We opened our meeting tonight with the Lord’s Prayer. It is the prayer that Jesus himself taught his disciples to pray. We say it almost every day, we pray it during our midweek and Sunday services together and we know it by heart.

            It is as you would say ‘our staple diet’ for our prayer life with God together, because it draws us into the divine work of God for us and within us. Within the Lord’s Prayer we acknowledge the sovereignty of God and God’s Kingdom values; we see there that God is both intimate and holy and longs for us to be strengthened in all we do. And so, when we are praying to God to ‘give us this day our daily bread’, we are truly praying and trusting that God will provide us with what we need for His service. And when we pray it together within our church, alongside our community, with our eyes turned also to the world, we are truly seeking within it Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done.

            This powerful prayer anchors our trust in God and affirms our commitment in faith as we seek to serve God, as God calls us to. And so, whether we are singing in the choir, getting ready for coffee mornings or PCC meetings or here at our APCM – we do so together with God and for God because God has a purpose for our lives and those lives entrusted into our care here in Hessle. 

            Our annual meeting is a time when we stop and look back over the last year, but it is also a moment to relish and give thanks for as we step forward into a new year with God and all that he has in store for us. 

            We have had an excellent year together, welcoming many new people into church and having two confirmation services with the Bishop of Hull, one held in April and one in December with a group of ten adults and five children waiting to start this year.

            We sought to build on our ‘rhythm of life’ material which we looked at at the end of 2023, in feeding and nurturing our spiritual selves and so we ran the Bible Society Bible Course from July to August. This was indeed well attended with 29 people during the day and nine in attendance at the evening sessions. We now look forward to building on this teaching in church starting with the Bible Book Club.

            This year alongside our annual family camp to Ottringham – which has grown vastly in attendance, seeing 50 people last year – we have had our pilgrimage to Walsingham and for the first time a retreat at Wydale held in July, which was enjoyed by all, offering more of a reflective space. 

            Our missional outreach together continues in a variety of ways, supporting the lonely and vulnerable through contact calls and visits, and supporting the bereaved and those struggling in a variety of ways. A lot of support is received through our Open Church, with people taking the opportunity to come into our welcoming church for space or prayer, to light a candle or to receive support for themselves or for others. 

            We continue as a church to support our local foodbank held both in the Hessle Community Centre and at All Saints’ School. There are almost weekly pickups from Morrisons and dropoffs to individuals who are often isolated or struggling with mental health issues. 

            We are incredibly grateful to the Co-op for their generosity and to Sally Smith, who continues to provide help through the CHAT Club supporting those in need. We provide food on Monday evenings and Thursday mornings through our Fridge Raider pop-ins. Margaret Tesseyman helps and Sally often does a drop-in on a Sunday if food is available. The CHAT club continues to be a good outreach to the community, growing in numbers and ways of support, including the annual Christmas Eve meal here at All Saints’ Church Hall. 

            We are certainly blessed with music and bellringers in our church and this area of joy and ministry continues to thrive and infuse the life of our worship together. I am incredibly grateful to Stuart Pictor, Christine Pictor, Ros Baxter, Sam Hessey and the bellringing team; to Paul Benson and James Webb and the choir for all their commitment and enthusiasm to see music enrich our church life; and to the handbells group who gained a new lease of life under the direction of Emma Robinson at the beginning of last year.

Cont Next column...

We continue to have strong links within our community with the schools, the residential homes, the uniformed organisations and those who use our hall facilities, alongside our Catholic and Methodist brothers and sisters, the Town Council and the local pubs. 

            We are blessed by the many families we have seen over this last year coming for baptisms almost every week of babies, children, teenagers and adults and we continue to look at ways to build stronger connections.

            The church we know is so much more than a building and serves to bring glory to God by all it does in mission, service, and prayer in action. 

            We celebrated All Saints’ Day in an incredible way this last year, opening the church up to the community, with music, displaying church artefacts and information, having Tower tours and concluding with a stunning Choral Evensong, celebrating the church and its saints past and present among us. It was truly a joyous occasion.

       Much work has been done to see our church thrive. We have invested together in caring for the church building, seeing to works that needed to be done through the oversight of our churchwardens and PCC members. We have been blessed by the goodwill of volunteers who have contributed in so many ways, which in turn has encouraged others to get involved.

            We have progressed with our Tower Appeal, succeeding in our fundraising efforts and with the support of the National Lottery we will not only see the Tower restored but a project to follow in 2026, that will draw the community together, interpreting the history of our church and community in fun and engaging ways. 

1 Thessalonians 5: 18 reminds us to always be thankful in all circumstances. I believe we have much to give thanks for, including one another.

            I am incredibly grateful for the hard work and commitment of so many of you in church (too many to mention!) for your time, energy and prayer that you give through your faith in God. And I know that others are truly blessed because of your unwavering commitment to me and your church. 

            I thank those who will be stepping down this year, particularly Robin and Gillian. I especially thank my wardens, Paul and Gillian, for all their hard work; my ministry team (John, Carol, Stephen and Philip) who generously give of their time; the PCC and Eve in her role as Secretary; Stuart our Treasurer and Gail and Janet for their assistance; Heidi our Verger; Sandy our Baptism Secretary; Lorna, our Safeguarding officer; Graham Marshall, for our online presence and photography; Andrew our head Sacristan who helps in so many ways to get ready for services; Julie our Electoral Roll Officer; Emma Robinson, our Health and Safety Officer; and Richard Hamshaw our caretaker who provides so much care and support to our church. And to all those who are on our many rotas, are present often behind the scenes and contribute in so many ways to the life of our church, your dedication and tireless work have been vital to all we do together – I sincerely thank you all. 

   All Saints’ is a very special place, set in a great community and one that I feel privileged to be a part of as your Priest. I will continue to serve, support and uphold you and our community in the love of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen