CHURCHES TOGETHER COORINATES
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The week of Prayer for Christian Unity
United Services for Lent & Christian Aid Lent Study Groups Friends at Christmas |
Fundraising for Christian Aid
Pop up cafes for families during school holidays Child Contact Centre |
Convenor’s report 2025-2026
To members of the congregations of Cam, Dursley and District
The year started rather suddenly for me, but after a helpful discussion at the AGM concerning aspects of the past year, the active clergy and I had a very positive lunch time meeting in which we took forward the thoughts and ideas from the AGM and developed the pattern for the coming year.
We are indebted to the hard-working team under Nicky Yudin who prepared and served the meals at Friends at Christmas. The entertainment, particularly the Bingo was a great success and showed Rev Juliet as caller in a very different light! For Christmas 2025 there was an encouragement for people to come to the Methodist Church rather than opt for the delivery of a meal to the house. The grants and donations covered the costs of the event. Every year it is a struggle to find the people who will head up the catering which is complex and needs a cool head. I am sure Nicky Yudin will be asking for more support for this year.
The new year began with a remarkably good turnout for the week of Prayer for Christian Unity service which was hosted by Fiona Crocker at St George’s – who can forget her vigorous flag waving? For the first time we arranged for an ecumenical choir to lead the singing. I think that there is more scope for doing that in the future.
In line with the discussion as the AGM the Lent evening services reverted to beginning at. 6.00pm, but we continued to move around different churches. Attendance at each of them was encouraging. I chose as the title of the series “A cloud of Witnesses” and with the help of the clergy we settled on a series of 5 Sunday evening services, exploring the lives of William Tyndale, George Whitefield, Julian of Norwich, Thomas Merton and St Benedict.
As a result of that series, the suggestion was made that we think about arranging a midweek lecture or talk a couple of times a year. The enabling committee were in favour of the idea and a small group of people have begun to plan for the first one taking place after Easter 2027. There will be more details at the AGM on September 29th.
The Good Friday walk of witness attracted large numbers of people and we are grateful to the police and all involved in planning and carrying out the complex event which does have managed risks attached to it. There may have to be changes in the coming year.
We are grateful to St James and their choir for their contribution to the Christian Aid service and to Rev Simon Helme from the Tab for preaching a powerful sermon.
Each year the convenor chooses a charity to support during the year. This time I chose. GARAS (Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) who do a very fine job in supporting the people who come as strangers into this area. I believe that the designated charity is not only about fund raising but consciousness raising also. To that end with a small but hard-working group, we organised the “Food from Around the World” evening at the Dursley Community centre. Food was prepared by many of the different nationalities who live in this area; some have been here for a very long time and other have come as asylum seekers and begun to settle. It was good to celebrate the great food traditions that they bring to enrich our lives. Despite the fact that it was held on Wimbledon finals Saturday and it was one of those extremely hot days in July, we had a very full turn out with over a hundred people enjoying the wonderful food which had been produced, let alone the stories from around the world and the music from the Ukulele Band.
The tickets costs were low and the proceeds used simply to reimburse the cooks and the other small costs that we incurred. But nevertheless, there was a profit of over £400 for GARAS which amazed us all. There has been talk of repeating the event perhaps in the autumn of 2027, if there is a call for it.
During the year, other events were very new to the calendar. The Tab organised beer and carols and a summer evening of favourite songs and hymns outside the Hopticians, both of which went down well. Also through the hard work of your incoming convenor, there was another hymn sing at the Coaley Festival.
During the year, we also had to say goodbye to two sterling supporters of Churches Together. Rev Fiona Crocker and Rev Simon Helme. We will miss them very much for both have been convenors and always supported the work of Churches Together.
As my year comes to an end, I want to thank the hardworking Enabling Committee for their enthusiasm, particularly Richard Gwyer (secretary) and Prue Vernon (treasurer). I thank you all for your support to me during this busy year. I wish Phil Greenow all the very best as he takes over as convenor, and Rev Jimmy Cullingford who comes in to shadow Phil during this coming year. Of course both of those appointments still have to be voted on when we come to the appointments – but if any vote against, they may find they are being voted into the role!
David Vonberg
To members of the congregations of Cam, Dursley and District
The year started rather suddenly for me, but after a helpful discussion at the AGM concerning aspects of the past year, the active clergy and I had a very positive lunch time meeting in which we took forward the thoughts and ideas from the AGM and developed the pattern for the coming year.
We are indebted to the hard-working team under Nicky Yudin who prepared and served the meals at Friends at Christmas. The entertainment, particularly the Bingo was a great success and showed Rev Juliet as caller in a very different light! For Christmas 2025 there was an encouragement for people to come to the Methodist Church rather than opt for the delivery of a meal to the house. The grants and donations covered the costs of the event. Every year it is a struggle to find the people who will head up the catering which is complex and needs a cool head. I am sure Nicky Yudin will be asking for more support for this year.
The new year began with a remarkably good turnout for the week of Prayer for Christian Unity service which was hosted by Fiona Crocker at St George’s – who can forget her vigorous flag waving? For the first time we arranged for an ecumenical choir to lead the singing. I think that there is more scope for doing that in the future.
In line with the discussion as the AGM the Lent evening services reverted to beginning at. 6.00pm, but we continued to move around different churches. Attendance at each of them was encouraging. I chose as the title of the series “A cloud of Witnesses” and with the help of the clergy we settled on a series of 5 Sunday evening services, exploring the lives of William Tyndale, George Whitefield, Julian of Norwich, Thomas Merton and St Benedict.
As a result of that series, the suggestion was made that we think about arranging a midweek lecture or talk a couple of times a year. The enabling committee were in favour of the idea and a small group of people have begun to plan for the first one taking place after Easter 2027. There will be more details at the AGM on September 29th.
The Good Friday walk of witness attracted large numbers of people and we are grateful to the police and all involved in planning and carrying out the complex event which does have managed risks attached to it. There may have to be changes in the coming year.
We are grateful to St James and their choir for their contribution to the Christian Aid service and to Rev Simon Helme from the Tab for preaching a powerful sermon.
Each year the convenor chooses a charity to support during the year. This time I chose. GARAS (Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) who do a very fine job in supporting the people who come as strangers into this area. I believe that the designated charity is not only about fund raising but consciousness raising also. To that end with a small but hard-working group, we organised the “Food from Around the World” evening at the Dursley Community centre. Food was prepared by many of the different nationalities who live in this area; some have been here for a very long time and other have come as asylum seekers and begun to settle. It was good to celebrate the great food traditions that they bring to enrich our lives. Despite the fact that it was held on Wimbledon finals Saturday and it was one of those extremely hot days in July, we had a very full turn out with over a hundred people enjoying the wonderful food which had been produced, let alone the stories from around the world and the music from the Ukulele Band.
The tickets costs were low and the proceeds used simply to reimburse the cooks and the other small costs that we incurred. But nevertheless, there was a profit of over £400 for GARAS which amazed us all. There has been talk of repeating the event perhaps in the autumn of 2027, if there is a call for it.
During the year, other events were very new to the calendar. The Tab organised beer and carols and a summer evening of favourite songs and hymns outside the Hopticians, both of which went down well. Also through the hard work of your incoming convenor, there was another hymn sing at the Coaley Festival.
During the year, we also had to say goodbye to two sterling supporters of Churches Together. Rev Fiona Crocker and Rev Simon Helme. We will miss them very much for both have been convenors and always supported the work of Churches Together.
As my year comes to an end, I want to thank the hardworking Enabling Committee for their enthusiasm, particularly Richard Gwyer (secretary) and Prue Vernon (treasurer). I thank you all for your support to me during this busy year. I wish Phil Greenow all the very best as he takes over as convenor, and Rev Jimmy Cullingford who comes in to shadow Phil during this coming year. Of course both of those appointments still have to be voted on when we come to the appointments – but if any vote against, they may find they are being voted into the role!
David Vonberg
