Churches Together in Lancashire FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31" December 2023 Towers + Gornall Chartered Certified Accountants Garstang. P￿StOn Independent examlnerfs report on the accounts of Churches Tog•th•r in Lancashlre Report on the a¢¢ounts for tho y¢ar end•d 31 December 2023. Rospectlvo rgsponsibilltl•8 of trusta88 and exarnlnor: The charity's trustees are respjnsible for the preparallon of the accounts in accordance wilh Ihe Charities Act 20111.the Acr). The chariws trustees consider that an audlt Is not requlred for this year under section 144 of the Act and that an independent examination is needed. 11 Is my responsibilty lo- examine the accounts under sectlon 145 of the Chariltes Act. lo follow the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(51{b) of the Act, and lo stsle whether particular matters h8ve come lo my attention Ba8Is of Independent •xamin•￿S gtstement My examination was carried out in accordanc£ wittl general Directions given by Ihe Charty Commission. An examination indude$ a review of the accounting records kept by the charty and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of ary unusual items or disclosures in the accounts. and seeking explanations from trustees concerning any such matters. The procedLtres undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be requirtd in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as lo whether the accounts present a 'true and fair. view and the report is limited to those matters sel out in the statement below. Independent exarnlnor's statem¢nt In ojnnectlon with my examination. no material matters have ¢ome to my attention which gives me cause to beli8ve that in, any material respect.. the arxounting records were not kept in accordance with se¢tw)n 130 of the Charities Act" or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records. or The accounts did not comply w￿h the applicable requirements concerning Ihe form and content of accounts sel out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a Irue and fairf view whlch Is not a matter ¢onsidered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in conne¢lion with the examination to whlch attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the ac¢ounts to be reached. .. Date..A4lo.g.l.2Q LL MlckGomall Towers & Gomall Abacus House The Ropewalk Garstang PR3 INS CHURCHES TOGETHER Ecumenical Officerfs Report 2023-24 I have now been working full time in the role of County Ecumenical Officer for Church8S Together in Lancashire for over a year. The year has been busy arranging the meetings of the Denominational Ecumenical Officers which as you have heard has now been joined by Pastor Stephen Nor¢ross for the Independent Free Churches and Fr Paul Cannon for the Calholic Diocese of S8lford. Alongside my regional and national roles. I have also engaged in some inter-county work with Cumbria, bringing together the DEOS for Lancashire and Cumbria at Rydal Hall to explore the opportunities and challenges of the E¢umeni¢al County of Cumbria which finds expression in the God for All initiative. The Chair of the Cumbria Methodist District gave an overview of the progress which is variable from considerable engagement to none. It is clear that those churches which come together are better placed to enable the continuation of Christian witness, mission and ministry whilst retsining the best of their tradltions. Over the year we have connecting with Housing Justice, Citizens UK, the VCFSE, PLASP. Springnorth, health and wellbeing agencies, th6 Dior£san Rupl Focus group and Lancashire MIND. Last year I set out a number of kyiorities for working this year. To reach out 8nd re-vi181ise all olour sevantyplus local group& There has been considerable reaching oui and some groups have become more responsive and communicative. It has been good to support groups wanting to refresh their work logether. Notably St Anne's Lytham, and Ashton on Ribble. Some groups which have been dormant have become active again. Ther8 rer118ins a large proportion that do not respond so the work continues. To visit local groups and LEP meeting$ It has b88n good to connect with the Darwen Group, North Blackburn, Fylde Coast group, Bacup Fellowship of Churches. Haslingden. Fleehvood, Leyland. Fulwood and Broughlon. Most récently I have initia18d a review of the Lighthouse Community Church in Knott End LEP. a URCIM8thodist partnership. Methodist Synod 22nd April To visit local churches and ecumenical partnerships for Sunday worship. It has been good to join with St Annes Lytham for WPCU, varlous seNlces at Penwortham URC. The DEOS and some of the Church Leaders attended a service at the Romanian Orthodox Church on Romania Day. It very moving and w8 Were very wamily W81comed. Capt Tracy Collis wrote a reflection on this which was prlnted In the national Salvation Amiy news. To develop the website and media platfornis Not much progress to date. D8v8lop the directory of Ind8pgndent Free Churches and espeually develop contacts with Black and Asian led churches in Lancashire. We have IFC repr8s8ntstlv8s on both th8 Church Leaders and DEO meetings. There is still a lot of work to do 8ngag8 wlth the Black and Asian led churches. More help is needed here. Denominational Area Contacts: We are planning to create a point of ecumenical conlacl in each Anglican & Catholic Deanery, Methodisl Circuit, URC Mission Partnership which in tum will create a support communications pathway for each of the Denominational Ecumenical Officers {DEOs) There Is still a lot to do here. It will aid the V￿rk of the DEOS immensely once established. Ecumonlcal Worklng Partles Two significant events in 2023 were the meetings at St Catherine's Hospice to explore the role of churches in End of Life matters. We would like to reglly engag8 this year in Dying Matters week. &12th May The Royal Lancashire Show represents both the mission 8lem8nt and social responsibility. 2024 has been referenced already. I would like to emphasise that we are in need of furKJing to help with the £3K cost of running the event. The enabling group for environmental matters is now led by Stephen Garsed who engages in this work for the Diocese of Saword. EcumonScal Resourcas The development of the Module "Ecumenism in Theory & Practice. has the support of Churches Together in England and the Society for Ecumenical Studies. Queen's Foundatlon and Rlpon College Cuddeson have expressed an inlerest as has the UK rep on the WCC commission for Education and Ecumenical Fomiation on behalf of the Ecumenical Bossey Foundation. Geneva. Youth and Young Adufts Churches Together in England has launched the Bill Snelson Fund for young 8cumenists which provides grants up to £5k to enable young adurts to engage in ecumenical projects overs8as. CTL is supporting "Surfstage., a family Christian Arts Festival in Parbold. This is managed by Iwo young mums who finance the Festival themselves. It currentty attracts over 3,000 people. It has huge potential to become NW Christian Festival and is worth our support. Thank you. Finally- I woukj like to thank your dedicated team of Denominatlonal Ecumenlcal Officers. None of the above could happen without them and our denominations would be ecumenically POOfer without the genile and constant nudging Ihat they represent. There is still a long way to go and with them I look forward to a time when we can truly talk about the whole Church in Lancashir8 walking and working, praying and worshipping together as the One Body that are called to be in Christ. The Revd Anton Muller. 7th March 2024 Chairman's Report 2023 (On behalf of the Trustees) CHURCHES TOGETHER Annual General Meeting W March 2024 ftir 2023/34 My first year in office concluded as it began with Lancashlre Slngs Chr5stmas, now re-branded as °Carers Sing Christmas.. We were not sure whether Lancashire Sings Christmas would continue as the BBC the was re-organising its local provisions. We prayed that it would, and it has! The programme took place at midday and opened opportunities to engage with various care agencies who work tirelessly throughout the Christmas period in health and soclal care programmes, including the Police. In July Churches Together In Lancashlre relumed to the Royal Lancashire Show. The numbers attending overall were much lower due tto he exceptlonally poor weather but there was a steady throughput of visitors to the Church Tent. The main focus was Famiing and Modem-Day Slavery supported by Caroline Virgo, the Director of the Church of England's Clewer Initiative. Presentations were given by Caroline and also Douglas Martin with Maxine Rawlings. The Church Tent was populated with church-based resources for supporting famiing and rural communities which this year included PLASP, the Pan Lancashire Anti- Slavery Partnership. We V￿re joined for the first time by the Christian Police Association. The DI0￿Se of Blackburn Children's Department provided brillianl acts'vities to help children Ihink about issues of slavery whilst Ihe Methodist District Godly Play Bus provided a wann cosy place for all age story-telling. This year. the Church Tent will focus on Fanning and Mental Health in partnership with Lancashire Mind and will lake place 19th-218t July. We are looking for grant funding to help with the costs of running this venue. The Church Tent service welcomed the Revd Claire Downing. the newly aptM)inted Moderator of NW Synod of the URC. CTL was represented at Claire's Induction on June 1 Oth Also new to the meeting of the Church Leaders is Pastor Pete Baker of Life Church Bumley who ￿preSentS the Independent Free Churches in Lancashlre. + Tom Neylon has also joined the Church Leaders for the Archd10￿se of Liverpool. Pastor Stephen Norcross of the Blackburn Community Church has joined the leam of Ecumenical Officers. Fr Paul Cannon, the Episcopal Vicar for Dialogue in the Diocese of Salford replaces Fr Peter Hopkinson as the DEO for Lancashire. Fr Peter will continue to be part of the Church Leaders meeting. Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the cost-of-living crisis folbwing on as we emerged from the crisis of the COVID 19 Pandemic we have also witnessed the tragic events unfolding in Gaza and the ensuing humanitsrian crisis. Churches Together in Lancashire has joined with other regions to call for a cessation of the war and the pursuit of peace and reconciliation for all. Churches Together in Lancashlre has also supported opposition to the Rwanda Bill and the withdrawal of Govemment Funding for the Inter Faith Network. We continue to pray together across these areas which has seen many churches working in unity to support their local communities. Churches Together In Lancashire continues to be active In the VCFSE, Volunleer, Community. Faith and Social Enterprise raising profile of Faith alongside other faith groups in Lancashire. The focus on heatth and wellbeing tumed to the role of church and faith groups In End of Life Care with an evenl held for health. civic and faith leads at St Catherine's Hospice earlier this year. CTL has been invited to assist with the implementation of Integrated Care Board for Lancashire a￿1 South Cumbria's End of Life Strategy. Bullding on the relatlonship with the Lancashlre Constsbulary and the Chrfstlan Poli￿ Association, Bishop Philip North will be addressing the National Conference of the CPA which takes places in June this year at Salmesbury Hall. In speclfically Methodist news, the Methodlst Church Is workSng towards the establishment of the NW England Dislrict by September 18¢ 2024. The Chair of the new District is the Revd Dr James Tebbutt (currently Chair of the Cumbria Methodist District). The NWE District will comprise four Mission Areas with a Deputy Chair and Assistant Deputy Chair. It has been a busy year and l am grateful to our County Ecumenical Officer. the Revd Anton Muller, and our brilliant team of Denominational Ecumenical Officers. They have all y￿rked hard to enable Churches Together in Lancashire to be visible and actively involved across so many areas of life and worship amongst the people we are called to serve across our beautiful County of Lancashire. The Revd Phil Gough Chalr of the Lancashire Methodist Distrfct Chair of Churches Together in Lancashire. 71h March 2023 Chw