AGM - Annual General Moan? ... No more!

This evening was our church's AGM and, from my experience these can be quite torturous affairs. Aside from the endless stream of reports on financial affairs which I have always REALLY tried to listen to but which just do not engage me (unlike a good sermon which does, Ian!). I remember several years in succession when one parishioner asked if we could change the colour of the numbers we used in the hymn boards. Eventually - after THREE years - the church changed them to black, as requested, instead of red and the FOURTH year the guy stood up to say thank you. The FIFTH year ... well it almost felt like we were missing an extablished part of the agenda!

For the last two AGMs I have convened our Youth Council on the same evening and the young people have met briefly for youth business and then gone on to join the whole church. I think it had quite an impact last year - the regsiter of their presence in the minutes aside - as people seemed less inclined to faff around and ask endless questions. There was some sense of a need to "keep it real" which permeated the meeting. This year, with our new vicar in post, the meeting was more envisioned anyway and the presence of the young people was pretty much expected rather than a surprise.

There was no Annual General Moaning. It was focussed for a large part of the evening on the legal necessities of the synodical system and yet it was also rich in a sense of moving forwards and in seeking after vision. I really feel that All Saints' is living out its mission to be:

A place for our whole community to encounter God.