Crediton Methodist Church Annual Report 2023-2024 28 OS 3G3f . www.creditonmethodist.org.uk FAIRTRADE Working out God's love in Crediton CrÈditonMethodist ## **Annual Report of Crediton Methodist Church for the year ended 31[st] August 2024** ## **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 officer). The Church address is:- Union Road, Crediton, Devon EX17 3AW. Any correspondence should be directed to the Senior Steward:- Mrs Marjorie Ashley, Oake House, The Tolleys, Crediton EX17 1HG The Charity Trustees or Managing Trustees are members of the Church Council and the names of members who have served as managing trustees in the year ended 31[st] August 2024 are as follows: Minister:- Revd. Alison Richardson The Stewards:- Mrs Marjorie Ashley, Mrs Christine Turner, Mrs Hilary Everitt, Mrs Cathy Jerrard, Mrs Pam Murphy, Mrs Gill Sutton, Mr Glenn Turner Church Secretary:- Mr John Ashley Treasurer:- Mrs Christine Turner Pastoral Secretary:- Mrs Pam Murphy Circuit Steward:- Dr Sue Jones Members elected by the General Church Meeting:- Mrs Meg Ellis, Mrs Elizabeth Greenslade, Mrs Wendy Homeshaw, Mrs Bronwyn Nott, Mr Lloyd Smale and Mrs Karen Theedom. The number of members at 31[st] August 2024 was 69. ## **The Life of the Church** The Church Council and the Church Stewards oversee the whole of the life of the Church. The Church Council meets three times a year. The Church Stewards meet six 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 ## **Big Top Youth Cafe** 3.30 to 5.00pm Every Monday during school terms for years 6 and 7 ## **Lunch Clubs** 12.30pm Monthly on the first Tuesday and the second Friday ## **Friday Focus** 2.30pm Monthly on the first Friday ## **Our Vision** Our vision is of a dynamic worshipping Christian family seeking to play our part in the world-wide 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 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** This has been a busy year for activities happening both inside and outside of the Church. Inside the variety of worship attracts a good number of people on Sundays and the introduction of Cafe Church has been appreciated as well as successful. The Warm Spaces initiative has been continued all through the year in the belief that those who attend enjoy the regular company as much as the coffee, if not more. The Saturday coffee mornings are always popular and a way of financially supporting charities at home and abroad. Outside of the Church there have been a few opportunities for mission and outreach but there is a need for more. This is being addressed by working with other church leaders more often and, together, discussing fresh ideas for working together on mission and outreach. The people of the town have actively welcomed refugee families and all of the churches have been involved. There are more houses being built on the edge of the town which will bring more opportunities for outreach. The Church stewards meet monthly to discuss both the business of the Church and the spiritual health of the congregation. Being mindful not to appear judgemental regarding anyone’s depth of faith, challenging questions have been presented by preachers and worship leaders for personal reflection. There in an open invitation to attend the Bible Study Discipleship groups which meet regularly. All church offices are covered and there is a good team of pastoral visitors. Age does not diminish the ongoing commitment of the Church Council members which is greatly appreciated. The Big Top after school club is very popular with the Church’s priority being the safeguarding of both young people and the team of volunteers. Overall the Church is ticking over nicely but, as the financial report clearly indicates an increase in income is urgently required. ## **Revd Alison Richardson** ## **Stewards’ Report** We began the year with a very successful and much appreciated Away Day at Halberton MC. Rediscovery Church: Some of us have met with Steve and Joy Dunne and we are in the process of moving forward and await the filling in of forms which need to be sent to Connexion. They are looking at a satellite meeting centre for fortnightly or monthly meetings. We have changed the church layout and it seems to have met with the general approval of both congregation and preachers. Our observations are that as it provides a more flexible space it has brought better fellowship with no congested areas. We are investigating ways of tidying up the space in front of the church which appears as a weed patch. We are considering the planting of sustainable plants with good ground cover. We have continued our monthly pattern of worship including Café Church on the 1[st] Sunday and Church 4 All on the 3[rd] . Evening Worship has been held on the 4[th] Sunday. The monthly Friday Focus sessions and Lunch Club continue to flourish. Our 2 discipleship groups are well appreciated and continue to bring us closer in our fellowship together. The weekly Big Top Youth Club is well attended and much enjoyed. The weekly Warm Spaces – Coffee & Chat has continued. Monthly services at Hillbrow Care Home have been on-going and are well received. We continue our support for CTiC with prayer for unity and the Walk of Witness and the monthly ‘Held Together’ service for people with memory loss and their carers. This has been well attended by some of our congregation. Again, we have supported CREE with the filling of shoeboxes and CORE by supporting our District partnership with North India. Through our Saturday Mornings we have supported Connect Mid Devon, World Mission, CHAT, CODE, Methodist Women in Britain, All We Can and the Disaster Fund. ## **Marjorie Ashley Senior Steward** ## **Safeguarding** There has been one safeguarding concern during the year which, at the end of the year, had yet to be fully resolved. The District Safeguarding Officer has been actively involved. She arranged a meeting with the subject of concern and the information from that meeting has clarified the situation and reduced but not eliminated our original concerns. Further enquiries of various agencies with knowledge of the subject were made in the closing months of 2024 and the subject of concern has agreed to join a monitoring group chaired by the Circuit Safeguarding Officer with support from the Church’s safeguarding team. The Church reviews its safeguarding policies annually in November. 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. ## **John Ashley** **Church Safeguarding Officer** ## **Financial Information** The accounts have been examined by an independent examiner: Mr T. Bridle The Church bank is NatWest, 59 High Street, Exeter EX4 3DL ## **Crediton Methodist Church** Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended August 31[st] 2024 ## **General Fund Income and Expenditure** |**General Fund**||**Balances**
**B/f**||**2022-2023**|**2022-2023**||**Balances**
**C & B/f**||**2023-2024**|**2023-2024**||**Balances**
**C/f**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||Income|Expenditure||||Income|Expenditure||Income| |**Church Activities**||£14,005.43|||||£17,221.62|||||£77,301.57| |Offertory||||£25,178.22|||||£25,409.02|||| |Gift Aid Tax & GASDS||||£7,381.16|||||£7,023.10|||| |Gift Day||||||||||||| |Flow er Fund||£194.00|||£23.95||£170.05|||||£170.05| |Fund Raising||||£4,609.95|||||£3,308.94|||| |Printing& Stationery||||£4.15|£98.17||||£4.15|£159.44||| |Pastoral||||||||||||| |Sundries||||£1,523.93|£1,116.21||||£59,809.80|£902.69||| |Bank Interest||||£1,062.75|||||£2,365.77|||| |Assessment|||||£25,820.00|||||£23,172.00||| |Subscriptions / Licenses|||||£1,774.24|||||£1,453.90||| |YoungPeople(inc Ark etc.)||||||||||||| |Transfer to/frm Negative funds||||||||||||| |_Connect_||||||||||||| |**Closing Balance (Sub Total)**||||£39,760.16|£28,832.57||||£97,920.78|£25,688.03||| |||||||||||||| |**Property Costs**||||||||||||| |Hall Bookings||||£4,050.00|||||£3,292.00|||| |Weddings & Funerals||||£402.50|||||£338.50|||| |Repairs and Renew als|||||£6,702.82||||£11,893.82|£20,868.10||| |Electricity|||||£1,028.38|||||£1,021.67||| |Gas|||||£1,271.17|||||£2,517.86||| |Telephone / Broadband|||||£495.20|||||£443.36||| |Insurance|||||£2,063.82|||||£2,132.42||| |Water|||||£626.46|||||£693.71||| |**Closing Balance (Sub Total)**||||£4,452.50|£12,187.85||||£15,524.32|£27,677.12||| |||||||||||||| |**Closing Balance**||£14,199.43||£44,212.66|£41,020.42||£17,391.67||£113,445.10|£53,365.15||£77,471.62| ||||||**£3,192.24**|||||**£60,079.95**||| ## **Summary of Restricted and Charitable Funds** |**Restricted Funds**||**Balances**
**B/f**||**2022-2023**|**2022-2023**||**Balances**
**C & B/f**||**2023-2024**|**2023-2024**||**Balances**
**C/f**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||Income|Expenditure||||Income|Expenditure||| |Benevolent Fund||£233.47||£204.85|£0.00||£438.32||£273.89|||£712.21| |FridayFellow ship||£224.09|||£180.00||£44.09|||£44.09||£0.00| |FridayFocus||£0.00||£174.70|||£174.70||£211.39|||£386.09| |Property/ Refurbishment||£4,132.96||£302.82|||£4,435.78||£394.32|||£4,830.10| |Schools Out FamilyCafé||£210.12|||||£210.12|||||£210.12| |Youth Worker||£24,870.88||£2,258.96|£2,116.29||£25,013.55||£1,183.50|£3,471.23||£22,725.82| |**Total Balances held**||£29,671.52||£2,941.33|£2,296.29||£30,316.56||£2,063.10|£3,515.32||£28,864.34| |||||||||||||| |**Charitable Fund**||**Balances**
**B/f**||**2022-2023**|||**Balances**
**C & B/f**||**2023-2024**|||**Balances**
**C/f**| |||||Income|Expenditure||||Income|Expenditure||| |Action for Children||£0.12||£390.92|£390.00||£1.04||£300.43|||£301.47| |All We Can||£0.65||£87.85|£88.00||£0.50||£76.84|||£77.34| |Christian Aid||£0.60||£128.01|£128.00||£0.61||£133.58|£130.00||£4.19| |Causew ay||£2.25|||||£2.25|||||£2.25| |Chat||-£1.00||£95.40|£94.00||£0.40||£127.26|||£127.66| |CODE||£159.20||£110.45|£227.50||£42.15||£101.81|£102.50||£41.46| |Connect||£0.00|||||£0.00||£73.40|||£73.40| |Diaster EmergencyFund||||£426.34|||£426.34||£199.08|£25.00||£600.42| |Edukid||£5,739.11|||£300.00||£5,439.11|||£275.00||£5,164.11| |Foodbank||-£1.07|||||-£1.07||£74.00|||£72.93| |Francisco Rojas School-David||£281.83||£243.91|£300.00||£225.74||£224.87|||£450.61| |Meth. Home for the Aged||£0.37||£299.34|£300.00||-£0.29||£249.10|||£248.81| |Missions in Britain||£0.65||£74.95|£75.00||£0.60||£94.73|||£95.33| |MWiB||£2.29||£308.38|£300.50||£10.17||£115.66|||£125.83| |Repair Café||£861.57|||||£861.57|||||£861.57| |World Missions||-£0.13||£136.60|£135.00||£1.47||£172.58|£105.25||£68.80| |Other||£65.00|||||£65.00||£0.00|£0.00||£65.00| |**Total Balances held**||£7,111.44||£2,302.15|£2,338.00||£7,075.59||£1,943.34|£637.75||£8,381.18| |||**Totals**||**2022-23**
**2023-24**
£16,156.25
£15,344.02
£30,966.48
£91,360.25
£7,528.11
£7,922.43
£132.98
£90.44
**£54,783.82 £114,717.14**||||||||| |**Bank Balances**||||**2022-23**|**2023-24**|||||||| |Current Account||||£16,156.25|£15,344.02|||||||| |Central Finance Board||||£30,966.48|£91,360.25|||||||| |Central Finance Board 2||||£7,528.11|£7,922.43|||||||| |Cash in Hand||||£132.98|£90.44|||||||| |||||**£54,783.82 **|**£114,717.14**|||||||| **Restricted and Church Group Funds 1[st] September 2023 – 31[st] August 2024** ## **Benevolent Fund** ||**Opening balance**||£
438.32||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||Income||||Expenditure||| ||SundayCoffee||£
231.20||||| ||Gift Aid Tax||42.69||||| ||Total||£
273.89||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing balance**||£
712.21||||| ## **Flower Fund** ||**Opening balance**||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||Flower Fund Account||£
129.61||||| ||Cash in Hand||£
40.44||||| ||Total||£
170.05||||| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||Total||£
0.00||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing balance**||||||| ||Flower Fund Account||£
129.61||||| ||Cash in Hand||£
40.44||||| ||Closingbalance||£
170.05||||| |**a**|**y Fellowship**||||||| ||**Opening balance**||||||| ||Bank Account||£
1.55||||| ||Cash in hand||£
42.54||||| ||Total openingbalance||£
44.09||||| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||||||Plan International||£ 15.00| ||||||To Friday.Focus|£ 29.09|| ||Total||£
0.00||Total|£ 44.09|| ||||||||| ||**Closing balance**||||||| ||FridayF’shipAccount||£
0.00||||| ||Cash in hand||£
0.00||||| ||Total closing balance||£
0.00||||| |**a**|**y Focus**||||||| ||**Opening balance**||||||| ||Bank Account||£
174.70||||| ||Total openingbalance||£
174.70||||| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||From FridayF’ship||£
29.09||||| ||Donations||£
182.30||||| ||Total||£
211.39||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing balance**||||||| ||Bank Account||£
386.09||||| ||Cash in hand||£
0.00||||| ||Total closing balance||£
386.09||||| ## **Friday Fellowship** ## **Friday Focus** ## **Property Fund** ||**Opening Balance**||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||Designated Fund||£
1,743.75||||| ||Restricted Fund||£
2,692.03||||| ||Total openingbalance||£
4,435.78||||| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||Bank Interest||£
394.32||||| ||Total||£
394.32||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing balance**||||||| ||Designated Fund||£
2,138.07||||| ||Restricted Fund||£
2,692.03||||| ||Total closingbalance||£
4,830.10||||| ## **Schools Out Family Café** ||**Opening Balance**||£
210.12||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||Total||£
0.00||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing balance**||£
210.12||||| ## **Youth Worker Fund** ||**Opening Balance**|||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||PettyCash Float||£|50.00||||| ||Designated Fund||£|9,399.20||||| ||Restricted Fund||£|15,564.35||||| ||Total openingbalance||£|25.013.55||||| |||||||||| ||**Income**|||||**Expenditure**||| ||Donations||£|636.00||Print & Stationery||£ 41.00| ||Gift Aid Tax||£|199.50||Youth Café Sweets||£ 106.81| ||Gift Day||£|348.00||Wages||£ 3,223.05| |||||||PropertyRunning
||£ 4.99| |||||||~~C~~
Sundries||£ 50.00| |||||||Broadband/Landline||£ 45.38| ||Total||£|1,183.50||Total||£
3,471.23| |||||||||| |||||||||| ||**Closing balance**|||||||| ||PettyCash Float||£|50.00||||| ||Designated Fund||£|9,743.20||||| ||Restricted Fund||£|12,932.62||||| |||||||||| ||Total closingbalance||£|22,725.82||||| |||||||||| ## **Charity Funds 1[st] September 2023 – 31[st] August 2024** ## **Action for Children** ||**Opening Balance**||£
1.04||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||Coffee - Collection||£
251.60||CharityGiving||£
0.00| ||Gift Aid Tax||£
48.83||||| ||Total||£
300.43||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
301.47||||| ## **All We Can** ||**Opening Balance**||£
0.50||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||SaturdayCoffee||£
59.55||CharityGiving||£
0.00| ||Gift Aid Tax||£
17.29||||| ||Total||£
76.84||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
77.34||||| ## **Causeway** ||**Opening Balance**||£
2.25||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||Total||£
0.00||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
2.25||||| ## **Charity Other** ||**Opening Balance**||£
65.00||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||Total||£
0.00||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
65.00||||| ## **Christian Aid** ||**Opening Balance**||£
0.61||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||SaturdayCoffee||£
00.00||Annual Giving||£
130.00| ||Christian Aid Fund Raising||£
130.00||||| ||Gift Aid Tax||£
3.58||||| ||Total||£
133.58||Total||£
130.00| ||||||||| ||||£
4.19||||| ## **CHAT** ||**Opening Balance**||£
0.40||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||SaturdayCoffee||£
103.41||Annual Giving||£
0.00| ||Gift Aid Tax||£
23.85||||| ||Total||£
127.26||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
127.66||||| ## **CODE** ||**Opening Balance**||£
42.15||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||SaturdayCoffee||£
76.05||Annual Giving||£
102.50| ||Gift Aid Tax||£ 25.76||||| ||Total||£
101.81||Total||£ 102.50| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
41.46||||| ## **Connect** ||**Opening Balance**||£
0.00||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||SaturdayCoffee||£
12.00||||£
0.00| ||SundayCoffee||£||||| ||Total|£
73.40|||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
73.40||||| ## **Disaster Emergency Fund** ||**Opening balance**||£
426.34||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||Donations||£
25.00||CREE2 – Shoe Boxes||£ 25.00| ||Sat/Sun coffee||£
35.00||||| ||Fundraising||£
125.00||||| ||Gift Aid Tax||£
14.08||||| ||Total||£||Total||£
25.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing balance**||£
600.42||||| ## **Edukid** ||**Opening Balance**||£
5,439.11||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||||||Oscar K. Sponsorship||£
275.00| ||Total||£
0.00||Total||£
275.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
5,164.11||||| ## **Food Bank** ||**Opening Balance**||£
(1.07)||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||**Gift Aid Tax**||**£ 74.00**||||| ||Total|£
74.00|||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
72.93||||| ## **Francisco Rojas School** ||**Opening Balance ‘David’**||£
225.74||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||Sunday/SaturdayCoffee||£
167.87||Annual Donation||£
0.00| ||Gift Aid Tax||£
57.00||||| ||Total||£
224.87||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
450.61||||| ## **Methodist Homes** ||**Opening Balance**||£
(0.29)||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||SundayCoffee||£
206.48||Annual Donation||| ||Gift Aid Tax||£
42.62||||| ||Total||£
249.10||Total||£
00.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
248.81||||| ## **Methodist Women in Britain** ||**Opening Balance ‘MWiB’**||£
10.17||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||Easter OfferingEnvelopes||£
0.00||Annual Giving||£
0.00| ||Gift Aid Tax||£
25.46||Easter Offering2023||£
0.00| ||SaturdayCoffee||£
90.20||||| ||Total||£
115.66||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
125.83||||| ## **Mission in Britain Fund (Home Missions)** ||**Opening Balance**||£
0.60||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||SaturdayCoffee Morning||£
82.35||Annual Giving||£
0.00| ||Gift Aid Tax||£
12.38||||| ||Total||£
94.73||Total||£
0.00| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
95.33||||| ## **Repair Café** ||**Opening Balance**||£
861.57||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||Total||£
0.00||Total||£
0.00| ||**Closing Balance**||£
861.57||||| ## **World Mission** ||**Opening Balance**||£
1.47||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||| ||**Income**||||**Expenditure**||| ||Easter Offering||£ 89.00||Easter Offering||£ 105.25| ||SaturdayCoffee||£
67.65||Annual Giving||£ 0.00| ||Gift Aid Tax||£
15.93||||| ||Total||£
172.58||Total||£
105.25| ||||||||| ||**Closing Balance**||£
68.80||||| Name of Church c P8J) I I OKI IK4r_rFIOJJisf CtrluRctrI No. 1178365 Independent Examiner's Statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below") which give me cause to believe that in, any material respect: the accounting records wer&rA kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act, or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 8¥ QVIEW 0￿ sf•gf£fv42Nrs I have/￿ obtained independent verification of all investments with the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes or held in other trusts, bank balances and funds at the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church which are individually in excess of £10,000 (ten thousand pounds) at the balance sheet date. Signature of independent examiner Name of independent examiner Relevant professional qualification of independent examiner F￿A4T Name of firm (where appropriate) Address 123 &oLY&rbNE Date 241::1 20ZY delete or circle as appropriate Ftym R•vlMd Autr24 Church-receipts-and-payments-2024 5of5 ## **Reserves Policy** The Charity’s Reserves Policy deals with: - (a) Our General Fund - (b) Central Finance Board Other funds also held which are NOT required to be included in our reserves are: - (c) Central Finance Board 2 (Property) - (d) Central Finance Board 2 (Youth Worker) ## **Our Reserves** (a-b) Our General Fund We aim ideally to hold in reserve sufficient money to cover six month’s expenditure i.e. £25,000 (excluding Cost of building use) The reason for this is twofold: - - (i) The church 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. As there are insufficient funds in the current account to cover this amount, at present time we can also draw upon monies held in the Central Finance Board. Other Funds held for specific purposes (c) Central Finance Board 2 (Property Fund) We maintain a Property Fund (held by 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 Central Finance. (d) Central Finance Board 2 (Youth Worker Fund) To cover the cost of our Youth Work activities. Youth Worker Fund will continue to be held by Central Finance. ## **Minutes of the Annual General Church Meeting held at Crediton Methodist Church on Saturday 19[th] May 2024** Present: Revd Alison Richardson, John Ashley (Secretary) and 18 members and friends. The Minister welcomed all those present and opened the meeting with a reading from Acts chapter 5 and a prayer. The Annual Report for 2022/23, which includes the financial statements for the year ended 31[st] August 2023 and the minutes of the meeting held on 13[th] May 2023, had been circulated having been previously reviewed and approved in draft by the Church Council. ## Minutes of the meeting held on 13[th] May 2023 There was some confusion about the circulation of the Annual Report which, the Secretary confirmed, had been made available, as usual, on request. Some of those attending had not had access so the Minister read the minutes. On the proposal of Bronwyn Nott, seconded by Marjorie Ashley, the minutes of the meeting held on 13[th] May 2023 were approved by the meeting. ## Financial Statements Glenn Turner commented on the financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2023. The result had been better than expected with improvements in hall bookings, offerings and Gift Aid receipts. There had also been a benefit from a reduction in the Circuit assessment. The Church still does not meet its target for reserves as defined in the Reserves Policy. There is a shortfall of about £10,000. Barbara Greenwood noted that the reserves had increase by about £3,000. Glenn Turner explained that this was due, in part, to a favourable fixed price contract for gas and electricity at a time when fuel prices had increased significantly. The contract ran out at the end of 2024 and there will be an impact on the current year’s figures. ## Annual Report The Minister added a few comments to her report in the Annual Report. The Big Top Youth Club for students of years 6 and 7 – ages 10 to 12 - has continued to be successful with up to 26 attending. Jane Sansom will be retiring at the end of this summer term. A new leader will need to be recruited as the other part-time youth worker is not suitable for this role. To support the number of children attending each week, the ideal number of adults is 8 which means the 2 paid employees and 6 volunteers are needed. More volunteers, not necessarily attending every week, would be welcomed to spread the load. The success of this event can be measured by comparing numbers pre-Covid which rarely reached double figures. It is currently the only outreach that the Church offers. For her, the Minister said it was the happiest part of the week. It is a vital aspect of Church life. Elizabeth Greenslade asked why the children were not being encouraged to come to Church on a Sunday. Pam Murphy replied that Haywards, which is the source of most of the children, do have some Christian input in their assemblies particularly from the Congregational Church where there are a large number of younger people attending. Part of this is due to the pastor, James Gregory, having 6 children. There is no doubt that children attract children. The Minister added that our Church has an aging congregation and although attempts have been made to attract families through initiatives like New Ark, these have not been successful. The challenge starts with us. Elizabeth Greenslade suggested encouraging members of our congregation to bring a grandchild to a Sunday service. Also, friends and neighbours could be approached and, with a lot of new housing due to be developed, new resident could be informed of our activities. On the proposal of Bronwyn Nott, seconded by John Ashley, the Annual Report for 2022/23 was approved. ## Church Stewards The Minister expressed her gratitude for the support she receives from the stewards. The current stewards, Marjorie Ashley, Hilary Everitt, Cathy Jerrard, Pam Murphy, Gill Sutton, Tina Turner and Glenn Turner are all willing to continue and, on the proposal of the Minister, seconded by Meg Ellis, the appointments were approved. ## Church Council The Minister thanked those who have served on the Church Council and reminded the meeting that up to fifteen members of the Church can be elected to represent the church family. Those willing to serve and be re-elected as representatives to the Church Council for the next year are Meg Ellis, Elizabeth Greenslade, Wendy Homeshaw, Bronwyn Nott and Karen Theedom. The Minister invited further nominations for the Church Council as there are a further ten vacancies. The Minister briefly explained the responsibilities of members of the Church Council who also act as trustees of the charity governing the operation of the Church. Lloyd Smale said he would be willing to stand for election. The Minister, seconded by Marjorie Ashley, proposed that the six nominees be elected to serve on the Church Council for 2024/25. This proposal was approved. 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
Bronwyn Nott
Lloyd Smale
Karen Theedom| |---|---|---| The meeting closed with a prayer led by Revd Jeanette Richardson.