THE PARISH CHURCH OF ILKLEY ST MARGARET

Minutes of the meeting of the Parochial Church Council of St Margaret's, Ilkley held on

Tuesday 23 February by ‘Zoom’

Helen Pilling in the chair. The meeting started immediately after the Section 11 Meeting.

Present: C Beaumont, R Beeson, H Buswell, C Cheater, C Gibson, B Harrison, G Hartley, J McGhee, H Pilling, C Ramage, D Shaw, R Smeaton, J Smith, M Still, V Smith, A Stretton, C Webster, S Williams, T Williams, A Wilson

Apologies: T Warnes

Minutes of the last meeting: Unanimously agreed.

Matters Arising: There were no matters arising.

Safeguarding Report

A new Safeguarding action plan which has been introduced by the Diocese had been circulated to the PCC prior to the meeting.  Catherine Beaumont explained that this will require PCC approval at the next meeting.  In addition, all church activities involving children and vulnerable adults are to be authorised by the PCC. The following list of St Margaret’s activities was therefore read out to the PCC:

  • Cant & Dec
  • Chaplaincy in care homes
  • Choral and organ scholars
  • Confirmation classes
  • Family service
  • Home communion
  • School assemblies
  • Open the book
  • Playtime
  • Revelation and relaxation
  • SMS
  • Sunday school

Helen Pilling proposed their authorisation, this was seconded by Alison Stretton, and unanimously approved by the PCC.

There remain two PCC members who have yet to complete their DBS checks; this must be done before the Section 12 meeting. 

Finance – PCC Approval of Annual Accounts

The Year-End Accounts had been circulated prior to the meeting.  They have been approved by our Independent Examiner, Joanne Lake, with no amendments or queries.  Val Smith proposed their approval, this was seconded by Gwyneth Hartley, and unanimously approved.

APCM

Catherine Webster noted that the date of the APCM has been set for Tuesday 20 April at 7.30pm and will take place by Zoom.  She will shortly be requesting reports from the various committees. 

There will be the following vacancies:

2 x Churchwardens, 2 x Deanery Synod Representatives, 3 x PCC members. 

John McGhee confirmed that he will re-stand for election on to the PCC and will serve one more year as Treasurer.

Catherine Webster reminded the PCC that she is retiring as PCC Secretary in April, having served six consecutive years in the role.

Recommencement of Corporate Worship

The churchwardens proposed several health and safety mitigations and plans, with a view to re-opening church on 21 March for corporate worship for Sunday Services, Midweek Morning Prayer, Holy Week and Family Services.  However, with the exception of two members of the PCC who were in favour of re-opening, this was met with strong opposition by the rest of the PCC who wished to continue the suspension of all corporate worship until the easing of government restrictions on use of indoor spaces due in mid-April.

The following resolution was therefore put to the PCC:

“The churchwardens and the parochial church council of Ilkley St Margaret acting jointly authorise dispensing with the reading of Morning and Evening Prayer as required by Canon B 11 and the celebration of the Holy Communion as required by Canon B 14 on the following occasions:

21st and 28th February; 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th March; and 4th and 11th April 2021.

“The reason for the dispensation is that in the light of the Government’s guidance on preventing the spread of Coronavirus, there is no church in the benefice which can be used safely for public worship on those occasions.

“It is hoped that it will be possible to reopen the church for Sunday Worship on 18th April 2021.

The decision will be reviewed by the PCC at the meeting on 23rd March 2021.”

18 voted in favour of the proposal, there was 1 vote against and 1 abstention. Alison Stretton will notify Bishop Toby, Archdeacon Andy Jolley and Mike Coe of the decision.

The following ideas were then discussed and agreed:

  • The wardens and readers will look into the possibility of offering a Midweek Morning Prayer session by Zoom. 
  • Catherine Beaumont will make some suggestions at the next PCC meeting around how we might be able to support the Family Service congregation.
  • The church opening times for Private Prayer will be extended on Good Friday to 9.30am-3.30pm, and church will be open for Private Prayer on Easter Sunday 9.30am – 12.30pm. 

Brochure Group Update

Ros Beeson noted that the Group started work on 10th February.  By the end of this week they will hopefully have produced a third draft, which should be ready to send to the PCC.  Helen Pilling thanked Ros and the rest of the Brochure Group for their work.

Wardens’ Items

Helen Buswell noted that the wardens would like to send an Easter card to everyone on our Parish List which will show people that we are thinking of them and to try and keep everyone together, at a cost of c.£150.  The PCC agreed that the Wardens should proceed.

Parking

John McGhee has been in touch with Councillor Kyle Green to complain about new parking restrictions outside St Margaret’s.  The double yellow lines on both sides of the road have been extended directly outside church, to make it easier for buses to turn out of Princess Road, and thus reducing our parking space.  Councillor Green has been in touch with the Council on our behalf who informed him that the required notice had been given with notices placed on the lamp posts near church and in the newspaper.  Councillor Green said he would fight this on our behalf but will need the support of our congregation who should write to him at kyle.green@bradford.gov.uk with their objections.  John will also highlight this in the newsletter.

PCC Sub-Committees Vacancies

  • Chairs of Church Facilities Committee (CFC) and Hall Committee

John McGhee proposed to the PCC that these are amalgamated together to make one committee as there is a great deal of overlap between the two in terms of maintenance and buildings’ upkeep.  The church is in great shape, a new boiler has recently been installed, Alan Raw has done extensive maintenance work during the lockdown period, and both he and Vickie Kemp do brilliant jobs as caretaker and hall bookings administrator, respectively.  The proposal was seconded by Judith Smith, and unanimously agreed.

John explained that he has been holding the fort on these two committees and explained that the PCC is in urgent need of a Chairman to now take this on, together with other volunteers.  Helen Pilling asked if anyone on the PCC would like to help – there were no volunteers.  John has drafted a job specification for the role and will circulate this to the PCC.   He will also include some information about this in the news sheet.

  • Communications Group

Helen Pilling asked if anybody would like to Chair and form a new Communications Group.  They would look after such matters as our social media, website and newsletter, working closely with the new incumbent.  Catherine Cheater said she would be happy to take on this role, having previously worked on the website and having started St Margaret’s Facebook page.  The PCC is very grateful to Catherine for this kind offer.  She will now think about who might like to join her on the new group.

Website

The upgraded church website and mobile app went live on Monday 22nd February, following a guided tour given by Steve Betts, Vickie Kemp and Bev Plaxton, to which the PCC were invited.  Helen Pilling asked everybody on the PCC to look at the website and to feedback comments to Steve, Vickie or Bev.

Any Other Business

There was no other business.

ENDS