St Andrew's Church

It’s been a busy Year at St Andrew’s as always – engaged in activities throughout the week as well as Sundays. Sadly we had to say farewell to John and Sara Bleazard as John took up a new post in West Kirby on the Wirral. John’s ministry had a very significant impact in Great Cornard and he is sadly missed though we rejoice that he’s gone on to a new post where he can hopefully have an even greater impact as rector of St Bridget’s in West Kirby. On the flip side the ministry team at St Andrew’s has grown as Rowland Bareham has completed his training as a lay reader and Sam Beadle is made a lay elder. The ministry team also includes Lesley Bannister, Penny Thewlis, Lynda Lunn, Cathy Dann and Edith Halden – together they share the ministry in St Andrews with myself and contribute a huge amount to the life of the church though not always in up front ways. These and a whole host of other folk give their time freely to support and run the church – not simply for those who come but for everyone in the parish – it has been said that “the Church is the only organisation that exists for the benefit of non-members” and at St Andrews we see that as part of our core purpose – we are the church of and for the community as a whole.

We’ve been privileged to support the whole community through many activities – be they social, spiritual or pastoral: like the Lunch Club which runs bi-weekly and provides not just food but also social and pastoral contact for a large number of our more elderly residents; our Friday morning drop in at the church; Sunday and midweek services seeking to cater to young and old alike; Sunday School and going into local schools for Assuemblies, classroom work and an exciting new initiative called “Open the Book”;  and of course our immensely privileged ministry amongst those who have been bereaved or at the other end of the scale: with those celebrating life through Baptisms and Weddings. Just to give you an idea we’ve had approximately 30 baptisms, 35 Funerals and 11 Weddings in the last year – which represents a significant impact on the life of families living in Great Cornard. Our other big services have included the Remembrance day service in concert with RBL, our annual memorial service and of course Christmas and Easter which are always very well supported.

The building itself has seen changes, as we’ve made modifications to the chancel arch area and have installed an overhead screen and a powerful data projector to aid in using audio-visual material in services and at other occasions to. This has been important in connecting with younger families as well as giving us a breadth of ways of communicating the message of Gospel. It has also opened other opportunities and through our Christian Video License we’re please over the coming year to be able to offer some film nights with free admission – our first being “TinTin: The secret of the unicorn” on the 4^th May. We’ve also commissioned and made use of some new Altar frontals made by our sewing group which meets on a Wednesday afternoon.

Over the coming year we have big things planned for the building as work begins on renewing the Chancel roof – we have so far raised in the region of £60,000 and are seeking to raise another 20,000 through grant applications and direct fund raising to complete the work before we can then press ahead with further improvements to the interior of the building as we seek to action the vision for the west-end of church including new access to the gallery, a fully accessible toilet and crèche/meeting room as well as improvements to the kitchen and looking at how we might make better use of the space in the nave. We also have big things planned socially and are giving a big hurrah for the Queen’s Jubilee with events running every day from 1^st to the 4^th June including a Childrens  Art Competition run in concert with the local schools and a Jubilee Fete run in Concert with the 5 Bells Public house.

I’m sorry I couldn’t join you for the Annual Parish Meeting but thank you for the invitation to write. It’s looking like an exciting year and I do look forward to working with yourselves and the community in these next twelve months.

Many blessings,

Rev Chris Ramsey,

Vicar,

St Andrews