ST GILES’ CHURCH, OXFORD

Report of the PCC Meeting held on Wednesday 5 April 2017at 7.30 pm for 7.45 pm in the Parish Rooms

Present: Andrew Bunch (The Vicar) (in the chair), Tom Albinson, Maureen Chu (Churchwarden), Jean Darke, Jane Finnerty, Melanie Florence, Tim Myatt, Rod Nixon, Andrew Patterson, Nicholas Prozzillo and Sarah-Jane White.

1.Opening Prayer

The meeting was opened in prayer.

2.Welcome and Apologies for Absence

The Vicar welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were received from David Longrigg, John Pusey, Joanne Russell (Churchwarden) and Hannah Smith.

3.Project 900: Organ

The Treasurer reported that there was now £27,204.84 in the bank or due to be received in the bank for Project 900.

The Vicar recapped that various options had been considered of repairing the current organ, purchasing a second-hand organ or an electronic organ and that the organists had ben in favour of purchasing a Grenzing three-manual pipe organ or, if unable to raise the funds for this, a Zanin three-manual organ, and if unable to afford this to keep fundraising. The proposal had been put to the choir who had wanted to explore British firms. This had been done and the quotations had come in more expensive. The proposal had been taken to a meeting of members of the wider congregation who had given their unanimous support for the proposal. Although it would not be possible to say at this meeting that the organ would definitely be replaced by a Grenzing as this would be dependent on sufficient funds being raised, the PCC could agree that this was its aim and to go ahead with the proposals subject to fundraising. There were three parts to the building strand of Project 900:

  • To fix the roof
  • To put a new organ in front of the arch at the West end of the church
  • To explore with the architect the possibility of putting room(s) in the space made available by replacing the organ, behind the organ and above the kitchen.

Cost

The cost of the overall project was estimated at £900,000. About £700,000–£750,000 of this would be for the cost of the roof and the organ with the cost of the roof being estimated at around £120,000. In addition there was an argument for getting the interior of the church decorated before the new organ was installed which might add another £40,000 to the cost.

A question was asked about whether it would be possible to take out loans to finance this and continue the fundraising to pay back the loans. It might be possible to take out loans from the Vicar and Churchwardens’ Trust and also to look at borrowing interest free loans.

Any money that might be contributed from the Vicar and Churchwardens’ Trust should not be counted in the £100,000 that it was intended to raise this year within the church as the VCWT was a separate fund.

Roof

The repair to the roof was essential and would be the first part of the project regardless of what happened with the organ and the rooms. Someone had suggested that the roof should not be part of Project 900 as it was essential maintenance. However the substantial costs involved meant it would be necessary to fundraise for this and so it made sense to incorporate it into the project. The Stonesfield slates on the roof were decaying and needed to be replaced with new ones. Some of the old ones could be used on the outside of the building so the appearance would not change.

Organ

The organ would be built for the space to ensure that it was appropriate and not overpowering. The builders had already been out to visit twice and if the PCC agreed to go ahead then another visit could be arranged with PCC members present. The organ would be assembled in the builders’ workshop and then concerts would be performed on it in the workshop with invited guests which would enable the builders to make initial changes to the organ there before it was transported and assembled in the church. A question was raised about whether the organ would still sound good if major changes were made to the layout of the church by future generations. The organ would probably need to be revoiced but it was thought that it was unlikely that major changes to the interior layout of the church would be made in the foreseeable future and that the best organ for the current space needed to be sought.

By moving the organ in front of the arch it would obscure the view of the arch from the church so it might be important to ensure that the capitals of the arch were visible from the rooms behind. The organ builders had a lot of experience of working in historic buildings and knew, for example, that they could not attach any part of the organ to the wall. There was a strong statement of need for moving the organ in front of the arch in that it created more room behind and it would prevent the organ sounding muffled.

Nicholas Prozzillo had some artist’s impressions of the organ which the PCC looked at. It was suggested that these be put on the website. The window of the Good Shepherd in the tower would be more apparent.

Rooms

The rooms above the kitchen and behind the organ had not been discussed at the meeting with members of the congregation so it was not clear there was support for this but if the PCC agreed, the architect could be asked to come up with plans for what could be done with the rooms and estimates would be obtained so that there was a definite proposal to consider.

Easier access to the tower for the bell ringers would be valuable.

Wider meeting with of Members of the Congregation

Those at the meeting after the 10.30 am service on 26th March had been unanimous in their support for the project. A concern had been raised about how representative that meeting was but it had been very well attended with over 25 members present which was comparable to the last APCM. There had been an earlier meeting about Project 900 in general which had discussed the organ and other building work as well as other strands of the Project. The leaflet about Project 900 had been circulated widely and this was also available on the website. More information could be added to the website after this meeting.

Proposal

Tim Myatt proposed and Jean Darke seconded that

The PCC should:

1.Replace the organ with a Grenzing three manual organ or, possibly, a Zanin three-manual organ.

2.Explore with the architect the possibility of putting rooms above the kitchen and behind the organ.

3.Obtain a quotation for the repairs on the roof.

The proposal was carried unanimously.

Fundraising

The PCC then begin to consider how to move ahead with the fundraising for the project. Andrew Lewin and Jean Darke had agreed to be part of a fundraising group. Other volunteers were needed to make up a team of 5 or 6 people to take the fundraising forward.

DAC approval would be needed before a fundraising brochure could be produced. Representatives from the Diocese were visiting on Monday to discuss the project. There was unlikely to be any problems with approval for the work on the roof although there could be with the rooms.

4.APCM Reports

The PCC approved the APCM reports subject to the removal of a sentence from the Health and Safety Report. When the Financial Report was available and been incorporated, these would be circulated to the wider congregation with the minutes of last year’s meetings and agenda for this year’s meeting.

5.Financial Support for advertising Art Exhibition by Eularia Clarke

The Vicar asked the PCC’s permission to spend around £500 on publicity and stands for the art exhibition by Eularia Clarke which was being held in June. The insurance of the exhibition was being covered by the owners of the paintings. It was thought that some of this sum would be recouped from visitors to the art exhibition. The PCC agreed to this expenditure.

6.Concert by Georgia Russell

Joanne Russell had asked if her daughter, Georgia, could give a concert in the church. Joanne would organise the publicity for this and any proceeds would be given to Project 900. This was agreed.

7.Cabinet on South Wall near Lady Chapel

Tim Myatt asked if the cabinet which had previously housed a broken plate could be reinstalled on the South Wall near to the Lady Chapel. This would require a Faculty and it was agreed that given the other conversations which were taking place with the Diocese about building works for the church, this was not the right time to pursue this.

8.There being no other business, the meeting closed with the Grace.

1St Giles’ PCC Minutes, 5 April 2017