**St Martin’s Church Sherwood Annual report and financial statements of the Parochial Church Council for the year ended 31[st] December 2022 Signed on behalf of the PCC Church wardens** ## **Associate Minister** ## **ST. MARTIN, SHERWOOD FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** **OF THE** **PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL** **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2022** 1 ## **PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST. MARTIN - SHERWOOD** ## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS** ## **Charity number** : 1153828 ## **Address:** Trevose Gardens Sherwood Nottingham ## **Trustees serving during the year were** : Incumbent: Rev Bridget Baguley (Chair) Curate: Rev S Pendenque Made Associate Minister Aug 2022 Associate Minister: Rev D Baguley until May 2022 (deceased June 2022) Licensed Lay Minister: Mrs L Cohen Church Wardens: Mr C Morris Mrs S Estella Representatives on The Deanery Synod: Mrs H Shipston Elected Members **:** Mrs C Morris until 2023 Mrs G Hepworth until 2023 Mr J Hepworth until 2023 Ms R Williamson until 2023 Ms P Breakwell until 2023 Mrs E Barnabas until 2024 Mr G Hickson until 2024 Mr R Kitson until 2024 PCC Secretary: Mrs R Fisher-Redel Treasurer: Mr I Gordon Bankers: National Westminster Bank Plc 536 Valley Road Nottingham NG5 1JD Independent Examiner: RWB CA Limited Northgate House North Gate New Basford Nottingham NG7 7BQ 2 **PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST. MARTIN – SHERWOOD** ## **Trustees Annual Report for the Year Ended 31 December 2022** ## **Aims and Purpose** St Martin’s Parochial Church Council (the PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent in promoting the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. This includes responsibility for the financial affairs of the church, and provision and maintenance of the fabric of the Church building for worship and other activities for the benefit of the local community in and around Sherwood. The PCC complies with its duties under section 17 of the 2011 Charities Act with regard to Public Benefit. ## **Structure, Governance and Management** The Parochial Church Council is a statutory body and is governed by the regulations as set out in the official Church of England Church Representation Rules. This is supplemented by the Handbook for Churchwardens and parochial church Councillors (revised edition 2010). The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. The PCC consists of the clergy, church wardens, those elected to Deanery Synod, and other elected representatives. Members of the congregation are encouraged to join the electoral roll and to stand for election to the PCC. The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance in the parish, and for all financial matters. The full PCC met 6 times during the year. The PCC operates through a number of committees, each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. The Standing Committee meets only when necessary - none this year. Fabric and Finance Committee oversees the right management of those two areas, and oversees works to be done on the building. The treasurer is not a member of the PCC, but is a member of the committee. The Worship and Discipleship Committee plans and oversees the church’s worship, small groups and discipleship programmes. The Mission Committee’s name was changed to the Community and Justice Committee this year - it leads on social action, partnering with other agencies for mission, and shapes our financial contributions to charities. The Children and Young People’s Committee develops the growth of young people, and oversees Sunday children’s ministry, Jolly Tots, Bumps and Babies, ministry in schools, and special children’s services/events. The leadership team consists of the vicar, curate (who was licensed to St Martin’s as an associate minister in August 2022), associate minister, church wardens, LLMs, children/families minister, and administrator. They meet weekly (or as in the case of vicar, curate and church wardens each month) to review and plan church activities, and to pray for the church. The APCM for 2021 was held in church on April 23, 2022. _It should be noted that at the time of compiling this report our Vicar Bridget Baguley has passed away, having died on 10[th] January 2023. The elements of the report that previously fell to Bridget as vicar have therefore been complied by Rev Sue Pendenque (Associate Minister) and co-signed by Church Wardens Chris Morris and Sue Estella._ ## **Objectives and Activities** The diocesan vision is _Growing Disciples younger, wider and deeper._ The St Martin’s Vision is _Growing and Going in the love of God._ We intend to be: a church of all ages, transformed by the love of Christ: partnering with our local community to nurture God’s kingdom of welcome, hope, and social justice, for the flourishing of our community, city and world. ## _**Our purpose:**_ As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to: worship God cultivate community live generously make a difference 3 ## **PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST. MARTIN – SHERWOOD** ## **Trustees Annual Report for the Year Ended 31 December 2022** ## **Objectives and Activities** _continued_ The PCC is therefore committed to enabling people of all ages to become followers of Jesus Christ, to grow as disciples, and to become active participants in the church family. We aim to equip ordinary people to live out their faith in everyday life, through: - Worship and prayer: learning and worshipping together in a variety of settings, that we may grow together in Christ, and be empowered by the Holy Spirit. - Pastoral care for those living in the parish, or otherwise connected to the church body: including occasional offices. - Growing together as a community through welcome and hospitality, in small “Life Groups” and informal gatherings - Mission and community engagement: including social groups, action with other charities and organisations working for the common good, and hiring of the church building for community use. ## **Achievements and performances** ## _**Overview 2022**_ We continued to navigate the uncertainty of life affected by Covid, we have been cautious but over the year have gradually lost masks (they can be worn if people prefer) and people are sitting together again, hugging, shaking hands as we continue to worship together. We have moved forwards in developing as disciples, and seen new people coming to faith in Jesus. There has been strong pastoral care and ongoing mission and evangelism engagement, with many people having mental and physical health challenges over the year. Bridget (vicar) and Dave (associate minister) have been working at reduced capacity during the year, dealing with the impact of treatment for Bridget’s secondary cancer. They have been very well cared-for and prayed-for by the church, and superbly supported by the leadership team and diocesan colleagues. In May Bridget was advised by the diocese to take some time off to recover from cancer treatments, sadly during this time Dave died unexpectedly. This was a shock and great sadness to Bridget their family and the church. Bridget had a period of good health during the summer and into the autumn, but sadly declined in the latter part of the year. The church has continued to care for her and each other through this hard and uncertain period. The diocese licensed Sue the curate as associate minister in August 2022 to enable her to stay on to support both Bridget and the church. We continue to learn technical skills, with the purchase of live-streaming and liturgy-projection technology (final kit arrived in 2022). We have continued to be active in prayer, worship, and social action. All our Sunday services were either recorded and projected via social media, or live-streamed from a gathered service in the building. Weekly notices have been sent by email or post to all church members (and friends), and the updated website and facebook pages have provided resources and information throughout the year. The new AV system has been invaluable in streaming and recording services and music, as well as for inperson services. The sound system has been markedly better (although a little temperamental at times depending on numbers in church so it seems) since Luke Baguley worked on it with musicians and the sound tech team. We offer him our thanks. Alpha/explorer groups, Sherwood Chaplains, and Nourish are continuing, with Nourish ‘café’ becoming a real connection and relationship building point for people who come to Nourish. Building for Growth has been explored during 2022 with the possibility of purchasing a large purpose-built Garden Room to be placed on the church garden costed out. Our needs are changing in terms of space needs as we have reconfigured our Sunday set up for children and young people with the youth meeting later in the evening and we will continue to review the possibility of new space in 2023. Sherwood House of Prayer has not been further pursued. We have continued our involvement with TKC, Sherwood Supports Refugees, City Prayer and diocesan prayer monthly prayer days. These have been less of a priority this year. We let our membership of Nottingham Citizens lapse this year but continue to have a light-touch involvement which seems to suit us better. 4 ## **PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST. MARTIN – SHERWOOD** ## **Trustees Annual Report for the Year Ended 31 December 2022** ## **Achievements and performances** _continued_ Hiring of the church building has resumed during 2022 returning to pre-Covid use. Our income from this has caught up with pre-paid fees and has become a helpful source of income. We were pleased to have the church used for various choir concerts over the year again. The PCC remains committed to our church vision “Growing and Going in the love of God” as our particular local outworking of the diocesan vision. It informs all our activities and priorities. ## _**Growing disciples: Younger**_ As confidence grew again following Covid, we have been able to serve the children and families within the church and within the community, whilst continuing to take all appropriate precautions to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone. There has been a small growth in the number of children and youth at St Martin’s, with consistent engagement in weekly Bible study and Sunday worship. Jolly Tots is very well attended with up to 50 children coming regularly along with parents and carers. Bumps and Babies is likewise thriving. There continues to be a good team for both, although more volunteers are always welcome. Three families brought babies for baptism in 2022 as a direct result of their involvement with both baby and toddler groups. We continue to engage with Seely School albeit lightly via Nourish. The school had a new headteacher in Sept 2022 and we plan to try to further contacts with the school in 2023. For more details on “Younger” see attached reports from church groups and committees. ## _**Growing disciples: Wider**_ Our engagement with the local community has continued through social media for daily Morning Prayer, Sunday services, and children’s ministry. Family and friends from across the city and further afield, and new members, are still joining in with our online events, as well as with other church’s online worship and events. We have had another explorer’s course - Start - and a follow-on Christianity Explored course. This has led to several people ‘belonging’ to St Martin’s through Nourish, Unplugged and joining homegroups. Sherwood Chaplains team has been out regularly along Mansfield Rd visiting shops and businesses. Their visits are welcomed and they were nominated for an award via the Sherwood and Carrington award scheme. Nourish is flourishing, consistently providing over 130 meals weekly, and growing relationships with the visitors. Our explorers groups are run in response to the growing questions and conversations had here around faith. Many members of the church continue to be involved in mission in various ways throughout and beyond the parish, including collections for Foodbanks. We take seriously our commitment to mission beyond our local area, and are committed to financial giving to other charities. 10% of St Martin’s given income is tithed and the PCC vote on the charities to be supported each year, from nominations from the congregation. For more details on “Wider” see attached reports from church groups and committees. ## _**Growing disciples: Deeper**_ We continue to meet for worship, prayer and study in various ways. As for previous years that meant two morning services and a monthly Unplugged (informal contemporary worship, always lay-led), and most Life Groups. Some people still join in online and a number of new people have joined the church this year. The Life Groups often offer good pastoral support beyond their usual groups. Daily Morning Prayer on Facebook live has continued as a regular community of approximately 12 people, meeting every day except Sundays since the end of March 2020. A prayer group meets regularly specifically to pray for the church, the local area and other concerns. ## **PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST. MARTIN – SHERWOOD** 5 ## **Trustees Annual Report for the Year Ended 31 December 2022** ## **Achievements and performances** _continued_ During Lent we used the Bible Society Bible course which was attended by around 25 people. The music team has continued to grow, managing new technology and developing a monthly rhythm of different bands to lead us. We remain committed to using a variety of worship styles through the month whenever possible. For more details on “Deeper” see attached reports from church groups and committees. ## **Safeguarding** The PCC has complied with its duties for safeguarding, and we aim to promote the safety and flourishing of all who participate in our events and activities. We have a policy for safeguarding children and adults. We have a safeguarding officer, and a DBS officer. Regular training continues to be arranged by the diocese at regular intervals to enable church members to meet the necessary requirements for their safeguarding responsibilities. This has taken place throughout the year, albeit remotely for most of that time due to COVID restrictions. If there are any concerns regarding safeguarding or the training requirements, please either contact Janet via the information listed on the St Martin’s website, or directly with Julian Hodgson Julian.Hodgson@southwell.anglican.org or his assistant Lucy Grimsey lucy.grimsey@southwell.anglican.org We are looking for a new PSO as Janet steps down in the near future. ## **Janet Kitson** ## **Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks** The Disclosures and Barring Service (DBS) checks were temporarily being carried out by Gill James and Judith Walker, and then transferred to Sue Pendenque. A number of checks have been carried out through the year, and we continue to prioritise this as an important part of our safeguarding procedures. We are looking for someone to take over this role on a more permanent basis and hoping to hand over the overseeing of the DBS in the near future. ## **Financial Review** ## **General Funds** The Church is dependent financially on offerings received from the congregation, donations from individuals and grants from charitable trusts. In 2022 our income and expenditure were both broadly in line with our forecasts. Regular giving decreased to £57,993 due to an unavoidable reduction in regular givers. Due to the cost of living situation we took the difficult decision not to seek increases from individuals towards our general funds. We did, however, continue to approach the congregation with specific appeals for funds, in particular for the youth trip to Oakes and also for Nourish. The biggest success story has been the extensive use of our building, the hire of which raised no less than £7,685 in 2022. Our expenditure was almost the same as in 2021 and was as forecast. This will not be sustainable in 2023 due to the very large increases in energy costs that we are currently experiencing. ## _**Restricted Funds**_ These are sums of money that are held on trust for a specific purpose and can only be spent for that. On 31 December 2022 we were holding £4,757 in the Nourish fund, £272 given for Families in need, and £217for childrens’ work. ## _**Designated Funds**_ Other monies that have been set aside for an individual project are shown as designated under the heading of unrestricted funds. On 31 December 2022 £31,891 was held for the ongoing (until 31.12.2024) children and families ministry, £5,000 has been put aside for the preparatory work for Building for Growth, we have £1,641 left in the Building Fund and £478 was held to be used towards the next parish weekend. ## **PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST. MARTIN – SHERWOOD** 6 **Trustees Annual Report for the Year Ended 31 December 2022** ## **Policy on Reserves** The policy of the Parochial Church Council is to hold a sufficient sum in reserves to cover six months of normal expenditure. On 31 December 2021 £40,000 was held in an interest bearing account to satisfy this policy. ## **Future Plans** ## **Fabric/ Finance:** The planned improvement of the single-story building in the church garden, to accommodate our growing children/youth ministry, and also to be available as a community-use space (Building for Growth) has been further explored. It is felt that a new build was not viable or needed at this time, but a ‘Garden Room’ is still being explored as a more financially viable alternative. We will continue to explore this during 2023 and to identify funding streams. We had quinquennial inspection in July 2021 and have carried out the many of the significant areas of work identified in that. There will be ongoing work on that as needed. We will have completed the work to shore up the rose window in case of further high winds. To raise up a confident and skilled sound team and consolidate the music worship teams to lead and coordinate well together. We intended to run a campaign to increase regular financial giving in 2022 but held off from this due to the cost of living crises nationally. The church responds generously to occasional funding needs, but regular giving has reduced this year as a few large givers have either died or moved away. We would like to shift the theology and practice from funding to giving as discipleship and will need to address this in 2023. ## _**Growing Disciples:**_ We will be continuing to inhabit our vision of “Growing and Going in the love of God”, as we aim to grow connections with Sherwood, to nurture and welcome younger people into our community of faith, and to explore creatively what it means to be church in today’s world. Coming out of the pandemic and following the bereavement and failing health of Bridget, we need to invest in re-connecting with each other and our community, supporting mental health, and recovering our sense of well-being and hope. We will pursue developing our relationship with Seely School, which grew through the Nourish venture but then dropped off. We will develop the Nourish cafe along with the Chaplains team, providing friendship and community as much as food. This is also starting to act as a place of faith-exploration; we will continue to offer periodic faith exploration courses such as Alpha or start to enable people to further engage with faith. The Chaplaincy team will continue to visit the shops and businesses on Mansfield Road to continue to spread wider and possibly invite people to join in any Start/Alpha courses. We also hope to invite any interested parents and carers from our toddler/baby groups to an Alpha course during the summer term. We have begun the process of application for SDF4 funding for a youth worker and will proceed with this early 2023 with the hope of recruiting a part-time youth worker later that year. As the original funding for the children/families minister ended at end of 2022, the PCC have agreed to use some legacy money to employ the CFM until the end of 2024. To plan for a church weekend in Sept 2023 – at home due to pressure on finances.. We look forward to taking up opportunities to engage again with events such as Sherwood Art Week and Sherwood Supports Refugees. ## **PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST. MARTIN – SHERWOOD** 7 **Trustees Annual Report for the Year Ended 31 December 2022** ## **Thanks** The PCC would like to thank all those who participate in so many ways to make our church a welcoming, gracious, and transformative community. The strength of our pastoral care for each other and neighbours, and our growing passion for evangelism and mission, have been very evident this year. The church community have been unfailingly supportive of the leadership team in all the decisions we have had to make. Our particular thanks go to the Church Wardens and all the PCC, who have led us prayerfully and faithfully through this extremely challenging year. Approved by the Parochial Church Council on 26 March 2023 and signed on its behalf by: - ..… ………………………………………………… Rev. Sue Pendenque - Chair ……………………………………………………… Mr Chris Morris - Church Warden ……………………………………………………… Mrs Sue Estella – Church Warden …………………………………………………….. Mr Ian Gordon - Treasurer 8 ## **Use of the Church Building 2022** Formal services Formal services (external) Weddings & funerals Public events Music group and band Young church Life groups, Alpha and Start Babies and toddlers Knit & Natter Prayer, worship & Unplugged Nourish Kitchen and Cafe Meetings & maintenance Community use- choirs etc Brownies Unused sessions **Baptisms 2022 5** **Funerals 2022 2** **Weddings 2022 3** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Christmas Easter
attendance attendance
Life
Group
members
50 19 1
7 32
Church Finances
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**Usual Sunday Sunday Ministry Attendance teams 60 31** **----- Start of picture text -----**
180 W orshipping Community Church Finances
135
90 18+
2020
0-17
Income
Expenditure
45
2021
0 32500 65000 97500 130000 162500
0
2021 2022
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10 ## **The Electoral Roll** Our Electoral Roll at the end of December 2022 stands at 97. Since the last APCM 1 person has been removed as they no longer attend St Martin’s. In addition we also have had 3 requests which are currently pending awaiting PCC approval. ## **Julie Day** ## **Nottingham North Deanery APCM Report for Jan – Dec 2022** During 2022 we held three Synods which were all in person.  8 February 2022: Growing Disciples Younger Our first Synod was held at St Mary’s Church, Bulwell. We were joined by Ruth Lee, the Diocesan Lead for Growing Disciples Younger and James Willis the leader of the Eden team based in Bestwood.  7 July 2022: Racial Diversity This Synod was held at Bestwood Emmanuel. We had speakers from St John’s Bilborough, Emmanuel and St Nic’s in Nottingham who shared their experience of racial diversity in our churches and challenged us to consider the following questions: `o` How has your church performed in relation to racial diversity? `o` What action could your church take to progress the conversation around racial justice? We also swore in our churchwardens  16 November 2022: AGM, Food and Fellowship Our final Synod of the year was hosted by St John’s, Bilborough who provided a delicious meal enabling us to share fellowship and to worship together. This meeting was also our AGM. Our Deanery Prayer meetings have also continued on the first Tuesday of each month initially via Zoom and then from July we were able to return to in person meetings at Christ Church, Cinderhill. This year we welcomed Paul Savage as the new vicar at Stapleford. We also said goodbye to Jess Savill who moved to Toton, St Peter. We would like to thank you all for your generous and faithful giving during 2022. We may not have achieved payment of the full 100% of our parish share allocation but we did manage to pay 88%. ## **Rev’d Canon Tim Pullen Area Dean** **John Cartwright Lay Chair** ## **Worship and Discipleship committee** We have maintained in person and online Sunday worship throughout 2022 this being two Sunday services weekly, plus monthly Unplugged (a contemporary worship evening). The 8.30 said Eucharist service remains consistent in form; the 10.30 service pattern has settled into pattern of more contemporary worship for the first and second Sundays, an All-Age service on the third week and a more traditional service (music and liturgy) for the fourth Sunday with the reintroduction of the organ played by a worship team member who has learned to play this year. Any Fifth Sunday is a service of the word at 10.30. Several people who attend Unplugged have found us through Nourish - many are new enquirers. During the year we have maintained effective teams for sound and visuals, music, Bible readings, intercessions, preaching and leading. Two trainee-LLM’s entered their second year of training and were licensed in October 2022. Sunday attendance remains at about 65. The ability to sing following Covid restrictions has been joyous. We reintroduced communion in two kinds – but infusing the bread with wine from the common cup. A new life-group was established during the year and existing ones continue. Discipleship happens in a number of settings: life groups, chaplaincy, Nourish, Unplugged, Alpha and Start courses, as well as the Lent course, and ad hoc conversations. **Sue Pendenque** ## **Prayer Ministry** Prayer ministry is a very important part of St. Martin's Church. Many people have been prayed for over the last year and it has been such a joy and pleasure to be part of such a wonderful team of people. It has been an honour to pray and know that God has helped and comforted many with his love and healing. **Sheila Chiarella** 11 ## **Lunchtime Prayer** Church members continue to meet for one hour weekly on a Wednesday morning at 11.30 a.m. Over the winter months it was decided to meet at Chrissie Morris' home where it is warmer and we share lunch. We bring our concerns before God and pray for our Church family, our neighbours, neighbourhood, country and the world. Anyone with a prayer request can contact us, or if anyone wishes to join us, they would be most welcome. Matthew 18.vs 20 "For where two or three gather in my name there am I with them." ## **Judith Milbourn** ## **Community and Justice committee** Saint Martin’s engages with community and justice issues both locally and globally in a variety of ways and this is reflected in our worship, prayers and in practical action. Our involvement during 2022 included the following: **Charity Giving** – St Martin’s continues to give 10% of its income to charity, shared between 4 “major” charities usually nominated on a 4-year cycle, and up to 4 minor charities. The major charities for 2022 were as follows: Framework, Refugee Roots, Change4Change and Children in Distress each receiving £1250. The “minor” charities were Sharewear, Hope into Action and Copthorne Village Community (project supporting refugee & asylum seekers) each receiving a ”one off” gift of £400. **Christian Aid** – In May for Christian Aid Week (and for the first time since 2019!) we held a Christian Aid service during which a collection was taken and we signed the petition for a “Loss and Damage Fund” whereby richer “polluting” nations would support poorer nations impacted by climate change. This principle was given approval in the international COP 27 Climate Conference in Autumn 2022. We enjoyed a “picnic on the park” after the service. We have not participated in wider community fund raising or found alternative approaches to replace the street collections. **Environment/ Climate change** – We included celebrations of creation within our Harvest Service in September, making individual apple and/or blackberry crumbles to cook at home, using blackberries picked locally and _apples from the vicarage garden. This_ proved very popular and encouraged discussions about eating local fruit in season. The Community and Justice committee would like to explore ways in which St Martin’s may more actively address environmental issues and hope to consider this more in 2023. **Amnesty International** – members of the congregation signed around 35- 40 physical “solidarity” cards to prisoners/ activists for justice as part of Amnesty International’s annual “Write for Rights” campaign during Advent 2022. Links were provided to online materials in newsnotes. **Sherwood Sponsors Refugees** - In early 2022 the SSR group readied the house for the arrival of a Syrian family in March. They arrived safely, a family of 2 adults and children aged 4, 7 and 10. They were given support with accessing health care, English classes, education, benefits and job seeking. Intensive support by members of the SSR team was gradually reduced as the family settled well, the children established in schools and the family managing their lives with increasing independence. They are a lovely family and they have been grateful for the support they have received. This support will continue at a lesser frequency for another year. The SSR group have found this a valuable experience but there are no immediate plans to sponsor another family. **Food Bank** – St Martin's members continue to make donations which are much appreciated. These are usually taken to the Daybrook Trussell Trust Foodbank. The Church Newsletter regularly lists items which are in particular demand. Recently the Foodbank box has been relocated to the church foyer under the notices table. **Nottingham Citizens** – The PCC decided to withdraw St Martin’s formal affiliation to Nottingham Citizens after the initial trial period in 2021. Although supportive of Nottingham Citizens’ work, this decision reflected St Martin’s relatively low engagement with Nottingham Citizens as our resources are focused on other priorities (e.g. Nourish, Chaplaincy, Food Bank, refugees) in our community. In reviewing this decision, the Community and Justice committee reflected that as a church our activities focus on responding to need within our community (“tend”); but this might leave open a question about whether and how we might be more involved in challenging the systemic causes of need in our community and beyond (“transform”)? **Nourish and Chaplaincy** – are an important and valued part of our work with the community (see separate reports). **Liz Cordle** 12 ## **PCC committee for children and young people (PCC CYP)** This group takes a strategic overview of our ministry with children and young people at St Martin’s. This year we have set the following priorities: - engaging with families in the community; - developing children’s and young people’s church on Sundays - increasing capacity We have enjoyed success with the first two priorities but increasing our capacity is limited by the availability of leaders and helpers from the church community. We are no longer looking to build an extra facility outside the church building but will work to optimise the space inside. We continue to work with the diocese in order to gain funding for youth ministry from the ‘Strategic Development Fund’. ## **Lesley Cohen** ## **The Fabric and Ornaments of the church** The fabric and ornaments of the church continue to be in good order. A number of pieces of work have been completed, co-ordinated by Russell Kitson, including The safety work on the Rose Window, completed in December 2022, after many discussions with the diocese architect and specialists. Normal maintenance has occurred, including the routine (PAT) testing of all electrical items. A number of electrical improvements and repairs have taken place, including repairs to outside lighting. The porch carpet has been replaced, following heavy staining occurring. In 2023, two significant tasks are currently being considered:- Some of our seating is in need of repair or replacement. Part of the Chancel Carpet is in need of replacement. ## **Chris Morris and Sue Estella** ## **Younger** ## **Children’s Ministry** We have had a year of continuity and expansion within children’s and youth ministry. We maintained our core group of children and young people, within the church family and have had a number of additional families, become part of the church family. We ran a creche group and a group for 6-11 year olds in conjunction with the 10.30 service on Sundays, throughout the year. In addition to this we have continued to run a youth group on a Sunday evening, which is growing in both numbers, relational and spiritual depth. Due to the success of this group we are exploring diocesan funding to enable us to employ a youth leader, to build more capacity to explore ways of expanding our youth ministry wider and deeper. The children and young people have had a number of opportunities to meet with Christians from other churches, which were: - Collaboration with St Nic’s holiday club Powerlab, which was three afternoons in the Easter holiday. The children enjoyed the activities and were powerfully impacted by the faith message, delivered in a number of different ways, such as through science, story, cooking, physical activity, film and song. A number of the children made a significant step forward in their faith journey through this time. We hope to continue this in the coming year. We also took young people who served on the youth leaders team. - Trip to Oakes Christian holiday centre, with St Mark’s church. We took 50 children and young people between the ages of 8 and 14 away for a weekend in November. This involved staying from Friday to Sunday night, at Oakes which is on the outskirts of Sheffield. The children had the opportunity to do a range of activities such as mudder courses, archery, zorb balls, ropes, dance, art, remote controlled cars, tunnels. The activities were run by the volunteer team of young people at the Oakes. They also had Christian teaching, bible study group, dorm time with the young adult staff team, worship and camp fire activities. We are very appreciative of the financial support given by the St Martin’s church family, which allowed sponsored places for anyone needing financial support. We were pleased that all the regular members of the church of the right age group were able to join in and a number of children associated with us, also joined us for a wonderful weekend away. We are exploring future joint events together. - Alive Night, youth worship evening with Arnold Methodist, The People’s Church and the Eagle’s Nest Church. We continued to take turns to host worship evenings, which involved, food, friendship, fun, teaching and worship. This was paused by the Youth Leader of the Eagle’s nest church moving on from this role, but there may be opportunity to work collaboratively in the future. We have continued to build on the success of Jolly Tots, our midweek toddler group, which runs on a Tuesday morning. We have redeveloped our amazing, dedicated team and we built strong community relationships, with an attendance of 50 + children with their accompanying parents or carers. 13 We have had consistent numbers at our Bumps to Babies group, which is aimed at 0-1 year old, their parents and pregnant mothers. This runs on a Wednesday morning 10-11.30. Bumps to Babies group was borne out of our desire to help our local community of mums, as they adapt to life-changing adjustment to parenting. We wanted to create a calm, safe space, where mums could come and relax and meet other mums with babies of similar ages and develop a community. We have had a constant flow of parents, as mums have usually returned to work and are quickly replaced by new people. We have grown mostly through word of mouth with no need to advertise, as numbers have consistently stayed at 15-25 people. We have had a number of Baptisms throughout the year with a number of our children and young people choosing to have full emersion baptism and several infants being baptized. The Baptisms that we have had came from our church community or from those associated with us through Jolly Tots or baby group. It has been lovely to see those community connections building through the course of the year. At Easter in addition to the Powerlab collaboration with St Nic’s church, we had a number of events that families were invited to participate in such as Maunday Thursday service, Good Friday prayer station and an Easter Sunday All age Service. We had a number of events available for Thy Kingdom come, which were accessible for families and participation in these was good. Over the Christmas period, we gathered an all age cast to perform our Extravaganza performance of the Christmas story. We practiced on the Saturday and performed it on the Sunday morning. Grace Burch, wrote a wonderful script and directed the performance for us and lead the music team. We have excellent participation of a mixed age group cast and backstage team and it provided a contemporary retelling of the Christmas story. We also celebrated Christmas eve with our annual Christingle. For the first time in several years we were able to host this performance in person in person in the church. It was a fun but meaningful event and one of my favourite moments of the entire year, was lighting the christingles and singing away in a manger and Silent night by candle light. In addition to all the activities and events of the year, we have restyled our All Age service, to a model brought to us by our associate minister Sue Pendenque. This is a more contemporary set up where we join together with worship, start with a table game, bible readings and a short address and then get a range of options from which to choose, to explore this story further. This includes lectio divina, craft, drama, discussion and art. This service structure has been well received and we aim to continue this format on the third Sunday into the new year. **Gill James** ## **Wider** ## **Chaplaincy** We have continued to head out in twos onto Mansfield Rd, popping into the businesses, saying hi, asking how people are and offering to pray. We are continuing to establish good relationships – we surveyed the places we visit in 2022 asking if they wanted us to continue to visit, the response was a resounding yes. The fact that we were nominated for a Sherwood and Carrington community ward spoke volumes about how we are seen as a welcome feature within the community. We regularly hear about genuine concerns from the people we talk to and it is an honour to be asked to pray for them. Monday’s Nourish café is flourishing, with regular numbers of around 25-30 people enjoying friendships, a warm space and a ‘cuppa’. Regulars are now seeing this as a community that they can contribute to – one man does gardening for us, providing beautiful planters during the year, others make drinks, provide biscuits, bring information that’s helpful to our guests and so on. New members of the Chaplaincy team have been added and are a vital part of the Nourish Café team. Many conversations about faith now take place organically during the café and several people have gone on to explore faith via Start and Exploring Christianity with one man joining a life-group. ## **Sue Pendenque** ## **Communication** ## _**Website Team During 2022**_ Following the 2021 re-styling, the website has been maintained without significant changes during 2022. Some images were altered but several still need to be updated. Regular updates to information on the website are now mostly handled by Judith in the church office, with other team members making changes if required. Owing to Facebook tightening their copyright checks, we 14 are no longer able to embed recordings of our services on the website. Instead, there are clickable links that redirect to the videos on Facebook. ## _**Tech Team During 2022**_ The Tech Team provided projection (to church monitor screens) and live streaming video (to Facebook) for the main service each Sunday and for the occasional services, weddings and funerals. Live streaming via Zoom was also provided when requested. Early in February we took delivery of a new roll-top operators’ desk. We purchased all the remaining equipment, and this has been installed permanently in the desk. Training was provided to the team of operators and the system has been in use with only a few minor problems since then. We produced a comprehensive step-by-step document for operators to follow when setting up. The time required for setting up for a service has been reduced considerably leaving more time pre-service for last minute checks with musicians, readers and leaders. Operators also have time to adjust and test pre-set scenes on the camera. Later in the year the database and files used by the projection system software were moved to Cloud storage. This means that those who create the files which are needed to project the services can do so remotely from their own computers without having to come into the church. In December, the roll-top of the new desk developed a fault. This is due to be replaced in January 2023. ## **Chris Hellen** ## **Nourish** The Nourish team, a combination of friends from the wider Sherwood community including many from the Sherwood Churches, continued to provide a meal, cake and fruit on Monday afternoons. Most Mondays over 100 meals have been given to those needing a helping hand. We again have been joined by Nottingham bus charity CT4N in delivering meals to people at the flats at Woodthorpe Park and we thank all at CT4N for their help. We are always looking for volunteers to take on the shopping, cooking and a little more responsibility with the running of Nourish. The Nourish Café – a mixture of the people form the local community, the St Martin’s Chaplaincy team and the Nourish team, continued to spend time together each Monday. Friendships have continued to deepen. My thanks to everyone who has helped prepare or cook food, donated cakes or made financial donations to cover the cost of food. ## **Chrissie Morris** ## **Pastoral Outreach** Our aim is to offer pastoral care through home visits to our church family members who are unable to attend services. We have three visitors currently myself, Christine Baldwin and Pauline Hickman. Sadly two of my people have recently died so currently I am only visiting one person. Pauline visits two people and Christine one person. Visits are made every 4 to 6 weeks., We all find our visits uplifting and feel that they are very beneficial both to the people we visit and to ourselves. Visiting elderly people can be a real joy and a privilege. Although they are no longer able to come to church, they have so much to offer and it is really important to take time to chat and pray with them. If you are interested in joining the team or know of anyone who would benefit from a visit, please have a word with me. You can also contact me by phone on 01159603236 or 07734538579 or drop me an email at pennykb46@talktalk.net ## **Penny Breakwell** ## **Services at Abbeyfield** The Firs Nursing Home has been beautifully re-furbished and is now designated as a residential home, Sandwood. We meet in the day area rather than the residents’ lounge, which means those attending have chosen to be there. The residents who attend are committed Christians who cannot come to the church building because of physical limitations. Services are broadly based on the Morning Prayer liturgy and include lively Biblical exploration and discussion and well known hymns/songs. We also visit and pray with residents who are unable to leave their rooms. Services are led by Lesley and Brenda (Charles) and by Sue (White) and Beryl (Clough) in alternate months. Diane who works in the bungalows and flats keeps us informed of any pastoral concerns with residents. We were delighted this year to bring a group from St Martin’s to celebrate Christmas with carols at Larch House, after two years’ break due to Covid 19 risk. **Lesley Cohen** 15 ## **Buildings, and hiring out of church premises** In line with government Covid guidelines and our own caution we gradually relaxed the restrictions on hiring the church during 2022. We continued to offer as a courtesy supplementary use of the main church hall where previously some groups had used the chapel. Presently the church has regular weekday external bookings for two choirs and an orchestra, There were several evening concerts during 2022, the 53[rd] Nottm Brownies continued to meet each Friday night, and a new long term letting arrangement for Sunday afternoons was agreed with the Church of Pentecost UK - which has been a great success. ## **Judith Walker** ## **Knit & Natter** It has been another busy year for us & we have knitted or crocheted for several different projects including, blankets & socks for Ukrainian families living in Nottingham, hearts, blankets & twiddle muffs for Haywood House, hats & gloves for Children in Distress Charity & holding crosses for the local care home which we provided at Easter. We had a stand at the Sherwood Art Week in church to display our work & to encourage new members. We have also worked on our own projects & have enjoyed sharing ideas & learning from each other. New members always welcome. Many thanks to all the crafter's for their contributions & fellowship. ## **Christine Baldwin** ## **Kaleidoscope** It was with a heavy heart that I felt it was right to stop meeting as Kaleidoscope; our last meeting was in November. Numbers had dwindled due to a variety of reasons and ultimately only the children and one adult were enthusiastic to come. There were many positives in the year; due to the links made at Kaleidoscope, we were able to take 13 children to the holiday club at St Nics in April and then in October we took 7 children to the Oakes residential. I have had deeper conversations with some of the mums who are at various stages of a spiritual journey and I introduced a bake and pray time at my house which has seen 4 of us meet 3 times to cook food together and pray. However, it has become increasingly clear to me that the darkness is so entrenched and trauma is such a part of people’s experience and DNA even, that unless Christians join together we are not going to see real spiritual transformation amongst the marginalised in the community of Hyson Green where I live. People need to know the love of Jesus in their lives and the power of the Holy Spirit to bring true healing, repentance and transformation that will bring about lasting change and connection and so we are calling a few local churches to come together to pray and praise and seek God again for the area. ## **Rachel Crookston** ## **Deeper** ## **Thy Kingdom Come** For “Thy Kingdom Come” in 2022 we had prayer stations around the church based on different verses of the Lord’s Prayer The church was opened for prayer during several sessions. Those who prayed at the stations found it a good experience. However, few people took part. If we want to follow a similar idea in 2023 we will have to give some thought as to how to promote it better. ## **Lesley Cohen** ## **Start, Christianity explored** At the beginning of 2022, we ran The Start course.....primarily for people from Nourish. About 4 people attended regularly with one or two dropping in and out. This was followed in the summer with Christianity Explored. Both courses were much appreciated. A couple of people who attended have subsequently joined small groups on a regular basis. We are hoping to start another course exploring faith some time after Easter. ## **Glenys Hepworth** ## **St. Martin's Men's Company** The men’s group has been on a hiatus in 2022, new activities are planned for 2023 and will be led by Glenn Hickson ## **Unplugged** We continued to meet together most 4[th] Sunday evenings at 6pm to have an extended time of worship, pray and share together in a relaxed atmosphere where the gifts of the spirit are encouraged. We are thrilled that we have continued to share words of encouragement to each other and to recognize what Father God has been doing in our lives. 16 **Chrissie Morris** ## **Facebook Morning Prayer** During the pandemic in 2020 we moved out in person morning prayer sessions on Wednesdays and Thursdays online to streaming live via Facebook. It was quickly perceived that extending this to daily (except Sundays) would be a good idea. Almost 3 years on we are still ‘meeting daily at 9.15’ on Facebook. We have a team of 7 Facebook Morning Prayer Leaders and a regular ‘attendance’ of between 6 and 16 people depending on the day of the week. I am deeply grateful to the Facebook live team – thank you for your dedication, your joy in leading us and your faithfulness. ## **Sue Pendenque** ## **Burlington Life Group** We have continued to meet together on most Wednesdays, usually at Chris and Chrissie’s house. On many weeks, we have focused on the TV series “The Chosen”, which tries to see how the early followers of Jesus reacted and learnt to follow Him in the time of Jesus ministry on Earth. This has led to many discussions around how we can follow Jesus today. Of course we also worship, pray and share together, supporting each other in all the challenges in our lives. We do have room for new members. ## **Chrissie and Chris Morris** ## **Redhill Life group – Now** _**Seekers**_ After a short rest period, the one time ‘Redhill’ Group re-formed in October 2022. We are now called ‘Seekers ‘and offer a daytime alternative, meeting at 10.30 am on Tuesdays fortnightly. We number 7 members at the moment but could squeeze in a couple more. We have had an interesting time, looking at references of ‘Hope ’ using the Discovery Bible series recently. Our leaders are Sue White and Catherine Lowe , but each member contributes in some way, to the groups general learning experience and sense of belonging. We have had some really good discussion and value the prayerful, mutual support we find together. ## **Sue White and Catherine Lowe** ## **The Acorn Life group** The Acorn Homegroup meets on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at the home of Brenda Charles. We study a variety of materials chosen from several study guides. Most recently we discussed how we could re-examine the period of Advent, following a guide loaned to us from Bridget. In the summer we had a joint get together with the Burlington Group, very kindly hosted by Chris and Chrissie Morris, to share food and fellowship on one of the hottest Sundays of the year – great fun! We we are a happy group with many years of experience between us, but we like to think that we are still children in God’s eyes. ## **Russell and Janet Kitson** ## **Sanctuary Life Group** We currently meet every other Wednesday at 5pm – 6.30pm in the side chapel. We have a mix of personal support and prayer, friendship and fellowship and study/discussion to help us in our growth as disciples. We draw on materials (Bible study; books or videos) suggested by our members or St Martin’s as a whole. Last year this included reflections on poetry by Christian poets; a study book on “Experiencing God”; Celtic spirituality and “A journey through Advent.” We are very thankful to Sue Bellamy who faithfully provides refreshments on our arrival. We all enjoy sharing food and fun. We had a lovely summer visit to Attenborough Nature Reserve. ## **Lesley Cohen** ## **Orchard Life Group** The Orchard Life Group continue to meet fortnightly, but we have changed the evening to Tuesday and we meet in one another’s home. We continue to enjoy worshiping God through singing, listening to music and prayer. It has been a very special addition that we now have a guitar player as a member. Of course, we cannot forget we start with refreshments and cake. We now have 10 members and one joined us from Nourish. We also continue to take it in turns to lead sessions. At the moment we are focusing our study on the Psalms and when Lent begins on 22[nd] February with Ash Wednesday, we will be meeting in Church on Wednesdays for a corporate study on HOPE. With our lovely Vicar Bridget dying in January 2023 we have needed the support of one another even more. Co-leaders Helena Shipston and Glenn Hickson. ## **Glenn Hickson and Helena Shipston** 17