"Kind words are like dripping honey, Sweetness on the tongue and health for the body" Proverbs 16 v.24A busy 2024 concluded with members helping with the preparation of Christingles for the service promoting the work of the Children's Society and, reminding us that the love of Jesus shines all over the world. A Christmas lunch with members and friends was enjoyed at the Woolpack Beckington. We were well looked after, as usual, by the friendly staff. Mere Carol Service, concludes the year, which has seen members busily promoting all that Mother's Union does to support and encourage marriage and family life.We step into a new year, wondering what may be in store for us all. but;"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phillippians 4: 6-7)Enid Holbrow
"Choose some wise, understanding and respected men and women from each of your tribes and I will set them over you" Deuteronomy 1:13The annual general meeting of our branch of the Mothers' Union met on a frosty and snow-covered countryside at the home of Jocelyn, to review our previous year's work and to outline our plans and hopes for 2025.2025 is the first of the three years in the new Triennium, when new faces and new enthusiasms will guide us in our continued work for Mothers' Union. Our new World- Wide President is Kathleen Snow. Kathleen has been a member of the Mothers' Union for 36 years and a Zonal Trustee for the Americas, so she has a vast experience of Mothers' Union Worldwide.Although we were few in number, we reviewed our activities and finances from 2024, and agreed to donate from our branch funds towards the cost of new virtual babies. This is something especially of interest to our branch as we can see the programme at work in our local schools and hear of the benefits to young people in the responsibilities of parenthood and family life. (MU supports marriage and family life.) We outlined meetings already fixed for 2025 and our hopes to invite speakers on a variety of topics. Branch tasks were agreed in order to share the different ways in which all members can feel valued. Plans for the Wave of Prayer and Soup Lunch for our February meeting were outlined and Branches of MU from Westbury and Mere have been invited to join us. After the business meeting had concluded, a lighter few minutes were taken up with a quiz in which the answers were English counties. Out of twenty questions Diana was top scorer with 14 correct answers and received a jar of chutney as her prize. We thanked Rose for this quiz and thanked Jocelyn for her hospitality. Our meeting ended with prayers before sharing the grace and carefully treading our way home on the slippery roads which fortunately were beginning to thaw in lovely winter sunshine. Our next meeting is the Soup Lunch and Wave of Prayer which will be on February 6th in Holy Trinity Church at 12 noon."Join Us and Join In" is our encouragement for this year of 2025"Walk humbly, yet boldly in the confidence of the Lord" Philippians 4:13Enid Holbrow.
Westbury Parish Hall has been serving the community of Westbury since 1873. The congregation of All Saints’ Church want to see the Parish Hall play a bigger role in community life in Westbury. It already plays an important role in nurturing young people in Westbury. It hosts Brownies, Guides, St John’s Ambulance Cadets and the weekly Friday Fun Youth Club. However its current poor condition means that it is not used as much as it should be. There is a scheme with planning permission to modernise the Hall and make it into a modern multi-purpose community space, but the congregation of All Saints’ Church don’t have the capacity to see the vision to its conclusion. Without the help of the community of Westbury, we risk losing this valuable community asset. The steering committee working on the transformation of the Parish Hall need your help. The Parish Hall could do so much more to support activity within our community with fresh leadership and a new vision. The steering committee working on this project are currently developing a new Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) to enable management of Westbury Parish Hall by the community, taking over from All Saints’ Church (Westbury Parochial Church Council). The new CIO will take over the day to day management of the Hall and spearhead its transformation into a thriving community space that the people of Westbury deserve. This form of constitution involves a membership from whom the trustees of the new charity are drawn. Members can be individuals and both incorporated and non-incorporated organisations. As a community space managed for the community, by the community, more funding opportunities are available to support the development and ongoing management of the Hall from sources such as government funds and the National Lottery Community Fund which would not be available to the Church. The steering committee working on the project are inviting organisations and individuals who might like to take part in this project and seeking new members to join the CIO at this exciting time. There is no membership fee – we are simply seeking your support to ensure the continued use of the Parish Hall as an important community space. Members will be invited to attend the Annual General Meeting and take an active role in the future direction of the Parish Hall, which is currently provisionally calling the ‘White Horse Community Hub’. Members will elect trustees from the membership at the AGM. By taking its trustees from community groups it is hoped that the Hall meets the needs of a wider range of people. Those who are interested in becoming members are invited to attend a meeting on Saturday 15 March at 10:30am in the Parish Hall. This will give potential members an opportunity to find out more about our plans and how they can get involved. If you would like to know more about the proposals for the Hall or how you or your organisation can help, please contact Beth Thomas by email beth@whtministry.org.uk.
I would like to thank everyone who supported our Team Focus day on 18 January. It was very encouraging to see so many people from our churches come along and engage with the different activities around the tables, enjoy lunch together and think about our vision for our Team as we go forward. We collected a lot of ideas and material which will be very helpful for putting together the profile for the new Team Vicar role. Please pray for the profile group from our two parishes as we meet, discuss and work together. We shall let you know how we get on. Our first meeting is taking place on 18 February, so please pray for us then. Please also continue to use our vacancy prayer in your personal prayers as well as in our church services.Thank you very much.Rebecca
