Covid-19 Update

The PCC continues to review its current position in line with the latest guidelines and out of care for the safety of those attending St. Anne's Church, and the risks that are associated with people gathering together. Of course, recommendations or rules may change. Any amendments to the below will be posted on the Church website. 

Although the majority of legal restrictions have been lifted, it must be recognised that the hazards of the Pandemic still exist. We must also remember that we may well have vulnerable individuals within our congregation and visiting the church, as well as people who may still be nervous with regard to the potential of infection.

To offer a place of peace and spiritual support to everyone during these unsettling times, the church will be open during the daytime, with hand sanitizer available and directional signage to enable ease of social distancing for those who still wish to observe it. A Prayer table and Prayer Book is also available which everyone is invited to use.

Services will take place as scheduled, but with designated areas for those who wish to observe social distancing, on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Everyone attending is asked to wear a face covering in respect for others.

We continue to offer online services on our St. Anne’s Facebook page for those who do not wish to, or cannot, attend in person. Our church choir is able to rehearse, observing social distancing on a Tuesday evening. Although singing as part of the services is now allowed choir members will wear face masks to limit the risk. 

Funerals and weddings will take place, in line with current guidance, by arrangement with the Rector.

We hope, and pray, that you are all safe and well and look forward to welcoming you at St. Anne's. The church is here for all. If you would like to get in touch the phone numbers to use are:

• the Rector - Mike Gilbert – 07947 092951

• Churchwarden – Irene Roscoe - 01246 582900 or mobile 07484 201989

 Switch-on Christmas tree lights

Friday 26 November

We start with singing in Church with the school children. Afterwards we will assemble in the Church Rooms yard with the Cressbrook Brass Band playing.

There will be mulled wine, coffee, tea and soft drinks. Hopefully we will have the usual BBQ with hot dogs and burgers.

No charge will be made but donations towards the cost of the evening would be gratefully received.

Offers of mince pies would be welcome. Thank you.

June Powell - 583375

The Rector Writes

Dear Friends

October is the month when I realise that the year is ending. At the beginning of the month it is gradual, as the night seems to come to us quicker each day and the sun is lazier in getting up in the morning. Then, all of a sudden, the clocks go back and, though we gain an extra hour in bed, we feel that we have abruptly lost our evenings and the darkness feels as it is on us halfway through the day.

Some amongst us feel the lack of sunlight strongly. Sometimes our circumstances can mirror that fading. It might be gradual or more sudden. This can come from mental health issues, or a change in our family circumstances or our health. It might be a wider communal or national loss. We all live with loss of one kind or another.

October is also the season of “mists and mellow fruitfulness” as Keats so memorably put it. It is a treasure trove of colours, smells and textures of such subtlety and beauty that can’t be found at any other time. At Harvest we give thanks as we live with the daily reality of loss and human fading yet grateful to a loving God for the richness and beauty all around us.

It is why I love October so much.

God bless

Mike Gilbert, Rector

FROM GARDENER TO PRIEST via Cheshire, Edinburgh, London …

Some of you may have met Graham Duncan or know of his recent appointment as Associate Vicar at St Anne’s. Or perhaps he is your new gardener? Our reporter has been “digging” to find out something about Graham, the latest addition to the Village Community.

A self-described “serial hobbyist” whose interests range from cycling, sailing, flyfishing, running and gardening to banjo playing, Graham, originally from Cheshire, arrived in Baslow via West London and Sheffield where he was the Director at St Mary’s Community Centre on Bramall Lane. Married to Carol, living in Eyam, a Father and Grandfather – his life seems to be pretty uneventful. But talking to Graham reveals an interesting route to becoming part of life here in Baslow. Growing up he wanted to be a doctor but ended up working for St Mungo’s, a homeless charity, where he lived in the hostel which provided 70 beds for the homeless. He took a degree in Psychology, working for a Christian drug rehabilitation charity in his holidays. Inevitably he ended up working for the Charity!

As someone who wasn’t that keen on Church, perhaps it was a surprise to Graham to become an ordained priest after he had undertaken an AIDS charity placement in Edinburgh in the 1980s. He felt that the Church needed to go out to the homeless, not expect the homeless to come to Church. This view persists today and Graham has views about the church being part of the community and being externally focussed.

In 2000 Graham moved to Sheffield to what was the brand-new centre at St Marys – a building with no revenue. Graham established a conference and catering facility to raise income and to support the work the centre did with people from deprived communities. After 21 years he decided to have a change of direction. Now running his own gardening business, he is working part time at St Anne’s.

So how has his background of service, and his experience of seeing the effects of poverty on people’s lives, shaped his thinking for the Church at Baslow? As a practical person who likes action and doing things together to make a difference I think Graham would like to embed St Anne’s in the heart of the Baslow community. Already one of the main drivers behind the Summer Markets in the Courtyard, I expect we will see Graham organise more events and activities, partnering the Church congregation and people in Baslow who like to get involved.

I asked Graham his vision for success from his ministry. His ambition is to broaden the life of the church so that it connects more closely with people of different ages. “Life is complicated and unpredictable and often we struggle to accept ourselves or to live as we would like to. God is found in the middle of all that and faith helps to see life in its fulness” he says. He’d like to get the Church more engaged in external issues, using its organisational capacity to help village endeavours and make the Church relevant to a wide range of people.

I think we are lucky to have Graham and I, for one, wish him well in his time at St Anne’s.

Roving Reporter

Church Choir

Church Choir rehearse in church at 6.30pm each Tuesday for 45 minutes.

Bel Canto Ladies’ Choir rehearse in church at 8.00pm to 9.30pm on Wednesday evenings during term-time.  

New choir members are always welcome, so if interested, please telephone Claire on 07515 287222. 

 

Church Library

Our library facility is temporarily closed to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission. 

Parish Safeguarding 

The Church of England is called to share the good news of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ. The life of our communities and institutions is integral to how we address this task. The good news speaks of welcome for all, with a particular regard for those who are most vulnerable, into a community where the value and dignity of every human being is affirmed and those in positions of responsibility and authority are truly trustworthy. Being faithful to our call to share the gospel therefore compels us to take with the utmost seriousness the challenge of preventing abuse from happening and responding well where it has.

Safeguarding Concerns

If you have any concerns over any safeguarding matter, please contact the Parish Safeguarding Officer, Richard Nicholson on 07502 177119 or Member of the Clergy, Revd Mike Gilbert on 07947092951 or the Diocesan Safeguarding Team on 01332 388678.

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON SAFEGUARDING

PCR2

Protocols and practice guidance for the Church of England’s Past Cases Review 2, (PCR2) have been published and are on the National Church of England Website. 

Individual survivors who wish to make representations to the PCR2 process in the Derby Diocese or who need to come forward with information or make any disclosures regarding church related abuse are encouraged to make direct contact with the Safeguarding Team 01332 388678. 

However, recognising that this may not feel safe for those with experience of abuse from within the church, a dedicated national helpline - 0800 80 20 20 - operated independently from the church, by the NSPCC, was set up in September 2019 and remains available.

Survivors were not invited to contribute to the 2007-2009 PCR and the Church has wanted to ensure a different, trauma informed approach is taken by PCR2. Listening to survivor voices has helped to shape how this review will be conducted. 

We are now at the beginning of the PCR2 process, this is an independent review to look at all the safeguarding files, historic and current for both adults and children, including all Church officers. The review aims to ensure that wherever concerns have been raised that the cases have been handled appropriately.

The National Church has given a commitment to undertake a new Past Cases Review (PCR2) which will not only look at all types of harm, both to children and or adults, but will probe much deeper in records or concerns held in parishes, some of which may not have been reported to the DSA. Your vicar (or church warden if in Interregnum) will now have received a letter from +Libby outlining what is required to enable this significant piece of work to be completed. We need to submit the final report to the National Safeguarding team by the end of December 2020. We will be in touch directly with PSOs’ to give the detail of the next step, but it may be helpful if you identify where any parish records are held so that there is less work to do when we ask you for the details. The timescale for responding to PCR2 in the Diocese of Derby is by 31st March 2020.