Here’s all that I shared on Sunday evening as part of our APCM:
APCM Vicar’s Vision 2026
Welcoming
Another great year – Thank you to all of you who made it happen. We are an active community with so many people playing their part in lots of different ways. Thank you to our PCC, Wardens, treasurer, secretary, LPAs and LWL. Thank you to to those who work tirelessly, some unseen in the background cleaning, flower arranging, making coffee, fundraising ,welcoming, doing the tech, reading, singing, playing, praying, hosting, visiting and caring. If I’ve forgotten anyone please thank them for me.
Progress with the Welcome Project has been the one of the most exciting developments this year, the completion of our new kitchen, storage and refurbishment of the toilet have come together so well, and were ably managed by a number of people, including Bill, Roger and Andy – along with Elizabeth, Beverly and Christine! And it all happened while I was off, amazing.
Connecting
I want to say thank to all who connect our church up with different organisations and places in the village – like the library, village hall, youth hall, the pubs, the WI, the guerrilla gardeners and so on. We connect to one another, to our neighbours and to God, as we follow Jesus’ example and instruction. Our 12 Joys event was a great example of connecting these aspects.
Blessing
Thank you to all who stepped up and stepped in while I was on Sabbatical, it was such a blessing to Carrie and I as we had three months of space. Yes much of it was filled with helping 2 boys move house, but it was such a privilege to do that without worries of keeping plates spinning back home. Thank you to those who continue to share blessing with neighbours and friends, it does truly lead to a spreading of hope and God’s love. We are blessed by God, with a knowledge of his love for us, to be a blessing to the world.
Growing
There is a three dimensional aspect to our growing as a community, firstly our growth as disciples of Christ, this has deepened through our 2 home groups, the alpha course, the Lent course about Confident Christianity, and week by week worship and learning, as well as inspiration from the Church library, at the back. The second dimension is our growing as an influence for good in our village and community, this like to our connecting, we do this in so many different ways but I must mention the Community Lunches, and also the Remembrance day event, both show a deepening commitment to the good of the whole parish, not just those who attend St Mary’s on a Sunday. The final dimension of growing is in the number of worshippers who we gather. Through 2025 I think we kept numbers fairly level, but at Christmas we saw some increase, so perhaps 2026 is the year to begin inviting those who we have connected and blessed, to finally come and join us for a Sunday service. We have plenty of variety to choose from, and the spiritual climate is really warming at the moment, there is a new openness to faith, Christianity and Church that is flowing through our nation, but it is up to all of us to extend an invite as part of our sharing the blessing we have with our neighbours or friends.
Stewarding
Looking forward we are continuing to look to steward well and develop our work, across the community, and as a Christian community. Through good stewarding of the past we have received such a legacy of this lovely, ancient building, but it takes a lot of money to preserve and to protect the fabric, as well as maintain our presence here week by week. We’ve heard from Roger that one aspect to pray into for the future, is our giving and stewardship of what we have as individuals and a community. As the 2025 accounts show, last year our regular giving left a £6000 deficit, which we were only able to cover by some unexpected gifts, this comes alongside our hard work to keep costs down and some great fundraising efforts. This is before we look at extra projects such as trying to modernise the upper room for small group use or putting back the ceiling in the nave. I recognise the cost of living crisis has hit some people harder than others so I would only want people to give as they are able to, but I do encourage everyone to look at their giving at this time, both regular and any one-off gifts you may be able to contribute. We will continue to find a balance, with our stewarding, between preserving this incredible building, as well as ensuring the building and our worship within it is accessible and life-giving to all who join us, now and in the years to come. I’ll be mentioning this a bit more next Sunday as I mark out a stewarding and gift day.
The Future
I am excited about the year we’re in (nearly 3 months in) – already our new service has been bringing new people and new elements to our life as a community and new challenges and thoughts – I would love to share one we have been looking at as a PCC recently – when I returned from Sabbatical I had cause to consider how, if money was no object, would I look to enhance church life, there were many competing things, but what I truly believe we need right now is a greater development of our work across the village with young people 0-18 — it is something close to my heart, and I realised this was going to be beyond my capability and capacity – and so I began a process of looking into how we might take on board, employ, a Children and Family Outreach worker – someone to work both here, but also across the village – in the school, at Cheeky monkeys, perhaps supporting youth work, as well as supporting our all-age ministry and growing team and capacity for that. We are still at the investigative phase but I wanted to share the excitement I have and also ask for your prayers that this might be a new season and chapter for us as a church, continuing our work to Welcome, Bless, Connect, Grow and Steward in the power of God’s Holy Spirit.