Leadership Churchwardens’ report For the wardens, as for everyone involved in the running of SMR, this has been a difficult year. For a good part of it, we have (once again) had to act as treasurer, but with nothing like the expertise which Elizabeth (to whom we said a fond farewell) brought to the job. Managing services as we began to open up the church has been a challenge, starting with only every third pew in use and booking of se<strong>at</strong>s – easy enough with the rel<strong>at</strong>ively small number of familiar faces of our regular congregants; but quite another m<strong>at</strong>ter with large numbers of people, almost all unknown to us and our wonderful team of welcomers, <strong>at</strong> the High Sheriff’s Legal Service, and <strong>at</strong> several funerals and weddings, when the enforcing of social distancing and the wearing of face coverings became quite impossible. By stages we have got to “sit where you please”, masks only when moving around the church, no requirement to sign in (but still communion in only one kind). It’s beginning to feel almost “normal”; and it has been a joy to be able to greet old friends, to ch<strong>at</strong> over tea or coffee, to share worship in person. We have also had to cover other roles where there have been staff vacancies. But now th<strong>at</strong> we have a new treasurer, Samuel Williams; an in-house finance officer, Maria Holcombe; and a new Head of Oper<strong>at</strong>ions, James Rodliff, this should all change. It is also an opportunity, indeed a requirement, to look again <strong>at</strong> wh<strong>at</strong> we expect of wardens – though there will inevitably be fuzzy edges, we should aim for a proper job description, perhaps even with an indic<strong>at</strong>ion of the likely time commitment. Without this we are always going to have trouble finding new wardens, especially among our younger members with full-time jobs or families (or both). There’s no getting away from the fact th<strong>at</strong> it’s a complex and demanding job, not least since the PCC took over responsibility for employing staff, with all th<strong>at</strong> th<strong>at</strong> entails by way of policies and practices (sickness absence, pensions, annual leave...). But it is very rewarding. We have had gre<strong>at</strong> support; from clergy, from vergers and staff in the office, and from among the congreg<strong>at</strong>ion – wardens’ assistants, as we now call sidesmen, and duty wardens. But th<strong>at</strong>, we suggest, is the next challenge: we’ve had some losses from our band of volunteers, and <strong>at</strong>tracted some new recruits, but we need more, so th<strong>at</strong> we can spread the load more widely. It would be particularly good to have more parents involved in managing our services, although we know th<strong>at</strong> juggling family needs with volunteering <strong>at</strong> SMR is tricky. Richard Wallace Senior Churchwarden Belinda Phillipson Junior Churchwarden 14
15 Leadership