Annual Church Meeting 2018 

You are warmly invited to our Annual Church Meeting which will form part of the 10 this coming Sunday.

In the Church of England, this takes the form of 2 separate meetings:
 
  1. the Annual Meeting of Parishioners (a brief meeting at which our church wardens are elected by the whole church family); and 
  2. the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (the main meeting, at which, among other things, we review our church finances, elect PCC and Deanery Synod members, hear Paul give his annual address, and have the opportunity to put questions to him and to Patrick Bolster, on behalf of the Finance Team) 


Last year, we decided to streamline this second meeting by dealing with quite a few items via email rather than verbally at the meeting to make the meeting go as smoothly as possible and ensure that our groups for children and young people didn’t stretch on for much longer than usual. This was such a success that we are doing the same this year.

We’ve included in this email all the information you will need for the meeting and ask that you spend some time reading the information relevant to you. We have posted a hard copy of this email to everyone on our Electoral Roll for whom we do not have an email address.

We are aware that MEMBERS OF OUR AMAZING KIDS & YOUTH TEAMS and others may miss our Annual Meeting as they are serving elsewhere. So we will once again repeat most of what happens at the 5, in the hope that those of you on duty in the morning will be able to catch up with all that is happening in our church family life.

In order to streamline and focus our time at the 10, the following items are all being dealt with ahead of the meeting and will not be covered verbally during the meeting, except where indicated by **

Apologies

If you are a member of the Electoral Roll and want your apologies formally recorded, please email Mark Parsons by 6pm on Saturday.  We won’t be taking apologies on the day.

Minutes of last year’s meetings **

Minutes of the 2017 Annual Meeting of Parishioners and Annual Parochial Church Meeting can be downloaded using the link below.

Draft Minutes of the 2017 APCM.pdf 

Any suggested amendments to these minutes or matters arising should be emailed to Mark Parsons by 6pm on Saturday.

A limited number of hard copies of the minutes will be available at the meeting, at which we will be invited to approve them by a show of hands.

Secretary

Unless Mark Parsons hears to the contrary by 6pm on Saturday we will assume the meeting approves the appointment of Morag Gillespie as secretary to the meeting.

Electoral Roll

The Electoral Roll of the parish – of which you must be a member to stand for or vote in our church leadership elections – was reviewed over the period from 25th February to 25th March.  At last year’s meeting there were 415 members of the Electoral Roll.  During the year 44 names were added to the roll and 19 names removed.  The Roll therefore stands at 440.

There are currently over 800 adult members and over 200 children on the church database. Members of the church family who are not yet on the Electoral Roll are encouraged to join and can do so after the meeting by visiting our website

Elections **

Sian Lowe and Graham Stuart have been nominated as Church Wardens for the coming year. No other nominations have been received.

There are 3 vacancies on the PCC this year.  To date there has been one nomination, for David Newton.

There are two vacancies on the Deanery Synod this year.  To date there has been one nomination, for Errol King.

If there are no further nominations, there will be no requirement for any election and the people named above will be declared elected at the meeting.

Appointment of Stewards

Christ Church has committed welcome teams for each of its Gatherings, overseen by Jackie Langham and Janet Lee.  A list of the current members of each team is displayed on the noticeboard in the church foyer.

Safeguarding

Christ Church is committed to following the safeguarding policies of the Church of England, the safeguarding policy and guidance as issued by the Diocese of Bristol and commits to working within legislation and statutory guidance as related to the Safeguarding of Children, Young People and Adults.  Our Safeguarding Policy, Guidance Notes for volunteers and details of our Parish Safeguarding Officers can be found on our website.

Finance Report **

Patrick Bolster, on behalf of the Finance Team, will be providing a brief overview of our church finances for 2017 during the meeting but their report can be downloaded here.

Financial Report to the APCM 2018.pdf 

The full Annual Report and Accounts for the PCC for 2017 can be downloaded here.

2017 Approved Report and Financial Statements for APCM.pdf 

There will be an opportunity for questions to Patrick during the meeting and you are encouraged to email questions in advance to Mark Parsons by 6pm on Saturday. Due to time constraints on Sunday, detailed questions may need to be answered after the meeting.

Appointment of Independent Examiner

The Finance Team proposes the reappointment of Burton Sweet as our Independent Examiners for 2018.  Unless Mark Parsons hears to the contrary by 6pm on Saturday we will assume the meeting approves this appointment.

Deanery Synod Report

The report of the proceedings of the Bristol West Deanery Synod is available here.

Deanery Synod Report 2017.pdf 

Vicar’s Report **

Paul will be using his talk on Sunday to present Vision priorities for the coming couple of years and beyond. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions of Paul – you can email any questions in advance to Mark Parsons by 6pm on Saturday or they can be asked on the day. Due to time constraints on Sunday, detailed questions may need to be answered after the meeting.

Vision Booklet 2018 to 2019

At the end of the gathering you will receive a copy of our Vision Booklet for 2018-19, which will also include a brief look back at 2017.  This will also be available on the church website early next week.

Parents

Our children’s groups will be happening on Sunday as usual.

Refreshments

We will not be serving lunch after this year’s APCM but light refreshments will be available, so please stay on after the meeting – when you will be able to view the plans for RENEWCHRISTCHURCH Phase 2 (the Crypt), and ask more detailed questions. 

APCM re-run at the 5

For those who are unable to make the 10 on Sunday, or for those who are serving in our kids groups then, the 5 will include all the major items covered in the morning – including the finance presentation, Paul’s talk and a further opportunity for questions.

We are looking forward to worshipping together on Sunday, and celebrating all that God is doing here at Christ Church.