading our congregations. Thank you for all you do. Thank you for joining me in praying for our church and the journey ahead this year. “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” Matthew 28:18-20 ENGAGE AND EVANGELISM Open the Book The Open the Book team visits Kea school every other Wednesday to act out a Bible story. We always receive a very warm welcome and the year 6 pupils enjoy dressing up and taking part. We present our stories to fit in with the important dates in the church year to try to give the children an understanding of important festivals from a Christian perspective. Due to the generosity of church members we are able to give all the Year 6 children a Real Easter Egg. In addition to this we explore a theme or concentrate on an individual to help the children find out more about the Bible and its relevance today. We meet in the church hall half an hour beforehand to rehearse the story and pray. If you feel that this is something you would like to be involved in do have chat with us about it. It is a great way, and a privilege for us as a church, to be involved with children in our parish, many of whom do not have any other contact with the Christian message. Peter and Janet White Kea People Lunches A loyal following of Church members and their non-church friends have continued to enjoy a monthly lunch together. We appreciate the excellent service and good quality food at value-for-money prices, whilst knowing we are supporting several local pubs and restaurants. Usually at least 20 people attend, and on several occasions in the year our numbers have been over 30. Newcomers are always welcome, so why not come along one month and join us. Erica Brown Light Party The church was once again opened to Truro’s primary age children for the Light Party on October 31st. The event is held as an alternative to Halloween, and very young children are welcome with the accompaniment of an adult. This year’s event once again surpassed expectations with a total of 77 children in attendance, 51 of whom were not church regulars. The night was made possible through the hard work of a team of 16 adult volunteers and 14 secondary-age Friday Night Youth attendees, who together coordinated sign-in, games, crafts, refreshments, entertainment and a short talk. Adults were provided with teas, coffees and cakes. Many children heard about the Light Party through local schools, Stay and Play and our Autumn flyer. Each one went home with their own party bag containing sweets, church flyers and an age-appropriate booklet presenting Jesus as the light of the world. The youth helpers had a party of their own in the church hall after helping to clean the church. Kea Youth Team would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who helped – let’s pray that next year is even bigger! Hannah, Kea Youth Intern. Stay and Play Stay and Play has had another busy year. At the end of the summer term 2019 six children left us to move on to school and some moved to nurseries. In September we received an influx of mums with babies and toddlers and our register very quickly rose to 50 +. We very quickly introduced a waiting list but had one or two sessions when we felt almost uncomfortably busy. Since the beginning of January our numbers have fallen a little to a more manageable level. With such high numbers and regularity of attendance, it is clear that we are providing a community resource that is really needed for many parents and carers who feel isolated and lonely. They can enjoy conversation with others in similar situations, while the babies and toddlers have a wide range of toys and experiences to explore safely. Of course, there are also home-made cakes with coffee and tea.