2022-12-31-accounts - The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of St Marks Forest Gate

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St Mark’s Church, Forest Gate – Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council for the Year Ended 31 December 2022

Administrative Information

St Mark’s Church is situated in Lorne Road, Forest Gate. It is part of the Diocese of Chelmsford within the Church of England. The correspondence address is: 41A Tylney Road, Forest Gate, London, E7 0LS. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956 and Church Representation Rules 2006) and a charity registered with the Charity Commission as charity number 1132240.

PCC members who have served from 1 January 2022 until the date this report was approved are:

Ex Officio Members
Vicar:	Ben King	Chair
Churchwardens:	Mike Richardson
	Sharon Yates
Elected Members
	Ann Arnold	Vice-Chair
	Peter Arnold	Treasurer
	Janet Bone	Deanery Synod Representative, Parish Safeguarding
		Officer
	David Dale	Resigned 11 April 2022
	Ellen Kemp	Parish Safeguarding Officer, Deanery Synod
		Representative; resigned 14 Nov 2022
	Bola Ogunfowokan	Elected APCM 15 May 2022
	Charlotte Mouzer
	Judith Nyabango	Elected APCM 17 May 2021; resigned 15 May 2022.
	Jackie Randall	Until APCM 15 May 2022
	Jane Ridout	Secretary
	Michael Semuguruka
	Yvonne Tiley	Deanery Synod Representative; resigned 13 Sep 2022
	Bethany Yates	Parish Worker (Co-opted)

Structure, Governance and Management

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St Mark’s the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (vicar), the churchwardens, and members who are elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All members of the congregation who regularly attend St Mark’s Church are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll.

The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish, including deciding how the PCC funds are to be spent. The PCC met seven times during the year, with an average attendance level of over 90%. The January and February meetings were face to face, but thereafter meetings were held online due to the pandemic.

Aims and Purposes

The PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the vicar in promoting the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, and social, in the parish. The PCC is also responsible for maintenance of the church building of St Mark’s, Lorne Road, Forest Gate.

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Objectives and Activities

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and to become part of the parish community at St Mark’s. The PCC maintains an overview of worship, and aims that our worship and services put our faith into practice through prayer, scripture, music and sacrament. We try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through:

Worship and prayer, learning about the gospel, and developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus.
Provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish.
Missionary and outreach work.

To facilitate this work it is important that we maintain the fabric of the St Mark’s church building.

Achievements and Performance

Worship and Prayer

Normal services resumed with a gradual reduction in Covid restrictions, though measures were still in place to keep everyone safe. The common cup was not reintroduced and we opted for intinction instead. Afternoon communion services resumed when there had been no provision for communion in the morning. Due to falling viewing numbers, pre-recorded services were discontinued after the summer.

Morning Prayer three mornings a week via Zoom replaced Evening Prayer five days a week via the same medium. The in-person weekly prayer meeting continued and, further to a prayer survey in September, we launched a new monthly in-person prayer meeting.

Deanery Synod

The vicar and up to three lay members of the PCC sit on the Newham Deanery Synod and provide a report on Deanery Synod meetings to PCC meetings. This provides the PCC with a link between the parish and the wider structures of the Church of England.

The March meeting welcomed Bishop Guli including a question and answer session. The June meeting looked at possible financial challenges for the deanery with a deficit budget and Rev. Chigor explained why the Bishops’ Council for Racial Justice needed to be set up. The November meeting had a report on the Parish Share Assessment, a presentation on Hopeful Futures working with young people with autism, and introduction to our Newham Youth Champion. The meetings also had reports from Diocesan and General Synods.

The Church Building

Regular inspections of the fabric of the building and its contents have taken place, to ensure the safety of all who use it.

Maintenance and other work undertaken:

Annual inspection of fire alarm, emergency lighting and fire extinguishers and blankets
Clearance of items no longer used
Extension of wifi provision to cover the whole building
Installation of security cameras
Beginning of work to re-purpose the former car park to the rear of the building to an outdoor seating and garden space
Renewal of photocopier
Portable appliance testing and microwave emission test
Boiler and heating service

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Pastoral Care

Pastoral support has continued, mainly through telephone contact and email, though also through home communions, especially with the elderly and housebound. Communication across the whole church family has been maintained through email updates (with paper copies delivered to those without internet access).

Mission and Evangelism

Ministry to our children and youth was delivered primarily through regular Sunday groups, special social events (Hangouts) and Youth Alpha.

We continued a series of community ‘pick-ups’ – a simple means of reaching out to the parish and of raising the profile of Jesus and of His church.

In line with our annual motto ‘Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch’, we invested in a coffee bike and started two new groups at the tail end of 2022 – Coffee and Chat (a seniors’ group) and a Play Café (for young families). They were very well-received and the latter continues to be over-subscribed. We also made it out into the community to engage the parish with coffee and conversation.

Bethany Yates continued her employment as our part time parish worker. Her excellent work continued to make a positive impact on our church life and on our mission and outreach.

Ecumenical Relationships

After three years, it was finally possible to hold the Good Friday March of Witness in conjunction with other Forest Gate churches.

In person monthly ministers’ prayer meetings also resumed.

Financial Review

Total receipts on unrestricted funds were £74,002, and total receipts for restricted funds were £21,045, including a grant of £12,500 from London Over the Border to support the Pop Up Café running costs in this and subsequent years. These are detailed in the financial statements.

£103,450 was spent from the unrestricted funds, and £15,389 from the restricted funds, to provide the Christian ministry from St Mark’s Church. This includes the PCC’s contribution to the Chelmsford diocesan parish share, which contributes to the cost of stipends, pensions, training, and housing for clergy in the diocese. These are detailed in the financial statements.

The PCC continued with its agreed policy to give away 10% of its net income (i.e. income excluding grants and money given for specific causes) each year to support Christian ministry at home and overseas. A total of £7,553 was given to support 15 Christian ministries at home and abroad. In addition, £4,207 was given by members for specific appeals and charities, and this was passed on to those appeals and charities.

The net result was an excess of expenditure over receipts of £23,792. On 31 December 2022 the balance of unrestricted funds carried forward was £47,051; the balance of restricted funds carried forward was £12,531; and the balance of the legacy designated fund carried forward was £191,463.

Investment assets as at 31 December 2022 were £287,584 in the CCLA Church of England Investment Fund, plus £292 in shares in Banco Santander. Both these investment assets decreased in value during the year as a result of financial market conditions.

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Reserves Policy

It is the PCC’s policy to invest short term funds balances in the CCLA Church of England Deposit Fund. This is used to smooth out fluctuations in cash flow and to meet emergencies. As at 31[st] December 2022 the PCC had £246,478 invested with the CCLA Church of England Deposit Fund.

Church Attendance

There were 103 people on the electoral roll as of December 2022, of whom 53 live outside the parish. The equivalent figure for December 2021 was 107 people, of whom 53 lived outside the parish.

The number of people of any age worshipping regularly at St Mark’s (not necessarily on the electoral roll) is currently 115 covering 67 households. The equivalent figure for December 2021 was 164 people, covering 79 households.

Review of the Year

The PCC met held seven meetings during 2022, all of which meetings were held face to face.

Items discussed by the PCC included the following:

The annual accounts for 2021.
The budget for 2022.
Our planned and adhoc financial giving to support God’s work at home and abroad.
The proposal for a Pop up Cafe using an electric cargo bike, and application to London Over the Border for a grant to support this project.
The use of the church building as a polling station and the difficulty of securing the council payment.
• The on-going Pink Bin project.
The terms of reference for the Safeguarding team.
Worship patterns and possible changes to service formats.
New Safeguarding regulations about recruitment of all roles in the church.
Purchase of garden furniture for use in the summer and autumn months.
Regular reports on income and expenditure and budget forecasts.
Purchase of a contactless card reader for donations.
The current cost of living crisis and ideas for supporting those affected by this.
Purchasing a number of 6-hour parking permits to be used at the discretion of the churchwardens in view of the changed use of the former car park area.
Extending the parish worker’s contract until September 2023.
Planning for Christmas.

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Safeguarding

This last year, St Mark’s and its PCC have taken due regard to safeguarding guidance issued by the House of Bishops (including both practice and policy).

Ellen Kemp was the PCC’s safeguarding officer until her resignation from the PCC on 14 November 2022. Ellen had kept record keeping inc. DBS checks up to date. Janet Bone was appointed as PCC safeguarding officer with effect from 14 November 2022, and will be trained at the required leadership level.

The church has started some new groups which are staffed by volunteers. The Church of England has a new procedure of safer recruitment for all volunteer roles, and the leaders of groups have been trained in this procedure. A Volunteer Recruitment Pack has been compiled with paperwork available to download for future roles. It has been recognised that Prayer Ministers have not been through this procedure, so it is planned to provide some training in early 2023.

No safeguarding incidents relating to St Mark’s church were reported this year.

Data Protection

All names and contact details are held securely. They are used solely to keep in touch with church members and are never shared with third parties.

Signed on behalf of the PCC

Rev’d Ben King (Vicar and PCC Chair)

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