We shall be writing to all our church members soon with an invitation to take part in our annual gift day this Sunday. We shall be giving you some details of our current financial situation and hope that all who are on the electoral roll and regularly worship at All Saints or Holy Saviour will take this seriously and respond generously. This is an opportunity for us to review our giving to our church, and to make a one-off donation if you can, which we hope you will. You can bring your donation to the service at All Saints at 9.30 am that Sunday or bring it along to any of our other services.After the service, we shall be having our Annual Parochial Church Meeting when we are hoping to elect two new churchwardens, members of the PCC and two members to serve on Deanery Synod. The annual report and accounts are attached below and will be available in church in advance of the meeting, so please collect one and read it through before the meeting. At the meeting we shall receive our annual report and accounts from 2025 and review our church life, our mission and ministry in our parish. We have heard that our current churchwarden, Ruth Hann, is not able to stand again this year after giving six years’ service. If you would like to know more about the role, please have a word with Ruth or Revd Rebecca. Also, if anyone would like to know more about being on our Parochial Church Council or Deanery Synod, please also ask. We would love to have some new people on board. More details can be found in the annual report.We hope as many people as possible will make every effort to attend this important meeting. If you are a member of the electoral roll you will be able to vote at this meeting. If you are not on the Electoral Roll or would like to check, please speak with our Electoral Roll officer, Debbie McEntee.We look forward to seeing you!Revd Rebecca
We were sorry to say farewell to Sharon, our Team Ministry in the Team Office since September last year. We said a big thank you and farewell to her in the office on 16 April. Sharon was a great addition to our Team, and was extremely efficient and professional in her work and very supportive of our ministry. We are sorry to see her go and wish her every blessing for the future. She is leaving to spend more time with her family. Thank you Sharon!
Being a foundation school governor is a privilege and a calling. We currently have vacancies for foundation governors at two of our local Church of England schools: in Westbury Juniors and Westbury Leigh primary schools. Being a foundation governor means sitting on the governing body of the school with a particular interest in the Christian foundation of the school. In addition to the other responsibilities of being a governor, such as helping to set the school’s vision and direction, being a critical friend to the Headteacher, being a presence in the school and engaging with the school community, there are also responsibilities for exploring ways in which the church’s role in the school may be fully and positively implemented. Foundation school governors should be able to support the Christian and Anglican ethos of the school; they should help to preserve and strengthen the links between the local church, the school and the diocese. We are to ensure that collective worship maintains a Christian character and ethos and play our part to monitor this. We also have a role in the SIAMS (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist schools) which happens every few years. You don’t have to be an Anglican to be a foundation governor, but you would have to be approved by the Westbury PCC and ideally be a church member somewhere, or at least in sympathy with the Christian faith. If anyone is interested in exploring this, please don’t hesitate to be in touch. Meetings are usually about once a term, and there may be additional meetings and visits to the school. This would suit someone with a background in, for example, education, finance, management, business or health and safety. Revd Rebecca Harris, Foundation Governor, Westbury CE Junior School
