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BURY
UNITARIAN
CHURCH:
ANNUAL REPORT: 2017
As I have read through the 2017 Calendars, I have, yet
again, been impressed by how much we have achieved, during the past year, and by
how interesting many of the calendar-pieces were. If you have a complete set of
calendars, you could try this yourself---or you can access the calendars via our
website. It's a timely reminder of how active and successful we are, in so many
ways.
Sadly, we have lost some stalwart members of
our congregation: Ted Gerrard, Derek Worthington and Laurie Lancashire will long
be remembered with affection, as will Harvey Evitts, whose funeral came very
early in January. Ainsworth, too, lost members, some of whom had had
associations with Bury, also: Marjorie Gill, Harold Greenhalgh, and Bob Alker.
Our own members suffered bereavements, too, and to all those who endured loss,
we send our thoughts and sympathies, as we do to those whose health has been
poor, with our good wishes for speedy improvement.
Kate
is now into her second year as our Minister, an event which we celebrated on the
first Sunday in November, with a card and flowers for her, and cake for
everyone! However, the past year has been a steep learning-curve for Kate; this
has been a bruising time for her, as she has struggled with problems on a
personal level. It is easy to forget that Kate is a newly-qualified, relatively
inexperienced, Minister, and still greatly in need of our support, as she seems
so competent, and so willing to embrace all aspects of church-life. The outside
meetings, seminars, workshops and retreats Kate attends are not only very
necessary for her personal and spiritual development, but of benefit,
ultimately, to the congregation. From my vantage-point in the choir-stalls, I am
able to observe the congregation during services, and I can see that people are
eager for worship to begin; we have heard very accessible sermons, on a wide
variety of interesting topics, and we look forward to many more. The format of
services is not yet quite settled; it is still a work in progress, and we need
to bear with it. Our Orders of Service are attractive, with appropriate pictures
and titles on the covers, plus the more important of the week's notices, on the
back, including details of Kate's working-week. Her Friday vestry-sessions have
become increasingly popular, as the year has gone on, and this is important,
because it leaves her freer to visit those who are more in need or more desirous
of home-visits. Kate has proved to be an approachable and understanding person,
always willing to discuss problems---even when complaints have to be dealt with!
At her first service with us, and, again, during her Induction Service, Kate
quoted from "Alice
in Wonderland": "If you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you": a subtle
reminder that ministry is a two-way process, as we should all endeavour to
remember!
Whilst we consider our appreciation of Kate's
qualities and give thanks to her for all she does, we must also convey our
thanks to Ade, who supports Kate so well, and who has endeared himself to us
all, by his willingness to help in many capacities---even, as a fully-paid-up
vegetarian, by cooking all the bacon, on Christmas Morning!
Our Worship
Support Group has contributed
substantially to services, during the year,
bringing a high degree of professionalism and depth of thought to their work.
Thanks are due to Val, Abi, Susan (Mitchell), Marian, Betty and Anne for their
efforts; on Mothering Sunday, because of Kate's absence at very short notice,
Anne not only presented Kate's service but added her own elements---and baked
the cake served afterwards!
The choir has ably continued to support
worship, although it still lacks a leader. Grateful thanks are due to Catherine
Coyne and Anne Mills for their efforts in this sphere; it involves a huge amount
of organisation, beforehand, a fair amount of multi-tasking during rehearsals,
and a degree of responsibility. This year's triumph was an anthem sung in
flawless Hungarian, thanks to Anne's linguistic abilities, upon which Chris
Price conferred the supreme accolade of "absolutely beautiful"!
So---what,
specifically, did we do, in 2017? In January, Kate presented the prizes to the
Junior
Church
members. In February, Hope Maden Hunter, a third-generation Bury Unitarian, was
baptised; at the end of that month, we held yet another very successful Quiz,
which attracted many people from outside the church, and a good time was had by
all! March brought Kate's Induction, which was attended by 120 people, including
many dignitaries, and those who were unable to attend sent messages of support;
Cody Coyne led the service; Jim Corrigall preached the sermon; Gillian Peel gave
the Charge to the Congregation, and Lynne Readett the Charge to the Minister;
this was a splendid and momentous gathering, and the result of a tremendous
amount of behind-the-scenes organisation. Subsequently, the March Congregational
AGM
voted unanimously to appoint Kate as Bury's permanent Minister. Seven
representatives from this church attended the GA AGM's, in
Birmingham,
in April, and this included three first-time delegates (Abi, Susan Mitchell, and
Val), all of whom returned enthused and inspired---an excellent sign! In May and
September, we held First Aid Courses; Judith Jones, of the British Red Cross,
conducted both sessions, conveying her professional knowledge and expertise in
an easy and encouraging manner. A decision to buy a defibrillator for the church
and its neighbours was taken, following the second course. The Flower Communion,
held on the first Sunday in June, in the wake of the
Manchester
Arena Attack, commemorated each of the 22 victims who were killed, with a yellow
rose; members of the
Junior
Church,
who assisted with this service, acted with a maturity and dignity beyond their
years, which was most impressive. Molly Ratcliffe, who resigned as Flower Fund
Secretary, after more than 40 years of extraordinarily beautiful arrangements,
was thanked with a card, a basket of flowers, and a voucher for Afternoon Tea,
at The Pavilion Restaurant. The Strawberry Tea, at the end of the month, went
well---the food and drink disappeared amazingly quickly---much more so than on
previous occasions!
In
June, Kate organised a Julian of
Norwich
Workshop, on behalf of the NELUM Ministers' Group; this was its first session,
and very successful it was, too! We exchanged visits with members of Bury's
United Reformed Church, in July. We again participated in the Bury in Bloom
event and contributed to the glittering prizes gained by the borough. Anne and
Roger organised an illustrated talk ("Travels Down Under") about their holiday
in Australia,
New Zealand
and Abu Dhabi,
which was much enjoyed. The Fun Run, mid-September, again caused problems;
arrangements offered by the organisers were not fulfilled, and this issue will
have to be re-negotiated, in 2018. The Mancunian Singers visited us and gave a
relaxed, enjoyable and professional performance which was a joy to hear. A
"Bury: Past and Present" evening, in October, was much enjoyed; this was a quite
different event---a pleasing joint-effort, organised by The Camera Club, The
Men's Fellowship, and The Women's League, and the evening's profit was donated
to Prostate Cancer UK, the League's 2017/8 annual charity. Four services, in
their different ways, made this a special month: I'll return to two of them
later; but the Pets' Service, in addition to an "animalised" version of "All
Things Bright and Beautiful", contained spontaneous reminiscences about animals,
including a brilliant contribution from Bryan Freemantle. Bryan and Barbara
again took centre-stage, quite literally, when they renewed their wedding-vows,
in a special, separate, service---a bittersweet occasion. Bury Light Night was
low-key; it attracted a small but appreciative attendance at the church, but, on
the whole, in the town, was somewhat uninspired. November brought our
Remembrance Services---as always, poignant and emotional; Norah laid the wreath
with great dignity. Later in the month, The
Lancashire
Fusiliers performed a concert of stirring brass-band music, to a high standard.
The GA President visited, at the end of the month, and conducted part of the
service. Before we knew it, we had reached December, with its Christmas
Services, including the Candlelight Carol Service; the music and the many
readings were excellent, but bad weather meant that attendance was depleted,
which was a shame. The children sang their own carol, at two services, and they
enjoyed their Christmas Treat of a visit to the cinema and tea at McDonald's. An
innovation, this year, was a visit to The Nightingale Centre, at Great Hucklow,
for a Christmas Lunch; plans are already in hand for a repeat-visit. A church
Christmas Lunch, followed by a reading of excerpts of Dickens' "A Christmas
Carol", given by Gordon and Veronica Walker, from Bank Street Bolton, was
well-attended, and raised a goodly sum for Prostate Cancer UK and for Fortalice,
a Bolton charity, which supports abused women and children.
In
addition to regular committee-meetings, our usual groups continue to meet
throughout the year. The Women's League hosted The Manchester District's
AGM,
and heard talks from Mike Connolly about his year as Mayor of Bury, and from
Birte Langden, a Danish lady, whose family helped Jews to escape during the
Second World War. The Men's Fellowship have enjoyed several delicious lunches,
after listening to talks about Cuba, from Sue McMullen, and the newspaper
industry, from Bill Hargreaves. The Book Club enjoyed Victoria Hislop's "The
Thread", but gave a definite thumbs-down to "The Time Traveller's Wife". The
Lunch Circle changed its name, so as to seem less exclusive, and held a "Bring a
Friend" Lunch, in May, which resulted in a significant increase in membership;
they would like to recruit more chefs, and more helpers, in order to spread the
workload, though. The newly-formed Camera Club has more than doubled its
membership (from 2 to 4 or 5!) and would welcome more members; it plans another
slice of nostalgia, in 2018. The Ministerial Support Group meets regularly with
Kate; its meetings will continue, for the time being, as they are felt to be of
great benefit to the Minister and the congregation.
I record here my thanks to everyone who
contributes to the active life of this church: to all committee-members,
especially those who act as Chair or Secretary, and to the Church Officers; to
those who run the various church-societies; to those who provide coffee on
Saturdays and Sundays; to our flower-ladies; to our calendar-editor, and to
those who maintain our Facebook and website presences; to those who organise The
100 Club and The Sunshine Smarties collection; to those who have provided or
written Profiles; to those who organise raffles, especially the Christmas one;
and to everyone for being part of this church, for belonging and attending.
Change is
inevitable; sometimes, it is forced upon us by circumstances, or by the
decisions of others. A new
Ministry
will bring
changes, otherwise we stagnate and die. Let's accept the changes we have to
contend with, assess them and see what happens, rather than giving in to the
instinct to complain, first and foremost! The increasing average age of this
congregation causes change, also, and we must accept that we cannot always
continue as we have in the past; we need to adapt so as to ensure that the
outcome
remains close to what it was previously, even if the method, time and effort are
different.
Over the past year,
these are some of the positive changes we have made. The Fair Trade Fortnight
Service contained a challenge from Kate for us to support the Traidcraft Stall
more strongly, and increased sales have resulted. At our Harvest Service, we
were asked to bring tins and packets of food, and toiletries, instead of fresh
fruit and vegetables; this eventually extended to a monthly food-collection for
Bury's new food-bank. Kate's service on Homelessness produced donations of
sleeping-bags, clothing, and food for those who are destitute. We have raised
our Inquirer-profile by resuming our sponsorship and by individuals contributing
items to it throughout the year. During the Christmas period, we included a
children's tree, in the worship-area, alongside the main tree. We took a
decision to award
Junior
Church
prizes on the basis of the children's personal attributes, rather than on
attendance alone. The children now have their own chalice, which they light from
the main chalice, before they leave the service, to provide a sense of
continuity for them. We served bacon butties before the Christmas Day service,
to promote a special sense of community. Kate has commented on our generosity;
like the Widow's Mite, what we give is symbolic; we can be justly proud of what
we do, and of the spirit in which it is done, and this is precisely the attitude
which should propel us forward into 2018.
Anne
Mills:
March 18th, 2018.
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INTRODUCTORY BOOKLET:
A
FAITH WORTH THINKING ABOUT
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