Monthly Archives: February 2025

Published 25/02/2025

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 1^st 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 11^th November 2024 19.00 · Monday 20^th January 2025 19.00. · Monday 24^th March 2025 19.00. · Monday 28^th April 2025 19.00 (to approve APCM reports). · APCM Sunday 25^th 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

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.

Annual Renewal

- All Hire Agreements are valid for one calendar year.

Fees

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

- 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Published 25/02/2025

Minutes of the PCC Meeting

Held on Monday 10^th June 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, Melanie Hartung, Ben Haughton-Scales, Elizabeth Holbrook, Alan Palmer, David Wells, Ruth Wium. · Apologies: Louise Harrison, Livvi Haughton-Scales

3	Previous Minutes
	The Minutes of the Meeting held on 26^th May 2024 were agreed by all who were present at that meeting.

4	Matters Arising
	None

5	Change of church name – see appendix 1
	· DA has now received the legal paperwork confirming that Glenvale Park is now part of our parish and as of 1^st May 2024 we are legally “North Wellingborough Anglican Church.” · There are numerous administrative tasks to be done, including amending the church paperwork and letterhead, and changing the charity number if necessary. Amanda will look at these. · Other changes are mentioned in separate sections, below, e.g. new logo.

6	Treasurer and Finances
	· Lis Wells has resigned from the post due to increasing work pressures. Helen Cracknell has agreed to step back into the role. Proposal – To accept Helen Cracknell as the new Treasurer. Proposed by DA, Seconded by MH. All were in agreement. · Helen gained permission from the PCC to open new bank accounts to reflect the new church name – North Wellingborough Anglican Church: o She will check rates at different banks and the Post Office o She will check that banking can be done at the Post Office for each account as banks are closing branches making it increasingly difficult to pay in etc. – CAF bank (current bank) in HSBC, nearest branch is Higham Ferrers, whereas with the Post Office paying in etc can be done at Wellingborough saving time, travel costs, having to store the funds until able to go to Higham Ferrers. o The current signatories, namely Helen Cracknell, Lis Wells and Elizabeth Holbrook, will be transferred to the new account(s). A fourth signatory may be needed in case signatories are unavailable. · The church name needs to be amended on the Gift Aid Form. · The Diocese annual returns are nearly complete.	HC HC HC HC

7	Parish Weekend Away – See Appendix 2
	Postponed to July meeting due to limited time available.

8	Youth and Children’s worker – See Appendix 3 and 3a
	· All PCC members read the previous proposal (Appendix 3a) for context before discussion. · A proposal was submitted, and we were subsequently granted £5000. Bishop John is following up a potential further grant from another grant making body. · DA is writing to other grant making bodies with the vision, why we want a Youth and Children’s worker, details of how we intend to raise further monies towards the project. Some funding bodies will expect us to have 30% of what is needed to show that we are serious about the project. · DA suggests that we will need to fund a Youth and Children’s worker for two days a week for 40 weeks per year, and to have funding up front, or promised, for two years at least. We need to build a pot of £20,000 minimum to do this, and anything over this would go towards the following year. Proposal – to agree a ring-fenced pot to which people can give towards the project. Discussion – · Ideally, everyone should be tithing with the money being distributed according to the PCC’s decisions. However, people are not always willing to contribute to the Parish Share, for example, as they cannot physically see where the money goes, whereas they may be more willing to contribute to a specific thing/ project. · Also, although we have two new givers plus a cash donation recently, we are still a long way from where we need to be to meet church costs (approximately £6000 each month) and to have sufficient funds to consider funding the project ourselves. · We will ring-fence the grant money of £5000 specifically for the project, plus any donations that are given towards it. However, it is risky asking people to contribute to it directly as this may reduce the money already being given to the church for general running, unless they wish to give extra. · Research shows that churches that invest in their Under 18s grow, whereas those that don’t tend to decline. · One suggestion was that we look at our existing Mission Giving, and possibly stop paying towards those Mission Partners and redirect those funds towards this project making the Youth and Children’s worker a new Mission partner. · We have a further Stewardship Sunday in September and DA could talk to the church about the vision for the children then. Alan is preaching at that service and can remind whoever is leading it about tithing testimonies, emphasising tithing as thanksgiving and not tithing as a means to receive a blessing. · A suggestion was also made about opening it up to the community to contribute, as their children also benefit from Ignite, for example. Helen will investigate producing a QR code so that people at the Community Days could contribute if they wish to.	DA AP HC

9	Community Days Proposal – See Appendix 4
	· A question was raised concerning costs for the Community Days: o There is no budget set for this, and costs should be minimal. o Last year we had donations towards refreshments. o The bouncy castle was funded by Glenvale Park Management, as for this year. o Helen will look at what costs were involved last year and advise Ben. Proposal – to hold the Community Days. Proposer-LHS. Seconder-EH. All present were in favour.	HC

10	Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs (NAYC) Policies – See Appendix 5
	Proposal – to adopt the NAYC policies. Proposer-BHS. Seconder-ME. All present were in favour, plus LH had sent her agreement by email. We may need to look at certain areas within them, e.g. risk assessments – written by Amanda (Admin). Ben will liaise with Amanda.	BHS

11	Agree new Safeguarding Policy
	Proposal-to adopt the new safeguarding policy. Proposer-DA. Seconder-ME. All present were in favour, plus LH had sent her agreement by email. Everyone present signed the policy. DA to file it. Issues/ questions arising: · There should be a first aider at the various groups, e.g., Ignite. BHS and LHS are looking into Livvi attending the St. John’s Ambulance course. · Should a first aider be present at Sunday Mornings? Lisa Carew and HC have done the course. · Section Seven – Should Bishop Donald’s quote be updated to the new Bishop? The quote and its sentiment are still valid. It is for the Diocese to decide. However, DA/ EH will ask the Diocese if they wish to consider it.	DA/EH

12	PCC Duties – See Appendix 6
	DA started a discussion on what it’s like being on the PCC to give new members an idea of what is expected of them. Two items, namely what to do with the land at Redhill Farm and where our main base should be will need to be discussed further at future meetings.

13	New Church Logo – See Appendix 7
	There were two top runners after the church vote. After discussion, a decision was made. See Appendix 7 for the new logo. Proposal – to adopt the crossroads style logo. Proposer -DA. Seconder-DW. All who were present agreed, although by this time MH and HC had left the meeting.

14	Dates of next meetings:
	PCC meetings: · Monday 1^st July 2024 19.00. · Monday 16^th September 2024 19.00. · Monday 11^th November 2024 19.00 or may be part of Leadership Away Day TBC. · Monday 20^th January 2025 19.00. · Monday 24^th March 2025 19.00. · Monday 28^th April 2025 19.00 (to approve APCM reports). · APCM Sunday 25^th May 2025 as part of the service followed by a short PCC meeting.

15	The meeting closed with prayers at 21.40.

Appendix 1 – Letter confirming new church boundaries and name.

Appendix 2 – PCC report – Parish Weekend away

I have been thinking through the merits of having a church weekend away in May 2025, possibly the second bank holiday weekend leading into the half term school holidays. This would be for two nights, Friday through to Sunday.

I have approached the Frontier centre as it’s so conveniently close but still feels like you’re away. Their initial quote per person felt too expensive. However, in negotiating with them on price I wonder if we have arrived at something more doable. If for example we had meals from Friday tea time through to Sunday lunch time it would be £121 per person, under 6s free and every 10 people booked would give us a free place. The cost of Friday tea is £13 per person and Sunday lunch is £9.80 per person. So if we chose to exclude either or both of these that brings the cost per person to under £100 each.

PCC decision needed:

There is of course much more detail to think about but at this stage I wanted to hear what the PCC thinks and whether this is something that would both benefit the church community as well as be affordable for people?

Revd. Dawn Airey.

Appendix 3 – PCC report – Children’s and Youth worker

The PCC previously agreed a potential 3-year strategy for employing someone for this ministry increasing the hours offered each year, starting with a contract for 8 hours a week.

In May we applied for and were given a grant of £5,000 towards a children’s and youth worker. This grant has to be used within 12 months.

In order to build a budget for the above I would now like to develop a ‘ring-fenced’ pot whereby members in the congregation who feel passionate about this ministry can give financially. Ideally, we wouldn’t ask people to give to something specific but simply to give, trusting the elected PCC to steward all of our finances in a Godly and wise way. However, experience has also shown me that sometimes people like to be able to give to a particular project.

Revd. Dawn Airey.

Appendix 3a – Youth and Children’s worker project proposal for PCC

Vision

To employ a children’s and youth worker to hold and carry the vision of our under 18s ministry. This is one of the three key priorities for the church and we have a large number of volunteers currently working hard to run things with the main leadership roles being held by clergy. It is important to make this sustainable and so it is now time to give serious consideration to employing someone specifically for this ministry.

Job description

Initial Job description for 8 hrs a week:-Run Ignite children’s group -Be part of Ignite youth & Connect Youth with a view to taking on the leadership of Ignite Youth within 3 months of starting-Be part of the teams starting a new intergenerational worship congregation in the new housing estate, Glendale Park.

All of the above are intentionally evangelistic aimed at creating new disciples. The aim with both Ignite and Ignite Youth is to also create a greater connection with the church and to enable families to become part of the congregation.

The intention is to then move this to 16 hrs a week and gradually increase to 30 hr a week role. The job description will then also include:

General:-Potentially oversight of under 18s ministry on Sunday mornings-Ignite youth: 3 hrs (Outreach)-Ignite: 3 hrs (Outreach)-Connect Youth: 2 hrs (Discipleship)-Summer youth camp (Discipleship)-Toddler groups x 2: 6 hrs (just starting to introduce Bubble church at one of the toddler groups)-Help with monthly cafe church held in the community school: 1 hr
Schools work:-Regular Assemblies (monthly) in community school: 0.5 hr -Weekly wellbeing groups for key stage 2, currently in community school (2.5 hrs)

Glenvale Park (new housing estate):-Youth work with and for older young people: 3/4 hrs-Detached youth work: fire pits, etc: 1 hr-Start new Inter generational worship, which would be our second congregation at Glenvale Park School, probably cafe style or after school, etc: 2 hrs-Weekly collective worship in Church school (2 hrs)

Festival times of year:

Help with:-Carols at Christmas-Easter rock hunt and Good Friday family event-Summer Community Days at Glenvale Park

Project Costs

Year 1:

8 hrs a week @ £14/hr (term time, 40 weeks) = £5,000 a yr (incl expenses)

Year 2:

16 hrs a week (term time) = £10,000 a yr (incl expenses)

Year 3:

30 hrs a week (term time) = £20,000 a yr (incl expenses)

(NIC’s and Pensions contributions yet to be calculated and added to the above figures)

How will we know this has been successful? -More and new families would have joined the church as a direct result of our ministry-Children and young people professing faith, coming for baptism and confirmation-Children’s and youth ministry would become sustainable

We are already beginning to see the above happen and I would expect this to increase.

Funding

The diocese are offering invitations for one off grants of up to £5,000. I would like to

apply for this and then my intention is to apply for further grants.

Decision for PCC (at April’s PCC meeting)

To agree this as a project in principle with agreement for me to apply for the diocesan

grant.

Revd Dawn Airey

27th April 2024

Appendix 4 – Community Days Proposal

What community days are.

The Community Days are three days that we organise at the end of July, at the beginning of the summer school holidays, on the green space in Glenvale Park. The idea came about from conversations that took place at the Glenvale Park Breakfast Meetings, where people got together to discuss how the church can be present on the new estate in a way to make new disciples. The Community Days occurred in the summer of 2022 and 2023, so we are looking to deliver them again this coming summer of 2024. This year, we are looking to have our Community Days between Thursday 25th July and Saturday 27th July. We will also be looking to have an outdoor, cafe-style service in Glenvale Park on the morning of Sunday 28th July. The Community Days will be between 10am-12pm on Thursday and Friday, and between 2pm-4pm on Saturday. The decision to have an afternoon event on the Saturday is due to advice from Jon from NAYC (Northamptonshire Association of Youth Workers) that this may attract more teenagers. Having an event on a Saturday this year may also attract more people who work Monday-Friday.

Aim of Community Days.

The aim of these days is to create a space where the whole parish can come, especially young families, and enjoy activities and connections with one another. It is a way for us to connect with them, to give them their first touch of church. This is especially useful for those who are unfamiliar with church and may be intimidated by the idea of coming to a service. They can have their first connection with the church congregation through these events, where they can come, have fun, and get to know regular church-goers in a relaxed way. This year, we are hoping to have an open-air cafe-style church service on Sunday, to which we will invite all attendees of the Community Days. This is a next step, to create a bridge between those choosing to attend the Community Days and those who may consider attending church services.

What the days will look like.

This year, we are looking to have an Olympics theme, as the Olympics will be starting in Paris on Saturday July 27th, the last day of the Community Days. Like previous years, we will set-up 8-9 gazebos to use for different activities. We also have the church gazebo this year. We will provide refreshments of tea and coffee, and donated cakes that will hopefully be provided for by the church (like in previous years). We will have a collection of craft activities, table activities and sport activities, all based around the theme of the Olympics. Jon from NAYC will provide activities for youth and older children, such as sumo suits and giant jenga, on all three days. Wendy Scales (Livvi’s mum) will provide a puppet show on either Thursday or Friday. The developers have agreed to pay for an inflatable on Saturday. There will be appointed floaters who will circulate during the event, providing flyers for the cafe service and starting conversations with people.

What is needed from the church.

Volunteers.

The main need is volunteers to help on all three days. We will need people to help set-up and set-down, prepare and manage crafts and activities, as well as people to manage and help with refreshments, and floaters to have conversations with people. The more volunteers, the better. This is mostly so everyone can have a small role, rather than a few volunteers having to carry a lot of the workload.

Some budget from church giving.

There will need to be some budget from church giving. This is mostly towards costs for craft, any table activities, and tea and coffee. Therefore, we won’t need a huge budget. Most other things – like chairs, tables, gazebos etc. – are being borrowed. Cakes will need to be donated by people in the church. The developers are paying for the inflatable on Saturday. Therefore, the event should not be too expensive.

Prayer

As a final point, prayer will always be a priority, especially for events like this. Prayer for connections to be made, for the people God is calling to himself to come along to these events and, practically, that weather is good the entire week (including Sunday!!).

Revd. Livvi Haughton-Scales.

Appendix 5 – Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs (NAYC) Policies

During the process of reapplying for membership of the Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs (NAYC) for Ignite and Ignite Youth, the church was asked to put in place an Equality & Diversity Policy and a Health & Safety Policy in order to align with youth work best practice. See policies below:

Equality & Diversity Policy

The Parochial Church Council of North Wellingborough Anglican Church, which acts as the Management Committee of Ignite and Ignite Youth (hereafter ‘the club’), is committed to equality and diversity. The club is open to all regardless of age, colour, disability, ethnic origin, gender, HIV status, marital status, nationality or national origins, race, religious or political beliefs, responsibility for dependents, or sexual orientation. We will not tolerate attitudes and behaviour that amount to discrimination on these grounds.

Equality and diversity is about accepting people’s differences and creating an environment in which all can thrive and contribute.

The club is committed to ensuring that all feel valued, that the skills and talents of individuals are recognised and fully utilised and that the environment in the club is productive and rewarding. The club is a place where there is respect for difference in culture and experience.

All leaders will be made aware of the contents of this policy as part of the induction process. The

management committee will be active in making sure all its policies and procedures are fair and no member is disadvantaged when participating in the club activities it provides.

The club is also aware of how people can be subject to harassment on a wide variety of grounds and which can take many forms. Harassment is a physical, verbal or non-verbal action which is unwelcome, unwanted and offensive to the recipient and has the effect of violating their dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive atmosphere for that person. This can include embarrassing or offensive jokes, unwelcome physical contact or sexual advances, the expression of racist, homophobic, etc views, lewd comments and innuendo, and the sending of offensive text messages. The Management Committee is responsible for implementing this policy and upholding its principles in everything it does.

Procedures

We will make sure that:

We promote respect for other people and treat everyone fairly.
Young people and adults are able to meet together in a positive and accepting environment where they are safe from harm, abuse, harassment and intimidation.
Young people and adults recognise and challenge prejudice and discrimination.
Everyone has an equal opportunity to be considered as a volunteer leader.
All leaders will have equal access to training opportunities.
All young people will have equal access to club activities and training opportunities.
The policy is applied when recruiting volunteers.
We monitor what we do to meet any legal requirements and so that this policy is implemented properly and understood by all.
We take incidents, including those of harassment and bullying, seriously.

Any issues of inequality, harassment or discrimination should be reported to the Club Leader and Chair of the Management Committee, who will enable the parties involved to give their version of events before considering further action.

The Club Leader will respond quickly and impartially to such issues after consulting with the Chairperson of the Management Committee and/or the NAYC, if necessary.

This policy was adopted at the Management Committee Meeting on: ……………………………….Date

On behalf of the Management Committee: ……………………………………………………………Signed

This policy will be reviewed annually by the Management Committee.

Health & Safety Policy

The Parochial Church Council of North Wellingborough Anglican Church, which acts as the Management

Committee of Ignite and Ignite Youth (hereafter ‘the club’), is committed to providing activities in a safe

environment without risk as far as is reasonably practicable. The overall responsibility for the

implementation of this policy rests with the Management Committee. Day-to-day responsibility for ensuring

this policy is put into practice is delegated to …………………………………………………………………………………………………

All leaders will be made aware of the contents of this policy as part of the induction process and be

encouraged to take responsibility for ensuring their own personal health and safety and that of others who

may be affected by their actions.

The Management Committee will:

Take out and maintain adequate insurance to cover all possible liabilities and display this information publicly.
Provide equipment that is maintained in a safe condition at all times and provide instruction in its safe use.
Ensure that assessments are carried out in accordance with the Risk Assessment Policy.
Make sure that fire drills are undertaken on a regular basis.
Establish and display prominently on the premises emergency procedures to be taken in the event of fire, incidents, accidents and illness.
Maintain necessary health and safety records including an Accident Book.
Make sure that a First Aid box is regularly checked and its location known to all leaders.
Ensure that a qualified First Aider is present at all club meetings and those present know who this is.
Make Emergency Aid Training available to all leaders.
Ensure the safe storage, handling and labelling of any hazardous materials.
Provide relevant information and encourage leaders to undertake training relating to Health and Safety matters.
Investigate accidents promptly.

This policy was adopted at the Management Committee Meeting on: ………………………………………………..Date

On behalf of the Management Committee: …………………………………………………………………………………….Signed

This policy will be reviewed annually by the Management Committee.

Health & Safety Checklist

For use with new volunteer leaders and induction on Health and Safety.

Knows emergency procedures
Has read and understands Health and Safety policy
Knows First Aid procedures
Knows security arrangements
Understands reporting of accidents and incidents procedure
Understands and follows risk assessment
Knows fire drill arrangements
Is aware of personal health and safety requirements towards self and others
Has shown competence and awareness of health and safety when working with young people Any training needs have been addressed

Date Completed

Signed (Club Leader)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Signed (Volunteer)……………………………………………………………………………………….. Date………………………………….

Revd. Ben Haughton-Scales.

Appendix 6 – Discussion on being on the PCC

DA initiated a discussion on:

the roles of PCC members:
- Legal body
- Oversight of finances
- Represent lay congregation at Management
- Have a say in the church’s decision making and strategy under a spiritual umbrella
- Promote mission
- Producing the Vision for the church
- The day to day running of the church is done by the clergy and church wardens
PCC Meetings:
- There is no Any Other Business at the meetings. If you have a topic that you wish including for discussion, speak to DA a couple of weeks before the meeting and she will ensure that it is put on the agenda if applicable
- The Agenda and reports will be sent to you a week before the meeting so that you can read them before the meeting and bring any comments/ queries to the meeting for discussion. If you have any queries you can talk them through with DA beforehand so that decisions can be made on the night
Subjects of previous meetings, for example,:
- Writing the new Vision
- Expanding Parish Boundaries
- Finance
- What enables a healthy growing church
- Parish weekend away
- Employing a parish administrator
- Buying a gazebo
- Church model – where our main base should be will need further discussion
- What to do with our land at Redhill Farm – ongoing

Appendix 7 – The new church logo

Published 25/02/2025

Minutes of the PCC Meeting

held after the APCM on Sunday 26^th May 2024

1	Attendance
	· Dawn Airey (Chair), Fiona Clarke (Honorary Secretary), Helen Cracknell, Matt Ellson, Louise Harrison, Melanie Hartung, Ben Haughton-Scales, Livvi Haughton-Scales, Elizabeth Holbrook, and David Wells. · Apologies: Sam Carew, Alan Palmer, Ruth Wium.

2	Appointment of Officers
	· Lay Vice Chair – Not elected at this meeting.
	· PCC Secretary – Fiona Clarke Already holds the position but no longer a voting PCC member – Honorary position.
	· PCC Treasurer – Lis Wells Already holds the position. Not a voting member of the PCC.
	· Electoral Roll Officer – Marion Darker Already holds the position. but no longer a voting PCC member.
	· Safeguarding Officer – John Gilyead Already holds the position. Not a voting member of the PCC.

3	New voting PCC (including ex-officio) members’ admin
	· Declaration of Interest and Fitness to serve paperwork Completed by Matt Ellson, Louise Harrison, Elizabeth Holbrook and David Wells. Sam Carew and Ruth Wium will need to complete the paperwork.
	· DBS and Safeguarding Training Those new to the PCC were reminded that they need to complete their training and paperwork as soon as possible. Dawn will advise those not present.
	· Who’s Who New PCC members were asked to send a photo of themselves to Fiona Clarke to be placed on the website under Who’s Who. Dawn will advise those not present.

4	Safeguarding Policy To be accepted at the next full PCC meeting on 10/06/2024

5	Appointment of Independent Examiner All present voted to appoint Mrs Hannah Rawlings to continue as Independent Examiner for this year’s accounts due for next year’s APCM.

6	Dates of next meetings · Monday 10^th June 2024 19.00. · Monday 1^st July 2024 19.00.

7	The meeting closed at 12.10

Published 25/02/2025

Minutes of the PCC Meeting

Held on Monday 29th April 2024

		Action
1	The meeting opened at 19.10 with prayer.

2	Attendance
	· Dawn Airey (Chair), Fiona Clarke (Secretary), Helen Cracknell, Marion Darker, Heidi Ellson, Ben Haughton-Scales, Elizabeth Holbrook, Alan Palmer, Rob Seaman, David Wells. · Apologies: Jane Bell, Melanie Hartung, Livvi Haughton-Scales. · Sally Quincey has, unfortunately, gone to pastures new. Her service has been greatly appreciated.

3	Previous Minutes
	The Minutes of the Meeting held on 18^th March 2024 were agreed by all who were present at that meeting.

4	Matters Arising
	· Giving o Nothing has changed but it is being kept high on the agenda. · Selling the land opposite the Ock and Dough to Compass Church. o Arguments for: § Gleneagles has a lot of contacts across the community, and this is of more worth than having a building so we shouldn’t be too impacted by their presence. § People may not recognise a new building as a church if looking to join a church in the area. § There are so many people in Wellingborough that another church should not reduce our congregation. § We should not try to prevent people finding God. o Arguments against: § DA contacted Paul from Compass Church re their intentions for building another church on the land. Compass Church is a gathered church focussed across the whole of Wellingborough. From his response, her opinion has strengthened that we should not sell to them as: ² She would not feel able to recommend them to anyone who finds that Gleneagles is not for them. ² She feels that they would be more a competitor than a companion church. ² Compass Church have stated that their congregation is growing as a reason to relocate and build on the land, however the land is not of sufficient size to accommodate a bigger building with parking than they have already, although it is in a more prominent location. § As Trustees of our church, we have a responsibility to not do things to the detriment of our church. § Many of the congregation gave money for the vision of creating our church building on the land and may be confused, disillusioned and possibly angry at the land being used to build a church by a competitor. § People may, converse to the argument for, be drawn towards a building rather than our church, which is based in a school. Proposal: DA proposed that we say no to Compass Church purchasing the land, as we have other decisions to make at this time. FC seconded. One abstained but the remainder all agreed so the motion was carried. This having been agreed, the discussion of what to do with the land has been postponed until the July PCC meeting. · Glenvale Park School o DA spoke to the archdeacon, who in turn spoke to Ruth Walker-Green (CEO of PDET). In principle it has been agreed that: § Yes, we can have an office in the new school building. § Yes, we can use the school at the weekends and for some, but not all, evenings. This is similar to the arrangement with Redwell School but not the same as the ‘Werrington’ style lease. § DA will update the new PCC at the June PCC meeting.	DA

5	Approving Annual Reports for APCM – reports attached after appendices.
	· Finance o It became clear at the last PCC meeting that we did not have an Independent Examiner to audit the church accounts ahead of the APCM. This was, therefore, agreed subsequently by email: Proposal by Lis Wells (Treasurer) to appoint Hannah Rawlings as Independent Examiner at a fee of £250.00v+ VAT. Seconded by AP. All PCC agreed. 27/3/24. o We are currently awaiting Hannah’s approval of the accounts. · Report on work of the PCC. o The Ordinand is not classed as part of the clergy and so is one of the lay members of the PCC. Therefore: § under the subheading Membership, “The Ordinand (Rob Seaman)” is to be removed from the first line. § Under the subheading Since 2023, the allowance for election of PCC members is five instead of six. Proposal. FC proposed that the Annual Reports for APCM are approved, subject to the above alterations and agreement of the Finances by the Independent Examiner. HE seconded and the vote was unanimous.

6	Parish Weekend Away – See Appendix 1
	This agenda item has been postponed until the June PCC meeting.

7	Youth and Children’s worker – See Appendix 2
	· There is currently enough work for a youth and children’s worker to be appointed. Proposal. DA proposed that we approve the project of employing a youth and children’s worker and apply for a grant to fund this. AP seconded. All were in agreement. · There was also a suggestion that we consider setting up youth and children’s worker fund that people could contribute to if they so wish.

8	Dates of next meetings:
	APCM · Sunday 26th May 2024 during the morning service. PCC meetings: · After the APCM Sunday 26^th May 2024. · Monday 10^th June 2024 19.00. · Monday 1^st July 2024 19.00. · Monday 16^th September 2024 19.00. · Monday 11^th November 2024 19.00 or may be part of Leadership Away Day TBC. · Monday 20^th January 2025 19.00. · Monday 24^th March 2025 19.00. · Monday 28^th April 2025 19.00 (to approve APCM reports). · APCM Sunday 25^th May 2025 as part of the service followed by a short PCC meeting.

9	The meeting closed with prayer at 20.20. AP read Psalm 121 – put everything in God’s hands – our “help comes from the Lord”.

Appendix 1 – PCC report – Parish Weekend away

PCC decision needed:

Revd. Dawn Airey.

Appendix 2 – Youth and Children’s worker

Vision

Job description

Initial Job description for 8 hrs a week:-

Run Ignite children’s group.
Be part of Ignite youth & Connect Youth with a view to taking on the leadership of Ignite Youth within 3 months of starting.
Be part of the teams starting a new intergenerational worship congregation in the new housing estate, Glenvale Park.

The intention is to then move this to 16 hrs a week and gradually increase to 30 hr a week role. The job description will then also include:

General:-

Potentially oversight of under 18s ministry on Sunday mornings.
Ignite youth: 3 hrs (Outreach).
Ignite: 3 hrs (Outreach).
Connect Youth: 2 hrs (Discipleship).
Summer youth camp (Discipleship).
Toddler groups x 2: 6 hrs (just starting to introduce Bubble church at one of the toddler groups).
Help with monthly cafe church held in the community school: 1 hr.

Schools work:-

Regular Assemblies (monthly) in community school: 0.5 hr.
Weekly wellbeing groups for key stage 2, currently in community school (2.5 hrs).

Glenvale Park (new housing estate):-

Youth work with and for older young people: 3/4 hrs.
Detached youth work: fire pits, etc: 1 hr.
Start new Inter-generational worship, which would be our second congregation at Glenvale Park School, probably cafe style or after school, etc: 2 hrs

Weekly collective worship in Church school (2 hrs).

Festival times of year:-

Help with:-

Carols at Christmas.
Easter rock hunt and Good Friday family event.
Summer Community Days at Glenvale Park.

Project Costs

Year 1:
- 8 hrs a week @ £14/hr (term time, 40 weeks) = £5,000 a yr (incl expenses).
Year 2:
- 16 hrs a week (term time) = £10,000 a yr (incl expenses)
Year 3:
- 30 hrs a week (term time) = £20,000 a yr (incl expenses).

(NIC’s and Pensions contributions yet to be calculated and added to the above figures).

How will we know this has been successful?

More and new families would have joined the church as a direct result of our ministry.
Children and young people professing faith, coming for baptism and confirmation.
Children’s and young ministry would become sustainable.

We are already beginning to see the above happen and I would expect this to increase.

Funding

The diocese are offering invitations for one off grants of up to £5,000. I would like to apply for this and then my intention is to apply for further grants.

Decision for PCC

To agree this as a project in principle with agreement for me to apply for the diocesan grant.

Registered Charity No 1172631

“Connecting with Jesus,

with each other,

with the community”

ANNUAL REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

FOR GLENEAGLES ANGLICAN CHURCH,

WELLINGBOROUGH, PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL

REPORTS OF CHURCH MINISTRY AND MISSION

Church attendance

The total on the Electoral Roll for 2024 is 82. Last year it was 74, with 7 names being removed where people have left the church and 15 new names added.

Marion Darker – Electoral Roll Officer.

Report on the work of the PCC.

Membership

The PCC is made up of the following – ex officio members, who are the clergy, currently including the Incumbent (Vicar), and our two Curates (Ben and Livvy Haughton-Scales), the churchwardens, and Deanery Synod representatives. The other members of the PCC are elected at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM).

Deanery Synod representatives fulfil a three-year term, but new rules since 2020 enable them to stand for two terms before standing down for at least one term.
Churchwardens are elected every year. They can be re-elected but can only serve up to six consecutive years and then have a break of at least one year before standing for re-election.
Elected PCC members may remain on the PCC for up to three years and stand again after a one year wait.

Jackie Bello resigned in April, but two new PCC member were elected at the APCM. Additionally, two Curates joined in June, bringing the total to 15 members. Pauline Ball stepped down in October.

Since 2023

Sally Quincey has now moved to a new parish, resigning from lay PCC membership.
Three more of the existing lay PCC members were elected three years ago at the APCM in May 2021 and are due to step down at the APCM (2024).
David Wells and Helen Cracknell will not be continuing as Churchwardens after the APCM.
Heidi Ellson will be stepping down from Deanery Synod after the APCM.
Rob Seaman will be taking up a post as curate in early June so will be stepping down from PCC at the APCM.

There is, therefore, allowance for election of an additional six PCC members, two Churchwardens and two Deanery Synod representatives at the APCM (2024).

The PCC is empowered to co-opt two additional members after the APCM for a particular purpose, regardless of vacancies, but only until the next APCM and then they would need to be elected.

Legalities

The PCC is required to have a Standing Committee, its membership comprises the Incumbent, Curates, Churchwardens and Treasurer.

As Gleneagles Anglican Church is a registered charity, members of the PCC are registered with the Charity Commission as trustees. The responsibilities of the trustees are detailed in the Trustees’ Report.

Responsibilities

Given its wide responsibilities, the Ministry Leadership Team (MLT) look after hands-on mission and ministry covering the Under 18’s Ministry and pastoral care. The MLT is accountable to the PCC. At every meeting the PCC considers reports from the MLT, and from others who cover areas of the three priorities highlighted in the Church Vision, together with reports from Deanery Synod and Safeguarding. The Treasurer also presents regular reports on the church finances. All are responsible to the PCC and report back to it regularly. Their reports are received by the full PCC and discussed, as needed.

Attendance

The full PCC met seven times during this year, including a short meeting after the APCM, with an average attendance of 84%.

Members of the PCC also met together with church leaders in November 2023, after a short PCC meeting included above. This was for their annual half day of discussion, prayer and worship that helps formulate Gleneagles’ Vision for the coming year.

Fiona Clarke – PCC Secretary.

Vicar’s Report

“Connecting: with Jesus, with each other, with the wider community”.

I would like to start in my usual way by thanking our churchwardens, David, Helen, and Elizabeth (assistant churchwarden), the PCC, the Ministry Leadership Team, Connect Group facilitators and to our staff team – Amanda Allen (Parish Administrator), Rob Seaman (Ordinand) and we welcomed our two Curates Ben & Livvi Haughton-Scales. Alice worked with us as our Intern until July 2023. This is a really hard-working team and I so appreciate the wisdom and generosity from each individual and am privileged to work alongside them.

When I was preparing to come to Gleneagles church towards the end of 2020, the Lord gave me the following scripture – Isaiah 37:30-32:

³⁰“This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
³¹Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
³²For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.

Of course, the scripture was a prophetic vision for Israel at that time, but I believed this to be a prophetic word for me and for us as a church. Last year I reflected on how, as we emerged from the pandemic, there were many who looked around and wondered what had happened to the church, the church nationally as well as locally here at Gleneagles. We were the ‘remnant’ and it took time to adjust. Year 1 & 2 were about re-orienting ourselves, setting a new vision, simply being faithful to the faith that had been given us and starting to respond to what the Lord was putting in front of us. But in year 3 (2023) we would ‘sow and reap’. And at the beginning of 2023 we received another prophetic word from Song of Songs 2 ‘the winter is past’ and spring is on its way.

Well, what a year 2023 has been!

-Greater connection between Sunday worship and our Monday – Saturday lives.

-A growing desire among us for greater intimacy with the Father.

-The Lord is adding to our number, and we continue to see new people all the time.

-The Lord has grown each of the ministry areas.

-We have begun to see some become Christians or return to faith in Jesus.

-Planning for new ministries begun.

-Greater engagement with the school.

-Fantastic community presence during festival times of the year (Easter rock hunt, summer community days and Advent/Christmas).

-Reshaping of Connect groups in line with our vision.

-Decision for Glenvale Park School to become a Church of England School.

-Initial discussions around starting a second congregation/fresh expression of church at Glenvale Park.

Update on Extending the Parish:

Last year we concluded our discussions with our neighbouring parish of Great Harrowden around redrawing parish boundaries. It was agreed that the parish boundaries would change so that Glenvale Park would come under our parish instead of Gt Harrowden. As part of that discussion, in 2021 we were offered, and hoped to reorder, All Saints Church building in Great Harrowden, and thereby take the whole of the parish of Gt Harrowden, which would have also included Redhill Grange. However, it became clear toward the end of last year that this was not going to be possible, and a decision was made by the PCC to stop pursuing it. Gt Harrowden parish wish to keep Redhill Grange but have agreed that Glenvale Park should be part of our parish. The parish boundaries are currently being redrawn and the legal process should be completed before the summer of 2024. Recognising that we are not just the church for Gleneagles estate but also the church for Glenvale Park and Redhill Farm (artists estate), the church was given an opportunity to choose a new name and it was agreed, once the legalities have been approved, we will become North Wellingborough Anglican Church.

In the end, the Lord simply calls us to be faithful to what He has given us, to respond to where He is taking us but more importantly than anything else, to know more deeply than before that we are sons and daughters of the King of Kings…..everything flows from this place.

We are this parish’s glimpse of heaven and I love being part of it!

Rev. Dawn Airey – Vicar.

Churchwardens’ Fabric Report

Following great discussion at PCC and consideration the decision to not relocate to All Saint’s Church, Harrowden was made in the summer.

A buyer has still not yet been found to sell the land in the Artist’s area of the parish, but negotiations are still being pursued with Carter Jonas Property Advisors in conjunction with the Diocese.

Whilst we remain based at Redwell Primary School, articles belonging to the church, and used for worship and other activities, are stored in a shed on the school grounds. Everything is in good order, with no evidence of deterioration due to damp. Other items are used in the church office at the Vicarage. Electrical equipment and the lectern are stored within the school. Items are repaired or replaced as necessary, and the costs are borne from church funds under the oversight of the PCC. We are now using the school’s in-built screen instead of the projector screen. This has removed the need for setting up both the aging screen and projector.

This report comprises the Terrier report, together with the report on the Church Inventory and Logbook.

In conclusion, we would like to acknowledge and give thanks for the hard work and dedication of those who fulfil so many duties across our church life, who make our task so much easier by their selfless service.

David Wells and Helen Cracknell – Churchwardens.

Sung Worship Team

Team: Alex Palmer, Ben Haughton-Scales, Dan Hulland, Ezra Airey, Jane Bell (to end February 2024), Jasmine Childs, Louise Harrison, Maria Seaman, Mel Hartung, Rob Seaman, Ruth Wium & Steph Gledhill

As I list the names of the people above, I am mindful of how blessed we are with musicians and vocalists who are willing to be part of the team. The process of planning worship, preparing music, learning new songs and gathering early on Sundays to practice is not without sacrifice and we are grateful to the way these people’s gifts enrich our gathered worship. In addition to the team, we are also hugely grateful to Sally Wilkins who diligently compiles the PowerPoint slides, to those who manage the visuals week to week and the sound team who have to navigate considerable challenges most weeks, whilst trying to satisfy our demands over microphone volumes through foldback speakers!

We are grateful to Jane Bell for her contribution and dedication over recent years, having decided to step down at the end of February 2024, and for Louise Harrison being willing to step forward in the last quarter of 2023.

Ben is doing some work in the background in trying to encourage the gifts of others in the church to get involved, including our young people, and this looks to be a really exciting development. If you are harbouring a musical gift but are worried that you might not be good enough or that the commitment is too great, please speak to Ben.

Rob Seaman – Ordinand.

Financial Review for 2023

The church has two bank accounts: – a General Account, and a Building Account. Any spending from the Building Account is restricted to works associated with the building. The General Account is for general use but does have within it restricted monies that have been given for specific purposes, such as social events. Staffing costs have been put in here as well. All transactions from both the building and general account go into the same accounting system.

GENERAL ACCOUNT We started the year with £9,524 in the bank account and ended the year with £1,071.07.

Restricted Money

There are three main restricted spending areas within the General account, these are money held for social events, money given for wages and expenses plus the Discretionary Fund (Acts2Fund or Family in Need).

Expenditure from the Discretionary fund this year was £326.00 leaving a balance of £1,134. 00

BUILDING ACCOUNT (Restricted Fund) We started the year with £56,864 in the bank account and ended the year with £49,031.94. During the year the main expenditure was for Priory Heritage advice for the Harrowden Church costing £7,359.00

Income and Expenditure for General and Building accounts.

Over the year Our total expenditure across both the general and Building accounts was £95,413.00 and our total income £79,127.00. The difference of £16,286.00 was made up of £8,453.00 funds carried over from the 2022 general account and expenditure in the building fund of £7,832.06.

The Parish Share for 2023 was set at £69,781, of this amount £58,630, was actually paid for 2023. This is the largest expenditure for the church. We continued to support our many Mission Partners this year. The main source of our funding still comes from the congregation.

GENERAL ACCOUNT (Unrestricted money) BUDGET 2023
Receipts	Budget 2023	Actual 2023
Planned Giving – Parish Giving Scheme	49,000.00	48,391.00
Collections – Other giving eg plate and online	15,000.00	10,664.00
Gift Aid recovered	14,000.00	14,164.00
Other receipts	3,000.00	1,427.00
Fundraising
Church activities	3,000.00	4,478.00
TOTAL	84.000.00	79,124.00

Payments	Budget 2023	Actual 2023
Parish Share	69,780.00	58,630.00
Missionary Giving	3,000.00	2,760.00
Clergy and staff costs	3,500.00	8,748.00
Church running costs	11,000.00	12,643.00
Transferred to Building Fund
TOTAL	87,280.00	82,781.00

We thank God for his generous provision during 2023 which enabled us to sustain ministry. We pray that this will continue.

Lis Wells – Treasurer. On behalf of the Finance Team.

Key Vision Areas:

Discipleship

Connect Groups

From the APCM in 2023 we ‘re-launched’ Connect Groups and reshaped them around the vision of the church. It isn’t possible to get to know everyone and so our midweek Connect Groups are the main way of caring for, encouraging, and supporting one another both in our faith journey but also life in general! The other change in Connect Groups is that we stopped calling those who coordinated them ‘leaders’ and instead call them ‘facilitators’. In many ways it may not feel like a significant change, but we recognised that a culture had developed in which those who were willing to be ‘leaders’ felt at times overwhelmed and found themselves organizing every aspect of the Connect Group. The purpose of the facilitator is to enable every person in the group to use their God given gifts and skills to serve and build one another up, rather than do everything themselves.

Since May last year we now have 5 Connect Groups, all meet fortnightly (listed below). We have tried to encourage everyone to be part of a group and while for some going to the fortnightly meetings might be hard, the majority can get to the group socials and be part of the wider group to pray for and support one another.

Greg was the Connect Group coordinator until just before Christmas 2023 and stepped down due to ill health. We are so thankful to Greg for his commitment to Connect Groups and supporting others who facilitate these groups – thank you Greg. The facilitators continue to meet every couple of months to support one another.

Our five groups are:

Monday afternoon (Carol Maycock)

Monday evening (Elizabeth Holbrook)

Thursday morning (Alan Palmer)

Wednesday evening (Rob Seaman)

Wednesday evening (Ben & Livvi Haughton-Scales)

Tuesday Teaching evenings:

In 2022 we decided to keep Tuesday evenings free from other church business to allow for occasional extra teaching sessions. In 2023 we used Tuesday evenings for a Lent course and a training course in prophetic ministry.

Revd. Dawn Airey.

Community Events

We seemed to have developed a pattern of hosting community missional events at festival times of year and almost all of us are involved in these in some way or other, so thank you everyone!!! As the parish Church of England, we are called to be this parish’s glimpse of heaven and so I believe our community events have been a really significant part of being present in and being that good news to our local community.

Easter:

The popularity of the Holy Week rock hunt meant we ran it again last year (200 decorated rocks went out) and we finished the week by inviting families to an activity morning on Good Friday. 200 children, young people and their families came and enjoyed the activities, being introduced and invited into the mission of the church.

Summer:

During the summer we hosted the pop-up Community Days at Glenvale Park for the second time at the beginning of the July school holidays. Three days were planned but due to rain the first day had to be cancelled. However, the other two days were full of crafts, games, bouncy assault course, bouncy dash n’ grab, drinks and cakes. This was very well received by the community and a great number of people attended from the community and further afield. Some people from the care home also visited the Community Days. So many people from the church were involved in running the community days and it felt like a really good time for the church too. The developers were very pleased with them and have asked us to do it again in 2024. In 2023 we bought a new church Gazebo to be used for mission, so we look forward to having that as part of the 9/10 gazebos in 2024!

Advent/Christmas:

In December we had a full programme of carol events every weekend.

Week 1: Outdoor Carols & Lights (knitted nativity characters) on Gleneagles; Wreath event
Week 2: Outdoor Carol service (drinks and food vans) on Glenvale Park
Week 3: Return of an indoor Traditional Carol Service at Redwell School
Week 4: Indoor Christingle & Nativity Service at Redwell School

Each event/service was developed further from the previous year and held a traditional carol service for the first time since the pandemic. It was great to see so many people across the whole month, many who we did not know as well as a good number who we see at our various midweek groups.

Revd. Dawn Airey.

Glenvale Park Care Home

At the beginning of 2023 we had continued to facilitate ‘Coffee, Cake and Chat’ which had intended to be both a blessing to the care home but also as a means of engaging with the Glenvale community. Unfortunately, the wider community never really came along to this and given both the small team from GAC facilitating the event, and the reality that it wasn’t meeting our original intentions, we decided it should be stopped and this happened on 4 April 2023.

For as long as Valerie and the team facilitated this outreach it was much appreciated by the care home and our efforts were very much valued.

It is hoped that something similar might be facilitated once the community centre is up and running on Glenvale estate but that looks to be some way off.

Whilst Coffee, Cake and Chat finished, the team (Rob, Mel, Alice, Dawn, Livvi, Ben and Ruth W), have continued to visit and facilitate a weekly church service which normally lasts about 30 minutes including some liturgy, songs, prayers and a short reflection. Dawn joins the team periodically so that we can administer communion.

The services themselves are well attended and most weeks we have needed to collect additional chairs to meet demand. Average attendances are probably around 17 each week. We have tried different things through the services to engage the residents, whilst including elements of liturgy which provide a framework and some familiarity that those with dementia can engage with.

One exciting development in recent months is that relatives of some of the residents seem to try and come and visit when the service is happening and join us – it is a privilege to minister to them as well.

We would value your prayers as we seek to shape this work to best meet the residents’ needs and for the formation of relationships with visitors coming along.

Rob Seaman – Ordinand.

Under 18’s Ministry

Under 11s ministry

For all of our under 18s ministry we have both a discipleship stream and an outreach stream. For under 11s our discipleship stream is primarily Sunday mornings at Sunday Club. Our outreach stream is on a Thursday – under 5s have Wellitots and those in year 1-5 have Ignite.

Last year we signed up to a resource called Energize which we use across all of our under 18s groups. This appears to have been appreciated by all the leaders.

Revd. Dawn Airey.

Sunday Club (Discipleship)

Sunday club continues to be appreciated by children and parents. There is a great group of people who lead and help with the groups. Huge thanks to each of them for their willingness to guide the children in their individual journeys with the Lord.

Revd. Dawn Airey.

Wellitots

In November 2022 the group moved to the Hub at Redwell School which meant the session time could be extended and has proved to be a much better venue. The numbers attending prior to moving venue had become very low and we even wondered if we might need to stop the group. However, throughout 2023 we have had many new households coming along and now have 10/11 households each week. A number of these join in with our events at festival times of year and some are touching their toes with Sunday mornings by coming to the café style service.

Revd. Dawn Airey.

Ignite

Leaders: Alice Pettifer (to July 2023), Maria Seaman (to September 2023), Sally Quincey (to September 2023), Rob Seaman, Ruth Gilbert, Michelle Norwood, Alan Palmer, Chris Green, Erin and Georgia. Dawn opens and helps set up weekly and she, Ben and Livvi have filled gaps in the team as and when they arise.

It has been a great year with the children at Ignite with numbers dipping quite low in the months leading up to Christmas (averaging 10 per week), causing the leaders to seriously consider whether it was sustainable. However, the opportunity of taking an Assembly in early 2024 at Redwell Primary School, led by Michelle and Livvi, has boosted numbers enormously and these have been sustained over subsequent weeks (averaging 25 per week since Christmas!).

The large majority of children at Ignite are aged between 5 – 7 and so our activities are shaped towards this group – we have some who are older and happy to be part of things.

We continue to have games one week and bible stories the next where children have the opportunity to let off some steam but also hear a bible story, do a craft to affirm their learning with some tuck in between. Over the last year we have undertaken a series on the friends of Jesus and had some brilliant times of engagement with the children. The leaders take turns in preparing games, story or craft and it is wonderful how our different gifts and ways of communicating all work together to help the children grow in their knowledge of Jesus.

Alan and Chris joined the team in September 2023 and have been great additions. I will be stepping down from the role of leader of Ignite at the end of May 2024, when I leave GAC to head off to curacy – none of the existing team members feel able to step into this role and so we would appreciate your prayers as we look beyond this academic year both regarding a new leader but also one or two more team members to help in this important work.

Please pray for the children coming along and for potential relationships with their families, we long to see them making lifelong commitments to Jesus.

Rob Seaman – Ordinand.

School’s work

Invitations to engage with Redwell School in 2023 increased. This has meant we were invited to be present at school assemblies/plays and special days at school. We were given the opportunity of doing monthly in person assemblies last year too. We continued to run several wellbeing groups throughout the year with different year groups….and were able to invite a number to Ignite and Ignite Youth as a result. For the first time last year we were able to offer year 6 ‘Transition to Secondary School’ sessions using material from Scripture Union. We once again made a pre-recorded assembly for Easter but were able to do an in-person Christmas assembly to the whole school. On both occasions we were able to advertise the seasonal family events – namely the rock hunt and Good Friday event at Easter, and then the various carol & Christingle services at Christmas.

Glenvale Park school was built but sadly had to remain empty until it could be agreed who would run it. In November 2023 it was finally announced that Wilby Church of England school will relocate to Glenvale Park School and become one of Peterborough Diocese Education Trust (PDET) schools. We have been praying for this for a long time and so delighted when this was announced. We look forward to the school opening in September 2024 and working very closely with them.

I would like to thank everybody involved in the children’s ministry for all the incredible work they do with all the children and families we are in contact with. They are a fantastic bunch doing a great job. But a really huge thanks belongs to Maria Seaman who for a number of years has taken responsibility for the children’s work and needed to step back last year. Maria you were and are missed and we cannot thank you enough for who you are and what you have given.

Please pray for all of us, that God will continue to give us the passion and the opportunities to present the gospel to all the children attending the groups and that He will continue to guide us in His will for all the groups and all of us. Also please pray for all the children attending, that God will work incredibly in their hearts.

Revd. Dawn Airey.

Youth Ministry Report

2023 has been a really positive year for youth ministry at Gleneagles. The church continues to run three groups:

Sunday Youth – This is the group that meets during Sunday services on 2^nd and 4^th Sundays in the month (1^st Sundays are Together on Sunday services and 3^rd Sundays have, since September, been designated as opportunities for the young people to serve in some way during services). The group is focused on Bible teaching and prayer, and there are 9 young people who attend regularly (up from 3 at the start of last year).
Ignite Youth – This is an outreach group which meets each Thursday evening (term-time only). The group has around 15-20 young people who attend regularly (down from 25 at the start of last year). It involves games, crafts, a tuck shop, and a short ‘thought for the day’ on issues relevant to the young people and based on Christian teaching. Topics covered have included the leaders giving their testimonies, looking at different influences in our lives, Halloween and Bonfire Night, and Christmas.
Connect Youth – This is a discipleship group which runs fortnightly on Sunday afternoons. The sessions are made up of a game, followed by worship and Bible teaching, and then ending with a meal. There are 15 young people who are currently committed to the group (up from 7 at the start of last year). The group followed the Youth Alpha course during the Spring term, then spent most of the Autumn term hearing testimonies from the group leaders and looking at the topic of prayer.

The vision is that these groups will feed into one another, and that those attending Ignite Youth may choose to get involved with our discipleship groups. This has not been happening as much as we would hope yet, but we continue to pray and look for opportunities from God to encourage this.

The growth in Sunday Youth and Connect Youth is largely due to a number of new families joining the church, and it has been great to have their young people join these groups. We are really excited about the spiritual growth and deepening of friendships that are taking place in these groups and are praying that God continues to work powerfully among our young people to help them grow as followers of Jesus.

In 2023 the church took out a subscription with the Energize online children’s and youth work resource by Urban Saints. This has proven to be an excellent tool for all our children’s and youth volunteers to assist with planning and preparing sessions.

Team

Until the Summer of 2023 the church’s youth ministry was led by Alice Pettifer as the church’s Youth Intern before she moved on to new opportunities. Alice did an excellent job and served the church and young people really faithfully during her time in post.

I took on responsibility for the church’s youth ministry from September 2023, though it is completely a team effort and would not happen without all those who support the discipleship of our young people in so many different ways. I will resist trying to list everyone for fear of missing someone out, but you know who you all are and I am immensely grateful for all your hard work and dedication.

Looking Ahead

We are continuing to pray and monitor opportunities for connecting with young people on the new Glenvale Park housing development.
We are taking those who want to attend from Connect Youth to the Satellites summer youth festival (one of the events that replaced Soul Survivor) at the Bath & West Showground from 2nd-6th August 2024. This is now booked but more young people can continue to book on. We currently have 5 young people booked to come and the adults involved will be Dawn & Chris, Ben & Livvi.

Ben Haughton-Scales – Curate and Youth Team Leader.

Wholeness in Jesus/ Wellbeing

Care Team

Throughout 2023 pastoral Care at Gleneagles Anglican Church continued to operate through Connect Groups and by direct contact with the Care Team providing fellowship, friendship and practical help where needed. The Care Team members were Valerie Brown, David & Helen Downey, and Elizabeth Holbrook. Helen Downey took responsibility for this team, and I am so grateful to her. I want to thank them all for all they have done in responding to the needs of church members.

However, it became clear in the early part of 2023 that the Care Team was itself very small and therefore limited in how it could respond. As the church was growing, we realised a new way was needed. At the same time, we were developing ideas around Connect Groups and as described in the discipleship section we slightly reshaped the purpose of Connect Groups in line with the vision of the church (Connecting – with Jesus, with each other, with the wider community). Part of that reshaping included a different understanding about pastoral care. The language of pastoral care had perhaps become unhelpful in that in can encourage a culture in which some are giving help, and some are receiving help. The reality is that most of us will find ourselves in both ‘camps’ at the same time! The Christian life is such that we are all members of Jesus’s body with different skills and gifts to offer one another, and we are all broken human vessels that need love, support, friendship, practical help, and encouragement. The other reality is that it is only possible to have close relationships with a few people at one time, close enough to know and be honest about our needs. With all of that in mind it made sense to close the Pastoral Care Team and for Connect Groups to become the main way in which we are all enabled to build close friendships, offer one another support when needed and use the gifts the Lord has given us to build one another up.

Revd. Dawn Airey.

Prayer Ministry Report April 2024
Last Summer, all members of the Prayer Ministry Team attended a training session to refresh good practice and safeguarding. It also included instructions for praying with and for minors.
Members of the Prayer Ministry team currently are Dawn, Ben, Livvi, Alan, Alex, Chris, Steph, Mel, Ruth and myself.
During the year, one of our prayer warriors, Helen Downey, left Gleneagles to worship at another church. I would like to extend my grateful thanks for her faithful ministry and wish her well for whatever God calls her to do next.
Prayer ministry is now offered during almost every service but is always available for those who may need it. Please ask Dawn or myself if you ever need prayer and we will arrange this for you.
The Prayer Chain continues to be extremely responsive and effective. It currently has 15 members who pray for any needs at short notice. Alerts are sent out via email.
The list of names being prayed for by the chain are also included in the weekly prayers circulated to the wider church. This list has been revised and updated earlier this year to keep it up to date and, in some cases, remind us of what we are praying for. Reviews will now be carried out at regular intervals in the year.
I am currently researching healing ministry and hope to be able to launch some instruction into this, to strengthen and extend what we can offer.
As always, my sincere thanks go to the members of both the Prayer Chain and Prayer Ministry Team for their faithful service and devotion to this vital ministry.

Jackie Brooks-Cheesman.

Reading Group – 2023/24

We have read five books during the last year, meeting every couple of months with extended gaps over Christmas and Easter. The books read range from the inspiring biographical, ‘Eye Can Write’ by Jonathan Bryan to the more practical ‘two views on homosexuality’ and, most recently, ‘Faith after Doubt’ by Brian McLaren.

The group remains small, normally only four of us are in attendance, which is good on one hand because we get on well but disappointing on the other because we had hoped that more might feel able to get into reading Christian books in a very relaxed and informal environment. If you are imagining stuffy academic discussions bemoaning the technical qualities of the author’s work, you couldn’t be further from reality – we just chew over what we’ve liked or not and whether or not the book has been helpful; and that takes about an hour!

With my departure at the end of May 2024, and the reality that there needs to be a minimum of about five people to sustain a small group, the Reading Group is taking a break until September 2024 and the existing members will meet at that point to consider whether it could continue. If you had hoped to get involved but never got round to it, please speak to Dawn.

Rob Seaman – Ordinand.

Social Events

This year we organised a bowling evening, this was attended by many people of all ages. A trail was prepared by Gordon and Jane Bell around Higham Ferrers for us. Sally Quincey served tea and cake in her garden where everyone chatted afterwards in the sun. Again, our Christmas meal at the Merry Miller was well attended and all enjoyed the food and conversation.

The three of us have always tried to include social activities that appeal to all ages through the year thus allowing the church congregation to connect with each other. We have all decided that now is the right time to step down and let others with new ideas to step forward.

Thanks to everyone who has supported these events in the past.

Sally, Helen, and Heidi.

Wellingborough Bereavement and Loss Group.
The group has struggled to continue over the last twelve months and was eventually put on hold over the summer holiday.

In July we were asked to allow two employees of the Health Service to visit, and they have now begun to refer patients, from a variety of Doctors Surgeries, who are journeying through bereavement.
As the number of members has grown so we have found a new venue which gives privacy and confidentiality and the team organising the group now look forward to welcoming new members and expanding our work in the community and our parish.

Valerie Brown – Facilitator.

Safeguarding Report

At Gleneagles Church, Safeguarding is treated with the seriousness it deserves. We have lots of members who give their time supporting children and vulnerable adults; DBSs, Safer Recruiting and Safeguarding Training are all important elements that back-up the work of volunteers. Since May 2023, 7 people have got new DBS certificates and 3 have been renewed (DBSs need renewing every 3 years). Of these 10 people, all but 2 are up to date with the Safeguarding training. 3 people have done training on Domestic Abuse. The Parish Safeguarding Officer (John Gilyead) has done training on Safeguarding Leadership. Thank you to everyone who volunteers at church and has done the forms and training – this certainly makes my role more straightforward.

John Gilyead Safeguarding Officer

Deanery Synod Report

Deanery Synod has met throughout the year at different churches in the Deanery. The meetings have been very useful allowing attendees to share their responses to a range of issues affecting them. At each meeting there is usually a speaker who presents on a specific area of ministry, e.g., the work of the Mission team supporting Parishes with “Leading your church into growth” and a vision of the Deanery moving forward. Discussions have included stewardship, card readers, Parish Share, Five Wells Prison, Gen2, Prayer Walk, Youth Work, increasing heating costs, planning children’s activities for Christmas, and how parishes could work together to pool expertise and resources.

The meetings are always a good way to connect with people from other churches across the Deanery.

Unfortunately, due to increased work demands, Heidi has not been able to attend some of the meetings, although, when possible, these have been attended by a member of the clergy. Heidi has now decided to step down from this role at the forthcoming APCM.

Fiona Clarke pp Heidi Ellson.

Approved by the PCC in April 2024

Signed: Dawn Airey (Vicar) Date: 29/04/2024

Published 25/02/2025

Minutes of the PCC Meeting

Held on Monday 18th March 2024

		Action
1	The meeting opened at 19.05 with prayer.

2	Attendance
	· Dawn Airey (Chair), Fiona Clarke (Secretary), Helen Cracknell, Marion Darker, Heidi Ellson, Livvi Haughton-Scales, Alan Palmer, Sally Quincey. · Lis Wells (Treasurer) attended for the first few minutes to answer any questions regarding the finances, which was discussed as the first item on the agenda. · Ben Haughton-Scales joined at 20.30. · Apologies: Jane Bell, Melanie Hartung, Ben Haughton-Scales, Elizabeth Holbrook, Rob Seaman. · David Wells has, unfortunately, needed to step down from the churchwarden post due to increased personal pressures. His service has been greatly appreciated and he will be missed.

3	Previous Minutes
	The Minutes of the Meeting held on29^th January 2024 were agreed by all who were present.

4	Matters Arising
	None

5	Update on Key Priorities – See Appendices 1 – 3.
	1. Discipleship (DA) – · Nothing to add 2. Under 18s (DA-under 11s/ BHS- youth) · Bubble Church – o Originally started in London, it consists of: § 15 minutes over snack time. § God song with actions. § Message, using puppets. § Bible story. o This has been run in Wellitots and their numbers have increased to about 10 households each session. o LHS will ask for feedback at the end of the trial period. · Ignite – o Ignite will no longer be running when RS moves on, in June, unless someone comes forward to run it. · Youth – o SQ asked if the young adults could help with Good Friday activities. LHS advised that they had already been asked but she will remind them and ask for volunteers. 3. Wholeness in Jesus/ Wellbeing (DA); Prayer (JBC). – · Reading Group – o This is likely to stop when RS leaves in June. · Care Home Service – o BHS, LHS and DA will continue to hold the services in the Care Home.	LHS LHS

6	Finance – See Appendix 4 + 4a
	Treasurers Report (LW) – Lis W (Treasurer) attended the meeting. · See Appendix 4a for the questions arising from the meeting 29/1/24 sent to her, in response to which: 1. Starting balance was £9,000.00 credit and it ended at £1,000.00 credit. 2. The Sum Up card reader costs £21.00 each month, which includes broadband and transaction fees. Lis will add another code so that it will appear as a separate item. 3. The architect was paid but it did not show in the figures. · Budget o A budget has not yet been set for this year, so we are using last year’s budget. o In future, the budget should be set at the beginning of November for the following year and the PCC should agree the budget at the November PCC meeting. · Audit of the accounts: o An auditor (independent examiner) is needed as soon as possible. o The accounts need to be audited before the APCM. o Lis will give the folders to the auditor once appointed. o AP to contact Brin Smart as a possible independent examiner. o SQ’s friend Gwen is another possibility. o Lis should advise the PCC who she wants to audit the accounts the following year. So that the PCC can agree this after the APCM. · Giving o Lis will re-journal the accounts to show Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) and Gift Aid. o Giving was down on last year. o Online giving has reduced but weekly giving has increased. o Lis will speak to Jem Cox to determine if PGS has reduced. · Tally form. o Some people are using cash to pay for activities, e.g., Ignite. A form of some sort is needed to tally the amounts taken. o Lis will decide what needs to be on the form and liaise with Amanda (Parish Administrator) to design a simple form for this purpose that she can send to Group Leaders to complete and submit with funds collected at each activity/ event.

7	Parish update – see Appendix 5
	· changing the church name and boundaries. o Currently waiting for the legalities to be completed. o Once changed, we will need to change: § The church’s charity number. § The name on the church’s bank accounts. § The website. § The church logo. · Gleneagles Land. o The asking price for the land by the Ock n Dough is £500,000.00. o After discussion, it was decided that further information is needed from Paul at Compass church as to whether they just need a plot of land to relocate their church, or whether they envisage spreading their church into the surrounding area and thus encroaching on Gleneagles parish. DA to discuss this further with Paul. DA proposed that we wait before making a decision and ask Compass to revisit in six months. HE seconded. AP abstained but all others were in agreement.	DA

8	Approving new church groups/activities
	New Toddler Group at Glenvale – · People are available to run the group – MD, EH, Judy Meleleu. · Not a trial but its effectiveness will be monitored, although no time limit for this will be set. · Low cost to the church – The Care Home has offered itself as a venue and residents can join if they wish. · Only concern is for people, already serving the church in other ways, possibly taking on too much. However, different people are happy to help with this rather than other church activities. · A flyer could be disseminated via Facebook. Proposal DA – to start a new toddler group at Glenvale Park. FC seconded, all were in favour.

9	Safeguarding Report – See Appendix 6
	· The Church of England require DBS renewals every three years for PCC members. · Some on the PCC still need to renew DBS but as a church we are doing all that we can to keep up to date re Safer Recruiting, and processes are in place for anyone taking on a new role.

10	Deanery synod Report – See Appendix 7
	· HE is stepping down from the role due to increasing work demands. · Nothing to add

11	Church and Glenvale Park School – See Appendix 8
	· Redwell School’s Trust make the decisions for the school, so things can change, despite the church having a good relationship with the Head, e.g., the Hub may be used for something else, so the church may no longer have access to it for activities. · If the church moves to Glenvale Park School, monthly assemblies and weekly wellbeing groups will continue to be held at Redwell School. · DA will discuss further with Glenvale.	DA

12	Community Days Inflatable – See Appendix 9
	The PCC decided not to have a second inflatable this year.

13	Parish Weekend Away – See Appendix 10
	This discussion has been postponed until the next PCC meeting in April.

14	Dates of next meetings:
	PCC meetings: · Monday 29th April 2024 at 19.00 to agree reports for APCM. APCM · Sunday 26th May 2024 during the morning service.

15	The meeting closed with prayer at 21.25.

Appendix 1 – update on Key priority 1: Discipleship

Connect Groups:

Greg was the Connect Group coordinator; I am going to take that role on for now. We tend to meet as facilitators every couple of months.

There are numerous new people to the church, some of whom are beginning to make their way into a Connect Group, but many are not yet. It takes time for a change to be embedded and I think I am going to make it a focus of what I say at the APCM again.

We have five groups which are all fortnightly (thank you to Alan Palmer for taking on the Thursday morning group):
- Monday afternoon (Carol Maycock)
- Monday evening (Elizabeth Holbrook)
- Wednesday evening (Rob S)
- Wednesday evening (Ben & Livvi)
- Thursday morning (Alan Palmer)

Tuesday Teaching:

We are taking a break from offering extra teaching on Tuesday evenings to make space for Rob, Maria, Ben and Livvi to run the Alpha course, now on Monday evenings. Alpha started on the 22^nd Jan with 6 participants and it is going really well. All the leaders find it one of the most encouraging things they do.

No decisions for the PCC to make.

Revd. DA

Appendix 2 – Under 18s

Under 11s

The Children’s work continues as follows:

Children’s ministry:

We have had someone else join the Sunday morning Rota to help with the children’s group – thank you Ihuoma! Sally Q will be stepping down from all her church responsibilities from Easter and Louise has offered to fill Sally’s role as a children’s leader after Easter, just once a month.

Rob S continues to lead Ignite and there have been no changes in the team. The numbers for Ignite had remained very low and unsustainable until we took an assembly in Jan. The numbers are now sustainably higher, mid to high 20’s. Rob is due to leave the beginning of June ahead of ordination and if the club is to continue a new leader will need to be found. Currently, there isn’t anyone in the team who feels they can do this
All groups continue using the Energize resource.
Redwell School

Ben and I have started another two wellbeing groups with year 5.

Livvi is now doing monthly in person assemblies. We continue to have a very warm relationship with the Head who has asked us to be present at various other events in the school life. We will be delivering 3 Easter assemblies to the whole school during Holy Week covering the events of the last week of Jesus’s life on earth.

Glenvale Park School

See separate report reference a new proposal.

At the time of writing, I have been invited to meet with the chair of Governors from Wilby School, and to a planning meeting looking at naming the new school.

Wellitots

Wellitots continues to work really well in the Hub at Redwell School and generally have around 10 households coming each week. There are many more on our list now. Livvi and I are about to start trialing ‘Bubble Church’. We’d like to try it for 4 weeks at Wellitots to see what parents think and how the children respond. The intention is to use it as part of a potential new toddler group at Glenvale Park. Let’s see what happens.

Glenvale Park Community Days

Livvi will take responsibility for planning it this year. The new dates are Thurs-Sat 25-27^th July (Thurs – Fri will be the mornings and on Saturday it will possibly be the afternoon), with an outdoor cafe style service on Sunday 28^th July, if the weather is kind!

Those currently involved in children’s work are:

Sandi, Gayle, Agnes S (Rob’s Mum), Livvi, Ben, Dawn, Ruth G, Michelle, Sally, Elizabeth, Carol M, Ihuoma, Helen C, Marion, Ruth W, Suzy F, Rob S, Mope, Louise, Chris Green.

Pray for:

Decisions around Ignite.
Glenvale Park School and the process of relocating Wilby School, as well as what this might mean for us as a church and the opportunities it may present.

No decisions needed from PCC at this time.

Revd. DA

Youth:

The poster above highlights our three youth groups – Sunday Youth, Connect Youth, and Ignite Youth.

Sunday Youth occurs on the second and fourth Sunday mornings of the month during the service. During this time there is in-depth bible teaching and discussion. We currently do not have enough leaders to run Sunday youth on third Sundays in the month and are trialing this as a ‘Serving Sunday’, encouraging the young people to help with various aspects of the morning service (such as assisting with children’s groups, playing in the worship band, serving tea and coffee, and helping with the sound and visuals teams). We’ve only had a limited response to this so far – assisting with the children’s groups has been the most popular, but there hasn’t been much take up from the young people to being involved in other areas of serving. There’s an aim to encourage those interested in music to get involved with worship but this will take some time, and we’ll try to explore other opportunities for serving where possible. The number of young people attending on Sunday mornings varies somewhat from week to week.

Connect Youth is our discipleship group, which meets fortnightly. Ben, Livvi, Sam Carew, and Dawn lead this group. We begin with a game, then have a time of worship, Bible teaching and prayer, before finishing with a meal together. There are around 14 young people who attend the group, with an average attendance of 8 to 12. Most of the young people are connected with church. We are hoping to build more of a bridge between Ignite Youth and Connect Youth over the coming year, if possible, to provide a pathway for those we meet at Ignite Youth to further explore the Christian faith. This term we are continuing to learn more about the Bible – how and why to read it. We also had a games night social evening during the February half term holiday, where we played games consoles and board games together as a means of strengthening friendships. We look forward to the Satellites summer youth festival at the Bath & West Showground from 2^nd-6^th August 2024. There are currently 5 young people booked to come but more can book on if they’d like to join the fun. The adults involved will be Dawn & Chris, Ben & Livvi.

Ignite Youth is our Thursday evening outreach group. This year there have been between 15 and 20 young people attending the group each week. The sessions involve games, sports, crafts, and a short time considering the Christian faith. After a few challenging sessions, we had some good discussions with the young people and are seeking to make adjustments to help the group run better. One of these has been experimenting with holding small group discussions, rather than a leader giving a short talk from the front. We will see how this goes over the coming weeks.

The current team is: the Aireys (Chris every other week), Carol Maycock (who helps with registration and the tuck shop once a month), Bruna, Daniela, Livvi and Ben. We’re very grateful that Judy Meleleu and Lis Wells have offered to run registration and the tuck shop once a month on the same basis as Carol and are looking forward to them joining the team. But any additional volunteers would still be gratefully welcomed!

We are continuing to look out for where God is at work and seek opportunities to connect with young people in Glenvale Park and are beginning to look ahead to the summer community days and how we can engage with young people through those.

Pray for:

The many young people we are in contact with to come to faith and grow as followers of Jesus.
Give thanks for those who have recently offered to help with some of the church youth work activities and pray for the development of more leaders with a heart and calling to serve young people.
Ignite Youth, that the group would function as well as possible and that the young people would experience God’s love for them.
The families of our young people – may they also be reached through our ministry.
More young people from Connect Youth to sign up to attend Satellites next summer.

No decisions needed from PCC at this time.

Revd BHS

PCC report – Glenvale Park Toddlers

Very recently Glenvale Park residents started talking about the need for a toddler group on their estate. When we re did our vision a couple of years ago we wondered whether a second toddler group would be part of our strategy for reaching out to Glenvale Park. So I’ve started a conversation with Glenvale Park residents, wanting to strike while ‘the iron is hot’! It seems the best time would be Monday mornings. The care home would like to host in their library on the top floor and Glenvale residents are very happy with this. The care home will provide refreshments and a storage place for toy boxes. The care home have even said they would get their team to design the flyer for advertising too. There is plenty of space downstairs for buggies. I think it will just need two people from the church each week (term time only) to set up the toys and be around to chat. Over time I would hope we can grow and include extra activities similar to how Wellitots has grown. I will initially be there every week and take responsibility for the group and see how things go. I’ve started to approach a couple of people to see if I can get a very small team to help on a rota basis.

Start date hasn’t yet been thought of but possibly soon after Easter.

PCC decision needed:

To agree starting a new toddler group at Glenvale Park.

Revd. DA

Appendix 3 – update on Key priority 3: Wholeness in Jesus/ Wellbeing

Reading Group

Rob S continues to run the Reading Group and their current book is ’Faith beyond Doubt’ in response to some members of the congregation being honest enough to voice their own struggles and with the hope that others who haven’t felt as able to be so honest will find a place of encouragement and nourishment.

Social Activities:
Thank you to Heidi, Sally Q and Helen C who have been the social activities team for a number of years. I updated the PCC last time to let them know that this team has decided to stop. I’m not planning on asking others to form this sort of team but to allow for whatever the Lord wants to do next…

Outreach to older people:

The midweek Service in the care home continues weekly. Rob S takes responsibility for this (often with Mel H bringing a creative prayer activity) and Ben, Livvi and I take it in turns to support Rob.

Bereavement Support Group

The Bereavement Support Group is restarting on Tuesday 27^th Feb! It will become a weekly group running at the Hub, Redwell School.

No decisions needed from PCC.

Revd. DA

Prayer Ministry

Prayer ministry continues to be offered during and after services, with whoever from the prayer ministry team is present on the day and who isn’t doing other duties. Usually, 2-3 people on average ask for prayer.
The prayer chain continues to be very responsive to prayer requests. This month, the list has been revised and updated, with some names removed as prayer is no longer needed. A summary of names and prayer needs has been circulated to the prayer chain to recap on details and progress, and as a reminder of what we are praying for.
Ben and I are preparing prayer stations for Maundy Thursday. This will be held from 4.30-6.30 pm. The theme will be ‘Washed by the blood of Christ’. Everyone is welcome to come and spend some quality time with Jesus, with prayer activities for all ages. It is hoped that next year we will offer an agape meal on Maundy Thursday.
My thanks as always go to the prayer chain and prayer ministry team members for their willingness to serve in this vital ministry.

JBC

Appendix 4 – Finance –


Treasurer’s Report Feb 24
General Account (Restricted and unrestricted money)

BUDGET 2023 Unrestricted (Budget for 24 not agreed)
Receipts		Annual Budget 2023	To 29/02/24
Planned	Parish giving scheme	49,000.00	7,918.00
Collections	Online giving	10,000.00	290.00
Collections	Loose Plate	5,000.00	937.00
Sum Up			497.00
Tax recovered through PGS and Gift Aid		14,000.00	0.00
Other receipts		3,000.00	100.00
Fundraising		0.00	196.00
Church activities		3,000.00	0.00
TOTAL		84,000	9,938.00



Payments		Annual Budget 2023	To 29/02/24
Payments		Annual Budget 2023	To 29/02/24
Parish Share sent for 2024		67,181.00	2,500.00
Missionary Giving		3,000.00	582.00
Hall hire		7,000.00	1,290.00
Clergy and staff costs		3,500.00	723.00
Church running costs		4,000.00	281.00
Cost of fete and events (Cmas 23)			301.00
TOTAL		84,681	5,677

Balance in current account 03/02/24	5,129.52
Balance in Building fund 03/02/24	49,021.94

Appendix 4a – email (30/2/24) re Questions from the PCC meeting 29/1/24

Hello Lis (and Helen)

Thank you so much, (both of you) for all the work you do (and did) as treasurer and for pulling together the figures for the PCC meeting each time. In our meeting last night, we had a few queries and we thought it would be easiest if we asked them in an email. I have included Helen as the figures covered the whole of 2023 and she may need to chip in. Once we have the answers, we can circulate the PCC with them.

The first page of your report shows the Receipts and Payments for the year. Receipts were shown as £79,100 and payments were £83,442. Since we never have a cash balance at the end of the year, we wondered how the £4,342 shortfall was covered? Perhaps if we could see the Balance Sheet that might explain it?

The figures show income from the SumUp machine but no expenses. We thought there was a cost to having the equipment?

Since we have stepped away from All Saints, we would have expected that the architect would have submitted an invoice for his fees, but there is nothing in the figures. Have we received an invoice?

I also want to say thank you for the final column showing the difference between 2023 and the previous year. I usually do that by hand, so thank you!

Thank you again.

Elizabeth, on behalf of the PCC

Appendix 5 – PCC report – Parish Update – Gleneagles land

Paul Cooper, leader of Compass church, has expressed an interest in our land for sale opposite the Ock ‘n’ Dough.

I have told him how much we would want for it, should the PCC still wish to sell it. I have also suggested that the PCC might not want to invite another similar church into the parish that we are trying to reach. However, it’s important that the PCC are made aware of this and given the opportunity to make a decision.

PCC decision needed:

Would the PCC like to consider selling the land to Compass Church to build their own church building on?
Revd. DA.

Appendix 6 – Safeguarding Report:

Two people have applied for a DBS, and these have been received. They have also done the training courses on Basic Awareness and Foundations. John, as Parish Safeguarding Officer, has done the first of the two Safeguarding Leadership courses. There are five people whose DBSs expire in the first 6 months of 2024; one has renewed, I am waiting for contact from three, and the other one I will be emailing soon.

Appendix 7 – Deanery Synod Report:

Nothing to report on Deanery Synod as the next meeting is on Wednesday 13^th March, which is just prior to the PCC meeting. It is unclear if anyone will be able to attend. If they do, it is likely that any feedback will be given at the PCC meeting.

FC pp HE.

Appendix 8 – PCC report – Co-locating the church at Glenvale Park C of E School?

As per previous reports, I met with Ruth Walker-Green (PDET) before Christmas to begin thinking about the role of the church when Glenvale Park opens and specifically to consider what might be possible in terms of church use of the school. In that meeting PDET described what had been agreed with the church at Werrington which also meets in the church school: a lease in which the church agrees to pay around £10,500 a year to the school but has priority use of the hall (and other space on Sundays) at weekends and evenings. They also have a church office at the school which the church built and paid for. They also gave some money towards fixtures and fittings.

I met with Ruth and Louise (Wilby Head) on the 25^th Jan 2024 and walked around the new school together, looking at what will go where, potentially. At that meeting there were conversations around the possibility of having a church parish office in the school, possibly the room that comes directly off the reception area. Brief thoughts expressed around the church using the school on Sundays.

I left our walkabout with Ruth asking me to come back to her with a ‘wish list’ and preferred future possibilities. I said it would probably take a couple of months to start talking with the church leadership. Having talked to the wardens we felt our wish list should include:

i)Having a church parish office in the school which can be used in the following ways:

-printer

-confidential information (filing cabinet)

-Enough space for meetings for 6 people

-Limited storage space

ii)Storage space in the hall and/or church shed in the grounds (depending on how much we think we’re going to be at the school)

We then discussed the various options for moving forward as a parish (where we meet Sunday mornings, etc):

Option 1

-Stay at Redwell School as per the current arrangements for all groups and Sunday mornings.

-And plant/start a second congregation at Glenvale Park School at a time other than Sunday mornings (potentially).

Cost implications: £7,000 a year hall hire at Redwell plus cost of hire at Glenvale Park School for second congregation.

Option 2

-Negotiate a ‘Werrington’ style lease at Glenvale Park and fully re-locate the church and many of our activities. This costs Werrington around £10,500 a year and as I understand it, they have priority use of the hall at weekends and evening, I think.

Of course, there are options in between, so for example, we could agree the lease but slowly move things across or keep some things at Redwell School like the things at the Hub during the day which we are not being charged for and wouldn’t be able to do at Glenvale Park school – Wellitots and the Bereavement Support Group.

In the end we have to decide what we want, need and feels important long term. I am very conscious that we have so much favour at Redwell School currently, but should the Head change again that could look very different. The governors could also make a different decision, in terms of our use and how much they charge us. I know last year Claire requested they didn’t put the rent up for example, which they agreed to. Once a lease is agreed with a PDET school then it stays in place. Another consideration is having space/time on other evenings. Monday evenings, at the moment, means my house is choc-o-bloc, especially on PCC nights too. I personally don’t mind but my family do, and it might be difficult for a future Incumbent also.

Proposal/Decision for the PCC

The churchwardens and I agreed that the best option, and one that makes sense given the school will be a church school, might be to try and negotiate a Werrington style lease and see where we get to. And if this can be negotiated, to keep Wellitots and the Bereavement group at the Hub in Redwell School (if the school continues to be willing). This would mean the church would relocate to Glenvale Park but maintain a presence around the parish as is the case now, and as described in our vision statement.

Revd. DA

Appendix 9 – PCC report – Community Days inflatable

The summer community days at Glenvale Park are planned for Thurs/Fri/Sat, 25/26/27^th July. The Saturday session will be in the afternoon following feedback from last year when we were advised to have one session in the afternoon, especially if we want to encourage young people to come along too. So let’s see how that works this year.

Mark Best has agreed to fund one of the inflatables again – the bouncy assault course. We’d like to book the dash-n-grab again too which the church would need to pay for. The dash-n-grab is only available on the Friday morning and the assault course would come Saturday afternoon.

The cost of the dash-n-grab with generator and delivery is £525.

PCC decision needed:

To agree expenditure for the dash-n-grab with the expectation that most or all of the cost would be met by asking the church for donations.

Revd. DA

Appendix 10 – PCC report – Parish Weekend away

I have approached the Frontier centre as it’s so conveniently close but still feels like you’re away. Their initial quote per person felt too expensive. However, in negotiating with them on price I wonder if we have arrived at something more doable. If for example we had meals from Friday teatime through to Sunday lunch time it would be £121 per person, under 6s free and every 10 people booked would give us a free place. The cost of Friday tea is £13 per person and Sunday lunch is £9.80 per person. So, if we chose to exclude either or both of these that brings the cost per person to under £100 each.

PCC decision needed:

Revd. DA

Published 25/02/2025

Minutes of the PCC Meeting

Held on Monday 29th January 2024

		Action
1	The meeting opened at 19.10 with prayer.

2	Attendance
	· Dawn Airey (Chair), Jane Bell, Fiona Clarke (Secretary), Elizabeth Holbrook, Alan Palmer, Sally Quincey, and David Wells. · Apologies: Helen Cracknell, Marion Darker, Heidi Ellson, Melanie Hartung, Ben Haughton-Scales, Livvi Haughton-Scales, Rob Seaman.

3	Previous Minutes
	The Minutes of the Meeting held on 4^th November 2023 were agreed by all who were present.

4	Matters Arising
	None

5	Update on Key Priorities – See Appendices 1 – 3.
	1. Discipleship (DA) – · Connect groups- o The PCC wish to thank Greg C for his time as Connect Group Facilitator and Co-ordinator. o DA will co-ordinate henceforth. o Greg’s group to decide on new facilitator at their next meeting on 1^st February. Additionally, the venue may be an ongoing issue. o The Monday evening group are also having issues with venue. The Ock n Dough pub was suggested as a possible venue but that raises additional issues. o Some people in the congregation, although allocated to a Connect Group, may not wish to attend but may need help. How is not certain. PCC to think about ways to help them. Suggestions include: § Testimonies to highlight situations where God has helped others. § Reassurance in Services that people are here to help. 2. Under 18s (DA-under 11s/ BHS- youth) · School’s work – o Three assemblies led by the Church have been agreed for Holy Week o Narnia prayer spaces end of November for one year group. o DA met with Wilby School at Glenvale School. People can apply to join the school (limited number of places) this year. o DA to talk to Church Wardens re the possibility of a lease. o DA to produce a wish list for Ruth Walker-Green from PDET, e.g., having a church office in the school. · Youth – o Third Sundays – Serving Sundays. It has been difficult to persuade the youngsters to do it. They need encouragement. Apart from helping with refreshments and washing up, they could also be asked to do readings or for their whole family to be on welcome duties. It is recognised that this may be scary for them and that they may be self-conscious, but it is good to get them involved. · Gen2 project – o Sarah is no longer available for the summer as the deanery youth work project is ending. · Socials – o The Social Team have now stepped down. The PCC wish to thank them for all the events they have organised for the church in the past. o The Social events seem to have supported the older population within the church, but not so much the new families. o There will not be a Social Team from now on. o Social events may be arranged in Connect Groups or shared lunches after Sunday Services. 3. Wholeness in Jesus/ Wellbeing (DA); Prayer (JBC). – · Bereavement Group – o Valerie is restarting the Bereavement Support Group commencing 27^th February. It will be every Tuesday at The Hub, within Redwell School.	PCC all DA DA

6	Finance – See Appendices 4 and 4a
	Treasurers Report (LW) · LW did not attend the meeting so EH will email her with any questions from this meeting. · FC to advise LW that PCC members will try to send any questions in future to her ahead of each PCC meeting, enabling her to answer them before the meeting or to attend it if necessary. · See Appendix 4b for the questions arising from the meeting sent to LW. Building Fund · £1000 has been earmarked for Audio Visual but any invoice will need authorising by the PCC before payment. · PCC will need to consider what to do with the remainder of the Building Fund, possibly once a decision has been made re the church’s involvement in Glenvale School as some of the funds may be needed to set up a church office there. · Before changing accounts it is prudent to wait until the name of the church has changed.	EH FC/ All PCC

7	Parish update – see Appendix 5
	· The name of the church will be changed, hopefully by summer. This will have an impact on: o The church’s charity number. o The name on the church’s bank accounts. o The website. o The church logo.

8	Approving new church groups/activities
	None this time.

9	Safeguarding Report – See Appendix 6
	· Safeguarding and safer recruiting are nearly up to date.. · All new helpers have done their training. · Still some DBS renewals outstanding. · The Domestic Abuse Course is not mandatory but is recommended.

10	Deanery synod Report – See Appendix 7
	Nothing to add.

11	Management Leadership Team (MLT) update – See Appendix 8
	Nothing to add.

12	Employment of Parish Administrator – See Appendix 9
	· 6 hours per week. · Minimum wage has been increased to £11.44. Equates to £68.64 per week. DA proposed to increase Amanda’s hourly rate in line with this. EH seconded. All were in favour.

13	Prayers of Love and Faith – see Appendix 10
	· It was agreed that, if anything is to take place in Gleneagles Church, it would need further discussion. · At present, it is at the discretion of Ministers. · DA does not intend to do anything within services. · PCC were asked if they needed time to think about it, but the consensus was no. · If stand-alone services are introduced in future, the PCC would need to discuss it further. · It was agreed that some form of teaching on the subject would be of benefit, but details were not discussed, and people would need to opt in as not everyone would be amenable to it so preaching on it in the service may not be the best approach.

14	Dates of next meetings:
	PCC meetings: · Monday 18th March 2024 at 19.00 (earlier time) · Monday 29th April 2024 APCM Sunday 26th May 2024

15/	The meeting closed with prayer at 20.53.

Appendix 1 – update on Key priority 1: Discipleship

Connect Groups:

Connect groups are still in the process of reshaping their meetings to be in line with the vision and some are still establishing.

Greg Cracknell continues to recover from significant health concerns and has decided to step down from a number of responsibilities including being Connect Group facilitators’ coordinator and being a Connect Group Facilitator also. I will meet with Greg in the coming weeks and offer to meet with the group also. There are some challenges with Greg’s group in particular due to age and failing health of a number in the group.
We now have five groups which are all fortnightly:
- Monday afternoon (Carol Maycock)
- Monday evening (Elizabeth Holbrook)
- Wednesday evening (Rob S)
- Wednesday evening (Ben & Livvi)
- Thursday morning (Alan P?????)

Tuesday Teaching:

We are taking a break from offering extra teaching on Tuesday evenings to make space for Rob, Maria, Ben and Livvi to run the Alpha course, now on Monday evenings starting 22^nd Jan. There are 6 participants for the course.

No decisions for the PCC to make.

Revd. DA

Appendix 2 – Under 18s

Under 11s

The Children’s work continues as follows:

Children’s ministry:

We have had another two people join the Sunday morning Rota to help with the children’s group, Mope and Louise. Sally Q will be stepping down from all her church responsibilities from Easter and so there will be a need for someone in the team to step into that role once a month.
Rob S continues to lead Ignite and there have been no changes in the team. The numbers for Ignite had remained very low and unsustainable (around 8-13 children). It was agreed with the Head of Redwell School to do an assembly to advertise the club more. Michelle and Livvi took that assembly on the 16^th Jan, consequently the following Ignite session had 31 children come! We are yet to see if there are sustainably higher numbers. Rob is due to leave the beginning of June ahead of ordination and if the club is to continue a new leader will need to be found. Currently, there isn’t anyone in the team who feels they can do this.
All groups continue using the Energize resource.
Redwell School

Livvi and I ran two wellbeing groups with year 6 at school before Christmas. Ben and I will start another two groups with year 5 just before the February half term.

Livvi is now doing monthly in person assemblies. We continue to have a very warm relationship with the Head who has asked us to be present at various other events in the school life including numerous school Christmas events and performances.

Glenvale Park School

We now know that Wilby C of E School will be relocating to Glenvale Park and opening Sep 2024. At the time of writing, I am due to meet with Ruth Walker- Green (CEO of PDET) and Louise, Head of Wilby School on the 25^th Jan to walk around the new school together and continue discussions about our working relationship. At the last PCC meeting I advised that I’d had one discussion with PDET about what ‘co-locating a church’ on site might look like. I have also requested space in the school which could operate as a church parish office. An example is Werrington Church which meets in the local Church of England Primary School. A lease has been agreed in which the church pays a set amount a year to the school and can use the school at weekends and evenings. They also have a church office in the grounds which the church paid for to be built.

Clearly there is a wider discussion for PCC to have around this and it’s difficult to know what to discuss when. I’m having early discussions with the school Head and PDET to see only what is possible and then we can think it through.

Wellitots

Wellitots continues to work really well in the Hub at Redwell School. We have many more families now engaging with this group on a more regular basis and new people every week still! Afternoons are not really the best options for little ones but it’s what we can offer at the moment. Livvi and I have started to think about a new morning toddler group at Glenvale Park…. Which would be an addition to Wellitots. We have discussed with the team, and are just starting discussion with parents, around trialing something new called ‘Bubble Church’. We’d like to try it for 4 weeks at Wellitots after half term to see what parents think and how the children respond. The intention is to use it as part of a new toddler group at Glenvale Park. Let’s see what happens.

Glenvale Park Community Days

Livvi will take responsibility for planning it this year. The new dates are Thurs-Sat 25-27^th July with an outdoor cafe style service on Sunday 28^th July, as long as the weather is kind!

Those currently involved in children’s work are:

Sandi, Gayle, Agnes S (Rob’s Mum), Livvi, Ben, Dawn, Ruth G, Michelle, Rob, Sally, Elizabeth, Carol M, Helen, C, Marion, Ruth W, Suzy F, Rob S, Colin, Mope, Louise.

Colin and Sally Q will be stepping down.

Pray for:

New team members
Decisions around Ignite.
Glenvale Park School and the process of relocating Wilby School, as well as what this might mean for us as a church and the opportunities it may present.

Decision needed by PCC.

No decisions needed from PCC at this time.

Revd. DA

Youth:

The poster above highlights our three youth groups – Sunday Youth, Connect Youth, and Ignite Youth.

Sunday Youth occurs on the second and fourth Sunday mornings of the month during the service. During this time there is in-depth bible teaching and discussion. We currently do not have enough leaders to run Sunday youth on third Sundays in the month and are trialing this as a ‘Serving Sunday’, encouraging the young people to help with various aspects of the morning service (such as assisting with children’s groups, playing in the worship band, serving tea and coffee, and helping with the sound and visuals teams). So far, assisting with the children’s groups has been the most popular, although some young people have helped with serving refreshments too. Currently only one young person is involved in the worship band, but we have a plan to work with some of the young people over the coming months to build their confidence and hopefully increase that number. The number of young people attending on Sunday mornings varies somewhat from week to week.

Connect Youth is our discipleship group, which meets fortnightly. Ben, Livvi, Sam Carew, and Dawn lead this group. We begin with a game, then have a time of worship, Bible teaching and prayer, before finishing with a meal together. There are around 14 young people who attend the group, with an average attendance of 8 to 12. Most of the young people are connected with church, with some bringing along friends from non-church backgrounds. We are hoping to build more of a bridge between Ignite Youth and Connect Youth over the coming year, to provide a pathway for those we meet at Ignite Youth to further explore the Christian faith. During the autumn term the leaders all took turns to share their stories of coming to faith in Jesus, with the young people invited to ask questions. Then we spent several sessions looking at prayer and how to pray, including an evening with interactive prayer stations. This term we are beginning by learning more about the Bible – how and why to read it. We are also taking those who want to attend from Connect Youth to the Satellites summer youth festival (one of the events that replaced Soul Survivor) at the Bath & West Showground from 2^nd-6^th August 2024. This is now booked but more young people can continue to book on now the group has a booking. We currently have 5 young people booked to come to this and the adults involved will be Dawn & Chris, Ben & Livvi.

Ignite Youth is our Thursday evening outreach group. This year there have been between 15 and 20 young people attending the group each week. The sessions involve games, sports, crafts, and a short time considering the Christian faith. Topics covered in the short talks have included the leaders sharing their stories of coming to faith in Jesus, and looking at different influences in our lives (family, friends, music, TV, etc.). The current team is: the Aireys (Chris every other week), Carol Maycock (who helps with registration and the tuck shop once a month), Bruna, Daniela, Livvi and Ben. There is currently little flexibility if leaders are unavailable on certain weeks, though a couple of members of the congregation have recently offered to help on a monthly/occasional basis which has eased this situation. But any further additional volunteers would still be gratefully welcomed!

The Urban Saints Online Energize resource is now being used across all our children’s and youth work activities to provide session plans and other support. Feedback from leaders and helpers has been overwhelmingly positive so far, so this seems to have been a very good investment by the church.

The new Glenvale Park estate offers new opportunities for youth work. We have run a couple of youth fire pit evenings by the play park next to the community centre to get to know young people in the area, and these have been well-attended. We are continuing to look out for where God is at work and seek opportunities to connect with young people in the area, and are beginning to look ahead to the summer community days and how we can engage with young people through those.

Pray for:

The many young people we are in contact with to come to faith and grow as followers of Jesus.
Give thanks for those who have recently offered to help with some of the church youth work activities and pray for the development of more leaders with a heart and calling to serve young people.
The families of our young people – may they also be reached through our ministry.
Opportunities and ideas for ways to serve young people living at Glenvale Park.
More young people from Connect Youth to sign up to attend Satellites next summer.

Decision needed by PCC.

No decisions needed from PCC at this time.

Revd BHS.

PCC report – Gen2 project

The Gen2 diocesan project to train 8 youth workers across the diocese and then release them into full time youth ministry within particular deaneries has now been updated. Please read the report prepared for the PCC in September 2023 to refresh yourselves of the background if needed.

As of Wed 17^th Jan 2024, we were informed that the project is going to come to an end early – August 2024. This is for a number of reasons but primarily it hasn’t worked in the way they hoped. Sarah Howes was going to be our deanery youth worker. Having been asked to consider giving money towards employing her as a deanery, this is now not going to happen, and we no longer need to contribute.

Beyond August 2024 Sarah will continue to be employed on a half time basis by Wollaston Church and it is likely that another church in the deanery will employ her for a significant number of hours also.

It is possible there will be a few hours a week when Sarah won’t be employed and could therefore be available to offer to help deanery churches so long as they paid an hourly rate. This is yet to be determined.

Sarah was hugely helpful in getting Ignite Youth up and running, without whom we wouldn’t have been able to do it. It was also good to have Sarah come and preach on the 28th Jan (which had been organized ahead of a decision being reached about the project). However, in my view I now think we are in a phase where, rather than pay to have someone come in to set up or run a project, we need someone who can have oversight of the children and young people on a part time basis, and who can hold the vision. Sarah does not want this role with Gleneagles Church. So even if we could raise the funds, Sarah wouldn’t be the right person.

There is no particular decision for the PCC at this time.

Revd. Dawn Airey

Appendix 3 – update on Key priority 3: Wholeness in Jesus/ Wellbeing

Reading Group
Rob S continues to run the Reading Group and their current book is ’Eye Can Write’.
Social Activities:
Thank you to Heidi, Sally Q and Helen C who planned the Church Christmas meal on the 19^th Dec 2023. I’m not aware of any future plans but the PCC need to be aware that Sally Q will be stepping down from all of her church responsibilities at Easter and it would be helpful for the team to have someone else join them.

Outreach to older people:

The midweek Service in the care home continues weekly. Rob S takes responsibility for this (often with Mel H bringing a creative prayer activity) and Ben, Livvi and I take it in turns to support Rob.

Bereavement Support Group

The Bereavement Facebook group continues to grow.

No decisions needed from PCC.

Revd. DA

Prayer Ministry

Nothing to report at this time.

FC pp JBC

Appendix 4 – Finance –

Gleneagles Anglican Church
Analysis of income and expenditure – Selected period: 01 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

	Unrestricted	Designated	Restricted	Endowment	Total 2023	Total 2022	Difference 23 to 22
Receipts
Planned giving
0101 – Gift Aid – Bank	£51,335.00				£51,335.00	£46,555.00	£4,780.00
0110 – Gift Aid – Envelopes							£0.00
0201 – Other planned giving							£0.00
Planned giving Totals	£51,335.00				£51,335.00	£46,555.00	£4,780.00

Collections and other giving
0301 – Loose plate collections not eligible for	£141.00				£141.00		£141.00
0302 – Loose Plate eligible for gift aid	£3,515.00				£3,515.00	£3,987.00	-£472.00
0304 – Collection giving posted through letter						£3,645.00	-£3,645.00
0305 – Collection online giving	£5,420.00				£5,420.00	£11,416.00	-£5,996.00
0307 – Intern wages and additional expenses (RS						£2,562.00	-£2,562.00
0308 – Intern wages						£6,500.00	-£6,500.00
0309 – Sum Up giving at church	£729.00				£729.00		£729.00
0311 – Gazebo	£603.00				£603.00		£603.00
0401 – Regular gift days							£0.00
0501 – One-off Gift Aid gifts							£0.00
0555 – Donations Shed							£0.00
0560 – Building Fund money						£1,400.00	-£1,400.00
0653 – Just Giving							£0.00
0920 – Christian Aid Collection							£0.00
930 – Daylight Centre collection							£0.00
Collections and other giving Totals	£10,409.00				£10,409.00	£29,510.00	-£19,101.00

Other voluntary receipts
0350 – Carol singing donation							£0.00
0303 – Refreshments at service	£241.00				£241.00	£13.00	£228.00
0306 – Administrator role			£600.00		£600.00	£794.00	-£194.00
0550 – Donations	£170.00		£76.00		£246.00	£832.00	-£586.00
0570 – Acts Two Fund							£0.00
0701 – Legacies							£0.00
0801 – Recurring grants							£0.00
08A1 – One-off grants						£1,000.00	-£1,000.00
Other voluntary receipts Totals	£411.00		£676.00		£1,087.00	£2,639.00	-£1,552.00

Gift Aid recovered
0601 – Tax recoverable on Gift Aid	£7,411.00				£7,411.00	£13,097.00	-£5,686.00
0602 – HMRC money meant for General fund			£4,063.00		£4,063.00	£2,792.00	£1,271.00
Gift Aid recovered Totals	£7,411.00		£4,063.00		£11,475.00	£15,889.00	-£4,414.00

Other receipts
0580 – Leaving gift for MP
0581 – Leaving Gift AP			£203.00		£203.00		£203.00
0585 – Family in Need							£0.00
1200 – Youth work residentials							£0.00
1310 – Insurance claims							£0.00
Other receipts Totals			£203.00		£203.00		£203.00


Activities for generating funds
0651 – Giving Machine					£0.00
0652 – Paypal giving fund					£0.00
0910 – Fundraising					£0.00
1250 – Magazine income – advertising					£0.00
Activities for generating funds Totals					£0.00

Investment Income
0700 – Interest	£53.00	£56.00	£109.00	£59.00	£50.00
1020 – Bank and building society interest					£0.00
Investment Income Totals	£53.00	£56.00	£109.00	£59.00	£50.00

Receipts from church activities
0310 – Ignite Income	£1,734.00		£1,734.00	£1,266.00	£468.00
0320 – WOW Income				£148.00	-£148.00
0330 – Wellitots Income	£160.00		£160.00	£195.00	-£35.00
0340 – Ignite Youth work income	£516.00		£516.00		£516.00
1101 – Fees for weddings and funerals	£255.00		£255.00	£460.00	-£205.00
560 – Social events income		£1,792.00	£1,792.00	£1,835.00	-£43.00
570 – Weekend event @Action Centres					£0.00
750 – Refunds	£20.00		£20.00	£490.00	-£470.00
801 – Freedom Book collection					£0.00
Receipts from church activities Totals	£2,685.00	£1,792.00	£4,478.00	£4,396.00	£82.00

Receipts Grand totals	£72,307.00	£6,792.00	£79,100.00	£99,050.00	-£19,950.00

Payments
Cost of generating funds					£0.00
1701 – Fees paid to fund raisers					£0.00
1705 – Just Giving					£0.00
1710 – Costs of applying for grants					£0.00
1720 – Costs of stewardship campaign					£0.00
1730 – Costs of fetes & other events	£681.00		£681.00		£681.00
Cost of generating funds Totals	£681.00		£681.00		£681.00

Missionary and Charitable Giving					£0.00
1801 – Giving to missionary societies	£2,760.00		£2,760.00	£3,040.00	-£280.00
1805 – Christian Aid					£0.00
1806 – daylight centre donation					£0.00
1807 – Acts2Fund					£0.00
1808 – Family in Need					£0.00
2260 – Carol singing expenses					£0.00
Missionary and Charitable Giving Totals	£2,760.00		£2,760.00	£3,040.00	-£280.00

Parish Share
1901 – Parish Share	£58,630.00		£58,630.00	£61,500.00	-£2,870.00
1902 – Parish Share 2021				£5,000.00	-£5,000.00
Parish Share Totals	£58,630.00		£58,630.00	£66,500.00	-£7,870.00


Clergy and Staffing costs							£0.00
1810 – Discretionary Fund			£326.00		£326.00		£326.00
2001 – Assistant staff costs	£38.00				£38.00		£38.00
2101 – Working expenses of vicar	£174.00				£174.00		£174.00
2150 – Vicar’s telephone	£355.00				£355.00	£461.00	-£106.00
2155 – Mileage of Vicar	£282.00				£282.00	£115.00	£167.00
2160 – Telephone costs of curates							£0.00
2165 – working expenses of Curates							£0.00
2166 – Mileage of Curates							£0.00
2304 – Administrator wages	£2,947.00		£250.00		£3,197.00	£3,356.00	-£159.00
2314 – Admin expenses							£0.00
2324 – Intern Wages			£4,313.00		£4,313.00	£1,917.00	£2,396.00
2334 – Intern expenses			£60.00		£60.00	£71.00	-£11.00
2370 – Visiting speakers / locums							£0.00
Clergy and Staffing costs Totals	£3,798.00		£4,949.00		£8,748.00	£5,922.00	£2,826.00

Church Running Expenses
2170 – Education
2201 – Parish training and mission	£190.00				£190.00		£190.00
2210 – Ignite Expenses	£51.00				£51.00	£6.00	£45.00
2215 – Wellitots expenses						£85.00	-£85.00
2220 – Children’s WOW expenses						£375.00	-£375.00
2230 – Youth Work expenditure						£61.00	-£61.00
2240 – Prayer spaces expenditure							£0.00
2250 – Children’s work						£20.00	-£20.00
2301 – Church running Expenses	£2,645.00				£2,645.00	£2,645.00	£0.00
2302 – Bank Charges	£80.00		£30.00		£110.00	£189.00	-£79.00
2303 – Refreshments at services						£37.00	-£37.00
2305 – Support services	£480.00				£480.00		£480.00
2306 – Tax recoverable from Gift Aid transfer t							£0.00
2340 – Upkeep of services – candles, communium	£99.00				£99.00	£17.00	£82.00
2350 – PA & IT equipment	£341.00				£341.00		£341.00
2351 – Purchase of large items – Gazebo purchase	£602.00				£602.00		£602.00
2355 – Social events	£939.00		£82.00		£1,021.00	£1,428.00	-£407.00
2357 – Weekend@Action Centre							£0.00
2360 – Stationery	£24.00				£24.00	£138.00	-£114.00
2380 – Gifts	£77.00				£77.00		£77.00
2381 – Leaving Gift MP							£0.00
2382 – Leaving Gift AM							£0.00
2405 – Shed expenditure							£0.00
2425 – Fees to Peterborough Finance							£0.00
2450 – Hall hire	£6,833.00				£6,833.00	£6,559.00	£274.00
2510 – Books	£153.00				£153.00	£45.00	£108.00
Church Running Expenses Totals	£12,514.00	£0.00	£112.00	£0.00	£12,626.00	£11,605.00	£1,021.00

New Building work							£0.00
2307 – Transfer from General to Building							£0.00
2910 – Prelim work on Great Harrowden			£528.00		£528.00	£2,953.00	-£2,425.00
2920 – New building Church							£0.00
2921 – Architect for new church							£0.00
2922 – ADI Building and Refurbishment							£0.00
2923 – Professional Services related to VAT rec							£0.00
2924 – Building Control							£0.00

New Building work Totals			£528.00		£528.00	£2,953.00	-£2,425.00
2308 – Transfer from Building Fund to General F – Gift Aid transfer			£4,063.00		£4,063.00	£2,792.00	£1,271.00


Governance Costs							£0.00
2601 – Governance costs examination/audit fee							£0.00
Governance Costs Totals							£0.00
							£0.00
Payments Grand totals	£78,390.00		£9,653.00		£88,044.00	£92,817.00	-£4,773.00

Appendix 4a – email (30/2/24) re Questions from the PCC meeting

Hello Lis (and Helen)

The first page of your report shows the Receipts and Payments for the year. Receipts were shown as £79,100 and payments were £83,442. Since we never have a cash balance at the end of the year, we wondered how the £4,342 shortfall was covered? Perhaps if we could see the Balance Sheet that might explain it?

The figures show income from the SumUp machine but no expenses. We thought there was a cost to having the equipment?

Since we have stepped away from All Saints, we would have expected that the architect would have submitted an invoice for his fees, but there is nothing in the figures. Have we received an invoice?

I also want to say thank you for the final column showing the difference between 2023 and the previous year. I usually do that by hand, so thank you!

Thank you again.

Elizabeth, on behalf of the PCC

Appendix 5 – PCC report – Update on Extending the parish.

The new parish boundaries have now been agreed with Gt Harrowden and we are waiting for legal process to take place. This will include changing our name to North Wellingborough Anglican Church. I am told it should all happen by the summer – let’s wait and see! Our parish will be Gleneagles, Redhill Farm and Glenvale Park. Redhill Grange will stay with Gt Harrowden while they are making future decisions.

No decisions for PCC to make.

Revd. DA

Appendix 6 – Safeguarding Report:

Three people have applied for a DBS and two have been received. Two people have done the training courses on Basic Awareness and Foundations. The Parish Safeguarding Officer has signed up for the Leadership course in March. 2 members of the PCC and our curates have done the ‘Raising Awareness of Domestic Abuse’ course. There are 7 people whose DBSs expire in the first 6 months of 2024, so we will be getting these renewed soon.

Appendix 7 – Deanery Synod Report:

The most recent Deanery Synod was held on Tuesday 9^th January at the church hall of All Hallows, Wellingborough. The main speaker was Jez Gowers-Cromie from Christian Aid, who shared about the work of the charity, how their approach to fundraising has evolved in recent years, and how churches can support their work. He issued an open invitation to a watch party of the charity’s annual supporters’ Changemakers Conference on Saturday 2^nd March at the Abbey Centre in Northampton from 10am-2pm. Should anyone wish to attend, you can sign up to do so via the Christian Aid website. He asked churches to consider whether and how they could support the work of Christian Aid – this is something the PCC may wish to consider.

Regarding Finance, parish share payments were down across the Wellingborough Deanery last year. There will be a Deanery Treasurers Meet Up for mutual support and encouragement at All Saints Church Hall, Earls Barton from 10am to 12pm on Saturday 17^th February 2024. The invitation has been forwarded on to Lis Wells.

The next meeting is on Wednesday 13^th March, venue TBC.

Revd. BHS

Appendix 8 – PCC report – Ministry Leadership Team (MLT)

Last year we expanded MLT and had what felt like quite a good team. MLT was initially set up to form a group of leaders who had oversight of significant ministry areas who could reflect and chew things over together, and make day to day decisions, consulting PCC with decisions that affected the whole church. The idea being that the key priorities of the church were represented within this group. It was a good forum for doing this and I still think structurally it is.

However, since September the team has diminished somewhat for various reasons and so it has stopped being a functioning team in terms of its purposes. Some stepped back from their roles, others were no longer running ministry areas and others couldn’t get to meetings. With no prospect of others stepping into those ‘shoes’ I decided in December that it is better to disband MLT, for now at least.

No decision for PCC to make.

Revd. DA

Appendix 9 – PCC report – Parish Administrator

The new government guidelines for paying employees suggests that the living wage will rise to £11.44 per hour from April. We currently pay Amanda £11 per hour, which is more than was suggested last April.

PCC decision:

We need to decide if we are going to increase Amanda’s hourly rate from April.

Revd. DA

Appendix 10 – An Introduction for the PCC on Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF)

If you would like to read the particular prayers that are the subject of this paper the ‘Prayers of Love and Faith’ can be found here https://www.peterborough-diocese.org.uk/prayers-of-love-and-faith.php

If you would like to do some reading around the wider debate more information can be found in the ‘Living in Love and Faith’ website https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/living-love-and-faith

Prayers for Love and Faith (PLF) are a set of liturgical resources commended for use by the House of Bishops of the Church of England General Synod. They were published, along with pastoral guidance on their use, in December 2023. They are the result of Living in Love and Faith (LLF), a process of discussion and consultation within the Church of England since 2017. The LLF process has explored liturgical provision for those in same-sex relationships, drawing on theology, doctrine, scripture and the lived experience of LGBTQI+ Christians.

The prayers from PLF can now be used in parishes, either privately with just the couple and a minister, or within the context of regularly scheduled Sunday or weekday worship.

At present they cannot be used to form a standalone service for a couple and their guests. The provision of standalone services will need to be authorized by the Church of England General Synod – something which may or may not happen in the future. At this point, we are asked to consider the use of the commended prayers rather than standalone services.

The commended prayers include the following three sections:

Prayers for a Covenanted Friendship – these are to recognise a friendship which is ‘committed and non-sexual, which is not exclusive, yet deeply meaningful, particular, and seeking to grow in holiness.’
Prayers, Acclamations and Promises – these have been written to be used to pray for couples in ‘faithful, exclusive, permanent and stable’ same-sex relationships. There is a suite of resources, which ministers can draw from rather than being a full liturgy. Where these prayers are used in regularly scheduled Sunday or weekday worship, they should not form the main focus of the service.
The Blessing of a Home – prayers to bless the home of a same-sex couple. These may be used alongside other prayers from PLF. Nb liturgical provision for the Blessing of a Home is already available for any home whatever the configuration of the household.

The use of these commended prayers, either privately or within the context of regular services, is at the discretion of the minister. However, they are encouraged to consult the PCC and wider congregation before doing so, especially where they may be used in public worship. PCCs are encouraged to agree a simple policy for the use of PLF for the sake of transparency. No minister will be compelled to use PLF against their conscience, and a PCC cannot stop a minster from using the commended prayers as set out in the pastoral guidance.

The pastoral guidance is clear that PLF does not mark a change of Church of England doctrine, which defines Holy Matrimony as being ‘a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, blessed by God in creation and pointing to the love between Christ and the Church; a way of life which Christ makes holy.’ The guidance also explains that care should be taken to ensure that the use of PLF does not look like a service of Holy Matrimony.

Should standalone services be authorized in the future, the process for using them will be different from that for using the commended prayers. Churches will need to officially opt in to offering standalone services. This will require a resolution from the PCC, to which both the incumbent and the PCC consent. The resolution must include details of how the wider congregation has been consulted. The Diocesan Bishop and Rural Dean should then be informed. The specific form of service to be used should be sent to the Bishop’s Office for approval. As with the commended prayers, no minister will be compelled to offer a standalone service. Additionally, it seems at the moment that the guidance many say that a minister may not lead a standalone service in church whose PCC has not resolved to allow them.

Whilst heterosexual couples have a legal right to be married in a church to which they have a qualifying connection, this is not the case with the commended PLF or any future standalone provision. No couple has an automatic right to have these prayers prayed with them, but there are no necessary qualifications if a decision has been made to offer these prayers in the parish.

Any decision made can be revisited in the future, including when General Synod decides about the provision of authorized standalone services.

It is important to recognise that there will be a variety of views on this on this matter, and that we are unlikely to reach a decision with which everyone agrees 100%. Reaching a consensus is likely to require compromise and generosity.

As we discuss this, at PCC and congregational level, it is important that we remember that this is not just a theological or ecclesiological matter for some, but something which may be deeply personal and potentially painful.

My own position

It’s important you know that what I say at one point in time doesn’t mean that I stop thinking and reflecting – this is a work in progress. I have moved from the position I held a few years ago and it is entirely possible I will move again.

I have both a theological stance and a pastoral one. Honestly, both leave me in a conundrum.

i)My theological stance would be described as fairly conservative/traditional. I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman and that God’s best, as far as I can tell from scripture, is for intimate relationships to be between one man and one woman. As an evangelical, my beginning and ending points are with scripture. While there are many other arguments (tradition, desire, experience for example) they do not persuade me in the same way. Having said that, as I have studied the parts of scripture that refer to intimate relationships, I do wonder whether there may be some doubt about how that scripture has been interpreted and passed to us. Secondly, in listening to those conservative ‘voices’ it’s possible it’s been to the exclusion of other voices in scripture? Voices for example that talk about God’s great welcome of every single person, with no exception. So, while I continue to hold to the conservative view, it doesn’t sit entirely well with me and there is every possibility that I am wrong.

ii)My pastoral stance, given the above, is a bit different. Faced with ordinary people who happen to love someone of the same sex, what does it mean for them to live faithfully with Jesus and within the church community? There are evangelical communities who have decided this means same sex attracted people should not have an intimate romantic relationship. Ed Shaw (a same sex attracted church leader and has written the ‘Plausibility Problem’) does this admirably. But if we have read scripture wrongly then we are at risk of oppressing and causing significant pain to a whole group of people.

Because I think it’s possible that I’ve read scripture wrongly, because I think there is so much about human sexuality and God’s intentions that I cannot fully understand and because we make pastoral exceptions all the time, everything within me wants to say yes to using the prayers and possibly yes later down the line when we are asked to consider stand-alone services. But this does not sit well with me at this point either. (What I mean by pastoral exceptions is that we marry those who are divorced yet there is no positive biblical precedence for that. However, we understand we’re broken people, we get it wrong and sometimes can’t resolve things).

What is very clear for me is that whoever you are, you are welcome, you are loved. If you want to serve in some way in the church, you are welcome and encouraged to use all of the gifts the Lord has put within you.

Some comments on the suggested prayers:

-the prayer for covenant friendship simply does not make sense to me as a concept

-there have always been provisions for prayers at someone’s home regardless, this therefore is unchanged

-the prayers for those in a mutual, consenting same sex union are not supposed to be a blessing of the union itself.

This doesn’t make sense to me either, in the sense that it doesn’t seem to fulfil a purpose, but I know a number of same sex attracted church leaders for whom, never the less, this feels like an important step in the life of the church.

Conclusion

Where argued biblically, I have complete sympathy for both views – the more ‘conservative’ one and the more ‘liberal’ one. Most of all my sympathy is with those who find themselves attracted to those of the same sex in the middle of all of this. I say to you, I am so sorry. I am sorry for the pain caused to you as the church wrestles with this. I say to the church, we need to somehow hold in tension these two opposing views and allow one another to work it out without being offended. That is very easy for me to say and probably rather naïve given this is such an emotive issue.

In the end, who am I to know. I wish I had a firmer conviction. It feels like I live somehow with both views within me and I’d far rather err on the side of grace and get it wrong, than err on the side of legalism and get that wrong. That feels like a more generous, kind, open hearted and loving space to be in. But in practice I have to come down one way or the other. And so, with a heavy heart I have concluded at this time that:

-I am not minded to use the commended prayers of love and faith in public services (including those around covenant friendship).

-I am however happy to use prayers during a home visit of someone in a same sex union.

Decision for PCC

How do we best progress this conversation? (It is probably worth saying that we may spend time on this and never be asked to use the prayers or indeed do a stand-alone service in the future).

-Does the PCC want to have time to think it through and talk about it more thoroughly? Or, given at this stage it is the Incumbent’s decision would the PCC prefer not to spend time on this?

-Would it be helpful to do some teaching in the wider church presenting both views from a biblical perspective, Sunday mornings or Sunday evening which people opt in to?

Revd. DA

Published 25/02/2025

PCC Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the PCC Meeting

Held on Sunday 1st July 2024

		Action
1	The meeting opened at 19.10 with prayer.

2	Attendance
	Dawn Airey (Chair), Sam Carew, Fiona Clarke (Honorary Secretary), Helen Cracknell, Louise Harrison, Ben Haughton-Scales, Livvi Haughton-Scales, Elizabeth Holbrook, Alan Palmer, David Wells, Ruth Wium. Apologies: Matt Ellson, Melanie Hartung.

3	Previous Minutes
	Proposal: The Minutes of the Meeting held on 10^th June 2024 were deemed to be correct. Proposer: DA. Seconder: SC. All who were present at that meeting agreed.

4	Matters Arising
	All photos of PCC members are now on the website under Who’s Who. Photos of ME and EH (churchwardens) to be placed on the Church Noticeboard. FC to forward photo of MC to EH. EH to ensure that the photos are displayed.	FC/EH

5	Update on Key Priorities – See Appendices 1 – 3.
	1. Discipleship (DA) SHAPE course. The sessions involve looking at your: Spiritual Gifts (God’s unique gifts to you) Heart’s Desire (what motivates and excites you; what you love to do) Abilities (your talents, knowledge and skills) Personality (your character, personal qualities and strengths) Experience (your life experiences and what you’ve gained from them) Just an idea at present but it: Would be for everyone. Would likely be held on Tuesday evenings. Entails people exploring their gifts and how they may use them for God’s work. Allows people to look at why and what they are trying to achieve. Encourages people to be who they are. 2. Under 18s (DA-under 11s/ BHS- youth) Youth and Children’s Worker `We currently have the £5000 grant money. DA is making applications to other grant making trusts. Glenvale Park Toddlers Usually seven or eight families each week. Residents of the Care Home enjoy them being there. Summer Drink Stop This seems popular and is being talked about in the school. Could the scheme be extended beyond July? It will be reviewed at the end of the trial. It could possibly be restarted in September when the children are back at school. Could it be done outside the Leisure Centre as an alternative/ extra venue then? It would need Council approval. Energize Resource This is now being used for all under 18s groups. It is seen to be very good for ideas, even if not following it exactly. Leaders are still needed for Sunday mornings, and it may be helpful to encourage people to step up by: showcasing what can be done with the resource and how easy it is to use. Plan ahead so that everything would be ready for a new leader to just step in and follow. Or maybe current leaders can work with the helpers. Show what the children are learning and making. This could possibly be in the Service as a short video, photos or actual work they have done. It could also be shown on the website. RW and LH to look at this and obtain the necessary consent forms. Connect Youth Amendment to Appendix 2. There are currently 6 (not 5) young people booked to come to the Satellites summer youth festival at the Bath & West Showground from 2^nd-6^th August 2024. Daytime groups Capacity to do daytime children’s work is ok whilst we have two curates (three full time clergy). However, the need will increase when the new school opens on Glenvale Park in September. Narnia Prayer Spaces This is a free resource from the Diocese, with approximately eight prayer spaces built around a Narnia theme. For this year, Redwell School year 5s will use it for one week, but we may be able to invite Wilby School to join them for a day. 3. Wholeness in Jesus/ Wellbeing (DA); Prayer (JBC). – Bereavement Group Currently meet at the Hub. Receive referrals from GP surgeries and Mental Health surgeries. Valerie has been doing an excellent job, but it is disheartening for her when people don’t attend. It would benefit from someone with a passion for it, like Valerie, with energy and new ideas and capacity to lead the group. The Bereavement Journey (a mini course) may be something that would encourage people to form their own support group rather than them only attending once.	RW/LH

6	Finance Report – See Appendix 4
	Treasurers Report (HC) Lis will hand over to Helen next week. Income is up from May but there were five Sundays in June. Spending is down but Ben and Livvi have not been claiming expenses. They will check out what they should be claiming. HC is due to pay approximately £7000.00 Parish Share. As a church we don’t fundraise. Gift Aid Under the small gifts scheme anything in the offertory box that is not in an envelope is eligible to claim Gift Aid. On the Card Reader anything up to £30 is eligible to claim Gift Aid but not over £30. The church name needs amending on the Gift Aid form. New Bank Accounts HC will look into bank accounts ready for September PCC meeting. Permission was gained from the PCC previously to open new bank accounts to reflect the new church name – North Wellingborough Anglican Church: HC will check rates at different banks and the Post Office. She will check that banking can be done at the Post Office for each account as banks are closing branches making it increasingly difficult to pay in etc. – CAF bank (current bank) in HSBC, nearest branch is Higham Ferrers, whereas with the Post Office paying in etc can be done at Wellingborough saving time, travel costs, having to store the funds until able to go to Higham Ferrers. The current signatories, namely Helen Cracknell, Lis Wells and Elizabeth Holbrook, will be transferred to the new account(s). A fourth signatory may be needed in case signatories are unavailable. The Diocese annual returns have been completed. There was a £1000 donation from David Laing to use for audio visual equipment, but it was inadvertently placed in the building project account. It will need to be transferred back to the General Account. DA will meet with HC and Jem Cox (The Finance Team) in August.	BHS/LHS HC HC DA/HC

7	Parish Update – see appendix 5
	Church Base In the Vision, the model of our church is for one hub with satellite groups. The current base is Redwell School. The current Head is very keen on the church input and happy for us to have services there. However, the Trust of Redwell School may make different decisions and this could change in future. Similarly, we currently use the Hub at the school for some church activities, but the Hub may be used by the school in future and thus no longer available to us. The new Glenvale Park School is to be a Church of England school. Should it, therefore, be the hub for our church? DA is having ongoing discussions with the school, and it has been intimated that we can have a Parish Office there and the church could move there and use it at the weekends and some evenings. The costs, however, are not known yet. Ultimately, the decisions about using the school and having a parish office, etc will be made by Ruth Walker-Green, CEO of Peterborough Diocese Education Trust (PDET). In principle, if the church can afford it, and if it is agreed by PDET, would we want to move to Glenvale Park School? The school hall at Glenvale Park School is larger. Is there a possibility of signage – Glenvale Park School, Home of North Wellingborough Anglican Church? The PCC need further information to facilitate a decision: Facts and figures – will it cost more/ less/ similar to existing situation? Emotions – How would the current church members feel? What about new/ potential members from Glenvale Park. Beliefs.

8	Approving New Groups/ Activities
	Nothing this time.

9	Safeguarding Report – See Appendix 6
	Nothing to add.

10	Deanery Synod Report – See Appendix 7
	Nothing to add.

11	Parish Weekend Away – See Appendix 8
	Postponed to September meeting due to limited time available.

12	Dates of next meetings:
	PCC meetings: Monday 16^th September 2024 19.00. Monday 11^th November 2024 19.00 or may be part of Leadership Away Day TBC. Monday 20^th January 2025 19.00. Monday 24^th March 2025 19.00. Monday 28^th April 2025 19.00 (to approve APCM reports). APCM Sunday 25^th May 2025 as part of the service followed by a short PCC meeting.

13	The meeting closed with prayers at 21.00.

Appendix 1 – update on Key priority 1: Discipleship3

Connect Groups;At the APCM in 2023 we ‘re-launched’ Connect Groups and reshaped them around the vision of the church. It isn’t possible to get to know everyone and so our midweek Connect Groups are the main way of caring for, encouraging and supporting one another both in our faith journey but also life in general! The other change in Connect Groups is that we stopped calling those who co-ordinated them ‘leaders’ and instead call them ‘facilitators’. In many ways it may not feel like a significant change but we recognised that a culture had developed in which those who were willing to be ‘leaders’ felt at times overwhelmed and found themselves organizing every aspect of the Connect Group. The purpose of the facilitator is to enable every person in the group to use their God given gifts and skills to serve and build one another up, rather than do everything themselves.Since May 2023 we now have 5 Connect Groups, all meet fortnightly (listed below). We have tried to encourage everyone to be part of a group and while for some going to the fortnightly meetings might be hard, the majority can get to the group socials and be part of the wider group to pray for and support one another.Greg was the Connect Group co-ordinator until just before Christmas 2023 and stepped down due to ill health. I now do this role. The facilitators continue to meet every couple of months to support one another.Our five groups are:
- Monday afternoon (Carol Maycock)
- Monday evening (Elizabeth Holbrook)
- Thursday morning (Alan Palmer)
- Wednesday evening (Dawn A)
- Wednesday evening (Ben & Livvi)
Tuesday Teaching evenings:
In 2022 we decided to keep Tuesday evenings free from other church business to allow for occasional extra teaching sessions. Earlier this year we ran an Alpha course on Mondays instead of Tuesday (due to candidates availability). We are currently considering a 4/5 week short course called ‘SHAPE’ which looks at how we are gifted, what desires we have and what the Lord may be calling us towards as a result.

Decision needed by PCC

No decisions needed from PCC at this time.

Revd. DA.

Appendix 2 – Under 18s Ministry

There are a huge number of people involved in under 18s ministry – around 27 adults! We take the research seriously that tells us that churches who invest in under 18s ministry grow, and those that don’t decline. As such we have started the discussion around potential employment of a children’s and youth worker. .

Last year we signed up to a resource called Energize which we use across all of our under 18s groups.

Under 11s Ministry

For our under 18s ministry we have both a discipleship stream and an outreach stream. For under 11s our discipleship stream is primarily Sunday mornings at Sunday Club. Our outreach stream is on a Thursday for Wellitots (under 5s) & Ignite (those in year 1-5), and Monday for Glenvale toddlers (under 5s). For young people (those in year 6 and above) the discipleship stream is 3 Sunday mornings and 2 Sunday evenings a month (Connect Youth), the outreach stream is also a Thursday evening (Ignite youth).

Sunday mornings
There is a great group of people who lead and help with the groups. Over recent months some of those who had been serving in this area for many years took the opportunity to step down with new people taking their place. Huge thanks to each of them for their willingness to guide the children in their individual journeys with the Lord.
Wellitots Toddlers Group
In November 2022 the group moved to the Hub at Redwell School which meant the session time could be extended and has proved to be a much better venue. The numbers attending prior to moving venue had become very low and we even wondered if we might need to stop the group. However we now have many new households coming along and have 10/11 households each week. A number of these join in with our events at festival times of year and some are touching their toes with Sunday mornings by coming to the café style service.
Glenvale Park toddler group
This is a new initiative which started mid April. Glenvale Care home provide a beautiful room, toy storage and refreshments. Some of the residents join the group also. We currently have around 8 families coming each week. We suspect this group will grow significantly as the development grows and when the new church school opens in September.
Ignite
Ignite numbers dipped in 2023 to the point where we considered if was a sustainable group. However, since the team did a school assembly at Redwell Primary early January 2024 the numbers have shot up to between 25-30 each week, though they have dipped again more recently. There is a very committed team leading this and with Rob leaving, from September Livvi is going to take on the leadership.
School’s work

Redwell School
Invitations to engage with Redwell School have increased since 2023. This has meant we were invited to be present at school assemblies/plays and special days at school. We were given the opportunity of doing monthly in person assemblies too. We continue to run several wellbeing groups throughout the year with different year groups….and always invite them to Ignite and Ignite Youth as a result. We have taken a break from delivery the wellbeing groups this last term but will begin again in September. We will again be running year 6 ‘Transition to Secondary School’ sessions using material from Scripture Union in June.
Glenvale Church of England school
This will be open 1^st Sep 2024. I have been meeting with Wilby School Head, Chair of Governors and the Vicar of Wilby to talk through some of the more detailed transition. We look forward to the school opening in Sep 2024 and working very closely with them.

Decision needed by PCC

No decisions needed from PCC at this time.

Revd. DA

Youth:

The poster above highlights our three youth groups – Sunday Youth, Connect Youth, and Ignite Youth.

Sunday Youth
This occurs on the second and fourth Sunday mornings of the month during the service. During this time there is in-depth bible teaching and discussion. We currently do not have enough leaders to run Sunday youth on third Sundays in the month and are trialing this as a ‘Serving Sunday’, encouraging the young people to help with various aspects of the morning service (such as assisting with children’s groups, playing in the worship band, serving tea and coffee, and helping with the sound and visuals teams).We’ve only had a limited response to this so far – assisting with the children’s groups has been the most popular, but there hasn’t been much take up from the young people to being involved in other areas of serving.There’s an aim to encourage those interested in music to get involved with worship but this will take some time, and we’ll try to explore other opportunities for serving where possible. The number of young people attending on Sunday mornings varies somewhat from week to week.
Connect Youth
This is our discipleship group, which meets fortnightly. Ben, Livvi, Sam Carew, and Dawn lead this group. We begin with a game, then have a time of worship, Bible teaching and prayer, before finishing with a meal together. There are around 15 young people who attend the group, with an average attendance of 8 to 12. Most of the young people are connected with church, and it’s really exciting to see how they’re all growing in their faith in Jesus. At the moment, Ignite Youth and Connect Youth operate very separately, with little crossover between the young people attending the two groups. We are currently considering this and the implications for our wider youth strategy. Last term we learnt more about the Bible – how and why to read it. 4 members of Connect Youth wish to be baptized in the autumn, so we will be undertaking baptism and confirmation preparation during the summer term. We have continued to hold half-termly social evenings, with a games night during the Easter holidays and a film night during the May half term. We look forward to the Satellites summer youth festival at the Bath & West Showground from 2^nd-6^th August 2024. There are currently 5 young people booked to come. The adults involved will be Dawn & Chris, Ben & Livvi.
Ignite Youth
This is our Thursday evening outreach group. We have been seeing between 15 and 20 total young people regularly, but the average number each week has dropped to between 10 and 15. The sessions involve games, sports, crafts, and a short time considering the Christian faith. The small group discussions have been working better than giving a short talk from the front, so we will continue with these. However, there are some tricky relational dynamics between older and younger members of the group, for which we would appreciate prayer to know how to deal with this appropriately. The current team is: the Aireys (Chris every other week), Carol Maycock and Judy Meleleu (who help with registration and the tuck shop once a month), Bruna, Daniela, Livvi and Ben. Any additional volunteers would still be gratefully welcomed!
Glenvale Park
We are continuing to look out for where God is at work and seek opportunities to connect with young people in Glenvale Park, and are looking ahead to the summer community days and how we can engage with young people through those.

Pray for:

The many young people we are in contact with to come to faith and grow as followers of Jesus.
Give thanks for those who have recently offered to help with some of the church youth work activities, and pray for the development of more leaders with a heart and calling to serve young people.
Ignite Youth, that the group would function as well as possible and that the young people would experience God’s love for them.
The families of our young people – may they also be reached through our ministry.
Preparing young people from Connect Youth for baptism/confirmation this term, and revisiting these with those who have already been baptized/confirmed.

Decision needed by PCC

No decisions needed from PCC at this time.

Revd. BH-S

Appendix 3 – update on Key priority 3: Wholeness in Jesus/ Wellbeing

Bereavement Support Group
Valerie Brown runs the bereavement support group on Tuesday afternoons at the hub in Redwell School. It has been difficult trying to establish an in person group since the pandemic but Valerie keeps going with it. She will be reviewing the group at the end of the summer term. We also have a bereavement facebook group which has 84 people part of it.
Care
Throughout 2023 pastoral Care at Gleneagles Anglican Church continued to operate through Connect Groups and by direct contact with the Care Team providing fellowship, friendship and practical help where needed. The Care Team members were Valerie Brown, David & Helen Downey, and Elizabeth Holbrook. Helen Downey took responsibility for this team and I am so grateful to her. I want to thank them all for all they have done in responding to the needs of church members.However, it became clear in the early part of 2023 that the Care Team was itself very small and therefore limited in how it could respond. As the church was growing we realised a new way was needed. At the same time we were developing ideas around Connect Groups and as described in the discipleship section we slightly reshaped the purpose of Connect Groups in line with the vision of the church (Connecting – with Jesus, with each other, with the wider community). Part of that reshaping included a different understanding about pastoral care. The language of pastoral care had perhaps become unhelpful in that in can encourage a culture in which some are giving help and some are receiving help. The reality is that most of us will find ourselves in both ‘camps’ at the same time! The Christian life is such that we are all members of Jesus’s body with different skills and gifts to offer one another, and we are all broken human vessels that need love, support, friendship, practical help and encouragement. The other reality is that it is only possible to have close relationships with a few people at one time, close enough to know and be honest about our needs. With all of that in mind it made sense to close the Pastoral Care Team and for Connect Groups to become the main way in which we are all enabled to build close friendships, offer one another support when needed and use the gifts the Lord has given us to build one another up.

Decision needed by PCC

No decisions needed from PCC at this time.

Revd. DA.

Appendix 4 – Finance Report

Treasurer’s Report May 2024

General Account (Restricted and unrestricted money)

BUDGET 2023 Unrestricted (Budget for 2024 not agreed)

Receipts		Annual Budget 2023	To 31/05/24
Planned	Parish giving scheme	49,000.00	18,793.00
Collections	Online giving	10,000.00	2,261.00
Collections	Loose Plate	5,000.00	2,453.00
Sum Up			731.00
Tax recovered through PGS and Gift Aid		14,000.00	2,928.00
Other receipts including Rob collection		3,000.00	1,171.00
Fundraising		0.00
Church activities		3,000.00	849.00
TOTAL		84,000	29,186.00



Payments		Annual Budget 2023	To 29/02/24
Payments		Annual Budget 2023	To 29/02/24
Parish Share sent for 2024		67,181.00	12,500.00
Missionary Giving		3,000.00	1,502.00
Hall hire		7,000.00	3,038.00
Clergy and staff costs		3,500.00	1,796.00
Discretionary Fund			300.00
Church running costs		4,000.00	2,439.00
Cost of fete and events (Cmas 23)			175.00
TOTAL		84,681	21,750

Balance in current account 26/06/24	9,254.88
Balance in Building fund 26/06/24	49,051.10

Appendix 5 – Parish Update

As of the 1^st May we are now legally North Wellingborough Anglican Church, incorporating the 3 housing estates – Gleneagles, Glenvale Park, Redhill Farm (Artists).
Our model of being church is to have a base (currently Redwell School) and to use the available community spaces for our missional groups and activities.
Our current relationship with Redwell School is very good but that has not always been the case. Glenvale Park School is going to be a Church of England School and thereby opens up the question as to whether that should become our base. It is highly likely that we are going to be given a parish office within the school. Early discussions with the diocese (PDET), school head and chair of Governors have been positive with reference to the potential for us as a church to relocate to Glenvale School. No costs have been negotiated at this stage.

Decision needed by PCC:

As a PCC, having very briefly discussed this previously, we need to continue this discussion and at some point make a decision. At the next PCC meeting it would be helpful to talk about the merits of either decision.

Revd. DA.

Appendix 6 – Safeguarding Report

Three people have applied for the DBS which has now been received. Two of them need to do the safeguarding training.
The diocese have appointed a new safeguarding advisor, Victoria Kellett.
Emails have been sent to 3 people who have expressed interest in volunteering. We still need to complete the DBS process for them.

John Gilyead.

Appendix 7 – Deanery Synod Report

There will not be a meeting until September. Therefore, no report this time.

PP HC.

Appendix 8 – PCC report – Parish Weekend away

PCC decision needed:

Revd. DA.

1	Attendance
	· Dawn Airey (Chair), Fiona Clarke (Honorary Secretary), Helen Cracknell, Matt Ellson, Louise Harrison, Melanie Hartung, Ben Haughton-Scales, Livvi Haughton-Scales, Elizabeth Holbrook, and David Wells. · Apologies: Sam Carew, Alan Palmer, Ruth Wium.

2	Appointment of Officers
	· Lay Vice Chair – Not elected at this meeting.
	· PCC Secretary – Fiona Clarke Already holds the position but no longer a voting PCC member – Honorary position.
	· PCC Treasurer – Lis Wells Already holds the position. Not a voting member of the PCC.
	· Electoral Roll Officer – Marion Darker Already holds the position. but no longer a voting PCC member.
	· Safeguarding Officer – John Gilyead Already holds the position. Not a voting member of the PCC.

3	New voting PCC (including ex-officio) members’ admin
	· Declaration of Interest and Fitness to serve paperwork Completed by Matt Ellson, Louise Harrison, Elizabeth Holbrook and David Wells. Sam Carew and Ruth Wium will need to complete the paperwork.
	· DBS and Safeguarding Training Those new to the PCC were reminded that they need to complete their training and paperwork as soon as possible. Dawn will advise those not present.
	· Who’s Who New PCC members were asked to send a photo of themselves to Fiona Clarke to be placed on the website under Who’s Who. Dawn will advise those not present.

4	Safeguarding Policy To be accepted at the next full PCC meeting on 10/06/2024

5	Appointment of Independent Examiner All present voted to appoint Mrs Hannah Rawlings to continue as Independent Examiner for this year’s accounts due for next year’s APCM.

6	Dates of next meetings · Monday 10^th June 2024 19.00. · Monday 1^st July 2024 19.00.

7	The meeting closed at 12.10