## **St. Anne’s Lutheran Church Ltd** **Trustees’ Annual Report including Directors’ Report Year End 31[st] December 2022** **Charity registration number: 1157365 Company number: 07034615** 1 ## **Trustees/Directors of St Anne’s Lutheran Church Ltd 2021-2022:** Tracy Maroske (Chair) Frederick Nsemwa (Treasurer) Jeff Trinklein Robert Rosset Timo Lehtonen Rev’d Wendy Sherer Kathy Unger Nikki Renken Moses Shonga Meelis Süld ## **Trustees/Directors of St Anne’s Lutheran Church Ltd 2022-2023:** Tracy Maroske (Chair) Frederick Nsemwa (Treasurer) (Resigned 1 May 2023) Jeff Trinklein (Interim Treasurer 1 May 2023) Robert Rosset (resigned 31 January 2023) Timo Lehtonen Rev’d Wendy Sherer Kathy Unger (resigned 31 January 2023) Nikki Renken Moses Shonga Meelis Süld ## **Staff** Senior Pastor: Rev’d Wendy Sherer Swahili Pastor: Rev’d Moses Shonga Assistant Pastor: Rev’d Meelis Süld Director of Music: Andrew Baars Administrator: Amy Biondi (Resigned March 2022), Meelis Süld (Resigned September 2022) and Nicholas McIntyre ## **Charity registration no** : 1157365 **Company no** : 07034615 Registered in England and Wales ## **Registered Office** St Mary-at-Hill, Lovat Lane London EC3R 8EE ## **Independent Examiner** Counterculture Partnership LLP Unit 115, Ducie House, Dulcie Street Manchester M1 2JW 2 ## **Report of Chair of Trustees** Dear Friends in Christ, Throughout 2022 the congregation of St Anne’s has continued to provide a place of welcome to all who join us for in-person worship or on-line. Members, friends, and visitors have in-person options of weekly English services of Word and Sacrament, monthly Swahili services of Word and Sacrament and monthly Bach Vespers services of Word and music. In addition, the English services are live streamed via Facebook and for the intervening weeks Swahili services are held via Zoom. St Anne’s is an inclusive congregation to which all are welcomed. Community and outreach support for those unable to attend our regular in person services and fellowship has continued through virtual coffee-hour after the 11am service. This helps to maintain contact and interaction. We are so very thankful for Stephanie Lang who has continued this virtual tradition throughout 2022. Pastor Moses and dedicated volunteers from the Swahili service provide education and interaction for the and young people who continue to meet via zoom every Sunday. God is good and leads his people to dedicate time and effort to nurturing the young. Another way in which St Anne’s has for decades, reached out to the community continued with a full programme of Bach Vespers services, performed by the City Bach Collective. St Anne’s Bach Vespers receives financial support from Gibson Dunn, which although generous does not cover the full cost. Attendance at these services is greater than our other two services and predominantly comprises regularly attending non-Lutherans. A significant amount of trustee time and energy has been spent this year considering and dealing with staff issues and transitions. Our administrator Amy Biondini resigned in March. Pastor Meelis was then appointed to the role and resigned in September, holding the office until we appointed Nick McIntyre. Erik Cannell resigned in September after 8 years as our Director of Music. Before the year closed, we were delighted to engage Andrew Barr as our director of Music. Being in a state of flux has been a challenge, but God is good, and we end the year fully staffed. We were saddened to learn of the death of Brian Fisher. In July, St Anne’s friends joined with many other people whose lives had been touched by Brian for a thanksgiving service at his home Methodist church in Romford. For many years Brian gave his time and dedication to St Anne’s, for which we have fond memories. St Anne’s Lutheran Church Ltd AGM took place in September, and the participation by those members attending was thoughtful and engaging. Trustees Timo Lehtonen and Fred Nsemwa were re-elected along with Nikki Renken, who had recently been co-opted by the trustees. For the remainder of 2022 our board of trustees comprised seven elected trustees and three by virtue of their office as SALC pastors. Going forwards it is crucial for good governance that new trustees are recruited, to bring fresh ideas and the skills necessary for this responsibility. On Palm Sunday we held a community pot-luck lunch at which we facilitated a discussion to review our direction, our needs, and aspirations. A paper version of the survey was also sent out via the distribution list of the Newsletter and distributed after worship. We received two written responses. In summary of the verbal and written responses we learned that people are grateful for the services being live-streamed, particularly those with mobility or distance issues. We also heard that people are wanting more opportunities for education, to learn together. In September 2022, Sebastian Matzner was recommended by the LCiGB Vocations Committee for ordination training. Sebastian has been a member of St Anne's since 2015. In October and November Sebastian lead a series of reflective discussion sessions on the theme ‘War and Peace: Christian Faith and the Use of Violence’, to which members of St Anne's, the International Lutheran Student Centre, and members of other CLC churches were 3 (Company Number 07034615, Charity Number 1157365) warmly invited. The series concluded with the writing of prayers, informed by our shared reflections, which we prayed together in our Remembrance Sunday service. 2022 was, once again, an unusual year, but one in which our Lord continued to bless us, and the Holy Spirit continued to work change in us. I will reiterate: we are always looking for fresh ideas and people to govern St Anne’s Lutheran Church. Although experience is of tremendous benefit, it is important that a variety of skills and perspectives are represented in the board of trustees. If you feel called to serve in this capacity, and to share your skills in ensuring good governance of St Anne’s Lutheran church, please talk to a trustee to find out more. Thank you, to you the members, for your kind and generous prayers and support to us as trustees this past year as together we endeavour to relieve suffering and hardship and to promote and preserve spiritual and physical good health and well-being within our communities. The congregation of St Anne’s is dependant upon its membership working as volunteers. ‘We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 It is my prayer that you find nurture here at St Anne’s through ministry of Word & Sacrament in accordance with the Lutheran tradition. In Christ, Tracy Maroske ## **Chair of Trustees** 4 (Company Number 07034615, Charity Number 1157365) ## **Treasurer’s report** ## **Income** During 2022, SALC’s total receipts on unrestricted voluntary donations were £73,216 which represents an increase of about 2% (£1,337) on 2021 figures. In addition, SALC received restricted income (e.g., restricted grants) of £7,066 in 2022, after having received none in 2021. The restricted grants included £3,000 from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in support of Bach Vespers, and £4,066 from the LCiGB received to support our acquisition of additional equipment to more effectively livestream our services. (The LCiGB in turn received support from the Lutheran World Federation to provide this grant.) In 2022, we saw a substantial increase in regular giving once the sanctuary was able to reopen regularly after the COVID-19 lockdowns of the previous years. We also continued to receive generous donations from members contributing through the ELCA (£33,029). We did not recover any Gift Aid from the HMRC during 2022 from the previous year. We will seek to recover in 2023 Gift Aid of approximately £10,983 for 2021 and 2022. Ultimately, our total income for 2022 was 1.55% below budget and about 12% above 2021 actuals. The overall position from an income perspective was generally consistent with our expectations, although we still are challenged in meeting our annual expenses. Nevertheless, we praise God for his provision of these funds, the love and commitment of the church members and the wider community. Finally, we are enormously grateful to our church members for continuing to give so generously to the work of the church in terms of both their time and money. The church is dependent on its membership working as volunteers in all aspects of the church’s activities, many of which run with little or no impact on church’s expenditure, but nevertheless contribute substantially to the achievement of the church’s objectives. ## **Expenditure** Overall, expenditure totalled £98,389 (up £13,937 vs 2021 and above the budget of £91,029), leaving a deficit for the year of £18,106 when compared to total income. The increase in expenditure was due in part to additional staff costs (particularly for hiring a new Adminstrator and staff bonuses and salary increases) and was also attributable increased numbers of Bach Vespers services and increases in the cost of each Bach Vespers. Some amount of deficit spending was intentional: the increased cost of SALC’s need to return to full operations was expected to occur sooner than the expected increase in giving as members continue returning to in-person services. But the challenge is clear for our congregation: we must provide the financial support needed to maintain and even expand the resources provided to our congregation and our community. Our unrestricted reserves at the end of the year amounted to £83,188 **.** There were no current liabilities for the year under review. ## **Reserves Policy** As part of good practice and given the continued uncertainty about funding, SALC Trustees have resolved to protect the continuity of service to the congregation by ensuring that SALC has free reserves to allow the charity to cope with reasonable level of unforeseen expenditure. The Charity Commission recommends that organisations maintain such reserves. For instance, in the event that SALC has to wind up there will be costs associated in doing this such as staff given notice/redundancy, liabilities and so forth. As part of the contingency planning and risk management, SALC Trustees have established a 5 (Company Number 07034615, Charity Number 1157365) reserves policy that ensures SALC maintains a balance on unrestricted funds which as far as possible equates to at least four months of unrestricted payments. The value of reserves agreed to be in place at the end of 2021 financial year (for 2022) by the SALC Finance Committee was £20,000. Reserves held above this value are purposed to smooth fluctuations in cash flow, meet emergencies and to allocate towards the activities of the church over the coming years. The unrestricted general fund reserve currently exceeds the amount of four month’s unrestricted payments. 6 (Company Number 07034615, Charity Number 1157365) ## **Senior Pastor’s Report** Reflecting on the still heavy influence of pandemic in 2021, this past year ends up looking remarkably 'normal' by contrast, praise be to God. Resuming our full complement of Sunday morning, Swahili and Bach Vespers services was a joyous development during 2022, and we continued our signature St. Anne's ministry of 'welcoming the stranger' at our door, with many travellers finding us and some even staying on more permanently to enrich our community. The retention of live streaming weekly services which began out of necessity but now continued out of a desire to maintain this connection with absent and distant friends has been a fruitful addition to our outreach ministry, as we continually strive to update/improve both our hardware and streaming capabilities for the benefit of those participating. Much credit goes to Pastor Meelis for his ongoing work and expertise in this area. Improved technology (and our ability to use it) has also augmented our ability to include trustees in regular meetings who may otherwise have been unable to attend in person due to unavoidable circumstances, as well as enabling mid-month catechism classes for young people without requiring their parents to transport them to an additional session. This year saw the entry of Sebastian Matzner into professional ministry training and candidacy with the LCiGB, for which we celebrate and rejoice in recognition of the many gifts we already know him to possess. We look forward to seeing where his future ministry leads him and are committed to supporting his ongoing training and development in service to Christ and his church. Our church also celebrated the Ordination to Word and Sacrament Ministry of Joseph Nelson on the day of the LCiGB Annual Assembly in Leeds, at the end of April. One rather sad event in July was the funeral of former St. Anne's member Brian Fisher, which took place in Romford. However, it was good for several of us to be present in order to acknowledge and celebrate the long and fascinating life of service which he lived, and remember the ways in which he enriched our community over the years. With the mid-year resignation of Erik our organist, we conducted a search and eventually hired Andrew Baars as our new Director of Music, who proved from early days to be an excellent fit for our congregation, having both extensive experience with and enthusiasm for collaboration with lay musicians to enhance the music ministry of St. Anne's. Along with the addition of Nick McIntyre as our new administrator, we were fortunate in 2022 to once again have a full staff in service of our congregation. Our catechism programme relaunched in September with a large class of ten students, representing attendees from both 11:00am and Swahili services. In addition to the aforementioned online sessions, we met monthly in person after a Sunday service, and our numbers stretched the limits of our classroom table space! Pastor Moses and I co-taught the sessions, and we also welcomed an additional student from the Polish Church in London. In November we were happy to welcome a new vicar to serve St. Mary-at-Hill parish, the Rt. Revd David Urquhart and former Bishop of Birmingham for the Church of England. It is good to once again have an Anglican colleague on site, to further strengthen our already strong ties and collaboration within our local ecumenical cluster, which also includes All Hallows by the Tower and St. Margaret Pattens. We give thanks for another year of blessings gifted to us by God in Christ, looking forward in faith to our future together in ministry as St. Anne's Lutheran Church, and once again I thank all of you for the privilege of serving as your pastor. In Christ, **Rev. Wendy Sherer, Senior Pastor** 7 (Company Number 07034615, Charity Number 1157365) ## **St. Anne’s Lutheran Church Ltd. Statement of Trustees Responsibilities For the year ended 31 December 2022** The trustees, who are also the directors of St. Anne’s Lutheran Church Limited for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company Law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to: - select the most suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently; - observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP; - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and - prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is not appropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation. The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 (the “2006 Act”). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. In preparing this report, the Trustees have taken advantage of the small companies exemptions provided by Section 41SA of the 2006 Act. Approved by the trustees and signed on behalf by **Tracy Maroske** **Jeffrey Trinklein** **Chair 24 October 2023** **Interim Treasurer 24 October 2023** 8 (Company Number 07034615, Charity Number 1157365) ## **St. Anne’s Lutheran Church Ltd. Independent Examiners Report** ## **For the year ended 31 December 2022** I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of St. Anne’s Lutheran Church Ltd. for the year ended 31 December 2022 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Summary Income and Expenditure Account, the Balance Sheet and the related notes. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** As the charity trustees (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2011 (“the Act”). Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited for this year under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the 2011 Act”). In carrying out my examination, I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a Fellow of the Association of Charity Independent Examiners. I have completed my examination. I can confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that: - accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 386 of the 2006 Act ; or - the accounts do not accord with those records; or - the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements under section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair' view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or - the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102). 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. Dated: 24/10/2023 Tom Wilcox FCIE Counterculture Partnership LLP Unit 115 Ducie House Ducie Street Manchester M1 2JW 9 (Company Number 07034615, Charity Number 1157365) st￿￿.￿l￿th￿￿£hthrIh tsd F￿￿d*stat￿M￿ntSXat Ilst De¢Èrnbér2022 IDII 3.ll94 (xhErGl¥lTrB 5D.Ls# Pwrn•nt 92.OB3 84.452 lint￿bIt￿tIstJBTh B•1•n¢e0Y￿3ls1U 94.3fj4 Icompany Number07034615, Charity Number 11573651 io NOTE: The notes on pages 12 to 14 form an integral part of these financial statements The Company was entitled to exemption under s477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies. The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006. The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act with respect to accounting records and for the preparation of accounts. These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to small companies subject to the small companies regime and in accordance with FRS102 SORP. **Tracy Maroske, 24 October 2023 Jeffrey Trinklein, 24 October 2023 Chair Interim Treasurer** Company Number: 07034615 11 (Company Number 07034615, Charity Number 1157365) ## **St. Anne’s Lutheran Church Ltd.** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements ~ Year ended 31st December 2022** ## _**Note 1. Accounting policies**_ The principal accounting policies which have been applied consistently throughout the year are summarised below. ## **1.1. Basis of Accounting** The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and Update Bulletin 2, and the Charities Act 2011. The accounts are presented in GBP rounded to £1, which is the functional currency of the charity. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note. ## **1.2. Incoming resources** **Recognition of incoming resources -** These are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when: - the charity becomes entitled to the resources; - the trustees are virtually certain they will receive the resources; and - the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliably. _The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:_ **Grants and donations -** Grants and donations are only included in the SoFA when the charity has unconditional entitlement to the resources. **Gifts in kind** - Gifts in kind for sale are included in the accounts as gifts only when sold by the charity. **Donated services and facilities** - Donated services and facilities would only be included if the value can be quantified. **Volunteer help** - The value of any voluntary help received is not included in the accounts but is described in the trustees’ annual report. **Investment income** - This is included in the accounts when receivable. ## **1.3 Expenditure and Liabilities** **Liability recognition** - All expenditure is included on an accruals basis and is recognised when there is a legal or constructive obligation to pay for its expenditure. All costs have been directly attributed or proportionally charged to the functional categories of resources expended in the SOFA. Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred. Expenditure on charitable activities comprises the costs incurred by the Charity in the delivery of its activities and services in the furtherance of its objects, including the making of grants and governance costs. Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the Charity, including any audit/independent examination fees, costs linked to the strategic management of the Charity, together with a share of other administration costs. All remaining costs are classified as support costs. Support costs are those that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities. ## **1.4 Charitable funds** Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives unless the funds have been designated for other purposes. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific 12 (Company Number 07034615, Charity Number 1157365) purpose. Restricted funds are available for use subject to restrictions imposed by the donor or through terms of an appeal. ## **1.5 Taxation** As a registered charity, the company is exempt from corporation tax on surpluses arising from its charitable activities during the year. 13 (Company Number 07034615, Charity Number 1157365) ## **Note 7 - Company Limited by guarantee** St Anne’s Lutheran Church Limited is a company Limited by Guarantee and accordingly does not have a share capital. Every member of the company undertakes to contribute such amount as may be required not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charitable company in the event of its being wound up while he or she is a member, or within one year after he or she ceases to be a member. 14 (Company Number 07034615, Charity Number 1157365) St Anne’s Lutheran Church Ltd St Mary-at-Hill, Lovat Lane, London EC3R 8EE Tel: 020 7283 6305 Mobile: 074 8338 5720 e-mail: admin@stanneslutheranchurch.org.uk www.stanneslutheranchurch.org.uk Company no: 07034615 Charity registration no: 1157365 15 (Company Number 07034615, Charity Number 1157365)