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## Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council
For the year ended 31st December 2024
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## **Clergy Report**
Welcome to our Parish report which covers the year January to December 2024.
This year we have faced a number of challenges and a number of joys. In January we eased into the new year with usual services resuming and plans for a Lent soon upon us. We held a simple Ash Wednesday service at St Dunstan’s and during Lent our Tsedaqah placement student Liam Higgins led an informative and well-researched zoom course called Mind the Gap where we walked through the period in history between the Old and New Testaments. Out Easter service were special; Maundy Thursday’s supper, foot washing and communion at St Michael’s was a quiet and thoughtful service, Good Friday offered a moving alternative to the usual Hour at The Cross, and Easter Sunday was celebrated at St Dunstan’s Church which was particularly poignant as it was the last regular Sunday service to be held there for the foreseeable future.
Some of our PCC members changed at the APCM with some members stepping down and two new members joining us. We’re so grateful to those who share their time and wisdom on the PCC and help shape our church communities. We welcome a new staff member, Beth Powell who was recruited as Open Table’s new Ministry Co-ordinator. James Fleming our Parish Warden has completed a year of Reader Training and we have enjoyed him preaching and leading more services with us. In June we were excited to attend the Deacon Ordinations where we not only celebrated (the now Rev’d) Lilly Nelson become a Deacon but also meet and welcome our new Curate Rev’d Lu Skerratt-Love to our Parish. It has been a joy getting to know Lu over the past few months who brings lots of ministry experience, theological insight, a passion for justice and general good humour to our team.
The recruitment for a new Rector stepped up in April onwards as a sub-committee worked tirelessly on the Parish Profile. Unfortunately that round of advertising bore no fruit so with some adjustments the job was re-advertised. Finally in August we interview the successful candidate, Rev’d David Halliwell. David was installed on December 2nd and we are delighted to have such a joyful, experienced, prayerful and hope-filled Rector.
The summer was a busy time with a jubilant concert arranged by Fern Arthurs with Danielle Thomas our music leaders. The entire production, which consisted of three vocalists and a full orchestra, was of a highly professional standard and was greatly uplifting - it also raised £500 for St Bride’s. The PCC decided that this will go towards a
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much needed dishwasher which should be installed in 2025. In June Open Table celebrated its 16th Birthday with lots of cake to go round.
Three weddings took place this summer. Each were very happy occasions but one of them fell on the Greenbelt weekend leaving Rev’d Laura unable to attend the Festival this year with the other church member who made the trip down to Kettering. St Bride’s Warden Sue Say who attended for the first time described Greenbelt as, ‘heaven on Earth. Surrounded by thousands of considerate, helpful, caring people, for four wonderfully inclusive days.’
In Late August St Bride’s and Open Table Liverpool was generously donated (on longterm load) an artwork by Elizabeth Gray-King via an anonymous donor. The piece _Nativity (Tancred)_ is, _‘_ reminding us that the Nativity revealed the presence of God in humanity, who grew to an adult (not stuck in the ‘sweet’ Nativity narrative) and who as he grew, welcomed all to the temple and to the eternal place of God.’ You can find the work hanging in the Narthex of St Bride’s.
In September, following conversations over the summer, Revd Laura and Revd Lu were formally appointed as the new Chaplains to Archbishop Blanch School. They succeed the school’s long-serving and much-loved previous chaplain, who dedicated decades of faithful service and pastoral care to the school community.
Recognising the high level of clergy engagement the school had grown to value, it became clear that a shared approach was the most sustainable way forward. By dividing the responsibilities between the Team Vicar and the Curate, we were able to maintain a strong and consistent clergy presence while ensuring the role remained manageable for both. This collaborative model has proven to be both effective and energising. The first major event—a whole-school service to welcome students back after the summer break—ran smoothly and marked a significant moment for Revd Laura and Revd Lu, who led worship for over 1,000 students and staff for the first time. It was a joyful beginning to what promises to be a fruitful new chapter in our partnership with the school.
In Autumn our Curate Rev’d Lu launched a course centred on episodes of The Chosen TV series. Participants were invited to attend St Michael’s church for 8 weeks where they watched an episode of the show and discussed it afterwards. Ten people attended including some who had no previous contact with the Parish and we are looking forward to running the next series of the course in 2025.
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Throughout the year the Team Vicar and Curate have consistently attended the Roots in the City community lunches at St Michael’s. This has been a valuable time for deepening links with Faiths4Change and the local participants of the gardening group.
Sadly, in Autumn was sadly said goodbye to two much loved church members; Pam Bishop who had attended St Dunstan’s and faithfully served on the worship planning there and Derek Cooper who was a long time member of St Bride’s and served tea and coffee week in week out. May they rest in peace and rise in glory.
This year saw two of our leaders updating their Leadership Safeguarding Training. Both the Rev’d Anne Kazich and Rev’d Laura Ferguson completed this in depth course. Part of the training required participants to commit to specific tasks within six months of the training and some of these, including updating all of our Parish Risk Assessments will be coming into action in 2025.
Christmas was particularly special this year with the season beginning with a major school event hosted at St Dunstan’s run by Lauda and a team of volunteers. The Christmas trail invited students from St Hughs Primary school into the church which was magically transformed into a live nativity. ‘Actors’ played nativity characters and invited children to enter into the scenes where the drama unfolded. Children were given bags to take away in which small items from each of the six stations were collected enabling them to retell the Christmas story themselves. This was a successful event and much fun for children and volunteers alike. The school was keen to send us their gratitude and although it was a huge amount of work, particularly for Leah Daly, it paid off wonderfully.
On the evening of the same day we were overjoyed to finally welcome Rev’d David Halliwell who was listened by Bishop John at a full and memorable service at St Bride’s. The church was packed out and we had a number of visitors coming from David’s sending church, his curacy church, St Margaret’s of Antioch and members of our own churches. We also welcomed folk from the local community including representatives of Micah, the Community Police, Archbishop Blanch school and ecumenical partners.
This year saw the much-anticipated return of the Open Table Carol Service in full force, drawing a remarkable crowd of over 200 people. Every chair in the main worship space was filled, and even the Narthex was packed to capacity—testament to the enduring appeal and deep resonance of this beloved event.
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As always, the service was a moving and joy-filled celebration, lifting spirits and setting a festive tone for the season ahead. A heartfelt thank you and congratulations to Warren and the whole team for delivering such a warm, inclusive, and memorable evening.
Throughout the year, our Parish has remained actively engaged in the ongoing process of discerning our place within the Fit for Mission (FFM) framework. Rev’d Laura and Rev’d Lu attended weekly sessions, exploring a range of key themes- outlined in more detail below- that continue to shape the vision for a more sustainable and collaborative future. Becoming part of a larger, single Parish structure offers significant potential benefits, particularly in easing the governance and buildings-related responsibilities that currently place heavy demands on our clergy and lay leaders. However, important questions remain, particularly around how diversity and inclusion will be addressed within the new model. We look forward to gaining greater clarity on these issues in 2025.
In the autumn, we hosted the Cultivate course - a deanery-wide FFM initiative designed to equip those discerning a call to plant new worshipping communities. While the course offered inspiring possibilities, our Parish discerned that our current priorities lie elsewhere. At this time, we feel called to focus on deepening pastoral care and strengthening discipleship, rather than launching new initiatives.
A key decision point will come in March 2025, when the PCC will vote on whether to formally become part of the proposed Hope Liverpool Parish. We remain committed to thoughtful, prayerful discernment as we move forward.
Financially, we ended the year in good health. The parish is paying its Parish Share and has committed to increasing our payments over the course of three years in line with our Deanery’s financial plan. Our rentals have continued to contribute greatly to our finances and we have seen a slight increase in our income this year. We are hugely grateful for all those whose faithful giving to the church ensures that we have a stable base of support with which to carry out our ministry. This enables us to continue making the church spaces available at no charge for the Foodbank, the community market and Roger Smalley’s homeless meals project, for some of the community garden activities and for the Lauda project.
As we move into 2025, we do so with renewed hope. With a new Rector joining us, we are beginning to lift our eyes beyond the steady, faithful maintenance of the vacancy period and ask what God might be inviting us to next. This is a moment to reimagine our our identities as three congregations, three justice projects and one Parish. We aim to prayerfully discern our priorities, especially in light of what may emerge through Fit for
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**Laura Ferguson** Team Vicar
Mission. We hope discover how we can grow like a tree rooted in Christ, with deeper roots, a stronger core, and branches that bear the fruits of new life.
## **Reference and Administrative Information**
The Parochial Church Council of the Team Parish of St Luke in the City is a registered charity, and its registered number is 1152031. Details of PCC members, who are the charity trustees, have to be provided to the Charity Commission.
The parish includes three churches: St Bride & St Saviour, located on Percy Street; St Dunstan on Earle Road, and St Michael in the City on Upper Pitt Street. The parish is part of the Diocese of Liverpool and its official correspondence address is: St Luke in the City Parish Office, St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT.
The following people served as members of the Parochial Church Council:
|**Team Rector**|Vacancy|
|---|---|
|**Team Vicar**|Laura Ferguson|
|**Curate**|Vacant until July 2024 when Rev’d Lu
Skerratt-Love became our Assistant Curate|
|**SSM Priest**|Sara Doyle (until 29th December 2024)
Anne Kazich|
|**Reader**|Christopher Bartley|
|**Reader in Training**|James Fleming|
|**Churchwardens**|Christopher Bartley (until 28th April 2024)
James Fleming|
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|**Deanery Synod**
**representatives**|Sue Say
John Denno (until 28th April 2024)
James Fleming
Christopher Bartley (until 28th April 2024)|
|---|---|
|**Elected Members**|John Denno (until 28th April 2024)
Sharon Ginley
Rose Green
Karen McCaldon
Suzie Rotheram
Sue Say
Helen Stocker (until 28th April 2024)
Emma Watson
Natalie Preston (formally elected on 28th
April 2024)|
|**Treasurer**|Raymond Bissex|
|**Co-Opted Members**|Warren Hartley (until formally elected onto
PCC on 28th April 2024)|
|**Ofcer**|Jackie Corcoran|
|**PCC Secretary**|Suzie Rotheram|
|**Safeguarding Ofcers**|Rose Green|
||Sue Say (until 28th April 2024)|
|**Recruitment Lead**|Laura Ferguson|
The licensed clergy and Reader are each ex-officio members of the PCC. The Team Rector is ex-officio Chair of the PCC and this defers to the Team Vicar when in Vacancy.
|**Bankers:**|The Cooperative Bank PLC
1 Balloon Street, Manchester, M60 4EP|
|---|---|
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||Central Board of Finance of the Church of
England
80 Cheapside London EC2V 6DZ|
|---|---|
|**Independent Examiner**|Mr. I Wright B.A. F.C.A.
15 Stretton Drive, Southport PR9 7DR|
|**Legal Advisors:**|Mr. H. Dellar
1, The Sanctuary, Westminster, Liverpool SW1P
3JT
Hill Dickinson LLP
1 St Paul's Square, Liverpool L3 9SJ|
|**Estate Management:**|PKPM Chartered Surveyors
Suite 7, Church House, 1 Hanover Street,
Liverpool,
L1 3DN|
|**Architects: (St Bride’s,**
**St Dunstan’s and St**
**Michael’s)**|Finlayson’s Architects, Altrincham, Cheshire,
WA15 9SY|
## **Structure, Management and Governance**
The St Luke in the City PCC is a body corporate and operates under the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956 and the Church Representation Rules.
The PCC business has a sub-committee, the Building Sub-Committee.
The function of the PCC is to enable and support mission, to foster communication and collaboration between the individual churches as appropriate and to provide a framework of accountability to the Diocese, Charity Commission and other legal bodies.
The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. All church members are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.
## **Objectives and Activities**
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The general functions of the PCC are stated within section 2 of the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956.
Our specific objectives in 2024 were to
1. Achieve a balanced budget and maintain financial stability.
2. Deepen our links with and mission in our local communities whilst engaging with Fit for Mission.
3. Develop our discipleship and pastoral care in order to rebuild and grow our congregations
Over the course of the year we have made some progress with these objectives, as outlined in the Clergy Report at the start of this document. (Overview/ summary of the finances) Our Parish links continue to develop, particularly at St Dunstan’s where Lauda, our outreach to the Romanian Roma community and the Community Food Marker continue to make a notable impact in the local community.
## **The Electoral Roll**
There are 65 people on the Electoral Roll of the parish:
St Michaels - 13 Members
St Dunstans (until Easter Sunday 2024) - 9 Members
St Brides - 43 Members
## **Public Worship**
Since Easter 2024 the PCC took the difficult decision to pause regular Sunday Worship at St Dunstan’s church. A combination of very low numbers and fewer clergy maintaining the Eucharistic services was becoming increasingly difficult. The maintenance and upkeep of the building was placing increasing strain on an already over-worked congregation. The PCC decided to request that St Dunstan’s apply to the Bishop to become a Festival Church. This requires the church to host 6 worship services annually and continue to carry out occasional offices.
Our other Sunday services have continued as in the previous year with the continuation of the last Sunday of the month being a joint service that rotates across
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the two churches. Open Table meets twice monthly on the 1st and 3rd Sunday evening of the month for an Agape meal and a Eucharist service with both being available on zoom.
St Bride’s Sunday morning 10am service numbers have continued to vary and we have therefore spent the majority of our time worshipping in the Narthex.These services are Eucharistic twice or three times a month. On alternate months our Reader in Training have continued to co-ordinates a Taize service at 6pm. Open Table continues to meet twice monthly with the first Sunday being Agape meal and the second Sunday being a Eucharist service. These services have been well-attended, particularly the 3rd Sunday service which often hosts notable church leaders and theologians.
St Michael’s continues to meet at 11.15am with a regular pattern of alternating services of the word with Holy Communion. On the second Sunday each month St Michael’s has a Godly Play service which is geared towards interactive worship and play. This service makes use of the new TV and sound system which gives the service more of a contemporary feel. Due to our Eco church volunteer stepping back our Joint services at St Michael’s have not offer the same level of Eco focus but this is something that, when better resourced we’d really like to revisit. We have teamed up with Faiths4Change for a Christmas fair which offered crafts and activities for all ages. St Michael’s was host to the Nativity Service this year and we were able to borrow the resources from Lauda’s Christmas trail and reenact the scenes.
Our midweek worship pattern has reduced as the Team Vicar is occupied with other duties - this is temporary as we aim to appoint new full-time team members. With the arrival of the new Team Rector David Halliwell in December 2024 we have begun conversations about new patterns of daily prayer and a new rhythm of worship for the churches. We look forward to 2025 when we can implement those.
As for our occasional offices, we have had 3 weddings this year, 1 baptism and 9 funerals.
## **Pastoral care and service to our community**
St Bride’s is home to a number of local charities and organisations including: Refugee Women Connect, Narcotics Anonymous, Roger Smalley’s Homeless Meals Project,
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the British Red Cross, two community choirs, Jackie Corcoran’s community music group and our social justice anchor project, Micah Foodbank. Both the Parish currently offer informal support to individuals and there the early stages of a pastoral care group beginning. Open table offers support one-to-one and is developing its wider team to assist in pastoral care (see full report below). There remains potential to offer considerably more support throughout the Parish and as the ministry team builds up again we hope to make this a priority for 2025. Once again Toxteth’s Kuumba Imani centre invited our Parish and other religious sites locally to be participate in an Interfaith Walk. Warren Hartley has been a committed member of the planning group and in August this year around 120 to 130 people attended and visited the chosen sites of worship in L8 with a short talk, a walk between the buildings and shared food at the end.
St Michael’s continues to be home to the Chinese Well-being group, Liverpool Rainbow Choir and Faith Clinic church. Our social justice anchor project Roots in the City continues to offer green space, therapeutic gardening and horticultural training for various groups. The Team Vicar now regularly attends the Tuesday drop-in group for local people. The church and F4C won a Deanery grant to run a series of 3 week courses to school aged children which would explore spirituality, creation care and cooking - called Sow, Grow, Cook, Serve. The first of these will roll out in early 2025.
St Dunstan’s is home to Kumon language school, Pastor Shelley’s church and Garden of Hope, the Community Market as well as the social justice anchor project Lauda. This outreach to the Roma community in the Parish has continued to grow with secondary and primary schools requesting Lauda run projects with them. Lauda now runs an after school club in St Hugh’s and children love ‘Lauda Bible Club’ so much that there is a waiting list. In April 2024 St Dustin’s hosted 80 children for an Easter Trail at which groups were invited to move around the church and engage with volunteer led stations. There were stories, crafts/reflections and take-away items at each station and it was hugely successful way for children to engage with the Easter story. The school sent a glowing report saying as much.
Due to this success St Dunstan’s further hosted another similar event at Christmas with the volunteers this time acting as biblical characters from the nativity.
Wednesday’s at St Dunstan’s have become a significant community hub with Roma women taking part in a language class, clothes stalls and refreshments. Micah
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stepped back from running the session and assistant church Warden Karen Parson along with Lauda’s Leah Daly have worked together wonderfully in managing the morning. The team of volunteers have been outstanding and there are plans to offer the A Level Students at Archbishop Blanch high school to volunteer with us too.
Towards the end of the school year Archbishop Blanch approached our Team Vicar Laura to ask if she might consider becoming Archbishop Blanch’s new Chaplain. Such a special opportunity could not be refused but it was agreed that when the new Curate arrived in Parish that they too would share the Chaplaincy role. This has ensured that the Team Vicar’s role is not spread too thin and it has been a wonderful opportunity to offer to our Curate.
As a Parish we continue to take our safeguarding responsibilities seriously and are regularly reviewing our practices.
## **Our Church Buildings**
Our appointed Architecture firm Finlayson’s were finally able to make headway this year on Quinquennial Inspections that are overdue. St Bride’s inspection was completed, fortunately only minor recommendations were made including some gutting repairs to on the roof which are causing a leak to the front facade. The PCC has begun to explore the possibility of convening a new group to explore funding opportunities to repair the internal plastering work and think longer term about more ambitious renovations. St Bride’s has also benefitted from a meeting with Tom Rickwood the Church Buildings Support Officer for the Diocese to explore the possibility of applying for some funding through the Parish Disability Grant Scheme. Installing a new Hearing Loop system and some braille signage were considered and we hope to move forward on this in 2025.
Unfortunately St Bride’s also had some unexpected issues this year; firstly a large tree came down on some cars parked in the grounds. Fortunately there were no injuries (although two cars were damaged) and we were able to have the tree cut down and removed within 24 hours. Secondly, in June a drain in the grounds of St Bride’s appeared to be overflowing and after a in depth investigation we were informed that the drains had partially collapsed towards the Catherine Street end of the site. To repair the damage initially seemed like a straightforward job and affordable job but as the contractors began the work of digging down into the carpark they discovered that the drains were in a worse condition and were in fact much deeper than they
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expected. The work is expected to cost well over £10,000 and so progress has paused while new quotes are requested and our insurance company offers advice. The work is ongoing.
At St Dunstan’s, The building has increasing issues with blocked external gutters and drainpipes which cause leaking throughout. Roofers have made remedial repairs but the drain clearance that is needed requires scaffolding to be installed which places the cost well into the tens of thousands. The upkeep of the building continues to place great pressure on those involved in keeping it open. Keeping the spaces clean has been increasingly an issue as there is now no congregation to keep on top of the maintenance required. In November our Curate Lu found a company who could clear the gutters without requiring scaffolding and they were able to come out and inspect the roof using ropes and climbing gear. The were able to quote for the work which was considerably less than the earlier options and hope to carry out this work in 2025.
Progress has been slow at St Michael’s and the flat remains vacant while we wait for resources to focus their attention on the drain damage. Lack of security on the site has us particularly vulnerable to vandalism. This year the garden suffered at the hands of vandals who damaged crops and broke the greenhouse, amongst other things. Therefore the focus this year has been to put energy into finding a contractor to replace the fencing around the entire site. The PCC approved up to £30,000 to replace the fencing around St Michael’s and the PCC were able to acquire three quotes by the end of the year. We are aiming for the work to begin in early 2025. In November St Michael’s was due to host the Deanery’s Cultivate course but it was then that we discovered that most of the lightbulbs on the ceiling of the worship space had blown. After calling out the electrician we were informed that to replace the bulbs we would be required to hire scaffolding and there was no guarantee that the electrician could find the outdated fluorescent bulbs needed anyway. It was decided that new lights would be installed at head height throughout the church for a third of the cost. The work was completed in time for the course and now were are well-illuminated at St Michael’s.
## **Deanery, Diocese and the wider church and mission**
This year we received grants from the Deanery Mission and Growth Fund for a Faiths4Change/St Michael’s schools project. The team vicar and a PCC members have continued to serve on the Deanery and Mission Pastoral Committee which has enabled our Parish to offer more support to the Deanery.
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After a PCC vote in March the Parish committed to entering into the Fit for Mission’s Imaging-as-if we were part of Fit for Mission. As such work began with the Deanery’s new Change Facilitator Clayton Rowe and clergy Change Lead Keith Hitchman to set up the Navigation Team. This team would be made up of clergy and Lay people and would steer the FFM journey for our Deanery addressing concerns and setting up sub-committees to envision how our governance, finance, buildings, unity and diversity, leadership and mission might look.
Th year was divided into phases - April to May was the Discover period where the clergy team meetings began, the monthly news letter was established, the Parish surveys were sent out and a community research piece began. June- September was the Dream phase where PCC’s were invited to participate in a Pyramid review, a workshop was organised to explore unity and potential mission goals. Then OctoberJanuary was the Discern phase where all churches were invited to sign up to the Cultivate course and consider how our Parish could develop a number of new worshipping communities. Three members from St Bride’s attended this course in November. The final phase is the Discern phase which runs from January-March when the final vote will take place. The Team vicar has attend the weekly clergy meetings throughout the year and is on the Navigation Team which also meets weekly.
## **Ecumenical and Inter-faith relationships**
With Fit for Mission commitments taking up so much time it has been difficult to seek out relationships with other denominations. We hope in 2025 to rekindle our good relationship with the Roman Catholic folk at St Vincent de Paul. Our commitment to the inter-faith walks organised by the committee at Kuuba Imani continue and the Team Vicar and Curate attended an afternoon of Scriptural Reasoning with local faith leaders in August, not long after the summer riots (some of which took place in our Parish). This therefore felt like a significantly and important event for us to attend and was a very positive experience.
## **FINANCE OVERVIEW**
(see full report below)
## **The Performance of Investments**
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The PCC's funds are held in a Current Account with Co-operative Bank and in deposit funds with CCLA Investment Management in the Church of England's Finance Deposit Fund and the Church of England Global Equity Investment and Property funds. To see more read the attached finance document.
## **Reserves Policy**
The trustees have established the level of operating reserves (that is those funds that are freely available) that the charity ought to have, which is roughly equal to six months general expenditure, £100,000. Reserves are needed to even out any short term funding gaps between spending and related income. The PCC are content with the current level of reserves.
## **Income from lettings**
Lettings income this year was a total of £66,867 which is an increase compared to the £56,284 in 2023.
## **Giving to the church**
Our second largest source of income is giving by the congregation. Planned giving in 2024 was £24,148 (up from 2023 which was £22,805, with an additional £4567 given as donations, in collections and other. These gifts allowed us to reclaim £5,387 tax from HMRC. In addition we received £6,375 from grants.
## **Financial Risk**
The Standing Committee closely monitored the evolving financial situation. Having finally turned around years of deficit budgets and now finding ourselves in profit. The PCC is committed to sustaining balanced budgets in 2024 and beyond. These years have shown that our income is very dependent on lettings and in 2024 a focus has been diversifying the mix of lettings income that we receive to increase our financial resilience. We will continue to promote the Parish Giving Scheme and will invest in two new digital giving terminals which are installed in St Bride’s and St Michaels. This all contributes to us managing our financial risk. All assets are insured and levels will be reviewed by our insurer Ecclesiastical.
## **Employees**
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The parish employed three part time staff: Jackie Corcoran as parish administrator, Vicky Clarke, cleaner at St Michael’s and Megan Fleming cleaner at St Dunstan’s and St Brides’. Leah Daly, Lauda leader was employed by Liverpool Parish Church but will come onto our Parish payroll in 2024. All continue to be supervised and support by the Team Vicar in our Parish. Our payroll is managed by LCVS.
## **Risk Assessments**
The PCC regularly monitors risk. Risk assessments are undertaken for all new or extraordinary undertakings.
## **Compliance with Law and Regulation**
Our procedures are reviewed regularly and formally reported to the PCC.
## **Safeguarding**
Sue Say stepped down as Safeguarding Officer at the APCM on 28th April and Rose Green continues as a Safeguarding Officer with Laura Ferguson remaining as Lead Recruiter. Safeguarding is a standing item on the PCC agenda and steps have been taken to recruit the second officer.. The Team Parish of St Luke in the City takes its duty and obligation to protect all extremely seriously. We have adopted the national Church of England's procedures and guidelines. You can find out more about the national policies and procedures at www.churchofengland.org/safeguarding.
If you have any safeguarding concerns or issues on a safeguarding matter then you can find useful contact information at www.liverpool.anglican.org/safeguarding.
Looking forward: Objectives and Activities The general functions of the PCC are stated within section 2 of the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956. As a parish we aim to be ‘Living Life in Full Colour from the Still Centre of God’.
Our three priorities continue to be:
- Sustainability: developing our financial resilience and recruiting a new Rector.
- Locality: deepening our roots in our local parish communities
- Growth: in numbers in our churches, in spiritual depth, and in service to our communities
In addition, we aim to contribute to the Deanery Priorities by fully engaging with the Fit for Mission ‘working-as-if phase’ which was voted and agreed on in March 2024 PCC meeting.
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## **ADDITIONAL REPORTS**
## **CURATE’S REPORT**
## **Rev’d Lu Skerratt-Love, Assistant Curate of the Team Parish of St Luke in the City**
I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since I became your assistant curate. Time has flown by! Over the last 10 months I have been exploring lots of elements of parish life and finding my feet as a newly ordained minister. The 3 years as an assistant curate is a time where I ‘learn the ropes’ of what it means to be a deacon, and then a priest, with all its joys and its challenges. I care deeply about incarnational ministry and much of my ministry has evolved outside of church on a Sunday morning, especially with young people and those who are ostracised, isolated or alone in our community.. Since joining the ministry
team I’ve become the chaplain (with Laura) at Archbishop Blanch School which is very exciting and have been working closely with Leah as part of The Lauda Project (our ministry with the Roma community). This project is
continuing to blossom. There are a wonderful community of children and young people at St Michael’s which is growing and it has been a delight to support, encourage and empower them through worship. We have exciting plans in the pipeline for how we can resource this community further, so watch
this space! Another particular highlight of this past year has been running
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The Chosen Course – a bible study using the first season of tv series, The Chosen. I’m hoping to run The Chosen Season 2 soon! I am looking forward to what the next year of my curacy may bring, especially after being priested.
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## **MICAH**
## **Philip Bishop, Micah Trustee & Volunteer at the St Bride’s Foodbank & St Dunstan’s Community Market**
St. Bride’s Church is one of the three founder members of Michah – the Liverpool Social Justice charity – the other two are the Anglican and RC cathedrals. Two **foodbanks** are part of Micah’s work – at St. Bride’s on Thursday mornings and St. Vincent’s RC church on Tuesday mornings. Both churches are within easy reach of three large hostels serving asylum seekers and refugees – so it is not surprising that 80% of our visitors come from these categories. (Two **food markets** – pay £2 and choose 15 items - at St. Dunstan’s and in Toxteth, provide for local, well-established communities.) About 240 people are currently served across the Tuesday and Thursday foodbanks. They come from war-torn and poverty-stricken countries. The biggest group at present is from Eritrea. Two years ago, we welcomed many families, but most of our guests are now young, single men and women. If you would like to know more, please talk to Leslie Fenton, Margaret Gibson or Philip Bishop.
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## **LAUDA Leah Daly, Lauda Co-ordinator**
2024 was another lovely year with the Lauda Project!
**Community Market** at St. Dunstan’s continues to be a wonderful partnership between St. Dunstan’s, Micah Food Bank and Lauda. We also continue to be supported by NHS Liferooms with social prescribing and various health related workshops. Philharmonic continued to run their community music programs on Wednesdays, often providing beautiful live music for all our visitors and creating a wonderful atmosphere. Liverpool
Women’s came to support us often this year with clothing donations and support for the women. And with the ongoing partnership with Granby Toxteth development trust we were able to provide ESOL lessons during our market hours. We also have been working with Picton Network of GPS and healthcare providers who have started running health sessions.
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Our **Afterschool Lauda Bible club** has continued at St. Hugh’s Catholic Primary school, as we enjoy working with 20-30 of their children each week. We have been supported by Tsedaqah interns and Youth with A mission Liverpool volunteers which have been a tremendous help. Leah Daly who leads the project has also had the pleasure of supporting children in Year 1 once a week as more than
half the class are Roma and many of them are benefiting from some extra help and attention, especially with English language development.
**Archbishop Roma Girls group** has continued, though instead of reading with them, we now use our Wednesday Lunch times as a catch up and wellbeing group. We have been using Rooted from Scripture Union as a guide to talk about life goals and journey, identity and dealing with emotions. We also do creative activities and eat lunch together.
Leah also supported the girls to participate in a multilingual poetry project at the school and Lu and Leah helped the girls set up a table at the school’s annual Cultural Market and share a special Roma traditional salad and artifacts and photos about Roma culture with their friends and teachers.
Lu and Leah were also grateful to join the staff of Archbishop Blanch for a Roma culture and
language training session given by Juice Vaimos who is a fantastic Roma advocate and leader of Kaskosan charity serving Roma in Bradford and all over Europe.
Leah has also been able to go into school to help translate for families when they have meetings with teachers and help them to develop mutual
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trust and cooperation.
**Liverpool John Moores University’s Gypsy Traveller Roma Showman Boater (GTRSB) History Month event** was a wonderful experience. Lauda helped to organize some of the ladies to volunteer and help host the event and we also organized some fun crafts for the children
who
came. The event was very well attended and it was wonderful to be part of this celebration and invitation to see more Roma going for higher education. We heard from different members of the GTRSB community who were all the first in their families to go to University. It was
inspiring!
## **Christmas Trail**
In early December with the help of Karen McCaldon, St. Dunstan’s church warden,
Laura, Lu and Leah ran a fabulous Christmas experience trail at St. Dunstan’s for three year groups from St. Hughs. We were also supported by two YWAM Liverpool
volunteers and two Scripture Union Liverpool Staff. We had a great team and a lot of hard work went into setting up each station where the children would visit and experience part of the Christmas story of Jesus’ birth. It was a lovely time!
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## **Roma Ladies Christmas Meal**
This year we were invited by Bold Street Community Centre in the old “Bread Church” to use their facilities to cook and eat together a traditional Romanian Roma Christmas meal. The ladies showed off their talent, whipping up a fantastic spread of stuffed cabbage rolls, special potatoes salad and sweet bread called cozonac. It was delicious and a wonderful way to spend time together, learning more about their traditions and celebrate the season.
Lauda has been a part of **Shucar Glasso,** a research and community change initiative, run in partnership with Kuumba Immani Millenium Centre, Liverpool Hope University, NHS Life Rooms and Granby Toxteth Development Trust. We meet with professionals from all areas, education, social work, healthcare and community to discuss working together to improve the lives of Roma youth in Liverpool. From there we organized a parents feedback session at St. Dunstan’s to hear from the community about their perceptions of life in Liverpool for them, their families and their young people. After that, we held another listening session to hear more on challenges Roma families face regarding education. We have learned a great deal and have built a network of working professionals to collaborate with. We use the information we have gathered to help equip these professionals to work with Roma families and be more effective at improving the outcomes for Roma young people. We have held a training session on Overcoming Barriers to Education and our next session will be on removing barriers to health care access.
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**Supporting Individuals** Besides our regular programs, we also
support people individually according to need. We visit families, resource items they may need like baby buggies or beds, clothes, etc. and provide support and encouragement for different life situations. We helped one lady study for her driving theory test and another we helped to enroll in school and search for jobs. As much as our capacity allows we enjoy working with the families to meet practical needs.
This covers the bulk of activity from 2024. Since 2025 we have started new activities so stay tuned to hear more of all the exciting things happening here at the Lauda Project! Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
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## **ST BRIDE’S COMMUNITY MUSIC Report Jackie Corcoran, St Bride’s Community Music Co-Ordinator**
Co-Muse Community Music runs on Thursday evenings at St Bride’s Church
We are an inclusive group, welcoming music folk who are returning to music practice and music folk who are experienced.
We are intergenerational and we have a friendly vibe going on. We continue to explore different genres of music, but currently explore jazz music more intently and our members really enjoy improvisation. We also take time during sessions to perform solo music that we are working on.
## **During 2024**
In June we supported the British Red Cross’ Refugee Week celebration by playing music for them after the special lunch. This is a music activity that is now a regular annual event for our group.
In July we supported a small concert produced by Nick Branton, who has supported St Bride’s worship services in the past. The concert featured duo Jessica Ackerly , Canadian, and Eli Wallace, from Brooklyn. These composers/improvisers played some amazing music of their creation and Co-Muse members helped out in the kitchen and cleared a small sum of about £100 for St Bride’s building projects.
In October we held our concert ‘Musical Afrmations’, also in support of St Bride’s building projects. It was a great night and attracted about 75 members of our local community. Our guest artist was decolonial hip hop artist Andre Jahnoi. We enjoyed playing live music supporting one of Andre’s hip hop pieces using a riff from our own Amy Crane’s composition ‘Acceptance’. This was the formal premiere of her work. This concert was really enjoyed by the people. As a ‘dry’ event we raised close to £300. We gave passes to the British Red Cross and ticket prices were tiered ‘Waged’ and ‘Unwaged’ to provide accessibility to all.
Also In October Co-Muse provided live but quiet ‘election jazz’ as unobtrusive, neutral background music while St Bride’s was used as a polling station This was appreciated by the polling station staff and by the voters and we think it may have been a world first in the use of live music. :)
Co-Muse continues to be a place for musicians, both new and experienced to practice their craft and perform in unique ways that support our local community and bringing positive attention to our St Bride’s church building.
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## **READER IN TRAINING James Fleming, Reader in Training, Parish Warden & Taize Service leader**
## **Taizé**
During 2024 we have held fewer Taizé services while discerning how best to develop this ministry of praying through song and contemplation. Highlights included an evening prayer service in January 2024 to pray for new opportunities in the new year, and, at the beginning of Holy Week, we held a special Taizé service entitled ‘Wait for the Lord’, which was attended by many students and visitors to St. Bride’s. This was followed by a special service to celebrate Pentecost and Trinity season in May 2024, and an autumn service in September 2024 to mark the beginning of a new academic year for students.
I am so pleased that we have been able to incorporate Taizé songs and worship into other services, including the Open Table Easter Day Communion service and agape breakfast morning prayer in 2025. In addition, I look forward to helping to present a Taizé Communion service as part of our creative Holy Communion series at St. Bride’s in 2025.
## **Lay Minister training**
I have been continuing my training at Emmanuel Theological College during 2024, as I prepare for licenced lay ministry as a lay reader, very much supported by Rev. Laura, the leadership team and the whole community. This has been a wonderful journey on which I have met many wonderful people and benefitted hugely from experiencing a wide range of viewpoints and worshipping traditions. I have been learning about biblical studies, theology, liturgy and worship, leadership and the traditions of the church, along with pastoral ministry and funeral ministry. The most important part of the training is being on placement in the parish where I have gained experience of planning and leading worship, giving reflections, pastoral ministry, children’s ministry, and helping with funerals, weddings and baptisms.
Hopefully, I am due to finish college classes in July 2025 and assignments in early September 2025, with hopefully a licensing service taking place in late September 2025. I hope that I can continue to serve you in the parish for many years to come.
Please would you join me in praying for the community at Emmanuel Theological College – the students preparing for ministry, and the wonderful tutors and support colleagues who encourage and support them:
_Merciful Father, your son Jesus Christ is Emmanuel, God with us; Give us grace, that we who bear his name may fix our eyes on him, and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaim his gospel in word and deed; until that day when he shall come again and all things shall be made new. Amen._
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## **ROOTS IN THE CITY Annie Merry, Director of Faiths4Change**
Faiths4Change continues to enjoy our partnership with the clergy and church team at St Micheal’s in the City as we work with and continue to grow relationships & community through the Roots in the City Garden.
Our regular activity has been:
**Grow Well Together** – Tuesdays – a drop-in group for all, seasonal gardening & craft activity throughout the year. This group has just taken on the maintenance of the Upper Pitt Street Rain Garden for the community. 22 people have enjoyed the Grow Well Together activities, many are regulars and play a significant role in shaping the garden and community focused approach.
## **Annie with our 6kg harvest of Swiss**
**Practical Horticulture Skills** – City & Guilds Level 1 & 2 qualifications in partnership with Myerscough College – Thursdays & Fridays. We’ve welcomed over 30 students to courses this year.
**Garden Drop In** – Thursdays – As well as many folk attending other groups and courses, an additional 9 people have dropped in to the garden.
**Linda’s Loves** – Young people’s gardening and growing group weekly March – October, monthly during autumn and winter - 19 individual young people have come together over the year to plan, grow, harvest, share and enjoy fresh food and related activities. The group concludes with a shared meal.
We offer a free plant-based community meal and refreshments, open to all on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
**Growing Vegetables & Herbs for the Micah Foodbank** underpins our activity in the Roots Garden, with all people attending having a hand in the process from seed sowing and watering to harvesting. People gain social, cultural, wellbeing and spiritual connections; knowledge, skills, sharing, friendships, kindness and so much more from being in and working the garden. Giving to others by growing delicious organic veg and herbs for them, is a collective and shared joy.
This year (January – December 2024) we donated 0.238 tonnes of vegetables and herbs at a value of £2622.69. An average of 500g per household, 476 households benefitted.
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## **Student & drop in gardeners weeding the rockery in the Roots Garden; Tuesday gardeners maintaining the Rain Garden on Upper Pitt Street.**
## - Our one of projects:
**Wellbeing & Woodwork** Late Autumn 2024, Hanni, Emma & Crystal led a series of wellbeing & wood workshops over 4 months. A team of girls and young women excluded from school and based at Everton in the Community worked with us to build 3 new amazing, raised beds in the garden over 3 sessions. All other workshops were open to adults and enabled them to learn to use wood working tools and work as a team to create a raised pond, hedgehog and bird houses - new friends, skills, fun and inspiration.
_‘The Wellbeing and Woodwork workshop was a great experience; it gave me the confidence to try using new tools and inspired me to think of projects I’d like to try at home. I would recommend this workshop to everyone’._
**Sow Grow Cook Serve (projects were delivered in 2025)** – working together Laura (Team Vicar) & Lu (Curate), Crystal & Emma (Faiths4Change) welcomed groups from Archbishop Blanch C of E Girls High School, Liverpool Community College and St Vincent de Paul RC Primary School to St Michael’s to experience 3 social and climate justice workshops exploring the connections of faith, wellbeing, fair trade through growing, cooking and art.
**Brian planting out Broad Beans in one of the new raised beds built by girls and young women as part of the Wood & Wellbeing project.**
**Water Stories** - Water & Climate Change are
inextricably linked. Climate change is exacerbating both water scarcity and water related hazards such as floods and droughts. For many of us, understanding and changing our behaviour to reduce the impacts of climate change requires an emotional connection which is often missing. Water stories: memories, photos, rituals, teachings, beliefs & much more, offer us an emotional connection with our environment, each other and inspiration to act.
Our Water Stories & Actions project is exploring themes of flooding, drought, pollution, habitat, food growing, rainwater harvesting, energy and much more through creative, informative ‘story’ workshops and practical active sessions.
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## **OPEN TABLE Warren Hartley, Open Table Coordinator**
Open Table Liverpool (OTL) is a Fresh Expression of Church and a ministry and congregation of St Luke in the City Team Parish led by our Local Missional Leader (LML), Mr Warren Hartley commissioned by the Bishop of Liverpool to this ministry. Open Table is for everyone but especially welcomes and affirms folk who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer/Questioning, Intersex & Asexual (LGBTQIA+). Open Table gathers at St Bride’s on the first and third Sunday of every month. The first Sunday is a bring and share agape meal including a time of informal worship sharing life, faith and food together. The third Sunday of the month is a service of Holy Communion except in December when it hosts the parish Carol Service. Our Open Table community is a member of the Open Table Network (OTN). OTN is “a growing partnership of communities across England & Wales which genuinely welcome and affirm people who are LGBTQIA + our families, friends & anyone who wants to belong in an accepting, loving community.”
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## **Overview**
2024 has been a great year for OTL as we’ve continued to grow and share life, community and worship together. One of the great joys has been the continued growth of the music group with new members joining all the time it has deeply enriched our worship. Numbers at services have now exceeded pre-covid numbers which is deeply encouraging. An average of 42 people attend all services with an average of 18 at Agape service and 65 at communion services.
## **Community Development Process**
In 2023, to mark 15 years, we began a process of Community Development, reflecting on the past, valuing what is and dreaming about what the future will be. This process developed further in 2024 with excellent engagement from the OTL community.
We held two days of reflection one on 9[th ] March and the other on 28[th ] September. Both days were very well attended with around 45 individuals taking part across the two days. From this reflection we’ve set out a vision to be:
The whole community has also discerned areas for development under each of these headings and we’ve safely recruited a Team Lead for each area to take this forward. All the Team Leads are members of the Open Table Leadership team. We’ve also committed to organising an annual gathering of the whole community at which we’ll make plans and set priorities for the coming year.
Ae we approach our 17[th ] birthday in 2025 we are excited to see how this will serve our community and those who haven’t yet discovered it more widely and deeply.
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## **Events:**
2024 has been a busy year with lots of services and events. We’ve continued our regular pattern of two services a month with an Agape Meal on the 1[st ] Sunday and a Communion Service led by a different minister on the 3[rd] Sunday of each month. It is hard to pick out highlights but here is just a tiny selection Agape Service – these continue to be popular and frequently attract new people each month.
People like the informality and the chance to sit, eat and get to know each other. We also host a “sharing circle” after the meal for folk to share more deeply. A new development in 2024 was to add the opportunity for someone to share their story as part of the meal. As part of this Merseyside Police LGBT+ Network visited on 1[st ] September to share their stories.
We are very grateful to the PCC, the Clergy and the Bishop of Liverpool who support the ecumenical nature of the OTL community consenting to using Canon B35 provision to allow ecumenical partners to preside. In 2024 we invited retiring Chair of the Methodist District, Sheryl Anderson, to preside (pictured left). It was a real gift to be able to celebrate in this way. The Communion Services continue to be the
highlight of our month and to be extremely well supported by clergy across the our team, diocese and beyond. To name just
a few in 2024 we were joined by the Archdeacon and Associate Archdeacon Liverpool, the Archdeacon of Knowsley and Sefton, the former Bishop of Liverpool, the Dean of Diversity as well as our very own beloved St Luke in the City Team Clergy Laura, Lu, Anne and David.
We joined the Diocese of Liverpool Equal Marriage Group for a vigil at Liverpool Parish Church on 23[rd ] June. Over 50 people joined the vigil committing to calling for full equality of LGBTQIA+ people in the Church of England.
Liverpool Pride is one of our most significant outreach events. In 2024 we hosted a Screening of the document 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture on 15[th ] July. This documentary tracks the story of how the English word ‘homosexual’ first
31
appeared in an English translation of the bible in 1946 and how it truly is a mistranslation. We again joined with Christians at Pride to march in the city’s Pride Festival and hosted a stall. On the Sunday we collaborated with Liverpool Cathedral to organise a post-festival Pride service. Our music team did an exceptional job with the music with 108 people attending the service led by our dear friends Lu SkerrattLove and Lilly Nelson both of whom had only been deaconed a few weeks beforehand.
At our October communion service, we joined with Aimee and Carrie (pictured left) to pray for God’s blessing on their wedding. It was the first time we’ve used the Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF) as a parish. It was good to celebrate the love Aimee and Carrie and share in their marriage. It did also highlight for us how inadequate the PLF resources are.
Fr Richard Sloan, joined us again to lead a
Contemplative Prayer Day (pictured left) on October 26[th ] at Irenaeus Project. Fr Richard is a priest of the Liverpool Catholic
Archdiocese, with pastoral experience in both the UK and the Bolivian Andes. He is trained as an Integrative Psychosynthesis practitioner and counselling supervisor offering spiritual accompaniment, retreat, counselling and supervision. Contemplative prayer is something many at Open Table have expressed interest in exploring.
To end the year, we had our biggest Carol Service ever with at least 220 people attending. We had to keep finding more chairs as more people arrived! The music group led by Fern Arthurs out did themselves and it was a delight as always to welcome the Liverpool Rainbow Chorus to the celebrations. David led the service with Sue Say preaching. It was wonderful to welcome David to Open Table.
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## **Other highlights**
In April 2024 following a period of recruitment and with permission from the PCC we appointed Beth Powell as Ministry Co-ordinator for Open Table. Beth’s primary role was to develop our social media, on the financial and event administration. Our social media following and interaction has increased considerably and Beth has plans for more for 2025. Beth has also been working on redeveloping our presence on the St Bride’s website.
In 2024 we also launched a Welcome Pack which we give out to any new people. The pack contains a message of welcome, our activities, ways of staying in touch and more. They’ve been very well received. In addition, ready for the Pride Festival, we launched a tri-fold flyer as publicity material to share with folk.
As mentioned above our leadership team has expanded to nine members and includes Laura as our Clergy Lead. This includes the new team leads for the areas mentioned above.
While not strictly Open Table events Warren and others were part of a range of other activities:
- Warren led the Radical Welcome Course at St Bride’s on behalf of Together Liverpool
- We took part in the L8 Interfaith Walk in August 2024 and made a financial donation and volunteered with refreshments.
- Warren was invited to the Toxteth and Wavertree Deanery Synod in April 2024 and shared the OTL Story
- We continued our relationship with Merseyside Police. Representatives attended the “Apologise Now” event on 5th June when the Chief Constable apologised to the
33
LGBT+ community for past persecution of our community. Warren has also continued to service on the Merseyside Police Trans Community Advisory Group
• Our relationships with Sahir House continue to grow and we’ve publicied and taken part in their “Queer Town Hall” community consultation events. These have been an excellent initiative.
- Open Table supported St Bride’s to welcome Jonathan Clatworthy back to give a valedictory Lecture on 17/6/24
- Warren and Sue Say were invited by South Sefton Deanery to preach in two different churches in as part of their “Justice for All” initiative on 30/6/24
- Warren was invited by 3 churches in L23 to delivery Inclusive Welcome Training in July
- A number of OTL folk were at Greenbelt over the August Bank Holiday.
- We were very grateful indeed to the anonymous donor who has given the art work “Nativity Trancred” to OTL and St Bride’s on a long term loan. This has now been mounted in the Church with an
- explanatory plaque underneath. This will be treasured for as long as the loan continues. (pictured right with artist Revd Elizabeth Grey-King.
Finally in December we launched a new monthly gathering which we’ve called “A Pint with Richard Rohr”. The first gathering was on 8th December with 8 people joining us in Ma Boyles Pub in town. The group reflects on the Daily Meditations and other writings published by Richard Rohr and the Centre for Action and Contemplation.
## **Future Plans**
Heading into 2025 we have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to. In particular we’ll be focusing on the ongoing community development process began in 2023 and embedding this into the life of our community. We’ll continue safely recruiting new leaders and volunteers. Two new initiatives in
development are: seeing how we can offer a regular slot for Contemplative Prayer and to launch what we are calling “Open Table Out” (OTO). OTO will be an informal
34
space for people who wouldn’t walk into a church to have conversations about spirituality and faith.
In 2025 we’ll celebrate our 17th birthday which will be led by our very own Lu Skerratt-Love who will also be celebrating their ordination as priest just a few short weeks prior.
The Music Group continue to develop has life beyond Open Table! They are doing other concerts which included a Fundraising Concert for St Bride's on 7/6/24 and at the Masonic Hall in December.
Our greatest joy and greatest challenges are that almost everything happening at OTL is run by lay volunteers. It is a joy to see empowered lay ministry and peer to peer support. The challenge lies in having sufficient volunteer hours to do all that could be done. There is simply more to do than can be done in volunteer hours. Expanding the leadership team and volunteer base will go someway to alleviating this.
It continues to be the privilege of my life to serve the OTL community as a lay minister. Thank you for all your support and encouragement as PCC to the life of this ministry. Please continue to pray for us in the words of the Open Table Network prayer “Glory to God, whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, among us in Jesus' name. Amen”
_See Open Table Liverpool in Number below:_
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Open Table Uverpool In Numbers
Attendance has now exceeded pr&covid levels:
Agape Average- 18
Communion Service Average-65
Carol ServSce- 220
Prlde Servlce~ 108
Vigll - 54
Flnance Report- 2024 @13111212024 bank balance £3,874.64
Plate
£624.45
Parish Givin8 Scheme
£5,203.36
Ministry Grant
£2,400.00
Sumup
£425.49
Ticket Sales le.g. Quiet Day etcl
£317.22
Mug5 Sales
£69.78
Total Income 2024
£9)40.30
in
in
vi
unstrICted Cash Available
£1.597.71
Justice Project13% of income)
£255.82
Ministry Co-ordinator Salary Underspend
£441.55
Discipleship Projert
£2ryJ.IXJ
Pastoral Care Training
£200.(MJ
Research Project
£1{).00
Away Day Underspend
£140.(L)
ArtlSt5 Print
£39.56- to be split between ArtlSt and St 8
Total Funds In Budget Columns 2024
£3,874.64
36
Liiike
Away Day
£50.00
Books
£84.21
Carol Servlce
£384.12
General
£97.27
Hospitality
£208.86
Lectures Itravel and speaker fees)
£65.00
Musiclan
£ico.co
n Table Network Tithe 110% of Income)
£587.22
Payroll- Ministry
£1958.45
P05tagelStationery
£47.77
Pride
£398.41
Social Media Adverts
£68.61
St Bride's ContTibution140% of Income)
£2,118.43
Trovel
E32.71
Zoom Subscription
£155.88
Totsl
£6,356.94
37
|STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE|STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE|STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE|YEAR ENDED 31STDECEMBER 2024|YEAR ENDED 31STDECEMBER 2024||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||General|Restricted|Total
|Total|
||||Funds|2024
|2023|
|**INCOME from:**||||||
|Donatons|2|28,732|11,743|40,475|49,807|
|Charitable actvites|3|1,520|138|1,658|1,900|
|Fundraising actvites|4|67,156|190|67,346|56,817|
|Investments|5|32,429|858|33,287|36,986|
|Other|6|764|24,109|24,873|44,735|
|**TOTAL INCOME**||130,601|37,308|167,639|190,245|
|**EXPENDITURE on:**||||||
|Charitable actvites|7|154,992|8,209|163,201|151,330|
|**TOTAL EXPENDENDITURE**||154,992|8,209|163,201|151,330|
|Net income before gains and losses||||||
|on investments||(24,391)|29,829|4,438|38,915|
|Net gains/(losses) on investments||13,251|(16)|13,235|7,950|
|**Net income/(expenditure)**||(11,140)|29,813|17,673|46,865|
|Transfers between funds||48,487|(48,487)|-|-|
|**NET MOVEMENTS IN FUNDS**||37,347|(19,674)|17,673|46,865|
|Total funds brought forward||502,480|48,922|551,402|504,537|
|Total funds carried forward||539,827|29,248|569,075|551,402|
**The Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool**
St Bride, St Dunstan, St Michael in the City Parish Office: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT Ofce@stlukeinthecity.org.uk
## BALANCE SHEET AT 31[ST] DECEMBER 2024
|Note
**FIXED ASSETS**
Tangible assets
10
Investments
11
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Debtors
12
Cash at bank and in hand
13
**CREDITORS**: amounts falling due within one year
14
**NET CURRENT ASSETS**
**TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES**
**FUNDS OF THE CHARITY**
15
General
Designated
Restricted|Total
2024
£
7,476
484,541
492,017
1,017
84,035
85,052
7,994
77,058
569,075
120,814
419,013
29,248
569,075|Total
2023
£
11,282
416,869|
|---|---|---|
|||428,151|
|||46,606
83,935|
|||130,541
7,290|
|||123,251|
|||551,402|
|||91,472
411,008
48,922|
|||551,402|
Approved by the Parochial church Council on 13[th] May 2025 and signed on its behalf by
Rev David Halliwell
**The Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool**
St Bride, St Dunstan, St Michael in the City Parish Office: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT Ofce@stlukeinthecity.org.uk
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] DECEMBER 2024
## _**1. Accounting policies**_
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention except for the valuation of investment assets, which are shown at market value.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014, and with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006.
## **Funds**
General funds represent the funds of the Parochial Church Council (PCC) that are not subject to any restrictions regarding their use and are available for application for the general purposes of the charity. Funds designated for a particular purpose by the trustees are also unrestricted. Restricted funds are funds subject to specific conditions imposed by the donors or through the terms of an appeal.
Transfers of funds are made to recognise the release of restricted funds or to meet expenditure not covered by restricted income.
The financial statements include all transactions, assets and liabilities for which the charity is held responsible in law. They do not include the financial statements of groups that owe their main affiliation to another body, nor those that are informal gatherings of church members.
## **Income**
## _Donations, legacies and other voluntary income_
Voluntary income received by way of grants, donations and gifts is included in the Statement of Financial Activities in the year in which it is received by or on behalf of the charity. Grants, where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of a specific performance by the charity, are recognised when the charity becomes unconditionally entitled to the grant.
Planned giving receivable under Gift Aid is recognised only when received. Income tax recoverable on Gift Aid donations is recognised when the repayment is received. Funds raised by seasonal fairs, fundraising events and similar events are accounted for gross.
The charity received substantial amounts of voluntary help from its supporters, but no attempt is made to place a financial value on these services and they have not been included.
## _Rental income_
Rental income from the letting of the charity’s premises is recognised when the rental is due.
## _Income from investments_
## **The Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool**
St Bride, St Dunstan, St Michael in the City Parish Office: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT Ofce@stlukeinthecity.org.uk
Dividends and interest are accounted for when due and payable. Interest entitlements are accounted for as they accrue.
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] DECEMBER 2024
## **Expenditure**
Liabilities are recognised where it is more likely than not that there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the PCC to pay out resources and the amount of the obligation can be measured with reasonable certainty.
## **Tangible assets**
Consecrated and benefice property is not included in the financial statements in accordance with the Charities Act 2011.
Movable 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 churches inventories, which can be inspected (at any reasonable time). For anything acquired prior to 2010 there is insufficient cost information available and therefore such assets are not valued in the financial statements.
Equipment is depreciated on a straight-line basis over four years.
## **Investments**
Investments are valued at initially at cost and subsequently at market value at the year end.
## _Gains and losses on investments_
Realised gains or losses are recognised when investments are sold. Unrealised gains or losses are accounted for on revaluation of investments at 31[st] December.
## **Debtors**
Amounts owed to the PCC at 31[st] December in respect of fees, rents, loans or other income are shown as debtors less provision for amounts that may prove uncollectable.
## **Cash at bank and in hand**
Short-term deposits include cash held on deposit either with the CBF Church of England Funds or at the bank.
|||General|Restricted|Total|Total|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||Fund|Funds|2024|2023|
|||£|£|£|£|
|2|Donatons|||||
||Gif aid donatons|17,075|6,143|23,218|20,492|
||Income tax recovered|3,927|1,460|5,387|4,803|
**The Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool**
St Bride, St Dunstan, St Michael in the City Parish Office: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT Ofce@stlukeinthecity.org.uk
|Other planned giving
930
-
Collectons
1,905
615
Donatons
1,520
525
Grants
3,375
3,000
Other
-
-
28,732
11,743
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED
General
Restricted
Fund
Funds
£
£
3
Charitable actvites
Fees
1,520
-
Events
-
138
1,520
138
4
Fund raising
Rent from letngs
66,867
-
Other
289
190
67,156
190
5
Investments
Dividends
16,373
858
Interest
3,723
-
Rent from land
12,333
-
32,429
858
6
Other
St Dunstan’s Bequest
-
-
William Bate Dumbell
24,109
Insurance claim
764
-
764
24,109
7
Charitable actvites
Missionary and charitable
giving
2,132
3,853
Ministry
Diocesan parish share
45,099
Salaries
15,103
1,665
Clergy housing costs
10,055
Clergy expenses
2,289
Other expenses
Church costs|930
2,313
2,520
2,717
2,045
1,865
6,375
17,500
-
117
40,475
49,807
31stDECEMBER 2024
Total
Total
2024
2023
£
£
1,520
1,481
138
419
1,658
1,900
66,867
56,284
479
533
67,346
56,817
17,231
17,397
3,723
1,922
12,333
17,667
33,287
36,986
-
44,735
24,109
-
764
-
24,873
44,735
5,985
15,075
45,099
40,923
16,768
18,193
10,055
5,014
2,289
1,798
-
210|2,313
2,717
1,865
17,500
117|
|---|---|---|
|||49,807|
|||1,900
56,284
533|
|||56,817|
|||17,397
1,922
17,667|
|||36,986|
|||44,735
-
-|
|||44,735|
|||15,075
40,923
18,193
5,014
1,798
210|
**The Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool**
St Bride, St Dunstan, St Michael in the City Parish Office: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT Ofce@stlukeinthecity.org.uk
||Council tax and water|624||624|733|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Insurance|11,648||11,648|11,595|
||Heat and light|31,387||31,387|21,862|
||Maintenance|8,791||8,791|9,428|
||Churchyard|8,233||8,233|1,805|
||Security|1,248||1,248|1,248|
||Cleaning|6,439||6,439|6,301|
||Carried forward|143,048|5,518|148,566|134,185|
||NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR||THE YEAR ENDED 31stDECEMBER 2024|||
|||General|Restricted|Total|Total|
|||Fund|Funds|2024|2023|
|||£|£|£|£|
|7|Note contnued|||||
||Brought forward|143,048|5,518|148,566|134,185|
||Cleaning|||||
||Music|511|200|711|917|
||Upkeep of services|765||765|997|
||Events|306|345|651|1,011|
||Training and educaton|70|50|120|305|
||Telephone and website|3,323|156|3,479|3,791|
||Publicity|742||742|629|
||Depreciaton|3,111|695|3,806|3,714|
||Administraton|2,966|1,245|4,211|4,631|
||Legal and professional|150||150|1,150|
|||154,992|8,209|163,201|151,330|
|8|Legal and professional|||Total|Total|
|||||2024|2023|
||Compositon of charge|||||
|||||£|£|
||Independent examiner’s fees|||150|150|
||Other fee|||-|1,000|
|||||150|1,150|
|9|Paid employees|||||
||Staf costs|||2024|2023|
|||||£|£|
||Salaries|||16,768|18,193|
||Employer’s natonal insurance|||-|-|
|||||16,768|18,193|
The average number of employees employed by the PCC during the year was 5 for 2024 and 3 for 2023.
## **The Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool**
St Bride, St Dunstan, St Michael in the City Parish Office: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT Ofce@stlukeinthecity.org.uk
The trustees received no remuneration during the year however expenses were reimbursed for services other than as trustees.
There is no trustee indemnity insurance.
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] DECEMBER 2024
## 10 Tangible assets
|Tangible assets|||
|---|---|---|
|Cost at 1stJanuary 2024
Additons at cost
Cost at 31stDecember 2024
Depreciaton at 1stJanuary 2024
Charge for the year
Depreciaton at 31stDecember 2024
Net book value|2024
£
32,865
-
32,865
21,583
3,806
25,389
7,476|2023
£
20,419
12,446|
|||32,865|
|||17,869
3,714|
|||21,583|
|||11,282|
## 11 Investments
The investments held at the year-end are either investments listed on a recognised Stock Exchange or investments in authorised investment trusts.
|Market value at 1stJanuary 2024
Additon
(Disposal)
Gain/(loss) on revaluaton
Market value at 31stDecember 2024
Historical cost
12
Debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
Other debtors|2024
£
416,869
54,437
-
13,235
484,541
423,000
2024
£
487
530
1,017|2023
£
405,497
44,735
(41,313)
7,950|
|---|---|---|
|||416,869|
|||393,000|
|||2023
£
793
45,813|
|||46,606|
## **The Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool**
St Bride, St Dunstan, St Michael in the City Parish Office: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT Ofce@stlukeinthecity.org.uk
|13
Cash at bank and in hand
Short term deposits
Cash at bank and in hand|2024
£
68,782
15,253
84,035|2023
£
62,904
21,031
83,935|
|---|---|---|
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] DECEMBER 2024 1 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
4
|Accruals and deferred income|2024
£
7,994|2023
£
7,290|
|---|---|---|
- 1 Charity funds 5 Details of funds and movements during the CURRENT reporting period
|Unrestricted funds
General fund
Designated funds
Restricted funds
Open Table Network
St Dunstan’s Bequest
Lauda
Taste of God
Baltc Mission
William Bates Dumbell
Open Table Liverpool|At 1st
At 31st
January
Income
Expenditur
e
Transfe
r
December
2024
(inc.
gains)
(inc. losses)
of funds
2024
£
£
£
£
91,472
127,086
(146,231)
48,487
120,814
411,008
16,766
(8,761)
-
419,013|
|---|---|
||502,480
143,852
(154,992)
48,487
539,827|
||At 1st
At 31st
January
Income
Expenditure
Transfer
December
2024
(inc. gains)
(inc. losses)
of funds
2024
£
£
£
£
£
-
-
44,412
664
-
(45,076)
-
-
3,000
(3,000)
-
476
-
-
476
1,305
-
(695)
610
24,436
(149)
24,287
2,729
9,070
(4,513)
(3,411)
3,875|
**The Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool**
St Bride, St Dunstan, St Michael in the City Parish Office: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT Ofce@stlukeinthecity.org.uk
|Total funds|48,922
37,170
(8,357)
(48,487
29,248|
|---|---|
||551,402
181,022
(163,349)
-
569,075|
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] DECEMBER 2024
|15|Charity funds||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Details of funds and movements during the PREVIOUS reportng||||period||
|||At 1st||||At 31st|
|||January|Income|Expenditure|Transfer|December|
|||2023|(inc. gains)|(inc. losses)|of funds|2023|
|||£|£|£|£|£|
||Unrestricted funds||||||
||St Luke in the City||||||
||General|89,029|137,636|(132,453)|(2,740)|91,472|
||Designated funds|399,482|11,442|(2,446)|2,530|411,008|
|||488.511|149,078|(134,899)|(210)|502,480|
||Restricted funds||||||
||St Dunstan’s Bequest|2,233|45,601|(3,422)|-|44,412|
||Lauda|9,044|5,000|(14,044)|-|-|
||Taste of God|476|-|-|-|476|
||Baltc Mission|2,000|-|(695)|-|1,305|
||Choir|500|-|(500)|-|-|
||Open Table Liverpool|1,773|3,688|(2,942)|210|2,729|
|||16,026|54,289|(21,603)|210|48,922|
||||||||
||Total funds|504,537|203,367|(156,502)|-|551,402|
16 Fund details Details of the various funds held by the PCC are as follows: Name of fund Description, nature and purposes of the fund
Unrestricted funds
## **The Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool**
St Bride, St Dunstan, St Michael in the City Parish Office: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT Ofce@stlukeinthecity.org.uk
From 1[st] January 2019 there is a one General Fund. Included is an investment of £360,000 to provide income. Restricted funds Funds received for specific purposes.
**The Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool**
St Bride, St Dunstan, St Michael in the City Parish Office: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT Ofce@stlukeinthecity.org.uk
## **Independent Examiner’s Report**
Report to the Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St Luke-in-the-City, Liverpool, charity number 1152031, on the accounts for the year ended 31[st] December 2024, as set out the following pages: Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet and Notes.
## **Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner**
The PCC are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. They consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
- It is my responsibility to:
- examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
- to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act), and
- to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
## **Basis of independent Examiner’s statement**
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 accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the PCC concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair” view,
and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
## **Independent Examiner’s statement**
In connection with my examination, no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records.
I have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Ian Wright B.A. F.C.A. Chartered Accountant 15 Stretton Drive Southport PR9 7DR
## **The Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool**
St Bride, St Dunstan, St Michael in the City Parish Office: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT Ofce@stlukeinthecity.org.uk
**The Team Parish of St Luke in the City, Liverpool**
St Bride, St Dunstan, St Michael in the City Parish Office: St Bride’s Church, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LT Ofce@stlukeinthecity.org.uk