The Church Council is defined by our constitution to be the executive body of Trinity Church , and meetings of the Church Council are simultaneously also meetings of the Parochial Church Council. The membership of the Council includes the ministers, the principal officers of the church, together with those who represent the church on denominational bodies, and additional members elected to Church Council by the Annual Church Meeting.

The people who have served on Church Council during 2005 have been

Chair: Peter Musgrove

Ministers: Simon Howard (to May),

Nick Thompson ,

Nina Mead

Senior Steward/ Churchwarden: John Brimicombe (to March)

Steve Edwards (from March to December)

Church Secretary/Churchwarden: Elaine Munday (to March)

Roger Mead (from March)

Church Treasurer: Catherine Edwards (to December)

Stewards: John Bethell

Sandy Catchick

Andrew Curnow

John Goddard

Vronwyn Hutch (from September)

Alan Minns

Richard Munday (to June)

David Newell (from September)

Emma Thorne (from March)

Property Administrator: Ian Brickell (from March)

Representative to Deanery Synod: Virginia Thorne (to July)

Steve Edwards (to December)

Representative to Circuit: Tony Bonnett

Representative to District Council: Wendy Keeley

Appointed by AGM: Cath Bethell (to March)

Lynda Brannelly (from March)

Sandy Godfrey (from March)

Kate Robinson (to March)

Janet Whiteman (from March)

Minute Secretary: Kathryn Johns

Methodist Circuit Steward Jenny Dimmock (to September)

Julie Marsh (from September)

Church Council meets seven times a year. The average attendance at Church Council has been seventeen. Each meeting opens with worship led by two members of the Council, and includes a pastoral report from the ministers, and reports from one or two of our Church Committees and Groups (other committees and groups report to Church Meetings). The business of the seven meetings includes matters referred from the denominations and from the wider church, but is mainly generated from within Trinity, and during 2005 has included the following:

January. Formal reports were received on Schools Work in Earley and East Reading and from the Social Group. There were brief reports on Youth Net activity and Anglican Training. The major discussion was on “Equipping the Saints” (a discussion paper from the United Reformed Church General Assembly). The Council were updated on the Trinity Building Project and on the Three Mile Cross Church .

February. Formal reports were received from Education & Nurture and Worship Committees. The draft Annual Reports were received and approved. The major discussion was concerned with Spiritual Growth and the planning and development of small group activities. We had an initial discussion of the proposed Mission 2007 in Reading .

April. Formal reports were received on the work of the Deanery Synod and Methodist Circuit. There were discussions about Saturday Morning Prayers, and planning for our Away Day. Future planning for Spiritual Growth and House Groups and for Mission 2007”Regenerate” was discussed. We also considered the planning of future worship arrangements and enjoyed a farewell view from Simon Howard .

May. A formal report was received from the Social Committee. There were also updates from the Finance, Worship and Missions Committees and the Property Group. We received reports on the English Church Census, and on the CTB LEP Day and reflections on the Away Day. We considered the future planning of ministry in the Reading zone of the URC, and preaching plans and leadership for young people.

July. Formal reports were received on the work of Churches Together in Berkshire and Churches Together in Earley & East Reading. There were also updates from the Pastoral and Staffing Committees. There was consideration of the Reading zone of the URC, the appointment at Trinity of a Lay Worker, and the Mission 2007 “Regenerate”. We discussed problems of filling vacancies in the list of Trinity jobs.

October. Formal reports were received from the Property Group and from the Crescent Community Centre. There were also updates from meetings of the Missions, Education & Nurture and Pastoral Committees and from the Joint Church Council. Planning for Mission 2007 “Regenerate”, and for next year’s Away Day were discussed, and final arrangements for the Lay worker appointment were agreed.

November. Formal reports were received on the work of Junior Church and on Youth Net activities. The main discussion was on the Finance Report and on the re-organisation of the Finance activities at Trinity and the construction of the new Treasury Team. The annual Property Returns were approved and there was an update on the Building Project.

Roger Mead

Church Secretary

CHURCH MEETING

There have been the usual four Church Meetings during 2005, in March (the Annual General Meeting), June, September and December. The meetings have included the usual mix of items including worship, a pastoral report, regular reports from committees and groups, elections and appointments, decisions (mainly relating to the building development project, and presentations. A list of all new elections & appointments is given at the end of this report.

The average attendance at these meetings has been 40 people. The agenda matters at the four meetings have been as follows:

March (AGM). Worship was led by Keith and Lisa Waite. Nick Thompson reported on pastoral matters. Elections and appointments were agreed. The annual finance report was presented by the Treasurer, Catherine Edwards , and the annual accounts were adopted. The set of annual reports was presented to the meeting and the reports were approved. Progress and prospects for the Building Project, including finance and fundraising were reported and discussed. Ideas for the Mission in Reading in 2007 were introduced.

June. Worship was led by Roger Mead . Nick Thompson and Margaret Stephens reported on pastoral matters. Formal reports were received from the Pastoral Committee and the Missions Committee. Elections and appointments were agreed. We also discussed the arrangements for leading worship and the appropriate spread between denominations, finance and in particular our support of the Crescent Centre, progress for Mission 2007 and the Building Project. The main item was a presentation on ”Commitment for Life”, the URC programme for overseas mission.

September. Worship was led by Jill Duncan . Nick Thompson presented a pastoral report. A formal report was received from the Staffing Committee. Elections and appointments were agreed. Final details of the arrangements for a part-time lay worker were approved by the meeting. The main item of business was the further consideration of the Building Project including detailed design matters and financial progress.

December. Worship was led by Kay Slack . Nick Thompson reported on pastoral matters. Formal reports were received from representatives to the Contact Centre, and the URC Reading & Oxford District and Wessex Synod. Elections and appointments were agreed. The development of a new Treasury Team was explained and approved. The main business concerned the Building proposals; updates for the financial progress and for the detailed design proposals were presented and discussed.

The following elections have been made at Church Meetings during 2005:

Church Secretary/Churchwarden Roger Mead (March)

Senior Steward/Churchwarden Steve Edwards (March)

Treasurer Norman Briggs (December)

Property Administrator Ian Brickell (March)

Stewards Emma Thorne (March ), Vronwyn Hutch (September)

David Newell (September)

Members of Church Council (March for 1 year) Lynda Brannelly

Sandy Godfrey, Janet Whiteman

The following new appointments have been made at Church Meetings during 2005:

Representative to Reading Deanery Synod John Goddard (December)

Representative to CTEER Richard Munday (December)

Communion Steward Gaynor Davies (December)

Assistant Treasurer Gill Newton (March)

Crèche Co-ordinator Sandy Godfrey (September)

Leaders for Earley Youth Net Bethan Jones (December)

& James Pollard (December)

Member of the Joint Church Council David Ramsden (December)

& (as alternate to Elaine Munday) Richard Munday (December)

Worship Committee members John Goddard (June)

& Kay Slack (September)

Pastoral Committee member Margaret Stephens (June)

Staffing Committee member John Brimicombe (September)

Finance Committee member Nigel Holloway (December)

Education & Nurture Group members Lisa Waite (June)

& Sally Brimicombe (June)

Pastoral Team members Joanna Hassan (December)

& Janette Bushnell (December)

Each of these appointments is for a three year term. In addition many members have been re-appointed to positions for a further term of three years.

Roger Mead

Church 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.

During the year there were 6 members of the finance committee:

Catherine Edwards (Treasurer)

Emma Thorne (Assistant Treasurer)

Alison Travers (Assistant Treasurer)

Gill Newton (Assistant Treasurer)

John Medcraft (Gift Aid and Envelope Secretary)

Roger Mead

Tony Bonnett

In addition we welcomed Nick Thompson to some of the committee meetings. We aim to meet on a quarterly basis, but in fact in this year we met three times. During the year Alison Travers stood down after 6 years service and I would like to thank Alison for all her hard work and support. We welcomed Gill Newton as the new Assistant Treasurer.

The Church started the year in a strong position after last year. During the year significant funds were given by the congregation to the new building fund. As expected this led to a drop in the income being given to the general fund and our general income was down on last year by £10,000. General costs were kept under control, but there were exceptional items on expenditure on repairs and maintenance. This meant that we finished the year in a break-even position rather than a surplus. However the Church has sufficient reserves to maintain this position whilst funds are being raised for the new building. Detailed information is contained within the Annual Accounts.

Next year we face a very challenging position due to a substantial increase in our assessment, which with the fall in general income leaves the Church facing a deficit again.

As this is my last report as Treasurer I would like to thank those who contribute financially to church funds which enables the Church to achieve so much. Thank you for all your support during my time as Treasurer and I wish Trinity well in the future.

I welcome Norman Briggs as Treasurer supported by a new finance team of Gill Newton, Emma Thorne , Helen Rixon, Velda Nylander, Sandy Godfrey and Nigel Holloway.

Catherine Edwards

Treasurer

PROPERTY COMMITTEE

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

Ian Brickell Property Administrator

David Carrick Buildings Supervisor

David Rains Equipment Supervisor

Jane Thompson Cleaning Coordinator

Vacancy Manse Steward

Tony Bonnett Church Users /Steward / Room Bookings representative.

Willing helpers Always wanted!

Nick Thompson is also on the committee in his Church Council role.

The separate Buildings Working Group has continued to successfully progress the plans for changes and additions to the Church building. The Committee is represented on the group by the Property Administrator.

Property Administrator / Buildings Supervisor arrangement

After a number of years as Property Administrator Steve Edwards stood down from this role. The extent and quality of his work was outstanding, and hard to follow! The Buildings Supervisor post had been vacant since John Louth left. Ian and David have split up the work between them with David dealing primarily with keys, security, lighting and most of the hands on work and Ian dealing more with contractors, administration and chairing of the Committee.

Staffing

The Manse Steward post is currently vacant and a volunteer is needed for this – no special knowledge or significant time commitment is involved.

Health and Safety Legislation applicable to the Church seems to grow every year and a volunteer is sought to progress outstanding matters on a “one-off project basis”. Also willing helpers to do odd jobs are always welcome!

If you are interested in any of these areas Ian Brickell would be pleased to hear from you – see Church directory or magazine for contact details.

What has been, and is going to be, done?

A number of maintenance items have been carried out to the church in the last year, many of which go unnoticed, but by way of examples have included: -

Repair of kitchen cupboard doors, re fixing loose door handles, multiple bulb replacements, broken heating boost thermostat and vandalised radiator fitting, First Aid box replenishment, roof tile repairs, drain clearance, electrical system inspection and Portable Appliance Testing, renewal of the large electric water heater in the roof and the small hot water urn, and of course regular general cleaning.

The current list `of items to tackle includes e.g. larger shelves in the Vestry , electrical modifications to meet current standards (where not affected by building project), rodent guard to outside bin store etc. There are also various items which are being deferred to be done as part of the building scheme such as various non urgent electrical repairs.

I should like to thank all those serving on the Committee for their time and expertise and hope that the current vacancies can soon be filled.

Ian Brickell

Property Administrator

EDUCATION AND NURTURE

Aim: To encourage spiritual growth and to develop a closer relationship with God as individuals and as a church

Our April meeting was Lisa Waite’s first and Bridget Howard ’s last; and Sally Brimicombe joined us at the September meeting. Other group members are Wendy Crosson-Smith, Jill Duncan , Nina Mead and Nick Thompson

Through the year a number of fellowship groups have met:

Lent - four groups met with a total of 45 people attending the Lent study groups.

Voices from the South – two groups met with a total of 18 people attending a five week study looking at issues leading up to the G8 summit; we then met socially on the sixth week for an international meal.

Advent group – ten people have met for the four weeks of Advent to reflect on the Christmas story

Alpha course - organised by Joan Guile and Sarah Keeley , this ran from September with twelve members.

Prayer group – meets on the third Monday of each month

Prayer and Praise – meets on the second Monday of each month

With all of these groups the actual people vary from week to week as we all have other commitments; however they are a great way to grow spiritually and to make friends and the flexibility does not seem to detract from the fellowship.

Confirmation classes were run during May, with 5 people coming forward for confirmation at the joint service in July.

Some people went to Easter People and about 20 people went to Greenbelt in August. Both of these are recommended by those who went - perhaps you would like to organise a Trinity group.

The planned quiet day in September was cancelled due to lack of support. Although we are asked to plan these days, they are poorly attended and so we have decided to not organise another for a while.

On a Saturday in November we held a Phillippi Trust Listening and Responding Skills course at Trinity. Sixteen people attended and afterwards completed a short piece of work to gain certificates in this deceptively difficult skill

Lisa Waite held an evening of signing in worship in November.

Jill Duncan

TRINITY LIBRARY

I had a problem with the library database this year which took a lot of time to sort out, as I am the only who uses it I have only myself to blame!

New books bought: 13 adult and 16 children’s. Withdrawals 35, most of which were sold at a £1 each for the buildings fund. There are 16 books missing this year. The recorded loans of 35 books is down on previous years, but I know some are borrowed without being written in the book.

Could I ask that everyone writes down the books they borrow, so that I can properly record how much the library is used and so they are not marked as missing in the annual stock take. Every year we have between 10 and 20 books missing, perhaps half of these reappear; if all of the books were recorded as loans I could remind people to return them!

Jill Duncan

Librarian

MISSIONS COMMITTEE

The committee currently consists of Andrew Curnow, Pam Handy, Sally Garforth, Alan Minns, Graham Looker, Pam Thomson and myself. We try to maintain and develop some of the “Community” aspect of Trinity’s aims, being responsible for most of the church’s links with, and compassionate response to, the wider world. However, we also try to help with “Growing” church members in terms of developing their individual responses.

We met four times in 2005, to plan our regular annual programme of events and special collections and decide which of the many appeals that are received by the church we can realistically respond to. Trinity’s main activities, appeal and collections this year, most of which we were involved with, were as follows:

§ NCH fundraising included a house-to-house collection (£212) and an envelope collection on NCH Sunday (£166).

§ Members filled a large cardboard box with tinned food, for the Drop in Centre, to whom we also gave most of the tinned harvest produce.

§ Christian Aid Week collections (£1302)

§ Harvest Supper and auction of produce in support of the Refugee Council and the Association of Visitors of Immigrants in Detention (£400)

§ Easter collections (£307) donated to fund teachers at a Mission school in Msoro , Zambia

§ Autumn Fayre in support of the Niger famine appeal (£360)

§ Printer recycling box in vestibule, in support of Traidcraft Exchange (£69)

§ Special Disability Sunday service

§ The donation of Toy Service toys to NCH’s Bracknell Family Centre and the Mayor’s Appeal for local needy children

§ Donations at the Christingle Service (£80) for the Children’s Society

§ 46 “Samaritan’s Purse” shoeboxes of presents for children in Eastern Europe .

§ The Jar of Grace UNICEF appeal for feeding supplements for poorly nourished children (£108)

§ Christmas collections (£897) for Christian Aid’s “Child of Africa” appeal to help rebuild lives following the civil war in Angola .

The Christian Aid week collection, organised by David Raines, was a substantial improvement on previous years. So can we beat it this year?! Another highlight was seeing the photo taken by Anna Headley of some Bosnian children gleefully receiving some of the Samaritan’s Purse shoeboxes. On the downside, the Autumn Fayre was not as successful as usual. We are looking at ways to improve on this in 2006.

We have continued to support the hospital and community in Kagando , Uganda with a £300/year donation to meet most of the salary of their evangelist. In addition, Trinity has decided that our tithe of £8,000 or so from the Buildings Project will support the building of a house for outside visitors to the project. (Perhaps one of us can try it out sometime!)

Trinity supported the Make Poverty History campaign, flying the banner and sending groups to the “Wake up to Fair Trade” all-night vigil in Westminster and to the G8 summit demonstration in Edinburgh . And Christine and Robert Adamson hosted a successful “Voices from the South” discussion series in the summer followed by a delicious International Meal.

There has been great support from many others in church for the activities that needed it. Thanks to everyone who helped to make a difference to God’s wider family, in whatever way.

Richard Cocks

Missions Committee Convenor

TRINITY TRAIDCRAFT

We have continued to have a regular stall after the 10am service on the fourth Sunday of most months, with occasional other special appearances, including the Autumn Fayre - and great efforts to exploit the seasonal trade in December!

Outside Trinity we again attended the Earley Carnival and for the first time Reading WaterFest.

The total orders we have placed with Traidcraft in 2005 amount to £2,231, a substantial increase on last year. The figures are substantially helped (though they were last year too) by a bulk order for the beverages consumed on Tim Ragget’s and the Bethal’s youth camp!

Pam Thompson’s craft stall sold £1,770 of goods at Trinity, making a total of £4,000 sales through the church – one third up on last year’s total. It seems that people are increasingly becoming aware of the difference that fair trade makes and are more prepared to pay a fair price for things.

We provide the tea and coffee - and now “Fairbreak cookies” - for after-service refreshments, for which the church reimbursed us £98 this year. We may even be able claim some credit for the addition of the new smaller cookies to Traidcraft’s range, having told them on several occasions that there must be a good market for them in churches. We hope you enjoy them!

Margaret and Richard Cocks

WORSHIP COMMITTEE

The committee consists of approximately nine members: currently on the committee are Kay Slack , John Goddard, Leslie Bainton, Peter Whiteman, Andrew Rixon , Kate Robinson and myself. Nick Thompson attends the meetings although if the meeting is held in church he does spread himself between the various committees as needed. Representatives on the committee come from music and Trinity worship groups as well as other areas.

The secretary is responsible for organising the readers’ rota and contacting visiting ministers/preachers about the services. There is always a need for extra readers particularly at the evening services.

At the committee meetings previous services are discussed and assessed for both accessibility and inclusiveness. The patterns of Easter and Christmas services are also both arranged and assessed.

The Trinity Worship Book was discussed fully through this committee. The music for this played a large part in the discussions at meetings.

Over the last year we have discussed the 6pm service in its various forms; Saturday morning prayers; copyright of the music in Trinity; the need for some consistency with visiting ministers now that Simon has gone; the need for more sensitive ministers during the summer, when there is no Junior Church; the greater use of combining worship with meals; a selection of hymns for use during communion was selected.

Elizabeth Netherwood

Worship Secretary

PRAYER & PRAISE

The Prayer & Praise evenings have continued throughout 2005.

The meetings take the form of an informal worship and prayer group. We meet to share in worship, learning new songs, as well as singing old favourites. We pray and share concerns, thoughts and reflections.

The meetings are attended by around 6 to 10 people and new faces are always welcome - even if you can't make it to every meeting. At present we are meeting once a month in the Church. Look in the monthly Trinity magazine for more details.

As a group we have continued to be involved in helping to lead worship at Trinity - in particular the Easter Sunday evening 'Easter Praise' service which we are looking forward to leading again in 2006. One of our aims is to identify the unknown songs in Mission Praise as well as finding newly published songs, and include them in the services we help to lead.

Keith and Lisa Waite

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 as members come and go. University entrance programmes have taken their toll on our membership and we are always keen to welcome new musicians. Today we have ten full band members and six associate members, so if you are hiding your musical light under a bushel – or perhaps just learning an instrument and can play from sight reasonably well - why not consider contributing to worship at Trinity with your music? The commitment is low – an hour before a 10.00 service perhaps once every two or three weeks.

The Ecumenical nature of our church 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 (within the band but also notably in other areas of music in Trinity).

During 2005 the band played twenty-eight times:

~ Twenty three services at Trinity

~ Two memorial services at Duchess of Kent House on 24^th April and 16^th October

May I say another big thank-you to all members, associates, supporters and friends past and present who have contributed.

Peter Whiteman

SINGING GROUP

The Singing Group has, over the last 4 years, become an established part of Trinity Church tradition and worship. The group boasts some 25 regular singers. In total, close to 50 people have sung with the group since it was formed. Some people may not realise, but the history of the group goes back to around 1990, when the group met purely socially once a month, in members' houses.

The objectives of the group are:

· To encourage and enable anyone who wishes, regardless of musical background, to sing as part of a group.

· To sing 2-3 times in a year. It is not the intention to practise every week. Instead, there are typically 5 to 6 practices, 1 per week, in the run up to the service. This way, people know what the commitment is, and we remain fresh and enthusiastic!

· To sing music from all periods, from traditional early music through to modern popular songs.

· To sing music from many cultural traditions and origins.

In 2005, we sang:

· On Trinity Sunday, in May. This happened also to be Simon Howard 's last service as minister at Trinity.

· 3 times during the Christmas period - as indeed we did in 2004. As well as the Carol Service and Midnight Service, we sang during Phil and Joy Hooper's evening of Christmas time readings and drama.

All levels of musical ability are welcome, from never having sung before and can't read music through to experienced musicians. There is a lot of “note bashing”, so all have confidence with the music. I would specifically like to thank Tim Raggett and Allan Moore for helping with the practices.

The music that the group sings is from all styles and ages. We have sung a number of modern songs (Rutter, Goodall), and this Christmas we sang some quite traditional and older music.

In 2006, we are currently planning to sing again at the Trinity Sunday service in May/June. There will be other services, and I would also like to look at singing away from the church.

For more information, please contact me, Andrew Rixon , on arixon(at)microsoft.com and 0118 986 1689.

Andrew Rixon

JUNIOR CHURCH

The Junior Church groups continue to use Scripture Union material. It seems quite expensive (about £240 /year), but is essential in the work we do.

On Sunday 8^th Jan 2006 there were the following numbers in classes:

Crèche 3 (usually 5-6)

Nursery 6 (usually 5-8)

Infants 5 (usually 4-6)

Juniors 5 (usually 8-9)

Seniors 5 (usually 5-6)

Youth (no meeting, usually 3-11)

There have been some major changes in the Youth class. After many years running this group Graham Pettipher has moved to another church. The older teenagers decided they would like to run the group themselves, so Laura Thompson now produces a rota for leading the group. Sarah Keeley and Allan Moore also lead some sessions to provide some input from older Christians. So that the young people get used to(!) “ordinary” worship and liturgy the group now remains in church whenever there is a Communion service

These changes have allowed Margaret Goddard to move from the Youth group to the Seniors class.

The Junior class lost Jo Allum as a teacher, but have been joined by Caroline Day who is now teaching.

On behalf of the children, their parents and the rest of the church I would like to warmly thank all those named above, and the rest of the Junior church staff, for all the work they have done and are doing. I believe that teaching the children is one of the most important things that we do as a church.

As seasonal “specials” there was a cinema “trip” to see Narnia , though not many came, and still to come we have the Sunday lunch, prepared by the children and young people for the rest of the church to help raise money for the Buildings Fund!

Margaret Cocks

Sunday School Superintendent

HOLIDAY BIBLE CLUB

Holiday Bible Club 2005 was a one-day event, rather than the usual format of four afternoons. The children involved were mainly familiar faces from Trinity, but we did have some visitors from other local churches. The theme was “Noah”, and activities included creating a spectacular rainbow, making animal masks, singing, cooking, dancing, games, drama and crafts. As usual, Holiday Bible Club would not have been possible without the hard work of numerous Trinity stalwarts who gave up their time to plan and run the day. Thank you very much to everyone involved. Thanks also to Pete Stone, a local Youth Worker who “compered” the day.

Katherine Bishop

PILOTS

Pilots has had another fun filled year. Numbers have remained stationary this year with weekly attendance remaining around 14 each week. Our leadership team has had to say many sad goodbyes this year as Louise Audoire and Rosemary Reece stepped down as officers and Anna Cocks, Lizzie Glennon and Sarah Johns left to go to University. Their fantastic enthusiasm will be missed by everyone. Our leadership team has been lucky enough to welcome Sam Cocks, Oliver Dyson and Anna Hedley.

We have been working on the 6 points of the Pilots compass over the year:

Praying Interest Learning Overseas Talents Service

Praying and service work has been fulfilled through many contributions to church life. As the Pilots have been so keen to take part in church parade we took on the challenge of helping in the first half of a 10 a.m. service. This gave the children a real sense of being part of the church and something we hope to continue in the future.

In the summer term we set sail for our summer voyage and spent several weeks at Three Mile Cross which gave us plenty of room to run round and play games. There were several interested locals who were slightly too old for our group. There is a definite need for youth outreach in the village.

Our autumn overseas voyage has been to China . We have learnt to write our numbers in Chinese characters, how to use chopsticks, made Terracotta warriors and lots of different facts about Chinese culture. We had our first alternative Halloween night which went down really well.

Pilots continues to strive to provide a church activity which allows us to reach out to the local community by providing fun activities for children and a friendly environment in which the Christian faith is expressed through caring for one another.

We would continue to ask the members of Trinity to pray for the children that they would come to know the love of God and Jesus as their Saviour. The prayerful support of the church is essential for the continued growth of the leaders and the children.

Sarah Keeley Pilot Captain

BOYS’ BRIGADE

Steady as she goes, I believe, one could claim when reviewing the past year. We had a very successful New Year’s party for members, parents and friends. Badge work continued during the year and three members of the Junior Section received the gold badge, which takes some doing. In the year 2006 they transfer to the company section.

Our camp this year was in Devon and while we have good weather with most camps, this year was an exception as we had more rain than sunshine. As we plan for such as this the camp was well run and was voted a most enjoyable time together. When we say camp it means living in tents for eight days.

This year we won the Junior Section Reading & District table tennis competition for the sixth time in succession. The Company Section, who usually do well in this competition were ready to play on the day but owing to school claims we had to cancel. We will be entering for the 2006 competition.

The Brigade has adopted a policy of asking officers to take a course every five years and so this year Ruth and I attended a renewable camp course and a holiday and games course which proved most enjoyable, meeting many old BB friends. We attended at Felden Lodge, Felden, which is a large training centre. Last year over one million pounds was spent improving the sleeping arrangements. As we do every year, we attended Council which this year was at Londonderry , Northern Ireland , which included a Church Parade and march through the town. We then went to Llandudno to spend a week with the Steadfast Club.

Les Bainton

Boys’ Brigade Captain

EARLEY YOUTH NET

A year is a very long time! Indeed Youth Net has changed complexion so much over the last twelve months it is difficult to explain all. We are sustained by our regular Wednesday meetings which have kept us Jesus focused during all the times of change and flux.

Firstly, the young people. We have again said goodbye to many young people who have flown off around the country (some even going as far North as York . Not that that's really North, but it’s a good start) to be students at higher educational institutes. Our prayers and thoughts are with them. And we do miss them; they've been a great bunch and an absolute joy to work with. However, we are now seeing a growth at the younger end of Youth Net with several young people joining us and we look forward to many years of seeing God working in this generation’s lives. It has been a challenge to the leadership team to re-focus Youth Net from a late teens to young teens (and I include 11 & 12 in this) youth group but we are learning fast. And it means we get to play great games like “follow the star” more often. Ask one of our young people for a description of this highly technical game.

Our Wednesday sessions continue to be Bible based, as we aim to work through a book of the Bible each term. During the Autumn Term we took on the Gospel of Matthew – backwards! Each section of our meeting, including the Welcome Ice-breaking Games, was based on a passage out of the Bible and we are encouraging the young people to work through the book we're studying at Youth Net between the sessions as well. This will continue into Spring 2006 working through the book of Acts, but forwards this time, as it generally makes more sense.

There has been another weekend away near Newbury, which was attended by lots of young people (I think 40) where the Gospel was preached and much fun was had. Though not much sleep. We also participated in St Peters all nighter and there are now termly Meeting Place worship events. (Big thanks to the Sounds of Salvation Band for those.)

We still have close links to St Peters & Lower Earley Baptist Church . One of our challenges for the future is to look at what it means to be “Earley” Youth Net (I take this opportunity to remind the reader that Youth Net is not solely a Trinity initiative) and how we take the Gospel out of churches to all the young people of the area. We have also inherited St Peters Youth Alpha Group, many of whom are already known to us and we can't wait to get to know them properly.

On the leadership side, we bid a painful farewell to Auntie Cath Bethell who has moved on to more Vicary training things. It would be impossible to overstate how grateful we are to Cath for all her work, encouragement, vision and food that she has brought to Youth Net over the past four years. We have also just formalised our leadership structure. We now have “Leaders” and “Assistant Leaders.” Assistant Leaders being those who are new to the leadership team, and are putting in place a system of mentoring for them. The old “Young/Emerging Leaders Group” is being replaced with a “Youth Net Plus” group focused on the older teenagers.

As always we covet your prayers, and if you want up to the minute information please visit www.earleyyouthnet.co.uk.

James Pollard

TRINITY STAFFING COMMITTEE

Trinity Staffing Committee exists to manage all aspects of staffing at Trinity, and in particular is concerned with ministerial staffing. The membership of the Committee includes people from Trinity and ecumenical and denominational representatives. The membership of the Committee has changed greatly during the year. There have been two meetings of the Committee, in January and in June.

The membership of the committee is composed as follows:

From Trinity

Ministers: Simon Howard (up to May), and Nick Thompson

Church Secretary: Elaine Munday, replaced in March by Roger Mead

Senior Steward: John Brimicombe , replaced in March by Steve Edwards

Members: Kay Slack (Secretary)

Virginia Thorne, replaced in September by John Brimicombe

Janet Whiteman

Ecumenical Officers

CT Berkshire EO Honor Alleyne

Anglican Diocese EO Moira Astin

Methodist Circuit EO Nick Thompson

URC District EO Roger Mead, replaced in March by Michael Jackson

Denominational Representatives

Methodist Circuit Steward: Jenny Dimmock, replaced in September by Julie Marsh

Anglican Archdeacon of Berkshire : Norman Russell

Methodist Circuit Superintendent: David Ellis

URC District Secretary: Colin Ferguson

(The latter three while not formally members of the Committee have a standing invitation to attend when major staffing decisions are being considered.)

John Brimicombe has chaired the committee until March and Roger Mead from March. Both meetings held during the year have been mainly attended by Trinity members of the committee and have been concerned primarily with internal Trinity matters

The main subject for the discussions has been, again, the arrangements for the situation with a single full-time stipendiary minister at Trinity. The first part of the discussions has included clarification of arrangements with respect to Anglican requirements and support as we changed from having two ministers to Nick being the sole stipendiary minister. Simon Howard moved to his new appointment at Twyford and Ruscombe in June, and we were able to express our appreciation of his ministry at Trinity in various ways culminating in a grand celebration party on Simon’s (and Bridget’s) last Sunday.

The second part has been moving onwards to planning the appointment of the new Anglican stipendiary minister in Summer 2007. The timetable for the new appointment involves developing our parish profile during 2006, meeting with the Archdeacon in the autumn of 2006, advertising and interviewing during the spring of 2007, and hopefully welcoming our new minister towards the end of the 2007 summer. The Archdeacon of Berkshire, Norman Russell, will be working closely with Trinity as we seek for the right person to take up the appointment here, and we are working towards establishing the way in which Trinity operates with a single stipendiary minister.

Other matters considered at the meetings of the committee have been (i) getting the constitution review group working on the revised constitution, (ii) the appointment of a lay worker, (iii) a possible CTB visitor for Trinity and (iv) reviewing the appointment of the new cleaner.

The Committee will be meeting in June and September during 2006, possibly with an additional meeting later during the autumn.

Roger Mead

Church Secretary

READING AND SILCHESTER METHODIST CIRCUIT

The circuit met four times during 2005 under the chairmanship of the Superintendent Minister – Rev David Ellis . These meetings were held at Christ Church Woodley, Caversham Heights , Mortimer and Tadley Main Road churches in February, June, September and December.

Our minister, Rev Nick Thompson , the Senior Steward, the Church Treasurer and three elected representatives represent Trinity. The meeting is responsible for decision making in respect of the policy and management of the circuit and forms a link of communication between the individual churches and the Methodist Conference.

Farewells

At the June meeting, thanks and best wishes were expressed to Glenda and Ken Sidding, who were retiring to Dorset after four years in the circuit; to Tony and Irene Bell, as Tony has now taken up an appointment in the Oxford Circuit at the start of the connectional year in September; and to Margaret Havers, as she retires from her post as Lay Worker – although she will continue to be very involved in our circuit. A Circuit Farewell Service was held at Christ Church , Woodley on 10 July. A personal tribute was paid to Peter Bell by David Ellis for all his hard work as a circuit steward over the years, as he would be retiring from that office in August.

Stationing

The invitation to Rev Dr Mike Hill , minister at Christ Church , Woodley, has been extended by a further two years to August 2008. Peter Bell reported that Rev Simon Howard , who had been the Anglican minister at Trinity for the last nine years, had recently left to take up a new appointment at Twyford and Ruscombe. It was also agreed at the June meeting that a letter be sent to Rev Tom Stuckey at the start of his presidential year and to Rev Simon Howard , on his recent move from the circuit.

Circuit Stewards

At the September meeting, the following circuit stewards were appointed to serve for one year from September 2005: Jillian Martin, Henry Stroud, Jennifer Dimmock, Donald Fraser, Julie Marsh and Alan Harland, also to act as Circuit Treasurer.

Tony Bonnett

Representative to Circuit Meeting

URC READING AND OXFORD DISTRICT COUNCIL

Since my last report I have attended meetings in the churches at Bracknell , Cumnor, near Oxford , and Maidenhead as well as the zoning meeting to discuss levels of ministry in the Reading Zone.

The meetings give information on what is going on in local churches, and the synod. Over the past year we have discussed Make Poverty History campaign, the Catch the Vision report from Assembly and occupation of manses when the church does not have a minister in place, and briefly the future of the district council in light of the report from the Assembly on ‘new synods’ and whether they should be tied to the current diocese of the Church of England or the Districts of the Methodist Church. The finance committee have been assisting churches with their building projects and the training committee give information on what is available during the year ranging from Elders training to youth work.

The next meeting will be at Thatcham URC church in February when there will be a discussion on the ‘new synods’ resulting from Assembly where there will only be one level between church and assembly

As well as all the information and discussion, the other enjoyable part of the meeting is the tea and fellowship before the meeting starts.

Wendy Keeley

Trinity Lay Representative

UNITED REFORMED CHURCH WESSEX SYNOD

The Wessex Synod stretches from Banbury to Poole to Southampton to Portsmouth to Guildford to Banbury and includes five districts and about 170 local churches. From Trinity our ministers are members of the Synod and we have one lay representative.

Synod meets twice a year. During 2005 I attended the March meeting in Fareham , but was unable to get to the November meeting in Bournemouth .

The Synod agenda always includes opening and closing worship, and a Bible Study, which is usually provocative and challenging. We receive reports from various committees, including Youth and Children’s work, Life and Witness, Ministries and Training, Finance and the Synod Executive. Much of the business of these committee reports is inclined to be formal but there will often be a really important topic hidden within the report, or highlighted as a separate agenda item. At Fareham the highlighted topic was “Make Poverty History”, presented by Anne Martin, which was, as always both deeply saddening and very challenging.

Because the URC is searching and working towards a new vision and effective means to implement change required to achieve that vision, Synod at the present time always has elements for discussion about the vision and changes. At Bournemouth a large amount of time was devoted to presenting and discussing a New Synod Strategy, which was thoroughly worthy but not in any way surprising or outside the bounds of what I would have assumed the Synod should be trying to do. Doubtless future meetings of Synod will continue to re-examine and define the purpose and procedures for Synod and the whole of the United Reformed Church.

Roger Mead

Trinity Lay Representative

CHURCHES TOGETHER IN BERKSHIRE

CTB exists to support LEPs and local Churches Together groups, largely through the work of the County Ecumenical Officer, Honor Alleyne. LEPs also have the benefit of the Visitors appointed to give friendly advice to their adopted churches and of the 5-yearly reviews that CTB arranges for them.

I am Trinity’s lay member of CTB’s Council, which meets just twice a year. I was unable to get to the March meeting, the AGM, but the November meeting at Woosehill was very interesting. Two members of Churches Together in Wokingham spoke about “The Big Idea” – an outreach project carried out earlier in the year. It involved social action such as clearing litter; community entertainment events and special interest workshops on cooking, bike maintenance, street dance etc. The church really went out to the people.

There was also a very interesting talk by the Revd Dr Callan Slipper, adviser on ecumenism to the Bishop of Willesden, on inter-faith dialogue. Without compromising at all the uniqueness of Christianity, he spoke with love and warmth about the followers of other faiths, how God is working in people far beyond the church that we know and that we should listen to, and try to really understand, the faiths of others. We are then (and really only then) in a position, if they invite us to, to share our own faith.

One matter of debate this year has been how the local Churches Together groups and the LEPs should share in CTB’s funding. LEPs have so far not paid directly towards CTB and yet arguably benefit more than the local groups. Our Treasurer, Roger Mead , proposed that 1% of the money that LEPs currently give to their parent denominations should be passed instead to CTB. This was accepted and will now be put to church leaders. If agreed by them it is hoped that it will lead to helpful discussions between denominational treasurers and the CTB about the assessments requested by each from the LEPs.

Regrettably, Roger tendered his resignation as CTB Treasurer in September over a disagreement about CTB’s financial relationship with Corrymeela Link, with which it shares an office at Park URC church. He will be much missed.

Richard Cocks

CTB Council representative

LOWER EARLEY FAMILY CONTACT CENTRE

The Contact Centre was set up by the local churches in 1996 and although not a Trinity organisation has been substantially staffed by Trinity members since then. We hold a three-hour session on two Saturdays of each month at the Salvation Army. Typically, four or five mothers will bring their children to meet and play with their fathers – in a safe and friendly environment. Sometimes it is also used as a hand-over point, with the contact taking place outside the Centre.

2005 was a busy year for the Management Committee. We have been busy writing and adopting numerous policies and procedures, and disseminating these to our volunteers, in order to gain accreditation as a government-recognised centre. We think the audit went well but have yet to receive formal confirmation that we passed!

We continue to operate at capacity most weeks and have a very loyal band of volunteers. A successful recruitment campaign in the summer increased our numbers from 11 to 15.

Richard Cocks

Secretary

CRESCENT COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTRE

Crescent has now been open and “in business” for nearly three years. It has been a successful year, with a number of achievements – the most recent being the surfacing of the car park – no longer do we have to wear wellies after heavy rain!

There have been staff changes in the centre over the year and three new members of staff have been welcomed. The continued progress of the centre is in no small measure due to the committed hard work of an efficient and very dedicated team. It’s a big team, comprising both paid and volunteer staff. The trustees, with whom I am proud to be associated, are responsible for the overall direction of the centre and the association, and are themselves all volunteers.

Again, it has been good to see people using the building and enjoying it. The response from the user groups has been positive, with fifty groups using the building on a daily, weekly, monthly or occasional basis. It proves that they feel part of Crescent. The visitor statistics reveal how popular Crescent is and how it has filled a vacuum for groups in the area. During the last 18 months, nearly 33,500 members of user groups came through the doors. The coffee bar is also well used, with over 11,000 taking advantage of this facility during the same period. The Wednesday lunches are also very popular.

During 2005, Trinity Church donated the third and final part of their committed total giving of £9,000 over three years to Crescent. Warmest appreciation to all the members who have financially supported this very worthwhile project.

Every good wish to Crescent in all its future endeavours.

Tony Bonnett

Crescent Trustee

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

These include social events held as fundraisers for the Buildings Fund

- Monthly Walks and Walking Holiday

- Concerts by Trinity Band and Reading Male Voice Choir

- Badminton Evening at Leisure Centre

- Treasure Hunt

- Annual Moonwalk and BBQ

- Annual Bank Holiday Picnic and Walk at Three Mile Cross Church and Grounds

- Garden Parties and Plant Sales

- Kennet Cruise on Norman Briggs’ Barge

- Harvest Supper

- Autumn Fair

- Christmas Gifts and Pampering Sale

- Christmas Crafts Evening

- Christmas Entertainment

- Junior Church Sunday Lunch

- Safari Supper

Andrew Curnow

PARENT & TODDLERS

Parent & Toddler groups are running smoothly on Monday and Thursday.

When I visited one Monday morning the children were happily sitting around a table having drink and biscuits. There are 5/6 parents who run this group, sometimes they have as many as 20 mums each morning which is their limit. The Christmas party had been arranged for the following Monday.

When I visited the Thursday group they were also sitting at tables, but were having their Christmas party and enjoying themselves. This group is run by a different group of Mums.

Nick changed his robes to act as Father Christmas for both groups.

They always welcome new families, even if it’s only once, regardless of religion or race.

Hazel Bailey

CRADLE ROLL

Trinity still have 44 under three’s on the Cradle Roll, of which 15 have been baptised in 2005, many of them from the Shinfield area. 12 will be two this year and the other 17 will be three.

I still send out a birthday card for each year (years 1, 2 & 3) and two invitations for Mothers Day and a Christmas Nursery Service, encouraging the parents to bring their toddlers to these special services. The Christmas service is always well attended.

Of interest there have been 900 children baptised at Trinity since the Cradle Roll Boards were introduced. (62 names entered on the roll before I took over).

Hazel Bailey

Cradle Roll Secretary

CHALFONT CLUB

The Chalfont Club meets weekly during term-time in the church hall on Thursdays from 2.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. The first meeting was on May 10^th 2001 . The cost is £1 per week to include a cup of tea, a raffle ticket and a talk from a speaker.

The aim is to offer a social afternoon to men and women of all ages in the local community. People have the opportunity to enjoy a chat and to make friends. Speakers inform, e.g. Reading during the Civil War, or entertain with music, or describe their work for charities, e.g. Feed the Children. The Rev Nick Thompson takes three meetings to celebrate Easter, Harvest and Christmas, at which people enjoy singing and listening to readings, followed by tea! There are also some outings and social afternoons. The average attendance is 33 (and, at the moment, rising).

The programme is displayed on the church notice board, in the magazine and service sheets; in the M.I.C.E. van and Crescent Centre and the library.

Chalfont Club welcomes anyone interested to join them on Thursday afternoons.

Rosemary Reece

Programme Secretary

WALKING GROUP

The walking group has enjoyed a regular monthly walk during the year. Each walk, led by a different member, is around 4 miles, takes about 2 hours and is followed by an optional pub lunch. These are usually on the last Saturday of the month, but occasionally on a Sunday afternoon. The April walk this year took the form of a walking Treasure Hunt, which helped to raise money for the Buildings Fund. The August walk took place on the Bank Holiday Monday, when a larger than usual group enjoyed an afternoon of games and a walk followed by a picnic and cups of tea at Three Mile Cross Church. All the children were given a cuddly toy made by a member of Three Mile Cross.

In addition a group holiday is arranged in April or May. This year 19 walkers enjoyed a 4-night break at the HF Holiday centre in Freshwater Bay . In May 2006 we will be spending a week at the HF centre in Dovedale.

We would be pleased to welcome anyone to join our walks.

Pam & John Medcraft

OUTREACH

The Outreach Group has not met this year but there has been good interest in Trinity’s involvement in Regenerate, Mission 2007. This is an initiative of Churches Together in Reading and Reading Christian Network to encourage a new mission mindset in the churches and, in particular in 2007, to engage in a new piece of work in sharing faith.

About a dozen Trinity members attended the launch of Regenerate in September 2005. On 5^th March 2006 there will be a Resources Fair in Reading at the Globe at 6pm and following this it will be good for a group to meet to co-ordinate Trinity’s plans. 2006 has been designated as a Year of Prayer and Training.

Meanwhile, 2005 saw the running of a successful Alpha Group and there are plans to run a further course in 2006.

Nick Thompson

MAGAZINE

I have been editing the Trinity Church Magazine since March 2004. There are 10 issues of the magazine a year, published on the first Sunday of the month, with double issues in July/August and December/January, because of holidays. Usually, 200 copies are made of each issue, except for the December one, when 250 are printed. The magazine can also be read on the Trinity website by people all over the world, thanks to Alex Robinson . Many thanks to Stan Wombwell and Jenny Iosson and the team, who copy, collate, fold and staple the magazines each month. Thanks also to Clare Tran for doing the diary.

A new addition to the magazine (and other Trinity publications) this year has been the inclusion of cartoons by Dave Walker, which are copied under licence from CartoonChurch.com. Thanks to Margaret Evans for organising this, as it adds some welcome humour to our paperwork. Another recent occasional feature in the magazine is the “Poem of the Month”. I would be grateful for suggestions of suitable poems but they must be old enough to have no copyright restrictions or you will need to obtain permission for printing in the magazine.

I would like to thank everyone who has sent in contributions to the magazine in 2005. Please continue to send me articles, whether they are serious or humorous, thought provoking, moving or informative. Please also remember to let me know in good time about any events which need advertising.

Kay Slack

Magazine Editor

TRINITY WEBSITE

www.trinityearley.co.uk

During the past year the number of visits to the website has risen from 7400 to nearly 8800.

The magazine continues to be posted on the website every month, and is a good resource for checking what’s going on in Trinity – and there’s information about all our services.

The website contains about 50 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 including:

	An overview of Trinity, its location, aims, history, ministers and members
	Activities of the Church
	Information to encourage potential new members
	Caring
	Groups
	Links to other Christian sites (e.g. our Denominational sites)
	Magazines (all the magazines for the past year)
	Music
	Latest news
	Pictures (e.g. pictures of the Church picnic went up this year)
	Prayers
	Reports (the report you are now reading will be on the site )
	Services
	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