The Parish of Kildwick, Cononley and Bradley
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The Parish of Kildwick, Cononley and Bradley Annual Report for the Parish of Kildwick, Cononley and Bradley, prepared for the Annual Parochial Church Meeting to be held on Wednesday 11th November 2020 Reference and Administrative Information The Parish of Kildwick, Cononley and Bradley (commonly referred to as KCB) came into being on 1st September, 2019. It was formed from two parishes: St John’s, Cononley and St Mary’s, Bradley, together with St Andrew’s, Kildwick. In addition, St John’s, Cononley is part of a Local Ecumenical Partnership with the Methodist Church. Revd Julie Bacon had been the Interim Priest in charge of both parishes and she became Interim Incumbent of the new parish. The parish is part of the Bradford Episcopal Area of the Diocese of Leeds within the Church of England. The correspondence address for correspondence from banks, utilities and insurance bodies is currently 15 Walker Close, Glusburn, Keighley BD20 8PW. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure and is exempted from registering with the Charity Commission. Members of the PCC are either ex-officio, elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (the APCM) and holding office for up to three years, or co-opted by the PCC for one year. Members of the Deanery Synod are ex-officio members of the PCC, holding office for three years; they are also elected by the APCM. Members of the Diocesan Synod are also ex-officio members of the PCC. PCC members who have served from 1st September 2019 until 11th November 2020 are: Churchwardens: Robert Hall Joan E McCartney (Two vacancies) Deanery Synod Representatives: Shirley Hoskins Andrew Symonds Janet Wade Christopher Wright Elected Members: Lois Brown Tim Chapman Janet Clifford Lesley Cooke Jane Hall Anne Hunt Geraldine Sands Jill Wright There are currently no members co-opted to the Council. Structure, governance and management The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. All Church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and to stand for election to the PCC. The PCC operates through a Standing Committee, together with five Teams which would normally meet between full meetings of the Council and bring ideas and proposals to the PCC. Members of the Standing Committee have been the Incumbent, the Churchwardens, Mrs Jane Hall, Mrs Jill Wright (PCC Secretary) and Mrs Janet Wade (PCC Treasurer). This Committee is required by law and has the power to transact the business of the PCC between its meetings, subject to any directions that may be given from time to time by the PCC. The Standing Committee also acts as the Finance Committee for the PCC. In addition to these responsibilities, the PCC has complied with its duty to have regard to the House of Bishops’ Guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. Mrs Geraldine Sands was appointed as the Parish Safeguarding Officer, following the retirement of Mrs Kathryn Morris from the role. The PCC adopted the Diocesan Safeguarding Policy. The five Teams established at the outset were the Church Wardens’ Team, the Treasury Team, the Buildings and Land Team, the Pastoral and Outreach Team and the Worship Team. Draft Terms of Reference and Operating Guidelines were introduced to the parish at an open meeting and subsequently adopted by PCC. They were to be reviewed in six months’ time. A key tenet of their operation is that they are populated not only by PCC members, but just as importantly by local people and people with an interest and appropriate skill set. Team members do not need to be church members. The Teams are accountable to the PCC and a member of the PCC would act as liaison between the two bodies. The Teams have begun to work, though obviously the pandemic has severely curtailed their operation. 2 The PCC’s objectives include the monitoring of all parish activities and during the period from 1st September 2019 to present, it has continued to fulfil this requirement. As well as responsibility for the maintenance of the church buildings of St Andrew, St John and St Mary, the PCC also has responsibility for the Parish Rooms and the Hearse House at Kildwick. Electoral Roll After the amalgamation of the Electoral Rolls for the two previous parishes, there are now 96 named parishioners on the Electoral Roll for the parish of Kildwick, Cononley and Bradley. This means we are allowed three representatives on the South Craven and Wharfedale Deanery Synod. Elections to Deanery Synods are to be held this year, with representatives serving for a period of three years. Review of Activity from 1st September 2019 to 11th November 2020 The PCC has met nine times thus far, with an average attendance of almost 12. The first three of those meetings were held in person and the latter six remotely, using the “Zoom” platform. Much of the work of the PCC during the first three meetings was centred on getting the governance and the day-to-day running of the work of the new parish into order. The lockdown which began on 23rd March, together with all its implications and its subsequent restrictions, has meant that that work has been given a very different focus. Initially, attention centred on the pastoral care of the congregations and on maintaining good systems of oversight and communication with our communities. Very quickly, the Incumbent began sharing Morning and Evening Prayer (by means of Facebook) with a wider congregation and this was clearly appreciated. As restrictions were gradually lifted and we were slowly able to begin to open our buildings, firstly for private prayer and then for worship, a lot of time was spent on the logistics of making them Covid secure. A new service pattern was planned, which interestingly meant an increase in non- Eucharistic worship which was led by lay members. One other major topic of discussion, thought and prayer has been the direction of future ministry with the KCB parish. The Incumbent’s three year Interim Licence is due to finish in mid-November 2020. Clearly, one effect of the pandemic has been to disrupt and bring almost to a complete halt any progress on the Five Interim Objectives. PCC has signified its agreement to an extension of the Licence for a further year and we await the final decision of the Bishop in this matter. PCC has voiced its very firm belief that any future Incumbent must be housed in the parish. To enable work to continue on the joining together of the three congregations, Revd Julie Bacon produced a detailed Summary Report of progress thus far and proposed next steps for the final three months of 2020. 3 Naturally, the restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic have affected the work of the Council. Work on the fabric of the buildings has continued. The reordering of Cononley St John’s building was completed with the purchase of chairs. The next stage is to implement a Mission Plan to enable full use to be made of a warm, welcoming and adaptable space. Work on a water pipe in the grounds to improve water pressure was successfully completed. Bradley St Mary’s stained glass windows are in process of being repaired and the grounds at the front of the church have been adapted for easier maintenance. The work of the Kildwick Repair and Renovation Group has continued slowly. Possible sources of funding for various projects are being explored, in particular for a Scoping Project to identify a way forward and the possible appointment of a Project Manager. Major work has been undertaken in the Parish Rooms to bring them up to standard for use by Kildwick CofE School’s Out of School Club. In spite of all that has been thrown at the PCC since its inception, it is clear that there is a lively Christian presence in the parish. Much of Jesus’ command to “love God and your neighbour as yourself” has been continued quietly and steadfastly in the communities which form the parish of Kildwick, Cononley and Bradley. May it continue to be so. Jill Wright PCC Secretary ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Electoral Roll Report October 2020 The combined Electoral Roll for the KCB parishes currently stands at 96. Of these 48 members are from St Andrew’s, 32 members from St John’s and 16 members from St Mary’s. Of these 50 are resident in the Parish and 36 are non-resident Christine Anderton Electoral Roll Officer 4 Deanery Synod report April 2019 – October 2020 This is the first Synod report since April 2019. As the Deanery has been unaffected by the formation of the KCB parish, it seems sense to report from April 2019. The South Craven and Wharfedale Deanery Synod is formed from the parishes that stretch from Cowling and Lothersdale in the west to Menston and Ben Rhydding in the east. Our Area Dean is the Revd Philip Gray of St Margaret’s, Ilkley. Our lay representatives, initially for the two parishes and then for the single parish of “KCB” are Mrs Janet Wade, Mrs Shirley Hoskins, Mr Andrew Symonds and Mr Chris Wright. The Synod has met physically twice since our last APCM – and via Zoom a further three times. On 30th April 2019 we met in Christ Church, Lothersdale where, unfortunately, the high pollen count from the flower arrangements caused one of our representatives to leave early. Mrs. Sharon Bavington the Bradford Episcopal Area Ministry & Lay Training Officer presented a talk entitled “Helping our churches flourish”. Following discussion, we heard a presentation about the Otley Resource Centre which was led by Lizzie Reynolds and Revd Peter Willox.