- Joint Annual Report
For 2009
Eileen Clarke reports that all her people are quite good; she sees them in church or at home, or contacts them be telephone. She is waiting for a hip replacement so walking is quite painful for her.
Eileen ClarkeThis small group from the Ministry team and laity complement pastoral visits made by members of the congregation to people with a variety of needs. Visits are also made to young children on the anniversary of their baptism, and a card given. We meet as a group every 2-3 months, and are currently focusing on the needs of those who have lost loved ones. People who have died can be included in prayer, in church, on the anniversary of their death -please give in names to the Benefice Office. We are also considering a Book of Remembrance. Please contact Jennifer Holloway through the Benefice Office if you would like more details.
Jennifer Holloway (Chairman).The Ministry Team hold monthly Eucharist services in 2 sheltered housing complexes. Lay members visit 3 care homes and hold inter-denominational worship or (reserved Communion) Eucharist services. Response is varied, dependent on how well or ill residents are, but many join in for at least part of the service, and visitors and staff also participate. Residents have come from all walks of life. Many have been active in their own churches previously and are very grateful for this continuation of contact. Services last about 30 minutes, and we spend some additional time talking to residents, many of whom have no visitors of their own.
Because Peter Hansel] completed his curacy at St Mary’s and moved, we are no longer able to hold services in 2 other homes. Also, Cathie Carey has moved on in her faith journey, and we miss her contribution to this particular ministry. Many thanks, Cathie, for all that you have done coordinating, supporting team members and conducting services.
We have welcomed Joyce Rimmer and Kathleen Jones to the team, and would love to hear from other members of the congregation who might be interested in finding out more.
Please contact Jennifer Holloway through the Benefice Office for any more details of this very special and important ministry.
Jennifer HollowayDuring 2009, Rosemary and Eric visited two nursing homes and one care home on a regular monthly basis. Each home is different and the services vary, but include hymns, Bible reading, prayer and a simple talk. In the care home, fifteen or more can be present. In the nursing homes, numbers can vary widely according to the health of the patients, however more seriously ill patients are visited in their rooms. We do not take the Holy Communion each month, but it is available to any residents who wish. Due to parish boundary changes, one nursing home is now in St Mary and St Ambroses’ parish. In future they will be responsible for services. However we will try to keep the link by helping as and when we are needed. With the help of others, Carol Services were held in all three homes. In addition, two sheltered housing complexes requested Carol Services. We would like to extend these to other Festivals, but we are still in need of more helpers. Is there anyone out there who would like to be involved in any way even occasionally? For further information on this important ministry or to join us to get a taster, please speak to Rosemary.
Eric DwyerMeet each Monday in the Parish Hall at the rear of St Anne’s Church, Park Hill, Moseley, for a two course freshly prepared hot meal cooked in the Hall kitchen. Members begin to arrive under their own transport at 12:30, and the £3.50 meal, preceded by Grace, is served at 1pm ending with tea/coffee at 2pm. Now in its 24th year, the Club has a current membership of 38. Once a month, before lunch, a short service of Holy Communion is available to members in the Hall Council Room. In February 2009 the Bishop of Birmingham, David Urquart visited us, and August saw us on a coach trip to the Hop Pocket Craft Centre at Bishops Frome near Bromyard. Although not a fund raising group, we have donated to Christian Aid, the Malawi Magamero School appeal and the Balsall heath based Anawim project.
To continue the Bishop’s 1986 ’Live, Learn and Share’ proposals for extending stewardship, and to play our part in building a caring, inclusive and supportive community in Moseley.
We have a wonderful volunteer team led by the Coordinator, Hilda Johnston. David Sandison, Pat Burrows, Marie Cooper, Margaret Guy, Barbara Hanes, Betty Padjasek and Margaret Wyley all give their time freely to make Mondays so enjoyable and very special.
Julia GriffinDuring the past year, the Church Watch team has continued to maintain an ’open church’ on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings in order that any visitors have an opportunity to come in and look around.
I am extremely grateful to all our volunteers who have ’wrapped up well’ and given their time to make this possible. On occasions, particularly during the wintery weather, St Mary’s can be quite a cold place.
As always, if there are any church members who are free during those weekdays and would be willing to give an hour of their time once a week/ fortnight / month, I shall be delighted to hear from them.
As you might imagine, the Church Watch volunteers are often quite useful as "Parish Admin assistants". if you’ve ever wondered who helps Ann and Janet to fold the Sunday Weekly Leaflets and Orders of Service, now you know!
Jonathan HodgsonChristmas Day Together exists to provide Christmas hospitality to anyone in the community who would otherwise be alone on this important day. It is part of the community outreach of the united benefice. Staffed entirely by volunteers from both churches and from within the community, this year it was host to approximately 80 guests.
The great thing about it is the diverse mix of people who attend. Many are already associated with one of the churches, some are referred to the event by an agency with whom they have regular contact, others have seen the event advertised in the village or around the area or have heard from someone else.
Thanks are due to the Birmingham 13 publication who advertise the event and ask for volunteers and help with funding. This always brings someone new to join the team of enthusiastic volunteers who make the whole day easy to manage (although hard work!) It is good to know that many who attend have been coming for years and greet everyone as long lost friends.
The funding for this years event was helped by various generous donations and it is this that makes the whole event much easier to manage.
Operating now for well over 30 years it still maintains a vibrancy, an element of surprise and you never know what will happen next.
Janet ThorneSecretary’s Report FSMCM 2010
I am sure that the credit crunch has affected all of us in one way or another. The Friends have tried to keep spirits up among its members by providing the usual array of activities and to give some respite to the harsh realities of life. On Saturday 25th April 2009 many parents took advantage of a day trip away with the choir to Burslem near Stoke, where the choir were invited to participate in services using Latin liturgy. While the choir rehearsed some difficult pieces trying to get their tongues around the Latin, parents went for a walk in the area or looked around the church of St Joseph. Lunch was a splendid affair at an ’all you can eat’ buffet-style of hot and cold fayre featuring many culinary foods from around the world. Perhaps not the best thing to do before having to return for another service to sing, but a very enjoyable day!
We are indebted to Jeremy for allowing us use of the kitchen and garden at the vicarage for the BBQ on Saturday 13th June 2009. Thanks are also extended to James Barwell and Nigel Blakey for their culinary skills and to Andy Tomlinson for helping out with serving wine. The Friends are pleased to host the Parish BBQ enabling us to mingle with the wider congregation of Ss. Mary and Anne.
As it was a special year for remembering the music of Handel, Mick thought it would be a good idea to branch out a little from the come and sing Messiah by providing a Handel Study Day on Saturday 27th June 2009. While the Messiah was still a feature, there was also opportunity for singers and instrumentalists to perform other works and to learn more about this great composer.
Thank you to Trish Everett for providing the refreshments at the Choirs Concert Saturday 4th July 2009 which gave an excellent kick start to Moseley Festival.. The Robed choir training week was in Ripon from 12th - 16th August 2009. Once again many parents joined their choristers to enjoy all the wonderful sights to be found in that part of Yorkshire. One of the highlights was the chance to look around York Minster thanks to Jeremy and his connections which was greatly appreciated.
Mark Stammers of Connolly’s Wines was our host for the wine tasting on Saturday 26th September 2009. Congratulations to Jenny Daniels for winning the raffle to choose a bottle of wine.
Special mention must be made of the support received from the Poppenburgs in Frankfurt. Finally a huge thank you to the untiring efforts of Mick and Ian, without whom there would be a far poorer musical experience to be had at St Mary’s Church.
Amanda DoyleThe joint social committee have met regularly throughout the year. Our main aims are to
During the last year the social committee has been responsible for the organisation of the series of Lent lunches, the Harvest Lunch and the Christmas Fair to name a few examples. The committee have also supported Benefice events such as the African night where we were responsible for the co-ordination and serving of food. (Thanks to all those people who made delicious curries) Refreshments have been arranged for key services and events throughout the year including `Cracking Carols’ in December.
A diary of planned events for the year ahead is now displayed on the notice boards in both churches as a way of improving communication. Please take a few minutes to read these and note the dates. We are always looking for help at events, if you feel you would be able to help in any way, however small please contact Angela Brown through the Benefice office. Finally I would like to offer my personal thanks to the committee for their hard work and look forward to another successful year.
Angela BrownThe first meeting was held at Immanuel Church Highters Heath on Thursday 12th February. The theme was Welcoming and Hospitality; Mr Hope Urwin from the Cathedral spoke about how important first impressions are in making newcomers feel they want to return, and made some very practical suggestions. Canon Eve Pitts, the incumbent, spoke about the major refurbishment of the church and the successful fund-raising, and the further work required in the church Hall. There are now some younger people attending church, and it is a supportive Parish.
The second meeting was held at Holy Cross, Billesley on Monday 18th May. The main speaker of the evening was Jim Drennan of the Diocesan Board of Finance. He gave a very lucid explanation of how the Common Fund formula worked. There will be a small increase necessary in 2010, but we are, as a Diocese, breaking even. The Revd Pamela Ogilvie gave the Parish profile and explained how the sad death of a child in an RTA had encouraged them to create a memorial garden, and the parents of the child are leading the plan to turn the churchyard into a Community garden.
The third deanery meeting was on the 13th October at the church of the Ascension, Stirchley. The Revd P Kaye gave the Parish profile. He described it as a welcoming Church with liberal catholic theology and a growing congregation. The main theme of the evening was ’Working with older people’ and featured presentations by St Anne/St Mary Moseley (the Lunch Club and monthly worthip), Christchurch, Selly Park (International work with a large range of activities), and the BalsaII Heath day Centre for Elderly People.
Rosemary Berridge.During the Autumn and finishing just before Christmas Karen Walford and I got together to amalgamate the two websites of St Anne’s and St Mary’s and the result is now published to the existing St Mary’s website address (www.stmary’smoseley.co.uk) For the moment St Anne’s website remains available but is not being updated.
We are beginning to build a new joint website using a Content Management System (CMS) called Joomla (www.joomla.org). This is a project that will take several months and will allow parishioners to log onto the website and place articles and other items of news directly onto the website for the website editor to moderate and publish.
Nigel Blakey and Karen Walford