As the 80Th Anniversary of St George's Approaches We Thought It Would Be
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As the 80th Anniversary of St George’s occurred in 2005 we thought it would be timely to update the history of the church, continuing on from the first 50 years so ably written up by the late Ted Burks. To this end we asked members of the congregation for the loan of any old Parish Magazines they may have hoarded and received copies of most issues, apart from 1976 when only two magazines were forthcoming. The September 1976 magazine, which was called Outreach, tells us that Rev Ernest Hepworth was the Parish Priest and the Church Wardens were Frank Barlow and Bill Atkin. Our Organist was Dorrie Webb and the Verger was Dick Taylor. There is also an article about a Family Week held during the week 25 July-1 August. This was led by Sister Christine Goodger and Sister Christine Frazer of the Church Army, assisted by Mr Andrew Entecott, a Church Army Student and also by members of St George’s. A Sung Communion was held on 8 September to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the St George’s Branch of the Mothers Union in this centenary year of the Mothers Union as a whole. The preacher was Mrs Rachel Ollard, the President of the Mothers Union in the Diocese of Lincoln. Members of other branches in the Deanery had been invited and a special display was designed by Frank Barlow. Regular Prayer Meetings were held on Friday evenings to which everyone was invited including members of other churches. The December 1976 magazine records that Alec Parker was elected to serve as Churchwarden in succession to the late Bill Atkin. He was admitted to office on Sunday, 28 November at Family Communion by the Ven David Scott, Archdeacon of Stow. Carol Barker was now the Parish Clerk. St George’s Playgroup was holding a Grand Bazaar 1-2 December in the Greeson Hall. £13 was given to Stonecroft, the Cheshire Home at Barnetby following the sale of Harvest Gifts at St Michael’s and over £8 was raised for Christian Aid at the auction during the Harvest Supper at St George’s. The November Fayre produced a record amount of £439. This was organised by the Social Committee under the chairmanship of Alec Parker and was officially opened jointly by Mrs Barlow and Frank. Gift Day raised £297 which included gifts of £75 and £110 from St George’s and St Michael’s Family Circles respectively. A new group for young people of 11 and over had recently been formed and met on Tuesdays at 6 pm at the Vicarage. Members had been busy preparing an exhibition on the theme “Set My People Free”. The Evening Mothers Union had raised £22 at a Coffee Evening which had been given to St George’s towards the cost of heating the Large Vestry for their fortnightly meetings. A further £10 had been given by the group to the Battered Wives Action Group. In mid-January 1977 we welcomed our new Youth Leader, Rev David Walker who moved into 100 Dale Street with his wife Chris and two young children, Jenny and Andrew. David had been the Curate of Arnold, Nottingham in the Diocese of Southwell. He was brought up in Leicester, where he worked in local government before ordination. He trained for the ordained ministry at Lincoln Theological College and first came to Crosby as part of his practical training. David’s appointment was a joint one by the Diocese of Lincoln and the Local Authority respectively. He received the Bishop’s General Licence from the Bishop of Grimsby at the Family Communion on 13 February. A Parish Week-end at Diocesan House, Lincoln was booked for 18-20 March. This was to be led by the Rev Harley Moreton and the theme was “The Christian Road”. Members of St John’s congregation, with their Vicar Charles Miller would also be attending. The inclusive cost of the week- end was £7:56. A group of people from St George’s went to The Hollies once a month to lead the elderly people in worship. On 21 February the Social Committee held a coffee evening with entertainment in aid of the Hospital Mammograph Fund. Alec Parker was able to hand over a cheque for £65 to Miss Stringer. The Youth Centre, which was already being used as a classroom, was about to be used as the dining room for Crosby Infants. Building work started on a new nursery school for 2 Crosby. This will be situated at Chatterton Crescent and will be able to take up to 60 children. Mrs Elsie Welch made new lectern and pulpit falls for St Michael’s. They were gifted by Mrs Whitesmith and were green, made of damask type material, and looked very well indeed. The Sewing Group continued to meet fortnightly at Mary Dawson’s home, 19 Normanby Road and was grateful for odd balls of knitting wool, lengths or remnants of material, embroidery, etc. On 15 March the Jumbulance visited the Guide meeting. The Guides had been busy raising money for this. David Walker reported that the new Senior Youth Club was open on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 7:30-10:30 pm. The Junior Youth Club met on Thursday evenings from 6:30-8 pm. Once every two weeks on Monday evenings a Disco was held between 7-10 pm. This was open to all young people over the age of 14. From Easter Sunday a new hymn book, the Anglican Hymnal, was being introduced. This had been made possible by a generous anonymous gift of £120. On 21 April the Greeson Memorial Hall was used for an Exhibition and Display by the Scunthorpe Home Safety Committee. In April Major E C R Sheffield, the patron of this parish, died. The Vicar was present at his funeral service at Burton. In June a United Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee was held at St Lawrence’s Church and a Silver Jubilee Garden Party was held at St George’s on 25 June. This was opened by the Mayoress, Mrs Eric Arnold and raised £134. Pat Marshall was now the Chairwoman of the Social Committee which organised the event. Dick Taylor was thanked for painting all the church window bars, including those of the large East window. The Worship Committee were congratulated on planning an excellent service for the beginning of Christian Aid Week. At St Michael’s AGM Elsie Welch was elected as Chapel Warden to succeed Mary Leary who was retiring. Myra Burman was re-elected as Chapel Warden, Enid Maynard as Secretary and Bill Braithwaite as Treasurer. In June the Youth Club took part in a 24 hour table tennis marathon which raised almost £40 for club funds. From September St George’s would be entering a football team in the Scunthorpe & District Intermediate (Under 17) League. Steve Barker, a qualified referee, would be managing the team. On 3 June the children and staff from the Play Group were treated to a Jubilee picnic at Normanby Hall by first year students of the Preliminary Residential Care Course at the Technical College. Some of these students had staffed our Play Group as part of their training. In October the Mothers Union held a Nearly-New Clothes and Coffee Evening and raised £75 towards the Central Communion Area Fund. On 20 November a Day Conference was held starting with Family Communion at 10:30 am. This looked at certain parts of our mission as Christians and as a Church. The sale of harvest gifts raised £10:30 for Christian Aid. The collection at St Michael’s Harvest Thanksgiving Service and the sale of produce afterwards totalled £13:65 which has been sent to the Gateway Youth Club for the Handicapped. In November the Youth Club launched two table tennis teams in the Scunthorpe and District Table Tennis League. Both teams are working well. On 26 November the Autumn Fayre was opened by Alec and Kath Parker. The sum of £480 was raised. Hilary Patterson recently took over from Margaret Stirling as 4th Crosby Brownie Guider. She will be assisted by Wendy O’Toole and Pamela Stirling. Our church organist, Dorrie Webb, recently celebrated her 82nd birthday. Those who heard our broadcast on Radio Humberside could not believe that the organist and trainer of the Singing Group was an 82 year old. The Flower Group Coffee Evening raised £23:50 towards the Central Communion area fund. In December Tim Savage and Julie Sanders were congratulated on their recent engagement. Janice Brader took on the job of Secretary of the Council of Churches. Her mother, Elsie Welch is already the Treasurer. 3 January 1978 saw the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity marked with a house meeting for members from St George’s and Centenary Methodist Church at the home of Pat Marshall. A Day Conference on the needs of the young in our neighbourhood was held on 28 January. Various local organisations concerned with young people were invited to attend. Both the Youth Club table tennis teams remained at the top of their divisions and the football team continued to flourish. In February two church members, Janet Searby and Chris Baker, announced their engagement. David Walker had now been our full-time Youth Worker for 12 months and he appealed for volunteers to come forward to help with the activities and supervision of the young people. Mavis Drury agreed to teach cookery to the Junior Club and David’s wife was able to teach how to make and arrange flowers thanks to Mrs Kath Atkin agreeing to act as baby sitter to the Walker children.