2007 was a challenging year for all of us at St John’s. From early January onwards, there was a steady build-up (and much sorting out) before we finally left the building to Jonathan Hobson and Halls for the Project to get underway. Right from the start it was a real team effort, with Brian Webster (Halls site manager) doing an excellent job of co-ordinating the work ‘on the ground’ and John Hallaway (Project Manager) doing an equally remarkable job of both fund-raising and managing the finances as well as the Project itself. As a result, not only was the work completed on time, but also, after a number of variations along the way, some £200 within budget. All in all a remarkable achievement!
Meanwhile, St John’s was continuing to meet for services, but from early June in the very different environment of Estcourt Primary School. This in turn presented us with a great opportunity to explore new ways of being Church. One such was BCP (‘Breakfast Club Plus’). In C of E ‘speak’, BCP is a fresh expression of Church. It starts with a basic breakfast, followed by the ‘plus’ which is relevant Church for children, including games, Bible story, puppetry, songs and short talk. Whilst numbers can be misleading, there are now 30-40 regularly attending this service, and in February 08, we had our first BCP baptisms with over 100 in Church. In this, I have been ably assisted by John Saunderson (on 6-month loan from St Columba), who did an excellent job in first supporting and then co-ordinating BCP. Other highlights of 2007 were the work done by Godwin Obot in the early part of the year (which really got us re-started with young people’s work), and street-dance workshops from mid-year onwards led by Shelly Jones. Shelly also did an excellent job of leading worship in the school for much of the time when Steve was unavailable. In summary, whilst we have had much to get used to, it’s been great to see how St John’s has held together during a very challenging time, with new folk also joining us. I’m not sure I’d agree with Emily (98) though who, when asked how she was getting on with all the changes, responded promptly that ‘A change is as good as a rest!!’
And then in December, we were back. Not of course in St John’s as we knew it, but in St John’s now as both a Church and Community Centre. And my, what a transformation! Freshly decorated, with snack-bar area, lift, mezzanine floor, meeting rooms, new seating, and all mod cons, instead of being ripe for closure (as once seemed inevitable), we are now state of the art, complete apparently with a ‘wow factor’! Both the Bishop and John Prescott did us proud - first in the re-dedication on December 16th 07 and then the official re-opening of our building on January 19th 08. Present on both occasions was a Hot Gospel Choir originally from Hornsea, who now use St John’s regularly to rehearse on Thursday evenings. HGC is led by Helen Garnett, and St John’s has now become their spiritual ‘home’. Quite how this will work out in future remains to be seen, but it has exciting possibilities, and their keyboard player, Antoine Robinson, wife Jo and daughter Bethany now worship with us regularly.
All in all then an exciting and quite extraordinary year in the life of St John’s. And whilst many have prayed for and supported us in different ways, I would like to mention four in particular. Firstly, my two fellow directors of the Project and also Churchwardens, Steve and Sharon, who despite all the changes have always supported me to the best of their ability - for which I am grateful. Next, Peter Crook our Project Development worker. For Peter, this has been an enormously challenging year, but I am grateful to him too for his support, encouragement and often unseen hard work behind the scenes. And lastly to my wife Ann, without whom I couldn’t possibly have managed - constantly encouraging, tireless in her support but also challenging me in ways that only a wife can do! She too has worked really hard behind the scenes, and it’s mainly due to her efforts that so much of the children’s work is now beginning to get established. We’d value your prayers as we look forward to another full year in 2008.
Rev Chris Grundy (15/03/08)
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