There is Standing Committee which is the only committee required by law. It has the power to transact the business of the PCC between its meetings, subject to any directions given by the PCC.
In addition there are several specialist committees or teams. The elected representatives operate through these specialist teams, each with its own designated responsibilities. They meet between full meetings of the PCC and feed back to the next full meeting.
The Finance and Planned Giving Teams
The Finance Team supports the treasurer in relation to giving, recommending a budget to the PCC, reviewing the accounts prior to inspection and supporting stewardship / giving campaigns. It discusses how major items should be funded and makes recommendations to the PCC. It considers the accounts in detail before they are submitted to the PCC and the parish, and towards the end of each year it prepares a budget for the following year. In particular it is concerned with the planned giving income, the decision of the amount of the Common Fund allocation to the Diocese and the allocation to charities. It works closely with the planned giving team as neither the Church of England as a central organisation nor its individual parish churches receive any public funds. St James's receives its income from offertory collections, donations, fund raising activities and by hiring out the hall. However, the chief source of income is from the regular giving of the members of the Planned Giving Scheme, which together with the tax refund that can be recovered on this money, brings in nearly 70% of the income.
The Properties Team
The Properties Team has the responsibility to the Parochial Church Council for the maintenance, upkeep and care of the church properties, the church, the hall, the vicarage, the garage, the shed and all other structures, but not the moveable items which are the legal responsibility of the Churchwardens. The Churchyard is maintained by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, overseen by this team. However, as their care is pretty basic a new Gardening Club was formed in 2018 to improve its upkeep, especially the new garden around the west porch.
The diocese requires and pays for an architect to carry out a quinquennial (five-yearly)inspection of our church property and fabric. The funding and carrying out of any maintenance work required by the architect is our responsibility. Heating, electrical services, fire appliances, lighting, the clock, the bells, and the lightning conductor all have regular professional inspections and maintenance, and these are always done on schedule. All records of inspections and certificates are recorded and filed in the logbook held in the office.
There are innumerable works of maintenance, repair, renovation and sometimes construction which need to be done. These are tackled as they arise, often by team members themselves where there is considerable knowledge, experience and expertise. Although some of the team have professional skills, some major work requires outside assistance. The team will assess the work required, obtain estimates and make recommendations to the PCC.
An important maintenance activity undertaken by the Properties Team in the autumn is the annual leaf sweep and gutter clean. All gutters of both the church and the hall are cleared of leaves that have built up over the year, after which the gutters and drain pipes are flushed through to ensure the free passage of water. The leaves in the courtyard and cark park are also swept up. This is undertaken early in December with the support from volunteers and the Scouts.
There are regular weekly and annual cleaning tasks undertaken by volunteers. See the Cleaning page.
The Children’s Ministry Team
The Children’s Ministry Team, led by the Children's and Families Worker, oversees our ministry to children, young people and families and co-ordinates the various activities. It has also formalised a recruitment process for volunteers.
The Hospitality/Social Team
St James’s Hospitality/Social Team is responsible for arranging catering at parish functions and also for a programme of social activities, for people in the parish.
The Charity Support Team
The Charity Support Team looks after the parish's charitable giving and is responsible for setting the annual programme of charitable grants and for relating to the recipients. It tries to ensure donations are split evenly between charities that support people here in the UK and charities supporting people overseas. Our giving determines the amount of money available to this team. It has been the commitment of the PCC for many years to give 10% of the church’s income for charitable purposes.
The Spire Team
The Spire Team produces and distributes the Parish Magazine, the Spire. They believe that good communication is essential to the understanding and spreading of the Christian faith. The Spire Team is small group, essentially the editorial committee, who meet early each month either to plan the next edition, or three times a year when we produce a double issue, we still meet to plan ahead for the next six months. During the following two weeks, the editors gather the material, decide on and create the layout, drafts are proof-read, sent to the printer and the magazine is ready in church by the first Sunday of the relevant month.
We are so lucky to have Nick Bagge who does all the layout, sources photos if necessary, and uses his journalist experience to very good effect. We also have some very talented people in the congregation who are prepared to write articles for us. We try to plan well ahead to give people time to write their articles and Nick has produced guidelines to help with planning articles. We are always open to any suggestions for articles and love it when people actually offer to do one for us! The Spire Team works well together and appreciates all the comments from parishioners and the wider community. We enjoy co-ordinating each edition – some a bit more stressful than others – but we always aim to produce a good quality, balanced, and interesting magazine for the church parishioners and the wider community.
The Building Development Team
The Building Development Team is a new team headed by Derek, and includes Bryan Basdell, created essentially to use funds to develop the buildings.
There are many other teams, each responsible for specific work, but they are not actually PCC teams. Details of these teams, and what they do, can be found on the appropriate pages throughout this website.