Minutes of a meeting of Hammersmith & Fulham Deanery Synod on 13th June 2001 at Christ Church, Fulham

The evening started at 8.00pm with a Eucharist.

There were 42 members of Synod present, and 17 apologies in the attendance book.

1.	Sarah Burrell opened the meeting and welcomed our new Area Dean, the Revd Stephan Welch, priest-in-charge at St. Peter’s, Hammersmith.  Stephan said he sees the Deanery Synod as a group with little power but a lot of responsibility.  He has already been encouraged to discover abundant degrees of vitality and imagination throughout the Deanery.  He is in the process of visiting all the clergy, and after he has done that he will present an overview in a way hopefully to inspire and encourage others.

2.	The Revd Shaun Atkins was elected to the Deanery Standing Committee. Sarah Burrell welcomed new members of Synod:- Phoebe Othieno from St Mary’s, and Helen Parry and Rowland Mynors, both from St Paul's.

3.	The minutes of the last synod meeting on 15th March 2001 were approved.

Matters arising - it was asked if the minutes and agendas of meetings could be put on the Deanery website, and the website address put on the minutes and agendas. This was agreed.

4.	St John’s Glenthorne Road (report on sheet already sent out with the agendas).  Sarah said that St John’s is now not going to be discussed at the Area Council meeting on July 12th, but it will be discussed at the next Deanery Standing Committee meeting and she will report on it again at the next Synod.  

5.	Area Dean’s notices and remarks.
	i)  Stephan extended the sympathy of the meeting to St Andrew’s on the recent tragic loss of the Revd David Paget. Nicholas Beale thanked Stephan, the Bishop and the Archdeacon, for their support and helpfulness. He paid tribute to David Paget.

	ii)  The Revd John Fowler, a previous vicar at St Dionis, had died recently and it was agreed to send a card to his wife from Synod.

	iii)  London Link.  Ways were discussed of distributing it.

	iv)	Parish Evangelist Area initiative.  A letter had been sent to all the clergy, saying that an Area Warden for evangelists is to be appointed, to create an order of evangelists, and the Bishop hopes in the future that there will be a trained evangelist in each parish. Peter Makower said that St Mary’s is going to have an evangelist soon, and if other parishes are too, it would be good to share experiences.

7.	Finances.  Sarah said that the Area Finance Committee meeting which should have taken place the previous evening had been postponed till 24th July, so the Deanery quota had not yet been decided. The Treasurers’ meeting had been set for 15th October, but this date might be changed.  Nicholas Beale said that St Andrew's quota may need adjusting because of the current exceptional circumstances. Sarah suggested this should be discussed at the Treasurers’ meeting. Concern was expressed that St Andrews have no insurance, and ways were discussed of overcoming this.

8.	St Katherine’s Westway. St Katherine’s vicar, Jim Tate, had applied for funding from the Deanery’s Social Fund account towards a programme of outreach to local young people which they are planning as an extension of their current youth work.  They are asking for a grant towards recording equipment, but had not decided on a specific amount to ask for. Madeline Bulman asked if only UPA parishes are eligible for funding from this account.  Ken Bowler said that the money originally came from the sale of a piece of property and all parishes are eligible to apply, but only for ‘’social’’ projects. Stephan will find out how much money there is in the account. The meeting was positive to Jim’s project and Jim was asked to apply for a specific amount. Stephan Cook said that there is also an Excellence in Cities Fund which can be applied to for educational projects.

Future Dates
Area Council	Thursday July 12th	Canon Robert Warren speaking at Diocesan House 6.00pm.
					Standing Committee members are encouraged to go.

Area Finance 	Tuesday July 24th

Standing Committee Thursday July 26th, 8.00pm at 17 Ravenscourt Road

Treasurers		Monday 15th October (this date will probably be changed - Stephan will 	
						inform treasurers)

Provisional dates for future Synods:  Tuesday October 9th, February 7th 2002, June 5th 2002 (for new Synod)

Stephan also plans to start a regular annual feature of an open autumnal meeting with spiritual input and a speaker.

The meeting finished at 9.50pm.

Deanery website: www.starcourse.org/hfd