Revd Alan Grist led the service this morning and did the miraculous in running though the service with communion in 55 minutes. Nothing was omitted. There was a children's talk, four hymns, different sorts of prayers, two bible reading, a collection, and a time for silence. The phrase that stuck with me from the sermon was don't be self-centred be Christ-centred. The communion was Christ-centred.
The service was followed fifteen minutes later by a church meeting with minutes from the last meeting and an agenda. It has been found that more people take part, and help make important decisions, if the church business meeting follows the Sunday church service.
We discussed the proposed improvements to the Conduit Centre, and other topics, but what did take time was the discussion of the prayer book and box. In the end the church meeting took 90 minutes.
The recent introduction of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) led to the prayer book being withdrawn, and replaced by a locked prayer box . People could post prayers for people into the box and they would be prayed for anonymously in the main service. Subsequently the Friday prayer Group, comprising a small group, would open the box and pray for the people by name. (Just praying for Fred or Fred Blogs, particularly if it is for Fred Blogs' prostate condition is a data breach in the new world of GDPR if it has not got the express consent of Fred Blogs wanting the congregation to know of his prostate condition.)
The problem with the box is that there are some people who want their loved one to be prayed for by name, and there are people who need to know what they are praying for.
It was proposed in the meeting that the prayer book be re-introduced but that the person suggesting the name would sign it themselves to say they had got the assent of the person to be prayed for publicly.
The conclusion, after a lot of opinions were given, was that Trinity would bring back the prayer book with signed assent for people who want to be prayed for by name, and the prayer box for those for those whose permission has not yet been gained.