St John the Evangelist Bromley

www.saintjohnsbromley.com

Annual Parochial Church Meeting Minutes – 2020

Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting of St John the Evangelist Church,
Park Rd, Bromley, Kent held on Sunday, 18th October 20202 at 11.05 am in the
Church.

There were 26 members present: Revd Andrew McClellan (Chairman), Fiona

Bentley, Tony Bentley, Roger Budds, Moira Budds, Glynis Murton, Edward Mason,
Lesley Pyle, Tina Hill, Moira Morgan, Peter Morgan, Margaret Westall, Anthony
Westall, Jess McClellan, Ray Sims, Jonathan King, Nicholas Hill, Andrew Dixon,
Alison Dixon, Keith Buckley, Janet Alldread, Linda Nash, Tomi Odukomaiya, Andrew
Glanville, Jacqueline Glanville and Heather Lloyd.

1. Apologies for Absence

There were 10 apologies:
Elizabeth Bostock, Roz Barber, Alice Bentley, Laura Mason, Simon Kirk, Amanda
Kirk, Anne Burger, Celia Tucker and Tony Tucker.

2. Minutes of the Annual Parochial Meeting held on Sunday, 28th April 2019
These were available immediately following the meeting last year and on the church
website prior to this meeting. Further copies were available in church in the weeks
prior to this meeting. There being no amendments required to the Minutes these
were proposed for acceptance by Tina Hill and seconded by Linda Nash and agreed
to by the meeting. Signed by Rev McClellan as a true record.

3. Electoral Roll Report

Celia Tucker sent her report and this was read to the meeting by Fiona Bentley.

This year, strange though it is, I am pleased to inform you that the picture is much
brighter than last year. We had 5 additions up to the year ended 31st December
2019, which gives the total of 98 which is stated on the Annual Report.

As at 4th October we gained a further 14 members, but unfortunately this figure is

reduced slightly by 2 of our long-standing members sadly dying and 5 moving away.
The total for this year now stands at 105.

However, I understand that during lockdown a few more people have been regularly
attending, so when they have fulfilled their six-month regular attendance requirement
they will hopefully enrol.

We welcome all the new members into our St. John’s family although some have
been with us a while and have already made themselves very useful.

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But, no, I can’t continue in my usual way!!! My appeal to you all to join the various
teams making up our St. John’s family would not be appropriate during these very
uncertain times, but please be prepared to offer yourselves when we return to ‘as
normal as we shall ever be’!!!

The Vicar expressed his thanks to Mrs Tucker for her hard work in keeping these
records and he asked the congregation to keep her updated with any changes in
their address or telephone details.

4. Presentation of the Annual Accounts

Copies of the accounts had been available prior to the meeting via the church
website which a few copies available in church this morning. These are attached to
and form part of these Minutes.

Lesley Pyle presented her report on the 2019 Annual report and Accounts. She
confirmed that since the latter part of 2019 she and Laura Mason were now joint co-
treasurers for St John’s. She also thanked Simon Kirk who had completed the
examination of the accounts at no cost to St John’s.

The Report (pages 1 to 5) contains the statutory information relating to the PCC, the
electoral roll, the financial review and accounting policies plus the Vicar’s review.

Mrs Pyle commented that 2019 had produced a surplus of £1,176 which was a very
positive outcome for the year as expenditure included almost £8,500 spent on fabric
and other projects. Income had increased in several areas including voluntary
income up by over £5,400, fundraising up by over £580 and church hall lettings up
by over £2,400. LP extended thanks on behalf of St John’s for the continued support
of the Girdlers’ Company with donations in 2019 totalling £2,300.

Overall expenditure in 2019 was over £7,400 more than in 2018 but most of this was
under church maintenance and included external works to the church building plus
some upgrades/redecoration to the church rooms.

Before the accounts were signed off in early April 2020 the lockdown as a result of
COVID-19 had already been put in place. This did not impact the 2019 accounts as
LP commented that St John’s had a good level of reserves. However, in April and
May 2020 the impact on income, particularly from hall lettings, was likely to lead to a
significant loss for 2020 but the picture was now looking more promising and St
John’s was paying its full pledged amount to the Diocese. However, the forecast for
Giving Away had currently been significantly reduced.

In response to a question from the floor by Glynis Murton about our Giving Away LP
responded that the PCC would look again at Giving Away levels before the end of
the year and if they could be increased then we would do so.

Linda Nash asked if we should reconsider paying our full Pledge if we cannot
support charities at our usual level. It had been discussed and decided by Finance
Committee and subsequently agreed by PCC that we should maintain our full Pledge
because at the moment we can afford to do so. There are many, many churches in
the Diocese who are really struggling and we should be supporting them if we can.

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AMcC expressed enormous thanks to Lesley and Laura Mason for all their hard work
and they were thanked by the meeting with a round of applause.

Jonathan King proposed that the Accounts were accepted by the meeting. This was
seconded by Tina Hill. All were in favour.

5. Appointment of an Independent Examiner.

Simon Kirk as agreed to undertake this role if appointed. He was proposed by Peter
Morgan, seconded by Glynis Murton. All were in favour. Unfortunately, Simon was
unable to be at the meeting this morning and AMcC expressed the thanks of the
meeting to Simon in his absence.

6. Appointment of a Safeguarding Officer for Children and Vulnerable Adults

Rev McClellan told the meeting that the Church of England has gotten this area of
ministry very badly wrong historically. He confirmed to the meeting that in a recent
review of how this has been handled at St John’s there is no record of any incidents
and we wish to maintain this very high standard. He reminded the meeting that the
appointment to this role is done in two stages; first here at the APCM and then
confirmed by the new PCC at their first meeting. Caroline Thomas, who has fulfilled
this role for a number of years now, has kindly agreed to continue with Simon Kirk as
Deputy.

Their continuation in this role was acclaimed by all present for another year and will
be confirmed at the next meeting of the new PCC in November.

7. Elections
Rev McClellan explained that each year the PCC loses 4 of the 12 lay members.
They are eligible to stand again if they wish to. Additionally every 3 years we must
elect 2 Deanery Synod representatives who serve on the PCC (the number of lay
members and Deanery synod representatives is determined by the number on the
Electoral Roll).

a. Deanery Synod Representatives

Nominee Proposer Seconder
Edward Mason Ray Sims Moira Morgan
Olutomisola Odukomaiya Moira Morgan Alison Dixon

b. Election of Parochial Church Councillors

There are 4 vacancies on the PCC and we have 4 nominees to be elected for 3
years.

Nominee Proposer Seconder

Sandra Stepanyenko Janet Alldread Glynis Murton
Janet Alldread Trish Hughes Peter Morgan
Celia Tucker Tina Hill Ray Sims
Lesley Pyle Janet Alldread Glynis Murton

There being no other nominations these 4 were elected for 3 years.

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Jonathan King is standing down after many years of fantastic service both as a
member of the PCC and also as church warden. Rev McClellan expressed huge
thanks to him, he will be missed. He then welcomed all new and serving members to
the new PCC and looks forward to our first meeting in November..

8. Report on the Fabric of the Church

Ray Sims, Chair of the Fabric Committee offered thanks to Moira Morgan, Fiona
Bentley, Patrick Brinson, Jonathan King, Nicholas Hill and Clive Nash who serve on
the Committee but also to the many others who give up their time and talents to work
out of the spotlight in keeping the church building and grounds in such good
condition. Fabric does not just cover the building but all the services such as heating,
electrics, plumbing, etc and the contents. In any year there are new projects as well
as the ongoing maintenance and upgrades to services.

In 2019 we installed a new projector and screen in the church rooms, fitted a
complete new secure lock system throughout the church buildings, a new boiler was
fitted in the kitchen, parking stoppers in the car park to prevent any cars
inadvertently going over the edge along the church rooms, removal of the old defunct
extractor housing in the church rooms and the painting and bitumen-lining of the
guttering. A busy year!

October 2019 saw the Quinquennial inspection which, as the name suggests, is
carried out by a Diocesan appointed surveyor every 5 years. A number of small
things were highlighted such as the upgrading of the electrics, improving the lighting
in the south-west porch, PAT testing of all small electrical items, upgrade of lightning
protection, emergency exit signs and new emergency exit doors in the church rooms.
Some of these things have been done in 2019 and the rest will be completed in the
first half of 2020. The surveyor’s overall observation was that St John’s is a good
example of how a church should be well-run.

Plans for 2020 include redecoration of the south-west porch (Bridal entrance)
including fire-retardant curtaining to hide the ladder store and an upgrade to the
lighting in the Vestry. Work had been planned in 2020 to restore the plinth stones
around the boundary of the church land but due to the COVID pandemic this will now
be completed before mid-April 2021.

There were no questions from the floor and appreciation was shown to Ray and his
sub-committee for their efforts.

9. Vicar’s Report
Rev McClellan’s report of the year was published on pages 4 and 5 in the Annual
Report and Statement of Accounts which are attached to and form part of these
Minutes and were available prior to the meeting.

Although his report covered 2019, in this very difficult year he wanted to thank all at
St John’s who have carried on supporting us during the pandemic, whether it was
giving financially, supporting us through prayer or taking on the responsibility of
‘visiting’ by phone and especially to those who have made it possible for us to open
the building again for worship each week since 5th July. Financially the picture is

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looking quite positive. Please carry on giving generously in all the various ways you
have throughout the pandemic. I am grateful to the Committee for finding such
ingenious ways to keep everyone engaged in fun activities on a regular basis –
beetle drives, bingo, quizzes, etc. Thanks also to the Publicity committee for all they
have done to keep us informed.

A special thank you to Daniel Whiffin, our Curate. I could not have had a better
colleague during Lockdown. It has been great to have his ministry, he has been
terrific to work alongside and he is a ‘whiz’ with the technical stuff which has been
invaluable. The thanks of the congregation were expressed through applause.

10. Any other Business

None had been advised prior to the meeting.

12. Closing Prayers

Rev McClellan thanked all for attending and to those who had given reports. He then
closed the meeting with the Grace at 11.44am.

………………………………….. (Chairman) ……………………………………

Signed as a true record Date