St Mary'a Annual Vestry Meeting
ST. MARY'S CHURCH NORTH ELMHAM, ANNUAL VESTRY MEETING AND ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING.
These two meetings, which follow on from one another, will be held on Thursday April 22nd, 7.30pm in St. Mary's Church.
The Annual Vestry meeting is held for the purpose of electing Churchwardens for the year ahead and all parishioners are eligible to vote.
Nominations must be received and appropriate forms filled in in advance of the meeting.
The Annual Parochial Church Meeting is held to present the Annual Church Report and the Accounts for the year ending December 31st 2009, and to elect the Parochial Church Council for the year ahead, only those on the Church Electoral Roll being eligible to vote. Opportunity should also be given for those present to express their views on church matters.
You are all most welcome to attend these meetings.
Report of the Churchwardens of St Mary's, North Elmham for the year ending December, 2009
St Mary's church is part of a Group Benefice consisting of Guist, Twyford, Bintree, Worthing, Billingford and North Elmham under the leadership of a single rector. At the centre of church life is worship and we are very fortunate in having Jonathan Dodd as our organist, ably helped by Martin Budgett. The quality of the music adds much to the atmosphere of the services. We would like to thank both of them for the part they play.
WORSHIP took a variety of forms on a regular cycle. Communion Services following both the Book of Common Prayer and Common Worship were held as well as regular services of Morning Prayer. Our monthly All-age Worship provided a setting more suited to families. While the rector officiated at the Communion services, some of the others were led by a dedicated team of laity for whom we are most grateful. Without their help there would not be a service here every Sunday. On the fifth Sunday of the month there was a group service, held in rotation round the churches in the Benefice.
Highlights of the year are at the great religious festivals of Christmas and Easter. As well as carols by candlelight followed by hot spicy drinks and mince pies, our Christingle service on Christmas Eve was very popular with nearly 200 participants. The children held oranges with lighted candles; the oranges to represent the world, the candles, light and the sweets, food. We welcomed Christmas day itself with a late-night service which was followed by Christmas Praise at 10.30 which was well attended by visitors and families.
AT EASTER we held our third Sunrise Service in the ruins on the site of the cathedral - a place of worship well over a 1,300 yeas ago. Sadly for the first time, sun was not visible, but nevertheless, as always, it was a very special occasion.
THE TEA SERVICE, which has been a feature of North Elmham's pattern of worship for many years, is a monthly, informal half hour of hymns, prayers and readings with a short talk followed by tea and cakes. During the year it was decided to move it from Sunday afternoon to the third Monday of each month as Sunday seemed to be a popular day for family visits for the older members of our community who we particularly have in mind when arranging this service. This has resulted in more people being able to attend. We meet in one of three homes in North Elmham apart from our yearly visit to founder friends now living in Cromer. We are very grateful to those who host the afternoons.
THE BIBLE STUDY GROUP met regularly, studying Matthew's gospel. During Lent a service of Compline was held every Wednesday, followed by a discussion group in which the York Lent course, 'Faith, Hope and Love' was followed. These all helped deepen understanding of our faith and led to lively and heart-searching discussions from which we all took away something on which to reflect.
OTHER EVENTS organised by and for the church but which involved the wider community included the Church Fete in the grounds of Elmham House on a wonderfully sunny May Sunday. It was a very happy family occasion, made the more so by the Police Dog demonstration followed by a Fun Dog Show. The record sum of over £2,000 was made to help with church expenses. Our thanks go to Tom and Jo Fitzalan Howard for opening up their garden.
ELMHAM FESTIVAL was, as always, the main fundraising event, held over the August Bank Holiday. The focus of the weekend was the flowers so beautifully arranged in the church to depict the favourite poems of the arrangers. As well as this, there were raffles, a tombola, bric-a-brac and book stalls and of course splendid lunches and teas were available. A Communion service in the sun was held on the Cathedral site. This year there was also a Memorabilia Exhibition which brought back many happy memories for the older long-standing residents of North Elmham as well as teaching the younger generation something of life in the not-so-distant past. The running of the event involves a dedicated committee as well as over 100 others who help over the weekend. Other fund-raising events included a lecture on Coke of Norfolk which attracted a capacity audience to the drawing room at Elmham Hall. Our thanks go to Tom and Jo for opening up their home for the occasion.
CHURCH REPAIRS Much of the money (over £10,000 this year) raised at the Festival is earmarked to help maintain the fabric of the church - a building of which we are all justly proud. The day-to-day cleaning and flower arranging in the church is undertaken by volunteers and there are often comments in the visitors' book which show how much this is appreciated. During the year some fine new notice boards were put up, purchased with money from the diocesan Mission Fund, for which we are most grateful. Notices of all local church activities as well as those in the diocese as a whole are displayed here. During the year the heating system was repaired, funded by a very generous well-wisher. This has meant that this winter we had a warm church, both on Sundays and for events such as weddings and funerals.
However, major works of maintenance are very expensive. In 2009 work on the north transept guttering and the rebuilding of the flintwork on a buttress was skilfully carried out and paid for from Festival funds. Exploration work in preparation for the replacing of the lead on the south aisle took place and this is be carried out in the spring with the help of a major grant from English Heritage as well as several smaller donations from other charities. We are already thinking of our next project to make our church a more welcoming place. With the support of the diocesan 'Open Churches Project', we are looking towards installing a small kitchen and W.C. as well as an exhibition about the history of the church and cathedral site.
THE CHURCH YARD 2009 also saw increased activity in the old church yard. A tour of the church yard was designed to alert members of the village to the interest that is to be found in looking at old gravestones. It also raised some money which helped pay for material when a team from the Community Payback Programme spent several weeks clearing the undergrowth, pruning trees and refencing for sheep, which we hope will keep it tidy for several years. We were very pleased with the team's efforts and hope that they too gained something from working in such surroundings. The Mid-Norfolk Family History Group also began checking the W.I. graveyard survey of over 20 years ago and will produce a very useful booklet listing the gravestones and inscriptions which we look forward to seeing.
GIVING As well as raising money to pay our share towards the expenses of the diocese and to keep up the building, we also give to others. The Christingle service raised £200 for the Children's Society while other collections raised money for the Royal British Legion and Congo appeals. Lent collections were given to the diocese' Lent appeal (Educate Peru). The collections at the Tea Service go to a charity chosen by the participants. In 2009 £200 was sent for disaster relief through the Tearfund.
The smooth running of the church relies on a small group of dedicated people working alongside the rector, for all of whom we are very grateful. We are a friendly bunch and always welcome newcomers to the church, so do come along to any of our activities, all of which are announced in Elmham News or on the notice board at the back of the church.
Tish Moore and Susanna Wade Martins; Church Wardens.