The Rt Revd. Michael Perham Bishop of Gloucester, The Rt Revd. Dr Stephen Conway, Bishop of Ramsbury & Rt Rev. Moses Den Bul Bishop of Wau (Southern Sudan), honoured us with their prescence.

Dear Friends, 

From comments I’ve received and from what the Churchwardens have passed on to me I have decided to write an open letter to address some apprehension, misunderstanding and even consternation arising from last Sunday’s consultation exercise. Much of the concern seems to centre round where the money is coming from for these proposals and whether they are a wise use of money. It was ironic that the Gospel reading last Sunday was about Mary using very expensive perfume of pure nard to anoint Jesus feet. As Judas said “this perfume could have been sold for a year’s wages and the money given to the poor”. Mary wanted to do something special to express her love for Jesus and in doing so pre-figured the outpouring of Jesus’ love for the world supremely displayed by his sufferings on the Cross. It brings into sharp focus these questions; when is it right, if ever, to express our love for God by spending money for the ‘glory of God’? In these times of economic uncertainty can any ‘unnecessary’ expenditure ever be justified? 

Later this year we are celebrating the 50^th anniversary of St. George’s Church building. The proposed works are designed to mark that celebration. In 1960 you could have bought a bungalow in Oakdale for £2500 and the Church cost £50,000 to build. In other words to build the Church today would cost in the region of £4-5m. Back then the community of Oakdale opted in a time of post-war austerity to raise money to build a beautiful church for the glory of God, to create a space which would inspire future generations to want to worship Almighty God. They could have opted instead to erect a prefabricated Remy building in which case I doubt we would be celebrating its 50^th anniversary! 

For most of my time at St. George’s we have struggled financially and I am sensitive to the feeling that we have given too much focus to the issue of finance. Like many pensioners, this Church was asset rich but income poor. Much of our efforts have been, and to some extent still are, about raising current income so that it matches the daily running costs of the Church, trying to make general income match general expenditure. The Church does have ‘Capital funds’ – money given for specific purposes but not to be used for daily running costs. The works on the Garden of Remembrance and the new doors (to be installed shortly) have been paid for out of these capital sums. Indeed nearly all of the work on the buildings in the last five years has been paid for from capital funds or grants received and not out of the general giving of the congregation (unless raised for a specific purpose on a gift day). Recently, Ann Rigden has bequeathed about £50,000 to the Church. It is proposed to use less than half of this on these works in the Church (including restoring the floor tiles and re-plating some plated silver ware), leaving the rest for a ‘rainy day’. So let’s look more closely at the main proposals. 

The altar in the Lady Chapel has never really fitted that space, it is far too large but at the time it was an appropriate link with the old Church (the current Library). The chairs in the Lady Chapel and transept again don’t ‘fit’ the church, they are a job lot of 1930s ecclesiastical chairs no doubt bought relatively cheaply as money for furnishing the new church was running out. The proposed new altar is designed to fit the space and be something contemporary and beautiful. Artistic tastes will vary and I dare say the design will not satisfy everybody. For the future of the Church I am convinced that to be able to use that space flexibly will be very important which is why we are looking at new chairs which will both ‘fit’ the Church and be stackable. So the proposals for the Lady Chapel are about correcting something that hasn’t been ideal since the Church was built but also about equipping the Church for the future. It is, I believe, an investment for the future. We are deliberately not asking the congregation to contribute at this difficult economic time but some people have said they would like to buy a chair as a personal gesture of thanks to God. 

Which brings me to the more controversial issue – the idea of new silk covers for the main altar. The Church was designed with the intention that the central altar was the focal point of the building. The original design included a huge baroque style canopy over the altar, which would have certainly emphasised its importance. The PCC at the time vetoed that suggestion. Originally the altar had an ‘all-seasons’ frontal, which would not have been cheap. The current cream cover with seasonal frontals is a later addition. The cream cloth is showing its age and as someone remarked, perhaps a little unkindly, ‘it makes the altar look like a giant coffin lying in state’. In other words rather than being the beating heart of the Church it can give the opposite message. The proposal is to have a unique piece of silk woven to celebrate our anniversary. It would give us three covers in colours sympathetic to the Church, one for ordinary time, one for Advent and Lent (with more purple in it) and one for festival times (with white and gold in it) with enough left over for some clergy vestments to be made as well. It is intended the covers could be used with our current frontals. The likely cost of this is about £5,000 or £100 for every year of the Church’s existence, (and assuming they last about 30 years about £170 for each of those 30 years). As we come to celebrate our Church’s first 50 years the question that challenges us is this: Is it an unwise use of money gifted by a great benefactor of this Church, or our version of Mary’s thankful gesture of pouring ointment worth a year’s wages on Jesus’ feet? 

We do not have to rush a decision, I am keen that any decision should command a reasonably strong consensus, so please can people consider the issues prayerfully and let PCC members know their thoughts and feelings in time for a special PCC meeting on 7^th April? 

With every blessing,

Antony

P.S. Please join me for a party to celebrate my 50^th on the evening of 9^th April in our Halls.

UHT milk (or powdered),

Cereal,

Carton fruit juice,

small jars of coffee,

Tea bags,

Sugar,

Biscuits / Snack bars,

Long grain rice,

Tins: meat & fish,

Rice pudding,

Tomatoes,

Smash – instant potato,

Pasta & sauces,

Puddings: jellies, Angel Delight, Jam Sponge etc.,

toiletries etc.

Everything welcome except soup and beans! Thank you for your continued support.