## **ANNUAL REPORT 2020 – 2021** 

**Church Address** :                               Elvet Methodist Church 

Old Elvet Durham DH1 3HL **Correspondence Address:** Mr. Paul Harrison 28 Kira Drive Rosemount Durham DH1 5GU (Church Council Secretary) 

## **Church Council (Managing Trustees) as at 1[st] September 2020** 

|Mrs J. Ball|Mr P. Harrison||
|---|---|---|
|Mrs P. Bissell|Mrs S. Harrison|Mr J. Scott|
|Mrs A. Bradbrook|Mrs C. Higham|Mrs D. Slater|
|Mrs J. Bygate|Mr M Higham|Mr K. Slater|
|Mr J Chamberlayne|Miss M. Hogg|Mr D. Ramsden|
|Ms M Conway|Mrs P. Johnson|Rev J. Squares|
|Mr T. Coburn|Deacon R. Lackenby|Mr B. Thompson|
|Mrs J. Dundee|Mrs D. Lawson|Mrs M. Thompson|
|Miss J. Fielding|Mrs S. Mein|Mrs K. Turner|
|Mr J. Gibson|Mrs H Phillips|Mrs L. Underwood|
|Mr C. Harder|Mr M. Phillips|Dr P. Watson|
|Dr M Harris|Mrs A. Scott||



Revd. C. Jackson,   Revd N. Johnson,   Revd A. Longe,   Revd. L. Law, Deacon Esther Longe 



## **Aims and Organisation** 

The aims of Elvet Methodist Church are to: 

- Inform people about the love of God manifested in the giving of his Son, Jesus Christ 

- Bear witness to that love by showing care to those in need 

- To provide opportunities to worship God, through Jesus Christ 

- To explore and demonstrate ways to follow Christ and promote God’s love in contemporary society by the power of the Holy Spirit 

The Church attempts to fulfil these aims by: 

- Having well organised and meaningful services of worship each Sunday and on other special dates in the Christian calendar 

- Providing services of baptism, marriage and funeral 

- Helping those in need, by providing a Foodbank and fundraising for charitable purposes 

- Maintaining an orderly and welcoming building which can be used by other organisations 

- Giving young people the opportunity to learn about the Christian faith in a safe and supportive environment, through Junior Church, and by giving adults the chance to explore their faith through house groups and meetings on church premises e.g. midweek prayer group, café-style/ discussion/reflective worship. 

## **Organisation** 

The managing trustees of the church are the members of the Church Council, who are responsible for the activities of the church and the up-keep of the premises. They appoint the following committees to ensure the efficient running of the Church: 

- Finance Committee 

- Property Committee 

- Pastoral Committee 

- Church Growth & Mission Group 

## **Activities in 2020 – 2021** 

During the 2020 – 2021 year, Elvet Methodist Church has maintained its life of worship and of service in the community and beyond for the most part virtually. Most of its activities are of an ongoing nature. In its remit of worship, these consist of 

- Sunday morning  worship services 

- a celebration of Holy Communion 

- Junior Church, meeting each Sunday during school term times 

- Prayer groups mostly virtually until face to face could resume 

- House groups mostly virtually until face to face could resume 

- Baptism, wedding ceremonies and funerals as permitted during the pandemic. 

All of these activities are open to the public but by booking during the pandemic. 

Its service to the community is manifested in many ways as possible during the pandemic; 

- The church is both a collection and distribution point for Foodbank 

- Each year, a charity is chosen as a special project. 



- It supports a number of charities (e.g. special collections in aid of Action for Children, Methodist Homes for the Aged and in response to world disasters and areas of developing humanitarian need). In addition, when possible offerings at communion services are donated to nominated charities each month. 

- Marriage Preparation classes are run as appropriate 

- Funerals are conducted in church, at the crematorium and cemeteries. 

- It has a Thursday Club meeting which hopes to restart 

- A creche is provided during Sunday morning services when possible 

- The church has a Uniformed Organisation Group 

- It has an associated Art and Crafts Group 

- Open the Book – a team goes into St Oswald’s, local Church of England School 

- Its members visit the sick and elderly. Birthday cards are sent to those over 80 years of age. 

- Every Wednesday (except for the holiday periods) a lunch is prepared and provided, attended by people from the local community 

- It is the focal church for the Durham University Methodist Society which is now incorporated in JAM (Joint Anglican Methodist Society) and also welcomes students from many countries. 

- It incorporates a Traidcraft stall 

- It is a popular venue for concerts and other public events 

## **Of special note in the 2020 – 2021 year were the following** : 

Services, events and meetings were held in the building between the ‘lockdowns’ in 2020-21. Although we have been unable to meet in our building we have continued as a church without walls as best we could, virtually, by phone, by post etc. 

- Despite not being able to hold fundraising events as in the past we raised over £5,000 for the church annual project – work with ‘North East Mission – the Durham Night Shelter’. 

- Over the past year a number of charities have received donations from our communion and other special collections. 

- Several members holding identified relevant positions within the church (staff, preachers, stewards, worship leaders, pastoral visitors and anyone working with or having contact with young people or vulnerable adults) have refreshed their safeguarding training with an updated module, in accordance with guidelines from The Methodist Church. 

- The Chinese church under the pastoral charge of Revd. Lawrence Law, continues to meet and grow.  This is a class of Elvet. 

- We have a small prayer area to be available for private prayer in the church when the church is available to be open. 

- We have reviewed Elvet’s action plan for future growth and events, under the heading of ‘every church growing’. We are looking to merge with another Methodist Church in the city centre to become one church on two sites. 



## **Objectives for 2021 – 2022;** 

- The Elvet Trustees will be working with our sister church in North Road, Durham, to see how we can work together to grow God’s kingdom as we all emerge from lockdown and face the challenges before us and become one church on two sites. 

- We will continue our ongoing commitments, implement relevant aspects of the circuit plan and support areas of activity arising from _Growth & Mission_ meetings both virtual and face to face when possible. 

- We intend to make Elvet more visible in the community. We are considering installing artistic structures in the front garden to highlight church seasons e.g. Easter, Pentecost, a Nativity scene for Christmas etc. 

- As the largest church building in our circuit we seek to offer alternatives for congregations of other churches, as well as students and visitors to the city. 

- We continue to provide variety of worship, offering occasional café-style, Iona and Taizé style services, introducing new hymns and hosting joint services with other Methodists, Anglican and Chinese churches.  We will explore expanding mid-week services and developing ‘Messy Church’ worship for young families. 

- Our Methodist Students have amalgamated with students from the Church of England to form JAM (Joint Anglicans & Methodists) meeting regularly at both Elvet and St Oswald’s C of E as well as virtually during the pandemic and are open to those with or without any faith to come and explore. 

- We hope we can hold Open Church evenings for refreshment when the Lumiere returns to Durham in 2021. 

- The Chinese Church congregation continue to meet on Sundays and during the week – worship being offered in Mandarin, Cantonese and English when appropriate. 

   - . 



**CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS** 

## **THE METHODIST CHURCH** 

# **STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS** 

## **Elvet Methodist Church** 

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 

31 August 2021 

Durham and Deerness Valley Circuit **Registered Charity - Registration number** 

Circuit no: **13/11** 

**1126844** 

## **Minister:** 

Rev John Squares 

## **Church Stewards:** 

Penny Bissell Jackie Fielding 

Christine Higham Lynda Underwood 

## **Treasurer:** 

Hilary Phillips 

Page 1 of 7 



**ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUG 2021** 

## **Elvet Methodist Church** 

||||||**Elvet Methodist Church**|**Elvet Methodist Church**|**Elvet Methodist Church**|**Elvet Methodist Church**|**Elvet Methodist Church**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**SECTION A**|||**Unrestricted**<br>**Funds**<br>**Restricted**<br>**Funds**||**£**<br>**59,901**<br>**213**<br>**41,630**<br>**1,267**<br>**Totals this**<br>**year**||**Totals last**<br>**year**||
|a1|**RECEIPTS**||**Note**|**£**|**£**|**£**||**£**||
|a2|Offerings and Tax recovered|||59,901|0|**59,901**||59,868||
|a3|Bank and CFB interest and<br>Investment income|||210|3|**213**||359||
|a4|Lettings, Wayleave & Other<br>Property|||41,630|0|**41,630**||9,176||
|a5|Bequests, Donations & Other<br>Receipts|||242|1,025|**1,267**||54,066||
|a6||||||||||
|a7||||||||||
|a8|**TOTAL RECEIPTS**|||**101,983**|**1,028**|**103,011 **|**(a7)**|**123,469**||
|||||||||||
||**SECTION B**|||||**55,600**<br>**6,146**<br>**20,051**<br>**10,341**<br>**13,502**||||
|b1|**PAYMENTS**|||||||||
|b2|Circuit Assessment|||55,600|0|**55,600**||56,052||
|b3|Donations|||3,930|2,216|**6,146**||130||
|b4|Repairs, Maintenance &<br>Improvements|||15,500|4,551|**20,051**||14,943||
|b5|Utilities (Insces, water rates,<br>heating& lighting)|||10,341|0|**10,341**||14,283||
|||||||||||
|b7|Other items|||13,377|125|**13,502**||12,211||
|b8||||||||||
|b9|**TOTAL PAYMENTS**|||**98,748**|**6,893**|**105,640 **|**(b9)**|**97,619**||
|||||||**-2,630**||||
||**SECTION C**|||||||||
|c1|**(a8-b9)**<br>**NET RECEIPTS/ PAYMENTS**<br>**FOR THE YEAR**|||3,235|-5,865|**-2,630**||||
|||||||||||
|c2|Total funds brought forward<br>from lastyear|||72,205|16,505|**88,710 **|**(c6)**|62,860||
|||||||**86,080**||||
|c3|**Sub total**<br>**(c1+c2)**|||75,440|10,640|**86,080**||||
|||||||||||
|c4|Transfers and adjustments|||-3,726|3,726|**0 **|**(c8)**|0||
|||||||||||
|c5|**(c3+c4)**<br>**TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF**<br>**YEAR**|||**71,715**|**14,365**|**86,080 **|**(c7)**|**88,710**|**(c6)**|
||||||||||**3**|
||**SECTION D**|||||||||
|d|**(these amounts are not included in total receipts/payments figures above)**<br> Balance brought forward from lastyear<br>1,496<br>1,496<br>7,291<br>15,282<br>6,893<br>15,282<br>**1,894**<br>**1,496**<br>**FOR INFORMATION ONLY:MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO  EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS**<br>Offerings/Gifts -received for external organisations<br>Offerings/Gifts  -passed to external organisations<br>**BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID** (d1+d2-d3)|||||||||
|d1|Balance brought forward from lastyear|||||1,496||1,496||
|d2|Offerings/Gifts -received for external organisations|||||7,291||15,282||
|d3|Offerings/Gifts  -passed to external organisations|||||6,893||15,282||
|d4|**BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID** (d1+d2-d3)|||||**1,894**||**1,496**||



Page 2 of 7 



Elvet Methodist Church 

## **SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL** 

## **SECTION E Please follow the Guidance Notes to complete this page** 

Summary of the Church accounts for the year ended 31 August 2021 and internal organisations reporting to the Church Council. Internal organisation funds are unrestricted funds with the exception of JMA. 

||**INTERNAL**<br>**ORGANISATIONS**|Receipts||Payments||Net Receipts/<br>Payments||Adjustments||Openingbalances||Closingbalances||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|e1|**Arts & Crafts**|0||247||-247||0||247||0||
|e2|**Flower Club**|150||69||81||0||520||601||
|e3|**JMA**|0||136||-136||0||136||0||
|e4|**Lunch Stop**|3||1,000||-997||0||6,015||5,018||
|e5|**Thursday Club**|0||0||0||0||663||663||
|e6||||||||||||||
|e7||||||||||||||
|e8|Sub total of Internal<br>Organisations funds|153||1,452||-1,299||0||7,581|**(e11)**|6,282|**(e12)**|
|e9|**Church accounts (totals**<br>**brought forward from page 2 -**<br>**totals column)**|**103,011**|**(a7)**|**105,640 **|**(b9)**|**-2,630**||**0 **|**(c8)**|**88,710 **|**(c6)**|**86,080**|**(c7)**|
|e10|**TOTAL CASH FUNDS**<br>**HELD BY CHURCH**|**103,164**||**107,093**||**-3,929**||**0**||**96,291**|**(x)**|**92,361**|**(y)**|
||Continue on a separate sheet if<br>necessary and bring the totals<br>forward|**TOTAL RECEIPTS**||**TOTAL PAYMENTS**||||||||||



## **SECTION F** 

|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**SECTION F**|||||
||**STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES**<br>**CHURCH - CASH FUNDS HELD**<br>Cash in hand<br>Bank Current Account<br>Bank Deposit Account<br>Central Finance Board<br>Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes<br>Other funds<br>**SUB TOTAL - Church accounts**<br>**TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH**<br>Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the<br>closingbalance total from above) (e12)||**At 01/09/2020**<br>0<br>39,066<br>1,608<br>23,915<br>24,121<br>**88,710**<br>(c6)<br>**7,581** (e11)<br>**96,291**<br>(x)<br>**OPENING**<br>**BALANCES**|**At 31/08/2021**<br>**CLOSING**<br>**BALANCES**||
|f1|Cash in hand|||0||
|f2|Bank Current Account|||11,114||
|f3|Bank Deposit Account|||2,316||
|f4|Central Finance Board|||48,528||
|f5|Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes|||24,121||
|f6|Other funds|||||
|f7|**SUB TOTAL - Church accounts**|||**86,080**|(c7)|
|f8|Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the<br>closingbalance total from above) (e12)|||**6,282**|(e12)|
|f9|**TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH**|||**92,361**|(y)|
|||||||
||**SECTION G**<br>**OTHER ASSETS and LIABILITIES**<br> Investments(include Endowments)<br> Other Assets<br> Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end<br> Other  Liabilities<br>Land & Buildings (see notes re<br>Insurance value)||At<br>01 September 2020<br>7,683<br>4,244,630<br>0<br>0<br>0|At<br>31 August 2021<br>**Note**<br>9,094<br>9,938,745<br>**4**<br>0<br>0<br>0||
|g1|Investments(include Endowments)||7,683|9,094||
|g2|Land & Buildings (see notes re<br>Insurance value)||4,244,630|9,938,745||
|g3|Other Assets||0|0||
|g4|Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end||0|0||
|g5|Other  Liabilities||0|0||



f4 Include only Funds held at the Central Finance Board 

f5 Include only Funds held at Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes 

g1 Include any other investments 

Page 3 of 7 



## **Elvet Methodist Church** 

## **Loans** 

The church has no loans or similar liabilities. 

## **Endowment Funds** 

|**Endowment Name**|**How the capital is**<br>**invested**|**Current**<br>**Capital**<br>**Value**|**Income**<br>**2020/21**|**What the income was used for**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Trust 15370: Mrs Margaret<br>Hopper|868 CFB Managed Mixed<br>Fund Units|4,863.40|67.56|Income to General Church Fund|
|Trust 8312: Surplus Funds|755 CFB Managed Mixed<br>Fund Units|4,230.27|58.77|Income to General Church Fund|
||Totals|9,093.67|126.33||



## **Payment to Trustees** 

|Number of trustees (i.e. members of the Church Council) who were paid expenses.<br>Payments made to trustees for additional services provided to the Church by<br>agreement with the Church Council.||**This year £s Last year £s**|**This year £s Last year £s**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||500.00|500.00|
|||||
|||1|1|
|||||
|Nature of the expenses:<br>Payment in lieu of expenses to Mrs P Bissell in her capacity as Church Secretary.||500.00|500.00|
||Totals|500.00|500.00|
|**Paid employees**<br>Caretaker costs paid during the year were:<br>Gross wages, salaries and other benefits<br>Employer’s National Insurance costs<br>Pension costs<br>Total staff costs<br>Average number of full-time equivalent employees in the year were:<br>**Capital Commitments and Contingent Liabilities**<br>At the financial year end capital commitments amounted to:<br>Contingent liabilities amounted to:||**This year £s Last year £s**||
|||3,704.00|6,504.34|
|||0.00|0.00|
|||0.00|0.00|
|||3,704.00|6,504.34|
|||||
|||0.1|0.5|
|||**This year £s Last year £s**||
|||0.00|0.00|
|||0.00|0.00|



Page 4 of 7 



## **Notes Accompanying the Accounts** 

## **1 Basis of accounting** 

With annual total receipts falling below the £250,000 accounting threshold, the accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis in accordance with Charity Commission rules. There have been no changes in accounting conventions from the previous year. 

## **2 Donations from Church Funds** 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
The following donations were made from general funds:<br>To Methodist Funds £s     To Other Recipients £s<br>        The World Mission Fund 2200.00     Durham Churches Together 30.00<br>        The Mission in Britain Fund 1600.00<br>The Leybourne Trust 100.00<br>        Total 3900.00     Total 30.00<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


## **3 Money Received on Behalf of External organisations** 

At 31/08/2021 the church was holding £1,894.35 collected on behalf of the Durham Winter Night Shelter in the course of the 2020/21 Church Project. 

## **4 Value of Buildings & Assets at 31/08/2021** 

|Church Building<br>Organ<br>Caretaker's House|£s<br>8,967,289<br>730,029<br>241,427|
|---|---|
||9,938,745|



The church and other buildings are in excess of 100 years old and are listed at their insurance value together with that of the organ, in accordance with guidelines issued by the Methodist Connexion. 

_(Note, the 2020 figure is copied from the 2019-20 accounts where the valuation had not been updated from previous years.)_ 

Page 5 of 7 



## **DECLARATIONS** 

## **Treasurer** 

I confirm that I have prepared the accounts from the records of the Church and that they include all funds under the control of the Church Council 

Signature of Date Treasurer Name H M Phillips Address 35 Archery Rise, Durham, DH1 4LA 

## **Presentation to the Church Council for approval.** 

I confirm that the Accounts have been presented to the Church Council on and were approved. 

Signature of the Chair of the meeting Name of the Chair of the meeting Date 

## _____________ ~~___________________~~ ___________________________________________ 

## **Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of the** 

## **Elvet Methodist Church** 

This Report is on the Church Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2021 carried out under Section 43 of the Charities Act 1993, or in Scotland Section 11 of the charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. 

## **Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner** 

As Trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The Charity’s Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under Section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the 1993 Act) or under Regulation 10 (1)(d) of The Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (the 2006 Accounts Regulations) and that an independent examination is needed 

It is my responsibility to: 

- examine the accounts under section 43 of the 1993 Act and section44(1) of the Charities and 

- Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005; 

- to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 43(7)(b) of the 1993 act; and 

- to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. 

Page 6 of 7 



## **Basis of Independent Examiner’s Report** 

My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission and is in accordance with Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as Trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair view” and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. 

## **Independent Examiner’s Statement** 

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: 

- (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements: 

   - to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 41 of the 1993 Act and Section 44 (1)(a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts; and 

• to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 1993 Act and Section 44(1)9b) of the 2005 Act and Regulation ( of the 2006 Regulations) 

have not been met; or 

(2)           to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 

Name Signature Relevant Professional qualification or body 

Address 

Date 


Page 7 of 7 

