The Wychwood Benefice ST Mary's Shipton-under-wychwood Sunday 18th May 2025 at noon after the 11am service in the Church AGENDA ANNUALVESTRY MEETING 1. Opening Prayer 2. Apologies 3. Minules of the last meeting 4. Election of Churchwardens ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING 1. Minutes of the last meeting 2. The reports The Vicar's report The electoral roll Financial report (iv) Churchwardens, report (v) Annual fabric report (vi) Deanery Synod report (vii) Safeguarding (viii) Other reports 3. The elections and appointments Elect PCC members Elect Representatives to Deanery Synod (iii) Appoint sidesmen (iv) Appoint independent examiner 4. Looking ahead 5. Any other business EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL 1. Election of officers 2. Appointment of Standing Committee 3. Date of first meeting Church Wardens, Re ort During this period there were three baptisms, three weddings, nine funerals with one burial and one burial of ashes, Interregnum: The interregnum officially started on 23rf August 2023. Services were conducted by Anne Hartley, Karen Rizzello and several lay people during this period. Many thanks to all who helped during this time. There was a Collation, Installation and Induclion service for the new vicar, Sarah Sharp on 23r¢ September 2024, This was presided over by the Bishop and some 128 people attending. followed by refreshments afterwards. As well as bringing her own style to the role of vicar, Sarah inaugurated a new service. Tjus. every first Sunday of the month there is an evening service at 6pm instead of the 11 am morning service. These have only been going for a shor time but seem to be well attended. Services.. Services for certain age groups of the Wychwood School have been well attended. There were 116 for the Easter, 210 for the School Harvest and 150 for the carol service. Generally the attendance on Sundays is holding up well despite the very minimum heating inside the church. For Palm Sunday there were 62 people with 79 on Easter Sunday, Advent carols was well attended by 99 people, 105 came to the Crib and Chrstingle service. There were 61 at midnight mass and 60 on Christmas morning. Future Plans.. A delegation form Church House visited church a few weeks ago. A presentation was made to them for a new heating system. Some weeks later the feed back was received that out proposal was not acceptable. However, we were not informed as to what would be acceptable. We are presently reviewing options. The whole re-ordering of the church hinges on approval of a new heating system. Hence things are on hold at the present. James Walmsley Safe uardin Liz Watts continues as Parish Safeguarding Officer and reports to the PCC. Training and DBS checking are up-to-date and there have been no incidents to report. We must however all remain vigilant to ensure our church is a safe place. Electoral Roll Sue Robinson The electoral roll closed with 39 registered. BELLRINGING l am pleased to report that Laura Cooper, our youngest ringer, has progressed well in her ringing endeavours. Together with her mother, Tracey, who is also one of our ringers, Laura has rung bells in many towers in Oxfordshire. Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and central London. Progressing to ring many quarter peals, (a quarter peal takes approximately 45 minutes of continuous ringing) and ringing in her first peal, (approximately 3 hours of continuous ringing) just before her 14th Birthday. Earlier in 2024 Laura, with the help of some sponsorship from the PCC Bell Fund, attended a four-day residential ringing training course centred on Bradfield School in Berkshire. Again, as in 2023, on a Saturday in February 2024, some Shipton ringers visited the church on the Colesbourne Estate in Gloucestershire to ring as part of their Snowdrop Festival. We rang the bells for two weddinging during the year and hosted seven bands of visiting ringers. Six quarter peals, featuring Shipton ringers, have been rung on our tower bells. Some to celebrate significant anniversaries of some of our ringers and on 23rd September 2024 before the Installation Service for our Vicar, Rev Sarah Sharp. The bells were also rung before the Advent Carol Service, the Nine Lessons and Carols Service, and the traditional "Carols Around the Tree" on Christmas Eve. Wednesday practices have been well attended, and additional practices have been held on the last Friday of the month for more advanced ringers. Many thanks to our team of ringers and those from neighbouring parishes how have assisted us with the above and for Sunday Service ringing during the year. If there is anyone out there who would be interested in taking up bellringing or is a lapsed ringer who is considering a to return to ringing, please contact Mike Brooks at mikeandjoy18@gmail.com. Mike Brooks 2210412025 SACRISTAN'S REPORT The linen and communion vessels, (chalice, ciborium, paten and cruets), are in good condition. Alter frontals are showing signs of wear and age, and damage by MI￿ which get into the Vestry. Some chasubles are also showing signs of wear because of their age. My thanks to Alan Waugh who helps prepare the communion table and acts as altar server when needed. Alan will soon be moving from the area so we will need someone to help prepare the communion table and help as server Thanks also to the people who administer the second chalice. It has been a pleasure to welcome Sarah Sharp as our new Vicar, and to assist the clergy during services in church and in Old Prebendal House. Joy Brooks 0810412025 CHURCHAND BRASS CLEANING Church Cleaning of the church is now done entirely by volunteers. Thank you to Mary Drainer and her band of helpers for their regular cleaning sessions which keep the church looking cared for. Thanks, are also due to David Enson who, on most days, and before and after ServI￿S and events in the church.. vacuum cleans the main isle carpet. Several visitors have commented that the church looks well cared for. So well done everyboby. Brass Our brass cleaners, Sandra Darnell and Jenny Meredith, have. when personal circumstances allowed, kept the brass sparkling. Mike Brooks 2110412025 SERVICE DUTY ROTA Thank you to all our sidespersons, readers and intercessors on behalf of the congregation and ministry team, for their contribulion to our seNices in St Mary's. The rota covers a period of two months at a time, and I try to issue it a month in advance to give people time to plan their Sundays or to arrange to swap duties if they are unavailable on a particular Sunday. We are desperately short of people to lead intercessions and would welcome new recruits to this important roll. Anyone who feels that they could offer their services for this please talk to Rev. Sarah. Also, additional sidespersons would be welcome. Sidespersons are elected officers of the church, and as such must be members of the Church Electoral Roll and are elected at the APCM. If you feel that you could offer your seNices for this duty, please speak to myself or to Churchwardens David Ensor or James Walmsley. Mike Brooks 2110412025 Vicars Re (Sarah Sharp} Since my arrival in the benefice in September I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of spirit and enthusiasm from the people of Shipton. My impression is that this is a vibrant community in which the church has a huge role to play. It has been my intention to change as little as possible as I try to find my role in the continuing work of the Church. That said I have changed the pattern of services slightly altering the benefice service Sundays from the first and third to the second and fourth Sundays of the month. The new evening service is an opportunity for people who find Sunday mornings too busy and is bringing in people who worship elsewhere in the momings. It is also an opportunity for the choir to expand their repertoire and does not seem to have affected attendance and it is good to see the close working relationship the benefice has. It has been a joy to welcome Dan as our new musical director. Special services including the All Souls service have proved popular and I am getting to know people. I have joined the school governors and KS2 are getting to know me through assemblies. I have also led a couple of RE lessons and welcomed children into church for end of term services. Pastoral care and support are important to me and I have managed to visit most people on the electoral roll. l am hoping that everyone is aware that l am always willing to visit. A huge thank you to Karen and Anne, James, David, Mike and Joy and the entire congregation for their support and enthusiasm. Communion is led in Tall Trees and at the Old Prebendal monthly La Chair Re ort on the ear 2024 in the Chi Norton Deane The Chipping Norton Deanery is in the Dorchester Archdeaconry in the Diocese of Oxford. which covers the Counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire- which by geography and population is one of the largest in England and Wales but nevertheless includes many much smaller parishes with populations of 500- 700 or less at least 68 with a population under 200. We continue to thank God for the many blessings bestowed upon us, for the beautiful place in which we live, for our homes, our families and our churches, for the peace in which we live when much of the world is stricken by war, and above all for God's love that surrounds us every day in every way. The Deanery Synod has had a busy year, meeting on.. 2181 February, 24th June and 20th November, each lime at All Sainls, Churchill. In January The Revd Fergus Butler-Gaillie was installed at Charlbury-with-shorlhampton. In the year since then Fergus has been making his mark both locally, working to build up congregations and include more youth orientated activities and nationally with his fluent pen. Fergus's installation left the Deanery with only one vacancy- in the Wychwood Benefice At our February Synod we issued an open invitation to all PCC members who wished to attend to hear Bishop Gavin and Archdeacon David put differing points of view to the LLF (Living in Love & Faith) debate. We also discussed the Area Dean and Lay Chairs Conference in January. Diocesan Synod and Mission Action Plans (MAPS) At the June Synod the subject of the Parish Share continued to be a thorny one, on which the long term effects of covid are beginning to show. I know you all do your best. but please keep it top of the list of things to pay, not somewhere near the bottom. The June Diocesan Synod Elections returned Roy Scott and me as representatives of the Deanery laity. Athos Ritseris was a very worthy runner-up. David Salter and Mark Abrey are the clergy representative. Yvonne Morris from Church House attended our June Synod. to talk about Children and Young People this was the subject at the Area Deans and Lay Chairs conference in January 2025. During the summer we said goodbye to Charles Chadwick on his retirement. He had bee the Rural Advisor for some years. and we miss his gentle guidance. In January 2025 David and I met Anne Perry. the newly Rural Advisor and look fomard to working with her in the coming months. In September the Revd (now the Revd Canon- she was installed at Christ Church Cathedral on 8th February) Sarah Sharp was installed as vicar of the Wychwood Benefi (Shipton-under-wychwood, Milton-under-wychwood, and Fifield-with-ldburyl. At our November Synod we welcomed Nick Case as Hon. Treasurer, taking over from the indefatigable Brian Ford. There were lengthy discussions about Deanery and Parish Share., and reports from Diocesan Synod. However, the main discussion centred round the recently announce resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury and the events surrounding this. It was agreed the Synod would ask for a full enquiry at all levels of the Church of England to ensure accountability at all levels. Thank you to all who take office in the Church, accepting considerable responsibility. I repeat what I wrote in my Annual Report for 2023 and urge all who are Churchwardens ,PCC Secretaries and indeed all PCC members, to keep well acquainted with the Church Representation Rules. to attend the training and information days which the Diocese organises, and to fully understand your roles- challenging where necessary. It remains surprising to realise how much we don't know about the different roles we hold, sometimes after holding office for many years., and if you are going into a vacancy, you need to exactly what you will be responsible for when your rector or vicar has left for pastures new. Above all the training days show you that you are not alone, many others round the Diocese are facing the same there will be someone at Church House who can help and who is only too willing so to do. However ,Church House Oxford does continue to assume that we are all fully au fait with all their different computer programmes and have at our fingertips detailed technical knowledge. That might be the case in a few years 'time, but not yet. Bishop Gavin continues his regular get-togethers for the eleven Lay Chairs of the Dorchester Area, usually on zoom. We do have the opportunity to talk about what our Deaneries are doing, but I will admit I prefer in-person meetings with the opportunity of picking your fellow Lay Chairs, brains for ideas and information. We meet once a year in person for a relaxed social. The Area Dean and I meet regularly to exchange information and discuss matters, and I find these meetings extremely helpful - I hope he does too. My thanks go David and to Brian Ford, for his exemplary work- we will miss your attention to detail Brian - and lo Nick Case, who has gallantly undertaken to follow in Brian's footsteps a Deanery Treasurer, to Claire Blackman, who makes up the Standing Committee , and to Sam Shaw, our brilliant Administrator, who is so good al reminding us all of our duties in our various roles - gone are the days of my youth when PCCS seemed to do more as or less as they pleased. David Salter's term as Area Dean comes to an end in 2025 and from July we will be welcoming a new Area Dean. My Lay Chair term of office ends in June 2026. On a personal level I have continued to write Lay Chair letters lo try to keep everyone in touch between Synods, and. I hope, encourage everyone in all their endeavours. l am very grateful to all the lovely messages of thanks I receive. This Report will be on your agenda at your APCM - I do hope you will have a good attendance, that you will be able to fill all your Offices, and that you are looking towards the challenges of 2025 with relish. Catherine Hitchens- Lay Chair, Chipping Norton Deanery January 2025 NF DS Lay Chair Report on the year 2024 in Chipping Norton Deanery Synod Shipton-u-wychwood PCC statement of Financial Activities For the period from 01 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 Tql•l Prfor lund• 247 17 2.495 4.407 3.658 155 9,1Xs 871 13.or Tol•l Inrw ).740 110.921 80,027 3.132 3.861 57.C63 113.915 T4.220 3.120 Tdtsi •xwndttur• .195 121,010 eo,432 139 {10.09 140¥ 376 3T5 72.93J {373} Ir2.935} Gawls on revTAuthlon. wt•¢l. tyml 14143} 110.OBO ol [l￿d Toiilfund• lor*wd 12Z,61S 1.327 10.435 134JUO 134.715 YJ92 1242 14300 P49fr 1 Shiptonryu-wychwood PCC Balance sheet (Church of Englandl As at: 31 Decembw 2024 31112r2024 3111212023 Cuwr•nt as#•ts 1.259 133,1 5¢ b•fik 8nd kn h¥*J 121.607 1242KI 134,380 N•t Gyrr•nt •M•ts l•u cuff•nt Il•bllltl•s 124.2 134,380 Totsl •B••t* IM• cuTh•nt IlabllMI•• I24.￿] 134,3eo 1242 134,3 R•Pr￿•ntsd by lJnrn•tdd•d Owlgn•t•d 1,328 18,455 OeBwJnated. 8ulk*r¥J 18.4SS De8vJnatod. Rostor4¢icn 2.731 2,731 10.435 Fund• ofth• 12429) 134.380 APPROVED BYTHE PCCON 202SAND SIGNED ON THEIR BEHALF BY Rev Sarah Sharp, Vicar AND Hilary Matthews. PCC Treasurer. Sarah Sharp Hilary Matthews P4w2 Thecharii¥'stN5teesarerewn5iblEfor the prepar3tsY)￿t￿xc￿￿￿TheLtsIrfSIf￿s1eeSC0￿yder¢hDt &Tr•LKltiJnrt regul￿d[orthLs￿r ￿￿er5e(￿on 144 ofthe ¢harEtye5AEt 2011 IthE ClwthsALtland that ai IndepEnd*￿e￿￿￿o￿0n ts needvj. my respwtsltyto. •evminethE accDuntS urthr se(th)n l45oftt*(hwTrt￿Act, tolollowthepiocedureslabj dc4¥n 5ntheVner￿ ￿rect￿1n$l1￿n ￿th￿ch￿Ityc4rnTr￿kn Iwmlerseuim 14515Xblofthe tharftleskL ind tostate whether pArtKularmatter4hMcometo myattenvw. 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Indty•ndertexamlnefsstateTh In (Qnntrt￿wrth mvexam1hatK￿ ￿Mater￿1 mott•rshw£cmoto myatt*ntlonwhkh tr￿m￿clUSe1O bdlvrtthit In, arymaterhl resp•ct'. •att0unthirecord5V4eren￿ keo inxuffdancewhhseciknn 130ofttr* th•DI￿Ac1 or •thE aEcountsdo not *tord withtlbt#ttyJrKwy rtt¢¥*si h*rtty)meatrossnoother m•t¢•rslh(W•Qkinwkh atte￿t￿n￿•￿jbediIwfy IDornltrto en•t4e • prv0ErUr￿ThJr¥oItht*e¢IMjfitytO Shipton￿￿yChWQ0d PCC Analysis of income and expenditure Selected period: 01 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 B•ll Fund Roof FubW Th1• L••1 J•ar Income and èndowments from: Don•tlon¥ aDd l•q•cb•s 24290 2S,164 1447 917 917 3.94S 821 1Tr) 1.170 13,494 1167 2.167 2,018 8274 8274 10,53B 41,750 1.100 25 DonaUcffl8 45,247 .917 98.463 62,495 InGom• from Gh•rllabl• 4d¥lll 4.487 Inccrne from ch¥itab16 acU¥N￿ Tcl* 4,4fj7 4,467 3,658 Oth•rtr￿In9 a¢tMII•• 9,120 9,120 Other tr*Jlr#J Td*• 155 8.96S 13,008 571 871 Inveslm8ntJ Tota18 871 871 1.740 110.922 Pgp4 Totsl Gen8ral Bell Fund Roof Fuhd Th18 ￿ar Last year Expenditure on: Ralslng lund8 214 3.132 &347 120 120 120 Ra￿r￿j fuTrJg Tcl Ex￿nd￿r9 on Ghwii•bl• acd¥ltl•* 3,132 3,881 3,086 2S 235 28,SY 9.791 &725 3.707 2.711 2.771 2S1 261 519 671 671 1,870 1th) 1A1 253 186T 1,062 57,083 67. 13,441 S8.718 57,C63 113.941 74.220 3.2 3.120 32C4 3,120 ).19S 121.0 eA).426 Thecharii¥'stN5teesarerewn5iblEfor the prepar3tsY)￿t￿xc￿￿￿TheLtsIrfSIf￿s1eeSC0￿yder¢hDt &Tr•LKltiJnrt regul￿d[orthLs￿r ￿￿er5e(￿on 144 ofthe ¢harEtye5AEt 2011 IthE ClwthsALtland that ai IndepEnd*￿e￿￿￿o￿0n ts needvj. my respwtsltyto. •evminethE accDuntS urthr se(th)n l45oftt*(hwTrt￿Act, tolollowthepiocedureslabj dc4¥n 5ntheVner￿ ￿rect￿1n$l1￿n ￿th￿ch￿Ityc4rnTr￿kn Iwmlerseuim 14515Xblofthe tharftleskL ind tostate whether pArtKularmatter4hMcometo myattenvw. 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