DRAFT
St. John the Evangelist, Waterbeach
Parochial Church Council
Minutes of a meeting of the Parochial Church Council, held in the Church Room
Thursday July 7th 2016 at 7.30 p.m.
- Opening prayers
- Apologies for absence – None.
Present: Paul Butler (Chair), Dan Tansey (ordinand), Elizabeth Lowson (ordinand), Dorothy Druitt, Sarah Edwards, Hanna Cons, Ben Cons, Stuart Morris, Linden Leeke, Adrian Wright, Ingrid Tregoing, Michael Williamson (Treasurer), Richard Oakes, Jane Williamson, Katy Astley, Jennie Brandon (Secretary)
- Items of AOB
LL asked if PCC could discuss harvest. This was added into 5.4
- Minutes of the PCC meeting held on Thursday 5thMay 2016 (circulated previously)
4.1 Approval of minutes
Point 7 – SM asked to correct spelling on quinquennial.
MW asked for full names to be used for attendees and initials thereafter.
Action: JB to correct and republish minutes.
4.2 Matters arising from minutes
Vodafone – BC contacted the phone mast contract brokers and pointed out their mistake. They said they would discuss it again but haven’t got back to BC. IT has seen planning council planning permission for a mast on the industrial estate. The brokers will keep our interest on file in case of future companies enquiring.
6.2 The Safeguarding team will have contracts and policies in place by September (hopefully earlier). PB apologized for the delay.
- Minister’s Items
5.1 Parish Weekend feedback summary report and discussion
SE gave a report on the weekend which praised many aspects of the weekend but which suggested a more interactive style of learning for future weekends. The times of fellowship over meals and the children’s work were much appreciated and highly praised. The frequency of future weekends was discussed. Most respondents had asked for it to be annual or every 18 months. PB commented on the content of the teaching which he thought was positive. He has a couple of suggestions for future speakers and will research availability. JB commented on setting objectives for a future weekend such as building fellowship, specific teaching points etc. SE talked about the stress that had been put on the importance of small groups within the church such as home groups and thought they could be further encouraged.
The 3rd of 4th weekend in September 2017was suggested to the PCC with the Saturday away at a location within a half hour’s drive. The planning team suggested a bigger team this time, with perhaps 4 members to spread the load.
Action: PB to research speakers for these dates and set objectives after which a planning team can be gathered.
5.2 Mission Action Planning
MAP team met and put together a plan which was approved by PCC but never went to the church.
PB would like to add in the Children and Families Minister post to the plan. MW stressed budgetary constraints but PB stressed this was outlining future intention and that there was a balance between fiscal responsibility and setting stretching faith-led goals.
Action: PB will write something for the Fold about the MAP.
5.3 Third Space and Third Space Conversations
These were suspended earlier in the year as there was too much going on. PB still intends to hold 3 a year of each. The contemporary service will continue as currently.
5.4 Harvest
LL – reminded PCC we need to organize harvest lunch and asked if we should have a harvest fair. Date for Waterbeach Harvest will be 18th September. KA and IT said they would help with lunch. LL is here this year. She stressed the need of a team to organize it. DD said she would have a Fairtrade stall and would contact Sheila regarding produce. SE suggested she could produce cakes. For the lunch KA suggested baked potatoes with bring and share puddings. This could combine with a farewell lunch for Chris Campbell.
- Building for Mission –
6.1 Heating progress report
KA - has raised all the money needed with a £4.5 K buffer unless there is an overspend. She needs to feedback to the congregation on the grantfromAmeyCespa. She would like to move forward on promoting stewardship and suggests a thanksgiving service for the heating.
Action: PB to liaise with KA on date for Thanksgiving service
BC – Dumphey’s will have finished tomorrow for 3 weeks. Installing the heating has gone very well. Building work is going well. There was a lot of wet rot in the South aisle including the supporting joists. Ventilation will be cleared and improved and damp proofing installed. Hopefully this will not be a repeated issue and the floor would have had to be replaced very soon due to this issue anyway. This will cause a 2-3 week time delay on the project. BC is trying to make sure the church will be in a fit state for the wedding on 28th August. Extra cost is around £10K extra. 10% contingency was built into the quote so this expense is covered but there is another £5K needed for connecting the boiler to the new gas pipe. There may be a 2 week gap where there is no hot water available in the kitchen but there is a cold fill dishwasher so there shouldn’t be too much disruption.
MW pointed out that the current heaters also produce light so lighting would need to be considered as phase 2. BC is hopeful that it shouldn’t be too expensive to add new lighting. DD disagreed and said a lighting engineer should be called in. AW and MW concurred. PB suggested that a pause would be needed and said the BfM team needed a break.
Health and safety measures have meant small children must be excluded from the church for the whole of the building works. The baptism on the 17th July has been moved to Landbeach.
6.2 Potential Chapel of Remembrance/reflective space
JB read out a letter from Beryl Flack suggesting several ideas to create a more comforting and personal experience for those visiting the book of remembrance and to see these visits as an opportunity for pastoral care and an expression of compassion. Angela had also written in regarding some similar points.
LL agreed that she would love somewhere comfortable where one could be near the book of remembrance and could have a peaceful and tidy space to reflect. This is currently impossible. The North aisle has become a dumping ground.
A new RAF memorial was also discussed. It seems to make no sense that the war memorial is on the other side of the church. PB suggested a small team should look at this once the church was back together after the heating installation and suggested LL, Beryl and Angela Brown created a small group to feed back to PCC
Action: LL to gather a small team once the build is over and Angela Brown is back.
- Children and Families’ Ministry (standing item)
7.1 Children and Families’ Minister Post (PB)
Funds for the Ely 2025 Growth Fund are available from this year. PB met with CC and SE to look at a potential proposal and the application form. PB met with the Director for Missions who felt that we should focus on the newer areas of the village as a new area of potential growth rather than rebadging current efforts even though the funding could serve both. The next funding meeting is in October. There are 3 key indicators – those coming or returning to faith, those whose faith is deepened and those who are serving the church and community. Concrete measures include baptisms (doubled this year), first communions, connections made with new people etc. The service register is taken into account.
We first need to decide if we want a paid position. There is enough work to create a full-time position. We can always ask for more money than we need and return it rather than apply for too little. The church is growing fast and the investment of time that CC etc put in is starting to pay off. We need to build on this rather than lose momentum.The team can carry on CC’s current work for a term or a term and a half but it will be very hard to maintain without a leader. There is 3 years of funding available but it must be match funded. A F/T position would cost £22K per year and we would get funding for half. IT said it was critical we built on the success and hard work of volunteers. PB thought the congregation would be positive in responding to this financial need, especially if it was match funded.
MW and JW expressed caution on taking on a new revenue commitment given that we are currently only just making our current commitments. PB stressed planning in faith without being irresponsible. He is keen to retain our current 8 year olds when they hit the teen years. MW is concerned that giving is going down. If PB’s post could be made F/T in the deanery plan then PB’s stipend would become available. PB is meeting with the rural dean in the next couple of weeks. KA is also cautious but thinks that giving has gone down because of the capital campaign for the heating. She thinks the potential is there for more giving but can’t handle another fundraising push right now. PB thinks we could go to the congregation in October if we had secured the match funding. PB will be seeing the headteacher at the school and the nursery manager to get recommendations. He feels our reputation with the diocese is good. SM felt it was a very exciting opportunity. SE said we needed a committed supporting time of prayer over the next few weeks as the funding application was made. PB supported that strongly. PCC agreed to pursue the application to the growth fund and to pursue other funding streams.
Action: ???
- Treasurer’s Report
MW and KA pointed out that we were very dependent on around 30 regular donors. 50% of our funding depended on 6 donors. Regular giving is down and is not meeting regular spending. We need to explain this to the congregation and to increase regular giving.
Action: When?
- Churchwardens Items (Standing item)
None
- Possible Memorial to 254 Crew of Bomber Command
This was covered in 6.2
- Correspondence
None was received.
- Any Other Business
None