all souls

2014/15

grow

in our faith

A commitment to grow - through

Life Groups exploring faith, wisdom
and questions. Friendship groups for
prayer and encouragement. Sunday
Services for all ages to enjoy worship
and teaching together.

give

financially

Financial generosity - makes the

ministry and mission of All Souls
possible and spreads the load across
the whole congregation, not just a
few. It says were part of what we
celebrate God doing here.

serve

in a team

Joining a team - whether helping with

our childrens work, making our
Sunday worship possible or enabling
an Ivybridge Community project.
The best way to make a difference,
discover gifts and meet new people
is to get involved in a volunteer team.

tell

good news

Being and telling Good News - living

out the good news of Jesus in front of
others and being prepared to give a
reason for the hope that is in us is
our response to Gods love.

Count me in

2014

a year at
All Souls
Each year that passes is another
reason to celebrate Gods work in All
Souls: people growing in faith or
meeting Jesus for the first time and the
many opportunities we have to serve
our local communities.
I hope you will take a few minutes to
enjoy what follows, to turn it into
grateful prayer and to allow it to shape
your response to Count Me In! as
together we take the opportunity to
reaffirm our commitment to the life of
All Souls.

Rev Richard Frank

Vicar

2000
New congregation
planted
2000-2005
New boilers installed;
Climbing Frame donated;
Home Groups begin; Alpha
Course run; first Carols by
Candlelight; Little Souls
established and much
more!

2009
First Big Lunch

2008
Link project
completed

2009
Messy Church
launches

2013
Team room
created

2008
Charles joins
the team as
All Souls first
Curate

2005
Richard joins
as Vicar

2006
Why Jesus?
course first
run

2006-8
Church stage refurbished,
pulpit & organ removed, p.a.
system installed; new office
space created.

2011
Calum joins
as Curate

2013
Refurbished West
Windows installed

milestones
on the
journey

grow

elationships are meant to grow and our relationship with God is no

exception. We know, though, how
easily we can get stuck in a rut. Thats
why we continue to encourage one
another to find as many different ways
we can to keep going - and keep
growing - in our faith. The next few
pages tell the story of just some of the
ways in 2014 we helped one another
grow in faith, discover wisdom for
everyday living and ask the biggest
questions of life. Children and adults,
regulars and visitors, believers and
enquirers have found ways not to stand
still but to grow

in our faith

18 Why Jesus?
attendees

50 sermon podcasts
listened to every week
98 sermons
Preached in 2014
27 Baptisms
38 people attended
the Baptism Course

most sung songs of 2014

10,000 Reasons
Give thanks to the Lord
As Morning Dawns (Your Name)
The splendour of the King
This is how we know

257 years
1757-2014
the time span between the
authorship of the oldest and newest
songs sung at All Souls

Worship & Music

Our sung worship continues to be central to the ways in which
we engage with God during our Sunday services at All Souls. The
songs that we sing range from beautiful 18th century hymns such as Come
Thou Fount of Every Blessing, in which we acknowledge Gods great grace,
through to modern day worship songs like This I Believe, which allows us to
affirm with surety the tenets of our faith.
This year has seen the re-birth of our monthly Monday evening worship team
get-togethers, which have continued to grow in size as the year has progressed.
Weve welcomed a number of new faces into the worship team, including
some of our younger people, and there are several more who we will hopefully
be seeing playing and singing regularly in the band in the years to come.

1150+
the number of verses
in the Bible where music
or song is mentioned

Although, unfortunately, Calums time with All Souls came to an end this year,
we thank God for the worship leaders who continue to serve us week by
week, in leading us in praise, thanksgiving and worship Rob, Mike, Jamie,
Mark and Karl. Although too numerous to mention by name, we also give
thanks for the musicians and singers who continue to serve us with their musical
giftings each week.
Jon Wooden
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol
him with music and song. Psalm 95:2

Prayer
One definition of prayer is simply paying attention to God. We are committed
to ensuring that prayer is the heartbeat of all that we do at All Souls - from
encouraging an individual prayer life, to prayer triplets, to small groups and
praying together in larger gatherings. We pay attention to God by admitting
our shortcomings in prayer, praising God for his many gifts, making our requests
of Him and interceding for individuals and the wider world.
During the year we have run several prayer ministry training sessions, for
those individuals that wish to become more involved in praying for others in
the church family either in a one-to-one setting, or leading prayers on behalf
of a larger group. We are looking to develop this team further in the coming
year.
We are also developing a prayer space within the main church building, where
there is the regular opportunity to pray with others and be a church community
that will truly rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those that weep. (Romans
12:15)
Jon Wooden

Womens groups

Baptism course

The aim of women's groups is to give

us opportunities to get to know each
other (away from the bustle of Sunday
mornings!) and to encourage and
support each other as we grow in our
faith.

Several times each year, I gather a

group of parents who are exploring
the possibility of baptism for their
child. We spend one evening looking
at the words of the service, and
unpacking four big themes, focusing
especially on the foundation of grace
- Gods free gift of his love for us in
Jesus - and how baptism is both a sign
of that as well as a call to respond.

During the last year, we have seen the

first 2 joint women's breakfasts with
women from other local churches and
a couple of All Souls' women's
breakfasts at a local caf. As well as
enjoying good food, we have been
joined by gifted women who have led
us in worship and provided challenging
teaching.
There are a number of women's
prayer and study groups and we hope
to see more of these develop, along
with prayer partners and triplets.

There is an open invitation to all the

women linked to All Souls for the women's
breakfasts/evening and we would love to
hear from anyone interested in starting or
joining a women's study group.
Rachel Wooden

The second evening asks the So

what? question for our parenting in
the light of baptismal promises.
The sessions are short, conversational
and give plenty of chances for
questions.
If youre interested in baptism, either
for yourself, or for your child as a
mark of belonging to the Family of
God, then let me know!
Richard Frank

Training volunteers, LLM

Life groups
In 2014 we trialled what will become
our pattern for midweek small
groups in the coming year - Life
Groups.
Life Groups are deliberately small (no
more than would fit in a front room)
determinedly short (no more than
six weeks either side of a half term
break) and never meeting for the
sake of it, but focused on a particular
topic or course.
The Lent Groups covered a variety
of areas of faith, life and questions and
were looking forward to the new
groups doing the same.

In 2014 two longstanding members of

All Souls, Rachel and Jon Wooden,
embarked on a 3 year training course
to become Licensed Lay Ministers in the
Church of England. They are studying
at St Mellitus college in SW London
with a mixture of theological studies and
practical training in areas such as
preaching, pastoral care and evangelism.
The course is on a part-time basis
alongside their normal day jobs, and
takes place on weekday evenings, some
Saturdays and an annual study week.
The diploma is designed to further
equip lay people to serve God within
their own church community and is
studied alongside ordinands as well as
independent students.
We are incredibly grateful for the
opportunity we have been given to
undertake the LLM course, and are very
excited about what God has in store for
us in the years to come at All Souls.
Rach and Jon Wooden

growing
leaders

Crche
Our Crche, also known as
Wrigglers & Gigglers aims to
provide a safe, fun and welcoming
space for babies, toddlers and their
carers during the morning service.
During 2014, Tuane and then Sonia
& Alison, have led a hardworking
team of volunteers, mostly mums,
to make this group possible. The
team members set up the Main Hall
with sofas, play equipment, simple
craft and a story area and make
coffee and tea for the parents who
will be staying.
In 2014, the group has grown in size
- we often now have 20+ children
in the hall - and we now also
regularly welcome Richard (and
before he moved on, Calum) to
come and chat (if hes not preaching)
or at very least to summarise the
sermon and pray a final prayer of
blessing.

Were always looking for new team

members, so if you have a baby or toddler
yourself, or are simply willing to help make
this space the safe, happy and welcoming
environment we aim for, please do chat
to the team.

Primary age children

Morning Service - we have had four
agegroups for post-toddler children in
the morning service, which rose to five
in 2014 as we aimed to cater for those
in their first year at secondary school
too. Meteors (Nursery), Stars
(Reception), Movers (Yrs 1-2),
Groovers (Yrs 3-4) & Refresh (Yrs 5+)
all focus on the same Bible Story and
the leaders weave around it a range of
games, crafts, conversation, prayer and
worship to help the children engage
with the theme.

video briefing from Richard to assist

with their preparation.

Keeping children safe is of paramount

importance and we train and support
our leaders in Safeguarding best
Our aim is to create a safe, fun and practice. Richard Frank
positive space in which children get to
discover Gods love for us in Jesus for Afternoon Service - It has been a
good year in afternoon childrens'
themselves.
groups, with primary age school
The leaders teams are made up of children all together in the large hall and
volunteers, most of them parents of an average attendance of 15+.
children in the groups themselves. For
the most part, leaders help with the We have an increased number of
groups one Sunday a month and leaders now as a result of combining the
receive material, a story video and a age groups, which means more variety

for the children in terms of the way

sessions are run and they seem to have
responded well to this.
Sessions are based around Bible stories,
with Richard providing a very helpful
overview in advance via an online video.
The stories are usually introduced using
a video which leads us into teaching and
discussion and other activities such as
craft, games and prayer.
We have a dedicated team of leaders
and helpers on Sunday afternoons but
of course would greatly welcome along
any new volunteers to help out
Tim Knight

Underground &
Overground
2014 saw a continued strengthening of
our group for secondary school young
people, meeting during the afternoon
service. Underground (for years 7-9)
and Overground (for year 10+) have
continued to meet both separately and
jointly, with a variety of topics, bible
themes and socials and led by a great
team of volunteer leaders.
The big change during the year was
the stepping down of Karl & Kate
Burgess who had led the team for the
previous couple of years and been part
of the team for much longer. They are
sorely missed. Richard & Catherine
Frank have joined and now lead the
team in their stead.

A particular highlight was the

Christmas Party on the last Sunday of
the term (photos right), which
included scenes of competitive
silliness rarely witnessed this side of
Eurovision.
Our thanks to a great group of young
people - always ready to engage with
the big questions of life and faith and a dedicated and imaginative team
of leaders.
Richard Frank

serve

eams are at the heart of the life,

ministry and mission of All Souls.
Both up front and behind the scenes,
from leading worship to serving coffee,
from leading childrens groups to
helping in the Foodbank or running
Little Souls, almost all we do relies on
the time, commitment, imagination
and skill of dedicated teams of
volunteers.
However, its not just about filling rotas
and getting jobs done.
Serving as part of a team is one of the
best ways to grow in our Christian faith
- working alongside people who are
different from us, seeing God at work
in ways we didnt expect and realising

in a team

250
bags
of coffee
drunk in 2014

that Jesus equips us to do the things he

calls us to do.
Theres another good reason to serve
as part of a team - and thats because
its a great way to meet new people.
As All Souls grows, so the temptation
to stick with the people we already
know on a Sunday grows too. Being
part of a team brings us alongside
people we might never have met - and
sometimes surprising friendships result.
Our annual Count Me In! month gives
us all a regular opportunity to think
about what we might get involved in
for the coming year - look out for it in
June 2015

Sunday volunteers
in 2014

173

Hospitality & Welcome

We have seen fantastic growth in All
Souls this year and met some
wonderful people. The welcome team
are those 'meeting and greeting' on the
door, with particular focus on
newcomers.
We have had a great team this year
and have managed to provide 3 or 4
welcomers each Sunday morning
which has enabled us to present a
friendly face on the door, help out with
the computer check-in for children,
sign up new families and chat to
visitors. This is a key moment for those
walking in the door for the first time,
perhaps not knowing anyone or what
to expect. I think we maintain a great
reputation for this welcome and long
may it continue.
A new development this year has been
the creation of an afternoon service
Welcome Team - helping us make that

service as open and accessible to

visitors and newcomers as the
morning.
I would encourage more people to
sign up for this key service for the
Church and mission opportunity so
look out for it in 'Count Me In' which
is coming up soon. I would also
encourage you to be welcoming to
newcomers and not just leave it to
those with a badge! That personal
connection is so important to our
continued growth.
Nick Merrifield

Little Souls
I am proud to say that Little Souls has
been blessed with an abundance of
wonderful volunteers who help with
the smooth running of the session
each and every week. Each volunteer
brings something special and unique
to the running of the team and the
popularity of the playgroup continues
to grow. The amazing craft table is
run by the lovely Adel and Laura - the
children (and parents) are never ever
disappointed and Sonia runs a tight
ship in the kitchen - we would be lost
without her.
Every week we are blessed with a full
house of families who come to Little
Souls, but sadly; we are restricted to
numbers that we can let through the
doors, so I begrudgingly have to turn
sad faces away which is a shame as it
really is such a lovely place to be with
the children. I merely tell them to try
to come earlier the following week!
Colleen Beck

all; and Richards input has seen a

number of people attend his Why
Jesus course and other life groups.

Monday Club
The Monday Club meets fortnightly,
usually with a Communion service
followed by light lunch on the first
Monday of the month, and coffee, cakes
and a talk the third Monday of the
month. This club has now been running
for five years, and has a core group of
people that enjoy meeting for
Communion, lunch and chats.
Over this year, the Monday Clubbers
have continued to enjoy seated exercise
and a variety of talks. More recently,
Staff at All Souls have been providing
talks based on different aspects of All
Souls life, which have been enjoyed by

Usually, when people stop coming to

the group, it is because they are too
frail to get out of the house, and it is
this that has made us realise that we
would love to support local people
through home visits and/or by giving
lifts. We are currently exploring how
to set up such a scheme. If you are
interested in supporting this work,
either through organising rotas or
visiting people, please do contact the
Church Office/Richard.
Fi Budden

serving our
community

Burgers served by All Souls

Ivybridge during
Ivybridge Funday

380
The Hub
The Hub usually meets at 3pm on
the first Sunday of the month at the
Bridgelink Community Centre, led
by Fi Budden and Nikki Fletcher.
Its a very informal meeting, with
occasional musical input, a brief chat
and particularly if Nikki is leading
a crafty bit. Although small in
number, this group continues to be
a safe place where local people can
really talk openly about their faith,
whilst enjoying a cup of tea and
plenty of cake!
We now have three members from
The Hub regularly volunteering for
All Souls Ivybridge projects and its
wonderful that people have gone
from meeting on a Sunday to
wanting to serve in their

People receiving help

from the foodbank in 2014

400
community. A couple of All Souls
members are planning to come along
and support this group, and it will be
good for the regulars to see some new
faces, so if youd occasionally like to
join us on a Sunday afternoon, please
let me know.

480kg

Amount of food
donated by
All Souls Church
(roughly 1/2 ton)

Community Projects
People have served the community in
a variety of ways, for instance, through
volunteering at the Foodbank/Refresh
Drop-in, the Tuesday Club (Young at
Heart), English Language Classes, even
working behind the scenes as
governor at Ivybridge Primary School.
They have also been involved in oneoff events such as Summer BBQ,
Bridge Kids Market and Christmas Toy
Giveaway. People have given food,
clothes or donated money, and others
have prayed for or told people about
the work under the banner of All Souls
Ivybridge. It is wonderful that over this
year so many people have been
involved in these various areas of
supporting the community work.
Thank you!
Week by week we have strangers walk
through the doors of our various
projects, and people soon realise
theyre welcomed and cared about.
We now have a real mix of volunteers
both from the local community and

from All Souls Church, and increasing

engagement with our neighbours from
the west of our Parish, particularly from
the Ivybridge Estate.
One of the biggest developments over
the year, has been a strengthening of
the relationship between All Souls
Ivybridge and Bridgelink Community
Centre on the Ivybridge Estate.
Through this partnership, we have been
able to provide greater practical support
and care to those we meet, enabling us
to help people through times of
extreme crisis. The deepening
relationships we are making and the
sense of positive community is
something thats less easy to quantify,
but no less important. Thank you to
those who have volunteered, giving up
precious time, and to those who have
supported this work over the year in
other ways, enabling All Souls Ivybridge
to be good news by welcoming and
supporting those in our local community.
Fi Budden

volunteers involved in
projects and events

40

give

financially

t would be easy to think of money

as a necessary evil in church life after all we know that church is about
far more than balancing a budget.
And yet we know that every part of
what we do in All Souls costs money.
Our Sunday services cost money from the basic costs of buildings, to
the refreshments served and
childrens crafts enjoyed - as do every
one of our groups, activities and
programmes.
Some assume that we are subsidised
by the government or CofE money,
yet every penny we spend has to be
raised by us!

91
church households
giving by standing

We use our halls to generate income

and we consistently keep our costs well
under control, but the majority of our
budget (roughly 220k in 2014) has to
be met from the generous giving of the
members of All Souls - thats you and
me!
So we encourage one another to
consider how we might give financially
- not just to make sure that the burden
doesnt fall on the few, but as part of our
response to the generosity of God in
giving us so much and as a way of
making sure that our money doesnt
have too much of a hold on our own
hearts.

running costs per

family, per week

50

Building Update
2014 proved (almost!) to be a repeat
of 2013 as we ground slowly forward
with the Face to Face external
landscaping project - aiming to make
our face towards the community
more closely match our heart.
Planning consent was obtained for the
work at the front, west end, of the
church (and a second application has
been submitted for the remainder of
the project).
Contractors were invited to tender and
following meetings and detailed
discussions, prices were received and
Star Walls (who built the Link and
offered the most competitive tender
again) were appointed as the main
contractor. The incoming electrical
main was lowered to enable the new
hard surfacing to be laid in due course.
And alongside the F2F project, we
managed to find the time to:
Paint the garden gates with anticlimb paint

Patch and re-lay loose wood block

flooring at the rear of the church.
Rebuild the candelabra (which is
becoming an annual event!).
Sell 25 Brantwood Avenue as
Calum, our Curate, moved on.
Our new Curate, Jez will have
rented accommodation supplied
when he arrives with Miriam this
July.
So 2015 looks likely to be very busy
and all change, just as long as the
weather is warm and dry!
Charles Tapson

Spotlight on: Joshua

Opondo
Joshua is an ordained minister in the
Anglican Church in Kenya, working
with teens and young adults as an
evangelist, pastor and trainer, as well
as being involved in strategic planning
at the highest level in that part of
Africa. All Souls supports him
financially
through
our
Soul
Connections Fund (since he receives
little salary locally) and in prayer. He is
an incredbily effective evangelist and
clergyman as well as being a
compassionate and loving father to his
own son and many adopted orphans.

tell

135

the good news

e talk a lot in All Souls about the

Good News of Jesus - and of
the fact that this Good News is not
just for a certain sort of person, but for
all people everywhere.
Jesus called his first followers - and all
whove come after them - to pass on
what they have discovered for
themselves, both in their words and
their lives.
We have always wanted All Souls to
be an easy place for people exploring
faith to be able to dip their toes into
church life, find a welcome and a place
to ask questions. 2014 proved, once
again, that God is doing exactly that,

new people
with many new regular members on
Sundays and people doing courses
like Why Jesus? or the Baptism Course.
Its not just about Sundays of course.
Richard has regular opportunities in
local schools to speak about Jesus and
we have many ways beyond our
services to live out our faith - whether
through providing welcome (as we
do at Little Souls - see earlier),
support for those in need (as through
our Foodbank - see earlier) or the
community-building that something
like the Big Lunch provides.

children

adults

24%
average attendance
growth in 2014

Schools

214 average congregation in 2014

Big lunch
All Souls hosted the Big Lunch in June
2014 for the sixth time - weve been
involved since the very first year of this
UK-wide community initiative which
aims to get neighbours eating together
and enjoying a street party in the process.

Our corner of Haliburton and

Northcote provides a great focal point
and once again we partnered with our
local residents association (the NSMRA)
and several hundred neighbours were
part of the event.
All Souls provided free tea and coffee, a
bouncy castle and free face painting in
the garden, with the church staying open
as a quiet space to just sit and be.
Were looking forward to the impact
that our Face to Face project will have
in opening up the site for this years Big
Lunch in 2015.

Richard is involved regularly in several

local schools. At the local church
primary school, The Blue School,
Isleworth, Richard is a Governor and
weekly visitor to assemblies and the
nursery - usually with his guitar! At our
most local school, Worple Primary,
Richard is also a Governor, takes
assemblies and many RE lessons and
has been delighted to welcome class
groups into the church itself for visits.
Richard also takes lessons and/or
assemblies in St Stephens, Ivybridge
and Orleans Primary Schools and
occasionally at the Green School for
Girls Secondary School.
The huge majority of children in these
schools - even the church ones - are
not regular members of churches
themselves and many come from other
faith backgrounds. These are great
opportunities to give them the chance
to find out more about Jesus for
themselves.

Messy Church
Its been a quiet year for Messy Church,
with just one event rather than the usual
four. Messy Easter was, however, as
popular as ever - booking up in just 20
minutes! The majority of those who
came (primary school age children with
parents) were not church regulars and it
was great to have the opportunity to
chat, play, create and celebrate Easter
with them, and invite them back to
church Easter services a few days later.
Now that the logistical issues that have
held us back are resolved, we look
forward to getting going again with our
Messy events in 2015!

what next?
Celebrating the past is a vital fuel for prayer and gratitude. But the Bible always connects celebration of the
past with committing to being part of Gods future. So what does our future look like?
Welcoming our new curate Jez Carr, with his wife Miriam in July.
Renewing the inside of our church to make it a more flexible base for mission and ministry.
Exploring new ways to grow our Ivybridge community projects.
Advertising for staff to develop our work with children and young people.
Plans to start a third service on Sundays and a weekly Monday service for local residents.
2015 is once again a year to look forward to with anticipation as we aim to go on growing in our faith,
serving as part of a team, giving as we are able and telling the Good News of Jesus in word and action.
We really hope youll want to be part of it all in the year to come!

info@allsoulschurch.org.uk
allsoulschurch.org.uk
020 8891 6820

all souls
allsoulschurch.org.uk