Sacred Trinity, Salford J Annual Report 2024
SACRED TRINITY CHURCH
Deanery of Salford, Diocese of Manchester
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL MEMBERS 2023/24
Rector Andy Salmon Lay Vice Chair: Lorna Cook Churchwardens: Graham Ashworth Keith Banda
Church Warden Emeritus Les Kott Deputy Churchwarden Lee Earnshaw Treasurer: Lorna Cook Gift Aid Secretary: Peter Hughes PCC Secretary: Michaela Salmon Deanery Synod Rep Neil Worthington and Keith Banda Safeguarding Co-ordinator Vacant Sides people Graham Ashworth; Keith Banda; Peter Hughes Electoral Roll Officer: Philip Challoner
Other Council Members: Bethany Wong (2025) Philip Chandler (2026) Lorna Cook (2025) Michaela Salmon (2027) Les Kott (2026) Lee Earnshaw (2025) Wayne Edwards (2027)
Honorary Clergy: Peter Hughes
The PCC accounts are held at;
Co-operative Bank, Delf House, Skelmersdale WN8 6GH
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Rector’s report
Sacred Trinity is an amazing community of people and I continue to count it a privilege to serve here. As usual during 2024 there were a lot of new people and we said quite a few goodbyes too. We had some lovely highlights and a few struggles. We celebrated my 20th anniversary at the church and lots of people said nice things, which was encouraging. This is a report about 2024 but as I write this we are just past Easter in 2025 and have suffered a terrible tragedy in the sudden death of Graham Ashworth, one of our churchwardens. Graham had been churchwarden for less than 2 years but had really risen to the role. He will be difficult to replace as he was so generous with his time and his money.
Some highlights of 2024 would include our Being With group, the baptism and confirmation of several people, some lovely
weddings, seeing people take on new roles and grow in confidence, the priesting of Peter, some lovely concerts and the way the DreamSpace evenings have evolved.
Some of the challenges have been the ingress of water over the organ pipes, the high cost of heating and lighting, electrical problems… in fact many of the challenges have been to do with our lovely historic building which is both a blessing and a burden. If the church is going to survive and thrive we are going to have to get more people giving regularly to church. We do have a little income from renting out space in the church and we make some money from running the bar at gigs but most money comes from people donating through standing orders or online or through the machine at the back of church. If you are one of those regular givers, thank you. If you aren’t, then perhaps you would like to become one?
Our big plans for our building continue to make slow progress. To make substantial changes to our building is going to be extremely expensive but we will need to do it soon, if we are going to have a building fit for purpose in this 21st century city.
It is some years now since we did any serious Mission Action Planning and I am hoping that this summer we can have a session, perhaps over a Sunday lunchtime where we can reflect on what we do well, what we could do better, what isn’t working and what our priorities should be. In preparation for this I will do an online survey and it would be great to have a good response to this.
I want to finish with some thanks. Thanks to Graham and Keith for their support as churchwardens and to Lee as a deputy warden. Huge thanks to Lorna and Gloria for all their work on the finances and to Peter as well. Thanks to Peter, Neil and Dyfrig for their help with the services. Thanks to David for all that he does for the church and community musically. Thanks to Michaela for keeping PCC on track as well as her support of me personally. Thanks to Les for his faithful service over the years and for bringing his CDs along to Place of Welcome. Thanks to Sijin and before her, Paul for their bravery in coming here and their willingness to muck in. And thanks to all of you for making sure that I am never bored and for carrying
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the light of Christ in this wonderful, vibrant, frustrating, challenging, engaging, colourful and needful city that is loved by God.
Sisters and brothers let us love one another.
Andy Salmon, Rector.
Secretary report for Annual Parochial Council - 2024
There were six PCC meetings between April 2024 and April 2025. Copies of the PCC meeting minutes are available for inspection upon request. Meetings have been hybrid, with some joining online and others meeting face-to-face..
Safeguarding has been a standing agenda item and the PCC has discussed various ways to ensure we’re doing everything we can as a church to make sure all members and visitors to the church are kept as safe as possible and also supported with any issues they may need help with. We also discussed the Makin review into historic abuse within the national church in the 1980s, which led to the resignation of the Archbishop, Justin Welby, in November 2024.
Church finances and the building have also featured regularly on our agendas, especially with the ongoing high cost of fuel bills and other essential costs, and our commitment to keep the building open and welcoming to our community. We also discussed the insurance claim we had to make in April 2024 following a leak in the roof which caused damage to our organ and a problem with rats biting through electricity cables in January 2025.
It’s also been a priority for us to keep moving forward on our plans to make our building fit-for-purpose for the future, more efficient to run and more sustainable, so this has regularly featured on our agendas.
We’ve also discussed our views on the ‘Prayers of Love and Faith’, prayers of blessing to offer to same sex couples, which were agreed by the General Synod in April 2024.
We discussed and implemented lots of possible ideas to support church growth and we’ve planned social events to help the congregation get to know each other better and to welcome newcomers, and a celebration of Andy’s 20 year anniversary at Sacred Trinity which took place in April 2024. We’ve also discussed the programme of services and other activities to celebrate Christmas and Easter and the programme of short courses such as ‘Being With’ to support us in our faith and bring in new people.
This year we said a fond farewell to Paul Wasmuth who finished his Time For God volunteer year and welcomed Sijin Kim as the new Time for God volunteer. Peter Hughes was priested in July 2024.
Thanks to everyone that has contributed to these meetings and for work carried out by the PCC members between meetings, which enable the church to continue its mission. Michaela Salmon
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Curate & Gift Aid Report 2024-25
It’s been a continued privilege to worship together with you this year, and what a year it’s been. Sacred Trinity grows more and more vibrant and filled with life each week. We’ve greeted lots of new faces, and welcomed more than a few into the family of God through baptism, confirmations, and weddings.
Sacred Trinity has been a hub of activity. From gigs and Dreamspace, to “Being With” and our regular programme of activities. Alongside that, we’ve had our share of
disasters, including a hole in the floor, a leaky ceiling, and a waterlogged organ. You might have noticed the last layers of plaster are being applied to the section of wall at the front of church. Sacred Trinity has recovered from all of these with the help and support you provide. Thank you on behalf of everyone at church for your generosity and care over the past year. As our GiftAid volunteer I’d like to give a particular thanks to those who have signed up for the scheme. With the GiftAid scheme we’ve been able to access almost £2,500 in additional funding. GiftAid doesn’t cost you anything extra, it just means we can claim back around 30p from the tax man for each pound of your donations. If you’d like to sign up it really does benefit the church, especially for those emergency funds we desperately need. Speak to us and we can get it sorted.
Sijin has been a bright and positive presence, travelling to us from South Korea to be, learn, and worship with us as part of the Time for God programme. From her wonderful artistic skills (especially our beautiful Easter candle), to her dedicated service, we’ve been blessed to have her choose to spend this year with us.
Congratulations to Dyfrig on his licensing as a Reader by Bishop Matthew. Readers are Licensed Lay Ministers with theological training and skills to preach and teach. Dyfrig is well equipped for Reader ministry as anyone who has heard his deep, clear, and poetic sermons will agree. I hope he finds this vocation fulfilling and rewarding, and that it brings both us and he closer to God.
We’ve suffered deep sadness and grief recently. Our friend, Graham Ashworth, died. He was an ever-reliable volunteer, the churchwarden, and a wonderful person. Together, we mourn this great loss to ourselves and our community, and we pray for God’s blessing on Graham and his loved ones. Graham was a great example to me of service, dedication, and perseverance. His compassion for other who struggle, particularly through his work with mental health charity Talk About It Mate, was clear to everyone who met him, and has shaped my ministry. I’m privileged and glad to have known him, and look forward in hope to when we will meet again.
Thank you to the whole community for having me as your curate, and particularly thanks to Les, Neil and Andy for all their care and support. Thanks to Keith and Lee for keeping things on the go and for your time, effort, and friendship. Thanks to Lorna, Michaela, Neil, Kolyn, and the whole PCC ensuring the
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church is here for the whole of the parish, today and tomorrow. Thanks to David, Manchester Universities Guild of Change Ringers, and the Flatiron Choir, for filling the church with music, Sacred Trinity wouldn’t be the same without you.
Churchwardens Report
Sworn in by the Archdeacon at the Visitation Service, Churchwardens work to support the Parish Priest, Parochial Church Council, and other ordained and lay leaders in the parish, to advance the diocesan vision of being an inclusive church for a different world: promoting worshipping, growing, nurturing, and being a Christian presence at the heart of the community. In the year under review, we are thankful to God that we were privileged to support Andy and other leaders at Sacred Trinity Church to continue forming loving communities,
from which all our missionary activities sprang.
Order and Decency
Turning up an hour earlier, Graham would help Andy and Sijin to set up for the divine services. This included making ready for service booklets and hymns, setting up movable chairs and candles. On the other hand, Keith would concentrate on working outside in the church yard, making sure there is decency pending divine service, in an eco-friendly way. Indeed, Andy and Keith further participated in two Missional Community Eco meetings, where presentations were made and discussed to work with local communities in helping tackle to Climate Change. We are also grateful to many people who have increasingly come up to help in leading prayers, welcoming and making the teas or clean up. Indeed, those feeling God’s call to do Sunday readings and prayers are most welcome, and please talk to Andy or Keith.
Fabric and Property
Built in 1635, Sacred Trinity is to undergo major repair works, as it has several times in the past. This will significantly improve our facilities in carrying out God’s mission. The changes will include new Kitchen facilities. “We have been working with architects throughout the past year, regarding these major renovation plans for the church. They have now produced a report which details the proposed renovations. We are now in the process of using this report to apply for funding,” reported Graham. “Indeed, we are glad that the Venerable Archdeacon Rachel Mann and members of DAC informally met Andy and the Churchwardens, to have an initial appreciation of the proposed major repairs,” concluded Keith.
Church Building Users
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Strategically situated on Chapel Street, Scared Trinity is one the most utilized church buildings in the city Centre. Apart from our own use for Sunday services, Monday Flat Iron Choir, Tuesday Place of Welcome, Wednesday Silence In The City, and monthly Dream Space (spoken word, music, and poetry), many other groups outside the church use our shared space. These include monthly Ecumenical Open Table evening services for LGBTQIA people; Monthly Hong Kongers group meetings; and Fortnightly Manchester Immigration Solidarity presentations (MiSol); Friday concerts, and yearly Trade Unions rallies. We feel privileged in this way in carrying out God’s mission in being a Christian presence at the heart of the Manchester City Centre community.
Water and Electricity
As can be seen in the accounts, water, gas, and electricity bills have gone up. We are grateful to Neil Worthington for always checking the meters and helping us find better deals.
Music Director’s report 2024 - 2025
Achievements and challenges over the year - Church
The congregation at Sacred Trinity is growing and this has brought a fuller vocal sound, but I like to think that the things I am doing to teach songs and impart vocal techniques to the congregation also helps.
Kelly Yip continues to play during the service, she is playing our mass settings and during communion and to practice on the organ, she has some major exams coming up and we wish her well for the future.
Achievements over the year - Choir
I have dedicated more time this year to running the choir, but this is mostly taken up with marketing via social media as choir numbers once again grew and then collapsed in January. We are learning more challenging repertoire “Blue Moon”, “Down in the river to pray” and “Weeping” from
“Songs of a rainbow nation” are all songs in 3 and 4 part harmony. Choir numbers have now
returned with attendance in mid-teens. If every active member came to each practice we would have over 20 in the choir. I would like to thank Sijin for the way in which she opens up the church
and runs the ‘front of house’ operation; It would not be possible for me to do both.
Challenges for the year - Church Finding enough time to practice so that I can play music in the service to my own high standards while expanding the repertoire of music
Challenges for the year - Choir
I said in last year’s report that the choir needs to continue to grow so that, even when numbers decline, as they always do at the beginning of the year, the choir will still be successful and viable.
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I felt hopeful that choir numbers would keep up, but they still collapsed in January. I am now running an advertising campaign at my own expense and I am encouraging choir members to interact via meetup which is the web portal that sends us most of our members.
DreamSpace Evenings
Our regular monthly DreamSpace Evenings have been developing well over the last year. It’s a real source of joy to be surrounded by such talented musicians, poets, performers and artists each month – from beginners through to seasoned performers – and to create a safe space for all kinds of people to perform and share together.
One of the aims of DreamSpace is to build community and there’s a felt sense of community among those who participate. It’s lovely that the Flat Iron Choir open each evening and then close with a community song, and big thanks to David Hilary and the choir for their contributions each month which
help set the tone of the evenings. It’s also been great to welcome the Manchester Choral Scholars alongside a growing pool of new performers.
We very much see the DreamSpace Evenings as being about mission – forming positive relationships with people outside the church, raising funds for local charities, raising awareness of social justice issues, exploring spirituality, creating a safe supportive space, and modelling the gospel values of hope, inclusion and love. A recent visitor to DreamSpace commented how much he liked what we were doing, and that he
‘saw the church’ alive in our midst, which I felt was really encouraging.
A highlight for me this year was attending the HeartEdge Day in Birmingham in March. Andy and I gave a presentation on DreamSpace, and we were also inspired by other people attempting creative forms of outreach in their own communities. It was so encouraging to spend time with people who ‘get’ what we’re trying to achieve and we got some very encouraging feedback.
The logistics of putting together DreamSpace each month can be challenging e.g. booking people in advance, dealing with last-minute cancellations, setting up the musicians, organisation and publicity. However, it’s always worth it! We generally have between 40 and 50 folk each evening, although the majority tend to be performers rather than ‘punters’. So, it would be good to try and get word around further this coming year, through for example, distributing fliers in local cafes, bars etc., visiting other events for inspiration (e.g. Word Central) and local music venues. Nevertheless, people are gradually hearing about us and we do have some new faces coming along each month to check us out, which is encouraging.
We’re looking at creative ways of developing the project further going forwards. We’ve started inviting ‘Guest Hosts’ to host some of the evenings and also inviting an ‘Artist of the Month’ to display their artwork. We’ve also had some interest from people who would like to start something similar in their
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own church. So, we’re very excited about how things might continue to develop and what opportunities lie ahead.
Report of the PCC’s lay representatives on Salford & Leigh Deanery Synod
In the past year Sacred Trinity has sent two lay representatives at Deanery Synod: Keith Banda and Neil Worthington. Neil has been unwell and was only able to attend two meetings. Keith has been at all three.
A lot more travel is involved since the new Synod was created, covering Leigh and Eccles as well as the traditional city of Salford. But it has been helpful and educational to visit new churches in parts of the diocese that we didn’t know well at all.
We have had presentations and debates on Developing Missional Disciples, on Eco-Churches, on Giving and Parish Share, and on Church Planting and Revitalisation. And of course we have become four new Mission Communities. In our case, Sacred Trinity has formed new relationships with churches on the other side of the River Irwell, including the Cathedral.
In the last month we said goodbye to Revd Colin Pearson, who has been our first full time Area Dean and has now retired from active ministry. His replacement is to be The Venerable Richard Worsfold (currently Archdeacon of Leicester).
Keith Banda, Neil Worthington
14[th] May 2025
A tribute to Graham Ashworth
Graham was such a friendly and welcoming person not only to our regular congregation but more so to anyone who came for the first time. He and his co-warden Keith would always make sure they were on the Rota for reading the scriptures and leading the prayers on Sunday morning services. Although he was only the warden for a short time he fitted in so well it looked like he had done the job for much longer. He had a great eagerness to know the history of this church and when we changed the colours on the altar frontals to match the vestments worn by the clergy and which colour was used for each festival. He was delighted to learn about these things and much more. He was a great asset to Andy in planning future events for the church. Above all I am sure he will be greatly missed by all the many associations he was involved with. As we laid him to peace on Tuesday 20th May our prayers and memories were with his family and many friends. May he and all Christian souls rest in peace and else again in glory (Amen).
Churchwarden ( Emeritus) and Eucharistic Assistant - Les Kott
Electoral Roll
Our Electoral Roll is a completely new one, as it is every 6 years and now has 29 people.
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Safeguarding
We work in line with the National Church safeguarding policy and procedures. We have finally recruited a new person to take on the role of parish safeguarding officer. Andreia Perrera has taken on the role from April.
Manchester Universities Guild of Change Ringers
Ringing this year for the University Guild and at Sacred Trinity has been fairly continued from previous years. We have seen great progression for existing ringers, new learners starting within the year, and returning ringers coming back to continue their ringing (and drinking) careers.
We have had three learners attending practice with some consistency, and another who joined us for the first term of the academic year. They have all shown great enthusiasm for learning and have progressed from scratch onto ringing aided within rounds, at least one with the hope of cracking plain hunting soon too. Huge thanks to the ringers who have been able to support learning opportunities this year. We hope to have this number of teachers increase over the next year to take the load off of the few who can currently teach. There have been a varied array of visitors to the tower this year, both experienced ringers who happened to be passing through the area, to intrigued passers byers who heard the bells and wanted to see what the crack was.
The band itself as well as Tuesday evening practices have varied over the year. The fluctuations in numbers for practice nights is mainly due to holidays for students as well as ringers supporting other practices elsewhere. We have a core band and continue to ring on 6 and 8 if we have enough people. General ringing levels have been on the increase, mostly all due to the rapid upskilling some of the band have had (ringing upwards of 3 nights a week!). We can sometimes get surprise major, but will consistently have a strong surprise minor band who have delt well with obscure methods being sprung on them last minute. We have also started to encourage ringers learning to call methods, some of which has been successful.
We have had quite a good year for long ringing, 20 quarter peals rang for the society and two of our members taking part in their first peals (although only one attributed for the MUGs). The availability of Sacred Trinity due to the support and encouragement from Andy Salmon the rector has made a lot of these opportunities happen. Nearly all quarters have been rang to support the development of ringing abilities within the band, lots of firsts for ringers focussing on specific methods.
Special mention for the committed handbell ringers this year, consistently meeting before the learners practice on Tuesday evenings. Large achievements have been made within this group and they have
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successfully indoctrinated a non-handbell ringer into their fold (ringing not one but two handbell quarters!)
Sunday morning ringing has continued but has seen a great decrease in numbers of ringers within the Sacred Trinity band, most mornings the band being filled by cathedral ringers after their morning service. This is mainly due to availability of the students due to prior engagements, but a definite increase could be had and is strongly encouraged as we go into the new year.
Anna Nash, Ringing Master
TREASURER’S REPORT – 2025
May I start this report by taking this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to church in the past twelve months, which has enabled us to pay our parish share in full and maintain the running costs of the church, which has at times been challenging.
Currently the accounts for 2024 are being finalised and will then be sent for independent review. This is later than usual as I have stepped away from some aspects of the Treasurers role during 2024 and may I thank Gloria for offering to assist with the completion of the spreadsheet which records the church’s receipts and payments, which then leads to the preparation of the accounts. A separate meeting will therefore be held in due course to present the accounts of Sacred Trinity Church PCC, for the year ended 31 December 2024, once approved by the PCC & reviewed by our new independent examiner.
Due to this I am unable to fully comment on the receipts and payments as I would usually do, however it would be appropriate to mention a few headline points.
Following a freak storm in June 2024, the church suffered water damage which primarily effected the space where the organ is located. This has required extensive repair, which whilst the majority was claimed for on our insurance, additional maintenance and repair work was also undertaken, given the opportunity that the removal of the organ gave us. This was in the region of £4,500 and we are still awaiting the final invoice and to settle this additional cost.
Unfortunately, to date, we have not been able to fully utilise the car parking spaces that we previously rented out to Church House, this is a sorely missed revenue stream.
Again, this year we have been grateful for the support & income that the various groups and external rentals have generated for Sacred Trinity and as mentioned in previous years we are always on the lookout for new opportunities to enhance this source of income.
The electronic means of donating are being used widely across church, and whilst there is a cost to these devices, it is considered to be worthwhile. However, we still appreciate donations by standing order which enable us to manage our cash flow better, especially when gift aid is added to these donations, which generates an additional 25% to church, for a basic taxpayer, and is reclaimed and offset against our parish share.
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In terms of expenditure, Church running costs again increased, we received a donation from The Booth Charities to assist with the heating costs again this year.
We were able to support several charities both, local, national & international again during the year, thanks again to everyone who supported our events.
May I also take this opportunity to express my sadness at the sudden & unexpected passing of Graham Ashworth who I had the privilege of sitting on the PCC with for several years, his contribution to Sacred Trinity will be greatly missed.
As my term in office as Treasurer draws to an end, there will be a period of transition, may I thank everyone who has assisted me in this role over the last 6 or so years, and I wish Sacred Trinity Church all the very best for the future.
Lorna Cook
Treasurer
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