Minutes of the PCC Meeting
Held on Monday 2nd February 2026
| Action | ||
| 1 | The meeting opened at 19.02 welcoming Jackie from the Prayer Ministry team. Jackie went through Prayer Ministry training with the PCC then prayed for the PCC. She then departed at 19.26. The main PCC meeting commenced once she had gone. | |
| 2 | Attendance | |
| · Dawn Airey (Chair), Chiaz Alozie, Sam Carew, Fiona Clarke (PCC Secretary), Matt Ellson (Vice Chair), Ben Haughton-Scales, Livvi Haughton-Scales, David Meleleu, Alan Palmer David Wells, Ruth Wium.
· Apologies: Melanie Hartung. |
||
| 3 | Previous Minutes | |
| The Minutes of the Meetings held on 17th November 2025 and 19st January 2026 were approved by all who had been at those meetings and were signed off by DA. | ||
| 4 | Matters Arising | |
| · Land opposite the Ock and Dough public house. Alan, Mel and Ruth are to form a group to look into this, and what can be done with the land, and advise the PCC when done.
· Church Laptop – Nearly set up. Thank you to CA. |
AP/MH/RW
|
|
| 5 | Update on Key Priorities – See Appendices 1 – 3. | |
| 1. Discipleship (DA)
· No decisions and no comments. 2. Under 18s (DA-Under 11s/ BH-S- Youth) · Attendance o Average of 16 with a maximum of 32 children and youth at Sunday morning services, which is very encouraging. · No decisions to be made and no comments. 3. Wholeness in Jesus/ Wellbeing (DA); Prayer (JBC). – · Prayer Ministry – o The new WhatsApp group has been very successful and found to be much more dynamic and useful than emails. |
||
| 6 | Finance Report – See Appendix 4 | |
| Treasurers Report
· A big Thank You to Dale who is very efficient. · No questions were sent to Dale to respond to before the meeting. · Planned giving is down £500.00 per month due to previous givers no longer giving. · Last year we paid £7000.00 less Parish Share. o The amount available to pay is reducing yearly and is anticipated to be an extra £5000.00 to £6000.00 reduction this year unless giving changes. |
|
|
| 7 | Parish Update – see Appendix 5 | |
| · Shed at Redwell School
o Redwell School have asked if they can use the shed as we are no longer based there. Proposal: To gift the shed to Redwell School. Proposer: DA Seconder: SC All were in favour. o Plan – To clear the shed by February half-term (Monday 16th o DA to liaise with teams that have items in the shed. o DM to return the spare shed keys to DA · Update re new Vicar o The Archdeacon will meet with the PCC, excluding DA, BHS and LHS, to go through the process of selecting a new Vicar, the rules, Do’s and Don’ts etc. ME will co-ordinate dates with the Archdeacon and PCC to set up the meeting. o Rob Bewley will then continue the process and draw up the necessary paperwork. o At the meeting with the Archdeacon: § the PCC will draw up a Parish Profile of who we are, and what we want the future to look like. o Further along the process the PCC will need to: § Agree whether to accept the preferred Diocesan candidate. § Be brutally honest. § Consider whether BHS and LHS are the best people for the job. § BHS and LHS will also need to consider whether the job is right for them: · There is only one position that will be available. · They could share the position, if the wish to, each working part-time but one would need to be the named incumbent. · There is no law against them applying for the incumbent role where they have been curates. o For the sake of the Church, ME (as churchwarden) has the overall responsibility for the church (even above any curates) when the Incumbent (Vicar) is not available. This includes the interregnum. |
DA DM
ME
PCC
|
|
| 8 | Approving New Groups/ Activities | |
| Easter activities:
· Easter Rock Hunt – Risk assessment has been done Proposer LHS Seconder SC. All were in favour. · Maundy Thursday meal and prayer stations. o To be held at Glenvale C of E School. o Adults £5.00, Children £3.00. o Can use the Hub for food preparation Proposer BHS Seconder ME. All were in favour.
· Good Friday morning Family Event o To be held at Glenvale C of E School. o 10.00 – 11.30 Proposer DA Seconder FC. All were in favour. |
||
| 9 | Safeguarding Report – See Appendix 6 | |
| · All PCC members need to do the “Raising awareness of Domestic Abuse” training. John has sent the link.
· He has also offered to do Face to Face training. PCC agreed that this would be a good idea and enquired about whether it could be done via ZOOM. DA to liaise with John to see if this is possible and will feedback to PCC. |
All
DA
|
|
| 10 | Deanery Synod Report – See Appendix 7 | |
| o Nothing this time | ||
| 11 | New Church Signage – See Appendix 8 | |
| · The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Peterborough Diocese Educational Trust (PDET) has reported that the church cannot have a small sign in the hall.
· Instead, we can have a big board on the external wall outside the Parish Office with an arrow pointing towards the entrance. · As there will only be one sign, the cost will be less. Proposal: To accept the new single sign on the backing – see picture in Appendix. Proposer: DA Seconder: FC All in favour except one who abstained. |
|
|
| 12 | Dates of next meetings: | |
| PCC meetings:
· Monday 13th April 2026 19.00 (to agree APCM reports). · APCM Sunday 26th April 2026 as part of the service, followed by a short PCC meeting. |
||
| 13 | The meeting closed with prayers for:
· Who could be the second churchwarden and who may wish to join the PCC (The applicants must be on the electoral roll, cannot be the spouse of an existing PCC member, must attend church on a regular basis). · DA as she moves towards her next calling. · Closing prayer by BHS at 20.35. |
Appendix 1– update on Key priority 1: Discipleship
- Worship:
Encountering God’s presence in worship continues to be fundamental for me and I believe we need to continue pressing into this much more than we have to date…….
- Connect Groups:
There are now 4 connect groups which, apart from Sunday mornings, is our main discipleship, friendship and care model.
Our four groups are:
- Monday afternoon (Carol Maycock)
- Wednesday evening (Ruth W)
- Thursday morning (Alan Palmer)
- 1st Sunday in the month (Revd. Livvi Haughton-Scales)
In recognition that, apart from one church family, none of our families have made it into a connect group, Livvi has started a monthly connect group which takes place after the café style services. It is very early days and Livvi is finding it a bit of a struggle but we are hopeful it will gain greater traction in the coming months.
The group facilitators continue to meet every couple of months to support one another.
The PCC are currently thinking through what the priorities of the church are and will be as we move forward to a time when the curates will move on and there will be just one full time clergy person. In a recent extra ordinary meeting on Monday 19th Jan, one of the things identified was that more thought is needed around our connect groups and their purpose. More thought is also being given to what it means to be a loving community of God’s people. We know that the early church spent much time and energy on both caring for one another and, on the Holy Spirit ministry of signs/wonders/healings. As they sought to be God’s distinctive community, both of these things made them stand out from the world. There seems to be a recognition in PCC that we need to ‘get back’ to this…..
Revd. DA.
No decisions needed from PCC at this time.
Appendix 2 – Under 18s Ministry
We take the research seriously that tells us that churches who invest in under 18s ministry grow, and those that don’t decline. The national church has a vision to see 30,000 employed children’s and youth workers in an attempt to double the number of children and young people in church on a Sunday morning by 2030!
But ‘growing younger’ was also what I was asked to do when I was interviewed and appointed to be Vicar here, it has therefore been a key priority for me. It is a delight to see how many families we now have as part of the church. In my first year here there were on average 5 under 16s on a Sunday morning with a maximum possible of 7. Now we have an average of 16 on a Sunday with a possible maximum of over 32 (every Sunday it seems we are blessed with new people so it’s a little hard to be as accurate now, so it’s at least 32).
We have raised just over £53,000 to employ a part time children’s and youth worker but unfortunately we have not been able to appoint anyone. We raised £2,317 via the 100 for 100 project last year. We hoped we would raise near to £10,000 through this and while some in the congregation seemed to be inspired by this and engaged really well, many didn’t.
Please keep praying and please consider giving towards this vital ministry.
In Sep 2025 we took on Chiaz Alozie as our Intern. He is supervised by Ben and spends the majority of his time working in the under 18s ministry.
All under 18s groups continue to use the Energize resource.
In recent months we have had numerous parents now complete the relevant safeguarding procedures enabling them to support the under 18s ministry on Sunday mornings. I am delighted and it is very welcome.
However, we continue to struggle to support the teen ministry on Sunday mornings. We have more teenagers than children and in September we split the group into two groups (yr 6/7 and yr 8+). Both groups meet twice in the month. This continues to work very well:
- Chiaz leads yr 6/7 group and has 2 people who help support where they can. However, sometimes there have been gaps and we have needed to ask someone from the children’s team to move groups at the last minute.
- We also seem to be getting more creche aged children and so moving one of the children’s workers might begin to prove difficult and so we need to find others who can support the yr 6/7 group on a more regular basis.
- At the moment we only have Jackie BC leading the year 8 and above group once a month. She no longer has someone to support her and you would have heard me recently let the church know this and ask for others to volunteer. There have been 2 people who have offered to support where they can, but they are already committed in other ministry areas.
- Rayo who is a young person herself, continues to lead the yr 8 and above group once a month. She is doing a fantastic job!
- Under 11s Ministry
Sunday mornings
The under 11s continue to use the Hub room on Sunday mornings for their group. A huge thanks to everyone who leads and supports this age group and for their willingness to guide the children in their individual journeys with the Lord.
Outreach – Glenvale Park toddler group
We began this group Easter 2024. Glenvale Care home provides a beautiful room, toy storage and refreshments for this group. Some of the residents join the group also.
We have around 50 families now on the register and anywhere between 7 and 16 households can turn up on any given week! This continues to be the case.
Outreach – primary aged children
PCC is aware that we did not restart Ignite after October half term due to both the rent increasing and the numbers of children attending decreasing. We were making a loss of around £40 a week during that half term and despite Livvi’s best efforts, we could not increase the numbers. It is hoped that in the near future, particularly if we appoint a children’s and youth worker, that something new will be imagined.
School’s work
Being present in our two primary schools is a very significant part of how we serve our housing estates and the mission of the church. It is largely ministry unseen by the church but plays a huge part in what I would describe as ‘oiling’ the rest of ministry.
We continue to have a very good relationship with Redwell School which means between Ben, Livvi and I we are present on a regular basis, either through assemblies, collective worship, new parent intake evenings, Narnia prayers spaces, year 6 transition sessions, well-being groups, parent evenings and the various fayre’s and school productions.
Glenvale Church of England School continues to grow and it is anticipated it will take around 10 years for it to be fully open. I am now part of the governing body which is now called The Schools Forum and has quite a different role.
Revd. DA.
- Youth Ministry
Sunday Mornings
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 do not have enough leaders to run Sunday youth on third Sundays in the month and have been seeking to use 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 washing up). The new church Youth Band have now led musical worship at several café services – they’re doing really well and it will be exciting to see them continue to grow as worshippers of God! We’ll continue to explore other serving opportunities for the young people and are open to ideas church members might have.
Since September 2025, Sunday Youth has split into two groups – one for years 6 and 7, and one for years 8 and above. We are really grateful to all those in the church who have stepped up to lead and help with these groups, and things seem to be going well generally. However, due to Jasmin Childs being without a car and currently unable to get to church on Sundays, there is a pressing need for helpers once a month for both the year 6/7 and year 8+ groups.
The number of young people attending on Sunday mornings varies from week to week. When all the young people are there, we now have around 18 young people on a Sunday morning. That’s really fantastic news!
Connect Youth
Connect Youth is our discipleship group, which meets fortnightly on Sunday afternoons. Ben, Livvi, Dawn and Chiaz lead this group. We begin with a game and snacks, then have a time of worship, Bible teaching/discussion and prayer.
So far this school year, 18 young people have attended the group, with an average attendance of 10, although we’ve had to cancel a couple of sessions recently due to low numbers being available. We hope these have just been anomalies and that there will be a consistent run of well-attended sessions this term. Most of the young people are connected with church, though we have started to see them invite friends from outside the group too. Our prayer is that they would all continue to build friendships and explore faith in Jesus together.
For the last couple of terms, we have been following a series on Christian Lifestyle using the church’s Energize resource and have run sessions on holiness, contentment and resilience, amongst other topics. We continue to hold half-termly social sessions, which have been really good ways of deepening friendships among the young people. This is especially important, as they attend lots of different schools and may not see each other much during the week.
Other
Unfortunately, with Livvi and I completing our curacies this year and no parents able to attend in our place, there won’t be an organized group from Connect Youth attending the Satellites youth festival in Summer 2026.
Please pray for the following:
- For all the young people connected with NWAC to be increasingly aware of Jesus’ presence with them.
- Give thanks for those who faithfully support the church youth work activities, and pray for the development of more leaders with a heart and calling to serve young people.
- For the young people in the group whose families are on the fringe of church and/or aren’t yet followers of Jesus – that the light of Jesus might grow brighter in their lives and that they might lead their families to faith in Him.
- Give thanks for the musical talents of the Youth Band, and pray that the young people involved would grow as worshippers of God and develop their confidence in leading others in worship.
- For those young people who are working towards significant school exams this year – that they would know God’s peace that passes all understanding, and that they would bring glory to God through their studies.
Revd. BH-S
No decisions needed from PCC at this time.
Appendix 3 – update on Key priority 3: Wholeness in Jesus/ Wellbeing
- Bereavement Support Group
We continue to have our bereavement Facebook group which has 87 people part of it. It would be a wonderful opportunity for someone with the passion and skills in this area to really grow this ministry.
- Care
We’ve moved away from the language of pastoral care and more towards Christian friendship which I think has been helpful. The main way of supporting one another continues to be via Connect Groups. There is recognition that many families (in particular) have not made their way into Connect Groups and the PCC are currently thinking about this. There is also a desire from the PCC that as a church we think about what it means to be part of a loving community and how we do this better.
- Creations Craft Group
Nothing this time.
Revd. DA
- Prayer
On 2nd Feb we will be briefing PCC members on good practices in praying with and for people during services so that they can assist present prayer ministry members.
This is very welcome as the few who are doing it week in/week out are usually also performing other duties such as refreshments, worship leading, service leading, preaching etc.
We have decided to create a WhatsApp group for the Prayer Chain to make responses faster and more accessible than email. We can also share prayer pointers and helpful information and support each other more easily.
Where possible I will still send emails for those who prefer it.
As usual, many thanks to all who give their time to this ministry area.
Jackie Brooks-Cheesman
No decisions needed from PCC at this time.
Appendix 4 – Finance Report –
Appendix 5 – Parish Update
We continue to see new people dipping their toes in with us and now some are beginning to put their all in with us and really become part of the church community.
There are a couple of things I’m still working on to resolve:
- Signage outside the school building
Access to Wi-Fi and moving the printer to the parish office when Wi-Fi is resolved
- Continue sorting out the parish office area
Redwell School would like to be able to use the shed that we left there when we moved. I have offered to take all the stuff out in Feb half term and would like the church to gift the shed to Redwell School for their continued use. We had initially kept it as we planned on continuing to run groups from the school but that hasn’t been possible. It does now make sense to completely vacate it.
Revd. DA
Decision for the PCC:
To agree to gift the shed at Redwell School to them for their continued use.
Appendix 6 – Safeguarding Report
In the last report, I said that all members of the PCC and all children’s workers are now expected to do the course on ‘Raising Awareness of Domestic Abuse’. 11 people have now done it, which is up from 7 in November. I have sent out a reminder email about it. We have also had an offer from the Deanery Safeguarding Hub Co-ordinator to come and talk to the PCC about safeguarding requirements and/or organise some face-to-face training on Domestic Abuse. What does the PCC think about this?
One DBS has been processed. One person has done the Basic Awareness training and one has done the Foundations training.
John Gilyead – safeguarding Officer
Decision for the PCC:
Should John arrange face to face training on Domestic Abuse for PCC members?
Appendix 7 – Deanery Synod Report
We currently do not have a Deanery Synod rep.
Appendix 8 – New signage
