Christ Church United Reformed -

What I’ve done – reactions received – how to carry it forward once I leave

Since starting my role as Community and Church family worker here at Christ Church in September 2009 I have focused on building up relationships with people of all ages and taking part in many activities on the church premises.

Starting with the youngest kiddies, the Moms and Toddlers group, the group has grown dramatically with new people arriving almost every week (fortunately not everyone comes every week else we would quickly run out of seating space!) My role during this time is being a welcoming, friendly face to new people, helping them to feel welcome and ‘less alone’ in the new surroundings. Copious amounts of tea and biscuits are shared and friendships are forged over play dough and colouring crayons. Building relationships is my main goal with this group. I also help out at the extra events taking place over the weekends like the Easter fun day last Saturday. It is always really encouraging to meet one of the Moms in town and have them share a smile and kind word with me.

With the children, I have been a part of the weekly Rainbow meetings, helping out with the activities, reading stories, leading discussions as well as building up relationships with their parents(either while they are helping or while they are waiting for Rainbows to begin). My involvement has been very well received by the parents as well as the leaders of Rainbows. They are often in need of a spare pair of hands to set things up or to clean up at the end.

With the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts I attend every second week and am mostly an observing presence. The groups are very efficiently staffed and seldom need extra help – except when the Cubs are cooking, things get quite messy then and any extra help cleaning is appreciated!

I join the Sunday Club gang occasionally and join in on fun days out like the upcoming trip to Greenwich – mostly because I love stuff like that!

The Youth group is slowly coming together and plans are in place for a regular meeting every month. The teens are just VERY busy and we are finding it difficult to pin down a day when most are free! The Facebook page is up and running and about half of the teen scene are members. As soon as they all join it will be an invaluable communication channel. The Wii machine has been purchased with a new game (that is SUPER fun!!) and I will be hosted a Wii Tournament during the Easter holidays with the teens.

On Tuesdays is when the serious planning and work gets done – amidst laughter, tea and biscuits (of course!) The main focus in the morning is the Website, I update it with the coming weeks activities, advertise events like the Sunday Club outings and the Fairtrade evening etc. And upload photos and just generally keep my finger on the pulse of what’s going on. The Website is one of our main advertising tools and needs to be constantly updated. I have received some good tips which help.

Being part of the choir is a lot of fun! I don’t count it as work at all but I do feel that being visible on a Sunday is important, as is sharing a cup of tea downstairs, building relationships and friendships.

The theatre group (for all ages...) has been very well attended on both occasions. The first outing to A Midsummer Night’s Dream had 11 participants and the second to The Lady Vanishes had 9 participants. The next outing is in May to see Jekyll and Hyde. This group has been very well received by those who join as all the hassle of securing tickets is removed and even single people get to go as part of a group. It is usually a very fun and jovial time for all :->

The Activity Centre is a very busy little group where conversations, tea and cakes are shared and enjoyed by all. Scrabble, dominoes and Uno are played quite competitively by some and companionably by others. We do occasionally work quite hard, putting together the monthly magazine and making teddies for the shoe boxes. The ladies enjoy having someone young around and love to share stories of how different things were when they were younger. Relationships and friendships are also the goal here and I will really miss this group when I leave.

At lunch time on a Wednesday I join the Day centre lunch ‘crowd’...I go around to each table and greet them, share a word about their week so far, listen to a joke or funny incident and discuss the flowers or a good book. Generally giving each person a smile and a friendly face which (I think) they enjoy.

Every second Tuesday the Women’s Guild meets. Very interesting topics ranging from the life of an organist, reflexology, and guide dogs for the blind to CHESS are discussed and tea and biscuits are present :->. I occasionally help out on the minibus, put away the song books and share chats with friendly people. I think the groups feel more important when I am there somehow.

I am the contact person for the Pentecost Day on 23 May and for the Chelmsford Christian Festival (together with Jean).

I think the church members love to hear all about what’s going on with the younger groups, what they get up etc and so I feel like the work I do is appreciated and valued. I love working here.

In terms of whom to replace me, I think we need to find somebody who would be able to work well with the younger children and teens. We need something to draw teenagers into the church on a Sunday or even on a weekday, preferably in the evenings and this person will need to be as computer literate as the teens are. They will preferably be able to Facebook and to upkeep the Webpage... Another scenario is to have someone else do the webpage and the “Youth Leader” focus on drawing in the under 18’s, most especially the 11 to 18 group. I think the older people will be fine as they have lots of people around to help but our main need is the teenage gap.

*************************************************************************************************************************************

I am back and ready to tackle my job! It was so wonderful to see my family again and the sun was wonderfully hot :-> thus the majority of my time at home was spent indoors as the sun and I dont get on too well together!

**************************************************************************************************************************************

My name is Lynn Rose Jakins. I am 26 years old and grew up in a little seaside town called Plettenberg Bay which is situated on the scenic Garden Route on the coast of South Africa. I am the youngest of 4 daughters and the only one of which has red hair!

I grew up in a Christian family and accepted the Lord Jesus at 13 and was baptized at the age of 16. My hobbies include reading, crossword puzzles, running and spending quality time with my family. I love being outdoors and going camping is a big favourite of mine!

After school I moved to Stellenbosch near Cape Town (about 8hrs drive from Plett) where I studied for 5 years doing a BSc in Applied Maths and Computer Science, got my PGCE and then taught Computer Science and Mathematics at the high school (ages 16 – 18) in Stellenbosch for 3 years.

In January I came over and moved to Chelmsford. I had been to England for a month before in 2004 and knew I had to come back. In the first week that I was here it snowed – you can imagine my excitement, having never played in snow before! I started coming to Christ Church from the very first week that I arrived and felt so welcomed and accepted. The church has truly been my family and I feel very blessed to be able to work here amongst the people I have come to love.

I will be going back to South Africa on 20th of November for Christmas with my Famiy and will be back on the 17th of January 2010.

Church worker