Minutes of Meeting of St. Matthew's PCC
Held on Tuesday 25th March 2014, Lady Day
The meeting was preceded by a celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
Present: The Reverend David Shepherd (Chairman), Sally Best, Ray Boskey (for items 3d and 5c
only), Simon Edwards, Chris Gear, Pip Leese, Deborah Lim, Alex Paul and Colin Richards.
1. Apologies: Bob Best, Daphne Boskey, Wendy Donovan, Marilyn Gerry, Cath Mela, Roger Tabor
and Margaret Tabor.
2. Minutes of meetings held on 9th October & 17th November 2013.
The minutes of the meeting held on 9th October & the emergency PCC meeting on 17th November
2013 were agreed as a true and accurate record.
The minutes were signed by the Chairman. Proposed by, Pip Leese, seconded by Chis Gear. Agreed
unanimously.
3. Matters Arising
a) Stewardship Campaign See item 6 – Accounts.
b) Church grounds Chris Gear has started work on clearing and tidying.
c) Play & Pray The new equipment and a banner purchased for this area of the church is in place
and has been very popular with children and parents. The meeting expressed thanks to all
concerned.
d) Organ Ray Boskey reported that the changes to the organ’s electrical system are planned for
the future.
e) New Arm Chairs Six new chairs have been delivered. They do not have the book boxes we
specified so it may be possible to negotiate a reduced price.
f) Child Protection Sally Best’s documentation is now up to date.
4. Reports from
a) Finance & Standing Committee Report previously circulated.
b) Pastoral & Worship Committee We have started a monthly “coffee at St Matthew’s”. Daphne
Boskey has sourced an ‘A Board’ which can be placed by the road to advertise this and other
events. Margaret Tabor may also start a weekly coffee event, for which she will need a large
banner.
The disabled access ramps are being used more frequently for services and they are heavy to put
in position at the Lady Chapel door. Earlier studies have shown that a permanent ramp would be
impractically long, because all the land slopes away from each of the church doors. A lift by the
vestry entrance may be possible, but would be very expensive.
Action Pip Leese: review disabled access.
c) Joint Anglican/Methodist Committee Report previously circulated.
d) Deanery Synod (previously circulated) Bob Best added the following summary prior to the
meeting: at the meeting on Jan 28th “It’s Church – but not as we know it” details of how other
churches approach Messy Church were described and other forms of Fresh Expressions were
explored.
The minutes, reports and notices for the meeting at St Matthews last Thursday 20th March where
Fr. Tony Meek gave a delightful, detailed, illustrated insight into cruise ship chaplaincy “All at Sea –
the life of a cruise chaplain” will be circulated when we receive them. Meanwhile, paper copies of
the February General Synod report, The Rural Dean’s Notices (March 2) and Deanery Dates are to
be found on the table at the back of church. There is also a flyer for the united churches of Watford
town-wide events in October Fri.10th to Sun 19th and Chris Cottee asked churches to host/co-host
events, centrally co-ordinated, to make it a great time for churches and Watford. Our social
committee may like to decide what we should do.
The Synod triennium ends this year, so reps. will need to be elected for the next three years. If we
get 100 on the electoral roll for the APCM we could have three reps, not just two.
5. Hall
a) April Tapscott - New Business Manager April has now fully taken over this role and the PCC
expressed thanks for this.
b) Roof Repairs The storm damage to the hall roof had been repaired. The cost of £4,460 will be
covered by our insurance (less our excess), as will the pending redecoration to repair water
damage to internal paintwork.
c) Electrical Inspection by Roper's - Joint Report & Recommendations by John Gerry, Bob
Best & Raymond Boskey Although Roper’s report was at our request, our insurers may require it.
Action: Pip Leese to check insurance requirements for hall electrics.
Ray Boskey outlined the work he would do, for which the parts would cost about £150:
Two sockets to have earth leak circuit breakers
Mechanical protection for the external lighting circuit
A key switch for testing the emergency lighting, plus repairs
Moving the board connections for the emergency lighting
The PCC was happy for this to go ahead.
There is an emergency light by the main internal hall exit doors, but may not be one on the door to
the outside. If not, this should be considered.
There is no light in the power cupboard, but we could place a rechargeable torch on the inside
wall.
Bob Best has just proposed some additional PIR sensors to improve the external PIR lighting.
There was no time to review the technical detail at PCC, but it will be discussed with Ray after the
meeting.
d) Coffee Percolator Via email, Margaret Tabor informed PCC that we had purchased a coffee
percolator from Traidcraft which will make from 15 to 100 cups of coffee. It will be locked in the
Social Committee cupboard to prevent misuse by casual Hall users. (Although 3 kettles are
adequate for most Hall users, some lets may need a larger urn and maybe we need to purchase an
ordinary urn as well.)
6. Accounts for 2013
Chris Gear reported that there had been some progress in bridging the gap between income and
expenditure, although the increased giving has only been over the last 3 months, rather than for a full
year. We have £13,000 income from our investment fund and may have to use some of this.
Simon Edwards thought there was scope for increasing donations at services such as baptisms and
weddings and at events such as Messy Church and Toddlers. There are 10-12 baptisms annually.
There is no fee, but we could suggest a donation and perhaps have a charge for an organist. At
baptisms and weddings we could display collection plates more prominently, although people may
miss them as we have three exit doors.
Pip Leese proposed and Debbie Lim seconded the motion that "The PCC adopts the accounts.”
Pip Leese proposed and Sally Best seconded the motion that "At APCM, Leo Wright be appointed
Independent Examiner for the year to December 2014." Carried unanimously.
7. Electoral Roll Report Bob Best circulated prior to the meeting that there were currently 98 on the
roll, as we had lost Betty Donaldson RIP.
8. Wardens’ Fabric, Goods and Ornaments Report
Debbie Lim reported that the fabric and fittings are sound and serviceable.
Six new chairs have been purchased and have been added to the Terrier and Inventory during the last
year, otherwise there have been no additions or deletions.
Over the year the latch on the Lady Chapel door and the church roof have been repaired.
The Churchwardens would like to thank everyone who has helped to maintain the church and grounds over
the past year. Sally Best proposed and Simon Edwards seconded the motion that "The Fabric, Goods
and Ornaments Report be accepted." Carried unanimously.
9. APCM & Short Notice PCC 9.30 Sunday 27th April Margaret Tabor and Marilyn Gerry reach the
end of their 3 year term and Cath Mela has moved away. The meeting thanked them all for their work
on PCC over the years.
At APCM we will need to elect three new members to serve for three years. For the first time the
Diocese require a Declaration of Eligibility as well as a Nomination Form to be completed. This means
that nominations cannot be made verbally at the Annual Meeting. Pip Leese has place a notice to this
effect in the News Sheet.
The subsequent PCC meeting would be to elect the officers of the new PCC: including Treasurer,
Secretary, Child Protection Officer and Health & Safety Officer, to ensure continuity up to the first PCC
of 2014-15.
10. Communications Daphne Boskey had circulated a report about communications prior to the
meeting. In summary, we have new signs for Mothering Sunday and Easter and Facebook pages for
the church and the hall. The meeting thanked Daphne for her efforts.
The notice boards may be leaking. We could contact Cheshire Signs to see if they could be
refurbished or repaired. (The boards are aluminium, so won’t corrode, but the rubber seals may have
failed.) It should be possible to lower the boards, so that it is easier to change posters.
In future, publicity banners could be hung between the legs of the notice boards. Simon Edwards
suggested that we could put up large temporary banners if we erected two posts along the road
boundary.
Action: Simon Edwards to discuss this suggestion with Daphne Boskey.
11. AOB None.
The meeting closed with The Grace
Date of Next Meeting (APCM & Short PCC) SUNDAY 27th April 2014