AGM- 2023 Report from Revd Richard Pope: our Ministcr
There are so many things that infiuence our life together as followers of
Jesus; some are positive and some are negative - some come from among
us and some from outside. The negative impact of the street preachers in
LeeL has, l think, affected attitudes toward the churches in Leek.
Attitudes to pray¢r have also shown vast differences of opinion when
there is no one 'right' answer or one 'right' way of prdying, and from
conversations I have had. people among us are praying and thinking
deeply about their faith. The issues generated by the 'God in Love Unites
Us, report to th¢ Methodist Conference and the Human Sexuality reports
to the General Assembly of the United Refornied Church mcan that the
decision to register to offer same-sex marriages can also be diScus￿d by
us - and we have the opportunity to show the open, affwming love of Jesus
or to reject people. which is something I don't see in the Gospel accounts
of Jesus apart from the stories of the religious hypocrites of the day. This
particular issue has a potential to cause division as people's starting points
are very different. But the older I geL the more I look at some of these
issues, and the more of life I experience, the words of Jesus not only seem
more pcrtinent but wise - 'let thc person who is without sin cast the first
stone,. Our theology also believes that it is God who deals with sin, not
us. But there are those who would prefer to sort it for God - and we are
back to the street preachers!
However, I still see amongst us at Trinity a people tying to live out their
discipleship and being faithful to Jesus. Not agreeing does not make one
less of a follower of Jesus than another. How we disagree may show how
well we follow Jesus.
The beginning of th¢ year made us realise how much we appreciated
having heating in the church! The boiler Issue did affect how we marked
Advent and Christmas last year and also led the Gathering to relocate to
Cheddleton. Although there was some heat by ChriS￿as, the boilers were
not fully functioning until January. We are very grateful to those who look
after our building and its contents.
Whil¢ the govornmcnt IJ comin8 undcr xnAtiny over thelr handllng of The
pandemic, we have been made aware of the on-going infiuence of the
pandemic, with some people returning to We(Inesday Coffee earlier in the
year saying it was the f￿st time they had been out since 20201 Part of it
has been Icarning to livc with anothw rcspirdtory virus which will be
present with all the others.
As we have been doing more and more in persoffj the on-line worship
became irnpossible to continue as th¢ editing w&s so time consuming - the
last on-line video w&g made in February.

Wednesday coffee continues to do well and is ￿gUallY very busy, as is the
Cinema Club.
The work w¢ do with Abi such as the Craft and Fun mornings seem to
have been well received but the summer holiday club was not. This
seemed to be a sirnilar issue across the Circuit where the summer holiday
clubs were run.
A few of us attended the Circuit trip to Iona which saw a week of mix¢d
weather! It W&8 intcrcsting to scc how, for some, it was like Putting on an
old glove and those who hadn't been before adapted to island life very
well. It was one of the newbies who w&s brdve enough to take a paddle in
the seal
It was another opportunity to discuss things of the Spirit and faith - and
how we infonn our faith which can be expresscd through words and
activity and art and silence. We continue to discuss faith in worship as
well as house groups and Lent and Autumn Sts￿y courses.
We have once again picked up the ideas of worshipping differently with
Coffee, Cakes and Questions, Taize and Julicn services taking place
recently. We recognise that habits have changed since the pandemic, but
we seem to be picking ourselves up and dusting ourselves off quite well.
Our worship has been enhanced by musicians and readers, actors and
people willlng to share of themselves. Thank you.
We have also been left bereft by the deaths of our friends - and this year
we have lost a number. There are on-going issues and illnesses that come
and go which can be challenging to u& but there is a lot of support offered
amongst th¢ congregation.
It was quite a shock when the URC Synod infornied us they were stopping
the post I cU￿entlY fill. We are well aware of the decline within the
churches across this island and genernlly within the West. When the
fonner Leek Circuit joined with the forn]er Cheadle Circuit - it was a sign
of the decline facing our denominations" there were 23 churches in the
Circuit at that time, there gre now l O, we had 5 full time ministers of
Word and Sacrdment plus one in secular ap￿)Intmen( whereas from
Scptcmbcr 2024 there wlll be two full Ilmc mfintsters in this Circuit.
I am reminded of a conversation I Iwl with a member in Devon who said
to me more than twenty years ago, 'Will there be a church for you to retire
from?" There may not bc - but that doesn't mean there won't be followers
of Jesus. Things may change: how we do 'church' will change and it is
highly likely that the church as an institution may also radically alter, but
while the story of the life, dcath and resurrection of Jesus continues to be
told, and inspires, challenges, heals and impacts people's actions thus
helping to build the kingdom of God in word and deed. we need not fear
change; taking our part in th¢ conversations is the only way to infiuence it.

This wilI also be the last AGM report I write for Trinity: thank you for
journeying with me. putting up with new hymn& modern words to old
tunes, having an occasional go at something different. Thank you also to
those among you who have offered healing space and have listened during
extremely difficult times for me, Daniel and Aeddan over the last ten
years, and thank you for those of you who kept out of it.
Next summer when there will b¢ different futures for u& I am confidcnt
we will all go fon¥ard as God's people, trusting in the love of God and the
hope of the Gospel and working for God's kingdom of justice and peace.
Richard

A unlted
con8re8ation
Trinity Church,
(Methodist United Reformed)
Russell Street,
Leek, Staffs.,
ST13 5JF
The Methodlst
Church
and
The Unlted
Reformed
Church
Telephone: 01538 398483
Emall:
ch rchl
uwclub.net
Registered Charity Number: 1171597
Trinity Church, Leek
Accounts for the year
September 1" 2022 to
August 31st 2023
Pages 1-7

Ill Ill
W w¢

TRINITY CHURCH, LEEK". YEAR ENDING 315fAUGUST 2023 Other Acc(wnts and Funds
Account &. CONTINGENCY FUND ICentr41 Anance aoard, CF81 {'1
Balance brought forward Sept 1° 2022
£77,195.00
Interest CFB IA061
£2.673.83
Transfer from Nat West General 2911112022
£7,750.00
Transfer fiom Nat West General 1410212023
£21,000.00
Transfer from Nat West Gèneral 1010512023
£7,000.00
Transfer from Nat West General 3110512023
£7,OW.00
Transfer ffom Nat W@gt Goneral 3010912023
£7,7SO.00
Transfer from Nat West General 3ty0812023
£6,OLKI.00
INB: E55m assessments: £1,5
addltjonal
Assessment > Circuit IDIDI Code IN021
£55,OCQ
Balan¢e ￿f3v08
202J
£81.308.83
£136,368.83
£136.368.83
Account I: CAPITAL RESERVE FUND lieek Unlted Bulldl Sod
Balante brou
ht forward
£28
94.70
Interest Added
A7
£165.43
No TFRS to NATWEST 2022-2023
Balanc•
202Y
£28.660.13
E28 660.13
Account m: CHURCHES MUTUAL CREDrr UNION
Balance Brou
ht Forward
Dlvldend Credlteil
CMCU
£Sm9.2y
£5.03
No wlthdrawals 2022-2023
£0.00
Balance elf at 3110812023
£5.03430
£5,034.30
£5.034.30
Funds wlthln Natwwt bank account z n (yneral), t (taxl. b {benevolent) y (youth). r (re￿¢ell
Fund tTAXTO HMRC
Desl nat•d
Start balance 11912022
Tax on Funeral Fees It/A18
Tax + NEST
enslon+NI
Staff Wa
£54.97
£21.20
£46.00
£30.17
Pa
ments to HMRC
TAX
B•lance (If at 3V812023
+ NEST from tITAX
£90.40
£60.23
£30.17
es
NB T•x Refvnds due io em
es
Fund b BENEVOLENT FUND IR•strl¢t•d)
Start balance 11912022
Interest from TMCP
bl804
£902.51
£85.78
£988.29
Wlthdrawal$ 2022-2023 blB05
8alanc• ¢lf at 3110812013
£653.46
£33483
£988.29
Fund YYOUTM EVE1￿5 FUND (Des
Start balan￿ 11912022
£1,233.70
Sunda
rou
+ Easter M05
lanG• Gll * 3110812023
É308.41
£925.29
£1133.70
233.70
Fund r Refu
ees ￿n￿lIent Fund (Restrlcted
Start balance 11912022
2619122 Donations
£467.60
£20.00
Wlthdrawals 2022-23 rlGIO
Balon¢e ¢lf 013110812023
£487.60
£0.00
£487.60
£0.00
Page 2

I l Our assessment to the Methodist Clrcuit and URC Synod is transferred from our general account lalc n) to the
Methodist Central Finan￿ Board ICFBI la/cl during the course of the year, from where rt Is debited by the
Staffordshire Moorlands Circuit1£55,CQO).
Page 2

Trea$ureffs Report for Trinity Church. Leek (Methodlst and Unlted Reformed)
to the Charfty Commlsslon. Sept 1st 2021-Au8 3tst 2023 (Charlty Nymber: 1171597)
General: Th1$ year has wn a futher continuation of the return to some klnd of normality followln8 Covid. The
Offertory has reduced from 2021-22 by £3,707 due to the sad deaths of several long standlng church members.
The dedit*Son of Church Members, who stlll feel unable to attend worshipfft in ensurin8 their Offertory envelo
reach Trinlty has also help$. Booklngs of our Lower Hall and Foyer space have reduced by £1,153 as we lost some
regular hI￿r$ as a result of the few Mont￿ we had without heatin8 whilst our boller was belng replaced.
Our own re8ular c¢)ffee mornlnBS whlch provlde a soclal envlronment as well as income, have continued to
improve wlth £4.897 ralsed and our regular fllrn clubs have provlded Income of £2.846
Our normal prnctlce of Mak1￿ appea15 at Festlval tlmes took place at Harvest. Chrlstmas and Easter and many
people made donatlons dlrectly to our sUPPOrted Charltles as well as via Trlnlty. Isee Page 7 for detalls)
Reeelpts: Our Offertory contlnued to be sufflclent forTrfnlty to pay Its pledged Assessment to the Methodlst
Clrcult, whlch, as Trlnlty 1$ an LEP ILocal Ecumenlcal Partnershlp), transfers Mlnlsterlal costs to the Unlted
Reformed Church for our Mlsslon and Mlnlstry. Glvlng for speclal appeals throughout the year was p•ld out
dlrertly to the reclplent charftles. The Glft Ald reclalmed from HMRC was down by al)out £1.036 malnly due to th•
¥fornmentloned reductlon In Olfertorf85
An In$uran¢e b¥lanc• of £l.306.99 relatlng to los$ of Income durfng COVID was rrfelved. aloTr8 wfth a Grant of
£15066.00 from th¢ Untted Refornied Church towards the new l)oller
Payments.. The effert of COVID has reduc•d fvrth¢r slnce last year on our oirt8oln83 . Our Mlnlstry contlnues to b¢
enhanced by produclng materlals prfnt•d matèrlal$. whlch are made avallable. These are all r•ferenced under the
tsb 'Mlnlstry under COVIV. the Increase of £203 from145t year reflects the Increased post88e tosts.
We were able to malntsln our a55essm¢nt to the Methodlst Clrcuft of £55.000.
'MaJor Work, Includes £28,464 for th¢ r¢pla¢¢mont boller, £1.607.78 for temporary heaters and £1,999.62 lor
èrnergenry cellln8 repalrs whlch w•r• carrl•d out
'Ropalrs & Renewals, Included ¥arlou$ malntonance wo￿, In addltlon to tho re8ul•r ￿$ts, th• bl88•St of whlch
were £1.065.60 Uft Remedlal work and £1,026.31 work on thg old l>o11or
'GaslElectrle costs have Increased by £2882.54 followlng a slgnlflcant Increase when our Gas contrnrt was
renewed, we have not yet been Impacted by th• Elertrlclty Increase as we are stlll In ¢ontrart untll th? end of
August 2023.
Other Utility ¢osts and thè Insuraneè prémlurn $how onty mlnlmal Incr•asts thls year.
We were able to transfer £1.5(￿) to our reseThes durlng the year
Donatlons: Planned Tlthed glvlng of £5,31XI 110% of dlrert 8lvlng) to pre-ayeed ¢harltles as well as our Festlval
glvlng Is summarlsed on page 7.
Conclusion: We have managed to maintaln our Assessment I￿t had to redu¢e ourttth¢d £lvln8 as w• have lost a
number of long 5tandlng church members
Energy costs wlll contlnue to b• a thalleng• and w• wlll start to g•tth• Impart of th• El•ctrfclty Incr•aM followin8
the end of our old contract. It ts very dlfflcult to Pa55 on the full offert of the Increa5e5 to external hlrer5 wlthout
losln8 them attogÈther.
Re8ular malntenance of our bulldlng rontlnues to b? a cost wlth some mor• Potsntlal repalrs In 2023124 whlch
may requlre some more transfers from our reserves.
Robln McDuell {Church Treasu￿r}. November 3rd 2023
Page 4b

Independent examlnerfs report to the trurtees of Trfnitychurch, Leek
I report to the trustees on my examlnatlonbf the accounts of Trlnlty Church, LeeK on pages 1-4 for
the year ended 31" August 2023
R•¥Jonsiblllt1￿ and l)asls of report.
As the charltytTUStees of the Trust you are iespon51ble forthe preparatlon of the accounts In
accordance wlth the requlrement5 of the Charitie5 Act 20111.the ACYI.
I report In respect of rny exarnlnatlon of the Tru3t'5 accounts carrled out under sectlon 145 of the
2011 Act and In carrylng out my examlnat(on I have followed all the appllcable Dlrectlons glven by
the Charity Commlsslon under sectlon 14515llbl of the Act.
Inde￿ndent Exwmlnerfs Ststement
I have completed my examlnatron. I confim that no rnaterlal rnatters have come to my attentlon In
connection with the exarnination glvtng me cause to belleve that In any m3tsr(al respect:
accounting records were not kept In respe¢t of the Trust 05 requSred by 5ertlon 130
of the Att,. or
the accounts do not aerord wlth these records- or
the accounts do not tomply wlth the appllcable requlremenls concernlne the form
nd content of accounts set out In the Ch8rltle5 (Accounts and Reportsl ReBulatlons
2008 other than any requlrement that the accounts give a 'true and fair vlew whlch
is not a mattèr consldered as part of an Independent examlnatlon,.
I have no concern5 and have come across no other matters In connertlon wlth the examlnatlon to
whlch attention should be drawn In thi5 report In order to enable a proper underst8ndln8 of thè
accounts to be reached.
Ollver Newey ACA
Slgned:
Date..
231,:/.z3........-...........
Pose S

A unrted
congregation
of
The Mèthodlrt
Church
and
Th¢ Unlted
Reformed
Church
Trinity Church,
(Methodlst United Reformed)
Russell Street,
Leek, Staffs.,
ST13 5JF
Telephone: 01538 398483
Email: trlni
ch
Registered Charlty: 1171597
Trfnlty Church Accounts 2022-2023
The atcounts on Pages I to 4 were presented to. and approved by, the
Church Mèetin8 held on
30th November 2023
Slgned on behaff of the trustees:
Rev Rlchard Pope Ichalrpersonl
Mrs Maureen Wi5kln Ichurch Seuetaryl
Date.,
Pay6

Allocatlon of cents* chjrth ts (harfd•$ 2012-2023
Doi
Methodlst Mission in Britain Fund
Methodist World Mission Fund
Leaders of Worship and PreachersTntst
MHA
Action for Children
URC Commitment for Ltfe
Leek Town Centre Youth Pro'ectl 21)
Leek Foodbank
Asha
A Rocha UK
D02
D02
D02
D03
D04
D05
D05
D07
£i,o
L700
£450
£500
£1s(x)
£150
£iso
£200
£550
TOTAL
£5,300
Charltsble Monltt In Tr1￿ 2022-2(Q3
Evffltlncome
FOI Harvest
Glft Ald 511
s sent to ￿￿StIan Ald dl
F02 Chr15tmas
aL
Credit
PoldAwoy to•>
Deblt
£617.00
£134Q(X
GOI Hanost
Chrlstlan Atd)
G02 Actlon Ald Uk lthrlstmasl.
G02 Leek Foodbank Ichrlstmasl.
G03 Prartical Actkln
Easter
G03 Wlndmllls IEasterl'
£627.00
£620.00
£620.00
F03 Easter Ap
al
F05 Chrtstian Ald
Indlvlduals also contrlbut•d onllne)
F06 MHAA
eal
F07 Actlon for Chlldrefi IXmaslAforC
f*)5 Cthrfstlan Atd
1>)6 MHA•
£867.33
£360.00
ènvs
F08 Speclal Ap￿al$ IPakistan Floods
£202nurke Earthquake £868
FII ASHA
F12 Falrtrade Coffee Mornin81£468
Coffee Mornin8 plus £50 D¢natlon
kth)n forchlldren.
G08 Speclal Appeab {Paktstan Floods
£20
Earthquake £868 '
GII ASHA•
£720.35
£1.070.Th)
£1.070,
£20.
£5th
£62X68
G12 Transfomi Ttsde
TOTAL.
tTh *Also donatlons equlvalent to Glft
Ald pald to Redp5ents marked
£51&
£6,230.68
£915.98