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Extracts
from St John's News - May 2005
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The Vicar's Retirement
As you know Brian Spence has announced that he will retire from
the end of July. The Churchwardens, the Lay Ministers and the
PCC will be actively planning the succession process. Initially
the Churchwardens will meet the Archdeacon informally to discuss
the detailed arrangements that will be followed. Obviously the
views of the Parish generally will be an important input to the
process of selecting a new vicar. We plan to give more details
in St John's News when they are available. During the period
of interregnum, a rota of Ministers for summer Sunday services
has already been agreed, the Church office is likely to have
longer opening hours and all steps will be taken to ensure that
all the usual spiritual needs of the parish are met.
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FAREWELL SERVICE
Brian will be holding
a non-eucharistic Farewell Service at 6.30 pm on Sunday June
26th, his last Sunday in the Parish. Everyone will be welcome
and Brian and Pat also hope to be able to invite all the groups
in Crowthorne with which they have been involved.
6.30 pm, Sunday June 26th |
On Tuesday 3rd May at 8pm Sarah Hooper (Brian & Audrey's
daughter) is coming to talk to us about her work with Save the
Children and on Wednesday 11th May at 2.15pm Mrs Pam Harman's
talk is entitled "Odes". Our Prayer Meeting is on Monday
16th May at 9.30am and Corporate Communion is on Wednesday 25th
May at 10am both in the Lady Chapel. On Monday 9th May there
is a Deanery Quiet Day at Finchampstead led by Janet Wheeler
and the theme will be "Living in the Moment". The day
will begin with Eucharist in Finchampstead Church at 10am and
will finish at approximately 3pm. If you would like to go, please
give your name to either Margaret Barnes or Pam Levene to give
Finchampstead some idea how many to expect. Also please bring
a packed lunch, coffee/tea provided.
Church Spring Clean
Now that the Hall works are finishing the annual Church heavy
clean will be held on Saturday 14th May. Morning heavy/high cleaning,
mostly by the men, afternoon final cleaning/ polishing, mostly
by the women. Organisers (am) Peter Mayley & Steve Pope and
(pm) Maggie Wade & Pam Bainbridge.
Make the Taxman work for us!
A note from your Treasurer.
As I finalised the PCC accounts
for last year and prepared them for presentation at Annual Meeting
my thoughts were on ways in which we can both reduce our costs
maximise and improve our income in an attempt to breakeven at
the worst or dare I say create a small surplus to replenish our
reserves.
One of the easiest ways to improve our income is to make the
Tax Man work for us!
Are you a taxpayer?
Do you contribute to the collection in the most effective way?
If the answer to both questions is yes, did you know that if
you GIFT AIDED your contribution we can recover an extra 22p
from the Taxman for every 78p that you give. That's a massive
28% extra that we could get from your contribution.
How can you make your contribution Tax effective?
There are three ways in which you can make your contributions
Tax effective: -
1. Sign a Gift Aid declaration and make your contribution by
Standing Order through your bank.
2. Sign a Gift Aid declaration and make your contribution by
the Gift Aid Envelope Scheme.
3. Make your contribution using the white contribution envelopes
available in the Church. Remember to complete your details on
the front of the envelope.
This scheme is available to both regular contributions as well
as one off donations. If you need help with any of these please
ask one of our Sidesmen for help or by contacting me. It is also
worth remembering that you can Gift Aid a one off contribution
if you would like to make a contribution to our Building Fund.
Richard M. Price (Treasurer) |
Crowthorne May Fair
Bank Holiday Monday - 2nd May 2005
Morgan Recreation Ground
2pm to 4.30pm
This year our attractions include.......
Bouncy Castle
Plant Stall
Beer Tent
Sam the Engine
Raffle
Penalty Shoot Out
Hair Braiding
ROBOT WARS! |
Inflatable Assault Course
Steam Railway
Hot Dogs
Afternoon Teas
Cake Stall
Ice Creams
Face Painting |
…..plus arena events and much more!
What could be better?
Come along and join in the fun, with something for everyone in
the family. The May Fair provides a fun packed afternoon out
for young and old - right on your doorstep!
Confirmation 2005
For young people (aged 10-14) there will be a preliminary meeting
to arrange times for confirmation classes on Sunday 8th May at
3pm. The Vicar will be happy to answer any questions you have
about this. Confirmation will be held at 10am on Sunday 16th
October.
PET SERVICE
Following on from last year's guarded success - nobody was eaten,
bitten or chased down the aisles - we are planning to hold a
second Pet Service at St John's, on May 15TH at 3pm. Last year
we had a true menagerie of pets in the pews, with dogs, cats,
chameleons and chinchillas, to name but a few, and we are hoping
that this year's service will attract an even broader spectrum
of the animal kingdom. All creatures are welcome, both great
and small, so feel free to bring friends, neighbours and as many
four-legged, two-legged or no-legged animals as you like.
SUNDAY 15th MAY 3pm |
Praying for Streets
In May we shall pray for:
1st Addiscombe Road, Old Pharmacy Court, Blake Close
8th Parkway
15th Wellington Road, Mulberry Close, Coleridge Close and Rothwell
House
22nd Napier Road, Napier Close
29th Church Road, Kings Rd, Albert Rd, Albert Walk
Patronal Festival and Summer Buffet
This will be held on Sunday 19th June. Our guest will be the
Bishop of Gloucester (formerly an ordinand from Crowthorne!).
Diary date
The Archdeacon will visit St John's on Sunday 3rd July.
Thank yous!
Our thanks to Jill
Pope, June Lee and the Social Committee for organising an excellent
St George's Day Supper and entertainment. Particular thanks to
Irene Simmons who organised the musical entertainment and to
younger members of the parish who sang, played and acted. Thanks
also to the Burrells for serving the successful 10 meets 8 at
9 breakfast the following morning..
TRAIDCRAFT
In the year ending March 2005, our Traidcraft stall sales were
£1,362.81. This was a great result as the stall came into
its full operation. It contributed to £7.3 million of national
sales.
The Traidcraft stall will operate on Sundays 8th and 25th May
after the 8 and 10 am services and at Mother and Toddlers at
11.15am on 25th May.
MAKE POVERTY HISTORY |
Annual Parochial Church Meeting
Report from Sunday 17th April
The annual meeting was held
on Sunday 17th April. The Vicar presented his report on the year's
activities and also reviewed other reports (copies are still
available in the foyer). The electoral role stands at 282 (with
8 leaving and 10 joining over the year). Special thanks were
offered to Irene Simmons for her stepping in as organist recently
and to Pat Spence who was retiring as chairman of the flower
arrangers. Pat has worked tirelessly in this role and has made
a significant contribution to the Parish. The parish wish to
record its appreciation. Pat announced that Carol Cain would
be taking over the chair. Stephen Pope proposed a special vote
of thanks to Brian Spence on his last Annual Meeting. Over 19½
years Brian has made an enormous contribution to the Parish and
it was only right that we formally record our appreciation. The
meeting wholeheartedly endorsed this.
Financial Report
Richard Price, Treasurer, presented the accounts and budget (again
copies are available in the Church Foyer). He said the Church
had been operating in deficit for the last 4 years and, despite
the efforts of the PCC, "that unless we can increase our
income substantially and keep expenditure under control we will
exhaust our unrestricted reserves within the near future".
The table below summarises our accounts for the last five years
and presents the budget for the next five. 60% of our income
comes from normal giving through collections. Additionally tax
recovery through Gift Aid now accounts for nearly 15% of our
income, 8½% comes from events (including the May Fair),
and the balance from donations, lettings and trading (eg Traidcraft).
However, over the last four years, whilst gross income has risen
by 16%, our normal giving has risen by less than 10% (only matching
inflation). The growth in total income has been boosted by tax
reclaims from an increased proportion of tax relieved giving,
some special donations and income (eg last year's income from
a film company) and some growth in trading (which flatters gross
income growth). Many of these factors, however, are unlikely
to boost income growth in future. The budget assumes modest income
growth.
Expenditure over the last four years has grown by almost a quarter
(and is equivalent to over £400 per parish elector). The
biggest growth being in the Diocesan Parish Share, which has
grown by a third and now accounts for 58% of our expenditure,
it was 48% in 1998 (the Diocese meets clergy salaries). Our charitable
giving, which had been 15% of income in 2000, has been cut back
to 12% (but should remain at that share). Other costs have grown
less than income growth. It is 'major items' that lead to some
volatility of expenditure (see table below). The Church roof
needs major repairs which could cost up to £100,000. The
budget assumes that roof sections will be done over a number
of years. The good news on expenditure is that recent work on
the hall by the PCC Fabric Committee (and some parishioners)
has saved over £20,000 compared to the commercial quote
of £32,000, a major financial saving! The meeting express
particular thanks to all who had worked so hard to improve the
hall and make this saving.
On the balance sheet only about £37,000 of unrestricted
assets are held, this is a small reserve of which £20,000
is designated to repair work, leaving only £17,000 in general
reserves.
Since 2000 our expenditure per elector has risen by 36% (with
about 10% of that due to a decline in electors). We face major
expenditure and overall the budget indicates that, on current
plans, the Church will face significant deficits in future years.
The Treasurer concluded that "it is imperative that the
PCC make steps to increase the income and to make greater effort
in controlling expenditure". There will be a stewardship
campaign in May.
Elections
The Churchwardens and PCC officers remain unchanged. Thanks was
offered to retiring members of the PCC and new members elected
were: Sheila Clapham, Susan Rayment, Jenny McKever, Nigel Bray,
Brian Hooper and Catherine Pandya. Also elected and joining Deanery
Synod are: Gillian Gyenes, Hazel Berry, Pauline Williamson and
Richard Ireson (who has been appointed to represent Synod on
the Governing Body of Ranelagh School).
The date of next year's Annual Parish Meeting was set for Sunday
2nd April 2006. |
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