LETTER FROM THE RECTOR

Dear Friends,

This August has seen the first anniversary of us, as a parish, having only one priest to serve St Mary's Church, the Church of the Ascension and our c. 18,000 parishioners. Of course, such a job is impossible for one person alone, and we would not have got by without the generous support of a number of clergy and lay people who have come forward to help. Indeed, we have more than got by; we have done rather well, I believe.

Looking at a magazine entitled The Way Ahead, published in this parish in 1961, that I excavated from the very bottom and back of the safe in the priest's vestry, I felt that I was looking into another world. Fr. Woolley and a curate are pictured on the front (I am told that at various times there was a second curate and a retired priest working in the parish). The magazine was about a three-year planned-giving campaign. In part it was to raise money to pay for running the two churches, for giving to national and international dimensions of church work of many kinds, but also to pay for "two curates ... and another curate is needed" (!!!)

There were many pictures of people from yesteryear (some might be of you?!) and I think there are more copies if you would like to have a look. The clothes are very different, there were pictures of a dwindling 'Empire' overseas, reminders of a rapidly vanishing imperial age. The men and boys’ choir (no girls) is pictured too with at least 30 members and a shiny new charabanc, such as you see in museums nowadays. Truly, I was looking at another world, one that I dimly remember as a very small child - which is a scary thought.

But, here we are, after such a year as the last one; our congregations are numerous and we are still the focal place for many community events to be marked or celebrated. Our ministry of weddings, baptisms and funerals continues apace. Our schools work is thriving and busy. After the February, our part of the deanery will consist of 10 churches run by a host of lay people, chiefly supported by four stipendiary and one non-stipendiary priest. Fortunately for us, there will be four newly licensed Authorised Lay Ministers in our parish. Congratulations to all of them for completing their courses.

Our two Church Councils, in this parish, will meet in October to come to a mind about a pattern of services starting after Christmas. Our current pattern will not be sustainable beyond then. We will have to assess what resources we have, what we can offer with those resources and whether we can also still try to be more adventurous with our outreach to new and returning churchgoers. Please pray for us in those deliberations.

What would all those people in 1961 have thought of such a future? It would have looked like another world, perhaps?

With love

Giles