Annual Report 2023
THE PARISH OFHOLY TRINITY MINCHINHAMPTONwithST BARNABAS BOX
ANNUAL REPORTSFROMCHURCH COMMITTEESANDORGANISATIONSMAY 2022 – APRIL 2023RECTOR’S REPORT – Revd Canon Howard GilbertIn the last 12 months we have been seeing more and more of our pre-lockdown activities coming back, as well as more new projects coming online. We certainly live in interesting times. Our vision is to offer something to people of every generation, and to people of every stage of faith. This is partly born of our being a people who have two commandments (love God and love our neighbour as ourselves) and a commission (to make disciples of the nations). This was also born of our need to address the challenge of our ageing congregation. This is hard work, and we are proud of what we have achieved so far, not least through our partnerships in the benefice and through Churches Together. A great deal of this work has been maximising the opportunities God has brought our way. One measure of the health of a congregation is, I think, if new people are joining our number, and we are really delighted that we have welcomed a number of new members to God’s church here, and our Junior Choir has now spawned a Youth Choir. Challenges that continue to face us are:
Our staff team has been maturing, with Coral (our curate) taking on responsibility for Box church, and Tracey (on long term pastoral placement from theological college) is about to be ordained and will continue to work with us in the role of a curate. Part of our strength as a church stems from our retired clergy, both in wisdom, but also in the hard work of delivering ministry in a new and very challenging generation. We have been covering for the vacancy in Avening and Cherington for some time, and we are just starting to cover the vacancy in Amberley as well. There cannot be many churches in the diocese that have such strength in clergy. Looking to the coming year, we will be hoping to:
Over many generations we have built fabulously strong foundations. Now we are beginning both to rely on those foundations in challenging times, but also to build the church of the future in a way that could not be without those foundations. The Revd Canon Howard Gilbert Rector
STATUTORY REPORTS
ELECTORAL ROLL – Jackie Natt, Electoral Roll OfficerThe Church Electoral Roll is our parish church’s register of electors. It is the list of those qualified to attend and vote at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM). The APCM is where the elections take place for the PCC (Parochial Church Council) and the parish’s representatives on the Deanery Synod. By enrolling, you become a voting member of the Church of England and so help ensure that all the church councils are fully representative of its members. We are now at a total of 217 people. This is exactly the same number as 12 months ago …however, since April 2022, 6 people have sadly died and have been deleted off the register. So, as the number has kept steady, this means that we have had a growth of 6 new people . This is only a 2.6% growth …but it is a growth!! This is good news as over the past 3 years (and during Covid) our numbers were dropping significantly. If you are not on the ER and would like to be a member, please use the application form at the back of the porch room. Once completed, the forms can be left in my pigeon hole in church under ‘N’. We take GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) very seriously and the only people with access to the ER are myself (as ER officer) and the clergy Thank you.
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL – Margaret Sheather, Honorary SecretaryAt the APCM Angie Ayling and Caroline Thackray were re-elected as Churchwardens and William Reddaway was elected to the PCC. At its first full meeting the PCC co-opted John Jutsum to continue as Honorary Treasurer. Margaret Sheather and Jackie Natt continued as Honorary Secretary and Electoral Roll Officer respectively. There were four members of Deanery Synod. The Synod brings together all the clergy and representatives of the laity from across the Stroud area. It provides a forum for sharing ideas (or problems!), hearing about developments across the diocese and is a channel of communication through from the parishes to the leadership of the diocese. It elects representatives onto the Diocesan Synod and onto the General Synod. Our representatives have been Alison Wood, Jackie Natt, Julian Elloway, and Margaret Sheather as our representatives. The Parochial Church Council has met ten times during the past year with all meetings this year able to be held in person with the exception of an extra meeting held in August by correspondence to agree the response to a theft of lead from the church. It has a total membership of 15, of whom 9 are ex officio (clergy, reader, wardens and deanery synod representatives). Average attendance was 12. Ministry in the Parish was carried out by Revd Canon Howard Gilbert as Rector and Revd Coral Francis as curate. Linda Jarvis has continued as Reader and Tracey Clements, as an ordinand, has taken an increasing role. They were also supported by a number of retired priests. PCC meetings covered a wide variety of issues which were thoroughly discussed.
The Treasurer provided quarterly finance reports and at the meeting held on 21st March he presented the year end accounts which were agreed. Regular reports were also made on safeguarding and Deanery Synod. Warm thanks are due to Joan Goldsmith, Ian Jarvis and Tracey Clements whose terms of office end this year. Further detail of the parish’s activities can be found in the reports from Committees and Organisations later in this report. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS – John Jutsum, Honorary TreasurerThese are provided in a separate report. FABRIC REPORT –Angie Ayling and Caroline Thackray, Church Wardens6Ps progress Organ restoration project Work by the Organ Restoration Project Group has continued with growing success. By the end of October, £156,685 had been raised from a variety of sources including a successful sponsorship scheme. At the end of the year, actual and pledged funds had significantly increased to £172,785.35. Our fund-raising target has thus reduced to just under £60,000k. This has given us sufficient confidence to sign the contract and thus ‘fix’ the overall cost of the project. The 6Ps fund-raising Group has been revived (suspended during the covid pandemic), and there are a number of fundraising activities planned for the months ahead. Progress overall is really encouraging, but we continue to work to keep up momentum and meet the target. Please contact Leonora Rozee or one of the church wardens if you are able to help. The restoration work is due to start in June, with the organ being removed from church in September and is due to be reinstated towards the end of September 2024. In the meantime, the piano will be used instead. A celebration will be planned for its re-installation. Windows There is some good advice in the commissioned reports (April 2021 and August 2022) from specialist glazier, Dan Humphries. The Hardman windows in the chancel are in need of attention, but he recommends some further environmental monitoring before proposals for treatment are finalised. The glazing in the rose window in the south transept needs conservation, and the QQ architect advises the need for masonry repair as part of this programme of work. It would also provide a good moment to conserve and re-present the medieval tomb/monument to John Ansley and his wife, Lucy. We will continue research and planning for this project as advised by the specialist advisers, which is timed to follow on from the completion of the organ restoration. Other fabric issues Porch room kitchen – problem with damp again Last July the masonry lintel above the window was repaired to prevent damage from rain leakage. Unfortunately, this seems to have failed and again, we have a damp problem in the same place. Nick Miles (builder) has been informed and we await his decision on what action to follow. Live streaming The faculty for work to upgrade the sound system and provide for live streaming was finally granted in April 2022, when our updated GDPR policy for ‘live streaming’ and ‘privacy’ was approved. DM Music spent a week in June installing the new equipment, and returned in October to complete it. This has provided a greatly improved and easier to use system and we have successfully (with an occasional ‘blip’) been broadcasting certain services and events since then. During the installation work, to enable access to the cabling ducts, it was necessary to have some of the paving stones lifted. To make this easier and less expensive for the future, stone access panels are to be fitted in the stone floor inside the sacristy and choir vestry. Electrical inspection The regular (3-4 yearly) Electrical installation condition assessment took place in July. Unfortunately, it reported a number of issues to be resolved before a satisfactory certificate can be given. The more urgent of these have been prioritised (with professional advice) and a work schedule and quotation approved by PCC. The remedial works are about to take place (Feb 2023). Quinquennial review The quinquennial review by the architect, Anthony Feltham-King, took place in August. It produced a full and very helpful report. This mostly reflected that the church fabric is ‘generally in very good condition’, but not surprisingly, flagged up the need for the electrical remediation work as a priority for action. He stressed the need for particular vigilance on maintaining clear gutters and removal of vegetation where it appears, on stonework; this was already planned as a regular task and took place in October. He noted and approved work to date on the planned major projects of the organ restoration to be followed by the windows project. Lead flashing theft from porch room roof In early August, all the lead flashings were stolen at night from the porch room roof, leaving these roof areas vulnerable to water ingress. With advice from the architect and builder, we sought and were given diocesan consent to replace the stolen lead with an alternative, approved material (tern-coated steel) to avoid repeated theft. This was achieved during September and a successful insurance claim promptly presented. Eco Church Group This group has been formed to help us begin and progress the task of moving towards the Church of England goal of achieving Net Zero carbon emissions. The PCC has made a formal commitment towards improving the environmental credentials of the church, starting with working towards a Bronze level award. Churchyard Group This small group arose from a desire to make more of our beautiful churchyard and improve its environmental and wildlife as part of its regular management. More detail is given below. Welcome Group A small group focused on creating improved presentation of the church, explaining its liturgy, mission and ministry, and history. A work in progress!! Warm Spaces We have joined the wider ‘warm spaces’ Minchinhampton network, inviting anyone to come into church on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy the warmth, security and companionship. It is well supported and we hope that it offers sanctuary from a chilly winter and high energy bills. Visiting sculpture – by Peter Barnes During the summer and until the end of November, we were fortunate to be able to host an unusual and extraordinary contemporary sculpture of ‘The Last Supper’. Installed temporarily in the Lady Chapel, it attracted a good deal of interest and visitors, many of whom became regular callers. Our dedicated visitors’ book soon began to fill up, with some lovely comments made. The statue was only with us for a few months and then moved on to Cirencester, St John’s – its next port of call, where it also seemed to be much cherished. The Churchyard The churchyard has undergone a positive transformation over the past year with the appointment of Steve Bennett to carry out the mowing and the development of a committee to carry out some strategic planning and put this into action. A plan has now been developed for the mowing of specific areas; Steve has a range of machines to cope with the different needs of each area. Two churchyard clearing days were held (spring and autumn) with a number of volunteers coming along to help (and one of these volunteers now regularly strims the cremation area). Huge thanks are due to Gerald South for all his work on this. The lime tree avenue was pollarded in the autumn – a task which was long overdue; more work is needed to some trees to address health and safety issues as well as manage the trees themselves. A car crashing into the wall by the lychgate in the early autumn necessitated applications for listed building and faculty consent before it could be repaired; it was therefore lying in pieces for many weeks. A faculty application is now in for the installation of bicycle bars to enable cyclists to be able to secure their bikes; listed building consent was not required for this. Three information boards have been erected to explain very clearly what is and is not permitted on and around the graves; the next step here is to contact families where graves continue to contravene the rules and ask them to remove the offending items. The flagpole was repaired before Christmas with the cost being paid part by a generous donation from a member of the congregation and part by the Parish Council. Thanks to David Goldsmith for arranging this. Our volunteers This report reflects a fraction of the work that is willingly undertaken on a regular basis by our church members. Thank you for all your support.
DEANERY SYNOD – Synod RepresentativesStroud Deanery Synod continued to meet three times a year in May, October and February. The Deanery Strategic Plan has been a theme throughout the year as we continue to work on how parishes and benefices across the Deanery can work well together to have mutually flourishing and sustainable worshipping communities and resource clergy and laity for ministry. As in our own parish, many congregations have a mixture of concerns about number and age but also encouraging new developments. The next stage is for the plan in its current shape to be presented to PCCs across the Deanery, so watch this space! In October there was also a focus on Living in Love and Faith as the report summarising the outcome of the consultation was published. In February, the speaker was Revd Jo Wetherall, Diocesan Growing Faith and Spirituality Officer gave a thought-provoking presentation on inter-generational worship and community engagement. Throughout the period, finance and the parish share continued to be a subject of concern. Parishes committed to £612,000 in 2022 as compared to the £786,000 requested by the Diocesan Board of Finance and, although there has been no percentage increase in the request for 2023, there is likely to be a similar shortfall. It is recognised and appreciated at both Diocesan and Deanery level that parishes work hard to contribute what they can, but the Diocesan deficit cannot continue indefinitely. Agendas, minutes and supporting documents are publicly available at http://www.stroud-deanery.org.uk/docs.html . The current Deanery Synod representatives are Julian Elloway, Alison Wood, Jackie Natt and Margaret Sheather but their terms of office end this year and lay members are elected or re-elected this year so do consider whether you can contribute in this way. COMMITTEE AND ORGANISATION REPORTSST BARNABAS CHURCH, BOX – Revd Coral FrancisAnn Morris continues to preside and preach on the first Sunday of the month, and Gerald South and I have worked together to help look after the other services in Box since September 2022. Gerald has been regularly attending the Friday coffee morning and the Box Bar evenings in the Village Hall and I have been getting to know people whilst rehearsing with the Box Players for the pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk. As well as the usual Sunday morning services we have had a variety of special services including a baptism and a memorial service following a funeral. In September we celebrated harvest with a bring-and-share brunch after the Harvest service and donations of produce went to the Foodbank. In October we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the dedication of the church building with a special Songs of Praise service, with members of the community sharing something about their favourite hymns. Vera, one of the members of the congregation, was especially pleased to be there, as she remembered attending the dedication service! In Advent Mary and Joseph (and their donkey) greatly enjoyed their journey around Box homes and would like to thank all those who gave them rest and shelter. From their diary, which is still in the church, we can see that they had a lovely time meeting people in Box and their visit encouraged some marvellous artwork from some of their host. Their journey ended as they arrived at the Crib and Carol service on Christmas Eve, an event which filled the church with villagers celebrating the Christmas message. All possible seating spaces were used in the church, including the balcony – and some even stood during the whole service! With thanks to the Box Committee for their support. WORSHIP, PRAYER AND SPIRITUALITY COMMITTEE – Margaret Sheather, ChairThe Committee has continued its regular work throughout the year to ensure that worship and related activities are well-planned and communicated. We also look back particularly on major festivals and other significant occasions to see what can be learnt about how to improve them in future. The prayer group has continued to meet and, in addition to the main prayer resources in the Lady Chapel, we have had prayer stations specifically for the war in Ukraine and the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria. STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE – Tim Mowat, Chair
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|
Summary of Financial Activity 2017-2022 |
|||||
|
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
|
£ |
£ |
£ |
£ |
£ |
£ |
Sales of Traidcraft products, raffles, donations and coffee mornings |
3,645.40 |
3241.78 |
3,823.25 |
3,597.93 |
4,997.09 |
7,113.57 |
Cost of goods sold = Goods purchased PLUS stock brought forward LESS stock in hand at year end |
£ 3,410.67 |
2867.79 |
3,461.05 |
3,287.08 |
4,377.08 |
4,993.97 |
SURPLUS on year's trading |
234.73 |
373.99 |
362.20 |
310.85 |
620.01 |
2,119.60 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Add cash and goods brought forward |
936.65 |
1112.66 |
1,250.46 |
1,439.61 |
1,619.60 |
|
Less Donation to Traidcraft Exchange |
|
550.00 |
500.00 |
500.00 |
800.00 |
500.00 |
Balance carried forward |
1,171.38 |
936.65 |
1,112.66 |
1,250.46 |
1,439.61 |
1,619.60 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash Floats |
25.00 |
25.00 |
45.00 |
45.00 |
45.00 |
115.00 |
Bank balance |
946.38 |
711.65 |
917.66 |
605.46 |
794.61 |
308.96 |
Approximate value of unsold stock at end of year |
200 |
200.00 |
150.00 |
600.00 |
600.00 |
1,195.64 |
|
1,171.38 |
936.65 |
1,112.66 |
1,250.46 |
1,439.61 |
1,619.60 |
MASASI GROUP – Stephen Jarvis
In 2022 our link with the Diocese of Masasi in Tanzania enjoyed some key moments.
Our Friday lunches have continued, which are proving popular, (see separate listing below).
A Masasi day in Minchinhampton was held during a visit by Bishop James, and his wife Veronica.
We were able to pay £2450, for our share of the Bee Keeping project in Rondo, a joint project with The Friends of Masasi and Newala.
In August, Bishop James, and his wife Veronica, spent the weekend with us, after the Lambeth Conference. It gave them the opportunity to meet with supporters from around the area here on the Saturday at a Masasi Day, and Bishop James was able to share further details about his Diocese at the Sunday 10:00 am service.
At the Masasi Day Bishop James was able to bring us up to date with the problems that the whole of Southern Tanzania are experiencing as a consequence of Climate Change. The unpredictability of rain, and its unreliability, has meant that the rainy season starts later, and that the quantity of rain is less. It used to start raining in late November, and it would continue to rain until May, with the quantity of rain reducing from March onwards.
Last year the regular rains were late, not arriving until January, which meant that the crops were not able to grow to maturity, as the growing season was consequently shorter, and then the rain stopped by May. The inconsistent rainfall means that it is difficult to judge when to start planting to take advantage of what rainfall there is, and many people had been caught out by planting too early. This leads to another issue of debt for some farmers, who are lent their seed, against the promise of sharing the harvest with the seed provider. If the crop is lost, they have no means to pay for the borrowed seed.
Bishop James also shared with us his vision for the Diocese of Masasi’s centenary in 2026. His plan is to expand the number of parishes, and train new priests to start evangelising and growing these new parishes. We are most grateful to those who came forward to provide funds to train two priests, and we have also agreed as a group to fund two more priests from our fund raising this year.
There were also presentations on a project called WASH, which is putting water into villages; Namasakata School, a church school for girl’s secondary education which is nearing completion; African Palms, the charity which supplies Palm Crosses; the church dispensaries in Masasi; Rondo school for boys secondary education; and the Mtandi Special Unit for children, which is attached to Mtandi Primary School, and houses children who have disabilities, mainly sight loss and albinos.
We are so grateful to four parishioner who come forward to provide funding for additional food to improve the diet of the children at the unit. This funding is already making a difference.
In addition to our ongoing monthly lunches in 2023, we are also holding a small summer fete, and a quiz in the autumn.
The Cornwall Bursary
This is for funding the education needs of students recommended to us by the diocese, and at present there are no suitable candidates for assistance.
The Friday lunches
Our fund raising initiative of the Friday lunches, have become a successful, and welcome, event for many people in Minchinhampton. It is an opportunity to meet and enjoy good company, and good food.
The January 2023 two course hot lunch, served 47 meals, 45 people in attendance, two meals delivered to those who could not be with us on the day. We hold the lunches on the third Friday of the month at noon in the church, and everyone is welcome. In 2022 there were ten lunches, which raised over £2500, the proceeds from nine lunches went to Masasi, and the tenth was donated to the church general fund.
Thank you to everyone for supporting our friends in Masasi, they really appreciate our link and our support, both in prayer, and in what we have given financially. I would also thank the PCC for their continued support in these difficult times.
Minchinhampton Ladies’ Christian Fellowship 2021 – Deborah Smith
It is with great sadness that we have to report the end of LCF. Several really interesting speakers and events were planned but the response was so poor I had to cancel them. The balance of £126.91 was transferred to church funds.
The one event which I did not want to cancel was our collection of gifts for Stroud Women’s refuge and although it was short notice there was a good selection of items, thanks to June Sidwell and Julia Gerard for sorting that out.
PARISH MAGAZINE – John Mounsey, Editor
I agreed to take over the editorship of the parish magazine from Angie Ayling in November 2021, but did not actually edit an issue until March 2022. In the interim I discovered that Angie had used a desktop-publishing program called ‘Publisher’ which is not available on Apple Mac computers. Since I am a Mac user, this meant that I had to work out how to put the magazine together from scratch, eventually calling on the considerable IT expertise of my eldest son to save me from disaster. It has been a learning curve ever since!
I have now been editing the magazine for a full year and feel reasonably confident about doing it. I have introduced a number of regular new features to the magazine: Pet of the Month (featuring readers’ dogs and cats and the odd pheasant); The Night Sky (an astronomy page); Minch Fact or Fiction (a page based on stories [tall or otherwise] associated with local places); Recipe of the Month (self-explanatory).
In addition, there is now a monthly Eco Church feature (a page devoted to green issues), but the regular Traidcraft feature is being discontinued owing to the recent, sad financial collapse of the Traidcraft organisation. Two previously regular features ‘Reminiscences of Life on the Oil Rigs’ and ‘Choirboy Memories’ have been dropped, the latter because the material ran out, the former because I felt the series had run its course.
Although in general, reader feedback has been minimal over the year (I have tried and failed to get a ‘Readers’ Letters’ page going, likewise ‘Readers’ Photos’), I have received specific requests for two items: a ‘Recent Deaths’ column and a ‘Forthcoming Events’ feature. The deaths column began last month (thanks to the kind assistance of Vicki Hayward) and the absence of Traidcraft’s regular page means that I should now have room for a forthcoming events page culled from MinchLife.
(I had previously resisted the listing of future events in the magazine because of a shortage of space and because MinchLife covers the subject in exhaustive detail. The new feature [starting in March] should be of assistance to those readers – I am informed that there are quite a number of these – who cannot use the internet.)
Following a magazine committee meeting in November last year, the January issue also saw the introduction of a further 3 pages of colour, making 7 pages in all. This coincided with the cover price increasing by 20p to 80p. The design of the front cover has changed slightly since I took over as editor and continues to evolve.
Finally, Jamie Dalrymple Hamilton agreed to take over advertising duties late last year (?) and I believe is now fully in charge of that side of things.
CHURCH CLEANING GUILD – Angie Ayling, Church Warden
The church continues to be kept clean by a dedicated team of volunteers who operate on rotas for hoovering, dusting and polishing. Without these people, we would certainly not have the beautiful, well-maintained surroundings in which to worship and socialise in such a variety of ways.
The kitchen and toilets are kept clean and tidy by Cheryl Ritter. Many thanks are due to Cheryl and the volunteers for all that they do behind the scenes, as well as to Darren who inevitably ends up doing extra bits of clearing/cleaning from time to time.
One area which now needs some individual attention is the Porch Room; it is hoovered regularly and the carpet is thoroughly cleaned from time to time but, ideally, a volunteer is needed to keep the room tidy (and to prevent it becoming a dumping ground!)