Writing at the start of the Chinese New Year, it is perhaps not too late to wish you well for the year ahead. I am conscious that we are going to experience a lot of change, with the sadness of farewells, particularly as Bishop Richard leaves us for retirement at Easter, but also the growing anticipation as we prepare to welcome a new Diocesan Bishop. We will also be electing a new Diocesan Synod in the summer and the Diocesan Boards and Councils will be re-formed in the autumn with a diffent mix of people. At a parish level the time for APCMs is on us with people reviewing their commitments, the encouragement of different people to become involved and sometimes the real worry of not finding people to take on key roles. It perhaps heightens our appreciation of the contribution made by so many, in such different ways, to our christian communities – and it gives us a chance to stop and say thank you. PCC secretaries need one of the biggest “Thank Yous” of all!
I have included a number of pieces of information below which I hope you will find helpful. Please give the summary sheet to your Incumbent as usual.
1. “Public Life and the Place of the Church”
Michael Brierley, Bishop Richard’s chaplain, has edited a book of essays written to honour the Bishop’s ministry with us. The essays explore themes which have been of great interest to Bishop Richard, and are a significant contribution to those areas. A flyer is enclosed explaining how copies can be ordered. The book includes contributions from Melvyn Bragg, John Drury, Douglas Hurd, Julia Neuberger, Keith Ward, Rowan Williams and Shirley Williams among many others. Michael was delighted that it remained a complete - and pleasant - surprise to Bishop Richard, despite numerous whispered conversations and telephone calls.
We have had a number of queries from parishes about how they can make a donation to Bishop Richard’s leaving gift. Please send a cheque made out to the “ODBF Administered Fund” and write “Bishop Richard’s leaving fund” on the back or enclose a note with the cheque.
2. Consultations in relation to the new Bishop
The Vacancy in See Committee has begun its work and is writing a “diocesan profile” which describes the church in the Oxford Diocese and the contexts within which we live and work. The group is also developing a profile of the type of person we believe we need as our Diocesan Bishop,
recognising that no single person will have all the qualities needed – but trying to discern the sort of person we need at this time. Information about how parishes and individuals can contribute to this consultation have been set out in the DOOR and on the diocesan website www.oxford.anglican.org. There will be a Public Meeting on Thursday 30th March at Christchurch Cathedral. Evensong begins at 6.00 and will be followed immediately by a meeting at 7. 00 p.m. with the Appointments Secretaries who work for the Archbishops’ and Prime Minister. The meeting will last for about an hour and those attending will have the opportunity to give their views on the needs of the diocese. It will also be possible to contact the six diocesan representatives on the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), either with comments about the sort of person we need or with suggestions of names to be considered. The CNC are responsible for recommending the final names to go forward. The diocesan representatives will be elected on 18th February and their names will be available on the diocesan website or from the reception at Diocesan Church House 01865 208200 from Monday 20th February. Please include the work of the Vacancy in See Committee and the Crown Nominations Commission in your parish prayers.
3. The Bishop of Oxford’s House.
The Church Commissioners have been looking for a new house for the diocesan bishop for a number of years. The current house is leased from Wolfson College who have indicated that they do not want to extend the lease when it runs out in 4 years time. Although the diocese provides housing for area bishops, housing for diocesan bishops is provided by the Church Commissioners from endowment funds derived from the sale of bishops’ historic property. All new property purchased has to meet agreed guidelines which includes specific requirements in relation to guest accommodation, entertaining and office accommodation. We greatly hope that the new bishop will continue to keep his main offices in DCH, but recognise that in very few dioceses is that the case. The property should be accessible by public transport but also be able to provide appropriate car parking. It has been extremely difficult to identify a property that meets all the criteria. However the Church Commissioners have now purchased a house in Headington, Oxford. The cost of doing so has been the subject of comment in a number of newspapers. A copy of the Commissioners’ press statement is on the diocesan website.
4. Annual Parochial Church Meeting
Information about updating and returning information about the Electoral Roll is included from Mary Saunders, as is the form for Application for Enrolment on the Church Electoral Roll and the Notice for the APCM. (Please ensure that electoral roll forms are returned to Mary Saunders at Diocesan Church House by 1st June.)
5. Data Protection Forms
If, following the elections, new people take on roles which are normally notified in the Year Book please ask them to complete a copy of the Data Protection Form which is enclosed, and return it to Diocesan Church House. People who have already completed a form do not need to do so again unless they have taken on additional roles.
Please return the form as soon as you can as we are aiming to bring out the 2006/07 Yearbook early in the autumn so that the information is as up to date as possible.
6.Annual Parochial Membership and Finance Returns for 2005
While on the subject of forms please can I also remind you to return these forms which include the Parish Finance Return, the October count of church attendees, statistics about the number of baptisms, weddings and funerals and this year special questions about Fresh Expressions of Church. There are copies of the forms on the diocesan website – www.oxford.anglican.org if you need additional copies. The forms should be sent to your Deanery Lay Chairman who will collate and forward them.
7. Diocesan Synod Elections
These will be taking place between the 1st May and 15th July this year. Any one who is on an electoral roll in one of the parishes in the dioceses is eligible to stand, and the Deanery Synod members vote on who they wish to represent them.The Diocesan Synod meets on 3 Saturdays a year in March, June and November currently in High Wycombe, and synod members are also encouraged to stand for election to one of the diocesan boards and councils and become involved in a specific areas of work. I enclose for your information a sheet setting out the Roles and Responsibilities of Diocesan Synod members. Please encourage members of your congregations to consider standing for election and please pray for our work in the coming year.
8. Presence and Engagement
Last summer the General Synod debated and accepted a report called Presence and Engagement which indicated how the Church should address issues concerned with people of other faiths. In November the Diocesan Synod discussed the work of our own Oxford Diocesan Committee for Inter-faith Concerns (ODCIC). ODCIC is now in the process of consulting with other diocesan Boards and Committees about how to take this work forward but, if in the meanwhile, parishes or deaneries wish to discuss the whole question of People of Other Faiths and how how we should relate to them, please contact the Chairman, Dr Hugh Boulter, Lukers , 47 High St, Theale, Reading RG7 5AH Tel 0118 9303 183 email hugh.boulter@tesco.net. He will be pleased to arrange to help in any way that seems appropriate to your particular situation.
9. News from the Cathedral.
Please circulate the contents of the enclosed letter from the Sub Dean, the Very Revd Nicholas Coulton who has information about special events at the Cathedral, facilities for group visits and an application form for free entry passes so that it easy to get into the cathedral. Cathedral staff are working very hard to make it feel like our cathedral. Do encourage members of your congregation to take part in its life and warm hospitality.
10. Memorial Grant Scheme
In November the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) announced that it is accepting applications to the Memorial Grant scheme.
This is the scheme which the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the March 2005 Budget. It returns in grant aid the amount of VAT incurred in the construction, renovation and maintenance of memorials on or after 16th March 2005. Invoices spanning works before and after 16th March 2005 can be submitted, but only the element incurred on or after this date will be refunded. There is no minimum or maximum limit on the amount reclaimable.
The purpose of the scheme is to recognise the social value of memorials, and it therefore applies to memorial structures in the form of statues, monuments and similar constructions, which:
- are solely for the purposes of commemorating people, events or animals;
- bear a commemorative inscription; and
- meet a public access test of a minimum of 30 hours a week.
Structures with a dual purpose are not eligible under the scheme (e.g. a memorial bench or playground). Stained glass windows, although dual-purpose, are eligible. Also excluded from the scheme are memorial gardens and trees, which are not structures capable of construction or renovation, although minor landscaping and planting undertaken in the course of memorial construction will generally be eligible. Private expressions of remembrance, such as headstones, are not covered by the scheme.
The Government has made proposals to the European Commission for a permanent reduced VAT rate to be charged on memorial construction, renovation and maintenance. The Memorials Grant Scheme is a temporary measure. It will operate until 2008 unless agreement is reached sooner on a permanent reduced rate. The scheme is being administered by DCMS for the whole of the United Kingdom.
Further details of the scheme may be found at: http://www.memorialgrant.org.uk/index.htm
Or you can contact the scheme administrators at:
Memorials Grant Scheme
PO Box 609,
Newport
NP10 8QD,
South Wales,
United Kingdom
Tel: 0845 600 6430
11. VAT and Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme
By December all but six of the twenty five EU member countries had agreed to the inclusion of repairs to historic churches among the items for which a reduced (5%) VAT rate would be permitted. Unanimity is required and negotiations are continuing. VAT rebate under the Grant Scheme is funded to continue to March 2008. Info at nptcallcentreuk@cslplc.com
12. Criminal Records Bureau – Annual Increase
The CRB announced on 22 December that they will be raising the fees for paid Disclosure applications as of 6 April as follows:
Enhanced CRB Disclosure Check: £36.00 (previously £34.00)
Standard CRB Disclosure Check: £31.00 (previously £29.00)
Most of the applications you make are for volunteers, so attract only the Diocesan administration fee of £8.50, which remains unchanged. For parishes and deaneries employing adults working with children and young people, please make note of the increased CRB charge. There is no Diocesan administration fee for processing CRB forms for paid posts.
As a consequence, the Parish Request Form will need updating. You will be able to download an updated version: Issue 2, dated April 2006, from the diocesan website on 6 April 2006: http://www.oxford.anglican.org/crb/ . Alternatively, simply amend your existing master.
This information will also go to the Parish CRB Approved Parish Representative with information about additional changes to the CRB documentation via the STEM mailing which will be sent out shortly. However we thought it would be helpful for you to have additional warning about the change in fees.
I hope you find the above information useful. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries about these matters
Rosemary Pearce
Diocesan Secretary
