ST KATHERINE, WESTWAY ANNUAL REPORT April 2021 to March 2022
PCC BUSINESS REPORT – Lesley Tate, PCC Member
The PCC met 8 times over this past year.
Emerging from the Covid Crisis, there was much for the PCC to think, to discuss and to pray about together.
The negative impact on the nation’s mental health, was a concern for all churches and we like others were considering our response to it.
How would we move forward with mission amidst further uncertainty?
We wanted to offer the community something that could be as far reaching as possible bearing in mind our limited human resources.
We discussed becoming a Healthy Healing Hub which would involve taking part in a Healing Course run by Go Health.org. We thought about the benefits of this it was agreed to invite the church to take part in the training and ten church members responded. The training took part last Autumn. The idea of being a presence on the high street in East Acton formed part of the discussions for the HHH. It was decided to start small using our church building but the shop unit idea is active so to speak as we have made contact with the estate agents and a couple of units have been looked at but weren’t right for us.
The PCC was also facing the question of our future. What is St Kat’s Future?
The London Diocese released funds to the common fund in response to the loss of income suffered by many churches due to the covid crisis. Churches were asked to be as generous as they could be. We paid 10k for 20/21 and offered 15k for 21/22 – our financial viability is in question.
To this end the PCC have discussed ways to increase our income including hiring out rooms and spaces in our building as well as the car park. We have signed up with a company called Sharesy who promote organisations offering rooms for hire on Sharesy’s own website and manage the process of the booking. We then manage the booking our end by opening up the building for users as needed etc. This will go live in July.
During this past year Jim has spoken to the church about the interest from the diocese, to once again revisit the previous building project proposal.
The PCC looked at the pros and cons of doing this, taking into consideration the time and emotional energy expended on the previous project, and the immediate needs of the church and the community, amongst other matters, and made the decision not to pursue this path.
The interest in St Kat’s future from the diocese continues, and they would like to propose other options which as yet are unclear but again, are related to our financial viability.
Another consideration for the PCC has been Who is St Kat’s now? The Covid Crisis has taken its toll on us all. The PCC looked at the impact on our Sunday Services and our life together as a church. This is an ongoing discussion and Jim will address this in his report.
Other important matters discussed are follows:
As our Safeguarding officer Barb explained the principles of safeguarding and reminded the PCC that it is everyone’s responsibility in terms of being vigilant and reporting any concerns immediately, no matter how small the issue may seem. This needs to be fully understood by the whole church. We will give some time to this on a Sunday in the autumn.
The PCC gratefully approved a proposal from Jon for some tech improvements for Live streaming and simplifying the tech in readiness for his trip to China last year, in order that our services might run as smoothly as possible without him. He carried out the improvements which had the desired effect!
Our giving to other Christian organisations and charities was reviewed and it was agreed that it be reduced in line with our reduced income.
The PCC decided to go ahead with upgrades to the kitchen and toilets. The proposal goes before the DAC in June and the works will hopefully begin in the autumn.
There was further discussion about the need for a church administrator which has been explored and Jim will speak about this in his report a little later.
Discussions have been lively with different perspectives and views aired which has enabled us to work through significant issues, some of which
are ongoing. There has been lots of laughter, and some precious moments as we reflected on our story as a church bringing all before God. We have sought his wisdom and will, and we hope and trust that in the decisions we have taken we have been faithful to him and are indeed following Jesus.
FINANCE REPORT – Barbara Studd, PCC Member
The financial year runs from 1 January to 31 December so this financial report mainly relates to 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021.
INCOME
The total income of £48,241 in 2021 is a decrease of £25k compared to the total income of £73,055 in 2020. This is mainly due to no income from lettings in 2021 and the gift aid for tithes and collections in 2020 has not yet been claimed. I will process the gift aid claim which will bring approximately £7,500 into our bank account.
Tax Efficient Giving (which is mainly the monthly Standing Order and Direct Debit donations) decreased by £4k in comparison to the previous year.
The property in Yew Tree Road generated rental income of £19k in 2021. This is slightly less than previous years due to deductions for routine maintenance.
OUTGOINGS
Our expenditure totalled £90k in 2021.
We maintained the commitments we previously made to charitable giving when our income was at a higher level. The level of our giving was reviewed recently by the PCC and the total amount of giving will be reduced over time.
The payment to the Diocese of £10,000 is our Common Fund contribution which is greatly reduced from previous years when we have met the amount requested. The Diocese agreed to St Kat’s paying a reduced amount in 2021 and this year, but we anticipate that there will be an expectation our contribution will increase.
We switched electricity provider in June 2021 and that led to a decrease in our bills. Meter readings are submitted regularly to ensure our bills are accurate, particularly in the current climate of energy price increases.
Maintenance costs were higher than the previous year as we had the old recording studio converted to a prayer room. This is a great investment as we now have a space where the Women’s Connect group meet
weekly, and the room is ready for use as any other opportunities arise.
We spent £40k more than we received in 2021 so that was met through the funds in our bank account. The balance of the main bank accounts at 31 December 2021 was £354k. The balance continues to decrease every year as we are not currently generating enough income to cover costs.
The bank balance at the end of 2018 had reduced by £20k as we spent more than the total income for 2018. We no longer use petty cash as a way of reimbursing expenses but a cash float of £427 is retained in a secure place so we can respond immediately to any emergencies which may require instant access to cash.
CONCLUSION
The PCC will continue to review the finances and to consider potential sources of income.
We have agreed the appointment of an Administrator and some of the key responsibilities will be to support with lettings and to identify sources of income such as grants.
The PCC is very grateful for every financial contribution made whether it is the regular direct debit payments, a one-off gift, or an offering on Sunday morning. The PCC will continue to seek God’s will in all we do and to be wise stewards of the resources that He provides.
Our Independent Examiner, Terry Davey, is running his final checks on the accounts for 2021.
----- Start of picture text -----
2021
Income
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----- Start of picture text -----
Collection and donations
Property &
Lettings
Tax efficient
giving
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2021
Outgoing
Houses
Giving
Wages
Diocese
Services
Administration
Utilities
Maintenance
Income for the last three years
600000
500000
2021
400000 2020
2019
300000
200000
100000
0
Collection Tax efficient Other giving Tax Other Fees and Investments Property &
and giving & donations recovered income Events & Interest Lettings
donations
-100000
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Outgoings for the last three years
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70,000
60,000
2021
50,000
2020
2019
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
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FABRIC REPORT – Jonathan Walker, Churchwarden
At St Katherines we are often considering a series of seemingly unanswerable questions about the future of the building and possible options for redevelopment, ranging from the barest minimum repairs (related to safety) to a full-blown redevelopment of the whole site. With very limited financial resources, but with the continued faithfulness of the members of this church, the PCC usually opts to tackle the most urgent repair needs, and alongside this to improve key areas of the interior to facilitate the life of the church. Although the covid situation has led to a more drawn-out development process, a modest program of upgrades has been undertaken.
A problem literally hanging over our heads for years has been the roof and guttering. The remedial work on the roof windows undertaken in 2019/20 has been pretty successful. It is not a cure-all, but the amount of rainwater finding its way onto the church carpet and gym floor has been almost eliminated. Some follow-up work was required in 2021 on one of the windows over the gym area, but all-in-all this patch-up has meant we are not greeted by puddles in the worship area and the danger of falling ceiling tiles after a downpour.
This successful window repair highlighted that not all the water coming into the building was arriving from the windows. St Katherines doesn’t have normal gutters, fixed to the roof and that jut out from the exterior walls, rather rainwater pours of the roof into a gully or box gutter hidden behind the building’s exterior walls. Although this looks elegant from the outside, it means that any overflow or water leakage from the gutter comes through our ceiling and runs down the inside of our walls. With increasing volumes of water running down both sides of the worship area there was little choice but to have the box guttering repaired.
If you come to St Katherines on a cold day, you will find that our heating system is inadequate. The aging oil fired boiler is kept running by perhaps the last engineer who knows how to fix it, so the clock is ticking on an eventual complete breakdown. In the short term we have resorted to electric heaters and warm coats on Sundays.
It is not all gloomy news though. The program of cosmetic improvements has continued, and the old choir/music room has had a proper restoration and upgrade resulting in a brilliant self-contained and heated space, it even has a toilet and storage room. Added to the previous vestry and worship area decoration, these parts of the church feel much more ‘fit for purpose’ and we don’t have to apologise for the shabby and run down feeling that other parts of the church inspire.
Another well received improvement has been the new chairs in the worship area.
Moving forward with the same pragmatic approach, this year we are hoping to start a modest upgrade to the back hall, kitchen and main toilets. Although scaled back from the ambitious upgrade we were looking at a few years ago, this work will provide a much more welcoming and modern feeling environment without blowing our budget. Once completed it should mean that from the front doors to the back door all the common areas of the church’s ground floor will have been radically improved.
I think these improvements are not just cosmetic, the improved feel and presentation shows that we care about the building and what it stands for.
On a personal note, I would like to add that despite all the challenges St Katherines undoubtedly faces we do continue to move forward; I feel sure that God is with us and will continue to guide us through this next phase as we seek His will and ask His blessing.
DEANERY SYNOD REPORT – Linda Walker, Deanery Synod Rep
There were six Deanery synod meetings from over the last fifteen months where I was only able to attend one due to being away filming and work commitments.
The first meeting was held on 11[th] Feb 2021 by Zoom.
- MAIN TOPIC: Crosslight- an independent charity working to alleviate poverty caused by debt and lack of financial capability in partnership with local churches. They shared 2-3 case studies to show how Debt and Money advice can make a difference for people in need. They explained how your church and congregation members can get involved.
The next meeting was held in May 20[th] 2021 by Zoom.
Main Topic: Racism Main Topic – “Next Steps: Adopting the right posture
It explored the key question which is what posture to adopt in the long battle against systemic oppression and institutional racism? Practically speaking, what can we be doing in our parishes to help/encourage positive change? .” The session was led by the Rev. Denis Adide, Vicar of St Stephen with St Thomas, Shepherds Bush on the subject of racism and injustice on grounds of race in the Church of England and in Deanery parishes. He presented a powerful case for questioning attitudes in the Church generally and in particular to the “other” and in respect of different treatment of black people calling for repentance, lament and amendment.
The next Meeting was held on 23[rd] Sept 2021 at ST MATTHEW’S, SINCLAIR ROAD W14 0LP
Main Topic - “Care for Creation: Be an Eco Church” The global COP26 meeting was taking place in Glasgow within days so the meeting looked at the Diocesan 2030 Vision which includes amongst its Compassionate Church goals the care of creation. What are we doing as parishes and what should we be doing and why? Five parishes are already registered as Eco Churches and one, St Dionis, has worked to achieve a Bronze Award as such. Rev. Derek Winterburn and Sue Gahan from St Donis explained why and how this can be done by us all.
The next meeting was held on 25[th] Nov 2021 at St Mathews, Wandsworth Bridge Rd:
1. Main Topic – Safe Families Safe Families UK www.safefamilies.uk is a national charity which started working in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham less than three
years ago. Their local office is now based at St Simon’s, Rockley Road and their London Programme Director, Kirsty Wordsworth made a presentation of their work and its impact on local families and communities and the importance of involvement of church communities not only to encourage volunteers but to support their work more generally.
It was explained that: This is an important way to engage with our communities in need and to express our faith in action without having individually to reinvent the wheel so they were keen to have PCC members and others in our church communities to attend.
The next meeting was held on 8[th] February 2022 at Holy Innocents, Paddenswick Rd.
Main Topic – Enabling Well-Being in a Season of Exhaustion and Extension . The Rev. Will van der Hart (Associate Vicar of St Dionis and one of the four Directors of the Mind and Soul Foundation www.mindandsoulfoundation.org ) gave a presentation focussing on the mental and emotional health of leaders both in the clergy and amongst the laity particularly those arising from the levels of stress imposed by the Covid 19 pandemic.
The next meeting was held on 27[th] April 2022 at St Eltheldreda’s Fulham Palace Rd.
Main Topic – Compassionate Communities for Refugees and Asylum Seekers Led by Patti Gercke, the leader of the Diocesan group working on producing resources for London parishes working with refugees and asylum seekers. There were examples given by people who took opportunities to help support people in need, for example clergy who had gone to court with members of the church and others they had got to know who were seeking asylum and shared what they learnt from each other’s experiences.
MINISTER’s REPORT – Revd Jim Tate
1 Chron 12 lists in detail the divisions of armed troops who came to support David in his struggle, before he ascended to the throne. In vs 32 we find a reference to the ‘men of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do’ It’s intriguing how these men were marked out as those who had a keen understanding of the times in which they lived, and therefore what actions Israel should take. They understood the future was with David, rather than Saul, even though, humanly speaking, the outcome was by no means certain. But they had the wisdom to see what was right, and they guided others to make the right decisions, and Israel was blessed by their wise counsel. ( Issachar means ‘there is a reward’ which of course is true for those who hear and obey the Lord)
Note the connection between ‘understanding the times’ and ‘knowing what Israel ought to do.’
Contrast the behaviour of the Religious Leaders many years later, who tried to test Jesus in Mt 16:1-3. Jesus condemned them for being ‘able to interpret the appearance of the sky, but unable to interpret the signs of the times’. The kingdom of heaven was at hand, and this was the ‘time of their visitation’ but they failed to recognise the coming of their Messiah. Not only were they blind to the miracles Jesus performed, they were deaf to what their own Scriptures testified about him. The consequences for Israel of rejecting their Messiah would be dire.
‘Understanding the times’ and ‘knowing what to do’ about it is a challenge that confronts every church in every age. It is one of the most difficult things for Christians to face. And I don’t think this generation of Church Leaders is very good at it. Maybe it’s a shortage of prayer, a lack of trust in the Bible, or a combination of the two. Maybe there are other factors. But how can we make sense of what is going on today as we witness what looks like an unrelenting assault on our Judeo Christian heritage from many quarters? For all the talk of tolerance and inclusiveness and Safeguarding, we are possibly living in one of the most divisive and threatening eras in recent history. This is a time of lawlessness, a time of pulling down the good to be replaced with evil. Isaiah could have been speaking about today, when he said, ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet bitter’ Is 5:20. In such times, how can we be like the men of Issachar and know what to do? How can we negotiate how to move forward as a church in such instability and uncertainty?
There is no doubt that recovery after the lockdown disruption is neither straightforward, nor swift for most churches. Lost momentum is not easy to regain. The PCC has had to wrestle with some difficult issues and has done so with good grace, and humour. Coming back together as a worshipping congregation, with disjointed seating arrangements and without Holy Communion felt as though we had lost something of our essence. The interaction that we had enjoyed for many years during and after our services was drastically reduced. At the same time, I don’t think any of us would deny that the Lord has been present and active amongst us. Recently, we rearranged our seating and reinstated Communion. It has made a positive impact As far as activities and progress over the last year is concerned, there have been a number of developments: Les went through a discernment process with the C of E in order to seek a status change from Curate to Incumbent and she has been granted this, meaning she is now qualified to lead a church.
Barb was licensed as a Licensed Lay Minister (LLM) after three years study at St Mellitus College. In her continued exploration of ministry she began a one year chaplaincy course with CWR last September.
We said goodbye to Liz Day after 22 years at St Kats as she moved back to her roots up North to be near her family. We also said goodbye to Leslie & Jordan, and then very recently to Olivia.
We gave the go ahead for a Foodbank which now runs on here on Wednesdays
The women have continued to meet for fellowship on Tuesday afternoons.
There have been a number of courses running over the last year, including a healing course via Zoom, led by Dr Gillian Straine. Subsequently we have attained bronze level status as a ‘Healthy Healing Hub’ that we hope will benefit the wider community. The Prayer Room is one of the spaces which will be used for this project.
We ran the new ‘Growing on the Frontline course’ led by David Leeds, as well as The Prayers of Jesus Lent course led by Barb.
We ran some mid-week sessions on Zoom with Andrew looking at what it means to think biblically, as well as looking behind the scenes to recognise the deception that Christians face that we may be unaware of.
There is also the on-going Manna group which includes people from other churches looking for fellowship and support in the aftermath of lockdown, and the changes it has brought to us all.
We have continued to faithfully preach the Word, working through Dane Ortlund’s ‘Gentle and Lowly’ , the book of Daniel, and 1 & 2 Thessalonians
A significant decision was taken in that we decided not to pursue a fullblown Building Project. Les and I believe the timing isn’t right for St. Kat’s and having discussed it with the PCC we all felt a new season of mission was the right direction to go in, whilst pursuing the upgrades to the building which have been in the pipeline for some time. This means that the proposal to upgrade the kitchen and the WC’s will go before the DAC in June, and once approved, will be done ASAP.
Related to the decision to go forward with outreach is some really good news which is that we have just appointed Barbara Coulson as our new
Church Administrator. We are really looking forward to working with Barbara and also to the things that will develop out of having her in this role. She will explore ways to hire out our venue for some much-needed income and help us to keep up the momentum on the improvements to the church building and grounds, as well as developing our mission and outreach, which she is keen to do. Barbara starts with us on Tuesday 7[th] June.
Becoming a viable church is our priority for possibly the next two years. We need to grow in number, and our finances need to increase too.
We were aware of this before Covid hit and were putting things in place to address it, including running the Alive and Kicking mid-week outreach group. We were close to launching Messy church, and a craft group for primary school kids in April 2020 which was scuppered by the lockdowns.
The vision is still to grow younger and there are three ways we will seek to engage with families over this next year: through Messy Church, Safe Families and a parenting programme called Kids Matter.
I believe the Healthy Healing Hub has the potential to be a bridge between us and the whole community. This will largely be determined by the services and activities we run. Gillian Straine has said that Safe Families and Kids Matter fit nicely under the Healthy Healing Hub umbrella, as they provide support and encouragement for vulnerable families. We will be looking to connect with other age groups and demographics through other services and activities, and there we will be the opportunity for us all to contribute to the HHH project in one way or another.
As well as these potential outreach developments, I believe it’s important for us to more formally ‘regroup’ and discover afresh, who St Kat’s is.
Some of us will remember the helpful Mission Action Planning (MAP) day, led by Jonathan Rust back in November 2017. Jonathan is the Kensington Area Director of Mission Development. I would like to invite him to facilitate another MAP day to reflect on what emerged in 2017, as well as on the impact of two years of lock down. How might we have changed over those five years, and who are we now?
In John 15 Jesus spoke plainly about our complete dependence on him. He said:
’I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing’.
Perhaps the events of the last two years have served to re-emphasise our complete dependence on Jesus for everything; sometimes we need a bit of a shaking to remind us that we totally rely on Him, and that apart from Him we really are incapable of achieving anything of real value.
So with the Lord’s help and guidance, we’ll aim to put the things I mentioned into action and regain the momentum that we lost.
We don’t know what lies in store through the remainder of 2022 but it seems highly unlikely that it’s going to be a smooth ride. May we at St Kat’s be people of prayer and the Bible , in order to better ‘Understanding the times’ and subsequently ‘know what to do’ , confident that we are doing it with and for the Lord.
Terence Davey terlm Management and Busine88 Consultancy 53 Sandown Lodge Avenue Road Epsom Surrey KT18 7QU ST KATHERINE'S CHURCH FINANCIAL STATEMENfs FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31.122021 Auditorf8 Report to the Members of St Katherine's Churc1¥ Westway. London I have reviewed the Financi Statements and workings supporling them. In common with similar organisations, the Church's systems of control depend upon the dose involvement of the PCC and its elected office of Treasurer. Where additional infornthtion to that presented was required, I accepted the a&surance5 of the aforementioned that all the transactions were reflected in the records. That Sai the Financi& Statements as attached in my opinion give a trne and fair account of the Church's affairs as at 31 December 2021 and the receipts and payments made in that year. Terence Davey Date 12th ptember 2022
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