2021-08-31-accounts - Beckenham Methodist Church

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The Methodist Church

Beckenham Methodist Church Bromley Road BR3 5JE and Clock House Road BR3 4JP

Registered Charity No. 1138006

Trustees Annual Report and Accounts for year ending 31[st] August 2021

Purpose

We are a body of people, drawn together by the love of God to worship, pray and try to follow the teaching of Jesus. To fulfil our purpose, we will:

Glorify God in worship

Develop our understanding of the love of God and the way of Jesus Deepen our commitment to the Christian life Enable and encourage our community to develop and use all their God-given talents Offer Christian love and friendship to all

Respond to the needs of God’s world, especially the people of Beckenham

The Methodist Church exists to exercise the whole ministry of Christ. The Local Church in Beckenham, with its membership and larger church community, exercises this ministry where it is and shares in the wider ministry of the Church in the world. In this one ministry worship, fellowship, pastoral care, mission and service are essential elements, enabled by training and prudent administration.

Organisation and governance

Beckenham Methodist Church (BMC) is part of the Bromley Circuit (No 35/42) of the Methodist Church, and arose from a merger of the Bromley Road and Clock House Road churches on 1 September 2004.

Ministers are appointed to the Circuit and given Pastoral Charge of the Local Church by the Circuit, usually staying for a term of 5 years. The current Minister is Rev. Alex Terrett, who has pastoral charge of the Beckenham and West Wickham churches and started her appointment in autumn 2018.

The various tasks in carrying out our ministry are undertaken by the local Church, through its Church Council and committees, in union with the ministry of the Circuit of which it is constituent. In accordance with its governing document, the Constitution Practice and Discipline (CPD) of the Methodist Church, the Trustees are all the members of the Church Council who are over the age of 18 years, some by virtue of posts they hold and some as elected representatives of the whole congregation.

Worship and Prayer

BMC normally gives worshippers the choice of two 10.30 a.m. services on a Sunday, one at Clock House Road and the other at Bromley Road. The preachers at each service are appointed by the Circuit. Occasionally on special occasions, combined services are held at one or other venue. Holy Communion is normally celebrated at Bromley Road on the third Sunday of the month and at Clock House Road on the second, both sites offer a more informal service each month directed at families.

The regular congregations at both sites are a mixture of age groups, nationalities and backgrounds and everyone who comes through the doors is afforded a friendly welcome. Service books, hymn books and pew Bibles are provided, as well as printed sheets when appropriate. Audiovisual projection is now normally used at both sites and all appropriate copyright licences are held.

Membership stands at 96. Average attendance at Bromley Road is 40 and at Clock House Road 8 with many housebound or infirm and others not attending regularly because of work or family commitments. A tape recording of each service at Bromley Road is made available for the housebound. Services restarted at Bromley Road in September 2020 and at Clock House site later on in summer 2021.

Circuit Meeting

Several Members of the Church Council also hold posts at Circuit level and the Church Council elects four representatives from amongst its number. The Circuit Meeting is a separate charity and its members are its trustees. The Local Church pays an assessment to the Circuit each year to cover the stipends and housing of ministerial staff and contributions to the Methodist Church nationally. BMC’s assessment for this year was £52,290, which was marginally higher than last year.

The Church Premises

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance of the premises at Bromley Road (BR3 5JE) and Clock House Road (BR3 4JP) Beckenham. The Church premises at both sites are extensively used by the local community as well as by Church members. At Clock House Road there is a long-established pre-school playgroup. Various evening activities include yoga and dance classes and other community meetings.

The premises at Bromley Road are more extensive and are used by some 35-40 community groups on a regular basis as well as for annual meetings of local residents groups and management committees. Activities for young children and the elderly are all available as well as the Church’s own sponsored Brownies, Guides, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Badminton Club and Social gatherings. According to Methodist Practice (CPD) no alcohol is allowed to be brought onto or consumed on the premises. A weekly AA meeting has been held on the premises for many years.

At Bromley Road we have been running a Community Café called TCs since July 2000 when a similar project run by Churches Together in Beckenham (CTiB) was forced to close. This has been very successfully staffed by volunteers from among the church membership as well as non members. At Bromley Road an extensive building project caused the café to be close In November 2018. It remained closed for the whole of the year in review. Plans exist for reopening next year initially on 3 days a week basis. In previous years a surplus was made and allocated to various mission projects at home and abroad. It is intended that this policy be reactivated when the café reopens. The surplus not distributed prior to closure will be used to assist with relocating and relaunching of the café within the newly built extension. The TCs management committee reports to the Church Council.

The Property and Finance Committee reports to the Church Council and is responsible for day-to-day management of the bookings through the offices of the two appointed Property Stewards. Cleaning of both churches is carried out by professionals.

Maintenance of the premises is an ongoing expense: in line with last year the overall level of activity was lower than average, which is to be expected after we have just completed a major redevelopment. Ongoing servicing of boilers, fire protection equipment and other key facilities was carried out. The main items of expenditure were preparations for the reopening of the café – to be called Joy’s kitchen.

Pastoral Care

The members of the Methodist Church are each allocated to a Pastoral Visitor who works closely with the minister to ensure all pastoral needs are met. The Pastoral Visitors and Church Stewards are members of the Pastoral Committee which reports to the Church Council. Those who are unable to attend services are visited and where requested the minister or some of the pastoral visitors are able to celebrate Holy Communion with them in their own home.

Mission

The Methodist Church supports Mission in Britain as well as Mission in the Wider World. These funds are well supported by the members of BMC as well as other charities. The work of TCs has been mentioned. Others regularly supported are Christian Aid with participation in the street collections and Action for Children, the Methodist Children’s charity, one of whose founders was also a member of Beckenham Methodist Church at its original foundation in 1887. Various other charities are supported annually, both locally and worldwide, e.g. Workaid and a food bank and support for homeless men provided at another local church.

Ecumenical relationships

BMC is an active member of CTiB and participates in all its activities. On Ascension Day each year a service is shared with St. Paul’s C of E Church in Brackley Road, alternating the venue and preachers. Close relationships are held with our nearest neighbours at St. George’s Parish Church and the United Reformed Church, Crescent Road.

Financial review, including reserves policy, designation of material funds and likely timing of expenditure

The financial position declined during the year as expected due to the impact of Covid on our income and of the final redevelopment costs pushing our outgoings up. This will be the last year like this. The expectation is that future years will return to the previous pattern and in fact it is hoped overall bookings income will increase due to the larger premises now available at Bromley Road.

The redevelopment costs included the retention monies for the builder and the final payments to our advisors. It also included significant expenditure to reduce our loans. A loan of £58,000 was obtained from the Methodist Chapel Aid scheme and repayment commenced in June 2020. In March 2021 it was agreed by Church Council that we should pay off this loan in its entirety and save future interest payments. Additional loans from members have been gratefully received. A 5-year repayment plan to bring the church out of debit has been drawn up. It is hoped that with strong lettings, continued generous support from the congregation and further grant applications this can be shortened.

Some works were removed from the builder’s contract due to affordability constraints in 2018 when contracts were awarded. These works included conversion of part of the New Room to a kitchen for the café and a disabled toilet and they have been undertaken by local traders under the direction of the property steward at a reduced cost compared to original quotation. These works will complete next year allowing the café to reopen. There are plans for a grand reopening of the redevelopment in September 2021.

Church income was constrained in 2020-21. Property bookings recovered slowly and were the lowest they have been for many years. Although the premises were available, Covid restrictions continued to apply to certain activities and other groups experienced lower demand as users socialised cautiously. The Playgroup at Clock House Road continued to operate throughout the year.

The amount of personal giving remained broadly unchanged. However, there was a welcome switch to electronic giving. It is hoped this trend continues.

During the year our reserves declined by around 40% or just over £139,000 leaving the church balances at £146,000. This was predominately due to redevelopment costs.

Funds held as custodian trustee on behalf of others:

Such funds are not material. They may include, during the financial year:

collections made for nominated charitable organisations, detailed in the Notes to the Receipts & Payments Account, but not yet distributed to them. Examples are Action for Children, Mind and on behalf of the Traidcraft Café. Movements of such funds, which are held temporarily on the main bank current account, are separately recorded in the Vestry Journal, receipts and payments

ledgers, and documented in other papers on file; and balances of the Benevolence Fund, to be applied at the minister’s discretion.

It is policy to disburse such collections in the same financial year in which they were received into the church accounts, except for the Benevolence Fund which may accumulate across year-ends.

Thanks

The Trustees would like to thank all those who work in a volunteer capacity to enable the smooth running of the Church in all its facets. As can be seen, BMC is an organisation devoted to providing public benefit with the assistance of its members. The Trustees, in exercising their powers and duties, complied with their obligation to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission.

This Report was approved at BMC’s Church Council meeting on 15thMarch 2022, on which date theTrusteeswere thefollowing:	The Trustees during the year ending 31 August 2021 were the following:
Rev. Alex Terrett	Rev. Alex Terrett
Deacon LauraMacBean	Deacon LauraMacBean
Irene Antwi	Irene Antwi
Vicky Bessant	Papa Boateng
Cynthia Campbell	VickyBessant
MarkCheesman	Cynthia Campbell
AndrewCloke	MarkCheesman
Tina Eshun	Andrew Cloke
Theo Farmer	David Dingley
ChristineHandel	TinaEshun
David Jackson	TheoFarmer
Mary Jackson	ChristineHandel
David Keall	Gordon Hughes
JoeKrywko	David Jackson
BarbaraKyei	Mary Jackson
ComfortLawson	CarolJefferies
Rev. DavidMorris	JoeKrywko
Graham McLeod	Barbara Kyei
JennyNichols	ComfortLawson
Lum Ntumazah	Graham McLeod
SheilaPriestman	Ruben Martin(part)
Judith Reep	Jenny Nichols
Paulette Tomlinson	Lum Ntumazah
ValerieWilson	SheilaPriestman
Simon Young	Judith Reep
	PauletteTomlinson
	Simon Young
	Colin Wilson(part)

CHURCH RECEIPTS thND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS Church FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 August 2021 r¢uk Clrcuk no 35142 Registered Chaity. Chanty R•gistration numbr 1138CNJ8 If not a registered thaiity Har Majestys Rèvenue aNI Cusloms Gift Aid rnmibor (Th8 HMRC number is equivalent to a registered charity rr in terns of evidence of dritable stabjs and may be used to give to don0 or m funders with1 to see evidence of the organisatlorfs charitabl8 ststus. Méthodist charilies in England arml Wales that are not regered dwit1 e excepted from registrati under &atutory 2014 No.242) NIA IAnister. Rev. Alex Te Jenny NiCJ15. ClY1stir Handel. Sheila Priestrnan, Comfort iawsa). Paulette Tomlinson, Graham M¢Leod. Irene Anlwi. Cynttia Campbell, Lum Nlumazah Tmsurer. Sim¢)n Young ir*S PUBUC R &yJ P >)ISA

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021 Beckenham Church UnYeslrl¢ted R•8trictsd Totals th18 Furtds Fund8 year Totals last SECTION A year a1 RECEIPTS a2 Offerin s and Tax rgcovered Bank and CFB interest and Investment income 62.900 62,900 298 376 a3 353 353 2.365 a4 Lellin 26.483 26.483 26.738 116,474 41,380 120,158 462,279 85 Other receipts TOTAL RECEIPTS 26.655 116.391 83 86 83 la71 SECTION B b1 PAYMENTS b2 Circuit Assessment or Share 52.291 51,356 50 b3 Donations 230 230 Re airs and Maintenan utilities Ilnsurances, water cha es, healin htin 29,$42 29.542 14,499 b5 19.808 19.808 21.712 b6 b7 Other pawxents TOTAL PAYMENTS 153.039 254.910 214 153.253 255.124 491,424 579,041 bs 214 Ib91 SECTION C NET RECEIPTSIPAYMENTS FOR THE YEAR ¢1 a6 138,519 131 138.650 116.762 Totsl funds broUt foThvard from last year 114.988 203.263 318,251 435.323 c3 Sub total c1+c2 23.531 203.132 179.601 318.561 Transfers and ad'uslments 200,376 200.911 53$ 310 TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR (c3+) 176,845 2,221 179.066 318,251 SECTION D FOR INFORMATION ONLY: MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EKfERNAL ORGANISATIONS these amounts ale not to be included in total reIPts1Pa ntsfi ures above d1 Balan brou ht forvrdrd from lasl ar 681 991 d2 Offe 51Gifts- receNed for externd o anisatrons 445 590 d3 OfferingslGifts - passed lo extemJ orgaThsations 900 BALANCE STILL'TO BE PAID Id1+d2-d31 146 681 Chwth P20IS.xts 2ofS

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