Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity
South Woodham Ferrers
In Christ, loving and serving God’s world
PARISH OF SOUTH WOODHAM FERRERS
ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING
SUNDAY 3RD APRIL 2016 AT 11.15A.M.
Churchwardens' Letter
Dear Parishioner,
We cordially invite you to attend our APCM, which this year will take place on the 3rd of April at 11.15a.m. in the school hall. Copies of all reports will be available to view on the notice board or can be viewed online at holytrinityanglican.org.uk. The APCM gives us an opportunity to review the last year, elect new Churchwardens and PCC members and together move forward in the name of Jesus in this town.
We continue to give thanks that we have been blessed with such an outward looking, forward thinking, hardworking and full of energy Vicar and a Curate with similar qualities. We are sure that you will agree that Reverend Carol continues to show that she is more than capable of facing the challenges and demands of one of the largest most challenging parishes in the Diocese. We must also not forget that Reverend Carol faces the challenge and demands of being Priest in Charge of Woodham Ferrers and Bicknacre as well, with just as much enthusiasm and commitment. Your Churchwardens are often reminded by others who have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Reverend Carol, of just how lucky we are to have her as our Vicar, we acknowledge the fact and give thanks to God. One of our many Churchwardens duties is the pastoral care of the Vicar and to make sure that Reverend Carol takes time out from the parish, both for the sake of her well-being and for the well-being of the parish. One will often arrive at the Vicarage be it day or night to find Reverend Carol in her office, talking on the telephone or engaged with her computer preparing for a newsletter, school assembly, a service, a pastoral visit, a funeral or one of the many other duties/tasks that befall a vicar. During the year in question Reverend Carol added to her already full CV the role of chaplain to those stationed at South Woodham Ferrers Police Station.
Also during the year in question, Reverend Carol along with other clergy from the Diocese travelled to Kenya, as part of a path-finding mission, to open up and further the contacts that the Diocese already enjoys through its close link with Kenya.
Continuing in her role as a training incumbent, over the year Reverend Carol has been involved with mentoring and offering advice to those of our congregation that are actively seeking to serve and follow God in the form of ministry. With this in mind, your Churchwardens ask you to continue to pray for Julie Hardy and the whole family as Julie later this year (2016) is ordained and along with Paul, moves to Broomfield.
We your Churchwardens, believe that we have been truly blessed by the presence of the Holy Spirit here at Holy Trinity.
During the year, in the month of July, on Sunday the 5th one or two of us attended St Andrews Boreham to witness the Priesting of our very own Reverend Jane Richards. The following Sunday, Revd Jane was able to preside and lead communion for the first time as a Priest. Your Churchwardens continue to give thanks that Revd Jane chose Holy Trinity Church in which to serve God as Curate. We are sure, that you, like us, wish to thank her for her obvious commitment and for embracing and integrating so readily with not only us but also our ecumenical friends. Reverend Jane, also during the year in question, chose to serve and follow God’s calling by becoming part of the chaplaincy team at Broomfield Hospital.
We would also like to offer our thanks to you the congregation, both young and senior for the magnificent support, hard work and commitment over the year that you have shown both your Churchwardens, Reverend Carol and Reverend Jane. It is a constant joy to us to see the smiles on your faces and your willingness in the true spirit of Holy Trinity, to take on new challenges in the interest and well-being of our church family. Thank you so much.
We hold in our prayers, Fr Niall and our Catholic friends, Reverend Sue and our Methodist friends as we continue in the ecumenical tradition of Holy Trinity, sharing both the building and the peace together as one family.
Reverend Carol, with the aid of Reverend Jane, continues to make great progress with her school’s ministry both at Trinity St Mary's and in the ecumenical tradition working with St Josephs. Reverend Carol also continues her work with William de Ferrers, Woodville and Collingwood schools. At this point, we would both like to say a big thank you to Roger Partridge as a teacher of longstanding, for his commitment and dedication. Roger assists both the clergy and the church schools by taking assemblies each week.
Both your Churchwardens are delighted with the continued growth of the Family Service over the past year, seeing many new young faces and people enjoying themselves. We give thanks to Reverend Carol and Reverend Jane for the time and effort that they are putting into this once a month service, in the form of mission, worship and outreach. We also give thanks to our regular longstanding congregation, for embracing this service and joining in with all the activities thus encouraging and supporting our newer members. Long may it continue. We pray and look forward to a lay team in the not too distant future (with some encouragement) being able to put together and run this once a month Family Service with the aid of Reverend Jane, thus freeing up Reverend Carol and giving her the opportunity to use her valuable time and skills for the good of all in the parish.
We are grateful to have so many talented people working with the younger members of our church family, our Sunday Club continues to thrive and we give thanks to our small lay team of leaders, Lorna, Nikki, Helen and Nicole assisted by Reverend Jane. We do value the feedback they give us each week. We know the children are cared for and prayed about. As we move forward in worship together we pray that the Sunday Club, in conjunction with the Family Service, will encourage others to spread the word so that many younger people will be able enjoy our welcome and witness the love of God.
To our new members young and senior alike, thank you for coming through the door of Holy Trinity. We trust and pray that you have found us welcoming and we pray that in the fullness of time you will come to know and enjoy all that Holy Trinity and God have to offer and with some encouragement, you will be able to take an active role in our church family life. Indeed, we give thanks, to those that have joined us and have already taken an active role.
We give thanks to Reverend Carol, with the aid of Reverend Jane, as they continue to raise the profile of Christian witness on many civic occasions, both public and private, as well as on a personal level with families seeking a Christian funeral, a wedding or a baptism. We would also like to express our appreciation to Reverend Carol’s husband George, both for being a rock and support to his wife Carol and for wholeheartedly being part of our family here at Holy Trinity. George is a member of the cleaning team, the fund raising team and the fabric/property team of the Church. George is also the treasurer of the Christian Council and of course, we must not forget something that many of us have had the pleasure of sampling, the renowned services of ‘George Ball Catering’.
Once again we were able to open the Church for the bazaar with not only the added attraction of the switching on of the Christmas lights but also a beautiful musical contribution by the very talented pupils of William de Ferrers. We were able to welcome many members of the wider community into the Church. We pray that many may come to know the presence of God through this and many more such events that we hold in the future. Thank you to everyone for the time and effort that you all put into this important fundraising event. We give special thanks to our fundraising team who in the year in question ran the event for the first time. So we look forward to the year ahead regarding the bazaar and we pray that with God's help and a small amount of extra effort from all of us, young and senior alike, we may well be able to raise the magic figure of £2000 or more in 2016.
Caring for our community continues to be a priority for Reverend Carol, your Churchwardens and our Pastoral Care team. This includes caring for the church community, visits to local residential and nursing homes and individuals. Much of the pastoral care goes on without many of us being aware that we are being cared for in the form of prayer but rest assured, in your hour of need, you are not alone. Not only is God by your side but also our Pastoral Care team. If you feel that you, or someone you know would benefit from a chat or a visit then please do not hesitate to contact us. Thanks also to all those involved with the once a month Thursday Lunch Club for both the fellowship and your care for others.
Once again, we would like to offer our most grateful thanks to Alan Pearson for his enduring commitment as our organist over many years. We also give thanks to Matt Lewis, who from time to time assists us by deputising for Alan.
Over the year we your Churchwardens have thankfully been part of a PCC that is working together with enthusiasm and enjoyment for the good of our church and congregation. Thank you for being part of the team and for your time and efforts. As a PCC we not only look at and discuss matters that affect the life of our congregation but at the wider church, being members as we are of the Chelmer Crouch Group. We also debate and discuss matters appertaining to the Deanery, the Diocese and the Church of England as a whole. At this point, we would both like to offer a very special vote of thanks not only to our PCC secretary Gill Wragg, but also to Sarah Presley, who kindly took up the reins and became not only the editor/publisher of our weekly newsletter but also our Parish Administrator, following the move of longstanding church members Margaret and Alan Hill as they took up residence in Cromer, Norfolk. We also would like to express our grateful thanks to Muriel Parry who was the leader and guiding light of our fundraising team and under her direction the team were able to raise some very much needed funds for the Church. Muriel along with her husband Dennis moved away and took up residence in Ross-on-Why.
As part of mission and outreach as well as fundraising, our Assistant Churchwarden, Anne West, came up with the idea of a book of poems “Trinity Treasures” an anthology of poetry. This involved Anne along with the clergy, contacting our schools, our congregation past and present, past clergy and others for contributions to it. After some editing it was placed with Maypole Press who duly printed the book for us. Anne, we would like to say a big thank you, not only for your vision but for your hard work in putting this project together and subsequently selling the published books. God bless you.
If you haven’t already got a copy for a mere £5 you can enjoy the creative output of our gifted community.
We at this point wish to thank Reverend Carol and George for the PCC end of year get together held at the Vicarage. A way of saying thanks for all that you the PCC do.
Just a short reminder of some of the events that have taken place over the year:
Hustings Meeting
Ecumenical Lent Course
House Groups
The Bradwell Pilgrimage
Ecumenical Church Garden Party/BBQ held at the Vicarage.
Chelmer Crouch Group Ascension Day Service held at St Andrews Bicknacre
Table Top Sale
Monthly Reflective Service
A Summer Bible Study
Confirmation of six members of our Church family by Bishop John and confirmation of others from the Chelmsford South Deanery
Major refurbishment of the Church
Knitter Natter Group
Carol Singing on the Santa Train.
Town Carol Service
Ecumenical Advent course,
…..to name but a few.
At this point, we would like to give a large vote of thanks to a longstanding member of our congregation, Jean Hardy. Jean, with some reluctance, stood down as a loyal server at the Lord’s table this year. May God bless you Jean.
We offer special thanks to both our small baptism team and our Thursday Ecumenical service team who with some guidance from Reverend Carol continue to put Transforming Presence into action. Lay members are doing baptism visits and preparation whilst the Thursday lay-team lead and take a service once a month.
We also say thank you to Barbara Evans for being the Christian Aid co-ordinator, filling out the baptism certificates and making sure the Wedding Banns book and respective paperwork is up to date.
Thanks to our Fundraising team for all that they have achieved, managing to generate some much-needed funds. If you have any ideas for fundraising, then do please have a word with a member of the team or maybe even become a team member yourself.
We offer a large vote of thanks to Angela Tuff our Treasurer and Ray Hargreaves for both overseeing our finances over the year and for the effort and time that they put in on behalf of us all. Thanks to our Covenant Secretary, Roger McMaster, for all the essential work that he does on our behalf.
We offer our grateful thanks to you all, so many to mention, who contribute to our church life and family, those that arrange and display the flowers, ministers of the Eucharist, choir, musicians, readers, servers, intercessors, coffee makers and sidespersons. Without whom Revd Carol, Revd Jane and your Churchwardens would not be able to function. We thank everyone of you for your commitment and support of God’s work in this Church and town.