a) A highlight of the year for the whole benefice was the ordination of Rev’d Dr Lynda Pugh to the diaconate in July in Grantham. Lynda’s appointment and subsequent ministry as Assistant Curate has been well received by the people of the Glen Group of Parishes. A newly built house in Gallery Walk, Pinchbeck was purchased by the Diocese of Lincoln as a curate’s house earlier in the year and was completed just in time for the family to move in at the start of June.
b) In March we welcomed Bishop Tim Ellis, the Bishop of Grantham, at a service for the whole benefice at St Bartholomew’s.
c) Bishop John Saxbee visited in November to open the new St Martins Vestment facility at Pinchbeck and to look at the progress of works at St Bartholomew’s and St Mary’s.
d) Youth nights in the church hall and elsewhere have continued to be well received by the young people of the three villages.
e) The Glen Crafters, which is held at the Vicarage, is a new group that was formed during the year and it has added a new opportunity for fellowship and mutual support on various craft projects.
f) We welcomed people from the three villages to the Vicarage in June for a Garden Party and in December we hosted a function for churchwardens and licensed ministers.
g) Once again I have appreciated the advice and support of the six churchwardens throughout the year.
h) The ministry goals which were identified at the October 2008 Ministry Review day were as follows:
· The sharing a variety of liturgies around the benefice:
§ Annual memorial services
§ Ministry of prayer and healing
§ Share good practice for All Age Worship
· Outreach ministry in Pinchbeck – drop-in ministry
· Think tank to consider ministry to high school students after school at Pinchbeck
· Offer more school assemblies by training authorised ministers for this
· As above for worship services at Aged Care Homes
· Get involved in Back to Church Sunday
· Formation of another housegroup at Pinchbeck
· Bereavement and funeral ministry – more involvement from lay people
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Most (but not all) of these received attention during 2009 and are mentioned in various places in my report below. This was discussed at a recent Staff Meeting with Bishop Tim Ellis and these areas will continue to be priorities during 2010. |
a) A review of all ministry with children and youth was conducted during the year and resulted in a new approach to this ministry commencing in 2010. The review arose out of the Ministry Review Day in October 2008.
b) A number of people especially Aileen Workman, Pat Lake and Nicky Bland have been working closely with the seven Uniformed Groups for young people in order to build bridges and offer pastoral care and other support.
c) The long awaited reordering project commenced in August 2009. This meant that the church was closed to the public at all times except for events and services of worship. I would like to thank Roy Withyman for the amount of time he has put into getting this project off the ground and also to thank everyone for their help and patience during the period of works. Aileen Workman, Enid Brace and others ensured that worship could continue under difficult circumstances.
d) We were saddened by the passing of PCC member and authorised minister Mr Colin Smith in July after a short illness. Colin contributed enormously to the life of this parish over many years and is very much missed. Our prayers continue to be with Pat and the family.
e) In September we received news of the death of Canon Ronald Wilson. Canon Ron was a much loved Vicar of Pinchbeck from 1963-1978 and Canon and Prebend of Lincoln Cathedral 1972-1978. In his long ministry both here and elsewhere he touched the lives of many with the love of Christ. Our prayers remain with Mrs Elsa Wilson and the family.
f) At Pinchbeck East Church of England Primary School we welcomed Headteacher Mr Tom Verity in the Easter Term. In a short time Mr Verity has fostered mutually beneficial links between church and school. As a result of our renewed youth and children’s ministry arrangements, we are now offering a church led assembly at school every Wednesday.
g) St Mary’s Choir has continued to flourish under the leadership of John Bland as Organist and Choirmaster. I sense a strong feeling of fellowship and enjoyment amongst members of the choir, which is encouraging to see, and this certainly reveals itself in worship.
h) Once again we hosted the Annual Thanksgiving Service for the Peterborough and Spalding District Lodge of the Oddfellows.
a) A great strength of the parish is the committed team that offers Catch and Catch Plus for our young people on a regular basis. Many thanks to Ann Garth and her gifted team for this ongoing and creative ministry.
b) Under our new arrangements in the benefice for school assemblies we have been able to offer church led collective worship on three Thursdays a month.
c) Maureen Underwood was authorised as a Parish Lay Minister during the year and we welcome her to the team.
d) The long awaited reordering project commenced in the autumn. I would like to thank Jim Peach for the time and energy he has put into this project as well as Wendy Houghton and others who have seen to the management of practicalities to ensure that regular worship and other events could go ahead during the period of works.
a) The housegroup meeting day was changed to Thursday during 2009, which has resulted in increased attendance.
b) Our new arrangements for children and youth ministry saw Ruth Scrivener join the team to lead assemblies and soon this should mean that we can offer more assemblies at Surfleet Seas End Primary School. With the federation of Surfleet and Weston schools we have also begun to host joint assemblies in church as well as to help lead some that are held in Weston Church.
c) Members of the congregation have been involved in the formulation of the Surfleet Parish Plan which has been an exciting development that has drawn various village organisations together. This building of bridges in the community has been very encouraging to see.
d) The Minimarket continues to be an admirable example of community outreach and I would like to thank the team of people who make this possible.
a) We are extremely fortunate to have a gifted team of licensed and authorised ministers (20 in all) and I would like to thank them all for their ministry, friendship and support during 2009.
b) It was great to welcome Lynda Pugh to our team in July. The goal of Lynda’s time with us is very much focused on her training needs and this is reflected in her Working Agreement. I hope we can all continue to explore together what it means to be a training parish or benefice. So far the focus of Lynda’s ministry (apart from the leadership of regular worship) has been baptism and funeral ministry, pastoral visiting and confirmation preparation.
c) Lay Readers Lesley Pemberton and Michael Pemberton participated in a training course for Funeral Ministry during 2009 and are now licensed for this ministry in the benefice and beyond. All seven licensed ministers in the Glen Group are now able to lead funerals.
d) We have continued the practice of Quarterly combined ministry team meetings. The November meeting was shared with the Gosberton Group. Staff meetings involve all licensed ministers and are every other month, with regular meetings involving Lynda and myself most weeks. We have a regular schedule of Morning Prayer that we share together.
e) With a vacancy for a Baptist Minister for Pinchbeck during the whole of 2009 I would like to thank those who maintained our close relationship with the Baptist Church during this period by keeping open the channels of communication and also by leading services there.
f) Table One (following page) provides a summary of those holding the Bishop’s Licence and of Authorised ministers.
Table 1: Summary of Licensed and
Authorised Ministry
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Licensed Ministers |
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Rev’d Dr Murray Harvey (Incumbent) Rev’d Paul Hardingham
(Associate Priest, OLM) Rev’d Dr Lynda Pugh (Assistant Curate) Michael Pemberton (Reader) Barrie Chapman (Reader) Lesley Pemberton (Reader) Nicki Bland (Reader) |
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Authorised Ministers
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Pinchbeck |
West Pinchbeck |
Surfleet |
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Graham Brooks Pat Smith Stephanie Bratley Pat Lake Aileen Workman John Bland |
Daphne Keen Ann Garth Maureen Underwood |
Ruth Scrivener Bev Mackey Frances Richardson Douglas Drakard |
a) The three housegroups have been steadily working through the excellent study on John’s Gospel entitled John: The Way to True Life. The housegroups provide a forum for bible study, fellowship, prayer and pastoral care as members explore the issues of faith and life together. In varying degrees this is also offered in other parish groups such as the Intercessions group, Mothers Union and Bellringers. Thank you to all group leaders and hosts.
b) I have mentioned work with children and youth elsewhere in this report.
c) During Lent about thirty of us were involved in the Lent Study entitled Life Journeys.
a) A considerable amount of my time during the year was occupied in arranging the Stipendiary Curacy and also helping Lynda settle in to her new role including introducing her to the leadership of baptisms and funerals. Also, with supporting two Readers develop their skills at leading funerals, much of my time in 2009 was spent in a training capacity. However I hope you will agree that this is time well spent and it means that we are living out our vocation as a training parish or benefice.
b) I have been supported in this training role by regular meetings with other clergy who are Training Incumbents, most of which are attended by the Bishop of Lincoln.
c) I also travelled to Oxford in July to learn about curacy training with Rev’d Professor Canon Martyn Percy at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, Oxford in July which was immensely useful.
a) As a Bishops’ Adviser I spent a week in Ely Diocese in May for a selection panel. I also attended a number of meetings and selection days in Lincoln throughout the year.
b) I travelled to Cambridge to conduct the ANZAC Day service for the city of Cambridge and also to attend an Australia Day function there.
c) I was elected as a member of Diocesan Synod in June and in the autumn was appointed to the Diocesan Board of Patronage.
a) Despite being very well served at the moment in terms of clergy and licensed and authorised ministers we should not grow complacent when it comes to discerning, valuing and using one another’s gifts.
b) Considerable time and effort during 2008 and 2009 has gone into the reordering buildings at West Pinchbeck and Pinchbeck (and for fundraising to make this possible) but the challenge now is to redirect this energy into a focus on mission.
viii. Statistics
a) Table two provides statistics for 2009.
Table 2: Statistics for 2009
(2008 in
brackets) |
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Pinchbeck |
West Pinchbeck |
Surfleet |
Benefice Total |
|
Normal Sunday Attendance1 Over 16 only |
69 (64) |
24 (24) |
26 (28) |
119 |
|
Attendance Easter2 |
125 (80) |
48 (26) |
54 (42) |
227 |
|
Attendance Christmas Eve & Day2 |
665 (702) |
57 (50) |
67 (98) |
789 |
|
Baptisms |
19 (8) |
5 (7) |
3 (5) |
27 |
|
Weddings |
9 (8) |
3 (2) |
1 (2) |
13 |
|
Funerals |
34 (48) |
8 (10) |
9 (12) |
51 |
|
Parish Share3 |
£26,848 (£25,815) |
£9,616 (£9,246) |
£10,000 (£12,465) |
£46,464 |
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Footnote 1. NSA includes all adults attending. It excludes those who have attended an earlier service in the same church on the same day. This is the figure sent to the Deanery treasurer each quarter for the calculation of the Parish Share. 2. This figure includes children. 3. Parish share was paid in full by
all three parishes in 2009. |
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The Rev’d Dr Murray Alexander Harvey
Vicar of the Glen Group of
Parishes