MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF
PARISHIONERS HELD ON WEDNESDAY 16
APRIL 2014 AT 6PM
AT ST STEPHEN WALBROOK
Present: The Archdeacon (Chair), Alderman John Garbutt, Archie Galloway, Meg Post,
Melvyn Jeremiah, Roger Hoath, Emma Whitlam, Alex Ng, Terry Barber, Paul de Ridder, Bryan Lovell,
Margaret Brown, David Atterbury-Thomas, John Seagrim, Jonathan Shiels.
Apologies: Stephen Baxter, Gareth Moore, Luke Powell, Laura Ennis.
1. Prayers
The meeting opened with prayers led by the Archdeacon after which everyone joined in the Lord’s
Prayer.
2. Minutes of the meeting held on 27 March 2013
These were approved and signed as a correct record of the meeting.
3. The Election of Churchwardens for the Year 2014/15
The Archdeacon thanked Gareth Moore, in his absence, for his work as a PCC member and noted
that Gary had indicated he would not be available to stand for election as a churchwarden or PCC
member for the coming year due to his workload and family illness. The following nominations for
election as churchwarden had been received: Melvyn Jeremiah, John Seagrim, Meg Post, John
Garbutt, Stephen Baxter, Archie Galloway, Emma Whitlam and Jonathan Shiels. These were all
elected unopposed and the Archdeacon thanked the churchwardens for their work and
congratulated all on their success.
4. Any Other Business
There was no other business and the Archdeacon thanked everyone for attending the meeting.
5. Date of Next Meeting
Agreed as being Wednesday 1 April 2015.
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MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING HELD ON
WEDNESDAY 16 APRIL 2014 AT 6PM AT ST STEPHEN WALBROOK
Present: The Archdeacon (Chair), Alderman John Garbutt, Archie Galloway, Jonathan Shiels, Meg
Post, Melvyn Jeremiah, Roger Hoath, Emma Whitlam, Terry Barber, Paul de Ridder, Margaret Brown,
Bryan Lovell, David Atterbury-Thomas, John Seagrim, Alex Ng.
Apologies: Stephen Baxter, Gareth Moore, Laura Ennis, Luke Powell.
1. Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting of 27 March 2013
These were accepted and signed as an accurate record of the meeting with the following
amendment:
Agenda Item 3 ‘Presentation of the Annual Accounts’. The first sentence in the 2nd paragraph
should read 'In answer to a question, it was reported that the church pays a portion (20%) of
the 'Rights of Light' money from Rothschild's (£25,000) to the City Parochial Foundation (now
'Trust for London).
2. Presentation of the Electoral Roll
Melvyn Jeremiah, Electoral Roll Officer, presented his report contained in the Annual Report 2013,
and confirmed that the Electoral Roll had been fully renewed last year and it now contained 110
names. There had been no additions or deletions during the period since renewal. Melvyn was
thanked for his work in keeping the Electoral Roll updated.
3. Presentation of the Annual Accounts
John Seagrim, Treasurer, presented the accounts for 2013, together with a simple guide clearly
setting out the financial position (attached at the end of these minutes). He highlighted that the
figures excluded fabric expenditure and St Stephen had ended the year with £32,154 in the
church’s bank accounts, which included a generous interest free loan of £25,000.
He went on to explain that the church was about to receive reimbursement of the costs involved
with the sale of the Benjamin West painting (£85,468) which would be unrestricted funds and a
‘Section 106’ payment of £48,000, which comes from the Bloomberg redevelopment of the old
Bucklersbury House site. The balance of the proceeds from the Benjamin West painting
(approximately £1m) will be administered by the Diocese on behalf of St Stephen and will be
available to the church on a needs basis, subject to the approval of the Archdeacon.
The Treasurer went on to explain that in this transitional year with an interregnum, administrative
costs would rise, partly representing the cost of all the work that the Archdeacon has undertaken
by himself in the past. In answer to a question, he explained that the N M Rothschild Licence fee
had reduced from £50,000 to £25,000 last year due to the fees for both 2011 and 2012 having
been paid in 2012. He also talked about the significant drop in income from the church rate which
was due partly to the empty buildings in the area and nearby redevelopment. However some firms
had decided not to pay the rate this year. He confirmed that the church rates are collected by
Martin Sargeant on behalf of the parish. John Garbutt asked whether the recent boundary
changes had affected the income and, although the parish boundaries remained the same, the
change in firms in the area and general situation needed looking at with Martin Sargeant.
David Atterbury-Thomas, on behalf of everyone, expressed gratitude for the £25,000 interest-free
loan and enquired why the Internet Church had a restricted expense of £4,715. The Treasurer
said that he would find out from the Independent Examiner and let David know the reason.
The meeting unanimously adopted the accounts and expressed their sincere thanks to John for all
his work.
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4. Fabric Report
Melvyn Jeremiah presented his Fabric Report, which was summarised on page 6 of the Annual
Report, and explained that the renovation of doors in the tower had been undertaken together with
regular maintenance and minor repairs, but the largest items of expenditure was the collateral
building work associated with the new memorial stone for Chad Varah. He said that now the
church had funds, the PCC will need to look again at the priorities for projects and this might have
to involve additional meetings.
In answer to a question, he reported that ongoing maintenance work in a normal year would be
about £8000. He spoke of the excellent relationships with McAlpine’s undertaking the Bloomberg
development and confirmed that the excavation work would be completed by the end of July. The
meeting expressed their gratitude to Melvyn for his work in maintaining the fabric of the building.
5. Ministry Report
The Archdeacon presented his Ministry Report, contained within the Annual Report, highlighting
and thanking numerous people who had helped the work of St Stephen Walbrook over the last
year. He talked about the church’s welcome ministry, the importance of our neighbours, particularly
New Court, Walbrook House and the Bloomberg Building, and the Teaching Ministry at St
Stephen. He talked about worship, including the Thursday Eucharist, other main services and the
series of SPA sessions led by Bishop Michael Marshall. The meeting was delighted that Stephen
Baxter, a churchwarden, was training for the ministry and is to be ordained Deacon this June.
The Archdeacon also highlighted the work of the London Internet Church, the providers and
organisers of music at St Stephen, the community events such as the Business Houses Council
and dinners, and the support from those who worked at the church. He ended by expressing his
own and the meeting’s gratitude to everyone who had contributed in so many ways over the year.
6. Deanery Synod - Confirmation of representatives 2014/2015
It was confirmed that Bryan Lovell and John Seagrim are starting the last of their three years as
representatives on the Deanery Synod and Bryan reminded the meeting of some of the topics that
had been covered over the last year. The Archdeacon spoke about the need to be proactive in our
work with the Deanery Synod and said that the representatives would welcome ideas to take to the
meetings. It was asked whether the Deanery Synod meetings were open to all and Bryan agreed
to find out. Bryan said that minutes were published on a secure server but not for some time after
the meeting.
7. Election of Parochial Church Council 2014/15
The Churchwardens and Deanery Synod Representatives are automatically members of the PCC,
and the following were elected unanimously to the Parochial Church Council for one year: Luke
Powell, Paul de Ridder, Margaret Brown, Alex Ng, Bryan Lovell, David Atterbury-Thomas, and
Laura Ennis.
8. Appointment of Auditor for next year’s Accounts
The Treasurer reported that, due to the change in funds, it was likely that we would need the
services of an auditor next year, rather than an Independent Examiner and would report further to
the next meeting of the PCC.
9.
Any Other Business
There was none.
10.
Date of the Next Meeting
-
Agreed to be Wednesday 1 April 2015.
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MINUTES OF THE FIRST PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON
WEDNESDAY 16 APRIL 2014 AT 6PM AT ST STEPHEN WALBROOK
Present: The Archdeacon (Chair), Alderman John Garbutt, Archie Galloway, Jonathan Shiels, Meg
Post, Melvyn Jeremiah, Roger Hoath, Emma Whitlam, Paul de Ridder, Margaret Brown, Bryan Lovell,
David Atterbury-Thomas, John Seagrim, Alex Ng.
1. Apologies: Stephen Baxter, Laura Ennis, Gareth Moore, Luke Powell
2. Safeguarding
Meg Post and Bryan Lovell, Safeguarding Officers, reported on the latest developments on the
topic and said that the Diocesan initiative on Safeguarding had been slow in implementation.
However, the suggested Safeguarding policy was read to the meeting and there was a unanimous
decision to adopt it for St Stephen Walbrook. It was agreed to report on safeguarding to the
PCC regularly.
3. Minutes of the last PCC meeting on 19 February 2014
Item 5a. 4th paragraph. Last line. The word ‘surplus’ should read ‘deficit’.
With this amendment, it was agreed that the minutes were a true and accurate record of the
meeting and were signed accordingly.
4. Matters arising
There were no matters arising.
5. Appointment of Lay Vice-Chairman
The meeting appointed John Garbutt to be Lay Vice-Chair of the PCC and he was thanked for
offering to take on this role.
6. Appointment of Secretary
The meeting appointed Alex Ng as Secretary of the PCC and he was thanked for agreeing to
undertake this.
7. Appointment of Treasurer
John Seagrim said that he was happy to carry on as PCC Treasurer for another year. The meeting
was grateful and he was duly elected.
8. Finance and General Purposes Committee
It was agreed that the following should form the Finance and General Purposes Committee:
John Seagrim, Emma Whitlam, Melvyn Jeremiah, Paul de Ridder, Bryan Lovell, Luke Powell and
Jonathan Shiels
Dates of meetings are in agenda item 9 below.
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9. Dates of future PCC and F&GP Meetings
F & GP
PCC
F & GP
PCC
F & GP
PCC
–
–
–
–
Tuesday 3 June 2014
Monday 21 July 2014
Wednesday 1 October 2014
Thursday 30 October 2014
Monday 19 January 2015
Tuesday 3 February 2015
Annual Meetings -
–
–
–
–
–
–
6.15pm
6.00pm
6.15pm
6.00pm
6.15pm
6.00pm
Wednesday 1 April 2015
10. Any Other Business
a.
The Archdeacon reported on arrangements for the forthcoming interregnum and said that
the Bishop of London had agreed that Bishop Michael Marshall would be able to help on a
pastoral and spiritual basis. This would be a great support, as he already knew the church
and its way of working through his Monday SPA services. It was understood that if the
interregnum went on for a long time, the Bishop of London might consider appointing a
temporary Priest-in-Charge but this would not be the case in the short-term.
b.
He also spoke about the ongoing discussions with St Martin-in-the-Fields, reporting sound
progress and stressing that discussions had excluded any kind of ‘takeover bid’ but an
arrangement where each church’s ethos and independence of character could be upheld.
The Archdeacon said that he and Sam Wells, the Vicar of SMITF, would shortly be meeting
the Bishop of London to update him on developments and seek his blessing. The PCC
would, of course, be kept informed and have the opportunity to debate, agree or reject any
proposals before any kind of agreement is reached.
c.
Archie Galloway reported on negotiations with the Samaritans over funding for the
proposed blue plaque and said that they did not feel able to make a contribution. It was
possible that some monies might be forthcoming from the Grocers’ Company but this would
have to be on a like-for-like basis. The meeting thanked Archie for his perseverance in
pursuing the project and agreed to continue searching for funding before seeking a faculty
from the Diocesan Advisory Committee.
d.
John Garbutt reported that he had been told that the Section 106 money would be released
to the church once further details of the project to improve public facilities in the crypt had
been submitted to the Corporation.
The Archdeacon thanked everyone present for his or her attendance and closed the meeting at
7.50pm with prayer.
As this was the Archdeacon’s last PCC meeting, everyone present thanked Peter for his dedication,
time and hard work over the last ten years.
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