A headline in a Church Times article on 20th July 2018 ran:
“Clergy should refuse to be indispensable”
Building Teams to carry out Ministry is better for the health of the incumbent and the parish….
Four months ago All Saints had already taken the first steps in establishing Teams to cover different areas of church life. Each Team is made up of members of the congregation and of the wider community and is co-chaired by a female and male lead. The Teams in brief are:
Ministry – the Lead Team (with representation from each of the other Teams) responsible
for the services of worship and for strengthening our links within the parish as a whole
Children, youth and music – responsible for the monthly Family Service, for Sunday School
and for the range of music and activities available to young people.
Choir – responsible for the development of our robed choir which sings at all the main
annual festivals in the Christian calendar.
Church, Hall and Audit – responsible for the maintenance and hire of the Church and Hall and for the finances
Gardens – responsible for the maintenance of the Memorial Garden and for the
development of three other gardens near the Church and Hall with community involvement
Communications, Events and Fundraising – responsible for events such as the Family Fun
Day and Michaelmas Fair and for raising funds to enable us to deliver what we offer
The overall aim of our Teams is simply to transform All Saints New Eltham “from a
community gathered around a Minister to a ministering community.” *
*(Acknowledgement: Church Times article 20/7/18 written by Rev’d Andy Griffiths, author of “Refusing to be Indispensable”)