Back to Church Sunday 30th September 2007

It has been estimated that up to three million people in Britain would go back to church if only they were invited. With this in mind, the Diocese of Manchester launched 'Back to Church Sunday' three years ago, and the scheme has proved so succesful that it has been adopted nationally. The evidence suggests that, on average, 12 people per church respond to the invitations to come on Back to Church Sunday, and many become permanent members (for a church the size of St Martin's that would mean increasing our average adult Sunday attendance by over 15%).

Back to Church Sunday will be taking place on 30 September 2007, and this year St Martin's will be participating in this scheme.

How does this involve you? The most effective way to attract people to church (maybe for the first time), is to offer to accompany them to church. I therefore want to issue you a challenge, over the next four months, I would like you to pray for three or four people who do not currently attend church, who you can invite to St Martin's on Sunday 30th September. At the end of June we will be distributing invitation cards for you to invite your friendsd to church.

This is a wonderful opportunity for us to really grow the church, and it is something we can all do. Please do pray about this scheme, and for the people you will invite.

Simon

Vicar's Report, St Martin's Annual Church Meeting (11th March 2007)

This is my report for the St Martin's Annual Church Meeting, held on the 11th March 2007. This report, plus the other church reports can be downloaded in Word format from http://walsallstmartins.2day.ws/walsallstmartins/section/Downloads/

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In my first report as Vicar of St Martin’s, which I gave in April last year, I said that there was much to give thanks for, but that we also faced many challenges as a church. Almost a year on, I think that that this remains the case.

Let me therefore start my report with some of the highlights from the last year.

The Net

In May 2006 we launched The Net, a monthly service which we hoped would appeal to people who do not currently come to St Martin’s. It has been extremely encouraging to see how The Net has steadily grown over the year, and that this has also led to growth amongst our main Sunday morning congregation. Looking ahead to the future, one of the challenges that we face with The Net, is ensuring that it is seen as an event for the whole family, and not just for children. Certainly we have noticed that whilst each month we seem to attract more children, we have not been so successful in attracting their parents! This is something that we are seeking to address.

I would like to express particular thanks to Martin King, who has been the main driving force behind The Net. What has been particularly encouraging has been to see how people from the church have come together to support The Net, it is truly a team effort, and I would like to thank all those who have supported this new initiative.

What we require for the future, is more people who can commit themselves to at least three or four Nets each year, to provide assistance. Areas that we particularly need help with include preparing crafts, running a base, providing refreshments and preparing posters and leaflets. If you would like to help please speak to either myself or Martin.

The next Net will be on Sunday March 18th, feel free to come along and see what it is we are doing, and find out how you can be involved.

Alpha

We are now onto our third Alpha Course since January 2006, attendance at each course has been encouraging, with a significant number of the participants having little or no previous connection with St Martin’s. The course is undoubtedly helping people to reflect upon the Christian faith. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” All we can do is be faithful in planting the seeds, and trusting their growth to God. Your ongoing prayers for the Alpha Course are very much appreciated.

Again, running the Alpha Course would not be possible for the band of volunteers who help prepare and serve food, as well as lead the small groups. I am indebted to all who have given up time and money to serve the church in this way. Our next Alpha Course is scheduled to start in September.

Community Links

During the last year, I have had the opportunity to strengthen my own links with Park Hall Infant and Junior School. I now am in Park Hall Infant School most weeks taking assemblies, and I visit Park Hall Junior School up to several times every half term, and have on a few occasions gone into the school to help assist in lessons, or to welcome the children to St Martin’s.

We are very fortunate as a church to have facilities that are used by a variety of community groups and my thanks goes to John Garbett who deals with the hall bookings.

Church Attendance

Back in October, a year after my licensing as Team Vicar, I reflected on church attendance at St Martin’s over the past 16 years. The bad news I reported was that our: usual Sunday attendance has halved since 1990, and since 1990 we have lost 89% of our young people.

However, over the last few months, it does seem as though our numbers as a church do seem to have stabilised, and possibly increased. There does appear to have been some small, but still significant growth amongst the number of children and families attending St Martin’s, and this is something to really give thanks to God for.

But the challenges facing us are considerable, and we need to continue to reflect on how we can reach out to more people within our community.

Young People

Another area where we face both opportunities and challenges is amongst our young people. I would like to express my particular thanks to Richard and Diane Sainsbury for the work they do amongst the Youth Fellowship (YF). Numbers at YF have fluctuated quite a lot over the year, but there is always a really positive atmosphere. In the coming months we face a challenge about the future of YF, to consider what best meets the needs of the young people within our church, and also our wider community. Again your ongoing prayers for this vital work are very much appreciated.

Tribute also must be made of our Sunday Group Leaders, Mick Pymm, Peter Wheble, Martin King, and Anne Firkins, plus those who support them. As their report highlights, it is not easy to plan the sessions when they are uncertain as to how many children they will get, but there have been some encouraging signs of growth and their hard work and commitment is laying the foundations for the growth of these young peoples faith. However, more helpers are needed if this work is to grow, so please consider whether this is something you could help with, maybe on an occasional basis.

St Martin’s is also extremely fortunate to have a very popular and well run Parents and Toddler Group, which is run by Emma Knott, Emma Wadley and Sheila Wright, although with Sheila looking to relocate to Spain on a more permanent basis, it is important to find more volunteers to help run this group.

Ministry Team

One of the things that greatly appealed to me about St Martin’s when I first arrived was the fact that it has a Ministry Team. It was wonderful to be able to welcome Jackie Brown and Jane Quinn to the Ministry Team last year, taking the team up to its full quota of eight people for the first time since its introduction.

St Martin’s was recently given Mandated Ministry status by the Diocese, which is in recognition of what the church has achieved in trying to encourage every member ministry. On April 1st, the Archdeacon of Walsall will be coming to St Martin’s to preach and officially commission our Mandated Ministry Team.

DCC

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the DCC for their service to the church, and especially to Liz Dunthorne, who although remaining on DCC, is standing down as Secretary. Just over a week ago the DCC attended a conference held here at St Martin’s, on the subject of Leading Your Church into Growth, and in May we have arranged for a DCC Day Away, which I hope will enable the Church Council to prayerfully reflect on how we can lead the church forward into further growth, and renewal.

Wardens

Two people, who, the whole church is indebted to, are our Wardens Phill Ball and Lilian Turner. I am so grateful for Phill and Lilian’s support, and guidance. One of the primary functions of a churchwarden is to represent the views and opinions of the whole church congregation, if you like to be an advocate for the church, and Phill and Lilian have always faithfully discharged their duties.

As many of you will be aware, Phill has had a strong sense of calling for some time now, and in April will be attending a Selection Conference for the Ordained Ministry. Because of this, Phill has decided that the time has now come for him to stand down as churchwarden. On behalf of the whole church, I would like to express our thanks to Phill for all he has done during the time he has been warden. Please hold Phill in your prayers as he attends the selection conference in April.

Needless to say the role of church warden is an extremely important one, and I am therefore delighted to report that Derek Kelsey has agreed to become our next warden.

To support the wardens in their Sunday duties, we have two deputy wardens, Dorothy Doody and Carl Petrucco, and again I would like to express my thanks to them for all that their hard work. Carl is standing down as deputy warden, and I am pleased to report that Peter Wheble will be taking over from Carl.

Finances

This year, we once again managed to pay our Parish Share in full, and meet our other financial commitments.

However, looking ahead to the coming year, it is clear that as a church we face some significant financial challenges, which we will talk about in more details following this service. Put simply, our income does not meet our expenses, and so in order to meet our commitments, we have had to dig into our church reserves last year by the sum of £5,291. One of the reasons for this shortfall in income is due to a drop in congregational giving.

As you will appreciate, this situation cannot continue, because if we have another year like this last year, there will be no reserves left. We therefore face the challenge as a church of having to increase our giving by 5% during this year, in order just to break even, to put that another way, we need to raise our income through giving by £5,840. I have written to every member of the electoral roll to invite you to review your current level of giving, and to consider if you can make changes to that, and I would ask you to prayerfully consider this request.

Increasing our giving by 5% this year, is not an insurmountable difficulty, but it does challenge us as a church to take seriously are commitment to give to the work of God’s church.

I would like to thank John Duder for all he has done as Treasurer, and Martin King for his work as Stewardship Officer. John, after being in the post of Treasurer for several years, has decided to stand down, and so on behalf of the church I would like to express my thanks to John for all he has done. I am delighted to report that Roger Turner, has agreed to take on the roll of Treasurer.

Cluster

The clergy from the five cluster churches continue to meet on a regular basis to plan and pray, and we participate in regular pulpit swaps, which St Martin’s directly benefits from. During this last year, we have said good bye to a number of friends including, Peter Wilcox at St Paul’s, who is now Canon Chancellor at Lichfield Cathedral, Frances Tyson who has moved to Southampton, David Stokes Harrison who is now house for duty vicar in Shropshire, and Mark Ireland who has returned to parish ministry in Wellington near Telford. Jenny Nightingale the curate of St Paul’s, will be leaving Walsall in June, to take up a new post in Bournemouth, and in May we will welcome the Revd Mark Kinder and his family to Walsall, as Mark becomes the new Priest in Charge of St Paul’s.

The Body of Christ

Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:27 writes that the church is the body of Christ, and that we each have a part to play in it. Although I have mentioned a number of people by name in this report, there are many others who help serve the life of the church. Much of this work goes on in the background, but helps strengthen and serve the whole body of Christ. Particular mention should be made of the home group leaders, hospital team, those involved in visiting the sick and elderly, those involved in prayer ministry, charity representatives, flower arrangers, sides persons, refreshments team, and those who help assist in leading worship (leading intercessions, reading, administrators, worship leaders, etc.) The list is likely to be longer, but your work is truly appreciated. The strength of a church lies in the people, and I am thankful for all who work hard to serve the church.

The Future

Looking ahead to the coming year, I feel encouraged, but we still have a lot to do. I believe that our main priority is for us to put prayer much higher on our agenda, so that we hear what God is calling us to do, and that TOGETHER, as a church we may faithfully serve God and our community. In a sermon that I preached back in October, I said quoted from the Diocesan Going for Growth Strategy, which said: “The growth of the kingdom and the growth of the Church depends on the Holy Spirit, not on human striving. Prayer MUST be our first priority. Church members have a vital part to play, praying daily for the growth of the church and of the kingdom.”

I believe that if as a church, we are to see the growth that we all long for, then we must take the call to prayer much more seriously. Because, a praying, will be a growing church.

I want to conclude with Paul’s words from Philippians 3, which I hope will be our prayer as a church for the coming year. “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. , and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me… One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Bishop Jonathan's Evangelism Message

Alpha Course: Exploring the meaning of life

At St Martin's we run the popular Alpha Course (http://www.alpha.org/), a ten week course that looks at the claims of the Christian faith in a fun, friendly and informal way. This is the second course that we've run since I've been in Walsall, and last night was the second session of the course. Last night's topic was 'Why did Jesus die'. It's such a privilege to be able to explore with other people issues relating to God and the Christian faith. In total we have fourteen people on our current course (this includes group leaders), and we vary in age from a teenager up to people in their sixties. The evening begins with a meal, followed by a presentation and then an opportunity to divide into groups to discuss the topic of the night. The great thing about Alpha is that it gives permission for people to discuss the big questions in life, in a safe and non judgemental environment. We're all on a journey with God, a lot of people on the course are searching for answers, looking for God, others have been Christians for some time and are using the course as a refresher, looking again at the essentials of the Christian faith.

At St Martin's we tend to vary the presentation week by week, so some weeks I do the talk, using clips from films when appropriate, and other weeks we use the Alpha DVD which contains the talks given by Nicky Gumble.

I've been on quite a number of Alpha Courses over the years, but what I find is that each one is different, and I always come away feeling as though I've learnt something new. It's a wonderful privilege.

There is a link to the main Alpha website on this blog as as through our church website (http://www.walsallstmartins.2day.ws/), if you're looking for answers, and exploring the meaning of life, I'd recommend you give Alpha a go.

Bishop Jonathan's Christmas Message

I enjoyed the switching on of the Christmas lights in Stafford market place this year. It must be the child in me but the sparkling coloured lights and the smell of roasting chestnuts stirs up a sense of wonder and delight.

Stafford Council bravely purchased some new crib figures this year, rather going against the trend of multi-faith everything. But then only a tiny minority among us wants either a mish-mash of beliefs or an empty manger. Most of our Muslim, Sikh or Jewish neighbours are glad to be in a Christian country where they respect our faith and we respect theirs, and they seem to wish we Christians were a bit more up-front about our beliefs.

So the crib-set in Stafford set me thinking about the market place in our secular society. Originally the king granted a licence for a town to hold a market and the sheriff guaranteed law and order. A market where you could freely and safely buy and sell was a big step-up from robber barons taking half your produce. But there were problems if one of the stall holders bought up the market and made life difficult for rival traders. So in today's world there may be problems with monopolies or if private firms are allowed to purchase the stock-exchange, unless the government is very careful to provide regulators, the modern equivalent of the sheriff.

What about the market place in ideas? When St Paul visited Athens he was able, as a foreigner, to bring his ideas freely to the Athenian Market place and to argue with the locals, both sceptics and followers of various faiths. The whole point of Christmas is that Love is offered by God in the form of a gift than can be accepted or ignored. It is the amazing mystery of Christmas that we are free to respond as we will.

It is because of this that freedom of speech and allowing people to present the truth as they see it is such an important feature of modern Christian democracy. It is part of the role of government to provide open spaces - a kind of secular market place if you like - for people to test out the rival truth claims and ideologies of our time.In that sense a Christian country is also a secular one. But that does not mean that a free country must be one where religion is only a private matter and the public square remains empty of the baby Jesus. An empty square is impossible anyway. All governance rests on values and values are in the end a matter of faith. Different religions have different values and teachings and these need evaluating, not mixing up. England became a nation because the missionaries long ago persuaded our pagan chieftains and kings that the rule of the Prince of Peace was preferable to constant war and banditry. The Christian faith became "by law established" because it was through the teachings of Christ that we got our rule of law.

So it is good to have a debate and a market place of ideas but the market place cannot be left empty for the whole year. If we don't put the very best of our spiritual values in the centre of public life, less good values will find their way in. Nature abhors a vacuum. My prayer is that, just as Stafford Council has decided to invest in a new crib-set in its market place at the centre of things, so the people of this country will make room in their hearts for the gift of Love come down at Christmas. "And the government shall be upon his shoulder."

A very merry Christmas!

Jonathan Gledhill
Bishop of Lichfield
5th December 2006

The Net

The Net is a fresh expression of church that meets on the third Sunday of every month at St Martin's Church, Walsall (4-5pm). It is aimed particularly at families, and is described as church with a difference. As you can see from the video, the emphasis is upon having fun, and learning about God is a creative and exiting way (if you're wondering what the YMCA song has to do with God - the theme of this Net was communication, & people are using semaphore to spell out the letters YMCA). The next Net is on November 19th at 4.00pm.

Parable of the Life-Saving Station

On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area wanted to become associated with the station and gave of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew.

Some of the members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully because they used it as a sort of club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club’s decorations, and there was a liturgical life-boat in the room where the club’s initiations were held. About this time a large ship wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house build outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split among the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station. So they did.

As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another life-saving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.

Harvest of Hope

Today we celebrated our harvest festival at St Martin's. Harvest has always been on of my favourite festivals right back to the time when I was a child. For many years my family lived in a small village in West Cumbria called Gosforth, where my dad was the local minister. One of his churches was the tiny church of St Olaf's, nestled at the foot of Scafell Pike and Great Gable in Wasdale Valley. In Wasdale Head there are only a few farms, a hotel and a shop (which caters for the many walkers who visit this remote and stunningly beautiful valley). Harvest Festival in St Olaf's was always special, the church was always simply decorated, and the produce wasn't prepacked stuff, but potatoes, turnips and carrots taken straight from the fields, with the soil still clinging on to them. Because farmers made up a significant part of the congregation, as a service it always had such a special feel.

I still love Harvest, although living as I do in a large urban conurbation, very few if any of the people in the church earn their living from the land, and this year rather than collecting food stuffs, we collected toiletries, which we are going to send to Bulgaria.

Harvest, as well as an opportunity to give thanks to God for all the good things we enjoy, is an opportunity to reflect upon those people around the world who do not have the things we take for granted. This year we focused on the work of Tearfund who are supporting the Yanapanakuna project which is helping the Quechua people of Bolivia build better lives for themselves. Living high up in the beautiful but inhospitable Andes the Quechua people have struggled for generations to survive on this hard terrain. With a diet consisting mostly of potatoes and wheat, malnutrition is rife, and 20% of children die before the age of one. Now with the help of Tearfund, the Quechua people are being taught how to build greenhouses and grow vegetables to improve their diet, as well as receiving spiritual support. This simple project, is transforming lives (for further information go to http://www.teafund.org)

Our reading from Isaiah this morning reminded us that we all have a responsibility to care for the poor and needy, where ever they may be. "I'll tell you what it really means to worship the LORD. Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly. Free those who are abused! Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless. Give clothes to those in need; don't turn away your relatives." (Isaiah 58:6-7)

In Britain we face problems of obesity, and over consumption, and so it is good for us to remember our obligation to those less fortunate than ourselves, and to be wise stewards of the resources God has given to us. For far too long, the developed world has been guilty of squandering and misusing the world's resources, and exploiting the developing world. This can no longer continue. I for one am delighted to see the growth in fairly traded goods filling our shops, and rising consumer awareness about how the choices we make every time we go shopping can affect others on the other side of the world. God in his wisdom created a world with enough resources for everyone, it is about time we started sharing these resources more fairly and making a better world for all people. For us in the developed world, this means being prepared to take hard choices, about what our priorities are and how we spend our money, but it is worth it, if we are to build a world based on justice and equality for all.

Support in Christian Ministry

Being in full time Christian Ministry can be tough, and it is important to have good support networks around you. In Walsall I'm extremely fortunate in not only having a very supportive Ministry Team, that meets once a month to pray for one another, but also great colleagues within the Walsall Central Cluster (a group of five churches which are linked together, go to http://www.2day.ws/walsallstmartins/section/ClusterChurches/) As clergy from the different cluster churches we go away once every two months to a house on the edge of Cannock Chase, where we can spend time praying and supporting one another as well discussing areas of mutual concern.


There is also a Walsall Leader's Prayer Group, which meets every fortnight on a Wednesday to pray, (plus there is a monthly breakfast prayer meeting, which meets early on a Saturday morning - although I've yet to attend!)

It is a real privilege to share fellowship with other Christians, particular. We are a very diverse bunch of people. In the group we have people from the Anglican, Methodist and Brethen Churches, plus the Salvation Army, Community Churches, and from the Redeemed Christian Church of God. Although we represent different denominations, we all share the one desire to see God's Kingdom grow in Walsall, and it is wonderful to see how God is uniting Christians in this town as we seek to work together and support one another. What is also exiting to see, is how God is drawing people to Walsall from the different corners of the globe. In the photo above is Debo who has moved to Walsall with his wife from Nigeria, because he feels God has called him to be a missionary in this country. We also have another person who is part of this group (but not in this photo) called Paul, who like Debo felt called by God to come to Walsall from Uganda. God is clearly at work in Walsall, and it is exiting to see what he is going to do.

Alpha Course: Exploring the meaning of life

At St Martin's we run the popular Alpha Course (http://www.alpha.org/), a ten week course that looks at the claims of the Christian faith in a fun, friendly and informal way. This is the second course that we've run since I've been in Walsall, and last night was the second session of the course. Last night's topic was 'Why did Jesus die'. It's such a privilege to be able to explore with other people issues relating to God and the Christian faith. In total we have fourteen people on our current course (this includes group leaders), and we vary in age from a teenager up to people in their sixties. The evening begins with a meal, followed by a presentation and then an opportunity to divide into groups to discuss the topic of the night. The great thing about Alpha is that it gives permission for people to discuss the big questions in life, in a safe and non judgemental environment. We're all on a journey with God, a lot of people on the course are searching for answers, looking for God, others have been Christians for some time and are using the course as a refresher, looking again at the essentials of the Christian faith.

At St Martin's we tend to vary the presentation week by week, so some weeks I do the talk, using clips from films when appropriate, and other weeks we use the Alpha DVD which contains the talks given by Nicky Gumble.

I've been on quite a number of Alpha Courses over the years, but what I find is that each one is different, and I always come away feeling as though I've learnt something new. It's a wonderful privilege.

There is a link to the main Alpha website on this blog as as through our church website (http://www.walsallstmartins.2day.ws/), if you're looking for answers, and exploring the meaning of life, I'd recommend you give Alpha a go.

Africaid

As a church we support a number of charities based in the UK and around the world (details on our website http://www.walsallstmartins.2day.ws/) We are the only church in the UK to support a small charity called Africaid that works in the slums of Nairobi.

The following description of what Africaid does is taken from their website www.africaid.org

"Our mission is to provide the much needed financial services and holistic training to the business
communities with a main focus on the member women entrepreneurs to save and access credit to expand their enterprises in order to alleviate poverty. We also address HIV/AIDS through strengthening of local communities' identified and established strategies."

To support this work they rely upon donations from around the world. Unfortunately a lot of the money that they had been promised has not been forthcoming, and as a result they are facing a financial crisis. This work is of vital importance, and many lives depend upon it, as the sole supporting church in this country we feel a particular burden of responsibility to this project, and are doing what we can to help support Africaid.

If you feel you could support a worthwhile project that is making a difference to some of the poorest people in the world please visit the Africaid website http://www.africaid.org/ or contact info@africaid.org

The Net

Back in May 2005 at St Martin’s we started The Net. The Net is a monthly event (third Sunday of the month) which takes place between 4pm and 5pm, and is a fun packed hour, designed to appeal to families. We’ve had four gatherings of The Net, and although the numbers attending have not been large, everyone has had a really enjoyable time together. Each month the theme is different, so far we’ve look at New Beginnings, Creation, Recreation & today King David. The activities on offer revolve around the particular theme being explored. The strap line for The Net is ‘Church with a difference’ and this is very much what we hope it is. We hope that The Net will shatter some of the sterotypes people have of church - that it can be dull, boring & irrelevant, and instead we hope that people will discover that church is fun and relevant for modern life. The next installment of The Net is October 15th, and everyone is warmly invited (further information can be found at http://walsallstmartins.2day.ws/walsallstmartins/section/TheNet/)