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

NOVEMBER 30TH 2004, AT 8.00PM IN THE CHOIR VESTRY

 

 

Present:

                                    Jo Thomson                  Keith Saunders

                                    Valerie Stewart Wyn Jones

                                    Miranda Soper             Vicki Faiers

                                    Janet Miller                   Catherine Dyer

                                    John Deighton               Russell Stannard

                                    Anna Barratt                 Carol Oakman

                                    Frances Morrow          Maureen Gadsby

                                    Alison Cudby               Nick Moore

 

Apologies:                    Mike Finney                 Carolyn Birch

                                    Melvyn Gardner           Simon Soper

 

Keith chaired the meeting, which was preceded by parish prayers in the Lady Chapel led by Catherine.  The minutes were taken by Jo in the absence of Carolyn.

 

The minutes of the meeting of 26th October were approved, proposed by Russell and seconded by Janet.

 

Matters arising:

 

30/04   The use of the back of the church – Dave advised that he was looking at the cost of display boards to replace the present ones, and was also considering a display/sales stand for copies of The Door.  Any more suggestions are very welcome.  Russell asked if there were any plans to carpet the space, but Wyn and Catherine said they hoped to keep its use flexible and carpeting could restrict that.  Catherine also suggested that the votive candle stand could be placed somewhere in that area.  It was suggested that serving coffee in the back of the church after the all-age service should become a regular arrangement.  Russell raised the subject of establishing a library which could be displayed here and Catherine said this should be considered in more detail at a later stage.  John Deighton pointed out that over the years he and Sheila had encountered many difficulties in maintaining a regular bookstall and felt that this was not a worthwhile activity.

 

32/04   Leighton Buzzard team ministry – Dave said that he had had difficulty in finding an independent person to chair the congregational meeting after church on December 5th, but explained the planned format of the meeting.  An outline of what has happened to date would be given, together with the Mursley Deanery report, and then some advantages and disadvantages would be highlighted.  Annie Cooper, John Wallace (lay chair of Dunstable Deanery) and Catherine intend to speak, and then views would be sought from the congregation.  Catherine pointed out that arrangements for Linslade parish would have to change in the future because two stipendiary posts in the Deanery have to be lost by 2007.

 

33/04  Training curate – the applicant has decided against coming to Linslade.  There may be other candidates who could be interested, either from within the Oxford diocese or elsewhere.

 

New items for this meeting:

 

40/04  Lady Chapel – Dave reported that he has written to the DAC with regard to a faculty application, and after the visit by representatives from the diocese and their suggestions he has added the request to move the doors to the outside of the Lady Chapel screen so that glass may be fitted into the doors as well.

 

41/04  Stewardship – Catherine said that of the 200 forms that were handed out only 31 had been returned.  Keith reported that the hall fund-raising committee had received 12 forms.  Vernon has reported some increases in the standing or Stewardship group would re-form to co-ordinate the effort to encourage greater use of time and talents in the congregation.  Keith asked if the group would send a report to the PCC to bring us up to date.  John commented that some duties appeared to have been omitted from the form, and that some people had not filled in forms because they could not do any more for the church.  Catherine responded by pointing out that there were spaces on the form to include other duties. Valerie suggested that we should encourage people to voice their concerns about any issues directly with Catherine or the churchwardens rather than the PCC attempting to respond to anonymous complaints reported to us.

 

42/04  New hymnbooks – the music group expressed their approval of the choice, and so far 20 books have been sponsored.

 

43/04  Parish hall  - a report on progress so far had been circulated, which the PCC was asked to note.  Keith said that the architect was considering revised plans for the link in the light of comments from South Beds planning department and it was noted that the Standing Committee has expressed doubts on the need to provide living accommodation.  No decision has been made yet to apply for lottery funding.  Drafts of the revised plans should be available soon and it is hoped to apply for planning permission early next year.  Keith reported that he has applied for £52,000 from Shanks Landfill, but said that we will probably need planning permission before any funding application is given serious consideration.  Nick mentioned that it would be worth applying for lottery funding even if it were unsuccessful – at least that avenue will have been explored.  Keith reported that Lottery fund representatives commented that the proposed building was too big, but commented that we are committed to the present size of building.

 

44/04  Fair trade parish – Valerie explained the Oxford diocese initiative to become a Fair Trade diocese.  All parishes have been asked to complete a form confirming the use of Fair Trade products wherever possible.  The PCC agreed that we should comply, and the proposed was made by Valerie and seconded by Anna.  It was also agreed that the PCC secretary should write to all the parish groups to request that they comply with our intentions.  Vicki attended a Fair Trade convention recently and reported back on how inspiring it had been, and has brought back leaflets and information if anyone should wish to find out more.

 

45/04  Welcoming group – their report was noted.  Catherine recommended the book “Hope for the Church” which analysed growth and decline of church congregations in relation to the effort parishioners put into welcoming newcomers. Catherine asked that a social committee could be formed to reinforce our efforts, and Keith asked if they could take over responsibility for keeping up to date the leaflet produced some time ago.  Anna had brought along the leaflet distributed every Christmas by the Baptist church and said how successful she thought it was in getting across a welcoming message.  Dave reported that 600 copies of our own Christmas schedule of services had been printed so far, with 400 more to come.  He commented that the welcoming leaflet had been updated recently by Paul and will be distributed at the Christmas tree festival from 3-5 December.  The PCC voted to accept the recommendation that Ellie Moore, Mike Finney, Fran Morrow and Gill and Neville Peerman should form the social group.

 

46/04  Mursley Deanery Synod report – this was postponed due to the fact that some members did not appear to have a copy of this report, and it was agreed that we also needed a copy of the charter in order to discuss the matter properly.

 

47/04  Parish fees for 2005 – the statutory fees will be accepted as they are set by the diocese.  The parish fees will rise in proportion to the statutory fees and will remain in line with fees charged by All Saints’ church, Leighton Buzzard.  Keith suggested that the fees should be decided by the Standing Committee and then reported to the PCC.  It was also recommended that we include a surcharge for “exceptional administration costs”.  John commented that he thought the fee for arranging a wedding at St. Mary’s were putting people off, but Catherine questioned that this was really the case. 

 

48/04  Financial update – Jo reported that the accounts up to mid-November indicated that there would be a drop in income by the end of the year of about £4,000.  We had, however, paid the parish share in full and still have some money in the bank, but less than last year. 

 

49/04  a) One-man drama, February 2005 – Catherine explained that this promised to be a very inspiring event and had been highly recommended by many other churches.  It was established that Eric Petrossian would donate the proceeds of the concert over and above his fee to the church.

 

b) Donation to Lee Tim Oi fund – this was the first woman priest who was ordained during World War II by the bishop of HK, and a fund has been set up in her memory to assist women training for the ministry in the third world.  It has been suggested that to celebrate the tenth anniversary of women’s ordination every parish should give £10 to the fund.  The move was proposed by Nick and seconded by Alison.

 

c) Drains – there has been a protracted problem with the drains outside the hall, and they can no longer be cleaned out as the drain has now collapsed.  A new sewer and piping has been put in.  John asked if such work would be covered by our insurance, and Jo undertook to check this.

 

50/04  Any other business:

 

Catherine suggested that we should stipulate to couples planning to be married at St. Barnabas’ that only biodegradable confetti be used.  The motion was proposed by Keith and seconded by Dave.

 

Keith asked if the PCC would like to meet before January 25th 2005 if there were significant changes suggested by the architect on the revised plans and all were in agreement that we should meet – a date will be arranged if necessary.

 

The meeting concluded with The Grace at 9.27pm