St George’s Church, Lupset, Wakefield
Annual Report 2013
Background
St George’s PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the priest-in-charge in promoting, in the
ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the church, pastoral, evangelistic and ecumenical.
Membership:
Members of the PCC are either ex-officio or elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) in
accordance with the Church Representation Rules.
During the year 2013 the following people served as members of the PCC:
Priest in charge
Lay Reader – ex officio
Rev Martine Crabtree
Phillip Maries (resigned August 2013)
Freda Jackson
Martin Bailes
Churchwardens
Michael Tattersall
Susan Ward
Representatives on the Deanery Synod:
Jane Read (from AGM 2011)
Michael Read (from AGM 2011)
Elected Members:
Elected AGM 2013 to serve for 3 years
David Bowes
Sue Shuff
Jean Smethurst
Elected AGM 2013 to serve for 1 year
Tracey Yates
Elected AGM 2012 to serve for 3 years:
Juliet Taylor
Mel Broadbent
Alan Shaw
Elected AGM 2011 to serve for 3 years:
Julia Percival
Carolyn Broadbent
Committees
The PCC operates through a number of committees which meet between the full PCC meetings.
Standing committee
This is the only committee required by law. It has the power to transact the business of the PCC
between meetings subject to any directions given by the council. It comprises the Priest in Charge, the
churchwardens, the PCC secretary and the PCC treasurer. The Standing Committee met twice in 2013.
Finance Committee
This is incorporated with the Standing Committee and attends to any matters regarding the income and
expenditure, budgeting and stewardship of money as directed by the PCC
The Legacy Committee
Set up in 2005 to attend to any monies in the legacy account and includes members of the PCC and other
interested parties. It can make recommendations to the PCC but has no powers. The legacy committee
did not meet in 2013.
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Electoral Roll The current roll was compiled in March 2013 and there were 70 persons on the Electoral
roll. During the year 8 names were added and 1 name was removed. In December 2013 there were 77
people on the roll.
Cynthia Abercrombie
Church attendance:
The usual Sunday attendance, counted during October was 55 of which 10 were under 16. The numbers
increased at festivals and for baptisms when the attendance usually was between 76 and 100.
Report of the Priest in Charge- The Revd Martine Crabtree
Worship We continue with weekly communion and monthly All-age services. Sunday mornings have
a very vibrant atmosphere with lots going on. The Thursday communion and fellowship afterwards
provides a great support to those who attend. The Sunday evening communion service is
contemplative. The café style service with Undiminished has been very entertaining and a good
opportunity for the young people to demonstrate their gifts. The Monday prayer meeting has an
essential role in praying for weekly activities, people and concerns.
Mission We had an Outreach celebration for the dedicated work of the team completing the
Lupset parish survey. This has been a wonderful work that has taught us a lot about the parish
and people we serve. Following prayer and discussion we decided to try and put more effort into
planning more events to attract people to church. Jane provided some excellent teaching about
being a welcoming church. The Social team have worked very hard to provide hospitality for
special events. We had a wonderful joint open day celebration with St George’s Centre. We also
joined the Centre in their Well Being week: the Church was open all day with Prayer stations.
Belinda and the team also provided another wonderful Christmas lunch. We have been working
hard throughout the year to build up the Alpha Courses. Dedicated teams of leaders, helpers and
caterers have made Alpha a huge success. We look forward to growing this work over the next
year.
Schools Snapethorpe School continue to meet for weekly collective worship in church. We also
help with some RE lessons and occasional after school activities. The school and St George’s
nursery come to church to celebrate special festivals, Harvest, Christmas, Easter. Springfield
also joined us for an Act of Remembrance. A big thank you to Freda who is building relationships
in this area of church life.
Children and Youth The junior church/ youth leaders continue to do an excellent job. They are
growing in number for younger children on a Sunday morning. We also have a good number in the
crèche area. The Monday and Thursday night youth group is providing opportunity for spiritual
growth. The talents that we see through the music, dance, drama etc. are a great blessing to the
church. Undiminished and the Golden Halo awards are one of the best highlights of the year. The
Youth leaders and Undiminished have also been making some good ecumenical friendships with
other churches and youth leaders in Wakefield. Undiminished hosted a Churches Together Youth
Prayer evening.
Pastoral Care: This is supported by the Churchwardens and Pastoral Care team and the Prayer
Ministry team. We consider those who have missed worship due to ill health etc /The Communion
Visitors/ The monthly service at Bembridge. The Priest and Readers also take many funerals and
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visit people with different needs. House group leaders and the Prayer Ministry Team also provide
ongoing care and support.
Teaching: We encourage the ongoing work and commitment to house groups, Advent and Lent
courses. We also meet, pray and study with people from English Martyrs RC and West Wakefield
Methodist. The Alpha courses have been well supported and give a good basic Christian teaching.
We also had some excellent spiritual teaching from The Revd Sue Rose at the Parish weekend in
Scarborough.
P.C.C. Thank you to the P.C.C. for doing a fantastic job this year. A special big thank you to
Freda for all her work as PCC secretary, to Mike for his work as Treasurer and Churchwarden
and to Susan for all her support as Churchwarden. Thank you to Ken and Alan for their work as
Deputy Churchwardens. They have been a wonderful team!
Ministry Team We celebrated Joan’s ordination as Deacon and continued to support her in
training and preparations to be ordained Priest. We have seen much less of Phil this year, he has
been on placements and working hard in preparation for his ordination. We have 5 Readers (Freda,
Liz, Martin, Pauline and Stuart) who help to support leading services, funerals, work with schools,
home visits, wedding preparation and much more.
The Pastoral Ministers work to support and care for individuals, the sick, communion visits,
Christening preparation and Prison ministry. We have also enjoyed having Daniel on placement
from Mirfield.
Social Action: Part of St George’s Vision is to be a place of refuge to people who live in the
community. We continue to support and encourage the essential work of St George’s Centre. Many
of the people living in this parish are struggling with poverty. The Church has worked hard to
support the Centre in providing food and staff to manage the food bank. This work has grown
through necessity. The food bank team are doing an excellent job. We also continue to support
the work of the Christian’s Against Poverty Centre in Wakefield. We have CAP Money Coaches
who are working to help and teach people how to get out of debt. Pauline has also been working
very hard as a CAP Befriender, supporting people living with debt. The St George’s Saturday night
group also continues to provide an excellent social provision and care for those who come along.
Conclusion Praise God for what has gone before us and look forward to the new blessings that
God will bring!
Churchwarden’s report 2013
Martine has now been at St George's for two years and we have continued to enjoy working
with her throughout 2013
This year has again been one of basic maintenance of the church fabric and continuing the
necessary work identified by the Quinquennial survey carried out in May 2011. This has mostly
been done by the mens' working group which meets on a Saturday morning once a month, and to
whom we are greatly
indebted.
The largest item of refurbishment was the downstairs toilets at a cost of £8,756, paid out of
the Premises account. The other major item being the replacement of the side wall, at a cost of
£5,850, half paid out of the Legacy fund and the Diocese contributing the other half. During
the year we have met regularly with the Health and Safety committee of St George's Lupset
Ltd. enabling us to share concerns and address them in a spirit of co-operation. We have also
met with our insurance company's assessor to ensure that the insurance cover that we have is
sufficient for our current needs.
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We are very proud of the growing part that members of our church family are taking in
maintaining and operating the food bank and would like to thank all who contribute whether it
be in food, money, or time. We continue to operate as a Fair Trade Church and to be successful
supporters of Tear fund and Traidcraft and we thank Janice for her hard work in this
area. We would like to thank all those who have supported us in our capacity as Churchwardens
throughout the year. Special thanks once again to Ken Cook and Alan Shaw who have served well
as Deputy Churchwardens this year.
Mike Tattersall. Susan Ward. Churchwardens.
PCC Secretary’s review of 2013.
The full PCC met nine times in the year with an average attendance of 70%. This was
significantly lower than in previous years. All absences were unavoidable however and although
there was good attendance at six of the meetings, on three occasions during 2013 the meeting
was not quorate. Four vacancies were filled at the APCM in March 2013 to make up the full
complement of nine elected members.
The PCC have again had a very busy year discussing and planning a wide range of issues which
ensure that everything runs smoothly and safely in church. They also work towards a vision for
how the church can most effectively serve St George’s congregation and the Lupset community.
PCC meetings always have friendly but lively debates covering every aspect of the life of the
church. Strategic decisions are made and this year significant amounts of expenditure have
been agreed. The meeting is chaired by Rev’d Martine and, in her absence, by Mike Tattersall as
the Lay Chair.
The PCC is responsible with the churchwardens for ensuring that all issues of health and safety
and safeguarding are well managed and that we are up to date with legislation of both church
and civil law so far as it impacts on the activities of the church and parish.
The Safeguarding policies for both Children and Vulnerable Adults were reviewed and
distributed at the start of 2013 and during the year nine people had their Disclosure and
Barring Certificates renewed. The church also agreed a policy which determined who should
have a CRB check and circulated information from ‘Towards Good Practice’ regarding working
with young children.
During the year the PCC have taken the following action on behalf of the whole church:
 Agreed the fees for weddings and funerals held at St George’s
 Hosted a Valentines event around the theme of Christian Love
 Monitored the use of copyright materials in services
 Supported the diocesan celebration at the Cathedral by providing a Prayer Tent
 Agreed that we should become an ‘Alpha church’ and supported two Alpha courses
during the year.
 Attended diocesan meetings at which the proposals for a new Diocese were discussed.
 Agreed to some changes in the pattern of worship; in particular a café style worship
with a newly formed band on the first Sunday evening and some alterations to the
format of the evening Communion on the second Sunday
 Regularly reviewed the services and particularly so at festivals or when changes have
been made. All discussions have been thoughtful and appropriate seeking to ensure that
worship meets the needs of a wide range of people at the same time as being an
appropriate way of coming together to worship God
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Supported Tracey Yates in her wish to change direction in ministerial training and move
into Reader ministry.
 Supported Phil Maries as he continues towards ordination.
 Agreed to develop a website which worked alongside that of the Community Centre and
to fund the initial development outlay with a local IT company – Statement.
 Agreed and supported the development of St George’s Food bank in close co-operation
with St George’s Community Centre.
 Allocated money to the improvement of the Crypt in particular the refurbishment of
the toilet facilities
 Welcomed Rev Joan Viles as Self Supporting minister in the parish
 Negotiated with the Diocese to replace the wall alongside the footpath and to repair
the wall at the end of the grassed area.
 Agreed that under the ‘Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011: Section 85 Extension of
Suspension of Presentation’ order that the extension of presentation should continue
for a further five years after 1st January 2014.
 Agreed to a container being placed next to the Scout hut for the use of the Bicycle
Project at the community centre.
 Agreed that the Parish weekend 2014 should be held at Greengables in Scarborough.
 Agreed the rent for the Community centre for 2013-14 and that other (non- uniform)
groups using the facilities in an evening should be asked to pay rent
 Ensured that Risk Assessments are in place for works and situations that require them.
 Continued to support the opportunities for collective worship at Snapethorpe Primary
school throughout the year and an after school club based on ‘Godly Play’ activities in the
Spring Term.
 Supported and encouraged Carolyn’s hospitality team to host social events jointly with
the community centre.
 Have given to a range of appropriate charities when they have requested our support
 Supported Belinda Maries in the provision of a Christmas Day lunch for members of the
community and obtained a grant from Sainbury’s which covered much of the cost of the food.
 Through Jean and David Smethurst the church lending library is well maintained and has
frequent use.

It has been a full year. The PCC always work prayerfully and are focussed on how our church
can be a place of hope and safety to the congregation and wider community as we share the love
of Jesus Christ with the community of Lupset.
Freda Jackson - Secretary
Treasurer’s report 2013
The Church finished the year with a deficit of £2401, after expending £2,975 from the legacy
account. Which if discounted would leave a surplus of £574 from the main church activities.
The main income changes for the year were, a reduction in the amount recoverable from tax on
covenants of £1,286 due to a change in the claim period for 2013 and an increase in church
fees of £1,842.
Overall expenditure remained in line with the previous year, but there were a number of
increases and decreases.
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Light heat and water increased by £3,985, with water charges of £1,798 although £1,181 was
repaid by Yorkshire Water in February 2014.
General repairs were lower than 2012, the Common Fund contribution being lower by £3,725
and £2,975 was used from the legacy account.
Looking to the coming year, the current prediction is for a surplus of £800.
My thanks go to Cynthia for helping with the collection on a Sunday morning.
Mike Tattersall - Treasurer
Parish Giving Officer`s report.
St George`s continues to be a generous church.
As a PCC we give generously to charities including Christians Against Poverty from our annual
budget. The food bank is generously stocked by members of the congregation.
Members of the congregation here at St George`s continue to give of their time and energy to
help in the smooth running of our church.
However while we do give generously financially to St Georges, we continue to "sail close to the
wind" when it comes to balancing our budget at the end of the year.
I would prayerfully ask that everyone look carefully as to how they might increase their giving
to St Georges over the next financial year.
Mick Read
Music Group report of 2013.
The Music Group is a team of people (of varied ages) in our church with the gift of music, who
have a heart for worshipping God through it. The group meets weekly to prepare for the coming
Sunday and these meetings are also a time of fellowship and fun. It also meets prior to the
Sunday morning service both to rehearse and to prepare ourselves and the congregation for
worship. Our aim is to enable the congregation to engage with God through musical worship.
The music for services is chosen with careful consideration of the theme and readings for each
particular occasion. We aim to provide a balance of different styles. New songs are introduced
occasionally and feedback on these is always welcome. The music in 2013 has been planned by
Rev Martine Crabtree, Tracey Yates and me.
This last year has not been the easiest for the group as we have not been at full strength due
to ill health for a couple of us, however, through the commitment and dedication of the team we
have been able to lead the congregation in musical worship for all the regular Sunday morning
services during 2013 as well as for special services such as Lent, Easter and Christmas. For
Sunday morning services, we have been able to rely fully on our own resources due to having
people in the group who can fulfil more than one role.
The group planned and led a Northumbrian Compline service during Lent and a Taizé style
evening in Holy Week. The group also planned and led the Carol Service.
On several occasions we have shared worship with our friends and neighbours at St James’ and
we have welcomed this opportunity to get to know each other better and to appreciate the
different styles of worship of both churches.
We are also pleased that Rev Rachel Bailes joins us occasionally either playing her flute or
singing. We are grateful to Janice Holt who has helped us out on the piano for our Memorial
Service and our Carol Service. I would like to thank Tracey Yates who has shared the leading of
rehearsals with me this year.
Julia Percival on behalf of the Music Group
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Deanery Synod
There have been three meetings of Deanery Synod this year. At the first representatives were
asked to talk about their own church in the light of ‘Five Marks of Mission’ and Mick and Jane
gave a short presentation about St George’s as a ‘place of hope and safety’ as well as
opportunities the church used to be available to the community.
The second meeting in July welcomed Brian Hammill to talk about WaKefield as a City of
Sanctuary and the work of Angel Lodge as a base for asylum seekers and refugees in the area.
The autumn meeting was postponed until December when the synod was addressed by Sally
Martin talking about Soul Portobello and Martine and Freda who spoke about the work of the St
George’s Centre and Church together in Lupset.
Jane Read and Mick Read
St George’s Lupset Limited
Mike Tattersall and Freda Jackson continue to serve as Trustees on the board of St George’s
Community Centre as church representatives . There are seven other trustees who have a vast
range of management and development experience of appropriate community issues. The church
and centre continue to work well together and many more church people have been able to make
use of the facilities provided at the centre, particularly the community café.
The range of activities offered from the centre meets the needs of many people in our
community and there is always a determination to continue to support the people of Lupset in
every way possible. The work with young people continues to grow and the youth leaders offer a
very positive support to those young people that attend regularly.
Unfortunately funding for the Community allotment came to an end in August but by the end of
the year a new project was developing that enables people with Special Needs to learn
gardening skills in a very safe environment and the signs are very hopeful that this will continue
in 2014.
The community nurseries continue to flourish and the children participate in many of the
seasonal events held in church and always are a delight to watch.
This year the community centre has been hit by significant reduction of funding and is having
to consider staff reduction and prioritising services. This is happening when the services
provided are most needed by the community but the staff work very hard to keep everything
going. The Adult Education provision is proving to be among the most effective in the district
due to the diligence and determination of Lesley Wagstaff and her staff, particularly Wayne.
This year the community centre has maintained support for the Food bank and the very good
liaison between the staff and the church volunteers has meant that people are treated with
great sensitivity at a time when they are most vulnerable and the support provided is greatly
appreciated by all the users.
The centre has also continued to contribute towards the maintenance of the kitchen and this
facility is used a great deal throughout the week for a wide range of classes and functions.
Freda Jackson
Christians against Poverty
Debt continues to be significant factor in the life of many people living within our parish. This
is evident from the amount of people using our food bank. It is on the heart of many people at
St Georges to do something to help. We support a charity called Christians against Poverty in a
variety of ways.
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For the second year we are supporting our local CAP centre (along with other churches in the
area) run from St Helen`s Sandal financially in the sum of £1000 per year. This will contribute
towards their running costs.
Members of St Georges are again helping at the CAP centre and are working as “befrienders”
to the CAP clients. Members of St George`s have again attended Prayer Events run by CAP in
local
churches.
We are also running CAP money courses. These courses are not necessarily aimed at people who
are in financial difficulty but the aim is to teach good money management to everyone. Five
members of St Georges have been trained as CAP money Coaches.
Given the commitments of the trained money coaches we have struggled to make time to run
this valuable course on a regular basis, however we do plan to run more this year.
Mick Read
St George’s Youth Church Report for 2013
Christine, Catherine and I have had another thoroughly enjoyable year leading the wonderful
and inspirational youth of St George’s. On a Sunday morning, the number of young people
turning up varies and more recently we have had a number of younger and younger children who
want to join us. This means that we need to split into more groups and we would welcome
everyone’s prayers as to how we move forward with this new challenge. Maybe there are
budding youth leaders out there who could offer time and talents?
Last year we followed the Roots Children Material as well as planning for different services and
of course the Christmas production, which this year looked at the Christmas story through the
eyes of the Angels. Everybody had a part to play.
The Youth group meets every 3 weeks, usually on a Monday evening. We study the Bible, debate,
create things and have lots of fun. This is particularly good for those who cannot make a
Sunday morning because of other commitments for example football, Cathedral choir, Rugby or
gymnastics competitions. We had an outing to see the Nelson Mandela film earlier this year. We
also had lots of fun experiencing first hand God’s wonderful creation in the local woods. 5 clean
young people turned into mucky aliens who had to be hosed down and clothed in bin bags to get
them home safely! And then we did it all again in the dark in February! The group wants to do
more outings so watch this space and the church website for photographs!
We really welcome everyone’s continued support and prayer and please if anyone would like to
come and talk to the young people or share any interesting topics please come and talk to
myself, Catherine or Christine.
A special thanks to Catherine and Christine who commit every week to supporting our young
people in their Christian journey.
Juliet Taylor
Undiminished
September 2012. Britain still on a high following the recent Olympics, Brendan Rodgers was
starting his first season as Liverpool manager and yet it was decided the year had not been
significant enough. God sent down unto the church of St.George’s a band. That band was called
Undiminished and that band would rock the world………………….
The world is spherical, so unfortunately it just spun, which apparently is a common occurrence.
The night Undiminished were unleashed however, did intrigue an estimated 200 people (ok
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maybe I rounded up. Is that really the big issue with this report?) At St.George’s first ever
alternative Halloween people who had never darkened the door of the Lupset church, entered,
enjoyed a beverage and tapped their feet to such lyrics as ‘God is good.’ How’s that for a debut
performance?
So what happened next I hear you ask? (Not really it’s likely you were there and I’m writing
this on Wednesday.) It was the first ever Golden Halo Awards Ceremony or the halos as they
are frequently, no sometimes, ok once referred to as. That was interesting to say the least.
This was followed by performances including a youth planning meeting on their home patch and
maiden tour…………. to St.Andrew’s.
Despite the Jet lag people were craving more. Plus we had no more bookings, so thought hey
why not do a monthly Sunday slot? That’s exactly what we did and it continues to go from
strength to, well about the same if were honest. Answers on a postcard please?
At this point I would point out the huge success of our venture to Wakefield Cathedral, but it
clashed with our PCC and well, yeah why not well will do. It went well. This was then capitalised
on by a second alternative Halloween event, at which we saw many new faces again. Not so many
familiar ones cough, cough.
Here we are then 2014. It’s been a belter. No not just because Liverpool lead the Premiere
League, but from the off it was ground-breaking. The second annual Golden Halo Awards was
considered a fantastic night by all who attended and people are already striving to make the
grade for next year. We then travelled to the dreaded south……… of Yorkshire, where we took
part in the auditions for the YMCA’s As One festival. WE GOT THROUGH! Coventry here we
come. It didn’t stop there though, as less then a month from now we will be playing at the first
ever United event, at Destiny church. Be sure to like the Facebook page (speaking of which we
recently hit fifty likes.)
So that’s all from us then. The future is bright and the brightness is undiminished. Oh one more
thing, I suspect somebody else will be reading so I will end with a prayer:
Lord thank you for the music
The songs we’re singing
Thanks for all the joy their bringing
Who could live without it I ask in honesty
Have I seriously
Not realised I am quoting Abba.
JJC
Monday Evening Prison Fellowship
Alan, Ann, Julia & Phil go into Wakefield Prison once a month on a Monday evening to share a
time of fellowship with the eight or so prisoners who attend. We encourage the men to
participate in reading and discussing the topic for the evening which is always based on a
passage from the bible. We also sing hymns and pray with them.
The format we use seems to work very well and we hope that each of them take away something
from the evening. We certainly feel spiritually fed after these sessions.
The prisoners always express their gratitude that we have taken the time to visit them. In
addition two of the team are also personal prison visitors.
Our position at the end of 2013 is no longer certain. Ann’s security clearance will expire shortly
and she has decided not to renew it on this occasion. Ann has given at least twenty years of
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dedicated and faithful service to prisoners, which I’m sure has made a huge difference to all of
those she has met and ministered to over the years, and we are so pleased that she has been an
integral part of our team. Phil will continue to be part of the team at least until he gets his
curacy at which time he will need to review his situation.
The prison chaplaincy have requested a meeting with all the groups who go into the prison, like
ours, to discuss how the Monday evenings will proceed in the future as they are looking at
possible changes to the current set up.
Julia Percival on behalf of the Prison Fellowship team
Fair Trade Report 2013
Thank you all for your support once again throughout the past year.
Our main areas of support have been as follows:
o Traid Craft Sale stall in Church to celebrate Fair Trade Fortnight. That leads me on to
thank Colin & Sandra Ride, our local Traid Craft agents for their support & work, dealing
with all the orders you make from the Traid Craft Catologue throughout the year, from the
Christmas Catalogue & the intermediate Spring/Summer Catalogue. This has been our 8th
year of support in this way.
o another successful Coffee Morning with the Community Centre at which we welcomed a few
‘old’ faces this time! We had a super raffle with a few more prizes than usual courtesy of a
very kind friend & work colleague Sue – many thanks Sue. It is wonderful to see that the
Community Centre still supports Fair Trade by serving coffee & tea bearing the logo. Thank
you to all the Staff there!
o the sale of Divine Chocolate - & this is where there have been some major changes. Thank
you to David Greenwood-Haigh for supplying it as usual but any chocolate on sale from now
on is the last that David is able to supply us with. Thank you David for all your support in the
past. We have been very fortunate to have had you as our Divine Area Representative. From
now on our Divine Chocolate will have to be purchased from Traid Craft.
I am pleased to say that Alex continues successfully in his role as Fair Trade Committee
Chairperson at Ossett Academy, flying the Fair Trade logo over students & staff there. We
wish him all the best as he investigates the production of Fair Trade chocolate!
As usual all tea & coffee served from the Church kitchen & is Fair Trade – just in case you
didn’t know!
Janice Tattersall
Prayer Team
I would like to begin this report by thanking members of the Prayer Team for their continued
support of the ministry of prayer and healing within St George’s and the wider community.
In preparation for the service each Sunday morning we have met for a time of prayer. Members
of the team pray for those who are about to lead and for those in the congregation.
Toward the end of each morning service two Prayer Stations are available to anyone who would
like to be prayed with. This ministry is important to the wellbeing of the church family. The
prayer Chain has also been well used and continues to provide a channel of speedy prayer
support for those who need it. 2013 has also seen the Prayer Team continue to meet each
Monday evening at 7.00pm. Attendance has been limited but the Notice Sheet has been use to
raise awareness of the meeting.
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The Prayer Team agreed to take responsibility for providing a Prayer Tent outside the
Cathedral during the celebration weekend. The tent was “staffed” all day by members of the
team and congregation. People passing by were asked if the wanted to write a prayer, many
people wrote their prayers on the cards and tied them up in the tent. There was a lot of
interest and many prayer cards were written. At the end of the afternoon all the prayers cards
and drawings were taken into the Cathedral and used during the mid week services.
Moving forward through 2014 we will be praying for and encouraging people to become members
to the team. Currently it can be difficult to cover all the responsibilities of the team and it’s
always good to have fresh ideas and input.
I will be arranging a “quiet day” for the team. The last time we did this the team felt it was
beneficial. I’ve already found a suitable venue and hope to make a booking shortly.
In the coming months the team we will continue to prayerfully support Martine and all those in
ministry and leadership roles.
Carolyn Broadbent
Outreach Report
This has been a year of achievement and new directions. In 2006 we decided as a church to
start praying for the people of our parish street by street, this continues in our services
throughout the week. In 2007 the Outreach Team was formed and congregation members were
provided with training to enable them to begin a programme of door to door visiting. Over the
following years many people have become involved in a variety of ways; visiting door to door,
praying for the outreach and providing food to welcome the teams back to church to share
their experiences of meeting the people who live in our parish.
Our goal in going out was to look outside of church, find out what the parish knew about the
church and what they thought about God, we did this by using a survey that included questions
such as; had they had any contact with St George’s, what did they believe about God, what did
they believed about Jesus and if they would be interested in a relationship with God. The
results of the survey where collated and an information leaflet delivered to the homes we had
visited.
Since March 2007 we have visited 3432 homes, we found just under half the people were at
home and although not everyone wanted to take part in the survey we found that many people
were interested in what we were doing. We were also able to pray a blessing on every home that
we visited. This project has clearly raised the profile of St George’s as shown by the numbers
of people contacting us for baptisms, weddings and those who have since started to come to
church. The impact for St George’s can also be seen in our improved awareness of the needs of
our parish and connects closely with a number of newer projects such as CAP, Alpha and the
Food Bank.
More recently we have begun to redirect our outreach focus through events such as the
Jubilee party and the Light parties held as an alternative to Halloween. In the future we plan
to build on this model and provide training for the congregation to help us make the most of all
our opportunities to welcome people into our church and ensure that ‘Every Contact Counts’
Belinda Maries & Jane Read
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Alpha.
In 2013 St George’s began to run Alpha courses. We were finding our way at first but soon got
used to the pattern of sharing a simple meal, watching the Alpha video and then discussing the
many issues and questions it raised.
We have had ‘delegates’ from St George’s and St James’ as well as people who are new to
church and are interested in exploring what Christianity is about. The feedback from those
attending has been very positive. Two courses were run during the year and it is planned to run
more in 2014 as well as looking at how we can help the whole church to understand what the
course is about so that they can encourage others to join a course.
Many thanks to those people who cooked the meals and made the evenings possible, this really
was appreciated.
Jane Read and Freda Jackson.
St George’s Centre – Saturday evening club
St. George’s Saturday Evening Club meet between 7.00pm and 8.30pm. The group is led by a
very dedicated group of volunteers many of whom have been supporting the group for many
years.
The group provides regular fellowship and a social opportunity for vulnerable adults from across
the parish and wider community.
Six regular members attend the each week enjoying a range of activities and games including
bingo, music and dominoes. In the better weather visits to the pub and park are also planned.
Amongst all our activities fellowship is at the centre, a friendly face, a chat, a warm drink and a
listening ear.
Thank you to all who support this work; it is an important part of our life as a church family.
God Bless
Mark Taylor
Chatty Craft
The aim of this group is that of “outreach;” where a pastoral role quite often needs to be
implemented; and although only one of the ladies attends a church on a regular basis all our
members are open to “helping others.” We encourage one another to give support where needed
and a good rapport and sense of “belonging” is evident.
The group is slowly growing and we now have six people attending (including myself) every
Thursday morning from 11 am to 12.30pm in the community cafe, after which we join each other
for lunch.
We have attended various workshops to develop our practical skills and have indeed enjoyed
learning these new skills. Rag rug making, Felting and Encaustic art have been just a few of the
workshops we have attended.
Our most enjoyable pastime as a group has been crocheting, teaching one another how it’s done!
Many blankets and throws have been made during the past year and we have all endeavoured to
at work at least a few “squares” on each other’s projects.
During our time together we have knitted vests for babies in Africa, Christmas Wreaths made
from plastic lunch bags, Rag Rugs, Christmas Cards and Knitted Scarves etc. And some of us
have learned the art of French knitting.
At the moment we are busy making a Banner for the party going out to Mara in September to
take out with them.
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We are hoping to go out on visits during the summer e.g. craft shops, afternoon tea etc.
All in all we are a very friendly group who have become good friends, although we would love to
see this group grow. Anyone who has a passion or desire to learn new crafts or skills in a
friendly and warm atmosphere please come and join us; even men are welcome.
Pauline Shaw.
Bembridge House
Every first Friday in the month a group of us from St George’s and St James’ attend
Bembridge House on Lupset Estate to share a relaxed and enjoyable time of worship with a
group of its residents. The group consists of Cynthia, Eileen, Freda, Liz, Mary and Julia. Some
of the residents regularly attend West Wakefield Methodist Church and English Martyrs
Church. For the rest of the group I believe that we are their church.
As this is the first report regarding this area of ministry I will provide a bit of background
information.
The services started back in October 2006 as a result of a new resident making contact with
St George’s. She had attended it with her school when living in Lupset as a child. From humble
beginnings, Rev Judith Ware from St James’, myself and just two residents, the group has
grown in number and at its peak there have been around about 20 of us attending - a
remarkable feat seeing as this was at a time when the residents were relocated all around
Wakefield whilst their flats were being renovated. During this time we transported residents
to, and held the services at, Ellis Court in Ossett.
When Rev Judith left the parishes in 2009 I was joined by those people mentioned above, with
Freda co-ordinating the proceedings. We all play a part in what happens on the Friday
afternoons, whether it’s reading from the bible, leading prayers, playing music, giving a word or
making the refreshments and washing up. It is not unusual to have cake provided by one of our
residents too!
We feel that the church presence is extremely valuable to the people at Bembridge. It's
wonderful to be able to take God’s word to people some of whom may find it difficult to get
out to church on a Sunday, but, also the time spent chatting after the service had really
helped to keep the community spirit going amongst the residents who increasingly find that
their sense of community is being eroded due to changes in practice in the services provided to
them by the local authority.
Inevitably, we have lost quite a number of our residents over the years and it has been
fortunate that we have been able to offer spiritual support during these times both at the
regular monthly services and also at funerals.
Some of those who attend also go to the lunch club at St George’s and the Christmas Lunch
which creates a sense of connectedness.
Julia Percival – on behalf of the team
Guides and Brownies
The Guides have had a good year this year, enjoying activities from Christmas cakes to bird
boxes. We have taken part in the district camp and been out walking in the estate to raise
awareness of safe walking practices, which concluded with a visit to the chip shop. We have had
a visit from the local police to discuss personal safety. There are currently 12 girls on our
register with a weekly average of 10 girls. We celebrated St Georges Day with afternoon tea,
teapots, cakes and sandwiches. We have a regular meeting of leaders where planning of
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activities is decided. Imogen and Alex continue with their leader training, although Alex is on
maternity leave at the moment following the birth of Matthew James, and Imogen is expecting
her 1st baby in June. A busy time for all. God Bless
Belinda Maries
Brownie numbers this year have remained fairly stable at eight girls, sadly not enough to make a
pack holiday viable. As well as our usual activities we have been on a trip to Jodrell Bank
Observatory where some of us earned our Stargazer badge. Some of the brownies went with
Tawny Owl (Rose Mallinson) on a sponsored walk around Pugneys . We have also worked for our
World Cultures badge and held a coffee evening to raise funds to help us to celebrate our
Brownie Big Birthday in 2014 when it will be 100 years since Brownies first started. We are
looking forward to Tawny Owl gaining her Leadership Qualification and have been happy to
welcome Jess Thompson from Guides, as our new Young Leader. The brownies have given her
the name of Snowy Owl.
Susan Ward
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