Present:   Rev B A Wells

Mick Shea

Geoff Ford

Chris Hairs

About 40 parishioners

In addition, Clare Stone, Parish administrator, accepted the Finance Committee’s invitation to attend and take the minutes.

Fr Bryan welcomed those in attendance and opened the meeting with a reading and prayer.

Parish Accounts 2008

A copy of the accounts were handed out to all Parishioners attending Mass on the preceding Sunday to this meeting and further copies were made available at this meeting.  Mick Shea reported on the variances of the accounts of 2008 in comparison with 2007 and hi-lighted the following points:

·               Offertory collections were up approximately 3½%

·               Expenditure was approximately £10K higher than the previous year.  Two recurring costs included in this figure are the Parish Administrator’s salary and Mass Stipends paid to Fr Bryan.

·               Social centre repairs and running costs include the toilet refurbishment and removal of asbestos

·               Presbytery repairs and running costs include household expenses and porch construction.

·               The Council Tax and Water included some previously omitted bills from earlier years.

·               Exceptional expenses include the works undertaken as part of the Health and Safety programme including line marking in the car park.

·               Appeals have been listed individually from the offertory collection.

·               Mick Shea confirmed that he is still in discussions with Diocese regarding the funds lent to them as interest is received at 2% below base rate.

With no questions from the floor Fr Bryan thanked Mick Shea for providing these detailed accounts once again.  Fr Bryan also thanked the Finance Committee for running the finances on behalf of the parish and the many hours they dedicate to this.  Fr Bryan expressed his thanks to the parishioners for their generosity, especially in regards to the second collections (appeals).

Justice & Peace Group

Fr Bryan asked Roger Wright to give an insight into the work of the Justice & Peace Group. 

The Justice & Peace group is involved with a number of organisations and charities including:

·               Manna Day Centre

·               Jesuit Refugee Service

·               Fairtrade

They have also created an Environmental Working party to assess the carbon footprint of the Church to include waste management energy consumption and management.

Roger Wright further added that the Justice & Peace group are always pleased to receive new members.

PAT and MaP Teams

Fr Bryan advised those present about the creation of the Pastoral and Advisory Team and Mission and Planning Team with the aim of providing a comprehensive communication system for the church and the parishioners.

Six people, chosen by Fr Bryan for experience and vision, form PAT, dealing with pastoral sensitive and confidential issues and meet approximately every six weeks.  Minutes are produced but are merely kept as a record of the meeting and will not be published.

The MaP Team, again chosen by Fr Bryan, consists of 15 people.  Minutes from this meeting will be published and available from the porch.

Fr Bryan wished to verify that the groups / teams, although selected by himself, are not cliques or exclusive groups.  Photographs of all members will appear on the church notice board in due course.

Other Notices

·               Chris Hairs advised of the production of a ‘welcoming booklet’ which is now close to final draft.  The aim is to provide information to existing and new parishioners alike about St James’ including contact details for groups / events.  It is hoped that this book will be published in time for a launch on Palm Sunday.  The information in the booklet will also be available via the website.

·               Madeleine Howell advised of a number of forthcoming events:

o             Mgr Elliott’s Golden Jubilee on 19th May.  A special Mass will take place on Sunday 17th May at 11.30am.  Unfortunately Bishop Pat is unable attend due to prior engagements.  A Buffet will be provided after the Mass.

o             Saturday 27th June at 11.30am – Diocesan celebration in Aylesford.*

o             9–11th October – St Therese of Lisieux Relics.*

*  Please contact Madeleine should you wish to arrange a coach for either of these events.

·               More Eucharistic Ministers required.  Should be Catholic, of good standing and regular Mass attendee.  Suitable candidates should approach Fr Bryan.  It was agreed that checks should be made to ensure that existing Ministers wish to continue with their responsibility.

·               Those present agreed that MaP should consider ‘lay run’ exposition during the week.

·               Frank Simon asked if Parishioners could unite to clean the Social Centre one weekend and added that there should be no walking on the chairs as this is not only a health and safety issue but that it is making the chairs dirty and damaging them.

·               Frank Simon, added on behalf of Dennis Nelligan, who was unable to attend the meeting and sends his apologies, that the sequence dancing continues to be very successful.  Fr Bryan expressed his thanks to Denis and Ivy Nelligan.

·               The choir loft needs new benches.

·               More offertory collectors required.  Please contact Hugh Owen.

Taizé Presentation

Each year approximately 10 parishioners, including Fr Bryan embark on an ecumenical to Taizé, in the Mid-south of France.  A unique community with a unique way of praying, a retreat for self-development.  Those present were invited to watch a short video presentation about Taizé.

Social Centre

Roger Wright and Chris Hairs, asked those present to consider ideas discussed by the MaP team, of which they are both members, regarding the Social centre, its structure and possible improvements.

Roger Wright advised that many other churches in this and the surrounding areas have far better social facilities than St James.  An example of this is the Anglican church in Chislehurst, Christchurch, of which, Roger was recently given a guided tour.

Roger highlighted some of the reasons why the current social facilities should be reviewed including:

·               Inadequate room sizes and lack of facilities, unable to have multi-use of the facility at any given time.

·               Dated

·               Unwelcoming atmosphere

·               Lack of storage

·               Not linked physically with Church

·               In need of repair

·               Poorly insulated

Plans could include a refurbishment or rebuild or hybrid (mix of both options) to include office facilities away from the Presbytery.

Roger advised that in 2013 the church will be 50 years old – could this be a marker?

Chris Hairs reported on this potential project from a financial perspective and advised those present that the facilities at Chislehurst cost almost £2m and asked those present to consider the following:

·               Duty of paying for such a facility lies with today’s parishioners and that the bulk of the funds should be raised prior to the build / refurbishment.  It would be unacceptable to lumber successive generations with our debt.

·               The Rochester Anglican diocese required 75% of the cost to be available prior to commencement of such works and that they had to be confident of paying the remainder over 5 years.

·               Some sources of grant are available including disabled facility grants.  Christchurch received grants which amounted to less than 2% of the overall cost.  Some parts would be VAT free and other monies could be raised through parish fund raising events and sponsored activities.

·               Encourage all gifts to be Gift Aided which would raise a further 25%

·               Parishioners currently give a large amount each year in regular donations – could they give any more?

Fr Bryan thanked Roger Wright and Chris Hairs for their presentation and invited those present to discuss these issues.  Lengthy discussions were held and a number of ideas and opinions were expressed:

·               What would be the possibility of the Diocese matching the funding?  Highly unlikely as the Church funds the Diocese.

·               (Zoisa Bajorek) Could further grants be obtained for Youth section and play scheme? Possible although would still be a relatively small percentage of overall costs.

·               Have other social facilities been investigated or is it only the facility at Chislehurst?

·               Banking sector often run ‘match funding’ schemes?  Would database of parishioners indicate who or where they are employed?

·               (Andrew Dalgleish) wrong not to explore possibilities and asked what would the cost be of doing nothing? Current facility needs maintenance.  The cost of a rebuild / refurbishment should be considered in conjunction with the figure of ongoing maintenance.

·               (Geoff Ford) concerns over becoming a commercial concern.  Essential repairs need to be done in Church which may need to be taken out of the funds currently with the Diocese.

·               (Peter Keen) considered this major project somewhat over ambitious and unrealistic especially in regards to the current climate.  In his experience the larger the project the larger the split in agreement.

·               (Nigel Longhurst) use the talent within the parish to establish what people can offer.  Test the water with a financial commitment.

Discussions continued, but due to time implications it was agreed to close the meeting.  Fr Bryan thanked everyone for attending and agreed to allow further discussions regarding this and other points raised in due course.