North Chippenham
Group of Churches
North
Chippenham Group of Churches 2011
This is my 10th report to the
annual meetings of the churches of the North Chippenham Group of Churches - St
Peter's Langley Burrell; St Michael & All Angels' Kington St Michael; St
Nicholas' Hardenhuish;
Life is full of its ups and downs and it was
with great sadness, surprise and disappointment that (in summer
2010) Mike & Sarah Watkins' marriage broke down and, as a consequence, they
left our fellowship and Chippenham. We wish them God's blessing
at this difficult time in their lives - and please also continue to pray for
their children Rebekah & Samuel. In consequence there is a vacancy
for a Team Vicar in our Group - something that is being worked on as we look to
a new appointment. Please pray that we get it right!
Dave Kilmister is continuing his work at St
Nicholas' church and his ministry there is greatly valued.
There are still plans afoot to try to build a hall - and Dave's wisdom in this
is much valued. With families (and few facilities) there are
regular all-age services at Hardenhuish church which Dave
is developing along with a number of people at the church. I sense that new
people are being brought into ministry at the front of church
along with Barbara Wood & Karen Rudge.
He is also involved at Langley Burrell. St
Peter's church has seen quite a change this year as Sarah &
Graham Cook and Caroline Preston have moved away leaving
us short of church wardens. We did have a congregation and village meeting
about the future and it seems that Carole Bubb (ably supported by her husband
Graham and others of the congregation) has stepped forward and will take on the
church warden role. Thank you, Carole!
There seems to be a new energy within this small
community of faith.
Kington St Michael has had a fairly quiet
year but, thanks be to God, another year of worship and fellowship
in the village. Sam Rushton is working well with the church and her regular
ministry along with Pam Tayler, Tim Woodward & John Woodward
is well received. The midweek Holy Communion service is one
I particularly enjoy being part of and has given us the opportunity to discover
some interesting passages of Scripture and preach on them.
We also have Steve Cooper, Karin Needham, Alice
Hall, Ron Pool and Peter Rushton as LLMs (Licensed Lay Ministers/Readers) who
are based at St Pauls but also minister in the other 3 churches. It has been
great to welcome Anjali Kanagratnam back to our fellowship and in February 2011
Veronica Kilmister and Ann Tyndall join this team as they are licensed for this
ministry. This is a wonderful sign of people responding to God's call - and I
am always wanting to encourage folk to develop their own calling and ministry,
as we sit under God's authority within the church.
During 2010 I enjoyed our sermon series on Questions
Jesus asks (of us!) from John's gospel; The First
Christian Witnesses in Acts; Going Deeper (great themes from
the OT); and Living as Christ Followers in
Luke. In the midweek series we have looked at Isaiah the prophet;
Our Ministers along with our Church Wardens
continue to form our Group Leadership (which aims to
meet 4/5 times a year). And I want to thank our Church Wardens for all they do
- Sarah Cook &
Caroline Preston
(both until autumn 2010); Martin Ellett (until 2010), Michael Meilton &
John Hartley; Derek Boulton & Deborah Loveday; Colin Labouchere. You
provide caring, responsible leadership
which is much appreciated - thank you for all you do! And at St Pauls our
Leadership Team consisted of Alice Hall
(Outreach); Karin Needham (Caring for Ourselves); Martin Ellett (Property & Resources); Ann Tyndall (Out of
Parish); Emma Howarth (Children); Andy Devers (Youth); Michael Meilton
(Administration) whilst I covered Worship.
I want to take
this opportunity to thank Jackie Beeney for the work she did in the Group
Office and Claire Betley who has taken
over the role. At St Pauls there are regular newsletters and St Nicholas are
starting one also. I do try to make sure that as much information as possible
is circulated in the parish. Thank you to Rob Kingsland for the weekly notice
sheet and for those who run the websites for
St Pauls (www.stpaulsweb.co.uk) & Hardenhuish churches (www.harnish.org.uk).
At St Pauls the
completed re-ordering is a great blessing and sign that we can do something
with the building. It is a tribute to
all those who planned, prayed and gave to the project. I am more and more convinced that God has given us a sound
building in a very prominent place and that we are the custodians of a place that we should (in God's
good time) re-order. Whatever that means!
As you know I also
have the role of Area Dean of Chippenham which I find both challenging and enjoyable. As I write there are plans afoot for the
next phase - ie from June 2011. As things stand I do look likely to be involved in the future with
the deanery role. I do find it a privilege to work with the excellent clergy and
lay leaders of the churches in our deanery - and we are very blessed by having
Aurea Hart as Lay Chair. There is a real sense of purpose and mission as we try
to help 'release the energy' of God's
people.
Also I want to
mention that this year I have enjoyed Quiet Days at Nympsfield; continue to be
a Trustee of the Revelation (Bookshop); volunteer at The Harbour drop-in for
asylum seekers and refugees in Swindon; and take school assemblies at St Pauls
& Kington St Michael primary schools, and
sometimes at St Nicholas' special school. It has been another full year and in
a world of (economic) uncertainty it is
good to be reminded of the unchanging nature of our God, the one on whom we can fully depend.
I think this is a great.......it comes from Jude
24-25..............
To
him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious
presence without fault
and with great joy - to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through
Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and for evermore! Amen.