Members of our three churches gathered at the
Penventon Park Hotel to plan for the future.
Where will we be in 2014?
It was the biggest gathering to discuss the life and work of our parish since
Mike Kippax came here as Rector, eleven years ago.
Over those 11 years God has
blessed our churches and many
people have come to know Jesus
Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
Nationally,attendance in
Anglican churches has fallen by
some 10%; ours has risen by
more than 25%.
But this is no time to be
complacent. Predicting how
things might be in five years time is
not all that difficult:
• Many of us will have either
become housebound, moved
away or died.
• The Rector will probably have
retired (if theres anything left of
his pension fund!)
• The population of the parish
will have risen, and fewer than
ever will have heard the Gospel.
We identified important aspects of our parish activity that will become
increasingly difficult to sustain, unless growth continues and commitment is maintained.
Then,after a magnificent buffetlunch, Sharon Clifton guided us to think about Mission and Outreach.Finally, Peter
Knibbs rounded theday off with the all important subjects of Time, Talents,
Money and Prayer.
The fruits of our discussions willnow form
avital part of ouragendas at PCC and Church Council meetings.And so we
press on confidently serving our God,
who has broughtus this far and leads us
into the future
. 
