Pastoral Letter
Dear Friends,
It hardly seems possible that 12 months have elapsed since my licensing to the Anglesey Group of parishes on June 10th last year.
The time has simply shot by as Pauline and I have worked hard to settle in to the job and to get to know the people in the villages, to get involved with the residential homes and the schools, and to get to understand how each of the five Churches work. It has been a demanding year, but also a year of great joy and fulfilment as we have come to know folk and to make many new friends.
Now that our first year is coming to an end I feel it is time to take stock; time to assess how effective each Church is in sharing the light and love of Christ, and how central each Church is within the life of its community.
Some years ago a lady attended 18 different churches on successive Sundays to rate their friendliness. She sat near the front of the Church each time and walked slowly to the rear, then returned to the front using another aisle. On each occasion she was dressed neatly, and with a smile asked at least one person to direct her to the Church hall or office.
She used the following scale to rate her reception:
- 10 -- for a smile from a worshiper
- 10 -- for a greeting from someone nearby
- 100 -- for an exchange of names
- 200 -- for an invitation to a house group
- 1000 -- for an introduction to another worshiper
- 2000 -- for an invitation to meet the Vicar
Each of the eighteen churches earned less than 100 points. The researcher concluded: "The preaching may be biblical, the singing inspirational and the sermon uplifting, but when a visitor finds no one who cares whether or not he/she is there, he/she is not likely to come back."
So, the question in my mind is how would each of the five Churches in the Anglesey group rate?
I would value your views. Some of the Churches are conducting a survey, others are planning to hold open meetings to gather your views. The point is we want to do better. Of course, we can't do everything at once, but we can concentrate on those things that seem to be the top priority, and we want to take into account the things that you regard as being important.
I look forward to hearing from you.
May God bless you all.