St John's Upper Hopton Reports for 2006
Church Warden’s Report 2006
Last year’s growth seems to have gathered momentum and the church was full on Easter Day when we welcomed Annette, George, Jessica, Katie and Tracey, who were confirmed on Easter Eve at the Cathedral, to their first communion, and baptised Elizabeth Arrowsmith and Molly Firth. In the evening we held a Three Parishes Songs of Praise at St John’s to say our goodbyes to Revd Stephanie Buchanan with wine and nibbles served in Croft House after the service at which she was given a gift of containers for oils and a prayer bracelet from the children. Stephanie thanked us and presented books for the Children's corner.
During the year there were 16 baptisms, 8 weddings and 6 funerals. Sadly in September Jack Ramsden died after a short illness. He had devoted more than 50 years to the choir and many years as Church Warden and he was a founder member of the Council of Friends. Following the funeral, when the church was overflowing, the PCC decided to place a plaque and a shrub (azalea?) in the graveyard to commemorate Jacks contribution to Church music of some 70 years and for his extensive services as Warden at St John's. Jack Ramsden's daughter, Judith, gave the £800 collected at his funeral with a request that this be spent on hymn books. 30 new hymn books were purchased at a cost of £178.20. Owen suggested that the remainder of Jack’s money be donated towards the cost of an electronic piano. Judith agreed with this and Owen is looking for an electronic piano at reasonable cost.
This year the Dedication Service and Lunch was arranged for Sunday 19th November. Revd. John Williams was invited to preach and during the service he presented a certificate to mark the Graduation of Sue Auckland, Chris Breare, Sheila Harford, Gill Hawksworth, Ian Moorhouse and Sue Young, from the Wakefield Ministry Scheme.
The Core Team of the WMS have now progressed to become the Ministry and Mission Team and have invited Anne Heeley and Owen Ryder to join the Team. They will expand their remit to plan All Age Worship, workshops, social functions and other services such as a Songs of Praise to round off the day of the Garden Trail. The AAW has, over the last year, been led by some members of the team on several occasions without the assistance of a priest. The numbers at the AAW services continue to increase particularly where we have a theme and send out invitations. The number of services, where the church is full, is also in increasing so the spiritual life of St John’s is thriving. We and the congregation enjoy the diversity of worship and stimulation provided by our Priests, Peter, Ann , Helen and Gill and we lok forward to Wendy Dalrymple joining the parish as curate.
Sue Auckland and Ann Heeley prepare children for Baptism and follow up their birthdays and Sue is now the official Baptism Contact for St John’s. Sheila and Gill continue to comfort a growing number of housebound parishioners with home communion. Chris continues to visit relatives as a follow up after funerals using the leaflet designed by the Team.
Other suggestions of the Ministry and Mission team are to
· Increase Pastoral care in the village including pre-wedding evening meetings for couples to be married.
· House Groups and Away days.
· Open the church more often for prayer. A mid-week prayer service could be held initially by PCW and/or AP moving eventually to a lay person.
The issue of opening the church was discussed by the PCC and a Risk Assessment would be required before proceeding. Ecclesiastical Insurers would be happy but required that all brass to be locked away and that we need bolts or locks on all three doors giving access to the Vicar's Vestry.
As a new initiative during Lent, Morning Prayer and Compline were said each Tuesday and as in previous years, house groups were held across the three parishes together with one ecumenical group which have continued to meet once a month since last year. On Good Friday we held a successful Children's Workshop followed by a short service in Church. A Lenten Lunch was held in Croft House and this raised £122 for USPG.
The Christmas Fair and the Carol Service were successful and 40-50 people attended "carols round the tree" after which the singers then moved onto the Club to sing there. 21 adults and 14 children attended the Crib Service, 95 attended Midnight Mass with a further 40 on Christmas Day.
The Open House continues to thrive with assistance from members of UHCA and special thanks are due to Gail Auty who regularly transports the older ladies to and from Croft House.
Charitable giving
The church was decorated for the Harvest Festival by the Cricket Club, Hopton in Bloom, the Art Class and the Club. After the morning service, the gifts were taken to the Club where a service was held at 8 p.m. and an auction of goods followed. The auction raised £125 and this was donated to the Mara appeal. Several attempts have been made by Carole Sykes to establish a link to a twin parish in Mara through the diocese but we rea disappointed that as yet this has not come to fruition.
One of the Warden’s purchased an AQUABOX which has a list of essential things to aid survival and then when empty can hold a good quantity of fresh water. Members of the congregation have over time donated all the items required to fill it. Rotary are organising these in readiness to send to disaster areas.
The collection at Midnight Mass was £184 and the whole collection was sent to Kirkwood Hospice.
In January Diana Ryder and Sue Young attended a Food Hygiene Course and at the end of the course passed an examination to gain their certificates.
Everyone requiring it had now been registration with the CRB. The PCC reviewed the current Child Protection Policy and decided that no change was needed.
Our special thanks go to Michael Hampshire for all he does over and above his work as secretary. He is the only person thin and agile enough to access the Tower. He has reported on Safety in Church, in the Graveyard and Croft House; compiled Risk Assessments, Fire Safety Report and Policy and carried PAT tests on all portable electric equipment. We are grateful to Dammika Nixon who has as always helped to keep our books in order and has ensured we paid our parish share in full again this year.
The wardens also thanks Cynthia Shaw as Sacristan and Annette Wright as verger ; Sue Auckland and Diana Ryder for providing Coffee after the Sunday services; all the sidespeople, cleaners and flower arrangers who together with organists and members of our choir, ensure the church is ready to welcome all who come in.
Fred continues to work tirelessly in the graveyard to keep it in immaculate condition and he basks in the praise of those who stop to admire his work. He was delighted to be presented with a Silver Award from Hopton in Bloom for his work
Outstanding projects
A plaque and a shrub (azalea?) in the graveyard to commemorate Jack Ramsden contribution to the worship and music of St John’s.
A plaque to dedicate of the Millennium Window Garden to Shirley Hartley.
Purchase of an Electronic piano.
A Plaque on Jack’s seat in the choir.
Replacement Church Yard Gates
Chris Breare and Sue Young April 2007
Fabric Report 2006-7
Church
John Street renewed 15 feet of coping to the east gable of the north aisle and inserted new lead work to the ridge at a cost of £1,175 on 10 April. After finding the water pipe to the church was leaking, a new water pipe was laid from to road directly to the church into vestry behind the organ. After much effort in drilling through the walls, which has a rubble interface, Michael installed a new sink, draining board and double socket in the vestry and a new outside tap on the vestry wall.
A quotation for Public Address and Hearing Loop System has been obtained for £2476.43 (inc VAT) to install 1 Mixer Amp, 5 speakers, 2 CD and 2 microphone Sockets, loop and loop amp. In addition we will require 1 Stand microphone at £211 each, 3 radio microphones at £258 each and a CD player at £199. The Faculty has been issued and the system will be installed shortly. The CD player will be purchased independently.
The church was Spring Cleaned on Saturday 10 June in readiness for the Garden Trail when to church was open all day.
New Fire regulation came into force on 1 Oct 06. The Secretary prepared a risk assessment and action plan.
· A spare key should be permanently located on the inside of the door to the vicar's vestry to enable escape through this entrance at all times. Owen agreed to purchase a glass box and Sue Y a spare key.
· A smoke alarm is fitted in the choir vestry
· A smoke alarm is fitted to the adjoining wall close to the access between the organ loft and the vicar's vestry.
·
Health and
Safety procedures should be revisited to define the rules regarding the access
to the tower as follows:-
It is essential that anyone going up the tower should take with them a mobile
phone so they can raise the alarm if a fire does occur in this staircase.
· No one goes up the clock tower unless they are agile and fit enough to climb out onto the tower roof.
Concern was expressed that the Del Sol heaters had not been serviced for many years
Graveyard
The oak post for the main notice board has been replaced by Roy Mulligan. It was also noted that the glass-fronted notice board needs repainting and the wooden notice board is falling down. All three churches need to have a uniform set of wording on the main notice board and this will be sorted out in the future.
During the winter of 2006 Fred cleaned the Church Paths with Power Jet hired by Sue .
John Street rebuilt the roof of the Sunray Arch (it was in such a poor state, that it was beyond repair) in the graveyard at a cost of £795 and also filled several holes in the graveyard path as a temporary repair. The Friends had earmarked money to the value of £540 from John Spencer Huxley's funeral to pay for this and funded the repair in full.
A proposal for a Flower Border under the Millennium Window was prepared by Jennifer Mason with a material cost of £535. It was funded from money collected in memory of Shirley Hartley, currently held by the Friends for Lighting. Eric Hartley was in agreement with this change.
Jennifer reworked the planting scheme to allow for an 18 inch border to the Church wall free of plants. The Shrubs were chosen to have a 20 year life and not to spread towards the church wall. Planting was completed by the end of October.
Consent to prune and lift the oak trees to 10 feet over the cinerarium has been given under the tree preservation order. This was done by Adam Williamson. Kirklees have served a notice to remove the horse chestnut tree directly in front of Croft House by 23rd March as it is diseased and now dangerous; it has to be replaced with a Norwegian Maple next winter. The best quote is from Adam Williams and will cost £470. The Village in Bloom Committee has agreed to meet 1/3 of the cost and to pay for the replacement tree. The PCC would pay for 1/3 of the costs and Croft House Management Committee meet the remaining third of the cost. It was noted that during the inspection, 5 other horse chestnuts were reported to be diseased also and these would have to be felled in the next year.
One of the two dilapidated Garages has been removed as requested. The garages are in the newly enlarged conservation area. Nigel Richardson (Second on Left from Croft House) has been granted permission to replace his garage with a new base and modern construction.
The Secretary sent a letter of thanks to Trevor Davison for his service over many years.
Health and Safety Issues Outstanding
Ian Moorhouse has agreed to look at the surface of the bottom step to the rear door as this is breaking up.
Ian has also agreed to rectify the short section of copings to boundary wall to the north-east corner of the graveyard; these require bonding with cement.
No action yet on Safety barrier at the top of the tower,
No further progress has yet been made on the ramp from the lych gate
Tree roots have lifted the concrete slabs forming the graveyard path and in places these present a possible trip hazard. It was suggested that the exposed edges be painted white.
Loose Memorial Stones.The headstones presenting a possible risk are:-
· Richard Brown - located in oldest graveyard outside the church door adjacent to the east side of the main path. This stone is reasonably large and needs to be laid down within its curbs.
· James Henry - located in the second phase graveyard close to the south boundary wall.
· John Brook 1974 - East of the top path.
· Elizabeth Bull 1984.
·
Paul and
Sheila Buckley 1988 Annie English 1966
Projects in hand
Gates
Chris has obtained a quote and drawing from Roy Mulligan for new double gates make of solid European Oak to replace the dilapidated ones which were lost some years ago at the entrance to the churchyard from Croft House. An application for Faculty has been made before we can proceed. The Gates are to be constructed of European Oak to a design similar to the Lych gates. The cost of £1450, which includes making and fitting together with the iron work, will be met by the Friends.
Vicarage
An attempt was made to break into the empty vicarage in November and a new alarm was fitted by the Diocese. The villagers are delighted that the vicarage has been refurbished and that Wendy Dalrymple, the curate to the Mirfield Team parish is to live there with her family.
Croft House -
1. A new floor covering has been placed in the side entrance lobby.
2. The Trap Door in the main hall has been remade.
3. Some guttering to the building is unsound and needs attention.
4. Three free smoke alarms have been placed in the premises.
5. An amended set of hire rules is needed to tighten up the requirements for kitchen rules.
6. The twin socket under the window in the main hall has been replaced.
Chris Breare and Sue Young April 2007
Proceedings of Parochial Church Council-1 Jan to 31 Dec 2006
The PCC held 11 meeting in the year to transact parish business. All aspects of work of the parish was discussed and at every meeting Health and Safety was on the agenda.
On 30 July the PCC conducted a safety tour of the church, graveyard and Croft House. Action has been taken or is in hand following the report of this inspection.
A new Roll was created for 2007 and was closed on 10 April 07 15 days before this AGM. There were 66 names on the Roll a fall of 32 from the previous year. It is expected that some of these missing Roll members will complete their forms at a later date.
Our parish share for 2006 was set at £12,513. However, the diocese made a £1,000 reduction in our share on the 31 st January 2006, which brought it down to £11,513 which we paid in full. The Bishop has sent a thank you letter to us for paying the full parish share. We managed to pay the parish share without drawing from our savings account due to the fact that our income has increased by £4,298 from 2005 to 2006.
This year our parish share has been set at £ 13,4 72 and we have paid our quarter share of £3,368 in March 2007.
We paid £ 152 to Kirkwood Hospice and £125 to Mara.
Jack Ramsden's funeral donation is £800.42. Thirty new hymn books were purchased at a accost of £178.20 and the rest of the monies are going to the New Parish team as 'restricted' to use for an electric piano for St John's at the wish of the family.
The CBF fund is closed now and the full balance of £8,681.26 has been transferred to HSBC. By the time we become one parish, St John's will have one account.
I would like to take this opportunity for thanking Michael for his valuable advice over the years and Chris, Sheila and Sue for their generous support. Without the teamwork, I would not have been able to fulfil my role as Treasurer. I wish you all well going forward as ONE PARISH.
Dammika Nixon April 2007
Sunday School Report 2006
Our Sunday School has enjoyed another successful year with 14 children on the register and three teachers, Anne Heeley, Cathryn Moorhouse and Tracey Thompson. One of the highlights was when Katie Moorhouse and Jessica Firth were confirmed at the Cathedral on Easter Eve.
During the year the children have contributed to and become more involved in the life of the church. They assist in giving out and collecting books, distributing refreshments and take active parts in the All Age Worship Services. Thanks to all who lead the services and encourage the children to develop their faith.
An outing to the Pantomime in Croft House was enjoyed by the children, teachers and Wardens alike.
We held two highly successful workshops, one at Christmas and one on Good Friday with 30 children attending the last one. Thanks to everyone who helped to organise them especially Chris and Sue our wardens.
Thanks finally to Peter, Ann and Helen for all their help and encouragement in making the Sunday school a very important part of the life of St John’s.
Anne Heeley April 2007
Report of the Council of Friends 2006-7
During the year the friends have funded the following projects:-
The east gable repairs (£1175),
Half the cost of the new water supply to the vestry (£800 ) and also £226 for the installation of the sink.
Cleaning the Church Paths by Fred with Power Jet hired by Sue Young.
Repair of the Sun Ray Arch.
Design and planting the Millennium Garden
Projects in hand
A quote has been received for 5 speakers with microphones etc for £2476.43. Extras such as more microphones would be needed at additional costs of £211 for each stand microphone. The Friends will cover the cost of the system
New gates from Croft House into graveyard, designed and made by Roy Mulligan.
£200 is still outstanding for the cleaning of the pictures in the chancel.
Purchase of Children’s Bibles to present to the children baptised at St John’s.