Minutes of Little Malvern Priory Parochial Church Council Annual Meeting 24th April 2009

Little Malvern Priory
(Church of England)

Item 1: Present: See list of attendees at the Easter Vestry Meeting

Apologies: As for the Easter Vestry Meeting

Item 2 Last sentence of item 5 substitute “thanked” for “thankd”. With this ammendment the minutes of the Annual Meeting held on 23rd April 2008 were taken as an accurate record.

Item 3 Matters arising: There were no matters arising.

Item 4 Copies of the Churchwardens’ Report had been distributed. This covered issues relating to church fabric.

Item 5 Annual Report & Financial Statement (Copies of these had been distributed.)

The Treasurer reported a satisfactory year - income for the year 2008 was lower than that received in 2007. Income generation was considered efficient due to the extensive use of envelopes whereby the basic rate of tax could be reclaimed. Once again generous donations from the Friends of Little Malvern Priory and from the Hawthorne Trust were gratefully acknowledged.

The treasurer thanked Sir Nigel Nicholls for his suport in checking the accounts and Dorothy Devlin for her contribution in formally certifying them.

He concluded by stating that he was prepared to continue as Treasurer for one more year. Canon Knowles thanked Bernard Pierce for his work and Sir Nigel Nicholls for co-ordinating the Annual Report.

It was proposed by Clover Webb and seconded by Sue Johnson that the Annual Report and Accounts should be accepted. This was agreed unanimously.

Item 6 Report on the Electoral Roll

Ramon Wyre noted that of the 111 persons appearing on the electoral roll for 2009 105 were not resident within the parish of Little Malvern. During the year the names of five persons were withdrawn and an additional ten fresh names added to last years electoral roll.

Item 7 Report from the Chaplain

The main points are provided in the Annual Report for 2008.

In addition:

Two weddings; John & Joanne England

Uri & Sarah Alassov

One baptism; Toby Maskell

One funeral; Barry Henderson

As part of our support for the Chaplain for Agriculture & Rural Life we organised and ran the refreshments for the Church Tent at the 3 Counties Show. That took quite a lot of effort.

You also made a very special occasion of celebrating my 25 years of priesthood. Thank you. Your thoughtfulness over that meant a great deal to me.

Under Section 7 General of the Annual Report there is a note of thanks for all the work that is carried out by various people. So much is done by so many that it was almost impossible to list everything and hence the “thanks to those who help in so many other ways”.

On your behalf I would like to say a special “Thank you” to Valerie, my wife. Without her support it would not be possible for me to do what I do to the extent that I do it. Her support comes in two forms; one is an arm around the shoulders and the other is a timely and well-placed boot. “Thank you Valerie. I’m sorry you have needed to replace your boots so often”.

Item 8 Report on the Deanery Synod

Copies of the report prepared by George Bryden had been distributed. Canon Knowles thanked him for representing the church in the deanery.

Item 9 Report on Churches Together in Malvern

Roger Johnson said he saw the organisation as a useful conduit for information to pass betweeen churches and will arrange for items to be passed to our webmaster for use on the LMP website. With the support of Churches Together in Malvern, this year’s Music X Festival will take place in the Priory Park in the afternoon of Saturday 20th June. It was noted that there was a shortage of male singers for this event.Canon Knowles thanked him and Jenny Pierce for their work.

Item 10 Report on the Friends of Little Malvern Priory

Canon Knowles said that the Friends have given a great deal of support over the past year, which has had a considerable effect on the life of the church. A more detailed report will be given at the Friends’ AGM on 19th May. The AGM will be followed by a talk on the history of Little Malvern Priory by Dr A Burge and Sir Nigel Nicholls on the origins and purpose of the hatchments mounted on the walls within the church. The Tosello window was now installed and a date for its dedication was to be confirmed. Canon Eric Knowles expressed thanks for the work undertaken by Jocelyn in overseeing this.

Item 11 Report on Mission Support

11.1 Long Lartin Chaplaincy

Two members of our congregation have continued to attend morning service at Long Lartin once a month. Jenny Pierce and Pam Bevan. We are grateful for their commitment and the Chaplaincy Team are very appreciative of our support in general. It would be good if others could also volunteer to join Jenny & Pam.

Revd. Fritha Middlemiss retired in June 2008. Jeffrey Hayward, the prison chaplain, has introduced a service of praise, without Holy Communion, on each fifth Sunday. This is to help those prisoners who are unfamiliar with church services and may otherwise feel somewhat daunted and uncomfortable. Jenny Pierce outlined the kind reception which Bernard, Pam and she had received when attending services at Long Lartin.

“We were invited to stay for a further chapel service. This is for the prisoners on the support wings. We received a very appreciative welcome by these prisoners, as it was the first time they had been joined by Sunday Friends, and they were keen to chat to us afterwards over coffee. Rob, one of the Sunday Friends, played his guitar to accompany the singing”.

Jenny found the most moving part of both services was the time given to extempore prayer.

The Lenten talks by Jeffrey Hayward and the Chaplaincy Team from Long Lartin provided a valuable insight of the work undertaken by the Chaplaincy.

Canon Eric Knowles thanked Jenny, Bernard and Pam for their support to the Long Lartin Chaplaincy.

11.2 Chaplaincy for Agricultural and Rural Life (CARL)

This has now resolved into active support for the Farm Crisis Network by Alistair and Wendy Booth. They provide telephone support for the Farm Crisis Network. One area of concern was the transmission of tuburculosis to cattle by badgers. The work of the FCN was hampered by the lack of volunteers. This fact would be broadcast in a future issue of the “Pewsletter”. CARL had received financial support from Worcester which had enabled a trailer to be purchased for promoting awareness of their work.

11.3 Chaplaincy of Sherrards Green

We have been in contact with the Revd Clare Griffiths during the year and we have been exchanging magazines. The church is very appreciative of our support. There has been no requirement yet for any financial donation. At Canon Eric Knowles request Alexandra Berington met with the Revd. Clare Griffiths to discuss her work and what support LMP PCC might be able to provide. It was noted that the sum of £1,500 previously allocated to CARL had not been used. This was being made available to support the chaplaincy of Sherrards Green once a suitable project was defined. To discuss priority areas for support David Griffiths has on behalf of Revd. Griffiths, agreed to provide the PCC with a budgeted list.

There followed a discussion on the best use of the money we have put aside for mission support. Asked whether the current Mission Support was appropriate it was proposed that the current provision continue. This proposal was accepted and approved unanimously.

Item 12 Election of Honorary Examiner

That Dorothy Devlin continue as honorary examiner was proposed by and seconded by .

Item 13 PCC Members

Three members of the PCC were due to stand down at the end of their five year term. These were Wendy Booth, Susan Johnson and Sir Nigel Nicholls. Nominations for the PCC had been received from Alistair Booth, Ramon Wyre and Mike Pollard. Clover Webb proposed that these nominations be accepted, Susan Johnson seconded the proposal which was carried unanimously.Joan Holland proposed that the other current members and PCC officers ie Treasurer and Secretary be elected en bloc. Wendy Booth seconded this and it was agreed unamimously.

Item 14 PCC Officers

It was proposed by Sue Johnson and seconded by Jocelyn Bailey that Bernard Pierce continue as Treasurer, and further propoed by Bernard Pierce, seconded by Alexandra Berington that Derek Webb continue as Secretary. This was approved unanimously by PCC members.

Item 15 Election of Sidesmen

There were two vacancies as Roger Johnson and Clover Webb had said that they wished to stand down this year. Alexandra Berington, Barbara Wyre and Peter Williams had agreed to be proposed as sidemen. All those otherwise currently serving had agreed to continue. That the fresh nominations be accepted was proposed by Bernard Pierce seconded by Wendy Booth and carried unanimously.

Item 16 Election of Deanery Synod Representatives

That George Bryden and Irene Tretheway continue as the LMP representatives on the Deanery Synod was proposed by Valerie Knowles and seconded by Bernard Pierce. This was agreed unanimously. Canon Knowles noted that as our electoral roll exceeded 100 we were entitled to have three representatives at the Deanery Synod. George Bryden suggested that Jocelyn Bailey might be prepared to act as the third representative. Action EGK to approach Jocelyn with this suggestion.

Item 17 Date and time of next Easter Vestry and Annual Parochial Meeting

Tuesday, 27th April 2010 at 7.00 p.m. in the church

Item 18 Any Other Business

18.1 Canon Knowles expressed his deep gratitude to all those in the community who contribute in so many different ways to the life of the church.

18.2 Please note the dates when we have Choral Evensongs. They are in the Pewsletter.

18.3 We are all concerned about sharing our faith and particularly through the ministry of this church. It is not done simply by keeping the building in good repair. It is a question of keeping our spiritual life in good repair both as individuals and as a church. That is why we have the study sessions during Lent, the devotions during Holy Week and the preparation sessions in Advent. These are important opportunities for spiritual growth and I ask you to make them a priority in your diaries. If there is any specific area you would like to explore please let me know and I will bear it in mind.

18.4 The Church is again running the programme of “Back to Church” in September (27^th). People lose touch with church for all sorts of reasons but would come back with an invitation. There is a session at Worcester to talk about this on 18^th June. If anyone is interested and would like a lift please let me know.

D B Webb

11/06/2009

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