Annual Parochial Church Meeting
Tuesday 23rd April at 7.15pm in St Mary’s Church.
All church members are welcome to attend and those on the Electoral Roll are able to participate in the meeting.
If you would like to be on the St Mary’s Electoral Roll, please download an application form here, complete and sign and return to the Parish Office e2-application-to-join-electoral-roll
What is the PCC?
The PCC stands for the Parochial Church Council. It covers the Ecclesiastical Parish of Princes Risborough with Ilmer (not quite the same as the civil parish of Princes Risborough). It currently comprises 16 lay members of the congregation, plus the St Mary’s Churchwardens and the Deputy Wardens for St Peter’s, Ilmer and the Rector, Associate Priest and Curate. Its responsibilities are a ‘mix of spiritual, legal, financial, pastoral and missionary functions’ laid down in law. Its key role is to cooperate with the Rector in promoting the whole mission of the church in the parish. The parish church is a registered charity and members of the PCC are the trustees.
Click here for a list of current PCC members
What does the PCC do?
The Report presented to the annual meeting in April each year sets out the huge range of activities for which the PCC is responsible with the Rector.
Perhaps the most important function of the PCC is setting direction and priorities and allocating funding.
Discipleship is now well established with small groups meeting throughout the year. As a result we have seen steady growth in our church. The PCC has been working to sustain this growth and provide wider opportunities for everyone to get involved through Life Groups.
It is also our responsibility to ensure that children are safe at church activities and at the same time that our finances are sound and that our ancient building and surrounding churchyard are kept in good order.
The church exists for the benefit of the people who are not its members. Our mission is to Share the Love of Christ with All, so we reach out to the community locally, nationally and worldwide, providing practical support through our activities like Open Door and financial support to charities such as Lighthouse (the local Christian holiday club), Project Possible (a Christian charity working worldwide), the Children’s Society, the Church Mission Society (through whom we are supporting midwifery training in Uganda) Novo Uk, living and working with diverse communities in the East End of London. St Mary’s maintains its impressive record of charitable giving: each year we aim to donate 20% of our income to charity and the PCC votes for the charities to be the beneficiaries. In addition, St Mary’s is a collecting point for the One Can Trust foodbank, and supports Christians Against Poverty, which provides practical help (but not financial subsidy) to those afflicted by debt.
As Trustees, members of the PCC are responsible for ensuring that the whole mission of the Church is promoted in the parish.
Contact the Parish Office, by email: parishoffice@stmarysrisborough.org.uk if you have any questions or would like to raise any issues.