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2020-08-31-accounts

Trustees’ Report And

Financial Statements For the year ended 31[st] August 2020

Administrative Information

Minister: Rev Robin Selmes

Stewards:

Mr Paul Abel Mr Mark Frost Treasurer: Mrs Carol Waldock Secretary: Mr Tony Crowcroft Contact details: Address: Gillingham Methodist Church 100 Third Avenue Gillingham Kent ME7 2LU Telephone: 01634 575139

e-mail address: church@gillingham methodists.uk Website: www.gillinghammethodists.uk Banker:

CAF Bank Ltd 25, Kings Hill Ave West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ

External Auditor: Keith Scudder

Trustees’ Report

Governance and Management

Gillingham Methodist Church (GMC) is governed by the Methodist Church Act 1976, the Deed of Union and the Model Trust Deeds of the Methodist Church.

The purposes of the Methodist Church are and shall be deemed to have been since the date of union the advancement of:

The Church is one of a group of local churches with the North Kent Methodist Circuit. Circuits combine to form about 30 districts in Great Britain. Although there is some autonomy, all Methodist organisations in Great Britain are governed by statutes determined by the Methodist Conference and which are published in the Constitution, Practice and

Discipline of the Methodist Church. Both Conference and Council consists of lay and clerical members.

Organisational Structure

  1. Overall control rests with the Methodist Conference

  2. The Connexional Office implements decisions made by Conference and is also responsible for the stationing of Ministers in individual Circuits.

  3. Connexional decisions are passed to the chair of the District and the appropriate Officers of the District for regional implementation.

  4. The District pass the control down to Circuit level for local implementation by the Superintendant Minister, Ministerial Staff and Circuit stewards, and authority is delegated to the circuit meeting for certain matters.

  5. The Circuit Meeting passes control down to the Church Councils for local implementation by the Minister, the Church Stewards and other officers, and authority is delegated to Church Councils acting as Managing Trustees.

  6. The Methodist Connexional year runs from 1 September to 31 August.

Charity Registration

GMC was registered as a charity (number 1155212) in January 2014.

Public Benefit

The Trustees confirm that, in setting objectives and planning our activities, the Church Council Meeting has complied with the duty under the Charities Act 2011, giving careful consideration to the Charity Commissions’ general guidance on public benefit.

Decision-making Process

During the year, the Church Council met three times to keep under review the life of the Church. Financial and Property reports were received and considered at each meeting.

Objectives and Activities

Our mission statement which was adopted by the Church Council in autumn 2012 is:

Sharing the love of Christ, stepping out in faith and serving our community.

Through:

Worship, discipleship and teaching- providing biblical teaching, nurturing spiritual growth and encouraging participative, expressive worship.

Reaching the community-working with and in the local community, serving others to make a real difference in Gillingham; encouraging equipping and supporting each other to exercise our faith where we live, work and relax.

Young people- building on our work with children and young people, helping them grow into confident and responsible adults and bringing more people into a relationship with God.

We seek to be:

We aim to do this through:

Trustees

Paul Abel Mark Frost Carol Waldock Helen Young Steph Smith Carol Smedley Jenny Silver Jim Hancock Kirsty Bottliegeri John Amoah Bryan Clarke Lesterlyn Clarke Karen Willing Amos Dougan Earnest Forsom David Johnson Sarah Johnson Albert Kwakye Sally Murphy Diana Smith

Review of Achievements 2019-20

To reflect the make up of our congregation our worship style is contemporary with mindful inclusion of more traditional praise hymns if they are deemed at our service planning evenings to best fit the Sunday preacher's theme.

Our site comprises the worship hall, community hall and two meeting rooms and footfall from the various users has grown through this year. The site is also another year older and attention has been made to make efficient use of time & financial resources by the property and finance team to ensure our buildings are fit for purpose and compliant. The refurbishment of the Church Foyer is now complete and ready to be used by rental/Church groups when government regulations to manage the current COVID19 pandemic have been relaxed. A review on crèche facilities was held with everyone invited to give their views on how crèche facilities should be provided. Historically the crèche area was behind the stage in a corridor between the office and prayer room; this has long been deemed an unsuitable area due to it being cold, being a corridor and parents feeling isolated from the rest of the Church. It was deemed that we should have no specific crèche area, especially as the building’s layout did not provide an obvious area, however parents would be welcome to take their young children to the foyer area where quiet toys would be provided and parents able to feel part of the

worship service.

We continue to focus on our environmental and ecological footprint as we move forward and hope to lead our community by example in this increasingly important regard. The ‘Bring your own cup to Church’ initiative has been incredibly successful in reducing usage of disposable cups. The Church and its users continue to recycle rubbish. We are pleased to have been given a bronze award from ‘Eco-Church’. We are now working towards a silver award.

In addition to our many house groups our minister has held tutorials, film nights and discussion groups midweek in the church to encourage all to grow in Christ.

We are renowned as a 'welcoming church' thanks to our welcome team and aisle stewards. This has helped ease those coming to worship for the first time, or with much on their mind.

The prayer team now wear badges to easily identify them and a new area at the back of the Church is to be created to allow people to easily and discreetly seek prayer.

Since last September, the worship group has been looking at how it could share its gifts with the wider circuit and community, but it wasn’t until March this year, with the introduction of a nationwide lockdown, that the opportunity arose. Through recording our singing and playing remotely, we have utilised the skills and talents of our group (and learnt new ones) to produce 22 worship songs and videos to date, as well as planning and producing several complete Worship Services, for the use of not only Third Avenue but also the Circuit, to live stream and utilise during and after the pandemic. Although the group obviously miss singing and playing together, with YouTube hits reaching nearly 1k views on the some of the videos, we realise this is a valuable resource that reaches way beyond our church building.

Our relationship with our Methodist Circuit continues promoting a deeper understanding of how our church 'fits' is being gained, such that our whole church seen as part of a bigger picture. The pandemic has invited us to view Church differently and the live streamed services on a Sunday morning available to the whole Circuit and taken by the Circuit Ministers in turn has certainly given a feel of inclusion within the Circuit

Our website https://gillinghammethodists.uk has been in place since September 2018 and is updated regularly.

Mission Report

We continue to focus on our Mission and have a Mission group that meets quarterly-

work together on projects often initiated by the Worship leaders for use within upcoming Sunday services. This group has moved on line via zoom at this time.

In addition our church continues to make donations in kind, of space and of personnel for such worthy causes as Medway Night Shelter, World Cafe (International students on the campus). We also host Brownies & Guides, an under 12 Friday evening club (Blue Skies), a pre-school nursery (Kiddiwinks), an adult and youth drama group and continue to hold various fundraising events throughout the year.

Our Charity of the Year on which we voted for during our AGM 2019 for one year, we have decided to extend this to two years due to the pandemic so Medway Street Angels remain our Charity.

Youth Ministry Report by Youth Pastor Helen Young

Youth café

Up until March 2020(when we had to close due to the pandemic), this group carried on getting a regular 4-8 young people coming to most sessions three times a week.

Wednesday night youth group

Up until March 2020 this group was going well with a steady number of 4-6 young people coming regularly. Although face to face meetings stopped in March, in May the group restarted online via zoom with one hour meetings proving successful and including 2-4 young people who would not normally access the face to face group.

A new group will start in September 2019 for those in our congregation between the ages of 18-30. It will meet on a Wednesday night, fortnightly.

Bible Study

This group continued until March when it went to online meetings immediately. Although initially numbers were good they dropped as we neared the summer holidays. However those that met used the meeting as a chat and check-in.

Sunday mornings

We had been looking at the age range of the Sunday groups for some time and it was agreed that the three Sunday morning groups would reflect those of the school years.

Jesus Squad: age 3 to school year 2

Spirit Squad: School years 3-6

God Squad: years 7-12.

After March when we were unable to meet, teaching materials were sent out (to those who requested it)via email/video or worksheets.

Chinese Church

This was going well meeting in the Green room every Sunday afternoon using a volunteer from the Chinese church. In March a whatsapp group was set up to provide weekly teachings and a thought for the day. This was transferred to a fortnightly zoom group in May.

District youth weekend away .

This was unable to take place due to the pandemic.

Safeguarding

The church follows the Connexional policy on safeguarding as detailed in Creating Safer Space, ensuring adoption of safe practice amongst children and vulnerable adults. Safeguarding remains important and our church continues to review this area to ensure we protect individuals and trustees alike in the compliance and execution of policies. Helen Young, Youth Pastor has worked closely with the safeguarding officer on a ‘Social Media Policy’ for the Church, which has now been ratified by Church Council.

Property and Users

Gillingham Methodist continues to employ a caretaker on a part time basis.

The Property and Finance Team led by the Rev Robin Selmes consisting of Paul Abel and Jim Hancock (Property Stewards), Carol Waldock (Treasurer), Roy Adams (caretaker) and Albert Kwakye (Bookings Manager), continues to meet quarterly, initially in person and since March on zoom.

The site comprises the worship hall, community hall and two meeting rooms and footfall from the various users has grown through this year. The site is also another year older and attention has been made to make efficient use of time & financial resources by the property and finance team to ensure our buildings are fit for purpose and compliant. The Church continues to rent the Wesley Rooms at the rear of the main Church building to the Family Trust. The Main Hall and Blue Room continues to be rented by Kiddiwinks pre-school in term time. A Dance School rents the Main Hall on a Saturday morning and Wednesday

afternoon. The Blue Room is used for hire by the NCT, NRAS, Pulse First Aid on a adhoc basis. The properties were closed in March to comply with the governments’ regulations for managing the COVID19 pandemic. In June after risk assessments complying with the Early Years Alliance, Kiddiwinks reopened on a part time basis.

Trustees Expenses 2019-20

None

Trustees Responsibilities

The Trustees are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the Church’s activities during the year and its financial position at the end of the year. In preparing these financial statements the Trustees have:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the position of the Church and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the law. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the church and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees have the right to advise the Independent Examiner of any concerns; none has done so and the Church Council meeting therefore concludes that there are no issues.

Financial Review

The Church prepares payment and receipt accounts. The Church budget is prepared by anticipating the expenditure for the forthcoming year-around 50% of expenditure relates to the Circuit Assessment which is fixed some months in advance of the new year; other expenditure is generally set on a historic cost basis, using actual spend in previous years as a predictor of future needs.

Both rental and offerings/tithes income have been greatly reduced during 2019-20 due to the pandemic. Hopefully Government regulations will allow our regular users to return from September; ensuring all risk assessments are up to date. Weekly emails have gone to Church members and adherants explaining the financial situation and encouraging them to continue their giving if at all possible.

The Circuit Assessment for 2019-20 was £62,034.

.

Reserves Policy

Background:

The Church seeks to use its financial resources wisely and to predict future needs.

The Reserves Policy deals with:

Other funds held which are NOT required to be included in our reserves are:

Our Reserves

As of 31[st] August, 2020 £24,955 was held in general fund, enough to cover normal running costs.

Financing the Youth Pastor

The Youth Pastor remains an employee of the North Kent Methodist Circuit. The agreed contribution of £6,000 was made to the Circuit from Third Ave Church. There are two and a half years left of this five year post.

Approvals

The Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements were approved by the Church Council meeting, held on

Rev Robin Selmes Carol Waldock

Minister Treasurer

STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS AND INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT 2019-2020

CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

THE METHODIST CHURCH

STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS

Gillingham Methodist

Church

FOR THE YEAR ENDED

31 August 2020

North Kent Circuit Circuit no 36/21

Registered Charity - Charity Registration number

1155212

If not a registered charity Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Gift Aid number

(The HMRC number is equivalent to a registered charity number in terms of evidence of charitable status and may be used to give to donors or grant funders wishing to see evidence of the organisation's charitable status. Methodist charities in England and Wales that are not registered charities are excepted from registration under Statutory Instrument 2014 No.242)

Minister: Rev Robin Selmes

Church Stewards:

Paul Abel Mark Frost

Treasurer:

Carol Waldock

Church R and P 2015.xls

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ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

SECTION A Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds		 Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds		 £
49,646
370
25,009
16,283
Totals this
year		 £
49,646
370
25,009
16,283
Totals this
year		 Totals last
year
£ £ £ £
a1 RECEIPTS Note
a2 Offerings and Tax recovered 49,646 49,646 63,059
a3 Bank and CFB interest and
Investment income		 370 370 382
a4 Lettings 25,009 25,009 33,840
a5 Other receipts 16,283 16,283 28,209
a6 TOTAL RECEIPTS 91,308 **91,308 ** (a7) 125,490
SECTION B 62,034
6,315
23,110
13,323
18,856
b1 PAYMENTS
b2 Circuit Assessment or Share 62,034 62,034 57,443
b3 Donations 6,315 6,315 7,532
b4 Repairs and Maintenance 23,110 23,110 15,794
b5 Utilities (Insurances, water
charges,heating& lighting)		 13,323 13,323 15,840
b6
b7 Otherpayments 18,856 18,856 21,898
b8 TOTAL PAYMENTS 123,638 **123,638 ** (b9) 118,507
(32,330)
SECTION C
c1 NET RECEIPTS/PAYMENTS
FOR THE YEAR
(a6-b8)		 (32,330) (32,330) 6,983
c2 Total funds brought forward from
last year		 83,576 19,461 **103,037 ** (c6) 96,054
70,707
c3 (c1+c2)
Sub total		 51,246 19,461 70,707 103,037
c4 Transfers and adjustments 19,461 (19,461) (c7)
c5 TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR
(c3+c4)		 70,707 **70,707 ** (c8) 103,037 (c6)
SECTION D
d £
(these amounts are not to be included in total receipts/payments figures above)
FOR INFORMATION ONLY: MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS		 £
d1 Balance brought forward from lastyear
d2 Offerings/Gifts - received for external organisations 307 1,133
d3 Offerings/Gifts -passed to external organisations 307 1,133
d4 BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID (d1+d2-d3)

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SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL

SECTION E Please follow the Guidance Notes to complete this page Summary of the Church accounts for the year ended 31 August 2020 and Internal Organisations reporting to the Church Council/Church Meeting. Note that the funds of an Internal Organisation would normally be Restricted funds unless it could be clearly shown that they could be used for any Methodist purpose. This section must be completed to arrive at the gross income and expenditure totals of the Church. If gross income exceeds the Accruals threshold, then the Accruals method of accounting AND A DIFFERENT FORM must be used to report the accounts (see Methodist website). Please refer to the guidance notes regarding transfers between the District and connected District Organisations.

SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL
SECTION E
Please follow the Guidance Notes to complete this page
Summary of the Church accounts for the year ended 31 August 2020 and Internal Organisations reporting to the Church Council/Church Meeting. Note that the funds of
an Internal Organisation would normally be Restricted funds unless it could be clearly shown that they could be used for any Methodist purpose. This section must be
completed to arrive at the gross income and expenditure totals of the Church. If gross income exceeds the Accruals threshold, then the Accruals method of accounting
AND A DIFFERENT FORM must be used to report the accounts (see Methodist website). Please refer to the guidance notes regarding transfers between the District
and connected District Organisations.
INTERNAL
ORGANISATIONS		 Receipts Payments Net Receipts/
Payments		 Adjustments Opening
balances		 Closingbalances
e1 St Pauls Drama Group 12,471 4,728 7,743 7,743
e2 St Pauls Drama Group
(Junior section)		 2,358 705 1,653 1,653
e3 Blue Skies Kids Club 1,002 781 221 221
e4
e5
e6
e7
e8 Sub total of Internal
Organisations funds		 15,831 6,214 9,617
(32,330)		 (e11) 9,617 (e12)
e9 Church accounts (totals
brought forward from page
2 - totals column)		 **91,308 ** (a7) **123,638 ** (b9) (32,330) (c7) **103,037 ** (c6) 70,707 (c8)
e10 TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD
BY CHURCH		 107,139 129,852 (22,713) 103,037 (x) 80,324 (y)
TOTAL RECEIPTS TOTAL
PAYMENTS

SECTION F STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

SECTION F
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
CHURCH - CASH FUNDS HELD at 31 August 2020
Cash in hand
Bank Current Account
Bank Deposit Account
SUB TOTAL - Church accounts
TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH
Central Finance Board
Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
Other funds
Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the closing
balance total from above) (e12)		 OPENING
BALANCES
28,839
74,198
103,037
(c6)
(e11)
103,037
(x)		 CLOSING
BALANCES
f1 Cash in hand
f2 Bank Current Account 39,174
f3 Bank Deposit Account
f4 Central Finance Board 31,533
f5 Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
f6 Other funds
f7 SUB TOTAL - Church accounts 70,707 (c8)
f8 Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the closing
balance total from above) (e12)		 9,617 (e12)
f9 TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH 80,324 (y)
SECTION G
OTHER ASSETS and LIABILITIES
Other Assets
Land & Buildings(see notes re Insurance value)
Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end
Other Liabilities
Investments(include Endowments)		 At
1 September 2019		 At
31 August 2020
g1 Investments(include Endowments)
g2 Land & Buildings(see notes re Insurance value)
g3 Other Assets
g4 Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end
g5 Other Liabilities

f4 Include only Funds held at the Central Finance Board

f5 Include only Funds held at Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes

g1 Include any other investments (not the cash element of TMCP trusts accounts this is included in line f5

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Declarations and Scrutiny

I confirm that these Receipt and Payment based accounts for the year to 31 August 2020 have been prepared from the records of the Church and that they include all funds under the control of the Church trustees.

Signature of treasurer ……………………………………………………… Date……………………..

Name and address of treasurer: Carol Waldock 22 Glebe Road, Gillingham, Kent Post Code ME7 2HU

Presentation to the Church trustees

I confirm that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2020 were/will be* presented to the meeting of the Church trustees held on ……………..

Signature of the Chair of the meeting ……………………………………………………………………

Name of the Chair of the meeting …………………………………………… Date ……………………

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of the

Gillingham Methodist Church

Charity Number: 1155212

Responsibilities and basis of report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Gillingham Methodist Church for the year ended 31 August 2020 set out on pages 2 to 3. As the Church’s trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the Church’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and, in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

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Independent Examiner’s Statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below*) which give me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

[the [the

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

I have/have not* obtained independent verification of all investments with the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes or held in other trusts, bank balances and funds at the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church which are individually in excess of £10,000 (ten thousand pounds) at the balance sheet date.

Signature of independent examiner ………………………………………………………………….

Name of independent examiner: Keith Scudder

Relevant professional qualification of independent examiner: ICB

Address: 42 Frobisher Way, Gravesend, Kent

Post Code: DA12 4RA

Date: 4th January 2021

Sep-19

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