Held on 15/01/2007 at 7:30 p.m. at 9, Barnet's Well, Draycott.
2. Attendance, apologies and welcome
3. Minutes of previous meeting
6 a. Reply to Mr. Binning's letter
7 j. Spiritual Reconciliation.
Stanley
opened the meeting with a prayer. Tricia Heckbert took the chair.
|
Present David
Cheetham Chris Green Tricia
Heckbert Colette Jeff Tricia
Lumley Thea
Oliver |
DC
CG TH CJ
TL
TO |
Stanley Price Victor
Skinner Apologies Richard Dingley Sylvia Dingley |
SP VS RD SD |
Minutes of the 20/11/2006
meeting were agreed as accurate.
from
minutes of 20/11/06
7 a. (Christmas services in
newspaper) CG had sent them but they were never printed- maybe they were not
sufficiently in advance? NB. they were sent on 23rd November.
ACTION: get advice from Miles Whittle- NB. need to get the Easter ones
in.
7 c. (Mailing architect) CG
had e-mailed George Chedburn & copied everyone in.
7 d. (Parish share) £1500
paid.
7 h. (Shrinking
environmental footprint) SP to revisit.
8a. (Bible society)
Collection organised.
8b. (Carol singing) David
had organised it- it had been a great success. The PCC thanked him for his
efforts, which had achieved better results than several previous attempts!
(other actions covered in the agenda)
Letter re. Burgess, Font,
Events.
CG read out Mr. Binning's letter
to the local newspaper concerning the proposed font sale (Mid Somerset
Newspapers, 11th Jan). We considered TO's letter in reply (printed
& distributed with minutes). The opinion of the meeting was that, whilst it
was a very good reply from a private individual (a detailed and humorous
rebuttal of all Mr. Binning's points), as the PCC we needed to respond more
briefly and factually.
ACTION: CG to write to newspaper- may be in time if we can get it there
immediately.
None
of the other churches in the Cheddar valley have responded positively to the
idea of an ecumenical Lent group this year, so we must do it on our own.
ACTIONS:
1. Could SP bring this up at the next fraternal? (perhaps influence
decision next year).
2. Please could the Bible Study group choose a course on our behalf and
organise the course. Can we explore different days of the week?
CG reported that the website had been updated with additional information on the font, and on fund raising. Corrections had been made in line with comments received.
CG, SP and TO had exchanged some correspondence with a Mr.
Thorncarr, a historian who has an interest in William Burgess and works for the
National Trust at St. Mary's Church, Studley Royal (one of the foremost Burgess
buildings). CG had recently received a letter from him asking for permission to
use the photographs and other materials on our website as part of an
information pack. Do we agree? After some discussion we did agree, on condition
that Mr. Thorncarr acknowledge us (which he has already agreed to do), and not
mention either our possible sale or the possible purchaser.
ACTION: CG to communicate this decision to Mr. Thorncarr.
i. Holy
communion: wafers v. pitta bread. After discussion we agreed to go back to
wafers- more hygienic and convenient.
ACTION: DC to get in a fresh supply of wafers.
ii. Ash Wednesday is not well supported (NB. 21st Feb). Does Draycott want to host? (Not really- St. Leonards to continue with it, if they want).
iii. Some of us
were taken by surprise by the recent baptism- we ran out of milk!
ACTION: this was printed in the newsletter- people on rota should check.
iv. Our
sacristan has stood down- David Clarke. We need a training session for
stand-ins
ACTION: Colette to organise after church (Sunday 21st Jan).
v. Joyce from The Laurels has not made it to church for a few Sundays. SP wanted to know if arrangements to give her a lift were working. A combination of things had kept her away, but she was always asked. Tricia Heckbert was seeing to this.
Planning lunch- tomorrow 21st November (Weir); 12:30 to 2. Bring your own lunch.
Pentecost: LMG planning an open-air Songs of Praise & looking for a band (27th May).
i. Outstanding jobs for the roof
George Chedburn sent us the list of work to be done, but missed the last date for Wyvern. VS had been able to persuade them to give us a grant anyway.
There is now an August deadline from English Heritage for completion of all works- we should aim to do them significantly earlier (say May).
There is an area of the roof that was missed in the original schedule of works, which could cost an additional £9,700. This includes the defective rainwater pipe (but this should be part of the snagging list on the current works).
Chedburn has proved unsatisfactory as an architect- we should replace him when we can (not before all the current building works are completed).
ii. Drains
We thanked Christian Oliver
through Thea for all his work in working to clear our blocked drains that were
causing a flood in the crypt.
ACTION: we still need to determine whether the school drains are
involved.
We have £4043 in the general account, and £7,227 in the fabric account. The flower fund has £5-70; David proposed to close it as it is never used. The meeting agreed.
The Barry Rose concert had raised £700-800. Where should the proceeds go? We agreed that it was for the roof fund, as this had been Barry's original intention.
DC - what to order? At present: palm crosses, wafers, a new Pascal candle.
To avoid lengthy discussions
at each PCC meeting, we debated whether to pay regular instalments towards our
parish share. After some discussion, it was proposed that the sum should be
£250 each month, but only when we could afford to. (In the longer term we need
a financial plan for the year.) Proposed:
SP, seconded: TO. All voted for bar 1 (against). Carried by majority.
ACTION: DC to pay £250 towards the parish share per month, as long as we
have it.
How can we encourage all
giving to be in envelopes (for which we can get tax refund)?
ACTION: There is a new design of envelope available that may help.
VS had received a cheque for £1500 from Wyvern.
The book sales have been discontinued. The meeting thanks both the Skinners- Rita especially- for such a lot of hard work over the years they have done this. This alone has raised well over £1000 (VS handed a further sum of £40 to DC).
ACTION: VS will announce this in the newsletter.
No funds for this at the moment- so there is nothing for the committee to do.
Ecclesiastical Insurance have
done a risk assessment for Rodney Stoke (for free). NB. we will need to
organise one before the next event involving public.
ACTION: SP will find out if EI are free and engage them.
The Victorian Society objections does not constitute a "serious objection" unless they fill in the appropriate form. NB. it will also do us good if people write in favour of the sale.
The Barry Rose concert could have been done better.
· There were not enough helpers.
· No presentations - or even proper thanks - to the young (unpaid) performers.
· Quality of tickets was poor.
ACTION: belatedly thank the young performers- we agreed to give them vouchers for £15 each. Also we would give Barry a bottle of champagne.
SP reported that David Burley, the bishop's officer for the occult, was going to visit the church along with Victor Daley and Stanley, to perform a rite of exorcism for past wrongs committed by or through the founding of this church.
We discussed the position of the notice board and decided it should go on the south side of the path, next to the first tree in the avenue.
(none)
Next PCC meeting: Feb 26th, 7:30. CJ kindly offered to have the meeting at her house again; we gratefully accepted.
The meeting was closed with the Grace.