John Symonds authored the book, The History of the Old St George’s, and more recently worked on a history of The New St George’s, covering the period from the construction of the new church in 1970, to the year 2010. We are pleased to be serialising this account over the coming issues of St George’s News.
Chapter 5 - The Millennium Years - 2000 and 2001
The Millennium was celebrated with a very successful Flower Festival in the church in June which was master minded by Yvonne Jones and her team of flower arrangers. John Symonds wrote a history of the church entitled “The Old St George’s 1831-1970” from its consecration to the building of the new church. Prior to 1831 there had been no church in Waterlooville it being part of the ancient parish of Farlington and Catherington.
A new church hall committee discussed at great length the possibility of building a new Church Hall. An estimated sum of £75,000 was required for repairing the existing Hall built in 1913 and for improving toilets and access to the building. Another alternative involved pulling down the Hall and rebuilding on a new site in the old churchyard. Unfortunately too many problems emerged concerning the slope and the disturbance of old burial sites so the rebuilding plan had to be abandoned.
A new children’s corner in church was set up so that children could begin to take a part and an interest in the services. Use of the ASB was ceased and an Alpha course was started.
Another problem in an inflationary age concerned the increasing sums of money required for the Annual Church Quota set by the diocese. In 1986 this had been £9,278. By 1990 it had almost doubled to £16,627 and now in 2000 it had more than doubled again to £38,890. The job of Church Treasurer was not to be envied.
As part of the Millennium celebrations a photo was taken after a service showing almost everyone on the electoral roll.
The year 2000 was the 15th anniversary of the regular annual pantomime/revue. A revue entitled Simply the Best reflected all the best of the preceding performances.
In 2001 Tony Rice-Oxley organised the sponsorship by the congregation of two orphaned African School children via the Africa Child Trust scheme. It largely involved helping them with education fees and uniforms and this proved a successful and worthwhile on-going commitment for many members of the congregation.
The year saw two stage productions, the first being Puss in Boots and the second was entitled A Note in Loo to raise money towards the new Vestry toilet project.
Another highlight of the year was a Parish Week-end in Rouen Normandy organised by Jane and Tony Rice-Oxley.
Lynn Winter was elected Church Warden in place of Winifred Mancz, Adina Burton retired after 4 years as P.C.C. Secretary to be replaced by Jaye Warren with Linda Wainwright taking over as Treasurer. Colin Towner, a former Director of Music, was priested in Southsea, whilst Ruth Loveman announced that she was beginning training for the ministry. A group from the congregation visited Wintershall in Surrey to see the Life of Christ portrayed by a large cast in the grounds of the estate.
The annual fete was formed around weddings celebrations and a wide selection of bride’s dresses was on display.
