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2025-12-31-accounts

The Annual Report of the Parish Church of St John the Evangelist, Ravenhead for the year ending 31 December 2025, to be presented to the APCM on 10 May 2026

St. John the Evangelist, Ravenhead,

Crossley Road, St Helens, WA10 3ND

Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Parochial Church Council for the year ending 31[st] December 2025

Clergy

Team Rector

Team Vicar

Banks

HSBC Bank Plc

33 Ormskirk Street, St Helens, Merseyside, WA10 2SZ

CCLA, Church of England Deposit Fund, 85 Queen Victoria Street, London

Independent Examiner

Rev. Alan A. Clements MA, ACIB, FCIE of J.C.C. Services Ltd

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Contents

The Parochial Church Council ..................................................................................................... 6 Members of the Parochial Church Council.................................................................................. 6 Structure, Governance and Management ................................................................................... 7 Induction Training ..................................................................................................................... 7 Aim and Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 7 Achievements and Performance ................................................................................................ 8 Objectives and Activities ........................................................................................................... 9 Financial Review ..................................................................................................................... 10 Risk Assessment .................................................................................................................... 11 Reserves Policy ...................................................................................................................... 11 Receipts for the year ending December 31[st] 2025 ...................................................................... 12 Accounting Policies for the PCC of the Parish of St. John the Evangelist, Ravenhead .................... 14 Funds .................................................................................................................................... 14 Statement of Assets and Liabilities .......................................................................................... 14 Independent Examiners Certificate .......................................................................................... 16 Narrative Reports ..................................................................................................................... 17 Worship Report ....................................................................................................................... 17 Annual Parish Attendance Return ............................................................................................ 18 Parish Statistics ...................................................................................................................... 18 Vicar’s Report ......................................................................................................................... 20 Churchwarden’s Report & Fabric Report................................................................................... 22 PCC Report ............................................................................................................................ 23 Clergy Vacancy Update ........................................................................................................... 23 Mission Planning Review ......................................................................................................... 24 Safeguarding Report ............................................................................................................... 24 Church Activity Reports ............................................................................................................ 25 Young at Heart – Monday, 1:00pm ............................................................................................ 25 Bible Study – Tuesday, 10:30am ............................................................................................... 25 Toddle-In – Wednesday, 9:30am .............................................................................................. 25 Schools’ Ministry Team ........................................................................................................... 26

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St. John’s Church is situated in Crossley Road, St Helens. It is part of the Diocese of Liverpool within the Church of England. The correspondence address is St. John’s Church, Crossley Road, St Helens, WA10 3ND.

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCELESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST RAVENHEAD ST. HELENS is a registered charity with the Charity Commission (Charity number: 1129191) and exists:

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The Parochial Church Council

Members of the Parochial Church Council

Team Rector Rev. Gareth Banton (Chair of PCC) to November 2025 Vacancy from November 2025 Team Vicar Vacancy Churchwarden Vacancy to 18 October 2025 Mr Paul Henry from 19 October 2025 Churchwarden Vacancy Deanery Synod Representative Sara Harrop to 14 November 2025 Vacancy from 15 November 2025 Deanery Synod Representative Vacancy Deanery Synod Representative Vacancy

Those listed above are ex-officio members of the Parochial Church Council.

There are a further nine elected seats on the PCC, in line with the Church Representation Rules and based on the number of members listed on our Electoral Roll.

Elected Members

Mrs Angela Davies PCC Term of Office: 2025 – 2028 Electoral Roll Officer

Mrs Elizabeth Dean (nee Carney)

PCC Term of Office: 2023 – 2026 Recruitment Officer

Mrs Sarah Garnett Resigned from PCC 02.02.2026 Vice-Chair of the PCC to February 2026

Mr James Thomas

Resigned from PCC 01.03.2026 Former Treasurer

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Mrs Judith Thomas

PCC Term of Office: 2023 – 2026 PCC Secretary

Mrs Wendy Mousdell

Resigned from PCC 10.2025 Former Safeguarding Officer

Mrs Karen Hayes

Term of Office: 2025 – 2028 Treasurer

Structure, Governance and Management

The method of appointment of the PCC Members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. All Church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC. The Standing Committee of the PCC is the only committee required to be in existence by church law and has the power to transact the business of the PCC between meetings, subject to ratification of the PCC.

Induction Training

All PCC members elected for the first time and any others who have been re-elected to the PCC after an absence of some time are supplied with copies of the minutes of the previous PCC meeting. Inservice training is provided where and when appropriate. A copy of the short e-book “A PCC members’ guide” is available for anyone who wishes to read it.

It is considered that all PCC members and any others who could be understood to be ‘managers’ in the activities and affairs of the Parish of St John’s Church, Ravenhead are deemed to the ‘fit and proper’ persons under the terms of the Finance Act 2010.

Aim and Purpose

The PCC is aware of the Charity Commissions' guidance on public benefit in ‘The Advancement of Religion for the Public Benefit’ and have regard to it in their administration of the Parish. The PCC believes that, by fulfilling its responsibility to work together with the incumbent and to co-operate in all matters of concern and importance for the promotion of the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical, it provides a benefit to the public by:

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Achievements and Performance

Divine Worship

The church held Sunday worship on 46 of the 52 Sundays in 2025. Services were cancelled on a Sunday in early January due to weather conditions, while provision for the other Sundays that St John’s was closed was through Eccleston Team services at either St Matthew’s Church, Thatto Heath or at St Luke’s Church, Eccleston.

Provision of services from both The Book of Common Prayer and Common Worship has been maintained.

For the major festivals, St John’s held services on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. Provision for other services during these festival times was through other churches in the Eccleston Team.

The 8:30am BCP service is typically a Holy Communion service and as such is currently led by visiting clergy during vacancy with input from its congregation. We continue to build a growing rota of lay people willing to help with our 11am Sunday worship and our service leading team has grown, bringing new faces and voices to lead at the 11am service. It has been encouraging to hear the positive reaction to the increase in music and live worship in our 11am services and we hope to develop this further during 2026.

Rev. Gareth Banton’s farewell service was held at St Luke’s Church, Eccleston and members of St John’s played a part in various aspects of the service.

In interregnum, the church has maintained its pattern of Sunday worship services.

Electoral Roll

As of 31 December 2025, there were 50 parishioners on the Church Electoral Roll. This is following a renewal of the roll, required periodically, in which all members were removed and the roll recreated from scratch.

Church Officers

We have been able to fill some important vacant posts within the offices of the church by appointing a Churchwarden and Safeguarding Officer in October 2025. These appointments were timely as Rev. Banton prepared to leave the Eccleston Team.

There remains a vacant Churchwarden post and there are vacancies for Deanery Synod Representatives and on the Parochial Church Council.

Community Service & Outreach

The church continues to serve its local community through the provision of services of divine worship and celebrations of life events according to the traditions and doctrines of the Church of England. We also continue to provide community activities and room hire through St John’s Centre.

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Throughout the year, various activities are held in the church or centre, either by the church, individuals, partner organisations, or third-party businesses, non-profits and charities through private hire of our facilities, including:

Objectives and Activities

In 2026 – 27, St John’s must continue to stand on its own two feet throughout the clergy vacancy. Though we will continue to work with our partner churches in the Eccleston Team, it is important that St John’s is also able to maintain its own provision without undue reliance on the goodwill of the team churches.

The church is committed to maintaining the provision of both Book of Common Prayer services at St John’s through our monthly 8:30am service, and Common Worship services at 11am, during 2026. We will continue to seek people willing to help with leading liturgy, reading and leading prayers.

We are clear that the church needs to grow in number to survive in the long-term. Though we have lost a number of families since Rev. Banton left and the subsequent closure of Kids’ Church, it is encouraging to see new people in church and it is important that the welcome we offer to newcomers continues to be strong and sincere without being overbearing.

During 2026, we hope to hold more events outside of Sunday worship for the church fellowship to gather together, including events that are suitable for outreach and invitation.

The PCC continues to pray for leaders to re-establish the ministry of Kids’ Church or another suitable Christian provision for children and teenagers. Any suggestions or expressions of interest are invited.

It is important that we continue to seek people to fill vacancies within key roles within the church, to have representation on the Deanery Synod and to fill as many of the vacant seats on the PCC as possible.

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We will continue to run St John’s Centre as a church and community resource alongside attempting to grow its potential to financially support the ministry of the church and business operations as a whole.

The five-yearly Quinquennial Report is due to be commissioned in 2026, in which an architect will inspect the fabric of the building and make recommendations.

We seek to make sure St John’s is a safe place and are committed to working with the Church of England and the Diocese of Liverpool to ensure we have suitable safeguarding measures in place.

We aim to maintain a good relationship with local schools through the further development of our Schools’ Ministry Team, alongside the other churches of the Eccleston Team.

We are working with the Diocese of Liverpool on a programme to optimise our approach to our finances, giving, and the use of our buildings The programme will also explore if there are any new ministries that could be supported at or from St John’s with access to grants from the Church of England through the diocese.

We have been encouraged by the diocese to increase the number of people choosing to give using the Parish Giving Scheme and Gift Aid, to maximise the amount of donated money that can be retained by the church instead of paying some to banking fees and card transaction costs.

We aim to continue to pay our Parish Share in full during 2026. This is our contribution towards ministry in the Diocese of Liverpool, and pays for clergy stipends, training and pensions. During interregnum, payments for this continue. The system balances payments proportionally across churches in the diocese and means we do not have to directly employ our own clergy.

We aim to continue to manage our finances carefully and to reduce our outgoings when possible. It is important that the church aim to at least break-even within the medium term, but higher attendance and the potential for increased donations would help to achieve this. The Diocese have proposed some simple programmes to help with this during 2026. A reduction in the annual deficit at the end of 2026 would be encouraging.

Financial Review

At the end of 2024 the wealth of the Parish was £16,807.74 in the current account at HSBC. The deposit account with Church of England Funds Management (CCLA) was £5000.

The Parish has paid the Parish Share in full for 2025. We finished the year with a net deficit of -£3,860.

The PCC has been considering a range of measures to tackle our deficit, and it is grateful to all our regular givers and donors. All church members are encouraged to routinely review their financial offerings as part of their discipleship. We have continued to claim Gift Aid and have discussed the Parish Giving Scheme with parishioners.

We have seen a significant rise in the cost of bills, particularly in the cost of gas and electricity. Maintenance work to the dated boiler system has been essential and costly. The church has a modest number of regular church parishioners who give generously to the church but in order to survive the church will need to grow.

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Currently without the income from 2 particular clients who hire the Church Hall, the Church would be in a financially untenable position.

Risk Assessment

The PCC recognises that in relation to ‘Risk Assessment’, risk is defined as ‘the threat of any action or event which will adversely affect an organisation’s ability to achieve its objectives and execute its strategies’. It also accepts that the term ‘risk’ can include any circumstances that may, or do, have an adverse effect, and is wider than financial matters. Risks relate not only to the negative consequences of a threat, but also to the impact of not taking advantage of opportunities.

The PCC recognises it requires a practical Health and Safety Policy covering activities for both the Church and its surrounding grounds. This is reviewed on a regular basis. An Accident Book is maintained.

The contents and obligations of the Equality Act 2010 and the 2018 General Data Protection Regulation are known and compiled with to the best of the PCC’s ability. The PCC is aware of its responsibilities in respect of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in its requirement to carry out a fire assessment to identify any possible dangers and risks, to take action to minimise the risks and to create a plan to deal with any emergencies, and also to write up and keep a record of its findings and to review its assessment annually. The PCC has appointed the Churchwarden to be the responsible person to put these things into operation.

There is a Safeguarding Policy in place in respect of children and vulnerable adults. Checks have been and are made with the Disclosure and Barring Service in respect of persons dealing regularly with young people and vulnerable adults. Mrs Wendy Parkinson who was the Safeguarding Office resigned and the PCC acknowledged her work and thanked her for her service. The PCC’s appointed officer for Safeguarding is Mrs Sue Conroy and to whom we are very grateful for giving her valued contribution. Whilst it is impossible to eliminate all risks and their consequences, efforts are constantly made to minimise such occurrences.

Reserves Policy

The PCC seeks to retain (for current and emergency expenditure) the equivalent of three month’s running costs (approximately £15,000) to meet everyday costs of running the parish with remaining funds being invested in the CCLA deposit account; however this has not been possible in this year 2025. The reality of the situation is that, although we are able to cover costs, we are dealing with a loss in 2024 and 2025. Steps are being taken to address the situation but we need to increase the number of parishioners.

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Receipts for the year ending December 31[st] 2025

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Accounting Policies for the PCC of the Parish of St. John the Evangelist, Ravenhead

The financial statements of the PCC have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 using the Receipts & Payments basis.

Funds

General funds represent the funds of the PCC that are not subject to any special restrictions regarding their use and are available for application to the general purposes of the PCC. These include funds designated for a particular purpose by the PCC.

The accounts include monetary transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC can be held responsible.

They do not include the accounts of other Church groups that owe an affiliation to another body, nor those that are informal gatherings of Church members.

Subject to the above, receipts and payments include income as received and expenditure when irrevocably paid.

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

The following assets are recognised but not necessarily valued in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities:

The following assets are recognised and monetary value given as part of the description in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities:

The following liabilities may be recognised in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities:

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2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Income £45,040 £55,399 £59,876 £70,056 £66,429
Expenditure £79,369 £75,550 £62,401 £73,433 £69,880
Profit/Loss (£) -£34,329 -£20,151 -£2,525 -£3,377 -£3,451

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Independent Examiners Certificate

Awaiting Certificate

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Narrative Reports

Worship Report

The attendance chart below covers Sundays at the 11:00am service only.

Average Attendance (Comparison)

Average Attendance (Comparison) Average Attendance (Comparison) Average Attendance (Comparison) Average Attendance (Comparison) Average Attendance (Comparison)
Year Adults Children Total
2021 21 1 22
2022 28 7 35
2023 35 11 46
2024 35 11 46
2025 36 9 45

The attendance at the 11am service fluctuated throughout the year. We have noticed a particularly big dip in the attendance of children since Rev. Gareth Banton and April Banton have left the parish. The overall average for adult attendance is slightly less than the previous year, however, we have seen a drop in parents with young children. The reason for the drop in children has been that there has been nobody to lead the children at Kids’ Church which has been very popular at St John’s. The PCC are in discussions on how to overcome this challenge.

Regular church members are encouraged to attend services as often as possible, for their own discipleship, but also because statistics like this have a real impact not just on our worship experience, but also the resources allocated to us by the Diocese. The 8:30am BCP service is held on the fourth Sunday each month. Attendance at these remains steady and we are grateful to this faithful congregation, many of whom have supported St John’s Church for many decades.

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It has been encouraging to be able to increase the amount of live worship in our 11am service on Sunday mornings, and members of the congregation have been speaking of their appreciation of this.

Annual Parish Attendance Return

More details regarding attendance at St John’s can be found on the charts on the following page, taken from our annual Parish Returns data submitted to the Church of England and Diocese of Liverpool. Please note that a significant data interpretation error exists on chart 5 (percentage of children) for the year 2025 which we hope to have corrected.

The data shows that there is a long-term downward trend in our worshipping community at St John’s (charts 1 & 2), starting from 2017. Figures improved in 2024 but the trend has resumed from 2025.

Numbers attending during the major festivals (chart 1) of Christmas and Easter improved in 2025, with Easter in particular showing sustained growth since 2021. A decrease in the Christmas numbers compared to pre-pandemic figures may be attributable to services being spread across the Eccleston Team, whereas previously St John’s would have offered more services over the festival. Though Christmas numbers have generally increased since the restrictions of 2020, we will need to consider if this practice of sharing services is something we wish to continue, or if we would prefer to offer services here for more of the various offices across the festival periods.

Our usual Sunday attendance (charts 1 & 3) has held steady following the pandemic at an average of just over 40, including under 16s. We expect this number to decrease in 2026 due to the closure of Kids’ Church as some families who previously came to St John’s are now choosing to worship in churches that have such a provision available. Outreach and inviting people to re-grow our numbers is crucial going forward.

As part of the figures, an average is taken of the Sundays in October (chart 4) which is taken to be representative of a ‘normal’ month. There are no particular ‘special’ services or festivals that take place during the month. This shows growth since the pandemic came to a high in 2023, followed by a decrease in both 2024 and 2025.

Reflective of national trends, fewer people are choosing to hold life events in church (chart 6) and numbers of such events remained low into 2025.

Our electoral roll (chart 7) shows growth from 2022 – 2024 followed by a decrease in 2025. This is explained by 2025 being a ‘renewal’ year, in which the roll is wiped to zero and everybody needs to reapply for membership.

Parish Statistics

There are other figures and statistics included on the dashboard on the next page. You will note that – from 2021 figures - our parish is broadly in line with regard to age demographic distribution compared to the Diocese of Liverpool and nationally. 11,354 people live in the parish, who report as 62% Christian compared to 61% across the diocese and 41% nationally. Only 2% of our parish report as holding a non-Christian religion compared to 4% across the diocese and 11% nationally.

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Notably, Ravenhead parish is one of the 8% most deprived parishes in England, registering as 976[th] out of the 12,154 parishes across the Church of England on this metric.

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Vicar’s Report

Note: As St John’s Church and the wider Eccleston Team are currently in clergy vacancy, this report has been prepared by the Churchwarden.

May I open this report by offering the thanks of the church to everybody who has supported St John’s in any way over the past twelve months. Whether you’ve been able to help with worship, our weekly activities, looking after the buildings and grounds, through prayer, helping with our finances, making donations, or in any other way, we are truly grateful. As I have mentioned in church, even just being present at our services and activities helps more than you could imagine. Some of the roles that people take on are seen in public, but we also acknowledge those who contribute in ways unseen. In whichever way you have supported St John’s since the previous APCM – thank you.

We must also acknowledge here the gap left in our church by the departure of Rev. Gareth Banton and his family. At the same time, we celebrate the work and ministry that took place while Gareth served here, by Gareth as our vicar and by April who restored and inspired our Kids’ Church. It is sad that with their departure we have had to close our Kids’ Church, and we continue to pray for volunteer leaders to step forward into this crucial role. We are grateful that our work with children can continue through the efforts of Toddle-In and the Schools’ Ministry Team. On a Sunday, it is easy to see the generational gaps in the congregation at St John’s, and it becomes increasingly important that we try to fill them to guarantee the long-term viability of the church.

In the years Gareth was with us, we did have a taste of what could happen. Coming out of the pandemic from 2022 onwards, we saw growth in our congregation which then stabilised with an average attendance in the mid-40s which held during 2025 as we bid farewell to Gareth. Since he left, there has been a decline in our attendances, notably – and understandably – as families have relocated to churches that are able to offer Sunday morning activities for their children. Despite this dip, it has been encouraging to welcome new members to our fellowship in the past few months.

As Gareth mentioned in his report to the previous APCM, we do encourage church members to attend Sunday worship as frequently as possible. This is primarily for the flourishing of your spiritual life, your relationship with God and the feeling of togetherness during our worship, but we also acknowledge that the attendance statistics that we submit annually to the Diocese of Liverpool and the Church of England make a real difference to the resources we are allocated.

In interregnum, we are grateful for the assistance of those outside our immediate congregation and here offer our thanks to Diane, David and Nigel from St Luke’s Church who preach regularly at St John’s, as well as to the Rev. Roy Doran and Sue, who come monthly from Ainsdale so Roy can preach and preside at Holy Communion for us at the 11am service. We also extend our thanks to the Ven. Simon Fisher, Archdeacon of St Helens and Warrington for coming each month to preach and preside at our 8:30am BCP Holy Communion service.

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During the year, we have bid farewell to members of our congregation who have gone to be with the Lord. We pray that the church’s ministry to those close to them has been a comfort, and we thank God for their contribution to our church and fellowship here.

Looking to the year ahead, we continue to hope and pray that two clergy can be found to help St John’s, the Eccleston Team and St Mark’s, North Road go forward. However, even as we wait for clergy, it has been an encouragement in the past few weeks to hear people within our fellowship offer ideas for new ministries, groups and events to serve our community, reach out with the gospel, enhance our spiritual life within the church and grow our numbers. Please do listen out for announcements in church and try to support whichever of these activities you feel able to.

For the church to run as it is, and to operate these new activities, it’s important that we’re able to sustain ourselves as a business both in terms of people fulfilling key roles and our financial position. We would encourage people to consider what roles they may be able to take on in the church.

We gently and politely ask you to continue to consider your financial giving and if you could further help us to cover the increasing costs of providing our ministry. We know these are the same rising costs you face at home, and we are very clear that we don’t want anybody to overstretch themselves or take any financial risk for the church, but, if you are able to increase your giving even a little, it would be a help to us. For whatever you are able to give, we remain very grateful. As earlier, if all you can do is be here, that is what we want more than anything – we would always prefer to have you in our fellowship than have your money in our bank.

There are two particular ways that you could use to maximise your donations to the church without actually increasing your giving. The first is the Parish Giving Scheme. Money on the plate and cardbased donations attract a small fee that the church has to cover when donations are processed or banked. The Parish Giving Scheme is a secure platform you can use to give a regular donation to the church by Direct Debit and if you have not already signed up to this platform, may I encourage you to do so? Using this platform for regular donations attracts no fees for you or the church, and thus means the church retains the full value of your donation. You can find out more from us in church, or through the Parish Giving Scheme’s website at www.parishgiving.org.uk.

Once your donation is set up with the Parish Giving Scheme, you can adjust or cancel it at any time. You may have also heard that, using the Parish Giving Scheme, you can automatically increase your giving by the rate of inflation each year – please note this is optional and you have to opt-in for this to happen. If you prefer to give privately, it is also possible to donate through the PGS without the church knowing who the donation comes from.

The second method of maximising your giving is to sign up for Gift Aid if you are an eligible taxpayer. By doing this, your giving will increase by 25% at no further cost to you – the extra money is given by the government from the tax you have already paid. Gift Aid is a great way of making sure that a portion of your tax goes to the charities and causes you want to support. For every £1 you donate to the church, the Government will add 25p without you paying an extra penny. Even better – if you use the Parish

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Giving Scheme and tick the box to enable Gift Aid, they will manage the whole process for both you and the church, saving time for our volunteers here.

If you’re interested in either the Parish Giving Scheme or Gift Aid, please do speak to our Treasurer, Churchwarden or any member of the PCC.

Finally, it is also possible to support St John’s by leaving a legacy in your will – if this is of interest to you, please speak to us. The Church of England’s Central Services say, “There is no obligation to leave a gift to your church, loved ones should always come first. However, we hope you will consider remembering a church you care about, as every gift makes a real difference to that church, its mission and ministry for future generations.” We at St John’s are always humbled and grateful to receive a gift in this way.

It’s important to acknowledge the ministries that take place in church during the week which continue to enrich our fellowship. Some of them have provided their own reports to this document, and I encourage you to read them and find out more about them. Maybe you could join one of them and boost their numbers, or offer them your help as a volunteer?

In last year’s report, Rev. Banton mentioned that we were having difficulties recruiting to key positions at St John’s and highlighted the need for a Churchwarden or a Safeguarding Officer. We thank Wendy, our previous Safeguarding Officer for her time in post, and acknowledge that this was then a role that Gareth was filling alongside his other duties until he moved to his new parish. As a result, there was a real chance that, without someone filling this position, St John’s would have to close until a volunteer could be found. We therefore owe Sue Conroy our thanks for stepping into this role, and for the work and encouragement she has subsequently carried out to help make sure St John’s is a safe place for all. Safeguarding is a crucial part of what we do – it is about making sure we look after people in ways they may not always be able to for themselves and speak for those without a voice.

There remain other positions in our church governance that need to be filled, so if you feel you could offer help, please do speak to us.

I will finish by again offering thanks for all that each of you do for our church and fellowship here. It is important we go forward together as a fellowship to continue to bring St John’s ministry to our parish of Ravenhead and beyond.

Paul Henry

Churchwarden

Churchwarden’s Report & Fabric Report

It is right that I open my report by acknowledging my predecessors as Churchwarden and in offering thanks on behalf of the church for the work they put into the role: to Roy Benyon, who served as warden from 2024-2025, and to John Ingham who completed an eight-year term of office in 2025. Since my election to the office in October 2025, John has continued to help in many ways and has given me the benefit of his experience, for which I here publicly give my thanks.

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In the Church of England, it is normal that two churchwardens are in post at any one time, however for many churches it is becoming difficult to fill both or even one of the positions. At St John’s, I am grateful to the PCC and members of the congregation who have helped or offered to support me in the months I have been in office.

The fabric of the church remains in reasonable condition though there are areas that ideally could do with attention and we continue to monitor them for evidence of any further degradation. In 2026, our Quinquennial Report is due – this is a report that the PCC is required to commission every five years for which a professional architect is appointed to consider the condition of the building and any repairs that may be needed – urgently or otherwise – in the coming five years. Once this report is complete, we will have a greater clarity of which – if any – areas of the building are in need of attention.

During the year, our heating boiler has been serviced and only two of the three chambers are now found to be working. This is enough to continue heating the building sufficiently, and the PCC will continue to monitor this. Both of the wall heaters in the reception and creche have now been condemned (the creche heater has been out of action for a number of years), meaning at present there is no heating in the church reception area.

Paul Henry Churchwarden

PCC Report

The PCC had a total of 6 meetings throughout 2025. The year brought with it many changes for St John’s and for the wider Eccleston Team. There have been changes in personnel at the church, with 2 Churchwardens, the Treasurer, the Safeguarding Officer and the Safety Officer all stepping down. We are in a position where we have a Treasurer, a new Churchwarden, a new Safeguarding Officer and also a new Safety Officer for which we are all very grateful. The main change, which has also brought with it great challenges, is the fact that our much loved and respected Vicar – Rev Gareth Banton and his family have left the Eccleston Team of Churches. We are now in a period of interregnum and this has brought with it added pressure and responsibilities for the few members of the PCC we have.

The PCC has discussed many issues including the boiler, which is very old. The boiler would be very expensive to replace and without it functioning correctly we would lose not only parish members but clients who hire the main hall, which is a big source of income, and which without we would be in financial difficulty. The PCC has a positive attitude and continues to pray for growth; however, the PCC’s time is predominantly spent on resolving problems rather than forward planning.

Prepared by St John’s PCC

Clergy Vacancy Update

As of the time of writing (12 April 2026), all the churches in the Eccleston Team are in vacancy following the departure of our Team Rector, Rev. Gareth Banton.

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The team – alongside St Mark’s Church, North Road – are currently seeking two clergy to come and serve these four parishes. We advertise the positions through various channels and the PCCs have agreed to work alongside CPAS, who will approach clergy who they feel may be suitable on our behalf.

At the time of writing, the positions are being advertised for a second time and the process is ongoing with a closing date of 26 April. If there are no applications, or if appointments are not made, the posts will continue to be advertised. An update will be given to the congregation as part of the APCM, though we are limited in what we can say until any appointments are formally publicised.

We appreciate the secrecy of the clergy recruitment procedure can be frustrating and people would like to know what is happening, but the closed recruitment procedure is to help clergy who are called to look for a new ministry to discern this with the confidence that their existing congregation will not find out and be discouraged. It also helps ensure our congregations are not repeatedly disappointed if clergy visit and apply, but are ultimately not appointed.

Mission Planning Review

Towards the end of 2025 and into the opening months of 2026, we have been working with the Diocese of Liverpool on their ‘Mission Planning Review’ project which offers each church the chance to review what it does well, what it could improve, and consider any new initiatives that could be launched. It is hoped that engaging with this programme will give us access to apply for grants to support new ministries to grow from St John’s, allocated from a pool of money provided by the Church of England and to be distributed by the Diocese of Liverpool.

To become eligible to apply for these grants, the PCC need to meet a number of requirements that are being worked towards. Thank you to those who have already given up their time to embark on this process, attending meetings based around our worship and our finances. These will continue into 2026, when a further workstream will be introduced to help us look at how to make best use of our buildings.

Safeguarding Report

Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults is part of our Christian duty and something we are committed to at St Johns. Safeguarding is a standard item on all of our PCC meeting agendas.

The safeguarding dashboard for St Johns is regularly updated and action plans shared with the PCC.

I am currently the Parish Safeguarding Officer working with the PCC to ensure our parish meets its legal duties and that there is healthy culture of safeguarding in our church.

I took over this post in Oct 2025 and since this time there have been no disclosures.

Since Oct 2025 we have done a lot of catching up on reviewing policies and updating with new names. We are also working towards the dashboard action plan to ensure we are meeting the standards set down by the Church of England. I have attended a number of courses to ensure my knowledge is up to date.

Sue Conroy, Parish Safeguarding Officer

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Church Activity Reports

Young at Heart – Monday, 1:00pm

The Young at Heart group continue to meet every Monday 1pm until 3pm. We have enjoyed a number of activities in 2025 including bingo, play your cards right, quizzes and beetle drives. We have also enjoyed some live entertainment and we took members out for an afternoon tea at the Eccleston Arms and a Christmas meal at the Glass Horse.

We have an average attendance of 18 with an average age of 80 years.

Members pay £1.00 per week which pays for refreshment and trips out, and we are also able to make a monthly contribution to church funds.

The weekly meetings are a way of some of the members to get out and meet other people which for some it’s the only time in the week they are able to do this.

A big thank you goes to the volunteers who make this group happen and work hard to make sure members have a great time when they are with us.

John, Val and Betty.

Bible Study – Tuesday, 10:30am

The Tuesday bible study meet every 2[nd] and 4[th] Tuesday of each month at 10.30am in the Memorial Hall at St John’s.

We have an average attendance of 9 people and we have discussed different books, topics, themes and stories from both the New and Old Testaments.

We have done studies on Acts, Luke, John, Isaiah and Nehemiah, among others.

The group also takes the opportunity to pray and worship together before and after each study.

There is something special about meeting together like this to study and learn more about God and His way and how best we can apply that to our every day lives.

John Ingham

Toddle-In – Wednesday, 9:30am

It’s wonderful to have seen so many families coming along to Toddle-In over the past year. It’s a joy for us to welcome parents, grandparents and child minders to the group each week. We are deeply grateful as a team and group for April’s faithful service to Toddle-In over the last few years. April built a strong Toddle-In Team and left us with a wonderful rolling curriculum.

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Each week the group enjoy learning about a different bible story through craft time and story time from the children’s bible. The children love singing time, an opportunity for them to each choose their favourite nursery rhyme via a picture from our special singing pencil case.

As a team we love building relationships with our families and inviting them to the events we do across the team. Many of our families came to the Crib Service at St Lukes at Christmas time.

Please continue to pray for us as a team as we serve Jesus in this wonderful ministry, that as we sow seeds that they would grow and many come to know Jesus.

Schools’ Ministry Team

Our SMT has been very busy throughout 2025 and into 2026 with schools visiting our team churches and our amazing volunteers preparing sessions to take place in our local schools.

We still continue to lead some wonderful assemblies, engage with RE lessons in class and prepare crafts, games and activities for the children to enjoy when they come to visit exploring themes such as trust, honesty, forgiveness and compassion. These moments create safe and meaningful spaces where the children can encounter faith and know that God is at the centre of it all.

We always receive wonderful feedback from all the schools to say how much the children love to visit our churches and how much fun they have in our sessions.

Our visits are growing and we are now reaching more schools than last year, which is just fantastic. When we look at our Calendar for the coming year, what stands out the most isn't just how full it is, but the story it tells of God walking faithfully with children at every stage of their school journey. From their first EYFS welcome visit or the year 6 Moving on session, we have the opportunity to remind them that they are known, loved and valued by God from the very start.

Through all of this our prayer remains simple. That we continue to sow seeds of love and trusting God with the growth. We are extremely privileged to have volunteers that give their time to support the SMT and are blessed with the many gifts and skills that each volunteer brings to the team. We thank them for their continued support and look forward to future events. We are always looking to grow our team so please reach out if you feel this is something you would like to be part of.

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The Parlsh ol St John the Evangellst, Rav¥nhead Flnanttlal Ststementsfr)itheYear Endlng31st DacÈmber 2025 Goneral Fund Aecelpts Payments Accourht UniestrlGled 2025 Deslgnatttd 2025 Restrlcted 2025 Total 2025 Total Recelpts 2024 Tax Efflclent Planned Glvlng Other Planned Glvlng Collections at Servlees 20128 20128 21859 3391 3391 3745 8149 8149 2022 All Other&4￿ng1v01UlltaryReeeiptS GIftAld Recovered 8957 2757 2757 3666 GASDS recovered 3116 3116 37541 37541 40049 921 1271 409 1680 24210 24210 29086 2997 2997 Ittlal Recelpts 66019 409 66428 70056 UThrestrlcted 202S Deslgnatod Rtstrleted 2025 2025 Total 2025 Total 2024 Payments Church Actlvltlos Mlsslon Glvingand Donatlons Parlsh Shere Salarie5, wages and henorarla ClerBY and Staff Expenses Church Running Expenses Church repairs and malntenance Church Bullding Insurance Church Utlllly Bllls C05tolTradlng 33499 1377 1922 5095 33499 1377 1922 5095 38475 2055 583 875 5864 2683 17150 2683 17150 2041 21827 1574 Subtotal 61726 61726 73433 Othei Payments Bank Interest Other 82 8072 Total Payment$ 69880 69880 73433

Excess of Recelpts over Payments .3452 -3452 -8377 A¢¢ountancyAdlustment Dellcll I Surplus afterAdlustmBni -3452 -3452 .3377 BankAccount as at lstlanuary 20257 16£Q3 BankAccount as at 31st De¢ember 16808 20257 StatementolAssÉts and Llabllltles a5 al 31st Decemb•r2025 MonetaryAssets General Unrestrlcted Deslgnate4J Restrlcted Total 2025 Total 2024 HSBC 16399 409 16808 20258 CCLA 5000 5000 5000 Subtotal 21399 409 21808 25258 Cash In Hand Total 21399 21808 25258 Notes: The Financlalstatements of the pcc have been prepared Iti aceordancewlth Ihe ¢Mur¢n accouqtlngregu&iiolls u51ngihe R+ P basls. Thef01￿ng£ss8ls ale re¢ognlsed but not necessarllyvalued In theSlat8mentola55ets and ￿abIlItIeS.. rnov0abLe Church rurnlshlngs hèld bythe Chui¢hWfjrden on speclBltru8tforthe PCC and whlch requlre afa¢ultytor dlsposal. Theexpensespaht to clergymay includea $m811 materlalpDrtlonwhlch r818ies to thelrfunctlon as PCC members. Noother paymentsmadeto PCC membeisforbelngon the PCC. Approved bythe PCC bycDrrespondance on.. and ￿gned on theli behalf by PaulHenry Chuichwarden K8ren Hayes TreasurerfoiStJohn* Ravenhead

Independent Examiner's unqualified report to the members of the P.C.C. of the church of St. John the Evangelist, Ravenhead in respect of their Accounts for the year ending 31 . December 2025 as set out on pages 12 and 13 of this ReporL R￿ptttive reyponsibilititt of the P.C.C. 2nd the ex*miBer. Th¢ P.C.C. members acting as the charity's truste¢s are responsible for the preparntion of the The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for the year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011(the Charities A¢t) and that an ind¢p¢ndent examination is needed. li is my r¢sp()nsibility to- examine the accounls under section 145 of the Charities A¢t to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under Section 145(5){b) of the Charities ACL and to stste whether parti¢ular matters have come to my attention. Basi8 of the Independettt Etsmintr'j stat¢menL My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission and ihe guidance published in PCC Accountability (The Charities 201 l and the P.C.C.), 5 edition). An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a wmparison of the accounts presented with records. It also includes ¢onsiderntion of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts. and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do rbot provide all the evidence that would be required for an audil and consequently no opinion is given as to whether ihe accounts p￿sent a'true and fair view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the slatement below. Independent examiner's statemenL In ¢onne¢tion with my examination, no material matter has come to my attention which gives me Cau￿ to believe that in, any material respeci: accounling records were not kept in accordance with sKtion 130 of the Charities ACL or the accounts do not accord to the ac¢ounling records. I have come across no Oth￿ rnatters in conneciion with the examination to which attention should be drdwn in order to enable a proper understanding of ihe accounts is reached. Signed. Name Jlo,, Date /oi JY/ii 6. Rev'd. A. A. Clements. Fellow Association of Charity Independent Examiners. Address 15 Carleton Road. Gr¢ai Knowley. Chorley PR6 8TQ ACIE PCC CC32 16