CHRISTCHURCH ANNUAL REPORT, 2019/20
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CHRISTCHURCH CLARENDON PARK (BAPTIST/METHODIST)
ANNUAL REPORT, YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020
Administrative information
Christchurch Clarendon Park is a Baptist/Methodist Local Ecumenical Partnership (LEP), formed in 1992 by the former Clarendon Park Baptist and Clarendon Park Methodist Churches. The church meets in the premises of the former Methodist Church, which were extensively remodelled and refurbished in 1996/7.
We are members of the Leicester Trinity Methodist Circuit (23/7), the East Midland Baptist Association and the Baptist Union of Great Britain.
The address is Christchurch Clarendon Park
105a Clarendon Park Road LEICESTER LE2 3AH
Tel. (0116) 270 5369
Website: www.christchurchcp.org.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/christchurchcp Twitter: www.twitter.com/christchurch_cp Email: enquiries@christchurchcp.org.uk
General correspondence should be addressed to the Church Secretary:
Mr Chris Whitford, 23 Brinsmead Road, Leicester LE2 3WD
Correspondence concerning the accounts should be addressed to the Church Treasurer:
Dr Lawrence Whittaker, 24 Stoneygate Court, Leicester LE2 2AH
Christchurch is Registered Charity No.1148934.
Risk Assessment and review is carried out by the Resources Team (in respect of buildings and health and safety) and by the Executive concerning the future viability of the Church.
The number of church members at the beginning and end of this period was
| 31 | August | 2019 | 31 | August | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baptist | 22 | 23 | ||||
| Methodist | 45 | 39 | ||||
| Joint | 47 | 47 | ||||
| 114 | 109 |
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In addition, there are approximately a further 100 people on the community roll and a considerable number of contacts through groups which use the church premises on a regular basis.
The Managing Trustees are the members of the Executive. Ordained ministers in pastoral charge are ex officio members of the Executive. The other members are elected by the Annual Church Meeting. The Trustees have the power to co-opt up to a further four Trustees.
The current Trustees and those who served during the year ended 31 August 2020 are Miss Alison Charlesworth Prof Angela Thody (to 24 Nov. 2019) Rev Debra Chidakwa Akue Mr Chris Whitford (Secretary) Rev Edson Dube (to 31 Aug. 2020) Dr Lawrence Whittaker (Treasurer) Mr David Eyre Mrs Susan Williams Mr Alan Stead
Independent Examiner
Barry W Wilford, 7 Wickham Road, Oadby, Leicester LE2 5SJ
Bankers
Barclays Bank, 1–3 Haymarket Towers, Humberstone Gate, Leicester LE1 1WA National Westminster Bank, 1 Granby Street, Leicester LE1 6EJ
Aims and organisation
The purpose of Christchurch is to advance the Christian faith primarily in Clarendon Park, Knighton, Knighton Fields and Stoneygate, in the city of Leicester. In achieving its purpose, the Church engages in a range of activities both on its own and with others, as described later in this document. The agreed aims and objectives are the responsibilities of a number of Teams and Committees, especially the Executive, the Mission & Ministry Team and the Resources Team.
During the year, pastoral oversight was provided by Rev Edson Dube, serving his third and final year as our Methodist minister. Rev, Debra Chidakwa Akue has become our Methodist minister from September 2020. A Baptist input was maintained by Rev John Rackley, who conducted services and gave other input when requested. John became the Christchurch Associate Baptist Minister on 1 October 2019.
Public benefit
The Trustees are aware of the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit in “The Advancement of Religion for the Public Benefit” and have regard to it in their administration of the Church. The Trustees believe that, by fulfilling their responsibility to work together with the ministers and co-operate in all matters of concern and importance for the promotion of the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical, they provide benefit to the public by:
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Providing resources and facilities for public worship, pastoral care and spiritual, moral and intellectual development, both for the Church members and for anyone who wishes to benefit from what the Church offers;
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Promoting Christian values and service by members of the Church to the community, to the benefit of individuals and society as a whole;
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- Providing attractive meeting facilities to a wide range of community groups.
Safeguarding of children, young people and vulnerable adults
There are no serious incidents or other matters relating to Christchurch during the year ended 31 August 2020 which the Trustees should have brought to the attention of the Charity Commission.
Review of significant events, progress and achievements
The past year seems to have been dominated by Covid-19 and it is easy to forget that the first six months were quite normal, with no premonition of what was to come. Two new initiatives were started early in the year, both directed at enlarging our horizons to the wider world. First, the church has started to examine how it can develop its mission to the local community. It has had a significant social engagement for many years but sharing the gospel can be more of a challenge. Secondly, the Eco team was re-launched and started to explore how the church can play its part in meeting the climate emergency. Progress with both of these has been slowed by the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, but is continuing.
One of our teenagers volunteered her time to the church during her gap year before going to university, helping with Parent and Toddlers and Luncheon Club, running the social media accounts, organising Christmas publicity, and several other initiatives. After the lockdown in March she very quickly set up a Sunday afternoon service on Zoom. At the end of July the church gave her as good a send-off as we could, without being able to meet.
Our minister, Rev Edson Dube, moved to a new appointment at the end of August. The church meeting had previously decided that it wished to continue with a Methodist minister. The Circuit was not looking for a replacement for Edson for the 2020/21 connexional year and discussions continued throughout the year on what ministerial provision would be made for Christchurch. At almost the last moment, in July, a Methodist minister, then living in the USA, became available. After several meetings and interviews on Zoom, an invitation was made to Rev Debra Chidakwa-Akue, for a 5 year appointment. She arrived in Leicester at the end of August and despite the Covid-19 restrictions has quickly settled in and become engaged with the church. We are looking forward to her ministry with us.
The last six months have been challenging. Church services and all other activities on the premises had to be stopped. As already mentioned, a Sunday afternoon get-together was started immediately, which quickly evolved into an online service. We also expanded the weekly notice sheet into a ‘Keeping in Touch’ newsletter, which includes a reflection and prayers for use at home. We are very grateful to Susan, who prepares this each week, and the other contributors. It is sent out to over 100 households, mostly by email, some hand-delivered and a few posted. The ‘pastoral links’ keep in touch with their groups by phone or conversations on the doorstep. Nevertheless, a lot of members are finding the isolation very hard. Tragically we have lost one member from Covid-19. We continue to search for ways to support the wider community but activities like Parent and Toddler, Luncheon Club and Wild Honey are by their nature communal and keeping in touch is about all we can do.
A Church Meeting was held in March just before the lockdown and the trustees decided to cancel the June Church Meeting. As this meeting normally approves the budget for the following year a ballot of members was held by post/email/phone. Other business was deferred.
With some easing of the lockdown our first Sunday service for five months was held on 30[th] August, with about 35 attending.
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Financial review
Early in the year we spent nearly £10,000 on a significant enhancement of our audio visual facilities. The large VDU screens which were part of this provide a significant improvement to the presentation of information under the lighting conditions in our Worship Centre.
But the second half of the year was inevitably dominated by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has reduced the income of so many charities. Our regular supporters maintained their giving most commendably, but our lettings income fell by £5,000 compared with 2019 and cash collections were down. The long—and ultimately terminal—illness of our cleaner, Jane, resulted in additional expenditure for someone to cover for her.
We were grateful for a legacy from the estate of the late George Bell, a faithful servant of Clarendon Park Baptist Church and Christchurch but the overall result of the above events was a deficit of over £20,000. We are grateful to have been able to hold sufficient reserves to support such a challenging year.
Reserves Policy
Christchurch seeks to expand its membership amongst all age groups and makes provision for the expected expenditure in maintaining its witness. In common with most UK churches, however, its membership has declined in recent decades.
The income of the church depends critically on some two dozen key supporters, any of whom could move away or otherwise cease to be with us. As the membership falls, there are fewer volunteers for the tasks of maintenance, necessitating increased expenditure on professional services. With buildings valued at £5m, some of which are more than a century old, there is also the risk of exceptional property expenditure, for example for a new roof or the remedy of an infestation of dry rot.
The church therefore considers it appropriate to maintain financial reserves in the range £50,000 – £100,000, for uninsurable risks, such as loss of income and exceptional property expenditure. At 31[st] August 2019 the reserves (General Fund and Legacy Fund) amounted to some £88,600. There was one Designated Fund, a Renovation Fund (£19,600) for major maintenance of the fabric.
The Reserves Policy is reviewed each spring by the Resources Team, whose recommendations are brought before the Trustees.
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CHRISTCHURCH, CLARENDON PARK
RECEIPTS & PAYMENTS ACCOUNT for the year ended 31 August 2020
| Notes Receipts Planned Giving Loose Cash Donations Legacies Interest Tax recovered Sundry 3 Lettings Benevolence Collections, etc, for external orgs 4 Sub total Asset & Investment sales, etc Total Receipts Payments Methodist Circuit Baptist Ministry, etc 5 Charities Benevolence Communication 6 Recurring property expenses 7 Repairs & Renewals 8 Cleaning Sundry 9 Passed to external organisations 10 Sub total Asset & Investmment purchases Total Payments Net of receipts/(payments) Transfers between funds Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
Unrestricted Funds, £ Restricted Funds, £ Total Funds, £ Last Year, £ Adjusted £ £ 39,716 39,716 39,364 3,168 3,168 5,333 6,072 2,160 8,232 6,807 1,000 1,000 2,100 1,002 1,002 973 12,454 488 12,941 12,535 816 1,955 2,771 1,357 15,626 15,626 20,841 - - - 674 674 2,269 79,852 5,276 85,129 91,579 - - - - 79,852 5,276 85,129 91,579 53,595 53,595 50,015 4,370 4,370 4,779 4,237 4,237 4,479 117 117 159 2,682 2,682 2,444 13,725 13,725 14,460 12,436 188 12,624 6,472 6,304 2,610 8,914 7,152 2,772 2,005 4,777 3,108 674 674 2,269 100,121 5,593 105,714 95,337 - - - - 100,121 5,593 105,714 95,337 (20,269) (317) (20,586) (3,758) (117) 117. 0. 0. 109,183 750 109,933 113,691 88,797 550 89,347 109,933 |
|---|---|
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RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT for the year ended 31 August 2020
| £ Notes 2019-20 ASSETS and LIABILITIES as at 31 August 2020 £ This year ASSETS Cash Funds Barclays Bank 10,468 National Westminster Bank 4,002 CFB Deposit Account 74,577 Deposits with Baptist Union Corporation - Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes, Trust 19440 - Cash in Hand 301 89,347 Investment Assets None Land and Church Buildings Note 1.2 606,381 Tangible Fixed Assets Church contents, including furniture, fixtures, Note 1.3 179,588 fittings, computers and other equipment LIABILITIES Current Liabilities Roof repairs 1,020 Pension Scheme Liability Note 12 21,600 |
£ 2018-19 £ Last Year 7,651 11,247 29,936 60,108 946 44 |
|---|---|
| 109,933 None 606,381 179,051 |
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - 31 August 2020
1 GENERAL
1.1 The basis of preparation is in accordance with the Charities Act 2011, on a Receipts and Payments basis.
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1.2 The Church Land and Buildings are valued at cost, as follows: Land and original buildings (1900) 9,822 Refurbishment and new buildings (1996/97) 596,559
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1.3 The Church Contents are valued as for insurance.
1.4 The current Restricted Funds are the Benevolence Fund (no year-end balance), the Key Deposits Fund (£550), the Party Deposits Fund (nil) and the Cleaning Fund (nil).
There is one Designated Fund, a Renovation Fund (£19,836) for major maintenance of the fabric. The Legacy Fund (£30,606) is unrestricted but is named to indicate the accumulated value of unspent legacies received.
2 INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS
The following organisations come within the control of the Church Meeting and operate their own independent accounts. Their transactions for the year, which have been independently examined, are summarised below:
| Art Group Junior Church Luncheon Club Parent & Toddler Group Wesley Guild _Wild Honey_Project TOTALS |
Balance 31.8.2019 Receipts Payments Balance 31.8.2020 3 354 334 23 830 - - 830 240 2,199 1,733 706 2,042 685 1,542 1,185 104 250 131 223 472 760 446 786 |
|---|---|
| 3,691 4,248 4,186 3,753 |
The above payment figures include £2,385 given by the internal organisations to Christchurch. These internal transactions need to be taken into account for a true calculation of the turnover of the charity as a whole.
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RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT for the year ended 31 August 2020
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - 31 August 2020
| 3 SUNDRY INCOME | 4 COLLECTIONS, ETC, | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Restricted Funds | 1,955 | FOR EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS | |
| Coffee money | 343 | Baptist Home Mission | 71 |
| Other | 473 | BMS World Mission | 191 |
| 2,771 | Methodist Home Missions | 71 | |
| Methodist World Mission | 41 | ||
| 5 BAPTIST MINISTRY, etc | Spurgeon's | 273 | |
| Baptist Pension Scheme | 3,478 | Others | 27 |
| Rev John Rackley | 891 | 674 | |
| 4,370 | |||
| 6 COMMUNICATION | |||
| Photocopier | 686 | ||
| 7 RECURRING PROPERTY | EXPENSES | Copyright licences | 512 |
| Insurance (gross) | 3,591 | Telephones, internet | 758 |
| Electricity | 2,425 | Postage & stationery | 101 |
| Gas | 6,197 | Printing | 77 |
| Water | 146 | Publicity | 213 |
| Servicing | 1,366 | Computer upgrade | 289 |
| 13,725 | Copier paper | 47 | |
| 2,682 | |||
| 9 SUNDRY EXPENSES | |||
| Restricted Funds | 2,005 | 8 REPAIRS AND RENEWALS | |
| Preachers & organists | 453 | Audio/Visual Enhancements (Legacy Fd) | 9,878 |
| Lettings Officer | 1,340 | Boiler controls move | 1,320 |
| Catering, various | 240 | _SongPro 5_upgrade licences | 585 |
| Barbecue expenses | 128 | Boiler repairs | 464 |
| Toilet rolls | 138 | Replacement Sound Mixer | 249 |
| Other | 474 | Other | 127 |
| 4,777 | 12,624 | ||
| 10 SPECIAL GIFTS | |||
| As Note 4 | 674 |
11 BAPTIST FUNDS
Various Baptist monies are held for the benefit of the church by the East Midland Baptist Trust Company (EMBTC) as Custodian Trustee, and these are set out below:-.
| Balances as at 1 September 2019 Interest received less Trustee's charges Balances as at 31 August 2020 The figures exclude accrued interest. |
Capital Income Total 103,789 40,334 144,123 4,324 4,324 |
|---|---|
| 103,789 44,658 148,447 |
The funds are invested and managed by Messrs Charles Stanley to achieve income returns with some capital growth on a low to medium risk basis.
The amount held on Income Account can be used for any purpose agreed by the Church Meeting. Capital Account represents the proceeds of sale of the Baptist manse in 1999 for £99,620 plus surplus on disposal of investments in which the proceeds were originally held.
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RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT for the year ended 31 August 2020
12 BAPTIST PENSION SCHEME LIABILIITY
The Church is an employer participating in the Baptist Pension Scheme (“the Scheme”), which is a separate legal entity administered by the Pension Trustee (Baptist Pension Trust Limited). The assets of the Scheme are held separately from those of the Employer and other participating employers. Baptist Ministers of Christchurch are eligible to join the Scheme.
The Scheme, previously known as the Baptist Ministers' Pension Fund, started in 1925 but was closed to future accrual of defined benefits on 31 December 2011. Prior to this date the main benefit provided through the Defined Benefit (DB) Plan was a pension of one eightieth of final minimum pensionable income for each year of pensionable service together with additional pension in respect of premiums paid on Pensionable Income in excess of Minimum Pensionable Income. Since 1 January 2012, benefits have been provided through a Defined Contribution (DC) Plan.
A formal valuation of the DB Plan as at 31 December 2019 was made by a professionally qualified Actuary using the Projected Unit Method. At the valuation date the market value of the DB Plan assets was £298 million, whilst the level of assets needed to pay benefits was £316m, giving a deficit of £18m (equivalent to a past service funding level of 94%). The Church and the other participating employers in the DB Plan are collectively responsible for funding this deficit. The next actuarial valuation of the DB Plan within the Scheme is due to take place not later than as at 31 December 2022.
Under the Schedule of Contributions, the church makes a monthly payment in respect of the DB scheme deficit, currently £309, which will increase in line with increases in Minimum Pensionable Income. The Schedule of Contributions foresees these contributions continuing until June 2026. The pension scheme liability shown in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities is calculated as the current rate per month multiplied by the number of months remaining in the current Schedule of Contributions, which amounted to £21,600. as at 31 August 2020.
The Church has been advised that the estimated cost for the church to buy out their Pension Scheme liabilities at 31 August 2020 was about £19,000. This only applies if the Church has meanwhile called a new Baptist Minister who is a contributing member of the Scheme.
Consequent upon the departure of the Baptist Minister from the Church in 2016, the Church could have had a cessation event under Section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995. This would make the Church liable for the proportion of the overall deficit (assessed by reference to the cost of securing benefits by the purchase of annuities) applicable to its previous Ministers who were members of the Scheme, calculated as at 31 October 2016. In order to prevent such a cessation event, the Church applied for a 'period of grace' before employing another member of the Scheme. The period of grace lasted three years, following which Rev John Rackley, a retired Baptist Minister, was appointed as Associate Minister. The Church makes a nominal contribution on behalf of John to the DC Plan, and this prevents a cessation event from occurring.