Parish Committee
What are the responsibilities of the Parish Committee?
We are now quite a big parish with a large number of members. This means that there is a lot of work to do, and many of us with all sorts of skills and experience to do it. The parish committee is there to help us carry out the work of the Church.
The Trustees have overall responsibility for the management of the finances, for legal matters and for the appointment of contractors and employees. The priests are responsible for liturgical matters. The Parish Committee deal with the all the practical matters of the daily life of the parishioners in the church: the social life including the weekly refreshments after the liturgy; providing for the children, including the Sunday school; supporting those in need, including the wider charitable work; organising outings and pilgrimages.
The committee is there to make overall decisions and direct this practical work. They are the heart of the community and between them get to know the parishioners, their gifts and strengths, their needs and aspirations, so that they can help to keep the important day to day and week by week work going, and also be in a position to take new initiatives and to develop the life and work of the church.
The Interim committee.
This will be set up on Sunday February 3rd, after the liturgy. All members are invited to a meeting which will be convened by one of the trustees, Florina Clewer. The purpose will be to elect members of the committee. All members of the church are eligible to vote [make sure you have paid your membership sub and signed on for the 2018/19 year]. Candidates will need a nominator and a seconder and the vote will be taken by a show of hands. Father John will act as teller [counter of the votes].
This committee will remain in place until the AGM in July when a permanent committee will be elected in accordance with the rules.
BLACK COUNTRY ORTHODOX TRUST, January 2019
Rules of the Parish Committee
The Parish Committee is established by the Trustees of the Black Country Orthodox Trust (BCOT) as a subcommittee of BCOT under the powers set out in Clauses 8.2 and 8.4 of the constitution of BCOT dated 7th May 2000.
The object of the Parish Committee, subject to the objects set out in the constitution of BCOT and to the canons of the Orthodox Church, is to conduct the day to day management of the parish church and life, such as socials, fundraising, rotas, the arrangements of the church and church premises. Liturgical matters are solely the responsibility of the clergy of the parish after consultation where appropriate with the Parish Committee.
These rules were adopted by the Trustees at its meeting on 29th June 2015 and revised in January 2019 to take effect at the next Annual General Meeting of BCOT. They may be varied at any time by the Trustees in consultation with the committee.
The PC shall consist of between three and ten members of the parish, Parish Committee members will be elected for a three year term. The officers, chair, vice-chair, secretary and treasurer shall be elected by the members at the first PC meeting following each AGM.
Co-options may be made at any time in consultation with the Trustees.
The PC shall hold a minimum of six meetings a year. The quorum for a meeting is three.
The secretary shall keep a record of the business of each meeting and produce a written report for each meeting of the Trustees.
The Treasurer will maintain a record of income, expenditure and current balance for easy reference by the committee. All money will be deposited with the finance officer, who will enter all transactions on the BCOT financial spreadsheet, which is the definitive record: this can be accessed by the committee whenever needed. The PC may authorise expenditure up to £200. Expenditure exceeding this amount must be authorised by the Trustees.
Officers may be called on by the Archdiocese to attend regional or national meetings.