Rector’s Report to the Easter Vestry 2010
Last year I began this report by commenting on the collapse of the Irish economy and its impact on our church. The situation nationally continues to be very depressing. While there have been many challenges for individuals in our church it is very encouraging to see that the congregation continued to support the ministry financially and that we finished 2009 in a healthy position. We have also just experienced the coldest winter in Ireland for over three decades. We wait to see what the summer will bring us.
The Vestry has continued to think and discuss the space issues of the church. We recently announced the Building for the Gospel project, which is a response to this issue. Over the last couple of years we have developed a master plan for the site. Our immediate and pressing needs are caused by lack of space for the children’s and youth ministry, both for the mid-week clubs and for the Crinken Kids programme on a Sunday morning. The details of the Building for the Gospel project will be explained elsewhere. It is the desire of the Vestry to provide the facilities that we need to allow the gospel ministry of the church to grow. We have been so blessed by the ministry to youth and children and it is our desire to continue to support and invest in these areas.
Earlier this year, I preached a series of sermons in the morning congregation aimed at stimulating our thoughts and prayers about our contact with our local community. We were very pleased with the opportunity we had to be part of the Shankill Christmas Festival, and the survey that we conducted provided plenty of food for thought. Our intention at the moment is to pray and wait upon the Lord until He shows us how we might move forward. Some of us have commented that the Lord is ‘pushing us out of the nest’; another person called upon us to ‘cherish our community’. We continue to pray and ask the Lord to guide us and provide a way forward.
Crinken Kids, our ministry to children continues to be a significant area of outreach for our church, and we are privileged to have such great leadership in this area. During the year Therese Hargraves went on maternity leave and we congratulate her and Michael on the birth of Lucy. We have been greatly blessed to have Sarah Keene able to step into that role. Our expectation is that Therese will return to her position later in 2010.
Similarly Generation, our youth ministry has grown from strength to strength. As I write Michael is preparing a group of young people for confirmation next month. A number of young people travelled to Germany to participate in Teen Street last summer which was a time of great blessing and spiritual development for them, and Michael hopes to do that again this year. It has been great having Neil Douglas work with us as a ministry apprentice, and we wish Neil well as he thinks through his options for his next steps when he finishes this role in August, after two years with us.
The Parents and Toddlers group has been an area of extraordinary fruit over the last year. The leadership team, led by Jane Vaughan, went through a time of restructure over the summer. Now there are three groups that meet during the week. The aim is to keep these groups smaller to facilitate the development of relationships between those on the team and the women who come to the groups. The creation of the Time Out Bible Study last year has been a real blessing. This group provides a space for spiritual exploration for those beginning in a relationship with Jesus. It has been a fruitful and exciting ministry.
CHANGES IN VESTRY
I want to thank all those who have participated in the Select Vestry over this past year, especially those who have decided not to stand again. Thanks to Stephen Healy for acting as Rector’s Churchwarden, and to Barbara Douglas for being People’s warden. Both of those roles will become vacant and will need to be filled at the Easter Vestry Meeting.
ENGAGE
Engage, our evening service, celebrated its second anniversary in January. We have recently moved from the church to the hall, which was great during the cold winter nights. The Leadership Team from Engage has been conducting a review of this ministry. In summary, we feel that there have been some great things about Engage, but it would be true to say that it hasn’t achieved all that we hoped and prayed for. Certainly the service has not been as well attended as I had hoped. We are currently developing some thoughts about how Engage might move forward.
SAFEGUARDING TRUST
The clerical abuse scandals that have rocked Ireland over the last few years should make us very aware of the necessity to have proper measures in place to protect the young and vulnerable. As a church, Crinken wants to comply fully and enthusiastically with the Church of Ireland Safeguarding Trust policy. The implementation of this policy is overseen in our church by a Safeguarding Trust Panel. I want to thank Eddie Blackstock and Diane Lyons for having participated on the Panel for a number of years. Both have stood down over the last twelve months, and have been replaced by Charles Patterson and Narelle Hegarty. (The Rector is ex-officio). Charles, Narelle and I are keen to make sure that our church does a great job of observing the Safeguarding Trust protocols.
OTHER MATTERS
Earlier this year the Crinken Community Gospel Choir was formed, and is currently rehearsing. We look forward to their debut at the Good Friday service at 7.30pm on the 2nd April. There will also be a performance of Mark the Drama, which Neil Douglas is producing. We hope this will be a great opportunity to invite people from our local community.
Our church has been invited to be on the national RTE radio broadcast on Easter Sunday- certainly the largest audience to which I have ever had the privilege of preaching the gospel.
The Pastoral Care Team, led by Lily Reid continues to be a great encouragement to our church. Sharon McKimm has taken up the leadership of the Music Ministry in the morning. Our Home Groups continue to meet and be a blessing to all who are involved. The Crinken Inter-National group continues to do a great job of informing and inspiring us to pray for our mission partners from around the world, and we thank them for their efforts. We also want to thank Geoff Scargill who has led the morning Welcome Team for a long time, and with great enthusiasm. While Geoff and Margaret will continue to be involved in this ministry, Barbara Douglas has taken on this role.
FINALLY
Rather than thanking individual people (because there are just too many people to thank for their contributions to Crinken) I would like to note the passing of some valued members of our congregation. Raymond Good passed away in January 2009, and his wife Jean in August 2009. This was such a loss to the Good family and indeed to our whole church. Norma Heatley passed away just a few weeks ago after a brief illness but many years of suffering.
Let us remember this verse: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3
Edward Vaughan
19.3.10
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