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The Finance Sub-CommitteeWHO ARE WE?Membership of the committee is made up partly from members of the PCC and partly from co-opted people. In 2008 the membership is: Fr Michael Cozens; Fr Daniel Papworth; Margaret Holman (as Warden at St Mary); Phil Dodd (as Warden at St Mary); Margaret Compton (as Warden at St Nicolas); Martin Kannreuther; Gill Wood (as Treasurer); Marion Beagley; Peter Horne; Nick Roach; and Marcus Steel THE FINANCE SUB-COMMITTEE? WHAT IS IT FOR?Our editor has asked me to answer these questions and I will try to be as clear as possible - unlike Alan Greenspan, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve in the USA. He is a very cautious man, and once said to a bunch of journalists: 'If I seem unduly clear to you, you must have misunderstood me.' I admit that the parish finances at Prestbury are on a slightly smaller scale than those of the USA. Engineers are a comical lot; they have technical terms for everything. For example, take the humble hammer - to you and me it is just a hammer, but to an engineer it is an instrument for the application of 'percussive persuasion'! It opens up a whole new meaning to the word persuasion, and explains a lot about engineering behaviour. You are probably wondering what on earth I'm rambling on about, but it does have a bearing on the fact that I found myself as Chairman of the Finance Committee before I even knew that there was a Finance Committee. Readers will know that Father Stephen has a sunny disposition, and it is virtually impossible to refuse a request from him. He didn't actually apply percussive persuasion - there were no bruises, I could still walk properly and there was no concussion, but the effect was the same - I became chairman of the Finance Committee. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE?Some years ago, the Parochial Church Council set up a number of sub-committees to help them in the running of the parish. One such was the Finance Sub-Committee. It is appointed by and accountable to the PCC. Its purpose is to advise the PCC as to the current state of the parish finances and to provide a view about the future income and expenditure commitments. So, we are advisory only, and make recommendations to the PCC, but in the final analysis only the PCC can make decisions. HOW OFTEN DO WE MEET?We meet every two to three months and try to time the meetings to be shortly before PCC meetings. Naturally the two treasurers are central to our deliberations and they provide us with quarterly figures so that we can know how things stand. I should, at this point, express my (and the rest of the committee's) appreciation of the work that William and Gill do as treasurers, it is a labour of love and very time consuming - especially as Bill doesn't like computers so all his work is written in his own fair hand. My wife, Liz, ensures that such devotion is rewarded with a particular type of biscuit which is a favourite of Bill's. Such details are important. We, as a parish are very lucky to have two such dedicated treasurers, and both are ex-Hazlewoods (the well-known Cheltenham accountancy firm) so they actually understand the complicated ecclesiastical accounting that we have to employ. The Church's accounting conventions are not particularly easy to understand; it is a bit like a foreign language (I am reminded of the occasion when Victor Hugo translated the Firth of Forth as Le Premier du Quatrieme) - I sometimes wonder if I have got the right end of the stick, and my background is financial too! WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT?Some of the subjects that have been occupying our time are whether we can afford and how to fund the big projects like heating / new floor at St Mary's, construction work at St Nicolas', youth work, how to share expenses with All Saints', what to do about St Mary's Church Hall and so on. Of course we also have to understand whether or not the day-to-day running costs are being covered, and what needs to be done to maintain a healthy position. We are not responsible for fund raising; that falls to the PCC to oversee, but we do, for obvious reasons, have a close interest in Stewardship Renewal and we do tend to try to ensure that it is constantly renewed as it is a vital source of income to cover the running costs of the parish, but the other big projects usually have to be the subject of special fund raising activities. So, that's it, if anyone has any questions or suggestions about parish finances please talk to any of us. Marcus Steel This article first appeared in the March 2003 edition of the Prestbury Parish magazine |
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