Present: Wendy Astor, Elizabeth Bussmann, Hector Davie, Helen Hennings, Hugh Pettingell

Apologies for absence were received from Tricia Carrick and Martin Ellis.

The meeting opened with prayer.

1. Main Notice Board

   It was noted that the services listed on the main notice board on Kirchenfeldstrasse still mentioned Evening Prayer. It was recommended that this be painted out as soon as possible.

2. Letter from Tricia Carrick (appended)

   Helen read out a letter with Tricia's input for the meeting.

   • Organization
     It was agreed that it was good that the meeting was open to all. It was proposed that the council should appoint four or five core members after David's return. Wendy agreed to put this point to council at the appropriate time.
     Hugh stressed that the meeting had no executive powers, and could only make recommendations to council. It was noted that there could be a long delay between worship meetings and the following council business meeting.
     Hector noted that meetings should be publicized when the notices were given, to encourage more people to attend. Helen said that this had not been done on the 11th, but had been done the previous week.

   • All-Age Worship
     The possibility of setting up a team was noted. It was felt that this needed to be referred to David and the council.

   • Forward Planning
     Hugh stressed the usefulness of advance preparation. Fortunately he had been able to draw on last year's service for planning the Harvest Service, and on input from Tricia. He stressed the need for supervision to ensure that services conformed to the correct liturgical format.
     Helen noted that dates and planning had been finalized for Remembrance Sunday (8 November).
     Sue Schweizer would be producing the Nativity Play on 13 December - there would be a soup and bread lunch after church, the play would be at about 1 p.m. and would be followed by a light tea.
     The Heiliggeist carol service would be on 17 December, the Thun carol service on 20 December.
     It was noted that services for 24 December had not been finalized. It was necessary to check with David as to whether there was to be a Christingle Service, and advance notice of the services needed to be given in the magazine.

   • Children in Church
     Wendy and Elizabeth noted that Tricia's letter represented a personal view. Hugh noted that responsibility for the services lay with David. Hector noted that input from Junior Church was useful and valuable.
     Elizabeth found the entry of the children during the eucharist was disruptive and spoilt the devotional flow. Hector mentioned that the group had in the past suggested that they come in during the singing of the offertory hymn.
     Hugh felt that the "children's slot" was unnecessary. Children participated sufficiently by being blessed at the communion rail. He recommended that the children should not come in to Morning Prayer at all. Hector claimed that this would make teaching more difficult, and would reduce the children's sense of participation. It was felt that this was not the case: it would allow time to be spent preparing songs and input for all-age worship, and would increase a sense of participation in the eucharist and in all-age services.
     It was agreed to ask council to reconsider whether the children should come into Morning Prayer.

   • Notices
     Hugh asked who decided the content of the notices given out in church. He felt the council should discuss the whole matter when David had returned.

   • It was agreed that thanks were due to Tricia for her input.

3. New Music

   Elizabeth suggested that new songs could be practised at the beginning of the service. This proposal met with varied response.

   It was noted that a number of members of the congregation either played the guitar or had contacts who played. It was felt that this could be a help.

   Helen felt that new music could find a particular place in all-age worship services.

   Elizabeth noted that the new public address system could be used to provide devotional aids to worship - for example with music during the intercessions. She had done this during a service she had prepared, and it had been very successful.

4. Outreach Services

   Elizabeth suggested holding outreach services three or four times a year to which friends or neighbours could be invited. The services would be devised to speak to those on the fringe of the church.

   She also suggested that it would be good to explain parts of the liturgy during the service. Hector noted that David was doing this already.

5. Women's Day of Prayer

   This fell on 5 March 1999. The theme was Hope, "God's Gentle Touch", and the leadership was from Venezuela. Elizabeth proposed a special all-age service on Sunday 7 March, to involve children as well.

   It was noted that 14 March was Mothering Sunday. It was recommended that the two themes be combined.

   It was proposed that this be suggested to council on 3 November, and that council be invited to authorize Elizabeth to attend the preparation day in Gwatt and to defray her expenses.

6. Redundant Services

   Hugh noted that the 0830 service was very poorly attended, and could not be described as a "church activity". He felt it should be cancelled. If there was a call for a weekly communion, a short said celebration could be added at the end of Morning Prayer - this was a common practice in England. Helen and Hector felt that the opinions of those who attended the service should be canvassed, and that if there was even a slight need, the service should continue. Hugh noted that the monthly prayer breakfast was only attended by one person, and recommended that it be cancelled. The notice of it in the magazine was misleading.

   Hugh also noted the poor attendance at the healing service, and questioned whether this showed there was no need for it. Elizabeth noted that it was an important part of ministry, and opinions differed as to whether the service was "irrelevant" or required considerably more preparation and follow-up than given at present. It was suggested that this be referred to council.

   Hugh also noted the poor attendance at contact evenings and outreach lunches, which had on occasions had to be cancelled. He felt the name "outreach" put people off. Needs changed rapidly when the congregation was fluid, and flexibility was required. What was needed were social activities for elderly people, who were often isolated and withdrawn. It was agreed to raise these points with council.

7. Prayer Time before Services

   Helen suggested a formal time of prayer and study before the main Sunday service. The suggestion was noted.

8. Children and Hymns

   Hector reminded the group that it had been agreed that the last hymn would take account of the presence of the children. Hugh said that this required extra coordination with Junior Church, and was unacceptable. No complaints had been received about this, and no action need be taken.

9. Sanctuary Rail

   Hector enquired why the altar rail had reappeared. It was noted that council had agreed that it should be replaced for communion services. It was also noted that that it was difficult to move it away far Morning Prayer - on the other hand, as the Delta church always removed it, it was simply a question of asking them not to put it back. Council would consider this further. Helen also noted that the covers should always be put back on the heating gratings before people went up for communion, as this was a hazard to people with high-heeled shoes.

10. Dates for 1999

    Wendy noted that the following dates were available in 1999 for All-Age Worship:
    31 January
    14 March (Mothering Sunday)
    30 May (Trinity)
    29 August
    31 October
    Council should be invited to allocate people to prepare services and to propose themes.

11. Advertisement of Services

    Hugh felt that more could be done to ensure that people coming to Berne knew about St Ursula's and services here. Elizabeth noted that she and Charles were looking into this area. It was noted that St John's, Territet advertised in the Church Times.

    Hugh proposed that a postcard of the church with service times might be made available, possibly for sale, in hotels. Helen said that she had a similar project in mind. Hector noted that the magazine had formerly been distributed to hotels, with little response. It was agreed that the matter should be kept under consideration.

The meeting concluded at 2155 with the Grace.

What	By whom	By when
Corrections to notice board	Wardens	31 Oct
Get council to appoint team members	WA	1 Dec
Finalize Christmas services and ensure they are in magazine well in advance	WA	14 Nov
Ask Council re children at Morning Prayer	EB	1 Dec
Ask Council re Women's Day of Prayer	EB	3 Nov
Ask Council re communion rail	WA	1 Dec
Agree provisional 1999 dates with Council and David	WA	1 Dec

HD/19981015

Input for "Worship Committee" Meeting on Tuesday 13th October 1998

Sorry that I can't be at the meeting on Tuesday evening - but, at the moment: evenings are, generally, ruled out for me. However, I would like to offer some thoughts that you might like to consider.

1. Organisation:
   • I feel that one of the reasons this "committee" never really succeeded in the past is that it had no "organisation". While I agree wholeheartedly with its need to be open to all members of the congregation who have some kind of input (and everyone should be encouraged to come to the meetings), I feel the council should show their commitment to this aspect of the life of St. Ursula's by appointing 4 - 5 "core" members of the committee (not necessarily council members) -Just like all the other committees.
   • Secondly, someone should be appointed to keep a record of the meetings and to define an agenda beforehand. This should, preferably, not be the chaplain although, obviously he must be an active member of the committee and be involved in agreeing the agenda. (Perhaps a word of explanation: I am convinced that the group must be open to the concerns of the people who (perhaps spontaneously) come along. But there are certain things that this group must take responsibility for - like agreeing, dates for special services (e.g. Harvest) in advance and ensuring that appropriate organisation is undertaken. These are the points that can be put on an agenda)
   • On a personal note. I would like to make a request to receive the "minutes" of all Worship committee meetings. If I Could, I would attend the meetings, I am very interested in what is discussed and agreed.

2. All-Age Worship

   This is one of my main concerns. And I am willing (as before) to be involved in making it happen. My opinion (for what it's worth) is that all worship should be "all-age" in some way. And that worship should involve everyone. There are obviously many aspects to this, and it doesn't mean that we all spend every moment together. There are also many different ways of achieving this - perhaps it should be discussed in full at an appropriate occasion.

   But for now, I think it is essential to define the way of proceeding with the special "All-Age" services that happen on specific occasions and on some other Sundays throughout the year. One suggestion is that a small group (3-4) people should agree to arrange all-age worship for the next year (perhaps 5-6 services) - 1 would be very happy to be part of such a group (if they can accept my time-constraints).

3. Forward Planning:

   Could I make a request that special services are agreed, planned and published in advance. Not like the Harvest Festival this year, which seems to have been well hidden from public knowledge - not in. the September magazine. for example:

   Specifically, I would expect this meeting (in October) to agree the service dates and times (including the Nativity Play) for Christmas. Also to define the form the service is to take and who's responsible for making it happen. These dates and appropriate information can then be publicised in the November magazine, giving people a chance to reserve the dates.

4. Children in Church:

   An age-old issue but still needs to be discussed regularly. Could I make a suggestion that someone take on responsibility for liaison between the worship committee and the Junior Church team leaders' (Ideally, of course, a representative of the Junior Church would attend all Worship committee meetings, as Cecily did.)

5. The "Notice Slot"

   It would be useful if a consensus could be reached about the timing and purpose of this "event". My opinion (if anyone's interested) is that it has 2 purposes: a) to pass on information that could not be included on the notice sheet b) to plug special events, ask for help (the response is always much better if people's attention is drawn to a need this way) But it needs to be kept short otherwise people switch off. And it should take place when as many people as possible are in church i.e. after the children come in. And if people can't be heard then either get someone with a louder voice to give out the notices or use a microphone (possibly standing in front of the children rather than behind them would suffice).