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OUR fund to spark parish mission projects could continue – but on a voluntary basis.
The annual funding for our Mission Opportunities Fund, which gave grants to parish mission projects, ended as our Diocesan Synod voted for the 2015 budget.
The £100,000 allocated for the Mission Opportunities Fund for the past three years was missing from next year’s budget to ensure no increase in the total amount of parish share to be collected.
However, Diocesan Synod members then voted in favour of a
plan which could allow parishes to pay voluntarily into a central fund that could be allocated to similar mission-oriented projects.
The idea was put forward by Canon Bob White, vicar of St Mary’s Church, Fratton, and Portsmouth area dean, based on a system already used in his deanery.
Participating parishes would contribute the equivalent of one per cent of their parish share payment, to add to the small amounts left over from last year’s Mission Opportunities Fund. It could then be distributed in a similar way.
His motion also asked our Bishop’s Council to examine how effective the Mission Opportunities Fund had been at sparking growth.
“We’ve seen the benefits of the Mission Opportunities Fund,” he said. “One of our parishes began a Messy Church, which they wouldn’t have been able to do on their own. As a cluster of parishes, we have a grant for an older person’s advocate. And as a deanery, the fund has helped pay for a further education chaplaincy.
“We’ve heard today some impassioned pleas to keep the fund. And reading the budget consultation comments, it seemed that people were only voting reluctantly for it to die. This motion is looking to see if there could be a fund in 2015 while a review takes place.”
The Rev Ann Leonard, from St Peter’s and St Andrew’s, Hayling Island, told synod members that the fund had enabled St Andrew’s
to run a Messy Church each week. And the Rev Carol Gully told synod how the fund had helped lay people lead mission initiatives in St Cuthbert’s, Copnor.
Bob White encouraged synod members to generate enthusiasm for the idea in parishes and deaneries, as they voted for the motion with just two abstentions.
news
All photos and details of children and young people in the Pompey Chimes are published with the informed and express written permission of those who have parental responsibility for them.
DEADLINE FOR FEBRUARY EDITION: Monday 5 January (NB: No separate edition in January)
AVAILABLE TO COLLECT FROM DEANERY DEPOTS: Thursday 22 January
AVAILABLE IN YOUR CHURCH: Sunday 25 January
CONTACTS: EDITORIAL: Neil Pugmire, First Floor,
Peninsular House, Wharf Road, Portsmouth, PO2 8HB (023-9289 9673 or [email protected])
ADVERTISING: Glenda Charitos, Cornerstone Vision, 28 Old Park Road, Peverell, Plymouth, PL3 4PY (01752-225623 or [email protected])
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Neil Pugmire(contact details as above)
The Pompey Chimes is the official newspaper of the Church of England’s Diocese of Portsmouth, which covers 142 parishes in south-east Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Its circulation is 8,000, and it is pro-duced monthly except for January and August. Each parish pays 15p for each copy, which allows our readers to pick it up for free on the final Sunday of the previous month. Paid-for adverts are dealt with by our publishers, Cornerstone Vision. For a list of editorial deadlines, see: www.portsmouth.anglican.org/pompeychimes
Dr Paula Gooder
Readers to gather for annual conference
Voluntary fund to help our mission
OUR Readers will be getting to grips with St Mark’s gospel at their conference on the Isle of Wight in January.
Leading theologian Dr Paula Gooder is the guest speaker for the weekend – January 16-18 at the Carlton Hotel, Sandown.Around 100 Readers, or licensed lay ministers, from around our diocese will be attending.
Paula is a writer and lecturer in Biblical Studies and her research areas include the writings of Paul, New Testament interpretation and the development of ministry in the New Testament. She is the Theologian in Residence for the Bible Society and a Reader.
Paula said: “I am very much looking forward to our time together and exploring Mark’s gospel with Portsmouth Readers.”
It will be the first Reader conference for the new Warden of Readers, the Ven Gavin Collins, Archdeacon of the Meon, who took over from Canon David Isaac in October.
COULD you go without something this Christmas and use the money you save to help bring hope to poverty-stricken families in Eastern Europe?
The charity Mission Without Borders (MWB) is aiming to send more than 30,000 Christmas hampers to desperate families living on less than 80p a day in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine.
The Operation Christmas Love boxes are filled with everyday items we take for granted such as pasta, flour, rice, cooking oil, canned food and sugar.
The Rev Mary Tillman, who is based at All Saints Church, Portsmouth, has been supporting the charity for 10 years.
She said: “I can look back over 70 Christmases and each one has been happy, family-orientated with enough. When I think of a Christmas hamper I think of luxury items like puddings, pies and chocolates but the hampers that these families receive include items like tea, rice and cooking oil.
“For somebody to be so delighted to have these everyday essentials at Christmas I really find quite moving.
“If each of us just had a little less at Christmas it would mean that others could have a little bit more. It would not hurt us to have a little less but it is almost a life-saving situation for them to have a little more.”
It costs £20 to fill and distribute a hamper and each one also contains information about the Christian faith.
Mary said: “Christ has always been at the centre of Christmas for me. Christ came to bring light, love, joy and peace into the world and I want others to know and share in that too.
“The boxes contain information about Christianity
which gives the families an opportunity to explore Christianity without any pressure.”
One of the recipients was mother-of-four Liudmila from Moldova. She said: “Poverty seems to be our very close friend. Winter is the most difficult time of the year for us because it is so cold.
“The children do not have warm clothes and shoes; inside it is freezing and firewood is too expensive.”
To make a donation, please call 0207 940 1370, text: LOVE25 to 70070 followed by the amount or visit www.mwbuk.org.
Parents and children enjoy Wellytots at St Michael’s, Ryde
Toddler group createdONE project our Mission Opportunities Fund helped is a parent and toddler group at St Michael’s Church in Ryde.
‘Wellytots’ was so called because of the focus on outdoor activities for pre-school children, using the church hall and the outdoor space between the hall and vicarage.
It was launched in September, when 18 families came along, and has continued each Thursday morning. Parents and children enjoy a breakfast of toast, coffee and juice, followed by indoor and
outdoor play, stories, singing and prayers.
The idea is to appeal to younger families and those who have recently moved into new homes in the area. Safe outdoor space is at a premium in this part of Ryde. The project was given £2,250 from the Mission Opportunities Fund.
Mum Helen Smallwood Brunt said: “I’m very happy to have found somewhere local where my baby son and I can meet other parents with their children. There are always fun activities and friendly faces.”
Can you help needy families at Christmas?
