The eighth meeting of the East Yorkshire Mission and Care Group was held at the Toll Gavel United Church, Beverley on Saturday, May 16th 2009. The Minister, the Revd. Ruth Crompton, welcomed everyone and opened the meeting with some thoughts on the work of Christian Aid and the family in all its varieties. We remembered these areas of concern in prayer. There were 24 persons present.
Presentations.
1. Toll Gavel. Ruth explained that the Congregation is an L.E.P. joint with the Methodist Church, and therefore part of the local Methodist Circuit. She described a lively, active Congregation with the Church premises constantly in use. A Café, run by the Church members in conjunction with the Miller Centre which works with people who have special needs, is in operation for 5 days each week. The Church supports various uniformed organisations which mean that the premises are in use every evening. Prayer groups and House Groups meet regularly. The Church has a youth worker and 2 Children and family workers. At the moment a Co-ordinator is being sought to work with older people. The Church is looking at different ways of “being Church” in an effort to reach those who are on the “fringes”.
2. Hornsea. Mrs. Kathy Webb reported that the work with young people at Hornsea continues to thrive, with a particularly strong Pilots Group and Junior Church. The young people have already led Worship on two occasions. and a Junior Choir has been formed. A Prayer Network group is newly set up which is proving to be a success, and a group of members have been learning sign language. The Worship area has been tidied to facilitate different styles of Worship. “Quiet” days have proved to be helpful. Kathy presented a document which gave a “New Elder’s Perspective”, written by Carol who is also the Treasurer. It described the friendliness she had found in the Church and the range of activities to suit all ages and types of people. Frank has been a member now for 75 years and has just celebrated his 90th Birthday!
3. East Hull. Sue Ripley reported significant changes in the Congregation since the Revd. David Purse left after 15 years of very faithful service not only to East Hull but to Withernsea as well. This was a wake-up call. Stephen Walker from Selby had been appointed Interim Moderator, and together with the help of other preachers and members, regular worship and Bible Study had been maintained. The land at the rear of the property has been cleared and a celebration Bar-B-Que will be held on July 10th. The 11th Hull Brigade Company has 28 members who regularly attend and take part in Battalion activities. The premises are used by the Community including a Dolls House Group which has donated 2 new folding tables to the Church. The local Council use the premises for meetings and elections, and if parking facilities were available, further lets could be had. The Congregation gives thanks, that, although small in number, they manage to hold two Services each week help with youth work and keep the premises properly maintained. Their prayers are for a new Minister to lead them. Sue reported on David’s progress in his new Pastorate in Ireland, where he has been well received.
4. Withernsea. Les Miles expressed thanks to Frank Pickles who is currently the Interim Moderator. Two Services and Communion are held every Sunday, with an average attendance of 25-35 members. Prayer meetings and Study groups are held throughout the week, with speakers. The Cornerstone Group meets fortnightly for outreach work. The church is busy every day of the week and undertakes youth work. Three members have recently been received by adult Baptism.
Pastoral Concerns and news from Churches.
Graham Maskery reported that Mrs. Judy Walker is very ill and Alistair is to undergo surgery soon. He also reported the death of Mr. Joe Cummings who had been a long-standing member of the Yorkshire District, and paid tribute to Joe’s faithfulness.
Pauline Mewis reported on the recent May “Spa “ Assembly which was attended by 250 people. The Moderator and the Revd. Elizabeth Caswell had taken part in the Service. Next year’s Assembly will be held at the Spa, Scarborough, on May 5th, and the Moderator and Mr. Terry Slocombe will take part.
Judy laws announced that Zion U.R.C. will be hosting an Organ Recital by Mr. Roland Dee on Saturday, July 11th at 7 p.m. Tickets are priced at £8 including Strawberries and champagne.
Treasurers Report. There was no report. In the Treasurer’s absence Trevor Holborn offered to collect expenses forms and forward them to John.
Deployment Issues. Graham Maskery urged all Ministers and Elders to study carefully the Draft Deployment Policy document sent by Synod. The Churches need to discuss the paper and report their comments to Synod by June 22nd for further discussion at the October Synod Council Meeting.
Church visitation. Graham Maskery reported that a Pilot Scheme for church visitation is now up and running and the Hornsea Congregation is involved.
The Synod Development Officer, the Revd. Jim Coleman was welcomed to the meeting and described his work in helping Churches to “develop”. He works from the Synod Office, but much of his work is with local Congregations.
Jim outlined the various “Projects” that had been initiated throughout the years and argued that a new approach was needed for the future. For two minutes we discussed “the purpose “ of the Church, and then were asked to “imagine the unimaginable”. Not possible!
Jim went on to talk about the many opportunities there are for training for all the departments of the Church and urged the meeting to encourage the members of the Congregations to see what resources might help them. There is a huge opportunity for our development.
Synod Committees. Nominations are invited from Lay or Ordained members to join the Synod Nominations Committee. The Committee meets 3 times each year, and the appointment would be for 3 years. It is vitally important that our area be represented, and ideally someone with knowledge of E. Yorks would “fit the bill”. The meeting was asked to give any names to Simon Swailes within the next two weeks.
Mission and Care group “mechanics”. Stephen Knapton asked if the meeting needed to move on with Church Presentations, and suggested that we need to support the Churches in a different way, and include the reports in our Worship. David Coote offered to compile reports from the Congregations, perhaps in a format a kin to the much missed District Prayer Calendar for an initial period from the end of October.
Graham Maskery had spoken with the Moderator who has recently returned from a visit to Gaza. Kevin is anxious to speak to as many Churches as possible about his visit. Ruth offered the use of Toll Gavel and agreed to liaise with Simon in organising a Sunday afternoon Service followed by tea, later in the year.
The Meeting was reminded that at the next meeting to be held on Saturday Sept. 19th at St. Columba’s with New Lendal, York, no reports from the Churches would be made as the meeting would be looking at the five projects being undertaken by the York congregation.
Ruth closed the Meeting in prayer, commending all that had been discussed.
Our thanks go to our friends at Toll Gavel for their warm hospitality
