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Administry -what/who is it? (August 1989 edition of the magazine) Administry are set to revolutionise the place of good organisation in effective front line church work…. "One of the most significant developments within the resource base of the church", said one Minister…. More than 400 churches have now joined… Ahem…. You said something? Take it easy. What's wrong? You're talking about administration, right? Right! Administry training day participants return to their churches full of enthusiasm and practical ideas…. You can't fool me. Administration? Wake me up when it's something spiritual. Administration is a spiritual gift look at 1 Corinthians 12:28 ' and so long as it doesn't become an end in itself, it's a vital ingredient for effective mission and ministry. The creation story is about bringing pattern, order and regularity. Solomon's administrative efficiency was an illustration of his God given wisdom. Acts 6:1 7 describes how spiritually minded men with practical ability were appointed. And then there's ..... OK, so good organisation is important. And I gather our church have joined Administry. What difference does that make to me? A lot! Administry membership doesn't lead to effective administration unless the resources we provide are used. Whatever your role is in the church, we are likely to have materials or training that can help you. For example, there are papers on youth work, house groups, men's groups, being a committee member, music, church magazine production, finance, and lots more. Well there you are: I don't do any of those things. I only look after the Sunday coffee rota. So you're a vital member of the welcome team! And as your church are a member you can get hold of our resource papers on welcome. They're packed with fresh ideas from other churches' experiences. Huh I want action not print. Well, come to our training day for welcome teams or ask us to run it at your church. Or your team can buy our DIY training pack and lay on their own event. OK, you win. So how do I find out more? Easy see your church's Administry Agent who is David Oldale ‘Initiative in Giving 1990’ (April 1990 edition of the magazine) By the Bishop of Derby I believe parishes, and not least the clergy, are often weighed down with a need to find the parish share, to say nothing of the financial expenses that a church has, yet only a small increase in giving by congregations would set everyone free to concentrate on the main tasks of the church. Later this year I shall be asking all parishes if, in a specific and simultaneous period, they would consider the regular giving of their congregations. I've asked a group to advise me and more detail will be coming, but I wish to share some of my preliminary thoughts with you. Many of the clergy will have already heard me speak on this at last year's Clergy conference. Firstly, a simultaneous period would enable everyone to know they are part of a diocesan wide activity, which has been initiated by myself, as Bishop. Secondly, however, the exact form will be left to the parishes, but with advice and resources available on which they can draw. Thirdly, my own staff and the Bishop's Council have agreed to say anonymously what they themselves give. I expect to be asking others, particularly in our Synods, to take part in this process and step by step to publish the aggregated results. My idea in doing this is to give a lead by letting church members know what people in places of responsibility are prepared to give and hopefully stimulate some to reconsider their giving, asking what the proper level is in proportion to their income. Finally, I hope that all this will go hand in hand, not with a sense of weariness that we are on the subject of money again, but with an understanding that it is a joyful response to all that God has given us. Peter Derby Going for Growth in Christ, November 1992 (December 1992 edition of the magazine) PCC Away Day. The PCC held an Away Day at Foolow on Saturday 7 November 1992, with the title "Seeking a Vision". Following that day, and the subsequent PCC meeting, they have arrived at the following vision statement for our churches: ‘Going for Growth in Christ’. We aim under God to grow:
Reflections on a PCC Away Day, November 1993 (February 1994 edition of the magazine) What is a PCC. Away day? An all expenses paid trip to Blackpool! A day at the Races! A Lunch at the Savoy! A normal PCC Meeting, but somewhere away? No, it is none of these, but rather a chance for the PCC to spend some time together to think and to pray and have an opportunity to get to know each other better, in a relaxed and informal environment. Perhaps Sheila Pite had the right idea having arrived with her favourite slippers. The plan was to spend a November Saturday at Eyam Church in their new Church Centre and be guided through our programme by Trevor and Mary Beedel (who St Thomas folk will remember warmly from the Stewardship Campaign of several years ago). The programme included:
In groups of five or six we discussed the three themes mentioned earlier. There was also time for meditative silence, a chance to listen to God and a final period of worship. If this all sounds a bit heavy and dry then I can assure you no-one found that to be so, good humour and warmth abounded. Much constructive feedback was forthcoming and the Beedels noted plenty of helpful comment. The programme listed at 12.15pm - Lunch and an opportunity for exercise. Most members took a packed lunch, except for two or three who sneaked off to the Miners Arms, and after eating there was chance of a breath of air. Some strolled round the village or church yard and the more energetic (a group including two Readers, one Church Warden and a Curate) had a quick hike up the hill beyond the youth hostel and enjoyed a panoramic view of the area and a visit to Mompessons Well. This party was in danger of being late back and the vision of half a dozen responsible peers of the Church jogging at uncontrolled and ever increasing speed down the hillside back to Eyam was a sight to behold! Sheila, with her coat fanned out like a hang glider and red-booted legs going ten to the dozen looked most impressive. With the benefit of hindsight though, perhaps the best memory was spending the day, including travelling, in the company of that lovely old gentleman Sam Martin who died suddenly only four days later. Sam was in great form, and what a privilege and blessing to so many of us the day had proved to be. Alan Sheldon Safeguarding Children and Young People in the Parish (December 2003 edition of the magazine) Some of the eagle eyed amongst our readers may have spotted a new post listed on the inside cover at the back of Ploughshare - that of Child Protection Co-ordinator. The post has come about as a result of new guidelines being introduced across the Diocese for how we go about keeping safe all the children and young people we meet through church activities at both St Thomas' and St Peter's. Putting the policy and procedures into practice has involved many people who are already working with children, for example in Discoverers and Sunday Club, Pathfinders and CYFA. The scope of the policy goes further - it involves us setting up a register of all key holders to the church premises - and at St Thomas' that is quite a few! It involves requesting from the Criminal Records Bureau that enhanced disclosure checks are carried out on a wide range of people with positions of responsibility within the church. From now on this includes anyone newly taking up a role within our Parish - David Mouncer had to have one, and so will new leaders (volunteers and paid) working with children and young people, the new Church Administrator, and new Church Wardens. In practice - this means some changes to the way we do things - for example, as Pam Brimelow completes her term of office at the next APCM we will need to have received CRB clearance on her successor before they can be put forward to fill this role, so we will need to identify who that might be probably around the end of January as we need to allow 6 - 8 weeks for the disclosure process to be completed. Similarly, volunteers and leaders at next summer's Holiday Club will also need to be identified early enough to allow the CRB process to take place. So, please pray and ask God now what He is leading you to be involved in and then please get ready to commit yourself much, much sooner than later! If you have any questions about these changes, please contact me. Julie Lomas, Child Protection Co-ordinator. (Heather Hollington from 2004) St Thomas' Five Year Plan (April 2006 edition of the magazine) In 2006 St Thomas' developed a plan of where they would like the church to be in five years time. It will be reviewed regularly.
2010 Annual Parochial Church Meeting and St Peter’s and St Thomas’ Annual General Meetings (June 2010 edition of the magazine) St Peter’s and St Thomas’ AGMs were held on 19 and 21 April 2010 respectively. Both were well attended. The meetings looked back at the last year and looked forward to the coming year. The positives include an increase in numbers attending services, financial stability, new initiatives, new staff, the imminent start of St Thomas’ new building, the 1000 Days of Prayer and a sense that the Holy Spirit is moving through the churches. The Annual Parochial Church Meeting for the parish was held on 25 April 2010 when the people of St Thomas’ and St Peter’s came together. Again another series of positive reports were given. This last year has been a very busy year, and the coming year will be equally busy. We are entering a new era at our churches. Ruth our Curate brought us a word from God a couple of weeks ago: See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43:19) God is giving us the tools to do new things: the new Centre, new staff, new church members, new services and the CVM partnership to name a few. We need to perceive what God wants us to do with them and get on and do it! At the meetings new members were elected to St Thomas’ and St Peter’s District Church Councils and the Parochial Church Council. Members of the PCC: Clergy -Rev Matt Barnes and Rev Audrey Smith Parish/St Thomas' Wardens -Karen Riley and Mark Hoare St Peter's Wardens Diana Hincliffe (other Warden post vacant) Elected members from St Thomas' -Pam Brimelow, Angela Wright, Julie Barton, Ruth Bird, Steve Willis, Julie Lomas and Rosie Welch Elected members from St Peter's -Sue Brown, Kenneth Franklin, Margaret Love, Jill Sargent and Nancy Sturdy Elected Deanery Synod members -Phil Johnson (PCC Treasurer) Paul Benson (PCC Secretary), Millie Guthrie, Marion Malcolmson, Elisabeth Marsden, Maureen Thompson, Phillipa Buswell and Carolyn Baker Co-opted -Nanette Sanderson Child Protection Officer -Anne Hewitt Members of St Thomas' DCC: Clergy -Rev Matt Barnes and Ruth Turner Parish/St Thomas' Wardens -Karen Riley and Mark Hoare Elected members -Carolyn Baker (Secretary), Sue Ward, Helen Murray, Jane Simmonds, Barry Thompson, Bernard Blanksby, Catherine Mann, Scott Atkinson, Jenny Smedley, Warren Cassling and Vikky Wood. Members of St Peter's DCC: Clergy -Rev Matt Barnes and Rev Audrey Smith Parish/St Thomas' Wardens -Karen Riley and Mark Hoare St Peter's Wardens Diana Hincliffe (other Warden post vacant) Elected members -Kenneth Franklin (Secretary), Karen Gibson (Treasurer), Roy Gibson, Ann Haggard, Adrian Marsden-Jones, Simon Nieder, Sue Brown, Ellen Stockton, Nancy Sturdy and Shirley Whitham Deanery Synod Representative –Philippa Buswell Health and Safety Officer - Neil Killingley 2011 Annual Parochial Church Meeting "Our Church in 2014" (June 2011 edition of the magazine) The Rector writes: The plea went out: please make the AGM more interesting! I’ve tried to respond by this slightly ‘left field’ look at our Church in 2014, writing it as if I were a church member rather than the Rector. Please don’t think that everything I’ve written here is ‘church policy’. However, I do hope it raises in our minds some interesting ideas as to how we could grow and develop over the next few years. I’ve tried to be humorous in places but behind the humour to put forward serious ideas and values that I believe maybe worth pursuing. Please feel free to comment to me in person or complete the ‘Have your Say’ form that is available in church or at st-thomas-brampton.org/apcm2011.html#1 Well, we’re still growing; we’re a lot more than 300 now. All this talk of an electoral roll of 500 doesn’t seem as crazy as it did three years ago. Anyway, it’s not about numbers, we know that, it’s about what God is getting us ready for next that matters. Recently we’ve been learning a lot about community ministry through our fully functional parish centre. This has been tremendously exciting: learning how to engage with the community in new ways. Some things didn’t happen as fast as we’d like. Other things happened too quickly. Yes, for sure we’ve made mistakes but we’ve tried lots of new things along the way: like café church, coffee shop outreach, summer clubs and lots more. Some things have worked better than others (truth be told some have been out and out disasters) but we’ve been learning along the way and we’re getting much better at knowing what our neighbourhood needs. All the hard work was forgotten the day that the first person who committed their life to Jesus in the centre stood up and gave their testimony. It made it all worthwhile. I can’t lie, it has been hard work. Sometimes I wish we could roll back the years and use the excuse that we had no-where suitable to do all these things but; that’s long forgotten now. It’s not so bad because with all these opportunities to serve we’ve learned a lot about not being passengers in the church, but rather fully engaged disciples. This is one of the most important lessons God continues to teach us through our worship. When people talk about our services at St Thomas’ what most say now is variety. With anything from our morning communion service with robes and liturgy through to messy church we have services to cater for most tastes. They’re all vibrant and relevant in different ways; you’ve just got to find the one that works best for you. I’ve always enjoyed coming along but it’s true I certainly feel a lot more cared for now the new pastoral structures are in place. Saying that, I also understand that it’s not just about me. I also have a responsibility to care for myself and for others too. I personally work this out through my small group which is a real lifeline to me. Since they tweaked the groups and those new ones started up it seems that a lot more folks are saying the same. It always makes me laugh when people say that they’re in the best small group, especially the footballers. I mean, how can playing football be a small group? Anyway, we all know that my group’s the best. The other thing that really makes me feel cared for is the cook-extra initiative where we’re encouraged each month to put a little extra in the pot and invite someone new back for lunch after the service. When I first came to St T’s that made a big difference. I got to know lots of people quickly, had some fantastic meals and it was through this that I found out a lot about how the church really works! One thing we’re being trained up and prepared for is church planting. It’s been done before and that worked really well. Now not only is God calling us again to do this but actually we want to do it. And we’re excited! We’ve identified the church and parish we’d like to engage with and we’ve got people coming together for this next great adventure. We’re not quite ready yet but we know it’s not too long away before we have to finally send out the team to start God’s new thing in another part of Chesterfield. I’m going to particularly miss those we’ve trained on our Growing Leaders courses but hey! It is a great adventure and we’re glad to play our part in the re-evangelisation of our town. We know we don’t stand alone in this task; we’re working ever closer with our partners in the Gospel. Organisations like CVM, Church on the Bus, the Gate, Roof-stops and Street Pastors as well as many other like minded churches and groups. We’re enriched in this endeavour by our mission partners abroad and all the lessons we’ve learned by visiting them and by their visits to us. All this work is being under girded by our hard-working interns who support not just our ever growing youth programme and twenties group but in all the work done in the church. I think I’m most grateful to them when they hand me my well-deserved cappuccino at the end of the service -is it me or are the sermons getting longer? It’s great that they’ve got big smiles and bags of energy. I love it when they talk about stuff they’ve been doing with our partners. One said, with tears in his eyes, that he prayed with a homeless man for the first time the other night. I’m not sure whose life was changed the most that evening! Anyway, the house we had to buy to put these folks in is proving to be a good investment and is working out well. I’m glad people saw the vision to buy a property that would not only serve the church but also be a way we can save for the future; you never know what God has for you around the corner! It’s all being paid for confidently; doesn’t look like there’s any problems there. It’s agood job we paid off the loans for the centre so quickly. This really helped us to have the courage to do this new initiative and not get bogged down in endless finance discussions. I’m sure that the stewardship campaign helped with this, especially for those new to St T’s who needed the encouragement to commit to us in this vital way. As things are going so well some mad fools are starting to think about the next big church capital campaign. They say we need a new entrance to help us be seen from Chatsworth Road and also to address the rather embarrassing Meeting Room. I think what brings people to our church and keeps them here is not our wonderful seniors work or our incredibly varied music ministry or our creative families work. Not even the delicious paninis you can get from the coffee shop. No it’s our thirst for Jesus. One thing we learned through the 1,000 Days of Prayer is that ultimately it’s not our buildings or programmes that matter. No, it’s Jesus. Lots of things help us to remember this, of course: our small groups fuel this thirst as do our quiet days and regular courses like Alpha and Growing Leaders and the Marriage Course. But ultimately it’s when our hearts are changed by His heart that we see our spirituality satisfied. I noticed this most at the first St Thomas’ conference we did. People couldn’t stop talking about Jesus for weeks afterwards. There was a bloke who comes to our church – I don’t know his name but I know he helps on the monthly Dad’s Army, who was crying like a baby there. I remember thinking that it was really good that he felt that our church was a safe place to do business with God. With almost half our church being blokes who know Jesus as their captain, brother, rescuer and friend I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised. We’re still learning to work with the Rector’s sometimes unconventional ways. I think he’s got worse since Ruth left (that was a sad day), but the new curate seems to be working out ok and I’m sure they’ll have the Rector licked into shape soon enough. I’ve not dwelt on the difficulties we’ve had: the problems, the fallings out, the grief’s and sadness. I know they’re there, I know we’re not perfect and this is not a perfect church. But we’ve learned to be healed and move on in God’s love and that’s what changes everything -always has and always will. Matt Barnes Listen to this and more about the APCM here |