It was announced this week that our vicar, Dan, is to become the Joint Area Dean of Southampton. What on earth is one of them, and what does that mean for us as a church?

Dan writes:
In the Church of England, an Area Dean has some additional responsibilities, typically:

• Keeping a pastoral eye on other Anglican clergy in the local area
• Helping other Anglican churches when a vicar moves on - ie helping ensure their Sunday services can continue in the meantime, and helping with the process and appointment of a new vicar
• Helping shape the overall direction of Church of England ministry in the area - where should we put clergy? what should be our focus? 

It's an encouraging role - I get to see and hear about lots of the great work happening in ordinary Anglican churches across Southampton - and have a hand behind the scenes in new church plants etc. Inevitably there will be difficult conversations as well: should that church building close? Is it worth appointing a new clergy person to that parish, or is there more chance of kingdom growth elsewhere? 

I'm job sharing this role with Simon Robertson, vicar of Ascension Church in Bitterne Park (and former member of our congregation!). 

In practise, it means I spend about a day a week either on Joint Area Dean business, or popping in to the local schools to chat with staff there - so my hours spent leading St James' by the Park have decreased.

The wardens have also encouraged me to take a week a term to continue trying to write another book - linked to the sabbatical I took back in 2019. 

As a Church Council, we're looking to raise up more people into leadership to help fill the various gaps that have opened up with Georgia moving on, Paul changing role, and my new role. That's an exciting prospect - God has given gifts to all of us, and we'll be a stronger church when more people are released in to ministry within the church as well as in the wider community. 

The PCC met in the parish hall on Monday 16th. A cold evening but plenty of warm-hearted discussion!

Luke 9: 1-6. "Jesus called his followers together... gave them power and authority... and sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God." A good reminder at the beginning of our meeting about our mission for mission!

We had the pleasure of Paul Thaxter dropping in to explain the proposal for adopting the Myanmar diocese as one of our new mission partners. We heard some background and watched a moving and thought provoking interview with the Bishop of the diocese in question- this led us to unanimously approve the start of what will hopefully be an ongoing and fruitful relationship. The PCC was keen that the congregation will get the chance to learn about why we are supporting this diocese- watch this space.

Our other main subject, an ongoing issue, was centred around how we form a shared leadership structure that allows the church to work productively for our parish and eases the burden on Dan. This is an issue that will continue to be discussed and prayed about in the coming weeks. 

We also discussed issues such as the success or otherwise of ChurchSuite - generally a success but with the view to encourage more to use it, the appointment of a new handyman and ongoing work around safeguarding.

A few days after Christmas, I was reading the story of Simeon meeting the baby Jesus in the Temple courts (Lk 2.25-35), and I was struck by how he demonstrates the very things God is calling us to be at St James' by the Park:

1. He is whole-hearted. Introduced as “righteous and devout”, he is so satisfied by seeing Jesus that he feels his life’s work is done (“you may now dismiss your servant in peace”). He doesn’t say “It’s great that I’ve seen Jesus, but I’d like to see my own grandchildren be born as well.” He is all in for serving God and seeking God’s purposes.
2. He is expectant. “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he’d seen the Messiah” – and he was clearly hanging on this promise, day by day. How many years had he waited patiently? Decades? But he hadn’t lost his expectancy. He knew that when God promises, God delivers. Not only that, but he’s full of expectation for what this Messiah will do – even though this Messiah can’t even sit up yet. He’s expectant that this baby is God’s salvation, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.”
3. He is courageous. It took courage to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit to go into the Temple courts on that particular day at that particular time. He could have just dismissed it as “What a silly idea – that was just my overactive imagination.” It took courage to pronounce such exalted words over a baby: imagine holding any other baby in your arms and saying they’re going to change the world! And it took even greater courage to say to these exhausted new parents, “This child is destined to … be a sign that will be spoken against … and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Which new parent wants to hear that about their precious baby?!

 
Seeing those three characteristics in Simeon made me reflect back on some of the other Christmas characters, too. How about Mary?

1. She is whole-hearted. The Angel Gabriel says she’s “highly favoured”. Mary responds to the unbelievably difficult assignment she’s given by saying “I am the Lord’s servant.” In fact, she’s not just whole-hearted: she gives her whole fragile teenage body to serving God. What a woman!
2. She is expectant. Literally an expectant mum. But more than that, expectant against all the odds that God will do the strangest, most improbable thing: make her pregnant whilst she’s still a virgin. “May your word to me be fulfilled,” she says. If that’s not expectant faith, I don’t know what is!
3. She is courageous. She knew she’d face incredible shame for being pregnant in such a conservative society. She knew people would ridicule her story (“It wasn’t Joseph or anyone else. It was God”). She didn’t know whether Joseph would stick with her – or whether she’d land up as a single mum. It took incredible courage to accept each of those challenges – and many more.

 
How about Joseph?

1. He was whole-hearted, described as “a righteous man”. He was prepared to follow God’s word not just in theory but in practice. Even if it meant taking his pregnant fiancée home as his wife, and even if it meant fleeing to Egypt for several years once Jesus had been born.
2. He was expectant. He didn’t doubt that God could make a virgin pregnant, or that the baby would be a saviour. He knew that God had promised those things hundreds of years previously, and that now was the time of fulfilment.
3. He was courageous – after all, it wasn’t the easiest thing to trust that the weird words he’d heard in his dreams were genuine words from God, rather than the result of eating too much cheese. He laid aside whatever qualms and doubts he had, and was courageously obedient.

 
So, as we step into 2023, the characters of Christmas have much to teach us at St James' by the Park. Let’s be courageous as we follow Jesus, knowing it will involve stepping out in faith, enduring scorn and shame. Let’s be whole-hearted for God, serving him with our whole lives as well as our lips, even if it means major changes to our own well-laid plans! Let’s be expectant that God will act in his good time, that God will keep his promises, that God will be faithful to us whatever we face.
 
Just imagine what God might do amongst us and through us this year if we all do those things!
 
Happy new year!

Last Sunday, Georgia announced that she's going to be moving from St James' by the Park to St Mark's Church on Archers Road, in response to God's call. Here's Georgia explaining why, and Dan responding:

As mentioned in the service, we will say a proper thank you and farewell to Georgia on 8th January, including sharing a church lunch together. 

Anyone who wants to contribute to a leaving gift to Georgia can do so online (click here) or put cash or cheque in an envelope (clearly labelled as Georgia's leaving gift) to the church office. 

The update comes from Dave Arbery this month.
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A time of devotion was led by Dan. We started with a song and prayer then read, reflected, and discussed 2 Corinthians Chapter 8. 

Strategy Group
Nick gave an update from the strategy group.  Due to a few people on the strategy group moving on to different areas this has and will leave Dan prone to becoming busier and needing to split his time between many more aspects of church life and ministry.
Therefore, it will be worthwhile for some discussion and decisions to take place over the coming months how to move forward in this area so that Dan does not become overly burdened.

Budget
Marie presented the Budget for the coming year which was agreed on by members of the PCC.
Key points:
- Income projected to reduce by £10000 over the next year. Projected deficit was £34000.
- Ongoing building maintenance required with pointing of the church building and maintenance of the clock.
- As for many people the church also faces a significant rise in its energy bills.
- We will need to decide on any and what increase in salary for our paid staff, this decision still needs to be confirmed.

Building development group
Potential development of Parish Hall is proceeding much slower than hoped due to the negative response from the council when presented with plans for the potential development.  A heritage office was asked to produce a report but unfortunately it appears this is unlikely to change the council’s decision.  The building development group now need further discussion and prayer on how to proceed from here.  

Safeguarding 
Rosie presented a safeguarding case study which we discussed in small groups before a time to feedback to each other.

Sunday services
Time frame for the survey to gain the congregation’s thoughts on Sunday services has been extended to give more opportunity for a greater number of people to respond.

Other business
Dave Arbery and Dave Snape where officially elected to the PCC as they have now been on the members register for over six months. 
Keith and Gordon have done a fantastic job on giving many hours of their time in repairing the organ.  It is now working 95% and should soon be able to be used in services. The PCC agreed to restart the yearly tunning of the organ that is required.

Prayer
The meeting was finished with going back into small groups and spending some time in prayer.