SHARED MINISTRY TEAM

The Shared Ministry Team, or SMT as it is also known, is a group made up of our congregation and clergy who work together with and on behalf of the members of our church to continuously improve the ministry and worship within our church. The current members of our team are:

Here is the Annual Report for 2006 (last year) to give to a taster of just some of the things that have been achieved by the above team....

This year has been the first year of the re-constituted and re-commissioned team. Members are Judith Ball, Michael Blinston, Steven Bower, Peter Bradley, Ian Cleverdon, David Durham, Nick Daunt, Vi Edwards, Sylvia Farnworth, Helen Foster and Jacqui Scrivens

Looking forward has involved us in planning and preparing for the anniversary celebrations of 2007 and equally importantly looking at where the church will be heading after 2007.To help with this process the team developed questionnaires for congregation and community, using the answers to help focus this year's Parish Day shared with Christ the Servant. Our Church, Our Future, a day for all members of our congregation(s) in the parish of UpHolland, took place on Saturday 24 June 2006 at The Grove, Burscough, led by Bob Dickinson. We aimed to celebrate the church's achievements and to set the church's vision for the next 5 years in the areas of serving the community, growing our worship and growing as a church family, coming up with practical, achievable ideas.

In response to the statement Is anything happening? Nothing ever comes of these days! the following summary appeared in the parish magazine:
"Have a look at the wonderful time line we used on that Saturday, it's now on display in church at St Thomas the Martyr. An incredible number of things have gone on over the years and continue to go on. It was good to be reminded of these, to share memories, and to acknowledge what had gone well and things that had been less successful; to recognise that "to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under Heaven" - some projects have a shorter life than others, one of our skills has to be to recognise when it's time to give thanks for what has been achieved, to let go and to move on.

So having celebrated the past and present we are now focussing on the future of our church and what we want to happen after 2007.

Various things are happening, others are being planned.
" Young people - a meeting has already taken place, led by Ian Cleverdon, to look at what might be done, how it might happen and to find people to help. If you have ideas and/or want to be involved, contact Ian, the clergy or members of SMT.
" Worship - people are looking at the pattern of worship, including use of the psalms
" Serving/Getting into the community
o the UpHolland churches investigated the possibility of having the Alldays shop at Hall Green as a churches shop and centre. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful but we are still considering the possibility if anywhere else becomes available
o we're looking at the possibility of setting up a group for people interested in peace and justice issues
" Use of space in church/creating space in church - removal of some pews at the back of the church to create a meeting space is being looked at.

And for all of us, the Timeline
" have a good look at the time line
" do you think there's something missing? If you do use the Post-its, write it down, stick it on the timeline.
" Use the end of the timeline to tell us what you would like to see happening - after all it is Our Church, Our Future; Your Church, Your Future."

During the year we have continued to lead, support and be involved in various church activities with major responsibility in the organisation of the medieval fair, Wholeness and Healing, prayer leaflet, website and organisation of the Pageant. Our annual review took place in October and was facilitated by Rev Barry Whitehead.

As a church and as individuals we want to be sure that we continue and further develop our witness, ministry and service to the whole community, each one of us developing our own talents, deepening our understanding of our faith, involved in exploring and expanding the mission and ministry of the church, honouring the memory of those who for seven centuries have served God in this place.

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