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’ - APCM 2024: St John s Community Church Annual Reports for 2023
Contents:
Page 1: Electoral Roll Report
Fabric Report Lichfield Deanery Synod Report
Page 2: PCC Report Page 3-6: Treasurer’s Report
Page 7-10: Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) for the Year Ended 31 December 2023
Electoral Roll Report
Our Electoral Roll has increased by 8 people from 225 adults at the Annual Meeting last year, to a current figure of 230 people. 13 people have been removed from the Electoral Roll - sadly this includes Bill Bailey, Les Lomax and Kaye Sheils-Houston following their deaths, while others have moved away or joined other churches. The 18 who have joined have signed up having attended Sunday and/or Monday services.
Fabric Report
We’ve had a productive year in caring for the fabric, fixtures and fittings of our church building and grounds, including the fitting of our new kitchen, with grateful thanks to Mark Bailes and team, and to the generous legacy from the late Sue Southall, which helped to fund the kitchen.
Our caretaker, Nigel Procter, has been busy overseeing a variety of maintenance tasks, including liaising with contractors for electrical work and PAT testing, the replacement of fuse boards and light fittings, as well as the regular testing of our fire and intruder alarms. The shed was moved to provide a much bigger outdoor space for Little Friends, while the container has been sorted and largely cleared to provide additional storage.
Following torrential rain, flood damage in the hall and kitchen area was rectified, again with much appreciated help from Mark Bailes, and Nigel redecorated the affected areas in the hall and worship area, as well as painting the meeting room. Nigel also keeps a regular schedule of general maintenance of our building, grounds and storage, while our two cleaners, Marg & Sarah, continued their great work in keeping our building clean and tidy.
During 2023, we had our tri-annual Diocesan Pastoral Support visit/audit, covering a number of areas within our church, including the churchyard, registers, insurance, log books, terrier and health and safety policies. The visit went extremely well, with all aspects reported to be up to date and in an excellent order.
Lichfield Deanery Synod Report
The Lichfield Deanery Synod held four meetings during the year and other than receiving summary reports from the Diocesan Synod and general business, each meeting discussed a main topic:
February 2023: The meeting was led by Bishop Michael Ipgrave who spoke about Lent: Fasting, Penitence and an assurance of forgiveness. Shaping for Mission was also discussed, with the three areas of priority being Young People and Schools, New Housing and Care for Creation.
June 2023: The speaker for the meeting was Helen Robertson, Headteacher at St Michaels Primary School, Lichfield who spoke on the importance of inclusion, and reaching out to other schools.
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September 2023: The main topic was Community Fellowship, led by Revd Dr Abbie Walsh who gave feedback from a recent questionnaire where overall vocation is flourishing together with welcome, inclusion and hospitality. There were positives shared on various initiatives within the deanery, including Café Church, growth in young people’s work, faithfulness within congregations and environmental care.
November 2023: A meeting via Zoom was held, but unfortunately none of our representatives could attend.
Elaine Betts, Annette Haywood, Marg Nicholls, Nigel Procter
PCC Report
Listed below are details of the PCC meetings which took place during 2023. The full PCC met 6 times during 2023. Committees and smaller meetings of various ministries met between PCC meetings, and their deliberations were received and discussed by the full PCC where necessary.
PCC Meeting – February 2023: Alongside celebrating the safe arrival of Amara Edmonds to our curate Ruth and husband James, we received regular reports from the church wardens, treasurer, deanery synod, Burntwood Chase Team, safeguarding and electoral roll. Our February meeting also focussed on the growing needs of our building combined with our vicar Matt’s workload. The PCC decided to look to appoint a parttime caretaker, to start as soon as possible.
P CC Meeting – March 2023: News was shared of the appointment of Nigel Procter as our new church caretaker, and of Dave Moss as Safeguarding Administrator. Decisions were taken to approve a quote for a new church kitchen, as well as for remedial and necessary electrical work to be undertaken. Our tithe giving for the year ahead was finalised, to include significant donations to the following charities: Light for Children, Pathway, Foodbank, UCB, YouthNet, Acts435 and Burntwood Be a Friend.
PCC Meeting – May 2023: As well as welcoming mew PCC members following the APCM, Dave Moss and Kathy Louis made a presentation to inform the PCC about the new systems being put in place to ensure our compliance with best practice for safeguarding.
PCC Meeting – July 2023: Our July meeting focussed on both positive and negative matters concerning our building, including the installation of a great new kitchen, and of significant electrical work having been completed, but also of the damage caused by recent flooding/rain storms. In other matters, the PCC agreed to give £6000 of church tithe money to the four schools in our parish (£1500 each to Holly Grove, Boney Hay, Chase Terrace Primary and Chase Terrace Academy) to use at their discretion to support local families and children.
PCC Meeting – September 2023: Our September meeting received and discussed reports on various areas of church life, including the recent Play in the Park events and ongoing maintenance of the building and grounds. Discussions took place regarding the provision for our growing children’s and young people’s groups, and plans were shared for forthcoming services and events from Remembrance Sunday through to Christmas.
PCC Meeting – November 2023: Various ailments and sickness depleted our numbers for this meeting, so in this shorter session, we discussed the recent Diocesan Pastoral Support visit, as well as putting provisional plans in place to install solar panels on our roof. We also heard from Ruth as her plans post-curacy were shared, with the expectation that she’d be given permission by the Bishop to apply for jobs from spring 2024.
Overall, it’s been a positive and productive year for the PCC, with fruitful discussions, encouraging decisions, committed prayer and productive plans put in place for the future life of our church community.
Marg Nicholls – PCC Secretary
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Treasurer’s Report
St. John’s Community Church, Chase Terrace 2023 Accounts Summary Prepared by J. Haywood - Treasurer
At time of writing (15[th] Apr 2024) the church accounts have been passed to the Lichfield Diocese for independent examination but we haven’t yet had confirmation of acceptance. That means that the accounts, although finalized, haven’t been independently ratified.
Overall, we have seen a positive increase in income, whilst spending generously to upgrade the building.
Income & Expenditure
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Income &
2020 2021 2022 2023
Expenditure
Income £109,591 £112,087 £130,653 £184,579
Expenditure £111,590 £112,080 £159,298 £162,790
Difference (£1,999) +£7 (£28,645) +£21,789
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Positively, our income has increased +£54k year on year, whilst expenditure has increased by (£3.5k), meaning we have spent £21,789 less than our income in the year. Although this is extremely positive, there are a number of one-off items which are affecting this view. These are explained in the following pages.
Income Year On Year Bridge
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Total Income Bridge
£1k
£3k
£3k
£9k (£4k)
£20k
£184,579
£21k
£130,653
Total Giftaid Tax Legacies Giving Interest On Groups, Christmas Grants Total
Income Reclaim Savings Hires & Fayre Income
2022 Fees 2023
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Let’s take a look at why income has grown £54k year on year. Firstly our Giftaid Tax Reclaim has increased by +£21,232 year on year. Last year the church was a little late in processing some of our giftaid, which meant we earned a little less in 2022, and that delay means the benefit rolled over into this tax year. If you are a UK taxpayer and are giving to the church, do check whether you’re giving with giftaid: it makes a huge difference to our total income. In fact in 2023, 16% of our total income came from claiming giftaid.
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The second one-off income was legacies. A legacy is a donation left in someone’s will. It’s very unusual for St. John’s to receive legacies, in fact, this may be a first for the church and certainly a first within the last 10 years.
We’ve also seen more giving and donations, some interest on our savings and extra income from room hire. Our Christmas fayre was one of our most successful ever, raising nearly £4,800. A huge thank you again to Kay, those who setup stalls and all the volunteers who come together to make that happen.
Grants is red because we received less than the previous year, but grants tend to be a bit seasonal depending on the needs of the church and the grant pots available. We did receive a grant this year, totalling nearly £1,300 from the National Grid for The Drop Inn, from which we purchased new and additional tables to house the growing numbers of people we’re seeing on a Monday.
In summary, some good growth in income across everything that we do, with a couple of one-off elements inflating the income number.
Expenditure Year On Year Bridge
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Total Expenses Bridge
Total No Cost Total
Expenses New Electrical Running Common Of New Expenses
2022 Kitchen Payroll Upgrades Costs Utilities Fund Tithe Windows! 2023
(£159,298)
(£162,790)
(£15k)
(£9k)
+£36k
(£7k)
(£4k)
(£4k)
(£1.5k) (£303)
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Our major spend in 2023 was that of a new kitchen totalling £14,684.
Our payroll has increased. The church employs cleaners and a Parish Administrator. We increased their wages last April and began employing a part time caretaker role from April too. These two things combined are the reason for the jump in payroll costs.
Alongside our kitchen improvements, we made substantial upgrades to our electrics, this was everything from full PAT testing and fire safety checks, to new fuse boxes, lighting and fans across large parts of the building. This was planned for and talked about in last year’s APCM.
Our other running costs increased across a wide range of smaller ticket items, such as software licensing costs, insurance etc. There were a couple of notable things: we had a new website developed, we purchased the extra tables for the Drop Inn and we had larger expenses associated to the Christmas fayre (a larger float and expenses for food etc…), which helped cater to the bigger crowds.
Like most people, our utility costs have increased, particularly over the colder months. Heating, lighting, water and bin collections for this building and the churchyard cost around £1,100 per month.
Common fund is the money we pay to the Lichfield Diocese. This pot pays for Matt & Ruth’s wages, housing and pensions, as well as the training of future curates. It helps to fund the work of various central departments in the Diocese, such as the admin, finance and safeguarding teams, and supports the work of the General Synod, which is the main decision-making body for the Church of England. In 2024 the Common Fund request is increasing by £1,243.
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St. John’s donates 10% of its previous year’s income (excluding grants) to other charities and causes. This is mainly through regular charitable giving, ensuring charities can plan their income accordingly. As a PCC, St John’s has always tried to give to charities working locally, nationally and internationally. This giving is called the ‘tithe’. In 2023, we continued to support Light for Children – a charity supporting young people and families in need in Romania. It’s a charity that has deep roots at St. John’s and we have supported it since its inception; Pathway Project – who are a domestic and sexual abuse service supporting anyone in need based in Lichfield & Tamworth; the YouthNet which is a Christian-based, children and youth charity working in and out of schools and organisations in and around Stafford; Food Bank; Acts 435 which is a charitable donations website that puts people who want to help in touch with people who are in need, through a network of churches and local charities at a national level; UCB radio and new for 2023 - Burntwood Be A Friend.
These charities received in total £8.5k across the year. We also supported the Play in the Park events in the Summer.
The big green bar indicates a large, one-off expense from the previous year. It’s the replacement of all the external windows and doors. So, despite spending more across a number of areas this year, most of it is balanced off by the cost of the windows in the previous year.
In summary, we spent a lot and made some big upgrades to the church for the second year running, but we’ve done it with good discernment based on our overall financial outlook.
Account Summary
| Account Summary | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed Assets(buildings & contents) |
£8k | £10k | £8k | £7,283 |
| Net Current Assets(money | ||||
| in the bank after outstanding | £148k | £147k | £120k | £144,537 |
| payments are paid) | ||||
| Total Assets | £157k | £157k | £128k | £151,820 |
| Difference Year on Year | (£2k) | +£0k | (£29k) | £23,916 |
The account summary shows our savings and assets in 2 pots, Fixed Assets and Net Current Assets.
In simple terms, fixed assets are “things” buildings and contents.
We don’t own the St. John’s building, it’s owned by the diocese, so our only fixed assets are the contents within the building. Chairs, sound equipment and other items that we could sell if we needed to raise some cash.
Our net current assets are our savings and investments less any money we owe.
Adding these 2 lines together produces our total assets of £151,820. An increase of £23,916 year on year.
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Total Assets Bridge
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Total Funds Bridge
£14k £2k (£29k)
£41k
£13k (£18k)
£151,820
£127,904
£122,809
Total Assets Regular Running Difference One Off One Off Interior Take Off Total Assets
2022 Income Costs Income Costs Decorating Previous 2023
Fund Years Gap
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The shape of our growth in total assets have been heavily influenced by one off elements. These have been isolated in the chart above, which helps to show that our regular income and costs are within £5k of each other, demonstrating that the church continues to spend broadly within its means.
All of our one-off income (the legacies and missed gift aid), plus the reduced one-off costs (kitchen, plus electrical upgrades, minus the windows) is why our total assets have risen year on year.
Finally, to bridge this back to look at income, we have to remove the reduction in our total assets from the previous year, otherwise we would be showing the growth in assets year on year, not what our total assets are now.
If you have any further questions about the church finances, do feel free to speak to me (J Haywood) or Rev. Matt. We are contactable through the church office.
Thank you.
The following pages contain copies of the church finance ‘Statement of Financial Activities’ (SOFA), Balance Sheet, Income & Expenditure reports
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The PCC of St John's Community Church, Chase Terrace
Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2023
Statement of Financial Activities
Total Funds
Unrestricted Funds Designated Restricted Funds Endowment Funds Total Funds 2023 2022
£ Funds £ £ £ £ £
see note 12 for full
Incoming Resources comparatives
Income and Endowments from:
Donations and Legacies 2a 151,855 - - - 151,855 105,904
Activities for Generating Funds 2b 4,778 - - - 4,778 3,481
Income from Investments 2c 998 - 3,991 - 4,989 1,547
Church Activities 2d 22,957 - - - 22,957 19,721
Other 2e - - - - - -
Total 180,588 - 3,991 - 184,579 130,653
Resources Expended
Expenditure on:
Raising Funds 3a 1,407 - - - 1,407 736
Church Activities 3b 161,383 - - - 161,383 158,562
Other 3c - - - - - -
Total 162,790 - - - 162,790 159,298
Net Income/(Expenditure) before
investment gains/(losses) 17,798 - 3,991 - 21,789 (28,645)
7(b) &
Net gain/(losses) on investments 8(a) - -
Net Income/(Expenditure) 17,798 - 3,991 - 21,789 (28,645)
Transfer between Funds 6 (250) 250 -
Net Movement in Funds 17,548 - 4,241 - 21,789 (28,645)
Total Funds brought forward 11 38,650 - 89,254 - 127,904 156,549
IDS Fund transferred in 2,127 2,127
Total Funds carried forward 56,198 - 95,622 - 151,820 127,904
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| The PCC of St John's Community Church, Chase Terrace | The PCC of St John's Community Church, Chase Terrace | The PCC of St John's Community Church, Chase Terrace | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2023 | ||||
| Balance Sheet | ||||
| Total Funds 2023 £ |
Total Funds 2022 £ |
|||
| Fixed Assets | ||||
| Tangible Assets | 7(a) | 7,283 | 7,984 | |
| Investment Assets | 7(b) | - | - | |
| Total Fixed Assets | 7,283 | 7,984 | ||
| Current Assets | ||||
| Current Investments | 8(a) | - | - | |
| Debtors and prepayments | 8(b) | 4,345 | 1,637 | |
| Cash at bank and in hand | 8(c) | 144,452 | 123,554 | |
| Total Current Assets | 148,797 | 125,191 | ||
| Current Liabilities - due within 1 year | ||||
| Creditors and accruals | 9(a) | 2,763 | 5,271 | |
| Diocesan Parish Share | 1,497 | |||
| Diocesan Loan | ||||
| Total Current Liabilities | 4,260 | 5,271 | ||
| Net Current Assets/(Liabilties) | 144,537 | 119,920 | ||
| Liabilities due after one year | 9(b) | |||
| Creditors | ||||
| Deferred Parish Share | ||||
| Diocesan Loan | ||||
| Total Liabilites due after one year | - | - | ||
| Total Net Assets/(Liabilities) | 151,820 | 127,904 | ||
| Funds of the PCC | Total Funds 2023 £ |
Total Funds 2022 £ |
||
| Unrestricted Funds | ||||
| General Fund | 56,198 | 38,650 | ||
| Designated Funds | - | |||
| Restricted Funds | 95,622 | 89,254 | ||
| Endowment Funds | ||||
| Total Funds | 151,820 | 127,904 |
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The PCC of St John's Community Church, Chase Terrace
Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2023
Total Funds Total Funds
Unrestricted Designated Restricted Endowment 2023 2022
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS 2 Funds £ Funds £ Funds £ Funds £ £ £
Donations and Legacies
Voluntary Income
1 Tax efficient regular giving 2a 68,726 - - - 68,726 59,424
1 Other regular giving 14,168 - - - 14,168 14,694
3 Collections at services 7,040 - - - 7,040 5,393
4 All other giving and voluntary receipts
including special appeals 11,947 - - - 11,947 13,383
6 Gift Aid Recoverable 29,192 - - - 29,192 7,960
7 Legacies 19,524 - - - 19,524 -
8 Grants (recurring and one-off) 1,258 - - - 1,258 5,050
151,855 - - - 151,855 105,904
Charitable Activities
Activities for Generating Funds 2b
9 Summer Fete - - - - - -
9 Christmas Fair 4,778 - - - 4,778 3,481
9 Other Fundraising Activities - - - - -
4,778 - - - 4,778 3,481
Finance Form Box Number
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| INCOME AND ENDOWMENTScontinued | INCOME AND ENDOWMENTScontinued | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted Funds £ |
Designated Funds £ |
Restricted Funds £ |
Endowment Funds £ |
Total Funds 2023 £ |
Total Funds 2022 £ |
|||
| Income from Investments | 2c | |||||||
| 10 | Dividends | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 10 | Bank Interest | 998 | 3,991 | - | 4,989 | 1,547 | ||
| 998 | - | 3,991 | - | 4,989 | 1,547 | |||
| Income from Church Activities | 2d | |||||||
| 11 | Statutory Fees (retained by PCC) | 3,201 | - | - | - | 3,201 | 5,671 | |
| 12 | Church Hire | 8,202 | - | - | - | 8,202 | 5,938 | |
| 12 | Group membership income | 11,554 | - | - | - | 11,554 | 8,112 | |
| 12 | Bookstall | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 12 | Parish Magazine | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 12 | Other trading activites | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 22,957 | - | - | - | 22,957 | 19,721 | |||
| Other Income | 2e | |||||||
| 13 | Other | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| A | Total Income | 180,588 | - | 3,991 | - | 184,579 | 130,653 |
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| The PCC of St John's Community Church, Chase Terrace | The PCC of St John's Community Church, Chase Terrace | The PCC of St John's Community Church, Chase Terrace | The PCC of St John's Community Church, Chase Terrace | The PCC of St John's Community Church, Chase Terrace | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2023 | ||||||||
| Finance Form Box Number |
EXPENDITURE | 3 | Unrestricted Funds £ |
Designated Funds £ |
Restricted Funds £ |
Endowment Funds £ |
Total Funds 2023 £ |
Total Funds 2022 £ |
| Raising Funds | 3a | |||||||
| Costs of Generating Funds | ||||||||
| 17 | Stewardship Costs | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 17 | Christmas Fayre | 1,407 | - | - | - | 1,407 | 736 | |
| 17 | Coffee Morning Costs | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1,407 | - | - | - | 1,407 | 736 | |||
| Charitable Activities | 3b | |||||||
| Church Activites | ||||||||
| 18 | Mission Giving and Donations | 10,114 | - | - | - | 10,114 | 9,811 | |
| 19 | Diocesan Parish Share | 61,393 | - | - | - | 61,393 | 59,896 | |
| 20 | Salaries and Wages | 28,362 | - | - | - | 28,362 | 19,635 | |
| 21 | Clergy and Staff Expenses | 425 | - | - | - | 425 | 602 | |
| Church Expenses | ||||||||
| 22 | Church Expenses(Mission and Evangelism) | 8,736 | - | - | - | 8,736 | 7,406 | |
| 23 | Church Running Expenses(incl Governance) | 24,773 | - | - | - | 24,773 | 15,843 | |
| 24 | Church Utility Bills | 12,896 | - |
- | - | 12,896 | 9,143 | |
| 25 | Cost of Trading (Magazine, bookstall etc) | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 25 | Church Hall Running Costs | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Major Capital Expenditure | ||||||||
| 27 | Major Repairs to the Church | 14,684 | - | - | - | 14,684 | 36,226 | |
| 28 | Major Repairs to Church Hall | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 29 | New Building Work | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 161,383 | - | - | - | 161,383 | 158,562 | |||
| 99 | Other Expenditure | 3c | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other | ||||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| C | Total Expenditure | 162,790 | - | - | - | 162,790 | 159,298 |
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