PCC Ponderings

The PCC met on Tuesday May 16th in the village hall. This was Rev. Lynn’s first meeting since her installation as priest-in-charge.

The PCC welcomed both Lynn and Annie Palace as new members of the PCC; Annie has taken responsibility for health and safety at St Christopher’s, for which the PCC are most grateful.

The usual PCC topics were discussed including buildings, finances, data protection, safeguarding, health & safety and fundraising. In addition, the meeting received its first vicar’s report since the interregnum.

The meeting heard that the parish council have received three quotes for repairs to the lychgate and are in discussion with the church architect about the proposal. The working group discussing chancel furniture is to reconvene with Lynn as a member; changes in the way communion is distributed may influence how the chancel furniture is laid out and the group will take this, and other factors, into consideration so that there is optimal use of the rather restricted space. The proposal for mortar repairs, required to satisfy the church’s five-yearly (quinquennial) inspection, have been approved and are out for tender. Permission to carry out the necessary lightning conductor repairs has been requested from the archdeacon. (Repairs now completed! Editor.) Actions from the recent fire risk assessment are being progressed, in particular a means of alerting bellringers to a fire below them on practice nights when no one else is in the building. The energy survey identified some areas where electrical running costs could be reduced. Since then, we have installed more energy-efficient external floodlighting. We were pleased to learn that gas usage (our major energy cost) appears to be more efficient than average.

Options for maintaining the vicarage garden were discussed, in particular the mowing of grass and an area for visitor parking. An area inside the secondary gateway had been gravelled in the past but has subsequently become overgrown; this has been cleared and will be relaid with the recent delivery of gravel you may have seen piled near the vicarage. As previously reported in HotPott, it is expected that the school minibus may be parked here from time to time.

In her first vicar’s report, Lynn shared some of her ponderings as a newcomer to St Christopher’s, using her experience of how some other churches do things. These included increased involvement of members of St Christopher’s in our services and how we, collectively as a church, discern what God is calling us to. She also had a couple of questions relating to finances for the consideration of the PCC: firstly, having a Gift Day in our church calendar, when we consider or review our giving of both money and skills/talents/gifts to the church and its work and secondly, requesting a contribution to church funds from funeral collections. Not surprisingly, as a new priest-in-charge, she asked about our church contact list. We don’t have one! But somehow we manage to get in touch with each other and with those who come to us for baptisms, weddings, funerals, etc.. Such a list, or database, would need to comply with GDPR, and be set up and kept up to date by someone. Is this something we should put in place?

The current financial position is healthier than in 2022, with receipts matching payments so far this year. While the trend continues to be outgoings exceeding income, it is good to note that in the short window since the start of the year, these are in balance. As reported elsewhere in HotPott, the Swish sale was a real success, raising £540 – thank you to the fundraising team and their helpers for a great evening.

The next PCC meeting is to take place on Monday, 3rd July.