My time as Churchwarden

As I approach the end of my three years as one of the Churchwardens here at St. John’s, I want to thank you all for your support, encouragement and kindness. It has been an honour to work alongside the many members of the congregation who work in employed or voluntary roles to help our worshipping community flourish. I am very grateful for the support that I have received from John and have enjoyed being part of his team. I recall sitting in the APCM in three years ago and feeling an overwhelming desire to volunteer for the role of Churchwarden. I admit that I had some concerns about juggling the role with my full-time job in the NHS and the care of my two children. While life has certainly been busy, I have no regrets about volunteering; I have made some wonderful memories, made new friends and gained valuable experiences.

I have been very fortunate to work alongside two excellent partners in the role, Andrew Moffat for the first two years and Hugh Hogan-Fleming for my final year. I am grateful to them both for their hard work, dedication and friendship. We have been supported by our excellent Deputy Wardens, Patrick Moyle, who works tirelessly to keep the fabric of our beautiful church building in good condition and acts as warden during our 08:30 services and our first Sunday 10:30 services, and Alastair MacLachlan, who covers our third Sunday services in addition to his roles in both the choir and the band. I have enjoyed serving within our PCC and have gained a deeper understanding of the decision-making processes that underpin St. John’s. We are incredibly lucky to have a dedicated team of people working together and sharing their many talents to ensure a bright future for our community.

It has been wonderful to see so many projects come to fruition, including the extensive church roof repairs, installation of solar panels on the church centre and most recently, the successful sale of Meadvale Hall. I believe that we have a very bright future here at St. John’s – we have an incredible musical tradition, a thriving Children’s Ministry and a strong focus on inclusion and pastoral care.

We have teams dedicated to environmental sustainability, prevention of modern slavery and community projects. Many people offer their time and practical skills to regular maintenance work, cleaning, refreshments, technology, baptisms, weddings, bell ringing, prayer ministry and events coordination.

Whatever your area of interest or your skill set, I am confident that there is a role for you. If any of you would like to learn more about joining the warden team, either as a full warden or a deputy, I would be very happy to discuss the roles with you. I ask you all to prayerfully consider whether you could be part of the volunteer team.

Allison Kandiah