Board Meeeting - 5 December 2006

Welcoming Church

Ken Newton reported back on his work on how St John's building might be made more welcoming. He made a number of suggestions, including proposals for banners, signage and a "wayside pulpit". His ideas were warmly received and the Board agreed to pass them to the Steering Committee which had been formed to re-organise the work of Session.

Management Team Report 2005

Glenn Walker, Chair, reported on the work of the Management Team during the year. Much of the business centred on Finance and Property:

Finance

Certain investments had been re-placed to improve returns.

A review of FWO envelops had taken place. Envelopes were being discontinued for those members who had not returned at least one envelope in the last two years. It was recognised that some of these members may be giving through the open plate.

Retiral offerings had been disbursed to Bible Society for Scotland, Women's Aid, St Andrew's Hospice and the Murrays (missionary partners). The Malawi Appeal and Wishaw Maggie's Centre had been identified to receive offerings in 2006.

Property

All urgent and essential work identified in most recent quinquennial visitation had been attended to. Ongoing improvements at the Manse were described. The garage had been converted into a study. Future works include the building of a new garage and re-laying the drive.

Much effort had been expended in keeping the church building wind- and water-tight. Restorative work after last year's flood damage is now complete. Arrangements were in place to make regular inspections of valley gutter, to keep it free from clogging by leaves - the cause of much of the problem. The leak in April, during a morning service was traced to damaged lead flashing, which had been repaired.

Access and facilities for disabled church-goers had been considered. There are to be improvements made to the toilet for the disabled but, due to structural difficulties, the plan for a ramp from the back passageway into the church has had to be abandoned.

Correspondence had been entered into with South Lanarkshire Council over the issue of public use of church grounds as a public footpath, there being no pavement at the side of the church. Concern over possible liability for injury had led to discussions. As yet, the Council had not made any moves to creating a pavement, or to contribution to possible works on our paths. It was felt that, the Council might consider works at the side of the church to complement the current StreetScape project in the town.

A summer cleanup had been organised at which a small group of volunteers had given the church a late spring clean. Their job was made the easier by the effective work of the church cleaner who had been maintaining the Sanctuary in good order.

Budget 2006

Proposals for the budget 2006 were presented and were accepted by the Board. Full details of this and the annual accounts would be made available to the congregation by the Finance Convenor, Ken Mackie, early next year (see page 12).

Manse

Ken Mackie has been delegated to oversee the Manse during the vacancy. The Presbytery Property Committee had inspected the Manse and, while considering the property to be in a "general good condition", identified some minor works that should be attended to.

Property Committee Convenor

The immediate past co-convenors, Iris Nelson and Norman Gray, having resigned, the Management Team were having difficulty in finding a replacement, or replacements. Iris had agreed to see to urgent matters only for the time being, with less urgent matters being shelved until a convenor is in place. Glenn Walker proposed a vote of thanks to Iris and Norman for the work they had carried out during their term of office and the Board responded appropriately.

Bell Ringing

In the absence of a volunteer to take on this duty on a permanent basis, two possible solutions were proposed: that the bell ringing become part of the responsibility of the door duty team, with one of the team members being delegated to ring the bell; an alternative (or possibly complementary) proposal was to approach LInK 2 to see whether some of the younger members of the congregation might not be willing to contribute to church life in this way.

Annual Stated Meeting

The Stated Annual Meeting of the Congregation will be held after morning worship on Sunday 26 March 2006.