Annual Church Meeting

On April 22nd, the Annual Church Meeting was held. The following wereelected as 
church stewards for the year beginning September 1st 2002: David Bale, Roger Davis, 
Jeff Ffoulkes, Catherine Green, Val Howse, Elizabeth Hurfurt, Ian Marsh, and Chris Mason.
The following were elected as representatives to the Church Council for the year beginning 
September 1st 2002: 
Gwenda Allcock, Tom Bacon, Don Cox, Betty Douce, Tim Dutton, Helen Flinn, Stuart Green, 
Paul Haslam, Shirley Hill, Jackie Land, Cliff Lewer, Jacqui Marsh, Eric Matthews, 
Judith Starkie and Jonathan Webb.
Reports had been prepared from church groups and committees - thanks to those who took the 
trouble to prepare these. During the meeting there was an opportunity to ask questions 
on the reports. If there is anyone who has not had a copy of these reports and would like 
a set please speak to Carole Thorpe.

Jonathan Webb introduced the topic for discussion:
"WHAT DO WE MEAN BY MINISTRY AND HOW CAN WE ENCOURAGE IT?"

Firstly, we had a brief introduction to the background to these discussions
and then Jonathan led a time of meditative prayer in the church. Trevor
Staniforth shared some thoughts around the following questions, before the
discussion was opened up to the group.
* What is church ministry?
* How do we discern our gifts?
* What is God saying to us as a church and as individuals?

The discussions have been summarised beneath each of these headings.
* What is the church's ministry?
Trevor read from Ephesians 4: 7-13 and summarised that the church's ministry
can be said to be "making the whole church one". This means being spiritual
(the church may be involved in practical things, but it is our spiritual
life that makes us different). We therefore need to be involved in
evangelism and the ministry of salvation.

* How do we discern our gifts?
We can discern our gifts when we pray, are involved in serious worship and
when we place ourselves wholly in God's control. An example was given from
the church at Antioch, where they received God's message when praying and
fasting (Acts 13: 1-3). We cannot say exactly how we can hear God's call, or
know our gifts, except that when the Spirit speaks in us we certainly know.

* What is God saying to us as a church and as individuals?
As a church we realise that we have strength in our community through God,
and that when we have been involved in strong, concentrated and deliberate
prayer we have seen the prayers answered.
There was a feeling that the community prayer during Project 2000 had been
one of its strengths and that there may not be such concentrated prayer for
current projects. Examples were given of the lay worker appointment - the
fact that we need to pray that we will be open and inclusive to new people
coming into the church.
An example was given of an image of the church as two concentric circles,
one inside the other. The circle inside represents those people who are in,
those who are involved in things, who do things in the church.
The circle outside represents those people who are not in. Those who come to
services, but who are less involved.
It was recognised that everyone must play a part in being involved and in
helping others to be involved. Those who are in need to be turning to face
out, to welcome others in and to encourage others in.
Several examples were given of how we can make our church more welcoming to
those who are not in. For example, we must be careful about our unexplained
terminology and traditions - when to stand and when to sit, assuming that
everyone knows everyone else, where to go for coffee, etc. 
It was mentioned that we haven't done a terribly good job of speaking to
those in Ashbourne who are outside the church community, and we need to
focus our prayers on this area. We need to be bold in our speaking and in
spreading the word in the town.
In all, we need to have continuous involvement and love for people and we
must have a strong community prayer life that focusses on specific areas.