High praise for Rectorless Lewes Parish, 1953

The generous way in which parishioners had raised £628 for the Restoration fund of St John’s Church, Lewes (about £16,500 today)  was referred to by Rev. F A Parkins (sequestrator) at the Annual Church Meeting on Friday.
Addressing the meeting in St John’s Hall, Mr Parkins pointed out that the money had been raised between July 1951 and March 1953. He remarked:
“The fact that you have collected the money in that time goes to show that if you had your own Rector you would be able to support him. It shows the spirit is in the parish, and it is most gratifying.”
Mr Parkins said he shared deep sympathy with the St John’s people that they did not have their own Rector, and he thought they had carried on the work very well.
He had not been informed what future arrangements would be made, but he hoped that soon they would have a Rector of their own.
He congratulated the “solid body of keen workers” who had assisted the Rev A H Rood (curate of St Anne’s) at St John’s.
The Rector’s Warden (Brigadier M E Mascall) said it seemed to be purely a matter of finance.
“If we had money and a house we should have a Rector,” he said.
He thought the long-term policy would be the joining of St Johns and All Saints parishes.

(Extract from Annual Parochial Church Meeting, 17th of April 1953)