Hagley Parochial Church Council
Approved Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 31 July 2025 at 7.30pm at St Saviour’s.
Present: John Gowar, Margaret Rankin, Sharon Bryant, Sarah Piper, Fiona Taylor, Margret Tindall, Sue Priest, Tom Owen, Mark Taylor, Kim Topham, Graham Perkins, Barbara Albert, Alan Smith.
Opening Prayers: Tom opened the meeting with prayers.
- Apologies: David Trewin, Diane Mottershead, Jenny Moulder, Bob Jones, Wendy Jones, Michael Norris.
Minutes of meeting held on 22 May 2025: The Minutes were approved and signed by Tom. Proposed by Fiona seconded by Kim
- Matters arising from the Minutes, AOB and summary of the Extraordinary meeting: No matters arising. The minutes of the Extraordinary meeting, circulated prior to the meeting, were approved and signed by Tom. Proposed by Sarah Piper, seconded by Margret T.
- Finance: The Treasurers report up to the end of June, was distributed prior to the meeting. Items to note – reduction in light and heating costs (high costs in 2024, and timings of invoices) and reduction in printing costs . The Parish Office laptop needs replacing as it will not upgrade to Windows 11. £750 was agreed for the purchase from Yes Computers – proposed by Fiona, seconded by Graham. Repair costs due to the recent break in at St Saviour’s will be covered by insurance minus £250 excess. The work will be done by Stylers.
Investments – documents were circulated prior to the meeting. It is noted that the approx. costs of £5000 - £10,000 to pay for external independent investment advice would likely to exceed the extra income received. A reasonable investment target for the PCC would expect a return of C.P.I. (inflation +2%). The returns currently achieved have been close to this. Our investments are with the CCLA (Churches, Charities and Local Authorities) and all in C of E funds. These funds have an ‘invest with purpose’ ethical stance, which may result in a lower return in support of ethical investments. The CCLA has been brought out by Jupiter Fund Management. They will keep the C of E funds separate and continue with ethical principles.
We currently have £209,000 in a deposit account which is more than is needed for foreseeable future costs, so Mark recommends that a couple of years’ costs of the Children, Youth and Family worker be kept accessible, and £134,000 be transferred into a C of E Global Equity fund. Over the last few years this fund has achieved a return of 10.66%.
Proposal that the PCC does not take independent advice.
The above proposals were unanimously approved.
4. Modernisation Project : Our Parish Profile expressed a desire to develop and grow contemporary forms of worship. Tom proposes the introduction of wall mounted TV screens to develop contemporary worship at St Saviour’s. As St Saviour’s is not a listed building, it will be easier to modernise before rolling out to St John’s and St Leonard’s. The TVs will help with the provision of contemporary music and will be on a mount to sit flat against the wall when not in use, and then capable of extending out into different directions depending on how the church is being used. A computer solely for the use of worship will be required, along with software for licensed music. The license would be transferable so that it can be used throughout the Benefice and in local care homes. A faculty would be required. A TV in the Church Hall could be used to have rolling adverts for our services. The replacement heating survey would need to take into account the TVs. Moveable chairs rather than pews are already in place which is good for different types of worship. The proposal to begin a process of advancing the church for use in our New Worshipping communities and for the development of contemporary worship as outlined in the Parish profile. Proposed by Margret T and seconded by John – passed unanimously.
5. New Worshipping Community: This will be in collaboration with Life Central and Hope Hagley, to provide a style of worship aimed at, but not exclusively for, young adults and young professionals, and those who don’t attend church already. A coffee bar style of church, with a welcoming, hospitable, recognisable space to engage people in worship. Life Central and Hope Hagley bring a contemporary style of worship, and our contribution is to develop engagement with scripture, and the sermon slot would be exploring a biblical story e.g. Matthew the tax collector. This is a different type of service and would be at 7.30 pm on the second Sunday each month at St Saviour’s starting 14 September. Hope Hagley will provide the advertising leaflets to be delivered to every home in Hagley. The paperwork to register this as a New Worshipping Community with the Diocese was completed. Proposed by Sarah, seconded by Fiona, passed unanimously.
6. Evangelism: Kim explained how she uses her time spent helping at Clent Connect as a starting point for conversations. The Alpha course has guidance about how to engage with others.
7. Security: Security is being reviewed following the break in at St Saviour’s with advice from the police and recommendations from the architect preparing the Quinquennial report. Effective and affordable solutions such as a light and motion sensor, CCTV. To increase the security for lone workers e.g. Parish Administrator and potentially the CYF worker, an internal camera to see who is in the building. New locks for the Parish Office to protect confidential information, and a small safe in the office for the laptop and any petty cash. David Trewin will look at costs and bring them to the Standing Committee for consideration. St John’s is in need of an internal camera in the Vestry area behind the organ curtain – this will be done after St Saviour’s. Thanks to June and Graham’s work on the finance team, the amount of cash held on the premises is low. The proposal to implement these security measures, dependent on costs, proposed by Graham and seconded by Alan, was passed unanimously.
8. Festivals and events: Harvest in Hagley will be on 14 September
9. Church fabric: The Quinquennial report has been done. Maintenance is good. Some stonework needs monitoring. Minor works required – roof pointing and guttering. The Fabric Committee will assess the works to be done. See report circulated prior to the meeting.
10. Reports: a) Eco Church- Looking at options for heating replacement and the purchase of blankets for use during the winter months during church services. They would like to include dates in the Wildlife calendar into the services, particularly the family services. Worcester Wildlife Trust gives talks about bats and awareness of wildlife around churches. A reminder to use fairtrade and eco friendly products.
b) Social events group – They are holding a flower demonstration evening with Andrew the Florist, at St John’s. Tickets priced at £10 to include a glass of wine and canapes are sold out.
c) Contact Magazine- The magazine will not continue. Only one person answered the request for help on the committee. Thank you to the team for all the work they have done over the many years and to Adam Smith who did the printing in recent years. Without Adam’s generous gift of printing the magazine, it would have generated a significant loss. Tom acknowledged the care and time that David Blackburn, Margaret Rankin, Kim, and Sophie Topham put into the magazine and to Linda Jordan and her teams of distributors. Linda has started the process of refunds for the advertisers and subscribers. It is acknowledged that some found the magazine useful for location and times of church services, and so we will promote the Pewsheet as the primary source of printed information and Sue will do a quarterly leaflet with the service details.
d) Churchwardens- See attached report circulated prior to the meeting, plus Michael and Margaret have started the inventory for St John’s.
e) Church hall- see attached report circulated prior to the meeting.
11. Electoral Roll: 85
12. Safeguarding: Nothing to report as Jenny is on holiday
13. AOB: Margaret Norris to be reauthorised as a Pastoral ALM – passed unanimously.
14. Next Meeting: 25 September 2025
The next Hagley PCC meeting is on Thursday 25 September 2025 7.30 pm at St Saviour’s.
The meeting closed with Grace.
Chairman............................................................................. Date: 25 September 2025