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2020-08-31-accounts

Annual Report 2019-20 Lancaster Methodist Church

Covid-19

Along with many other charities, for us the most significant event of the year 2019-20 was the outbreak of Covid-19. Inevitably, this had a significant impact upon our activity. All face-to-face activity ceased from 23rd March 2020 and very little was able to happen within our buildings for the remainder of the year.

Appropriate risk assessments were completed and suitable procedures were implemented with respect to people entering our buildings for any reason (mostly contractors eg. fire alarm checks, fire extinguisher checks; and also weekly water flushing to minimise the risk of legionella).

We had to furlough our café staff and also our cleaner and bookings administrator, but our Chaplain continued to work full-time throughout the pandemic continuing to offer pastoral care and support groups on Zoom. We were very grateful for the furlough financing from the government and also for grants we received from the Council to help cover our core costs while our buildings were closed during the pandemic.

The Cornerstone

Until the lockdown in March, many activities at The Cornerstone were going very well indeed. A new support project was started called ‘Moving to Freedom’. Our aim with this is to use the spirituality of the ‘12 Steps’ and Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount we want to offer:

We also offered a grief support group on Zoom which has recently become a face-toface group.

We began the process of formulating a 5 year business plan for The Cornerstone but this had to be postponed as were unable to meet due to the pandemic. We hope to complete this project in 2020-21.

We instigated a ‘Friends of The Cornerstone’ scheme as a way to encourage a sense of commitment from the wide range of people associated with The Cornerstone. 'Friends' are those who have an interest in the concerns and work of The Cornerstone and want to offer a commitment and maintain a connection with it.They support the work of The Cornerstone with a donation of at least £10 per annum and receive:

Worship

Our focus for advent and Christmas 2019 was The Chrismon Tree - exploring the many symbols associated with it.

The transition from worship in our buildings to online worship via the Zoom platform happened relatively smoothly, starting on Good Friday. We managed to recruit a team of volunteers to work in the background and oversee the technical aspects of Zoom and we arranged for 2 people to share in the leadership of our worship each week. Almost immediately we had over 50 people attending the Sunday worship via Zoom and the attendance continued to be between 50 and about 100 people throughout the pandemic. We have also provided our weekly ‘Reflect in the City’ via Zoom throughout the pandemic, this has seen a much larger attendance than when we held it in the building - most weeks the attendance has been over 20 on Zoom whereas when we met in the building the attendance was usually 4-15 people. We have begun exploring how we might continue to offer our worship using the Zoom platform once we have resumed worship in our buildings.

Most of our regular congregation have participated in the Zoom worship on a Sunday, but we have also welcomed many people from the wider community - mainly locally, but also some from elsewhere in the UK.

A highlight of our worship via Zoom has been the creativity of our worship leaders, seen for example in the writing and ‘performing’ of reflective monologues which have been very much appreciated. For the members of our worshipping community who have been unable to connect online through Zoom we have continued to deliver weekly worship resources on paper, which has been much appreciated.

Service

In October we held a Community ‘Drop-in’ at our Scotforth Road premises - inviting all user groups to have a display of their activities. This was to raise awareness of the different activities already present in the building, but also to hear the views of local residents about what is needed in our community and how the building could be more effectively used. We delivered leaflets in the streets surrounding the church inviting people to visit, but sadly, we had very few visitors - however, the sharing between the different user groups proved to be well worthwhile.

Following the difficulty of recruiting volunteers to oversee our Little Pebbles (Parent and Toddler group), we made the decision to recruit a part-time member of staff. We successfully recruited a member of staff in March 2020, but unfortunately, due to lockdown, she was unable to begin. We hope that in due course she will be a great asset to our work with families.

We made a commitment to disinvest from fossil fuels. At this point, we decided to put pressure on the Methodist Central Finance Board by making it clear that unless they divest from fossil fuels then we will withdraw our funds from them - we await their decision.

Evangelism

We sang Christmas carols as part of the Dalton Square Ice Rink activities on the evening of 23rd December - we partnered with Lancaster Brass Band who provided the musical accompaniment. It was a fantastic event with many people from the local community joining in with the singing and we are very much committed to be involved in similar ways in the future.

Towards the end of the year we began a series of themed online sessions under the title ‘Build Back Better’ - these were open to the wider community as well as our own members and reflected upon ways that we should emerge, and things we should learn, from our experiences during the pandemic. Each session had 2 or more guest speakers who introduced the topics (things such as health, education, housing, young people, employment and social security). The attendance was excellent and the conversations were profound.

Learning and Caring

We held a reflection evening on the Methodist Conference report “God in Love Unites Us”, where we discovered significant support for the report and a desire to see it adopted by Methodist Conference. Our AGM had to be cancelled due to the pandemic, but the Church Council continued to meet via Zoom to oversee all aspects of the charity. We have continued to seek the views of our members, most notably with a significant survey in July 2020 to discern when people would feel ready to resume worship in the building - it was very clear that people felt that we should wait until such time as the many Covid restrictions were lifted.

After a few months of the pandemic, we realised that our Cornerstone Chaplain was being pulled in too many different directions - continuing to offer pastoral care to many people (through phone calls, emails and Zoom calls) and offering support groups via Zoom, but also trying to oversee the riskassessments and Covid-security of The Cornerstone. Having had the plan of employing a Centre Manager on the back-burner for some time, we felt that the time was now right to recruit someone to oversee both our buildings (Scotforth Road and The Cornerstone) and also to assist in our community development work and fundraising. The post was advertised towards the end of this financial year and we hope to recruit early in the next year.

CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS

Lancaster Methodist

Church

FOR THE YEAR ENDED

31 August 2020

Circuit
North Lancashire		 Circuit no 21-16
Registered Charity - Charity Registration number
1170840

If not a registered charity Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Gift Aid number

(The HMRC number is equivalent to a registered charity number in terms of evidence of charitable status and may be used to give to donors or grant funders wishing to see evidence of the organisation's charitable status. Methodist charities in England and Wales that are not registered charities are excepted from registration under Statutory Instrument 2014 No.242)

Minister:

Rev Stephen J Charman Church Stewards: Paul Bowden Lesley Brookbanks Susan Pye

Treasurer: Dr Ian Love

Church R and P 2015.xls

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ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020 ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020 ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020 ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020 Lancaster Methodist Lancaster Methodist Lancaster Methodist Church
 Church
SECTION A Unrestricted
Funds		 Restricted
Funds		 £
44,805
176
40,316
80,359
Totals this
year		 Totals last
year
£ £ £ £
a1 RECEIPTS Note
a2 Offerings and Tax recovered 44,805 44,805 45,163
a3 Bank and CFB interest and
Investment income		 176 176 162
a4 Lettings 40,316 40,316 48,627
a5 Other receipts 58,359 22,000 80,359 81,845
a6 TOTAL RECEIPTS 143,656 22,000 **165,656 ** (a7) 175,797
SECTION B 45,000
698
11,694
12,856
7,583
84,471
b1 PAYMENTS
b2 Circuit Assessment or Share 45,000 45,000 27,000
b3 Donations 698 698
b4 Repairs and Maintenance 11,694 11,694 18,476
b5 Utilities (Insurances, water
charges,heating& lighting)		 12,856 12,856 15,675
b6 7,583 7,583 13,871
b7 Otherpayments 62,471 22,000 84,471 69,638
b8 TOTAL PAYMENTS 140,302 22,000 **162,302 ** (b9) 144,660
3,354
SECTION C
c1 NET RECEIPTS/PAYMENTS
FOR THE YEAR
(a6-b8)		 3,354 3,354 31,137
c2 Total funds brought forward from
last year		 126,884 **126,884 ** (c6) 94,871
130,238
c3 (c1+c2)
Sub total		 130,238 130,238 126,008
c4 Transfers and adjustments (1,204) **(1,204) ** (c7) 876
c5 TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR
(c3+c4)		 129,034 **129,034 ** (c8) 126,884 (c6)
SECTION D
d £
(these amounts are not to be included in total receipts/payments figures above)
FOR INFORMATION ONLY: MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS		 £
d1 Balance brought forward from lastyear 69 21
d2 Offerings/Gifts - received for external organisations 1,789 4,144
d3 Offerings/Gifts -passed to external organisations 1,858 4,096
d4 BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID (d1+d2-d3) 69

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Church R and P 2015.xls

Lancaster Methodist

Church

SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL

SECTION E Please follow the Guidance Notes to complete this page Summary of the Church accounts for the year ended 31 August 2020 and Internal Organisations reporting to the Church Council/Church Meeting. Note that the funds of an Internal Organisation would normally be Restricted funds unless it could be clearly shown that they could be used for any Methodist purpose. This section must be completed to arrive at the gross income and expenditure totals of the Church. If gross income exceeds the Accruals threshold, then the Accruals method of accounting AND A DIFFERENT FORM must be used to report the accounts (see Methodist website). Please refer to the guidance notes regarding transfers between the District and connected District Organisations.

SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACC
SECTION E
Summary of the Church accounts for the year ended 31 August 2020 and Internal Organisations reporting to the Church Council/Church Meeting. Note that the funds
of an Internal Organisation would normally be Restricted funds unless it could be clearly shown that they could be used for any Methodist purpose. This section must
be completed to arrive at the gross income and expenditure totals of the Church. If gross income exceeds the Accruals threshold, then the Accruals method of
accounting AND A DIFFERENT FORM must be used to report the accounts (see Methodist website). Please refer to the guidance notes regarding transfers between
the District and connected District Organisations.
INTERNAL
ORGANISATIONS		 Receipts Payments Net Receipts/
Payments		 Adjustments Opening
balances		 Closingbalances
e1
e2
e3
e4
e5
e6
e7
e8 Sub total of Internal
Organisations funds		 3,354 (e11) (e12)
e9 Church accounts (totals
brought forward from page
2 - totals column)		 **165,656 ** (a7) **162,302 ** (b9) 3,354 **(1,204) ** (c7) **126,884 ** (c6) 129,034 (c8)
e10 TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD
BY CHURCH		 165,656 162,302 3,354 (1,204) 126,884 (x) 129,034 (y)
Continue on a separate sheet
if necessary and bring the
totals forward		 TOTAL RECEIPTS TOTAL
PAYMENTS

SECTION F

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
CHURCH - CASH FUNDS HELD at 31 August 2020
Cash in hand
Bank Deposit Account
SUB TOTAL - Church accounts
TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH
Bank Current Account
Central Finance Board
Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
Other funds
Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the
closing balance total from above) (e12)		 OPENING
BALANCES
442
101,849
24,593
126,884
(c6)
(e11)
126,884
(x)		 CLOSING
BALANCES
f1 Cash in hand 417
f2 Bank Current Account 103,848
f3 Bank Deposit Account
f4 Central Finance Board 24,769
f5 Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
f6 Other funds
f7 SUB TOTAL - Church accounts 129,034 (c8)
f8 Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the
closing balance total from above) (e12)		 (e12)
f9 TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH 129,034 (y)
SECTION G At At
SECTION G
OTHER ASSETS and LIABILITIES
Other Assets
Land & Buildings (see notes re Insurance
value)
Other Liabilities
Investments(include Endowments)
Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end		 1 September 2019
4,439,000
20,000		 31 August 2020
4,441,014
20,000
g1 Investments(include Endowments)
g2 Land & Buildings (see notes re Insurance
value)		 4,439,000 4,441,014
g3 Other Assets
g4 Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end 20,000 20,000
g5 Other Liabilities

g1 Include any other investments (not the cash element of TMCP trusts accounts this is included in line f5 2015 Church R and P.xls 3 of 5

Name of Church … Lancaster Methodist Church

Declarations and Scrutiny

I confirm that these Receipt and Payment based accounts for the year to 31 August 2020 have been prepared from the records of the Church and that they include all funds under the control of the Church trustees.

Signature of treasurer ……………………………………………………… Date…………………….. 19.11.20

Dr Ian Love Name and address of treasurer ………………………………………………………………………….

10 Johnson Close, Lancaster LA1 5EU …………………………………………………………………………………. Post Code………………

Presentation to the Church trustees

I confirm that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2020 were/will be* ——— presented to the meeting of the Church trustees held on …………….. 19.11.20

Signature of the Chair of the meeting ……………………………………………………………………

Rev Stephen Charman 19.11.20

Name of the Chair of the meeting …………………………………………… Date ……………………

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of the

Lancaster Methodist Church

Charity Number … 1170840

Responsibilities and basis of report

Lancaster Methodist Church for the year ended 31 August 2020 set out on pages 1 to 3. As the Church’s trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the Church’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and, in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

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2015 church R and P.xls

Name of Churth." Lancaster Methodist Churth Independent Examinerfs Statement I havg wmpleted my examinats"on. I confimi that no material matters have wme lo my attention in connection wlh the examination lother than that disdosed belo￿) which give me cause to believe that in, any material resped". the accounting records were not kept in accordance with seclion 130 of the Act., or the accounts do not 8ccor(I wth thg accounting records. I have no con¢ems and have come across no other mattors in connection with the examination to which attèntion should be drawn in this report in order to ena￿e a proper understanding of the accounts lo be reached. I twalhave nor obtained independent verification of all investments with the Trustees for Methodi81 Church PU￿oSe$ or held in other trusts, bank balancas and funds at the Central Finan￿ Board of the Methodist Church which a￿ indiwdually in excess of £10,000 Iten thousand pounds) al the balanc& shael date. Signature of independent examiner Natne of independent examiner M Ict4,4EL riiLtsAYw. Sahl Acc8 Relevant professional qLtalification of independent examiner Name of firni {where appropriatel Address Post Cade Date Ib-lo-lolo delete or arde as appropriate Sep19 2015¢thurth R P 5rf5