_St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ ## **ST JOHN’S MUXTON PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2020** ## **INTRODUCTION** This report is intended to explain to church members and the public how St John’s operates, our objectives and activities, our achievement and performance and our financial position. We hope that you find the information helpful. ## **1. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS** St John’s Church, Muxton Correspondence address: Lesley Trotman, Church Office, St John’s Church, Saltwells Drive, Muxton TF2 8RJ. Website www.stjohnsmuxton.org.uk Church Office: 01952 670033 Email: admin@stjohnsmuxton.org.uk St John’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) had the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, the Revd Matthew Lefroy in promoting the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical within the ecclesiastical parish of Muxton. The PCC is responsible for the running and maintaining of the church building, namely, St John’s Church and Community Centre, Saltwells Drive, Muxton. Members of the PCC are either ex-officio (Clergy, Churchwardens and Deanery Synod Representatives), elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting or co-opted in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. At the delayed 2020 Annual Parochial Church Meeting held in October those listed below were appointed to serve as members of the PCC. _**Incumbent** :_ Matthew Lefroy _**Curate** :_ Vacancy _**Ordained Local Minister** :_ Jane Evans opportunity for questions. PCC members are invited to attend any relevant diocesan training. **Subcommittees and working parties:** The PCC has a subcommittee to help with the day to day running of St John’s which is the Standing Committee. This is the only committee required by law. It has the power to transact the business of PCC between its meetings, subject to any directions given by the Council. It is comprised of the vicar, vice chair, wardens, Secretary and treasurer. We also have working parties which are decided in consultation with the vicar: Working parties include the Building Management Team, Evangelism, World Church & Justice, Community, Parish Development Team(PDT), Personnel and Safeguarding. ## **SAFEGUARDING STATEMENT** We take seriously the safeguarding of children young adults and vulnerable people in our care. The PCCs will take all reasonable care to ensure the safety of the children, young people and vulnerable adults of St John’s & St Michael’s Churches for whom they bear responsibility. We recognise that children by virtue of legal status and dependency on adults for their emotional and physical needs will always be vulnerable and at a disadvantage. We also understand that illness, disability, race, mental health and other issues can put adults in a position of vulnerability. We commit to considering these things in our activities – undertaking supervision of staff working with them and risk assessing activities and groups as a check and balance in our work. **Risk Management** – is done by Building Management. ## **3. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** ## **OUR VISION** ## **WE WANT TO BE PASSIONATE FOR GOD BY…** _**Churchwardens** :_ Andrew Hambler & Vacancy ## _**Representatives on the Deanery Synod** :_ Kerry Hoult & 2 Vacancies _**Elected Members:**_ Katharine Hambler, Vicky Yates, David Pierce, Jan Stackhouse, Lesley Trotman (Secretary), Dan West, Simon Hartridge (Treasurer), Sue Aldrian, Rob Grant , James Tagg and Gill Steinert. **Banker** : CAF Bank **Auditor** : Lynne Clifford at Clifford & Co ## **2. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** **PCC Constitution:** The Parochial Church Council is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure. The PCC is registered with the Charity Commission, number 1162098. In 2012 we became a covenanted parish agreed with Bishop Mark of Shrewsbury (certificate hanging by kitchen door). **PCC Members:** Elected PCC members are elected by the congregation. We have twelve elected PCC posts. Four become vacant each year. On election the post lasts for three years. Those elected to deanery synod are also eligible to sit on PCC as are wardens and clergy. **Induction and training of PCC members:** At the first PCC meeting the PCC shares Holy Communion and all members are given a summary of how the PCCs work and there is an ## **Visibly developing trust in Jesus** We will offer explicit opportunities for people to reflect regularly on their journey of faith and then challenge and support them to progress to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ _._ ## **Readily taking risks** We will always be ready to share our faith with others and to be in those situations where the Holy Spirit would want us to be. ## **Generously serving our community** We will actively engage with our local community to provide Christian support where needed and help to develop community spirit. ## **Unashamedly praying** We will live lives that demonstrate the importance we place on praying alone and together and we will be ready to pray for and with people who are and who are not part of our church. - 1 - _St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ ## **4. ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE** During the year six scheduled meetings of the PCC were held, 1 in church, 1 church/zoom and 4 of which were via zoom as attendance in church was not allowed. The main items that the PCC have looked at during the year have been:- update of polices, Covid related Risk Assessments, Finances – Fees/Wages/Budget/Approval of financial accounts, implications and procedures during the Coronavirus Pandemic including Parish Continuity Plan, website and possible new Curate. ## **PARISH DEVELOPMENT TEAM (PDT)** The PDT normally consists of the vicar (and curate), 3 people chosen by a vote of the parishioners and 2 appointed members of the PCC. It discusses in detail issues which the PCC delegates to it and then makes recommendations to the PCC. However, the PDT has not met as such this year. Instead a group of interested parties were tasked by the PCC to take an initial look at the question of developing the building at St John’s but this has been put on hold this year due to current pandemic. ## **ENERGIZED BY FAITH AND GOD-INSPIRED AND INSPIRING WORSHIP** Our weekly Sunday Services continued with the basic pattern of Morning Worship on the first and third Sundays; 9:30am Holy Communion and 11am Church Praze on the second Sunday; Holy Communion on fourth Sunday; and generally Holy Communion on the fifth Sunday for the first few months of 2020. Everything changed in March when we proceeded into Lockdown. Our churches closed to public worship which also included GMS our Good Morning Sunday Breakfast from 8.15am, the Sunday papers, conversation, prayer and reflection. As we were unable to meet in person we began offering our services online via zoom for both St John’s and St Michael’s members to join in. When we were allowed to open again seating was limited due to social distancing therefore we continued to offer our zoom services which is working well. **Sermon series** included ‘Characters around the Cross’, ‘Proverbs’, ‘Meeting Jesus – So what difference does it make?’ and Gifts of the Spirit’ We continued our weekly **Thursday Morning Prayer** at 7:30am for most of the year via zoom where attendance is good. In addition we have a time of Bible reading and prayer weekday mornings at 9am also via zoom. All welcome to both. ## **OUTWARD LOOKING** ## **OCCASIONAL OFFICES** **Baptisms/Thanksgivings:** During early 2020 we were able to meet with couples planning baptisms or thanksgivings. During the meeting we help individuals and couples explore their understanding of God, Christ and faith and type of service they would like. We are so grateful to Kathy Tagg who organises the Baptism and Thanksgiving team. 0 Baptisms or Thanksgivings took place 2020. **Weddings:** A wedding preparation morning which focused on helping couples choose between the wide varieties of different services took place at St Michael’s in March 2020. The mornings are well attended and valued. No weddings took place at St John’s in 2020. **Funerals:** Our pre-funeral pack with information on hymns, readings and tributes etc is available if required and we are grateful to the bereavement team who continue to support those who have recently had a relative pass away. This as with all occasional office ministries occurs across the benefice. 0 Funeral services were held within church during 2020 but 10 were held at Telford Crematorium. 64 people attended the joint annual **Memorial Service** in March held at St Michael’s in Lilleshall. ## **EVANGELISM** The **EVANGELISM sub group** is made up a group of people who meet about every 6 weeks to try and discern what God wants to do through St John’s in order to outreach and share the Gospel. In addition to arranging events we take time to pray and reflect on where we should be going next. Clearly this year has been very different to anything we could possibly have imagined and I thought it may be worth revisiting what the team felt God was saying to us about Muxton following a prayer walk around the community. As I reread the report I prepared for you last year, just at the beginning of lockdown, it seems even more poignant and clear God was talking to us at that time I list below what we felt God was saying to us about our community at that time: - A sense of a season of change was emerging - Safety, security, comfort, – a good place to live - Quiet, green, privileged but little time to appreciate it – could be so much more - Closed doors – insular lives, maybe some loneliness - A sense of people not going out to shop etc but having home deliveries – is that where we need to be taking the gospel – into the homes? - Importance of relationships with neighbours - Bridge building We Have a God who communicates with us – we just need to listen and trust in his word! Despite lockdown the team have met on 11 occasions throughout 2020 and two new members joined our group – Lisa West and Val Whybrow. This has been a real blessing bringing a freshness we were in need of. Whilst there have been fewer activities during this period we have not been totally inactive! Things we have undertaken/discussed in this period include: - Review of Christmas events to inform future plans - Reflection, discussion and prayer using material from Spring Harvest to help us discern God’s will for us - A weekly prayer video using Facebook to pray for Muxton community - Posters with prayer and relevant links to support the community - Trialled a new outreach course ( Life Explored) - Explored a Drive in Carol Service - Provided an outside Christingle experience - Provided an online Christingle/Crib Service - Ran a Healing service via Zoom We explored a number of other possibilities but experienced difficulties in getting these off the ground due to our lack of experience with technology and also the continual uncertain nature of what the future was holding eg what we were allowed to do at any given time. However I do feel this past year has been an experience for us and there has been learning that we pray will influence future outreach plans for St John’s. Plans for the coming year for your prayers please: - 2 - _St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ - We are to write our own Outreach programme - Easter Plans - Development of our own Newspaper for the community Let us also remember all the groups and activities that have been on hold during this period and we pray will be able to start again and perhaps with an even greater desire to take the gospel message into our community. Please pray for these groups and especially for their leaders as they discern what God wants of each them. - Tots - Community Choir - Join Us - Lunch Club - Afternoon Fellowship - Forget me not films - Men’s breakfast - Sub Zero - Activity Days - Healing Service - CAP courses - Blaze - Walking Wednesdays - Process Evangelism ( ALPHA, CE etc) - Baptism visits/contacts - Bereavement visits/contacts - Mission events - Carol Singing - Outreach services ( Carols & Candles) - Shared lunches ( Easter/Christmas) Please continue to support this area of our ministry and anyone who feels they would like **to join the Evangelism team** please contact Jan Stackhouse 01952 604775 or janicestackhouse@btinternet.com ## **COMMUNITY** The **Men’s Breakfasts** normally meet on the second Saturday of the month at The White House Hotel, Muxton. Because of the COVID 19 pandemic only three meetings were held. The speakers were, in January Charlie Pilgrim ‘Being on active service in the Iraqi War - a view from an RAF serviceman’; in February no speaker; in March, Reg Bywater, Probation Officer ret’d, talked about his work and experience in the Probation service. We also met for an evening on 1[st] March for a beer and a chat also taking place at the Whitehouse hotel. **Join us 4 a Cuppa!** Our popular coffee morning has been running for about 5 years now, set up by Jeanette Taylor and Diane Baxter. This event usually takes place monthly on a Friday between 11am to 1pm. With regret ‘Join us’ had to stop due to the pandemic. We arranged to meet at Wyevale when we were allowed and safe to do so but sadly this stopped due to further restrictions. We look forward to seeing you all in 2021. **Forget me not films** During 2020, we have been unable to meet and I have certainly greatly missed our times of film, food and friendship. It has been good to see many of you ‘virtually’ over the last year but it is a poor substitute for sitting down together to enjoy a film, a chat and a piece of cake. As soon as restrictions allow, we will re-start the film mornings but of course our priority at the moment has to be keeping people safe. I have got a good collection of old films and musicals now and if anyone would like to see a list of what I have or arrange to borrow any of these, then please do contact me via the church office and I would be glad to arrange this. Jo Lefroy. **Lunch Club** took place in early 2020 but sadly as with all our other groups meeting in church had to stop due to the flu pandemic. Thanks to all Lunch Club members for their continued support and to the fabulous team of helpers/organisers. We hope to see you all in 2021. **Tiny Tots Club** is a parent and toddler group for parents/carers and their children of 0-4years held each Tuesday morning during term time. The group seeks to reach people in the community who are of ages and at stages in life which are not well represented in our church congregation. Each session contains free play, craft session, singing time, a bible-related story, a prayer and a refreshment break. **Tiny Tots met in church in 2020 for the first weeks of the Spring Term** but because of the Coronavirus Pandemic we were forced to close our doors in March. We ran several sessions online through Zoom quite successfully during the Summer Term but found that only the older children could engage remotely. In the Autumn Term, sessions were available on request but had a limited take up. We look forward to restarting when we can reopen our doors in 2021. **Afternoon Fellowship** usually takes place once a month on a Thursday at 2.30pm with Judith and Colin Myers leading the meeting. Afternoon Fellowship has been unable to meet since March, due to the restriction. Contact has been made with the members and they are in touch with one another to ensure they are managing. Afternoon fellowship will resume at a later date if there is a willingness to do so. **CAP (Christians against Poverty)** The **CAP DEBT CENRE** (originally overseen by a partnership group of four Anglican churches) now includes one associate Baptist partner church (Dawley Baptist) has been operating for 5 years. Wombridge Parish Church withdrew from the partnership during 2020 and Rev’d Kevin Evans stepped down as a member of the partnership management team. We are grateful for all the support given by Kevin and the church. Jane Preston is the part-time Centre Manager and Marcelle Kite, from Shifnal Methodist church, is a volunteer Debt Coach _._ We would like to expand the work of the Debt Centre and to this end will be advertising for a new volunteer Debt Coach in 2021. Capacity was reduced by Head Office for 4 months from late 2019 to early 2020 whilst CAP head office took a ‘Time to Breathe’ in order to catch up on the increasing demand on our services. We resumed full capacity in March 2020 but were soon hit by the lockdown due to the Covid 19 pandemic. However ways were developed to allow working with clients to continue effectively. New clients have come on board and in fact the majority of contact with clients was made through telephone calls. Head office provided extra funding for emergency aid for food topping up gas or electric prepayment cards phone top ups and schools uniform. Our hardship fund was also a great help in providing funds for other extras that were needed. All of these were managed within Covid-19 safety guidelines. We are so grateful to regular contributors to the Centre (many of whom are members of St John’s) as, despite the inability to fundraise during 2020, our income has remained relatively - 3 - _St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ stable and there has been, to date, no significant impact on our ability to operate. It has been helpful that our expenses too have been reduced as we have not visited clients in their homes and have held only one client event - bread-making in February where, as usual, there was a presentation of the gospel. We expect an increased number of clients through the Telford Debt Centre in the latter part of 2021 as the impact of Covid19 on employment across the town and the special support provided by central and local government is withdrawn. Whilst maintaining as low a level of expenditure as possible as we progress into 2021, this is likely to change with increases in client numbers and (hopefully) the reinstatement of home visits that is one of the unique features of CAP debt support. Our income will need to increase also to meet the needs. Perhaps you could help by hosting one of our online quiz evenings? About 20 trained volunteers support the Debt Centre and its clients giving, in total, in excess of 600 hours of their time in 2020. We have even run a training course for new volunteers recently. However there is still a shortage of befrienders and volunteers, in particular of those who are available during the day. Could you help? The Telford Debt Centre continues to be one of the most successful debt centres in the region with 22 clients becoming debt free in 2020. Many of these had been on long term plans and it has been a privilege to have been able to support them over such a long period of time to enable them to achieve this. No CAP Money Courses were run in 2020 although we are looking into whether there is a possibility of running online courses during 2021. A full CAP Debt Centre annual report is available on request from Jane Preston or Vicky Yates. ## **Community Litter Pick** (monthly) This initiative is arranged to coincide with “Join us 4 a cuppa” event but sadly this did not take place in 2020 due to the pandemic. We plan to re-start in 2021 when safe to do so. It is a simple way of showing our love and care for our community, we usually meet between 10/11am at St John’s to get kitted out with equipment supplied by Telford Street Champion project; gloves, gripper tool, bin bag holders and fluorescent tabards. We then go around the streets and parks of Muxton collecting litter that blights the environment. This not only benefits our community but gives us an opportunity to chat with members of the community as we get some fresh air and exercise. We usually fill a bin bag with litter then go back to Church, wash up, have a free coffee for our exertions and continue with our chats whilst indulging in lovely toasted sandwiches etc.. **Street Pastors** are trained volunteers from local churches who care about their local community and patrol in teams of men and women in the night time economy. Their motto is ‘caring, listening and helping’. The Telford team usually patrols on a Saturday evening between 10pm - 4am the following morning, moving between Wellington; Telford Centre; Ironbridge; Oakengates and Newport dependent on night club activity. The teams’ role is to help and support people out in the evenings whether it is night clubbing or the homeless rough sleepers. They do what they can to keep people safe getting home, arrange night shelter or just supply items such as water, space blankets/sleeping bags and much valued flip-flops. Unfortunately since March due to the COVID pandemic, patrols have been limited to earlier on Saturday evenings from the end of June until late September. The team are now however excited to be looking to recommence patrols again in the next couple of months. In recent times a small number of street pastors have stepped down from this ministry and the team are therefore looking for new recruits. St John’s has actively supported this organisation for a number of years with Matthew Lefroy on the organising committee and there are seven members of the congregation actively involved as either street pastor or prayer pastors, and so If anyone is interested in finding out more about this invaluable ministry please speak to Matthew or Simon Trotman as a new training course is due to start shortly. The **Christmas Fair** did not take place in 2020 due to Covid-19 hoping to return in 2021. **WEBSITE/SOCIAL MEDIA** A welcome pack is available for new members/visitors. During 2020 we began the process of renewing our website trying to ensure it is as uptodate as possible and also user friendly. Hopefully this will be ready in early 2021. Our Facebook account is looked after by Lisa West, another way in which we communicate with the local community. Thank you Dan and Lisa. **WORLD CHURCH & JUSTICE** The WCJ group includes representatives from both churches with the majority of activities being jointly organised and held in both churches. The joint group membership was seven members; four from St Michael's and three from St John’s and the group met on three occasions the latter two being by Zoom. **Mission Profile** Tearfund was selected as the main mission to be profiled and Caroline Jiggins a Tearfund Area Representative spoke about the work of Tearfund at both churches on 15th March 2020. **Nepal Leprosy Trust (NLT)** NLT was chosen as the mission to replace Operation Mercy (Johnny and Beth Hibbert-Hingston). Mike Haughton, NLT UK Administrator and Trustee, gave a Zoom presentation about the work of NLT on 29th November 2020 at the joint MW Zoom service ## **Mission of the Year 2020** This was selected as BLiSS (Birth Life Saving Skills) an Operation Mercy project working in Afghanistan; this project focussed on providing safer environments for pregnant women and infants both before and after birth. Sandra U gave a video presentation at St John’s. ## **Other WCJ activities** - **Fairtrade Fortnight 2020** (24 February - 8 March) Refreshments were served at both churches after the morning services promoting Fairtrade ingredients, coffee and tea. A Fairtrade video was shown at St John’s. - **World Prayer Topics in Weekly Notices.** These continued to appear on a two monthly basis (approx) and were aimed to help and encourage our congregations focus their private prayers on current world crises, emergencies or disasters. - 4 - _St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ - The **Tearfund Big Quiz Night** scheduled to be held by Zoom on 14th November 2020 had to be cancelled due to the lack of support. - **Tearfund Representative:** Due to pressures of work Vicki Beeby had decided to step down from this position and Vicky Yates was welcomed as the new Tearfund Representative for both churches. ## **Mission Giving** St. John’s donates 12% of income to support mission projects locally, at home and overseas. The amounts donated were; (some figures distorted because of different years) - to Tearfund (3%) £1,814; - to CPAS (3%) £1,814; - to Nepal Leprosy Trust (2%) £868 (part donation) - to Telford CAP Debt Centre (2%) £1,516; - to Mission of the Year (1%): 2020 BLiSS (Operation Mercy) £434; and 2019 Breast Feeding Project (Interserve) £613; - and from Special Fund (1%) Urban Saints £131 From the PCC £250 Miscellaneous Appeals Fund, £215 had been donated to a variety of appeals. If anyone would like to talk to us about any aspect of this report the group members are Di Baxter, Sandra Umataliev, Vicky Yates and David Pierce. ## **YOUNG PEOPLE AND CHILDREN’S MINISTRY** ## _Children’s groups comprise of:_ **LIGHT** (our crèche for preschool children) and **SAS** (for children aged 5 to 10) – Sadly since March our groups have not been able to meet, it has been a hard year for this age group in 2020. ## **Looking ahead** As always we rely on the teams to carry out the work week in week out and we would just like to thank everyone who has helped in anyway. Sadly our leadership in 2020 has reduced considerably and we ask that you consider whether Children’s work is a ministry you would like to be part of. Please speak to Matthew or Lesley if you are interested. _Young People’s groups comprise of:_ Pre-pandemic - **Spark** continued to go well, led by Kathy Tagg, Simon Trotman and Andrew Hambler during the morning service. It was well attended and we had some good discussions and prayer times. Numbers of young people attending **Blaze and Fusion** on Sunday evenings was dropping, having no members on occasion. Kathy, Alex and Scarlett Jones and Janet Marshall led these groups. They met with Matthew in early March to talk and pray about the way forward and it was decided that a discussion would be had with parents to help leaders to understand why young people weren't attending, and make changes to attract the young people once more. **Sub:Zero and Sub:Extra** continued to run, although numbers were a little lower than usual. During the Pandemic - Due to the low numbers attending face to face groups, there was little appetite from leaders to run on-line meetings so we have taken a break from regular groups. Spark has been held once or twice after the service, in a break out room, but with limited success. We have kept in touch with our young people and their parents through Band (the social media site we use), e-mail, church notice sheets and the church Facebook page. Some of our young people have regularly attended Conn3ct youth service, and have been involved in planning and leading this. The services have mainly been on-line, but we were able to have a couple of face-to-face meetings in the autumn. A few of our young people were involved in planting spring bulbs in the prayer garden, and it was lovely to see them there. Please pray for our young people and their leaders as we plan restoration of our youth work following the pandemic. **SAFEGUARDING** The children, young people’s and vulnerable adults’ work is undertaken within agreed policy statements together with an e-safety policy ratified by PCC. This has been devised along guidelines recommended by the Lichfield Diocese. The policy statements, ratified by the PCC, are displayed in the church porch and on the church website. In 2020 the Safeguarding Officer was Jan Stackhouse. A subcommittee and the PCC continue to look into the detail/policies for the Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults. From 2018 everyone was encouraged to complete online Diocesan Training of C0 & C1 and a few undertook C2 and C3. This is ongoing. DBS and Training records for all staff, both paid and voluntary, are reviewed and lapses reported to the PCC. For the period January 20- December 2020 · There were **no incidents** that required a referral to Social Care · There were **2 Cause for Concern** reports filed - both were examined and satisfactorily dealt with using St John's and St Michael's Safeguarding procedures and neither required reporting to social care. In one case Lichfield Safeguarding team was notified as a matter of routine. ## **LOVING RELATIONSHIPS** ## **WELCOME AND CONNECTIONS TEAM** We long for the day when St John's is open and we can offer a warm welcome to all who come into our church. We thank all involved in House Groups and Zoom services keeping the warmth and spirit of love and caring for each other until we can meet in person. May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace as we trust in Him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit..Romans 15:13 **The Pastoral group** consists of Matthew Lefroy (Vicar), Judith Myers (Pastoral coordinator), Julie Shelley (Pastoral coordinator), Barbara Bengry (Welcome and Nurture), Val Trotman (Bereavement coordinator), Norman Trotman, Moira Fenn, Jane Poole, Terry Stackhouse and Martie Attrell. The pastoral team met on 18[th] February. Terry Stackhouse, Martie Attrell and Julie Shelley updated the team on their areas of special responsibility and Val Trotman gave a resume of the work of the bereavement team. New communion administrators were agreed and Matthew was approaching people to invite them to be on the prayer ministry team. The team discussed how we could support individuals experiencing difficulties. On 21[st] July the team met in church between lockdowns and were made aware of the difficult issues facing the PCC as they looked to the future with social distancing in place. Julie was looking at the possibility of opening Tiny Tots again. Cards continue to be sent or delivered to those who were finding things difficult and we will ask the treasurer to fund some of the cost again next year. - 5 - _St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ Martie expressed her concern for the well being of our children and young people during the pandemic. Judith intends to handover the leadership of the team to Julie following the APCM in 2021. **SMALL GROUPS** Small mid week groups are essential to the life of St John’s and those that attend find them integral to their daily life and never has it been more the case than during 2020. In February all small groups stopped meeting physically due to COVID restrictions but such is the importance of these groups to individuals, all of the groups, apart from Afternoon Fellowship, continued to meet to explore the bible, pray and offer each other support. Initially not all of the groups managed the IT options but from the start of ‘lockdown’ all maintained contact with their members sharing bible verses, encouraging scripture and friendship support by any means their members were comfortable with. By September all groups were functioning using Zoom technology. Group leaders have given great commitment to devising ways that members can support each other, some using a Buddy system. Creative and inventive bible study has developed and the regular attendance of members has been high throughout the pandemic. Currently we have 7 groups in Muxton that meet either during the day or evening and at the end of the year the number of people attending all groups was **92,** some of these attend more than 1 group. The actual number of members of the church family attending was **73.** Group Leaders have met together on 3 occasions during the year to offer each other support and share ideas and material. Please pray for these groups and especially the leaders who work hard preparing, leading, encouraging and supporting their members. Should anyone like to join a mid week small group please contact either Jan Stackhouse or Matthew for more information. ## **SIDESPERSON LIST FOR 2020** Sadly this is a role that didn’t occur very often in 2020. If you would like to be removed from the list or to join the Sidespersons rota please speak to Judith Myers. |Aldrian Sue|Munro Alisdair| |---|---| |Attrell Dom & Martie|Myers Colin & Judith| |Baker Philip& Jean|PengJessica| |Baxter Dianne|Rawson Jon & Ruth| |Dakin Geoff & Mary|ShelleyPete & Julie| |Deakin Yvonne|Stackhouse Terry & Jan| |Fenn John & Moira|Steinert Tony & Gill| |Fidler Sue|Suffell Richard & Carla| |Gilham Brenda|Taylor Jeanette| |Gurd Dora|Thompson Roger & Monika| |Hambler Andrew &Katharine|Trotman Simon & Lesley| |Hartridge Simon & Julie|Trotman Norman & Val| |Hedges Steve & Heather|Umataliev Sandra| |KempChris|Whitelaw David & Sue| |LockleyAnn|Yates Vicky| ## **CHURCH ATTENDANCE, ELECTORAL ROLL FIGURES AND OTHER STATISTICS** |**STATISTICS**|**2021**|**2020**|**2019**|**2018**|**2017**|**2016**|**2015**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Average Adult**
**Attendance:**||Oct
72|79|75|72|71|72| |**Average Child**
**Attendance:**||-|15|17|16|14|16| |**Adult + child**
**attendance**||Oct
72|94|92|88|85|88| |**Easter Day**
**Communicants:**||-|122|78|80|80|72| |**Christmas Eve/Day**
**Communicants:**||76|62|70|113|55|50| |**Electoral Roll**|96|95|87|104|107|104|103| |**Baptisms (aged 0-**
**13years): **||0|4|1|5|0|2| |**Baptisms (aged 13**
**and above): **||0|0|3|1|0|5| |**Thanksgivings **||0|2|1|0|0|0| |**Marriages:**||0|0|0|0|0|0| |**Funeral service in**
**church:**||0|2|1|1|1|0| |**Funeral service at**
**crematorium:**||10|6|6|5|7|9| |**Total funerals**||10|8|7|6|8|9| |**Confirmations:**||0|3|0|5
(+2)|0|5| **Electoral Roll:** At the 2020 revision the number of names on the roll was 95. After preparation of the Roll prior to today the total stands at 96. After the revision today there are 53 women and 43 men on the Electoral Roll. Of the Electoral Roll 31 is Non Resident, 4 from Lilleshall parish which leaves 61 people who are from Muxton parish. **Occasional Offices:** We had no Weddings in 2020. 0 baptisms or thanksgivings took place in 2020 due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. 0 funeral services were held at St John’s. **General Attendance:** Average attendance this year is different to previous years as in 2020 our circumstances meant we accessed our services in various ways. We have had between 40-60 families logging into zoom on a weekly basis, approx 10 attending church when allowed to do so, sermons/notices posted to approx 10 people on a weekly basis and also the podcast of our service is available to listen to via our website. **THE DEANERY SYNOD OF EDGMOND AND SHIFNAL** Encompasses both St Michael’s and St John’s churches; the Lilleshall members are Jean Millward, Pam Millard and Geoff Lott. 2020 has been different due to the Covid outbreak. After **Matthew Lefroy** had been appointed Rural Dean on 15th January 2020.Lockdown occurred and nothing proceeded until an opportunity on **18[th] November** a **Zoom** meeting was arranged and after the usual worship and prayers **Rev Mary Thomas (Albrighton)** was introduced as **Assistant Rural Dean** and we heard of her intriguing life story to faith. A new **Lay Chair** : **Malcolm Maclean, (Shifnal);** was elected along with **Kerry Hoult (Muxton) as Treasurer & Geoff Lott (Lilleshall) Secretary:** until the 2021 APCM **.** The discussion item on the Agenda was based on Bishop Michael’s video of his Project **“Shaping for Mission”** where we went into “break-out “rooms to discuss our thoughts on the video. The project is ongoing and will be expanded at future meetings – the time scale is quite short. Matthew urged any members keen to help with the project to contact him or Mary. Details of the “Shaping for Mission” can be found on the Diocesan website. The meeting concluded with the amazing ways the parishes were coping during the lock-down and prayer. - 6 - _St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ Please note all Deanery Meetings are “Open” if you wish to attend please contact the secretary for the link (if we are still on Zoom). **FINANCIAL REVIEW** St John’s Church holds two bank accounts, one being the main PCC account (for the day to day running of the church), and the other being the Building Management account (for all things related to the upkeep and fabric of the building; and its use and rental). The main account also includes some Restricted Funds. These funds are available to assist our children and youth who may wish to attend church/Christian camps. No major events were planned for 2020, but the budget allowed for a new office computer (cost shared with SML) along with plans to upgrade and improve the WiFi coverage in the church building. Money was set aside to allow for a new AV computer and tablets for the music group to replace song books. The Building Management proposed spending included renovation of the external doors and new kitchen and toilet flooring. Along with the regular income and expenditure, a budget deficit was set of nearly £11,000. Clearly Covid had an impact on church life with the building being shut from the end of March. As well as impacting on our church meetings, it also affected the income we received from hiring the building, with most groups not meeting after this date. The church has met its Parish Share of £35,866 in full and continues to give 12% of its regular giving income to various missions. Major expenditure included the salary of two staff. Where possible we have taken advantage of the furlough scheme which has been topped up so that staff have received 100% income. The only major expenditure was on new AV equipment which had to be purchased to allow for Zoom from church with an eye on eventual live streaming. Other expenditure includes office costs (including the new computer), clergy expenses, copyright fees as well as the all the other resources for the day to day running. Despite not meeting in church regularly our giving increased slightly compared to 2019. Due to receiving very little income, none of the proposed spending on the building was made and the building management fund saw a reduction in funds of nearly £3,000 compared to a surplus the previous year of £2,500. By the end of the financial year the combined income of the two accounts was just under £83,000 with expenditure just under £82,500. Total funds at the end of 2020 were £67,232. A budget deficit of £7,000 was set in November 2020, not knowing how life post Covid would be. We have tried to forecast spending as much as possible but there are many unknowns. The lack of income for the building management is a concern. There are savings to cover this, but without the furlough scheme we would have had to reassess funding the upkeep of the building and utility costs. Historically, the income from the hiring of the church building has funded the expense the upkeep and maintenance of the building. After many years, Val Trotman handed over the reins of the Building Management account to me and I am grateful for all her work in the past. My thanks also to Carol Binnington for her work in claiming Gift Aid back from HMRC. Finally, thank you to all of you who give regularly not just financially, but of their time too. Without you, we could not continue God’s work in the parish, and look forward to a more normal 2021. ## **A BIG THANK YOU** ## **to all of you who have given so generously to the church during 2020.** The **Building Management account** for 2020 started with reasonably healthy funds at £8,579. During the year planned improvements to the building included renovating external doors and new flooring in the kitchen and toilets. Due to Covid there was little letting of the hall with only one or two regular groups utilising the building when allowed after March. We have been able to claim furlough for caretaking hours, but still have to pay for the upkeep and maintenance of the grounds. Utility bills saw a small decline but overall funds were depleted due to having little income. Consequently, by the end of the year the funds stood at £5,596 with the deposit account remaining at £6,092. There are no planned works on the building for 2021, though we do have some large maintenance costs which cannot be avoided, which will impact on the depleted funds even further. The **FABRIC & ORNAMENTS** of our church are in good order and as Church Wardens very little responsibility for ensuring that this continues, due to the PCC Sub-Committee Building Management Team. A Log Book listing details of work carried out on the building is set up and constantly updated by Building Management. An Inventory of church items, including the silver and moveable furniture is also noted. Photographs of all items are included and the silver weighed and hallmarks recorded for insurance purposes. These are both diocesan requirements. An inventory/terrier of all items within the church is due to be updated in 2021 (delayed in 2020 due to circumstances). Once again a big thank you to everyone for supporting the church wardens and Building management team in caring for our church. The Building Management Team ensures that our church is maintained at the highest level at all times, is a safe, warm and welcoming place for all. During 2020 the following was carried out: - The role of BMT was very different in many ways during 2020 with the pandemic affecting the ways we welcomed people into our church and obviously had a major impact upon our finances. - Scaffolding was hired and Steve Hedges replaced the lighting in the worship area. - A new pressurised unit was fitted to the heating system. - The front doors were repaired to stop them from sticking (again). - The ground at the side of church was levelled by a neighbour with groundwork’s business at no cost to SJM and Simon has re-seeded the grassed area. - Simon Hartridge painted the boiler and store doors and also re-painted the yellow lines to highlight the kerb. - 7 - _St John’s Muxton: The community of Christ in Muxton, rooted in the scriptures, for all people_ - The church was made safe throughout the lockdowns and partial re-openings – BMT ensured that both the Government and Church of England’s guidelines were followed at all times. Les ensured that all the risk assessments were updated and followed. Team members met with Slimming World and Aerobics before their return between lockdown 1 and 2 to ensure their compliance. Risk assessments were also completed for the Christmas ‘Follow the Star’ event. - Once SJM were able to welcome church members in to attend the Zoom services on a Sunday, BMT ensured all regulations were met. Thank you Les for the many occasions you acted as door manager. - Our caretaker was furloughed for the majority of 2020 and Lesley’s caretaker role was furloughed when the regulations changed. - We said a huge thank you to Val Trotman as she stepped down from the post of Treasurer and we welcomed Simon Hartridge as the new Treasurer of BMT. The Building Management Team are: Lesley Trotman, Steve Hedges, Nigel West, Simon Hartridge, Tony and Gill Steinert ## **CHURCH ADMINISTRATOR AND PERSONAL ASSISTANT TO THE VICAR** Lesley Trotman continues to work as our valued Church Administrator and St John’s Building Manager and we are grateful for all that she does throughout the year. Matthew Lefroy (Chairman) 18[th] April 2021 On behalf of St John’s PCC - 8 - ## **St John's Church, Muxton** ## **Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December 2020** ## **RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT** ## **RECEIPTS** |**Unrestricted**|**Designated**||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |**General**|**Building**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|**Total**| |**Fund**|**Management**|**Funds**|**Youth**|**2020**|**2019**| |**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| ## **Voluntary Receipts** Receipts from donors Planned giving Plate Collections Income tax recovered Other voluntary receipts Grants Hire of Hall Receipts from Church Activities (Magazine, Evangelism, Youth) Children Youth Sub Extra Investment Income - CBF Deposit Fund From St Michaels for Shared Costs (Wages, Office, Copier, Phone etc) Other Income (Weekend Away 2019) (Mission Weekend 2019 & Activity Days) ## **Total Receipts** |48,329.47||||||||48,329.47||£46,112| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |662.85||||||||662.85||£1,526| |9,563.85||||||||9,563.85||£9,544| |3,208.97||||1,410.45||||4,619.42||£6,458| |||||||||||| |61,765.14||||1,410.45||||63,175.59||£63,640| |||||||||||| |||5,488.50||||||5,488.50||£14,801| |853.00||||||||853.00||£1,919| |270.00||||||||270.00||£2,539| |82.34||33.91||||||116.25||£189| |7,755.60||||||||7,755.60||£7,714| |2,992.00||2,244.58||||||5,236.58||£2,801| |||||||||||£5,253| |||||||||||£1,292| |73,718.08||7,766.99||1,410.45||||82,895.52||£100,148| ## **PAYMENTS** Church Activities Diocesan parish share Outward Mission Giving (12% Mission and other charitable giving) Church Activities Evangelism & publicity Youth & Children (inc Sub Zero) (Activity Days 2019) SML Magazine share Resouces, AV, Music CCLI Licence and misc. (Away Weekend 2019) Other Payments - Insurance, bank charges, accountant fees Office costs inc phone |35,866.00||||||||35,866.00||£35,423| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |7,404.53||||||||7,404.53||£7,127| |427.30||||||||427.30||£3,951| |481.10||||||||481.10||£4,318| |||||||||||£1,693| |595.00||||||||595.00||£558| |3,494.72||||||||3,494.72||£2,371| |||||||||||£6,013| |1,358.08||60.00||||||1,418.08||£1,459| |1,993.23||||||||1,993.23||£1,014| ## **RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT** ## **RECEIPTS** Photocopier rental and printing Wages Utilities Maintenance & cleaning Clergy Fees Other ## **Total Payments** Transfer between funds ## **Excess of Receipts over Payments** Bank current and deposit accounts 1st January 2020 Bank current and deposit accounts 31st December 2020 **Change in Reserves** |**Unrestricted**
**General**
**Fund**
**£**
2,339.55
12,188.12
426.72
204.75
66,779.10
-3,000.00
3,938.98
37,885.19
41,824.17
3,938.98|**Designated**
**Building**
**Management**
**£**
6,694.50
2,982.31
3,690.23
322.90
13,749.94
3,000.00
-2,982.95
14,672.23
11,689.28
-2,982.95|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**£**
1,953.20
1,953.20
-542.75
761.98
219.23
-542.75|**Restricted**
**Youth**
**£**
13,500.21
13,500.21|**Total**
**2020**
**£**
2,339.55
18,882.62
2,982.31
3,690.23
426.72
2,480.85
82,482.24
413.28
**66,819.61**
**67,232.89**
413.28|**Total**
**2019**
**£**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||£2,454| ||||||£23,659| ||||||£3,900| ||||||£4,152| ||||||£803| ||||||£3,729| ||||||£102,623| ||||||| ||||||| ||||||-£2,475| ||||||| |37,885.19|14,672.23|761.98|13,500.21|**66,819.61**|£69,294| |41,824.17|11,689.28|219.23|13,500.21|**67,232.89**|£66,820| |3,938.98|-2,982.95|-542.75||413.28|-£2,475| ## **STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES** ## **Cash Funds** Bank current account CBF deposit account ## **RESTRICTED FUNDS** CAP Hardship Fund Restricted Youth Fund TOTAL RESTRICTED FUNDS |**Unrestricted**
**£**
£22,348.44
£19,475.73
£41,824.17|**Designated**
**£**
£5,596.73
£6,092.55
£11,689.28|**Restricted**
**£**
£219.23|**Restricted**
**£**
£13,500.21
£13,500.21|**Total**
**£**
**£41,664.61**
**£25,568.28**
**£67,232.89**|**Total**
**£**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |£22,348.44|£5,596.73|£219.23|£13,500.21|**£41,664.61**|**£41,334**| |£19,475.73|£6,092.55|||**£25,568.28**|**£25,486**| |£41,824.17|£11,689.28||£13,500.21|**£67,232.89**|**£66,820**| |**Starting**
**Balance**
**£**
761.98
13500.21
14262.19|**Income**
**£**
1410.45
1410.45|**Expenditure**
**£**
1953.2
1953.2|**Ending**
**Balance**
**£**
219.23
13500.21| |---|---|---|---| ||||13719.44| ## **Independent Examiner’s Report to the PCC of St John’s Church, Muxton** I report to the PCC on my examination of the accounts of St John’s Church, Muxton for the year ended 31 December 2020. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** As the charity trustees of the Trust 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 Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 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. ## **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 which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - Accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or - The accounts do not accord with the accounting records; - The accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 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. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. L D Clifford FCA, BSC (Hons) 11 Manor Farm Drive Hinstock Market Drayton Shropshire 18 March 2021