United Benefice of St Mary and St Anne Moseley

Minutes of a Meeting of the Parishioners and the Annual Parochial Church Meeting held at the Parish Hall on Sunday 1 March 2009

Prayer and Welcome
The Vicar, The Revd Jeremy Dussek opened the meeting with prayer and welcomed everyone. Graham Hindley said he had checked with the Diocesan Office and could confirm that it was legal for us to hold a joint Annual Parochial Church meeting.
Annual Meeting of Parishioners – St Mary
Minutes of last meeting (24 Feb 2008) proposed by Charles Wall, seconded by Mick Perrier and accepted, the minutes were signed by the Vicar.
Matters arising – None.
Annual Meeting of Parishioners – St Anne
Minutes of last meeting (9th March 2008) had been circulated. These were accepted as true record, acceptance was proposed by Jill Adams and seconded by Graham Hindley.
Matters arising – None.
Election of Churchwardens
1. Election of Churchwardens – St Mary
  There were two nominations – John Dowell, proposed by Glyn Samuel, seconded by Liz Blakey, and Jan Miller, proposed by Liz Blakey, seconded by Glyn Samuel; there were no other nominations John and Jan were elected. Jeremy thanked them for all their work and said he looked forward to their loyal support in the coming year.
2. Election of Churchwardens – St Anne
  There were two nominations – Graham Hindley proposed by Jill Adams and seconded by Stephen Alabaster, and John Gray proposed by Hilda Johnston and seconded by Elisabeth Leicester. They were unanimously elected.
3. Election of deputy wardens – St Anne
  There were two nominations – Stephen Alabaster and Malcolm McDonald; they were proposed by Graham Hindley and seconded by Val Field and unanimously elected.
Annual Parochial Church Meeting – St Mary
Apologies for absence had been received from The Revd Joan, and Harry Griffin, Vernon and Penny Batsford, Chris Andrew, Jean Lindley, Jean Ruston, Anne Bold, Peter Magson, Helen Collett, Pat and Laura Dowell, Isabel Sallis, Sarah Swainston, Jenny Jupe, The Revd Frank and Gill Berry.
1. Electoral Roll report – Jenny Livermore
  Jenny reported that there are now 188 names on the electoral roll; since the APCM in 2008. Nine names have been added and 20 have been removed. Jeremy thanked Jenny for her work.
2. Election of Parochial Church Council
  Peter Cartmell, Becky Greenhill, Peter Jupe, Harry Rawlings and Sarah Swainston had been nominated, there were no further nominations and all were elected to serve for three years. Cathie Carey was proposed by Jonathan Hodgson, seconded by Robert Brown and elected as Reader rep on PCC. Jeremy thanked Lis Sparrow who is standing down after completing six years on PCC for her contribution to PCC and also to Children’s work; he also thanked Debbie Barwell for her work on the children’s sub-committee, and Helen McNicoll for her work with the Benefice Prayer Circle, both Debbie and Helen have resigned from PCC.
3. Appointment of sidespeople
  The sidespeople were elected en bloc, John Dowell asked for more volunteers.
Annual Parochial Church Meeting – St Anne
Apologies These were received from Mike Carter, Peter Howard, Frank and Jill Berry, Iris Pope, Craig Donovan, Sabina Bealt, Ian Buckle, Wendy Alabaster
1. Electoral Roll report – Jayne Beauchamp:
  The electoral roll officer reported that there were 68 names on the electoral roll, of these 16 were resident in the parish and 52 non resident
2. Election of Parochial Church Council
  There were two nominations: Malcolm McDonald proposed by Graham Hindley and seconded by Terry Adams. Jo Whitehouse proposed by Terry Adams seconded by Graham Hindley. Both were unanimously elected. Sonia Sheehan is standing down.
3. Appointment of sidespeople
  The following were unanimously elected: Graham Underhill, Stephen Alabaster, Malcolm McDonald, Rob Curtiss, David O’Brien, Jenny Allen, Nancy Alexander, Roy Buckle, Fergus and Val Field. Graham Hindley informed the meeting that new names could be received.
Accounts – St Mary – Michael Hell
Michael said that the accounts for 2008 were not yet available, they have to be approved by PCC by the end of April. He referred to the Treasurer’s report in the Annual report and stressed that the general reserve is now in negative figures. Jeremy acknowledged the work done by Michael, Becky, the Finance Group and the Stewardship Group and said that we are taking steps to address the financial situation. Sharon Wall said that it was a pity that we didn’t have last year’s figures. Michael said he had the 2007 Accounts, which he would be happy to discuss after the meeting. Nobody took up this invitation.
1. Appointment of Independent Examiner – St Mary
  Amanda Kaye proposed that Deidre Mattison be appointed as our independent examiner, this was seconded by Jan Miller and agreed. Jeremy expressed our thanks to Deidre for her gift of her time for the church.
Accounts – St Anne – Terry Adams/Graham Hindley
The Treasurer produced copies of the audited accounts and some explanatory notes. Terry Adams was thanked for all his continuing hard work as Treasurer.
Acceptance was proposed by Stephen Alabaster and seconded by Pat Burrows They were unanimously accepted with no abstentions.
1. Margaret Piggott Account -– A report was received. £75,000 surplus brought forward. Charifunds now worth £200,000.
2. Discretionary Fund – Income £1,100. Amount distributed £1,000.
3. Appointment of Independent Examiner – St Anne
  Ian Buckle was proposed by Terry Adams. Unanimously agreed.
Churchwardens’ report – St Mary – John Dowell
John referred to the report of St Mary’s Churchwardens in the Annual Report and thanked all those who had helped with various tasks; there were no questions.
Churchwardens’ report – St Anne – John Gray
This was presented in the written report. There were no questions.
Report from Church organisations (tabled)
Reports from church organisations were included in the APCM report.
1. Jeremy referred to the joint Bellringers’ report which, he said, was a good example of groups working together.
2. Julia Griffin said that the Lunch Club report was from last year, not the current one.
3. Betty Clarke said that there was no report from Coffee & Co but the service is flourishing and we hope it can be extended on Farmers’ Market days.
4. Elisabeth Leicester asked that the church become more outward looking especially after Revd Rosemary’s trip to Malawi.
5. Jeremy said that the APCM report showed that activities were going on every day.
AOB or questions
No questions had been submitted in advance of the meeting. The Revd Peter Hansell thanked both churches for the time he has spent here, and especially Jeremy and Rosemary for all their help and guidance. He said he had appreciated the open intelligent enquiry in the churches, and the opportunity for involvement in the Inter-faith group, he said he hoped someone would take on his role in this group. Peter said that he had been appointed as Director of Reader Training in the Coventry Diocese and asked for our blessing on his future ministry. Elisabeth Leicester said that it was good to see that we are concerned about evangelism, but asked if we could look further afield.
Result of Election to PCC – St Mary, if appropriate
See 5 above.
Result of Election to PCC – St Anne
It was confirmed that Malcolm McDonald and Jo Whitehouse had been elected to serve for three years.
Vicar’s and Associate Vicar’s remarks Vicar, Jeremy Dussek, Associate Vicar, Rosemary Donovan
In the last 2 years at this stage having answered questions I have had a chance to add one or two reflections to what has already been said.

This year I want to go forward building on the confidence which is needed to celebrate many of the unsung or hidden efforts some of which Bishop David discovered on Monday on a brief visit here. He came to the lunch club which needs to be specifically part of our vision – bringing people together and where they also now worship God at a Communion Service. And it’s part of our mission because like Christmas Day Together, it brings in the lonely, the isolated and sometimes people vulnerable who would perhaps not see anyone else that day or that week.

He also took a copy of the Lent Prayer Calendar. A year ago the Benefice Prayer Circle didn’t exist; it is lay led, it brings many together and through the Ignatian Retreat in November has helped people to hopefully worship God in a deeper way. Isn’t that what we are really for? In leading by example I created the Advent Calendar to likewise deepen our spiritual journey and the circle has followed that example and created the one which is guiding us through Lent – how touching to be held by your prayers on Friday and support clergy. How helpful it will be for those struggling with the economic crisis to know of people’s prayers on April 6 as a new financial year begins.

And how good it is that like almost every Church in the Diocese we are being challenged to pay our way and meet our financial contribution to the Diocese in full. It is tough for everyone but we have our duty to also serve God and Stewardship Sunday next week, now to be an annual event, keeps us on track. We almost have our finances – 2 years ago when I arrived things were different and I’m grateful to have resisted calls to give up and instead stick with Michael and see the results that are coming.

Bishop David also recently wrote to us at Moseley C of E School, congratulating us on being part of the Outstanding Statutory Inspection Report that we received in November – it’s something that we not only celebrate in achieving but it ties in with what my message is for the future -In the end it has to be down to our faith and I believe our biggest challenge which has really taken 2 years to diagnose and again Rosemary and I shared with David is that we need to rise to the challenge of building our community so that we all not only know each other and break down some bridges of them and us – especially between those who have been here a long time and relatively new corners – and whatever stage we’re at if we’re looking for growth, money and buildings will not realise our full potential – our ability to reveal, share and encourage others to know and witness the love of God and the Good news of Jesus Christ is what will encourage growth in relationships, size and presence in our community. Bishop David is looking forward to coming later in the year to focus on how we can be confident in that – as those who have just done the Start Course have experienced. That will mean not avoiding but embracing our call and understanding to be Disciples of Christ – and be people who are engaged in Evangelism when we truly know what that means (and are not confusing with necessarily being Evangelical!)

I look forward to that and hope you will too. These need to be at the forefront of God’s Vision for our future which we are now beginning to shape and in realising these challenges we can all be confident to grow deeply in faith and find God in our lives and in the worship we take part in and share.

Rosemary Donovan said that 2008 had been very fraught. It was good to have four headings for the Vision but we must keep Christ as the Head.

On behalf of everyone Glyn Samuel warmly thanked Jeremy for his efficiency in handling the meeting and for all his and Rosemary’s hard work. He also thanked the wardens, Graham, John Gray, Jan & John Dowell saying that as an ex-warden he knew just how much work the wardens had to do, and the admin staff, Janet and Ann. Glyn referred to the notice outside Moseley C of E School "Every Child matters to God" which is reflected in the importance given to children’s work. Glyn mentioned notable events during the year which were especially memorable, the Christmas Tree festival and the Love Fest.
Date of next year’s APCM Provisionally Sunday 28th February, the second Sunday in Lent

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