St John the Evangelist, Whittle-le-woods Annual Report 2020 Charity.ryumber 1134259 The Annual Report on the proceedings of the Parocbial Cburch Council And the activities of the Church To be received by the Annual Parish Meeting Received and adopted by the PCC on 8 March 2021 Rev Philtp Venables. Chairn]an Lyndon Wright & Gill Menhenne¢ Cburchwardens
Legal and Administrative Information The full natne of the chur¢h is St. John the EvangelisL Whittle-le-woods. We are a Church in the diocese of Blackburn of the Church of Englan(L with worship entres, thc Parish Church (St. John's) and Clayton Brook Community Church. Each worship centre has a group of ministry co-ordinators who are responsible to the Parochial Church Council, which keeps one set of accounts. This Annual Report covers the activities of the Parish during the year 2019, Tefetring to the parish as a whole with its two congregations and including the parisb accounts. Incumbent: Revd Philip VeTJables The Vicarage Preston Road Whittle-le-woods Chorley PR6 7PS Correspondence Add$$. Mr Lyndon WrigtLt 42 Clover Field Clayton le Woods Chorley PR6 7RR Parisb Church Location: Preston Road Whittle-le-woods PR6 7PS As a church in the Diocese of Blackburn, we are a charity excepted from registration with the Charity Cornmissioners. Charity number 1134259 Bankers: TSB Bank plc Chorley Branch PO Box 373 LS14 9CG The Royal Bank of Scotland Pl¢ 56 Market Street Chorley PR7 2SD
The Parish of St John the Evangelist PCC Report The vision of the Chureh is as follows: We Seek Revival through: _ Speak Out Reach Out Gather in for Christ During the year 2020 the following served as members of the PCC: Rev Philip Venables- vi[ & Chair Rev Paul Davies - Curate Gill Menhemiet - ChuTchwarden Lyndon Wright - Churchwarden Deborab Green - Deputy Churchwarden David Barlow - Trwurer & Secretary Kathy Bigio Reader Tony Cliffe - Deanery Synod Representative (R¢sigued 27 October 2020) Diane Jones Reader (Resigned 14 September 2020) Les Jones - Reader and Deputy Churchwarden (Resigned 14 September 2020) Gill Lancaster - Reader Roland Orr Reader Alison Wynne - Deanery Synod Representative (Apinted 27 October 2020) Chris Wynn¢ - Deanery Synod Reprentative (Apinted 27 October 2020) Nick Brake Stuart Cross Clwis Dawson Frances Grieve (Resigned 27 October 2020) Peter Griev¢ (Resigned 27 October 2020) Anne Harris Gill Menhennet Cath Orr Susan Parkinson Julie Summers Chris Watts Val Whittle Chris Woolham Throughout 2020 the PCC met seven times. th¢ majority of meetings on Zoom. A ¢o- ordinator report from each church was given at the meetings and a report from the various PCC teams as applicable. The Standing Committee. consisting of Chaimian, Secretary, Treasurer. Churchwardens and Deputy Cburchwardens. were required to meet three tin]es througbout the y¢ar to make necessary decisions before the next m¢xting of the PC Electoral Roll report 2020 After deletions and additiolls, the total number of people on the electoral roll in 2020 was 171. 144 resident in the parish and 27 non-resident 134 from Si John's and 37 from Clayton Brook
Vicar's Report for 2020 2020 started in a very exciting way for me, with a week's visit to Uganda Martyr's Seminary straight after N¢w Year. Th¢n it was back to strange news coming out of China. Then a few weeks of 'will welwon't we?. (go into lockdown), and the rest . . you all know. So this is a shorter report than usual, as I am sure you will understand. Let me make mention of some of what happened during the y¢ar. Before lockdown we saw three of our young people confirnied. It is a jov when those who have expressed faith in Jesus as children wish to CODtinue io do so as they grow up, and how we pray that this might be true for all our young people. Having expected a huge number of deaths and funerals when the pandemic started (massive prcparations were being mad¢ by crematoria all over the country). it wasn't the flood it might have been. However, each death has. olcourse. brought gre2t sadness to the families concemed. Sometimes, understandably, there has been bitterness too as Covid made death and bereavement even more difficult. From our own church family we MTere saddened to say goodbye to David Bould. Vera Houldgreaves and Maurice Wrennal early in the year, and Diane Jones just befor¢ its end. They were much loved and are fondly remembered. It was wonderful to see a small group at Clayton Brook use the week of 'Thy Kingdom Come, to walk and pray the streets of their pah and deliver invitations to our services. That has borne fruit for which we thank God. We delayed the appointment of a new head teacher for Clayton le Woods Primary School, but in Septernber we were able to conduct interviews in perso which was a relief. We were unanimous, and delighte in appointing Sara Bashora to the school. l£t me pay tribufr. too, to Sue Pennington who did so much to bring the school forward through some very significant challenges. Paul's ordination to the presbyterate (also called priesth(K)d) went ahead in very rcduced fashion in June. It was a shatne it couldn't bave been the big-crowd celebTation we should have loved. but we are delighted to see him going forward in his ministy. Churchwardens, coordinators and PCC members have conlinued to be a great team and I thank you all for working with me and Paul as we have had to keep leaming and reinventing through the year. You have a ellOUS ministry. Thank you. too, to Caroline for pn)ducing an online Junior Church session almost every Sunday without fail. It is a big t&sk. We had times of no church building opeD. some weeks with both open, and some with St John's only, open. We are trying different service times to make a combination of live and online possible. We are getting things righL making mistakes, and hopefully learning as we go along. Please continue to bear with one another in love as wc seek tbe best way in the months to come. For rne, the highligbt of 2020 was seeing everyone pull together and cany on &$ God's family in circumsuinces that were totally new for us. Online is very defmitely second besL but it has been a brilliant subgtitute for the regular weekly meeting which is our nonnal calling. Many people have done all they can to make it possible, and I thank you all for that. Most of all, I thank you for holding togeth¢r and continuing to be a church family of which it is a real delight to be a memb¢r. Philip
St Jobn's Churchwarden Report 2020 This must be the most unusual. innovative and in many ways the most difficult report I have had to address in considering the year we have had in the life of St Johns. In January we were fst becoming aware on our news channels of a possible pandemic emanating from Wuhan in Chin4 now as we all know identified as COVID -19. It quickly spread around the world Imd consumed 8nd restricted our personal lives culminating in a National Lockdown of the country on 16.3.20. Will we ever foTgeL "STAY HOME _ PROTECT THE NHS _ SAVE LIVESIIg With schools closing, parents were introduced to home schooling and all the joys and difficulties that those posed. For the first time in my experience our places of WOTship were closed. I believe this wa5 the first time in the history of the Church in England that chur¢h¢s were closed in Holy Week. This has culminated in a very dilTicult period for OUT congregation. lay ministy and especially for Philip, Caroline. Paul Katie and family. Thankfully. step in. Operation You Tube and our online Service Although we were not able to meet together in person 2nd share fellowship, we had the opportl1tY to feel in some way united every Sunday at 10.30am. This clearly has been a massive operntion on bchalf of Philip and Paul and supported by our church family, through our prayers, readings and wo]Ehip songs. Unfortunately it was identified that somc of our congregation were not able to access on line services and other measures were necessary. Alongside this there w&s a network of calls. emails and text communication to all our church family. making sure that no one felt isolated. unsupported or unloved in any way. These measures were vitally important to express our love for one another. to ensure the unity, fellowship 2nd collective responsibility we have as a family of God. It is heartening to know that it will continue thmugbout thc pandemic. How did we communicate on line before we had Zoom meettngs? Thankfully these have been utilised to great effect in being able to proceed with PCC. Coordinators. Prayer meetings and importantly to maintain our weekly growth groups. The lockdown ended on 23.6.20 and on the 5th July the government decided that places of worship once again were 211owed to open. Our thanks to Paul and others, who were instrumental. following clear advice from the Diocese, in securing the safety of all our church family who felt able to attend on a Sunday tnorning. Risk assessments were necessary in partÉcular to the resumption of Junior Church. The continued involvcmcnt of the collgregation È5 central to the life of the cburcty which has belped to make St John's a vibrdnt and welcoming church community. Throughout the year WO has ¢ontinu¢d on our building at St Johns. The necessary work on the West wall was completed and the identified roof repairs were in progress. This unfortunately was delayed following the identification of Dry Rot. which has proved be extensive and months in the planning to be able to Properly and safely address the issue. Those that are able to attend church will have experienced the scaffolding structure necessary for Robinsons, the specialist company appoinied io deal with the problem. Progress has been made and it is ¢nvisaged that the work will be completed in the New Year 2021. Just as we were getting into a mutine of regular Sunday services, in November the Government announced a further lo¢kdowD and once again church buildings were Closed.
This rncant that the Remembrance Sunday service was on line. to include the laying of wreaths by only a few local dignitarics at the cenotaph. November now became a period of planning and prcparation for Philip and Paul and others in order to finalise th¢ busy schedule for our December services. It was decided that our Chrislm&s Day, communion service would take place in church. all other services would remain on line. In early December the PfCr-BioNtecb vaccine was approved by the regulatory b(Kly and on 8 December Margaret Keenan was the very first recipient of the vaccine. (remember that fact for our next quiz opportunity). Given all that has occurred throughout the year we do remember those of our Church family that have died, more recently the sad loss of Diane Jones. A Lay Reader someone who had a strong presence in the life of the church, all of whom will be greatly missed by their families and friends. In acknowledgemenL of the restrictions surrounding FuneTal services and the inability for many, to show their love and supporL Once again Gill Lancaster led from the front Tn encouraging and facilitating the shoe box campaign, which I know was supported by both churches and other family participants. The video clips produced, which werc shown of the children receiving their boxes were truly joyful. An enomious amount of Iwd WOTk went into producing our Carol and Nativity Servic¢s. Little did Paul know when he was training at Oakhill that he would becorne a proficient musiclvideo editor? It was great to see so many collaborations of our church family coming together to realise two rewarding services. given that we were not able to meet in person. On a personal note it was a sheer delight in singing Carols in our front rooms with no masks and other restrictions. Philip that you grcatly for your regular uplifting ¢ll115 with words of encouragement through scripturc. which l am sure, has been a source of encouragement to many. Despite Ihe last twelve months being variously such a busy and difficult period. the underlying belief and witnes5 of St John's has remained steadfast. As a church community wc have faced challenges and the need for a Christian Perspective on a changing world remains. but St John s is well placed to meet them. The deeper the darkness, the more brilliant will be the rddiant glory of the sun of righteousness, Christ the Lord. Finally on 30.12.20 the OxfordUni-Astra Zeneca vaccine ha5 been approved. God Bless. LYlldo Church Warden Clayton Brook Cburchwarden Report 2020 started with plans in place for our weekly church services and outreach events e.g. fundraising evenings, Summer Festival, prayer breakfasts as well as CONNECT get togeihers. Our community building was booked up with church user groups Tots, Café life, luncheon club, Friday club as well as non church groups. In January. after years of prayeT. our main hall was finally Tedecordted and very smart it l(K)kcd too. With the paint hardly dry we welcomed Bishop Philip on Sunday 19 January. He was enthusiasti¢ about what was happening at CB church so fe¢ling encouraged we looked forward to serving the Lord with renewed energy.
Sadly. with the spread of a deadly virus sweeping the world we were instructed to close OUT doors. Since it was built in the early 1980's our church had never been closed. Throughout the confusion and worry that followed, God was th¢re to sustain us. He gave us wisdom to think diffcrently about reaching out to others. If peopl¢ couldn't Come to church then we would go to them. Philip and Paul quickly learned new skills which enabled our services to be watched online. We enjoyed our usual fellowship each Sunday morning. albeit virtttally. We then MTestled with the challenge of Teaching those who don't have access to th¢ online services. Thankfully, Gill Wrighi volunteered to transcribe the weekly sernions and prdyeTS. We d¢livered thc printed copies to those who don't have online access every wcek. Praise the Lord. Our Pastoral team had already been in regular contact with each church member to ensure they were well and had everything they needed and we continue to provide tbis vital role. In May. we were again involved with the worldwide prayer initiative. Thy Kingdom Come. Some of us walked amund th¢ Clayton Brook estate praying for our neighbours and other got together to pray orJiDe. We continued our prayer walking throughout the summer and autumn, delivering invites to our online 5erYi¢es as well as UCB daily devotional's. These were delivered to every house on th¢ cstste and beyond, to Clayton Green and Woodend. Our doors reopened in July and although restrictions were in place it was wonderful to worship together again (at a distance). In November. ow governmeDt announced a 'circuit break, so our services ceased again althougb w¢ opened for a short time of private prayer each Sunday afternoon during this time. Just as we reopened again in December, our rhurch family w&$ shaken by the death of our larger than life sister in ChrisL Dian¢ Jones. She was a reader in the parish and much much more. We thank God for all she did at Clayton Brook church. her rock solid faith remained as strong as ever during heT illness, a faithful witness righi to the end. 2020 was a year filled with God's blessings. He blessed us with Dew members who are eager to serve him here in this parislL Another. is the weekly Growth Group led by Les JoDes which has been a wonderful tim¢ of Zoom fellowsbip and study during lockdown. Plcxse read Les's separate report to find out more. God has been good to us again this year. &s He always is. How wonderful to know that whatever we face. even a pandemic. He is with us. Halleluj3h! Gill Menhennet Churchwarden Diane Jones 'Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus., (l Timothy 3.13) Diane, alollg with Les. (to whom, he often saiiL she was joined at tbe hip!) was so much part of the warp and woof of Clayton Br(K)k Church that it is still hard to believe that she is no longeT with us. I have knosyn Diane only during my 8 y&us here. during which time she was a deeply committed licensed Reader. but of course she was active in a number of other Toles. serving and leading in the church, for many yews before thaL She w&s a gifted and able woman and she used those gifts to serve her Lord so wholeheartedly. There was never any question about her commilment. We all know that Diane had strong views, and sometimes those views could be expressed forcefully, but theTe was no doubting her love for people and for God. I particularly appreciated the fact that although she and I felt quite differently on some things-and
occasionally that was ditTicult for both of us-she never held grudges and we were always friends. In particular, I will always be grdteful tbat I saw Dian¢ at homc just bcf sh¢ went into hospital for th¢ last tirnc and although she was in a wheelchair and her thinking was a bit slow and her sp¢¢¢h was a bit slurrf she was absolutely the same Diane with the same sense of humour, her very recognisable smile. and absolute trust in the goodness of God. We had a lovely last prayer time together. More than once she said that she dithi't think she would live to be ol(L but it didn't woryy her unduly because she had no doubt whatsoever about her destination. How lovely to express such confidenc¢ in the finished WOTk of ChrisL As Diane would certainly wism to Him be the glory. Philip Report on Clayton Brook Community Church Bible Study Groivth Group I suppose all the reports this year could begin with 'what a year it has been, well this group has truly been a wonderful year of fellowship. growth and edification. We began the bible study group in loekdown April looking at the Gospel of John. We followed the sernlon series each week. Because of the lockdown. the usual nutnber of approx. 8 who met regularly soon grew to 12 then 16 then around 18119. On average I would think that 14- 16 sign in to the Zoo meetings each week....nonnally we would have had a rest between topics or maybe at half term. These time5 were differenL everyone wanted to Ca on... AfteT the series on John we travelled back in time to the life and times of Samuel, King Saul and King David which took us from May to July. N¢w mcmb¢rs. who had only been to church service for a few weeks before lockdown joined the group and began to input and take part. We always encouraged everyone lo do the study which was sent out in advance of the meeting. We were sent study notes to whet our appetite for study. Some members were happy just to watch and learn, just being with others and that too is okay but eventually they too began to give input and share what they had learned. We took a decision to begin a study the book Proverbs. (July to Septetnber) using a study guide knok which was invaluable. The nauator Joshua Ng. took us on a journey of discovery...of self and relationships with church, family and the wider community, and last bul not least with God. We notieed that everyone was now takiDg part at some level which was very encouraging. It was becoming obvious that the group wanted to begin to dig deeper into the scriptures. stcbcr to Nov¢mbcr took the group back to the Gospe15 where we studied the continuing sernion series on Luke 15. Still the group wanted to cary on though Advent . we took the decision to do the sennon series on Advent which was again very challengin& studying (Isaiah, Psalrns and the New Testament) readings and theme of the week. Sadly, we lost a founding member and greatly valued mentor and leader to the group...Diane After the Christmas break (yes we did have some time out) we leapt into the 'eome to me serAes' and changed the way we sent out the study.
Throughout last year we sent out study notes, now, as thc group are hungry to study deeper tLO notes were sent out, just some ques(ions. We asked for volunteers to come fonvard and bring comm¢ntary to cach question... The group responded marvclously. and &5 well, people who had previously tak¢n a back seat and just watched and learned began to tak¢ part. Bringing new minds and hearts and opinions to the study really did swell the activity and focus everyone. What a difference when a group gels and ttvs't one another. To date we are continuing with Jonah and whatever is plamied after ... Well done the 'Clayton Brook bible study growth gTOUP'...what a blessing. what a fellowship. I would like to thank Ed & Gill M for hostillg Tnost weeks. For Kathy and Gill M stepping in to lead at times and to all the members who constantly sent e mails. texts and what's app supporting one another through personal SUPEM)rt, prayerful suppor¢ and just simply being in fellowship along with the Lord. Thank you to our Trinitarian support, our Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Faih¢r. And All God's children say Amen - Jones St John's- Prayer Report During January. February and early March. intercessions We offered each Sunday at 10.30am by a small group of dedicated lay people. Since the end of March intercessions hap'e still been given during services in church. when possible, and in the online seTVie¢ on youmbc. Thank you to everyone who does this important ministry. The prayer chain remains faithfully active for urgent or emergency prayers. An increas¢d numb¢r vfpray¢rs have been requested during the Y. Thank you to ¢v¢ry rn¢mb¢r who prays so fervently. Tuesday evening parish prayer meetings were held once a month by zoom. numbe att¢nding vary b¢tween l O and 16. Small prayer groups continue to meet regularly. again by zoom. Clayton Brook Church - Prayer Report Something lockdown has taugbt us is the value of Prayer. because every day someone needs prayer whether it is for the virus, cancer or some other problem that only God can help with. OUT Prayer Chain is being kept busy with prayer requests coming in regularly. My prayer group that nornially meel at my house. we now meet on Zoom. It was greal lo do a parish praycr on Zoom instead of in the vicarage like nonnal which we cannot do because of l(Kkdown. We have some groups on IVhatsApp that ke¢p us up to otherfs needs . Our woman's prayer group, Cburch family, Streei Pastors. We were praying for them when they went out on patrol in Chorley. and now for Chorley and Area until they do. l thank God for Zoom and Phones that keep us in touch with everyone. I thank God that he is there with us always keeping us strong and that we will come out of this bad time again soon. The best thing we can do is just talk to God- June Summers. St John's Young People Report We cnjoyed a happy January and F¢bruary with Junior Church and Pathfinders, but March saw everything change as live church and children's work stoppeil overnight. While online services were up and running quickly, Junior Church took a couple of months to catch up, but by May we were able to record and broadc&5t a Junior Church Sunday Special 3 out of 4 weeks. We were ple&sed to see that between 30 and 50 families were tuning in, but later
discovered that some of these 'families' were actually some of our older members who were also enjoying th¢ lessons. We were able to re-start th¢ Pathfinder after school club for a few weeks in September and October until another lockdown put a stop to our meeting together. Happily though. Paul was able to continue his zoom meeting with the older pathfinders for several weeks. Junior Church started in October in a large marquee in the garden. The children (a maximum of15) bravely shivered through October and November until we were shut down again. Thanks especially to Sue Mackintosh who shivered with us and shaTed the teaching. Thc highlight of December for thc children was the Advent Boxes. Many thanks to Nick and Jen for organizing this in]aginalive and beautiful craft activity for families. Thanks too to all those who delivered them to the families. It was great to be able to organize an on-line service to celebrate Jesus and his Advent using these boxes. Our greatest thanks and praise go to our Heavenly Father for sustaining us and helping us to keep going 'onwaTds and upwards. during this long pandemic. Thank you Father, thank you Jesus. Junior Church Report for Clayton Brook Community Chureh Our Sunday and Friday groups started the year as norn1, with the encouragement of some new leaders joining us. In January, 6 leaders attended an excellent trdining course in Darwen focused on understanding children with additional needs. In mid_march however, we were subject to the restrictions of the Covid lock-down and all groups stopped. Sadly, due to the ongoing pandemic, it has not been possibl¢ to re¢omrnence work with the children, although this situation is kept under regular review by the Coordinators. with guidance from Philip and Paul. We have tried hard to maintain contact with the children on our registers, 2nd have sent out a number of video and written messages to children and parents via our Facebook page. This has been supplemented wilh telephone calls to some households. All our Sunday Kings Kids attenders received a hand-embroidered name l initial fridge magnet (thanks to Frances). As we approached Christmas. w¢ delivered over 20 Advent boxes to homes. which were very well received. Also in December. we took chocolat¢ Sant&s along with some nativity activity sheets to around 60 children on our registers. We await the time when we can Safely meet face to face with the children to recommence our teaching, but until then we continue in prnyer for their safety and well-being. We pray for children to tnjst Jesus as Saviour, and to grow in faith. Finally. thanks to all who have served in ministry through Sunday teaching l assisting. in reSOL¢1n and supportillg Friday Club, and through prdy¢rs financial support. . Stuart Cross Safeguarding Report 2020 Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic the Safeguarding Team which oversees safeguarding policy and practice within the parish did not meet during the year and unfortuDa*ly a training session of Domesttc Abuse. arranged for the PCC, had to be cancelled. The team consists of the Vicar. Curate. two Safeguarding Children's Champions. two Adult Safcguarding Chan]pions, the Disclosure and Barring Servic¢ Adrninistrdtor and the Parish Safeguarding OtTicer. io
The team's terms of referenee remain g4s follows: Complciing the Parish Safeguarding Sclf Audit at Iwt once a year, Revtewing the safeguarding needs within the paris}4 at least annually, Reviewing the Parish Safeguarding Policy and Procedures at least annually, To consider safeguarding trdining requirements within the parish on an ongoing basis, with particular regard to Diocesan recommendations, Ensuring that appropriate records aTe kept in a safe place. SigDiT]g off the Annual Safeguarding report to the PCC and Annual Parochial Church Meeting Aetivity There were no safeguarding incidents during the year. The Parish Safeguarding Officer revÈewed the Parish Safeguarding Self Audit completed in 2019 and noted that the small number of minor issues outstanding had been progressed. Social & Outreach Team Our first meeting was in January 2020. We had some lovely pl8ns-a women's garden paty again in the sumrner" an outreach meal (or two) in the Bay Horse opposite church" parish visiting during the week of 'Thy Kingdom Come and of cOue the Clayton Brook Festival was in our sights. No need to say more about that. The first few months of lockdown were really a matter of surviving and learning fast. SOT did meet again in September to plan towards Christmas, as a result of which we enjoyed the Jesse Tree. Advent in a Box, the Online Family Nativity SeICe. carol singing and the Carol Service. We have had number of people reach out to U5, onliT]e, so there have been those real encouragements. 2020 felt rdther limited. inevilably, but we are gra*ful for what we were able to do. Philip Venables. St John's- Pastoral Team There are 4 members on rhe pastoral team & up to the restrictions placed upon us due to the global Covid pandemic in March we continued to identify those who were ill, bereaved or were missing from church. ¢ontacted them by phone & followed up with a visit if requested. We administered communion in tbe first 2 months of the y&4r to 8 house bound members of the parish. Three elderly ladies are now living in Residential Care so we took communion to Arrowsmith Lodge, Hoghton & visited a lady at Jasmine Court, Chorley. We visited a very poorly man in Meadowbank CaTe Home who later died and a further person was given communion at home because they weren't well enough to attend church. We visited the local care bomes. (High¢liffe & Brookside). from January to March where we offered a short communion service. The residents took part by reading the Bible & singing a song OT hytnn they were familiar with. The co-ordinators of both these homes are very supportive of this ministy. We alternated this service with the vicar. Unfortunalely. during the course of the year 3 people on the housebound list and I lady living in care have died. another lady has gone to live at Highgrove House Care Home in Chorley.
From April onwards we have kept in touch witb the afore tnentioned care homes by sending cards of encouragemenL birthday cards where appropriate & a copy of the monthly Gazette. As we were unablc to caThy on with this ministry in its present fonnat. on the 25 March it was decided to split the people on the electoral roll between 7 of us with a view to keeping in touch, (by phone. email or text). with the whole ¢ongregation. This list w&$ added to when it became apparent there were people attending church who weren't on the electoral roll. At the end of the first loek down when several of the 7 Teturned to work their allocation of people was split again between those of us not working. Clayton Brook Cburch - Pastoral Team The Pastoral Team met on 29, January 2020 to discuss any concerns we were awarc of and make plans for the year. Les suggcstcd starting a community artb" & crafts group as a number of the congregation enjoy painting. knitting etc. Events overtook our plans! In March tbe Pastoral team responded io the closure of our church by quickly expanding the team to ensure we kept in regular conlact with the congregation during lockdown. We we were keen to make sure everyone still felt connected and had eVeIng they needed. This regular contact continued IhToughout the y&ir and as thc lockdown continued we started to deliver weekly semions, prayers and the monthly Parish Gazette to church family with DO access to the online Sunday services. In December Gill Wright volunteered to be our Pastoral Coordinator. We thank God for her enthusiasm and vision for this essential work. Throughout a difficult year God has guided us and given us hearts of love and compassion to serve Him. Gill Menhennet Mission Team Report The Mission Team works on behalf of the PCC to make decisions about how the l 00/0 tithe of church income should be distribute(L This amounts on averdge to-£IOk per year. The l O ministries that we regularly support are Barnabas Fun( Churches Ministry among Jewish People, Church Missionary Society (CMS- Alf and Hilary Cooper in Chile), Crosslinks (Alex and Kate Phillips in East Asia). Compassion (through individual sponsorship), Open Doors, Street Pastors, Tcarfund, The Salvation Amiy. Wcllfield Church in Leyland. These were selected on the basts that thcy are on the whole well-establish¢d, working alongside local churches worldwide, and that we have advocates within our churches willing to speak out and pray on their behalf. Intercessors are &sked to pray for our mission partners Tegularly throughout the year, and we have dedicated noticeboards outlinillg the work of our supported ministries in St Jol)ns and Clayton Brook churches. In January Philip gave a short report on his mission trip to Uganda with Crosslinks in church and at a mid_week evening meeting. In Fcbruary we held two Compassion Sundays, one at each church, speaking about the work of the Compassion ¢hild sponsorship programme. A prayer breakfa51 was a150 held in February with a speaker from Barnabas Fund. Then due to COVID-19 our activities w¢ restricted and went online. This year harvest donations were directed to the Bishop's harvest appeal for TeaTfimd, and Stuart updated us on the work of the Foxton Trust which had taken over Fox St Mission. In OCtOber0veMber we took part in OperdtlOD Christmas Child supplying 90 shoeboxes (8 online) to ¢hildreT) overseas. In November we held one online service dedicated to World Mission with scveral short video clips and Paul preached. and another dedicated to the Suffering Church with Kathy Bigio 12
preaching. During the online seryices this year we held a few focus spots with vid¢0 clips on the work of th¢ various ministri¢s we support including Open Doors. Salvation Arniy, Samaritan's Purse and a message from out Crosslinks partners. The mission team met three tiTnes during the year. In Febrnary we Presented a Diary of Mission Team events ffteld between 2015-2019) to the PCC overviewing all the activities that had taken place over the past 5 years. Several people wrote Gazette articles to highlight mission activities. Kathy Bigio provided an overview of the Mission Fund for the March Gazett¢. feedback on mission outreach for the April Gazettc. and an article on the harvest appeal for the October gazette, and Gill Lancaster on¢ on Operation Christmas Child. David Barlow continued writing articles highlighting the plighi of persecuted Christians worldwide. During the year we had four applications to the Mission Fund (Acom International, Sasc Torch TDJSI, Foxton Trust) atnounting to £lk. We also supported the local food bank at Living Waters Church in Chorley making a year-end donatlOD of £500, and a donation of -£150 to the Salvation Arn]y in B12ckburn. Susan Parkinson continued to collect stamps for the Leprosy mission. Wc would like to thank everyone who has supported Mission within our two churches over the past year, and encourage everyone to get involved. Ple see our mission leaflet for more infonnation (available online or in church). Mission Tearn: Gillian Iancaster (chair). Kathy Bigio. Sttlart Cross, Hetti Johnson. Philip Venables Communications Team At the start of 2020, the website was updated with a series of blog articles from Philip's Uganda trip. A 'Prayer Request, websit¢ page was set up thiring thc fitst lockdown, which resulted in over 40 requests being posted on the site (the same fonnat was also used as an online Book of Condolence when Diane Jones sadly passed away later in the year. wtth over 50 memories and personal reflections of Diane added) A YouTube link 'aS added to the home page, enabling viewaB to access the recorded services directly from the website. And a video camera w&$ purchased lat¢r in the year (with a grant from the Di(Kese) in preparation tor the liv¢ streaming of seryices in 2021. -chris Dawson Parish Gazette The gazette continues to maintain its content and quality and produces at least 16 A4 pages per issue. It is a good source of communication and inforn]ation for the parigh. From March onwards the gazette has been emailed out to 130 people each month. These copies have been produced in colour alld are greatly appreciated by many. Several large print copies are produced each month for church members who prefer larger print. For those who are not on email 18 Copies are distributed either by post or by pushing througb letteTboxes. Thank you to Susan Parkinson for helplng with this task. The Parish Gazette is also available on the church website. Thank you to everyone who has contributed articles throughout the year. Café Life Report This ministy takes place at Clayton Brook Community Church every Monday from 9am- 2pm except during statutory holiday EWi(MIs. 13
There 15 a team of 7 volunteers who work in pairs to offer a friendly welcome to whoever walks through the door. It is a place where people can come for a friendly chat. We offer a selection of bevernges, soup. bacon sandwiches & cakes at low prices just to cover costs. Our aim is to offer a safe space with a friendly smile & show the love of Go(L Due to Covid restrictions the last meeting took place on the 16 March, however since then Sue Lillie has kept in touch with 12 of the regular customers on a monthly basis sending seasonal cards OT small gifts as encouragement. Tots at Cburch The tots group (tots at church) has been closed sÉnce the beginning of March 2020. Beehive Report This year is a very short report owing to the CorOnavin rtstrictions. We started the year with approximately 25 - 30 children with their parents and grandparents etc. The bible story with the craft activity has Ix¢n going well and the children r¢ally enjoy it. We were going to use some of the grdnt money to invite various pcople to come and do different activities at th¢ Beehive with the children but then the Pandemic arrived and we had to close down in March at the beginning of the rust lockdown, and we haven't been able to open all year. We are praying that we will be able to re-open sometime in 2021. Cbristine Ivhiteside Treasurers Report- 2020 A massive thank you again to all those who have contributed financially over the year, particularly in lighi of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are especially grateful to th05c people giving regularly ¢ither by env¢lopc or standing order, with a substantial number also gift aiding their donation. This allows us to claim an additional 25/ from the HMRC (over £18:000 in 2020) which goes a long way to pay our bills. Thanks to everyone Ivho doe5 glft aid and to Marion Barloiv for her very efficient work in making the claims. Income Encouragingly planned VIng incrffdsed by 3 % over 2019 with a number of new Standing Order givers, and remarkably total giving of £84214 was slightly up on 2019. as in previous years over 950/0 of our income comes from our congregation in the forn] of weekly giving, donations alld gift ai During th¢ year a Love Fund was established to help people in the parish who were suffering hardship: thank you to those who contributed ££4,147 during the year of which £l.156 was distributed. W¢ had budgeted a deficit of some £1 1.000 in 2020: thanks to carefijl management of expenditure in this most unusual of years and the modest increase in giving above we managed to achieve a small surplus of some £4,600, leaving us with unrestricted reserves of £30,475 at December 2020. The PCC have agreed a deficÉt budget for 2021 of some £12.500 which leaves us with reserves of just under £18,000 al D¢cember 2021. We anticipate that finallee will continue to be a test ol our faith. However, we worship a generous God and praise Him and our congregation as we have always been able to pay our bills. 14
Expenditure The largest areas of expense were again:
Our Parish Share to the Diocese of £66.342. The Parish Share paid for Philip and Paul, together with support for ministry in many wr areas of our Diocese. Utiliti¢S and services were £17233 covering electricity, gas, oil. wa*r. Council Tax, and insurance. down £5,415 OD 2019. Repair5 at Clayton Brook were minimal again this yegr. with major exp¢nditure at St Johns. noted above. Ministy and outreach spend w&8 some £2.194 not surprisingly £3.200. down on 2019. Finally. even in these challenging times, the church remains committed to giving 10 % of its weStrIcted income to charity whicb this year amounted to some £10.450. Whilst the major refiwbishment work at St Johns was delaye& over £86.0(X) was spent on the Major repair to tbe west wall and roof of thc church and stopping the dry rot in the roof. It is estimated that the work required to finish the dry rot work will b¢ some £25.000 in 2021, with some £8,000 to be reclaimed for VAT. This leaves £448,000 in the restricted St Johns Refurbishment Fund. Thank you to those who ntiThue to give to the Fund. Independent Examiner's Report Accounts 15
Independent Examine5 Report to the Parochial Church Council of St John the Evangelis( Whittle le Woods, year ended 31 December 2020. This report is made solely to the Charity's Trustees. as a body, in accordancè with Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. My examination has been undertaken so that I might state to the Trustees those Matte l am required to state to them in an Independent Examinerfs Report and for no other purpose. Respective responsibilities of trustee and examiner As the members of the PCC, you are responsible for the pparatIOn of the accounts, and you consider that an audit is not required for this year under Section 144 (2) of the Charities Act 2011 and that an independent examination is required. It is my responsibilty to: examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act; 2. to follow the procedures laid down in the general directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145 (5} (b) of the 2011 Act- and 3. to state whether particular matters have come to my attention of a material nature. Basis of independent 8xaMine5 report My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under S145{5) (b) of the Act. That examination includes a ieview of the accounting records kept by the Charty and a comparison of the aGcounts with those records. It also includes considering any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as Trustees conceming any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. Independent Examine$ Ststement In connection wth my examination, no matter has come to my attention" {a) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements". 1. to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 130 of the 2011 Act, and 2. to prepare accounts which accord with the accourrting records and Comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act: have not been met; or {b) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed.. Gill Taylor Dated: 12 February 202•
St John th• P C C, Whltd• l&Wtstsdk 2019 Totsl Totsl Incornq Planned GrAig OtherG1w Le8acies Recel¥ed Grants ReceNed Taxrecover<hrou8h Grfr 73,•JZ IOA12 750 4M7 74,151 15.639 72,160 20.862 250 250 49,628 16,298 158.948 18.103 158 5.985 18.260 IW.601 F retsined by P C C fr wethlngs arMlfuwdsc MagazhieaThJ renlalincorne s.t2 1.184 6.266 1.144 1.970 6,91B 3.461 In%slment IrKon 264 264 326 10.396 10.396 548,691 127.$2B 714,883 ExpendStureon.' R#iin9 FuTrJs IOA50 140 iO,S9) 11,687 Churrh Pgrish ShptE4nd A55wJned Fees ¥J rty Salartes and homrdria Parish L7Y 68.136 61.152 7.455 4,3D2 10.835 7,543 98.271 5.316 111 11 2.194 2.108 L145 RegUr¢{th fUnnr experrfes ¢hurch haakng atK IS,489 È,3sg 100,314 754a 93224 m3ffi74 108.861 112,fAII Mafrorcapital bp•n(¥lur• repa Lts thurth Now Butj 12 86,876 26,783 57.694 84,477 86.876 TOTAL EApBndKur• 11)1674 191737 196.478 8a5 NEToutgolng resour¢•Fand -67,842 519,241 Rewndlwhjn (rf Funth Transf•r b•ts•n Fullds Total Fundsbrowhtlwwarvj Total FundB¢afflgd for*¥d IS07 3079 531. 557.697 489.855 38.456 557,697
St John thg Evarydlst P C C.Whrfll• InvesbiiS 5392 150,616 557.697 Un$¢r 30A75 459 14 53L Total charftyFd& S$7.697 ApprDved byt Pccon 8M¥th 2021 Rev. Phifip VÈAablÈs PC£Chalr
8tJohnth4 EYanWI P C C.Y4hftU•lpWoods Basls of xcountitwj lJanuary2015ld a(abbcnkng Donadons r•cer+Fd In vw ofihe wcwbittyup totre pxxnttyYamTrJrd%otB In¥•slmenllncom• puroLFnr oW*ves. Fund Aon9 r9from Ué).
s¢JohnthgEyans P C C.¥thmllwo(ts 2. pnn¢ hKomp 2019 51,855 20.31 13.956 72.1fy) 3. Gwa#ts Retei4d In Z019The Chui¢h re¢d a r£.148fr£rt INfvrtherthrtlthTh)ort at Won BrCOMmunChurch. a1£1,480 from rhttese of BkckbJrn In>m tr WNon 2026htsytIUrtfrer rsIn ilpari5h. 4. Magozlne and rental kncome Pi5h Gat8it& Rwtsl IncompfmtTrClayk)n Brtt 116 L144 Ll44 1.854 1.144 1.184 L.970 InwsbNntlncom• Bank IntergBt 102 162 162 158 264 326 & OEherlrKoMe In 2019 tChurth. undth-theterm5 of trrttltlede reca%0 É545.mfrThllthes34nd ¢knwre ofts Parth0Ub( pres Road. The proceedsfromthe sale can oThbe Ied relarMalnlen3no1sI&)hn¥thJr 7. Charltab]B gmng 3rxi SASCA 2C4J 12 130 2ri) 1,2 Fund HarveStPOl FWKI 321 yton erook FeslN31 Chrlsuan mi$tryt0 itte rca ML8sknn Crossfinks Dwan H 12 1.2(Kl 1,2rii L.2(K) L2WJ 3C#I LW Storehou¥e Open Dr5 Sgk48tion knv Tearfund Torch k2( 12(XJ 1,2rKJ 750 1.263 iJryJ 1.2Q) io 1,505 2 WatWa weYd CMrch IOA50 140 io.s 11.687 . Pash Share pald lo trfocese PdD5h Sharg to the t)Kto$0ofBWluD arKitrai¥rvJ. kn aodthon Parish Share a150 n][lt¢S OKKese the trNabonal ChuK. 17 202D68% of page4
StJohn thé EvknSgW P C C, WhrfllwlvWoodB 9. Parish ckryycojts Clergy Ewnses CovncilTax Water Rates 2019 1,249 4328 lJ78 7A55 1,762 3.19D 364 5,316 2019 11J. Mknlslry¢wt¥ hIren'$I¥ I67 174 19 667 -75 170 L359 667 809 725 807 2,658 72 ayton Bmok Festival Lay mInc0s iyo 332 1.027 Parish Awa5qJty safggjatOWj COMD 19 Love Fut¥J Other 281 281 29 1,156 375 4.302 375 I4 2,489 99 11. Rogularchurch Nnnkng•xp•n Minor ReFkgit¥ Sl Johns Rwirs ¢aning. QaYt nrAe Stthhn's L281 1.145 425 1,779 1.334 4.112 1,334 4.112 71YJ 819 1,632 4,19S 693 1244 Ckytrm Bro( Profes51al F Gr(wds 594 366 262 194 10.835 Adrnln1Stra Costs Patish Gaz 3E6 262 194 9.69) 7S4 197 15,489 1.145 11. M4or rpwvJtoStJohM 86.876 B6J76 86.876 12. TrvJte a t(Aal of É1249 rnairlytravthw 8xpms1201.tsove reth• t1.7 13. ntan thÈ¢hurth. Trvak tsstLtrn nt 14
StJohn the EvanWknt P C C.Whitll• hW+Jod5 NotBs to Finan¢lal Statements forth•Jvonthl 31 Dorfflbw20X 14. Restrlctsd Fund# Baeat 11 lknbor 2020 Sthhrfj Refuthshment Fth ASSn Fees thticssg T[Fund 523.9% ,994 86m Cafe Lrfe ChldtOllS ChristmAsADVENTwE ay1 Brrb)k F8brfc F Brook Festsv ayEOll Brotsk Lnth Q Love Fwd Naw Gazèb Paihfinde Pr8yèrBr8aklast ljwda 124 71 1.144 148 1.144 -75 112 iu iygi 4.147 13 io 531A 19,S53 92. 459,3