Our experimental move to Sundays for Church Meetings has not proved an overwhelming success but the third of the three, held in March, was at least quorate. As well as being able to approve minutes from previous Church Meetings, and Meetings of Church Members (there is a difference), this meant we could take decisions which are of consequence to the future progress of the Church.
One such was a vote taken to reinstate Communion offertories, a practice we would seem to have discontinued post-Covid. Another was to pay the bill for recent works to the guttering from the Roof Fund. Both of these, although modest in impact, will go some small way towards alleviating pressure on our fast-diminishing General Account. Ultimately we will need to consider options and possibly take unpopular decisions if we are not to run out of money completely, which will in effect render us unable to function as a Church.
Another proposal was to hold a Coffee Morning/Plant Sale on Saturday 8th June, which
Sally Moody will be leading on. All offers of practical help will, one assumes, be most welcome. The Meeting heard that we had had another visitation from the Safeguarding Officer of the Congregational Federation who, subject to a couple of minor tasks to be performed, was broadly happy with how we are operating in terms of general safety. It was also noted that we had recently hired out the hall for two consecutive nights to another Christian organisation, who were pleased with the facilities.
Meanwhile the Secretary undertook to update the list of Church Members and Friends, which at present is a tad obsolete. Much prominence was afforded to our forthcoming Brainstorming Meeting, which will take place on Saturday 6th April from 10.30 a.m. (see elsewhere in this newsletter), accompanied by a light lunch. Congregations and attendances at Church events in general have diminished alarmingly in recent times and this is a trend which simply cannot be allowed to continue if the Church is to survive. We need all of our Members, friends and regulars to chip in with their ideas to consider how we can reach out into the community and bring more people into our orbit, and we must not rely on “the usual few” to do this on our behalf because there is only so much anybody can do. Your prayers and, just as importantly, your ideas and your presence at said meeting are desperately required.
From next month we will be reverting to Wednesday evenings for Church Meetings, beginning on April 24th. Now that we’ve achieved a quorum and got ourselves back to business let’s keep it going.