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Glasgow Churches Together |
Lord
let Glasgow flourish through the preaching of thy word and praising
thy name |
Annual Report 2002-3GCT chair the Reverend Angus Kerr's annual report on GCT activities from October 2002 - September 2003 1 - Introduction The work of GCT has continued to grow and develop significantly in the last year.
2 - Following the AGM 2002 At our last AGM three major priorities were identified for 2003. These were:
We are happy to confirm that all three of these have progressed significantly since then. 2a - The Mungo 1400 initiative The Mungo 1400 celebrations were launched on Sunday 12 January 03 with an historic service in Glasgow Cathedral. Welcomed by Dr Morris, Minister of the Cathedral, leaders of our member churches led a congregation of over 600 people in a beautiful service of praise, the sermon being delivered by Archbishop Mario Conti. This service was attended by many religious and civic leaders. Over the year our relationship with the City Authorities have developed very warmly. The new Lord Provost, Liz Cameron, has been particularly keen to become involved in supporting the work of GCT. As part of the Mungo 1400 celebrations, each denomination and local parish were encouraged to initiate some appropriate event. Significant among these have been the Roman Catholic series of ‘St Mungo Conversations’ and the Scottish Episcopal Church’s service at the Mungo site in Hoddam, Dumfriesshire. 2b - Reviewing the work of the EO This review was carried out mainly by a working party which included Greta Doig, Rev Angus Kerr, Adrian Rogers, Br Stephen Smyth and Mgr Noel Woods. They liaised closely with denominational authorities, sought professional advice and presented consultative papers to the many bodies needed to process their proposals. The result of this review is that the post of EO and Secretary will be increased to an effective four days per week per year. In detail, Br Stephen Smyth will be contracted from the Marist Brothers to provide the services of EO and Secretary for GCT from 1 Nov 2003, for 180 days per year, at a salary to be reviewed annually. This substantial increase in the resourcing of GCT marks a significant commitment by the member churches to this important work. 2c - The Church Leaders Meetings The Leaders of GCT’s member churches have now met three times on a semi-formal basis. These have been very warm and hopeful occasiona. has been shared around the denominational headquarters. 3 - The GCT Committee The GCT Committee continues in its work of discerning, prioritising and promoting the work of GCT, especially the programme of GCT services. This includes overseeing the work of the Ecumenical Officer, the Music and Worship Sub-Committee and the Website. The committee have met three times: March, May and September. The new Chair and Vice-Chair were elected at the May meeting. Over the year two members have left the committee: Rev Joy Croft (the Unitarian Church) and Rev Ralph Dunn (United Free Church). And two have joined: Sr Maire Gallagher (Roman Catholic Church) and Rev Ann Purdie (United Free Church). We thank Joy and Ralph for their contribution to our work and welcome Maire and Ann to help us in the tasks ahead. In addition, during the year Committee members represented GCT: Bill Meldrum represents GCT on the Glasgow and Educational Marshall Trust and Mgr Noel Woods represent us on the Churches Building Renewal Trust. In July, Rev Angus Kerr, GCT Chair, represented ACTS at the assembly of CTE (Churches Together in England) On 24 September, along with other representatives of four member churches, at a consultation on the Draft Spiritual Care Policy of Greater Glasgow NHS. A second session of this consultation has been arranged for 29 October 4 - The Music and Worship Sub-Committee and GCT Services The GCT Music and Worship Sub-Committee are extremely committed, active and creative. They put together the programme of services, which are always very well received; oversee the ongoing Prayer Initiative; and, in this last year, have organised bookmarks to be produced to mark two key events: Vigil of St Mungo (Jan) and Praying for the City (April). The programme of services this year has been as follows: Future services and events include: The Music and Worship Committee owe a special thanks to the support of the St Mungo Singers, led by Mgr Gerry Fitzpatrick. They are keen to involve other choirs in the service programme and would welcome negotiations towards this. 5 - The GCT Website The GCT Website is maintained under contract by Ian Ansdell. The number of visits to the site has climbed steadily, now running at over 1500 per month. Significantly, people have visited the site in order to find key information about the churches in the city. This was illustrated during August when over 200 people visited to find out about RC services for 15 August. A high number of visits sought information on the Doors Open Day initiative. Many other visits come through enquiries for the St Mungo Museum. We feel this indicates that our investment in the website has been a wise and productive decision and look forward to developing it further in the future. 6 - The Work of the Ecumenical Officer/Secretary - The process of discernment about the role and expectations of the EO proved to be a useful experience for all of those involved. It meant having to examine our priorities and commitments to ecumenism. It meant putting money where our mouths are. It involved the denominations negotiating and helping one another to meet the additional costs. We are convinced that this was a good and proper action to undertake for GCT. The contract for Br Stephen Smyth which had been renewed for Sept 03 to June 04 will be superseded from 1 Nov by the increased contract outlined above. This confirms the confidence that GCT places in Stephen and the developments of the posts so far. Stephen continues to inform, implement and promote the policy decisions of the Committee. As Secretary, he also services the Committee and Church Leader meetings and attends to all correspondence. He works closely with the Music and Worship Sub-Committee and Website. The GCT mailing illustrates the continued growth of GCT networking over the last year. The GCT Update goes out to over 70 people by traditional post and over 120 others by email. The emailing has recently been augmented considerably by including the clergy emailing lists of three denominations. Others are invited to do likewise. Significantly, the Update goes out to an increasing number of people from churches not currently members of GCT. In the last year the EO visited 20 Local Church Together Groups or Parish Groups. He has also continued to liaise with ACTS in Dunblane. He brings his own considerable experience and the voices of the Glasgow Churches to his work with a number of local and national, denominational and ecumenical, committees and working parties. Stephen has also played a major part in several workshops, including: 7 Nov, ‘Prayer’, along with Greta Doig and Rev Hugh Wallace, for the Church of Scotland Prayer Secretaries; 5 Apr, ‘Sectarian – Me?’. Currently he is organising the workshop ‘Spirituality and Wholeness’ led by Bev Eanes of the USA, Thu 9 Oct. These are outlined more fully in the EO Report written for the AGM. 7 - Looking Forwards GCT is looking to consolidate and build on the good work of this last year. We are confident that with the increased resourcing of the EO – Secretary post we will be well able to respond more effectively to the increasing demands being made on GCT. We have recently been approached by the Congregational Federation about finding an appropriate level of involvement with GCT. Rev Angus Kerr |
GCT's member churches: • Church of Scotland • Methodist Church • Roman Catholic • Salvation Army • Scottish Episcopal • United Free Church • United Reformed |