Church Council

Why is the Parish Church Council important?

The PCC is responsible (with the vicar) for “promoting the whole mission of the church: pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical”. In practise, the PCC is responsible for discerning the vision and direction for St. James’ by the Park, and making major decisions to help bring that vision to fruition.

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The PCC is the legal governing body of a Church of England parish. As such, it also has various legal duties with regard to our safeguarding procedures, buildings, finances and paid staff. Although we expect members to take their responsibilities seriously, we don’t expect PCC members to be an expert in any or all of these areas!

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Who gets to be on the Parish Church Council?

The PCC is made up of:

* the clergy

* the elected Church Wardens

* 9 other elected members of the congregation – four of whom are up for election this April

* three ‘deanery synod reps’ (who represent us to other Anglican churches in Southampton)

* a Treasurer, who is appointed by the PCC

* some church staff also attend PCC meetings

 

What sort of people should stand for election to PCC?

Faith and character: None of us are perfect, but a PCC member should be able to say, “Follow me, as I follow Christ” – in other words, they should seek to be living a godly life, setting an example to others. The Bible says that a leader “must be worthy of respect, sincere” etc, and demonstrate integrity of belief, which means “they

must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith [summarised in the Creed] with a clear conscience.” PCC members should be active within St James by the Park and have a regular pattern of personal devotional times with God. 

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Vision and leadership: We need people who can grapple with big issues and help make tough choices, helping us continue to discern God’s vision and direction for our church.

Gifts and experience: None of us have all the gifts needed to lead a church, which is why the New Testament speaks of teams of leaders. We need a variety of gifts to make a rounded PCC. We need people who are willing to challenge our thinking, to contribute to discussions, preferably from a variety of backgrounds (age, gender, class, nationality etc).

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Attitude: All of us have personal preferences for how a church should run, but PCC members need to put those aside to discern the corporate responsibilities the Lord is calling us to have as a community at this point in time. Members should be humble enough to learn from one another and serve the church.

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Legalities: Candidates for election must be 16 or over. PCC members are considered ‘trustees’ by the Charity Commission, meaning that some criminal convictions bar people from holding this office. All PCC members must undergo Safeguarding vetting through DBS checks and Safeguarding training

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What sort of things will the PCC be discussing?

Vision and mission: We know we want to Go deeper with God, Grow closer to each other and Reach further with the love of Jesus. We know we want to focus on serving children and families, young people and older people. But what sort of events should we run - especially when the Hall's renovation is complete? 

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Finances: We’ll need to keep a close eye on our finances, especially during the building project. We’ll also need to make sure we work on some of our policies as part of ensuring good governance. 

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Leadership: We’ll be reviewing our current leadership structures, seeing how we can improve communication and release more people into leadership.

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Buildings: Quite a bit of PCC time will be focused around decisions on our buildings. But we’ll need to make sure the buildings don’t become the ‘main thing’ - they are merely tools to help us fulfil our vision and mission!

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What is expected of a PCC member?

We usually have one Monday evening meeting every 6 weeks or so, although this is sometimes replaced by a Saturday day-time meeting. Members are expected to prayerfully read through any papers related to the agenda before each meeting, and to contribute constructively to the discussion and decision-making process. Many PCC members also serve on at least one other group (eg looking in more detail at reaching

young people, finances, safeguarding or mission partnerships). Members help ensure 2-way communication between PCC and the rest of the church happens, and can raise concerns when appropriate.

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What next?

If you feel the Lord might be prompting you to stand, feel free to chat informally with existing PCC members or the church wardens or clergy to gain more understanding of the role. Ask others whether they would be willing to propose or second you. If you can

think of someone else who would be a good PCC member, approach them, or suggest them to the wardens. Ask Theresa for a copy of the nomination form. 

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Key dates

Completed nomination forms should be returned to the church office by Thursday 23rd April. The elections will take place at our Annual Parish Church Meeting on Sunday 26th April following a shortened morning service. (You don’t need to be present to stand). The new PCC will have a meal together on Monday 27th April. Subsequent dates include Mondays 11th May and 8th June. We expect PCC members to be present at

most of the meetings.