Vestry Notes
The latest meeting of the Vestry took place on Tuesday , September 6 th . We were pleased to have the Rev . Lesley-ann present once again and she made it clear that she will be carrying out her usual priestly duties as far as possible during Ashley ’ s illness . In answer to a question she said that if a priest were needed when she wasn ’ t available the first person to contact would the Rev . Scott Robertson from St . Margaret ’ s who was our Interim Priest during the vacancy . Failing him , either of the other Southside Priests were willing to help or , if all else failed , we could call the Bishop !
Continuing with thoughts of illness , we heard further details of a scheme which was suggested at a previous meeting for letting members of the congregation know if anyone was ill . The idea behind this was that everyone might have gifts which they could offer in such circumstances , e . g . lifts to hospital , cooking or shopping for anyone who is housebound or prayer . A rota is to be drawn up showing the names of the people to contact first who would each have the names of a few people who they would each phone . Linda Allan has drawn up a draft document illustrating this .
Some things are being put on the back burner for the time being , one of these , if you pardon the pun , being the replacement of the central heating boilers . This is partly because British Gas are taking a long time to give an estimate for doing the work and partly because it is difficult to find other firms who are prepared to install industrial rather than domestic boilers and we do need more than one estimate .
Willie Whitelaw was present at the beginning of the meeting and reported that plans for the Men ’ s Shed were going well ; quite a lot of interest had been expressed in the local area . He had been in touch with the Diocesan Property Committee about the possibility of installing a portakabin on the spare ground at the back of the church .
One decision that was made at the meeting was that after the Sunday service the chairs should not be moved away immediately . This is so that the Rev . Lesley-ann can still be aware of the church as a sacred space where she or anyone else can go for private prayer after the service if they so wish . At least half an hour should elapse before the chairs are moved . As well as this both the Rev . Lesley-ann and other people mentioned the need for quiet , if not complete silence , immediately after the communion . When we go back to our seats , having received communion , a period of contemplation rather than gossip is appropriate !
The more social aspect of church was not neglected at the meeting . It was decided that the Harvest Lunch would be held on Sunday , October 2 nd . Linda Hardie bravely volunteered to be in charge of organising this .
Paula R Fleetwood
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