A pdf version of this with pictures is also in this panel.
APRIL 2024
Dear friends,
It’s been a while since I wrote to you. Lack of time is always a poor excuse for pastoral omissions! However, it really has been very busy and it has all been good.
This is quite a long letter with some important information in it, so you might want to stop now and make yourselves a brew.
I hope you had a good Easter. I was thrilled with our celebrations here, and I thought the church looked wonderful. Our organ music library - provided by David Brocklehurst, Saul Knights and now George Moloney over the last eighteen months - is coming on very well, and we can have services where all the music comes from the organ.
Good news
1. Trees and All Saints Garden.
You will have noticed that the troublesome trees have gone. Some were dead, others dangerous and damaging, and some were diseased. It means there is a clear view of the church from the West and the North, at last. It was expensive, but not completing this work was not an option. We will be making sure Manchester City Council stays on task too. It has responsibility now for the maintenance of the grounds, as ours is a closed churchyard and the PCC invited it to assume joint occupancy of it under the Local Government Act 1972.
2. Heating
In the next few weeks there will be some remedial work to the heating – a bit late, now it’s getting warmer, some might say – and the cost, to be confirmed is approximately £4,000. The new boiler was not installed very well three years ago; the flue lining was not completed, and we need to put in a new thermostat. Advice from our engineers has been to keep the heat on all the time in the winter months, initially to bring the masonry up to temperature and to dry it out; and then maintain a background heat of about 15C. This will be expensive initially, but currently putting on the heating overnight (see below) in expectation the building will be warm enough for Sunday morning is almost a complete waste of money.
3. Electrics
One of the reasons why we’ve not been able put the heating on all the time is because the ring which powers the heating shorts out because of the chronic dampness. We cant address without heat! Besides, thanks to the dampness, the 60s wiring is shot. Also in the next few weeks, we will be re-routing the source of power to the east end of the building. This is a medium term fix and the initial quote for this is £2,000.
Quite good news
Janet C the PCC Treasurer and I have been working hard with officers at the Diocesan Office to reach a more reasonable ‘Parish Share’. This is the sum of money the Board of Finance asks of us as our contribution to paying for a) the cost of the parish priest (approximately £55k) and the services it provides the parishes. The slight snag is that a minimum share request has been introduced, which is £9,400 just over half our current assessment, but of which we can only afford, at current income levels, to pay £6000 without setting a deficit budget. We will have to set a deficit budget this year and make up the shortfall by fund-raising. However, if we make what is asked of us, once more we will be eligible for grant aid, to which we are currently not entitled because we can’t afford to pay our share in full, or anything like.
We are meticulous in our accounting and budgeting. It is a source of huge frustration for me that there are some parishes who can pay but wont and have built up large unrestricted or dedicated funds. Our honesty will be rewarded.
Less Good News
The average weekly giving per person across the diocese is just over £10.00 per week. Here it’s just under half that. COVID has affected so much so badly, and many churches have noted that weekly attendance has slipped, and weekly giving with it, although church membership in terms of electoral rolls has been more static. Whether people attend worship or not the weekly costs are the same for the church, the only variables being the number of communion wafers and the quantity of communion wine.
I stopped being embarrassed about talking about money a long time ago, but I still don’t enjoy it. There is no strict rule about what is expected. There is one guide which I think is reasonable which is between 5-7.5% of disposable income after all living/ family costs have been met.
To have a parish priest in place, and a building which is insured and maintained (and we could do more if we could afford to) one way or another costs ‘the church’ £1500 a week. If you come once a month that’s more than £6000 between visits!
Nobody else is funding us, just us! The only money we get from ‘the tax-payer’ is some VAT back on building and repair work, as we are a Listed building.
Annual Parish and Parochial Church Meetings.
These are set for Sunday 19th May, and as they’re broadly a formality and only take a few minutes, they follow on from the service. There is a timetable for preparations for the meeting, including the presentation of reports and accounts.
1. Electoral Roll
The revision of the current roll is about to begin. It ends on 4th May. If you’re over 16 and are not on it and want to be, please fill in an application form, downloadable from this email or pick up a hard copy in church. It does not cost anything! The T&Cs are on the form.
2. Elections
Each year the Church Wardens and other officers are elected. PCC members, who are your representatives, have terms of office which may need to be renewed or a rep may chose not do that, in which case there will be some vacancies. Even if there are no vacancies it is often possible to co-opt additional members to the council.
3. Reports and accounts
These will be made available at least one week in advance of the meetings, and will be in hard copy and online (A Church Near You M40 1LR). Questions about the reports and accounts should be submitted in advance of the meeting.
Sunday by Sunday
The pattern of worship we’re working towards needs another push, especially on the first Sunday of the month, where we were hoping to have a robed team of crucifer, and lantern bearers, and/or others who could assist around the altar. It would be nice to have this every week.
This is not just for ‘the young’, it’s for all. If you are interested in becoming a ‘servant of the sanctuary’ please let me know.
Likewise, if you would like to read one of the lessons, or explore the idea of leading the prayers, please let me know.
The more involved in the moving and speaking parts of worship the better.
Manchester and Salford Whit Walk
Monday 27th May, from 10.00 am (tbc)
Parishes have been slow to sign up this year, but please pencil in this date. We walk from the cathedral to St Peter’s Square, and back again.
I like to hear from you, especially if you would like me to visit.
Continuing Easter Blessings,
Fr Andrew
[email protected] 07596 514 541