Contents
Minutes of the Church Meeting Held on Sunday March 21st 2010
MINUTES OF CHURCH MEETING HELD ON SUNDAY MARCH 21ST 2010
WILMSLOW UNITED REFORMED CHURCH 1. PRESENT
In the Chair: Revd Dr Kirsty Thorpe
Secretary: Chris Tarbard
Members & Friends: 69
Apologies: 23
2. DEVOTIONS were led by Kirsty Thorpe, during which she asked each member to complete a slip suggesting a local concern to be included in the prayer vigil being held between 9 and 10 am on Good Friday; this being our slot in the URC national 24/7 prayer vigil in Holy Week.
3. MINUTES OF MEETINGS HELD ON 29TH NOVEMBER 2009
These were approved and signed.
4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
i. Christmas Tree Festival. Val Lane reported that the festival had been well supported by visitors and many community organisations had displayed trees, the response from the commercial sector had been disappointing; nearly £2,000 had been raised for Macmillan Nurses. Val acknowledged with thanks the contribution by many people in organising the event. The meeting showed its appreciation to Val for her hard work and enthusiasm in organising the event.
ii. Mums and Tots. Barbara Ashcroft reported that Mums and Tots had started up again in January; between 20 and 40 children attend each week; there are 9 enthusiastic helpers, most of whom have considerable experience in working with young children. There has been very little change to the programme apart from the addition of craft activities; Norma Wood visits each week to accompany the singing. Child protection and health and safety manuals have been produced for the group and Sharon Tarbard was thanked for her help in preparing these. Barbara was thanked for all her work in ensuring the continuation of this group.
iii. Vision4Life Prayer Year. Nancy Duncan said that there are still Prayer Year Handbooks available in the Church vestibule. Alan Huntingdon had provided an excellent introduction to the Year of Prayer in February's newsletter and will be providing a further article later in the year. The Christian Education Team planned to organise a total of four 30 minute sessions following morning worship in June and September, when aspects of prayer will be considered. Members were asked to suggest issues concerning prayer that might be included in these sessions, to Nancy or Kirsty.
5. PASTORAL CARE REPORT
Alan Watson reported that in the period since the last Church meeting, Pat Barrratt and Geoff Guest had died and twenty members had been in hospital. Special thanks were extended to the many people who had helped by providing transport to those visiting relatives in hospital. Alan commented on the large amount of informal support of those who need help that goes on unreported and how very valuable this is. He emphasised how important it is that either he, Bridget of Kirsty should be informed of all support needs amongst the congregation and that it should never be assumed that they know about a problem. The next pastoral support meeting will be the on 14th April at 7pm; although the meeting is mainly for pastoral elders and the pastoral support team, it is open to any member who wishes to discuss pastoral matters, to attend.
6. FINANCE
i. Budget 2010/11. Steve Wood presented the budget for 2010/11; income projections were based on current levels with no assumptions of extra income arising from the Trio campaign. Budgeted expenditure was based on the previous year's costs adjusted for known increases and additional amounts to cover items in the Church's two year plan. The budget showed a deficit of £26,235. David Baker asked if the deficit could be eliminated by removing all transfers to reserves and Steve indicated not. George Lewis sought assurance that every effort is made to control all expenses including small items; Steve reported that significant savings had been made by the renegotiation by Michael Williams of energy charges and it was hoped that there would be savings in the cost of insurance following a thorough review by Alan Parfett; Steve promised to keep a close watch on all expenditure. Sylvia Baker questioned the inclusion of £1,000 for updating the Church website; Chris said that review of the website was part of the work of the Communications group who would bring their recommendations to the Elders and Church meeting for approval before there was any commitment to expenditure. Steve asked that the budget be adopted by the meeting on the understanding that should the deficit not be eliminated by the increased giving arising from the Trio campaign and a possible reduction in transfers to reserves following a review of those reserves, he would suggest other alternatives at the next Church meeting. This proposal was agreed unanimously.
ii. Bank Mandate. Steve reported that the Elders had passed a resolution removing Bob Sills and adding Steve Wood to the list of authorised signatories on the Church bank account.
ii. David Nye. On behalf of the Church, Iain Duncan thanked David for his nineteen years of exceptional service as treasurer and presented him with a gift from the congregation.
7. CHILD PROTECTION POLICY
Kirsty explained that the existing Child protection policy was out of date and so a new policy and procedures had been produced incorporating current views on child protection and compatible with the revised policy produced by Water Lane. Valerie Searby presented and explained the one page document containing seven policy points. The meeting was asked to accept the thirteen new procedures on the basis that they had been reviewed in detail by the Elders and to adopt the revised policy document. This was agreed unanimously. The new policy will be implemented by the Elders incrementally.
8. ELDERS' GOALS
Derek reported that the Elders' Goals had been based on the suggestions arising from the special Church meeting that discussed the 2020 vision. Small groups had been set up to work on different goals; a communications group was set up to look into all aspects of communication, another small group consisting of Richard Banwell, Liz Mair and Bridget Jackson were investigating community needs that we might be equipped to address. Some of the goals were already covered by existing teams.
9. CHRISTIAN AID WEEK
Duncan Mair reminded the meeting that Christian Aid week would run from the 9th May; this year's collection was particularly vital as Christian Aid's need for funds had been increased by the declining value of sterling and the huge additional need for resources in Haiti. It was pointed out that given the average raised per collector of £28, the Church generally and our Church in particular would be able to raise far more if more people were prepared to take part; to attract more collectors, areas would be smaller. People living in flats with restricted access were encouraged to offer to collect there. This year's appeal would concentrate on the great needs in the slum settlements surrounding Nairobi.
10. CHURCH MEMBERS' LIST
Kirsty reported that, following consultation with the people concerned, the Elders had recommended that the following should be switched from being listed as members to adherents: Judith Aldcroft, Peggy Fisher, Doris Jay, Ted and Isobel Low, Jane Newman, Jacqueline Norman, Sheran Pugh, Debra Rowarth, James and Yvonne Shinkfield. This was agreed unanimously.
11. FUTURE EVENTS AND INFORMATION
Morley Green URC. Kirsty reported that following the decision by the Church meeting at Morley Green to close the Church, the Moderator would preach there on Easter Sunday at 2.30pm and she encouraged people to offer their support by attending that act of worship. The final service would be held on April 25th at 2.00 pm.
12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held on Sunday June 27th 2010 at noon.
The meeting closed with the saying of the Grace at 1.20pm
