# **Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Parochial Church Council for the year ended 31 December 2021** **Incumbent:** Revd Hannah Cooper ## **Bank:** CAF Bank Ltd 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ ## **Registered Charity no:** 1159205 ## **Independent Examiner:** Sarah Large BSc (Hons) CAT 4 St Clement Road Colchester CO4 0LN **stlukescolchester.org.uk stmarkscolchester.org.uk** ## **Welcome to our 2021 Annual Report** ## Dear Church Member It is great to take some time to review what happened during 2021. This document may look a little different to previous editions of our annual report, because we are moving from reporting on just one church to now reporting on a parish with two churches. The legal requirements to list the financial info, the church property and electoral numbers are all still here, but the sections on church life will look a little different. St Luke’s has always had Church Planting DNA, partly because we were a church plant ourselves nearly 30 years ago. When I was appointed in 2016, I was told: this church needs to plant. When Chris arrived with the title of Church Planting Curate, we sensed the time was coming and fast. So, in 2020, it wasn’t really a huge surprise to find that St. Luke’s was ready to plant. The timing was not perfect, very few of us had done this before. But the PCC had discerned it was time, and with the support of the Bishop and some funding in place from the Strategic Development Fund of the Church of England, we went for it on 8[th] November 2020. St Mark’s Church Plant began by meeting on Zoom, and six months later began to meet face-to-face in Brinkley Grove Primary School. Planting is an odd mixture of exciting and painful – it was certainly strange not seeing some of the old faces around at St Luke’s when we returned to face-to-face services after the pandemic. But planting was also necessary, and we’ve already seen good fruit from it with people stepping up to fill the gaps that have been created, and with both churches adding to their numbers with people who had never been a part of the parish before the plant. Looking back on 2021, my sense was that it was a time of journeying. We were journeying from meeting almost exclusively online, to beginning to meet in person, so we journeyed through how to meet safely in person. There was a journey for both churches in how they establish themselves as individual churches, but also how do we establish ourselves as a family, as a Parish that wants to work together. 2021’s journey was not easy, there was some pain, and parts of it felt long. It is sad that not everyone has returned yet to worship, but with God as our solid base, we pressed through and as the bible verse we used for 2020’s APCM sums up: ## _**2 Corinthians 4:8-10**_ _8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.[10 ] We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.’_ My hope is that in 2022 we will continue to reveal the life of Jesus throughout our Parish. Please do keep reading. Hannah ## **Parish Report** One of the highlights of 2020 and 2021 was the establishment of Helping Hands, where members of the church went out to help with shopping lists, prescriptions and other requests. This has led to a stronger outward presence that means if our local councillor knows someone is in need, they will often ask us as a church to help. ## **Youth** Critical mass is always important when it comes to church groups, and this is especially true of youth. So, as well as having time with their respective churches, we very quickly put in place a group called United. A space where both St Luke’s and St Mark’s youth can meet together, have fun, and learn more about God. In March 2021 our youth worker Sammy went on maternity leave, so I am very grateful to the youth team for keeping going – even when it wasn’t easy. Our Thursday evening youth event United is now a really well attended group for both St Luke’s and St Mark’s young people. ## **Christian Community Groups** As we’ve been working out who we are as two churches, and then who we are as one connected parish, we’ve needed to do some work to establish groups that cross the boundaries of both churches. The result is the creation of groups we’re calling ‘Christian Community Groups’. ## **Friends in Faith** Born out of St Luke’s Mature Oaks group, this was our first group to rebrand and move to being cross parish. It has thrived over the last year, meeting weekly in the Oak Tree for coffee on a Thursday, offering a Tuesday Bible study opportunity, and 3 prayer connection points a week. They have also grown in number which is a great recognition of all that has happened. ## **Men’s Ministry** St Luke’s Men’s Ministry opened its doors to welcome, support and encourage men from both churches in Highwoods (and further afield as the groups took advantage of Zoom during the pandemic and beyond). Both Beer and Prayer and the Men’s Breakfast continued without a break throughout the pandemic, and Men’s Breakfast has enjoyed returning to the Balkerne Gate. ## **Mission and Mercy 2022** Another thing that we share is finance. Our Parish PCC and Finance Team oversee our finances. Something that St. Luke’s has always done is give away 10% of everything that is given to the parish. This is no different now that we have two churches within that parish. There is a subcommittee commissioned by the PCC to choose who and how we give our money away. I am really grateful to the giving group for faithfully meeting, praying and deciding how to give away our money. This is a list of all the charities we supported in 2021 ||**St Luke’s Mission & Mercy giving 2021**|| |---|---|---| |||| ||**International**|| |||| ||Nsambya Church & Orphanage,Uganda|£1,000.00| ||Vision for China|£400.00| ||Bishop’s Lent Appeal|£250.00| ||Tear Fund(General)|£400.00| ||Tear Fund(DRC)|£250.00| ||Barnabas Fund|£500.00| ||Save The Children|£500.00| ||Unicef|£240.00| ||Faith in Later Life|£200.00| |||| ||**Local/Colchester**|| |||| ||CAP Colchester|£560.04| ||Beacon House|£1,040.04| ||CYO|£2,080.08| ||Treetops/Liveability|£300.00| ||Night Shelter(Now Colchester Engagement)|£335.00| ||Street Pastors|£300.00| ||SanctuaryHousing (Highwoods)|£200.00| |||| ||**TOTAL**|£8,555.16| |||| |||| |||| Over the course of 2021, we have moved from weekly online services, filmed in advance and wonderfully put together, to beginning to meet outside in person, to then beginning to be able to return to weekly face-to-face services in July and offering Zoom to begin with weekly, and more recently, twice a month. Our Evening Services developed into a pattern of meeting 2 face-to-face and 2 online via Zoom. The 2021 online MMU Lent course fed into developing a monthly online service which has continued. I am yet again so very grateful to our tech wonder men – Mark Rassell and Tim Abbott. They have worked so hard to find the right solution and the quality is always amazing. Thank you! I think it would be fair to say that each area of ministry, from discipleship groups, to children’s ministry, to youth ministry, to pastoral care, to worship, to prayer, to Uganda and beyond has struggled during 2021. It has been a hard year, and even when we were able to begin gathering again from the summer onwards, gathering a team together has been difficult. But we have each persevered. It has been lovely watching as each ministry has slowly begun to function again. Our discipleship groups have played a large role in 2021. I have loved hearing how so many people have spoken so highly of their discipleship groups, and the support that has given through this groups, finding new and innovative ways to stay connected, pray for each other and grow in faith. If you haven’t yet found a home in a discipleship group yet then please do get in contact with me (Hannah). One of the major highlights of 2021 has been developing the Family Faith and Fun Service with Karen. This is a service designed for primary school aged children, with their families. This has not only been a hit with our church families but also with members of our community, choosing to come and find out more about faith and have lots of fun. For many years we have supported the work of Nsambya School, Orphanage and Clinic in Kampala. There are many in the congregation who sponsor individual children and more recently, following our visit in 2019, we have developed additional Hardship Funding which provides general support to any child within the school and a Teacher Fund, providing training and resources for the staff. Due to some changed circumstances the giving received for Uganda had reduced but the PCC agreed for 2021 that we could use our Mission and Mercy Fund to ensure the amount given for the Hardship and Teacher funding was maintained. Given the difficult circumstances in Uganda caused by the pandemic an additional gift was also provided from this fund. The allocation of funding from the Mission and Mercy Fund was a temporary solution agreed for 2021 only. At the end of the year, a number of children had completed their studies and therefore, with the agreement of the sponsors, we have been able to reallocate the donations received to the Hardship and Teacher Funds and are now able to sustain the amounts given to Nsambya school. However, we would love to provide additional support. Please speak to Hannah, Jennifer Greenley or Jo Rassell if you would like more information. We at St. Luke’s are really pleased to be the umbrella organisation for the Deaf Church that meets monthly usually in the Oak Tree Coffee House. For Deaf Church, the first part of 2021 was meeting online, with prepared video services involving different people taking part. During Lent, we had a Zoom study group which developed into a fortnightly Bible study group on Zoom, which has continued and been a huge part of the growth of some of our members. For Holy Week, we created a service video looking at paintings with different people giving their own reflections. In the summer, we started meeting in the community centre to be well spaced out and then in the autumn, we moved back to the Oak Tree Coffee House. Our numbers grew in the Autumn, so we were between 8-12 people worshipping together. St Mark’s rolled into 2021 as a six week old church plant that met on Zoom for everything from the weekly Sunday gathering to discipleship, youth and children’s groups. Sunday gatherings used the Zoom ‘spotlight’ feature to involve as many households as possible in worship, and the mid-week discipleship groups used screen sharing to watch the video material so they could enjoy the Talking Jesus course. On Sunday 11[th] July, St Mark’s Church met face-to-face for the first time and enjoyed worshipping together at Brinkley Grove Primary School. The under 10’s children’s group (First Marks) began meeting before the Family Gathering so that our youngest members receive engaging input before joining their families in worship. At the same time, the over 10’s youth group (Top Marks) moved to a mid-week discipleship format to fit into the alternate weeks with the parish-wide United group. So that the new congregation and its leadership could discern a vision of their own, St Mark’s was intentionally planted without a vision statement. In October, we began this work by spending a Sunday morning talking about and discerning vision together. The output was then shared with the church and taken on a Core Leadership Team away day to continue discerning a vision for the nearly year old church. The result was a vision based upon Acts 2:46-47 for St Mark’s Church to be ‘not just for Sundays’ and for ‘Every member to be a shining light in mission, fuelled by ministry and discipleship’. During the summer, we enjoyed a monthly picnic in Pencil Park after our Family Gathering to give the church a chance to spend time together and to begin establishing a visible presence in the community. At Christmas we were able to take this further by hosting Christmas Carols in the Park. There was a great atmosphere, and we were encouraged that groups of people who were not members of the church family came along to sing, eat and drink. There have been plenty of challenges, but it has been a good first year for St Mark’s. We’re looking forward to continuing to grow in both love and number during 2022. We’ve all heard rumours about a potential new community centre at the Mill Road Rugby Club site for years, but 2021 was the year we finally saw signs of movement. After much wrangling by local councillors, the St Mark’s Community Centre was listed as a capital funded project in the Colchester Borough Council budget. With the help of Big Picture Charity Films, we created a promotional video for social media that highlighted the church’s involvement (the church wants everyone to thrive, and to thrive people need community space/facilities) and invited the community to engage in a public consultation. With the public consultation complete, architects were appointed and the process of designing the building was overseen by Colchester Borough Council and the trustees of the St Mark’s Community Centre CIO (A Charitable Incorporated Organisation was formed in 2020 with 4 trustees representing the Parish of St Luke’s, 2 trustees representing Highwoods Ward Council and 1 trustee representing Myland Community Council.) The resulting design is a two-story building that should have a low impact on the environment. It has been aligned to face an area of green space and has plenty of hireable space and a community I. As we await planning permission, 2021 ended with the demolition of the old Rugby Club building ready to begin construction of the new community centre in 2022. It was an interesting year trading in 2021. God was and always is good, He is our stronghold and it is for Him that The Oak Tree Coffee House exists. I love my job and I’m thankful for it. During 2021 we were presented with the particular challenges of opening during COVID. The restrictions and guidelines continually changing allowed us to discover new ways of working, both individually and as a team. Here are some of the really good things that came out of that learning curve: - The team discovered self-belief and realised that they could adapt how they work to better fit the needs of the business. This included: - Making our own sandwich fillings rather than buying in pre-made. - Cooking our own bacon rather than buying in previously cooked. - Cooking our own sausages rather than buying in previously cooked. Now these may not seem huge goals to accomplish but, for my team to move their mind shift to even consider doing these was tremendous. There can be sometimes be a hesitancy to try what’s unknown but, the team are doing well and we are consequently saving an awful lot of money whilst increasing the quality of the products we offer. I praise God for this shift. - We also learnt that social distancing and required restrictions meant that we could return to work safely and well. All the reunions for our team and our customers was really quite something. - We became closer as a team. It’s really important to understand when I say team, I mean paid and volunteers alike. Each are important and vital to running the Coffee House. - Despite losing 46.7% of our sales from pre-COVID (£87135) our net loss doesn’t reflect this. In 2019 we took just over £187000, 2021 saw us hit £100832. Whilst we have a loss for last year, I am grateful it was not higher and comparative with the 46.7% loss in sales. As always, The Oak Tree Coffee House is God’s and we are simply stewards of it. I would ask that you would pray for the Directors and our team that we would be outstanding stewards of what we been trusted with. I would ask that you pray we will always do His will and seek to glorify Him in how we approach what we do. Most of my team are not believers, I would ask you to pray that we would be good examples to them and that conversations could be had. Blessings, Susie ## **St Luke’s Church ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING 2022** _Dear Church member,_ _We give a very warm invitation to share in our APCM and look forward to seeing you._ ## **AGENDA Opening prayer & Worship** ## **MEETING OF PARISHIONERS** **1. Welcome** **2. Choosing of Churchwardens** (2 for 1 year) ## **ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING** **1. Elections** - **Elections for Parochial Church Council** **2. Approval of PCC expansion. 1 additional place for 2023** **Reports** **3. Apologies for absence –** **4. Approval of minutes of 2021 APCM** **5. Matters arising** **6. Administrative Reports** - **a. Presentation of Electoral Roll** - **b. Financial Report** - **c. PCC Report** - **d. Church Property Report** - **e. Deanery Synod Report** **7. St Luke’s report** **8. St Mark’s Report** **9. Appointment** ## **a. Independent Examiner for 2022** ## **10. Vision: Revd. Hannah Cooper** ## **11. Any other business – please email 24 hours in advance** **12. Blessing and Prayer** **St Luke’s Church** ## **ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING 2021** ## **Wednesday 26[th] May 2021 at 8pm on Zoom** **Welcome, Opening prayer, reflection on the last year, songs of praise and Bible reading** Hannah Cooper and Chris Smith welcomed people to the meeting and reflected on the last year. The vision for last year was that we would be transformed by the love of God. This is the first APCM of one parish, but 2 churches. Chris Smith said that 2020 was a challenging year and tragic for far too many people. During this difficult year, we were pleased to see St. Luke’s reaching out to the community. Through online church, with engaging content. Through the Helping Hands team that shopped for food and medicine. Hampers were also given out to those struggling in the community. Hannah Cooper reflected that St. Mark’s has never met in person and yet it is solid and stable and meeting weekly, having only started last November. There hasn’t been a flooding back to St Luke’s, as all have stayed at St. Mark’s. There has been an amazing uptake with joining the Discipleship groups and the vast majority of St. Mark’s are now part of a discipleship group. Hannah has been hearing some of the feedback from those that have never been in a discipleship group before and they are enjoying it so much. There were 3 worship songs, a Bible reading from Isaiah Chapter 6, and prayer was led by Pearson Nago. ## **MEETING OF PARISHIONERS** ## **3. Welcome** Hannah welcomed all to the meeting and thanked them for coming this evening. ## **4. Appointment of Scrutineers** Hannah confirmed that if there is any requirement for voting on this that herself and Deb Turner will do this. ## **5. Choosing of Churchwardens** (2 for 1 year) Mark Harris has been churchwarden for a number of years and has decided to step down this year. Hannah thanked Mark for everything he has done within the role. The role of churchwarden can weigh quite heavily, so thank you Mark. Hannah confirmed that churchwardens need to be re-elected each year and they can do a maximum of 6 years. Re-election of Lynne Gettings has been proposed by Jo Rassell and seconded by Mark Visagie. Hannah thanked Lynne for being prepared to carry on as churchwarden. New Churchwarden: Adrian Jones has been proposed by Jennifer Greenley and seconded by Hugh Thomas. There will now be 1 churchwarden at St. Luke’s and 1 churchwarden at St. Mark’s. This is going to mean that we will need to rethink how we do things and redefine the churchwarden role as we move into this new season. Need to think about what it looks like to have 1 warden at each church. Deputy Churchwarden role: Hannah suggested that we remove the role for a season. For many reasons, the role hasn’t materialised, and this has got nothing to do with the people currently in the post. We may look to reinstate it at our next APCM. As there are just 2 nominations for churchwardens and 2 vacancies, there is therefore no requirement for a vote. Hannah is delighted that Lynne and Adrian will be churchwardens. ## **ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING** ## **13. Elections** **Elections for Parochial Church Council** (3 members for 3 years) There are 3 new members needed to join the PCC. At the last APCM, we decided it would be good to increase the number of PCC members, due to the increase in church membership. So, instead of appointing 1 person, we are appointing 3. Pearson Nago is stepping down and Hannah thanked him for all that he has brought to the PCC. We have 3 nominations for 3 vacancies, so there was no requirement for a vote. Mark Harris proposed by Simon Cooper and seconded by Lynne Gettings Ian Duthie proposed by Adrian Jones and seconded by Jo Rassell Julia Thomas proposed by Petra Dean and seconded by Adrian Jones . ## **Elections for Deanery Synod** (1 members for 2 years) There has been 1 person who was elected last year, who has since stepped down. Because of this, this role will be for 2 years rather than the usual 3. We have 1 nomination for 1 vacancy, so there was no requirement for a vote. Hugh Thomas proposed by Diana Benge-Abbott and seconded by Adrian Jones LLM: There has been a change in church representation rules and so for the first time, we will be electing Diana Benge-Abbott for 1 year to serve on the PCC. Diana Benge-Abbott proposed by Hugh Thomas and seconded by Janine Wilde. All in favour unanimously, with the exception of Diana Benge-Abbott, so she was not voting for herself. Hannah said that if anyone is interested in the LLM role, then please speak to either Diana or Hugh, if you feel a calling into something like this. There is a selection process to go through, but it is a wonderful role with great training opportunities. ## **Reports** ## 14. **Apologies for absence –** Paul and Lucy Willer and Paul and Sarah Phillips. ## 15. **Minutes of 2020 APCM** There were no changes to be made to the minutes of the 2020 APCM. Hannah Cooper proposed that they are a true record of that meeting. This was seconded by Avril Russell. Agreed unanimously. Lisselle Clarke-Moisley and Fiona Malby both abstained as they were not present at the 2020 APCM. ## **16. Matters arising** None ## **17. Administrative Reports** Hannah asked if anyone had any questions referring to any of the reports. The Deaf Church report was queried as they were unsure how it fits in with St. Luke’s. Hannah confirmed that Deaf Church moved under the banner of St. Luke’s in Autumn 2019. A joint Christmas carol service was held to mark this change. There is an amount of around £880 under Men Behaving Boldly that has been there for a while. It was confirmed that funds have built up as they have had nowhere to spend it, due to Covid. The intention is to use it to benefit people who can’t afford to pay for breakfast etc. The men’s group will continue to discuss and decide what to do with it. St. Luke’s supports Street Pastors, but there is nothing in the accounts to indicate any financial support. Hannah said that we need to rectify this, as we do want to support Street Pastors financially. We have a Giving Group and there may have been an oversight that Street Pastors haven’t been donated to in the last year, as they have given to them previously. Hannah asked if members of the Giving Group who are present can take that back to the others for consideration. ## a. **Presentation of Electoral Roll** ## **b. Financial Report (including Independent Examiner’s Report)** ## **c. PCC Report** ## **d. Church Property Report** ## **e. Diocesan Synod Report** ## **f. Deanery Synod Report** ## **18. Church life reports** Hannah highlighted that the idea of an APCM is that it details all the different things that happen in our church. Hannah encouraged people attending the APCM to look through the reports and to read about what goes on and to pray for the different groups and ministries. ## **19. Appointment** ## a. **Independent Examiner for 2020** Our independent examiner for last year was Sarah Large. Sarah has said that she would be very happy to be the independent examiner again. Hannah extended her thanks to Sarah. Proposed by Petra Dean Seconded by Avril Russell Agreed unanimously. ## 20. **Vision: Revd Hannah Cooper** Our overarching vision from last year is that we want to be transformed through God’s love, and this has not changed. However, this year, each church is going to need its own way of working out what that looks like. At St. Luke’s, we set out four key areas as an outworking of this: prayer, youth, individual growth and community. St. Mark’s, you know who you are and you know what you are and nobody is expecting you to be St. Luke’s. We are looking forward to seeing you grow and seeing what your key areas are. We are one parish and two churches, but we are also connected wider as part of an MMU. We have had a number of times recently when we have met together as an MMU and we are looking forward to continuing that connection. Going forwards, we are looking to be a local church for local people. We also want to be a local church that is reaching out online. We have had to rethink how we do church since we have not been able to meet together in person. For St. Luke’s it has been a weekly service on Facebook and we have had others join us and many of them don’t live anywhere near us. The DNA of St. Luke’s and now of St. Mark’s is that we are a planting church. That DNA has remained with us. It may have taken us many years, but it has stayed with us. Hope is that the DNA has already planted itself in St. Mark’s. Believe that God is at work and much is happening, and Hannah asked people to think and pray about ‘What is your part in this?’ Whether you are at St. Luke’s or St. Mark’s. Consider what your part is as we look forwards to the rest of 2021 and then into 2022. ## **21. Any other business** None. ## **22. Prayer & Blessing** Lynne Gettings said that through a very challenging year, God has been walking with us and He has been growing his church in terms of planting and also through our presence in and beyond the community, through our online presence. In this time of national crisis, we look to our leaders to guide us. We recognise and give thanks for our leadership, clergy team, staff team and Oak Tree team. Also give thanks for Tim and Mark as they have enabled our online presence in 2020. Hannah Cooper finished the meeting with a blessing. Hannah thanked everyone for coming and being a part of this meeting, and for giving up their time. **Financial Report (incl. Ind. Exmr’s Report) Accounts/Financial Statements 2021** ¢10 ISWAW A• MJ •MST ¢0 IFuhd*AM TlAilr•ld￿v E 7J Y3J6 £￿￿.1$ E9A02 ULW7J2 Éi.x)J ts.55JJl thFurd ￿.?￿.0) IJS7 1537 É).2B9 41 ?1 R•sI￿ald ijtywllrrn wAGI•iAI GF(Y¢•aubNlIlrt £148. t30￿¥ HelOry ÉY22. 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I report in respect of my examination of thc Tn￿l'S ￿)Unts caTried out under section 145 of the 2011 Aci and in Carryi￿ out my examinatior4 1 have followed all the applicable Ditedions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5Xb} of the Ad. IDd¢petydent eA*miner's stateme•t T have compleied my examil￿tiOn. I confinn that no material matters have come io my ai*nuon in connection Viith the examination which gives me cause lo believe that any material rLspect: accountin8 records wcrc kcpt in accor￿ with 5￿tIon 130 of the Charities ACL the acciAmts did ￿)t cornpty with the applicable requirements concernin8 the forni and contenl of accounts sel oul in Charities (Accounts and Reix)rts) RegulatioL8 2Crf)8 other than any wuirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair. view which is Th)t a matter with the examinaiion io whi¢h attertion sl¥)uld be drawn in this re￿rt in order to enable a proper und￿￿]ll8 of the accounts kn be Thche(L Sarth Lwge Bsc (Hon5) CAT 4 St Clement Road Colchcstcr Essex C(M OLN 6" March 2022 ## **THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST LUKE, COLCHESTER** ## **STATEMENT OF PCC RESPONSIBILITIES** The PCC 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) The law applicable to charities in England & Wales requires the PCC to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the PCC and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the PCC for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to: - select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP; - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; - prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation. The PCC are responsible for keeping accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the PCC and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 1993, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the Church Accounting Regulations 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the PCC and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. ## **THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL** ## **OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF** ## **ST LUKE, COLCHESTER** ## **Registered Charity Number 1159205** Additional notes to the Financial Statements for the period ending 31[st] December 2021 ## **Accounting Policies** As stated, these financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006, using the Receipts & Payments (i.e. Cash) basis, including any uncleared bank payments made. These accounts include all transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC is responsible in law. They do not include the accounts of any church groups or activities that owe their major affiliation to another body, nor those that are informal gatherings of Church members. ## **Funds** – **General & Designated** General Funds represent the funds of the St Luke’s PCC that are not subject to any restrictions regarding their use, and are available for application on the general purposes of the PCC. Designated Funds represent the funds that have been designated for a particular purpose by the PCC, but these funds are also unrestricted regards their usage. St Luke’s currently operates four designated funds as follows: People In Need Fund, where the PCC allocated £100 per month from St Luke’s general funds to this designated fund to provide a reserve for use by the PCC as and when individual situations of serious personal need arise – due to the current pandemic the previous cap on the fund of £2000 has temporarily been removed. PA Fund, where the PCC allocated £50 per month from St Luke’s general funds to this designated fund to provide a reserve for use by the PCC to invest in new or replacement PA equipment. Equipment Fund, where the PCC allocated £50 per month from St Luke’s general funds to this designated fund to provide a reserve for use by the PCC to invest in new or replacement general equipment. Parish Share, where the PCC allocated £225.75 per month from St Luke’s general funds to this designated fund to provide a reserve for use by the PCC to support expected future increases in our Parish Share and/or to support an additional financial gift to the diocese given the current difficulties caused by the Covid 19 pandemic. ## **Funds - Restricted** Restricted funds are those funds that must be spent on restricted purposes. St Luke’s PCC currently operates restricted funds as follows: Uganda Fund - where these funds have either been given or otherwise raised specifically for the purpose of supporting the activities of the Nsambya Full Gospel Mission Church and/or Children’s School(s) and Orphanage(s) in Kampala, Uganda. Community Coffee House - where these funds have been given or otherwise raised specifically for the purpose of supporting the Oak Tree Community Coffee House. Munch Fund - whereby these funds have been given or otherwise raised specifically for the purpose of supporting the work of the Munch Initiative. Gforce Club Night - where these funds have been given or otherwise raised specifically for the purpose of supporting the GForce Children’s Ministry. Lockdown Support Fund - where these grant funds have been received specifically for the purpose of providing food parcels to families in need within our parish. Helping Hands Fund - where these grant funds have been received specifically for the purpose of providing support to those in need within our parish. Highwoods Foodbank - whereby these funds have been given or otherwise raised specifically for the purpose of establishing and supporting a foodbank on Highwoods. Families, Faith and Fun - where these funds have been given specifically for the purpose of supporting the Families, Faith and Fun service. St Mark’s Church Planting Fund - whereby these funds have been given or otherwise raised specifically for the purpose of supporting the new Church Plant – now known as St Mark’s. Diocese Church Plant Expenses - whereby these grant funds have been received specifically for the purpose of supporting the Church Plant Expenses Diocese Plant Development Costs - whereby these grant funds have been received specifically for the purpose of supporting the Church Plant Development Costs PA - whereby these funds have been given or otherwise raised specifically for the purpose of supporting the costs of new PA equipment. Men Behaving Boldly - where these funds have been given or otherwise raised specifically for the purpose of supporting the Men Behaving Boldly Missional Community. People in Need - whereby these funds have been given or otherwise raised specifically for the purpose of supporting people in need within our parish - People in Need (Covid 19) - whereby these funds have been given or otherwise raised specifically for the purpose of supporting people in need specifically impacted by Covid-19 within our parish Youth Recovery Fund - where these grant funds have been received specifically for the purpose of reestablishing the youthwork and supporting our young people after the pandemic. Youthworker Fund - whereby these funds have been given or otherwise raised specifically for the purpose of supporting the employment of a Youthworker by St Luke’s PCC. First Steps - whereby these funds have been given or otherwise raised specifically for the purpose of supporting the First Steps Group. ## **Receipts (Incoming Resources)** Planning Giving receipts and Collections & Other Giving receipts are both recognised when received by or on behalf of the PCC. Income tax recovered (under Gift Aid) is also recognised only when received. Income that is raised by any special events is accounted for gross, with any associated expenses being separately identified and disclosed - these are included under Note 5. All other Income is also recognised only when received. ## **Expenditures (Resources Used)** **Diocesan Quota -** The Diocesan Quota or Parish Share is accounted for only when paid, but with any amounts still unpaid as at the 31[st] December being provided for an an operational liability, and shown as a Creditor in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. There is no outstanding amount payable with relation to the 2021 St Luke’s Parish Share as at 31[st] December 2021. **Employment Costs** - Salaries and associated PAYE and National Insurance costs payable to HMRC are accounted for only when paid, but with any amounts still unpaid as at 31[st] December being provided for as an operational liability, and shown as a Creditor in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. There are no amounts outstanding as at 31[st] December 2021. **Grants/Donations** - Grants and donations made by the PCC are accounted for when paid over, or when awarded if the award creates a binding obligation on the PCC. There are no such outstanding binding awards as at 31[st] December 2021. **Other Expense Items** - All other expenditures are accounted for only when paid, unless any particular expense item incurred but not paid represents a material operational liability as at 31[st] December, and thus shown as a Creditor in the Balance Sheet. ## **Fixed Assets** **Church Furnishings** - Moveable Church furnishings held by the Vicar and Churchwardens on special trust for the PCC, and which require a faculty for disposal, are accounted as inalienable property, and are listed in the Church’s Inventory. For inalienable property that was already in existence as at the 1[st] October 2012, there is insufficient cost information available (such assets having been originally acquired by St John’s PCC, Colchester), and thus are not valued in these accounts. There have been no such items acquired in the period 1 January 2021 – 31[st] December 2021. **PA Equipment, Office Equipment & other Sundry Assets** - Individual items with a purchase price of less than £1,500 are expensed in full at the time of original purchase. ## **Investments** **General Investments** – General investments held are valued at Market value as at 31[st] December 2021 There are no general investments held as at 31[st] December 2021. **Subsidiary Companies** – Investments in Subsidiary Companies are stated at cost less any provision necessary for permanent diminution in value. St Luke’s PCC holds 90.6% of the ordinary share equity of the Highwoods Community Interest Company (HCIC) The PCC considers that the investment in HCIC has no realisable value at present and thus, whilst noted, is not shown as an asset within the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. ## **Current Assets** No debtor amounts are shown in respect of any fees or other amounts due at 31[st] December, as all income is accounted for only when received and there are no material amounts outstanding as at 31[st] December 2021. ## **St Luke’s Church, Colchester – PCC Report for 2021** ## **Introduction** St Luke’s PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the Incumbent in promoting within the parish, the whole mission of the Church – pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It oversees and directs the mission and work of the church of St Luke’s, Colchester, meeting at St John’s & Highwoods Community Centre on Highwoods and St. Mark’s meeting at Brinkley Grove Primary School. The report of the PCC which follows, along with the two church reports, illustrate how the PCC fulfils its obligations to benefit the public ~ mainly to the worshipping congregation and to the local community, but also beyond. ## **PCC Membership** Members of the PCC are either ex-officio or elected by the Annual Parochial Church meeting in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. During the year the following served as members of the PCC: **Priest in Charge** : The Revd. Hannah Cooper **Curate** : Revd Chris. Smith **Curate** : Revd Lisselle Clarke -Moisley **Curate** : Revd Anne Mason (Shared with Gt. Horkesley, Boxted & Langham & West Bergholt) **Associate Priest** : Revd. Paul Mann ## _**PCC Elected Members**_ ## **Church Wardens** Adrian Jones Lynne Gettings ## **PCC Treasurer** Colin Smith Ian Duthie Julia Thomas Mark Visagie Stuart Angier Nyenye Motsi Jennifer Greenley Paul Philips (resigned Oct 2021) ## **Licensed Lay Ministers** Diana Benge-Abbott Hugh Thomas ## **Deanery Synod Representatives** Adrian Jones Hugh Thomas Sarah Adcock ## _**Standing Committee**_ Hannah Cooper Lynne Gettings Stuart Angier Jennifer Greenley Adrian Jones Colin Smith Chris Smith ## **PCC Committees** The PCC operates through a number of groups, which meet between the full meetings of the PCC: ## **Standing Committee** This is the only committee required by law. It has the power to transact the business of the PCC between its meetings, subject to the directions given by the Council. ## **Finance Group** The general financial dimension of the work of St Luke’s is accomplished by monitoring income and expenditure, setting budgets, maintaining financial controls and co-ordinating the annual accounts. This work is overseen on the PCC’s behalf by the Finance Group, led by the PCC Treasurer. ## **Mission and Mercy Giving Away** The Mission and Mercy budget is apportioned to support mission and charities at home and abroad including regular reviews of the ‘agencies’ to which St Luke’s gives. ## **Uganda Fund** This fund exists to support the Nsambya School, Orphanage and Clinic in Kampala, Uganda that St Luke’s has links with, mainly through child sponsorship but also through occasional gifts for other purposes. ## **Church Attendance** After the annual update of the Electoral Roll in 2021 there were 140 people on the Roll, 63 of these being resident in the parish, 77 being non-resident. The average weekly attendance for our main morning service, counted during October 2021, was 36. During the whole of 2021 there were no Baptisms or Thanksgivings. There were 7 Funerals. ## **PCC Review of the Year 2021** The PCC met 6 times during 2021. The PCC Finance Group met as necessary and reported back to the PCC, via the Treasurer. The PCC Standing Committee did not meet formally during 2021, but Standing Committee members made urgent decisions on behalf of the PCC by e- mail on number of occasions. In 2021, St Luke’s PCC sought to advance the Christian faith and benefit the community in the following ways: - A daily presence in the centre of our community - The Oak Tree Coffee House is renowned for great coffee, local and fairtrade produce and most importantly a safe place for local people to congregate where they know they will always find a friendly face to speak with. (The Oak Tree Coffee House is established under a separate legal entity, Highwoods Community Interest Company, in which St Luke’s PCC is the majority shareholder.) - Weekly Sunday public worship in two locations, including activities for children and young people. - Weekly/fortnightly midweek groups to connect people in friendship while also giving them the opportunity to grow in faith and support one another. - Weekly parent and toddler group. - Monthly men’s breakfast at a local restaurant. - Monthly ‘Families, Faith and Fun’ service for families with primary aged children. - Providing an e-mail-based prayer service for church members and others to share needs and concerns with church members, who then pray for the situations shared. - Supporting our local schools by offering assemblies, lessons, church visits and financial support. - Supporting church members trained as Street Pastors who offer a listening ear, help and friendship to the youth culture in Colchester town centre on Friday and Saturday nights. - Supporting Colchester Foodbank, which provides emergency food parcels to families and individuals in crisis and Beacon House, which supports people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or in insecure accommodation in Colchester. - Engaging in wider structures of the church, especially our Deanery and its Synod. - Giving away 10% of our parish annual income to local, national and international charities and ministries. - Running a child sponsorship scheme for children attending Nsambya School in Kampala, Uganda. ## **Church Property Report 2021** July 1 x Acer 24 inch monitor: £139.99 Black Magic Design Description: Video MixerModel: ATEM Mini Pro Cost: £455 August Cables: HDMI Extender 10m £14.35 3.5mm to 2x 1/4 inch jack £15.99 3.5mm to 2 x female XLR £9.25 2x Micro HDMI to HDMI £25.98 Usb c to Usb C £6.99 Mini Display Port to HDMI £19.99 Apple Lightning to HDMI adapter £44.99 Total £137.54 September Dell Inspiron 14 Laptop for St Mark’s £601.14 Sennheiser XSW-D Radio Microphone for St Mark’s £289 Bose S1 Pro portable PA system including travel bag for St Mark’s £509.90 ## **Deanery report** Lay representatives plus clergy from all the Colchester Anglican churches meet three times a year, to hear what’s going on in the Diocese and nationally, and to discuss and share ideas about how we can work together more effectively across Colchester. ## _**3[rd] March 2021 – Online (via Zoom)**_ Due to the restrictions in place because of the coronavirus pandemic the Synod meeting was conducted online via Zoom - Emma Buchan, the project Director from Thy kingdom Come, gave an excellent talk. She started off by telling us all about her childhood in Copford and about growing up as a member of Marks Tey Church. In particular she told us about the children’s ministry work. She then continued to tell us about her working career, firstly as an oil trader and then working at ‘Thy Kingdom Come’. This was followed by a Q&A session. - Mary Durlacher gave a report regarding General Synod which took place in February 2021. She explained that three presentations had been made on General Strategy, Safeguarding, and Housing all followed by Q&A sessions. ## _**23[rd] June 2021 – Online (via Zoom)**_ - Revd Beverley Vincent, the Area Advocate for Living In Love and Faith gave a talk. Beverley began by giving a bit of background information about Living in Love and Faith (LLF). In February 2017 general synod debated the report ‘Marriage and Same Sex Relationships. General Synod did not take note of that report but a few weeks later both the Archbishops of Canterbury and York called for the Church of England to have some serious discussion on this topic. Beverley then went on to give an excellent talk and presentation (please see the copy of her slides from the evening, sent out with these minutes). Beverley’s talk was followed by discussions using the breakout rooms function of Zoom and then a Q&A session. - Adrian Jones (Highwoods and St. Luke’s) was elected to serve on the Deanery Standing and Pastoral Committee. - The Area Dean, Revd Canon Paul Norrington gave an update on deployment news and also an update on our Deanery Vision Plan. ## _**13[th] October 2021 – Online via Zoom**_ - Revd. James Gilder, Diocesan Environment Officer gave a talk He explained that . General Synod is committed for the Church of England to become carbon neutral by 2030. He explained that this aim has been endorsed by the Diocese of Chelmsford. - Testimonies from churches were shared: St John’s (bronze eco award), St Leonard’s Lexden (Doctor Bike, sewing repair course, sessions in eco issues for Junior church), Christ church (gardening, bird boxes, plants exchange), St Stephen’s (Green Christian day conference, local Green Christian group and link with Brazil), St Andrew’s Marks Tey (insulation, new boilers, LED). - Congratulations were extended to all who were elected to general Synod: - Mary Durlacher - Revd Andy Sachs - Revd Sara Batts-Neale - Revd Mark Wallace