Some reflections on the year 2000—2001
Because we restricted ourselves to a rather functional AGM, the usual Vicar’s report reflecting upon the year past was absent. This is a little piece (published in the bulletin for 17 June 2001) on my reflections on the past year and how I see things are going.
I think we can be very pleased with the way we are developing as a community. A number of significant developments have taken place in the last year that are worth pointing to.
Sharing the Feast of Life — the liturgy at All Hallows
I start here because I believe it is the heartbeat and life blood of all that happens at All Hallows. Our liturgy has developed over the last year, building on the years of work and experimentation that have taken place in this parish since the late 1980s. We now have a liturgy which I believe is Anglican in structure and with spiritual depth while being open, lively and welcoming in content. We have seen over the last year an increase in attendance at Sunday services, with some people attending more often and new people coming. Attendance at Sunday services (9.15, 10.30 and evening) has risen from an average of 36 in 1999 to 45 in 2000. This has been reflected in the rise of church membership over the year from 42 to 60 on the electoral roll.
Exploring faith and spiritual development
A number of educational courses have also been well supported. The Exploring course attracted 25 people, with a variety of people attending from long-term members to seekers. The Heart and Mind workshops have attracted people from beyond the congregation while also engaging people who are regulars into deeper theological and spiritual exploration. The forthcoming Going Deeper course has attracted a lot of attention following the visit to our parish of Jack Spong whose book we will be studying.
Developing radical hospitality and outreach
We have considerably developed our outreach and radical hospitality over the last year, building on the excellent foundations laid in the lottery-funded extension which was the vision of Anne Jenkins and Moira Austin. The community café and community projects have moved into a new and exciting phase following the appointment last October of Caitlin Allen as our Projects Co-ordinator. It has been a pleasure working with Caitlin over the last 9 months. Her outstanding ability at being able to motivate and encourage real local ownership and participation in the project is refreshing and bodes well for the future. As well as the community café, the excellent Christmas party, nativity and carol service and women’s alternative therapy day have all been exceptionally well supported by local people. Our continuing relationship as a church and community project with Breakers Unify who run the Hip Hop Club and the local guys who set up the Tai chi class is an example of us providing a space and support for local people to engage in spiritual exploration in the church space and to offer their talents and skills to their community and beyond.
The youth project, our joint venture with the local Methodists, has been going through a period of reassessment and soul-searching, precipitated initially by a minor financial crisis. Jo Brook and management committee members have worked hard at pulling things round. However, although on a firmer financial footing, the project is still needing to consider its future development. The appropriateness of a purely detached youth project is one of the questions being explored, and a healthy debate is taking place within the project. A concern that some of us have expressed for more local involvement in the management and direction of the project might well begin to be met with local people standing at this year’s AGM for the management committee.
Our inter-faith work has also developed over the last year. The Christian—Buddhist meditation group has continued to meet regularly and after a short break is meeting again this month. We have also developed closer links with the Jamyang Buddhist Centre in Leeds, hosting a very well-attended event around the visit to the centre of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Through the community projects we have established a link with a small Bengali Hindu community who are wanting to explore with us as a church the possibility of using our space for festivals and other events. As a priority over the next year we need to seek to establish stronger links with both the local Hindu temple and the local mosques. How we do this as a community rather than simply me as vicar needs to be considered.
Our outreach to the lesbian and gay community has also deepened over the last year. For the second year running we hosted the annual lesbian and gay concert and carol service, and being open about our policy of blessing same-sex unions has seen my participation in seven such ceremonies, six taking place at All Hallows Church.
The development of our excellent web site is a real bonus to our outreach and has enabled us to link with other inclusive churches at home and abroad. Thanks to the work of our friends at Alternative Worship Experience in Bradford and to our own Phil Gardner who keeps it up to date and fresh.
Human Rites — helping people to celebrate love, birth and new life and to mourn and remember at times of death.
As well as same-sex blessings, we have seen an increased use of the church by both local people and others for baptisms, weddings and blessings. Last year (2000) we had the most baptisms All Hallows has seen for a number of years (13), and this year 7 baptisms have either taken place or are in the early stages of arrangement. We have also been approached and undertaken services to renew wedding vows for local people — Julie and Kevin Meldrum’s joyful celebration being the first — and two weddings are planned for the next few months. House blessings are another rite that we get a small number of requests for. Two significant local funerals took place in the church this year: both were of well-known local people whose untimely deaths were a tragic shock to the local community. It felt like a real privilege that we were turned to as a church to assist at these significant and difficult times for the people of Hyde Park.
The memorial garden project is an exciting new initiative, drawing together a group of local people who have suffered significant losses of loved ones in the last few years, often very untimely deaths, to plan a memorial garden in a small part of what is at present the vicarage garden. The environmental regeneration agency Groundwork are working with us on developing an initial plan, and it is hoped that by this time next year the garden will be in full bloom!
Some personal comments
I am often asked by people ‘How are you getting on at All Hallows?’. My usual response is ‘I am really enjoying myself.’ I enjoy living in the Hyde Park area with all its diversity and energy; I enjoy getting to know local folk and building relationships with people in the area; I enjoy our growing Christian community at All Hallows, drawing people from all over Leeds with a thirst for meaningful worship and a commitment to serious, open exploration of the Christian faith; I enjoy our ability to put first those who find mainline church a difficult place to be. I really enjoy being with you, and as I approach the end of my second year here I hope there will be many more to come.
Love and blessings
Ray