Saint Michael’s Church

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Clergy Letter For July and August 2009

CLERGY LETTER FOR JULY/AUGUST 2009

The Vicar writes....

...the month of July is likely to see a few changes in the life of St Michael’s and the parish generally. First we are having to get used to the fact that we no longer have a stipendiary Curate on the staff. It is a long time since we were without anyone living in Cowell House. The gaps between assistant Curates in the past have been relatively short. But in two cases that was because someone was available, or was suggested to us, out of sequence so to speak. Ordinands in training tend to finish their time at Theological College at the end of June (St Peter tide), but by then they have been allocated to training parishes well in advance. Indeed many if not most are put in touch by Christmas. We said good-bye to Darryl and Lisa last month after Darryl had been offered a post in April, so we were well past the time for receiving one of the allocated ten ordinands for this Diocese. Looking back a bit we can say that when Sally Davenport left us we were quickly in touch with Darryl in the USA but that was through a special suggestion from the Director of Ordinands. Sally came to us through the system when John Williams left, and the timing was good.  But before her, John Williams came to us from another parish where things were needing a change, and we were fortunate that it was fairly soon after Linda Klimas had gone to the parish of Weston.  So we have been fortunate in the past. Now we will have a time of being without a Curate in Cowell House. But we still have the ministry of June and Derek to call on, both of whom are very willing but must be allowed some space, (Derek has after all retired!) and let’s not forget we have been expecting a reduction in clergy numbers for some time now. One of the immediate effects of this is that we don’t think it possible to maintain a weekly service on a Friday morning at 9.30am. It is a quiet and reflective Communion Service which has been a joy to a few regular attenders. But none of the Clergy are free every Friday. Days off have to be considered and other commitments during the week make demands on our Self Supporting and retired Ministers (June and Derek) which mean that a Friday service is impracticable every week. We will however keep it on the first Friday of the month. That pattern will be possible to maintain with the goodwill of our available clergy. The big event that will take place in July is the start of the building of the Parish Centre. We have been in long negotiations with the Roman Catholic church of St Joseph and the English Martyrs next door to us. Now the legal formalities have been completed it is time to start clearing the ground for building. The contractors for the project are not going to be allowed to access the site directly from Apton Road, so the main access will have to be through the churchyard, coming up from Cowell House to the site entrance at the top of the rising ground. For safety reasons it will be necessary to close the churchyard pathway to the public for the duration of the construction. Contrary to popular belief that is not a public right of way (because it is a consecrated churchyard) so we are within our rights to do that. The Centre is going to be called “The Windhill Churches Centre” and will feature two main halls with a shared entrance area and toilets. It will be a two-storey building. The halls will have kitchens and each church will have an Office, and two meeting rooms (in our case one being able to be divided by a screen). We at St Michael’s are currently asking interested groups who will want to make use of the Centre what their particular requirements might be. As with many buildings it will only really be possible to know what is the best way to use it when it is complete. We intend to leave the Parish Office in the church as it is a useful way of keeping a watching eye on the church and for visitors to have questions answered.  The new Centre will be available for Junior Church, Choir rehearsal, PCC meetings, Group meetings, Lunch Club, Young People’s meeting, private baptism parties and other uses yet to be identified. It will not be available for hire for commercial profit. If anyone has a particular request or question about the use of the building please would they contact one of the Hall Management Committee, myself, Robert Stokely, Val Jones or Graham Johnson?  This month should see the start of something that has been in our minds and our hopes for more than fifteen years. Let us be thankful and make the best use of the opportunity it affords. Finally may I remind you that during the month of August we shall not have a Parish Praise service nor will we have a full sung evensong. The services in the morning on each Sunday will be at 8.00am and 10.00am and Evensong will be said in the Lady Chapel at 6.00pm on each Sunday except the first. The choir will be on holiday. For those of you who will be taking your holiday in July or August may I wish you the happiest of times?                                                         Toby Marchand

Office Address:

Saint Michael’s Church 

Windhill 

Bishops Stortford 

Hertfordshire 

CM23 2ND