A letter from our Vicar, Rev Dr Donald McFadyenBetter TogetherA community like Whaddon is very special. Of course, it is beautiful and peaceful and secure, none of which can we take for granted. But it’s the relationships between its people that make or break a community: a beautiful place devoid of friendship and fun would be picturesque but miserable. In my experience Whaddon is anything but miserable! What makes a place friendly and fun largely depends, I guess, on who’s living there and whether they want to share life together. But it also depends on whether there are places where people can gather, where Whaddon can ‘meet itself’. One of those places is the church. I know (because you tell me) that the church is important to you, as a place where your children are grounded in the truth of Bible teaching, where community events such as Remembrance Sunday take place and where we celebrate the great Christian festivals such as Christmas and Easter. All of these take place in the building that has stood for hundreds of years, giving a sense of continuity with the past and hope and joy for the future. At a recent PCC (Parochial Church Council) meeting we spent almost all of our time addressing questions to do with the church building. As many of you will be aware, we experienced two thefts of lead from the roof of the church in September and October last year. Happily the repairs have just been completed and although the insurance claim met the hefty bill of £18,767, we have had to pay £2,000 combined excesses on the two claims. An alarm system to be installed will cost in the region of £1,500. Repairs to the roof inevitably revealed problem areas that were not due to the thefts but just one of the consequences of caring for a building that is centuries old. We have had expenditure replacing timbers damaged by time and weather amounting to £2,643. We are also concerned that more problems in the fabric of the building will be uncovered when we undertake the five-year architectural inspection that is required in every church by the Diocese. This is due later in 2008 and we expect that we may have to raise substantial funds to ensure the future of our beautiful church for many more years. We are pleased that we have been able to meet £2,500 of a £5,000 bill to put right all of the basic faults with the organ. As some of these had been caused by water damage, Ecclesiastical Insurance contributed the balance. Furthermore we have commissioned a definitive historic report on the instrument, which endorses its unique and precious nature but this also highlights the fact that a complete restoration would cost in the region of £50,000. Why am I telling you this? Firstly, because the PCC believes its role is to act for the church on behalf of the whole village. This is the village’s church, and so it’s very important to keep everyone informed about its life, including its bricks and mortar, so that the village can decide how it wants to ensure it’s still here for generations to come. But I also wanted to say that the church does not want to be acting in competition with other hugely important projects underway in the village, specifically the Village Playground and the Village Hall, both of which require significant financial support: the church affirms their importance in the community life of Whaddon, and wants to help find a way forward that’s about cooperation, not competition. Quite how that can happen I don’t yet know, but our starting point is prayer. As a church we are praying for Vision, Enthusiasm and Generosity for all of these projects:
We’re also hoping that by addressing together the village’s needs we’ll experience a greater sense of friendship and fun.
Donald McFadyen Vicar June 2008
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