DRAFT Minutes of Parishioners and Parochial Church Meeting Tuesday 27th April 2010
Annual Parochial Church Meeting
DRAFT Minutes of Parishioners and Parochial Church Meeting Tuesday 27th April 2010.
Held in the Church Hall,
Annual Vestry Meeting to Elect Churchwardens
1) Welcome and prayers.
There were 38 parishioners present. The Vice Chair, Ian Rose, welcomed all present and the meeting was opened with prayers.
2) Appointment of clerk
Sarah Tourell was appointed clerk on the proposal of Ian Rose, seconded by Margaret Hicks and unanimously agreed.
3) Minutes of the last meeting / 29th April 2009
The minutes of the last meeting were noted and signed with no amendments
.
4) Election of Churchwardens
Ian Rose was elected Church Warden on the proposal of Sue Gray, seconded by Brian Twitchen.
Suzanne Barrett was elected Church Warden on the proposal of Carol Rose, seconded by Richard Espenhahn.
The decision was unanimous and the appointments were welcomed with applause and enthusiasm. Ian Rose stated that he was sorry to see Andrew Strong stand down – but knew Suzanne was an excellent choice and she would do well in the role.
Annual Parochial Church Meeting
5) Apologies for absence were received from:
Anne-Marie Humphrey, Dennis Foddy, Richard & Meg Hill, Pam & Maurice Jones, Margaret Kimmance, Peter & Sue Metcalf, Derek Minter, Alan & Marion Pady, Hilary Staunton, Adrian & Caroline Warren, and post meeting Sheila Brent and Anne Manning.
6) Minutes of meeting held on 30th April 2008
The minutes having been circulated in the Annual Report were approved, noting that the apologies for absence should read “Adrian & Caroline Warren, not “Adrian and Jacqueline Warren”.
7) Election of members to the Parochial Church Council
Ian Rose explained the ex-officio situation i.e.
- Adela Foddy as a reader is an ex-officio member of the PCC.
Lulu Button, and Des Humphrey are ex-officio members as they were elected as representatives on the Deanery Synod to serve for a three years period from April 2008. Tom Calder resigned from Deanery Synod on 24th February 2010. Lynne Watson was elected to fill the final year on the proposal of Sarah Tourell, seconded by Suzanne Barrett.
Lorelie Staines and Georgina Francis have decided not to stand for re-election to the PCC and Ian Rose thanked them for their contribution. The following people were elected to the PCC – there was no need for a vote: Jonathan Dinkeldein (our new Treasurer), Tony Skrzypecki and Derek Williamson.
8) Appointment of Independent Examiner, Ward Williams.
Tony Skrzypecki recommended that we appoint Warner Wilde as Independent Examiner. This was seconded by Tom Calder and all were in agreement. Frances Wilde previously of Ward Williams has set up her own company and on the recommendation of the Treasury Team we transferred to Warner Wilde as minuted in the PCC minutes of the 15th July 2009
9) Election of sidespeople.
The following people were elected for 2010/2011 on the proposal of Margaret Hicks and seconded by Lulu Button: Lulu Button, Urla Barnwell, Julia Collingburn, Robbie and Jan Dodson, Dennis Foddy, Liz and Bob Garnish, Diane Gosling, Jim and Tim Hazel, Mark Hover and Carolyn Palmer, Margaret Hicks, Richard Hill, Martin Howells, Clare Jones, Ken Joyner, Bill Lumb, David Mealor, Derek Minter, Marion Pady, Jo Relfe, Pat Shore, Geoff and Coral Trickey, Evelyn White & Derek Williamson. Jonathan Andrew also noted that we are short of younger people in this role and so we are leaving the list open in the hope of recruiting some younger people.
10) Annual Report adopted by the Parochial Church Council
Ian Rose thanked everyone who had been involved with the preparation of the annual report particularly Margaret Hicks who had pulled it all together. He said it was lovely to be able to show people what was going on at St. Peter’s and wonderful to show our vacancy candidates. The Parish Profile was also a very useful document for highlighting what we do. The following was noted:
Page 8: As we are now fully registered with the Charities Commission and have our own charities number, dates when people start/leave the PCC are now noted.
Page 14: Des Humphrey noted that the Deanery Synod report for 2009 had been forgotten. Post meeting the updated page was inserted into the five original copies of the annual report that are filed. The 2009 report is attached to these minutes.
Page 16: Lorna Espenhahn stated we should delete the sentence which made reference to numbers involved in Lent Groups being 4 times more than previous years. Post meeting this has been done.
Page 20: Richard Espenhahn noted that plans for 2010 for the Communications Team has been omitted.
11) Financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2008
Tony Skryzpacki and Tom Calder then took us through the accounts on page 39 explaining income versus expenditure and restricted and unrestricted funds. Other items to note:
If it wasn’t for the legacies of Dr Drew £5,000 and Claude Matcham £23,862 we would be in a very different position.
We have a good control of our costs.
We overpaid the Diocese £5,510 which they are going to repay.
The PCC have £109,000 under their control in unrestricted funds as highlighted on page 46 and these are readily available. We discussed the Future Ministry Fund and wanting to save legacies for something special. Tom Calder raised the valid point that if people want to leave legacies to St. Peter’s the most advantageous way for them to do that is in unrestricted funds.
Geoff Trickey noted that no funds from reserves were transferred to the buildings fund, noting that one day God is going to call time on the church roof. Tony advised that this can be re-visited every year and it was a point well made. We also discussed the fact that monies can be easily transferred between funds should a need arise.
Bob Garnish made the point that the sound in the hall is awful. The required works and redecoration of the vicarage was discussed. The Diocese will order and pay for a new kitchen, boiler, bathroom and build an en-suite attached to the principal bedroom. St. Peter’s will decorate the remaining three bedrooms and three further ground floor rooms and it was acknowledged that the staircase and hall are still in good decorative condition having only been painted in the past two years. We will get three quotes for this work – should be no more than £5,000. Geoff advised that the incumbent will get a grant from the Diocese for carpets. Thanks were extended to Sean Strong for mowing The Vicarage grass. Bob Garnish also said the lawn mower needed servicing (as it currently doesn’t work) at a cost of approx. £70.
Tony Skrzypecki proposed we accept the accounts for 2009, Adela Foddy seconded and it was agreed, followed by rapturous applause. Ian Rose extended a huge thank you to Tom, Tony and all the Treasury Team for their efforts noting “we do extremely well with our accounts and it’s down to you (Tony) and the team”.
Tony S noted that a number of people were involved in the preparation of the accounts and mentioned all the team by name noting that things only work well because of the continuity and longevity of their time in the team. He noted that Lorelie Staines is standing down as Treasurer being replaced by Jonathan Dinkeldein, Lesley Jackson is handing over the nominal ledger to Simon Lumb and the quarterly accounts will no longer be managed by Tom Calder but Stephen Ind. Tony then thanked Tom saying that his role was very important and he delivered the accounts with care and dedication and he extended his thanks to him from the PCC and the Treasury Team and presented hi with a gift. Tom responded saying it’s been a riot, and every year something gets easier, noting it was a complete team effort.
Lulu Button then noted that Tony never gives credit to himself. She said he handles the GEMS accounts with kid gloves, he’s a lovely person and she can not praise him enough. Tom added that it was incredibly usual to have someone of Tony’s calibre as team leader on a church treasury team. Everyone agreed and a large applause and blushes followed.
12) Health and Safety Review
Geoff Trickey then invited comments on issues of Health and Safety Policy and reminded us to be H & S conscious and let him know if we become aware of any issues. Ian Rose noted that H and S is growing in importance and in an organisation like ours a proper H & S policy explains what we do. He said that the PCC, thanks to Geoff, have adopted a very good policy which he is very happy with.
Bob raised the issue of numbers at the crib service and asked, How can we limit numbers in church, an institution where we welcome everyone? He said he felt the numbers went way over what the Fire Brigade would sanction. Ian Rose responded by saying it was something we were thinking about. He said the fact that we could get so many people in, including children showed that we had tight control and were well organised. We had a buggy park but churches were difficult places because there were never enough exits. He said he would hate to get into a “ticket” situation and we would discuss it at a PCC before the next Christmas.
13) Chairman’s remarks.
The following items were mentioned:
- Ian Rose noted that it was his 5th year as Church Warden and he has learnt it’s very easy to plan for things; the problem is things happen that you don’t expect. In that situation it’s great to have someone like Andrew Strong around to take the lead and manage those issues. Ian said Andrew was fantastic and he’s sad that Andrew is standing down as Church Warden. he thanked him for everything he’s done and presented him with a small gift.
- Andrew said the 3 years had flown by and that he felt it was great there was huge involvement from so many people. He stated there were vast numbers of people who do their bit in a positive way. He said we have a very positive PCC and that makes the job of Church Warden a lot easier to do.
- Ian Rose then took us through the schedule for the next two days with the 3 candidates we have applying for the vacant post noting we had two men and a woman. They liked our Parish Profile and Statement of Need and he said the meal with the PCC tomorrow evening would be a great opportunity for us to meet them. Carol Bourne our new Rural Dean will also be joining us. Interviews with Ian, Suzanne Barrett, the Bishop and Archdeacon would be held at Andrew Strong’s house on Thursday. Ian extended a personal thank you to everyone who has been so willing to do whatever they’ve been asked to do. He made a special thank you to Jonathan Andrew and all the ministry team because the vacancy has progressed without us noticing a great big whole.
14) Any other business.
- Philip Chauncy reminded us that Christian Aid week is the 9th-13th May and to volunteer to him if you were able to help.
- Des Humphrey advised us that on Sunday 9th May our friends from St. Matthew’s,
- Suzanne Barrett thanked Ian Rose on behalf of all of us for everything he has done and will continue to do for us during the vacancy. A well deserved round of applause followed!
We finished with prayers.