Issue 4 January 2015 Vicar Revd Trish Ollive Currently on Sabbatical until April.
Administrator Lynne Flowers .
Welcome to our third issue of Spokes which is now on schedule to be published twice each year for all of our six churches. It is available to take away in each church across the Benefice with a copy on each noticeboard and linked to our website www.poldenwheel.co.uk as well as the monthly pew/news sheets.
Spokes is still at an early stage of development so please feel free to make any comments as your feedback will be much appreciated and will ensure that we have a publication that suits everyone.
We begin this issue with an update for you all regarding our current vacancy and forthcoming interregnum. It was with much sadness that we said our farewells to Trish and Mike on 11th January at Burtle. What an amazing gathering at our beloved little church at Burtle. Not a seat to be found for latecomers and Trish did a fine job keeping the emotion in check. It was particularly poignant when she walked down the aisle, for the last time, with Mike and little Charlie. We have been so blessed by her ministry and have felt part of her family too. We all wish them every blessing in their new ministry in Bridgwater.
So, what next? Well officially Trish remains in post as our priest until her licensing on 28th April in St. Mary’s Bridgwater. All are welcome and of course we would love to have a good representation from the Polden Wheel. More details to follow. She is now on sabbatical, girding up her loins for the next challenge!
The PCC are busy at the moment, drawing up a profile for the six parishes and we will be assisted in that by the Archdeacon and Diocesan School of Formation. We will make sure that the profile, when it is finalised, is available for everyone to see. We have been told that the interregnum may not be too long this time and that it is likely that the recruitment process of advertising etc. will begin after Easter.
Trish did a great job in tying everything up before she left which means that the day to day running of the parishes is very secure and lead people are in place to oversee specific things such as weddings and funerals. The service patterns will remain the same for the time being with perhaps some tweaking here and there.
Our administrater, Lynne Flowers is now based, until the end of March, at the home of Brian & Rosie Tilbury as the vicarage is now let. We are now trying to in find a suitable location to set up a church office so any ideas would be welcome.
If anyone would like more information regarding the interregnum please contact either myself or your churchwardens or our two Readers, all of whom will be happy to help.
Revd Andrew Hunt continues with his midweek services but is taking more services on Sundays to help out.
The Benefice Parochial Church Council: The central Parochial Church Council continues to operate on a bi-monthly basis, linking with local committees and groups in the parishes. Each church has the opportunity to have three representatives on the council and they are set out below as a reminder.
Ashcott Ross Everson, Henry Routley and Freda Prime
Burtle Rosemary Tucker, Alison Everett and Josie Masters
Catcott Martin Melia, Bridget Frier and Stuart Frier
Chilton Polden Anne Lush, Anita Hayne and Chris Lush
Edington Lissie Vine, Gill Palmer and Mithra Richardson
Shapwick Thelma Malaba, Jane Walker and Jan Jones
Our two Readers, Ann Cattermole and Jan Jones are also members of the PCC and Alison Everett from Burtle is our lay Chair
Freda Prime is the secretary and safeguarding officer
Brian Tilbury is the treasurer
Jan Jones is our electoral roll officer
Gill Palmer co-ordinates our lay pastoral assistants.
Anita Hayne has a role as Community Outreach link and will be visiting all of the churches in due course
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE OFFICERS OF THE PCC WILL NEED TO BE RE-ELECTED AT THE APCM ON MARCH 24th
Junior Church: Since the last bulletin the Junior Church no longer meet on a monthly basis but support informal worship services throughout the year. It had been difficult to recruit members apart from the children of that group of mums and, after a trial run over the past year, the decision was taken to re-think. The mums did a brilliant job planning and presenting the nativity at Edington where a large congregation were delighted.
Extended Communion: Some of you will already have attended services where our Readers have administered the sacraments . This is known as ‘Extended Communion’ and requires special permission from the Bishop. What it means is that the sacraments are consecrated by a priest prior to the service and in this way Readers are able to lead and administer at these services. This is a tremendous help at this time of interregnum and we are grateful to Jan and Ann for taking this on. Home Communions are also consecrated in a similar way.
Christmas Services; We hope that you all enjoyed the Advent and Christmas services and found something to suit your taste. This year we had two Christingle services , Chilton Polden and Ashcott. Both were really well attended and much positive feedback received and records amounts raised for the work of the Children’s Society. We will shortly be looking at the service grids for July – December and will ensure that everyone has, as far as possible, the services that they would like, especially for festivals such as harvest and Christmas.
Finances: Brian Tilbury has worked tirelessly and very professionally to bring together all the six accounts into the Nat West Bank. He has also been able to reduce the number of small and historical accounts and, in some cases, this has released some funds at local level. Brian is a very competent treasurer for the Polden Wheel and is always willing to offer advice about local accounts. We have set the budget for the Benefice running costs with a built ‘slippage’ to cover any unforeseen pressures.
Each church continues to have its own bank account and these are now all with Nat West but none of our churches find it easy to manage financially and, in most cases, the income is not sufficient to cover the regular outgoings.
Of course our fundraising events are vital and not only contribute to church funds but also enhance the community in so many ways. However, it is hard work that’s for sure, so if you have any spare time or talents that you could offer then please get involved!
Annual Parochial Church Meeting: This will be our second APCM as one PCC so hopefully we will have a little more expertise this time!. The date for your diaries is March 24th, 7.0pm at St. Mary’s, Shapwick. Please come along and have your say and support us. Nomination forms for PCC members ( 2 churchwardens and 1 other representative from your local committee) will be available soon. Churchwardens and PCC reps all need to be re-elected at this meeting.
Beneficiaries of Charitable Giving: We always aim to support a local, national and international charity each year. In the autumn, after hearing from prospective organisations, the PCC made the final decision for 2014/15 and the charities are: Local: Bridgwater Street Pastors who do a brilliant job supporting and helping vulnerable young people during the early hours of weekends. At a national level we will support Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance which is close to all our hearts. Internationally we are supporting the Romanian Flu Vaccination Project. Look on local church noticeboards for more information.
Lent/Advent Course: This year, during Lent, Jan Jones will be running a ‘York Course’ on Wednesday evenings. Information will be in the Pew Sheets.
Fellowship Month: A good number of people enjoyed the departure during August 2014 to have only one service in the Benefice. The two mini buses did a good job collecting passengers from the different parishes. It is fair to say that numbers did not significantly increase but fellowship together was much enjoyed for those four weeks. At the time of writing some things remain uncertain but a decision will be made in due course regarding this. It is unlikely that we will be able to have use of the school mini busses again because of insurance etc.
Music in the Polden Wheel. We continue to be so grateful to our lovely musicians who play for our services. Organists and Music Group are much valued. TOAST is now overseen by Andy Savage and his ‘can do’ attitude is very much appreciated. The gift of a Clavinova from John Foreman at All Saints has been gladly received and is in constant use, especially as John is no longer able to play for their services. Do you know anyone who might be willing to play for services, even if not on a regular basis? Special thanks to Jenny Cole for stepping in so often.
Fairtrade Goods: Just a reminder that all six churches in the Polden Wheel are designated Fairtrade organisations. We would like to encourage all of you to buy Fairtrade goods wherever possible. All churches use Fairtrade wine now and also tea, coffee and sugar. Anita Hayne at Chilton Polden and Claire Pennack at Ashcott have contacts where goods can be purchased in bulk.
Lay Pastoral Assistants: This group meets on a regular basis, sometimes with speakers, and is under the leadership of Gill Palmer, one of the churchwardens at Edington. Those who are vulnerable in our parishes are identified and an LPA will call on them. The group is made up of members across the six parishes and are:
Gill Palmer, Diana Gordon Clark, Georgie Currie, Bridget Frier, Anne Fenner, Helen Wade, Jan Jones, Josie Masters , Ann Lush, Cilla Grain and Ann Cattermole.
Upcoming Church Events. There are numerous events planned in the coming months with Pancakes and Coffee Mornings, Lite Bites, valuation of antiques and bird box building among others. The teas at Shapwick continue and have proved really successful. Please look out in the pew/news sheets and elsewhere for dates and times. Lynne Flowers and the Readers would like to be advised of events so that diaries can be maintained with so much going on. Isn’t it great!! Oh, and don’t forget to visit our website at; www.poldenwheel.co.uk
And finally… don’t forget that all of our churches are open every day to visitors and for quiet time. This is not the case everywhere and we want to maintain this so that God’s house is available to all. Thank you to those who faithfully lock and unlock every day, especially in the winter months.
The Polden Wheel Parochial Church Council
January 2015.
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