## **ST PAUL’S CHURCH CHIPPERFIELD** **ANNUAL MEETINGS SUNDAY 17 MAY, 12.15PM** ## **AT ST PAUL’S CHURCH** ## **REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 16 MAY 2026** ## **AND YEAR END ACCOUNTS TO 31 DECEMBER 2025** _**Growing in Faith, Serving in Love**_ ## **St Paul’s** ## **Mission Action Plan** ## **Our Vision** We aspire to be prayerful, supportive and welcoming churches, reflecting Christ’s love in our daily lives. We invite all to grow with us in faith and friendship actively serving our communities and bringing God’s heart to all. ## **Our Priorities** - Develop a mission and outreach team. Develop a welcome pack. Employ a children and families worker - To encourage families to join us more regularly and to encourage those new to the church and early in their faith journeys to become more involved in everyday church life. - To continue to raise churches profiles in our communities through how we market ourselves and our outreach into the communities. 2 ## **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 Miles Reader: Philip Waine Treasurer: Caroline Hargrove PCC members who have served for the year up to the date of this report are: Wardens: David Collette (until 2028) Judy Olney (until 2026) Representative of Susan Turner (until 2026) the Deanery Synod: Elected members: Jennifer Laurie(until 2026) Elaine Dean (until 2027) Susan Turner (until 2026) Yvonne Collette (until 2027) Martyn Dicker (until 2028) Ian Chantrell (until 2026) Philip Waine (until 2028) Ruth Dicker (until 2028) Caroline Hargrove (until 2026) PCC Secretary Co-opted Adele Mynard (until 2027) ## **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 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. 3 **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 - c) Report of the PCC meetings - d) Safeguarding Report - e) Deanery Synod Report - f) Sidespersons report - g) Electoral Roll Report - h) 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 2025 ## **4. Elections** - a) Re-election of 1 member of the Parochial Church Council - b) Re- election of Deanery Synod rep - c) Appointment of Independent Examiner recommended by PCC **5. Concluding Business** - a) Questions and any other business - b) Date of next APCM to be confirmed. Next PCC meeting 22nd June 2026 - c) Closing Prayers 4 St Pauls ChIpr￿￿￿ Annwl Chwchwarden and APCM rninutes 2025 MINtes ofthe Churrthwarthn's n￿lI￿j ￿ APCM 18th May 2025 Ap)k*Jies I relev*rt lo LwAh rT*etir¥Jsl sl￿ Tum Allendan￿ (relevant to trA)th ￿￿tr"r￿).. Martyn Dthr. Rulh Dthr. lan (￿ntre1. Annette RaThlal. Diane Strathdge. Am Wame. J• s￿n￿ds. Clare BrrK)k. Sue Wa￿er. Hekn Harmw. Lethy Edwards. Wil&anB. B￿e, J￿Y Laurie. Liz Frow. Ann so8￿$. J*e Oeal. Fay C)ent. Anr* Sbckl*¥J. Pelet C(xbett. Damd Cdlette. Yvl￿ne c￿￿tte. Pat Smith. Anne ￿r¥J. Kathy Ward. Frances Cknw5. Caroline Hargrove. Elaine Dean. Cltwe Tumer. Stephen ML¥nll. Oltw. Adde Mynard. Reverernl Sarth Miles. The Revefend Sarah CdSns (¥*wJ Ihe nwtirwJ at 1225 *h*h thanks I gJKwI Ihe CtrnJrth dww¥J the year. 1. Clyjrchydrdens mee 1.Minutes of ewoLt5 mee malter5 ai The nynutes ofthe Churthwxdens hdd 15th W"12024 were revwh IElectbJn ofChLrcIM¥ders (m￿Y was the current chwcFM¥den having alreaty crmrAet&l Ihe previcmts 2 ars PFM"I Wwne stepped Churchwath) after a totsl of 15 Y￿ w¥￿e ¢yrferttE Pa￿ 22 Yea￿ Judy thanked iK>th Phd and Ann arKJ pte5errted thwn th a Id and grft. Davwj CLI￿￿e wa5 a5 3 [￿W clvJrdThvar(kn lry Ann WaTh, d by Anne Stick￿nd. 3.Ck)se rrf busr*ess 2. ma￿ APCM 1.Minules of The rNrKrtes of l* yearf$115th Aw"120241 [l￿￿"r￿j We￿ ￿¥*w￿d and thue we mattws T￿Y We￿ ¥(yJwJ iy SteF+w thyr.dl secorxjed by Fay Dent that Ihe rrMr¥Jte5 athyted a5 a tEllec￿ dthe TTEebtyJ. A con￿nt VAS r&JarfJ"rMJ tr* use loj to reayers ￿"ThJ Ur￿lear vA￿n the rewt ￿a5 relernr¥J to. This wa5 W¥)ted. There were no lurlher comrne￿ts or quests.or￿ and the Reclc('s ReFOrt was by ts APCM. Qare BfLK)ks thanked Reverervj Sarah foral her kntyk arml gjpport PrOvK￿ k) Ihe Parish. The Rectrx Ihanked Phil Wane (Xrw for th￿"[ SLppc*I arnl hdp and mted ty ts APCM. PCC Te J￿ DeJ commenled that the been mentsC￿ed In the PCC ￿Fth. PIMI Waine re￿￿d that In the Churchwrarden iewl. and Reverend Sarah hwj aLw includ￿1 ts thor In her rep(￿t. The￿ VAI be a rw fiy a sepwate (h)r rwt lor next yea[5 PCC fvorn Ihe thr. Arn Waine gave Spe0￿ thanks tl Da￿ ￿￿3th fu al ht5 SUFPYt. Thanks was aLw given to Sorrya for all herh* sutvrt her ￿ is v3h￿d. The PCC a)d Secretary Itwked by the Re¢br. There rKJ fvrfhw the PCC Report wa5 recw¥ed aThY nctsy by the APCM. Ph"1 Waine and the meelry thank￿ W￿kerknthe al￿￿nI she undertakes In the a￿3 ol saleguardry. Th)led by the APCM. We have sev￿￿ Wa￿cleS k¥thi5 rde in the Be1)efi￿. the APCM APCM. There are 56 on the neweiectorJl roie. Liz Frowasked whythenumbers ha* decreased IclirpAingihe review. Theprocess was explained. Beneh'ceYDLrth A Cornrr￿ntwas madethat it was nice to see the brcthnies children at ihe recent VE dry Celebrati￿¥. A Question Was asked reg8rdingwhethera creche wwld encourage morefamille$ to attend church services. Reverend Sarah answered that we wtyjld like families io attend church servicejtogether and thst a crechewould not en8ble this to occur_ We wll continue to bu1￿ Tetstionships thTough schools arbd specialgeM¢eslaCti￿I1e5 to Èncourage more famitsesto attend church semces. There were no fUrtherqU￿ti0n$Or￿I the beneficey￿ Aeportwasrecer¥ed ?rKI noted bythe APCM 3 Accounts 3.1 TreasuTer's ReP￿t Reverend S8rah commented that the accounts %bErebtryclear. 8TrJ it hiRthb"Rhts the need for increased regui8fEMn¢. Thjnks to caro￿ne10r Jll herwork thToughouttheyeaf. Anne King asked il there ¥wll be a driveon I￿reasIng0wn￿ Reverend Sarah informed the meeting thJt the leg8cyieoftets Jre alrnost re8dy, the p8ri3h scheme and Oft Bid prO￿deS TnDreieguLai income. thefeTMU also befundTaising events. Phil commented that theTV screen in the ChuTch entrancewhichwu soon have irnlormation on a loop to highb"£ht the need for Rmng aThJ how to do this. There are also QAcodes on every pew and thiswiu be included in any event ieaftetslposters. C4ro&"ne hights'ghted the headknnefromthe report is the daily running costs. Whenvolunteers have expenses. Caro￿ne asked that people claim through thechurch for Teimbursement so ih8r the runningcosis recorded are 8 true reflection. Ary clairns can be donated backto the church rf preferTed. thisv•itiaL80 enable a cL4itnforgift aid. Judy asked whethefthe ￿sh sharewlldecrease duetothedTOP in numberson the electoral rou? C8robne and reverend Sarah provided inforrnationthat alihough the p￿rIsh sh8Te won't decrease. there maybe a si(AYer annual increase. A com formulae is used towork outthe arnount and is based over a 3 ear period The Parish share 18 dueto befe￿ewed 2026r27. If thereareanyfurther ouestlons regarding parlsh in¢. please speakto Carokne. Thanks was ei¥en by reverend Sarah to Carobnetor alLherworL and to Sarah Altman for beine the independent ¥erifier lor the accounts. There were nofurtherquestions and the Treagwer's reportwas received bythe meetinR* proposed by Fey Dent. 2nd by lan Ch8ntTeU. 3.2Accounts The annual accountswere proposed bystephen Morrill, 2nd by Frances Onians and signed ￿ the Rector. 4.PCC elections Clare Brook had cometothe end of her term ar￿ stepped down. Thankswas￿￿ for her support and time. Martyn t*ckerwas prO￿sed by Phil and 2nd byludy Ruth Ditkervffis proposed tyjudy 2nd ty Phll Annwaine will continue as the Electoral Rollofficer. SAn other business The d￿e ofthe next PCC meetinEW8S piovided. Itwa$ aeTe&Ith￿ ne￿￿2￿1￿ApCm wll be after • Church semce. d￿e to be confimled. Anne King asked ifthe Collett could be included in theweeklywelcome sheet. Reverend Sarah explained that as it changes each week with different options available it is not known in advance. The St Pauls and Holy Cross prayer is alw￿ included. To be discussed at the next PCC rrtttin& Sarah drev4 us back in prayer. The meetinecLosed * 13.20pm. Adele Trfyrbard PCC secretary **Benefice Rector’s Report APCM 2025 to 2026** ## **Church Life** Our past twelve months have seen much to celebrate and also given us much to reflect upon as we move forward in growing the love of Christ in our communities. We have sadly lost some of our family and have gained some new family and through it all it has been a pleasure and encouragement to see the continuation of loving support and care shown towards each other. I would firstly like to thank the many of you who work tirelessly in both supporting me and the work of the churches in our benefice which enables them to continue to be the heartbeat of our communities, there are so many of you and I am grateful to each and every one of you. I would like to give special thanks to our churchwardens David and Judy, our treasurer Caroline and to our amazing secretary Adele who continues to organise both churches in the benefice. All of whom work so hard behind the scenes to keep our churches running smoothly, our readers Phil and Angela and the choir who support me in the services and with funerals, our flower ladies and cleaners who keep our churches looking so welcoming, our sides people and those who provide refreshments making our churches so welcoming to those who come through our doors and all those who lead prayer groups and evening services making the ways in which we can meet with and engage with God wide and varied for all. I would also like to share my appreciation to Susan Turner who continues to attend all the deanery meetings keeping us up to date with news from our wider community. I would like to thank those who have been working hard this past 12 months to try to engage with the youth of our communities across the benefice for their commitment and dedication to reaching out to our young people. Yvonne Collette for her commitment and dedication to teaching in the benefice as she has prepared bible studies, an Advent course and a Lent course for all over the past year whilst continuing her studies to become our benefice Discipleship Enabler. I am pleased to say that all our policies and procedures are now in place across the benefice so we are compliant with the expectations of the diocese and national church but above all, we have spent considerable time and energy on ensuring all our volunteers and church members are safe in the 9 roles they carry out and we will be committed to continuing in holding those who give so much our care and consideration. Special thanks must go to Sue Walker our benefice safeguarding officer who has supported me on the couple of safeguarding issues we have had, ensured we have been compliant with growing our culture of safeguarding in our churches and undertaken regular meetings and training of her own. We now have a documented and approved Mission Action Plan submitted to the diocese which lays out our priorities for the next 2-5 years in how we will be intentionally working toward growing our churches deeper in the knowledge and love of Christ and outwardly in mission to reach those both on the margins of our churches and those who currently feel we cannot provide a way for them to engage with God. As a leadership team we have recently met and agreed a new pattern for worship which provides the space and opportunities to grow a mixed ecology of church where both the traditional and new can be respectfully offered and encouraged to widen our invitation to those in our communities. I have almost completed an overhaul of all our liturgy in the past year with the aim of making these more accessible to all. This past year we also made the decision to take down the old website, mostly due to ease of updating and how accessible we are to those searching for a church. We are now on ‘A Church Near You’ and our footfall and engagement has increased. Many thanks go to Sonya for all her work on this who as you all know has now moved on to ventures new. We have welcomed our new Benefice administrator Anita, who at this point of writing is still settling in, so please all hold her in your prayers. We have also improved our notice boards so they look cleaner and more organised but are also so much easier to use – thanks go to David Collette and Peter Corbett for their hard work on this. ## **Outreach & Community Engagement** I am delighted to say that we have secured funding for the first 3 years of employing a Children and Families Worker, which will be split three ways with both churches and the diocese. This role will be to aid me in schools work, toddlers, a new Forest Church and family outreach into our villages. 10 I continue to have good relationships with the school. I have continued to take assemblies, listen to readers and teach in the classroom this year as well as spend some time just hanging out on the playground at lunch time in the ‘Prayer Shed’. We had lovely leavers, harvest and Christmas services in the church over the past year. I continue on the governing body and have joined the head in training and preparation for the school’s SIAM’s inspection likely due next academic year. Knatty Knitters continues to be a great group for those across both villages and those in our communities. The big project they worked on this past year was producing nearly 2500 poppies which was made into a waterfall from the bell tower. There were many people who came to admire this. The competition we ran to ‘Guess the final poppy count’ did not have much up take and I will not run this again when it is displayed at Holy Cross this year. We had really positive feedback from villagers about both Remembrance services. Inspire ladies group has continued to grow and to be a welcome space to those across both villages and further afield. Many thanks go to Fay Dent and her team for leading on this. There have been a wide and varied programme of speakers sharing their stories and activities which have ranged from Charis Tiwali which led to fund raising support for the charity to a walk through the Bluebells. Toddler group is thriving and although we were concerned last summer as our first cohort of children were coming to an age of moving on, we have had an influx of new mums and babies. I cannot thank both Liz Smith and Diane Strawbridge enough for the loving care and support they show to our mums and children and their commitment each week to the extra work behind the scenes. Our team has also grown and I thank Elaine Dean and Jacky Simmonds who brings such valued support to our mums through her expertise as a retired midwife and breast feeding support advisor. We have completed another Bereavement Journey Course and again have people waiting for our next one due to start in May. A big thank you to Linda Clough and Diane Strawbridge for leading tables this year and all the emotional support that goes with this. 11 Thanks go to Elaine Dean who has kept our prayer station at the back of church relevant along with her commitment to the Wednesday morning prayer group and was the driving force behind our first prayer room which was a huge success with people covering the hours from both churches and further afield, along with those who wouldn’t ordinarily attend our church services. I also want to say a big thank you to Stephen Morrill who is always there in the background working away on one thing or the other keeping the church ship shape and a safe space for our many visitors. Martin Dean who continues to oversee and support with our audio visual and Pat Smith & Yvonne Collette who organise the parish lunches with their dedicated team. ## **Services and Occasional Offices** The numbers attending on Sunday mornings have slightly increased since last year and both churches have seen new and returning members to church which has been such a blessing. The evening lay led Compline service headed up by Jenny Roberts and John Guy at Holy Cross continues – my thanks go to both of them for their commitment to this valued evening service which is provided for all those in the benefice to attend and enjoy. The All Soul’s service was well attended again this year as was the Ash Wednesday, which again we held at 9.30am. It was lovely to see more families join us from the schools for our Christingle this year and our Crib service was bursting at the seams. Our Carol service was well attended and very special, so a big thank you to all those in our choir and the community who joined for this special event. We held the deanery Ascension service in the Benefice this year, which was very well attended. Our All Together service has moved back into the church due to rising numbers and continues to be a space to experiment and develop a service to which we can reach out to those who prefer a more charismatic worship style. Many thanks got to the team, especially to Gray who joins us to support this service. 12 BCP continues to be popular with a small group and as such conversations have taken place which will see this service increase when we introduce our new service pattern. For your information the numbers of occasional offices across the benefice are below. Weddings – 4 Baptisms – 9 Funerals or burial of ashes – 26 Confirmations - 3 As always, if you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns about the missional work of our churches please never hesitate to contact me for a chat. Once again, thank you so much to each and every person who has worked so hard this year to support the growth of our churches, the relationships we have with each other across the benefice and our communities. Revd Sarah ## **Annual Churchwardens’ Report to the APCM 2026** Introduction The past year has been a full and fruitful one for St Paul’s Church. It has included major practical work on our buildings and grounds, significant administrative and safeguarding developments, and continued growth in our role at the heart of village life. We give thanks for the dedication of so many volunteers, staff, and clergy who support the work of the church. The APCM in May 2025 marked important changes in leadership. We said thank you to Phil Waine, who retired after many years of faithful service as Churchwarden but has continued on as Lay Reader, and we welcomed David Collette into the role . We are grateful to all PCC members, including those who have stepped down and those who have newly joined. The Terrier continues to be updated and we are grateful to Jenny Laurie who continues to update the Log Book. The Energy Footprint Tool and Statistics for Mission returns have all been completed. There was an Archdeacon's Inspection from Canon Miriam Mugan in October which included a question and answer session and a walk round the church. No concerns were raised. Safeguarding and health and safety have been major priorities throughout this 13 year and have taken up a large part of Rev Sarah's, Sue Walker's and the Churchwardens' time. All signed off policies and risk assessments are now stored in a folder at the back of the church. The Diocese has indicated that safeguarding will continue to be a priority for 2026. Church Maintenance and Buildings Throughout the year there has been steady improvement to both the Parish Room and the Church. Storage areas have been reorganised, including the addition of shelving in the Parish Room storeroom. Thanks go to Dan Dean for all his help with this. The kitchen and Narthex cupboards have been cleaned and decluttered. Diocesan advice confirmed that the proposed kitchen refurbishment falls under Minor Matters, allowing us to proceed with grant applications. It is hoped that the kitchen upgrade takes place in 2026. External doors, ironwork, and benches have been repainted, and notice boards upgraded. We are grateful to Stephen Morrill for organising this as well as his attention to cleaning the parish room gutters and repairing the leak from the disabled toilet and the drain outside. Thanks also go to Peter Corbet for carrying out the painting on the external noticeboards with metallic paint. Quotes have been gathered for roof and window repairs required by the 2022 Quinquennial Report. Work on the roof involves inspecting and replacing slates particularly in the corners as well as securing slates where they meet the capping stones. The next Quinquennial will be in 2027. All the major systems – gas, electrics, and alarms – have been serviced and found in good working order. The Fifth Yearly Electrical Inspection took place in September. Security improvements with new locks for the main church door, the door to the Parish Room from outside and the link door into the church have been made and revised key-holding arrangements have now been completed. A ‘Loop Screen' has been installed in the Narthex by David Collette, providing a welcoming introduction to church life. It informs visitors of regular services, and courses, along with pictures and contact details for key church members. We should also thank Martin Deane who uses much of his spare time tidying up issues and problems relating to the audio-visual equipment in the church and parish room. Churchyard The churchyard continues to receive careful attention, including checks on unstable headstones and communication with families regarding mementoes being left on graves and memorial stones. Following a joint PCC meeting with Holy Cross, actions include publishing guidance on graves, installing a notice board, and carrying out a New Year tidy-up. The continued management of the graveyard remains a concern for the Churchwardens, and future options are being explored. A petition for a faculty to remove an existing memorial cross and introduce a new memorial headstone to commemorate Thomas William Morkill was made and approved. 14 A successful churchyard tidy up took place in November organised by Frances Onians. There was a good group of people who came to strim, mow and weed in the churchyard which was a big help to Kevin, the gardener. We are grateful to all those who participated and to Kevin for all his work in helping to maintain the churchyard over the year. Music and Worship We are grateful to Bryan Munday for taking on the role of Choir Master twice a month on Fridays. Recruitment for new choir members continues. Bryan has also agreed to being the new liaison person for the choir. Staffing and Office Systems Following the resignation of the Benefice Administrator, Sonya Tolmie, recruitment was undertaken and we were pleased to welcome Anita Ayrey in February. Sonya had been our Benefice Administrator for the last eight years and throughout that time had made sure we were all on track with much increasing admin for both parishes. We were extremely grateful for all the work she had done for the Benefice. A presentation was made to Sonya in January at a Benefice Service to give thanks for her years of service to the Benefice. We look forward to working with Anita. The office IT system for the Benefice requires replacement due to performance, business continuity, and GDPR issues. A cloud-based solution is currently being explored. Community and Outreach St Paul’s remains central to village life. Regular groups are well attended, with toddlers’ groups, Knatty Knitters, and the youth group meeting weekly during term time. The Parish Room is regularly booked during the day and evening for local keep-fit and music groups, village society meetings and various Bible courses and prayer meetings . ‘Pints of View' continues to meet once a month in Sarratt. Community Sunday lunches continue to be popular and we are always grateful to the volunteer team who do the catering, particularly Pat Smith and Yvonne Collette. We also extend our thanks to those who provide refreshments after church services. The ‘Poppyfall’, created by the Knatty Knitters, proved a great attraction as part of our Remembrance events. Over Christmas, St Paul’s was beautifully decorated inside and out, with more than 850 people attending services and events during Christmas week. Thanks go to all those who helped with the decorations and the services. Each year St Paul’s takes part in the World Day Prayer Service (formerly the Women’s World Day of Prayer) held on the first Friday in March. Members of the churches in Chipperfield, Sarratt and Bovingdon join together for the service which is prepared by a different country each year and hosted in turn by one of our local churches (2025 the Cook Islands hosted by St Lawrence, 15 Bovingdon). WDP raises money to award grants to projects run by Christian charities around the world Thank You We would like to thank all who give their time, skills, and energy to the life of St. Paul's. Special thanks go to our rector Sarah, our Lay Reader Phil Waine, our Treasurer Caroline Hargrove, to all PCC members, choir members, sidespersons, church cleaners, flower arrangers, and all who open and close the church each day. Our apologies if we have omitted anyone. We greatly value the contribution of all those who serve our church and community and as Lent and Easter are just around the corner we look forward with joy and hope to the coming year. The Churchwardens Judy Olney David Collette ## **REPORT OF PCC MEETINGS 2025/26** The PCC met 5 times during 2025/26. We started the year with a proposal for a change from separate parish PCC’s to a combined Benefice PCC model. Following several discussions, we are seeking advice from the diocese prior to approval. Once approved by both PCC’s the details will be shared at the following APCM. Some of the main agenda items included policy sign off, MAP and vision statement agreement, replacement of locks and key audit, kitchen refurbishment, windows and roof repairs. The state of our church finances was discussed at every meeting. The diocese has reduced next year's parish share for all. As you will see from the safeguarding report we had focused discussions regarding the 5 standards during several PCC meetings, identifying any areas of action required with a plan for compliance. We are grateful to Sue Walker, our Benefice Safeguarding Officer for ensuring that the PCC is kept informed of all Safeguarding issues. (See separate report). ## **Members of the PCC and Deanery Synod representative** David Collette (Churchwarden), Judy Olney (Churchwarden), Caroline Hargrove (renewal due 2026, Treasurer), Adele Mynard (co-opted as secretary), Phil Waine (renewal due 2028), Elaine Dean (renewal due 2027), Susan Turner (Synod rep), Ian Chantrell (renewal due 2026), Jenny Laurie 16 (renewal due 2026), Ruth Dicker (renewal due 2028), Martyn Dicker (renewal due 2028). 17 ## **DEANERY SYNOD ANNUAL REPORT** Rev Charles Burch continues as Rural Dean. Rev Dr Mark Harris was appointed at the end of last year in the parish of Mill End and Heronsgate with West Hyde & St Oswald’s, Croxley Green is currently awaiting the arrival of a new vicar. Emma Robarts is the diocese’s newly elected lay member in the General Synod. Deanery Synod invites speakers from in and around the diocese to address the Synod meetings. This year Rev Canon Dr Tim Bull spoke about faith and AI, explaining its many uses, including ChatGPT, whilst warning of the shortcomings and dangers of unthinking use. Amongst his guiding principles for the use of AI are “be wise in the use of it”, “keep alert for truths“ and don’t expect it to save the world”. Parishes were asked to report on Achievements and Challenges during the year. Time and Team unsurprisingly proved to be the main challenges across the board, together with thinking up new ways to attract more families and young people and to identify the needs of the community. On the plus side, parishes reported thriving new groups and courses, along with various fundraising and outreach ideas such as welcome cafes, away days and flower or Christmas tree festivals. The Trinity Project, which is the Deanery’s mental health project, continues to support children in year 6\7 as they transition to secondary school. They can benefit from a counselling service, run by Charlotte Barton and various after school activities such as The Donut and Hot Dog clubs. Susan Turner Deanery Synod Rep. ## **SIDESPERSON REPORT 2026** Firstly, we thank all those who volunteer as sidespeople for our church services. They provide a welcoming and safe environment for our congregation and visitors. An updated role description and guidelines have been issued this year, and safeguarding and fire safety training has been strongly encouraged. The updated guidelines have included fire evacuation procedures. Two sidespeople are needed for all our services, except for the All Together service who provide their own team. We thank Lucy Williams for all the years of service she has given as she steps down from this role. We are pleased to welcome Fay Dent and Liz Frow who have joined our list of volunteers. 18 Sidespeople current list Ian Chantrell Stephen Morrill Yvonne Collette Chris Pinney Peter Corbett Anne Stickland Fay Dent Ann Waine Liz Frow Yvonne Collette March 2026 Jenny Laurie ## **ELECTORAL ROLL REPORT 2024/25** Previously there were 56 names on the roll. We now have 52 people on roll. 4 people have passed away and one moved away and there was 1 new addition. 9 are non-resident in the Parish. ## _**April 2026**_ ## **Youth Report** ## **Thank you all for your prayers this year.** Youth -This year has seen both fuller numbers and age groups at the beginning, tapering to a smaller similar aged group, who are quite committed to attending each week with different activities events and themes catered for a smaller group which is both a safe space and a place for conversation and has included trips. Mid-year, we said goodbye to Jeannie who was an inspirational support to all at establishing protocols and management as leader. Her vision and prayerful commitment to both the young people attending and helpers was appreciated. During the Early Summer, it was agreed to seek the vision pray fully of Youth Club and our community with our Rector and so, from September Youth was relaunched with the existing team; to create a safe space for Youth of the villages with games, craft and community. Becky who stepped down; as a weekly leader is assisting on occasions, to which we are so thankful, especially with crafting. Our Autumn term continued into Christmas with Ian Ann Garry with the challenge to in late spring to promote the group to the Year 6 in the Parish Primary schools as we continue Gods vision for community. 19 ## **REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL AFFAIRS OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL** Treasurer’s Report for the year ended 31 December 2025. As ever we have been fortunate in funding the work of the church in Chipperfield in 2025 and the accounts show a draft profit of £7,702 for the year. We draw attention to a donation from the Hertfordshire Community Foundation of £6,338 and legacies totalling £10,686 during the year. ## Church giving The Parish Giving Scheme continued to be generously taken up by our regular supporters. The accounts show total giving of £34,425 which includes the full gift aid for the year. Direct debits taken 1[st] of the month are paid to us around the 7[th] of the month and the associated gift aid remitted to us within weeks. A number of parishioners remain on standing orders, gift aid was claimed on standing order donations of £5,790 after the year end. And a total of £1,284 was received by standing order and not applicable for gift aid. Total envelope giving amounted to £1,818 Total loose plate collections amounted to £3,496 The Sumup card machine in church netted donations of £1,065 A gift aid claim was made after year end on named donations totalling £8,797.and donations through the GASDS scheme of £6,097 (max cash claim £8,000). The total amount received in January for this claim was £3,708 and this amount is reflected in the financial statements. We also received CAF donations amounting to £3,800 and many and various kind donations and contributions all equally welcome. We note the pancake evening, the Sarratt raffle, a contribution from a Pani quiz night, various visiting organ establishments donations, donations to heat, light and water, from people borrowing equipment and the old-fashioned wall safe in the church. Sometimes a huge amount of effort and thought goes into fundraising and every donation of whatever size contributes to keeping the church’s heart beating ## Legacies and grants We were fortunate to be granted a bequest of £10,000 from the estate of Sue Ellis, and a final settlement from the estate of Maggie Prestwich of £686, giving a total legacy of £10,686 for the year The Hertfordshire Community Foundation donated £6,388 during the year. We received grants during the year of £1,500. There is an adjustment to be made intra Sarratt hence the balance differs. Weddings, baptisms, funerals and other associated services There were four baptisms in 2025. We charge the standard fee of £19 each. There is no fee to the diocese. While one wedding only took place and we paid on £250 of organ fees we have deposits for three more (£150 each and these amounts are shown as creditors 20 Amounts totalling £13,821 were invoiced for funeral during the year. Of the sums received payments were made as follows: Diocese fees-£3,647 Organist fees-£1,625 Gravedigging-£1,980 Travel-£209 Streaming -£800 Other-£187 Contributions to heating of £600 and verger fees of £765 have been retained in addition to the standard parish fees. Hire and use of church space The hire of the parish room contributed a total income of £11,862 in 2025. The major hirers were KL Physio Pilates £3,919, ABRSM £2,554, B. Martin £1,587 The major cost incurred in respect of the parish room is the cleaner and the total cost here was £2,502. The administration and time involved in managing and invoicing these hirers should not be underestimated and we are enormously grateful to Stephen Morill for his time and efforts in generating and maintaining the income stream and indeed the relationships. The church was hired out to Chipperfield Choral Society a number of times with a total income of £798. A first aid class was run which made a small profit costing £364 with income £450. Interest on deposit and investments Total interest of £8,414 was earned as follows: On CCLA trust investment of £25,570-£727 On CCLA deposits of £85,772 -£3,777 On endowments held by diocese in our behalf- £2,082 On amounts with CAF,CAF Gold (retained legacy amounts) £1,776 Amounts paid out.. Parish share The full parish share of £51,939 was paid on a timely basis every month. The charge for 2026 will be slightly lower at £49,619, a cost of £4,313 per month. Insurance The insurance continues to be provided by Ecclesiastical insurance and kindly administered by Lynn Haig. When you renew your house insurance this year please note that Ecclesiastical Insurance offers a £130 donation to an Anglican church or cathedral of your choice for every new home insurance policy taken out under their Trust130 initiative So do think about asking them for a quote! Electricity We have had some invoicing issues with Octopus energy and retained the December direct debit in order to resolve (hence large accrual of £1,000) but 21 believe that the pricing remains competitive and this contract will come up for renewal in August 26. The cost for the year was £4,513. Gas Our onerous contract with Pozitive energy has meant that we have paid more for gas than we would have wished. We are firm in our commitment to leave this provider and avoid any engagement with so called agents or brokers. We look forward to a new contract from November 26. The total cost for the year was £5,708 Organists and organ maintenance It should be noted that while we paid organist fees of £7,140 during the year. £250 were funded by wedding invoices, £1,625 by funeral and an accrual from last year of £1515 mostly for funerals was paid early in 2025. The organ was tuned twice, revisions made to the main great wind trunk and boarding fitted over the Great Trumpet to prevent grit entering at a total cost of £2,016. We received a donation of £300 toward this and used up a small restricted fund balance toward the cost. ## Administration The costs of Sarratt village hall and the Benefice administrator are shared with Sarratt. St Paul’s pay the wages (I am grateful to Fay Dent for continuing to administer this) and Holy Cross pay the Village Hall costs. We have full sight of the invoices paid by Sarratt. We conducted a full analysis of all these charges this year. Everything is split 50/50 except for a very sensible and reasonable adjustment for the production of Spotlight. There will be a slight elevation in the salary cost in February 26 due to the parallel cost of existing and new Bas to the handover period. Maintenance Maintenance of the church was carried out as follows the alarm serviced, the heating serviced, the lightning conductor examined, the fire extinguishers and equipment checked and a significant decorating project was completed (some cash donations were received and an element of a restricted fund of £1,000 released to reduce cost). The cupboard in the parish room has a new and useful set of shelves. In 2026 the church main locks have already been changed and key holders allocated new keys. There is a plan to mend two windows in the parish room and a project to replace edging roof tiles on the church. Plans are afoot to replace the church kitchen in May 2026. We are focussed on keeping on top of all small and potential repairs and maintenance on a timely basis and there will be a new quinquennial inspection in summer 2026. The churchyard is maintained through a regular maintenance employee three to four times a month, alongside occasional volunteer working parties and small projects attended to by our very own SM and we are grateful to all these people for their support. We also would like to acknowledge a grant of £1,000 from the Blackwell Trust. 22 ## Ministry Our regular ministry costs (approx £393) include regular church supplies, candles, communion wafer and wine, and various seasonal items mostly supplied from Eden a prominent church retailer The rest of the cost is roughly divided between supporting worship in Church £ 313 and supporting activities in schools £274. We donated a total of £475.10 after the Harvest Service to Bryan Mundy’s charity work in Haiti. And it doesn’t show because we didn’t bank the cash but we also collected a total of £536.33 on Remembrance Sunday and passed on to the British Legion. Thanks My thanks …… to Chris Pinney for diligently collecting and counting any funds with me each Monday, to Fay Dent for administering the payroll, to Stephen for meticulous administration of the parish room and managing and doing so much in maintenance of the entire site. To Peter and Fay for countersigning every payment. To Sonya and now Anita thank you for all the work of invoicing, purchasing and so much more. To Martyn who is providing much appreciated support in oversight and decision making in non routine and long-term items. To Rev Sarah around whose dedicated ministry it all revolves. And to the Churchwardens who are such a support and pleasure to work with. Thank you to all who donate their money and efforts to everything reflected in these records. ## To close My message to everyone is to please route your purchasing for St Paul’s through the main bank account where at all possible. And if you want to fund the cost please just donate independently, we need to know what it costs to run the church, and paying it through the bank account makes so much less administration all around. You are always welcome to check with me before the event. please also note that I can only claim Gift Aid for amounts specifically given to the church not to other organisations. Every penny given is precious and helps to make St Paul’s a vibrant place “actively serving our community and bringing Gods heart to all” _Caroline Hargrove – Treasurer_ 23 St Paul's Church Chipperfield statement of financial affairs year for ended 31 December 2025 Charity Number 1167846 Yearended31 December2025 Unlest￿Cted Des*nate¢ Restrlcted TOTNI Funds Funds Funds Funds 65.￿2 10,686 16.179 8.415 13,080 113.712 Incomeand eTrdov￿eTrtS ODDalion5 excllegacies Legacles Incomeftorn chaitlableactmbes Invesimenis (hhef Income Totalincome 233 .585 10,686 16.179 8.415 13,080 111945 Expenditure on: Expenditureon charilableaclwilJe5 (hherexpendlture Totslexpendituve Net Incomellexpendrturel Resources beloretsansf I￿.242 108.242 106.242 7.470 106,242 7.703 233. Transfers betweenfunds transfets fiom existing restikted funds transfertodesignated ftjnds Nettran51cr5 11801 174.9)01 74,SOO (745001 74.320 11,5431 11.3631 11,5431 Netmovemerrtinlunds 167.0301 74,320 11,1301 6.160 lot31funds brOUghtfor￿rd 152,f29 910 55,364 208,￿3 Totalfvnds ¢arr*dlon¥¥ 85.598 75.23Q 54.234 215.IK3 24 st Paul's Church Chipperfield Balance sheet as at 31 December 2025 F￿e& ass￿5 31rtZW24 TaWb1•455&15 25.570 25.57 C￿t￿laSSe￿ DobtaT5 Bankandrathinhand £043 181.164 I￿489 1.171 r13771 8741 21&Q62 r*sorrtod by 151629 11.5431 7.702 S062 IX629 ch￿[￿Y￿r￿￿Èr￿l i&B03 145 136 16.415 Mooi 730 16,415 countryfund %1￿hE￿ NEW 910 NEW 15.UX) NEW Locks NE N￿1 7d.5DD 910 78.12 152,629 215 25 st Paul's Church Chipperfidd Income and Expendi￿re account for year ended 31 December 2025 25.Sdi 2.*3 J.314 J.314 B.010 Sufflup 12B4 12PA I.JOd L573 F￿lty JOA6 9).￿7 <339 G￿t5 341 Weddiws I3.￿1 7017 (tyn151 13.6eg IL*2 F￿¢￿￿ BA15 15 I￿nI 26 YIHthtu 51B 475 02 PanShSh￿e SL639 51.È39 7.037 1.078 1.078 ChwcThfftsL¥DrK• 231 z#io l.B71 ch￿￿￿￿nter￿K 3207 5A79 gA7S UpkEEpof5a¥Ke5 UpkEEpofchurdry 127 4337 656 131 17 179 Sumupd 17 17 17 L¢*1￿1• EleEbKty 4513 5.7Q 4513 4.1% 4211 S7 270 2.767 B25 18 259 7.702 27 St Paul's Church Chlpperfleid Notes to the Account5 year ended 31 December2025 OEbtorJ 2024 GlftaldHMRC PGS 2534 397 1.415 DonatlOn5 by(tw Irt*)icedebwis 1.100 174 ¢￿d￿or$ Tr￿￿s￿r Oreanf8 Vlpddiwthpoyll3 Fee5 duetOStA￿anSdiL El*liCIty Gas lJ92 IAIS 247 iustre Bntish legionetha Mission pèytnentukrain Streaming 402 475 3.874 2a77 ToP&L Tod￿￿1 naFoTJp3r R•&tricthd IsSI￿a￿drAM•ath MusicF aThiÉwiiarrfjffta￿Ar lirnPnchatd 145 145 AJ5 16A15 234 T4tai[*slri¢t￿1u￿dts KITthÈn NEW NEW pUfÉra￿rr NE NEW 15AW Lock5 T¢tildesI￿*l*￿1Ur41 I1￿￿lun￿$T[lKtq￿I 74J*) 7.702 28 I re￿rt tOlhetrwLEes on {YhÈ7nfjtl ltyth¢ Yvarffr￿ed 31d Dethnbw2025. of*eCt￿•s￿LI?Dl1 I terththi w*dofnry e¥amkiakn clthe Ttusg'sxttouttts Earned 145 01 ZQl 1 Actand ￿ fArrypVJ OLrt rry eiaThp.*h)n. I havelollM4 *4 t￿P-￿￿e OYe£ocTh byfv C>•ty ￿￿er$a￿ts￿ 145(51(b} ofthe ACL XCOJBts tho compty the rwtr¥rvtsc4YK•rnpl9 comeni ol¥wJnts setl>Jl Fl ltse Ctjafts IPawts * R¢w•tsl Regu*tiDn5 2C178 tsirw any EW4LryneDithat Y* x¢￿ants1¥Y￿a ncé a m wwrt¥ kn be rexn Go(o(L IZ Sarn￿ AhrnanACA SaTratt Lod9• TheGr 3tt WD3 681 0*• 2PAprt2026 29 ## **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. 30