Vestry Day Away
Posted Wednesday 7 April 2010 ~ 2:26pm
Holy Trinity Vestry at Spottieswood
Vestry with host Maureen Blackwood
REFLECTIONS ON THE VESTRY AWAY-DAY
On 27th March ten members of the Vestry went for their annual Away-Day to Spottiswood where, in lovely spring weather, we enjoyed delightful surroundings and were made generously welcome by Maureen Blackwood. Our objective in escaping for a few hours from the distractions of everyday life was to have greater in-depth discussions than we have time for in our monthly ‘business’ meetings. It was also an opportunity to get to know each other better (especially useful for newer members of the Vestry) which, as well as being pleasant, is always useful for a group that needs to discuss and reach decisions on tricky matters like spending money.
After Morning Prayer, Maurice gave us our context for the day, taken from the activities of the disciples following Pentecost: teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. We divided into small groups to consider those things about Holy Trinity which we would like to change or definitely not change. Maurice ruled out our first requirement of not changing the rector, by saying that some change, over time, inevitably happens so we concentrated on things we could influence in the short term.
Inevitably there were inconsistencies between personal preferences (e.g. new hymns/ old hymns/ new words to familiar tunes, etc.). Among our small number there were advocates for more use of the King James Bible as well as ‘radicals’ who would eliminate all use of ‘Thee’ and ‘Thou’. We recognised we must be wary of complacency but we clearly value much of how we do things at Holy Trinity and would not wish to imperil the baby while improving the quality of the water.
Trying to attract and retain younger people, while keeping our older and/ or traditionalist members happy, will always be a question of balance but the latitude given to those who act as intercessors and readers, to make their own choices of prayers and Biblical translations, is a practice which enables us to respond to and learn from different approaches. Using familiar hymns at the beginning and end of a service was felt to be a useful guideline, leaving scope for innovation elsewhere (although we noted the blandness of some modern verses). There was support for the choir singing psalms and anthems more often.
We had a good deal of discussion on Holy Trinity’s ‘style’, in worship and other fellowship, and we agreed that the friendliness, especially remarked on by newcomers, is one of our greatest assets which we must retain.
In the afternoon session we looked at what else Holy Trinity does and might do within the Melrose community and we recognised that this needs to respond to the particular characteristics of the area. In some places provision of a soup kitchen helps to meet a dominant need in a locality. There are pockets of deprivation everywhere but the subtle problems of loneliness, disappointment and bereavement are also ones we encounter and which we are well placed to address (e.g. through our pastoral group and Monday Club). We should look for new opportunities in this respect and, additionally, to spread knowledge about Holy Trinity more widely. This could include more reporting of the events we hold, through the local media, and using the church itself for suitable concerts, to enable more people to experience its special atmosphere and beauty.
We ended our day together with the breaking of bread in the Eucharist and took away with us not just happy recollections of a shared experience but many detailed points to which we will return in our future meetings.