MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL, ST. BARNABAS CHURCH, LINSLADE, HELD ON 25^TH MAY 2004, AT 8 P.M. IN THE CHOIR VESTRY

Present:
	Jo Thomson	Alison Cudby
	Valerie Stewart	Carol Oakman
	John Deighton	Fran Morrow
	Maureen Gadsby	Melvyn Gardner
	Wyn Jones	Sue Smith
	Keith Dally	Anna Barrett
	Jim Pickering	Nick Moore
	Vicki Faiers	Miranda Soper
	Catherine Dyer	Keith Saunders
	Rebecca Pickering
Apologies:	Maggi Stannard	Simon Soper
	David Darvill	Russell Stannard
	Mike Finney	Carolyn Birch
	Janet Miller

Catherine welcomed new members of the PCC.

The minutes of the meeting of the 4^th April had not been circulated and so approval of these was deferred.

Nick proposed and Alison seconded a motion to approve the minutes of 17^th February which was passed unanimously.

Matters arising

59/03	Jo explained about the amalgamation of the smaller accounts. In the cases of the magazine, the Friends of St. Mary’s and the Choir, this had already happened.
51/03	Removal of pews An offer for £400 had been received from an organisation specialising in recycling church furniture and which would also pay for their removal and collection. This offer had been accepted.

New items for this meeting:

1/04	Approve appointments as follows: Vice-Chair: David Darvill Treasurer: Jo Thomson PCC Secretary: Carolyn Birch Friends of St. Mary’s: John Deighton Gift Aid Secretary: Vernon Smith Churches Together: Anna Barrett, Maggi Stannard and Alison Cudby Christian Aid: Derek May Fetes and Bazaars: Carol Oakman (until December 04) and Anna Barrett were prepared to continue but as both would welcome some additional support. CRB clearance: Nick Moore Child protection: Melvyn Gardner Standing and finance committee members: Incumbent, Churchwardens, PCC secretary and treasurer ex officio. Wyn Jones and Nick Moore would also be willing to serve on the committee. Buildings committee: Churchwardens, incumbent and representative from Friends of St. Mary’s ex officio. Nick Moore also volunteered to join the committee. Worship Committee: the membership to continue as previously with Russell Stannard in the chair Parish Outreach Chairperson: Valerie Stewart Sunday School leader: Jenny Smith Carol proposed and Alison seconded a motion that these people be elected to serve for the year. The motion was proposed unanimously.
2/4	PCC dates 2004-5 It was agreed to have the next PCC on 22^nd June but to refer the dates back to the standing committee for their further consideration.
3/4	Parish Hall Keith explained that two architects had drawn up plans and had met, separately, with the site re-development committee. He introduced briefly the plans and summarised the advantages and disadvantages of both. He explained the committee’s strategy which involved: · A decision by the committee on the following evening (26^th May) which plan to recommend to the PCC, or whether to take both plans to congregational and public consultation. · The possibility of re-convening the PCC on Sunday 30^th May to ratify this decision · Congregational meeting on 13^th June (after 10 a.m. Eucharist) and consultation meeting with actual and potential users on the following evening. · Decision at next PCC on establishment of a fund-raising committee · Launch in September of fund-raising. The PCC agreed with the strategy and agreed also to adjourn this meeting until Sunday to ratify any decision of the re-development committee.
4/4	Finance Dorothy Hall had left the parish £120,000 to be shared equally between St. Barnabas and St Mary’s churches. Jo explained that Dorothy’s wish had been that the money be used for upkeep and maintenance of the churches and their surroundings. Bill Marshall, executor of the will, had asked that the PCC note this request. Jo asked that we consider a minimum standard of items donated to the summer fair, particularly items donated as prizes. She also suggested that we could look to increase what is charged for some items. Jo reported that Mark Savage was employed to do 4 hours per week to clean the hall, but that he felt that the job was only possible in 6 hours per week. At present, he was being paid £5 per hour for the 6 hours and it was agreed that raise this to £6 per hour with the situation being reviewed annually. The total cost would go up from £1000 to about £1500. It was agreed to give a donation of £20 to David Haylett’s (retiring Diocesan Stewardship Adviser) leaving gift. Jo and Catherine explained that oil-filled candles were being used on the altar in the lady chapel. Chris Hart had requested that the PCC consider purchasing oil-filled candles wherever possible. It was agreed to proceed with this immediately.
5/4	Incumbent’s professional and spiritual development Keith explained that Catherine was visiting the Willowcreek church in the USA. As the PCC had rarely if ever contributed directly to the incumbent’s professional development, and as the visit was being heavily subsidised by the diocese the Standing Committee had agreed that we should support this visit financially. Melvyn proposed and Alison seconded a motion to support Catherine’s visit to the Willowcreek church in the U.S.A. with a £750 donation. This funding could come from the Jim Chesterfield fund. The motion was agreed unanimously.
6/4	Lady Chapel Jo explained that there was a proposal to glaze the chapel rather than replace the old curtains. This had met with some support. Vicki offered to take the issue to the Mothers’ Union for their consideration. Nick explained that it might be valuable to retain the chapel as a place of privacy, or for quiet days, and wondered whether glazing would still allow this privacy. Jo was thanked for her hard work and her consultation with others and was asked to bring some firm proposals to the council for their consideration.
7/4	Sunday School facilities It was agreed that the Sunday school could use the upstairs room and the paint to re-decorate that room. It was agreed to speak to Jenny about the concern about the staircase with a suggestion that parents should be alerted to the situation.
8/4	Youth Club Responsibilities It was agreed that the letter drafted by Jayne Humphries should be sent to the parents of young people attending the Friday night youth club. The problem was explained that young people had been signing in at the club and then disappearing. The council agreed with the strategy of writing to all parents of youth club members
9/4	Any other business
	a) It was suggested that sidesmen often have too many papers to hand out and that organisations distributing papers should appoint somebody to give them out.

It was decided to adjourn the meeting until 11.30 on 30^th May (after 10 a.m. communion) in the choir vestry.

The meeting concluded with the Grace at 9.55 p.m.

The meeting reconvened at 11.30 a.m. on Sunday 30^th May with the following members present:

Alison	Cudby	Frances	Morrow
Keith	Dally	Carol	Oakman
John	Deighton	Keith	Saunders
Catherine	Dyer	Sue	Smith
Vicki	Faiers	Miranda	Soper
Mike	Finney	Simon	Soper
Melvyn	Gardner	Russell	Stannard
Wyn	Jones	Valerie	Stewart
Janet	Miller	Jo	Thomson
Nick	Moore

In addition, the P.C.C. was joined by members of the Site Re-development committee as participating observers.

3/4

Parish Hall (contd.) Keith Saunders gave a presentation on the plans produced by the preferred architect, John Hardern of David Scott Partners. He explained the key features: Construction of an L-shaped extension to act as buttress for the southern face Construction within this extension of priest’s room, new kitchens and new entrance level with the car park Construction of a link between the church and hall, joining the church at the existing crèche. Construction of a conference room on the first floor above the new kitchen etc. Environmental features such as solar panelling, rainwater recycling, internal and external gardens. Keith explained that the committee had already asked and agreed for certain changes to be made, notably in the siting of the parish office and access to the priest’s room John had agreed to make these changes on revised plan to be presented to the congregation on 13^th June and to current and potential users on 14^th June. The P.C.C. agreed with this strategy. Carol proposed and Nick seconded a motion that “John Hardern of David Scott partners be selected as preferred architect and adviser to the council for the reconstruction of the parish hall and that the designs presented by him should form the basis of agreed plans to be agreed at some future time by the council”. The motion was passed unanimously. It was agreed to return to the issue at the next P.C.C. meeting with the results of the consultation process. If possible we should invite John Hardern to the meeting.

The meeting closed at 12.30 p.m.