Calne and Blackland PCC

The PCC is the 'management committee' of our Parish and meets approximately 6 times a year. 

Current members are:

Ex-Officio: Enid Powell (Licensed Lay Minister),Steve Keighley (Churchwarden),  Jonathan Billings (Churchwarden), Caroline Williamson (Churchwarden), Lucy Hemmings (Churchwarden)

Deanery Synod Representatives: Stan Anniss, Mary Pilcher-Clayton,

PCC Members: Richard Aldhous, Mala Tu, Jack Robinson, Graham Spencer,  Kevin Wells, David Munday,  Jane Ridgwell, Jon Gibson, Kathryn Miller, Deirdre Aldhous, Eddie Sims

Click HERE to see the annual report and account for 2023
 

Meeting of Calne and Blackland PCC
Wednesday 7th February 2024 – 7:30pm – Church House

 

Present: Deidre Aldhous, Richard Aldhous, Stan Anniss, Jonathan Billings, Revd Caspar Bush, Steven Colby, Jenny Colby, Alex Grenfell, Lucy Hemmings, Steve Keighley, Revd Teresa Michaux, Kathryn Miller, Mary Pilcher-Clayton, Jack Robinson, Jane Ridgwell, Graham Spencer, Eddie Sims, Kevin Wells, Caroline Williamson.

Apologies: Rose Cooper, Mala Tu

 

  1. Welcome, Prayer, Apologies
    Caspar opened the meeting with a reading from John 19. Then followed with Prayer.
     
  2. Minutes of meeting 8th November 2023
  3. Matters Arising
    1. Nave Altar Experiment
      There are a few congregation members who are not overly keen on the Nave Altar, as they feel that it closes the Nave off. DA suggested that we could continue this until the APCM and then get the view of the wider congregation.
      CB prefers the Nave Altar as it means he is closer to the congregation.
      JRi mentioned that people have found it easier to hear when the High Altar was being used but are happy that the Pulpit is being used. We do need to do a speaker audit as there are a lot of issues, which could sort the issue of people being unable to hear aspects of the services.

      We will carry this over to the APCM.
       
    2. Midnight Mass Incense at St Mary’s
      There has been some good feedback in regards to the use of the incense for Midnight Mass.
      It is good to have the diverse range of services and we will continue to explore options.
       
    3. Suggestion to ditch the St Mary’s solar panel possibility.
      Solar panels work well with a daily cycle, so this is not something which we need to further discuss.
       
    4. David’s Farewell Service
      We need to set a date to mark David’s Retirement with a card and collection.
      Suggestion of a gift - something in the wood turning area? We would also need to approach his family so they are in the loop.
      We do have some ex-choir members who are really keen to take part in a choral event for David in the future.
        ACTION – DA to sort collection and notices of collection.
        ACTION – CB to contact the family.
        ACTION – KP to ensure card makes it to St Mary’s.
  4. Treasurer’s Report
    Graham is currently compiling the figures for the year so there is nothing major to report at this time.
    A legacy has come in from someone who has previously been a member of the church family and was a committed giver. Graham is proposing to add it to the ‘Pending Allocation’ area of the accounts, so this is not swallowed by the General Fund.
     

PROPOSAL: Kathryn Miller proposes the PCC provide the Calne Partnership of Churches with the £75 they requested.
SECONDED: Mary Pilcher-Clayton  ALL in favour.

PROPOSAL: Jane Ridgwell proposes the Bell fees for 2024, it has been suggested £200 (20% of which comes to the PCC).
SECONDED: Deirdre Aldhous  ALL in favour.

 

    1. Stewardship Campaign
      See attached report.
      CB had asked GS to give us a broad idea on the deficit for this year £37,000.
      We do need to look at replacing the Musical Director, after David’s requirements, this would be roughly £15,000 per annum.
      We should we acknowledge that compared to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ around the world, we do not wholly know what difficulties are. Due to this, should we also be making more of an obvious outreach to other organisations, with our links to Sudan, South Sudan, and more local social action charities which we could partner with.

      If we were to look at bringing in roughly £60,000 extra a year, this would aid in the general deficit.
      Are people not giving because they are not sure what they could or should give when they want to support us. The average giver in Salisbury Diocese is roughly £45 per month, so this might be a marker for some people to see what they could give whether it is more or less. Roughly £85 a month nationally via the Parish Giving Scheme.
      CB would like to encourage those on the electoral roll to aid with the giving if they do not currently give to us.
      There needs to be some serious consideration on how we can approach this.

      We’ve got past materials, materials from Anna which can help with the campaign. It is important to remember that Stewardship is not just money, it is also time and talents.

      ACTION - JRi and CB will put some material together and then we can review this as a PCC and then after Easter/end of April we could then put this out into the wider parish.
      Within this, we could also mention the reordering of St Mary’s as there have been so many mentions of this.
       
  2. Buildings and Churchyards
    See attached report.
    After the triennial we need to have all the electric wiring and PA testing done. This will be done in the second/third week of March for St M and HT and the 14th Feb for St P.

     
    1. St Mary’s tower roof/other buildings plans
      Contract for the tower roof has been placed and they have been encouraged to await lighter evenings and better weather and the price has not been effected. We have only gone with the due minimum and so we do need to think about our priorities.
      A sensor on the heating system was broken and so the system automatically thought we were at -100. As a result, we were running the heating from the mains to aid in the reduction of gas consumption. The heating is software driven and this is already 9/10 years old.
      The heating system sensors are irreplaceable, we have now tricked the system into thinking all the sensors are working correctly. This is not a long-term solution but is working for the time being. Astute System Services have quoted roughly £5,000 for a new system. RA will go back to them to get a further breakdown to see if this is something we can action. Once RA has got the information and the Building’s Group have discussed this, it will come back to the PCC. This will not need DAC approval for any changes made as we are only updating the existing system.

      We have good outlying plans for the reordering, however, we now have so much else going on, our reordering plans will go out to general consultation in (potentially) the autumn. It has been suggested by the Archdeacon and George Chedburn, that before we put out the different plans to the wider congregation and we show these to the DAC so we know what they will allow us to do and what we cannot do.
        ACTION – Building’s to put something into a     newsletter.

      Richard Aldhous proposes building a plinth to house the card reader, so it is more obvious to members of the congregation/community.
      SECONDED: Steve Keighley   ALL in favour
       
    2. St Peter’s
    3. Holy Trinity
      Triennial – Lightening conductor needs checking as this has not been done for a few years.

 

    1. Church House
    2. Holy Trinity Churchyard
      Calne Town Council are interested in having the added land. They would also voluntarily maintain the 1896 area of the churchyard.
      Allotments will be at Priestley Grange, our allotment owners who lose their HT allotments will be given an allotment at the new site on a first refusal basis.
      CB would like to pass this over to the council. We cannot do this if it is consecrated land.
      We could hand over the land and ask the Council to keep the Churchyard Regulations and so it remains in keeping with the existing.
       
  2. Safeguarding
    We are missing Safer Recruitment representatives, Caspar and Eddie are going to do the training for this so we are covered.
    Dashboards are now in place on the Diocese system and so all aspects of parish safeguarding can be monitored.
     

PROPOSAL: Mary Pilcher-Clayton proposes Alison Keighley and Carolyn Burleson-Webb to join the home communion team.
SECONDED: Eddie Sims  ALL in favour

 

  1. Prayer and Discipleship

Lent groups will be commencing next week. The group have acquired the Lord’s Prayer Reflection booklets.
Review of the new arrangements for four weeks on the prayer list. There is a general consensus that this is working well.
 

  1. Deanery

Diocese Secretary, David Pain, will be at the next meeting, and all are welcome to attend this. It will be held at Marden House at 7.30pm on 20th February 2024.
 

  1. Children/Young People/Schools
    CB extended thanks to people who work week by week who aid in the nurturing of faith in our young people and the outreach into schools.

    See attached report. Could we potentially start that once a month in St Mary’s where it can be more child focused? This is something that could commence in the autumn, but further discussions will be had about this.
     
  2. St Mary’s Choir – youth choir proposal
    See report attached
    Rather than trying to find an exact replacement for David, but could we try and replace in a role which is more of an outreach person where they not only provide the music for the churches but also draw them in by learning to sing.
    There are considerations to be made as to the different age ranges.
     

This person needs to be able to also grow the potential of the existing adult choir. The initial scope for this is St Mary’s but this can then grow out to the other churches, if and when, the time suits.
 

There will be an evolution of the music we may sing when the children’s choir are established to enable the retention of the children. This would not change all the music we sing at St Mary’s.

Someone in this role would be earning roughly £45 an hour on a freelance basis, and we would not be a stable income. However, we could offer this on a more stable basis with NI payments and Pension payments.

PROPOSAL: Richard Aldhous proposes on the basis on a £15,000 (roughly) fee, using the most recent legacy, to underwrite this scheme as a starting point.
SECONDED: Kathryn Miller   ALL in favour 

 

  1. Rector’s report
    1. New Team Vicar – Sarah Errington
      Licensing in Derry Hill.
       
    2. Teresa’s retirement
      Vacancy will be triggered automatically due to Teresa’s retirement. CB would potentially welcome a trainee curate into post, we may benefit from gaining a curate as we do have the house.
      We will not be able to gain one until September 2025, and the diocese are content to rent the house out.
    3. St Mary’s Locked Gate – correspondence and CCTV Camera

CB received a letter with concerns over being met with the locked gate. There is a CCTV camera in church which is monitored in the town’s control room, and yet this is always switched off. Could we move this out to the porch and so it can be used and the gates remaining open?
Although, we may encounter issues with the movement of the camera itself and the wiring.
 

    1. Worship Planning – Maundy Thursday
      Clergy and PCC are responsible for the worship life, and although we have a valued ministry team, we do not want to continue leaving members of the Lay Team out of this loop.
      Maundy Thursday service with meal and worship with the vigil and foot washing.
       
    2. Calne Spring Sing – 27th April 2024 10am til 1pm
      Although we have a wedding, CB will be running this but without refreshments.
       
    3. Vestry Clear out

We have lots of vestments in the Vestry. Keith, Eve and CB will be going through the vestments that are in the Clergy Vestry at St Mary’s.
 

  1. Friends Groups
    Friends Groups are not being scrapped, providing that they are a running body.
     
  2. Partnership of churches
    Lantern Parade proved a great success.
    Good Friday Act of Witness in the town centre with the larger cross and walk it through the town.
    Baptist Church have appointed a new Minister, they will be starting on the 1st March 2024.
     
  3. AOB
    1. Electoral roll update
      There has been a single addition to the electoral roll.
       
    2. Holy Trinity School decoration

Saturday 10th February 2024 between 1pm and 4pm, if people could let Eddie know if they can help.
 

  1. Date of Next Meeting
    PCC – Wednesday 10th April 2024.
    APCM – Sunday 5th May 2024
     

 

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