2023-08-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 – 2023

Durham City Methodists

at Elvet and North Road

Registered Charity Number 1126844

Church Business 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 2023

Mrs Alison Ainslie	Mrs S. Harrison	Mr M Phillips
Mrs M Best	Mr P. Harrison	Ms J Portrey
Mrs P. Bissell	Ms M Hart	Mr A Purvis
Mr S Bissell	Mrs C. Higham	Mrs G Purvis
Mrs A. Bradbrook	Mr M Higham	Mrs A. Scott
Mr J Chamberlayne	Mary Hogg	Mr J. Scott
Ms H Charman	Pat Johnson	Mr C Rutherford
Mr T. Coburn	Mrs Ada Lam	Mrs M. Thompson
Mrs J. Dundee	Mrs D. Lawson	Mrs K Turner
Ms T Davidson	Mr S Lawson	Mr B Thompson
Miss J. Fielding	Mrs S. Mein	Mrs L Underwood
Mrs A Firth	Mr J Niven	Mr R Warne
Mrs J Fraser	Mr G Parkinson
Mr J Gibson	Mrs H Phillips

Deacon R. Lackenby, Rev J. Squares, Revds. C. & J. Jackson, Rev F. Weir

Aims and Organisation

The aims of Durham City Methodists 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:

• Property and Finance Committee

• Pastoral Committee

• Open Doors (Mission Team)

Activities in 2022 – 2023

During the 2022 – 2023 year, Durham City Methodists have maintained their life of worship and of service in the community and beyond, both virtually and face to face. Most of the church’s activities are of an ongoing nature. In its remit of worship, these consist of

• Sunday worship services;

• the celebration of Holy Communion;

• Junior Church, meeting each Sunday during school term times;

• House groups meeting face to face ;

• Lunch Stop offering inexpensive meals weekly during term time;

• Baptism, wedding ceremonies and funerals.

All of these activities are open to the public.

Its service to the community is manifested in many ways.

• The church is both a collection and distribution point for Foodbank.

• Each month, a charity is chosen to be supported by our monthly coffee mornings. We also regularly support Global Care projects and Suubi Africa

• 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 necessary.

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

• A creche is provided during Sunday morning services, when possible, for baptismal services.

• The church has Uniformed Organisation Groups.

• It has an associated Arts and Crafts Group.

• 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 one of the focal church venues for the Inclusive Christian Student Movement (Durham) and also welcomes students (and other visitors) from many countries.

• We are a Fair-Trade church.

• We belong to the Inclusive Church network.

• We are working towards a gold Eco Award.

• It is a popular venue for concerts and other public events.

Of special note in the 2022 – 2023 year were the following :

Recently we combined the two Methodist churches in the City Centre, North Road and Elvet, and are now Durham City Methodists, one church on two sites. We formed our one church council in November 2021. We are an Inclusive Church and as such we are on the membership map of inclusive churches in the UK. We have been granted our Silver Eco Award by A Rocha UK and are actively seeking to cut our carbon emissions and be more energy efficient.

• Despite not being able to hold fundraising events as in the past we raised funds for local and national charities at our monthly coffee mornings and other fundraising and social events including ‘North East Mission – the Durham Winter Night Shelter’ and Mary’s Meals.

• 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.

• Several members holding identified relevant positions within the church (staff, preachers, stewards, worship leaders, pastoral visitors) have undertaken EDI training and this is ongoing.

• The Chinese church, under the pastoral charge of Rev John Squares and TC Luk, continues to meet and grow with the influx of Hong Kongers. This is still a class of Durham City Methodists.

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

• In our Open Doors team we are reviewing our missional and business plan for future growth and events, under the district heading of ‘every church growing’.

• We are looking to increase our community engagement and have actively sought ways to become more involved in the local community.

Objectives for 2023 – 2024

• The Durham City Methodist Trustees will be working to see how we can grow God’s kingdom as we all face the challenges before us and continue to 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 our Open Doors hospitality group meetings, both virtual and face to face when possible.

• We intend to make Elvet and North Road sites more visible and welcoming to the community. We are considering installing artistic structures in the front garden of the Elvet site to highlight church seasons e.g. Easter, Pentecost, a Nativity scene for Christmas etc.

• We hope to be working more in our local community eg during the winter months partnering other local people in the Durham Winter Night Shelter.

• Having one of the largest church buildings 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 and other denominations and are now named the Inclusive Christian Movement Durham (ICMD) meeting regularly at both the Elvet site and St Oswald’s C of E as well as virtually. The group is open to those with or without any faith to come and explore.

• We hope we can hold Open Church evenings for refreshment when Lumiere returns to Durham in 2025.

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

Elvet Methodist Church Old Elvet Durham DH1 3HL

North Road Methodist Church 28 North Road Durham DH1 4SG

CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

THE METHODIST CHURCH

STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS

Durham City Methodists (Elvet and North Road Methodist Churches)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 August 2023

Durham and Deerness Valley Circuit

Circuit no: 13/11

Registered Charity - Registration number 1126844

Minister:

Rev John Squares

Church Stewards:

Penny Bissell Jackie Fielding Anne Firth Christine Higham Joan Portrey Kath Turner Lynda Underwood

Treasurer:

Hilary Phillips

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Durham City Methodists (Elvet and North Road Methodist Churches)

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUG 2023

Notes

	SECTION A			Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds	Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds	£ 92,615 5,867 137,200 6,113 Totals this year	£ 92,615 5,867 137,200 6,113 Totals this year	Totals last year	Totals last year
a1	RECEIPTS		Note	£	£	£		£
a2	Offerings and Tax recovered			91,965	650	92,615		82,771
a3	Bank and CFB interest and Investment income			5,777	90	5,867		646
a4	Lettings, Wayleave & Other Property			133,100	4,100	137,200		145,175
a5	Bequests, Donations & Other Receipts			4,403	1,710	6,113		6,414
a6
a7
a8	TOTAL RECEIPTS			235,245	6,550	**241,796 **	(a7)	235,007
	SECTION B					102,048 7,875 39,439 30,890 21,656
b1	PAYMENTS
b2	Circuit Assessment			102,048	0	102,048		109,856
b3	Donations			4,975	2,900	7,875		4,975
b4	Repairs, Maintenance & Improvements			33,970	5,469	39,439		99,043
b5	Utilities (Insces, water rates, heating& lighting)			30,690	200	30,890		28,884
b7	Other items			11,316	10,340	21,656		10,369
b8
b9	TOTAL PAYMENTS			182,999	18,909	**201,908 **	(b9)	253,127
						39,888
	SECTION C
c1	(a8-b9) NET RECEIPTS/ PAYMENTS FOR THE YEAR			52,247	-12,359	39,888
c2	Total funds brought forward from lastyear			93,915	61,610	**155,525 **	(c6)	123,146
						195,413
c3	Sub total (c1+c2)			146,162	49,251	195,413
c4	Transfers and adjustments			-1,692	1,692	**0 **	(c8)	50,500
c5	(c3+c4) TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR			144,470	50,943	**195,413 **	(c7)	155,525	(c6)
									4
	SECTION D
d	(these amounts are not included in total receipts/payments figures above) Balance brought forward from lastyear 100 1,984 8,364 4,592 7,479 6,476 985 100 FOR INFORMATION ONLY:MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS Offerings/Gifts -received for external organisations Offerings/Gifts -passed to external organisations BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID (d1+d2-d3)
d1	Balance brought forward from lastyear					100		1,984
d2	Offerings/Gifts -received for external organisations					8,364		4,592
d3	Offerings/Gifts -passed to external organisations					7,479		6,476
d4	BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID (d1+d2-d3)					985		100

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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 2023 and internal organisations reporting to the Church Council. All internal organisation funds are unrestricted funds.

	INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS	Receipts		Payments		Net Receipts/ Payments		Adjustments		Openingbalances		Closingbalances
e1	Arts & Crafts	162		162		0		0		10		10
e2	Elvet Flower Fund	817		725		92		0		701		794
e3	Lunch Stop	3,112		1,398		1,713		0		2,317		4,031
e4	Thursday Club	0		663		-663		0		663		0
e5	Messy Mornings	90		142		-52		0		152		100
e6	North Road Fairtrade	0		332		-332		0		332		0
e7	Chinese Church	21,040		18,562		2,478		0		48,378		50,856
e8	Sub total of Internal Organisations funds	25,220		21,984		3,237		0		52,553	(e11)	55,790	(e12)
e9	Church accounts (totals brought forward from page 2 - totals column)	241,796	(a7)	**201,908 **	(b9)	39,888		**0 **	(c8)	**155,525 **	(c6)	195,413	(c7)
e10	TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH	267,016		223,891		43,125		0		208,079	(x)	251,204	(y)
	Continue on a separate sheet if necessary and bring the totals forward	TOTAL RECEIPTS		TOTAL PAYMENTS

SECTION F

	SECTION F
	STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES CHURCH - CASH FUNDS HELD Cash in hand Bank Current Account Bank Deposit Account Central Finance Board Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes Other funds SUB TOTAL - Church accounts TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the closingbalance total from above) (e12)		At 01/09/2022 172 21,474 3,625 104,343 25,911 155,525 (c6) 52,553 (e11) 208,079 (x) OPENING BALANCES	At 31/08/2023 CLOSING BALANCES
f1	Cash in hand			0
f2	Bank Current Account			11,570
f3	Bank Deposit Account			608
f4	Central Finance Board			157,300
f5	Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes			25,936
f6	Other funds
f7	SUB TOTAL - Church accounts			195,413	(c7)
f8	Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the closingbalance total from above) (e12)			55,790	(e12)
f9	TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH			251,204	(y)
	SECTION G OTHER ASSETS and LIABILITIES Investments(include Endowments) Other Assets Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end Other Liabilities Land & Buildings (see notes re Insurance value)		At 1 September 2022 8,522 14,549,363 783,327 68,500 0	At 31 August 2023 Note 8,160 15,332,690 5 0 5 60,478 0
g1	Investments(include Endowments)		8,522	8,160
g2	Land & Buildings (see notes re Insurance value)		14,549,363	15,332,690
g3	Other Assets		783,327	0
g4	Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end		68,500	60,478
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

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Durham City Methodists (North Road and Elvet Methodist Churches)

Loans

At 31/08/2023 the church had outstanding loans as follows:

Lender	**Date of loan **	Interest rate	Capital remaining	Notes
Methodist Chapel Aid	2014	4.5% (variable)	£6,000.00	This loan for the refurbishment of the former manse at No. 27, North Road is being repaid at £3,000 plus interest per 6 months, the income used for thispurpose beingrent received for thatproperty.
Durham & Deerness Valley Circuit	2022	1.5% (fixed)	£33,977.92	These loans from the Circuit and from church members to pay for refurbishing the former caretaker’s house at No. 8, Old Elvet will be repaid through rent received for that property over the next few years. The Circuit is expected to be repaid within 5 years and the church members will be repaid as soon aspossible after that.
3 church members	2022	0%	£20,500.00

Endowment Funds

Endowment Name	How the capital is invested	Current Capital Value	Income 2022/23	What the income was used for
Trust 15370: Mrs Margaret Hopper	868 CFB Managed Mixed Fund Units	4,364.30	121.47	Income to General Church Fund
Trust 8312: Surplus Funds	755 CFB Managed Mixed Fund Units	3,796.14	105.65	Income to General Church Fund
	Totals	8,160.44	227.12

Payment to Trustees

Number of trustees (i.e. members of the Church Council) who were paid expenses. Payments made to trustees for additional services provided to the Church by 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: 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

The Church has no paid employees.

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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

2 Donations from Church Funds
The following donations were made from general funds: To Methodist Funds £s To Other Recipients The World Mission Fund 2290.00 Durham Churches Together The Mission in Britain Fund 1490.00 Bible Society The Property Fund 345.00 St Cuthbert’s Hospice The Leybourne Trust 100.00 St Margaret’s Centre Action for Children 115.00 All We Can 230.00 Total 4570.00 Total	£s 60.00 115.00 115.00 115.00
	405.00

In addition, £2,900 was donated from the Youth Fund to Global Care to fund three young people from the church on a visit to Spurgeon’s Academy, Kibera (Kenya) in Nov/Dec 2022.

3 Transfers and adjustments

£1691.84 has been transferred from General to Restricted funds to prevent overspend of restricted funds and to correct an income allocation error in 2021/22 accounts.

4 Money Received on Behalf of External Organisations or Individuals

The following amounts were raised and passed onto other charities through special collections, coffee mornings etc. Gift Aid and GASDS were claimed on collections, where appropriate, and passed on.

Where a collection was made after 5th April, the GASDS on the collection has been passed on to the charity in advance of receiving it from HMRC, but as we cannot claim GASDS from HMRC until the end of the tax year in April 2024, this leaves us with a negative amount outstanding.

In addition the church received fees from weddings/funerals which were passed on to individuals, and a donation from another church to pass to the Circuit for use of their photocopier.

DEC – Pakistan appeal Durham Winter Night Shelter Easter Offering – World Mission Fund Bin Twinning Durham Foodbank Royal British Legion Mary’s Meals Crisis at Christmas Lisa Shaw’s Little ‘Uns St Margaret’s Centre DEC – Turkey & Syria Earthquake appeal St Cuthbert’s Hospice Daft as a Brush RT Projects Christian Aid RefUSE Water Aid Circuit trip to 3Generate Payments for individuals and the Circuit Total

Brought forward Received Passed on Outstanding at 31/08/2023 £0.00 £662.88 £662.88 £0.00 £10.00 £699.94 £709.94 £0.00 -£10.00 £322.30 £349.44 -£37.14 £0.00 £153.00 £153.00 £0.00 £100.20 £17.00 £117.20 £0.00 £0.00 £232.46 £232.46 £0.00 £0.00 £2,085.20 £2,085.20 £0.00 £0.00 £327.70 £327.70 £0.00 £0.00 £289.15 £289.15 £0.00 £0.00 £281.00 £281.00 £0.00 £0.00 £652.88 £652.88 £0.00 £0.00 £299.71 £299.71 £0.00 £0.00 £327.65 £327.65 £0.00 £0.00 £250.10 £250.10 £0.00 £0.00 £152.00 £158.75 -£6.75 £0.00 £276.45 £276.45 £0.00 £0.00 £37.00 £0.00 £37.00 £0.00 £992.37 £0.00 £992.37 £0.00 £305.00 £305.00 £0.00 £100.20 £8,363.79 £7,478.51 £985.48

5 Value of Buildings & Assets at 31/08/2023

Church Building (Elvet) Church Building (North Road) House at No. 27 North Road House at No. 8 Old Elvet	£s 10,405,295 4,005,012 663,330 259,053 15,332,690 The churches and other buildings are in excess of 100 years old and are listed at their insurance value, in accordance with guidelines issued by the Methodist Connexion. In previous years’ accounts the organ at Elvet was listed separately but now it is included with the building valuation.

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DECLARATIONS TrM•urnr I confwm that I have prepared the ￿)Unts from the rec¢xd6 of the Church arn1 Ihat irtludo all fvnds urKler the control of the Church Counul Signaturn of Treasurer lo 2oL8 H M Phillips 35 Archèry Rth, Durh￿, DH14LA Prn8ontatlon to th• Church Councll for approval I ￿￿fim1 that thè Acc(￿rtts have ba•n wntéd to the Church Counrjl ¢)n and were approvod &gnaturn of tha Char of the maetsrYJ Name ofth• Chr rnethng Indop•nd•nt Exnln•fs Roport to tho Trust•M of Durham Clty Mothodl•ts This Rewt * on the Church Aecounts the year ended 31108r2023 Camed out under Sectson 43 of tho Chantw kt 1993. or In Scotsnd SeclKn 11 of the ehantses and Trustee In￿tsnOrt {ScoUand} Act 2(K)5 R•4poctlv• rn8pon•lblllt1o8 of Tru8toos and EXan￿ne1 As Tntste08, you arn re8ponbl8 *)r the preparaknn oftrn am)unts The Chanty's Trustees ca￿der that an audrt Is not required for this yew under seCt￿n 4312) of the chan￿ kt 1993 (tIE 1993 kt) or under Regulation 10 (1){d) of Th? chan1￿$ Accounis (Scotland) RegulatM)ns 2006 (tho 20C6 P£counts RegulatN)ns} and that an Ind8p8ndent examInat￿n Is need8d It Is my reSpOn￿￿lrtY to . èxarThnè the acu)unts urKler Sectson 43 ofthe 1993 Aci and sathon44(1) of the charrt￿$ and Trustee InVestr￿nt (Scotland> 2005, . to th8 W0￿d￿98 laKI d<Y￿ In the general Trrectsons gNen by the Comnswn under sect￿ 447Mb) ofthe 1993 ￿1. and Ir

B•sl• af Ind•p•nd•nt Examln•rf• R•port hty exarninolion was carmd oui In acco￿arte the general Dwe¢l￿n$ gNen ty the Charty Commis8w)n aTrJ ts In accordance wrth RegUlat￿n 11 of th8 CharFbes Axtsunts (Seotland) RegulatKns 2006 An eyaminab)n wKludes a rev￿ of the xcounbr¥J rec¥)rds kept by ts ¢harty 8rKI a companson of the accounts pre8ented wrth those ye￿[d$ It 8180 Indudes ¢onsKleratL)n ol any unusual rterr or dcknsur6$ In the acc¥>unts, and Seekry eXp￿na￿￿8 from you as Truste88 cor￿arning any s￿h matters The wocedwe8 uThlertaken do not provhde all the evMJence that M)uhJ be requTrd In an audrt and (x)nsequenlly O￿n￿n ￿ gNen as to whgther the accounts prèsent a and fwr and roport ts IINMtsd to th088 8et out In the statemt bok In(knp•nd•nt Examln•f• Stat•mwrt In connect#M wrth my examin8tson, no matter has con to my attent (1) which gm$ r•awbl• cause k) b&b￿ t￿t In any ntsrAI mpect tr r•quirernnts to keep actounbThJ r￿ordS In &cordar￿8 wth SectK)n 41 of 1993 kt and S 44 (1 Xa) ofthe 2005 Acl arKI Regulatsn 4 01 the 2008 kcounts. arnl • to prepare xcounts whth accord the accounbTrJ rpLords aThJ L￿Mpty tt ac¢ountsrKJ requIre￿nts of the 1993 Act and Seckn 44(1)9b} of the 2005 Aot and Regulat￿n { of t￿ 20(￿ RegulatK+ns) hav• not b￿n or (2} to whth, In ry opinKJn, atkntKJn shouhJ be drawn In order b enable a proper undeistsndtslg of the xcounts reached Nan Ef4 Ki rl s￿natsJ Relwant Pnfes8K)nal qualfflcatK)n or t￿Y 78 DL>A￿L¥￿ 3rf1.4LL a9 z* 7of7