Parish of St John the Baptist, Heathfield, with Cotford St Luke
Churchwardens’ Report for the year ending 31 December 2021, presented to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting in May 2022 and to the Charity Commission.
The ecclesiastical parish of Heathfield with Cotford St Luke includes the small community of Heathfield and the new village of Cotford St Luke, built in the grounds of the old Tone Vale Hospital. We worship in the ancient church of St John the Baptist in Heathfield and in St Luke’s Centre in Cotford. The parish, with the parishes of Oake and Hillfarrance, forms part of the Deane Vale Benefice in the Diocese of Bath and Wells.
People
Rector: Rev Clarissa Shaw-Notice had been appointed as Priest-in-Charge in October 2020 and was licenced as Rector of the parishes of the Deane Vale Benefice at a service at Hillfarrance on 30 November 2021.
PCC Secretary: Lindsay Hall
Elected Churchwardens: Dawn Mitford-Slade (Heathfield); David Rhodes (Cotford).
Elected PCC members: Claire Bleloch, Jane Durrant, Jane Elliott, Phil Hall, Sue Harris, Claire Reid, Roberta Winterson. Jenny Craigen also served as an elected PCC member during the year.
Treasurer: Rod Latham
Deanery Synod representatives: Jane Elliot, Dawn Mitford-Slade
Structure, governance and management:
PCC members are appointed in the manner set out in the Church Representation rules. All who attend church are encouraged to register on the church Electoral Roll and may they stand for election to the PCC. The full body has eleven voting members including the clergy, the treasurer and the two churchwardens, who represent the Bishop. (The PCC Secretary is a non-voting member of the PCC). The Electoral Roll was fully revised in 2019, is reviewed annually, and increased from 59 members at the beginning of the year to 63 by the end of the year (with an active adult membership of 35 to 40). Activities other than worship which take place at St Luke’s Centre (e.g. community activities and upkeep of the premises) are the responsibility of the St Luke’s Centre Management Committee which reports to the PCC but which also includes representatives of the wider community.
A regular “Benefice Churchwardens’ Meeting” also allows the Rector and the churchwardens of all three parishes in the benefice to co-ordinate services and other activities.
In 2021, the PCC met 7 times (4 times ‘virtually’ on line and 3 times in person).
Objectives: The PCC has the responsibility of supporting and working with our Rector to promote the whole mission of the church: worship [prayer and praise, through liturgy]; discipleship [fellowship and teaching]; ministry [service and
evangelism]. It also maintains the buildings – St John’s in Heathfield and (through the SLC Management Committee) St Luke’s Centre in Cotford St. Luke.
Our aims, set out in our entry on the Charities Commission website, are:
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To celebrate God’s love through worship in a variety of styles and settings for all ages.
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To care for and serve all people in our church, our community and the wider world.
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To grow, spiritually, through teaching, listening, prayer, fellowship and service.
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To make known the Good News of the love of God in Jesus.
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To provide a centre in the village of Cotford St Luke, as well as in the ancient building in Heathfield, where everyone is welcomed .
Achievement and activities:
Restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect all activities in 2021, especially in the early part of the year. At the beginning of the year all services were provided for the whole Benefice on line, mostly using a format of a pre-recorded service followed by a Zoom meeting for coffee and chat after the service. Outdoor services were held at various churches in the Benefice for major festivals, including Mothering Sunday, Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. There was also an outdoor service held at Cotford in April to commemorate the life of Prince Phillip. By Christmas, 2021, it was possible to hold all services in person.
St Luke’s Centre
Regular Sunday services were held “in person” at St Luke’s Centre from Pentecost (23 May) onwards, although many were still held outdoors when the weather permitted. Initially, congregations were smaller than before Covid, as many people remained nervous about the risks of gathering in the church, but by the end of the year numbers had recovered.
Services were held at St Luke’s Centre almost every Sunday from the end of May, with communion services being held at least once each month. On the fifth Sunday of each month one main morning service of Holy Communion was held for the whole benefice, the four places of worship (Cotford, Heathfield, Oake and Hillfarrance) taking it in turns to host the service.
The Hub Café in the centre re-opened as lock-down rules were eased, opening for three mornings each week, run by a team of volunteers, led by Roberta Winterson and Jane Durrant; A mother and baby group met every Monday, led by Hilary Wallace, and Sarah Karunaratne organised a parent and toddler session every Friday. The centre was also opened for a Breakfast Café on the first Saturday of each month (thanks again, Roberta) and for a Farmers’ and Crafts Market on the second Saturday (thanks to Laura Hills and Lynda Fleet). Quiz evenings were also held and have become a regular activity taking place every two months.
Activities for children and young people started again after lock-down. Activities take place in the Hub café during most of the Sunday services at St Luke’s Centre, thanks to the work of Clare Reid, Charles Barrowman, Louise Frost, Lydia
West and Lloyd Notice. During the summer, the Hub café was opened on two evenings a week to provide (free) snacks and some organised activities for children and young people while they played outside St Luke’s Centre. This was extremely popular, with up to 50 children attending on some evenings, but as evenings drew in and the weather became colder it was necessary to stop this activity as it was not possible to bring it indoors and meet all safeguarding and Covid-19 protocols. However, this did demonstrate the demand for youth activities in the village and has provided the impetus for developing a more structured approach to youth work in the church and the village in 2022.
The Monday evening Bible Study Group and the Men’s Group (organised by Lloyd Notice and Matthew West) met “virtually” on line, as did the regular benefice Tuesday evening prayer group. A small group met on line to work through the course “Christianity Explored” in order to decide whether this course might be something that the church could deliver as a wider outreach activity in the future.
St John the Baptist, Heathfeld
The smallest of our three rural churches, it still plays an important part of our worship & witness to God The monthly service on the second Sunday is now at 9 am with a small but regular congregation up to 12 on some occasions The has also been one funeral, one baptism & a packed church for the wedding of Peter & Laura Lewis. During the covid restrictions we managed to keep the church open twice weekly for private prayer and it was the first to open when this was lifted. Both the Harvest Festival & Christmas Day services were held in the Mitchell’s barn which were a great success & well attended. Our grateful thanks to the family for all the work they put into it. The maintenance of the church building is still a major concern but hopefully with grants, donations & fund raising work will be able to begin soon. A lot of clearing & tidying of the church yard by Jacqueline, Andy and team has added to the beauty & tranquility of this pretty environment. There is a small but dedicated team which keeps the church going with especial thanks to Sue Harris and Jacqueline Hay-Berry plus the key duty team of Janet Pinkerton - Huron, David Barker who has since moved & been replaced by Richard and Julia Payne and Peter and Laura Lewis
Safeguarding:
The Parish Safeguarding Officer is Lindsay Hall, who can be contacted on 01823 430818 or hallpalg@yahoo.co.uk to report or discuss any concerns. Safeguarding advice is also available from the Diocese [bathandwells.org.uk]. If the situation is urgent, advice should be sought from the Police or Somerset Social Services.
There were no incidents to report in 2021.
Heathfield and Cotford St Luke PCC
| Income Planned giving Service Collections and other income Bookings Interest Events Fees Grants Gift Aid Total Payments Running Expenses Energy Deanery Expenses Church yard maintenance Sundry Expenses Parish Share Charity Loan repayments Building costs Total Excess of payments over receipts Balance bfwd Balance cfwd |
Receipts and Payments Account to 31st December 2021 Year ended 31/12/21 Previous Year £17,845.00 £18,271.40 £8,018.21 £5,499.94 £1,800.00 £1,170.50 £8.78 £14.72 £2,041.73 £1,113.94 £320.00 £28,315.00 £15,834.00 £4,304.67 £6,571.22 £62,653.39 £48,475.72 £6,818.78 £4,018.80 £3,147.63 £2,286.67 £171.00 £396.00 £432.50 £23,816.64 £26,463.36 £1,827.00 £1,815.00 £490.93 £16,415.16 £1,940.00 £36,496.98 £53,542.49 -£26,156.41 £5,066.77 £20,680.99 £46,837.40 (£10,800 restricted) |
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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Heathfield with Cotford St. Luke PCC On accounts for the year ended 3181 December 2021 Charity no lif any) 1148869 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ('the Trust") for the year ended As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in aGcordance with the requirements of the Charitie8 Act 2011 ('the Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Responsibillties and basis of report Independent tThe charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 and l am qualified to examinerfs statement undertake the examination by being a qualified member of linsert name of applicable listed body]J. D8let8 [ ] if nol applicable. I have Gompleted my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination {other than that disclosed below.) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act., or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a Irue and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Please delete the words in the br8ckets if they do not apply. Date: Signed: Name: Relevant professional qualification(s) or body IER Oct 2018