Minutes of the PCC of St Peters Draycott, 19th April 2005

· Deanery Synod. We need to reappoint representatives this year. Sylvia Dingley agreed to be a representative again, and Wendy Cartwright volunteered to be the other one. Their names would go forward to the APCM.

· General members: Tricia Heckbert might be willing to stand, but she is not yet on the electoral role.
ACTION: RD to drop a form round to her.

6 b. School Governors.

We had received a letter from the chair of governors, Jane Hampton, describing the requirements for new appointments this year (i.e. by 1^st Sept.). On the one hand, there is the requirement for 3 new foundation governors; on the other, that a third of the governors be parents of children currently at the school. We have already appointed Lorne Talbot, whose child will be leaving the school this year (i.e. before September). Since only one of the current governors is a current parent, both the new governors should have children at the school to achieve our quota.
ACTION: the PCC noted this requirement, whilst pointing out that it was also important to us that foundation governors be practicing Christians, or at the very least sympathetic to the Christian ethos of a church school.

6 c. Vicarage.

The tenants have left, but when empty the vicarage becomes our responsibility (even though the rent does not accrue to us when it is occupied!). The key is currently with the plumber. Normally the key is with Cluttons in Wells, but since they are closing down it will need to be given to Anagrams
ACTION: Wardens to discuss with incumbent.

6 d. Fisherman’s mission.

Stanley had received a letter from Tim Mowat of the Fisherman’s Mission that he had asked us to discuss. Whist asking us for financial support Mr. Mowat offered to talk to us on the subject. Were we interested in this? Several viewpoints were expressed, including: a). we had enough commitments (including charitable) without initiating a new one; b). this was not a natural area for us to be involved with, as the parish had not previously taken any interest in this it, and c) there were initiatives that might have priority over it, such as the ‘make poverty history’ campaign, which seemed to be achieving some momentum at the moment and had a global reach.
ACTION: Put this to one side for the present. We need to complete the review of our giving principles and priorities before going into a new area such as this.

6 e. Letter for Thea’s attention

(passed on).

6 f. Keys to Church.

We discussed arrangements for access to church keys whilst Audrey was away and came to a workable solution.

7. Items for Discussion

7 a. Worship

Our revision of worship (as agreed in previous PCCs) is in progress. NB. in May, there will be 3 joint services with Rodney Stoke. Also – the May rotas for Draycott will be a separate insert in the newsletter.

7 b. Fabric

i. Will the boiler need servicing? Possibly later in the summer, after the controls have been moved.

ii. Overflowing drain outside the back door? Seems to have settled- but we need to keep a watch on it.

7 c. Finance

i. Current position- on separate sheet.

ii. Covenants- several have lapsed, but 3 new ones have been gained. We are claiming back £1,904 in tax this year.

iii. We have not paid any further parish share since the last meeting.

7 d. Fund Raising

i. Due to the late arrival of Mr. Chedburn’s letter (with builder’s estimates for the next phase of church repair) we had an extraordinary meeting of the PCC to agree our submission to English Heritage (this took place on Easter Sunday). As agreed at this meeting, Victor went ahead with the plan costed at £70,000. Normally 25% of this would come from our own funds, and taking into account our contribution to the project since English Heritage became involved we are still about £11,000 short. However Victor has made the case that we have already spent more than this from our reserves before English Heritage’s involvement. We will have to wait for their response.

ii. VE celebrations. We are expecting about £1000 from this fund raising event. We will need to pay £35 for a lottery licence renewal, for the raffle. At the moment raffle tickets and admission tickets are selling slowly, but these generally pick up nearer the time. Please look out for the lists of items still needed- items for the food hamper raffle prize, and desserts for dinner on the night. We are also selling VE aprons and tea towels for further funds. NB. we have also decided that the ‘family ticket’ should not exceed £30.

iii. Village response to the bookstall appeal has been disappointing, but we project income of £300 from book sales.

7 e. School Governors

(nothing new)

7 f. Community in the Church

A group had been convened and had two meetings. We were preparing something to present to the PCCs at a later date, but it was currently at the stage of being planned and costed.

7 g. LMGs

Proposals had been presented at the last Deanery Synod by Brian Cooper. The plan presented put Draycott in the ‘Cheddar Valley’ LMG with Rodney Stoke, Cheddar Wedmore, Theale, Blackford, Axbridge, Shipham, Rowberrow, Bradgworth, Biddisham, Christon, Compton Bishop, Loxton and Weare, covered by 3 ½ clergy (full time equivalent). We had previously expressed our dismay at such a large LMG (see PCC meeting of 17/03/05, item 6 c). RD said that this only had the status of a proposal and we should not get too concerned at this stage of discussions.
ACTION: none further at the moment- we have already made our opinion clear.