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Rachel Bainbridge with Tatiana and Rebecca
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I have been one of the
Cathedral Wardens since March, and it has been an interesting
insight in to how the church operates. The wardens are
basically responsible, alongside the Dean and Chairman of the BACC,
for the Cathedral itself and its smooth running - so the buildings,
staff, finances, services, etc. Traditionally there were two Cathedral Wardens - People's Warden and the Dean's Warden. It was felt that these designations were a little anachronistic in this day and age, and at the last AGM, it was decided to simplify roles and have two wardens at the Cathedral, with responsibilities split based on respective skills and experience. In addition, Paul Hamilton is the Warden for the Church at Awali. Angela Murray and I have been working over the last few months to decide on a sensible split of roles and responsibilities. After many coffees we have now come up with the following split: Angela is going to be responsible for the more outward facing activity, such as liaison with the Diocese, Synod, and increasing awareness of the cathedral's presence within the community. In addition she intends to focus on updating the history of the cathedral, and extending the merchandising. Angela is going to give a fuller explanation of her activities in the next TBAN. I am going to be responsible for the day-to-day activities of the church, part of which means the overall administration required to run the cathedral and services, as well as providing whatever support the Dean requires. I have a feeling that I don't know what I am letting myself in for, but here goes. I am sure you will all point me in the right direction if I get it horribly wrong..... Another part of the warden's duties is to act as a contact point for people to raise any issues and concerns regarding the church, or things they would like changed! I will "look after" the Friday morning services as I go to them and have a young family; Paul already does Awali, and Angela will be the main reference for Sunday, as she attends then. Hopefully this way you all have someone to talk to if you need to. One other activity the wardens are going to take on is the organisation of the services, in terms of readers, welcomers and coffee rotas. Please support us and sign up to help make our church community as inclusive and welcoming as possible. As a final thought, I am conscious that many of us don't know each other very well! To give you a bit of background, my husband Andy and I have been in Bahrain for 2 years, and have two children, Tatiana who is 6 and Rebecca, who is one and a half. Whilst we originally come from England, we have lived in both South Africa and Dubai before coming to Bahrain. Our church background is slightly more on the evangelical side - whilst we have always gone to Anglican churches, we probably have a slightly more happy clappy background. God has very clearly called us to worship at St. Christopher's, and in particular I am looking forward to the development of the Children's church, and building up more non-service related activities such as fellowship groups and social activities, so we can help provide a full support network in the church. Rachel Bainbridge |
