MINUTES OF THE JOINT PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL
Meeting Date 08th November 2023
Meeting Venue St. Thomas Church
Attendees As recorded in the attendance book
Prayers Father David opened the meeting with a prayer.
Apologies Susan Mackenzie, Fr. David Watson, Nichola Hirst
Minutes of last meeting These were accepted as a true record
Matters arising, not covered by items on the agenda Ben Otley has now been licensed as a Lay Reader
Buildings The buildings fortunately survived the latest storm although there was a small amount of water found in the Sacristy and Board Room. The Rill in St. Peter’s is not working, although parts for it are on order. The kitchen hot water boiler is leak-ing, and a plumber is required to fix it. The taps in the ladies toilet need to be looked at, with a view to replacing as they are not turning off.
The burglar alarm at St. Peter’s has been going of at various times for no known reason and is being investigated by the alarm company. Keyholders were reminded that all doors must be closed properly before setting the alarm. On setting, the display should show: ‘exit by kitchen door’, ‘full set’. The panel should then be checked from outside to ensure that it has gone off and that the alarm has been set correctly. Hope-fully, this will stop the alarm from sounding and the neigh-bours from complaining.
The Baptism pool heater is not working, due to a leaking valve which prevents the water staying at the required level.
Finance See Treasurer’s report attached.
Due to the increased energy costs, there is a need to have a look at the amount paid by the various groups that use the Church for meetings. A figure of £12 an hour is being considered.
Various groups meeting in the Church need a rent increase to twelve pounds per hour.
Fr. David is applying for various funding grants, to cover the costs of warm spaces etc.
The card machine is going to be repositioned to below the Alms Box by the West door. This will make it more visible to visitors and members of our congregation.
The legacy from Edward Luscombe’s estate has now been received into the Hostel bank account. This is going to be used to update the sound system in St. Peter’s.
Safeguarding / GDPR There have been 2 recent safeguarding issues. Both have been reported to the Diocese safeguarding team, and they are happy with the actions taken. Advice was sought on 1 of the issues.
The Diocese are going to put a safeguarding national framework online for P.C.C.s to follow.
All members of the P.C.C. need to renew their D.B.S. check, and to undergo compulsory safeguarding training. Sue Way is trying to arrange for this to be done in St. Peter’s. To make it more worthwhile for the Diocese to do, the opportunity to attend will be offered to other Parishes in Plymouth. A date being looked at is Wednesday 31st January, in the afternoon.
The quality of a parish’s safeguarding is judged against 5 standards. Currently, we only reach 1 of those standards, but soon, we should be attaining all 5.
Confirmation This will be held on Sunday 19th November, with 5 or 6 candidates being confirmed by Bishop Paul. Ben Otley and Sue Way are going to order the food required. Joan Colmer, Jenny Tregillis and Tegan Colmer will be available to serve the food if necessary. Helen Smith and Sue Way will serve the drinks. Richard Coombes and Julian Davies will set up the tables the day before, after 2.00 pm. Ben Otley and Graham Roberts will collect the food from Morrisons at 5.00 pm on the Saturday. There will be no food larder available on the day of the confirmation, with the South door being locked at the start of Mass.
Upcoming Events Winter warmer evening: Wednesday November 15th at 7.00 pm in St. Peter’s
Gentle local walks: in the New Year, when the weather gets better.
PL1: Pre-Lent Parish meal in the New Year.
Father Bailey’s 40th Anniversary Mass: Saturday 16th December in St. Gabriel’s at 12.00 noon
Advent and Christmas 25th November: Keyham tree lighting at St. Thomas at 4.00 pm.
2nd December: Phoenix Chorale concert in St. Peter’s
13th December: St. Peter’s school carol service in St. Peter’s
14th December: Great Seas concert in St. Peter’s
15th December: Levowan XII concert in St. Peter’s
24th December: Advent 4 Mass in St. Thomas at 8.30 am.
24th December: Advent 4 Mass in St. Peter’s at 10.00 am.
24th December: Midnight Mass in St. Peter’s at 11.30 pm.
Food Larder/Cost of Living/Baby Basics The food larder is beginning to cause a problem with certain people taking advantage of it and taking substantial amounts of food, especially during Mass when there is nobody in Cloisters. If it continues, we will need to find a way to lock the fridges during Mass.
Hopefully we will receive some funding to help those in need during the cost-of-living crisis. We will be receiving 20 Christmas hampers to be distributed to those in need throughout the Parish.
Baby Basics continues to be busy. Some new Moses baskets have been purchased, and donations have been received from St. Gabriel’s and St. Francis.
St. James As of today, some liturgical items, which would not be used by the planting church, have been removed from St. James, including the chairs loaned to them by St. Peter’s. These items will be used in both St. Peter’s and St. Thomas. It is hoped that the marble altar will go to St. Francis for them to use as their new altar when the church reopens after the fire.
Dates of PCC Meetings for the coming year Wednesday 10th January at St. Peter’s
A.P.C.M. at St. Peter’s, date to be decided.
All meeting to start at 7.00 pm
Blessing There being no further business, Fr. David closed the meeting with a blessing.
Signed as a true record: