2020-12-31-accounts

St. Cuthbert’s Church, Rye Park

Aims and purpose

St. Cuthbert’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, the Revd. Nick Sharp, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the Church Building, Hall and Youth Centre, Whitley Road, Rye Park, Hoddesdon.

Objectives and Activities

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and to become part of our parish community at St. Cuthbert’s. The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish and makes suggestions on how our services can involve the many groups that live within our parish. To assist with this, we have a Worship Planning Team who together with the Vicar, meet regularly to discern our worship service patterns and content, reporting back to the PCC for discussion and decisions. In particular we try to enable people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through:

• Worship and prayer; getting to know God, responding in worship and prayer and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

• Provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish.

• Missionary and outreach work

This year has been a difficult one for us all, with the church and hall closed between March and beginning of September. All activities in person were therefore cancelled. Ways of keeping in touch with each other were found, through a small number of people being given a list of people to contact by either sharing Daily Prayer together, with an order of service produced by our Vicar, or just chatting by telephone or other means to check on their wellbeing. Daily Prayer also began online each evening. Sunday Worship began online at 10.45am via Facebook, with Zoom Coffee following. For those unable to access the internet, a telephone number was set up which enabled people to hear the bible reading for each Sunday along with the sermon for that day. PCC Meetings were firstly held as telephone conference calls, and later transferred to Zoom Meetings online, with some business being transacted by correspondence.

Worship began in church again on 6 September when we were able to hold our Sunday 9 am Communion Service of Holy Communion with bread only and a small choir was able to sing a hymn, but the congregations were not able to sing. Our Thursday 9.30am Holy Communion

Service also started again. For both Services a booking system was put in place to ensure we could social distance. After the second lockdown in November for one month, we were able to return to church and were able to hold a small Carol Service in Church, and a Christmas Eve morning Communion Service and Christmas Day Communion

Annual Report for 2020

Service. Sadly, the Christingle Service, and Family Carols and Big Tea, and the Midnight Service on Christmas Eve were cancelled.

Our Vicar, Reader and Churchwardens attended a “Leading your Church into Growth Conference”, which was reported back to the PCC, but we have been unable to progress this further at present.

The PCC looked at the “Engaging well matrix”, a way to gather feedback about the new things the Covid lockdown has required us to do, and the things we had to stop doing.

We also looked at things we would want to leave behind and the things we might want to keep doing after restrictions are lifted. We have lost the children’s work on Sundays.

Our work with children and young people this year was badly affected, although ‘Soul’ Youth Group were able to meet online, thanks to Stephen Brent, with 6 or7 joining in. Dots and Tots Toddler Group for toddlers and their parents/carers stopped in March as did the weekly Tots Church.

Messy Church has been able to continue monthly thanks to Sarah Brent and our Vicar Nick Sharp providing activity bags which were collected from church by the families, followed by a pre-recorded video on Facebook using the resources provided. Between 20 and 25 took part in this.

All new volunteers for positions in church now have to complete an application form, accompanied by giving two references. Lone workers were reminded to take reasonable precautions to keep themselves safe. PCC Members were asked to complete an Eligibility to serve as a Trustee form, complete Safeguarding Training still outstanding and have an in-date DBS check.

The PCC undertook the annual review of the policy regarding reporting of Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission, for both Safeguarding and Non-Safeguarding Incidents. Safeguarding continues to be a priority and we have adopted the C of E, House of Bishops, Promoting a Safer Church Safeguarding Policy for children, young people and vulnerable adults. Anne Dunning continues as our Safeguarding Officer.

We have a good relationship with our local schools, Rye Park Nursery School and Forres School and Cranbourne School. As we were unable to hold our Christngle Service this year, Forres pupils were invited to make pictures of a Chistingle Orange, which were strung together and placed across the front of church, and some placed inside church. Our Vicar, Revd. Nick Sharp also took Assemblies at Forres when open, and took RE Lessons at Cranbourne School sometimes on-line.

We were unable to hold Hoddesdon Loves Christmas this year, but the Pop-up Carols in a local park, open to the community was able to go ahead.

To facilitate the work of the church it is important that we maintain the fabric of the Church of St. Cuthbert, the Church Hall and Youth Centre.

Achievements and performance

Worship and Prayer

The PCC is keen to offer a range of Services and Home Groups during the week. Our normal pattern includes a Thursday morning Holy Communion Service, a Youth Group called ‘Soul’, and 5 Home Groups. Our Sunday worship consists of a Traditional Style Holy Communion Service at 9.00am plus a Service at 10.45am led by a Worship Group, alternating between Communion and Word Services. The second Sunday 10.45am Service is now an AllEngage Family Service. A number of Joint Services are held during the year, including Easter Day. Prayer Ministry is available at each Service. On Easter Day we usually hold a Sunrise Service, followed by a cooked Breakfast, to which people from other churches also attend. Sadly, Easter Celebrations were unable to take place in church, but an on-line Service was held. We also have a dedicated Prayer Team, who meet weekly for prayer, where others are welcome to join.

During Lent we held a Lent course based on “Saying Yes to Life” by Ruth Valerio which was hosted by three different churches

For the period between Ascension and Pentecost people were encouraged to take part in “Thy Kingdom Come” initiative to pray for five people to come to know the Lord.

Baptisms usually take place at the 10.45am Service or later on a Sunday.

All are welcome to attend our regular Services. At present there are 99 people on the Church Electoral Roll, 30 of whom are not resident in the parish. 5 names were added during the year, and 4 were removed, who had died. The average weekly attendance, counted during October, was 79 Adults and 0 Children, which

includes 45 participating on-line. We also had 20-25 attending Messy Church on-line. At Easter we had approx. 45 people attending on-line, and 30 attended the Carol Service. On Christmas Eve/Day 50 people attended.

As well as our regular services, we enable our community to celebrate and thank God at the milestones of the journey

through life. Through Baptisms we thank God for the gift of life, in marriage public vows are exchanged with God’s blessing and through Funeral Services friends and family express their grief and give thanks for the life which is now complete in this world and to commend the person into God’s keeping. We have celebrated 1 Baptism, 0 Wedding and held 1 Funeral in our church this year, as well as 17 Funerals at Cemeteries/Crematoriums.

Our monthly Prayer Diary with prayers for each day for our church, community, and mission further afield has continued. This has been well received by the church.

Deanery Synod

Two members of the PCC sit on the Deanery Synod. This provides the PCC with an important link between the parish and the wider structure of the church. At their meeting reports were received from each parish in the Deanery on their ministry, activities and outreach, as well as building maintenance problems. Six out of eight parishes have applied for a Deanery Hub Grant to help fund Messy Church, and a school based Alpha course. Reports are also received from Diocesan Synod.

The Church, Hall and Youth Centre

We want our church to be open more for private prayer, and this normally happens on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We are in a residential area which gives us some opportunities to engage with people who pass by.

The Church building is in reasonable repair, although serious problems with the church roof and brickwork have been identified. Discussions are ongoing, including gaining advice from the Diocese, due to the inaccessibility of the area concerned. We are still fundraising for this project which may cost around £70,000. The work needed on the church heating, i.e. Replacement of flues was completed before Christmas and we were able to have one boiler working, so had some heating for the first time since Autumn 2019. The second boiler needed further work and is now fully operational. The cover to the entrance of the boiler room has also been replaced. It was hoped that we would have a Shower and Disabled Toilet facility funded by

B3living, mainly for use by guests to the Winter Night Shelter, but this has not come to fruition.

Inspections were undertaken on the Church and Hall Heating, Fire Extinguishers checked, the Organ was tuned, a PAT test was undertaken, and the Emergency Lighting in the Hall was tested. Electrical work has been done in church to fix the Nave lights.

The Youth Centre is used once a month for a Youth (Soul) Home Group, and, also occasionally by another Home Group. Soul also meet every Sunday evening which for the past year has been happening on-line. Over the winter months the Friday prayer group uses the Youth Centre as well.

During the week the Hall is normally used by Dots and Tots Toddler Group, Rye Park Women’s Club, Open Church Breakfast and Bible Study, Tots Church, the Brownies, SPACE Group to support parents of autistic and ADHD children, a Dementia Support Group, A Child Minders’ Support Group, a Pilates Group, a Coffee Morning/Café for the local community, Knit, Stitch and Natter Group, monthly Mothers’ Union and Pop-in Afternoon Teas, and other church activities. It is also hired out for regular Children’s Parties. Sadly, since March, none of these events have been able to take place.

A Church Office is situated at the back of the Hall, used by our Parish Administrator, who is employed for two mornings per week. Our Parish Administrator Val Hind retired at the end of December after seven years in this role, and we thank her for the tremendous job she has done keeping everyone informed of what is happening in the life of the church, and much else. There is also a Vestry, and two small meeting rooms.

Pastoral Care

Some members of our parish are unable to attend church due to sickness or age. In normal times Revd. Nick Sharp would have visited all church members who have requested it, and he would have celebrated communion with them, either at their homes or in hospital, with some lay support with this. We have ensured that we have kept in touch with those needing support by telephone or other means. We ensure also that they receive a weekly church news sheet to keep them in touch with church life. The Pastoral Care Co-ordinators ensure that the Team leaders are informed of prayer needs which they cascade to all in their group and are also aware of anyone in their group missing from church who may need a visit.

Mission and Evangelism

Helping those in need is a demonstration of our faith. Our Mission Team have been looking at our corporate response to Mission. As a church we at present support children in Togo, through Compassion, and a number of individuals also support children. Home Groups and other church members also support various Missions and individuals in need. This year our church has been able to support financially Young Life, Church Pastoral Aid Society, and Church Mission Society (our Mission Partner, Ann-Marie Wilson). Through special activities we have also supported the work of Children’s Society, the Bishop’s Harvest for the Hungry Appeal, and Winter Night Shelter. We have also supported one of our former church members, who was actively seeking Ordination training. We also have a Mission Notice Board in church, to focus on a different mission support each month in prayer, and sometimes with financial support.

During the year we supported the Thy Kingdom Come National initiative of ten days of prayer between Ascension and Pentecost, for 5 people to come to faith. As a church we have been active in supporting the Broxbourne Foodbank, with donations of cash and food. Some of our congregation also help with the distribution of the food each week. There has not been one week since 2011 when we did not donate food to the foodbank.

Ecumenical relationships

The church is a member of Churches Together in Hoddesdon, Broxbourne and Wormley. We held a joint service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Members of our congregation are also involved in Young Life youth ministry, and Street Pastors all organised through Churches Together. The Winter Nights Shelter continued, working together with other churches in our area between January and early March. Seven Churches committed to be part of this, inviting guests one night a week each. Volunteers came from within the churches and wider community.

Churches Together planned a new Listening initiative funded by Broxbourne Council. Some of our church members are undergoing listening training for this, and it is planned to become operational by Summer 2021.

Financial Review

Any report on 2020 should include a health warning and this one is no different. I’m not going to compare figures with previous years or make any judgements on what we need to look at. Financially we should take 2020 as a one off.

Income

The parish Giving scheme (PGS) was a huge benefit during 2020. Many churches without

this struggled to get donations in and this has impacted their own financial position as well as the Church of England. As of December 2020 our PGS income stood at £4050 / month with an additional £990 claimed as gift aid. In addition to PGS, we continue to receive standing orders and we have also received some substantial donations.

As you would imagine hall lettings were down substantially as the hall closed after the first lock down in March 2020. Loose collections were also down following the decision to suspend public worship. We received £2,400 in loose collections.

Payments

The parish share was set at £55,502 and this was paid in full.

Church running expenses were £7,681 and included £1,400 as part of the heating repair and £1,700 for our insurance, the rest being mainly gas and electric. A further £4,369 was also paid as the first instalment of the repaired and redesigned heating system.

Outreach costs were lower with only Messy church incurring costs as they continued their ministry through the year, spending £526.73 on the Messy Church bags.

Whilst Upkeep of services costs were lower, we did spend £436 in licenses to ensure we were covered for our new online church services.

Our individual Funds

One of the financial casualties of not meeting is the lack of fund raising and this has impacted the progress we have made towards our roof fund. As well as the roof fund we have several other funds most of which are designated for various causes. Our Children/Families Ministry fund (Youth Worker fund) is static at £48,742. Our Restoration and Repair fund is at £2,244. The Organ Fund (our only restricted fund) continues to wind down as we use the money to pay for the tuning. This stands at £932.20. We have enough to cover us for a few years of tuning. Our Roof Repair fund now stands at £27,561.

Reserves Policy

It is PCC policy to try to maintain a balance on free reserves (net current assets) which equates to at least three months’ unrestricted payments. This is equivalent to £21,000. It is held to smooth out fluctuations in cash flow and to meet emergencies. The balance of the free reserves at the year end were £24,282.

It is our policy to invest additional General Funds, Designated and Restricted Funds in the CCLA Church of England Deposit Fund.

Volunteers

We would like to thank all volunteers who work so hard to make our church the lively and vibrant community it is. In particular we want to mention Jane Falconbridge who began her Lay Reader training in September, our Churchwardens Tish Bloomfield and Fiona Brewster who have worked so tirelessly on our behalf especially this year with the problems with our church building and effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Stephen Brent, Rowena Doree-Smith and Valerie Hind, who have worked so hard in the absence of a full time Treasurer and have helped us all to understand the church’s accounts and its finances, and Fran Murray and Michael Mackintosh who have worked so hard trying to raise funds for our building projects.. We also wish to thank our Verger Team who prepare for our Communion Services, and act as Verger for Occasional Services, and Dorothy Ayre for her hard work as PCC Secretary, her commitment to our choir, and other things she does that we don’t all see, and all those who have worked hard to care for our church building and grounds.

Structure, governance and management

The Parochial Church Council is a corporate body, established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure. The PCC is a Registered Charity.

The method of appointment of PCC Members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St. Cuthbert’s the membership of the PCC consists of the Incumbent (our Vicar), Churchwardens, The Reader, and members elected to Cheshunt Deanery Synod, and 12 others elected by those members of the congregation who are on the Electoral Roll of the church. All those who attend our Services/members of the congregation are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and 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 on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. New members receive initial training into the workings of the PCC.

The full PCC met 5 times during the year, with an average level of attendance of 85%. Given its wide responsibilities the PCC has a number of committees and teams, each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. These committees/teams which include Standing, Mission, Finance, Premises Maintenance, Worship Planning, Outreach, Mission Action Planning, Pastoral Care, Family Worker, Communications, Catering are all responsible to

the PCC and report back to it regularly with details of their decisions being received by the full PCC and discussed as necessary. We also have people on the Group Council, and Churches Together Committee, and a Child Protection Act Parish Recruiter, Safeguarding Officer, Health and Safety and Fire Safety coordinator and Data Protection Regulations Coordinator.

Approved by correspondence and at the PCC meeting on

19 April 2021 and signed on their behalf by the Revd. Nick Sharp (PCC Chairman)

Signed

Administrative information

St. Cuthbert’s Church is situated in Whitley Road, Rye Park. It is part of the Diocese of St. Albans, within the Church of England. We are also part of the New River Group Ministry, along with St. Catherine and St. Paul’s Hoddesdon, and St. Augustine’s Broxbourne with St. Laurence Wormley. The correspondence address is St. Cuthbert’s Church Office, Whitley Road, Rye Park, Hoddesdon, Herts. EN11 0PU. Registered charity number 1130872.

PCC members who have served at any time from 1 January 2020 until the date this report was approved are:-

Vicar Revd. Nick Sharp Chairman

Reader: Mr. John Griffiths

Churchwardens:

Mrs. Tish Bloomfield Vice Chairman Mrs. Fiona Brewster Representatives on the Deanery Synod: Miss Dorothy Ayre Secretary Miss Betty Jones (until October 2020) Mr. Laurence Sinden Elected Members: Mr. Stephen Brent Acting Treasurer Mr. Paul Cordell (until October 2020) Mrs. Ilona Crowder Mrs. Nicola Dant Mr Paul Doree Mrs. Jane Falconbridge Mr. Dave Lee Mr. Michael Mackintosh Mrs. Fran Murray Mrs. Karen Prins (from October 2020) Mrs. Pam Raymen Mr. Josh Wilkins (until December 2020)

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