The Parish Church of St Paul, Eastthorpe
ANNUAL REPORT
The production of an Annual Report, which accompanies the annual financial statement, is a legal obligation on all Churches and offers the opportunity for reflection on some of the major events and issues of a Church’s life. It also offers a useful means of communication between the Church Council and the congregation and enables more effective accountability between the decision makers and those whom they represent.
In the Church of England the body responsible for the oversight of the administrative, financial, pastoral and evangelistic work of the Church is the Parochial Church Council (PCC). During 2006 the Council met 14 times plus three joint parish discussion meetings.
The following people served on it:
Priest-in-charge Revd Canon Peter Craig-Wild (Chair)
Assistant Priest Revd Ann Pollard (permission to Chair)
Churchwardens Mrs Valerie Warner
Mrs Katharine Crossley
Secretary to the PCC Mrs Katharine Crossley
Treasurer to the PCC Mrs Valerie Warner
Mrs Rachel Copley Lay Chair from April 2006
Mr David Brooke
Mr Bryon Compton
Mrs Mary Paige
Mrs Pamela Thornton
Mr John Wainwright
Mrs Jacqueline Turner
Mrs May Little
Bryon Compton
The Church Council has responsibility for the oversight of all issues relating to the life of St Paul’s Church, and therefore its agenda is varied and wide-ranging. Among the items we have dealt with this year are:
Ø Future mission and Community contact
Ø Back to the Future Reunion and Open Weekend
Ø Disability Discrimination Act
Ø Charitable giving
Ø Church Fees
Ø Parish Share
Ø Hired use of the church and lower vestry
Ø Health and Safety Policy
Ø PAT testing
Ø Fire Safety Regulations
Ø Annual review of Child Protection Policy
Ø Services
Ø Pastoral Measure
Ø Becoming one parish vote
Ø Becoming one parish meetings
Ø Structure of DCC’s for one parish
Ø Fabric Team for one parish
Ø Finances of one parish
Ø Ministry Team for one parish
Ø Baptism follow up
Ø All the Saints 2007
Ø Deanery Synod
Ø Youth Initiative
Ø Church insurance
Ø Nurture
Ø Re-decorating and equipping of lower vestries
Ø Maintenance
Ø Church accounts
ELECTORAL ROLL
The figures for Electoral Roll Membership are 2006 (35) against 2005 (35), 2004 (42)
Baptisms in 2006 were 8, (6 in 2005) (3 in 2004) funerals in church were 1, (2 in 2005) (4 in 2004), weddings 3 in 2006, (0 in 2005) (2 in 2004)
For the third year running we once again paid the full amount of our parish share in 2006 (£7338) and have been informed by the Diocese that arrears accumulated before 2003 had been written off. This is an excellent achievement for St Paul’s and reflects the commitment of making the payment of the parish share a priority.
Our income from Stewardship grew again in 2006 to (£8976) from 2005 (£8410) reflecting the changing attitude of awareness of our congregation.
Income for 2006 totalled £17.724. This figure includes donations from fundraising and mission weekend
Outgoings were £26.841, which includes £2.640 insurance, £1.013 gas, and £1.110 paid on electricity account, repairs to snowboarding £3.000, lower vestries £1.403
DEANERY SYNOD
St Paul’s have been represented at two Deanery Synod meetings during 2006. In February the Synod met and no one as able to attend. The next meeting was over lunch at St Mary’s parish center looking at resources in the Deanery and where those resources could be joined together for the benefit of the whole. On 16th November Synod met at Dewsbury Minster for a discussion on cell churches and finished with a service provided by the young people of South Ossett.
FABRIC REPORT
The exterior of the Church building is in good condition. During 2006 the Snowboarding in the roof valleys was replaced. The gulleys and guttering have been cleaned. Storm damage to the window protection on the west window was repaired. The interior of the Church remains in good condition and is well maintained. The Lower Vestries have been redecorated and the outside of the vestries has been re-pointed.
Equipment in the church has been serviced regularly. Annual checks have been carried out on the heating, the fire and smoke alarms and the burglar alarm. As St Paul’s is a closed churchyard Kirklees Council continue upkeep of the grassed areas around the church.
The church building continues to be used by a variety of outside groups for concerts, services and meetings, which has helped to increase the churches presence within the town center community. It is an area of outreach that we are continuously seeking to build upon and discussions surrounding alterations to the church are focused with this in mind.
The Church building is due its Quinquennial inspection in 2007.
St Paul’s continues to hold a weekly Sunday school, which caters for children of all ages and uses the Young Church magazine as a resource. Sunday school continues to take place in the North Aisle alongside the main service, which has been appreciated by both adults and children as the children are able to join in the service and the adults are able to see at first hand what the children get up to!
Attendance varies as some children only come when they are visiting relatives; there is only one child that attends almost every week, but all children are warmly welcomed and mothers offer help and support.
ADULT, BABIES AND CHILDREN’S GROUP
We are now in our seventh year of organizing the ABC. We are pleased that a number of mothers and babies are continuing to attend regularly. Some of the children have now moved on to school or into Nursery classes and we are delighted that we have had an increased number of babies this year.
Also a number of babies from ABC have been baptised at St Paul’s and several families have attended functions and services, which reflects a growing relationship between the group and church. Parents continue to take part in Easter and Christmas events at the club and become involved in the short plays the children act out at these times. We believe that the mothers need space to meet and chat whilst their children are happily playing and cared for and we know they help each other in times of need.
GENERAL COMMENTS
Throughout the year St Paul’s has remained an integral part of the planning and vision for the future ministry of the Anglican Church in Mirfield, overseen by Priest in charge, Revd Canon Peter Craig Wild, and resourced by St Mary’s staff team. The figures for pastoral offices that take place at St Paul’s are only a part of the teams work across the 3 parishes.
The pattern of worship continues to develop with the inclusion of new worship material that becomes available, special occasions within the church calendar are promoted, children continue to be included as much as possible and there is more lay leadership. Worship has become less formal, more varied and responsive, and has been generally accepted and appreciated by the congregation and visitors to the church.
Baptism services are arranged to suit families and have resulted in an increased number of enquiries and bookings and baptisms.
Once again uncertainties about the future arose due to the one parish discussions, yet despite the concerns, St Paul’s has continued to remain optimistic and committed to ministry in Eastthorpe and the PCC and congregation expect the church to maintain its place at the heart of the community of Mirfield.
Initiatives and regeneration centered in and around St Paul’s and Mirfield town center have been a source of encouragement and hope, but there is also awareness that we have limited manpower resources and need to focus our priorities. The planned sale of land to be incorporated into a new development adjacent to the church fell through in 2006. The hope that this would provide the financial opportunity to re-order the church to comply with the Disability and Discrimination Act, and undertake the re-ordering work needed to develop our community vision for the future has had to be shelved for the time being.
The focal point of planning for ministry and outreach during 2006 was the Back to the Future weekend, which celebrated 125 years of St Paul’s Church in Eastthorpe. Back to the Future was based on the proposed one parish and a reuniting with St Mary’s from which the parish of Eastthorpe was carved. The weekend began with a reunion of past members of the church and church school and was a very worthwhile and successful event. The service of Thanksgiving on Sunday morning provided the opportunity for a united service of all 3 parishes and was well attended.
The weekend was a great accomplishment both in terms of profile and visitors, and we acknowledge the time and commitment of those involved in the planning and preparation and who worked so hard during the weekend to make it such a successful event.
Although Sunday worship attendance can often reach 35+ and the Thursday morning Eucharist 12+, sustained growth continues to elude us. However, there are new people coming in who consider St Paul’s to be their place of worship, but following the trend they worship less regularly and numbers can fluctuate dramatically week by week.
The Christingle service continued to grow with over 200 at the service in 2006; the ABC group have an increased number on their register; we now have a Community Governor at Lower Hopton School helping forge stronger links in the community, we have contact with Ings Grove House and continue to be involved with Mirfield Community Partnership initiatives and promote Fair Trade products in church.
The one parish meetings and discussions that have taken place throughout this year have in many ways drained time and energy and unfortunately left little incentive for mission, outreach and new initiatives at St Paul’s. St Paul’s PCC debated at great length these proposals and though initially not favourable to the idea of becoming one parish, following the decision to accept this way forward they have been prominent attendees and participants at meetings and shown commitment to making it work.
Churchwardens have also been involved in even more meetings preparing proposals for PCC’s to debate and the benefit of a smaller congregation is that they been kept well informed of progress and have had opportunity and encouragement to raise and discuss any concerns they may have.
In January the church lost a faithful and much loved member of the congregation when Hilda Senior died. During the year we have welcomed new friends who have found at St Paul’s a spiritual home in which to grow in faith and worship God and we are thankful for the blessings their presence brings to the ministry of the church.
The prayer group has continued to meet weekly to pray for God’s guidance and vision for the future work and mission of the church, however, this group would still benefit from some new members. Nurture groups are always well attended and the Everyday God Lent course run throughout the three parishes during 2006 were well supported from St Paul’s congregation who are always eager to learn and to grow in faith.
Alterations required by the Disability Discrimination Act are under constant consideration by the PCC but until the future becomes clearer and a vision for the one parish formed there has been little able to be done or accomplished. However, the lower vestries have been redecorated and refurbished during the summer by an army of willing volunteers to which we express our praise and thanks.
A wide range of Health and Safety matters have been dealt with by the PCC and regular maintenance of security and safety products have taken place together with necessary remedial work on the church building. Vandalism to windows, doors and gardens continues to be a problem and whilst we do work closely with the police there is little we can do to prevent the damage that takes place.
There has been our usual generous commitment to charitable giving in 2006 through donations to the Women’s Refuge in Dewsbury, Attingal Hospice in South Kerala, Christian Aid, Oxfam, World Vision, and the Bishop’s Lent Appeal The annual charitable giving from church funds was shared between five charities, £2.195 was donated, a reflection of our thankfulness for the blessings that we too have received.
All that has been achieved during 2006 is testament to the commitment of time and resources of our Churchwardens, PCC, Mission and Ministry team, Sunday school teachers, flower ladies, organist, sacristan, intercessors and readers, and our faithful congregation.
We move forward into 2007 with hope and trust in God that the proposed Mirfield Team Parish will bring about the hoped for opportunity of a shared vision for mission and that the united resources of the larger parish will enable St Paul’s to grow and expand in ministry alongside and together with, St Mary’s and St John’s.
It is in thankfulness for the generous blessings of God that we have richly received during this past year, which enables us to move forward with an open and generous spirit into that proposed new parish with optimism, determination and trust in God’s provision for the future life of his churches in Mirfield.