The Parochial Church Council of the Parish of Cirencester with Watermoor and St Lawrence

The Parochial Church Council of the Parish of Cirencester with Watermoor and St Lawrence

Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 21st July at the Parish Hall, Watermoor

Present: Revd Canon Leonard Doolan (Chair), Revd Penny Light, Revd Howard Gilbert, Revd Gary Grady, Simon Smith, Peter Cottey, Susan Gargett, Margaret Austin, Penny Phillips, Rick Williams, Richard Norton, Aileen Anderson, Daniel Bristow, Rosemary Gray, Jacqueline Henson, Judith Iveson, John Light, June Godsell,
Michaela Gilman, Helen Hammond, Alan Jones, Jules Eaton, Benjamin Janes.

Fr Leonard Opened the meeting with prayer.

Apologies for absence were received from Chris Jones, Damien Corcoran and Revd Katie Richardson.
Minutes of the meeting held on 25th June were agreed as a true record.
Matters Arising: none.
Finance:Simon Smith reported that he had checked the final accounts for 2014 and had seen little change from the previous set, except for a few rounding errors. The accounts had now been approved by the auditors, (Wenn Townsend) and copies circulated to PCC members. Following approval by the PCC,Wenn Townsend will sign them off as complete.

Members agreed unanimously to accept them. Fr Leonard thanked Simon Smith and Charles Woodd for their work on the accounts and Mr Smith reiterated that Mr Woodd had offered to help in an advisory capacity in future. Although there have been offers of help over the accounts, no one has volunteered for the position of PCC Treasurer.

Reports from Sub-Committees
Personnel Committee: Mr Cottey said that there was nothing to report, other than at the next meeting, in August,members would be considering the issue of workplace pensions.
Parish Property Group:Mr Alan Jones advised that the Health and Safety Policy would be compiled by Mr Richard Norton at the Parish Office.

He continued to say that the PPG had been tasked with considering the future use of Parish buildings. Concern was expressed over the state of the roof at 1, Coxwell Street and that the continued deterioration had not been addressed over the last seven years. The question at the centre of the review should be whether the ancillary properties are supporting the work of the parish to the best effect. We need, he said, to analyse the use of the buildings.

Mr Jones requested that the PCC delegate to the PPG the power to address minor works and to bring to main meetings regular interim reports. It was suggested that the PPG be able to co-opt such professional advice as was needed. There was potential for development of some properties (e.g. St Lawrence to take into account the proposed increase in housing nearby).

An overall parish strategy is urgently needed into which the targeted use of our buildings should effectively and economically fit. Fr Leonard said that the strategy must be mission driven. Mr Jones felt that someone else, rather than he, might be better qualified to lead an enhanced group that would consider the whole parish strategy picture.

A suggestion that the strategy might dovetail with the work of Churches Together was considered but it was felt that the widening of the strategy across all churches might well complicate the issue and that we, as a parish, need to focus on our own plans at this stage.

Chairman’s Notices
At the Feast of St Mary (22nd July) Rachel Treweek is to be consecrated at Canterbury Cathedral as Bishop of Gloucester and then enthroned at Gloucester Cathedral on September 19th. Fr Leonard said that Bishop Rachel will be visiting the Parish Church on the 4th Sunday of Advent at the 10am service.
Four or five people have been identified as potential confirmation candidates. The aim is to hold the Confirmation service at Holy Trinity and Fr Leonard is asking the Bishop’s office if someone is available to lead the Confirmation service.

Secretary’s Notices
A letter from Mr Richard Norton to the PCC had been circulated prior to the meeting. In it he thanked all members for their unanimous approval of the transfer of his licence from the Diocese of Southwark to Gloucester.
Mr Eric Roberts had advised that the archive of services had been lodged with the Gloucester Records Office. He had also said that he would be making a computer available in the Parish Church so that interested parties could listen to the music archive he had collected.
Mr Damien Corcoran had written to say that since he would be moving to the north of the country he would be unable to continue as a PCC representative for the Parish Church. He therefore tenders his resignation as from this August.
The last meeting to consider recruitment and deployment of volunteers had been postponed. It is hoped that all interested parties can attend a reconvened meeting to discuss this important issue.
An updated list of the sub-committee membership was circulated, subject to any amendment, and accepted.

Matters of Report from Churches/Halls

Mr Smith had circulated a report from the Friends of Cirencester Parish Church. In it attention was drawn to:

a)Work to the exterior of the Tower, estimated at costing between £28,000 and £35,328,which is planned to commence in the late summer of this year. The Friends have been asked if they would support this work in full.

b)A cherry picker has been booked for three days’ work over the summer, to clean out gullies and gutters, make a survey of the pinnacles, check certain tracery and glazing leading which will lead to a programme of work and repair in 2016/17.At the same time the niches of the tower can be inspected. Where independent funding is not available, the Friends will be approached for financial assistance.

c)The niche for the proposed statue of St John the Baptist has been surveyed. There is an eight and a half foot high space available so the statue would be full size.

d)The South Porch interior needs cleaning and there are some open joints in the vaulting. An inspection will determine what needs to be done and a detailed report will be made to the PCC in September.

e)Choir lighting. Plans for an attractive and economic solution to this area are in hand and a faculty is already in place, subject to the DAC being satisfied with the final design.

f)An additional lavatory on the ground floor of the South Porch is under consideration.

g)North Aisle Roof. Other than by cherry picker, there is no access to this area of the roof. It is proposed to consider creating an access from inside the building.

h)Finance for the repair and upkeep of the tombs in the churchyard is under consideration with a possibility of match funding from the Town council, if the Parish can raise funds for this work.

i)The alarms in the Parish Church need careful investigation to avoid unwelcome interruption during services or events.

Matters of Report from Churches Together in Cirencester. Revd Penny Light reported that CTiC now have a new administrator, Peter Langman from the Community Church. The volunteer from the Anglican churches is now Jill Wilkinson. There will be a Community Day where volunteers assist with various local projects in September.
Holy Trinity Flower Fund. A request for financial help had been circulated prior to the meeting to meet the cost of providing flowers in church. It was suggested we review the policy for asking wedding couples to contribute to this, especially where they would accept flowers already present in church. Members agreed to contribute £500 to the Holy Trinity fund.

St Nicholas Appeal. Mr Norton spoke comprehensively about the appeal for funding the salaries of the children’s and youth workers. Although some monies have been received through charitable trusts and the diocese, the response to the appeal has been disappointing. A number of those who pledged money have not yet followed up on these, he said. He asked for anyone who knew of sources of grants to contact him.

Planned Giving Scheme. The talks in each of the churches, encouraging people to adopt the Planned Giving Scheme, had not generated the income it was hoped. Mr Norton suggested a rerun of the publicity with tables in each church displaying information, together with forms to be completed there and then and manned by people who could encourage people to take up the scheme. Mr Norton will be writing to all those who are already giving, inviting them to increase their amount and he will also be contacting new families.

Mr Benjamin Janes added his surprise and frustration that the speeches in church had fallen on stony ground. He said that some people had even stopped their giving due to the publicised large parish deficit (which has since been considerably reduced).

It was suggested that an approach to congregations, broken into groups, would be better than trying to address them as a whole. If we are experiencing ‘giving fatigue’ then maybe we should be considering other ways of encouraging giving and a poster displaying how money is spent would be very helpful.

The suggestion of a rerun on September 6th was questioned as being too soon and maybe Harvest Festival in October would be more appropriate (with the theme of giving and receiving graciously).

In answer to a question from Mrs Hammond, Mr Norton outlined some of the actual figures received, the rejections also returned and any donations. Mr Cottey made it clear that the Personnel Committee needs to know actual figures in order to consider whether the commitment to three year funding for youth work is, in fact, possible.

Zero Tolerance Policy. Mr Norton had circulated a draft policy for protection of employed staff and volunteers. The intention of the policy was commended by all but with some amendmentse.g. that the policy relatesto incidents onparish property, that we do not approach outside agencies until we have attempted to deal with the issues internally, that we are careful when dealing with vulnerable or ill people and that we do not escalate confrontation due to lack of training. It was recommended that the policy be considered by the Personnel Committee at a future date.

Social Media Policy. Mr Norton made it clear that the policy had needed to be published when the Children’s and Youth workers were appointed. Mr Hugo Kennard had accepted a suggested outline from Mrs Hammond which formed the basis of the policy. It was emphasised, however, that any policy should be brought to the PCC before publication and this was accepted by those involved. A revised policy should be ready for the PCC in September.

Parish Church Tower Visits: Mr Bristow said that he and Mr Norton had met to discuss the approach to visitors making a visit up the tower. Although it is appreciated that the vergers enjoy guiding visitors in this way, it is not within their job description and some means of formalising these visits must be forthcoming as the time up the Tower takes the verger away from duties in the church. There is a Health and Safety issue to consider. It was accepted that Mr Bristow had given a useful oral beginning to managing the visits but the PCC needed a paper to enable informed consideration.

Miss Anderson said that on Heritage Open Day, the Civic Society ensured that all H&S aspects of Tower visits were fully taken into account.

AOB.

a)Fr Howard informed the meeting that nine young people would be camping in the Forest of Dean and taking part in activities that includedcanoeing, high ropes course, a visit toClearwell Caves and the sculpture trail. Hugo Kennard is making the required risk assessment.

b)Mr Smith said there would be an extraordinary meeting to approve the accounts and a vestry meeting to appoint a churchwarden on Thursday 20th August in Holy Trinity Church. He would publicise this around the churches.

c)A PCC Strategy morning has been arranged for Saturday 14th November at the Parish Centre from 10am – 12.30pm

d)Fr Gary complimented all those involved in the Messy Mass and Blaze Praise and how much this had been appreciated. He mentioned a visit by Jo Wetherall (Diocesan Children and Families’ Officer) who wrote a report afterwards. (See below)

Messy Mass and more in Cirencester

Djokovic and Federer were battling it out on centre court, but that didn’t stop families from coming to Messy Mass at St John the Baptist Cirencester.Gathering by the font we remembered our baptism and our life with Jesus. We said sorry to God for the things we have done wrong and Fr Gary liberally dipped a bunch of rosemary into the water and gave us all a good sprinkling, reminding us of God’s love and forgiveness. But where was Fr Leonard escaping to? Not to worry the children sprinkled him too, once we had processed through the church to the pulpit singing as we went.

The service continued in this way leading the families (and some tourists!) all through the church to the areas where we hear God’s word, our prayers are expressed, God’s peace is shared and Jesus is remembered in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. It was a real joy to be part of an act worship which included a story telling meercat, giant Jenga bricks, and building prayers for other people on Jesus solid rock, but was completely authentic to the inclusive tradition at St. John the Baptist. This wasn’t the end of the story; no sooner had all the squash and biscuits disappeared than another 18 children arrived in the church, ‘Sing It!’ the children’s choir had arrived to rehearse for ‘ Blaze Praise’, a service of healing and wholeness at 6 p.m.

The service, which promised to engage our senses, began with a healthy cloud of incense, guided us through the feel of sand on our fingertips, the glow of light from candles and the singing of children which we heard with our ears and our hearts – the sensory experiences concluded very satisfactorily with chocolate Swiss roll. Through the liturgy, and Fr Howard’s talk, we were encouraged to consider obstacles that might be in our way before we can reach out to touch Jesus, and to open ourselves to the possibility of God’s healing and wholeness in our lives. This was a new departure for Blaze, the Youth Group, and was put together by them under the thoughtful leadership of Hugo Kennard who became their Youth Leader at Easter.

Once again this was a very interactive and inclusive service which was completely true to the worshipping life of St. John’s. All ages were represented from tiny babes in arms to the more senior generation. I am sure that, like me, everyone came away with more than the piece of fabric we were given to represent Jesus cloak and felt able to reach our hands out just a bit further towards him.

The Date of the Next PCC meeting is Wednesday, September 23rd at St Lawrence Church Centre at 7.30pm