Church attendance
In accordance with the Church Representation Rules the Church Electoral Roll was completely revised in 2007. There are now 60 parishioners on the roll [down from 73], 13 of whom are not resident within the parish. The average weekly attendance, counted during October was 50 adults and 9 children. Attendance on Easter day was 107 and on Christmas day (including Midnight) was 75. The church also holds regular monthly outreach services at Rydale Court and Seabrooke Manor, two residential homes in the parish. The total average attendance at these services is approximately 30. Children from the Neighbourhood Nursery were again able to visit St Luke!s at Christmas to share in the joy of Christmas and find out a little about the Christmas message.
The Sunday School room in the church
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The Sunday School has taken on a renewed enthusiasm under the leadership of Clare d'Netto and whilst the numbers are still quite small they regularly contribute their art work to the church. The PCC is grateful to Clare and her other helpers for the work they do with the children.
The youth of the church were able to host a deanery youth service and also produced a play on the subject of environmental concerns that was performed during a Sunday morning Eucharist. St Luke’s continues to maintain a close relationship with the local Methodist and URC congregations and has held three joint services during the year.
Review of the year
The full PCC met six times during the year. The only committee established by statute is the Standing Committee consisting of the Priest in Charge, Wardens, Reader, Secretary and Treasurer. The Standing Committee met informally on a number of occasions during the year. The PCC has no other committees.
Apart from routine matters the main subject of discussion during the year was the urgent repairs to the church, which have so far cost a little over £90,000. This has included the following items:
- replacing all the gutters and drain water pipes
- clearing the drains
- replacing the weatherboarding on the east end of the north transept with hung tiles
- repairing many broken windows
- repointing the brickwork where necessary
- replacing eroded stonework
- erecting a new metal fence around the perimeter of the grounds
A grant of £10,000 was received during the year from The Friends of Essex Churches.
Unfortunately whilst the scaffolding was in place an attempt was made to remove the copper from the roof of the south transept. Fortunately the miscreants were spotted and they were apprehended by the police before they could do too much damage. However because they gained access via scaffolding the PCC's insurance company Ecclesiastical Insurance Group has refused to cover the cost of the repairs which are likely to be in the region of £10,000. Temporary repairs have been made and the work is expected to be completed in the spring of 2008.