FOREWORD BY THE ASSOCIATE RECTOR
Our existing Mission Action Plan was originally drawn up in November 2017, when I was first appointed to the Parish. It was a 5-year plan, intended to last until the end of 2022, so it has not yet expired. Current thinking does however suggest that 5 years is too long a period, in planning terms, and that 3 years may be more flexible and realistic. If anything were necessary to underline this point, the intervention the Covid pandemic of 2020 has done so, in a way we could never have envisaged. It has caused us to re-focus on what we most value as a worshipping community. We experienced a shared pain when St Peter’s was forced to close in March 2020. We discovered that on-line worship, no matter how good, is no substitute for the physical gathering of the community, Sunday by Sunday, in the church. Much can be shared online, but the sacraments cannot be and they are at the heart of our life as Christians.
Inevitably the Covid pandemic has disrupted our work and focused our attention elsewhere, causing us to put some things on hold. This is particularly true of our Re-ordering Project, the plans for which were submitted to the DAC in 2019, with the intention of launching a fundraising campaign in the Spring of 2020. This did not happen. Many of the other actions (listed in the right-hand column of the Plan as ‘we wish to develop’) did however happen. Rather than re-write the Plan we have highlighted in red those parts of the Plan which we have already carried out or are in the process of carrying out. It is heartening to see how much we have achieved.
During the years since this Plan was first drawn up Westhampnett has expanded in size significantly. The mission of St Peter’s to serve this growing community is increasingly important. The PCC have reviewed the Mission Action Plan in the light of all this and consider that it more than ever relevant and appropriate to our vision for the future. They wish to re-affirm it as our Plan for St Peter’s for the next 3 years. We continue to pray for God’s blessing on our work together.
The Revd Rachel Hawes 9 November 2021