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.