Minutes of the PCC Meeting

                         Held on Monday 16^th September 2024

 

		Action
1	The meeting opened at 19.10 with prayer.
2	Attendance
	·       Dawn Airey (Chair), Sam Carew, Fiona Clarke (Honorary Secretary), Helen Cracknell, Matt Ellson Louise Harrison, Ben Haughton-Scales, Livvi Haughton-Scales, Elizabeth Holbrook, Alan Palmer, David Wells, Ruth Wium. ·       Apologies:  Melanie Hartung.
3	Previous Minutes
	Proposal: The Minutes of the Meeting held on 1st July 2024 were deemed to be correct. Proposer: DA. Seconder: SC. All who were present at that meeting agreed.
4	Matters Arising
	·       Photos of ME and EH (churchwardens) are now displayed on the Church Noticeboard. ·       Under 18s – Energize Resource – showing what the children are learning – RW and LH report that there is no update but that it is in hand. ·       Finance o   Clergy expenses – BHS and LHS are in the process of sorting this. o   Helen investigated other banks re changing the bank account and the financial team agreed to moving the account. However, as it is now possible to pay in at the Post Office, this is no longer necessary. o   Donation of £1000 from David Laing was paid into the restricted Building Fund Account on 1/11/22. o   DA met with the team re finances.	BHS/LHS
5	Update on Key Priorities
	·       No pressing issues so not discussed this time
6	Finance Report – See Appendix 1
	Treasurers Report (HC) ·       Income is covering day to day costs but not the Parish Share. o   £3000 short each month – down on previous years’ figures. o   The last time the Parish Share was paid in full was before the Covid pandemic. o   DA met the Archdeacon who advises that many churches across the country are not meeting the Parish Share, so it is not unusual. However, at present there is a small pot of money that is covering it, but this reserve will not last indefinitely. ·     Changing the Accounts- o   As mentioned in matters arising (section 4 above), It is no longer necessary to change banks. Therefore – o   The Building Fund Account will close, and the money will be transferred to the General Account but placed in the restricted money section for reporting and use. o   Closing that account will save £5 a month in fees. o   The General Account will be renamed to North Wellingborough Anglican Church. o   The account is held with CAF bank and is a charity account. Helen will still investigate whether higher rates of credit interest can be found elsewhere and will ask her counterparts at the treasurers’ meeting. o   Jem Cox will amend the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) which currently shows a Building Fund option.	HC         HC
7	Parish Office – see appendix 2
	·       Glenvale School originally wanted to charge £500 per year for the church to have an office within the school. However, they have since agreed to a one-off cost of £1000 to help with the cost of alterations, e.g., adding an extra door to prevent access to/ from the rest of the school during school hours. ·       There is an external access to the proposed office that does not need to go through security. ·       On a Sunday the school hall could be accessed via the kitchen, although the kitchen is not available to use.   Proposal:  I propose that we agree this, either as a standalone lease with Glenvale School or as part of a potential lease (should we decide to move to Glenvale School), and that the £1,000 should be paid for out of the building fund. ·       Proposer – DA. Seconder – SC. All in agreement.
8	Church Base – See Appendices 3 – 4a
	·       Our model of being church is to have a base, currently Redwell School, and to use community spaces as ‘missional hubs’ from which we run groups and build presence in the parish. ·       With the increase in size of the parish and with Glenvale School being designated a Church of England School the question now arises: ‘where should our church base/home be?’ ·       There are 3 options below, that have been discussed and agreed with the churchwardens.  o   Option 1: Keep everything at Redwell School o   Option 2: Move everything to Glenvale Park School (including Sunday mornings and Ignite but not daytime groups due to no space at Glenvale Park School) o   Option 3: Move Sunday mornings to Glenvale Park School, but keep Ignite/Wellitots at Redwell School) ·       PCC members were asked to complete SWOT grids for the three options, with their thoughts and opinions, prior to the meeting. ·       PCC members split into small groups to listen to one another’s ideas and then came together to go through the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of each of the 3 options. ·       Although a decision was not made on the night of the meeting, after considerations of the SWOTs produced at the meeting, DA sent the Appendix 4a by email to each of the PCC members. The PCC then met after the Sunday Service on 20th October to vote on it. Proposal: I am proposing that we go with option 3 and move our Sunday morning services to Glenvale Church of England School.  ·       Proposer – DA, Seconder – RW, All were in favour but 3 who abstained.
9	Approving New Groups/ Activities
	Nothing this time.
10	Safeguarding Report – See Appendix 6
	Nothing to advise received.
11	Deanery Synod Report – See Appendix 7
	Nothing this time.
12	Parish Weekend Away – See Appendix 8
	Postponed to November meeting due to limited time available.
13	Dates of next meetings:
	PCC meetings: ·       Monday 11th November 2024 19.00 ·       Monday 20th January 2025 19.00. ·       Monday 24th March 2025 19.00. ·       Monday 28th April 2025 19.00 (to approve APCM reports). ·       APCM Sunday 25th May 2025 as part of the service followed by a short PCC meeting.
14	The meeting closed with prayers at 21.10.

 

 

Appendix 1 – Finance Report – Treasurer’s Report September 2024

BUILDING ACCOUNT (Restricted money)

The bank statement shows the account has £49,041 in the bank. But the software shows the account has £53,076 in it, this difference matches the HMRC money (£4,035) which gets paid into the Building account rather than the General account. This money has moved accounts but not been fully entered on the system. I will be contacting Data Developments and find out the best way to correct this.

 

GENERAL ACCOUNT (RESTRICTED AND UNRESTRICTED MONEY)

The bank statement shows there is £10,836 in the account. This is a mixture of money held is this account – restricted (£10267) and unrestricted (£569). The split of restricted money is as set out below.

	RESTRICTED MONEY HELD IN GENERAL FUND
See notes			01/08/2024	01/09/2024	01/10/2024	01/11/2024	01/12/2024
1	Discretionary Fund		434	434
2	Wages/Expenses Youth worker		4500	4500
3	Grant for Youth Worker		5000	5000
4	Ignite Youth			333.77
	TOTAL		9934	10267.77
Notes
1	Discretionary Fund is money that has been given over several years to support individuals at the discretion of the vicar and the churchwardens; it was known as the Acts2Fund and Family in Need fund
2	Wages/Expenses Youth worker this money was given when Alice (an intern) joined us in 2022, and this money was given to support her wages and expenses but never fully spent.
3	Grant for Youth worker this is the money we have just received from the Diocese for a Youth worker
4	Ignite Youth this is the money which has been collected over several years as surplus from the Ignite Youth tuck shop

Due to the HMRC money, the report from the software shows an incorrect bottom line.

We have paid £30,000 of our contribution to the Parish share, and we have still have an outstanding amount of £37,181 which should be paid by 31^st December 2024. We should be paying just over £5,000 per month to the diocese.

Known monthly costs, excluding Parish Share, to come out for this September from unrestricted money

Monthly copier Charges	15.00
Clergy expenses	200.00
Hall hire (July)	500.00
Hall hire (Aug)	500.00
AA Salary (June, July, Sept)	858.00
Missionary giving September	230.00	Standing order
Card reader	21.00	Standing order
Sublime media	22.80	Standing order
Bank Fees	5.00
Total	23518

Income is in the region of £5025; made up from plate approximately £800, online giving £200, card reader £25 and PGS £4000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix 2 – RE: Parish Office Area within Glenvale C of E School

I have been talking with PDET about the possibly of designating an area within the school as a church parish office.

 

Those using the parish area would mostly be staff during the week, but I anticipate using it for meetings as much as possible.  Not having our own building means we don’t currently have this kind of facility.  Just having an identifiable area within the school that is clearly signposted as the church parish office is a helpful presence for us to have in the community.  I also believe this would be really advantageous for the church in terms of future proofing and for future clergy.

 

A small area of the school has been identified as the church parish area – this includes a small parish office, small storage and toilet accessed from the storage room.  Photo of the plan is below.   The office is 2.5m x 2m (enough for a small desk/printer and 3/4 chairs) and the storage room is 2.5m x 1.4m. We will be able to access this at all times!  Out of school times we will have a key to enter the main entrance to disable the alarm and then walk round to our area without the need to go through the school.  Both the door to the parish area and main entrance to the school can be accessed straight from the hard standing area without going through a locked gate.  It’s important there is safeguarding for the children during school hours – PDET are therefore going to get an extra door put in the hallway that’ll be locked during school hours so anyone coming into the parish area will not be able to access the rest of the school.

 

Costs: Much negotiating has happened (it started with them wanting £500 a year) but we have now agreed a one-off fee of just £1,000 for set up and putting in an extra safety door, heating, lighting, Wi-Fi, etc. (PDET will pay the bulk of the costs of this!)

 

Proposal:  I propose that we agree this, either as a standalone lease with Glenvale School or as part of a potential lease (should we decide to move to Glenvale School), and that the £1,000 should be paid for out of the building fund.

 

Revd. Dawn Airey

8/9/2024

 

 

Appendix 3 – RE: PDET Hire of School Premises Agreement

Hire Agreement

 

Name and Address of School:	The Glenvale C of E Primary School [insert address]
Name of Hirer:	The Parochial Church Council of [insert details] [insert address]			Tel (day) [insert number]   Tel (eve) [insert number]   Tel (mob) [insert number]
Type of use:	The Premises (except the office): use as a Church for public worship and other church related activity The office: office use
Hire Period:	Days and Dates of Hire: Premises (except office): Sunday Mornings for 3 hours Office: 7 days per week
Accommodation Required [insert / amend / add to as appropriate]		Times		Charges (fee)
		From	To
School Hall		[insert details]		£70 per 3 hours
Glass breakout room and technical teaching space as shown on the attached plan
Toilets as shown on the attached plan
Office as shown on the attached plan		[insert details]		A one-off payment of £1,000 to cover set up in terms of wi-fi etc. To be paid on the signing of this agreement.
Total Hire Charge:				£

 

Safeguarding / Child Protection Declaration

 

Peterborough Diocese Education Trust’s approach to safeguarding children is set out in the Trust’s: Safeguarding / Child Protection Policy and Allegations / Concerns Policy in relation to adults (Trust Policies), copies of which have been supplied to the Hirer.

 

The Parochial Church Council of [insert details]:

 

• Accepts the responsibilities to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children or young people for whom they provide a service

 

 

• Confirms that they have the necessary and appropriate safeguarding arrangements in place in accordance with the DfE’s Safeguarding guidance for providers – ‘After-school clubs, community activities, and tuition’ and follow this guidance. A copy of the completed checklist on pages 10 – 12 of the guidance has been provided to the Trust prior to entering into the agreement
• Accepts the requirement to follow the guidance and procedures in the Trust Policies and at clause 5 of the Hire of Premises Terms and Conditions below, and
• Agrees to provide a copy of our child protection policy.

 

Signed (on behalf of the Hirer):
Date:

 

 

Hire of Premises Terms & Conditions

 

1. Terms

 

‘Trust’ means Peterborough Diocese Education Trust, a company incorporated and registered in England and Wales with company number 08509710.

 

‘Hirer’ refers to the group/person identified as Name of Hirer in the Hire Agreement.

 

‘Hire Period’ refers only to those days, dates and times outlined in the Hire Agreement.

 

‘Premises’ refers to the Accommodation Required at the school, as set out in the Hire Agreement.

 

2. Annual Renewal

 

• • All Hire Agreements are valid for one calendar year.

 

3. Fees

 

• The Hirer agrees to pay to the Trust the fee stated in the Hire Agreement.

 

4. • The fee may be varied by the Trust at any time. The Trust will give 28 days’ notice in writing of a variation to the fee. If the Hirer does not wish to accept the fee variation, then it may give 28 days’ notice in writing (before the Trust notice runs out) to end the Hire Agreement and in the intervening period the then current fee will continue to apply.

 

• The Hirer shall be liable for and must make arrangements for the payment of, any tax or royalties chargeable in respect of the purposes for which the Premises hired is used by the Hirer.

 

4. Use

 

• The Hirer shall not use the Premises for any purpose other than as specified in the Hire Agreement.

 

• The number of persons using the Premises hired shall not exceed the number agreed between the Trust and the Hirer prior to the commencement of the hiring.

 

• The Hirer shall not cause or permit any animals to be brought into or onto the Premises except with the specific prior consent in writing of the Trust and subject to such conditions as may be required.

 

• It will be the responsibility of the Hirer to check whether the Trust’s copyright and other licences are sufficient to cover the proposed activity and to apply for and obtain any additional licences which may be necessary.

 

 

 

5. Safeguarding and Child Protection

 

• The Hirer specifically undertakes to ensure that all of its staff and volunteers providing or offering a service on behalf of the Hirer are subject to a valid enhanced disclosure check undertaken through the Disclosure and Barring Service including a check against the adults’ barred list or the children’s barred list, as appropriate, and have received appropriate safeguarding training.

 

• If the School receives a concern / allegation in relation to an incident that happened whilst the Hirer was using the Premises, the School will follow their Allegations / Concerns Policy in relation to adults, including informing the local authority Designated Officer (LADO).

 

• The School will inform the Hirer in the unlikely event that there are contractors on the School site who have not been subject to an appropriate DBS check. In such circumstances the Hirer must take appropriate steps to safeguard children in their care.

 

• The Trust specifically reserves the right to terminate this agreement with immediate effect if the Hirer does not have in force the appropriate arrangements with regards to the safeguarding of children in their care. The Hire Agreement includes a Safeguarding Declaration.

 

• Hirers must have and must provide evidence of first aid training, public liability insurance and any other insurance that the Trust reasonably considers necessary.

 

6. Health and Safety Conditions

 

• For the duration of the period of hire the Hirer must ensure the following:

 

• Normal emergency procedures are followed.

 

• A first aid kit is provided.

 

• No equipment on the Premises is used without prior written consent from the Trust.

 

• Familiarity with emergency equipment, such as fire extinguishers, alarms, mobile telephone and first aid facilities.

 

• An emergency evacuation procedure is established. This will detail who will be responsible for taking control, calling emergency services and where to assemble. Consideration must be given to the needs of disabled participants. Evacuation practice must be undertaken on a half-termly basis.

 

• Facilities and equipment (if made available) are used in a responsible manner, an orderly way and for the purposes for which they are hired and do not compromise the safety of the Hirer and/or their clients, the Trust or the equipment.

 

• Alcohol is not consumed (other than communion wine as part of a church service) or sold on the Premises.

 

• Smoking and / or vaping is not permitted on or on any part of the Premises or school site.

 

• Emergency exits, fire extinguishers, alarm points are not obstructed.

 

• Adequate walkways are available to allow free and easy access and egress.

 

• No gas cylinders or canisters are used inside the Premises.

 

• Combustible materials are not placed adjacent to heat sources.

 

• Equipment is used for the purpose for which it was designed.

 

• Electrical equipment is PAT tested and complies with the British standards then applicable.

 

• Except for candle oil and gas lighters used in church services, flammable or hazardous substances are not used.

 

• No open fires, candles (except for church services and other church related activity) or unauthorised electrical equipment will be used on the Premises. Candles must not be lit and left unattended.

 

• Noise levels are contained to a reasonable level at all times.

 

• Compliance with any government regulations or further requirements the Trust considers necessary for the Trust to comply with its health and safety and safeguarding obligations (including in relation to Covid 19, if appropriate).

 

• Furniture, instruments or equipment belonging to the Hirer may be left or stored on the Premises if this has been agreed with the Trust in advance and can be stored safely.

 

• The Premises must be vacated on time at the end of each Hire Period and a thorough clean undertaken with the Premises being left in a clean and tidy condition.

 

7. Insurance, Liability and Indemnity

 

• The Trust strongly recommends the Hirer takes out its own insurance to cover any activities which are physically demanding or at a higher risk of possible injury. Copies of such insurance documents must be provided to the Trust.

 

• The Hirer agrees and undertakes to indemnify the Trust and keep the Trust indemnified against all losses, claims, demands, actions, proceedings, damages, costs, expenses or other liability in any way arising from this Hire Agreement.

 

• The Trust gives no warranty that the Premises possesses the necessary consents for the use specified in the Hire Agreement.

 

• The Trust gives no warranty that the Premises are physically fit for the use specified in the Hire Agreement.

 

• The Trust is not liable for:

 

• The death of, or injury to the Hirer, its employees, customers or invitees to the Premises.

 

• Damage to any property of the Hirer or that of the Hirer’s employees, customers or other invitees to the Premises.

 

• Any losses, claims, demands, actions, proceedings, damages, costs or expenses or other liability incurred by the Hirer or the Hirer’s employees, customers or other invitees to the Premises.

 

• Nothing in this clause shall limit or exclude the Trust’s liability for:

 

• Death or personal injury or damage to the Premises caused by negligence on the part of the Trust or its employees or agents.

 

• Any matter in respect of which it would be unlawful for the Trust to exclude or restrict liability.

 

8. Damage to Property

 

• The Hirer undertakes either to make good or to reimburse the Trust for the cost of making good (as the Trust directs) any damage to the Premises caused by the Hirer, their staff, visitors or volunteers and the Hirer indemnifies the Trust for all damage and loss suffered as a result of the hiring.

 

• If the Premises hired are left in a state which requires additional cleaning above that normally allowed, the Hirer may be subject to an additional charge.

9. Security

 

• The Hirer will ensure that all doors are locked, the alarm set, and every measure taken to secure the School building / site after each Hire Period.

 

10. Temporary Unavailability of Premises by the Trust

 

• The Trust may give verbal notice to the Hirer that the Premises are temporarily unavailable in the following instances:

 

• Where the Premises are closed for any reason.

 

• Where the Premises are in the Trust’s opinion unsafe to be used by the Hirer.

 

• Where there are emergency circumstances which require the use by the Trust of the Premises.

 

11. Access and Car Parking

 

• The staff car park may be used by the Hirer if the Hire Period is outside of usual school business hours.

 

12. Nuisance

 

• The Hirer must not (and must ensure that any person entering the Premises during the Hire Period does not) cause any nuisance or disturbance to the Trust or neighbours.

 

13. Additions and Alterations

 

• The Hirer will not make any alterations or additions to the Premises.

 

• The Hirer will not treat or apply any substance whatsoever to the floor or any part of the floor of the Premises.

 

14. Assignment and Sub-hiring

 

• This Hire Agreement is personal to the Hirer and the Hirer must not assign or sub-hire the whole or any part of the Premises or allow any third party to occupy them.

 

15. Change of Contact Person

 

• The Hirer agrees to notify the Trust in advance if the contact person is to change and to provide the name of the new contact person. If the transfer of contact person does not correspond with a renewal of Hire Agreement, the new contact person will be required to countersign the current Hire Agreement to demonstrate they agree to these Terms and Conditions.

 

16. Termination

 

• The Trust may end this Hire Agreement by giving the Hirer one month’s written notice to expire at any time or by immediate notice if the Hirer breaches any term of the Hire Agreement.

 

• The Hirer may end this Hire Agreement at any time by giving one month’s written notice to the Trust.

 

• Termination of this Hire Agreement shall not affect the rights of either party in connection with any breach of any obligation under this Hire Agreement which existed at or before the date of termination.

 

 

 

17. Notices

 

• Any notice given under this Hire Agreement shall be in writing and shall be delivered by hand or sent by pre-paid first-class post or other next working day delivery service to the relevant party as follows:

 

• To the Trust at: [insert details] and marked for the attention of the Headteacher.

 

To the Hirer at:

[insert details] and marked for the attention of [insert details]

 

• Or as otherwise specified by the relevant party by notice in writing to each other party.

 

 

18. Other

 

• The Trust may vary the Terms and Conditions of this Hire Agreement by giving the Hirer 28 days’ notice in writing of the variation. If the Hirer does not wish to accept the variation, then it may give 28 days’ notice in writing (before the Trust notice runs out) to end the Hire Agreement and in the intervening period the then current terms will continue to apply.

 

• The Hirer must comply with any regulations and rules that the Trust makes and notifies to the Hirer from time to time governing the Hirer’s use of the Premises and must not do anything to bring, or that may bring, the school and / or the Trust into disrepute or affect the reputation of the same.

 

• No illegal, indecent or immoral activity is permitted, and no betting, gambling or gaming is permitted on the Premises.

 

• The licence granted under this Hire Agreement is not intended to create the relationship of landlord and tenant. The Trust retains control, possession and management of the Premises and the Hirer has no right to exclude the Trust from the Premises.

 

• A person who is not a party to this Hire Agreement shall not have any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this Hire Agreement.

 

I have read and confirm acceptance of these Terms and Conditions and will ensure observance by persons using the Premises.

 

Signed:
Date:
Position Held:

 

I approve this hire on behalf of Peterborough Diocese Education Trust.

 

Signed:
Date:
Position Held:

 

One copy is to be retained by Peterborough Diocese Education Trust.

One copy is to be returned to the Hirer after approval

 

Appendix 4 – RE: Making a decision about the future base/home of our church.

 

Over the summer I have had numerous helpful conversations with Ruth Walker-Green (CEO of PDET) as well as PDET’s property officer (Dan), PDET’s Legal representative (Helen), PDET’s procurement manager (Will) and Lee (whose title I forget but he looks at the costs!!)   Ruth WG confirmed that the decisions we are thinking about are hers and not the board of trustees.  I now have a draft lease/hire agreement that I’m happy with following lots of negotiation!

 

To give you some flavour of those conversations these are the things we discussed:

 

-costs of using Glenvale School (GP): I let her know what it currently costs us at Redwell School and would hope it would be the same or better at GP.  (It’s currently £25 for the first hour and £10 for subsequent hours but £25 for the Hub on Sunday mornings).  So, we currently spend £80 for 4 hours on the average Sunday morning.  The lease initially started at £150 but as you can see from the draft, they have agreed to charge the same as Redwell.  The current draft lease has been written as if it would be 3 hours on a Sunday, it’s an example, the extra hour will be £10, just the same as Redwell School.

 

-The hall:  This is bigger than the hall at Redwell School.  One end of it can be closed off but we have been asked not to close it ourselves, so we wouldn’t for example close that end for children’s work.   However, the whole area that we would be able to use for services would be the hall, 3 toilets (including a disabled one), small glass pod, and a large classroom.  We are not able to use the main kitchen but, in the classroom, just mentioned there are fridges, etc. that we can use for refreshments.  We cannot at this point in time have an agreement that means we can access the school playground which is accessed via the open library.  (There are some politics around this and the library).  There would be plenty of space, more than we have now, to run the different Sunday morning groups.  The area is self-contained with locked doors at either end of the two wings that come off this section of the school, so no-one can access the rest of the school.  A photo of the map of this planned area is at the bottom but it’s hard to work out what areas we would be able to use. (I’ll go through this at the PCC meeting).

 

-Putting in audio/visuals in the hall that are fit for purpose for both the school and us if possible.  Our PA team have been working with the relevant PDET team to make this possible, and while I offered for us to pay for additional costs incurred this has not been asked for.  We will still need our own sound desk.  We can use the school screen in the hall and speakers in the ceiling!  I’ll be trying the system out in the next couple of weeks.

-At the moment we’re only talking about using the school on Sundays and can discuss evening use if and when it becomes relevant.  The important thing is that they want us there and are willing to negotiate pretty much anything to accommodate us.

 

-Storage: There may be a possibility of one or two other areas of very small storage, but Dan didn’t want to over promise.  He thought we could put it in a shed outside if we wanted to but it’s not part of the lease just yet.

 

-Church sign at Glenvale Park: Ruth thought it wouldn’t be a problem having a church sign at the school, it would probably need to be in keeping with the other signage around the school, but she couldn’t see that being a problem at all.

 

 

The message I am consistently getting from Ruth and other members of the team is that they want it to be good for us and for this to work, so want to negotiate as much as possible

 

I believe we now have enough information to make an informed decision in answering the question:

 

‘where should our church base/home be?’

 

Our model of being church is to have a base, currently Redwell School, and to use community spaces as ‘missional hubs’ from which we run groups and build presence in the parish.

 

When you look at the options laid out below, please assume that wherever our base is, we currently intend on starting a second congregation at Glenvale Park School and as previously described to PCC, the Glenvale Park team re-focused itself a few months ago towards thinking, praying and planning for that 2^nd congregation.  (Nothing is ever set in stone though!!)  I want to be clear that when that team has made a decision, we will bring it to PCC for approval but not a vote, the Glenvale Park team is being trusted to do all that is necessary to make that decision.  So, if anyone on PCC is interested in being part of that decision making, please let me know and I’ll give you details of when that particular team is meeting.

 

With that central question in mind ‘where should our church base/home be?’, there are 3 options below, that have been discussed and agreed with the churchwardens. 

 

Choices:

Option 1: Keep everything at Redwell School

 

Option 2: Move everything to Glenvale Park School (including Sunday mornings and Ignite but not daytime groups due to no space at Glenvale Park School)

 

Option 3: Move Sunday mornings to Glenvale Park School, but keep Ignite/Wellitots at Redwell School)

 

 

Some may think an option is to move to Glenvale Park School and start a new congregation at Redwell School – I agreed with the Churchwardens that this isn’t an option, we may as well keep the existing congregation at Redwell School and start fresh in Glenvale Park.  Because Glenvale Park is new the community of people there are up for trying things, which often happens in new developments, but it is also clear that we currently have so much favor there.  There isn’t that same kind of energy and enthusiasm on the Gleneagles estate because it’s now been here for a long time.

 

 

We plan on using the whole of the September PCC meeting, instead of a leadership away morning, going through a SWOT analysis to help us make the decision.  If there are questions/issues for the PCC to discuss with reference to finance and safeguarding, then we will make a short amount of time for this also.  There are numerous analytical tools we could use but this seems to be appropriate for the question we are seeking to answer.

 

A SWOT analysis allows us to assess the ‘Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats’ of each of the 3 options.

 

Below there is a SWOT grid for each of the options.  Please take some time before the PCC to note down your own thoughts on each of the options in each of the grids, and then bring that with you to the PCC meeting.  When we gather together, we will then work in groups of 4 sharing our ideas and creating a group SWOT analysis for each option…and then we’ll gather the information from each group that will represent the whole PCC’s SWOT analysis of each option.  By the end of our time together I anticipate us being able to make a decision – even if that is in principle because the analysis reveals that we need one or two more bits of information.

 

(Grid removed for space)

 

 

 

 

Appendix 4a – RE: Making a decision about the future base/home of our church.

Having spent much time praying, reflecting and listening, and following a PCC meeting in which a SWOT analysis was done to help us think about 3 possible options for the future base of our church, I feel I can now come to a decision about the future base of our church.  The 3 options the PCC looked at were:

 

• Option 1: Keep everything at Redwell School

 

• Option 2: Move everything to Glenvale Park School (including Sunday mornings and Ignite but not daytime groups due to no space at Glenvale Park School)

 

• Option 3: Move Sunday mornings to Glenvale Park School, but keep Ignite/Wellitots at Redwell School)

 

Proposal:

I am proposing that we go with option 3 and move our Sunday morning services to Glenvale Church of England School. 

 

 

My reasons are:

• -It’s the decision that gives me the most peace.

 

• -It’s important to think about the church of the future (the next 10 years and beyond) as well as the current church.

 

• -It makes sense to the wider community (a church in a church school).

 

• -A church school gives us a greater sense of ‘home’ and security.

 

• -Glenvale will become the largest part of the parish, eventually being bigger than Gleneagles and Redwell Farm together.

 

• -The church has much favour in Glenvale and is seen in a very positive light there.

 

• -Glenvale School will physically become the centre of the parish rather than Redwell School.

 

• -The hall at Glenvale has good audio/visual facilities and separate spaces opposite the hall for under 18s ministry. It is also bigger than the hall in Redwell.

 

• -If we don’t take this opportunity another church almost certainly will! Right now, we are the only church in the parish.

 

• -The costs will be the same as being at Redwell.

 

• -There is so much ‘energy’ at Glenvale, much like Gleneagles in its early days of being a new housing development, and this provides significant missional opportunity. It therefore gives the greatest possibility for the church to grow.

 

• -We can be more visible (including having our own sign outside the school).

 

• -We will have a parish office within the school (maybe some connectivity as a result).

 

• -It feels like the natural cycle of the church.

 

• -We are wanted at the school, PDET has, what feels to me at least, bent over backwards to negotiate with us to a place that satisfies both the school and the church.

 

Risks/concerns:

• Managing change is hard!

 

• People who have been of the church for a long time might find it the hardest and there is work to do to help these people in particular. (I’m going to suggest a ‘Gleneagles remembered’ type service/evening/event, in which people will be encouraged to share stories of how the church started, how it grew, what has been important, what is part of the DNA that is important, and what was learnt as the church initially grew, what lessons can we take forward, etc.)

 

• Some of the current congregation may decide to leave

 

• Possible negative impact on our relationship with Redwell School

 

 

Extra information:

I am also going to take off the table the idea of a 2^nd congregation (for now at least).

 

My reasons are:

• I have been told very recently that in this diocese planting (or versions of this) are not part of the vision for church growth.

 

• Bishop John has also indicated that we do not have the resources to make this work.

 

• It would inevitably stretch our resources, perhaps beyond what we can manage, especially in the knowledge that our curates are here only temporarily.

 

• The idea originated because we didn’t think the school at Glenvale would become a C of E one.

 

• There is still a need to reach those outside the church and help them develop faith, but I think we can do that with the current structure (especially café services) and possibly one or two tweaks, and/or running specific courses like Alpha/Start course, etc.

 

 

Potential Timeline:

• Tell the congregation that the PCC are considering whether we should take up the opportunity of moving our Sunday morning services to Glenvale School (1 week)

 

• Communicate the decision, show map of the area we could use, advantages and some things that will be different (week 2/3)

 

• Have a one-off Sunday morning at Glenvale School asking the question ‘how can we make this as good as possible for us?’ (There will be some things that are better than Redwell and other things we will miss – everyone has the opportunity to say what could be improved, providing it’s within our gift to do it of course!) (Perhaps November or December café style service?  Then we don’t need lots of PA stuff.)

 

• Gleneagles remembered service/evening (November)

 

• Start weekly services after Christmas. (5^th Jan 2025?? – then we don’t need to face the question of where we do our Christmas services this year???)

 

Revd. Dawn Airey

18^th Sep 2024