2024 APCM St James Styvechale 2023 J I JAMES ## Dear Friends, I am so thankful to God for our St James Church family. It is such a joy to be part of a community who are seeking to grow in Christ. As I read through the reports of the past year there is so much to be thankful to God for. There is a sense in which God has been doing a new thing amongst us. As part of this fresh wave of his blessing there are three things that I have been particularly encouraged by. • We have seen new people taking up roles within our church family. This has led to fresh energy and creativity within the church. I think about a new team restarting church breakfast, prayer ministry restarting and new people joining teams across the church. • We have seen several new people join our church community during the past year. A number of these have been people joining church for the first time or reconnecting with Church. • There has been a richness in worship - we have gone deeper into God's word and had some wonderful times of pressing into his presence. There is of course so much more and you can read about this in the report that follows. But first I just want to say a huge thank you to all those who are part of our St James Church family - who lead amongst us, who support, who actively participate. It is together we grow and mature in Christ. Love and blessings, Josh (Vicar of St James) 3 ## **Sundays** ## 8:00am Holy Communion Service A quiet traditional service, with Holy Communion and hymns. The service lasts about an hour and is followed by refreshments. - 10:00am Informal Worship Service An informal service, with lots of room for children and young people to engage, and includes band led worship, teaching and prayer ministry. There is a crèche for 0–2-year old’s, children’s Church for 3-10 year old’s and a youth program for 10-18 year old’s. The service lasts about an hour and a quarter. ## 10:00am The Grange A small congregation with a mix of formal and informal services, band led worship and teaching. The service lasts about an hour and is followed by refreshments. 4 **Highlights from services:** Teaching Over the course of the year, we have had the following teaching series. As well as celebrating the key events of the Christian calendar, we have had other sermon series each term. 5 ## **Christmas** It was wonderful to see a return to the numbers we had before COVID at our Christmas Services. This year we focussed on the theme of Follow the Star: The Great Invitation. As well as our Christmas services you will read about the Christmas events that several of our ministries hosted in the reports that follow. Carols & Cakes at the Grange A wonderful mix of carols, songs and readings. Lots of people from the wider community joined in and experienced generous hospitality. 6 ## Carol Service It was great to worship together through traditional carols and worship songs. It was wonderful to see people from all ages and new for this year an orchastra. ## Christingle Service Lots of families from the local community join in and hear the Good News of Jesus on Christmas Eve. ## Christmas Day Services We had our three main in-person services on Christmas day - 8am, 10am and Grange services – and then also our online service. 7 ## **Easter** _(Picture of the Easter Set up)_ Maundy Thursday After eating together, we had a reflective service and shared in the Lord's supper. Good Friday All Age Service An interactive service following Jesus' journey on Good Friday culminating in his death on the cross. Wonderful to reflect together on all that Jesus went through on that first Good Friday. Good Friday Meditations A quiet reflective service with hymns and readings and meditations 8 ## **Worship Ministry (Jonathan Philp)** Every week we seek to lead the people of St James in sung worship as an expression of our love for and delight in Christ. He is almighty, everlasting, full of grace and love, holy and magnificent beyond our understanding – he is worthy of our praise and adoration. To focus our minds on Him through singing and music is our objective; to glorify Him whether the week has been good or bad - we know that He is all that we need, and time spent in His presence is time well spent. Over the last year it has been great to welcome Emily Boxall, Paul Bugby and Dave Ashworth to the team and wonderful that we have regularly had young people joining the bands both on Sundays and at special services around Easter and Christmas. If anyone would be interested in joining a band either to sing or to play an instrument, please speak to one of the team. 9 ## **Audio Visual (Mark Fishpool)** The A/V team is responsible for running sound, screen and video in church every Sunday. The biggest part of this is the 10am Leamington Road service which typically has a full worship band and where we live stream the service each week. At this service we have one person running sound and another operating song words and the live stream video. We also help at other special services, including the occasional wedding or funeral. Most of the time everything runs smoothly, and no-one notices us - that's when we know things have gone well! This past year has been stable for us, with the team staying the same and only a few small changes in our equipment. It has been good to be able to settle in to a more regular pattern of running things each week. ## **Children & Families (Josh Grimwood)** Cogs (Children of God), children’s work takes place on a Sunday morning during our 10am Leamington Road service. We have the following groups; Little Cogs aged 3 - 7 (end of year 2) and Middle Cogs aged 8 - 11 (end of year 6). The older youth year 7 to year 13 (12 - 18) are part of Re:Vive, our youth ministry, see youth report for more information. 10 The children’s ministry would not be possible without the hard work of the volunteers who plan, lead, resource and support the children’s ministry. Thank you to all for the time, energy, commitment, and dedication to serving the children and families here at St James. Whether you have been serving on the team for years, or if this has been your first year on the team, we are so grateful for all you do. We have been able to continue providing sessions most weeks during time term, consisting of some planned worship and Bible teaching sessions and some all Cogs together sessions which are mainly play and craft activities. On the first Sunday of the month, we have continued to hold All Age Services which seem to be received well. It is definitely a challenge to try to plan services which meet the needs of all age groups, but it has been very helpful to see people responding well to the illustrations and prayer responses. This year, as I have joined the team at St James, we have had a change in leadership on the Children and Youth Steering group as I have taken on the leadership of the team. Thank you to Josh Lumwagi for his leadership of that group and his continued support and wisdom as a member of that team. One of the challenges this year, which led to one of our highlights is that the Spree camp was not running, so instead, the team ran a trip to Alton Towers for 8-18’s and held a sleepover in the evening. It was a busy but wonderful day! Well done to all involved. We are looking forward to doing something similar again this Summer, maybe not all on the same day Another highlight was our light party! Thank you to all involved in running it. It was a joy to be joined by a couple of families from Allstars. At the end one of the children asked “can we do this every year?” A great endorsement! At time of writing we are planning a pancake party for February half term and hoping to do some more ad hoc events towards the Summer. 11 Perhaps my favourite moment from the year was our Christmas Nativity Service, it was a joy to see so many of our Cogs children and Re:vive teens taking part in that service, a special thank you to Izzy for organising the nativity and to the Cogs team for the Christmas party afterwards. You are all such a blessing to St James We are looking forward to seeing how God will continue to bless our children and families over the coming year. ## **Re:vive Youth (Josh Lumwagi)** Re:Vive exists to making disciples of Jesus. It’s a safe and fun place that inspires young people to grow a deep personal relationship with God, with each other, and reach out to world around them making positive impact. It is aimed for young people between ages 11 and 18. We have Thursday evening sessions running from 6:45pm till 8:45pm and Sunday session running at 10am till 11am. _Just a community of young people who want to know more about Jesus, whilst having some fun!_ Encouragements: What has always made Re:Vive tick simply is a brilliant team. We are blessed to have leaders who are really committed, creative, excited, and passionate about serving, loving, and discipling our young people. These amazing leaders are a great encouragement: Emily Boxall, Ali Maynard, Jonathan Philp, Nick and Claire Bradshaw, Josh Grimwood, Simon Cripwell. Also, just a few highlights from last year 2023 we had the pleasure of welcoming three 12 new young people into Re: Vive from year 6, we visited Alton towers, had a successful sleep over at Church centre, and we were joined by Re:Vive alumnus in our annual Christmas dinner! It’s so exciting to be part of the journey of our young people’s. The theme verse we are looking at this year is form 1 Timothy 4:12-13 _“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”_ and, of course, always expect lots of fun activities in our sessions! :) Quote young person: “It’s my first time at Re:Vive and I have really enjoyed being part of it this year,” Quote young person: “I really enjoy our music club and pizzas!” Short story of what God is doing: _“We had the leaders meeting at the beginning of 2024, and the one thing I sensed the Lord was highlighting while listening from each of our Leaders share their reflection from last year (2023) is that our young people are getting involved more in serving; in prayer, music, leading worship, and also behind the scenes in tech and hospitality. I believe God is doing an amazing work in and through our young people and so grateful to witness this.”_ Josh Lumwagi ## **Prayer Ministry (Josh Maynard)** It has been wonderful that we have restarted the prayer ministry team during 2023. We had some prayer ministry training as a team in the summer term and shortly after this restarted offering prayer ministry on the 2nd and 4[th] Sundays of the month. We are grateful for the way in which we have been able to provide a space for people to receive prayer for healing, a renewed infilling of the Holy Spirit and much else. Thank you to our prayer ministry team who serve in this ministry. 13 ## **Small Groups (Josh Maynard)** Our small groups continue to provide a space for people to worship, study God's word and find belonging and community at St James. It was great to join together mid-week, during lent, as small groups as we went through the Wellbeing Course. We met several times as small group leaders to support and encourage one another. We also began to discuss how we can develop new groups to help provide space for those who are not currently in groups. Watch this space over the coming year. ## **New Wine (Josh Maynard)** We had a great year at New Wine this with over 30 of us attending. We had a lovely spread of ages and real sense of community. We had a Bring and Share Lunch and BBQ during the week. The teaching and worship were brilliant with a great range of speakers. We look forward to returning next year, with already a good number signed up! ## **Global Leadership Summit | Leadership development (Josh Grimwood)** As a staff team, we were able to attend the Cambridge Global Leadership Summit (GLS) in October. As the name suggests, GLS is a global leadership conference which has been running for more than 30 years. The aim of the conference is to inspire and equip leaders to maximize their full leadership potential. This year we heard a variety of talks from speakers such as Craig Groeschel, founder, and senior pastor of Life Church; Dallas Jenkins, director, and co-writer of The Chosen; Olivia Amartey, executive director of Elim Pentecostal Church UK and more. The talks ranged from building trust in leadership, how to connect with an audience in public speaking, and how to make the most out of habits to be more effective workers. We each had different “favorites” and had much to talk about afterwards. One 14 of our “favorites” was Craig Groeschel stressing the importance of vulnerability and openness in leadership. As well as hearing these very inspiring talks, it was also a joy to spend the day together as a team and spend time praying for each other and discussing the day’s input after the event as well. ## **Pastoral Care (Jane Foster)** Jane Foster, Maro Whitehead, Josh Maynard and Rachael Hansford. We meet once a term and have a WhatsApp group to discuss needs within our church community on a regular basis. Our main aim is to support people within the church in times of need. We are happy to visit people and to pray with them if they wish. Josh and Maro are also able to offer home communion. We keep in regular contact with people via text, email, and phone calls to support them through difficult times. Another thing we offer is arranging meals for a period, for example for a week or two after having a new baby or returning from hospital. Of course, not all the pastoral care within the church is done by the team. The congregation regularly support each other by keeping in touch, joining the meal rota, and standing by each other in times of need. To be a Christian one must ‘Love thy Neighbour’ and we appreciate all the pastoral ‘work’ that is going on, daily by many of our Church members. ## **Prayer Line (Maro Whitehead & Christine Binks)** Prayer is the way we communicate with God. In Philippians 4:6 it says. “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God”. This is the very reason why Prayer line exists. A group of 12 people have committed to pray and bring before God the needs of others: these maybe physical, spiritual or emotional. We ask our Heavenly Father to intervene, touch, heal and provide for those we are praying for. People have reported to us of knowing God’s presence with them when they were most vulnerable and seeing their situations change in most unexpected ways. 15 ## **Church Breakfast (Sarah Owen)** Parish Breakfasts restarted from May 2023. We now do a bacon roll and fruit on the first Sunday of the month from 9-9:45 in the church center. This has been attended by some of the 8AM and 10AM congregations and we normally expect about 40 people. We also did a New Year Brunch. The aims of the breakfast, as well as having something tasty, is to provide a space for the congregations to mix in a relaxed and friendly environment and to build relationships. We now have a core serving team including some children and youth, and love seeing the children and young people having the opportunity to play together freely and engaging in serving. We also feel the breakfasts provide informal opportunities for churchgoers to support each other and feel engaged in the church family, which is invaluable. **Community Coffee Morning (Maro Whitehead, Julia Graham & Sheila Butler)** We continue to run the Community café every Thursday mornings in spite diminishing numbers of volunteers. The café remains a warm, welcoming place, enjoyed by all attendees. The majority of folk who come through the doors are members or are connected to St James. Presently we have five people, who have no connection to the church, and yet come regularly and thoroughly enjoy the company and the refreshments we offer. We are very pleased, 16 encouraged, and thankful to God for this opportunity to serve members of our wider community. The Macmillan coffee morning in late September was a success raising around £600. At Christmas we had around 60 children from Grange Farm School who came and sang Christmas Carols to us. It was a real joy and pleasure to have the young people sing and then mingle and chat to the older people there. All in all, another good year for the café for which we give thanks. ## **Bubbles and Baubles (Ali Maynard)** In December 2023 we held our annual Christmas Craft evening, Bubbles and Baubles. This has become a firm favorite with requests for it to happen beginning in early Autumn! We had a fabulous team from church hosting with 7-8 different crafts for people to have a go at along with Christmas refreshments and music. What a night! We had about 95 people in the church for Bubbles and Baubles. This has become a real welcoming event for people outside of our church family, with approximately 2/3 of those attending being friends, family, or members of the community. It was a wonderful evening of celebration, creativity and fun and we received loads of positive feedback. We give thanks to God for this and to the amazing team and everyone who helps 17 each year. This is a huge undertaking and people work so hard. So grateful for you all. ## **Coronation Party (Lesley Cross, Lorraine Nelmes)** To celebrate the Coronation of King Charles the Community Events Team organised a Coronation Party on the extra bank holiday. Various members of the congregation volunteered to man the stands with games, raffle, and coronation items for sale. The Bishop’s Chair was used as a throne along with an almost life size poster of the King. We had various size crowns, and we all had the opportunity to pose with a crown and coronation robes next to the King. Afternoon Tea was served to all the visitors and the coronation was shown on the main screen. A lovely family time to share in such a special day. 18 ## **CREATE (Bridget, Gill & Chloe)** Create craft group meets on the last Friday evening of the month in the Church Centre and has been running for a couple of years now. It’s an event where Christians and nonChristians can mix with ease over (home-made) cake, coffee, and craft, while giving us the opportunity to show our love and faith in Jesus and offer encouragement through listening, sharing and caring, while we learn to make ## something together. During this year we have had on average 15 attendees each month, although we now have over 40 ladies on our email newsletter list. We have a core of regulars who love to try the different crafts that we provide each month, some are members of St James, but we have many others who aren’t. Most of our Create friends were extremely keen to sign up to Bubbles and Baubles this year and some came with their families to our Christmas services. We're looking forward to all the new craft adventures that our small enthusiastic team can share with our creative friends during 2024. 19 ## **ALLSTARS (Alison Cullinane)** We have had a change of leadership at All Stars as Christine Binks retired from her many years of leading All Stars at the Grange and Leamington Road, we would like to thank Christine for her time and dedication to All Stars As a team of 5 we provide a safe space on a Wednesday morning for approximately 35 young children aged between 0-4 year to play and have fun plus building friendships with Parents, Grandparents and Carers. The children get creative each week with a craft activity, they play with train sets, cars and garages and create food in their mini kitchen while the adults sit back with a “cuppa” and a chat. They love to hear a story and sing at the end of each morning. Having lost many children in last July as they moved into Education, we are now back at full capacity again with a waiting list. We have good relationships with those that come and have had opportunities to pray with them. We were encouraged to have some families attend the Light Party in November, Bubble and Baubles in December and some Christmas services. We pray that some families will attend the Easter Services. A quote from one parent at Christmas was “Not only do you provide a lovely place for our children to play, but you also care and support us.” 20 **Connect Stewards and Service Managers Report (Charlotte Latham)** Our aim is to ensure that everyone who enters church on a Sunday morning, whether they have been coming to St James for 50 years, or if it is their first time visiting us, gets a warm welcome. We are keen to ensure that all who come to church are welcomed by a friendly face and that those who are new to St James or who are visiting can see the warmth of our community as soon as they arrive. It is our hope that we can show something of God's love to all within the church community on a Sunday morning. We also hope to help those who are new to get stuck into life at St James. This year, it has been wonderful to see the team continue with the ministry they have been doing so well for so many years and I have been encouraged by the way in which all those on the team work together to support one another and ensure a warm welcome. I have been encouraged by visitors receiving a strong welcome at St James, which we hope has helped them to feel quickly settled and to be able to find their niche at St James. We are looking forward to welcoming new members to our team and are always keen to hear from anyone who feels they would like to be part of this ministry. I am looking forward to further developing how we welcome newcomers to St James over the next year with the team. ## **Eco Church** This is the second year since the launching of our church Eco Group. We were delighted to have received the Bronze Award and are now well on the way to achieving our Silver Award. 21 We have a page on the church website and regularly add reports, activities, and photographs to this. Each month we share Eco themed prayers and Eco tips into the church E-News. We put up bird boxes in the churchyard, installed a bug house and a leaf cage. A few of our congregation of different ages already use their bicycles to come to church. We now have approval and a quote for installing cycle racks to encourage more people to use their bicycles. We have a program of dates for: 4 specific Eco meetings a year, 4 specific Eco services a year and 4 churchyard gardening days a year. We can add to this if necessary. We have liaised with Josh Lumwagi to examine ideas for raising environmental awareness with our young people. We have put together resources for Home Group studies on environmental themes. We are constantly addressing issues such as recycling and making improvements where necessary. We have addressed our source of renewable power and when lighting is replaced energy efficient bulbs are used. We are looking into the possibility of solar panel instillation on the church hall roof. We need two new volunteers to join the group and particularly a representative from the Grange. Communication with the group can be e mailed to: ecochurch@stjam.es Andy and Sue Walmsley on behalf of the St. James Church Eco Group, February 2024 22 PCC & Staff - ChufG eime 23 Continued... riinwood - ///et - pcc O*aii 24 Continued... QDuty safie(J off sadly passed awa 24. Our thoughts are wit his famity. tler - PC GG - Church Gie 25 ## **Safeguarding (Steve Capitani)** The church of St James (Styvechale) follows the safeguarding guidelines that have been defined by the Church of England, House of Bishops in their document entitled “Promoting a Safer Church”. The church works with the resources provided by the Coventry Diocese to implement the policy and directives. The role continues to be held by Steve Capitani. The safeguarding officer is supported by a deputy safeguarding officer, Lesley Cross (for the 8am Service). Until sadly passing away Geoff Carr was the deputy safeguarding officer for the Grange. Fortunately, it has been a relatively quiet year in terms of “causes for concern” with no new cases being reported. That said, the purpose of safeguarding is never to become complacent and an important element to achieving this is completion of the basic safeguarding training by as many people as possible. Individuals who head up the various ministries complete an additional safeguarding module. The training is usually completed by individuals on-line however a few events were staged last year for those preferring to complete the training communally. The current requirement is to repeat the safeguarding training every 3 years which comes round very quickly so this remains an area of continual focus with the need for improvement. One national change in the last year has been to reduce the length of time that a DBS check is valid from 5 years to 3 years. This will increase the administration required to meet the requirement to have people who work in certain roles, namely children or pastoral care, to hold a valid certificate. Also, the Diocese now only finance DBS checks for “enhanced” roles, as mentioned previously, and relies instead on the other elements of the safer recruitment process to vet people appointed to roles in the church that previously requires a “basic” DBS check. The ongoing challenge is to maintain a high level of compliance by individuals with the requirements of the Church of England safeguarding guidelines in terms of updating DBS certificates when required and refresher training. 26 ## **Hall Bookings at St James (Rebekah Cassar)** The St James Church Centre & St James on the Grange have several rooms available for hire. Rooms are available and charged for hire by the hour. Our facilities are available to hire for community groups, private functions, and Church members, we also have special Church member rates. I am happy to share we have seen a significant increase in the Occasional Bookings & have recently taken on a few new Regular Bookings, with some existing groups also extending their time of use too. We are blessed and privileged to have the custom from our Regular & Occasional Hall Hirers. This year we worked hard in 3 areas of our Knoll Drive Church Centre: The Church office, the Meeting room & the Coffee Lounge. Working to a budget and with the grateful help of our Church Volunteers and staff we successfully redecorated/updated 3 key rooms where Regular/Occasional Bookings and Church Activities could benefit from. 27 St James has a rich & strong history in the community of Styvechale, we are blessed to have 2 buildings we can hire out: Knoll Drive & the Grange. We are proud of the heritage & history St James has. Some of our buildings & grounds have existed for many years. As we look back through our history 3 things are clear: 1. We are passionate about our community. 2. We have always been here to serve & help. 3. We understand the importance of each of our users’ events/bookings and “We have the space for them to create lasting memories”, just like our Church’s History. I, Rebekah Church Administrator & Bookings Officer / overseer in this area maintain a structured, developed, & effective process for this. Navigating a yearly Annual Review & have a desire to create evangelistic & relational opportunities with our booking groups & customers. ## **Deanery Synod (Barbara Carr)** Report on the work of south Coventry and Kenilworth Deanery Synod The purpose of deanery synods is to provide a two-way communication between parishes and the diocese. We have three representatives on the synod. The South Coventry and Kenilworth Deanery synod has met three times this year; - in February at St Oswalds Tile Hill, - in May at St John’s Kenilworth - and the October meeting was at St James Styvechale. - The host parish gives a talk on an aspect of their work, sharing difficulties and encouragements and receiving prayer. 28 ## **Finance Review** ## **Income** Total unrestricted income was £171k, an increase of £23k on the amount received in 2022. Annual income has now recovered to within £10k below pre-Covid19 levels. Voluntary income or giving together with income tax recovered increased by £9k to £105K. This reflects a positive response to the stewardship campaign and new people joining the church. Income from fund raising activities (mainly hall lettings and rentals) amounted to £55k, an increase of £10k. Most of this increase came from additional hall lettings with increases in both regular and ad-hoc bookings. Rental income from Watercall Avenue remained at £12k with a tenant in place for the full year. Other income was £4k higher at £11k benefiting from higher interest rates on church reserve funds. ## **Expenditure** Total unrestricted expenditure of £164k was £15k higher than 2022. Worship, Mission and Ministry costs increased by £5k with the first full year of costs of our youth worker. Building and facility costs increased by £8k due to higher energy costs. Maintenance costs continued below planned levels. Administration costs were at a similar level to 2022. Total Parish share was unchanged. This is our share of the costs of ministry in the diocese including housing, stipend, training and supporting other churches in the diocese. We were able to continue our support for home and overseas mission, with outward giving £1k higher than 2022. ## **Overall Position** 29 In overall terms, income for the year exceeded expenditure by £7k. ## **Designated Funds** There was no movement in designated funds during the year. Designated funds remain at £76k, comprising £74k for improvement projects and £2k for mission. This is mainly from legacies set aside by the PCC for such projects. ## **Restricted Funds** Restricted funds increased by £17k. We were able to obtain grants of £25k enabling us to employ our youth worker on a full-time basis and we are very grateful for the support shown by the various grant awarding bodies. These were Benefact Trust, National Lottery Community Fund, Baron Davenport’s Charity and Diocese of Coventry. Note that most of these grants are for use over a 3-year period. In addition, we received a £1k grant from the Diocese to help offset the increase in energy costs. ## **Reserves** Excluding fixed assets, our free reserves at the end of 2023 totaled £102k, an increase of £10k from the end of 2022. The reserves policy is to hold the equivalent of 3 months general running costs and an amount to help fund projects over the next three years. The amount required for the 3- month cover is £44k with £58k available to fund projects. 30 ## **Other Statutory Information** ## **Structure, governance and management.** The Parochial Church Council is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure. The PCC is a Registered Charity. The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St. James' the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (vicar), churchwardens, treasurer and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All those who attend our services / members of the congregation are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC. The full PCC meets six times during the year with extra meetings where required. PCC teams each deal with aspects of parish life, including finance, fabric, and leadership team. These teams are responsible to the PCC and report back to it regularly. ## **Administrative Information** St James’ Styvechale Church is situated on Leamington Road, Coventry and our planted Church congregation known as St James on the Grange is situated on Lonscale Drive, Coventry. St James is in the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The correspondence address is St James’ Church Styvechale Parish Office, Knoll Drive, Coventry, CV3 5BT Bank: HSBC Bank plc, 135 Daventry Road, Cheylesmore, Coventry, CV3 5HD Independent Examiner: Mr. D W Spafford FCCA, 25 Ivybridge Road, Coventry, CV3 5PF The Parochial Church Council (PCC) has been registered with the Charity Commission since 29[th] September 2009, charity number 1131884. PCC members who have served at any time from 1st January 2022 until the date this report was approved are: ## **Ex Officio members:** Incumbent: Reverend Josh Maynard Curate: Reverend Josh Grimwood (started in June 2023) 31 Warden: Lesley Cross (from January 2022) ## **Elected members:** Nick Bradshaw Geoff Carr Steve Capitani Roger Graham (Treasurer) Charlotte Latham Sheila Butler Lesley Cross Lorraine Nelmes Gillian Baylis Alan Mullett Josh Boxall ## **Deanery** ## **Synod Representatives** Mrs. Sheila Butler Mrs. Barbara Carr Mr. Geoff Carr ## **Risk Management** The Church has a risk management framework. Fire and health and safety risk assessments are carried out periodically, and recommendations acted upon. The church has a parish safeguarding policy, and Disclosure and Barring Service certificates are obtained for staff and volunteers who work with children and vulnerable adults. Financial risks have also been considered. Appropriate insurance is in place. The PCC have a reserves policy to ensure that funds are available to allow the church to continue in the face of short-term reductions in income. ## **Aim and purposes.** St. James’ Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, the Reverend Josh Maynard, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social, and ecumenical. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the Church Hall at Knoll Drive and the Grange Church Centre at Lonscale Drive. 32 ## **Public Benefit Statement** Consideration has been given to the Charity Commissioner’s guidance on public benefit and the specific guidance for charities for the advancement of religion. In the view of the trustees the charity fulfils its public benefit obligations. ## **Objectives and activities** St James continues to build on the vision the PCC and wider Church discerned together under the title 'Journey of Adventure: Discerning our vision'. Our agreed mission is "to make committed followers of Jesus". Flowing from this is our 'imagine' vision where we set a picture of what St James could look like in 5-10 years’ time. St James has also adopted the 8 Essential Qualities as the values for the church which are part of the wider diocesan strategy for developing the health of local churches. To realize this vision, we have set out 5 key strategies: 1. Reaching our community 2. Making mature disciples 3. Mobilizing the ministry team 4. Assessing the ministry setting 5. Raising and managing finance **Achievements and performance** These have been set out in the preceding pages which we hope you have enjoyed reading. This annual report was approved by the PCC on Monday 11[th] March 2024 and signed on their behalf by: Rev. J. Maynard 33 NOTES: 34 NOTES: 35 J I JAMES ST. JAMES STYVECHALE MAKING COMMITTED FOLLOWERS OF JESUS Financial Statements of the Parochial Church Council for the year ended 31 st December 2023 Charity No. 1131884 Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of St. James, Church, Styvechal Coventry I report to the charity tNstees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the year ¢nded 31st December 2023 which are set out on pages 3 10 14. Responslbllltles and basis of report As the charity's Irustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act,). I report in respect of my examination of ihe chaTity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 201 IAct and in carrying out Tny ¢xamination I Iiave followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under s¢¢lion 145{5}(b) of th¢ Act. Independent examiner's statement I have completed my examiJ)ation. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attention in con￿￿110n with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material r￿peCt. accounting records were not kept in resp¢ct of the charity a8 required by section 130 of the Act. or the accounts do not accord with those records. or the accounts do not comply with the applicable requiTement$ ¢oncerning the fonn and content of accounts s¢t out itl the Charities (A¢counts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requireinent that the accounts give a 'true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in conneetion with th¢ examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enabl¢ a proper understanding of the accounts to be rea¢h¢d. p-l Name Mr. D. W. Spaiford Relevantprofessional qualification or body FCCA Address 25 Ivybridge Road, Coventy CV3 SPF Date l¥ LDL St. James Styvechale PCC Statement of Financial Activitxes For the year ending 31" December 2023 Unrestricted Designated Restri¢ied Funds Funds Funds Total 2023 Total 2022 Note Income Voluntary income Other fimdrdising activities tnvestment income 104,957 54,671 4,767 6290 26,520 131,477 54,671 4,767 6,290 128,693 44,963 891 2b Church activities 2d 6.346 Total income 170,685 26,520 197,205 180.893 ExpeDdRture Church activilies 159,696 7.105 166,801 l45.373 Expenditure on raising funds 3b 1,734 2,337 1,734 2.337 2,056 2.689 Depreciation Total expendilu 163,767 7.105 170,872 150,118 Net incomel(expenditure) before Investment gains 6,918 19,415 26,333 30,775 Net gainsloosses) on investm¢nts (7,000) 182) {7,000) 19,333 62.000 92,775 Net ineomel(expenditure} Transf¢r between fvnds 19,415 Net MoveJ))ent In Funds (82) 19,415 19,333 92,775 Total Fund8 Brought Fonvard 515.448 75,966 7,563 598,977 506,202 Total Fund$ Carried Forivard 515,366 75,966 26.978 618,310 598,977 St. James Styvechale PCC Balance Sheet at 31" December 2023 2023 2022 Note Fixed Asset$ Tangible fixed assets Investments 13,396 15,733 413,396 422,733 Current Assets Debtors 5,024 208 969 4,825 175 Cash, bank & inv¢stments 213,993 180,465 Liabilities Creditors 204 Net Assets 598 977 Funds Restricted 26,978 75,966 515 366 7,563 75,966 DesI￿lated Unrestricted io 618310 598 977 The note8 on pages 5 to 14 fonn part of these accounts. Approved by the Trustees on I l March 2024 and sigm¢d on their behalf by Roger Gralwm - Honorary Treasurer St. James Styve¢hale PCC Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ending 31" December 2023 l Aceountlng Policies Basis of a¢eounting The financial statements have been prepared under the Church Accounting R¢gulations 2006 in accordan¢¢ with applicable a￿untIng standards and the current Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and lieporting by Charities and applicable accounling standard FRSI 02. The financial statements hav¢ been prepared under Éhe historical cost convention except for the valuation of investment assets whidi are shown at market value. The financial statements include all transactions. assets and liabilities for which tlie PCC is responsiblc in law. They do not include the accounts of church ￿0uPS that owe their main affiliation to anotli¢r body. nor t110￿ that are infornial gatherings 0£ ohllrch members. Funds Ru¢ricledfun