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2022-12-31-accounts

Annual Report 2022

Annual Church Meeting

15[th] May 2023

St Mary’s Church

Attached – Examined accounts and Report from the chair of the PCC as required by the Charities Act 2011

Contents

Agendas for the Annual Meeting of Parishioners
and Annual Parochial Church Meeting 1
Clergy report 2
Churchwardens’ report 6
Bradfield Deanery Synod 8
Prayer Life: Report on Prayer and Healing Team 9
Childrens Work 10
Creation Matters 11
Outreach: Churches Together in Burghfield,
Sulhamstead and Mortimer 12
Outreach: Outward giving 13
Outreach: Burghfield Parish Support Group for
The Children’s Society 13
Burghfield St Mary Primary School 14
Buildings: Fabric report 15
Buildings: Parish Centre report 17

The Annual Meeting of Parishioners and Annual Parochial Church Meeting

AGENDA

Opening Prayers

Apologies

ANNUAL MEETING OF PARISHIONERS

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Parishioners held on 24[th] May 2022 Election of Churchwardens

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING

  1. Minutes of the APCM held on 24[th] May 2022

  2. Matters arising from the minutes.

  3. Presentation of the Updated Electoral Roll

  4. Presentation of the Annual Report

  5. Report from Churchwardens

  6. Report from Deanery Synod

  7. Annual Report Statement by Treasurer

  8. Matters arising from the Annual Reports.

  9. Appointment of Independent Examiner

  10. Report on Safeguarding

  11. Election of Members to serve on the PCC

  12. a. Election of Members

  13. b. Election of Deanery Synod Representatives

  14. Appointment of PCC Secretary

  15. Vision for the Future – Revd Glynn Lautenbach

  16. Any Other Business – only items which have been notified in advance will be taken

  17. Closing Prayer

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Clergy Report

As we began to emerge more fully from the pandemic in 2022, it was wonderful to return to many of the functions and events we had enjoyed prior to the pandemic. On 20[th] March we held a special service to Commemorate the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic, which included thanksgiving to God our heavenly Father for bringing us through it to that point. We also gave thanks for all who had played their roles in so many different ways through the pandemic, to support, encourage and keep one another’s hope burning bright.

It felt good to have a special focus during the year as we looked ahead to celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of our Queen. We had our own special service on the Jubilee weekend on Pentecost Sunday (5[th] June) to mark the occasion and in line with Her Majesty’s ‘Green Canopy’ initiative to encourage the planting of trees, we blessed seven new roses planted along the pathway. The roses were especially chosen with significant names (Grace, Remembrance, Peace, Blessing, Bride and Groom, Loving Memory and of course the new rose ‘The Queen Elizabeth II Rose’). They were all donated by individuals or local organisations, often in memory of loved ones.

Thankfully we had the opportunity for all these celebrations to take place in June, as later in September, we joined with the whole nation along with many around the world, as we mourned the loss of our Queen, a woman of deep faith who led by example and reigned for 70 years.

Our children’s outreach got underway, ably led by our three Childrens’ Leaders, Sara and Gary Fantham and Amy Legg, please see the separate report for all the activities which took place.

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For the first time since 2019, many of our special services and events were able to take place in church, though we remained cautious in the way we conducted services, wearing masks and still receiving communion in one kind, for much of the year. Later in the year the wearing of masks became optional, and we were able to offer communion with bread and wine through intinction (a drop of wine added to the wafer).

As we travelled through Lent together several participated in our Lent Course, ‘Come and See’, a resource provided by the Diocese, which we conducted via Zoom, and we really enjoyed the wonderful service on Easter Sunday as we were able to celebrate it properly for the first time in several years.

Our local May Fayre returned after a gap of several years due to the pandemic, and it was a great opportunity for the whole community to join together to facilitate it. Once again, we had our church tent in place and conducted a short informal service before the May Fayre began. Through the day we provided free crafts for children to participate in and we had many families coming to enjoy these.

Occasional services began to pick up and we had seven Baptisms and three weddings which took place during the year. Funeral services though somewhat restricted near the beginning of the year, were able to take place as normal through the year.

We continued our commitment to the environment, recycling and promoting products and ways to care for the environment. Our ‘Creation Matters’ group worked hard behind the scenes, and you can see further details in the Creation Matters Report.

As we approached the autumn term it began to feel much more of a return to life as we knew it before the pandemic. Having made the decision to hold our community Remembrance Sunday Service fully outdoors once again, we made

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provision to do so. We were blessed with dry weather and the service was well attended.

We enjoyed a busy Advent and Christmas season as we first held our Advent Wreath making evening, and then enjoyed our community ‘Carol’s on the Hatch’ once again at the beginning of December.

Carols on the Hatch (above)

Advent Wreath making evening (left)

Our Christmas Tree Festival this year took the Theme of ‘Royalty’ and was well supported by local schools and organisations with good attendance through the weekend, and the opportunity to listen to both our St Mary’s School Choirs (Infant’s and Juniors) as well as the Hurst Singers.

Christmas was very special this year as we were finally able to celebrate it in Church for the first time since December 2019. Still being cautious we limited our numbers and invited families to book though Eventbrite for our

two Christingle services on Christmas Eve, to spread numbers equally over both services. It was really good to be able to worship together in Church, as we celebrated again the birth of our saviour Jesus Christ.

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The year has indeed been fruitful, and for that I give grateful thanks to our Lord who has continued to shepherd and guide us through these challenging times as well as times of opportunity. In our services we have enjoyed the preaching of Alison Eves (who has ‘Authorisation to Preach’) and who always manages to find a place or analogy for her passion for maths at some point in her sermon. Mark Rhodes-Smith has continued his part-time training for ordination, and it has been wonderful to see him grow and flourish through his 2[nd] year as we have supported him as his ‘home church’. We have enjoyed his preaching too and both Alison and Mark are always well prepared, their words uplifting, challenging and applicable to our lives.

The ministry of our Prayer and Healing Team is always much appreciated through prayer ministry during our services and faithful prayer through the week, as well as in the services they have helped lead, especially our Healing Services which we have returned to holding three times a year.

It has also been a year of ‘goodbyes’ and ‘hellos’. At the end of January, we held a farewell and thanksgiving service for all the wonderful ministry we have experienced through our Associate Minister Revd Lorraine, as she moved on to new beginnings. I have so appreciated having a colleague and enjoying the support, encouragement and work we have done together in ministry and wish her every blessing for the future.

In November, it was also time to say goodbye to our Parish Administrator Jane Cleary, who has been a wonderful support to me personally, as well as to our congregation and community, over the last almost four years. Nothing was too much trouble, and we particularly appreciated her efforts through the pandemic in keeping communication going, as well as the adjustments she made to her working life. She put many procedures in place to make administration and organisation more effective and we are very grateful for all she did, often over and beyond her role as our Parish Administrator.

In December we welcomed Jo Dore as our new Administrator, and she was quite literally thrown in at the deep end as we moved into one of the busiest times of the year. She coped admirably then, has settled well into her role and we look forward to working with her for a long time to come.

I want to thank each and every member of our PCC for their commitment and hard work through the year, who give of their time so generously, it has been a

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pleasure to work together this past year, despite the financial challenges we have faced. I also continue to give thanks for the support from our wonderful congregation as well as the wider community.

However, chiefly I want to give grateful thanks to our faithful God who has brought us all this far as we have emerged almost into a ‘new world’. A world where we wonder at the future of the Church, where we have prayed and sought discernment through our Mission Action Plan (MAP) as to our place in our community as a Christian presence, a place of faith and worship, a place of prayer, mission and outreach. All this is a work in progress, we don’t know what the future holds and though a small faithful congregation we can still achieve much in His name. I offer to you one of my favourite scriptures as we face the future together, moving forward in trust and faith only in the strength and encouragement of our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3. 5&6)

Revd Glynn Lautenbach

Churchwardens’ Report

2022 was a year of "business" much more as usual, as we continued the process of slowly returning to some sort of normality after the pandemic. It was a relief to be able to offer worship together in person, while still being cautious. Most services are now “hybrid”- we have continued to share our weekly service on Zoom, a useful legacy of the COVID-19 experience. It has also been a time of reflection and consolidation of our goals, with the new MAP (Mission Action Plan) much discussed throughout the year and finally agreed upon. We are looking forward to seeing how God’s plan for us all unfolds as we unfold our MAP for Burghfield!

Early in the year we bid a fond farewell to Revd Lorraine Colam as she moved to pastures new. She was a wonderful member of the Ministry Team (officially since 2018 but of course also informally for many years before as a member of the church family), and we miss her and thank her for all those years of service, fun and fellowship. It has been a pleasure to welcome Mark Rhodes-Smith (an ordinand in training) to our congregation and have him help in leading services. We wish him well as he moves on to take up a curacy in a new parish later in 2023.

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Throughout the year our weekly worship has focused on the hybrid services at 10:00am on a Sunday morning, and of course we have enjoyed special services for particular occasions. We have begun meeting monthly (on the 3[rd] Sunday) for Breakfast@Church (thank you for the bacon butties, Don and Gary!) and this is proving to be a great time of fellowship - all are welcome.

We were sad to say goodbye towards the end of 2022 to our amazing Parish Administrator, Janey. Throughout her years at St Mary’s Janey has been a fantastic support to Revd Glynn, to us, and to the Parish at large. Nothing was ever too much trouble; we really benefitted from her “can-do” approach to life. We welcomed Jo Dore as our new administrator in December and she has made a great start.

We have held several social events with the aim of fostering both fun and fundraising - as a result we have had many more opportunities to work and play together, enjoying increasing fellowship, and our financial situation looks less worrying than it might have done. Highlights included the return of the Pudding Club and a series of delicious cream tea events during the hot summer weather.

Community Churchyard tidy up working parties have continued, and this great collaboration between church and community has resulted in our beautiful churchyard being well cared for: thank you to all who have taken part.

Our second Festival of Creation was held in September, with the theme of “All Creatures Great and Small”. The Creation Matters group worked very hard to arrange a weekend which celebrated all God’s creatures, and focused on how we can care better for the world we share. Highlights included a talk from “Big Paws 4 Thought” photography and stalls from local and national organisations.

We made an application to the Diocese’s Development Fund and were successful in obtaining funds which enabled us, with some money of our own, to alter the layout of the ground floor of the Parish Centre. This now means we have three separate spaces which can be hired out or used by ourselves and we are excited about the possibilities this arrangement brings for new mission and social outreach.

After the success of the 2021 event, it was decided to once again hold the Remembrance Day service entirely outside. It was such a pleasure to welcome so many from the community again. The weather was kind, attendance was

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better than ever, with around 600-700 villagers, young and old attending the open-air wreath-laying ceremony and service at the War Memorial.

The run up to Christmas is always busy, and we were pleased to host several events which reach far beyond our regular congregation: the Advent Wreath Making evening, with a record attendance of well over 100 people, the 8[th] annual Christmas Tree Festival and Carols on the Hatch among them.

We would like to thank Revd Glynn, as well as all the faithful members of the PCC and all in our Church family for all your great and much valued support throughout 2022. It is a privilege to be member of, and to play a part in leading, God’s family in this place.

Alison Eves and Michael Wood Churchwardens

Bradfield Deanery Synod

Deanery Synod representatives serve for up to three years. Elections were held in 2020 and our current representatives are Carol Jackson-Doerge and Colin Thompson. New elections will be held at this year’s Annual Church Parochial Meeting.

The Synod meets three times in the year, in February, July and October with the October meeting being held in Burghfield.

As we reported last year the March meeting was a particularly lively affair, as the Area Dean shared a brief video and then invited comments from the floor. There is real concern that we need fundamental change to address dwindling numbers and perceived irrelevance, but no clear agreement on the way forward.

The rest of the year was largely taken up by the regular source of conflict, parish share. The Diocese changed the formula it uses to determine Deanery Share, in a way that will ultimately benefit our Deanery, but as it operates a 2% cap/collar to changes it will be some time before the full benefit is achieved.

Within the deanery each parish’s share is calculated by a complicated formula which was varied slightly in respect of house for duty priests. There was also a change in the way the Area Dean is funded. A great deal of work was put in by

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Parish treasurers and by a working party which included our own Michael Wood to try to find a compromise position as the revised formula had significant impact on some benefices. October Synod approved an alternative method of allocation for one year only, proposed by the Area Dean, which divided the Deanery Share by the number of priests (with house for duty counting as 0.4) with no allowance for the other factors (reserves, ability to pay, equity etc.) that had been discussed.

It is perhaps useful to recall that in the Deanery we have 20 parishes, 10 benefices and only 8 full time priests.

It was also announced at the October meeting that the Deanery Treasurer had chosen to stand down.

The result is that in a year when the Diocese sought changes to ease the burden on rural parishes our share has increased by 9% to £68068. We managed to pay our full share in 2022 but have advised the Deanery that whilst we will make every effort to meet the full amount in 2023, we may not be able to do so.

Colin Thompson & Carol Jackson-Doerge

Report on Prayer Coordination & Prayer and Healing Team for 2021

The Prayer Chain of Intercessors and Prayer and Healing Team members continue to keep in touch on a very regular email basis about prayer needs and requests in the parish.

The Monthly prayer diary, available at the back of Church has been updated and the contents of this feed into our weekly Intercessions in Church. Those wishing to have loved ones remembered in our weekly prayers in The Year’s mind now have a link to contact Margaret who is very happy to make sure these important names are included in our prayers.

We have continued to offer prayers in the chancel during communion and to pray for those leaving requests in the book by the candle stand at the back of Church. These written prayer requests are prayed over and acknowledged in the book by the team members on duty, for a period of a month.

We have undertaken a couple of training updates via TEAMs thanks to Nicky’s technical skills, reminding us of some of the core teaching concerning the ministry of prayer and healing. It is always good to stay refreshed. A number of us from the Healing Team and Prayer Chain were able to attend the Festival of Prayer Day at Ripon College, Cuddesdon which was held in July 2022, after a

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gap of two years due to Covid. It was immensely stimulating and enjoyed by all who attended.

It was lovely to be able to resume our Healing Services in 2022, with three services held in Spring, Summer, and Autumn.

Several team members made themselves available for the very moving All Souls Service in Church in November and were on hand to chat with those who stayed for the lovely tea afterwards. We look forward to the coming year with all it has to offer and teach us in the prayer life of St Mary’s.

Margaret Thomas

Childrens Work

In September 2021 as things started to return to normal after lockdown, Gary, Sara and Amy started hosting events for children and young teens with the aim of building and re-establishing links with young people and families in the community, and ultimately sharing the good news of Christ. The events have included social events such as film nights for 8–14-year-olds, and events with gospel input such as Crafty Church and Children’s Church.

Children’s church was run on the third Sunday of each month following on from breakfast church. The children went out of the main service after the first hymn and returned for communion. The format was normally around a bible story with related activities, crafts, and a short talk. Attendance was very limited and unfortunately between April and September no children attended so we made the decision to discontinue Children’s Church.

We run Crafty Church each term where we have themed crafts suitable for ages 4-11 based around a bible story or Christian festival. Attendance has been sporadic with numbers ranging from 2 children to 25+ last Easter. Despite the unpredictable numbers we have received positive feedback from both children and parents.

Our greatest success has been the film and food nights. Since February ‘22 we have been holding film evenings alternate months, aimed at children between the ages of 8 and 13. They run on a Friday evening and have been a great opportunity to build relationships with young people and their parents. Some have never been in a church before, so this has been a great way to welcome them into our beautiful building in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. We normally organise a quiz related to the film that the children answer when they arrive, and we try to bring in a few bible related questions. Answers and prizes are given out at the end of the film before the children are collected by their

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parents. We also have time halfway through the film to chat with the children when they are enjoying hotdogs or pizza. The children normally have a say in the choice of film for the next event. Numbers average 30 children and feedback has been for more film and food evenings. It would be great if this children’s work could be built on in the future, as a Friday evening seems to be the best time for this age group to meet.

We have been grateful for the support of all the children’s work including supplying materials, catering, helping in person, networking, managing tech, sharing ideas, praying and so much more from the Church family.

Gary and Sara will be stepping back from children’s work from the summer 2023 so please pray for this work. Young people will be our future Church, so pray specifically for someone to work alongside Amy so that this work can be continued.

Sara, Gary & Amy

Creation Matters

Creation Matters is the banner we use to cover our response to one of the Church of England five marks of mission, namely: To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth. The Creation Matters group is a sub-committee of the PCC.

We began 2022 with the purchase, planting and blessing of the new rose trees along the path to the main door, generously funded by donations from parishioners. We selected the roses from their names, so we have standard rose bushes for Grace, Loving Memory, Bride + Groom, Remembrance, Blessing and Peace, plus a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee rose. They are thriving in the tender care of Eileen.

We held our Climate Sunday Service on 10[th] July and welcomed Revd Dr Darrell Hannah, who told us all about Operation Noah.

Our Church porch recycling centre continues to keep many pill blister packs and milk bottle tops and various other items out of the general waste. We are grateful to Margaret Thomas and Fiona Jones for collecting them and moving them on the next stage of their recycling journey.

The response to our appeal for Fair Trade items for a raffle to both raise funds and demonstrate the range of Fair Trade goods that are available in our shops

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was so generous that we had enough to fill three hampers; each of which raised a tidy sum.

We opened our “bug hotel” to encourage insect life in the churchyard. The children from the preschool and St Mary’s School Environment Club, helped to fill it with nesting materials. It’s around the back of church by the old boiler steps if you’d like to take a look.

Our Festival of Creation was held over the weekend of 24/25[th] September with the theme “All Creatures Great and Small”. We are grateful to all the stall holders who came to show off their creativity and especially to “Big Paws 4 Thought” for the fascinating talk on using wildlife photography to help preserve big cats.

Thanks to all these activities, plus the work of the fabric team on the lights in church, we were able to apply for an EcoChurch award from A Rocha UK, a Christian charity dedicated to helping care for God’s earth. In June it was confirmed that we had achieved a Bronze award.

Michael Wood

Outreach

Outreach is very much a part of our mission at St Mary’s and through the year we have been involved in various activities. Our congregation is exceedingly generous in supporting our local Foodbank and the need seems to have increased even more so as we emerged from the pandemic and with the costof-living crisis. Food parcels are being requested more so than normal, and supply cannot keep up with demand. Our congregation continue to give supplies generously as well as supporting the Lent and Advent special appeals.

In May our Local Alternative Quilter’s Group created and displayed (at the May Fayre) the beautiful ‘Ukraine Quilt’ Together we raised funds through a raffle to send an amazing donation of £1715.00 to the ‘Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) – Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal’ .

The ‘Shoebox’ workshop returned in November,

where 75 boxes were wrapped, stocked, and sent off for distribution through the charity ‘Samaritan’s Purse’ for ‘Operation Christmas Child’.

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At our annual ‘Toy Service’ in December we received very generous donations of new toys and other items for children, teenagers and parents, to support two local charities, Berkshire Women’s Aid as well as Spotlight UK.

Outward giving

For some years now we have donated a percentage of the Church’s income to charities and mission agencies in accordance with the PCC decision made a few years ago to commit 10% of the church’s planned giving income. In choosing the charities to receive monies from us, the PCC has striven to maintain a balance between large and small charities, and domestic and overseas charities. We also favour charities where we have personal knowledge of the good that their work does.

Our Outward Giving figure for 2021 is £4,300. This year’s beneficiaries are:

• Health Help International £1,500
• Burghfield United Charities £400
• Spotlight £400
• Yeldall Manor £500
• Sightsavers £500
• The Trussell Trust £500
• Home Start £500

Revd Glynn

Burghfield Support Group for The Children’s Society

The group consists of Anne Burtenshaw, Hilary James, Pat Glover (our Treasurer), Janet Reed, Nicky South-Klein, Sheila Langston-Hopgood and Colin Thompson and met three times in the year in January, April and September. New members are always welcome and if you would like to join our little group please speak to any of its members.

We held our usual cake stalls on Mothering Sunday and at the Toy service raising £317, with a further £67 coming from the toy service raffle and £113 from the sale of Christmas cards. We reverted to two Christingle services in Church raising £437 and the Church also agreed that the collection from Carols on the

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Hatch (£166.26) would be given to the Society. Sadly we were not able to hold either of our planned quiz evenings, but we did sell an Easter Quiz which raised £125. The fall in the general circulation of coins meant revenue from Boxes was substantially less, but £345.77 was received from eleven boxes in the year ending April 2022.

Overall, therefore we raised £1571 still down on our pre-Covid figure, but a significant increase on last year.

Colin Thompson

Burghfield St Mary’s School vision is to create a caring Christian learning environment that inspires each individual in the school community to fulfil their unique potential and become a responsible, concerned and active member of God’s world.

The school vision is underpinned by their aims to:

The school, founded in 1836, with a trust deed dated 1843, is a voluntary controlled school which means the Diocese appoints two of the Governorsknown as Foundation Governors, (currently Revd Glynn Lautenbach and Deborah Marsden) but the staff are employed by the Local Authority. Foundation Governors meet with the Head Teacher on a termly basis to discuss RE provision and collective worship within the school, as well as strengthening school Church ties.

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During the Year we were able to return to regular Thursday Morning Collective Worship (assemblies) led by either Revd Glynn or a member of the congregation. Through 2022 we took a cautious attitude towards whole school services down at Church, however the Year 6 Leavers Assembly, the Harvest and Christmas Services began to feel like a return to the normal termly services with whole school attendance along with parents too.

The termly ‘themes’ continued through the year with an enormous amount of planning from the staff, keen anticipation and enthusiasm from the children and wider community engagement as well. Each term there was a ‘Stunning Start’, a ‘Marvellous Middle’ and a ‘Fabulous Finish’.

The anticipated Ofsted Inspection had still not taken place by the end of the year and no doubt would take place the following year as the inspections teams caught up after the pandemic.

Environmental awareness has been highlighted in the school ethos, tying in with our Church's environmental stance. The school raised funds from the local community to build an outdoor classroom which has now been installed. The school has a thriving Environment Club (with a wait list), which has visited the Church and helped us ‘house’ the new ‘Premier InnSect Bug Hotel’ with leaves, pinecones, sticks and other items collected in the Churchyard. The school also has many green projects in school such as recycling, building and maintaining bug hotels, and a living hedge.

St Mary’s School continues to be a place where children can experience a variety of learning styles and where staff enable pupils to grow and flourish as individuals as well as members of the school. The school has an important place in our community as it also works collaboratively with other local schools.

Revd Glynn Lautenbach (Foundation Governor) Deborah Marsden (Foundation Governor)

- Buildings Fabric Report

This year the activities in the Parish Centre & the Church have almost returned to their pre-covid levels. As reported in last year’s APCM Fabric Report, work has continued during the year upgrading the remaining non-energy efficient lamps with LED lamps, helping towards the Church achieving its Eco awards.

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It was also reported that a Faculty had been granted to install a Live Streaming system in the Church. An application was made for a grant via The Good Exchange, but after a year the response was minimal, and the PCC decided not to pursue such an installation whilst there were so many other financial calls on people’s giving.

2022 was very much focused on improving the access to the Parish Centre (PC) & giving easier access to the PC toilets both for those using the upstairs room and those using the Church whilst the Preschool is in session in the downstairs room. This it is hoped will help the mission of St Mary’s Church to be more effective in the community.

The Diocesan Architect was consulted along with the Diocesan Advisory Committee and a building plan was drawn up. A Faculty was approved together with Planning permission from the Local Authority, as some of the works would take effect just outside the PC kitchen.

A grant was also sought for the majority of the funds from the Diocesan Development Fund, this was also granted.

A builder was appointed with the works taking place during August, whilst the Preschool was not in session. A new emergency external door was installed in the kitchen and a new internal door installed from the downstairs hall into the toilet corridor. A door at the end of the corridor, leading into the main PC lobby was reinstated, having been removed to comply with fire regulations when the hall was originally opened.

A new steel fire escape was installed by members of the Church Fabric Team. Following the completion of the alterations various members of Church undertook to redecorate the kitchen together with the toilet corridor. To enable the upstairs room to be more effectively used and hired out to other groups it was agreed that a Servery with a sink should be installed on the landing, allowing groups using the upstairs room to make tea and coffee. (Access to the kitchen is restricted to the Pre-school only when it is in session downstairs.)

A request was made to Burghfield Residents Association for a grant towards the cost of the installation and we are very grateful that we received the full sum requested. The installation works were begun in early 2023.

During the August summer break, work was done to repair and rehang the main PC doors which resulted in them closing properly and eliminating the drafts.

The doors and porch frame were then rubbed down and given a couple of coats of paint. This work was undertaken by a small group from the Fabric Team and friends.

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During the year other small repair tasks were undertaken, for example repairing holes in the carpark tarmac, and rehanging one of the large carpark gates which had dropped and was proving difficult to open and close.

During the year the PCC accepted a quotation from JFK Heating to install a “Nest” heating control system in the PC to allow more efficient control of the heating in the building both from a cost saving and helping the church to be more Eco friendly. This was undertaken during September.

Brian Thatcher, Chair Fabric Committee

Parish Centre

The Parish Centre is now fully open and welcoming many groups and clubs back in person, though still not as utilised as it was before the pandemic things are certainly improving.

We currently have regular booking of Pilates, 3 different Yoga groups, Weight Watchers & the full time (term time) Mini Oaks Preschool. We understand that numbers at the Preschool have increased, and it is starting to gain a very positive reputation in the community which is great.

We have welcomed some lovely events into the Church too including choir concerts and the very popular Advent Wreath making evening which saw 100+ participants.

We have had building work completed on the internal doors leading from the lower room into the corridor in front of the toilets to enable the preschool to access the toilets and enabling the main internal lower room doors to be locked to remove the worry of children wandering out the front door and still have toilet access and this then enables the main entrance door to be unlocked for groups to access the upstairs room and giving events in the Church access to toilets.

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There is a new fire exit door in the kitchen which adds another level of safety to all our users.

We are in the process of installing a kitchen servery on the upstairs landing area, this is still work in progress but will give another string to our bow allowing a wider range of booking options for the upstairs room whilst the preschool utilises the downstairs kitchen Mon-Fri.

We are advertising the Parish Centre regularly in our monthly newsletter to make the local community aware of our presence and have had a few birthday & baptism party bookings.

Fees are now charged at Mon-Fri before 6pm £13.50 & after 6pm & weekends £16.05 per hour.

As the new Parish Administrator, I am looking forward to boosting bookings for the Parish Centre and welcoming our community into our lovely buildings.

Jo Dore, Parish Administrator

The PCC of St Mary’s the Virgin Burghfield is a Registered Charity No.1167639

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Parochial Church Council of St Mary the Virgin, Burghfield

Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 December 2022

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Parochial Church Council of St Mary the Virgin, Burghfield

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2022

Reference and Administrative details

The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin is in the village and parish of Burghfield in the county of Berkshire.

All correspondence regarding the church should be addressed to: The Parish Office, St Mary’s Church, Church Lane, Burghfield, RG30 3TG.

Structure, governance and management

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC is responsible for safeguarding the assets of the church operating under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure. This involves working with the Revd Glynn Lautenbach the Rector, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also responsible for the Parish Centre. The PCC is a charity Registered with the Charity Commission of England & Wales and our number is: 1167639.

Furthermore, the PCC of St Mary the Virgin has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 (duty to have due regard to House of Bishop’s guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults).

Membership of the PCC

Members of the PCC are either elected by the Parochial Church Meeting or are ex-officio in accordance with the Church Representation rules. All church attendees are encouraged to register on the electoral roll and may stand for election to the PCC.

As a resolution was made and accepted at APCM on 13[th] June 2021, there are no longer any limits on the number of terms of office for any office bearers for the PCC.

During the year 2022 the following people served as members of the PCC.

Ex Officio Members

Clergy:

Revd Glynn Lautenbach

Revd Lorraine Colam – Resigned and moved Parish from 1[st] February 2022

Wardens:

Michael Wood

Alison Eves

PCC members as a result of Deanery Synod Membership

Colin Thompson and Carol Jackson-Doerge were elected to Deanery Synod at the APCM on 18[th] October 2020 for a 3 year term of office till 2023.

PCC Secretary

Brian Thatcher

PCC Treasurer

Oliver Dillon

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Elected Members of the PCC

Name Elected at APCM Serve Until
Brian Thatcher 2022 2025
Amy Legg 2022 2025
Lesley Brigden 2021 2024
Iain Buchanan 2021 2024
Oliver Dillon 2020 2023
Margaret Thomas 2020 2023
Sara Fantham 2020 2023
Clive Eatwell 2020 2023
Anne Pocock 2020 2023

There are no vacancies currently on the PCC.

Foundation Governors

The following have been appointed to serve on the school governing body of the church school as Foundation Governors from September 2020:

Mrs Deborah Marsden-Kwan

Revd Glynn Lautenbach

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Parochial Church Council of St Mary the Virgin, Burghfield

Structure, governance and management

Committees and Groups

The sub-committees of the PCC which continued through 2022 were the ‘Finance Committee’ dealing with parish share, accounts and general finances of the parish, the ‘Fabric Committee’ for care of the Fabric of the buildings and grounds, the ‘Worship and Discipleship Committee’ for matters relating to worship and discipleship and the ‘Creation Matters Committee’, focused on Eco Church, climate and environmental matters.

The Standing Committee comprising the Rector, Church wardens, PCC Secretary and PCC Treasurer, met regularly for decision making, support and Agenda planning.

PCC Vision Statement

Our vision statement for the church created in 2020 is as follows:

Welcoming all, growing faith, serving others

All aspects of the life, mission and ministry of our parish will be discerned and assessed in line with these three areas. During the year we began to work on our future Mission Action Plan (MAP)

In addition, we continue to work in accordance with the Diocesan ‘Common Vision’, to be a ‘A more Christ-like church for the sake of God’s world’ becoming a more Contemplative, Compassionate and Courageous Church.

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Parochial Church Council of St Mary the Virgin, Burghfield

Achievements and Performance

Church Attendance

The electoral roll was updated for 2022 and the number on the electoral roll recorded at the APCM was 72 (2021:76) .

Through 2022 services began to return to normal as we emerged more fully from the Covid-19 Pandemic and along with face to face attendance we continued to offer the opportunity to join in the 10.00am service via zoom denoting our main service as a ‘Hybrid’ service.

Hybrid Services 2022

Hybrid Services 2022
Attendance Communicants
10.00am Parish Communion
In Church 25 24
On Zoom 4 -

These numbers include a few children, some of whom have been admitted to Holy Communion according to Canon B15A. The average weekly attendance figures for the services are reached having taken an average attendance over several Sundays spaced across the year, when there are no ‘special’ Sundays: Numbers attending church services in person have remained low due to the aftermath of the pandemic.

All major Festivals took place in church for the first time since 2019.

During 2022 we celebrated 7 baptisms (2021:2) and 3 weddings (2021:1). We also conducted 12 funerals (2021:14) of which 5 took place in Church and 7 took place at a local crematorium. 15 Interment of Ashes and 2 burials were conducted into existing graves in the Churchyard, along with 1 burial and 1 Interment of Ashes in Burghfield Parish Burial Ground.

Review of the year

A full report on the activities of the parish during 2022 is found in the Annual Report booklet accompanying this document.

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Parochial Church Council of St Mary the Virgin, Burghfield

Financial Review

As with every other part of life the Covid-19 pandemic has had a major impact on St Mary’s finances. This has continued to affect us in 2022.

Voluntary income for General Expenditure, (excluding Gift Aid, Fundraising, Fees & Lettings), rose by 4.7% mainly due to a 4.8% increase in Planned Giving but also a modest return of Collections. Gift Aid was steady, with an annual increase of 2%. Parish Centre lettings income was almost flat and was still 37% down on pre-pandemic levels.

The reorganisation of the Parish Centre has been the major fabric expenditure of 2022. A £10,290 grant was received from the Oxford Diocese towards the building project and £600 from the Burghfield Residents towards the catering facility. This should enable the community to make better use of the Parish Centre and provide some additional income.

Although there was not a major fundraising event there were several events which were very community oriented. Advent Wreath making, the Festival of Creation, the Christmas Tree Festival and the Pudding Club had income of £3683. Other fundraising events included tea parties, soup lunches, Colin’s Quiz and many other activities. Congratulations are due to all involved.

Our allocated Parish Share was 1% lower than that allocated for the previous year. This was paid in full.

A Grant of £1791 was received from the Diocese to help with the high energy bills.

These resulted in an overall deficit on our Unrestricted Funds of £4.3k.

Appeals, including the Quilt Raffle, were made in favour of the DEC Ukraine appeal. These raised a total of £1715.

For the Platinum Jubilee, 7 new roses were placed along the pathway at almost no cost to the church, as they were donated by members of the congregation and community.

A collection of £295 was made for a leaving gift for Rev Lorraine, who was at the centre of St Mary’s church life for many years.

The following are some of the financial and ministerial matters relating to the church:

Oliver Dillon Treasurer

Alison Eves Churchwarden

Michael Wood Churchwarden

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Parochial Church Council of St Mary the Virgin, Burghfield

Independent Examiners Report to the PCC of St Mary the Virgin Burghfield

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Parochial Church Council of St Mary the Virgin, Burghfield

Financial Statements

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Rev'd Glynn Lautenbach (Rector & PCC Chair)

Mr Oliver Dillon (PCC Treasurer)

Approved by the PCC on 20[th] March 2023 and signed on their behalf by Rev'd Glynn Lautenbach (PCC Chair) and Mr Oliver Dillon (PCC Treasurer)

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Parochial Church Council of St Mary the Virgin, Burghfield

Notes to the Financial Statements

The financial statements for the Parochial Church Council of St Mary the Virgin, Burghfield are prepared on a Receipt and Payments basis.

  1. Gift Aid was from the Parish Giving scheme throughout the year together with direct claims for 2021.

  2. Other General Donations includes £656 of online donations for General funds.

  3. The Fees Income is reported as the net amount payable to the PCC in accordance with C of E guidelines. Fees collected on behalf of the Diocese totalled £2,796. Transactions relating to payments for Bellringers, Vergers etc are also specifically excluded.

  4. There were many Fundraising events of various sizes raising a total of over £6,800. These included the Festival of Creation, Advent Wreath Making and the Christmas Tree Festival. The Pudding Club made a welcome return and raised £900. There were many smaller events such as Soup Lunches and Tea Parties which all made a valued contribution.

  5. The Parish Centre Lettings income has still not recovered being £14k down compared to prepandemic levels. Approximately 71% is from the Nursery.

  6. Interest Income on the J Harvey Thursby Memorial fund was allocated to defray costs incurred in maintaining the churchyard.

  7. Movements on Restricted Accounts:

Income on the Restricted funds included Monthly pledges of £780. Further Grants and Donations were made towards the Bells. £1715 was raised for the DEC Ukraine Appeal. A grant of £10,290 was received from the Diocese and £600 from the Burghfield Residents Association towards the

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reorganisation of the Parish Centre. A Deanery Grant of £1.8k helped reduce the impact of higher fuel bills.

  1. Many costs have resurged as services have started to follow a more normal pattern.

  2. Parish Share was paid in full.

  3. Our Outward Giving figure for 2022 is £4,300. This year’s beneficiaries are:

Health Help International £1,500
Burghfield United Charities £400
Spotlight £400
Yeldall Manor £500
Sightsavers £500
The Trussell Trust £500
Home Start £500
  1. A deficit of £4,252 is reported on the unrestricted funds statutory accounts.

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Fwd: report st mary Indep￿dertt EN￿1n¢￿5 RqK¥t to the Members ofthe PariKhW tsl SL the Vlryln. Bur¥hfield I report to the members on my examinatM)n of the accounts of the Par￿h￿l Chutth Council of SL Mary the Vii¥in. Buryhfield. t￿ the year ended 31 fknmber 2021. R•5ponslbllttles •NI O•sls of As the PCC'S trustee5. are responsible for the preparation of the actounts In accordance with the requirements of the Charibes Act 20111-the ACVI. I report in iespèrtof my ex•minJtiot) of the Pcfs ccwnts oryied out under sectton 145 of theA¢t and in carrying out my examinatton. I have all the applicable DireCt￿S given by the Charity Comrnimion under secty'on 14515llbl oftheA¢t Indepen￿t Eumlnrf5 Strtem￿l I have completed my exarn1nat￿n. I confirm th no materbal mattef5 h•¥e come to my •ttention in connection wrth the examinat￿n whith ¢ivts me cause to belie¥e th4t lft. any m•tefi•l resp•tt'. the accounts￿ records wer not kept in accord•rKe with sertwjn 130 of the Charlties Art: or the accounts did not a¢¢ord wTrth the acc￿ntIr4 records. I have no concerns and have Come across no other matten in connertion th examination to which attentron should be drawn in this report In order to enable a pioper underst•ndini olthe accounts to be reached. 8 ll44, 2oZS R055 Matklnnon Fellow ofthe Insiityte oiawted Accountants In Entsnd W W•les 17 Hanningtons Wty Burqhfield Cornmon RG7 3BE 2of3 li 05 2023. 21..57