Reverend Canon Mark Brown Our new Priest in Charge
Dear Friends,
Greetings from Tonbridge, Kent, where I am in the process of many farewells to the Parish where Allie, I and our five children have been for the last 13 years! I am very excited and humbled to have been called by the Lord to be serving with you at All Saints. I am conscious of the many demands placed upon Churches during these days where a new language of tier systems and restrictions extend around the regions of our country. I am, therefore, even more full of admiration for the resilience and dedication of your team, PCC, Wardens and Parish Representatives to have been so adaptable and responsive during a long vacancy period.
Allie and I are very much looking forward to getting to know you all. We will be joined with our younger daughter Sarah-Jane, a second year student at Loughborough University. Our four other children have established themselves in various communities and we hope in time you might bump into them when they visit. Amy is an assistant clinical psychologist in London, Christopher a Police Officer in Kent, Timothy an engineer in London and Stuart a trainee teacher in Sevenoaks.
This verse from a well known hymn is much on my mind
Come down, O love divine,
seek thou this soul of mine,
and visit it with thine own ardour glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
within my heart appear,
and kindle it, Thy holy flame bestowing.
Whilst written for an individual, the invocation or calling of the Holy Spirit to come is surely more widely appropriate: to the soul of our earthly families, our Church family, our Parish, our city, and region. May the Spirit come and bring what only He can - His healing and His wisdom to know how to manage and be through these days when so many are in need of the Lord to whom the Spirit points.
So, if I may say, this will be my prayer for myself and our increasing partnership in God’s work for the Holy Spirit to come and reveal and inspire His work and ways within our souls. I am so glad to know we will explore these things together in 2021 and beyond. Thank you for your prayers - these are reciprocated frequently by me during these days of change, calling and adventure for the Lord and His gospel.
Mark Brown
APCM summary
The All Saints Annual Parish Meeting and Annual Parochial Church Meeting took place on Zoom on Wednesday 21st October. Thank you to all those members of the church family who joined us for these meetings.
Ruth Watkin and Dave Coleshill were elected as churchwardens, and Alison Fletcher and Richard Blyth were appointed to support them as deputy churchwardens.
Ruth has been a member of All Saints since early 2000. She is married to Roger and they have three daughters and seven grandchildren! One family now live in Atlanta, USA, another live in North Portugal, but happily one family still live in the UK in Sheffield 8!
Dave has been deputy churchwarden since April 2018. He is married to Gillian and has two teenage children, Lois and Hugh. He, like Ruth has been attending All Saints for many years.
Thank you to Julia Newton who steps down from being a deputy churchwarden, after 18 months, to focus on her role as All Saints Treasurer.
At the APM, Ruth paid tribute to Sarah Leighton, our retiring Senior Warden. Ruth said that Sarah had been exceptional in all the ways she has fulfilled her role, particularly over this last year whilst we have been without an incumbent. Firstly in her willingness to accept the role of warden for a second time, after the sudden tragic death of our dear fellow warden, Steve Whittams-Howarth. Following this, the departure of our Vicar, Gary Wilton, in summer 2019, meant that Sarah had to assume all the extra responsibilities that befall a Senior Warden in a Vacancy. This she has done with exceptional goodwill, using all her remarkable organisational gifts in managing the large and complex church that is All Saints.’Unprecedented’ was the adjective that was used to describe the amount of time, energy and resilience shown by Sarah as she remained ‘in post’ through the initial Lockdown and until November 4th. We all owe Sarah a huge debt of gratitude and give thanks to God for the many ways He has blessed us through her. A gift of thanks was made from the warden team and Church to express our appreciation.
In her response, Sarah talked about the demands of the last 18 months and the challenges that we, as a church family, will face in the near future as we make decisions about the repair and up keep of the All Saints church building. She gave thanks for all those who give so graciously, faithfully and generously of their time and talents to serve in this place. She thanked God for all those He had drawn around her throughout her time as senior churchwarden and for all their love and support. Sarah expressed particular thanks to the All Saints staff team who have not only had to respond to the significant demands of being in Vacancy but also the additional challenge of a global pandemic.
She gave thanks for the PCC and all those involved in the governance of All Saints. Thanking, in particular, Richard Donkin, Bev Popplewell and Sue Blaby who come to the end of the maximum 9 years consecutive term on PCC. Sarah expressed her wholehearted thanks for God's love and the provision He has provided through the All Saints church family. Thanking each and every one for their part in the life of God's church here in Ecclesall. Most of all, Sarah thanked our loving, sustaining God without whom we are nothing and with whom all things are possible. She asked everyone to continue to lift the staff team, churchwardens and All Saints Treasurer in prayer. Saying that the enormity of their roles is huge and unsustainable without God's provision, and asking that we all continue to discern how we can support all those in leadership at All Saints to be a shining light for the glory of God in this place.
Treasurer’s Report
Julia Newton, formally All Saints Treasurer since June 2020, presented the 2019 audited accounts and provided an overview of 2019, looking at how PCC spent the church family budget. She explained trends in income and expenditure over recent years, including looking at the impact that Covid-19 restrictions are having in 2020. She concluded her presentation by considering our reserves and where our church family finances stand as we approach 2021. Julia framed her presentation in the context of the recent sermon series "What Is Church?" and reminded us that all our giving goes to support us to "live out" our mission statement. If you would like a copy of Julia's slides please email the church office using the email address: office@allsaintsecclesall.org.uk