Reports From St James Groups and Organisations 2011

Reports from Church Groups and Linked Organisations APCM 2011 1

Reports from St James’ Groups and Linked Organisations for 2011 APCM Fledgelings Annual Report 2010 We have a strong committee of 6, 4 leaders for story and worship time and 4 people responsible for craft. Refreshments are supplied by the MU and the Working Party often help to put out the mats and toys. We are extremely grateful to everybody for helping us each week. At the end of 2010 the register was updated with all those who had not attended for a year were deleted. This left us with 70 families on the register, who have attended at some point during the previous year. As predicted the opening of the new FBC had an adverse effect on our Fledgelings numbers with a very variable attendance, some weeks it has been almost exclusively the families of the committee who were at the session. Despite marketing, the web presence, being listed on the Wokingham Borough website and all the usual promotional efforts we’ve traditionally used, our numbers remained very low. In the summer we decided to organise a big community push (see below) which may have been responsible in part for the increase towards the end of 2010, when a succession of new families with younger children and babies joined Fledgelings. Most of these have gone on to attend regularly with our weekly attendance being about 15 to 25 families. We held the following events during 2010: Easter Service and Egg Hunt, Teddy Bear’s Picnic, Sports Day, Harvest Festival and Christmas Nativity and Party. The weather as usual for the Easter event was terrible so we were yet again forced to hold the event indoors. Our number of attendees were lower than previous years. We moved the Sports Day to September when the weather is normally better and were rewarded with a fine day and a good turnout. For the Teddy Bears’ Picnic we decided to advertise widely, hire a children’s entertainer, book a police car and fire engine and essentially use the event as a loss-leader to see if we could increase our weekly attendance. It had a huge turnout, the entertainer ran out of balloon animals and had pre-prepared 80 animals. In total we probably had over 120 people picnicking on the green and enjoying the sunshine. We decided for 2011 to charge more so that we can break even but continue the format, and not be so specific with the time the fire engine is booked to arrive as they were an hour late! The Harvest Festival had an average turn out but the children enjoyed the Harvest Hat Parade very much particularly with Rev. John also wearing his hat. The Nativity and Party was a well supported event with lots of new families attending and the feedback was very positive. We are continuing to set aside 50% of our weekly takings for the Kimberley project, or any other worthy children related charity and all the money raised at our raffles has been donated to the Mothers’ Union charity Away From it All. We have not updated or replaced any toys this year apart from a new town mat, but have continued to allocate funds to produce exciting and challenging crafts for the children, and make sure we have plenty of literature available for the storytellers to inspire the children with stories from the Bible. Initiatives for 2011: Our prime concern for 2011 is to maintain a strong committee presence of 6 as several of the committee have children starting full time school at the end of the year and will be leaving Fledgelings. We have already had 1 new volunteer starting after Easter. A priority is to find a replacement for the Fledgelings Leader and church liaison contact (Karen Remmington) who will also leave at the end of 2011. Committee: Kate Hembra, Sam Khan, Charlotte Owen, Karen Remmington, Sarah Verdin and Jayne Yeo. Karen Remmington

SUNDAY CLUB REPORT FOR ST JAMES’ APCM 2011 A highlight for the year was the commissioning of Sunday Club on 23rd May where the contribution and continued commitment of all the Sunday Club helpers was recognized by the wider congregation. It has become an increasingly challenging year for Sunday Club with a decrease in the numbers of children attending. Some weeks the leaders are arriving, having thoroughly prepared their session, to find there are no children in their group at all. This is clearly disheartening but the helpers continue to support Sunday Club with their time and energy. We are therefore looking forward to the results of the recent family questionnaire asking pertinent questions about the use of Sunday Club by families.

As usual we have followed a comprehensive syllabus covering the Old and New Testaments; stories the children are familiar with and also stories that will be new to them using the Scripture Union literature. See below the full curriculum. Summer Term 2010: Living in the Desert -‐ Exodus 16:1-‐17:7 Ten Rules from God -‐ Exodus 19:16-‐30:17 Moses meets God -‐ Exodus 33:7-‐23, 34:1,29-‐35

Light to live by -‐ Psalm 119:9-‐16:105 Light for the World -‐ John 9:1-‐12, 35-‐38, 8:12 You are Light -‐ Matthew 5:14-‐16


Autumn Term 2010: Acts 13:13-‐52 -‐ Barnabas & Paul Acts 16:1-‐15 -‐ Lydia joins the church Acts 16:23-‐40 -‐ Paul in prison Acts 18:1-‐23 -‐ Paul makes friends Acts 23:12-‐34 -‐ Paul in danger Acts 26:1-‐32 -‐ Paul talks about Jesus Acts 27:1,13-‐44;28:11-‐15,28-‐31 -‐ Paul is safe Christmas crafts

Spring Term 2011: Meeting Jesus: Luke 5: 17-‐26 -‐ A Man who could not Walk Luke 7: 36-‐50 -‐ A woman with a gift Stories Jesus told: Luke 10:25-‐37 -‐ The Kind Traveller Luke 14:15-‐24 -‐ The Great Feast Luke 15:1-‐7 -‐ A Lost Sheep Luke 15:11-‐24 -‐ A Loving Father

We are currently investigating the use of other Sunday Club literature used by other churches as part of our research into what potential improvements can be made to the format. Other immediate changes we have made include the merging of Gems and Pebbles from January 2011 -‐ as these are the groups where numbers have fallen, and we no longer run Sunday Club at half term.

Sunday Club Committee: Julie Clements, Hazel Scott, Claire Prevost-‐Snell, Karen Remmington Karen Remmington

St James’ Youth Group (Contrast)

Our trip to Iona in April 2010 was a great success. A party of 20 travelled from Wokingham to The Abbey. We lived in community and fellowship for three days and came back different people. We truly did encounter God in this thin place. In the summer time some of our group attended Yellow Braces the Oxford Diocese youth event, plenty of outdoor fun and worship. In September we began preparing our panto. We raised over £500 over two performances of Hook's Revenge. Our young people sang, danced and acted their way through the two acts, thanks to the directing of Julie Morley and choreography of our very own Barbara Brice. Jan Van den berg spent hours with help from his family making and painting the magnificent scenery. He really was a star. Elisabeth Tracey was catering manager supreme and the food sold in the interval raised £150!! With the proceeds raised in donations at the performances we have been able to buy new equipment for youth group and send a large donation for Great Ormond Street. Over the past few months our youth have led two services and this is now a regular feature with our young people taking the sermon, reading, intercessing and even drumming at the 11am service. In January some of our group contributed during the Rodgers and Hammerstein evening. A special mention for the rock band who were managed and assisted by the brilliant David Booth. We now have 30 Members at Youth Group. We have welcomed some new members from St Mary and St John. Our Easter vigil in 2011 will take place as usual this year. Where would we be without our amazing leaders and helpers: Julie Morley, Cathy and Steve Clayton, Katherine and Kevin Li, Elisabeth Tracey and Nigel Kennington. God bless and a great big thank you to the PCC for funding resource materials from Urban Saints. We have also welcomed guest speakers this year including a member of the Orthodox Jewish Community in Reading, Simon Guilleband a missionary and a climate change action group. God Bless, Cathy Clayton

Mothers’ Union & Women’s Fellowship Report for the Church APCM 2011 Our theme for 2010 was “Relationships on Rules” encouraging us to focus on two principle commandments ~ to love God and to love our neighbour. In order to carry these out we should then concentrate on establishing good relationships with all. During the year we enjoyed hearing a good variety of speakers. Rev’d John gave us further information and experiences of his visit to Ethiopia. We all enjoyed Daphne Payne’s visit with her dog Goldie and hearing about Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. We were pleased to support the Yeldall Manor Rehabilitation Centre with our Epiphany Gifts, providing a variety of foods for their residents. We observed the Women’s World Day of Prayer in March and the Wave of Prayer in June. In August we enjoyed our Mary Sumner Birthday Lunch raising funds for our Overseas Fund. Our other social


event was our enjoyable Christmas Tea with members, visitors and friends after the Christmas Carol Service. Throughout the year we have supported the Fledglings by preparing refreshments at their weekly sessions. We provided the usual buffet lunch for parents and carers at the Fledglings Christmas Party ~ a very happy occasion. We held 3 evening meetings for those members who work or have school age children. We will continue with these during 2011. We still maintain a membership of 35. However we do miss our dear friend and late treasurer Chris Brett. We give thanks for her huge contribution and commitment to our branch over the past 10 years. We gratefully acknowledge the very generous donation of £600 to our overseas fund from the mission committee at St James. We would like to extend a warm welcome to any men and women who would like to join us. Sarah Owen, Branch Leader

Churches Together in Crowthorne (CTC) St James has been regularly represented at meetings throughout the year. Once again volunteers from St James assisted with the Summer Holiday playscheme in Crowthorne funded by Thames Valley Police, which was very popular. The Hopezone project continues to grow now 100 young people with 12 regulars using the drop in facility at the Baptist Church. These sessions run from 3.30 - 7.30pm on a Wednesday evening. Numbers attending are increasing and the project is outgrowing the space available. The organisers are keen to extend the sessions and would welcome more volunteers. Plans are advancing to establish a purpose built building on the Morgan Recreation Ground. The organisers gratefully acknowledge the very generous donation from the Mission Committee at St James of £600 which will enable the project to move forward.

Suzy Kitcher, Sarah & Richard Owen.

St James’ Belfry We were all very pleased to get back into the belfry in March. It is a great pleasure to ring our lovely bells again and enjoy the new sound and video relay from the church which will help us know when to start the ringing for weddings and to see what is going on in the church. We have welcomed another new member to the Tower, Debbie Blamire, who lives in Crowthorne and who has been ringing regularly for Sunday service. We have enjoyed the company of a few ringers who have been visiting the area and it has been especially nice to have Eversley Tower practise with us on a few occasions when they have been short of ringers as they had extended a warm welcome to us during the church renovations. There was an infestation of ladybirds in the Tower which lasted several months. They were something of a nuisance flying around as we were ringing but they disappeared eventually. There were only a few weddings during the year but various groups of ringers came to ring as part of a Ringing Outing, including groups from Putney and another of ex-Berkshire ringers and the Bradfield Ringing Course used our tower again in August. The Open Tower for the Patronal Festival was once again a very successful event. We really should have kept count of the number of visitors. There were certainly an awful lot. We enjoyed showing them the bells and the view from the Tower and explaining a little about the bells and bell-ringing. In October Debbie Blamire and Chris Markham attended a course on Ringing Up and Ringing Down in Peal run by the Branch and held at Finchampstead. We have continued meeting for our regular Wednesday night practice and ringing for Sunday services and, after a few months of very low numbers our numbers have picked up again and we are able to give more help to the beginners and have a chance to practise more complicated ringing methods. This is due in part to regular attendance on practice nights by Derek Palmer, the Sandhurst Tower Captain and we appreciate his company and assistance. Our Tower Captain, Hugh Dempster, and Mary Ede have, in turn, been able to help out Sandhurst Tower on Monday nights with the training of a number


of learners there. We have also been joined from time to time on practice nights by ringers from Rotherwick, Eversley, Sandhurst, Swallowfield, Sonning and Binfield. In the last few weeks Liz Harris has been travelling across from Binfield to practise with us as there are currently too few ringers at their tower to sustain a practice. We enjoyed a lovely Christmas Meal at the Queen’s Oak and we are now looking forward to a year full of weddings and the opportunity to keep ringing. Patricia Amos

Ladies’ Breakfast We meet once every half term. Ladies of all ages. We laugh, chat, munch and pray together. All of us value and look forward to our times of fellowship together. Relaxed, pampered and refreshed we are ready to re-engage with our busy hectic lives. Do join us even if only occasionally. We meet one Saturday per half term between 8-45 and 10-15 am in the church centre. Contact Cathy Clayton for more information.

Housegroups a) Housegroups run by Francis Moore. These housegroups are ecumenical and attract members from churches across the CTC area, including all three Finchampstead Churches. Our activities are reported in the Finchampstead Magazine each month. We focus mainly on bible studies and issues affecting Christian life in the world today, using DVDs of lectures by famous international speakers to stimulate our full and frank discussions. This year we have studied the ‘book of Proverbs’, and ‘Battles Christian Face’ with Revd. Vaughan Roberts, and ‘Matthew’s gospel with Prof. Don Carson. Once a year we have a summer outing, and this year we were blessed with a lovely sunny day for a very enjoyable visit to Waverly Abbey House. You are welcome to attend any of our advertised meetings; just give us a ring on 0118 973 2592 for details. Audrey and Francis Moore b) Housegroups run by Neil Bidston The Rectory farm small groups are open to anyone in the church as a means to go deeper with their faith and connect with others in the community. The aim of our group times is to create a place where anyone with any question is welcomed and, also, to get stuck into the Bible and allow people to deepen their understanding of Jesus in his own words. Last year we looked at Acts, Paul's letter to the Philippians and then a Christian foundations series. Emma supplied us with great cake. Duncan and Kev ate most of it and we saw some great friendships begin and deepen! I think everyone would testify to the difference the group times made to their faith and their life. Some of the highlights of the year were evening lectures we ran at the farm for the group plus interested others to come to. Around 30 people came along to hear about topics such as 'I want to believe, but my scientific brain won't let me!', 'Can we trust the Bible?' and 'The problem of suffering'. Neil Bidston (0118 9731105)

The Helen Taylor Trust for the Churchyard

Members of the Committee: Mr D Monk (Treasurer and PCC representative) Mrs A Pask (Secretary) Mr E Sampson (PCC representative) Mrs A Brett, Mrs C Collins, Mrs W Rockett, Mrs L Seed, Mr P Stephenson, and Mrs L Tanner. Mr R Owen (Chairman and PCC representative). The graveyard is ecumenical (open to all churches) and its members reflect the views of different churches in Finchampstead. The committee organises the maintenance of the churchyard. As part of the continuous maintenance of the graves the stone mason conserved some of the oldest recorded graves. Some trees on land adjoining to the South were trimmed. Sadly a 600 year old oak tree was rotting badly and needed a large prune, after obtaining permission. We also erected a notice-board to give information to visitors. During the conservation two paths North and West of the Church door were paved with old York


stone. Some other paths had small stones laid. The cost of this, the attention to a gate and the work on the tree, was considerable. Income, at present, is down due to the financial situation, which made us concentrate on our fund-raising activity. Our two fund raising events will take place as usual; the Spring Tea Party is on Wednesday 11th May. Please make a note of the date and come and enjoy an excellent tea, starting at 2.30pm. The Autumn Tea Party is usually in late October. Both are held in the Memorial Hall Sports Club. Our thanks to the Sports Club Committee for the use of their facilities. Richard Owen.

MUSIC AT ST JAMES’ The last year has been an interesting one in the musical life of our Church. Membership of the Choir has remained fairly constant and, once again, new music has been introduced. Some has proved fairly challenging for a village choir but I’m pleased to report that our choir continues to meet such challenges with their usual professionalism, even with some of the new hymns and worship songs that have been introduced recently. Our dedicated and enthusiastic Junior Choir, although smaller than it has been, is producing an amazingly high quality of tone, given that they only meet for rehearsal once a week. Our Senior Choir continues to flourish and we are now blessed with an extremely well balanced group of singers. Generally speaking the whole choir is in good shape, although some of our robes are beginning to look as though they’ve seen better days if you look at them close up. It has been a busy year for the choir, beginning with non-‐arrival of our “Twin Choir” from Vermont USA whose scheduled April visit had to be cancelled due to the activities of our friendly neighbourhood volcano. Pleased to say that they eventually arrived in October for a fabulous musical weekend with us, including a concert and supper party, the Choral Parish Eucharist on the Sunday morning and our visit to Dorchester Abbey to sing Choral Evensong. The visit of the Vermont choir meant that a Cathedral visit was not possible during 2010 but “irons are now in the fire” for such visits in the future. Watch this space. Next up was the predictably busy Advent and Christmas season which included two choral services at Wellington College, a Carol Concert at Warbrook House and Carol Singing “round and about” at Warren Lodge, the Greyhound and the Tally-‐Ho. At the Tally-‐Ho the choir received a really warm welcome from staff and customers alike and the wonderful sum of £130 was raised for the Air Ambulance. As I write we are in the middle of preparation of the music for Passiontide and Easter and it is a good time for me to thank all the members of Choir for their hard work and commitment, especially to Rachel Witting – our Head Chorister, also to Magdalene Sehringer and our awesome army of junior choir parents without whose assistance the running of such a vibrant organisation would be very difficult. Thanks also to Revd John Edwards who, together with the majority of the St James’ congregation, have been so supportive of the Choir in so many ways. As I’ve said before, I continue to regard it as a great joy and privilege to be leading such a enthusiastic group of professionals, for whom high standards and “getting it right” are so important. Thank you all. There have been one or two other interesting musical developments in our Church life, not least at the Family Service which continues to go from strength to strength. I normally lead the music for this on our Clavinova but not without the assistance of the “Finchampstead Symphony Orchestra” (FSO) whose instruments are normally found in the large plastic tub at the back of the church. I would estimate the average age of the FSO to be between three and seven years old and what a wonderful sound they make! Praising God is the name of the game, usually with (thank goodness) scant regard for the number of beats in the bar, tempo and dynamics! The outcome of the recent family service questionnaire should be interesting as the music at the Family Service is well worth developing. Finally, those who were at the Family Communion on the first Sunday in February (the one led by the Youth Group) could not help but to have noticed the arrival of a set of drums. Yes, and they weren’t just there to decorate the church, they were expertly and sensitively played by Lukas Sehringer. There are occasions when a more charismatic approach is appropriate and this was certainly one of them. Lukas is an excellent young drummer with much experience for his years and his skills enhanced this service more than we could have ever have hoped, and guess what – the congregation on that morning represented a very wide age range and I’ve yet to hear one negative comment! One of our greatest strengths at St James’ is our “broad church”tradition and the unusual breadth of worship and music in use here – I hope and pray that this will continue and that we don’t fall into the trap of being polarised at either one end or the other of the “liturgical candlestick”, or worse still, stuck firmly in the middle!

Andrew Bosley, Director of Music


The Church School (Finchampstead Church of England (Aided) Primary School) As the village church school, we are very aware that our role in the lives of our children extends beyond what would normally be expected of a school. Our role in developing the children’s understanding and appreciation of Christian values is one that we spend an enormous amount of time on, and we thought it would be useful to highlight in this report just some of the recent activities that we’ve done with the children with this goal in mind. A few weeks ago, Class 3 (Years 3 and 4) were learning about the Sermon on the Mount. They climbed “the mount” from the school to the church to hear the sermon. It was a beautiful Spring day, and the children sat on the grass in the church garden while their teacher, Mrs Miccoli read to them from the Bible. Afterwards the children prayed to God to thank Him for all he has given us. Class 4 (Years 5 and 6) went on a pilgrimage to the church. On the way up the hill the children walked in silence, thinking about their own private prayers and admiring the beauty around them. Once at the church they shared their prayers with one another. Each year, children from the school deliver parcels from the Harvest to elderly members of our community. The children are encouraged to think about people’s needs and to develop a desire to care for and help those who may be less fortunate than themselves. The school runs a scheme called the “Heart of the Community” that rewards children’s acts of kindness in the wider community with recognition and a special badge. The threads of tolerance, understanding, and forgiveness run through the daily life of the school, and the children are encouraged to pray regularly – both together and individually. This year we have started a prayer group for the children, which is very well-attended. In the week immediately following the earthquake in Japan a particularly large number of children came to the prayer group – completely spontaneously – to pray for those affected by the disaster. This group complements the prayer group set up by the parents that meets regularly at the school. Finally, it’s worth sharing with you a new vision statement that the school community has been working on. It is still in a draft form, but we feel that it helps to illustrate what our hopes are for the children: Our Vision is for our children to

• feel cared for unconditionally and valued as unique creation made in the image of God • become enthusiastic self-motivated learners with a thirst for life-long learning • have learnt from, and aspired to excellence in, a wide range of academic, sporting, musical,

artistic and social activities • have a strong set of Christian values, including respect and care for the planet, self and others,

honesty and sincerity, kindness and friendship, love and forgiveness, justice and personal responsibility

so that our pupils can create their place, and have an influence, in tomorrow’s world. Hopefully this gives a flavour of how the school helps encourage Christian values in all the children at the school. Naturally, it is just a flavour – there are far too many initiatives and activities to describe in such a small space. The governors of the school are immensely proud of the efforts of all the staff at the school. They truly do a fantastic job. Brian Remmington School Governor

Three Churches in Finchampstead Praying Together During the year, the feedback from clergy and individual churches was that it was good to work together but that the format of this particular activity was due for review. As Rev Richard and Rev Carol were leaving the two Anglican churches and the Baptist minister is to leave in May 2011, it has been decided to leave this in abeyance until new clergy are in post. In the meantime it was great that about 25 people from St Mary & St John’s and St James’ came together to pray on the eve of the recent interviews for Rector/Rector Designate. Carolyn Fox

Tuesday Working Party The Working Party does Do-it-Yourself jobs that are needed in the Church, Church Centre and grounds. We have had another good year with many varied jobs. Thanks go to the people who come and share their skills with the group (in some cases it is rarely more than just chat!) If you are available on a Tuesday morning and want something to do, please come along. Richard Owen.


St. James' Church Football Club , We've had great success in 2010. There is a squad of approx 40 dads (still waiting for any mums that may wish to play too :-) ) however, due to everyone’s busy schedules there is a strong turn out of approx 16 every Wednesday evening. In 2010, we managed to make a profit of £200 (after all football costs had been deducted), which the dad's decided to 'gift' to 'Contrast,' the St. James' Church Youth Group. Also, during the year the dads met up every quarter for a social catch up, which included two curries (once at Xenuks and the other time at Chillies) and a family event in the summer at the Bidston's house, which consisted of a BBQ, bouncy castle for the kids and sports games for all the families - it was a great success! Kevin Li - [email protected]

Altar Servers

At St James we have a group of some 15 Altar Servers – boys and girls. Led by three adults, they assist at all main Holy Communion Services. Their purpose is to ensure the smooth running of the services which includes setting up the church and clearing up afterwards. Whilst the main intent is to help the congregation participate in the service by example, it is also a way of personally developing their spirituality and their Christian faith.

Full training is given to the roles that the individuals have which includes an understanding of the Churches Year, the meaning of Liturgy and the various artefacts used in services. Usually the minimum age is nine. There is no requirement for the individual to have been confirmed although this ministry is a good starting point for that commitment.

Normally two junior servers, together with two adults, are required for a Holy Communion service. This will be an adult to assist the priest, and adult to carry the processional cross and two juniors as acolytes. The acolytes, with the crucifer, lead the procession in and out of services; form a “guard of honour” for the reading of the gospel and leading the procession of the gifts. On average a junior server is require for a service every 5/6 weeks. It is therefore a commitment that is not onerous but very valuable to the church. Paul Arscott, Senior Server

Breastfeeding Network annual report to St James' Church ( This is a separate organisation but PCC supports it by providing the facilities of the Church Centre each week free of charge) The Breastfeeding Network would like to thank the PCC and all those at St James' who have continued to so kindly support the Breastfeeding Drop-in Group by allowing us to use a room each week. Here is how we make use of the centre each week;

• 184 visits in total • 25% of babies brought in were under 2 weeks old and 50% under 6 weeks old. • 65% of those who came to the group were referred by their Midwife or Health Visitor. • 80% of those visiting were from our area (RG40 postcode) • about 50% of mothers visit for specific breastfeeding help and information • the other 50% of mothers come along for social support

Many women feel a sense of isolation and lack of support in the early postnatal days. This may be due to a combination of a reduction in NHS postnatal care, social expectations of self- reliance and that many do not have the benefit of an extended family locally. Our Centre at St James’ Finchampstead continues to be an important source of help to local mothers.

Aims of the Breastfeeding Network The Breastfeeding Centre aims to help local women breastfeed for as long as they wish by providing sustained support, education, and specialist help should they face difficulties. Women visit us for practical help and information around feeding their babies and also for social/emotional support. Some of the women that have come along to the group for a while now would like to train as Breastfeeding Network Helpers. We are planning to do some fundraising to help towards the costs. We shall be splitting the proceeds between the Breastfeeding Network and St James' Church funds. Please do come and support us! Thursday 23rd June between 1 pm – 4 pm. Cream tea (scones, cream and strawberry jam!). A play area for pre-school children, toy and baby/toddler clothes sale and of course the chance for all the community to come together for a chat! Heartfelt thanks once again. Kate Meads

Documents

Reports From St James Groups and Organisations 2011