Thank You
By the time you read this, the Parochial Church Council (PCC) will have held its annual meetings – reflecting on the year just gone (2024) and setting some things in place for the year to come (2025). It always feels a little odd that the meetings take place so far into the “next” year, but there’s little that can be done about that – a lot of work goes into the production of the reports, especially the financial statements, and this all takes time. It’s with this in mind that I write. I want to take the opportunity to express my gratitude to the people who have supported the work of the PCC through 2024. I do this as part of my own verbal report to the annual meetings, but the audience at those meetings is limited (by law, as it happens), so this forum is a better means through which to convey those thanks and to share more publicly some of the ways that the PCC is involved in community life.
Firstly, it may help uninitiated readers to know that the PCC is the executive committee of a Church of England parish. The ecclesiastical (church) parish often shares the same physical boundaries as the civil parish, but not always – Wareside is a case in point. The Parish Council has its own responsibilities for community life within the civil parish as the smallest unit of national government; the PCC is the smallest unit of ecclesiastical government and plays a key role in the life and governance of the ecclesiastical parish, working alongside the clergy to support and promote the church’s mission. The PCC is a charitable body under UK law and therefore accountable to the Charity Commission. Those elected to the PCC are trustees of the charity and must therefore comply with relevant legislation relating to trustees.
With this background made clear, it makes sense that my first thanks should go to those who serve with me on the PCC as trustees of the charity, carrying the responsibility that goes with that role. Amongst the membership of the PCC there are people who have different roles, each with their own specific responsibilities: church wardens who have their particular obligations in relation to the bishop; deanery synod representatives who also sit on the next layer of church government (the ecclesiastical equivalent of the district council); and secretaries and treasurers whose responsibilities you can probably work out. Regular meetings are held throughout the year and trustees are expected to follow up decisions with action between those meetings to ensure that the business of the PCC is enacted.
There is also a Parish Safeguarding Officer whose role is critical in advising the trustees of new guidance, administering training records, writing reports and giving counsel on policies and procedures as well as being the primary point of contact for anyone with a disclosure to make about abuse. The burden carried by the PSO is significant, and we should all be very grateful that this work is done so diligently in our parish.
Beyond this, other volunteers give generously and freely of their time and talents: bell ringers, bible readers, caterers, cleaners, editors, flower arrangers, organists and prayer-partners. Simply put, without all these people stepping up, the church would not be able to provide the services and opportunities that it does. I am so, so grateful. Thank you all very much.
Mark Dunstan
