Rector’s Report to the Annual Parish Vestry Meeting

Sunday 7 March 2010

In accordance with the Rules of our Diocese, our Annual Parish Vestry Meeting is to be held on Sunday 7 March. As in past years, we will have a combined Eucharist at 8.00am. All parishioners are encouraged to attend, and as many as wish to, to stay for the business of the Agenda as published, which will follow the service.

My Report will not be read in its entirety in the service, but will instead be distributed via email and printed copies, and I will highlight aspects of it in the service, and I have invited one of our Church Wardens, Gavin Bulman, to highlight financial good news and challenges.

A Statement of Needs and Vision for the Parish:

When a friend asked me late last year what exciting new parish plans we had in store for 2010, I was at a loss for words. It took me a while to consider my response to not being able immediately to conjure up “exciting new plans”.

It struck me that, in many preceding years, we had dealt with several significant issues in the life our church. These included problem areas not yet addressed, such as inadequate ministry to children and teenagers, financial problems and lack of physical resources. We also had big plans to consider: Parish Vision and general direction, expenditure on large capital projects or expensive maintenance & repairs, new ministry initiatives etc.

From my experience, it is acceptable to NOT have to deal with several big problems, or several significant new initiatives. It IS acceptable to continue implementing our vision step by step, and to continue with ordinary (as opposed to extraordinary) maintenance. It is good to be busy with the ongoing worshipping life of our congregation, including its teaching, its music, its outreach and its pastoral care, without feeling under pressure to have a grand new scheme each year.

I am pleased to note that many continue to experience the Grace and Hospitality of God through their participation in the worshipping life of this church. Many people continue to offer service to God and the community in and through their families, their work and their involvement in the civic life of Hilton and beyond; their faith plays a significant role in supporting that, and this parish plays a significant role in development of their faith.

Further, many offer service to God in and through the church, and do so faithfully and wonderfully – including our few paid office and ministry personnel, and the many volunteers who take on aspects of parish ministry. We are grateful to you, and thankful to God for you.

There has been sadness and loss at people moving away, including the many who leave for Howick and other retirement complexes, and sadness and loss over people who have died. At the same time, it was Joan Hoole who said to us one Sunday last December, preparing to leave Hilton to live in the Karoo – before her unexpected death in January – that she was very pleased to note that after 35 years in this church, she still didn’t know everyone; there were too many new faces, including people of all ages and colours and types, who were new in our parish, and how wonderful that was! I echo Joan’s words.

Your Parish Council continues to meet monthly, and to offer valuable insight and very important oversight of parish matters. Some, not all, Council Members are responsible for portfolios. Our Wardens, Glen Crouch and Gavin Bulman, also serve with great dedication, offering skills and time in varying ways, and being of great encouragement and support to me as Rector. I value their support highly.

We pay special tribute to two people stepping down from Council:  Jane Elsworth, after several years’ service, and Craig Elstob, after many years’ service both on Council and on the Property and Finance Committee, and who has been responsible amongst other things for several successful fund-raising initiatives in previous years. Thank you.

A few issues we face highlight some of the ongoing areas of ministry to commit ourselves to:

Finances:  There was very gratifying response to our appeal a year ago for parishioners to re-consider their levels of tithing. Information on this has been updated occasionally, and we will continue to do that, but it goes without saying that finances enable our ministry to happen, and in a good, competent, Spirit-led way.

Youth Pastor:  As already noted, at the end of this year Andy Kruger will leave us to spend at least one year at the residential Anglican Theological College in Grahamstown, prior to his likely Ordination as Deacon and Priest in years to come. We are not ready to say farewell to Andy, so I will limit this comment to reaffirming the benefit to our parish of having a Youth Pastor, and to assure you that we have already begun to consider finding a suitable person for this post in 2011.

Grace & Generosity:  Previous Vestry Meetings have requested that, when our finances permitted, it would be good in principle to be generous – to tithe in some form – from our parish finances, over-and-above the Assessment to our Diocese and occasional giving to other causes within and outside of our parish. I am please to note that your Parish Council has already approved an amount of R20 000, representing approx. 2% of our income for 2009, will be disbursed in this way, and we have budgeted to do the same from our 2010 income. It will be disbursed by consensus agreement at Parish Council to persons or ministries we have direct contact with, and to support or advance ministry that makes a positive difference in our community, or more widely if done via people in our midst. In other words, it is not “throwing money at something far away” to feel good about ourselves, but to build ministry and community locally with people we know or support. Our intention would be to grow this percentage over time. You are welcome to let me know if you have a suggestion on how that money should be used.

It should be noted that our Diocesan Assessment is not insignificant (display of the finance figures later will reveal this), and they pay for my stipend, contributions to the costs of the ministry and wider mission of our Diocese and the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, AND (in the case of our parish), to the cost of the stipend for at least one additional priest in another parish that otherwise would not afford one.

Parish Vision

It seems right to once again affirm our Parish Vision, developed in 2005 and to which we re-dedicated ourselves in 2008. It includes, as our “Core Purpose”, to inspire and nurture friendship with God and each other.

We will continue to live it in the year ahead. Led by me as your Rector, together with the superb leadership of our Church Wardens, the hard-working parish staff, and guided by our elected Parish Council and others in leadership, all of us are in many ways engaged in developing and supporting the ministry of our parish. As we proceed through Lent in preparation for the Celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, we ask and trust that God will continue to bless and guide us, and continue to pour out “grace upon grace”.

Nic Denny-Dimitriou, Rector

March 2010

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