A report of a meeting of St Paul’s Parochial Church Council held in the Community Centre on Tuesday 26th November 2013

Present: Rev Mandy Williams (in the chair), Rev John Watson, Rev Mark Inglis, Lindsey Somers (taking minutes), Dave Simms, Jean Loosemore, Pam Duggan, Joyce Busby (Hampton Park), Pat Rawson, Lyn Watts, Ann Gabb, Fiona Richards, Caroline Evans, Tony Bailey.

Apologies: Carole Teasdale, Rob Gibbon, Tracey Hey (PCC Secretary), Phil Hey (Treasurer).

1. Welcome and Prayer

Mandy opened the meeting with prayer. She explained that she would chair the meeting as part of her professional development.

The minutes were approved. Mandy signed them as a true copy.

Caroline Evans updated the meeting. She explained that the only outstanding matter concerned a member of staff on long term sick leave.

Caroline reported that the new structure and contracts are working well.

b) Whitehouse Project

Mark Inglis updated the meeting. He reported that Herefordshire Council has now released the second stage of funding which has reimbursed the PCC of all outstanding costs.

Several grant applications have been made and are now under consideration, with more applications soon to be submitted.

Mark reported that the board has recruited some new members. This has refreshed the board and feelings are positive.

Copies of the Interim Report of the Review Group were circulated to members. John explained that he had been surprised that the PCC had not been asked to contribute to the process. He also noted that some of the statements were confusing.

Tony Bailey made the point that the report suggests that there are two very opposing views whereas many members of the congregation are likely to hold views which sit somewhere in the middle.

Following discussion the PCC expressed that they would like John to contact the reviewers to seek clarity of some points and to express PCC’s wish to be involved in the process.

Joyce Busby expressed her hope that the report’s first recommendation is made a priority for all involved. All at the meeting agreed. The recommendation is:

“That there should be a period of prayer, reflection and discernment between and within the two churches as to the future of the Christian Church in Tupsley.”

Joyce told the meeting that she was able to announce that Hampton Park URC have appointed Rev Martin Hardy as their new Minister. Rev Hardy will start in September.

John asked Joyce to pass our best wishes and congratulations to the members of HPC.

At the last meeting the PCC recommended that a trust be set up, but it has not happened yet. Mandy advised that this would still be prudent to protect those involved. John will liaise with Keith Pratley to explore this further.

Phil Hey was unable to be at the meeting. He sent the following report:

Nursery continues to support our finances this year with net gain of £15k this year

Church donations behind plan - presentation to be given to the congregation on 1st Dec to be honest on Church finances to ensure parishioners understand that St Paul's is supported by the nursery/ White house Project is not a cost to St Paul's and to ask for them to consider increased donations and standing order payments to ease gift aid to increase total income for 2014

£5k of gift aid received in November - (£3k behind target) due to reduced donations for 2013

Meeting with Ken of St Andrews to discuss Parish Share contribution (looking for £7k) and monthly commitment thereafter for 2014

Broadly in line with plan but a number of large bills to cover in December

£5k paid to Diocese for wedding/ funerals for 2013
£7k insurance bill due

With regret we have therefore been unable to pay Parish Share quarterly in arrears as expected.

Horizons had £3k budget allocated at the start of the year but in view of circumstances this is reduced to £2k but will endeavour to return to £3k for 2014 ( Val to discuss with Marie)

Should anyone have any detailed queries happy for them to contact me to discuss”

John explained that Phil would be making a presentation to the congregation on Sunday to give a better understanding of the financial situation. A letter will also be given out following the service and a draft of this was circulated.

John explained that all Churches within the Deanery have had to dip into their reserves this year in order to pay the Parish Share.

Option D of the proposed changes is the most favoured. The plan is for this to be phased in. We do not have any details of how this will be done at present.

John gave a brief explanation of how the structure of finance within the Church of England has changed over the last few decades and the effect that this has had on increasing the Parish Share.

We are not covering our Parish Share at the moment and this means that we are being subsidised by others within the Deanery.

Legacy Policy

Mark explained the Legacy policy. This encourages people to make a will and to consider leaving an amount to the church within this will. This gives people the opportunity to decide to continue to support the work of the church whilst they are still healthy and in a position to make well informed decisions about legacy.

Pat updated the meeting. This year much of our giving has concentrated on Syria, where thousands have died and thousands have been displaced (£400). More recently a Harvest contribution was made of £500; this included an addition from Horizons.

Annually we give: £600 to train an Anglican Priest in Tanzania
£50 to Open Door
£240 to Open House
£200 to Night Shelter

Another appeal has been launched following the horrendous flooding of the Philippines.

The meeting discussed the new Services on the 4th Sunday of the month. There have now been 3 of these Sundays. It was noted that the music at the Choral Eucharist has developed really quickly over this time and this was much enjoyed. Positive feedback has been received from regular members of the 8am service.

Filling Station is working well in its new format. Mandy explained that many families are in regular contact with her through text.

6. Database and Data Protection

The new database has been set up in accordance with legislation. It was proposed:

“That the PCC of Tupsley, being the Data Controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, sanctions as Data Processors for the St. Paul’s Church, Tupsley General Database: the Benefice Administrator; the Clergy; the Pastoral Care Coordinators; the Family Ministry Manager; and the Church Wardens.”

The above proposal was made by Caroline Evans and seconded by Pam Duggan. It was carried unanimously by the PCC.

Mandy and John noted the hard work that Heather Pyne has done to organise that this is done in accordance with the law.

7. Properties and Grounds

The new committee has been formed. It will consider a list of building works throughout the church property as well as the issue of heating in church. The committee will not have any power to work independently, but will research and feed back to the PCC for decision making.

Dave reported on the research the committee is undertaking to find the most appropriate heating solution. It appears that infra red heating may be the most cost effective and have least impact on the structure of the building.

8. 2014 – 150 years celebration

There was no update at the meeting, but plans are ongoing.

Lindsey explained that she will step down at the next AGM. However Dave has very kindly agreed to stay in post for another year to allow a year crossover period with the new warden.

A vacancy has arisen for a governor for St Paul’s Church. Simon Clarke has offered to represent the church in this role. It was unanimously agreed that he would be ideal.

The PCC were reminded of the vicar’s sabbatical in 2014. Both curates will remain in Tupsley during this time and are planning for John’s absence. Mandy asked that we pray for John’s sabbatical and for her as she looks to new future challenges.

Mandy is currently on secondment to Bishop’s School for one day a week, where she has a chaplaincy role, strengthening our links with the school.

Tuesdays at 7:30pm