Chairperson:Bishop Kelvin Wright

Dunedin Diocesan Council
Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, 14th February 2017 at 10.30 am
St Paul’s Cathedral Chapter Room
Present: / The Right Revd Dr Kelvin Wright,Ms Lisa Burton,Revd Joanna Fielding, Mrs Trish Franklin, Mrs Anne Gover, Revd Andrea McDougall, Mr Fred McElrea,Ven Damon Plimmer, Ms Lynda Turner-Heaton, Revd Michael Wallace
In Attendance: / Revd Canon Alec Clark, Revd Canon Hugh Bowron (Dunedin Diocese Trust Board),Ven Jan Clark, Mrs Debbie Flintoff, Mr Keith Gover, Dean Trevor James, Ms Ginny Kitchingman,Ms Meg Kornmayer (Secretary)

Apologies:Revd Eric Kyte, Revd Max Whitaker.It was agreed that the apologies be sustained.

Prayers:Bishop Kelvin opened the meeting with prayers.

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 13th December 2016: It was agreed that these were a true and correct record. (Chair)

Matters arising from the minutes:

Diocesan Representative to Anglican Care Network: Bishop Kelvin reported that no action had taken place but that it would occur within the next few days.

Local Churches – Southland: Keith Gover reported that if there were issues of poor attendance from Southland at the Local Church conference, that would be further evidence that some churches should not be Local Churches. Keith raised the issue of remuneration and gifts for priests who offered their services in other parishes. The Bishop did not see that this was an issue; the rule was that a priest should make the usual claim for taking the service and travel with the Diocesan Office. It was agreed that the status quo should remain. There was also no rule against priests donating their services. Some parishes offer more than others therefore a policy should be drafted by the Discipleship Committee and brought to Diocesan Council.

Diocesan Refugee Representative: A representative for the local Dunedin group had not been chosen and the name of a suitable person was needed.

New Chancellor: The Bishop reported that no appointment had been made and the issue was still under negotiation.

Tikanga Pakeha Liturgical Working Group representative: Michael Wallace confirmed that Andrea McDougall had agreed to be nominated. It was agreed that Revd Andrea McDougall be appointed as the Diocesan representative on the TPLWG.(M.Wallace/A.Gover)

Correspondence: Inwards –

Email dated 15th December 2016 from Gladstone Parish re Otara becoming part of their Parish: Bishop Kelvin commented that Otara in the Catlins was quite a distance from All Saints’ and clergy had been travelling to Otara to take services, which was satisfactory. Otarahad not chosen to function as a local church and appreciated services being taken All Saints’ clergy. It was noted that these parishes needed to look carefully at the financial contributions to Gladstone so that that the financial realities could be explained. Alec Clark and Keith Gover would report back to the next meeting.

It was agreed that Gladstone’s care for Otara was welcomed but it was premature to be declared as part of the Gladstone Parishat this time and would be part of a wider conversation in Southland. (A.Gover/M.Wallace).

Email dated 12th January from Dean Trevor James re Dunedin Combined Churches memo: Dean Trevor had expressed his concern that the Diocese was supporting Ravi Zacharius, as he himself had serious misgivings about some this person’s views. It was noted that it would have been helpful if Dean Trevor had given a full account of his concerns about Zacharius. It was noted that, rather than supporting the speaker, the Diocesan Council was supporting Ven Stu Crosson in this major outreach event by encouraging churches to make contributions, should they wish. It was also pointed out that he was only one of three speakers at this event.(No further action needed.)

Email dated 27th January from Michael Wallace, re World Council of Churches - Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: This was an important document put together by the three major groups on how Christians witness to people of other faiths and build relationships. The document was well-worth studying and Michael recommended that it be distributed throughout the Diocese and be placed on the Diocesan Website.

Email dated 10th February from Graham Miller, Decade of Mission Working Group: There was a request to appoint someone who would do this work. Michael Wallace undertook to ask how best to respond to this request at the next meeting of GSSC.

Outwards – there was no outwards correspondence.

It was agreed that the inwards correspondence be received. (Chair)

Reports

Discipleship Committee: Jo Fielding referred to her report and it was discussed as follows:

Health & Safety – this was particularly important regarding children in the Diocese’s churches.

Boundaries training material –the Committee wanted to work with Alec Clark in finding information that could be useful. Concern was expressed that there were insufficient Boundaries Training workshops offered and they were sometimes inconvenient to attend due to distance. There was no current timeline for the next workshops and this was an issue for the Committee to discuss. The Committee would consider nominating another person to run the workshops other than Alec because of his increased workload as Vicar General once Bishop Kelvin retired.

Ministry Review Document – it was noted that these reviews occur every five years and were initiated by the Diocese. Some concerns were expressed about the 360 Review document, which was a secular document and it was agreed that there were other more appropriate documents that could be used within the framework of the church.

Social Transformation Committee: Nothing to report. The Committee would meet next week.

Mission Committee: Anne Gover had not provided a written report but advised that only 14 out of 27 congregations had responded to the questionnaire. It was noted that as Mossburn and Holy Cross had been sold the proceeds have been deposited in the Diocesan Mission Fund.Fred McElrea asked about the last Synod’s motion on the sale of properties. Ginny Kitchingman questioned how these funds were to be distributed and Anne agreed to bring recommendations to the next meeting of Diocesan Council. (The Synod Motion is an appendix to these Minutes for reference)

Regarding Holy Cross, Jan Clark asked if the funds would be used for improvements to the hall and deanery, also to support the Hahi as Jan was offering ministry there. It was noted thatnot more than ten percent of the interest on property sales could be used for Diocesan administration. The Bishopric Endowment is included with the churches in the Diocese who can apply for funding from this fund.

Regarding the questionnaire, Dean Trevor commented that nothing spoke to how parishes did their mission and there were concerns about the language used. Anne confirmed that a Skype meeting was being planned for the first Committee meeting of the year and it was agreed that the wording of the Synod motion would be issued to Committee members before that meeting.

Stewardship Committee: Ginny Kitchingman had not provided a written report. She advised that all staff at the office continued to be very busy. The major impact for her would be the FRAauditor’s advicethat all Diocesan entities had to be consolidated this year. This would be a huge job, combined with the local churches and merges in parishes. There was no easy answer regarding supporting staff as the Diocese could not afford to employ another person. There was the possibility of engaging casual staff, but the fact was that all parishes would need to be patient and lower their expectations. Ginny advised that her priorities were: parish accounts for AGMs first; Diocesan Trust Board accounts second; and Diocesan accounts third. Ginny advised that she was confident that the Diocese had not sustained an operating loss for 2016 and that for once the Diocese was solvent.

Damon Plimmer expressed concern over the workload for Ginny and felt it was unsustainable. The Stewardship Committee appreciated Ginny’s work and felt that it was important to obtain some casual support for her. Ginny advised that Dominique’s workload had also increased substantially, but that she was not handling the Local Churches work. It was suggested that another person could be engaged on a temporary basis to handle the Local Church work, to take the pressure off Ginny. Fred McElrea offered to check the advice that such consolidation was needed, but Ginny did not think this necessary.

It was agreed that the reports be received. (F.McElrea/M. Wallace).

Health and Safety: Nothing to report.

Property: Nothing to report.

General Business:

Clergy Retreat at Selwyn College: Bishop Kelvin advised that Selwyn was considering its situation and that the temporary Warden was working well. It was agreed that this issue would be brought to Aaron Douglas for the next Selwyn Board meeting. (Chair)

Diocesan Nominator to replace Revd Ivica Gregurec: It was agreed that Revd Canon Hugh Bowron would be the new Diocesan Nominator at Synod. (A.Gover/D.Plimmer).

(Debbie Flintoff and Ginny Kitchingman left the meeting.)

Diocesan Office Staff Salaries: It was agreed that the salaries for Debbie Flintoff, Ginny Kitchingman and Dominique Aitcheson be linked to the clergy percentage increase. (D.Plimmer/A.McDougall).

(Debbie Flintoff and Ginny Kitchingman returned to the meeting.)

Discipleship Committee – Job Description for Youth Ministry: This item will be on the agenda for the next Discipleship Committee meeting.

Meeting with Anglican Family Care: It was confirmed that representatives from AFC would attend a future Diocesan Council meeting, following by a shared lunch. Debbie would arrange for this to occur in June or July.

Ordination of Richard Wallace, Bishop of Te Wai Pounamu, Christchurch: Bishop Kelvin had been unable to attend this ordination and he intended visiting Christchurch during the week of 20th February to meet with Bishop Richard. Revds. Michael Wallace and Wiremu Quigley attended the service, but as they were the only clergy from the Diocese, Michael was called upon to speak and he and Wiremu presented the new Bishop with the gift of a native tree. It was agreed that should the Bishop be unable to attend an ordination in another Diocese, the Bishop or Vicar-General would have the authority to nominate another senior member of clergy to represent the Diocese.

Matters arising from the Diocesan Council Retreat: Andrea McDougall raised several points for consideration –

Commence each Diocesan Council meeting with time for silent prayer, or during Council meetings, take two or three breaks for prayer. It was agreedthat there would be intentional stops after every second or third major item on the agenda.
Te Reo: arrange for lay ministers’ training in Te Reo, especially the Grace. Diocesan Council meetings should include prayers in Te Reo. Suggest that chosen prayers in both languages should be included in the meeting agendas. Andrea would be willing to provide these.
Communication within the Diocese – as an example, there had been very little notice of the service at the Cathedral for the memorial service for Dean Raphael. It was explained that the date had been changed and this was not communicated in time.

(Bishop Kelvin left the meeting.)

Electoral Synod 2017 – Letter from Bishop Jim: Alec Clark reported that Bishop Jim wanted all important decisions of the Arrangements Committee to be ratified by this Council.

It was agreed that the Electoral College would be held at Holy Cross, Mosgiel, from the evening of Friday, 26th to Sunday, 28th May 2017. It was noted that the Electoral College comprised all voting members of Synod. The funding arrangements from St John’s College were dependent upon Synod members agreeing to the model that had been determined. It was confirmed that the funds from St John’s were for one year and had to be re-applied for in each subsequent year, but that provided the funds were used for education and accounted for in the reporting back there would be no issue in their continuation.

Farewell for Bishop Kelvin: a short discussion took place.

Date of next Meeting: Tuesday 14th March 2017 at Peter Mann House, Green Island at 10.30am

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 12.30 pm with the Grace.

ACTION POINTS

Bishop Kelvin / Diocesan Representative to Anglican Care Network – confirm appointment
Discipleship Committee / Remuneration for priests offering services in other parishes - policy to be drafted and brought to Diocesan Council
Alec Clark &
Keith Gover / To managea wide-ranging conversation in Southland regarding parish re-organisation
Debbie Flintoff / World Council of Churches - Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: document to be placed on the Diocesan website
Michael Wallace / Email from Graham Miller, Decade of Mission Working Group: ask how best to respond to this request at the next meeting of GSSC.
Discipleship
Committee / To arrange a timeline for boundaries training workshops and nominate another person to run the workshops other than Alec.
Anne Gover / Diocesan Mission Fund. Bring recommendations on how these funds should be distributed to the next meeting of Diocesan Council.
Debbie Flintoff / Clergy Retreat at Selwyn. Put on agenda for next Selwyn Board meeting.
Discipleship
Committee / Job Description for Youth Ministry: Alec to bring to the next Discipleship Committee meeting.
Debbie Flintoff / Meeting with Anglican Family Care: representatives from AFC to be invited to Diocesan Council meeting in June or July, followed by a shared lunch.
Andrea McDougall / Send prayers and the Grace in Te Reo to Debbie to include in future agendas.
Debbie Flintoff / Agenda for Diocesan Council meetings - intentional prayer stops after every second or third major item

Mission Fund - wording of Motion 5 passed by 2016 Synod

That this Synod:

1)Approves the establishment by the Diocesan Council of a Diocesan Mission Fund, with a capital base derived (where the terms on which those funds are held allow) from proceeds sale of churches, halls, vicarages, land, and other property in the Diocese of Dunedin except where, with the approval of the Diocesan Council, the land and/or buildings are being sold to fund another land and/or building within the parish, regional deanery or local church to make its operation more effective.

2)The Fund shall be held by the Dunedin Diocesan Trust Board, and shall be operated by the Diocesan Council under the following principles:

a)Following capitalisation of such of the interest as may be considered necessary to maintain the capital value of the Fund over time, the income of the Fund shall be applied to:

(i)Maintaining and extending the mission and ministry of the church in the Diocese including the Bishopric, focusing as far as possible on intentional growth;

(ii)Diocesan administration costs, to the extent of not more than 10% of the available annual income earned by the Fund;

b)Grants from the Fund under 2(a) (i) shall be made by the Diocesan Council, in response to applications from mission and ministry units of the Diocese, and may be made for up to three years at a time.

c)Records will be kept regarding the geographic areas from which the funds derive, with the needs of those areas to be taken into account when considering applications for grants from the fund.

d)Where the whole of the income of the fund is not utilised in the year following for the purposes of the Fund, the Diocesan Council shall decide whether the balance of that income is capitalised or held in an Income Reserve account for future grants.

3)Subject to any trusts on which existing funds are held:

a) income from the proceeds of a past property sale which has been regularly used for the support of the parish, regional deanery or local church which has taken over responsibility for the area in which the property sale took place shall continue to be allocated to that parish, regional deanery or local church. At a future time, following agreement with the relevant parish, regional deanery or local church, those funds may be transferred to the Mission Fund;

b)income from the proceeds of a past property sale which has not been regularly used to support the parish, regional deanery or local church which has taken over responsibility for the area in which the property sale took place may, following agreement with the relevant parish, regional deanery or local church, be transferred to the Mission Fund.