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10% Fund

The 10% Team has the privilege of disbursing 10% of the church’s annual income to a wide range of projects or individuals operating primarily outwith P’s and G’s. Our aim is to ensure good stewardship. This ministry area is a very practical and obvious way of sharing our resources, loving people and serving our world locally, nationally and globally.

Summary of preceding year

The 10% Team consists of Geoff and Marjory Horne, Mike Nicholson (Applications secretary), Gwyn Higham (Grants secretary), Chris Purcell, Jane Wilson and Kath Williamson (Chair). In February Kathryn Quill stood down as Treasurer having served for at least 18 years! Many thanks are due. Kirsty Purcell has picked up where she left off. The Team continues to meet 6 times a year to consider applications ranging from students going abroad for short term projects to national bodies looking for funding.

We try to make the decision making process as fair and transparent as possible considering issues such as sustainability, alternative sources of funding, evangelism opportunities, previous grants made and taking up referees where necessary. Sometimes there is much discussion at meetings, other times our response is more obvious. We constantly seek to improve and evolve our processes so that hopefully members of the church can be assured that the money is being distributed well. If you would like to know more please do ask one of the team. We have tried to make the congregation more aware of the fund by regular advertisments in the notice sheet. This year we have made grants totalling £43,750 to 50 different individuals and organisations including Bethany, The Easter Play, Watoto Child Care Ministries, UCCF, Retrax, Emerge – Granton Waterfront Churches, Amica Pregnancy Centre, Business Matters, SU Ghana and Edinburgh Climate Network to name a few.

Reading the thank you letters is a joy and very humbling experience, our only wish is to share them with more of you. Be assured this money makes a huge difference to a lot of people and some feedback that we often we receive is what a great witness this is as a church.

Targets for the coming year

Very simply - to carry on giving money away as well as possible. Continue with rotation of Team members.

Resource Implications for the coming year

£40,000.

A new Chair will be needed as I stand down. This is a great ministry area to be involved with: very uplifting and rewarding. I’m grateful for having had the opportunity to be part of it.

Kath Williamson

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Children’s Ministry

Area of Responsibility

To work with children from newborn babies to early teens, on both Sundays and through the week, to see children come to Christ and grow in their faith and to reach out to children in the community.

Summary of preceding year

Four words I would use to describe the children’s ministry at P’s & G’s would be changing, growing, reaching out, and enthusiastic!

The biggest change in children’s ministry has been our move back to York Place. The seven groups have been extremely gracious and flexible as we together work out how best to accommodate over 100 children who attend the groups. Another big change has been my appointment in July. Everyone has warmly welcomed me and I am settling in well to life in P’s & G’s.

We started the new term not knowing how many children or families would come along. However every week there is a new child attending. This is encouraging and demanding since with growing numbers of children requires a growing team. Each week we require over 30 volunteers; at the moment this number is not reached.

The children’s ministry programme is also growing. In September we launched our partnership with Cheryls Children’s Home in Kenya, and in November we joined five of the groups together for a time of praise and fellowship.

Other than the Sunday morning groups our parents and toddlers group continue to run on a Thursday morning. Everyone has adjusted well to the move back to York Place and this group is growing with nearly thirty parents coming with their children, with the majority not attending church. This is a great opportunity for outreach to these families. The group is also moving to invite parents with babies along. In the next few weeks a small group of people will begin the process of thinking through and strategising how we can evangelise and reach children who do not know Jesus.

Finally, everything about the children’s ministry in P’s & G’s is enthusiastic. It is a huge privilege for me to be in a full time children’s ministry position. As I continue to meet new people and listen to their own legacy of the children’s ministry in this church I am overwhelmed by the vision people have for this ministry. Thank you!

Targets for the coming year

• Attend children’s ministry conference in January with six key leaders.
• Explore outreach opportunities for outreach to children.
• Continue to grow the Sunday morning groups and meet their needs.
• Expand our partnership with Cheryls.
• Expand the Parent’s & Toddler’s team and develop the group.
• Investigate and explore the opportunity for a specific ministry for children with special needs.

Resource Implications for the coming year

• More volunteers so that we can expand and start new groups!
• Prayer support

Gemma Stoddart

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Communications

Area of Responsibility

The Communications team has been set up to ensure we make the best use of all the communications channels available to us. This includes a wide range of areas including notice boards, web sites, screens in church, emails, signage and notice sheets. The team will review how communications are going and provide advice on changes which need to be made. It will also help plan future events and provide skills, where needed, to create new material. Good communications, both internal & external, will support the delivery of the strategy, so that people are aware of the ministry, events and messages which are being delivered as part of the strategy.

Summary of preceding year

The Communications team was formed after we returned to York Place, in recognition of the fact that communications has not always been the best and some channels were allowed to become out of date. Project 21 benefited from having a dedicated team looking after the web site and producing the signs, literature, emails and other communications needed to keep church members abreast of developments. The lessons learnt on the project will be used to deliver church communications in the future.

One obvious communications success of the last 12 months is The Blether, edited by Alison Dines, which continues to be popular & a great source of useful information for members and visitors.

Also, an improvement has already been seen with the web site, where David Simpson has recently taken on the role of managing content and keeping it up to date.

We continue to be blessed by the involvement of Katy and Philip Lockwood-Holmes who donate their time and design skills to improving our overall presentation.

Targets for the coming year

The first challenge for the communications team will be to assess the channels we have, putting processes & owners in place to keep them up to date and maximise their impact. As the church membership grows it will become increasingly important to make sure we have good communications in place to keep everyone informed.

We will be reviewing the recent ‘making church happen’ event, to see if the literature was well received and if more needs to be communicated to members about the first stages of the strategy and the resources we need to go forward.

The Blether needs more contributors to ensure its continued success and there will be a review of the web site to bring the design up to date, increase interactive elements and make maintenance easier.

Our aim will be to reduce the ‘fire-fighting’ – the last minute requests for communications – and develop a method of working which gives time to plan and deliver communications. This will be a major task and it may take a full year to achieve. However, every event we hold and every communication we send out will be part of the learning curve!

Resource Implications for the coming year

The communications team currently has nine members and we will call on various experts when needed. The biggest resource implication for the team will be time – initially to assess what we have and then to input the procedures to manage the various channels. Support will be needed from the church office to manage the various channels and to print literature when required.

Angela Stormont

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Counselling

The Counselling team aims to provide a listening ear for anyone in the congregation, their friends, and the local community whether they just wish to talk through a dilemma, make a decision or need more trained help to explore an ongoing problem. We are also used by some local medical services and by other churches. We aim to give a professional service as we journey along side others for a time.

Summary of preceding year

During the last year we sadly had to say goodbye to Steve Innes and we miss his contribution and having a man on the team. We are very pleased to have two new volunteer counsellors Ros Gardiner and Carole Gordon who bring different dimensions to us. We remain very grateful to the vestry for enabling us to offer this service freely, although most clients contribute financially some would not manage private charges at all. We have just about managed the waiting list this year without anyone waiting too long but without our volunteers we would not have. Angie is still much appreciated for her session at Drummond High.

Targets for the coming year

In the coming year we plan to run a listening course which we postponed last year as it was undersubscribed. We will continue to think about pastoral care in the church and aim to provide a good service to our clients by keeping up to date with our learning.

Resource Implications for the coming year

We need to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for our clientele but apart from a new chair there will be no major costs. The main cost is in on-going training for the counsellors which is required by the British Association of Counselling of which we are members.

Hazel Beamish

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Emerge

Escape; Local Action; Action Abroad; Sports; Events and Environment

Area of Responsibility

Emerge consists of a number of groups catering for a wide range of people within the church, however is mostly aimed at the 18-35 age bracket. Groups include Escape (outdoor activities), Sports (golf, football, squash…), Local Action, Action Abroad, Events (such as Ceilidh’s, Burns Suppers and weekends away) and an Environmental Group. Emerge aims to help people get involved in church and become part of the church family. By socialising with other people whilst doing an activity they are passionate about, the hope is that this will deepen relationships whilst at the same time making a difference in people’s lives. In that sense, Emerge covers all 3 areas of the Church’s strategy – Worshipping God, Loving People and Serving the World.

Summary of preceding year

ESCAPE

From a weekend away in Aviemore to mountain biking at Peebles, cycling in the Outer Hebrides and conquering a number of Munroes, Escape has had a busy and varied year. We continue to operate via a Yahoo! Email group through which any of the current 120 members can post a message to promote an outing. This is an informal but effective method of communication which seems to work well. The group is supported behind the scenes by Steve Best, Morag Austin and Sarah Fuller.

Our weekend away in Aviemore was well-timed to take advantage of some of the best skiing conditions Scotland had seen for some time, as well as providing good opportunities for high and low level walks and mountain biking. Several participants brought friends from outwith the Church and there are plans to repeat the event in 2009. The weekend also provided a good warm up for a skiing holiday with Oak Hall in Austria which several attended.

Cycling has risen in the Escape popularity stakes this year – in July a group of six braved the windy and hilly climbs of the Outer Hebrides on a week long trip during which they cycled more miles than they care to remember! Closer to home a new phenomenon has emerged … a group of ladies who are as equally dedicated to cycling as they are to the delights of culinary excellence…the “Ladies Who Lunch In Lycra” have pedalled their way to both Hopetoun House for a champagne afternoon tea, and to the luxurious German cake shop in Gullane. They have a growing following – though few boys have taken the challenge so far!

Munro bagging continues to attract a good following; this year we have enjoyed the challenge of several peaks, mainly in the Central Belt. In March a snowy hike up An Caisteal near Crianlarich culminated in sledging half way back to the bottom – at times with speed! We battled with wind and rain in August to conquer Stob Binnein at Balquiddar, and were similarly buffeted but successful in climbing Stuchd an Lochain in October.

The group is as flexible as its members make it – we have seen a huge range of activities which can provide for all levels of fitness and interest, as well as the opportunity to try new activities and see different parts of Scotland. We are grateful for the fun, safety and friendships we have enjoyed through Escape in 2008 – and we look forward to much more of the same! For more information, go to: Yahoo Group

SPORTS

Golf – Emerge golf continued to thrive during 2008, with a spring meeting and an autumn meeting at Gullane Number 3. In total 35 people from within and out with the church have participated in at least one such event. The atmosphere at each has been very relaxed (although still competitive) and fun. Emerge golf offers a great opportunity for fellow golfers in the church to get to know each other in a laid back and leisurely environment and to invite friends who would not otherwise have any church involvement. Further events are planned for next year, including a trip to the driving range during winter: Go to : Emerge Sports Website

Football – For Ps&Gs men’s football team, season 2007/08 was a case of so near and yet so far. 74 goals scored, 34 conceded and a creditable 47 points saw us reach second spot – only two points behind perennial winners Gorgie. Team members drag themselves out of bed to represent the church in matches almost every Saturday morning from August through to May. We finished the season in style at the annual awards dinner where performances (both good and comically bad) are recognised with our own particular brand of humour. Although we are a competitive team, the football is also a means for us as Christians to involve lads from all over Edinburgh in a church team. Realistically, these guys would not normally darken the doors of a church building, but they listen as we pray before matches and they try to limit their swearing as I often remind them “you are representing the church today!!”. These things may seem small, but are all part of our witness. One thing we would really welcome would be some support from church members on Saturday mornings – a couple of encouraging voices on the sidelines go a long way! The league website can be accessed here: Football League

Squash – The squash ladder has been quiet over the last year and could certainly do with more members, particularly active members. To join the ladder, go to: Squash Ladder

LOCAL/SOCIAL ACTION

We organised a hot topic night on Street Pastors, decorated two flats for people supported by Bethany, had a joint Water of Leith clean-up with A Rocha (an environment group) and organised a group to help with Bethany's "Caring Christmas trees" sale. We’ve been putting things in place with Bethany to do more decorating through their "Passing the Baton" project, however there's been lots of paperwork/training involved. We are now ready to move on that. For more information, go to: Emerge Social Action

EVENTS

After organising the weekend away to Nethybridge in November, the Events team needed a wee break. Therefore it wasn’t until being asked to organise the Church Ceilidh upon our return to the new building that the Events team swung back into action (with thanks to Dave and Jane Hurst who were briefly co-opted into the Events Team). The Ceilidh was a huge success with young and old alike dancing the night away to the fantastic Flamin Nora’s Ceilidh Band. It was a fitting way to round off the week’s celebrations and see the new building being used for the type of events we’d all been looking forward to for so long.For more information go to: Emerge Website

Targets for the coming year

Action Abroad has been struggling to attract volunteers to lead it. It was therefore felt that this group would fare better if brought into the wider church’s Overseas Mission. Likewise, the Environmental Group and Local Action Group, whilst starting out under the umbrella of Emerge, have evolved in such a way that it is felt that they might wish to now stand alone in order to appeal to the entire church. Therefore Emerge in the future is likely to focus on Escape, Sports, Events and is hopeful to start a new Arts group if the appropriate volunteers can be found.

Resource Implications for the coming year

Resource implications would be volunteers to help lead groups within Emerge and to assist with organising events. New sports are always welcome, as would help in getting an Arts group off the ground. Communications assistance in both advertising the current activities of each group and raising awareness of Emerge as a whole would be of great help. For events we are planning, it would be useful to know what opportunities there are to hold catered events within church and what the cost implications of this will be.

Craig Irving

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International Students

International Student work at P’s& G’s has two aims: supporting and encouraging Christian students and attempting to reach out to non-Christian students. We do this by organising outings and indoor events in No 40 and in team members’ homes. Contact is made through the international student intranets at Edinburgh and Queen Margaret Universities, language schools and the Wee World Café organised under the auspices of Friends International.

We are showing God’s love to the large number of people from overseas who are studying in Edinburgh and stimulating in them an interest in the Christian faith

Summary of preceding year

An increasing number of students have attended our events and it is always encouraging to see people coming regularly and bringing their friends. On a few occasions we could not meet the demand for places and had to start a waiting list. Countries they come from include Poland, Australia, Brazil, Botswana, China, S Korea, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Japan, Germany, Hungary, France, Ukraine, USA, Russia. Several students came to services at the church

We organised 5 outings and 4 indoor events. Although the outings are popular, students really enjoy being welcomed into a Scottish home, so, in addition to the hospitality provided by the McDowells (Christmas Tea), the Hornes (At Home) and the Martins (Easter Play), the November outing included lunch at Sarah Veitch’s house in Linlithgow. These personal contacts seem to be what the students appreciate most and often make a lasting impression on the students when they return home.

Although obvious opportunities for evangelism occur at the Christmas Tea, the Pancake Party and the Easter Play, a visit to a church on a trip will trigger questions about Christianity giving us the chance to explain what we believe. One of the highlights of the year was when, on the way home from St Andrews, we stopped at St Monans Church in its spectacular cliff top location. There, we were bombarded with questions about the Christian faith inspired by the interior of the church.

Targets for this year

To continue to provide outings and hospitality To run a bible study if there is a demand. To recruit more team members to cope with increased numbers

Resource Implications for the coming year

People with an interest in students from other cultures to provide friendship, hospitality, transport.

Marjory Horne

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Lay Representative

Area of Responsibility

As lay representative my responsibilities are to attend the Edinburgh Diocesan Synod twice a year. In addition to this, I meet with other members of the East End Churches Together five times a year and with clergy and lay representatives of the Forth Area Council of Episcopal Churches on three occasions each year.

Apart from Synod attendances, I see my role to build bridges with other churches both through the E.E.C.T. and the Forth Area Council. This role, in a very small way, gives opportunity to support inter-church events in our area.

Summary of preceding year

East End Churches Together: Our first joint event was when we gathered to sing carols in the local Tesco Supermarket in Broughton Road. It is most encouraging to receive appreciation from both staff and customers and the welcome given by Tesco management is most heartening when one considers the very secular society in which we live. This event gives us the opportunity to distribute Christmas cards to shoppers, detailing the Christmas services in the various churches.

The ecumenical Prayer Service was held in January in St. Mary's Cathedral, the theme being "Pray without Ceasing". Monsignor David Gemmell shared with us very simply what it meant for him to live a life of prayer as he went about his daily duties. This impacted upon many of us, and all the more so in the light of his very sudden death a few weeks later. He was a very strong supporter of the work of E.E.C.T.It is good to hear of work going on within the other churches in this group. Broughton St. Mary's for example have established links with children in Pilton hosting a summer holiday club and Christmas party for them. They are commencing the first phase of a redevelopment building programme this autumn. St. Mary's Cathedral continue to hold two services each Sunday for the ever-growing Polish community. St. Andrew's and St. George's have an Interim Minister at present following the departure of the Rev. Roderick Campbell to Argyllshire.

Forth Area Council: Once again, as with E.E.C.T., the main objective of these meetings together is to share news from our various congregations. It is sad to learn that St. David's Episcopal Church in Pilton has not had the opportunity for growth as a result of the development the Granton Waterfront. Many of the homes are vacant and building work has practically ceased due to the economic downturn. St. Ninian's in Comely Bank have seen increased numbers at their services and the children's work is growing.

Diocesan Synod: The Bishop's opening address at the October Synod emphasised the need for the church to return to its source -God - because only then will she be able to face the challenges ahead. The Youth and Children Officer, who had just taken up the post, gave a very realistic presentation of the difficulties facing many congregations in their ability to retain young people. Very disturbing were the statistics that 13% of people attending church on Sundays were under eighteen and the highest proportion were in the age group between six and nine years. At the March Synod, in addition to the on-going business of the Diocese and its engagement with the wider world, there was on the Agenda an item dealing with the Revision of Canons and the various changes involved. The major item for discussion was the Lambeth Conference - all history now. Interesting group discussions took place on the various issues which would be raised and some very diverse views were expressed.

Targets for this year

The lay representative will continue to attend the above events. With regard to the E.E.C.T., we are as a group, currently investigating various options for the way ahead.

Margaret Jack

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Marriage Courses

Area of Responsibility

The Marriage Courses aim to promote a positive view of marriage and to resource those who are about to get married, and those who are already married within our church and in the wider context of Edinburgh.

It is part of the Pastoral Care Strategy and fits into our aims of 'loving people' and serving our local community here in Edinburgh.

Summary of preceding year

Since September 2007 we have run The Marriage Course and the Marriage Preparation Course once each, and are currently embarked on another Marriage Course.

The courses are different in flavour: the Marriage Course has smaller numbers (currently 9 couples) and a more intimate feel, enabling couples to engage with a different topic each week for 7 weeks and talk together at their own private table over a candlelit dinner. The Marriage Preparation Course (typically 15 couples) gives people a chance to compare notes about the forthcoming 'big day' over dinner, but all the personal discussion is still done with your fiancé/e and privacy is respected at all times during the 5 sessions.

The talks are given by Jane and volunteers at the marriage Course and Jane and Dave at Marriage Prep, using the material from HTB in London, who market the course in the same way as Alpha. The hosts and caterers have continued to excel themselves with a warm welcome, stunning flower arrangements and amazing food, all on a surprisingly tight budget.

A highlight has been the increasing number of people from outwith Ps and Gs doing our courses, typically about half the guests this year. Most of these are not part of a church though a few come from other churches. Some have gone on to do Alpha, or join the church as a result, and have kept the clergy busy with extra weddings!

Some would say an even better development is the new dishwasher in the church kitchen!

Targets for this year

The teams are currently in transition from being led by Jane to carrying on with less staff involvement, and with such tremendous expertise and commitment amongst the volunteers, there's no doubt this ministry will continue to thrive. The hope is to run Marriage Prep in the Spring and another Marriage Course later in 2009.

Using the new church building has worked well, not least because of the better kitchen facilities. More space will enable us to accommodate more couples for Marriage Prep. (Last year we had to turn some away due to lack of space in no40)

Resource Implications for the coming year

Marriage courses create lots of admin. Mairi in the office deserves a medal for handling all the last-minute changes and extracting the necessary information about dietary requirements! It is also a big commitment for volunteers while the courses are running. Thanks to all of them for their time and good-humour. It's been a privilege to work with you.

Jane MacLaren

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Project 21

This year has seen the resolution of a very long journey with Project 21! The year did not begin with an encouraging start as we watched the initial anticipated completion date of 12th October 2007 pass us by. As well as this, we observed key personnel changes on site and claims submitted for an extension of time. Continued delays on site meant yet another Christmas ‘homeless’ as a congregation, however this provided a wonderful opportunity for us to share Christmas services with our friends at Morningside Baptist Church. Despite promises from the builders the completion date slipped ever further away from us testing our faith at all times. Monthly P21 prayer meetings continued throughout this time upholding every aspect of the project before God and praying into the future needs of the church.

As congregation members waited patiently for our return to York Place their continued giving reflected the ongoing commitment to the vision of the project. At the end of this financial year giving to P21 totalled £1,239,641. Since our first pledge day in November 2004 total giving to the project now amounts to a staggering £5.68million. Thanks must be extended to all those who have contributed and those who have continued in fundraising efforts. In particular we must thank the team involved in writing trust fund applications. We received a £25k donation from the Laing Family Trust as a result.

Although final fixtures and fittings began early in 2008 there were a number of obstacles that stood in the way of completion. Clark Contracts struggled to complete the external walls to the extension due to complicated access and there were a number of problems connecting the church to its new electricity source. Despite these obstacles our AV installation continued and we began preparations for moving in. The summer months were frantic as we prepared the church and the volunteer teams for the new building and all the change it would involve.

We were finally given a completion certificate by the architects on Friday 29th August at 3pm – only 23 hours before our official re-opening and service of dedication. What followed on that Friday evening was an unprecedented turn out of over 60 church members who worked throughout the night to clean the building prior to its first unveiling – over 2 years of building dirt and dust meant that this was no small task! This once again reflected the congregation’s belief in the project and the shared ownership of our spiritual home.

The dedication and thanksgiving services were truly memorable occasions with a real sense of God’s presence and blessing upon us. It was a joy to share these moments with the design team and contractors, friends and family who have made this journey with us. The week of celebration which followed saw hundreds of visitors in our new building, many cups of coffee and conversations were shared. The Ceilidh which ended our week was fantastic as we witnessed very early on the meaning of ‘a flexible space’.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Vestry and P21 Executive committee for all their hard work, patience and decision making over this past year and the preceding years. I would like to say thank you for all the support I have been given personally as I have attempted to manage the project over the last 4 years. As I begin to wrap up snagging and contract negotiations I will be sad to say goodbye, however I look forward to sharing with the church as we now use this building to fulfil the true vision God has called us to in furthering His work in the City of Edinburgh.

Resource Implications for the coming year

Snagging will continue throughout the coming year and the refurbishment of the Organ will continue for a number of months. Delays and difficulties in the past year have had significant implications regarding the final cost of the project. The final sum is still unknown as contract negotiations are still to be completed. By the close of 2008 the overdraft facility we are currently utilising with the Bank of Scotland will be converted to a term loan. We anticipate that this loan will be in the region of £1.25million. The loan repayments will move from being a P21 cost to a general church cost.

Emma Vardy

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Pastoral Care

Pastoral care is a very broad category that means different things to different people and underpins much of what we do as a church. The Pastoral Care Strategy aims to help and encourage us as a church to be a community who care for one another, and is a crucial part of our aim to 'love people'. This happens in a whole variety of ways and everyone in the church is involved in it in some way or another. Our aim is to continue to build on and resource existing structures, create some new ones, and foster an atmosphere of mutual caring and responsibility within the body of Christ here at Ps and Gs.

Summary of preceding year

Pastoral care happens in lots of different ways, from structured groups and training initiatives, e.g. keeping it on the training agenda for small group leaders, and offering a listening course (which sadly never happened due to lack of interest – a great disappointment), to informal support and social networks within the church. The PALLS scheme, meals for new families, the marriage courses, the counselling service, our public prayers at 9am for those who are sick and numerous 1:1 meetings and visits are all part of this.

As well as the quiet 1:1 work that goes on, particular highlights of the past year are the meal providers' party, and the way in which some wonderfully supportive relationships have developed through the Tuesday Morning Women's Group.

The visits, prayer and 1:1 support is only as good as the communication within the church, and this is often a weakness. We can only support one another when we know there is a need, and many of us struggle with 'it's Ok to ask'. In a church of our size, nobody knows everybody, but everybody knows somebody, so we each have to look out for those we know. Pastoral care from 'The Church' may not mean one of the staff. It may mean someone in the congregation who acts because they are a member of the church and therefore acts on behalf of it.

Targets for this year

• To continue to invest in existing schemes such as PALL and meals for new families
• To continue to resource small group leaders and make the transition to Mid-sized Congregations as smooth as possible
• To continue to resource the Counselling service
• To continue offering relevant courses where possible
• To create a clearer system for 1:1 care
• To look at new initiatives, e.g. Debt Counselling
• To think about how we can better care for our older members
• To continue to educate and involve the whole congregation

Resource Implications for the coming year

We need everyone to find their part in this and lots of staff time to coordinate it all!

Jane MacLaren

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Prayer

P's & G's presently has a rich and varied prayer life, with many different opportunities to pray within different styles and emphases. Prayer initiatives include the Prayer Ministry team, Wednesday am Prayer and Coffee, Refuel – prayer and praise for the youth and children’s ministries, the Reflective Prayer Group, and People at Prayer. Brief reports on some of these follow. Prayer Ministry: Team Leader: Antoinette Galbraith. Offers prayer ministry weekly at the 11am and 7pm services.

Prayer and Coffee: Opportunity to pray weekly in depth for whatever God puts on the hearts of those present.

Reflective Prayer Group: Co-leaders: Elizabeth White, Mollie Paterson, Susan Mansfield. In its 4th year, the group meets twice a month to experience different ways of praying, using scripture, music, symbols etc in guided meditation. The ethos is to become attuned to where God already is within everyday life.

People at Prayer: Team leader: Fiona Poulson. Beginning as a weekly prayer gathering approaching the move back to York Place, this continues monthly, as we seek God by worshipping, listening and praying in creative, interactive ways.

Summary of preceding year

Prayer Ministry: The team expanded last year to offer prayer within the 11am service as well as 7pm. The team meets at least once a month at York Place to pray for each other.

Prayer and Coffee: There have been some precious times of hearing from heaven and praying in depth. Numbers have reduced since meeting at number 40 – with up to 7 people attending weekly.

Reflective Prayer Group: Numbers vary between 8 and 12 with 50+ on the email list. As a drop-in, there is the joy of many folk linking in but also the challenge of pastoral continuity. Prayer that draws on contemplative / monastic traditions is unusual within an evangelical church yet many are embracing new insights which broaden how we pray and the language we use. Off-shoots of the group are the Retreat in Daily Life last Autumn when 21 participants found meeting with a trained prayer guide ‘enriching and insightful’. Quiet Afternoons have been well received and the Exploring Prayer Course in May was ‘a journey of discovery’.

People at Prayer: These meetings have become extremely precious times where between 20 and 50 people gather to seek God, also discovering a wonderful sense of community. Each meeting has honestly had its own highlights come and see for yourself! Times of listening and sharing what we sense God is saying have been particularly powerful.

Targets for the coming year

The health of the prayer life of a church is a good indication of a church’s overall health. It is wonderful that the strategy captures this, and it is hoped that in continuing to develop different times, ways and emphases within prayer, that each church member will join in at least one corporate prayer event on a regular basis, as well as finding support for their individual prayer lives. There is an excitement also at the prospect of future inter-church prayer events.

Prayer Ministry: The primary aim is to recruit a team leader to take responsibility for the 11am service. External training for team members is also being planned.

Prayer and Coffee: As a passion for prayer increases within the church, and with some more ideas re advertising this group, it is hoped that more people will join us for these meetings.

Reflective Prayer Group: Ongoing, the group would like to be part of widening the styles of prayer at all services and are open to invitations to teach or lead reflections at small groups. They also offer referrals for individual spiritual direction and prayer guidance.

People at Prayer: There is a continual excitement from the team and participants about the present monthly meetings, which continue until December 3rd inclusive, with the ongoing future of People at Prayer still yet to be decided within the overall strategy.

Resource Implications for the coming year

Prayer Ministry: Office admin support is of great benefit to the team. Training will require financial resources.

Reflective Prayer Group: The group is largely self supporting, with a £200 budget for ‘off-shoot’ activities. Office admin support continues to be very much appreciated. Thanks are expressed to Duncan MacLaren for his oversight and support.

People at Prayer: Small funds are needed for each session to cover the costs of various creative materials. The support of a staff member is extremely helpful as the creative preparations are invariably time consuming.

Fiona Poulson

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Small Groups

Small groups continue to meet to offer fellowship, study, and prayer in a variety of settings, and for a range of different needs and interests in the church. Around eighteen ‘official’ groups meet on a regular basis, as well as there being other groups that have formed more spontaneously from Ps and Gs folk.

Small Group Leaders’ training continues to offer the opportunity for leaders to share issues, learn about resources, and be briefed for the forthcoming sermon series.

The small group leaders are resourced by a team of five Supporters who are there to provide the leaders with support when necessary.

Summary of preceding year

Life goes on for small groups, with groups at different stages in their natural life cycles. Some groups have closed as leaders have moved away; others have sprung up. What is striking looking at the groups we now have is the healthy diversity that exists among them. Some groups continue to meet on the basis of focused interested, such as reflective prayer, theology, or groups based on age and stage. Other more typical home groups have nevertheless tailor-made their programmes to meet the needs of the group. Others have found it useful to go with the subject matter of the sermon series, and use group study time to prepare for the coming Sunday sermon, or to reflect upon it afterwards.

The coming year

Undoubtedly it is difficult for groups to maintain their momentum with the uncertainty cast by the strategy proposal for pastorates now in place. While some Small Group Leaders have been positive about the proposal, others have felt strongly that a crucial dimension to fellowship will be lost by the move to the mid-sized congregation as proposed.

Whatever the future holds, it is important to recognize that we have a committed team of Small Group Leaders who are passionate about what they do, and see its value week by week in what goes on. With at least a year to go before pastorates are introduced, the challenge will be to keep up momentum with the small groups, and recognise that a good many still have a life to live before the pastorate strategy becomes fully mature.

Duncan MacLaren will be stepping down in the New Year, and therefore he will no longer be there as the staff member with responsibility for small groups. It will be important in the medium term to ensure that this committed team of leaders continues to be resourced and enabled. Duncan MacLaren

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Staffing Group

The Staffing Group is a subgroup of Vestry and has responsibility, through Vestry, for the responsibilities which the church has as an employer. The Group has also, this year, been considering the staffing implications of both the move back to York Place and the 09-14 strategy. Much of the work of the Staffing Group goes on in the background and, by the nature of the business, much of it has to remain confidential.

Summary of preceding year

The membership of the group has changed this year with Duncan MacLean, who has chaired superbly for the last few years, leaving the Group. We are hugely grateful to Duncan for all the work he has put into staffing. We have recently welcomed Alan McLean back to the Staffing Group and are already benefiting from his input. The membership currently is the Rector, the Associate Rectors, Joy Nicholson, Duncan Gray, Alan McLean and Ruth Stewart.

This year has been challenging and full of change. Fiona McDonald left her post of Director of Ministry in January and we have welcomed Gemma Stoddart to the post of Childrens Director and Jessica Smith to the post of Operations Manager. They have both already made an enormous contribution to the life of the church. Trey Gilliam joined us for a successful six month period during the year to work as part of the admin team and we are currently looking forward to Muriel Samson starting in this role. The move back to York Place led to the need for caretaking staff to be appointed and Mark Humphrey-Taylor and Eric Raffaelli have joined in these roles. The Counsellors continue to provide an excellent service which is professionally highly regarded in Edinburgh. Steve Innes worked with the counselling team until June and this year two trainee counsellors are working with the service under the supervision of Hazel Beamish.

We are very sad to be losing Duncan and Jane MacLaren from the Associate Rector role in January 2009 – our loss is St James gain! The major challenge faced by the Staffing Group at the time of writing is to work with Vestry to clarify and define the Associate Rector role such that it reflects the right balance of skills and gifts to help lead us forward. The recruitment process will start very shortly. Kieren Barnes, Youth Director, is planning to move to Kenya in September to work at Cheryls and early in 2009 we will be starting the process of identifying Kieren’s successor.

Work has continued through the year in reviewing our staff policies and also pension provision for staff.We are very grateful to the staff for all they do, especially this year they have achieved superbly against a background of an often reduced and changing team and the huge task of moving back to York Place in August and September.

Targets for the coming year

• The successful recruitment of a new Associate Director and a new Youth Director
• Review of the staff pension provision
• Review of the roles and responsibilities within the staffing team following the move back to York Place together with continued refinement of the appraisal system
• Continuing to keep and review the staffing resource required to fully realise the potential of both the new building and the 09-14 strategy.

Resource Implications for the coming year

• Continuing prayer for the key new appointments to be made, for those that will apply and for wisdom for the group
• Staff costs are a significant part of the church’s budget and, at the very least, income will need to be sustained to maintain our present staffing level and increased if additional posts are to be appointed
• Costs associated with additional pension provision if recommended by the current review
• Professional fees as required

Ruth Stewart

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Students

Area of Responsibility

As a Student Team, we organise a welcome for new students each year at P&G’s and run a student group which meets weekly. Our current team consists of Steve Best, Peter Alderdice, Sarah Fuller and Elise Kornahrens. Our primary aim is to get along side students and help them develop in their Christian faith. This is through regular bible study and prayer with an emphasis on living out our faith in the world.

Summary of preceding year

Over the preceding year, we met in No 40 York Place with a relatively small group mainly made up of 1st & 2nd year students. We studied 1 John looking at authentic love / holiness, watched & discussed a number of Nooma DVD’s looking at prayer, materialism & discipleship as well as some Psalms. We had a number of prayer meals with some visiting guests from the Bible Society and Steve Innes to discuss film/ faith. One highlight was our trip to the Bield retreat centre near Perth which for some, was their first experience of celtic spirituality & reflection.

Mel Clendenning moved back to Ireland but we thank her for all her work with the student team over the past 2 years. Our numbers within the group were smaller than expected but feel this reflects the lower number of students attending P&G’s over the last 2 years.

Targets for the coming year

We have been encouraged by the regular numbers of student at the group and welcome Elise onto the team. We feel our current study series of ‘The character of a Christ follower’ fits well with the current P&G’s strategy. We hope to develop supportive relations with students within the group and hope to cultivate an increasing desire to know and serve God.

Resource Implications for the coming year

We are grateful to the financial & logistical support of P&G’s in our work which allows us to offer hospitality to students and organise a trip away.

Steve Best

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Vestry

Vestry is equivalent to a Board of Trustees and is made up of 10 elected members, clergy and operations manager. Elected members normally serve for up to a maximum of 5 years and some of them are further nominated to carry out specific roles on other groups e.g. Staffing Group, Finance Group, 10% Committee and World Mission. In order to cope with the demands of Project 21 as well as wider strategic development in 2007-8 the vestry was divided into two groups, known as ‘Resources’ and ‘Church Life’. They meet monthly with the whole vestry meeting every three months. The Vestry Chair, Secretary and Treasurer are nominated Trustees for Project 21 with the Treasurer taking an executive lead in supporting Emma Vardy and the P21 Executive. As well as overseeing financial and staff management Vestry leads strategy development and supports the Rectors in their leadership of the Church.

Summary of preceding year

The current elected vestry members are:

This year priorities have been:-

- Supporting the final stages of Project 21. P21 executive reconfigured to reflect next stage of the project.

- Launch of the 5 year strategy. Huge thanks to the strategy working group, chaired by Derek Gordon, for their enthusiastic and visionary handling of the consultation process and drafting of the final document.

- Recruitment of and support for staff. There have been a number of significant appointments made in 2007-8. Thanks to Duncan MacLean who chaired the staffing group in 2007.

- Establishment of Finance Group. This group plays an invaluable role in supporting the Finance Administrator and overseeing budgets, accounts, financial management and governance.

- Reorganisation of vestry. Geoff Horne and Roderick Mackenzie have chaired the Resources and Church life groups thereby relieving the Vestry Chair of responsibility for managing an ever increasing range of agenda items.

- Prayer every month. We have continued to set aside one evening a month for prayer which has been the most important underpinning for vestry activity in the last year.

Targets for the coming year

The biggest challenges now facing vestry are related to scale! A bigger, more complex building, ambitious strategic goals and overseeing all aspects of financial, staff and operational management mean that vestry always has a full agenda. Vestry wants to support Ps and Gs fantastic staff team and committed volunteers by ensuring that management and leadership are as robust as possible. Immediate priorities:

• P21 Handling contractual, legal and financial responsibilities
• Strategy/ Ministry: ensuring that priorities are identified and supported within financial constraints. Demonstrating leadership in prudent and faithful financial planning
• Buildings / facilities: ensuring that the operations manager is supported to develop robust facilities management.
• Staff: Continuing to provide leadership and management of staff recruitment, development and forward planning.
• Communication: via the Communications team ensuring timely, accurate and transparent flow of information about the ‘business’ of the church between the church family and church leadership. The annual away day allows a review of progress to take place and gives space for creative thinking and planning.

Resource Implications for the coming year

Vestry needs 3 new members for the coming year. One person to serve for 2 years and 2 people to serve for 5 years. A ‘job description’ is available from Sue Bryce, or Alison Craig. Vestry candidates should be nominated and seconded by established members of Ps and Gs. Please feel free to chat informally to any of the vestry if you are wondering whether it might be for you…….

We badly need a small team of volunteers who can assist with the management of our buildings. We have 5 buildings to maintain so ‘practically minded’, skilled and ‘networked’ people are required to work with Jessica to undertake buildings inspection, maintenance, project management and risk management. Please chat to Jessica, Ali Craig or Douglas Millican to find out more about what this would involve.

Alison Craig

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Welcome Team

The Welcome Team’s main aim is to get alongside people and help them to feel ‘at home’ in P’s and G’s. The team can contribute to making the church an environment where people can encounter God in safety and in doing so, it is essential that each individual is valued and respected for who they are.

The welcome team also undertakes duties such as fire marshalling and collecting the offering.

Summary of preceding year

• Over the last year we have had 50 new members. This is an amazing response from the congregation. Thank you to all who have just joined and especially to those who continue to volunteer, your experience and patience through all the recent changes has been vital and is much appreciated. Many of our members are also involved in other activities or teams within the church so we are grateful for their contribution. There are opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds on the team and it is encouraging to see families who bring their children along to help welcome others
• We continue to strive to make our welcome more people focussed. Over the last few months as the team has grown the leadership has also been working on developing systems that will provide the team with structure and support for their work. This has lead to ongoing team training.
• We have recently introduced ‘Greeters’ to the team. Greeters are assigned to look out for and approach people who are new. There are now 2 people at each service in this role although it is currently felt that this is not enough to cover the current number of newcomers and visitors. We now also have team members working throughout the church, not just at the entrance.
• We have recently started a newcomers team. Our aim is that we are not just able to welcome people but also offer them opportunity to get to know others and become more involved in the church.
• We are also working with the communications team with the aim of improving our information service for everyone.
• In October some students joined the team. We are currently developing this idea further and hope to tailor our welcome for specific groups of people, special events or times of year.
• We are currently introducing team prayer times.

Targets for the coming year

• Develop our welcome for specific groups of people (tourists, students), special times of year or events.
• Continue to develop our links with the newcomers and communication teams in order to improve our service to everyone. Look into how we can work with/ for other teams especially through our information service.
• Look at ways to increase our ‘greeting’ opportunities.
• To complete the systems and structure we are currently setting up and turn our focus to developing our reach to others.
• To introduce information leaflet stands to the foyer (currently on order and delivery awaited)

Resource Implications for the coming year

• We require a budget for a training session and a team update meeting.
• We would like one staff member to be a designated point of contact for the team. This person would oversee our plans to ensure the welcome team is working towards and in line with the overall church strategy.
• The team still has 8+vacancies.

Jenny Shiell

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World Mission

The main area of responsibility has been to uphold P’s & G’s commitment to its mission partners by ensuring they are supported by the church not only financially but also through regular prayer and encouragement.

Summary of preceding year

Giving: World Mission’s £40,000 target was reached within a month of gift day! For this we thank God and we thank the generosity of P’s&G’s congregation and their commitment to mission. Further details are in the accounts pages.

Mission Partners: Globetrotter – published 3 times a year -provides details of our 10 present mission partners, where they serve, the work they’re involved in, and up-todate news for thanksgiving and prayer.

A number of partners have visited P’s & G’s over the past year as they’ve been back in Edinburgh. These include the Lyon family working in the Arab world; Mike and Helen Parker in the Middle East; the Boydells now working with students in Stirling, Scotland; the Kerr family with OM in Ireland; the Aitken family on a year’s sabbatical from Ecuador; and Julie Taylor -SIL/Wycliffe Bible Translators’ anthropology and ethnomusicology coordinator in Africa. These visits have provided an excellent opportunity for them to speak about their work either during Sunday service interviews or with home groups during the week.

Anne Roemelle has just reached the end of her contract as medical coordinator with Medair in Northern Uganda. Previously she served with them in Afghanistan and Southern Sudan. We wait to hhear details of her next assignment.

P’s & G’s has supported a Central Asian student worker over the past 2½ years whose work has been too sensitive to publicise. This period of support will come to an end in January 2009. The world mission fund will only support mission partners commissioned from within the church in future.

New Mission Partner: Towards the end of the church year Kieren Barnes was accepted as a mission partner. He will be commissioned in August/September 2009 as he leaves P’s & G’s to join Cheryl’s Home in Nairobi, Kenya as Project Coordinator. Kieren makes an exciting addition to the ranks of world mission and will help maintain good links across all church age groups.

WM team: During the year team membership changed in line with Vestry’s succession policy. The team now consists of Pauline Hurst – Chair (term ends August 2009); Alison Creasey (term ends August 2009); Jon Hammond; Roderick Mackenzie (Vestry representative); Cath Macneal; Peter Quill.

Targets for the coming year

• Continue to review and encourage greater ‘connection’ between church groups and mission partners
• Keep P’s&G’s well informed and praying for mission partners
• Ensure awards to mission partners are appropriate to their needs and increasing costs
• Raise awareness of short term service opportunities and ensure a support network is in place
• Develop action plans which expand the role of world mission as set out in P’s&G’s strategy paper including finance

Resource Implications for the coming year

• The level of giving to world mission this coming year will need to reach in excess of £40,000
• At least 5 new WM team members will need to be recruited to fill existing vacancies as well as those created by terms of office coming to an end.

Pauline Hurst

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Worship: Music

Area of Responsibility

P's and G's Music Group is a team of presently 24 volunteers, who provide the musical worship for the 11am and 7pm Sunday services, as well as inputting musically to various other events within church life. The group is involved in weekly practices, internal and external training, an annual weekend away, there are a series of meetings with group members and ongoing recruitment of new members. Over the past year we have focussed the aims and objectives of the group into a new vision statement, which fits in with the overall Church strategy. Our overall aim is to ‘Lead the congregation into progressively deep encounters with God’, which we seek to achieve within the 3 emphases of Loving God passionately, Loving each other selflessly and Loving the Church sacrificially.

Summary of preceding year

The role of full-time Director of Worship has apparently been long anticipated by the group; it was my privilege to take this on last November. I deliberately spent the first 6 months getting to know the heart of the church and the volunteers, to gain some understanding of Ps and Gs before beginning to bring in changes. Recent changes have included temporarily reducing the number of people leading worship as we seek to give the congregation more of a consistent, confident lead, so helping to facilitate corporate intimacy with God. Our practice nights have also taken on different emphases. All musicians now also work to a rota. 1:1 meetings with all volunteers are ongoing, and regular worship leader training evenings are also in place. Highlights: 1) Weekend Away, March: This was a memorable time where 19 of us spent time with God and each other within a happy mixture of great food, chill time, teaching and creative worship sessions. We also spent time exploring our hopes for the Music Group, out of which came our vision statement. 2) Worship Central, Glasgow, April: 12 of us were envisioned and enthused by this day of training and worship, run by HTB’s worship team. 3) Thank You Meal, June: We joined with Production Team members for a wonderful evening of friendship building and feasting at the Millars’ home. 4) Some of our worship leaders have led worship at People at Prayer events – thank you! 5) After much thought and consultation, we bought a much needed new drum kit. 6) Move back to York Place, August: this was significant for the whole church of course, but much work was put in by the team of 7 musicians who led worship in 5 services within these exciting celebrations – thank you! Disappointments: 1) Some people have moved on and they are missed. 2) Timing of the Thank You Meal sadly excluded students – we will remedy this next year. Thanks to all group members for their hard work and support to both myself and the church as a whole; it has been a great year.

Targets for the coming year

Opportunities include building on the inspiring characters and skills of the volunteers, and continuing to aim for excellence in who we are and all we do – being and doing the best we can. We will do this by being accountable and encouraging to one another, and by highlighting the need for individual attention to both spiritual and musical lives, and the value of internal and external training events. Opportunities also include the hope of recruiting up to 10 new members – it would be great to be able to have the option of a full band at each 11am and 7pm service. We aim to increase the variety of musical expression within services, including introducing new and home-grown songs. More interaction between the Production Team and the Music Group will be encouraged and facilitated through training and social events, including the annual Thank You Meal. The new building is also a great opportunity for both our own training events, and for hosting those run by others. We are beginning to establish links with other worship leaders and musicians in Edinburgh churches for mutual encouragement and training.

Resource Implications for the coming year

We hope to finally buy our much anticipated new stage piano, our present one being old, and limited in its sound and abilities. We plan to run a number of training days each year, some of which will involve bringing in outside musicians. We will continue to encourage people along to external worship training events, with the hope of contributing towards volunteers’ costs.

Fiona Poulson

Worship: Production Team (Sound, Camera, Presentation)

As Worship Director I oversee the Production Teams, who work tirelessly to ensure that our Sunday services have appropriate sound and visuals to aid worship. I work particularly closely with the team leaders, supporting and encouraging them. The team leaders in turn have responsibility for their volunteers (recruiting, rotas, training), their equipment, overseeing the working of their particular area of production, liaising with the other Production Teams, and liaising with staff. The heroic Production Team leaders are: Sound – Paul Deponio; Presentation (formerly ‘Multimedia’) – Alison Dines; Camera – Gavin Bryce. Volunteers of all 3 teams total 24, and we are always on the lookout for more…

Summary of preceding year

The past year has seen ongoing faithful commitment to the set up and take down of AV at Pollock, and since September this commitment has sidestepped to the challenges of learning new procedures with the exciting new equipment at York Place. Paul Deponio writes, ‘The Sound Team has finished its year on a high. The guys (unfortunately only guys) have taken to the new sound system like ducks to water. Getting to grips with a new digital desk and its complexities was and still is challenging but rewarding.’ Gavin Bryce boldly took on leadership of the new Camera Team, as camera and mixing skills are now needed within our new worship space. He writes, ‘I am really pleased with the willingness and dedication of the camera team. I am grateful to God for bringing in a group of great volunteers at short notice.’ Alison has continued to faithfully head up the Presentation Team, including welcoming some new and youthful volunteers! Kings and Queens of all things audio and visual were celebrated at a Production Team and Music Group thank you meal, back in June. This was both an opportunity to mix teams, build friendships, and to say a much appreciated thank you to those selfless people without whom we would be struggling to both see and hear on Sundays. The move back to York Place has meant that the Sound Team is now essential at the Music Group’s mid week practice, and they have risen to this call graciously. As Paul points out, an encouraging development has been the willingness of some of the 9:00 congregation to taking the responsibility of looking after the sound amplification in the Chancel on a Sunday morning – thank you to them! Training for all teams continues as the more complex equipment becomes increasingly familiar.

Targets for the coming year

There is a need in all teams to see an increase in numbers of volunteers. Specifically, the Sound Team needs an additional 3 more operators & 4 more assistants. For some teams, external training on the new equipment continues; ongoing training will continue for all. We plan this year to find more user friendly song projection software for the Presentation Team. Another target, crucial for the smooth running of any church, is to build on the relationships and interactions both within and between the Production Teams and Music Group through training events, socials and the annual Thank You Meal.

Resource Implications for the coming year

Ongoing external training will have financial implications; having invested in such quality equipment, it is prudent both to keep this well maintained and to support our volunteers as much as we can in terms of helping them get the best use from it. The increasing requirement for the church to provide quality sound and visuals during the week for events in the main church space will increase demands on the team, and the potential use of the building for conferences will also need very careful management in terms of sound and visual requirements.

Fiona Poulson

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Youth

The vision for the youth programme for the last 3 years has been: "Helping young people ENCOUNTER God and ENGAGE with Jesus". Our aim has been to: “Make, Mature and Mobilse young people with a HOLISTIC, youth ministry based on the WORD, RELATIONSHIPS, DISCIPLESHIP and EVANGELISM”. The youth programme at P’s & G’s covers the whole S1 – S6 secondary school age range and is run by the Director of Youth, with a large, strong and dedicated team of volunteers who help facilitate all the various programmes and projects.

Summary of preceding year

The 2007/08 year was another good year for the youth ministry at P’s & G’s. The regular Sunday groups continue to grow from strength to strength and particularly over this last year the Oxygen group has been full of life! Oxygen is for young people in S1 – S3 and meets on Sunday mornings. Each week the talking and laughter has got louder and louder which is a good sign of healthy youth work. With young people coming from various schools and different parts of the city, this group is now bonding really well. A key highlight for Oxygen in the last year is the development of the group’s prayer life. The leaders have worked hard to develop a strong prayer culture within the group, as confidence grows amongst the young people in praying together. The regular supply of cakes brought by the young people each Sunday has helped developed our fellowship, even if it does mean an extra trip to the dentist! The Light which is the outreach group for S1 – S3 continued into its 4th year. It has really been a time of rebuilding and re-educating the Oxygen group about The Light and its purpose. After the first 3 years of The Light a generation has moved on and this last year has felt like starting again with a new group and new generation. Particular mention should go to Nina Koruth and Joel Caldicott who stepped down during the year after working very hard in helping lead The Light over the years. Also special mention should go to the team of volunteers who came each Saturday at 10am to help set up all the equipment. These volunteers never got to see the fruits of their labour, but their commitment and heart to serve in this way has been awesome!

The YF group which works with the S4 – S6’s settled down again during the year after the very successful Kenya’07 trip in the summer of 2007. The teaching programme included Purpose Driven Life, Relationships, Alpha, Social Justice Issues and loads more. The prayer life continues to grow within the group with some exploration of prayer ministry to each other and listening to God. Mentorship groups started again, although much later than planned, but this time around they were peer lead mentor groups. The YF have also been heavily involved in the running of EnE which is our own youth worship event, run a couple of times each term and targeted at both Oxygen and YF. EnE has given the young people opportunities to explore their giftings through worship, hosting, creative planning, PA and multimedia. It has been encouraging to see the young people grow through this event and for the younger ones to have clear role models from the YF. Young people from YF and Oxygen have been serving on some of the children’s teams as Assistant Childrens Leaders, the Welcome team, The PA team and the Multimedia team. There is a strong desire from the young people to serve within the church and recognition from them that they are part of a wider church family.

There have been a number of residential weekends away and social events which play a vital role in developing community within the groups and these have included: YF Weekend away to Glencoe, Oxygen weekend to Nethybridge and The Light weekend to Barcaple. The Frenzy festival continues to be a big hit with the young people as it inspire them to worship in a contemporary and relevant way. This year also saw the introduction of a half night of prayer for both Oxygen and YF which gave the young people the opportunity to pray in a variety of ways for global, local and church issues.

During the year a group of Youth and Children’s leaders met to form a strategy for the whole youth and children’s programme for the next 5 years. This was a very encouraging and exciting process as we reviewed what God has been doing over the last 5 years and prayed and listened to where God wants to take us into the future.

The whole youth programme could not happen without a dedicated team of volunteers who work hard each week and at some very unsociable hours. They continue to meet early and prep each session, attend team meetings, pray at REFUEL (The youth and childrens prayer and praise night), provide pastoral care for the young people and celebrate with other leaders at Christmas and summer. I would like to thank them for their commitment, passion and willingness to serve in this ministry. The team provides strong role models for the young people and the ministry would not happen without them. Thanks to all those who have served throughout this year. Each year people step down to move on to other ministry areas, churches or locations and thanks must go to them for giving so much during their time on the team. A special mention should go to Ben Davis Jenkins who has been one of the longest serving members of the youth team who has stepped down for a well earned break!

Targets for the coming year

There are strong foundations in the youth ministry which means each year we can continue to build and improve. With the youth and children’s strategy now in place for the next 5 years we have a clear direction in where we should be heading both in the year to come and also for the coming years. The core of our vision stays the same with the addition of a very important word at the end: “Helping children and young people encounter and engage with Jesus within community”. Our aim is to focus on Discipleship (learning to be like Jesus) and Evangelism (based on a relational model). There are many areas that will be developed over the coming years but for the 2008/09 year we will continue to grow Oxygen and YF, improving on the teaching, prayer life and worship of these groups. Young people will be encouraged to keep serving in different parts of the churches life and at EnE which will feature in one of the evening services just before Christmas in the main church. After Christmas there will be a consultation process to explore the possibilities of special needs work within the youth and childrens ministry and this will involved talking with leaders, staff and parents. By the start of the 2009/10 year we hope to be in a position to implement a new strategy for special needs work based on this consultation process.

We will build more outreach opportunities amongst the whole age range in the youth programme by introducing a new café called "The Java House" which will take place on 4 Sunday evenings throughout the year and give the YF age group an opportunity to introduce their friends to church and begin the relational evangelism within community. Residentials will also continue to play a key part in building community within the groups and this year will include another trip to Spring Harvest at Easter. The Kenya Nine trip has been launched in September to the church which will involve the YF planning and fundraising for this trip and include a Burns Night Ball in January and a Jazz, Cheese and Wine silent auction night in April. To increase the links between Cheryl’s Children Home in Kenya the children and young people at P’s & G’s, each year group will partner with the kids in Kenya on a long term basis communicating regularly and developing this relationship.

Much of this year’s strategy is continuing to build on the current work: improving our systems, child protection, health & safety and recruitment processes. As a church we expect to grow in all areas and as the youth programme itself grows each year the pressures for resources also grows. For the strategy to be implemented we will need to make sure we are fully resourced and equipped to reach out to non-churched young people and disciple those already walking with God.

Resource Implications for the coming year

With the introduction of any new project within the youth programme the result is always a required increase in financial support and volunteers. The café will require investment in terms of equipment and décor, but with a similar café run a few years ago we will be able to re-use some items previously bought. More volunteers however will be needed to help this run on a long term basis. The Light also requires more volunteers this year as many of the previous leaders have moved on. Both Oxygen and YF rely heavily on the commitment of volunteers and as leaders come and go each year, gaps need to be filled with people passionate about working with young people. The new building offers the youth programme more opportunities in running events in a different way, providing more space and variety. The youth and childrens strategy for the next 5 years is exciting but it will require a big investment from the church. Throughout the process of developing the strategy it was identified that we are currently ‘peaking’ with the work we are doing, so growth and development will require additional staff time, finances and volunteers resources over the coming years.

Kieren Barnes

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