The Waterside Churches
St. Piran's PCC - Minutes
Minutes of PCC Meeting on July 9th 2024 at 2pm in the Church Hall
Opening Prayer
Present: Revd. Karen Wilson, Kay Lobb, Juliet Dundon, David Simmons, Heather McCombie, Tony Woodbridge, Paul Stuart, Trish Wilcocks, Janet Thomas, Lorraine Rogers, Tim Rogers, Linda Lloyd, Iris Guinchard
Apologies
Rosemary Aitken and Ann Rawlinson sent their apologies.
Minutes of the last PCC Meeting
These were agreed and signed by Rev Karen as correct.
Matters arising
Same Sex Blessings to be put on the agenda for the next meeting, as members had wanted time to reflect. Rev Karen would send links to our new Church Warden and new PCC members with information about Same Sex Blessings. As yet, Rev Karen had not received any enquiries from parishioners.
Heartfelt thanks were given to Janet and her team for raising £1200 (plus gift aid) at the Lent Lunches this year. They went very well as usual.
Safeguarding
Lorraine said that the action plan and safeguarding policy were all on the dashboard. Posters were on display with procedures for safeguarding concerns or allegations and contained Karen’s and Lorraine’s phone numbers.
She had to make a note of which activities took place on a regular basis in the church hall - namely, U3A, Keep Fit, Pilates (non Church)
and Handbells, Bellringing and some Coffee Meetings (Church linked).
DBS checks were up to date. Some members need to do basic training, with Lorraine’s help.
Domestic Abuse awareness training needs to be done by everyone. Lorraine suggested that we did this as a group in the wintertime.
Although posters and information about safeguarding are around us, Tim suggested that we mention in church each week, to think about those who are struggling or have problems.
Finance
Total End of Month June Balance £71,297
Deposit Account £44,583.15 General Fund
£4,791.84 Bells & Tower Fund
Remainder in Lloyds Current Account
IN
£638 Interest from our deposit accounts, for the second quarter of year.
£1000 received from Owen Blatchly’s estate (from David Hoddinott) into Fabric Fund. A letter of thanks has been sent.
£650 Parish Grant for Churchyard Maintenance.
£1060.01 raised by the Plant Sale.
OUT
£7500 MMF contribution to end of June.
£2000 sent in July.
(MMF CALL FOR THE YEAR = £20,846.28)
Church Copyright Licences have been renewed.
Second Quarter Parochial Fees have been sent to the Diocese.
Gift Aid and Small Donations claim has been submitted for the second quarter and should yield £1000 which again is used to support our MMF call.
Trish has completed and returned the Energy Footprint Tool for 2023.
Cost of Churchyard Maintenance.
Kevin is only continuing with this until the end of the year, so we need to be considering options from January.
Maybe Glen Humphries, depending on cost. Maybe a discreet enquiry to the Parish Council on what his fees are.
As an aside, a social media complaint about the churchyard was seen briefly, but quickly taken down. No one was really sure what that was all about.
Church hall Cleaning,
Tracy has taken over from Sophie from the beginning of June and will see how it goes. The funding of £10 per week, has initially be covered by a donation in May 2023, and has now been fully spent and so is now coming out of the general fund. Rosemary has indicated that she will donate a similar sum this year to cover cleaning costs.
Church Cleaning
Trish proposed, and Paul seconded, a motion to buy a Lightweight Battery GTech hoover or similar to use. The other vacuum cleaners were getting old, were heavy, and needed the extension lead to reach everywhere, and a new one would be easier for our volunteer cleaners to use.
This was passed unanimously.
Fundraising
Quiz on September 7th in the Village Hall - being organised by Paul and David.
Facebook Marketplace Sale of Donated Goods - Tim and Lorraine were happy to continue to do this, but needed new goods to sell. A notice to be given out in church.
Plant Sale - Janet and Heather felt unable to continue with it in its present form, SO much physical work is involved.
Paul had an idea about producing a book to sell for church funds, with contributions from both congregation members and the local school. This is to be investigated further and considered at our next meeting.
Succession
Treasurer - Trish had wanted to stand down as Treasurer this year, but without anyone taking it over, has continued for what will be her final year. We need try and find a successor. Tony is still willing to help a new Treasurer.
Churchwarden - Paul has said that this will be his last year being a Churchwarden, having held the post for nine years. Again we need to find someone else willing to take on the role.
Janet proposed a vote of thanks to them both, for tirelessly doing the roles for so long.
Confidential Discussion regarding an application for training within the Truro Diocese
Following explanations of procedures and training, the application was fully supported by the remaining members of the PCC.
Survey
After discussion, Lorraine proposed that the survey be rejected and removed from the website (it was in St Piran’s PCC password protected section) and other forms of outreach be considered at the next meeting. Juliet seconded the motion, and it was carried unanimously.
Maintenance
Church Hall Roof - several tiles had slipped and it was being looked at as soon as possible. Hopefully damp problems will be avoided by prompt action.
Church Hall Kitchen and Toilets
These need redecoration, the funding for which needs PCC approval. Paul proposed and Kay seconded, that the funding be approved. Carried unanimously.
Any Other Business
None.
Dates of Next Meetings.
Standing Committee Meeting - 2pm, Tuesday 1st October in the Church Hall.
PCC Meeting - 2pm, Tuesday 8th October in the Church Hall.
Grace
Minutes of the Vestry Meeting after the Church Service on Sunday March 17th, 2024.
Present: All members of the PCC, with the exception of Veronica Eccleston and Tim Rogers who sent their apologies.
Rev Karen Wilson called the meeting so that the PCC could accept the financial report of St Piran’s Church, prior to the forthcoming APCM meeting.
Tricia outlined the general financial position as being very similar to last year. Tim Best had examined the reports as being a true representation. The accounts were accepted unanimously and a huge thanks was given to Trish for all the work involved.
Minutes of PCC Meeting on January 16th 2024 at 2pm in the Church Hall
Opening Prayer
Present
All members of the PCC were in attendance.
Opening statement by Rev Karen
Karen thanked everyone for all the hard work that had gone into the funerals of Owen and John at the weekend. She had received many emails commending the warm welcome in the church.
Minutes of the last PCC meeting
These were agreed and signed by Karen.
Tony, David and Tim were all concerned that they were not receiving emails from me about the minutes, and Paul agreed to look into this.
They are always available to PCC members through the website.
Matters arising
Janet told us that following her visit to Perranarworthal School, Trish and her went into the school in December to make Christingles with the children.
The headteacher accompanied four children to take part in our Christingle Service. She also attended our Carol Service and played the harp for us to enjoy.
It is hoped that this is the start of a good school / church relationship.
Living in Love and Faith
Karen explained that from December 17th 2023, prayers and blessings for some sex relationships can now be used during a Church Service, but not as a stand alone service. The House of Bishops are still in discussion about a separate same sex blessing service.
If St Piran’s wanted to use these prayers for same sex partnerships in a Sunday Service, it would have to be approved by the PCC first.
There followed a lengthy discussion as to how this would work in practice and if we wanted to approve the use of them. Initially, any couple would have to ask Rev Karen first and have a pastoral discussion with her. Only priests could carry out the blessing, not lay worship leaders. It would be announced in advance that a blessing would be included in a Sunday Service. It was felt that we wanted to continue to be a welcoming church to all.
When put to a vote, 9 were in favour, and 4 were in favour too, but wanted to give the prayers that we choose to use, further thought and reflection.
Karen explained that the Liturgy can be found on the Church of England’s website under ‘Living in Love and Faith.’
Preparation of Reports for APCM on Sunday 14th April 2024
It was explained to the secretary that these reports would have to be collated and then displayed for a fortnight before the meeting, so the deadline to send them to Kay was agreed as March 1st 2024.
Kay was going to do a zoom course to help organise her first APCM.
Succession Management
Trish reminded us that she no longer wanted to be Treasurer after April. Tony offered to help any new treasurer appointed. A unanimous vote of thanks was given to Trish, for all the hard work she has done over the years.
David also said that he was standing down as Churchwarden in April.
Veronica may be leaving in July too, so we would need another Sacristan then.
Karen agreed to give out in the notices that we are looking for people to take over these roles. All the PCC members would also give thought to how these roles could be filled.
Finance
Trish reported that the finances were in a healthy state, with total monetary assets for end of year to Dec 31st being £63,438. (This is very similar to last year). £40,358 was in the CCLA deposit account, so that it could gain 5% interest.
The MMF paid for 2023 was £18,000.
Church/ Church Hall Insurance £2,890.
Churchyard Maintenance £1,100.
Wheelchair Ramp £126.
Deposit for Altar Frontal £1,704.
Welcome Cards £64.
Candle holders £60.
All other utility and maintenance bills paid in full.
Regular Giving and Plate Collections totalled £19,500.
A donation of £500 was received from Judy Carver for the altar frontal in memory of David Golding.
The Fundraising Total for the year was £1,695.
Breakfasts / Sausage Sizzler Total for year was £1030.85, and put in the Waterside Account.
Charitable Giving Total for the year was £2,165, plus Lent Lunches raised £1510 + gift aid £227.
It was decided to continue with the Church Coffee Money going to Save the Children, and some of the Coffee Stop Money to go to the Women’s Refuge, Truro.
Fundraising
There would be a plant sale again this year, and Paul was set to do another quiz in September.
Safeguarding
Lorraine asked if in future, Safeguarding could be higher up in the agenda, due to its ongoing importance. This was duly noted.
Lorraine had received an online survey to complete for the Church of England External Safeguarding Audit. She had already completed hers, but asked for the survey to be sent to all members of the PCC for others to complete too.
The new posters entitled The Five Standards (of safeguarding) had been received for display. The five standards concern
1 Culture, Leadership and Capability
2 Prevention
3 Recognising, Assessing and Managing
4 Victims and Survivors
5 Learning, Supervision and Support
These were unanimously accepted by the PCC, and will need to be reaffirmed at the APCM each year.
There is a Safeguarding link on the website for up to date information.
There is a Safer Recruitment Course accessible online which Janet had already completed. Other PCC members can do this too.
Lorraine was thanked for all her hard work involved in keeping up with the Safeguarding procedures.
Feedback from Ministry Meeting
The meeting had been postponed and rescheduled for a later date.
Lent Course
The Waterside Churches Lent Course would start on Wednesday 14th February at 2pm in the Church Hall at St Piran’s. The other dates are 21st, 28th February and 6th, 13th March. The course is based on a book called Balance.
AOB
Janet still needed more volunteers to help her run the Lent Lunches on Tuesdays 20th and 27th February, and 5th, 12th and 19th March.
Paul reported that a National Grid team had inspected the church on Monday morning to see why we had a power outage on Sunday. It was found that the cold snap of weather, and three days of services had overloaded the system and caused the outage. This could be resolved by them, but would need our approval for the go ahead. Trish proposed we approved, David seconded it and it was passed unanimously.
Date of next meeting
APCM to take place on Sunday 14th April after the church service.
Closing Grace