2007 Report

I have now been in the parish for two and a half years, and honeymoon period still continues! I remain more than happy with the parish, the church, and the people therein. We have much to be grateful for, and I do thank God that he has put me to work here, and I fervently hope He will be happy for me to continue here for a great number of years to come.

The only ‘guilt on the gingerbread’ so to speak, is that the living of this parish continues to remain suspended. In the general run of things it makes little difference, but a Priest in Charge does not have the security of tenure that an Incumbent has. A living can only be suspended for a period of 5 years – and when that period is up it is paramount that we do not permit the living to be re-suspended. That is a year or so down the line yet, but we need to think about it now, and when the time comes, we need to make it perfectly clear that we as a parish will not tolerate or allow the living to be suspended for one moment longer.

That said, priests in charge do now have legitimate employment rights, and my membership of the Amicus Trades union gives me an added fair amount of security; but that is still no substitute for the freehold, which, in my view, every parish priest in the country has a right to!

Given that, I do have to say that I receive tremendous support and encouragement from the Bishop of the Diocese. He continues to show immeasurable warmth and appreciation in my work here, and I am immensely grateful for that. I have also received nothing less from his suffragon bishops in Bedford and Hertford also. I cannot emphasise enough the good working relationship I have with the bishops in this diocese, and how vital that is for my own peace of mind.

The Luton Review was published, and somewhat swiftly thrown out by the Deanery! The Deanery is currently in the process of writing its own review! There are some clergy who are keen that different parishes be grouped together. When the last review was suggested, there was no suggestion of Sundon being put in with anywhere else, and as I understand it, that remains the case.

Whilst I have no objection to helping other clergy out when they have need, we cannot be forced into any kind of grouping with any other parish without the agreement of the priest in situe –namely me – and the PCC. Many congregations don’t realise this, but ultimately if the deanery want us to participate in any re-structuring, they cannot force us beyond what we are happy to do.

Our parish has a growing population, giving us a strong position. I have made it quite clear at meetings of the Deanery Review that under no circumstances whatever, may any other clergyman conduct any services here at St Mary’s except at my own express invitation. As parish priest, I have the cure of souls of this parish, and that is both my responsibility and my immense privilege. Unless I am ill, you have every right to expect me to conduct the services here at St Mary’s.

Practicalities and explanation of our rights over, lets look at how we are doing!

In short we – you to be precise – are doing famously well. Numbers on Sundays are constant, and I have strived to ensure that the worship here has a stability and order to ensure the stability of our church life. I do feel that is vital.

We are now the only church in this area which uses the traditional rite at an eastward facing altar. It is my hope that we can ensure that the worship offered to God in this church is as perfect an offering to God as we can possibly achieve. In a town the size of Luton, which has all manner of different churchmanship across the board, it is only right that there should be a church of this style amongst all the others. I do feel that we make a very valuable contribution to the life of the deanery and indeed the life of the wider diocese by the style and standard of worship offered here.

It is my view that a parish is strengthened and sustained by its spiritual life, and part of that is having the Eucharist offered in church each and every day of the week whenever possible. I am always delighted when people join me in church for that sacred offering each day, and even on days when I make that offering alone, those Holy Mysteries are still offered to God for the good of the church and that of the wider parish.

I always try to keep major festivals with a Solemn Eucharist, and where possible a guest preacher. During the course of the year we have again had a number of preachers; Fr Mark Williams, Fr Scott Martin, Fr Stuart Halstead, Fr Wealands Bell (who preached on two occasions), and Fr Richard Franklin. It is always my intention to invite a number of preachers each year – there is much to be gained from hearing different clergy and seeing the different and varied gifts which they bring.

Attendances at festivals are encouraging, and it has been good to welcome the guest preachers we have had. It would be even better if we could see just one or two more smiling faces in the pews on weekday festivals…that is an invitation, not a moan!!

In the wider community, there is a very great sense of community both in the village, and on the estate. Our parish has to be one of the nicest parts of Luton to belong to, not least of all because there is that sense of belonging here. It is still very much a parish where people speak to the parish priest when they see him on the streets. It may only sound a small thing, but actually very often my pastoral contact when I am out and about in the parish can be considerably extensive and immensely fruitful.

However we do need to be aware that that there are now significant numbers of teens congregating around parts of Sundon Park – not infrequently opposite the Vicarage! Many of our elderly residents do feel threatened by large gangs of youths hanging around, and as time goes on, this problem is set to become worse. This is going to be a challenge in our community, and the stronger we are as a spiritual and worshipping community here at St Mary’s, the more we will be a positive influence and a strength to the wider parish. We do have to be realistic, and appreciate the changes which may happen within the parish over future years, facing up to those changes in our communities. Ultimately God has put us here to do His work in this place, and we have to trust that He will strengthen us to do that work.

I must pay enormous thanks to the church officers again this year, all of whom have again worked tirelessly for the parish. Both church wardens have given of their time, talents and enormous generosity of spirit in the work they do. Their hard work continues to free me up from having to do mountains of administrative duties (which I am not good at anyway) and allows me to devote more of my time to the work I should be doing in the parish. It is their enormous help which makes much of my day to day parish work possible. I must also thank both George and Lenore for their great support, kindness and friendship to me also, which I continue to appreciate more than I can say. As I prepare to enter my third year here, I never fail to feel cared about!

All the officers here continue to work hard – Jayne continues to ensure that the minutes of meetings appear swiftly. She is also diligent, thoughtful and competent in the area of correspondence. She has had some tricky correspondence to deal with this year, and she has risen to the challenge superbly. Chris continues to run the parish finances with enormous competence and tremendous hard work, and I can only thank her enormously for the work that she does in what is perhaps the most difficult job of all the officers.

Then there are those who work hard for the Friends, and the amounts we raise each year are incredible. I never cease to be delighted with the encouragement and support I receive from people here, and the commitment that so many of you give, both of yourselves, and of your purse.

Money is a distasteful subject on the one hand, but on the other it does have to be considered. The giving here continues to increase, and each year we are able to meet more of the quota than before. Fund raising events have been fun and positive, and the money that people give is both generous and often very humbling. I do realise that with all the fund raising events as well as weekly giving, people do give very generously, and I appreciate that more than I can say.

Year on year we are increasing our payment towards the parish Quota. It will be some years yet before we are able to meet the Quota in full, but each year we seem to be able to increase the amount we pay by around £2000. The Quota needs to be met as near as we can as that is what keeps the Church of England afloat in this diocese. I am over the moon with the progress we continue to make, and re-iterate my appreciation of people’s generosity.

Thanks must also go to James Hooper who faithfully looks after the website – and in fact ours is one of the most up-to-date of all the church websites I keep abreast of.

I also have to express my thanks to all those who have given of their time and talents in anyway, the servers have continued to give of their best to ensure that our worship is as best as it can be, and their task is often rather a complicated one!

I must also of course express my thanks must go to Joan, who faithfully resides upon the organ stool! She plays incredibly well for someone a mere third of her age, and her keen and cheerful demeanour at the console makes a valuable and pretty wonderful contribution to our worship here. We must always remember what an enormous commitment being a church organist actually is!

I am delighted with the way people have worked and have supported St Mary’s this year, as you always have in the time that I have been here. The parish is growing from strength to strength, and I am certain that if we keep going as we are, we will have a very strong future in which we can bring the light and love of Christ to the wider community of this parish.

As it is we have the 2^nd highest number of occasional offices in the deanery, and that alone gives us a very valuable witness to the people in our parish.

I have this year for the first time married a couple where one partner has been divorced. I was somewhat concerned about doing so, and I did discuss it with the PCC and also with the Bishop of St Albans; who actually said that the decision was ultimately mine. I am sure in the knowledge that I made the right decision, and am happy that I agreed to do it. The mission of the parish – and indeed the wider church – does depend upon churches welcoming new people. The more people we turn away for whatever reason when they come to be married or have their children baptised, the more the church will come to regret it in future years.

Last but not least, we had a very good Holy Week and Easter again this year, and as at Christmasstide and other festivals, people work tirelessly to ensure that the church looked wonderful, and that services went very well too.

We are blessed with a beautiful church, and although we are in some ways out in the sticks here, our church is more and more alive as the years go on, and as new people come to us over the course of time, I am so very much aware of the wonderful atmosphere we have here. Both the attentiveness during worship, and the friendship also. We must never lose sight of how very precious all that is – and make let us make no mistake, the atmosphere in a church, and the genuine friendliness of its people are the key to growth, no matter how much people may or may not enjoy the service in a particular church, if they feel welcome they will at least consider making another appearance!

So, well done! Again!! Keep up the good work! Continue to support each other. Continue to love each other. Continue to love God, and keep your eyes open, as He continues to move us from strength to strength, and as we continue to enjoy doing His work in this place.

You are a wonderful congregation, and I never fail to be thankful to God that He has chosen me to serve as your priest, which remains an enormous privilege and also an immeasurable joy! I can’t thank you all enough for all that you do, and for your support and kindness to me, and your great love for St Mary’s.

With my enormous thanks to you all,

And my very sincere prayers and good wishes

Your parish priest,

Fr Yenda.