1. Legal and Administrative Information
1.1 Parish
The Parish of Ashton-in-Makerfield
Church of St Thomas
Warrington Road
Ashton-in-Makerfield
Wigan
1.2 Correspondence Address
The Vicarage
18 Warrington Road
Ashton-in-Makerfield
Wigan
WN4 9PL
1.3 Mission Church
The Parish also has a Mission Church of St Luke’s, situated on the corner of Bolton Road and Golborne Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield.
1.4 Officers of the PCC
|
Chairman |
Rev Michael Greenwood |
|
Vice-Chairman |
Pauline Rowe |
|
Warden |
Vacancy |
|
Warden |
Pauline Rowe |
|
Deputy Warden |
Kevin Gillham |
|
Deputy Warden |
Jim Miller |
|
Church Administrator |
Tricia Hancox |
|
Treasurer |
Pauline Rowe |
|
PCC Secretary |
Pat Barry |
|
Assistant PCC Secretary |
Dave Hamlett |
|
Gift Aid Secretary |
Margaret Molyneux |
|
CMS Secretary |
Tony van der Boon |
|
Church Hall Secretary |
Tony van der Boon |
|
Donations Secretary |
Jacky Jolley |
|
Electoral Roll Secretary |
Frank Lowe |
|
Free Will Offering Secretary |
Helen Francis |
|
Legacy Officer |
Joan O’Malley |
|
Walking Day Marshall |
Keith Whittle |
|
Magazine Co-ordinator |
Sheila Lester |
1.5 PCC Representatives
Ex-Officio Members
|
Incumbent |
Rev Michael Greenwood |
|
Curate |
Denise Hayes |
|
Lay Reader |
Malcolm Bold |
|
Lay Reader |
Dave Hamlett |
|
Lay Reader |
John Holden |
|
Warden |
Pauline Rowe |
|
Warden |
Vacancy |
|
Deputy Warden |
Jim Miller |
|
Deputy Warden |
Kevin Gillham |
Deanery Representatives
Representatives are elected for a term of three years and are ex-officio members of the PCC. The following representatives were elected in 2005
|
Joan O’Malley |
Mary Owen |
|
Kath Day |
Helen Francis |
Elected PCC Members
Members are elected for a three-year term, unless otherwise indicated. For the purpose of continuity, one-third of the council is elected each year.
Elected 2005 for a one year term of office:
|
Jan Cornthwaite |
Wilf Jones |
Izzy Schafer |
|
Peter Raymond |
Anne Wooff |
|
Elected 2005 for a two year term of office:
|
Dave Gratton |
Gareth Hamlett |
Paul Tushingham |
|
Frank Lowe |
Pat Barry |
|
Elected 2005 for a three year term of office:
|
Alan Chadwick |
Lynn Myler |
Dorothy Burgess |
|
Barbara Taylor |
Alex Parr |
|
St Luke’s Representatives
|
Carole Pye (Warden) |
Mike Pye |
Jane Andrews |
|
Susan Corns |
Bobbie Masnyk |
|
1.6 Charity Status
St Thomas’s PCC is a charity with excepted status and has no related trusts or charities
1.7 Bankers
National Westminster Bank plc
65 Gerard Street
Ashton-in-Makerfield
Wigan
1.8 Church Architects
W Schafer Associates
56 Belvedere Road
Ashton-in-Makerfield
Wigan
1.9 Independent Advisor
Mr Brian Bawden (AIOB)
2. Aims and Organisation of PCC
2.1 PCC Statement
The PCC is required, as stated in the PCC (Powers) Measure 1956, to co-operate with the minister in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the church: pastoral, evangelical, social and ecumenical.
2.2 Description of St Thomas’s PCC
PCC meetings are held on the third Monday of every month, with sub-committees meeting when necessary, with the exception of August, when the PCC breaks for holidays. The meetings are held in the church hall, beginning at 7.00 p.m. with worship followed by the meeting at 7.30pm, with the intention of concluding by 9.30p.m.
Special additional meetings are held as required, with PCC members being notified in such cases.
Representatives of St Luke’s are elected by St Luke’s Church members and are formally adopted by
St Thomas’s PCC. St Luke’s has its own council, consisting of all worshipping members of St Luke’s who wish to attend.
2.3 PCC Committees and their Structure
Ministry Team
The Ministry Team, which comprises the clergy, wardens and readers, meets on a monthly basis for encouragement, Bible study, prayer, and to regularly look at our worship. We sort out the preaching and service leaders’ rotas, etc. We have looked at the patterns of our worship services and made recommendations to the PCC.
|
Rev Michael Greenwood (Vicar) |
Pauline Rowe (Warden) |
|
Denise Hayes (Curate) |
Carole Pye (St Luke’s Warden) |
|
Malcolm Bold (Lay Reader) |
Tricia Hancox (Trainee Reader) |
|
Dave Hamlett (Lay Reader) |
Kevin Dolan (Trainee Reader) |
|
John Holden (Lay Reader) |
Izzy Schafer (Trainee Reader) |
Standing Committee
Terms of Reference: The Standing Committee has the power to transact the business of the PCC between meetings thereof, subject to any direction given by the Council. Members are ex-officio members of the
Standing Committee and are as follows:
|
Rev Michael Greenwood (Vicar) |
Jim Miller (Deputy Warden) |
|
Pauline Rowe (Warden/Treasurer) |
Kevin Gillham (Deputy Warden) |
|
Carole Pye (St Luke’s Warden) |
Frank Lowe (PCC) |
|
Pat Barry (PCC Secretary) |
Tricia Hancox (Administrator) |
Finance Committee
Terms of Reference: The Finance Committee oversees financial matters relating to St Thomas’s Church. The committee reports to the PCC at each meeting.
|
Rev Michael Greenwood (Vicar) |
Bill Schafer (Church Architect) |
|
Pauline Rowe (Warden/Treasurer) |
Jim Miller (Deputy Warden) |
|
Jane Andrews (St Luke’s Treasurer) |
Kevin Gillham (Deputy Warden) |
|
Margaret Molyneux (Gift Aid Secretary) |
|
Donations Committee
Terms of reference: The Donations Committee is an amalgamation of the previous Stewardship Committee and Africa Committee and is responsible for considering requests for charitable aid, and for making recommendations about such aid to the PCC, as necessary.
|
Rev Michael Greenwood (Vicar) |
John Holden (Lay Reader) |
|
Pauline Rowe (Warden/Treasurer) |
Carole Pye (St Luke's Warden) |
|
Jim Miller (Deputy Warden) |
Margaret Molyneux (Gift Aid Secretary) |
|
Kevin Gillham (Deputy Warden) |
Izzy Schafer (PCC) |
|
Pat Barry (PCC Secretary) |
|
Church Hall Committee
Terms of Reference: The Church Hall Committee oversees the upkeep and maintenance of the Church Hall, co-ordinates bookings and reports to the PCC on any necessary work.
|
Rev Michael Greenwood (Vicar) |
Tony van der Boon |
|
David Gratton (PCC) |
Olive van der Boon |
|
Margaret Molyneux (Gift Aid Secretary) |
|
Sub-Committees
Four new sub-committees were set up following the PCC meeting of 16th May 2005. The clergy and wardens are ex-officio members of all the following sub committees.
Youth Committee |
Building Committee |
|
Jan Cornthwaite (Chair) |
Kevin Gillham (Chair) |
|
Carole Pye |
Paul Tushingham |
|
Mary Owen |
Joan O’Malley |
|
Gareth Hamlett |
Helen Francis |
|
Anne Wooff |
Wilf Jones |
|
Bobbie Masnyk |
Alex Parr |
|
|
|
Social Committee |
Outreach and Evangelism |
|
Pat Barry (Chair) |
Izzy Schafer (Chair) |
|
Carole Pye |
Alan Chadwick |
|
Jane Andrews |
Jane Andrews |
|
Dave Gratton |
Anne Wooff |
|
Kath Day |
Bobbie Masnyk |
|
|
Barbara Taylor |
2.4 PCC Charitable Giving
St Thomas's Church policy on giving: to give 5% of all cash collections, free will offerings and wedding fees each year to nominated charitable organisations. Also to give 10% of Gift Day donations to nominated charitable organisations. Current donations are detailed in the church accounts.
2.5 Details of Voluntary Help
St Thomas's Church runs on substantial voluntary help. The reports from the various organisations included in this report are an indication of this work. St Thomas's Church is deeply grateful to all.
3. Review of the Year
Reports
3.1 PCC Report.
3.2 Reports from Church Organisations
Appendix: Statement of financial activities.
Reports follow in the above order.
3.1 PCC Report 2004
The Parish Church of St Thomas, Ashton-in-Makerfield, which includes St Luke’s, Stubshaw Cross, is here to promote the Christian faith in our parish and the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. We seek to bring people of all ages to a living faith in Christ and encourage them to grow in their faith through the teaching and worship ministry at all our services, through house groups and the many organizations, which meet in our name.
We particularly take our work with children and young people very seriously and seek to provide the appropriate environments in which they can mature in body, mind and spirit.
In 2005 we set ourselves a number of targets in fulfilling our mission.
Objectives for 2005
1. Work towards a mission aimed at children.
2. Focus on making St. Thomas’ child friendly.
3. Follow diocese ‘Child Friendly Church Award Scheme’ with a view to becoming child friendly accredited.
4. To install the facilities that will bring us in line with the Disability discrimination Act.
5. To continue training of the Shared Ministry Team (SMT).
Progress towards Targets
1. A Children’s Mission will take place on 13th -17th March 2006. It will be led by Ian and Elaine Coules, two experienced youth workers, with the theme being ‘Jungle Adventure’.
2. We are working towards being awarded ‘Child Friendly’ status, by the Diocese. An inspection was carried out in April 2005 which recognised the already child friendly atmosphere but highlighted 12 areas where development was needed, in particular child protection training.
3. We have spent considerable time, ably led by Rev Denise Hayes, training all the Youth leaders concerning our ‘Child Protection Policy’ and procedures.
4. A consultation process, involving parishioners has begun, for the installation of disabled toilet facilities. Plans showing the redevelopment of the back of the church have been made available. This project is part of a larger programme which involves, repairing gutters, rewiring, internal plaster work and redecoration. Raising funds for this essential work is a concern for the PCC.
5. Training of the SMT continues with licensing due to take place in June 2006.
Reviewing the year
· Last year proved to be a very difficult year emotionally, we lost a number of our committed people through cancer and that affected the whole fellowship, but I believe the Lord has brought us closer to each other as a result.
· One of the most significant events of the years was the Ordination of Denise Hayes, our stipendiary lay reader, on 26th June in Liverpool Cathedral; she is now our stipendiary curate and is doing a wonderful job.
· The weekly social activities throughout the summer again provided lots of fun and fellowship for many people, they included walks, bowling, shopping, eating together, visiting the Trafford Centre and playing games on Ainsdale beach.
· This year we changed our venue for the Parish Picnic and went to the Botanical Gardens in Southport and had a lovely relaxing time together.
· The Easter Christian Conference/holiday at Spring Harvest, the Keswick Convention and also our own Parish weekend at Cloverley Hall have again been real highlights and have all deepened the church’s fellowship.
· Kevin Dolan and Izzy Schafer will soon complete their training as Readers and will be licensed on 18th March 2006, in Liverpool Cathedral. Tricia Hancox continues her training.
· Our SMT is nearing the completion of its training. The team will be commissioned on Thursday 8th June.
· A good number of our young people took part in Merseyfest and were given an award by the Chief Constable of Merseyside, for the best project. They did some amazing work in St. Helens clearing derelict ground and transforming it into allotments.
· We had the privilege of Rev. Evas Karuma staying with us for a week on a visit from Uganda. We support Evas financially, as part of our giving, in her work with children.
· Our Alpha courses give us a continuing supply of encouragements and inspiration. They prove to be the most effective form of outreach and have resulted in us now having 7 House Groups
· The ministry of ‘lay people’ leading the Holy Communion services continues to be a real blessing to many people. It has also encouraged people to use their gifts more.
Objectives for 2006
1. Begin work on our Church building i.e. repair gutters and install the new facilities at the back of church and move towards new lighting and decoration.
2. Once the SMT is licensed, to
commission them to develop and maintain an overall vision for the church;
challenging, encouraging and equipping our people to promote the mission of
Jesus Christ in our community as effectively as possible. Seeking to identify
and address areas of potential growth, fellowship and evangelism, paying
particular attention initially to the three already identified areas of
baptism, marriage preparation and bereavement.
There are 39 voluntary groups working to promote the Christian faith in the parish. All age groups from pre-school to 65+ are catered for spiritually, socially and pastorally. Some groups have a specific function; giving, music, flowers and organisation of church events. Uniformed organisations for boys and girls are well supported.
The total number on the Electoral Roll at 31st March 2006 is three hundred and twenty seven (327), of which 100 (30.58%) are non-resident in the parish.
Anyone wishing to be entered on the roll should please obtain the appropriate form from church and return it to Frank Lowe, Electoral Roll Officer.
Average Sunday Attendance: 200.
Fabric of the Church
CHURCH BUILDING
Though there have been many positive things come from the meetings held with the building committee I am sorry to say that the plans formulated for the building have yet to be started.
The replacement of the gutters to make our church building watertight is yet to take place though tenders have been sought and the PCC have agreed on the company to take on this work.
The emergency work to repair the leaking gutters over the Vicar’s vestry has been completed and the damage to the organ by water coming in has been repaired.
The further problems internally; plastering, lighting, decorating and the floor are yet to be looked at.
The plaster that has fallen from the walls will be replaced once the new gutters are in place. This work will be arranged for the week following the completion of the new guttering. It will then be a matter of painting the walls to brighten and enhance the inside of the church.
Much work is needed to install toilets to the back of the church, thus providing much needed access for all to toilets and a kitchen. Though this is to comply with DDA regulations it will be a benefit to all who visit and worship in our church.
Work on the lighting, floor and decoration of the rest of the church will be carried out once the toilets have been installed and the necessary funds are in place.
WARRINGTON ROAD GRAVEYARD
2005 saw the taking down of the trees that had been in our graveyard for some 60 years. These trees had come to the end of their life and many were diseased and dangerous. The trees will be replaced though we are not required to replace one for one and advice will be sought on which type of tree to replant. We need to be aware of the cost and the fact that the tree chosen must be resistant to the fungus that diseased the Lombardy Poplars.
We have been grateful this year to Graham Bailey who has taken on the care of the borders at no extra cost. This care has greatly improved are gardens.
Each year the graves in the graveyard continue to be of a concern as the grave is the responsibility of the family who own the burial rights. A full and documented check is now required and this task though slow and monotonous is under way.
HEATH ROAD GRAVEYARD
The graveyard remains under our control as no headway has been made in our application to have the graveyard closed. In the meantime the grounds are maintained and the trees surrounding the graveyard will be trimmed early in 2006.
CHURCH HALL
Many changes have occurred in 2005 to the church hall. The new gas heating has been installed to replace the old and inefficient electric heaters. Hopefully the building will be warmer, safer and cheaper to run.
The church hall was also supplied with a replacement cooker and fridge, which will be fully utilised at our annual Senior Citizens Party in January. I thank the team from the Tuesday Coffee morning for the purchase of these items that will no doubt assist anyone who uses the kitchen in the hall.
As always any maintenance on this building is done by an army of volunteers, from the cleaning and replacing of guttering, to painting of walls, replacement of lighting and any other areas of need. Without these volunteers the hall would fall in to a state of disrepair.
The hall car park is used a great deal and potholes seem to appear from nowhere (where does the material used to fill in the holes disappear to). The signs to indicate “IN” and “OUT” have been erected this year as well as markers on the road at the entrance to the car park to allow cars through when the traffic is at a standstill.
THE VICARAGE
This building is under the responsibility of the Parsonages Committee advised certain repairs and redecoration to be carried out in 2006. The windows in the vicarage have been replaced and the parish has been required to pay a percentage
79 GREENFIELDS CRESCENT
The benefits of having this house occupied can be seen by all. Minor repairs and decoration still need to be made to this property in particular the front door and garage doors need some attention. However, overall the property remains sound.
ST LUKE'S CHURCH WARDEN'S REPORT
We have had a good year at St. Luke’s with plenty of things happening. The Prince’s Pantry continues to do very well with more “customers” than ever. The fellowship is plain to see as is the obvious enjoyment of all who come; many thanks to all who help and support the pantry in any way.
We had a very successful prayer breakfast to launch Kevin Dolan’s sponsored walk, which he did in record time in aid of funds for the Sri Lanka mission. On behalf of St. Luke’s many thanks go to Sheila Baxter, Edith Taylor, Janet Sharkey and all who help and support the monthly bingo which brings St. Luke’s a regular monthly income.
Kevin and Moira Dolan now run the Monday Club with help from Barbara, Hannah and Rosie. They run it successfully and have plans for activities in the coming spring and summer; many thanks to them all.
We have recently redecorated the main hall and link area with plans to redo the rest of the building; our thanks to Ken Lockett and Michael.
We also, thanks to John Boon, have our music centre set up on a permanent basis, so we now have music playing before the start of the services.
We are really blessed at St. Luke’s with so many willing people who just get on and do whatever is required and pray they will continue in their support.
CAROLE PYE
3.2 Reports from Church Organisations
FINANCIAL
FREE WILL OFFERING SCHEME
Another year completed! Doesn’t time fly! Thank you to all who contributed to Church through this scheme. We do thank you. Many have left us this year and now contribute through Direct Debit giving. If you give regularly why not think about changing.
My grateful thanks to Joan O’Malley and Frank Lowe for their continued faithfulness, counting money from envelopes every Monday afternoon, come rain or shine.
A sincere thank you to you all. Helen Francis.
TEN PENCE A WEEK SCHEME
This scheme has now been in existence for some 12 or 13 years. The aim of this scheme was to raise additional money for the internal decoration of St Thomas’ Church as at the time of its inception sufficient funds were not available. According to my estimates some £7000 plus was raised. Almost the bulk of the money is collected on Thursdays and the remainder at the Sunday services. Over the years the number of contributors have dwindled mainly due to members having died or have left the parish. At least 90% of the contributors are senior citizens. Just over £500 has been collected this year (2005) regrettably a drop of £100 compared with the year 2004.
I am of the opinion that this scheme needs to be revitalised and the impetus it needs is a guarantee that the PCC will make a decision when this redecoration of the interior of our church will be started. I am confident that more people will prepared to join the scheme knowing action is forthcoming.
My thanks to the 7 lady collectors, without them the scheme would not function. Tony van der Boon
MISSION
AFRICA FUND
“The King will reply‘.. whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’. Matthew 25:40.
This year we have been able to send £1200 to Evas in South-west Uganda, and £6500 to Sam’s street children in Kampala. These gifts have been greatly increased by Gift Aid and in Sam’s case by two find-raising events which brought in over £3000.
It was very good to see Evas last autumn. She is as busy as ever with all her responsibilities for the church. Her children are thriving and two are at University which brings her added responsibilities. Our help has made a big difference in meeting the costs of school and university tuition.
2005 was a year in which we tried to ‘Make Poverty History’ and in July we held a family fund day on St.Thomas’s School fields. This was very well supported and certainly raised the profile of what different churches in Ashton do for people overseas. We can be certain that our gifts are making a real difference in people’s lives. Sam continues to look after about 25 boys in the home in Kampala and has recently realised a long-term vision of his and opened a school for his children, and others, in Kampala, partially supported by the shop they run near the home.
In these days of a ‘global economy’ computers are never far away. Skills are as needed in Uganda as they are here. In order to provide such skills to the children as they grow, so that in turn they may get productive jobs and break the cycle of poverty and unemployment, two donated computers are on their way to Uganda. We hope that next year we will be able to report that the others that have recently been given have also arrived.
We have also been able to send over 1000 more pairs of glasses to Sam for distribution to those who could not otherwise afford them. Please keep collecting.
Once again thank you for the marvellous support the Africa Fund, and Evas and Sam, and all those they help, received from so many here in 2005.
John Holden
CHILDREN'S SOCIETY
Once again we had a very successful year for the Children’s Society. We lost a few supporters last year and we have not gained any new ones. The number of supporters now stands at 75. In spite of the depleted number of box-holders the total amount raised was £1315.00 Last year we stepped down from organising the production of the Christingle oranges and collection of the donations. The administration is still shared by Mrs Meta Laites, Mrs Margery Jackson and myself.
Valerie Hunter
YOUTH AND CHILDREN'S GROUPS
WEDNESDAY WEENIES
It’s 1.00pm on Wednesday Afternoon at St. Thomas’s church hall. The sound of children’s laughter echoes around mixed with the hubbub of adult chatter. The sight of little hands gripping oversized glue stick creating some exciting craft work. The smell of freshly made tea and coffee…….All this can mean only one thing – Weennies is in full flow.
Weekly numbers continue to average 25-30 parents and grandparents with toddlers ranging in age from new born to four. Children and adults are welcomed each week by our friendly team of helpers, some working on a rota basis without whom weenies could not open. Thank you to one and all.
Some of our weenies come to the morning services at St. Thomas’ and St Luke’s. For many, however, Weenies is the only link with church. Through songs, craft and stories we teach the little ones about God’s amazing love for us and pray that one day soon they too will know Jesus as their Lord and saviour. Thank you for your prayer support. Please continue to pray for us all.
Jan Cornthwaite
JAM CLUB
i) Bubbles
Bubbles have three teachers and twenty nine registered children aged between two and a half and five. From September 2005 to present we have has seven new starters. On average we have around sixteen children accompanied by fourteen adults and approximately three babies. He help from parents/adults is invaluable, as we could not cover the activities we do, if we had to help every child.
Activities follow the Bible theme for the week, they include re-enactment of certain stories, role-play, craft activities, but the favourite one of the children would be when musical instruments come out. We use CDs to help us learn new tunes because none of us play musical instruments.
ii) Splash
SPLASH is part of the J.A.M. Club, teaching children aged 5-8yrs. We use the Light Magazine and craft book from Scripture Union. The children can then take a page or craftwork home each Sunday.
We have prayers, bible stories, craftwork, hymns, songs that go with the lesson. Quite often people are out of church before we can tidy away. We apologise for this.
This year we have 12 children on our register. The leaders are Barbara Rigby and Elaine Mateus. We are pleased that we have a healthy number on Sundays – between 5 and 7 regular attendees.
Our Christmas Party this year was again a great time. St Luke’s joined us again for fun, games, tea and also a visit from Father Christmas. Forty-five children came. It was great to see so many together.
May I thank all the teachers, helpers and parents for all that they do. It makes it a really special time, seeing the children’s smiling faces. An extra special thank you goes to the person who came after our party tea – yes, Father Christmas!
Barbara Rigby
iii) XSTREAM 2005
In January 2005 we had 7 children on the register and we have used the Light “xstream” material for 8-11s, which has worked well with the children and for the leaders.
The children enjoy the text cards and the pamphlets that they take home each week and also the work we do within the Sunday School form pamphlets. In June for Prize Day the children chose their Prize day books from a list of titles advertised in the Light magazine which was more beneficial to them as it gave them personal choice and enabled them to be more interactive.
In September 2005 four children moved on to Pathfinders (Grid) leaving us with four children on the register, who have attended regularly since 5th September 2005 until December 2005. In December the children took part in the dressing of the crib taking the parts of Mary and Joseph and the shepherds.
Due to the small number of children, Cherril Mansel and I, Thelma Maguire, who are the two leaders, feel that it would be more be beneficial for us in our own spiritual development if the Jam Club could be revised, so that at least part of the time the leaders themselves could benefit from the church service. This would mean that the individual groups in Jam Club would need to integrate more.
Thelma Maguire
iv) PATHFINDERS 2004/5
Pathfinders meet each Sunday (except when it is Parade) and is for all young people in school years Y6 – Y8. We are a group of around 10 and our sessions continue to follow the SALT material. Our three leaders form a rota each week leaving one of us to enjoy the morning service.
Several of our group were confirmed this year and we joined the Christmas trip from church to go to the cinema to see The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe.
We are very fortunate to have a group who faithfully come along week by week and we feel privileged to work with them. They all have much to offer and we pray we can help each one to fulfil their potential.
Please continue to pray for the young people both as they follow the Lord Jesus, and in knowing how they can best contribute to the life of St.Thomas’s. We are all learning together and value everyone’s support.
Alyson Holden Linda Bradley and Jonathan Hooton
V) Bell Tower Boomers
The Boomers are unfortunately unable to meet on a regular basis. Many of the youth are musicians or singers in the music group and in 2005 many were studying for exams. As one of their leaders sometimes the duties of the churchwarden need to come first and when that occurs the group are unable to meet together.
We use the room below the bell tower (thus named) and we can be seen from the main part of the church through the big glass window above the double doors.
The group are lively, God loving teenagers and love to discuss issues relating to their faith. This age group seem to be rarely catered for in other areas of the countrywide church and material to study/use is not readily available though can be found. St Thomas is richly blessed by their youth and the Boomers is rewarding as all relationships between different generations can be. They need more leaders to take this study on a Sunday if the youth are available. Can you have a go?
Pauline Rowe
CYFA Report 2005
The Christian Youth Fellowship Association (CYFA) at St. Thomas’ Church is a youth group for young people aged 13 and above, (those in school year 9 and above). CYFA meet on Friday evenings for 2 hours during the school year, between 7.45 and 9.45 p.m.
The main aims of the group are:
To provide a forum for the youth of the parish to learn more about Jesus in a friendly environment.
To encourage fellowship amongst the youth of our parish.
To build confidence in participating and promoting leadership in worship amongst youth.
This is achieved by undertaking a mixture of sessions which include Bible study (often dealt with in less traditional ways), outings and games nights.
CYFA throughout 2005 met in St Thomas’ Church with 46 young people recorded on the register. Some of those young people only attended odd sessions, but overall it had been an increase of 12 additional young people attending CYFA.
CYFA started 2005 with 3 leaders. Older members of the group have continued to take on leader roles, learning new skills in leadership and facilitation. A number of young people have left for University, but still attended during holidays and positively contributed to the subjects being discussed.
During 2005, CYFA met approximately 27 times. This usually starts with the Older Peoples Christmas Party in which CYFA members usually help out, with other events which included study sessions, games nights, praise nights and outings, some of which had been extended to include full parish invitations. This had proved a very valuable addition to the programme as it set out to give our young people the feeling and experience of being part of the wider church community with people of differing age ranges. It had been a very positive experience for all who attended.
Throughout the year the numbers attending CYFA ranged from 13 to 27 (not including the trips) with an average attendance of 20 young people.
2005 started with the news of the Tsunami, this became one of the early subjects covered and enabled a link to suffering to be explored and discussed.
CYFA also run a “Youth Alpha” course which had been very well received and enabled an opportunity to invite internal and external speakers to cover different subjects. Our own Church member Jenny Holden provided a very good and interesting presentation, it also enabled links with other Churches locally with key people being invited to give talks: namely Kevin and Sam Simpson, Joe Heyes and Billy the Diocese Youth Worker running the session on the Holy Spirit.
The sessions ended moving towards the summer break with a meal at a local restaurant – Cirio’s, followed by an outing to Southport Pleasure Beach.
The autumn term saw subjects such as Jesus’ Compassion, Euthanasia (again using a Church member – John Holden) and Good vs. Evil. In addition with the increasing number of suitable films being released running up to Christmas saw CYFA extend invitations to the Parish as a whole for: Wallace and Gromit; Harry Potter; Chronicles of Narnia:
CYFA has been blessed with a very successful 2005, and has been the result of God’s guidance throughout the year and has continued to build upon the success of previous years. CYFA is now starting to attract young people from within the parish who may not have specific links with the Church, but it is clear that they are interested in the life of Jesus from the way they come each week and contribute to the discussion. It is apparent to see that God is at work within the youth of our parish, we thank God for a successful year and pray for his continued love and guidance for 2006.
January 2006
YPF – Young People’s Fellowship
St. Luke’s Church Centre is a very lively place on Friday Evenings during term time. YPF meet there from 7.30 – 9.15 and caters for young people from age 11-13 (Y6-Y9). Numbers are fairly constant at 16-18 each week. Some young people have church connections, however many have not. We aim to introduce the gospel message and God’s amazing love through games, quizzes, discussions and crafts. Alyson Holden, a founder member of YPF moved on to other ministries during the year. We miss her greatly but are pleased that she’s been able to reclaim her Friday nights. Very recently Claire Roby has joined the team. She’s been welcomed by Lynn, Jan and all the young people.
Jan Cornthwaite, Lynn Myler
CENTURIONS 2004
Our year began with our youngsters once again helping to serve and entertain the senior citizens of the parish at their Christmas party. Considering the amount of food served and crockery used, it was quite surprising to see that no plates or dishes were broken. Well done kids.
The number of children attending on Sunday nights has dropped quite a bit this year, mainly due to school work for exams. We are averaging about 25 youngsters each week. As two of our helpers have also left us, it can be quite demanding on those leaders left. Should you feel the urge to come and join us ‘come on down’.
We have a great time playing various games. One night we had a competition to see which group could build the tallest tower possible using spaghetti and marshmallows! It was good fun, but we could not eat the towers (the spaghetti was uncooked).
At the beginning of May we had our annual weekend trip to Myn-Y-Don activity centre near Barmouth. The youngsters really enjoyed doing canoeing, archery and the weather was also very good. We have already booked for 2006.
In June we also revived our ‘chippy run’. What a sight, 30 kids and leaders (with scales) visiting Ashton chippys to see who would be crowned best chippy. It was a close finish with Ashton Fish Bar narrowly getting the winning vote. The look on the girls face in the Fish Bar when we ordered chips for everyone, she was sure glad she didn’t have to peel all the spuds!
During spring and early summer, some of our youngsters once again did service, skills and went on expeditions for Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. They all passed. Well done. After the summer holidays some new faces arrived on Sundays, they have all settled in nicely and some are quite competitive in the physical games.
We also took ten youngsters 10 pin bowling at Wigan in October; I’ve never seen so many strikes scored in one night. I’d better get some practice in for the next visit.
Finally I would like to finish this report by thanking Viv, Leslie, Keith and all the young leaders for their commitment over the last 12 months. Also to everyone who bakes for the coffee mornings after church, which raises much needed money to keep us going.
God bless you all. Dave Gratton (for Centurions)
ST LUKE'S MONDAY CLUB
Since Kevin & I have taken over the Monday Club from September 2005 it has now grown to a total of 30 members though we average out at 20 per week. We feel that we are having great success and the children enjoy coming. We have a meeting with the children for about 5 minutes before we start and have grace before we close. During the 5 minute session we give the children the opportunity to tell us what they want from the club and endeavour to meet their needs and requests. The children have told us that they don't want the table tennis and have agreed that it can go to St Thomas'. They have asked for other smaller items to replace it which does not take up much storage space - this is a big problem. The children have asked for baking sessions so we are going to begin with making Easter nests. We have recently purchased a parachute which has proved favourable, and we are about to purchase various items which have been requested. We have a number of plans and ideas to introduce to the club within the near future.
We are going to move the craft section and the football table game into the IM school room to create more space in the Church hall for active games. This has been approved by Amos Banks, IM Minister.
In January we went to St Andrew’s Church, Springfield, Wigan for the panto ‘Robinson Crusoe’ which we all enjoyed. There was no fee for this so we requested donations of £1 from parents towards St Andrew's Church fund.
We are very grateful to Hannah and Rosie for their wonderful support which we could not have managed without. They enjoy getting involved and we plan to involve them more if they wish to. We would also like to thank Barbara for overseeing the craft sessions.
I have found great inspiration from Jane Leadbetter at the Kaleidoscope and I am grateful for being put forward for this course. Jane plans to visit us in May to see what other ideas she can suggest.
MOIRA AND KEVIN DOLAN MONDAY CLUB LEADERS
St. Thomas’s Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Group
We have been meeting since January 2003 for young people in school year Y9 and above. There are three main parts to the awards. The Bronze Group do the following:
Skills & service From 6.30 – 7.45pm on Sunday evenings we carry out activities to learn new skills and put them into practice. These included cooking, first aid training, crafts and woodworking (building bird boxes).
In addition have raised money for charity by means of a car wash (Huntington’s Association) and helped at the Make Poverty History fun day last July.
Physical recreation We have learnt climbing (indoor wall at Preston) and kayaking. We have also been white water rafting in North Wales and orienteering.
Expedition In the spring we hold expedition planning sessions where we learn map-reading and so on. Then we have two expedition week-ends: one practice at Anglezarke and one ‘for real’ at Garstang, both involving a nights camping.
We were delighted that the following people gained awards last year, with more to come. In completing awards our participants have also contributed well over 400 hours service to the community.
Bronze
Christian Adamson Claire Davies Alex Guest Becky Hanaway
Rosie Holden Kimberley Hughes Chris Hurst Emma Jones
Jessica Littler Paul Malley Elizabeth Ramsdale Scot Roberts
Collette Roughley Michael Roughley Alannah Russell
Silver
Matthew Carson Robert Carson Jilly Cornthwaite Andrew Davison
Kathryn Duckworth Dean Gaskell Gabrielle Maguire Rebecca Finney
Philippa Jolley Laura Gaskell James Hancox Chelsie Hanway
Lauren Howarth Rebecca Hurst Andrea Kay Simon Parry
Laura Prior Sean Ramsay Kirsty McClusky
It was interesting to note that our 34 awards put us in second place amongst all the D-of-E groups in Wigan. We greatly appreciate the contribution of many people towards the scheme.
It was especially gratifying to see most of our 2004 participants going on to the next level of award. They are a great inspiration to us. But we are always looking for new participants and leaders, so let us know if you are interested.
Finally many people, who have taught us new skills, provided with transport and supported fund-raising events. Thank you.
Tony Russell, Dave Gratton, Ceri Mansell, Maurice Smith, John Holden, Susan Crehan (leaders)
Uniformed Organisations
1ST Ashton – in – MAKERFIELD BOYS Brigade
Anchor Boys
The Anchor Boys section meets on Tuesdays from 6pm until 7.15pm at St Thomas’s School. Mrs Norma Quinn is the Officer in Charge and is assisted by her fellow officer Mrs Olwen Wright and two helpers Mrs Annette Weston and Mrs Susan Hurst. The officers and helpers have been joined by boys from the Company Section who have been doing leadership and community service for their Presidents Badge and Duke of Edinburgh Awards. The Company Section Boys are a great help for the officers and helpers and mix well with the Anchor Boys, they also make great toast, Thanks Lads.
In the past year there has been a drive by the officers to recruit more boys into the section and this has seen the number of boys increase to 19 but there is still room for more. We have just celebrated the Chinese New Year and are hoping to go to St Helens theatre in the spring and possibly Gulliver’s in the summer. We have held Anchor Boy sessions in church with the help of the Clergy and Mr Syd Hibbert
We would like to thank everyone who has helped during the last year, especially our prayer partners.
We look forward to another year of Challenges, fun and games and Advancing Christ’s Kingdom Amongst Boys.
Norma Quinn
Officer in Charge of Anchor Boys
Junior Section
I remain Officer in Charge of Junior Section. Other officers working in Junior Section are Mr. Kevin Pennington and Mr. Jonathan Hooton. Helpers are Mrs. Lynne Fielding (Company Treasurer) and Miss Rachel Marsh (Registered Instructor). Jonathon Cornthwaite, Andrew Davison and Simon Parry are doing service for Company Section awards. Miss Emma Jones has also joined us as a helper.
At present we have sixteen boys on the register, most of whom attend regularly. We start each evening with inspection and an opening service. The Wednesday before parade we do drill practice. During the evening we do badge work, have a snack, play games and do seasonal crafts.
Our Holiday Weekend last May was taken in Sheffield at the Boys Brigade Greenmoor Training Centre. We had a great time swimming at a pool with slides in Rotherham. We went on a trip to ‘Magna’ which is a ‘hands on’ science park in an old steelworks based on the elements. We played football in the dark! We went to the local Church across the road from Greenmoor on Sunday morning and were made extremely welcome by the congregation. There were actually more of us than them!
We had our usual Sausage Sizzle for bonfire night. We try to take the boys on outings when possible. Before Christmas we went on a joint trip with Company Section to Liverpool by train. We had a great day out at the science park in Seaforth having travelled there by ferry.
We took part in the North West District swimming gala. We have been to see a pantomime, done a sponsored basketball throw in aid of The North West Air Ambulance Service and have recently taken part in the Battalion Scripture Knowledge and Bible Reading Competition.
This year for the first time Junior Section will be performing their own item in the North West District Boys Brigade Display at Southport. In the past our boys have joined with Company Section. We are practising each week. This year’s Holiday Weekend is in the planning stages. We are really looking forward to a weekend away with the boys and getting to know them even better!
Mrs. Anne Marsh
Officer in Charge of Junior Section.
COMPANY SECTION
The Company Section Boys were once again involved in the competitions organised by the Wigan Battalion, events included football, table tennis, indoor games, swimming gala, quiz night, and sports day to name but a few. They have also represented both the Company and Battalion at the Northwest District Swimming Competition and ten pin bowling. There have been many victories and many defeats over the past twelve months but the behaviour of the boys during these events has been impeccable.
The Boys were once again invited to take part in the Northwest District display held for the first time in Southport. Members of both the Company Section and Junior Section together with Rachel, Grace, Jilly and Rachel performed “Why Should the Devil have all the Good Music”.
The Company Section band continues to improve and grow in size and is becoming requested by many different marches in the Wigan area. Last year the boys paraded twice on St George’s day, for the Billinge Walking day, for the Mothers Union and for our own Walking day.
The summer session saw the Boys distributing and collecting Christian Aid envelopes, preparing for their Summer Camp and the Annual Awards Night. To go through all the awards that each Boy has gained over the past 12 months would take far too long. A special mention should be given to Matthew Crehan who won the Ian Hilton Memorial Shield for Best Boy of the year for the second year.
Summer camp this year was held at Aberdaron in North Wales this camp was enjoyed by all who attended and some strong friendships developed during the week. The camp site is a firm favourite with the boys and the weather helped this year as we had a week of sunshine. .
After a short break for summer, we returned to our classes during the Autumn Term as the Boys worked towards more Awards and Achievements. The older Boys also went out with the Rotary float collecting for Charities in Ashton and Haydock. As the New Year approaches both Officers and Boys are united in our object of Advancing Christ’s Kingdom Amongst Boys.
The Officers would like to thank all the members from St Thomas’s and St Luke’s for their support over the past twelve months. This has come in many ways from supporting our fund raising events, prayers and donations. At a time when so many Company’s around the country are closing through lack of numbers or in some cases lack of support from their churches, here at St Thomas’s and St Luke’s the Boys Brigade continues to be in a healthy situation and this is due to the support the Boys receive. To all who help these young men with their faith, parents, friends, officers, helpers and members of our Churches thank you.
Number of Company Section Boys = 21 Gareth Hamlett - Captain
Jonathan Hooton – Officer in Charge Company Section
GIRL GUIDE ASSOCIATION
RAINBOWS
2005 saw the implementation of the new Roundabouts programme which has brought one or two changes to the way we run Rainbows, including a new song to sing at the start of our meetings – when we remember!
The girls have enjoyed the themes covered and also collecting the badges which they can proudly wear on their uniform.
We joined St Oswald’s Rainbows for our summer trip this year to Gulliver’s World. Everyone had a great time.
Another highlight of the summer was a visit to the Three Sisters accompanied this year by one of the Rangers. He too