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Flower Arrangers Are a group of church members, generally
(but not exclusively) ladies. They provide flowers each week, throughout the
year, excluding Lent, to bring colour and fragrance to the Church. They also
provide a basic amount of flowers for every wedding held in the Church.
Flower Festival St. Peter's flower festival is
renowned throughout a large area of the north of England, for it's
professionalism, spiritualism and spectacular display of artistry and colour.
These are not held every year, but we have had one in 2000 and 2003. Watch
this space.....
Grounds Maintenance staff Whilst the Churchyard is a
'closed' one, and thereby maintained by the loacl authority, ie. grass cut,
walls repaired, damaged headstones made safe, trees pruned. A dedicated team
clean the grounds of dead leaves, rubbish blown into or carelessly dropped in
the grounds. They also annually clean out the roof gutters of leaves blown
onto the roofs in the autumn.
Home Communion Assistants There is a small team of
licensed communion assistants, who take communion out to church members who
are temporarily, or permanently unable to attend church services.
Handymen & Women
St. Peter's church is blessed with a group of men and women, who attend to
the routine maintenance of the church and church hall. Decoration, vandal
damage, repairs and renovations as and when necessary.
'J' Team 'J' for Jesus. is the name of the
children's
fellowship who meet weekly, to interact and share time with likeminded
children, where 'Christian values teaching' is an important part.
Kitchen staff Members of the church, 'man' the
kitchen after each service, to provide light refreshment to the
congregations as they leave the church. there is also a 'coffee morning' on
Wednesdays and Saturdays, where people of the village, can call in for a
drink and a chat, in comfortable surroundings in the 'Alpha rooms'. The
kitchen is also used to provide refreshments for users of the Halls, and for
special occasions when Lent, lunches, Men's meetings, the women's Guild etc.
etc. need refreshments.
Lay Preachers We have a team of four regular
lay-preachers, who are members of the Church, have full-time employment, but
Preach or lead, Services every Sunday, supplementing the lone Vicar. We also
have an interchange of Clergy / lay-preachers, with the Baptist and
Methodist churches in the town.
Mothers Union
Celebrated it's 75th anniversary in St. Peter's in 2002. It has a small but
dedicated following, it is open to anyone to join / visit, including the
occasional men. One of the many good works this group organizes is the
'Samaritan's purse shoe box appeal', where literally hundreds of shoe boxes
are filled by it's members, with small gifts such as toys colouring books,
pencils, gloves hats, scarves etc. etc. and are then sent to underprivileged
countries, such as Romania, where their children, get very little or nothing
at Christmas.
Remember 'Band-aid'........ Do they Know it's Christmas?
Nice'n'easy Is a weekly service held in the church halls,
led by members of the congregation (Not a 'dog-collar' in sight), with
invited guest speakers, with worship, refreshments, and the opportunity to
'sample' modern worship, without having to 'attend' church. As the title
implies, it's Nice 'n' easy.
Ocharina team This is a group of young children, mostly from
the 'J' Team, who take time out to practice playing Ocharinas, then
displaying their talents at the Sunday 11.15am Family service. They have
also played at Christian concerts at the local Community hall.
Office staff Having for many years been 'spoilt' by
having a regular, very efficient, office worker to 'man' the office, take
calls, receive personal enquiries, minister to people in distress, who come to
the church to find comfort, solitude, healing. We are now managing with
several part-time helpers, who do the printing of necessary bulletins, service
sheets etc. keep church records etc.
Organist Having lost our organist several years ago,
we now have to 'hire in' organists, to play at weddings and funerals, from
surrounding parishes.
Parochial Church Council The decision making body of
each Church of England church, is made up of: The Vicar, Church Wardens,
Deanery Synod representatives and elected members of the congregation. At
the first P.C.C. meeting after the A.P.M., a vice chair (man or woman) is
elected, along with a P.C.C. secretary and treasurer. All of whom serve for
one year, until the next A.P.M. They are responsible for making decisions on
all matters regarding the church life. This includes the delegating monies
to fund all church activities, including repairs, renovations, ministry
costs, the direction in which the church is going, spiritually, all legal
issues in having our buildings available for public worship and civil
ceremony such as 'hatches, matches and dispatches'.
Prayer Chain Is a group of church members, who are
contacted by anyone having news of Health, and sometimes emotional
emergencies, each member of the team then contacts another, usually by
telephone, to create a ring of prayer, around the needy. There is also a
prayer board in the Memorial chapel in church, where, notes can be left,
either anonymously or named, with requests for a person or persons to be
covered in prayer, for a specific problem. The prayer continues daily, until
feed-back reveals that the emergency is past.
Sidespersons There are designated 'sidesperson'
rotas, for each service, where the sidesperson welcomes the congregation as
they arrive for services, handing out hymn books, bibles, weekly bulletins
etc. attending to the offertory and controlling the 'flow' of communicants
at the various communions. They are also on hand, to minister to anyone
taken ill, needing a glass of water etc. and collecting the books in at the
end of the services.
Steptoes Named after 'Albert' and 'Harold', is a
'shop' within the church halls, where good quality second-hand clothes are
received and sold at very acceptable prices to the public. Every penny
profit, goes to charitable causes, regionally, nationally and
internationally. In 2003, £5,680 was shared between such worthy causes as
Sheffield Children's Hospital, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Doncaster Canaan
Trust, The Bible Society, Christian missionary work in the Congo (formerly
Zaire), the Doncaster 'Bluebell Wood' Children's Hospice, etc.
Traidcraft Is an 'outlet' for fairly traded goods,
from, generally, the 'third world' countries. It's aim is to ensure that the
'producers' of goods, get a fair price for their produce. This is held in the
Alpha rooms at coffee mornings and after services etc. It is a non-profit
making venture on the church's part, but seen as a 'Christian duty' to bring
some fairness to the very poorly paid workers who produce the goods.
Vergers The Vergers attend all funeral and weddings
that take place within the church, directing visitors to their seats,
announcing the arrival of the cortege or couple, and generally being on hand
to assist in any situation. They also record the event in the Parish record
book. Of all the 'jobs' listed, this is the only one, where the participants
are paid a modest fee. All other work is done for the love of God, and His
house.
Womens Guild This group has been associated with the church
for many years. It's main function is to firstly be a fellowship, to meet
practical needs of underprivileged.
Worship Group The traditional 'Choir' was replaced
almost twenty years ago, by a 'worship group'. This consists of Guitarists,
Flautist, Trumpeter, Drummer, Pianist and lead vocalists. They meet every
Thursday evening, (which again, is a time of 'fellowship') to rehearse the
Sunday Hymns / Songs, and then of course, play at the services.
Youth Picks up where the 'J' Team leaves off, giving
continuity to the Christian 'growth' as the Children become young adults. This
a weekly meeting, where Faith is taught, appropriately to the development of
the Youth. |
