Honeycomb-On Line

STODDEN JOINT PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY 31ST MARCH 2009

Present: W Tusting (Chairman), Rev. J Brookshaw, Rev. D Stamps, Mrs J Botterill,
Mrs C Burgess, R Green, Mrs J Herdan, M Pond, P Morgan, Mrs H Wells, Mrs S Croft (Secretary).

Jan introduced Rev. Dennis Stamps who is part of the Diocesan's Ministry Development Team. The meeting opened with a prayer.

Apologies
H Black-Hawkins, Mrs L Salter, A Phillips, Mrs J Vasmer.

Minutes of the last meeting.
It was noted that Heather Wells was not listed under Apologies. The minutes of the meeting of 23rd February 2009 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

Matters Arising.
Stodden Parish Weekend. Peter reported that everything is in place for this weekend – encouragement from all the JPCC is needed to get people to attend events. There will be a leaflet in the next two Honeycombs listing events. Children from Eileen Wade School are hopefully going to take part in the photo competition and Peter will drop off tickets to the named people. It was suggested that leaflets could be distributed at Margaret Beaufort School. It is an ambitious programme and Jan was concerned about people′s awareness of the events. Help will be needed to set up on the Thursday before.

Treasurer‘s Report.
Mike reported that the Lent lunches had been very well attended with an average of 15/16 people and £627 had been raised so far for the Stodden charities (including Gift Aid tax) with one lunch still to take place.
Stewardship. A revised budget was circulated showing a projected deficit of £5,500 (this figure would have been £8,500 without the Pastoral Support Grant). Mike suspected that more parishes will be applying for the grant next year. We have a population of 1200 and 6 Grade I buildings to maintain, but the £500 rebate to each parish has now been stopped which helps (there has been no feedback yet from the PCCs about this). Pledged giving is down considerably. A full stewardship campaign could be started with help from Jeff Fletcher and his team from the Diocese but Mike would prefer to implement the following ideas from the ”Vision for Giving′ day given by the Diocese and Bishop last year before asking Jeff Fletcher for assistance.

• An annual letter be circulated to pledged givers including a precis of the accounts and a thank you for their past support (but not asking them to increase the amount they give – we need more people to pledge giving as opposed to the existing ones increasing). Mike passed round some samples of a laminated card that pledged givers could put in the collection plate, to save any embarrassment during collection. The card would then be returned to the giver. It was agreed that both the letter and card would be excellent ideas – Mike will ask Lesley to look into designing one.
• Have a Pledge Sunday. The only problem about this would be the logistics of having 6 parishes each having a Pledge Sunday. Would the people who travel to services become bored by the end?
• Mike offered his services to attend forthcoming PCC meetings to explain how the JPCC finances work and go through different options as to how people can support the ministry. Jan thought that everyone who worships regularly should be a pledged giver. William asked all present to offer Mike‘s services at their next PCC meeting.
• Have a centrefold article in Honeycomb with a brief summary of the income & expenditure and budget for 2009 so the wider population is aware as to how the finances work. This could be an annual article. William suggested it is put in the June issue so it will tie in with the June PCC meetings and the JPCC‘s AGM.
• A letter is written to everyone on the Electoral Roll – this again is a wider stewardship approach. This would be something for later in the year once we see how the first four ideas above are received.

William said that the JPCC are committed to a full time minister with Jan as rector. He thanked Mike for his great job and recommended that Mike takes the top four actions, with the JPCC′s full backing. Mike is also going to do a laminated summary of the 2008 finances for the 6 noticeboards.

Sabbatical leave
(Dennis Stamps)Dennis started by saying that all stipendiary clergy are offered sabbatical leave once they have been in ministry for ten years and in their current post for three years. A sabbatical helps on professional, spiritual and personal levels and all clergy come back refreshed, renewed and re-energised. Clergy undertake a project approved by the diocese, the experience/s of which is shared on their return. A budget is submitted for the project and a sabbatical grant obtained from the Diocese. Jan has had three months leave approved by the Bishop and would like to do this next year, probably from August to October. Dennis said that sabbaticals had not had negative impacts on giving or congregation numbers in the past. The whole sabbatical process will be discussed fully with PCC′s and Churchwardens. Dennis would be more than happy to answer any questions and Jan thanked him for leading this discussion. The JPCC are supportive of this.

Rector's Report
Service roster for June-August. This was discussed and the swaps etc. agreed as per the agenda.
JPCC representation. Jan said that sometimes people wish to be on the JPCC without being on the PCC – she knows of three people who would be an asset to the JPCC but they are not on their PCCs. Jan would like to propose that PCCs can nominate someone from their village to be on the JPCC (along with someone who is on the PCC). This could include people who are keen on ministry and mission but not necessarily the fabric of the church. After discussion it was agreed that this should go on the PCC agendas.
Cold churches. Jan noted that the elderly and those with heart problems are advised by doctors not to go to church during cold weather. This includes very regular worshippers and retired clergy who cover when Jan is away. Pertenhall, Swineshead and Yelden are reasonably comfortable to sit in during winter and Jan wondered about restricting winter services to these three (excluding Christmas services). It was noted that this would put an extra load onto the Churchwardens for these churches and might disappoint Dean, Melchbourne and Shelton and people who ”don‘t travel′. Jan will take this idea to the PCCs for them to go through in detail.

Points of Benefice-wide Interest.
Yelden. A small group of American veterans are coming to Yelden on 30th May to unveil a plaque in the church to commemorate servicemen from Chelveston killed in the war there. There is already in place a plaque for the children killed in the same accident which matches the new one (paid for by the village). The ceremony will be followed by tea in the Village Hall. Everyone is welcome to the service at 2 pm. Melchbourne. It was noted that the Easter dawn bonfire will now be held in the Tustings‘ garden, with breakfast afterwards.

Correspondence.
There was none.

Dates of meetings for 2009.
The following were agreed: 29th June; 8th September; 17th November and AGM on Sunday 7th June after the 10.30am service at Shelton.

Closing Prayer.
Jan thanked everyone for attending, and Dennis for staying on. The meeting finished with a prayer and the Grace and Heather was thanked for her hospitality.

Return to June Issue