The group meets once every three months. Our most recent meeting was on 4th December 2024, and as usual we discussed general arrangements for worship, as well as future events – through to the beginning of June 2025 this time.
The group considered several topics that we had brought up for discussion at the November General Church Meeting. That meeting showed a clear majority in favour of taking up a collection in all morning services. To help with the fact that many people give by other means, we agreed that we would make cards available that people can put in the collection baskets, if they would like to show their identification with the church’s giving. We hope to start this in the New Year. The GCM also revealed quite a few people who would like the chance for discussion of the theme of a service afterwards, so we will trial this on the second Sundays of the first months of 2025.
All our meetings start with reflections from our ministers. Han reported that the Korean congregation continues to attract new families, including some with no Christian background, so we will be redoubling efforts to make united services accessible to those with limited experience of church services (and possibly limited English, too). Simon reported that he found seated Communions difficult both liturgically and practically. We know that some members find them most helpful, so we will be continuing with a rough alternation between seated and gathered
communions, but we are putting in place procedures that we hope will make seated services run more smoothly. We also heard very positive reports of the ecumenical
Forest Church initiative for parents and children that has been begun by Abigail Hardiman and other Mint members. New Life Worship is also continuing to go well, with a typical attendance around 25. Other general matters we discussed included possible future invited preachers; we discussed a long list of names and identify some whom we would like to invite soon, so we hope to have some interesting visitors in the near future.
There is a table of key dates at the end of this report, but here are some highlights. In early February, we hope to welcome Louise Lawrence, Professor of New Testament Interpretation at the University of Exeter, to speak in one of our services. Our Lent and Easter services will include an Ash Wednesday service at 7.30pm on 5th March, our usual Sung Communion on Passion Sunday (6th April), and possibly a Tenebrae service on the Wednesday of Holy Week. Although Simon was happy to offer a Communion service on Easter Sunday (20th April), it would probably be thinly attended as there will be Communion in the morning service, so we will not have an evening communion in April. On 18th May we will again move our morning service to the Church Camp at Churchill Farm, Buckfastleigh, and a communion service will be held at the Mint in the evening. Our Church Anniversary will be held on 8th June, which is Pentecost Sunday, so we will have a Communion then instead of on 1st June; there will be a fellowship lunch at the church after the service. Our Anniversary preacher will be Rev’d David Speirs, who was a member at the Mint while a postgraduate student and is now the Superintendent minister of the Northampton circuit. Later in June we hope to begin a themed series of sermons on the Gospel of John, using the Bible Month material prepared by the Methodist Church nationally.
As always, the full minutes of the group meeting are available to any member of the congregation, and if you would like to see them, please let one of us know.
The next meeting of the group is planned for 3rd March 2025. If you have views on any of the points raised in this report, or indeed on any aspect of the Mint’s worshipping life, please let us know before that meeting: it’s very helpful to have comments from the congregation, and the group always welcomes and discusses any that come forward.
Stephen Lea (stephen@leafamily.org.uk), Chair
Bronwen Lea (bron@leafamily.org.uk), Secretary