Grace Church Family News 21 May 25
On 21st May we held our Family Meeting to communicate to church members the things that have been going on and the things that are planned for the future of Grace Church. It was great to welcome about 50 of you there, but we are conscious that some of you were not able to make it, and so I am writing this blog so that we can communicate with those who were not there.
Introduction
Dave McNee Introduced the meeting to explain we wanted it to be an enjoyable evening and not just a business meeting. He set out that we would be hearing about things that happened in the last few months and what is being planned as Grace Church moves forward. He led us in prayer as we started the meeting.
Welcome New Members
Si Sleight led us in praying for and welcoming in some new church members. We had some returning members namely
· Simon and Sam Redmill
Some who were not available for our last meeting
· Mary & Phil Douglas
And some who had completed the last Exploring Membership course
· Eleanor and Matt Butcher
· Kwaku Osei Berchi (not present)
· Ifeoluwa Akinola Taiwo (not present)
· Marianne Aves (not present)
Leadership Update
Dave McNee reminded us that our current eldership is Dave McNee, David Maskell and Si Sleight. He also reminded us that we had David Hazelton and Boni Hima sitting in on the majority of our elders meeting to contribute to the meetings and to see where they go on a journey towards eldership. In recent months we have added one more to this group and that is Joe Deal. Joe is now attending our elders meeting and exploring where the Lord might be calling him.
Previously our elders have been supported by Andrew Lawrence and Andy Le Roux providing some Apostolic input from Commission. There have been a number of changes across Commission, and Grace Church are now pursuing this type of relationship with Chris Kilby. We are seeing how this develops.
Youth update
Rosie O’Donohue gave us an update on Grace Youth.
· We have continued the pattern of the Youth going out twice a month during the preach on Sunday mornings.
· They have Life Groups once per month where they are currently going through the book of James.
· Once a month they have the Gathering at St Francis for some social time and activite.
· Once a moth they have a Youth Encounter evening led by a youth band giving time to pressing in with God in worship.
Rosie told us what a great event the weekend away had been. The Youth have a number of social activities dotted through the year, and we are rapidly approaching one of the highlights of the Youth Calendar which is NewDay. We are taking the biggest group we have had this year.
Sunday Club Update – Jane Deeley
Jane firstly thanked Rosie Gillard and Laura Hazelton for all the work they had put in to shape Sunday Club. They had stepped down from leading at the beginning of the year. Sunday Club is now structured slightly differently with Mim McNee taking overall leadership for Sunday Club with other Leaders taking more responsibility for each of the different groups. An addition in recent months had been the Creche age arrangement Katie Bowden has set up. This is still a self-serve arrangement, but there is a room set aside for this age group for mums or dads to go to.
Finance Update – Steve Mathews
Steve Mathews reminded us that everything we do as Grace Church should be in the three areas of
· Save The Lost
· Remember the Poor
· Build the Church
Steve showed graphs of our income in 2024 compared to 2025. He was pleased to show that on average our monthly giving has gone up by £2,500 per month. This has come from 12 new givers since September 2024. 12 givers have increased their giving since September 2024, but Steve reminded us that with inflation and resulting pay rises it was a good time for others to review their giving to see if they should increase what they give.
We heard that we had planned for this year to use some surplus and run the budget at a deficit. At the moment we are doing better than expected, and if things continue as they are then we might be close to break even by the end of the financial year.
We have had two significant gifts during the year. 1 for Parish Nursing and the other for our Mercy Fund.
Steve looked at the expenditure breakdown and pointed out that the largest chunk of this is staff salaries. Currently at 58%. Generally you expect charities to operate with staff costs at about 50%. Steve commented that we are staffing for growth, but this percentage also reflected the level of our current income.
· If we are faithful – He will be faithful
· If we are limited – He will be abundant
· If we don’t know the way forward- He will be our shepherd and out guide even to the end.
Parish Nursing update – Rose Maylin
Rose shared some anecdotes about people she has been seeing and how Parish Nursing has impacted their lives positively. The service is continuing to grow. In the foundation year 2020, Rose had 5 clients, this has now risen so that by the end of May this year Rose will have a current number of clients of 51. To help her with this she now has a team of 3 befrienders.
One of these befrienders is a qualified nurse from St Francis who we are hoping can soon operate fully as a parish nurse. We are in discussions with St Francis about how we could make this happen.
Referrals to Parish Nursing are coming from multiple agencies from General Practices, to CAP, Adult Social Care and some self-referrals, to name but a few.
Social Action update - David Maskell
Parish Nursing
David commented that he is in discussion with St Francis with the hope that they will provide some funding for this additional Parish Nurse, with some fund raising carried out by the Nurse herself and then if there is a shortfall, we might be able to meet this gap from the generous gift we have received. We don’t want to use all of this gift on salaries in the short term, we want the service to be sustainable over the long term.
Prison
David has been stirred for a long time to be able to put into practice many years’ experience he has in prison, but for a long time had not had any response from the Chaplaincy Team at HMP Erlestoke, near Devizes. Finally he had a break though and following a first meeting his security clearance is being renewed and we will soon be able to take a team in to lead some occasional Sunday morning chapel services.
Community Meal, Bemerton Heath
We are planning a regular weekly community meal on Bemerton Heath from September. This will be an opportunity to connect with those on the Heath who are in need of support or are lonely. The team is being drawn together both from those already involved in Bemerton Heath, particularly Laura Buckley, but also some others drawn from more widely across the church. If you are interested in helping with cooking, serving tables or sitting and chatting with our guests, let David know.
Marriage Course
We are hoping to run a Marriage Course in the Autumn. This will be for church members but will also be open to people who are not part of Grace Church.
Belong - Ladies update – Emily Haslam Rosie and Rosie
Emily and Rosie told us how successful this 10 week course had been. Held in a coffee shop in Wilton it had provided opportunity for friendship and exploring a deeper knowledge of the Bible together. As well as the 23 ladies meeting in the coffee shop, a further group of ladies had formed a day time group to follow the same material. On the back of this success, we are now considering whether we do this again. We also had feedback from Evie Owen and Sarah Kirby who had both found the course very valuable.
Brothers Together – Peter Moffat
Peter spoke on behalf of the Brothers Together team. He told us about the successful events held so far this year which included a pub quiz, an overnight stay with a hike and a men’s curry night. All events that people could be invited to from outside the church. Looking ahead, the team are looking at a breakfast in the Autumn with Chris Kilby speaking on Fatherhood, another meal out either another curry or a Mexican evening, and they are exploring whether to run a Bible Study Group similar to the Belong Bible Study for the ladies.
Alpha update – Dave McNee & Millidges
Dave told us that we had been planning a big Alpha for June, but we have decided to delay that to the Autumn. If however there was a need to run a course following the Bemerton Heath mission week, then we have the flexibility to put something on.
The Millidges reported on the Alpha Course they have just finished running. In Sarum House. It had started with a conversation at Carols in the Pub before Christmas and had led to a small Alpha course for the residents of Sarum House. The courser has gone really well, and they have seen change in a number of the people on the course. It went so well, that the Millidges group will now run from Sarum House giving easy access to the residents coming each time they meet.
Next Ghana gift day – Dave McNee
We are planning a Gift Day in the autumn which will be primarily for the ongoing support of Eustace and Theresa in Ghana. Emmanuel will be travelling to the UK to be part of NewDay (his travel costs are already covered) and he will also hope to start a new school this year which will result in some additional costs, the Gift Day will aim to cover these costs too.
International Sunday - Dave McNee
We are planning an International Sunday to celebrate the many different nations represented amongst us. This will be on Sunday 29 June. Eustace will be here for the Leaders’ conference, and so he will preach on this Sunday.
Prayer meetings update – Dave McNee
We have developed a regular pattern of Early Morning prayer every Tuesday online and Late Night Prayer every other Thursday in person. We also have our Sunday evening prayer once a month with Intercede and Encounter sessions. This will continue, with more regular meetings during the Bemerton Heath outreach event.
Safeguarding leadership changes – David Maskell
David thanked Rachel Draper for her role as Safeguarding Lead and for also leading the Safer Sunday Team. Rachel is stepping back from her role as Safeguarding Lead but will continue to lead the Safer Sunday Team. Emma Payne is now taking on the role of Safeguarding Lead. Emma has experience in a school setting with Safeguarding. Laura Hazelton continues to serve as Deputy Safeguarding Lead.
The meeting ended with prayer.
David Maskell