The Christmas
season is over and sealed off
with a week of snow. Now we
begin to look forward to Lent,
Easter and the Spring.A lot
of premises work has been going
on during the past month. The
parquet floor blocks previously
mentioned have been re-laid,
sanded and polished. A separate
bulging in the floor near the
Lady Chapel door has also been
re-laid. All the fluorescent
lights in the Hall have been
replaced (thanks, Rick and
Richard) and the dripping tap in
the Vestry rectified (thanks,
Chris). Various other bits of
maintenance have occurred, but
the weather has caused a
postponement of the concrete
painting. The rain has shown up
a few more leaks to do with the
gutters and window sealants
around the church itself: help
requested, please …. The
Quinquennial (5 years)
inspection by diocesan
architects is due this year.
One of the first aspects of
life at St. Peter’s to come
under the spotlight as a result
of Andrew’s observations is the
whole approach to Baptism. For
the next few months, as a trial,
the mums, dads and godparents of
a new baptism candidate will be
encouraged to come and see what
we are like, starting with a
‘Birth Thanksgiving’ aspect
within our 9.30 service - our
chance to get to know them. Then
we are to ensure that the
baptism promises are understood
and taken more seriously than
previously permitted. In this
way we hope to "journey together
to share our faith" and love. So
prepare to meet more new people.
At the other end of life
winter takes its toll, and we
record the deaths of Tom Bussey,
Doreen Ross, Alfie Bridges and
Margaret Hemmings – all sadly
missed. Our love and sympathy
are extended to the families of
each. Though Margaret had been
unable to attend Church
recently, she had received
Communion at Seymour House from
members of our Pastoral team.
Her long years of devotion to
Church and family were duly
recognised at her funeral
service.
I arrived early at Church to
set up for Margaret’s funeral,
only to find Andrew entertaining
dozens of children from Redland
School. They were getting to
know the church, and were
drawing pictures of objects they
could see and asking questions
about them. A brilliant exercise
in familiarisation, mission and
evangelism.
The Rev. Christine Froude of
Shirehampton came to talk to the
PCC a couple of weeks ago. She
had been invited to come and
share her experiences of how she
set about increasing the
Shirehampton congregation from
35, seven years ago, to the
current 230. Some achievement.
It seemed to me that much of
what she described takes place
here at St. Peter’s, but she had
the ability to manage, enthuse
and encourage the relevant
members of her congregation. In
comparison, we initiate
something, but often fail to see
it through. Communication would
again seem to be our problem.
Our Leadership team has decided
to start discussions of such
matters. "Don’t try everything
at once" said Christine.
Along the communications
line, all information is
available and usually
disseminated, but how much is
absorbed? Perhaps we need to
meet each other more often on a
social level?
On Sunday 31st
January (Homelessness Sunday) we
welcomed to our service the
Sheldon Road Methodists as,
currently, they are ‘homeless’.
This is because of significant
new building work at Sheldon
Road. For the next few months,
they have found a ‘home’ in
various other churches around
town. The Church was full. The
loose collection that day was
split between Doorway
(Homelessness) and the Leprosy
Mission (their designated week);
this resulted in £190 each.
On the question of giving –
our own personal giving to St.
Peter’s – we perhaps need a
second contact for envelopes and
Gift Aid forms requests and
information at services when I
am not present. Karen Tucker has
agreed to take this on. Karen
will be around to encourage such
giving, and will channel the
necessary information to me.
Confidentiality will be
maintained. I take this
opportunity to stress how
beneficial to St. Peter’s the
making of a Gift Aid declaration
is, in terms of the tax refund
to us. Declarations made before
the end of the tax year will be
included in our April claim.
The Annual General Meeting
will be on Sunday 18th
April following the morning
service. Now is the time to
consider whether you can
actively serve on the PCC.
Already we know that we shall
need a new secretary to replace
Barbara who has served us well.
The two posts of Church Warden
are also subject to annual
election.
Here are two more dates for
your diary. Friday 19th
March to 7th April, a
party of 6 – 8 Ugandans will be
visiting the Deanery:
accommodation and entertainment
will be required – contact
Andrew. The on Monday 26th
April at 7.45 pm we look forward
to another evening of music by
the Band of the Avon Fire and
Rescue Service. Watch the
Notices for more details nearer
the time.
Ivan, Church
Warden.
Andrew completes Peternews
this month.
Writing on the feast of the
Presentation, I stumbled on
these hymn words:
"What shall we ask of Christ
today in line with his
intentions? / to fill the church
with rage or prayer, blessed
babes or children’s questions? /
Oh let us pray for all of these
and cease to be selective / for
many are the means by which
Christ makes his Church
effective." No sentiment could
be more timely for our journey
of coming together in this new
era at St. Peter’s, and no
season more appropriate than
Lent, Holy Week and Easter.
Please support as best you
can the upcoming events, in body
and in spirit:
Pray for all the families
invited to the Craft Morning
with Bobby on St Valentine’s
Day, alongside our morning
service.
Get hold of this year’s
booklet: Love Life Live Lent:
£1, proceeds to charity. To
start ticking the boxes join us
in Church for a Generation Game,
Pancakes & Ploughman’s at 6pm on
Shrove Tuesday, plus a family
member. Adults £2, children
free.
Ash Wednesday services will
be at 10 am and 7.30 pm.
Most important this year will
be a very practical series of
evenings entitled "Prayer:
Perceptions and Practices" on
Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm
starting 25th
February in Church, but warmly
informal and down to earth. If
Lent is ‘God’s Springtime’, then
these evenings offer something
suitably refreshing for our
personal spiritual journey.
If you can only make
mornings, St. Peter’s will be
hosting a Chippenham Churches
Together Lent Course immediately
after the 10 am service on
Wednesdays in which we will be
looking at the Cross of Christ,
10.30 – 11.45 am, starting 24th
February.
It has been truly exciting to
witness the collaborative nature
of ministry, witness and worship
in the community of St. Peter’s
at the beginning of 2010. Let’s
pray for the further leading of
God’s Spirit at every level and
occasion.
Andrew