St Michaels Anglican Church

Benefice Website: www.cotswoldedgeparishes.org.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cotswoldedgeparishes.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cotswold_edge.

Our mission is: to show God’s love for His people, and nurture His people’s love for God

Churchwardens: Mike Naylor (01453 828682) & Muriel Bullock (01453 826172)

Eastington Annual Vestry and Parochial Church Council Meeting

Eastington Church held its annual meetings in the Charlie Bullock Room on Wednesday 13th April.

At the meeting, 3 nominations for Churchwarden were received for Mike Naylor, Jill Simmons and Muriel Bullock. An election was held, with Mike receiving 13 votes, Jill 4 votes and Muriel 7 votes. Therefore Mike and Muriel were elected as Churchwardens for 2016-2017.

8 nominations were received for the PCC for Chris Amys, Jacky Naylor, Barbara Hall, Jill Simmons, Jane Williams, Robin Harris, Celia Harris and Beryl Frith. Two vacancies remain open on the PCC. If you are interested in becoming a member of the PCC, please contact Chris Amys.

At the PCC meeting following the annual meetings, it was agreed to appoint Jill Simmons as Honorary Churchwarden. Thanks were given to Jill for all her years of service. Chris Amys was re-elected as Secretary.

Ian Hodges was co-opted as a PCC member and agreed to remain as Treasurer until a replacement can be found. Eastington Church is looking for a new PCC Treasurer. If you are interested or know anyone else who might be you can find out more information about becoming the new Treasurer from either Chris Amys or one of the churchwardens.

No nominations were received for the post of Deanery Synod Representative at the meeting, but Jane Williams volunteered after the meeting, and has since been elected our Deanery Synod Representative.

Eastington Worship Group

The Worship Group was formed in 2015 to plan forthcoming services and make changes to our lay-led services. In 2015 we held some very successful services which included the service at the end of Christmas Tree Festival as well as our Carol and Christingle Services.

The Group are holding a meeting on Monday 20th June at 6.45pm to discuss upcoming forthcoming services. If you would like to be part of any forthcoming services, or have an idea about how we can improve our services, please contact Muriel Bullock on 01453 826172 or at murielhbullock@gmail.com.

Formal consultation on the future of our Parish and Benefice

Representatives from Eastington Church and others from across the Benefice have received a draft proposal and supporting papers following an informal consultation of the West of Stroud Review.

In summary, the draft proposals provide for:

the union of the parishes of Arlingham, Eastington, Framilode, Frampton-on-Severn, Fretherne, Frocester, Haresfield, Kings Stanley, Leonard Stanley, Moreton Valence, Saul, Selsley, Standish, Stonehouse and Whitminster;

the establishment of a team ministry for this new benefice to be shared by a team rector and two team vicars;

the appointment of the Reverend Charles Minchin as one of the team vicars; and

the housing arrangements for the team, namely the Rector to be based at The Rectory in Leonard Stanley, and the two vicars based at St Mary’s House in Frampton-on-Severn, and The Vicarage in Stonehouse.

Copies of the proposals are on the church notice board, available at the back of church, and can be sent by hard-copy and electronically on request to the Churchwardens or the PCC Secretary.

Eastington Church Library

The small library in our Parish Church continues to thrive and is well used. A comfortable well lit area has been provided for those who wish to sit and browse. We have extended the facility to include audio books and jigsaw puzzles.

If you have any contemporary novels or recent paper backs, audio books or jigsaw puzzles in good condition these are in great demand and any donations will be most welcome.

We do have some regular borrowers and buyers who find this small library a real community asset and we always need to restock. We need your support to help assure the future of the library.

Virtual Tour of Eastington Church

Andy Willis and his wife got married in Eastington Church on 11th December 2015. Andy is a photographer and is doing a project whereby he is shooting virtual tours of Churches and Cathedrals. He is doing it for his own portfolio, but has given us kind permission to use the tour on our website, and we are extremely grateful for allowing us to do this.

To access the Virtual Tour, please click the below: