A year in the life of St. Mary Magdalen, Sheet

The Churchwardens
Jeannine Davies and Charles Meader.

In a few months time Rob and his family will have been with us for two years. Under his guidance and leadership we continue to grow and develop as we face considerable changes in so many ways.

We are very grateful to Rob for all that he does for our church and for the wider community. It seems that the demands on our clergy increase almost daily. There is a need to remind ourselves how essential it is that we support Rob in every way that we can and relieve him of as many administrative tasks as possible. We must not lose sight of the fact that Rob does not have the benefit of a deacon and we can all recall how hard dear Chris worked!

We are however blessed as we continue to have the services of Doug Banyard. Dear Doug is a real gem and his enthusiasm and sparkle remain undiminished and he is much loved by us all. Our gratitude also goes to Peter Lockyer, who works very hard for Christian Aid, but also finds time to assist with services.

It is also great to have Gareth Denby back with us. Together with fellow Readers, Gary Stanley and Mike Knee, we have three excellent preachers who give invaluable support to Rob and enhance our worship. Our grateful thanks go to them all. We would also like to pay tribute to Sue Condrup. Sue regularly plays the organ at our services, but in addition also plays the keyboard during communions and also during the Laying on of Hands services. This involves playing continuously throughout this part of the service. Sue always plays beautifully, with great sensitivity and blends one piece into the next seamlessly. We are most grateful to her.

Looking back over the past twelve months we have seen changes in our liturgy. The introduction of new music, the introduction of monthly prayer meetings and a growth in the numbers attending house groups, to name but a few. The deaths of Rita McCulloch and Alison Strutt have deprived us of two outstanding members of our church family and we miss them greatly.

Change is inevitable and should not be feared. Kiaros is ongoing and we have yet to see where it will lead us. Compared with what is happening nationally the number of people who attend our church is encouraging and our young people are a cause for hope.

We would like to pay tribute to Helen Morris, who, after two years has stood down as our Parish Administrator. Helen took over when the Parish Office first opened and she carried out her duties with great efficiency and willingness. We are very grateful to her and wish her well for the future. Fortunately Dave Dowdeswell has taken over from Helen and we wish him every success.

Secondly our thanks go to Nigel Wells, who after six years as our Treasurer, has decided to stand down. During that time Nigel has shown great diligence in keeping our accounts and maintaining our finances in a sound and secure state. Much of a treasurer's work is behind the scenes and Nigel has kept our accounts in immaculate order. We wish him well.

Jeannine writes:
We have, yet again, enjoyed a year of growth and change - a sure sign of successful leadership. It's wonderful to see so many people attending or running home groups, helping with the children's activities and on the healing team. The re-naming of SMOTS was over due and 'RockSolid' is thriving. It seems to me that more young families are coming to church and we're still a thriving, loving family. We're also becoming up-dated with new technology and we're trying out new systems and songs without losing any of our much-loved hymns or services.

Most of the changes are due to Rob's clear thinking and an open mind to hearing new ideas from you, the parishioners. Verity too has made her mark; the new posters which greet us on the path as we walk into church are mainly her handiwork - I find them bright, eye catching and happy - and the message comes across clearly to anyone who cares to read them. Thank you Verity.

With thanks on my mind, I turn my thoughts to Charlie; my co-churchwarden for the past four years. How I shall miss him, his solid support and wonderful administrative skills. We worked well during the interregnum and that sense of comradeship has continued throughout our partnership as Churchwardens.

To stay as we are however, is neither healthy for the church nor for ourselves and l am very much looking forward to working with the new Churchwarden when she/he is elected. I am sure that the giftedness of that person will be of immense value to us all. With my whole heart, I welcome him/her.

Finally, may I say yet again, what a privilege it is to be your Churchwarden; I hope I can continue to serve you and God in the next year and I pray that He will continue to bless you, my Church family; and that we continue to grow closer to him as we journey together.

Charlie writes:
It was back in 1998 that Sarah Chapman invited me to be a churchwarden. When I accepted I joked that it was on condition that she stayed with us at least until I had served my term of office. We all know what happened!

Now after six years I am standing down. It has been an enormous privilege to have held this post and I am indebted to my co-churchwardens, Angela Gilmour and then Jeannine Davies, for their unstinting support and encouragement.

For the major part of that time Jeannine has been shoulder to shoulder with me and I would like to place on record my gratitude and appreciation for all her advice, help and friendship. It says much for our relationship that we have never had a cross word. We have shared much together and her constant support has been so welcome and sustaining.

I regarded it as a great honour when Sarah asked me to be a churchwarden and she was always very helpful and supportive, not least in her guidance and advice before we entered the interregnum.

Whilst the interregnum was a very busy time my duties were made much easier by the help, support, encouragement, and not least the prayers, of you all. I will always be very grateful for that. I think it fair to say that during that time we grew and developed as a church emerged the stronger for the experience.

It has been a pleasure to serve under Rob and I am grateful to him for his support, encouragement and friendship. In handing over to my successor I am confident that he, or she, will be an excellent churchwarden and I wish that person every success, he or she will have my full support and a promise of total non-interference.

Looking back over the last six years there have been some memorable moments and a few regrets. Whilst we finally resolved the problems with the church steps I would like to have seen greater progress made towards the provision of toilet facilities. I hope that this will soon be carried forward.

The greatest reward has been in serving St Mary's and its congregation and I would like to thank you all for your understanding, your support, your friendship and your fellowship. I pray that we will continue to grow and develop spiritually, finding new ways to serve the community.

It would be a travesty if I did not conclude by thanking my darling wife for her patience, her support, encouragement and understanding throughout the last six years. I could not have managed without her.
May God bless you all.