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2025-12-31-accounts

2026 Annual Report

St M's B'tree Annual Report 2026 FINAL

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Information

Address : St Michaels Lane, Braintree, Essex, CM7 1EY Website : http://stmichaelsbtree.co.uk Email : admin@stmichaelsbtree.co.uk

PCC Membership

Ex Officio Members

Nigel Adams (Vicar, Chair)

James Wells (Curate) Ade Odupitan (Churchwarden, from May 2023-26) Dave Marriott (Churchwarden, from May 2024-26)

Deanery Synod (also ex-officio)

Cyril Bamforth David Huxter Roger Cooke (May 2023 - 2026) (May 2023 - 2026) (May 2025 -2026)

Elected Members

Jennifer Bailey
[Secretary]
(May2024-27)		 Derek Chapman
(May 2024-27)		 Helen Kemp
(May 2024-27)		 Theresa Lamkin
(May 2024-27)
David Birch
[Treasurer]
(May2023-2026)		 Adam Grove-Smith
(May 2023-2026)		 Nick Marsh
(May 2023-2026)		 Rachel Huxter
(May 2023-2026)
Margaret Kinniburgh
(May 2025-2028)		 Victor Shonhiwa
(May 2025-2028)
3 Year Vacancy
2025-28		 3 Year Vacancy
2025-28

Co-opted Members

Jo Adams Volunteer Pastoral Assistant Rachel Grove-Smith Children and youth worker

Non-Members

Phil Bartlett-Rawling Electoral Roll Officer

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Contents of Annual Report

Information 2
PCC Membership 2
Our church services at St Michael’s 4
Service Statistics summary 5
Minutes of the Annual Meetings 6
PCC Proceedings 2025 8
Vicar’s Annual Report 2026 8
Churchwardens’ Reports 8
Wider church involvement 9
Mission Support 10
Schools Work 10
Midweek Groups 11
Outreach and events 11
Bell Ringers 11
Junior Church 12
Tiddlywinks 12
SMASH Club and SMASH Extra 12
Club Nights 12
Safeguarding 12
Treasurers’ Summary 13
Our aims 14

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Our church services at St Michael’s

We currently offer the following services at St Michael’s:

10am morning services in church – the first Sunday is generally Church Family Worship, with adult services on other weeks. On those other Sundays, the children & young people join us in church at 10am, then go out to Church House for Junior Church (3-14s). A supervised crèche is offered for any pre-school age children. (See the Children’s & Young People’s report towards the end of this Annual Report for more details).

4pm Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer) in the Jesus Chapel on the first Sunday of each month, as well as an 8am service on Easter Day and Christmas Day.

6.30pm services – we have a weekly evening service. They are varied in format, including Holy Communion, Evening Worship and All-Age Tonight – a youth-friendly service, “for people who are aged 10 to 100”!

YouTube video recorded services – these are normally the 10am services, video recorded in church, then uploaded to YouTube during the week. Our YouTube Channel is “St. Michael's - Worship on the Web” .

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Service Statistics summary

2025
Overall Church Attendance
Total Sunday (including Junior Church) 7554
Average Sunday (including Junior Church) 145
Junior Church Attendance
Total Sunday - children, helpers and adults 919
Average Sunday - children, helpers and adults 29
Average Attendance
8:00am Holy Communion (Easter Day) 8
8:00am Holy Communion (Christmas Day) 14
10:00am Holy Communion/Morning Worship 94
10:00am Church Family Worship 126
10:00am Summer and other Family Services 98
4:00pm Holy Communion 14
6:30pm Holy Communion/Evening Worship 27
6:30pm All-Age Tonight 44
Other Services
Good Friday (Hour by the Cross) 19
Easter Sunday 10:00am Service 185
Christingle Services 384
Sunday Carol Service 226
Christmas Eve Midnight Communion 87
Christmas Day Family Service 101

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Minutes of the Annual Meetings

Meeting of Parishioners held on Sunday May 11[th] 2025 in St Michael’s Church at 11am.

1. Welcome

Rev Nigel Adams welcomed everyone.

2. Appointment of Clerk for the meeting

Jennifer Bailey was elected

4. Report of Electoral Roll Officer.

Philip Bartlett Rawlings reported that this is a sixth year when the Electoral Roll is completely rewritten. On 11th May 2025:

167 members signed for the newly revised roll May 2024 the roll stood at 206

73 people not signed for the revised roll.

34 have joined as new members

Thanks were expressed to Phil Bartlett-Rawlings.

3. Opening Prayer:

Led by Rev. Nigel Adams

4. Minutes of the Meeting of Parishioners held on Tuesday 21[st] May 2024

The minutes of this meeting were incorporated within the Annual Report for the year ending December 2024 (circulated and available.) The minutes were accepted with the addition of apologies from Ann and David Mahood.

5. Election of Church Wardens 2024-25

Adetola Odupitan proposed by David Marriott and seconded by Cyril Bamforth Dave Marriott proposed by Roger Cooke and seconded by Ade Odupitan

As there were no other nominations Ade Odupitan and Dave Marriott were duly elected.

6. Commendation of newly-elected Churchwardens in prayer:

Rev Nigel Adams welcomed Dave Marriott and Ade Odupitan as Churchwardens and thanked them for their hard work during the past year. Rev Nigel Adams commended Dave Marriott and Ade Odupitan to God in prayer.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting Sunday May 11th 2025 in St Michael’s Church

5. Elections

Rev Nigel Adams explained the vacancies. Thanks were expressed to Peggy Wells on the completion of her Term of Office as a PCC member.

• Proposal from PCC presented by Rev Nigel Adams.

That we continue to suspend the regulation for one year out of office so that, if members so wish, they can immediately be nominated for a further term of office.

Nomination for Election to Deanery Synod

Roger Cooke:

There were no other nominations so Roger Cooke elected.

Nominations for Election to the Parochial Church Council

Margaret Kinniburgh:

1. Apologies for absence.

There were 69 members present.

Apologies were received from: Stephen Bailey, Cyril and Janet Bamforth, Graham and Gloria Boar, Derek Chapman, Clare Gray, Adam and Rachel Grove Smith, Christine Hart, Richard Hollis, David Mahood, Nick Marsh, Graham and Sandra Savill, Shirley Thompson, Barbara Wells, Jean Wells, Jim Winning, Maureen Woodward and Katie Whitlock.

Victor Shonhiwa:

As there were no further nominations the above were elected.

6. Churchwardens Report

2. Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting held on 21[st] May 2024

These minutes were incorporated in the Annual Report (Previously circulated and available) and were accepted as a correct record of proceedings.

  1. Matters Arising.

There were no matters arising.

Dave Marriott presented the Wardens report on behalf of himself and Ade Odupitan.

There is a Warden’s Report in the Annual Report but Dave highlighted:

Church

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Church House

7. Appointment of Sides persons/Welcomers/AV Team for 2025/2026

Ann/David Mahood, Adam Gray, Alex Sullivan/Family, Cynthia Daniels, Cyril/Jan Bamforth, David Birch, David Hart, Derek Chapman, Ed Nash, Helen Kemp, Jim Hughes, Lin/Dave Terris, Margaret Kinniburgh, Nick Marsh, Phil Bartlett-Rawlins, Sue Latta/Family, Theresa Lamkin, Victor Shonhiwa

AV Team: Ade Odupitan, Dave Marriott, David Birch, Ed Nash, Lin Terris, Nick Marsh.

Thanks expressed for Advent and Lent provision of books.

12. Review of past year and looking ahead to the coming year by Rev Nigel Adams.

Nigel expressed thanks to all who had contributed to the life of St Michael’s (too many to name) but expressed thanks to the Staff Team and to Stephen Bailey who has stepped back after 20 years from role of Honorary Curate.

.

Nigel then highlighted:

Thanks expressed to all of the above.

8. Presentation of Independently Examined Accounts for the Year ending December 2024. Report of Treasurer and the appointment of an Independent Examiner of our Accounts for 2025 David Birch presented a power point of the Accounts for the year ending 2024. Questions re Tithed Giving were answered. David was thanked for his ongoing work as Treasurer.

Elizabeth Chivers was appointed as Independent Examiner of Accounts for 2025.

9. Appointment of Safeguarding Clerks

Rev Nigel Adams thanked the Safeguarding Team. Katie Whitlock was reappointed as Lead Checker: DBS.

Sue Marriott reappointed as Safeguarding Officer (Children) and Roger Cooke Safeguarding Officer (Vulnerable Adults).

Nigel gave an update on our Safeguarding arrangements which are robust.

Diocesan Safeguarding Training was highlighted and this is at a basic level to be extended to PCC members and others with responsibility.

10. Questions relating to any of the Reports contained in the Annual Report.

One question was raised concerning the handrail to the entrance of Church House.

A question re stiffness of doors in Church House.

11. Other Matters of Church Interest

That owing to significant challenges the Governing Board had taken the decision to step down and to be replaced for a period of time by an Interim Executive Board (IEB).

This will not affect the strong links between St Michael’s Church and the School.

Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF)

Nigel updated the Annual Meeting regarding PLF. As a Church we hold to a Biblical and orthodox view of marriage and sexuality. Further decisions at General Synod are unlikely to be taken before 2026.

Nigel explained that as a Church we are in an impaired relationship with Bishop Guli and Bishop Roger because of the above.

Our Parish Share is part paused as a result of PLF.

We welcome all who come to St Michael’s and see it as a welcoming safe place for all.

We look to the spiritual oversight of Bishop Rob Munro (Bishop of Ebbsfleet).

Generation Z / Quiet Revival

Nigel explained that an encouragement is that since 2018, in the UK, there has been a steady increase of Generation Z (18-24 yrs) attending church. We have seen evidence of this in St Michael’s.

13. Closing Prayer

James Wells (Curate) closed in prayer committing the future year to God.

The meeting closed at 12.00

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PCC Proceedings 2025

The PCC met 6 times for regular meetings. All of these meetings were chaired by Revd. Nigel Adams.

Rachel Grove-Smith, David Birch and Jo Adams were co-opted as Children’s & Youth Worker, PCC Treasurer and Volunteer Pastoral Assistant respectively following the APCM.

The main areas of discussion at PCC centred around:

Financial decisions taken by PCC during 2024

The PCC had previously agreed that in 2024 we would pay the cost of ministry at St Michael’s, including the incumbent part of the parish share and the training and ministry costs for a curate. This we achieved for 2025. We aim in 2026 to continue to pay our ministry costs and some central costs, such as safeguarding.

The hire rates were increased of Church House to start in March 2025 for new hirers and September 2025 for existing good paying hires. The increase in hire fees was more than used up by the increasing of the cleaning contract to cover extra hours and responsibilities. This increases every year with living wage increases and cost of materials.

Expenditure was agreed for the repairs to the leaking Jesus Chapel roof, this being the largest expenditure of 2025-2026. We were able though, with help from Theresa Lamkin, to get a grant to cover part of this work. The labour component of this project will be paid for in 2026.

The Gift Day was to raise money for our children’s & youth work.

David Marriott

Vicar’s Annual Report 2026

The past year at St Michael’s has been one of sustained growth and it has been good to welcome a number of people into our church family. It was great to see seven candidates declaring their faith and being Confirmed by the Bishop of Ebbsfleet in February 2025.

I am grateful to all who volunteer and do so much in the life of our church. I cannot thank you enough for all who give so generously of their time. We have both the blessing and the responsibility of two historic buildings (the church and Church House) and our appreciation goes to all who have done so much, over the past year, to care for and maintain the buildings.

Particular thanks go to our staff team: Rev James Wells (our curate), Dave Marriott and Ade Odupitan (our churchwardens), Rachel Grove Smith (our Children’s & Youth Worker), Angel Joseph-Aung (our bookkeeper/administrator) and Jo Adams (our pastoral assistant) and all who do “up front” things in church as well as all those who help behind the scenes.

Rev James Wells has been a great asset to us as our curate in his leading, preaching and pastoral roles. We wish James and Liv every blessing as they get married in June and then move to Lincoln, where James will be Associate Vicar of St Peter’s Eastgate and St Peter’s Carlton (a church plant).

This has again been a tough year for some of our church family, as a number of church members have lost close family and friends. There has also been much illness, as well as other challenges, for many. We are grateful to all who have supported others through this difficult time.

Whilst we have seen much blessing locally here in Braintree, there continues to be uncertainty and concern regarding the Church of England nationally. For a number of years, there has been a “Living in Love Faith” process. This culminated in the bishops commending some “Prayers of Love & Faith”, prayers of blessing for same sex couples in a main service.

Those of us who hold to a Biblical and orthodox view in relation to sexuality, that Biblical marriage is always between a man and a woman, have been concerned by these developments. Our PCC has agreed that we cannot, in conscience, offer these prayers at St Michael’s. The Bishops and General Synod have now decided to end the “Living in Love & Faith” process, but there is still an appetite by some to take these things forward. Do please be praying about the future direction of the Church of England, particularly as a new General Synod is appointed this autumn.

Our Verse of the Year for 2026 is the words of Jesus to his disciples (and to us) before he ascended to be with his Father, “I am with you always to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). In uncertain, and sometimes difficult times, it is great to know that we can have Jesus with us in the ups and downs of life.

Wishing you every blessing, Rev Nigel Adams

Churchwardens’ Reports Church and Churchyard

In the Church building the largest piece of work or prework has been the Jesus Chapel Roof. We have met with various people, got sign-off from the diocese but are currently being held up by confirmation required for no bats up there. As they are a protected species we have to be very careful. We hope though that the

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work will get done in the summer when the conditions are good.

The vestry door has been cleaned up and the other old doors in the building are generally being maintained. We have added finger guards to the internal porch doors to prevent accidents.

We are expecting our next quinquennial (five yearly survey of the church building ) in August 2026 and that will focus our next efforts, combined with a review of the heating, we aim to start to look at moving from our current option to something that is more sustainable and more granular, e.g. being able to heat the welcome area not the whole church. And not having to rely on a pair of gas boilers running at full capacity 3-4 hours before the morning service to get the church to an ok temperature.

Church House

Large hall – we insulated the roof and the walls. This has had an effect of making the hall generally feel warmer. Additionally, we have added internet controls to the heating throughout the downstairs of the building so that we do not get into the situation we experienced last year of heating being left on / overridden as well as complaints of it being too cold. We are due to order more small chairs for the hall to match the large colourful ones we have. These replace the 50-60 year old school chairs.

Small hall – Is redecorated and despite a few minor hiccups with the heating, all is working well.

The loft insulation – insulation in the main building is slowly and surely improving when time allows. Eventually this will help to retain more of the heat in the building and will be safer to access. The loft window was badly damaged in a storm so is currently boarded over. Over the coming year we will look to see what options are available for this.

The work on the steps is almost complete; we are now awaiting wiring to enable the lights to work. Then we will look at the other lights around the estate.

Parking has improved in that with our new signage and agreement to fine individuals for parking without permission. A number of regular interlopers have been fined and promptly stopped using the car park.

Church House garden is looking good and growing well – thanks to Estelle and Jonathan Wicks for their hard work.

Sidespersons

The number of people helping with the weekly services has increased, although there is always a need for more if you are interested.

Over the last year we have moved to add David N, Harry and Ling to the AV desk rota.

For welcoming we have added Charlie, Dean, Victor, The Hernimans, The Sullivans to The Harts, Helen, Margaret, Derek, Cythia and others that welcome

We are grateful to Jim Hughes who opens up the church and greets people each Sunday morning.

We thank Jan and Cyril Bamforth, and Ann and David Mahood who have shared looking after the 4pm traditional communion. In particular we give thanks to Ann for her many years supporting services as Welcomer, Warden and Sidesperson, she will be missed. At the 6.30pm thanks to Ade, Ed and others for looking after those who come to the later service.

The last thanks goes to the treasurer David Birch, who beyond the luxury of keeping an eye on the churchwardens’ spending habits(!), working on the insulation, lighting of church house finds time to do most of the audio-visual and sound desk responsibilities mentoring newcomers to the role. His help has been invaluable over the last year.

Ade Odupitan and David Marriott Churchwardens

Wider church involvement

St Michael’s Braintree is an evangelical Anglican (Church of England) church and has a breadth of involvement in the wider church.

Rev Nigel Adams is a member of the Chelmsford Diocesan Synod , which typically meets 3 times per year.

St Michael’s is part of Braintree Deanery , the Church of England grouping of churches in the town of Braintree and surrounding villages. We are actively involved as a member of the Deanery Chapter , whose clergy and lay readers generally meet each month. We also attend Deanery Synod , which meets 3 times per year. Our Deanery Synod reps are Cyril Bamforth, Roger Cooke, David Huxter, Rev James Wells and Rev Nigel Adams.

The Churches Together in Braintree is an ecumenical group of Christian churches in the town. We have United Services together, typically 3 times per year, as well as a service, Walk of Witness and open-air act of worship in George Yard, on Good Friday and before Christmas.

St Michael’s church is a member of ReNew Chelmsford , a conservative evangelical organisation, whose ministers meet locally as well as holding larger Partnership Synod meetings for like-minded evangelical churches in Chelmsford Diocese.

St Michael’s has been involved in both the Chelmsford Diocesan Evangelical Network (CDEN) and the national Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC)

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and The Alliance . Rev John Dunnett has been instrumental in providing leadership for a broad grouping of evangelical and other churches, who wish to remain faithful to the Bible’s teaching, and Church of England doctrine, about the nature of marriage.

We also continue to play an active role in supporting the following local organisations:

how God had helped them overcome long term addictions.

As well as these speakers, we have also had a number of interviews and updates from some of our local and other mission links.

We also had the following special Sundays:

Nigel Adams

Mission Support

We have ten Missions of the Month, in addition to a number of local charities and other organisations, that we support. Ann Mahood, our A Rocha rep, sadly died during the year and John Steley has taken over as our A Rocha rep.

It has been great to have had a number of mission speakers, both in person and via Zoom, including:

I would encourage each of us to have a few missions that we actively support, both prayerfully and practically.

Nigel Adams, On behalf of the Mission Committee

Schools Work

We have again hosted many school services throughout the year, including a new ‘Advent’ service for St. Michael’s school. In addition to these opportunities we invite the schools from within the parish to ‘Experience’ sessions (Christmas, Easter and Church) each term. In 2025 we welcomed over 550 children to these. During each session, classes visit stations around the church building. At each station they hear and reflect upon some Biblical teaching. A huge thank you to those who have created the displays and those who have met and engaged with the groups of children.

Rev Nigel Adams, Rev James Wells, Jennifer Bailey and Rachel Grove Smith have a rota to deliver Collective Worship at St. Michael’s school on Wednesdays.

I also run activities on the playground at lunchtimes each week in the local schools and deliver assemblies weekly at John Ray Juniors and occasionally at John Ray Infants.

For Christmas 2025 we again invited the schools and other community groups to decorate the window ledges in church. We were delighted that all those asked accepted the challenge and were keen to do so. The displays were incredible!

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Rachel Grove Smith

A successful ‘Cream Tea’ and ‘Jacket Potato Lunch’ have been added to our activities.

Midweek Groups

There have been a range of different kinds of small groups at St Michael’s.

Home Groups

There are a number of Bible study groups that meet in the evenings – the Rose Hill group, White Horse Tavern , Zoom group and the monthly Men’s study . Meeting Point is held on Wednesdays at 10am.

Other Groups

Conference Day’s and Saturday Schools are well received and an opportunity for not only time together but time for more in depth looks at God’s Word (and amazing singing!).

Men@StMichael’s

Have enjoyed some meals out together, Adventure Golf, and a Men’s Conference with Simon Pinchbeck on “The Father-heart of God”. We have been meeting monthly for men’s Bible studies looking at Discipleship Explored.

We have had two enjoyable men’s breakfasts, with Rev James Wells and Tim Cooke sharing how God had been at work in their lives.

Many thanks to all who lead, serve and attend these groups. Please ask if you wish to know more about any of these and do consider joining one of our small groups.

Nigel & Jo Adams

Outreach and events

We enjoyed a number of events, for the Church family, including regular walks in the countryside, a farm walk, with farm trail and refreshments at Adam & Rachel’s farm and a Welcome Tea for newcomers.

Women@StMichael’s

We have continued our Prayer Lunches throughout the year. A visit to Mosaic in town for an Evening Meal.

Residential homes

During the year, we have had regular monthly services at the following retirement/residential homes in our parish:

Nigel Adams & Jennifer Bailey

Bell Ringers

We have a band of 8 regular ringers and practice on a Monday evening.

We continue to ring regularly at Braintree. During 2025 we rang a number of Quarter peals and 2 peals. We also hosted several training days.

As a band we continue to make strong progress within method ringing. Many of the quarter peals we rang consisted of 1st's in method. We have had 1 new member to our tower as well as other learning guests. All are making good progress and strengthening the band. We are always keen for new ringers so if anybody is considering learning to ring, then please get in contact.

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Bradley Hill

Junior Church

Junior Church continues to takes place in Church House every Sunday (during the 10am service), except for the first Sunday of the month and the summer, when we have Church Family Worship. Children and young people join the start of the service (in church) alongside their families. Together with the whole congregation; we sing, pray and celebrate birthdays before heading over to Church House for teaching in age groups. Our groups are... Followers (3+ to Year 2), Adventurers (Year 3 to Year 6) and Next (Year 7 to Year 9). Recently we completed a series titled, ‘James: Living Faith’ produced by ‘Faith in Kids’. Each week opportunities are given to ponder and reflect through age appropriate questions, games and activities. Crèche continues to take place in the room located at the back of church for the youngest members of our congregation.

I am very grateful to our amazing team of leaders and helpers who get alongside our children and young people, point them to Jesus and make each Sunday a joy!

Rachel Grove Smith

Tiddlywinks

Each Tuesday afternoon we welcome preschoolers and their carers to the Main Hall in Church House. We have lots of toys available and enjoy a Bible story and our favorite song ‘Joy, Joy, Joy’ part way through our time together along with the all-important drinks and biscuits!

story from the Bible. We now run our Light Parties using the same formula … but with a few more sweets!! And our ‘Join-in Nativity’ in 2025 also followed on from a Christmas themed version of this too!

A massive shout out to the fab SMASH team who make running all these things possible and a lot of fun!

Rachel Grove Smith

Club Nights

“Club Nights are really entertaining and fun.”

“I am always excited for Club Night after a long day at school. I especially love the way our leader allows us to engage in the activities, making it fun yet spiritually empowering.”

These are quotes from two young people who attend Club Nights. Club Nights run during term time on Thursday evenings for those in Year 6 and for those of secondary school age. Table tennis, crafts and board games are some of the activities on offer! Biz has joined us since September 2025 and has taught us to hand bell ring (for the Christingle services) and create a dramatised shadow performance (for the Easter Sunday service). And she is currently teaching us new skills for a different performance in the summer – watch this space!! Each Club Night concludes with a Bible study. During these interactive sessions we discuss and reflect upon passages from the Bible. Most recently the young people were keen to study the book of Philippians.

Rachel Grove Smith

Rachel Grove Smith

SMASH Club and SMASH Extra

Our main SMASH holiday club continues to take place during the Easter school holiday – this is a highlight of the year for so many! Children join our team of leaders for three action packed mornings! We have daily Bible stories, puppet shows, action songs, crafts and games!

In addition to our main holiday club we have continued to host ‘SMASH extra’ events in the church itself. ‘SMASH extras’ are two hour events, where we have various stations (crafts and games) around the church that families can visit and engage with. Then during the final half hour we come together for a 'Praise Party' when we sing SMASH songs and hear a

Safeguarding

Safeguarding our children & young people, as well as vulnerable adults, is a vital part of what we do as a church. The PCC has adopted the Church of England’s policies and best practice on safeguarding, which now involves much more than just DBS checks.

I am very grateful for the work of our Safeguarding Team, namely Katie Whitlock, Sue Marriott (Children) and Roger Cooke (Vulnerable adults), who, together with me, oversee our safeguarding arrangements.

Nigel Adams

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Treasurers’ Summary

Treasurer is a strange word for a Christian Church to use. Our treasure is not in our finances; it is not in the two historic buildings we maintain and benefit from. It is not even in our wonderful church family – our treasure is Christ Jesus – a treasure kept in heaven where it will not spoil perish or fade (unlike our buildings!). Our greatest joy should be sharing this treasure with our friends and the people of Braintree and beyond.

In this report you fill find details of St Micheals Church Finances. The most important thing to remember in reading them is that everything that St Michael’s does is funded by the St Michaels Church Family.

The majority of our income is from regular monthly donations from members of the church. We do not receive any grants from the Church of England or the government (other than the Gift Aid scheme and the now closed VAT reclaim scheme for work on listed buildings). We hire out church house to organizations such as the Scouts and gain a small amount of income from weddings and funeral fees. We have had notable grants this year toward building works and reclaimed VAT from the creche roof repairs. We also have been given a legacy for the purchase of pew Bibles which will be saved until required. Our annual gift day toward the Youth fund raised over £7,000 pounds – a huge thank you to all who support this vital ministry.

For our expenditure , we are committed to giving 10% of unrestricted income to other Christian Organisations. Our largest expense is our Parish Share which we contribute to the Church of England to cover our ministry costs including a vicar and vicarage and central costs such as safeguarding. We have two historic buildings to insure, light and heat. We have undertaken significant building work this year – finishing the Creche Roof repairs, insulating the main hall of church house and renewing the entrance path and walls to church house. Finally, we have our ministry costs here at St Michaels, which include the administrative costs of running church and perhaps most importantly our children & youth work here.

As you will see on the following pages, the headline figure for 2025 is a deficit of £25,401 – this is a significant and unsustainable figure. However, if we remove exceptional building projects, we reach a deficit of around £2,300 for the year so the Lord has supplied our needs each day. However, the deficit remains concerning in that we are not contributing the full amount requested by the Church of England (another £13k to make a total of ~£90k). Running such a deficit is clearly not sustainable in the longer term and has only been enabled by historical capital projects savings, these will be further depleted by the Jesus Chapel roof replacement in 2026.

Thank you for supporting St Michael’s Church & please pray our Lord would supply our needs.

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Our aims

We are a Bible-based evangelical Anglican church, seeking to give glory to God by encouraging each other to …

----- Start of picture text -----
KNOW
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Jesus for ourselves, whatever our background

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GROW
in Jesus and be
transformed
by Him
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GO to serve Jesus, locally, nationally and globally

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The Parochial Church Council

of the Ecclesiastical Parish of

St Michael's Braintree

Charity Registration 1132702

Financial Statements

for the year ended 31 December 2025

Revd. Nigel Adams

St Michael's Church

St Michael’s Road Braintree, CM7 1EX

The Co-operative Bank

PO Box 250

Skelmersdale, WN8 6WT

Independent examiner:

Ronald W Chivers & Co Accountants

61 Manor Street, Braintree, Essex CM7 3HP

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Treasurers’ Summary

Treasurer is a strange word for a Christian Church to use. Our treasure is not in our finances; it is not in the two historic buildings we maintain and benefit from. It is not even in our wonderful church family – our treasure is Christ Jesus – a treasure kept in heaven where it will not spoil perish or fade (unlike our buildings!). Our greatest joy should be sharing this treasure with our friends and the people of Braintree and beyond.

In this report you fill find details of St Micheals Church Finances. The most important thing to remember in reading them is that everything that St Michael’s does is funded by the St Michaels Church Family .

The majority of our income is from regular monthly donations from members of the church. We do not receive any grants from the Church of England or the government (other than the Gift Aid scheme and the now closed VAT reclaim scheme for work on listed buildings). We hire out church house to organizations such as the Scouts and gain a small amount of income from weddings and funeral fees. We have had notable grants this year toward building works and reclaimed VAT from the creche roof repairs. We also have been given a legacy for the purchase of pew Bibles which will be saved until required. Our annual gift day toward the Youth fund raised over £7,000 pounds – a huge thank you to all who support this vital ministry.

For our expenditure , we are committed to giving 10% of unrestricted income to other Christian Organisations – details of these can be found on page 10. Our largest expense is our Parish Share which we contribute to the Church of England to cover our ministry costs including a vicar and vicarage and central costs such as safeguarding. We have two historic buildings to insure, light and heat. We have undertaken significant building work this year – finishing the Creche Roof repairs, insulating the main hall of church house and renewing the entrance path

and walls to church house. Finally, we have our ministry costs here at St Michaels, which include the administrative costs of running church and perhaps most importantly our children & youth work here.

As you will see on the following pages, the headline fgure for 2025 is a defcit of £25,401 – this is a significant and unsustainable figure. However, if we remove exceptional building projects, we reach a deficit of around £2,300 for the year so the Lord has supplied our needs each day. However, the deficit remains concerning in that we are not contributing the full amount requested by the Church of England (another £13k to make a total of ~£90k). Running such a deficit is clearly not sustainable in the longer term and has only been enabled by historical capital projects savings, these will be further depleted by the Jesus Chapel roof replacement in 2026.

Thank you for supporting St Michael’s Church & please pray our Lord would supply our needs.

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Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of The ParochiaI Cburch Council (PCQ of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Braintree St Mi¢hael's Church We report on the accounts of the charity re8istration number 1132702 for the year end¢d 31 D￿ber 2025. Respective responsibilities of trustees 8nd examiller As the charity's tn￿tee8 you are responsible for the preparntion of the accounts? you consider that the audit requirem¢nt of section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (th¢ Clwiti¢s Act) does not apply. It is our responsibility to state, oll Èhe basis of procedures specified in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners ullder section 145(5)(b) of the Clwities ACL whether particular matters have come to our attention. Basis of Independent es4miner's report Our exaJnillation was Carried out in accordance the General Directions given by the Ckwity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records k¢pt by the charity and a compwison of tbe accounts presented with those records. It also includes CODsideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts. se¢king explanations from you as truste¢s ¢oncerning any such m8tt¢TS. The procedures und¢rlak¢n do not provide all the evidence that would be required in au audit, and consequ¢ntly we do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the a¢counts. Independ¢nt exAminer's statemellt tn connection with our examination. no matter has come to our attentio (i) which gives us reasonable cause to believe that in 8ny material respect the T¢qUiTements to keep ￿COllnting records in accordance with section 130 of the Chftrities ACL and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities A¢t have not been met. or (2) to which, in our opiniotl attention should be drawn in order to enable & proper nderstsnding of th¢ accounts to be reached. RONALD W CHIVE AccoifNTANrs 61 NlanoT Street Braintree Essex CM7 3HP 18 M8rch 2026 RO￿11dwCh1v￿s& Co iSthetrAthn8np￿B0rRoD￿a Wchivets & CoLtd,vxnpw ttumbEr1l91￿ te8ist¢redinknW￿0 W9￿,

er¢dOffl￿8ddr¢ss

St M's B'tree Final A¢count$ 2025 17

ST MICHAELS CHURCH, BRAINTREE

P.C.C. Members 2025-26

Appointed 11th May 2025

EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Appointed PCC To
Retire
Nigel Adams_(Vicar, Chairman)_ Ex-officio
James Wells_(Curate)_ Ex-officio
Ade Odupitan_(Churchwarden)_ 1 year from May 2025 2026
Dave Marriott_(Churchwarden)_ 1 year from May 2025 2026
David Huxter_(Deanery Synod)_ 3 years from May 2023 2026
Cyril Bamforth_(Deanery Synod)_ 3 years from May 2023 2026
Roger Cooke_(Deanery Synod)_ 1 year from May 2025 2026
ELECTED / CO-OPTED MEMBERS
Jo
Adams		 Co-opted as Pastoral Assistant 2026
Rachel
Grove Smith		 Co-opted as Children and
Youth Worker		 2026
David
Birch (Treasurer)		 3 years from May 2023 2026
Adam
Grove Smith		 3 years from May 2023 2026
Rachel
Huxter		 3 years from May 2023 2026
Nick
Marsh		 3 years from May 2023 2026
Jennifer
Bailey (Secretary)		 3 years from May 2024 2027
Derek
Chapman		 3 years from May 2024 2027
Helen
Kemp		 3 years from May 2024 2027
Theresa
Lamkin		 3 years from May 2024 2027
Margaret Kinniburgh 3 years from May 2025 2028
Victor
Shonhiwa		 3 years from May 2025 2028
3 YEAR VACANCY 2028
3 YEAR VACANCY 2028

Electoral Roll Officer: Phil Bartlett-Rawlings - not a member of the PCC

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1. Miscellaneous receipts - Net receipts for Weekend Away, Book Stall, Link Magazine and Church Events

2. Benefact Trust Grant - Generously donated toward Jesus Chapel Roof Replacement

3. Listed Places of Worship Scheme - A now closed scheme which allowed Listed Places of Worship to reclaim the VAT on building work carried out.

4. Trotter Trust - Grant from Charity number: 255385 - The main object of which is the repair of the parish church of the ecclesiastical parish of St Michaels Braintree.

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5. Parish Share 2025 - Includes a contribution for Curate costs for 2024 of £6,653.75

6. Church Other Costs - First Aid Course & new Lectern Microphone

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Outreach costs rtr3rn Bl￿e5 Fund 122.81 Sl Mi¢haei$ Sthool Leavers Boc&¥ 168.90 291.e Training & Othreath Costs L￿ht Party& SMASH Total Outreach costs 537.24 761.85 129 9) 1,132.52 1,306.16 Miscellaneous Costs statutory Fees Pdnllr 1,157.00 1,438.LKI 1.35S.83 912.20 A<L￿nti￿ Fees & Software CCLI & streamlng L￿nce Ckrgy Mile4e Re1M￿rsed Expense9 sitiry Speakers Communlon Wne and Glulen4ree Wafers 1,239.70 741.93 811. 736.13 204. 227.88 106.93 60.00 474. 8ank Fees 16.74 11.64 Caterfng costs Total Miscellaneou¥ Costs 42. 5,891.89 5,410.55 Building Projects Church House- Pr<1￿￿ Churth H￿Se- Re￿IrWa11 Crechp Repairs and Refutblshtnent Totsi ￿lIdIng Pr0￿cts Depreciation sdar Paws Depreda Total Depreciation Thtsi ehBrft•blèACt1¥￿é￿ 4,312.17 24,252.00 867 80 16.383.36 42.67? 81 29,S31.97 753.00 753 00 753.00 753. 197,887.3B 197,487.3B 120,206.131 203,68B.81 203,68B.81 114,773.741 Total Expenditure Incom• IExpoThlM¥o1 Inve5tsnen15 Revaluation ol Invpstsnents 3,269 63 3269.63 {11,YJ4.111 Totsl Inve51ments 15,195AS1 125,401.581 Tot•1 In¢om• IEAPOndttur81 fw portod St M's B'tree Final A¢count$ 2025 21

Balance Sheet PCC of St BrdintreB As at 31 Decemb8r 2025 31 DEC 2025 31 DEC 2024 Fixed ABsets Tanglble A880ts PrOF￿rtY s￿al P3ne15 DeptEc￿￿ lexpiie5 2035lknye Tod TangitrAo Assets Totsi Flx•d Ass•ts 176,9T464 IT53.￿) 171221.64 17&221.64 178.48064 11,508 176.974.64 176.974 Current Assets Capital Projects ghares CB'YXX)AG FurKJStr￿￿es 1,24584 9,&3 19 69 479 58 1.21588 10,232 C8.￿oI￿ll1 AG Fund ShaTes CB'102 Capithi ￿[lects Sha￿9 Tal￿ Cytal Proi•Ets ShJThs Cash at bank and in hand BO,548AI 144743AS opB￿k ￿7. CurrenlAcrount C&opSwry"104 Qkneral Sawngs Co.opSavings'W92Youth Ta￿ Cash and in hand 28,011 15 So,￿8 56 90,739 97 10 448 23 13¢gJ9.31 250 00 96,596. Deblots ContToIWxount CCLI &PRS ￿t￿e9 41S 38 conlraLtwth G￿G S￿rt￿rrn knan 10 Bell.Rir¥Jers Total Curr•ntAss•ts 1,29) 00 221J87.61 2.263 84 245,55&07 Creditora: amounts falllng due ￿thfin one year AcCru￿5-Trttr￿on Danabuns 2021 c￿￿[d5 7,581 13 7.22541 40CY) Cat Patk Fee52020 credliD￿ ConlttA 718 88 867 Totrl CrÈditrars' arnt￿n￿la111Th911w Within oneY￿r NètCurr•ntAss•ts ILlabl1￿•S) ¢340.01 211147.60 7.942.QB 237.611.99 Totrl Assèts less Current￿￿￿11￿ 3B9.369.24 414.586.63 414506.63 389,￿.24 Capitsl and Ros8vv8s Capital Proleetg Shores Equty CB"WAG Fund Sha￿& Eqw CB"W1 .AG FU￿ Shares Eqiuty CB-Yk)2 Proie(tsShares T¢t C¥tal P￿e¢l$ Shares Catmial PrDJErt5 ISawng5Accl CuttentYearEsrnirys Genwal Funds 1,245e4 9.823 19 694195 1.21S88 1(Tr.232 134,2YS 72 1U.74aJ6 BQN8A1 91 8￿84 125.401 581 10,78768 10,448 23 1,430 70 146 51 12,625 i￿) 17.61887 1.43070 268 Lutyietmgrfito CQ%Ery0￿h Wttke¢s saLryry Manna Fund Battm Bib OLD Fut ),￿3[X) Pew BILqesLegacy Fu 2,691 12 176,97484 176.97464 DeficrtofFunds 39,119 73 7g6 .62384 338 Ttaning&(hrtreach Totsl Capital and 3B9.369.24 4q4586_63 1. Trngible Assets (Property Fund) This re￿leS lothe purchase P￿￿ of Church House (many years owl) 2. CCLI & PRS Licencès Annual li￿nSeS costs are spread overlwofinanual y8ar5. 3. Car Park Fees Somè Car Park feo money for 2026 rewvéd during 2025. St M's B'tree Final A¢count$ 2025 22

% ¥ i! Iiliilll It iii liJliliiiiiJiiliiil[I St M's B'tree Final A¢count$ 2025 23

Tithe Allocations 2025

As stewards of the gifts given to us the PCC Tithe 10% of unrestricted income to other Christian Organisations as follows:

----- Start of picture text -----
A Rocha £ 750.00
ACTS in Burkina Faso £ 946.50
Chain Foundation £ 737.00
Church Pastoral Aid Society £ 750.00
Crosslinks (Kralovis) £ 2,750.00
Langham Partnership £ 750.00
Open Doors £ 950.00
Operation Christmas Child
£ 750.00
(also known as Samaritans Purse)
Stand by Me (Kids Alive) £ 930.00
Tearfund £ 750.00
Empower (CYO) £ 2,502.00
BYPC £ 360.00
Tim Cooke (TimTokInspiration) £ 500.00
UAE Christian Union £ 250.00
SASRA £ 200.00
Total £ 13,875.50
----- End of picture text -----

(Small variations between mission’s are due to bank fees)

(Where an organisation has led a Mission Sunday £200 is added that year)

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ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The PCC is a public entity within the meaning of FRS102. The financial statements have been prepared under the Charities Act 2011 and in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 governing the individual accounts of PCCs and with the Regulations "true and fair view" provisions, together with FRS102 (2019a) as the applicable accounting standards and the 2019 version of the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP)(FRS 102). The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention except for the valuation of investment assets, which are shown at market value. The financial statements include all transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC is responsible by law. They do not include the accounts of church groups that owe their main affiliation to another body, nor those that are informal gatherings of church members. The PCC considers that there are no material uncertainties over their ability to continue as a going concern.

FUNDS

Endowment funds are funds, the capital of which must be maintained; only income arising from investments of the endowment may be used either as restricted or unrestricted funds depending on the purpose for which the endowment was established. Restricted funds represent (a) income from trusts or endowments which may be expended only on those restricted objects provided in the terms of trust or bequest, and (b) donations or grants received for a specific object or invited by the PCC for a specific object. The funds may only be expended on the specific object for which they were given. Any balance remaining unspent at the end of each year must be carried forward as a balance on that fund. The PCC does not usually invest separately for each fund.

Unrestricted funds are general funds which can be used for PCC ordinary purposes and designated funds are amounts set aside by the PCC for fixed assets or a future project.

INCOME

Planned giving, collections and donations are recognised when received. Tax recoverable is recognised when the income to which it relates is received. Grants and legacies are accounted for when the PCC is entitled to the amounts due. Dividends are accounted for when receivable, interest is accrued. All other income is recognised when it is receivable. All income is gross. The value of voluntary help received is not included in the accounts.

EXPENDITURE AND LIABILITIES

Liabilities are recognised as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation and settlement is probable and quantifiable. Grants and donations are accountable for when paid over, or when awarded, if that creates a binding or constructive obligation on the PCC. The diocesan parish share is accounted for when due. All other expenditure is generally recognised when it is incurred and is accounted for gross.

Unrestricted funds are general funds which can be used for PCC ordinary purposes and designated funds are amounts set aside by the PCC for fixed assets or a future project.

FIXED ASSETS

"Consecrated and benefice property is not included in the accounts in accordance with s.10(2)(a) of the Charities Act 2011. Movable church furnishing held by the vicar (priest in charge) and churchwardens on special trust for the PCC and which require a faculty for disposal are inalienable property, listed in the Church's inventory, which can be inspected (at any reasonable time). All expenditure incurred during the year on consecrated or benefice property and movable church furnishings, whether maintenance or improvement, is written off as expenditure in the financial statements. The Church House and Hall are stated at cost. No depreciation is provided as the depreciation charge and accumulated depreciation would not be material because residual value of the assets is at least as much as their carrying amount. The solar panels on the church hall roof are depreciated on a straight line basis over 20 years.

Individual items of equipment with a purchase price of £10,000 or less are written off when the asset is acquired.

Investments are stated at market value at 31 December each year."

CURRENT ASSETS

Short term deposits comprise cash held on deposit with the CBF Church of England Funds held by CCLA

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Church Workers Pension Fund (CWPF)

Draft FRS102 Wording - December 2025 Year End

The template disclosure below has been prepared by Lane Clark & Peacock LLP (“LCP”) for the Church of England Pensions Board (the “Board”). It is based on LCP’s understanding of the FRS102 standard in December 2025.

The template caters for employers that participate in the Pension Builder section of the CWPF and report under FRS102. Note that any employers that use a “receipts and payments” approach (or any other standard) would need to consider the requirements that apply in that case.

The template has been prepared to be helpful to employers but the disclosure is ultimately employers’ responsibility. LCP is happy for this draft template to be shared with employers, on the understanding that LCP has no liability to any party other than the Board.

We note some employers may participate in both the DBS and Pension Builder sections and we suggest combining the two disclosures for such employers.

EMPLOYER participates in the Pension Builder Scheme section of CWPF for lay staff. CWPF is administered by the Church of England Pensions Board, which holds the CWPF assets separately from those of the Employer and other participating employers.

CWPF has two sections:

  1. the Defined Benefits Scheme

  2. the Pension Builder Scheme, which has two subsections;

  3. a. a deferred annuity section known as Pension Builder Classic, and,

  4. b. a cash balance section known as Pension Builder 2014.

Pension Builder Scheme

Both sections of the Pension Builder Scheme are classed as defined benefit schemes.

Pension Builder Classic provides a pension, accumulated from contributions paid and converted into a deferred annuity during employment based on terms set and reviewed by the Church of England Pensions Board from time to time. Discretionary increases may also be added, depending on investment returns and other factors.

Pension Builder 2014 is a cash balance scheme that provides a lump sum which members use to provide benefits at retirement. Pension contributions are recorded in an account for each member. Discretionary bonuses may be added before retirement, depending on investment returns and other factors. The account, plus any bonuses declared is payable, unreduced, from age 65.

There is no sub-division of assets between employers in each section of the Pension Builder Scheme.

The scheme is considered to be a multi-employer scheme as described in Section 28 of FRS 102. This is because it is not possible to attribute the Pension Builder Scheme’s assets and liabilities to specific employers and means that contributions are accounted for as if the Scheme were a defined contribution scheme. The pensions costs charged to the SoFA in the year are the contributions payable (2025: £XXXX, 2024: £XXXX).

A valuation of the Pension Builder Scheme is carried out once every three years. The most recent valuation was carried out as at 31 December 2022.

For the Pension Builder Classic section, the valuation revealed a surplus of £34.8m on the ongoing assumptions used. At the most recent annual review effective 1 January 2026, the Board chose to grant a discretionary bonus of 10% to both pensions not yet in payment and pensions in payment in respect of service prior to April 1997; and a bonus on pensions in payment in respect of post April 1997 service so that the pension increase was also 10% (where usually it would be calculated based on inflation up to an annual cap of 5% for pensions in payment in respect of service prior to April 2006 and 2.5% for pensions in payment in respect of service post April 2006 ). This followed improvements in the funding position over 2025. There is no requirement for deficit payments at the current time.

For the Pension Builder 2014 section, the valuation revealed a surplus of £8.5m on the ongoing assumptions used. There is no requirement for deficit payments at the current time.

The Church of England Pensions Board has agreed that some employers could use assets in the DBS of the CWPF in lieu of contributions to Pension Builder Classic and/or Pension Builder 2014. You will see this information on your DBS statement which will be sent separately.

The next valuation is being carried out as at 31 December 2025.

The legal structure of the scheme is such that if another employer fails, EMPLOYER could become responsible for paying a share of the failed employer’s pension liabilities.

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