Dear Friends
It was good to meet as a PCC in church for the first time in 16 months. It was an excellent meeting and much was decided. We unanimously felt that we’d following the Bishops advice, in one of his recent pastoral letters, agreeing that it was a good point to let things go and to change a few things after the Lockdowns.
We agreed that we needed to be concentrated on mission and not be weighed down by fundraising. Seeking to integrate the Family Service congregation into our activities is crucial to our future.
The following was unanimously decided after prayerful consideration.
To reintroduce the Wednesday Communion in Church from September onwards with a later starting time of 10am.
To no longer hold Summer and Christmas Fayres but hopefully continue holding the raffle in June and the end of November if someone is willing to organize. Please speak to the wardens or Gary. We will also explore other ways of fund raising i.e. big breakfast which get younger people involved.
To no longer produce the magazine but concentrate communicating well through the our website page, social media and Community Matters which is distributed to every household in the parish. The PCC recorded how grateful they were to James Wood for all he had done in editing a high quality publication but recognized it’s time had now come to an end.
The Family Service will restart in October with a new start time of 10am. We will no longer hold a communion service before which will make it easier for the wardens and Rev Gary to manage in the current climate. We are hoping that our regulars and the choir might attend the Family Service and befriend the congregation who are crucial to our future.
The 5th Sunday communion will return to a 10am starting time from September to tie in with all the other 10am starts.
We also discussed the possibility of moving the Sunday morning service time back to 10am from the autumn or the new year. This isn’t definite but the idea is to give people a slower start, especially on a cold winters morning. Your thoughts on this would be welcome.
Finally, we discussed St Johns Hall and House. The PCC agreed to looking for someone who would manage the hall accounts and bookings. Pam Peel has done a wonderful job following on from Doris Brabbs. If you are interested or if you know of anyone who might be please see the Vicar or Wardens. Until this person is in place we cannot take anymore bookings other than Baby Sensory, Music Tots and the Uniformed Organizations.
The PCC also agreed that St John’s House should be let at a commercial rent and would not provide accommodation for a caretaker/cleaner. We will bring a contracted cleaner in. Please pray for the future of the hall that a suitable person might step forward to takeover from Pam. It would be a case of managing the accounts (all utilities are paid by direct debit and taking bookings) any problem with the building itself would be reported to the Vicar.
We prayed at the PCC meeting that God’s will be done in all our decision making and thanked him for leading us safely through one of the most difficult periods in the churches long history.
Blessings
Reverend Gary
Welcome to Wales Parish Church 