Author: stmarys

Notes from the PCC Meeting held on Tuesday 12th January, 2021.

Alastair welcomed Jonathan Barber to the PCC.

Matters Arising from Meeting held on 15th November, 2020
An update was given on the people still on furlough:
Jo – Parish Co-Coordinator is now on three quarters
Stacey – Cleaner is now on half
Peter – Organist is on full

Fr. Philip has now left St. Margaret’s Ilkley. The new area Dean of South Craven and Wharfedale is Mike Coe (Vicar of All Saints Ilkley) and his deputy is Helen Collings (Vicar of Sutton with Cowling and Lothersdale)

Duncan confirmed that we have paid our full share to the Diocese.

Vicars Report

Alastair felt that we had a very significant time since our last meeting. St Mary’s contributed to the ‘Switch on’ of the Christmas Lights video. There were over 10,000 views of it.

We put together an array of activities leading up to Christmas. To name a few:-

Sunday school offered wonderful contributions
Playing carols from the Church Steeple
A Christmas trail was enjoyed by children and adults
Reverse Advent – Over 300 boxes went from the Methodist Church to various charities in Bradford and Leeds
The appeal for Manningham made a huge difference, particularly in Girlington
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day had a total of 85 attendees who went to the services at 8.00 and 10.00am
Cakes provided by St. Mary’s were given out mainly to people living alone
1,200 Christingle bags were distributed to people in the street.
There was a Tableau in Open Door
18 Families in need with young children were identified. and through a combination of peoples offering from Church, along with a significant contribution from the Civic Charity, were given a £100 voucher for Aldi, and a few families were given more.

Alastair thanked everyone.

Children and Families Worker: It was unanimously decided to advertise for someone. The position is 24 hours, 3 days per week.

Treasurer and CGS Chair: Duncan is retiring in April. The role involves approximately 4/5 hours a week, which increases slightly towards the APCM. Karen is also retiring from the CGS Chair. We need to think who would be prepared to take on these roles.

Fabric/redecoration: Val is aiming to get estimates to look at the plasterwork which needs attention before the decorating can be completed. The gutters were cleared before Christmas

The PCC had their first meeting of the year on 14th January. Alastair welcomed us, and read from Hebrews about uncertainty and stepping forward in faith. The meeting opened with a prayer.

The Minutes were read and approved subject to an amendment relating to Val Mackenzie’s request on behalf of “Burley Dementia Action”

Vicar’s Report

Congratulations were given to Lizzie (one of our lay readers) for successfully passing her BAP to start ordination training in the autumn. Well done Lizzie, you will be greatly missed at St Marys.

There was a positive response from our congregation to Inn Churches which works with the homeless in Bradford. Lizzie is organising Rev to cook for Inn Churches in February. If anyone would like to help, please contact Lizzie. A similar scheme in Otley for homeless asylum seekers is also being organised, again helpers would be welcome.

Churches together are planning ecumenical lent house groups this year with an ecumenical Palm Sunday service at the end.

Alastair proposes to run an Alpha course later this year, he will be using some of the Alpha material in church during lent.

Alastair will be inviting Bishop Toby to take a confirmation service towards the end of the year, with courses running in the autumn term.

New Posts

Parish Centre Manager Jo Clayton has been appointed and started work at the beginning of January.

Family worker Maxie Barker was appointed, she will commence work mid January. She is a recent theology graduate from York University.

Please welcome both of them if you meet them.

Finances
This year’s share is £90,589

Next meeting on 11th Feb

There will be a PCC away day on 1st Feb

The meeting ended with the Grace.

Welcome and introduction
Alastair welcomed us and read from Henri Nouwen’s book, ‘The Return of the Prodigal Son’. The meeting opened with a prayer.

Matters Arising
Margaret Sumner’s replacement, Stacey Blenkhorn has settled in well and we are grateful for her hard-working approach. A thank you for Margaret’s work in church will take place shortly during a Service.
Lizzie and John are to get quotes for the lighting and windowsills.

Adverts
The Advertisements for the Parish centre co-ordinator and ‘The children and families’ worker have been sent out to various social media sites etc., Responses are starting to arrive and interview panels for each position will be formed.

Spring Harvest
There are 19 people wanting to attend Spring Harvest Local in January at Otley. Anyone else who is interested to contact Lizzie who will buy the tickets.

Vicar’s Report
Services for Armistice went well with a high attendance. It was good to see all three village schools involved at the War Memorial. Alastair reported a growing interest in linking to St Mary’s from Ghyll Royd School. Thanks were given to Becky for her help in arranging the successful Sabbatical Evening. Anna, who runs Tiny Tots, wishes to close the group due to low attendance. The PCC agreed that this should happen but that our new Family Worker, when appointed, can have a re-launch, perhaps looking back at how the group ran in the past and how it might fit with what is currently offered in the village.

Finance
Duncan presented the accounts for the 6 months until 30th September 2019. There was a rise of £4500 in Christian Giving although collections in church were down slightly.

Christingles
It was agreed that if we ensure that there is the opportunity for regular church goers to receive a Children’s Society donations candle to fill in the run up to Christmas, as well as donating our December refreshments donations to the Children’s Society, then we can divide the Christingle collections 50/50 between St Mary’s and the Children’s Society.

CGS / Parish Giving
A new scheme is being launched nationally by the Church of England and it would be useful if Karen and Duncan could attend one of the presentations on this scheme

Mission Giving: The following was agreed:
£1000 to Otley Christian Resources Hub
£850 to Western Nepal Disability Trust
£250 to Ros Wilkinson in Istanbul
£250 to Inn Churches
£250 to McKenzie Friends (part of BEACON)
£250 to Jesus Shaped People
£250 Tereli
£500 to Sudan Diocese
£400 has already been donated to providing Bibles for school leavers.

Fabric Report
John presented the most recent fabric report and noted that the window is still on track to be in place again by Christmas. PAT testing will take place next week.

Steps
The PCC were asked if we might paint any steps in the church with a white line to make them dementia-friendly.

The meeting ended in the Grace.

Cleaner: Margaret Sumner’s replacement, Stacey Blenkhorn, has been appointed. Margaret and the staff at the centre had a small celebration of her retirement. A ‘Thank You’ for her work in church will take place in a service sometime soon.

Windowsills: Regarding the lounge windowsills – with winter coming, most painters and decorators have finished outside jobs, so the windows may need to wait until spring.

Vicar’s Report: Services for the end of JSP and the Harvest Festival went well, although a storm meant for a lower than hoped for attendance at the former.

The churchyard was tidied at the weekend by a small team of volunteers and looks better for their hard work.

Children & Families Worker: The job description now has a clearer focus and will involve working within the Sunday School in addition to thinking about how we welcome and care for families. The post will include working on Sunday. We discussed the possibility for some flexibility over the number of hours and holiday entitlement. The advert will be sent to as many sources as possible, locally and potentially nationally.

Worship Pattern: Alastair proposed that from January there will be one service on the first Sunday of each month which will be a non-eucharistic all-age service, with Sunday School and choir. Karen noted that this was the most requested change in the recent audit, and the time of 10.00am was agreed.

Mission Giving: Alastair noted that we had not paid our usual subscription/mission giving for this year to Otley Christian Resources Hub and proposed that we pay our usual sum of £1000. We talked about how we might support impoverished places further as a church, perhaps by tithing our income from any church-related fundraising (e.g. for decorating or re-ordering) at 10%, with that portion being donated to help others such as the churches in Sudan. PCC members were invited to think about how they would like to see the remaining mission giving funds distributed and whether we should look more closely at tithing our future income. This will be discussed at the next PCC.

Parish Centre Co-ordinator : Alastair met with the staff at the centre to discuss the role of co-ordinator. Joyce has been doing a phenomenal job covering the work, but no volunteers have come forward in response to our advertising. Alastair proposed that we now offer this as a paid position of 8 hours with the post funded jointly by the Parish Centre and the Church. The office workers and church wardens were in favour of this approach.

Fabric Report: The glass from the East window has been removed to Cook’s workshop. The stone around the window inside the church has had paint removed allowing it to breathe and, internally the stone has been cleaned up to the hood moulding. There was less damage than feared externally, which has allowed for a better cleaning process and we are still on budget.

The heating system has been re-balanced and should be working well.

The decorator has also been contacted regarding the handrail.

AOB: Otley Parish Church have contacted us regarding a local event run by the Christian organisation, Spring Harvest. Lizzie will send an email to the PCC and any others interested and will book anyone who wishes to go. Leaflets are in the church porch.

Open Door will be a place where we can offer refills for water bottles, along with a national scheme for this. A sticker will go on the door of the centre indicating that we offer this service.

The meeting ended in the Grace.

Sally Weatherall

A meeting of the new PCC was held on 30th April after a communion service in church.

Alastair welcomed everyone particularly Elaine and Duncan as new members of the PCC.

Matters Arising

The Electoral Roll is down by 80; therefore having less than 200 on roll means we only need 12 people on PCC.

PCC Officer Elections
Secretary – Sally was proposed by Karen, seconded by Becky and agreed by all.
Treasurer – Duncan was proposed by Susan seconded by Janet and agreed by all.
Minutes Secretary – Lizzie was proposed by Karen, seconded by Margaret
and agreed by all.
Safeguarding – Elaine and Dot were proposed by Janet, seconded by Karen
and agreed by all.
Disability officer – Margaret was proposed by Karen, seconded by Becky and agreed by all.
Standing Committee – John, Val, Alastair, Duncan, Sally, Margaret and Mick
were proposed by Sally seconded by Duncan and agreed by all.

Vicar’s Report
The Mothering Sunday Service with no Eucharist had lots of positive feedback, this led to discussion about monthly all age services which many people are keen to have. It was agreed that 1st Sunday in October and November would be a good time to trial it.
Alastair proposed that during school summer holidays (23rd July – 1st Sept) the service should be at 10am. All agreed. Easter services – apart from Easter Sunday, attendance was poor – down by 50%. Holy Week needs to be carefully planned next year.
The Church Lounge is in a poor state and needs redecorating, new curtains and a good clear out.

Sabbatical Plans

There are notes in the magazine and parish office regarding who to contact during Alastair’s sabbatical. He will return on 25th August.

Treasurer’s Report

Duncan presented the report for the first quarter. There has been a 10% increase in Christian giving. The Income tax return of £22,000 will pay the share for 2-3 months. Duncan will put a note in Magazine re gift aid to make sure we are not claiming for anyone no longer paying tax. Surplus for the quarter of £2,301.

Burley Festival Plans
Lizzie is coordinating these; if anyone has any ideas please run these by Lizzie. We need 2 reps from St Mary’s to help organise the open air service again – any volunteers would be much appreciated!

Parish Centre
Decorating quotes for the Garden and Jepson rooms are being sought. Joyce doing an amazing job keeping the ship afloat.

The meeting ended with prayers for Alastair’s sabbatical.

Next Meeting 18th June 7.30pm

St Mary’s held their APCM on 7th April . The meeting was fairly well attended and we began with a short act of worship – evening prayers taken from the Iona Community.

Our wardens, Val James and John Spencer were re-elected at the Vestry Meeting and much thanked for their hard work to date.

Various reports were read and approved, including the accounts, which were presented by Kevin Lawson. Kevin is now standing down as Treasurer to be replaced by Duncan Watts. Again, he was thanked for his contribution to the life of our church.

The electoral roll will now be the responsibility of Merel Wood, as Christine Clarke has stepped down after many years of organising this for us, for which we are grateful.

New PCC members were elected/re-elected and we welcomed Elaine Marsden to the PCC. Sidespeople were also duly re-elected.

In the vicar’s report, Alastair spoke about the potential for re-ordering the church, and an idea of how this might look was presented to those attending the meeting. He also mentioned that we are almost there with fundraising for the provision of a Children and Families Worker. There was plenty to then discuss at the Open Mic slot and the meeting closed with a prayer.

Sally Weatherall & Lizzie Reynolds

PCC Minutes: 5th March

1 – Welcome

Alastair reflected on Isaiah 45 and how God goes before us. We looked at a diagram from Sheffield Diocese on how Christian giving relates to how we feel connected to God and to the church.

2 – Minutes from the previous meeting

These were amended and approved.

3 – Matters Arising

Merel, Christine and Alastair have met re the Electoral Roll.

Sara Kirk has taken temporary oversight of the choir.

Around 1/3rd of the amount needed for a Families Outreach worker has been pledged.

The lights in church have now got energy efficient bulbs.

4 –Parish Centre Co-ordinator

Advertisements for this post have now gone out on various social media as well as in posters/newsletters and so forth.

5 – Data Privacy

Richard will take on any data protection issues.

6- Reports

The PCC approved reports from the Treasurer, the Deanery Synod, the PCC Secretary, Fabric Matters and the new Budget.

7- Correspondence

Sally reported on some safeguarding correspondence that she had received, along with our safeguarding officers.

8 – AOB

Alastair informed the PCC about the youth mission from the Higher Tour that will take place in schools across Yorkshire, with a series of concerts. The tour is visiting IGS and it is hoped that a number of young people will want to attend. The PCC agreed that if needed, we will contribute towards the cost of transport.

Lizzie reported that the Festival Committee are looking for contributions to the summer festival from St Mary’s and need our ideas in before 20th March. She will report anyone’s ideas to the committee.

The meeting ended with prayers and the Grace.

Lizzie Reynolds

PCC Minutes 6th Feb 2019

1 – Welcome:

Alastair spoke about his recent experience skiing, where days of white out were followed by days of sunshine made him reflect upon how our experience of God’s presence, whilst always with us, can seem at times hidden. Although we might not be able to see clearly ahead of us, we can walk with God on a day to day basis.

2 – Minutes from the previous meeting:

The share figure was £95,594 and not £94 594 as reported. After this amendment, the minutes were adopted as a correct record of the meeting.

3 – Matters Arising:

Meryl has agreed to take over the Electoral Roll duties from Christine Clark.

Margaret spoke with Dennis who knows of no archives for the church specifically, but suggested that the village archives might have a section on the church

4 – Choir:

We were joined for this part of the meeting by our director of music, Peter Collins, who spoke about his vision for music at St Mary’s. Part of this would involve a pilot of merging the existing boys’ and girls’ choirs into one. This would give a stronger sound, give a more encouraging visual image and allow for a greater repertoire.

6 – Update on Stained Glass:

John reported that he would be meeting with the architect and the stone mason on 7th February to look at what work needs doing to repair the masonry around the East Window, as it is the problem with the masonry that is damaging the glass.

7 – Family Outreach Worker:

The PCC agreed that Alastair should be encouraged to explore the concept of this new paid role and how it would be funded. It was agreed that an advertisement for the post should be publicised only once 75% of the funds needed had been secured.

8 – Deanery Synod:

The meeting began with a talk from Rev’d. Peter Willox (St John’s, Ben Rhydding) on the different services they had initiated there, including ‘The Ark,’ aimed at those with learning disabilities.

Jeff Parks, Chief Financial Officer for Leeds Diocese reported on how the Diocese is financed and the various issues that have been highlighted during the transition from several small dioceses to the Leeds Diocese.

9 – Finance:

Kevin informed us of an anonymous donation he had received for St Mary’s. The donor requested that a proportion of this should be spent on the volunteers at Open Door in appreciation of their work.

The accounts to the end of December 2018 were presented. There is still a real need to increase our giving.

The heating costs were discussed – could we get a better rate? Donations for tea and coffee were discussed.

10 -Parish Centre Co-ordinator/Manager:

A job advertisement for this key voluntary role will be drawn up and circulated/displayed as widely as possible. The job description will be based upon the mission statement for the centre.

11 – Correspondence:

The PCC were asked to encourage the laity to read the gospel in church and this was agreed to.

A project involving refreshing the liturgy and creating new booklets was asked to be re-visited and this was also agreed to.

The meeting ended with the Grace.

Notes from the PCC Meeting 8th January 2019

Welcome and Introduction: Alastair spoke about how God revealed himself both to ordinary shepherds and extraordinary magi, linking this with what God might reveal to us this new year. We then took turns to pray for one another.

Vicar’s Report: Together, we reviewed the ‘highs and lows’ of the Christmas season. Highlights included:

• The fellowship, fun and success of an all age involvement of making 800 Christingles together.
• Passing on the Travelling Crib.
• Taking the Advent Candles stall out to the village and into Burley Woodhead school.
• The way in which the crib service has grown.
• The family feeling that came from the all-age Epiphany service.
• There was particular praise for Peter, who worked extremely hard at the music for all the Christmas services, and for his real commitment.

Alastair thanked everyone who was involved in the many Christmas events.

PCC members were encouraged to attend JSP housegroups which begin this January.

Lizzie updated the PCC on her progress within the formal ordination process.

Congregation Audit: Mick reported an increase in membership of some rotas but is still looking for sacristans. Karen announced Paul Rimmington’s offer to take the role of caretaker at the parish centre.

Electoral Roll: 2019 sees us updating our Electoral Roll. Christine Clark will mentor anyone willing to succeed her in this responsibility this year, but would like to retire from this duty.

Reaching and Nurturing Young Families: Alastair circulated an outline of a prospective paid post for a family pastoral outreach worker, which would be funded from newly sourced restricted income; individuals would be encouraged to contribute in addition to their usual giving. Discussion of this role will take place at our next meeting.

Choir: Peter, Alastair and Jennifer will meet to discuss future plans and arrangements for the choir as we move into this new year. This will include a pilot project of joining the boys and girls choirs together.

Fabric Matters: Pews at the back of church have been removed and the exposed boards carpeted over. Gutters have been cleaned and the floodlighting adjusted. Work to the Parish Centre will take place. The DAC and the architect have met to look at our initial thoughts on a proposed re- ordering and we will be given various tasks to complete based on their advice.

Repairs to the East window’s glass and masonry were discussed.

PCC Tonight: The PCC looked at the way meetings were conducted and discussed improvements.

Correspondence: Thank you notes were received from Cuppa Cake, Western Nepal Disability Trust (WNDT) and Ros Wilkinson in response to our mission giving.

AOB: Margaret had a query regarding where to file uncollected material from the 175th exhibition.

The meeting ended with the Grace.