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2022-12-31-accounts

The Parish of St. Nicholas with St. John Baptist, Newport, Lincoln

ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2022

Presented at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting 26[th] March 2023

Registered Charity Number: 1133977

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The Parish of St. Nicholas with St. John Baptist, Newport, Lincoln ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2022 Presented at the Annual Parochial Church Meetin 26[th] March 2023 g

INTRODUCTION

This is the Annual Report for the financial Year 2022 for the Parish of St. Nicholas with St. John, Newport, Lincoln. In this report you will find brief notes about church life, together with the accounts for the year 2022, duly examined (appended at the end of the document), and a budget for 2023.

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

The Parish Church of St. Nicholas is situated on the east side of Newport, Lincoln. It is within the Diocese of Lincoln in the Church of England. The correspondence address is: St. Nicholas Church, Newport, Lincoln, LN1 3DP, telephone number 01522 540614 or email stnicholaslincoln@gmail.com.

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a charity registered with the Charity Commission. Registered Charity Number: 1133977.

CLERGY

Vicar: Currently in Vacancy Associate Priest: Revd. Prebendary Alan Moses Dr. Peter Elsmore Reader & Lay Vice-Chairman

WARDENS

Mrs. Chris Elsmore Mr. David Gratrick Mr. Roger Hansard Mrs. Susan Humphrey

DEANERY SYNOD REPRESENTATIVES

For term to finish
Mr. John Simmons 2024
Mrs. Susan Toogood 2024

ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES


Miss Susan Whate
Mr. Adrian Smith
Mrs. Margaret Arrand
Mr. Andrew Simmons
Mrs. Betty Brown		 Elected for term to finish
2023
2023
2023
2023
2024
Mrs. Sally Hubbard 2024
Mrs. Carolyn Jones 2024
Position Vacant 2024
Mrs. Adele Sheriff 2025
Mrs. Joan Beresford
Mr. Ron Johnson
Position Vacant		 2025
2025
2025

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE & MANAGEMENT

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. All church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to PCC.

OBJECTIVES & ACTIVITIES

St. Nicholas’ PCC has the responsibility of cooperating with the Church Wardens and the Revd. Prebendary Alan Moses, Associate Priest, whilst we are in vacancy, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It also has responsibility for the care of the church building and its grounds, and responsibility for St. Matthias, Burton Road, which is used under lease by the Antiochene Orthodox Church.

The PCC meets about six times a year. A more detailed report is given elsewhere by the PCC Secretary. The PCC operates through a number of committees:

Standing Committee

CO-OPTED MEMBERS

Mrs. Joanne Osborne Honorary Secretary Mrs. Sandra Gratrick Honorary Treasurer

As the only committee required by law, it has the power to transact the business of the PCC between meetings, subject to any directions given by the PCC.

Worship, Discipleship & Education Committee

Oversees all matters of worship and Christian nurture.

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Social Committee Oversees the social events of the church.

Buildings Committee

Oversees the maintenance and improvement of the church building.


church building.
church building.
STATISTICS FOR MISSION 2021 2022
BAPTISMS 17 10
WEDDINGS 4 8
FUNERALS Church 34 24
Crematorium 9 3
Graveside Only 4 2
Total Funerals 47 29
CHURCH ATTENDANCE
1stSunday in October 57 62
2ndSundayin October 111 75
3rdSunday in October 25 64
4thSundayin October 70 49
USUAL SUNDAY ATTENDANCE
(including children)		 92 62

Note: These Mission statistics for 2022 do not include the numbers attending Baptism Services on one Sunday mentioned above, which totalled 34. These will be recorded separately on the Annual Return. St Nicholas’ hosted a service of Choral Evensong on the second Sunday for the Rededication of Standards, which also increased the numbers recorded.

ACHIEVEMENTS & PERFORMANCES

CHURCH ELECTORAL ROLL

The current Church Electoral Roll has been in place since 2019 and comprises 115 names at present. 17 names were removed during the year, and one was added.

Joanne Osborne, Church Electoral Roll Officer

FINANCIAL REVIEW 2022

This year’s Annual Accounts for 2022 are presented in this report. My thanks go to Capt. John Lee as our Independent Examiner.

Total receipts for the ordinary unrestricted funds were £81,804 and are detailed in the financial statements. This included £2,578.85 Energy Support Grant from the Diocese. I would like to express my thanks to the congregation for their continued contributions via Parish Share, Standing Orders, Direct Debits and envelopes during these difficult times. Expenditure for 2022 was £80,713.00 spent to provide Christian ministry for St Nicholas Church including our parish share of £50,500. This does show a surplus for 2022 on the final accounts, however due to late

bank clearance of some December payments of £6,676.26 which included the final parish share payment we would otherwise have shown an overspend for the end of the financial year. These payments will be cleared in January 2023 and therefore show in next year’s accounts. We also need to be aware of the increase in our gas and electric charges in the coming year.

Projected Budget for 2023

In the coming year we need to increase our income in order to maintain the running of St Nicholas Church. In our projected budget for 2023 our Parish Share increases to £55,500.00 and I have increased our anticipated expenditure for heating and lighting which equates to raising at least £7,874.00 per month or £1,817.00 per week to maintain the church. If we do not manage this, we will be using money held in reserve held in our CBF Deposit account which stands at £34,526.39. Within this is £10,000.00 for projected works in the pipeline for completion this year and restricted income of £8,532.68. In future we will be paying fees for any planning applications and Faculty applications. Work in progress is as follows:

Stannah Lift repair £2,113.87

Replacement of damaged Noticeboard Replacing damaged covering for East Window External fitting of Defibrillator External Bin Store

Reserve accounts

CBF (Church Benevolent Fund) £34,526.39

Shawbrooke Fixed Term Account (January 2024) £36,781.67

Edentree Investment Account £70,845.2

Sandra Gratrick, Honorary Treasurer

PLANNED GIVING

At the end of 2022 we had 78 regular givers using either the Parish Giving Scheme (our preferred option), standing orders to CAF Bank (our current account) or numbered envelopes. Of these, 64 are taxpayers who have made a Gift Aid Declaration allowing us to claim back 25% of their donations from HMRC.


HMRC.
Gift Aided Not Gift Aided Total
PGS 28 3 31
CAF Bank 31 6 37
Envelopes 5 5 10
Total 64 14 78

Please use this time to review your giving. If you have not yet joined one of our regular giving schemes, make

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today the day you start. If you have not increased your giving for some time, make today the day you do. If you are a taxpayer, but have not signed a Gift Aid Declaration, please ask me for a form.

Joan Beresford, Planned Giving Officer

PCC HONORARY SECRETARY’S REPORT

In 2022 we continued with Time to Change Together. We are signed up as a top-grade Parish, one of only 19 out of approximately 500. Unfortunately, we are still in vacancy, but we hope that a Priest in Charge will be appointed in 2023.

The sub-committees have now re-convened after Covid. The Discipleship & Education Committee has joined with the Worship Committee. Unfortunately, the Social Committee has decided to finish due to lack of support, but it is hoped that ideas for social events can be taken to the PCC and a team proposed to run it, etc. Peter Elsmore, Lay Vice Chair of the PCC agreed to also become Chair of the Standing Committee whilst we are in vacancy.

Another decision taken by the PCC was to close the Garden of Remembrance to future burial of ashes except for those of the spouses of people whose ashes are already buried there.

We saw the taking of both kinds of Holy Communion re-introduced since Covid.

St Nicholas joined other Uphill churches in the Holiday in a Bag scheme. It’s a fantastic way to connect with families and collaborate with other churches.

We said goodbye to Mother Alice Jolley who left St Nicholas in June to take up her new position as Team Vicar, Apsley End, Hemel Hempstead in the Langelei Benefice, Diocese of St Albans. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mother Alice for all her hard work, dedication, and kindness, and wish her well in her new role.

Joanne Osborne, PCC Honorary Secretary

CHURCHWARDENS’ REVIEW OF THE YEAR: ‘Steady as She Goes’

The Churchwardens’ Review last year was entitled: “A Year of Change and Farewells”. These have continued this past year, with Mother Alice’s appointment as Team Vicar at St. Mary’s, Apsley End, Hemel Hempstead, Coral’s departure to join her and the acceptance of Fran Bell and Kate Mitchell as Ordinands in our diocese. We miss them all; we are very grateful for all their contributions to ministry in our parish and wish them every success in their future

endeavours. At the same time, we continued to adjust to Fr. Hugh’s departure for his new role in the Diocese and to work through the various phases of the Time to Change Together (TtCT) process.

The challenges of the return to post-pandemic worship have continued, not so much in terms of public safety but rather in adapting to a smaller number of regular congregants and those able to volunteer for the many and varied tasks of regular parish ministry. We are extremely grateful to all those who gave so much time and effort to St Nick’s in the past and to those who, in ways too numerous to mention individually, now support St Nick’s ministry not only in clerical roles, but in pastoral, financial, musical, and practical ways.

Our main aims during the past year have been to steady the ship, to support Fr. Alan, visiting and retired clergy, Peter, and our congregation in maintaining regular worship and to provide a safe and welcoming environment in which to meet and worship.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Fr Alan who, with calmness, clarity and seemingly unflagging energy, in addition to his other diocesan responsibilities, has presided and preached at the majority of our regular and special services, chaired meetings, conducted numerous baptisms, weddings and funerals and made time to visit and administer Home Communion to the sick and housebound.

Our Associate Priest has been very ably supported by our Reader, Peter Elsmore, who has continued to develop in his role as Reader, preaching at St Nick’s and St. Mary Magdalene and leading Advent and Lent study groups. He has also been heavily involved in both the financial and organisational aspects of the Time to Change Together Project. Thank you, Peter, for all your contributions to worship, teaching and guiding us through TtCT.

In matters practical, the Churchwardens have been involved in preparing Planning and Faculty applications for the replacement noticeboard, the protective grille to the East window, the defibrillator and bin store. Understandably, given their added responsibilities during this year of vacancy, progress has been slow. On a positive note, much of the underlying preparation work is complete and we are currently awaiting a response to our Planning Application for the

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new noticeboard from the City Council. Once we have that and are in a position to assess how effective the application has been, we will submit a further, joint application for the East window grille, the defibrillator and the bin store. Faculty applications for all those projects will be submitted once planning permission has been received. Other practical matters addressed include the repair to the stairlift, now finally complete, regular monitoring and maintenance of the buildings, including the heating systems, providing access to the buildings for external users, maintaining and operating the PA system and preparing and serving refreshments following regular Sunday and mid-week services – MORE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED, PLEASE.

We have so much to celebrate here at St Nick’s. Our response to the challenges we have faced as a church family during the past year has been remarkable, allowing us to maintain regular worship, teaching, pastoral support and prayer. We can see signs of fresh growth as we welcome a small number of new congregants to regular worship, as we begin to develop stronger links with the parish of St. Mary Magdalene, now, officially, our partner in a Local Mission Partnership and as we look forward to the appointment of a new Priest-in-Charge, which hopefully will be later this year.

A smaller Baptism team, run by one of the Wardens, has continued to support Father Alan's work with the young families, our regular Nippers group has continued to meet every Thursday, the Phoenix Group has continued its very valuable outreach activities. St Nick’s Brownies have slowly become more involved in worship and other activities and there has been great joy given and received from our involvement with other uphill parishes in the Holiday Club In A Bag Project.

We will undoubtedly face bumps in the road as we travel this path together in the coming year, but with God’s grace and your prayers, your Churchwardens will continue to support the parish to the best of their ability.

The Churchwardens

WORSHIP, DISCIPLESHIP & EDUCATION

COMMITTEE

The Worship Committee has now been re-configured as the Worship, Discipleship & Education Committee under the chairmanship of Father Alan Moses. Since last year, we have seen the re-introduction of the

Ministry of Healing on 3[rd] Sundays and offertory procession, plus involvement with the holiday club bag scheme among the Uphill churches. Procuring a musical director has proved difficult, but much hard work has been done to find an organist each week, and the choir continue to lead the sung worship. It would be good to have more people to read, to prepare intercessions and to join the flower rota. Support at baptisms continues with new leaflets to hand out about Nippers.

Su Toogood, Secretary

ST. NICHOLAS GUILD OF SERVERS

It has been another fulfilling but rather lonely year, again, on the altar this year. When you are an altar server, the proximity to the action that happens at the altar is very powerful. It provides a very different view of the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. If you've never served before, why don't you join me one Sunday (or Wednesday) and see for yourself? There is no maximum age; males and females will be equally welcomed, full training and cassock each provided.

Peter Elsmore

MUSIC REPORT

The past twelve months was a year of challenge for the choir at St Nicks. We said a sad farewell to Christine Spencer as she returned to her beloved Sheffield. We welcomed Joy Hansard to the choir and thankfully she has kept up the number of sopranos.

Singing the services is always an honour and a pleasure. Nevertheless, it has come with some challenges! We have been accompanied by different organists, each with their own interpretation of our regular service be it tempo or which parts of the mass setting are to be sung or said. We are encouraged by our monthly choir practices with organist David Lee who has added a new dimension to our repertoire and a level of confidence to sing the occasional anthem during communion. When it has been necessary to have the pleasure of the accompanying music being on a CD, no organist being available, this brings its own concerns as we wonder whether there will be an introduction or not. This all keeps us on our toes! We offer our sincere thanks to Sue Humphrey for her tireless work in recruiting organists.

On February 28th the choir was invited to sing “The Lord is my Shepherd” (and Happy Birthday) to Josefine Macalister-Smith on her 100th birthday. It was a gratifying privilege to bring pleasure to a wonderful lady.

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The choir at St Nicks is still hoping for a Musical Director, but in the meantime, we will continue to do our best.

Margaret Arrand, Member of the Choir

CHRISTIANITY DEANERY SYNOD

On 11.05.23 our former Vicar chaired his last meeting as Rural Dean and thanked people for their support. Will Harrison from the Cathedral was elected as Lay Chair and Muriel Robinson as Treasurer.

Revd. Richard Crossland introduced discussion on Time to Change Together focussing on church types, vocational conversations with the diocese to assess resources and the move from Parish Share to Covenant pledges. New Deanery Partnerships were to equate roughly with local government areas. Examples of local churches starting to work together were quoted.

The meeting on 12.10.22 was chaired by Revd. Paul Noble. Peter Elsmore was co-opted as Lay Co-Lead and elected as a Lay Rep. to Diocesan Synod.

Once again, the main subject for discussion was TtCT. Revd. Jim Prestwood and Peter Elsmore were introduced as the new Partnership Dean and Lay CoLead respectively. The local plan is to have one Local Mission Partnership with the same boundaries as the Deanery, except for Bracebridge Heath which had elected to go into the North Kesteven Deanery Partnership. At some point a survey is to be carried out to give feedback on TtCT to the Diocesan Synod.

Another subject of discussion was the impact of the cost-of-living crisis. Revd. Nick Buck had a poster showing where to go Monday to Friday for warm spaces, warm drinks and company. The six places included churches of different denominations and the Ermine Library. Susan Watt said Transform Lincoln were planning warm hubs across the city.

Much more detail is available from Synod minutes.

John Simmons, Deanery Synod Representative

CHURCHES TOGETHER IN LINCOLN &

DISTRICT

This ecumenical group, CTLD for short, has usually held 3 meetings each year, but during lockdown those that were held were on Zoom. In 2022 an effort was made to resume normality and 2 meetings were held in person. The group continued to organise the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” in January with a service each day hosted by a different church and based on the host’s style of worship. CTLD is probably better known for the Good Friday “Walk of

Witness”. Four silent processions start from the four compass points of this city. The Uphill procession starts from outside Bailgate Methodist Church. The procession meets at the Stonebow and continues to the War Memorial, where prayers and an address are given. Hymns are accompanied by the Salvation Army Band. The October meeting was considering where the group goes from here. The debate is ongoing.

John Simmons

ST. NICHOLAS SOCIAL COMMITTEE

It was a difficult task to arrange any events due to the low number of people returning to church following Covid. This was reflected in the number of active members on the Committee. However, thanks to Janice Farrell who acted as intermediary, in July we arranged for the Revd. Steve Holt to come and talk about “A Humorous Look at Life as an Anglican Priest” and what a good evening it was! We discovered what an entertainer he was as his talk was punctuated with Steve’s singing, ably supported by Ray Smith. All Proceeds went to Church funds.

Our other event was the Harvest Lunch with pizzas and salad or baked beans on the menu, followed by cakes or fruit. The pre-ordered pizzas were excellent, and everyone had an enjoyable meal.

Unfortunately, a ‘Barbers Shop’ concert never took off due to low ticket sales, but our thanks to Geoff Arrand for trying to facilitate this.

Sadly, at the Committee’s meeting on 17.10.22 the decision was taken to mothball the Committee and this decision was accepted 2 months later by the PCC on 12.12.22.

Betty Brown, Chair of the Social Committee

BUILDINGS COMMITTEE

The post-pandemic resurrection of the Buildings Committee was delayed by the departure of its Chair, Mother Alice, with the result that it only met twice during 2022. It is now chaired by Sue Humphrey, with Andrew Simmons as Secretary. Matters discussed and/or addressed included:

General Maintenance: All the necessary annual maintenance inspections and checks were completed, and a variety of small practical tasks completed.

Church & church centre hire and hire fees and running costs: post-pandemic use of the church and church centre was slowly re-introduced. Following the huge increase in gas and electricity costs in the final quarter of the year, a comparison of monthly gas

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and electricity charges was completed. As a result, hire fees were increased and a notice posted at the back of church highlighting the total cost of maintaining ministry at St Nick’s each week. Given the increased cost of heating the main church building in winter, an agreement was negotiated with Nippers to move to “winter quarters” in the Blenkin Room. This move isn’t perfect, but the situation is frequently reviewed and may change as the weather improves and/or Nippers’ numbers cannot be safely accommodated in that room.

Quinquennial Inspection: This was arranged and completed by architect, Roger Wright. His written report is still awaited, despite several reminders, but he reported verbally that there were no major issues. Trees in the Stag’s Head Car Park: The selfsown trees along the path to the church centre, which are the responsibility of the brewery, are becoming an issue as they are overhanging sections of the church roof and, as they grow, the roots may cause damage to the foundations. Discussions took place and permission was obtained from the brewery to trim back the branches. Steps are underway to complete the work. Further investigations into potential root damage are to be carried out and a plan of action is in place, should such be needed.

Planning and Faculty Applications: These are needed before we can proceed with installation of the new noticeboard, the grille to the East window, the defibrillator, and the new bin store. Please see the Churchwardens’ Review for further details.

Stannah Lift: It took more than 6 months to achieve the necessary repair to the stairlift, but it is now fully operational again. As a result of the delays, credits for the cost of the annual maintenance contract and the original failed repair were obtained.

Photocopier: During a regular maintenance visit from the manufacturer, the Parish Administrator was advised that the engineer could only provide “end of life care” for the existing machine. Should a component have failed, because of the age of the machine, it would not have been possible to repair it. The performance of the machine was already problematic and since a photocopier is essential to produce the weekly sheet, orders of service and in general, quotations for a replacement were sought, obtained, and presented to the PCC. It was agreed to lease a new Sharp photocopier, and this has now been installed and is working well.

Hot Water Urn in Church: Failure of the urn one Sunday morning necessitated a replacement. This has now been installed.

Church Heating System: For historical reasons, the church central heating boiler was serviced by one company (Elco) and the heating system (radiators and pipework) by another (Dunphy’s). Following a change of ownership at Dunphy’s, an agreement was negotiated with Dunphy’s to maintain and service both the boiler and the system.

Internal Re - organisation of the West end of church:

- The Nave: The west-end area of the nave had become cluttered due to lack of storage. This is an on-going issue, and the committee will continue to consider further steps to address it. In the interim, the Nippers leaders rationalised the stock of toys to liberate space in the grey cupboards and behind the bookcases and an additional, second-hand, cube storage unit was obtained for the children’s area.

The area at the bottom of the tower is also very cluttered and work is on-going to resolve that issue. The position of the stairgate in the tower was changed to provide an effective barrier to the stairs.

- Old Pews: The committee discussed whether the old pews from the west end of the church should be removed from diocesan storage facility and disposed of. It was agreed by PCC that this was not necessary.

- Flooring Project: The committee was acutely aware of the need to replace the carpet on the north and south aisles of the church. Pre-pandemic, it was envisaged that this would be done as part of a larger project to replace the flooring in the nave and plans were made to visit other churches in which similar projects had recently been completed. Lockdowns prevented that from happening. Now the committee is meeting again on a regular basis, the project will be taken forward as a matter of urgency, subject, of course, to PCC approval and financial constraints.

- Fallen Tree Branches: There was an urgent requirement to remove several fallen branches from trees in the cemetery, which were blocking access to the fire escape and security gate on the north-eastern side of the church centre. This was resolved in a short space of time and a vote of thanks is due to those who acted so quickly to do so.

Sue Humphrey

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ST. NICK’S NIPPERS

It’s been a year of change for St Nick’s Nippers with our friends and valued helpers Susan Whate, Janet Eastwood, Joyce Lawton and Mother Alice leaving. We wish then all well and thank them heartily for all their help and kindness.

We’ve enjoyed stories, play and seen friendships flourish in both the children and their parents. We are proud to have welcomed “big” Nippers in the school holidays, which has been lovely to see how they have grown.

Towards the end of the year, we moved upstairs to save energy and are enjoying our new home.

We look forward to 2023, welcoming more new families and new volunteers are always welcome to join in the fun.

Louise Vamplew, Nippers Leader

CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE

As was reported last year, following the Covid lockdowns our Sunday morning groups for children (Level Up) have not restarted. However, during 2022 St Nick’s joined our brothers and sisters from the other Uphill churches to become part of an exciting outreach ministry project. Each school holiday, activity bags are prepared for any child, aged between 3 and 12 years old, who requests one. Each church prepares one activity and then these are collated at a ‘mammoth bag packing’ event. Every bag is then delivered to the child’s home address by a member of one of the congregations. To date approximately 250 bags are prepared for each school break (6 a year). St Nick’s congregation also shares in the funding of this important outreach ministry, and we thank all those who contributed so far – financially, practically, or both.

Our Brownies and their families continue to join us for key festivals (at the 1030hrs Eucharist), where there is more of an ‘All Age’ structure to the liturgy. At these services, simple crafts and activity sheets are also available in the children’s area.

Adele Sheriff

ECO CHURCH ADVISORY GROUP

Unfortunately, the eco-advisory group did not meet during 2022.

Sue Humphrey

FAIR TRADE

As anticipated last year, no stalls were possible this year, but we were able to obtain for church, supplies of coffee as well as mini-Easter eggs. We were also able to take private orders for Easter Eggs and Advent calendars. The result of all this was a modest contribution to church funds in line with the last few years.

I’m taking the liberty of including the beginning of 2023 in this report as many will now know that our suppliers went into Administration in February 2023 and there is no obvious alternative to turn to. For church to maintain its Fair-Trade status, supplies will have to be sought from shops. For our personal purchases it will be up to us to do likewise.

This will be the last Fair-Trade report for the foreseeable future.

John Simmons

THE CHURCH WEBSITE

The Parish Administrators now have access to the website and various pages have been updated to remove any Covid/Lockdown information which is no longer relevant. The Administrators are also able to update the “What’s On” pages on the website with details of regular services and events as well as special services, courses, and other one-off events. However, more work is needed, and steps are being taken to form a “Communications Team”, the members of which will be responsible for maintaining and updating both the website and St Nick’s Facebook page to make them more attractive and effective.

Sue Humphrey, Parish Administrator

3RD LINCOLN (ST NICHOLAS) BROWNIES

We currently have 16 Brownies on roll with plenty moving up from our feeder Rainbow unit on Burton Road.

We spent the autumn term learning about seasons, doing our season badge. This term we are doing our friend to animal badge with a trip to Bransby Horses before Easter. Last year we accomplished our first Brownies sleepover since Covid, just one night with an Encanto theme, as some of girls are quite young, they had a great time.

Census - our annual payment to Girlguiding has gone up dramatically in 2023, so we are having to increase our subs by another £5 from September. We are hoping to do some further fundraising to help and apply for grants.

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We are going on a district pack holiday in May to Trusthorpe, with 9 girls attending from our unit.

We have several helpers now, Jackie Griffiths, Charlotte Wright and Ashante Wilson, and one young leader Willow. Cassie-Mai is currently at university in Oxford but joins the unit between semesters.

We wish to thank the church for their continued support of our group and look forward to attending some more services this year.

Kaye Robinson, Leader in Charge 3rd Lincoln Brownies

SAFEGUARDING

At the beginning of 2022 we learnt that the Church of England rules had changed, and we needed to take action to comply with the new safeguarding requirements. DBS checks (Police checks) which used to be valid for 5 years now need to be renewed every 3 years. This meant that most of our volunteers had to be re-checked.

It was also decided that more of our volunteer roles required 2 training courses where they had previously only needed the Basic course. Certain roles now need 3 training courses and the third course, the Leadership module, is a 4 hour course either via Zoom or face-toface.

Both the Charity Commission and our Insurers demand that we comply with these measures. Most of our volunteers understand the importance of this and have completed what is required of them. We continue to strive for 100% compliance.

Joan Beresford, Parish Safeguarding Officer

“NOT THE VICAR'S REPORT”

The past year has been one in which, like other parishes, institutions and business, St. Nicholas' has been emerging gradually from Covid and 'Lockdown.' As well as the restoration of our schedule of worship, there has been a catching up with a backlog of baptisms and weddings. While we have not yet restored Sunday evening worship, Sunday and Wednesday morning celebrations of the Eucharists are firmly re-established. Morning Prayer is celebrated in church Monday to Thursday. The ministry of healing has been re-established once a month. While numbers have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels, there is a solid core of regular worshippers on which to build in the future.

Pastoral ministry to the sick and housebound continues, with visits and regular opportunities for them to receive Holy Communion. An outstanding example of this hidden but important ministry was the

recent 100[th] birthday of Josefine McAllister-Smith. She received the Blessed Sacrament, accompanied by singers from the choir.

The year has, of course, seen the departure of Mother Alice to her new ministry in Hemel Hempstead. With the earlier move of The Revd. Canon Dr Hugh Jones to be Warden of the new College of St. Hugh, we have moved from having two stipendiary clergy to none.

That parish life has been able to continue, and even pick up pace in some areas, is due in large part to the level of commitment among parishioners who give so generously of their time and energy: our Parish Administrators, Churchwardens, Treasurer and Secretary, PCC members, church-watchers, Choristers and our rota of organists, our Reader and Authorised Lay Ministers, readers and intercessors, flower-arrangers, sacristans, verger and the team who help with baptisms, weddings and funerals, helpers with St. Nick's Nippers, the Phoenix Group, cleaners, retired clergy, the Archdeacon of Lincoln, and so on....While we look forward to the appointment of a new parish priest, we are in a much better position than many vacant parishes in the Diocese, thanks to this combination of lay people and clergy.

The future of ministry at St. Nicholas' has to be seen in the context of the Diocese's Time to Change Together programme. Our deanery of Christianity, which includes the whole city, has been designated as a single 'Local Mission Partnership.' Our 'Partnership Dean,” the Revd. Jim Prestwood, the Vicar of St. Swithin's, shares with the lay 'Partnership Co-Lead,' our own Dr. Peter Elsmore, in the task of encouraging the development of cooperative relationships in which clergy and other resources are shared between parishes in the deanery. The TtCT philosophy encourages us to discuss and make decisions about local mission and ministry at the grass roots.

Our PCC volunteered to be a “Type 1” church, which means one which can act as a resource for others. We are just beginning to explore what that will mean for us. The plan is that we should work closely together with our neighbours at St. Mary Magdalene's, and to some degree with the other “Uphill” parishes. We have already begun this with St. Mary Magdalene's with joint Advent and Lent study groups. One obvious gift we can share with our neighbours is our excellent meeting spaces. They, on the other hand, have a much greater passing 'footfall,' so we may be able to offer help with having their church open more as a place for prayer and quiet. The “Holiday Bag” scheme for children, which began at St. Giles during

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Lockdown, now involves St. John's in the Ermine, St. Mary Magdalene's and St. Nicholas'.

Any programme of Church renewal must spring from a sense of our baptismal calling to share in Christ's mission. It must be rooted in worship and prayer, scripture and sacrament, and devotion to our Lord. It also calls for sacrificial generosity in our financial support of our parish. We are committed to reaching the target the Diocese has set for Type 1 parishes, but we have some distance to go before. This is a challenge at a time of high inflation but if we can rise to it, the parish will be in much better shape for the future, whatever it holds. We must be prepared to go where the Holy Spirit leads us. Not everything we try will work, but it is better to try and fail than not to try at all.

The Revd. Prebendary Alan Moses Warden of Spirituality, Diocese of Lincoln Bishop’s Spiritual Adviser & Liturgical Chaplain Associate Priest, St. Nicholas & St. John, Newport

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MEETING FOR THE ELECTION OF CHURCHWARDENS & ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING 2023

AGENDA MEETING FOR THE ELECTION OF CHURCHWARDENS

  1. Apologies for Absence

  2. Appointment of Clerk to the meetings

  3. Minutes of Meeting for the Election of

  4. Churchwardens 2022

  5. Election of Churchwardens

AGENDA ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING

  1. Apologies for Absence

  2. Minutes of the 2022 Annual Parochial Church Meeting

  3. Reports:

3. The Minutes of the 2021 Meeting of Parishioners agreed as a true record. Proposed by Sandra Gratrick and seconded by Su Toogood.

4. Election of Churchwardens

Kate Mitchell stood down as Church Warden. A formal vote of thanks for her hard work and dedication was given by Peter Elsmore.

There were four nominations received for the positions of Churchwardens, David Gratrick (proposed by David Lee and seconded by Jean Lee), Mr. R Hansard (proposed by David Gratrick and seconded by Jean Lee), Sue Humphrey (Proposed by Sandra Gratrick and seconded by Susan Whate) and Christine Elsmore (proposed by Sandra Gratrick and seconded by Margaret Arrand).

There being no further nominations, the four nominees were duly elected, subject to being sworn in at the Archdeacon’s Visitation.

The Chairman then closed the Annual Meeting of Parishioners.

MINUTES OF THE MEETING FOR THE ELECTION OF CHURCHWARDENS held on 20 March 2022 at 11:30 am

1. Apologies for absence were received from Sue Humphrey, Sally Hubbard, John Simmons, Roger Hansard, Coral Jolley, Alice Jolley, Adie Smith, John Simmons, David Simmons, Tom Ellis, Audrey Salisbury and Janice Farrell.

2. Appointment of Clerk to the Meetings – Joanne Osborne. Proposed by Margaret Arrand and seconded by Adele Sheriff.

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING 2022

The meeting took place 20 March 2022 at 11:30 am

There were 14 persons attending.

1. Apologies for absence were received from Alice Jolley, Roger Hansard, Sue Humphrey, Adie Smith, Sally Hubbard and John Simmons.

2. Minutes of the APCM 2021 were accepted as a true record, being proposed by Su Toogood, seconded David Gratrick and agreed by those present.

3. Reports

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Peter Elsmore proposed a formal vote of thanks to Sandra Gratrick seconded by Andy Simmons.

The Accounts and Budget were unanimously accepted and thanks were recorded to the Treasurer, Sandra Gratrick, and our Independent Examiner, Capt. John Lee.

4. Appointment of Independent Examiner .

Capt. Lee was happy to continue as the Independent Examiner and this was unanimously agreed having been proposed by Andy Simmons and seconded by Christine Elsmore.

5. The report from the Christianity Deanery Synod can be found in the Annual Report.

6. All the PCC Reports could be found in the Annual Report.

8. Matters of parochial or general church interest Peter Elsmore said that there were very few Servers, any if anyone would like to do it, please speak to Peter or Fr. Alan Moses.

Service Times – a discussion was held regarding Sunday service times and whether to move them back to pre-Covid times or for them to remain as they are currently. After some discussion and an inconclusive vote, it was decided that the service times would remain as they are currently, 0900hrs and 1030hrs until a new incumbent is appointed and it can be discussed again. It was agreed that Baptisms would start at the later time of 1230hrs (after the current bookings had taken place).

9. Closing Prayers were led by Fr. Alan Moses ending with The Grace.

7. Elections

members serve for a period of three years and were expected to be a member of at least one of the sub-committees of the PCC. They were Trustees of the church with some responsibility for the finance and fabric of the church. They were also expected to attend six meetings of the PCC during the year. This year Maureen Christie, Lucy Bright and Jo Appleton had all completed their terms of office on the PCC, resulting in there being four vacancies for threeyear terms. There had been no nominations received prior to the meeting.

Nominations were received from the floor for Fran Bell (proposed by Joanne Osborne and seconded by Sandra Gratrick) and Adele Sheriff (proposed by Una Barnes and seconded by Su Toogood) for a three-year term and they were duly elected. We therefore have three extraordinary vacancies for the PCC, one for a two-year term and two for a three-year term.

b. Deanery Synod Representatives . Coral Jolley has stood down as a Deanery Synod Representative. A formal vote of thanks for her hard work and dedication was given by Peter Elsmore. There had been no nominations received to replace Coral.

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Financial Review 2022

This year’s Annual Accounts for 2022 are presented in this report. My thanks go to Capt. John Lee as our Independent Examiner.

Total receipts for the ordinary unrestricted funds were £81,804 and are detailed in the financial statements. this included £2578.85 Energy Support Grant from the Diocese.

I would like to express my thanks to the congregation for their continued contributions via Parish Share, Standing Orders, Direct Debits and envelopes during these difficult times.

Expenditure for 2022 was £80,713 spent to provide Christian ministry for St Nicholas Church including our parish share of £50,500. This does show a surplus for 2022 on the final accounts, however due to late bank clearance of some December payments of £6676.26 which included the final parish share payment we would otherwise have shown an overspend for the end of the financial year. These payments will be cleared in January 2023 and therefore show in next years accounts. We also need to be aware of the increase in our gas and electric charges in the coming year.

Projected Budget for 2023

In the coming year we need to increase our income in order to maintain the running of St Nicholas Church.

In our projected budget for 2023 our Parish Share increases to £55,500 and I have increased our anticipated expenditure for heating and lighting which equates to raising at least £7874 per month or £1817 per week to maintain the church. If we do not manage this we will be using money held in reserve held in our CBF Deposit account which stands at £34,526.39. Within this is £10,000 for projected works in the pipeline for completion this year and restricted income of £8532.68. In future we will be paying fees for any planning applications and Faculty applications.

Work in progress is as follows:-

Stannah Lift repair £2113.87

Replacement of damaged Noticeboard

Replacing damaged covering for East Window

External fitting of Defibrillator

External Bin Store

Reserve accounts

CBF (Church Benevolent Fund) £34,526.39

Shawbrooke Fixed Term Account (January 2024) £36,781.67

Edentree Investment Account £70,845.27

Sandra Gratrick Honorary Treasurer