Growing a loving community by sharing Jesus with everyone
Book of Reports for the year 2020
incorporating The Trustees Annual Report (TAR) for 2020 and Accounts for the Year ending 31[st] December 2020
Growing Loving Sharing
Jasmine Way, Locking Castle, Weston-Super-Mare, BS24 7JW. Charity Number 1170425 office@lockingcastlechurch.org, Tel: 01934 519888, www.lockingcastlechurch.org
| Contents | Leader |
Page |
|---|---|---|
| Minister’s Report on behalf of the Trustees | Tom Yacomeni …………......... |
2 |
| Ecumenical Church Council Membership 2020 | …………………………………………. |
5 |
| Pastoral Report | Emily Cumberbatch………….. |
6 |
| Youth Ministry | Andy Pearce…………………….. |
9 |
| Children’s and families work | Cathy Bond………………………. |
9 |
| Finance and Accounts | Martin Purnell………………….. |
11 |
| Life groups | Jacqui Keir-Bucknell…………… |
15 |
| Outreach ministries: | ||
| Haywood Village | Fiona Mayne………………………… |
16 |
| West Wick | Andy Pearce ……………………….. |
16 |
| TLC Toddlers | Mims Yacomeni…………………… |
16 |
| Church operations: | ||
| Safeguarding | Suzanne Pearse ……………… |
17 |
| Administration | Katherine Hollis…………..….. |
18 |
Lead Minister’s Report on 2020 at Locking Castle Church
Despite a year dominated by Covid restrictions and social distancing measures, Locking Castle Church has weathered the pandemic storm with great resilience and creativity. When lockdown measures were introduced in March 2020, nobody anticipated that well over a year later, distancing would still be in place and congregational singing is still banned indoors.
As our video slideshow review of the year shows, the year began really well with flourishing youth and children’s activities, over 30 regularly attending Oasis mid-week café church, skate club preparing for an exciting season ahead and a wonderful Alpha course running at Jenny and Steve Webber’s house. LCC Art, TLC toddlers and Kids Cubs were all creating new connections with the community. Haywood Village Tea and Toast and West Wick Church@5 were growing their membership and LCC just launched a new Repair Café initiative to help us with our bid to go for Eco-Church gold status.
Then the lockdown was announced and months of uncertainty ensued as the ECC and leaders tried to determine what church activities were permissible, beneficial and safe.
One of the first ways the church responded was to become a WsM Foodbank outpost helping 2 families on average every week with emergency food provisions. Also during the first Lockdown in association with Locking Castle Medical Centre, Morrisons and ROC Redeeming Our Communities WsM, a team of a dozen volunteers coordinated by Cathy and Emily collected prescriptions and shopping for over 50 people from our community. Thank you to all those involved in this excellent community response – it was really evidence of the loving
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community we are creating as we share Jesus with everyone. I am so grateful for our amazing staff team and for all the willing volunteers who have worked so hard going the extra mile on so many occasions.
Another key learning curve for the church was adapting to online interaction. We decided early on to try live streaming to Facebook for our 10.30am service, partly because it is a fairly robust and free, but mainly because it allows live comments and feedback from those watching. Andy Pearce pioneered the use of OBS broadcasting software and through a rapid learning process, trial and error, by the summer LCC’s services were attracting between 80 and 100 live viewers, and around 250 subsequent engagements. We invested in a broadcast quality camera which allowed us to record or stream services from the main church room. We managed to live-stream Carol services from the church at Christmas, which was beautifully decorated this year with a lovely star to add to the Angel scene. Thank you to Dave Manuel for blessing the community with such an encouragement during the dark winter evenings.
All the ministries adapted to work online brilliantly, whether using Zoom, Facebook, or Youtube. When we were no longer able to go into St. Anne’s to do assemblies, Andy and Cathy started to produce weekly videos which have proven to be really popular, particularly with the staff! Life groups, Kids Club and Parenting for Faith moved online and it has been excellent to see how everyone has adapted to keep in touch and care for one another over the year. The quality of the worship songs created during lockdown has been amazing as technical skills and confidence have increased, so I am so grateful to all our worship teams, and Salv, Andy, Jacob, and Oscar for their wonderful leading and production work. Emily and Katherine Hollis hosted Wednesday zoom prayers which has seen a core committed group praying for the life and work of the church throughout the Pandemic and it shows no signs of ceasing!
Much has been lost to Covid, including the life of one of our much loved members Yvonne Spring. We pray for all those who have been bereaved during the restrictions and for all those who have been isolated through shielding or care home closures. Young people, children and families have struggled with online learning and young people particularly have missed meeting freely with their peers. We look forward so much to being able to gather all ages back together once restrictions are lifted.
Another unexpected challenge in 2020 occurred when the boiler was condemned at the end of the Summer. The church responded wonderfully to an appeal for funds that we were able to replace it with 2 new high efficiency units in time for the winter. Thank you everyone for your amazing generosity!
We made the most of the opportunities presented to us, with great creativity and ingenuity. The concept of a drive-thru Light party, Christingle or Wreathmaking event was unheard of before 2020, but they worked really well. We managed some fantastic competitions and games during the year with several baking challenges and even a head teacher dancing on TikTok!
Ecumenical Denominations and Sponsors
We are so grateful to be an Ecumenical church with such brilliant support from our 4 partner denominations and also our sponsoring body – Churches Together in Somerset (CTS). We learned in 2020 that Alan Dixon, Ecumenical officer for CTS would be retiring and we are very thankful for Alan’s care and wisdom over the last 6 years and wish him well in his retirement.
Our Methodist circuit ministers Angie and Gary Hoare and Steve Bennett preach and lead regularly at LCC and their ministry is always so appreciated. We are also very blessed by continuing financial support from the URC
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towards Emily’s training and also from the Baptist local Webnet for their support for Andy’s ministry at West Wick. I am grateful to LCC for releasing me to carry out my role as Area Dean of Locking Deanery overseeing 28 Anglican churches in the Area. We are blessed as a church to be able to support other churches in this way.
Despite all the challenges the Kingdom has continued to grow in 2020. We remain committed to ‘growing a loving community by sharing Jesus, the beacon of hope for everyone.’ As we review all that has happened in the we can evaluate our progress using our values filters:
-
Does it promote Spiritual Growth?
-
Does it promote safeguarding and wellbeing?
-
Does it promote community cohesion?
-
Does it care for the environment?
Spiritual growth.
As well as 5 people coming into membership during 2020 taking our total to 103 , Alpha continued online and several people came to faith in Jesus. It was amazing to see the Holy Spirit at work even over Zoom! Discipleship has developed 1-1 as walking together has proven to be an excellent way to share deeply. Life groups have continued to meet either online or when permitted in person. We didn’t have any adult baptisms in 2020, although a number are planned for 2021. If our spiritual depth may be measured in terms of our commitment to proclaiming the Gospel, care and compassion for the community, heartfelt prayers, and serving one another practically then 2020 has been a deeper year than we might think. Thank you for sharing the love of Christ with each other in so many different ways.
We were delighted to be able to dedicate Megan Brown in the Summer and host a wedding for Marie and Andy Jones in the Summer.
Safeguarding and wellbeing:
LCC is a safe church and safeguarding is woven into the fabric of all our activities and initiatives. Suzanne Pearse and Heather Colledge do a great job as our safeguarding team in partnership with the Diocesan Safeguarding advisors and I am very grateful to everyone for ensuring the wellbeing of everyone involved in the life of the church. Thankfully we had no major incidents during 2020 and we were able to safely recruit many new volunteers to help serve our community.
Emily Cumberbatch launched and ran a Wellbeing course during the Autumn of 2020 which proved really helpful for those taking part. She has developed the material from scratch using her counselling training and this is a valuable resource for connecting with the community in future. Congratulations too to Ellie Gray who is now an accredited counsellor, running Counselling4Christians.co.uk as well as her work at West Wick.
Community Cohesion
As well as all our own community initiatives and the work done in partnership with local organisations during lockdown, LCC has continued to support 6 mission partners both in the UK and abroad. We were delighted that Kreativity Ukraine were able to launch their Start Academy school on time in the summer with toilet blocks funded by LCC. Kenya Hope Charity launched a tree nursery initiative which saw hundreds of trees grown and planted in local schools providing food and jobs as well as the environmental benefits. We received regular updates from Jimmy Rocks, the CAP WsM debt centre and were able to send gifts to Beloved and Open Doors for their work with the persecuted church.
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Does it care for the environment?
It was a disappointment that the repair café’s brilliant start was thwarted by the pandemic. However with the encouragement of Andy Watts we have continued to work towards making the church more energy efficient in the meantime. The new condensing boilers are A rated efficiency, and more fluorescent lights have been replaced with LEDs. Green Sunday was a highlight with guest speaker Caroline Pomeroy sharing the pressing need to keep the environment as a missional priority for the church. Thankfully one benefit of the lockdown is that church members used their cars less during the year and we have learned that business meetings such as ECC and the AGM can be effective and efficient over Zoom.
Overall we thank God for his faithfulness during 2020. Although the Pandemic has presented unique challenges to us all, we have been able to share God’s love and the hope that Jesus brings in new ways, which we will not forget!
Thank you to everyone for all your enthusiasm, hard work and encouragement. It is a privilege to serve at Locking Castle Church and I look forward with great expectation to what the Lord has planned for us in 2021.
On behalf of the Trustees and with my love and prayers,
With my love and prayers,
Revd Tom Yacomeni - Lead Minister 8[th] April 2021
Ecumenical Church Council following the 2020 AGM
Trustees
Andy Watts Chair & Eco-Church Officer Revd Tom Yacomeni Lead Minister (Ex officio) Revd Andy Pearce Associate Minister (Ex officio) Emily Cumberbatch Pastoral Asst. & Ecumenical Rep Sandra Blackwell Church Officer (Church Warden) Luke Lyons Church Officer (Church Warden) Steve Gurney Church member Martin Purnell Treasurer Cathy Bond Children and Families Pastor Fiona Mayne Community Pastor Heather Colledge Safeguarding Lead Jacob Skyrme Church and Worship Team member Steve Gurney Church Member Peter Richardson Church Member Co-opted Members Katherine Hollis
Secretary
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Pastoral Report by Emily Cumberbatch
January – March 2020
In the first quarter of 2020 we were mindful of the virus in the East, but unaware of the impact it was to have on the UK and the world. Pastorally I was meeting people for prayer and for support, in their homes or at church, or for a walk. I was able to visit in hospitals, or take people a cooked meal when they were poorly or going through a difficult time. Support normally ranges from spiritual and emotional support, to all kinds of practical help! Often it’s a combination of all three for example accompanying to a court appearance may require a lift, prayer and moral support. Another way is through the CAP Money course - in 2020 this mostly took place on a 1:1 basis which allows for other spiritual and emotional support to be integrated as we work on the finances. We also have a strong pastoral team who are particularly good at supporting people in whatever way is needed.
Monthly visits to Summer Lane Nursing Home were going well, the team meeting with every resident in each of the 90 rooms, and for the afternoon service of Holy Communion around 25 regulars gathered most months.
Oasis Café Church was meeting on Wednesdays and growing steadily in the strength of the bonds we shared and in numbers, starting to more regularly get into the 30’s. Peter Richardson was set to take it on during term time from September 2020 while I continued attending my Counselling course on a weekly basis, which was moving from Tuesdays to Wednesdays for the final two years.
As the Ecumenical rep I attended the URC Annual Gathering, (1[st] Feb) and also the Churches Together in Somerset AGM & Forum (27[th] Feb). Also in February the Redeeming Our Communities (ROC) conversations started led by Deborah Green, with a gathering of people from many churches and organisations such as the police, street pastors, social services, education. ROC were the driving force behind the organising of Weston churches and volunteers to provide practical and emotional support during lockdown – keeping us extremely busy with a steady flow of people needing shopping, prescriptions or telephone contact. We made an additional contribution to this service by sharing with ROC our LCC pastoral guidelines for making support telephone calls, protecting both caller and client.
March – December 2020
Early in March the Repair café held its first session led by Andy Watts, and a seeker friendly prayer station was prepared in a side room for any wishing to use it. However from that point forwards the focus was intently on the increasing risk from covid-19 posed by gathering together.
Looking back at the communication of those days, Tom’s leadership wisdom and clarity ensured we were alert and prepared and that we were assured that we had the best information to make the right decisions. Looking back with hindsight and gratitude, the church has been able to keep everyone safe while delivering a brilliant online service, and to be able to deliver ongoing pastoral care, adapt to Oasis on zoom and manage a significant increase in pastoral workload as we began reaching many additional others in the community outside of our church membership to deliver shopping, prescriptions and companionship.
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Just before full lockdown commenced we still manged to deliver Mother’s day flowers to the ladies of our church! A change of emphasis in pastoral care was made to accommodate the needs of those shielding, for those unable to get cash or prescriptions or groceries, even bike repairs to keep people active. Instead of a home Communion kit I carried a folding chair and travel mug of tea for doorstep pastoral visits.
Monday Life Group has, with barely a pause, continued either by zoom or - when both sunny and permissible - in the garden. I’m grateful for their prayers and encouragement.
We visited Locking Castle Medical centre to meet with the managers to establish a connection that enabled them to refer patients for pastoral support – some of the relationships made since these earliest days of lockdown are still in contact today.
Individual counselling has continued to be held throughout the year - either by phone, zoom or occasionally when necessary, in person. In preparation for anticipated mental health issues I have attended training on Mental Health, and on Suicide Planning.
In mid-May I started a Midweek Prayer group on zoom for people who love to pray and intercede and join with one another in prayer, our world so needed to be covered in prayer. Before my course started term in September 2020 I handed on to Katherine Hollis who continues to lead the prayer group which is flourishing fabulously under her care.
24 Hour Prayer was held in person at church at the start of Lent 2020. We moved to a virtual prayer room for 24 Hours of prayer for Thy Kingdom Come 21[st] -31[st] May 2020 which was super boosted by a collection of wonderful video clips by our own church family sharing how they pray – awesome inspiration and very moving! A huge thank you to all who contributed.
In July 2020 as things temporarily relaxed a little, I enjoyed an outdoor celebration at the school with my young TLG person and her friends and family and Mims – to bring to an end our weekly sessions running since Sept 2018. Do contact Mims if you feel called to the brilliant work of TLG.
The first of 2 ten-week Wellbeing Workshops commenced on 24[th] Sept 2020 with a great team and an awesome group of delegates. The content for this was carefully investigated and based on scientific research material endorsed by key organisations such as NHS, Mind, NEF etc. It is designed as a response to the burden of the pandemic and aims to improve Wellbeing in body mind and spirit and is anchored on biblical foundations. It was adapted for delivery both in person and online, with a 2[nd] bigger course running online from Jan-March 2021. Funding was sought to supplement the time spent on writing the course as well as delivery and development time, but as funding was subject to restrictions on professing a faith it was therefore not applied for.
We returned to Oasis in person at the end of summer for a few months, moving to a Tuesday to work around my counselling course on Wednesdays. Peter Richardson and Sandra Blackwell are amazing to work with and I have depended heavily upon them and owe a huge debt of Thanks to them both. On 1[st] November we held our last Oasis service in person at church before the November lockdown. We shared Holy Communion led by Tom which set us up for the season of Oasis on zoom – technology has helped fill the gap but I’m glad to say this Easter 2021 we have now just started again meeting at church for Oasis so we can worship together in person. Wonderful to celebrate Easter with Communion for our mid-week flock.
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24 Hour Prayer for Advent was very well attended with additional slots being arranged to accommodate the last few participants. Christmas 2020 was safely restrained but I’m grateful we could still sing Carols at the local homes, and celebrate the birth of our Lord, which helps put an eternal perspective over the events of the year, a year like none I’ve ever known, but praise God he has been with us throughout and has brought us through it. Thank you Lord.
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- Youth Ministry Report by Andy Pearce
We started the new year confident in a way forward, continuing with all the aspects we had established in 2019 which were: Skate Club, Ynot?, youth band and Sunday mornings.
Ynot? group was practicing their interactive play for the Easter Experience, new young people were joining the group, all the while Covid was creeping ever closer, rumours of a possible lock down were circulating. Then it happens, first lockdown came into force and everything had to change, how where we going to do this? We had to shut Skate Club as we could no longer meet any longer.
All the structures that had been in place for the young people disappeared overnight, we knew we had to help them through this and try to keep them together with a new structure which evolved as we went on, this was a very challenging time. We introduced Zoom games evening on Thursday nights and Monday nights was Bible study. Sunday evenings we created our own YouTube channel called ‘LCY Excite‘ and live streamed Movie Club Quizzes and Interviewed people to discover their faith journey. As the various lockdowns and restriction relaxed or became stricter we adapted and met together as we could following our Covid Secure plan. Despite the young people being the more connected to social media and using technology we did struggle to keep them going online especially as the adults were now invading their domain. It highlighted to us the need of face-to-face social interaction became the number one priority, so as soon as we could come together physically, we did, through support groups as the mental health of the young people were suffering. I would like to thank Cathy Bond, Jacob Skyrme, Jordan Coombes and Chris Kavanagh who made it all possible to experiment and make the transition to help the young people come through this pandemic.
Children and Families - Report by Cathy Bond
Families
Our children and families work started the year really well with so much planned and everyone in a good place along with lots of positive faith experiences and journeys happening. With Easter on the horizon, we were looking forward to a new Easter Holiday Club and Easter Experience Day with the help and support of Ynot? and our amazing friends who give up so much time to support all the children who come to start their faith journey gain new friendships and learn so much about the ‘Jesus Story’. Kids Band was flourishing and confident to bring worship to their church family this year.
That all came to a sudden halt due to the Pandemic, and I was tasked to set up an emergency response team to support church members and the local community with their prescriptions, shopping and other jobs. This took up a lot of time but through prayer and patience I really wanted to stay connected with our families and support and encourage them. This happened through conversations, walks, encouragements and different resources I was able to find along with videos of activities they could try. We set up a YouTube channel where some of us recorded a video of ourselves reading different bible stories and praying, for families to watch
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together. It has grown in followers and content as we now upload school assemblies to the channel so families and schools can easily access these resources.
Zoom Kids Club online began and continues still with an amazing group of children all hungry for the ‘Jesus Story’. It has been so much fun with the kids teaching the adults more techniques with using Zoom. With TLC we communicated encouragement through Facebook and phone calls and were especially pleased when we could form a face to face support group after the summer holidays. This was greatly received by the families and especially those who had babies during the lockdown. This safely continued until the second lockdown and we continue to stay in contact and support young families. TLC team have also been a power of support and had great fellowship together via WhatsApp, what a great team well done all. The same happened with Kids Band where we managed to meet again, practice our worship and enjoy being together safely which we then had to stop again for lockdown part 2.
God helped me with the key focus through the pandemic to equip, support and encourage families through this challenging time, at first it was a challenge as families were having to juggle work, home school their children, try to get online with the different after school groups available and get through this. I introduced the ‘Parenting for Faith’ course, these courses have been held online and have been so fruitful for all in many ways. We will continue to run and resource the course for everyone as this is a great ethos and we would like to see it being taught as a regular part of discipleship in the church.
‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give
you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates’. Deuteronomy 6:4-9
We have continued to find ways to reach and support families though this difficult time in the form of a drive through light party and a drive through Christingle. For the light party families booked a time slot to pull up on the drive of Locking Castle Church to collect Light Party bags for their children then when home they had the link to watch and join in with the Pulse Ministry Light Party, these guys are a young group with great resources for communicating the Gospel to children. The same contingency was used for the Christingle on Christmas Eve, big thanks to Matt Barney for producing an online booking in system for this, after the fun of collecting their Christingle bags the families were given a link to watch a pre-recorded service and how to make your Christingle by Andy Pearce and me.
I would like to thank Andy Pearce, Adele Lloyd, Katherine Hollis for seeing my vision and all their hard work through this year. Also, all our friends who have recorded videos, packed bags, handed out drive through packs, delivered crafts, made crafts, cakes and taken part in many of my crazy ideas along the way.
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Report by Martin Purnell
Finance
Please note – a signed copy of these Accounts, independently examined by Peter Needham will be presented at the AGM.
LOCKING CASTLE CHURCH INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT 1 JAN 2020 – 31 DEC 2020
| INCOME | 2020 | 2019 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giving | 73,088 | 69,295 | |||
| Gift aid | 15,019 | 13,921 | |||
| Grants | 16,772 | 8,028 | |||
| Special collections | 2,226 | 5,399 | |||
| Lettings | 8,010 | 35,575 | |||
| Events | 1,916 | 4,012 | |||
| Parochial fees income | 2,117 | 619 | |||
| Children and youth | 593 | 1,914 | |||
| Skate Club | 886 | 10,145 | |||
| TLC | 776 | 1,290 | |||
| Haywood Village Church | 2,941 | 2,663 | |||
| Church @ St Annes | 3,744 | 2,204 | |||
| Bank interest | 190 | 317 | |||
| Boiler fund | 19,050 | - | |||
| Coronavirus hardship fund | 2,346 | - | |||
| Community shopping | 2,156 | - | |||
| Other | 1,432 | 2,472 | |||
| 153,262 | 157,854 | ||||
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| EXPENDITURE | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community and mission giving | 8,004 | 7,689 | |||
| Events | 652 | 3,755 | |||
| TLC | 101 | 448 | |||
| Haywood Village Church | 2,562 | 3,713 | |||
| Church @ St Annes | 1,658 | 4,570 | |||
| Other mission and evangelism costs | 853 | 3,694 | |||
| Children and youth | 1,277 | 4,904 | |||
| Skate Club | 2,437 | 6,149 | |||
| Coronavirus hardship fund | 1,189 | - | |||
| Community shopping | 2,154 | - | |||
| Other church running expenses | 4,055 | 3,489 | |||
| Worship | 2,006 | 2,600 | |||
| Staff salaries, expenses, training etc | 59,895 | 53,971 | |||
| Denominational contributions | 42,848 | 37,622 | |||
| General church maintenance | 2,100 | 6,579 | |||
| Utilities | 6,704 | 7,012 | |||
| Insurance | 788 | 696 | |||
| Office and sundry expenses | 2,275 | 1,505 | |||
| Parochial fees to Diocese | 1,666 | 598 | |||
| Clergy expenses | 1,119 | 1,407 | |||
| New boiler | 20,971 | - | |||
| Other | 439 | 880 | |||
| 165,753 | 151,281 |
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INCOME AND EXPENDITURE
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income | 153,262 | 157,854 | |||
| Expenditure | 165,753 | 151,281 | |||
| Surplus/(deficit) | (12,491) | 6,573 |
BALANCE SHEET 31 DEC 2020 31 DEC 2019
| ASSETS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank and cash | 36,754 | 49,245 | ||||||
| LIABILITIES | - | - | ||||||
| Net assets | 36,754 | 49,245 | ||||||
| Unrestricted funds | 24,146 | 35,587 | ||||||
| Restricted funds | ||||||||
| Development fund | 546 | 9,413 | ||||||
| Mentoring/TLG | 30 | 1,034 | ||||||
| Coronavirus hardship fund | 1,157 | - | ||||||
| Church @ St Annes | 2,462 | 376 | ||||||
| Haywood Village Church | 937 | 248 | ||||||
| HV Youth Worker | 6,440 | - | ||||||
| Skate Club | 1,036 | 12,608 | 2,587 | 13,658 | ||||
| 36,754 | 49,245 |
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MOVEMENT OF FUNDS
| Unrestricted | Unrestricted | Development fund |
Development fund |
Mentoring/ TLG |
Mentoring/ TLG |
Haywood Village Church |
Haywood Village Church |
HV Church Youth Worker |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balance b/f | 35,587 | 9,413 | 1,034 | 248 | 0 | ||||
| Income | 124,295 | 0 | 0 | 2,941 | 0 | ||||
| Transfers | (1,921) | (7,060) | 310 | 6,750 | |||||
| Expenditure | (133,815) | (1,807) | (1,004) | (2,562) | (310) | ||||
| Balance c/f | 24,146 | 546 | 30 | 937 | 6,440 | ||||
| Church @ St Annes |
Skate Club | Coronavirus Hardship Fund |
Boiler fund |
TOTAL | |||||
| Balance b/f | 376 | 2,587 | 0 | 0 | 49,245 | ||||
| Income | 3,744 | 886 | 2,346 | 19,050 | 153,262 | ||||
| Transfers | 1,921 | ||||||||
| Expenditure | (1,658) | (2,437) | (1,189) | (20,971) | (165,753) | ||||
| Balance c/f | 2,462 | 1,036 | 1,157 | 0 | 36,754 | ||||
| CASHFLOW |
| 2020 | 2019 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash balances at start of year | 49,245 | 45,292 | |
| Surplus/(deficit) for the year | (12,491) | 6,573 | |
| Repayment of obligation to Diocese | - | (2,620) | |
| Cash balances at end of year | 36,754 | 49,245 |
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CASHFLOW 2020 2019 Cash balan$ at stsrt of year Surplusl(defictt) for the year Repayment of obligation to Diocese 49,245 ' (12,491) 45,292 6,573 (2,620) Cash balanc88 at end of year 38,754 49,245 . Treasurer.. In connection with my examination. no matter has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe thaL in any matsrial respec( accounting records were not kept in accordance with $8Ction 130 of the Charities Act or the accounts do not accord *ith the accounting records. I have comè across no other matters in connection wth the examination to wfvch attention should be drawn in ord8r to enable a proper understanding of the 8ccounts to be reached. Name.. c'it Relevant professional qualification or body: Addres8: ggzL q x) Date.. Rogtstored Charity No. 1170425
LCC Life Groups
LCC life groups have continued to meet both physically when permitted or via online platforms during the Pandemic, and provided wonderful pastoral support to each other. We decided not to submit individual reports for groups this year as most have experienced similar highs and lows together during 2020. However the Life groups are a vital source of comfort and blessing and thank you particularly to the amazing team of Life Group leaders and all those who support them.
Life group leaders Report by Jacqui Keir-Bucknell
LCC Life Groups - providing a space where each member is truly known, deeply loved and radically challenged to follow the way of Jesus in serving others.
Spiritual growth?
Life group leaders generally meet every eight weeks to support one another in their spiritual leadership role. In addition to praying for life groups and updating the life group register, different experiences, concerns or questions that have arisen during life group gatherings are shared so that more effective strategies for managing relational challenges can be identified.
On occasion, meetings have also included leadership training, with some sessions based on
Walking the Small Group Tightrope: Meeting the Challenges Every Group Faces by Bill Donahue. These have been focused on developing the awareness needed to manage potential tensions in life groups, arising from opposing attitudes and dispositions, in order to help nurture the spiritual growth of group members.
Safety and wellbeing?
Through the meetings and other contact, life group leaders are able to support one another’s wellbeing, as worries can be discussed in confidence. With permission, any more critical issues can be brought to the attention of the Lead Minister or Pastoral Assistant as required.
Any safeguarding concerns are reported to the LCC Safeguarding Officer.
Community cohesion?
There are approximately 12 life groups, in addition to the regular gatherings at Oasis, Haywood Village Rooted and West Wick. Through the life group leaders, of which 8 or 9 regularly attend the scheduled meetings, there is oversight of approximately 140 LCC life group members with pastoral oversight for another 40.
Care for the environment?
Life group leaders are aware of the responsibility to steward resources wisely, protect the environment and nurture creation. These issues sometimes arise in discussions, when ideas and/or strategies are shared.
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Outreach Ministries
Haywood Village
Report by Fiona Mayne
In 2020 the pandemic did mean that we had to make some changes. We paused Take 5 as we were unable to access the school hall and community room. We ran foodbank from Fiona’s garage to support Haywood Village families as well as offering to shop for people and collect prescriptions. Tea and Toast Church went online mostly but we did a face to face light trail for the October one and Christingle trail for December. These were well attended, and we gave away 100 Christingle packs for December. We had two people singing carols and playing guitars at the collection point. There was a great atmosphere. Rooted continued but was online via what’s app and zoom. It was a very different format in that there was no meal and no singing but despite this it grew from 12 to 19 people during the pandemic. The youth work was affected by lockdown as the youth group could not start but detached youth work continued when guidelines allowed. The building project for a community café/church is still ongoing and we are awaiting a decision from the Diocese as to whether they will support it going forwards. Despite the pandemic the Haywood Village team are feeling optimistic about the future.
West Wick Report by Andy Pearce
We continued to meet until the first Lockdown hit then we had to take things online. We met via Zoom 5pm Sunday evenings and introduced a Wednesday morning session at 10am. Even as the restrictions during the summer of 2020 lifted, we could not use the school halls due to Covid. However, we did meet a few times outside in the sports field for a worship picnic following a Covid secure plan to assure safety of those who gathered. Going online has not been everyone’s cup of tea so not everyone connected to the church has been able to join us online, but we have grown spiritually during this time together. Cathy and Andy have been providing videos for the school worship on a weekly basis as the school was caring for the children of Key Worker, these videos have greatly blessed the children and teachers receiving positive feedback from them. A big thank you to the Church in supporting one another through this time, I love seeing the care and concern they for each other. Also, a big thank you to the school for allowing us to use the sports field to be able to gather for worship in the summer.
– TLC Toddlers Locking Castle
Report by Mims Yacomeni
Well the last year for TLC has been unusual. We stayed open for as long as we could but shut down just before Mothering Sunday 2020 and everyone was invited to collect vases of flowers if they wanted to. We then tried some 'facebook live' and zoom calls to help keep our families connected, which just wasn't the same as meeting up.
At Easter, Christmas and Mothering Sunday the Team did door-step visits to deliver gifts which were all warmly received. One of our team fell off a doorstep and ended up breaking her foot :-( which was really sad and she is still recovering.
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We opened up TLC again before Christmas when Lockdown was lifted and families could join a fortnightly Bubble that met for a shorter hour session. This worked well and everyone was very grateful to be able to meet fellow humans. We also found that we got to know everyone better as we had smaller numbers. We are reopening again at the end of April 2021 and will be meeting quite a few new families. We're praying for opportunities to share the love of Jesus.
Church Operations
Safeguarding and Safe Recruiting Report by Suzanne Pearse, Safeguarding Officer
Well what a year for everyone! Safeguarding has continued behind the scenes with new ways of verifying ID and upgrading DBS checks to the right level to allow existing and new volunteers to serve. God has spoken to so many people during this pandemic and the love that we have for our neighbours has certainly shone through our community and LCC. I am so proud of the response of all our volunteers who worked really hard shopping, collecting prescriptions and delivering them, picking up the phone and checking in on family, friends, neighbours and complete strangers! I know many are itching to get back to our “new normal” whatever that looks like! Zoom, YouTube and teams have been a great success for many including our life groups, Oasis, prayer groups, youth and children’s work.
The church council has again voted to adopt the safeguarding arrangements of the Church of England through the Diocese of Bath & Wells. LCC’s policy statement can be found on our website with a link to the Diocese of Bath and Wells’ safeguarding webpage. This covers the safeguarding of children, young people and vulnerable adults within our church, online and the groups that we run. Not all positions need a DBS check so have a word with me about any volunteer role that interest you and I can speak to you about ‘observing’ that role and how to progress to the safer recruitment and DBS process. Please remember you cannot be included on a rota until you are cleared. Lots of you are now due to renew your safeguarding training so please keep an eye out for an email from me. I have had regular calls and meetings with Cathy who has kept me up to date with the children, families and youth work and spoken with Tom a few times on the phone. I still prepare monthly reports for the ECC and the open church meetings and I’m grateful to Heather Colledge for being the safeguarding lead on the council.
Photographs in Church
Please remember that you cannot assume it is okay to take photographs in church of children or young and vulnerable adults. Please seek consent of the leader and those involved before you consider publicising photographs on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Driving
If you are a designated driver please remember to let me know when you have renewed your insurance, tax and MOT and if you have changed your car.
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Finally, please remember that we must all take responsibility for safeguarding within our Church. The Diocese are extremely supportive of the work we do at LCC. If you have any safeguarding concerns please contact me immediately.
Reading in Care Homes
The couple who I used to read to at Summer Lane moved to a home down the seafront at the start of lockdown and I have therefore been unable to visit them. As they have moved they are no longer able to attend Oasis or church on a Sunday. I have kept in touch with them and taken them a couple of food parcels. It is not uncommon to see my waving at them frantically whilst speaking to them on the phone. I have really missed them and am so looking forward to seeing them and reading poems and The People’s Friend short stories to them again.
Honeysuckle Place Life Group
Honeysuckle Place life group met for the first 2 ½ months of the year at my house and following this we have met on zoom. It started with a zoom cuppa and catch up and a second zoom to follow the weekly sermon series and life group questions. We have really gelled as a group and I think it is a “safe” place for us to share our life experiences and spiritual journey during this pandemic and our WhatsApp group pings on a regular basis with requests for prayer. We also share some songs and scriptures.
Flowers
Even though for the most part we were not in church last year I would like to thank the flower team namely Lyz Wells, Susan Brooks, Rose Gray, Sandria Elvey for continuing to put flowers in church when it has been open. If you would like to join the team, please let me know.
Church Administration
Report by Katherine Hollis
The administration of the church has continued during 2020, although it was slightly different. My role was different on different days, ranging from the church admin to helping Cathy and Emily coordinating our wonderful band of volunteers who helped in the community during the lockdowns. Debbie has stepped down from her role of occasion’s administrator and she will be missed in the office, but I am sure she will enjoy her new adventures. We all are looking forward to the church opening again, and there will still be ways in which you can serve the church. Please contact me if you would like to help in anyway.
Thank you to all at Locking Castle over the past year. It has been a true blessing to all who have seen, helped and supported the local community.
Psalm 33: 20-22. We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him ours hearts rejoice for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.
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