Leadership update - October 2022

There have been a number of leadership changes over the last few months, with more announced here:  

• Rev Dan Clark (vicar) is now also Assistant Area Dean - meaning he has some additional responsibilities with other Anglican churches in Southampton. He also now spends some time supporting staff in Shirley Infant and Junior Schools. 
• Rev Lena Phillips (Associate Minister) has retired from the staff team
• Katy Barnes (Pastoral Chaplain) has also retired from the staff team 
• Rev Georgia Condell (curate) has started working part time at St Mark's School as Chaplain, meaning she is around St James' less
• Paul Lambert's contract as Assistant Leader has finished; he is now training for ordination, which includes being on placement in our church as Ordinand (ie trainee minister)
• Jacqui Dowdell is on sick leave from being church warden
• Tracy King is temporary Deputy Warden to cover for Jacqui
• David Phillips is going to stand down as Treasurer at the end of 2022
• Marie Gray has been appointed as our Treasurer-Elect 

Dave Arbery, Church Council member, writes about October's meeting:
 
The meeting started with a reflection on Matthew 7.24-27 (The wise and foolish builders). During stormy times- personally, nationally and globally- we must build our foundations on Jesus. Seeking the kingdom of God in all decision making will allow us to do this no matter what the storm throws our way (as Dan said on Sunday, God will only give us what he knows we can handle). Prayer and reflection on the song ‘Firm Foundation’ (Cody Carnes) led us into our meeting.
 
The first topic was around the external missions group on their proposals for who we will be supporting and by how much in the coming years. The PCC had a healthy debate around the unanimous desire to support these charities generously, considering the valuable work they do, and the necessity to be prudent with our limited finances, especially in the current climate. Further decisions are required in the coming months and the final details will be presented to the wider church.
 
Next was safeguarding. We heard a summary of the Church of England’s ‘Past Cases Review’- a sobering listen. Rosie fed some information about the team’s latest meeting to us, rest assured that the PCC takes its responsibilities very seriously, led by the outstanding safeguarding team.
 
The final main topic was around Pastoral Ministry. There is a lot of need in our parish for this kind of ministry and we had a broad discussion about what, who and how we may be able to meet this requirement.
 
We also discussed:
 

• Changes in members of various teams - we are grateful to all who contribute in whatever capacity
• The warm welcome hub initiative, a scheme to provide warm hospitable places for those who need it this winter. We decided we would support this in whatever way we could but, after handing out blankets on Sunday morning, St James’ is probably not appropriate for hosting!
• We have elected a new treasurer-elect for the church, Marie Gray. Huge thanks to David Phillips for many years of hard work and dedication in doing this role – he will formally step down on 31st December. We’ll give him a proper thank you at that point.