2023-12-31-accounts

ST PAUL’S CHURCH CHIPPERFIELD

ANNUAL MEETINGS

MONDAY 15 APRIL 2024, 7PM

AT ST PAUL’S CHURCH

REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

To be a place of connection and community that nurtures relationships and brings a sense of hope, trust and faith

St Paul’s

Mission Action Plan

Our Vision

To be a place of connection and community that nurtures relationships and brings a sense of hope, trust and faith

Our Priorities

• To encourage people to deepen their relationship with God through prayer, worship, study and fellowship.

• To identify the pastoral needs of the community and seek to show love and care and to build relationships.

• To bring children, young people and families into a deepening relationship with God

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

St Paul’s Church Chipperfield is situated on the Common in Chipperfield and is part of the Diocese of St Albans within the Church of England.

The correspondence address is Holy Cross and St Paul’s Church Office, Village Hall, The Green, Sarratt, Herts WD3 6AS.

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a charity registered with the Charity Commission, number 1167846.

Incumbent: Revd Sarah Collins Reader: Philip Waine Treasurer: Fay Dent

PCC members who have served for the year up to the date of this report are:

Wardens: Philip Waine (until 2025) Judy Olney (until 2026) Representatives of Alison Bush (until 2026) Susan Turner (until 2026) the Deanery Synod: Elected members: Clare Brook (until 2025) Sue Walker (until 2024) James Bush (until 2024) Alison Bush (until 2026) Jennifer Laurie(until 2026) Jennifer Hibberd(until 2026) Susan Turner (until 2026) Ian Chantrell (until 2026) PCC Secretary Caroline Hargrove (until 2026)

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STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE & MANAGEMENT

St Paul’s Church is part of the Benefice of Holy Cross, Sarratt and St Paul’s Chipperfield. Each church has its own PCC and Standing Committee that meet regularly and separately. Joint PCC meetings occur occasionally during the year. Wardens of both churches meet regularly together with the incumbent. The Children and Youth Committee is a joint one with Holy Cross.

The Parish Room is managed separately to the church by a committee chaired by an appointee of the PCC.

AGENDA FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING OF PARISHIONERS and APCM

Introduction At this year’s APCM we reflect on the past year and look forward to the future. We will be assuming that you will have read all the reports in this booklet prior to the meeting and their appearance on the agenda is simply to give electoral roll members the opportunity to ask questions on the reports.

Annual Meetings

Members present and apologies for absence for both meetings

Annual Meeting of Parishioners

1. Welcome, opening prayers

2. Minutes of the last meeting

3. Election of Church Wardens

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

1. Minutes of previous meeting and matters arising

2. Reports

• a) Rector’s Report

• b) Church Wardens’ Report 2023/24

• c) Report of the PCC meetings 2023

• d) Safeguarding Report

• e) Deanery Synod Report

• f) Sidespersons report 2023/24

• g) Electoral Roll Report

• h) Children & Youth Report

3. Accounts

Report on the Financial Affairs of the Parochial Church Council

• a) Treasurer’s Report

• b) Adoption of Accounts for year ending 31 December 2023

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4. Elections

• c) Election of PCC Secretary, election and re-election of 3members of the Parochial Church Council

• d) Appointment of new Electoral Roll Officer

5. Concluding Business

• a) Questions and any other business

• b) Date of next APCM to be confirmed. Next PCC meeting Monday 17 June 2024.

• c) Closing Prayers

St Paul’s Church, Chipperfield Minutes of the Annual Meetings of Parishioners held on Sunday 26[th] March 2023 at 10.25am in the Parish Room

Philip Waine and Ann Waine, Churchwardens, and 28 members of the Electoral Roll were present.

Apologies for absence were received from Peter Corbett, Sue Ellis and Pam Dawson.

Annual Meeting of Parishioners 1.

Welcome and opening prayer.

Lucy Wood welcomed all to the meeting and Philip Waine opened with the Parish prayer.

2. Minutes of the 2022 Annual Vestry Meeting

Stephen Morrill proposed, and Jenny Laurie seconded the adoption of the minutes. The minutes were approved.

3. Election of Churchwardens

Ann Waine stepped down as Churchwarden and was given heartfelt thanks for her long service and dedication. Philip Waine presented Ann with a gift and flowers as a token of appreciation from everyone.

Philip Waine has kindly offered to continue as Churchwarden and we are very grateful to Judy Olney, who has offered to be Churchwarden for the coming year. Judy has served as churchwarden for many years in the past, and her wisdom and experience will be particularly valuable as a new incumbent joins the Benefice.

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Anne Stickland proposed, and Lucy Wood seconded the election of Philip Waine. He was appointed unanimously. Fay Dent proposed and Clare Brook seconded the election of Judy Olney. She was appointed unanimously.

The meeting concluded at 10.30 a.m.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

1a. Minutes of the 2022 Annual Parochial Church Meeting.

Ian Chantrell proposed, and Stephen Morrill seconded the adoption of the minutes. The minutes were approved.

1b. Matters Arising from the Minutes.

No matters arising.

2a. Rector’s report

In was noted that there was no Rector’s report, due to the current vacancy.

2b. Church Warden’s report

The Churchwarden’s report printed in the booklet was noted.

2c. Report of the PCC meetings 2022

The report of the PCC meetings printed in the booklet was noted.

2d.

Safeguarding report

The safeguarding report printed in the booklet was noted. Lucy thanked Sue Walker for her diligence and level of care in her role as safeguarding officer for the Benefice. Anne Stickland thanked Sue for all the work involved with helping to set up the youth team. Sue, in turn, thanked our Benefice administrator, Sonya, who is an essential part of safeguarding team.

2e. Deanery Synod report

The Deanery Synod report printed in the booklet was noted. Alison Bush highlighted the Trinity project, which supports the mental wellbeing of young people and asked those present to whether they, or someone they know, may like to be involved.

2f. Sides persons report

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The Side-persons report printed in the booklet was noted. Lucy thanked Alison Bush for coordinating the sides-persons rota. Alison thanked all those people who continue to volunteer to take on the important duties of sidesman, reading lessons and leading prayers. She thanked Clare Brook for arranging the coffee rota and for setting up a WhatsApp group, so that a switch of duties can be made easily, if needed.

2g. Electoral Roll report

Lucy Wood advised that there are 87 members on the electoral roll; 64 members are resident in the parish and 23 non-residents. In the last year, there have been 5 deletions; two members have sadly died, one member has moved away, and two members have been removed as they were no longer living in the parish or attending church. The next full renewal of the Electoral Roll will be in 2025.

2h. Children and Youth report

The Children and Youth report printed in the booklet was noted. Ian Chantrell reported that the youth group now had a committed group of children, who have shown the desire to be involved biblically alongside the other youth activities. Anne Stickland described how one young member of the group had sung in church, with the whole group cheering at the end. Ian described how an all-age group of the church community had been involved in decorating the church for Christmas, with Mary Nobbs supporting young people with adding decorations to tree, and members of the youth group offering to help look after the younger children.

Stephen Morrill asked if the youth work was restrained by finances. Fay Dent confirmed that funds were available at present. Ian said that, so far, youth members have been able to pay for external events organised as part of the programme.

Lucy thanked to all those who had written the APCM reports and carried out their roles within the church over the last twelve months

3a. Treasurer’s report

The Treasurer’s report printed in the booklet was noted. Fay Dent reported that 2022 was in line with 2021, with the overall position being £3,000 better off. Assets stand at £115,636. During the audit, it was noted that the restricted funds include £2,800 remaining in the director of music fund. At the request of the donor who contributed to

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this fund, it will be moved to general funds (it was set up for paying the salary of the music director, Ben Atkinson, who left in September 2022). Anne King expressed concern as to the reason and Phil confirmed the donor had suggested the church use it another way and also that he felt future funds would be available in respect of a future appointment. There is still some funds retained for future use regarding Music.

Fay reported the annual turnover is now approximately £120,000, and advised that we tend to be short of £10-12,000 each year, due to a decreasing congregation the electoral roll has reduced to 87. However, every year we have received a windfall – this year it was a £13,500 legacy – which enabled us to break even and make our mission payments.The parish room rental provides approximately £12,000 income, and Fay thanked Stephen Morrill for managing the ongoing bookings. Energy costs have gone up and are likely to remain high going forwards. This has been factored into the hire charges. Some services have been held in the Parish Room in the colder months. Clive Turner asked if the Investment fund of £23K was reported at market value, as it was recorded at the same value for 2021 and 2022. Caroline Hargrove confirmed that a revaluation is obtained every year, with a prudent valuation recorded due to market fluctuations.

Fay thanked her team who support the smooth running of the church’s finances, Chris Pinney, Peter Corbett and Sonya Tolmie, and thanked Caroline for conducting the audit. Fay also thanked the whole church community for their generosity of financial giving and support in every other way. It has enabled the church to end the financial year on a stable footing, and to continue our ‘mission giving’ to local, national and international charities. Philip Waine thanked presented Caroline with flowers, as an appreciation for conducting the audit. Caroline noted that the record keeping by Fay and team was meticulous and Phil thanked Fay for all the time she dedicates to her role as Treasurer.

3b. Adoption of the accounts

Alison Bush proposed and Lesley Edwards seconded the adoption of the accounts for the year ending 31 December 2022. The accounts were approved.

3c. Appointment of the Independent Examiner

Caroline Hargrove was thanked for acting as our Independent

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Examiner. Anne King proposed and Stephen Morrill seconded that Caroline should be appointed as our independent examiner for the forthcoming year. She was appointed unanimously. (See also note in AOB.)

4a. Election of lay representatives to the Deanery Synod

The current lay representative to the Deanery Synod is Alison Bush, and Susan Turner has kindly offered to join Alison as our second lay representative.

Anne King proposed and Anne Stickland seconded the election of Alison Bush. She was appointed unanimously. Alison Bush proposed and Ian Chantrell seconded the election of Susan Turner. She was appointed unanimously.

4b. Election of members of the Parochial Church Council

Caroline Hargrove has kindly offered to join the PCC and to take on the role of PCC Secretary. Fay Dent proposed and Ann Waine seconded the election of Caroline Hargrove to the PCC. She was appointed unanimously.

Jennifer Hibberd, who is a parent at St Paul’s school, has kindly offered to join the PCC. Philip Waine proposed and Ian Chantrell seconded the election of Jennifer Hibberd to the PCC. She was appointed unanimously.

Two members of the PCC, Ian Chantrell and Jennifer Laurie, have completed their three year term and kindly offered to remain as PCC members for a further three years. Anne Stickland proposed and Clare Brook seconded the re-election of Ian Chantrell to the PCC. He was appointed unanimously.

Susan Turner proposed and Ann Soanes seconded the re-election of Jennifer Laurie to the PCC. She was appointed unanimously.

4c. Appointment of Electoral Roll Officer

Philip Waine thanked Pippa Frow for all her work as Electoral Roll Officer over the last few years. This position is currently vacant and will be taken on by our benefice administrator, Sonya, on a temporary basis.

4d. Appointment of Sidespersons

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This list of serving sidespersons on page 20 of the booklet was noted. (See also item 2f.)

5. Reflecting on the past and looking to the future

Philip Waine reflected on the changes taking place in 2022, including the retirement of our rector, Michele. He reported that Michele and Bob are now settling into Wiltshire and we wish them well. He thanked all those, named and unnamed, who have contributed so richly to the life of the church over the last 12 months.

Philip reported that Myra Pritchard is stepping down as caretaker, after 23 years of service, and thanked her for her long-serving role in cleaning and maintaining the Parish Room and church. Graham, who is also St Paul’s school caretaker will be taking over.

Philip also noted that Diana Uff is stepping down as school governor. It is proposed that Barbara Clements, who comes with a wealth of experience in education, will be appointed as our new church representative on school governors.

Stephen Morrill thanked Kevin, our gardener, who maintains the churchyard, coming every Monday for 10 months of the year.

Lesley Edwards thanked Phil, both for his preaching and for everything he does as the ‘lynchpin’ of the church, and Ann for her support for Phil.

6. Concluding Business 6a. Questions and any other business

Yvonne Collett asked if Caroline Hargrove was allowed to be our Independent Auditor and well as secretary. Philip Waine confirmed that, whilst it was technically allowed, we would be seeking an alternative Independent Auditor. Elaine Dean asked if non-alcoholic wine would be offered with communion. Philp confirmed that it would be discussed with new incumbent.

6b. The proposed date for the next APCM

The next APCM date will be agreed with the new incumbent. It was noted that April 2024 was preferable to March 2024, so that the accounts could be finalised and audited in a timely manner.

6c. Judy Olney led us in a Closing Prayer.

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Lucy Wood, PCC secretary, 26.3.23

RECTORS REPORT FOR 2023/24

I have now been with you for 9 months and have started to find my way around the benefice a little more.

Outreach

My focus has been developing relationships within both church and community across the benefice; in particular the schools and have met regularly with both leadership teams to aid in supporting their Christian content in ways that are culturally and contextually relevant to engage the children; including joining the staff team in Sarratt for RE curriculum training and supporting Sarratt school staff in addressing and supporting through bereavement. I have had regular meetings with the head and RE lead at St Paul’s school and have led assemblies on a fortnightly basis, alternating with Ian Chantrell. I also visit Sarratt primary on a fortnightly basis to listen to children read in Year 3 at the request of the school, supporting less confident children with the view of relationship building, ready for a lunchtime Christian faith based workshop. Both schools were involved in Christmas and Easter activities which were more experiential and my thanks go to the leadership teams at the schools for being willing to try something new and creative in the form of Walking Nativities and Easter activity days. I have taken up my position as governor at both schools.

Community engagement has started to go well, with many families involved in the Walking Nativity in Sarratt and a fantastic response to a request for Easter trail gifts from many members of the communities across the benefice for which I am very grateful.

There has been a large amount of occasional offices in the diary, aiding in developing relationships within the community.

I completed running a Bereavement Journey Course at the beginning of the year and have an evening Marriage Preparation Course in the diary for those couples unable to attend the day in March. We have had two Lent courses across the benefice which I feel went well and a new Bible study group is in mind off the back of one of these.

A new toddler group started in January which has been really well received. We have on average 14 babies and toddlers each week and the mums or

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carers are forming good relationships. I have a dedicated team which are a fantastic support. The only negative has been the time constraint and the work involved in set up and take down with the storage being up stairs.

We also had a Light party last October which was really well attended, providing fun crafts and activities for children promoting Jesus as the light to draw attention away from the commercialised culture of Halloween. This was made possible by the support of many volunteers to which I am very grateful.

Remembrance went relatively well in both villages with the Brownies taking part at St Paul’s.

Sunday & Festival Services

The service pattern for the benefice remains the same although I have moved the second service to a slightly later time to allow space for conversation with congregants and to travel between the churches safely. Thanks go to the choir who have continued to lead us in worship despite the difficulties they have faced without a choir master or musical director. I would also like to extend that thank you to those outside the church family, who have stepped in to assist in supporting the choir and our Sunday services through hymn selection and musical support.

Christmas Day & Easter Day were slightly different as to accommodate the requirement of Holy Communion in both parishes, but I feel they were graciously accepted and had positive feedback from less frequent church members.

The family service has slightly changed to become an informal all together time, with breakfast to start. There are seldomly families there at the moment and the changes to the service are to reflect that and to encourage and feed those for whom traditional church is harder to relate to and connect with. This service is just once a month and I continue to pray and plan other ways in which we can encourage and engage those for whom this more relaxed style of worship is where they can grow and connect with God. My thanks go to the team who all carry a leadership role on this Sunday of the month.

We had two All Soul’s services last year, with Holy Cross being very well attended by mostly members of the community which was good to see.

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Administrative Duties

I have been working on compliance since my arrival and although there is still work to be done, we now have some essential procedures in place. My thanks go to Caroline for working with me on this and of course to Sue for her ongoing commitment to safeguarding; working with the diocese as well as myself. Sonya has been an asset in her role as administrator carrying so much of the work which would prevent me from developing outreach and growing the churches; so my thanks go to her for her support and diligence.

We had a vision day at the beginning of the year to gather the thoughts and priorities of those who attended and this will be used to complete an up to date MAP as we plan for the future growth of our benefice.

I would like to express my thanks to all those who have supported me, and in turn my family in these early days and reiterate the words I shared at interview that growing a church both in number and more diverse is a long and sometimes difficult journey, which can only be achieved by a team effort. So, thank you to all who work so hard each week in enabling the running of our services and the church as a whole; there are so many of you, too many to mention; but a huge thank you to you all and I look forward to continuing to grow that team and a deepening of our faith journeys in the years ahead of us as church in this place.

Revd Sarah

CHURCHWARDENS REPORT FOR 2023/24

Including annual fabric report under section 50 of the Ecclesiastical jurisdiction and care of churches measure 2018.

After a Vacancy of ten months we were delighted to welcome our new rector, Sarah Collins and her family to the Benefice of Holy Cross Sarratt and St. Paul’s Chipperfield on July 24th 2023. Two services were held at both churches. Bishop Alan Smith and the Archdeacon Charles Hudson attended the initial installation service for Sarah at St. Paul’s and the Bishop of Hertford, Dr. Jane Mainwaring, attended the service on the following Sunday at Holy Cross. Light refreshments were served after the St. Paul’s installation service and at Goldingtons, a week later, after the Holy Cross service. There was also a barbecue held on the 6th August 2023 to say thank you to various people who had stepped up during the Vacancy and to enable people to get to know Sarah.

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Work was completed in time for Sarah’s move to the New Vicarage. The Diocese had agreed to upgrade the bathrooms and the parishes helped to upgrade the kitchen. A member of our community had kindly offered appliances from their house (about to undergo renovation) for the Vicarage kitchen and thanks to Ann and Phil Waine’s perseverance in helping to sell the old kitchen the church benefited by this kind donation of £2,000. Donations from the parishes,and the proceeds of this other kitchen sale meant that the kitchen was fully funded and indeed some money left over.

Since April 2023 St. Paul’s church has seen several changes. Judy Olney became the new Church Warden with Phil Waine after Ann Waine stepped down. Caroline Hargrove became the new PCC Secretary when Lucy Wood resigned. Fay Dent indicated early on that she would like to step down from her position as Treasurer but agreed to stay in post until a new person was found to take on the position. No-one has come forward so Fay and Caroline are working on plans to break down the work of the Treasurer into a more manageable role.

After an inspection by the Rural Dean shortly after Sarah’s arrival it was noted, apart from Health & Safety and Safeguarding needing to be updated which has since been a priority, that also the Church Terrier was found to be incomplete. This has now been worked on by the two Church Wardens so is now more up to date. Various documents such as the duplicate marriage registers and one burial register have been sent to the Hertfordshire Archive and Library Service in Hertford and work has started on providing an up to date Church Property Register to give a more complete picture of what has been added and removed in the church since 2007. The silver from the Baptist Church has now been photographed and recorded for the Terrier but we are aware that 2 medium sized plates are silver with hallmarks so will need a valuation.

The inspection also flagged up that we needed to have a look at our Mission Action Plan as well as where we are with regard to the church moving toward Net Zero in 2030. These are both work in progress.

BUILDING AND FABRIC

Various improvements have been made to the church over this last year. Over the summer of 2023 a new carpet was put down in the church aisle and Narthex. Martin Deane has been working hard to fix an additional 2 out 3 cameras which have already been purchased and these are fitted in the Narthex and near to the organ. He has established a small control panel to enable anyone to produce the sound and pictures required for streaming a service. He has also provided a better WiFi connection to the Parish Room

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and a comprehensive list of all audio/visual equipment now installed in the church and parish room.

The upstairs room above the parish room has been tidied as a result of a very helpful group of people who got together to take down Christmas decorations. There is still a need to consider additional storage for toys etc. and it is hoped that the printer in the upstairs room will be removed.

100 ilex crenata plants were initially planted to replace the box plants in the Memorial Garden. The ground had been prepared previously with some compost and the plants planted in November as part of the church yard clear up. The cost was £600. Subsequently it was decided to spend an additional £180 to plant more ilex crenata at the rear of the Memorial Garden. £400 was raised by donations.

There have been one or two faculties applied for this past year. One was a faculty dated August 2022 which has authorised an extension to the existing memorial to Alfred and Florence Rolph to include the inscription indicated in the petition in memory of their son Peter George Rolph. The other faculty relates to a member of the local community who required a faculty to have her ashes interred in the memorial ground at a future date- her husband’s ashes are already interred and permission was also sought for a replacement for a tree planted in memory of another family member.

A memorial stone which was placed down without the correct process has been removed and a new stone has been installed through the correct process.

We have also been asked to apply for permission for the hole that has been dug outside the church near the pavement which normally holds the cross and Christmas tree.

The PCC this year was very pleased to have positive feedback of the Christmas services since it was Sarah’s first Christmas here. It was also exciting to have 180 children come through the walking nativity initiated by Sarah.

THE CHURCH FAMILY

So many people were involved in helping during the Vacancy and provided a great service to the church and the community during this last year. We think of the sides persons, vergers, choir, floral team, church cleaners and those who open and close the church each day of the year. We give thanks to those who do the catering for the many Benefice lunches which have been so well attended over the year together with other church activities requiring catering plus also to those who provide refreshments after services. Special mention goes to Pat Smith and Yvonne Collette. We are also thankful to all the volunteers who help to keep the church yard tidy twice a year and to Frances

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Onians and Kevin, the gardener , who help keep the church and church yard in good repair.

During the Vacancy and this past year the Lord has called helpers from our church to take on support and responsibility in so many ways. We think of all the various church services which have included the All Age Service, Youth Group, and Messy Church and in particular those who helped and were involved in the Installation Service last July and the various Christmas services. Particular thanks go to Anne Stickland and Ian Chantrell as well as Jeannie Poulton from Sarratt for help with Benefice Youth Work and of course Phil Waine, not only our Church Warden, but Lay Reader as well.

We are grateful to Sue Walker, our Safeguarding officer, who has been involved with helping to redraft and upgrade our Health and Safety and Safeguarding polices together with Sarah. We owe a debt of thanks to Paul Rogers ,David Collette and particularly Martin Deane for all their work on the audio/visual system in the church and parish room. Special mention should go to Stephen Morrill for the work that he has carried out behind the scenes in the church, parish room and church yard to keep them all in good repair. As we write Stephen is still recovering from heart surgery and we wish him a speedy recovery.

A special mention should also go to Sonya, our parish administrator, who has shown a tireless support for us during the Vacancy arranging visiting clergy and organists and making sure we were up to speed with so much church administration.

Our sincere apologies if we have inadvertently omitted some thank-yous. There are so many people who contribute to the life of the church and we are indebted to you all. As we write the joy and hope that Easter brings are just around the corner. We look forward to this coming year with our new rector Sarah and pray for God’s blessing on her and all in the church community.

Phil Waine Judy Olney

REPORT OF PCC MEETINGS 2023 Churchwardens

Ann Waine retired as churchwarden after a dedicated tenure of service. Philip

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Waine kindly offered to continue as churchwarden and was re-elected at the APCM in March 2023.Judy Olney kindly offered to fill the vacancy and was elected at the APCM.

Members of the PCC and Deanery Synod Representatives

Sarah Collins is a most welcome new Chair to the PCC since her installation in July. Jennifer Hibberd was elected to the PCC. Ian Chantrell and Jennifer Laurie were re-elected to the PCC for a further 3-year term. Susan Turner kindly agreed to act as Deanery Synod representative alongside Alison Bush. The continuing members for 2023-24 were James Bush, Ian Chantrell, Fay Dent (treasurer), Sue Walker, Clare Brook. Caroline Hargrove was also elected to the PCC and to serve as PCC secretary.

Financial Matters

No member of the PCC can act as independent examiner and Caroline Hargrove stepped down as soon as this was clarified with the diocese. The PCC subsequently appointed Sarah Altman as independent auditor and are grateful to her for carrying out the work this year. Summary of the church finances in 2023 is given in the Treasurer’s report. The Diocesan share for 2023 was £47,053.

Fay Dent indicated early in the year that she wished to step down as Treasurer. She has provided stalwart and meticulous service which the PCC in accepting her resignation would like to acknowledge. No replacement for the role has materialised. Options to outsource bookeeping continue to be explored, and some tasks have been redistributed but Fay continues to continue almost all of the work involved in the cash book and accounting. It has now been decided that Fay’s formal departure from the role will be 17 June 2024. The PCC continues to hope for additional bookeeping or accounting support in the vacancy, or indeed a new volunteer for the role.

Parish Administration

Sonya Tolmie, our Benefice Administrator, has continued to diligently support the PCC in its work and administration throughout 2023.

Revision of the Electoral Roll

There will be a full revision of the electoral roll next year. This year the roll opened for amendments on 8 March and closed 22 March. The amended roll has been available since 28 March 2023.

As in 2023 the Benefice records for the members of the Electoral Roll enable the Annual Report to be distributed electronically to all members with email addresses. Hard copies will be made available on request.

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Sonya Tolmie has acted as Electoral Roll Officer in the absence of a formal appointment at last year’s APCM. A new officer will be appointed at the 2024 APCM.

Sidespeople

Sidespeople no longer need to be appointed at the APCM and this responsibility is now with the PCC.

Safeguarding

Sue Walker has continued in the vital position of Benefice Safeguarding Coordinator and the Parish Administrator, Sonya Tolmie, has provided the administrative support for processing DBS checks. A separate safeguarding report gives details of actions taken during 2023.

Building, Fabric and IT

The quinquennial inspection was completed in November 2022. Further details of the repair and maintenance of the church approved by the PCC in 2023 are given in the Churchwardens’ report. We thank Stephen Morrill and the Fabric Committee for all their efforts to maintain the church.

Youth and Families

Family Services are continued, now taking a slightly different format in the church each month at 1045. Messy Church was not well attended is currently taking a break, but will be reviewed shortly with a view to reconvening in a way which hopefully better all the hard work put in by the Messy Church team. Youth Team continue regular Thursday evening groups. Sarah and Ian are frequent and welcomed visitors in our school. More details about the activities are given in a separate Youth and Families report. The Youth Fund in the St Paul’s accounts will continue to be used to support youth work across the Benefice.

Mission Giving

The PCC has for the moment deferred annual Mission Giving, in order to continue to fund the work of this parish and to support the work and ministry of our new incumbent Sarah.

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Music at St Paul’s

There are not adequate church funds to support a formal appointment of a Music Director at this time. A number of excellent organists continue to support worship on a week by week basis and Gray Brooks has been supporting family worship for which we are grateful.

Services

After Easter it is hoped to review all regular services to provide the most appropriate services and timely Communion for existing members, and for potential and prospective members too, taking account of age profiles and making the best use of Sarah’s time.

Thanks

Thanks are given to all members of the PCC for their attendance at meetings and forbearance and support during my first year as secretary.

Caroline Hargrove, PCC secretary

SAFEGUARDING REPORT

St Paul's is committed to promoting a safer church and follows the House of Bishops Safeguarding Policy for children, young people and adults. Our commitments are:-

• Promoting a safer environment and culture

• Safely recruiting and supporting all those with any responsibility related to children and vulnerable adults

• Responding promptly to every safeguarding concern or allegation

• Caring pastorally for victims/survivors of abuse or other affected persons

• Caring pastorally for those who are the subject of concerns/allegations of abuse and other affected persons

• Responding to those that may pose a present risk

To this end, training continues to be a must for all those involved with children, young people and vulnerable adults. Training is on line and usually no more than two hours; some training is renewed every three years. Basic training is available for all volunteers; we are hoping to promote this over the next year. A big thank you to all those who have completed their training. DBS checks are compulsory for a number of volunteer roles; Sonya continues to assist with applications. These have to be renewed every three years. Sonya keeps a record of all training and DBS checks and sends out emails when renewal is due. A big thank you to Sonya without whose help and support I could not do my role. It is comforting to know that Sonya is there, always willing to help with a smile and encouragement.

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To ensure we are covering all aspects of safeguarding, we continue to use the Dashboard, a valuable tool which records all our actions and reminds us when to renew. Please look at the following as an example.

Data Protection and Retention

The PCC must comply with data protection legislation and Church of England data retention guidance. This must be reviewed annually. When was the above question answered or reviewed? 5.2.24.

At present this is shown on the dashboard in green. At the beginning of next year it will turn to amber and February turn to red. Renewal cannot be ignored.

The trustees of the PCC receive an Action Plan printed from the dashboard and before the next PCC meeting they are asked to look at it in conjunction with the Safeguarding Handbook and be prepared to raise any comment for discussion and then to agree the action before it is signed off. It is then shown as green for another year.

The safeguarding team at the Diocese are extremely helpful and ready to respond to any queries. In addition to the newsletters and emails from the team, a monthly drop-in on zoom is available for all Parish Safeguarding Officers. We have used this on several occasions; it is also useful to hear the dilemmas of other PSOs.

Looking ahead, you will see on the noticeboard a new poster, 'National Safeguarding Standards, Our Parish is committed to the Five Standards '. This has taken three years to prepare and has now been approved nationally. PCCs are asked to take each of the five standards in turn and examine safeguarding in the parish and identify their strengths and weaknesses. It is suggested that we look at two standards each year. There will be an independent audit every five years.

Sue Walker, Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO)

DEANERY SYNOD REPORT

Year ending 31 December 2023

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Alison Bush and Susan Turner are the Deanery Synod representatives for St Paul’s Church. This involves attending three meetings a year that are held at different churches in the deanery. The meeting is chaired by the rural dean, Simon Cutmore.

The meetings share news from other churches in the deanery and look at how the main project (The Trinity Project) is progressing.

Trinity Project has been set up to help young people with mental wellbeing by helping to mentor them as they transition from Year 6 to 7 and continue as they progress through senior school as a support.

The Trinity Project, now has three trustees in place and the next step is to recruit volunteers from local churches. The project needs to gain charity status. There are two secondary schools that are now involved and they are talking to local primary schools, in which one of them, they are running a mental wellbeing course for several children who have been identified by the school as those who would benefit from this support.

At two other schools they are setting up after school clubs and there are meetings set up with other schools who are interested in being involved. They have set up a website whereby people can see the progress, sign up to help and access resources.

They have linked to “The Haven,” which is an organisation to support teenagers struggling with anxiety and depression.

Outreach from churches, including St.Paul’s

Delivering by hand Christmas cards with an invitation to church and the list of the services. Plant sale

Prayer groups

Running a coffee shop for which there is no fee. A youth group catering for children in Years 6-9 The setting up of a toddler group Easter activities for children

Future event was that Justin Welby is coming on 16[th] November and will be at St Albans cathedral in the morning, making an address, having a question and answer session and workshops. In the afternoon he will be at Woburn. A national church conference was held at Harrogate and was praised especially the talk on prayer.

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Safeguarding is becoming a concern as many people are worried about the liability should something go wrong. It was suggested that an open forum be set up for all those in this role and Jez, St Alban’s Diocese Representative, would also be there to answer questions and reassure.

Susan and Alison

SIDEPERSON’S REPORT 2024

For 9am services there are 2, usually one person, needed per month. Duty frequency: every 1 ½ months.

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For 10.45am services there are 2 sidespeople needed 3 times per month. Duty frequency: every 2 months.

In addition, there are frequently extra services requiring sidespeople, e.g. at Christmas and Easter and for occasional evening services and musical events. This increases the frequency for those willing to do such extras.

There is a detailed description of what is needed and at every service everyone helps each other. We need more volunteers so the existing list of people below are not overburdened.

Sidespeople on Current List

Stephen Morrill Chris Pinney Ian Chantrell Peter Corbett Richard and Lesley Edwards Pippa Frow Jenny Laurie / Lucy Williams Anne Stickland Ann Waine Alison Bush James Bush

Alison Bush March 2024

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ELECTORAL ROLL REPORT 2023/24

There are currently 75 names on the electoral roll. 59 residents and 16 nonresidents. We have had 13 people come off the roll and 1 new addition.

March 2024

CHILDREN AND YOUTH REPORT 2023/24 School

This year has been a joy to see relations between the schools and the church grow as both are open to share their gifts and talents.

This has been made possible by the grace of God and the enthusiasm of both headteachers.

In the Spring term, we welcomed Sarah to the schools and to the teams. Both Sarah and I are on both governorships.

We have had the privileges of visiting all classes and teachers during the year, lead assemblies and assisted in class conversations on faith and belief. Easter, the schools assisted in the Easter gardens for the churches and communities.

During the summer term, conversations on prayer spaces occurred and are still on going. We attended sports day and other school events as well as the regular assemblies and class attendance.

During Autumn term, we also saw Electric Umbrella who had worked with great success at Sarratt School go into St Pauls School -part of their time with the school is to look at the school prayer. They also assisted in the Christmas end of term service with church volunteers on a walking nativity. Just before, Sarratt School came together with Sarratt community for a walking nativity too. Both Schools exhibited at Holy Cross Christmas Tree festival. St Pauls school have also agreed to regularly displaying their work in the narthex of the church.

Spring term saw us work with the agreed structures on themes for School assemblies with St Pauls school having a more structured one in line with Sarratt.

None of the above would have been possible without the love support and help of so many who have provided time, talents, skills and gifts for which we give thanks to God.

We do ask for your continued prayers as we continue our service to the schools.

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Ian Chantrell

Youth Group

Youth Group is held in St Paul’s Parish Room, Chipperfield, and continues to be a happy place for young people to meet up and join in a variety of activities. Our weekly attendances have increased slightly to 16, aged 10-12, but we still don’t have any joining us from Sarratt School in spite of regular publicity. We continue to ask the young people what they would like to do and they have come up with some excellent suggestions. Each week also includes circle time when we talk about what we’ve done and plans for the future as well as giving opportunity for some input on a relevant topic from a Christian perspective and time for thanksgiving and prayer requests. We have an outing once a term and have been once to Laser Planet and twice to Ninja Warrior Watford.

Becky Manning joined us as a Team Member in May 2023. She moved away for a few months in the autumn but is now back and is fully committed to the young people and as a Special Educational Needs teacher, brings great expertise to the team.

Jeannie Poulton is our parent contact and she has now set up a WhatsApp group for parents. This has been a very successful way of communicating with those who have joined the group. All parents continue to be very supportive and appreciative of all that we do.

As a team, we recognise that we are dependent on God and his Holy Spirit and we aim to make time before and after each session for prayer and thanksgiving as well as termly meetings for prayer and planning.

Jeannie Poulton Ian Chantrell Anne Stickland Becky Manning

Toddler Group

Toddler group has started on a Tuesday morning. We have welcomed children from a large geographical area,usually about 10-14 of them. In recent weeks a core group of 8/9 has emerged who come every week which is marvellous. There is singing and welcome, general play, usually a themed activity, tea and

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toast and biscuits, and closing with more singing. We have been lucky with a kind donation of a sturdy ball pool which the children love. A toy tidy is needed and it is hoped to clear some space downstairs in the parish room to make the toys easier to keep tidy and organised. Sarah has a team of three to help and everyone is enjoying the time with these little people and their carers.

REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL AFFAIRS OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL

Treasurer’s Report for the year ended 31 December 2023

2023 has been a busy year for St Pauls as our income was £130,000 and expenditure £123,000 giving us a positive balance £7,000 at the end of December, this was achieved despite paying out £47,000 to the parish share. I think we should all congratulate ourselves as this community has provided these funds.

There have been several different challenges this year, high energy costs, a new kitchen for the vicarage, upgrades for the audio, new cameras and technology apparatus and an increase in card donations. Somehow, we are managing to keep up with all these changes and still pay the bills.

After seven years as treasurer I have reluctantly decided it is time to go, unfortunately we still don’t have a successor, but I am hopeful that the right person is just round the corner. However, we are trying to make our financial systems as efficient as possible, this has included introducing the “parish giving scheme” which hasn’t proved overly popular, but I am still convinced that it will work well and be a benefit when it is fully up and running. Thank you all for your perseverance.

The parish room has once again brought nearly £12,000 in revenue and our investments and interest receipts are almost double what we received in 2022. Most of our costs are in line with last year's but I am expecting our energy bills to increase in 2024.

The PCC has decided to direct our mission giving for 2023 to outreach at St Pauls this year, we are all excited for the future as we can already see signs of growth and change that has come since Sarah has brought new life to our benefice.

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We are very fortunate at St. Pauls that we have so many of you who give your time, skills and finances on a regular basis, thank you all very much.

Fay Dent Treasurer

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st. Paul's Church Chipperfield End of Year Statements 2023 statement ol Flnanclal Admtles S74D 5.342 1fj.35B 3XB 10.B51 lo.￿1 11. B.370 .583 IrJe5bwts 7.583 IW.FTi ?13 121.807 S.430 ID3.512 91 7L7 .947 f23.099 12.U47 f19.Tll i0.• .913 4iJo 13.rffj3 113.QU31 17 11.418 15.7145 6.913 3.13 44372 115.636 I￿.5¢9 116.SJ5 GwwJlfvnd e1.iV2 81. 6B.263 l.e3e 124 Churth RorfR•p¥FwJ churth￿￿FuDtt DirectrY￿k￿ 124 425 12.4 425 m Pffjrhw¢ F OwnRfwir8 1.18 520 4D2 le. 27

Bal4n¢o $heot Clllss lllldrode Fix•da555 25.5TQ 2570 23.128 2&128 T(d A￿￿￿$$41$ 9232 6510 93. 9>.276 10ts.124 Q.1261 11.4 121549 11&636 913 &130 112 115 T(ty R¢5WY¢5 IXS49 11&6a6 69283 4D£s7 122549 Tc4* 115.6 28

Analysts of IrKome arKI exFndroJre T•tsl L151 INCOhE AND ENDOWMENTS Donats(ms and Q1D1. G￿AN1- 110. ErNekys Q21P. >OT￿ Eif•¢Tr4 1.fj83 5.747 4.44D 1.2 4.44 4DI. E￿￿e￿w.￿e￿￿ty& PA 410. tsrd SDI. 976 472 13 13. 510-Webste S￿- Grant u￿￿w￿e 15.3 15.049 12.84B QfjDI.Tax rec¢>Wdr￿Q￿Grt 7DI. L43L5 iQ.9 13.420 0.529 21J.242 101- Fee5 Q915. Cafory FL￿ IwTr• 1101.w￿￿g5 ￿t￿n￿asfee5 32 475 10.f s.ys OthertradiThy aclriths 12￿- P￿shRLYTh Hr 124Q. 1245- Hirè 1.445 75 75 11.W22 TL 16.358 Investmefftts 1441 Z.4ql Intwst 827 8.37D Olherincome Q451. 13m- PLnurn JthileEFun IYI8. 7.9B3 ToLIl IMCOIIETOTAL I2.￿? 29

EXPENDITURE Raisjng 171Tr. Tr￿¥T0 ChwrhAEW 5.430 1709. 1735. Fyrd 212 Lt9 2.453 10 1B7D-SEw&rchkn 191D. I￿1. oir￿cOmE 7.Q53 S.￿5 409 379 37 2120. Mèssythureh 213Tr. 2lSD.V￿ 217D.Eth￿￿ sCTr￿ 581 47 231D. 44S 2￿0.ChUn￿a￿￿enw￿e 2.4D2 2.724 2335. F•• 134D. UpkeEP ￿Se￿￿￿e5 2￿o.U￿e￿ 23ats- AthiniSY3bff 237D. 2275. Lwnsofw5&kn 24￿1-Chu￿ ￿nDry-e￿[ 241D-ChU￿ Thnnfftg-ga5 242D. ￿nn￿O- 15 161 437 83U 2.922 3.140 25D 74D &T40 3.￿5 373 2CD 452 26 251D-WnDB4 251D.P￿sh Ew 272D. Infumr￿dTr￿fUr￿r T41 è1.702 Irts.￿2 2150. 17. 17.9 6251 2.4Bg 23ttj.B￿ke￿2s o.eS6 7.P83 JLi¥keFw TL*al EXPEklDtTWiETOTPL 1&047 IT￿} 30.B47 10. r￿l￿D¥oT￿L ID.L￿2 30

This report dated: 31 December 2023

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Parish Prayer

Almighty God, fill us with your love.

Jesus our Saviour, teach us to serve and care with generosity and joy, courage and hope, humility and gentleness.

Holy Spirit, stir and inspire us. Strengthen and equip us to faithfully proclaim in word and deed the all-embracing love of God. Guide us and help us to be vibrant imitators of Christ making him known in the world.

For the sake of the kingdom and in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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