This month's magazine is available as a Microsoft Publisher 2003 FileDecember Magazine
We are approaching Christian Aid Week again and we will be asking everyone to help deliver and collect envelopes. This involves giving up a few evenings - maybe up to 12 hours of spare time. Collecting is extremely worthwhile as the time you give up can make a huge difference for the communities where Christian Aid uses the funds raised. In Bangladesh, for example, some villages are setting up a "pani parishad" (water council). Minu Basar has learned how to harvest rainwater safely so that she doesn’t have to travel for a whole day and cross a dangerous river to fetch drinking water. It is sobering to think that many people in the world spend so much time just fetching water when all we do is turn on a tap. Rekha Biswas from Bangladesh provides the most humbling and inspirational example for Christian Aid Week. This courageous lady goes from house to house, talking to families about the problems they face getting water. Vitally, she challenges gender roles. She encourages women to come to meetings of the local pani parishad, the village water council. Getting clean water is a problem throughout Bangladesh: in the north-west, water scarcity and lack of infrastructure create difficulties for the many landless communities living there; in the central low-lying wetlands, the land is flooded for more than half the year and underground water sources can be contaminated with arsenic; in the southwest, the rise in sea-levels, partly as a result of climate change, is making fresh water salty. People often have to walk for up to 24 hours to collect water to drink. And when water’s not on tap, as it is for most of us in the developed world, it’s women and children who suffer the most. They spend hours carrying heavy pots of water to their families. Lack of water can also lead to family disputes, with women and children bearing the brunt of their husbands’ or fathers’ short tempers at the end of a day’s labour, and risking abuse. Women also have no economic independence as their lives are spent collecting water. And they end up caring for family members who become sick through drinking dirty water. Children lose out on education because they have to spend long periods fetching water. Rekha has voiced this injustice and given hope to the whole village. Salt water has replaced most of the fresh water sources in her village. But she believes there is a solution to this problem, and the lack of basic human rights in the coastal region of Bangladesh where she lives. Rekha believes that it’s through communities – and especially women – finding their voices that change can be instigated. Christian Aid partner The Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies has set up pani parishads in villages throughout Bangladesh. These community organisations discuss and agree the best water supply solutions for their particular villages. The water councils also provide a forum for addressing other community issues. Now that the village has clean water, the pani parishad is working to establish schools, as well as looking at plans to reconstruct roads and take action to stop child marriage. The villagers now have the power to make their lives better. And the pani parishads encourage women to take an active role. Each council must have more than 50 per cent female membership and the president must be female. Rekha explains that: ‘In the pani parishad, we give training to help [people] understand what they need and then how to achieve it. But most importantly, they understand that they can do things for themselves.’ Rekha tells people that if they come together, they can achieve things that they couldn’t if they were alone. By giving up a couple of hours during Christian Aid Week, you are collecting so much more than money. Your gifts can mean water, rights and courage. By coming together, we can achieve amazing things. Every fifty pence collected this Christian Aid Week, could pay for one day’s gender training per person with BCAS to improve relationships in families and lessen the burden on women. The average road collection of about £50 would pay for the monthly salary of a community pani parishad coordinator, who helps women and the poor to discover their voice, understand their right to water, learn about health and hygiene, and begin to instigate change. You can see how our efforts will really help to change lives for the better.
Find out more about Christian Aid Week by visiting www.caweek.org Article adapted from material produced by Christian Aid - © December 2007
Extraordinary journey of faith - A Holy Land Journey this November An opportunity to renew your baptism vows at the River Jordan and for couples to renew their marriage vows at the Wedding Church of Cana of Galilee are just some of the highlights of Bishop Tony Robinson’’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land planned for November 17th-24th this year. Bishop Tony, who is Bishop of Pontefract, led a highly successful pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2006 and is looking forward to his second later this year. “We look forward to meeting local Christians in Nazareth and Jerusalem and we will be guided by Palestinian Christians,” Bishop Tony said this week. The pilgrimage is open to everyone and leaves London’s Heathrow Airport on Monday 17th November. There will be three days in the Galilee region including a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and a visit to the mountain of the Transfiguration before the group moves on to Jerusalem. A highlight in the Holy City for so many people will be retracing the steps of Jesus on the famous Via Dolorosa. There will be readings at every special place and a daily Eucharistic celebration. More information is available on 0845 610 6447
?Members of the PCC: Philip Brookes, Mike Cheesbrough, Tony Cocks (churchwarden), Mary Cole, Gill Cole, Lewis Coley, Mike Cross, Tim Cuthbertson (lay vice-chair), Brian Miles, Andrew Milton (treasurer), Clare Noakes (secretary), Gill Parkin, John Parkin, David Ritchie, Lis Smart, Paul Smart (churchwarden), Vivien Thickett, Claire Wesley, Karen Wilkinson, Revd John Wilkinson (chair), Daniel Wilson, Des Workman. The PCC met on six occasions, the Standing Committee on four occasions, with one supplementary meeting to discuss make urgent decisions about issues to do with the Development Project. Key issues over the year included: completion of Phase I of the Development Project introduction of preparing children for Communion, with a number of young people taking their first communion on 4 November 2007 (our Patronal Festival) successful campaign to raise funds to replace the organ introduction of new PA system to the church Rosie’s departure from the post of Assistant Curate at All Saints support for Claire Wesley as she became a fully licensed Reader and in her role as Bishop’s Advisor for Children beginning of preparation for John’s departure and the ensuing interregnum revision of All Saints’ Values Statement Members retiring in 2008: Gill Cole, Mary Cole, Lewis Coley, Mike Cross, David Ritchie, Des Workman Clare Noakes, PCC Secretary
All Saints representatives: the Revd John Wilkinson, Tim Cuthbertson, Mike Cheesbrough On 5th. February 2007 the main business of Synod, when it met at St Agnes, Moseley, was a presentation by the Bishop's Advisor for Children's Ministry on the subject 'Exploring Children and Communion'. Many aspects of this were covered in some detail, including the history of the practice most of us grew up with assuming (wrongly) that it had always been so, of confining Communion to those who had been confirmed. The options open to parishes now and the practical consequences gave rise to an interesting question and answer session. At St Mary's, Moseley, on 24th May, David King, Black Majority Churches Liaison Coordinator, spoke of the African slave trade, the 200th anniversary of whose abolition fell during the year. With the assistance of three short films he spoke of the history of the British slave trade, the impact on the peoples of Africa, and the long progress towards abolition, emphasising the great part played in this by Africans themselves, by contrast to the common emphasis on the work of parliamentary reformers such as Wilberforce. St Stephen's, Selly Park, were our hosts or the last meeting of the year, on 9th October. The Revd Dr James Woodward's lively and wide-ranging presentation entitled 'Ageing: Blessing or Burden?' caught the imagination of those present and a follow-up meeting is planned. The experience of the elderly residents of the Foundation of Lady Katherine Leveson, of which Dr Woodward is Master, formed part of the background against which he spoke of the importance of the part of the elderly in the life of the Church and in its thinking. During the year we saw the retirement as Treasurer of Graham Hindley, succeeded by Andrew Langley and as Dean of Nigel Hand, succeeded by Peter Babington. I have not touched in this report on routine business - the receiving of reports from General Synod, profiles of the parishes Synod has met in and so forth. There is more of interest than perhaps many people suppose in the business of Deanery Synod; in recent years members of All Saints have been embarrassingly reluctant to see for themselves by coming forward for election to that body and I would like to encourage a level of participation in Deanery matters closer to that which a large and busy church should be engaging in. Tim Cuthbertson, All Saints representative on the Deanery Synod
Our team consists of five members all commissioned by the Bishop to carry out pastoral and community work. The members are: Elaine Apps, Mary Cole, Lewis Coley, Cyril Dyer and Brian Miles. We visit the sick, housebound and the elderly including those in hospital. We also visit newcomers, families before and following Baptism, the bereaved and others who seek our help. We know we are supported with the prayers of the congregation and we thank God that there are many others at All Saints who also carry out visiting quietly and often unknown. We work to our terms of reference within a strict code of confidentiality. The Prayer Circle, which prays for people who are need of urgent prayer and who are facing situations of crisis, is co-ordinated by Mary Cole. The Team is often called upon to work with the Board of Ministries in training other teams and talking with those wishing to pursue the Pastoral Care and Communities Skills Course. I have had to preach at Smethwick Old Church about Pastoral Work and we also gave a presentation at a Diocesan Vocations Workshop. Brian Miles works extremely hard with the Youth Project, visiting and supporting and raising funds. He is heavily involved with the wider community, particularly with the Development Company. The Team is very grateful to him for his continued involvement within the community and for keeping us up-to-date with ongoing developments. We continually keep ourselves up-to-date by attending courses and as a member of the Steering Group for the Diocesan Course I am able to keep the team well informed of developments. Each year we attend a Diocesan Away Day – this year it was at the Dorothy Parks Centre in Smethwick and the theme was ‘Facing and Experiencing Change’ - a very thought-provoking day of training and reflection and the Bishop joined us for our worship. There are many teams now across the Diocese with new teams starting their training each September. If anyone in our congregation wishes to know more about the training and working as a Lay Minister please feel free to talk with me. I am so thankful for the team I lead for their valuable work and dedication. Lewis Coley – Co-ordinator of the Pastoral Care Team
All Saints had one Discipleship Group running through 2007, hosted by Simon Foster. This group usually met weekly through term times, and became a Lent group through Lent last year, picking up an extra member from St Anne’s, Moseley. The group has five members and has been a valuable support to regular prayer and developing discipleship. It will conclude after Easter 2008, and other groups may be formed thereafter. Although there are certain guidelines Discipleship Groups there are no rules as to how often groups should meet or what they should do. Simon Foster
Members: Sarah Wilson, Jessica Foster, Simon Foster, Betty Davis, Karen Wilkinson, Gill Parkin, Pam Coley, Trisha Howard, Helen McKiernan, Philip Brookes, Claire Wesley The aim of the Children’s Committee is to oversee and support all work done with the under 11’s. Worship - the Committee continued its work of helping children to participate as fully as possible in the worshipping life of the Church, especially at the 11.00am Family Communion Service. Children of ‘junior’ school age participate in worship as acolytes during term time. An information leaflet, ‘Worshipping at All Saints’ – A Guide for Parents’, has been produced and gives details of our Sunday groups and ideas for parents to help their children engage with worship. Children & Communion - much of our work this year has been centred on drawing up a policy for baptised children to be admitted to communion before confirmation. Following approval of the policy, the first group of children underwent a course of preparation during the autumn term and were admitted to communion by Bishop David at our Patronal Festival Service on 4th November. Education Weekend, ‘The Earth is the Lord’s’ - thanks go to Phil Brookes for organising a very successful service with contributions from local school children (including our own children’s groups) and an exhibition of their artwork, in February. Seasonal Workshops – on Good Friday a workshop on the theme of ‘The Faces of Easter’ was held, followed by a short act of worship in Church. It was subsequently decided to suspend all workshops, pending a review, as numbers had dropped to just five children. St Barnabas, Erdington – to help the children from St Barnabas who lost all their resources when fire burnt down their church, our children raised money to buy a knitted nativity set as a Christmas gift. The Committee acknowledges and thanks the many volunteers who give so generously of their time and energy to ensure that all children who come to All Saints feel welcomed and valued. Claire Wesley, Chairperson
Leaders: Helen McKiernan, Tricia Howard, Sue Cockcroft & Sarah Myring Five minutes into the 11am service sees the pre-school aged children getting ‘the call’ to come and collect their lantern in order to get ready to file over to the Church Hall. Before leaving the service a prayer is said to bless all the children in their various groups. Pre-School Praise has at its biggest this year been 14 children plus an adult for each child. However, overall we have averaged about 8 children. On our register we currently have 18 children. The format of sessions remains constant and is familiar to the children – using material from Scripture Union’s Bubbles series, we act out bible stories and follow the story up with ‘making’ activities as a response. The children joined the other groups for a very enjoyable end of term party in the summer led by Marcus Belben, who taught us some memorable songs, and also the Christmas party. Helen McKiernan
Leaders: Jessica Foster, Claire Wesley, assisted by: Helen Wilson Big Aztec is for children aged 7 – 11 years. The group has a core of 7 members with an average weekly attendance of 4. The children participate in the 11.00am Family Communion service as acolytes then go out to their group to receive the Ministry of the Word in an age-appropriate way. We follow the Lectionary using material from the Roots series. During the autumn term the children participated in a communion preparation course, (led by Jessica Foster and Claire Wesley and assisted by Helen Wilson, Nicola Slee and Mark Cuthbert), and were admitted to Holy Communion for the first time by Bishop David on November 4th. The children also participated in the service for Education Weekend and joined the other groups for the end of year party in the summer, to commemorate the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and the Christmas party. Claire Wesley
Leaders: Betty Davis, Martha Ann Brooks, Sarah Wilson, Kathy Farbrother, assisted by Sheila Prain, Joshua Wilson, Diane Kirkham, Jane Inman. We have had a good attendance this year and from September a group of eleven with an average of eight attending each week. We have had two sessions with all three groups being together. The summer party included examination of the theme of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, after which everyone had great fun, with even parents dancing and singing. The Christmas party was focused on the story about Baboushka and the Christmas Story told as a song. The group took part in Education Weekend singing a song at the service. We have an excellent group of leaders who are very committed and enjoy working with the children. Betty Davis
The year started with a Shrove Tuesday Pancake Party in the Church room, always a good start to Lent. The May Day Extravaganza went ahead with a smaller car boot sale and a table top sale, Helen Lloyd gave a very interesting talk on the ‘Extraordinary Lives of Ordinary People’ and the street organ played. The Summer Fete took place on July 14th and the Jockey Morris Men danced, (in honour of Geoff Mendham) the Moseley Village band played and the coconut stall once again saw Heathens from Kings Heath throwing hard balls at coconuts. The Cake Stall and Bottle stall were outstanding and even without the Vicar’s garden it was a good community event. A trip to Worcester and the Cathedral by train saw over 20 young and old go for a day out together. The Harvest Supper was trialled for the first time. About 50 members of All Saints attended; we had Brian James a guitarist singing and we served Home Made Soup, Pizza, Salad, Cider, Cheese and desserts. The year finished with a Beetle Drive which was a lot of fun and enjoyed by young and old. In addition we have supported other events, provided refreshments and generally been around to support the All Saints Community. We raised over £2,000 and have tried to bring some fun and fellowship to fundraising. Des Workman, Chairperson
Membership and Administration: the Group has met every other month, meeting in each other’s homes. Attendance has varied from as low as four to a high of ten, and all three Sunday services are represented. However, the representatives of the PCC have not reached the normal number, and there is some concern that links between the group and the PCC are not as rich as they have been in previous years. We conducted a review of the commitments of the church which are involved in our various affiliations, and in order to ensure that these are not overlooked, it was decided to invite each member of the group to look after a particular issue. The increasing complexity of the activities undertaken was another factor leading to members of the group accepting responsibility for specific areas, and these are as follows: Eco Congregation and environmental issues: Margaret Healey-Pollett (chair: Eco steering group) Nuclear issues: John Hull, Margaret Healey-Pollett Church Action on Poverty: Mike Cross Jubilee Debt Campaign: Martin Wilkinson Restore (refugees and asylum seekers) Mary Taylor, Rosemary Clarke Kinmos Centre: John Parkin, Merrie Cocks Ecumenical affairs: Mark Cuthbert Developing World Issues: Becky Frall and Mark Cuthbert There are also significant activities of the church that receive the support of the group but are not listed here because the people most responsible for them are not members of the group. These include, for example, the fair trade promotion, which is lead by Gill Parkin, and the annual Christian Aid appeal, organised by Chris Pearce. The All Saints Playgroup has now moved over to the Development Company. Financial matters: The group is responsible for recommending to the PCC the dispersal of the giving of the church on mission and social justice. A feature of this year’s work has been the financial crisis in Restore, the Birmingham churches agent on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers. In response, a significant grant was made to this body, and they will figure more prominently in the proportioned giving from now on. The group continues to make an annual grant to the Historic Churches Preservation Trust in return for their assistance towards the hurricane appeal. Aware of the fact that effective links have not always been maintained with the recipients of the church’s grants, the group have been active in requiring letters of acknowledgement and information about the work of the receiving groups. Ecology and environmental concerns: the Al Gore film’ An Inconvenient Truth’ was shown in the Church Hall to an audience of about 25 people. In May 2007 a tree was planted in the grounds of the church, with enthusiastic support from the children. Under the guidance of Margaret Healey-Pollett, the eco steering group continues to make progress to the church acquiring formal certification as an Eco Congregation. Justice Mail, which is sponsored in partnership with the Church of the Martyrs in Leicester, has had a quiet year, with little response from the postcards which were distributed during the year. We think that with only about 25 All Saints people in this nation wide activity, we may have reached a local saturation point. On the other hand, fair trade activities have had another highly successful year. Gill Parkin presented the experiences of her visit to India twice to large groups at a ‘Reflections’ evening service, and continues to represent the church nationally and internationally, e.g. at the Fair Trade conference in Durham in September. A grant of £450 was made to Trade Craft Exchange. Commitment to Church Action on Poverty is a major interest. Copies of the Living Wage Pledge were distributed at the church in October, and an enquiry into the ethical practices of the major banks is under way. Leon Purcell from Church Action on Poverty preached at the church on 17 February 2008, as part of the National Poverty and Homelessness week. This year, we have become registered as a Jubilee Congregation. A ‘Reflection’ lead by Professor Michael Taylor is being organised, and we expect to take part in the commemoration of the decade of the ‘Make Poverty History’ Campaign on May 18th. We actively support the Diocesan link with Malawi, and contributed to the Christmas Malawi appeal for books, toys and other products. We continue to carry forward the policies of the main denominations in opposing nuclear weapons. A group of people took part in the Advent Vigil at Aldermaston organised by Christian CND on 20 December, and another group went in the Kings Heath bus to support the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the launch of CND at Aldermaston on Easter Monday 2008. We are building up links with other churches in the Kings Heath Churches Together, and hope to create joint events. The self-education of the group is enriched by links with other bodies provided by members. For instance Mark Cuthbert of the Christian International Peace Service has spoken about his work and visit to Ghana, Margaret Healey-Pollett of West Midlands CND, spoke about the impact of nuclear weapons, and John Hull has sought the advice of the group on the development of prophetic ministry training in the Queen’s Foundation. We have become aware that one of the gaps in our affiliations is a link with a peace organisation, and this is being investigated. We offer this annual report with thanks to God whose Holy Spirit is active throughout our church and our world. John M Hull, Chair SJAG
Traidcraft Co-ordinator: Gill Parkin It has been another busy year for Traidcraft with stalls at church and the Farmers’ Market continuing on a regular basis. Takings overall have risen, though sales on a Sunday morning have not. Thanks are due to all the volunteers, particularly those helping month by month at the Farmers Market in extremes of weather. Our stock has also been used to supply stalls at Kings Heath and Moseley Baptist Church and at various “Churches Together in Kings Heath” events, including a stall at Kings Heath Carnival. Fairtrade chocolate was purchased from us by the Diocese for the Celebration of Children’s Work (thank you, Claire!) In February, Gill visited producers and development projects in Western India which gave an insight into the way in which small scale producers are helped by Traidcraft and the challenges which face them and gave an account of her visit in a ‘Reflections’ evening service at the end of April. Gill and Martha Ann Brooks helped out with the Fair Trade shop which formed part of the Christmas Presence Shop in the City Centre just before Christmas. We were pleased to see some familiar faces and learn that others had also visited the shop. The shop was so successful that they ran short of some craft goods and £118 worth of our extra Christmas cards and craft goods was sold for us when their stocks ran low. Fair Trade is now spreading and supermarkets are stocking a wider range of goods. These are sometimes cheaper than we can sell them for because of the supermarkets’ buying power. However, as a company, Traidcraft goes beyond just purchasing Fair Trade goods. As well as paying a Fairtrade premium which can be used for community projects such as clean water or schooling, through Traidcraft Exchange, they give the support that is so valuable to the producers. Traidcraft Exchange (who we support with a donation from our “profit” each year) works with producer groups, giving advice and loans to enable them to reach the required standards of quality and quantity. Through the work of Traidcraft, Agrocel in India is now selling Fairtrade cotton to Marks and Spencer and wine from the Chilean wine producer Los Robles is now to be found in supermarkets. For these reasons, please support Traidcraft whenever possible and help it to “go the extra mile”.
Members: Mary Miles (Chair), Brian Miles (Fundraiser and Company Director), Brenda Inman, Laurence Inman (Treasurer), Kathy Farbrother (Minutes Secretary), Alison Wall , Phil Smiglarski, Tim Boyes, Jo Derrington (Staff), Daniel Wilson (PCC representative) The Youth Management Committee has continued to plan and support events for young people throughout the year. Although our numbers of young people are lower than they were we have felt it important to maintain their opportunities and respond to their ideas. We have again worked in collaboration with St Mary’s and St Anne’s on several occasions. freeSpirit 10th birthday: on September 16th history was made at All Saints when a joint communion service at 10.00 am on Sunday morning was led by young people, freeSpirit style. Over 100 people attended and enjoyed this relaxed, innovative but spiritual service which concluded with the release of 100 purple balloons, with pledges attached, into the roof space. Here they lingered for several weeks reminding us of this wonderful experience. The previous evening 50 people had attended a party in the Church Hall. These included some ex-freespiriters who came from far and near. Apart from food and games young and not so young enjoyed a bounce (and a lot of laughter) on a giant bouncy castle, a first time experience for some adults. A celebratory DVD was made for the occasion and if you haven’t got your copy they some are still available, for £5, from the Traidcraft stall. freeSpirit themes included: slavery, nuclear catastrophe, and prayer orienteering on the Lickeys. We also started a textile project and held a consultation into the future of freeSpirit During the year freeSpirit has had its difficulties. This has primarily been because of the low numbers of young people. This has put some stress on both the young people and the adults supporting them. Despite this the monthly service continued to be an exciting, participatory worship opportunity. Discussion took place on several occasions with the young people on how we could deal with these problems. Eventually it was agreed, in collaboration with Rosemary at St Anne’s and St Mary’s, to work together on a new youth service that would happen on 4 occasions during the year and at the 2 churches alternately. The first of these was held in December. The planning took place at the St Anne’s and St Mary’s fellowship group and was led by Brenda and Rosemary. The planning and service took place but it became clear that both the young people and the adults involved had not realised the importance of freeSpirit and its place in the worship at All Saints. A further meeting took place when this was all discussed openly and freely and several options were suggested and discussed in great detail. From this came a decision to return freeSpirit to All Saints but every other month. The young people agreed to make their commitment to the planning and service. It was also agreed that the young people could continue to be involved with St Anne’s and St Mary’s service if they wanted to. So freeSpirit did go for a short time but has returned. The young people are very keen that more people from the congregation come and experience freeSpirit. They will guarantee you a uplifting experience, so please support them as they grow and develop their faith and the place as members of All Saints congregation.
Anniversary of the abolition of slavery march: in March a group of young people, children and adults travelled to London by train to take part in this silent march and to hear both the Archbishop of York and Canterbury speak Gap Plus during Lent was a course that used films to explore faith Maundy Thursday Vigil: the 24/7 night of prayer with the labyrinth ‘pearls of life’, took place at St Mary’s and St Anne’s Confirmation: one young person was confirmed in May at St Mary’s August – Greenbelt: for the group of 12 people who went – 5 young people, 4 young adults and 3 older adults this was, as usual, a thought provoking experience. Greenbelt stretches, challenges and inspires our faith. As a group we worshiped together alongside 10,000 others. This year some of the group slept in a ‘posh’ new tent found for us by Stan and the food, prepared and cooked by us all on a rota basis, was declared a triumph and the ‘best yet’. Can we beat that this year? Alexandra theatre visit: a group of young people and adults went to see ‘Godspell’ in September ‘Common People’ Week-end: a group of 4 young people and one young adult as their leader, joined with St Mary’s and St Anne’s for a weekend in October at Irthling Borough, Northamptonshire. ‘Reunited’: one young person regularly attends the diocesan youth service - reunited - held at St Martins in the Bullring
Although the Youth Project is part of the Community Development Company, it is supported in many ways by the PCC and congregation. The work of the Project can be seen all around on the walls and notice boards and many of you will have met the staff and young people. We continue to provide our first contacts programme which includes two after-school drop-ins, basketball, football, performing arts and singing. We are particularly proud of our peer-mentoring scheme and our two sessions for young people with learning difficulties which can attract up to 30 young people. The holiday programme continues to thrive and residentials are a key, if exhausting, part of our work. Our adult mentoring scheme is always looking for more adults who are willing to be trained to work with and support individual young people.. The youth project made around 7000 contacts during the year. Our newest development will be the parent support service which will take place in the new rooms at the back of church. Our 2 main, and on-going challenges are funding the project so we can continue to deliver our service to young people and to recruit skilled and appropriate staff to join our core committed, hard working team. Brenda Inman (Lay Minister for Young People), Mary Miles (Chair)
During the year Alan Fletcher resigned as Co-ordinator and was replaced by Gill Parkin, Val Hems and Alwyn Lloyd-Roberts acting as joint Co-ordinators. We wish to pass on our sincere thanks to Alan for all the hard work carried out by him during his term. The number of people attending Lunch Club has increased considerably averaging 48 per week and we are still having the odd new attendee join us from time to time with the publicity for and introduction of the Healthy Living Activities. Volunteer helpers are always needed because we inevitably loose some due to illness or age. Happily we now have nine new helpers who have joined us but we are still one Team Leader short. More volunteers would be an asset to the Lunch Club; this would ease the pressure on teams as lunches increase. The commitment is generally 10.30 am – 2 .00 pm once every six weeks excluding Easter, summer and Christmas Holidays We now have table cloths which improve the look of the room considerably. A menu is placed on each dining table hopefully so the diners can decide what sandwiches etc. they would like before reaching the serving table. This is experimental to see if we can limit the time spent queuing to be served. We would like to record our grateful thanks to the many people who have helped make last year’s such a huge success. the help given by Ron, the Caretaker, in putting out the table and chairs is much appreciated. everyone who helped organise and prepare food. everyone who donated food everyone who helped set up and put away everyone who was on money duty and to anyone else who feels that we have not properly acknowledged their contribution. Thanks to those who have resigned from teams this year particularly Molly Budd who served Lunch Club over several years also to Dorothy Gardner and her team who have now resigned. Gill Parkin and Val Hems
Chair: Tony Cocks The All Saints Badminton Club has a long history of members and tradition. The club is held from 8 to 10pm on most Wednesday evenings from September to May. The club has one court and generally doubles games are played. Players are of mixed experience and skill, and new members are always welcomed. The new rules of play are now being used. The club is as much a social club as a means of gaining exercise. Refreshments are provided during the evening. The club continues to thrive, attracting up to 13 or 14 members and guests of an evening. This year there have been a number of new members to provide additional variety and a diversity of interest to the evening, and to ensure continuing success. Tony Cocks, Chair
The Meditation Group has continued its regular monthly meetings with the usual break in July and August when members are away on holiday. The meetings in 2007 alternated between Grace Darby's home in Tenbury Rd and Eileen Holder’s in Howard Rd since Grace was involved in moving house after the death of her husband Graham. The Group still remains small consisting of about eight regulars though not all of these are able to come to all meetings. We should like to see more new members if only on an occasional basis. The friendship and support we derive from the regular sharing of our concerns is of great value to us all; and the opportunity to think and pray together in silence on a theme chosen by whoever is the month's leader gives us an oasis of quiet in the busyness of our lives. Leading an evening is purely an individual choice and there is no obligation to lead ,some come just to take part . In December 2007 Grace moved to 11 Woodvale Drive Hall Green and this will be our main meeting place for this year; if anyone wishes to join us or to know more about us please phone Grace Darby 745 1033. Grace Darby
Music Co-ordinators: Merrie Cocks, Gill Cole; other members: Revd John Wilkinson, Lewis Coley, Philip Brookes, Rowland Cotterill The main concern this year has been acting on the decision to purchase a new digital organ, and we are extremely grateful to Lewis Coley for co-ordinating the investigation into the must suitable instrument for our needs. Lewis also arranged for members of the organ committee to hear a similar instrument, and to meet the organ builder. Fund-raising was very successful, an order has been placed, and it is hoped that the instrument will be installed in time for Pentecost 2008. We give heartfelt thanks to all those involved, especially the members of the Organ Committee and those concerned with fund-raising. Musical high points during the last year included ‘Music for a Summer’s Evening’, by Ben and Clare Noakes, and Phil and Martha Ann Brookes the use of a new setting for the 9.15 Eucharist, by Richard Shephard the ever-popular Education Sunday schools’ service, organised by Phil Brookes the Christmas Carol Service co-ordinated by Rowland Cotterill We would like to thank all those who have sung and played during the year, especially those who sing and play regularly at 11.00, and those who help lead joint services. Especial thanks are due to Lewis Coley, Ben Noakes, Rowland Cotterill and Martha Ann Brookes, who have played the piano on Sundays and Gordon Osborne and Alan North for music at the Wednesday Eucharist We would welcome anyone else who would like to join us either regularly or occasionally. Merrie Cocks, Gill Cole
Phase 1 – the Medical Centre: On Monday March 31st, the part of the Medical Centre which the All Saints Medical Practice will use was at last handed over to the GP’s. As everyone will have seen, work has taken much longer than the original completion date (5 November 2007), largely, though not entirely, because of problems over the construction of the drainage. Lloyds Pharmacy opened on the same day and these two tenants are settling down into their new premises. The opening of the Medical Centre brings with it some big changes. For the time being, vehicular access continues to be down the current church drive, but has to be shared with construction vehicles and with the GPs and their patients. Under the lease, the General Practice has 15 dedicated car parking spaces with another 2 for the Pharmacy. Initially, these have been marked out in our existing church car park; during the week, during working hours, these are reserved for the Practice’s use. On Saturdays most of the demand in the evenings and on Sundays all of them will be available for church and Hall users. We are working as fast as we can to open up the tennis court for car parking which will ease the situation greatly. We have not yet completed the deal with Mr McGee, the owner of No 4 Vicarage Road, which will make this possible, but expect to do so shortly. Our aim is to create a new access road into the site, leading directly from Vicarage Road behind the new surgery towards the Church Hall, as the first part of Phase 2A (see below) in May. In addition to the All Saints Medical Centre and Lloyds Pharmacy, we continue to work hard on finding tenants for the retail space and dentists to take the surgery upstairs in the new building. In case that fails, we are considering alternative letting use, in keeping with the overall ethos of the scheme. Phase 1 will exceed our original cost estimate though at this stage we cannot be sure by how much. A major factor is the extra period of the building works, on which negotiations with the contractor continue. The Diocese and PCC increased our contingency provision by £100,000, and we will need to use all of this, adding to the Company’s indebtedness. We are also in discussion with the Bank about any additional flexibility they can offer on the terms of the loan. Work at the back of Church The work to create two new rooms at the back of Church, to alter the South Vestry and to provide a toilet and kitchenette has also been significantly delayed. However, after some protracted negotiations with Stradform (which has now been taken over by Weaver, part of the French owned Vinci Group), work has re-started in earnest and we expect this work to be completed by May 5th. As everyone can see, during this period of intensive work there is considerable disruption and a good deal of dust within the church area. Please bear with us as this work progresses – it will be worth it in the end! We have agreed a fixed price with the contractor for this work, which is a comfort in one sense. Unfortunately it is £25,000 more than the current budget. I will say something about this at the meeting. Phase 2A – Linking Phase 1 to the Church As mentioned, plans for this phase are well advanced. Initially, it will create space for our new Opportunity Centre for Older People (previously known “as the Day Centre for the Elderly”), provided under contract to Birmingham City Council in lieu of their current Day Centre at Chamberlain House. Work has progressed rapidly on detailed design and we are currently out to tender with estimated start of work in May. This building will be particularly important as it will tie the whole scheme together. It will not complete Phase 2 (see below) but, as seen from the High Street, it will create the finished view of the entire building. A possible funding package is in place, although we are urgently working on raising further funding, to reduce the amount of loan we would otherwise have to take from Futurebuilders. I will say more about this also at the meeting. Meanwhile, and in parallel, the negotiations with the Council on the takeover of the Chamberlain House Elderly Day Care Centre continue apace. We have had two meetings with the Chamberlain House users and their carers, and have done our best to satisfy them that the new building will be a pleasant, warm and welcoming environment, as least as good as what they are used to at Chamberlain House. We will now be working with them on creating a story of the history of their Day Centre and on ways they can help shape the future. We will also be looking for ways to introduce current users to what we are doing in our Lunch Club and Healthy Living Programme, and to let them see what our new buildings will be like. The aim is to start the new service from February 2009. In general our work for older people has been coming on apace, with the Lunch Club enjoying great success (typically, 50 people attending and new and enthusiastic teams of volunteers supporting them), and with our Healthy Living programme now in its second term and attracting upwards of 20 people weekly. This means as we go forward to the new build and the new service to replace Chamberlain we do so from a strong base. Phase 2B and 2C – The New Hall and Facilities for the Youth Project Further work goes on in parallel to complete Phase 2, by the construction of the Hall and purpose-built facilities for young people. This will also enable the Opportunity Centre for Older People to move from its initial location into new space, freeing up the front of the building to be our Welcome Space and Community Café. The immediate need here is to complete our bid for almost £500,000 to Big Lottery’s Community Building Fund. We have come through the first stages of their process and been awarded £25,000 to enable us to work up a final bid. This involves extensive refinement of our Business Plan and detailed architectural and professional design work, all of which is cracking on apace so that we can get the bid in ASAP and then expect a decision in the following 6 months. That timetable is necessary to keep our main funders, Futurebuilders, tied into our scheme. It’s all very tight but just about achievable! Church Interior Renewal Group (CIRG) CIRG is chaired by one of the Company’s directors, Vivien Thickett, and includes John Wilkinson and a number of artists and other interested people from both the congregation and the wider community. It also has a liturgical consultant and an arts adviser from MAC (Midlands Arts Centre in Cannon Hill). Its main aim is to oversee the next stage of the re-ordering of the church interior for contemporary worship needs and appropriate community arts and educational use. To do this, it is necessary to have a good arts track-record, for which the appointment of an Arts Co-ordinator is vital. The Group is therefore funding for this post. Meanwhile it is looking for partners from among arts groups and others who might like to use our building. The Group is also seeking to develop the church’s arts programme – already quite considerable when all concerts and exhibitions are listed together. Highlight of this effort has been our partnership with the ‘Arts Champions’ of the Hall Green constituency, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Sampad, the South Asian Arts organisation. We are together working on a project in which, with community groups associated with All Saints, will create workshops, performances and artwork. Funding is already available to develop this project for the early summer. This initiative will develop the profile of arts at All Saints, which in turn ought to help funding applications. Meanwhile, we hope to have a similar programme in the autumn which is to be based around celebration of our new digital organ (to be installed in church by Pentecost Sunday - May 18th). The name ‘Artspace All Saints’ is now being extended to include other arts provision. Heather Marshall has re-started the exhibitions by putting together for the Project Opening Ceremony an exhibition, ‘Changing Patterns’, of textiles based on shapes found in the church. Meanwhile every encouragement is being given to music events from various sources both within and outside the congregation.
Personnel
We were delighted to welcome Carl Hodgkiss, our Development Manager, in January. He is in overall charge of the Company’s operations, reporting to the Board. He has already made a big and positive impact and, for example, the handover to our tenants could not have happened without the multitude of arrangements Carl has put in place, nor without his cheery and unflappable approach to all the problems which this major event brought in its wake. Our Project Administrator, Janet Wilkes, is at present recovering from an operation and I am pleased to say making excellent progress. We wish her well. Last month we were very sorry to lose the services of our longstanding Treasurer and Company Secretary Tony Price. Tony has been with us since the start of our long journey together. In that time he has made an enormous contribution to the smooth running of the Company and in particular to the keeping of our finances in good order. As he approaches his 71st birthday Tony, understandably, feels it is time to stand down. All Saints owes him a huge debt of gratitude. I am pleased to report that Mike Timms has agreed, for the time being, to head up a Treasury team. David Ritchie
Report on the Fabric, Goods and Ornaments of the church Copies of this report, required by law each year and prepared by the churchwardens, is available from the Parish Office. Accounts The following accounts were presented at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting: PCC Main Accounts (these showed a deficit of approximately £1,500 on the year 2007) Lunch Club Accounts (these showed a balance of £237) Traidcraft Accounts (these showed an increase of income compared with 2006 and a trading surplus of £503). Copies of all accounts are available from the Parish Office.
OTHER REPORTS