Parochial Church CouncilPangbourne with Tidmarsh and Sulham

‘To know Christ and to make Christ known’

Annual Reportand Financial Statements 2015

The Church of England : A Christian presence in every community

REPORT TO THE ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING 2016 ON

The Church Year 2015in

Pangbourne with Tidmarsh and Sulham St James the Less, St Laurence, St Nicholas PATRONS

St James the Less, Pangbourne Church Society Trust

St Laurence, Tidmarsh Bishop of Reading

St Nicholas Sulham Henry Scutt

CHURCH VISION STATEMENT

To know Christ and to make Christ known

PCC MEMBERSHIP AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The PCC is registered with the Charity Commission (No. 1127943), made up of elected, ex- officio and co-opted PCC members of St James the Less, St Laurence and St Nicholas (in accordance with the Church Representation rules)

STATEMENT OF INTENTThe Parochial Church Council (PCC) of Pangbourne with Tidmarsh and Sulham (PTS)Consults and co-operates with the Incumbent

‘in promoting the whole mission of the Church in this parish, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.’

BANKS· HSBC Plc, Broad Street, Reading.

· Lloyds TSB Bank Plc, 1 Reading Road, Pangbourne Reading, RG8 7AH

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

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· Mr D W Norris, Tidmarsh House, Tidmarsh Lane, Tidmarsh, West Berkshire RG8 8HA

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PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL

CHURCH WARDENS elected 2015 Jill Palfrey Julia Sheppard

PCC 2015Lay Chair: Wilma GrantElected members:Edward Goddard Deanery Synod Dennis Jones Deanery Synod Martin Burridge PCC Treasurer, Deanery Synod, Deanery Standing Committee Wilma Grant PCC Lay Chair, Deanery Synod Laura Ogilvie Jones PCC SecretaryJanice Proud, Dianne Naden, Julia Sheppard, Jill Palfrey, Guy McDougall, Cliff Thorne, Edward Goddard, Dennis Jones, Jacky Rix-Brown co-opted in November 2015.Ex officio: Rev Andrew Bond; Judith Sumner

6 PCC meetings were held in 2015

A Parish Day with the Parish Development Adviser was held in March at the Dolphin Centre Following this a PCC and Committee members meeting was held in July to revise the structure of the committees and working groups. We thank the Committees for all they have contributed and continue to offer to the life of the church community in PTS.

DEANERY SYNODThere have been 3 meetings in 2015.Main areas discussed have been agreeing the parish share of funds which each parish contributes towards Mission costs; continuing to monitor the progress of the Deanery Mission Action Plan 2013-18 Wilma Grant.

CHURCH ADMINISTRATORRachel Buckingham has been employed since January 2015 as the parish administrator and works in the Rectory on Tuesdays and the church office on Wednesdays and Fridays.

HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY AND RISK ASSESSMENTThe PCC is mindful of the risks associated with its various activities, and particularly in regard to child protection requirements and health and safety issues. Thank you to Len Palfrey for updating our Health and Safety Policy and risk assessments and to Andy Sumner for undertaking the Food Hygiene Safety.

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All three churches are insured under comprehensive policies by the Ecclesiastical Insurance Office. The PCC is aware of potential risks to its income and the likely calls on our financial resources and continues to debate policy for income generation.

SAFEGUARDING POLICYThe PCC fully intends to follow Diocesan Guidelines in all activities involving children and vulnerable adults. New legislation concerning records of Pastoral encounters came into force in October 2015. PCC formulated a Pastoral Visiting Policy for all licensed clergy and authorized lay ministers working in the parish.

Julie Read is the Safeguarding Officer for the parish and met with Reverend Heather to discuss the new legislation and the PCCs Pastoral Visiting Policy; and with Reverend Jean Rothery concerning Tea Club Volunteers.

The Safeguarding Officer has oversight for DBS checks and the issuing of all associated forms. . Volunteers’ safeguarding booklets continued to be available in 2015.

MISSION – Mission Action Planning (MAP) in PTS

In 2015 our focus on 3 achievable aims became: MONITOR SUCCESSION PLANNING for ministry in the parish after June 2016

DEVELOP INCOME GENERATION

IMPROVE COMMUNICATIONS for the church community, internal and external

Our previous aims remain high priority: being a FAMILY-FRIENDLY CHURCH including fresh expression worship and working towards a “Family Friendly” award. Family worship continues in the 3 churches, monthly in St Laurence and St Nicholas. During 2015 Children’s Church activities took place in Pangbourne Village Hall monthly, and a monthly Family Communion using the child friendly liturgy began.

Messy Church was held 4 times in 2015:

January 25 ‘The Pharisee and Publican’March 22 ‘Blind Bartimaeus’September 27 The Biggest Party Ever’November 22 ‘Remembering’and a small group visited Bucklebury Farm Park together on June 28th.

Carol Atkins took over co-ordinating Messy Church from Judith Sumner at the end of the year. Thank you to Judith Sumner for her work in convening the Messy Church Team as it began in the parish.

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• evolving our PASTORAL NETWORK. Pastoral Care includes bereavement visits, hospital visits, home visits and home communions by arrangement with the Rector. The clergy and church members continue to provide links and liaise with other caring agencies. In 2015 these included The Breedon Trust, The Fanny Maria Kemp Charity, The Pangbourne Volunteers, The Hopkins and Levingstone Charity, The Village Halls in Pangbourne and Tidmarsh, The Monday Club meeting in the Dorman Room, and Reading Churches Food distribution ‘Readifood’. Retired clergy and group leaders have been informed of the new legislation and PCC pastoral visiting policy.

• developing our Faith in SMALL GROUPS

The Pilgrim course continued in homes during 2015. Courses have been run in homes in Pangbourne, Tidmarsh, Sulham and Tilehurst, including Follow stages 2 - The Lord’s Prayer and 3 - The Commandments, and Grow stage 2 - The Eucharist .

COMMUNICATIONS

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MINISTRY in PTS

We thank God for our dedicated and active MINISTRY TEAM in 2015 Rector - Reverend Heather Parbury Assistant Curate - Reverend Andrew Bond Children’s Worker and Ordinand - Judith SumnerWe value greatly the support of the retired clergy with permission to officiate who enabled us to continue a comprehensive and full timetable of services during 2015:Reverend Tony Naden, Reverend Brian Tims, Reverend Norman Brown (who retired from leading worship in 2015), and Rev Jean Rothery. We said ‘farewell’ to Reverend Anne Kiggell, who has led worship in the parish on occasion, as she moved to Oxford. Our heartfelt thanks go to the Lay members of the ministry team - Jennifer Nutt, Julia Sheppard, Judith Sumner, Wilma Grant and Jill Palfrey for all they have contributed to our worship and leadership this year. Jennifer Nutt retired as a licensed lay minister but continues to support family worship in St Laurence.Permission to administer Communion in 2015 was held by Cherry East, Martin Holliday, Jennifer Nutt, Len Palfrey, Hugh Richardson, Julia Sheppard, Judith Sumner, Heather Thorne and Jill Palfrey. Server training was held in February.

There was little change to the pattern of services in 2015, with acknowledgment that there will be restructuring of the Sunday Services as the Ministry team changes in 2016.

Parish Communications internal and external became a focus for an achievable aim in our Parish Mapping this year. A parish Website was developed during 2015 with the help of churchedit.com and advice from Kevin Lovell. We thank Guy McDougall for his extensive research on church websites for PCC. It is hoped church members will contribute more as this develops. The PCC will promote communications in the congregations and groups and encourage others to make good use of our resources in the future.

see www.pangbournechurches.org .uk

Follow us on twitter @ptschurches  

Pangbourne Churches   

The weekly Pews News is emailed to more people now. We continue to use A Church Near You website and the 2 parish magazines in our villages as well as notice boards, weekly pew news, the occasional Vision parish magazine and more direct e-mailing of events. Twitter has been used in 2015 but is slow to take off.

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A range of Common Worship, Book of Common Prayer and Contemporary Services continues in the three villages. In 2015 an average of six regular services were held per week on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.Seasonal Worship includes Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week including Palm Sunday Procession, Good Friday workshop and meditation, Easter Daybreak, Ascension in St Laurence, Rogation in St Nicholas, Patronal Festivals, Pentecost, Harvest, All Souls in St James, Royal British Legion (St J), Advent and Christmas Nativity, Crib, Christingle and Carol Services.

VISITING SPEAKERS IN 2015Reverend Will Watts, Area Dean, Bradfield DeaneryReverend Luci Heyn, Associate Minster, ComptonRight Reverend Andrew Proud, Bishop of Reading

MUSIC AND SINGING Singing practice continues at St James every Wednesday evening. We are thankful for the many talented and dedicated people who enrich the life of the church through their musical gifts and enable services to include music across the Parish.

Thank you to Wilma Grant, Music Co-ordinator, and musicians Henry Killender, Ellie Thorne, Sue Fraser, Linda Clargo, Tiffany Ebrey, William Howard and Ben Atkins who have played at services across the Parish in our three churches during the year, and to all the singers who have helped to lead our worship.

OCCASIONAL OFFICES

12 Infant Baptisms Our thanks go to Mike and Meg Orr for Baptism service ministry and Vanessa Saunders for maintaining the cradle roll and sending the Baptism anniversary cards. 4 Weddings plus 4 Prayer & Dedication servicesThe Marriage Preparation Day was held in February 2015. Thank you to the team who prepared and ran the day with the Rector and Curate – Judith Sumner, Jill and Len Palfrey, Heather and Cliff Thorne.18 Funerals took place in the parish and at the crematoriaThanks go to the clergy who took funerals on behalf of the parish in 2015 as well as our Rector and Curate - Reverends Tony Naden, Norman Brown, John Staples, Jean Rothery, Graham Theobald and Michael Forrer and Bernard Metcalfe.

In 2015 services were held in St James chancel, nave and back of church. Application was made for a faculty to keep our more flexible worship space created at the back of St James.

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SABBATICAL 2015 Between October 1st and December 31st the Rector was on Sabbatical.

We are very grateful to the Ministry Team under the leadership of church warden Jill Palfrey for maintaining the range of services and keeping pastoral care and occasional offices going during this time.

COMMITTEES The Standing Committee is required by law and has the power to transact business for the PCC between meetings, subject to direction. Membership: Rector, 2 Wardens, Treasurer, Lay chair and Secretary.

In 2015 the PCC was assisted by a number of Committees with membership from the PCC and wider church. After our PCC and Committees meeting on July 18th the ‘Mission’ committee agenda was absorbed into the PCC with the undertaking to begin each meeting with a Mission focus; the 3 ‘Church Committees’, ‘Finance’ and ‘Buildings’ remained as Committees; and ‘Education’ and ‘Environment’ were changed into working groups. ‘Communications’ remained a working group. The Ministry Team continues to manage the ‘Worship’ agenda.

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MISSION Our mission reflections at PCC include our engagement as church with God’s mission in the parish, encouraging church members to be involved in mission, mission in the deanery and diocese and the wider world.

Our Mission partners in 2015 are:Sharon Wilcox - Church Mission Society Partner in EcuadorDavis Manana - at the Bungokho Development Centre in Uganda, through Church Army Timothy Fund The Church Urban Fund supporting Churches in ministry and mission in economically deprived areas of England and Wales‘readifood’ distribution to our neighbours in need in the Reading area. We support their work with prayer and funding from our tithe giving, and regularly receive letters and emails. We were invited to take part in Partnership in Missional Church (PMC) during 2015 and members of church went to Archdeaconry meetings on February 21, March 3, and July 11 and offered to begin the research needed to kick start PMC in our parish. Thank you to Wilma Grant, Tony Naden, Guy McDougall, Philip Parbury for your initial interest, and Heather Thorne, Julia Sheppard, Judith Sumner and Andrew Bond for your offers to be ‘listeners’. We were advised to postpone our participation and stood down for the September meetings. We await the outcome of the pilot scheme in the archdeaconry with interest.

Christian Aid Week : In 2015, as well as some door to door collections, we added bucket collections in the street in central Pangbourne and St James Church. The bucket collections raised £668.32 and the door to door collections in Tidmarsh, Sulham and some of Pangbourne raised £772.95. In addition to this total of £1,441.27, Christian Aid will be able to collect £648.85 in Gift Aid, taking the total to £2,090.12. Thank you to all the volunteers who knocked on doors and held buckets in the street, it is a great total and will make a difference in the lives of the people that Christian Aid support to improve their lives and livelihoods. Donations made at the Lent Lunches were also sent to Christian Aid.

Buildings Committee – 2 churchwardens, Dennis Jones, Gill Haggarty, Len Palfrey, Martin Holliday, Andy Sumner, and John Rothery

St James Committee - 5/3; 3/6; 14/9; ( +Anniversary project meetings 11/5; 20/5; 1/7; 9/9) Dennis Jones, Di Naden, Jill Palfrey, Edward Goddard, Wilma Grant, Rhian Healey, Cherry East, Martin Holliday.

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St Laurence Committee – 16/9; Janice Proud, Julia Sheppard, John Butler, Jennifer Nutt, Philippa Woodward. Wilma Grant joined the St Laurence Committee on moving into the village.

St Nicholas Committee -19/1; 25/8; Julia Sheppard, Judith Sumner, Gill Haggarty, Gillian Alderton, Iain Jones, Pauline Ross and Jacky Rix-Brown. This year we said ‘Farewell and Thank you’ to Pauline Ross as she moved away from the area.

The Rector is ex officio on all church committees and groups. The PCC is very grateful for the time, skill and dedication given to the running of PCC business, providing for worship and maintaining our church buildings, by all the members of these committees.

Finance Committee - Martin Burridge – PCC treasurer, Julia Bion - Accounts, Jill Palfrey – collections and payments, Linda Clargo – Gift Aid Secretary, Gill Haggarty, Janice Proud and Cherry East.Three meetings were held. The facts of income and expenditure against the budget were presented at each meeting. Practical matters such as recording of collections, Gift Aid donations, paying monies from our three churches into the bank were resolved. Considerable time was spent on discussion of money-raising events for maintenance of the church, the funding of renovation work on the War Memorial, and 150th Anniversary project. Various other financial items referred to the committee by the PCC were discussed as were proposals from the committee to the PCC for their resolution. Martin Burridge circulated three reports on the Financial Activities to all PCC members: Statement of Financial Activities (and a Summary) and the Independent Examiner’s Report.

The Parish Gift Day was held on 28th March.

Environment Committee/Group - The focus on maintaining the Church recycling project run by Martin Holliday remains.

FABRIC GOODS AND ORNAMENTS REPORT FOR 2015 BY THE CHURCH WARDENS

We are very fortunate to have dedicated volunteers who put in many hours to care for the three buildings and churchyards in our parish. Without their constant work and attention they would not only appear less loved but would also incur higher costs as paid assistance would be required.

Annual servicing of the fire extinguishers, clock and intruder alarm took place during 2015. Due to a slight delay on behalf of the heating engineers the servicing of the boilers did not occur until January 2016. The three organs were tuned and maintained. Both pianos were tuned (the grand piano twice and the upright in the vestry once) and we are grateful to Pangbourne College for meeting the cost of one of the visits by the piano tuner.

For various reasons there has been very little expenditure on repairs and maintenance during 2015. We are fortunate that minor matters have received attention from our volunteers with

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little or no cost to the parish. However, there are items to be attended to on all three churches during the coming months.

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St James the LessInterior:A gradual clearing of books that were no longer in use has taken place and it was possible to tidy the vestry considerably. Further work is required to ensure valuable cupboard space is not occupied by items no longer required.

Andy Sumner has continued to upgrade the audio equipment and the hearing loop should now be working satisfactorily. As soon as an opportunity presents itself the sacristy will be tidied and spring cleaned and the lighting improved.

It is felt that the rearrangement of the pews at the rear of the north aisle, for which we had an Archdeacon’s temporary faculty, has been useful and consequently an application for a faculty was made to the Registrar to make this arrangement permanent. This faculty application has been approved and making the arrangement permanent is a task for 2016.Exterior:More flints have become loose in both the church walls and the boundary wall and it is hoped that this remedial work can be carried out when the appropriate craftsmen are on site, subject to permission being granted, to move the wall in order to create the widened entrance and the lay-by and associated works.

The Faculty application for the accessibility project was submitted late in 2015, following receipt of planning permission from West Berkshire Council but, due to various enquiries being necessary, this application is still going through due process. Jill Palfrey

St Laurence

The church building is generally in good repair.

The interior wall beside the pulpit is suffering from some crumbling and this is a project that 'The Friends of St Laurence' are interested in funding however this will wait until after the quinquennial inspection due to be held in April 2016.

We are still waiting for Lawrence Kelly to return to redo the lime plaster on the exterior South wall, work which he completed two years ago but has meanwhile cracked due to the elements. John Butler is in regular contact with Mr Kelly who assures us that the work will be completed during 2016.

John Butler, Pat and Geoff Eastlake continue to keep the churchyard in excellent condition. The grass is mown regularly. The inside of the church is kept clean and tidy by a few volunteers and there have not been any additions to or deletions from the terrier and inventory.Julia Sheppard

St NicholasThe delayed Quinquennial Inspection was carried out by John Radice, architect, in February 2015. A considerable number of recommendations were contained in his report. Dunne & Co

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have been consulted and they have been requested to attend to a fairly urgent repair to the tower roof and we shall ensure that this happens very soon. The gutters were cleared in the late autumn.

The grass has been mown and we are grateful to our volunteers and the Sulham Estate for their support of our ground maintenance. Jill Palfrey and Julia Sheppard: Churchwardens

Our gratitude goes to all our church members and volunteers for maintaining, cleaning and decorating our church buildings and preparing them for worship - Vergers, Cleaners, Green Gym, Flower Arrangers, Needle Workers, Refreshment Servers, Bell ringers, Welcomers, Sidesmen and General Maintenance.

THE 150TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY PROJECT AND BOOK GROUPThe 150th Year Anniversary Accessibility Project has been co-ordinated by Stephen Billyeald who has regularly up dated PCC on progress. Edward Goddard has led the 150th Anniversary Book Project and his report follows below.

Good progress has been made during 2015. The Diocesan Advisory Committee issued a certificate in March advising how we should proceed towards our Faculty Application; Planning Approval was granted by the local authority in October; the Faculty Application was made in December; fund-raising activities have led to some £56,500 being raised towards the estimated £77,000 needed for all three phases of the project; tender documents have been sent to four contractors who have all expressed interest in submitting tenders. We expect to start work on at least two of the three phases during April this year.

The £56,500 raised so far includes £27,000 from individuals and local businesses, £16,000 from grants (including £9,500 from the Big Lottery Fund), £2,500 from fund raising events and £11,000 from existing parish funds. We are very grateful to all those who have so generously donated to the project.

We are making further grant applications and shall be seeking additional donations to achieve our target of £77,000 with a view to completing all three phases of the project this year.

We are expecting to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of St James the Less this year (2016) with a Flower Festival, the Pangbourne Silver Band, a special service of Thanksgiving and a party at The Elephant Hotel on the weekend of 18th/19th June.Stephen Billyeald

The story of how an old and dilapidated Pangbourne church came to be rebuilt 150 years ago, and to evolve into the one we know, is an intriguing tale and throws light onto the very different

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village that Victorian Pangbourne was. A book is in preparation, and will be on sale at the Anniversary, which will tell that story and reflect in many pictures the building that we have, and what the life of our church is like today.Edward GoddardA ‘sit in’ Gift Day was held in St James on 26th September to receive donations and pledges for the Anniversary Accessibility Project.

YOUTH AND CHILDRENS’ ACTIVITIES

Noah's ArkNoah's ark, run by Vanessa Saunders and Judith Sumner, takes place every Friday morning of term time. Our morning comprises of a short service with a story or theme, songs and prayers, followed by refreshments for adults and children, a craft activity and toys. 'Word puppets' hold a regular puppet show each half term holiday. We have on average twenty five adults and twenty five children. We have a great team of twelve members of our church family setting up and packing away, providing refreshments, craft, and music and providing care for our families.

Children's ChurchChildren's Church, run by Abi Thorne and Judith Sumner ensured that every week there was an age appropriate story and activity for children. This took place in the vestry or at the back of church in the children's area. The number of children between the ages of 3 and 10 years varied from week to week although we had approximately twenty children on our register. Due to the end of the Children’s worker contract at the end of December 2015, the Children’s church sessions have come to an end although the stock of toys and colouring sheets remains available to young families at the back of church in addition to space and toys in the Vestry.

JigsawJigsaw was our After School club at Pangbourne Primary School, for children between the ages of 5 and 11 years. During the first half of the year, it took place in 5 week blocks, every half term on a Wednesday afternoon. Our afternoon began at 3.15 pm with an introductory activity, followed by a time for news and an introduction of our theme or story for the day. We had a snack time followed by the main teaching time, a game and craft activity. We ended our afternoon with prayer. We had a dedicated and ecumenical team of six, including three from PTS, one from Greyfriars, one from Goring Free Church and one from St Bernadette’s and this year we averaged 13 children each session. Our last session was held in July and a ‘thankyou’ lunch for the helpers was held on 8th July at Philippa Woodward’s home in Tidmarsh. We are grateful to Judith Sumner for her work in leading and co-ordinating JIGSAW.

Holiday ClubAugust 10th – 14th we ran our Holiday Club at St James for children between the ages of five and eleven years. We followed a Scripture Union programme, ‘Polar Explorers’, focussing on the stories of New Testament characters including Peter, Philip and Paul and how we all can play our part in God’s Big Expedition. We had a team of sixteen people from PTS, including several members of the JJs group, involved in running craft activities, games, audio visual equipment, leading sketches, singing and aerobics and providing refreshments. We ended the week with a

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time to share the story, songs and craft with the children’s families.

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JJ’SLead by Bonnie Yule-Kuehne and hosted by Karen Christian. Ages 14-21/College/Uni. Meets on 2 times a month with flexible dates. An average of 8-10 teens each week. Our current curriculum is based on short videos looking at The Lord’s Prayer provided by www.prayercourse.org (a partnership from 24/7 Prayer and Alpha Intl) Leader Comments: We are blessed with an amazing group of teenagers at JJs. They come from 2 of our parish churches plus two other churches. It is a real joy to spend time together exploring the Christian faith in a relaxed atmosphere with pizza, video, discussion and prayer.

Local Schools Foundation Governors at Englefield Church of England School: Julia Sheppard and Ross Kuehne Our joint governor appointment with Englefield PCC is Neville McBain. Reverend Heather and Judith Sumner led Assemblies and were invited into RE lessons in Englefield C of E School, and assemblies in Pangbourne Primary School Children and young people from St Andrews Preparatory School, Pangbourne Primary and Pangbourne College visited our churches in 2015.

Schools’ DaysMarch 24th Year 5 RE curriculum visit to St James. We provide welcome, resources and guidance. July 2nd Schools’ Day for the children in Key stage 1 in St James.Pangbourne Primary School and Englefield Primary school followed the theme of the Stories of Jesus, focussing on the story of the wise and foolish builders. We had the story in the vestry, games outside and craft activities. We then sang together and shared all we had done and had a well-earned picnic in the Rectory garden.

FELLOWSHIP AND SOCIAL EVENTS

Food!Marriage Prep Hospitality and Lunch – Thanks to the St James congregation and the PalfreysLent Lunches in St James. Thanks to organiser Dennis and the host teams.Easter Breakfast in Pangbourne village hall - Thanks to the Thorne family.24th May Pentecost BBQ in the Rectory Garden - Thanks to the Sumner and Parbury families.8th June Teas in St Laurence with the open garden - Thanks to the St L committee and congregation.22nd August Tea & Art at St Nicholas raised approx. £100.Thanks to the St Nicholas Committee and congregation.5th September Jazz Evening and Dinner, raised £1650 for the anniversary appeal. Thanks to the Palfrey Family and the Dobbys.20th December Christmas Community Lunch – Thanks to Andy Sumner, Len Palfrey and the team.

Concerts 6th July Berkshire Maestros Concert in St James.25th July Pangbourne Silver Band all comers concert in St James.27th February and 16th October Pangbourne College Lunchtime Concert5th December Passamezzo Concert which raised £125.

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Fetes and EventsA monthly Tuesday Tea event was held for seniors in Pangbourne Village Hall.Crocus Sunday at St Nicholas 20th June Teas provided at Pangbourne Village Fete5th July St James Anniversary Project Launch, Drinks party in the Rectory Garden.19th July Open Garden and Teas in Pangbourne8th August – Summer Fete held at Sulham House. Raised £4,672.44. Thanks to Heather Scutt and family and the St Nicholas Committee and congregations.3rd September Men’s group narrowboat outing25th September - Friends of St Laurence Talk by a local historian31st October – Charity Market. Raised £300 for the church funds – Thanks to Jill Palfrey.4th December – Christmas Tree event in St James. Thanks to Judith Sumner and Joanie Koh.17 th December – Community Christmas event with carols, in Conjunction with The Elephant Hotel who donated £250.

PANGBOURNE PILGRIMS

On 17th September 2015, the re-arranged pilgrimage to Chichester Cathedral set off with a full complement of 33 on board the coach, with another pilgrim joining the party later.

Before the visit to the Cathedral, arrangements had been made for a coffee break at Fishbourne Roman Palace, which is situated just outside Chichester. As well as availing themselves of coffee and the facilities, most of the party visited the Roman Palace itself and marvelled at the extent and condition of the mosaics for which the Palace is famous.

However, our destination was Chichester Cathedral and the party needed to be there in good time for everybody to arrange their own lunch, so the visit was necessarily brief, with many resolving to visit again in their own time.

The party came together again after lunch and were split into two parties. Everybody enjoyed a very informative and interesting tour of the beautiful Cathedral, given by two excellent local guides, who entertained as well as instructed their respective groups.

As has become something of a tradition, we then transferred to George Bell House, where the Cathedral Catering Team served a delicious cream tea, in a lovely private room.

Fully refreshed, the party returned to the Cathedral itself for Choral Evensong, sung by an excellent choir – a very fitting and suitably uplifting and spiritual end to a most enjoyable day.Christine Tims

SIGNED BY: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

DATE: …………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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