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We began the meeting by reflecting on what Paul wrote to the Romans about all our life being in Christ, being in relationship to God, and we prayed that our discussions would be conducted in the light of that truth.
There were two main topics on the Agenda.
The first was our Baptism policy, discussed briefly at the last meeting, and then in more detail by the Worship and Pastoral Care Committee.
It was agreed that we want our policy to remain open, and that the process of booking and preparing for Baptisms should be modified, so that the initial enquiry would be logged by the Office, quickly followed up by a visit from one of the clergy when the various options would be discussed.
A lay visitor would then meet the family to go into more of the details of the service.
That person would ideally be present at the Baptism or Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child service, and take part in the welcome.
Shortly afterwards, the visitor would drop in with an invitation to the Family Service.
A card would be sent to the child on the anniversary of the Baptism/Thanksgiving, for the first two or three years.
The second major topic was discussion of the Deanery Pastoral Plan, which had also been on the Agenda at a previous meeting.
There are plans to join some parishes together, formally or informally, and our discussion was about the resources we have to share with each other in the deanery.
We could offer to introduce our pattern of Lay Pastors and Care-rings; share our experience of Lay Leadership; join our choir with another for an occasional service; give clergy from parishes where there are few weddings some experience in taking services, and share wedding preparation with others; and we could commend our efforts at community building through pensioners' lunches, and coffee mornings.
In return we could benefit from the experience of other parishes in work with young people through Messy Church and other ways of attracting young families.
There is scope for much more interaction that we have thought of before.
We learned that our finances are on the point of looking much healthier, because the reclaimed Income Tax through Gift Aid is about to be returned.
But our Parish Share will inevitably rise – it was agreed that we should plan to use the Giving in Grace scheme next year, to increase awareness of the important part giving plays in our discipleship.
We agreed on a lighter note that it would be good practice to put something in the collection bag at each service – especially when the Brownies or Scouts were taking the collection.
People who give by Standing Order appear to be giving nothing as they pass the bag on, and it was suggested that there could be small cards available for use, indicating that giving was catered for in another way, which people could make use of to encourage the young people to understand that giving was part of our discipline.
It was also agreed that the Summer Fete next year should be on the last Saturday of May, in the hope that more people would be available to support it.
We saw photos of the proposed statue of Alban which is progressing in the Cathedral workshop; and agreed that it would be very appropriate.
We also saw drawings of the proposed handrail for the stairs at St Alban's. St Mary's Church is making progress with its lighting plan, and improvements to drainage.
We thought again about Back to Church Sunday, in September, and agreed that it would be good to give people information about the range of services we shall be having during the month, so that people can choose to join us for whatever is appropriate to their circumstances.
Churches Together in Swaythling will be holding a Quiz evening on September 13th, for Christian Aid.
Put the date in your diary!