Minutes of the Parochial Church Council, St. Peter’s Draycott

Held on 06/09/2004 at 7:30 p.m. in the church.

Return to main site

 

1.     Opening prayers. 1

2.     Attendance and apologies. 1

3.     Minutes of previous meeting. 1

4.     Report on actions taken. 1

5.     Any other business. 2

6.     Items for Decision. 2

6 a.      Toddler group. 2

6 b.     Harvest Festival 2

6 c.      Advent/Christmas. 2

6 d.     Bishop's visitors. 3

7.     Items for Discussion. 3

7 a.      Worship. 3

7 b.     Fabric. 3

7 c.      Finance. 3

7 d.     Fund Raising. 4

7 e.      School Governors. 4

7 f.      Flower rota. 4

7 g.     Copyright 4

8.     New business. 4

8 a.      Correspondence. 4

8 b.     Prayer Café. 4

8 c.      Community in the Church. 5

8 d.     Exploring Christianity course. 5

8 e.      Diocesan photographer 5

8 f.      Executive subcommittee. 5

8 b.     Dates. 5

9.     Closing prayer 5

 

1.      Opening prayers

Richard Dingley opened the meeting with a prayer and took the chair.

2.      Attendance and apologies

Present

John Cartwright

Wendy Cartwright

Richard Dingley

Sylvia Dingley

Chris Green

Colette Jeff

Audrey Morgan

Thea Oliver

Stanley Price

Victor Skinner

 

 

JC

WC

RD

SD

CG

CJ

AM

TO

SP

VS

Apologies

Wilf Lacey

 

Not known

Lorne Talbot

Julie Brown

 

 

WL

 

 

LT

JB

3.      Minutes of previous meeting

Minutes of 20th July were agreed as correct, subject to minor typographical errors (accepted: proposed by CJ, seconded by JC)

4.      Report on actions taken

(previous actions)

6 a.      (stand-in treasurer) No-one has volunteered, so we are very grateful to Colette for stepping in as a temporary measure. (Q: does CJ need to be an authorised signatory? We thought not, given the temporary nature of her duties). Victor asked if he could have access to the accounts.

7 b.      (Hearing loop etc.) In hand, but no progress to report.

(actions from 20/07/2004)

6 b.      (Letter to MDC over state of graveyard) This has been written- no reply yet.

7 a.      (Worship questionnaire) All results have now been transcribed. We are now doing some analysis.

7 a.      (Harvest) All organised. £5 for tickets; family ticket available for £12. Need to start selling soon. Only things to bring- apple pies.

5.      Any other business

(Items added to the agenda; 7f. Flowers; 7g. Copyright; 8d. Exploring Christianity course)

6.      Items for Decision

6 a.      Toddler group

            Thea has contacted them, and suggested a trial period of 2 months from the start of term until Christmas. Proposed some ground rules- no bikes, children to stay out of the sanctuary, etc. Payment of £10 per session agreed.
TO asked the meeting whether we wanted this to go ahead. RD proposed acceptance, WC seconded. There were no objections and the motion was carried.

            Is the Children's Act involved? Probably not, as this is an informal group with the mothers are looking after their own children (and if not, they need to sort this out themselves anyway).

Audrey has the key when required- they should access the church from the side door.

The 15th September is the first session. Audrey and Stanley will be around. The meeting expressed satisfaction that the church building was to find a new use for people in the local community- it helps to justify our efforts in keeping the building going.

6 b.      Harvest Festival

            We need to decide on the cause we are supporting. The following were proposed: Somalia appeal (seeds); Farm Africa; Christian Aid. 
ACTION: Delegate decision to church wardens and vicar (we could not decide!). NB. all cash to go to chosen charity, food for Sisters of the Church.

 

6 c.      Advent/Christmas

            Feb 2nd Christingle- Candlemass. 

Christmas is on Saturday. Suggest a joint service on Sunday.

Carol service being organised by the Jeffs- 19th December at 6:30 pm.

Advent Sunday- 28th November. A Taizé service suggested.

ACTION: CG to ask Nikki if she will jointly organise the Taizé service with Ian. Finalise programme at next meeting as it must go in the newsletter.

6 d.      Bishop's visitors

            Stanley has been contacted- only half the parishes have booked the bishop's visitors to speak to PCCs (we havn't). If we want to book them we should give them two alternative dates in the Autumn. The alternative it to buy the video and 'toolkit' (£5 and £3 respectively). 

CJ- proposed that we get the video and toolkit; CG seconded. There were no objections.

ACTION: SP will order the video and toolkit from the resource centre.

7.      Items for Discussion

7 a.      Worship

i.            Christingle- Stanley has been in contact with Linda. The new Baptist minister from Cheddar was suggested, but we need alternatives in case he can't do it. Perhaps the children could make the Christingles.
ACTION: SP & TO will discuss possibilities with Linda.

ii.          John asked who would stand in for him if we needed a verger for funerals. Victor said he would (thank you).

7 b.      Fabric

i.            We have not yet forwarded the completed certificate of the roof repairs- this was with Victor.
ACTION: RD & TO to sign it after the meeting.

ii.          Plans from Chedburn- we have received these from the architect. He is still working on the access audit for disability. A proposal for improving access to the front path involves moving the gate a few metres so that it opens onto the pavement- the path would be extended inside the churchyard, and the existing gateway blocked. This gets rid of some access problems and makes it safer as a pedestrian access to the school.

iii.         Mr. Chedburn suggests that we join the 'Friends of Somerset Churches and Chapels'. It might be a source of funds, and would certainly be one of information.
ACTION: RD will investigate. If it is £30 or less then we will join without needing further discussion- otherwise he should bring it back to the meeting.

iv.        Hearing loop. A 'starter pack' is supplied by Alive Sounds Ltd, with a a VAT free purchaser for the first order only. There is an Archbishop's Discretionary Fund of £2000 which this might be eligible. If the archdeacon can be persuaded, we might get further grants. NB. the de minimus threshold (above which we need a faculty) is £2,500 (possibly stretching 20 £3000). To comply with legislation, the loop really needs to be in by October. It is a good design, with a remote control and a wall-mounted box. ACTION: JC is due to see the archdeacon at a pastoral meeting- will make an informal approach to him. If this is positive, we may follow with a formal application

 

7 c.      Finance

i.            Balance sheet as at 6th Sept.

 

General fund:

£1,406

Roof:

£329-96

Flower:

£21-70

General investment:

£9879.61

Roof investment:

£1,890.20

(NB. includes latest Chedburn account of £4,292.44, and £750 of Parish Share.

ii.          Vicar's expenses received- £178. We shall pay 60% of this, as usual.

iii.         A copy of the minutes of the extraordinary PCC meeting on the 28/08/04 was circulated. This had been called by Victor to make a decision on payment of an invoice received from the architect for preparation work for phase III of our building project. The minutes were agreed as accurate.

 

7 d.      Fund Raising

i.            The book stall at the moat race made £246.75. Victor and Rita have too many books now- some have been passed on; they will now be more selective in what they accept.

ii.          The committee is now down by 1, and is not big enough to be viable for fundraising. We are looking for more members.

iii.         Next meeting: 22nd September.

iv.        Our next big event- May 7th for VE day.
ACTION: VS will write an article in the newsletter to stimulate interest.

v.          Can we form a 'Friends of St. Peters' (cf. 'Friends of St. Leonards')? It would need to be headed by a non-church person. We must think about this.

7 e.      School Governors

            (not much to report- omitted due to lack of time)

 

7 f.       Flower rota

            (AOB raised by AM) This has been changed to a 2 week rota. We really need to draw this up 1 year in advance. All agreed to these proposals.

 

7 g.      Copyright

            (AOB raised by WC) Do we need to have a copyright license? After a discussion we agreed that we did not.

 

8.      New business

8 a.      Correspondence

(All dealt with elsewhere)

8 b.      Prayer Café

(raised by SP) Idea is a weekly, short meeting, for coffee and a chat. Stanley had thought Wednesday at 9:45, but this would clash with the mother & toddler group. The meeting approved the idea.
ACTION: to be thought through further.

8 c.      Community in the Church

(raised by SP) Taking an idea from the Cathedral, could we have a series of notice boards around the church, with pictures of people/ activities associated with it? The meeting approved the idea.
ACTION: Think of in the context of the refurbishment scheme.

8 d.      Exploring Christianity course

(raised by SP) Stanley had received notice of this diocesan courses (a new version of the Christian Foundations course, recently completed by Chris). This was commended to members of the PCC.

8 e.      Diocesan photographer

(raised by RD) The photographer has been around the parishes, including our own, and would like us to host an exhibition of this work in the church. He would like a contribution from us as well. We are willing for him to use the church, but have no central funds to give him. We might open the church and offer coffees, for which we would charge (proceeds to go to the photography project). Harvest might be a good time, say setting up on the 30th September and with volunteers in the church. The meeting agreed to this- NB. Any wide publicity would be the responsibility of the photographer, although we would announce in church etc..
ACTION: RD to contact the photographer & put our ideas to him.

8 f.       Executive subcommittee

(raised by RD) The PCC needs an executive subcommittee consisting of the vicar, church wardens and officers (NB. laid down in guidance for PCCS). Could meet more frequently than full PCC.
ACTION: should be in place by next meeting.

8 b.      Dates

·        Next PCC: 25th October (apologies: JC, WC, RD, SD)

·        Following: 6th December (apologies: VS, CJ)

·        We should plan ahead for a whole year.

9.      Closing prayer

The meeting closed with the Grace.

Return to main site

Top of page