Aim: To communicate the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the community and to nurture the people of God within the local congregation and the wider church.

The Council is required, as stated in the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956, to co-operate with the minister in promoting in the parish the whole missions of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.

The Church Council is currently made up of the following people:

Ministers: Simon Howard and Nick Thompson

Stewards: Tony Bonnett, John Brimicombe, Charlie Croal, Andrew Curnow, Jill Duncan, John Goddard, John Louth, Joyce Louth, Richard Munday, David Ramsden and David Wise.

Church representatives: 3 vacancies

Treasurer: Catherine Edwards

Senior Steward / Churchwarden: John Brimicombe

Church Secretary / Churchwarden: Elaine Munday

Property Administrator & Deanery Synod Representative: Stephen Edwards

Chair: Phil Hooper

Minutes Secretary: Ann Memmott

The following people have served on Church Council as representatives, but have left during the course of the year:

Karen Bartlett, Ian Brickell, Mike Bushnell and Nick Silburn. Also, Helen Dyson as Minutes Secretary.

Church Council meets during the months when there is no Church Meeting except August. Each meeting opens with 10 minutes’ worship, which is led by two of our members, and closes in prayer at 10pm . We always have a pastoral report from one of the ministers, and a report from one of our committees or groups connected with Trinity. We have rich and varied discussions on anything and everything to do with church life.

The main subjects discussed over the last year were as follows:

Feb 2002

Safe from Harm, Stewardship training, photo board, Earley Crescent, safeguarding of children, data protection, domestic violence, beating the bounds, Braille bibles, Trinity’s Aims, hymn books, vandalism, fund raising, CTB recommendations, Trinity’s 15^th anniversary, Schools and Outreach Committee reports, financial resources, clergy pay and pensions, Reading Deanery Pastoral Plan, Nick’s sabbatical, approval of
annual reports.

Apr 2002

Stewardship training, beating the bounds, hymn book trolleys, vandalism, Pastoral report, Education & Nurture Committee report, Future Patterns of Ministry, Earley Crescent update, buildings update, clergy pay & pensions, celebration of the banners.

May 2002

Stewards’ training, vandalism, Property Group report, Pastoral matters, Deanery Plan, Future Pattern of Ministry, Trinitys’ charges, Worship Committee proposals.

July 2002

Beating of the bounds, hymn book trolleys, vandalism, safeguarding of children, Trinity’s Aims, clergy pay & pensions, Lower Earley Family Contact Centre report, Shinfield Rise estate, coffee after evening worship, away day feedback, training of stewards.

Oct 2002

Hymn book trolleys, vandalism, Shinfield Rise estate, Missions Committee report, Trinity’s vision, buildings plans, Three Mile Cross, approval of annual accounts, Earley Crescent .

Nov 2002

Shinfield Rise estate, Trinity’s vision, Social Committee report, Trinity website, Anglican/Methodist Covenant, Senior Steward extension, Simon’s works schedule post sabbatical, Trinity’s Aims, building update, meeting with Bishop Dominic, approval of Schedules A & B.

Jan 2003

Pastoral Committee report, Anglican/Methodist Covenant, welcome board, review of coffee after evening worship, Future Pattern of Ministry, Aims, buildings update.

Away Day

On 20^th June 2002 , the Council enjoyed an away day at Burghfield Common Methodist Church . The entire day was devoted to Trinity’s visions. After a short time of bible study, our challenge for the morning session was to establish what, apart from pastoral care and worship, was the distinct calling of Trinity Church . This led to a lively debate, with some very interesting ideas.

After a break for lunch, and an opportunity for us to enjoy the sunshine, we discussed ways in which we could make our ideas and visions a reality, including how to make best use of our lay leadership, and what we could and should expect from our ordained ministers.

The day, which was very productive, ended with communion at 4.00pm .

I am very grateful to all the members of Church Council for their hard work again this year. If anyone would like further information about serving on Church Council, please contact me.

Elaine Munday

Church Secretary / Churchwarden

CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

Trinity currently has 254 members on its roll, of which some 67% are female. In addition there are 254 people, including children listed as adherents (non members).

During the year to 1^st February 2003 , we lost 12 members and gained 10 new members: Emily Ash, Sam Cocks, Aaron Cook, Mandy Creed, Elizabeth Goddard, Sarah Miller, Gill Newton, Pam Norton, Les Norton and Amy Rixon.

Sue Brickell

Membership Secretary

FINANCE

Aim: For Trinity Church to generate and develop its resources to meet its responsibilities to the wider church and to meet the Aims of growing, caring, unity and community.

At the present time there are 6 members of the Finance Committee:

Catherine Edwards (Treasurer)

Richard Munday (Assistant Treasurer)

Alison Travers (Assistant Treasurer)

John Medcraft (Gift Aid and Envelope Secretary)

Nigel Holloway

Tony Bonnett

In addition we welcome Nick Thompson to the committee meetings. During the year David Dongray stood down as Envelope Secretary, and I thank David for all his hard work over the years. We meet on a quarterly basis and have considered topics such as payroll giving and gift aid, and regularly review the financial situation of the Church.

The accounts for the year to 31^st August 2002 show a net surplus of £5,152, after adjusting for special collections and contras. This is a very encouraging situation. I would like to thank those who have increased their giving or looked at tax-efficient methods that increase the amount the Church receives, and all those who contribute financially to church funds.

The main increase in our expenditure is in the amounts we pay to the Anglican, Methodist and URC Churches in support of our ministers and their ministry. We have achieved a saving in our photocopying costs due to the purchase of a new machine.

During the year we considered how as a Committee we could help achieve Trinity’s Aims.

Growing The church currently has a surplus and this needs to be used to help the church to grow. Over the next year we will work with the various church groups to ascertain their financial needs, so that the lack of financial resources is not a constraint to their work.

Caring In the last year we gave 10.8% of our income to Mission , meeting our target of 10%. Other areas to be considered are those of training costs and pastoral care.

Unity Our major achievement has been to achieve a more unified process of setting denominational assessments. We made progress by bringing the 3 denominations together in one room!

Community The Committee considered funding for the Crescent Community Centre, and for possible changes to Trinity’s buildings to promote our church to the community.

Over the next year the Finance Committee will be working to try to ensure that money is not a constraint to the achievement of Trinity’s aims.

Catherine Edwards

Treasurer

PROPERTY COMMITTEE

The property committee has responsibility for the church buildings, equipment and the manse. The committee comprises:

Stephen Edwards Property Administrator

John Louth Buildings Supervisor

David Rains Equipment Supervisor

Alan Langdon Manse Steward

Ruth Bainton Church Users’ Representative

Jane Thompson Cleaning Coordinator

Simon Howard and Tony Bonnett are also on the committee in their Church Council roles.

The Committee is responsible for the maintenance of the church building, its equipment and the Manse. A separate Buildings Working Group has been established, by Church Council, to consider development of the building, and this has reported regularly to Church Meetings.

Normal minor maintenance has been carried out to the church and manse. Notable developments include:

· The photocopier room has been redecorated by some of the young members of the church, to create a lounge. This has created another useable room in the church for all members.

· Cathy MacLennon has painted another mural in the crèche room: the intention is that this room could also be used as a chapel.

· No incidences of vandalism to windows have occurred since Asda extended their CCTV system to cover the courtyard, and the front of the church.

The committee seeks to enable the fulfilment of Trinity’s aims:

Growing Minor improvements to the building, such as the new mural in the crèche/chapel, and the new lounge.

Caring Overseeing the provisions and maintenance of disability access (e.g. entrance marking tape by north door to help Blind Society), loop system etc, so that the building and worship is accessible to all.

Unity Interaction with all of the three parent denominations, and could be a catalyst for unity, by encouraging them to merge some of their property activities.

Community Members of the committee, and others, reach out to the community in maintaining a facility for the community to use, including the external appearance around the church such as the steps, lighting and the flowerbeds.

Stephen Edwards

Property Administrator

MISSIONS COMMITTEE

Aim: For Trinity Church to grow to understand and respond to the physical and spiritual needs of the whole church (within and without the local community) by witness and action.

The Missions Committee has 8 members and meets approximately 5 times a year. The committee tries to support some of the many charities/causes that contact Trinity, bringing to the notice of the church some of the many pressing needs at home and overseas.

Every month there is a Traidcraft stall, which enables church members to support fair trade with poorer countries around the world. The church continues to support the work of the Kagando Rural Development Centre in Uganda , and we support the annual Christian Aid House to House appeal held in May.

At Easter we supported a project in Zambia that needed help to purchase a knitting machine. Retiring collections were held in May and August in aid of Kagando and the Southern Africa Famine appeal respectively. The July appeal again supported the work of NCH Action for Children. At Harvest, we had another very successful Harvest Supper and auction, where again the proceeds went towards the Southern Africa Famine appeal. The proceeds from the Autumn Fayre went towards the work of Kagando Rural Development Centre. During Advent we again collected money for the United Nations Jar of Grace appeal, this year to support their Tetanus campaign. The Christingle service again supported the work of the Children’s Society, and we donated the Christmas service collections to the growing famine crisis in Ethiopia .

A big “thank you” to everyone who has supported us. If anyone would like to join us or has any ideas, please contact me or a member of the committee.

Oliver Dyson

Chair, Missions Committee

TRAIDCRAFT

We hold a stall on the fourth Sunday of every month - except December when we courted the seasonal shoppers and did the first three as well! Our monthly stall, plus sales at the Autumn Fayre and a few individual orders, totalled about £1,530, about 10% down on last year. We stopped trying to sell crafts because it is hard when we are only selling to a limited ‘audience’, and coffee sales have been down too, probably because Café direct is now readily available (and cheaper!) elsewhere.

Pam Thompson’s craft and card stall sold nearly £900 of goods at Trinity, making a total of about £2,400 spending by Trinity’s congregation. Pam’s stall at many other events during the year sold another £8,600 worth of fairly traded goods!

We were very pleased when the Finance Committee decided this year to simplify drinks provision by allowing the church to supply the tea and coffee for after-service refreshments and other meetings – and to buy it from us! This makes it easier for Trinity to meet its ‘fair-trade zone’ commitment, which is important for our integrity as a community that thinks of others and believes in justice.

Margaret and Richard Cocks

Traidcraft Representatives

WORSHIP COMMITTEE

Aim: For worship at Trinity Church to enable people of all Christian traditions to respond to the presence of God, giving him praise and glory.

‘The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ John 4:23-24 NRSV.

Worship at Trinity is a fundamental part of what we as a church are able to offer to both our members and those who might be drawn to us from time to time. Worship provides not only an expression of faith but is one way in which we can grow in terms of spirituality and faith and meet with others who will encourage us in our Christian journey. We must remember that whilst worship with others is important we must seek to set aside time for prayer every day of our lives – this might be at home or as we go about our every day business.

The committee is made up of a number of members each having a different perspective on our worship, in terms of the content of the various services, musical variety, provision of readings and other material. Our ministers who feed and nourish us through the various forms of worship that Trinity provides are also on the committee. Meetings are held about 4 times per year.

The committee has discussed the various services that Trinity provides with particular focus on Christmas and Easter when we experience an opportunity to welcome those who are infrequent attendees at church. We have been greatly encouraged by the growth in numbers especially at the children’s services before Christmas. This year we provided refreshments between the Christingle and carol service, after the Christmas Eve Family service and after the Christmas Day service, and were joined by many who only come into contact with Christ as a result of attending such services with young people. We are also pleased to see real interest from the uniformed organisations at the parade services and this is seen as a way of showing God’s love to young people (and their families), some of who only attend at these services.

The continued use of the third Sunday in the evening for ‘something different’ is an important strand to worship, as is the leading of services by members of the congregation, as well as the use of stewards to lead Saturday morning worship twice a month. Refreshments are now provided after worship every Sunday evening and this provides a time of fellowship and discussion after this service.

The summer saw the continuation of a set of activities for all children under 7 at the 10:00 service and this was very successful as it allowed those with younger children to have more time to ‘do their business with God’ without the distraction of their small people!

We also welcomed a number of visitors during the year to lead us in worship – and benefited from each in terms of their different worship style and in many cases challenging addresses!

During the year the Church has been better used by groups who often need to move chairs in the sanctuary. This has resulted in the books under the chairs becoming battered and it was decided that one solution would be to have book trolleys to hold some of the books. We are extremely grateful to Ray Little who, having built a prototype trolley so that we could evaluate it in use, went on to build two beautiful trolleys for the Church. Currently the trolleys hold the hymnbooks but have adequate space for other books in the future.

Discussions about a new ‘resource book’ have continued. It is recognised that Trinity still uses hymns and other material that do not exist in a single book. A small task force has been formed to look at provision of a ‘resource book’ covering hymns and songs, as well as worship material and will endeavour to provide it during the coming year.

Music and song play an important part in worship at Trinity and we are blessed by a number of groups, including the Trinity band, the choir, the praise and worship group and the singing group, all bringing their
talents to various services throughout the year. These groups exist not only to enrich worship but also provide an opportunity for fellowship at practice and other sessions during the week. In recent months the choir has been a topic of discussion and it has been decided that they should continue as a group and perform at various services. It was felt that the choir might benefit from some new members and that publication in the magazine of what and when the choir were to sing might encourage this.

A big thank you to all those who serve on the Worship Committee – we look forward to another year in which worship will remain an important part of life for Trinity Church . No doubt we will explore new and exciting ways in which we can enrich worship in the context of the Trinity aims covering growing, caring, unity and community with God at the centre, as well as encouraging personal time with God on a daily basis.

John R Brimicombe

Senior Steward / Churchwarden

LEADERSHIP TEAM

‘Now we ask you, brothers to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.’

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 NIV

The leadership team comprises the two ministers, church secretary, senior steward and treasurer. This small team meets on a monthly basis to discuss key issues that affect Trinity and the team also offers support and guidance to each other and their families. During 2002 there have been many new challenges facing Trinity and as well as the regular meetings there has been much exchange at additional informal meetings, by telephone and by e-mail which is becoming more widely used. We live in a fast moving environment where change affects all aspects of our lives with church being no exception!

A standard meeting, which is normally held at one of the team’s homes, will start with some prayer asking for guidance as we discuss and resolve issues affecting us all. An informal chat allowing each member to share their concerns and issues that affect them and the life of Trinity Church follows. We then seek to help each other in sorting out these and where necessary determine what actions should be followed.

The year has been busy with much focus on the future of stipendiary minister resources at Trinity, given the pressures on each of our parent denominations. As the year unfolded, it became clear that Trinity would need to seek new ways to provide ministry, given the decision by our sponsoring body Churches Together in Berkshire for provision of a single stipendiary Minister from 2004, with rotation of Methodist, Anglican, United Reformed Church, Anglican and so on. The change in the level of stipendiary ministry provision is balanced by provision of non-stipendiary cover, and the leadership team, together with Staffing Committee and Church Council, has been exploring ways in which this might be achieved with support from CTB and our parent denominations.

During the year, Nick’s work was reviewed by the Methodist Circuit, with significant input from Trinity Church . The review was extensive and included input from a wide cross-section of our membership and others in Lower Earley who work with Nick. The outcome was that Nick was invited to stay with the Circuit continuing his work at Trinity Church . Trinity Church also discussed and agreed that Nick could stay beyond his 8^th year to minimise disruption to his family. He will therefore stay with us until 2007.

The new Trinity aims covering growing, caring, unity and community with God at the centre have continued to permeate much of what we do and the leadership team will continue to look at how Trinity embraces these aims and focuses on activities to further them. During the coming year the team will need to consider how they help in achieving the aims, given the continuing changes within the Church.

The team has been very pleased with the way in which the stewards have taken on more responsibilities
during the year including leading Saturday morning worship, followed by being available in the church two mornings a month. This is seen as a move towards more lay involvement in Trinity which will be a continuing theme in 2003 / 2004. During Simon’s sabbatical, stewards will be in attendance at Trinity most Saturday mornings in support of Nick. Stewards have also continued to consider how they might improve on their service to Trinity and God – a recent meeting came up with a number of worthwhile suggestions that will be implemented during the coming year.

Trinity is in a period of significant change – due in part to the change in the level of stipendiary ministry as well as major discussions concerning use of our resources including possible expansion of the church building. We pray for guidance when seeking non-stipendiary ministry at Trinity, when making important decisions about use of our resources as well as helping us find the right solutions to seemingly impossible situations, which we will surely face, in the next year. We also recognise that as Simon is away on his 3-month sabbatical starting in May 2003, there will be an increased need to support Nick during this time – but that this will be the opportunity to try out new things in preparation for 2004 when Nick becomes the sole stipendiary minister at Trinity. Simon on his return will dedicate half his time to schools work to make sure that this can continue beyond 2004, when his time with us comes to an end.

Under normal circumstances, I should have stood down in February 2004 as senior steward. After discussion within the leadership team and a most interesting discussion at Church Council followed by a discussion at Church Meeting, it was agreed that I would stay in the post of senior steward until February 2005. The reasons for this were to ensure a smooth transition during 2004 as Simon leaves us and provide a level of continuity and support within the Church. I am grateful to Trinity for allowing me to continue in this role for a further year – and to Sally and Chloe who agreed to it!

I would like to thank those on the leadership team for their dedication and service to Christ through their work in Trinity and the wider community. Thanks are due to their families for helping the team during the year. I would encourage all of the church to pray for their leadership team and ask that they will be guided for the good of Jesus and all his people in Trinity Church , Lower Earley and the wider world.

John R Brimicombe

Senior Steward / Churchwarden

EARLEY YOUTH NET

As this report is written it is still less than a year since Earley Youth Net began. It is therefore a great time to look at its vision, its reason for existence and how far it has come since its beginning in Feb 2002.

Earley Youth Net was started in response to, what a number of us believed, was a clear vision from God. We felt that there was a need for a group for the young people of the area, not just Trinity Church , which was centred on God, which allowed the young people to explore their faith openly and honestly and which encouraged them to grow and develop that faith. The aim being that when they left home either for university or the world of work, they would have the strength of faith and love of God that would see them through these tough transitions in their lives as well as the everyday stresses and strains. From the initial ideas through to the first meeting took us 3 months during which time we questioned, we prayed and listened to God. We prayed for a growth in numbers, for the growth of the young people, and for the growth of our own expectations and that it be constantly beyond expectations.

The first meeting of Youth Net was a launch party at which there were 47 young people ….. and a few tears from those of us who had felt called to start it. We declared our aims to be

To KNOW God’s love

To GROW in discipleship and

To SHOW His love in the world

The subsequent meetings have all followed the same pattern. We begin with a welcome – a kind of icebreaker. Then we have a time of worship. This is usually based around music but we have also done other things like writing Psalms and building our prayers in play dough! We then split into small groups. These groups allow the young people to develop relationships with each other and the leaders that make it more likely that they will want to share their questions and experiences. We have looked at all kinds of things in this time. It is unashamedly bible based, but we believe it is as much a sin to bore young people with the way we present the Gospel as it is to avoid telling them it, so it has been fun too.

The final section is looking at applying it all to our lives. This is probably the area we have been worst at! Usually because we run out of time with the young people who have been questioning the leaders and keeping us constantly challenged!

So how has it worked out? Well God has been very obviously evident in what has happened over the year. We have seen a huge growth in the young people’s faith and in their confidence in expressing it. Those who came to the service led by Youth Net, while not all will have found it their taste (!), cannot have failed to notice the level of confidence and excitement with which the young people expressed their faith. There has been a similar growth amongst the leaders as we have all learned more about following the Spirit’s promptings and developing the courage to listen to God’s call on our lives.

Also encouraging is that although we waved goodbye to 4 of our older members to university (Paul Holloway, Laura Brannelly, Karen Edwards and Tom Green – if you don’t recognise the name, they’re from the other churches involved) we have been getting regular emails back from them with news of what they are doing and we are very encouraged to hear how they are working out their faith in their lives.

And what of the bits that we’re not doing so well? I think there are two areas where we still have a lot of work to do. The first is in the area of allowing the young people to take responsibility for leading themselves. Our society complains endlessly that young people are not responsible but then refuses to give them responsibility. We wanted to be different; to allow them to take the responsibility, as they are able and to support them as they did so. We have struggled with this simply because of the pressure on the young people from school work, however we have taken steps in the right direction by starting a young leaders’ group, to allow a number of young people to grow into leadership and we have been very encouraged by their response to this.

The one area where I believe we have failed significantly is in our witness. A community like Youth Net should look in three directions – UP to God, IN to each other and OUT to the world. Right now I think we are missing the “OUT” direction both with the young people and the leaders’groups. Time is, as always, one of the issues there but it is the area we need to work on the most in the coming year otherwise we will become a holy huddle! We have managed a day called “Cast the Net Wider” on evangelism and at the end of 2002 we had a Christmas party which allowed the young people to bring their friends along. It was a great success and all the better for having the musical talents of “Common or Garden”. These events were both great fun, however, Jesus called us to “Go” and at the moment we’re not really doing much of that so we will be looking for ways in which we can get the young people out being salt and light in the community, whether it’s by litter picking round the church, by visiting people in need or any other ways that we and they can think of. Suggestions will be warmly welcomed!!

So in conclusion. A great year. We have a lot of evidence of God’s Spirit at work in the lives of our young people and their leaders. We have evidence of his provision to us as we lost a number of leaders over the year and gained 4 more! We continue to pray for God’s blessing and guidance on what we do as we look toward the next year with plans for more community work and also to build a mentoring process with the young leaders to support them as they grow in their faith and discover their own callings.

Cath Bethell

Earley Youth Net Leader

STAFFING COMMITTEE

Aim: To oversee ministerial appointments, training appointments and other staffing issues relating to Trinity Church .

The staffing committee is made up of a number of Trinity members (including both ministers) and representatives from our sponsoring body Churches Together in Berkshire as well as from our parent denominations. Under normal circumstances, the staffing committee holds a single meeting in the year (on a Saturday morning) but 2002/2003 saw many more meetings and other activities due to the changes in levels of stipendiary ministry and Nick’s review, and I am very grateful for all the members’ hard work during the past year on behalf of Trinity.

Current members are as follows:

Trinity Ministers:

Rev Simon Howard & Rev Nick Thompson (and Circuit Ecumenical Officer)

Trinity Church Secretary

Elaine Munday

Trinity Senior Steward and chair:

John Brimicombe

Trinity Church Members:

Jill Ramsden, Virginia Thorne and Kay Slack (minute secretary)

Ecumenical Officers:

Prof Roger Mead (URC District Ecumenical Officer)

Honor Alleyne (CTB Ecumenical Officer) – from January 2003

Rev Vivien Brooks (Anglican Ecumenical Officer)

Methodist Circuit Steward:

Derek Guy

The staffing committee spent much of the year looking at the decision from our sponsoring body after their review of stipendiary ministry levels at all Local Ecumenical Partnerships in Berkshire . The review concluded that Trinity should have a single stipendiary minister following the rotational pattern of Methodist, Anglican, United Reformed Church, Anglican and so on supplemented by Non Stipendiary Ministry input once Simon Howard left Trinity in 2004. Staffing Committee discussed the best way in which the NSM resources could be found and appointed, supplemented by various meetings with Bishop Dominic and other denominational leaders including Honor Alleyne to seek their advice and support. We also looked at the recognition that the Church of England would give to a ‘Free Church’ Minister such as Nick when they were sole stipendiary minister at Trinity and have had encouraging responses that will need to be followed up during 2003. As there were often discussions that directly affect Nick and the Methodist circuit in 2004 and beyond, we were joined by Rev Jim Booth who is the Methodist Circuit Superintendent for most of the meetings.

We also discussed the future relationship with Three Mile Cross given that Nick currently spends one quarter of his time with them. An offer to provide pastoral care and ministry at Three Mile Cross by a URC minister has been made and accepted, and subject to ratification will allow Nick to spend most of his time with Trinity from 2004. Staffing Committee warmly endorsed the offer and were sure that it was in the interests of both Three Mile Cross and Trinity (and Nick and his family).

As part of the review, a group made up largely from the Trinity members of Staffing Committee and others worked on a revised version of the Trinity Church Profile. This document described the work that Trinity currently undertakes and demonstrated the need for sufficient ministerial resources to allow all these activities to continue. It is a useful document and will hopefully be kept updated in 2003.

Staffing Committee, together with other members of Trinity, were also involved in Nick’s review which took place during 2002. We spoke with a wide cross section of some 80 people taken from Trinity and others who work with Nick in Lower Earley using a short questionnaire. All the input was then discussed, and summarised before being presented to the Methodist Circuit. The Circuit discussed this and other input and was delighted to ask Nick to stay until 2007. Nick has been provided with a copy of the summary, which he has found invaluable in looking at how he develops his ministry as part of an overall plan.

Trinity has also accepted an invitation from our sponsoring body to participate in the CTB Visitors’ scheme. One visitor is appointed by CTB (which has been done) and the other approached by Trinity (candidate identified). These visitors provide advice and guidance from the CTB perspective and maintain links with the sponsoring body. The visitors will be attending a Church Council meeting during 2003 to introduce themselves and discuss the scheme and how they might work with Trinity in the future.

2003 will see Simon taking his sabbatical from May to August. This will allow Nick and Trinity to start to make the changes necessary in preparation for Simon’s eventual departure in 2004. It was agreed that Simon would spend 50 % of his time dealing with the schools work on his return in August, to make sure that it can continue under a proposed new trust from 2004 onwards. This means that from May onwards Nick will be working towards being sole stipendiary minister at Trinity and we would encourage all to pray for him and his family during this time of change.

John R Brimicombe

Chair, Staffing Committee

EDUCATION & NURTURE GROUP

Aim: For everyone in Trinity Church to be nurtured in Christian life and faith according to their needs.

Team: Nick Thompson, Nina Mead, Jill Duncan, Margaret Evans, Bridget Howard, John and Joyce Louth.

Groups:

Alpha

Alpha finished in January2002 (see separate report).

Study Groups

Groups this year have included Tuesday house group, bible study on Wednesday evenings and Thursday Fellowship groups.

Lent Course

Lent courses were run on Wednesday mornings with Nina Mead, and as part of the usual house groups on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The theme this year was ‘In the Wilderness’, a York study course and was attended by 60 people.

Spring Harvest

Organised by Bridget Howard, and again well supported.

Weekend Retreat

Held at St Katherine’s Parmoor, near Henley on Thames . Two were run over two weekends. Thanks to Karen Bartlett and Joyce Louth for organising these.

Summer Fellowship

Based on the parables. Shared leadership during the summer period.

Confirmation Course

7 candidates were confirmed and the service was held at Trinity.

Healing Forum

See separate report.

Holiday Bible Club

See separate report.

What Next?

Lent course, and Spring Harvest.

The Education and Nurture group is committed to fulfilling Trinity’s aims by:

Growing In faith and the way of Jesus Christ through discovery, worship and learning.

Caring By demonstrating the love of God through welcome, care and acceptance of all.

Unity Through being open to all, united in the love of God and celebrating the richness and variety of our different denominations.

Community By being rooted in, reaching out to, and serving the local and worldwide community.

John Louth

HEALING FORUM AND PRAYER MINISTRY TEAM

Aim: To help all those who come to Trinity to become aware that the Healing Ministry is an important part of worship each week, and that we all have a need for prayers for healing and wholeness, as well as specific prayers for ourselves or particular people known to us.

The Team:

Simon Howard and Nick Thompson (our ministers)

John Brimicombe

Graham Pettipher

Jill Duncan

Cath Bethell

Graham Looker

Joan Guile

John and Joyce Louth

Regrettably Margaret Evans, Michael Newport and Maggie Carter have stepped down from this group, although Maggie continues to be involved in healing prayers during services. We thank each of them for their past commitment to the Healing Forum.

We have met approximately every 2 – 3 months either in Church or someone’s home.

The purpose of our work is to pray for healing and wholeness for anyone who asks for this, either during a Healing Service or after services, and also to encourage and promote the healing ministry as central to our normal worship.

For the first half of the year we made ourselves regularly available for prayers after the 10.00am services, but owing to availability of the team (or lack of) this could not continue on a regular basis. We will look at this again if others join the team, as feedback from those who have used this time has been positive.

A meeting was held in the summer along with the members of the Prayer Chain, which is very much a part of our Healing Ministry at Trinity. This was well attended, and the discussion was centred around intercessory prayer.

A Prayer and Praise Healing Service was held in the autumn which proved very successful.

Prayers for the way forward with the work and planning of the building project is very much a part of our prayer life in Trinity; many feel there is a need for a Quiet Room or Chapel.

We have been encouraged to note that many new people have felt able to come forward for prayers, either for themselves, or for others.

Our work is publicised through church notices and the magazine, or by word of mouth.

Joan Guile

JUNIOR CHURCH

Aim: For Trinity to bring young people to Christ by communicating the Christian message to the local community.

Crèche and Junior Church continue to meet during the second half of the Sunday morning service. Between 50 and 60 children and young people meet each week, but the total numbers on the registers are substantially higher. There are over 30 people working as teachers and helpers, and I would like to thank them for their commitment.

We are using Scripture Union material, which costs about £50 a quarter, but provides an excellent variety of ideas on ways of telling stories, crafts, prayer, understanding people and the world and thinking about how being a Christian works out in daily life.

Many thanks to Lisa Waite, who organised activities for the children during the summer holidays when there was no Junior Church .

Margaret Cocks

Sunday School Superintendent

HOLIDAY BIBLE CLUB

2002 saw the 10^th annual Trinity Church Holiday Bible Club. Once again, the club ran over four afternoons in the bank holiday week at the end of August. We took over the whole church premises and transformed the sanctuary into a desert scene, with palm trees, snakes and cacti, along with an enormous gazebo for our base camp. We were fortunate to be able to borrow Humphrey the camel, who helped Simon to welcome everyone. A total of 34 children aged 5 to 11 years attended “Desert Detectives” and were divided into groups called Gerbils, Sand Cats and Geckos. Wendy Crosson Smith and I were assisted by an enthusiastic team of 11 adults and 14 young people (most of whom attended every day), plus 7 other adult helpers, who did one or two sessions. It is great to see that so many of the youngsters who once attended the club as participants are now eager to keep coming back year after year to help. We look forward to the day when they can take over the running of the club!

The material we used this year was from Scripture Union and was quite ambitious, in that it aimed to give the children an introduction to the whole bible in one week. There was an exciting video which accompanied the material. As usual, we then chose songs, games, crafts and refreshments linked to the theme. There was also an entertaining daily drama acted by the young people. For a change, the children too were involved in doing some drama themselves.

Another first this year was baking – the children made cakes and biscuits which they then sold after Sunday worship, to raise money for Water Aid. We also introduced a post box this time, so that children could post pictures and jokes for sharing at the end of each session.

My thanks to all the team: Wendy Crosson Smith, Simon Howard, Margaret Cocks, Pam Thompson, Alison Travers, Cathy MacLennon, Bridget Howard, Ruth Bainton, Sarah Moore, Catherine Edwards, Paul
Holloway, Emily Ash, Jenni Slack, Philip Slack, David Howard, Emily Travers, Anna Cocks, Jenny
Howard, Sam Cocks, Frances Jackson, Laura Thompson, Sarah Johns, Lizzie Glennon, Claire Knight, Oliver Lackie and Ben Glennon.

Kay Slack

TRINITY PILOTS

Since our last annual report, Pilots have continued to meet once a week on Mondays between 6.00 pm and 7.30 pm during term time. Finding leaders for this active group has been hard. The named leaders were Wendy Keeley [Pilot Captain] and Ian Davidson. Unfortunately Ian’s shiftwork pattern made it very hard for him to be present at the meetings, although both he and his wife Trudi were keen to help when they could. A rota of parents kept the evening running with the help of the young leaders Anna Cocks, Sarah Johns and Philip Slack as well as Gemma Keeley. As all of these young leaders were in important exam years at school, they could not be present all the time, but thanks should be given for their invaluable help.

The programme followed the basic outline of Pilot meetings - always opening with the Pilot promise and the Pilot flag. Our overseas ‘voyage’ this year was an interesting evening where we learnt about Malaysia from Alvin Donald, a student from Oxford - who, as well as telling us about his life and the customs and religions of the area, cooked some delightful food. Other meetings carry on very often following the themes of the seasons and festivals including harvest, Christmas, pancake day, and Easter. The young people all enjoy creating the work for the Pilot board and take great pride when it is displayed in the hall.

During the summer evenings, if the weather is fine, the meeting usually moves to the field opposite for cricket, rounders or football. The summer term ended as usual with a barbecue and games in the garden of the Keeleys’. At this time, Wendy said goodbye as Pilot Captain after being part of the Pilots leadership team for 10 years.

Simon Howard has taken over responsibility for the company while we have no captain, and Sarah Keeley returned to help again. The winter term had a varied theme, including remembrance and Advent. They made decorations for the church Christmas tree, prepared and held a leaving party for Wendy, and again time was spent doing artwork for the board in the church hall. The spring term for 2003 has the theme of service and will include a concert at Rowan Court , supporting and learning about Christian work in Uganda and a litter pick in the area. Nina Mead will be returning to help us as well. Meetings continue to have approximately 18 children attending, ranging from 5 -15 years.

Sarah Keeley

THE BOYS’ BRIGADE – THE 1^st EARLEY COMPANY

We have had another successful year. As H M The Queen is our Patron and in order to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee. The Boys’ Brigade held a mass music, dance and gymnastics festival. Letters of congratulations were received from the Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Rt Hon. Charles Kennedy and the Rt Hon. Ian Duncan Smith. We took part in a celebration of the jubilee in Winchester Cathedral with 700 members, and marched through Winchester City with bands and colours flying on a beautiful summer’s day.

Junior Section news:

Our junior section camped at Swanage. Sgt Christopher Smith came through the first year’s test of a 2-year course for the Queen’s badge. He should complete the course this coming year.

Michael Rawcliffe and Joshua Kerrigan achieved the gold badge, and the whole section took part in the

international competitions and the company section entered the chess and table tennis national competitions.

Leslie Bainton

Boys’ Brigade Captain

PARENT AND TODDLER GROUP

This group meets Monday and Thursday mornings during school term time. Between 10 & 15 children attend each group, accompanied by a parent, mainly under three, but older children attend sometimes. Monday’s group is organised by Sue Berriford and Becky Martindale, Thursday’s Group by Sue Spencer. The attendance money is put towards buying presents for the children at the Christmas party.

All the toddlers took part in the main activity last year, which was a sponsored pedal push. This took place last May and raised £632.50 for Childline. (Well done everybody who took part).

The parent and toddler group advertises mainly by word of mouth, but they do also have information on the notice board in the church hall.

Hazel Bailey

Chair, Parent and Toddler Group

CRADLE ROLL

Trinity Cradle Roll has been going nearly as long as the church has been open, and we have just finished the ninth cradle board, so I will soon be looking for a space for the next three boards.

My job is to record the babies’and children's names on the cradleboard, and to send them a birthday card each year until they reach three years old. Also, I send out invitations for two special services each year, Mothers’ Day and Christmas, which are combined with the Wednesday nursery service. This generates a number of extra children at these two services.

Over the last two years I have had 50 - 60 children in my register. The numbers have been slowly going down. Back in the early nineties when I started I had as many as 100, so my job is a little easier now. After all these years I know most roads in Lower Earley !

Hazel Bailey

Cradle Roll Secretary

RETIRED CLUB

On Tuesday 3^rd December 2002 , the Retired Club met for the last time. The club had served the retired and elderly members of our Church and also many people from the surrounding area for many years. At our final meeting we sang carols and heard some seasonal readings from Simon and Nick. We then shared a delicious Christmas tea.

Our many thanks to all who have helped with refreshments and transport over the years.

Special thanks and gifts were given to ‘THE GROUP’ who helped from the very beginning.

The Scrabble Club will continue to meet fortnightly on Friday mornings (10.00 – 12.00).

Kath Bedborough

CHALFONT CLUB

The Chalfont Club meets weekly during term time in the church hall on Thursdays from 2.00 – 3.30pm . It was started in April 2000 after discussion with the ministers and members of Trinity Church . The aim is to

offer a weekly social afternoon, open to men and women of all ages in the local community. We have a variety of speakers, some outings and social afternoons, with an average attendance of about 30.

The programme is displayed on the church notice board, in the magazine and service sheet and in the MICE van.

Chalfont Club invites anyone interested to join them any Thursday afternoon at 2.00pm .

Pam Medcraft

Programme Secretary

CHURCH CHOIR

We meet Friday evenings 8.15 – 9.15pm . We sing through the hymns for the 8am , 10am and 6pm services. We plan to sing at least one anthem per month.

On Palm Sunday at the 6pm service, we sang “Cross of Christ”. We joined with other church choirs of East Reading at a combined service at St Mary’s the Virgin church.

We are open to receive new members, and there are facilities for those who would wish to acquire skills in reading and singing music. Why not give us a try.

Leslie Bainton

Choirmaster

TRINITY BAND

At Trinity, where we are blessed with musical talent, there are so many prepared to give their talents and time to music in worship in Trinity (and elsewhere). Long may it continue.

I receive many positive comments (and, indeed, occasional constructive criticism which is always welcome) from the congregation, and ministers and I gauge that the band is appreciated and remains a positive asset of the Church.

Our numbers do fluctuate with new members joining while others move on, although we are of course always delighted to welcome our associates if they have the chance to play.

I class our musicians in two categories (a) full band members and (b) associates. This latter category comprises those who contribute occasionally, perhaps in times of need when we are looking a little thin on the ground, or when university holidays permit.

I hope you’ll forgive my continuing to maintain pigeonholes for the purpose of this report but by this classification we now have twenty-four full band members and eight associates.

Many of our members play second and third instruments, but here is the distribution of full band members against the instruments with which they are most usually associated:

7 flutes

3 clarinets

1 cornet

1 euphonium

4 violins

1 saxophone

2 bassoons

2 guitars

1 bass guitar

1 percussion

1 keyboard

The Ecumenical nature of Trinity is echoed in the wide range of backgrounds, disciplines, ages, etc within the band and we are particularly blessed with the number of younger people who contribute such vitality.

During 2002 the band played thirty-one times (making 2002 another record year in this respect):

· Twenty-six morning and evening services at Trinity

· One joint morning service at the Salvation Army Citadel on 20^th January

· One morning service at the Twyford URC on 24^th February

· Two memorial services at Duchess of Kent House on 14^th April and 13^th October

· A stop at each of the boundary halts during the Beating of the Bounds on July 7^th

May I say another big thank you to all members, associates, supporters and friends (and especially parents who ferry musicians and instruments to and from Trinity and other venues) past and present who have contributed.

Peter Whiteman

Band Leader

TRINITY LIBRARY

A major addition to the Library this year has been the Bible on audio cassette. A total of 36 tapes (to be borrowed individually) read by well-known actors, this is an excellent resource for the church.

It was decided this year to pay for the Lent course books out of the Library budget and put them into the Library after Easter. This meant the Library budget was overspent, but this will be corrected by adjusting the 2003 budget. We also received a large donation of study guides, consequently we now have a good selection in the library available for loan for group or individual study.

In total for the 2001-2002 financial year, in addition to the audio cassettes we bought 10 books, had 8 books and 8 audio cassettes donated and withdrew 31 books – 13 of which were missing. 95 books were signed out for loan during this time. Could I please make a plea for everyone to sign out every book they borrow, there are again quite a number missing, or borrowed without being signed out.

Jill Duncan

Librarian

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

2001/2, was another successful year for social events. Skittles evening, trip to London Eye including the

Christmas illuminations, Christmas meal, Safari supper, “P”party with Salvation Army, food and wine evening, inter church quiz evening, orienteering, trip to Blenheim Palace , church picnic and walk.

My thanks to all involved in organising the above, plus a special thank you to Pam Medcraft for being events co-ordinator the last few years. Pam stood down in the autumn and we are now looking for a replacement.

There is a social events meeting planned for September. It would nice to see a few more people there. As I said last year, we need your input, especially from the younger members of the congregation. Please come with your ideas on what you would like to do.

The Social Committee is committed to fulfilling Trinity’s aims by:

Growing Together in our faith as we socialise.

Caring For each other in the love and fellowship of Jesus Christ.

Unity Having fun together, and united what ever the tradition.

Community To show where we come from, and reaching out to others in all our travels.

John Louth

PASTORAL REPORT

Over the course of this year everyone who has been involved in Pastoral Care has continued to meet in the quarterly Pastoral Team Meetings. This has been the case since Church Meeting authorised this way of working in June 2001. The Team has met four times over the last year to discuss concerns and to share ideas on better practice.

The Team embraces people working in many different ways. There are 2 Pastoral Groups led by Pam Medcraft and Jill Ramsden. Nina Mead has resigned from her role in Larksmeade, and indeed the Team generally, to concentrate on other things and we thank her for her time and dedication over this period.

The Pastoral Link leaders continue to look after their nominated Church members within the Team setting. We thank Eileen Witney who has resigned from this work this year to focus more on the Berkshire Blind Society Craft Group members who meet at Trinity and with whom Eileen has developed a great affinity.

In addition Margaret Stephens and Lynn Hill are available for short term visiting for personal support at a particular time of need.

The Retired Club has come to an end after 10 years of excellent leadership from Kath Bedborough and the team in the kitchen working alongside Ruth Bainton. It is hoped that some of the activities of the newly formed Chalfont Group will be offered periodically to former members of the Retired Club.

Kath continues to visit and maintain links with Club members and to be present at the famous Scrabble mornings at Trinity on Friday mornings! We do thank Kath greatly for her leadership over many years.

Michael Newport has been involved primarily with the Welcome Group over this year as they have worked on some crucial new initiatives and continues to be a great source of thoughtful ideas and advice.

The ministers discuss pastoral matters weekly and liaise with members of the Pastoral Team where appropriate.

The Pastoral Team has the feel of a group which is growing in a culture of care with a wide concern for the
needs of the whole church. There is evidence of this throughout the church too as individual members take
more responsibility in befriending and caring for others, often unofficially and without any fuss.

The Pastoral Committee meets too twice each year to keep an overview of policy. We continue to wrestle with new ways to be more effective. In conclusion, however, whatever system of care is in place it is the culture of care which matters most and that we continue to promote and pray for.

Nick Thompson

URC READING AND OXFORD DISTRICT COUNCIL and URC WESSEX PROVINCIAL SYNOD

The Reading and Oxford District (Banbury to Marlow to Bracknell to Hungerford to Banbury) includes about 45 local churches and is one of five districts within the Wessex Province (Banbury to Poole to Southampton to Portsmouth to Guildford to Banbury), which includes about 170 local churches.

District Council includes all serving ministers (about 25, including ministers from denominations other than URC), retired and non-serving ministers, one lay representative from each local church and several co-opted members. I am the lay representative for Trinity on both District Council and Synod, Simon and Nick are members as serving ministers and Nina is a member specifically in her role as Convenor of the District Pastoral Committee, as well as being a minister.

District Council meets five times a year and Synod twice. During 2002, I have been to four of the Council meetings plus two other Council meetings for the ordination and induction of new ministers, but for different reasons have missed both Synod meetings.

Much of the business of both meetings comes in the form of reports from various committees. We have also discussed at District Council (i) Youth and Children’s work in the District, (ii) principles and procedures for District visits to local churches, (iii) the Tripartite discussions with the Methodists and Anglicans, (iv) future patterns of ministry (Assembly Report referred to local churches for response and comments), and (v) Mission Council’s discussion on where the URC was going.

District Council is particularly concerned with ministerial appointments and local church developments. During 2001:

(i) Ministers have departed (Keith Green from Aston Tirrold)

(ii) and arrived (Michael Hopkins at Twyford, and Linda Spokes – NSM)

(iii) or returned (Kate Pryde at Marlow)

or been redistributed (Brian Stops at Marsh Gibbon & Twyford (Bucks), and Betsy Gray-King at Brill).

(v) We have been searching for ministers for Park and Banbury St Mary’s, as well as Aston Tirrold.

(vi) Also, there has been much consideration in the various councils of the District of how to allocate ministerial scoping to our various churches when the number of full time URC stipendiary ministers in the District is required to be reduced to 10.5 by 2006.

Roger Mead

URC Province and District Representative

READING AND SILCHESTER METHODIST CIRCUIT

The Circuit met four times during 2002 under the chairmanship of the Superintendent Minister, the Rev Jim Booth. These meetings were held at Tadley Common, Caversham Heights , Burghfield Common and Christ Church , Woodley churches.

Trinity is represented by our Methodist minister, the Rev Nick Thompson, the senior steward, the church treasurer and three elected representatives.

The meeting is responsible for decision-making in respect of the policy and management of the circuit and forms a link in the chain of communication between the individual churches and the Methodist Conference.

Farewells - At the June meeting, farewells and thanks were said to the Rev Roger and Marian Gisbourne

who were leaving the circuit, Phyllis Harris and Ray Chalk, who were retiring as Circuit Stewards and Rosemary Nagle who was retiring as Circuit Administrator.

Stationing – It was proposed and approved at the September meeting that an extension to the Rev Nick Thompson’s invitation be for a further four years to August 2007.

The Rev Gavin Rogers joined the Circuit staff in September to serve in the Tadley and Silchester churches.

At the March meeting the following circuit stewards were appointed to serve for one year from September 2002:

Derek Guy, Peter Bell, Jill Martin and Alan Harland, also to act as circuit treasurer. Henry Stroud was also appointed at the June meeting with the same terms of reference.

At the December meeting the Anglican / Methodist Covenant was discussed in the form of an open forum. The Covenant, with its mutual affirmations and mutual commitments, is proposed as “a major stepping-stone towards organic unity”. It was on the whole well received. A decision will be made at a Circuit Meeting later this year.

Tony Bonnett

Representative to the Circuit Meeting

READING DEANERY SYNOD

The Deanery Synod is the local government of the Church of England, and meets four times a year. During the year the Deanery Synod has received reports from members who serve on the Diocesan and General Synods.

Trinity’s three parent denominations are all seeing a reduction in their number of ministers, and the Deanery Synod is one forum in which we can promote our workable solution: ecumenism. At its February meeting the Deanery Synod approved the Deanery Plan, under which Trinity will lose our stipendiary Anglican minister in 2004. Whilst we put our arguments against this plan to the meeting, we were out voted.

Trinity has the sixth largest congregation of the 29 benefices (some incorporate more than one church), but lacks visibility at Deanery level. Our size entitles us to four lay representatives on Synod, but for a long time we have only provided one. Trinity has much it can share, through Synod, with neighbouring churches, and improved representation would also raise our profile. Anyone interested in becoming a Synod Representative should see Elaine Munday, the Church Secretary.

During the year there have also been presentations and discussions about the Reading Boiler Room, the work of the Diocesan Advisory Committee (on Church Buildings), the Reading Local Strategic Partnership, the diocesan First to The Lord campaign (on giving), and the Youth Ministry at St Laurence’s.

In February the Synod will be discussing the Anglican/Methodist Covenant.

Steve Edwards

Deanery Synod Representative

CHURCHES TOGETHER IN BERKSHIRE (CTB)

The Council of CTB meets only twice a year – for its AGM in March and then again in October. Our own

Roger Mead has been CTB’s County Ecumenical Officer – its key worker – for most of the year (and Nina edits the excellent Newsletter “Together”).

Meetings aim to share experiences of churches working together at various levels and to receive a report from the Ecumenical Officer about what ecumenically is happening around the county. About 20 representatives attend, from local Churches Together groups and from LEPs like Trinity.

The March meeting focussed on working with young people and Simon attended, to talk about the 25% of his working life not devoted to Trinity. One of the other speakers, Chris Russell of St Lawrence, spoke of the youth outreach based there and the success of the “Boiler Room” prayer room / coffee bar.

In October John Fairley, a former Trinity member, gave a talk on the Trade Justice campaign and the importance of all churches getting involved in working to try to secure a fairer international trading system.

Roger Mead stood down as CEO at the October meeting and was warmly thanked by the chairman for the hard work and the ‘quality of mind’ he has brought to the role over the preceding two years. He is succeeded by Mrs Honor Alleyne. Roger is not retiring (!)– he is now taking on the job of CTB Treasurer.

Richard Cocks

CTB Council Representative

CHURCHES TOGETHER IN EARLEY AND EAST READING (CTEER)

We met 4 times last year in March, June, September and December. The Chairman, at present, is our Rev Nick Thompson. Other Churches who regularly attend are: Earley St Peter’s, Park URC, St William of York, the Salvation Army, St Luke’s with St Bart’s, Our Lady of Peace, Lower Earley Baptist Church, Anderson Baptist, St Nicolas, St Elias, and St John’s & St Stephen’s. We also often have people from Churches Together in Reading and Churches Together in Berkshire attending our meetings and reporting on their activities.

In March we had a guest speaker from the Corrymeela Community of Northern Ireland , who spoke of their work, which is mainly with children who are living under or with the threat of death. The lady who spoke said they view this as ‘One Step on the Road Towards Peace’ with a framework of opportunity on neutral territory.

We have regular reports from Simon on his Schools’ Work, as CTEER help fund this. There has been much discussion this year on the future of this work.

The Jerusalem Trust funded a National Symposium in July for schools workers, which Rev David Skinner from Anderson was very involved in, with help from other churches in CTEER. This event was very successful and more of the same is planned for the future.

Roger Mead visited us several times to tell us what has been going on with CTB. He has been working hard to try and get CTB and CTEER more involved with each other, as this has been somewhat lacking in the past. Doreen Woods has also visited regularly to let us know what has been happening in CTR. They were without a Chairman for nearly a year, but Nigel Hardcastle agreed to take on the job and is busy building bridges in Reading with the religious community. They also deal with Christian Community Action, who have found a new home for the next 10 years.

Joint services were arranged for Easter, Christian Aid Week, Pentecost and The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, among others.

We had an informative report on the Methodist / Anglican Covenant by Dr Carole Cull of St Peter’s in June. I felt a glimmer of understanding on several occasions, as she made a complex issue sound interesting!

We have regular reports from Hamish Preston on the ‘Reading Jubilee Debt Campaign’ who continue to lobby Parliament for Fair Trade in Third World Countries.

St Elias, the Greek Orthodox Church, had a special 25-year anniversary celebration and service on the 20^th

July. They invited people from all of the CTEER churches and it was a great day.

I was told September and December meetings dealt with compiling of information for Christmas Service leaflets, together with printing, distributing and costing of them.

CTEER is still looking, after nearly a year, for a new Treasurer. This person can come from any of the churches and does not need to be an accountant. I am told it is not a big undertaking as we only meet 4 or 5 times a year, at most. If you think you might be interested, please have a word with Nick or myself.

Jill Ramsden

CTEER Representative

CTEER SCHOOLS WORK PROJECT

The Schools Work of Churches Together in Earley and East Reading has continued to grow during 2002 and has made significant plans for the future. Here are some of the highlights.

PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Lydia Bauge, from Anderson Baptist Church , now leads the team of volunteers from local churches who deliver part of the RE curriculum to pupils at Alfred Sutton School .

This year every pupil in the school had at least one session of RE in either Anderson, Park or St Bartholomew’s church. St Peter’s school has also taken up these lessons and a team is being developed by Rev Dan Tyndall to deliver them to Loddon and Hawkedon schools.

Nick and I regularly take assemblies at Whiteknights and Hillside school. This year has also seen a growth in the number of assemblies we have taken at Radstock school. Once again we have hosted church visits from each of the schools as part of the year 2 RE curriculum, with church members acting as guides.

SECONDARY SCHOOLS

In the summer CTEER acted as host for a national conference on work with 16-19 year olds called ‘Dare to Engage’. The 24 hour conference was funded by the Jerusalem Trust and Rev David Skinner of Anderson Baptist church was the principal organiser. It brought together 40 practitioners to share different models of ‘spiritual development’ work in 6^th form and FE colleges. The Jerusalem Trust have agreed to fund a follow up conference in 2004 and have allocated money for new and innovative work with this age group.

At Maiden Erlegh, the only secondary school physically in our patch, ministers and church workers once again delivered 4 or 5 assemblies to each of the 7 year groups in the school. As in previous years they also acted as classroom resources for 1 RE lesson in each of the 8 RE classes in years 7, 8 and 9. We also helped to fund and organise a half day 6^th form conference on ‘How much am I worth’ and a half day 6^th form RE conference on Medical and Sexual Ethics open to all Wokingham schools led by Rev Dr David Cook.

In November Maiden Erlegh went through an OFSTED inspection. The provision of opportunities for the spiritual, moral and social development of the pupils forms part of such an inspection. We were able to provide the school with evidence and observations on the spiritual development of pupils which were passed on to the inspectors.

FUTURE PLANS

In the course of the year plans were developed and launched to form a Schools Work Trust for Earley and

East Reading and the surrounding communities. This would involve the churches working in partnership with local schools and other faith communities “To enable schools and their pupils to develop spiritually and creatively engage with faith.” A Trust will provide the necessary legal framework to maintain the churches’ work with schools and enable it to grow. The plan is to raise sufficient funds to employ two full time and five part time workers. During 2003 churches and individuals will be invited to support the trust with their prayers, and with their money!

Rev Simon Howard

Schools Work Co-ordinator for Churches Together in Earley and East Reading

LOWER EARLEY FAMILY CONTACT CENTRE

FAMILIES:

This year we have seen approximately 22 families with 33 children attend The Lower Earley Family Contact Centre.

Generally we saw a very small decrease on 2001 figures but nothing much really changed. But we have seen some families on a regular basis over the last twelve months; others have been using the centre in line with court directive to ‘bridge the break up’. This is also in line with the National Association of Child Contact Centres, however all centres are set up to accommodate the short term and long term needs of children involved in families that have separated and we do not put time restrictions on places.

Most of the families we saw who used our centre were able to establish unsupervised contact, that is contact without a contact centre.

Some families have used our centre as purely a ‘hand-over’ point and this also helps to establish new routines of contact.

We have been involved in strengthening relationships with other contact centres in the Berkshire area and following the launch in October 2001 of Berkshire Contact Centres in Partnership with the Judiciary and Solicitors and all other agencies involved in child contact continues to work well. The Lord Chancellors’ Department is currently looking at the way contact is established with the courts and the legal organisations and NACCC (national association of child contact centres) through the promoting safe contact working party. We are also involved in discussions at local level.

Some changes have taken place on our management team and I handed over the role of Co-ordinator to Mrs Jean Tinker who attends Christ Church , Whitley Wood in October. Jean is doing an excellent job and has just completed the task of compiling all the necessary statistics for our centre.

I will be taking over the role of Chair in March at our AGM, as Simon is due to go on Sabbatical this year. We are grateful for his support of the last few years and I thank him for a listening ear at the end of a phone!

VOLUNTEERS:

We will be looking for a few new recruits to join us from June onwards so if you feel that you may be interested please contact me. I would be more than willing to talk to you about the contact centre. However, along with all organisations that work with children we do have to ask that all volunteers be Criminal Records Bureau checked. Jean will be undertaking this task of re-checking all current volunteers through CRB shortly. Training is also available and if you are working for a related degree then our centre is able to offer points for voluntary work towards this.

In conclusion, please continue to pray for our work. I am reminded of Matthew chapter 18 where Jesus is teaching instruction on humility and in verse 5 says ‘And whoever receives one such child in My name receives me’. Our hope at the centre is that if we can be there for one family and help in some way then our job is done. We pray that we can show Jesus in some way though this work with families that have been broken, God will show some restoration.

Sally Brimicombe

ALPHA

Since the annual reports last year, there have been no further Alpha courses at Trinity. We do still have all the videos and training resources to run the following:

Alpha, A Life Worth Living and Challenging Lifestyles. If anyone who has already done an Alpha Course would like to help run a group they should contact the ministers.

Margaret Evans

TUESDAY HOUSE GROUP

Over the past year, the group has studied a wide range of topics. In Lent we became one of the four Trinity Lent groups and followed a course featuring eminent speakers on tape and questions looking at Jesus’ time in the wilderness and Christian living. After Easter we studied the letters in Revelations to the churches of Asia Minor , following the “You’ve got Mail . . .” course from Spring Harvest.

In the autumn we looked at how the church arrived at certain positions, and how they related to New Testament teaching. This explored various issues including the communion service, different forms of minister, baptism / christening, denominational differences and angels. We welcomed Simon and Nick who led two very lively discussions.

The group meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month (with a break during the summer), at our home, 56 Durand Road . We are a friendly group and you are very welcome to join us in our discussions. Our meetings are publicised in the diary, and on the service sheet.

Steve Edwards

WEDNESDAY BIBLE STUDY

We meet every other Wednesday in the church hall from 8 – 9.45pm . For the last 2 terms we have followed

an EMMAUS course, studying Sacraments and The Beatitudes. A typical evening would include
refreshments, bible reading and discussion. The numbers present vary from between 6 and 14.

Current information on dates and topics is displayed on the notice boards in church. More members are welcome.

Margaret Evans

THURSDAY FELLOWSHIP GROUP

The Thursday group met in Trinity on Thursday evenings, and was a wonderful group that were able to enter into fellowship.

We followed courses of bible study, and grew in understanding the bible and its relation to where we are in our lives.

By encouraging each other, listening and contributing, as well as not having to, was very releasing and maintained the unity within the group.

During the autumn, we discussed the future of the group and we decided to take a break.

Joyce Louth

PRAYER AND PRAISE

“On your feet now - applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into His presence.......Enter with the password “Thank You!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank Him. Worship Him.........”Psalm 100. The Message

Prayer and Praise started in Spring 2002 and is open to all who desire to sing praises to God. The time shared takes the form of informal, Spirit-led worship, which is sometimes lively, with praise songs to lift the roof, and sometimes quiet, prayerful and reflective.

We are discovering new and beautiful songs each time we come together, and find ourselves blessed by the inspirational songs we sing. Using, in the main, the Mission Praise songbook we hope we can help to introduce some of the newer, and underused songs, to the Sunday Services.

Prayer and Praise is held twice monthly in the church, presently the 1st and 3rd Mondays, at 8 pm . Numbers attending vary, but average around 12. All very welcome.

Keith and Lisa Waite

OUTREACH

Aim: To communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ and, in partnership with other agencies, to meet the needs of those people we, both as individuals and as a church, come into contact with. Trinity needs to set an example in Lower Earley and be both welcoming and caring.

In 2002 many activities took place in Trinity that come under the umbrella of outreach; coffee mornings, social events, Holiday Bible Club, and Autumn Fayre, and so many more.

· Chalfont Club – meets every Thursday

· Holiday Bible Club – one week in the summer holidays

· Barbershop Singers (Barbarettes) and others

· Trinity Concert Band

· Autumn Fayre

· Carol Singing at the Royal Berks Hospital and Maiden Place

· Just Around the Corner (JAC) – supporting the youth in our community

· Youth Net

The aims for the Outreach Group over the coming year are:

Growing In faith, with our outreach with others

Caring Welcoming all in our fellowship

Unity United in our purpose

Community Inviting in, and reaching out

John Louth

CRESCENT COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTRE

After years of planning and committee work, the Centre became a reality when the new building was opened on Thursday 16^th January by Bob Ames (chairman) and Lillian King (secretary). Afterwards a lunch was held and was attended by approximately 130 people, which was very encouraging.

During lunch, a cheque for £4,500 was presented to the Centre by Simon, which is half of the £9,000 Trinity has committed over a three year period.

Warm appreciation to all the members for their financial support to this worthy project.

Every good wish to the Centre in all its future endeavours.

Tony Bonnett

Trustee

TRINITY WEBSITE

www.trinityearley.co.uk

I reported last year that we had over 4600 visits to the site. During the last year that has risen to over 5500. This shows that the website is being used, but is not attracting a lot of traffic by internet standards. I still welcome feedback from anyone with a prayer request or some ideas for improving the site.

We recently reviewed the website at the Church Council. This was a very positive and helpful review and gave me some new ideas for improving the website – some of which have been put in, such as an improved front page, better page style and greater emphasis on the pastoral opportunities of the site. Other improvements are to follow. These will include information about schools links, the charities we support, the parish boundaries, and more. So do keep logging in.

The website contains over 30 pages of information about our Church. It acts as an online brochure covering all the activities of the Church, as well as being an information source for our own members and a source of pastoral care for visitors. It has a front page with the Church pencil drawing on it and welcoming messages as well as general information about how to contact the ministers. From the front page one can navigate to the other pages covering:

· overview of Trinity, its location, aims, history, ministers and members

· Activities of the Church

· Alpha

· Information to encourage potential new members

· Caring

· Groups

· Humour

· Links to other Christian sites (eg our Denominational sites)

· Magazines (all the magazines for the past year)

· Music

· Latest News

· Pictures

· Prayers

· Reports (the report you are now reading will be on the site)

· Structure

· Worship

· Youth organisations

All this information is available to anyone in the world who wants to see it.

I update the website regularly (approx monthly) to keep it alive and up-to-date, and to add the latest magazine. I am constantly looking for more things to improve our website, so if you have any ideas, articles, links or photographs which would be suitable, send them to me and I will gladly add them.

Alex Robinson

Website Co-Ordinator