A lot can change in a week

By now, you may have heard my exciting news. I have been appointed to the role of Area Dean for the Swindon deanery. I take up the new position on the1st June.

I am aware that I will need to review my existing work as Vicar of Christ Church and delegate some things so that I can give my new Area Dean role the commitment, faith and passion it requires. Yesterday, I was interviewed again by Lynda and Pam our church Wardens who are gifted in strategic reviews, with the intention of reviewing my work and coming up with a clear job description, aims and objectives for the next period of time. I am the guinea pig here and once this has been done for me , all my ministerial and lay colleagues will have a similar opportunity. This will give us all the chance to understand how we can best work together in the light of my new responsibilities.

 

You will be aware I could only take on this role with Nicola's incredible support and an outstanding team of colleagues. On top of this, with financial support from the diocese, I have a new work consultant, Keith Lamdin, Principal of Sarum College; and we also rely upon the support of our spiritual director and cell group. As I go forward in my ministry, affirmation and accountability become increasingly important alongside constructive criticism. More than anything else, I know God wants me to be a good husband and a good dad, please pray that this will be so. You will be pleased to hear I had a medical a fortnight ago, which was fine. We rely upon you to continue to tell us what we need to hear and promise we will look after ourselves.

 

I will be in touch again with more details especially when my Induction in this new role will take place.

 

I write this with our love and prayers that you too will know God's guidance in whatever you are facing. Nicola and I are very aware we have been through a huge amount over the last year  and in many ways, Uganda, our exchange as a family in  America and my Renaissance mid service programme have led up to this opportunity. Vulnerability has always been a central foundation of my ministry because it has opened me up to the power of God's grace. We feel to those to whom much is given, much will be required therefore while the responsibility given to me by Bishop Mike is somewhat daunting, I know from past experience that, when I am weak , I am strong. Also I will be encouraging teamworking wherever possible, looking for other colleagues, lay and ordained, to develop their ministries alongside of me to make our Bristol Diocesan Mission Strategy a reality in the Swindon Deanery.

 

I have postponed my study leave for 2 years. I am looking forward very much to the arrival of a new Curate, Trudie Wigley who is coming in July as a wonderful unexpected gift. While I have investigated since Renaissance the possibility of doing an MA on Missional Leadership, I have now put that on hold for the foreseeable future.

 

We are thoroughly enjoying having Thomas home for the Easter holidays from Durham University. He is having lots of fun and laughter with his brothers, especially Hugo  who loves wrestling!! We were very privileged last Friday to hear Archbishop John Sentamu speak at St John's college, Durham. He gave an inspiring call to pray and serve the nation in all possible ways.

With our love and prayers for you.

Simon

Early morning in Durham

Last Friday Nicola and I left Swindon at 5.15am and travelled up to Durham arriving at 9.45am in the glorious sunshine. We were there so early that Thomas, our son who is at University there, was still asleep in bed! The picture is of me with David Austin from Christ church who is a second year ordinand at Cranmer Hall which is part of St John's college. 

The photo was taken on Palace Green in front of the Castle and next to the Cathedral. David was in fine form and sends love and prayers to all Swindon friends. After coffee we were on the front row for the 11am lecture given by Archbishop John Sentamu, Archbishop of York who, by coincidence was visiting St John's college on the same day. He gave an inspirational lecture entitled: what is the church here for? We are here to serve our whole nation ,remind them of our Christian heritage, getting on our knees in prayer and living out the Christian faith as disciples and ambassadors wherever we are.

I managed a few words with the Archbishop afterwards. He was born in Uganda and should of died at birth,he explained. He was so gravely ill that he was baptised immediately he was born. Miraculously he pulled through;' I am the living example that infant baptism works' he said.After a delicious lunch and time of prayer together in the college chapel we explored Durham as a family and returned to Swindon by 11.30pm, a memorable day.

Thank-you for your prayers

Simon

Earthquakes

Christ Church Cathedral - NZ

Like our own church, Christ Church Cathedral in New Zealand was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott nearly 160 years ago. The damage to it and the surrounding area is a dreadful sight and has touched Nicola and myself even more personally since our son Thomas was staying in the area only a few months ago.


I have sent a personal message of support offering our prayers and thoughts at this difficult time.


We have just finished our sermon series on Nehemiah to prepare ourselves for challenges ahead as we plan to develop and renew our church to enable it to survive a further 160 years. 


We can draw great inspiration from the courage and community spirit being shown in Christ Church NZ at this time. The tragedy of the earthquake has brought into sharp focus for us the importance of how people work together not where they do it. Locally based Kiwi's are also doing their bit for home by organising fund raising events over the weekend. Please show them your support if you can. Details are in our social events calendar.


You can read about the latest news from Christ Church Cathedral here

Blog from St Agnes, Cornwall

Last week, I spent 3 days last week at Sarum College, next door to Salisbury Cathedral, on The Renaissance Programme. The purpose of this course was to remind me and 18 colleagues of our vocation to priestly ministry, our call to follow Jesus Christ and to keep us strong for the second half of our ministries. It was a terrific time; thank you for your prayers. On the last day I was very challenged by the following C S Lewis quote:

‘There is all the difference in the world between looking at the map of the coast, and going down to the beach and feeling the spray of the waves'

We were asked the question “What does it mean for me personally and for us at Christ Church to be regularly in touch with the spray of God’s graciousness; Jesus’ love and the power of the Holy Sprit? Do pass on any thoughts.

On Saturday we arrived at St Agnes, 30 yards from the coastal path, for a half term break – it is an incredible spot. This morning at 9am I was on Chapel Porth beach, as Morning Prayer was taking place in Christ Church, sitting on a rock with enormous spray from the waves all around me. I was overwhelmed by the privilege of being here 2 days after hearing the C S Lewis quote.

On yesterday’s coastal walk to Perranporth Beach, (a spectacular stretch of coastal path with a beautiful beach to welcome us) I passed a bench with the following inscription:

“Karen’s bench – when she entered a room, smiles lit up which will last for ever.”

I pray that you will be aware of the smile of God on you this week and enable others to know this smile in practical ways.

Every blessing

Simon

Being thankful for what we have.

This week I received a really powerful and thought provoking email from David one of my parishioners. It contained a message that I think we all need to reflect on as we go about our daily life. 


The email contained a presentation which you can safely view here. Click your mouse to advance the pages.


Please do let me know what you think of this and tell your friends to take a look also.

Thinking out of the box

It was great to have the recommendation of Margaret Harber, one of the Christ church's congregation on Sunday to watch the incredible programme The Secret Life of Waves with David Malone.


Physics, Geography and Theology were combined in a beautiful Trinity. Do try and catch it if you can. The last ten minutes are especially moving and challenging. As we all face up to changes in life, how do we adapt to the processes which are part of being a human being. Let me know what you think of the programme and especially how the church can respond as we consider the purpose of life and the value of every human being. I trust you will find it worthwhile and look forward to your comments. You can find it on the BBC Iplayer
Every blessing
Simon

Simon's Sermon on Nehemiah 4 - Keeping Momentum

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Latest news - All things are possible for God

Many of us have regular appraisals, if we are fortunate to have jobs. One of  our congregation talks about death by performance indicators. Recently I had a diocesan appraisal, the first for many years, in my role  as Vicar of Christ Church. It was all very thorough, positive and encouraging  and, at the end, I worked on an action plan in the areas I want to concentrate on  for future development.

In the afternoon I received a card from a member of my choir, David,  thanking me for the prayer ministry  we had offered for his physical healing. It included the following quote:

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential.

Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in,

but with what it is still  possible for you to do.

All things are possible for God.

Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)

The following day I rushed out from the Vicarage as he passed by. The card could have been sent to me directly from God it was so applicable to my situation. David mentioned he spent quite some time getting the right card to say thank-you. May you be similarly encouraged, whatever your situation, as you reflect on these words.

 

Do blog back any responses.

Simon Talks about the film The King's Speech.

OSCAR nominated film The King’s Speech has been praised by speech experts in the town for shining the spotlight on a difficult subject.
Speech therapists along with those who suffer from the impediment in Swindon have welcomed the attention and hope Colin Firth’s latest blockbuster – which was nominated for 12 Oscars yesterday – will encourage more people in the town to seek help for their stammer.
The film tells the story of King George VI who, plagued by a stammer and considered unfit to be king, sought the help of unorthodox speech therapist Lionel Logue.
The Reverend Simon Stevenette, of Christ Church Swindon has himself overcome a stammer which developed in his teenage years.
He said: “The King’s Speech was brilliant, it brought tears to my eyes – it said all the right things.
“It was frustrating when my stammer developed, I used to have pieces of paper with my name on or the name of a station I needed to go to.
“It seemed strange to me that God called me to ministry when my speech was at its worst but I had a very powerful healing experience – it is important to receive support and encouragement.
“You feel a sense of vulnerability within you when you have a stammer, but you make sure that you get the words out and you make sure that those words are positive and encouraging – that has always been an incentive for me.” 


You can read the full article on This is Wiltshire

The Nativity

The Nativity: I am sure you agree with me that The Nativity on BBC 1 7pm-7.30pm Monday-Thursday in 4 parts has been excellent. If you’ve missed it do try to pick it up on i-player in the next few days it is well worth a viewing. The programmes are profoundly full of the grace and awe of God. At the preview of the series the producer Tony Jordan (creator Life on Mars and writer for Eastenders) was interviewed and said “I’ve always had faith. I’m not a God botherer…..but I do believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God. I do believe he came here to take away our sins. I absolutely believe that. But there’s loads of little bits around it that bug me so what I’ve done with the story of the nativity is written a version that I can believe. I’ve made it accessible so people can watch it and see it is truthful and say “you know what! That is really cool. I never realised it could be like that. I thought it was all beyond me”. Watch it, believe it, invest in it and sob like a child – I did, you will.

Please can you help?

 We are very conscious that these are very difficult financial times for many people; however we thought it right to bring to your attention a £5,000 deficit for this year. If 100 people gave £50 as a Christmas present to the church we could wipe out this deficit. Please will you consider this prayerfully – it would be enormously appreciated. We apologise that we are in this position but everything is being done to save expenditure and make the most of our resources.

We thank God for his faithfulness and the growth in Christian ministry across our parish. During Advent we are concentrating our liturgy on God’s generosity in sending his Son at Christmas. Thank you to all those people who have given so generously and sacrificially to support the PCC of Christ Church with St Mary’s over the last year.

We quite understand that many will not be able to respond but we are asking, as a Christian community, that we commit our mission and finances to God. Let us see how he calls us to respond individually and together. If you like to talk with any of us in confidence please don’t hesitate to contact us. It would be very helpful if we could receive gifts by Christmas so all donations can be included in this year’s accounts which close on 31st December.


We are praying for a holy and blessed Advent and that we see much growth in God’s kingdom here is Swindon and further afield.

We had a very good PCC meeting on Monday during which we had a presentation form Malcolm Barton and Jackie Waters Dewhurst about an exciting mission opportunity. The PCC voted unanimously to support the Bristol Diocesan Bid for a church school to be built on the croft Road site.

Sara Tye, chair of the D&R group gave a powerpoint presentation on all the encouraging progress made over the last 9 months.

The finance group presented a budget for 2011 to PCC which enables us to break even. This was discussed at great length and it was decided that to spend another evening (Monday 13th December) on this subject – this will give us more time for prayer and reflection.

Every blessing

Simon, Pam and Lynda – on behalf of PCC

Revd Simon Stevenette, Pam Bridgeman and Lynda Fisher (Churchwardens)

Christ Church is 159 years old.

The Revd Henry Bailey came to Swindon in 1847. He found the existing parish church to be completely unsuitable. It was falling into disrepair and was too small for the growing population of Swindon. Imagine his introduction to his vision for a renewal – a proposal to sweep away, approaching 700 years of continuous worship at Holy Rood. How did that go down with the faithful? I expect he found some opposition.


But his faith, energy and drive won the support of people from all walks of life, from near and far. Between them they raised enough money (£8,000 at the time) to build the new church we now worship in.

The church building was just the start. Over the last 159 years, Christ Church Clergy and community have been at the heart of improvements in health, education and social care in our area. King Williams Street School founded in 1871, the Almshouses next door in 1877, the Little London Mission in 1902,St Andrews church built in 1955,the Ecumenical Parish project Help our Homeless in 1994, the Shakers young people’s meeting place in 1992 and the Kagitumba school project in 2003. There are many other examples.


Throughout that time the building itself has provided a centre of stillness and calm. It is a focal point for worship, service and celebration. It comes into its own particularly during periods of war, conflict, public and private mourning. It provides the backdrop for everyday births, marriages and deaths remaining at the heart of Swindon – like the baptism of Arlo Feeny we had last Sunday


Christ Church is a fine example of mid Victorian Gothic revival, by the distinguished architect Sir George Gilbert Scott. In the context of Swindon, Christ Church is a gem, one of the very few Grade 2* listed buildings of its age - in continuous use in Swindon.

We are in the privileged position of being custodians for its future



Happy Birthday Christ Church

Postcard from the Stevenette's via email

Dear friends, thank-you for all your prayers and thoughts for us during our adventure in America. We have been overwhelmed by people's kindness and love towards us and have had many examples of God's grace reaching out in unexpected ways. Westboro' is a fascinating place and our ministry at St Stephen's has been greatly appreciated. Last Sunday I blessed the Rotary triathlon at 8am before I led a Celtic Communion service. 

Nicola and the children are very well and loving the variety of days. For example, this week we have been to Cape Cod and Newport, Rhode Island. One of our favourite days was at Old Sturbridge village where 700 re-enactors relived the battle between the British and the Rebels!!

We are very fortunate that our next door neighbours allow us to use their swimming pool at anytime and there are tennis courts and sports facilities at the high school behind the Rectory, we have the opportunity to go to New York for 5 days and stay in my cousin’s apartment in Manhattan. We have really enjoyed our time with Ray and Joan. We return to stay with them for our final weekend when I will bless Ray's new boat. On Sunday I will share worship with Ray and preach at St Luke's Scituate where he was Vicar for 40 years. We are all avid Baseball fans following the Boston Red Sox  and the Worcester tornadoes!! We will enlighten you further when we return!!

On your behalf i would like to thank the Revd Bill and Gail Martin for their ministry alongside you during this exchange. By all accounts they have gone down very well. We have loved staying in your home. God bless you, Bill and Gail as you journey home and prepare for your retirement. 

With our love Simon and Nicola

Bishop Lee on stewardship, discipleship and generosity

Learning during June: we are following a Stewardship theme during June – it will give us the opportunity to consider the privileges and responsibilities of being God’s worldwide church – part of the human family on earth.
As part of this learning we invited Bishop Lee to talk to us - you can hear what he had to say here. 


Click here for more recordings of the day

Stewardship

Lord God

Creator and Redeemer

Giver of all things

Bless our parish in this united endeavour.

Strengthen our faith,

Grant us the spirit of generosity and sacrifice

So that with your grace we may provide

For the needs of Christ Church with St Mary's.

Give to others more needy than ourselves.

So that all we do glorifies you and sanctifies us

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  

Amen.

Saturday 29th May - Swindon go to Wembley

The Great day is nearly here. Swindon Town are playing at Wembley once again.

It will be a great privilege to travel down the M4 with thousands of fellow Town fans for the Big match on Saturday morning, Danny Wilson’s red and white army!

If you are not able to get to the match why not come along to a short service of prayer and thanksgiving at 9am at Christ church in Old Town. All are welcome.

Two of our 5 sons will be with me at Wembley. Edward aged 14 and William aged 12 who both play in local football teams. Our eldest son Thomas aged 18 will be with us in spirit miles away teaching youngsters on Tanna island Vanuatu in the South Pacific. He will be waiting for our texts. The Stevenette family, one of many families joining the much bigger Swindon Town family at Wembley.

Many of you will watch or listen to the match live and you will be able to reel off the Swindon Town team. But did you know that our beloved football club was set up by one of the clergy at Christ Church in Autumn 1879? The Revd William Pitt aged 23 years, met with some youthful employees of GWR works in New Town at King William Street Primary School in Old Town - a few minutes walk from Christ church and the rest, as they say, is history.

What a history, full of ups and downs. A real roller coaster.

This season has been magnificent, superbly run behind the scenes, managed brilliantly and coached with fine players showing great spirit of courage and skill on the field, playing as a team.

Thank-you everyone.

Most of all though, throughout our club history, all 131 years, it is the fans who have made Swindon Town what it is . Whatever the result we can walk tall and be proud of each other working together for our town.

Although I am very hopeful, I can’t guarantee a victory but I can promise you God works in every scene of life. God will be with us all the way at the match in London and back home in Swindon.

Let’s sing our boys onto victory. We have every confidence in you and each other.

All of us face challenges in life, joys and disappointments a plenty. We need strong foundations on which to build and live.

Let me leave you with a prayer from an 8 year old Ugandan child whose parents died of HIV Aids, which helps us keep today and the result in perspective:

      “O Lord, help me understand, that nothing will come my way which you and me , together,can’t handle.”

Fellow Swindon Town friends and fans. Have a great day out. Let’s play and sing our hearts out/ We are Swindon town. Come on you town  - Red army.

Never forget God is with us every step of the way.

So be strong, take heart all you who hope in the Lord.

God bless you all - onwards to Wembley, upwards to the Championship, please God!

Simon Stevenette - Swindon Town Chaplain

Annual Parochial Church Meeting 2010

Our APCM will be held on April 25th 2010 in Christ Church. It is an opportunity to look back and celebrate what we have achieved as a church family as well as "take stock" of where we are spiritually, administratively and financially.

This year particularly, as we carefully consider how we can better carry out our vision to connect our community with Christ, it is vital that all our friends understand how we work, what we do and above all how they can support the work.

We have published full details of our accounts for last year, the annual report, as well as the agenda for Sunday's meeting. [You can read them here]

Christ Church Re-ordering

One month after our community consultation, the Re-ordering group thought you would appreciate an update following our meeting last night. Your prayers, encouragement and comments are especially appreciated as we enter a very important week.

Thank you to all those who have already written and communicated with us about the re-ordering project. Please could we ask that any further written comments be received by this Thursday 25^th March 4pm to allow some space before the Parochial Church Council meeting on 29^th March. Please send them to Revd Simon Stevenette or Peter Ford, PCC Secretary or Ailsa Palmer, Parish Administrator.

1.  Meetings have been held with our architect Antony Feltham King which have been very constructive and helped us see how we can move forward.

2.  An intensive training and planning day has been arranged for Saturday 27^th March 10am-4.30pm in the church centre with Gill Moody, our fundraising consultant for 12 key stake holders. This is being financed by an anonymous donation.

3.  Sara Tye, chair of our Campaign Board has had many encouraging conversations with parishioners and community friends who are keen to be involved in helping us in our fundraising.

4.  Our Archdeacon Alan Hawker, chair of the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) has been in touch: ‘many thanks for the re-ordering papers. It was a good read. Could I suggest that once the PCC have agreed the option they wish to follow they then put an outline on paper and then send it to the DAC for information and initial comment plus an inquiry as to the best point in the process for the DAC to meet Church members involved in the project. It all sounds very exciting.

5.  All of the groundwork has been put in order to help our PCC came to an informed decision when they meet on Monday 29^th March 7.30pm in the church centre.

Our key bible reading in preparation for our PCC meeting is Nehemiah chapter 1 verses 1-11 – you may like to read this prayerfully.

Our PCC agenda is as follows: – To consider the next steps in the re-ordering process: In the light of much prayer, reflection and the community consultations over the weekend February 27/28,  the Standing Committee offer the PCC the following integrated motion, which will be fully discussed before it is  proposed by Lynda Fisher and seconded by Pam Bridgeman.

The PCC excitedly accept the vision behind major re-ordering of Christ Church and the building of a new church centre next to Christ Church as outlined in the updated architect’s brief, circulated with this agenda.

The PCC instruct the Vicar and Standing Committee on their behalf to form a fundraising board working with our architect, Antony Feltham King and our fundraising consultant Gill Moody and the Bristol DAC towards the launch of a fundraising campaign as soon as possible.

The PCC will do all they can to support the campaign by earnest praying, practical encouraging, supportive team working, sacrificial giving and careful communicating to the wider congregation and community.

The PCC call on the wider congregation and community to follow their example helping them in whatever way possible under God to meet our objective of creating a fully renewed church and site so that our Christian mission and ministry to Swindon can be advanced in this 21^st century.

The PCC fully endorse the opportunity provided to give immediately to a designated campaign fund for the sole use of working towards the launch of the appeal in paying professional fees providing written resources all carefully scrutinised by the Standing Committee on their behalf.

Our architect’s working drawings and the content of the fund raising campaign will be brought back to the PCC and congregation on a regular basis. When the time comes the PCC will need to fully endorse changes to the Christ Church building and site in order for a Bristol Diocesan Faculty to be applied for so that the work can be completed.

We hope you have found this communication update helpful. Please pray for all those involved in the re-ordering process. We are team mates together.

Simon Stevenette - On behalf of the re-ordering group.

Prayer

Grant me O Lord to greet the coming day with peace.

Help me in all things to rely upon thy holy will,

In every hour of the day reveal thy will to me

Teach me to act firmly and wisely without embittering or embarrassing others.

In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings.

Direct my will,

Teach me to pray,

Pray thou thyself in me. 


Amen

a prayer by a nineteenth century Russian Archbishop as quoted by Archbishop Rowan Williams on Songs of Praise

A message from The Revd Simon Stevenette

Dear Community,

We want to make sure that Old Town, Swindon's Victorian Church; Christ Church, is always at the heart of our community. 

We want to ensure it is humming with activity throughout the week; in all possible ways, to be a beacon on the hill providing facilities which Swindon can be proud of and a wonderful meeting place for a whole variety of worship, cultural, artistic, spiritual, musical, and community activities.

You may have heard that the Church building needs a new roof, new heating system and improved community facilities and we want to ensure this is a building for everyone to be used all day, everyday - forever. 

The building needs more than a facelift though, as it was built in 1851 and will be 160 years old in 2011. 

We are calling upon the congregation and the wider Swindon community to join us in this regeneration. 

There are two open meetings on Saturday 27 February at 10:00 am until 12 noon and Sunday 28 February at 7:30 pm until 9:30 pm at Christ Church, Cricklade Street, Swindon.

You will be able to hear about the vision and possibilities and ask any questions you might have.

We are aware that the task set before us is huge and we are committed to communicating clearly and consistently and to always involve the widest possible number of people.

In the forthcoming regeneration process we hope to have

Faith that we will be able to do whatever we set out to do

Imagination to do something creative not just a make do and mend philosophy

Long Term Thinking this is a long term project not a quick fix

If you would like to help, get involved or hear more about our ideas then please ring me on 01793 522832 or email simon.stevenette@tiscali.co.uk and parishoffice@christchurchswindon.co.uk

We will be keeping everyone regularly informed of our work.