Deacons’ Page – February/March 2025

Deacons' Page

And suddenly it’s not new year anymore, it’s time for the February/ March newsletter! Time passing very quickly they say is a sign of age. I read the other day that 2024 and 1980 are as far apart as 1980 and 1936!! Nooooo !! that is scary!!

We held our church meeting on Wednesday evening . A very few of us turned out . The meeting was eventually quorate (quick dash from work) so decisions could be finalised. Without the necessary number of people we cannot move forward with things that need doing…

We decided a few months ago to stop holding evening services except for the first Sunday evening communion. Evening services have long been very sparsely attended, with the same three or four people each week . I think the vague hope was that only one evening service a month might encourage you to come to it… but no! So we took the decision on Wednesday to stop the evening services entirely for the foreseeable future. Of course if there is a clamouring for them to start again at a later date this can be voted on again. We can and will hold occasional evening services on special occasions. Therefore the last evening service will be on Sunday February 2nd.

We also took the decision to start holding church meetings on the fourth Sunday morning after service. We are hoping that this will result in more church members attending as they/you will already be there for the morning service! Also those people who may have not put themselves forward for church membership as they were unable to attend Wednesday meetings may feel able to join us. The next church meeting will follow morning service 23rd.

It was decided that we would reduce the number of charities we support with our Christmas donations. We will send donations to six instead of twelve. We have chosen locally based charities and we have slightly increased the amount to each of those six. We are very mindful of our duty and need to help charities as much as we can but amidst the present financial difficulties and in our position as an independent church, we must endeavour to ensure we have enough funds to keep our building and congregation going. We are totally dependant on money we raise ourselves, which means primarily the money received in the offertory each week. If attendance is low then we don’t get as much in the offertory plate … it is quite simple! Our building is old and requires much upkeep… we are praying no large expenditures are necessary in the near future!!

We discussed gardening days… when the weather improves . Please look out for requests to help there. We would like to be able to hold some sort of midweek meeting , either bible study based , café style worship or similar. Please think about this and let us know your thoughts. We don’t want to just stop evening services but rather replace it with something else which may be more accessible to a wider group of people. We are also looking at holding another joint service with the Hosanna Congregation.

We mentioned time passing quickly… Lent and our period of preparation for Easter begins on March 5th . Keep looking out for further information as to how we may be following and marking this. Please keep in your prayers those amongst us who are unwell at this present time.

Stay safe . well and warm..

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