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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

Aim and purposes

St James with Emmanuel Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, the Reverend Heather Atkinson, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.

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 James with Emmanuel. The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish and the Parish Development Group (a subgroup of the PCC) makes suggestions on how our services can involve the many groups that live within our parish. Our services and worship put faith into practice through prayer and scripture, music and sacrament. An area we have been developing is ministry for young people. So far, we have implemented an all-age service at St James but these were suspended in person until September but in July 2021 we started a youth group for the older children, meeting at Emmanuel, unless on an outing. Parade Services restarted in September 2021. Due to Covid19, working with schools was not possible other than by our participation in Bridging the Wallasey Gap. In the latter part of 2021 rather than delivering to families, they were invited to collect their hampers from the member churches (See Organisation Reports). When things are back to normal, we will resume strengthening our ties. At the Parish Development Group, we have begun to look at youth work in other parishes with a view to learning from them. Initial conversations have been made regarding the older children (11+). We plan to hold more exploratory meetings when Covid19 restrictions permit. Sam Rowan was helping with this until he went on placement but we were joined by Liz Cooper Clark and her son Tom.

Vision of our Leading your Church into Growth Plan (LyCiG)

The Parish has a mission statement: -Together in Prayer, Worship, Community Care and Outreach. The aim is to be a growing church both in spirituality, numbers and unity and to be confident in our faith through the engagement of the mission statement.

When planning our activities for the year, we have continued working on the Leading Your Church into Growth (LyCiG) plan which we initially developed together as the Lent group back in 2018. This document is flexible and transformative but was paused by Covid 19. People can openly suggest other ideas which can be taken to the PDG to develop. We try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through:

To facilitate this work, it is important that we maintain the fabric of the Churches of St. James and Emmanuel

A) Worship and Church Buildings Aims: - To continue to be welcoming churches and encourage worship across all ages.

The following were reinstated once C19 regulations allowed:

An All-Age Service has been implemented at St. James which can be advertised to all baptism families by email.

A twice yearly healing service at Emmanuel will be restarted. This could be a Taizé style service alternating

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

with Holy Communion which will be discussed at the PDG Creativity in intercessions continues to be worked on.

We haven’t forgotten children in worship though for most of 2021, Megan was the only child in church. We feel that the children should help in making the choice of hymns in the All Age service. The use of Testimonies in services has been implemented.

Book reviews have been started at the Healing Service but put on hold during the pandemic. A book list was sent out during the year by Rev Heather which generated discussion with church family members.

A new screen needs to be set up at St James with monitors for the choir. We looked at Christ Church Moreton, St Peter’s Heswall and St Mary’s Eastham. Three quotes had already been already obtained but would need updating by the company chosen. The balance of sound at St. James needs to be reviewed long term.

B.) Care and Fellowship Aim: To deepen existing relationships and build on our links with the community. This will enable transformation to happen on different levels

Everyone on the electoral roll has been contacted during lockdown. Over the next 5 years we need to ensure that pastoral care is kept on top of with the congregation working together. Revd. Heather cannot expect see everyone. Care is everyone’s responsibility to ensure a growing church still feels cared for. We need to work on further developing the pastoral care groups already started.

Home Communions is to be offered where necessary so people can still receive a service when they are ill. Currently only Revd. Heather and Ron Jones are doing this because of C19 restrictions. This will be developed in 2022

Funeral follow up: - Bereaved families are asked if they would like to have a post funeral visit. Bereavement visits where necessary are already taking place. The congregation were informed of a bereavement course run by the diocese and was attended by Liz Cooper Clarke.

Welcome people moving into the area: A welcome pack for community and visitors to church is slowly being developed. This extends pastoral care to the newest members of the community and gives presence. New people will know what is going on better.

Electoral roll follow up is still being developed.

Oversight of all congregation and newcomers to continue. It has been a great encouragement to welcome new people into our congregation.

Both churches have been accepted into the Places of Welcome scheme, Emmanuel on a Saturday morning and St James on a Thursday, but this has been put on hold in 2021 due to Covid19 restrictions. Revd. Heather is also a member of the Coastal Committee which has continued to meet via Zoom. The local RNLI let Rev Heather know when they have been called out so that they can be included in prayer. From this information a leaflet was created informing people where to go to get help. Rev Heather had conversations with the RNLI and the Council for posters to be put in sites along the coast which attract visitors but also vulnerable people. Leaflets were sent to all churches in the Deanery, Churches Together and included in the BTWG hampers.

Other suggestions, which were put on hold with Covid 19, have included : Valentines’ dinner Epiphany party

Epiphany party Car Boot sale or Auction

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

Get involved with Love New Brighton Quiz at the pub Cruise liner evening A meal with a Christian speaker Outings Beetle drive Film nights Socials as opportunities to invite people outside of the church Strawberry pick with strawberry tea and a service Songs of Praise with meaning of hymns explained

c) Prayer and Spirituality: Aim to deepen existing faith within the congregation and to enable the community to know that they can ask for prayers Testimony and Bible Notes will help, links to apps etc.

To encourage prayer for the church and growth. A bookmark of LYCIG prayer has been made and will be put out when C19 restrictions permit)

To mention any useful course in the pew sheet. (Ongoing) Members of leadership teams have been completing safeguarding courses online and Revd. Heather has been circulating daily readings and material from the Church of England.

The Lady Chapel at St James has been changed to be a practical place for prayer for all who come. Votive candles have been put in place at St James and pebble bowl at Emmanuel.

Prayer walks around the Parish Boundary with tee-shirts and Picnic (flyers with service time make it become missional): still outstanding.

House groups: Two of the house groups have met online during 2021 and all will continue when circumstances permit.

Monthly Prayer group at St James has met online and Prayer and Toast moved to a WhatsApp group. We plan to encourage members of the congregation to pray before a service which our choirs do already. Practical Prayer board at St. James.

A Youth Alpha course was started for the Youth Group in October 2021 . Sam Rowan started his placement in Portsmouth during the year exploring his call to Pioneer Ministry.

We welcomed Liz Cooper Clarke as a Reader in September 2021 and Fred Aspbury who moved into our parish is exploring ordained minister. He started the Foundation Course for ministry and has met with the Director of Ordinands.

Achievements and Performance

Worship and Prayer

After lockdown, Revd. Heather continued filming and editing so we could continuing worshipping online., via our YouTube channel for those unable to come to church.

The Lifeboat service was postponed to 2022 though our Special Lives service was able to take place .

There were two weddings at St James in 2021 and one at Emmanuel

Ten funerals took place at St James, none at Emmanuel in 2021 and four funerals took place at the Crematorium.

All are welcome to attend our regular services. At present there are 145 parishioners on the Church Electoral Roll following the revision in October 2020.

Christmas: A Carol Service was held at St James with 68 people attending. 51 attended at the midnight Eucharist on Christmas Eve. At Emmanuel, the Christmas Tree Service was able to take place with a limited number of families doing Christmas crafts in the afternoon. The Christingle service also took place with two services the maximum of 150 people attending. Emmanuel’s choir also took to the streets near the church to sing carols which was well received.

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

People started to attend church more regularly as Covid cases declined, however some are still staying home and watching services online. Generally, the service attendances increased to 35-45 at St James and 25-35 at Emmanuel with a good attendance midweek at Emmanuel as the year went on. A service of BCP Communion was started in October 2021 and Choral Evensong in November.

Deanery Synod Meetings 2021

Sally Giles and Helen Harvey have been the lay representatives of the parish at Deanery Synod for the last year and report back to our PCC after each Synod meeting. All clergy licensed in the deanery are automatically members of the Deanery Synod so Revd. Heather also attends. The purposes of Deanery Synods are to share information amongst local churches, pray for each other, bring together the views of the parishes in the Deanery on common issues and make known provisions made by Diocesan Synod. There are usually three meetings each year in February, May and September beginning with a time of worship. In 2021 the February Synod did not take place due to Covid. Subsequent meetings were on

On 11 May, the meeting opened with a Bible reading (1 Peter 4:10-11) and prayer led by the Rural Dean, Revd. Alan Ward. Business was chiefly confined to discussion of the Diocesan Synod elections as the current membership of that Synod ended on 31 July. Four places for clergy and 4 for laity were available for our Deanery with nominations being encouraged and the deadline for return of forms being 11 June.

Other Deanery News that was shared

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

Helen Harvey

St James Church: A Report upon the Fabric, Goods and Ornaments

The purpose of this report is to describe the structural condition of the Church building and assess the state of the furnishings and embellishments. Firstly, may we assure the meeting that the general state of the furnishings and embellishments in the church remain in excellent condition.

For the whole of 2021 the holding of church services was severely compromised to be in line with government Covid-19 restrictions with social distancing measures remaining in place. Eventually the dedicated and hard-working team that clean the church every week have been able to resume their excellent work. As always they deserve our gratitude and praise for the sterling service they put in. It is an unenviable task after windy days when there is, more often than not, dust – and worse, from the crumbling wall plaster. During the year the ravages of the weather dislodged plaster and stonework from a part of a high clerestory window in the Narthex. Our architect arranged for our builders, Mather and Ellis, to effect temporary repairs. Fortunately, services were unaffected. The old lighting in the church continues to cause problems. Failed lighting units have been replaced with LEDs on an ad hoc basis and throw up further visibility problems. Consideration must be given to a more holistic approach to the improvement of illumination in certain areas of the church. Of course, nothing is cheap with this type of project.

2021 was the year that the Quinquennial inspection report for the Diocese was due. The report will be completed early in 2022.

John Codling and John Timms Churchwardens

Emmanuel Fabric Report

Following the major repairs to the main windows last year little has been needed in the way of repair other than some minor issues in recent weeks. A roof tile has been dislodged during the recent storms but has now been replaced.

Attention in the near future needs to be turned to the exterior. The trees need serious trimming, the front garden continues to be a challenge and the decking at the rear is beginning to rot and requires replacement. There is a metal shed standing on the decking, which houses the lawn mower and various gardening equipment, and needs to be emptied and the shed removed before work on the decking can commence.

Thanks to those who have worked on the planters at the side of the church bringing a nice colourful spring display.

The statuary annual inspections are being monitored:

Colin Jones (Churchwarden)

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

Pastoral Care

Some members of our parish are unable to attend church due to sickness or age. Revd. Heather Atkinson has visited some church members who have requested it, to celebrate communion with them in their homes . Hospitals are still not allowing visits other than end of life. Most pastoral work was carried out by telephone apart from funeral ministry. For the pastoral care group work, see Parish Development Group report.

Mission and Evangelism

Helping those in need is a demonstration of our faith. Charitable giving, Foodbank Distribution Centre at St James, and AA are examples. AA resumed in August 2021 once restrictions allowed. See Foodbank Report. Summer 2021 saw the start of Youth Group at Emmanuel which started fortnightly on a Monday evening.

Our parish magazine is distributed monthly to subscribers and available at both churches and several outlets in the parish of New Brighton. The magazine keeps our parishioners informed of the important matters affecting our Church and articles that help develop our knowledge and trust in Jesus.

Safeguarding

Children were welcome and safe in the company of Jesus, and children and people at risk should be safe in Christ's Church. The Diocese of Chester and all its churches are committed to encouraging an environment where all people, but especially those who may be at risk for any reason, are able to worship and follow their faith journey with encouragement and in safety. Safeguarding is everyone’s business, and the Safeguarding Team is available to discuss any concerns at any time. It currently consists of Revd. Heather, Sue Chadwick, Gill Walduck, Sara Sullivan, Helen Jones and Helen Harvey. There were no safeguarding concerns raised in 2021. The Safeguarding Committee met online on 16[th] February. Pcc Members have been encouraged to take part in the Diocesan Safeguarding training

Electoral Roll

As is, sadly, frequently the case, a number of long-standing members of the church have passed away during the period since the last meeting. I hope that I have managed to keep this information up to date and amend the roll accordingly. I do, however, apologise for any distress caused by the inclusion of any deceased persons. I have also had a number of applications for new or renewed membership which have been processed in accordance with the PCC regulations. Some of these people may not become full members until the next PCC meeting later in the summer. Please check the roll and have a word with me if you need to. Clearly nobody has been unaffected by the pandemic and it is quite possible that I have still included persons who are no longer active members of the congregation. Any help from church members in this area would be appreciated as we do not always hear when people pass away or move out of the area.

This is another of those years in which the roll is simply revised using the existing roll. We have a major revision every 6 years when all members have to resubmit their details. This year the roll is simply compiled using any amendments of which I am made aware.

Once again, our numbers have stayed fairly stable. There are now 145 members on the roll as at the date on this report compared with 142 at the date of the last meeting. If any regular church members are not the roll and wish to be, then I can supply a form which can be completed and returned to the PCC. We do occasionally find people who missed the revision and whose membership has therefore lapsed.

I thank all church members for helping me to keep the records up to date and the PCC secretary who ensures that all documentation and records are kept in accordance with the GDPR protocols.

Stephen Cottam, Electoral Roll Officer

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

Ecumenical Relationships

The church is a member of Churches Together in Wallasey. The Foodbank team at St James works together with members from Claremount Methodist Church and St Mary’s Church, Liscard to assist those needing food. Bridging the Wallasey gap is a good example of working with 5 other churches. Revd. Heather has linked with the new pastor at New Brighton Baptist with a view to working together and already has a food working relationship with Revd. Lorraine Aizlewood Threlfall at St Andrews URC.

Financial Review

Treasurers Report 2021

Whilst 2021 was another difficult year due to coronavirus, thankfully church has been open a little more than in 2020 and some fundraising and other activities have taken place. Sadly we have lost some of our regular congregation and faithful supporters, but our investments have done well. Overall I’d like to present a cautiously optimistic report to you on the church’s financial position.

General Account

This is our main account for both receiving income and paying bills. Expenditure exceeded income again, but it should be noted that the charitable giving from this account for 2020 was postponed until the beginning of 2021, so the expenditure figure of £97,000 does include £5,000 which really relates to 2020. Hence the gap between income and expenditure for 2021 was actually £11,248 on the general account.

Expenditure on heating and lighting increased significantly and will continue to do so in 2022 as the buildings are used more and fuel costs soar nationally. Photocopying costs obviously reflect the need to provide separate copies rather than encourage sharing, and the magazine cost rose again due to the use of colour throughout the year. This is currently being reviewed. Internet costs decreased slightly as the contract for St James was renegotiated. Most other costs remained similar or changed in a predictable fashion due to the pandemic.

There was a slight increase in income to this account compared to 2020 but this is still lower than prepandemic. The increase in ‘other givings’ reflects the return of larger numbers to services at Christmas and church parade etc. where more cash is donated. Lettings have started to increase again at Emmanuel.

Fabric Reserve Account at Emmanuel

An unusually large amount of expenditure on this account due to the structural repairs needed to the front of the building. Many thanks to David Worgan and Colin Jones for pursuing this and hopefully finding a long term solution to the problem. A replacement for the geriatric computer became necessary but this was kindly funded by a donation from a member of the congregation. Income was also much higher than usual on this account due to a fundraising appeal to help with the repairs and also the return of the Christmas and late summer fairs. Long may this continue.

St James Restoration Fund

Limited expenditure here with the exception of some professional fees relating to planning for phase 3. On the income side, fund raising was enhanced by the collection of sponsorship pledges for the Microlight flight which was finally able to take place, much of which was also eligible for tax recovery. Other donations were slightly down compared to 2020 but money was raised through the return of the Christmas Fair and continued sales of the ever-popular chicks and preserves.

Monies raised specifically for the chancel and restoration of the ‘Angels’ are included in this account but kept aside for that purpose. This fund continues to be expertly managed by Trevor Thomas.

Repairs Account at St James

Expenditure on this account increased from 2020 due to the need for window repairs and also the

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

replacement of some floodlights, together with three visits by the organ tuner. Other costs were mostly consistent with previous years.

Income to this account was mostly in the form of a transfer from the Legacy Account agreed by the PCC in 2020 and also from the closure of two small accounts held by the diocese, one relating back to the sale of the church hall. The remaining balance is unlikely to meet the costs of maintenance in 2022. Churchwarden’s Legacy Account

Despite turbulent times in the British economy this account continued to present a healthy balance due to sound investments with the Central Board of Finance. The only unusual expenditure was the aforementioned transfer.

Charities Account

Page 5 shows a full analysis of our charitable givings which include £5,000 from the General Account relating to 2020 in addition to 2021 donations. ‘Other collections’ were reduced once again due to a lack of fundraising events such as coffee mornings and Christian Aid week activities, and the temporary suspension of ‘Bread and Spread’ and ‘Fun, Food and Friendship’, money is held on account to use when these activities are once again practical. In addition charitable donations in the form of food and toiletries are collected in Emmanuel and donated directly to Wirral Foodbank.

Vicars Discretionary Fund for Youth

Sadly there has been very little activity on this account this year.

Ledder Cornish Brace Trust

As in previous years the only activity on this account was interest received. The PCC has agreed that this Trust can now be wound up.

Review of Resources

The parish continues to find itself in the fortunate position of having sufficient funds for all foreseeable events, despite a second very difficult year. However, as can be seen in the balance sheet, there was an excess in expenditure over income on the General Account. Whilst this is a relatively small proportion of overall income, we should perhaps be mindful of the situation, particularly as we live in a time of rapidly rising fuel costs, for example. The Repairs Account at St James is also now reliant on transfers from the Legacy Account. Fortunately our funds invested with the CCLA have done particularly well and as at 31/12/21 our shares were worth double their original value. With rising costs and a very uncertain economic future for the nation the PCC will, as always, need to be prudent but also extremely grateful for the generosity of the parish.

Reserves policy

It is the policy of the PCC to keep a considerable sum in the unrestricted account as a cash balance to offset the many and varied needs of the two church buildings. This is usually at least six months unrestricted payments and is held to smooth out fluctuations in cash flow and to meet emergencies. The cash balance of approximately £50,000 in the General Account at the end of 2021 conforms to this policy.

The two restricted funds: Reserve Account at Emmanuel and Repairs Account at St James, exist to cover the costs of maintaining the physical buildings. Whilst the Reserve Account at Emmanuel holds ample funds for the coming year, the PCC is aware that the Repairs Account for St James now needs to be supplemented from other funds or fundraising. The parish is fortunate to have a legacy, largely invested with the CCLA, which has remained largely untouched this year. This legacy provides investment income for the parish and is also available for larger projects, or to supplement maintenance when necessary.

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

This is my fourth annual report. I continue to be extremely grateful to Trevor for providing a sounding board for decisions, and for proof reading my efforts at accounting, and my thanks also go to those who help by counting, checking and banking our funds, especially John Codling and his team at St James, and Viv Lythgoe at Emmanuel, and also to George Merrill who does a fantastic job as our Gift Aid secretary never missing a penny that could be reclaimed.

Sally Giles February 2022

Volunteers

We would like to thank all the volunteers who work so hard to make our church enable to be an open presence under difficult circumstances. In particular we want to mention our churchwardens John Timms and John Codling at St James’ and Colin Jones at Emmanuel who have worked so tirelessly on our behalf and all members of the various subgroups: PCC, PDG, Cleaning Team, Refreshments Team. Choirs at both churches found it difficult because of Covid restrictions. Revd Heather and Ron Jones worked under restrictions as the serviced opened up more. Mike Collins stepped in when he could safely do so as a carer for his family. Revd. Marcus covered Revd. Heathers absences for annual leave and has begun to preach once a month.

Structure, governance and management

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St James with Emmanuel, the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (our vicar), churchwardens from both churches, two readers who were co-opted at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All those who attend our services are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.

The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. New members receive initial training into the workings of the PCC.

The full PCC met six times during the year with an average level of attendance of 65%. The meetings in May, July, September and November were all virtual meetings by Zoom. The APCM for 2021 was conducted May as a face to face meeting fortunately before C19 cases rose.

Given its wide responsibilities the PCC has a number of committees each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. These committees, which include The Parish Development Group, Restoration Management Committee and fabric and finance, are all responsible to the PCC and reporting back to it regularly with minutes of their decisions being received by the full PCC and discussed as necessary.

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

Administrative information

St James and Emmanuel Churches are situated in the parish of New Brighton which is part of the Diocese of Chester within the Church of England. The correspondence address is The Vicarage, Albion Street New Brighton CH45 9LF. The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2006) and a charity currently excepted from registration with the Charity Commission.

PCC members who have served at any time from 1st January 2021until the date this report was approved are:

Incumbent:

The Reverend Heather Atkinson (Chairman)

Wardens:

Mr John Timms and Mr John Codling (St James) Mr Colin Jones (Emmanuel)

Representative on Deanery Synod Mrs Helen Harvey: (St James) Representative on Deanery Synod Mrs Sara Sullivan: (Emmanuel) to October 2020 Representative on Deanery Synod Mrs Sally Giles from October 2020

Readers:

Mr Ronald Jones and Mr Michael Collins (Co-opted)

Elected members: St James Sue Chadwick Angela Adams Vanessa Martlew from October 2020 Keith Selby Richard Wilberforce

Elected Members: Emmanuel Ann Barlow from October 2020 Sara Sullivan from October 2020 Sarah Merrill George Merrill Carol Cliff Wilcock

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

Organisational Reports

Vicarage House Group

Due to Covid we started to meet on zoom but not everyone wanted to use zoom. 6-7 have done so. We used Jesus Shaped People course, Stay alert to the Spirit as suggested on the Chester Diocesan Website. As the weather got warmer, we met in the vicarage garden and a couple who would rather not zoom came then. We started to look at the B ook of Revelation with Marcus joining us but put this on hold when it was too cold to be outside and those not wanting to Zoom being interested to carry on with Revelation when the warmer weather comes next in 2022. One of our member wanted to look at studying the daily meditations of Fr Richard Rohr. We had a few zoom sessions before the end of the year with this material with Maureen Hennessy choosing which meditations to concentrate on. Prayer support always forms a part of the meeting along with discussion.

Vestry Prayer Group

Apart from on one balmy evening in June when three of us were pleased to pray together outside church, every meeting in 2021 and so far this year, has been a Zoom call, and we are very grateful to Sue without whose efforts this wouldn’t be possible. Sadly, Zoom is too big a challenge for one of our members, and another has left the area, but we still have eight or nine faithful participants.

In the second year of the pandemic, we have offered thanks to God for the continuing sacrifice and dedication of all who work in health care, and for their protection. It has been good to pray for our three new bishops, for Holy Spirit School and for all schoolchildren, students and teachers as they have tried to make up for learning time lost during lockdowns.

Conscious of the plans to develop the garden around St James’ and the need to recruit helpers from the community, we have prayed about the effects of human activity on climate change and for the success of last November’s COP 26 conference in its attempts to mitigate this.

At a time when continuing Covid rules have complicated life for so many of us and our loved ones, we have shared our anxieties for our own family members, and have prayed for our church family at Emmanuel and at St James’, for our parish, and for our nation, commending to God’s love and care all who have lost family members at this time.

World problems are a constant focus; the people of the Yemen, of Beirut, Iraq and Syria, the conflicts in Africa. We think of and pray for all refugees, for the people of Afghanistan now the Taliban are in control, and we put into God’s hands the evolving terrible situation in the Ukraine.

Above all, we are thankful that God has blessed us richly, and pray that we might share His gifts generously. Angela Adams 30/03/22

Vicarage Prayer Group

Due to covid, instead of meeting at the vicarage for prayers and toast on a Wednesday, we started a prayer meeting on WhatsApp on Tuesday afternoon 4.30pm. There are 6 participants.

Youth Group

Before Lockdown 2020 we had started talking about the needs of older children especially as we hadn’t seen them during Covid apart from Megan who attended both services each week. In sounding out our youth members, they were happy to meet so we have a small group with young people from both churches who met fortnightly during term time for the remainder of 2021. We have covered topics of trust, heaven,

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

Halloween and the occult, and begun Youth Alpha towards the end of the year. We have also enjoyed physical activities such as playing football on the beach. The format is ‘eat together, play together and learn together’. Team leaders are Revd Heather, Liz Cooper Clark, Sam Rowan (until placement), Fred Aspbury. With Sam and Fred having placements, Tom , Liz’s son came on board toward the end of the year.

St James Foodbank 2021

New Year 2021 saw Wirral Foodbank go back into lockdown mode with the few centres that had opened earlier in the pandemic, closing again and food delivered centrally from Wirral Tennis Centre. Most of the St James helpers had gone to help at the Grosvenor Centre in Liscard during 2020 but we were all relieved when in late Spring 2021, we could once again open at St James.

Currently Foodbank is a very different format in that food comes pre-packaged from the warehouse according to family size though we are trying to give clients more choice by the many additional baskets we put out each week. It is a lot of heavy work.

Thank you to all our volunteers from St James, Claremount Methodist and those who just come along to help, some every week. Whilst we are not a particularly busy centre, we are so pleased that we can once more help families in need.

Sue Chadwick

Fun Food and Friendship /Bridging the Wallasey Gap

Sadly the pandemic put paid to hosting face to face activities in church as we had done in the past, but we still managed to support needy families by joining forces with the 5 other churches that form part of Bridging the Wallasey Gap to apply for grants. The first part of the year we applied for grants from Wirral Council (using funds from the Department of Work and Pensions) and Edsential (using funds from the Department for Education) to provide hampers of food and activities direct to families at home thanks to Lorraine Aizlewood Threlfall, her family and the St Andrews minibus. We asked 10 local primary schools to each nominate 10 families in greatest need each holiday period. From Autumn 2021, we started devolving the hamper provision to each of the member churches. Ambient produce was delivered to each church and topped up with fresh produce purchased by that church. Families were then invited to church to pick up their hampers. This is the model we are currently using. We also supported 30 local families with weekly hampers to the end of 2021

Member churches: St Alban’s, St Joseph’s, St James and Emmanuel, St Andrews, St Mary’s, Seacombe URC

Sue Chadwick

Parish Development Group

The Parish Development has representation from both churches: It is chaired by Reverend Heather. St James Members: Angela Adams, Sue Chadwick, Helen Harvey, Keith Selby, Vanessa Martlew Emmanuel Members :Ann Barlow, Sam Rowan, Rob O’Neill, Sara Sullivan, Cath Tunstall,

Meetings during 2021 were largely held by Zoom though we did hold the December meeting face to face. Because it meets bimonthly alternating with the Parochial Church Council, it allows for debriefing and planning in a timely manner, particularly looking at major events such as Christmas and Easter, all which posed their own particular problems during the pandemic.

St James audio visual project: Rev Heather, Helen Harvey and Sue Chadwick were able to look at systems in some local churches once restrictions were lifted.

We revisited looking at the pastoral groups once services were back to normal

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

During the latter part of the year, we started looking at how we can start the journey on becoming an eco-friendly church. Minutes of PDG meetings are sent to the Parochial Church Council.

Sue Chadwick

St James Restoration Management Committee

As we lunge from varying levels of concern over Covid-19, our meetings have in the main occurred using the virtual and ubiquitous Zoom or MS Teams on-line formats. One or two have been conducted in person – a far more productive way.

In short we have continued to progress and refine the requirements for phase 3 of the restoration. Adrian Pearson, the church architect, has refined detailed drawings to include remedial work to the high clerestory windows due to the poor condition of the stonework.

As the projected costs of Phase III will be around £300,000 we have been considering carefully the latest set of requirements from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Later in 2021 they produced new guidelines to reflect the needs of people in the light of a Covid affected world. Involvement of the local community continues to be an important part of any successful bid so work has been centred around the development of interest in a community garden.

With accessibility as an important requirement, the church hosted a special service to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Guide Dogs for the Blind charity. It was the considerable canine attendance at this service that caused great amusement and an indication that there are many parts of the community that we must engage with.

During the summer the church participated in the Count for Nature under the Caring for God’s Acre national scheme. This gave us a good idea of what flora and fauna we host. A newsletter with questionnaire was distributed to much of New Brighton in the late autumn and there are encouraging signs from the public that they are keen to see our garden area developed and that there is a gardening contingent that is willing to help. We intend to reach out and involve them further.

Another section of society that has been largely missing from involvement in the church is the young. We are planning to build some temporary raised beds for the use of local primary schools. The schools are keen to be involved and we shall be able to have the use of the church’s facilities as lockdown restrictions are lifted. John Codling RMC Chair

In S pire Report for 2021

As is the situation with most organisations, fund raising activity at St James has been considerably reduced over the past twelve months due to Covid restrictions. However, we did hold two events plus Heather’s deferred Microlite flight.

Microlite flight: After many delays due to the weather and Covid, Heather finally managed to take to the skies in May. Heather’s fantastic effort (and courage!) raised a staggering £2,242.

National Heritage Open days : We did participate in the event on Saturday 18[th] September when we hosted a Mini-Organ Recital featuring our very own talented organists John Tennant, John Hewitt & Katinka Mitchell. Visitors were able to sit back and enjoy their cream teas whilst listening to a superb programme of diverse organ music. A big THANK YOU to John, John & Katinka.

The event raised £690.40 , which also included Sales of Lesley McLellan’s preserves.

Christmas Fair on Saturday 20[th] November. This was a cut-down version of our usual fair with only one guest stall. Nevertheless, we raised a very respectable £782 in just 3 hours.

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

As always my thanks go to the magnificent “inSpire” Team – Lesley McLellan, Angela Adams, Wendy Wilberforce, Rev Heather, Janet Budworth & Carole Hille for their hard work, creative talents and their time.

Julia Codling “inSpire” Chair

Sunday Schools

Mustard Seeds at St James

As the spring flowers form buds and show their faces to the world so we also see new growth in Mustard Seeds following the darker days of COVID.

Our little group is beginning to grow, and it is lovely to welcome our new families and their children. It is wonderful to hear the buzz of happy, little voices on a Sunday morning.

Thank you, members of the congregation, for bearing with us as we have used the narthex area for our activities and thank you for your continued prayers for our group.

It has been lovely to welcome Liz and to begin to get to know her friends and family.

Another thank you- to Carole, Janet and Helen Harvey who no longer wish to have a regular commitment to Mustard Seeds, but I know they support us in other ways. We have appreciated you regular contribution and know that we can call on you from time to time if needed.

If anyone feels that they could offer support with Mustard Seeds then Heather, Lynn or I would be delighted to hear from you. Lynn and I currently alternate weeks but a fifth Sunday sometimes causes a difficulty for us. A few more willing hands would be welcome.

Helen Jones

Sunday School at Emmanuel

We started back as Sunday School in September 2021, after an 18 month break due to Covid and its restrictions.

We have had an increase in Numbers since September which has been really nice. Sarah Merrill has been the backbone of Emmanuel Sunday School with the lessons and Ideas she comes up with, and always being there.

Even with Covid restrictions we have been able to have the Christmas Crafts and Christmas tree service both

in December 2020 and December 2021 along with the Christingle services they have been well attended. We have also had our ever popular Easter Crafts on Good Friday 2021 following all the guidance at the time. Sara Sullivan retired from Emmanuel Sunday School in September 2021. I would like to Thank Sara for all her hard work with Sunday School for always being there preparing and taking lessons and leading Sunday school. Thank you.

Many Thanks to the people of Emmanuel for supporting their Sunday School. Thank you also to Catherine Tunstall for stepping in when Sarah and I cannot be there.

Carol Cliff-Wilcock.

Report of the activities of St James Choir (May 21 onwards)

I concluded last year’s report in the hope that things would improve with regard to the Covid-19 situation.

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

The numbers vaccinated were increasing and it seemed that we would be able to reopen during the summer. Again, this virus did not always follow its expected course; about the only predictable fact about the disease. July saw the opening up of many places whose activities had been suspended or severely curtailed for over a year and there were still regulations and guidance in place; not always easy to decide which was statutory and which was advisory. This affected the activities of the choir as it was not always clear how we could operate within them.

Over the summer we investigated ways of getting sung music back into the services and most of the members returned. There was still a need for more spacing and even now we still have some members in the sanctuary when we have a full choir. In the autumn we managed to get a consistently larger choir and we began to think about what would happen at Christmas. The Omicron variant made us realise that things were far from normal (and would curtail activities in the new year) but we were able to prepare and sing a full carol service and there was a choir at the Midnight Communion service on Christmas Eve. We were also able to sing hymns and worship songs.

Around this time we were very pleased to welcome two new members who have settled well into the regular regime of practices and sung services. As indicated the omicron variant made us once again aware of social distancing rules, but as we came to understand the “New Normality” we worked out ways to stay safe. In the early days of 2020 we had been looking forward to a visit to Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire. A diocesan cathedral, although not so well known as many others. Obviously plans had to be put on hold, but it is with great pleasure I can announce that the choir is booked to sing Evensong at the Cathedral at the beginning of May. The music has been selected and practice will commence soon. We have been able to sing Evensong at St. James once a month since last autumn. A change of date to the first Sunday of the month was implemented at that time. We have a very faithful congregation at the service and some new “regulars” have increased our number.

While there is no Good Friday performance this year, we are hoping to tale a full part in the celebrations of Easter and the upcoming Platinum Jubilee. We have looked at an anthem specially written for the occasion by John Rutter which may be suitable for performance to celebrate what will be a unique event for everyone involved.

The choir is frequently asked to sing at funeral and memorial services to former members of the church. The easing of restrictions has made these easier to arrange and the choir always tries to give as good performance of the music within the bounds of available members’ availability. The choir was asked to sing at the funeral of Dr. Paul Stevenson, one-time organist of St. John’s and who assisted us at St. James on many occasions. We have also sung at memorial services to members of the church who have passed away. As I complete this most strange report, I must not forget our organists and musical team, John Tennant, John Hewitt and Katinka all of whom have been so loyal to our cause for these long months of lockdown. Their great reward will come as the choir can once again sing fully at all our services without restriction. I must also thank Richard who has acted as liaison in keeping the members updated through various media. All members have contributed in some way, with witty articles and comments, stories about church musicians far and near and adventures during the confines of lockdown. Richard has made sure that we all get to hear about them.

As we look ahead to the next year we hope that, indeed, life and our contribution to the life of the church, will continue to return to normality and that we will make it our first priority to enhance the quality of all services through our music and singing.

Stephen Cottam, March 2022

Parish Music Group

Following the prolonged shut down the band was pleased to be able get back together again in October and

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

after a couple of weeks you would never have thought that they had not played for 18 months. They were up to speed for their first outing being the October parade service and a few weeks later the Christmas Tree service which is quite demanding with the number of carols played within about 45 minutes.

Once again my grateful thanks to the members of the band who diligently attend weekly practice, and as the band now consists of all adults, life can sometimes get in the way.

As always, anyone who plays an instrument would be most welcome to come and join us, this is a Parish band, not an Emmanuel band as sometimes it is referred. Providing you have some knowledge of reading music and have limited playing ability this is a good opportunity to regularly play with others and hone your gift, which is always better than playing on your own.

Currently the band consists of: Keyboard Guitar Trumpet Saxophone Clarinets x 2

Colin Jones

Little Hands (Emmanuel)

Little Hands is a Parents, Carers and Toddlers group held in Emmanuel church hall every Tuesday between 9:15 and 11:15 during term time. We have a wide variety of toys to choose from and we try to put different toys out each week to keep the children entertained.

This year began differently and presented some challenges as we were getting used to life with COVID floating in the shadows. We had to reduce the number of people allowed in the building each week, stop providing snacks and beverages and only place toys out that could be easily wiped down. Due to the fact that we were not providing refreshments, we reduced the entrance fee to just £1 per adult. In September the guidance all changed again and everything was more relaxed. This meant that we could reintroduce snacks and refreshments, much to the delight of the children and adults. We now see roughly 15 children every week and the majority of these are regulars.

The children enjoy singing during circle time and look forward to the company of our new helper, Sarah Maxwell. For our Christmas party this year we hired Miss Freckles again and Father Christmas made an appearance too of course! (Who else was going to bring Christmas presents for all the children?). Recently we celebrated Easter with an Easter raffle and a service led by the delightful Marcus, followed by an Easter egg hunt and a special Easter themed snack, (pancakes and hot cross buns! Yummy!). Over the next couple of weeks we will be celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee with crafts such as crowns and flags.

I would like to thank Cath, Gill, Sarah and Julie for their support each week. I would also like to thank Jenny for her occasional help in the kitchen and Barbara for still bringing a little sunshine to the end of some of our sessions. And last but not least, a huge thank you to the PCC for their unwavering support and good will. Kizzie, (Kyrie-dee Lyons).

Mens Lunch Munch

Takes place every second Friday in the month, meeting at The Lighthouse in Wallasey Village at 12.30pm. Numbers have dwindled during the last twelve months and it’s become a meeting of “The Old Faithful”, with the emphasis on ‘the faithful’, of course (less on ‘the old’).

There’s a saying: “The more the merrier” – which also applies to our lunch, so do come and join us.

George Merrill

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

Women's Fellowship.

Due to Covid restrictions we were unable to arrange a programme of meetings during 2021.

We did however manage to organise an evening of Christmas worship as usual in church, which was a lovely occasion followed by a faith supper in the coffee area. It was well attended and I think welcomed by all after the constraints of the previous months. Any other meetings were a chance for coffee, cake and a chat as the restrictions began to ease.

We look towards more regular meetings in 2022 and have already enjoyed two evening talks by our own Rob O'Neil and Sara Maxwell. Both stepped in with very little time to prepare, for which I wholeheartedly thank them.

We meet on the second Thursday of the month at Emmanuel church at 8.o’clock. All are welcome.

Vivienne Lythgoe

28[th] Wallasey (Emmanuel) Guide Group

Rainbows

What a year it has been! After a difficult number of months, with numbers capped and restrictions, we are finally back to a full strength pack of 20 girls, as always we have an increasing waiting list of girls eager to join (so please contact me early if you have a potential member).

We started meeting face to face again in June 2021, our small group of girls completed lots of animal themed tasks, including making and caring for our own pets and making animal cakes achieving their “Animal Lovers” badge. We spent lots of time outside, finishing for the summer with a trip to the fairy vale where our 3 new rainbows took their promise.

Returning in September brought an influx of new rainbows, meaning a mass enrolment of 12 girls. This term we completed the “Healthy Mind” and “Autumn” badge. We enjoyed sensory walks, relaxation and the challenge to spend a whole day without digital devices!! Autumn brought darker evenings and more indoor time. Bonfire night was incredibly exciting, with thanks to our visiting scout, the girls enjoyed building a bonfire, toasting marshmallows and campfire songs. Finishing the evening with some glow stick dancing. Our Christmas party was lots of fun, dancing, crafting and a mystery to solve! Who stole those mince pies and where are they now?

This year, we have started looking at festivals, we have tried Chinese writing, cooking pancakes with a tealight and tin, searched for leprechauns and made food for garden bird. Completing our Feel Good Skills Builder along the way.

All this would not have been possible without the dedication and support of our team that help make the pack enjoyable and fun. As ever I would like to thank Jennifer Long, Bev Lindsay and our willing Guide and Ranger helpers Maisie, Daisy and Ellie for their continued hard work, and look forward to a successful year ahead.

Rainbow Guider – Sparkle (Gillian Leigh)

Brownies

The Brownies were eager to return to face to face meetings after Covid, even though they were socially distanced at first.

They have gained their ‘Innovate Skills Builder’ badge and have completed activities such as making a structure from cocktail sticks and midget gems, performing dances using algorithms (a set of instructions). The girls also found out about inventions and designed their own. They have created pictures using cotton wool buds and decorated tiles using masking tape and permanent pens.

We enjoyed eating smores and singing songs on Bonfire night. Thanks to George Merrill for organising the

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

campfire.

For Remembrance Day we decorated stones and put them on display in church.

The girls have also completed their ‘First Aid’ badge. They have also enjoyed an evening of giving each other a hand massage.

Kate (Brown Owl)

Guides

We were lucky enough to be the first group back in Wallasey after COVID restrictions with limited numbers so with 22 returning we had to alternate weeks. We also welcomed Becky to our team. We finished off our Spread the Love badge we started before lockdown as we all needed a bit of kindness after all we had been through. We also did our Meditation badge thinking about how it can increase our concentration, reduce stress and improve our happiness.

In September Church Parades restarted so we did a small play for Harvest.

For bonfire night I asked George to come and teach us how to build a fire and we cooked smores, ate hot dogs and made chocolate apples. Thank you, George.

For a promise ceremony we went to Blackpool Pleasure Beach and saw the illuminations. We had fun on the rides with only 2 brave enough for the Big One (even Becky chickened out). Thank you to Gilbrook School for the use of their minibus.

We made peppermint creams to sell at the Christmas Fair and had a Christmas Party to finish the year with 15 on register.

Thank you to my leaders, Lisa, Cath, Becky and Kate (when I’m stuck) I couldn’t do it without you. Here’s to hopefully a more normal year.

Sarah - Guide Leader

3[rd] Wallasey (Emmanuel) Scout Group

Beavers

This year the Beavers have been busy working on their activity and skills badges. They have been developing their book reading skills, sharing favourite books with each other and explaining why they would recommend them.

The Beavers have been very excited to take part in their science and experiment badge. This involved growing plants and discussing why those plants need sun and water to grow.

They have also been looking at health and fitness, learning what is good for our bodies and why we need to look after them.

The ‘Looking After Animals’ were the group sessions the Beavers particularly enjoyed. The Young Leaders who are lucky enough to have their own pets shared their experience with the others, and we talked about how we should all look after animals, regardless of whether they are our own pets or not.

I would also like to congratulate Daniel, one of our Beavers who will soon be joining our Cub pack. He has worked very hard both in the meetings and at home to achieve his Chief Scout’s Bronze award. This is the highest award a Beaver can receive and involves a great deal of work outside the meetings. Well done Daniel, and thank you to your parents for their support.

Sheila - Beaver Leader

Cubs

This year has been full on for Cubs who have consistently held large numbers, over 20 and are beginning to feed the Scouts back up with numbers.

They have enjoyed scientific adventures, gardening with the community, as well as more traditional

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2021 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council St James and Emmanuel Churches, New Brighton

scouting activities like knots and cooking.

A highlight was the trip to OSL where the Cubs were on site to do lots of activities in a self contained space (still conscious of Covid)

Many cubs have earned disability awareness badges and athletics from direction from the YLs who help out and the new Leaders Jo and Lizzie.

We are all healthy in scouting and ready to go again bigger and better now we can welcome back the wider community.

Kim (Akela)

Scouts

The pandemic tore through the agenda but we managed to breathe life into the movement and section via Zoom. There was plenty of interaction through videos I put on Facebook and virtual camps to join in with. So much so that we did not have a summer break in order to cater for children without access to outside.

In an attempt to upscale interaction I dropped off packs to the homes of children and lent camping gear, Trangia etc so they could experience a bit of first hand scouting.

We lost one Scout who did not enjoy the digital version but we did get back to physical meetings starting off with games.

I have been developing as a District Leader and helped to get some events off the ground which the section attended at Easter and Summer. I now have an SUP permit and have been taking the Scouts to the River Dee for ‘on the water’ activities.

Many Scouts missed things due to isolation but we have used the Old School Lodge (near Llanberis) for the Patrol Leaders camp, the headquarters in Broadway Avenue for district days, a Trading Post at 12th and the boathouse locally.

Face to Face was great!

12[th] and 3[rd] banded together to run events and this extends into the expedition planned for April 2022. Many badges have been awarded but no Chief Scout Gold as the Scouts need to complete the expedition. We are very well supported by two Young Leaders who are enthusiastic and capable.

We now have to pay to store our equipment which cannot continue as it is very costly so alternatives are being sought.

We are looking to raise funds for a Young Leader to attend World Jamboree in our name and will likely ask to use the Church.

Chamboree is in summer which will be the first week long camp for three years but we will be camping in Cheshire with Tim Peake no less!

Thanks for your continued support.

Graham

Approved and signed on behalf of the PCC by the Reverend Heather Atkinson

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