The Parochial Church Council meets regularly throughout the year to discuss and make decisions on all kinds of issues relating to the Church at Whitkirk.
We think it’s essential that the parish know what their PCC is talking about, which is why we’ll be sharing these updates after each meeting. We won’t go into the nitty-gritty details of what we discussed but will give you an overview and a summary of decisions. This is a summary of the meeting held on 21 September.
- The Church’s finance team presented an update on our financial position. The effects of the Coronavirus pandemic are still being felt, but the Church is able to increase its parish share contribution.
- We talked about the pattern of services we offer and how best to expand these as we recover from the pandemic. As the situation is uncertain as we head into winter, we will stick with our current weekly pattern of eucharistic services and review this decision in six months. We will, however, be reintroducing morning and evening prayers and are currently putting the finishing touches on how this will work.
- There was a lengthy discussion about the precautions we take to keep people safe. At the moment, communion will remain as bread only with the congregation invited to stand around the altar. We are aiming to reintroduce the Common Cup as we enter the season of Advent. We are also keeping the current handshake-free approach to the Peace, and we are not holding a collection during services. All changes to our precautions are based on current infection rates and guidance, so this plan may change.
- A proposal to add bike racks to our car park was discussed. Although the PCC agreed in principle, they didn’t feel the plan in its current state was ready. A revised plan will be looked at in the next meeting.
- Our current policy of not hiring the Community Centre on Sundays was revisited, and several points were made both for and against keeping this policy. Currently, this policy remains in place, but we’re doing some more research on demand and costs, and will revisit this at the next meeting with more information.
- We’re updating some of our safeguarding training and materials, and the PCC will be told about any changes needed at their next meeting.
- We discussed upcoming events, and our Social and Events Team’s provisional plans for activities in 2022.
- A proposal was made to adopt a new environmental policy. The PCC requested some amendments, and a revised policy will be presented at the next meeting.
- Finally, we agreed to request some updates to our license for servers and administrants.
If you have any comments, or if you’d like to raise an issue for the PCC or one of its committees to discuss, then please let us know!