Held on 18/01/2011 at 8:00 p.m. at 9, Barnett’s
Well, Draycott.
2. Attendance,
apologies and welcome
6d. 150th Anniversary celebrations
Sue
opened the meeting with a prayer. Tricia Heckbert took the chair.
|
Present Christine
Butler David Cheetham Chris Green Tricia
Heckbert Colette
Jeff Tricia
Lumley |
CB DC
CG TH CJ TL |
Thea
Oliver Barry
Rose Sue
Rose Apologies Richard
Dingley Sylvia Dingley |
TO BR SR RD SD |
Minutes were agreed as an
accurate record.
13/07/10 – 6. Newsletter. Paper is being collected by Megan and taken
directly to the office in Cheddar.
08/09/10 – 7. Quadron access to churchyard (Pending attention by TO).
16/11/10 – 6 iv. (Radiator painting). Done by
Gordon Jeff and DC- thank you!
16/11/10 – 6a vi. (Shed). Now erected, housing some of our effects. Needs
to be secured and the floor sealed. ACTION:
BR to buy a lock (combination?). We have to wait for warmer weather for the
painting.
16/11/10 – 6a vii. (Picture of church by school children). CG had written a
letter welcoming the gift, but not received a reply. We are happy to wait for
it- NB. It will be a good feature for our birthday celebrations.
16/11/10 – 6d. (Concert) We
did our own lighting, and these are still installed.
16/11/10 – 7a. (Microphone batteries). CG had bought a battery tester- in
the microphone box. After testing, one of the radio microphone batteries was
replaced.
16/11/10 – 7b. (Window cleaning). Too early!
16/11/10 – 7h ix. (School agreement for 150th anniversary celebrations).
Done.
No other items received.
i.
Soakaway has been installed and is working well.
ii.
The French drain has been put in, which is satisfactory although not as
wide as we had thought it would be. The stones used are not large enough and
will be replaced. Also it does not extend around the outside of the organ
chamber- but this may not be a problem.
iii. Downpipes are still a
problem, especially with the downpipe by the door off the north transept, which
is blocked. It should have been done by West Country Tiling but was missed. The
guttering also needs mending in that part of the roof. Priority is to replace
the pipe.
ACTION- DC will look into it.
iv. Grants for works. English
Heritage should be approached, but we don’t know where the paperwork is for the
previous applications- in the Cheddar office?
ACTION: SR to look for the paperwork and hand it over to CG.
i.
Plans from Piers had been circulated and were the basis of these
discussions
ii.
Previous plan- two doors, one into chancel and one into church. Piers
has changed his mind and now suggest a single door, to allow bracing. The
current radiator can stay. We agreed. NB. the door
needs to be wide enough for fire regulations
ACTION: SR will get Piers to check
fire regs.
iii. Do we need to move the safes
from the south to the north transept? We decided not to on the grounds of
space- the north transept is getting crowded.
iv. We had said we would empty
the south transept, but the chest is out of sight and can stay.
v.
The vestry walls will increase security, as the boiler and vestments
will not be open to the rest of the church. The door will probably have a Yale
type lock, with a key needed from the church side. NB. We will have to remember
to keep this unlocked when the church is in use.
vi. Painting the loo- the paint
is very flaky but the loo is not too damp. We should be able to do this ourselves.
vii. Piers has to complete a job in the vicarage, then will get on with this one.
viii. TH proposed that we accept
the plans as they were, TO seconded. All were in
agreement.
i.
David introduced the summary of expenses for the last 6 months,
presented for us to pay our share. NB. CB pointed out that they did not include
the last 3 months of her own expenses.
ii. We were concerned at the
high level of some of the items- in particular, for telephones and photocopier.
Can we think of ways they might be reduced?
iii. On the telephone charges, SR
explained that there were separate lines to the two houses (ie. SR and CB), and
both had broadband. Half of SR’s broadband tariff was charged to the parishes,
and ¾ of CB’s, reflecting the proportion of usage on church business.
ACTION: SR and CB will confer on
whether both need broadband at the church office, also on whether a better
telephone package may be available.
iv. Photocopying accounted for
£796 in the period, which does not cover the magazine or pew notes. How is this
possible? SR is not sure, but it must be down to the leasing contract.
ACTIONS:
v. SR assured us she did not
need to print any more books, except possibly for special occasions.
vi. SR had already decided that
there was insufficient benefit from having secretarial help, and so this
experiment will end, thus saving some money.
i.
BR circulated a provisional schedule of events.
ii. We discussed whether the
Alan Rowntree talk would be held in the school (window blinds, but no hearing
loop) or the church (loop, but no blinds). It may be possible to rig up blinds
in the church.
iii. Sponsorship- Cheddar Garden
Centre is sponsoring the brochure.
iv. Lunchtime refreshments will
be provided where youngsters are involved.
v. We should not need to lay on
a tea for the bishop’s visit ourselves, as there will be cream teas in the
village.
i.
We had had several compliments over the coloured lights. Our thanks to
Paul in the post office. NB. they are still up, and we
need somewhere safe to store them. Not the shed!
ii. Review of Christmas
services- were there perhaps too many unusual carols in the Midnight service?
SR who chose them had not realised that they were not known! DC and Nikki
Devitt were thanked for their careful planning and execution of the carol
service, which was well attended especially considering the weather. Carols in
the Strawberry Special were very successful, and may well become a fixture.
iii. We were given notice of a
start-to-finish continuous reading of the KJV of the Holy Bible, to take place
in Axbridge church between 29th April and 2nd May. If
anyone is interested in taking part, please contace CB.
iv. Should we use the KJV more
for readings? BR thought it would be especially suitable for prayer book
services. NB. when using BCP we could take the set
readings for the day, but use the KJV translation. No decision was taken on
this.
Mainly
covered already. NB. the
gas pipe has not yet been renewed.
There is still £3,000 in the
fabric fund, but this is spoken for. We will need to ‘borrow’ funds from the
general fund, as previously agreed.
However DC says we should
take heart from the fact that last year we have a) carried out extensive church
refurbishment, within our budget; b) at the same time have met our other
obligations (such as parish share) in full, and c) have also given away a great
deal in charitable donations. This is all without selling the font, and without
paying out the large sums that were suggested as necessary at the previous
quinquennial survey.
BR has been in touch about
the Anniversary celebrations.
CB will be visiting the
school.
i.
SoSP are to oversee and co-ordinate the cream teas in the anniversary
celebrations.
ii. There will be a soup lunch
in Lent (perhaps 19th March), and a quiz.
iii. Harvest festival- proposed
the 2nd October (Sunday). Harvest supper idea- how about bringing
gifts for the Sisters of the Church to a harvest supper on the Saturday night,
which could then be used to decorate the church. We would have a meal and some
entertainment.
iv. We may have a cheese and
cider event together with FoSL.
v. We may also have a Travel
Evening, with talks and refreshments.
vi. Mothering Sunday- Mendip
Players have something planned. ‘Mothering Friday’ will take place in school as
in recent years.
i.
Marriage preparation- will happen in February.
ii. Intercession workshops will come up- to be announced.
iii. Pulpit exchange will also
come up, although NB. Ken Brown still unwell.
iv. Event at Flagstaff farm- 17th
July.
i.
After some technical problems following a change of hosting service,
this is now fully functional. It is much easier to upload material. NB. This is
now a paid-for service, unlike the previous one which was free. Currently Tim
Bibby is financing it.
ii. The Draycott part of the
site needs to be updated to reflect the refurbishment. CG asked if anyone had
any good pictures that they could share. (A suggestion- Alan Rowntree may have
pictures, or be prepared to take them).
iii. The Rodney Stoke part of the
site has been taken in hand by Tim Bibby and now has much more material on it.
There had not been any synod
meeting since the previous PCC.
We used this item to discuss
RD’s announcement, that Sylvia Dingley would not be attending further Deanery
Synod meetings, and was also withdrawing from the PCC.
The PCC wanted to say the
warmest ‘thank you’ for all she has done for the church over so many years, and
to express our best wishes for her ‘retirement’.
ACTION: CG to write to Sylvia on our
behalf.
·
CG had taken time in November and December to attend St. Stephen’s,
Southmead, Bristol, in a ‘Readership Placement’- part
of his course of Readership training. He reported back to the PCC on his
experience.
·
He had taken part in a range of activities over 6 weeks, including
preaching, leading worship, intercessions, participating in a bible study group
and an Advent meditation.
·
Once a certain reserve had been broken down he had been received very
warmly by the congregation. Although the liturgy and service format were
familiar, the social and ethnic mix of the population was quite different from
the villages in the Cheddar valley,
·
CG shared some of his experience in assisting in the healing ministry,
consisting in anointing with oil as part of the communion service, together
with a prayer. Those who came forward were not evidently ill, and it led to
reflection on what kind of healing people are seeking in this context. Starting
from a position of doubt, he found it to be a moving experience. Perhaps we
could try this in Draycott?
·
Nikki has just started her own placement, with the chaplain at Weston
hospital.
(none)
The meeting finished with
the Grace.