Groups
Annual Church Meeting 2009 - Reports from Groups
LYNDON METHODIST CHURCH
Annual Church Meeting
Sunday 29th March 2009
Annual Reports
Minister Rev Julia Monaghan
WELCOME
As I approach the end of my year as your Senior Steward, I reflect on all that goes on in our Church. With something for every age, from Nursery, through the Brigades, and onto ‘grown up’ activities. With a richness and diversity in our worship, both traditional and contemporary, mid week and on Sundays, within our Church and elsewhere. We are grateful to all those who enable this work to take place.
We are a Church in the community and leafing through the pages of this, our Annual Report, reminds us of all the opportunities we have to make a difference.
Ian Hancock
THE MINISTER’S REPORT
“The Importance of Celebrating Anniversaries”
In my old life as a local authority social worker, I used to undertake “life story” work with children who had experienced a number of moves in foster care. We would visit the maternity hospital in which they were born; talk to parents about early experiences; visit previous foster carers, their first play group, their first school. All the time we would be taking photographs and recording people’s stories and memories of the child.
When your life has been fragmented, this work is important as it begins to establish a sense of identity, an understanding of your roots and an understanding that you are on a journey where significant events have a coherence. It is also faith building in that, if you gain a sense of the past and an understanding of the present, you can have faith in a future.
The Psalmists in the Old Testament were involved in the same faith building “life story” work, when they wrote the historical psalms. In these, they rehearsed the events of their salvation history to evidence God’s graciousness to them, as in Psalm 78 and God’s faithfulness in Psalm 105. If God’s grace and liberation could be evidenced from the past, the people had an identity rooted in covenantal love, which could be trusted in for the future.
And so at Lyndon, in this 50th year of the church building, we are engaged in the same faith building process of remembering. We look back at our heritage and where God has lead, thereby embracing a clear identity and faith for the future. I have heard stories of the community investing in its beginnings, with church members calling door to door selling bricks for a penny to fund the project. I have heard of its commitment to children and young people through the work of the Boy’s and Girl’s Life Brigades; and of Sunday School Anniversaries on that tiered staging with the fear of collapse at any minute.
I have heard stories of the importance of music with the robed choir and the BBC recording Morning Worship; of Peter Jones musicals; of the organist who has served faithfully for 40 years; and the spirituality of the current music group. I have also seen Lyndon’s continuing commitment to working with partner churches to sustain the word of God in the area.
But above all it has been the stories of ongoing personal commitment to God and to each other that have clearly sustained a community of faith with a strong sense of belonging. A community of faithful women, meeting every Tuesday, who have found courage and resilience often in the face of significant loss. A commitment to an evangelical faith that all might know the inclusive love of God; and of relationships established in early years in the Brigades, which have fostered a sense of continuity and community into the present.
This heritage of “belonging, believing and building community together,” is worth rooting ourselves in as we look towards the future. In Biblical language, remembering isn’t just something that happens in the mind. To truly remember, implies that you do something about what has come to your memory and Psalm 105 offers plenty of advice in the first 5 verses. “Remember, and as you do thank God; praise God; proclaim God’s name; declare God’s deeds; rejoice in God and be glad.” So as you reflect upon your own individual and corporate memories of 50 years at Lyndon remember to sing, praise and tell!
Rev Julia Monaghan
YOUTH AND CHILDREN’S WORK
My work across the Team of churches still seems to lurch between being really busy to manic – there is never a dull moment, and just when I think there may be a possibility that I might get bored or even take it easy for a bit, I am sadly mistaken!! Since the last AGM the pace of outreach and mission to children and young people has kept a steady momentum, and is still a very rewarding part of my job.
At Lyndon the youth and children’s work in the Brigades goes from strength to strength. Duke of Edinburgh achievements include young people who have accomplished their Awards, and I am still in awe of anyone who can walk up a hill with a heavy backpack on, as I struggle on a slight slope without a backpack! The Band are also working their way towards the three competitions that are looming this year, and there seems to be lots of new faces learning to march and play instruments at the same time!! It was a delight and good fun to join the young people at their annual camp last year in Swanage, and I will be joining them at the Isle of Wight this year, albeit not camping!!! It is also a privilege to be Girls Brigade Chaplain as well as being in Boys Brigade most weeks, getting to know the young people and take part in their activities.
Links with the local schools are still strong, and we hope to improve on them this summer with a team of students from Cliff College coming to spend time with us. Part of their time with us will be spent going into the local schools doing assemblies and lessons, as well lots of other activities during the ten days that they are here.
Jesus Crew at Lyndon continues to thrive, with a regular rota of leaders and helpers. Ideally they would still like to split into a third group to make teaching easier, and will do so if staffing levels allow it.
The team Easter Fun Day at Acocks Green was well supported by leaders and children last year, and we made bread and Easter Gardens for all three of the Team churches – this year it is back at . The Fantastic Light Party was also well attended (the best yet!) and Lyndon looked amazing decorated with over 30 sets of fairy lights!! Lyndon’s was the second of two Fantastic Light parties that weekend as I had led one at Acocks Green on the Friday evening, which was also well attended.
In 2007 we took part in a exchange with a church in Tumba, Sweden and we will be doing so again this year. It is a brilliant opportunity for a small group of young people to get to know young people from another country and we will be hosting young people from Tumba in May and going to Sweden in October. We will be joined again by Frankley and Northfield Methodist Churches for this project.
My involvement with Friends of Lyndon House, has continued to grow and is work that I enjoy greatly – not just for the opportunity to wash cars with firemen!! We raised £11,000 for a new minibus, and picked it up at a Variety Club celebrity golf competition in June. We also fundraised and opened a specially adapted summer house for the children to play in and had a successful and fun filled Christmas party. This year’s project is to build a sensory garden for the children to enjoy.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support and encouragement in the last year, as well as practical help such as administration, hands on youth and children’s work, and crisis control when things go pear shaped and I need to be put back together again and pointed in the right direction. And also thank you to God, because without Him there would be no point.
Catherine Ralph
JESUS CREW
It’s been another year of change for Jesus Crew. The best thing, though, is that our numbers are increasing and in spite of losing some members of staff in September, including Jackie Wassall who had taken up the reins when we were in crisis, we now have a full complement of staff, although with our ambition to sub-divide the Fishes group we could always do with more.
Poor weather meant that we couldn’t get over to the park again this year for our summer picnic, but rather than calling it off we spent the afternoon playing in the hall and had a lovely picnic in the church courtyard instead!
At the start of September we held our promotion Sunday. One child was promoted from Fishes to Shells and received a book of Bible stories to remind her of the occasion. In addition, as part of the service, Julia asked for volunteers from the congregation to pray for individual members of Jesus Crew. I’m pleased to say that all our children have somebody who is regularly praying for them from the congregation.
In October the teachers had a training session with Catherine Ralph where we learnt some new action songs and looked at the resources that she has access to, and in November we helped out at the Fantastic Light party, decorating the church and playing games with children both from Jesus Crew and from outside our normal church community.
Also in November, Catherine led a session for us, a sort of ‘Reach for Kids’. Although numbers were lower than expected a great time was had by all and we managed to produce the fabulous angel which decorated the back wall of the church during Advent.
In December we took part in the Nativity Service, with every child who wanted a part (as well as a few grown-ups) taking part in the service to remind us not only of the Christmas message but also of the challenge of ‘looking in the box’. The following Sunday it seemed only right to have a party to celebrate our success and great fun (and food!) was enjoyed by both children and staff.
This year has seen more of the same. By the time you read this we will have taken part in the Mothering Sunday service and I hope you will have once again enjoyed our rendition of Thank you Jesus for my mum.
Please keep us in your prayers and if you feel God calling you to come and help, either as a leader or a helper let us know. We will be losing Beryl Jalil at the end of July and will need someone to continue the good work she has started within Shells.
Lynne Tyler
WEEKLY BIBLE STUDY AND OUTREACH COMMUNION
The Bible Group has around 8 to 10 regular members and meets most weeks in the Church on Wednesday mornings. The service is led by Rev Julia Monaghan, or another group member in her absence. We follow a communion service but in a very interactive way. Our worship includes lively discussion on the liturgy for the week, a sharing of the communion prayers and an open intercession prayer session. We all contribute our own prayers; praying for the work of our Church, organisations linked to our Church, individuals known to us in need of support and the wider national and international community. At the end of the meeting we share communion together
During the last year, two members of our Church have taken over from our Pastoral Worker and now take Holy Communion out to members who are unable to come to Church for whatever reason – ill health, caring responsibilities, etc. On average this means visiting 5 households per month, taking bread and wine blessed at the Wednesday Bible Group and sharing the bible readings and discussion with those being visited. Time is also spent generally talking, supporting, praying and keeping these members up to date with Church activities.
The combined outcome is that our minister and members are praying for needs of local, national and world-wide individuals and communities. This is being done in a way that complements and extends the intercessional prayers at main services. We are also meeting the needs of those unable to access the main services. Group members also benefit from the opportunity to extend their understanding and knowledge of The Bible.
Wendy Magee
LINKS TO LYNDON SCHOOL HUMANITIES COLLEGE
One of our members is the Church’s representative on Lyndon School Humanities College Governing body. This has meant attending four-hour meetings every 2 months as well as other occasional meetings. It has provided an opportunity to support the school in it’s aspiration to encourage the development of students who are ‘well-rounded’ citizens – academically able, socially responsible and emotionally literate. Working on the Governing Board we have been able to support these aspirations and also be involved in discussions on school assemblies and the RE curriculum.
We have met with the Headteacher and other senior staff and are looking at the feasibility of a multi-faith Chaplaincy within the school. During the next year the school will be developing its Community Cohesion policy and action plan and there is an opportunity for us to make a major contribution to this work.
The minister has also had the opportunity to work with pupils from year 7 to put on their own assemblies. This has been extremely successful and has done much to establish our credentials within the school and demonstrate what we could do.
The work at Lyndon School Humanities College has a long-term objective to increase the exposure of pupils to the value of a spiritual life and the Christian faith.
Wendy Magee
WORSHIP GROUP
Yet another year filled with challenge and opportunities. We have continued to grow and especially welcome little Jonah to the group.
We have supported all of the Parade services and taken active roles in Reach and Sunday worship. We have visited a few churches this year and supported our local preacher Chris Taylor. Many of our meetings involve discussion about worship and we all feel that Sunday worship needs to be constantly on the agenda of every meeting. This should be the priority for the church and requires all church members to engage in open discussion. We feel that every Sunday should be a praise and worship family service and that the words traditional and modern should be removed from the churches vocabulary. Many of the worship group members have taken a far more active part in running worship at Lyndon and look forward to progressing throughout the year.
As the so called “leader” of the group, I am proud to say that we never sit back and watch, we are pro-active and will continue to serve God and Lyndon Methodist Church.
Craig Taylor
REACH
REACH is Lyndon’s monthly contemporary service, which runs alongside the main church service on the third/fourth Sunday of the month. Its aim is to forge a link between the brigades, church and the wider community through a more relaxed form of meeting. Over the past year between 30 and 40 people have attended REACH on a regular basis, including members of the Brigades who have played an active part in the service.
Starting with hot chocolate, meetings encourage a sharing of faith lived day to day and offer opportunity for all to take part. Whether forming human pictures conveying aspects of God, like the “Talk-Talk” TV adverts; hearing testimony; or sketches that seek to communicate the Trinity compared to different forms of cheese; the aim is to stimulate a deeper understanding of our walk with God and share fellowship.
Sam Monaghan
LUNCH CLUB
Once again over the past twelve months our Friday Lunch Club has proved extremely successful and although we have put up the prices slightly we are still greeting between 40-45 hungry eaters – with 3 folk taking meals home. Christmas Lunch too was very popular and we managed, just, to squeeze 62 folk into the coffee lounge and, thanks to a very profitable raffle which paid for the turkey (£80), we managed to keep the price as last year- £6.50 – excellent value for a welcome, non-alcoholic drink, three course meal, followed by tea/coffee and mints…
Sadly, after many years of faithful service, Margaret Scott, felt she was unable to continue, but Alma, Phyl and Mary still manage to struggle – and it really is at times- to come along each Friday. Also we have been blessed with help from Karen, the student attached to Lyndon, who comes along when not on assignments to offer a pastoral ear as well. Our ‘pudding rota’ would welcome a few more names, but apart from that we pray God will give us the strength to continue this valued service for at least another year!
Shirley Spiller
WOMEN'S FELLOWSHIP
I am happy to report that Lyndon Women’s Fellowship continues to meet regularly each Tuesday, with the usual group of about 20 faithful members. Sadly, during the past year we have lost three of our older members; Vera Roberts, Alice Steadman and Phyllis Adams.
As with most organisations, the difficulty in obtaining Speakers continues. We are, however, still very indebted to Ministers and Local Preachers, who give up their time to share with us. We are especially grateful to our Minister, Rev Julia Monaghan, who gives up time, in her busy schedule, to speak to us on a monthly basis.
Our Members’ afternoons and weekly prayers for sick friends continue, as an integral and well-known part of this meeting.
Although a relatively small group, we still make regular donations to the Church and also give generously to charitable organisations. This past year we have donated to Africa Equip, Friends of Lyndon House and in March will be supporting Mission Aviation Fellowship – Flying for Life. At the same time, through our weekly ‘penny bag’ collection, we annually support the Water Aid project.
In June, we look forward to our Annual Outing, venue yet to be decided. This is always open to Church members and friends.
This small, prayerful midweek devotional group, meeting in the name of the Lord, is always open for more ladies to share with us.
Marion Pontin
2nd SOLIHULL GIRLS’ BRIGADE
We have again enjoyed a packed year in Girls Brigade! Unfortunately our numbers have dropped in the Explorer, Junior and Senior sections. Our current numbers are approximately as follows: Explorers 8; Juniors 21; Seniors 8; Brigaders 4; Officers and helpers 10.
Our usual badgework continues during most Thursdays, however, we try to ensure the girls have fun by planning events and treat evenings.
At Easter we again held a non-uniform evening with pizza, cakes and an Easter Egg hunt. The girls loved running round gathering the pictures of easter eggs and we had a competition to see who collected the most.
In April we held an Explorer Fun Day. We all took picnics and enjoyed these before going pond dipping at the Parkridge Centre in Brueton Park. The girls were lucky enough to catch plenty of creatures and then look on charts to find out their names. A fun day was had by all.
The GB / BB Display was held in May and for those who attended we were presented with items from all sections in both companies. It was a really enjoyable evening and lovely to have Diane and Tony Wakeman joining us.
Each May a Celebration Service is held at St Martin’s in the Bullring for all young leaders to collect their badges and certificates. The Colour was carried by myself, escorted by Claire Frew.
This year we decided to take a break from our usual outing to Drayton Manor, mainly due to the rise in cost of transport and a drop in the number of girls attending. For a change we decided to hold a Summer Ball. The theme being pink, our Church centre was transformed with hanging decorations made by Emily James, flowers kindly bought by Julia and arranged by Brenda and a purchase of balloons. Matt Baker hosted a fantastic disco and Clare Cadman prepared pink food, which, with the fabulous cocktails prepared by Emily went down a storm! The girls were dressed beautifully and they each had their photograph taken against a backdrop painted and decorated by the Juniors. The girls and Officers had a fantastic time and we hope to do another one soon!
June saw weekends away for both our Juniors, Seniors and Brigaders, again at Earlswood Methodist Church.
In July we were very happy to provide a Guard of Honour for the wedding of Debbie Lardner and Stuart Binns – thankfully we all managed to dodge the showers!
After a restful summer break, we returned in September with our company weekend at Earlswood Methodist Church! We decided that this weekend would be more ‘laid back’ than in previous years. Funnily enough the girls are happy to sit and chat with each other! We still had our visit to Earlswood Craft Centre and enjoyed a picnic sat on Jeanette’s tarpaulins which, due to the heavy dew on the grass that morning were much needed! We all enjoyed a fabulous tea of jacket potatoes, various fillings and cake and custard to finish. After a better night’s sleep we joined the regular congregation in Church before going home shattered but having had a lovely weekend of fun and fellowship.
Our annual Awards Evening was supported by many girls and parents and we were very happy that Church Steward, Shirley Taylor was able to join us, along with Julia and Catherine. It may often appear that the girls don’t get presented with awards like the boys do during our joint Display, and we would encourage any Church member to join us in our special evening.
The joint Enrolment Service was attended by most of the girls and we were pleased to join in with the Boys’ Brigade’s Anniversary celebrations.
The evening prior to the October half term saw the Juniors, Seniors and Brigaders going bowling in Acocks Green. They had a really great night and we believe this helps the girls to get to know each other and eases the sometimes difficult times when moving sections.
In the weeks leading to Christmas were filled with games nights and Christmas crafts. Our Explorer and Junior Christmas Party returned to the usual party games with plenty of food, a visit from Father Christmas and each girl went home with a small gift.
We have also continued to run the Duke of Edinburgh Awards and were very pleased when Ceri Davies completed her Gold Award.
Our joint GB / BB Band continue to practice hard for the three competitions they participate in each year. Their commitment and dedication should be congratulated.
Due to having baby Lucy I did not attend Brigade during the last few weeks of 2008 and I would like to thank all of the Officers for their support, especially Claire Frew who took responsibility in my absence.
I am eternally grateful for the support and commitment of all of the Officers and helpers, namely, Val and Deborah Warwick, Jeanette Pickard, Nicola Tyres, Jayne Walker, Emily James, Claire Frew, Margaret Bolland, Sarah Gupwell and Advanced Young Leaders, Amy Wassall and Rosie Walton. For the last few months we have also had support from Karen from Queens, which is much appreciated.
Sarah Marks – Company Captain
73rd BIRMINGHAM BOYS’ BRIGADE
We have enjoyed another successful 12 months in Boys' Brigade on all fronts. The Company numbers are holding up well, attendance continues to be excellent and our programme of activities still appears to catch our members' imagination. Since September we have maintained good numbers in the three sections.
Current figures stand at :-
Anchors: 26 Juniors: 25 Company/Seniors: 23
Numbers are stable or indeed growing slightly- Anchor Boys have picked up a number of new members since Christmas with the Website attracting at least 2 new members and Catherine obtaining another new member through her work in the community.
The three sections continue to run active programmes as we enter the busiest time during the session.
In Anchor Boys numbers have grown starting at about 19, sending 2 up to Juniors at Christmas, and gaining a few along the way with current numbers standing at around 26. The boys entered the David Woodfield craft competition and their interpretation of "Joseph being thrown into the pit" can be seen in the Church lounge. 20 of our members enjoyed the Anchor Boy fundays held at Lyndon during the half term break and we look forward to a more relaxed Summer Session after Easter.
Juniors continue to thrive with regular attendance and participation in Battalion events. Numbers are stable at around 25, although eight are due to go up to Company Section in September. As ever the Juniors are looking forward to their Earlswood weekend at the end of June and their planned trip to the Black Country Museum in May. Juniors should also be congratulated for a relatively high and consistent turnout at Parade Services.
In Company and Seniors we enjoy good weekly attendances, often over 90% and sometimes even 100%. This year sees the progression of our middle age group into the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, which means hopefully, in about four years we should be celebrating a number of Gold Awards.
We have already celebrated Andrew's Gold award, and look forward to Chris completing his in the near future, hopefully later this year. Adam, Alun & Luke will be presented with their Silver Awards at our Display and Adam is about to fulfill the final requirements before attaining the Queen's Badge, the BB's highest award.
It is pleasing that a number of our boys get involved on a fairly regular basis in Church Services, thanks to Sam Monaghan's enthusiasm and dedication. It is also pleasing that our Seniors have been involved in a number of discussions and debates about their faith and what it means to them. Naturally, we hope this will result in more young men finding Christ, but often this happens many years later when they come to that decision for themselves.
At the time of writing we look forward to our Annual Display, 3 Band Competitions, several expedition weekends and of course our Annual Camp on the Isle of Wight. It is pleasing that we are taking a larger number of boys this year, currently standing at 21, together with an expected 10 from Girls' Brigade, so we are all looking forward to that.
This year has been hard for the staff, as our numbers have reduced due to work, university and college commitments in the main, but for others at the other end of the age spectrum retirement has finally beckoned as well. However, we have been blessed with John Evans joining us, and completing his Youth Leader Training and Catherine Ralph, also playing a large and important role in each of our Sections through the course of the year. We are very grateful to both of them for sharing this workload and bringing their different and unique qualities to our Company.
However, we are always looking for new support from those who feel they are being called to serve Christ through working with young people. Modern pressures take their toll on everyone and renewal and revitalisation is essential in sustaining our position as a leading company in the Birmingham Battalion. If you feel you are being called, as John did last year, and want to explore things further please don't hesitate to talk to either Julia, myself or any other leader. The pay is not so good but the rewards are fantastic!
Finally, it would be wrong of me to forget mentioning two special occasions. The Boys' Brigade celebrated it's 125th Anniversary in October 2008, and the 73rd played it's part in celebrating this occasion by raising £400 towards the Brigade's chosen Charity, locally Acorns Children’s Hospices being the beneficiary.
In November 2009 our Company celebrates our own 70th Anniversary, and we will hope to mark this special event in a number of different ways. In October our Founder's Day Parade Service will be held at Lyndon when we will be joined by our friends from the South-East Division. Further events are also being planned to mark the occasion.
All in all another good year for the 73rd.
Jeremy Wassall – Company Captain
LYNDON NURSERY
From early in September our numbers have picked up steadily and we now find ourselves with only a very few sessions available. We anticipate we shall have no places left after Easter.
Nursery as a whole is running very smoothly, with enthusiastic members of staff, all keen and working hard with the children and parents. We employ five staff each day with an average of 25 children.
I have applied for a Sure Start grant from Solihull Early Years for a new computer and garden furniture. I am in the process of sorting out estimates.
I have also applied for a grant from Pertemps. Rev Julia Monaghan and I had the privilege of taking two of our children to meet the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, and we were presented with a Lap Top Computer and Printer in the Lord Mayor’s Parlour.
From our financial problems of last year, we have made a complete recovery, and funds from fees are coming in to meet all our requirements. Financially we have no need to worry.
The children gave a spectacular performance at our nativity; the Church was full to bursting with parents and grandparents.
We would be very pleased to welcome anyone in to Nursery to spend some time with us to see the children and staff working and playing.
Carole Woodward
TREASURER’S REPORT
To all intents and purposes, Lyndon’s Church Finance is running quietly and competently, rather than lurching from crisis to crisis. This is because it remains largely in the hands of Ian Hancock, Ian Stott, Stanley Evans and our local Steering Group including Lynne Tyler and Lynette Edge. By the end of February 2009 our 07/08 Accounts had been finished with a few hiccups on the way!
I am becoming adept at recording monies coming in and paying cheques out, as long as my predecessor appears from time to time to correct errors that appear mysteriously and to reconcile (technical word!) my computer figures and statements. At any given moment, I haven’t a clue how we are doing; I just feel it in my water that things are OK.
Increases in ministerial stipends and payments into the Pensions Fund mean that, unless churches are in a position to give more, there will be significantly less money available for lay appointments in 2009/10 and subsequently! With Chris Parker and Liz Lyons having departed, we currently only retain a share of Catherine Ralph, a situation that is bound to improve somewhat in the not too distant future. Furthermore, in September 2009, following her Ordination, Rev Julia Monaghan will be deemed ‘full time’ to the Circuit. Meanwhile, of course, other Presbyters are moving on and we have to cut our cloth accordingly.
I am confident that those of you able to give a little more will do so, and those of you obliged to give a little less, will have to. My concern is those who still give only what they were giving twenty years ago. By and large, we all live longer: that is why there are more ministers retired than working, why it is necessary to increase employers pension contributions, and perhaps why legacies are becoming fewer and smaller.
Bob Spiller
PROPERTY STEWARD’S REPORT
Our Church buildings are very well used, and offer flexibility to enable multiple activities to take place, within a variety of settings. Looking after our Church buildings is similar to maintaining the Forth Road Bridge, and requires both regular maintenance and the occasional special project to improve facilities.
The most visible work are our special projects. Over the last three or four years, we have undertaken a tremendous amount of work, always needing special fundraising. Thanks to the generosity of members, friends, and other organisations, we always complete the work debt free. We have upgrading our kitchen facilities to modern commercial standards, renewed the front doors to both the Church Centre and Church, and built a storm porch over the Church Centre entrance. As this year’s project, under the banner of “Flushed with Success”, we have completed a complete refurbishment of our toilets, and very splendid they look too!
Less visible, but just as important, is the routine care and maintenance. Your property stewards, and others, quietly ensure that the buildings are fit for purpose. This year, the lounge floor has been completely refurbished, the hall and corridor floors given a fresh coat of sealant, the heating systems cleaned and checked, a new projection screen fitted in Church, and numerous other repairs and additions. Whether it be toilet rolls in the toilets, or a rebuild of the software on the Church PC, we are grateful to those who make it all happen.
Of special mention is the step improvement in the cleanliness of the Church and Centre. We have invested in additional hours of cleaning, and are grateful to both Alma Taylor and Antony Bassamea for their work. Antony has recently left us, and we are in the process of appointing a replacement.
But all of this costs money…
Our energy costs have risen dramatically (just as they have for all of us at home), and many of our other costs continue to rise in line with inflation. We have reviewed letting charges with those organisations that simply let rooms from us. In preparation for this review, we calculated the cost, per hour, of occupying the Church Centre. Clearly this will vary by season, but an annualised average worked out to £7.95 for each hour the building is occupied. There is no element of funding for special projects within this, it is simply the cost of using the buildings as they stand. You can see the breakdown of the costs in the pie chart below. This is true cost – there is no contribution to the work of God in our Church within the “cost of occupation” figure.
It is not our intention to start charging letting fees to Church organisations. This is consistent with our tradition, where we have instead received donations. Some organisations are able to give generously, others are not able to give at all. The Church Council recognises this, and does not expect a level of income from any particular Church organisation. However, we have sought to ensure that the lettings charges raised for both regular and ‘party’ bookings at least cover the cost of occupation.
And finally, while not really a ‘property’ item, mention should be made of those paid employees of the Birmingham Elmdon Circuit who have worked in our Church. Rev Julia Monaghan and Catherine Ralph have reported separately in this report booklet, and we are grateful for all they do.
In August 2008, Chris Parker retired. Chris demonstrated to us what a true asset a Pastoral Worker could be for a Church, and her worked touched many people within, and outside, our congregation. She is missed, and we are grateful for the time she was with us. More recently, Liz Lyons, who has worked in the Church Office as our Administrator, has resigned. She has been the face of Lyndon during the week, and we say thank you for her work with us.
Neither Chris nor Liz have been replaced at this point, which I know is a concern. The Circuit are wrestling with the challenge of providing all the paid work that the Churches would like, while also needing to operate within a constrained budget. The available funds is defined by what each of the Churches is able to contribute (principally from weekly offerings). We are represented in the discussions, and strive to get a result that is right for Lyndon (which we would like to include both Pastoral and Administration work) while also being right for the Circuit.
Ian Hancock
OTHER ORGANISATIONS
We welcome a number of other organisations that use our premises on a weekly basis. These include:
• Alcoholics’ Anonymous on Tuesdays and Fridays
• Stepping Stars Performing Arts School on Saturdays
• Solihull Dysphasia Association (the ‘Stroke Club’) on Fridays
• PHAB Club on Tuesdays
FOR MORE INFORMATION
We would be delighted to see or hear from you, and you can contact us in lots of different ways.
Post: Lyndon Methodist Church
Melton Avenue
Solihull
West Midlands B92 7QX
Tel: 0121 743 5608
Web: www.lyndonmethodist.org
Email: lyndonmethodist@btconnect.com