minutes of a meeting of the parochial church council, st. barnabas’ church, linslade, held in the choir vestry at 8.00 p.m. on 12^th march 2003

Present:	Catherine Dyer	Fran Morrow
	Keith Dally	Keith Saunders
	Alison Cudby	Sue Smith
	David Darvill	Simon Soper
	Maureen Gadsby	Maggie Stannard
	Melvyn Gardner	Russell Stannard
	Charles Griffin	Valerie Stewart
	Nick Moore	Jo Thomson
	Carol Oakman	Wyn Jones (from 8.50)
Apologies:	Janet Miller	Jim Pickering
	John Deighton	Rebecca Pickering
	Jayne Humphreys	Anna Barrett
Absent:	Graham Gill	Winston Forde

The meeting opened with prayers

Minutes of the meeting of 16^th January 2003

The minutes were approved unanimously as an accurate record of the meeting and signed by the Chair.

Minutes of the meeting of 12^th February 2003

Keith Dally said that he would have liked to have presented his apologies but he did not receive an invitation.  Other members were away and unable to present their apologies.  David Darvill apologised for the way in which this meeting had been set up. Fran Morrow and Carol Oakman said they had been present at the meeting.

With those amendments, Carol proposed and Simon seconded a motion that the minutes be accepted as an accurate record of the meeting.  The motion was passed nem. con. and the minutes signed by the Chair.

Matters arising from the minutes:

42/02	Parish Hall.  Catherine had prepared a discussion paper on this issue.  She introduced the subject by stressing the need to provide a facility which would primarily serve the Church and its mission.  Fran commented that organisations who might use the building might contribute to the costs of its construction.  Carol Oakman had also constructed a list of facilities which included storage. Nick raised the idea of hiring out the car park and making a move on an issue which had been avoided for years.  Melvyn said that the issue of the extent of sharing with the community, such as the social services or other voluntary services, would need to be addressed. It would also be necessary to contact the local planning officer.  It was agreed to consider Catherine’s paper, raise the issue with the congregation and return to the issue after the APCM.
44/02	Report of the Worship Committee.  Keith Saunders reported that he had written to the choir, as instructed by the P.C.C., on the issue of attendance at Sunday evening services.  He had received no response from the choir.
45/02	Removal of Pews.  The Diocesan adviser, Mary Saunders, had visited and had advised that the removal of the front three pews and the rear pews on the north side would not, in all probability, be opposed by the Diocesan Advisory Committee as long as it was justified on liturgical grounds.  It was agreed to publicise the idea of removing pews in the Cross and Crown and to discuss at the APCM.

New items:

56/02	To consider the future of the evening sung Eucharist Russell mentioned that for the first 3 new-style evening sung Eucharists this year (on the Sundays on which we hold the new all-age Eucharists) there had been 6, 30 and 12 members of the congregation present.  One member of the congregation had written to say that she particularly welcomed the evening Eucharist as a welcome and spiritually uplifting service.  The choir had already voiced objections to attending two communion services during the day. Some members of the congregation had said that their shift patterns at work prevented them from attending morning services and so they welcomed the evening service.  Maureen raised the issue of those who do not like coming out at night, and that the experiment should be continued into the summer to see if attendance increases.  This was agreed without a vote.
57/02	To approve the accounts for 2002 The treasurer reported that the accounts were not yet complete.  It was agreed to meet after the 10 a.m. Eucharist on 23^rd March to agree formally the minutes.
58/02	Finance Jo recorded that the shortfall from the parish share was £5301, £1300 higher than originally anticipated.  Mursley Deanery treasurers had met and discussed the proposals from the Diocese on a new method for calculating parish share.  The original estimate of the share came to £49874 but under one of the proposed new systems, this would become £47217. Jo felt that there was no need now to change bank accounts as Barclays were now content to accept her and Catherine’s signatures. Catherine thanked Jo for her work.
59/02	To approve the P.C.C. secretary’s report for the A.P.C.M. Simon proposed and Nick seconded a motion to approve the report.  This motion was approved nem. con.  It was agreed to put a copy on the website and to publish the report immediately at the back of the church so that it could be read by parishioners before the A.P.C.M.
60/02	To approve the Churchwardens’ report for the A.P.C.M. David briefly summarised the report which had not been circulated in advance.  He said that there were no major structural problems in the church.  The report mentioned the repairs to the roof and to the louvres, and the new lighting project.  At St. Mary’s, the report commented on the gale damage to the gate.  Two donated items had been added to the terrier but otherwise there was no change.  Relatively little work had been done on the grounds. Catherine thanked David for the report.  Alison proposed and Valerie seconded a motion to approve the report.  The motion was passed nem. con.
61/02	To approve: a) a contribution to Bishop Mike’s leaving gift Catherine reported on the letter from Bishop Richard about the departure of Bishop Mike Hill. David proposed and Maggie seconded a motion to donate £25 to his leaving gift.  Catherine commented on Bishop Mike’s inspirational leadership. b) a leaving gift to Canon Anthony Hulbert Canon Anthony’s final service would be on Mothering Sunday.  The standing committee suggested that the parish give a small garden voucher to the value of £50 together with some small plants to go with it.  Maureen proposed and Alison seconded a motion to this effect.  The motion was passed nem. con.
62/02	Any other business (if notified to the secretary before the meeting) Catherine mentioned that retiring collections during Lent The Deanery Synod meeting of 19^th February contained a short discussion about the Anglican – Methodist covenant.  A letter sent out to all parishes in September did not appear to have been received at St. Barnabas’ or in most other parishes, and thus there had been little consideration of this important issue.  The covenant concerned making the first of several steps towards an eventual unification. There was a vote taken at the meeting overwhelmingly in favour of such a move, making it clear that this was a representation of members’ personal views.  The Diocesan synod had also voted heavily in favour. Catherine mentioned that there was a CD-Rom available from the Diocesan convention.

The meeting closed with the Grace at 9.40 p.m.  Catherine thanked for their service to the church any P.C.C. members whose term of office was ending and who would not be standing for re-election.