**St Christopher’s Church, Pott Shrigley Annual Report for Year 2024-25** **Mission Statement:** St Christopher’s Church, Pott Shrigley, seeks to promote the whole mission of the Church, including evangelistic, pastoral, social and ecumenical work, in the ecclesiastical parish and beyond. We are the local embodiment of the Church of England’s mission to be a Christian presence in every community. St Christopher's Church takes its duty and obligation to protect all children, young people and vulnerable adults extremely seriously. We have adopted the national Church of England's robust procedures and guidelines and have two Parish Safeguarding Officers in place. **Aim and purposes:** At St Christopher’s Church, Pott Shrigley, we seek to: - know Christ, discern His will for us and follow Him - bring others to know Him and grow in their faith - increase our Biblical knowledge and understanding ● reach every corner of the parish with the Good News of Jesus Christ’s saving grace The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is also responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the church building and churchyard. ~~d~~ **Objectives and Activities:** The PCC is committed to ensuring that the church is vibrant and viable both now and in the future. The primary activities we seek to achieve are: - Promoting and conducting regular worship services and occasional offices (weddings, funerals and baptisms) that are accessible to all and relevant to the congregation - Maintaining and developing music, singing and bellringing to support the above - Promoting Christian learning and growth across all age ranges through: - preaching God’s word in services and by live streaming the services online - encouraging several home study and prayer groups (open to all) - regular prayer group meetings (open to all) - Junior Church (for primary school children) - Youth Church (for secondary school children and young people) - Little Doves (for pre-school children and their parents/carers) - occasional courses (open to all) - Actively supporting Pott Shrigley Church of England Primary School including leading assemblies etc and providing the church building for occasional school use - Providing pastoral support to the members of the church (wherever they are) and the inhabitants of Pott Shrigley (whoever they are) - Role-modelling Christian use of financial resources by giving a proportion of our income to charitable causes, both in and outside the parish - Communicating and promoting the Good News of Christ and the work of the church via: - the church and parish magazine, _HotPott_ - live streaming services online including making recordings available - the church website and social media - Bellringing - Maintaining the church building and churchyard to provide appropriately supportive and safe environments for the church activities in line with its status as a Grade I Listed Building situated in the Peak District National Park ## **Achievements and Performance in 2024-25** ## People: - Rev Lynn Caudwell (who started as our priest in charge in 2023) has continued to inspire us through incorporating the Five Marks of Mission throughout St Christopher’s - We were delighted to welcome Melissa Wearden as our new ordinand. Melissa is particularly involved in conducting All-Age Worship services - Caroline Booth has kindly taken on the voluntary role of Personal Assistant, in particular managing Lynn’s diary. This gives Lynn more time for ministry. - It has been great to see many more people leading at the front of church: Rev Lynne Bowden (Assistant Priest), Anne Murphy (Licenced Pastoral Worker, and the Occasional Worship Leaders. Church Vision: - The Away Day at Savio House in January was a great success and started our journey towards thinking about our vision and priorities for the future. It was attended by a large proportion of the congregation, including children and young people - We were visited by Rev. Peter Frogatt (Director of Outreach) and Kate Herrera (Families, Children, and Youth Advisor) from Chester Diocese, who were encouraged by how our vision aligns with the Diocesan Strategy. - Church building: we are exploring options on how we could adjust the church building to meet our needs and our vision for our church. David Garton’s creative work (included building models) has been instrumental in generating options for how we could adjust the church building. No decisions have yet been made; ideas and conversations about what is the right thing to do are ongoing - Communion: one key part of our vision exploration is how best to engage the congregation in the preparation and administration of communion in a safe and reflective way. A number of different options to achieve this have been tried during this year ## Actvites: - Sunday services continue at 8:30am and 10:45am and we started a midweek service on Wednesday mornings: ‘Not Just Sundays’ with refreshments (coffee and biscuits) available beforehand. The fellowship is particularly important for those who are not regular worshippers - Little Doves continues to be run by Victoria Price and Angie Bird, and after a change of day (now Monday afternoons) they are getting quite a variety of mums and children with a broad range of ages (0-5) - Book Groups: the success of the initial two groups led by Rev Lynn Caudwell led to two further groups, led by people who were part of the original groups. We now have four groups running, with a waiting list of those who want to join. This has been a great way to encourage people in their Christian journeys - Youth Church and Junior Church continue to be well attended by the small number of young people in the congregation. A huge thanks to all those who give their time. Running Junior Church more regularly is still something we aspire to as more leaders are required to do that! - We continue to communicate our activities as a church through the weekly newsletter, church website, church Facebook group, SPICE WhatsApp group and parish magazine, _HotPott_ . We were delighted that _HotPott_ won this year’s Gold Award for the Best Church Magazine in a competition run by the Association of Church Editors - Silk Life Food Bank: we continue to support our local food bank, particularly with extra collections during school holidays, Harvest and Advent and through the Reverse Advent Calendar. Several people donated warm clothing for the homeless during the coldest part of the year ## Christmas: - Carols by Candlelight – attended by 600+ people - Christmas Eve service: congregation included a coach load from the Shrigley Hall Hotel - Advent blessed by the visit of Hassan John - Christingle took a slightly different bent with the congregation assembling their own Christingles, led by our ordinand Melissa Wearden ## Resources: - We have purchased more accessible large print BCP for the 8:30am service and _Wee Worship Celtic_ Red and Blue books for the ‘Not Just Sunday’ services **Administrative Information:** The ecclesiastical parish of Pott Shrigley lies within the Macclesfield Deanery of the Diocese of Chester. Located in Shrigley Road, Pott Shrigley, the parish church is dedicated to Saint Christopher. The PCC is a corporate body established by the Church of England. St Christopher’s is registered with the Charity Commission with the Trustees being the PCC. Members of the PCC are either ex officio or elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. All regular church attendees are encouraged to be registered on the electoral roll and stand for election to the PCC. The electoral roll is updated throughout the year and formally revised and published prior to the APCM. _Jean Ferguson and Andrew Phillips Church Wardens March 2025_ The Parish of St. Christopher's Pott Shrigley 1513 Financial statement for the year ending 31st December 2024 PAYMENTS 2023 2024 Notss Grants To Charities Parish Share Cler8y Expenses Iworklngl Cler8y Expenses (Housingl Church Upkeèp Upkeep Of Services Churchyard Upkeep Trading Church Misslcsn Major Works Salarle5 & support Costs Bank Charges 10.235 54.541 1,917 3,345 7,914 3,657 1,330 8,785 231 8,173 8,200 57,226 2,389 4.493 8.949 4.149 1.191 8,182 234 1,875 38 TOTAL PAYMENTS £100,166 £94,688 RECEIPTS Covenant5 & Glft Ald Income Tax Recovered Uncovenanted Planned Glvln8 Collections At Sèrvices Sundry Donatlons Grant5 Le8acle5 FundTalsln8 Investment Income Tradlng Insurance Clalms & Other Income 57,142 3.922 3,152 4,195 6,060 57,511 12,254 5,050 5,4SI 6.220 6.248 1,517 4.796 14,261 1,017 3,061 12,410 387 TOTAL RECEIPTS £91,346 £113,308 TRADING P & L BALANCE £8,820 Deficit £18.620 Surplus Bank Account Balance 1st January £148,373 E139,5S3 Bank Account Balance 31st December £139,553 £158,173 Total Funds 1st January 2024 Plus.. Surplus for Year Total Funds 31st December 2024 £139,553 £18,620 £158,173 I confirm thi5 51aternenl to be a true and accurate account of the payments and receipts of the PCC of the Ecclesia5ti¢al Parish of Pott S ley. Chailty No. 1193382 Signed by the Independent Examin Print Name-. Notes To The Accounts YIE 31st December 2024 Major Works The costs of ￿pIating bell clappers was £1,675 Income Tax Recovered Income tax recovered on gfft aided denations Increased Significan￿Y as we caught up wth backlog in our claim$ Loga¢lo• We were very grateful to receive a legacy in the gum of £6,248 The Parish of St. Christopher's Pott Shrigley 1513 Financial statement for the year ending 31st December 2024 PAYMENTS 2023 2024 Notss Grants To Charities Parish Share Cler8y Expenses Iworklngl Cler8y Expenses (Housingl Church Upkeèp Upkeep Of Services Churchyard Upkeep Trading Church Misslcsn Major Works Salarle5 & support Costs Bank Charges 10.235 54.541 1,917 3,345 7,914 3,657 1,330 8,785 231 8,173 8,200 57,226 2,389 4.493 8.949 4.149 1.191 8,182 234 1,875 38 TOTAL PAYMENTS £100,166 £94,688 RECEIPTS Covenant5 & Glft Ald Income Tax Recovered Uncovenanted Planned Glvln8 Collections At Sèrvices Sundry Donatlons Grant5 Le8acle5 FundTalsln8 Investment Income Tradlng Insurance Clalms & Other Income 57,142 3.922 3,152 4,195 6,060 57,511 12,254 5,050 5,4SI 6.220 6.248 1,517 4.796 14,261 1,017 3,061 12,410 387 TOTAL RECEIPTS £91,346 £113,308 TRADING P & L BALANCE £8,820 Deficit £18.620 Surplus Bank Account Balance 1st January £148,373 E139,5S3 Bank Account Balance 31st December £139,553 £158,173 Total Funds 1st January 2024 Plus.. Surplus for Year Total Funds 31st December 2024 £139,553 £18,620 £158,173 I confirm thi5 51aternenl to be a true and accurate account of the payments and receipts of the PCC of the Ecclesia5ti¢al Parish of Pott S ley. Chailty No. 1193382 Signed by the Independent Examin Print Name-. Notes To The Accounts YIE 31st December 2024 Major Works The costs of ￿pIating bell clappers was £1,675 Income Tax Recovered Income tax recovered on gfft aided denations Increased Significan￿Y as we caught up wth backlog in our claim$ Loga¢lo• We were very grateful to receive a legacy in the gum of £6,248