Seedfield Methodist Church

Linton Avenue, Bury, Lancashire

Reports for

Annual Church Meeting

10th May 2009

SENIOR STEWARDS’ REPORT

Once again, Lesley and I want to thank the stewards’ team for their regular commitment and support. Every Sunday, the stewards fulfil their tasks efficiently and effectively, and it’s a privilege and encouragement to work with each person. We also want to thank those stewards who have covered any extra services in evenings or during the week and thank you to Roy for his faithful service at funerals.

We have not introduced any major new developments within the role and responsibilities of the stewards this year. However, we have decided to have 2 stewards’ rotas from Sept. 09 onwards: one for each of the morning services in an attempt to encourage more folk to steward, if they’re only required at the service they would normally attend. We have also updated the job roles of senior and assistant senior steward, so that ASS is more of an administrative support to the SS.

As both Lesley and I step down as SS and ASS, we would ask you to pray for our replacements, and for the new stewards’ team. Thank you too, to all those who have taken up new responsibilities in the life of the church this year + those who continue to gladly contribute their time, energy and money in so many ways. I’m especially pleased that we seem, at last, to be developing a sound system team and have a new mixing desk! A special thank you to Laurence, David, Ian and Ruth for their hard work in this area. Thank you too to the crafters who’ve mended banners and are currently producing new ones and to John D. for taking on the role of ‘bannerman!’

I also want to take this opportunity to thank those people who regularly serve the church in various ways on Sundays: the organist, choir and music teams, junior church and crèche staff, local preachers, the family worship team, communion and door stewards, coffee makers, our notice sheet compiler, and of course, our minister, Mark. Last, but in no means least, I believe that we’ve also been greatly blessed by our new church youth worker. Thank you Tia, for all your hard work and enthusiasm.

May we, as God’s family here at Seedfield, continue to grow together in the grace, knowledge and love of our Lord Jesus AND to serve Him and each other faithfully during the coming year.

In His love and service,

 

Janet and Lesley

 

PRAYER MINISTRY TEAM

 

The prayer ministry team has been neglected this past year as the co-ordinator has been too pre-occupied with other things. However, come Sept. 09 I hope to have gathered a wide range of thoughts and ideas together in order to develop this key area of church life much further.

Currently, you can receive prayer ministry for healing, deliverance, blessing and empowering with the Spirit during the ‘Be Filled/Be Healed’ evenings once a month, the newly started ‘Quiet Waters’ events, and can ask for prayer at any other time by contacting the minister, myself or another church member whom you trust.

I would encourage us all to be constantly open to receiving more of God as He prepares and equips us for effective service in His Kingdom. Jesus said, ‘Without Me you can do nothing’ (John 15 v.5).

ours in His service,

Janet Vipond (Prayer Ministry Team co-ordinator)

 

PRAYER CORE GROUP

 

This last year has seen an addition to the monthly evening prayer meeting with the introduction of a lunchtime meeting held on the last Friday of each month. It was hoped that with alternative times/days available that numbers may have increased but sadly there has been no increase and both meetings are supported by the same core of dedicated people.

The prayer chain continues to be active when called upon, and we thank all those who are part of this vital support group.

Over a period of several weeks, the worship and prayer core groups have been meeting and planning a day for personal meditation, reflection and prayer. This has now been launched as ‘QUIET WATERS’. We are hoping that the family at Seedfield will take a couple of hours on this day in order to spend some quality time with the Lord. The date is Saturday 9th. May and commences at 10.30am running until approx. 3.30pm. This type of day has proved to be of great benefit to those who have taken advantage of similar days in the past. We would urge everyone to consider setting part of the day aside in order to leave the daily baggage behind and rest in the presence of the Lord.

Finally, a mention of the prayer ministry team.

This area of our Sunday worship may seem to have been absent for some time. This group is a vital part of the ministry at Seedfield and is currently being reviewed in order to provide the congregations with encouragement and comfort when needed.

 

FAMILY WORSHIP TEAM

The FWT are a small group of people who are responsible for liaising with the preacher and contributing as much as possible to the Family Service on the first Sunday of every month. The team is trying to involve as many people in the church family as possible in leading worship through music, drama, prayers and readings. The youth group, the uniformed organizations and a number of families within our fellowship have all participated in one way or another over the past year.

If you would like to become involved e.g. sing, read, lead prayers as a family please does not hesitate to contact me.

Anne Rigby FWT Coordinator

THE PASTORAL CARERS GROUP

Through the year the group has continued to pray for, and provide support to, Members and Adherents of the church. Our care is provided through thirty-one groups and dedicated leaders for our 154 members and 99 adherents. We have met during the year to review our work and to share how we might develop our support to those in our fellowship.

As well as chairing our meetings Mark Roper has provided training in developing our abilities as carers. We hope that in the coming year we will take this further. We thank him for his work in this.

We give thanks to God for the lives and service of those who have died during the last year – Jean Arnold, John Fairbrother, Roger Parkinson.

Yours in Christ,

David Roscoe.

 

LADIES CIRCLE

Our Circle continued to meet on Tuesdays with good attendance in spite of severe weather, with only one cancellation in December because of icy conditions and dangerous pavements.

In May we had an enjoyable lunch at Park Farm. In August our outing took us to Chester with a meal later provided by the ladies of Tarvin Methodist Church. Our day in Chester was very enjoyable with brilliant sunshine. The river cruise and coach tour of the City were enjoyed by those who joined in.

An excellent programme of speakers was organised by Mrs Dorothy Rothwell and our grateful thanks go to her for the hard work involved. As well as our Minister, Rev Mark Roper, we enjoyed visits from Rev Lesley Dawson and Rev David Burton.

We also appreciate the visits by members of our Church Family who speak on various subjects, as well as representatives of other organisations

who give up their time to share their work with us. Our 'armchair' travels took us to Buckingham Palace with Mrs Betty Garvey, Canada and Alaska with Miss Betty Nuttall, Ghana with Mr Jeff Barker and Sweden with Mrs Janet Vipond.

During the year we celebrated several birthdays (ending with '0'). These events draw us closer together and make us very aware of the loving fellowship we share.

We again issue a cordial invitation to ladies who would like to join us (no minimum or maximum age). A very warm welcome is assured.

 

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES GROUP.

The Ladies Evenings have started really well with a lot of support from ladies of all ages throughout the Church. The last event was a Pamper Evening at Bury College followed by a meal afterwards at the Waterfold Farm Restaurant nr The Village Hotel. It was a resounding success and everyone said they had enjoyed it with a must to go again. I have had a letter from the Salon Manager at Bury College thanking us very much for our support to the College and the students. The letter went on to say how the students had thoroughly enjoyed pampering us and had completed many assessments in one evening towards their courses. I have sent a card to the Salon at the College also expressing our thanks.

Our next evening out will probably be a little smaller but all the same enjoyable at a venue in Llandudno where there will be a vocalist on to suit all ages.

I have had a couple of suggestions with regards to events that people would like to see happen through Church activities and will hopefully put some in to place very soon. We are planning a Ceilidh evening towards the latter part of the year. Watch this space.

God Bless

Ann

BROWNIE REPORT

The unit has been growing well over the last 12 months with 22 registered and 4 waiting to join which will take us to the maximum of 24 by May. We have had a busy year of activities which l am sure will continue as guiding celebrates its 100th year in the UK.

In spring we started a badge "The Right to be me !" We looked at our rights to basic things like education, health, clean water and our own beliefs etc and how they all effect one another. We then looked how some children don’t have the opportunity to the same things as us . To complete the badge the girls were asked to help others to raise money for charity in the summer holiday Some of the things included washing parents cars, baking cakes, massaging feet !l , ironing and tidying bedrooms. In total they raised £142. This they decided was to be split between charities that would help change childrens’ lives and a chance for them to have the right to be themselves. eg school books for children in Africa , pay for a water tap and to support a childrens’ charity in the UK .

In Oct 7 brownies and 1 leader had the opportunity to attend a division pack holiday at Guys Farm in Lancaster. It was 4 days full of activity and little sleep. It was a great time to meet other brownies(60 ish in total) and work in teams .

We were able to share our talents in Dec and hopefully bring some Christmas happiness to the residents of Limefield Court. 15 brownies sang Christmas songs / carols, played recorders and 1 played the violin and finished with a prayer.

On a weekly basis we continue to meet on a Friday 6.30-8pm we work towards badges, play games and make crafts. The girls are encouraged to attend church parade as part of the promise they make. It is so good to see the girls develop in their social skills and for the timid ones to start to find a voice .

We urgently need help for the unit to continue. Due to age and work commitment It Is going to become very difficult to continue without people willing to make a commitment to help or become a leader on a regular basis The more people that help the easier it is !!! IF interested please see one of the leaders; Karen Rlgby , Sheila Warner or LIz Fairbrother

 

TABLE TENNIS

A good season for the table tennis club. 3 teams have gained promotion, 2 players have won the top ten competitions in their divisions and our ‘D’ team played in a Cup final just prior to this report being done which they unfortunately lost.

Next season will be our 54th in the Bury League.

Coming up on the 27th April will be our club tournament and pie and pea supper always an enjoyable evening. If you are interested in getting involved with Table Tennis, please contact me on the following number 07964324230

Ian Mckenzie

Club Secretary

 

CRAFT GROUP

The Craft Group meets on the first and every alternate Wednesday of each month from 7.30 - 9.00 pm in the Men's Room. We pay £1 each per week which goes to the cost of our equipment and materials etc. At present we are in the process of upgrading the Church banners and you may have noticed that a new one has been finished and was displayed on Easter Sunday for the first time. We are in the process of making another. We are prepared to undertake any crafts providing someone has the knowledge to get us on the right track. These include sewing, knitting, cross stitch pictures, card making, glass painting, silk painting, etc. At present we have only 6 ladies who are attending regularly, so anyone who is interested would be most welcome.

 

SCOUTS

We currently have 5 Scouts who attend regularly and we have just completed a very successful year in the group.

They have worked extremely hard and gained many badges and awards.

We had a very successful trip to Sweden where we were helped during the week by Sofia and Chris. Sofia's Parents made us very welcome and we spent an enjoyable week doing camp craft, open fire cooking, swimming and a bit of sight seeing. We also ran a "Swedish Night" where we reconstructed our camp craft items in miniature, cooked Swedish dishes and displayed our photographs. Thank you to everyone who made the camp a success.

We turned out for St George's day parade and were on parade again on Remembrance Sunday.

I would like to thank our hard working Executive Committee for all their hard work and fund raising, which keeps us going without having to raise our subscriptions.

If anyone is interested in helping out at all, or have sons aged between 6 - 16 who may be interested, then please come along on a Wednesday night and see us.

Thank you for your continued support.

Lynn

Scout Leader

 

JMA

Although our number of collectors has dropped over the years, the children do continue to support the Missionaries abroad. There are many ways to collect - donations, envelopes or the bright yellow boxes with a rainbow on.

All monies have to be in during the early part of August – a job Kath keeps on top of thankfully, as the district have to do the accounts by the 1 st September.

If anyone wants a box then please see Kath or myself as we do have some spare.

Keep collecting and Thanks

Lynn Telfer.

 

ECUMENICAL REPORT

 

A distinctive feature of the early Church, made up like today, of many groups, was communicating and relating actively with each other. This involved such things as support in prayer, financial sacrifice and other practical help, and going through hardships and danger – while the Gospel spread and numbers of Christian believers multiplied.

The purpose of Churches Together in this part of Bury is no different, to be and to present in the community the body of Christ united, and encouraging discipleship of Jesus. It also provides opportunity via ‘Harmony weekends’ and study groups to gain a better understanding of other faiths and to build bridges, whilst recognising that only one God cared enough to send His own Son to die for us and redeem us to be His.

Here are the main events involving Churches Together over this past year:-

11/5/08 Christian Aid evening service and celebrating Pentecost hosted by our church. The choir and other musicians joined in. About 60 attended and seemed in no hurry to get away afterwards but rather enjoy the mixed company. 

22/6/08 ‘Summer Praise’ was held at St. John’s as the weather was not conducive for Clarence Park. Nevertheless a variety of songs and hymns were sung, each introduced by someone with a personal experience and these were much appreciated. The idea of holding such an event in the Millgate Centre next summer was mentioned

16/12/08 Civic Carol Service at the Elizabethan Suite, Bury Town Hall.

18/1/09 Service marking the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity arranged by Tim at Seedfield, with different people participating.

Lent Course: 3 groups, one led by Tim on Faith & Politics at Harvey & Lynn’s home group with some positive leads to work on for our church. No extra people signed up for this.

8/4/09 The Seder (Jewish Passover) Meal well attended; 3 from Seedfield. 

10/4/09 The Walk of Witness through Bury town centre by all churches combined.

These events and other meetings and services of Bury East Churches Together are generally not much attended by Seedfield Methodist folk, and we are still perceived unfortunately as being seemingly an insular, not-participating church. I hope and pray to be able to report otherwise in this respect next year.

 

Tim Boaden, Ecumenical Representative.

 

ORGANIST/CHOIRMASTER’S REPORT 

Since January 2008, first I must express deep thankfulness to God who has given the inspiration, enabling me in playing, arranging for worship services, and leading the choir. Secondly deep thanks to the church’s regular choir members who, though small in number (7/8), have been firmly committed and dependable in the things we have accomplished, presenting a range of introits and songs that are not too difficult and which have been well received.  Our practices generally start with God in prayer and focus on a verse or psalm. 

Aware that communication is not a very strong point in the church, I have sought to keep relevant people informed of events that need preparing for, with written invitations and notices to join in, whether or not the opportunities are taken up. Approaching every eligible individual in person about joining in particular events is not a practical route for me. Apart from the carol services, overall there has not been the significant support of an ‘extended choir’ from other singers as in the past; this means that musical items for special events cannot be tackled, and 4 parts cannot be attained, even though there is ample capability within the church to do so.

A well publicised church survey in February of the choir’s activities and contribution met with an empty reply box. One key leading question of that survey, prompted by the average age of the choir, but which applies to all the ministries of this church, is: “Taking a leap forwards in time of 10 years, how many of us will still be here, and what will we be doing?” What is our love and commitment to each other? What are we about as God’s family?

The choir may feel ‘boxed into a corner’ without the ready input of younger people at the usual service at which the choir functions [9.30am]; but there lies both challenge and opportunity to do something. My enduring experience is of the flowing stream on the beach that cannot be dammed up for too long! ... the same is true when our walk with Jesus is sure and God’s Spirit quickens us and sustains and guides us.

Following on from the Choir’s Review/Social Evening Review on 12th February, I would like to offer some positive steps we can take:

1. The repeated challenge to me from November to today 19th April from different preachers/leaders is to go out and multiply, to go out and care for others with the love of Jesus, to leave behind the “If only’s” and “What if’s” and see the Father’s hand at work if we will only trust and obey by doing. Personally I have had the thought and conviction for some months that we must each go out and multiply in our own way in God’s strength, in my case Linton Avenue as a starting point. The ‘adopting of a street’ to reach out and care for, by a team of the church, each with different skills, is a seed of promise. Will we take it?

2. Behaving as the one family God has redeemed us into, united together as one.

   Practically our human resources are not lavish at the moment, we need all on board. My recent vision of one ship cutting resolutely through the winds and tempestuous seas of life and arriving safely at its appointed destination with all on board I believe is relevant to this. To put our resources together on our Master’s ship. 

3. Form a Junior Choir from among the children and young people of the church. 

   This needs discussing and exploring with those who teach and support the young in our church, including Janet Roscoe and Christine Morecroft with their musical gifting and dedication. I have recently attended a workshop run by the Music & Worship Foundation on developing singing and choirs – for young, not just older people which is often the image given. 

If required, I will be very happy to work with whoever else has the heart to encourage the children to enjoy and develop in singing in worship, and in parts too, and if they have instruments that they are learning to play.

A fuller report of the choir review is available from me. Essentially we have two choices as a church, both for the choir and a lot of other ministries: 

  • To ignore our situation and settle in our just cozy present, then wake up to realise there’s nothing left, OR
  • To act now to build up and enhance for the future. 

TJB

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT

The Group has not met formally this year as the three core group members are well engaged in social responsibility and other ministries of the church, and because no interest or requests for initiatives or support have been expressed by the church.

There is NO shortage of substantial social needs and issues, whether at local community, national or international level. The Good News of Jesus Christ needs sharing together with practical loving actions and an active voice, to have a cutting edge in the world like the effects of light and salt. Faith without works (the exercising of faith) or a merely social gospel are both dead. 

For more details about What Social Responsibility is .. does it feature in our church’s ministry .. what activities have church members been engaged in .. recruitment, see our church’s website. * If you would like a copy of these details and you do not have web-site access, do please tell me.

Some Examples of social action in which individuals lovingly give of their time and energy are:-

Christian Aid Week to support relief and development programmes overseas.

[We need at least 20 collectors; last May 14 people collected.]

Standing up for Christian Values in our country. Who wrote to our MP this last year?

Financial support by Chesham Home Group of TEAR Fund’s vaccination programme to stop the HIV/AIDS virus being transmitted from infected mothers to their children. 

Ladies Circle give their caring support for others through such agencies as Network.

The dedicated service of those who give their time at Epworth Grange and the Elderly Persons Homes (Burrswood Court and Limefield Court).

Helping the community through Seedfield Tenants & Residents Association.

Action cards petitioning government on Climate Change and Trade Justice issues.

Campaign for a EU ban on importation of seal products from Canada.

‘Earth Hour’ : did you switch off your lights at home for just one hour recently in WWF’s campaign to highlight the principle of cumulative benefit when a lot of people take steps in a small way to be good stewards of resources?

Here are several relevant actions which could make a radical impact on the community around us: 

  • Coming to the help of those suffering from the effects of debt and offering them the Good News of Jesus.
  • Informing, encouraging and supporting our young people in social action.
  • A list of Community Connections for Seedfield Methodist Church to take up – compiled by Lent Course group.
  • ‘How Should We Then Live?’ – a tool to translate social issues into relevant action via God’s Word prepared by Tim for the church to take up and use, and modify if necessary.
  • Inviting our MP to one of our church activities with in the next year, with Q&A session  and to get to know him better/pray for him,

 

If you really want concern turning into action to contribute to the moral and spiritual health of our country, as well as mentally and physically, I’m sure you will seek me out.

u What we do must always be ordained by God and committed by us to Him.

 TJB

 

 

FLOWER MISSION

There are 7 flower arrangers on the rota this year. Unfortunately we have lost 3 people due to various circumstances. The good news is that we have gained one volunteer, Caroline Mansfield.

After Church we take the flowers out to anyone who is ill or whose name is in the flower book at the back of Church. If there are no names in the book we have a list of over 80s , some of whom live in Homes for the Elderly. We try to make sure that they receive flowers every so often as they are always pleased to receive them.

We are trying to encourage more people to put names in the book as I think we sometimes miss people who are ill.

We enjoyed a Jacob’s at Elizabeth’s in the Summer.

Thanks to all the arrangers and Jem for providing money for oasis.

Fran Biggins

 

MOTHER AND TODDLERS

 

Is a successful outreach and ministry lead by Sherryl Harrison. Many mothers, carers and toddlers and the occasional dad attend each week.

It happens twice a week on a Monday and a Thursday 10am – 11.30am. Each week there is opportunity for the toddlers to play with the range of toys available, the adults to have some, often much needed, adult conversation, there is a section in the morning where we sing songs, have a bible reading and pray together. After which there is toast, tea and juice and a craft.

At Christmas there was a party with a father Christmas who gave presents to each child. Each month there is a bring and share lunch which is a good opportunity for the adults to share time together.

At Easter there was an Easter egg hunt in the church where the toddlers went and found plastic Easter eggs and they were traded in for chocolate ones.

 

SAFEGUARDING REPORT

Nell Shallow is the district safeguarding officer who is the expert in this area. Paula Wroe and Tia Danning are Seedfield Methodist Church's safeguarding representatives.

The government now recommend that anyone working with children or young people should attend a 2 hour session on safeguarding. There is one being held at Seedfield on Saturday 27th June 2009. Anyone wishing to attend please book your free place with Paula Wroe or Tia Danning.

 

YOUTH REPORT

The MIX – Children's club for 9 – 12 yr olds is going well we get around 25 – 30 children each week. We have various activities such as games, dvd clips, bible story's, craft. One week we had a talent competition which was one of the children's ideas which went well.

Kids Corner – Children's club for 4 – 8 yr olds is going well around 8 – 10 children attending. They are a lively bunch and we play games have bible stories and do craft activities such as painting and cutting and sticking.

Youth Club – Started off slowly with only a few coming and then a few more non churched young people started to come. The club was put on hold over the pantomime period due to the fact that the majority of the youth were in the pantomime. At present we have the youth club on a Sunday evening 6.30pm – 8.30pm and around 10 people come. We have done different activities such as painting banners, watching a dvd, playing games, making smoothies, setting up a prayer gazebo, discussing fair trade, we have had special guests – one week we had a Christian rap artist who shared his testimony, demonstrated his rapping and beatboxing and the youth had a go themselves. We have done art work with a guest artist sharing his time with us. We have been on trips out such as bowling, playing games in the park and each month we go to the worship event – liv it live.

Sunday school – is going well. As well as a great place to start to get to know the young people we have covered a variety of topics. Encouraging them to explore who God is and what he means to them personally. At the beginning of each Sunday school all the groups meet together which gives them opportunity to greet one another and to have a time of sharing as well as to pray together. It is a good opportunity for the young people to see who else is at church on a Sunday and it opens up communications between the groups.

Ice Cream Sundae – We have introduced a new type of Sunday school which we hope to run once a month where all the classes will join together in the hall and share activities. It is a time where the young people can invite their non – Christian friends who are not used to church. The first one went really well, we had some guests sharing with us from a Tanzanian Christian orphanage, from which we are sponsoring a child. It was a fantastic event with many new faces particularly from the weekly clubs attending. There were quite a few families who stayed and shared lunch together afterwards.

Cake or Death – 18 – 30s house group. Some of the young adults make a cake which we all gladly share! We have used the Nooma dvd collection as a basis for our study. Around 4 – 10 people come to this. We have also watched a challenging dvd about human traffiking and had discussions on this topic. Over the period of lent we studied love life live lent. We have just started a new series of studies on Thessalonians.

Bury Church High school – I work alongside another Christian youth worker going into the high school meeting with pupils during the lunch times to prepare and then deliver assemblies. The pupils who have been helping out are leaving this year we are looking to work with some younger pupils and we had our first assembly with our new helpers this week which went really well. We usually use a funny game or dvd to illustrate our point, then have a talk which some of the young people have done, a prayer and a reading.

Events –

  • Game of life – an evangelistic event in Manchester Velodrome, it included a well known speaker and bands to name but a few - a car load of us went . Earlier on in that day myself and another youth worker went to the youth workers informative prayer meeting for the event.
  • Liv it Live – we take a few cars of young people to this event each month which is a great way of enabling young people to meet other Christians their own age and to encourage them in their faith.
  • Pauline + I went to an event organised by St Johns church across the road which was an alternative halloween party where we made good networks with the youth worker there and we hope to work together in the future.
  • We took about 10 people to and event called 'The Stand' in Birmingham together with other youth groups across Bury which was a very informative day about human traffiking. There was different charities giving away lots of information and ways in which we can be involved in helping out.
  • Youth Work the conference – I went to this with a few other youth workers and it was very useful.
  • I went on a Scripture Union Children's ministry training conference in January which was very informative.
  • Easter Holiday bible club – see below.
  • May 3rd – A well known Christian band are playing at Liv it.
  • May 8th + 10th - Taste and envisage are playing in a church in Bury. See below.
  • Liv it Live Camp – annual youth camp held in Yorkshire for young people.
  • There are several Christian camps and festivals going on over the summer months.

Liv it Live – is a monthly youth celebration event which is attended by different youth groups across Bury and Radcliffe area. Seedfield hosted this in December we chose the theme discipleship. Lots of meetings, preparation and planning went into it from the young people and young adults including getting a band together who lead the worship. The young people also designed posters and leaflets, prayed for the event and put loads of ideas forward for the running of the event. The younger girls made their own smoothies and helped out with the chocolate fountains which were very popular. One young person wrote a drama on the topic for the occasion which some of us performed. Overall the event went really well and a huge thank you to everyone who prayed and / or helped out at this event where over 120 people attended.

Mothers and toddlers – I have contributed to it by coming up with craft ideas and running the craft, building relationships with the parents and carers, I have also taken the see and know section they have had when one of the leaders was away. There are a good number of mothers, carers and toddlers who come to the group.

Uniformed organisations – I initially went along to these to introduce myself and I have helped out at these occasionally. They now know a little bit about me and they call on me if they need helpers. I help out more with the rainbows.

Easter Holiday Club – We ran this for 4 days over the Easter holidays where we had 25 children and a good band of helpers. The theme was expedition force – explorers for God following the last week of Jesus life. Each day we 'climbed' further up the mountain. The children appeared to enjoy themselves we had a special song, a memory verse, group work, a drama, games, and discussions. Some children came to the church on the Sunday morning after the week and sang the song to the congregation.

Love Life Live Lent – is a new lent initiative by Archbishop of York and the Archbishop of Canterbury which encourages people to take up an act of kindness each day instead of giving up something for lent. There are some booklets with suggestions of an activity to do each day. There is also an accompanying bible study series which we studied in cake or death.

Schools week – There is a professional Christian theatre company (Envizage) and band (Taste) coming into Bury Church High school in May which I hope to get involved in. They shall be delivering RE lessons and assemblies for the week and putting on concerts the weekend after. They are the same people who are going to be playing at the youth camp in July.

 

PROPERTY REPORT

During the past year the following works have been carried out as regular maintenance et. al:

    · replaced windows in the Limefield room

    · curtains and small shelves installed in Seedfield room

    · signage on 3 re-named rooms

    · water boiler installed in kitchen

    · replaced 1 downspout on exterior of building

    · leak and collapsed ceiling near choir vestry repaired

    · roof over minister's vestry sealed and internal ceiling replaced

    · 1 quote received for replacement boiler for heating the building. Linked to this an asbestos test has been conducted (awaiting results of the test). No further quotes possible until results of test are known

    · gable end wall of church closest to Walmersley Rd. re-pointed.

    · all gas appliances in church house serviced

    · decoration in church house prior to Tia's arrival

  • Responses to vandalism:

    · several repairs/replacement of stolen lead from the roof

    · installation of razor wire to parts of the roof

    · 2 toilet seats broken from fixings male and female toilets (possible standing on seats or purposeful damage?).

  • Pending:

    · the 2 high windows in church (pull chords) have been orderedawaiting delivery and installation

    · ongoing talk about replacing frontage to church hall but no progress to date

    · awaiting quotes from D. Higson for laptop and projector

 

Throughout the year it has been a struggle to maintain any sort of property core group. The model of an overall property co-ordinator with named people overseeing different aspects of the work has not functioned well. Brian Sharples as the co-ordinator has found that heavy work commitments which regularly take him away from home have prevented him from carrying out the role to the quality he would like. Coupled with this, the resignation of the property and finance secretary has compounded the lack of co-ordination. That said, the individuals with specific areas of responsibility deserve thanks for carrying out their duties in an effective manner given the demands on their time.

Serious thought needs to be given as to how the maintenance and upkeep of the building can be carried forward over in the future. If the co-ordinator model is continued then it needs to be someone who is available during the week and is able to look in the building on a regular basis.

Finally during the year we have had 3 clean up/maintenance days. These have been well supported and thanks go out to all members of the congregation who have given of their time on these occasions.

B.Sharples

Property Co-ordinator

JUNIOR CHURCH

It has been a busy year for Junior Church with quite a high turnover of teaching staff. If anyone would like to come and help on a rota basis please get in touch. New innovations this year include: an All Age Session on the 3rd Sunday in the month where all groups meet in the hall under Tia's guidance and an Ice-cream Sundae on the 5th Sunday in the month. We have had one Ice-Cream Sundae led by young adults from the Bethany Project in Tanzania. Approximately 60 children attended.

GUIDES

It has been another busy year. The Guides continue to do activities which involve working together in teams. They have just completed a 'Chocolate Go For It'; a series of activities based around chocolate. They are now in the middle of the Team Player Badge. 2010 celebrates 100 years of Guiding so there are lots of activities planned. Four of the leaders are training for their camping licences.

 

TREASURER'S REPORT

 

This is my third report as treasurer and, as last year, I've included with it a table displaying:

    · a half yearly summary (from the beginning of September 2008 to the end of February 2009) of the church's expenditure and income

    · the budget for the current year (Sep 08 to Aug 09)

    · the actual expenditure and income for the previous year

Hopefully, it will give you some idea of what monies come into the church and how they are spent. The half-year summary (when you double it) gives a rough guide to how close we are to our budget and can be compared with the previous year's expenditure and income.

Probably the most significant item to report is that we have now received all the money due to us following the division of the estate of Dr. Margaret Timperley (a former worshipper at Seedfield). This amounts to £79 500, a substantial amount, and we thank God that Margaret felt able to do this. We need to make sure we are good stewards of this money, seeking God's wisdom in the use to which it is put.

What do we spend money on?

As last year, here's an overview of the different ways we use the money received. As you may remember, all the money goes into one 'pot' but it's easier to keep an eye on using different headings.

General= 'Everything else we spend that isn't linked to the buildings, mission or youth work'. This is made up of:

Assessment & Connexional- money we have to pay to central funds - used to pay ministers' salaries etc.

Communication - printing and paper costs e.g. The Messenger, weekly notices; web-site, copier and photocopier use and maintenance, postage

Worship - anything that supports or enhances our worship e.g. song books, maintaining the organ, flowers, palm crosses, communion wine, copyright and other licenses, Christmas decorations etc.

Donations - money passed on to other organisations through retiring offerings or gifts the church makes to individuals organisations

Training - money to support the core group 'Formation' and to pay for training materials for home groups

Property= 'Everything we spend to clean, maintain and run the church and church house premises and contents'

Repairs - (this includes maintenance) so roof repairs, pointing, boiler servicing etc. Utilities - Gas, water, electricity. We currently spend £1155 a month on gas and electricity (it was £740 last year, that's a 56% rise!!)

Caretaking - keeping the inside and outside clean

Equipment- anything we have to buy for the premise e.g. notice boards Insurance - church buildings and contents

12 Linton - now just maintenance or refurbishment costs for the house as we've paid the mortgage off

Mission = 'Everything we spend to support our partners in mission abroad and at home'

Hopefully no need to go through sub-categories here!

Youth= 'Everything we spend to support youth work'

Again, hopefully self-explanatory. Most spending under Junior Church is for teaching and other materials used on Sunday.

Where does our money come from?

Last year about 85% of our total income came from congregational giving (and the tax we can claim back on that), about 6% came from Gift Weekend and a similar amount from interest and endowments. We do not receive any monies from the Methodist Church.

How is the 'credit crunch' affecting our finances?

The big picture is that, over the last 3 years, congregational giving has decreased by £3780 over the same half-year period, while expenditure has increased by £10000. The higher costs for gas and electricity, mentioned earlier, are playing a significant role in our increased expenditure

It is probably too early to say how the current economic climate will affect us over time. Reductions in interest rates for savings have been off-set by the capital injection of funds from the Timperley bequest.

Do you know?

It costs about £15 per hour to run our premises so (for example) a group using part of the building for 10 weeks at 2 hours per session would generate £300 in costs for heating, lighting and cleaning. If these sessions were in Autumn/Winter, the costs would be much higher. Unlike some churches, we do not charge for use of the premises, relying instead on good-will offerings.

What can I do?

 If you are a tax-payer and not covenanting at present, the first thing to do is see John Wroe and make your current giving worth more by allowing us to claim the tax back

 Take a look at what it really costs to keep Seedfield worshipping, serving and sending, and prayerfully consider whether you need to adjust your giving

Jem Wood, Treasurer

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