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2021-12-31-accounts

Trustees Annual Report and Financial Report

of The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of

Holy Trinity, Rudgwick

Church Gate House, Church Street, Rudgwick, Horsham, RH12 3EB

Registered Charity no. 1133926 Inland Revenue Tax Number: X89890

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Contents

Page

Website: www.rudgwickchurch.org.uk

The Revd M P J King, The Vicarage, Cox Green, Rudgwick, Horsham, Incumbent: RH12 3DD

Independent Oakwood Business Consultants, Honeygreen Barn, Smithbrook Barns, examiner: Cranleigh, GU6 8LH Lloyds Bank, Horsham Branch National Westminster Bank, Carfax Bankers: Branch, Horsham

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Holy Trinity, Rudgwick Trustees Annual Re ort for 2021 p

Our aims and purposes as a charity

The Parochial Church Council (“PCC”) has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, The Revd. Martin King in:

What we planned to do to achieve our charitable objectives

When planning our activities for the year, we have considered the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the supplementary guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through:

To facilitate this work, it is important that we maintain the fabric of Holy Trinity and St John’s and the other buildings for which we are responsible.

The PCC met 10 times during the year with an average level of attendance of 88%. The financial working group met in November to review the financial situation of Holy Trinity and to prepare the budget for 2021. The Vicar and Churchwardens met on an approximately three weekly basis.

The PCC has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016, fully recognising its duty to have due regard to House of Bishops' guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

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What we achieved and how we affected beneficiaries’ lives

Coronavirus

The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has continued to touch and shape every area of the Church’s ministry this year. At the start of the year some areas of Church life were online, whilst other parts continued be on hold. By Easter, as restrictions started to ease, things were once again opening up and re-starting. This is reflected in the report.

Attendance at worship

The church family welcomes visitors from within as well as outside the parish boundary. Visitors attend by personal choice and we welcome anyone from all walks of life to take part in the life of the church.

On 25 April 2020 there were 156 parishioners on the Church Electoral Roll compared to 162 in 2021, 30 of whom are not resident within the parish (2020: 33).

The average weekly attendance , counted during October, was 96 (2020: 43, 2019: 118). Given that our services were online (on the Church Website via YouTube) prior to Good Friday, we have not attempted to try and calculate the Average Sunday Attendance for 2021.

In June a new visuals system was installed in Holy Trinity with fixed projectors and retractable screens in both aisles, a camera and live streaming facilities. Since the end of July we have live streamed our Sunday morning 10.30am Contemporary Family Service enabling those at home self-isolating, those who cautious about returning to public gatherings and the housebound to watch services.

We look to encourage the deepening of faith for all ages, at our 10.30am Contemporary Family Service we ran Sunday Rocks (our Sunday School) for children and young people from May onwards. Prior to this it had been online with weekly teaching videos on the Church Website and crafts emailed to the families each week. Whilst the online content was appreciated by families and enjoyed by the children, the return in person sessions has been welcomed.

Our Easter services were both in person (our first in the building since Coronavirus cases rose in January ) and online, our Good Friday services was attended by 49 adults and Easter Sunday by 46 adults. All our Christmas services were held in person, however with cases of the omicron variant of Coronavirus rising ~~aising s~~ teeply in the run up to Christmas and, with people not having been able to celebrate with families the previous years, the services were very quiet. We welcomed 138 people (2019: 287) to our carol services. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 143 adults and 27 children joined us for worship (2019: 417 adults, 112 children).

“They (Open the Book) were amazing yesterday, and it was so, so special. The parents couldn't believe how brilliant the team were, and the children, as always, were mesmerised!’ Pennthorpe Pre-Prep

We continue to be involved in the Schools in our Parish . The Vicar has recorded pieces for online assemblies and services for the Primary School and Pennthorpe School as well as welcoming classes to the Church to find out about the Church and see the Rudgwick Remembers exhibition commemorating those from the village who died in the World Wars. Whilst Open the Book were not been able to visit the schools in person they have recorded assemblies outdoors and then delivered a

memory stick to both schools for use in their assemblies. These have been warmly received. With the ‘roadmap out of lockdown’ bringing an ~~ing and~~ end to may restrictions, a number of pupils and their teachers from The Rikkyo School in England started joining us once again for Sunday services. At Easter the Chaplin at The Rikkyo

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School in England returned to Japan and since the summer we have been organising for local clergy and lay readers to take Sunday Chapel services at the School as well helping to arrange cover for RE lessons.

In May, after 13 years of employment with us, we said goodbye to our Youth Worker, Loyd Harp , and his family as they returned to the United States of America to take up the post of Youth Coordinator at Brookside Church in Indianapolis. We advertised and interviewed for a Youth Pastor in the summer term and although we interviewed, we did not appoint – we will be re-advertising the position.

Teaching, baptising and nurturing new and existing believers

With baptisms not having been possible for much of the previous year, in 2021 we have celebrated the baptism of 7 children (2019: 6). We have conducted 3 weddings (2019: 4) all of which were postponed from 2020. As well as 6 church funerals , there were another 4 funerals conducted for parishioners at the crematorium (2020: 3 church, 3 graveside and 5 crematorium). There was only 1 burial of ashes in 2021 (2020: 3) this is partly because we have run out of new plots for the burial of ashes in the current garden of remembrance and are waiting for the extension to the churchyard to be able to bury ashes. We offer The Marriage Preparation Course to all couples getting married at Holy Trinity. In 2021 2 couples took part in the course which was run on Zoom video conferencing.

We continue to seek to extend the opportunities for people to use their gifts within the life of our community. A good “Value of Small Group is to meet up number of the church family have been with friends, read and discuss the involved in leading various aspects of bible and to pray for the village and worship , such as our intercessions, reading the world. The nice thing about these the lessons and leading services. Several groups is that they are small so you members of the congregation have do not feel overwhelmed.” ‘Permission to Preach’ from the Bishop. Our A Small Group Member music group and Church choir are much appreciated for their ministry leading us in sung worship, especially when congregation singing was prohibited. From the summer we were able to resume congregation singing in services.

A Small Group Member

Our Small Groups continue to be a strength of the Church, meeting to nurture believers, encourage people in their faith and to provide fellowship. The groups have continued to meet each week, either online on in person. The groups have provided vital fellowship throughout the pandemic, when so many have been isolated at home. There are 10 small groups in the Church, with over 80 members.

“My Small Group Bible study is a key part of my Christian Journey.”

A Small Group Member

The New Wine Summer Conference , which a group from the Church usually attend at the end of July each year was again held online. Whilst it meant that the teenagers in the Church were not able to serve on the children’s teams as in the past, it did mean that a number of people who do not usually attend were able to benefit from the teaching

and worship.

Evangelism and outreach

One of the ways in which we make a difference in our Village is through Rompers – a toddler group in the Church building for babies, toddlers and their carers. Numbers continued to be very strong throughout the year (12 to 20+ babies / toddlers depending

“Thank you for being so welcoming – the boys had a good time”

“What a lovely Session, such a great play group!”

Rompers’ Mums Page 6

Trustees Annual Report

on the restrictions at the time) continuing to cause us problems with space. However, the numbers attending demonstrate that the group is meeting a need in our community. At the start of the year the group was held in Rudgwick Chapel due to internal scaffolding at Holy trinity to enable repairs to the water damaged ceiling under the Valley Gutter.

The Games Hub resumed in September with much jubilation from those who attend – whilst it is open to everyone, whatever age and whatever their circumstances, it was started with those who are lonely and isolated in mind – the playing of board games giving them a place to socialise, have fellowship and make new friends. It has been valued and appreciated by those who come (about 22 people attend regularly with around 16 in any given week) and greatly missed during the pandemic. It has a devoted group of players as well as those who visit occasionally. Prior to the Games Hub resuming, each week the team phoned regular attendees to continue that sense of fellowship and help them with the isolation caused by the pandemic.

“We moved to Rudgwick from Westcott, knowing nobody at all, and discovered that people were organising a games afternoon, welcoming all to “Games Old and New.” What a lovely place to find friends.

I found two games, Rummikub and Mexican train, that I’d never heard of and also Mah-Jong. I hadn’t played this for quite a time and had never scored. I found you didn’t need to know or be an expert to try any game and I could move easily from game to game, meeting new friends along the way. Everyone just joined in the different games.

There is no charge for the tea, coffee, cake and biscuits provided, nor for the afternoon and even a lift can be organised. So, I would say: please, if you are new to the area, just come along and try a game or two. We would love to have you join us ”

Regular evangelism and outreach initiatives –

such as the Church stall at the Gardening Association Summer Show and giving out Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday – have remained suspended this year as have both our men’s and women’s breakfasts .

However, at the start of December our ladies’ Christmas Craft evening was held in person, with a speaker sharing their story and the difference that their Christian faith has made to them.

The Parish Magazine is run by the Church and provided free to every house in the village (paid for by advertising) for the benefit of the whole village – 1450 copies are delivered each month by a team of around 40 volunteers. The Magazine helps to maintain links between the church family and those who have not yet felt the need to take part in what we do as well as enabling other Village organisations to communicate with Parishioners.

Youth Work in our Community

Youth work – both ‘open’ and faith based, continues to be a strong part of our work in Rudgwick. Rudgwick Youth Centre (RYC) is run by the Church and provides free sessions to any young people of secondary school age who wish to attend. Whilst aimed primarily at those resident in Rudgwick it is also open to those who live in neighbouring villages. At the start of the year the centre operated online sessions but has returned to in person ones as the restrictions allowed.

Attendance has varied widely at the groups – the sessions we were able to hold in person were much more popular than the online sessions, which only attracted between2 and 6 youngsters. The centre continued to operate regular ‘open’ sessions, ‘drop in’ on Monday afternoons for School years 7 to 9 (average attendance of 7 a week with a peak of 21, when Year 6 started attending in June – 2019: 14 and 43); and ‘Unwind’ on Thursday evenings for school years 10-13 and those at sixth form college (average attendance of 4 a week throughout the year and 7 a week up until the summer with a peak of 20 – 2019: 10 and 18). A faith-based session (‘Satellites’) for school years 7-13 ran on Sunday afternoons until the end of October (average

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attendance of 4 a week with a peak of 6 – 2019: 4 and 8) when it joined with the ‘Fearless’, faith based group at Loxwood and Alfold church and will continue to do so until and Youth Pastor is appointed. The total number of visits to the Youth Centre by young people in 2021 was 584 (2019: 1524). In addition to this the Youth Centre is open at other times for special events such one-off sessions in the school holidays and as films nights. It continues to make a positive impact on our community, providing a place for young people to meet.

Provision of the church building for people to enjoy

In 2021 we celebrated 16 life events, or occasional offices, (2021: 3, funerals only and 2019: 14, baptism, wedding and funerals) in Holy Trinity. Our church continues to be appreciated by our parishioners and many others, as a space where life events are celebrated with joy and thanksgiving.

Once the repairs to the water damaged ceiling were completed in May, the Church building of Holy Trinity was available for private prayer for everyone in the parish. The Church is therefore open during the day for anyone to use. In Holy Trinity we make available, free of charge, a professionally printed booklet about the history of the Church which takes people on a self-guided tour of the building.

In the weeks surrounding Remembrance Sunday the Church held another Rudgwick Remembers exhibition, open to everyone, detailing the lives of those commemorated on the war memorials. Despite the restrictions we were able to welcome a school trip from the Primary School as they came to learn about those who fought in the wars.

The church building and projects

During the year, the internal repairs to the ceiling were completed. This work was required following the external repairs to the Valley Gutter between the Nave and North Isle, which caused water ingress.

With the pandemic, the work to address the wider issues with the building has been put on hold, however we have completed a limited part of the work, namely the additions and improvements to audio visual system – installing fixed projectors and retractable screens along with equipment to live stream service.

During the year issues with the boiler at Holy Trinity were identified which called into question the economics of further repairs. After being granted a ‘dispensation from faculty’ by the Chancellor, the boiler was replaced with a more efficient, wall mounted boiler in the Vestry rather than in the pit below ground (which had caused many of problems with the old boiler).

The work with the Parish Council to renew the lease on Rudgwick Youth Centre has continued this year. In January we sent comments to the Parish Council on the first draft of the lease and received a second draft in September which, as required by the Diocese, has been reviewed by a solicitor at Winckworth Sherwood LLP. Once the lease renewal is complete we look forward to the Parish Council’s response to the Rudgwick Youth Centre feasibility study Allen Associates Architects presented at the end of 2018.

The work to acquire new grave space and an extension to the churchyard for the benefit for the whole community has continued. Working with the Parish Council the conveyancing of the land has been signed but, due to delays form the pandemic, has yet to be added to the Land Registry database.

Provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish

The main structure for the provision of pastoral care in the Church is through our Small Groups. The Vicar is there to help when a greater level of support is needed and

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for those who are not members of Small Groups. He also provides pastoral care to the wider community. During the year, some of this has had to be via the telephone.

The monthly service of Holy Communion that was conducted by the Vicar at Hawkridge, the sheltered housing in the village has yet to re-start following the pandemic. He has conducted home communions as needed and allowed by the restrictions. Hospital visits have not been possible (except for end of life) and whilst he has been able to visit a care home, restrictions meant such visits have been exceptional.

Provision of tangible support to the poor and needy

Throughout the year we have collected donations of non-perishable food for Family Support Work , a charity that works to support families in Sussex struggling with issues such as poverty, ill health, learning difficulties, bereavement, family break-up and domestic abuse. Harvest gifts were also collected for Family Support Work .

The Remembrance Sunday Collection along with Alms Box donations during the Rudgwick Remembers exhibition raised a total of £600 that was donated to The Royal British Legion . The collections at our Christmas services , along with donations given in lieu of sending Christmas Cards to Church members, came to £680 and was donated to Family Support Work .

“We really appreciate your support for those who have served with Her Majesty’s British Armed Forces …

Generous donations, like yours, make it possible for us to provide muchneeded help and support to the many thousands of ex-Service men and women who call on us in their hour of need. Last year this included providing expert guidance and support to over 104,000 people through our Pop in Centres across the UK, as well as taking over 180,000 calls on our helpline.”

The Royal British Legion

In the run up to Christmas, we again encouraged people to donate gift filled shoeboxes online for Operation Christmas Child . We also collected 16 shoeboxes filled with presents. These shoeboxes are given to children in need overseas at Christmas time. This is an unconditional gift,

given to any child regardless of race or religion.

Other charitable giving

“This support has enabled us to maintain the Amara House as a supportive environment for the seven young men (who were just boys at the start) for an incredible 18 years and counting! Without it they would not have survived.”

As a Church we seek to give away to our Mission partners an amount equivalent to 10% of our previous year’s unrestricted and unreserved income. In 2021 we gave £16,000 (2020: £18,000), to Barnabas Fund, Baynards Zambia Trust, Engineering Missions International, Family Support Work, Five Talents, Fundatia, Horsham Night Shelter, MAF,

Fundatia Talents, Fundatia, Horsham Night Shelter, MAF, New Wine, Overseas Missionary Fellowship, Scripture Union, Tear Fund and The Bible Society.

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Financial Review

Incoming and outgoing resources

As a number of long standing members of the church moved away from the parish our planned giving dropped by £6,696 to £117,220 just over 5% less than we received in 2020. As we have been able to claim Gift Aid on most of these contributions the overall decrease was about £8,000. There is the concern that the full effect of people moving away from Rudgwick will further impact our income in 2022.

Our in-church collections were also about £8,000 lower than pre pandemic levels mainly because of reduced services and congregations. However we were able to have a Remembrance Day service that together with donations received from visitors to Rudgwick Remembers plus the applicable Gift Aid raised £600 that was passed on to the Royal British Legion.

The Christmas collections of £550 were donated to the Family Support work as well as the £130 that was raised in lieu of people sending Christmas cards.

Over the past couple of years we have undertaken significant repairs to Holy Trinity Church including work on the roof and the stonework that we hope will stand us in good stead for some years. After having persevered with a temperamental boiler that was requiring regular attention and repairs over a number of years we made the decision to replace it and installed a new boiler at a cost of £22,321 in December, moving the location from a below ground pit to the vestry. This new boiler should be more efficient something that becomes more important with rising energy costs and the desire to be more environmentally friendly.

We redeemed The Bay Cottage Trust endowed investment that was originally established in 1913 “for the spiritual and moral benefit of the Parish of Rudgwick”. The proceeds of this investment, £22,072, were used to part finance the audit visual system that was installed in Holy Trinity at a total cost of £28,740. This should not only improve communication during services and other functions but also to enable services to be live streamed over the internet.

We took advantage of the property used to house our Youth Pastor being vacant to undertake extensive renovations at a cost of £13,690 during the year. In December work commenced on renovating Rudgwick Youth Centre, the cost incurred by the end of 2021 was £1,010 while just over a further £2,400 had been incurred by the end of February 2022.

The Parish Magazine finances have been addressed and are now on a more sustainable basis that enables any accumulated magazine surplus to be donated to a deserving cause within the parish.

While strictly managing our costs, most of which are fixed in nature (eg parish share, property maintenance and service costs) there is very little discretionary spend and therefore very little scope to reduce our expenditure should revenues decrease.

Sharing the ministry costs of the Diocese of Chichester

The church not only met 100% of the costs allocated to us by the diocese for our share of all churches’ Parish Ministry Costs but we voluntarily donated an extra 2% (£1,445) to the diocese. This Parish Share covers the housing, stipend and pension costs of our vicar, the church insurance and also a standard sum for diocesan central costs, clergy training and a contribution to national church funds.

It is also important to note that approximately 80% of the total paid relates directly to the clergy costs of this parish, the remainder being the shared costs of the Christian family throughout the whole Church of England, including assistance towards the upkeep of churches less able to manage financially than ourselves.

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Staff costs

The church employs two part time administrative staff and a full-time youth worker (until he left in June). Details of their costs are given in the notes to the accounts. In addition many persons freely give of their time and talents that enables us to have relatively low administration and maintenance costs.

Trustee payments and expenses

The PCC also supported the clergy by paying Council Tax of £3,241 and water and environmental charges of £679 for the Vicarage. In addition, costs towards travel, hospitality, telephone, postage, broadband and other expenses incurred in the running of the parish amounting to £3,349 was refunded to the vicar.

In addition to the clergy, six other members of the PCC claimed a total of £1,373 in respect of items that they purchased on behalf of the church buildings and our ministry, some because items needed to be purchased over the internet in which payment needed to be made by credit card.

A donation of £1,600 was recommended by the Mission Giving Committee, approved by the PCC, to be made to Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) where the son of Reginald V Webb, treasurer to the PCC, is employed in Arnhem Land, Australia. Reg was not involved in the recommendation nor in the approval of this donation.

Office costs

The office and administrative costs, like all our expenses, are budgeted and strictly monitored and in relation to the scale of our activities are relatively small. We are greatly assisted in this regard by the generous assistance of many parishioners who give freely of their time and talents to assist in the administration of the churches and the maintenance of our properties including the running of the Rudgwick Youth Centre.

Repairs to the fabric of buildings for which we are responsible

The PCC has responsibility for the repairs and maintenance of five properties; Holy Trinity, St John’s, Church Gate House, 20 Woodfield Road (the home of our Youth Pastor) and the Rudgwick Youth Centre, as well as the churchyard, including the graveyard. As will be appreciated some of these buildings are very old and therefore require regular and expensive maintenance as evidenced by the major repairs that we had to undertake in 2020 and renovations that we undertook in 2021.

Long term loan

We refinanced the long term loan in September 2020 by borrowing £90,000 from the Diocesan Board of Finance, to be repaid in bi-annual instalments of £5,000 that commenced in March 2021 bearing interest of 3% on the amount outstanding. If an overpayment is made in any year that can be offset against the following year’s repayment. As £20,000 was repaid in October 2020 and a further £40,000 in 2021 to reduce the interest cost no further repayments need to be made before 2027. As keen as we are to repay the remaining £30,000 that will be dependent upon our cash resources and funding needs.

Why we hold some money in reserve

It is PCC policy to maintain a balance on the general unrestricted funds (excluding property) that equates to approximately three months’ worth of unrestricted payments as contingency against unforeseen situations being particularly cognisant of the potential demands of some of our buildings.

The amount of this contingency reserve at the end of December 2021 was £52,045 held in a Church of England deposit fund.

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As well as holding the above general reserves, from time to time the PCC receives restricted legacies for expenditure on particular purposes, defined by the donor. We aim to expend such money as soon as possible after receiving the legacy, depending on the specific objectives of the donor.

Management of risks and their mitigation

The PCC has an ongoing task of reviewing the major risks which impact on the work of the churches in the parish. The usual fire extinguisher checks have been carried out.

The PCC consider that the principal risks and uncertainties are:

The PCC seeks to manage these risks and uncertainties by regularly reviewing its Mission Action Plan and its plans for the use of the church buildings. We aim to maintain our properties to a high standard and carry out the priority items of a quinquennial review in a timely manner.

Future uncertainties

We are anticipating a deficit in the coming year and while we currently have reserves to cover this deficit this is obviously not sustainable in the longer term

It is our objective to ensure that as the day-to-day costs rise, the growth in income is sustained through renewed giving pledges, to strengthen our underlying financial position. This will enable further improvements to be made to the fabric of our Church, in addition to building up reserves to repay the Diocesan loan.

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Structure, governance and management of the charity

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is registered with the Charity Commission as required by the Charities Act 2011. Its governing document is the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956. With the Start of the new Deanery Synod in 2020 the places for Rudgwick parish rose from three to four.

During the year the following served as members of the Parochial Church Council:

Ex Officio members

Ex Ofcio members
Incumbent: The Revd Martin King Chair
Wardens: Mrs H Maeve Filby Vice Chair(To 25 April
2021)
Mrs Elizabeth Eden Vice Chair
(To 25
April 2021)
Mrs Hannah Keanie Vice Chair
(From 25
April 2021)
Mrs Louise Smith Vice Chair
(From 25
April 2021)
Deanery Synod Mrs H Maeve Filby (From 25 April 2021)
Mrs Fiona Sodha (From 25 April 2021)
Mrs Hannah Keanie (From 30 June 2021)
Mrs Louise Smith (From 30 June 2021)
Elected Members Mrs Hannah Keanie (To 25 April 2021)
Mrs Elizabeth King-Fisher
Mrs Jennifer Lazzeri (From 25 April 2021)
Mr Craig Lucas
Mrs Amanda Price
Mr John Raynham
Mr Grant Smith (To 25 April 2021)
Mrs Elaine Waight Secretary
Mr Reginald Webb Treasurer

Membership of the PCC is determined under the Church Representation Rules and consists of certain ex-officio members (the incumbent and curate), the churchwardens and members of the Deanery, Diocesan or General Synods and 9 members of the church who are elected at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM). Members are warmly encouraged to stand for election to the PCC and we try to ensure a balance of skills and experience where possible.

In accordance with the Diocesan Children and Young People Safeguarding Policy, in May the PCC appointed Ansley Crockford as parish Safeguarding Officer – prior to May the post was held by Marilyn Quail.

Following a resolution of the APCM in 2011, which came into effect in 2012, Lay readers licensed to officiate in the church are not automatically members of the PCC. However, they are welcome to stand for election to the PCC. At the same APCM a resolution was passed limiting the maximum number of elected representatives on the PCC to 9 of 15. In 2018 the Vestry Meeting passed a resolution that section 3 of the Churchwardens Measure 20011 (stating that a Churchwarden must step down after 6 years continuous service) does not apply.

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This Trustees’ Annual Report was approved by the PCC and signed on their behalf by The Revd. Martin King, PCC Chairman

Date:

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