Blog

As we move to the end of another year, I have been reflecting on my journey joining the ISG in April. Whilst I have been coming to SBC for over 20 years, I had never even considered being part of the leadership team in the past, but the Lord works in mysterious ways!

As I met with Ian, Sue and Sue for the first time we were all in agreement that the previous leadership team had done a fantastic job since June left and that we would work on the mantra of “if it aint broke, don’t fix it”.

However, there were a few changes we introduced from that first meeting.
1) That our leadership meetings would remain fortnightly, but that they would be no longer than 90 minutes
2) That we would publish the action points and summary notes to the whole church.
3) We created a WhatsApp group for timely communication with each other.

We also agreed that where appropriate we would delegate tasks to others within the church that maybe better qualified than us in specific areas. Ian and I were then sent off to do our mandatory Safeguarding Level 2 & 3 training which, once completed, made us view things and situations in a totally different light! Sue H also made sure our DBS checks were up to date and complete.

A lot of our time since then has been to “keep the wheels turning” on ensuring events have run smoothly , co-opting others to help where necessary. We have had (and still have) a significant number of issues with our Church building and these are a drain on our finances and time consuming to address. Specifically, we had the boiler room ceiling collapse due to a leaking
roof, various other leaks throughout the building, dampness in places and a manse that is not fit for purpose in its current state.

We have embarked on a project to make our entrance foyer a more welcoming experience as people enter the church, with new ceiling tiles, new lights and a de-cluttering of that space.

Our new regional minister Pete Leveson hosted a session within our church to discuss the merits of appointing a new minister (or not). This was well attended and we got some valuable feedback that was fed into the church meeting on 14th November.

Most recently, we have met with the home group leaders from our 5
weekly home groups and have agreed a series of actions that will ensure that we maintain focus on this important part of our church life.

Our weekly Wednesday morning prayer meeting is still going strong, four years after being introduced in Covid times. I’m personally delighted that we still get double digit attendance every week.

On a personal level, I have been helping Trisch and the Churches together group within Southwell, by taking over responsibility for their website. Its great to be a part of this group and feel that there is more momentum than ever to spread God’s word to the people of Southwell and surrounding villages.

I am delighted to be part of the ISG and look forward with optimism that we will serve the congregation of SBC in doing God’s work
Barry