WARDEN’S BRIEF
The 1st of April is April Fool’s Day but Jesus rising from his tomb is no April Fool. During the Eastertide (between Easter and Pentecost) the disciples were learning that it was time for them take over Jesus’ ministry and spread the word. Today that responsibility rests with everyone in the church.
In Leigh we have to find a way to continue this in a way that can be sustained given the limitations of our finances and people. PCC meeting - 11th March Members of the PCC met on 11th March to discuss and consider the Summary of Main Provisions of the Draft Proposals regarding the proposed union of the benefice of Sevenoaks Weald and benefice of Leigh. These are the first stages of the proposed union of Weald and Leigh.
There is a lengthy process before any merger can take place. The proposals must be considered all stakeholders and there will be a formal consultation to enable everyone to comment. All PCC members were invited to consider the proposals and ask whatever questions they wanted. The queries they raised were answered by the CWs as best they could, given that many questions, eg patterns of service, have still be decided in the coming months.
These discussions will need a great deal of patience and understanding on both sides. It has been agreed that each Parish would function independently with their own PCC and financial controls, with supervision by the Rev Mandy Carr, vicar at St. George’s Weald.
The proposals included the future structure of this united benefice, the role of the Patron, lay ministry and many other issues, all of which have implications for both parishes and their futures. After discussion by everyone on the paper before them a vote was taken and it was approved that Leigh would support going forward with these proposals. It is understood that this process could take some months to complete with, hopefully, a result by the autumn of this year.
Other business of this meeting included the upcoming APCM on Monday 8th April and the funeral of Samantha Ansell.
Other dates to put in your diary are Tuesday 7th May evening and Thursday 9th May daytime when volunteers are needed to carry out the spring clean of our church.
David Bennie announced that he would be retiring in June 2025 and discussions have started to consider the way forward for Youth Ministry at St. Mary’s. It was felt that a sub-committee should be formed to look at the continuation of this important outreach in the parish.
APCM – 8th April Everyone in the parish is invited to the Annual Vestry Meeting at 8pm on the 8th April in St Mary’s Church to elect Churchwardens. This is followed by the APCM where everyone on the Church Electoral Role has a vote on the election of PCC members and other matters including our annual report. Documents relating to the APCM will be available on the church website in due course and from the church on the Sunday before the meeting.
Please note that if you are not on the Parish Electoral Roll, you will not be able to stand for election as a churchwarden or to the PCC or to vote in any election. If you would like to apply to be on the Church Electoral Roll or would like more information on this, please contact Julie Porter at Julie.c.porter27@ gmail.com
Please do come along and make your voice heard.
Richard Nevard and Linda Boyd