St. Mary's Arlingham Annual Parish Meeting and Challenges Ahead 2024
Arlingham Annual Parish Meeting set for April 16, 2024 at the Church of St. Mary The Virgin. Rev. Liz Palin leads the Stroudwater Team overseeing 15 churches. The Friends of St. Mary's have made significant achievements since 2021. Challenges include restoring the church roof with substantial funding needed. The church remains on the National Buildings At Risk Register, emphasizing the importance of structural work for the future.
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Arlingham Annual Parish Arlingham Annual Parish Meeting 16 April 2024 Meeting 16 April 2024 Church of St Mary The Virgin, Arlingham Stroudwater Rector Rev Liz Palin
Context Context Part of the Stroudwater Team of 15 churches two full time clergy several volunteer clergy and licensed lay workers make up the ministry team Operate as four clusters Arlingham is in a cluster with Frampton and Fretherne the St Mary s churches Mission churches to support and resource other churches Mission groups: life events, mission and evangelism, children families and young people Appointed as Team Rector in July, licensed in December Priorities for team rector were .
St Marys Arlingham St Mary s Arlingham Last PCC was in 2021 The Friends of St Mary s formed in 2021. Currently around 40 strong membership, plus others supporters cleaning, clock-winding, flowers, bell ringing etc Leads Group of the Friends consisting of: Rev Liz Palin Churchwarden - Bernie Base Fundraising Group Elena Dickinson Buildings & Maintenance James Witchell Major Projects Jon Shaw
Achievements since formation Achievements since formation of the Friends in 2021 of the Friends in 2021 Successful bid funding and project delivery to restore the three largest wall monuments Successful fundraising in 2022 and 2023 raising 13,000 towards the church fabric. Volunteers repaired and extended the heating and replaced oil tank. Volunteers have completed the cleaning and repainting of internal ironwork to all but three of the nave and chancel windows. Open day in April 2023 was attended by circa 120 parishioners. High profile maintained in the Arlingham Church Maintenance plan in place including annual work to roof and gutters, but ..
Challenges ahead Challenges ahead St Mary s remains on the national Buildings At Risk Register 2019 Quinquennial Inspection highlighted that the church roof is nearing the end of its life. It was last replaced in the mid/late 1940s. A follow-up survey of the roof structure details further work that will be required when the roof is replaced. Substantial funding for the roof will be required, 2019 QI and subsequent 2020 roof structure survey together suggest a budget of over 300k. Building costs have since risen significantly. What else is needed to make St Mary s fit for church and other purposes in the C21st?
Challenges Ahead Challenges Ahead Whilst there is a solid base of 50,000 + local funding towards the roof etc project analysis is required to establish the likelihood of bids to other potential funders being successful. A potential keystone/main funder could be the Heritage Lottery Fund. A HLF bid will require us to demonstrate a good level of existing and/or proposed use of the church. This can be a greater challenge here with a good village hall in a more central location. Project proposals need to be defined before bids can be prepared. This requires parishioner engagement for which a consultation paper has been drafted.
Parish Profile Parish Profile Attendance at Sunday services continues to be modest (typically 6) Festivals are generally well attended. About half of the 40 people on the Friends Group have actively volunteered to undertake tasks plus more who help with cleaning, clock winding, flowers etc Sunday collections are modest given low congregation numbers. The regular giving scheme enabling a wider group to support the church financially only produces c. 125 per month. Collections and regular giving are too low to sustain the church s revenue budget. The Parish does not contribute towards its parish share which is ultimately unsustainable for the clergy team. There is considerable goodwill towards the church, its fundraising activity and concern for the preservation of the building as an important parish heritage asset. However further parishioner engagement is needed.
2024 Arlingham Church 2024 Arlingham Church Consultation Consultation Proposed on-line and hard copy consultation. Timing - TBC Headline Creating a sustainable relevant church for our 21stCentury Community. Seeking parishioners views on: The importance of the church as a heritage asset How to make the church more relevant in today s parish Current and future uses Volunteer Support Funding The Church emerged as an issue at the Parish Plan drop-in event. What do we need to do to co-ordinate these processes? Will there be a parish plan group or sub-group with which we could work with to undertake parishioner consultation?
