APCM 2026

Wednesday 13th May 2026

The Annual Parochial Church Meeting of the parish of St Winnow

St Nectan on May 3, 2026 at 1pm in St Nectan’s church

Minutes issued-May 12, 2026

Attendees- Nancy Morris, Colin Morris, Marion May, Catherine Murphy, Dawn Stephens (Chair), Lin Briggs, Rene Sweet

Apologies- Charlotte Dixon

The meeting opened with a prayer at 1pm.
The Parish meeting
The first item of business is to elect the churchwardens. Two nomination forms had been received from Dawn and Nancy in accordance with regulations. With much gratitude they were thanked for being prepared to continue in the role and were elected unopposed. They were thanked with a round of applause for their continued hard work in and commitment to, these roles.
APCM
The meeting opened at 1.03 pm.

2.The electoral roll now stands at 59 with three people removed (Peter, Brenda & Adrian).

Report of the PCC
a) The annual report and activities of the parish were reported on by Catherine. The annual report was gone through in turn. There rector, Fr Simon Bone, wanted to thank everyone for their hard work and commitment during the very lengthy transition period. The churchwardens report was self explanatory but Lin asked if some further reference could be added to include a more significant reference to Adrians’ many contributions to the church as bell ringer, organist as well as his dedication to St Nectan in particular where he acted as honorary churchwarden. Without doubt, he will continue to be missed. There were no questions for the churchwardens and they were again thanked for all they do.

b) The financial statements of the PCC for the year ending December 31 2025 were presented. Colin explained that the new independent examiner, Mike Mansfield, has done a thorough job. The church has managed reasonably well financially in 2025 despite major expenditure on the window renovations. The rest will be completed when funds permit. He expressed thanks to those who contributed to the fundraising effort.

Sincere thanks were expressed to Colin for his continued dedication and diligence.

Marion formally thanked Colin and Nancy for their continued running of the sales table. This is a successful find raiser and is of great value to the church.

c) The fabric, goods and ornaments of the churches were in Dawn’s report. There were no questions and no additions. The architects have raised some concerns and identified some issues that will need to be dealt with.
d) There have been 2 meetings of the Deanery synod in 2024 but, Jeffery Terry left the position in July having taken over in October, and there was no replacement found until March 2026 and therefore no meetings.

Nancy & Marion have been parochial reps on the deanery synod and both are willing to continue to serve on the synod for the next three years. Nancy did suggest that there could be a way of directing people to the often, very rural, dark and tricky to find churches in the deanery. Simon will feed that back to the deanery.

e) Health & Safety. This is a joint responsibility for the entire PCC and no significant issues have been reported.

The remaining reports contained in the annual report were read out and discussed.

f) Safeguarding. There have been no safeguarding issues and Dawn and Nancy have been undergoing all of the required training. All members of the congregation are expected to participate and raise concerns. Dawn is content for her name to be down as the safeguarding officer.

g )Any other reports. Friends of St Winnow. The friends have continued to provide strong support for the church and have continued to fund projects in 2025. Nancy was thanked for continuing to be the PCC representative on the FOSW. The Revd Canon John Halkes has taken over as chair.

Their summer programme is extensive and has a variety of acts which should have broad appeal. The numbers of supporters is dwindling and they are aging so it may be that the nature of the fund raising changes over time.

The Tower. Frank Stephens has taken over as tower captain, Dawn has become secretary and Colin is deputising. A regular practice on Thursdays has resumed. The ringers are managing to ring for special occasions but often with the assistance of neighbouring towers.

Elections and appointments
a) Deanery synod representatives have been Marion and Nancy.Prop-Rene, sec.Colin. All agreed.
b) The Parochial representatives of the laity to serve on the PCC are currently Charlotte and Rene . Janet was co-opted in 2025 but was duly elected as a full parochial representative. Prop. Dawn, sec Marion.
c) The independent examiner for the year ending December 31 2026 was confirmed as Mike Mansfield. Prop. Colin, sec. Marion.

Chairman's report & thanks

Simon thanked most sincerely the church wardens for their care of the church; Colin for his firm grip of the finances; Nancy and Marion for their representation on the deanery synod; the flower arranging team; the supportive and hard working clergy team; FoSW for their continued generosity and the many others who contribute to the vibrant life of the church in St Winnow.

The meeting closed at 1.11pm with the grace.

The PCC meeting followed on immediately.

To co-opt additional members. A warm welcome to Janet.
Appoint positions. It was agreed that all post holders would continue in their current roles en bloc. Agreed unanimously. Vice chair-Colin; Treasurer-Colin; Secretary-Catherine; Electoral roll-Marion; Safeguarding-Dawn; Health & safety-Janet
No co-options made.
Safeguarding-the policy issued from the diocese is to be distributed, reviewed and adopted if all agree. Nancy will distribute, Dawn will update the dashboard if all agree.
Dawn will ask Jesse to cut the pathway through the graves. Lin asked why the brown bin never has grass cuttings in and it was explained that Jesse often takes it away after cutting. Lin has offered to replace the seat by the bell tower if and when needed. She was thanked for her generosity and her offer accepted.
The dates on the next meetings will be July 21 & October 20 , 2026 and January 19 & May 2, 2027.

The meeting closed at 1.30pm.