A Special General Meeting to elect a churchwarden will be held on Sunday 15 January. The meeting will take place between the 9am and 10.30am services, starting at 10am. Please see a copy of Mike's vicar's letter below with more information about the meeting.

Dear Friends,

A Special General Meeting to elect a churchwarden will be held on Sunday January 15th. The meeting will take place between the 9am and 10.30am services, starting at 10am.

The reason for calling the meeting is that Pete Marston needs to stand down as churchwarden due to the pressure of his work. He has been both churchwarden and treasurer for nearly 18 months in an incredibly demanding season in both church and work life and served us all brilliantly. Having prayerfully considered the situation, he thinks that it's right for him to continue as treasurer, but the demands of his business and family mean that he cannot continue to undertake both roles. I am delighted that he has felt called to stay on as treasurer, but recognise the need for him formally to cease being churchwarden. I want to record here my thanks not just to Pete but also to Karen, Kezia and Neve for their patience and support of Pete in this role.

As Phil Moss, our other churchwarden, has recently become a father for the first time (congratulations to Becky and Phil on the arrival of Grace!), it felt appropriate for Phil to have some 'paternity leave' and definitely not to hoist all the demands of being churchwarden on him at the moment.

Given this, I approached Penny Cox, who was churchwarden for five years and Pete Marston's predecessor, and asked her to step in for several months. Having prayed about it, Penny has agreed to stand as churchwarden in an interim capacity from the Special General Meeting until the APCM. However, she does not feel that it's appropriate for her to stand again at the next APCM (so we will need a new churchwarden in April). I am so grateful to Penny (and her husband, Pete) for assuming this role again, even if just for a few months. At our December meeting, the PCC warmly welcomed this suggestion and Penny's willingness to serve as churchwarden once more.

Becky Proctor is also stepping back from being PCC Secretary after significant promotions at work have left her without the bandwidth to continue as Secretary.  I am really grateful to Becky for all that she has done as Secretary, including helping to lead the PCC through the pandemic period, and really sorry to lose her from this key role. But I am also really delighted to say that Daisy Wood-Chan has agreed to take her place as PCC Secretary from the 1st January.

Every Blessing,

Mike