PARISH OF WETHERBY WITH LINTON
ANNUAL REPORT 2016
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP 2015 -16
Clergy: Rev Brendan Giblin (Chair and Chair of Standing Committee) 7/7, C F J P S W
Rev Tim Laundon (Left the parish in June 2015) 1/7
Churchwardens: Robert Haskins ** (Chair of Finance Committee) 6/7, C F P S W
Jean Heaton (Chair of Communications Committee) 6/7, C F P S W
Readers: Will Fawcett (Chair of Worship & Nurture) 5/7, S W
Val Lumsden 7/7, C P W
Marilyn Smith 2/7, W
Deanery Lay Shirley Daniels 4/7, W
Representatives: Robert Haskins
Val Lumsden
Elected members: Susan Armstrong* 5/7, F J
Retiring 2016 Bob Greene* (Chair of Joint Personnel Committee) 5/7, C J S
Tracy Parker 4/7, F
Elected members: David Bewell 7/7, W
Retiring 2017 Peter Coles-Johnson 5/7, F
Clive Jordan* 4/7, F
Jean Kettlewell 5/7, P
Steve Taylor 6/7, P
Elected members: Stephanie Kemp 6/7
Retiring 2018 Sheila Mirczuk 3/7, C
Peter Moseley 6/7, P
Celia Pawson 6/7, W
Audrey Spivey 7/7, J S W
Co-opted member: Alan Grimes (Chair of Property Committee) 6/7, P S
Notes:
- Numbers indicate how many meetings were attended out of the possible total.
- * indicates ineligible for re-election as an elected PCC member under the parish ‘six year’ rule.
- ** indicates ineligible for re-election as a Churchwarden under the Churchwardens Measure.
- C, F, J, P, S, W means member of Communications, Finance, Joint Personnel, Property, Standing or Worship & Nurture committees.
Page 3 PCC Report
Page 4 Financial Report Churchwardens’ Report on Fabric, Goods & Ornaments of St James’ Church
Page 5 - 6 Diocesan Synod Report Deanery Synod Report
Page 7 - 8 Church on the Corner Report Mothers’ Union Report Report of Friends of Wetherby Parish Church Music
Page 9 Choir Report
Page 10 Worship Group Report Little Voices Report
Page 11 Sunday Club Report Choir Bible Study Report
Page 12 Children @ 11 Report Youth Group Report
Page 13 Time for Tots Report
Page 14 Eve Report Christian Curry Boys Report Pastoral Care Group Report
Page 15 Fundraising Report Bell-ringing Report
Page 16 - 19 Report of Churches Together in Wetherby, Linton and Collingham Scouts and Guides Reports
Page 20 Wetherby St James’ Church Centre Trust Report
OUR ONGOING PRAYER: God of Mission, who alone brings growth to your Church, send your Holy Spirit to give vision to our planning, wisdom to our actions, and power to our witness. Help St James’ Church to grow in numbers, in spiritual commitment to you, and in service to our local community, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL REPORT
During the year, the PCC has met on seven occasions and the Standing Committee six times. The sub-committees (Finance, Property, Worship and Nurture, Communications, Joint Personnel) generally meet between PCC meetings. Additional church members have been co-opted onto sub-committees to help with their work.
The Worship and Nurture Committee has met five times and has worked to review services and to plan special church events. This committee oversees the work of the church amongst children, young people and adults. On their agenda has been a Church Family Weekend planned at Scargill in April 2017, Holiday at Home, a day featuring a foreign holiday destination to which we will invite older people who don’t get away on holiday (to take place on 30th August) and considering a report, Spotlight, from the Church of England which gave statistics of the age range of the people of our parish to help us plan our outreach.
The PCC steering group for the church heating reported on the completed work and handed over the finished project to the PCC in January. The final phase of work, to replace the lighting, redecorate and put down new carpeting, will begin next week.
Through the year, the PCC has discussed a number of important matters. A possible post of Young People’s and Community Outreach Worker was talked about. We considered stewardship, and a successful Investing in the Kingdom campaign took place in the autumn. We looked at a possible scheme for improvement of the Crypt area. We accepted a safeguarding policy, developed by Marilyn Smith, the Safeguarding Officer, for the protection of children and vulnerable adults. We considered growth in the church in the light of the Spotlight report.
The Communications Committee has been working on developing a more informative website, and is facilitating our use of the Wetherby News to publicise events in advance and report about them afterwards, with photos, to keep the church in the public eye.
Audrey Spivey (PCC Secretary)
FINANCIAL REPORT
1. The PCC accounts have taken on a new format this year to conform to the Charities (Accounting and Reporting) Regulations. Our thanks go to Lynn Rose for preparing these end-of-year accounts, for Clare Wightman for the book-keeping during the year, to Tracy Parker our Treasurer, and to John Cuthbertson, who has examined the accounts and advised on presentation. As well as these, Clive Jordan has acted as Stewardship/Gift Aid recorder, Derek Kitchen’s team have counted money, Susan Armstrong has administered special collections and Eileen Spencer-Witcomb has assisted in the Parish Office with petty cash.
2. The accounts show a small surplus in the General Account of £5,213 with the General Fund balance (not all immediately available) of £41,931. The Fabric Fund has a drop of £8,556 to £39,220, owing to much activity (see property report).
3. Parish Share, which is our contribution to the support of clergy across the Diocese, rose by £1,500 last year to £91,573, and will rise again this year. In 2017 a totally new method of calculating Parish Share is to be introduced by the new Diocese – we wait to see the effects of that.
4. Personal giving rose by a similar order last year – will it rise this year? We hope so. There are currently 65 people regularly giving via coloured Regular Giving Envelopes, 93 by standing order.
5. The heating project is now complete and almost fully funded.
6. We should thank all those who have generously given regularly to the mission of this church, to those who have supported our various projects and to the three budget controlling committees – Finance, Worship & Nurture and Property – which have exercised their financial responsibilities wisely and well.
7. In 2016 we meet the challenge of funding a part-time Young People’s and Community Outreach Worker and the Lighting/ Decoration/Carpeting project.
Robert Haskins (Chair of Finance Committee)
CHURCHWARDENS’ REPORT ON THE FABRIC, GOODS AND ORNAMENTS OF ST JAMES’ CHURCH
The Property Committee met six times. Alan Grimes took over as chair in September 2015. The committee undertook the following work:
1. Church. Electrical Installation Testing (Condition Report) and PAT testing were completed in all parts of the church including the crypt. Emergency procedures for people using/attending the church were updated and displayed. Gas and Electricity continues to be supplied through the Church of England Parish Buying Scheme and so through bulk buying of energy the church is able to obtain very competitive prices. The tower access improvements are now fully completed including additional internal lighting meaning that the church is able once again to display flags. A Diocesan Faculty has been granted to authorise the permanent removal of the six pews at the front of the nave, new lighting, decorating and carpeting. Essential First Aid training was provided to 13 volunteers. The course covered the main emergency symptoms and how to respond to them until the professionals arrive. The church has also obtained diocesan approval to undertake significant internal improvements. These include new lighting, new carpeting and re-decoration and should all be included by the end of this summer.
2. Crypt. Plans to develop and fully utilise the crypt to provide a small chapel, meeting rooms and a café were presented to the PCC. Progress on this will be dependent on obtaining the appropriate funding.
3. Parking. Work is ongoing to control unofficial parking which is denying parking to church users.
4. 53 Barleyfields Road. Improvements to the property including UPVC windows, drain clearance and new guttering. Local agents appointed – Wetherby Property Management.
5. Tetley Land. The wall belonging to the commercial properties on Bank Street and adjoining the Tetley land has been fully rebuilt at no cost to the church.
DIOCESAN SYNOD
I was elected to the Diocesan Synod at the start of the new Diocese. I have attended 2 meetings – October 2015 and March 2016.
Points covered include:
Branding: The Diocese is likely to revert to being called by its legal name: the ‘Diocese of Leeds’. ‘West Yorkshire and the Dales’ is inaccurate (e.g. Barnsley) and it has not been easy to communicate.
Parish Share System: likely to be calculated under a formula taking into account (1) resources used (clergy) and (2) index of deprivation (67%) plus (3) attendance (33%). Changes to be capped during transition. The vote will be taken in July and implemented for 2017. The object will be to not penalise success in bringing in numbers, but to help poorer parishes.
Giving Blood: a motion encouraging churches to advocate the importance of blood and organ donation was taken to the General Synod and supported.
Refugees: Churches were to be asked to consider in what ways it would/could/should respond. Bishop David Hawkins prophesied that the whole world order could be changing.
Fairtrade: encouragement to register as a Fairtrade church if not already.
Safeguarding: new policy.
Robert Haskins
DEANERY SYNOD
The Harrogate Deanery Synod representatives this year were Rev Brendan Giblin, Robert Haskins, Shirley Daniels and Val Lumsden.
The Deanery Synod exists to further the mission and ministry of the Church and to build relationships between neighbouring parishes. The synod takes decisions about issues involving our deanery and these may then be taken to the diocesan synod if necessary. The Area Dean, Rev. Brendan Giblin is the lead clergy representative.
The main items covered during the year were:
MAY 2015: HG1000 update - Revd. Guy Donegan-Cross gave us an update on the progress of the campaign. HG1000 the initiative started by St Mark’s church in partnership with Compassion to release 1,000 children from poverty and provide 1,000 families with life-saving water filters. To date, 550 children had been sponsored and 780 water filters purchased. We were encouraged to speak about this in our parishes and Guy has offered to come and talk about the scheme to our congregations. Christians Against Poverty - Ruth Nabi, from CAP, came to speak to us about the work of this charity. They offer practical help and advice for people experiencing serious financial difficulties. They also support individuals through home visits and prayer, either in the client’s home or through group prayer. Through their work they are able to alleviate the worry and fear caused by debt. We watched a short film which explained the work of CAP and gave testimonies from 3 individuals who have been helped by the charity. They explained how they were ashamed and broken by their situation. CAP helped them to restore their self-esteem through home visits and prayer, and through practical help in managing and enabling them to pay off their debts. CAP offer courses, in church, on money management. They are also looking for volunteers to be advisors and do home visits. Please get in touch with them if you would like more information. Open the Doors-Welcome, Inclusion and Respect - Revd. Rachel Wilson gave an interesting and inspiring talk on how we can equip our churches to handle the specific communication needs of our communities. Individuals’ needs may vary due to things such as dementia, learning difficulties, physical disabilities and people with impaired vision or hearing. The diocese has produced guidelines for us on things that we need to consider, and has produced a helpful checklist so that we can evaluate our performance in these various areas, and gives advice on what we may be able to do to improve things. An example would be having a disability rep in church to act as an advocate for those with specific needs. Rachel gave us all copies of the checklist.
FEBRUARY 2016 - St Andrew’s Church,Starbeck Warm and Well - Andy Ryland, rural officer for the diocese, who also works for Rural Action Yorkshire, gave a talk on the dangers faced by people, particularly in rural areas, in trying to keep warm and stay well in the winter. This is a particular problem for the elderly and people who are on low incomes and are faced with financial difficulties which may make them unable to adequately heat their homes. There is practical and financial help available through Rural Action Yorkshire and Andy would like us all to consider how we could help in our own churches and communities. Leaflets were handed out along with posters for the church notice boards. Andy ended his talk with a prayer. Good News from the Deanery- Jo-Ann Hughes, co-ordinator of the Harrogate Hub, gave a talk on this new venture in the town that is part of Harrogate Churches Together. The aim is to reach out to those in the community who are not currently being reached by individual churches. By working in partnership with other organisations, e.g. CAP, it is hoped that the Hub will signpost people to where help can be accessed. Volunteers are needed to help the Hub achieve its goals. More information can be found at https://harrogatehub.wordpress.com/ and