Proceeding of the Parochial Church Council January 2007 – December 2007 

During the year the PCC have met bi-monthly, and the Standing Committee, met on the alternate months to consider matters arising from the PCC and to make recommendations to the PCC 

The PCC meeting begins each meeting with a Bible Reading and prayer, committing to God the Agenda for the meeting and asking for His guidance on the discussions and the decisions to be made. 

Items covered during the year include:- 

Financial Matters - The Treasurer gives a brief overview of the current financial situation and keeps the PCC members up to date with the current situation.   

During the year the expenditure had kept within the expected budgeted amounts, although it was anticipated that at the year end there would be a shortfall on income. 

John Beck reported that he had investigated the possibility of having a “Friends of St Mark’s” scheme where money could be given for specific projects and not attract Parish Share.  John had looked at three parishes that were already running such schemes, St Margaret’s Rainham, St Mary’s Gillingham and St Margaret’s Horsmonden. After careful consideration it was agreed not to go ahead with this at present. 

Building Issues

Security had been a cause of concern during the year.  The PCC investigated the possibility of getting a gate put on the alleyway behind the Vicarage garage,
as it was thought that this would stop people breaking down the fence and using the Old Vicarage site as a “cut though”. The PCC asked the Administrator to send a letter to the residents enquiring whether they wanted this, but the response was mostly that they didn’t want a gate, if they were going to be asked to
pay for it. 

Other security issues were discussed following break ins at the Old Vicarage and at the church. 

Youth & Children’s Work

Sarah Ryan reports regularly to the PCC and out of her report she raised the issue of the many fringe people that are associated with St Mark’s.  Subsequently the PCC agreed to a sub-committee being formed, chaired by Terry Whittaker, to investigate areas where we could improve what we presently do in meeting the needs of the 100 or so people, mostly of whom were not from church families, who were in the group of people that we would class as “fringe people”.  A number of events are planned to try to encourage these people to join in more fully.  

Belonging Groups

The PCC agreed that it was important that people were encouraged to be part of a belonging group and John Beck was asked to approach people that were identified as not being in such and group and encourage them to join such a group. 

Church Administrator

During the year Lynda Smith resigned from the position of Church Administrator.  The position was advertised and the successful candidate was Pam Alexander who is began in July working part-time five mornings a week in the Church Office. 

St Mary’s Island Church and School

Ernie Mann took time during one of the meetings to outline how the Island Church had come into being.  It was seven years ago that the Island Church first started as a St Mark’s church plant with the URC and the Baptist church.

The PCC agreed that it was very important that when Jim Findlay leaves St Mark’s church that we incorporate into a new appointment a provision for someone to help at St Mary’s Island church and who could work part-time as a Chaplain for the St Mary’s Island school.

Jim Findlay’s appointment

The PCC were advised that Jim Findley would be leaving St Mark’s in the summer of 2007 to take the position of vicar at St Mark’s Salisbury.  The PCC expressed gratitude to Jim for all that he had done during his time at St Mark’s and wished him, Mags and family well in their future ministry.   

The PCC agreed that rather than appointing another training curate, it would be more appropriate in our circumstances to appoint an experienced ordained person.  Following discussion by the Churchwardens and John Saunders with the Bishop of Tonbridge, a job description was prepared for the appointment of an assistant Minister.  In addition to serving at St Mark’s the person appointed would also, work as part of the team at the St Mary’s Island Church and also be the Chaplain to the Island School. 

After Jim’s departure the Garden House was decorated throughout in preparation for someone new coming. 

The PCC has also heard from Parent and Toddler group and the Playgroup with reports on a regular basis.  Both of these groups have reported that they are flourishing. 

The PCC has much to thank God for during 2007.  It has been a privilege to see, first hand, how our heavenly Father has been answering our prayers to Him about the life of St Mark’s Gillingham.  He has answered in many and varying ways. 

Vicky Allen

As you read through the next few pages of reports I hope you get a glimpse of how God has been at work amongst our children and young people and their families.

A large group of people continue to be involved, working with both our church family children and those outside the church. However we still need more, particularly men.  

So much happens amongst our children and young people here are the highlights of my year:

The biggest highlight is the great team of people I work with who commit themselves to ministering to our children and young people.
A huge
THANK YOU!

(especially for those who left this year Tine, Naomi, Jason and Natalie Read, Caz and Stuart Read).

CRÈCHE

Yet another year has passed for the Crèche team. The Autumn term was slow and sluggish. The leaders were all there but we had no babies or children. We began to feel demoralised and to wonder whether a crèche facility was needed.

As we prayed and started meeting together on a termly basis, things picked
up. We devised a questionnaire to plug Crèche. We received little feedback but people now know we are here on a Sunday morning to look after young children (0-2). We now have two to three regulars any one week. The bit I enjoy best is telling Bible events through the use of the toys and seeing the children sharing!
The leaders also enjoy cuddling and bouncing the babies on their knee.

The team want to thank the church leaders, wardens and PCC for their efforts
in revamping the room. The painting and damp proofing have made it an attractive and healthier environment.

Denise, Linda, Lucy, Chantal, Margaret and Natasha.

SCRAMBLERS 

We continue to meet in the Old Vicarage on Sunday mornings.  However, Scramblers has undergone many changes over the past year.  We have had a huge influx of children and now have eight children on the register with them all attending regularly! 

It is a joy to see the children grow in confidence and enjoying Scramblers.  All the children get on well with their peers despite the fact we have a ratio of six boys to two girls! 

Scramblers now use the same theme of topics as the other children’s groups.  We tend to tell stories using the Candle Bible for Toddlers, as this is extremely age appropriate and we have a craft relating to the theme. The children tend to get restless after sitting still for so long listening to the story and so we usually finish the session with an active game! 

We have said goodbye to Jemima Hunter and thank her for all her hard work.  Sarah and Rachel are the two regular leaders at Scramblers with many other people helping from time to time. 

Thank you to everyone for your ongoing prayers and also to the parents of the children for their continued support.  Please pray for another successful year. 

Sarah Brackley and Rachel Mann

CLIMBERS 

Climbers are the infant group, aged 4 – 7, that form part of the Sunday children’s work.  We would like to say a very big “thank you” to Nat and Jason Read and Caz and Stuart Read who faithfully led Climbers prior to September 2007.  Their hard work and commitment has been greatly appreciated and is sorely missed! 

Last September we, Becky Cooper and Sheena Davidson, took over the joint leadership of the group with the much-needed support of Duncan Haslam, and we love it! We have a regular group of 5 – 8 children who arrive every Sunday with huge amounts of enthusiasm, energy and creativity!   

We have so far done a whistle-stop tour of some of the bible’s most remembered stories, from Noah to John the Baptist and “Love Your Enemies” to Abraham and Sarah!  We have tasted locusts (not the real thing!), painted rainbows, followed maps and got very wet doing apple bobbing! 

We are most challenged by the children’s eagerness to learn about Jesus and how much they remember week by week.  It is a privilege to teach your children and we hope and pray that they have as much fun as we do! 

Becky Cooper and Sheena Davidson

 XPLORERS 

Xplorers has changed a lot this year.  The children really enjoy starting in the old vicarage and having time to socialise with all the other groups.  The group’s sessions are short which only just gives us time to fit things in - which
means that things work at a high pace. 

We have begun to sometimes use an easier Bible which the children find easier to understand. Our group has mainly year 3 and year 4 children at present. 
Most of the older children will be going to Pathfinders in the next few months.

We aim to meet the children's interests and to keep them engaged and motivated to learn more.  The children enjoy linking stories from the Bible to real life situations.  The use of videos clips has also added a new dimension to our teaching.  Acting, lively games and craft work are still activities which the children all enjoy taking part in. 

We pray that all children will participate and listen without getting too lively.

The end sessions of each Sunday allow us to share our work with Sarah and the climbers.  Sometimes we get to share our work in Church.

PATHFINDERS 

Pathfinders continue to meet upstairs in the Old Vicarage with a growing number of young people between the ages of 11 and 14.  We currently have 15 on the register and about ten attend regularly.  Since September we have been following the Youth Alpha Course which uses a mixture of games, activities and bible teaching to build on the young people’s knowledge of what Christianity is all about.   It has been good to revisit the topics covered in the course and get ‘back to basics’ as we think about our relationship with God and what that means for us and the lives that we live. 

The monthly socials have continued and are a good opportunity for everyone to chat, play games and eat together, building relationships.  As well as some new young people joining us last Summer it has been great to have Claire Banner and Adam Staton
join the Leadership team – they are a great asset and an answer to the prayer of last year’s APCM report.    

We thank God for the growing spiritual knowledge of the young people that we have the privilege to work with and ask that you continue to pray for them to grow in confidence to live out their faith at school, with their friends and in their everyday lives.

 Chris Atkins, Claire Banner, Mike Haslam, Adam Staton

LANDMARK

Our 14-18 year olds continue to be a joy and a challenge. The world we live in puts more and more pressure on these young people, and it is during their time in Landmark that they have important “life choices” to make. As a team of leaders it is a privilege to work with them. This last year we have considered being “awesome on the inside”, God’s story, our story and our friends story – how to share our faith and that good old Landmark topic – sex! They continue to give of their time to be involved in the life of the church with many helping in children’s groups and leading services.

Here are their random thoughts on the memorable points of last year

SPLAT! 

Castle Splatalot provided much fun and entertainment as 80 children and 25 leaders had a taste of medieval life. They met the rat catcher, could trial for the prestigious position of the King’s bottom wiper and sieve the sewage for gold nuggets! Once again, it was a privilege to share God’s love with these children and see many of them choose to follow Jesus. The climax to the week was the Medieval Fayre on the Saturday to which parents and families were attended. It was a great event with many families attending and joining in the fun. We even had a medieval king judging the trebuchet competition. Roll on next Splat 2008!

 Wendy, Andy, Lucy, Rob, Sarah

KIDZ KLUB 

Kids – often about 60 of them, many of them just 7or 8 years old.

Is great, some of the older ones have chosen to stay on as ‘young leaders’ and help in tuck shop or making hot chocolate!

Interesting programme – we’ve thought about “what is church?”, “X Factor” and “This is your Life” as we try to introduce the children to Jesus and how much He loves them. Pray with us for fresh ideas please!

Different – it’s wonderful that we welcome children from so many backgrounds. Having a boy with cerebral palsy, an elected mute, a lovely girl with aspergers is a real privilege and adds to our group

Zzzz the team at 7.30 on a Friday night!  We are blessed with having a diverse and brilliant team who work together well and enjoy being with each other.  Pray the experience will be a stepping stone for future work for God as we see Him influence these kids’ lives 

Christmas – old fashioned Christmas party was brilliant, everyone coming dressed as a Christmas decoration!  Our theme was ‘Jesus lasts the whole year’ not just for Christmas

Love – most of all we want Kidz Club children to know they are loved by a Heavenly Father who knows their future and wants to walk with them.

Understanding – the children talk about bullying, deaths in their family, parents divorcing, starting new schools, having to be ‘in fashion’… pray we will know wisdom in listening and responding

Bouncy castle – ‘Pirates’ fancy dress party was how we celebrated in the summer and it was great fun!  Pray for the parents as we chat briefly to them and many come to church events.  One little girl asked if she could do the final prayer at the end of the party – very special.

SNUG

The group has an average monthly attendance of 23 young people aged between 10-14.  We meet one Saturday a month; between 6-30 and 7-30 is free time with different activities in each room. Running alongside this is the Café which has a discussion topic on the wall, linking with the thought later in the evening. Young people are encouraged to write their thoughts on the wall.

 There is always cooking in kitchen, which is then brought through to the Café at 7.30 for the young people to share together. From 7-30 till 8, everyone is in the Café discussing the topic of the evening. We finish in the hall with group games and challenges linking to thought, and small group discussion lead by the leader to conclude the evening.

The programme works well and enables us to discuss God without it being too long. It also gets the young people to talk with each other about life and how God can help them.  

This year we have received funding for Snug and Kidz Klub from Medway Council. We are currently spending the money on equipment and resources for the young people and funding for an away weekend. 

Kerry McMorris and SNUG team

PARENT & TODDLERS 

We have continued to provide a safe, fun environment for pre-school children, their parents and carers every Wednesday afternoon during term time.

The sessions have continued to be exciting times. We continue to play together, have a time of craft, sing together and have a story.

This year we have fewer families on our register BUT the families we have are absolute regulars with over 30 families attending each week.  This means we are really getting to know well our core families.  They share their concerns and joys with us and do ask questions. We do, however, realize a huge gap between going to the hall each week and going to the church. 

We have felt a definite need to move our relationship with our mums and carers to a new level, preferably without the cover of children.  So, with the wonderful help of Ladies group and others we held a ‘Mums meal” on March 6^th. This gave us an amazing chance to get to know the mums and carers that came on a different level to Wednesday afternoons.  The evening was a huge success and there has been a real buzz among the 18 mums who came.  We have now given out a questionnaire to see where/what our mums and carers would like to organize next.  They definitely want to develop mums events on a regular basis.  How exciting is that?  A huge thank you to everyone who helped to make the meal such a success. 

This time last year we asked for prayer for help in setting up and with refreshments.  Both prayers have been answered, so thank you for praying.

 We would now ask for pray with us for

Finally, we would like to say a special thank you to Mags and Luke for all their help and encouragement pre their move.  We miss them.  But Martha and Lucy have added their considerable talents to the team.  We continue to be thrilled by what God has done, is doing and will do here in Gillingham town centre. 

With our love, Sheelagh, Jo, Nat, Martha and Lucy

PLAYGROUP YEARLY REPORT

St. Mark’s Playgroup continues to provide high quality care as recognised by Ofsted earlier this year (2008).  It is an important part of the ministry of St. Mark’s, often providing people’s first contact with the church. 

During the year to December 2007 the numbers of children increased until we reached a point of having a waiting list of children who wish to attend.  This is as a result of all the hard work put in by Julie and the staff team and the good quality care and education that is provided on a daily basis.  The staff continues to work hard to meet the needs of all the children in their care.  This has meant attending training, adapting plans, changing routines and the environment and investing in new resources.   

Individual children’s profiles have been a new development that supports the children’s progress and the staff’s ability to plan for the needs of the children.  The staff record what the children do with observations and photos and also talk to the children about what they have been doing.  This information is used to plan the next steps and experiences that the children need.  

There have been a couple of staff changes during the year.  Tammy Owen left to have a baby and we welcomed Lucy Weller who works two days a week.  Finances of the Playgroup continue to be sound and we are looking to invest some of this in the garden area around the Vicarage Hall. 

Although the OfSTED inspection happened at the beginning of this year (2008) I thought it would be good to end with a few quotes from the report that reiterate what has been written above: 

“Children benefit from a warm, caring environment helping them feel secure; a very homely atmosphere where children are happy and secure.  Staff …encourage children to gain independence.  The quality of teaching and learning is good…. well qualified and experienced practitioners; plans enable children to progress at a pace that suits their individual learning needs; children are keen to try new activities; interested and involved in their play.  Reflective practitioners who are dedicated and work well as a team.   Children feel confident …..There is a higher than usual staff: child ratio.  Playgroup welcomes all children; Christian values provide the key to the group ethos; each child is valued as a unique individual whatever their ethnic or religious background.” 

Congratulations and thanks go to Julie and all the staff and volunteers who work so hard to make playgroup what it is - a great place for children to be.  Please continue to pray for the Playgroup, that the good work may continue and the staff will continue to work well together for the benefit of the children. 

The ministry at Esmonde House continued faithfully during 2007 with a team from St. Mark’s visiting regularly, both on the second Sunday of the month for a service, and the last Friday of the month for a more informal time of “Tea and Chat”. We have celebrated Communion by Extension together on a number of occasions, with our theme for the year being “The Lord’s Prayer.”  

A number of people visited Esmonde House during Love Gillingham when we were able to help again with the gardening and other jobs in order to help the residents there.  In January we held our yearly Sunday lunch at the Old Vicarage – an occasion thoroughly enjoyed by those who were able to join us.

While the team has continued to be very committed to the Brompton Service, sadly the same cannot be said of many of the new residents in Esmonde House and our numbers are currently quite small, with little apparent interest in spiritual matters from those who don’t attend. A number of faithful participants have died this year or are no longer able to attend because of ill health. 

I would like to thank personally as always the Team who have led the Services and spoken at them, helped with our music, and provided coffee and flowers.  There has been much mutual support and prayer over the past year and we pray that the Lord will give us wisdom as we seek to continue to minister to those in the Brompton area in the future.

 Judith Saunders     

Church Secretary’s Report for the year April 2007 – March 2008 

Membership: There are 39 church members and a further 18 people come regularly. The average weekly congregation is 35. Throughout the year there have been four Infant Baptisms preceded by a Thanksgiving service. 

Events in the life of the church for 2007-8: There was wedding blessing ceremony in July for two church members, people helped with the school summer fete and Christmas Fayre (singing carols), some helped again with ‘Love Gillingham’ and we attended the united service at the Black Lion. Chris and Bernie Pinner went to Uganda for two weeks in August. We were host to the BBC in September for the filming of a service as part of the Songs of Praise. Several island church folk joined the coach party that went to Jim Findlay’s induction service in Salisbury also in September. The successful Church Away Day at The Priory, Aylesford, later in September produced short, medium and longer term aims and an action plan for the church. The three main aspects identified were: To develop links with the school, to identify gifts of people within the church and to reach members of the island community.

We were joined by the Sea Scout unit again that meets in St Mary’s Island Community Centre for the Remembrance Service in November and members of the church together with the Salvation Army went carol singing round the island. There was a New Year’s Day walk followed by a 'bring and share' lunch.

Revd Nigel Uden, Moderator of the Southern URC Synod, took communion service in February. Five church members led morning worship in the school in March and many families from the school joined our Palm Sunday service recently.  

Life and Work of the church: The regular events are: the ladies coffee group (fortnightly), the Bible Study group (6 week study units) and Christianity Explored (10 week course), Women’s Open Worship and Prayer and Praise (monthly).  The music for worship has taken a different direction with the Music Director standing down and a music group now has weekly practices. The very successful café style Family services on the 4th Sunday of the month have been ably led by Chris Pinner and it is hoped to augment the personnel responsible for this aspect of worship.

The introduction of prayer triplets has commenced. This system is in its infancy but it is recognised that prayer is the powerhouse of the church.  Church members also join the school staff for prayer on the first Monday of each month at 8.25 a.m.

Our children’s work is on the brink of a new venture with a committed team of 6 people who will plan a teaching programme for two groups – 0-4 yr olds and 5- 11 yr olds (currently 12 identified children.) 

We continue to develop our outreach work through: Work with overseas students at the Greenwich campus in Dock Road, support of two children under the Toybox umbrella, support for people in Bufakhula financially, in person (Chris and Bernie) and via Food for the Hungry International. Some church members are sponsoring individual Ugandan children to enable them to continue their schooling.

During Lent we have supported Water Aid charity we continue to give monthly donations to GFYC and the Peninsular Youth for Christ and give regularly to Caring Hands (as well as members working for Caring Hands each week). We give our usual donation to St Mark’s as recognition of the wear, tear and use of utilities in the building. This year we gave each member of school staff a small gift at Christmas as a gesture of recognition, love and support for all the work they do.

There are some 12 members of the church involved with the school on a regular basis either as volunteers in the school, governors or paid members of the staff team. Members of the church will continue to lead an act of worship each term and there is a possibility that there will be church involvement in helping to run the weekly King’s Squad. We are actively encouraging the school to join with special services throughout the year also. 

Leadership

The support for our leadership team is strengthening - more are participating in the morning services under the direction of our Leadership team. We look forward to the finalisation of the re- Licensing of John Bloor, who will enhance the dimension of the leadership team. The church has welcomed the news that Martin Ferris has commenced a course of training within the URC with a view to offering himself for candidacy. 

The church is constantly changing – it cannot, nor must not stand still. We have a vision, we need to recognise the skills in ourselves and in others, build each other up and make our weaknesses our strengths. We recognise there will be changes of personnel- especially in the ministerial LEP leadership for all three churches. We look forward to working with Glen McWatt and pray that we will continue to touch and challenge the lives of those on St Mary’s Island.

Ladies Group meets each Wednesday morning in term time when about 15 women of all ages meet for a time of Bible Study, prayer and sharing in the Old Vicarage.  In the spring of 2007, we looked at different aspects of the story of the Prodigal Son, in the summer we studied Ephesians and in the autumn we were challenged by “Distinctives – Daring to be Different in an Indifferent World.”  

We are fortunate to have a Crèche provided for the young children.  Margaret Green has run this for many years, but sadly retired in 2007.  We do thank her for many years of dedicated ministry to our babies and children.  This work is currently being faithfully continued by Rose and Lucy. We are very grateful to them all for their willingness to help in this way so that the young mums can take part in the studies without too much distraction.

 Ladies Group provides a safe place for sharing our faith and encouraging one another along the journey, as many of us take turns in leading the studies. We continue to have a Coffee Morning once a month although we certainly miss Mags’ hospitality for this.  We now meet once a month in the Old Vicarage, or down at Riverside, for this informal time. Our Christmas trip took us bowling together, a time to relax and get to know one another’s competitive side! We have accessed our creative sides as we learned (thanks Gill!) to produce amazing flower decorations at Christmas.

 This year I believe we have seen a growth in our caring for one another and in the welcome we have been able to extend to those who are new to St. Mark’s.  We have discovered hidden talents in one another and continue to value the importance of listening and mutual support in our friendships within this group.

 Judith Saunders

Due to Des Dickinson’s failing health and a lengthy stay in hospital, Celia Dickinson has not been able to help in Coffee Shop for some time; however, she has continued to bake cakes for sale in Coffee Shop.  In this interim period I have taken over as Co-ordinator. 

Three new members this year, who have helped to make the running of Coffee Shop so much easier, have joined the team.  Most welcome additions to the team are Karen Blewett, Corrie Bartlett and Pam Bitton.    

Now that we have some members of the team who have joined in the past couple of years, it seemed appropriate for us to get together for a special prayer meeting in February, for the running of Coffee Shop and for me to give them the original vision of how and why the Coffee Shop came into being. This resulted in a suggestion of putting out a prayer box, and prayer cards for those people who feel unable to ask for prayer but want to be prayed for. This is going to be tested out. 

Confirmation of the success of Coffee Shop in reaching people from outside the church and in it being a good meeting place to make friends or meet friends/relatives, is the very fact that people keep coming week after week, year after year.  Sometimes someone asks for special prayer and it is a privilege to be part of this important ministry.  We have friendly visits from the Community Police now and again who pop in for a cuppa and a chat.  I think that they must have heard that there is a large friendly crowd congregating at St Marks Church and that it must be a haven from some of the rougher element to be found in the area.  Another area where God has been working is that John, from the shop opposite Church, has now started donating milk for the Coffee Shop.  This is a wonderful opener for conversation with him and his family.    

As a thank you to those who patronise Coffee Shop, we give out hot cross buns and coffee after the Easter Shopper’s Service, held during the normal Monday Coffee Shop and mince pies and coffee after the Christmas Shopper’s Service, also held during a normal Monday Coffee Shop. These events are welcomed by everyone and are very well attended. 

During the past few months, I have introduced pamphlets of Christian belief in action from members of St Marks Church (whose arms I have managed to twist) for distribution on the tables. This gives the team a good talking point or opener in conversation with the customers. I would be grateful for more of these, for God is working in everyone’s lives and different stories or episodes in a Christian’s life does help others to think about their own situation and can even fan someone’s spark of faith into a really good flame of faith.  I know that the written word of a man’s faith experience certainly influenced me into believing there must be a God when I was wanting to know the truth of ‘is there truly a God who cares for me?’. 

The present Coffee Shop team now consists of Celia Dickinson, Dorothy Brundle, Brenda Eames, Daphne Beck, Linda Bairnsfather, Ann and John Townsend, Kelvin Baker, David Norton, David Holloway, David Hawley, Margaret Roberts, Corrie Bartlett, Karen Blewett, Pam Bitton, John Chapman and Gary.  Each person has their own particular talent, from furniture moving and vacuuming, to serving refreshments, clearing tables and washing up.  Supplying and the playing of Christian inspirational music and sitting and chatting with the folk is also an important part of our ministry.  We are the listening ears for those folk who are lonely or in need of a little sympathy. It is a great team but there is always room for more team members. 

We also are very grateful to John Waters who goes into church early each Monday and switches on the urns for us.   A big thank you is also extended to the St Marks Church congregation on a Sunday evening who kindly assist us in setting up Coffee Shop.   Last, but not least, we extend our thanks and appreciation to our vicar, Canon John Saunders, for his continual practical support of the Coffee Shop. 

MTG, our mission support group, has met regularly most months to pray for the mission partners of our church, to co-ordinate the dissemination of information about them and to monitor the level of financial support that is allocated to them from the PCC Budget.  Although in 2006 due to the financial situation of the church, the percentage of unrestricted income allocated to our partners was reduced to 10%, thanks to the generosity of God’s people we have been able to hold the level during 2007 at around 12%.   

Our twelve established partners are involved with a variety of organisations and associated with different home / belonging groups within the St. Mark’s Church family.  They are as follows: 

 It has been a blessing to our church family to receive visits from many of them over the duration of this past year. Not only have they shared at church in our services, but they have also had the opportunity to spend time with their associated home groups. This year we have been visited by Jan Rowland, Lynne Martin, Mike and Helen Tozer, Carri MacFarlane and Tim Barrow and family.  Rob Ryan, who is coming to the end of his training for the Ordained Ministry this summer and Malcolm and Abby Smith also pay us frequent visits. Claire Coleman, one of our church members, was able to take time away from work to go to New Zealand with Operation Mobilization for a few months in the autumn, learning and sharing about her Christian faith. 

Following on from the successful  Exodus 06 to Uganda last year a small team led by Rod White and Bernie Pinner revisited the village of Bufukhula and the Diocesan Headquarters of Kumi during August 2007 in order to evaluate the ongoing ministry in those areas. In conjunction with the local Food for the Hungry team it is hoped that another team will make a visit in 2009. Gary Atkins will have details of any further plans

St. Mary's Island School, Island Way West, Chatham Maritime

St. Mary’s Island Church of England - Aided - Primary School 

“Anchored in God on course for excellence” 

The Headteacher, Mrs Sharon Day writes, “St. Mary’s Island Primary School is a popular Medway school situated at the heart of St. Mary’s Island, Chatham Maritime.  The school caters for around 340 children at the moment with a total capacity of just over 400 children.  In line with the Trust Deed the school aims to provide the highest quality education for the children in our care, hence our revised Mission Statement this year, “Anchored in God on course for excellence”. The school is proud of its strong Christian ethos and sense of community. There is a close partnership with the Diocese of Rochester as well as the Local Education Authority and the Island Church. 

The school is a well ordered and caring community where every child is valued.  The aim is always to develop positive attitudes to learning in all children and the school strives to work in a close, two way partnership with parents, acknowledging their role as the prime educators of their own children.   

Children are expected to behave well in and around school, understanding the school’s expectations of good manners, honesty, care and self discipline. Praise is central in teaching and well behaved children are rewarded.  Children are encouraged to develop an increasing understanding of other people’s feelings, values and beliefs and essential life skills.  The school believes that children should enjoy their learning experience and be supported in achieving their highest potential.  The Governing Body aims to provide the best possible resources and the highest staffing levels to meet the diverse needs of all the children both within and beyond the National Curriculum. 

Pupils are offered a carefully planned, imaginative curriculum, delivered by a highly qualified and committed staff. Through varied and exciting teaching, children are encouraged to grow in confidence as learners, to develop their ability to communicate ideas and feelings and to embrace the spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects of modern life.” 

Many of the families at St. Mary’s Island School come from the immediate locality, but the Governors are always pleased to receive children from across the Medway Towns. Up to ten percent of places throughout the school are reserved, in the first instance, for children with a Church background.  With our close proximity to the Royal Engineers we also have families from overseas and the school prides itself on the care and understanding extended towards these families also.

 The OfSTED Inspection in November ’07 drew attention to the exemplary behaviour of all the children noting that they are friendly, courteous, and well motivated.  The standard of teaching is good and both governors and staff are committed to raising the levels of achievement of all children throughout the school.  During this past year fifteen of the year 6 pupils qualified for places at a Medway grammar school. In Literacy we are amongst the top ten schools in the country, in KS2 results all our pupils scored level 4 in science and in Numeracy, almost eighty percent gained a level 4 with twenty four percent at level 5.  

…..or, the view from the desk at the back 

In the past year we have been very blessed as far as the technical team is concerned. Mic Aldington, as a member of the PCC, has overall responsibility for all audio-visual facilities within St. Mark’s, with Mike Young having week by week control of the video projection team and Bruce McCready, having returned from a few months sabbatical, providing the same service for the sound team.  

The sound team is now the strongest it has been for several years, with Bruce back, Les Wood returning after some years absence and Samuel Wilkins well into his training and not forgetting the sterling regular support from Suzanne, Guy and Colin. We are also fortunate to have recently been joined by a new church member, Luke Prankard, who comes to us with previous experience and will soon be on the regular rota and Jonathan Mann has just joined as our latest trainee. As far as equipment is concerned, there has been the usual ongoing maintenance and the lord has blessed us with the skills required. We have, over the past couple of years, been having more problems with microphones, some of which are now over 20 years old. Most of these are problems in the overall quality of the sound they produce, but in one or two critical cases, in actual failure during a service. Now, due the very generous gesture by a member of the congregation, we are about to purchase a significant number of new ones which will enable us to pension off the old ones. 

The video projection team does not yet seem to have the same depth of support. The burden very often falls on the willing but overworked Mike Young as all the members of the team are still learning how to get the best out of the equipment. 

As well as providing the song words on the screen, the projector system is used is used for “Power Point” or video presentations during at least three services every month, all of which have to be assembled into a schedule prior to the service. Please pray that the team will soon be enhanced with more help. 

MOUNT EVANS HOUSE REPORT

The St. Mark’s team continues to reach out to the folks in Mount Evans House. 

In April we joined their regular coffee morning, showed a Tear Fund video and sold Tear Fund goods, this was well supported by the residents. 

We continue to hold a Sunday morning service in the lounge on the second Sunday of the month and members of the team and others are invited to share God’s word. Reader Graham Davis also holds communion by Extension.  We have a small group of residents who regularly attend and participate both in worship and sharing for prayer.  They continue to be most generous in giving towards to Tear Fund. We feel it a joy to meet each month and share God’s word. 

We are pleased to welcome Dorothy Brundle and Callum Whitley into our team but say goodbye to Jane Wood as she concentrates on her training as an evangelist. 

We ask for your prayer as we seek to serve God through his love to our friends at Mount Evans House.