2022-12-31-accounts

ST PETER'S CHURCH, STREATHAM

ANNUAL REPORT, MAY 2023

Year 2022-2023

Vicar:

Fr Steffan Mathias Curate:

Fr Ben Vertannes

Churchwardens:

Josephine Dapaah Winston Trotman

Parochial Church Council:

David Chapman Maureen Downs Duncan Eastoe Sonia Freeman-Birch Jo Hutton Caroline Johns Alice King Sheila Launchbury Simon Launchbury James Macintyre Melanie Metherell Mary Newbrook Angela Newby Marie-Thérèse Rogers Olivia Suter Sarah Tew Sharon Thomas Winston Trotman

Independent Examiner:

Mrs Pamela Carragher, Reading RG2

Bankers:

Barclays Bank plc 136 Streatham High Road London SW16 1BN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AIMS AND PURPOSES .......................................................................................................................... 1 MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING .......................................................... 2 PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL REPORT ......................................................................................... 4 TREASURERS’ REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2022 ..................................................................................... 6 RESERVES POLICY ............................................................................................................................ 12 PLANNED GIVING OFFICER’S REPORT 2022 .................................................................................. 14 CHURCHWARDENS’ REPORT ........................................................................................................... 14 SAFEGUARDING OFFICERS’ REPORT ............................................................................................. 15 ELECTORAL ROLL OFFICER’S REPORT .......................................................................................... 15 CLERK OF WORKS/FABRIC REPORT ............................................................................................... 15 MUSIC REPORT ................................................................................................................................... 16 SERVERS’ REPORT ............................................................................................................................ 18 CHILDREN’S CHURCH REPORT ........................................................................................................ 18 SCHOOL VISITS ................................................................................................................................... 18 COMMUNICATIONS REPORT............................................................................................................. 19 DEANERY SYNOD REPORT ............................................................................................................... 19 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT ........................................................................................................................ 20

AIMS AND PURPOSES

The principal purpose of the PCC of the Church of St Peter’s Streatham is to cooperate with the incumbent, Revd Dr Steffan Mathias, on matters of importance to the parish in promoting the mission of the Church and to have joint responsibility, with the incumbent, in the running of the parish.

The PCC is also responsible for the maintenance of the church fabric and its contents, and for the maintenance and running of the Church Crypt, our church hall. The PCC also considers and discusses matters concerning the Church of England, or other matters of religious or public interest.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church, and to become part of our parish community at St Peter’s.

When planning our activities for the year, the incumbent and the PCC have considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit, and in particular the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion.

The PCC (as Trustees) have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through

• worship and prayer; learning about the Gospel and delivering their knowledge and trust in Jesus;

• provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish;

• mission and outreach work.

To facilitate this work, it is important that we maintain the fabric of the Church and the Crypt Hall.

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MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING HELD ON SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2022 at 11.45 AM

1. PRAYERS

Fr Steffan welcomed those attending (c.28 persons) and opened the meeting with prayers.

2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies had been received from David Chapman, Caroline Johns, James Macintyre, Mary Newbrook, and Winston Trotman.

3. MINUTES OF THE APCM HELD ON SUNDAY, 18 APRIL 2021.

The Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a true record of the meeting and signed by Fr Steffan.

4. ELECTORAL ROLL

Sheila Launchbury reported a slight increase in numbers on the current Roll with 112 compared with 2021. 64% of members were resident in the parish.

5. ELECTION OF CHURCHWARDENS

Fr Steffan said that Jo Dapaah was willing to continue as Churchwarden and Winston Trotman had agreed to stand for election as the other Warden. Both had been duly nominated and seconded ahead of the meeting. The meeting agreed unanimously that they should be elected .

6. DEANERY SYNOD REPRESENTATION

Duncan Eastoe, Angela Newby and Winston Trotman had agreed to continue to serve in this capacity and were duly elected .

7. ELECTION OF PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL

Six members of the current PCC would be continuing in office in the coming year. Ahead of the meeting there had been 3 nominations for the 6 vacant elected places. The following 9 people were duly elected :

David Chapman James Macintyre Olivia Suter Caroline Johns Melanie Metherell Sarah Tew Alice King Mary Newbrook Sharon Thomas

It would be possible to fill vacancies at a later date.

8. ELECTION OF SIDESPERSONS

The function of Sidesperson had rather fallen away during the Covid pandemic. As restrictions were being steadily lifted it was felt that it would good to reinstate this important ministry of welcome. Angela Newby would contact those who had been Sidespeople and try to set up a new rota. It was agreed to continue with as many as possible.

9. APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

Simon Launchbury explained that Caroline John’s son had undertaken the inspection of the 2021 Accounts, but was not at present able to commit to doing this again. It was agreed to defer this appointment until later in the year.

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10. REPORT OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL FOR 2021/2022

The summary of proceedings in the PCC over the last year had been included in the Annual Report. By a show of hands, the report was received by the meeting.

11. TREASURER’S REPORT & ACCOUNTS FOR 2021

These had been included in the Annual Report and previously adopted by the PCC on 28 March 2022. Simon Launchbury hoped that the narrative accompanying the figures helped members to understand this complex subject. He drew attention to the separate paper handed out at the meeting which showed the breakdown of charitable giving which had gone into and out of the church’s Charities Account.

By a show of hands, the report and accounts were approved .

12. OTHER REPORTS

Sheila Launchbury apologised that she had not sought a report from the Serving team for inclusion in the main Annual Report. A separate paper had been distributed at the beginning of the meeting. All these reports were received by the meeting.

13. CHAIRMAN'S BUSINESS

Fr Steffan commented that the last two years had been rather strange! He thanked all those who had helped to keep the church going. Numbers attending services were gradually increasing and we were now able to celebrate Mass in a more ‘normal’ manner. He was glad to have had more clergy support. He was also very grateful to James Furniss Roe, our Director of Music, for keeping the musical side of our worship going.

Fr Steffan thanked the congregation for their generosity in response to special funding appeals for bigger projects.

Finally, he mentioned that some key parish priorities had been identified at the recent awayday which we would take forward over coming months.

14. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• a)

• Sally Smith mentioned that Christian Aid week would start the following week.

• b) A Platinum Jubilee party was planned for Sunday 5 June, in the form of an international lunch.

• c) Jo Hutton reported that £553 had been raised for Ukraine through the sale of refreshments over recent weeks.

• d) Fr Steffan encouraged those present to continue to think about possible additional PCC members.

There being no other business, the meeting closed with the Grace at 12.20 pm.

Signed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Date . . . . . . . . . . . . 2023

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PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL REPORT

Post-Covid, we largely resumed ‘normal’ service in terms of face to face meetings. We had five regular meetings during the year and one extraordinary meeting when PCC approval was needed at short notice. A summary of business discussed at each meeting is given below. Average attendance at the meetings was just under 70%.

8 August 2022 : This first meeting of the PCC had been postponed from July due to extremely hot weather, and, with continuing high temperatures, this meeting was held in the relatively cool vicarage! The minutes of the final PCC meeting of the last session and those of the vestry meeting held after the APCM in May were approved. The Treasurer asked Fr Steffan to set dates of future meetings so that he could invite CCLA representatives to visit the PCC to explain their investment policies. The Treasurer added that £60,000 of shares had been sold to meet the costs of known major projects. The proceeds of this sale would be kept in the CCLA Deposit Fund pending a better understanding of the likely expenditure. Income from crypt and church hire was picking up, but a Stewardship Appeal should be made to encourage planned giving. We agreed to increase our pledge to the Diocese by 0.5%. The lighting project had begun and the results were encouraging. Using the scaffolding or lighting towers in place for lighting works would enable remedial works to be carried out on slipped/damaged ceiling boards. External scaffolding to enable the removal of vegetation and mortar repairs was expected to cost c.£4,000 and this was approved. A new quote for the church servery project, estimated at around £20,000, was approved and it was agreed that a Faculty Application should be made. Drainage works, and various roofing repairs arising from Storm Eunice were approved. All members of the PCC were required to undertake Safeguarding training. The election of a Lay Vice-Chairman was deferred to the next meeting.

21 September 2022: This was a largely ‘non-business’ meeting, with the main item being ‘What is a PCC?’. We reviewed a booklet setting out the duties of a PCC, and undertook some group exercises to get to know each other better. We also discussed what subcommittees would be helpful in order to further the work of the PCC. Before that discussion, we were reminded by Safeguarding Officer, Maureen Downs, of the necessity of PCC members undertaking the Diocese’s Safeguarding Training, with results being returned to our Safeguarding team. A question was raised about why the Servery project had not been put out to tender, and we learned that unsuccessful efforts had been made to do exactly that. Happily, the proposed contractor had a long association with St Peter’s and were trusted to do a good job.

30 November 2022 : Representatives of CCLA attended the meeting to comment on the performance of our invested funds as at the end of October. We received an update on a number of fabric repairs and projects: an asbestos survey had revealed no significant issues; most of the drainage clearances and repairs had been completed; the Diocesan Advisory Committee had responded to our Faculty Application re the Church Servery with some helpful pointers as to how we might improve the next submission; the church lighting project had been completed with a six month approval period; the lighting in the Lady Chapel needed some ‘muscle’ to assist with the positioning of ladders; remedial work on the large safe in the Sacristy was paused pending appointing a contractor with the necessary lifting equipment; north side roofing repairs had been completed, while south side repairs were pending; repairs to the heating system were underway. Re our MAP, a lunch club for asylum seekers living in the former Leigham Court Hotel would be starting in December, while efforts to escalate asylum applications and the provision of youth activities were in planning. Sonia Freeman-Birch was co-opted as Lay Vicechair of the PCC. We learnt that James Furniss-Roe had resigned as Director of Music with effect from 8 January. An Independent Examiner had yet to be identified and it was possible that a professional appointment might be required.

1 February 2023 : There was some discussion on the CCLA’s long term plans re environmental issues and the date by which they hoped to reach a net zero investment position

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(2050). A response had been requested. A possible candidate to act as Independent Examiner had been identified in the congregation. However, there was a possible conflict of interest as that person was the spouse of a member of the PCC, and further enquiries were needed. The main item on this agenda was the draft Mission Action Plan and the meeting divided into groups to discuss their views on the proposals suggested. It was agreed that the draft MAP be commended to the wider congregation with an invitation to submit feedback for further discussion. An update on a number of fabric issues was received. The process for recruiting a new Director of Music was discussed. It was proposed to take a new look at how this function might be reorganised and a financial model would be drawn up, using some of our MAP budget. We were advised of a bequest from the estate of the late Fr Peter Andrews and some preliminary ideas were exchanged on how this money might be spent. It was agreed that a review of Crypt hire should be carried out, including the contributions paid by the Brownies and Guides. We were reminded that members must undertake the Diocesan safeguarding training and that the church’s Safeguarding Policy document needed to be updated. We agreed to support Fr Ben’s attendance of a Holy Land pilgrimage (subject to the political/military situation prevailing at the time). We learnt that the new Bishop of Kingston would be consecrated the following day.

5 March 2023 (Extraordinary) : Meeting after the Parish Mass, the PCC was advised that the previously proposed Independent Examiner was, after all, ineligible to act in this capacity, but that a former member of St Peter’s, Pam Carragher, a qualified accountant, had been approached and was willing to take on this role free of charge. She had written a letter to the PCC along with a short biography. All present and all those who had sent apologies were in favour of accepting Pam’s offer.

19 April 2023 : In its final meeting of the session we heard that a response from the CCLA on their net zero strategy had been received by Fr Steffan, and that this would be circulated to members shortly. The review of Crypt rental was underway and would be shared with PCC members ahead of the next meeting. A discussion was held about a quote received re the replacement of gutters and downpipes on the north side of the church and it was agreed to seek a more detailed breakdown of the costs. A financial model for the funding of separate Director of Music and Organist posts was considered and approved. A church expenditure policy, setting out the appropriate levels of approval was accepted. The Annual Accounts for 2022 were adopted for presentation to the APCM. A further reminder about Safeguarding training was given. Vacancies on Deanery Synod and PCC were aired. We learnt that Fr Ben was likely to be ordained to the priesthood on 1 July.

Sheila Launchbury – PCC Secretary

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TREASURERS’ REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2022

Our overall receipts for 2022 are, on the face of it, greatly increased from the previous year, but there are a number of exceptional circumstances. The card-reader continues to be a significant source of unplanned giving.

The grant of £33,000 was for the lighting project (see below) and we received a bequest of £1,000 for the Sacristy Fund which (with its Gift Aid Tax Refund) was transferred to that account.

The Crypt income continues to recover from the 2020 slump due to the Covid pandemic, but is still not back to the pre-pandemic levels. The church continues to be used as a concert venue for the choirs Opus XVI (who also pay to rehearse here) and the Streatham Choral Society. The church was also used in March for the showing of two silent films as part of the Streatham Film Festival.

We are being more assiduous is reclaiming VAT through the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, hence the large increase in this figure over 2021.

This past year has seen a lots of expenditure on the church building, most notably the lighting project hence the vastly increased figure for Repairs (although some of the lighting project costs were incurred in 2021 period). Although Veolia paid £23,255 of their grant in advance (in May 2022), other monies (from Veolia and The Greater London Authority) were only paid on completion of the work. The grants received were £33,988 from Veolia and £15,350 from the Greater London Authority giving a total of £49,338. (Please note that over £17,000 of this was paid in 2023, hence the discrepancy between the figure given here and that recorded in the 2022 accounts.)

The total cost of the lighting project was £60,840.54 of which £59,495.03 was paid in 2022. The final £1,345.51 was agreed to be paid in April 2023 once the system was confirmed to be satisfactory. These figures include £10,140.09 VAT which is being reclaimed via the Listed Places of Worship Trust.

To cover our payment of the invoices, and in keeping with our Reserves Policy (see p.12) shares were sold to the value of £59,500. Although, in the end, not all of this money was needed for the lighting project, rather than buying more shares, the excess was transferred to the CCLA Deposit Fund (where access is much quicker) to pay for the work on the Belfries in 2023.

To qualify for the grant from Veolia, we were obliged to make a donation of £3,250 to their grant-making fund(!) hence the Parish Admin figure being so much higher than in 2021.

Another expense which began in 2022 is our monthly contribution to the Diocese for accommodation for Fr Ben and his family which is just under £700 per month.

As a parish we continue to be generous in our response to appeals for charitable giving despite the increasing cost-of-living crisis. Donations made in 2022 via the Charities Account were:

Bishop’s Lent Appeal	£141.00
Christian Aid	£245.50
DEC Afghanistan Appeal	£289.00
DEC Pakistan Flood Appeal	£300.00
DEC Ukraine Appeal	£791.75
National Churches Trust	£75.00
Spires Centre	£265.00

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A payment of £150 was made direct to the Friends of Children in Romania charity. The share of the Christmas collections going to charities meant that we were able to send £245.33 to the Spires Centre and £255 to the Children's Society. Also in December we collected £250.00 to the DEC Turkey/Syria Earthquake. These will show in the 2023 figures as cheques were only banked this year.

Concerning the Choir and Organ funds, these accounts are now fully with NatWest having previously been partly held in the Nationwide Building Society.

This past year has been a busy one financially, with the sale of shares covering the initial cost of the lighting project. However, we have had to draw substantially on our reserves held in the CCLA Deposit Fund (into which the quarterly dividend payments from our shares are paid) to fund the day-to-day running of St Peter’s. In 2023, despite the financial hardships felt by many of us, we need to consider how to increase our church’s income for us to remain financially viable. This is, of course, something for the new PCC to consider. When asked how we are doing, I often say that we are keeping our head above water, but our face sometimes get wet!

Sharon Thomas has kindly agreed to take over as Treasurer and is currently working with me on a gradual hand over of this role. As always, we would like to thank the rest of the Finance Team for their assistance: Catherine Chapman for her work as Planned Giving Officer and for managing the Choir and Organ Funds, Winston Trotman and Jo Hutton for the banking of monies and the various people who help with Sunday collections. We should also thank David Chapman, Anthea Eastoe and Fr Steffan for their work in seeking out grants for our major projects carried out in 2022. We are very grateful to Pam Carragher for her independent inspection of the annual accounts and am delighted that she has agreed to carry out this duty next year, should those at the APCM approve this.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you for your continuing support.

Simon Launchbury – Treasurer

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ST PETER'S CHURCH, STREATIIAM The Members Sl Peier's Church Lei8ham Court Road London SW162SD ACCOUNTS FOR THE YF.AR F.NDING 31112r2022 Oll behdf ot'thL PCC. E present the A¢¢oun15 for the year ending 3 1 December 2022. 43 Simon LaunLhbury I'reasw io (he Parochial Chur¢h CouncÉl 3 Dodbrooke Road, London SE27 OPF INDEPENDENf EXAMINF.R'S STATF,MF.Iwr I have reviewed the accouttts for the yvdr endin8 31 D¢cemb¢r 2022. Thc review has included a studv of the ledgers, bank 4tsicmcnts. payments by bank or cash with the relevani VC?ULh¢T5. s¢rviLe Collecti￿n8, tsther paymcnls to the bank. logether with the vouch¢rs. I have vcrified the balance5. Ibe review has Includ￿ payments to and from thc RcstriLted Funds. minures and papers orth¢ PCC and the 14uildin¥s and Finance Commillet. incliiding the Treasurer's repurls. were available for 2nspccltott on request. I confjrm that the PCC accounts arc an accurdie reflection of the financial ￿sItiOn a5 at 3 1 Dei¢nibLr 2022. There are no matters whach have come to light durin8 my revicw which should be report￿ io the Member% nf Church Ci)unLil. Pamcla Carragher. Reading R62 APPROVED B Y THF. PAROLHIAL CElllRCH COL￿cIL ON 19 April 2023 F,r Steffatt kri[f￿, Chairn)an

SL Peierf$ Church, Styeathorn Financial Staietnent at 31_124022 Receipts and Paytnents Accimjllt 2021 2022 Geneial Fur Receipts ular Income P13nned Unplanned Card Reader Donations Income Tax Recwered 32,T13.83 2.371.30 919.40 8.582 33 44.676.86 30.071.85 3.143.90 2.530.00 8.223.37 43.969.12 Othèi 1neome Donations18xcluding below) 6equesls Grants Fees Candle5 5.719.21 0.00 0.00 1.871.00 80.00 7.670.21 1.375.87 1.000.00 33.405.00 2.890.00 o 00 38.670.87 Crypt Hire Fund Raising Evetrts Church Hire Sal& of Magazin&& Books 11.15700 S75.00 2.044.00 4830 13.824.30 15.675.00 1.196.50 2.600.00 o 00 19.471.50 InsuTance Claim5 Bank Interest VAT iefund Oth&r (bank ?￿0[) 0.00 7.41 798.04 0.00 13.01 5.396.97 20 00 5.425.98 805.45 Toiol General Fund Receipts Sale of CCLA Share5 66,916.82 0.00 66,976.B2 107,511A7 59.750.00 167,291A7 Payments Dioces3n Asse5smenV Pledge Clergy eX￿￿Se5 Curate Housing Repairs etc Repairs against Insurance claim Church Insurance 56.998 00 454.24 0.00 9.487 02 0.00 8.S97. 7.999.61 7.203 10 1.658.76 1.707.13 2.492 24 619.12 0.00 o.oo 57.568 00 131.47 4.841.68 79.115.63 250.00 8.633.33 10.168.34 1Q.708 22 2.783.09 2.082.53 3.253.36 4.464.68 27.74 0.00 306 85 184,334.92 Music Sacnsty Printing & Copying Crypt main18nance Parish Adrnin Magazine & Bookstall Fund R81sing expenses Oth&r TotalGeneral Fund Patnents 97,216.26 CCLA Depwii Fund Receipts Itrteresl IrNestmènt income 7.14 15.522.14 15,529.28 260.19 14.908.49 15,168.68 Geneial Fund Suiplus surplu￿DÈfltiI le$s Net Transfer io restricted fund -14,710.16 -1,874.77 -501.25 .376.02 Sncludlng CCLA Sale ol Shares 59,7X).IXI

2021 2022 Restricted Fund$ The Business PreThiuTh Account Net Transfer Irom unreotricted fund Interest 501.25 2.43 3.68 460 Sactisty su￿ i DefKit Charhles Fund 2020 2021 Receipts 1.041.00 2.898.25 Payments 1.915 00 14.00 2.680.25 218.00 Chawities Suwp l Deficit Choir Musit Robes a Travel Fund 2021 2012 Receipts Cathedral Trip subs GA donations Non-GA donations Interest Stholafship Tax Reclaim Other Donations 1.318.00 75.00 o.oo 11.27 430.00 127 50 000 2,018.39 8.576.50 0.00 60 00 1.07 382.so 6925 73.85 9,163.17 Payments Cathedral tnp expenses Stationery Music & Robes Additional Singers Scho13rship Othei expenses 692 00 0.00 106.95 O.DO 0.00 0.00 798.95 8.865 78 0.00 406.50 o 00 0.00 310.00 9,582.28 Choii Fund Surplusl Deficit 1,219.44 419.11 Receipts Gth Donations 512.00 22 01 000 235.00 263.16 0.00 441.26 1,473.43 345.00 0.50 0.00 605.00 171.73 o oo 605.60 1,728.83 Gr3nt Other DDnalion5 Tax Recrfftred VAT refvnd Concerts & Fund Ra151ll9 Poyments Recitals. Concert5 & Fund Raising Organ Works 0.00 O.DO 211.90 74.99 286.89 Organ Fund su￿1￿11 Deflth 1,473.43 1A41.94 10

st. Petefschurch, Streatharn Financial Stat￿￿nt at31-12￿022 Receipts Genernl FU￿d5 pi LEssT4x recolE￿Ne Q42D21 Plu%T4x Q4 20 Ltgsotn Fund Chth)ues LeiiT4x A￿&1M br OryoTh & CholrFund •1 ltrto epAIsJ¢nstyi Trnnsfer torn CCLA eeL&0ew￿t Fund Sale llfCCLAShares General Fu￿d5sUbthYtsl pay￿￿nts General F￿n￿ 1QT.541 47 -2.420 52 2.029 181.334.92 Gene141 Fund•sub￿l IMJJI.52 4200 401 R¢cd F￿d¥ BPA eh 15,168 59,750 00 2.68025 Reskncd F￿d$ SuLotsl Tothl paY￿￿￿ts 12.519A2 Re5tncÈd FU￿d5 BPA Ch& 9,163 17 1.728 OpJan Clwuesto be pre8erted General F￿n￿T<)￿l Restnctd Fund$ 5ubtotsl Tvtsl Recei 195,819.70 Toi•l C Summiry st¥tutvry totjl 21 Re￿IPtS Payments 110,649 24 126,041 68 -15J92.44 195.819 7 .I,IW.64 Total Nun Restri(ed Restncted Funts Total -2,576 15 -12816 29 -15J92.44 -2.809 15 1.744 51 .I,IW.64 staÈmEntof Azts•ThJ Liabilitiey Monet4y As%eL Z021 202 Gene￿7 G?￿e￿I Ttstsi PCC Curwt ACC41uM iBorcbyJl PCC Oew$i¢ ACUUM iBoTcloyil CCL4OepDwt Fund BPA $4cnsty Fund ehoir FundsAccount Organ Fund ccount CharrtiesABcount Totsl 500.00 500.00 8,18292 10,44567 2,71545 10,27698 16,7￿ 53 364 47,46J.19 8,182 92 4,776 99 4,77699 3,46302 11,69609 15,31659 36564 41,33&44 3,463 D2 10,6% 09 10.276. 16.758.53 365 64 9Wi.J4 11,4X10 17,128.59 30,3Xf Gpneral Funds BarC￿y8￿cC0￿￿ts cCNDep0￿t Fund 6,￿2 92 10,445 67 6,￿292 10,44567 4,7T6 99 10,44567 Restncted Funds BPA SICnSty Fund adEU 3.163 02 10.8.0 2.71$4S 10,696.09 2,71$4S 10,276.98 18,7$8.53 58364 47,46J.19 10.278 98 16,758 $3 Orpen Chirrtie* 365 64 29Wi.J4 36584 46,25635 Tothl Fun 11,4XIO 17,12B.59 30,3M Notes OtherA￿tS InNEstments Yith CCLA 637Q51QQ1P 637Q51QQ1S 70.234 47 350.546 27 4?￿,1￿.74 69.14748 350.283 29 419NJO.7T bid market pn Inland Re￿￿￿e tsx ￿daTh5 Al ￿C￿lMS bdged ha￿ been spttlpd Is estimated thatthe ￿cla￿ dup brQ4 2,029.39 -2.029 391 reement In March 2020 the PCC entered Into a th￿e ye£r￿￿t￿co￿er￿lal CDThtract vthh ￿￿k YEmX at an annu41 rate of£630 00 plus CDpying charged nual P4Trh Pkd Due 57,600 00

RESERVES POLICY

Agreed by St. Peter’s PCC on 28 March 2022

1. Background

The Charities Act 2011 requires that the PCC sets its Reserves Policy, and that this is disclosed as part of the Annual Report.

2. Principles

The PCC should only keep money in reserve for specific reasons. While the Bible clearly indicates that we should not hoard, it is also important that we make sensible provision for known future events, and take responsibility for our commitment to others, including our employees.

The PCC is transparent and accountable to its stakeholders, including the congregation, the diocese, and the community we live in. The PCC must demonstrate that it is achieving its charitable objects.

The PCC must plan its work in advance, and set an expenses budget, and then ensure that its income is sufficient to deliver this work. It is important that reserves are available to cover unexpected variations in its income and expenses. The day-to-day running expenses including the Diocesan Quota is managed through the General Fund.

The PCC has available to it a Reserve Investment Fund. This policy sets out how the income and growth from that fund will be managed and limited.

3. Policy statement

As of 2022: St Peter’s Financial situation is such that income into the General Fund from regular giving, gift aid tax reclaim and income from our crypt and church are not keeping pace with our expenses, despite continued cost control measures.

The PCC agree that it is important to ensure:

• The maintenance of our Grade II building for worship, church and community activities. This further ensures the continued ability to raise income from church and room hire to offset General Fund* expenses.

• The provision of funds to meet our multi-year Mission Action Plan activities.

• The support of our clergy. For example, the cost of a curate.

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St Peter’s holds a Reserve Investment Fund . This fund will be managed to:

CAPITAL	Ensure a minimum capital fund is maintained year-on-year to ensure continued accumulation of growth within theReserve Investment Fund, and income for the church to cover the following:	LEVEL for 2022 At least £400,000
BUILDING MAINTENANCE	Toprovide from theReserve Investment Fundan income for theGeneral Fundfor Building Maintenance.	LEVEL for 2022 Up to £15,000
MISSION ACTION PLAN	To provide funds for the churches agreed Mission Action Plan Projects. E.g. Communication, Welcome, Music and Youth Work, Research into Needs etc [i.e. Active projects as agreed each year] Within this allocation an annual budget will be set.	LEVEL for 2022 Up to £30,000
CLERGY SUPPORT	To provide funds for the church’s Clergy (e.g. Curate Housing Costs) Within this allocation an annual budget will be set.	LEVEL for 2022 Up to £12,000

These limits will be reviewed and agreed by the PCC each year. The agreed limits set for any year will be documented with the formal church accounts at the APCM.

Due to the fluctuation in markets affecting the Reserve Investment Fund, it will not always be possible to realise the full amounts highlighted above in any one year and so management will be needed to prioritise funds up to these levels.

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PLANNED GIVING OFFICER’S REPORT 2022

ENVELOPE GIVING SCHEME

At the year-end 2022 there were 23 people receiving boxes of envelopes, a net decrease of 6 from the previous year. However only 18 of these boxes were used..

GIFT AID

During the year there were 33 regular monthly givers to the General Fund, Choir and Organ funds who Gift Aid their donations, which is a decrease of 4. There are other regular donors who are not able to Gift Aid.

On donations given during 2022, I was able to reclaim a total of £7,832.24 from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs which is a decrease of 11% on 2021. This is partially due to people moving away and a change in tax status of another donor.

The amount of donations made using the card reader has increased significantly over the last few years but as these donations are unplanned and anonymous, I cannot include them in this report. However, I can reclaim Gift Aid on these under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme up to a maximum of £8,000pa.

If anybody would like information on the above schemes, I’ll be happy to help.

Catherine Chapman – Planned Giving Officer

CHURCHWARDENS’ REPORT

This report marks a return to the usual annual reflection. We are all glad to see an end to the restrictions caused by the Covid 19 pandemic allowing church life and services to resume. Though it is true to say that church weekly attendance is not quite at the level of pre- Covid, it is reassuring to see numbers again rising at the main Masses. Christmas and Easter services were well attended with many new faces in the congregation.

A visit to St Peter’s by Bishop Christopher in February was most pleasing, allowing us all to physically and spiritually catch up with him before his journey to the Holy Land. It also gave the Wardens an opportunity to take their wands out of the usual resting position and escort the Bishop in and out of Church.

Following the workshop in March 2022, a new Mission Action Plan was created under the direction of Fr Steffan and Fr Ben. This was rolled out early this year. We are pleased to share that our continued efforts to support the clergy in reaching out to our local community and welcoming new members, especially families, should pay dividends in the near future.

In June of 2022, we said goodbye to Fr Peter Andrews, former Vicar here between 1998-2019. A Requiem Mass was held and members old and new attended to pray for him. May he rest in peace.

A duty of the Churchwardens is to host an Articles of Enquiry and Inspection visit by the Archdeacon (or his appointed representative) to ensure that the registers are kept in order, and the valuables of the church (i.e. the church silver etc.) is properly safeguarded. Details of this year’s inspection have still to be issued.

In April 2022, Simon Launchbury stepped down as a Churchwarden, and we want to thank him for his time as Churchwarden, in particular for keeping an astute eye over the various

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responsibilities towards the running of the church and for doing so during periods of ill health. Ahead of the APCM, we were grateful to Winston Trotman for agreeing to step up for a second term as Warden. Jo Dapaah continues to stand as Churchwarden for what will be her last year.

A big thank you must be extended to all who have given of their time and talents to support St Peter’s – too many to mention here, but we would like to give a special gratitude of thanks to: David Chapman, for all the various roles he undertakes; Angela Newby, for managing the crypt and readers’/welcomers’ rotas; Jo Hutton, for diligently providing refreshments after Sunday services and at various functions throughout the year; and Barbara Drayton for her work in managing the cleaners rota for the church.

A particular thank you is also extended to Dusty Lori, who managed the team responsible for the flower arrangements and has now stepped down from this role.

We look forward and pray for the future at St Peters as we seek to grow the congregation, grow the choir and look to welcome a new Director of Music and an Organist.

Jo Dapaah and Winston Trotman - Churchwardens

SAFEGUARDING OFFICERS’ REPORT

We have no major issues to report. This year we have been asked by the Diocese for everyone on the PCC to complete Safety and Safeguarding training. This obviously takes some time to accomplish. Fr. Steffan has asked everyone to have this done by the APCM, so fingers crossed!! All people requiring a DBS check are up to date.

Maureen Downs – Safeguarding Officer

ELECTORAL ROLL OFFICER’S REPORT

We are two-thirds of the way through the current ‘term’ of the Electoral Roll, which is started from scratch every six years. Taking stock, in consultation with Fr Steffan, it has seemed timely to do a bit of judicious pruning. This reflects a combination of one death, two members moving away from the London area, and a number of people, not resident in the parish, who have dropped away in terms of attendance. I have added two new members to the Roll. In summary, last year’s Roll stood at 112, 18 names have been deleted, and two names added, leaving a total of 96. Just over 67% of members live within the parish boundary.

Sheila Launchbury – Electoral Roll Officer

CLERK OF WORKS/FABRIC REPORT

2022 and the beginning of 2023 has seen a number of major projects completed or significantly moved on.

Church Lighting (Faculty Ref: 2021-063558)

The Lighting in the church was completely replaced with more energy efficient LED units. These have more sophisticated control and diming functionality which we and our community church hirers have already been able to exploit to good effect. We achieved this with major grants from the London Community Energy Fund and the Veolia Environmental Trust.

West Façade and Belfries

In 2023, we have done maintenance work to the West Façade and the North and South Belfries to clear plant growth, clear any dangerous loose render from the stonework, fill mortar cracks and repoint where needed, replace a broken belfry louvre, re-mortar loose flashing and other repairs possible within the scope of this major work, including to west apse roof tiles,. A

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broken downpipe on the north side of the west apse was relaced also. This work was done with inspection by our architect, Tim Gough.

Storm Eunice Roofing Repairs

Work was carried out at the end of 2022 to repair damaged tiles on the North Nave roof caused by Storm Eunice in Feb 2022.

Drains

Major repair work has taken place to the drain runs on the North, South and West sides of the church to clear blockages and to reseal drains where needed. A mains water leak was repaired in the course of this work outside the crypt gents WC. These works were largely covered by an Insurance claim.

Church Servery (Faculty Ref: 2022-075779)

Preparation for an Application for a Faculty for installation of Church Servery in the old SW Porch. Awaiting final confirmation of go-ahead from Registrars.

Other minor repairs

• Repairs to LCR gate and section of uphill fence

• Addition of step and weather board to crypt kitchen door (to prevent flooding)

• Replacement of a church heating pump and starter unit

Organ (Faculty Ref 2020-056182)

Completion of Organ works to South Case, Choir Bass Chest and Great Slider Action. This very significant work has included in April 2023:

• Further reduction of hiss from the organ

• Replacement of wooden stop bushes – which were crumbling and general cleaning and smartening of the console

• Properly instating swell box doors and removing old temporary swell louvres

• Easing of west case organ internal door

A bequest has been received from the estate of Robin Purdy towards the next phase of organ restoration works.

Garden

A number of gardening days were organised by Angela Newby. There was an All-Age gardening day in the Autumn. Richard Holdaway has continued to maintain as much as he can and make running repairs to the fences where possible.

2022 and the beginning of 2023 has seen a number of major projects completed or significantly moved on.

Thanks

Many thanks are due to Angela for her work in garden and crypt and to Richard Holdaway for his unceasing work in the garden. To those that have been helping prepare the Church Servery plans: Jo Hutton, Mihaela Musat and Angela Newby. And to the grant fund raising team: Fr Steffan and Anthea Eastoe.

David Chapman – Clerk of Works

MUSIC REPORT

We began 2022 with our new Director of Music, James Furniss-Roe in post. Apart from taking on the major task of running the music department, he facilitated a number of recitals which have entertained us on Sunday Lunchtimes. He also directed a Come and Sing performance of Stainer’s Crucifixion in Lent 2022.

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James was involved in two collaborations with the Streatham Free Film Festival which involved him playing piano for a screening at St Peter’s of Koyani (music by Philip Glass) and to provide a musical sound track on the organ for a screening of Nosferato. Both were great opportunities to show that St Peter’s can be used successfully for large screen film screenings attracting large and diverse audiences into our beautiful building.

The choir went on tour to Lincoln Cathedral in August 2022. The week was led by James Furniss-Roe and was a great success. The choir were delighted to see some familiar faces in the stalls from St Peter’s during the week.

Unfortunately, James Furniss-Roe decided to leave post in January 2023 because of pressure from his main day-job. David Chapman has stepped in as Acting Director of Music whilst decisions regarding succession are organised.

The choir sang evensong in St Paul’s Cathedral in February 2023 under the direction of Thomas Chapman. David Chapman organised a Youth Choir recruitment exercise in March 2023. As a result, we have a number of new Youth and Pop-Up Choir recruits.

The choir will go on tour to Durham Cathedral in August 2023.

As Acting Director of Music, I must thank the Youth and Adult choir members and the Youth and Pop-Up Choir parents for all of their commitment and energy for this important aspect of the life of St Peter’s. Also, many thanks are due to the congregation members and PCC who give so much support and kind and important feedback, and to Fr Steffan and Fr Ben who constantly buoy us in our act of service.

David Chapman – Acting Director of Music

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SERVERS’ REPORT

Serving, as the Dean of Southwark reminded us at the Diocesan Servers’ Festival recently, is a ministry! It is a joy! St. Peter’s Serving Team is a friendly and adaptable group who assist with the main 10:30 mass on Sundays, at weekday evening services, Evensong & Benediction and special services like the Easter Vigil.

We are always keen to hear from anyone interested in serving (or from those who have children who might be interested). Please speak to any of the adult servers after mass – we’re easy to spot!

Thank you to the entire team - Sharon, Alice, Mark, Ben, James, Sonia, Brian, Duncan, Luca, Emira, Zhara, Henry, Axel & Imogen - for serving with such skill and good humour. I am delighted that we have added new servers to our number this year, both adults and children.

We had an excellent training & pizza morning this year and the servers did a fantastic job when we were visited recently by Bishop Christopher.

Christmas, Holy Week & Easter services were all

very special and beautifully served: I had super feedback from both clergy and visitors as well as from the regular congregation who I thank for your continued support and encouragement.

Anthea Eastoe – on behalf of the Serving Team

CHILDREN’S CHURCH REPORT

Children's Church (formerly known as Sunday School), for children aged 3-12 years, meets most Sundays in term time. Children are encouraged to join the teachers (Hilary, Mihaela and myself) at the beginning of Mass and go to the Parish Room where the lessons are based on the day's Gospel, Festival, Holy Day or the Sacraments. Age-appropriate colouring pictures, word searches and puzzles which reaffirm the lesson are given to the children and they often bring a clutch of these to complete back into church when they re-join their parents/carers at the Offertory. Periodically, Frs Steffan and Ben organise an all-age service where children remain in church for the whole of the Mass and Fr Ben has led some enjoyable sessions using the outdoor space as a resource. Good Friday Workshop, Gardening Day and Christmas Eve have been occasions when we have supplied activities for expanded numbers of children who attend in response to publicity.

Jo Hutton (on behalf of the Children’s Church team)

SCHOOL VISITS

We are pleased that school visit requests have been resumed after a period of Covid lockdown. Juliian's School asked us to host five Year 2 classes in December, each class to have a visit of approximately 45 minutes. Our usual programme includes a brief history of St Peter's, a walk around the church to point out objects of interest, and a chance to do some artwork. Frs Steffan and Ben now join Mihaela and myself and show our young visitors objects used in the Mass and explain their significance. If the school parties arrive later than their designated time, we cannot thoroughly complete the programme in the time allotted.

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Welcoming some classes from Dunraven in March, we gave children cards and pictures to take away but were still pushed for time, as they came late and we had to rush the visits.

Jo Hutton (on behalf of the School Visits team)

COMMUNICATIONS REPORT

The St Peter’s Review

In 2022, I produced five St Peter’s Reviews not at the time realising that the Advent & Christmas Magazine would need to be my last. The need to retake over the Acting Director of Music role from January has meant there really isn’t enough time to put together a parish magazine too.

I have produced 89 editions of the St Peter’s Review since I took it on from Gordon Farley in 2003. It is time for a new editorial team!

I must continue to thank all of you that contributed to, read and commented on the St Peter’s Review during that time. Without the content, readers and feedback there would be no point! Having seen the general standard of church magazines when visiting churches up and down the country, I know that we can be very proud of the magazine tradition we have and I very much hope some people may be willing to step forwards to find a way of restarting it – in whatever way they feel is best.

The Church Website

I continue to manage the church website. It is a very popular way for people to find out what is going on at St Peter’s and is, of course, taken for granted as the go-to place to check on a number of aspects of our church life.

Fr Steffan and Fr Ben have access and maintain some of the Worship page entries and also post documents for distribution onto the site.

I would urge everyone to remember the website when you are organising an event, and don’t hesitate to let me have details (even vague ones at first) so that we can start raising awareness of the event and get it onto the website calendar.

Also, if you are responsible for an organisation: Servers, Flowers, Children’s Church, Church and Crypt Users, PCC, etc, etc, do please provide some content that we can put onto a page to show that you exist. Up-to-date photos always help on the website of course!

And last, but far from least – please provide feedback so that we can improve our website.

[e-mail] comes to me.

David Chapman – Editor of St Peter’s Review/Webmaster/Communications Officer

DEANERY SYNOD REPORT

Due to two unexpected cancellations due to illness and calendar clashes with parish activities, synod only met formally once in 2022.

Synod met at Emmanuel Church West Dulwich in November to discuss issues of mental health and parish ministry. Rev Cathy Wiles, who had served as a mental health chaplain in the NHS, and Rev Andrew Wilson, a retired mental health nurse and Chair of the Croydon mental

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health charity APCMH, addressed Synod on some of their experience of supporting those with challenging mental health situations in parish ministry. There was a particular theme of building safe communities where individuals could be heard and where there was an openness to sharing issues around mental health, as well as a recognition that all of us are likely to experience some form of challenging mental health in our lives.

We held our annual deanery Ascension Day service at All Saints West Dulwich. The combined choirs of All Saints, St Peter’s and St Leonard’s led the musical worship beautifully and our speakers were from L’Arche London, with an inspiring sermon from two members of the L’Arche London community with whom All Saints has very close connections.

As I write, Synod met for its final meeting of the triennium, with a fascinating evening visit to the West Norwood Cemetery, with Synod meeting in the Crematorium Chapel with a focus on death and dying. Hosted generously by Kim Hart of Lambeth Amenity Team we were served wine and cheese, heard a little about the fascinating history of the cemetery, including a short video of the unique Gothic Catacombs, and then used the Church of England’s new GraveTalk material to open up a conversation around death and dying.

source: Revd Jonathan Croucher (Area Dean)

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

In a Gospel reading we heard at Mass, we hear Jesus tell his disciples that, after his resurrection, they will soon no longer see him, but they are not alone: ‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.’ That same Spirit, which we will celebrate shortly at Pentecost in the life of the church, journeys with us at St Peter’s, forming our hearts and minds in service of God and one another. Holding the APCM slightly later, as we begin to look towards Pentecost, opens our eyes and hearts that all we do together is not in our own power or wisdom, but in God, in the Son, through the Spirit, to the Father.

It’s been a busy year: work and launch of our Mission Action Plan; the arrival of Fr Ben as curate; settling into a new routine post-Covid; our lighting project completed; growth in our Sunday attendance; finances stabilising; and some big world events, not least the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and Coronation of King Charles, both international events that were marked at St Peter’s with special services and prayers; and our three month project with local asylum seekers where we fed hundreds of people.

Stepping back and looking at the big picture, I think we can speak of 2020-2022 at St Peter’s as a period of re-emerging from Covid and stabilising. In mid-2020, it wasn’t unusual, over the three Sunday services, to have a total of maybe 40 people. We are now often looking at an average across the three Sunday services of 100+.

Many churches have simply not recovered from Covid. It’s not just that it has taken a long time for people to come back, but that, in many places, they never came back. And so, in a very real sense, our attendance here can be looked at as quite significant growth. Mothering Sunday 2023 was a good example of this: the first time on a ‘normal Sunday’, outside of Christmas or Easter or Confirmations, at which we have had over 100 at the 10.30am. And increased attendance brought about through works of Mission, particularly that Sunday, new families attending through the pop-up children’s choir earlier in the year.

Numbers, however, are not a real measure of the church. They can be one indicator of health among many, but real growth as a church is about depth of our faith and witness, not simply how many bums we get on seats. It has been a particular privilege over this past year to see people grow in their roles at St Peter’s, to see the support and fellowship between people grow, and to simply spend time being together. I have a strong sense that we are growing together in faith, hope and love. There has of course been some sadness. We have lost dear members of the congregation, and of course were all shocked by Fr Peter Andrews’ sudden

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death so soon after retiring. But we weather these things together, in and through the mercy of God.

The future: if 2020-2023 has been a period of recovering and stabilising, these next three years can, and I believe will, be a time of growth. We are restructuring our music to focus on music as a form of outreach and mission. We will be in the next few weeks launching a toddler church, engaging with families in the area. We are making some significant steps towards making St Peter’s a welcoming, accessible, and hospitable space. We also have some very exciting moments approaching: not least, Fr Ben’s ordination as priest in July, and experiencing his ministry among us in a new way.

Part of being a parish priest means some work outside of the parish for the wider church. In 2022 I have stepped down as a school governor in my old parish, as the distance and time meant not being able to commit as fully I would like. I continue in the area as Treasurer of Faiths Together in Lambeth, working to bring greater understanding and respect between members of different faith communities. I enjoy – and am glad to be invited – to different churches to speak about the Old Testament, and, as well as doing some teaching for trainee priests at a college, now teach the final year curates in our Diocese’s bible study. I also continue as an Area Director of Ordinands, working with and helping the selection of future priests. I have also, at the Bishop’s invitation, become a trustee of the Magdalen Hospital Trust, which makes grants to charities, using the investment of the old Magdalen Hospital in Streatham. If the stars align, I should hopefully take a short sabbatical in 2024 or 2025, which should allow me to do some writing.

We of course continue to face some great challenges. The Church of England does face some challenges ahead: debates and decisions about human sexuality and same-sex relationships face the church with some new challenges about how to keep our unity, and may well over the next year or two see some structural changes to how the Church of England is organised, to give space for people of different convictions to remain and flourish. Despite the challenges, General Synod’s decision to allow churches to offer prayers of blessing after a Civil Partnership or Same Sex Marriage does allow new ways for the church to minister and reach out to communities who have often felt excluded or side-lined. The church in the UK and Europe continues to battle with societal changes, declining attendance, and perhaps a hostility to faith in public life; despite this, however, there are continual good news stories of churches thriving, serving, bridging divides and barriers. Whatever changes society brings, the Church is, whatever season we are in, the Body of Christ and nothing can undo this.

In wider society, war in Europe crawls on. The promised reversal of the Cost-of-Living crisis has not materialised. There are some worrying trends nationally and internationally. We must be ready to face these challenges, heeding to Jesus’ teaching and following his example, that all people, in whatever situation they find themselves in, may know Christ.

Fr Steffan – Parish Priest

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