St. John’s Church, Bellerby
Annual Reports of the Parochial Church Council for the year ended 31st December 2022
Annual Parochial Church Meeting
25th May 2023
Reverend Stephen Hanscombe, The Vicarage, I’Anson Close, Leyburn DL8 5LF
25th May 2023 at 7 p.m. in St John’s Church, Bellerby
2023 AGENDA
Worship / Opening Prayers
Business of the Parishioners Meeting
Opening Prayers
Apologies for absence
Approval of the minutes of the Business of the Parishioners Meeting 2022
Matters arising
Election of Churchwardens
Business of the Church Meeting
Apologies for absence
Approval of the minutes of the Business of the Church Meeting 2022
Matters arising
Reports:
Electoral Roll Report
PCC Secretary Report
Treasurer’s Report
Churchwardens’ Report
Deanery Synod Report
Environmental Report
Safeguarding Report
Curate’s Report
Vicar’s Report
Election of the PCC
Election of Deanery Synod Representative
Appointment of Independent Examiner
Governance
Any Other Business
Closing Worship / prayers
Followed by procedural meeting to elect Lay Vice-Chair of PCC and to appoint Treasurer, PCC Secretary and Electoral Roll Officer
ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING
Annual Parochial Church Meeting
Minutes of the meeting of 19th May 2022 held in St John’s Church
Present: Reverend Stephen Hanscombe (Chair), Jan Carnell (Secretary) and 10 Parishioners
Business of the Parishioners Meeting
Reverend Stephen Hanscombe welcomed everyone to the meeting which is open to anyone living in the Parish.
The meeting opened with a reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans which talks about hope and trust and with prayer.
Apologies: Howard Binks
Minutes of the Parishioners Meeting 2021: Marcia Singleton proposed, and Kathleen Fuller seconded that as there were no comments or corrections that the Chair sign them as a correct record of the meeting. All agreed.
Matters Arising: None.
Election of Churchwardens 2022:
Two nominations for Churchwarden had been received from:
Hilda Price and Roger Jay
As there were no other nominations Hilda was duly re-elected Churchwarden and Roger was elected as Churchwarden for the coming year.
Stephen thanked Hilda and Roger for taking on the role of Churchwarden and said that it was a real bonus for the church community that we once again have two Churchwardens.
Stephen thanked Hilda for standing again and for all her work during the last year and thanked Roger for standing and wanting to work with us and be part of the leadership of the church.
This concluded the business of the Parishioners Meeting, and the Chair called the meeting to a close.
Annual Parochial Church Meeting
Minutes of the meeting of 19th May 2022 held in St John’s Church
Present: Reverend Stephen Hanscombe (Chair), Jan Carnell (Secretary) and 10 Parishioners
Business of the Church Meeting
This meeting is open to all those on the Electoral Roll of the church.
Apologies: Howard Binks
Minutes of the Business of the Church Meeting 2021: Steve Wilkinson proposed, and Kathleen Fuller seconded that as there were no comments or corrections that the Chair sign them as a correct record of the meeting. All agreed.
Matters Arising: The bell is now back in place.
Traditionally it is rung a few minutes before the service on a Sunday morning.
If there are people who would like to have a go at ringing the bell that would be great. Roger will put a rota together of those willing to ring.
We also need to establish at what other services, events and special occasions the bell should be rung. We will discuss this at the next PCC meeting.
Electoral Roll Report: There were 30 names on the revised roll at the 2021 APCM. Since then, no names have been added and two names have been removed making a total of 28 names on the Bellerby Parish Electoral Roll at the APCM 2022. The next full revision of the roll will be in 2025.
Annual Report of the PCC: There were no comments or questions and Stephen thanked Jan for her report.
Annual Report and Financial Statement 2021: The Annual Report and Financial Statement 2021 had already been approved by the PCC. Paul is producing the annual accounts in line with the Diocese’s recommendations, which makes them much easier to read and interpret. At the end of 2021 the deficit was £8,589 and we ended up with reserves of £17,275. The good news is that planned giving has increased, however we’re still not getting enough in through our planned giving to cover the church’s basis running costs.
We need to encourage people to give by either standing order or the Parish Giving Scheme rather than putting cash in the plate. This will allow us to plan ahead. We will consider how to approach this.
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Stephen thanked Paul for his work on our finances.
Appointment of the Independent Examiner: Bob Walker proposed, and Marcia Singleton seconded that David Liddell continues as our Independent Examiner. All agreed.
Fabric Report: We have had the architect to carry out the Quinquennial inspection. There will be some things raised from this, but the architect says that on the whole the building is sound which is very encouraging. We need to make sure that all our electrical testing is done on a regular basis and kept up to date so we have had the PAT testing done this week.
We can find no record of the lightning conductor ever having been serviced so we have arranged for this to be carried out and a contract put in place.
The Electrical Condition Installation Report was last done 5 years ago and is due again in July. Jan has contacted the electricians this morning to organise this to be carried out.
We will hopefully have the Quinquennial Report within the next month where we will get more details of anything further that needs our attention.
Election of Deanery Synod Representatives: Bellerby is entitled to 1 representative on the Deanery Synod. There were no nominations and so Bellerby continues to be unrepresented. Stephen urged that if anyone was interested in being involved with the Deanery Synod that they should speak to him. We have included reports in the booklet from Deanery Lay Chair Bob Matthew’s and Robin Newsam who is the Deanery Synod representative at Leyburn.
The Deanery Synod is seeking to be more proactive and to try and get a voice for the parishes and people of Wensley Deanery to Diocesan Synod because if we don’t speak out they won’t know what our challenges are. It is our place to have a voice and be part of the decision-making process.
Safeguarding Report: There were no questions on the report.
Vicar’s Report: Stephen expanded on his Booklet Report.
When reflecting on the last year it was almost a challenge to remember what happened as the year began with more lockdowns. However, it was good to start getting the worshipping communities back together as the year went on and in particular starting our new pattern of worship across the benefice in September. The response to these changes has been very encouraging. The Christmas Fair was a great success as we worked together with those at St
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Matthews.
We need to look forward not back and try and focus on what God is telling us through all that we have done. He is telling us, calling us, to focus on the good news of the Gospel. He is telling us of the importance and value of community. This community here in Bellerby is really good at coming together, working together and supporting each other and that reflects out into the community because it signifies who we are.
There is strength in numbers and by working together as the two churches we can do so much more, and Stephen is encouraged by the work we have done so far.
God is telling us to look at the new green shoots and not the dead wood – the things that are going well and helping us to move forward.
Stephen wanted to thank everyone here for the part they play within the church and community. Here everyone just gets on and does stuff and that is such a reassurance to him, and it feels like real support. He thinks that here at Bellerby we are on a really positive road and way forward.
Election of the PCC: St Johns’s has 6 elected places for laity onto the PCC.
The following nominations were received:
Kathleen Fuller
Caroline Humphris
Liz Scott
Marcia Singleton
Bob Walker
Steve Wilkinson
Howard Binks has today resigned his place on the PCC but he will continue to support us from the pews. Stephen thanked Caroline for standing for PCC – it is good to have a new voice joining us.
As there were no other nominations all were duly elected to serve on the PCC for the coming year.
Any Other Business: None
The meeting was duly closed and followed by a presentation on Safeguarding by Marcia Singleton who was appointed as Benefice Safeguarding Officer earlier in the year.
Stephen thanked Marcia for all the work she has done in her safeguarding role over the past few months.
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ELECTORAL ROLL REPORT
Following a personal review of the Electoral Roll in August 2022, historical errors were found. Having corrected these, no names have been added and no names have been removed at the APCM 2023 so the number on the roll now stands at 24.
Jan Carnell Electoral Roll Officer
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PCC
With meetings back in full swing following the restrictions of the pandemic it was good to be able to get back together once again on a regular basis. Many of the things that had been put on hold could now be moved forward and put into action.
Safeguarding has been a major talking point for members following the appointment of Marcia Singleton as Benefice Safeguarding Officer. Marcia has worked tirelessly to get everything up to date and in place, undertake training, oversee the training now required by members and maintain our Safeguarding dashboard. All of this is important work ensures that our church is a safe place for all. Thank you, Marcia.
Developing our vision for our work in the community has also taken a front seat in our discussions. Being able to engage once more with the community through special services, social events and fundraising activities has proved very successful. A highlight being the Posada around the village during Advent. Plans continue to engage church and community on a regular basis. Watch out for more services, events and activities coming your way in 2023.
On a more serious note, our Quinquennial Inspection was due this year and we received a comprehensive summary of the architect’s findings. Thanks to Roger many of the items needing attention have been sorted but the more serious things still need to be addressed. However, lack of funds may prevent us moving forward with some of the repairs and so some creative thinking around fundraising and getting money into the pot will have to take place. However, the PCC are determined to ensure that this vital work is carried out so that we can preserve the church for future generations.
We are also grateful to Steve Wilkinson for taking on the role of our Environmental Officer and he has been engaged in some very interesting research and work to comply with the Diocese wish that all churches become carbon net-zero by 2030 which he has been presenting at meetings. We look forward to seeing how this will affect change in the coming months and years.
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The PCC continue to reflect on our future vision for St John’s and the opportunities this may hold. I look forward to some interesting, challenging and future-making discussions at forthcoming meetings.
Jan Carnell PCC Secretary
TREASURER’S REPORT
May I take this opportunity to thank those people who are members of our planned giving scheme. Your donations accounted for just over half of St John’s total income in 2022 and the church’s running expenses could not have been met in full without your generosity.
In July I registered us with the Parish Giving Scheme and by the end of the year four of those who were giving by standing order into the church’s bank account had moved over to the PGS. The advantages of giving by the Scheme are twofold. Firstly, it reduces the Treasurer’s workload by reducing the number of monthly transactions I need to record to two – one when everyone’s donation is paid into the church’s bank account and another when all of the Gift-Aid that the PGS claims on our behalf is also paid into the bank. Secondly, donors are given the opportunity to allow their donations to rise in line with inflation once a year.
The Quiz Night held in Bellerby Memorial Hall in September was a great success, raising £668 which was shared between St John’s and St Matthew’s. Donations for the tea and cakes that the church provided at the ‘Made in Bellerby’ event came to £262 and the Christmas Fair in St Matthew’s raised another £500.
Total receipts were £11,713 but total payments were £18,162 which meant that our reserves were reduced by £6,449. This was partly due to the PCC’s determination for the Parish Share Request, given to the Diocese to help pay clergy stipends and their housing costs, to be paid in full. However, with reserves as low as £10,826 by the end of 2022 I’m afraid that unless there’s a substantial increase in church income it’s highly unlikely that this will be achievable in 2023.
May I take this opportunity to encourage all those who attend St John’s and all those on the church’s Electoral Roll who do not already give to the church to consider joining our regular givers, preferably by joining the Parish Giving Scheme. I’d be more than happy to provide details on request.
Paul Carnell Treasurer
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CHURCHWARDEN REPORT
Every year the world seems to send out fresh challenges to the Church – both Internationally, within the UK and within the parish of Bellerby – and the last twelve months have been no different. Whilst the impact of Covid has reduced, other issues raise their presence and again the parish of St Johns have coped very well giving a healthy, consistent presence and excellent emotional support.
The five yearly ‘Quinquennial’ survey raised a number of issues identifying work required on the structure of St Johns Church – varying by ‘urgent’ and ‘priority’ to advisory or recommended. The major work was undertaken, and comfortably completed within detailed timescales and included essential upgrading and repairs to the electrical installation and for major faults and standard maintenance in the roof structures.
Regular modernisation and upgrading of the church fabric and internal decorations have been undertaken including revamps within the nave kitchen/ vestry, cellar and churchyard areas and some fire and theft security ‘issues’ have also been addressed. All – generally – very well received.
The reinstalled bell has been rung to greet worshippers at every Sunday morning service and was rung daily following the Queen’s death and up to her funeral. During Spring, Summer and Autumn periods the church was open daily for private worship and for personal reflection and prayer.
But work goes on – and we constantly look to make our church more attractive and welcoming – continuing to serve the parishioners as well as visitors.
Congregation numbers represent a healthy proportion of the village population and, particularly on ‘special occasions, congregation numbers have been very healthy and pleasing – but we accept that we are ‘ageing’ and we must continue to investigate ways of introducing and retaining new church attendees – particularly younger representatives – otherwise there is a risk to the future of the church.
Gillian - our new Curate – was welcomed during the year and everyone is so pleased with how she has settled in to church and village life. She is a real star asset and the partnership with Stephen has really blossomed during the year.
Our dedicated congregation continue to raise sufficient funds to maintain our ‘parish share’ but it has not been easy and we constantly seek ways to raise funds to continue to pay our dues without having to dip into emergency reserve funds. We thank the local Open Gardens Committee for their recent,
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generous assistance in paying for the roof repairs (as they did previously for the repair and reinstallation of our bell).
We enter a new ‘business’ and financial year in a good place but there will be challenges ahead and we must be best prepared to address these as they arise.
Hilda and Roger St Johns Bellerby Churchwardens
A REPORT ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE WENSLEY DEANERY SYNOD
This year has been dominated by a discussion of net zero carbon and environmental issues. The aim was to allow the subject to be thoroughly discussed with feedback from PCCs, and actions undertaken. The actions needs to continue if we are to reach net zero by 2030 and the feedback was patchy and so the relationship between deanery and PCCs needs to be worked on.
This year has seen us continue with a nearly full complement of clergy. The only gap being the curate post in Lower Swale which remains unfilled.
Throughout the year the Deanery Synod met four times
4th May 2022 in person at Chantry Hall in Bedale for a prophetic talk by Bishop Helen-Ann
7th June 2022 in person at St. Michael’s Church, Kirklington
14th September 2022 in person at St Matthew’s Church, Leyburn
15th November 2022 by Zoom
The Standing committee has continued to meet by Zoom.
10th May 2022
3rd August 2022
18th October 2022
There have been presentations by:
Bishop Helen-Ann
Reverend Jeff Payne and Jemima Parker, Diocese Environment Officer on the
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Diocesan Environmental and Zero Carbon Plan.
Dave Bookless from A Rocha International on the Theology of Environmental Care
Anne Readshaw about biodiversity
Jude Smith on Barnabas encouraging confidence
There have been discussions on:
Environmental and Zero Carbon Plans
Feedback from PCCs on the environment
Safeguarding
Focus for 2023 on The Barnabas initiative ‘encouraging confidence
All other business was of a routine nature.
The Finance Task Group has visited the following benefices to support them in meeting Parish Share
Upper Wensleydale
Penhill
Jervaulx
The Finance Task Group aims to visit other Benefices over the next year
The following Deanery events were undertaken:.
Ascension Day Open Air Joint Service with the Methodists at Jervaulx Abbey 7pm, Thursday 26th May 2022
Members of the Deanery supported the Wensleydale show with the Church on Show stand
Deanery Prayer meetings have continued in the churches around the Deanery, but attendance has been limited to a few dedicated individuals.
Bob Matthews Lay Chair, Wensley Deanery
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During the year I have been reporting on the activity of the Deanery Synod for both the parishes of the Benefice and as St. Matthew’s lay representative. I passed on to the Deanery St. Matthew’s response to the objective of making our church carbon net zero. We now have a Parish Environmental Officer to take our environmental concerns forward.
It was interesting for the Deanery Synod to hear the insights of our area Bishop on mission as seen from an episcopal perspective, although these insights turned out to be closing remarks as she has moved on to become the new Bishop of Newcastle.
The Deanery Synod starts its year in January and so the last meeting mentioned in Bob’s report is the first of four in which the resourcing of the church’s future mission is going to be addressed as part of what has become known as the Barnabas Initiative. I will continue to report on this to the church councils during the rest of this synod, whose three-year term finishes at the end of this calendar year. Lay representatives for the next three years are due to be elected at this Annual Parochial Church Meeting.
Robin Newsam Lay Representative
ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT
Since appointing an environmental officer at last year’s PCC we have made good progress in our aim of carbon net zero by 2030. We have audited our church using the Diocesan tool “A practical path to net zero carbon—A checklist for your church”; have agreed a PCC environmental policy; and developed a plan for carbon net zero. We have already implemented changes to improve energy efficiency heating the church, and declare the related carbon footprint in the annual Online Parish Return, offsetting our small residual carbon footprint. We are working towards measuring and offsetting our carbon footprint consequent upon travel. We have begun to make modest changes, acceptable to the local church community, to the church yard environment with the aim of improving biodiversity. A Climate Sunday Service is planned for the autumn in conjunction with harvest festival and we are exploring the possibility of an ECO day.
Steve Wilkinson
St John’s Environmental Officer
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SAFEGUARDING REPORT
We have progressed well throughout the year with making St John's a safer Church for all. All policies are now in place which underpin our practice. As discussed at last PCC meeting we have to progress this year with Domestic Abuse training and making sure my recruitment follows The Church of England guidance in recruitment, as all other Church groups now follow .
We can have many policies in place but it is caring for one another that brings safeguarding alive and makes it everyone's business.
Marcia Singleton Benefice safeguarding Officer
CURATE’S REPORT
It hardly seems possible but the time has just flown since I became Assistant Curate in the Benefice of Leyburn and Bellerby on Saturday 2nd July at Wakefield Cathedral. Curacy began with such a welcoming Joint Benefice Service held in St Matthew's Church, Leyburn followed by what can only be described as a feast. We have been made so welcome as a family and we are very very grateful for the support, kindness and friendship shown by everyone.
My first trip out as a brand new, slightly nervous curate was to Bellerby Open Gardens which was a great introduction to village life, and the connection has continued including the delights of being asked to bless the Queen's Jubilee Rose, and the Harvest Service in the Community Garden.
I can honestly say I have loved every moment of being a curate so far, with all the ups and downs of parish life. Who would have thought that in a few short months there would have been such variety (and in no particular order!)Remembrance Sunday events, the death of The Queen, the Leeds Diocesan Clergy Conference, Harvest services, Warm Spaces, Bellerby Ladies' Bible Study Group, Advent Group, Advent and Christmas services including Crib, the first Christingle in Bellerby, Lessons and Carols in both Leyburn and Bellerby, Carols in the pub, the lighting of the tree, PCC meetings, Soup and Pud, Leyburn Jazz Festival, the Christmas Fair, Christmas dinner, the Bellerby Quiz and Supper, Parent and Toddler Group, becoming Chaplain to the Cadets in Wensleydale School, visiting Wensleydale School and Leyburn Primary School, the Bellerby Posada, my first baptism, assisting at a wedding, several funerals, many Sunday Services, Morning Prayer in person and on Zoom, Evening Prayer, Compline and
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many many conversations, cups of tea and cake!
Thank you so much for such variety in the first few months, and a huge thank you to Stephen for his patience, encouragement and care.
Reverend Gillian Lunn Assistant Curate
VICAR’S REPORT
We have certainly had a great year, one in which we have finally been able to focus on our building of God’s kingdom in our parish and in our Benefice. We have had to work out ways to ensure that we have the finances to enable our church to run on a day by day, week by week basis as well as work to secure finances to enable us to do the vital work to repair and maintain our building. This is going to be an ongoing concern for the church nationally as well as us locally here in Bellerby.
This year we have really focused on how we can work within our community and how we can encourage the community to be part of the life of the church. We have looked at ways we can be involved in Made in Bellerby and had a successful day where we served coffee in church and this drew many people into our church building. We look forward to this being continued into the next year. We also held a fantastic quiz night which drew in a large number of people from the community and a good time was had by all.
It was amazing to see how the local community came into church during the 10 days following the death of The Queen and how good that we could offer this as a place of sanctuary for people.
We have been so blessed by Gillian joining us this year. The service and lunch on the day following her ordination as a deacon was a wonderful celebration and a great way to meet her and her family. Gillian has already brought so much to our Benefice and I know that her ministry is touching so many people. Please pray for her as she approaches her ordination to the priesthood and we look forward to all that she will bring to us during the rest of her curacy.
We have continued to run different groups during the week: Living in Love and Faith Course, the Bellerby based group looking at Women in The Bible, and the Advent Course based on the Archbishops of York’s Book, ‘Walking Backwards to Christmas’. It is so good to come together in these groups and reflect on different aspects of scripture and our faith.
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We have a truly wonderful and welcoming church community which people who visit or who have moved into the town value when they come along. We have had many memorable services during the year and I am grateful for the ministry of others including Bob Mathews and Graham Dear which is an encouragement to us all. We have seen God truly working in our community and I will never forget the wonderful Harvest Festival in the Community Garden, followed by tea in church, the Remembrance Service and the services to remember and mourn the death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Please continue to pray for the building of God’s Kingdom here.
I would like to thank everyone for their love and faithfulness, for the offering of gifts and talents which are too numerous to mention and all who contribute to the life of the church.
Reverend Stephen Hanscombe
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