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Annual Report 2015 - Part 1 St. Luke’s Church Watford

St. Luke’s Church, Watford (Charity Reg. no. 1130376)

Annual Report 2015 – Part 1

Vicar Bank Independent Examiner

Rev. David Middlebrook Barclays Bank Plc, Gary Howard FCA St Luke’s Vicarage High Street Howard Wilson

Devereux Drive Watford Chartered Accountants Watford 36 Crown Rise

WD17 3DD Watford, Herts


St Luke’s Annual Report 2015

We thank God for St. Luke’s Church, which is far more about people than buildings; the staff members,

those who worship at St. Luke’s and those who use the premises regularly or from time to time. This year

the Annual report is in two sections. The first part is an informal report summarising what has been

happening within St. Luke’s during 2015 and saying a big ‘Thank you’ to the many people who help at

Church. The second part is the more formal part of the report and includes the reports from the Vicar, the

PCC, the Electoral Roll, the Diocesan and Deanery Synods, on the Church fabric and ornaments,

Safeguarding and the Annual Accounts.

Section 1: what has been happening within St. Luke’s during 2015: -

Contents

1. Prayer 2. People and Pastoral Support 3. Discipleship 4. Children and Youth 5. Social events 6. Partners in Mission 7. Communication 8. Our Church buildings, grounds and contents. 9. Rotas

10. Church Funds

11. Church Services

1. Prayer

As well as individual prayer time, St. Luke’s encourages us to come together to pray. On the second Tuesday

in the month from 8-9pm, the Church holds its monthly prayer group, FOCUS, which meets in the Chapel.

This is open to everyone. The format varies slightly each month, but usually involves praise, Bible reflection,

quiet listening to God and intercession. Basically it is time to ‘focus on God’ and intercede on behalf of St.

Luke’s, Watford and the world at large. Notes are usually taken and published in the following month’s

church magazine, so that those not able to attend are able to feel part of the group and to pray.

Every Thursday evening (8 -9pm) a group of St Luke's folk meet in the Chapel to pray and listen to God. The

Hour of Prayer (HOP) is very much part of St Luke's life and comes from the

vision to encourage more prayer at St Luke's. The Lord Jesus wants us to pray

and intercede for one another.

On Friday mornings, there is also an hour of prayer from 10am, Friday Focus.

This started as a result of the feedback from the Prayer Questionnaire which

was carried out by the St. Luke’s Prayer Working Group. Quite a few people had said that they would find

it more convenient if there was a daytime Focus meeting with majority opting for morning.

In August the Prayer Working Group organised a Prayer workshop on a Saturday

morning at St. Luke’s. About 40 people attended and selected from the various

activities provided to help them learn to pray in different ways; Prayer Walk, Creative Prayer, Intercessory

Prayer, Meditative Prayer and Prayer Ministry and others took the opportunity to receive individual prayer.

It was a great day and the feedback from those who came was very positive and further workshops are

Pray without ceasing - 1 Thess. 5:17

Prayer Working Group

members: Anne Bolton

(Chair), Ann Tearle, Cate

Sims, Greg Wiley, Kim Smith,

Mo Fasanya

Lord teach us to pray

Luke 11:1


planned for 2016.

Another thing discovered through the questionnaire on prayer, was that a large percentage of people found

the words read out in the services, encouraging even though they don't necessarily come forward for prayer

in response to the words. At the end of each service there are

members of the Prayer Ministry Team who wait at the front of

the church ready to pray for or with you in complete

confidence.

Thank you to another group who meet regularly on a Tuesday,

to pray for all the Staff at St Luke's: Vicar, Curate, Reader,

Reader-in-training, Music Director, Youth Leaders, Wardens,

Administrators and their families. We have many reasons to give thanks for the Lord’s blessing in the past

year, and we continue to pray that all the Staff will feel encouraged, protected, equipped and strengthened

for the work they have been called to do.

What can you do?

Attend the monthly Focus Prayer, Friday Focus, HOP (see the Weekly Newsletter for details, or speak to a

member of the Prayer Working Group) Join the Prayer Working Group (see Anne Bolton) Attend the next Prayer Workshop (keep an eye on the Weekly Newsletter for details)

Be faithful in private prayer (see back of Weekly Newsletter for suggestions for prayer)

Share your prayer needs with others (e.g. Prayer Ministry Team after services)

2. People and Pastoral Support

The aim of the People and Pastoral Support Group is to help St Luke’s to love and care for people in God’s

name. Specific activities for which they are responsible include: welcoming newcomers; looking out for

people who ‘disappear’ from church; supporting people in practical ways and enabling and encouraging

others to do so; putting people in touch with professional agencies; visiting

those who are bereaved, are ill, at home or in hospital and those who are

housebound; Home Communions; organising and coordinating distribution of

love-gifts (cards, plants, cake etc. at Christmas, Easter, Harvest).

One of the events they organised in 2015, was a CAP money course, which was

of use to anyone who wanted to manage their money better, which of course

is everyone! The course does this by looking at budgeting and expenditure.

This course was led by June Wilkinson, who also ran the course for years 5 and 6 at Cassiobury Junior School.

During the year the group have continued to send out seasonal gifts to

members of the congregation who were, or are, going through trying times for

various reasons. In November, the group assisted at the St Luke’s Bereavement

Service. A large number of people attended and found it very helpful.

To assist in welcoming new Church members, the group maintain the

welcoming display just inside the door from the Gathering Area where there

are a number of different information leaflets, the monthly newsletter, etc.

In 2016, they plan to run a Bereavement Ministry at St Luke’s and will open it to churches across Watford

and surrounding areas. It is a three session course and will interest and equip anyone who, as a disciple of

Christ, wants to know more about caring for people who have been bereaved, whether within the church

People & Pastoral Care

members: Christine Massey

(Chair), Penny Lazenby, Chris

Jones, Dave Middlebrook,

Greg Wiley, Jean Hogg, Joy

Hobbs, Marina Waddington,

Tim Odbert, Wendy Dodson

A new command I give you:

Love one another. As I have

loved you, so you must love

one another. By this

everyone will know that you

are my disciples, if you love

one another.

John 13v34-35

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our

weakness. We do not know what we ought to

pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for

us through wordless groans. And he who

searches our hearts knows the mind of the

Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s

people in accordance with the will of God.

Romans 8 v26-27


or wider community.

As they could be dealing with vulnerable adults they need to be aware of the DBS (Disclosure and Barring

Service) laws. At St Luke’s, Mary Bowen is our Safeguarding Officer and Jackie Mee is our Lead Recruiter.

We are grateful to them for ensuring that the PCC has proper safeguarding policies in place and steering

people through the application for a DBS certificate. (For their official report, see part 2 of the Annual Report)

What can you do to help?

Join the People and Pastoral Working Group (see Christine Massey)

Look in the News Letter for details of courses/events being arranged and if appropriate to you attend them

3. Discipleship

At St. Luke’s we have a growing number of Life Groups and an expanding number of people joining them.

The groups vary in many ways but they all have a similar purpose, to help everyone to become whole-life

disciples of Jesus Christ. They meet in small groups in a safe and comfortable environment to share and

grow in our faith, whilst studying and praying together. They reflect, discuss, worship and learn whilst

sharing, supporting and encouraging one another. Each Life Group has leaders to whom we say a big ‘Thank

you’ for leading our groups.

The Discipleship Working Group (DWG) was set up to help more members of St.

Luke’s to become whole-life disciples. They encourage people to join a Life

Group and help and support the Life Group

Leaders. This help includes training of Life Group

Leaders and the provision of resources. In the

autumn, they ran a course on leading a Life

Group over two Saturday mornings, "Leading Small Groups". It was a course

for anyone who leads, or would like to lead small groups/Bible studies and

who want to learn more about how adults learn and the skills required to

facilitate groups. This course was

opened out to other churches as well

and was very well attended.

The Group created the diagram on the right which they feel are the six

principles which make up a good Life Group; Christian Education,

Prayer and Worship, Friendship, Pastoral Care, Christian Service and

Mission.

The DWG have also catalogued all the resources stored in the Church

Resource Room and have added to that details of resources held by

individual church members, who are willing to share them.

There are lots of Life Groups meeting on various days of the week, some during the day and some in the

evenings. It was great to see new groups starting up in 2015 and there are even more planned for 2016.

Please look at the Notice Board to the left of the door into church, from the Gathering Area, for the details

of groups and how to join them.

In the autumn, St. Luke’s ran a successful Alpha course and also a Youth Alpha course. Several of the people

Discipleship Co-Ordination

Group members: Peter Mills

(Chair), Anne Bolton, Caryl

Boxhall, Chris Jones, Gavin

McBride-Wilson, Margaret

Forester, Mave Clarke, Olu

Fasanya,

All authority in heaven and

on earth has been given to

me. Therefore go and make

disciples of all nations,

baptising them in the name

of the Father and of the Son

and of the Holy

Spirit, 20 and teaching them

to obey everything I have

commanded you.

Matthew 28v18-20

Discipleship

Christian Education

Prayer and Worship

Friendship

Pastoral Care

Christian Service

Mission


who attended Alpha have since joined a Life Group, which resulted in that Life Group multiplying into three

groups. Many thanks to everyone who helped to organise and run Alpha and to the Life Groups who

volunteered to serve and wash-up for an evening.

Many of the Life Groups have also served in other ways. Some have visited the Watford Food Bank, which

is supported by several members of St. Luke’s, including Anne and Steve Bolton. Several helped pack

parcels for Rudolph, a charity organised by Christians Across Watford, which provided Christmas food

parcels for those in need. Many members of St. Luke’s donated money towards Rudolph.

Some members of Life Groups went out with the Watford Street Angels. They patrol the Town Centre on

a Friday and Saturday night, offering help and assistance, or a friendly ear to listen to problems for those in

need, often vulnerable teenagers. (Speak to Dave Scourfield for more information)

There are lots of other Watford charities and organisations and even national ones which are supported

either by the church or by individual members of St. Luke’s. These include Watford and Three Rivers

Refugee Partnership, New Hope, ManUp, Watford Town Chaplaincy, Gideons, Children Across Watford

(Jenny our Children’s Worker attends these CAW meetings, there are about 6 a year, to support each other

and share and swap ideas) and the Watford Schools Trust (which amongst other things supports year 6

children before they move into year 7).

Another encouragement for us as Disciples is to read our Bible regularly and also other Christian literature.

St. Luke’s is therefore grateful to Jack Watson for organizing and distributing Daily Bible Reading notes and

to Caryl Boxhall, who for many years now, has run the Church Bookstall on Sunday mornings.

Unfortunately, Caryl has now decided to stand down from this, so please consider whether this is something

for you?


Join a Life Group (see a member of the Discipleship Co-Ordination Group)

Consider helping or donating or attending functions organised by or on behalf of the charities or organisations mentioned above (see the Office for how to get in touch with them)

Use Bible Notes to help you read your Bible regularly (see Jack Watson)

Take over the running of the Book Stall (see Caryl Boxhall)

4. Children and Youth

There are lots of weekly events just for children and youth. These include the Sunday groups taking place

during the Church morning services (led by our Youth worker, Neil Brookes, Assistant Youth Worker, Lizzy

Baron and Children’s Worker, Jenny Stromberg) and many social activities throughout the week. A big

‘Thank you’ to all involved.

The Children and Youth Working Group, who on behalf of St. Luke’s PCC help to

support and encourage the Youth and Children’s work associated with St. Luke’s

to ensure it is legal, of high quality and Christ centred.

They do this by supporting our Children’s Worker and Youth Director and their

volunteer helpers and leaders, through prayer, practical support and

encouragement, including Pre-school, uniformed organisations and other

groups linked to the church; facilitating the sharing of good ideas across the

different youth and children’s groups connected with St Luke’s; assisting in the

transition of children and young people from one group to another; supporting

and encouraging the need for training for leaders and helpers connected with

Children and Youth Group

members: Fran Davies

(Chair), Bill Miller, Danielle

Wright, Dave Middlebrook

Jenny Stromberg, Marina

Waddington, Melanie Sills,

Neil Brookes, Phil Boxhall

Start children off on the way

they should go and even

when they are old they will

not turn from it

Proverbs 22v6


youth and children’s work; ensuring that youth and children’s issues ‘get a voice’ in the church; acting as a

channel of communication to and from the PCC; ensuring that the Church is aware of all aspects of the

children and youth work; acting as a channel of communication for safeguarding issues; and meeting at

least once per term to review and pray for the Youth and Children’s Work in St. Luke’s.

Children

Light Club – These are children’s holiday clubs run by our Children’s Worker, Jenny Stromberg and her large

team of Leaders during holiday times. A huge ‘Thank you’ to a great team, who enthuse and share God’s

love with our children. Light Clubs this year have included ‘Pancake Light Club’, ‘Waste Watchers’ in

September and the weekly films in the summer holidays.

Puddletown - In the May half term, 10 children from St. Luke’s went to Puddletown, in Dorset, in order to

run a 3day holiday club for the children in the Puddletown area. Our link with Puddletown is that the Vicar

of Puddletown, Sarah Hillman, used to be a member of St. Luke’s. They had a wonderful time including

eating ice-creams every day and swimming in the sea. St. Luke’s children developed the holiday club

programme, adapted it throughout the week, made good friendships with the local children and had good

humour and excellent behaviour throughout.

When? What? Who for? Leaders

Sun 9:15 & 11am

Altitude Teenagers Neil Brookes, Helen Chapman, Lizzy Baron

sun 9:15 & 11am

Crèche 0-2.5yrs Alison Blunt, Amanda Trybus, Angela Steed, Ann Middlebrook, Cate Sims, Debbie Thorne, Di Gibbs, Edna Williamson, Emma Rigby, Emma Tattersall, Fiona Lawrence, Jenny, Hattie & Lottie Stromberg, John Sills, Lambert Tsoi, Marina Waddington, Martin Kirk, Mo Fasanya, Myrtle Crawley, Rebecca Jones, Sandrine Grillon, Sarah Thomas, Steve Bolton, Suzetta Hartropp, Val Cohen and Vera Irvine

Sun 9:15am Mosaic 2.5-10yrs

Sun 11am Seekers Pre-school years

Sun 11am Climbers Infant school years

Sun 11am Explorers Junior school years

Mon 5pm-9pm

Beavers, Cubs, Scouts

6 to 14yrs Terry Banister, Dan Evans, James Harvey, Toby Hosker, Jenny Stromberg, Toby Stromberg, Val Cohen & their fantastic young leaders

Tue 5:15-6:15pm

Rainbows 5-7yrs girls Catherine Farman, Emma Bunn, Margaret Forester & young leaders

Tue 6:15 – 7:30

K2 school years 9 to 10 Neil Brookes, Lizzy Baron, Myles Thomas

Tue 6:30-8pm

Guides 10-15yrs girls Charlotte Prosser, Jenni, Georgie, Hannah

Thu 9:30-11.15am

Toddler Group

Parent, carers, tods, babies, Mums2B

Jenny Stromberg, Margaret Timms, Pamela Willis, Lorna Messenger, Di Gibbs

Thu 6pm-7:20pm

Brownies 7-10yrs girls Fran Swallow, Carole Phelan, Hannah Mason & young leader

Thu 6:15-7:30pm

Rock Solid school years 7 & 8 Neil Brookes, Lizzy Baron, Fran Davies

Thu 7:45-9pm

Base school years 10 to 13 Neil Brookes, Lizzy Baron, Fred Nash

Sat 6pm-7:30

Urban Saints- children's Christian club

7-11yrs Bill & Sue Miller, Yvonne Wilder, Jean Riley, Carolyn Taylor


After the ‘inspiration’ of St. Luke’s children, the four churches that form Sarah Hillmans’ benefice ran a

holiday club in the summer and following the success of that, will be visiting St. Luke’s one weekend in

2016. So our prayer of continued children’s work has been heard – thank you God!

Youth A report from Neil Brookes, Youth Director:

An exciting year. We said goodbye to our large Upper Sixth group in June and Rock Solid, restarted for year

7’s in September. Base and K2, continue as successful and lively mid-sized outreach groups. Shelter Bible

study, is back up and running at the Boxhalls’ house on Tuesday evenings. Altitude, on a Sunday morning

is a thriving community, having studied Revelation, the ‘I am’s’ of Jesus and series about being Christ

centred over the past twelve months.

We will be forever grateful for the provision of Presence coffee shop. A venue where every Tuesday evening

frappes and hot chocolates were downed aplenty and pastoral conversations flowed. Following its closure,

the youth team are considering carefully how a new season of this ministry will develop.

We said goodbye to our associate Caz McGrath after three years, she achieved a 2:1 from St Melitus and is

now working as a Schools’ Counsellor. We also thoroughly enjoyed having the multi-talented

Jordan Guthrie with us as an intern, as he explored his calling to youth and worship ministry.

Lizzy Barron joined us in September and has quickly found her feet, among many other innovations re-

introducing the Sugar n’ Spice and X n’ Y gender specific programme.

We will again visit Mexico in April, with a team of 8 young people (primarily from K2) and three leaders to

build a house for a family in extreme poverty.

To end, a huge and very public ‘Thank you’ to all our volunteers that so dedicatedly give up their time each

week, to make possible all that happens at St Luke’s and to our wonderful youth – we simply think the world

of you!


Join the Children and Youth Working Group (see Fran Davies)

Answer calls for help with manning events such as Light Club (see details in Newsletter) Sponsor a child or support fund raising activities for Rebuild (see details in Newsletter)

Pray for our Children and Youth and their Leaders

Consider helping with the Children’s’ Groups on Sundays (see Jenny Stromberg)

Consider helping with the Youth Groups on Sundays (see Neil Brookes) Consider helping with the Toddler Group on Thursdays (see Jenny Stromberg)

Consider helping with the Youth Groups in the week (see Neil Brookes)

Consider helping with the Urban Saints on Saturdays (see Bill or Sue Miller)

Consider financial help for the youth trying to raise money to go to Rebuild in Mexico (see Neil

Brookes)

5. Social events

Social Activities at St Luke’s for families and adults

We are very blessed at St. Luke’s to have lots of wonderful people who organise activities for all ages. This

is an opportunity for us not only to remind you of what is going on, but also to say a big ‘Thank you’ to them

all.

Some of the activities are regular ones which happen each week, although some are term time only (marked

*)


When? What? Who for? Leaders

Tue 9:30-12noon

Coffee Shop All Jean Hogg, Margaret Timms, Pat Watson

Tue 10am-11am *

Singing for Joy Anyone who enjoys singing

Jeremy Cooke & Anthea Prosser

Wed 8:45am *

Pre-school coffee

ALL Anne Bolton, Ann McCleod, Christine Massey, Linda Monk & Kim Smith

Thu 9:30-11.15am *

Toddler Group Parent, carers, tods, babies, Mums2B

Jenny Stromberg, Margaret Timms, Pamela Willis, Lorna Messenger, Di Gibbs

Fri 8:45am* Pre-school coffee

ALL Anne Bolton, Ann McCleod, Christine Massey, Linda Monk & Kim Smith

Fri 10:30am-1:30

Friday Club 65yrs+ who live alone

Janet &John Gibbon, Margaret Hudson, Pat and David Hancox

Fri 7:30pm * Badminton & Table Tennis

Club

ALL Fiona Craigie

*term time only

There are other social events which are monthly, quarterly, annually or even one off celebrations.

A BIG ‘Thank you’ also to their leaders.

Event Who What is it? Contact

Cameo adult ladies Regular meetings for talks, meals, outings etc. (usually Fridays)

Jos Lawrence or Pam Willis

Christmas Puddings

ALL Social get together to make a Christmas Pudding, usually during November

Caryl Boxhall

Knitting group

All Monthly get togethers to knit or crochet for charity (Tue)

Di Gibbs

Men's events

adult men Monthly, breakfasts, talks, meals, outings Neal Wilkinson or Bill Miller

Men’s Walk adult men Usually during the summer half term walk, there is a walk over a few days

Neal Wilkinson or Bill Miller

Phoenix Fellowship

Active retired A quarterly mid-week lunch club Pat & Jack Watson, Peggy Element

SLATE Sunday Lunch at the Essex (last Sun of each month)

Pat & Jack Watson

Toddler Service

Toddler Group Once a month during the Toddler Club, there is a short service in Church

Jenny Stromberg

This year some of our one-off social events have included the World Cup Rugby Weekend, a weekend of

fun activities for all ages; Fairtrade Quiz Night and the annual Father’s Day Bar B Q where this year we

welcomed our guests from Malawi, Father Reuben and Archdeacon Dyson. We are grateful to the one off

groups who arrange and run these individual events.

Check the Weekly Newsletter for details of up and coming events and who to contact for further

information. Something to look forward to 2016 is our 10year anniversary weekend for our new building,

which will take place over the weekend of 16th/17th April.



Read your weekly Newsletter and pray about up and coming events Join a small group to run a one-off event (see the Weekly Newsletter for requests for help)

Volunteer to help with Toddlers (see Jenny Stromberg)

Volunteer to help with Light Club (see Jenny Stromberg)

6. Partners in Mission

We are very blessed at St Luke’s with lots of people with a heart for Mission. Our Partners in Mission Group

(PiM), raise awareness of the missions that we support, financially and with

prayer. There is a noticeboard in the downstairs corridor dedicated to Mission.

It has a map showing where the various missions are located around the world

and also a copy of their latest letters and news.

This year PiM linked Harvest to our Thanksgiving Fund. They also organised a

Harvest lunch which was attended by about 60 people. An enjoyable occasion, during which Bill Miller (PiM

Chair) reviewed the various Thanksgiving Fund activities and projects over the years and plans for the

future.

In October, St. Luke’s had a visit from one of our mission Partners, Sujai and Lavanya, who run an AIDS clinic

Nireekshana in Hyderabad, India. Sujai spoke powerfully during the morning services about their work and

progress. Their example of lives based on prayer and trust in God touches all who meet them and is a

challenge to us all. Sujai and Lavanya are very keen to have visitors from St. Luke’s, to the clinic and to their

church, which has over 1000 regular attendees.

In November, the Upside-down Sunday show-cased the work of PiM and some of the partners and

organisations we support, specifically and locally the Town Centre Chaplaincy, Alternatives and Ascend

locally, as well as, from further afield, Rafiki Thabo and Ruth Guiness of SIM.

We give thanks to God that in 2015 the congregation have been very supportive of the Thanksgiving Fund

and it is hoped in 2016, when we reach the 10th anniversary of the building of our 'new' church complex,

that we can complete our aim of raising and giving away 10% of the costs of the new building. The money

raised at Harvest and Christmas will be supporting projects in Pokhara, Nepal and Kisumu, Kenya. In 2016,

a final appeal will be launched around the 10th anniversary.

The church is grateful to the members of PiM and the work they do on our behalf

in mission. This year, Susie Boxhall has gone away to study and Brian Mee is

standing down. Susie's contribution as a young person with recent experience 'in

the field' has been much appreciated and Brian has given a number of years of

faithful service. A big 'Thank you' to them both. PiM now have two new

members, Joy Hobbs and John Bishop, both of whom bring experience to PiM

including being hard working trustees of the Refugee Trust and New Hope,

respectively.

Alastair Paterson was home on leave from his work in Nepal. He spoke to Bill Miller before his return and

Bill said that Alistair seemed to be going back refreshed physically and spiritually and in a more positive

frame of mind. Some of the funding for the project that he is working on comes from The Seed Company,

a branch of Wycliffe Translators, and Alastair is also affiliated to a small organisation called the Independent

Christian Workers’ Trust, which provided some measure of support, mentoring and fellowship.

Partners in Mission

members: Bill Miller(Chair),

Angela Gourley, Brian Mee,

Dave Scourfield, Paul Evans,

Peter Tindale, Steve Bolton,

Susie Boxhall

Therefore, go and make

disciples of all nations,

baptising them in the

name of the Father and of

the Son and of the Holy

Spirit and teaching them

to obey everything I have

commanded you.

Matthew 28v18-20


Father Howard, Chaplin of the secondary school in Malsoa, made a visit to Bishop Ramsay School in Ruislip

to observe western styles of teaching and whilst in the UK was delighted to receive clerical robes from Dave

Middlebrook.

In January 2015 until July 2015, Katie Middlebrook went to San Diego, California to work with Amor

Ministries, an American Christian charity with thirty-four years’ experience of serving the poor. Amor help

people from all over the U.S, Canada, Australia, and the U.K., volunteer their time and talents to construct

houses in poor communities working alongside the local churches. Her primary role was working with the

children’s outreach (VBS- Vacation Bible School) and when she wasn’t doing that she was working with the

Mexican cooks in La Cocina (the kitchen) to make food for the groups who were coming to build houses.

Rev Canon Dr Alfred Olwa has been supported by St Luke’s Watford as one of our Partners in Mission for many years and he visited St Luke’s on 12th April when he preached in the morning service.

In the Autumn, we set up the Peter Kiddle Scholarship Fund in memory of John Kiddle’s (a former Vicar at St. Luke’s) father, who worked in Mombasa as an agriculturalist with the Church Missionary Society in the 1950’s. The Scholarship Fund will be a very big boost to the Bishop Hannington Institute, which is very reliant on gifts to support students of Christian Teaching, as most students come from very humble backgrounds and they cannot afford training. Since 2010, there has been a decline in the Institute and funding to support students has not been regularly maintained. Currently, there are thirty full time and sixteen part-time students.


Join the Partners in Mission (PIM) (see Bill Miller) Answer calls for donations towards Mission (see Newsletters)

Pray for our Mission Partners (see the Office)

Consider your Giving and whether you would like to give money to help one or more of our Mission partners (see any PIM working Group member for more details)

7. Communication

The Church has many ways through which it communicates with those who are members of St. Luke’s but

also with those outside the church. Being part of the 21st Century, we have a website

(www.stlukeswatford.org.uk), a Twitter account(@stlukeswatford), emails from the Office and a two

Facebook pages (one for public viewing and one for members of St. Luke’s). We are grateful to Greg Wiley

for maintaining the website and to Caryl Boxhall for the Tweets and FB posts. If you need to contact the

Church by email the address [email protected] goes to the Church Administrators.

The Website not only has news and information, it also has access to sermons. We've been able to start

making more use of video on the website with the procurement of the appropriate music license

In addition to modern technology, we still have good old paper: Weekly Newsletter, the monthly magazine

(St. Luke’s News), an occasional News sheet (this year produced for Easter and Christmas), posters,

handouts, Christmas cards, Newcomer Information Packs, plus lots of others.

We are grateful to all who contribute, produce, deliver and put them up on

noticeboards.

Publicity Group members:

(Chair- Vacant), Carole

Phelan, Chris Jones, Dave

Middlebrook, Greg Wiley,

Jenny Stromberg, Joan

Woollat, John Sills, Myrtle

Patterson,

http://www.stlukeswatford.org.uk/

mailto:[email protected]


The Publicity Group produce and maintain a lot of the information. In particular, this year they have

produced a very eye-catching and informative newcomer pack, which aims to give those new to St. Luke’s

an overview of the church and to gather contact information from them so that we can ensure that they

are made to feel welcome.

Most Sundays after the services, a Bookstall is open in the Gathering Area. It

is well used at seasonal times such as Christmas, Lent and Easter and for

books that support the Sermon Series. Thank you to Caryl Boxhall for

organising it and to those who serve each week.

Thanks to the efforts of the Discipleship Working Group, the books and

videos stored in the Resources Room, have had a complete overhaul and the

room is now easier to access.


Join the Publicity Working Group (see Chris Jones or John Sills)

Volunteer as Chair of the Publicity Working Group (see Chris Jones or John Sills)

Read literature given to you and act on it (someone has spent a lot of time and effort trying to communicate

with you)

Volunteer to help with the website (see Greg Wiley)

Hand out New-comer packs to new people you talk to (available on the Welcome Desk in the Lobby)

Volunteer to deliver newssheets, etc. to houses on the estate (read newsletter for information and

requests for help delivering)

8. Our Church Building, grounds and contents

This year, 2016, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of our new church building.

It is a cause for celebration and we shall be doing that on the weekend of 16th/17th April. Our wonderful building like our own homes need care and attention paid to them in order to keep them in tip top condition. We have several people to thank for that, not least of which are the members of the Building Working Group (BWG) chaired by Paul Rogers.

In 2015, members of the BWG have worked hard to complete a long list of

jobs, often completing the work themselves rather than employing outside help, at additional cost. The

most notable change to most us, with untrained eyes, is the refurbishment of the Hall floor. This entailed

banging down raised nails and then sanding and resealing the floor. All groups using the Hall have enthused

about it, not least of which are the Pre-

School who also enjoy the benefits of an

overhauled Toy storage room. The room is

now fitted out with racking for storing toys

on. Whilst doing this work the BWG

members discovered some damp damage

and a leaking pipe, which they have since

repaired. All Hall users also benefit from a

newly decorated Hall toilet and less

cluttered and newly decorated Entrance

Hall.

The Church Corridor from Back Entrance

doors to Gathering Area doors and the

How, then, can they call on

the one they have not

believed in? And how can

they believe in the one of

whom they have not heard?

And how can they hear

without someone preaching

to them?

Romans 10:14

Building Group members:

Paul Rogers (Chair), Angela

Gourley, Bryan Hogg, Dave

Middlebrook, Graham Willis,

Jenny Stromberg, John

Dodson, Larry Francis, Peter

Tindale, Steve Jenkins, Tim

Whittaker


staircase have both had their walls repainted and the staircase handrail a new comfortable cover. These

are some of the larger jobs, although there are always maintenance jobs, such as changing light bulbs or

fixing leaking taps, which are all speedily sorted out by the Building Group members.

The Church Buildings are locked up securely each night by a group of volunteers. After everyone has gone

home, they walk through the building ensuring that all the doors, that should

be, are locked and the lights switched off.

I am sure that you all enjoy and admire the beautiful floral decorations

around our church. These are paid for by donations from people often in

memory of a loved one or special event. As a church, we are grateful to both

the flower arrangers and those who donate

towards their costs.

We have beautiful gardens which were, for

the past 20 years until recently, lovingly looked after by Myrtle Patterson.

Unfortunately, due to ill health Myrtle was forced to give it up and we are

very grateful to Mark Steed for taking over the gardening and to Peter

Tindale who continues to keep the lawns mown. I am sure that they would

be very grateful for any volunteers to assist them.

As if they don’t have enough to do the BWG have, in addition to the church building, the responsibility of

looking after 23, Orchard Close (a property owned by the church) and St. Andrew’s Vicarage, which is lived

in by our Curate and his family. They also monitor and renegotiate contracts with service industries.

For 2016 the Building group already have a long list of jobs:-

The glass roof in the entrance area needs to be cleaned.

The gutters need to be cleaned and this will need to be carried out by a specialised contractor.

They are looking at hiring an access tower to do some work on cleaning and probably raising the lights in the church, cleaning the Velux windows, adding some film to the eyebrow windows in the Hall and removing and rehanging the tapestries at the front of the Church after they have been cleaned.

Improving the acoustics in the Chapel and possibly the Gathering Area.

They will also continue to look for a way to make the Office more secure, particularly when someone is

working in there alone.

The jobs are never ending: -

The Resources Room floor is in need of treatment.

The Gathering Area and Vestibule floors are badly stained.

Possible improvements to the Car Park entrance, which is becoming more urgent as one of the doors is not working correctly. One idea, is to possibly, put a second set of doors along the corridor, in order to form an air lock.

Replacing lighting throughout the building, as it becomes necessary, with more efficient LED lighting.

As well as the physical building we have lots of ‘Fabric and Ornaments’ or contents which are the

responsibility of the Churchwardens. (An official report on the Fabric and Ornaments is included in Part 2 of the Annual

Report). As well as chairs, tables, etc. (which are also undergone maintenance by the BWG), we have

silverware and linen which is used in the Church Services. The linen is laundered and the silverware kept

clean and sparkling thanks to a team of volunteers who undertake this unseen task.

Thank you to: -Jeff Gibbs, and

his locker-up team, Myrtle

Patterson and the flower

arrangers, the linen

launderers, silver cleaners,

Mark Steed, Peter Tindale and

everyone who helps in the

upkeep of our Church building,

contents and grounds

Work willingly at whatever

you do, as though you were

working for the Lord rather

than for people. Remember

that the Lord will give you an

inheritance as your reward,

and that the Master you are

serving is Christ.

Colossians 3:23-24


As with any public building, we must comply with certain laws with regards to Health and Safety and Food

Hygiene. We are grateful to Graham Smith for keeping the church’s Health and

Safety document up to date and to Jenny Stromberg for enforcing the Food

Hygiene laws. It is good to see that the Church still has a 5* rating in our kitchen.

The Technology Working Group is chaired by Tim Whittaker. The group,

amongst other things, look after the amplification and projection on the Church

screens, so that we can see and hear clearly. The Hall has had its sound kit

refurbished, taking the opportunity to fit out a new cabinet and to make it much easier to use. Both the

Church and the Hall have hearing loops for use by those with hearing aids. There are also projectors with

DVD players and sockets to plug into a laptop, in two meeting rooms, with plans to add another to the

upstairs hall, in 2016. Also for 2016, there are plans to replace ageing projectors in the Church and to

improve the performance of the screens, as well as to improve the operator positions for sound and

projection.


Join the Building Working Group (see Paul Rogers)

Answer calls for help with jobs such as painting, etc. (see Paul Rogers)

Join the rota for silver cleaning or linen laundry (see the Office) Join the locking up rota (see Jeff Gibbs)

Donate money towards church flowers (see Myrtle Patterson)

Volunteer to assist with gardening or lawn mowing (see Mark Steed)

Join the AV team (see Tim Whittaker)

Volunteer to assist with Technology maintenance (see Tim Whittaker)

9. Rotas

One thing that is often spoken about by new-comers and visitors to St. Luke’s, is how they are made to feel

welcome at our Church. It makes a difference to all of us to feel welcomed and comfortable in Church.

Thanks to Caryl Boxhall’s wonderful absevrota (ABSolutely Everything Rota), the jobs of Churchwarden,

Deputy Churchwarden, Sidespeople, Welcomers, AV operators, Singers,

Readers, Leaders of Prayer, Holy Communion helpers, and last but all

importantly the Coffee Makers, are filled each week by smiling volunteers who

are glad to serve the church in their various roles. A REALLY BIG ‘Thank You’

to you all. You really make a difference.

The ‘Absolutely’ isn’t quite correct as there are also rotas for the Children and

Youth Groups and for manning the Fairtrade stall.

A big ‘Thank You’ if you serve St. Luke’s Church in any way.


Join the rota to be a Welcomers, Sidesman, Deputy Churchwarden, Reader, Lead the prayers, Singer, help with coffee (see Caryl Boxhall)

Join the rota to help with the crèche or children’s groups (see Jenny Stromberg)

Join the rota to help with the youth church (see Neil Brookes)

Join the rota to help sell Fairtrade products (see Jackie Mee)

Each one should use

whatever gift he has

received to serve others,

faithfully administering

God’s grace in its various

forms.

1 Peter 4:10

,

Technology Group

members: Tim Whittaker

(Chair), Barry Dyer, Caryl

Boxhall, Graham Willis, Greg

Wiley, Graham Smith, Jenny

Stromberg, Mary Bowen,

Roger Bowen


10. Church Funds

Our Church depends on us, the people that make up St. Luke’s, for its financial support and God has been

very good in stirring the hearts of his people to give to his Church. The money raised by the church are

used to support all of its activities, pay for its staff and care for its buildings and other assets.

We encourage all Church members to give regularly, according to their ability to give. The easiest way to

do this is by monthly banker’s standing order. If you are a UK taxpayer, you can also sign a Gift Aid form or

give through the special Gift Aid envelopes found in the back of the church chairs. This enables the Church

to reclaim tax on your gifts and thus increase every £100 given by you to £125. (Please speak to John Sills if you

wish to know more about standing orders and Gift Aid)

Our finances are continuing to be carefully looked after by the wonderful Finance Team,

headed by our Treasurer, Paul Evans. We would like to thank them all for the work they

do on our behalf, but especially to Janet Anstis, who in 2016 is stepping down after many

years working as a member of the team.

Like your home accounts the Church divides the money to pay for different needs. Some of the money is

put into a Maintenance Fund. This is designated by the PCC for long term maintenance of church premises.

Things such as the replacement of equipment, carpets, furniture etc. would be covered by this as well as

structural repairs and large scale maintenance, such as gutter cleaning.

Sometimes people may give money to the church for a specific purpose and this will

be placed in the Earmarked Fund and are ‘earmarked’ for that purpose only. Funds

associated with the new Church building and refurbishment of all church premises

were placed in the Building Fund. This is being used to ‘finish the job’, doing things

like the wonderful job done on our Hall floor.

When the funds were raised for the new building it was decided that 10%

(approximately £175,000) would be raised to distribute to other Christian building projects at home and

abroad. One of the aims of the fund is to encourage active links between church members and the partner

projects. This money is kept in the Thanksgiving Fund. It is hoped that the £175,000 target will be reached

in 2016, when we celebrate our 10year anniversary of the new building in April.

The residue of the money given to the Church, the largest part of it, goes into the General Fund. This fund

does not have any restrictions placed on it regarding its use. This money is used for general purposes by

the PCC. It pays for things like staff wages, heating costs, cleaning, Office materials including an overworked

photocopier/printer and many other things.

Finance Team:

Paul Evans

(Chair), Bryan

Hogg, Janet

Anstis, John

Sills, Peter Mills

Each of you should

give what you have

decided in your heart

to give, not

reluctantly or under

compulsion, for God

loves a cheerful giver

2 Corinthians 9:7


Below is a graph giving a pictorial idea of where St. Luke’s spent its budget in 2015.

See part 2 of the Annual Report for the detailed audited Accounts for 2015.


If you have financial experience, offer to join the Finance Team (see Paul Evans)

Answer calls for appeals for specific causes (see Newsletter)

Consider carefully and prayerfully your giving

Consider giving by Standing Order (see John Sills)

Consider Gift Aiding your giving (see John Sills)

11 Church Services

Church Services - St. Luke’s ‘Leading & Preaching Team’ consists of those regularly involved in leading

worship and speaking at St. Luke’s – i.e. Chris Jones, Dave Clarke, Dave Middlebrook, Dave Scourfield, Greg

Wiley, Jeremy Cooke and Neil Brookes. The ‘Team’ meets near the beginning of each term to reflect on the

preaching and worship at St. Luke’s, to plan forthcoming sermon series and special events (e.g. Christmas,

Easter…), and to discuss plans for future services at St. Luke’s. In 2016, the ‘team’ will be joined by Olu

Fasanya and Adrian Smith, as they begin to preach more often at St. Luke’s.

During 2015, as well as preaching through the major festivals and special services (e.g. Easter, Pentecost,

Christmas, Mothering Sunday, Harvest, Remembrance Sunday, Back-to-Church Sunday, etc.) we also

included sermon series on ‘Paradoxology’, ‘Becoming A Contagious Christian’, ‘Exodus’, ‘Jesus the

Evangelist’, ‘Nehemiah’, ‘SHAPE’, ‘My Ways’, and others. For some of the sermon series study notes and

questions have been produced, which have been used and appreciated by individuals and small groups.

Most sermons are posted on the church website for those who have missed a sermon, or would like to

listen to it again, with a summary of the sermon written by the preacher.

£0k

£50k

£100k

£150k

£200k

£250k

'12 '13 '14 '15 '12 '13 '14 '15

General Fund - cost and income by year

Parish share Staff costs Premises Other costGrants Giving Room hire Other income

Cost Income


In our main morning services, preaching is often around ‘an issue’, perhaps with a recently written Christian

book as a framework to the series, while our evening services are often based on a book of the Bible, but

again this varies. Where a Christian book is used for the guide to an ‘issue’ the key aspect remains ensuring

that the preaching is still ‘biblically based’ and addresses the ‘issue’ from a scriptural point of view. It would

be wrong to simply ‘read the chapter’ as the sermon, as it is assumed people can do that for themselves.

The book is just a framework and the preacher will put their own interpretation and understanding from

scripture, which at times may vary from that of the author of the book, on a particular issue. As a church

we have said that, as part of our growth strategy, our preaching will be around issues of everyday life and

how scripture speaks into these matters. The aim of the preaching team, is to give clear biblical preaching

on life issues and we hope that our preaching will provoke a response from those listening and enable each

of us to grow in our faith and understanding as ‘whole-life disciples’.

The move to two main morning services has produced a slow but steady growth

and in the summer, the congregation were invited to complete a questionnaire

on the two services and to offer opinions and suggestions. The questionnaires

were then collated onto a spreadsheet by Margaret Forester and a report

produced and shared with the congregation. As with anything, the results were

very mixed and confirmed the old adage that you can please some of the people

some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. For confidentiality,

Margaret was and remains, the only person who saw the completed

questionnaires. If you are interested in seeing a copy of the report, please

contact the office who will be happy to email or print you a copy (email [email protected]).

With the two main morning services, we currently have the following ‘usual’ pattern, for a ‘normal month’:-

8am Holy Communion alternate BCP and CW Morning Prayer approximately once per month, usually 4th Sunday 9:15 & 11am 1st Sunday Morning Worship with baptism on occasions 2nd & 5th Sunday Morning Worship 3rd Sunday All Age Worship 4th Sunday Communion 6:30pm 1st Sunday

2nd & 5th Sunday Evening Worship with Prayer for Healing Evening Worship

3rd Sunday Communion 4th Sunday Informal Evening Worship

Occasionally, the pattern may vary from this, so please look at the weekly newsletter, St. Luke’s News, or

website, for the confirmation of the services each month. We also have an ‘Upsidedown Sunday’, where

the children and youth stay in church and the adults go to different sessions, to explore aspects of faith in

a ‘different’ way, usually on a 5th Sunday about once a term. There is always at least one Communion

service at St. Luke’s every Sunday and often two or more.

We include prayer and anointing for healing, at least monthly, in the evening and on occasions in the

morning. Prayer ministry is available after all our main morning and evening services and words or pictures

from our ‘listening team’ are read out in the morning services. We also have opportunities for personal

testimony from the congregation, on occasions, at our evening services. Also we have extended our

‘birthday’ slot in the morning services to give people the opportunity to give a short testimony or give

thanks to God, for something in their lives.

On occasions, we encourage others who are testing a calling for preaching, or maybe gifted in this area, to

I planted the seed, Apollos

watered it, but God

makes it grow …. The man

who plants and man who

waters have one purpose,

and each will be rewarded

according to his own

labour. For we are God’s

fellow workers; you are

God’s field, God’s building

1 Corinthians 3:6, 8-9

mailto:[email protected]


preach, especially at the monthly Informal Evening Service. Please do speak to a member of the Leading

and Preaching Team if you have comments or ideas about services and sermon series at St. Luke’s.

Music at St. Luke’s: - We continue to be grateful at St. Luke’s to the many talented musicians and singers

who enhance our worship at services and provide musical entertainment at concerts and special occasions.

We are grateful to our Musical Director, Jeremy Cooke, for leading the team and to Anne Middlebrook for

organising the rotas for the singers. This year we said goodbye to Jordan Guthrie and thanked him for his

work with the Youth team and for his enthusiasm in encouraging young people to be involved in music and

worship at St. Luke’s. Throughout the year there was a monthly music workshop, usually on a Saturday or

Sunday, where anyone could come and learn new songs, which were gradually introduced into the services

on a Sunday.

Midweek Communion: - We continue to hold our Midweek communion in the chapel at 9:30am every

Tuesday. We usually have 3 to 6 people, but have had up to 10. This is a quiet, 35-40 minute, reflective,

spoken service, alternating between the Common Worship and Book of Common Prayer liturgy, with a short

reflection on the readings for the day. After the service, we enjoy conversation and a drink at the Tuesday

morning coffee morning. Please do come along if you have not been before and enjoy a few peaceful

moments with God, in the middle of your busy week.

Home Communion: - St. Luke’s offers Home Communion to members of the church family who are unable

to attend a church service, because they are house bound or have long term ill health, but are also for those

who are unwell or housebound for a short period of time, for instance after a spell in hospital. If you, or

someone you know, would appreciate Communion at home, either regularly or on an occasional basis,

please speak to a member of the staff team. These Home Communions are carried out by a clergy member

of staff.

Occasional Offices – Baptism, Weddings, Funerals

Dave Middlebrook has said that one of the joys of being a minister in an Anglican church, is that often he

has the privilege of being involved in significant, personal moments in many people’s lives, none more so

than at weddings, baptisms, and funerals – the ’occasional offices’ as they are known. Many of these

services are for people who often have little or no regular connection with the church. He feels that these

are moments when we have the opportunity to support people at these key milestone moments, which are

either full of joy or full of sadness and sometimes a mixture of both. We are called to be the presence of

Christ in those situations.

Many other members of St Luke’s, both staff and congregation, offer their support and care for people at

these key moments in life. We particularly pay tribute to Jenny and Caryl in the Church Office, who are

often the first point of call for people looking for help, love and guidance, and provide valuable advice,

administrative support, and presence on the day of the service; Jeremy and other musicians assisting with

the service; congregation members and bereavement visitors, who support the families through the service

and with pastoral needs afterwards. Our aim is to support people through these important landmark

moments, offering them the love of Christ in their time of joy or sorrow.

Baptisms - During 2015 we conducted 8 Baptisms, including 1 by full immersion in our baptism pool.

Baptism services, especially for those who do not regularly attend church within the baptism family and

amongst their friends, is as an opportunity for us all to be part of the welcome that gives people a new,

positive and engaging experience of church. We pray also that all may see and hear something of Christ in

the service and in the congregation at St. Luke’s.

Weddings - There were 3 weddings in St. Luke’s during 2015, all involving people with strong connections


with St. Luke’s. In addition, Dave Middlebrook conducted 1 wedding in a neighbouring parish on behalf of

the vicar there.

Funerals - In 2015, ‘St. Luke’s clergy conducted a total of 14 funeral services, 8 held at St. Luke’s Church and

6 at West Herts Crematorium. There is an increasing trend for funeral services across the UK to be

conducted by ‘other officials’ than the local Anglican vicar and also often to be of a ‘non-religious’ nature.

We continue to pray for the family and friends of all those who have been bereaved this year, as they

continue to mourn the death of their loved ones. We held our annual Bereavement Service on 1st

November 2015, when we invited the families of those we have conducted funeral services for in the past

three years, as well as anyone else who wants to remember the death of a loved one, irrespective of how

long ago their death may have been, to come for a reflective time of remembering. On 19th April 2015, we

also hosted the annual Peace Hospice Memorial Service.

Confirmation - On Sunday 15th November, St. Luke’s hosted one of the three 2015 Watford Deanery

Confirmation services. The Bishop of Bedford confirmed 9 candidates of which 1 was from St. Luke’s.

Please do pray for the important ministry of the ‘occasional offices’, and for all those involved in meeting

the needs of individuals and families at these times of celebration and sadness in their lives. Please pray that

through this ministry they may know the peace and hope of Christ.


Join the Musicians or Singers (see Anne Middlebrook or any of the musicians or singers)

Consider attending the Tuesday morning Communion service (see Newsletter) Read carefully any handouts given to support services (a lot of time, effort and prayer has gone into these

to help in your walk with God)

As mentioned in previous sections: -

consider whether you could join a rota to help at services (see section 9 above)

consider whether you would like to join the Prayer Working Group (see section 1 above)

consider whether you would like to join the People and Pastoral Working Group (see section 2)

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