PARISH of ST.JOHN BAPTIST, CLAINES
MINUTES
ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING
Monday 7 April 2014 7.30pm
Claines Institute, School Bank
1.Revd Jo welcomed everyone. After a short silence she invited everyone to look back over the previous year. To think about –
- Those who serve us
- Those who have gone before us
- Those who cannot be here tonight
- Those who are struggling – the hungry and the homeless
- Those who have found new life
- Those who come here to grieve
- Those who are just starting out
- Those whom we rely upon
“Though we are always the broken body, the word to us, is that in Jesus Christ, we are made whole and enough to do the task.”
1 Corinthians 12:12-26 was read.
2. Apologies:these were received on behalf of the following -
Ian Cramp, Gwen Clifford, Caroline Causier, Graham Ashcroft, Joan Bull, Ernie Duggan, Wendy Galassini, Ken Ashman, Colin Harris, Judy Hooper, Vanessa Gunter, Jan Kear.
APCM Attendance figure: 30 including current PCC officers. (File copy has list)
VESTRY MEETING
3. Minutes of 7th. April 2013 - The minutes of the vestry meeting were accepted and signed as a true record. Proposed by:- Sandra Ashcroft Seconded by:- Jean Gardiner.
4. Election of Churchwardens : Nominations had been formally submitted for the present wardens, Rachel Cramp – Proposed by:- Jan Kear Seconded by:- Jill Cale
and Philip Kear, Proposed by:- Caroline Causier Seconded by:- Geoff Sansome.
There were no other nominations and they were therefore duly elected to stand as Church Wardens for the forthcoming year.
A huge thanks to the churchwardenswas made on behalf of all present by Revd Jo.
Vestry Meeting closed at 7.45
PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING
1. Minutes of the APCM 7th April 2014The minutes of that meeting were accepted as a true record and duly signed after one correction was made as follows:
Page 3 last but one line of item 8- David Roberts was not co-opted by PCC but agreed to carry out project work for PCC. Acceptance was proposed by – Jan Hayden Seconded by – Jean Smallwood. All were in favour.
2. There were no matters arising.
3. Elections
a. Independent Examiner. Mr. Tony Archer was willing to stand for election as our independent examiner. Proposed by:- Madeline Ajetunmobi Seconded by:- Pat Harris. All were in favour
b. Deanery Synod Members. Jean Smallwood is to stand down from Deanery Synod. Paul Fulbrook currently serves on Deanery Synod. We are entitled to three members and the following were willing to serve –
Gwen Clifford. Proposer – John Brady Seconded by Rachel Cramp
Ian Cramp. Proposer – Pat Bridges. Seconded by Phil Kear. All were in favour of both persons.
c. PCC - currently has three vacancies. Jean Smallwood has agreed to serve on PCC in an ex officio capacity. There were no other nominations for PCC membership, but vacancies remain and anyone who wishes to be considered as a PCC member should approach Revd Jo or the wardens.
d. Sidespersons – Revd Jo expressed gratitude on behalf of the church to those who have served in this role this year and to those willing to serve in the coming year. Pat Bridges and Sarah Cottrill are to leave our church in mid-June and thanks was especially expressed to the two of them. The following persons were removed from the 2013-2014 list – G Ashcroft, P Bridges, S Cottrill, J Dorrell, V Dorrell, B Meek, G Roberts and J Smallwood.
2014-2015 Sidespersons proposed:-
Eric Hoban, Anita Wellman, Steve Taylor, Jill Cale, Roy Cale, Geoff Ingram, Rachel Cramp, Pat Smallcombe,John Brady, Sarah Cottrill(leaving June), David Cariss, Pat Harris, Jane Saint, Ernie Duggan, Sylvia Duggan, Wendy Galassini, Tom Galassini, Pat Bridges(leaving June), Colin Harris, David Payne, Jean Smallwood, John Dorrell, Val Dorrell, Jill Pite, Jan Hayden, Margaret Wood, Gwen Clifford,
Ian Cramp, Bernard Potter, Doreen Potter, Alan McWilliams, Maureen Pilgrim, David Ritchie, Jeremy Field, David Ruff, Jean Blanchenot. 36 persons with 2 to leave in June.
Proposed by Lorraine Deeprose and Seconded by Geoff Ingram. All were duly elected.
4. Changes to the Electoral Roll. (Refer to comments in the margin of page 2 of the Annual Report.) Ernie Duggan was thanked for his work. The number of people on the roll has declined from 230 to 121 following a complete revision. Bereavements and people moving away from the parish accounts, partly, for this drop. Previously all wedding couples had to be included on the roll even if they subsequently no longer attended church on a regular basis. The rules have changed and they are no longer included thereby accounting for a further drop in numbers. It should also be noted that some church attendees are not on the register. The most up to date number on the register is 124. Rachel Cramp has copies of this recent register.
5. Annual Report of the PCC to 31st December 2014 – refer to copies distributed.
a. Minister’s Report= see pages 3 – 4. Revd Jo stated that the report reflected what a wonderful year both churches had had. She expressed her thanks on behalf of both churches and herself for all the help and assistance that has been given by the many members of both congregations. Revd Jennie Hayward was especially mentioned and Revd Jo posed the question of what we will do when Jennie retires from any duties. Mention was made of contacts with Claines school and the new head – Mr Whalley. Open the book was also mentioned as a very valuable form of outreach and contact with the school, the children and their parents. Lots of things are happening with the school and the relationship is blossoming.
b. Churchwardens report – see pages 5 – 6. The quinquennial report did not thankfully highlight any huge problems. Complementary comments were made about our maintenance of the church. The angel monument requires maintenance and specialists are to be consulted. Work is needed on N. side windows and some of the work has already been priced. Rainwater gullies need work. Glass in the west side of the tower needs replacing. Some work has been done and quotes are being obtained for other work. Funds for the work are a problem and attempts are being made to release designated and restricted funds for repair work and maintenance. A fall arrest system in the tower is urgently needed. The organ also needs work and estimates are being obtained. A general thanks was issued to the congregation for all those jobs that required doing and somehow are done without it being clear who has done them. Gwen and John were also thanked for their work in the office this year. Rachel Cramp mentioned by name Roy Cale for all his efforts in the Garden of Remembrance. Cyril R. was likewise mentioned. Geoff Sansome’s great expertise and knowledge was much appreciated in the work done on Chancel Repair Liability. The whole clergy team were also thanked. A great deal of hard work goes into services and thanks to all involved for that. The work on the vicarage is finished and Jo is enjoying her new house.
c. Financial Report – Madeline Ajetunmobi, Parish share was paid in full but this meant that for the year expenditure exceeded income. Thanks was expressed for the huge amount of work Madeline has put into transferring accounts onto the new computer system. Help from Tony Archer and David Cariss was noted and appreciated. Parish share has declined a little but a new method of calculating share is to be introduced in the coming years. Madeline thought that paying share in the coming year may be a challenge considering some of the large costs being incurred on things like the hall and institute. We continue to raid funds to pay share. We seek new tenants for the institute. Ian Cramp and Jill Cale were thanked for all their work on the institute house.
d. Events. All the invisible helpers at a variety of events were thanked. Jan Hayden was thanked for taken over chair of the events committee.
e. SWAG group. We have trialled things over the past year and now have a set pattern of monthly worship. The plan consists of strengthening the traditional services whilst allowing opportunities for other things. A variety of styles opens up worship to a whole range of people. The biggest change is to the fourth Sunday. Use of the nave altar has been extended to the 11am on Sunday and is being trialled at the Evening services. The aim is to have a collapsible and easily moved new nave altar. The high altar is also being moved forward so that priests no longer have their backs to the congregation. Trials with a less deep altar from St Georges are taking place and if successful the idea is to modify the current altar so that there is room to get behind it. The role of chalice assistants and servers is being looked at. Some members of the congregation expressed the opinion that they like to kneel at the altar. On the fourth Sunday this will not happen. Services fit in with the availability of the choir. The strength of this monthly set of services is that there is something for everyone and people will be able to select the service that best suit their preferred style of worship. This pattern of worship, however, can only continue whilst we have Rev’d Jennie and others helping but without their help the pattern will have to change.
f. MOG. David Ritchie and Ian were thanked for their display about proposed changes to the church. It is recognised that financing such changes will be a problem. Figures between £10,000 & 30,000 have been suggested. Removing pews and creating a community space would enable us to access grant aid. We should be able to get grants for changes such as putting in a toilet, a proper kitchen and improved storage. Further work on grant applications is needed. But with all grants it is likely that any funding would have to be matched by the church. This, it was recognised, is a huge task especially in light of other changes and needs. One point that came out of such discussions was the need to be careful when designating funds and restricting their use. It was suggested that a new committee which includes community members needs to be formed. We have support for such changes from David Hawkins and Andrew Mottram and despite the difficulties we must remain positive about the whole process.
g. Quest. Continues to go well as a joint venture between both churches.
h. Little Fish. This is well supported especially by Baptism families. With refurbishment of the church it will be possible for Little Fish to have sessions in the church rather than the hall.
i. Claines website.More can be done with the website. Contact Geoff Sansome for anything that you would like to add. It is well used and thanks to Geoff for all his efforts with it. Any adverts to go on the site should be in PDF format.
j. Messy Church.Thanks to all the M. C. team. Lots attend. Leaflets have been circulated at school, playgroup, etc. The religious focus is maintained and there is good coordination with the St George’s team.
k. Foodbank. The response from our congregation has been brilliant. It is a worrying trend that the numbers of families depending on the food bank are increasing. Other help includes the money raised from the big breakfast going to Maggs. Sandwiches have also been provided for Maggs users on Saturdays.
l. Kandago. Our links to Kandago sadly have ended.
m. OTB. The head at Claines thinks we are the best OTB team he has seen. Feather in our caps and especially Jean Smallwood’s who does a terrific job organising props, scripts, etc.,
n. Fairtrade. The stall continues to operate once a month. We would like to have the stall weekly. Sales are down a little. Thanks to all the congregation who support fairtrade.
o. LINC. Linc goes from strength to strength despite the forthcoming loss of Sarah and Pat. We urgently need more helpers especially cooks. Laura and Matt are set to help and that is much appreciated.
p. Bells.The team has welcomed the Palmer girls. It has proved quite difficult to get new ringers and quite a few of our ringer come from some distance away – some travel from Droitwich. It is good to know that the bells are rung on most Sundays.
q. Worship Band. Adrian has obtained a grant for the worship band as a result of its community involvement. Mr Whalley, from Claines school, has also been bringing a year 6 guitar group to the church to play with the worship band. We hope to see them again.
r. Magazine. With Steve Taylor away we are grateful to Marilyn Wild for stepping in as editor. Thanks also to Andrew Johnson for his work with advertisers and to Margaret Sturdy and her team of deliverers. Community News at Easter, was very well received with 4500 delivered to the two parishes. The children made a good job of designing the cover.
s. Social Media. Rachel reminded all that we are on both Facebook and Twitter. It is being used and accessed.
t. CATS. The panto was enjoyed by all who saw it and we look forward to the summer show.
u. Children. A big thanks to all involved with the children in whatever capacity. The number of children attending church has been variable but in general numbers are down. Those who come to church are very comfortable when there with what is happening. Thanks to Ann and her team for all their hard work.
v. M. U. Continues to tick over and there are a good number of “younger” ladies attending. Help from MU with both baptisms and with Saturday surgeries is very much appreciated by the clergy.
w. Music. Work by Vanessa and Caroline is much appreciated. It is good to see children being involved. Victoria Barlow and Ivan as always have given tremendous support over the year.
x. Flowers. The numbers in the flower guild has dwindled but others do come and help at festivals and when posies are needed. Cleaning group was also thanked for keeping the church beautiful. The rota seems to be working well.
y. Claines School. Revd Jo was thrilled to have this contribution from the school and wondered if a monthly contribution could be made to the church magazine. Clive Montgomery and Esther Pattison are our two foundation governors at the school.
6. Financial Statement to 31st December 2013 = attached.
It was proposed by Geoff Ingram that we formerly adopt the accounts presented. Seconded by Ann Sansome – all were in favour.
7. Assistant Churchwardens
Paul Fulbrook. Proposed by Pat Bridges; Seconded by Phil Kear.
Jan Hayden. Proposed by Rachel Cramp; Seconded by John Brady.
All were in favour of accepting both nominees into post.
8. AOB. Rachel Cramp and Phil Kear were again thanked for all their efforts as churchwardens over the year. Sadly we also said goodbye to Sarah Cottrill and Pat Bridges and wished them both well for the future. We will miss them greatly. There is to be a proper farewell service on 15.06.14.
The meeting ended with the grace.
Meeting ended at 10.10pm
John Brady
PCC Secretary, April 2014
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