St Mary s Church, Hadlow Parochial Church Council Minutes of the PCC Meeting held on Tuesday 19 th September 2017. 1. Opening prayer The meeting began with the first part of Compline. Present: Rev d Paul White [Rev d Paul]; Nicola Harvey, Curate (NH); Martin Massy [MM]; Barbara Smith[BS]; David Gater [DG]; Val Newell [VN]; Judy Gater [JG]; Jenny Hopkins [JH]; Eleanor Livett [EL]; Rachel Packham [RP]; Mark Totty [MT]; Sharon Vanns [SV]; (Minutes: Judy Gater) 2. Apologies for absence: Kirsty Finch [KF]; Francis Griffiths [FG]; Katerina Nixon [KN];Kelly Parsons [KP]; Michael Payne [MP]; Annemarie Woodward [AW]; Annie Young [AY]. 3. Approval of Minutes of PCC meeting of 18 July There was a small adjustment and the minutes were then approved and signed and would be circulated to the congregation. There was a discussion about the time lag between the PCC meeting and publication of the minutes (church notice board and website) so it was decided that we should continue to approve the minutes by email as soon as possible after the meeting. 4. Matters arising from the Minutes MAY MAUSOLEUM It was agreed that the May Mausoleum remained an eyesore and was urgently in need of repair. The recent repairs to the Church tower and the beauty of the newly restored Tower at the castle made the Mausoleum look even more unsightly. Some progress had been made on finding a solution; the churchwardens were in discussion with the Parish Council. It was possible that DBR, the company which restored the Church tower, would be interested in helping to restore the Mausoleum. 1
HOLIDAY AT HOME JH had spoken with NH and members of other churches and had plenty of ideas on making this a success. She would soon be putting out flyers and would book two days in the next summer holidays. The event would be held in Church. All were keen to support this new initiative. EDUCATION Several of our young people had attended a residential weekend organised by the Diocese and there were further plans, the next being a half term wakeover. KP had been working with Cheryl Trice the Diocesan youth work lead. The Wednesday study group was about to start a course on Elijah A man just like us There was a discussion about the changes to the service provision for young people. It had been felt that Time Together might be coming to a natural end, but there was some disquiet about this and the need for some services to cater for the younger children. A pram service or messy church were considered. Further thoughts on this came up later in the meeting see item 10 MATINS NH voiced her thanks for her chance to lead the Matins service on 20 August. The service had been very well received and there was a lot of support for it to be repeated. MM proposed that we have a Matins service on every 5 th Sunday and BS seconded the proposal. All agreed to it. The next suitable 5 th Sunday would be 31 December and it was agreed that there would be a Matins service then. 5. Treasurer s Report DG had circulated a summary of the accounts up to the end of July. He said that our bookkeeper, Alan Knowles, had done a fantastic job with the new accounting system. Support for the changeover to Xero had been received from Gabrielle and David Lear and thanks were also due to them. 2
As at 31 July 2017, there was a running deficit of 5,427. However, taking the first six months Gift Aid into account we would be in the black. This was an improved position compared with last year. DG was hopeful that this would be maintained for the rest of the financial year. It would be possible for the PCC to receive more detailed monthly analyses of the accounts, and it was decided to trial this for the rest of the financial year. Rev d Paul thanked DG for battling to get refunds from our previous printing suppliers; these arose when the contracts were changed. Rev d Paul also mentioned that the Diocese would be launching a new strategic framework in November and this might affect Parish Share. The new Diocesan Treasurer attended a Deanery chapter meeting recently. 6. COMMITTEE REPORTS EDUCATION Youth Services were discussed under item 10 FABRIC (MM) MM had circulated the minutes of the Fabric committee meeting of 05 September. The work on the Church tower was now completed and had been signed off. The final payment would be made and VAT claimed back. It was hoped that work would soon start on the display unit. The committee had proposed that the nave and other areas should be redecorated. Advice would be needed and the Quantity Surveyor who was working with Plaxtol Church would be approached. PCC agreement was required for the QS fees, and this was duly given. It would be necessary to approach the DAC (Diocesan Advisory Committee). The QS would also advise on repairs within the church. The issue of Responsible Persons (RPs) was discussed. We ought to have an RP present at every church event; they would be responsible for managing an evacuation, calling emergency services etc. MM and BS would develop guidance and any training necessary. Information would be given to organisations hiring the Church. 3
It was also desirable to have trained First Aiders in Church. There were already some in the congregation and it would be helpful to have a list of them available. It was suggested that there should be a fire drill during the main Sunday service. Services are usually recorded but there has been little demand for the recordings. It was decided to make it known that recordings could be made if a special request were made, but not to record routinely. A possible permanent projector was discussed. Such an item would be well used. We would look at other churches to see how and where projectors were installed. The issue of church seating was discussed once more. A suggestion was made for the provision of nice cushions, neatly tied to each chair. This would be considerably cheaper than buying 170 new chairs. BS would check prices. It was also suggested that some folding chairs be kept downstairs on trolleys so that they could be easily wheeled out for unexpectedly large congregations, such as those for a funeral. NH would get an estimate for these. The toys in the North porch are a little untidy and some were worn out and could be disposed of. The point was made, though, that seeing a clutter of toys in the porch made visitors feel they and their children were welcome at St Mary s. Anne Hughes acts as verger at weddings and funerals and had indicated that she would find it useful to have a deputy who would help and possibly succeed her. It was resolved that a notice seeking a deputy be put in the pew sheet. FUNDRAISING/OUTREACH (SV) The main event coming up was the Scarecrow Trail on September 23/24, which had been well organised by KF. Would you Adam and Eve it was booked for 19 October, but the Russian Choir visit had been cancelled. The date of the Christmas Fair was to be announced later. It was suggested that it would be good to have another Christmas Tree festival, next year. The opera evening had been much enjoyed and a great success. It had raised 500. The choir would be having a Singathon on 07 October, in the morning. 4
WORLD MISSION (BS) The recent Market Stall had raised 96 for the Delhi Brotherhood Society, and the one in November was earmarked for Link For Hope, to help with payments on the Children s Shoeboxes. There was an item about the Poverty and Hope appeal in the Quarterly News. At the next WM meeting the committee would be looking at the allocation of charities for our annual 2,000 donation. BS would ask members of the congregation to get in touch if there were particular charities they wished the church to support. Around 4,000 had already been raised directly for various charities this year. St Mary s was supporting the Food Bank in Paddock Wood, in various ways. The Harvest gifts would be earmarked for it, and it was hoped that half of the Carols in the Square collection could be sent to support it, too. BS would put a list in the pew sheet of suitable items for donation. 7. Church Improvements The noticeboard was in need of revarnishing. DG suggested that the board be replaced by more weather-resistant version. He volunteered to research the possible types. 8. Christmas Christmas is on a Monday this year, and this makes the planning of the Christmas Eve services a bit problematic. After some discussion, the PCC were happy with the following plan 24 DECEMBER No 08am service 10am Said BCP Holy Communion 4pm Christingle 6.30pm Carols in the Square 11.30pm Parish Communion The Carol Service would be the previous week, 17 December. And on CHRISTMAS DAY, Family Eucharist at 10am and no 8am service 5
9. PCC Quiet Day PCC members were keen to have a quiet day for spiritual growth and contemplation. Rev d Paul suggested that we arrange a retreat at St Mary s with a retreat leader who would come to the church; her organisation is called Accessible Light. Rev d Paul would try to book her for a Saturday in January, the timing being 9.30am 2.30pm, with room for a business meeting afterwards if necessary. 10. Youth Service A number of the younger members of St Mary s had been to an Away Day at Rochester and were planning a Youth Service. Already they had a lot of ideas for the form of the service. It would be called BEACON. The first Beacon Service would be on Sunday 19 November and the second on 10 December, both at 6pm. A preparatory meeting for adults and children would be held on Sunday 15 October at 6pm. St Mary s had been given funding for youth work and DG would check that the donors (KCC and the Diocese) were happy for the money to be used to support the Beacon project. It was hoped that a service for younger children would continue in some way; perhaps young families could be invited to the 15 October meeting? It was important to have some sort of messy church service as a stepping stone to a more formal type of worship. The Harvest Service on October 1 st would be an all age family communion service, and the children s groups would remain downstairs. 11 Correspondence JG had received various items, including the following information The new Archdeacon of Tonbridge was the Revd Canon Julie Conalty, who would move from being Vicar of Christ Church Erith and Area Dean of Erith. She would be collated at the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, Tonbridge, on 24 September. 6
St Mary s is an employer and is legally required to enrol certain staff into a pension scheme. The finance team had already dealt with this. The new Diocesan Finance Advisor was the Revd Richard Williams. He is a Chartered Accountant and had held incumbencies in the dioceses of Southwark and Canterbury. He has already written to parishes about the 2016 Diocesan Report and Accounts. The online Diocesan Directory was being replaced by a web-based system. Finally, anyone interested in candle making was asked to contact the Priest in Charge of St Mary Magdelene in Gillingham; they have a surfeit of candle ends and old paschal candles. 12. Any Other Business NH s Ordination would be on Saturday 30 September and she invited members of the congregation to join her and her family in the Upper Room at 6.30pm that day for a celebratory reception. SV told the meeting that the co-ordinator of the Mpwapwa link would be coming to the UK for 3 weeks and would be in Hadlow on the 9/10 October. He would stay with members of the congregation overnight and would come to the service on 22 October to talk about his work and would visit the school and the scouting group while in the UK. There had been problems with the water supply to the agricultural college in Mpwapwa and they wanted to drill a borehole to help; it was hoped that St Mary s could support this project. Rev d Paul asked if PCC meetings could be moved to Mondays or Wednesdays, The PCC was happy to do this and agreed the timing of the next two meetings. Dates of next meetings Wednesday 18 October Standing Committee 8pm Vicarage Monday 20 November Full PCC 8pm Upper Room The meeting ended with the second half of Compline just after 10pm 7