Registered Charity No. 1053883 THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY SOCIETY ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 THE ECCLESSASTICAL HISTORY SOCIErY CONTEPUS Page Annual Report of the Trustees Report of the Independent Examiner Statement of Financial Activities Balance Sheet io Notes to the Financial Statements 11-18 Page I THE ECCLESIAsficAL HISTORY SOCIETY ANNUAL REPORT QF THE TRUSfEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 The Trustees of The Ecclesiastical History Society l-the Society- or "the Chari￿) p￿sent thelr report and the independently examined financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025. The financial statements comply with Accounting and Reporting by Charities.. Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charityes p￿ParIng their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of I￿land IFftS 1021 leffective l January 20151. I. REFERENCE AND ADMINisfRATIVE DETAIL5 The names of the Committee Members who served during the year and to the dote of thi5 report are.. Prof Mike Snape (President) Prof Peter Marshall (Past President) Dr Sara Par¥is Ivice-presidentl Dr Joseph Hardwick (Secretary) Mr Simon Jenning5 FCA (Hon Trea5urerl Dr Angela Platt (Conference Secretary) Dr Edmund Wareham (Publicity Secretary) Revd Prof Charlotte Methuen Ico-editorl Dr David Ceri Jones Ico-editorl Dr Amold Hunt Ico-editor from 3 March 20251 Prof Hilary Carey Ilnternational Relations Secretaryl Dr Aude de Mezerac-zanetti Ilntemational Relations Secretary from 24 July 20241 Dr Dan Cruickshank luntil 23 July 20241 Dr Anna French (until 23 July 20241 Or Emilie Murphy12023-20261 George Palmer12023-20251 Dr Felicity Hill12023-20261 Dr Laura Mair12023-20261 Michael Fraser Ilrom 24 July 2024) Dr Stephanie Burette (co-opted to ¢omrnittee 11 October 2024 and to be formally voted on to committee at Annual General Meeting 16 July 20251 Prof Mike Snape was inducted as President of the society by Prof Peter Marshall at the start of the Society's annual summer conference in July 2024. and Dr Sara Parvis was elected Vice President at rhe 2024 AGM and will sucteed Prof Mike Snape a5 President for 2025-2026. The postal address of the Society is clo S P Jennings. 18 Warwick Street, Oxford OX4 ISX. Bankers: COIF Charity Fund5- Senator House. 85 Queen Victoria Street. London, EC4V 4ET National Westmirister Bank PIC London. WCIH 9XA Tavistcrk Square Branch. PO Box 83. Tavistock House, Tavi5tock Square. Independent Examiner.. Mr Peter J Stevenson. Flat 25. Cherwell Court, Banbury Road. Kidlington. O¥fordshire OXS 2BG. THE ECCLESIAStICAL HISTORY SOCIErY ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 2. STRucfuRE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT (INCLUDING TRUSTEES. RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT) Pa The Society is established under a formal written constitution. as periodically revised, most recently in 2024. The Society is based and administered in the United Kingdom. Management is vested in the Sociells Committee which is responsible for the day to day running of the Charity. organi5tn8 various event5 and maintaining contatt with the members to ensure they are kept up to date with events and issues. The Committee is also responsible for the rnaintenance of accounting record5 and the preparation of the annual accounts. The Comrnittee also constitutes the body of the Trustees of the tharity and is responsible fof the report made on their behalf. Induction and Training TrLfStees receive training informally. PJI Trustees are informed cf their responsibilities on appointment and are kept inforrned at meetings of their dutres and oblrgations under the law in addifion to their proper Conduct in accordance with Charity Commission guidance. Related Partie5 None of the Trvstee5 receives remuneration or other benefit from work with the Charity, save that essential officers as are required to attend conferences do so free of charge or receive re-imbursement of costs and expenses. Any transaction between the Charity and related parties must be approved by the Trustees. Pay policy for staff and consultants The trustees comprise the key management pers0?nel of the charity in char8e of directing and cuntrolling the charity. The day to day running and operations of the Charity are delegated to appropriate administrative helpers and subcommittees. The 8usiness Manager. a Website mar.ager and an administrative and accounting assistant are engaged as consultants. All trustee5 give up their time freely and no trustee received remuneration in the year. The pay of any consultant reflects the level of responsibilities and skill set required. The pay 15 reviewed annually. Trustees. Responsibilities Statement The Trustee5 are responsible for preparing the Annual Report of the Trustee5 and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards Iunited Kingdom Generallv Accepted Accounting Prartice). Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare finanaal statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and ol the incoming resources and application of resources. including the incorne and expendirure, of the charity for the year. In preparing these financial statements. the Trustees are required to: select suitable accountin8 polities and then apply them consistently.. observe the methods and prinoples in the Charifies SORP FRS 102.. make judgments and estimates that are reasonab.'e and prydent.. state whether applirable UK Accounting Standards have been followed. subjert to any material departure5 di5c105ed and explained in the finantial statements,. and prepare the financial statements on the goin8 conceTh basis unle5S it Is inappropriate to presume that the chority will continue Fn operation. The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate account:'ng records that disclose with reasonable accuraty at any time the financial posltion of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial st3tements comply with the prin¢iple5 above. They are a150 responsible for safeguarding the a55ets of the charity and hence for takin8 reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irre8ularities. Page 3 THE ECCLESIASTICAL HisfoRY SOCIErY ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the financial information included on the charity's website. Internal Controls The Trustees have overall responsibillty for ensurlng that the Charity ha5 appropriate systems of internal controls. They are also responsible for keeping proper accounting records which d¥sc105e with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial ststements follow bèst practice. They are also responsible for the cbarity safeguarding its assets and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detettion of fraud and other irregularitie5. The system of internal controls is designed to prcNide reasonable, but not absolute. assurance against material misstatement or105S. Risk Management The Trustees have undertaken a risk assessment which comprises= an annual review of the ri5k5 the charity may face- the establishment of system5 and procedu., es to mitig3te those risks.. and the smplementation of procedures designed to minimise any potential impact on the charity should those risks materialise. This continuing process will identÉfy risk areas to which the charity is vulnerable and highlight any necessary safe8uards that will need to be put in place. The Trustees identified the following areas of risk and safeguards to mitigate them.. Insufficientconference attendance- mitigated by careful plannin8 aroynd projected numbers to avoid penalty payment5 for msssing targels, providing flexibility for different types of attendance e.8. day rates. keeping the conference fee under review Ihaving Surveyed Members in stsmmer 2022 about pricing points) to ensure it was accessible iyhile not bound to lead to a Ioss. reg￿larlY revieviing the conference formaL and artive publicity campaigns.. The Committee has been aware that moves in academic publishing toward5 open access may impact the Society through a withdrawal of hard copy versions of Studies in Church History and through ihe conseouent1055 Of royalty revenue. A ne%v contract has been concluded with CUP under which there will be provision for retention of a hard copy option for an experimental period at enhanced cost and subject to there beinE at least I(￿ subscriber5 at the enhanced price. Members have been invited to increase the element of their SLtbscription payments relating to SCH to £35 if they wisb. to continue to receive hard copy editions with effect from l July 2025 arsd the Committee intends to try to ensure that the minimum commitment is achieved. If there is a shortfall. the Committee will review and decide whether to Fund any temporary shortfall or allow CUP to cease hard copy printing. The Committee feels it is prudent to take accouyt of the probable105s of royalty revenue along with rising overheads in assessing the seneral rates for membership subscriptions and wll propose increases at the 2025 Annual General Meeting. Insufficient submissions lo produce the annual volume of Studies in Church History mitigated by continued active work to ensure the cOnfe￿ftce theme is sufficiently clear and broad to attract svbmi$5ions and encourages high Quality conference proposaJ5, making the publication Schedule clear early on in the conference calllpaper selectiort process. and promoting the prest'.'ge of publishing in SCH. The Society's production of The Church in Sicknes5 and in Health. ISCH 581 demonstrated its ability to produce a volume even if there was no conferente Idue to COVID restriction). The Sotiety also ensures it retains sufficient fsJnds to Cover the costs of two years, publications with CUP. If further mitigation was needed consideration could be gtven to developing a hybrid model for submissions both through the Conference and independently ol i( Declining membership due to cost-of-livin8 pressures-. the high-quality offer to Mernbefs was important, with promotion through the website and social media. and additional activities,. new members a￿ being encouraged through opportunity to participate in conferences. through incentive5 offered by prizes ès well as the possibiliiv of papers being published. artd through social media,. Page 4 THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY SOCIErY ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 Difficultie5 in recruiting Llnpaid officers to run the Society.. involvement at all career sta8es was encouraged and ways to proactively encourage membership of the Commtttee were con51dered.. The Society's positiort as a data controller: this would be reviewed regularly. Appropriate measure5 were in place to secure and regulate access to the membershi? database. Names and emails might be sent to the Conference Secretary but personal financial detai15 were not Passed to her,. both she and rhe Secretary used bcc when sending material to email lists. Most Cornmittee members would be members of HEIS and receive training on GDPR from them. but good practice in this area would be induded in handover notes. The Society 15 registered with the Information Commissionerfs Office. The trustees have insurance against trustee and public liability. 3. OBJECTIVE5 AND AcfiviTIES FOR THE PUBUC BENEFrr The Trustees are aware of the Charity Commission guidance on Public Benefit and confirm that they have complied with the duty in Setiion 4 of the Charitie5 Act 2011 to have due regard to it. They consider the information which follows in this annual report. about the Charity's aims. activities and achievements in the areas of Inte￿5t that the Society supports demonstrates the benefit to its beneficiaries and through them to the Public that arise from those activities. ObjÈctiYes The main object of the Society, as set out in its Constitution. 15 to advance public education in ecclesiastical history. mainly through conferences and publications. Activities and Achlevements Th&SummerConference at Duth3rn from 23-25 july 2024 wason the theme The Church and the Military,. The committee awarded five post8raduates bursaries that tovered the cost of the registration fee for the Summer Conference. The sixth bursary wo5 kindly prov,.ded by the Anglo-catholic History Society and this award helped to cont*rtue long-running links between the two societies. The Winter Meeting on the same theme, which remains an online event to facilitste participation. took plate on Saturday 11 January 2025, and wa5 also successfvl. The Winter Meeting featured three plenary lectures and thirty-four communications. Publication of volume 61 of StJdie5 in Church History, resulting from the Summer 2023 and Winter 2024 Conferences on the theme.. 'Mar8in5 and Peripheries in Christian History. was scheduled for early July 2025. The elertronic version of SCH 61 was published on 20 May 2025. The Society has renewed the contr3rt to publish Studies in Church History with Cambridge University Press. In line with recent developments in academic publishing. a key feature of the new contrart is th3t starting with SCH 62. all subsequent volumes will be entirety open access and therefore available to everyone. A hard copy Ipaperbackl wi15 be available to subscribing members of EHS onlv. The society also organised an online Post-Graduate Colloquium on 7 March 2025 on the theme 'New Directions for Church History.. Methods and Sources,. Thths event fea&ured ten papers in two panels and two conversations. The colloquium, which Ibke similar events EHS has O￿aniSed ift the past. was intended to extend and develop the Socie￿5 international reach= postgraduètes from German. French. Italian, Indtan, British and Filipino institutions delivered papers and talk5 at the event. The Society, led by its International Relations Secretaries. plans to or8anise a similar online p05t-gra(5uate events in future years. Page 5 THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY SOCIErY ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 During the year. the Society also awarded priies. The Kennedy Prize for the best communication given by a post-graduate student at the previous yearfs conference IE5001 was awarded to Teodora Popovici (University of Bucharestl for her paper. Papal Indulgences and the Conversion of Schismatics in Late Medieval Transylvania.. The Presidenys Prize lor the best communication given by an early career academic at the previous yearfs conferences l£l,LMXII was awarded to Robert Evans Icambfidgel for his paper.. -Corrèctio from the Margins" Geosraphical Peftpheries and Moral Conformities in Latèr Carolingian Annals,. The recipient5 of both prizes are decided by that yearfs P￿sident and the editorial team. The Society also awarded a Book Prize for the best first monograph published in the field of the history of Christianity during the 2023 calendar year. The panel 5hortlisted three books. and the prize. which amounts to £1.0￿. was awarded to Kyle Jackson for The Mizo Disrovery of the British Roj.- Empire t7ndReli¢Jion in Northeast Indio. 1890-1920 ICambrrd8e University Press). The panel. which determrned both the shortlist and the winner, w35 made up of a specially convened 5ub