Minutes of a meeting of Hammersmith & Fulham Deanery Synod on 7th February 2002 at St Alban’s Church, Margravine Road

1.	Revd Madeline Bulman opened the meeting, giving apologies from the Area Dean who had 	asked her to chair the meeting in his unavoidable absence.
	Jonathan Clark thanked all synod members for their help and support during the last 3 years 	and especially Sarah Burrell (who has been Lay Chair for 6 years), and Rose Wrigley 		(Secretary), both of whom are standing down at the forthcoming elections.

2.	Revd Jack Maple welcomed us to St Alban’s Church, told us a bit about its history, and 		opened the meeting with prayer.

3.	There were 35 members of Synod present, and 13 apologies in the attendance book.

4.	The minutes of the last synod on 30th October 2001 were approved without amendment.

5. 	Matters arising:-
	Welcare (report on yellow sheet already circulated).  Introduced by Madeline Bulman - 		propsals of different possible ways to use this money (approx £20,000) which we have 		inherited. Out of small group discussions, suggestions were made as follows:-
•	“Option 7” - give the money to the Diocesan project ALMA (Angola, London and Mozambique Association)
•	There are needs just as great here - charity should start at home
•	We could combine the two ideas by supporting e.g. African refugees in London
•	This is not a useful Deanery project, but a diversion from what we’re good at
•	£20,000 is not that much, and it could take a huge amount of time and energy to manage it, so why not just keep it in storage for desperate needs
•	Either give it away to special needs or keep for social needs, but not for buildings
•	Ask PCCs to discuss the last 6 of the 7 options
•	Options 4 & 5. Support for Africa would be done better at parish level
•	Option 5 would support our Deanery Mission Action Plan
•	Does the Deanery need money at Deanery level, or just at parish level?
•	The Deanery needs to decide whether to use the money as it is or to try to grow it
•	£20,000 is not enough for big projects, keep to small

Sarah Burrell ended the discussion and said that the standing committee would continue to work  on this issue in the light of the points raised, and that a refined proposal would be put before the new Synod.

6.	Pastoral Update from the Area Dean (paper previously circulated with agenda)

	Sarah Burrell read out the latest updates from Stephan Welch:-
	North Hammersmith.  Discussions are continuing between the Area Staff and the PCCs.
	Central Fulham.  The Area Council has discussed the report; the parishes are to receive it 		shortly.  Sarah expressed disappointment that it had not yet been sent out by the Area Office.
	St John’s Glenthorne Road. They are working on their Mission Action Plan and their progress 	will be discussed again at the Area Council in March.

7.	Sarah Burrell introduced “Good Practice in Deaneries”, the name of a booklet produced by a 	follow-up group to the Bridge Report.  The Bridge Report had recommended that Deaneries
	be abolished but this recommendation had been rejected.  The follow-up group had instead 	felt that there was a need to improve practice in Deaneries.  A sub-group (of which Sarah had 	been a member) produced this booklet on the basis of information from parishes around the 	country.  It suggests some principles of good practice, with examples of how those principles 	can be implemented - the booklet is available from Church House bookshop, price £2.50. 		After small group discussion of some of the examples of Deanery activities given in the 		booklet, the following ideas emerged for our own Deanery:-

•	Have a “parish profile” at the start of each Synod
•	Have a party so that Synod members can get to know each other
•	Have joint ecumenical activities with the churches in our own locality rather than the whole Deanery
•	Share resources and ideas in children's work
•	Explain “Resolution C” at Deanery Synod and discuss
•	More parishes to join in with the West London Homeless concern (and support it as a Deanery?)
•	Ecumenical borough deans to continue to meet with the borough chief executives
•	Discuss the role of the Synod and raise its profile among the congregations
•	Different parishes have different resources -  share
•	Parishes to join together for Christian festivals on big occasions

8.	The elections for a new Synod are approaching. Stephan Welch will be writing to all Synod 	representatives soon with a letter asking their PCCs to promote the importance of Deanery 	Synod and especially the vacancies of Lay Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Standing 		Committee.

Dates
First meeting of new Synod	Wednesday 12th June 8.00pm at St Peter’s, Black Lion Lane, 
Hammersmith.

Madeline Bulman closed with prayers and the meeting finished at 9.50pm

These minutes and the agenda for the next meeting can also be found on the Deanery website:- www.starcourse.org/hfd