## **Reports & Accounts**
## **2021**
## **Annual Parochial Church Meeting 20th March 2022**
Registered Charity Number: 1149709
www.allsaintschurchgfd.org.uk
## **All Saints’ Church PCC 2020/21**
## **Ex-officio Members**
**Vicar**
Revd Beverly Watson*
**Churchwardens**
**Deputy Churchwardens**
Henrietta Harding* Robin Holdsworth* _(vacancies)_
**Deanery Synod Representatives**
Rebecca Brown Simon Doran
## **Current Members - term ending**
**2022** Marguerite Barclay * Rob Burch Julie Lodge * Joanna Smalley
## **2023**
Simon Moulden Trish Tye *
**2024** Rob Crossingham * Ed Gillett * Peter Nicholls Angela Rose * Andy Wells
## **Co-opted**
Katherine Hopwood Annie Twidell
* Members of Standing Committee
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## **AGENDA**
**Annual Vestry Meeting - All Saints’ Church Guildford** To be held on 20th March 2022
1. Opening prayers
2. Apologies for absence
3. Notice convening the meeting to be taken as read
4. Minutes of the Annual Vestry Meeting for 2021
5. Election of Churchwardens
6. Election of Deputy Churchwardens
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## **AGENDA**
**Annual Parochial Church Meeting - All Saints’ Church Guildford** To be held on 20th March 2022
1. Notice convening the meeting to be taken as read
2. Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting for 2021
3. Revision of the Electoral Roll
4. Election of people to the PCC
5. Annual reports for the church
6. Financial statement for the year ending 31 December 2021
7. Appointment of auditor
8. Review of safeguarding
9. Appointment of Parish Safeguarding Representative
10. Year’s report by the vicar
11. ‘Transforming Church, Transforming Lives’ Plan
12. Questions and points of interest
13. Closing prayers
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## **Draft Minutes of All Saints’ Annual Vestry Meeting held on 21st March 2021**
**Due to COVID-19, the meeting was held via Zoom**
## **1. Opening Prayers**
The meeting was chaired by the vicar, Reverend Beverly Watson, who, after welcoming those attending, said prayers.
## **2. Apologies for Absence**
Apologies were received from Martyn and Jeanette Whiteman, and Andy Wells.
There were 39 parishioners recorded as attending the meeting.
## **3.**
## **Notice Convening the Meeting**
The notice convening the meeting was taken as read as it had been displayed for the requisite time prior to the meeting.
## **4. Minutes of the Vestry Meeting for 2020**
The minutes were accepted unanimously as a true record and signed by the vicar.
## **5. Election of Churchwardens**
Carolyn has served five years as churchwarden and has decided to step down. Beverly offered Carolyn her thanks for her service, especially in this most recent challenging year.
Henrietta Harding has served three years and kindly offered to stand once again.
Robin Holdsworth has also been nominated to serve as Churchwarden.
The wardens’ responsibilities have been nominally divided, with Henrietta taking main responsibility for worship and Robin taking main responsibility for the buildings.
There were no other nominations and so Henrietta and Robin were unanimously elected as our Churchwardens.
## **6.**
## **Election of Deputy Churchwarden**
Richard Hemingway is stepping down as a deputy warden and Beverly offered her thanks for Richard’s faithful service. We have had no nominations for deputy warden. deputy wardens could be appointed during the year if any candidates come forward
**Trish Tye PCC Secretary 2020/21**
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## **Draft Minutes of All Saints’ Annual Parochial Church Meeting held on 21st March 2021**
Due to COVID-19, the meeting was held via Zoom. It was chaired by the vicar, Reverend Beverly Watson, and followed on immediately after the Vestry Meeting.
**Apologies:** Apologies were received from Martyn and Jeanette Whiteman, and Andy Wells.
## **1. Notice Convening the Meeting**
The notice convening the meeting was taken as read as it had been displayed for the requisite time prior to the meeting.
## **2. Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting for 2020**
These were unanimously accepted as a true record. They were then signed by the vicar.
## **3. Revision of the Electoral Roll**
Richard Pointer reported that last year we had 125 people on the Electoral Roll. During the year, seven new names have been added and two removed. Our total on roll is therefore 130. This is the second revision since the roll was compiled two years ago. We have included our Zoom congregation as they have worshipped with us during the year. Beverly gave her thanks to Richard and Sandra and commented on how encouraging it is to see growth during a pandemic.
**4. Election of members of the Parochial Church Council**
Those retiring from the PCC by rotation are Eve Gunn, Chris Lambert, Paddy Payne and Martyn Whiteman. Beverly gave her thanks to all four for their varied talents and faithful hard work.
We had six vacancies in total on the PCC and we have had five eligible nominations. These are Peter Nicholls, Andy Wells, Ed Gillett, Angela Rose and Rob Crossingham.
_Proposal:_ That we elect these five nominees as one, to serve for the next three years.
_Proposed:_ Beverly Watson; all in favour.
We also had two further nominations for PCC members – Katherine Hopwood and Annie Twidell. Neither nominee has been on the Electoral Roll for the required six months and so at the first PCC meeting, it is our intention to co-opt Katherine and Annie to the PCC.
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## **5. Annual Reports for the Church**
The Annual Reports had been previously available online and in printed form in the Reports and Accounts document.
Comments on the reports:
Sylvia Holdsworth commented that ‘licensed’ ministry should be spelt with an s not a c.
Richard Hemingway asked if there could be a music section in the Annual Report. Beverly noted this point.
## **6. Financial statement for the year ending 31 December 2020**
A Financial Review, the Balance Sheet, a Statement of Financial Activities and notes on the accounts have been included in the Reports and Accounts booklet. The Treasurer, Chris Lambert, presented a summary to the meeting.
2020 hasn’t been a good year, with our accounts showing a deficit of just under £10k. This is the biggest deficit in ten years. Taking this into account, our main fund has reduced to £56,970.
The deficit is mostly due to a shortfall in income of about £14k. Most of this is within voluntary income and church activities.
The gross income from the hall has dropped by £5k because many people cancelled their activities. The drop could have been worse in the circumstances.
Voluntary income has dropped through the closure of the church and so there were no in-person collections. In addition to this, 34% of voluntary income comes from just five people. When one of these drops out, this badly affects the figures and that has happened this year.
Within the activities for generating income, we have lost the summer fete and the bonfire night. But we have gained some grant funding from The Bishop of Guildford’s fund (£1.2k) and Guildford Borough Council (£5k). These have softened the deficit somewhat.
Expenses have reduced by about £2k because of the church being closed. In addition, the Parish Share has dropped. It was due to increase, but the Diocese decided to subsidise the parishes by reducing the Parish Share. We submitted figures to demonstrate our expected losses and our share was reduced by £5.2k.
Chris ended by explaining that things aren’t as bad as they seem. The
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balance sheet is still quite strong through our reserves.
Questions on the accounts:
_Creditors - church scholars:_
Richard Pointer asked what this is.
Chris explained that this is the money donated by church members to fund our choral scholars. The amount coming in has been greater than that spent, so it has been left as a creditor as we may pay it out, or return it, in the future.
_Balance to pay on the church chairs:_
Richard Pointer asked if this was being held back for any reason. This has been paid in February.
Beverly offered a vote of thanks to Chris for his hard work in a challenging year and the clarity of accounts. Beverly mentioned that we also raised £15k for the church chairs and so also an investment. Beverly also offered her thanks to people for their continued generosity and faithfulness in giving.
## **7. Appointment of Auditor**
Mary-Jane Crump has done this for three years and does the job very well. Chris is confident that she will audit the accounts again next year, although she has not been officially appointed as Auditor at this time.
## **8. Review of Safeguarding**
Julie Lodge presented her report to the meeting.
Julie has written a report which is presented in the Annual Report & Accounts.
The significant difference this year has been COVID-19 which has probably doubled the amount of work and frequency of meeting for the Safeguarding Team. Julie is indebted to the team of six and she gave her thanks to Beverly, Carolyn, Henrietta, Eve and Trish.
We have had to consider all our online activities as well as closing and opening the church. Julie really appreciates the reaction and responses of the congregation in following our advice and guidance.
Training still needs some chasing, and we will be firmer on the timescales of completion of training. Please look out for emails from Julie regarding your training. There is quite a lot of re-training as time periods expire.
We have decided to DBS check every PCC member, although this is a
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recommendation rather than a requirement.
Marguerite Barclay commented that she is doing the Leadership Training and there is a lot of preparation involved. The Diocese are working hard keeping us aware of what our responsibilities are.
Beverly offered a vote of thanks to Julie for all her hard work.
## **9. Appointment of Parish Safeguarding Representative**
Julie Lodge was prepared to continue as the Parish Safeguarding Representative, and this was unanimously agreed.
## **10. Year’s Report by the Vicar**
Beverly Watson presented her report as published.
Henrietta offered her thanks to Beverly for her strong leadership over this difficult time.
## **11. Transforming Church, Transforming Lives Plan**
Beverly Watson presented a summary of the Transforming Church, Transforming Lives Plan and the priorities of that in the coming year.
## **12. Questions and Points of Interest**
- a) Rob Burch offered his thanks for the work on the floor in the church. It looks fantastic. Beverly gave thanks to Eve Gunn for her persistence in getting the re-work done to such good effect.
## **13. Closing Prayers**
Beverly Watson thanked everyone for coming and Trish for her secretarial duties.
Beverly ended the meeting with prayer.
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## **Annual Reports 2021 - Introduction**
The Parochial Church Council of the church of All Saints, Guildford, Surrey (the PCC) has the responsibility (with the Incumbent) for promoting, in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. These reports not only contain an account of church activities during 2021 for the benefit of parishioners and others who receive the reports, but also provide a justification of the charitable status of the church, which enables us to claim back income tax under the Gift Aid scheme of HMRC, as well as providing other rights and privileges. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the buildings of the church and church hall, and of the church field, car park and grounds. It is also responsible for the maintenance of 6 Thorn Bank, a house in the parish. Three members of the PCC represent the parish on Deanery Synod.
In terms of Licensed Ministry, All Saints now has an Incumbent (Revd Beverly Watson), two Licensed Lay Ministers (David Barclay and Alison Moulden), and four Occasional Preachers (Martyn Whiteman, Julie Shaw, Ryan Harding and Lydia Watson). The parish also enjoys the ministry of a licensed Pastoral Assistant (Marguerite Barclay).
One of our members (Cally Burch) was ordained Deacon in 2021, and is now serving a curacy in Guildford Diocese. Another of our members (Lydia Watson) is now training for ordained ministry in Durham. One of our members (Alison Moulden) serves as the Environmental Officer for Guildford Diocese; and another member (Rebecca Brown) as Guildford Deanery Secretary. The Incumbent is also Assistant Area Dean for Guildford Deanery. All Saints also employs a part time parish Administrator and Communications Officer (Trish Tye).
The reports that follow give a detailed account of the life and worship of All Saints throughout 2021.
Governance structures at All Saints include nine ‘Vision Groups’ which report to the PCC on a regular basis. These groups cover the following areas of church life: Worship, Pastoral Care, Children and Young People, Events, Mission, Finance, Premises, Administration and Communications, and also Eco Church. Each Vision Group is active in both guiding and serving the community of All Saints. The reports which follow give a more detailed account of the work of the Vision Groups over the past year.
All Saints is an intergenerational church of ‘all ages’, providing for the needs of the youngest child through to the most senior adult. Our worship includes Sunday services, mid-week services of Morning Prayer and a Thursday Com-
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munion; Assemblies at our Church School (Queen Eleanor’s CofE Junior), Messy Church at Onslow Infants, and a monthly service at Dray Court (residential home for the elderly).
The majority of services are Eucharistic; but we also offer two ‘Services of the Word’ (without Communion) on the first and third Sundays of each month at 10am. The first Sunday of the month at 10am is called ‘Altogether Worship’; and the third Sunday at 10am is referred to as ‘Morning Worship’. Music on the first and third Sundays of the month is led by the All Saints Band; and on second, fourth and fifth Sundays music is led by a choir, under the leadership of Jeremy Barham.
A variety of other services are regularly offered, including online services (a response to the challenge of the pandemic), Tea Time Church, Messy Church, Healing Services, ‘Songs of Praise’, Choral Evensong, Occasional Offices (including baptism, marriage and funeral services), a monthly service at Dray Court, Remembrance Services (including a service for the bereaved), ‘Stations of the Cross’, a regular midweek Communion Service, Morning Prayer three days a week, and home Communions.
There is a strong sense of community at All Saints, supported and encouraged through social events and activities, via the work of the Events Vision Group and many others. This ministry of hospitality is extended to the wider community, through such events as the Fireworks Evening and the Summer/ Autumn Fayre. The church has strong links with local community groups, including uniformed organisations, and the Onslow Village Residents Association (a local residents’ group). The Incumbent is an ex-officio governor at Queen Eleanor’s School, and presently a vice chair.
Pastoral care is given by the Pastoral Team, under the leadership of a licensed Pastoral Assistant (Marguerite Barclay). Within the Pastoral Team there are six Pastoral Visitors who care for those in need, and take Home Communion to the housebound. Pastoral care is also offered via the ‘Small Groups’ at All Saints; and there are now nine such groups meeting regularly for prayer, Bible study, fellowship and support. These form an integral part of the pastoral care that is offered at All Saints. Pastoral Care now sits within the Vision Group structures at All Saints, in the form of the Pastoral Care Vision Group.
Children and young people are highly valued at All Saints, and are nurtured through Children’s Church, the Youth Group, the Toddler Group and Messy Church. Ministry in schools continues, with regular Assemblies at Queen Eleanor’s School, school services in church, and ‘faith days’ in school. In-
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volvement also continues with Onslow Infant School, and the Montessori nursery which meets in the church hall. All Saints hosts ‘Prayer Spaces’ for Queen Eleanor’s School, either in school or at All Saints; and the Incumbent leads Harvest, Easter and Christmas services each year.
Work on the buildings has continued, with the refurbishment of the Reading Room taking place in 2021, alongside general maintenance. This means that the church, the hall and the Reading Room are all now in a good state of repair, and in regular use by both the congregation and the wider community.
All Saints houses the Diocesan Resource Centre Library, and makes the resources available to church members, to the Diocese as a whole, and to local schools. The library supports Bible study and learning at All Saints, both of individuals and the congregation as a whole.
Wider church links have continued, in partnership with local churches in Guildford Deanery, where the Incumbent is Assistant Area Dean. Clergy in the Deanery meet on a monthly basis, and three Deanery Synods are held each year.
All Saints has continued to give 10% of its income to charities and Christian missions both locally and globally, and overall has made a financial surplus of approximately £2,000 over the course of the year.
Communication of the life and ministry of the church continues through the church website, social media, the parish magazine, the weekly news sheet, hand delivery of Easter and Christmas flyers to all homes in the parish, and a monthly video-recorded message by the Incumbent. All Saints employs a part time Administrator and Communications Officer, to oversee the delivery of information to both church members and local residents.
All Saints is now an ‘Eco-Church’, working to reduce our carbon footprint and live in a sustainable way. A silver award has been awarded for work done so far. As an ‘Eco-Church’, we seek to share this vision with our local community.
Along with all other Anglican churches, All Saints is committed to keeping people safe at all times. Much work has been done over the course of the year to ensure that All Saints is fully compliant with the Church of England’s National Safeguarding Policy; and we are indebted to our Safeguarding Team for their work in this area .
**Revd Beverly Watson, Incumbent**
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## **Vicar’s Report**
2020 was the year in which Covid struck, and life as a whole was turned upside down. 2021 has, in many ways, been a year in which we’ve learned to live creatively and imaginatively through the continuing pandemic. Covid hasn’t gone away, but we now have more effective tools at our disposal to fight the virus – particularly in the form of vaccines. We’ve learned to adapt and change, so that life in general, and church life in particular has been able to continue. As I look back over 2021 I can see many ways in which the challenges of the past two years have brought us closer together, have enabled to go deeper in faith, and encouraged us to reach out to others in new ways. It’s been a year in which there has been spiritual growth and development, in a variety of different ways.
One area of development has been within our services of worship. Churches opened for ‘in person’ worship on Palm Sunday, after three months of online services. It was a great joy to meet together face-to-face, and celebrate Easter together. As a safety precaution, we held two of our Easter services outside (Good Friday, and Easter early morning), and discovered how meaningful these services were. It’s something we’ll keep, going forwards.
Our service pattern changed in 2020, so that at 10am we now have two Communion services each month (three when there’s a fifth Sunday), and two services of Morning Worship (the first of each month being Altogether Worship, led by one of our LLMs - Alison Moulden). On Communion Sundays the music is led by our All Saints Choir and on Morning Worship Sundays by our All Saints Band. We continue to offer two 8 o’clock Communions each month, and also Tea Time Church at 4pm each Sunday. This pattern has worked well during 2021, and been a creative and imaginative response to the work of the Holy Spirit among us over the past few years.
We are privileged to have many people taking part in our services, and serving in significant ways. Our preaching team now has six members (Beverly Watson, Dave Barclay, Alison Moulden, Martyn Whiteman, Julie Shaw and Andy Wells), who preach across all our various services. Members of the congregation also lead intercessions, read during services, and act as Sidespeople and Welcomers.
An unexpected change has been the development of the worshipping life of Queen Eleanor’s School, and our engagement with that. For much of the ‘locked-down’ times, children were still able to come to church – though in year group ‘bubbles’, rather than altogether. So we held four Easter services in church (one for each year group), four Harvest Festivals, four Prayer Spaces and also the Carol Service at the Cathedral, which I was invited to
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speak at. As things opened up in the autumn term, assemblies started again, and also faith days, and I was able to engage with the children every week. I see this as a very important aspect of our worship and ministry at All Saints.
In the summer we celebrated the wedding of Lydia Watson and Sam Padfield – the first wedding I’ve taken at All Saints during my time as Incumbent. This was a time of great joy, especially as Covid restrictions lifted in time for the whole of Lydia and Sam’s family, together with friends, to gather together. Baptisms began again in the autumn, after over a year with none. It was good to celebrate the baptism of Zacchary Thorpe, and hold a service of Thanksgiving for Hallie Sumun-King in September. Funerals continued, with farewells to Penny Kinsella and Hazel Woolcock (my mother), taking place in church, and also a memorial service for Revd Nicholas Farbridge. 2021 also saw the death of our beloved sister Rosemary Bailey, whose funeral took place in January 2022.
The Dray Court service re-opened in September, after 18 months of closure due to Covid. Sadly some members of the congregation had passed away over that time, and it is taking time to re-build and re-gather people together. But a visit from some carol singers in December (from 1st Onslow Guides, and All Saints members) was a great encouragement; and the Dray Court carol service the following day attracted some new members. So I’m hopeful that services will continue to grow and develop in the year ahead. Our Remembrance Sunday Services were also able to go ahead, with good numbers of children and young people from our local uniformed organisations joining us.
Our Christmas services went well, despite the surge in the Omicron strain of the virus. All services took place ‘in person’, and the carol service was also offered via Zoom. The All Saints’ Choir, and also a children’s choir, delivered a beautiful ‘Nine Lessons and Carols’; Ellie Wells took oversight of the Nativity and Crib Service, which gathered together most of our children; and many people from the local community joined us throughout the season. A big thank you to all our service leaders and preachers, for sterling work over the past year.
Another area where I can identify development is in terms of spiritual growth and deepening faith. This has been apparent through the Pilgrim Course, which began in 2020 and continued through to September 2021. Over the course of 48 Wednesday evenings, a group of 20-25 of us gathered together, via Zoom, to explore some key aspects of the Christian faith. We covered topics such as the Lord’s Prayer, the Commandments, the
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Beatitudes, the Bible, the Eucharist and the Creeds. Through the challenges of lockdown it was a bonding experience, and one that drew each of us closer to God in new ways. Some of those who attended are now established members of our church, some have joined our PCC, others are now serving in other roles. This has been a great joy to me, and strengthens the spiritual foundations of our church.
I’ve also seen spiritual growth and deepening faith among our Service leaders and preachers. It was a joy to witness Cally Burch’s ordination as deacon in Guildford Cathedral, on 4th July; and Alison Moulden’s licensing as a Licensed Lay Minister at Emmanuel Stoughton, on 26th June. It was also a particular joy to see Lydia Watson’s acceptance for ordination training, and her move (along with Sam) to Durham in September to train at Cranmer Hall. Andy and Ellie Wells both completed the Guildford Diocesan Occasional Preachers Course in 2021, and are continuing to develop their skills. It’s good that we’re able to serve our congregation through our leaders, but also resource the wider church through those we are sending out – quite an achievement for a small church!
Another aspect of our ongoing ministry that has seen growth and development is our work among children and young people; and I’m hugely grateful to Jeanette Whiteman for her wise leadership over the course of the year. ‘Children’s Slots’ during our online services were extremely popular, and kept the flame of children’s work alive during challenging times. Children’s Church re-opened in September, and gradually gathered momentum over the course of the autumn term. Our Youth Group opened in the summer, following by half termly gatherings for secondary aged young people. A new team of leaders gathered together, bringing fresh enthusiasm to the group. Our Toddler Group also re-opened in September, and moved into the main church building – having previously met in the church hall; the new space has proved very popular, with many families gathering together every Friday in church. Morning Worship on the first and third Sundays of each month, and also Tea Time Church, are accessible for children and adults, and also meaningful for everyone; and our Altogether Worship team continues to deliver imaginative and creative services. Messy Church has largely been on hold during Covid, but may re-open in the year ahead. So alongside our work in local schools, we’re able to reach out to children and families of all ages in the parish.
Despite all the challenges of Covid, we’ve had some wonderful special events this year; and I’d like to thank the Events Team, led by Eve Gunn, for their contribution in delivering these. One that stands out for me is the
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Autumn Fayre (ably overseen by Henrietta Harding). With Covid restrictions still uncertain in the summer, we decided to postpone the Summer Fete, and make it into an Autumn Fayre – for the first time. September 18th turned out to be a beautifully sunny day, which drew many people to All Saints. Alongside some of the usual stalls, such as refreshments, the bouncy castle, the games area and the book stall, there were new things on offer – and especially apple pressing and information about the orchard project. It was good to welcome the local community to All Saints once again, after such a long time.
Other special events included a series of ‘Vicarage Garden Lunches’ in the summer, as lockdown restrictions started to ease. This was followed by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s visit to Guildford Diocese in September, with his series answering ‘Big Questions’ at a variety of different venues. Our PCC attended together, and took some time to reflect over coffee at Willow Grange afterwards; and it was an inspiring time. Soon afterwards we celebrated our Harvest weekend, with a Harvest Festival and quiz night, followed by a visit by Paul Williams from A Rocha – an eco charity we support, through the work of the Mission Vision Group. The autumn saw a ‘Light Party’ in church over the Halloween weekend, with many families with younger children joining us – and ringing our church bell for 30 minutes at the end, to highlight COP26. This was closely followed by our longstanding Bonfire and Fireworks event, which was hugely welcomed by the local community. And finally the Christmas season began with our ‘Comedy and Carols’ evening, let by Paul Kerensa (aka Paul Young) – a great event, drawing nearly 90 people into our church building, to begin the festive season. For a semi ‘locked-down’ time, the creativity and imagination of All Saints members provided unexpectedly good times of fun, fellowship and joy.
And of course, so much happens behind the scenes, to enable our church to function, and to keep on reaching out into the local community and beyond. In Covid times our Pastoral Team, under the leadership of Marguerite Barclay, has worked extremely hard. Pastoral Team members have provided much needed contact and support, particularly for the most isolated and vulnerable members of our community. They’ve also brought spiritual encouragement, not least through regular home Communions, when this has been possible. Special thanks go to Richard Hemingway, who retired as a trained Pastoral Assistant after 35 years of faithful service; and I’m delighted that Richard has felt able to continue his ministry as a Pastoral Friend over the course of the rest of the year. Pastoral care also takes places
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through the nine Small Groups that meet regularly during the week, providing opportunities for learning, prayer and fellowship.
Also behind the scenes governance has continued, through the work of our Wardens, PCC and Trish (our Administrator and Communications Officer). In March 2021 we divided the role of the Wardens into two parts: Worship Warden and Buildings Warden. After Carolyn Nicholls’ five year term as Warden finished, Robin Holdsworth took up the reins, and became our first ‘Warden with responsibility for Buildings’ – serving alongside Henrietta Harding as our ‘Warden with responsibility for Worship’. This has worked very well, and made the role of Warden somewhat more manageable. At the APCM our PCC was strengthened by seven new members (two coopted), bringing fresh insight and skills to the table; and together with Trish Tye (PCC secretary) we’ve negotiated the many challenges of the past year. Trish combines the role of PCC secretary with her work as Administrator and Communications Officer for the parish. Trish’s skills and commitment have enabled us to chart a way through Covid that has been life-giving for the parish as a whole.
Underpinning our ministry is the work of the Finance Vision Group, which supports Chris Lambert in his continued work as our Treasurer. After a challenging year in 2020, where we incurred a deficit of £10,000, I’m delighted to say that finances have bounced back. Due to increased financial giving by members of the congregation, and a very strong lettings portfolio (including the church itself now, following the introduction of chairs), we made a small surplus of around £2,000 in 2021. This is an answer to prayer; and thanks go to Eve Gunn, our Bookings Secretary, and the skilled work of the Finance Vision Group.
So much else goes on behind the scenes that it’s hard to know what to mention. Morning Prayer (in person and via Zoom), which takes place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, is a great support to me. The love and support of many members of our congregation, whom I’ve grown to know and love deeply over the past six years at All Saints, is invaluable. And above everything else, the Lord’s continued faithfulness to us, and love for his Church, remains constant; that comes across clearly in these reports, and give hope and encouragement for the future. In uncertain times we give thanks for the Lord’s unending faithfulness, and look forward in hope for all that is to come.
**Revd Beverly Watson, Incumbent**
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## **Structure, governance and management**
The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. We also have a role description for PCC members and a PCC governance structure document, both of which can be found on the PCC noticeboard or in the PCC file in the Church Office. All church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.
## **Secretary’s report of the work of the Parochial Church Council January - December 2021**
In 2021, there were a total of eight meetings of the PCC. This was more than usual due to decision making around COVID restrictions. The PCC also enjoyed a meal together at Willow Grange and an away morning after the Archbishop’s event in Guildford. There were also five meetings of the Standing Committee.
Following the APCM in March, we welcomed Rob Crossingham, Ed Gillett, Peter Nicholls, Angela Rose and Andy Wells to the PCC. Henrietta Harding and Robin Holdsworth were both voted as Churchwarden. The Churchwarden responsibilities have been divided between ‘worship’ (Henrietta) and ‘buildings’ (Robin). At the first PCC meeting, Katherine Hopwood and Annie Twidell were co-opted to the PCC.
Our Deanery Synod Representatives are Rebecca Brown and Simon Doran. The key activities of the PCC and Vision Groups this year have been:
- The launch of the ‘Orchard Project’ to enhance the lower end of the field for wider community use.
- The five remaining Pilgrim Courses were completed.
- Letting the church for community use has grown, particularly with the Prologue Youth Theatre group using it three evenings per week.
- Toddler Group has expanded hugely since returning after COVID and using the church as the venue.
- The completion of the renovation of the Reading Room with the installation of a new carpet.
- Three successful community events - the Autumn Fayre, Bonfire & Fireworks night and ‘Comedy & Carols’.
**Trish Tye PCC Secretary 2020/21**
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## **Churchwardens’ report on the fabric and ornaments of the church**
The Wardens have made their annual inspection of the church fixtures and fittings as recorded in the Terrier and all were found to be present. The following updates provide an overview of the changes now in place.
- Additions: Further items secured for the music group and a new Pay/Donation facility at the rear of the church.
- Church Warden’s roles: This year the duties of the Wardens have been split with one being responsible for the practical aspects of worship (Henrietta) and the other responsible for all aspects of the maintenance of the church properties (Robin). They have a combined responsibility to promote the whole mission of All Saints Church.
- Central Team:
- The Wardens, together with the Vicar and the Parish Administrator, form the Central Team. This team meets most weeks to maintain regular communication between all parties. During the past year, much time at these meetings has been consumed maintaining Safeguarding particularly with the interpretation of the ever changing Covid-19 regulations.
We are grateful to the Premises Vision Group for all their efforts in ensuring the maintenance of the church building and its surroundings. We are also grateful to the Worship Vision Group for their efforts with the varying setups of the church space for new services which have helped build confidence and encourage the return of people to church .
**Henrietta Harding & Robin Holdsworth Churchwardens**
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## **Safeguarding Report**
As ever, the aim of the safeguarding team continues to be to make All Saints a safe place to be.
The diocesan safeguarding policy was approved by the PCC on 28th June 2021.
As a PCC we comply with the duty to have ‘due regard’ to the House of Bishops’ Safeguarding Policy and Practice Guidance.
Work on risk assessments has been ongoing and will continue to be so both in and out of Covid times.
Training has continued online. The training for domestic abuse is now available again. For all training, volunteers are contacted with details of training required then they send their certificates via email to me and Trish and a record is kept of who has attended which training. We follow diocesan guidance on who needs which training but will sometimes ask for further training to be undertaken too.
Covid has continued to provide huge challenges to the safeguarding team, particularly once decision making was to be done at a parish level. The safeguarding team make proposals which are then reviewed by the PCC and a decision taken.
This year, the safeguarding dashboard has been introduced to aid record keeping and review what we do. We are just beginning to work on this.
We are incredibly fortunate to have a safeguarding team and I would like to thank Beverly, Carolyn, Henrietta, Trish and Eve for everything they do. It is a huge job and it requires a team effort. Thanks also to Carolyn who has continued in her role as DBS validator.
**Julie Lodge Safeguarding Officer**
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## **Deanery Synod Report**
In another difficult year, Guildford Deanery Synod was forced to go online for the first two of their three meetings. Because the February meeting was the first for some members, there was an emphasis on explaining what Deanery Synod is, how it operates and what its responsibilities are. Good practice during the pandemic was shared. At our summer meeting (again online) we covered the role of Diocesan and General Synods and the processes of the elections to each body which took place later in the summer. This was followed by a presentation on the Church of England initiative ‘Living in Love and Faith’.
Our last meeting in the autumn was finally held in person on the subject of ‘Eco-Journeys - What our church can do?’. Alison Moulden, in her role as Diocesan Environment Officer, explained the church’s net zero carbon strategy and then Holy Trinity, as hosts, explained how they had achieved ‘Gold’ level in the Eco-church scheme and disseminated lots of practical information.
The Diocesan and General Synod elections have not filled all the available vacancies and we currently have a vacancy for a Deanery Synod representative. If anyone is interested in governance of the wider Church, either locally or nationally, please speak to either Beverly or me as this could be a good time to get involved.
## **Rebecca Brown Deanery Synod Representative**
## **Administration and Communication Vision Group**
The purpose of the Administration and Communication Vision group is ‘Overseeing an efficient system of organisation to support the ministry and mission of All Saints’. Our remit is quite wide and varied, including the running of the Parish Office, the administration of the Electoral Roll, managing the hall bookings and communications within and outside the church. Here are some of our key achievements from 2021:
- For the first part of the year, we continued to provide an online Sunday service. When we returned to the building on Palm Sunday we Zoomed some services. This has now reduced but we continue to put a recording of the Sunday sermon online, as well as on the telephone service.
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- Our website continues to receive a good amount of traffic with 21,000 page views during the year.
- Social media channels are also key to communication. We have a Facebook page which was visited over 900 times during the year. Our Instagram profile is less popular, but growing, and was visited 53 times. Our Twitter feed now has 46 followers, with our most popular ‘tweet’ getting over 400 impressions (number of times the tweet was seen).
- In addition to social media, communication to our worshipping community is achieved through emails, the weekly news-sheet and our notice boards. As well as using the church admin system ’iKnow’ for sending emails, we now also use MailChimp to send out a newsletter style email when there are multiple messages to convey.
- The magazine continues to be available to all via the website and it is one of the most visited areas of the website. We continue to print 120 copies for delivery in the village, with a few spares for the lobby.
- The church, Reading Room and hall lettings have picked up amazingly well during the recovery from the pandemic. Montessori are now using the hall five days a week. The Prologue Youth Theatre Group are using the church three nights per week. We have also seen a growth in Reading Room bookings since we finished the refurbishment.
- We completed the annual renewal of the Electoral Roll.
- In September, we installed an unattended, contactless giving station in church. This has so far collected £350 in donations.
- Please keep an eye on the website. The calendar can be reached from the home page and shows you everything that is happening day by day.
**Trish Tye, Chair, Administration and Communication Vision Group**
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## **Children & Young People Vision Group**
Meeting the needs of the children and young people during the first part of 2021 again proved to be challenging because of Covid restrictions. However, by the summer, things began to ease and we were able to gradually restart our activities in a more normal fashion.
**Toddler group:** At the beginning of the year we recorded simple Bible stories which we posted on our Facebook page as a way of staying in touch with parents and carers, but once restrictions were lifted and people were able to meet outside more freely we invited parents and carers to join us in the playground on Onslow Village rec for an hour on Fridays. Then, after the summer half term, the group started meeting again in the church. At first we asked people to book in order to safely restrict numbers but that has not been necessary since September. The church has proved to be a great space in which to hold the toddler group and several parents have commented on how lovely and bright and airy it is. Each Thursday Vanessa, Carolyn and I stack and move the chairs and set out the toys and equipment so that it looks inviting when the toddlers arrive on Friday morning. Then on Friday, at the end of the session, it all has to be put away again and the chairs are set out ready for the Sunday church service. This has all been made easier as we are now able to store the toys in the chair store and the larger equipment in a corner of the chapel. We have a number of parents and carers who come regularly and each week we are seeing new people. We have had between 15 and 20 adults attending with babies and toddlers each session.
**Children’s Church:** When the church was able to meet again, at first we continued with children’s slots and provided packs of activities for children to do during services. Children’s Church started up again in September but only met a few times as there were a number of special services e.g. Remembrance Sunday and Harvest Festival, on what would have been children’s church Sundays. We have a wide age range (from 3-11) but the children all mix well and between us, Julie and I are able to provide something suitable for them all. As Julie and I are the only leaders for Children’s Church it has been difficult if one of us was ill or away. However, we have recently recruited Alice Kenyon to the team so this should help to resolve that problem, and as she is an early years specialist we will greatly benefit from her expertise. We have also been trying to encourage some of our teenagers to help out and we are delighted that Carys and Ellie have
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agreed to do this. At Christmas, Ellie and Andy Wells did a brilliant job of arranging the nativity for us.
**Youth Group:** The youth group continued to hold meetings over Zoom until the summer and I was very grateful to Lydia for her support in helping to lead these so ably. She was also able to attend, and organise, a very successful game when the youth group met for the first time in person for a barbecue. This was held in the church hall as it was a rainy evening but that didn’t dampen everyone’s spirits! Youngsters who would be starting at secondary school in the autumn were invited along and those who already attended the County school were able to answer questions and give advice to those about to start. As Lydia is now married and living in Durham it became necessary to find a new team to lead youth group. Alison Moulden, Liz Payne and Joanna Brown have all agreed to this. We have held two youth group meetings since then, both of which were well attended. These have been held in the vicarage. However it has been felt that the church hall would be a better venue. Unfortunately this is used by a yoga group every Sunday at the time when the youth group meet. Beverly has suggested that, as the youth group only meet once each half term, the yoga group might agree to hold their class in the church on these occasions. They have agreed to do this so that we will be able to meet in the hall on February 6 for our first youth group meeting of 2022. Our meetings include food, fun and games and a focused time for questions and discussion.
Finally, at the end of 2021, it was decided that the membership of this vision group needed to change. Each leader of any church activity needs to be able to meet for supervision and support and, in order to make this possible, the vision group now consists of all those who are involved in leading the toddler group, children’s church and the youth group. We have also welcomed Carolyn Nicholls into the vision group in her new role as baptism family liaison.
**Jeanette Whiteman Chair, Children & Young People Vision Group**
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## **Eco Vision Group**
This year has seen good progress on the eco agenda despite COVID uncertainty making meeting difficult.
We have had several areas of focus over the last year:
- Achieving a steady stream of goals on the Eco Church scheme.
- Ascertaining the best way to heat the church.
- Launching the Creation Care UK Awards scheme for households.
- Faith solidarity for COP26 through the Ring Out For Climate scheme.
- Supporting Earth Hour and RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch.
- Continuing and expanding the recycling scheme.
- Continuing the Eco Tips in the magazine, and adding eco information to the website.
- Linking the Autumn Fayre to the Great Big Green Week.
- Continuing planning and groundwork on the Orchard Project.
**The Orchard Project:** This is a joint venture between the Premises Vision Group and the Eco Vision Group. We have seen huge amounts of work done, with a massive vote of thanks to Carolyn Nicholls, who has organised the project and put hours of work into it.
**Creation Care UK:** This scheme, which helps church households understand how best to live sustainably, was launched in November at All Saints. To date, five households have achieved bronze, and three have achieved silver. (The coveted ‘first-household-to-get-gold’ spot is still up for grabs!)
All Saints’ families and households can sign up to join the scheme at www.creationcare.org.uk and work towards an award. The decision has been taken about when rewards will be given out – for 2022 this will be during services in January, April, July and October.
**Eco Church:** We have been doing a lot of behind the scenes work, such as twinning toilets, fitting dual-flush cisterns, and looking at areas of church life that might need alteration. This led to our inaugural Eco Policy for All Saints, which was accepted by the PCC in December.
The Policy now states we agree, in all our church activities, to:
- Offset our carbon footprint annually, whilst continuing to reduce our carbon to as close to zero as we can, as soon as possible.
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- Not use any pesticide on church premises.
- Not use any glyphosate weed killer on church premises.
- Not use single-use plastics - for example plastic cups and cutlery, straws, toys, prizes for fetes etc.
- Implement the ‘No Mow May’ mowing regime, to protect pollinating insects.
- Commit to promoting Earth Hour annually (26th March 2022), and undertake the RSPB bird survey annually (28- 30th January 2022).
The No Single-Use Plastic policy posed a problem for our Bonfire Night in terms of serving mulled wine, as in the past we have used polystyrene cups. We successfully overcame this by asking visitors to bring a mug, and asking for donations of old mugs for church use. We received boxes of donations, and lots of people brought their own mug to the event, saving a lot of plastic from landfill, and proving that creative solutions can be found!
**Recycling:** The recycling scheme has been a huge success. The statistics of what we have sent off this year are:
- 5,020 Ella pouches
- 262 Air, home and laundry items
- 16,268 Crisp packets!
- 8.8kg ink-jet cartridges, raising £92.25 for church
Payment received from Terracycle this year was £134.49 - always welcome as a sideline to being green!
On top of this, we have collected kilos of waste candles that Carolyn will be getting to The Recycled Candle Company in Exeter (plus waste candle wax from St Mary's and St Nics), and kilos of pens (to Rymans), as well as dental recycling (to a dental practice in Woking).
We've also added medical packets to our collections which we'll deliver up to Superdrug in town.
**Looking Forwards:** We have considered what actions would be needed to achieve a Gold Eco Award in 2022. We will be aiming to put in an application in 2022. Watch this space!
**Alison Moulden Chair, Eco Vision Group**
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## **Events Vision Group**
After yet another year of lockdowns, we were especially pleased to be part of an actual organised ‘real’ event this year and the Autumn Fayre on 18th September. The Events team were running the tea/coffee/cakes as usual and felt it was a great success. Thanks to Henrietta and her team of volunteers who ran the whole event.
Our next event was the Harvest supper and quiz which was a much smaller affair than usual with only six teams and about 29 people for vegetarian lasagne and apple and plum crumble courtesy of Beverly’s garden. Robin was, as always, an excellent quiz master with Sylvia totting up the scores. It was a very pleasant evening although we felt that a lot of people were reluctant to attend in person.
Bonfire night is one of our larger events in the calendar and although we restricted our numbers to 400 we had a spectacular event and the mulled wine and hot dogs were just about all sold out. We were lucky to have a dry evening without too much wind.
Our next big event was Paul Kerensa’s ‘Comedy and Carols’ evening in December. This was attended by 87 and included a guest comedian, Jude Simpson. Julie Shaw was on the piano and amazed us all by her ability to play almost any Christmas carol we could name.
**Eve Gunn Chair, Events Vision Group**
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## **Finance Vision Group**
The Finance Vision Group has met consistently during 2021, and takes an overview of the finances of our church. It also exists to support Chris Lambert in his role as Treasurer. The group is overseen by me, and includes Chris Lambert (Treasurer), Peter Nicholls, Rob Burch, Rob Crossingham, Andy Wells and Ed Gillett.
During 2021 the Finance Group oversaw our stewardship campaign in February, which resulted in a small increase in giving by congregation members, and some new donors coming forward. A great encouragement this year has been the increase in income from the church hall, the Reading Room and the church itself; and I would like to thank Eve Gunn (bookings secretary) for her sterling work in this area.
Once again I’d like to thank Chris Lambert for his faithful work as Treasurer, and Mary-Jane Crump for auditing the accounts for us.
**Revd Beverly Watson Chair, Finance Vision Group**
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## **Mission Vision Group**
The Mission Vision Group met on five occasions in 2021. Membership was unchanged: Katherine and Bruce Hopwood, Richard Hemingway and Carolyn and Peter Nicholls.
In 2021 we completed a further year of our commitment to support the work of Clare and Andrew Koens working for Wycliffe Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea. During 2021 the family had been due a holiday in USA and UK with the opportunity to spend time with family members and renew partnerships with supporting churches. However, because of COVID, the visit was delayed and we are now expecting them to be back in the UK later this year and available to join us for a Sunday service.
In addition to support for the Bible translation work in Papua New Guinea, we have publicised and promoted the work of Mosaic Middle East, Friends International, Bishop of Guildford’s Foundation, Bible Society, United Society Partners in the Gospel, Five Talents, A Rocha and the North Guildford Food Bank. During Christian Aid week we organised a car wash and cake sale in the Village Hall Car Park which was well supported by local people and church members. At the Sunday service we welcomed Michael Mosselmans from Christian Aid HQ who gave many interesting insights into the workings as well as the work of Christian Aid. At the Harvest service in October, Paul Williams spoke about the work of A Rocha. In April we organised a Zoom session with the Director of Five Talents. A good number of church members attended and heard about their work among some of the poorest communities in poorer countries of Africa and Asia. To encourage interest and involvement of young people, we prepared quizzes focussing on the work of two of our supported mission organisations. The intention is to add further quizzes in the coming months.
As in previous years every issue of the parish magazine has included an article on one of our supported mission organisations and there has been prayer for their work at Sunday services. At the end of the year we were able to send a donation to each of our supported organisations.
We are most grateful for the support and interest shown by members of the congregation and would welcome suggestions on how we might be more effective in creating awareness and involvement in mission, whether local, national or international.
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For 2022 our support will continue to focus on the work of Clare and Andrew Koens and Wycliffe Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea and also on the work of Mosaic Middle East, Friends International, United Society Partners in the Gospel, A Rocha International, Five Talents, Guildford Food Bank, and Guildford Town Centre Chaplaincy. There will also be activities associated with Christian Aid Week and a special collection on Sea Sunday.
**Peter Nicholls Chair, Mission Vision Group**
## **Pastoral Vision Group**
Looking back at last year’s report to the AGM - have things changed much and are the goals agreed for ‘Transforming Church, Transforming Lives’ being met?
I want to start by sharing where we are currently as a team. During the past year Richard Pointer has made the decision which we have respected and sadly accepted, that he now needs to stand down from being an active member of the team. He still wants to remain a prayerful supporter of the work. Jean Reed now has caring commitments and like Richard wants to remain a prayerful supporter of the team as well as act as a consultant to the team with her vast knowledge and insight through her long and very active connection with All Saints and as a village resident. However it does mean she cannot actively engage in new work. Diana Reiblein is now extensively supporting her family through the week and also feels she cannot now give the time she would like to on-going pastoral work so she has also made the difficult decision that she cannot continue to be part of the Pastoral Team, but will remain a prayerful supporter of the work. This means the present team are now five: Richard Hemingway, Dave Barclay, Carolyn Nicholls, Sue Groves and me as Team Leader.
We are responding to the needs of an aging church community but also wanting to reach out to families and those younger members of our community who in many ways are equally vulnerable.
We are very conscious that we, as team members, are ourselves older members of the congregation and we are seeking to find new younger members to join the team who feel a calling to this vital ministry and have
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the time and space to become a committed and trained member of the team.
Secondly, in the light of this, how are we at present able to reach the goals of the Transforming Church, Transforming Lives plan?
The goal in the plan is: ‘To be a source of salt and light. To be a force for good in our community. Under the “five marks of mission” respond to human need by loving service’.
In reality what does that mean? Using the What? Why? How? When? Framework:
**Progress and Outcomes:** We are visiting and actively supporting the housebound, isolated, and vulnerable through identifying with them what support they need and is appropriate for us to offer. We are also maintaining contact with families and are part of teams reaching out in service to the community at large e.g. Toddlers Group and Community Ladies Lunch. This has included giving an opportunity of being listened to and valued. These contacts include emotional support, practical support, spiritual and prayerful support, Home Communion and signposting by enabling support to be obtained through other agencies. These include Cruise, Crossroads, Age UK and Alzheimer’s Society, installation of practical equipment to meet health and communication needs, and accompanying to hospital and medical appointments. To this end with the work done by the original Community Engagement Team, I have been able to produce an information and contact file for team members as a resource for knowing what is available in the community from professional and charity resources. I have linked with Cruise, Crossroads, the Residents’ Association and local Councillors to find out how to access additional support. I am also linked to Voluntary Action South West Surrey so am kept updated on resources and training available to the voluntary sector.
Carolyn has taken on responsibility for the follow up of Baptism families which has meant she is getting to know them personally and is greeted by them when they see her out and about so important links are now being made and maintained.
This year has seen the reopening of more links through the Dray Court service which restarted in September. Sadly we have seen the passing of many of the original older people who were part of this and others who
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through age and fragility now don’t feel confident to mix socially with others. To address this we continue to keep in touch with pastoral visits, where appropriate, by telephone and cards and by delivering to those residents we have permission to be in touch with. We deliver the weekly All Saints notices as well as notification of all up-and-coming Dray Court services. It was encouraging to see more people at the Dray Court Carol service and that residents, with support and encouragement, were able to take part in the service.
As a pastoral team we have engaged in further in-house training bi-monthly and Carolyn has now completed the Diocese training as a lay Pastoral Visitor. She has now been commissioned alongside the commissioning of the Pastoral Team as Lay Pastoral Visitors and me as a Lay Pastoral Assistant and Team Leader on Sunday 23rd January. Commissioning is now being done in the parish by the Incumbent and with the PCC’s approval and blessing.
These remain very challenging times and constant adaptation has to be made and considered in relation to what is safe and appropriate for us to be engaged in with face to face visits or in alternative ways. However we all feel that as we give we are also receiving and feel blessed to be part of this ministry.
If you feel that listening and caring about others is something you have a heart for, would you consider whether it would be right for you to apply to become a Pastoral Visitor as a member of the Pastoral Team? If you would like to explore further what this might involve, please contact me as Pastoral Team Leader by phone on 01483 572244 or email on pastoral@allsaintschurchgfd.org.uk to arrange a chat. Thank you.
**Marguerite Barclay Chair, Pastoral Vision Group**
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## **Premises Vision Group**
This group continues to deal with the maintenance and upgrading of the church, the hall, the field and 6 Thorn Bank. In addition it is working closely with the Eco Group as we continue on the journey to become carbon neutral by the end of the decade. We engage practically with our parishioners through our work sessions which have been irregular in the past year due to Covid 19.
After being checked earlier in the year, work was done in June on the lightning conductors so that they now met the current regulations and are correctly earthed.
The movement in the church structure has been monitored throughout the year and a major piece of work was undertaken in September. The elimination of leaks into the chapel subbase was achieved by installing a lining to the pipe under the church which carries rainwater to a collection point near the chapel exterior wall. At the same time a broken underground pipe was replaced. This pipe took the discharge from the chapel roof downpipe to the same collection point. The overall effect has been that the movement of the external chapel wall appears to have stabilised. However, movement readings will continue to be taken in 2022.
Many attempts by the supplier of the external door have minimised but not yet proved successful in stopping water getting into the Reading Room. Despite this, a new carpet was laid in the decluttered Reading Room.
Little work was done on the bell tower. Discussions are taking place about possible alternatives to the current deteriorating wooden slats.
Routine maintenance jobs and minor repairs have been carried out as they have arisen in the hall. Thanks to Dave Mowat and Peter Nicholls for tackling these tasks. One of the dilapidated storage sheds on the field was replaced at the end of the year. The new shed stands on a concrete base and wooden struts rather than on paving slabs as previously. It is primarily used by Montessori.
Work has begun on the Orchard Project by a team of volunteers led by Carolyn Nicholls. Clearance of undergrowth and briars has opened up the start of a walk through the trees and bulbs have been planted. At the end of the field, areas have been cleared or trimmed prior to a tree planting scheme.
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In cooperation with the Eco Vision Group, work is continuing to evaluate the alternative types of heating for both the church and the hall. We are also looking at various ways to cut down heat loss through insulation specifically through the clerestory windows in the church.
## **Robin Holdsworth Chair, Premises Vision Group**
## **Worship Vision Group**
Worship remains central to all we do and are at All Saints, both during the festival seasons, and also in ‘ordinary time’. It’s the heart of our calling, and our core purpose as a church. Worship it’s about honouring God in the whole of our lives, as well as when we gather together for services. I’m delighted that our worship has continued to develop over the past year – partly due to the challenges posed by covid.
An overview of worship is taken by the Worship Vision Group, which meets five to six times a year. The group reviews all aspects of worship at All Saints, and seeks to understand and respond to the Lord’s vision for our church. It also takes an overview of worship in our schools, and at Dray Court; and of prayer and Bible study within the congregation. The Pilgrim Course came within the remit of this group, and also oversight of the Resource Centre Library at All Saints.
Much of the detail with regard to worship is covered in my ‘Vicar’s Report’ and doesn’t need repeating here; but I’d like to highlight a few things that are of significance.
One is a ‘Worship Weekly’ challenge that we issued to members of the congregation in September, and continued to promote in the weeks and months that followed. This was in recognition of the fact that in terms of numbers of people on the ‘Family List’, we’re quite a large church (150 adults and 50 children); yet numbers attending on Sundays are much smaller. If all of us worshipped weekly we’d be a thriving congregation, with a strong Children’s Church, providing a powerful witness to our local community. The challenge to worship weekly continues, and will hopefully bear fruit in the months ahead – particularly if the challenges of Covid recede.
Another area of importance is the flexibility of the new furniture (chairs) in the main body of the church. This has enabled us to offer a wider range of
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services, including a ‘Café-Style’ Altogether Worship on the first Sunday of the month, and ‘church in the round’ during Tea Time Church. As a result both Altogether Worship and Tea Time Church have drawn in new people over the course of the year, and offered new and fresh approaches to worship. The increased flexibility has also proved invaluable for school services, where large numbers of children (250+) are now able to sit on the floor; and when we’ve set up ‘prayer stations’ around the church for children to engage with. Being able to space the rows of seats more widely for Sunday services has enabled us to stay safe during Covid, and keep our church services open when other churches have had to close.
As the pressures of Covid have receded, both our choir and band have been able to lead us in worship once again. Covid restrictions prevented the choir from rehearsing and singing at services for the first few months of 2021. With the technological help of Simon Doran and Harry Barham, we contributed recordings of music for several online services. These included two world premieres of anthems composed by Jeremy. As the vaccination programme unfolded, the choir felt able to resume rehearsing at the end of April, and returned to in-person singing (socially distanced and behind screens) for Pentecost Sunday on 23rd May. With many travel restrictions in place and summer holidays off the menu, unusually the choir was able to continue singing at services during August. In September we were delighted to welcome a new singer Zoe Young, who has made a wonderful addition to the alto and tenor lines. We sang Rutter at Harvest, another Barham world premiere on Remembrance Sunday, and in between produced a fine choral evensong for the Patronal Festival at the end of October. It was truly heartening to see so many people in the congregation for this service. The choir worked very hard to prepare the Christmas Nine Lessons and Carols on 12th December, and were joined at the service by a children's group who sang 'How Far is it to Bethlehem?' and 'Silent Night' after only three short rehearsals. I am very grateful to them and to all the members of the choir for their dedication and efforts in maintaining the choral tradition at All Saints particularly in these most challenging circumstances: Richard, Simon, Peter, Zoe, Fiona, Del, Lara, Sheila and Meg.
Amber Payne stood down from her role as Musical Worship Leader at the end of August, after a year of dedicated and inspiring service to All Saints. Administration of the band was taken up by Andy Wells, with the support of Ellie Wells in choosing music for first and third Sundays. Under Andy’s leadership new people have joined the band, the musical equipment has
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improved, and there is now a monthly Saturday rehearsal. A high point was a set of songs played during the Autumn Fayre, which people from the local community came to enjoy.
Another significant change has been the introduction of a ‘Warden with responsibility for Worship’, at the APCM in 2021. Henrietta Harding now holds this role, and has given dedicated service over the past year, whilst also continuing in her role as Sacristan.
Our Flower Team has also continued to provide beautiful displays, both for Sunday Services, for funerals and also for the wedding in August. Particularly special displays were also created for Easter, Harvest and Christmas. The team is ably overseen by Sue Hemingway, with support from a dedicated team of flower arrangers.
Behind the scenes of public worship lies our daily practice of prayer. Morning Prayer takes place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings (9.15am); prayer continues during the Thursday Communion Service at 9.15am, and at the Prayer Breakfast on the second Saturday morning of each month (8am). During lockdowns, prayer has taken place via Zoom, and has enabled more people to attend on a regular basis; and Morning Prayer is now always offered ‘in person’ from Church, and via Zoom. Members of the Pastoral Team take Home Communion to those who are housebound or ill, continuing this ministry of prayer and worship in a very personal way. We engaged with the Archbishop’s Call to Prayer, Thy Kingdom Come, between Ascension and Pentecost, and offered prayer during this time. This rhythm of prayer undergirds all we do as a church.
To summarise, it’s a rich pattern of worship, which is developing as time goes by, and one which I am privileged to lead. My prayer is that we will continue to worship the Lord together in the Spirit and in truth (John 4:23) in the years ahead.
**Revd Beverly Watson Chair, Worship Vision Group**
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## **Finance Review – Year Ended 31 December 2021**
In 2021 All Saints Church made a surplus of £2,883 on its main unrestricted fund compared to a deficit of £9,956 in 2020. The reason for the large deficit in 2020 was, as everybody knows, down to a loss of income arising from the pandemic but the return to a small surplus in 2021 was still surprising; we had actually budgeted for a deficit of roughly £7,700. The surplus arose because the church income recovered quite significantly after Covid; the total of the incoming resources for the year was £131,030 substantially more than the £111,694 in 2020. There was no great saving in expenditure - and in fact this was also greater than in 2020 though by nothing like so much: £128,147 compared to £121,650 in 2020. Please see the Statement of Financial Activities and Notes 2 & 3 to the accounts.
## **Incoming Resources (Notes 2(a) to 2(e) to the accounts)**
Each category of income within the Incoming Resources section of the accounts has shown an increase over 2020. Most categories have increased only modestly but the increase in the church hall income has been exceptional. The gross takings for the hall and church combined (both the church and Reading Room as well as the hall are now let out to user groups) has gone up from £18,629 in 2020 to £33,027 in 2021. We did of course expect to see some increase in the hall usage after Covid - but not to this extent. A comparison with 2019, the year before Covid, when the combined gross takings for hall and church were £23,721 probably better illustrates how well the hall has done.
The voluntary income from the congregation remains the church’s main source of income and this too has increased over 2020 though not so dramatically as that of the church hall. Nevertheless this also is encouraging because unlike the income from the church hall the voluntary income in 2020 was not adversely affected by Covid so the comparison between the two years is more meaningful. The Gift Aided giving alone, including income tax recovered, was up from about £52,400 to £56,500.
The other major sources of income in 2021 were the Thorn Bank bungalow and the Summer Fete (now the Autumn Fayre) and Bonfire. The rental income from the bungalow was the same as in 2020 but additional income arose from the Autumn Fayre and from the Bonfire, both cancelled in 2020, and both exceeding expectations in 2021.
The only other thing worth noting is the grant received from the local au-
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thority of £1,000 compared to £6,000 in 2020. This grant was from Angela Goodwin’s Member’s Allocation Fund and was specifically for the new shed. Under the circumstances the grant was a very important source of income in 2020 (and very helpful in 2021) but it is obviously important for the church to be able to generate enough income from its own resources to stay afloat as things return to normal.
## **Resources Expended**
As always, the biggest item of expenditure was the Parish Share, £78,658 compared to £73,457 in 2020. Under the new diocese method of calculation, the parish share was originally due to increase from £74,740 in 2019 to £78,658 in 2020. In one sense it did but the amount due was subjected to the diocese ‘Covid 19 Support Scheme’ so we ended up paying £5,200 less than the £78,658 initially required (to arrive at the aforementioned £73,457). In 2021 the increase to £78,658 finally kicked in and that was the amount paid. The increase to £78,658 was effectively set back by one year and I suppose we should be grateful for that.
Most of the other expenditures in the ‘Church Activities’ category were greater than their equivalent 2020 figures, which was to be expected as the church opened up again after Covid; the steep rise in church and hall cleaning costs are a good example of this – but the use of a professional cleaning company for the church and a waste disposal company (the local authority no longer do this free of charge) accounted for much of the increase.
There was also a steep rise in the expenditure on fund raising activity and again the reason for this was that there were events to be financed in 2021: the fayre, the bonfire etc, whereas there were none in 2020. The only category in which the expenditure was lower than 2020 was the final category ‘Costs of upkeep of buildings etc.’ but the expenditure here in 2020 was inflated by some £4,600, the cost of preparing the church floor for the introduction of the new chairs.
The overall result was, as stated above, that the church expenditure increased from £121,650 in 2020 to £128,147 in 2021, but also as stated above the increase in the church’s income was much greater: from £111,694 to £131,030.
## **Balance Sheet**
Everything said above relates to the main unrestricted fund of the church; it has increased from an opening balance on 1st January 2021 of £53,970 to
39
£56,853 (the surplus of £2,883) and then by the transfer of a further £3,217 from the various funds which were set up to pay for the new windows and chairs in the church. These funds are no longer needed so the small balances remaining on them, (the £3,217) were transferred to the main fund. The final balance on the main fund of the church at 31st December 2021 is therefore £60,070. Please see the Statement of Financial Activities and the notes to the accounts.
In addition to the main unrestricted fund of the church there are two subordinate funds to deal with large scale expenditures of the church and hall respectively. These funds and the movement upon them are described in detail in the notes 1(a) and 1(b) to the accounts. Over the course of the year both funds have declined in value; the church fund from an opening balance of £3,042 to £1,800, (note 1(a)), and the hall fund from £951 to zero (note 1 (b)). In order to obtain a comprehensive feel for the financial position of the church it is necessary to look not just at the main fund but also at these two funds – which combined, have declined in value by £2,193. So, the point I am trying to make is that the deficits on these two funds taken together just about wipe out the surplus £2,883 on the main fund leaving the church finances in little more than a break-even position. But even so the position is a great deal better than I supposed it would be in my gloomy prognostications in last year’s finance review.
**Christopher Lambert PCC Treasurer**
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## **Independent Examiners’s Report to the PCC of All Saints’ Church**
I report on the financial statements of the PCC for the year ended 31st December 2021, which are set out on pages 42 to 55.
## **Respective responsibilities of the PCC and the Independent Examiner.**
As members of the PCC you are responsible for preparation of the financial statements. You consider that an audit is not required for this year under Section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to
- examine the financial statements under section 145 of the 2011 Act;
- follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and
- state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
## **Basis of this report**
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission.
An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the PCC and a comparison of the financial statements presented with those records. It also includes considering any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required of an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
## **Independent Examiner’s statement**
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements
- to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 130 of the 2011 Act; or
- to prepare financial statements which accord with those accounting records have not been met; or
2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
Mary-Jane Crump ACA
Dated: 12th February 2022
18 Wilderness Road, GU2 7QX
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## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December 2021**
## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 together with applicable accounting standards and the Statement of Recommended Practice “SORP” 2015. They have therefore been prepared under the historical cost convention under which the assets of the church are valued at the lower of cost or net realisable value. The financial statements include all transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC is responsible in law. They do not include the accounts of church groups that owe their main affiliation to another body nor those that are informal gatherings of church members.
## **Funds**
Under the SORP 2015 the church may operate three categories of fund, unrestricted funds, restricted funds and designated funds. An unrestricted fund can be used for anything deemed appropriate by the church to further its general purposes. By contrast a restricted fund has to be set up when money is received by the church under condition that it must be used for a particular purpose. The money must be used for the purpose specified and cannot be used for any other (otherwise it would be a breach of trust). A designated fund is not restricted in this way but is money which has been earmarked by the PCC for a particular purpose and therefore has to be kept separate from the main fund of the church. In 2015 the PCC of All Saints operated a single unrestricted fund for all the financial transactions of the church. In 2016 however, and in each successive year up to 2020 it was found necessary to introduce additional funds in the other two categories to deal with a small number (though large in value) of specialised transactions. In the current year (2021) small balances remained on two of these additional funds, the chair fund and the windows fund, after all the necessary expenditure had been charged to them and these small balances being no longer required were transferred to the church’s main unrestricted fund. Please see notes 1(a) to 1(d) below for an explanation of all the specialised funds. The general ‘day to day’ activity of the church, as always, continues to be accounted for in the church’s main unrestricted fund and the Statement of Financial Activities for 2021 shown on the previous pages relates entirely to this fund; the balance on the fund at 31st December 2021 stood at £60,070 .
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**1(a) Church Maintenance Fund:** In 2021 it became apparent to the PCC that major repair work will always be necessary to the fabric of the church building and to the church fittings and fixtures on an ongoing basis – but when and to what extent is difficult to predict. In the past when such expenditure has occurred it has had a distorting effect upon the accounts because this sort of expenditure tends to be unpredictable and significant. The idea behind setting up this fund is that anticipated expenditure can be charged evenly to the main fund by transferring equal quarterly amounts to this fund (to build up the fund) and then the actual expenditure when it does arise can be charged to this fund instead. (Instead of against the main fund.) In 2021 the movement on the fund was as follows :
|In 2021 the movement on the fund was as follows :||
|---|---|
||**£**|
|Opening Balance at 1st January 2021|3,042|
|Transfer from main fund over the course of the year|5,000|
||8,042|
|Deduct Expenditure: Subsidence – Engineers Report|(720)|
|Lightning Conductor Work|(1,615)|
|Drainage Work|(3,042)|
|Reading Room Carpet|(865)|
|Balance remaining at 31 December 2021|1,800|
**1(b) Hall Maintenance Fund:** Everything said above in relation to the Church Maintenance Fund also applies to the Hall Fund. The transfer from the main fund however has had to be increased beyond the regular quarterly amount, which was initially thought adequate, to accommodate the purchase of the new shed for the hall which was not envisaged when the quarterly transfers were worked out. The movement on the fund in 2021 was as follows - leading to a zero balance :
|follows - leading to a zero balance :||
|---|---|
||**£**|
|Opening Balance at 01 January 2021|951|
|Transfer from main fund over the course of the year|3,088|
||4,039|
|Deduct Expenditure: New shed|(4,039)|
|Balance remaining at 31 December 2021|-|
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**1(c) Chair Fund:** This is a fund which was set up in 2020 to pay for the new chairs in the church. It consisted of donations from the congregation and the associated gift aid recovered from HMRC. A legacy of £10,000 left specifically for this purpose was also transferred to this fund. The amounts due to the supplier of the chairs, all now paid, were charged against the fund leaving a balance of £2,407. A small payment for a plaque was charged against the fund in the current year but the balance left after that was no longer required. As stated in Note 1 above this balance is now transferred to the main fund. The details are set out below .
|Opening Balance at 01 January 2021
Deduct Expenditure: Plaques for chairs
Transfer to main fund
Balance remaining at 31 December 2021|**£**
2,407
(105)
2,302
(2,302)|
|---|---|
||-|
**1(d) Windows Appeal Fund:** As stated in previous accounts this fund was created to pay for the replacement of the windows in the reading room and the church office. The movement on the fund during the year was as follows.
|lows.||
|---|---|
|Opening Balance at 01 January 2021
Transfer to main fund
Balance remaining at 31 December 2021|**£**
915
(915)|
||-|
## **Assets and Liabilities**
**1(e) Tangible Fixed Assets:** Consecrated and benefice property is the property of the diocese not the PCC and is excluded from the accounts by S10(2) (a) of the Charities Act 2011.
Moveable church furnishings held by the vicar and churchwardens on special trust for the PCC and which require a faculty for disposal are inalienable property, listed in the Church’s inventory, which can be inspected at any reasonable time. Such assets are not valued in the financial statements.
The freehold property in Thorn Bank stands in the Balance Sheet at a nominal valuation of £12,000. This valuation arose when the property was trans-
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ferred from Onslow Village Limited in 1983 to the church (as tenant of the bungalow). As in previous years it has not been thought worthwhile to revalue the property.
**1(f) Investments:** The CBF Investment Shares are included in balance sheet at cost price. Our 786 units are valued at £18,407 at the mid-market price of 2341.81 pence per share on 31st December 2021.
|**Net Current Assets:**
**1(g) Debtors and Prepayments:**
Gif Aid & GASDS income tax recoverable
Other – mainly payments in advance
Total|**£**
2,919
717
3,636|
|---|---|
**1(h) Short Term Deposits:** Monies surplus to current needs are lodged with the CBF Church of England Deposit Fund at short term rates of interest and with immediate withdrawals allowed.
**1(i) Cash at Bank:** The PCC banks with CAF Bank Ltd at their West Malling, Kent head office.
|**1(j) Creditors and Accruals:**
Thorn Bank rent received in advance
Hire of hall and church – advance receipts
Secretarial costs outstanding
Visitng organists
Magazine printng costs
Magazine advertsing in advance
Choral Scholars deferred income
Carpet for Reading Room
Utlites accruals
Other
Total|**£**
794
597
667
287
2,250
850
464
865
664
1,158|
|---|---|
||8,596|
**1(k) General Charitable Missions:** The Voluntary Giving from the congregation comes to approximately £70,250. So the charitable donations made by the church for 2020 will be in total 10% of that figure rounded down to £7,000, and see note 3(a). £1,200 has already been disbursed to the Wycliffe Bible Foundation so that leaves a further £5,800 to be disbursed, hence the accrual of this amount .
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## **Other Accounting Policies**
Planned giving, collections, donations and legacies are credited when received. Income tax refunds in respect of gift aid claims on the Planned Giving are credited quarterly when the claim has been calculated. The income tax recoverable under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) is claimed and accounted for twice annually – at the end of the tax year and at the end of the financial year. The income tax recoverable, £2,919, at the year-end – see note 1(g) therefore includes the second of these GASDS elements along with the main quarterly gift aid claim for the December Quarter. Property rents and amounts due in respect of the hire of the hall are credited to the period to which they relate. All other income is credited when received .
**Resources expended:** Missionary and charitable giving is accounted for when the amounts to be donated have been agreed by the PCC. The diocesan parish share is paid by twelve monthly instalments and accounted for accordingly. All other expenditure is generally recognised when it is incurred.
|**Missionary and Charitable Giving:**
Wyclife Bible Translaton Foundaton
Five Talents
Friends Internatonal
The Bishop of Guildford’s Foundaton
A Rocha
United Society Partners in the Gospel
Bible Society
Mosaic Middle East
North Guildford Food Bank
Total|£
1,200
725
725
725
725
725
725
725
725
£7,000|
|---|---|
50
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**Approved by the PCC on 15th February and signed on their behalf by:**
**Revd Beverly Watson (Vicar)**
**Mr Christopher Lambert (PCC Treasurer)**
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