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The Congregational Board met in
the Church Hall on Thursday 25th. April at 7.30 p.m. This was always
going to be a short meeting and we knew that quite a number of our
members would be unable to attend. Dorothy was away on work duties,
Tom had tonsillitis, Eric was attending to a Community Council
responsibility, Neil was on holiday, Margaret was entertaining
friends from New Zealand, Hettie had sent her apologies and we didn't
know what had happened to Janine. However that still left us with a
good group: Jamie, Gill, Anna, Marion, Nancy, Bill, Stella, Karen,
May, Jim, Retta, Mary and Dane.
The meeting began with a reading
from John's Gospel - "In my Father's house, there are many rooms
....." and then in our prayers we thought particularly about the
need for peace in the Middle East and for food in many parts of
Southern Africa.
The Minute of 14th. March was read
and agreed to be a true record and then it was straight into Karen's
Finance Report. We enjoyed this report because it showed that our
income was higher than our budget for this period £4,110 against
a target of £3,525. Not only this but our expenditure was all
within budget too! We reminded ourselves that to become truly self-supporting
we needed to increase our last year's income by some £3,000 -
we are on the way to achieving that. The treasurer also told us that
an old "Nursing Fund" a/c (Benevolent Fund) had been
discovered in the Royal Bank. This was being sorted out at the
present time but would yield us some £800 for benevolent purposes.
Discussions continued regarding
our electricity supplier. It seems as though we are now £400 in
credit - but still no-one from the company - Scottish Gas - will
explain to Eric why our bill does not tally with the initial estimate
with which they provided us. Jimmy proposed, and it was universally
agreed, that a further two weeks be allowed to pass, after which time
alternative arrangements will be made.
This led on to the Property
report. Not a lot to report since last meeting but everything is just
about to start with a vengeance. Next week scaffolding will be
erected and the following week everyone will turn to to start
removing the old harling from the exterior walls of the Church. At
the same time some remedial work will be done to the finials which
were damaged during a recent storm and, taking advantage of all of
the scaffolding, the stained-glass and clear windows will be replaced
in the Church and in the Church tower. Jimmy said that in his view
all of this work will cost somewhere approaching £14,000. The
Restoration Fund held £4,000, some funding would come from our
insurance claim and the Board was asked, and unanimously agreed, to
advance to the Community Trust the remainder of the funding required
to complete the Church. It was hoped that this would then be returned
to the Church when the Community Trust had reclaimed the VAT which
they were entitled to for all of the work which had so far been
undertaken; and, of course, the Community Trust will continue to
raise monies for the ongoing work of restoration. However, it was
clearly understood that the repayment of this advance depended on the
Trust being able to raise the money. (At present the General Fund of
the Church sits at around £18,000 so it is appropriate for this
work to be done now rather than wait what could be a further two
years before the Church Restoration can be completed).
Retta had several things to report
to the Board in her capacity as Church Housekeeper: a new rug has
been purchased for the front door; the Dyson has been repaired
(again!); computer classes will run through to August on Tuesdays
from 1 - 3 p.m. and from 6 - 8 p.m.; some organisations (notably the
Guild! and the WRI!) have not been leaving the Hall as tidy as they
should; and there was a need for an additional table for the hall at
a cost of £80. The Board agreed to the new table being bought
with money from the Fabric Fund and reminded organisations that, as
they are not charged for the use of the hall it would be a kindness
to ensure that it was tidy after their use. Retta also told us that
the local Cub Pack was closing down and had approached her to see if
the Church would store their flag until they start up again.
Naturally, everyone was happy that we do this. Finally, Retta shared
her concern about the lack of storage facilities in the Church and
Hall and Jimmy undertook to see what could be done.
On to Fund Raising, and Gill
reported that to date her events had brought in £1,072 .89 this
year (with grateful thanks to the aerobics group who were donating
their weekly takings to her fund) and with the Helensburgh Savoy
coming to present a programme of music and song tomorrow. The
Fiddlers' Rally, tickets £5, was planned for 11th. October.
Under Stewardship, Mary showed the
Board a form which she was compiling quarter by quarter to get the
basic information for a Stewardship Campaign. She also showed us the
way that another congregation had set out its annual accounts using
graphics which made the account more easy to understand. These ideas
will be explored more fully at future meetings.
Moving to other business, the
Board discussed how the offering is counted on a Sunday morning. The
treasurer is anxious that the money be counted in view of everyone so
that everything is open and seen to be so; Retta felt that she didn't
like seeing the money being counted on the Chancel (on a table at the
side), it just didn't seem right and she wondered what visitors
thought. Maybe the hall could be used over the summer when the Sunday
School had stopped; certainly the vestry was available but was very
small and very cramped for such a purpose. Most people seemed quite
happy with the existing system but it was agreed that a small
committee - Karen, Jimmy and Retta - look into the possibilities and
take any decisions which are necessary.
Dane reported that Ryan who had
had an accident in Church on the previous Sunday was well and
apparently none the worse for tumbling into the Church wall. He
thanked those who had dealt with the accident and said that Ryan's
grandmother had appreciated all of the good wishes expressed by
members of the congregation. The matter had been recorded in the Accident
Book.
Dane further reported that Mary
Stone had tried to be present at the Annual Stated Meeting for the
purpose being elected to the Board. However, she hadn't managed to
get there and, as a result, was not nominated. There is still one
vacancy and it was proposed by Gill and seconded by Marion that Mary
be co-opted to the Board until the time of the next Stated Annual
Meeting when she could be elected by the congregation. This was
unanimously agreed.
This brought the meeting to the
end of its business and the meeting was closed with prayer at 8.25 p.m. |