Present:

The Bishop of Buckingham (item 20 only)

Mr. N. Peerman

Mrs. V. Stewart

Mr. D. Darvill

Mrs. A. Cudby

Mrs. J. Miller

Mrs. W. Jones

Mr. G. Gill

Mr. C. Griffin

Mr. N. Moore

Mr. K. Saunders

Prof. R. Stannard

Mr. S. Soper

Rev. N. Cotton (Rural Dean)

Mr. J. Deighton

Father J. Hadjioannou

Apologies:

20/00

Bishop Mike was welcomed by Mr. Griffin. The Bishop stated his intention to outline the process to be gone through in order to appoint a new incumbent. The relevant legislation which governed the process was the Patronage and Benefices measure of 1986 which gives rights to the P.C.C. in relation to the appointment. These rights include the right to elect representatives who have a right of veto over any appointment made by the Bishop.

Bishop Mike said that he had written to the Diocesan Pastoral Committee asking whether he should suspend the presentation; this had occurred and technically this removed the council’s right under the 1986 measure. The Bishop made it clear, however, that he would continue to recognise the council’s rights in the matter.

The Bishop outlined the various steps that the P.C.C. need to take, including the preparation of a Parish Profile, the election of representatives and taking the vote on women priests. He said that the council had the right to ask for a written statement from him on the needs of the Diocese: he briefly stated that the primary need was for clergy who could work collaboratively with other clergy in the area.

Bishop Mike continued by talking about the decline in the numbers of stipendiary ministers over the past century, compensated to a limited extent by the growth in the numbers of non-stipendiary and lay ministers. Currently there were not enough stipendiary clergy available to replace those who area retiring.

On the matter of filling the vacancy, the Bishop said that most parishes like to advertise. Mr. Griffin informed the Bishop of the decisions the P.C.C. had already taken and Bishop Mike agreed to look for 3-4 candidates as soon as possible although he did say that July and August were very difficult times to recruit because of the holiday period. Mr. Saunders agreed to send Bishop Mike a copy of the Parish Profile together with the names and telephone numbers of the Parish Representatives.

Mr. Griffin thanked Bishop Mike for attending; the Bishop left at 8.35 p.m.

14/00

St. Mary’s Tower. The Citation for the work had been posted and the application for a faculty would shortly be sent off. The quotation for the work had been increased by the contractors by approx. £400

15/00

Parish Hall floor. The work to repair the damage to the floor had been completed. The rot had been more extensive than first thought: new floorboards had been installed on top of brick plinths, and older joists sealed to try to prevent any further spread. Mr. Darvill drew the Council’s attention to the need for attention to the roof gullies in the near future.

21/00

An agreement had been agreed and signed with Mr. Edwards. This agreement was backdated to start from 26/12/9 and was a 3-year agreement terminating on 25/12/2002 with an option for it to be continued. Mr. Darvill outlined some of the key features of the agreement.

It was agreed that the Churchwardens, Mrs. Jones and Father John would meet to discuss how to handle the choice of hymns during the interregnum.

On a slightly different matter, Father John pointed out that on the question of child protection, paid employees had to go through a slightly different vetting procedure to volunteers. The organist was the only person in this category. Father John agreed to give Mr. Saunders a form of words to write to the Bishop asking for the formal vetting procedures to be undertaken.

ACTION: FATHER JOHN AND MR. SAUNDERS

20/00

Archdeacon David Goldie had sent a cheque for £1000 to cover the P.C.C.’s expenditure in refurbishing the Vicarage Garden (the planned fundraising events in the garden would no longer be possible due to the interregnum). Mr. Griffin said he would write to thank the Archdeacon.

ACTION: MR. GRIFFIN

23/00

Safety issues in Sunday School

1. Mr. Ashly and two others would be attending a First Aid course at Vandyke. The approximate cost would be £28 per person
2. It was agreed to put the office telephone outside the office on an extension cable during the Sunday services. Mr. Griffin agreed to check with Youth Club leaders as to whether or not they had a mobile phone for emergency use.
3. Mrs. Cudby agreed to purchase 3 first aid boxes, including one which would be exclusively for Sunday School use and kept in their locked cupboard, and submit the bill to the treasurer.
4. The Churchwardens agreed to purchase two smoke alarms for the cottage.
5. It was agreed that the Sunday School teachers should be asked to organise a fire drill.

24/00

Website.

Mr. Saunders proposed a motion, seconded by Mr. Darvill, to appoint Mr. Paul Stewart as the maintainer of the www.Linslade-Parish.org.uk website and to thank him for undertaking this work. Motion passed nem. con.

Mr. Saunders suggested that Mr. Stewart would find it helpful to have some guidelines in this work. It was agreed that the P.C.C. should retain overall control of what went onto the site but that it was unrealistic for everything to be vetted by committee in advance. It was agreed that anything in the public domain could go on the site, including sections from the newsletter etc. It was agreed that in future the P.C.C. minutes would be checked at the next meeting both for accuracy and also for their suitability for publication. Once they had been signed by the Chairman, they could also go onto the website.

It was agreed to put the web address onto the Cross and Crown and in the Parish Magazine.

25/00

Any other business

1. The P.C.C. noted with regret that Father John Hadjioannou had taken up an appointment in the Diocese of Wakefield and that he would be leaving in August. Mr. Griffin and Mrs. Jones thanked Father John and Mrs. Hadjioannou for all their work in the parish and, on behalf of the P.C.C. and the Parish, wished them very well in the future.
2. The missions committee had met and had organised some events, in particular the Harvest Supper planned for Saturday 23^rd September
3. Southcott Lower School had written to request permission to hold a Carol Service in Church on Tuesday 19/12/2000. Cedars Upper School would be holding their service on the previous evening. Both events were approved and welcomed.
4. Mr. Moore asked that the Chalice bearers at the Eucharist could follow the Priest at a slightly greater distance. It was agreed to pass this on to the sacristan.
5. The St. Mary’s Concert would be on 16^th September 2000