The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Cirencester with Watermoor and St Lawrence is the body that, with the vicar, Revd Canon Graham Morris, and our associate Priest, Revd Luke Falvey, steers the life of our local churches in their mission, witness and service in the parish. The PCC’s role is covered by two governing documents, the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956 law and the Church Representation Rules, which is passed by the General Synod (latest version 2025). The PCC consists of elected laity members from the three congregations who meet regularly to discuss matters that affect the three churches and the parish. Churchwardens, Deanery Synod representatives and clergy are also members of the PCC (ex-officio).
We are a charitable trust (registration number 1135068) and PCC members are charitable trustees, and so all the provisions of charity law apply to our corporate responsibilities, financial management and decision making.
The PCC meets on a regular basis in a sufficient number of meetings to enable the efficient transaction of the business of our parish (currently about 5 scheduled meetings throughout the year). We additionally have a smaller Standing Committee which meets in between PCC meetings which can transact some of the business of the PCC.
With three churches and a wide area of responsibility, we also appoint sub-committees for the various branches of church work in the parish. The members appointed to our sub-committees do not necessarily need to be a member of the PCC. We do our best to ensure the views of the congregation of each church is represented on the PCC and each of the sub-committees. The current sub-committees carrying out work on behalf of the PCC include a Fabric, Finance, Halls, Personnel, and Health & Safety (including Safeguarding) sub-committee. Additionally, the parish has several other sub-committees not formally designated as part of the PCC but contributing significantly to the life of our churches including a Congregational, Communications and Social sub-committee.
In addition to PCC and PCC sub-committee meetings, an annual meeting is held, the Annual Vestry and Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM). At this meeting elections are conducted, and the electoral roll, financial accounts and other reports are considered. Our last APCM was held on 21 May 2025 and the minutes can be found at this link. This year a Special Parochial Church Meeting (SPCM) was also convened on 27 July 2025 to consider financial accounts, since they were not considered at the APCM. The minutes of the SPCM can be found at this link.
The next Annual Vestry and APCM will be held at noon on Sunday 19 April 2026 following morning services at St John Baptist. The agenda for the meeting can be found here.
Additional information on the PCC, including recent Annual Reports and Unaudited Financial Statements, can be found on the Charity Commission’s Register of Charities website which can be found at this link.
The Annual Year Book for 2025 can be found here.
Minutes of other PCC business are available on this website with a password. For parishioners on the Electoral Roll, please ask a Church Warden or the Parish Office for the password; for others, please send a request for a copy of any specific minutes to the PCC Secretary at PCCsecretary@cirenparish.co.uk.