’ - APCM 2025: St John s Community Church Annual Reports for 2024
Contents:
Page 1: Electoral Roll Report
Fabric Report
Lichfield Deanery Synod Report
Page 2-3: PCC Report
Page 3-6: Treasurer’s Report
Page 7-11: Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) for the Year Ended 31 December 2024
Electoral Roll Report
Every six years, our Electoral Roll needs resetting in order to give an accurate record of who is an active member of our church. This year is one of those reset years, meaning that all those previously on the Electoral Roll needed to fill in new forms, while adding new members who have joined us over the past year. The new number of our Electoral Roll is therefore 204 people, which is encouraging given we’re at the beginning of a new 6 year cycle before the roll needs resetting again in 2031.
Fabric Report
We’ve had a productive year in caring for the fabric, fixtures and fittings of our church building and grounds. Our caretaker, Nigel Procter, has worked hard to keep on top of maintenance & make improvements, while our cleaner Barry Mok, continues to keep our building clean on a weekly basis! We’re grateful too for various people who have helped with tidying, maintenance, transport, electrical work etc, & to all those group members, hirers & church folks who keep our building & grounds in such good order.
Over the past year, main jobs of maintenance have included: responsive work to a few roof leaks after particularly heavy rain, partition servicing, war memorial cleaning, street light fixing, gutter & drain clearing, painting of side rooms, slab cleaning, car park clearing & line painting, hedge, tree & grounds care/tidying, storage oversight, as well as ongoing liaison & application for eventual solar panel fitting on the church roof. Alongside ingoing works from the Diocese, Nigel Procter & Marg & John Nicholls have also worked hard to clean & ensure our Curate’s house is in good order for Laura Edwards & family to move into come the summer.
Lichfield Deanery Synod Report
We have four church representatives who have been elected to the Lichfield Deanery Synod - Elaine Betts, Annette Haywood, Marg Nicholls & Nigel Procter. The Deanery Synod held three meetings during the 2024 and other than receiving summary reports from the Diocesan Synod and general business, each meeting discussed a main topic:
February 2024: At this meeting, we heard from Anthony Verduyn, the new Lichfield Diocesan Chancellor. He shared about his work in making judgements on faculty applications & general work within the Diocese overseeing potential changes to church buildings/churchyards.
June 2024: In June, we heard from Revd Simon Foster about the work of pioneering parishes and growing faith in the next generation. Simon shared the nine goals connected to the new Diocesan Strategy, which included ambitious targets of growing 34,000 new disciples by 2030, establishing 200 new worshipping communities, 30 new licensed lay ministers and 30 ordinations a year. Discussions were had regarding how these targets might best be reached & the personnel & financial resourcing that will be necessary to achieve such growth.
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September 2024: Clare Whitney (the Diocesan Learning & Development Officer) shared about how the shape of ministry is changing for people who are interested in training for Lay Readership Ministry. The training is over a period of 4 years, & includes 7 modules: Reflection on Discipleship, Theology, Mission, Evangelism, Worship in the Church of England, Vocation on Public Ministry, Pastoral Theology and a Foundation in Christian Faith.
February 2025 : The most recent meeting was held on Zoom, and included an interview with the new Bishop of Wolverhampton, Rt Revd Dr Tim Wambunya. Bishop Tim answered questions on his Christian faith, the main challenges facing the Church of England, addressing the serious decline of church membership in the Diocese over the past ten years (40% decline over the last decade) , & what he is enjoying most about his role so far.
PCC Report
Listed below are details of the PCC meetings which took place during 2024. The full PCC met 5 times during 2024. 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 – January 2024: Alongside reports from our church wardens, treasurer, staff, safeguarding officer, deanery synod representatives, electoral roll & news from the Burntwood Chase Team, particular items covered included a review of our Christmas season, & going through our latest attendance statistics to identify trends/needs. Year on year, Average Sunday Attendance for adult attendance was up by 12% (119) and children up 35% (38), and our Monday Service up 25% (39. Our ‘Worshipping Community’, which includes Little Friends, online and YouTube subscribers with around 150 views per week is up 6% from last year making around 735 people. Rev Matt shared how encouraging this was and a credit to us all as a church and community.
P CC Meeting – March 2024: Alongside regular reports that are given each meeting (see January above for a list), we examined the quotes for the installation of solar panels on our roof (c.£17,000) and unanimously agreed to apply for faculty permission to push ahead with the installation. We said a big thank you to Marg Nicholls on her retirement as church cleaner, & shared the appointment of Barry Mok as new, part time church cleaner.
We agreed on our tithe commitments for the year ahead – giving 10% of our income away to external charities. For the year ahead, these include: Light for Children £3,080; Pathway Project £2,200; Food Bank £1,100; UCB £770; Burntwood Be A Friend £1,100; The YouthNet £580 & Period Power £550.
We also agreed wage rises for our staff – Church Administrator, Church Caretaker, Church Cleaner. In light of the Living Wage increasing from £10.42 to £11.44 (a 9.78% increase), & the rising costs of living, the PCC agreed with the recommendation to increase salaries by the same amount for all paid staff.
Revd Matt Wallace excused himself from the meeting due to a conflict of interests, as the PCC discussed the encouraging position of Little Friends, now with a membership of 170 children across both days. However, due to the growth & the responsibility of overseeing such a large group, the PCC acknowledged the need to create a paid position of oversight & coordination. In addition, the personal circumstances of the current coordinator, Gemma Wallace who has been running Little Friends on a voluntary basis for a number of years, have changed, & she is now actively looking for paid employment which would necessitate her standing down from her Little Friends role.
The PCC agreed that Gemma be temporarily employed for 15 hours/week as Little Friends Pre School Coordinator, giving the PCC time to draw up a job description in order to recruit for this post on a more permanent basis.
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PCC Meeting – June 2024: As well as welcoming new PCC members following the APCM, news was shared of our curate, Ruth Edmonds, successful application to be appointed as Team Vicar at St. Philip & St James in Leckhampton, Cheltenham. Congratulations & prayers were shared, & details put in place for Ruth’s final service at St John’s & licensing service in Cheltenham.
Heartfelt thanks were given for Sarah Clarkin as she stepped down as church cleaner after 21 years of cleaning & admin service at St John’s. In response to this, Barry Mok’s hours were adjusted, & he will now be cleaning 6 hours/week. In addition, & in response to demands from his other part-time job, Nigel’s hours as caretaker were reduced from 20 to 15/week. However, the flexibility Nigel offers was felt to not mean that this reduction in hours would cause any issues to the oversight of our building.
Details were shared of the job description that had been drawn up for the new Little Friends role, with a timetable for advertising, applications & interviews in July given.
PCC Meeting – September 2024: Alongside regular reports, the process of appointing the new ‘Little Friends Pre-School Coordinator’ was reviewed, with the PCC delighted that after an open, formal recruitment process, Gemma Wallace had been appointed to the role. In addition, reviews were shared of the two successful Play in the Park days in the summer, news shared of the hope that we might be able to have a new curate in due course, & the approval of ourselves as Link Church for Hayley Bourne, an ordinand in training.
Updates were shared on the drawn out process of applying for permission to install solar panels; impending major surgery for Marie Hiley, our church administrator; & some potential difficulties for some of the other churches in the Burntwood Chase Team in paying their Common Fund commitments in full. In addition, consideration & robust feedback was given to the newly launched Strategic Framework from Lichfield Diocese.
PCC Meeting – November 2024: Aswell as usual reports, & the sharing of upcoming plans for our Christmas season, detailed discussions were conducted on our Sunday morning children’s provision, with the positive outcome being the decision taken to combine Little Stars with Shooting Stars in order to both encourage a smoother transition between these groups, but also to free up the Office space for a new older group for those above Super Stars age.
All in all, a varied & positive year for the PCC, with fruitful discussions, creative decisions, committed prayer & responsive plans put in place, & a year in which we’ve been very grateful to God for his faithful leading of our church.
Marg Nicholls – PCC Secretary
2024 Accounts Summary: Prepared by J. Haywood - Treasurer
Summary
2024 finances remain balanced, keeping the church in a financially stable position for the future. Our income was larger than our expenditure by £5,181. We have seen both income and expenditure reduce year on year following large donations and spends in 2023. Our outlook remains balanced, with some known increases in costs coming in 2025 and 2026, notably common fund and wages.
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Income & Expenditure 2024
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Money IN >> Money OUT >>
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The majority of our income is from people giving to the church: Regular giving; Service collections; Other giving and Fundraising (the majority of which this year is our Christmas Fayre) PLUS the reclaimed tax from gift aid makes up 80% of all our income. Thank you to you if you’ve given to the church this last year. And a reminder that if you don’t give regularly and you think you might want to, do speak to me, Matt or one of the wardens or you can find the paperwork out in the foyer. OR if you are a tax payer and eligible for gift aid, please do fill in a form and let us know.
Our total income year on year has reduced by around £30000 which is a substantial amount. But the majority of this is due to a legacy received in 2023. Giving across our giving categories of Regular, Service Collections & Other has reduced by around £10k in total. We did receive a couple of large one-off donations in 2023 and as you’ll see on the next chart, 2023 was a high income year. We have seen our income from Room Hire & Groups increase by nearly £4k, the majority from room hires as the church remains particularly busy throughout the week.
Although we had a lower income, we also had lower expenditure, meaning we were able to flex our spend and live within our means.
Switching to look at our expenditure in grey and starting from the top:
Common fund is the money we pay to Lichfield Diocese. This pot pays for things like vicar’s wages, housing, pensions, as well as the training and wages of future curates (vicars in training) like Ruth Edmonds who was with us last year and Laura Edwards who will be joining us from late June, AND ordinands (who are people training to be curates), like Hayley Bourne. It also helps to fund the work of various central departments in the Diocese and supports the work of the General Synod.
Wages is our second largest expense. The church now employs 4 part time roles of: cleaner, caretaker, Little Friends Pre-School Coordinator and office administrator. Wages also saw the largest increase in cost year on year as we employed added the Little Friends role in the Summer.
Operating & Running Costs are split into 2 categories here and cover a whole host of things that add up very quickly. Everything from the professional cleaning of the cenotaph to servicing and repairs; from fridge drinks to cleaning products. Totalling £24000, we’ve seen a reduction year on year of nearly -£9000, largely because last year, we refitted our kitchen.
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Supporting Organisations
St. John’s donates 10% of our previous year’s income (excluding grants). This is mainly through regular charitable giving, ensuring charities can plan their income accordingly. As a PCC, we have always tried to give to charities working locally, nationally and internationally.
Starting locally, we supported Burntwood Be A Friend, Play In The Parks and Foodbank.
Moving to organisations that operate in Staffordshire we supported Pathway Project – who are a domestic and sexual abuse service supporting anyone in need based in Lichfield & Tamworth; Period Power – who partner with organisations who support vulnerable people across Staffs and the West Midlands by providing period products; and The Youthnet - which is a Christian-based, children and youth charity working in and out of schools and organisations in and around Stafford.
Nationally, we supported 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, and UCB media.
And lastly at an international level: 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.
Account Summary
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We’re £5000 better off than we were last year. You can see that £5181 figure coming through again in the bottom right hand corner and above that you will see our fixed assets, net current assets and total assets.
We don’t own this building, it’s owned by the Lichfield diocese, so the building isn’t a fixed asset on our accounts, but we do own a number of depreciating things like sound and IT equipment totalling our fixed assets of £4908.
We then have £152k in Net Current Assets. About £93k of that is what’s called restricted funds. Meaning we can’t just spend it on anything. It’s generally for a large capital project such as replacing the windows.
All in all we’re in a financially strong and stable position which means that the PCC are able to invest, think for the future and invest in things like an extra paid employee or building upgrades…
Looking Ahead
There are a few things on the mind of the PCC for 2025 in terms of money matters:
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1) Higher wages, with a full year of a 4[th] employee salary
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2) 2026 common fund increase +£3k.
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3) Energy options, potential for solar panels.
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4) Repairs to our fascias and soffits likely to be our next major building repair/upgrade
If you have any further questions about the church finances, do feel free to speak to me or Rev. Matt. We are contactable through the church office.
Thank you.
The following pages contain copies of the church finance SOFA, Balance Sheet, Income & Expenditure reports
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• Stjohn's ••• Community •• Church Tho PCC of St John's Communlty Church, Chas•T•rrac• Flnanclal Statements forth• Yaar End•d 31 D•c•mber2024 Statqm8nt of Flnanclal AL*Mt Unr•strkt•d Fund$ Do$nat•d Fund$ RoStrl¢t•d Fund$ Endowm• nt Fund$ Total Funds Total Fund$ 2023 Incomlng Resourc85 Inm¢ and Endowm•nt$lrom: 116,164 116,164 151,8SS vitie5 Gwatirg Furth 5,315 5,315 4,778 I¢tr£4 Iwtr))wts &759 4.650 Chr¢hktiwti88 26,015 26,015 957 Total 148.385 &759 152,144 184,579 Raaourcas EXpded Eyp•ndRur•on: RpAsir#J 91 91 1,407 Ch¢htitie5 146,872 146,872 161,383 Total 146,963 146,963 1617j N•t lntomdlExpdfi1r•l Wor• Inw6tm8nt galnsllh)sM81 5,181 21,789 71bl & NgaIlIcl cn irwestrnwts N•1 In•1{Exd#Ur+l 1.422 &759 5.181 21.789 Transfer FLTrY5 12501 2%J Mown•nl In Fund$ 1.172 5,181 21,789 Total FundB brought fornwd 11 ,198 151,820 127, IDS Fund tranaferred In 1127 Total Fundst¥rfBd foFvArd 57.370 YJ.631 157.W1 151.81)
• Stjohn's ••• Community •• Church The PCC of St John's Communlty Church, Chase Terraca Financial Ststements for the Year Ended 31st December 2024 Balance Sheet Total Funds 2024 Total Funds 2023 Flxod Assets Tarte A%sets InvestMtA$$ets 7(a) 71b} 4.908 7.283 Total Flx•d AM4t• 4.908 7,283 Current Assets Current Investmerts 8(a) 8(b) 8(cl Detkns aTrJ prepaymwts Cash at bat* in h¥KI 1.596 155,043 156.639 4.345 144,452 148.797 Total Curr•nt Ass•t8 Curr•nt Llablllll•s - du• wlthln 1 y•ar Crgth'tors aTrJ &cruals 9(a) 4.546 4.260 DI(xeS Parish Share Dioce Loan Total Curront Llabllltlos 4.260 Not Curront Assatsl(Llablltl8sl 152.093 144.537 Llabllltl•s due after one year Crg5tys 91bl P¥lsh sre Dicte Loan Total Llablllt¢s du?aftw ono yw Total AsSatLIabIlItIos} 157.001 151,820 Total Funds 2024 Total Funds 2023 Funds of the PCC Unrestrictoj FLmds FWKI 57.370 56.198 DesigrOt FLnJs Restri¢tgJ FUTr 99.631 95.622 En(hywmert Total Fund$ 157.001 151,820
• Stjohn's ••• Community •• Church The PCC of St John's Community Church. Chase Terrace Financial Slatements for the Year Ended 31st December 2024 ihY•str1¢ D•$lgn&t•d Funth Ro$trl¢tod T(tsl FurK 2023 t FwKIts 2024 INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS Oonallon• and L•ga¢S•s Voluntary In¢4%n• Tax effrnt regubr gmng 20 66.771 66,771 68,726 Other regular giwng 13.837 13,837 14,168 CO1CtionS at servKes All oth8r gwing and voluntsry receipts including sp8oal appeals 7.040 5,848 5,848 11,947 Grft AKI Recoverable Legaues 19.524 Grants IreDJrring and on8-0ffj 750 750 1,258 116,164 116.164 151.855 Charltable Acl1¥1lle8 AcllvllTes for Genera£Tng Funds 2b surnr Fete Christmas Fair Other FundraK8ing ActNit185 5,313 3.315 4,778
• Stjohn's ••• Community •• Church INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS continued UbY•8trlet•d Fundb D•8lwai•d Furts R•trl¢t•d Tdal 7024 T(*•l Fwjts tFun Income from Investments io DNklends io Bank Interest 891 891 In¢om• from Chur¢h A¢tl¥ltl•s 2d li Statutory Fees Ire¢aln8d by PCCI 2.415 2.415 3.201 12 Church Hlre 11.314 11.314 8.202 12 Group membershSp Inco 12.286 12.286 12 Bookstall 12 Parish Magazine 12 Othertrading a¢tniites 22.957 Other Inc<Jrne 13 0th8r Total Income 148,385 152,144 184,579 io
• Stjohn's ••• Community •• Church The PCC of St John's Community Church, Chase Terrdca Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2024 DeJlgnad Reilrlctsd Unre•trlct•d Fund# Tcéal 2024 Totsl Fund• 2023 EXPENDITURE Rawng Funds CostsofGw4tlnq Fund¥ 17 sardShipC¢ts 17 Chrlstmas F8yrt 91 91 1N07 IT CcdfeE Morriw Ccst5 1A07 Chwlt4)knActl¥ltl85 ChuKh ActbAt• 18 Mi&sl(x)Gl¥ANJ Dtior 13,217 13,JJ7 10,114 Ditwan Parish Slwe 63.[1 61.393 Salwie5 21 Clerw 8TrJ Slaff ExFrS 425 Chyrth Exp$$ 22 ChLr¢h Expm5 WIsGSon and EvangelSsml 7.335 7.135 23 ChLrch Exp8n868 (Incl l>)v8manc•l 17,270 17,270 24,773 24 ChLrch u1ty BI118 11896 25 Cc6IdTrary (Magazine. bookstall etcl ChLrch Hal RVr¥j Cts M4or Captt&lEwdlturn 27 M4or Repalrs trJlChurth 14,684 M4or Repairs tochurch Hall &ildir¥JWork 1448n 14Q8n 161,383 gD Oth•r EXP•ndll Tot Expondltur• 144 144 161790 li