Reports on the last two or three PCC meetings are below. Full minutes of all meetings are in the folder in the North transept.
March 2012
The March meeting was the first since the APCM, and several new members were welcomed on to the PCC. These were Don Sherwell and Sylvia Fry as lay PCC members, and Jennifer Richardson as a Deanery Synod representative. Martin Grinter was welcomed back for a second term as a PCC lay member. James Mossop attended the meeting as an observer and has subsequently joined the PCC as a lay PCC member.
Appointments were made to the new PCC. Anna Tonge will continue as PCC Secretary, and Alan Smith will continue as Treasurer for this year, but he will stand down after the next APCM in April 2013. Ann Haseler and Jean Huckett will represent the PCC on the committee of the Friends of St Mary’s. A draft list of committee objectives for the year ahead was circulated for discussion at committee meetings.
On financial matters, Alan explained to the new PCC members that when the PCC approved the 2012 budget in November 2011, it had been agreed that the contribution to the diocesan Mutual Support Fund (MSF) should be reduced. This was because the 2012 budget showed a large projected deficit if St Mary’s paid the full amount requested, and a large deficit had been forecast for 2011. However there had been a great improvement towards the end of 2011 and Alan had revised the 2012 budget accordingly. The PCC therefore approved an increase in the contribution to the MSF.
Michael and Leonora had recently attended a course on the Weddings Project, which is an initiative commissioned by the Archbishops’ Council. Anne Grinter described plans for the upcoming Wedding Preparation Day at the Parish Centre to the PCC.
Martin Grinter updated the PCC on Estates matters. The PCC were in favour of installing solar panels on the church roof, if there is financial support from the diocese and if doing this is financially beneficial to St Mary’s. Martin summarised the findings of the Garden of Remembrance questionnaire for the PCC and said that tasks for the Garden had been split among Estates committee members.
Jean Huckett updated the PCC on Liturgy matters, including plans for Junior Church after Easter. A new service booklet will be available for Ordinary Time, after 10th June.
Dilys Jones summarised plans for the Diamond Jubilee weekend.
February 2012
At its meeting in February, the PCC reviewed the end of year accounts for 2011 along with many other items.
Alan Smith, the Treasurer, reported that the housekeeping fund deficit for 2011 was approximately £2000, a far better position than he had anticipated even in November, partly because the mild weather in December had considerably reduced heating bills, and partly because Parish Centre income had unexpectedly increased. Overall, St Mary’s had made a deficit of approximately £21500, mainly because of projects and work carried out by the Estates committee. The Parish Giving Scheme has been very successful with about two-thirds of those on the scheme signing up for index-linked annual increases in their giving.
The PCC discussed a letter from Bishop Michael and the accompanying draft Mission Statement and Objective, which will be used in forming the PCC committees’ objectives for the year.
The Friends of St Mary’s have generously donated £1500 towards the Parish Office upgrade and between £2500 and £3500 towards a projector for the audio-visual system in church.
The diocese wishes to ensure that parish international links should be active at both clergy level and at lay level, and that both parishes should sign a covenant covering a period of about 5 years. The PCC agreed that St Mary’s should find out the wishes of our Skinnskatteberg counterparts in Sweden.
A new Employee Handbook was being circulated among the PCC’s employees, and has also been published on the church website.
About half of the questionnaires on the Garden of Remembrance had been returned, with many comments; the PCC agreed that the views of parishioners would be taken into account.
The Outreach and Parish Life committee had discussed communication and outreach, and felt the community, and parishioners, need to know more of what St Mary’s does. A notice board on the ground floor of the Parish Centre would be useful as the centre is used by many community groups.
Jean Huckett reported on the recent diocesan synod meeting, which had discussed the proposed Anglican Covenant. Sandra Millar, from the diocesan Children and Young People’s department, had talked about the expanding work in schools.
November 2011
At its meeting in November, major items discussed by the PCC included the draft budget for 2012, and the plans for the Garden of Remembrance.
Alan Smith, the PCC Treasurer, had circulated a forecast for the housekeeping fund in 2011 and an initial housekeeping budget for 2012. Although the Parish Giving Scheme had improved St Mary’s income, the forecast for the housekeeping fund in 2011 was a deficit of £7,396 and the initial 2012 housekeeping budget showed a deficit of £12,546. The deficits would be met by taking money from the Development and Legacy funds. Alan highlighted that these levels of deficit are not sustainable because the funds will eventually run out; in addition, meeting housekeeping deficits was not the intended purpose of the funds. The PCC therefore agreed to reduce St Mary’s contribution to the diocesan Mutual Support Fund in 2012 to £12,000, to allow St Mary’s to break even in 2012, rather than planning for a large deficit. The PCC were conscious of the need for the Mutual Support Fund in supporting parishes in a much worse financial position than our own and agreed to discuss in March whether St Mary’s could increase its contribution, if the financial position had improved.
Martin Grinter summarised work on the Garden of Remembrance project. An alternative approach which mounts brass memorial plaques on the churchyard boundary wall and uses the entire churchyard as a Garden of Remembrance instead of creating a new enclosed space was being considered and costed. Using box hedging instead of walling to enclose the space has also been investigated and would be very much cheaper. Martin was preparing a questionnaire for parishioners to seek views on which approach would be preferred.
Martin had also circulated proposals on rationalising the hire charges for the Parish Centre, which are currently inconsistent. The PCC agreed that it would like to see the Parish Centre break even rather than seeking to make a profit; the income needs to cover the cost of refurbishments as well as the running costs (e.g. cleaning, heat, light and insurance).
Dilys Jones reported that the two fundraising coffee mornings had been a great success, raising more than the Christmas market had in previous years. The committee plans to hold two coffee mornings again in 2012, one in June and one in October. The Parish Life and Outreach committee also had several ideas for events for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend in June.
The Youth committee had been working through the diocesan child protection policy documents, and were looking at how a group for children of secondary school age might be organised.