MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL, ST. BARNABAS CHURCH, LINSLADE, HELD ON TUESDAY,

26th JULY 2005, AT 8.00PM IN THE CHOIR VESTRY

 

 

 

Present:

                                    Valerie Stewart Keith Saunders

                                    Catherine Dyer Wyn Jones

                                    Miranda Soper             Alison Cudby

                                    Carol Oakman              Frances Morrow

                                    John Deighton               Maureen Gadsby

                                    Nick Moore                 Carolyn Birch  

                                    Vicki Faiers                  Janet Miller

                                    Mike Finney                 Simon Soper

                                               

                                                           

Apologies:                    Jo Thomson                  Russell Stannard

Marian Dye

                                                           

 

 

Keith chaired the meeting

 

The minutes of the meeting of 28th June were approved, with the addition of “at least annually” instead of “regular” at the end of 9/05. Proposed by Carol and seconded by Maureen. All agreed.

 

 

Matters arising:

 

4/05     Affiliation to Faithworks and Conference – The process has been started. Catherine noted that any individual could affiliate for free. The conference is to be held in Eastbourne, 4-6 November. Any one interested should see Keith. The PCC would pay, possibly from Jim Chesterfield fund, as it is educational.

 

6/05     a) St Mary’s kerbstones – The deadline for comments was 16th July. There have been several objections relating to 5 graves. It is suggested that the protesters involved be invited for a site visit so that the circumstances can be explained and their fears allayed. John proposed that we apply for a faculty to remove the kerbstones. Seconded by Carol. All in favour.

 

10/05   Hall update – Membership of the hall committee has been agreed and they are meeting in September. John Faiers has had to resign from the committee because of ill health but is willing to be available for telephone advice (letter in main file). The PCC thank him for his work so far.

 There is no further news on the hall ownership issue. Keith is still waiting for a letter from John Rees. The faculty application has been submitted. The architect had visited, 26 July, and building of the link may start during the winter. This would mean not using the rear door and having some boarding over the window in the church. The other door by the cottage could be used for disabled access.

           

 

11/05   b) Church toilet – Jo is still waiting for a revised quote. The sink unit needs to be relocated away from the toilet because of making drinks etc.

 

 

New items for this meeting:

 

15/05   a) Parish share

 

            Jo reported following a Deanery Treasurer’s meeting on 7th July. It was decided that any changes made now would be minimal, since much more radical changes will have to be made in 2007. It was agreed that each benefice would be charged a fixed amount for clergy of £15,000 with the remainder needed being allocated on 85% based on the electoral roll with attendance and 15% on the civil electoral roll. The effect would be that when/if there was a reduction in clergy then the amount allocated to the clergy would actually reduce.

 

            b) Stewardship

           

            Keith explained the purpose of the letters that had been circulated prior to the meeting (copies in file). Regular giving and contributions for the hall project need to be increased and the information in the letters enable people to see the position of Church finances. The letters would come from Vernon who is the only person who knows individual amounts given. A separate letter would go to those who do not “Gift Aid”. The letters would support the Stewardship campaign in September, led by Russell.

            Simon proposed that the letters be sent, seconded by Alison. All agreed.       

           

 

16/05   Communion before Confirmation

 

            The PCC wishes to thank Jenny Hyson for her excellent presentation that was thought provoking and informative. Keith explained the general content of the meeting and went through the ideas that had been discussed. (The notes from the meeting will be available separately) Do we want to investigate admitting children to communion? What do the children want? What do young people feel and how do they want to worship? How do we involve young people? If we decide to continue it will be long process including developing a policy. Vicki spoke about a Mother’s Union publication called “Taking children seriously” that has guidelines for children’s spiritual development. It was decided to form a group to explore the issue further. Vicki expressed an interest in joining the group and representatives from other youth groups will be sought.

           

17/05   Buildings committee

 

            Nick introduced the report about work to be done.

 

a)      Church security – There is to be an audit of who has keys. A request will be in Cross and Crown to identify who has what keys and why. The committee will investigate whether a key box should be in the Office so that spare keys are available. There will be letters sent to all hall users and the committee will explore the possibility of a new lock on the Church front door.

b)      Aumbrey – John and David have cleared the gutter hopper and this should stop the flooding. More enquiries need to be made about the possibility of permanent reservation of the sacrament in the Lady Chapel.

c)      Toilet refurbishment – More details to follow.

d)      Font area – An archdeacon’s faculty will be needed to fix the icon to the wall. Redundant gas pipes (after being checked) should be removed and the radiator should be boxed in.

e)      Kerbstones – already discussed.

f)        Choir vestry – servers to use for robbing.

g)      St. Mary’s quinquenial inspection – has taken place and the report will follow.

h)      Graveyard regulations – in process of revision.

i)        Kneeler at chancel steps will need to be replaced.

j)        White lines on steps need repainting.

 

Catherine noted the amount of work being done by volunteers and thanked them all.

           

 

18/05   Church open in response to bombings

 

            The Church was open between 5.00 and 7.00 pm each day in the week following the London bombings. Thanks were extended to Keith for suggesting it and to the volunteers who gave up their time to make this possible. Catherine thought we should consider having the church open at other times on a regular basis.

 

           

19/05   Any other business

 

a)      Jo has received the copyright licence.

 

b)  Sunday school – The PCC received a letter form Jenny Smith noting that from September, Sunday school will be run as a single group. There will only be 3 leaders to cover each Sunday and with the family service under review, they cannot manage without more help. Alison is retiring after 20 years and she was thanked for all her hard work. . PCC recognises the value of Sunday school and various suggestions were made to increase the help but Miranda made the point that committed people are needed now; ad hoc helpers were not sufficient. Appeals for more help will continue to be made and an article will be put in the next Parish magazine.

           

 

           

           

The meeting concluded with The Grace at 9.40 pm.