Annual Business Meeting 2011
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Minutes of Annual General Meeting, BusbyParishChurch, Wednesday, 16th March 2011in the Church Hall at 7.30pm
Sederunt: 30 members of the congregation. Constitution: The Moderator, Rev Jerry Eve constituted the meeting with a prayer, and welcomed those attending the meeting. A hymn was sung. Apologies: Marilyn Ross, Alison Kay, Isobel Maitland, Michelle Eve, Lorraine Mackie, Linda Smith, Carol Bulmer, Jimmy Deas, Marianne Deas Minutes of AGM 2010: these having been circulated prior to this meeting, were adopted: proposed by Steve Smith; seconded by Alastair Fairweather. Treasurer’s Report: Robin Bulmer intimated that the accounts had been presented to the Trustees at a combined meeting on 16 Feb 2011, and had been approved. He paid tribute to all the keepers of accounts in the various organisations, and reminded the meeting that all these accounts contributed to the totals for the Church. He also thanked the Trustees and Paul Collins, the independent accounts examiner. He had decided not to explain the figures in the Annual Report to the meeting, assuming that attendees would be familiar with the format. Instead, he referred to an article in ‘Life and Work’ (Feb 2011), by Gordon Jamieson, Head of Stewardship CoS, giving a comment on financial giving. To ‘break even’ there needs to be a 5% increase in giving. He discussed Motivation, Tithing, a percentage system of giving, and also Giving in the Way God Gives. This Year is the Stewardship year for Busby, and so these issues have particular relevance. The Clerk thanked Mr Bulmer for his presentation, and for the time he spent on preparing the report. Election of Independent Accounts Examiner; Mr Paul Collins was again nominated to be Independent Accounts Examiner for the coming Year. Proposed by Christina Hogg; seconded by Maureen Potter. This nomination was approved.. Election of Board members: Ann Craig had relocated to another congregation, and there was one vacancy on the Board. Sheila Gordon had agreed to be nominated for the board by Lisanne Ferrell; seconded by Alice Keith. The nomination was accepted and Sheila was unanimously voted onto the Board.
She was congratulated and welcomed by the Meeting Reports from Organisations.
BADMINTON CLUB SEASON 2010 - 2011 Isabel Maitland. (report read by clerk) 1st Busby Brownies We have had another successful year at Brownies; the girls appear to thoroughly enjoy their Monday night activities, and if any of you have been in the church on a Monday night I am sure you will have heard the noise they make... We currently have 22 Brownies and have a waiting list of 6! This is due to a number of girls who attend Rainbows at Greenbank all reaching the age of 7 and the closure of 1 or 2 units, again at Greenbank. The girls opted not to have a Christmas party last year so as we could go to the Church Pantomime in January, which they all enjoyed. Some of them even attended twice as they are also members of the \Sunday School. We would like to thank the Drama Group and the Guild for their donation. All this helps to fund our activities. We are hoping as part of 100 years of Guiding to bury a time capsule in the grounds of the Church and we ask for anyone who has anything they would like to contribute to the capsule to let me know. Unfortunately, newspapers cannot be put into the time capsule, but photocopies can. Unfortunately we are unable to take any more Brownies at the moment due to the waiting list. However, if there are any adults (male or female) would like to come and join in the fun on a Monday night, then please let myself or Lisanne Ferrell know. Alison Kay (report read by clerk)
BUSBY CHOIR March 2011 Since this time last year there have been significant changes in the music department. After more than 40 years as an Organist Keith Hamilton retired from Busby to go on to bigger and better things- or perhaps not. We gave him a good send off from the Church and from the Choir, and wished him well. The next objective was to find a replacement, and meantime, to do our best to keep the musical input into our regular worship alive and well, even if it was just ticking over. Advertisements were placed at the end of 2009, with very little sensible response; until last October. An email came in about a young Romanian musician, Razvan Luculescu who had recently arrived in Glasgow. He was contacted, agreed to come and meet us and also regularly came to Church. He was asked to take a choir rehearsal, so that we could all contribute to a decision as to his potential as our new Organist. He had expressed interest in the post. The choir liked him, and more importantly, we did not scare him off! The Minister and the Session approved and so we offered the post to him. The rest is history, as the saying goes, and he took up the post at the start of 2011. So far we are working together well, and the reports back from the congregation and the Minister have been good. Razvan is keen to continue the tradition of concerts, music festivals, and cooperating with other choirs in the area. He has already introduced some new pieces to us. This is all very encouraging. During the vacancy, a number of people supplied deputy Organist services, some of them very frequently. We are thankful for their input. Each of them has been contacted about the developments here, and our thanks given for their support. The most significant and constant support, however, was given by our own Allan Morrison, who from September 2010 became the’resident’ occupant of the Organist’s bench, until we could find a permanent replacement for Keith. We are indebted to Allan further, since he took no fee for his services. Thankyou Allan for your dedication. We also acknowledge the support given by Catherine Fearns to the Choir. She ran the Choir rehearsals, assisted by Allan during the last quarter of 2010, and enabled the choir to sing anthems during worship, and be guest entertainers at the Guild Christmas party. Without that support, it is certain that the choir would have lost some of its confidence. Thankyou Catherine. And so now we are moving on into new and exciting times. We hope that Razvan feels welcome here and that he will be around for a good many years. Finally, I have a personal thankyou to give to Jerry, the Session and of course the choir during the vacancy, for their support to me. In addition to Allan, Norrie Suckle, Jane Jarvie and Robin Bulmer who formed the vacancy committee with me. Angela Marshall Church Association Last year marked the 175th Anniversary of Busby Parish Church and the Church Association contributed to the celebrations of this special event by organising the meal served following the special service held on 8th May 2010. This lunch, attended by about 100 people, proved to be a very happy and congenial time of fellowship during which old friendships were renewed and hopefully, new friendships made. Later in the year the Association hosted a most enjoyable Afternoon Tea. Following the entertainment provided by Roseanne and Peggy, the guests were served with a very satisfying spread of sausage rolls, home baking etc. On 13th November the Association organised an extremely successful Church Fayre. A splendid figure of £2520 was raised at this event. The amount raised greatly helped to meet the increasingly high costs of running the church over the last year. As usual I am indebted to all members of the Church Association for their hard work, continued support and advice. Likewise I also thank members of the congregation for their help and support. Ronnie Munro Drop-In Club Meetings continue as usual on Wednesday mornings and so far 0 even through the worst of the snow and ice we have managed to keep our doors open. On one occasion there were only 8 ladies who braved the elements. Unfortunately we had to cancel our proposed Christmas outing due to weather conditions. Since the new Year our numbers have gone up again and we now look forward to serving teas and coffees to about 18 people on average. There was a unanimous decision to forgo our winter outing and instead concentrate on going for a trip to St. Andrewsin the summer. Once again the knitting needles have come out and some very attractive blankets are being produced. This time we are knitting cot blankets which the ladies would like to send to Ekwendeni, along with some bars of soap which are luxury items there. This project is ongoing, and if you know of someone who has unwanted knitting wool we could put it to good use. However, we welcome anyone who would care to join us – whether every week or occasionally. We meet in the stage hall at around 10am every Wednesday. Sandra Mackay 1st Busby Guides I am delighted to say that our numbers in the unit continue to grow. At present we have five patrols of Guides with about 25 girls attending regularly. This includes a senior patrol. Fiona Ross continues to work hard as my Assistant Guide Guider and I have Rebekah Jamieson and Megan Money who are former Guides, who also help. Both of them are wanting to train as leaders. 2010 was the 100th anniversary of the Guides and back in October we got a chance for all to renew their promise at a special event at Giffnock North Athletic Club. This was at 20.10 on 20/10 in 2010 and happened throughout the UKas well as world wide. It was a wet evening but most girls enjoyed the experience which hopefully they will remember for the rest of their lives. I asked the Guides last night to remind me of some of our activities and evevnts which have taken place this year. They came up with the following list: games, painting, making face masks, pyjama party, baking, crafts, pancake Tuesday, Christmas Party, Thinking Day (Maureen Potter came along to that and told us of her trip to Malawi), Guide camp to New Lanark Youth Hostel, Halloween party, Easter egg hunt. We could add a few more things like barbeques, dancing and acting games. In fact the list is endless with all activities being enjoyed by the girls. We are having our annual camp at the Scout Centre at Lochgoilhead at the end of April. We have 21 girls attending wth Fiona Ross and Alison Kay coming as leaders. We went there a couple of years ago and had a great time and the girls enjoyed kayaking, abseiling and other exciting activities so we are all looking forward to that. I would like to thank the Drama Group and the Guild for their generous donations. They really do make a difference. Thank you to Maureen Potter for her interesting talk on Malawi, and to Faye, Lynne and Marilyn Ross who can always be called on in a crisis. Thanks also to Bill for his patience and understanding. Finally special thanks to Fiona and Alison as well as Rebekah and Megan. Fiona is getting married next March and is planning to give up Guides. However she has kindly agreed to come along occasionally next session as I hope to do some travelling after I retire at the summer. To conclude I would once more like to thank the Guides’ parents for their support and the girls for their enthusiasm. When asked yesterday evening about what they liked about Guides I had a wide variety of very positive comments; but my favourite came from one of our younger members, Julie Eve, who said ‘I like playing wet feet and tig. I especially like my patrol. In fact I like everything about Guides’. Pamela Mill Flowers AGM 2011. Flowers play an important part in the life of Busby ParishChurch. They can give great comfort, great joy, or just make our people smile. We have a flower calendar in the vestibule to which names may be appended. Our flower team can arrange the flowers for you, or you may wish to do them yourself. It really is very easy and therapeutic and I would be delighted to instruct. We also decorate the church for weddings and arrange funeral flowers. I wish to thank the flower team for their time and talents, the delivery team for the comfort they bring to many and, of course, to everyone who has so kindly donated throughout the year. I am always looking for help to prepare our church for our Festivals at Easter, Harvest and Christmas. If you are interested in assisting, please let me know. Thanks to everyone for supporting this very worthwhile part of our Church life. Thank you (report read by clerk) Linda Smith Flower Convenor DRAMA GROUP – ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING – 16.03.11. The Drama Group entered a new phase last year with a change in some important personnel. We were delighted to have our lighting expert, Fraser Duthie, take on the responsibility of stage manager and Jen McNair that of costumes, from our retirees, Allan and Jo Turmeau. It was a seamless transition and one, which, coupled with the influx of new members, contributed to yet another highly successful Pantomime - Babes in the Wood. We can now count around forty members in one guise or another, all working well together and enjoying Monday night rehearsals to the full. We foresee a busy year ahead with our highly popular Supper and Song to be staged in May and Pantomime rehearsals commencing in September. The Supper and Song will take the usual format with a performance of a brand new one act play, Shona McDonald’s wonderful supper and a step back to the roaring twenties as we present our version of luxury liner life with the songs of Cole Porter – and all for an amazing £10! We could not put on any performance without the assistance of so many people behind the scenes and we would wish to express our grateful thanks for all their sterling efforts. As we are all too aware, the last couple of winters have stretched everyone and we are indebted to all who struggled out through the snow and ice to support the Group. Their commitment enabled us to realise a healthy profit on the Pantomime and we will be donating the proceeds, as usual, to the Church and to various Organisations. Steve Smith Guild Good evening session Mr Moderator, ladies and gentlemen. Another enjoyable guild session draws to a close. We continue to meet fortnightly from October to March, ladies and gentlemen always welcome. We have 41 members on our register with an average attendance of 26. Our minister, Jerry started the session with a very interesting talk with slides on women from the Reformation and Counter Reformation. Music and song has been very much on the agenda; our own Busby Church Choir entertained us at the Christmas Party, Roseanne Brackenridge and Peggy Mack at our Burns Supper, and we had an excellent evening with Graeme Stokes on musical improvisation. We have had speakers from the NHS,Guild Project(A Placefor Hope), there was a full house when the Rev. Fraser Aitken from St Columba's Church, Ayr, spoke so sincerely to us. We have watched part of the History of Busby dvd, next instalment coming shortly! One of our meetings had to be cancelled due to adverse winter weather. We have had two afternoon visits, the first to Glasgow Resource Centre, where 1.5 million objects from around the world are stored. Our guide was able to respond to a request from one of our members, Marianne Deas, and found a splendid painting by Yeames, Marianne had not seen for 70years! For our second visit, twelve of us braved ferocious weather for a guided tour of the Southern Necropolis. We marked Guild Week by taking part in the Sunday service and once again performed a short sketch which was good fun. Our main fund raisers, sunshine boxes and coffee mornings have raised £2,780.00. Unfortunately revenue from the sunshine boxes is much lower this year, but happy to report we have donated £1,750.00 to the church. Dispersal of remaining monies as shown in the annual report. Please support our remaining fund -raiser, the Spring Coffee Morning, Saturday 19th March 2011, 10am-12noon. Donations to all the stalls will be greatly appreciated and can be left in the church hall on Friday 18th March between 7 & 8pm. We do value your generous support, and it is the church funds that ultimately gain from your generosity. Once again I would like to thank the committee and members for their faithful support to the guild and church. And I would also like to thank all those who contribute in so many ways to our meetings and events. Whether it is an occasional visit or regular attendance remember there is always a warm welcome for you from Busby Church Guild. Thank you Chris Simpson( President) Kwenderana The past year has been very busy for Kwenderana. We raised enough funds through several concerts and donations to build a teacher`s house at Ekwendeni. This house has been called Eastwood House in honour of the four churches in the Eastwood area who donated the money to pay for the house. We are now almost half way towards raising the funds to build a classroom block. Once again we have enlisted the aid of John Challis who left for Malawion Tuesday, 15th March to investigate the site of the proposed building and to check the quote which we have received. I have also asked him to check several reports which Fiona and I have received recently about there being a great deal of hunger in some of the villages and of hunger and other concerns in the School for Visually Impaired children. I hope to have a report back from him for next week’s Kwenderana Meeting for further discussion. Much of the fund raising for the main project has come through concerts. Many of you will remember the wonderful concert which was held in WilliamwoodChurchlast year by the Holy Heart of Mary Choir from Newfoundlandin Canada. That concert raised approximately £900 which is a fantastic sum. I would like to draw your attention to the Sounds International Concert which takes place next week in GiffnockSouthChurch. This concert is being hosted by Giffnock South Guild and the tickets are £5.00. Sounds International are accompanied by our friend Peggy Mack and Roseanne Brackenbridge assures me that this will be an excellent concert. In August there will be a concert in GreenbankChurchby the Scottish Youth Choir in aid of Kwenderana Funds and once again I would ask you to support that event which promises to be a great evening. In October of last year, Fiona Gunning of Williamwood Church and I paid a memorable visit to Ekwendeni in Malawi. Since returning home I have made several power point presentations about my visit including one at the beginning of February for the congregation here. We have also launched a new initiative titled “Gifts for Ekwendeni” which I outlined at the power point presentation. This supplements the existing system of clothes, household items and other goods which we send in boxes via the Raven Trust to Ekwendeni. The container costs about £10 000 to send and it is all paid by donation. The present cost is approximately £10 per banana box. Since I came home I have taken about 18 boxes of goods to Strachur and I have a full car load in my house at present which I hope to take up next week. We have been awarded a Faithshare Grant by the Church of Scotland to bring two people from Ekwendeni over in the autumn. I have been told the two most probable visitors will be Maggie Msoya and Violet Nkandwe. Further details will be relayed to you in the months ahead but I am sure that you will all enjoy meeting these two ladies and listening to what they have to say. I would like to finish by thanking everyone here for their support in all our activities. We could not continue to support Ekwendeni in this way without your help and support. Maureen Potter Mother & Toddler Group During the year we have run a small but successful toddlers group in the Church Hall on a Monday morning. We have had around 16 children and mothers each Monday. This year we have lost a few to nursery but I am sure the numbers will start to grow again. Throughout the year we have encouraged the children to do activities such as finger painting, leaf painting, making cards for Christmas, Decorations for Christmas. We have also had a fancy dress Halloween party and of course a visit from Santa at our Christmas party. We are off to Animal Magic just before we break for Easter to give the kids a treat. (report read by clerk) Amanda Buchanan Sunday School LorraineMackie
2010 was another very enjoyable year for the Sunday School. Highlights included an outing to the Church Drama Group Pantomime, the Clarkston and District Christian Aid sponsored swim, hosting a very tasty fund-raising ‘soup and a pudding’ lunch after worship one Sunday, a trip to Loudon Castle theme park in glorious weather, the creation of a Cinderella themed Grotto in the East Room for the November Fayre, a visit from Santa Claus at the Christmas Party, and the Nativity – in which the children were fantastic!. Week by week, the children – using crafts, stories, songs, and the data projector – have been learning about God. As for numbers, at the moment the membership is in the 30s, with about 6 – 8 adult leaders / friends. We have been deeply affected by illness with two of our leaders but we operate as a team and are supporting them and their families as much as we can .We are also very appreciative of our four excellent teenage helpers, Alice ,Morna, Kieron ,Jennifer. A special thanks to Thelma Johnston who has been a huge help with the student we support in Lebanon, as well as our elder, Alice Keith, and treasurer, Robin Bulmer. (report read by clerk) Session Clerk Annual Report 2011 Moderator, Ladies and Gentlemen The Church of Scotland having survived here in Busby for 175 years faces what I can only describe as an uncertain future. Like most things in life with the exception of taxes and death there are no guarantees, yet with a little careful management even the pain of paying taxes can be eased, and life expectancy can in many cases be increased. The circumstances we find ourselves in are similar to ones affecting many congregations across Scotland, not just in the Church of Scotland but other denominations as well. Our situation could be seriously influenced by Glasgow Presbytery’s need to reduce by 29.3 the number of ministers by the year 2020. The decision on this reduction will be made sometime in 2012. The previous Presbytery plan which proposed some form of joining arrangement between ourselves and Carmunnock has been suspended until later this year to allow Presbytery to formulate a balanced budget for ministries in 2014. The appeal we lodged with Presbytery opposing any link with Carmunnock still remains active. So Presbytery is a source of concern. Our next area of concern is falling numbers; at 31st December 2010there were 298 on the congregational Roll, a reduction of 8 from the previous year. Over the past 10 years the roll has fallen from 452 to 298, a drop of 154. Reduction in numbers in an ageing congregation is expected; however, there are no new members joining the church nor is there any great migration into the community. Falling numbers are affecting most denominations as I have already mentioned. Reducing numbers is another concern. The third area of concern is finance which involves prudent management, minimising income reduction, maintaining adequate funding from reserves to meet our obligations and working towards increased giving. Our reserves will run out in a few years time when we will definitely appear on Presbytery’s radar screen and any shortfall on national contributions will be picked up very quickly by 121 George Street. So finance is the final concern. I am sure our predecessors encountered change and indeed rejected proposals which others thought would be best for them. We can do the same to ensure we are responsible for our own future and not give up after 175 years of Christian Worship and fellowship in these buildings. These 3 concerns can be overcome through the commitment and determination of the congregation, the organisations and their leaders, all office bearers, the Congregational board and the Kirk Session. We are all in the mix and everybody has a contribution to make. We need to organise ourselves to resist external influences and pressures; we need to be sure in our own minds what is best for us here in Busby and the contribution we make to the wider community and beyond. We need to be sure of our current position, our sustainability and our longevity. To address this we are shortly to embark on an awareness campaign which has been adapted to address our needs from a Church of Scotland approved initiative called Gifts for God. The reason why we cannot run the full scheme is a lack of suitable resources from within our current membership. This project will provide detailed information on the congregation’s involvement in Church activities, an awareness of what organisations are available and when, an opportunity for the congregation to suggest additional or alternative activities. It will inform the congregation in greater detail of the proposals affecting us, how they will impact on us, our current position within the Presbytery both of giving and our future requirements to take us to a more secure level of sustainability. Without the help of each other, and by each other I mean every member whose name is entered in the Congregational Roll. We need to work collectively and in a structured manner with the necessary amount of time, effort and financial support being made available, or our future will be decided by others. I am sure if all members of BusbyParishChurchmake a bit more effort by giving of their time, talent and financial support we will have a more secure future and continue to provide a place of \Worship and Fellowship here, as envisaged by our forefathers. Thank you. Gordon Kay Minister’s Report Rev Jerry Eve At the beginning of the year, I had a call from Rev William Wilson from Burnside Blairbeth Church about our forthcoming quinquennial. And we didn’t talk for long, but two of the things I said were firstly, that we’re currently celebrating our 175th birthday, and secondly that we’re in good heart apart from the odd wee niggle, which I said we could talk about when he, and his team, come to visit us on the evening of Wednesday 30th of this month. And the niggle I was referring to was the Presbytery Plan which – before it was suspended, which it has been at the moment – was that when either the Carmunnock Church minister, Rev Gray Fletcher, or myself move on then the two churches would become linked. For although we have lodged an appeal against that part of the plan, what it has done over the last few years is to hang like a sort of ‘Sword of Damocles’ over our heads. The new plan, although we don’t know what it will be yet, but because it needs to be even more draconian than the previous one, gives us even more cause for concern in an area where we know that, just as there was 175 years ago, there is now an even greater need for the church to have a presence here in the heart of this community, and one which continues to comprise a sanctuary, halls, a Kirk Session, and a minister as well. And that’s the challenge for us this year – to demonstrate that this is true. And when William comes later month, and then when we have other visitors from Presbytery as well later in the year, what they’ll be looking for is five things in particular: 1 The population 2 Parish need i.e. the health and wealth of those who live here 3 The congregation’s size and strength 4 Our contribution to Ministries and Mission, and 5 Whether we have an outward looking focus; The first four factors being ones we can maybe tweak a little (it would be nice to boost our roll to back, and over the 300 mark, for example, but) the one that we can do most about is number 5. And that’s where you come in – for what Presbytery will be most concerned to discover is that: 1 we are making an impact on the local community through our church organisations and the use of church premises. 2 there is an involvement by church members as a Christian witness in the local community 3 we have outreach events and programmes 4 we are willing to adapt to welcome newcomers 5 there’s a role for volunteers to get involved, as well as those who are paid, and 6 our intention is to give priority to those who are most vulnerable within our community. Jerry AOCB The clerk raised the question again about whether the ABM could be held after worship on a Sunday. This was referred to the next Board Meeting Vote Of Thanks This was given by Ian Norie, who congratulated and thanked everyone who had been involved in the meeting. There being no further business the meeting closed with singing the Doxology and saying the Grace.
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