A Year in the 2015 A Year in the life of St Mary Magdalen ~ 2015 A Year in the life of St Mary Magdalen ~ 2015 A Year in the Life of ‘to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, for ever and ever! Amen’ Ephesians 3: 21 Every effort has been made to include the names of everyone who has a regular active role in the life of St Mary Magdalen and these are detailed in the boxes. Sincere apologies if anyone has been omitted. It is amazing and humbling how much so many contribute to the life of our church and the following reports are so interesting and inspiring, I’m sure that you will enjoy reading them as much as I did compiling them. I would like to thank Linda Clist especially for proof-reading this booklet and her suggestions regarding the quotations. I would also like to thank Jo Saunders, Olivia & Ken Tottle, Hazel Langley and Juanita Pertwee for their assistance with its assembly. Rebecca Whelan (Parish Administrator) April 2016 A Year in the life of St Mary Magdalen ~ 2015 A Year in the life of St Mary Magdalen ~ 2015 Table of Contents Vicar’ Report …..................................................................... 1 Churchwardens’ Report .....................................................................… 2 Curate’s Rport .................................................................….… 3 Staff Team ................................................................….…. 4 Worship Worship Group …..................................................................... 5 YFS / Ten O’Clock Together …..................................................................... 7 }Open{ …..................................................................... 8 Parish Prayers …..................................................................... 9 Music …..................................................................... 10 Choir …..................................................................... 11 Hymn Sheets & Copyright …..................................................................... 12 Projection …..................................................................... 12 Rotas …..................................................................... 13 Outreach & Mission Missions Group …..................................................................... 14 Local Outreach …..................................................................... 15 Alpha …..................................................................... 15 Men’s Ministry …..................................................................... 16 Pastoral Pastoral Team …..................................................................... 17 Chaplaincy Team …..................................................................... 18 Over 50s Group …..................................................................... 19 Prayer Ministry ………............................................................... 20 Youth & Children Youth & Children’s Group …..................................................................... 21 Youth Work …..................................................................... 22 The ARK …..................................................................... 24 Pre-School & Families Work …..................................................................... 25 Education & Discipleship GUSS …..................................................................... 26 Home Groups …..................................................................... 26 Growing the Church …..................................................................... 27 Contd … A Year in the life of St Mary Magdalen ~ 2015 Social Social Events …..................................................................... 28 Sunday Refreshments …..................................................................... 28 Communication & Publicity Overview …..................................................................... 29 Website …..................................................................... 29 NewSheet …..................................................................... 30 PCC …..................................................................... 31 Safeguarding …..................................................................... 32 Administration …..................................................................... 33 Fabric Fabric Group …..................................................................... 34 Vergers …..................................................................... 35 Cleaning ….................................................................... 36 Flowers …..................................................................... 36 Garden …..................................................................... 37 The Friends to Sheet Church ….................................................................... 37 Finance Treasurer’s Report ….................................................................... 38 Discretionary Fund ….................................................................... 39 Deanery Synod ….................................................................... 40 Diocesan Synod ….................................................................... 41 PACT ….................................................................... 42 A Year in the life of St Mary Magdalen ~ 2015 Introduction A Year in the Life of St. Mary Magdalen, Sheet - 2015 Once again this year, many people have given a huge amount to make possible the things that you can read about in this booklet. This giving is in all sorts of ways – giving of time, of finance, of practical work, of prayer, of leadership and taking responsibility, of loving one another… Some of it is up-front and obvious; much of it is hidden but vital none the less. Just as a body needs the contribution of all its different parts to be healthy and work properly, so does the church. If you are reading this you are probably one of the people who gives in some way. Thank you for your contribution; whether big or small it is really important. It’s been very good that this year we have been able to complete the work of re-ordering the chancel and renewing the sound system. Already this has enabled us to use the church building more: for PCC meetings, training courses and prayer & praise evenings. Sheet School was able to hold their harvest festival in the church and also to put on an ambitious Christmas production which would simply not have been possible without the space and the sound system. During the year, we have also reviewed and decided to develop rather than radically change our pattern of services during the year. This has led to a more consistent worship style to which we are adjusting. }Open{ has become established on the first Saturday of the month and very good it is too. If you have never tried it I would encourage you to do so. And we have continued to work at helping children and young people to be an integral part of the church. We enjoyed an excellent youth-led service in August and a spectacular Nativity service in December. We’ve also spent time thinking about how we might increase our welcome and our outreach as a church at the same time as continuing to run some outreach events for men and Alpha courses for all. And we have taken our first steps in ‘Prayer Mission’, visiting homes in the parish and offering to pray for people. This has been very well received and I’m hoping we shall do more of it in the year ahead. I’m also excited that we are starting to explore some new ways of reaching out with possible mid-week services and seeing how we can increase our work with older people. Thank you again for your love, prayers and service; it is very good to work with you to see God’s kingdom come in this place. Thanks: For the many who give so much and for God’s life at work among us. Prayer: That the Lord will lead us and equip us to do all that he is calling us to do. Goal: To enable people who are currently not part of church to be able to join us and grow in faith with us. Richard Saunders (Vicar of St. Mary Magdalen, Sheet) A Year in the life of St Mary Magdalen ~ 2015 1 Churchwardens Another year has passed with much to be thankful for and to celebrate as we move forward as a church. For us, Karen has taken on the churchwarden role and is enjoying being more involved in the life of St. Mary's. She has joined the Finance Group whilst Ruth continues to sit on the Fabric Group. One of the duties of the Churchwardens is to oversee the counting of the collections and the general church finances. We continue to draw from our reserves, whereas our aim is to be able to support the general running of the church through our giving. However we have been very encouraged by the response to our new Stewardship Promoter's talks in the New Year. We give thanks to all those who give financially to the church and also to those who give their time to managing the church finances and collection counting, in particular our Treasurer, Philip Poulter. Another role of a churchwarden is to keep an eye on the fabric of the church. Much of its work this year has been on the chancel re-ordering. It is very pleasing to see this come to fruition after many years of discussion and planning. Thank you to the Friends of Sheet Church and the anonymous donor who donated funds to enable this project to happen. It is proving to be a very flexible and versatile space allowing a range of activities from meetings to drama, more intimate Wednesday morning services, traditional choir