Snippets from the PCC meeting – 30th June 2020
The PCC’s meeting on 30th June was the third one which we had held over Zoom due to the lockdown restrictions. Among the items discussed were:
The effect of the pandemic
At previous meetings we were deciding to cancel or postpone things because of the pandemic. This time we were able to look forward to things being resumed. Publication of the magazine will resume from the August issue, the Century Club will resume from the draw on 27th July and the church was already being opened for private prayer, although with restrictions.
The government had announced that churches would be able to open for public worship from 4th July but had only published the guidance which we would need to follow the day before the meeting (less than a week before the starting date) and we had still not had the Church of England guidance. While we were able to discuss the general principles of how we would hope to arrange worship in the coming weeks we were not able to make any firm decisions. It was, however, clear that it would be necessary to continue to provide services online for those who were not able to go to church or would prefer not to.
The West Door and the area by the Adam and Eve Window
We are still waiting for final approval of our choice of chairs, which is the remaining part of the application relating to the reordering of the Lady Chapel. We are now able to make the applications to the diocese for approval of our plans for the West Door and the area by the Adam and Eve window. Those will be treated as separate applications so that if there is a problem with one it should not affect the other. The reordering of the North Aisle has not been forgotten but its complexity means that it will take more preparation and consultation before we are in a position to make that application.
Eco Church
At the end of March we were notified that we had been awarded a bronze level award under the Eco Church scheme, which is an award scheme for churches of all denominations in England and Wales who want to demonstrate that they care for God’s earth. Since then we have been submitting further information as a result of which we have reached the point at which we can apply for the silver award.