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 March 2021 by ‘Zoom’

Helen Pilling in the chair. Meeting followed the Section 12 meeting.

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

Apologies: B Harrison

Minutes of the last meeting: Unanimously agreed.

Matters Arising: There were no matters arising.

Review of Suspension of Corporate Worship

A proposal by the Churchwardens, outlining recommendations and rationale for lifting the suspension in order to allow corporate worship to recommence on Easter Day had been circulated before the meeting.  Alison Stretton reiterated the following points to the PCC:

  • The Covid infection rate is declining rapidly
  • Many of our congregation have now received at least their first vaccination, including members of the clergy and helpers
  • The restrictions on travel will be eased on 29th March – although we do know that some members of our congregation have been travelling to other churches which defeats one of the purposes of our original suspension
  • Our Covid protocols are some of the strongest we know of and we will increase them by reducing the number of communicants at a time from five to three per side
  • Most other churches in the area have taken the decision to reopen on Easter Day including All Saints’, St John’s, Sacred Heart, Christchurch, Ben Rhydding Methodists, St Augustin’s Draughton, Holy Trinity Skipton
  • We now have a list of at least a dozen members of the congregation prepared to help on a stewards’ rota

Alison made it clear that we would not want anyone to feel under pressure to attend and that we each need to make our own decisions based on our individual circumstances.  She also stressed that we must bear in mind the situation could well change again, for example in view of the increasing infection rates in Europe, and restrictions/suspensions may need to be re-applied in the future.

Helen Pilling asked for a show of hands in response to the proposal: 19 were in favour, 0 voted against and 1 abstained.  St Margaret’s will therefore open on Easter Sunday for worship.  Bishop Toby has kindly offered to preside.

Staff Pay Review

John McGhee made recommendations to the PCC, which were unanimously accepted.

Church Facilities and Hall Committee (CFHC)

A proposed Terms of Reference document for the newly established CFHC had been prepared by John McGhee and circulated in advance of the meeting.  This was unanimously approved by the PCC.

John will meet with a member of the congregation who has volunteered to Chair the new committee to discuss the role and the terms of reference.   An update will be given at the next meeting. 

John will also speak with the members of the former separate Church Facilities Committee and Hall Committee to establish if they are happy to continue, following their amalgamation. Catherine Gibson and Judith Smith confirmed that they were happy to remain on the committee.

Helen Pilling thanked John for ‘holding the fort’ on the committees, following the sad passing of David Chary and Steve Bett’s retirement.

The Brochure Group

Following the Section 12 Meeting, Helen Pilling will meet with Ros Beeson to share notes and incorporate the comments made to the Brochure.  It was noted that Ros and the Brochure Group had worked incredibly hard on this important piece of work, for which we are all very grateful.

Any Other Business

There was no other business.

ENDS