Minister’s Report 2022/23
At the point of writing, I have been in post for just over seven months. In so many ways still a new kid on the block, yet already feeling very much at home. This is due to the generosity and warmth of welcome you have offered. I am blessed by the relationships I am finding among you, the slow but steady experience of getting to know you, the care and welcome you have and continue to extend to me and Lisa, the intimacy of sharing life and faith and hope together. Thank you for bearing with us through the upheaval of the recent second move. Thank you for your patience as I learn how things work at SAPLC, at my other two churches and across the Circuit and Diocese. It takes time to get the feel of a place, to understand its culture, habits, idiosyncrasies, and emphases. But step by step… !
Some highlights from the past seven months. The Christmas candlelit Carol Service, with such beautiful music delivered by our amazing ‘scratch choir’ and the story brought alive by our readers. Holy Week, from Palm Sunday All Age Worship to the moving services of Maundy Thursday at St Augustine’s and Good Friday Music and Meditations and the resurrection joy of our Easter Day celebration. The quiet reflection and profound blessing of mid-week Communion services; the beauty of Taizé worship through Advent and Lent. Thanks to our wardens and stewards and all those who help to support and enable the rich worshipping life of the church.
More widely, Tuesday Café has restarted after the pandemic, and the Interfaith group continues to engage and seek to strengthen relationships and understanding between the faiths. Our Justice and Peace group and the Eco team work hard to keep us informed of social and climate issues while the ECC steers the ship and keeps us on course. Relationships continue to deepen and grow across the Diocese, Circuit, and local Mission Area.
Heartfelt thanks to music makers, readers, PA and screen technicians, flower arrangers, communion stewards, pray-ers, greeters and coffee providers. Thank you for the enormous amount of dedicated and creative work which goes into Junior Church, and to those who have recently volunteered to support this vital part of our life together: the care and encouragement of our young folk. Thanks to Pastoral visitors, to cleaners, menders and gardeners, to magazine makers and stewards of money - and a special thanks to Joe Dey for his wisdom, creativity and care in overseeing the church finances, as he steps down from the role of Treasurer. And particular thanks to the Spire Team led by John Cripps which has worked tirelessly, quietly and determinedly to ensure all is in place for Project Restoration! Thank you to each and every one of you for being a treasured member of this community.
We have a significant year ahead of us. May brings our 25th Anniversary Celebration of being an ecumenical partnership. Work on the restoration of the Spire should begin in early June. Come September we will be saying goodbye to Simon as he and Lena marry and locate themselves in Germany. It goes without saying that we wish them well and that come the appropriate time we will be celebrating all the good gifts Simon has brought to SAPLC and all that he has given of himself in enriching our community. The year will bring prayerful and intentional discernment of where our energy and focus turns towards new expressions in ministry, mission and service. What is the Spirit saying to us now and how might we respond? And, of course, we will continue sharing together in the everyday joys and sorrows of this glorious gift of life. God has given us to each other. Let us answer God’s call to care deeply, to serve with integrity and humility, to live lives of thanksgiving and to simply trust God for the rest. Revd Naomi Cooke 12.4.23