| Trinity Methodist Church, Brentgovel St, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1EB | |||
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Once again the question has been raised "At what time should the Trinity Sunday morning service take place?"
Up until September 2013, the service took place at 10.45am. Then, this question was raised because some members had difficulty finding a parking place that late in the morning, and/or felt that a long service starting at 10.45 could impact on organising Sunday lunch, or attending family gatherings on Sunday afternoon. As you can imagine, there was considerable discussion on the subject, with different times being favoured by different people. It is hard to organise a vote on the subject when there are a number of different options - 10am, 10.15, 10.30, 10.45, 11am. (Perhaps a complex transferrable vote system should have been used!) Whatever the outcome, I suspect that there would be more members failing to get their preferred time approved than succeeding in this. The question was not only asked in 2012/2013 - it has been raised frequently over the years since, and has occupied considerable discussion time. Now, the question has been raised once again, because (as time marches on) members may be finding it hard to get to Trinity for 10am - either because of their mature years, or because of how hard it is to get children organised in the mornings. So, this is your chance to express your preference, by telling the senior steward team (Linda Brandon or Don Day) your feelings on the subject. Please do so, in writing (but please be succinct for their sake!) At this point, I have the opportunity to express my preference! So the following views are mine alone: When I was a steward, I sometimes found the 10am service a trifle early - particularly when the clocks went forward on one of "my" Sundays. (I had to get to Trinity for 9am, but my internal clock said it was 8am, so it took quite an effort to achieve this!) But, I got used to 10am, and I'm now fine with it. In my opinion, if the service is at a later time (10.30 say) then members may find it easier to get to Looms Lane for that time, but will then find it very difficult to park, so would fail to achieve any advantage. From time to time, it has also been suggested that there could be an afternoon service (in addition? or instead of the morning service?). This would then lead to a more complex voting system with many options over what time that service should be! ... And such services would be affected by the Sunday lunch and Sunday afternoon family event issues. I note that attendance at any evening (6pm) services have been low - partly because of darkness in winter months, which would even be an issue for a service at (say) 4pm. So, I'm thinking - keep it at 10am. Best wishes Andrew Walker |