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THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF

ST PHILIP & ST JAMES, ODD DOWN, BATH & WELLS Charity No: 1131533

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT For the year ended 31 December 2023

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Page

1 Vicar’s Report: Aims & Purposes 4 Reports: Objectives & Activities 25 Structure, Governance and Management 27 Financial Review and Reserves Policy 28 Independent Examiner’s Report 30 Statement of Financial Activities 31 Balance Sheet 32 Notes to the Accounts

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VICAR’S REPORT

Aims and purposes

Our vision:

“To pursue God until heaven overflows through us.”

This year has been marked by an increasing imperative to minister unto the Lord : that we would learn to behold the Lamb and pour the oil of our affection and devotion onto His feet.

We desire to offer Him worship that is unhindered, undivided and unpolluted, knowing that His presence rests on a people who are wholly devoted to the One who is worthy. We remain convinced that His presence is the answer to every human need. So, we have continued to pursue intimacy with Him, sought fresh ways to worship Him; renewed our commitment to revival prayer; honoured His precious Word; and equipped our people to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Another important feature of the year has been our awareness that the Lord has spoken the word ‘family’ over us. This word has carried an anointing that has been seen in the pace that new people have felt fully welcomed; the unity of our PCC; the admirable and encouraging way in which we are navigating the choppy waters of the Anglican Church at this time; and in the incredible pastoral support that exists at St Philip’s – seen particularly in the care of those who have welcomed new babies this year, those who have been ill and those who have been bereaved. I am grateful for the love that binds us together.

It is always impossible to cover everything in this report, but I hope the following pages give a sense of what God has been doing in and through us during what has been another encouraging year of expansion and momentum.

As always, I thank the Lord for the fellowship that we all share as a family at St Philip’s. I am more grateful than ever for your partnership as we continue to grow together to be a church that gives Jesus what He wants.

Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised with aweinspired reverence. Psalm 113:2-3 (AMP)

Achievements and performance :

Allow me to say again this year that the title of this section is dictated by the Charity Commission. I measure what we do for Jesus in neither achievement nor performance! Rather, I am just grateful to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen!

This report is for the delight of Jesus. May we posture our hearts to gratitude as it ascribes to Him all the glory.

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SOME PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS, FOR WHICH I AM THANKFUL:

The Glory increases again

I believe we have seen another increase in the presence of God this year. Through greater liberty in worship; increased expectancy in prayer; the ministry of the Spirit; and the preaching of the Word, we have experienced: a greater measure of the glory; the ministry of angels; moments of awe-filled silence; physical healings; and an increase in new song writing.

We are here for the presence and I am so grateful and excited that the Lord continues to turn His face towards us.

Revival Prayer

Our weekly Revival Prayer Meeting has continued to meet throughout the year to contend for revival in our church and awakening in our neighbourhood. It remains a key source of some of the most significant prophetic input that we experience at St Philip’s.

St Martin’s Garden Prayer Evening

On 19[th] October, members of the congregation gathered in the Manna House to pray for St Martin’s Garden Primary School and the surrounding area. The evening involved listening to the Lord and taking authority over the spiritual atmosphere in and around the school. Since then, we have seen significant shifts, including the strengthening of our relationship with the new Head Teacher, the first St Martin’s Garden Christmas Service at St Philip’s and an encouraging expansion of Andy Stammers’ role as school chaplain.

A fourth year of growth

Numbers are not important, but they are a sign of hunger, deepening discipleship and life in the Spirit. The Lord builds His church; it’s our job to worship Him. Four years ago, an angel manifested in my living room. He was wrapped in flames and I watched him move from our living room to take up a standing position above the church door. Then the Lord said: “Like moths to a flame”. From that moment, I have honoured the ministry of that angel – called Simeon (which means ‘he who listens’) – in bringing to St Philip’s those who are hungry for the Lord. We finish this year celebrating the arrival of new families, new friendships, growing ministries, new ministry partnerships…and a problem with lack of space!

Financial Provision

We have been so blessed by the generosity of the congregation this year with a significant increase in planned giving and a remarkable response to our annual Giving Sunday. This saw the church respond in such a way that we are now able to increase the size of our staff team to meet the growing needs of the congregation. Thank you St Philip’s and thank you, Jesus!

We are a family

As I mentioned above, seemingly more than ever, the Lord has spoken over us the narrative that we are a family. This has been so important to us as we have said goodbye to loved ones who have gone to be with the Lord; as we have worked out how to retain intimacy in a season of growth; and as we have begun to navigate recent changes in the Church of England. The bond of love between us is stronger than ever.

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THANK YOU

I am so grateful for all of you. What an awesome group of people to go on this adventure with! Thank you for your love and support throughout this year. Jules and I genuinely love you.

In no particular order, my deepest thanks to our staff team , whose tireless devotion and commitment to St Philip’s enables us to be a place that honours the presence of the Lord; our clergy team , who contribute so much, serve so selflessly and love Jules and me so deeply; our wardens , for their friendship, care and spiritual and practical support; our Kids & Youth team, who give their time, love and commitment to the vision for our young people; the ‘Friends’ team , for their love of our older generation; Kathryn, Jay and Beth for continuing to invest in our Students & Young Adults; Graham Pearson – PCC Secretary, fundraiser and relentless supporter; our Treasurers and Finance Team for their time, expertise and support of the vision; PCC and Standing Committee – a united and wonderful group of people who are so much fun to work with; our Safeguarding Team – for their help, advice and accountability; and all our key volunteers , not limited to but including: Worship & Production team - wow; Home Team and assistant wardens – culture carriers; Mark Ryder – servant-hearted; Ian Bleakley , Bran Munro and the Christmas Choir – such a blessing again this Christmas; Yvonne Conroy – lovingly holding the huge undertaking of the Drama Group; Ali Mottram – supporting the staff team one day a week and giving so much personal time to organise events and support the ministry; Prayer Ministry Team – loving the congregation and the Holy Spirit; Revival Prayer Meeting – your Kingdom partnership and faithful intercession; MATT22 volunteers – loving your neighbourhood in the Food Bank, Pantry, Warm Space and other contexts; and all our Home Group Leaders – nurturing, discipling, pastoring, welcoming and feeding. Thank you all!

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OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The reports that follow give a snapshot of some of the activity and focus of the ministry, mission and worshipping life of St Philip’s this year. In line with our overall vision to pursue God until Heaven overflows through us , the reports fall under our “3 B’s”: Behold, Belong, Become .

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REPORTS: BEHOLD

These reports reflect our desire to pursue the presence of the Lord and minister first unto Him. In our pursuit of Him, and in our growing awareness of the precious manifest presence of the Holy Spirit, St Philip’s is a discipleship environment. We believe that the most important thing is that God is honoured and the saints equipped through the baptism, and continuous in-filling, of the Holy Spirit - so that we can release heaven outside the walls of the church. Mission flows from intimacy with the Holy Spirit. PF

Worship – Jay Cook

This year has been especially significant for worship at St Philip’s. As the team has continued to grow, we have seen the Lord do amazing things: new measures of His glory; new sides to His face; and deeper, more tangible encounter than ever before.

I feel the main reason for this upgrade has been our shift in focus to the Lamb. We have longed to give Jesus what He wants in our times of worship and this has completely changed our approach - from song choice, heart posture during the week, honouring His presence and desiring that Jesus enjoys our worship as a pleasing and fragrant offering.

As part of this shift, we have revised our song list to reflect a greater focus on pursuing the Lamb. We have also switched around the position of the worship leaders and musicians at the front of church. Before, the worship team faced the congregation with the leader standing at the centre; now, the whole team faces inwards, allowing everyone to focus on the cross, with the worship leader no longer central. To quote Amanda Cook “We want to make Jesus the centre point of the church again”.

Our desire with this new layout is that the congregation is able to focus on Jesus and not on the worship leaders, and the worship leaders are able to focus on Jesus and not the congregation. We believe that the job of the worship team is NOT to lead people in worship; it is to WORSHIP and we believe that if we honour Jesus and give Him a place to rest His head (Presence), then He will come in His glory and He will draw all people to Himself.

This year, we issued a new document to the whole worship team called “St Philip’s Worship Team Culture and Values”. It outlines the things that we value and the culture we hold as worship team. This included topics like Pursuit of the Presence, Hunger, Sonship, Holiness, Humility and Honour.

We have continued to write and lead St Philip’s original songs throughout this year, a few of which have become some regular songs that we sing on Sundays and throughout the week

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as part of worship. This was one of the things that was massively on our hearts as we began to dream and speak to the Lord about His heart for the team when Paul arrived 3 years ago. We felt the Lord saying that we would be a worship team that would write our own songs and resource the local church, and we are now beginning to see this come to fruition. Rather than these songs coming out of writing sessions, instead they have flowed prophetically during church services and secret place encounters. As we have pressed into heaven’s song as a team and as a church, we have heard the songs of heaven and then released them on the earth.

Due to the uprise in original songs coming out of our worship team and congregation, we have begun to create an in-house recording studio in which we hope to (in the future) record some of the original songs during services. None of this is for outside exposure, it is simply to resource our congregation with recordings that they will be able to worship to during the week. The songs that we are writing have been, and will continue to be, released under the name Fragrance Worship Collective. The reason for this name is because we put high value on our worship being a fragrant offering to the Lord.

With all this said, our goal over this year and on to next year remains: ‘To pursue God until heaven flows through us’. That’s it. No fancy plan. No mind-blowing strategy. Just a posture of the heart to hunger and humility with no other purpose than to spend time with the most beautiful Daddy ever. So that is going to continue to be our pursuit over the next year and we are really expectant and excited for what He wants to do.

I would like to give a special acknowledgement to Alex Hills for providing us with a massive upgrade in our front of house speakers and to thank him for all of his love and support to the sound team, both in training and in personal advice on how to become better sound engineers. We want to lift him up in prayer as he heads off to pastures new in his new job! We will miss you because of who you are, not just because of what you do! You are welcome back any time, the doors are open here as your home whenever you need it!

And, of course, I would like to end by thanking every member of our brilliant team of musicians and production technicians - for your dedication, sacrifice and shared pursuit of Jesus in worship.

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Prayer – Paul Ferguson

Prayer sits alongside worship at St Philip’s. We always want to pray in an atmosphere of worship and out of an encounter with the Holy Spirit. We therefore seek to create as many opportunities as possible for the congregation to encounter the presence of God, grow in prophetic intercession and learn how to pray in the power of the Spirit.

Highlights this year have included:

Tuesday Morning Revival Prayer meetings – we have now been praying consistently for revival since March 2021. These meetings are frequently amongst the most powerful moments of the week and this year has seen another increase in the presence of God and the ministry of heaven in our midst. I am delighted that new church members have also joined the meeting, bringing fresh fervour for the things of heaven.

24-7 Prayer Room – the prayer room returned this Lent with an increased sense of commission to ensure that it is our David’s Tent at St Phillip’s. The room continues to provide an important opportunity for us to practice the presence of God and minister unto Him as glory priests. Thank you to all who took the opportunity to pray. You have made a huge difference.

Prayer Ministry Course - The Prayer Ministry Course returned this year with, by far, the biggest attendance to date. Over 50 people received 5 weeks of teaching, equipping and activations. A fresh anointing for words of knowledge was released and there was a measure of healing. It was also deeply encouraging to see 100% of attendees impacted with relevant and accurate prophetic words during one session. Since the completion of the course, new members have been added to the prayer ministry team and three new team leaders have been appointed to oversee prayer ministry on Sundays: Richard & Louise Corrie and Jae Munro. Our desire is that everyone is filled with the Spirit and equipped to minister in His power. This course is part of a wider strategy to make St Philip’s a place where miracles are common.

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Preaching – Paul Ferguson

The goal of our preaching at St Philip’s is not head knowledge but revelation. We aim to preach out of anointing obtained in the secret place because we believe that this is what causes the Word to transform our lives. This is why our preaching always aims to move into a time of prophetic ministry, in which our leaders and preachers seek to submit to the Holy Spirit and encourage the congregation to step forward for the laying on of hands and an encounter with the power of God.

As with our worship, our preaching this year has been impacted by our focus on the Lamb. There has been a shift in anointing and the Word has opened up to us in important ways.

Notable preaching series this year have included:

‘Core’ - a series that lasted for 30 weeks and spoke into the culture and priorities of God’s call on St Philip’s as a church.
‘One Found Worthy’ - our curate, Matt Vaine, took us through 7 weeks in Revelation that blew our minds to the awesomeness of Jesus.
‘Unto Him’ - a 6-week series in which we discovered the riches and significance of our calling as priests whose primary role is to minister unto the Lord.
Evening sermons - in addition to the above, sermons from our evening series have continued to take us higher and deeper with topics such as: Delighting in His Presence, the Dew of Heaven and the Blood of the Bridegroom.

All our preaching series are available on our website, some this year with study notes.

My thanks to those who have preached: Liza Wortelhock, Matt Vaine, Chris White, Jae Munro, Jay Cook, Debs Ross, Matt Orr, Jules Ferguson and Emma Allen. I am so grateful for the significant time dedicated to pursuing God in the secret place so that you can overflow for His glory on a Sunday morning.

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REPORTS: BELONG

The following reports reflect that we are family at St Philip’s – a theme of particular significance this year. Our bond runs deeper than doctrinal agreement; it is the bond of love in the Spirit that exists between sisters and brothers in Christ, daughters and sons of our Father who loves us perfectly and completely.

Belonging is reflected in many aspects of the life of St Philip’s, from activities that keep members of the congregation connected and encouraged in their faith; to initiatives that reflect our place of belonging in this neighbourhood and city.

I am particularly grateful for the many ways in which you look out for each other at St Philip’s. Very often unseen, your love for each other is a great strength to our church family. PF

Pastoral Ministry – Liza Wortelhock

Pastoral Ministry at St Philip’s is a key part of who we are as family. It is the place of learning to love each other well, to walk with each other, and bring a timely word from the Lord to encourage and strengthen one another.

I have seen first-hand the love and consistency of care that so many of our church family have given to those who have needed the ministry of God’s presence during times of extended illness, the arrival of a new baby, bereavement or a request to give time to meet up to pray and listen when life feels overwhelming. There is a small army of people who continue to faithfully visit and pray – you know who you are! Thank you.

This year we have seen the continuation of a regular service being provided at Rush Hill Mews Care Home by a team lead by Johan Allen.

We have provided basic training around Memory loss, to enable us to continue to love each other well.

One2One Sunday lunches for those who would otherwise eat alone continue to be a wonderful place of fellowship and encouragement, all are welcome. Mobile meals are still delivered to those who are unable to attend the One2One gatherings.

The ‘Hearty Meals’ ministry, led by Catherine Garrett, supports the church family by arranging the delivery of hot meals to those who have recently had a baby or are in times of trauma or loss when cooking can be a bridge too far.

Finally, I want to give a huge THANK YOU to all those who faithfully love, pray with and walk alongside family to lift their heads and keep their eyes fixed on Jesus.

It is always a joy to see people emerging from challenging circumstances with a deeper and stronger awareness of God’s faithfulness and provision. He is Good!

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Paul adds…

Many thanks to Liza, who has taken on the pastoral ministry lead this year. She has worked with Senior Leadership Team to create a better way of keeping in touch with those in greatest need in the congregation and, as well as attending to many people personally, she is coordinating the large congregational pastoral network that exists at St Philip’s, which she has spoken of above. My thanks to her and to all of you who love each other so beautifully.

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St Philip’s and St Martin’s Garden Primary Schools – Paul Ferguson

This year has brought changes to our engagement with both primary schools in our Parish – St Philip’s and St Martin’s Garden.

St Philip’s Primary

Our relationship with St Philip’s Primary remains very good, with lots of contact and input from the church. Due to other pulls on my time, I have had to step back from fortnightly collective worship but Matt Vaine has been incredibly helpful in stepping in, for which I am so grateful. It is hoped that a new Kids & Family Pastor will be able to take on this role in the future. I continue to contribute to school services in the church at Harvest, Christmas and Easter, as well as the year 6 leaving service. I remain on the Ethos Team.

As in previous years, St Philip’s Church continues to provide bibles for years 2 and 6; and a gift bag to every child at Christmas and Easter - which contains chocolates; a craft; a Bible Society Book; and an invitation to St Philip’s Church seasonal services and events.

The PCC continues to have a degree of input, which includes several of St Philip’s congregation members holding foundation governor roles. My thanks to Jack Wiggins and Kirsty Mokebo for their presence on the board and their dedication to the school.

St Martin’s Garden Primary

The greatest change this year concerns Andy Stammers’ ministry at St Martin’s Garden Primary School. After several years of very dedicated and patient work, primarily in the Food Pantry and the playground, but also by providing a link between the school and Grow for Life, Andy’s role – and our connection with the school – as suddenly expanded. This is great news and largely down to the arrival of a new Christian interim Head Teacher who has been keen to strengthen the relationship with the church – not to mention a good amount of prayer as well!

The result has been the first ever St Martin’s Garden Primary Christmas Service at St Philip’s – a significant milestone. Andy gave a short talk and the Pantry team (made up of St Philip’s and Combe Hay Church volunteers) were there to welcome families and hand out Christmas gift bags.

I am so grateful to Andy for his patient and dedicated presence at the school, which has been the key to the door that has opened to us.

Drama Group – Yvonne Conroy

The Drama Group have continuously been supporting each other through another year of changes and challenges. After our successful pantomime, Cinderella, we hit the ground running with a clear up of the stage. Buying new boxes meant that we could use our storage space more effectively and update our costume catalogue.

Monday night meetings remained a more sociable aspect, creating space and time for people to build on their social skills and feel supported and celebrating achievements. Meeting regularly has allowed us to become a more supportive group. We have seen God move in

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people’s personal lives, through prayer, healings and His unfailing love being shown through group members.

In July we performed our first Summer Showcase, a cabaret style showcase of talent interspersed with interviews. The inspiration and theme of the evening was a poem called Unashamed written by Harry Baker. Members of the group chose a short act to perform, giving opportunity to really play to their strengths. After each individual act, the performers had an informal interview where they shared how and why they joined the group. This was the perfect platform for members to share their glory stories of God’s unconditional love shown through the group. There were tears and laughter as they spoke about their journey, being brave, honest and open about their testimonies and it was a time to thank God and give Him praise.

Following the showcase, we had a summer break, then September we were back into rehearsal for the Pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk. This year we welcomed a surge of young talent on stage, backstage and learning new roles on the technical team, bringing in fresh new ideas. During rehearsals we continued to pray for members who were ill, and we witnessed some amazing speedy recoveries. By show week we had a full cast healthy and raring to perform to a sold-out audience. It’s a great pleasure to watch members grow and develop from the first auditions right up to performing show week.

The opening night’s ticket sales went to local charities, Dorothy House and Southmead Hospital ICU, along with donations made during other performances. Both charities were grateful for the generous donations and our contribution has enabled Southmead Hospital to purchase the Synaptive Modus X robotic microscope (a state-of-the-art robot which supports brain surgery).

The Drama Group’s motto is ‘Everyone is Welcome. Everyone is valued. Everyone can shine’. Over this last year it certainly has achieved that, welcoming new members, giving them a sense of value and allowing moments to shine. We continuingly thank God for His love, grace and mercy enabling all our members to grow in faith.

A quote from one of our reviewers: “This group continues to never fail to spread joy within the community, I hope you all feel the love behind those spotlights. For a few hours I forgot about the stresses of life and had a good hard giggle”.

Community Minibus – Suzanne Stammers

We are grateful for the provision of the minibus, which helps St Philip’s outreach and support in our local community. This year’s bookings have begun to bounce back since the Covid dip; we have seen both new drivers and user groups.

The minibus aims to support groups which facilitate the gathering of individuals to reduce isolation and loneliness and to enable individuals to participate in activities they would otherwise struggle to access.

We currently have 11 church-member drivers and 6 external drivers and support 35 different group activities, ranging from youth activities to older generation groups, enabling us to engage with a diverse range of individuals.

The minibus has been maintained and serviced by local garage, Genuine Car Services, for which we are very grateful. We have secured grant funding towards the upkeep of the minibus and running of the project from West of England Combined Authority (WECA) until March

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2024, which, with reduced donations this year due to the pandemic, has been received with great thanks.

Electoral Roll – Jenny Morrish

The Electoral Roll approved at the 2023 Annual Church Meeting contained 169 names and we thank God for each person. For St Philip’s Church, Odd Down, Bath, these names represent not merely an official list of church members, but of people who have chosen to belong to a church family eagerly seeking to grow into our inheritance as “the people of God” (1 Peter 2:10). As we worship Jesus together in the power of the Holy Spirit and pray, we expect that he will show us how our personal and corporate gifts can be used to build up the church family and take his love and life to people in Odd Down and beyond.

The 2023 Electoral Roll showed that 17 names had been removed during the year. We were saddened that these included five precious members who had died. We miss them greatly but are so grateful for the gift they were to the church family, and thankful that they are now with their Lord. To those that moved on we give our blessing and our thanks for the gift of their time at St Philip’s.

It was a joy and encouragement to welcome the 35 new members whose names had been added to the Electoral Roll. We pray for the Lord to draw us ever closer to himself and to each other as the body of Christ in this place, empowering us to become “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

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Deanery Synod Report – John Garrett

The Synod is made up of representatives from all the Anglican churches in Bath and surrounding areas. Synod generally meets 3 or 4 times per year, and the meetings are for worship, prayer, providing information, and discussions of issues that affect all the churches in the Deanery. St Philip’s has 3 representatives on Synod, who are Caroline Gay, Graham Pearson and myself.

The first Synod meeting of 2023 focussed on the financial position of the Diocese, showing that the Parish share just about covers the cost of the Stipendiary Ministers, but that means

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that all other expenditure must be covered from other income. They are selling some of the assets that are easily disposed, but that is a short-term solution. However, there is a 5-year plan in place under which the Diocese aims to have returned to the pre-Covid financial position.

The meeting in May 2023 had 2 presentations. The first was entitled “Tackling poverty in the city and region” and was given by the director of St John’s Foundation. The Foundation has 2 functions, the first of which is as an Alms-house provider. The second function is to provide assistance to children who do not meet the educational level needed to transition from primary to secondary school. St John’s provides support to children from birth to 12 years old to help them flourish.

The second presentation was about Bath Abbey’s Footprint project. This is now complete, and the Abbey aims to ‘Live and tell the good news of Jesus’, with six Ts: ‘Thanksgiving, Telling, Teaching, Tending, Transforming, Treasuring’ whilst managing the two purposes of the Abbey: to be a living church and at the same time a visitor attraction. Whilst the Abbey has recently started to charge for entry, they emphasised that Bath residents, and those who come to worship or to pray, light a candle, or receive pastoral care, will continue to be able to enter the Abbey without paying for a ticket.

The meeting in September 2023 was held here in St Philip’s. The main issue throughout the year was the Deanery Plan 2022-2027. The plan seeks to address the issue of diminishing resources within the Church of England. This was discussed at some length at this meeting, and various proposals were put forward, which were to be voted on at the following meeting.

This was duly discussed at the following meeting in November 2023, but with many reservations and suggestions that the proposals were not correct. After a lengthy process, the proposals and recommendations were voted on.

There was also a presentation about new worshipping communities. Among the points made were that we start new Christian communities for people who find, for whatever reason, that the existing church is out of reach. The Q&A was wide-ranging and included discussion of the terminology of worship and eucharist.

There was a recent Synod in February 2024, and the Deanery Plan was again discussed. One idea is for there to be Lay Leadership, and to that effect a Lay Ministry Pathway has been launched. A review of a new way of calculating the Parish Share paid by each Church is being done, and should be completed by early Autumn, and when the details are known, a further review of the Deanery Plan will be made, as the financial position may have changed.

Each meeting starts with worship led by the host Church, and also includes a report from the host Church and it is always encouraging to hear how the Holy Spirit is moving across our city.

Safeguarding – Paul Ferguson

Each year, we aim to review our Safeguarding Policy and procedures so that we are operating as safely as we can. I have continued to work with Jenny Barker, our Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO), and the Safeguarding Team to ensure that St Philip’s has a vigilant and healthy safeguarding culture; our training and DBS responsibilities are up-to-date; our policies and protocols are as robust as they can be; that our ministry leaders and volunteers are clear on how to respond to safeguarding disclosures if and when they might arise; and that I am supported and accountable. My sincere thanks for their time and expertise.

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This upcoming APCM will see Jenny Barker stand down as PSO. I am deeply grateful for her contribution over many years and her support of me since I arrived in 2019. She has done a huge amount of work to make sure that our DBS checks and training are up-to-date.

The safeguarding landscape is a constantly shifting one and it is clear that the current Diocesan Safeguarding Team is seeking to ensure that every church in Bath & Wells satisfies the Church of England’s requirements as fully as is absolutely possible. This has meant that the role of PSO and the responsibilities of every church has (rightly) increased. In response to this, we plan to allocate the PSO role to our new Operations Assistant who will work closely with the Safeguarding Team and Senior Leadership Team. Once they are in post, we will ask them to undertake a detailed piece of work to upgrade our current safeguarding provision, including training, DBS checks and our Diocesan Safeguarding Dashboard.

We continue to give thanks to God for enabling, guiding and leading us in our safeguarding responsibilities within our church. Also, for the willingness of the Diocesan team to advise from their experience and expertise. We look forward to continuing developments within our Safeguarding Team and the new Operations Assistant.

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REPORTS: BECOME

This section reflects our belief that we become what we behold. We expect to be transformed by God's presence. He does not leave us as orphans but has given us His Spirit that we would be transformed more and more into His likeness, authority and power.

The following reports touch on areas in which ‘becoming’ is reflected: from the discipleship environments of our Home Groups to our Rising Gen. ministries; from prayer ministry to the development of the fabric of the church buildings as we seek to position our physical assets for God’s expanding ministry here in Odd Down.

This section also includes some highlights from MATT22. Everything about MATT22 is rooted in the Father’s heart for the poor, the vulnerable and the abused. Our desire to be transformed through the presence of God overflows into our desire that those in our community, who are most in need and do not know the Lord, also experience the same transformation. We can only influence what we love, and we seek to love through MATT22.

Home Groups – Paul Ferguson

Home Groups are at the heart of St Philip's. They provide an essential context, not just for fellowship and discipleship, but also pastoral care. The vision for Home Groups at St Philip’s is that – within a culture of encounter – we grow in intimacy with God and with one another.

So, rather than simply being social gatherings, Home Groups exist so that our people can grow in a knowledge of the Word and the Spirit; practice the presence of God; learn to walk in the spiritual gifts; and be envisioned, equipped and empowered to go out and do the stuff of the Kingdom in our neighbourhood and city.

Here is a selection of comments from some of our Home Group leaders:

“Several members have said how much they value home group as a place where they can feel safe to share emotional and physical needs. Others value home group as an opportunity to touch the presence of God in worship, stillness and meditation.”
“Social activities this year, e.g coffees, meals and a Summer barbecue, have helped to develop deep friendships leading to care and support for each other outside of the home group meeting.”
"I love the way the Lord is leading us all. I love hearing stories of fresh joy, raising faith, pressing into our first love and retuning our hearts to Him and His incredible, overwhelming love - even in the midst of all that this world can throw at us.”
“We love our Home Group’s openness to the Spirit and hunger to spend time in His presence. Worship is where we start, sitting in adoration and gratitude.”
“We have gone deeper with the Lord and each other this year, sharing deeply, and celebrating His goodness together. Love our little family!”

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“We love our Home Group! This year we have grown so much closer to one another and enjoyed sweet times of worship and prophecy. We’ve welcomed new people and released others to a new Home Group plant.”

And a report from Rob Hendra, who attends the Jones’ Home Group:

“The current family of St. Philips has its roots in the life stories of so many amazing people. Some of these families have been attending St. Philips since the early 1970’s. Over the last 50 years they and many others have been totally faithful to St. Philips in their prayers, time and commitment. Some years ago, when the Church was in a time of flux I said to them “Isn’t it time to try a new Church?” “Not yet,” They replied, “God hasn’t yet called us on.”

I have the honour of sharing a home group where one of these amazing families are regular attendees. I love being part of their story and I respect their wisdom and their passion for St. Philips. I am constantly encouraged by them and their love for St. Philips people and of a real God who is so active today.

Alongside this legacy I also sit with new families who are just starting out on their journey at St. Philips. It is also wonderful to hear of their stories and experiences. My home group is a place of sharing, spiritual wisdom, love and excitement that God will pour out his blessings anew. We are young and old, families and singles.

Listening to God in the hard times is just as important as listening to God in the good times and being part of a home group that actively encourages this is vitally important. We build up people in friendship, prayer and in relationship. We study the bible and sermons alike. We love each other unconditionally and when one of us hurts we all hurt.

This is our life, this is our family, this is our story.

It has been so encouraging to see the number of people in Home Groups greatly increase this year, with 24 new people welcomed into groups, and I am so grateful to all our Home Group leaders for opening their homes, cooking meals and providing a context for us all to grow in intimacy with God and with one another. Thank you!

Mum’s Group – Emma Allen & Tori Wiggins

Mum’s group is a ministry which provides community, support and friendship for families with young children who are pre-school age and under.

We meet every other week, either in a family home or the Church Institute depending on numbers. We’ve seen a huge growth in young families attending St Philip’s recently and it’s been a joy to be able to extend invitations to them to join the group.

We have a WhatsApp group which everyone is welcome to join and we usually have between 4 and 7 families meeting together, varying each week depending on who is available.

It’s been a blessing to be able to get to know each other outside of Church and to build friendships and pray for each other. Sunday mornings can go by in a flash so having the time to connect properly is really important. Also sharing our experiences of parenthood, encouraging each other and generally building community has been really special.

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We look forward to seeing what the Lord does with this group in the coming year!

Rising Gen: Kids@StPhilips – Jules Ferguson

It’s been another encouraging year for Kids@StPhilips across both our Starfish group (ages 3-7) and Swordfish group (ages 8-11). We’re continuing to see growth in the number of children attending - particularly at the younger end where it’s not unusual to have 15-20 children in Starfish on Sunday mornings. The family room is also pretty full with lots of new babies and toddlers!

As the number of young families has grown, we’ve also been delighted to welcome some new helpers to the teams and are so thankful for the support and dedication of all the Kids team leaders and helpers.

We’ve covered lots of different topics in our groups this year – from digging deeper into our St Philip’s Culture Creators and Vital Values to the Fruit of the Spirit, God is Good and God speaks! Whilst we explore lots of different themes, our focus each week is to enable the children to become familiar with God’s presence through His Holy Spirit. Our Encounter Times are the focal point of every session and we are learning to chat to God and catch what He is saying back to us.

During 2023, we welcomed St Philip’s Primary School to church for several festival services – but were delighted to also welcome St Martin’s Garden Primary School for their first ever Christmas Service at St Philip’s. All 500 children at the schools were also invited to join us at two kids’ events - the first was our Easter Trail around the neighbourhood where children filled in missing words in the Easter story to solve a puzzle. It was beautiful day and there was a great buzz at church when everyone arrived back to collect their prizes and enjoy some well-earned refreshments.

The Light Party on 31[st] October was also very popular and this year featured a bouncy castle and inflatable games! There was an amazing spiritual atmosphere following a really powerful prayer meeting that morning. The children enjoyed making different crafts, a delicious meal, a narrated story video filmed by Helena and of course - a disco!

Then to finish out the year, we had some special and precious moments with the children at our Christingle service and Crib service on Christmas Eve.

We have been so encouraged by the church’s response to Giving Sunday which has enabled us to advertise for a dedicated Kids & Families Pastor in 2024 and we’re looking forward to seeing how he /she will be able to grow and develop this ministry.

We are so thankful to God for the amazing children and families who are part of the St Philip’s family. We love the life and energy that they bring and take great delight in watching them grow in their relationships with Jesus!

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Rising Gen: Youth@StPhilips – Matt Vaine

2023 was a jam-packed year with our young people, full of various ways in which we grew closer in our love and life with Jesus. We gathered each Sunday morning with both the older and younger youth to explore:

St Philip’s ‘Culture Creators’ (the cultural DNA of our kids and youth groups)
24-7 Origins Prayer Course in the prayer room over Lent
a series called ‘Everyday Saints’ with special guests from the church (Emma Allen, Kev Clark, Matt Orr and Beth Cook) joining us to share their testimonies
Spiritual Gifts
the ‘Vital Values’ (the core values of our kids and youth groups)
the book ‘Mountainside Secrets’ by Tim Rudge, youth pastor of Life Church
and finally, the Fruits of the Spirit.

The discipleship of our young people has been supplemented by evening sessions for the older youth in Rob and Sarah Hendra’s Yurt, Movement (a Diocesan youth worship event), and A2 (a city-wide youth worship event), and the One Faith Podcast where we heard the testimony of some of the leaders in the church. These gatherings have caused us to behold the goodness and love of the Lord in our lives.

We have also developed a closer sense of belonging together through these times and especially through our youth social event called Cave. Sam Davis, our SWYM youth student, helped kick this initiative off and we’ve had a blast together going bowling, engaging in a Nerf War, Tobogganing, Taskmaster, Crazy Golf, Panto, Curling, Xbox, table tennis, badminton, and much more. One of our ‘Culture Creators’ for the kids and youth is that a life with Jesus is fun. Whilst Cave certainly does not explore the full dimensions of this reality, it is a regular reminder and experience that life together with Jesus, in God’s world, is meant to be full of laughter, joy and playfulness. Praise the Lord!

Lastly, we have continued the journey of becoming — of growing more into the image of Jesus who perfectly reflects the goodness of the Father. We have had challenges from time to time with behaviour and have explored how best to serve our young people through these

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occasions, but throughout the year we have seen a shift into a way of being that honours each other for the group to flourish.

I want to express my deep gratitude to the leaders who have so faithfully supported and discipled our young people at various points this year: Vicki Atkinson, Rach and Dan Jones, Tony Cook, Sam Davis, Kathy and Tim Beadle, Meg Tucker, Chloe Robinson, Bran Munro, and Andrew Ross. I want to thank Sam Davis for his creative and diligent work with us as a SWYM youth student. I personally had a lot of fun supporting and working alongside Sam — we miss him in the team and his crazy antics in the office.

We must especially thank Vicki who, after 20+ years of leading, will now conclude her time in the youth group. Vicki has been a remarkably faithful servant to our young people over this time, and we pray and bless her for the next part of her service in the Kingdom of God, whatever it may be!

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Rising Gen: Students & Young Adults – Kathryn Todd, Jay Cook & Beth Cook

For the S&YA group, 2023 has been a year of morphing and growing, leaving and staying, highs and lows.

We have seen the group take on quite a different shape to previous years. We were sad, but also encouraged, to see a large cohort of people fly the nest to go on to the things that the Lord is calling them to! It was an honour and a privilege to bless them as they left, and we continue to pray for each person as they take up their new jobs.

With their departure came a lovely arrival of some wonderful new people! It has been an exciting year getting to know them as we have grown together in our faith.

We partnered with the Prayer Ministry Course this year in order to grow in praying for people and in the prophetic. It has been amazing to see how people have jumped in feet first and are beginning to really hone their prophetic gifts and bless people with their prayers, both in the group and on Sundays.

The most recent development in the S&YA has been our decision to move towards being a Home Group, rather than a “ministry”. This is because we felt that the group reflects a mutual

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dynamic of all of us helping each other to grow – rather than being a ministry with leaders who are discipling the people in the group. Although there will still be “leadership” over the group, our posture towards being a Home Group will allow people to feel that they can bring and share things that the Lord is speaking to them about. We are excited to see what the Lord is going to do through using the S&YA as His mouthpiece.

We want to give a huge acknowledgement to the incredible Kathryn Todd for her leadership of the group over the past couple of years. Kathryn will be getting married in the summer and, as a result, will be leaving St Philip’s. She has been such a blessing to this church in many ways, particularly as one of the leaders of our S&YA group!

Kathryn, we want you to know that St Philip’s will always be a place that you can call home and we are all praying for you as you head into this new exciting adventure of marriage!

‘Friends’ – Chris White

Friends are an amazing group of people of the older generation with a wealth of experience and wisdom. Many have served the Lord for most of their lives and are an inspiration in their love for Jesus and his family.

We meet fortnightly in the church hall. As we have grown in numbers, we have seen new members contributing their own stories of faith, poems, sketches, and songs. Some are from our own church and some from other churches. Some come from no church at all, maybe hearing about the love of Jesus for the first time.

Speakers have varied from those in our own congregation, with many giving their personal testimony, as well as talks - for example about the police, Bath City Pastors, and visits to Uganda.

We seek to encourage, love, and support one another, sharing prayer, worship, and a great deal of fun - such as enjoying meals out together, quizzes, games, and of course, homemade tea to end each afternoon! Friends gives above all a real sense of belonging to Jesus, His church and to each other. It has been so encouraging to see an increasing depth of fellowship and new joy in our worship and times together.

Sadly, we have experienced some losses of dear Friends amongst us, and we continue to pray for others who are more vulnerable as they are getting older and are experiencing loss of health, capacity, and their home. The leadership team and other members have formed a strong pastoral framework to ensure loving support.

I would like to give a special thanks to our wonderful leadership team who continually work so hard serving these precious people.

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MATT22 – Paul Ferguson with Andy Stammers

MATT22 exists for Kingdom Transformation in Odd Down. It is St Philip’s vehicle for loving our neighbours and for releasing our congregation into compassion ministry. Through MATT22, we seek to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, look after widows and orphans; and bring people to freedom in the name of Jesus and through the power of the Spirit.

The way I see it, everything we do that opens the doors of the church to the community or touches the community outside the walls of the church falls under MATT22 – from One2One and the St Martin’s Garden Pantry to our Warm Space and the Food Bank.

I still think there is more to come. There are still plans for debt advice, courses and employability schemes but we will pursue these when the Lord makes it clear that the time is right.

Here is a summary of some of the activities this year:

One2One

One2One is a monthly ministry outreach which provides a ‘Sunday roast’ for those who otherwise would be eating alone. It sits under MATT22 and reaches into the community. Its aim is to offer Christian fellowship and in doing so bring the hope of Jesus to those who could feel isolated.

One2One has declined in attendance slightly this year with some of our members becoming housebound or going to be with the Lord. Unfortunately, new members have not replaced those who have gone. We also lost the beloved Linda Wills this year who was such an amazing coordinator /administrator and maybe we have lost some momentum in regrowing the group. We have two challenges: communicating that the group is not just for the older generation and secondly publicising the group to the community where there is such need for companionship and the need for the love of Christ that One2One can offer. We have a great team of volunteers led by myself and Sarah Moxham-Hendra, who hosts on alternate months. We are always in need of volunteer minibus drivers who facilitate bringing guest to the church. This is such a lifeline for so many. We also continue to be blessed by members

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of the congregation who deliver meals to local members who are unable to be present in person. Please pop your head around the kitchen door to see if you can do a delivery (straight after service)!

We really feel that One2One is becoming an extension of the morning service. Members of the church (all ages) are encouraged to come and serve and eat with those attending, again adding to the feeling of inclusivity, and helping members to feel a sense of connection and belonging to the church. For many, this may have been their only contact with others. We are thankful to be serving our community at this time of great need.

Food Bank

The Food Bank, in partnership with Genesis Trust, has continued to run this year, with a dedicated team of volunteers from St Philip’s and elsewhere. Twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the church opens to those in the community who are most vulnerable.

The most recent development is that Citizens Advice is now present on Tuesdays at St Philip’s in partnership with the Food Bank.

Contact with the community has increased this year, but numbers have remained lower than we would like. We know that the need is there, but we agree with Genesis’ assessment that there are particular barriers to local people feeling able to use a Food Bank in Odd Down. We anticipate some changes in the coming year as Genesis seeks to address this.

Community Pantry

January marked our third anniversary of the Food Pantry, having established it in 2020 in partnership with St Martin’s Garden Primary School and ‘Sporting Family Change’, as part of our ministry to help those in food poverty in Odd Down.

Unlike a food bank model, the Pantry stocks high quality, in-date products and aims to be a consistent and affordable option for sustained provision of food in the community, providing dry food, frozen, fridge, fresh provisions and household goods. The model does not work on donations of products but seeks financial donations to purchase the products required.

Qualifying members make a £5 donation to allow them to choose 20 items (approx. £30 value). The aim of this approach is to bestow dignity and honour on our members, allowing them to make their own choices, just as they would in a regular shop rather than being ‘given a charity handout’. We don’t want them to feel they are only worth out of date food or ‘leftovers’ as they themselves are priceless in the eyes of God. The Pantry supports school families but is also open to qualifying members of the community.

Through the Pantry, we are building strong relationships with our members, providing love and support. We offer to pray with members, and this has been welcomed. A few of our members have come to church events.

Warm Space Café

This year saw the Institute transformed into a warm space, providing a place where people from the community, St Philip’s Primary School and the church can gather. A café-style atmosphere has proved successful and popular and allowed us an opportunity to undertake some “market research” as we continue to plan for possible café developments. Huge thanks to our team of volunteers and all those who have baked for us!

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Building Plans

This year has seen a significant amount of work on a feasibility study to explore works to our building facilities that will allow an expansion of ministry at St Philip’s, including MATT22.

This process has explored created new spaces for MATT22 partnerships, youth discipleship and a café that would be open throughout the week. We are motivated to explore an ambitious project that will release MATT22’s capacity to impact Odd Down and allow St Philip’s to show our community that we think they are worth investing in. Watch this space!

I am deeply thankful for the congregation’s generous support of MATT22 over the last year – especially those who have given their time to volunteer at the Food Bank, Pantry, One2One and the Warm Space. I am looking forward to this coming year as St Philip’s continues to grow in compassion and love for the people of our neighbourhood.

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Fabric Report – Paul Schaerer with Tim Conroy

Part of our emphasis on ‘becoming’ includes the development of the church facilities to enhance the depth and reach of the ministry and mission of St Philip’s. Over this last year we continued to develop our rebooted approach to facilities management, development and maintenance. We have established a new ‘Facilities Team’ made up of Paul Schaerer (Facilities Warden), Tony Cook, Paul Ferguson and Tim Conroy. The team oversees any work carried out by professional companies and organises smaller works to be done by volunteers.

We have put in place quarterly ‘Church Maintenance Days’ where the team meets with volunteers from the Church to conduct routine maintenance. Prior to this day, the team meets up to discuss priorities and establish a plan for the day, then reaches out to the wider church for volunteers. This serves the dual purpose of encouraging a community feel within the church, helping to develop a sense of collective ownership for the building and ground, and also utilising skills from the congregation. We have had regular volunteers and the general feeling has been incredibly positive towards this new approach.

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This year, we have overseen the following works:

annual maintenance of the flat felt roof, repairs of the skylight
painting and redecoration works, including renovating the rails leading to the Manna House
replacing light bulbs in the main church hall
fixing the curtain rail in the Institute

We also had contractors addressing issues raised in the Quinquennial survey. For a month in the summer, we had scaffold around our bell tower in order to fix the roof, replace the gutters and down pipes, fix and paint the wooden louvres and re-point much of the stonework. This should keep the tower in a good state for quite a few years to come. There was further roof work on the main roof, with gutters at the back realigned and lead flashing refixed.

Remaining high on the agenda is the need for more space to disciple our children and youth on Sunday mornings; the development of the flat above the church and works to upgrade our buildings and facilities to align with our aspirations for MATT22.

We are so grateful to the Lord that His ministry amongst us is causing us to seek ways to expand our numerical capacity and the ability of our buildings and facilities to keep up with the pace of the Holy Spirit.

Many thanks to all those who have given their time and expertise to maintaining the facilities of St Philip’s

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Structure, Governance and Management - Graham Pearson

Our Parochial Church Council is a corporate body established by the Church of England within the Diocese of Bath & Wells and is a registered charity (1131533). The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure and complies with the Church Representation Rules 2020. Four of the twelve lay members are elected for 3 years at the APCM/AGM, which was held in 2023 on 17[th ] May. Our Churchwardens are elected annually. All church members are encouraged to register on the electoral roll of the Church and stand for election to the PCC following the Church Representation Rules. PCC members, who are also Trustees, are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the church including deciding on how the funds of the Church are to be allocated and spent.

When planning and undertaking our activities for the year, we have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, and in particular the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. This report shows how we have sought to deliver public benefit to our congregation, our community, our city and abroad in 2023 and planned positively for the future.

The PCC met four times during 2022 and after the APCM. Our Finance Team met every 2 months (approx.) to manage our finances in a particularly challenging year with rising fuel prices and rising inflation. PCC activities and responsibilities are supported by special Teams, which also include other members of the church. These are the Finance Team, Matt 22 Projects, Mission Support Team, Rising Generation Team, Safeguarding and Maintenance Teams. A Pastoral Support team was created at the end of the year. Reports are also received from groups that oversee restricted funds for our Community Minibus and Drama Group. A weekly newsletter was circulated by email and paper copy to help communicate with all church members and those joining our on-line services.

Administrative information

The Church is situated on Frome Road, Odd Down, Bath, and is part of the Diocese of Bath & Wells within the Church of England. The correspondence address is 35, Frome Road, Odd Down, Bath BA2 2QF. Registered charity number 1131533.

email: office@stphilipstjames.org web: www.stphilipstjames.org

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PCC Membership during 2023

Elections at APCM 17[th] May 2023.

Clergy Reverend Paul Ferguson Reverend Liza Wortelhock Reverend Matthew Vaine

Churchwardens

Jo Bleakley Deborah Ross (co-opted) Paul Schaerer Matt Kent-Lemon (‘til May 23)

PCC members

Dave Atkinson Jenny Barker (Safeguarding) Karen Noad Ali Mottram Helena Midgley Kathryn Todd Emma Allen (from May 23) Jae Munro (from May 23) Rachael Jones (from May23) Vicki Atkinson (from May 23) Graham White (‘til May 23) Joe Mokebo (‘til May 23) Lucy Hall (‘til May 23) Tilly Platten (‘til May 23)

Deanery Synod John Garrett Graham Pearson (PCC Secretary) Caroline Gay (from May 23) Jenny Morrish (‘til May 23)

Co-opted Richard Corrie (Treasurer)

Non-voting staff member Tim Conroy (Church Administrator)

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FINANCIAL REVIEW In the period to the end of December 2023, Sl Philip's raised a total income of £245k {2022: £207kl against expenditure of £220k {2022: £201 kl. Unrestricted and designated funds Teceived totalled £227k {2022= £194kl. Restricted funds received lolalled £18k12022 £13kl with a balance of £28k {2022 £20k) on reslricled funds carried lorward inlo 2024. For the details behind these figures see the financial statements that follow this report. RESERVES POLICY tt is the aim of the PCC that the free reserves (unrestricted and not represented by fixed assets) held by the charity should cover 3 months of unrestricted expendilure. This equates lo approximately £52k. At this level the trustees feel Ihal they would be able lo continue the current activities of the chariiy in the evenl of a significant drop in funding. At the end of 2023, the church had free reserves (including designaledl of 5 ½ months ol unreslricted expenditure Approved by the Parochial Church Council on... And signed n it's behalf by: Name.. 27

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Independent Examiner's Report to the PCC of St Philip & St James, Odd Down, Bath & Wells

I report on the accounts for the year ended 31st December 2023 that are set out on pages 30 to 39

Respective responsibilities of the PCC and Independent Examiner

The PCC is responsible for the preparation of the accounts. They consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

Having satisfied myself that the church is not subject to audit and is eligible for independent examination it is my responsibility to:

• examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;

follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and
state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

This report, including my statement, has been prepared for and only for the PCC as a body. My work has been undertaken so that I might state to the PCC those matters that I am required to state to them in an independent examiner’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to any other than the church and the PCC as a body for my examination work, for this report or for the statements that I have made.

Basis of Independent Examiner's Statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission.

An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the church and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you the trustees, concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent Examiner's Statement

In connection with my examination, no matters have come to my attention:

which give me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements
to keep accounting records in accordance with s.130 of the 2011 Act; or
to prepare accounts which accord with these accounting records have not been met; or
to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

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Date: 8[th] May 2024 Derek Rodwell FCCA Impact The Future Ltd, Bennett Verby, 7 St Petersgate, Stockport, Cheshire, SK1 1EB

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THE PARoCHL CHURCH COUNCLOFTHE ECCLESLASMCALPARISH OF ST PHILIP & ST JAMES, ODD DOWN, BATH & WELLS BALANCESHEET As at 31 December 2023 No¢* Unrestrle Designated Funds Funds 2023 2023 Restricted Funds 2023 Total Unrestricted De5h3nat8d Restrlcted Funds Funds Funds 2022 2022 2022 Total 2023 2022 FIXED ASSETS Tangible 75.648 338 75.986 82,735 507 83,242 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors and prepayrnents Cash at bank and in hand 34,472 10,917 34,472 93,201 27.947 10.901 27,947 19.588 65,555 54.761 27,523 35.067 45.389 54.761 27.523 127.673 38,848 35,067 19,588 93.502 LBILMEs Creditors- amounts falling due wilhin one year 13,1671 14291 13.5961 11.7721 0 11.7721 NET CURRENT Assgrs 42.222 $4.332 27,523 124,077 37,076 35,067 19,588 91.730 TOTAL NET ASSETS 117.870 54,332 27.861 200,063 119,811 35.067 20.095 174,973 PARISH FVNDS Unreskncled Fund5 DesignalÈd Fund$ Restricted Funds 117.870 0 117,B70 54,332 27,861 119,811 0 119,811 35,067 20.095 20,095 54,332 35,Q67 27,881 117,870 54.332 27,881 200,063 35.Oe7 20.095 174,973 Approved by Ihe Parochial Church Counal on and signed on its behalfby.. Ferguson r Richard Treasu The notes on pages 32 to 39 foTrD part ofthese finanoal statements. Pa98 31

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2023-12-31-accounts

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF

ST PHILIP & ST JAMES, ODD DOWN, BATH & WELLS Charity No: 1131533

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT For the year ended 31 December 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VICAR’S REPORT

Aims and purposes

Our vision:

“To pursue God until heaven overflows through us.”

Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised with aweinspired reverence. Psalm 113:2-3 (AMP)

Achievements and performance :

SOME PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS, FOR WHICH I AM THANKFUL:

The Glory increases again

Revival Prayer

St Martin’s Garden Prayer Evening

A fourth year of growth

Financial Provision

We are a family

THANK YOU

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

REPORTS: BEHOLD

Worship – Jay Cook

Prayer – Paul Ferguson

Highlights this year have included:

Preaching – Paul Ferguson

REPORTS: BELONG

Pastoral Ministry – Liza Wortelhock

Paul adds…

St Philip’s and St Martin’s Garden Primary Schools – Paul Ferguson

St Philip’s Primary

St Martin’s Garden Primary

Drama Group – Yvonne Conroy

Community Minibus – Suzanne Stammers

Electoral Roll – Jenny Morrish

Deanery Synod Report – John Garrett

Safeguarding – Paul Ferguson

REPORTS: BECOME

Home Groups – Paul Ferguson

Mum’s Group – Emma Allen & Tori Wiggins

Rising Gen: Kids@StPhilips – Jules Ferguson

Rising Gen: Youth@StPhilips – Matt Vaine

Rising Gen: Students & Young Adults – Kathryn Todd, Jay Cook & Beth Cook

‘Friends’ – Chris White

One2One

Food Bank

Community Pantry

Warm Space Café

Building Plans

Fabric Report – Paul Schaerer with Tim Conroy

Structure, Governance and Management - Graham Pearson

Administrative information

PCC Membership during 2023

Independent Examiner's Report to the PCC of St Philip & St James, Odd Down, Bath & Wells

Respective responsibilities of the PCC and Independent Examiner

Basis of Independent Examiner's Statement

Independent Examiner's Statement

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