2025-08-31-accounts - Guildford Methodist Church

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GUILDFORD METHODIST CHURCH

Charity no. 1127643

TRUSTEES' REPORT

To 31 August 2025

Annual Report 2024-5

Reference & Administrative Details

Registered Name:

Guildford Methodist Church

Registered Number: Guildford Methodist Church is registered as a charity under number 1127643

Principal Office Address: Guildford Methodist Church c/o Holy Trinity and St Mary's Parish Office 5 Trinity Churchyard Guildford GU1 3RR Tel: 01483 578861 Email: office@htsmguildford.org.uk Correspondence should be directed to the above address.

Charity Trustees

Charity Trustees
TRUSTEE NAME	OFFICE HELD	DATES (if not full year)	APPOINTED BY
Rev Dr Paul Glass	Minister & Chair
Mrs Andrea Campion- Smith	Church Steward		General Church Meeting
Mrs Rosemary Lee	Church Steward		General Church Meeting
Mr Peter Youngs	Secretary & Church Steward	d. April 2025	General Church Meeting
Mr Michael Lee	Treasurer		Church Council
Ms Jenny Nockolds	Church Council Secretary		Church Council
Mr Nigel Campion-Smith	Circuit Steward Worship Leader
Mr. David Birch	congregation
Mrs Margaret Birch	congregation
Mr Michael Bishop	congregation
Dr Bruce Farmer CBE	congregation	d. September 2024
Mrs Beryl Farmer	congregation
Mrs Janet Glass	congregation
Mrs Janet Hancock	congregation
Mr Philip Hancock	congregation
Dr Alwyn Marriage	congregation
Ms Annika Mathews	congregation	Resigned June 2025

Mrs Janus Smith		congregation		Resigned June 2026
Mrs Promila Skelton		Pastoral Secretary
Dr Susan Snashall		congregation
Mrs Rosamund Trembath		congregation

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document :

Guildford Methodist Church is registered under the Deed of Union of 1932 and the Methodist Church Act 1976 incorporating the Model Trusts. The governing document is The Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church (known as CPD) which applies a range of procedures and policies to the life and governance of the Church.

Recruitment and Appointment of new Trustees:

The Trustees are drawn from the membership of Guildford Methodist Church. Under CPD, the church has adopted a procedure permitted for smaller churches under which all members may serve on the Church Council, if they so wish, without the need for elections and without limit on time.

Induction and Training of Trustees:

Trustees have often already served or are serving on one or more of the committees or groups within the church. Induction and training is principally through discussion with established members of the Church Council and attendance at the Church Council meetings held around 3 times a year; and, for the Church Stewards, attendance at leadership meetings held periodically, depending upon need.

Organisational Structure:

Within the structure of The Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church, Guildford Methodist Church is governed by its Church Meeting and Church Council and with the assistance of the Stewards and the Pastoral Committee. The Church Council and Annual Church Meeting have oversight of committees and groups, and the Church Council is the managing trustee body.

Representatives of the church serve on the Joint Council with representatives of the Parish of Holy Trinity St. Mary's pursuant to the sharing agreement referred to below. Several Methodist members have been elected and serve as members of the PCC.

Risks to the Charity:

The principal risk to the charity has for some time been lack of human resources. This led to the Church closing its former building and moving to worship at the Anglican church of St Mary’s in Guildford town centre from 1 September 2013; on 6 July 2014 it entered into a sharing agreement with the Parish of Holy Trinity and St Mary’s.

Methodist Circuit

Guildford Methodist Church is part of the Wey Valley Methodist Circuit.

Objectives and Activities

The Aims of Guildford Methodist Church:

As part of the wider community, and as part of the congregation of St Mary’s Guildford, it is the vision of Guildford Methodist Church locally to be a worshipping and welcoming community, working together with other Christians to share God’s love, through word and action, with the people of Guildford and further afield.

The achievement of this vision will be seen by:

Activities in conjunction with the Parish and other churches in the Methodist Circuit, ecumenically and within the community
Development of the worship and prayer life of the church
Growth in the life and activities of the church fellowship
Outreach in the community, in conjunction with Common Ground, building on relationships formed through individual members as well as new initiatives.
Training and Study opportunities

Objectives for the year:

Taking an active role in the community through ecumenical and community projects.
Playing our part in the wider Methodist Connexion through Circuit and District
Reviewing and continually updating our policies for safeguarding, and implementing practices to improve standards of care for those using our premises.
Looking for ways in which we can further develop worship services.
Developing the relationship with the Anglican and other worshippers and leadership at St. Mary's as a united congregation and developing stronger links with the European Orthodox congregation which also worships fortnightly at St Mary’s.
growing the Common Ground ecumenical community, based at St Mary’s, and its activities

Strategies for Objectives:

Playing an active role in Circuit services, meetings and activities.
Continuing our giving to charity and our normal teaching and outreach activities.
Providing a welcome and support for international residents through our Chit Chat drop-in.
Supporting the activities of Guildford Town Centre Chaplaincy which provides ministries of Street Angels, Community Angels and Volunteer Chaplains.
Being represented as a church in Community and Ecumenical events whenever possible and taking active roles individually in community projects.
Continuing to support individual, Friends International, and Circuit Chaplaincy links with the University to develop a relationship between the church community and University students.
Working towards a consistently good level of pastoral care, and continuing to organise opportunities for social interaction.
working with other Christian and lay organisations to develop shared activities.

Significant Activities:

Weekly Sunday Morning worship services.
weekly Friday evening Vigil for Peace, initially relating to the war in Ukraine from February 2022 but subsequently enlarged to reflect other conflicts
ChitChat, a weekly termtime drop-in for foreign residents
Ecumenical lunchtime series of Advent and Lent Reflections
Periodic Pop-Up cafes for all ages, with crafts and other activities for children
occasional Sunday afternoon prayer walks and Taizé-style services
opening of St Mary’s on a regular basis to welcome visitors to view the building and, where they wish, reflect or chat.
Art and photographic exhibitions with a Christian theme or supporting the work of charities
Monthly Coffee and Cake, focussing on the work of a particular charity or voluntary organisation
Baptisms, weddings and funerals, both of congregational members and community.
Fundraising for Charities e.g. Christian Aid, Local Projects, African Charities, Whitechapel Mission and Methodist Charities.
Pastoral work is undertaken in cooperation with the Parish’s Pastoral Committee. Members and adherents attached to the Church are cared for pastorally by one of our Pastoral visitors. Pastoral Visitor training has taken place. Communion is taken to housebound members of the church by a Minister or persons appointed by the Church Council, and visitation to the sick and needy is carried out by a Minister and by Church members.
Members participate in the Common Ground ecumenical community.
Several of the members of Guildford Methodist Church exercise a Christian ministry in the course of their activities and by involvement in a particular cause or local need, such as prison visiting and chaplaincy work and drop-ins for the needy. Church members are involved with work for schools and orphanages in both Kibera (Nairobi) and Mityana (Uganda), both of which have been supported by the Church
Social Activities including occasional Church Lunches.
Safeguarding and other training courses are provided by the Circuit.
The Church has strong links with Friends International which cares for, and gives hospitality to, students from abroad; and the Guildford Salvation Army Drop-in and Foodbank
The Church supports ecumenical events and services in local churches, especially in Lent and at Easter, and regularly hosts ecumenical services on occasions such as Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and Ascensiontide.
Guildford Methodist Church supports the Guildford Town Centre Chaplaincy, a charity established by the Churches of Guildford to care for people in the town. Their aim is to build bridges of understanding, trust and cooperation between communities of work, faith, leisure and society and to serve people by providing pastoral care for anyone who lives in, works in or visits Guildford. This is carried out by Street Angels (based at St Mary’s), Community Angels and Volunteer Chaplains.
A member represents the Church as a trustee of Hillier House.

Achievements and Performance

Membership

At 31 August 2025 the total membership stood at 36 members. This includes a number of Anglican worshippers who have become Extended Members of the Methodist Church, demonstrating their support for the partnership between the denominations at St Mary’s.

Safeguarding and other training:

All members requiring safeguarding training have attended such training.

Our policy is jointly agreed with the Parish and will continue to be reviewed annually.

ChitChat volunteers participate in regular training sessions.

Public Benefit Statement

The trustees confirm that they have complied with their duty to have regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit.

Reports

Review of Progress and Achievements

Worship:

Our main weekly act of worship is a service at 10.30 each Sunday, with a variety of styles drawing on our Methodist and Anglican traditions. On a monthly basis the St Mary’s Choir participates in the service. There is in addition an Anglican-led service of Holy Communion at 08.00 each Sunday morning (following the Book of Common Prayer). In summer 2025 the Parish trialled a less formal style of worship on Sunday evenings at St Mary’s which became a regular part of the programme from Autumn 2025 under the name Haven.

We participated in Bible Month in summer 2025, with services focussed on St John’s Gospel.

There are periodic Wey Valley Methodist Circuit afternoon or evening services held at different churches across the Circuit.

Worship services are led by Methodist and Anglican clergy, accredited lay preachers (including one of our members, Rosemary Lee) and other invited preachers. Worship is varied and endeavours to be inclusive.

Communication:

There is a weekly email which details worship for the week and other items for the attention of the congregation such as meetings and events in the church, circuit and local community and printed copies are provided to those members without email facilities. This is supplemented by a weekly Parish newsletter.

The Church also provides some information on its website: www.guildfordmethodist.org ,with additional information available on the Parish website: Holy Trinity & St Mary's Guildford (htsmguildford.org)

Mission and Outreach

During the year we continued to offer Lent and Advent series of weekly lunchtime Reflections. These Reflections are typically attended by between 25 and 40 people from across Guildford and beyond.

The Common Ground ecumenical community, established to pursue mission and outreach and based at St Mary’s, continues to be central in undertaking our Outreach activities, in keeping with our objectives when Guildford Methodist Church moved to St Mary’s. In particular, Common Ground’s monthly Friday evening drop-in, Night Vision, was converted into a weekly Vigil for Peace, starting the day after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This invites those out and about in Guildford to express their compassion by coming in to light a candle and, if they wish, to pray or reflect in the spiritual atmosphere of St Mary’s, with the Church open from 9-11 pm each Friday. At the date of this report’s publication over 18,000 people have visited these Vigils, a very large proportion of whom are young adults not connected with churches but who respond positively to an invitation extended to them as they pass St Mary’s while on a night out in town. https://www. commongroundguildford .org

Church Opening and Exhibitions

Weekday opening continued on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with additional days in August and the Heritage Weekend in September. We also open on special occasions at times of community or national concern or need.

The year saw major development of our exhibition-based ministry activities. The first, over Heritage Weekend in September 2024, was Our Time 2 , an exhibition of art from women prisoners at HMP Send. Members of the Parish have longstanding connections with this local prison supporting chaplaincy and other activities there. In conjunction with other local charities art lessons have been provided to a group of prisoners for several years, with some very talented artists emerging. There have been exhibitions in the prison open to invited guests. St Mary’s staged the first external exhibition of their work which was very well-received by hundreds of visitors to the church over Heritage Weekend and the following 2 weeks.

This was swiftly followed in October/November by an exhibition Extraordinary Women of the Bible , featuring 8 icon-style paintings of notable (but not generally the best known) women featuring in the Old and New Testaments. The Exhibition fed into our worship and was complemented by a programme of events based around the paintings and the people depicted. Events included a talk by the artist, Silvia Dimitrova and a range of sessions led by the owner of the paintings, Bishop Graham Kings, including poetry written by him inspired by the paintings. These events culminated in a concert with the poems set to music and performed by the In Nomine choir. Groups visiting the exhibition included parties from local primary schools who engaged very well with the paintings.

ChitChat

ChitChat, our drop-in for international residents, continues to perform a valuable role with up to 35 international guests present each week and is much appreciated by those attending. By its nature, most of those attending are in Guildford for a limited period so there is a constant renewal as some guests move to their home countries and others join. Refugees from a variety of countries represent an increasing proportion of guests. As well as helping guests to understand and practise English, ChitChat explains British traditions and helps answer questions on aspects of British life. Ecumenical participation is crucial to staffing ChitChat and we are very grateful to the volunteers (numbering over 30) who act as hosts, many coming from other churches.

As well as meeting in person, ChitChat continues to be available online for a small number of established guests joining from overseas having headed home from Guildford in response to the Pandemic.

Church Steward’s Report

During the year we continued to value the opportunities which St. Mary's offers for our ministry. Its unrivalled location within the town, flexible facilities and spiritual atmosphere are great for outreach and community activities. They have been perfect for our exhibitions and other outreach and enabled engagement with thousands of people during the year.

We are saddened by the loss of some much-loved older members but have been delighted to welcome new people to the congregation and to increase the opportunities for our contacts with people from outside the church.

It remains a priority to make St. Mary's accessible to visitors (physically and in language) and to give them a better understanding of what the church is about and stands for, emphasising that all are welcome. That emphasis is really important when inviting passers-by to drop in for our Vigil for Peace as the idea of visiting a church during their night out comes as a big surprise to them. Many need convincing that their style of dress, prior alcohol consumption, language and lack of Church connections are absolutely no

obstacle to them coming into the church. On departing, many comment on the spiritual atmosphere of the church and that they’re leaving ‘in a better place’ than they arrived. It is really pleasing that some of our visitors, perhaps hesitant or even reluctant first time, make calling into the Vigil a regular feature of their Friday nights out and bring in other friends on subsequent visits.

I report on two other thrills from the year. The first was not ours but belonged to the Send prisoner artists who were stunned and thrilled that a church was willing to host an exhibition of their work and, even better, that they achieved healthy sales. One of the objectives of the art group is to enhance participants’ skillsets beyond just the art, with administrative work and planning for exhibitions, so as to improve their prospects of securing work on release. Sadly, but understandably, they don’t have an opportunity to attend the exhibition in person. We were pleased to host their exhibition again in September 2025 and are now planning for the third run in 2026.

The second thrill to mention came during the Extraordinary Women of the Bible exhibition. A number of international residents who attend ChitChat are Muslims but they were intrigued by the Old Testament women in the paintings and their place also in Islamic tradition – finding that shared part of our religious heritage was valuable for both our traditions.

In summer 2025 we were delighted by the enthusiastic response to our Cream Tea for Africa which raised over £1,000 for charities whose work in Uganda and Nairobi we have supported for many years. Our links with those working with refugees continue, both those who attend ChitChat and Big Leaf Foundation’s use of part of the churchyard for displaced young people to undertake practical activity by growing vegetables and other produce during the summer.

We have continued to be blessed by Rev Paul Glass’ ministry and are immensely grateful for the teaching, energy, enthusiasm and encouragement he brings to us at St Mary’s as well as the wider Circuit. The links he fosters with students and the other contributions he and Janet make to the life of Guildford Methodist Church at St Mary’s are greatly appreciated.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the Anglican and Methodist clergy, our Churchwarden, Jenny (who has also kindly assumed the role of our Church Council Secretary) and others who supported us during the year under review. Once again, I thank my fellow Steward, our Treasurer and all the oother membersof the Church for their hard work and support and for the continued encouragement we receive from so many.

ANDREA CAMPION-SMITH Church Steward

Financial Review & Examined Accounts to 31 August 2025

We are very fortunate that, through the loyalty of our members, our accounts again showed a surplus of income over expenditure and we retain a healthy level of reserves, which are bolstered by generous legacies which enable us to fund items and activities beyond routine expenditure. This surplus was despite a significant reduction in offerings, which was partly offset by refund of an earlier donation we had made to the Methodist Ministers Pension Reserve Fund. Our income is heavily dependent on the generous giving of a relatively small number of members. We are exposed to the loss of giving from older members when their circumstances change, they move from the area or pass away, which caused the reduction in giving in the year. We do not directly benefit from letting income which the Parish uses to help defray property expenses.

We also recognise the financial uncertainty brought about by economic conditions and the pressure this is placing on many churches and charities, including other Methodist churches in our Circuit. Our giving covered the Circuit Assessment, normal operating expenses and external donations. Our healthy reserves enabled us to provide some support to another church in the Circuit which has been facing financial challenge arising from a sudden loss of letting income.

The Parish bears much of the running costs of the St. Mary's building and retains responsibility for the structure, We recognise the increasing cost burden on the Parish and during the year made a £5,000 donation to the running costs. We also continue to contribute to expenditure on cleaning, the sound system and resources for activities at St Mary’s and modest donations have been made to the Parish by Church groups which use the building.

Once again, our thanks go to the Treasurer for his work in relation to our finances.

Report dated June 2026

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS GUILDFORD METHODIST (ST MARYS) Church FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 August 2025 WEY VALLEY Circuit Circuit no. 3616 Registered Charity- Charity Registration number If not a registered charity His Majesty's Revenue and Customs Gift Aid number (The HMRC number is equivalent to a registered charity number in terms of evidence of charitable status and may be used to give to donors or grant funders wishing to see evidence of the organisation's charitable status. Methodist charities in England and Wales that are not registered charities are excepted from registration under Statutory Instrument 2014 No.242) 1127643 Minister REVEREND PAUL GLASS Church Stewards: ANDREA CAMPION-SMITH ROSEMARY LEE Treasurer" IvItClIAEL LEE Church Accounts 2025 1of5

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025 GUILDFORD METHODIST ST MARY'S Church SECTION A Unrestricted Funds Totals this year Totals last ear a1 RECEIPTS Note a2 Offerings and Tax recovered Bank and CFB ItereSt and Invesiment income Leitin 28,483 28.483 40,118 a3 2,913 2,913 2,856 a4 a5 OtPier reiptS TOTAL RECEIPTS 14,065 45.461 14,065 45,461 a6 (a7) 42,974 SECTION B b1 PAYMENTS Circulit Assessment or Share Donations b2 16,740 8,548 5,000 16,740 8,548 5.000 16,740 5,250 4.091 b3 b4 Repairs and IVI.aintenance Utilities (Insurances, wa:er char es, heatin & li htin b5 238 238 5.235 b6 b7 Othei payments TOTAL PAYMENTS 3,608 34,134 3.608 34,134 1,359 32.675 b8 {b9) SECTION C 4ET RECEIPTSIPAYMENTS AR c1 (a6-b8) 11.327 10,299 Toial funds brought forward from last year c2 137,903 137,903 {c6) 126.569 Sub total (c1+c2 149,230 149,230 136,868 Transiers and adjustments TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR 1,365 1,365 (c7) 1,035 c5 (c3+c4) 150.595 150.595 (c8) 137,903 (c6) SECTION D FOR INFORMATION ONLY: MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS these amounts are not to be included in total receiptsl ayments figures above) d1 Balance brou ht forward from last year d2 Offerings/Gffts - received for extemal or anisatioils 1,715 d3 Offerings/Gifts - passed to extemal organisations 1,284 440 d4 BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID (d1+d2-d3) 431 2of5 Church Accounts ?02)

MMARY OF CHURCH CCOUNTS AND ERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO T SECTION E Please followthe Gufdan e Notes to com lete this Summary of Lhe Church accounts for the year ende(131 AugLlSt 2025 and Intemal Organisations reportrng to the Church Counovchurch Meetffu. Note that the funds of an Intemal Organisation would normally be Restricted fijnds uftless it coukl be clearfy shown that they could be used for any Metriodist purpose. I nis *ion must be cmpleted to arrive at the gross in(x)me and expend tolals of the ChutEh. Ifgross income eXed5 the Accruals thEshokl. then the Accruals method of accourrting AND A DIFFERENT FORM must be used to report the accounts (see Methodist website). Please refer to the gtsidan noLas regarding transfers beleen the District and connected District Oraanisations. INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS Guildford Methocyist (St Mary's) E CHURCH C UN IL Receipts Payments Net Receiptsl PaymAnis Adjustments Opening balances C105ing balances Sub total oi Int8mal Organisation5 tunds Church accounts (totals brought forward from page 2_ totsls column) e11) e12 45.461 (a7) 34.134 Ib9) 11.327 1.365 el9 BY CHURCH (c7) 137.903 (¢6) 150,595 45,461 {e8) Continue on a separate sheet rf neSSary and bring the totals forwaid 34,134 11.327 1,365 137,903 (x) TOTAL PAYMENTS 150.595 TOTAL RECEIPTS SECTION F STATEM NT OF ASSETS CHURCH- CASH FUNDS HELD at 31 Au Cash 1,7 hand ust 2025 OPENING BALANCES CLOSING BALANCES Bank Cuent Account Bank Deposfti Account 250 681 Central Finan Board 116,144 127.1)40 Trustees for Metlx)dEst Church Purpo Other funtis 21,509 22.874 SUB TOTAL- Church accounts Total fvrKls held by Intemal Organssations (th8 Closing bslaneo total from abovc) (e12) 137,903 (c8) 150 595 (c8 (e11} TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH 137,903 (x) 150,595 (y) SECTION G At 1 September 2024 OTHER ASSETS and UABILITIES At 31 August2025 Investments tnclude Endowments) Land & Buildin Sce notes re Insuran value Other Assets Loan(s - sh amount OtJlstanOin at ear end Other Liabiltties f4 Include only Funds held at ihe Central Finan Board f5 Indude only Funds held at Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes g1 Include any other inv8strnents (not the 12sh element of TMCP trusts accounts this is induded En line f5 CburdT Accounts ?% 3of5

Name of Church . Guildford Methodist (St Mary's) 1127643 Declarations and Scrutiny I confirm that these Receipt and Payment based accounts for the year to 31 August 2025 have been prepared from the records of the Church and that they include all funds under the control of the Church trustees. Signature of treasurer.----.-........-.-.- Date... Name and address of treasurer ....-. Michael Lee 30 OAK HILL,WOOD STREET VILLAGE,GUILDFORD,SURREY GU3 3ER Presentation to the Church trustees I confinn that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025 werelwill be. presented to the meetinq of the Church trustees held on . Signature of the Chair of the meeting Name of the Chair of the meeting . . Reverend Paul Glass Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of the Guildford Methodist Church (St Mary's) Charity Number . 1127643 Responsibilities and basis of report I report to the trustees on rriy examination of the accounts of the Guildford Methodist (St Mary's) . Church for the year ended 31 August 2025 set out on pages 1 to 3 As the Church's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act,). I report in respect of my examination of the Church's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and, in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. delete or circle as appropriate Church Accounts 2025 4of5

Name of Church . Guildford Methodist (St Mary's) 1127643 Independent Examiner's Statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below") which give me cause to believe that in, any material respect: the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act- or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. I have/have not" obtained independent verification of all investments with the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes or held in other trusts, bank balances and funds at the Central Finance Boa of the Methodist Church which are individualty in excess of £10,000 (ten thousand pound at the balance sheet date. Signature of independent examiner Name of independent examiner Relevant professional qualification of independent examiner Name of firm (where appropriate) Address LofK Post Code Date delete or circle as appropriate Church Accounts 2025 5oT5