Registered Charity 1130812
Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Parochial Church Council
year ended 31 December 2024
Incumbent:
The Reverend Jody Stowell 74 Bishop Ken Road, Harrow Weald, Greater London HA3 7HR
St. Michael and All Angels’ Church, Harrow Weald 95 Bishop Ken Road, Harrow Weald, Greater London HA3 7HP
The Parish is part of the Willesden Episcopal Area of the Diocese of London
WELCOMING. GENUINE. INVOLVED. ATTENTIVE
Registered Charity 1130812
AIM AND PURPOSES
St Michael and All Angels’ Parochial Church Council, together with the Vicar seek to promote the whole mission of the Church; pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.
The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the Church and associated rooms.
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
The PCC is committed to encouraging and enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and to become part of our parish community at St Michael’s. The PCC maintains an overview of the life of the church within a particular geographical context and seeks to be an agent for the flourishing of that local community. Our worship services and community groups put faith into practice.
St Michael’s Church seeks to work with other churches in the area, and attends meetings of the Harrow Deanery Synod. Participation in these groups enables St Michael’s to fulfil our objectives.
When planning our activities for the year, the Vicar and the PCC have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community.
Activities that were carried out to achieve this are included in the reports that follow. To facilitate this work it is important that we maintain the fabric of St Michael’s Church buildings.
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VISION
St Michael’s vision is to demonstrate in our actions that God loves all people unconditionally. We aim to join with God in the building of God’s Kingdom.
We desire to be a church fully involved with our community, who tell the story of Jesus, offer compassion and kindness to all and who work to make the world a fairer place.
VALUES
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WELCOMING: in all that we do we desire to offer the wide welcome of God. We will seek to include everyone in the worship services we provide and the wider community activities we offer.
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GENUINE: we believe that God knows us fully and loves us unconditionally. We will help one another to live holy lives, but we will not pretend; especially when we struggle, we will offer each other support, love and forgiveness.
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INVOLVED: we believe that everyone has gifts and a purpose, and is made uniquely in God’s image. In the work of the church, we will seek to create opportunities for each person to use their gifts. As individuals we will aim to share in the work to be done.
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ATTENTIVE: God is at work everywhere, all the time. We try to be those who are watching for signs of God in our world and as a result join in the work that God is doing.
MISSION ACTION PLAN (MAP)
The MAP is a 5 year document which can change and evolve within that 5 years to keep up with where we are at, as a church. The Leadership Team have authority from the PCC to adapt the MAP each year, to represent what has happened, and new ways in which God is leading us. This ensures that the MAP serves us as a community listening to God, who sometimes doesn’t let us know God’s 5 year plan! The MAP can be found at the back of church or from the office.
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DIOCESESAN REPORT
The Diocese of London is the largest and most diverse in the Church of England. We have over 500 churches and 750 licensed clergy. We are able to have a church in almost every community, supporting the vision for every Londoner to encounter the love of God in Christ. In 2024, 50 new deacons were ordained and early draft statistics indicate that Average Weekly Attendance in London grew by 7.5% to over 60,000.
During 2024, we have continued working towards our priorities of becoming a younger, safer and more racially just Church. For example:
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19 London Youth Apprentices engaged 715 young people weekly and funding was granted to enable the launch of five youth ministers in Hackney and Islington.
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In a challenging year for safeguarding, referrals to the Diocesan Safeguarding Team increased substantially, indicating more trust and confidence in the safeguarding service. 789 people were given safeguarding leadership training, and 3,808 DBS checks were carried out.
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Churches across the Diocese engaged with Race Equality Week, Racial Justice Sunday, and Black History Month last year, reflecting on racial justice and committing to action.
The breadth of parishes and Bishop’s Mission Orders in London nurtured confident disciples, compassionate communities and creative growth in an amazing variety of ways. They also contributed over £23m in Common Fund, an increase of almost £1m. Alongside £13.2m income raised by the London Diocesan Fund (LDF) and £3.6m from LDF reserves, this paid to provide ministry and support parishes across the Diocese.
VICAR’S REPORT
To be added.
CHURCHWARDENS’ REPORT
Mary Deans
The churchwarden role covers a variety of activities. As nobody feels able to cover all these roles, we have established a team of people to cover the activities as follows:
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Mary Deans: Services, Clergy well-being, Leadership Team & Fabric.
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Simon Stanley: Services & Fabric.
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Robert May: Building Admin.
For legal purposes the churchwarden team is represented by Mary Deans and Simon Stanley.
CHURCH REPORTS
OUTREACH
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St Michael’s seeks to be a place of God’s love in the community, to which all are welcome. We take seriously the call to be those who are fully hospitable, and to also go out into the community with the message of that love. God’s mission is about being those who both ‘draw in’ and ‘send out.’ The reports below give a fantastic picture of the many events and opportunities that St Michael’s offers in order to be true to that call.
Community Events – Jody Stowell
With thanks to Anita and her team, who organised and hosted our quiz in March 2024. This brought a good number of people from our wider community together and was a fun evening enjoyed by all.
With thanks to Rosemary, we held our Christmas Cracker in November 2024. The event went well and it was lovely to see old and new friends from the community around us.
Rosemary says:
‘The end of November at St Michaels means Christmas Cracker and the beginning of our festive season. Our usual teas and cakes were served in the nave and was as popular as ever. It was a great space to meet with friends and chat whilst indulging in a cream tea. The team of helpers as always was amazing.
Apart from our own church run stalls of the tombola, raffle, knitted items and car game there were a few outside stalls. Traidcraft and general Christmas gifts and cards plus unusual gifts crafted from shells.
We raised just over £500 as well as having a really enjoyable afternoon.
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Jeff Edmunds organised and ran the Christmas Sing-Along which was joined by ‘Don’t Fret’ Guitar group and a Community Choir. It was great to have these community groups together.
Chair Based Exercise – Jody Stowell
Chair Based Exercise is continuing to thrive through 2024, although it does go through dips in attendance and we have recently done more advertising to give as much opportunity for our local community to benefit from this amazing ministry. It is more than the sum of its parts, and not only encourages keeping mobile or recovering from injury, but supports people in their mental health and offers community in an isolated society.
T in the Afternoon – Chris Joyce
T in the Afternoon continues to offer a welcome to everyone in the local community every Tuesday from 2:30 to 4pm. We offer tea, coffee, cake and biscuits and we have a range of board games available, and table tennis. It provides an opportunity for people to relax in an informal setting, to chat and make new friends.
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We follow on from the Chair Based Exercise Group and many of that group stay to join us. The number of people attending each week has increased in the last year, following a drop in numbers after Covid, and we now have an average of 30 people per session.
Together with Chair Based Exercise, we are registered as a Warm Hub on the Harrow Council list of Warm Hubs.
School Visits – Jody Stowell
In 2024, we have continued to welcome Belmont School for Christmas Unwrapped, and will look to welcome them back again for Easter Cracked in 2025.
Jody has also conducted a number of RE lessons at Belmont, in the Life and Death of Jesus and shared with ‘It’s Your Move’ lessons brought by Re:Gen for the Year 6s. We also welcomed Year 6 to a visit St Michael’s to learn about Prayer and ‘What I might find in Church?’. Jody also volunteered at the Prayer Space hosted by Re:Gen at Belmont in November 2024
Weald School also visited us for the Prayer and ‘What I might find in Church?’ visit in Oct 2024
It’s great to have such good links with 2 of our local schools, and it is always good to remember that even when these children are not those who attend on Sunday mornings, that we have the opportunity to bless, and be blessed by, them and their teachers regularly over the year.
English Class – Jane Price
The English class continues to meet every Wednesday morning during school Term time.
I am very grateful for the support most weeks of Thelma, a local retired teacher of EAL in the Borough of Harrow.
As is the nature of this group, people come and go or come and stay according to their English needs, housing provision, childcare and employment situations.
At the moment there are about 10 students meeting regularly. Some of these attend classes at the Kenton Learning centre in addition.
There are students from Afghanistan, Turkey, Iraq, Romania, Poland and Pakistan at the moment. There has been a movement back to Romania of some students and out of the area of others who have been faced with rent increases.
We have been enjoying the comfort of the Garden Room and kitchen, but realise this will change with the setting up of the children’s nursery. We anticipate meeting either in the church or in the small meeting room according to numbers.
We have recently benefitted from a donation from Holy Trinity Wealdstone, from their EAL study fund, as their class remains closed since lockdown.
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There have been the usual challenges arising from a very mixed ability class, but we still enjoy meeting together.
Food Bank – Mary Deans
During 2024 we continued collecting for Harrow Foodbank. Thanks to all who have given.
Two boxes are provided in the Church foyer: one for food and the other for toiletries.
Lists of what they would like to collect each month can be found on their web site: - - https://harrow.foodbank.org.uk/give help/donate food/
Small and regular size items are best – they can be given to both small and large families and are easier for people to carry home from the foodbank centre.
They also need shopping bags to help deliver produce.
Street Pastors – Quinton Stowell
Street Pastors continues its mission of ‘listening, caring and helping’ on the streets of Harrow. Harrow’s nightlife remains quiet, so we have decided to continue running three Friday patrols (10pm to 2am) and two Saturday patrols (2pm to 6pm) each month. Our team has expanded its numbers with four new recruits and two Street Pastors transferring from Ealing Street Pastors. Ealing made the sad decision to close their activities post Covid. We have continued to be active in our outreach to those who are homeless or sleeping rough. In 2024 alone we made 73 referrals on to our partner agencies. As we celebrate our 13th year and over 790 patrols we are hopefully being recognised as a long term partner fulfilling our mission of ‘listening, caring and helping’ our community in Harrow.
Firm Foundation – Quinton Stowell
The winter night shelter ran from January to March 2024 and we joined forces with the Harrow Street Pastors to make a catering team to provide meals for the shelter guests on five separate evenings. Our volunteer team comprised Anita, Emma, Jane P, Jeff, Justin, Nicky, Quinton and Robert P from St Mike’s along with Anne, Carol, Jill, Margaret D and Vivien from Harrow Street Pastors. This year we were using the kitchen facilities at Trinity URC, Hindes Road. It was a good experience of working together and providing a welcoming, safe environment for the shelter guests. This year we also provided additional volunteering support with the ‘male sleepover’ role where the volunteer sleeps on a camp bed in a separate room, just in case anything occurs, and the paid worker needs support. In 2024 the St Mike’s team did 28 of the 90 nights, with Justin and Robert P taking the lion’s share. Thanks to all our volunteers for your help.
Open Church – Jody Stowell
The Church is open for individual prayer every day, normally from about 9am-4pm.
We often have people who come regularly to pray and/or light a candle and the space is a blessing to many unseen visitors, or those who pass by. We often see people stop on the other side of the road
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and make a sign of the cross as they pray and pass the building. It is a reminder that we do not know the seeds of faith which are prompted simply by making the space obvious and available to our community.
In order to make sure that there is personal security for those who work alone in the church building, if there is a lone worker then the wooden doors into the narthex are locked and anyone desiring to pray can use the prayer space in the glass entrance. There are a number of prayer resources in this area, as well as comfortable seating.
Thanks to Jane Price, Simon Stanley and myself, for opening and closing the church and enabling this opportunity to our local community.
Harrow Deanery Synod – Robert May
The Deanery Synod met for three sessions during the year with a time of worship led by the hosts, who were invited to give a profile of their mission and ministries before the Synod prayed for them. Hosts also kindly provided refreshments. At each meeting reports were tabled or presented on the recent sessions by those elected to the Diocesan and General Synods.
The first meeting was held on 6 February at the London School of Theology in Northwood with the theme of “Engaging with our Communities”. Revd Julian Gadsby, Church Engagement Specialist of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity spoke on discipleship, making a difference where we are, and shared the 6 Ms of Discipleship. These are: Model a godly character, Make good work, Minister grace and love, Mould Culture, Mouthpiece for truth and justice, Messenger for the Gospel. He reminded us that we are called to love our neighbour. We are called to tell everyone about Jesus. We should live our lives authentically for Jesus. We need to treat people we meet as people not projects. Noah Kelly of St Alban’s North Harrow spoke about the Willesden Area Ministry Experience Scheme.
The second meeting was held on 13 June at All Saints Harrow Weald. The meeting started in the Forest School which is located to the north of the church. Synod opened with a minute’s silence in memory of John Dolling, Lay Chair of the Synod for many years, who had died. Revd John Barker gave a brief profile of the church. He said that there were four parts of the church and its worship:- the Forest School, the Pre-School, the Church Hall, and the Parish. Revd Dave Bookless, Head of Theology of A Rocha International, spoke about the ECO-Church programme in England and Wales which was started by A Rocha 8 years ago and 7,000 churches are already enrolled in it. There are five areas in the ECO-Church Survey and to gain the awards parishes need to show that they have made progress in all five. These are Worship and Teaching; Management of Church Buildings; Management of Church Land; Community and Global Engagement; and Lifestyles. Tom Johnson, Treasurer of St Alban’s North Harrow, spoke about the project that they had recently undergone to install Solar Panels on the Hall roof for electricity generation. Clive Scowen had been elected as Lay Chair, David Green as Treasurer, Sarah Archer and Jon Lindsay-Scott as Clergy Representatives on the Standing Committee, Robert May, Toby Partridge and Judith Shepherd as Lay Representatives on the Standing Committee, and Mike Still as the third Deanery representative on Harrow Standing Advisory Committee for Religious Education. Matthew Szurgot, the Head of School at Holy Trinity Northwood Church of England School was co-opted to Synod. The Deanery Accounts for 2023 were approved.
The third meeting was held on 23 November at St Jerome’s Bilingual Church of England School in Harrow on the theme “Growing Younger: Improving our Provision for Children and Youth in our
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parishes”. Synod members had been asked to submit questions for a panel of practitioners consisting of Sarah Agnew, Children and Families Ministry Advisor for the Diocese; Carol Sormaz, Children Families and Community Worker Christ Church Roxeth; Andy Carson, Youth Worker Christ Church Roxeth and Harley Lloyd-Fix, Re:Generation Harrow Schools Worker. A summary of the Questions and Answers was included in the minutes of the meeting for parishes.
Magazine – Justin McAllister
The magazines we produced in 2024 were about faith in God’s power and focused on general faith and wellbeing as the year went through.
[in 2024, Justin put together 2 magazines – Spring and Autumn – you can email him with any articles or comments on justinperfect39@gmail.com]
Fair Trade – Jane Price
Jane Wedrake has continued to support us by bringing a table or two of crafts, cards, gifts and catalogues in March and November .
The March visit was at Tea in the Afternoon and later she ran a successful stall at The Christmas Bazaar. With the end of Traidcraft, Crafts from the Leprosy Mission have proved quite popular.
GATHERED WORSHIP
Another aspect of our life at St Michael’s is to make sure that we meet together to seek God and worship God. This happens in a number of ways which are appropriate for different ages and styles. Our reports below give an exciting view of the different aspects of worship people encounter on visiting and being part of St Michael’s.
We also Live-Stream our services.
Services and Preaching – Jody Stowell
We have continued to have multigeneration services for our 10am Sunday Services and the monthly format is the following:
1[st] Sunday 8.30: Holy Communion 1[st] Sunday 10am: Multigenerational Service of the Word - Circle
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2[nd] Sunday 10am: Multigenerational Holy Communion – Front-facing
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3[rd] Sunday 10am: Multigenerational Holy Communion – Circle
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4[th] Sunday 10am: Multigenerational Holy Communion – Front-Facing
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[5[th] Sundays following the front facing format]
We make sure that there are interactive activities available at all services, but in particular in the circle format we have interactive prayer. The sermons are generally limited to 10 minutes in order to recognise our whole community’s needs. We need to make sure that we are committed to there
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being true intergenerational engagement in every service, whether circle format or front-facing format.
During the pandemic, we have not set up smaller children’s area in the worship space on Sunday mornings, we have looked to do this more in recent weeks in early 2025.
One Sunday a month we have set prayers which are read by a volunteer on the day, and one Sunday a month a member is asked to prepare prayers – this is done in hope that people will gain confidence to prepare prayers if they give it a go with the set prayers. We also ask people to volunteer to read the bible readings on the day – people can look in advance on the notices, to practice the bible reading in advance, if they would like to volunteer to read on the day, but would like to practice. This is all to try to encourage as high participation in the service as possible. Anyone might take on a ‘role’ during the service!
The preaching program consists of lectionary readings as the predominant readings that we use, with normally 2/3 themed sermon series during the year. These series normally consist of one thematic series and one studying a particular book of the bible.
We have studied the following so far:
| May 2014 | Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer | Oct 2017 | Bible: Genesis |
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| July 2014 | Bible: 2 Corinthians | Sept 2018 | God’s Great Welcome |
| Sept 2014 | Being Disciples | Jan 2019 | Bible: James |
| Dec 2014 | Bible: John | May 2019 | Growing in Faith |
| Jan 2015 | Sit, Walk, Run | July 2019 | Bible: 1 Samuel |
| May 2015 | Bible: Esther | Sept 2019 | Bible: Exodus |
| Sept 2015 | Giving | Oct 2019 | Confidence in Faith |
| Jan 2016 | Bible: Revelation | Feb 2020 | Bible: Luke |
| Feb 2016 | Vision and Values | [May 2020 | _God’s Justice]_COVID |
| Apr 2016 | Bible: Philippians | Jan 2022 | Bible: Matthew |
| July 2016 | Christianity is Irrelevant | July 2022 | Bible: 1 Corinthians |
| Sept 2016 | Mind, Body, Spirit | Oct 2022 | God at Work – Testimonies |
| Dec 2016 | Bible: Isaiah | June 2023 | Simply Faith – Christian basics |
| Feb 2017 | Bible: Mark | series | |
| July 2017 | Being a Christian | Jan 2024 | Ruth |
| May-June 2024 Simply Disciples |
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| Christian basics series |
Sunday Service Attendances – Robert May
Average attendance at Multigenerational Holy Communion was 26 (over 16 = 25, Under 16 = 1)
Average number of communicants was 25 (over 16 = 24, under 16 = 1)
Average attendance at Multigenerational non-Eucharistic Services was 24 (over 16 = 23, under 16 = 1).
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Singers and Musicians – Robert May
The singers and musicians have continued to lead our shared worship on Sundays. Four members of the congregation have led the singing on Sunday mornings. A number of new songs have been introduced during the year.
Prayer – Jody Stowell
We continue to enjoy our outside space as a creative opportunity for offering a place of prayer. During Advent and Christmas, we have Nativity and Ephiphany scenes to encourage a place of reflection and prayer during that season.
For Lent and Easter, we have an Easter Garden Tomb, Stations of the Cross and a Christmas Tree Cross available for reflection.
We continue to offer the entrance foyer as a prayer space. People have the opportunity to use a prayer station, which gets refreshed twice a month, to pray using the prayer tree, take a knitted prayer cross, use the Holy Water stoup, finger labyrinth and light a candle. We also have prayer cards for people to take which offer prayers for different circumstances.
We have continued to meet twice a month for prayer, on Saturdays 11am-12pm. We normally have about 7 people meet to pray. This consists of the opportunity to engage with individual prayer, the church is available for this, or the chapel, and there are usually 2 prayer stations set up as a resource. We then come together in the group and we discuss what God has been saying to us in our prayer time – this is written on the flip chart for everyone to be able to see and engage with, and also copied into our book for this purpose, and so that we can look back and see what God has been saying over time. We then pray together in the group. There’s something for everyone, no matter how you pray!
Flower Displays – Jane Price
The flower arranging Team is down to Pam and myself now and we have enjoyed arranging flowers throughout this year, (with the exception of Advent and Lent). It would be nice to have a bigger team, especially if one or other of us is away. [do get in contact with either Jane or Pam if you would like to join the team]
We are now taking on the Eco challenge of abandoning the use of Oasis, a floral foam used for many years for supporting flowers in bowls. Also encouraging donations of flowers from gardens.
We are experimenting with using chicken wire and jars instead. This has been an adventure, but we are getting there! Supporting the small flower arrangements with Hebe from the church garden is quite easy and attractive when the service is in the round.
[Jane, Cliff and Pam also provide the Easter Garden Tomb, and creative ways of offering this ministry which does not overwhelm their capacity – if anyone would like to join this team and join this way of worshipping God, please speak to Jane.]
Toddlers – Jody Stowell
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It has been such a delight to return to offering a toddler group as a blessing to our community. We stopped our decades-old toddler group during the pandemic and sought to ask the Lord whether it was the right thing to do to restart. It is important not to fall back into something that might now not be what God is asking of us. However there were a number of indications that God was leading us back into this and we started in September 2023, the numbers have been varied and although it was good to have a nice handful of toddlers, in April 2024 we were seriously depleted as a number of those children went to pre-school. We had a meeting to decide whether this was something that the Lord was calling us to do and decided we would give it one more term with concerted effort in advertising. It seems that this is something that the community needs and we’ve seen a number of new members over the Autumn Term 2024. As of early 2025 our average attendance is 13, with 28 on our books.
FELLOWSHIP
Friendship and meeting together to strengthen our relationships and to encourage each other in our discipleship is an important part of our life together at St Michael’s. Through relationship we are more open to God’s love and to offering that love to others. Members of the congregation are encouraged to share time together after the Sunday morning services and there is always a pot of coffee brewing and ready for any who come to the church at different times throughout the week. There are several groups who meet during the week, and the reports below give you an idea of the variety available for you to get involved with.
Fellowship Group – Robert May
We meet fortnightly on Tuesday evenings from 7.30 p.m. The number attending has varied from 6 to 3 with an average of 4. We used the Waverley Abbey Trust book by Selwyn Hughes “The Second Coming – Living in the Light of Jesus’ Return” for seven sessions during the first part of the year. We then looked at Creation based on Psalm 24 and then studied Psalm 130 .
After the summer break we studied “The Fruit of The Spirit”, a Scripture Union Lifebuilder Study guide by Hazel Offner with nine sessions. The final evening of the year was combined with a social evening. We continued to use this Study Guide during early 2025.
Anyone in the congregation who feels that this time of midweek fellowship, bible study and prayer would be helpful to them, is welcome to join us. There is a poster on the church notice board with the dates, venue, and subjects for our meetings.
Courses – Jody Stowell
During 2024, we took a break from offering specific courses. In the Autumn the congregation was encouraged to read the Gospel of Mark as individuals with the option of an evening of group discussion in January 2025.
Friday Knitting Club – Jane Price
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Knitting club remains a much humbler affair these days. Three of us meet in my house for a knit and natter every few weeks and we have managed to produce some crafts and small garments for the Bazaar.
Jan Bevan traditionally supported the stall with scarves, leg warmers etc. made at home. After some illness last year, she has recovered and can now knit again.
Pastoral Care Team – Sandra May
The pastoral team were available for members of the congregation to share confidentially any concerns they may have.
We met regularly to share and pray together.
Our contact details are on the monthly notices.
Prayer Requests – Reverend Pam Wright
[In February 2017 Pam began this ministry to pray for people by phone or email. It covers prayer needs for the person making the request or for their loved ones, friends, neighbours or colleagues.]
It has been a privilege to pray with people as part of my ministry as a Priest. As a church we believe in the power of prayer and, we believe that God answers prayer but there has been a steady decline in requests since Covid.
We are a smaller congregation now but there is still need.
[Details of how to access this service appear on the back of the notice sheet]
FINANCE AND BUILDINGS
Money and ‘stuff’ are spoken about by Jesus often. This is because he knows that people can get caught up in accumulating wealth and this has an effect on our soul! At St Michael’s we are seeking to be those who look after the things we have (buildings and money) well, but who are generous and open handed and hearted in the managing of those things. The ‘stuff’ that we have must be used in the service of the mission that God has given us, as a community of God’s people in Harrow Weald.
Below are reports which give an idea as to how God has been using our ‘stuff’ in 2024.
Finance Report – Rosemary Mackenzie
The accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis, meaning we only account for monies coming in and being paid out during the year. No accruals are made.
Our total income for 2024 was over £13k less than that received in 2023. Our stewardship income is still declining mostly due to parishioners moving away or unfortunately dying. Our donations which by definition are totally unpredictable were also less than half received in 2023. A consequence of this means that the tax recovered on gift aid is also reduced.
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Interest received from our deposit at the Central board of Finance has nearly doubled due to the current high interest rates.
The Chair based exercise class is now funding itself and the contributions towards these classes is now shown in the income section. The costs of the trainer are included in the outreach expense. Our heating costs are greatly increased but this is to be expected with the general increase in prices for gas and electricity.
We increased our common fund payment slightly from 2023 to £46200. This is still about half of the Diocesan costs needed to run our parish. We will be subsidised by other larger parishes that can afford to contribute much more than the basic costs.
Our expenditure exceeded our income by £10,577 but we had a surplus brought forward from 2023 of £11289 so deducting the deficit of 2023 means we carry forward a total surplus of £712.
The budget for 2025 is showing a loss of £4200. After deducting the surplus brought forward as at 31 December 2024 of £712 we are looking at a deficit to carry forward of £3488. The deficit will start reducing our general reserve so whilst we still have sufficient reserves at present we cannot afford to be complacent.
Our rental income for 2025 is anticipated to be much higher due to a nursery starting to use our church facilities.
Thank you everyone for all your support financial and otherwise.
Fabric Report – Mary Deans
Fabric work is the responsibility of the PCC with Mary Deans facilitating. Works undertaken during 2024 were as follows.
Heating: The wiring to the 2 Vulcana heaters in the church was modified to provide a supply which continues to power the fans in the Vulcanas when the heating is turned off. It is hoped that this will prolong the life of the heaters. To minimise wiring the controls were moved to be adjacent to the Vulcanas in the Nave.
Wykeham Room:
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The flooring adjacent to the kitchen was found to be rotting, so this was inspected, and the parquet flooring underneath was found to be damp and rotten. This was dug out and replaced with a proper screed and replacement flooring left over from the building works.
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High up in the wall, in the corner adjacent to the kitchen the plaster was very damp and crumbly. Some fell off. So, the loose plaster was knocked off, and roofers called out. They replaced the flashing around the old boiler chimney and put a chimney pot on top of the chimney for ventilation.
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A plasterer repaired the damaged plaster. However, the plaster has not completely dried out, so it is suspected there is still a leak, and further work may be required.
Roofs: The flat roof on the south side of the building was showing signs of wear as it catches the full sun, and so white solar system was applied, the stained-glass window on that side was re-sealed and necessary repairs to the copper roof were made.
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Various minor maintenance tasks have been ongoing throughout the year: painting the Nave fire door, repairing and repainting the windowsill of the window by the fire door, repairs to fences, shed doors, splash back in kitchen, external brick wall repairs, etc.
A pre-school is planned which will use the Wykeham Room and Garden Room. For this some works were required which were started in 2024 and completed in 2025: bolts on doors, screening round artificial grass area and screening on doors/windows.
Maintenance / inspections of boilers, gutters, lightning conductor, etc., have happened as normal. Work mornings on the 1[st] Saturday of each month organised by Simon / Mary continued together with some ad hoc gardening sessions organised by John Slaughter. Thanks to all who come!
Broadlawns apartment and garage: Quinton Stowell continues to manage these on behalf of the church. No significant work required in 2024.
Church Letting – Sara Devane
The antenatal first aid course continued to rent our Garden Room regularly throughout the year.
Harrow Council rented our nave space twice, once for the GLA Elections and once for the parliamentary Election.
We had a dance class rent the Garden Room on a Saturday morning for 8 weeks in the summer, but due to low numbers they didn’t continue.
Rethink Mental Illness on behalf of ‘Don’t Fret Music Groups’ paid for a 6-month rent of our Garden Room on a Sunday afternoon from August through to January 2025, which we are hoping will continue.
A Charity ‘Afghan Association Paiwand’ rented the Wykeham Room for a 10-week martial arts course in September.
The Metros running group started renting the Wykeham Room on a Monday evening in mid-October, they will continue to rent from us through the colder months.
We have also had 4 parties and 1 meeting.
The income we received from lettings in 2024 was £6447.00 compared to £4034, in 2023.
Franklin House, Broadlawns Court – Quinton Stowell
The tenancy at Franklin House has continued with minimal issues. Following the rent increase in June 2023 the PCC reviewed this in December 2024 and decided to maintain it at this level. The current tenants are happy to remain there long term. I have reviewed our current periodic management; gas checks, electrical checks, insurance, energy performance certificate, ground rent, lease service charge, property inspection and residency permits. All are currently up to date, and I have an
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overview document to check for renewal dates. The fridge freezer failed recently (Feb 2025), so needed replacement. This gave me the opportunity to visit the property and see that it is generally being kept in good order. The latest Gas Safety check highlighted that the boiler is showing signs of deterioration, so this may be something requiring attention next year.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules 2020. The membership of the PCC consists of the Incumbent (our vicar), the churchwardens, and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All those who attend our services as members of the congregation are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and to stand for election to the PCC.
The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding how the funds of the PCC are to be spent.
Electoral Roll – Sara Devane
Electoral Roll March 2025: 43
Deletions: 21 (17 no longer worship, 2 moved out of area, 1 death, 1 continues to worship with us) Additions: 2
Committees
During 2024, the following committees and teams have operated
Leadership Team (Standing Committee) Pastoral Care Team
The Leadership Team, which is also the Standing Committee of the PCC, has met as required to discuss issues of importance to the wellbeing of the church. Minutes of these meetings are circulated to the PCC.
Fabric and Finance is better handled within the PCC itself.
The Pastoral Care Team coordinates the pastoral care for St Michael’s. The Pastoral Care Co-ordinator ensures that the Vicar is kept up-to-date with pastoral care needs.
Parochial Church Council Report – Mary Deans, PCC Secretary
The PCC held 5 meetings during the last year. Our meetings are now a hybrid of in-person and zoom.
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At our first meeting in January, we discussed finances and spent most of the meeting together doing the safeguarding Domestic abuse training.
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At our meeting in March, we reviewed finances for the APCM and the annual report.
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At our second March meeting we appointed people to various roles.
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At our June meeting, we discussed finances and affirming same sex relationships by providing
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Registered Charity 1130812
-
Prayers of Love and Faith which can be used during intercessions in a normal worship.
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At our November meeting, the PCC agreed that St Michael's will be a church that offers the Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF) to same-sex couples, in stand-alone services, using the authorised liturgy. We also discussed arrangements for Christmas, Parish Giving Scheme and plans for the pre-school group, finance, and safeguarding.
We continued to hold regular bi-monthly Saturday morning prayer meetings.
Throughout the year we were updated with our financial situation, and we are very grateful for continued stewardship and donations.
PCC Membership – Mary Deans
The PCC members who served from 1 January 2024 until the date this report was approved are (# indicates members of Leadership Team = Standing Committee):
Ex Officio members
Incumbent: Reverend Jody Stowell, Chair # Church Wardens: Mary Deans, Vice Chair, (Secretary) # Simon Stanley Deanery Synod: Robert May (and Church Warden Team)
Elected Members
Denis Barker (Treasurer) # Joan Paice (until March 2024) Jane Price Jeffery Edmunds Anita Jarvis Elizabeth Stewart #
Co-opted Members
Rosemary Mackenzie (Treasurer)
Pastoral Assistants and Commissioned Ministers
In 2024 our Pastoral Assistants were
Jeffery Edmunds Sandra May Joan Paice (until March 2024) John Slaughter
They work together as our Pastoral Care Team.
Safeguarding Compliance and Report – Jody Stowell
At St Michael’s we aim to create an environment which is welcoming, respectful and enables safeguarding concerns to be raised and responded to openly and consistently.
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In order to achieve this:
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we seek to have a named Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) to work with the Vicar and PCC in establishing and maintaining procedures and practices in accordance with the legislation.
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Provision of up to date Parish Safeguarding Policy and handbook
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Trained relevant church members to CO and C1 level and Leadership Level
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Safer recruitment practices
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Information on Safeguarding displayed within various sections of the church with contact details
Mary Deans and Jody Stowell have been holding the Parish Safeguarding Officer role in the absence of someone to take on this role. This is not ideal and if you would like to look at offering this ministry to St Michael’s, please do be in touch with us.
Our Parish Safeguarding Dashboard is updated by Jody and we look to review safeguarding at every PCC. The Dashboard prompts when training or DBS is out of date.
Sara Devane is our DBS checker and calls people to update their DBS when necessary.
Administrative Information
St Michael’s Church is situated in Bishop Ken Road, Harrow Weald. The Parish is part of the Willesden Episcopal Area within the Diocese of London. The correspondence address is: The Parish Office, St Michael’s Church, 95 Bishop Ken Road, Harrow Weald, Greater London, HA3 7HP.
The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2020) and is a charity registered with the Charity Commission, Registered Charity 1130812.
Advisers
Bankers: Charities Aid Foundation Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4TA Architect: Charles Sheppard of Sheppard Architects Independent Examiner: Usha Cherian, 477 High Road, Harrow Weald, Harrow, Middx. HA3 6HL
The Annual Report and Financial Statements were approved by the Parochial Church Council on 25/3/2025 and signed on its behalf by:
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___ _______ Revd J Stowell, Chair DAJ Barker, Hon. Treasurer
Financial Statements: year ended 31 December 2024, attached below
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St Michael and All Angels Church
End of Year Financial Statements
Year ending 31 December 2024
From 01 January 2024 01 January 2023 To 31 December 2024 01 January 2023
General - General fund (Unrestricted) Fund
| Income and endowments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Donations and legacies | ||
| Stewardship | £39,456 | £43,220 |
| Open plate collections | £319 | £444 |
| Donations | £6,238 | £16,400 |
| Tax recoverable on Gift Aid | £11,079 | £16,503 |
| Legacies | £1,000 | - |
| Non-recurring one-off grants | £- | £2,000 |
| Total Donations and legacies | £58,092 | £78,566 |
| Income from charitable activities | ||
| T in the Afternoon Donations | £745 | £796 |
| Fund raising events, | £1,029 | £1149 |
| Fees for weddings and funerals | £448 | £701 |
| Chair based exercise | £,2,459 | - |
| Toddlers | £460 | £121 |
| Total Income from charitable activities | £5,141 | £2,766 |
| Investments | ||
| Bank and building society interest | £2,337 | £1,394 |
| Rent from Broadlawns | £17,455 | £16,350 |
| Total Investments | £19,792 | £17,744 |
| Other income | ||
| Church rental income | £6,448 | £4,034 |
| Total Other income | £6,448 | £4,034 |
| Total income and endowments | £89,473 | £103,111 |
| Expenditure | ||
| Expenditure on charitable activities | ||
| Mission Giving | £4,800 | £4,800 |
| Common Fund | £46,200 | £44,000 |
| Salary of parish administrator | £12,356 | £11,953 |
| Working expenses of incumbent | £423 | £385 |
| Vicarage water | £226 | £315 |
| Church - insurance | £3,275 | £3,184 |
| Church office - telephone | £481 | £502 |
| Cleaning | £6,912 | £5,739 |
| Worship and resources for services | £1,729 | |
| £2,068 | ||
| Outreach -youth, parties, coffee, food e | £2,835 | £801 |
| Administration | £1,870 | £2,621 |
| Visiting speakers / locums | - | £156 |
| Church Light, Heat & Water | £7,996 | £4,627 |
| Church general maintenance and repairs | £8,860 | £12,771 |
| Broadlawns Upkeep expenses | £2,087 | £2,251 |
| Total Expenditure on charitable activities | £100,048 | £96,170 |
| Total expenditure | £100,048 | £96,170 |
| Excess of Income and endowments over Expenditure | (£10577) | £6,941 |
| Brought forward balance | £11,289 | £4,348 |
| Total carried forward balance | £712 | £11,289 |
From 01 January 2024 01 January 2023 To 31 December 2024 01 January 2023
From 01 January 2024 01 January 2023 To 31 December 2024 01 January 2023
General reserve (Designated) Fund
| Brought forward balance | £30,177 | £30,177 |
|---|---|---|
| Total carried forward balance | £30,177 | £30,177 |
| Repairs (Designated) Fund | ||
| Brought forward balance | £10,228 | £10,228 |
| Total carried forward balance | £10,228 | £10,228 |
| - Re-development Fund (Restricted) Fund | ||
| Brought forward balance | £9,758 | £9,758 |
| Total carried forward balance | £9,758 | £9,758 |
| - Improvement Fund (Restricted) Fund | ||
| Brought forward balance | £4,233 | £2,030 |
| Transfers to/(from) | £2,203 | |
| Total carried forward balance | £4,233 | £4,233 |
| - Grant (Designated) Fund | ||
| Income and endowments | ||
| Donations and legacies | ||
| Non-recurring one-off grants | £1,000 | |
| Brought forward balance | £1,000 | — |
| Total carried forward balance | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| - Altar (Endowment) Fund | ||
| Brought forward balance | -_ | £2,203 |
| Transfers to/(from) | (£2,203) | |
| Total carried forward balance | - | — |
| - Property (Designated) Fund | ||
| Brought forward balance | £258,141 | £258,141 |
| Total carried forward balance | £258,141 | £258,141 |
From 01 January 2024 01 January 2023 To 31 December 2024 01 January 2023
Balance Sheet (Church of England)
As at 31 December 2024
| Fixed assets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tangible assets | £258,141 | £258,141 |
| £258,141 | £258,141 | |
| Current assets | ||
| Cash at bank and in hand | £56,108 | £66,685 |
| £56,108 | £66,685 | |
| Net current assets less current liabilities | £56,108 | £66,685 |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £314,249 | £324,826 |
| Total net assets less liabilities | £314,249 | £324,826 |
| Represented by: | ||
| Unrestricted | ||
| Unrestricted - General fund | £712 | £11,289 |
| Designated | ||
| Designated - Grant | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| Designated - General reserve | £30,177 | £30,177 |
| Designated - Repairs | £10,228 | £10,228 |
| Designated - Property | £258,141 | £258,141 |
| Restricted | ||
| Restricted - Re-development Fund | £9,758 | £9,758 |
| Restricted - Improvement Fund | £4,233 | £4,233 |
| Funds of the church | £314,249 | £324,826 |
REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT EXAMINER TO THE P.C.C. OF ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS CHURCH, HARROW WEALD
This report on the financial statements of the PCC for the year ended 31 December 2024, which are set out in this Annual Report and Financial Statements, is in respect of an examination carried out in accordance with section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act").
Respectve responsibilites of the PCC and the examiner
As members of the PCC you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011. It is my responsibility to issue this report on those financial statements in accordance with the terms of the Regulations.
Basis of this report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. That examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the PCC and a comparison of the accounts with those records. It also includes considering any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
Independent examiner's statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Act; and to prepare financial statements, which accord with the accounting records and comply with the requirements of the Act and Regulations have not been met; or
(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Usha Cherian 477 high Road Harrow Weald HA3 6HL
Dated: 15 March 2025
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