Church General Meeting 2008

This page contains the principal reports presented o the Annual Church Meeting on 13 April 2008. Scroll down the page or click on the topics for quick access.

Banner Making Group

Gill Weller

The banner group is continuing to meet regularly and enjoy fellowship together, while making banners to hopefully enhance our Church and the Worship there.

Since last year we have made the Easter Flower Cross, the Flames for Pentecost, “Born in song” for Advent, and the Solar System for Epiphany. We are making pulpit falls to compliment each banner, the most recent being a special one entitled “Where do I go from here?” for Lent. We mostly meet every fortnight, and if you are artistic, interested in design or sewing please speak to one of the group members. You will be most welcome.

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Church Hall Redevelopment Work

Will Light, Church Hall Redevelopment Coordinator

As I write this, we are about to sign-off the work on the Church Hall as complete. The work has hit several set-backs and various amendments to the plans had to be made to satisfy the City Council Planning Department, in spite of the fact that they had approved the initial plans at the start of the project. All of this has meant that the project has been extended both in time and in cost – but we are now in sight of the end. The Council Planning Department has issued us with a Completion Certificate and the builders, GAJ P&RM Ltd. have finished off the final few jobs.

Briefly we have achieved the following:

  • a) Provision of new disabled ramps at the two side doors which have become emergency exit doors only. These ramps have railings and guards to comply with all regulations.
  • b) Provision of new electric sliding door at the main front entrance. This will improve the hall’s security as only those with electronic keys who are entitled to open the hall will be able to do so. 60 electronic keys have been issued which shows the wide usage that the hall is getting.
  • c) Provision of newly fitted Ladies and Gentlemen’s toilets downstairs and Disabled Person’s toilets downstairs and upstairs. These all comply with modern regulations (and all have cold and hot running water!)
  • d) Provision of a proper sluice sink in the cleaner’s cupboard so that floor cleaning buckets no longer have to be washed out in the kitchen.
  • e) Provision of a stair-lift on the hall stairs. This is for the use of registered disabled persons only. Hall users who fall into this category will need to apply for a key to use the lift. It is not intended to make it available to all because this would render us liable to a heavy VAT charge on the installation costs and also render the lift more liable to damage or mis-use.
  • f) Installation of a new modern Fire Alarm System. This has fire alarm points placed by all hall exits and again conforms to modern regulations.
  • g) Installation of new emergency lighting. This provides sufficient lighting from battery-powered lamps to allow the evacuation of the building in case of power cuts or other emergencies.
  • h) Provision of improved signage marking emergency escape routes from the hall.
  • i) Replacement of the Berkeley Room external door which was broken and the side panel adjacent with a new double-glazed unit.
  • j) Replacement of the external door at the foot of the hall stairs, and the fire doors leading to the corridor by the kitchen. These comply with regulations.

    • This exit door and the Berkeley Room exit door are fitted with alarms to discourage them being misused and opened when emergencies do not exist. We hope that there will be plentiful volunteers for the painting party to be organised by Martin Ingles and that once the new facilities have been decorated we will have a Hall really fit for the 21st Century.

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    CTEC

    Lynne Horsler, CTEC Representative

    The five CTEC churches have continued to work well together over the past twelve months. Alison Lawn has replaced Bill Holdforth as one of Earlsdon’s CTEC representatives. Some of the highlights from the past year have been:

    • Combined act of worship at Hearsall Baptists last Pentecost
    • Resigning of CTEC Covenant in October
    • Advent discussion groups
    • CTEC Christmas cards distributed to houses throughout Earlsdon and Chapelfields
    • CTEC Pantry collecting tins and dried food to support Kairos project now up and running
    • Combined services and meal during Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
    • Lent Lunches and Tuesday evening Bible Studies throughout Lent
    • Prayer vigil to mark fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war.
    • Combined service for Good Friday at All Souls.
    • Support for Earsldon Fairtraid fair.

    CTEC are planning to hold a number of events under the banner of HOPE 08, a nationwide initiative encouraging churches to work together to serve local communities on special projects during 2008. One of these is to be a series of CTEC clean up/litter picking sessions in different parts of Earlsdon and Chapelfields. Please see poster on notice board for more details.

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    Dayspring Steel Band

    Steve and Ruth Fox

    As many of you are aware the older members of the band decided to cease meeting, due to increased commitments elsewhere. Ruth and I have continued to lead, what was the junior band, consisting of 10 regular members. We have also launched a new junior band with 6 members. We performed a few times last year and were very well received. We are hoping to increase the number of performances, this year, to replenish the funds. This will then enable us to keep the instruments in good conditions and maybe purchase some costumes.

    We thank the church for their continued support.

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    Flower Rosters

    Lynne Horsler

    Thank you to all the members of the congregation who kindly make donations for flowers for the church. These donations are pooled together and shared out over the year to cover weeks when there is no specific donor. If anyone would like to add their names to the donors’ roster as a means of remembering a significant date please speak to Lynne Horsler.

    Having teams of volunteers who buy and arrange flowers ready for Sunday services and who deliver these flowers during the following week has been a great blessing over the past year. We are very grateful to everyone involved, but there is always room for extra volunteers. If this is an area of service and ministry that you would like to be involved in, please speak to Hilary Lorimer about joining the flower arrangers’ roster or to Ros Ingles if you would like to help with delivering flowers. If you would like to help, but wouldn’t be confident to take responsibility on your own, you could be paired with another volunteer and Alison Lawn is always willing to provide guidance and training on the flower arranging. The church flowers not only help to create a beautiful worship environment, they are an important means of conveying the love and prayers of the congregation to individuals when they are shared out and delivered during the following week. We try to use the flowers to share in the significant life events of members of the congregation, both at difficult times and celebrations and sometimes just to remind people that we value and appreciate them. If there is anyone you know of who might appreciate receiving church flowers in a particular week, please put a note in the flower delivery record book which is kept beside the visitors’ book on the little table near the Traidcraft stall.

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    Monday Home Group

    Amy Rugg

    Our support group started meeting about seven years ago around Lent in 2000. We started as an Alpha course set up by our then minister Barbara Marshall. New babies, young children, working in jobs, and looking after elderly relatives meant that we were all united in a few significant qualities: exhaustion, isolation and very short attention spans! A regular bible study group wouldn’t have worked for our ‘demographic’, so we met together to pray, talk, share, laugh and sometimes cry. Mostly we seemed to eat large helpings of homemade cakes! We are still meeting fortnightly on a somewhat regular schedule, in one another’s homes. We still have shortened attention spans and too much to do. We still pray, read the bible, share and laugh and sometimes cry. We are still addicted to cake.

    Over the past twelve months we have had inspiring and fascinating guest speakers drawn from our sisters in Christ at Earlsdon. Gill Weller and Judy Bridgeman, Ethel Martin, and Alison Lawn and Helen Holdforth have all witnessed to us about their church roles, philosophies of life and journeys of faith. We have looked at issues dealing with family life, serving God and sharing our faith with others. We take turns leading our group and organizing social events. We are nurtured and guided by the Lord through our fellow Christians at Earlsdon and with input from Andrew.

    We expect to keep meeting this year. Each year our group’s progress, aims and needs are reviewed to gauge our next steps and to plan the future.

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    Organ Refurbishment Project

    Will Light, Organist

    Since any scheme costing more than £20,000 is classed as a major project by the Methodist Church and since we are not allowed to engage in more than one such scheme at a time, the Organ Refurbishment Scheme has taken second place to the Hall Refurbishment Scheme, which was legally required by the Disability Access Act.

    We have continued to receive donations for the Organ Fund and to raise money from concerts etc. during the past year so that the fund has swelled a little, and that is great! (Organist’s joke there!) Once the Hall project is finally completed I will ask the chosen organ builder to give us a new quotation for the work needed and this will allow us to re-launch the scheme.

    During the past year the organ has developed two more faults which have been mended on a “patch it up” basis and the console’s problems with contact faults continue – but the organists work around the problems quite successfully I think. All of this will largely depend on the cost involved in the replacement of the central heating boilers. If that becomes another major scheme, then it will obviously have to take precedence over the organ scheme.

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    Parent and Toddler Group

    Gill Spokes

    Earlsdon Methodist Church has a flourishing Parent & Toddler Group despite a difficult year. In September we delayed starting the Group because of building alterations & so the term didn’t start until Nov 8th. However our regular members returned & brought friends with them. We then immediately ran into helper problems. Kay Hopfinger felt she was no longer able to continue her regular help due to ill health. Kay has been with us for many years & rarely missed a week. We are very grateful for her devotion to the Group & miss her lively active presence.

    Jane & Gill have both have an ill relative at a distance from Coventry. We both struggle with our commitment to the Group but feel passionately about keeping it going. The Group provides an opportunity for parents to relax over a cup of coffee & make new friends. The children are able to play with & mix with other children whilst being in the company of their parents or carers. We currently have 29 children in the Group.

    We are extremely grateful to help we have received from Wendy Winch, Viv Kershaw, Alison Lawn, Judy Keene and Mike Spokes all of whom came in response to our urgent appeal for help. Without them we would have to have closed the Group. Our thanks also go to Helen Holdforth who has managed to continue to help with tidying up at the end of the session despite her many other jobs. How would we ever get all our equipment back into the cupboard without Helen’s master plan! We would also like to Thank Andrew for his continued support - I know he is trying to find a regular helper for us.

    We are still hoping for regular help so that the Group can continue – there is no shortage of members!

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    Sunday Morning Coffee Fund

    Wendy Winch

    Since taking over the Sunday Morning Coffee Fund in the autumn of 2005, we have, up to the end of the last financial year been able to donate £950 to various charities. In this current financial year we have given to the following :-

    • October 2007 Coventry City Farm - £100
    • January 2008 Multiple Sclerosis Soc - £50
    • January 2008 NCH - £50
    • March 2008 Air Ambulance - £100

    It is amazing how the few pence given each Sunday can mount up. Thank you to everyone who supports the fund and the willing ( I think!) band of helpers.

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    Summary of Treasurer's Report

    Martin Ingles, Treasurer

    Although we currently have a positive bank balance, much of this is already allocated. A large number of property items are outstanding from 2006/7 which will need to be attended to.

    We have some challenges ahead of us to maintain a healthy balance. Last year, the extra cost of the Hall Development exceeded the net income on the current account. This year the church will need to finance a new boiler system – again this is likely to equal, or exceed the net income of the church over the year.

    There are plans to upgrade the audio-visual system in the Church, and this is likely to be a further £10-12,000. However, based on the predicted income/expenditure it is likely that we will be in a similar or worse situation next year and the year after and so this enhancement may not be affordable for some time.

    There are two approaches we need to take to improve our situation. Firstly we need to look for cost savings in terms of energy efficiency, and schemes such as painting the Hall ourselves, rather than pay someone to do it for us. The second is to increase the income to the Church. Rates for Hall and Church bookings are being edged up and we expect to see an improvement in income from the Church House.

    With the changes in Income Tax, the amount we are paying to the Government will decrease in April 08, however so will the amount that the Church can claim back in Gift Aid. With this in mind and the other challenges ahead, I ask members to consider if they are able to increase their regular gift to the church.
    During 2006/7 the Church expenditure was £167 per day
    During 2007/8 the Church expenditure will be £206 per day

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    Uniformed Organisations

    Penny McAinsh

    Although we have two sets of Brownies that use the Chuech Hall only the Thursday brownies are those that are affiliated to our church.

    In conversation with Brown Owl I find that the Brownies have grown so much in number that they have had to extend their running time by half an hour in order to see the children safely off the premises and tidy up.

    The Guiding fraction of this area at the request of Margaret Hearn (Brown Owl ) are now holding more activities at our Church on Saturdays, similar to an outdoor camp and are hoping to do a sleepover in May.

    I do however feel that at least once a year that the Brownies should be invited to a service where they can show us what they do and feel a proper part of the church family.

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    Website

    Nick Winch

    The site design remains as I presented last year, with the addition of the ability to insert special boxes to highlight extra items rather than simply list them on the page. I have put a link to Tim Weller’s online Notice Sheet, so that you can still read it even if you are away from home, and have also added a page of Roger Price’s latest thoughts, which links to his blog.

    These are both useful additions, because they show that we are active in presenting ourselves to the world at large. However, I would remind you all that I can only publish what is offered to me, so please think about what else we can do with the site.

    Site visits for the last twelve months have shown an overall increase – let’s hope the enquirers are finding the answers they are looking for. Overall, the daily avarage has increased from 3 per day in 2000/01 to 68 per day in 2007/8.

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    Wednesday Fellowship

    Diana Thomas

    We meet on alternate Wednesdays at 2.15pm in Wellspring. Diana Thomas will furnish you with a programme if required.

    We are very grateful to Rev. Andrew for agreeing to be our Honorary President until we find a volunteer amongst us. Ivy Ramsey is continuing to be our very competent Treasurer, with Iris Gallard as her deputy and Diana Thomas is still Secretary.

    Our two charities this year are: 1) Kairos, the organisation that works in Hillfields with women at risk of drugs and prostitution - Barbara McGowan will be with us to talk about this on April 16. 2) Air Ambulance - Jo Payne will be joining us on May 28 as their representative. They will each be presented with a cheque.

    In January we enjoyed a lunch at the Britannia Hotel. The 2008-9 season commenced on March 5 with an afternoon hosted by Rev Andrew. This was a very popular event and 21 people attended. At the time of writing we are looking forward to a very varied programme: Transport Nostalgia, Wartime Memories of a Sapper in the Desert Rats, Reminiscences of a Contented Schoolmaster, A Life of Music, Memories of a Lollipop Lady, Holidaying and Working Abroad, We are also grateful to Rev Andrew for our regular Holy Communion afternoons. We will visit the theatre in May, have cream teas at the manse in June and hold our Harvest Festival in September. Thanks must go to members of our group who collect less mobile friends. Without them, certain individuals would not be able to attend. Extra volunteers for this would be welcomed.

    We will be pleased to welcome new members to share in our pleasureable afternoons.

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    Wednesday Word

    Roger Price

    Wellspring continues to remain open between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to meet the needs of anyone who might just drop in. Food is available throughout that time as well as other support. The team who meet together to make this happen continues to grow with an average of around 15 people present each Wednesday.

    This is partly due to our pro-active initiatives. Each season we have tried to arrange a specific evening where the emphasis has been reaching out to the community around us. In the autumn we targetted the many students and other newcomers to Earlsdon. Christmas saw the regular support for the carol singing in Earlsdon High Street and our own Christmas Tree Festival. But it should be remembered that hardly a week goes by without someone just walking in the door with some need or other. Praise God that the resources are always present to meet the need!

    It's not all about giving out. It's also about taking in. Each week there is a short act of worship usually starting around 6:45 p.m. This takes a variety of forms and gives the group the space to share in the adoration and praise of God. There is always a study - Bible or otherwise - part to the evening. By meeting together in this way the essential fellowship that comes from belonging to a small group is shared. People's faith has been strengthened and life testimony movingly shared.

    As the group continues to grow - both numerically and in fellowship - it continues to look at the way forward. We would be grateful for everyone's prayers for and on Wednesday evenings as we continue to offer our neighbours a warm welcome. There are always points for specific prayer. Please ask anyone who comes to Wednesday Word if you would like to be made aware of these.

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    Wellspring Report April 2008

    Will Light, Wellspring Co-ordinator

    Wellspring has had another good year. We launched the new menu with slightly raised prices and a slightly wider selection of goodies on offer. This seems to have been well received, there being no complaints about the prices and several compliments about the new food items, especially the Lloyd Grossman soup range and the “Wellspring Melts”.

    Because of the increased patronage and sales we are finding the kitchen rather cramped so we would like eventually to expand our operations into “the room next door” by making a hatchway between the two rooms and installing a working surface with storage underneath in the other room. We have also purchased a large fridge-freezer which allows us to store stocks of perishable foods properly and this is installed in that room also.

    Another innovation during the last year is the “Prayer Shawl Ministry” – led by Heather Mills, which meets in Wellspring on a Thursday morning. Numbers seem to be growing and there are regularly three or four knitters ensconced in the corner.

    We continue to act as a point of contact for those seeking help or advice, doing our best to assist in any way which we can. Mostly this is successful although we have had to admit defeat with one gentleman with severe mental health problems. The Earlsdon Community Police Team holds regular “surgeries” in Wellspring although they don’t seem to have much uptake really.

    Financially we are doing quite well, and we are always open to suggestions for charities to support in addition to our regular giving to support the village in West Africa through World Vision.

    As well as expanding the kitchen our future thoughts include replacing the carpeting in the Wellspring area as it will only stand one more machine cleaning, and possibly replacing some of the seating and increasing the number of small tables.

    As usual we could always do with more voluntary helpers – several have joined us during the year but we would love to build up a sufficient team to allow us to open on Wednesdays in addition to the three days we currently open. Prospective helpers are very welcome – and need not commit to whole days – just a couple of hours at busy times will be gratefully accepted. In spite of continued appeals to CTEC churches we only have two volunteers from other churches, but their service is invaluable.

    Please remember all the helpers and customers in your prayers and continue to support Wellspring by your patronage!

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    Worship Consultation

    Rev Andrew de Ville

    The Worship Consultation meetings are a chance for people to come and share their thoughts about the worship life of our Church at Earlsdon. It is not a decision making meeting, but one where, I hope, people feel they can come and share their thoughts, suggestions and concerns, which can then be discussed within the leadership team of me and the stewards.

    From these conversations matters can be brought to the Church Council and discussions can be had which might be reflected in the way our worship life develops.

    Over the last year we have had conversations, at Worship Consultation, on the services held during the Christian seasons eg Advent and Lent; involvement of all ages in worship and leading of worship; use of different forms and expressions of music; development of worship during the week eg Wednesday Word.

    I personally find the Consultations very helpful in understanding people’s views and thoughts and would encourage you to come to a Consultation, or if that is not possible, then to share your thoughts with me, or one of the stewards.

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