# **THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF WITHAM (CHARITY NO. 1133036)** **ST NICOLAS' CHURCH CHIPPING HILL WITHAM CM8 2JS** # **ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS - 2021** **Team Rector Revd Dr Jonathan Pritchard Associate Priest Associate Priest Revd Christine Newmarch Pioneer Minister** **Revd Susan Malam Revd Christine Revd Will Abbott** THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN THE TOWN OF WITHAM CENTRED ON ## **WITHAM PCC** THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST NICOLAS The Parish Church is on Chipping Hill in Witham. The correspondence address is: The Parish Office, St Nicolas Church Hall, Chipping Hill, Witham. Essex CM8 2JS In 2021 the Parochial Church Council has consisted of: Revd Dr Jonathan Pritchard, Team Rector (from 6 September 20210 Revd Susan Malam, Associate Priest (SSM) ex officio Revd Christine Newmarch, Locally Deployed Self Supporting Associate Priest (LDSSM) Revd Will Abbott, (Pioneer Minister) Mr Andrew Rudd, Church Warden (ex officio until 31 October 2021) & Vice Chair of the PCC (until 8 June 2021) Ms Marian Mitchell, Churchwarden (ex officio) & Vice Chair of the PCC (from 8 June 2021) Mr Mike Robinson, Church Warden (ex officio from 29 November 2021) PCC Secretary and (ex officio - Deanery Representative) Mr John Hassler PCC Treasurer elected Mrs Jenny Robinson (ex officio Deanery Representative) (Assistant PCC Treasurer) Mrs Christine Brown (ex officio - Deanery Representative) Mrs Lyn Corke (elected) Mr Rodney Cullum elected Mr Andrew Holt (ex officio - Deanery Representative) & Electoral roll officer Mr Rod Lane elected Mr Trevor Myatt elected The PCC Standing Committee comprises the two Churchwardens, the PCC Secretary and the PCC Treasurer. The PCC Accounts are held by Barclays Bank plc, Witham and funds are also held by the CBF Church of England Deposit Fund, London. The Independent Examiner is Mrs Ann Clarke, Witham. St Nicolas’ Church is part of the Witham and Villages Team Ministry which has responsibility for the town of Witham and the neighbouring parishes of Terling, Fairstead, White Notley, Faulkbourne, Rivenhall and Silver End. Each parish has its own PCC. The Witham and Villages Team Ministry is also joined with the parish of Hatfield Peverel with Ulting to form the Pilgrim Rivers Mission and Ministry Unit (MMU). 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 was exempted by order from registering with the Charity WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 2 Commission until 2010 when it registered and was given the Charity number 1133036. WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 3 The PCC has six accounts which must be spent on Restricted purposes as follows; ## **a) Abrey Trust** The Managing Trustees [the PCC] shall apply the clear income and at their discretion the whole or part of the property of the Church Charity in or towards rebuilding, repairing, enlarging, altering, furnishing and equipping the Church of St Nicolas in the said ecclesiastical parish. ## **b) Church House Fund** Under the control of the Incumbent & Churchwardens to be used to provide any building for the purposes of: 1. Divine Worship } 2. Classes or Lectures } Connected with the 3. Meetings } Church 4. Clubs } 5. Clerical Meetings & Social Conferences } 6. Any purpose in the opinion of the Incumbent & Churchwardens for improving conditions of the population of the Parish. Building may not be used in any way against the principles of the Church of England. ## **c) Fabric Fund** ## Income & capital for upkeep of the fabric of St Nicolas church and churchyard. **d) Graves Fund** Income for upkeep of graves. ## **e) John Suddards Memorial Fund** Income and capital to provide discretionary funds in memory of the late Reverend John Suddards. ## **f) Church Community Fund** Income and capital for Witham based hardship cases / people in urgent need of money. This fund is administered via Braintree Halstead & Witham CAB. The appointment of PCC members is governed by and set out in the Church Representation Rules. PCC members are recruited from the wider congregation, and all are encouraged to consider standing. New members are offered induction training by the Church Wardens on a one to one basis, and from time to time all members are briefed together on compliance with health and safety legislation, safeguarding, data protection and other like legislation. Members also have access to specific training events organised on a Deanery, Area or Diocesan basis, and provision is made for sharing information and skills gleaned at such events and for the dissemination of appropriate briefing documents. The PCC met electronically by Zoom from January to June and physically for September, November and December. The October meeting was cancelled during Covid. WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 4 The PCC Standing Committee did not meet during 2021, but conferred for any particular matters. The following work was conducted by email correspondence: - **a)** set the Agenda for the next PCC Meeting - **b)** deal with financial matters and expenditure up to a limit of £500 on each item, and - **c)** advise the clergy on any matter connected to the Parish. WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 5 The PCC also has the following sub-committees: - **a)** The Medieval Fayre Committee has delegated power to organise and run the Annual Medieval Fayre, however the pandemic did not permit the event to take place in 2021. Conditions improved later in the year, and a reduced Autumn Fayre was organised by those personnel. The initial meeting for the 2022 Medieval Fayre was held on 23 November. - **b)** The Church Hall Committee is concerned with the fabric and facilities of the Church Hall and makes recommendations to the PCC, but that meeting did not meet. - **c)** The Church Fabric Committee advises the PCC on fabric and property matters generally, but did not meet. Essential activity was arranged electronically. - **d)** Finance and Stewardship committee did not meet. - The committees not meeting during 2021 was due to the Covid restrictions. Working groups also report to the PCC as required - a. Outreach & Mission Group which concern themselves with the mission, pastoral, worship and social activities of the Parish. - b. Christmas Tree Festival Group, concerned with the development and management of the St Nicolas Christmas Tree Festival. These working groups did not meet during 2021 due to the Covid virus restrictions. In addition, the First Sunday Group exists to assist the clergy on the content and delivery of the 10.00 am All Age Eucharist on the First Sunday of the month. This group met via Zoom. The Messy Church Group, which exists to plan the content and delivery of the monthly Messy Church, did not meet due to Covid virus restrictions on that activity. The Youth Group, named “The Crib” met weekly via Zoom. The Church Wardens worked in close collaboration with the members of clergy, and the lay members of the congregation throughout the whole Parish. Over the year the Church Wardens were responsible for the activities of the Parish Church, the overall administration of the Parish, pastoral matters and worship, until the Rector was licenced. The Pioneer Minister was responsible for Sunday worship at Howbridge Church of England Junior School and also provided the services streamed via Facebook. He also provided ministry in Terling, Fairstead and Faulkbourne. This included community support initiatives. The training ministers for Revd Will Abbott’s were Revd Dave Beales and Revd Ian Hilton. They were both given all necessary delegated powers to conduct their ministry and in pursuance of their Working Agreements. The PCC Secretary, Mr Mike Robinson, is Lay Chair of the Witham Deanery and a Lay Canon of Chelmsford Cathedral. Trevor Myatt continues to serve in a voluntary lay capacity as Pastoral Assistant. WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 6 Pat Pullen is a licensed Lay Funeral minister. David Martin, Mike Robinson and Andrew Holt continue to serve as Authorised Lay Preachers. WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 7 ## OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES The primary objective of the PCC is the promotion of the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the doctrines and practices of the Church of England. The PCC is fully committed to co-operating with the clergy team in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. During the year, the work of the PCC was heavily curtailed due to Covid virus restrictions. There were very limited opportunities for fundraising, including the annual Mediaeval Fayre and Christmas Tree Festival, which were both cancelled. This had a severe impact on the finances of the church. The church building was also closed for most of the year, so there was no work on the fabric of the church or church hall, though the churchyard was kept neat and tidy by volunteers. The PCC usually works with the clergy to encourage growth of the congregation and ensure that fruitful and effective discipleship is developed, but in 2021, with the restrictions on meetings and church services those goals were curtailed. However Chatterbox, the toddler group for pre-school children, continued to meet weekly via Zoom until physical services recommenced in June. The All Age Eucharist on the first Sunday of the month was also held via Zoom streaming via Facebook. Because of the nature of the craftwork, with children and adults working together, it was not possible to hold Messy Church during the Covid restrictions. We are looking forward to restarting these when the restrictions are removed. The Crib, the Youth Group for young people of secondary school age, ran via Zoom during the Covid restrictions, but did not attract the normal following due to the unfamiliar mode of meeting. There were on-line Alpha Groups for those seeking to learn more about the Christian faith, and the usual mid-week Lent course also ran through Zoom. The lockdown impacted on work with the schools. Although pupils were attending school, there were frequent absences for shielding after exposure to Covid. Park View Residential Home closed their doors to visitors during the Covid restrictions, including members of clergy and lay teams, so it was not possible to minister to the home. Revd Christine was able to lead the December service in St George’s however. In 2021 the clergy officiated at 24 baptisms, 3 weddings, 9 funeral services in church, 12 at the crematorium, and 6 interments of ashes in the churchyard. WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 8 There were no ecumenical services in 2021, but the AGM for Churches Together in Witham & District was held physically on 27 October. The church receives the services of a Director of Music, Mr David Martin, and has a paid Parish Administrator, Mrs Fiona Abbott. The church is very dependent on the goodwill and hard work of the many volunteers, in particular, the church officers, church cleaning, churchyard maintenance, odd jobs, church hall letting, duplicating service sheets and the like, sacristan duties, worship organisation, and many other specific tasks are all achieved through volunteer work. In 2021, due to Covid restrictions, most of these activities were reduced, but thanks are expressed to those that did carry out duties during this time. Normally Christian Aid is supported each year particularly at Christmas and during Christmas Aid week in May, and the Children’s Society supported at Christingle Services. Since services did not take place at these times during 2021 we were unable to offer this support. Similarly, since members of the congregation were only meeting electronically until April, and even then many continued electronically, we were unable to support the Diocesan Lent Appeal, the Church Army Lent Appeal and the Chelmsford Night Shelter, the Foodbank and Peabody Trust at Christmas, Easter and Harvest, nor collect toys for the charity Homestart at St Nicolas-tide. The Mothers’ Union was unable to meet. St Nicolas Church was able to participate in Heritage Open Day again, but, like most sites, with a virtual tour of the church on the Witham Parish Church Facebook page. ## ACHIEVEMENT The church has enjoyed an unusual, but successful year of worship and witness. Most of the regular congregation joined in the streamed services, 10.00 am or Evensong, via Facebook, and many additional attendees joined them, either live or later in the week, since the services remained available. Since on-line services appeared to reach additional worshippers, they will continue in parallel with actual attendance when the church is able to open again for services. Sadly we did lose some faithful members during 2020, and it was not possible to include the large numbers of mourners that would have attended in a non-Covid environment. Fortunately we were able to live stream the funeral services from the church. We were able to hold a few physical services in church when the lock-down was lifted for a short period, which included worship for the Festival of St Nicolas. The PCC are grateful to the Director of Music, Mr David Martin, for continuing to maintain the choir, including a number of children, during this time, and particularly for that occasion. We have a fund named “Church Community Fund” to provide small sums of money to people in urgent need administered via the Citizens’ Advice Bureau in Witham. WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 9 ## FINANCIAL Total receipts on ordinary unrestricted funds (General and Equipment Funds) were £89,238 (2020 £86,753) and are detailed in the financial statements. £87,903 was spent regarding Church Activities, including the contribution of £43,500 to the Diocesan Parish Share, the formula for which requires a benefice to pay for its ministry costs plus a contribution towards central diocesan costs which is calculated by a formula based on members. £978 has also been used for fundraising. The net result for the year on the ordinary unrestricted funds was a surplus of receipts over payments of £228 (2020 surplus £5.) The small surplus was achieved by not paying our Parish Share in full. The PCC paid £43,500 and received a credit for £7,818 due to the vacancy, so a total of £51,318 but was unable to pay the balance of £41,116, to meet the Share request of £92,434 to have done so would have meant depleting our unrestricted reserve to zero. After adding bank and deposit balances brought forward at the beginning of the year, the balance carried forward at 31st December 2021 for the ordinary unrestricted fund totalled £35,458 (2020 £35,220). ## RESERVES POLICY It is PCC policy to maintain a balance on unrestricted funds (if possible), which equates to approximately four months unrestricted payments to cover emergency situations that may arise from time to time. The balance of £35,458 on unrestricted funds at the year-end is under this target. It is our policy to invest our funds balances with the CBF Church of England Deposit Fund. ## **Approved by the PCC on 8 February 2022 and signed on their behalf by Revd Dr Jonathan Pritchard (PCC Chair)** WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 10 Pla)rÉd gmfw) le(ti0tEaKlot￿O￿r#J l •t￿rg￿rI)i Kolwtyyrec¥os ftAJ(JPeo)*r IX7J) 7.211 41Q 4.DS 543 15. 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Ch•rtty Regular Giiiinu 40.746 41.5Y2 4U746 Colleciions atrKI Olher glvl L¢Jose FAate INOTrGit AKI Dorotiorsl One-off Gilt Aid Gfft Aiol T3x 1.679 13.620 5.543 1.241 5.970 15.484 le￿CleS ChartratAe c1x￿￿On5 Me55y Church Donation5 Voti%es FIoY4Et5 - B9 4.031 ei 51 Me(*èe*l Fèyre Concert5 59 Club i￿L￿r EasyfurKlrèiSirW).tO.uk Ger￿al Fundraisin9 Church h811 Wn95 irKoTh Ma9aZine sales & a(hatiSifvJ 516 i.(h¢i IS8 610 147 4.177 2.891 879 *745 Partthial fees ChDir ar￿ o￿an Int(M If￿0M 2.815 Insurance Ckiin Grant ICNILlw & Yoww3 Pe￿OrS Worker) Otr￿r Recei05 307 7.076 70 9.174 thurrh Acllvlll•s Diocesan Parish Shar 43.5 15.355 2S.338 2.871 839 45.875 17.3 17.593 3.623 1.303 Cleryy staffvd costs Churth rtrnirw) ex￿￿eS Hall ￿nning costs Church Repair5 & Mairtyk3fKe Hall ReFhiit5 & mairrtEnar￿È Oket5ea5 rrwssion ar￿ teiief M155iw Church S￿￿tIeS Fundraisny Costs 59 Club Otr*rfvndraisir*J costs Magazine Costs Me(fjae￿l Fayrp 215 978 269 |Bank CurTErt and DeFX)5it acc(xxrts at 1st J anuary 12.325 WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 12 RÉtÈiK Bank lrtere5t Excess of RectiFts ow PaynErt5 Bank CunÈrt and OeFK)sit acc¢xw)ts at tstl anuary 25 Z25 Bank Irt￿t Payrr￿ts xcess of Receipts Oker Payr 16 Bank Currert L)eFQSit ac(￿rt at tstl anuary 353 3525 |ReceiFts Bank IrtEYpst Paymetts Excess of Reteipts Payrr￿rt |Bank Currert ar￿ Depx)5it acc(Krt5 at 15tl an￿ry TA tham Parochial Church Council - St ￿Cola5 Church. Ch• P*• ll3 ReceiFts Bank Charges |Excess of RErÈipts Oker PèymÈrt Bank Current and L)ep)sit acC￿rt at Istl anuary 2734 2734 WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 13 Cliurch ConTwiwty FWKI Recei05 and P*T￿lts P£count. RestiiciEd FUNI eceipts Payrrents E xcess of Receipts ow Payrr |Bank CunEnt a￿1 DetM)Sit accou L￿2 Bank Cuffentand Dei)0gt acc, eceirrts Net Receik*s PayffEnts Excess of Receipts ow Pay Bank CunEnt arKI Depjsit accou Bank Cuntntand Depoth acc, eceipts aYr￿ntS E xcess of Receipts ov Payrw 24 Bank CunEnt atyl Dep)sit accou Bank CurTEfrtand Depo&t aco EquiP￿ent FWKI Recei05 P￿Ents P£cwtt. Design*d Furnl Bank Inte￿t ayrrents E xcess of Receipts ow Payrrer 81 |Bank CunEnt DeFQSit accou ]9,XS ]9.]24 WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 14 ltham Parochial Church Council - St hkolas Church. Cha17ty lla>J Cash ftJrKÈ CunErt Accwts De￿IS￿[ Acc(Arts f￿),871 58,305 Total Cffipntand IWAccounls |Lialilib'es IGerErdl FLnJl Pa￿Chial Fee5 (Feid in ￿the￿e1 1.718 n8 2.582 OtstaroiNe assets Labw#Th)w, Ca￿15 cffte AY(Mr Parish medi￿£1 Fayre f￿r￿la1 ststwrwts PCC typp?￿l in accordarKe V•ith Clxwch AccwntirKJ R￿ati￿6 2fTh ￿•r0 tre R￿e1￿5 arKI PaynErts IHs6. fr)Ilob%iNJ assds a￿ ￿(￿)[¥5￿1 Ixk [￿eSsari￿ in tr* StstenH* ofAssets aNJ Liatm"1￿"es.' mo￿at￿e churth t￿nIstrY"r￿j5 hdd ty the ChU￿h wartlen5 ￿ stEcial trust fortr￿ PCC arKI ich a tscuKy ts d6tK6al. exKErses ￿lid tt) clergy TTk3y irKluÈ a sfTpII irTYT¥tsrial v+tNch rdate5 to ttEir furKb"on a5 PCC ￿￿rrt￿s. No thiyrwErrt5 w￿r￿ matÈ tD PCC rrErtEr5. |AFpro￿￿ byb* P￿ ￿ 2&h Fe￿17?2￿ 9￿C￿l￿rtE￿af tt.JoThkn Prit¢th¥d (Charl I￿ MrJ0hnF￿￿erlF£cTre WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 15 ## **Independent examiner's report to the PCC of St Nicolas Church, Witham** I report on the accounts of the PCC for the year ended 31 December 2019 which are set out within the report. ## **Respective responsibilities of the PCC and the examiner** The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an Independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to - Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act; - Follow procedures laid down in the general directions given by the Charity Commissioners section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and - State whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **Basis of Independent Examiners Statement.** My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. it also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the management committee concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in a full audit, and consequently l do not express an opinion on the accounts. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: - (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements - to keep accounting records in accordance with s.130 of the 2011 Act; or - to prepare accounts, which accord with these accounting records have not been met; or - (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Mrs A C Clarke 4 Abercorn Way Witham, CM8 2UF 31 March 2022 WITHAM PCC - ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2021 Page 16