Our Minister

Revd Linda M Phillips

Telephone Number: 01252 544823
Email: linda.phillips@theinvernet.co.uk

Linda writes (taken from our May 2010 newsletter) ...

Dear Friends,

Having used my last letter to urge you to attend our General Church Meeting which was held on 18th April, it seemed to me that some reflection on that meeting might be helpful.

Firstly, let me report on the more formal aspects of the meeting. Our current Senior Church Steward, Rosemary Gregory, is standing down at the end of April after completing her term of office, together with her assistants Sandra Wooledge and Wendy Hart, and the meeting recorded our grateful thanks to them all, and especially to Rosemary for all the hard work she has put in over the last year in particular. Graham Fradgley will take over as Senior Steward from 1st May. Hilary Tattershall was elected as a new Church Steward to succeed Rosemary, with husband Phil as Assistant Steward. It was noted that Neil Fradgley has kindly offered to serve as Property Secretary, for which the church is very grateful. Muriel Mason has retired as an elected Representative to the Church Council, and our thanks to her were recorded. Neil and Hilary now have different roles on the Church Council, and cease to be representatives, but Rosemary Gregory and Sue Brooks were proposed as new Church Representatives and were duly elected.

Another important change in personnel is that of Bookings Secretary. As most people will know,
John Kember-Smith has undertaken this task for many years despite not being a member of our church, but we felt that the time had come to remove this burden from John’s shoulders. We are very grateful to both him and his wife Joan for all their efforts on our behalf over the years and the meeting recorded the church’s sincere thanks. A formal letter will be sent to John together with a token of our appreciation. We are delighted that Joan Taylor has agreed to take on the role of Bookings Officer and her contact details will be advertised in the Newsletter and Notices and on the website.

We are always grateful for all those who offer their time and energy to serve God through his church, but many people have served for a number of years, and might like a rest! It would be good to see some new faces on the Church Council, sharing the load and bringing fresh ideas to enable the mission of our church.

Another large part of the meeting seemed to be an emphasis on various ecumenical activities. The work of Sandhurst Churches Together is flourishing, with support for a special service and a Quiz night for Christian Aid in the next week or so, a stall at the Donkey Derby, plans for “Back to Church Sunday” again, and a repeat of last year’s successful Family Carol Service in the Community Hall. A major item was to raise the profile of The Coffee Spot, the coffee shop run by Churches Together, and there is an article elsewhere in this magazine to tell you more about this, and encourage you to support it in every way possible.

Also on the ecumenical front, we continue to work at developing our relationships with the Baptist Church, and plans are in hand for various shared activities. Unfortunately the planned Supper and Quiz evening for May 1st has had to be postponed, but it will happen sometime in June – look out for further information. Our Vision Group is also continuing to meet and wrestle with the difficult issue of planning for the future of our church, trying to see how we can be more proactive, seeking God’s will for us, and decide and act on what we believe God is calling us to do, instead of just reacting to events and continuing from day to day much as we always have.

The future may hold big changes, or it may not, but whatever happens, these will be challenging times for Sandhurst & Yateley Church in the year to come, but with trust in God and a determination to work for him I believe we can do great things together. May we all be part of the journey, and join in the work as we move forward into the future.

Linda

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