PARISH OF SHIRLEY: ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST AND ALL SAINTS SPRING PARK

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF PARISHIONERS
AND ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING
HELD AT 11.30am ON 27th April 2025 in the church

Rev’d Lu Gale (Chair) and Rev’d Tabitha Singh were present at the meetings with some 37 members of the congregation.

Apologies were received from Mick Wall (Warden), Sam Nott, Joyce Newberry and Kelvin Carter.

The meeting began with prayer.

MEETING OF PARISHIONERS: ELECTION OF CHURCH WARDENS

The following were elected unanimously:

Name	Proposed by	Seconded by
Wardens
Georgina Roseveir	Tim Roberson	Christine Healey
Darren White	Christine Healey	Tim Roberson
Deputy Wardens
Viv Barracliffe	Tim Roberson	Georgina Roseveir
Sharon Somaiya	Christine Healey	Barry Payne

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING:

1. Minutes of the preceding APCM

The minutes were approved. Proposed by Tim Hastie and seconded by Teresa McCarthy.
This vote and all following votes were unanimous.
There were no matters arising.

2. To receive the Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for the preceding year

Viv Welch (Treasurer) introduced the accounts for 2024.

Compared to 2023, income from regular giving had been reduced from £63k to £49k. Income from fundraising events was higher in 2023 due to the Christmas Tree Festival. However, a legacy of £25k resulted in an overall rise in voluntary income of some £8k.
Church cottage continued provided a regular income from reliable tenants.
Fees for weddings and funerals had nearly doubled.

In terms of expenditure, there were notable increases in Cost of church music (the full year cost of an organist) and in the parish contribution to the Diocesan Parish Support Fund.
Increased expenditure on Church Cottage covered repairs to remedy damp problems.
Expenditure on the Tamberlin Room was kept low thanks to an anonymous donation of a new water boiler. Thanks also go to Oliver and Elizabeth for their redecoration of the Tamberlin Room, donating both materials and their time.

Turning to the balance sheet, the overall reduction in funds resulted from the deficit of over £7k.

Responding to questions, the Treasurer confirmed that individual tap donations under £30 were gift aided under the Small Plate scheme and that monies were held in funds invested ethically by the Church of England.

The meeting agreed to receive the Report and Accounts:
Proposed by Tim Hastie and seconded by Miranda Heester.

See also item 8, re appointment of Treasurer.

3. Election of Independent Examiner

Peter Runacres has stood down after many years as Independent Examiner.
Colin Haig was elected as the Examiner for the 2025 accounts.
Proposed by Viv Welch, seconded by Jackie Pontin.

4. Election of Representatives for Deanery Synod

Elected to serve for the remaining year of the three-year term to 2026:

Nominated	Proposed by:	Seconded by:
Miranda Heester	Tim Roberson	Tim Hastie

5. Appointment of a representative of the Readers to PCC

Jackie Pontin was proposed by Viv Welch, seconded by Barbara Collins and elected by acclamation.

6. Election of PCC Members. The following was elected unanimously to the PCC:

Nominated	Proposed by:	Seconded by:
Tiffany Barnaby	Tim Roberson	Darren White
Wendy Wall	Georgina Roseveir	Barry Payne
Grant Bailey	Christine Healey	Jane Gorman
Sam Bittar	Rebecca Bittar	Tim Roberson
Mark Omitola	Miranda Heester	Teresa McCarthy

Note: PCC members elected at the April 2025 APCM retire at the April 2028 APCM

7. Appointment of Vice Chairman to PCC

Georgina Roseveir was elected unanimously as Vice Chairman.
Proposed by Sharon Somaiya, seconded by Karen Dovey.

8. Appointment of PCC Treasurer

Viv Welch was elected unanimously, proposed as Treasurer by Teresa McCarthy and seconded by Karen Dovey.

9. Appointment of PCC Secretary

Tim Roberson was elected as PCC Secretary and Electoral Roll Officer.
Proposed Jackie Pontin and seconded by Miranda Heester.

10. Church Electoral Roll:
The Electoral Roll Officer reported that there were 136 on the newly compiled Roll (a reduction from 176 in 2024), of whom 73 are resident within the Parish. Of the latter, 35 were previously resident in the parish of All Saints, Spring Park and were hence identified as ‘Non-Resident’ on the 2024 Roll.

11. Churchwardens’ report on the fabric of the church[1]

Georgina Roseweir presented the churchwardens’ report. Her first year had been challenging but she was absolutely loving it.

The Parish was blessed with a Grade II listed church which is costly to maintain. The premises Committee, headed by Paul Campbell, have been working hard to ensure it is maintained as best we can.

The Quinquennial Inspection had identified two major areas of concern. The roof required more work than anticipated so existing plans had been put on hold.
With leaks to the porch having now been repaired, the way is now open for an area for prayer to be established, available when the church is otherwise closed.

The Parish Conversation (3^rd March 2025) left a really positive impression with the representative of the Diocese (Rev Dr Geoff Dumbreck, Acting Archdeacon of Croydon and Helen Medland, Admin in Ministry and Discipleship Dept)

On Friday 25^th April St John’s parish was amalgamated with All Saints Spring Park (ASSP) and we will now be known as “The Parish of Shirley, St John the Evangelist and All Saints, Spring Park”.

Since the closure of the church during the Covid Pandemic, the Tech Team has been built up to provide audio-visual services both within the church building and more widely. Thanks are due to those on the rota every Sunday, who’s help and support is much appreciated

Thanks also to the many members of the congregation who help with the on-going running of the church, including the Tea Room, it is greatly appreciated.

Particular thanks go to Janet and Ken Martin for regularly cleaning the Tamberlin Room, to the person who had made a donation of a new water boiler and to Oliver and his family for their redecoration of the Tamberlin Room (donating time, labour and materials).

All of this costs. As the Treasurer’s report showed, the parish would benefit from an increased in regular income to keep it going. The Parish Giving Scheme provided a way of making regular donation by direct debit.

The churchyard had received regular maintenance thanks to Charlotte White. The headstones had been tested for stability.

Georgina drew attention to the extensive time commitment from Rev Lu and the Ministry Team. Theirs is a ‘calling’ and we always hoped that they would be there for us in a crisis, day or night. Meetings that went on when others are in bed, a mountain of emails (which although useful) are a bane of our time.

Georgina thanked the two wardens who were stepping down, Mick Wall and Julie Sayer.

Mick had made the difficult decision towards the end of last year, to stand down from his role as Church Warden. Mick would be a loss. Mick has been warm, welcoming and supportive. He would be missed.

Georgina read from Mick’s resignation letter (summarised here).

Mick had been part of the Wardens Team since 2018, just two years after Rev Lu joined Initially as a Deputy Warden that he never wanted to be a Full Warden as he felt he lacked the skills.
During Covid lockdown Mick found a way to keep spreading the Gospel and to keep our church community together. We had never missed a single service – starting with a laptop on the Altar. It was a steep learning curve for all of us! The new Sunday Service at 9am, designed for a younger audience, has turned us from a church in decline, to one that is growing.
Mick referred to one of the wardens’ roles, keeping order in the church. That role included the messages on the church What’s App group, where he felt he failed in not stopping a conversation that hurt many people and would take time to heal. In stepping down as warden he would like to apologize to those that got hurt.
Mick thanked Lu for all that she did (people had no idea just how busy she was) and for the trust she placed in him. He was sorry to have let her and this church down.

Georgina concluded by thanking Mick for all that he had done during his time as Church Warden and to re-assure him he had not failed, he was just human.
Contrary to what Mick had said, he did NOT let anybody down. (Applause).

12. Vicar’s report on the state of the Parish

Lu said she knew in advance what Mick was going to say. It was very easy for us to hurt each other There was a need to be understanding, to be kind, gentle and to pick each other up in love

Referring to the reorganisation of the parish, combining with All Saints, Rev Lu stressed both the size of the task and the extent of the opportunities that lay ahead. The spaces in both the church and the hall offered considerable potential to provide community facilities and an income stream. The journey would be tough but the result would be a beacon of hope.

The reorganisation had been a long and difficult process, one that was made easier by assistance from Barry Goodwin, Barry and June Williams and by Jackie who managed to juggle being a Reader at St John’s with related work for the Diocese. (Applause for Jackie).

The Parish Conversation had provided some really good feedback on how the parish was progressing.

As Curate, Rev Tabitha was an absolute joy and an amazing colleague to have.
Rev Tabitha thanked Lu and the parish for the opportunity.

Lu drew attention to the newly recruited junior members of the choir. With those attending the 9am Mass, this was creating a community for the future.

(Applause)

13. Report on Deanery Synod affairs

Gillian Goldsmith gave a brief report outlining her involvement in Deanery Synod. Principally Synod provided an opportunity for parishes in the Addington Deanery (covering Shirley, West Wickham, Addington, Monks Hill and Selsdon) to exchange experiences.

14. Report on Safeguarding
Georgina Roseveir (Safeguarding Officer), reported that safeguarding training and DBS checks were being undertaken as appropriate across the various roles. While any concerns are addressed by Georgina or Lu, everyone has a responsibility to be vigilant.

15. Any other business.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 12.30pm with prayer led by Jackie followed by the Grace.

Tim Roberson
PCC Secretary

Appendix 1
Churchwardens’ report on the fabric of the church

Repairs and general maintenance are ongoing with our Victorian Church. To keep our beautiful church in good condition can be costly, the premises committee led by Paul Campbell have worked hard to keep the fabric of the Church buildings in good condition.

Church building

The annual Church inspection took place in 2024 undertaken by the Revered Debbie Forman, the Area Dean. The necessary documentation and certificates were in order, and we received no adverse comments.

This year has been one of ongoing maintenance with no major building works undertaken. No further action has been undertaken with regard to the change to LED lighting.

The Noticeboard in Shirley Church Road has been installed, replacing our decaying one. It also gives us more space to advertise our services and events.

Our PCC have decided not to take forward the clock repairs, this is due to the costs involved. It would be fantastic to get this taken forward, but the funds be raised from the community rather than taken from church funds

The Organ builders have made continuous repairs and maintenance to our Organ in 2023/4

Church Cottage continues to be occupied, all maintenance is up to date and our tenants are very happy.

Churchyard

Our Churchyard as with our Church building needs constant maintenance. I’d like thank Charlotte and all your family, for all the love and care that you put into St John’s Churchyard.

H&S and premises committee have an ongoing plan to assess where there are any potentially hazardous headstones with those identified either being laid down or reset.

Our porch roof has a leak, the issue has been identified and will be remediated soon. Unfortunately, our main church roof is showing signs of age, we have had a few occasions when water has found its way in. I feel we need to start planning work to get our roof inspected and remediation carried out, this will be a very expensive expense.

Apart from the roof, warden team feel that the church is generally in good condition.

I would like to thank the tech team for streaming of our services.

People

Our church is not the building but the people who make up our congregation. There are people behind the scenes who just make things work, I am not going to name them, God knows who you are – Thank you.

Finance

Our financials are being depleted just keeping the building running and if we need to replace the roof we will not have the funds to replace it, we all need to look at what we put into the church and decide how important having this place here is to both us and future generations. There is one preferred method of giving and this is PGS (parish giving scheme), you pay by direct debit, you can opt to have your donation increased with inflation and if you are a tax payer they claim the gift aid for us meaning its one less job for us to do. NatWest is closing West Wickham branch which means paying cash in is going to become much harder. Please pray and think about what you can do.

Mick Wall