for MEETING OF PARISHIONERS and ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING Tuesday 22nd September 2020 8pm Christ Church Bedford w w w . c c b e d f o r d . o r g . i ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING Tuesday 22nd September 2020 at 8 pm In accordance with the Notices fixed to the Notice Boards, the Meeting of Parishioners for the purpose of appointing Churchwardens, and the Annual Parochial Church Meeting will be held in Christ Church, Bedford, on Tuesday 22nd September 2020 at 8 pm. Meeting of Parishioners A G E N D A 1. Apologies 2. Appointment of Churchwardens 3. Appointment of Assistant Churchwardens Annual Parochial Church Meeting A G E N D A 1. Apologies 2. Minutes of last Annual Parochial Church Meeting and Meeting of Parishioners 3. Election of 4 lay representatives to the Deanery Synod for 3 years. 4. Election of 4 lay representatives to the Parochial Church Council for 3 years and 1 lay representative for one year 5. To receive a copy of the revised Electoral Roll 6. To consider the Trustees 2019 Report and Accounts of the Parochial Church Council 7. Election of an Independent Examiner for the current financial year 8. Election of Reader(s) to the Parochial Church Council 9. To consider Reports of: the Deanery Synod the Halls Redevelopment Group the Mission Action Plan Review the Fabric, Goods and Ornaments of the Church, various Committees and Activities of the Church, 10. Results of elections to Deanery Synod 11. Results of elections to the Parochial Church Council 12. Consideration of any other business of Parochial or general church interest 13. Vicar’s Report 14. Closing Statements RICHARD HIBBERT Vicar ii CHRIST CHURCH BEDFORD Minutes of the MEETING OF PARISHIONERS and of the ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING held on Tuesday 27 March 2019 at 8pm in the Church Chairman: The Rev. Canon Richard Hibbert Meeting of Parishioners 1. Apologies Pat Allison, Steve Ashton, Christine Babbington, Ken and Pauline Barber, John and Fiona Betteley, Susan Bradley, Mhairi Brown, Barbara Burbidge, Ian and Penny Cooper, Sarah Cottenden, Pat Davies, Jon and Jane Day, Lesley and Nigel Greenslade, Michael, Decclan and Aimee Guynn, Martin Hamilton, Sandra Holes, Amy Hutchinson, Sherilyn Leck, Richard Lindley, Dan and Lizzie Payton, Min-Min Peaker, Stanley Pullinger, Christine Snape, Steve Welsh and Claire Broughton Welsh, Simon and Jo Wigg and Chris Worrall. 2. Appointment of Churchwardens Two nominations have been received: Kay Berrington and Andrew Turpie. There being no other nominations they were declared duly elected for the forthcoming year. Richard Hibbert thanked Andrew and Kay for their service and thanked their families for their support. 3. Appointment of Assistant Churchwardens Andrew Turpie thanked the following who have served as assistant wardens during the year: - Pauline Barber Margaret Baron Rachel Bennett Fiona Betteley Andrew Emmott John Evans Berty Jacob Sandra Mahaffey Sue Marshall Pat Mathias Sue Platt Keith Priddin Mike Seamarks Mary Shaw Margaret Tufnell Lucy Waters Steve Welsh Janet Williams Christine Worrall Andrew Emmott and Sue Platt are stepping down and Janet Williams sadly died in August. Janet served as warden on two occasions and served the church in so many ways. Andrew Turpie proposed that Sarah Hibbert, Julia Lawrence, Margaret Ryan and Dorothy Summerfield be approved to join the list of Assistant Wardens and that the other 16 be reappointed. David Currie seconded the proposal and the list was approved unanimously. Richard Hibbert expressed his thanks to those who have served and continue to serve and to those willing to serve in this way. Annual Parochial Church Meeting 1. Apologies Pat Allison, Steve Ashton, Christine Babbington, Ken and Pauline Barber, John and Fiona Betteley, Susan Bradley, Mhairi Brown, Barbara Burbidge, Ian and Penny Cooper, Sarah Cottenden, Pat Davies, Jon and Jane Day, Lesley and Nigel Greenslade, Michael, Decclan and Aimee Guynn, Martin Hamilton, Sandra Holes, Amy Hutchinson, Sherilyn Leck, Richard Lindley, Dan and Lizzie Payton, Min-Min Peaker, Stanley Pullinger, Christine Snape, Steve Welsh and Claire Broughton Welsh, Simon and Jo Wigg and Chris Worrall. 2. Minutes of last Annual Parochial Church Meeting and Meeting of Parishioners The minutes of the 2018 APCM, to be found on pages 3 to 9 of the APCM booklet, were approved and signed by the Chairman as an accurate record. 3. Election of 1 lay representative to the Deanery Synod for 1 year Min-Min Peaker has been elected to Diocesan Synod and so is automatically a member of Deanery Synod. There is therefore a vacancy for another Deanery Synod member from Christ Church. Steven Allin had been nominated and there being no other nominations was therefore declared duly elected. iii 4. Election of 4 lay representatives to the Parochial Church Council for 3 years Four nominations have been received: Jon Day, Margaret Haywood, Wendy Pegg and Helen Ryan. These four were therefore declared duly elected to serve on PCC for three years. 5. To receive a copy of the new Electoral Roll The Electoral Roll Secretary, Tracey Emmott, explained that 282 people had applied to be on the Electoral Roll, of whom 24% live in the parish. Tracey thanked Pauline Grimley for collating the figures and then proposed that the roll be received. Gillian Lindley seconded the proposal and it was passed. 6. To consider the Trustees 2018 Report and Accounts of the Parochial Church Council The Trustees Report is to be found on pages 10-20 of the APCM booklet. It was written by Pauline Grimley, Richard Lindley and Richard Hibbert to meet the requirements of the Charity Commission and is structured in their recommended format. It is necessary to show that we as a charity provide public benefit. It needs to be positive but to reflect the truth. Ruth Janes, Treasurer, explained the key elements of the accounts, which are to be found on pages 21- 37. This report is a legal requirement and our accounts have to be presented in a certain way. Richard Lindley, Chair of the Resourcing Impact Group, was thanked for producing the documentation in the required format, extracting the figures from our day to day accounts and for liaising with our Independent Examiner, Suzy Goodson. The accounts are also sent to the Diocesan Board of Finance. Page 21 shows a deficit in our unrestricted funds of £201 for 2018. The PCC had passed a deficit budget of 32k in November 2017, so to end the year with such a small deficit is an answer to prayer. The halls look as though they have a huge deficit of over £1 million but this is money that had come in, in previous years but was spent in 2018. Our restricted funds at year-end include money for the halls fit out which has been earmarked but not yet spent. Our general reserves show that we have enough to cover 2-3 months of expenditure. In addition, £100k of interest free loans have been obtained but they will have to be repaid. There has been a huge decrease in the amount of cash in hand as much has been converted into halls. Our income is itemised on page 34 (note 20). Most of our income comes from the congregation and much of what is given is eligible for Gift Aid. Rental income includes some from the church and then the halls from September. For things like social and youth events the money coming in is then spent on the event: we are not looking to generate a profit with events. More money came in than we expected and when our income increases, what we can give to others goes up (like our mission partners). One of the reasons our end of year deficit was so small was due to some one-off gifts and a spending freeze on non-essential expenditure. We are fully staffed which we want to continue; we want to pay our parish share in full, we want to maintain our halls, continue to serve the young and old, and provide fellowship, outreach, teaching etc. Paying our parish share benefits others not just ourselves e.g. smaller parishes. The PCC needs to consider our financial priorities and what we want to focus on. The budget for 2019 was discussed by RIG in October and presented to PCC in November 2018. We are hoping for an increase in income of about £10k but expenditure is expected to be about £39k more than our anticipated income and so again a deficit budget has been set. We trust God as we have done in the past for his provision. Ruth thanked Chris Worrall for her assistance counting and banking the cash and cheques each week, the wardens and assistant wardens for counting the collections at services, the treasurers of special events such as the seniors’ holiday and the resourcing Impact Group. All of these people make her role of Treasurer easier. iv There were a few questions and comments regarding the accounts. How is Parish Share calculated? The Diocese use a complicated formula, which includes things like the number on a church’s electoral roll. Why don’t the halls appear as an asset? The halls are built on consecrated ground, they are not a capital item and do not appear on our balance sheet. Is it wise to set a deficit budget? The PCC has often set a deficit budget in anticipation and prayer that our cost will be covered. We are aware that huge sums have been given towards the halls in the past 6 years. This year we need to pay off the balance on the halls. Our Independent Examiner has agreed to sign us off as a going concern for the next 12-months but this is on the understanding that we will hold a gift day this summer with the aim of raising the final sum of money.