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2021-08-31-accounts

Central Methodist Church, Chesterfield Registered Charity Number 1128075

Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 August 2021

Contents
Reference and Administration 2
Details Structure, Governance and Management
Structure 4
Governance 4
Management 4
Objectives and Activities
Objectives 5
Activities 5
Achievements and Performance 5
Review of the Year 7
Future Plans 8
Public Benefits Statement 8
Exemption From Disclosure 9
Funds Held as Custodian Trustee 9
Financial Review
Overview 10
Accounts for the Year Ending 31 August 2020 10
Declarations 13
Notes to the Accounts 14
Cornerstone 16
Designated Funds 17
Contingent Liabilities 19
Commitments 19
Ex-gratia Payments 19
Independent Examiners Remuneration 19

1

Reference and Administration Details

Charity name: Central Methodist Church, Chesterfield S40 1UH (‘Central’)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER 1128075

Registered Office Central Methodist Church Saltergate CHESTERFIELD S40 1UH

Trustees: 1 September 2020 – 31 August 2021

Name Position
Rev. Sean Adair Supn. Minister & Chair
Rev. Mark Carrick Minister
Angela Walker Senior Church Steward
Margaret Chinnery "
Richard Gostling Church Steward
Gill Ashton "
Leighann Ingle "
Simon Ingle "
John Walker "
Julie Marshall "
Enid Pont Church Secretary
Deborah Andrews Church Council Secretary
Paul Timperley Church Treasurer
Edmund Hinch Pastoral Committee Secretary
Sue Walker Safeguarding Officer
Ian Sawyer Circuit Steward
Lisa Curtis(until 23.06.21) Chair of Church Life Team
John French Chair of ResourcingMission(Property)Team
Paul King Chair of Local Mission(inc Evangalism)Team
Helen Briddon Youth and J GangCo-ordinator
Roger Jones Music Representative
Paul Timperley Centrepoint Committee Representative
Angela Walker Cornerstone Committee Manager
Peter Andrews Local Preachers Representative
Jill King Circuit Invitation Committee Representative
Rosemary Eddas Representative from Congregation
Reg Rodda "
Sally Jones "
Rev Richard Harris Ex Officio
Rev TraceyHarris Ex Officio
Rev Margaret Mwailu Ex Officio

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Bankers:

Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes, Virgin Money Central Buildings 14 Vicar Lane Oldham Street CHESTERFIELD Manchester S40 1PY M1 1JQ

Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church 9 Bonhill Street LONDON EC2A 4PE

Independent Examiner

D Walker, Esq., CPFA, 21, Gallery Lane, Holymoorside, CHESTERFIELD, S42 7ER

3

Structure, Governance and Management

Structure

The Church is governed by the laws relating to the Charity Commission and the Methodist Church. The governing documents of the Methodist Church is the Methodist Church Act 1976.

In practice the Methodist Church is governed in accordance with its Constitution, Practice and Discipline (CPD) and is organised in four tiers,

Each Church, Circuit, District and the Connexion is a Charity, depending upon turnover, either registered or exempt. The Connexion determines overall policy, which is administered by Districts and implemented by Circuits and Churches. Financially, the Connexion levies Districts, District levy Circuits, and Circuits determine the annual amount that is to be levied upon each constituent Church. Thus for Churches, all three organisational tiers are “related parties”.

Governance

Central Methodist Church is governed by a Church Council consistent with the manner set out above. Members of Church Council either hold an office upon which the Constitution, Practice and Discipline confers membership, or are elected by the Church at the Church Annual General Meeting which consists of full members of the congregation, or are appointed by the Church Council to ensure a breadth of membership. The Circuit Meeting appoints a Circuit Steward to the Church Council.

Management

The Church Council is chaired by the Superintendent Minister, who is appointed by the Circuit in consultation with the District Chair, and routinely meets three times a year.

The members of Church Council are the managing trustees. As well as managing the daily operation of the church and its three paid part-time staff members (one caretaker, one cleaner, one secretary), the Church Council exercises stewardship over the Church building (which is nearly 150 years old and Grade II listed) on behalf of the custodial trustees TMCP (Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes nominees of the Methodist Church of Great Britain (the Connexion)). There is no Chief Executive Office role within the church governance structure.

4

Objectives and Activities

Objectives

The purposes of the Methodist Church are, and shall be deemed to have been since the date of union, the advancement of:

Activities

The activities of Central Methodist Church as specified at registration are:

Achievements and Performance

Central Methodist Church is a large religious community worshipping in Chesterfield. In terms of membership numbers, Central is one of larger Methodist Churches in the country with a larger membership. The main activities take place in a large building which is, in part, Grade 2 listed and is located in Saltergate, Chesterfield. The building contains a sanctuary

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for worship, a large hall with kitchen, and ten ancillary rooms. As with almost all organisations, Central Methodist Church has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and in order to provide context for this report, the ‘normal’ activities, which are extensive and varied, are outlined below:

Worship:

The Church has a morning service in the Sanctuary each Sunday, and three midweek services. Worship is supported by a choir, a floral art group and an audio visual support group.

Christian Development

There are a number of groups, which are intended to assist in developing knowledge of the Christian Faith, House Groups (which meet fortnightly or four weekly), ‘Men’s Breakfast’ (which meets monthly on a Saturday morning), and ‘Sisterhood’ (which meets weekly).

Young People

Central is fortunate in having well established and supported young peoples’ activities and fellowships including

In addition, a good deal of the work developing the faith of the young people of the Circuit takes place on Central premises and the church contributes towards the employment of a Circuit Youth Development worker

Meeting the Community

Central pursues a policy of voluntary community service through:

Additionally Central provides facilities for secular groups including:

The Wider World

Central is a Fair Trade church. Church in the World and Mission and Evangelism Teams as well as specifically focussed meetings and worship ensure that Central responds to the

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needs the wider world locally and globally. It supported the local Night Shelter which it hosted free of charge on 1 night a week in the winter months prior to lockdown.

Meeting One Another

The social cohesion of the Church is ensured by:

Resourcing the Activities of the Church

The activities of the Church are overseen by four teams

In turn, these are supported by a number of groups with specific purposes, including the DLO (Direct Labour Organisation), a group of volunteers who help in the general maintenance of the Church building, thus saving significant cost.

Resourcing Church Activity (Stewardship of Money)

A core aspect of the approach to money at Central is that of ‘Stewardship’ ie that day to day activities are funded through giving from the congregation, rather than by fund raising events. In this way, the Church is able to concentrate its energy on delivering the activities listed above, and also to set aside 10% of regular freewill giving for the ‘Caring for Others’, which includes regular donations to national Methodist Charities. Additionally, from its inception, Central resolved that any surplus from “Cornerstone” would be used, not for day to day activities which a Church ought to fund, but for “Outreach” into the community.

Review of the Year 2020-21

On and from 1[st] September, the Chesterfield and Bolsover & Staveley Methodist Circuits were merged, and a new Derbyshire North East Methodist Circuit was formed. From that date, Rev Sean Adair, Superintendent of the newly formed Circuit, has been ‘in Pastoral Charge’ at Central, working alongside a Probationer Minister, Rev. Mark Carrick, and replacing Rev Julie Minns, who has retired. The two Ministers also have responsibilities in other churches in the new Circuit.

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As already indicated, the Covid 19 world pandemic meant that the church building was closed for significant parts of the year covered by this report, and much of the regular activity had already ceased in line with Government restrictions. However, a fundamental understanding from the beginning of ‘lockdown’ was that although the building itself was closed, the associated Christian fellowship continued. Therefore steps were taken to develop ‘on-line’ versions of activities such as Worship, prayer meetings, J-Gang and house groups. While this demanded a steep learning curve, it helped to ameliorate adverse effects on the worshipping community. Other means of maintaining the fellowship were established, including ‘dial a sermon’, available by telephone weekly, telephone contacts via the team of Pastoral Visitors, and regular distribution of written material to those for whom the internet was inaccessible.

Also from the beginning of lockdown, a principled policy not to furlough staff was established and maintained, with consequent benefit collectively, as well as to those directly affected. The resultant administrative support helped very effectively to maintain communication with our large congregation, while the caretaking and cleaning team were able to undertake more fundamental cleaning jobs that would have been far from easy when the building was in regular use.

By the autumn of 2020, part of the building was made Covid-19 secure and limited in-person Sunday worship re-commenced early September, with much reduced capacity and using the hall which is more easily accessed and better ventilated. This permitted sequential services on Sunday morning, but unfortunately proved to be short-lived, being overtaken by the delta wave of the pandemic.

The closures, however, facilitated completion of two projects within the Mission and Vision Programme which began in 2018. In particular, the already planned scheme to install video equipment was developed to provide a live streaming capability. This enabled what has become known as ‘hybrid worship’, in operation since worship in the sanctuary recommenced in May 2021. In this way, the historic and fundamental Christian activity of meeting collectively for worship has been developed to include people who for various reasons are unable to attend in person. The ratio of live to virtual congregation is about 2.5:1

Financially, the closure of the building has had less impact than might have been expected. The long-standing stewardship policy meant that congregational giving was largely maintained, with around 80% of the giving income being made through standing orders. Also, as a result of the enforced closure, costs were lower, giving an overall marginal operational surplus of income over costs.

The church also has benefited from the employment by the Circuit of a Youth Pastor who spends part of his time with Central

Future Plans

Central intends to continue to offer its declared charitable activities. The range of activities outlined above is gradually being resumed, suitably modified to serve a developing part of the centre of Chesterfield in the post pandemic world.

The town centre location, and the extensive premises, provide for new opportunities, but also require provision for future liabilities consequent upon managing on behalf of TMCP a nearly 150 year old Grade II listed building.

Specific tasks already identified for the coming year are:

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Public Benefit Statement

The Catechism for the use of the people called Methodists states that:

The distinctive features of the Methodist Church is that its message has been summarized as “The Four Alls”:

All need to be saved.

All may be saved.

All may know themselves saved .

All may be saved to the uttermost

The traditional features of the Methodist Church include:

Central Methodist Church exists to make this offer to the people of Chesterfield and so meets the Charity Commission’s “Public Good” criterion.

Exemption from Disclosure

No exemptions are claimed.

Funds held as Custodian Trustee

No such funds are held.

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Financial Review

Overview

Central’s financial aim is to live within its means. In the year 2020/21 operational activity resulted in a surplus of £2,538. Given the major impact of Covid-19, this was much better than might have been expected, thanks to the congregation generously continuing to uphold the long-standing stewardship policy, with around 80% of the giving income being made through standing orders. As a result of the enforced closure, costs were lower, giving an overall marginal surplus of income over operational costs even despite the policy of not using the Furlough scheme.

The full accounts show an overall decrease in funds of £13,897. This resulted from use of a part of a surplus in the Caring for Others fund, and from costs incurred in completion of the Mission & Vision programme and localised repairs to the roof.

A planned expenditure of c£25,000 to replace the obsolete electric organ did not take place because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Accounts:

THE METHODIST CHURCH

STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS

CENTRAL METHODIST CHURCH CHESTERFIELD 25/10 Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2021 Registered Charity 1128075 Minster:

Rev S Adair & M Carrick

Church Stewards

Angela Walker Margaret Chinnery Richard Gostling John Walker Simon Ingle Leighann Ingle Julie Marshall

Treasurer N P Timperley

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Central Methodist Church, Chesterfield, Accounts for the Year Ended 31 August 2021

General
Fund		 Designated
Funds		 Total 2019-20
£ £ £ £
RECEIPTS
Offerings & tax recovered 135894 1944 137837 139275
Bank & CFB interest & investment income 249 53 302 1397
Lettings 460 0 460 1753
Other receipts 5150 2513 7663 72005
Total Receipts 141753 4510 146263 214431
PAYMENTS
Circuit Assessment or Share 81922 0 81922 83172
Donations 0 23184 23184 18921
Repairs & maintenance 4565 7514 12079 17567
Utilities 11511 0 11511 13362
Otherpayments 27970 3495 31465 38120
Total Payments 125968 34192 160160 171143
Net Receipts/Payments 15785 -29682 -13897 43288
Total Funds brought forward 48388 191101 239488 196200
64172 161419 225591 239488
Transfers & adjustments -13207 13207 0 0
Total Funds at end ofyear 50965 174625 225591 239488
MoneyReceived & Remitted to External Organizations
Balance from lastyear 0 0
Received for External organizations 1201 1674
Remitted to External organizations -1201 -1674
Balance still to bepaid 0 0

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INTERNAL ORGANIZATIONS
[Independent Accounting]		 Receipts Payments Net Adjustments Opening
Balances		 Closing
Balances
Centrepoint 0 0 0 2565
520
433
81
187		 2565
Sisterhood 2 0 2 522
Floral Art Group 0 0 0 433
Men's Breakfast 0 0 0 81
Ladies Evening 1 70 -69 118
0 0 0
0 0 0
Sub total 3 70 -67 0 3786 3720
Church Accounts 146263 160160 -13897 239488 225591
TOTAL FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH 146266 160230 -13964 0 243274 229311
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
Cash in hand
Current Accounts
Deposit Accounts
Central Finance Board
Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
Cornerstone Stock
Sub total: Church Funds
Funds held by Internal Organizations
TOTAL FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH
OTHER ASSETS & LIABILITIES
Investments
Land & Buildings (Held by TMCP)
Other Assets
Loans outstanding at year end
Other liabilities		 Opening
Balances		 Closing
Balances
40 30
11966 16254
200385 182274
18793 18818
8305 8215
239488 225591
3786 3720
243274 229311
At 1
September
2020		 At 31
August
2021

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Notes to the Accounts

1. Basis of Preparation

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Historic Cost Convention and with, Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) (FRS 2) on Accounting for Charities except that it does not use the accrual concept.

2. Accounting Policies

Valuation of assets The charity owns no fixed assets. Depreciatio n Furniture, computers, printers and other such equipment are expensed in the year of acquisition.

Recognition of transactions

Income is recognised upon receipt. Income from endowments is recognised when transferred to Restricted Funds. Income from grants and gifts is recognised upon receipt. Payments under operating leases are charged to expenditure when paid.

A liability is recognised when a commitment is entered into.

Designated Funds Funds are designated for specific planned expenditure.

3. Fixed Assets

The Constitution, Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church provides that Church (Charity) Trustees may with permission erect buildings from charitable funds and for Custodian Trusteeship to be vested in the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes (TMCP), with the Charity Trustees acting as Managing Trustees of the building on a basis akin to a peppercorn repairing lease. The Managing Trustees may not alter the building structurally without TMCP authority (which is in some circumstances delegated to District Committees). Permission has to be sought from TMCP to dispose of land and buildings and the proceeds are shared between the Connexional Advance and Priority Fund and the Circuit Advance Fund. Since the Charity Trustees merely manage the church complex and the charity would not benefit from its disposal, its historic cost (which is unknown) is not included in these accounts.

4. Income

The charity’s principal source of income is freewill offerings and associated Gift Aid. Other income is from a miscellany of sources, including lettings.

5. Reserves Policy

It is the policy of the Church to maintain liquid funds in the General Fund and some Designated Funds sufficient to cover one year's Assessment and other non-discretionary costs, together with working capital equivalent to one quarter's expenditure. Based on the years 2020-21, this amounts to £103,867. On 31 August 2020 sufficient funds were available

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in the agreed funds (General fund, Church Fabric fund and TMCP) to cover this, with a margin of £20,558.

As explained in the section on “Achievements and Performance”, the Charity enjoys the use of, and is responsible for, a comprehensive suite of buildings. The main church building is nearly 150 years old and is Grade 2 Listed by virtue of its frontage and sanctuary ceiling. The Trustees therefore maintain a buildings development and maintenance schedule, reflecting specific short and medium term projects, including work on the sanctuary roof. In order to provide for the costs of these as they arise, and to smooth their impact on the charity’s finances, sums are periodically designated to meet those costs.

6. Trustees’ Remuneration

During the Connexional year 2020-21, of the Trustees listed in the Report, no Trustee received remuneration or expenses for their duties as Trustees, although the Rev S Adair and Rev M Carrick received a Ministerial stipend from the Circuit for their services as Ministers; and Mrs E. Pont received a salary as Church Secretary.

7. Related Party Transactions

Transactions with the related parties specified in the note on “Organization” (i.e., other organizationally superior Methodist Church registered charities) are clearly shown in the accounts and, where appropriate, are detailed below.

7.1 Assessment

The Connexional hierarchical organization of the Methodist Church provides for the costs of the Connexion to be met by the Districts; for the costs of Districts (including their share of Connexional costs) to be met by Circuits; and for the costs of Circuits (including their share of inclusive District costs) to be met by churches. In this way, the cost of the overall church organizations bears upon churches.

In addition to the surcharged costs, the costs of the Circuits include the costs of ministerial stipends and manses; the costs of one lay worker; and any specific Circuit initiatives. The figure stated in the accounts from the General Fund is the share of these costs paid by Central.

7.2 Grants to the Circuit

Additionally, during the year 2020-21 Central made a grant of £7,000 from its “Caring For Others” Fund towards the costs of the Circuit Youth Development Worker.

7.3 Grants to National Methodist Charities

During the year, Grants were made to National Methodist Charities (detailed in the table Donations from The Caring for Others and Outreach funds below) of £9,356

.

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Cornerstone

As an expression of the Methodist Church’s social conscience, the Trustees offer for sale, refreshments, cards with Bible texts, Bibles, and Christian books, five days a week. This outreach venture is known as ‘Cornerstone’ and is staffed by volunteers from the Church, the Circuit, and beyond, and the net surplus is applied to organisations whose charitable purposes “reach out’ into community; and to individuals undertaking projects/training sympathetic with the Christian message.

The summary accounts of this venture are as follows:

Sales
Cost of Sales
Net Surplus
Operating Expenses
Net Surplus
Transfers to:
Refurbishment Fund
Outreach Fund
Fund Balance at 1 September
Fund Balance at 31 August		 2020-21
2019-20
£
£
2483.21
11393.55
-2304.82
-7365.37
178.39
4028.18
-171.05
-2259.76
7.34
1768.42
0.00
0.00
-590.00
-57.84
-2017.11
8295.00
9143.69
8244.50
8305.00

Note: Due to restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus epidemic, the closing stock value was assessed using management data instead of the customary stock check. Results for the year reflect the effects of (i) limited opening in accordance with Government advice and (ii) the unexplained loss of two consignments of stock valued circa £600 after delivery.

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Designated Funds

As a matter of principle, the Trustees (i) set aside funds for specific purposes and (ii) encourage groups not to maintain accounts separate from the Church. The summarized accounts for those groups that do maintain separate accounts are shown as a sub-set of the accounts, whilst movements on those included in the accounts as “Designated” Funds are shown below:

shown below:
Income Allocations Expenditure Releases Balance at
1
September
2020		 Balance at
31
August
2021
£ £ £ £ £ £
Caring for Others 0.00 13,589.36 -18,433.91 0.00 26,339.33 21,494.78
Church Fabric Fund 40.00 0.00 -5,080.55 -
25,338.99		 91,022.29 60,642.75
Mission Opportunities
Fund		 1,971.17 0.00 -2,433.13 -9,661.01 27,122.97 17,000.00
Property Projects Fund 0.00 0.00 0.00 35,000.00 0.00 35,000.00
Short Mat Bowling 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 149.59 149.59
Institute 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 185.00 185.00
Toddlers 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 216.54 216.54
Outreach Fund 0.00 0.00 -4,749.77 57.84 14,066.74 9,374.81
Cornerstone
Refurbishment		 0.00 0.00 -970.70 0.00 4,469.82 3,499.12
Music Fund 0.00 0.00 -48.00 -114.50 162.50 0.00
PUB 0.00 0.00 0.00 -268.11 268.11 0.00
2,011.17 13,589.36 -31,716.06 -324.77 164,002.89 147,562.59

Explanatory Notes

The ‘Mission and Vision’ programme was funded by donations and grants, and part of the pre-existing ‘Development Fund’. On completion of the programme, the Mission and Vision fund was closed, and the opportunity taken to review or re-title other funds to better reflect their purposes:

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the Mission and Vision Programme, with the emphasis on building projects to help make the building fit for purpose for the 2020s and beyond. The two purposes are reflected in the new Mission Opportunities Fund and the Property Projects Fund: Residual funds from the Mission and Vision Fund have been distributed between the two funds, and the the Property Projects fund also reflects both semi-restricted donations and designations for the short and medium term building projects mentioned in Note 5.

Cornerstone Refurbishment Fund : Cornerstone is used by the public five days a week, and periodically has to be refurbished. Sums are set aside annually to meet these periodic refurbishments. Covid restrictions have had an inevitable effect on turnover and thus the incurrences of loss this year mean that the usual provision has not been made.

iv. Music Fund A fund to acquire additional musical scores and other such for the choir. As funds have not been used since it was established nearly forty years ago and the balance is immaterial, it has been re-designated to the General Fund. Similarly, activities under the umbrella heading PUB are minor in financial terms, and have been re-designated into the General Fund

v. Caring for Others & Outreach Funds. These reflect the consequences of the Trustees’ policy towards the stewardship of money. Redevelopment of the Church in 1985 was supported generously by the Connexion and the Trustees resolved from then to repay that generosity by allocating 10% of “Freewill Offerings” to Connexional Funds and to Charities. The range of beneficiaries has been expanded, but the principle of helping others remains. Likewise, when the Cornerstone Bookshop was opened in 1985, it was resolved that the Church should not become reliant on any surplus, which should instead be applied to “reaching out” into communities over and above normal Church outreach.

Grants made are as follows:

Grants made are as follows:
Caring For Others £
Hope House 250
Benevolent donation 328
MWiB Chesterfield* 250
All We Can* 3,000
Methodist Homes* 500
Ashgate Hospice 1,000
Child Contact Centre 500
Pathways 1,000
TT Food Bank 200
Christian Aid 500
Elm Foundation donation 1,000
Sheffield Ministers Housing* 333
Methodist Ministers Housing* 277
Food Bank 300
Connexional Property Fund* 1,496

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Circuit - youth worker 7,000
Mayor's Appeal 500
Total 18,434
Outreach £
Outreach through business 108.00
Wayside Pulpit 650.00
World Mission* 1,750.00
Christians Together Chesterfield 50.00
Easter Outreach 254.3
Messy Church 187.47
Mission in Britain* 1,750.00
Total 4,749.77

Contingent Liabilities

There are no contingent liabilities

Commitments

There are no commitments.

Ex-gratia payments

There were no ex-gratia payments made during the year.

Independent Examiner’s Remuneration

The Independent Examiner made no charge for his services

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