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2020-12-31-accounts

Parochial Church Council of St Mary’s Saltford

Registered Charity No. 1138407

Annual Report And Financial Statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Incumbent The Revd D Wilshere The Rectory 12 Beech Rd Saltford BS31 3BE

Independent Examiner Mr N Laycock 7 Bishopston MONTACUTE Somerset TA15 6UU

1

Index to the Annual Report and Financial Statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Index to the Annual Report and Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2020
Item Pages
Annual Report 3-6
Independent Examiners Report 8
Receipts andpayments accounts 9
Statements of Assets and Liabilities 10
Notes to the Accounts 11-12

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2020 Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council of St Mary’s Church, Saltford

Aim and Purposes

In response to Gods immense love for us we seek to be a church living and telling the story of Jesus. The PCC has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of St Mary’s Church and the Church Hall, Queen’s Square, Saltford.

Objectives and Activities

The PCC is committed to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the community of Saltford through word and action, and to see people came to a saving faith in Him. We seek to enable people to live out their faith in practical ways which engage with the wider community. The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish and makes suggestions on how our services and activities can involve the many groups that live within our parish. Our services and worship put faith into practice through prayer, scripture, music, sacrament, encouraging discipleship, community engagement, and the provision of pastoral care. When planning our activities, we have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and the supplementary guidance on charities for the advancement of religion.

Review of the year

There is much to give thanks for at St Mary’s Church. For centuries our Parish Church has been a spiritual home to generations of villagers, and our inspirational building helps to shape the character of our village. St Mary’s is very much at the heart of our community life, offering a haven of peace and reflection, support in times of joy and sorrow and a reminder of the presence of God in our daily lives.

Early in 2020 the world was shaken, as a new virus was identified and rapidly spread throughout the world taking with it many lives. The Coronavirus pandemic has been a constant challenge for all, including the church, as we learnt to adapt to lockdown, social distancing and closed churches. This saw all our regular activities cease. However, the building may have been closed but the church was still open.

To give an overview of the year, we have used the four descriptions of the church we seek to be which was identified in our Discipleship and Mission Plan 2020-2022.

A place where Jesus Christ, prayer, Biblical teaching and worship is at the centre of all we do

There were very few in-person services held in 2020 and when we were able to have a service attendance was limited because many of our congregation were shielding or preferred to remain at home. To ensure we maintained social distancing the number of people who could attend was restricted to those who had been unable to connect with any other form of worship.

The impact of the pandemic on church services meant that alternative ways to worship and being church had to be found. This came in three ways. The first was through weekly online services through Zoom. Secondly the distribution of weekly resources to enable people to engage with the services at home and in their own time. Finally, through services via telephone conferencing which were introduced towards the end of the year.

Services via Zoom have been a lifeline for many. They have attracted people we wouldn’t normally have seen in church, for example, a number of families and people who are housebound and can no longer attend the church building. It was lovely to welcome them back. Another blessing of worshipping via Zoom was a growing sense of unity across the benefice. People from across the benefice assisted in all areas of worship and friendships were formed over conversation. Worship via different methods has been God centred, sincere, informal and has brought us together. This was clearly demonstrated over Christmas when we were able to hold some services in the church buildings or church yard. By uniting as a benefice we were able to provide a wide range of services over Christmas. From our Crib Service on Zoom, to Midnight Communion in Corston, to singing carols around a Christmas tree in Corston’s churchyard to Holy Trinity’s Service of Readings and music by Candlelight.

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As well as our Rector, we are blessed to have three Readers K Plant, R Dixon and T Austin who share in teaching on a Sunday morning. This year we would specifically like to show our appreciation for all they have contributed through sermons and weekly reflections. Home Groups have continued by Zoom or even meeting socially at the Little Coffee Shop, to provide support for each other. There have been an additional two Bible studies on James and Noah, which were of great value.

Prayer is an area where there has been immense growth both within the church and the community. We have a WhatsApp group called “Prayer, Share and Care”. People are able to add names of others or situations for prayer and are immediately reassured that people will pray. In June we welcomed Revd S Reilly as a curate who stayed with us for seven months and in that time, she encouraged us in prayer and started Morning Prayer at 8.30am from Monday to Thursday for those who like more formal prayer. In October, the Archbishop of Canterbury asked the church to pray for our country for 15 minutes at 6pm every day in November. We responded to this and a group of 10-12 people began to meet to pray. When November ended, the prayer continued and we still meet. In November there were a number of prayer walks which were advertised through Facebook and the school website and resulted in numerous contacts with people from the community asking for prayer.

To provide an opportunity for people to gather to hear the message of the Gospel.

With church buildings closed it hasn’t been possible for people to gather to hear the Gospel, and so we have taken the Gospel out in the community. This year sharing the Gospel has been through collective and individual acts of kindness and the sharing of God’s love. Many of our congregation have been involved in providing pastoral care through the regular contact with a number of people to check how they are and if they need anything through to volunteering with the Community Hub.

The pastoral offices of funerals and weddings have become key area where the church has come into its own. Many people haven’t been able to attend funerals or have had their weddings cancelled and there have been strict guidelines on what we can and can’t do. As a church we have responded to this in a sensitive way, for example offering the church for a memorial service at a later date, printing of the words we say to send to people who aren’t able to attend, and helping one couple to plan a wedding in a week after their wedding had been cancelled three times! We even sent out candles and an order of service to those who were shielding and unable to attend our Time to Remember service.

Our Christmas Newsletter, a glossy 20-page magazine with prayers, wordsearches, children’s activities and reflections was a great success. We even had people from the village ringing us asking when they would receive theirs. Our community Advent calendar and trail invited 24 homes to participate in sharing the message of the Gospel and we have begun to create an online presence through Facebook.

A place where all believers are actively involved in shared leadership by the identification of and the giving of gifts of time, talents and treasure.

The impact of the pandemic has meant that many people who are usually active in the life of the church have had to shield to protect themselves, and those of us who haven’t had to shield have had to learn new skills very quickly.

We celebrate all the different ways in which we have lived and told the story of Jesus this past year, despite the pandemic. This wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the fellowship of those who believe in Christ. Who rooted in prayer and guided by the Spirit gave of their time, treasure and talents all because of and in response to Gods immense love for them.

There are a number of people who deserve to be mentioned as they have provided constant support and shared in leadership with the Rector through a challenging year. They are L Benden, our administrator, J Norris, N Osborne and P Faulkner.

Developing missional opportunities through our links with the community and the world.

One of the key areas of our Discipleship and Mission Plan is the plan to recruit a Community Outreach Assistant. Emma King was appointed in the summer term on a 7 month contract of 5 hours a week. During this time, she launched our CONNECT service (vas Zoom). CONNECT is a service for all ages to help us learn to connect with ourselves, others and God more deeply and we have had three new families who regularly attend our services.

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Emma has assisted the Rector with building our link with the school. Each week Emma, Daile or Ian F record an assembly for the children to watch in school or at home. More importantly Emma and Daile have found different ways to support the teaching staff through gifts of soup, chocolate and fruit and offering to pray for them. Emma has continued to contact families who were attendees of Messy Play and tried a variety of ideas like Rhyme Time and Bedtime Stories on Zoom and delivering activity packs to maintain their connection with the church.

In the summer, Emma was part of a team who created and held an online Holiday Club called Unlikely Hero’s, which saw over 1800 views on YouTube (from families around the deanery and beyond) and a similar amount tuned into the Christmas special. The team who created this planned an online Light Party, which saw at least 40 families from Saltford School attend. One of Emma’s gifts is being in the right place at the right time and responding to prompts of the Holy Spirit. Her initiative to organise prayer walks in November resulted in many people from the community asking for prayer, some of whom have attended a service, and another couple would like to join a Home Group.

The operation of the Saltford Foodbank Distribution Centre was significantly affected all year by the Covid crisis, and a significant number of our volunteers temporarily backed out for a while for health reasons. We continued operating and gave out a very large amount of food during the first Covid peak to clients. For the safety of clients and volunteers we initially changed to giving food bags to clients at the door, then to food bag delivery to the client’s homes to reduce the risks of virus transmission. To further reduce the possible exposure of volunteers to the virus it was decided in October for only one Distribution Centre in Keynsham to prepare all the foodbags for delivery to clients, hence St.Mary’s and St.Francis Distribution Centres temporarily closed. It is hoped to go back to normal Foodbank operation in 2021 as Covid restrictions are gradually relaxed and when it is considered safe to do so. We thank people for the continued food donations received during the pandemic in the local drop off boxes in the Church Hall lobby, Saltford Hall lobby, and Saltford Tesco Express.

To continue to maintain and improve our church, church yard and church hall

During 2020 normal maintenance was carried out even though the church building and church hall was closed for much of the year due to Covid restrictions. The narrow path to the Quiet Garden (Memorial Garden) which is accessed by a high step was replaced by a new wider inclined path in Forest of Dean stone with a new safety fence and handrail to allow safe easy access to all. In addition, some temporary engraved stones have been put by the entrance to the Quiet Garden. The storeroom (old boiler room) in the church hall received new flooring and shelving, redecoration and the purchase of two trollies to store the fold up tables on. The west wall of the car park needed urgent repair which was done at the end of the year. Additional signs have been put up to remind people that it is a private car park for the use of church, church hall and authorised users only.

Safeguarding

The Benefice Safeguarding and Safe Recruitment Policy is updated annually, published on the web sites, and displayed in the churches. Safe recruitment procedures are in place and are reviewed on a rolling programme. Volunteers working with children and adults have job descriptions and there is the expectation that they will attend appropriate training. New volunteers go through a safe recruitment process of written application, taking up of references and a DBS clearance.

The register of DBS clearances is being maintained and once restrictions ease and activities begin again anyone with “frontline” contact with children or vulnerable adults who is still working in those areas and whose DBS clearance has expired will get a reminder to go online to renew their clearance and attend necessary training before they resume volunteering.

One of the responsibilities placed on churches in connection with Safeguarding is to promote, prevent, protect and respond. There is a message on our weekly service sheet reminding people that our churches are welcoming and safe places for all and that any concerns should be referred to the Rector or Benefice Safeguarding Officer.

Church Attendance

At present, there are 101 parishioners on the Church Electoral Roll. Our regular worshipping community based on the criteria for attending one service per month has decreased by 20% to 80 adults and 4 children. Our average weekly attendance is 50 adults and 4 children. The primary reason for the decrease is Covid-19, however the secondary reason is that a number of people in our congregation do not wish to or are unable to join us in worship

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via Zoom or the telephone. From our registers we held 0 baptisms, 1 wedding and 11 funerals either in church or at the local crematorium

Financial Review

Total expenditure was £104,264, including our contribution to the diocesan parish share of £57,256 which largely provides stipends, housing and pensions for the clergy. Total receipts were £119,169. The majority of receipts came through planned giving, income tax recovered through the Gift Aid scheme, donations and, in the first quarter, church hall lettings. There were two legacies received during 2020. The number of planned givers at December 2020 was 77; 69 by standing order, 8 by envelope or other means.

In January, the PCC approved a budget for 2020 but the onset on the Coronavirus pandemic in February and subsequent lockdowns through the year had a significant impact on both income and expenditure. One of our primary income streams is usually from hall lettings. Government restrictions meant that these ceased from mid March and continued to the end of the year. Closure of the church building for much of the year has meant that plate giving ceased. That the majority of our giving is received through Standing Order or other planned giving has meant that our regular income through giving has been sustained at near 2019 levels. The fall in other income was mitigated by two grants from BANES, a grant from the All Churches Trust, and the HMRC Job Retention Scheme which enabled our parish administrator to be furloughed from April to August. We thank God for the generosity of church members who have continued to support St Mary’s through such uncertain times, and for those church members who made additional donations in response to the COVID crisis.

The PCC decided to postpone all but essential repairs to the fabric of the church and hall in order to reduce our expenditure and further manage our budget during the emergency. Closure of the church and hall buildings resulted in reduced use of gas and electricity. We have seen substantial savings in the cost of utilities and insurance as a result of changing suppliers.

It is noteworthy that the response of the congregation to the Discipleship and Mission plan launched in the autumn of 2019 put our finances on a much more stable footing. Little did we know at the time that this was one way in which the Lord would provide for us during the pandemic which was to come. Notwithstanding the uncertainty of our finances during 2020, the PCC wanted to respond to those in greater need and approved two donations of £500 each to the Christian Aid and Barnabas Fund Covid appeals, in addition to other charitable giving.

Reserves Policy

It is the policy of the PCC to maintain a balance on unrestricted funds which will be sufficient to pay for 3 months regular expenditure including the Parish Share.

Structure, governance and management

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. All those who attend our services/members of the congregation 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. The APCM was held on 15[th] October 2020. The full PCC met six times during the year. Committees met between meetings and reports of their deliberations were reviewed by the full PCC and discussed where necessary. Benefice wide meetings for pastoral issues, worship and discipleship and governance issues are held when necessary.

Administrative information

St. Mary’s Church is situated in Queen’s Square, Saltford. It is part of the Diocese of Bath & Wells within the Church of England. The correspondence address is the Parish Office, St Mary’s Church Hall, Queens Square, High St, Saltford BS31 3EL. The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2006) and a charity registered with the Charity Commission, No 1138407.

PCC members who have served at any time from 1st January 2020 until the date this report was approved are:

Incumbent:

The Revd D Wilshere

Readers: Mr R Dixon

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Mr K Plant Wardens: Dr N Osborne Mr D O’Neil Deanery Synod: Mr I Freemantle Until APCM 2020 Miss S Baker Until APCM 2020 Mrs S Dixon (Safeguarding Officer) Until APCM 2020 Mr J Norris (Chair) From APCM 2020 Mrs J Penny From APCM 2020 Mr D Pickup From APCM 2020 Elected members: Mr J Norris (Chair) Until APCM 2020 Mr D Pickup Until APCM 2020 Mr B Smith Until APCM 2021 Mrs P Faulkner (Treasurer) Mrs J Whittle Mrs J Balsdon Mrs A Phillips Mr D Faulkner Mrs S Dixon (Safeguarding Officer) From APCM 2020 Mrs E King From APCM 2020

Approved by the Parochial Church Council at an extraordinary meeting on 11[th] March 2021 and signed on their behalf by

Mr J Norris (Chairperson) Dr N Osborne (Church Warden) (signed on 10[th] March 2021) (signed on 10[th] March 2021)

Mrs P Faulkner (Treasurer) (signed on 10[th] March 2021)

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RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS For the year ended 31 December 2020

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS
For the year ended 31 December 2020
Unrestricted Funds Restricted TOTAL RECEIPTS
General Designated Funds 2020 2019
RECEIPTS Note £ £ £ £ £
Donations and Legacies:
Planned Giving
3(a) 50,483 - 50,483 45,752
Collections, donations and other giving 3(b) 7,026 - 3,365 10,391 16,133
Grants
3(c) 11,482 - 1,500 12,982 9,958
Legacies - - 15,994 15,994 -
Gift Aid Tax Recovered
18,747 - - 18,747 9,706
______ ______ ______ _ _
87,738 - 20,859 108,597 81,549
Other Trading Activities:
Bookstall, hall lettings 3(d) 3,340 - - 3,340 8,409
Other church events - - - - 286
Receipts from Investments:
Interest & dividends 45 - - 45 73
Receipts from Church activities:
Statutory fees retained by PCC 3,010 - - 3,010 2,471
Other receipts:
Shared Benefice costs 4,177 - - 4,177 4,271
TOTAL RECEIPTS 98,310 - 20,859 119,169 97,059
PAYMENTS
Charitable activities:
Donations to charities 4(a 1,600 - - 1,600 435
Mission & Evangelism 1,890 555 575 3,020 2,921
Parish Share 57,256 - - 57,256 55,295
Clergy expenses 4(b) 1,727 - - 1,727 1,710
Church running expenses 4(c) 4,110 - - 4,110 5,299
Churchyard maintenance - - 13,960 13,960 2,991
Cost of raising funds 4,747 - 1,313 6,060 6,924
Support costs 366 - - 366 437
Administration costs (incl staff costs) 11,297 537 1,343 13,177 10,109
Governance costs 506 - - 506 200
Other 386 - - 386 854
Major expenditure
Repairs to church hall 1,300 - 796 2,096 -
Replace church hall heating system - - - - 5,672
______ ______ _ _
TOTAL PAYMENTS 85,185 1,092 17,987 104,264 92,847
Surplus/(Deficit) of Receipts over Payments 14,625 (1,092) 1,372 14,905 4,212
Transfers between Funds (18,167) 19,999 (1,832) - -
______ ______ ______ _ _
(3,542) 18,907 (460) 14,905 4,212
Cash at bank and in hand at 1 Jan 28,990 356 11,870 41,216 37,004
Cash at bank and in hand at 31 Dec 25,448 19,263 11,410 56,121 41,216

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STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

Unrestricted Funds
Restricted

General Designated
Funds

£
£
£

Cash Funds
Bank Current Accounts
1,156
-
-
Deposit Accounts
43,511
-
11,410
__
_


44,667
-
11,410
Other Monetary Assets
Income Tax Recoverable
2,836
-
-
Shared Benefice costs – Corston
665
-
-
Shared Benefice costs – Newton St Loe
377
-
-


___
_
4,258
-
-
Liabilities
Purchase Ledger
1,378
-
-

1,378
Total
2020
£
1,156
54,921
_

56,077
2,836
665
377
_

4,258
1,378

1,378
Total
2019
£
1,218
39,998
_
41,216
Total
2019
£
1,218
39,998
_
41,216
_

_ 6,701
674
337
_____
7,712
-

Approved by the Parochial Church Council at an Extraordinary Meeting on 10[th] March and signed on its behalf by:

Mr J Norris (Chairperson) (signed on 10[th] March 2021)

Dr N Osborne (Church Warden)

(signed on 10[th] March 2021)

Mrs P Faulkner (Treasurer) (signed on 10[th] March 2021)

The notes on pages 11 to 12 form part of these accounts

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 December 2020

1. ACCOUNTING BASIS

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 using the Receipts and Payments basis.

2. TRUSTEES AND CONNECTED PERSONS

The expenses paid to clergy may contain a small immaterial proportion, which relates to their function as PCC members. No other such payments were made to PCC members.

3. RECEIPTS

3.
RECEIPTS



Voluntary Receipts
3(a)
Planned Giving
Tax efficient
Non tax-efficient
3(b)
Other Donations
Legacies
Sundry Donations
Discipleship & Mission Donations
Awards for All – Hall heating system
Listed Places of Worship VAT refund
3(c)
Grants
HMRC Covid Job Retention Scheme

All Churches Trust
BANES Covid grant June & Sept
Unrestricted Funds
General
Designated
£
£
48,423
-
2,060
-
__
50,483
-
-
-
8,526
-
-
-
-
-
-
____

8,526
-
1,482
-
-
-
10,000
-
11,482
Restricted
Funds
£
-
-

-
15,994
1,865
-
-
-
______

17,859
-
1,500
-

1,500
TOTAL RECEIPTS
2020
2019
£
£
48,423
43,671
2,060
2,081
__
_
50,483
45,752
15,994
-
10,391
9,813
-
6,320
-
9,000
-
958
_
____
26,385
26,091
1,482
1,500
10,000
12,982
-
9,813
6,320
9,000
958
______
26,091


11

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS


3(d) Church Activities
Fundraising events – Easter Market
Bookstall receipts
Church Hall Lettings
PCC Fees
Reimbursement of shared Benefice costs
Miscellaneous

4.
PAYMENTS
4(a)
G_rants and Donations_
Church Overseas:
Barnabus Fund Covid Appeal
Christian Aid Covid Appeal
Home missions and other Church Societies
Secular Charities

4(b)
Clergy and Other Lay Costs
Clergy Expenses
Other Ministry Costs

4(c)
Church Expenses
Mission and Evangelism
Children’s & Youth work
Church running costs
Memorial Garden
Bookstall expenditure
Flowers
Church Hall running costs
Administration costs
Staff Salaries
Examiner’s fee
Unrestricted Funds
General
Designated
£
£
-
-
228
-
3,114
-
3,010
-
4,100
-
75
-
__
10,527
-
500
-
500
-
600
-
-
-
_
1,600
-
1,727
-
366
-

2,093
-
1,691
-
807
4,110
-
13,960
-
228
-
36
-
5,805
-
4,088
-
7,208
537
200
-

___

38,133
537
Restricted
Funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-

-
-
-
-
-

-
-
-

-
522
-
13,960
-
-
-
-
1,343
-
______

15,825
TOTAL RECEIPTS
2020
2019
£
£
-
286
228
304
3,114
8,105
3,010
2,471
4,100
75
-
__
_
10,527 11,161
500
-
500
-
600
435
-
-
_
_
1,600
435
1,727
1,710
366
437

_
2,093
2,712
2,213
2,861
807
565
4,110
5,299
13,960
2,991
228
240
36
223
5,805
6,889
4,088
3,744
9,088
6,384
200
200

____
40,535
28,831

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