Back to Blogging... promise!

OK so I took the most of a college work free month and didn't update the Blog through September. But, now college has resumed - year 2 begun - I return to the discipline. If you are a regular reader and feel I'm slipping behind in my updates don't be afraid to tell me.

So September was a busy month inspite of nothing to do for college - apart from reading of course (just in case there are any tutors following!).

Back to Church Sunday was probably the highlight when couples who had been married here and who we had invited to return actually came. Along with couples in the congregation they renewed their vows together - a moving moment for everyone.

The lowlight was the frustration associated with getting the GLO Bible resource to actually download and work on a PC in readiness for our year-long exploration of the Bible together. The final solution which worked was to buy a new PC - mercifully a bargain from e-bay.

Our Church Meeting was dominated by our finances. The news the BU Grant we had hoped for had been cut was a disappointment but prompted us to look afresh at our personal giving and our church expenditure. We think we can balance the budget for 2011 with a bit of extra giving (£1.20 per attender a week seems about right) and we have agreed to spend some of our Legacy Fabric Funds, ahead of the VAT rises on some essential maintenance to electrics and plumbing as well as buying some new stacking chairs.

We have also agreed to work towards a £30K project to move the kitchen to a new location which will give access to the hall and the garden and increase our mission options considerably. We know we will have to fundraise very hard but see the target as reachable and from our initial discussions with an architect know it is viable.

As September ended and October began, we celebrated Harvest with David Goodbourn, who grew up in the church here. We also harvested our Thankoffering Talents (the £5 notes we gave everyone in June and encouraged them to grow). The result to-date is that our initial outlay of £250 has grown to over £1000 so our talents have multiplied three-fold.

And finally, our bids for community funding from the County Council to refurbish a toilet and to buy safety mats for Kid's Kingdom were both in part successful. Although we didn't get all we asked for, almost £1900 is very welcome.

Now college has resumed, the Modules for the semester reveal new deadlines for assignments and offer more lists of books to read. Life will be busy as I juggle study and church and of course also try to find time to blog too.