Belmont Presbyterian Church St. Margaret’s

101st Annual Report for the year ended 30th June, 2011

Mission Statement: “To grow in Christ and serve Him in love.”

Minister: O. Rogers

Session: D.Anstiss, D. McKeown, P. McKeown, S. Isaac

Board of Managers : S. Angus, M.Evetts, W. Sheffield

Treasurer : D. McKeown

Envelope Secretary: J. Sealy

Honourary Auditor: C. North

Notice of Annual General Meeting:

The Annual General Meeting of the congregation will be held in the Church

on Sunday, 21stth August 2011, after the morning service

Agenda

Opening by the Moderator

Apologies

Minutes of the 2010 AGM

Reports: adoption after discussion

Treasurer’s Report

Election of Auditor and thanks

Election of Board of Managers

General Business

Benediction

Minutes of the 100th Annual General Meeting

Sunday, 15th August 2010

The meeting was opened by the moderator, Rev Owen Rogers.

Apologies from Peter & Elizabeth McQueen, Pam McKeown and Maggie Evetts were accepted.

The minutes of the previous AGM were adopted.

The annual reports were adopted. (There was a verbal report from Fireside.)

The treasurer moved and spoke to his report which was then adopted.

The budget for the year ending June 30 2011 was presented by the treasurer. It was adopted after a brief discussion.

Colin North was elected as the honourary auditor for the coming year.

The Board of Managers was re-elected for another term, with the addition of new member, Warwick Sheffield .

Owen Rogers expressed his thanks to the congregation, and welcomed former members of St Paul’s who now worship at St Margaret’s.

Cyril Hicks proposed a comprehensive vote of thanks from the meeting to all who attend and contribute to the life of the church.

The meeting closed with a benediction.

Annual Reports, 2011

Minister’s Introduction

Last year in this forum I referred to our future as unfolding before us as we go. Crucial to that unfolding is seeking out ways to answer the important question, ‘How do we serve our community?’ How can we serve people in practical, caring, Christlike ways?

For many years many of our folk have continued to give faithful service to the community through Maggie’s Mart, providing friendship, and support in these difficult economic times. This year this has been extended to Saturday trading with proceeds being given way to be shared more widely. I feel that this is another step of faith as we continue to look beyond ourselves and our own needs. A further opportunity to serve the community has emerged through the development of a dementia support group, in partnership with Presbyterian Support Northern and St. George’s, Takapuna. The Dee’s Group, as it is known, is bringing a sense of hope to those involved. Whether it be caring for neighbours and friends, praying for others, being active in local issues, helping clear up the local cemetery, many of you serve the community well. Encouraging me and praying for me in my role as Chaplain at Unitec is yet another way of us serving our community together.

The question remains and we continue to seek ways in which we are able to serve our community. We look forward to finding other ways that we, as God’s people, can serve our community.

After he told the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus directed a question to the teacher who had asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus asked, Which one of these three people was a real neighbour to the man who was beaten up by robbers?” The teacher answered, “The one who was kind to him.”
Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”

Owen Rogers

Board of Managers

The work of the board has continued throughout the year. Maintenance of the manse requires little output due to the renovations carried out a few years ago, but parts of the outside, mainly of our church building, continue to cause problems. Finances at the moment preclude any major repairs but smaller, necessary tasks are taken care of as they crop up.

All accounts are paid regularly and the monthly amount for Assembly Assessment has also been paid regularly. Unfortunately, this has been increased for the coming year, but with careful budgeting by our Treasurer, we are “holding our own”.

Maggie’s Mart, in particular, provides a substantial contribution to the church’s finances and the Board would like to acknowledge the loyalty of the group of volunteers who serve in the shop on a day-to-day basis. Thank you so much, Ladies.

The upstairs hall and downstairs lounge are used on a regular basis by groups outside the church. Their contributions also help the church finances.

Your Board continues to work in the interest of the congregation and values your financial support and interest, for any projects we undertake on your behalf.

Shirley Angus

Maggie’s Mart

Our Opportunity Shop has had another extremely busy and profitable year, although not quite reaching last year’s figure, which was a record.

Donations of goods and clothes from members of the public has increased and it takes a concerted effort on behalf of all the staff to keep the shop tidy, goods priced and a friendly attitude towards our customers.

Many bags of clothing have again gone to the city mission and we are grateful to have this outlet for goods not suitable for sale in our shop. Many orange rubbish bags have also been filled. Our sincere thanks go to Bruce, our friendly shoe repairer next door. Bruce holds our key to the shop and is always ready and happy to help the staff in any way he can. We are grateful for his support.

We are very sorry to lose the help of Ross Steel, who is now unable to take our rubbish away. This makes it awkward to get rid of large unwanted items and things that won’t fit into the orange rubbish bags. Any help in this direction would be appreciated.

We now have four ladies who don’t attend St. Margaret’s working in the shop. This makes a huge difference to the staffing every day. Without these four willing ladies, the shop would have to close on some days and we want to avoid this. The roster is very fragile and if someone is away or sick, those already on the roster try and fill in where they can. Not an ideal situation.

So as a congregation, we owe a huge debt to all those who serve so willingly in our shop. I have a magnet on my fridge which says ‘Volunteers are earth’s angels’ and I am sure you will agree with that.

Shirley Angus

Session

This year, Session has been looking at new ways to serve our community. Our social morning, Monday Morning @ St Margaret’s, now meets in the foyer every Monday from 10 am to noon. Members of our church have been involved with the Dees group, which is an outreach to people with dementia. Warwick Sheffield did a series of sermons on the bible, in conjunction with a vegetarian cooking demonstration. This year, we decided as a congregation that we should support causes outside the church. So far, we have made donations to the Red Cross appeal for Christchurch and also the Dees group.

We have lost a number of members: Ivy Arnold, Enid Glanville, Audrey Shaw and Cheryl Steele passed away this year, Ki Jung and In Sook Yoon moved to a Korean church closer to their home.

Our church is now part of the Northern Presbytery, which is led by Fakaofo Kiao. We look forward to working with other churches in the presbytery.

Sheila Isaac