We are so lucky to have regular teams of people who work hard to keep our church looking good inside and out. Our cleaning, flower and mowing teams all take turns and do their bit quietly behind the scenes. Recently Jane, our Church Warden, organised a Working Party Day to spruce up the church inside and out. You can see some pictures here We are also grateful to individuals like Ash, who use their skills to restore, renovate and decorate areas of the church that need attention. Ash has recently restored the notice boards and front doors for us. You can see some pictures here
You will have heard in recent weeks of major failings within the Church of England, with regard to safeguarding practice and the care of victims after disclosures of abuse. It has been a time of deep shame and sorrow, and although painful to face, we hope will be a catalyst for greater transparency and accountability in the future. Our prayers are particularly with those who have suffered abuse at the hands of those who were trusted. As clergy in this Welwyn Team of churches we want to pay tribute to the diligent and energetic work of our Parish Safeguarding Officers (PSOs), PCCs and the Diocesan Safeguarding Team who support us in our commitment to ensure that these churches are places of safety and accountability. We realise that much of their work is unseen and thought at this time it might be useful to outline to you, our congregation and wider community, some of the procedures we have in place to help protect those in our care. · We have five Parish Safeguarding Officers who act as a point for people to report concerns, and with the clergy share the responsibility of the oversight that safeguarding training and DBS checks are up to date. · We have three Safer Recruiters (one clergy, two lay) who meet with and administer DBS checks for every PCC member and for those who volunteer to work with children or vulnerable adults. · Safeguarding training is compulsory for clergy, Readers, churchwardens, PCC members and those who work/volunteer with activities with children and vulnerable adults. This is offered online, and also run annually ‘in house’ · Every PCC has a Safeguarding policy that is displayed in our churches and on our websites, along with contact details of the Incumbents, PSO and the Diocesan Safeguarding Team. · Safeguarding is a standing item at every meeting of the PCC, Team Council and Ministry Team. · We follow the national church guidelines with regard to safe practice e.g ratios of adult to children, parental permission for activities and use of social media and photographs etc . · Volunteers are provided with a Code of Conduct of expected behaviour whilst working with children and vulnerable adults, as well as clear details of how to report concerns about a child or the behaviour of another volunteer or member of the clergy. Policies and procedures have their place, but most importantly, we believe, is the building of a culture in all our churches where every person feels an equal responsibility to ensure the safekeeping of others and can share concerns with the knowledge they will be handled proportionately, appropriately and with sensitivity and compassion. That is something we can all work towards. Finally, we want to say thank you to all who take an active role on behalf of the church in caring for children, young people, the frail and housebound and those vulnerable in other ways. This is good and valuable work. We are grateful for every ounce of your care and commitment. Working together we endeavour to be places where all people are treated with dignity and care through which they might grow in the knowledge that they are precious in the sight of God.
Café Church meets at The Peace Memorial Hall, High Street, Codicote on the first Sunday of each month 10am – 11:30am. Hot drinks and freshly baked pastries are served with people sitting at café tables to eat, drink and talk with each other. All are welcome – there are activities for all ages and usually some craft for the young or young at heart to enjoy. It is a good chance to catch up with friends and also an opportunity to meet new people. It is still Church, but perhaps feels more relaxed in its coffee shop style setting. Each month has a theme planned by the Café Church Team. There is often a table challenge to try over breakfast – a topical quiz, word puzzle etc. We bring things together at around 10:30am with a short period of worship often including singing, short video clips, a mini talk and a time of prayer. Recently we asked people what they liked about Café Church. Alongside the very popular food and drink options, the strong sense of community, friendship, support, informal worship, craft activities and a chance to talk and think were all mentioned as being important to people. We are looking to build on this good foundation and will be using comments and suggestions to shape our future plans.During the next 6 months we will be digging deeper into the prayer of St Francis with a series of topics under the title THE POWER OF . . . . . . 4th February – LOVE see some photos here 3rd March – FORGIVENESS see photos here 7th April - FAITH see photos here 5th May – HOPE 2nd June – LIGHT see photos here 7th July - JOY see photos here Revisit this page to see what happens month by month.
Phase 1 of our church improvement project is complete. We now have a smaller more effective vestry, a full disabled toilet, chair storage, a kitchen and servery, and a larger circulation area.Phase 2 is to replace the aging and failing audio and visual systems. We are well into the planning stages with quotations and legal hurdles being addressed.Now we turn our attention to phase 3, which is preparation for the sorely needed redecoration of the church.Initial steps have been taken to sort out the damp, including roofing the boiler house steps, drain clearance and surveys, and permanent low temperature heating. The plaster is already drying out as a result. Phase 4 is root clearance, repairs and a new soak away, as the existing soak always are either blocked and not working, or partially blocked and ineffective.
