The team; John Ferris, Sue Rennie, Hilary Banks, Carly Miller, Sue Salisbury, Cheryl Arnold and Wendy Bennett.

Support stewards; Amanda Latham (financial), Sue Penrith (pastoral) and Ken Wales (strategy).

How do you start the inaugural report from the Stewards Team? As you know life at church has changed beyond what we could have imagined over the last 18 months with face masks, signing people in, hand gelling and social distancing. What we hope is that through these unprecedented times, the values of our church have been maintained with a sense of community, caring and showing the love we have for others due to the faith we share.

We have a fab stewards team. As Pastoral Secretary, Sue Penrith is also a key member of our team and is always there whenever we need her. During this last year we welcomed Carly, Cheryl, Ken and Sue to our team. We are also supported by the dedicated team of Worship Stewards who help to prepare the church for worship, so we have time to welcome the congregation, the preacher and ensure the technology is working. Thankfully with support from Jane, we now have a team of Technology Stewards to whom we are so grateful.

To stay with technology for a few moments, it’s amazing how we have moved from a PowerPoint every Sunday to Zooming to people at home, which was paramount when we were in lockdown. We have had live-streamed services and linked with the Circuit to have meaningful services when we could not meet in person. It’s only right to say that if it wasn’t for Jane and her technical knowledge and determination, it would have been difficult to ensure all the congregation could feel a part of our church. We need to say a big "thank you" to Jane, as it hasn’t been easy with all her other commitments as minister of a busy church and also being Superintendent for our circuit.

Thanks are also due to the whole of our committed congregation who, as soon as restrictions allowed, pulled together to restart our groups. Alphabites has been rebranded and now is the Fulwood Bible Fellowship, welcoming more people to join their lively discussions. You would be welcome too!

How have our young people coped? They have struggled having to have their school work on time, home schooling and not being able to socialise as children should. During lockdown Darren, Janet and a loyal team were up early every Sunday morning running Zoom Breakfast Church, which was well received by many of our young church families. Messy Church went online, which was a challenge, but the team embraced it and it has continued. Not too sure what state the laptops are in. Most likely full of glue, glitter and food items!!

Our pastoral care continued and whilst we couldn’t visit people in person, lots of ’phone calls were made and a dedicated team made cakes and delivered to many families which was a fantastic ministry. Thank you to you all.

Our services have been innovative, adapting to Covid restrictions with the rest of church life. In 2021, we had a Christingle Service where people could collect their DIY Christingle from church so they could make it at home during the virtual zoom service. This is an example of how Jane and her team thought of ways to ensure our services were meaningful. All our normal services took place either from church or from Jane’s home.

There was a lot of work and preparation to help people consider the national report into relationships called ‘God in Love Unites Us.’ The church offered one-to- one and open sessions to allow opportunities to consider the questions, worries or concerns raised about this change in Methodist culture. The document asked the question whether churches will support same sex marriages. At a special Church Council in December it was unanimously voted that same sex marriages can be conducted at Fulwood Methodist Church. This was a wonderful moment and again proved what a welcoming and inclusive church Fulwood strives to be.

Looking forward, we have asked for your Hopes and Dreams to help the Circuit update our strategy for the next few years. Your hopes and dreams will also form the foundation to the vision Fulwood can develop for its next chapter; to ensure the church continues developing its mission to the church family and the community it supports.

So what could 2022 offer to God’s people in Fulwood? Hopefully, we can meet more freely without restrictions. We continue to celebrate the faith of our two centenarians Cyril Leake and Allan Clarke. We look to the future with our new vision, but more importantly, we look after our church family. It’s not the easiest of times for us all and we are trying our best to make our church a place of love and safety.