PCC Jottings - September 2008
This was the first PCC meeting following Canon Martin Collins’ retirement. The Norbury Bowling Club and the adjoining sports fields were the suitable venues for the meeting on a beautiful September evening. And we were treated to tea and cakes, so can we come again, please?!
The meeting started with a tour expertly led by Phil Holland, chair of the Norbury Amalgamated Sports Club, or “NASC”, ably supported by Norman Allen. I was going to elaborate on this, but Norman has already stolen my thunder by writing so well about NASC in the October issue of your favourite magazine. All that remains for me is to reiterate the hugely beneficial role played by the sports fields for the cricket, lacrosse and bowling clubs! Since Norbury PCC are custodians and trustees of the fields, it was suggested that Rob should in the future announce the cricket score from the pulpit, but that is perhaps crossing the boundary for more than a six!
It was generally felt that Norbury gave the Martin a good send off, and all involved in the arrangements have the heartfelt thanks of the PCC.
As has been stated in the Take Away, your local council, i.e. SMBC, are now the custodians of the graveyard (with the exception of some sections) and hence are responsible for its upkeep. As a point of interest, the graveyard is for the whole of Hazel Grove and not just Norbury church.
There is a local organisation called “Friends of Stockport Cemeteries” who seek preservation, respect and public understanding for Stockport’s heritage cemeteries. Anyone interested in joining can contact Sheila Robins (see her article in this issue). You will be in good company as our acting vicar is a member!
Unfortunately, space does not allow me to go into the intricate differences between a cemetery and a graveyard, but if I have understood things correctly, the presence of our church plus the central location in an urban area makes ours a graveyard and not a cemetery. But I stand to be corrected by our learned readers!
The PCC is moving with the times, so it has set up four “focus groups”, looking at such vital areas as mission and evangelism, prayer, worship and teaching, and children and young families. The groups will meet during the autumn and report back to the whole PCC in November. Hugh Griffiths, Val Gilchrist, Rob Green and Mike Cheslett will be leading these groups.
The Treasurer was able to report that up till the end of August the accounts showed almost a break-even situation. Unfortunately, some big insurance, heating and electricity bills have been spotted on the horizon, so the year end deficit is still likely to be an unpalatable £30,000. Please keep praying about this essential item. Why talk about money when the church is a spiritual organisation? Good question, but if we cannot balance our books over the longer term, then we cannot continue to function as a church, so this is something that does affect us all.
The PCC learnt that our church wardens, Mike Cheslett and Jill Elsby are due to have tea with the bishop. They have a pivotal role in the process of selecting our next vicar, and this matter (not the tea!) will be reported at every PCC from now on.
We also learnt that Norbury has a committee for mission contacts that meets twice a year. The members are contacts for the various ‘good causes’ that we support, and manage matters such as the mission notice board and retiring collections.
Mike raised the subject of security at the church. Times are such that the church door must be locked at all times when someone is not guarding it. Obviously we are not worried about the door itself, but rather who enters it. This is somewhat ironic, since Jesus welcomed everyone, but we are unfortunately faced with the realities of today. So please make sure that the door is locked unless you are staying next to it.
Then we ran out of time! Building matters and risk management had to be deferred. We went out into the dark September evening taking in the smell of newly mown grass – lovely.
Per Olsson
