P.C.C. Minutes

 

                        MINUTES OF T HE JOINT PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL        

 

Meeting Date  

17th July  2019

Attendees

As recorded in the attendance book                                                  

Prayers

Father David opened the meeting with a prayer.

Apologies

Mrs. Susan Way, Mr. Russell Cawley

Absent: Mr. Derek Thomas

Minutes of last meeting

These were accepted as a true record                              

 

Matters Arising

St. Peter’s Open day did not prove to be as successful as hoped, with low numbers visiting the church. On reflection, it was felt that more advertising regarding the event was needed. Following on from the Open Day, it was felt that it would be good to have a permanent display of St. Peter’s history in the church.

 PCC Responsibilities

 

Quinquennial Inspections

The Quinquennial inspections have now been completed at both St. Peter’s and St. Thomas. Although we are awaiting the reports, a number of holes have been found in the roof at St. Thomas which require repairing as soon as possible.

Finance

See attached Treasurer’s report

Safeguarding

There were no issues to report.

Father David issued a copy of ‘Reporting of Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission’ to all present. After discussion, it was agreed unanimously that the document be adopted in its present form for the Mission Community. A copy will be attached to the signed copies of these minutes displayed in each of the 3 churches.

St.James Update                                                                                                                                              

Meetings will be taking place in the near future to agree the legal side of the planting church, with the Quinquennial inspection at St. James being due. The cost of this will be met by the planting church, in association with the Diocese of Exeter. It is hoped that the works will commence it October, however a faculty, yet to be applied for, will be required.

 

Ben Otley

The Diocese appreciate the work that Ben has been doing, although it has been pointed out that he needs to be spending more time within the 2 Mission Communities.

Mission Focus  

 

The opening of St. Peter’s each Thursday is planned to begin on Thursday 8th August. The hope is to open from 8.30 am to 5.00 pm each week. In order for this to be successful a rota of volunteers will needed. For safeguarding and safety reasons, there should be a minimum 2 people present at all times.

 

It is hoped to start a similar project at St. Thomas   in the near future, with the times yet to be confirmed.

 

It is envisaged to start an after school club at St. Peter’s in September, when the school returns from the Summer holidays. It is hoped for it to run from 3.30 pm and end with evening prayer at 5.30 pm.

Mission Focus

The P.C.C. was asked for their opinion a couple of Order of Service books that Father David has collected. It is planned to have a working group meeting in the near future to discuss different formats for use in St. Peter’s and to report back to the P.C.C. before any final decision on format is agreed. It is hoped that this will avoid the continual need to photocopy the paper Order of Service we currently use, as the new booklets can be easily collected by the Sidesmen after Mass as people leave Church.

Dates of PCC meetings for the year

11th September at St. Peter’s; 13th November at St. Thomas;   15th January at St.Peter’s; 11th March at St. Thomas, with the A.P.C.M. being held on Sunday 19th April at St. Peter’s.

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

 

Treasurer's Report

This is a report for the 1st half of this year.

The total income to the end of June is £33,600, compared to £28,760 last year. However, apart from the quarterly loan donation, St. Peter’s Hostel has donated a further £10,000 compared to £4,000 last year towards the running of the 3 churches.

£5,708 came directly from giving in the 3 churches; in addition to this a further £1,300 was given through the Parish Giving Scheme. This is almost the same amount that was given for the same period last year, which does not take into account inflation.

Prince Rock Dog Training continued to use the hall at St. James until the end of June. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the works involved in the church plant, they have needed to find alternative premises. The 6 months gave us a total income of £1,552, which we will no longer be receiving.

We have received 2 quarterly donations totalling £7,600 from St. Peter’s Hostel towards the repayment of the loan and the Common Fund.

As you can see, including the donations for the loan and Common Fund, the Hostel has donated over half of the total income from our churches, and without the loan money, it is still over one quarter of our income. I know I said this last year and at the A.G.M., but things have to change. So it is time to ask ourselves some serious questions. Firstly, do we give regularly, and if we do, to review how much we give each week, and to ask ourselves if we are still giving the same as we did last year, or 5 years ago, or even longer, in some cases. I know this report is for the P.C.C., but it is everybody’s responsibility to report back to our church members and make them realise the seriousness of the situation, if they want their church to survive. Don’t just rely on them to read the minutes of the previous meeting when posted on the notice board. Firstly, we are already 2 months further into the year by then, and secondly, do they actually bother to read them? There have been 2 quinquennial inspections in the past month, and both churches need work doing to them, so the question I ask you is “how are you going to raise the money to pay for these repairs”?

On a slightly more positive note, the Gift Aid claim for £20,780 was submitted during June, which, when received, should be just over £5,000, together with the £285 already claimed through the Parish Giving Scheme. Most of this money will go to paying the additional money on the Common Fund. Sadly, there was still at least one member of the P.C.C. who had not bothered to return an extras form.

Total expenditure for the same period was £30,911 which was almost the same as last year.

Utility expenses accounted for £9,828 and insurance for a further £5,985.

We have now had the insurance renewals for each church. St. Peter’s annual premium is £7,907, an increase of £186: St. James premium is £2,312, an increase of £240: and St. Thomas premium is £760, an increase of £14.

We have currently paid £4,000 towards this year’s Common Fund total of £12,158, and a further £3,858 towards the loan repayment.

Following an inspection of St. James earlier this year by the insurers, we were required to carry out an inspection of all electrical circuits within the church to ensure their safety. This together with all the remedial work required, cost £5,804. This was paid directly by St. Peter’s Hostel to the electricians and does not show in the church accounts. This is yet another indirect donation by St. Peter’s Hostel to the Parish. We can probably expect the same to happen in the other 2 churches in the near future. The same electricians also renewed the fibre optic source to the rill in St. Peter’s, this cost over £10,000. Again, this was paid for by the Hostel.

 

                         

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