Crediton Methodist Church
## Annual Report 2021-2022
www.creditonmethodist.org.uk _Working out God’s love in Crediton_
CreditonMethodist
## **Annual Report of Crediton Methodist Church For the year ended 31[st] August 2022**
## **Administrative Information**
The Church is registered with the Charity Commission - Registered Charity Number 1178365. A copy of the accounts by way of Schedule B has been sent to the Synod (via the Circuit office).
The address of the Church is Union Road, Crediton, Devon EX17 3AW. Any correspondence should be directed to the Senior Steward - Mrs Marjorie Ashley, Oake House, Tolleys, Crediton, Devon EX17 1HG
The Charity Trustees (or Managing Trustees) are the members of the Church Council. The names of the members who served as Managing Trustees in the year ended 31[st] August 2022 are:
Minister: Revd Alison Richardson
Stewards: Marjorie Ashley, Hilary Everitt, Cathy Jerrard, Christine Marshall, Pam Murphy, Christine Turner, Glenn Turner and Gill Sutton (from 27[th] April 2022)
Church Secretary: John Ashley
Treasurer: Christine Turner
Pastoral Secretary: Pam Murphy
Circuit Steward: Meg Privett (until 31[st] December 2021) and Susan Jones (from 1 January 2022)
Members elected by the General Church Meeting: Meg Ellis, Elizabeth Greenslade, Wendy Homeshaw, Bronwyn Nott, Robert Richardson (until 13[th] August 2022), Karen Theedom, John Turner
The number of members at 31[st] August 2022 was 75.
## **The Life of the Church**
The Church Council and the Stewards oversee the whole of the life of the Church. The Church Council meets three times a year. The Stewards meet eleven times a year. The Church Annual General Meeting is held in April or May.
## **Sunday Services**
10.30am Sunday Morning Worship followed by tea and coffee.
6.30pm Sunday Evening Worship _(Held once a month)_
## **Discipleship Groups**
7.30pm Twice a month on a Monday 10.30am Every Wednesday
## **Our Vision**
Our vision is of a dynamic worshipping Christian family seeking to play our part in the worldwide mission of God by constantly nurturing, encouraging and supporting one another;
disciples of Jesus Christ committed to praying and learning together;
a congregation radiating God’s love by reaching out to the community, serving the poor and vulnerable, intent on changing the world in partnership with others;
an inclusive group of believers, welcoming all, with a desire to become a living vibrant church, to the glory of God.
## **We envisage**
- exploring ways to encourage local ownership of our worship, including greater congregational participation
- offering a variety of styles of worship to enable all who come to encounter God
- aiming for excellence in all we offer to God in worship
- encouraging all members to participate in small groups for Bible study, prayer and mutual support
- providing appropriate environments for children, young people and adults to grow in the knowledge and love of God
- offering appropriate pastoral care to each individual within the church family
- learning of, and being inspired by, the work that God is doing through the church in other regions of the world.
- identifying needs in the town and surrounding area and finding ways to respond as a church community, and in partnership with others
- encouraging members to give time and money to meet the needs of others
- providing support for individuals involved in serving the community
- developing close links with a particular overseas project and finding appropriate ways to offer support
- raising awareness and taking action on justice and ethical issues
- encouraging each member to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others
- building links between the Church and the wider community
- developing groups out in the community with links back into the Church
- expecting to see Church growth and planning accordingly
- a flexible floor space in the sanctuary for exploring different possibilities for worship
- open the Church doors daily, providing a haven and offering a welcome and refreshment
- a church building that appears non-threatening and is easily accessible to all
- a multipurpose building for community use throughout the week
## **Minister’s Report**
## **Revd Alison Richardson**
This has been a good year generally with many aspects of church life restarting post covid, and some new initiatives. There have been several deaths of church family which brings both sadness and the need for a time of grieving. These dear people have been faithful to our Lord, and to the local church. They leave a gap which cannot be filled and challenges for the church regarding membership and attendance. The pastoral care of the church is greatly valued and the need for more pastoral visitors is ongoing.
**Worship** continues to be within the church, live streamed and recorded for the church website. Styles of worship vary and there is a steady mixture of ordained and local preachers planned. Holy Communion is held monthly with those worshipping at home, and online, having hymn books, prepared Holy Communion pots and also illustrations in line with the theme and sermon.
The worship experience has been reflected on regularly by the stewards and after discussion new ways of being church have been introduced. Feedback affirms that most of those attending is happy, and a very positive outcome is that there are more conversations during worship. Church family willingly participate in the worship, giving both opportunities to share and encouragement.
**Learning and Caring, and Service** continues to with the regular Bible Studies and Disciple Groups. The lectionary readings are the main resource for preaching and everyone is encouraged to read their Bibles at home and consider joining a study group. Ministers and Local Preachers are contacted by the worship group leaders who offer to assist, and some services are prepared jointly.
There is a wide variety of town activities which give the church family the opportunity to witness their faith while enjoying art, craft, poetry etc.
I attend local council meetings when they are advertised as public and relay updates to Church stewards and Church Council when necessary. Engaging with local council provides a better understanding of local needs and aspirations. One of the main issues is that lack of provision for young teenagers. There are activities but there is a cost involved that is, uniforms for the guides, admittance to the youth clubs and after school clubs. This excludes too many.
The ‘Big Top’ after school club for years six and seven (free and at church) is a great success and very popular. Sadly, a lack of volunteers prevents the church from increasing this service, but it is being considered.
**Overseas links** have increased and there are children in many parts of the world benefitting by churches commitment to their education and wellbeing. As well as the poorest elderly in North India too with the District Partnership with the Diocese of Cuttack. Being committed to and part of the ministry of Methodist Women in Britain brings an opportunity to be proactive and challenge injustice across the world.
Fellowship at weekly Coffee Mornings has grown and proves popular with church and nonchurch people alike. Evangelism is ongoing with every conversation.
## **Stewards’ Report**
The Stewards looked at the findings from the Worship Conversations in 2019/2020 as they were keen to move forward with our worship. They decided to have a trial period of Café Church and abandon Breakfast Church because it was not drawing a good congregation at 9.00/9.15am. They considered timing, seating, congregational participation and publicity. It was agreed to start all morning services at 10.30am to save some folk becoming confused over which service, and what week of the month?
The church was reopened for worship, following the covid pandemic, on 25[th] July 2021. We decided to continue offering online services for those who are unable to attend services physically and this has been well used.
As attendance at our Messy Church, New Ark, had declined following covid, we ceased to meet in June 2022. If we see a need to start again, we shall certainly do so.
In order to draw people from the community into our church building, we organised a Nativity Festival, and it gave us a chance to share our faith with them.
Discipleship groups have been meeting weekly, fortnightly or for sets of series online.
We have started up a Music Group in order to enhance services on special occasions like Harvest, Christmas and Easter.
The monthly Friday Focus and Lunch Club have been well received and continue to flourish.
The weekly Big Top Youth Club has been well attended by youngsters in Year 6 from the local Haywards Primary School.
We have continued our support for CTiC with prayers for unity and the Easter Walk of Witness.
There was a very good response to the shoebox appeal sending Christmas gifts to Eastern Europe (CREE).
The monthly service at Hillbrow Care Home has continued and the residents look forward to these times.
## **Safeguarding**
There was one potential safeguarding problem involving a child who had been attending the New Ark sessions. This problem was resolved without action on the part of the Church by the intervention of Social Services.
The Church has reviewed the training records and identified those who needed to update their training. Those needing additional training have attended either the basic or advanced courses.
## **Financial Information**
The accounts have been examined by an independent examiner: Mr Terry Bridle The Church’s bank is NatWest, 59 High Street, Exeter EX4 3DL
## **Crediton Methodist Church**
Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended August 31[st] 2022
## **General Fund Income and Expenditure**
## **-**
|**-**|||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**General Fund**||**Balances**
**B/f**||**2020-2021**|||**Balances**
**C & B/f**||**2021-2022**|||**Balances**
**C/f**|
|||||Income|Expenditure||||Income|Expenditure||Income|
|**Church Activities**||£17,695.07|||||£9,854.84||||||
|Offertory||||£24,194.40|||||£23,536.05||||
|Gift Aid Tax & GASDS||||£6,182.75|||||£7,955.96||||
|Gift Day|||||||||£9,700.22||||
|Redvers Flat||||£24.82|£231.37||||||||
|Flow er Fund||£131.49||£49.87|||£181.36||£30.00|£17.36||£194.00|
|Fund Raising||||£132.27|||||£2,758.99||||
|Printing& Stationery||||£46.50|£106.85||||£12.45|£181.30|||
|Pastoral|||||£26.00||||||||
|Sundries||||£4,428.47|£1,190.19||||£3,481.96|£1,423.38|||
|Bank Interest||||£34.27|||||£119.84||||
|Assessment|||||£30,000.00|||||£30,000.00|||
|Subscriptions / Licenses|||||£1,698.28|||||£1,786.46|||
|YoungPeople(inc Ark etc.)|||||£80.00|||||£135.46|||
|Transfer to/frm Negative funds|||||||||||||
|_Connect_|||||£449.90|||||£80.00|||
|**Closing Balance (Sub Total)**||||£35,093.35|£33,782.59||||£47,595.47|£33,623.96|||
||||||||||||||
|**Property Costs**|||||||||||||
|Hall Bookings||||£301.00|||||£2,351.00||||
|Weddings & Funerals||||£100.00|||||£700.00||||
|Repairs and Renew als|||||£5,093.69|||||£7,818.81|||
|Electricity|||||£741.55|||||£776.00|||
|Gas|||||£1,008.90|||||£1,333.74|||
|Telephone / Broadband|||||£437.09|||||£474.00|||
|Insurance|||||£1,704.13|||||£1,684.36|||
|Water|||||£566.63|||||£591.01|||
|**Closing Balance (Sub Total)**||||£401.00|£9,551.99||||£3,051.00|£12,677.92|||
||||||||||||||
|**Closing Balance**||£17,695.07||£35,494.35|£43,334.58||£9,854.84||£50,646.47|£46,301.88||£14,199.43|
||||||**-£7,840.23**|||||**£4,344.59**|||
## **Summary of Restricted and Charitable Funds**
## **Year ended 31[st] August 2022**
**_________________ ______ ______________ _______ ______________ _______**
## **Restricted and Church Group Funds Year ended 31[st] August 2022**
## **Benevolent Fund**
||**Opening balance**||£
64.89|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||Income||||Expenditure|||
||Sunday Coffee||£
176.23||Foodfor Homeless||£
7.65|
||Total||£
176.23||Total||£
7.65|
|||||||||
||**Closing balance**||£
233.47|||||
## **Flower Fund**
||**Opening balance**|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Flower Fund Account||£
117.61|||||
||Cash in Hand||£
63.75|||||
||Total||£
181.36|||||
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||Donations||£
30.00||Candles||£
2.36|
||||||Flowers||£
15.00|
||Total||£
30.00||Total||£
17.36|
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Closing balance**|||||
|Flower FundAccount||£
147.61|||
|Cash in Hand||£
46.39|||
|Total||£
194.00|||
## **Friday Fellowship**
||**Opening balance**|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Bank Account||£
361.55|||||
||Cash in hand||£
42.54|||||
||Total||£
404.09|||||
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||||||Plan International||£
180.00|
||Total||£
0.00||Total||£
180.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing balance**|||||||
||FridayFellow Account||£
181.55|||||
||Cash in hand||£
42.54|||||
||Closingbalance||£
224.09|||||
## **Property Fund**
||**Opening Balance**|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Designated Fund||£
1,384.12|||||
||Restricted Fund||£
2,692.03|||||
||Total||£
4,076.15|||||
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||Bank Interest||£
30.31|||||
||Donation||£
26.50|||||
||Total||£
56.81||Total||£
00.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing balance**|||||||
||Designated Fund||£
1,440.93|||||
||Restricted Fund||£
2,692.03|||||
||Total||£
4,132.96|||||
## **Schools Out Family Café**
||**Opening Balance**||£
210.12|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||Total||£
0.00||Total||£
0.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing balance**||£
210.12|||||
|**d**|
**lers**|||||||
||**Opening balance**|||||||
||Bank Account||£
225.16|||||
||Cash in Hand||£
40.00|||||
||Total||£
265.16|||||
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||||||Transfer General Fund||£
265.16|
||Total||£
0.00||Total||£
265.16|
|||||||||
||**Closing balance**|||||||
||Bank Account||£
0.00|||||
||Cash in Hand||£
0.00|||||
||Total||£
0.00|||||
## **Toddlers**
## **Youth Worker Fund**
||**Opening Balance**|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||PettyCash Float||£
50.00|||||
||Designated Fund||£
8,603.11|||||
||Restricted Fund||£12,620.62|||||
||Total||£ 21,273.73|||||
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||Donations||£
1,685.00||StaffingCosts||£
1,162.60|
||Gift Aid Tax||£
507.00||Print & Stat||£
15.84|
||Gift Day||£
388.00||Budget to work||£
1,156.86|
||Youth Cafe||£
248.38|||||
||Grants||£
3,000.00|||||
||HMRC JRS Covid-19||£
104.07|||||
||Total||£
5,932.45||Total||£
2,335.30|
|||||||||
||**Closing balance**|||||||
||PettyCash Float||£
50.00|||||
||Designated Fund||£
9,050.99|||||
||Restricted Fund||£ 15,769.89|||||
||Total||£ 24,870.88|||||
## **Charity Funds Year ended 31[st] August 2022**
## **Action for Children**
||**Opening Balance**||£
2.98|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||Collection||£
215.89||CharityGiving||£
227.00|
||Gift Aid Tax||£
8.25|||||
||Total||£
224.14||Total||£
227.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**|£
0.12||||||
## **All We Can**
||**Opening Balance**||£
-0.15|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||SaturdayCoffee||£
70.80||CharityGiving||£
70.00|
||Total||£
70.80||Total||£
70.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
0.65|||||
## **Causeway**
||**Opening Balance**||£
94.76|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||SaturdayCoffee||£
20.80||CharityGiving||£
115.56|
||Gift Aid||£
2.25|||||
||Total||£
23.05||Total||£
115.56|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
2.25|||||
## **Charity Other**
||**Opening Balance**||£
294.05|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||Ukraine Tin Collection||£
65.00||Tear Fund||£
20.55|
||||||DEC - Tonga||£
76.00|
||||||Cuttack Appeal||£
115.00|
||||||World Dayof Prayer||£
82.50|
||Total||£
65.00||Total||£
294.05|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
65.00|||||
## **Christian Aid**
||**Opening Balance**||£
0.75|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||SaturdayCoffee||£
25.10||Annual Giving||£
44.00|
||Gift Aid Tax||£
18.75|||||
||Total||£
43.85||Total||£
44.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
0.60|||||
## **CHAT** (Churches Housing Action Team)
||**Opening Balance**||£
17.55|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||SaturdayCoffee||£
65.20||Annual Giving||£
90.00|
||Gift Aid Tax||£
6.25|||||
||Total||£
71.45||Total||£
90.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
-1.00|||||
## **CODE**
||**Opening Balance**||£
40.00|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||SaturdayCoffee||£
112.20|||||
||Gift Aid Tax||£
7.00|||||
||Total||£
119.20||Total||£
0.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
159.20|||||
## **Connect**
||**Opening Balance**||£
0.00|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||Trf to clear negative balance||£
80.00||Contributed||£
80.00|
||Total||£
80.00||Total||£
80.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
0.00|||||
## **Edukid**
||**Opening Balance**||£
6,039.11|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||||||Oscar K. Sponsorship||£
300.00|
||Total||£
0.00||Total||£
300.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
5,739.11|||||
## **Food Bank**
||**Bank**|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Opening Balance**||£
(1.07)|||||
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||Total||£
0.00||Total||£
0.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
(1.07)|||||
## **Francisco Rojas School**
||**Opening Balance ‘David’**||£
508.63|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||SundayCoffee||£
215.45||Annual Donation x 2||£
600.00|
||Donation E. Gregory||£
150.00|||||
||Gift Aid Tax||£
7.75|||||
||Total||£
373.20||Total||£
600.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
281.83|||||
## **MHA** (Methodist Homes)
||**Opening Balance**||£
(1.02)|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||SaturdayCoffee Morning||£
172.05||Annual Giving||£
367.00|
||SundayCoffee||£
185.09|||||
||Gift Aid Tax||£
11.25|||||
||Total||£
368.39||Total||£
367.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
0.37|||||
## **Methodist Women in Britain** (‘MWiB’)
||**Opening Balance**||£
156.08|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||Easter OfferingEnvelopes||£
130.00||Annual Giving||£
87.00|
||Gift Aid Tax||£
18.75||Easter OfferingSep||£
172.00|
||SaturdayCoffee||£
97.11||Easter Offering2022||£
142.50|
||Transfer from MWiB.5p||£
1.85|||||
||Total||£
247.71||Total||£
401.50|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
2.29|||||
## **Methodist Women in Britain** (Local Network)
||**Opening Balance**||£
1.85||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||
||||||Transfer to MWiB.|£
1.85|
|Total
£
0.00
**Closing Balance**
£
0.00
**Mission in Britain Fund**(Home Missions)
**Opening Balance**
£
0.10
**Income**
SaturdayCoffee Morning
£
140.55
Total
£
140.55
**Closing Balance**
£
0.65|Total|Total||£
0.00||Total||£
1.85|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||||
||**Closing Balance**|||£
0.00|||||
||||||||||
|||**Opening Balance**||£
0.10|||||
||||||||||
|||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
|||SaturdayCoffee Morning||£
140.55||Annual Giving||£
140.00|
|||Total||£
140.55||Total||£
140.00|
||||||||||
|||**Closing Balance**||£
0.65|||||
## **Repair Café**
||**Opening Balance**||£
861.57|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||Total||£
0.00||Total||£
0.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
861.57|||||
## **World Mission**
||**Opening Balance**||£
0.27|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||**Income**||||**Expenditure**|||
||SaturdayCoffee||£
70.35|||||
||Gift Aid Tax||£
3.25||Annual Giving||£
74.00|
||Total||£
73.60||Total||£
74.00|
|||||||||
||**Closing Balance**||£
(0.13)|||||
## **Reserves Policy**
The Charity’s Reserves Policy deals with:
- (a) The General Fund
- (b) Central Finance Board
Other funds also held which are NOT required to be included in the Charity’s reserves are:
- (c) Central Finance Board 2 (Property)
- (d) Central Finance Board 2 (Youth Worker)
## **The Charity’s Reserves**
The General Fund (a) and (b)
The aim, ideally, is to hold in reserve sufficient money to cover six month’s expenditure - £25,000 (excluding cost of building use).
The reason for this is twofold.
(i) The Charity needs around one month’s average expenditure in reserve as working capital to cover normal running costs.
(ii) Maintenance on Church buildings and special outreach events are mainly funded from fundraising efforts and money is regularly spent in advance of being raised. To cover this, the Charity needs a further five months in reserve.
As there are insufficient funds in the current account to cover this amount, at the present time we can also draw upon monies held in the Central Finance Board. There is a shortfall of £10,800 in our General Fund.
Other Funds held for specific purposes
(c) Central Finance Board 2 (Property Fund)
A Property Fund is maintained (held by the Central Finance Board) for the upkeep of the premises. and for large projects on the property.
The Property Fund will continue to be held by the Central Finance Board.
(d) Central Finance Board 2 (Youth Worker Fund) A Youth Worker Fund is maintained to cover the cost of youth work in the Church, which were able to restart after the pandemic, and for the future needs of young people in the town. The Youth Worker Fund will continue to be held by the Central Finance Board.
## **Minutes of the Annual General Church Meeting held on Wednesday 27[th] April 2022**
Present: Revd Alison Richardson, John Ashley (Secretary) and 15 members and friends.
Apologies: Pam Murphy and John Turner.
The Minister welcomed all those present and opened the meeting with a reading from Romans chapter 12 regarding governance and she emphasised the responsibilities of the Church Council members who are the managing trustees of the independent charity controlling the operation of the church, followed by a prayer.
The Annual Report for 2020/21, which includes the financial statements for the year ended 31[st] August 2021 and the minutes of the meeting held on 28[th] April 2022, had been circulated having been previously reviewed and approved in draft by the Church Council at its meeting on 25[th] January 2022.
Glenn Turner suggested an amendment to the minutes of the meeting held on 21[st] September 2021 to clarify the respective roles of the church stewards and the leadership team when the roles were separated in 2011. The amendment was agreed and incorporated in the final version of the Annual Report for 2020/21.
Glenn Turner gave a brief summary of the Annual Report and the Minister thanked all those involved in the preparation of the Annual Report particularly Glenn Turner, as editor.
With the amendment to the minutes, on the proposal of Glenn Turner, seconded by Bronwyn Nott, the Annual Report for 2020/21 was approved and signed by the Minister.
The Minister sincerely thanked the church stewards for their commitment especially Christine Marshall who, for personal reasons, has decided to resign as a church steward. However, Gill Sutton has offered to become a church steward. With these changes, the appointments of Marjorie Ashley, Hilary Everitt, Cathy Jerrard, Pam Murphy, Gill Sutton, Tina Turner and Glenn Turner as church stewards for 2022/23 were approved.
The Secretary outlined the role of the managing trustees, using the PowerPoint presentation prepared by the Minister, which can be found on the Methodist Church website. The Minister outlined the improvements that have been made in the governance of the charity. The pandemic has led to people not returning and a deterioration in finances. The managing trustees need to be aware of the added responsibilities that these changes in circumstances have caused.
The Minister thanked those who are willing to serve and be re-elected as representatives to the Church Council for the next year. They are Meg Ellis, Elizabeth Greenslade, Wendy Homeshaw, Bronwyn Nott, Bob Richardson, and Karen Theedom. During the year Christine Gregory has resigned and Shelia Tomkins does not wish to stand for re-election. They were thanked for their work on the Church Council covering many years. Gill Sutton will not need to be elected as a representative as she has become a church steward. On the proposal of the Secretary, seconded by Marjorie Ashley, Christine Marshall was nominated to become a member of the Church Council for 2022/23.
The Minister invited further nominations for the Church Council. As there were no additional nominations the Minister, seconded by Glenn Turner, proposed that the seven nominees be elected to serve on the Church Council for 2022/23.
The Church Council members for the coming year are:
|Ex officio members
The Minister
John Ashley
(Church Council Secretary)
Sue Jones (Circuit steward)|Church stewards
Marjorie Ashley
Hilary Everitt
Cathy Jerrard
Pam Murphy
(Pastoral Secretary)
Gill Sutton
Tina Turner (Treasurer)
Glenn Turner|Elected members
Meg Ellis
Elizabeth Greenslade
Wendy Homeshaw
Christine Marshall
Bronwyn Nott
Bob Richardson
Karen Theedom
John Turner|
|---|---|---|
Glenn Turner gave a short presentation on the state of the finances of the church and the reduction in the reserves that has occurred over the last five years. The Treasurer outlined the reasons behind the reduction which include the fall in giving, due to delays in people getting used to making payments by bank transfers or cheques and no cash collections as services during the pandemic were online, the loss of rental income from the sale of the Redvers House flat and the halls where bookings ceased for the period of the pandemic and general increases in costs although we are in the fortunate position of having fixed our gas prices at a very low level until the end of 2023.
Replenishing our reserves has to be a priority in the next year.
The date of the meeting in 2023 was considered. It was suggested that we meet on a Saturday rather than a weekday evening. To coincide with the Anniversary, it was agreed to meet at 11.00am on 29[th] April.
The meeting closed with a prayer led by Revd David Greenwood.