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To be approved at the next meeting.
Page 619.

HOUSTON AND KILLELLAN KIRK

Minutes of Congregational Board Meeting 6 April 2010 

The Meeting was held in the Church Hall at 7.30pm and chaired by the Rev Donald Campbell who constituted the Meeting with prayer.

Sedurunt/Apologies:

23 members attended the Meeting as detailed in the Sederunt book.  Apologies were received from 5 Board members.

Minutes of Previous Meeting:

The Minutes of the previous Meeting on the 2^nd February 2010, pages 604, 605, 606, and 607 were proposed and approved by Miss Isobel Grant and Mrs Sandra Griffiths.

Matters Arising:

Fire Marshall Training – David Fulton has arranged a further training session on Sunday 2^nd May in the Church Hall at 2pm, all are welcome.  Organisations using the Church Hall will be notified of this training.                                                                                                          Action – Clerk to the Board

Finance

Treasurers Report – John King reported as follows:

• We are only 2 Months into the year and it is difficult to establish patterns. I have not received the bank statements to 31 March 2010 yet.
• The General Fund shows a deficit of £5,055 in comparison to last year. Income from offerings is £376 down on last year and other income shows a deficit of £1,798 but last years figures showed gross income from the Cellidh and Burns Supper
• We have paid our Presbytery dues - £1,686 - early this year. Presbytery had requested early payment. We do not normally pay these until mid April
• Heat & Light show a substantial increase -£1,012 but at 3 March our account for the halls was £1,783 in credit.
• Turning to the Statement of Funds cash in hand totals - £130,826 – are down £5,269 on the same period last year reflecting the General Account Deficit.
• We will, in the very near future face, face a bill of £14,311 to Peter Cox Ltd for the dry rot repairs to the Kirk.
• It was highlighted that under Fund Balances, there is a new heading ‘Extension’ these are monies that have been donated by the Wee Blether and the Social Committee towards our hall extension project.

Jack McKechnie – Finance Convenor reported:

• There has been no recent Finance Committee Meeting but one is planned for the near future.
• Douglas Kirkwood is currently investigating new deals with the power companies re supplies to the Church premises.
• Jack asked if it would be possible to in some way to approach new members and provide them with information on how to donate their time, talents and monies, as previously it has been left to the new members to contact us and we are possibly missing opportunities to use the talents of our new members.  Jack stressed that it was not only about money but their involvement in other ways would be welcomed..  Donald agreed to take this on initially until a system is set up.  Barbara Ann Brown will be consulted about thiis                      Action – Chairman

Page 620.

Finance (continued).

Insurance – a question was raised as to whether we had any further information available on the Insurance for the Church Premises.  Donald informed the Meeting that this was ongoing and any information that became available would be passed to the Board.

Youth Ministry Costs –  some concern was raised about the costs being incurred for the Youth Ministry.  This will be taken forward to the next Session Meeting as this issue is the responsibility of the Session and not the Board.

Fabric: - John Wilson reported

• On the current situation with the repairs being carried out in the Church. 
• New flooring is required for the kitchen area in the Manse, as the current carpet is in a dangerous condition.   It was agreed that Liz and Donald should choose what type of flooring they would prefer
• An incident with electrical overload in the Church Hall at the Easter Breakfast was highlighted.  There had been a slight difficulty in accessing the ‘trip switch’ which in a locked cupboard in the Office area. This will be discussed further and alternative arrangements put in place.                                                                                                              Action – Fabric Committee

Communication and Outreach

No report had been received from this Committee.

Grounds – Adam McCartney reported

• That it has been a very long winter and a late spring so there has not been a lot happening in the garden with regard to grass cutting etc.  Maintenance has continued as normal, particularly in the Rose garden where a number of roses which had died over the winter have been replaced.  Adam outlined plans for the Rose garden which may necessitate the raising of some funds, it was not felt that this would not be a big problem as Adam had already been approached by members willing to  help..
• The Chairman stressed how much the Rose garden was appreciated by many people and every effort should be made to keep this is good condition.

Social Committee:

• The Easter Breakfast was again a great success, making a small profit which will be passed to the Treasurer for the Extension Fund.
• The Golf Outing is being progressed and hopefully this will be arranged for sometime in May, details to follow.

AOCB:

• Ian Spearing was requesting permission to purchase a Fold Back Amplifier for use with the PA system at a cost of approximately £239.00.  Ian explained what the amplifier would be used for and the benefits that would be received from its use. It was agreed that the purchase should go ahead.

Page 621.

AOCB (continued).

The Chairman highlighted a number of issues that required discussion with regard to the Sunday services on the 11 and 18 April, which will be held in the Church Hall as we cannot have access to the Church on these dates, due to the repair work being carried out there. 

• Car Parking – it was agreed that the parking area at the Church Hall should be reserved for disabled badge holders and those on the car run.  Stewards will be in attendance to ensure that this is enforced.
• An email will be sent to all Session and Board members requesting that they walk to Church or park outwith the Main Street area.
• It was agreed that the doors at the front of the hall and the side door be used in the morning.
• The ‘door duty ‘ teams will be contacted and requested if possible to come to the Church hall on Saturday at 1pm to help set up the hall for the services.   All Board members will be contacted and asked for their help with the setting up and clearing up afterwards as the hall will be in u se by  Starzone on the Monday the 12^th.                            Action – Clerk to the Board
• The Clerk will be in attendance at the Church to redirect any members who were not aware of the change of location.

Date and time of next Meeting – 10 June 2010 at 7.30pm – this will be a joint Meeting with the Session.

The Meeting was closed by the Minister at 8.45 with the Benediction.

Rev D Campbell                                                                                                         Mrs Ina Jefferson

Chairman                                                                                                                      Clerk to the Board

Page 604

HOUSTON AND KILLELLAN KIRK

Minutes of Congregational Board Meeting 2 February 2010 

The Meeting was held in the Church Hall at 7.30pm and chaired by the Rev Donald Campbell who constituted the Meeting with prayer.

Sedurunt/Apologies

25 members attended the Meeting as detailed in the Sederunt book.  Apologies were received from 11 Board members

Minutes of previous meeting

The Minutes of the previous meeting on the 24 November 2009, pates 600, 601 and 603 were approved and proposed by Alan Dawson and seconded by David Fulton

Matters Arising:

Health and Safety – There is now a copy of the Fire Emergency Framework on the Church Website.  The Fire Safety Officer has started a Fire Marshalls’ data base.  The Clerk had contacted most of the organisations using the Church hall, as requested, seeking copies of their Fire Emergency Plans and the names of their Fire Wardens; a response has now been received from a number of these.  The remainder will be contacted again requesting this information as soon as possible.                Action- Clerk.

There is no structured Emergency Evacuation Plan for the Church it self, currently the Door Duty team would be responsible for the emergency evacuation of the Church, although no formal training has been given.  It was agreed that an updated ‘list of duties’ should be produced to include procedure for evacuation and this would be circulated to all Session and Board Members.

The Chairman stated that in the Spring, he would meet with the Property Committee to set in motion the production of a structured plan. A trial fire drill would be carried out after the plan has been completed.  The plan should include the best way to evacuate the most vulnerable members of the congregation i.e. disabled and elderly.  It was asked if there were any plans to change the Church doors to open out instead of in, the Chairman confirmed that there were no immediate plans to do this.

                 Action: The Chairman, Property Committee, Safety Officer and Clerk

Correspondence – a request by Houston Nursery for the use of the bouncy castle had been agreed.  However, the Clerk had received a phone call to thank the Board for agreed to this but they had decided not to make use of the bouncy castle as the cost to insure this was prohibitive.

Finance/- 

Page 605 

Finance:

A copy of the Accounts for the year, which will be presented at the AGM, had been circulated before the Meeting.  Mr John King gave a summary of the accounts and invited questions from the Board concerning these.  Mr King said that currently the Church is financially fairly comfortable and meeting all of our commitments.  The Chairman and the Board agreed that we should not become too complacent but continue to work towards improvement.

Mr King thanked all of the Finance Committee for their help and in particular, Mr Jack McKechnie, Mrs Anne Thorburn and Mr Douglas Kirkwood.

Mr King informed the meeting that Mr Graeme Finnie had again been exceedingly helpful in auditing the accounts and transferring these to the Oscar format which is now required.  It was suggested that a letter of thanks be sent to Mr Finnie.

                                                                                                                   Action: Clerk

The Chairman thanked Mr King for all of this efforts over the year.

Mr Jack McKechnie summarised the Budget proposals for year 2010/2011, which had been circulated prior to the Meeting.  A number of questions were asked with regard to these:

Q. It was noted that the budget for printing costs had been increased by quite a lot.

A. This was due to the cost which would be involved in producing the ‘welcome packs’.

Q. Would the cost of the repairs to the Belfry come out of the General Fund?

A. No, these costs would be covered by the Fabric Fund.

It was proposed that the organist should receive a 5% rise in salary.

The Budget was approved by Mr Roy Anderson and seconded by Mr Robert Finnie.

A number of other financial issues were raised:

Church Insurance Renewal – had not been resolved to our satisfaction as we were forced to renew this with The Church of Scotland Insurance Section, although we had received a more a more favourable quote from an alternative Insurance Company.  It had been requested that this issue be raised at Presbytery level and this had been  agreed to.  Action: Presbytery Elder.

An increase in the salaries for the Church Officer and the Church cleaner were agreed.  Approved by Mr Roy Anderson and seconded by Mrs Jean Mills.

Church Extension Project Feasibility Grant – the Chairman read out a proposed letter requesting an extension of this Grant, as all the feasibility studies had not as yet been completed and would not be, before the completion date of the Grant was reached.  It was agreed by the Board that this should be sent along with a progress report from the Project Committee.  Action: The Chairman, Project Committee and Clerk

Fabric/-

Page 606

Fabric:

Mr John Wilson reported on the following:

1. Plinth on Jock and Jenny – we are awaiting further information from Mr Jim Strawbridge.
2. Belfry work commenced on Tuesday and it was hoped that this would be completed by Friday. Volunteers were being sought to help clean up the Church on Saturday as there is likely to be a lot of dust created when the plastering is started.
3. Roofer has been delayed due to the weather.
4. An improved Boiler service plan for full cover is being sought as the current plan does not cover all areas.
5. Gas bills are likely to be higher when the next bills are received,  as the heating was being left on during the very bad spell of weather.
6. A request had been received to seek estimates for the decoration of the living room in the manse, slightly earlier than previously proposed – this was agreed by the Board.
7. A new sound deck has been fitted to replace the fault one.

The Chairman informed the Meeting that a debt of gratitude was owed to Mr Wilson for the amount of time he had spent over the last few weeks attending to the Church buildings to ensure that damage was minimised during the spell of very bad weather.

The Meeting was informed that an act of vandalism had occurred in one of the upper rooms in the Church Halls.  A meeting has been arranged with the organisation concerned to discuss this matter.

Communication and Outreach- there was nothing to report at the present time.

Grounds – Mr Adam McCartney had reported that there was nothing to report as the grounds issues were ‘dormant’ at the moment.  He did however state that the addition of a younger male to the Committee would be very helpful, especially with grass cutting etc.

Social Committee:  Mrs Ina Jefferson reported on behalf of the Social Committee that the recent Ceilidh had been a great success and thanks were due to the Elderberries, the Committee, the staff at the Bowling Club and all who attended.  Our next venture is a Games Night on the 20 February and we hope as many as possible will attend.

AOCB:

Five Year Visit – the Chairman read out the report (a second draft as the Chairman had requested correction of a number of items in the original document) which had been received with regard to the visit.

Discussions followed and in general it was agreed that this was not a true reflection of our Church and that the visit had not been at all useful or helpful. 

Next Meeting/-

Page 607

Next Meeting:

The next Meeting will be a joint Meeting with the Session on Tuesday 16 February at 7.30pm in the Church Hall.

The Meeting was closed by the Minister at 9.30pm with the Benediction.

Rev D Cambpell                                                                     Mrs Ina Jefferson

Chairman                                                                                Clerk to the Board

612

Stated Annual General Meeting of Houston and Killellan Kirk

14 March 2010.

MINUTES

The Congregation of Houston and Killellan Kirk met in Church at the close of worship on Sunday 14 March 2010, with the Rev Donald Campbell, Minister, in the Chair.  The Chairman thanked all those who had stayed to participate in the annual meeting.

Sedurunt and Apologies

102 members attended the Meeting as noted in the Sederunt book, with apologies noted therein.

Previous Minutes:

• The Minutes of the Stated Annual Meeting held on 15 March 2009 were circulated, approved and signed.  Proposed by Mr Robert Finnie and seconded by Mrs Belle McNeil.
• There were no matters arising.

Session Clerks Report:

1. It has again been a busy year for our Kirk Session. 7 main meetings have been held with numerous team and other meetings. There are currently 53 Elders on the Kirk Session and it is hoped several new Elders will be ordained in the near future. Session business is handled by 5 teams ie Worship, Pastoral Care, Safeguarding and Youth Worker, World and local Mission and Session Effectiveness.

Safeguarding of our young people is a major concern for the Church and we are fortunate to have such a dedicated and efficient Safeguarding officer as Cath Close.

Teams report regularly to the Kirk Session.

 Elders visit all organisatons which come under our jurisdiction and provide written feedback.

 Kirk Session minutes can now be accessed on the Church website.

2 .At the October morning Communion service, our long serving beadle, Iain Cameron was presented with 2 prints of Skye by the Minister on behalf of the Kirk Session and the congregation, to thank him for 31 years of outstanding and dedicated service to the Kirk. He was so taken aback that he did not even have time to prepare a lengthy response!!

3. Later this year, 3 Elders will have completed 30 years service viz Marjorie Goudie, Dennis Holdbrook, and Michael Ure and presentations will be made in Church during the year. .

4. Church membership stands at 693 members and over 60% of our members attended on at least one of our 2 main Communion Diets.

Attendance at our main services of worship continues to be good and our worship is enhanced by our excellent choir under the very talented Peter Yardley-Jones.

5. Thanks are due to Alec Buchanan who has now stepped down as roll-keeper after many years of dedicated service and Irwin Jefferson has taken on this important role.

Session Clerk’s Report/-
613

Session Clerk’s Report Continued.

6. Donald and I had a meeting at the beginning of this year with the recently inducted  Minister at neighbouring Linwood Parish Church and her Session Clerk. We hope that this meeting will be a forerunner to others which may prove fruitful to both our congregations. I am pleased to say that Barbara Ann Brown and Moira Dunlop have been providing advice to Linwood on their forthcoming Money Matters campaign.

7. The 5 year visit by Presbytery took place in November and this required much preparation work, mainly carried out by our Mission team.. The object of these visits is to strengthen the hands of the Minister, Kirk Session and Office bearers and to advise them should anything appear to be unsatisfactory in the state of the congregation or not to be in accordance with Church law and order.

We were disappointed in the way the visiting team carried out their duties and the resulting report was unhelpful.. We have made our views known to Presbytery.

8. Our Church continues to be well represented on Presbytery with 5 of our members. being involved in one way or another.

Thanks are due to John Melrose, our Presbytery Elder, who has continued to do sterling work for us over the past 12 years, as has Roy Anderson who recently stepped down as Treasurer of Presbytery, also after 12 years.

9. My recent involvement in Presbytery and attendance at various  Church meetings have made me realise that, in the next few years, we will have considerably fewer ordained Ministers in the Church than we have at the moment. .I suspect that the remaining Ministers will be asked to do even more than at present.  Many congregations in Scotland just cannot afford to fund a Minister themselves and while Churches like ours currently provide some financial assistance for these churches this may not be sustainable in the longer term. The union of many congregations will become inevitable.

In our Presbytery alone only 29 congregations are able to fully fund a Minister, while the remaining  25 congregations are being supported by 121 and other congregations..

10. In the short time, Donald has been here, he has already been asked to be Interim Moderator at Uplawmoor and is currently Interim Moderator at Bishopton. We have expressed our concerns to Presbytery.

11. Donald continues to be involved in all aspects of Church and community life but we must remember that Donald has a considerable workload in a busy Parish. We have to ensure that Donald and Liz have sufficient scheduled free time and we will do every thing we can to help.

12.  Donald is very ably supported by Liz and we thank her not only for the work she does as Church Officer but for all the other activities in which she is involved.

13. I would like to thank all members of the Kirk Session, the Congregation Board and the congregation for their advice and support during the past year. We are very fortunate in having so many dedicated and skilled members who work tirelessly for our Church and beyond and we thank them all. Finally , a special thanks to Helen Dunn, my deputy, for her support and legal advice.

Donald, thank you for leading us in our worship and for attending to all our other spiritual needs.

We ask for God’s blessing as you continue your ministry in Houston

Treasurer’s Report/-

614

Treasurer’s Report:

1.  The Treasurer said copies of the audited accounts had been available for the last two weeks and was delighted at the interest and that he had to print more copies.

2.  He felt there was little point in going over such a large document in detail. The information was there for everyone to see.  Because our income was over £100,000 we were legally bound to meet the format laid down by Charity Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006

3.  The Treasurer thanked the independent Examiner Graeme Finnie not only examining the Accounts but with his help in drafting them into OSCAR formula.

4.  John reported on Page 5 (Balance Sheet) and pointed out that the loan for the alterations to the Manse had been paid off. With interest rates being so low we receiving very little return on our deposits it made sense to pay the loan off.

5.  One main item of Expenditure had been the new audio System (£14,378). This had been charged to the Legacy Fund and the Legacy Fund now stood at £17,555.

6.  Carnival income this year was well down (£5,310) but given the appalling day, it was felt that this was an excellent result.

7.  John pointed out that our cash balances amounted to £130,276 and after taking into accruals for debtors and creditors our net worth was £136,095 which was an increase of £12,557 over last year.

8.  John thanked the Finance Committee for all their assistance during the year and in particular Jack McKechnie our Finance Convener and Anne Thorburn who so willingly sorted out any computing or spreadsheet problems.

Congregational Board Report:

The Board met on 8 occasions during 2009.

1.  The Finance Committee have continued to do an excellent job, particularly during a very difficult year.  The team is lead by Jack McKechnie, Conveyor and John King, Treasurer.  All members of the Finance team work well under their leadership as can be seen from the Accounts and Budget reports.

2.  The Fabric Committee have had to work hard over the past year on a number of projects.  Problems with plumbing in the Manse, maintenance and repairs in the halls, including notice board repairs, hand driers replaced in the toilets and many other tasks that are not always noticed but would cause great inconvenience and damage if not repaired.  The main problem in the Church has been the repair work required in the belfry which has turned out to be a much bigger problem than was at first thought, and repairs are ongoing to deal with the dry rot which has been found in the area.  Jock and Jenny will soon have new heavy duty glass covers and we are very grateful to Jim Strawbridge and his Company, Insutech Scotland Ltd for carrying out this work free of charge.

There are lots of repairs and maintenance carried out by John Wilson, and his team that keep costs to a minimum, and on behalf of the Congregation I would like to thank them for their hard work and continuing commitment to the fabric of our buildings.

Congregational Board Report/-

615

Congregational Board Report continued.

3.  The Grounds Committee, under the leadership of Adam McCartney, have as normal kept the grounds in excellent condition and this is often remarked on by visitors to the Church.  Without wanting to sound ageist, there are times in the year when the help of one or two younger members would be appreciated.  Names to Adam please.

4.  Outreach and Communication, one of the major tasks for Bob Finnie and his committee over the past year was to research and produce the new style Record, which despite a number of early teething problems seems to be well accepted.  Work is continuing to improve the content with each edition.  Thanks are due to John Melrose, Editor, Kate Jackson, Collator and Sandra Griffiths, Distributor for all the work they have also put in to make the magazine a success.  Ian Spearing continues to do sterling work on the Church web site, which as well as being informative is also enjoyable to browse.  Thank you also to Ian Scott for his PR work.

5. Social Committee, Hazel McLean and her team had a very successful year, organising a number of events, amongst these the Easter Breakfast, Harvest Lunch, a Beetle Drive, a very enjoyable Ten Pin bowling night at Xscape, and a Ceilidh.  The Committee also helped with a number of other events in the Church.  The Committee had to cancel a planned Family Games Night through lack of response but they haven’t given up on this and it may be tried again at a later date.  I am sure the Committee will continue to provide events for us to enjoy.  Thanks also to Heather Jefferson and Bill McCartney, our co-opted YOUNG members.

6.  The Church cleaning teams continue to do a wonderful job in keeping our Church spic and span, a big thank you to all the teams under the leadership of Liz.

7.  Thanks are also due to:

• Margaret Moncrief for organising the car rota, Margaret would be glad to hear from any other members who would be able to help provide this service.
• Kate and Graeme Jackson for once again organising the Kirk Postie
• Helen Dunn and Robert Thorburn for their work in organising last year’s Carnival.

8. I would also like to thank all Board Members not already mentioned and particular thanks to all those who have helped me in my first few months as Clerk to the Congregational Board.

Elections to the Board:

Charles Green has decided to stand down from the Board and we would like to thank Charles for his support in the time he has served on the Board.

The following members of the Board were re-elected to the Board for a further period of three years until 2013:

Minister’s Report/-

616

Minister’s Report:

It is my privilege to summarise just some of the highlights and the everyday important and essential on goings during the past year of our congregation of Houston & Killellen Kirk.

1. The last year as with every year has had it highs and lows in respect of the death old faithful members, and we remember those of our Church family who have passed into God’s heavenly care.  There have been the baptisms of new arrivals, the delights of weddings and just in the last 2 weeks, 5 young people making their full commitment to Christ’s church.

2. What never ceases to amaze me as your Minister is the ongoing participation, dedication and enthusiasm of so many people in our Church family across the entire spectrum of work that requires to be undertaken in the life of the Church.

3. All of this comes from excellent commitment and our Church is so well served by our Session Clerk, James McBeath, his assistant Helen Dunn, our Clerk to the Board, Ian Jefferson, Treasurer John King and Finance Convenor Jack McKechnie and committee, Property Convenor John Wilson and his willing team of helpers, indeed all our team leaders and members in Session and Board teams.

4. When you add to that all those involved in the Kirk Carnival, both in the pre day organising and the hive of activity in setting up and clearing up.  Although I’m not sure I should carry the can for the poor weather we have had to endure on the last 3 Kirk Carnival days.  There is a massive involvement in decorating the Church for Harvest and Christmas and it involves so many using their gifts and talents and how nice they do so, the flowers every Sunday and to those who deliver to the elderly, thos in care homes, the sick and bereaved.

5.  Just also to think of the delight our Sunday Club bring to our Worship, especially their Nativity Play, all of course enthusiastically done in tandem between the youngsters and our Sunday School teachers.  The Services of rededication of our Boys Brigade and Girls Brigade companies and the support and work our Guild does throughout the year.  It was also a pleasure to welcome the members past and present of the Guide movement to celebrate their 100^th birthday last month.

6.  The ongoing dry rot eradication has caused some disruption to worship, it is  frustrating for the congregation but most especially our organist Peter Yardley Jones and our choir not to have had the organ to accompany our praise.  The work to repair the structural beam end will begin on Tuesday after Easter.  At present he scheduled work will take some 11 days, so on the weekend of Sunday 11 April we may well need to worship in the Church hall.

7.  On a personal note Liz and I have recently enjoyed an intense but wonderful pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  To see those Biblical places at first hand will add a special dimension to my understanding of Christ’s ministry.

8.  To James McBeath, my friend and Session Clerk, I thank you for your good guidance and the words of thanks to Liz and I.  May I also thank you, for the support of the congregation and many people in our community.

9.  We should be excited at the prospect of new personnel on our Kirk Session in the near future. 

Proposed Kirk Extension Report:-

This time last year we told you of the early stages in researching the possibility of altering our Kirk building with much needed extra accommodation and upgrading of necessary facilities that would enhance our Church.  I excitedly comment to you the presentation that will be given by the acting convenor Iain Cameron after my report.  I pray that you will find what is proposed an exciting prospect for the near future and worthy of your prayers and support.

617

Proposed Kirk Extension Report Continued.

Before commencing on the Proposed Kirk Extension Project Report, Ian Cameron took the opportunity to thank the Congregation for the gift of the prints he had received for his long service as Church Beadle, this gift was much appreciated not only by Ian but his family also.

Over the past 18 months or so a small sub-committee of Elders and Congregational Board members had been reviewing and looking at proposals to improve the hall accommodation and facilities at the rear of the Church.

The improvement proposals looked at by the small sub-committee included.

1. Improved male/female/disabled toilet facilities
2. Improved hall accommodation (behind the scenes, Session and Board meetings)
3. Improved kitchen facilities (health and safety: after service teas)
4. Improved storage facilities (chairs, tables, sound equipment etc.)
5. Improved vestry facilities (modernisation)

The proposals which have been displayed on drawings and the computer generated images over the last three Sundays represent the progress which has been made to date by the sub-committee.  These drawings and the computer general images were displayed to the Session and Board on Tuesday 16 February and it is with their approval that they have been displayed for the wider Congregation to see and comment upon at this early stage.  To allow for such comment the drawings and computer generated images will be shown until Sunday 18 March.

Ian stressed that these current proposals are not necessarily the ‘final’ scheme proposals as they have yet to be shown to or commented on by Renfrewshire Council Planning Department, however the proposals do represent a fairly realistic view of what the sub-committee feels is desired and needed at the rear of the Church, to serve its requirements both today, the near future and the longer term.

The current proposals assume that no exhumation or re-interment of the existing graves will be required although some initial archaeological investigations will be required to confirm this.

The proposed two storey hall extension is not a replacement for the extensively used hall facilities which already exist.

The cost of constructing the current two storey hall extension proposal has been estimated at circa £500,000.00 of which the Congregation would be expected to raise around 60% or £300,000.00 themselves by way of direct fund raising and through a financially sustainable Church of Scotland short term loan.  The 40% remainder of the costs would be raised from external funding sources (National Lottery, Baird Trust etc.).

The proposal to construct the rear hall extension is regarded as a ‘five year’ project by the sub-committee.  This does not mean that the Church waits 5 years to allow funds to be raised and then work to commence, in fact it is expected that the work would be progressed to completion, with the hall occupied and in use within a five year periods from now. 

The associated woodland car park development proposals across the road have been resurrected as a result of the rear hall extension proposals.

To date all cost incurred have been met from the £5,000.00 feasibility grant given by the Church of Scotland General Trustees.  At this time there is even some left over to cover any further cost which might be incurred by the sub-committee in the coming months.

In the coming months the sub-committee intend to further progress the project by meeting with Renfrewshire Council Planning Department, developing the design proposals, arranging for the archaeological investigations and carrying out any further site and woodland surveys deems necessary.

Proposed Kirk Extension Project Report/-

618

Proposed Kirk Extension Project Report continued:

It is expected that a further update on progress will be made some time in the Autumn.

Ian thanked all the members of the sub-committee and others who have helped to get the project this far in such a short time.  Particular thanks were given to Mr Alistair McGregor, who has made a hug contribution to the work so far.

Questions were then invited from the Congregation which Ian answered as fully as he could.

Jack McKechnie pointed out that it would only take each member of the Congregation to donate an extra £2.00 per week to raise £300,000.00+ over the timescale and if you Gift Aid this amount we would raise in excess of £400,000.00.

The Minister thanked Ian and his sub-committee once again and commented that all of the work carried out to date had by done free of charge.

The Congregation gave their approval for the plans to be taken forward.

AOCB:

As there had been no AOCB items submitted the Stated Annual General Meeting closed with the Benediction.

Rev Donald Campbell                                                                  Mrs Ina Jefferson

Chairman                                                                                        Clerk to the Congregational Board

Page 608

HOUSTON AND KILLELLAN KIRK

Joint Session and Congregational Board Meeting on 16 February 2010 

MINUTES

The Session and Congregational Board of Houston and Killellan Kirk met at 7.30pm on Tuesday 16 February 2010 in the Church Hall with the Rev. Donald Campbell, Minister in the Chair.  The Rev Donald Campbell constituted the meeting with a prayer and a reading.

Sederunt/Apologies:

44 members attended the Meeting as detailed in the Sederunt book.  Apologies were received from 10 members.

Finance:

Mr John King presented the 2009 Accounts which had previously been circulated and presented to the Congregational Board at a previous Meeting on Tuesday 2^nd February 2010.

• During the year, our Offerings plus tax reclaimed on Gift Aid totalled £149,455, an increase of £330, with total income showing an increase of £3,866 to £164,549.
• There was an increase of £2,376 in our allocation to 121 George Street but other expenses have been contained which means our total expenses were up £1,527 to £140,273 creating a surplus in the General Account of £24,276
• We have transferred £10,000 from the General Account to the Fabric account leaving a balance in the General Account of £46,651
• After this transfer the Fabric Fund stands at £71,365. The Kirk Carnival brought in £5,310 which is a substantial sum considering that the day was the wettest in recent memory
• During the year the balance of the loan for the Manse extension was repaid One major item of expenditure was the new hearing system in the Kirk. This was charged to the Legacy Account which along with the installation of new electrical switches reduced the balance of this account by £14,378 to £17,555
• From the statement of funds our total assets are £136,095 an increase of £12,557 over last year.
• £123,100 is held with The Church of Scotland Deposit Scheme where the current interest rate is 1.89%

Treasurer’s Report continued/-

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Treasurer’s Report continued

Financially we have had a good year and I would like to thank the Finance Committee for their input and support with a special mention to Anne & Jack who give so freely of their time and financial acumen and to Douglas who has spent so much time negotiating with Scottish Gas to ensure we get the best possible energy rates.

Mr King clarified a number of points in the form of question from the Members, thereafter the Accounts were approved, proposed by George Colquhoun and Seconded by Allan Gilfillan.

Mr King once again thanked Mr Graeme Finnie, who attended the Meeting in his capacity as Independent Examiner, for all the help he had given Mr King and the Finance Committee.  Mr Finnie stated that he would be happy to continue as Independent Examiner, this offer was gratefully accepted.

Mr John McKechnie summarised the Budget proposals for 2010/2011 which had been circulated prior to the Meeting.   A number of items were highlighted i.e. a salary increase for the Organist, the Church Officer and the Church Secretary. 

The Chairman thanked Mr King, Mr McKechnie and the other Members of the Finance Committee for all the hard work carried out throughout the year and in particular for the extra work involved in the preparation of the Annual Accounts.

Fabric Committee Update:

1.     Mr John Wilson highlighted a number of issues that had arisen since the last Meeting:

2.     Repair to the Belfry – it has been found that one of the rafters in completed rotted and more extensive work than previously proposed will have to be carried out at an extra cost.  It would be of advantage to have Cox repair the roof when the rafter is replaced as this would come within the warranty terms.                 Action – Fabric Committee

3.     Jock and Jenny Plinth – it is hoped that glass covers will be installed in about 4 week’s time.  Ian Spearing has volunteered to paint the frames beforehand.

4.     Fire exit lights are being replaced in the halls and extras will be installed at the stairs end of the big hall.  The fire alarm has had a new battery installed to replace a defective one.

5.     A notice board has been installed for the Sunday Club in the big hall.

6.     Taps have had replacement parts fitted in the ladies and gents toilets.

7.     Service plan for the heating boilers has been increased to cover 365 days, with parts included, as the previous plan did not cover weekends.  The extra premium costs sare less than we paid out for parts last year.

8.     The console for the sound system was replaced under warranty.

9.     Estimates are currently being obtained for redecoration of the Manse lounge.  To date we have received two similar quotes, the smaller of which is likely to be accepted.

Fabric Report continued/-

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Fabric Report continued:

10.  Estimates are required for a replacement front door in the Manse. Action – Fabric Committee

11.  Lead flashing was replaced in the roof of the small hall.  A leak in the Manse garage roof was also repaired.

Mr Wilson wished to thank all of the Fabric Committee, in particular at this time, to Mr Ian Spearing and Mr Jack McNeil.  Mr Wilson highlighted that the cost of repairs was only kept to a minimum through the hard work of the Committee members.

The Rev Campbell thanked Mr Wilson and his team, on behalf of the Session, the Congregational Board and the Congregation for their continuing excellent efforts often at unsociable times.

AOCB

New Communicants – the first of the new Communicants will be admitted on 28 February and the remainder on Sunday 7 March 2010.

Church Extension Project Presentation:

Mr Iain Cameron and Mr Alastair McGregor gave a very detailed, informative, presentation of the current position with the above project.  Mr Cameron updated the Members on ‘where we currently are’ and ‘where we hope to go from here’ with regard to planning permission etc.

The Session and Board Members were given a ‘Google visualisation display’ of the proposed plans; paper copies of the plans were also displayed on the notice board in the hall for all members to view and comment on.

Questions were invited and a wide ranging discussion followed.  One of the major concerns was how this project would be funded.

At the end of the discussion the Rev Campbell commended these proposals to the Members and asked that we be willing to take the leap of faith that Mr Cameron had spoken about.

It was agreed that the proposals should be taken forward to the Congregation.  The display will be shown in the Church on three Sundays, one of which will be the week of the stated Annual General Meeting.  The Congregation will then be asked to make comment on the plans.

The Rev Campbell highlighted to the Meeting that the majority of the work already carried out on the Project, had been done on a voluntary basis at no cost to the Church and Mr Cameron and Mr McGregor are due our very grateful thanks.

The Meeting closed at approximately 10pm with the Benediction.