The Parochial Church Council (PCC) currently has a membership of 34. The PCC will meet on approximately six occasions each year, with the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) taking place every April. The Chairman of the PCC is the Rector, with John Allen holding the position of Vice Chairman. Reporting to the PCC are five committees; Fabric, Finance & Stewardship, Worship, Publicity and Social. The following act as Chairs of these committees:
Fabric Diana Hampson
Finance & Stewardship John Ankers
Worship The Rector
Publicity John Uden
Social No Chair Appointed - run by committee
This page will provide regular updates on PCC and Committee meetings. We hope you find it informative and that it gives you an insight into the work that the PCC and Committee members undertake. Minutes/points of interest will appear on this page; when available.
At the meeting held in June the PCC heard that:
The crèche for the Parish Communion service is now up and running manned by a happy band of volunteers drawn from our young families.
We are up to date with our Parish share and should we keep up the good work (which we have every intention of doing!) we are in line for a 2% reduction next year. Not to be sneezed at when you consider that we pay over £100,000!
The fabric committee have asked Nick Rank, our architect, to contact the manufacturers with regard to the poor state of the brass handles on the doors at the back of church.
There will be scaffolding erected outside parts of the church some time in the not too distant future to facilitate some repairs to the exterior of the building.
The Rector would like to move the ombre into the South Chapel – the PCC approved this
The Garden Party was a very happy and successful event, raising £716. Our congratulations got to the social committee.
The Fashion Show has had to be cancelled due to lack of support
We need volunteers for the congregation cricket team.
A trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach has been arranged for August – look out for the Rector on the Big One!!
A stronger list of Sunday School Teachers is now in place.
A service of quiet prayer and the laying on of hands is to be put in place later in the year.
Diana Hampson has gained sponsorship of £3,000 from Laing O’Rourke for staging in church
The Choir School has received a donation of £5,000 from the Ousley Trust.
Hilary Ankers – PCC secretary
PRESENT: Alan Davies, Rev John Findon, Diana Hampson, Margaret Hutchinson, Nigel Rushworth and John Uden.
Appointment of Chair of the Committee: In the absence of other expressions of interest, John Uden reluctantly agreed to continue as Chair.
Co-opted members – John Findon had gained the agreement of two parishioners, John Dyson and Bob Hargreaves, to offer some assistance in publicity matters. It was agreed that each be sent a copy of the Committee’s “to do” list to establish which areas would interest them.
Minutes of the previous meeting (1March 2010) were approved as a true record.
Matters Arising:
External signs – Fabric Committee had agreed to order a rigid notice board to replace the existing banner on the railings at the entrance to the church.
The Chair indicated he would produce some temporary signs to help people find their way to the Blackburne Hall for the bric-brac sales.
“Welcome” plaque had now been fixed to the wall in the entrance to the church. It was reported that Mr Malley felt the silvered screw caps were too shiny and detracted from the plaque’s visual appeal.
Photo gallery – Alan Davies agreed to press Stuart Wilkinson to take the required photographs in the current month.
Nigel passed round a bound book of photographs of the church, taken by Chris Bowdreym, which had been presented to Flo Leeming. It was agreed that as these were of such good quality it would be very useful if the photographer would allow us to use them in our publications. Nigel agreed to ask Flo if she would contact Chris about his willingness for us to use his original digital images.
The Rector agreed to contact Andy Marshall to see when he intended to take some more photos for us to use, as he had already agreed to do.
Parish Profile – The Rector indicated he was drafting a new Parish Profile in order to attract a curate for the church, but felt it needed to be made more attractive by the inclusion of images. Diana offered to edit together the text and pictures, but we did not have many images of parish activities. John Allen and Ben Hardman were mentioned as potential sources of suitable photos.
Parish Magazine – No response had been received to the appeal in the April magazine for people to help in the production of the magazine. Diana spent much time finding material as well as editing the whole magazine. The only regular contributors were the Rector and John and Pat Uden. It was agreed that various parish groups be asked to provide material from a named individual on a regular basis, with someone taking on the role of asking for and chasing material.
An alternative might be to reduce the magazine to a large pew sheet which would be given away free, each week to all who attended services and to visitors at other times.
Parish website – Some modifications had taken place recently to keep the information on the site as current as possible. It had been agreed to indicate the existence of church Health and Safety Policies through the website. Discussions had occurred between Owen Thomas, Alan Davies and John Uden to agree how this should be done.
Forthcoming events - It was noted that despite the cancellation of the planned Fashion Show in June, we would have a number of events to promote and report on, including the Garden Party, Cricket Match, Pilgrimage and Heritage Open Days. It would be better if we could stage more activities during this latter event. Although the lunchtime concert would take place, we could not run this free of charge, but we could consider running a tour at 2.00pm on the Friday and Saturday, explore the opening of the bell tower to the public and offer a children’s trail, for which the Rector had some material.
It was also noted that the production of “Joseph” would take place on 4 September in church. By then it was hoped to have our own staging that would fill the front of the nave just before the chancel screen and steps. The choice was between a commercial stage system and one which could be manufactured in-house. One commercial system was demonstrated to the Committee. A sponsor to pay for the staging had been found.
Developments with Bury Attractions Group – A number of plans were afoot with individual members of the Group as well as with the Group as a whole. The Met were planning to promote a concert by Martin Simpson, a folk singer of some renown, using the church as a venue, on Thursday 18 November. Contact was being made with Helen Castle the
Priorities for the year ahead – A substantial list of potential actions had been circulated by the Chair to members for consideration. In view of the possible input from the two additional co-opted members it was agreed to wait and see what areas they were willing to work on, before prioritising further tasks.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.30pm
Present: Mr J D Ankers in the chair, Mr N D Rushworth, Mrs P Uden, Mr K Bowden and the Rector
The meeting opened with a prayer.
Apologies were accepted from Mr J Allen, Mr D Calrow, Mr K Sedman, Mr R Tait and Mr L Yarwood
1. The minutes of the meeting held on 03.03.10 were approved as a correct record
Matters arising:
Nigel presented some meter reading information. There has been very little change in gas usage over the past 3/4years. In view of the extreme winter weather and the increased opening of the church building, the figures confirm that efficiency savings have been achieved by the installation of the new boiler system.
The figures for low tariff electricity look anomalous. The figures for the period January 09 to March 10 are much higher than the previous equivalent period. Nigel is to double check these figures and will investigate further if necessary.
Treasurer’s report:
Nigel presented the figures given at the meeting of the PCC. Income and expenditure are broadly in line with expectation.
Nigel reported that he still has not heard anything from Mr Tony Taylor re the completion of the audit of the accounts. We have received a letter from Mazars, a firm of accountants, outlining some initial thoughts regarding the VAT a propos the House on the Rock. They recommend that we should consult VAT specialists re the separation of these accounts from those of the church. There will be a cost implication with this and Nigel suggested he talk this through with Tony Taylor and agreed to obtain an order of cost.
House on the Rock: Nigel gave the meeting details re sales for this year which continue to be encouraging. He reported that Mrs Hutchinson has settled in very well. He is considering closing at 4:30pm as opposed to 5:00pm as there is very seldom any custom during the last 30 minutes of opening. £8,000 has been transferred from the church account to the shop account to pay for N I and tax.
Contracts of employment: this is being actioned in the near future.
A O B - no items were raised.
Date of the next meeting: to be agreed at the June PCC meeting
