minutes of a meeting of the parochial church council, st. barnabas’ church, linslade, held in the choir vestry at 8.00 p.m. on tuesday 24^th september 2002

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

The meeting opened with a short meditation on the nature of collaborative ministry.

Before the meeting it was agreed that titles would be dispensed with in future minutes, replaced by first names when referring to council members.

Minutes of the meeting of 19^th June 2002

Minutes of the last meeting were approved for accuracy.  The motion proposed by Alison Cudby, seconded by Carol Oakman and agreed nem. con.

Matters arising from the minutes:

23/01	Lighting.  There was no change to the lighting situation.
05/02	Notice boards.  David Darvill has found somebody to construct the boards and was waiting for them to arrive.
16/02	Fetes and Bazaars.  £175 had been made at the jumble sale on Saturday.
17/02	Retirement of Rev. Anne Faulkner.   Anne had been very grateful for the card and was extremely touched.  Thanks were expressed to Peter Miller for making the card.
18/02	Diocesan Convention.  Sue Smith thanked the PCC for its support on behalf of all those who were funded to go.

New items:

22/02 a)	Sharing Life: To debate the recommendations of the Worship committee. Russell Stannard summarised in some detail the various responses made by the congregation to the report of the Worship Committee: Important to listen to new ideas Liked the all-age service Liked all-age service proposal (several comments of support) Evensong might be ousted and this would be regrettable The Peace disrupted the service in the middle of the service · More evangelism was required rather than altering the services Shaving off a few seconds would not make a difference One comment that those who did not like the noise of children could go to the 8 a.m. service · Committee was complimented (several such comments).  Should the “pomp” be continued? Report represented the right balance between needs of traditionalists and younger members Disagreement with 6 p.m. communion, esp. until the issue of evensong is addressed. 6 p.m. Eucharist should be cancelled if numbers are low Could the committee consider not always celebrating the all-age Eucharist on the same day of the month? Three oral responses supporting the proposals. Catherine thanked Russell for all his work in compiling the report and these thanks were echoed by several members of the council.  One amendment was pointed out: 6 a.m. Evensong on recommendation 17 should read 6 p.m. Evensong. It was agreed to discuss key issues separately with a vote at the end to accept or reject the committee’s report, possibly with amendments. Recommendation 11: There was concern expressed about appearing to “ration” prayer.  It was suggested that when a parishioner asked for somebody to be added to the prayer list, they should be reminded of the policy of keeping people on the list for only four weeks unless a request was received.  It was also suggested that a note could be put on the Cross and Crown reminding the congregation of this policy. Simon proposed an amendment and David Darvill seconded a motion to amend the report by removing recommendation 11. 17 members of the council voted in favour of the proposal with 2 abstentions. Recommendation 16: It was suggested that 10 a.m. might be too early for some of those who attend the family service. It was agreed that the proposals were to be introduced for a year and then formally reviewed.  It was pointed out that the committee had not recommended a particular Sunday for the family and all-age services.  Revd. Catherine explained that the first Sunday in several months coincided with important feasts which could work well as all-age services.  It was agreed without a vote to agree to the all-age service being on the first Sunday of the month. Recommendation 17:  One parishioner had objected to the change to Evensong.  The issue of the special evening services at Advent was raised in particular, and it was suggested that a carol service could be put into the context of a Eucharist.  A similar arrangement was also suggested for the evening of the Sunday where there was an all-age service in the morning. Charles Griffin proposed that the recommendations of the Worship Committee, as amended above, be accepted.  David Darvill seconded the motion which was passed unanimously.  Catherine thanked Russell once again. Russell put his view that the new proposals needed careful planning to ensure a smooth introduction.  It was agreed to start on January 1^st with the new arrangements when the necessary planning had been undertaken.
22/02 b)	Report of the Christian Nurture group Catherine reported on the work of the Christian Nurture group and their enthusiasm for the Emmaus programme.  The programme relied on a culture within the Church which put Baptism at the centre of its work.  The ministry team had not had time to discuss the programme, but were keen to look further at introducing the programme.  The issue of introducing the programme to the parish and to the P.C.C. was discussed: it might be possible to give a talk at the 10 a.m. Sunday service, or to ask the P.C.C. to go through the Christian nurture course.  Fran Morrow, with Jayne Humphries and Janet Miller agreed to discuss further a plan for the introduction of the project.  David Darvill proposed and Russell Stannard a motion to this effect which was agreed nem. Con
23/02	To receive the reports of: a) Pastoral care group Sue Smith introduced an oral report.  The key issue surrounding pastoral care was the ability of carers to deal with confidential issues.  The group suggested that a carers support group be established so as to support those who care for the sick, the elderly and the disabled.  Wyn said that she would be establishing a group to support those involved in bereavement counselling.  Catherine thanked the group for its work b) Stewardship group Keith Dally reported on the work of the Stewardship Focus group.  The group intended to follow up the work of recent Sundays by writing to all members of the church, whether or not on the electoral roll, asking for their response to what they had heard about stewardship.  The group was also looking at finding a volunteer to act as a time and talents’ co-ordinator who might approach people to give of their time and talents.  Revd. Catherine thanked the group.  It was agreed that the report of the Stewardship group would be circulated to all members of the PCC with the minutes.
24/02	Stations of the Cross It was agreed to postpone this item to the next meeting
25/02	Structure of P.C.C. meetings It was agreed to postpone this item to the next meeting
26/02	To approve formally a list of youth leaders, Sunday School leaders etc. to work with young people Simon Soper proposed and Russell Stannard seconded a motion to delegate the responsibility of agreeing the list of youth leaders, Sunday School leaders to the Standing Committee. The motion was passed nem. con.
27/02	To approve Rev. Wyn Jones’ ministry agreement Wyn identified the differences between her old and her new agreements. As a priest, she would now be able to preside at communion.  She was also hoping to involve more of the congregation in the baptism and that she would be responsible for organising baptisms and home communions (but not doing them all herself).  She would also be providing support for all those involved in youth work.  She would continue to go to Elm Lodge and to the Mencap hostel.  She and Catherine would be sharing out the schools as well as attending all of the normal clergy activities. Catherine emphasised the fact that Wyn would not have time to co-ordinate all of the youth work herself and the P.C.C. would need to find more people to support this important activity.  Catherine emphasised that Wyn had a heavy workload, especially bearing in mind the fact that she was an unpaid volunteer. There were no questions.  A motion to approve the agreement was proposed by David Darvill, seconded by Charles Griffin and the agreement was approved nem. con.
28/02	Deanery Synod report It was agreed to postpone this item to the next meeting.
29/02	To approve a motion to move St. Barnabas’ bank accounts It was agreed to delegate this to the Standing committee.  Agreed nem. con.
30/02	Co-operation with neighbouring parishes Revd. Catherine reported on a meeting between the 3 Anglican churches in Leighton-Linslade.  The main issue was the Autumn course for which leaflets had been distributed.  The course was to help lay people in their various ministries.  It is hoped that the course would break even but Catherine asked that the P.C.C. underwrite the course to a maximum of £50.  Keith Saunders proposed and Simon Soper seconded a motion to this effect and the motion was passed unanimously.
31/02	Any other business a) David Darvill proposed that Melvyn Gardner be appointed as the parish representative for the Criminal Records Bureau.  Charles Griffin seconded the motion and the motion was passed nem. con. b) John Deighton mentioned that a small group had put together a proposal to remove pews from the front and back of the Church.  It was agreed to discuss this at the next meeting. c) Anna Barrett distributed the Churches Together minutes. d) Keith requested that any items for discussion at P.C.C., especially reports from committees or other groups, be emailed to him before the Standing committee so that it could be considered for inclusion on the P.C.C. agenda.  The issue of increasing the number of P.C.C. meetings would be discussed e) Carol Oakman raised the issue of the poor state of hygiene of the hall kitchen.  Catherine mentioned the need for a buildings committee which would have responsibility for considering this and all other buildings issues.

The meeting closed with The Grace at 9.40 p.m.