For what felt like the first time for a while, in 2022 St James's enjoyed a quiet, settled and relatively crisis free year in which we could concentrate on our purpose and mission. The COVID pandemic did not go away but we coped with its peaks and troughs and learnt to live with it, gradually returning to “normal” life at church whilst keeping close watch on the statistics and advice, both national and local. Various members of the congregation were affected but there was no evidence of any transmission through church services or events. Finances improved somewhat and events supported and showcased our place in the community; we continued throughout as “A Church with an Open Door”, “A Church at the heart of the Community, with the Community at our heart”, and a place of witness in our place on Martin Way, by the bus stop.
As ever, we had much to be grateful for, including the blessings of people – clergy and lay – able and willing to take the lead and run with projects and events. We took our Mission Action Plan seriously (and reviewed it thoroughly), based on the Anglican Communion framework of 5 Marks of Mission, but we still know that however good an idea is, if there isn't enough money or there aren't enough people with the good health, skills, time, strength and ability to take it forward, it can't happen at this time – but there may be a way to do something similar instead. And, if it was obvious, affordable and/or easy we would already have done it.
The Parochial Church Council is the elected body making decisions on behalf of the church on issues about the church. Meetings were generally held in the back of the church, with appropriate masking and social distancing as needed and there was 86% attendance rate.
Worship and study continued in church, online and in other ways. This year, no services were cancelled or moved on-line because of COVID and attendance at in church services returned to almost pre COVID levels, while the Zoom daily evening prayer and weekly Compline services initiated during the pandemic continued. The chapel remained open for private prayer, and there was clear evidence of regular use by a good number of people (more than pre COVID) as evidenced by prayers left on the notice board, candles lit, small tokens left by the pricket stand, and chance meetings and conversations with members of the congregation in and around church at different times for different reasons. Thursday Mass continued in the church rather than chapel and numbers remained high; there was ongoing discussion about the use of the chapel and whether it should return to “as it was” or whether we should build on the changes forced upon us and there were many different views.
Main services every week were the celebration of the Eucharist in one kind only at first although the common cup was reintroduced later (with clear explanation that this was optional but that intinction was not allowed) in church on Sundays and Thursdays at 10am. The Gospel reading returned to being read from the centre point of the church, in the midst of the congregation. Evening Prayer was shared on Zoom every evening, and Compline every Friday evening.
All “special” services were COVID risk assessed beforehand and returned fully albeit with some ongoing changes to minimize risks of transmission. Candlemas marked the transition from looking back towards Christmas to looking forwards towards Lent and Easter, the service starting in the hall with readings, the choir singing the Nunc Dimittis, blessing of the candles and procession into church. Lent itself started with Mass and ashing on Ash Wednesday and continued with Lent groups (On Reflection and Challenge) after Mass on Thursdays. Mothering Sunday was celebrated in pink with reference to Mother Mary and all mothers and with the usual distribution of posies to all in loving, nurturing roles (ie everyone at St James) and we also processed on Palm Sunday. Daily services in Holy Week included the Mass of the Last Supper with foot washing and Watch at the Altar of Repose in church on Maundy Thursday. Good Friday saw the Silent Vigil outside, and in church we walked the Stations of the Cross, followed by the Liturgy in the afternoon and we reverenced the crucifix without touching or kissing the feet. The Easter Vigil took place at dawn on Easter day, and the Easter morning Mass of the Resurrection was the joyful St James Family celebration that “He is Risen. He is Risen indeed. Alleluia!”
In the run up to Christmas, we delighted to welcome back all the children from Joseph Hood School for their Christingle services and they were totally joyous services enjoyed by the children, staff, parents and us. Last minute “staff” (ours) shortages meant that parents helped us and it was lovely to involve them in that way.
The Advent Music and Words service was atmospheric and spiritual while the Outside Carols two weeks later was a little more light hearted, if decidedly cold. Musicians from Wimbledon Community Orchestra accompanied our singing and we were joined by neighbours and passers-by. We bowed to the inevitable and finished 5 minutes early so everyone could get home to watch England in the World Cup! Another great return this year was to welcome many familiar and many new faces to “our” Nativity and Christingle service and both Midnight Mass and Christmas morning Mass were well attended – but sadly no children at all at 10am. There was one wedding, four baptisms and 1 funeral in church. Prayers and a Requiem Mass were made for the death of Queen Elizabeth II and a prayer, photo and book of remembrance were available in the chapel for all to pay their respects.
In 2022, we gave great thanks for our clergy, especially Fr Mark Budden, our entirely voluntary Vicar. He led us in worship and prayer and facilitated discussions about mission and our place in this community and we felt the benefit of his quiet and compassionate pastoral support. We were also grateful for Fr Graham Derriman who took services and preached in church during the year and led Zoom evensong and compline, and also to Simon Emdin and Mike McCormack who led and facilitated services and worship throughout the year. Members of the Wimbledon Korean Baptist Church (WKBC) returned to worshipping in church – and welcomed their new Pastor Mahen. We also welcomed another church on Sunday evenings, the Life Giving Grace Ministry Church, which has its roots in Sri Lanka.
Our mission with children and families continued to be difficult although we were delighted to welcome a family who quickly became regular attenders at St James. Theo and Fran were confirmed at Southwark cathedral and Pru was admitted to Communion, with a view to being confirmed in 2023 and also joined the readers' team. As the serving team grew again during services, Theo started to serve again. The links with the children of Joseph Hood School began to reawaken; we haven't been able to restart taking assemblies, but as well as the Christingle we welcomed the whole of Year 3 for a teaching session in church, where they learned a little more about the building and the people here, and about the mystery of Christ's life and resurrection.
4 names were removed from the electoral roll and 1 added making a total of 50. Average attendance for Sundays in October was 36. Our great sadness is that, however we count them, we are for the moment an aging congregation with children and young people that can still be counted on the fingers of one hand – just.
People continued to become more confident and to undertake roles within the church setting again. The serving team and choir robed, and the altar party increased to a full team each Sunday. Welcomers did just that – welcomed newcomers, returners and regulars with a smile and information and guidance as needed.
Elaine Lambie stood down as churchwarden and we were not able to elect a new person to the role this year so Simon Emdin continued alone. Simon, with Mike McCormack, opened and locked the church every day, and we don't minimize or forget the day to day stuff – the locking up after services, the managing of the rubbish collections, the buying of candles and putting out of loo rolls and handwash, the writing of rotas, the setting of the heating system, the opening and shutting of windows – all the things that must be done, and are done willingly and lovingly by people, and not by magic.
We became used to life without the vicarage although there were a few ongoing difficulties with some deliveries, and with access to the Vicarage garden for maintenance to the outside wall of the church. We have an excellent relationship with the Curate Fr Simon Asquith and he willingly allows us access to the garden, and works a system around bins, and whatever post that still gets sent there which seems to work for the moment; we have adjusted most post and routine deliveries to different homes and Fr Mark has a mobile parish phone.
Quite a lot of relatively minor and routine maintenance work was caught up on in the church and hall and the Quinquennial inspection took place in October, although the report was not received until January 2023. We were aware of various largeish issues, including the front doors to the church which have become quite dilapidated – at last in part through being open in all weathers. There was a worrying leak in the hall roof during a particularly bad storm; this was investigated thoroughly and, happily, no fault was found in the roof and the leak was put down to the very strong and boisterous wind forcing the very severe rain up under the tiles, so no further action was taken but it remains under review.
The issue about the church organ was investigated in detail and all options explored, including advice from the Diocesan Organ Advisers. A plan of action was agreed and the fund-raising campaign brought to a halt by the pandemic was restarted, with the PCC agreeing to match fund moneys raised until the total required for the repairs was reached. At the time of writing, the repairs are planned in April 2023.
Mary-Jane Jeanes was the church lead on improving our carbon footprint and becoming an eco church. There was a lot of background work, that included improving our waste sorting and recycling with a teaching session to the congregation, and labels were attached to all light switches reminding to turn off when leaving the room. The rear lawn was rewilded with meadow flowers and a plum tree planted, thanks to Mary-Jane, Carolyn Doswell and Elaine McCormack. Nesting boxes for swifts were erected at the back of the hall, and a bird feeding station in the rear courtyard. Largely due to Mary-Jane's efforts, we were awarded a bronze eco certificate and are currently working on gaining a silver. Carol Hounslow was our cleaner, and Carol and Gary kept the gardens under control. Various members of the congregation litter pick the garden each time they arrive, and it is one of our joys that the church always looks welcoming and well loved.
The severe financial situation arising from the pandemic and uncertainty about upcoming fuel bills as well as certainty about some other costs (eg Quinquennial inspection) limited what we were able to do and we had fallen behind on some areas such as electrical and fire extinguisher testing but these were both in hand for the start of 2023.
The hall stayed open throughout but hall users were able to cancel at short notice without forfeit if COVID related, and were given 30 minutes free time to sanitise, ventilate etc to their own needs and requirements, although the latter stopped towards the end of the year as the guidance about that changed. The roof leak was in a position (close to the kitchen) that didn't impact on most users, but it was on the badminton court. Our badminton hall groups were advised they could move and return the ad hoc “water leak sensor” that was left in situ for 2 months and play, but also cancel at short notice if they were concerned about stormy weather again or, of course, if another leak. As is the way, some regular and longstanding hall users left, and others opened up so the hall is again well used on a regular basis; one off lets and children's parties were not restarted during this year. Ray King and Paul Kennedy managed the regular smallish jobs that needed doing. Health and Safety continued as an ongoing commitment. Risk assessments before many events eg services with candles ensured we made every effort to secure the safety and well-being of our regular and occasional congregation and visitors. The Standing Committee discussed monthly, and made informal risk assessments before each change to the COVID precautions. If a H&S incident did arise there was a review of what happened and, where appropriate, action taken to reduce the risk in future.
Use of hall.
Richard Thomas was finally able to retire from his very long-held role as Hall Secretary &ndash with our warm thanks, and we also thanked Sheila Coverdale for her longstanding help managing the one-off hires. We recombined the roles and were not able to find a volunteer to take this role, but were pleased to welcome Sara Aslett for a modest payment. Richard and Sara worked closely together and the handover appeared seamless. We did not return to one off hires (except for a few Charity events eg the St Raphael's Quiz Night) but continued to look into this for 2023.
Hospitality and charitable giving have always been an important part of life at St James's and happily resumed as the year progressed. The small Social and Fundraising group revved up again and a variety of social and fundraising events (hence the title of the group) took place. The Zoom quizzes stopped as people were more able to get out and about but resumed in the winter by public demand. St James Coffee and Chat relaunched on Thursdays from 10.45 and Lent lunches resumed with donations for these going to the Bishop's Lent Appeal. Church Funds were seriously low so many activities simply raised money for that, but the focused “internal” fundraising was for the Organ Fund and a combination of fundraising activities and personal donations, matched by the PCC from church funds, saw it reach its target.
Our first “normal” event was the Summer Fair and was well attended and the proceeds were 50% to general church funds and 50% to the re-started organ fund. The Queen's Platinum Jubilee was celebrated in style – a lunch where we were invited to “posh up” garden party style, wear 50s clothes, or red, white and blue. The weather was bad so it took place in the hall, but the outfits were great and a good time was had by all.
In September, the hall was once again transformed to a cinema and a crowd of costumed fans joined in with the Singalong version of the Wizard of Oz. In October the Book Sale was welcomed back by many and had the best result for a good number of years. And in November, a “Sit around the table, all in the same hall” Quiz Night was enjoyed by all.
The Christmas Fair again was hugely supported, with 50% of proceeds going to the Wimbledon Foodbank, and all the proceeds from the mulled wine etc at the Outdoor Charity Carols went to Embrace the Middle East. Also in December; toys from our Toy Blessing were donated to White Lodge for their older young people, and proceeds from “our” Christingle service and Midnight Mass and Christmas morning went to The Children's Society – as did the proceeds from the boxes held by many members of the congregation, and managed by Michael Pilgrim.
In Winter 22/23 the Winter Night shelter got funding to run for a shorter period under the same arrangements as at first, ie with churches hosting a group of homeless people one night a week for several weeks. Sadly, we did not feel we were able to offer this any more and although we offered support in terms of equipment and individual volunteers, this was not taken up. So previously donated items of toiletries and clothing were given to Faith in Action instead who received them very gratefully.
There was ongoing generosity in terms of food and monetary donations for the Wimbledon Foodbank and a carbootload was taken every fortnight throughout the year, with a massive extra load after Harvest Festival. The purple ticket meal scheme seems to have stopped – no-one has claimed from it since the Vicarage ceased to be “ours” in spite of the tickets being there to be given out. We think that it is empty much more of the time as Fr Simon works “out” rather than at home. There was also activity related to our charitable giving. Aside from unrecorded (by us) donations, eg toys, clothing, and Foodbank, the main recipients of our charitable giving were the Bishop's Lent Fund, Wimbledon Foodbank, Christian Care, Christian Aid, Ukraine Appeal, Embrace the Middle East, Children's Society, and the Merton Street Pastors.
In 2022, as much as possible, the PCC continued to implement the requirements of the Health and Safety Policy, Fire Policy, and A Safer Church Policy, with the lead from our Safeguarding Officers, Anne Fleming and Linda Laffar, and Graham Aslett has taken on and is working on development of our commitment to the Data Protection law (GDPR).
There was a complete review of our Mission Action Plan (MAP) as we found ourselves post pandemic, with all of those implications, and with a newly settled in incumbent. We continued working, planning our next steps in mission under the Anglican Communion's 5 Marks of Mission, plus one of our own. See here the MAP headings following a complete review exercise in November 2022
A very big part of our local mission in this year was to continue to show to the local and wider community that we are a vibrant, welcoming and joyous community, secure in our faith in the Lord with actions and worship to show that. We know and understand that the church is the people not the building, but the open building with its welcome sign is tangible evidence that something is going on, and the people going in and out of church can be known to others as the body of Christ in a way we may not be when we are at the shops, at the gym, or on the couch. During this year, we continued to work to make our faith more visible outside the open door, to invite people in as well as welcome them once here. As well as the crib display outside, our Christmas tree in the lobby – so people can see the lights and follow the star into the building, our Easter garden in the porch so seen by anyone approaching the building on the footway, Fr Mark and our altar party process outside before each Sunday service, and our bells proclaim before and during services that we are here and worshipping the Lord; all helped to bridge the gap between the pavement outside and the church inside
2022 was a very successful year for the Church financially with a surplus of income over expenditure of £16,000. As always, it was the generosity of our congregation in their direct giving which was the largest single element in our income, and direct giving in 2022 was £32,850. Given the very real financial pressures on all our budgets, this is a remarkable achievement for which the Church is extremely grateful. Increasing use of hall and church, fund raising activities, particularly our quizzes, and the introduction of Contactless payments, all helped to secure a very creditable income figure of £64,092. A successful relaunch of the Organ Fund in the second half of the year, along with match funding as agreed by the PCC, meant that the total required for the identified repairs to the Organ of just over £15,000 was reached, and this work will now begin in April 2023.
Expenditure was carefully monitored in 2022, with some very important work on the fabric of our buildings being delayed, awaiting the recommendations of the Quinquennial inspection report. This means that 2023 will see considerable additional expenditure in many areas which will need to be carefully managed and monitored to ensure that our finances remain secure. The St James Church remains in a good financial position, though our lack of reserves and the increase in inflation, particularly energy costs, mean that we need to ensure continuing good value for money in all areas of our work.
n 2022 we, as a parish and as individuals, continued to be affected by the results of a pandemic that changed our society and world. The Holy Spirit showed us the way and we continued to walk, work and pray together with our new Vicar, Fr Mark Budden, on a pathway to serve God, our local community and the wider world. We grew in faith, and in number, and knew sorrow and fear. We found consolation, courage, laughter and joy in our community, our faith and our Lord. We started 2023, and will continue to be, the face of the Lord Jesus Christ in Martin Way, in Morden and in the world and the church with the open door, at the heart of the community and with the community in our heart.
Signed, on behalf of the PCC:
Fr A Mark Budden Date: 22nd March 2023
Chair of PCC