On 31st January 2020, the UK will leave the European Union. We wish to extend an open invitation to everyone to pop in and join us at All Saints in an act of unity. The church will be open from 10am-12pm and then from 6pm-8pm for prayer, a chat, a cup of tea and a piece of cake. Feel free to bring neighbours, colleagues and friends. On this day we ask our church family to pray for each other, especially for our church family members from other European countries. We remember our political leaders, that they may find common ground and negotiate in friendship, and for out country to be united, not divided. There will a prayer station near the cross across the whole weekend to allow people an opportunity to offer these prayers to God.
Vacancy Update January 2020
Firstly please let us introduce ourselves - Michael Gordon & Alison Fletcher . We are up here this morning / evening as your parish representatives involved in the process of selecting our next incumbent/vicar and importantly representing you . We are speaking at all the services today , to the youth this evening & at the 10.30 service on Wednesday morning . We want everyone to hear the same information so we’ve decided to read from a script to save us from waffling or missing parts out!
Most of you will know that we said farewell to Gary Wilton our previous Vicar back in June last year however our vacancy did not officially start until early September - after Gary’s notice period . Within the Church of England there is a formal process to go through when selecting a Vicar and we would like to briefly outline the process, explain where we are up to & what will happen next . The ‘ From the Wardens’ monthly updates have mentioned some of the information already but we feel it’s important we recap at this stage. We want to say at the outset that if you have any questions as a result of anything we say , we will be around after the service so do feel free to come and ask us then.
Back in July the PCC elected the two of us to take on the role of parish representatives and it also set up a group of 8 people to prepare three draft documents to be used in the selection process . The documents covered an outline of the parish, known as the parish profile , a role description and very importantly a person specification outlining the sort of person we want as our next Vicar. The group met a number of times over the summer and after consultation with the church family throughout August , took the draft documents to a PCC meeting in September where they were considered , tweaked and then approved . We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who contributed to that process during August - we had lots of contributions which helped us compile the final documents. The next formal meeting happened in early December when the PCC met with the Archdeacon , Malcolm Chamberlain- who was representing the Bishop . There were other guests at the meeting - John Hawley who is to be the the patron for this process, who is a retired Archdeacon and will be on the interview panel ,together with the Rev Toby Hole the Area Dean. At the meeting all three documents were looked at again and we were pleasantly surprised when the Archdeacon and the other visitors were happy with what we had produced with only a few minor alterations. So that meant that as a church we were now ready to move ahead to the next stage to agree the details of the selection process and advertise the vacancy. However the Archdeacon made it clear at that meeting that the Diocese was not yet ready to proceed with the appointment process.
So to bring you right up to date we are now waiting for the Bishop to allow us to advertise for a new Vicar. You may quite reasonably ask ......Why the wait? Our understanding is this. As you will all know we are part of the Diocese of Sheffield and like many other Dioceses it has found itself with a number of competing demands for its limited budget. In recent times there has been a 12 month moratorium when there were no Vicar appointments at all and so many churches across the Diocese with a vacancy have found themselves not able to appoint a new Vicar. They are still waiting. However since mid October the moratorium has been lifted and things have eased a little. The Diocese is hopeful there may be a small number of appointments during 2020. Whilst we are not 100% certain All Saints will be one of the churches able to advertise their vacancy during this year , we remain fairly confident that we will be able to but .........we simply don’t know when. That decision is out of our hands and with the Bishop. So we are ‘waiting ‘ which is a very Biblical theme and we have recently celebrated Advent - the season of waiting. We are meeting with the archdeacon Malcolm Chamberlain on January 22nd to try to ensure that the waiting period is no longer than necessary.
In a moment we will be leading us all in a prayer and our plea to the church family on behalf of the PCC is that you will commit to praying with us during this season of waiting.
Thank you Prayer Father God, We want to start by saying thank you for all your good gifts, to us, as individuals, and as a body of believers here at All Saints. Thank you for your faithfulness over the years and the generosity of your provision. Thank you that we do not need to fear in the face of uncertainty. You are the creator God who forms wonderful things out of dust from your unlimited resources. We pray that you will have your creative way with us as individuals and as a church. Be close to those here at All Saints who are working hard in the life of the church during these months of vacancy. Would you watch over them and give them energy, peace and inspiration. Give wisdom to those in the Diocese who will be involved in decision making in the coming months. For those required to re-imagine be at the centre of their thinking. For us as we engage with the diocesan representatives would you give us clarity of thought and a sense of your direction as we proceed through the appointment process. And finally would you be at work, preparing, calling and guiding your servant, in readiness to serve you in this place. We ask these prayers in Jesus name. Amen.
From the Churchwardens January 2020
As 2020 begins and we look forward to the year ahead of us, we will each have hopes and perhaps anxieties about the months ahead. Perhaps you have made New Year’s resolutions; committed yourself to live better, be healthier, and cut back on some of the excesses of last month.
As a church we are looking forward confident of God’s promise to us, but also aware of the challenges ahead. For this year we have chosen to take a couple of verses from Psalm 62 for our ‘Verse for the Year’. These verses speak of our reliance on God. He is our hope, our rock, and our salvation. God remains constant in all our changing circumstances and we can trust in Him.
As we have prayed about the church and the year ahead, we were drawn to these verses. In all the challenges that we will face, as individuals, and as All Saints, our God is our fortress, and there is no reason for us to feel shaken. We want to encourage the church family to continue to be faithful in prayer.
From the Churchwardens December 2019
Advent: a season of expectation and preparation
Advent marks the beginning of the season of expectation and preparation in the life of All Saints. As we consider the disciplines of patience and hopefulness, we look forward to celebrate the coming of Jesus in the Christmas Story and His coming again to restore all things.
This is very much a season of promises. Politicians are busy painting a picture of a more hopeful country as they attempt to persuade us that in exchange for our votes they will deliver all they have promised on the campaign trail. Shops sell us a picture of a perfect Christmas, if we would just buy the right things, create the right mood, and, unleash our ‘inner Delia’ and cook the perfect meal. It is all too easy to get distracted by the sideshow and forget the main event.
Two of the more forgotten characters in the Christmas Story are Simeon and Anna. Their lives of patience and expectation were rewarded as they held the baby Jesus in their arms and witnessed all that their hopes had prepared for. As Bach’s beautiful Cantata on the words of Simeon state ‘Ich habe genug’... ‘I have enough’.
There is a wonderful programme of services and events to look forward to at All Saints this Advent and Christmas season to help us to prepare and grasp with eager anticipation the conviction that in Jesus we ‘have enough’. Please invite family, friends and colleagues to join with us and may we reflect the welcome that God has extended to us to all who enter our doors.
As we look forward, we anticipate with hopefulness being able to appoint a new vicar. A significant meeting of the PCC, chaired by the Archdeacon and attended by others from the diocese, is due to take place on 5th December.
In the New Year, the Parish Representatives: Alison Fletcher and Michael Gordon will introduce themselves and update the church family at all four Sunday services.
Please continue to pray for our church throughout this period of Vacancy.
On behalf of the wardens, PCC and staff team we wish you a joyous Christmas.
Christmas at All Saints
We are really excited to share our Advent and Christmas programme with you.
Whatever you are doing as part of this special season, please know that you are so welcome to join us, worship with us, share in the celebration with us, but above all, our prayer is that through this season you may know more fully the love of Jesus Christ.
Remembrance Sunday
Please note that our Remembrance Sunday service will be taking place with Sunday at 10.45am. We expect this service to be very busy so please arrive early if possible.
We will be visiting the Cenotaph on Ecclesall Road South at 11.45am.
Please note that there will be NO 9.15am service this Sunday. The 8am and 6pm services will take place as normal.
From the Churchwardens November 2019
This month begins with Commitment Sunday on 3rd November and this is a good time to consider our journey of faith and the part we play in the life of All Saints.
We have been greatly encouraged by the response to Vision Sunday and the ‘Stewardship & Commitment 2020’ campaign. As Dan reminds us in his sermon, ‘We are called to radical generosity’. Seeing people committing to support the community of All Saints: mission, family, community, outreach, education, and partnerships. Generosity of financial commitment, generosity of time, generosity of resources, generosity of talents and skills, generosity of expertise, generosity of spirit.
Commitment is part of our worship. It is to be celebrated. We make promises, and as a consequence we celebrate anniversaries. We mark the years, we invite family and friends and we consider ourselves blessed. Commitment is not a chore but a recognition of who we are as children of the Living God.
Commitment is a challenge. We give because He gave first. We are not called to a life of ‘comfort’ but a life of ‘challenge’.
Commitment is not an optional extra in the calling that Jesus asked us to follow. We are called to account for all the talents that we have been given. Commitment is more than just handing over money, it is a challenge to our role in mission and community. It is also about being wise with the resources we are given.
The wardens, PCC and staff team are monitoring and, alongside hoped-for increased giving, discerning where costs can be reduced to ‘close the gap’ between income and expenditure.
Throughout November, please would you continue to prayerfully consider your commitment. We would love for everyone to have had a chance to think about their commitment to the ministry and mission of our Church Family.
St Gabriel’s
It is nearly a year since Alistair was licensed as Priest-in-charge of St Gabriel’s and we released and sent a s m a l l t e a m t o accompany him and his family. We are really excited to take this opportunity to share and give thanks for some of what God has been doing since then.
Highlights include:
Summer Holiday Club that saw over 55 children attend. it was a fantastic four days including sports, crafts, an inventor’s workshop, and main sessions of singing songs, playing silly games and an interactive story from Matthew’s Gospel about the life and love of Jesus.
The start of a new fortnightly service called ‘Gather’ - an interactive and informal all-age service exploring life, faith and relationship with Jesus. Breakfast is also included!
A new 9:30am start time every Sunday for the main services.
Development of publicity including a new website, weekly notice sheet and re-designed notice board on Greystones Road.
A new Friday morning toddler group.
New structures of governance included the start of seven new PCC sub-groups to allow the PCC to focus on governance and financial management.
Leading up to Christmas, key events will include Carols in the Greystones on Monday 16th December and a Nativity Service on Christmas Eve. The hope is these will be key opportunities to invite people to a new Alpha course in the new year.
Looking forward the focus will be drawing in families on the fringes, developing discipleship across the church family and starting to re-consider small groups.
Thank you for your on-going support and particularly your prayer. it is greatly felt and appreciated.
Thank You!
Vision Sunday
A copy of the sermon given by Rev Beth Keith on Vision Sunday:
You never really know what you’re stepping into when you start a new job or in my case when you start at a new church. You may have heard about the reputation of a place, perhaps driven past, perhaps you have assumptions based on other bits of information you’ve picked up, or reports from people you trust. But you never really know until you start. And when you start in a new place, you see things that other people don’t necessarily see. Things which seem entirely normal to those who’ve been there for years, seem odd, or… interesting…or surprisingly wonderful.
In the last seven months, I can report, having all those feelings. What might seem entirely normal to you…Literally it was only on Wednesday that I found out that this is not actually pulpit. Who knows what it’s called? Yes, it’s an ambo. Apparently, everyone knows, well apart from me. I don’t think I had ever heard that word before, let alone known what it meant. But apart from strange words for pulpits, what else have I seen?
Well, I have seen kindness, and I have seen generosity and a warm open heartedness. Last week at the 8am and 9.15 I shared a bit about how I have been so encouraged in seeing how this type of ministry, this ministry of kindness, happens week after week, as members of the church just get on with supporting and visiting those who are lonely, or bereaved, or in hospital.
What else have I seen? Well, I have heard about lives turned around. Only this week, a church member shared with me how the commitment of the prayer ministry team to pray, and keep on praying, for her and her family over years, and years, had changed her life. She believed it had kept her going and brought her into a good place.
I have heard over and over again, in words, and through actions, the determination you have to live lives of value, with care, and integrity.
Lives based on Jesus’ teaching. I have heard of your commitment to live for justice and truth, to care for the creation, and ensure those most vulnerable are not left behind.
I have heard your commitment to follow Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Your commitment to wait and hear, and to seek for where God is leading, to look for where God is at work and join in.
Earlier on in the week, I was looking over the readings for today and I read these words from Eph 1.15
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
And as I began to read, I had to stop, and I’ll be honest, I teared up a bit, because I wasn’t just reading verses from Paul about the church in Ephesians, I was reading words I could have written about you.
I had heard of your faith before I came here, but now I have seen it, your faith in Jesus and your love for all the saints, and I thank God for it. I thank God that your faith is not just kind and good and well meaning, but grounded in Christ, in who he was, and what he said, passed down to us in the words of scripture. Words that are well summarised in our other reading from Luke 4, when Jesus, before he began his ministry on earth, stood up in the synagogue and said.
The spirit of the Lord is upon me
Because he has anointed me
To bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To let the oppressed go free
To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
Together we are all SAINTS
We are a church that believes we are all SAINTS. Called by God, saved by God, people of God. We may be different parts of a body, taking on different roles, bringing different gifts. But there are no levels in the people of God. No degrees in which you are more or less saints than the person you’re sat next to. No roles or positions which mark anyone out as more saintly than the next person. Who we are is based on what God has done in Christ, and we are all invited into that. And we are also all SAINTS whether we are in this building or outside, as much on Mondays, as on Sundays.
TOGETHER we are all saints
We are united and committed to be TOGETHER in our differences. This church has different styles of worshipping, perhaps there is one particular service you prefer. We worship in different ways, we see things and understand some things differently. But alongside that, I hear from you, a kindness and a generosity, that is more important than differences or disagreements that may arise.
Together we are ALL saints
In any church, in any situation, it is easy, and a normal human tendency, to see what is in front of you. To focus on the immediate context.
As the church we are called to something beyond our local community. We are called to look further than Ecclesall and connect with the church present in the communities across South Yorkshire, churches in our Diocese, churches across our country and churches around the world.
There is an ALL to being part of the church, being connected to ALL the SAINTS, beyond me and my friends, beyond me and my community, beyond me and my church.
This ministry, this connection, happens through the work of our Mission Support Group, but also through the different churches and charities you support – the foodbank, Archer Project, the on-going prayer support for our mission partners. And it happens in the ways we share our resources, in the Diocese and beyond. In the ways we share our time, our skills and our finances.
Who we are together, and what God has called us to here in Ecclesall, has shaped the vision and set the agenda of how we plan and manage our resources. Not that this is necessarily an easy or uncomplicated task, and not that we always get this right, but it is our aim and it is our objective.
This vision Sunday, we are not putting forward a new project or plan. Our vision has not changed. Instead we want to remember and remind ourselves what God has called us to and talk through how we stay on track. How we continue with the vision and call we have received and commit to the task we have been given. Today, I am going to focus particularly on a financial update. Talking through where we are, how we are spending our money and what we are planning going forward. At the end of the talk we will be giving out our Stewardship booklet. This contains more details and sets out the information I will be sharing with you today.
Per year it costs roughly half a million pounds to run All Saints as we do.
We spend that money in three areas.
We spend about 60% of that on our people. Which includes staff salaries and expenses.
We spend about 18% of our money on buildings and running services. This includes costs connected to our estates, building repairs and upkeep. It also includes the associated costs to run our services and activities, our administration and operational costs.
And we spend a significant proportion on of money on mission to the wider church, making up about 22%. This includes supporting other churches through the Diocese (through the common fund), supporting the mission partnership with St Gabriel’s and supporting our mission partners across the world through the work of the mission support group.
Sometimes when you give money, you hear where it goes, but if you don’t see first-hand what the money is used for, you don’t really know how much of a difference it makes. About ten years ago I used to be part of St John’s Park. It’s a small church on the other side of town, near Park Hill up behind the station. It’s a very different church to here and part of a very different parish. It’s one of the more deprived areas of Sheffield and a church which can’t afford to pay staff. Money that comes from richer churches, like All Saints, is used by the Diocese to support churches in poorer areas like St Johns. We were able to have a part time vicar because of the support provided by other churches. When your part of a congregation which is smaller and where there are less resources, in terms of finances and skills, having a vicar which is focused on the church and the parish makes a big difference to the church. So firstly, can I say thank you for the money you have given which supports churches like St Johns. And can I also say, it makes a big difference, it really does.
Almost all our incomes comes in through giving. Only 3% comes through grants and other income, the rest, the bulk comes through giving. Firstly, through our committed givers, who give regularly by standing order, or in planned giving with the envelopes into the offering plate. We also receive generous one-off gifts and some legacies. These larger gifts have built up our reserves which can be drawn on when need arises.
Over the last year new people have become regular givers and some regular givers have increased the amount they give. But this increase in giving by some has also been matched by others regular givers leaving, either through death or moving church. So, in the last two years our funding received through regular giving has actually fallen even though we had hoped it would increase.
This time last year, the PCC put forward a budget, expecting an increase in giving to cover the increasing costs. We hoped to increase our giving to £440K this year, but we expect it to be more like £415K. The stewardship appeal last year highlighted that even with the expected increased giving, we would still have needed to draw on £20K of our reserves to cover costs. However, given the fall in regular giving, and with some costs being greater than originally anticipated, we now expect to end the year with a significantly higher deficit at over £50k.
We are in the fortunate position, that we do have reserves to cover this. But this is only a temporary solution. We cannot keep on relying on our reserves to bail us out. Our unrestricted reserves currently stand at £345k. Following the guidance of the Charity Commission we need to retain £130K of reserves in case of emergency. If we continue as we are without making changes now, we would expect the deficit to grow in the next two years.
If that were the case, it would only take us 3 years before all our reserves are spent. Clearly, we cannot carry on in this way. So, we have some difficult decisions ahead.
Using some of our reserves to cover the short fall this year gives us time to plan and ensure this does not continue into the future. The PCC hopes to work with you, the church family, to return the church finances to a settled and year on year balanced financial position over the next two years. And we are looking at ways to increase our income and reduce our expenditure.
Now some of you may have questions as to why we have got into this position. The stewardship booklet sets out clearly the reasons why we are now in this position. It also outlines in more detail how money is being spent, the level of our reserves, further information on our current giving, and the draft budget the PCC has agreed for 2020. Please do come back to us with your questions and queries about this.
This morning the PCC are here, and happy to talk about this with you after the service, and helpfully they are wearing badges, so you should be able to spot them easily.
We believe in a God who provides. Time and time again this church has been blessed by God’s abundant provision. This has enabled us to be a blessing within the church and beyond. We are called to be God’s church here in Ecclesall, and as part of the wider church. God is faithful. He encourages us and challenges us to be faithful in response. We are a church which is generous with our time, gifts and resources, and we believe this is what we are called to be.
As we look at ways we can increase our income and reduce our expenditure, we are asking all members of the church family to consider their giving for 2020 as an important step as we plan for the future.
What can I give?
If all our members who currently give through our pledged regular giving scheme were able to give an £10 a month, we would be able to agree our budget for 2020 and begin to plan into the future.
If all current givers were able to give an £20 extra a month, we could dramatically reduce the amount of reserves which will be used to cover the deficit.
Please consider carefully if you are able to increase your giving.
And if you are a member of the church who does not currently give in a planned and regular way, please do consider signing up to this.
Any gift is much appreciated but pledged regular giving help us to plan more effectively.
How can I give?
You can give cash or cheques in the envelopes on the offering plate.
Or you can set up a direct payment from your bank. At the back of the stewardship booklet is a commitment form. Please do fill this in and bring it back to church next week, or the week after. We will be collecting commitment forms for the next four weeks.
If you know what you would like to give, please do start giving today.
In a month’s time, on Nov 3rd we are celebrating commitment Sunday. During the services we will be celebrating all the ways we give, the gifts of our skills, our time, our energy, and our financial resources. But you do not need to wait until then to return the form or set up a payment. In fact, please start when you have had time to pray and think about your response.
We do not want you to feel pushed into to giving but we do want you to have a clear picture about our financial picture. Over and over again, this church has seen God provide. And so, before we do anything else we want to pray. We’re going to give out the stewardship booklets now. And I’ll handover to Dan/Alistair who will be leading us in prayer for the church and our finances.