New Vicar for Whittington, Weeford and Hints After a vacancy period of some three years, I am delighted to pass on the news that the Revd Ashley Hines will become the new Vicar of Whittington with Weeford and Hints. Exact timings are yet to be agreed, but Ashley should arrive during the middle of this year. Ashley is currently Team Vicar in the Great Yarmouth Team Ministry. Following her ordination in 2015, Ashley served as a hospital chaplain in Burton-on-Trent, and as a curate in Fradley before moving to Great Yarmouth, so our region is very familiar to her. We very much look forward to Ashley joining us later this year, though we also bear in mind her clergy colleagues and parishioners in Great Yarmouth who will be sad to lose her. We pray for their search for a new incumbent which will now begin. More details regarding Ashley's arrival in our parishes will be shared in due course. Simon Donnan, Lay Chair St Giles PCC
In 2018, the Parochial Church Council of St Giles’ Church began a project to improve the facilities in our church building. Whilst, of course, we have a relatively small congregation compared to city churches, we regularly attract over thirty people to our 9.30 am Sunday worship. We had over fifty in the congregation at Easter. We would be delighted to welcome more people from Whittington. Our toilet is small and cramped, and doubles as a washing-up area for our after-service refreshments. There is very little space in the church itself for the congregation to relax and chat over coffee after the service. The church entrance is not welcoming to the casual visitor, with poor sightlines into the church itself from the porch. This is important as our church is open every day, ‘dawn to dusk’. Working with our church architect, our proposals have been reviewed and agreed by Lichfield Diocese and all the relevant statutory bodies that should be involved. They are happy that we will not be ruining the essential nature of the building. All that remains is for us to apply for planning permission to increase the size of the toilet, and to allow the members of the parish a thirty-day consultation period. The latter will run from 1st to 30th July this year. Details of how to object to the proposals will be posted in the church and on the church door from 1st July. In brief the proposed changes are: · Create a disabled toilet and baby changing point. · Free up space at the back of the church for a ‘meet and greet’ area with storage for freestanding chairs and tables. · Install a refreshment point, with water heating and washing up facilities, inside a cupboard at the back of the church. · Replace the solid wood panels in the inner doors with glass. · Carry out work to the doors and floor in the porch to improve the ‘welcome’. · Free up space at the front of the nave inside the church. · Reconfigure space in the vestry and stairwell to increase storage. Whilst the changes will be of direct benefit to the worshipping community, along with families at weddings and baptisms held in the church, they will also allow us to offer the building for other uses, providing modern facilities for meetings and events. If you would like to see the plans ‘in situ’ please contact the churchwarden, David Clarke (daclarke55@hotmail.com and 07836 334796), who will be happy to arrange to meet you in the church and show you where the changes will happen.
It is nearly two years since we had a vicar looking after the three churches of St Giles’, Whittington, St Mary’s, Weeford, and St Bartholomew’s, Hints. In that time, members of the congregation have stepped up to do those tasks that we would otherwise have expected our vicar to carry out. Obviously (not being ordained or trained in some aspects of pastoral care) we can’t do everything a vicar could do, and we have had to seek assistance from some great retired clergy to help, and take the services – including baptisms, weddings, and funerals – that even our own Lay Reader, Gill Hollis, is not licensed to lead. We are conscious that we may not always be able to provide the care to the village that a vicar could, and I apologise when we fall short of your expectations. We are in the process of trying to recruit a new vicar, but this is a slow process, and we are largely at the mercy of the Diocese of Lichfield. We hope to be able to advertise in early 2023. Realistically, it will be some months more before we might have a vicar. Even when that happens, this will be a part-time appointment, covering the three parishes. This is because, going forward, we cannot afford a full-time post. But, we are still here, open for God’s business, so to speak! You are all very welcome to come to our services (9.30am each Sunday) and I can assure you of a friendly welcome. We have an excellent Parish Administrator, Lynne Mills. Lynne can be contacted on lynnewwh@outlook.com or 07721 767963. Lynne works 13 hours a week and can usually be found, in person, in the Parish Office (Church Hall) between 10.00am and 3.00pm on a Thursday. Please do contact Lynne in the first instance if you have any query. My very best wishes to you all, David David Clarke – Churchwarden, St Giles’ Church
