MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL, ST. BARNABAS CHURCH, LINSLADE, HELD ON TUESDAY 17^TH FEBRUARY 2004

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

The meeting opened at 8.05 with a reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Sue Nichol had resigned as secretary to the P.C.C. on the grounds of ill health. Catherine expressed her thanks to Sue for her work and best wishes for a speedy recovery. Volunteers were sought to be appointed as secretary to the P.C.C. Keith S volunteered to take the minutes of this meeting.

Minutes of the meeting of December 16^th 2003: it was noted under item 41/03 that objectors could only be required to contribute to court costs if they had formally registered their desire to join a court action objecting to the removal of pews. It was also agreed that at the time of the December meeting, the P.C.C. was not aware of the process that would operate, and thus the minute was accurate at the time it was made.

Nick proposed and Russell seconded a motion accepting the minutes as an accurate record. This was passed unanimously.

Matters arising

30/03	Christian Aid Valerie reported (in her absence) that Derek May had joined the outreach group and that the group would be helping to sort envelopes and badges etc. The group would also help to count the money as well as assisting the promotion of the work of Christian Aid
41/03	Removal of Pews Catherine reported that she had received a letter from a Campaign Objecting to the Removal of Pews (CORP). This claimed that the P.C.C. letter sent to objectors was intimidatory. The group claimed to represent 107 objectors and blamed “leaders in the parish” for fomenting unrest. It alleged that the P.C.C. was not unanimous in its decisions and that members had been coerced into voting in favour. Catherine hoped that if anyone did feel pressurised, they would feel able to tell her. The diocesan registrar had visited the church and met with Catherine and the secretary of CORP. It emerged that the issue was apparently less about pews than about changes to worship. During discussion, outrage was expressed by a number of members that P.C.C. members should be thought to be so lacking in the moral courage to give their views openly and freely at P.C.C. meetings. Catherine and David explained that the registrar had, without consulting the incumbent or churchwardens, extended the period of notice for the lodging of formal objections until the end of February, in order to allow time to bring the two sides together. The chancellor had also requested that English Heritage and the Council for the Care of Churches be consulted again. The representative from this latter organisation had visited the church and had felt that his organisation would be unlikely to raise any objection. It was noted that, although we would be unlikely to get permission to remove all pews – should that be the P.C.C.’s wish at any later date – there was no restriction on further applications to remove more pews, as claimed by the CORP.
43/03	Approval of Parochial Fees for 2004. The fees to be set by the parish remained as last year with the exception of any fees which were linked to those set by parliament. This had been agreed by the standing committee. These are attached to the original minutes (Appendix 43/03)

New items for this meeting:

51/03	Removal of Pews This item had been dealt with under matters arising
52/03	To agree numbers for election to the P.C.C. at the APCM and other matter pertaining to the APCM 2004 David explained that recent changes to Church rules meant that the P.C.C. was entitled, proportionate to the size of its electoral roll, to 12 elected members unless the APCM 2004 makes provision for enlarging the body. Keith proposed and Janet seconded a recommendation that a larger P.C.C. (with 15 elected members) be retained for the time being on the grounds that the P.C.C. must be seen to be as fully representative as possible of the congregation. This motion was passed unanimously. The agenda for the APCM would contain a proposal to this effect and other items would be solicited from the congregation, by April 6^th. Catherine circulated a document on “Serving on the Parochial Church Council” which was recommended as guidance for current and future members. The P.C.C. reaffirmed what had been agreed some years ago, that P.C.C. members who did not attend 3 consecutive meetings would be deemed to have resigned. It was agreed to give prospective members a copy of this document.
53/03	To accept a report by the communications committee The committee had held a very positive meeting which included extensive discussions on the future of the parish magazine. The “Sign” insert was to be dropped and the overall size was to be more flexible to respond to the number of interesting articles submitted. A trifold welcoming leaflet had also been designed and was being refined based on consultations with leaders of relevant groups within the church. David also reported that a parish diary was being held in the parish office and members were encouraged to ensure all meetings and events were entered in this diary. The P.C.C. had agreed (November 2003 meeting) to have 3 or 4 people as an editorial committee for the magazine. Members were asked to recommend names of people to sit on this committee.
54/03	To accept a report by the site re-development committee Keith reported that consultation with the congregation had been very positive. An overwhelming majority of those who had responded to the survey wanted to move on with re-development. A meeting had been held in the church which had also been very positive. Keith proposed a motion to engage David Scott Architects and the Peter Bradford Partnership to draw up designs over the next two months. The committee together with the churchwardens and Catherine would then meet the architects to decide which plans to take forward. John proposed and Maureen seconded a motion to approve expenditure up to £3500 to take this work forward, the money to be taken from the hall fund. The motion was approved unanimously.
55/03	To accept a report by the worship committee Russell reported on a proposal to have four alternative evening services on the 2^nd Sunday of May, June, July and August. These would be similar to services last summer. A pet service would also be held instead of a family service during the summer. The worship committee would be writing regular articles for the magazine to communicate better its proposals.
56/03	To agree fundraising events for 2004 A quiz night was agreed as a fundraiser and an organiser sought. Jo agreed to speak to Barbara Marshall about a flower festival in the early Autumn. A Christmas tree festival was also agreed. Carol Oakman proposed a coffee morning. Anna Barrett offered to organise the Historic Churches sponsored bike ride in September. Carol Oakman announced the dates for the summer fair jumble sale (17^th April), the summer fair (19^th June), the Christmas jumble sale (September 18^th), the Christmas fair (November 13^th).
57/03	Financial report Annual budgets for 2004: the sum of £2000 was agreed for the buildings committee and a budget of £2400 was agreed for the magazine. The relevant committees could thus spend up to this limit without referring back to the P.C.C. for permission, subject to provision of an annual report to the APCM. Last year charitable (“special”) giving was around 6% of total giving, not including Christian Aid. As there was not sufficient time to reach agreement on this issue, it was agreed to return to the issue of giving a fixed percentage of income and whether or not this should include income from all sources.
58/03	To agree expenditure of £275 to support the work of the Deanery Youth Worker Simon proposed and Alison seconded a motion to approve this expenditure from the Jim Chesterfield fund. The motion was passed unanimously. The churchwardens reported that an anonymous donation had been received to cover this expenditure.
59/03	To agree amalgamation of smaller accounts into P.C.C. funds Jo proposed moving the associated restricted funds into P.C.C. funds. This included funds for flowers, the Friends of St. Mary’s, the magazine, the choir, the bells and the Walsingham Cell. Charles said that some of these funds were given for specific purposes. John said that of the 95 members of the Friends only 41 were members of St. Barnabas and some subscribers lived overseas. On these grounds it would be unwise to amalgamate the funds as suggested. The matter was referred back to the standing committee.
60/03	Any other business a) Derek May had asked that we should have a retiring collection on Sunday 22^nd February and Sunday 29^th February for the Christian Aid appeal for the crisis in Northern Uganda which was hardly being reported in the media. This was agreed b) Catherine explained that discussion was under way to form a team ministry in the Leighton Buzzard benefice and that this might include the parish of Heath and Reach. Representatives of St. Barnabas had been invited to attend as observers with a view to establishing a common Christian witness in the town. It was noted that there were a large number of common initiatives across the parish boundaries, and this issue would need careful thought, prayer and discussion in future. c) John raised the poor state of the hymn books. Catherine said that this would be referred to the worship committee.

The meeting finished with the Grace at 10.05 p.m.