Annual Meeting: Agenda & Ministry Reports 2015

VISION SUNDAY: 26 t h APRIL 2015 Malmesbury Abbey Annual Meeting Agenda & Reports

10.30am 11am 12.30pm 2pm 3pm

Coffee Festival Communion with Vicar’s Address & Children’s Activities Picnic Lunch (BYO) Annual Meeting Closing Prayer

a. During the lunch & meeting there will be a bouncy castle etc for children b. Please write the names of any people sending their apologies on the sheet c. If possible please read the Ministry & Financial Reports before the meeting and write any questions to the reports on the sheet at the back of the Abbey or submit in advance d. Please submit A.O.B to the PCC Secretary by Wednesday 22nd April 2015 Agenda for 2pm Annual Meeting 1. Opening Prayer MEETING OF PARISHIONERS – all Parishioners and Electoral Roll members may vote 2. Apologies 3. Appointment of tellers 4. Election of 2 Churchwardens for the coming year 4a. Nomination of Pro-warden for St John the Baptist, Brokenborough ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING – only Electoral Roll members may vote 5. Elections and Appointments •

PCC & Deanery Synod members (see next page)

•

Sidespersons (8am & 10.30am) & Welcome Teams (4pm)

•

Independent Examiner

•

CTiM Representatives- 4 for 1 year

6. Churchwarden’s & Ministry Reports- see page 4 and onwards 7. Questions to the reports (submitted before meeting begins) 8. Electoral Roll 9. Financial Report, Presentation and Questions (submitted before meeting begins) 10. A.O.B. (submitted to the PCC Secretary by Wednesday 22nd April 2015) 11. Provisional Date for next Annual Meeting – Sunday April 24th 2016 at 2pm 12. Closing Prayer

PCC for 2014-2015

PCC for 2015-2016

Ex-officio members Licensed Clergy Revd Neill Archer – Chair Revd John Monagahan

Ex-officio members Licensed Clergy Revd Neill Archer – Chair Revd John Monagahan

Churchwardens Diana Crowe Lesley Wilson

Churchwardens 2 to be elected

Deanery Synod Members (3 years to serve) Sarah Doyley Jane Henderson Chris Jager (Treasurer) John Sunderland

Deanery Synod Members (2 years to serve) Jane Henderson Chris Jager John Sunderland 1 to be elected

Andrew Woodcock (Diocesan Synod)

To be elected in Deanery (Diocesan Synod)

Elected Parochial Church Council

Elected Parochial Church Council

With 3 years to serve Sue Kirby Sam Saunders Alan McAdam (co-opted & Treasurer)

With 3 years to serve 3 to be elected

With 2 years to serve Fiona Petrie Ray Sneddon-Jenkins Linda Weston

With 2 years to serve Sue Kirby Sam Saunders 1 to be elected

With 1 years to serve James Cole Tom Hunton (co-opted) Doug Johnston (Vice Chair)

With 1 years to serve Fiona Petrie Ray Sneddon-Jenkins Linda Weston

Geoff Canning (co-opted as PPC Secretary) Youth & Lay Ministers’ Representative None nominated in 2014

Youth & Lay Ministers’ Representative

PCC officers to be elected after the meeting.

2

MINISTRY REPORTS The reports below replace the spoken reports at our Annual Meeting and help us to get a broader picture of the life of the Abbey over the last year. If you have any questions to the reports please speak to the person who has written it or ask a question at the AGM.

VICAR’S REPORT Neill Archer I spend way too much time talking to vicars. But as I speak to colleagues I am constantly reminded what simply astonishing churchwardens Malmesbury Abbey has. So if I say one thing each year it has to be an off the scale thank you to Diana Crowe and Lesley Wilson. Church doesn’t just happen, and it is churchwardens, in particular, who roll up their sleeves, commit to the long hard hours and put up with the vicar’s madness. Thank you to them and to a PCC that is committed to the mission of the church and prepared to make decisions that are full of faith and wisdom. E.g. our PCC prayed, budgeted and then recruited Andrew Beebee – really outstanding work PCC. Particular thanks go to Doug Johnston who has served as a wise vice-chair for a long time (records don’t go back far enough to be accurate) and to Chris Jager who served wonderfully as our Abbey Treasurer until the end of 2014.

I am deeply encouraged, as I look back over the last 18 months, by our life of prayer together.

There is a regular commitment to praying for our schools and the persecuted church. There is tremendous intercessory support for Janet Parke and her work in Zambia. Each day at 9am, our Morning Prayer seems to happen in St Aldhelm’s Chapel, quite frequently breaking into double figures, and Glory! has now gone monthly as we grow in passionate praise and prophetic prayer together. I may be wrong, it occurs occasionally a bit like a solar eclipse, but part of me feels that if we get prayer right church pretty much takes care of itself, but if we get prayer wrong church can become a whole load of misdirected effort. So I am glad we are growing in prayer and particularly hope that we would grow in expectation as we study the Holy Spirit this May & June.

Finally, Malmesbury Abbey’s profile has grown recently. Visitor numbers are soaring because of the warm welcome from the bookshop and café and also because of a growing number of excellent events: Advent & Christmas Carol Services (which we are duplicating this year); the Malmesbury Nativity; Malmesbury Abbey Skate; the Holy Week Festival & BBC Wiltshire’s Easter from Malmesbury Abbey; BBC History & BBC Garden Festivals; Music for Autism; Glow; Music in Country Churches; Lifepath; plus numerous other events. And of course, the Archbishop of Canterbury dropped by for a cup of tea and 19 baptisms. This life is not just a blessing to us, but a real blessing to the health and wellbeing of our community, shops and businesses. Thank you for your commitment, your generosity and your part at the heart of it.

3

GOVERNANCE Including Churchwardens, PCC, Synod, Bookshop, Café, Brokenborough

CHURCHWARDENS’ REPORT Diana Crowe & Lesley Wilson When the scaffolding at the east end of the Abbey was eventually taken away, the magnificence of the remaining east end arch was clearly visible once again. Since then work has begun to remove or prune the overgrown vegetation around the Memorial Garden, the first steps towards its restoration.

The churchyard has been maintained in recent years by Tony Smith, who has devoted time and considerable, single-handed effort towards that end. We acknowledge a difficult task well done and wish him well in his retirement. Work on the churchyard trees is now underway to enhance their appearance by crown reduction, removal of dead wood and general pruning. There have been some subtle changes within the Abbey and its surrounds in the new signage, colourmatched with the relevant details on the web site, and including the new signs for Eilmer House, the former Le Flambé on Birdcage Walk. The Archdeacon has carried out a Triennial Inspection during the year on both the Abbey and St John the Baptist, Brokenborough. Her subsequent reports were both favourable and encouraging, recognising that all is being done and recorded in both churches as required.

Subsequently, the Baptistery pool, used for the Archbishop of Canterbury’s open air baptisms, has become the newest addition to the Abbey’s Inventory. Also recorded was the very delicate and careful repair and restoration of the Dove of Peace and the reworking of the embroidery around it on the red altar frontal. For this we thank Margaret Palmer for her skill, time and infinite patience.

Following the retirement of David Butcher, Izaak Hudson, Senior Architect at Purcell UK, was appointed as Inspecting Architect, and has carried out the Quinquennial Inspection which had become due. We await his report. Most of the work outlined in the previous inspection had been carried out, with the exception of some important work on the nave roof. This was outlined in a bid to the Government-sponsored Roof Repair Fund in anticipation of some financial aid towards completing the work. Unfortunately, the fund was vastly over-subscribed and our bid was unsuccessful. We have been encouraged, however, to re-apply when the increased tranche of funding becomes available in the Autumn.

As always, we are helped and supported in the care and maintenance of the buildings and churchyards of the Abbey and St John the Baptist, Brokenborough, by many individuals who give of their time, effort and expertise. We fully appreciate all that you do.

4

PCC & STANDING COMMITEE Geoff Canning, PCC Secretary Malmesbury Abbey PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, the Revd Neill Archer, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church – pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. Formally, the PCC is responsible for the financial affairs of the church and the care and maintenance of the church fabric and its contents. In addition to their formal duties, PCC members act as representatives for all parishioners in the affairs of the church.

Members of the PCC are elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) and serve for a period of three years. The make up of the 2014-2015 PCC can be seen on page 3. During the year Chris Jager retired from his position as PCC Treasurer and Alan McAdam was co-opted and took up this position. In line with the plan to have more young people serving as PCC members, Tom Hunton was also co-opted following a mid-year vacancy.

The PCC met six times during the year with an average attendance of 14 members. There were two extraordinary PCC meetings held during the year. The first Extraordinary PCC Meeting following APCM meeting 27th April 2014 was convened to pass a number of proposals concerning the appointments of certain officers for the PCC. The second was to discuss and agree some aspects of the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury on September 13th 2014. There is a high level of commitment from members in serving our Abbey family and there have been many additional hours of voluntary work put in by the committee members in focussed smaller groups. They carry out many activities including preparing reports and budgets for discussion, liaising with builders, architects, planners, community groups and English Heritage, managing staff and property, responding to challenges and writing policies. These are much valued acts of service especially from those who undertake such tasks alongside their full time jobs. The PCC has been truly envisioned, united and efficient in its decision making, delegation and budget control.

Each meeting opens with worship and includes business, responses to correspondence and reporting back in addition to a main focus session. Some main focus subjects during the year have been concerned with

•

The re-naming and redevelopment of Le Flambé (now Eilmer House)

•

The identity and re-design of the Abbey signage and web site

•

Scripture Union Life Path project 2015

•

Alpha Ministries 2014-2016

•

The 2015 Budget and Mission Giving

•

Development of Abbey Audio Tours

•

The Diocesan Strategy 2016-2018.

•

The development of an updated safeguarding children policy together with an understanding of the PCCs responsibilities for Safeguarding.

5

Matters arising have been wide ranging from Health and Safety, Diocesan changes to the DBS (disclosure and barring)system, applications for funding, Risk Assessment, Youth and children’s ministry and the appointment of a Youth and Children’s Minister (Andrew Beebee) ,Appointment of our new Church Architect ( Izaak Hudson), and Abbey Maintenance.

Minutes of our PCC meetings are available in the Parish Office if anyone would like to read the discussions, our decisions and proposals in detail.

The Standing Committee is the only committee required by canon law, comprising the incumbent, the Churchwardens, the PCC Treasurer and the PCC Secretary. It has the power to transact any business of the P.C.C. between its meetings, subject to any directions given by the PCC. The Standing Committee usually meets every two months. Five meetings were held during this year.

Subjects discussed have included Health and Safety, Correspondence, Deanery matters, Abbey and Churchyard maintenance, Discipleship and Giving, Financial issues, the Insurer’s Report Actions and Follow –up, and the Abbey Web Site.

In conclusion: prayer and worship are at the heart of our PCC. We shall continue to seek Our Lord’s guidance to give us the wisdom and courage to make the right decisions as we consider the many challenges and issues competing for limited resources. Please pray that Our Lord will continue to direct your PCC in all aspects of Abbey life.

DEANERY SYNOD Sarah Doyley Each Deanery Synod meeting begins with North Wilts Deanery business and then has a focus session. At the first Deanery Synod meeting since the Abbey’s last AGM, the focus session had a presentation from Rev. John Monaghan and Christopher Bryan on running an Alpha course and also on the advantages of following it by the Pilgrim course as a preparation for Baptism. Rev. Lee Barnes also shared his experiences of running a Pilgrim course for those in preparation for baptism with Archbishop Justin Welby.

In October Oliver Home, the Diocesan Secretary, gave a presentation on Parish Share. He explained that Parish Share had dropped from £5.4m in 2009 to £5m in 2014 while the costs of ministry has risen to £6m. He discussed plans on how this could be addressed.

In March we welcomed Archdeacon Christine Froude, Oliver Home and Janey Hiller from the Diocese. Janey updated us on the pastoral reorganisation that she hopes will be completed this summer, creating 6 formal benefices in the Deanery – the Abbey is part of the Malmesbury & Upper Avon Benefice. The Archdeacon and Oliver introduced us to the draft Diocesan Strategy for 2016-18*. The Archdeacon spoke of the need to change so as to realise our vision and she stressed how the strategy is an attempt to re-focus our energy and resources to allow the breath of God to breathe afresh on the dry bones of our old assumptions. We need to look at what is working and channel our resources accordingly. *This is available on the Diocesan website and is an important read for us all.

6

MALMESBURY ABBEY BOOKS LTD Rob Hitchings, Manager Sales were very good last year: our book sales showed a 10% increase and made up more than half of our total sales. The stewards have had an eventful year. We welcomed 65,000 visitors, the largest number in recent years. We had a very enjoyable stewards’ evening in May, when Tristan Cork gave a fascinating talk on “Water Aid”, and a tea in June with a question and answer session.

Many of the stewards recently attended teaching sessions organised by the Alzheimer’s Society to raise awareness of dementia and how best to help those affected. We have just started our new summer rota when we now open at 9.00am, and we are preparing for the introduction of the Abbey audio tour. Two bookshop staff went on first aid training days and we all went to a trade exhibition in Oxford. We joined the other Abbey staff for a demonstration of a defibrillator and we are now about to buy our own model. Thank you to everyone who has supported the bookshop in the last year; we look forward to serving you in the year ahead. The Bookshop directors are Neill Archer, Jo Lawrence Mills, David Barton & Lesley Wilson.

MALMESBURY ABBEY CAFÉ LTD Clare Cork, Manager 2014/15 has seen a lot of changes for Malmesbury Abbey Café. We had a busy summer with visitors commenting on finding us on ‘Trip Advisor’ where we have had lots of fantastic reviews, placing us in 5th place in the ‘cafes/restaurants’ section (out of more than 20). The BBC History weekend was a great success and we coped well with the 300 strong audience over 3 days. Over Christmas we served mulled wine to the audiences of the Nativity, which they seemed to enjoy!

The Skatepark was busier this year and brought us a few new regulars from the community. Neill and I have been looking at the future of the café and how it can be developed. We put our prices up (only the second time over 3 years, and have had no negative reactions) and got a new coffee machine so we can provide quality coffee to our regular customers. This will, it is hoped, grow our local customer base as well as pleasing our tourist customers. So far it has had very, very positive feedback and our takings are reflecting this. Our Café directors are Neill Archer, Lesley Wilson, Alan McAdam, Chris Jager & Peter Hogg.

ST JOHN THE BAPTIST BROKENBOROUGH Richard Robins During 2014 there were two weddings, one funeral and one baptism at St John the Baptist Church, Brokenborough. Sadly Reg Wood died which was a great loss. Reg was a great supporter of the church and along with Ray Bick had looked after the churchyard and graveyard for many years. In memory of Ray Bick a new bench seat has been placed in the graveyard. This was purchased by Brokenborough Parish Council from a fund-raising event held by them. A member of the congregation, Helen Baker, celebrated her 90th birthday and we all enjoyed coffee and cake after the service. Numerous remedial works have been carried out during the year the most important of which are: Electrical items have been PAT tested; the light by front gate which was blown down and has now been re-welded and re-wired; a new storage cupboard has been fitted in the vestry. A huge thank you to all who help with the smooth running of St John the Baptist, Brokenborough.

7

CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE Including Youth, MAS, Junior Church, Glow, Foundation Governors

YOUTH MINISTRY Pete Campbell, Licensed Lay Minister The past year experienced a number of changes to the youth programme. We said farewell to Sarah McGrory after Skate 2014, and welcomed some new people and new programmes as part of the youth provision. The GRID is for those in school years 7, 8 and 9 and meets as part of the 4pm service each Sunday. We base each session on a Scripture Union teaching programme covering many of the books in the bible and uses discussion, drama, quizzes, craft and media to challenge us to think about how the bible is relevant to us today. The MIX is for those from school year 9 and older. We meet after the 4pm service in a local home to chat, play games, enjoy quizzes and also chat about a contemporary Christian issue. We have also enjoyed trips to Swindon, a Burns night meal and the occasional movie night. This new group was formed last Easter and typically has between 6 – 12 people each week.

MALMESBURY ABBEY SKATE John Monaghan, Curate The seventh annual Abbey Skate was another roaring success. Particularly noticeable this year was the increase in media response and coverage. There was even a substantial buzz on social media preceding the event, encouragingly with many from the town affirming their support for what is an established community event.

We piloted a new on-line ticketing system called ticketsource.co.uk which worked exceptionally well. Ticket sales were up on last year with most sessions full (86% full on average). The feedback this year has been extremely positive, from the ease of booking, to the warm welcome, to the wonderful atmosphere, to the loving kindness the skate volunteers invested into young people on the park.

The planning team this year consisted of Matt and Holly Bird, Tristan Cork, Phil Williams (Christian Skaters UK) and Revd John Monaghan, with Andrew Beebee joining us in February. A special thanks to the team and all the volunteers who worked so well together.

Our sponsorship for the Friday night competitions was courtesy of Krazyscooters, Decimal Scooters, Halfords, the Co-op, Malmesbury Sport and Leisure, and Waitrose. Waitrose have provisionally booked MAS as one of their chosen charities for Community Matters in November of this year.

8

JUNIOR CHURCH Simon Shaw Junior Church runs three groups for the under 11s with over 30-40 children attending, depending upon the week. Bubbles is for preschoolers with between 5-9 children attending weekly. Splash is for reception to Y2 with between 10-18 children regularly attending. Jetstream has between 10-15 regular attendees and covers the Y3-Y6 age range. The unmanned crèche is used most weeks by a few parents and babies. We are predominantly using the material and teaching programmes provided by the Urban Saints Energize scheme, which does provide easy to use programmes applicable for all age groups. As well as individual group teachings there have been a number of joint sessions with the different groups including worship led by John Monaghan.

Junior church is still a place where children discover their identity, and Gods purpose for them and individuals, and there faith grows. The leaders of junior church are already enjoying working with the new Children’s and Youth Minister, and are looking forward to a dynamic and God-filled future.

GLOW! Gill Shaw There was a vision for an event which was to provide an alternative to the commercialised celebration of the ‘dark things’ of life that Halloween has become – and supported by the PCC, the Glow in the Dark party was born. There were around 140 primary school age children at the event accompanied by around 70 parents. The majority were not Abbey families but came from Malmesbury, the surrounding villages and even Chippenham. There was very positive feedback with many parents grateful for an alternative to trick and treating to offer their children. Tickets sold out several days before the event.

There were giant inflatables, crafts, food, goody bags, sweets, music, and lots of noise, laughter and fun. It also included a science experiment to show that Jesus is the light of the world. Some feedback included: we loved the handmade goody bags; we felt welcomed; the inflatables were amazing; the activities were great for all ages; all my children loved it (the mother was clearly shocked to hear that it had been done by a group of volunteers and not paid Abbey staff); the adults were relaxed and enjoyed the opportunity to socialise; I really enjoyed helping; Praise the Lord!

There was significant support from members of the congregation in the concept of the event, and significant practical support in the form of many willing volunteers to actually run the event and restore the Abbey to its traditional layout. There has been much talk of running a similar event in 2015 as part of the ongoing Youth and Children’s work

9

CHILDREN’S & YOUTH MINISTER Andrew Beebee Since starting in February I have been struck by the enthusiasm across our church family to see young people growing in their faith. There is also a team of committed and passionate volunteers who serve our young people every Sunday. To help us move forward leaders from both the children’s and youth teams spent a morning together in March thinking and praying about what God might be calling us to. There was much to give thanks for but also a strong sense of our need to be better equipped to disciple young people. It is critical that as a church we are effective in discipling the young people God has given us but we must also be reaching out to those who are not yet part of the church family. This will require a commitment from all of us to pray for our young people and to discern how God might want each one of us to use the gifts and resources he has given us.

FOUNDATION GOVERNORS John Jenkins It is wonderful to be part of the link between Malmesbury Abbey and Malmesbury Church of England Primary School and to see the children as they develop through their younger years and then onto become young adults within the Abbey community. As one of four current Foundation Governors (the others being Neill, Chris Davies and Charlotte Cox) our main purpose is to help to ensure and guide Christian distinctiveness and effectiveness in the School and to bring a Christian perspective to the whole team of School Governors. Our work is supported by John Monaghan and more recently Andrew Beebee who lead the school assemblies and these have been both fun and informative and enjoyed by the children. The links between the Abbey and the School remain strong and we value the ongoing support and enthusiasm of the Head, Jeff Staton and his staff.

Those of you who have attended the school concerts and celebration services at the Abbey will know how special these are. An area of focus during the last year has been to look at ways of measuring and recording Christian distinctiveness in the school and how we might link these to the school values of Love, Independence, Kindness, Respect, Courage and Creativity.

10

PRAYER & PASTORAL Including Small Groups, Refresh, Healing Ministry, May Moore Chaplaincy

SMALL GROUPS Neill Archer The main aims of the Abbey small groups are to strengthen the pastoral ministry of the Abbey and to link our bible study and discipleship more effectively to our Sunday teaching. At the end of 2014 there were 16 small groups, led by 22 pastors, with approximately 160 members. We have regular training sessions for the pastors that consider matters arising from leading a small group and also prepare leaders for forthcoming teachings series, such as the book of Hebrews. Please contact the parish office if you’d like to join a small group.

WOMEN ALIVE Janet Jenkins 2014-15 has been the year when the Ladies of Women Alive have spent our time, discussions and prayers around the Letters to the Churches in Revelation. We finally finished in March and ended last term on a whistle stop tour of Hebrews. Each meeting of between four and eight ladies has been an encouragement, challenge and blessing to each. Conversation as always being informative, inspiring and encouraging even when the passage has been challenging! Familiar readings or not, we always find that God shows us something new. As always, the wonderful Ann Cox has continued to bless us with her ministry in the crèche, faithfully turning up each time despite there being several weeks with no children to look after. Thank you Ann, you are a star!

REFRESH Katharine Campbell With a varied programme, Refresh attracts a range of women from around the area who come to be encouraged in their faith, learn from the scriptures and have some fun together. The 2014 Refresh programme focussed on the Psalms. Over the 5 events held throughout the year we listened to a range of inspiring speakers, learnt some verses from Psalm 18, studied Psalm 119, practised techniques for dealing with worry and tried out ‘scrap booking’. In 2015 we are continuing to look at the Psalms and have introduced a new event - a retreat day at The Vine in Hullavington. If you are interested in finding out more about Refresh please contact Sandie at the Parish Office.

11

THE MEETING PLACE (HEALING IN THE STREETS) Sarah Doyley A faithful Christian witness has continued on the streets of Malmesbury every Saturday morning in all weathers! We have received a number of positive testimonies from people returning to report how prayer and maybe a coffee and chat with us has helped in their personal situations. It remains a huge privilege to serve in this way and to see God's faithfulness and grace at work.

Richard and Margaret McCrobie stepped down from leading the HitS team after 5 wonderful and committed years, to which we are very grateful. Rev. Neill Archer and Sarah Doyley are now heading this team up. To reflect a changing nature in the way that HitS was beginning to work it was renamed The Meeting Place. Having fresh coffee &biscuits on offer has allowed us to begin increasing our outreach to those in Malmesbury on a Saturday morning, as has the odd experiment with chalks on the pavement or wrestling with a gazebo! It feels as though God is at work and has us on the edge of a growing and exciting challenge.

PRAYER MINISTRY (10.30am) Wiene Grant The team has continued to offer prayer ministry every Sunday, and the response has been similar to that in previous years. There are usually a few people coming to the chapel for prayer. It seems that the response on Sundays when there is a Healing Service is greater than it was before.People seem to find the offer of anointing at the altar and also the opportunity to light a candle in memory of someone they have lost helpful. Rev. Peter Yacomeni has stood down from leading the group and Wiene Grant has stepped into that role. We feel that it is important that the team members get ministered to also. In that vein some of us have attended Healing Services at Harnhill Christian healing Centre. We also continue to meet together bimonthly, and a Quiet Day is planned at the end of April.

PRAYER MINISTRY (4pm) Marilyn Archer Firstly, I would like say how very grateful I am to the 4pm prayer team for their ongoing, faithful ministry to their brothers and sisters in Christ. I looked on recently as two of our prayer team prayed for someone in St. Aldhelm's Chapel, and do you know what I saw? I saw Jesus’ pure and holy love being poured out on that person; I saw the light and the love of Christ shining out of the eyes of my prayer team, and it was a beautiful sight. Another amazing and wonderful thing is when I see prayer spontaneously happening in the abbey during or after the service. More of that too please! Our desire as a team is to see more people coming for prayer, for more of us to say ‘I want more of the Lord in my life, and I don't care whether people see me going up for prayer or not. Here I am Lord, equip me, heal me, bless me through this time of prayer so that I may be a blessing to others for your glory.’ So our vision for 2015 would be for a greater openness to the Spirit and a growing team. Join us.

12

MAY MOORE CHAPLAINCY Mandy Churcher In collaboration with teams of volunteers, the chaplaincy has sought to support seniors through a number of ways.

1. The team, for leading services in residential and nursing homes, has continued to visit Athelstan House, Stainsbridge House and Glovers Court. Good feedback has been given by residents and staff.

2. The May Moore Chaplain continues to visit individuals in their own homes and all nursing and residential homes in the area.

3. A number of people attended a pastoral care course in July and a small team of people are now visiting individuals under the supervision of the chaplain. This is a very positive development.

4. Tuesday Bible studies have continued to be enjoyed by a group of seniors, led by Joan Slade 5. In September the second part of the Pilgrim course was started. The study group is starting the fourth part of the course in April.

6. A Songs of Praise was held in July and was well attended by over 100 people. Following the service a high tea was served, very ably organised by Clare Cork.

7. The Holiday at Home took place again last July, over a period of two days( see the separate report below) 8. The Alzheimer's society has led three sessions on training volunteers to be dementia friends - 30 so far) 9. In association with Wiltshire Council, volunteers are being trained in preparation for the Abbey becoming one of the safe places, where vulnerable people might come for help.

10. At the end of April, a session will be run on 'The kaleidoscope of Dementia' led by a representative from the Pilgrim society.

11. For over a year 'Time for chat' has run in the Abbey, led by a very able group of volunteers.

Attendees vary but this has provided a place to meet in an informal basis.

12. The work of the chaplaincy is supported by a group of committed volunteers and I would like to thank all who give their time and energy to this ministry. This has been appreciated very much.

HOLIDAY AT HOME Lesley Wilson In July last year we hosted our third Holiday at Home with the theme of Musical Memories. We invited seniors from Malmesbury and the villages, who were unable to go away on holiday, for a two day “holiday� with us. Our thanks must go to the United Reform Church for lending us their lovely church, to the Carnival Committee who generously donated funds and to our huge team of volunteers who help with cooking, transport, furniture moving, running activities and showing enormous fellowship to our elderly. We were able to provide a hot meal for 38 guests both days and many of them took home a flower arrangement, greeting card, a win at Scrabble and 13

memories of a sing a long. Also this year we introduced skittles and an exercise class rather than have an outing. With Reverend Mandy Churcher’s wonderful leadership Holiday @ Home has become an annual event in the life of the Abbey.

ABBEY GUILD Helen Small We have certainly had a varied programme and again that is thanks to our Committee who have put a lot of thought and effort into suggestions and practical help. We had three very informative meetings about the work of Dorothy House, Salvation Army and Wilts Bobby Van Trust. After our AGM in March 2014, Lance entertained the Members with his Musical Surprises. Esther Exelby continued her talk about the Medical and Maintenance Mission in Luampa, W Zambia. On Armistice Day Lance showed and talked about his 'Dead Man’s Penny’ followed by a WW1 Quiz. In February 2015 Janet Smith gave a most interesting talk, illustrated with many photos and gifts on her visit to see the three girls she sponsors for their education in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Sangan in Puro in India.

Pam, our Secretary, continues to put time and energy into getting the thank you gifts for our Speakers and writing thank you letters to our speakers, if appropriate. Also together with Lance, her husband, Pam organised our lovely outing in June to Marlborough. She now feels it time to step down and as a result of our Questionnaires concerning the future of the Abbey Guild, we feel that outings, as such, are a thing of the past and instead we shall go out for lunch and we arrange lifts for those who have no transport etc. We really do appreciate all that she and Lance have done over the years. Miriam continues to be our Treasurer. She too, is the one to send thank you letters with donations to our Speakers. At this point I would mention that both Pam and Miriam would be more than happy to stand-down as Secretary and Treasurer, therefore if any-one is willing to take on these important roles please see me. Gwen who faithfully made sure we got our ‘cuppa’ after the meetings by organising the Tea Rota felt it was time to hand over this responsibility and Brenda Court has taken over this role. So ‘thank you’ to both Gwen and Brenda.

Mary Miller feels it would be better to step down from the Committee and I would like to thank Mary for her contribution to the Guild, especially in chairing the meetings sometimes and for leading us in our prayers and reading the lessons. It is with great pleasure we welcome Shelly Hollingworth and Annette Bains to the Committee.

Sadly, Joyce Mellows, a long standing member of the Guild died last year and we shall miss her love, gracious ministry and wisdom. Brenda Higgs has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease - she has been a member of the Guild for many years and played the piano for us. We need to keep in touch with our members, who because of ill-health, cannot come any longer. With the agreement of the Guild, we hope to work out a ‘pastoral rota’ whereby we can make sure our ‘exmembers’ are remembered. I would like to thank Janet Barton for playing the piano for us – we certainly do not take this blessing for granted. Finally, I would like to thank all our members for their support and encouragement. The Committee would welcome suggestions for possible speakers and activities for our 2016 programme.

14

WORSHIP & CREATIVE Including Creative Response, Choir, Flowers & Bellringers

CREATIVE RESPONSE Alice Langtree Creative Response has been an exciting place to be this year. We meet fortnightly in the Abbey café at 10.30am on Fridays and enjoy coffee and cake before gathering in the chapel to listen to God’s word, pray and encourage each other. We share laughter, joy, tears, poetry, music, painting, drawing, storytelling, textile art and a host of amazing ideas and responses. We have also held a couple of practical workshops in Eilmer House – we learned wet felting – making 3D flowers and more recently, Phil Kinsgbury taught us lino printing. We are in the process of constructing a wall hanging that expresses our diversity- you’ll have to be patient but it will soon appear in our hanging space in the Abbey café. We are made in the image of our creator God – so each one of us can journey forward as we give ourselves permission to play creatively. ……. Join us. ‘It’s not important to understand to create but it’s important to create to understand’

ABBEY CHOIR John Hughes, Organist & Choirmaster Malmesbury Abbey Choir goes from strength to strength. We tackle challenging music from Renaissance to contemporary styles. The Advent Carols and Nine Lessons Christmas services attracted huge congregations and gave us a chance to explore music by Lauridsen, Rachmaninoff, Poulenc, Biebl and James MacMillan – wow!

For the Choral Evensongs of 2014 we celebrated the anniversary of WW1, and our theme was Songs of Peace and Reconciliation. We had a chance to sing beautiful music by Duruflé, Howells, Tavener, Paulus and Rheinberger amongst others. Choral Evensongs of 2015 feature wonderful settings of the Psalms. We’d love to see the congregations grow in number for these really special services.

Holy Week & Easter 2015 was very busy. On Good Friday we performed music by Purcell, Handel, and Allegri, whose famous setting of the Miserere was a highlight, sung in the beautiful acoustic of the Abbey (well done Francesca for singing so many top ‘C’s.) We also sang our hearts out for the BBC Wiltshire Easter Service.

We welcomed Olive this year (a fine soprano!). Massive thanks to the choir, who support services week by week, especially our 10.30 Holy Communion. Also a big thanks to Janet, who combines her role as assistant organist with looking after the choir music library and to Margaret who looks after the choir robes so well.

15

FLOWER TEAM Diana Crowe The Abbey Flower Team, organised by Anna Grange, has continued to provide regular flower arrangements to enhance the interior of the Abbey and to give a welcome at the door. Their involvement in the extra decoration for the Easter and Christmas Festivals has given a visually pleasing boost on these occasions, much admired by regulars to the Abbey and visitors, too. In doing their best to satisfy the requests for specified colour schemes for weddings during the year, they have helped to make that important day special for several of the Abbey brides (and their mothers). Although new recruits have been welcomed to the team during the year, more would always be appreciated, commitment and an enthusiasm for the creative task being the main requirements. Thank you, Anna, for all your hard work, and to all the flower arrangers for supporting her so competently, faithfully and skilfully.

ABBEY GUILD OF CHANGE RINGERS Dick Gray The big item to report on this year is the fact that we have had a large rotten beam supporting the bell frame replaced along with new bearings and other ancillary work. Overall we have noticed a marked improvement in how the bells handle as there is now not so much movement in the frame. We continue to be extremely busy in the tower. Tuesday practices are flourishing with an average attendance of over 14 (with a peak of 26 when we were joined by some call change ringers from Cornwall) and on Sunday mornings we’ve had an average of just over 12 (with a peak of 16).

Carnival saw yet another successful ‘Open Day’, with many people taking the opportunity to come and see what it’s all about! Whilst we hold these open days once a year, visitors are always welcome to pop in and have a look whenever we are ringing and the door is open. However, following some incidents at other churches, the insurers are tightening up and in these days of health and safety we are having a few more hoops to jump through to be able to continue to hold these events.

16