Vestry Notes
he latest meeting of the Vestry was held on Tuesday, October 4 th. We
were pleased to welcome Ashley Craddock who was attending for the
first time in his capacity of Property Convener. Both he and the Rev.
Lesley-Ann gave out printed copies of their reports which made the
Secretary’s job much easier.
T
This was particularly the case when it came to describing putting a camera
down a drain to try and discover the cause of the frequent flooding of the
toilets. We were even shown the resulting photographs both on paper and on
a lap-top. Ashley and the partner of Christina Ellis of Slimming World, who is
a qualified plumber, are going to investigate further to see if they can clear
the blockage. If they can’t more professional and expensive work will have to
be undertaken.
From Lesley-Ann we heard about her plans for mission outreach, the other
half of her remit when she was appointed to St Oswald’s. Perhaps the most
ambitious of these plans is for a Men’s Shed to be built on the waste ground
at the back of the church where men can come and pursue hobbies e.g.,
carpentry etc. and even learn to cook!
This won’t be happening immediately and funding will need to be sought for it
and, indeed, for a feasibility study beforehand. Other ideas are for a
Women’s Blether Group which I think is self-explanatory and for a craft group
where people can meet to pursue their own craft hobbies.
More specifically concerned with the church is the idea of forming a Worship
Planning Group. Volunteers are wanted for this to help plan the services of
the church in advance of important festivals such as Advent and Christmas.
Lesley-Ann also hopes to start holding Healing Services, possibly on Sunday
evenings, starting at the end of March when the nights are getting lighter. No
other church in the area does anything like this. Services would be quiet and
contemplative and use traditional healing liturgies which have been used by
the Church for centuries including laying-on of hands and anointing with oil.
Everyone who attended the Harvest Lunch agreed it was a great success
and Ashley was congratulated on his cooking, particularly as he had to
contend with a less than perfect cooker! Another social event of a rather
different sort was decided upon at the Vestry meeting, i.e. a Burns Supper to
be held on Tuesday 26 January 2016. Enez and George Anderson who are
Burns enthusiasts will be helping to organise this properly.
Finally, and most importantly, the AGM will be held after the 10am service on
Sunday 13 December 2015.
Paula Fleetwood.
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