ST. MARK’S NOTES FOR JULY 2025

At our St Mark’s Committee meeting on 5 June we were pleased to report that the numbers in church on a Sunday morning are on the increase. On every Sunday since 23 March there had been more than 30 in the congregation (which had only been recorded on some Sundays, rather than every Sunday, before that) and that is in spite of some of our “regulars” being away on holiday. We have been pleased to welcome family members, visitors to the area and others, some of whom have been on several occasions and have become new regular members of the congregation. This is in line with national statistics which speak of a slow but genuine increase in church attenders over recent months and is very welcome. It is good to have the feeling that, perhaps, people have become aware of what membership of a church, and faith in God through Jesus, can offer. As well as that, we’ve had several of our regular congregation and visitors who have brought their dogs (always impeccably behaved!) and we’ve been pleased to make them welcome.

At the committee meeting we covered a lot of topics and discussed them profitably. As always, we reviewed past social events and looked ahead to those to come. We particularly said that we want to arrange more activities for the younger children, following the very successful Teddy Bears’ Picnic held at the end of April, so watch this space! We welcomed the two new members of the committee – Anne Johnson and Mike Keats. For at least one of them, it was not their first time on the committee! We received a report from Dave Richards, our Resident Priest, outlining the things that had happened in St Mark’s since the last Committee meeting and it emphasised to us how much Dave and Carol do for the life of St Mark’s. We were pleased to hear that Carol has been recognised as LLM (Licensed Lay Minister) to work within our parish, as she was in her former life in St John’s, Stratford. In her role of Governor at St Mark’s School, Carol outlined the significant changes in organisation that will happen in the school in September. We continue to pray for the school as these changes take place and we wish the Year 6 pupils well as they move to their secondary school, each in possession of a Bible given by St Mark’s.

Sunday 8th June was Pentecost and we celebrated the birth of the Christian Church, both in our service and afterwards. On Tuesday 10th June, Anne and I went on an expedition to Hamworthy church, along with many others, to be officially confirmed as churchwardens. As Anne said last month, we are very grateful to the congregation of St Mark’s for electing us again to this position and we hope that we will continue to justify your trust in us. In the life of a churchwarden there are many happy moments, but also some sad ones, as we think back to the funeral of Barbara Rose at the end of May.

One of the joys is to recognise what our members give to the community and it will be a delight on for Dave, Carol and me (and of course John) to attend an awards ceremony at Lyme Regis on 26th June where Jenny Lazenbury will receive a Diocesan award recognising her many years’ devoted service to the work of Communicare in Swanage. Well done, Jenny – you deserve it and we appreciate all you do for our community, both in the church and outside.

Our musicians never fail to delight us and we thank them all they did for the concert on 29 June. We can only imagine how much planning and rehearsal goes into preparation for such a polished performance! As we move into July, we look forward to the Pimms and Hymns event on 20th and participating in the Carnival Service on 27th as well as the joy of meeting together Sunday by Sunday to worship God. I wonder if in the next few weeks we will reach a congregation of 40 on one or more Sunday. We got close several times in May!

Wishing you all God’s blessings,

John Way

Churchwarden