2020-12-31-accounts - The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of St Mary's Goudhurst

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St Mary’s Goudhurst Book of Reports for the Annual Parochial Church Meeting

October 2020 - April 2021

Introduction - Revd Rachel Robertson

We are the Body of Christ, and each one of us is a part of it 1 Corinthians 12:27

There are many ways in which we participate in being part of the Body - ways which give glory to God and help to build each other up as we follow Christ together. Not all of those ways are noted in a document! However, each year, we try and capture different areas of our church life in the Book of Reports. This is a key part of what is reported at our APCM.

Each report will:

summarise what this area of church life is about, its purpose;
review the October 2020-April 2021 period, highlighting what has gone well, what has been learnt, and crucially, learning to notice where God has been at work;
give prayer pointers so that we as a church family can be praying for this area.

		Page
Introduction & contents page	Revd Rachel	1
Vicar’s report - January - April 2021	Revd Rachel	3
Letter from our Churchwardens	Ali Williams and Simon Taurins	4
Safeguarding	Andrea Kirkby	5
Worship	Revd Rachel	5
Services - 8am	Anthony Farnfeld	6
Services - 10.45am	Wes Hinsley	6
Services - 5pm	Wendy Loy	7
Sung worship	Wes Hinsley	7
Preaching	Revd Rachel	8
Weald School of Theology	Kat Ogden	8
10am prayer & bible study	Becky Addis	9
Small groups	Martin Loy	9
Prayer ministry	Claire Cooke	10
Ministry with children and young people	Caroline Turvey	10
Weald Family Hub	Louise Vickerman	12

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		Page
Cafe Toddlers	Kat Ogden	13
Goudhurst Primary School	Lindsay Roberts	13
Community Cupboard	Ali Mackey	15
Connect	Ali Williams	16
Lend with Care	Rosemary Southon	16
Buildings - Eco Church - Church rooms - St Mary’s - Friends of St Mary’s	Sam Davis Brian Ferdinando Ali Williams Pam Stubbs	16 17 18 19
Stewardship - Finance	Revd Rachel Dave Lodge	20
Flower arranging	Ali Williams	21
Bell Ringing	Rosemary Southon	21
Churches Together	David Denton	21
Weald Deanery	Kat Ogden	22
Organisational structure: - Proceedings of the PCC - Leadership structure - Church ofce - Administrative information	Barney Mayhew Revd Rachel Becky Addis	22 25 26
Thank yous		27

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Vicar’s Report January - April 2021 - Revd Rachel Robertson

Being Vicar of St Mary’s, Goudhurst with Christ Church, Kilndown in January 2021 is a joy. My family and I have felt the warmth of your welcome and love from the outset and this has helped us to feel at home here despite starting as another national lockdown began. It is a privilege to serve you as together, as God’s family, we discern how to listen to God and work on his mission here in this context.

Overall vision and purpose

When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus replied:

“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22: 37-40)

This will always be our vision, that we go back to again and again to remind ourselves of who we are, and why we do the things that we do. Please read my letter to the benefice dated 21 April 2021 which further outlines how this may translate into action this coming year.

Thank you

Thank you for making us feel so welcome as a family, in particular the welcome from several young people to our children. A big cheer from me to the rest of the Robertson family who are awesome and behind the scenes enable me to be here as your Vicar. Thank you particularly to Simon and Ali for their vital support as Churchwardens, Becky as Administrator, Caroline as lay minister, the PCC and Leadership Team, the worship team, those who contribute to ministries noted in this report.

I’ve already said that ways to build up the Body of Christ do not always have a heading, or title, so thank you to everyone who has been attentive to how God is calling you to serve and worship him in daily life - from stirring the baked beans with grace, praying whilst walking the dog, caring for a loved one who is ill, to telling your friend at school that church is a place where they would be welcome.

Blessing

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

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Letter from Churchwardens - Ali Williams and Simon Taurins

What a change six months brings! At the time of our last APCM - just over six months ago, we were facing winter-time and a period of extended anticipation - a likely deeper lockdown, wondering how Christmas would happen, no confirmation of dates for Rachel’s start date, yet hoping that 2021 would bring some relief, freedom and renewal for all.

On 7 January 2021, Rachel was instituted and inducted as vicar of the United Benefice of Goudhurst and Kilndown. And what a United Benefice we are - this Interregnum has brought our congregations properly together; something to really rejoice in. Every step that we have taken in this new world has felt as though we have been all together, and that has been a wonderful thing.

It is with great thanks and appreciation to our Tech Team that we were able to live-stream and record Rachel’s induction. Bishop Rose spoke vividly of how “church” has entered our homes this last year. Church has not just entered “our” homes but the homes of many, many more than we could have imagined.

In our letter last year, we noted that the Church, and our church, has never reached so many people and in particular, we have never known so many pray together. We have seen so much answer to prayer this year, on a personal and corporate level. We know that God has truly intervened in the most hope-less of situations. We know too that people around us, human beings, with all their frailties, have responded to God’s prompting and been themselves the answer to prayer for others in so many ways.

Our doors were closed for a while, and our singing voices have been muffled, but the church has not been stifled. It is likely that never in this generation, has the contribution of the church, and our church, and its Christian community been so impactful and appreciated, despite its doors being closed to “normal” business. We must not let go of this compassion that has gripped us.

We are excited for our church. We have an ambition to care more and if, under Rachel’s guidance, we can love those around us to a greater extent, then we are doing exactly what Christ’s Great Commission required. Caring more is not easy and it will require us to stretch ourselves, and probably to sacrifice in a way in which might be uncomfortable, but there is nothing better than to live knowing that we are living to the call that Jesus has upon us.

As we write this, we look forward to the day when the church can be full again, when we can sing and dance (well maybe not all dance!) together. When Wes and the band can lead us in Hallelujahs, and perhaps tears too. To embrace those we know, and those we don’t, young and old, of one tradition or another, mended and broken.

As wardens, if re-elected, this is the sixth and last year that the two of us can hold this office - and that rhythm seems right. We will be ready to pass on to the next generation of warden team who will bring different gifts for a different phase in our church life. Just as we were called, we are confident that there are others, as unprepared as we, to step forward with a little courage, and enjoy the blessing that will follow.

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Safeguarding Report - Andrea Kirkby - Safeguarding Co-Ordinator

Throughout the year I have been carrying out various DBS checks, either for new volunteers, of which we have had many, or a five year re-check.

I attended the online annual Safeguarding Conference in January. One area for discussion was online Church and how this would continue once we can physically attend Church again. They also went through all the current and new procedures, including a few “do’s and don’ts” with Live Streaming.

The Diocese are now offering all training online. There are three training courses offered a Basic and a Foundation, which can be accessed at any time and a Leadership course, which is run via Zoom. Rachel and I have gone through those volunteers that need to complete these training courses and agreed which level of training is required. I am currently in the process of ensuring that everyone completes the appropriate level of training to keep us in line with the Diocese’s requirements. However, online training is not for everyone; some have struggled with accessing the course. Once we are able to meet in person I will run the Basic and Foundation courses in the Church. I recently did the online Leadership course as my last training was over three years ago and needed renewing. I was pleased to see that we already carry out the procedures that the Diocese require us to follow.

Caroline Davis has very kindly offered to be our Domestic Abuse Listener. Our website and posters etc have been updated to include this.

I am currently in the process of writing Guidance notes/Operation manual for the Community Cupboard with the help of Ali MacKey, following several minor issues that have been raised.

Worship - Revd Rachel

Often we use worship to mean singing. Sometimes we expand this to all of gathering in a service. In fact, our whole lives count as a worship offering. We are to glorify God in all of who we are and all we do. At the Holy Communion service I use the words: ‘we thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you’ which reminds us how holy God is. We also remind ourselves that we worship God ‘in all times and in all places.’ This is our calling every day and each year. I have a long list of highlights but an edited version include every time someone has stepped out of their comfort zone to participate in and help to enable worship (whether that’s logging on to Zoom for the first time, or leading up front), Holy Week, Easter Day, hearing the choir and band, Angela’s testimony on the role of music in lockdown worship, a gathering of praise on line when we heard good news about Ariana and wanted to praise God together. I could continue! I commend you for the ways you have been faithful in worship during a testing period.

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The 8am service - Anthony Farnfield

The 8 am service at St Mary’s takes place every Sunday morning.

We have moved from sitting in the choir stalls to sitting in the main body of the church but the service retains its intimacy.

This is a quiet, reflective communion service lasting some 40 minutes based on the Book of Common Prayer, together with a short homily from the Minister. If you would like to join us you would be one of about 15 to 20 worshippers on average and you will receive a gentle but warm welcome.

The 10:45 service - Wes Hinsley

The 10:45 service at St. Mary’s is probably our noisiest meeting, with Sunday clubs, sometimes the full band, sometimes breakfast, usually cake and biscuits, prayer ministry, and lots of hugs and talking together. It has been hard for us to miss all of this for so long, but we have been on a journey trying out different approaches to do whatever we can.

Before Summer, we were producing pre-recorded services each week, which were creative and exciting, with lots of faces, young and old appearing each week. These continue to gather more views on YouTube! Along with needing quite a lot of preparation work, perhaps the other thing we started to notice, was that they didn’t feel as live as we really wanted them to feel; YouTube chat while the service played, and sending each other a peace message by phone started to feel insufficient for how we wanted and needed to feel “together.”

From September through to December, with the help and commitment of an amazing growing technical crew, we streamed the 10:45 service live from St. Mary’s on YouTube, with a skeleton socially distant crew, and people joining in with the YouTube chat. For us in the church, it was good to fill the room with lights, with a message, the Bible being read, someone praying, and the band praising, and for people to join in from home, or watch later in the day. Yet that also felt somewhat incomplete. Fewer people could be actively involved, and those at home may have felt a little disconnected from the singing and speaking into a largely empty church which would normally be our home.

In New Year, following in the footsteps of the daily 10:00 prayer meetings, and the fortnightly 5:00 service, the 10:45 took the plunge onto Zoom. This is the approach which, for now, we have settled into. Like all our efforts, it is imperfect; we suffer from occasional internet blips, and while we can praise together at the same time, it is sad that we have to be muted while we sing (otherwise chaos quickly ensues!). We can see each other’s faces – many faces! – and talk to each other live. We’ve once again heard different voices praying and reading scripture, and again, a growing team of wonderful servants has kept the technical and administrative things running. And just recently for Easter Sunday, the band gathered in a garden to make a louder celebratory sound fitting to celebrate a glorious Resurrection.

Please would you join in praying for us?

That we’d have God’s wisdom about when, and how best to meet in church again
For the health and wellbeing of our congregation through these times, especially for people who may feel cautious or vulnerable about being in a crowd again. We do

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not want anyone to feel abandoned or forgotten as we begin meeting together again.

For all our teams – kids’ clubs, prayer ministry, musicians, and technical team – that we’ll have wisdom, and faith that God will do great things with us!
Pray about whether you might like to be part of one of these teams, if you aren’t already!

The 5 o ’ clock Service - Wendy Loy

The ‘5 o’clock’ is an informal meeting with an extended time of worship through music, followed by an open discussion based on a bible passage. The format is less structured than the morning services giving more space for testimony and prayer. The meeting moved from being once a month in church, to twice a month on Zoom during the first lockdown in Spring 2020. At this time, the music is led by Wes on guitar, without the support of more band members. Participants are allowed to sing in their own homes, but while on mute on Zoom.

Regular participants of the 5 o’clock value the time, space, and freedom to encounter God through his Holy Spirit. It is a warm fellowship which encourages and supports one another, while remaining open and welcome to new people. In the last 6 months, we have seen new people stepping up to teach, share and pray.

As we move into a transition period, we pray for guidance on how to return to worship together in person, with singing and a larger band. At the same time, we seek to maintain the informality and openness in sharing and praying. We have a vision of a banner lifted high above Goudhurst, proclaiming Jesus as Lord. We pray that by his Holy Spirit, God will continue to meet with us during the 5 o’clock and draw in new people to know God in a new way or for the first time.

Sung worship - Wes Hinsley

“I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me”, is written by David in Psalm 13:6, yet it follows deep yearning questions of “How long Lord?” about David’s sorrows and trials. I’m sure many of us have had some questions a bit like that recently. But like David, we have continued to sing to God with trust and praise, just in different ways, from our homes, and in videos! Singing to the Lord is one of the things to keep us focussed on who God is, which has been vital in these uncertain times.

For the band, the months before Summer were busy videoing and assembling new recorded songs each week for pre-recorded meetings. Through Autumn, we met a few times in church to play together and be streamed to the world on YouTube! It was great to be together, and yet so strange to be in church without our congregation able to be there with us.

Through December, as another lockdown began, we recorded songs for Christmas, and were delighted some of the choir could join us. Particularly, I remember the richness of choir voices singing “O come let us adore Him” blending with the band in “Light of the world” as a vivid and moving reminder of the unity we have in praising together.

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Revd. Rachel’s ordination in early January also provided another such moment, where David and the Kilndown choir, and the St. Mary’s band contributed recordings both separately, and combining together, to fill the evening with praise, as much as we could in these times.

Since then, we have enjoyed singing together on Zoom – limited by having to be muted, yet still feeling and knowing we are all singing the same things together, from our homes. The Holy Week leading to Easter was also rich with daily meetings and devotions, including some new and beautiful recordings, and ending with a first attempt to play as a band over Zoom from a garden for Easter Sunday morning.

We really hope that the different videos, recordings, and attempts to sing over Zoom have been helpful and inspiring, and enabled us to sing together even while apart. And we would love you to pray for us too!

That we’ll all be able to sing praise together – safely, and soon!
Pray for God’s blessing and inspiration among our creative people; for music and songs to be written, found, or remembered, that will help us to worship God in these times.
Pray for our teams to grow in confidence, in skill, in sensitivity to the Holy Spirit in all we do.
Pray for more people to join us too – and pray about whether you’d like to be part of us. You would be very welcome!

Preaching - Revd Rachel

We are a church family who love the bible and we have more to learn as we delve into it together. It is where we learn who God is and then become more confident in articulating that in our every day lives. We have been blessed to have a range of preachers sharing their insights on scripture and how it might be applied. I am especially thankful for those who have preached and been willing to do so on line. It’s a responsibility and honour to preach. Please know I am always open to feedback.

Weald School of Theology - Kat Ogden

The Weald School of Theology has taken the form of groups meeting in St Mary’s on a regular weekday evening for a term at a time to watch high-quality streamed lectures delivered from the St Paul’s Theological Centre, based at St Mellitus in London. The lectures are based on a different theme each term, for example ‘The World of The Old Testament’ and the streamed lectures are followed by a time of discussion with the evening ending with Compline. An average of 20 people from across the Deanery and beyond have attended the School of Theology each term.

The last School of Theology term was held in autumn 2019. There were plans to work closely with Rev. David Commander to deliver a course in 2020 in Benenden and to continue to grow the offering, however this has been on hold due to Covid.

We ask for your prayers for wisdom in when is the right time to resume offering this resource across the Deanery.

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10:00 Zoom prayers and Bible Study - Becky Addis

Our 10:00 Zoom prayer and Bible Study continues to flourish with 20-30 people continuing to log on each day, Monday to Saturday to pray together, catch up with one another, listen to God’s word and then discuss what God might be calling us to do. This new ministry, which sprung up at the start of the first lockdown, has become so important to those involved, whether they join once a week or six times a week – a new community has emerged and evolved, and God has created new, supportive friendships which cross over both churches and the various services.

I am so thankful to those in the 10:00 community who have been attentive to God’s call to step out courageously in faith and be part of this ministry – whether that is in a leadership role leading the prayers and bible study, or simply turning up, day in, day out, to pray for the world, for the community and for each other. We have seen God answering our prayers, and that has been so exciting – I can’t wait to see what God has planned going forward. We would love people to feel able to join us – the link is on the home page of the GK Church website – we’ll see you there at 10:00!

Small Groups - Martin Loy - Small Group Co-ordinator

Small Groups are a wonderful opportunity for members of GK Church to develop closer and stronger bonds with a small number of people from within the larger church. Small Groups meet in a variety of settings: to enjoy fellowship, learn from the Bible and each other, and support one another practically and in prayer. There is a real richness and diversity in the existing groups and an appetite from many others in the church to be involved in a group. We have a strong core of current leaders, with many others keen to step up and take on leadership of groups too.

Despite the ongoing challenges of Covid restrictions some groups have continued to meet online. Some groups have largely been ‘on hold’, or meeting very intermittently, whilst other groups have come to a natural end, or their composition is about to change due to leaders or members moving on. The benefit of being part of a small group has been highlighted in recent months and so a number of new people have expressed an interest in joining a group.

This is an exciting time of growth and an opportunity to enable this key area of church life to thrive even more. I have recently taken on the coordination of Small Groups and (working alongside Revd Rachel and possibly one other) am looking to enable this ministry to strengthen, develop and deepen.

We pray for ongoing wisdom as some groups are reorganised and augmented with new members and for good decisions to be made when seeking to create the best blend of people in each group. We desire that each Small Group can be a vibrant expression of fellowship, discipleship and spiritual growth that can make a direct impact in the lives of each member.

Please contact me if you wish to be involved - martin.loy@gkchurch.org

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Please pray that the right person would be drawn to serve alongside me as a fellow Small group Co-ordinator.

Prayer Ministry - Claire Cooke

In these times prayer has been vital part of our church and has continued to be online. In these current times the prayers continue on Zoom during the week and Saturday morning, where prayers, support and encouragement for each other gives assurance of Jesus love and compassion during these times.

Our emergency prayer chain continues to be a life line for those who need immediate prayer - and we have been blessed and encouraged with healings in Jesus’ name. We are now proficient in praying for those in need and each other online, anytime, anywhere over the internet, tablet or mobile - there are no boundaries and this reminds me Matthew 8 v 5 and the faith of the Roman officer. It demonstrated that we do not need to be physically present to experience our Father’s love, grace and healing - but we look forward to when we can meet together to pray.

Please do contact us if you need prayer and pray for all our community to know that they can come to our church for prayer, and to grow in the knowledge that Jesus listens. We pray for more strength and courage for our community to seek His name in prayer, so that all can experience His love at this time.

Alpha - Caroline Davis

Alpha is a series of interactive sessions that freely explore the basics of the Christian faith. Each talk looks at a different question around faith, giving guests the opportunity to ask questions and share their point of view.

Due to the pandemic, we have been unable to run Alpha in person since our last course ended in March 2020. Ever resourceful, HTB have come up with an online version of Alpha and they have new morning and evening courses starting on April 21st. More information is available at www.htb.org/alpha.

We hope to resume running Alpha courses once the restrictions on meeting together have lifted.

Ministry with children and young people - Caroline Turvey

The Church is a diverse body of people both young and old. Whilst honouring everyone, at GK Church, we also want to make sure the children and young people who belong to this body are brought into relationship with the living Christ as we are. We do this through the work in our Sunday groups, in our homes and with the local schools.

• What’s gone well?

The connection with the school has continued through online outreach in collective worships and special services at crucial times in the church calendar. This has been fun

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and important for the children to know God’s love for them wherever they have been during Covid.

Our GKCK videos have been written, filmed and edited by a small, committed group from GK Church. The Gospel has been shared each week and for those who join from their homes, these have been so important to maintain that sense of belonging to the church family.

Blend has continued online for the children who really need that connection. We have prayed each week for them at the end of the session which is a positive step forward in faith for them as the majority do not attend church at any other time.

• What’s been learnt?

God loves us the same even though we’re not physically in the same building. It’s not been easy, but for those families for whom Christ is central to their lives, what has been provided has been a life-line. There have been some initiatives to connect with children and young people, but where online and physical gatherings haven’t happened, the church community have prayed for them on a regular basis in all gatherings – home groups etc, and specifically at the 10 o’clock zoom prayer.

The older youth want to be a part of what goes on. There are ways for them to be involved and they are valid participants in all that goes on in and around church. God has been using our young people to lead our worship and support the much older, less tech savvy of us to get through a difficult season.

Where is God at work?

We have been challenged as a church to think differently as church. Where we haven’t been able to do all we want to, we have seen families really sharing Jesus more intentionally at home with their children. This has been something that has been in the forefront of the leadership for some time now; for Christ to be central to family life as this is the place where children spend most of their time. God is at work in our homes.

How can the church pray for what’s ahead?

For parents to dig deeper into their own faith to have the confidence to be the missionaries to their own children and grandchildren in their own homes. For the children and young people’s leaders as they support the families in this work, both in our Sunday Groups and with suitable materials to use at home.
For the whole church to find God’s call on their lives for the children and young people. How can each person at GK Church enable each child to flourish in faith as they grow and mature? Whether it be through helping on a Sunday or regularly praying, to truly seek God in this.
For our young people to find their place in the body of Christ. To use their gifts for the building up of all God’s people at GK church.
For all ministries to flourish – for Blend as they return to the church building, that the leaders will continue to share God’s love and light with the young people. For school children to know they are loved through the ministry we continue with there.

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The Weald Family Hub - Louise Vickerman

The Weald Family Hub was established to ensure that mental health support for children, young people and their families is accessible, affordable, and readily available in the village communities of the Weald.

Founded by St Mary’s Church, Goudhurst in 2018, the Weald Churches have come together to provide subsidised professional mental health counselling for Primary School children and family support for those that are struggling in partnership with local children’s charity Fegans. The Hub also provides mentoring support for local primary and secondary school pupils.

As schools re-opened in Autumn 2020 our work began again in earnest in all thirteen of our participating schools. It saw us offering catch-up counselling sessions to seven schools where we were unable to offer sessions due to the Pandemic. With sessions also beginning for the remaining six schools for the new academic year.

Our Parents Supporting Parents co-ordinator, Katie Davis-Clifford, also hit the ground running, working with her team of volunteers continuing to support several local families, some in adapted support sessions run on Zoom.

Mentoring support, run by our co-ordinator Bridget Stewart, will resume at the High Weald Academy with an initial team of six mentors supporting twelve students.

Since it began over three years ago, the Weald Family Hub has supported more than a hundred children with professional mental health counselling in thirteen local Primary Schools, each receiving eighteen weeks of support. It has supported twenty-two families through its Parents Supporting Parents program and eight students through its mentoring scheme.

Dramatic changes in education and home life during the Pandemic have exacerbated the mental health challenges faced by children, young people and families. It was a comfort to know that we were able to start sessions in all our Hub schools as soon as they re-opened and we are very thankful for our strong, continued partnership with Fegans in making this happen.

Looking to the future, experts agree that underlying mental health problems will remain significantly higher because of the pandemic and the need for support is, and will continue to be, greater than we have ever seen before. It is also documented that children's mental health services in England are unable to meet demand with capacity far less than needed to cope with the impact of the Pandemic. For the coming year and beyond the work of the Hub will continue to be critical so that together we can help build mental health resilience and hope in our village communities.

Please keep in your thoughts all those who are suffering with issues of mental health and that our work can continue to support as many of them as possible at a time when they need it most, in particular the children, young people and families in our communities; please also give thanks for the expertise, skills and time given by so many people in support of our work, the team at Fegans, our volunteers and volunteer co-ordinators and to those who have financially supported our work ensuring we realise our vision to transform the lives of children, young people and families in the Weald.

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Café Toddlers - Kat Odgen

Café Toddlers is a wonderful community of parents, carers and their preschool children enjoying coffee, cake, chatter and craft within the Church on Friday mornings. For many of these people it is the only time they come to church and it is wonderful to see the little ones filling and enjoying the space. It was with great sadness that the pandemic forced the group to close in spring 2020.

Government guidance allows for parent and child groups to reopen indoors from mid-April, provided the gathering consists of no more than 15 persons (not counting children under 5) and as I write we are awaiting Church of England guidance on how to reopen safely.

From my own experience of having a baby during the pandemic, I am aware from comparing her behaviour to her older sisters’ that she has really missed out on the benefits of socialisation that Café Toddlers and other groups provide. And so I really recognise the importance of opening this groups up again for both parents and their children.

Henrietta Mayhew has run (and grown) Café Toddlers brilliantly over the past ten years and we are so grateful to her and the rest of the amazing Café Todds team for this wonderful and joy-filled ministry. We cannot wait to fling the doors open once more (even if a booking system does have to be in place to begin with). We ask for your prayers that we are able to safely reopen soon and that when we do we are able to particularly reach out to those children and families within the village and surrounding areas who have been left isolated by the pandemic.

Goudhurst Primary School - Lindsay Roberts - Executive Headteacher

What has gone well?

On Monday 7[th] September, we were delighted to be able to welcome all our pupils back and once again we were reunited as a School Community. Indeed, it was so good to see the children’s smiling faces and hear their voices and laughter fill the classrooms, corridors and playground once more. The children seemed to settle very quickly and it was a joy to see them working alongside their friends, sharing their energy and enthusiasm and to be able once again to, "learn at school."

Over the summer we had worked really hard, putting in place all the necessary measures to ensure that everyone would be able to stay safe over the coming months. The children were grouped into class ‘bubbles’ for all their lessons; we staggered drop-off and pick-ups, breaks and lunch-times and we limited the number of external visitors to the school. We were determined to continue with school life as much as possible albeit we had to be creative holding virtual parents’ evenings, staff meetings, and creating a wonderful video of our end of term Nativity! We were delighted and very grateful that Caroline was able to deliver weekly Collective Worship either as a video or through zoom and sometimes from the comfort of my office! The children were able to enjoy their Christmas lunch, including a socially distanced visit from Father Christmas! The highlight of the term however, was that all the children were able to visit St. Mary’s during the last week of the term and took part in a very special Christmas service – thank you again Caroline. Certainly, for us despite the national restrictions, the Autumn term seemed to go smoothly.

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Unfortunately, following the government’s announcement on the 30th December, all schools in Kent were then directed to close for everyone other than those children classed as ‘vulnerable’ or children of ‘critical workers,’ in order to help contain the community transmission of coronavirus. Little did we know then, that whilst we had planned for a two week closure, on 6th January 2021, we would suddenly find ourselves propelled into yet another national lockdown and ‘weeks’ of remote learning!

What have we learnt?

Having spent all of New Year’s Eve day planning for this scenario, my team and I were confident that everything was in place for as long as would be necessary. This time round, the provision offered online had increased considerably, with a wide range of media available to support lessons and alternative ways for children to share their learning with their teacher and teaching assistants. Whilst we had made the right decision not to live teach whole classes, we looked forward over forthcoming weeks to activate small live catch up groups and we invited specific children to join these sessions if they needed extra support. At school in our critical worker bubbles our Teaching Assistants utilized our recently arrived Chromebooks to access the same learning as their classmates. We also reached out to a lot of families at home and offered laptops to those that needed it. We felt blessed that Reverend Rachel had finally arrived at St. Mary’s and we are looking forward to the day we can welcome her properly into school and resume face to face Collective Worship.

Thankfully, the 8[th] March marked the end of our second school closure and hopefully the last! As I am writing this I cannot believe that we have reached the end of yet another busy albeit unusual term. Although we have only been back in school for three weeks, it has been fantastic to see the children really getting back into their stride with their learning. I am delighted to report that the children have enjoyed a variety of activities already; our reception children learnt all about First Aid; Year 1, 3 and 5 were propelled back through the ages learning about ‘toys,’ ‘Kings and Queens,’ and the ‘Vikings.’ Year 2 enjoyed looking after baby chicks and learnt all about new life-perfect for the lead up to our Easter Celebrations! Year 4 were able to experience our Forest School and Year 6 have been fascinated by their topic on Coasts, Rivers and Mountains! As lockdown restrictions continue to ease, they are even hoping that their normal end of term activities will also be able to resume!

Where is God Moving?

Indeed, it was wonderful to end the term altogether watching the Easter Service specially prepared by Reverend Rachel, Caroline and the team – thank you to everyone who was involved, it truly lifted our spirits. We are of course sorry to be saying goodbye to Caroline Turvey after the Easter break but we wish her lots of luck in the next phase of her journey to becoming a Vicar- she has touched our lives in many ways with her love, passion, energy and enthusiasm and she will be sorely missed.

There is no doubt, the feeling around school is very positive; it’s lovely to hear the school alive and buzzing again. Everyone has slipped straight back into our now "normal" routines and safety measures and we are so proud of how the children have coped with the strange year that they have experienced so far. We are delighted that Reverend Rachel has joined our Board of Governors and will be a shining light in the future decisions of the Federation.

As we enter what I hope is the final chapter of the pandemic, I think it is fair to say that this has not been the year we expected or planned for. We faced challenges that could only have been imagined and coped with unprecedented levels of disruption and

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uncertainty. Whilst many organisations have had to close their doors, schools have valiantly pushed on providing a refuge for vulnerable and keyworker children during the first and third lockdowns, developing remote learning opportunities and since September coping with rising levels of infections in the wider community, whilst trying to provide a safe learning environment in school. But we have taken comfort in the knowledge that God has supported and guided us through these unchartered waters.

Finally, I am very proud to say that despite all the challenges the pandemic has presented and continues to present, the staff, governors, children and parents have continued to show enormous determination, creativity and resilience and as a community we have become ‘stronger together.’

Community Cupboard – Ali Mackey

The purpose of the Community Cupboard is to offer short term or periodic food parcels for households finding themselves in financial difficulties whilst a solution to their financial problem is sought. We will also continue to support anyone needing longer term help. We regard the food parcels as a gift from the church and a demonstration of God’s love and a tangible way in which we can share God’s provision with the community.

Between October 2020 and April 2021, we have been supporting around 20-23 households and currently support around 16 households each week with a couple of additional households on a more ad hoc basis.

In the run up to Christmas we wrapped, packed and delivered 50 Christmas gift bags and also delivered Christmas food parcels to 24 households within our local community. This was only possible through the incredible generosity of our church congregation, the local communities in Goudhurst and Kilndown, Goudhurst Ready Call, Waitrose Paddock Wood, the Reverse Advent Calendar donations and the hard work and dedication of our wonderful team of volunteers.

We continue to receive generous financial donations from local community members which have been used to top up the contents of the Community Cupboard, purchase additional Christmas gifts and buy some extra Christmas treats. In addition, we were given 18 donations of £20 cash which the anonymous donor asked us to deliver with our Christmas donations to the households which we regularly support and were also chosen by Waitrose Paddock Wood as one of three recipients for their Give a Little Love Campaign and received a donation of £333. The Waitrose donation was used to help buy additional Christmas food items for our Christmas food bags. We also received an incredibly generous donation from The Ladham Foundation.

In addition to donations from those in our local community, we are also supported by financial donations from Ready Call and have received a number of generous financial donations which have enabled us to buy in fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs, milk and cheese from Burgess Stores and the Quarry Centre to add to our food parcels. We also currently receive fresh food donations from Waitrose when available via the Fareshare initiative, fresh bread on a weekly basis from Cranbrook bakery and regular donations of freshly baked cakes and biscuits.

The Community Cupboard is shortly due to move to a new location within the church and we have used some of the money donated by The Ladham Foundation to purchase storage cupboards.

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As we go through this time of change both in location and, as we gradually come out of Covid restrictions, we ask for prayers for those we support, for those who need support that they may be guided to contact us and for our volunteers who carry out mission on a weekly basis.

Lend with Care – Rosemary Southon

Since the last report, the money invested by St. Mary’s with various entrepreneurs around the world continues to support them with their work. Lend with Care have given these entrepreneurs some leeway in terms of the time frame for repayments due to the current circumstances. As well as the money already invested, we have a healthy amount of money to invest with other entrepreneurs when things start to open again, and we remain committed as a church to this wonderful organisation.

Connect - Ali Williams

Frustrated by not being able to gather for our Connect lunches and teas, and the space they provided to chat with old friends and make new ones, the Connect ministry has looked to alternative ways to support each other during lock down in particular. Telephone calls and some doorstep visits where practical still take place, plus an increased use of the ‘meal train’, a wonderful system of providing meals to families or individuals who are going through a difficult patch, recovering from or suffering with illness or disability, or dealing with bereavement for instance.

Anyone can offer to cook and deliver a meal by a simple means of signing up. If you would like to be part of the meal train please do let me know.

As with any of our ministries that appear to be of a practical nature, they are so much more, and the opportunity to care for people, check they are ok, have a doorstep chat and share the love of Jesus through our actions and words is part of what we are called to do and be as His disciples.

Another practical way of serving in this era of ‘zoom’ has been to put anyone struggling with technical problems in touch with one or two others who have the know how to sort out technical issues. Some of you have helped and supported each other out directly in this way too. We also were able to provide someone with a computer so they could access our on line services, such a joy to know this was successful.

God is already moving in this ministry, we have seen this in the broader use of the meal train, and in more volunteers coming forward to be part of it, as well as the many other ways across our church we reach out to each other individually and corporately in practical and spiritual support. May there be much more of this to come.

I see the church as a whole as the ‘Connect’ team, thank you to everyone who is part of it.

Eco Church - Sam Davis

EcoChurch is an environmental improvement programme designed by À Rocha, a leading Christian environmental protection agency; it provides a survey against which churches can benchmark themselves in four key areas - Teaching and Worship, Land and Buildings, Community and Global, and Lifestyle. The programme has bronze, silver and gold award

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levels. While EcoChurch is a highly useful tool, we see it less as a mechanical improvement exercise but more as a platform for encouraging a better stewardship culture within the church.

St Mary’s received a bronze award early in 2020, but given lockdown, we haven’t been able to make a lot of progress towards our next goal of silver. That said, God has been working in us over this unusual period - many of us have been able to draw nearer to God’s creation whether through taking local walks more or having time to witness bird life or how different plants emerge at different seasons which is arguably a far more profound connection than any award on a wall!

We have continued to provide a collection point in the church lobby for crisp packets (clearly a lockdown favourite!), batteries and printer cartridges. We have also used the opportunity of repairs to the church tower to install swift nesting boxes behind the louvres in the hope of helping numbers of these endangered birds to recover. The swift nesting season starts from May so we may be just in time for 2021 nesting but if not, then the boxes will serve for many years to come. Thanks to Ali for her crucial role in facilitating this, to Richard Hillier and especially to Dave Lodge and Joe Meyer for providing their skilled carpentry services and materials.

There is so much to pray for in this area it is difficult to know where to start! At a macro level, let’s all be praying that God provides the wisdom, righteousness, political and personal will and technological solutions necessary to reverse the damage that has been done to His creation. Locally, let’s pray for church members committed to creation care to step forward to offer time, talents and innovative ideas both at St Mary’s and Christchurch.

Church Rooms - Brian Ferdinando

Due to Covid lockdown the Room has been closed to our regular users apart from the PreSchool which has operated as and when allowed under the regulations.

Because of these unusual circumstance the PCC treasurer agreed to reduce the PreSchool rental charge to £1 per month for three months to help the School over this difficult period. Payments resumed normally in January. There has been no other income during this period but the Church Room ring fenced account remains healthy (needed for possible future roof repairs).

A Church Room cleaner is no longer employed, Pre-School staff carry out this task in order to comply with Covid regulations.

Benenden Heating carried out normal boiler maintenance recently. Their engineer’s report drew attention to the oil tank not satisfying current Building Regulations, Control of Pollution and British Standards which would apply when fitting a new tank. I am unsure if these requirements apply retrospectively. I am trying to get a professional opinion on this issue and I will keep Ali up to date with my findings.

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Property and Fabric - Ali Williams

After a prolonged season with the church tower shrouded in scaffolding, we are delighted to say the work on the tower identified in the quinquennial report is finally coming to an end. It has been a long and sometimes frustrating period, but with the last few elements waiting for our architect to sign them off, we should soon be able to see the fruits of this labour and expense, albeit from ground level.

The major works included various areas of repointing and lead work, some stone replacement, a new timber cill and work stabilizing the louvres. The flag pole base also requires attention but that will wait for a few weeks until the weather is drier and more stable.

In addition to this, the eagle eyes of Richard Hillier and Don Sargeant noticed the clock required refurbishment, and keen to utilise the scaffolding whilst in place, they instigated the clock restoration and re-gilding. The cost of the work on the clock was £5,400 which the Friends of St Mary’s paid for in its entirety.

This isn’t the only contribution by The Friends of St Mary’s however. They have also paid £15,000 towards the masonry works on the tower and underwritten the other non masonry items amounting to £3,400. We are so grateful to the Friends for these substantial contributions to the work on the tower, thank you. The total cost of the work associated with this phase of the quinquennial work is £48,000 – (all these figures are net of VAT). The balance has been paid for by the PCC.

On 18 March St Mary’s PCC voted unanimously to press on with the remaining works on the rest of the church identified in the quinquennial report. The cost of this is around a further £60,000 and wonderfully the Friends have again partnered with us pledging a further £24,500 in this vital undertaking. Once the scaffold is erected the work will begin, probably towards the end of April.

I would like to thank Jo Alsop, one of our church family, who very generously offered to take on the role of ‘Principal Designer’, a necessity for works of this magnitude. Jo has undertaken the role without charging a fee and saved the PCC a significant amount of money, we are very grateful to Jo for this, she has also agreed to do the same for the rest of the works, thank you Jo.

Other news is that discussions are underway regarding the churchyard wall to find an agreeable way forward, for a repair that will hopefully minimise the possibility of further impact damage.

Goudhurst Parish Council are undertaking further tree management in the Victorian graveyard which includes severe pruning of some of the yew trees to help rejuvenate fresh growth and bring them back into a manageable size, and removing a self seeded tree growing out of a grave. They are also arranging the repair to the damaged stonework at the entrance to the Victorian graveyard. In addition they are planting two new cherry trees in St Mary’s church yard to replace the two that had to be removed, and the yew trees in front of the west doors which are a lovely shape but increasing in stature will also have a haircut. We would like to thank Goudhurst Parish Council for the maintenance of the church yard and for working patiently with us, particularly where we have to obtain diocesan permissions and authorisations for all of these works.

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Friends of St. Mary’s Annual Report 2020 - Pam Stubbs

2020 has been a difficult year for the Friends of St. Mary’s. Together with other organisations and charities, our activities were severely curtailed by the restrictions imposed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Events

We held our AGM and quiz evening on February 29[th] . This was the last fundraising event we were able to hold, it was well supported and raised almost £2,000.

We were unable to hold any further events but in an attempt salvage something from Christmas we hosted a Virtual Christmas Fair on Face Book. Stall holders were offered the opportunity to sell their goods via this page with 10% of sales going to the Friends. Although the income was small compared with our Annual Fair in the Church, stall-holders were grateful for the opportunity, which we are sure will stand us in good stead when we hopefully hold our actual Fair in 2021. The Virtual Fair involved a great deal of hard work and perseverance, for which I and the committee owe a large debt of gratitude to Carol Buckland.

Culpepper

Fortunately we were able to advance plans for the cleaning, renovation and stabilisation of the Culpepper figures. Having received a method statement from Valentine Walsh (conservator), we also needed to secure an environmental assessment to facilitate an application for grant assistance. We retained T C Associates who provided the report. In addition we needed a ‘Church Open’ sign to meet grant requirements, which was generously donated by Richard Hillier. Estimates for the remedial environmental work will be sought in 2021.

Quinquennial Inspection

After some delay the scaffolding was erected in October and work began on Phase 1, the West Tower. We paid £15,000 towards the work to be done in Phase 1, as identified by the inspection. We also contributed to other works on the tower including repairs to the flag pole and repairing the clock amounting to £8,800. We have pledged £24,500 towards the remaining Quinquennial inspection work.

Calendars

Following the success of the previous calendar (2019) we produced a second one also sponsored by Sargeant’s Garage with a mixture of village scenes and wildlife photographs donated by Nigel Witham. The result was delightful and our thanks go to both Donald and Nigel for their support. Opportunities to sell the calendars were limited by lockdown ‘lite’ in November, followed by more stringent measures when we entered tier 4. Undeterred, a major sales drive, including turning part of the garage into a Friends shop, produced a very satisfactory result. Remarkable given the circumstances.

As we look forward to 2021 we hope we will be able to resume our fund-raising efforts, but much remains uncertain and we can only hope for the best.

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Stewardship – Revd Rachel

We trust in God who is provider. In turn, God trusts us to care well for our areas of responsibility, to share wealth, to grow as his children into his likeness: to be generous, to be hospitable, to steward resources of time, energy, money, gifts - well - for his glory.

In terms of where stewardship means stewarding financial gifts we start by recognising that all that we have comes from God: ‘For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.’ (1 Chronicles 29:14).

I believe God calls us to honour him with our first fruits, in other words experiencing freedom to spend most of my money on personal needs having honoured God by apportioning the first amount of it to Him. Linked to that, for me the concept of giving a tithe is helpful. Regular giving to the church, straight from my bank account means it’s done and dealt with. The process of claiming Gift Aid is much simpler and traceable through direct bank giving, and is our preference.

There are also times when we are called to honour God with a freewill offering in addition to regular giving. For each of us, what God may nudge us to give regularly and in addition to that is between us and God. The amounts will vary between us, and potentially the percentage of our income given will vary at different times in our lives.

Jesus’ teaching on the widow’s mite (Luke 21:1-4) highlights how God looks at the heart when it comes to financial giving. God asks us to give out of love to Him whatever the amount we are able to give.

As Vicar I very much choose not to know who has given what financially. The people who know these amounts are the Treasurers, the Gift Aid Officers and the Administrator.

Finance – Dave Lodge

The full 2020 Accounts can be found as an appendix to this report. These have been independently reviewed.

2020 was a difficult year financially, due to many of the normal services and activities being adversely affected by the Covid pandemic: regular donations were significantly down and fund raising events cancelled. Costs were reviewed by the PCC and savings made where possible on non-essential items to partially offset this shortfall. Advantage was taken of the Government Furlough Scheme where relevant.

Restoration work on the Tower was finally approved and stone cutting started in late 2020, ongoing into 2021, to meet our commitments from the last Quinquennial Report. This is a significant £90,000 and The Friends of St Mary’s are sharing the costs of this project.

This will mean that, unless we commit to significant additional giving as a congregation, our reserves will be completely spent by the end of 2021, a position that we have not been in for several years.

We are stepping out in faith to explore and develop a number of exciting new areas of church life to ‘go deeper’ and expand our reach on top of our regular activities (just look

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at the many reports and areas of work included elsewhere in this APCM report!); we will need to increase our income to support this work. Are you able to help?

Please talk to Revd Rachel or Dave Lodge, our Treasurer, if you would like to discuss any aspect of our finances and donations. And ‘Thank You’ for all your ongoing giving.

Flower Arranging - Ali Williams

At the end of 2020 we saw Angela Pakenham-Walsh step down from the oversight of the flower arranging team in St Mary’s, and it is with deep gratitude we thank her for the many, many years she has dedicated to this ministry. As well as creating lots of the splendid displays in St Mary’s herself often using blooms and foliage from her own garden, Angela could also be found throughout the week tending other arrangements and displays and prolonging the life and beauty of each of them. Angela is not putting her feet up though, she is now blessing Christ Church with her time, gifts and skills.

We still need to fill the post vacated by Angela, and seek someone willing to oversee the flower arranging at St Mary’s so we can continue to have beautiful flowers arrangements in the church every week, which are noted and much admired by both regulars and visitors passing through. If you would like to oversee the flower rota at St Mary’s, or would simply like to be part of the flower arranging team, even if you only want to do that once or twice a year, please contact Becky at the office, we would really love to hear from you.

Sadly, because we haven’t had any services in church, there haven’t been any flowers in church to appreciate for the first quarter, but it is with immense thanks to the team who created a most beautiful display throughout St Mary’s for our Easter services in church – thank you. I would also like to thank Marian Sargeant who offered to help me spring clean the store cupboard where the flower arranging equipment is kept – she turned a chore into a fun afternoon for me!

Bell Ringing – Rosemary Southon

Sadly, the bells have not been rung over the past few months due to the restrictions. However, we look forward to a time when we will be able to start ringing again.

Churches Together - David Denton

The Churches Together committee has not been able to meet and no planned activities have taken place over the last year. As we move towards a time when meeting together becomes safer it is particularly important that we ensure that Churches Together does not become lost in all the inevitable changes.

Some years ago, as part of Songs of Praise, Mike Flood likened the two churches to the sides of a cross. For a long time they had been moving away from each other following the lower part of the arms of the cross. He felt then that then we had reached a point along the upper part of the arms where we were moving back towards each other. We pray that he was right and that we may continue to close that gap even further.

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Weald Deanery - Kat Ogden

The parishes within the Diocese are grouped into small geographical divisions known as Deaneries, each under the care of an Area Dean and governed by a Deanery Synod. Revd. Rodney Dreyer (Hawkhurst) is the Area Dean of the Weald Deanery and Kat Ogden and Sue Donkin are the representatives from St Mary’s Church on the Deanery Synod.

The pandemic has of course brought unique challenges to all of the churches within the Deanery, not least the impact on church finances. However different churches are able to share how God has been at work bringing communities together in supportive initiatives such as food banks.

The Deanery has completed a first draft Deanery Plan, titled the Weald Wide Web that has been sent to Bishop Rose for review. This focusses on the areas of Witness, Work, Worship and Sustainability, looking at how we can work together to allow a flourishing, Jesus-centred ministry across the Deanery. The work on the Deanery Plan has helped us to recognise some of the challenges faced by our rural parishes; from the general trend of declining congregation numbers, to the question of how build an empowered and living church alongside issues such as rural poverty and mental health issues. We view the Deanery as a means to enable and facilitate our local churches to work together so that we can achieve things we could not do alone. We feel that it is by supporting one another that we are best able to serve our communities as Jesus intended.

Please pray for all of the church leadership teams across the Deanery as they face the challenges of re-opening churches and supporting their communities as the Covid restrictions are lifted.

Proceedings of the PCC - Barney Mayhew

What is the PCC and what does it do?

PCC stands for Parochial Church Council. ‘Parochial’ simply means ‘of the parish’ so the PCC is the council of the church in this parish.

Essentially we are the governing body of St Mary’s Church. We aim to help the church family to carry out its mission as well as possible.

In practice this means we:

Meet about once a month, usually on a Thursday evening.
Prayerfully debate and approve any major plans or initiatives.
Oversee all aspects of the church’s life, including worship, small groups, evangelism, finance, employment of staff, the church’s buildings, links to other organisations, charitable giving, and special events. We delegate some of these topics to smaller groups who then make recommendations to the PCC.
Are the charitable trustees for the church, with the legal responsibilities that that involves.

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The Vicar and Churchwardens are automatically members, as are our representatives to the Deanery Synod. The rest are elected, though a limited number of further members can be co-opted during the year.

Since the last APCM a lot of our attention has been on enabling the church family to worship, grow in our faith, support each other and support the wider community especially during lockdown; welcoming Rachel and the whole Robertson family into the parish and into their new home; looking after our historic building and our finances; and envisioning how the church family can grow and flourish into the future.

The PCC’s main formal roles are to consult together on matters of general concern and importance to the parish, and to co-operate with the vicar in “promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical”. Minutes of PCC meetings are available for inspection by anyone whose name is on the church electoral roll.

The summary of the PCC’s proceedings is that it oversaw the activities recorded in this book of reports.

Who are the members of the PCC at the moment?

Those who have served on the PCC or regularly attended PCC meetings since the last APCM in October 2020 are:

The Revd Rachel Robertson, Vicar (from January 2021)
Simon Taurins, Church Warden
Ali Williams, Church Warden
Sue Donkin, Deanery Synod Representative

Attending PCC meetings by virtue of their roles:

Becky Addis (Church Administrator and PCC Secretary)
Caroline Turvey (Lay Minister)

Elected members (and the dates they were most recently elected):

Claire Cooke (2020)
Caroline Davis (2019)
Wes Hinsley (2019)
Catherine Lloyd (2019)
Dave Lodge (Treasurer) (2020)
Martin Loy (2020)
Kat Ogden (also Deanery Synod Representative) (2019)
Richard Vinton (2019)
Gill Wallis-Hosken (2020)
James Wickham (2019)
Phil Wright (2020)

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Co-opted member:

Barney Mayhew (Vice-Chair)

How new PCC members are elected

Each year at the APCM, all those who are on the church electoral roll are entitled to take part in the election of candidates to any PCC seats that are available at that APCM.

To become a candidate for the PCC a person must:

Be aged 16 or over
Be a current communicant at St Mary’s church (in other words they regularly worship at St Mary’s church)
Have been on the church electoral roll for at least the preceding six months (unless they are under 18 years of age at the date of the APCM)
Have indicated that they are willing to serve on the PCC
Be nominated, either before the meeting in writing or at the meeting, by two people who are on the church electoral roll for St Mary’s.

The APCM then elects the candidates, holding a vote if there are more candidates than PCC seats available.

We encourage all church members to pray for the right people to come forward for election to the PCC (just as we pray for the right people to come forward for all other areas of the church’s ministry). We also encourage a discernment process and dialogue between potential candidates and the leadership team well before the APCM.

Once elected, the term of office of a PCC member is three years. They can then stand for re-election in the normal way for a further period of three years, and so on. So at each APCM there may only be some PCC seats available because some the three-year term of some PCC members may still have a year or two to run.

The PCC may also co-opt other PCC members during the course of the year: if so, those members’

Note that the above is a selective summary of the rules – the full rules are set out in the Church Representation Rules 2020 which are available online.

How PCC members are briefed and trained

All PCC members are required to the Safeguarding Basic Awareness Module, which is an online course provided by the Diocese of Canterbury. Some PCC members are required to complete higher levels of safeguarding training, depending on the roles they fulfil.

All PCC members are provided at the start of each church year with a briefing document entitled ‘PCC, Churchwardens, Vicar, Leadership Team – how does it all fit together?’

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Statement of safeguarding compliance

We are required by the rules to include this statement: The PCC has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 (duty to have due regard to House of Bishops' guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults).

And finally

We are very thankful to God for all his blessings, for the unity that he has given us, for the faith and love and service of so many, and for the hope that God provides throughout both good and difficult times.

Leadership Team - Revd Rachel

In addition to the PCC there is a Leadership Team (also part of the PCC). This is: Revd Rachel, Simon Taurins, Ali Williams, Caroline Turvey, Becky Addis, Wes Hinsley, Dave Lodge. I love working with this gifted, wise, fun, loving team.

Report from the Church Office - Becky Addis

This report is being typed from the ‘Church Office’ in my kitchen, which is where the Church Office has been since the start of lockdown. The office at The Vicarage is too small for any type of social distancing, so Caroline has been using the office, and I have been sitting here in my kitchen, using Zoom for meetings with my husband, children and dog wandering around in the background!

The ever-changing landscape of Covid-19 has proved challenging, but I am so thankful for the amazing team that I am blessed to work with – for their ability to discern what God is calling us to do to serve the church community, their ability to change plans at the last minute with no fuss or complaint, and so much more. I am also so thankful that God has called Revd. Rachel to lead us in this new season of our church life.

In terms of my workload, I continue to be involved with all the various administrative tasks around church life, including the preparation of the weekly GK Church news. I am also learning new skills with updating the website and finding new creative skills with the use of Canva (we use Canva to create all the images for the website and social media posts). No day is the same and I love that variety – one day I will be chatting to a bride to be, another day organising a baptism or a funeral; I might be asked to check a baptism in the register from many years ago, and over the last year I have ordered a lot of sanitiser – the job specification is very wide!

Thank you to everyone for supporting me in my role – I continue to love serving the church community and remain excited to see what God has planned for the next year.

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Administrative information


Bankers	CAF Bank 15 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ Nat West Bank High Street Cranbrook Kent TN17 3EA
Independent Examiner	Mr J A Tapper FCA Mill Cottage Mill Lane Sissinghurst Kent TN17 2HX
Architects	Purcell 15 Bermondsey Square London SE1 3UN

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Thank yous

A huge thank-you to everyone for being part of the church family or has supported in any way. As part of this, thank you to everyone who has:

Prayed on the emergency prayer chain	Applied for a faculty
Cooked a meal via the Meal Train	Walked 10,000 steps a day in March to raise money for Easter Eggs for the Community Cupboard families
Gave up their Bme to record and edit the GKCK show	Donated a laptop either for a child to use when the schools were closed or for someone in the church family to access online church
Wrote a leFer to someone during lockdown	Delivered the parish magazine
Opened or locked the church – and also saniBsed everything at the same Bme	Tidied up in the church building or graveyard when they saw something needed doing
Delivered a Christmas card	Organised the installaBon of the CCTV system
Helped with the new sound desk	Designed our GK Church postcards
Hosted, read, prayed or led the bible study at 10:00 Zoom prayers	Printed our posters, fyers – all our prinBng!
Looked aQer the GK Church social media feed	Looked aQer the safeguarding of our church
Led a small group	Reached out to someone who was grieving
Helped with the Community Cupboard	Helped with our Mothering Sunday dafodils
Gave to the Community Cupboard	Prayed for our world, our country, our community and our church family
Was part of the Blend Team during lockdown	Ran Lend with Care
Fasted for Ariana	Looked aQer our Connect Clothing
Led our services, both in church and also on Zoom	Did something kind for someone in the church community without anyone knowing
Led us in singing via Zoom from his Shepherd’s Hut (yes that’s you Wes)	Helped someone with an IT issue that meant they could then access online church
Were part of the PCC, especially those who stepped up for the frst Bme to serve in this way	Printed of the sermon every week and dropped it of with people unable to access online church
Preached, read, led intercessions at one of our in person or online Sunday services	Volunteered to be part of the vaccinaBon team at Headcorn Aerodrome
Updated the website (and put up with Becky’s constant requests for help with the website)	Looked aQer our beauBful church building by fxing something or making something
Looked aQer the church fnances	Sang for one of our pre-recorded songs
Collected and banked donaBons and sorted out GiQ Aid	Encouraged other young people to be part of the 10:45 Zoom church
Arranged fowers and made the church look beauBful	Stepped up to be Principal Designer for the restoraBon work idenBfed in the Quinquennial
Led one of the pre-recorded Holy Week services – or helped edit one of the services	Looked aQer the fower beds and the churchyard

Page 27 of 28

Went prayer walking around Goudhurst	Looked aQer the Church Rooms
Put together a beauBful window as part of our Advent Windows	Went for a walk with someone who really needed someone to talk to
Kept the conversaBon going about what it means to be an Eco Church	Shared their faith with someone, maybe for the frst Bme
Made the Robertson Family feel so welcome when they arrived	Recycled the crisp packets and baFeries
Cleaned the church, the brass and glass doors	Looked aQer the linen and changed the altar frontals
Grappled with the magneBc force of the noBceboards	Hoisted a fag
Sorted out the new sound system	Set up the church for Holy Communion
Spotlighted someone	Prayed and cared for your family
Rang the bells	Said ‘yes’ to helping out at the last minute

Page 28 of 28

St Mary's Parochial Church Council, Goudhurst

Accounts for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

Index	Page
General Fund	1
Community Cupboard	2
Beacon Fund	3
Weald Family Hub	4
Projects Fund	5
Church Room Fund	6
Local Community Fund	7
Sri Lanka Fund	8
Mustard Seed Fund	9
Summary	10
Notes to the Accounts	11 & 12
Examiners Report	13

2020 Effect of Covid Pandemic

General Fund

Overall, the General Fund showed a shortfall for the year of £18,208

Due to the Covid pandemic, the normal church services were adversely affected for much of 2020. Other activities were cancelled, including fund-raising events. As a result, regular income for the year was some £20,000 lower than expected. Costs were reviewed by the PCC and savings made where possible on non-essential items ,of some £5,000, to partially offset this shortfall. Additional costs, including provision of hand sanitiser etc was £466. The church audio-visual system was upgraded during the year, mainly to facilitate on-line services, amounting to £5,767. Advantage was taken of the Government Furlough Scheme in respect of the Organist's salary costs, giving a benefit of £1,492

Beacon Fund

Advantage was taken of the Government Furlough Scheme in respect of the salary costs, amounting to £4,116

Weald Family Hub

Advantage was taken of the Government Furlough Scheme in respect of the salary costs, amounting to £2,646

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

2020

2019

Notes

GENERAL FUND Receipts and Payments Account

91,631 3,875 2,044 20,282	101,379 10,106 2,014 27,085	140,583 19,138 364 18,957
3,710 2,500	12,638 6,500
315	364
2,649 4,278 - 3,619 932 - 772	3,281 3,696 204 8,380 1,044 348 2,004
6,000 5,872	6,000 14,543
		179,042
		20,543 96,951 33,082 24,715 30
72,918 3,120 949 2,566 2,268 2,306 2,053 2,134	71,206 5,812 2,925 4,579 713 4,020 3,014 4,682
5,287 7,703 4,662 466 5,891 5,767	6,640 7,667 5,411 - 9,490 3,873
24,208 642 -	21,366 349 3,000
-	30

		175,320
		3,722 69,377
		73,099

Page 1

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

2020

2019

COMMUNITY CUPBOARD

Notes

RECEIPTS Donations received TOTAL RECEIPTS PAYMENTS Cost of produce purchased TOTAL PAYMENTS EXCESS OF RECEIPTS OVER PAYMENTS Projects Fund Balance at 1st January Projects Fund Balance at 31st December	5,229	8,586 8,586 5,229 5,229 3,357 - 3,357	-	-
				-
				-

				-
				- -
				-

This fund is being ring-fenced for the Community Cupboard - there are a number of regular and one-off donors

In 2020, as part of the church's response to the Corona virus pandemic, the Community Cupboard was rapidly expanded and deployed to help a number of local families with provision of basic food items. This has continued during the year and is still expanding it's reach. A loyal group of helpers collect, purchase and deliver food on a weekly basis. It is becoming very well know in the locality. The PCC are considering how best to maintain and potentially expand this work in the coming months

Page 2

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst

2020

2019

Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

BEACON FUND (Restricted Fund)

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020		2
BEACON FUND (Restricted Fund) RECEIPTS Lay Family Worker Donations Blend - Grant from Canterbury Diocese Blend Donations received TOTAL RECEIPTS PAYMENTS Lay Minister Costs (including expenses) Less: Job Retention Scheme receipts Support Costs - temporary staff Other Costs TOTAL PAYMENTS (SHORTFALL) OF RECEIPTS OVER PAYMENTS Beacon Fund Balance at 1st January Beacon Fund Balance at 31st December	Notes	3,079 - 135

The Beacon Fund is a Restricted Fund. It was set up in 2017 to fund and support the appointment of a Lay Minister to develop work with local children and young people.

Page 3

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

2020

2019

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020		2
WEALD FAMILY HUB RECEIPTS Donations received St Mary's Goudhurst Contribution Contributions from other Churches Contributions from local Schools TOTAL RECEIPTS PAYMENTS Fegans Costs Coordinator Salary and Expenses Less: Job Retention Scheme receipts Counselling & Mentoring Course Costs Other Expenses TOTAL PAYMENTS (SHORTFALL) / EXCESS OF RECEIPTS OVER PAYMENTS Weald Family Hub Fund Balance at 1st January Weald Family Hub Fund Balance at 31st December	Notes	17,584 6,000 - -

The Weald Family Hub was set up in 2018 to provide funding for Mental Health counselling in local schools and parent support, working through the Fegans charitable organisation. St Mary's employs the coordinator on a 2 days per week basis and acts as a centre for support in partnership with other churches in the Deanery and a number of local schools

Page 4

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

2020

2019

Notes

PROJECTS FUND

RECEIPTS Audio System Donations received Christians Against Poverty Donations received Church Wall Insurance Claim FOSM Contribution to Tower Works TOTAL RECEIPTS PAYMENTS Released to General Account TOTAL PAYMENTS EXCESS OF RECEIPTS OVER PAYMENTS Projects Fund Balance at 1st January Projects Fund Balance at 31st December	-	- - 30,000 15,000 45,000 - - 45,000 2,508 47,508	1,750	750 2,508
				3,258
				1,750

				1,750
				1,508 1,000
				2,508

In 2019 donations were made at the service led by the Archbishop of Canterbury amounting to £2,508, to be used for local work with Christians Against Poverty, where currently there is no local provision. However, as at 31st December 2019, no such opportunities had been able to be developed. These donations are still held awaiting a decision on how best to use them.

In 2020 a settlement claim of £30,000 was reached regarding the repeated damage to the church wall. Work is ongoing to establish the most appropriate action to avoid further damage, for which this fund will be used. A donation of £15,000 was received from the Friends of St Mary's as part of the Tower repair works - this is carried forward against payment, expected to be made in early 2021.

Page 5

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

2020

2019

CHURCH ROOM FUND (Designated Fund)


CHURCH ROOM FUND (Designated Fund) RECEIPTS Contributions to the use of Church Room Income from Investments Income from CBF Deposits and Investment Funds TOTAL RECEIPTS PAYMENTS Repairs and Maintenance Insurance Utilities Cleaning TOTAL PAYMENTS EXCESS OF RECEIPTS OVER PAYMENTS Church Room Fund Balance at 1st January Church Room Fund Balance at 31st December	Notes 5	1,254 858 598 1,058	6,512 85 6,597 3,768 3,768 2,830 37,248 40,077	2,413 746 1,055 1,020	9,303 143
					9,445
					5,234

					5,234
					4,211 33,037
					37,248

The Church Room Fund is a Designated Fund, held to ensure the ongoing maintainance and repair of the Church Rooms

Page 6

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst

Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020
LOCAL COMMUNITY FUND (Designated Fund) RECEIPTS Restricted Donations TOTAL RECEIPTS PAYMENTS Discretionary Support Danny Funeral Costs TOTAL PAYMENTS EXCESS / (SHORTFALL) OF RECEIPTS OVER PAYMENTS Local Community Fund Balance at 1st January Local Community Fund Balance at 31st December	Notes 10	96 96 30 - 30 66 1,953 2,019 2020	2019
				4,496
				4,496
				201 4,400
				4,601
				(105) 2,058
				1,953

The Local Community Fund is a Designated Fund. Payments are made to individuals, based on specific needs by the Vicar and authorised through a small support team

Page 7

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst

Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

2020

2019

-	-	-
-	-
		-
		-

		-
		- 7,933
		7,933

The Sri Lanka Fund is a Restricted Fund, held to provide support for students of the Sri Lank Theological College whilst they are on placement in the UK, plus other specific needs, as decided and agreed with the College staff

Page 8

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst

Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

2020

2019

MUSTARD SEED PROJECT FUND (Restricted Fund)

Notes

RECEIPTS

RECEIPTS
Donations received TOTAL RECEIPTS PAYMENTS Mustard Seed Project Payments 12 Other Costs TOTAL PAYMENTS (SHORTFALL) OF RECEIPTS OVER PAYMENTS Mustard Seed Fund Balance at 1st January Mustard Seed Fund Balance at 31st December	-	- - 350 350 (350) 2,787 2,437	-	-
	350 -		500 -
				-
				500

				500
				(500) 3,287
				2,787

The Mustard Seed Project is a Restricted Fund. It was set up in 2016 to fund and support projects relating to local asylum seeking teenagers and young people.

Page 9

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020
SUMMARY OF RECEIPTS OVER PAYMENTS General Fund Community Cupboard Beacon Fund Weald Family Hub Projects Fund Church Room Fund Local Community Fund Mustard Seed Project Fund SUMMARY OF BALANCES General Fund Community Cupboard (Restricted) Projects Fund (Restricted) Beacon Fund (Restricted) Weald Family Hub (Restricted) Church Room Fund (Designated) Local Community Fund (Designated) Sri Lanka Fund (Restricted) Mustard Seed Project Fund (Restricted) REPRESENTED BY: Bank Balances - NatWest Bank Balances - CAF Bank Bank Balances - CAF Bank Deposit Account CCLA Deposit Account CCLA Investment Account - cost	Notes 13 12 13 11 12 14	2020 (18,208) 3,357 (9,335) (15,506) 45,000 2,830 66 (350) 7,854 54,892 3,357 47,508 20,063 31,970 40,077 2,019 7,933 2,437 210,255 131,118 8,039 10,081 59,648 1,370 210,255	2019
			3,722 - (17,977) 26,676 1,508 4,211 (105) (500)
			17,535
			73,099 - 2,508 29,397 47,476 37,248 1,953 7,933 2,787
			202,401
			109,324 22,379 10,000 59,395 1,303
			202,401

Page 10

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020 Notes to the Accounts

The accounts are prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis - no provision is made for items that do not fall within the year. There are no significant items that were outstanding at 31st December 2020 nor 2019

Note

ote
1	CallFlow	Charges are made to Callflow for the Licence Agreement relating to equipment on the Church		Tower.
		The agreement has been terminated by Callflow in 2021
2	Income Tax recovered	Income Tax is recovered on a monthly basis, through the Diocese.
3	Restricted Donations &	These were mainly specific donations to be paid onto third party charities - see Note 6 below
	Legacies
4	Unrestricted Donations &	Two donations were received during the year; none of these contained any restrictions on use
	Legacies
5	Income from CBF Deposits and	Income represents deposit account interest and dividend income received during the year, It is
	Investment Funds	allocated between the funds on the basis of the balances at 1st January
6	Local, UK and Overseas	The list of charities supported during the year is as follows:
	Mission Giving		2020	2019
		Lisell Mukola Community School - Rose's Project	900	610
		Kent Search & Rescue (May We Say Thank You Project)	-	2,500
		Christians Against Poverty	500	900
		Fegans	500	900
		Goudhurst Scouts	500	900
		Lend With Care	500	900
		Maidstone Samaritans	500	900
		ReadyCall	500	900
		TearFund	500	900
		TearFund - Toilet Twinning	-	252
		Blackthorn Trust (including Lent Lunches collections)	-	342
		South American Mission - Student support	-	4,020
		Bibles for GK Primary School & Preschool leavers	451	489
		Eli Nelson - Donation for Nepal trip (funded by specific donation)	1,000
		Other	21	30
		Total Payments	5,872	14,543
		In addition, £350 was paid to Kent Kindness for specific projects related to local refugees (see the Mustard
		Seed Project Fund)

7 Covid Costs This includes the provision of hand sanitiser and a hand sanitiser station in the church

8 Repairs and Maintenance A number of items raised in the recent Quinquennial inspection were carried out during the year, including the following:

Architects Fees Other	3,525 885
	4,410

In addition, £1,481 was incurred on window repairs, following vansalism - the insurance proceeds were received in 2019

9 Enhancements Updates to sound and video system (including on-line service provision) 5,767

Page 11

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020 Notes to the Accounts (continued)

10 Discretionary Support
During the year £30 was paid to support specific needs within the Parish. These payments are made by the Vicar, and authorised through a small support team.
11 Sri Lanka Fund
The Sri Lanka Link charity was closed in 2016. The balance of funds was transferred to St Mary's to be used for future funding of students from the college to the UK and for fieldwork training. No support payments were made in the period after the transfer of funds occurred
12 Mustard Seed Project Fund Donations from the Kings Singers concert in 2015, together with other donations are held in 'The Mustard Seed Fund' - this is used to fund and support projects to local asylum seeking teenagers and young people. Applications to the Fund are required to meet pre-set criteria and are assessed by a small team from the church. During 2020 £350 was paid out to support buying Christmas presents for a large cohort of new refugee teenagers.
13 Weald Family Hub Fund
The Weald Family Hub (WFH) was set up in 2018 to provide support for young people and their families who are struggling with issues of mental health across the Wealden villages, working with the Fegans charitable organisation. St Mary's employs the coordinator on a 2 days per week basis and acts as a centre for support in partnership with other churches in the Deanery and local Primary schools. There are a number of regular donors to the Fund, together with donations from local fund raising events and charitable trusts. There has been an amazing ongoing response to the WFH and continued counselling successes, despite the impact of Corona virus shutdowns within the schools. St Mary's has committed to funding this for three years

The market value of the CBF Investment Fund was as follows:	31-Dec	31-Dec
	2020	2019
Number of shares held	119.32	115.86
Value per share	2,012.35	1,916.91
Market Value	£2,401.14	£2,220.93

15 Physical Assets The PCC is responsible for certain physical assets in St Mary's Church both fixed and movable which are not detailed in the financial statements, but are covered by insurance
16 Quinquennial Report

The regular inspection was carried out in November 2017 and the report issued in January 2018. A number of urgent actions have already been attended to. The first stage of work on the tower stonework commenced in late 2020 and is due to be paid in early 2021. The Frieds of St Mary's (FOSM) have paid £15,000 to assist the works - this is held in the Projects Fund at 31st December 2020. Further expenditure will continue to be met by a combination of General Account and donations from FOSM over the next couple of years

Page 12

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

Independent Examiner's Report to the PCC of St Mary's Goudhurst

This report on the financial statements of the PCC for the year ended 31st December 2020, which are set out on pages 1 to 12

Respective responsibilities of the PCC and the Independent Examiner

The members of the PCC consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed

It is my responsibility to:

a. Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act
b. Follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners section 145 (5)(b) of the 2011 Act
c. State whether particular matters have come to my attention

Basis of this report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission

An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the PCC and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records, It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in a full audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts

Independent Examiner's Statement

In connection with my examination, no matters have come to my attention:

a. which give me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements
i) to keep accounting records in accordance with s.130 of the 2011 Act; and
ii) to prepare accounts which accord with these accounting records have not been met; or
b. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached

Signed:

Mr J A Tapper FCA Chartered Accountant Mill Cottage Mill Lane Sissinghurst Kent TN17 2HX

Dated: 29 March 2021

Page 13

St Mary's Church PCC Goudhurst Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2020

Independent Examiner's Report to the PCC of St Mary's Goudhurst

This report on the financial statements of the PCC for the year ended 31st December 2020, which are set out on pages 1 to 12

Respective responsibilities of the PCC and the Independent Examiner

The members of the PCC consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed

It is my responsibility to:

a. Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act
b. Follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners section 145 (5)(b) of the 2011 Act
c. State whether particular matters have come to my attention

Basis of this report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission

Independent Examiner's Statement

In connection with my examination, no matters have come to my attention:

a. which give me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements
i) to keep accounting records in accordance with s.130 of the 2011 Act; and
ii) to prepare accounts which accord with these accounting records have not been met; or
b. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached

Signed:

Mr J A Tapper FCA Chartered Accountant Mill Cottage Mill Lane Sissinghurst Kent TN17 2HX

Dated: 29 March 2021

Page 13