The Vicar Writes
May 2010
Waiting for Power
Dear Friends,
How is the general election campaign going for you? What do you think of the show so far? Within the first few days of the official campaign, following the Prime Minister's visit to Buckingham Palace to gain the Queen's agreement, the commentators were saying that the public were already getting bored with the it all. That's a shame. Yesterday evening saw the first televised debate between the leaders of the three main parties. All the talk today is of which man made the most positive impression. Time will tell!
Using power to serve the common good
The parties and their leaders are hoping for power, obviously: the power to govern that comes from a democratic process that itself gives a good deal of power at election time to the voters. The New Testament is quite clear that Christians should take their rulers seriously, praying for them and respecting the power and authority that they have. The least that we can do is consider carefully how we should vote, and then pray for wisdom for those elected. The hope is that they will use their political power to serve the common good.
The power of the Holy Spirit
At this time of year we are reminded that the first disciples were waiting for power. Following his resurrection, Jesus said to them "I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." (St. Luke's Gospel 24:49) The power was to come through the gift of the Holy Spirit that would be received in a dramatic way at the Feast of Pentecost. We celebrate that this month, Sunday 23rd May.
The Holy Spirit was being offered to all those who would receive it: it still is. By its power it brings the spirit of Jesus into people's lives, transforming them and the world for the better.
Real Power: the Fruits of the Spirit
According to St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians, chapter 5, the Holy Spirit has the power to endow us with life transforming qualities, what he calls 'the fruits of the Spirit'. These are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Now, these have the power to transform the world for the better.
Why, then, don't more people 'vote for' or choose the Holy Spirit that comes through faith in the risen Christ. Have people got bored with the church's campaign to bring the Spirit's power and fruits to individuals and communities? If so, that really is a shame!
If you don't already, why don't you come along to Church and help us to celebrate the world-transforming gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost?
Annual Reports
Following the APCM that took place on 21 April, booklets containing reports of all church officers, groups, committees and related organisations were circulated. Please, take one from the church Foyer if you haven't already, or read them on the parish website.
Here are a few extracts from my own report.
Thanks be to God!
Gratitude should be at the heart of a faithful life. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote, "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (9:15) He was talking about the surpassing grace of God that he has give to the Church through Christ. As a church we continue to have a sense of receiving that grace in our life together as well as in our individual discipleship. Thanks be to God!
I also thank all those who have allowed God to work through them in the contributions that they have made to the life of this church and its mission...
The Ministry Team
One of the wonderful advantages of being Vicar of Blackwell is that I have the privilege of leading a team of ministers who do much to provide ministry and lead worship both in this parish and, when called upon, in others across the deanery. The church benefits so much from having the Rev'd Brian Holmes as a member of this team: we were blessed when he and Beryl decided to make All Saints' their spiritual home on retiring from St. Matthew's. We also continue to benefit from the ministry of other retired clergy, not least the Rev'd Robin Fletcher who has been coping with ill health over the past year. I'm sure we would all want to wish Robin and Janet well as he continues with his treatment. Of course, we were sorry to lose the Rev'd Ann MacKeith from the team when she and John moved to Bournemouth to be nearer family. As I write below, we miss them.
The team of Readers that we have here at All Saints' is a real strength and I delight in working with all of them. Debby Gill, Susan Leatherbarrow, Keith Whiston and Kevin Winkworth make a huge contribution to worship, preaching and teaching; but also take leading roles in vital areas of our ministry. They do this without drawing attention to themselves or looking for recognition. We do well to treasure them!
The Darlington Deanery 2020 Vision makes it clear that our hope for the future is that as each stipendiary clergy person has to take responsibility for more parishes, each parish will be blessed with other voluntary ministers. My strong belief is that if ministry could be developed in each parish as it has been here, the church would be much stronger in the future than it has been in the past.
There is, however, no room for complacency on our part. There is an urgent need within All Saints' and Salutation to be fostering and discerning vocations to lay and ordained ministries. I am pleased that a number of people are beginning to consider vocations in these areas and my prayer is that we will soon have more people in training. I believe that we could all do our bit to encourage others to ask if God might be calling them in this way.
The Wardens, Treasurers and Secretary
The team of wardens plays a vitally important part in supporting me and providing quiet, faithful leadership amongst the laity of the church...
This year it is Eleanor Winkworth's turn to retire as a churchwarden. She is one of the generation of wardens that has served for five years rather than the usual four, allowing stability during the church's construction period. Eleanor has done a great job in steering the work of the Community Outreach Committee: one whose brief must always be central to our mission. The warm and generous hospitality received at Eleanor's home by members of her committee at their meetings bears witness to many of Eleanor's positive qualities. These have also been evident in the way in which she has organised Vicarage Parties for new parishioners, and often provided coffee after the 8.30am service. We will certainly miss her from the wardens' team, not least for her willingness to ask those questions that are not always the easiest to articulate.
The two treasurers play an invaluable role in providing sound stewardship of our financial resources... Following a time of additional work resulting from the church building, last year's stewardship renewal did much to create yet more work - I am very pleased to say! We are grateful to Ian Groves, the PCC Treasurer, and Ken Park the PCC Planned Giving Treasurer for all that they have done.
The last member of the Standing Committee whom I want to thank is Dee Wastnedge... She has continued to provide the sort of efficient support that is vital for the PCC to do its work. We are all grateful to her.
The Consecration of the new Parish Church of All Saints
It is not every year that a parish has the privilege of having a new church consecrated by its bishop...
The past twelve months have seen the congregation members, along with many other parishioners and visitors, enjoy the space and atmosphere of the new church... The new All Saints' Church is still seen as nothing less than a modern-day miracle. The flower festival that is being planned for the first weekend of May 2010 will give us an opportunity to continue our celebrations of this gift. "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"
New Church: New Vision
A major achievement in the year was the envisioning and stewardship renewal programme... The Parish Vision for the previous six years had been to build up God's Kingdom through All Saints' and Salutation... The old vision identified six focus areas for priority. None of these has been lost from the new vision, but we now have three priority ambitions. Each one is about growth and the PCC agreed detailed proposals for how this growth can be nurtured in each case.
The Parish Vision:
To Grow God's Kingdom through All Saints' and Salutation, Blackwell.
We believe God is calling us to do this by:
1. Growing the Church
2. Growing as Disciples
3. Growing in Service to the parish and beyond.
Much work has already begun on developing some of these areas of mission and ministry. The PCC established a Communications Task Group under the chairmanship of Ken Young. We are grateful to Ken for his leadership in this: he has already given an interim report to the PCC, but will report more fully in the next PCC year.
The PCC Day in March 2010 also picked up one of these themes and explored how to develop further the welcoming ethos of All Saints'...
Church Attendance
The Church Electoral Roll was reported to have 302 members at the last APCM, with more joining through the rest of the year... Easter Day was a particular joy, with the number of communicants at the 10.30am service being the largest that we have ever had for a single service - thus breaking the record set by the Patronal Festival. The number of people in church was well over three hundred, testing the capacity of the new building to its limits!
The high number of people taking part in the Big Read home groups during Lent (over 70; 20 more than the previous year) and at other times of the year gives cause for hope.
Deanery 2020 Vision and the West Darlington Group
the November 2009 meeting of the Deanery Synod agreed to the proposal for the West Darlington Group of Parishes (Coniscliffe, Holy Trinity, St. Cuthbert's, Hurworth, Dinsdale, Sockburn and Blackwell) to be allocated 2¾ stipends for 2016 onwards. The proposal is to have one clergy post for Blackwell and Coniscliffe parishes, one for St. Cuthbert's and Holy Trinity, with an additional ¼ being allocated to the Archdeacon who will remain priest-in-charge of Holy Trinity, and half a stipend to Hurworth, Dinsdale and Sockburn.
The PCCs of the Group have been asked to consider whether they would like to begin a formal process that could result in all the parishes of the present informal grouping being legally constituted as a Group Ministry...
The Groups priorities remain: Work with Young People; Growing the Congregations; Developing Shared Ministry. The need to foster vocations and develop Shared Ministry was also established as an urgent matter at the April 2010 meeting of the Group Council.
Saying goodbye and welcome
This year we were very sorry to say goodbye to John and Ann MacKeith as they moved to Bournemouth to be near their family. They have both done much to further the work of the church in this part of Darlington since Ann took the post of Curate-in-Charge of the Church of the Salutation within the parish of Holy Trinity back in 1988. They have also done much to remind us of the gospel imperative of working for justice for all people, and the need to be sound stewards of God's gift of creation. We miss them.
Sadly, a number of parishioners who were members or close friends of the worshipping community have died and, in faith, we have commended them to God's unfailing love: Wally Elliott, Doreen Waters, Inga Horn, Enid Wytcherley, May Fairbairn, Janet Murray, Bert Pitchford, Margaret Lowes, Ken Dobinson and Arthur Valks.
Ken Dobinson was a faithful member of the 8.30am congregation for many years, serving as a sidesman and reader. Arthur Valks became a warden in 1992, just as I arrived at All Saints' and was a great support and friend. Wally, of course, we remember as a popular caretaker of the Millennium Centre.
It has been very good to welcome some old friends back to church! The Walkers - Daren, Michaela, Becky, Ethan and Rachael - returned to the area from their sojourn in the south: we are delighted that they have returned to where they belong!
Looking forward in hope
Once again, God has richly blessed us. It is clear from what I have written above that the Parish Vision provides the PCC and whole church community with clear priorities for the developing of our mission and ministry. We look to the future in hope because God's goodness to us in the past has given us confidence in his willingness to use us for his mission to turn this world into his Kingdom. This calling to work with God through All Saints' and Salutation is a joy, a privilege and a huge responsibility for all of us. By keeping close to God in prayer and worship, and to each other in fellowship and mutual support, we will find the guidance and the strength that will be needed. I am convinced that there is cause for great hope as we look forward to the future.
"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"
With all best wishes
John