July 2010
Dear reader
Yesterday we held our annual parish conference. As at previous conferences, there was a lot of laughter, a lot of food, a lot of getting to know you, loads of discussion and lots of ideas for the future. This year our conference title was "Every-one's welcome" and we tried to hear each other's good stories and horror stories about how welcoming or otherwise had been the experience of those at the conference, learn what lessons there were to be had from those experiences and make suggestions for the enhancement of the welcome offered at St Nicholas.
We had prepared for the conference by circulated a questionnaire among the congregation and its results were fed into the discussions too. I was surprised and pleased to discover that of the 17 questions asked, only 3 did not have a 2/3 consensus about the question - despite the fact that I had framed the questions to allow as broad a response as possible. It would seem that all who replied are genuinely aware that, as God welcomes us as His children, so we should respond with welcome to our brothers and sisters in humanity and in the community.
I hope that by now I have whetted your appetite to know what are the suggestions for future action that came out of the meeting. Here they are (in no other order than the one they were presented in):-
- That we set up a team of people whose priority is to welcome any newcomers and make them feel at home - whether that means helping them with what's happening through the service or leaving them alone if that is the need of that person (this was suggested by two different groups
- That we have bring and share lunches with interesting speakers but with lots of time to get to know each other. These would be open to church and non-church alike and advertised accordingly. (this was also suggested by two groups)
- That we find ways for Christians living and worshipping in the village and those who worship elsewhere to come together and worship together.
- That we resurrect the provision of welcome packs to be delivered to newcomers to the village giving loads of helpful information, both about church life and about what goes on in the village.
- On the Sunday afternoons in July and August we are going to offer refreshments to those who are going walking in the hills (from last year's conference). The church will be open for anyone who wants to go in and have a look (or to pray).
- That we have a breakfast for the ladies in the same way as the men do and which is proving so successful.
- That we have occasional (e.g. 5th Sundays in the month when they happen) pre-service breakfasts as an informal opportunity to get to know each other better.
- That we discover and respond to the needs of people in the village for e.g. marriage preparation or enrichment, or social events for the bereaved, or....
- That we look critically and imaginatively at what someone coming to St Nicholas for the first time meets, sees and feels and try to adapt what we do to make it as stress-free as possible.
Well that is quite a list and has plenty to keep us busy for a year. Of course, if you have another idea, you can always pass it through to me and we can add it to the mix. We want everyone to know and feel that everyone really is welcome at St Nicholas.
Graham Newton, Rector
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