## **SAINT JAMES THE GREAT, BLENDON ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2020** ## **ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION** Saint James the Great Church is situated on the corner of Penhill Road and Bladindon Drive in Blendon, Bexley, Kent. It is part of the Diocese of Rochester within the Church of England. The correspondence address is 37 Bladindon Drive, Bexley, Kent, DA5 3BS. The church’s website can be found at www.stjamesblendon.org.uk. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission, as charity number 1176355. PCC members who have served from 1st January 2020 until the date this report was approved are: Vicar: Rev’d Ian Smith Church Wardens: Andy Laker Mary Nunns Deanery Synod Representatives: Brenda Goulding (until 30.11.2020) Mary Nunns (until 30.11.2020) Beatrice Gilpin (from 25.10.2020) Timothy Nunns (from 3.12.2020) Elected Members: Angela Davis Mary Liverton Harry Garland Timothy Nunns Nicky Garland (until 25.10.2020) Mandy Smith (from 25.10.2020) Beatrice Gilpin (until 25.10.2020) Linda Willmott Joe Koudmani Pat Wright ## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** The function and purpose of the PCC is outlined in the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956. The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. All Church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and to stand for election to the PCC. New PCC members are provided with background information to enable them quickly to understand the PCC’s business. ## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** St James’ PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It also has maintenance responsibilities for the Church Centre complex of St James in Penhill Road, Blendon. The main activities of the PCC are provision of church services, baptisms, weddings, funerals, youth and children’s work, and prayer and teaching adults through meetings at church and in members’ homes, and overseeing development of outreach and mission. When planning our activities for the year, we have considered the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through: - Worship and prayer; learning about the gospel; and developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus. - Provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish. - Missionary and outreach work. ## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** ## _Church attendance_ Any figures collected during the year 2020 will naturally be skewed as a result of the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the churches reopening following the first lockdown, stringent safety measures, including social distancing, hand sanitising stations and significant changes to the distribution of communion have ensured that the church building has been as ‘Covid safe’ as it is possible to be. To the knowledge of the PCC, there have been no confirmed transmissions of Covid 19 on the church site. The number on the Electoral Roll is reported separately, by the Electoral Roll Officer. The average weekly attendance, counted during October 2020 was 25 adults and 0 children (2019: 74 adults and 8 children, 2018: 63 adults and 8 children). This gives a stark reflection of just how much the covid-19 restrictions have impacted our gathered, corporate worship. Christmas services were similarly impacted. Since lockdown started in March 2020 we have been unable to hold a midweek service. Messy Church has continued but has been delivered by taking bags to the young people who wished to participate and they did these, often assisted by the parents. We know people have been enormously grateful for these bags and it has been a very positive development. There have been no baptisms this year, sadly again an impact of the pandemic. We have continued to offer a funeral ministry, helping friends and family to express their grief and to give thanks for the life of their loved one, as well as commending that individual to God’s care. In 2020 we conducted six such services. _Review of the year_ The full PCC met five times during the course of 2020. These were a combination of meetings via email, in person and on Zoom. The PCC continued with its policy of giving a tithe of its budgeted income to our Mission Partners. In 2020, we were delighted to be able to send a total of £16,196 to our four regular Mission Partners, divided between CPAS, CRIBS, Tearfund and CMS/Revive; £4,387 (including Gift Aid) of this sum was sent from donations given at the Harvest Gift Day; and £3,100 as a tithe of a legacy we received. (2019 total £12,899; £3,963 from Harvest) In the light of advice from the Charity Commission, the PCC has in place written contracts for the services of our organist & music group leader and for the regular cleaning of the church premises. Nicky Garland’s musical contributions are greatly appreciated and we continue to be grateful for the hard work which both she and Colin Ashton have put in. The Social Committee has, inevitably, been unable to do much this year as a result of the restrictions which have been put in place. What has been encouraging is the number of people who have commented upon how they have missed events such as Plants Plus, Harvest Supper and the Christmas Fair. As indicated above, Messy Church has transformed into Messy Church in a Bag, and numbers engaging with that have grown steadily. Stay and Play continued until we were forced to cease operations with the lockdown in March. That will re-launch, we hope, in 2021. The Uniformed Organisations have also been unable to meet since lockdown commenced. The weekly prayer meeting (commenced in February 2017) continues, though it has been held by Skype since the pandemic started. The church also opened, once permission was given, for prayer one afternoon each week. ## **SAFEGUARDING** The PCC has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 (duty to have regard to House of Bishops’ guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults). All members of the PCC have undertaken DBS checks and have received appropriate training. ## **FINANCIAL REVIEW** Total receipts on ordinary unrestricted funds were £56,215 and are detailed in the Financial Statements. We are thankful to so many members of St James, who give regularly to maintain its work – and especially to those who have set up or increased their Standing Orders, for giving to the church. Without the Standing Order income, our coffers would already be effectively empty. Regular income from almost all other sources has virtually disappeared, because of the pandemic. Many of the usual bills, however, still need to be paid: by far the biggest is the monthly payment to Diocese to cover the cost of our incumbent as well as other centralised services. So spending was down by a much smaller amount. Unrestricted expenditure of £73,578 was spent to provide the Christian ministry for St James. Since 2015 (when the system of Diocesan funding changed), we have been asked for substantially more than under the previous “Parish Share” system. For 2018, we maintained our “Pledge” at £60,000, matching the figure for 2017; but had to reduce this to £53,100 for 2019 and to £51,000 for 2020. For the current year, we have felt able to offer only £27,000, which does not even cover the cost of the vicar’s stipend. We are immensely grateful for two unexpected gifts during the year; in March we received a legacy of £31,000, of which £21,000 was “restricted” to spending on outreach and on major church repairs. Consistent with the donor’s wishes, we sent 10% of the total to our Mission Partners. Later in the year, we received a gift of £4,000, of which £600 was expressly for our Mission Partners and the remainder restricted to domestic purposes within St James. The PCC has decided to use this fund towards utility bills. However, the overall effect of the pandemic was to bring about a deficit on our unrestricted resources, of nearly £20,000. The gifts mentioned in the previous paragraph meant that we had, in effect, a gross surplus for the year of £13,264; but the unrestricted funds balance brought forward at 1st January 2020 was £24,955, which reduced to just £5,219 at 31st December 2020. That deficit was (just) contained within our available reserves. ## **VOLUNTEERS** We would like to thank our church members who work so hard to make our church the lively and vibrant community it is. So many people give freely of their time that it would be impossible to calculate the financial value of their contributions; and it would be invidious in this report to mention names – but our thanks go to all. ## **RESERVES – and RESERVES POLICY** We review the Reserves policy annually; our current policy is that, at the start of each year, the church will hold a reserve of unrestricted funds (in cash or short-term deposits) amounting to approximately three months’ income, to cover uneven cash-flow and as a buffer against unexpected loss of income. On the basis of the budgeted income for 2021, this equates to a reserve of around £14,500. At the end of 2020, our reserves had dropped from £21,900 to just £1,384. The PCC receives regular reports on its financial position and we are looking for ways to increase income. Our reserves are invested in the Diocesan Loans Fund, which pays a small (albeit useful) amount of interest and allows us ready access to the money. The coronavirus pandemic has hit the church hard (as with other parts of society) – and so we have had to reduce drastically our “Pledge” to the Diocese and we are keeping other spending under careful review. However, the PCC is confident in God’s faithfulness; and considers that there are no material uncertainties about its ability to continue as a going concern. _Approved by the Standing Committee, on behalf of the PCC, on 19[th] May 2021 and signed on their behalf by:_ _Ian Smith, Chairman_ ST JAMES the GREAT, BLENDON Annual Report and Financial Ststements of the Parochial Church Council For the year ended 31 December 2020 Incumbent: The Rev lan Smith 37 Bladindon Drive Blendon Kent DA5 38S Bank: Santander plc BBAM Bridle Road Bootle Merseyside GIR OAA Independent Examiner: Mr Brian Kraushaar 12 Kimberley Court Carlton Road SIDCUP Kenl DA14 6DA Registered charity number 1176355 The accounts comprtse the Statement of Finane.&l Acti￿11@4, the B8lAnce Sheet and Notes 14. p) rx> liilli ou(Jo St James the Great. Blendon Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2020 Unwti7Cted De&gnated Reslrict8d Total Funds Total Fund8 Funds Fund Funds 20ZO 2019 Fixed Assets Tangible Note 3(d) Current Assets Debtors Note 6 Unclaimed Tax Note 6 Short Term DeposFts Cash at bank & in hand 1077 2894 33487 11908 3,835 17.846 -15,458 734 4569 35810 23325 17.963 17,271 21,512 6.223 35.235 22.245 63703 49366 Current Liabilities Cieditors Note 6 271 1275 202 Net Assets 5.219 35.235 21.974 62428 49164 Funds Note 7 Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds 5,219 5219 35235 21914 24955 23812 391 35,235 21,9T4 62428 49164 Approved by the Parcchial Church coun￿.[ on 10th March 2021 arKJ signed on its Èehall by." Chairman I Smith St James the Great. Blendon Notes to the Annual Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020 I. NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS 1.1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES The financ481 slalemerfs ha%e been preparEd under the Charilies AL# 2011 and in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 21)06 together with apPI￿at￿e accounting slandards and the Charities SORP. The financ￿81 slalements have teen p￿pared under the hiStOriC81 Cost convention. The fin8nck91 statemen15 include all Iransactr'ons: assets and liabilities for whKh the PCC is fysp)nsible in law. 1.2 FUNDS Restricted Fununled for when received. and Interest when credited by the payer. All incomiro resources are a(£ounied forgross. 1.4 RESOURCES EXPENDED Grants and donations are accounted lor when paid or lif the award creates 8 binding obligation on the PCCI wmen awardea, All other expenditure ts recoonised when it ￿ incuffed and is 8CCOLEnted for gross. Amounts received specrfcalty for mrssion are dea￿ wrth in reSt￿ted fuThJs. 1.5 FIXED ASSETS Section 10 of the Charitie5 Acl 2011 ex¢tudes consecrated and benefice property from the requirewnents of the Act,. such property is not included in these accounts. Moveabk Church fumishings hebJ by Ihe vrAr and Ghurchwardens on special tmst fof the PCC ar#J which requi￿ a facutty for dL%posal a￿ Inalienab￿ property. listed in the ¢hurch'5 inventory (which may b8 inspected on reasonable notice to the churchwardens). For acquisitions before 21)00 Insufficient cost information 15 awai18ble and such assets are not included ifi the Balance Sheet. Items purchased for £1000 or kss are wntten off on acquisition., other equipment purchased for use in the church is depreciated on a slraighl-line basis 0￿r 4 ￿ars. By the end of 2018, all such rtems wichased had been fully depreckqted". so no value is ascribed to langible assets. St James the Great. Blendon Notes to the Annual Accounts forthe y￿r ended 31 December2020 2. INCOMING RESOURCES Unrestricted De￿gnal•d Re8trcted funds funds 2020 Total 2019 Total Volunta income Planned giving lrtome tax recovered/ recoverable 30.489 30,489 31.999 9,701 734 10,435 11.317 Collections & other giving (including Gi17 Day) Legacies Designated donations 6,073 7.667 13. T40 18,452 10,000 21.oc 21 31.000 21 113 Activities for Fundraising eneratin ftsnds 127 127 3,315 In me fmm Investments Inte￿$t 71 51 122 115 Income from Church activities Fees Hall rentals Rememtsran￿ Book Photocopier income 1,004 8, 749 1,004 8, 749 2,425 23,196 Other incomin Other income resources TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 56215 10 072 St James the Great, Blendon Notes to the Annual Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020 3. RESOURCES USED Unre8trfcted D￿Ignated Restricted fvnds funds funds 2020 Total 2019 Total Costs of enerab'n Envelope Scheme Cost of Fetes & Bazaars funds 75 75 75Q 182 hurch A Missions Ministry costs (￿oCes8) Clergy & Wicarage expenses Ooanists Mission 8 evangelism Church mnning expenses Church utility bills Hall Running costs Repairs & Maintenance Minor impmvements tivities 8.562 7,000 7,293 16.855 50.664 3,877 1. 777 270 7.469 2.975 1.969 2,015 13.289 53, 100 3.518 4,423 185 2, 723 3,886 3,356 743 3.817 1.777 249 1,469 2.444 1.969 2,015 21 531 therresources ex nded ChU￿h management Depr8Giation charye (below) Miscellaneous 499 499 35 35 TOTAL RESOURCES USED rpciation All spending on church equipmenl, fixtures & fittings (e.g data projection system,. chancel carpet & chairs.. vestry r8furb.' windows) was fully depreciated by 31. 12.2018. A nil value is therefore shown for"Fixed Assets" and forDepreciation. St James the Great, Blendon Notes to the Financial Staternerts for the year ended 31 Deceffl￿r 2020 Note 4.. STAFF COSTS All peisons undertaking work on behalf of Ihe PCC during the year, inciuding musicians and the cleaner, were seK-employed subcontractor5. paid on the basis of invoices for work done. As such they are not consiJere¢J to be employees of the church., and rt is iheir responsibilrty to pay any sooal securriy costs arEing. There were therefo￿ no staff costs ¢Jurina 2020 (as was also the case in 2019)- Note 5.. RELA TED PARTY TRANSACTIONS A small irnmalerial portion of the expenses pa￿ to the Incumbent may have related to his serwces in chairing the PCC. One member of the PCC received payment of £1.403 (2019." £4,294), for her seTrices as D1￿clOr of Music. To coM￿Y wrth ils legal oblpJations, the PCC has decMJed that it is in its t￿51 interests that she continue as Director of Music". and Ihe PCC has entered into a wntten contracl for this ¥￿￿k, Another member of the PCC has pfovKled musical services on one occasion. when the Direclor of Music was unavailatsle., he has been paKJ the PCC'S standard musician's rale for suth service5, of £45. The number of PCC member5 who have received payments for goods and seNices provijed is just tsvo, whicth is a minority of the PCC, as required by law. Apart trom the ctergy working expenses disclosed at note 3 IRe50urces Used). all other payments to PCC members rel*e to their acting as agents for the PCC in making purchase5 on lis tehalf and beiiiy ieirnbursed for this.. such expendtture does not need io be dtsclosed. Ot the clergy expenses. £98_5S repre5enleO mileage costs., the remalnder was feimbursement of experKJitu incurred on the PCC'S behaK. PCC memt*rs are amoNJ Ihose who gNe to St James. In 2020, the Gift AKI Secretsry recorded gifts totalling £22,372 (2019.. £25,420) from PCC wnember5 ar¥J their spouses. Other Unrecordal￿e gtfts may aL50 have LEen made- e.g. cash offerirvJs in the Co1￿CtIon plate. Note 6.. DEB TORS AND CREDITORS At 31st Decemtsr, there were no "Debtors" Bills for electrical wotks during December 2020, for OffJani51'5 fee5 for November & December and for gas & elecAricrty used lo 17th December were received and PAKI shortly after the year end.. these are shown under freditots.. There was a&0 ncl8imed lax. on Gift AKJ donakn'ons received during 2020. includitvJ grfts lo St James for the benefit of other char￿e5. such as the Harvest giwng to our Mission Partners. The tax claim was submilled on 12th Jgnuary and payment was recoivgd on 18th January_ NOTE 7.. FUNOS DESIGNATED FUNDS Opening Balance Closino Balance I￿oMe Expenditure Transfers 50.78 2.200_QO Church Repaif Fund Alpha essy Church Churches Together Concert Leaacy 15.712.53 43.03 17,963.31 43.03 20,97 192.55 171.58 58.82 8.000.00 58.82 17.000. 10.000.00 1,000.00 23 814.38 10071.75 1 192.55 2.371.58 35 065.16 The Church RepaFr Fund is hehj by the Diocese on behalf of the pcc towards costs of repairs arisin9 frorn fuluFe quinquennKg1 inspections. The Alpha Fund is desonoted tcffNards Ihe costs of the Apha COU￿e. St James the Great, Blendon Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 310ecember 2020 Note 7 (continued) R&8TRICTED FUNDS Openirtg Balance CIosiNJ Balance Income Expendithrn Transfers Flowers Mission Partners (Harvest) Christian MacmillAn ShOe￿xes Revwe Inlem8tiOrtal Ennerdale Utilities Advent Calendars Christrnas Cards 201.75 201.75 4387.48 46.75 4387_48 233.75 0.60 25.00 146.37 2100.00 S30.60 200 00 200 00 187.00 0.60 0.00 146.37 21000.00 3400.00 200.00 200.00 18900,00 2869 40 0.00 394.35 29 400.60 7 823.80 21971.15 Rgstricted funds are held in the PCC'S gcncral funds for the specific Pufposes staled. The Ennerfale Fund LS the feslfio*ed portion of 8 legacy, to be spent on.. (a) outreach - to inclLkle, txrt nol limrted to- ()1 provision of IT faalities and intemel for Sl James, chufch atKJ local communily (li} refuthshmerrt of the buibJing5 to ra￿411ale outreach (indudirwJ upar&Jing of the kitchens and toilets) lii)I support for the mtssion partners in Ilne Nwth the church's policy of giving 10% away., and (b) urgent or major itern5 01 neGe55ary church repair las opp)sed to refutbi5hment). The Utilrties Fund deri￿ from a gift for domestic wrposes within St James only (e.g. p8yinent of ulilrty bills 8ThJ minor maintenance), at the PCC'S absolute drscretlon. The fund for Flower5 orvJinated wth a legacy from the late Mary Sampson. Note 8 As a Prior Year Adjustment lo coffect accumulated muThJing errors. £2.44 has been aeduGte(l trom the un￿stn(leo Funds brought fO￿ard as at 1.1.2019. Indepèndent EX￿niner'S RetM)rt to tho Parochial Church Council of Si James the &èaL Blendc I rewt ki the tr￿leeS the mentsTS d the Ftc) on my examinakn d the ￿c￿Trts cl ￿ Parc¢h Chwch Cojncl {the Ffc) year 31st C*cembw 2020. Rèsponsibiliiies and basis of rep)rt wrfh thè requirements crflhe Ch¥￿"eS Ad 2011 Ilhe Act'l. I rwi in rest￿￿ of my e￿n￿alK￿ crf thè PCC'S ￿£¢￿￿￿ car*d Ixrt sectKm 145 of Ihe 2011 Ad and in Carr￿r0 C￿ my e￿•￿natI)n I have fc4khvÈd all the aFFA￿able Direckn5 gven by the tharty CommSS￿ under secbon 145(SXbl cl Ihe Act. The wocethres undertaken (h) Th)1 pyovhje al the evthnce that W￿ld LE in an ajtht. eX[￿eSS an OPWlKffl the ¥￿W gi¥en the accujnts. Inde￿dent Examin￿.3 slalemenl I have c{￿pIe1￿ my exam1nth"c￿. I c￿[￿M that TKY Materi￿ matter5 have CCNTE to my altwkn in c(M)neth"on the examll)atK)n gvrKJ me Ca￿ to i*beve that in any rw*cL 111 accO￿￿￿j rec(￿th ￿rE ncrt keFrt in re¥ed of PCC as Tequred ty seclKm 1x1 d Ihe Act.. 12) the accrths th mt xcord ¥Mth those reC￿d5. I have rK) concems and have corTE across fK) malter5 in c￿[lect￿)n wrth the exaMInab￿ to whith attenlK>n strKMJkJ ￿ dwn ￿ this rewxt in to enaAe a ￿mIers1￿)d￿Kj of thè atcounts tr) rèached. B ErAk£kAAf 12.2.2021 Dak ................................. Mr Kra￿3• 12 TimI￿leY C(xJrt Carfton Rc*d SIDCUP Kent DA14 6DA