Category: PCC Notes

Welcome and introduction: Alastair remembered a young Hungarian lady, who worshipped at Bradford Cathedral and had been tragically murdered. He read from Luke 7 reflecting on the exuberant love of the woman in the story and comparing it to those who had recently been confirmed.

Matters Arising: An advertisement has been placed for a new organist on the RSCM website and we are now waiting for responses. Thanks were expressed to Jonny and to John for organising the new card machine.

Vicar’s Report: Alastair expressed how encouraging it was that there had been 7 Connect services at the Parish Centre, 2 Connect Together at Church, 2 evening worship events. In addition, there had been a well-attended Remembrance Service held outdoors and a new youth group had started, thanks to Becky and Sam with 15 young people attending.

He reported on new speakers in the spire, involvement in the new Well-being hub, a new centre manager, Zoe Cullum. The highlight of the autumn was the confirmation of 12 candidates by Bishop Toby.

Alastair outlined plans for Advent and Christmas services and asked permission for services on Boxing Day to be suspended. The PCC agreed but asked for the Church building to remain open.

Financial Statement: John presented the accounts and shared the
wonderful news that £80,000 had been received in legacies and a further £25,000 in one-off gifts by Church members.

Children and Family Work: Despite a very good start to their job, Nerys and Sarah had both handed in their resignations. They have both been offered other employment which suits them both and their families. Alastair recorded a formal thank you to them both and asked the PCC to pray and think about how to move forward whilst keeping the momentum that had been created. It was recognised that some work would be needed on the job description.

Fabric Redecorating & Glass Door: – John reported a new fibre connection for the Church to support the 4G signal. New AV equipment had been purchased to assist with live-streaming on YouTube including a MEVO camera.

Reordering: After a lot of work from the Architect we are close to awarding a contract for the first phase of reordering which includes:

External works to the path to stop damp ingress
New internal Glass Door at West end
Repair to the fabric of the building above the nave windows
Removal of the arched wainscoting and replastering
Decoration of the Church.

Music: There have been two Thursday Worship evenings led by Amy Haguma from a local Bradford Church with excellent feedback. Concern was raised at the cost, but Alastair asked members to try and attend the event before making a judgement. Edward Scott is happy to play the organ for the short term.

Parish Centre: Zoe settling in well to the new role. Martin has given
notice of his resignation as treasurer.

Alastair

Notes from the Online PCC meeting, 15th June, 2021

Welcome and introduction: Alastair welcomed us to an informal meeting. There were two items to discuss.

1. To approve the Contract and the job description for Nerys and Sara.

Val noted Susan’s point about what action to take if one of the job sharers resigns. After consideration the options were too restricting and therefore decided to leave it open. Their job security would not be affected, and it would be the responsibility of the PCC to find a new person.

Catriona raised the question of ‘out of pocket expenses.’ Alastair said that they would be reimbursed.

Alastair proposed that a vote was taken to approve the Job Description and the Contract. All in favour.

2. Church Redecoration

Alastair asked John to take us through the findings of the exploratory work carried out on the plasterwork prior to redecorating. John explained that redecoration was not the word to use. Multiple problems have been found which will cost a lot of money to correct.

• Behind the Wainscoting which was added in the 1930s, it was found that the wall behind was very damp. The Architect discovered that 20 years or so ago, the steps into church were changed, and a raised pathway was constructed. The method of construction has caused the rain water on the path to run down to the walls of Church which is then held against the wall without draining away. There should have been a slot drain. It could cost £10000 to fix the problem.
• There is a large crack above the first stained glass window which is due to poor workmanship.
• There is also a hairline crack between the window and the roof. There are 8 cracks between the 12 windows. This is something that we could live with; the building will not fall down.
• Approximately 12½% of the plaster within the main body of the church needs to be chipped out replaced and repainted over.
• The Chancel wall and plasterwork is in very poor condition. It is leaching salts from the stone which is causing problems. This needs to be lime plastered.

The challenge for the PCC is to decide:-
What do we absolutely have to do?
What would be nice to do?
What does the architect think should be done as a once generational thing to do? This would cost in the region of £75.000
A lengthy discussion ensued.

John is going to have a further word with the Architect and try to get him to reduce costs. The church will not be available for 6 weeks during the works. Tim Greenbank, who did the Scout and Guide building and would be a good person to do the work, will be approached. The programme could not start until the 12th September, and would be finished at the end of October.

It was decided to give the documentation to Tim Greenbank for him to price it accurately, and also get an accurate scaffolding price and find out when he would be able to do the work.

As soon as we have Stephen the Architects final report, and the costing from Tim Greenbank, then we meet up again.

The meeting ended with some prayers.