StBarts St Bartholomew's Church End of Year Report and Accounts Year Ending 31st December 2023 Page I Introduction St Bartholomews Church is srtuated next to Corsham Court in Corsham and the correspondence address is Church House. 3 Church Street, Corsham SN13 OBY. St Bartholomew's is part of a team of churches including St Cyriac Lacock, St John the Baptist Gastard, St Philip and St James Neston and St Anne Bowden Hill. We have a full-time Team Rector based in Corsham. The Rector is supported by a number of retired clergy, Licensed Lay Ministers, the members of our team and church PCCS, a wide variety of church and out-of-Ghurth aGtivrty groups and the congregations themselves. St 8arth0l0me￿S Church is thè largest church in the team. It provides a full array of well- attended services and activtties that engage the Gommunty. It is a popular church for baptisms, weddings and funerals. It is the garrison church for MOD Corsham and 18 used by many of the schools in Corsham. Status The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St Bartholomew's Church is a charity that 18 registered wrth the Charities Commission as The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Bartholornew, Corsham", registratlon number 1132969. pcc PCC members who have served during 2023 are as follows.. Chairman: Revd Dr Andrew Johnson Churchwarden (until APCM 2023. then a Council member): L'nora Olney Deanery Synod Representatives: Reginakj Lambert and John Stott. Council Members." Christine Reid. Anthony Hall. Reginald Lambgrt. Joe McGeehan. Michael Lane, Hermione Skrine, Susan Lambert. Treasurer.. Deborah Stott Secretary: Nigel Jackson Page 2 Deanery Synod Two members of the PCC sit on the Deanery Synod. This provides the PCC with an important link between the parish and the wider structures of the Church. Issues raised at Deanery Synod are brought to the next PCC meeting. Structure. Governance and Management St Bartholomew's is part of a team of churches. The Churchwarden of St 8artholomew's and one lay person are eligible to attend meetings of the Team Council, which meets to discuss matters relating to the team of churches. The PCC at St Bartholomew is scheduled to meet six times a year and is chaired by the Team Rector. The PCC Agenda is focused on standing items - Mission and Outreach, Buildings Matters, Policy Statements and Finan￿ - and other important items that are programmed annually or raised to the PCC. When necessary. indNiduals are co-opted onto the PCC to advise on a particular issue, e.g. safeguarding. This ensures strong and diligent governanc&. The Team Rector meets monthly with any churchwardens in post to review progress and ensure the smooth running of the church. and the Standing Committee of the PCC a180 meets from time to tirne between PCC meetings as required. Aim and Purposes The PCC has the responsibilty of co-operating with the Team Rèctor, Revd Dr Andrew Johnson, in promoting the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical and to direct charitable donations. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of.. 'Church House,. 3 Church Street. Corsham, the Ladbrook Cemetery Chapel, and the residential properties at 2 The Tynings, Corsham and 7b Lypiatt Road, Corsham. Goals and Objectives The PCC works to the vision of 'Grov￿ng followers of Jesus. through growing in God, growing in love. and growing community. The church has a very active life, providing opportunities for a wide range of age groups, acting as a focal point for community events, and engaging with large numbers of people through fomial. infomial and out-of-church aGtivities. There is a desire to reach out further into the community and to engage more effectively with it. Page 3 Review of the year St Bartholomevls Church offers a wide range of Servi￿ during the year. These include regular weekly services and one-offs to mark special events in the church calendar, like Holy Week, Easter, and Christmas. A monthly evening Servi￿ on Zoom remains popular. The Team Rector continued to lead a weekly Bible study on Zoom throughout the year and provided monthly 8:00am Sunday and 10.'OOam Wednesday Book of Common Prayer Holy Communion services. Nomal church attendan￿ rose throughout the year and attendance during Easter, December and Christmas at limes exceeded the levels seen prior to the pandemic. As well as our regular services we enabled our community to ￿lebrate and thank God at the milestones of the journey through lrfe. We connected with many families through 18 baptisms, and 5 weddings and 34 funerals Y￿re held in our church this year. We also established a Thursday morning café in church (emerging from the Wami Ptaces Initiative) which is attended by church members and visitors to church and also raises significant funds. The church 18 a member of the ecumenical group in Corsham. along with the Other churches. St Bartholomew's plays an active role in this group, and we were pleased to be involved in the Good Friday march of witness, and the open-air carol service in Church Square. It was also pleasing to see the continued popularity of some of our services targeted at all ages. Early Birds continued their monthly services in church at 4.'OOpm on Sunday and the Young Church Bubble continued lo lead a revamped Family servi￿ in church on the fourth Sunday of the month which made use of the projector and screen. This has consistently been the best attended service of the month throughout 2023 but is being rAught up by the monthly communion services augmented by the regular provision of a choir. During 2023 the PCC started to focus on the need to draw in new volunteers to support church life and continue to engage with the younger generations to secure the long-tem future of the church. In doing this vrfe shall also be engaging with the Transfomiing Churches. Together stralegy the Diocese of Bristol is rolling out during 2024. We are actively considering improvements to the church building. such as a revamped audiovisual system, new heating {including engaging with the Diocese of Bristol's focus on reaching net zero) and major work on the roof of the Lady Chapel. We also worked towards achieving a Bronze Eco-church Award (subsequently awarded in early 2024). We were able to make major improvemenls to Church House due to the provision of a generous legacy, and users of the building have commented very favourably on the work undertaken. We are also seeking to strengthen our financial position by building on the solid grasp of our f nan￿$ developed during 2023 and described in the ￿rna1nder of this report. Poge 4 Balance sheet 2023 2022 Fixed ￿sets 2 The Tynin 7b Lywatt RtwJ Church Hwse 250.1MK) 250,000 330,000 400,000 980,000 Totsi Flx•d al￿￿ Currnnl ￿¥01• B￿k current X¢OLmt Messy Chur¢h Wa Bank depo8it 33.205 259 140,071 259 188,1342 CCLA ICBFI dgpog't xcrurt r*1￿1•A Cosh in H8t¥l Team Oebtr 3,028 211817 8,34S 174.969 Totsl Curr•nt I￿•￿ U*bllltl•• Ag8r• ColWon8 AC￿nts P￿8￿4& Tot•1 Uablllll•¥ N•t Auet Id•ficlt) 1,196.817 1.154,989 Ex¢•s8 I Ideficrtl forye St8rtir¥J bala￿e3 41,848 I,154,￿9 1.196,817 54,873 1,100.298 1,154.969 Vnrestrict•d DesHJn8teJnting records., or tho a￿Unts did not o)mply wilh the applicable requirements conceming the fomi and content of accounts Set out In the Charitle8 {Account$ and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the a￿UnIS give a Irue and fail vfew which ig not a matter consldered as part of an independent ex&ninatkx. I have no concom$ and have come across no other matter8 In connection Ih the examination to whlch attention should bo drawn in this report In order to enable a prr4x>r urKlor8tandlng of the accounts to l)e reached. Slgn•d: o) goZ¢f Nam•: rg rpfr16 Relovant Prof￿10n*1 quallflcatlonl•) or boty Irf any): Address: WATCHMAN ACCOUNTANTS LIMITED Iltshire SN15 3DD Em￿.1: chrfs@w8ttt)manaccountant>com IER Oct 2018