APCM 21/05/2023 – Carol Whittle

We ended the year with a good team of helpers. Not all , I hear them shout, are flower arrangers but they have been invaluable in clearing up and encouraging us. We met in mid December to decorate church ready for Saddleworth school and St Chad`s school Carol Services. Sadly the Primary school were prevented from coming to church due to icy conditions but they had made some lovely decorations for church which we put up and were ready there for our Christmas Eve services when they were much admired.

Looking back through 2022  firstly we were grateful for the PCC pledge to give us a share of the vergers fee for weddings and funerals .We had 7 weddings and 7 funerals when made sure that flowers in church ready for the Sunday service were done in time for any weekday events. Without this donation the flowers for our main Christian festivals would have been sparse.  As well as flowers we maintain the battery candles, buy Advent candles for all 3 centres and sundries for flower arrangements. We thank PCC.

We have marked our Christian festivals of Christmas, Easter, Whitsuntide, Harvest and Advent, we hope, appropriately and would like to think that we have enhanced worship.

In conjunction with Pastoral care ,we sent out fruit or flowers to housebound members of our congregations. We did this at Mothering Sunday, Easter and Harvest, also responding when told of bereavements or illness.These have gone out with a card and message of our prayers from “All at Saddleworth Church”.

Our thanks go out to the Holbrook family for , once again donating the Wonderful Christmas tree( with timer lights looking resplendent each evening outside church) ; to the Rooke family for Mothering Sunday daffodils; to Lynne and Tim Edge for their donation for Rush Cart flowers and to anyone who gave, even the smallest amount into our box in church. Thank- you too for your kind comments about our arrangements of flowers, we couldn’t do it without you .