Thanks to one and all for their help. St
Faith's is a team, and everyone plays a part in what we
are. Brenda and I would like to thank all those who took
a lead in the past year, whether or not you have been
named in the report. I will not tempt fate and name
names, but those who organised rotas, cooked food,
helped with services on Sundays, cleaned and polished,
counted money, lead youth groups or whatever your
contribution was - you know who you are and on behalf of
the entire congregation I say thank you. During an interregnum we are all basically
working without a captain on the bridge, and from time
to time we find ourselves in tricky or unknown waters.
It is then that the team provides the energy to ensure
that we keep moving forward. I add my personal thanks to
the Standing Committee for supporting me in some tough
decisions. The accounts that David Jones has prepared
for us show a relatively healthy financial position, but
not a very healthy situation going forward. It has been
several years since we had a stewardship campaign, and
it is likely that we will be starting one this year.
Just to give you something to consider, if we take the
figure of £91,680 from the accounts as our expenditure,
and divide it by the 52 weeks of the year, you will see
that it actually cost us £1,763 each week to keep the
doors open for our Sunday worship. There have been difficulties during the
year, as we try to discern our relationship within the
Anglican churches in Waterloo, and many of us have spent
a considerable time meeting with fellow Christians from
the other three churches. Much of this time has been
productive, and has convinced us all that there is much
common ground between us that can be happily shared and
enjoyed. It has also demonstrated that there are
differences between us, and that they need to be both
acknowledged and nourished. We are currently in a joint benefice with
St Mary’s, as we have been for 15 years or so. This has
made us very aware of the huge problems that they are
now facing as they close their church building, and
possibly even their church hall. We are fortunate that
our church is in relatively good condition and our hall
is well used and fit for purpose. Our church is seen and
used by thousands of non-churchgoers every year as we
host concerts, festivals and other events – a benefit
for the wider community. Our new PCC will have as its first priority
to consider the formal relationship with not only St
Mary’s, but also with St John’s and Christ Church.
Indeed there will be a joint meeting of all four PCCs on
8th April when we will have the opportunity to hear from
the Archdeacon his vision of what he wants for the
future of Waterloo. So today I cannot announce an end to our
interregnum, and to be honest I cannot even offer you an
idea of what or when that end may be. What I can tell
you is that the spirit of St Faith's is alive and
kicking, and with your help and support, both physically
and financially, we will come through it all with a
renewed vision of what Douglas Horsfall set out all
those years ago. Thank you for the trust that you put in
your Wardens and PCC – let us all hope and pray that our
own incumbent will lead the next APCM!
Rick
Walker Back to the
APCM index page (masochists only) |