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2023-12-31-accounts

111 Holy Trinity Elll St John s Reports for the APCM 2022 yp.

Contents

Sec*on 1: Annual Report

1.1 Agendas

1.2 Vicar’s Report

1.3 Electoral Roll Report

1.4 Minutes of the Vestry Mee:ng and APCM 22[nd] May 2022

1.5 Financial Review

1.6 Churchwardens’ Report, including Fabric Report

1.7 PCC Secretary’s Report

1.8 Deanery Synod Report

1.9 Safeguarding Report

Sec*on 2: Worship, Discipleship and Pastoral Care

2.1 Worship Report

2.2 Music in Worship

2.3 Prayer Mee:ng

2.4 Wednesday Morning Prayer

2.5 Friday Prayers

2.6 Tech in Worship

2.7 Home & Community Groups

2.8 Lent Course

2.9 Exploring… Workshops

2.10 Communica:ons & Website

2.11 Pastoral Care

2.12 Life Events: Bap:sms, Weddings, Funerals

Sec*on 3: Children and Young People

3.1 Blast / Blaze 3.2 Ignite 3.3 Pizza & Games

Secon 4: Working towards Intergeneraonal Community

4.1 Messy Church 4.2 Connect 4.3 LiTle & Big Fish 4.4 Over 50’s: Open Doors 4.5 Holiday@Home 4.6 HT Pre-School 4.7 Knit & NaTer

Sec*on 5: Community & Mission

5.1 Living Well 5.2 Blend Choir 5.3 CAP 5.4 HT Community Garden

5.5 Work with Schools 5.6 Mission Giving 5.7 Auc:on

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Sec*on 1 Annual Report

1.1 Agendas

Agenda for the Annual Vestry Mee*ng Sunday 23[rd] April 2023

Agenda

1. Opening Prayer

2. Apologies for absence

3. Elec:on of Churchwardens

4. Thanks and Prayer

Agenda for the Annual Parochial Church Mee*ng Sunday 23[rd] April 2023

Agenda

1. Approval of minutes of last year’s APCM (22[nd] May 2022)

2. MaTers arising from the minutes, if any

3. Elec:on of PCC members and Deanery Synod Representa:ves

4. Adop:on of the Electoral Roll (copy available for inspec:on)

5. Fabric Report (including fabric, goods, ornaments)

6. PCC Secretary’s Report

7. Financial Report (including Financial Statements for Year Ending 2022)

8. Safeguarding Report

9. Other wriTen reports are available for inspec:on

10. Vicar’s Report

11. Any Other Business

12. Closing Prayer

The new PCC and wardens will gather at the front of church immediately a7er the mee8ng to appoint officers and confirm the date for the first mee8ng.

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1.2 Vicar’s Report

In September 2022, we welcomed a new Bishop of Rochester to our Diocese in a service in Rochester Cathedral. Bishop’s Jonathan’s sermon on that day contained a simple message to the churches: Change – Serve – Grow. And, here on the outer reaches of the Diocese in Penge, these three words feel like an excellent summary of the last year.

2022 was a year of enormous change for us. It is worth remembering that it is only since last Easter that we started to worship together as one church every Sunday. That change brought new life, joy and energy into our worship, into our fellowship and, especially, into our children’s work. It has also felt uncomfortable for some, as both legacy churches have seTled into a new paTern and a new way of being. And this was, of course, sharpened and highlighted by the decision in July, following a period of wide consulta:on, to seTle our 8am service at the Holy Trinity site and the 10:30am at the St John’s site from the beginning of October. I do not underes:mate how hard this change was for many people, and the deep sadness it brought for some. However, it also brought opportuni:es – new services in the form of Connect, Wednesday Afernoon Prayer and the Sunday Communion service, Pizza and Games for young people, all of which are flourishing, and some new HTSJ ways of celebra:ng Christmas and Easter that may or may not develop, in :me, into tradi:ons! We have not been immune, either, to the changes happening all around us in society – the tragedy of war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, which has had such an impact on the work of Living Well and of CAP, the summer of three Prime Ministers and countless cabinets, and, of course, the death of Her Majesty the Queen.

One thing that did not change during 2022 was the commitment of so many people in our church congrega:on to serve both one another and the wider community. These reports bear witness to the life of this church thriving through service in many ways. We served young families, through LiTle & Big Fish, our “gold standard” toddler groups, and the pre-school. We served older people through Open Doors and the joyful celebra:on that was Holiday@Home. We served the most vulnerable through Living Well – the pressure upon which was documented by an ar:cle in the FT and a CNN news report – and CAP, the response to whose fundraiser was of such overflowing generosity. We offered our buildings to community groups, including for a new Warm Space on a Thursday lunch:me which has been a blessing to many. We have served through kninng squares for blankets for people in Ukraine, and through our Mission Giving dona:ons. And, of course, so many of us have served in unseen, unno:ced ways throughout the year – suppor:ng, cleaning, mending bits of the buildings that have come unstuck, being on the PCC, stewarding our accounts, welcoming, listening, caring, praying. You are too many to name – but thank you to all who keep the life and service of our church going day by day and week by week. You are an inspira:on and a huge encouragement!

And, thirdly: grow. Whilst our church membership, in terms of the electoral roll, remains steady, we have seen around 70 adults and anything from 10-25 children and young people aTending on Sundays across our two sites and different services. We have been delighted to welcome a number of new people during the year. In addi:on, we have seen huge growth in the numbers aTending all our midweek ac:vi:es as the fear of Covid recedes and people are ac:vely seeking places of rela:onship and community. But growth is not only that which can be measured. We have grown in rela:onships with one another. We have grown in understanding of each other – and in understanding of what the adventure of merging our legacy churches actually entails. We have grown, I hope, spiritually, as we have worshipped together, prayed together, learnt together and shared our life together. And we look forward to seeing how, in God’s :me and by God’s grace, the seeds planted during 2022, both those sown in weeping and those sown in joy, will blossom and bear fruit in the future.

Whatever the next year holds for us, I can guarantee three things: we will con:nue to change, serve and grow – for this is the calling of all God’s people for all :me. We are called to change, to be transformed

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into the image of Christ who called us to follow him, to serve afer the paTern of our Servant King, and, empowered by the Holy Spirit to grow into the life he calls us to, day by day.

transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Rev Jessica Smith, Vicar

1.3 Electoral Roll Report

There are 155 names on the roll, as against 156 last year.

71 of those names are resident in the parish and 84 are non-resident.

8 names have been added to the roll.

9 names have been removed from the roll.

I again acknowledge the indispensable part played by Hazel Willson, who has signed up almost all the names added to the roll this year; thank you so much Hazel.

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1.4 Minutes of the Vestry Mee*ng and APCM 2022

Minutes of Annual Vestry (Parish) Mee*ng (APM) on 22[nd] May 2022

held on the St John’s church site

(The mee:ng was held in person and on zoom)

Context: Trinity with St John, Penge on 1[st] September 2021.

Both churches were in an interregnum at the :me.

Record of A[endance for APM and APCM

Present:

In church: Jessica Smith (chair), Lorraine Baker, Ian Baldwin, Valerie Baldwin, Valerie Beckway, Fiona Barnes, Peter Carter, Carol Carter, Sunil Chandy, Jonno Campion-Smith, Kate Campion-Smith, Margaret Davies, Tom Davies, YveTe Evans, BeTy Friend, Alex Griffiths, Andrew Griffiths, Diane Lovell, Anne McClaughry, Rod McClaughry, Steve Miller, Sue Miller, Francoise Moore, Jessica Moscrop, Sarah Murrell, Natalie, Sally Nicholas, Kemi Ogundipe, Gill Owens, Alison Penfold, Laura Polaine, Cordelia Providence, Julian Providence, Margaret Riches, Lionel Riches, Beccy Short, Catherine Stewart, Nick Stewart, Richard Thomson, Sue Thomson, Sarah Whi:ng, Hazel Willson.

On zoom: David Osborne, Mary Osborne, Rob Smith, Sue Smith, Ruth Wright, Terry Wright, Harold and Maria.

Apologies: Val Carrier, June Gibson, Veronica Hughes, Russ Jones, Sally Junes, Chris:ne Stone, Colin Stone, Mick Vance.

1. The mee*ng opened with prayer

Revd Jessica Smith (Vicar) welcomed the parishioners.

The Agenda for the mee:ng could be found on page 7 of the Annual Report 2022.

2. Apologies for absence

See above

3. Elec*on of Churchwardens

Holy Trinity with St John’s which was established on 1[st] September 2021, we would move from having four churchwardens to two churchwardens who would be responsible for both church sites. Jessica thanked the four churchwardens for all they have done over the years and in the transi:on to the new

Jessica explained that as Steve Miller has completed 6 years as churchwarden he has decided to step down as churchwarden.

Peter Carter has decided to step down afer 13 years as churchwarden.

Ian Baldwin and Jonno Campion-Smith are both willing to stand again and have been nominated as Churchwardens.

Nomina:ons:

Ian Baldwin Proposed: Steve Miller; Seconded: Russell Jones Jonno Campion-Smith- Proposed: Sunil Chandy; Seconded: Margaret Riches. The proposal to elect Ian and Jonno as churchwardens for the benefice was approved.

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Proposed: Richard Thomson; Seconded: Diane Lovell; All in favour.

Ian and Jonno were duly elected for a term of one year.

Jessica read out a summary of the churchwardens’ responsibili:es.

Jessica said how enormously grateful she was to Ian, Jonno, Steve and Peter, for all they had done in prepara:ons for her arrival in October 2021 and over the transi:onal period.

Jessica presented Steve and Peter with a gif in apprecia:on for all they have done.

Jessica then invited Ian and Jonno to be presented with the keys for both churches as a sign of their joint responsibili:es across both sites.

Jessica reminded people that the churchwardens have the role of taking responsibility across the parish but there needs to be a team suppor:ng them on the ground. Further discussions would take place to ensure this.

4. Thanks and Prayer

Jessica prayed for the church, for Steve and Peter for all they have done, and for Ian and Jonno as they con:nue and the future. We are encouraged to support them and help them for the glory of God across the parish.

Sally Nicholas, PCC Secretary

Minutes of Annual Parochial Church Mee*ng (APCM) held on 22nd May 2022

The mee:ng was held immediately afer the Annual Vestry (Parish) Mee:ng (APM) on 22[nd] May 2022 on the St John’s church site (The mee:ng was in person and on zoom)

Record of A[endance for APCM

1. Approval of the minutes of APCM’s 2021

Jessica explained that each of the churches had held their own APCM in April / May 20201, and that an Extraordinary / Special church mee:ng was held on 20[th] September 2021 afer the establishment of the United Benefice of Holy Trinity with St John, Penge on 1[st] September 2021.

Jessica said that members of the legacy Holy Trinity congrega:on could approve the minutes of the Holy Trinity APCM and that members of the St John’s congrega:on could approve the minutes of the St John’s APCM. Any member present at the Extraordinary mee:ng in September 20201 could approve the minutes of the Special Church mee:ng.

Approval of minutes as an accurate record of the mee*ng:

a. Holy Trinity Church, Beckenham, 23[rd] May 2021

Proposed: Richard Thomson; Seconded: Jonno Campion-Smith; All in favour

b. St John the Evangelist, Penge, 25[th] April 2021

Proposed: Sue Miller; Seconded: Val Baldwin; All in favour

c. Holy Trinity with St John, Penge Special Church mee*ng 20[th] September 2021

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Proposed: Beccy Short; Seconded: Margaret Davies; All in favour

2. Ma[ers arising from above minutes. None

3. Elec*ons

a. Parish Church Council (PCC) members

A church with our number on the Electoral Roll can have 12 lay members on the PCC.

10 people have been nominated to be PCC members. All these members have been serving on the transi:onal PCC since September 2021.

Four members of the transi:onal PCC have stepped down for a range of reasons.

Jessica thanked the transi:onal PCC for the important work that had been done with packed agendas and important decisions that needed to be made.

Jessica thanked those stepping down: Val Carrier, Steve Lovell; Keith McMillan; Winston Vethroy for all they have done.

Nomina*ons of PCC members: Proposed: Seconded: Peter Carter Ruth Wright Fiona Barnes Steve Miller Nick Stewart Julian Providence Andrew Griffiths Stephen Lovell Ian Baldwin Sally Nicholas Ian Baldwin Sue Thomson Tamara Cooper Sally Nicholas Rebecca Short YveTe Evans Hazel Willson Steve Miller Jessica Moscrop Andrew Griffiths Ian baldwin Julian Providence Sue Miller Catherine Stewart Sue Thomson Laura Polaine Richard Thomson Michael Vance Stephen Miller Francoise Moore-Edwin

Therefore there are two vacancies. Anyone interested in coming onto the PCC should speak to Jessica or any member of the PCC.

Jessica suggested we voted for the approval of all ten people who had been nominated

Proposed: Carol Carter; Seconded: Sarah Whi:ng; All in favour

Therefore everyone on the list above was duly elected to the PCC.

b. 3 Deanery Synod representa*ves

Jessica explained that our 3 Deanery representa:ves were elected to serve un:l 2023 and that all three representa:ves are willing to con:nue.

Our three Deanery representa:ves are: Margaret Riches; Hazel Willson and Ruth Wright. Thanks extended to Margaret, Hazel and Ruth.

The elected PCC members and Deanery Reps were asked to stand up so that people were aware of who they were.

c. LLMs , Readers, Pastoral Assistants

Jessica explained that all those who hold these roles have the right to aTend the PCC.

Jessica said she is very grateful for their ministry and support.

Ian Baldwin; Janice Bessant; Sunil Chandy; Russell Jones.

d. Sidespersons

The list of people who act as sidespersons is covered by the Welcoming teams on the Church rota, therefore the individuals on these teams were proposed to cover these roles.

Proposed: Seconded: Gill Owens; All in favour

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Sally Nicholas (PCC secretary) explained that there was an update to the Electoral Roll report for the Parish of Holy Trinity with St John’s, Penge from that published in the Annual report (page 6).There had been an agreement, by email, from the PCC to update the Electoral Roll. The updated report had been provided by the Electoral Roll Officer, Richard Thomson. Sally read the update out in full.

The updated Electoral Roll report is for the period 1[st] September 2021 to 8[th] May 2022. ‘There are 158 names on the roll.

69 of those are resident in the parish and 89 are non resident. There are 102 women on the roll and 56 men.

10 names have been added to the roll.

33 names have been removed from the roll.

I (Richard Thomson) gladly acknowledge the enormous part played by Hazel Willson in the revision, not only for signing up every one of the added names, but also earlier on for having curated the St John’s names and transferred then to the combined roll; thank you so much Hazel’.

Proposal that we adopt the revised Electoral Roll and appoint Richard Thomson as the Electoral Roll

Proposed: YveTe Evans; Seconded: Rod McClaughry; All in favour

5. Fabric report (including fabric, goods and ornaments)

The fabric reports for Holy Trinity church and St John’s church could be found on pages 30&31 of the Annual report.

churchwardens will ensure these are updated for both churches in line with the fabric report as needed. The mee:ng was asked to approve the fabric report and corresponding updates to the Terrier and Church log book.

Proposed: Jonno Campion-Smith; Seconded: Valerie Baldwin; All in favour

6. PCC Secretary’s report

There are three PCC secretary’s reports are on pages 23-29 of the Annual report.

a. Holy Trinity Beckenham: January - August 2021

b. St John’s, Penge January - August 2021

c. Holy Trinity with St John’s, Penge: Sept - December 2021

Sally was asked if she had anything to add to the reports and the mee:ng was asked if anyone had any ques:ons. There were no addi:onal comments or ques:ons.

Jessica thanked Sally for all her work for the PCC and Sally Jones for her :me as PCC secretary for St John’s.

7. Financial Report (including Financial statements for the year Ending 2021)

Andrew gave an overview of the accounts with some accompanying slides.

The accounts had been audited Tony Catherall, independent examiner.

Andrew outlined income and expenditure, the restricted and unrestricted funds and the year end posi:on. He said that although we were in a healthy financial posi:on as a church we should remain frugal, be good stewards and build on mission and God’s story.

Ques*ons / comments

A ques:on was asked about whether there was a plan to bring back the plate collec:on.

It was explained there is a dona:on box at St John’s and a plate usually put on the welcome table at Holy Trinity but that no plan to resume the plate collec:on during the Sunday morning worship had been made. This would need to be agreed with the PCC.

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This issue would be taken to the PCC. There were no other ques:ons. The mee:ng was then asked to adopt the audited accounts.

a. adop*on of audited reports

Proposed: Richard Thomson; Seconded: Valerie Baldwin; All in favour

b. appointment of the independent examiner for 2022

It was proposed that Tony Catherall con:nue as independent examiner of the church accounts. Proposed: Margaret Riches; Seconded : Hazel Willson; All in favour. Jessica said she gave huge thanks to Tony Catherall for being the independent examiner and huge thanks to Andrew and to Edward for painstakingly working on the separate church accounts and then bringing them together.

8. Safeguarding report

The safeguarding report is on pages 33&34 of the Annual report. A ques:on was asked as to whether there had been any par:cular issues. Jessica said that there were two poten:al issues that were inves:gated.

9. Review of other wri[en reports:

Jessica said that other wriTen reports could be found in the Annual report and thanked people for their contribu:ons. Jessica asked if there were any ques:ons on the reports. There were none. The mee:ng was asked to approve the other reports collec:vely.

Proposed: Margaret Davies; Seconded: All in favour

10. Vicar’s report

Jessica said that afer 7 months of talking about ‘the merger’ it was :me to talk about ‘unity’. Rather than blend everything it is important to recognise the rich diversity of people and made reference to 1 Corinthians 12 - various gifs; same God.

united church.

Jessica then showed a video from Sunil’s recent sermon which illustrated the Trinity in the form of different musical instruments joining in a Bach Fugue. In a choir or orchestra being in harmony in such a way is difficult and requires good communica:on between the musicians and listening to all the other

parts. Each musician needs to hold their own part whilst being aware of the other parts. Our own unique voca:ons need to be brought together so we can fulfil that voca:on given to us by Jesus to ‘Go and make disciples’. This is what we need to do as church - to let our hearts sing and to serve the community. If you want to talk more about your voca:on do speak to Jessica.

We need to make the hard decision as to where to seTle the 10.30am Sunday morning worship. Jessica emphasised that both churches buildings will remain open, and both will remain open for worship. Alterna:ng buildings in the way we are at the moment is par:cularly hard for the most vulnerable and those we are trying to reach out to.

It is likely that the 8am service would be at the other building and there are other prayer and worship opportuni:es during the week eg Friday afernoon, Morning Prayer, and prayer on the phone on Wednesday.

The PCC will consult as widely as possible about this and the congrega:on is urged to engage in the process and seek God’s wisdom.

different ways and this is being brought together eg News and No:ces.

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Communica:on is important both internally and externally and Jessica gave thanks to the

Communica:ons crew who are working hard on the website. Jessica said it is important that people say what is working and not working; that we care for one another and get to know one another - get to know what makes one’s heart sing. The parish weekend has been wonderful opportunity to get to know one another beTer.

Jessica gave thanks to everyone for making her feel so welcome, for prayer and for walking a some:mes bumpy path.

Jessica wanted to give thanks to a few people not already men:oned:

Jessica said it is both a privilege and responsibility to be with us, and she is excited about what God is going to do next.

11. Any other business / Further ques*ons

There were no further ques:ons or comments.

Jessica thanked everyone for their aTen:on, pa:ence and contribu:ons.

12. Closing Prayer - concluding with saying the Grace together.

Sally Nicholas, PCC Secretary

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1.5 Financial Review

Holy Trinity with St John’s Penge

Report of Financial Activity for the Year Ending 31 December 2022

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Independent Examiner’s Report to the PCC of Holy Trinity with St John’s, Penge

I report to the PCC on my examination of the accounts of the PCC for the year ending 31 December 2022.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As members of the PCC, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”) and the Church Accounting Regulations 2006.

I report in respect of my examination of the PCC accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act and also those found in the Church Guidance, 2017 edition.

Independent Examiner’s Statement

I have completed my examination; I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in material respect:

  1. accounting records were not kept respect of the charity as required by section 63 of the Act;

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; and

  3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a “true and fair” view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

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.

Yours faithfully

T. J. Catherall 77 Merlin Grove Beckenham BR3 3HS

27/02/2023

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Notes to the financial statements

For the period ended 31 December 2022

The PCC is a public benefit entity within the meaning of FRS 102. The financial statements have been prepared under the Charities Act 2011 and in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 governing the individual accounts of PCCs and with the Regulations’ ‘true and fair view provisions’. They have also been prepared under FRS 102 (2016) as the applicable accounting standards and the 2016 version of the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP(FRS102)). As Holy Trinity merged with St John’s Penge on 1 September 2021 to form a new benefice, the accounts represent a merging of the two churches.

CAP received various amounts of income including a crowd funding appeal - £14,254 was paid into the unrestricted account and transferred to CAP, and show in the CAP accounts. The unrestricted account also pays CAP salaries and is reimbursed (total - £5843.08), this is deducted from Other Restricted in expenditure. However, £3453.32 is outstanding and will be reimbursed in 2023.

In utilities, the mast use is netted against costs – the mast company spent and reimbursed £26,346 in utilities payments in 2022. The Diocese of Rochester refunded £8,434 of Parish Share, which was taken in error.

The financial statements include all transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC is responsible in law. They do not include the accounts of church groups that owe their main affiliation to another body nor those that are informal gatherings of Church members.

Consecrated and benefice property

In so far as consecrated and benefice property of any kind is excluded from the statutory definition of ‘charity’ by s.10(2)(a) and (c) of the Charities Act 2011 such assets are not capitalised in the financial statements.

Moveable church furnishings

These are capitalised at cost and depreciated over their useful economic life other than where insufficient cost information is available or individual items of equipment with a purchase price of £2,500 or less, which are written off when the asset is acquired. The item is not capitalised, but all items are in the Church’s inventory.

Tangible fixed assets

No depreciation is provided on buildings as the currently estimated residual value of the properties is not less than their carrying value and the remaining useful life of these assets currently exceeds 50 years, so that any depreciation charges would be immaterial.

Investments

Investments quoted on a recognised stock exchange or whose value derives from them are valued at market value at year end. Other investment assets are included at PCC’s best estimate of market value.

Loans

Following the merger of the two parishes the loan with the Diocese of Rochester was written off through a grant from the Trust for London Fund within the gift of the Archdeacon.

Short Term Deposits

These are cash held on deposit with a bank, credit union or (for the Church Repair Fund) with the Diocese.

Unrestricted funds

These represent the remaining income funds of the PCC that are available for spending on the general purposes of the PCC, including amounts designated by the PCC for fixed assets for its own use or for spending on a future project.

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Restricted funds

These are income funds that must be spent on restricted purposes and details of the funds held and restrictions provided are shown in the notes to the accounts.

Endowment funds

These are restricted funds that must be maintained as trust capital either permanently or subject to a discretionary power to spend capital as income, and where the use of any income or other benefit derived from the capital may be restricted or unrestricted. Full details of all their restrictions are shown below.

Staff costs

2022
Wages, Salaries & Pension costs £31,280
Average no. of employees 4

During the period the PCC employed a part time administrator and one part time cleaners. No payments were large enough to attract social security costs. These employees equate to less than one full time employee.

The PCC also employed two people to run the CAP centre.

There were no employee benefits to key management personnel in the previous or current years.

Analysis of transfers between accounts

Unrestricted Endowment Total
CBI Investment Fund income £932 (£932) 0
Summary of restricted funds
St John’s building £16,127
Youth Worker £19,963
CAP £40,635
Total £76,725

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Holy Trinity with St John’s, Penge Holy Trinity with St John’s, Penge Holy Trinity with St John’s, Penge
Statement of Financial Activity
for the Year Ending 31 December 2022
Income Resources Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total 2022 Total 2021
Voluntary income £104,194 £8,890 £113,084 £151,886
Investment income £382 £16 £932 £1,330 £730
Church Activities £63,100 £808 £63,908 £35,809
Other resources £47,825 £47,825 £13,560
Total £167,676 £57,539 £932 £226,147 £201,985
Resources Expended
Missionary Giving £5,687 £5,687 £3,758
Church Activities £145,011 £12,500 £157,511 £165,841
Parochial Organisations £20,550 £20,550 £23,921
Total £150,698 £33,050 £932 £183,748 £193,520
Net income/outgoings £16,978 £24,489 £932 42399 £8,465
Transfers £932 -£932
Total £17,910 £24,489 £0 £42399 £8,783
Gain on investment -£4,143 -£4,143 £3,919
Total funds
01/01/2022 £112,434 £52,236 £35,197 £199,867 £187,165
31/12/2022 £130,344 £76,725 £31,054 £238,123 £199,867

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Holy Trinity with St John’s, Penge

Statement of Financial Activity Income for the Year Ending 31 December 2022

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total 2022 Total 2021
Voluntary Income
Planned Giving Gift Aid £71,026 £158 £71,184 £82,649
Income Tax Recovered £17,979 £0 £17,979 £31,212
Building project £0 £0 £0 £0
Other Planned Giving £3,737 £220 £3,957 £5,751
Plate Giving £3,185 £0 £3,185 £1,685
Donations £2,214 £0 £2,214 £10,951
Legacies £0 £0 £0 £368
Council tax and other refunds £129 £6,908 £6,908 £7,412
Grants £5,924 £1,604 £7,528 £7,250
VAT Refund £0 £0 £0 £4,608
Congregational loans £0 £0 £0 £0
Total £104,194 £8,890 £0 £113,084 £151,886
Activities generating funds
Interest and Dividends £382 £16 £932 £1,330 £145
Income from Church Activities
Fair £0 £0 £0 £249
Hall Lettings £35,019 £0 £35,019 £17,027
Weddings and Funerals £734 £808 £1,542 £2,365
Little Fish £7,531 £0 £7,531 £1,868
Mast £19,816 £0 £19,816 £14,300
Total £63,100 £808 £0 £63,908 £35,809
Parochial Organisations
CAP Project £0 £47,825 £47,825 £13,560
TOTAL £167,676 £57,539 £932 £226,147 £201,985

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Holy Trinity with St John’s, Penge Statement of Financial Activity Resources Expended for the Year Ending 31 December 2022

Unrestricted Restricted Total 2022 Total 2021
Missionary giving £5,687 £5,687
 £3,758
Admin £343 £81 £424 £8,417
Building project £12,543 £12,543 £22,550
Building maintenance £639 £639 £11,215
Children and youth £1,138 £1,138 £992
Cleaning £1,659 £1,659 £2,968
Diocesan Share £72,256 £72,256 £79,259
Discretionary fund £98 £98
Evangelism £45 £45 £226
Governance £0 £0 £0
Insurance £10,382 £10,382 £10,034
Interest £0 £0 £356
IT, sound and vision £1,722 £1,722 £1,915
Minister's expenditure £381 £381 £170
Other (restricted) £0 £12,419* £12,419 £2,188
Printing and publicity £2,582 £2,582 £1,776
Salaries and pension £15,685 £15,685 £5,244
Training £386 £386 £130
Utilities £23,413 £23,413 £8,163
Vicarage £1,739 £1,739 £10,238
Total £150,698 £12,500 £163,198 £169,599
Parochial Organisation
CAP Project £0 £20,550 £20,500 £23,921
Total £150,698 £33,050 £183,748 £185,651

*£18,262 minus £5,843 CAP salaries refunded. £3,453 is still owing and will come from 2023 accounts.

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Holy Trinity with St John, Penge Statement of Financial Activity Balance Sheet at 31 December 2022

2022 2021
Fixed Assets
Investment £31,054 £35,197
Total Fixed Assets
Short Term Deposit £106,762 £86,609
Cash in Bank £100,307 £78,061
Total Assets £238,123 £199,867
Funds
Fixed Assets £31,054 £35,197
Restricted Funds £76,725 £52,236
Unrestricted Funds £130,344 £112,434
Total £238,123 £199,867

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St John the Evangelist Penge
Statement of Financial Activity
CAP Centre Accounts at 31 December 2022
2022 2021
Income
Gift Aided Income £3,619 £3,355
Non-Gift Aided Income £280 £135
Gift Aid Reclaim £649 £516
Other £43,277
£9,554
Total £47,825
£13,560
Expenditure
Salary, Admin and Pension £15,595
£17,431
CAP Central £3,300 £6,000
Admin (Office) £81 £106
Expenses £714 £289
Client Blessing £859 £95
Total £20,550
£23,921
Balance Sheet
1 Jan 2022 £13,359
£23,720
Net Income/Outgoing £27,276
-£10,361
31 December 2022 £40,635
£13,359

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1.6 Churchwardens’ Report (including Fabric Report)

Wardens Report

By Jonno Campion-Smith and Ian Baldwin, Church Wardens

This has been both a challenging and exciting year as we discover what the new benefice of Holy Trinity with St Johns Penge evolves into. The challenge has been bringing people together whilst making some difficult decisions. It is sad that some people have left, whilst others continue to feel troubled. However it is encouraging to see people joining activities on both sites and new people joining the congregation. As we look at the vision new exciting opportunities will arise to serve God in Penge.

We have been encouraged to see the two sites being put to good use for a wide range of activities. A massive thank you to everyone involved in leading and supporting those activities. We look forward to seeing how these valuable resources are put to use as we develop and grow into our new vision.

Wardens are also involved with the buildings and here are some of the main items:-

The vicarage at HT site has been let by the Diocese until September 2023. The new curate, Rev Ray Shergill, is expected to begin in October 2023 – and living in the HT vicarage.

We are grateful to all the help and support people offer. Our thanks to Pete Carter and Steve Miller who, even no longer wardens, offer their knowledge and advice. Also to Angelo, Julia and Beccy for their help, support.

Finally my thanks to Jonno, who has decided not to re stand, for all his work and especially his IT skills (Google docs and doodle polls -who knew!).

Ian Baldwin, Jonno Campion-Smith, Churchwardens

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1.7 PCC Secretary’s Report

Parochial Church Council (PCC) Secretary’s report 2022

The United Benefice of Holy Trinity with St John, Penge was established on 1[st] September 2021. 2022 was the first full year as a United Benefice and with Jessica as our vicar and chair of the PCC. We held 9 PCC mee:ngs in 2022 and a PCC away morning in January 2022.

Regular standing items include Finance update, worship report, safeguarding report, update and decisions on maintenance issues, discussion and agreement for par:cular events or ac:vi:es to take place including worship and outreach ac:vi:es.

churchwardens con:nued. At the APCM in May 2022 four PCC members stood down and we elected two wardens with the other two becoming PCC members. In the autumn two further people stood down from the PCC. Having established the Benefice, the aim going forwards is to return to the usual paTern of elected PCC members standing for a three year term each so there is regular turn over on the PCC. The PCC aims to be a broad representa:on of Church members and has the responsibility of ensuring good stewardship and Chris:an life across the benefice including the prac:cal, financial and strategic aspects of the Church and their buildings.

In January 2022 we held a PCC away morning which focussed on exploring who / where we feel we are now as a newly established benefice and who / what God is calling us to be.

A PCC mee:ng and administra:on process has been established and 8 PCC working groups were set up at the beginning of the year:

Worship Community iden:ty Finance Children and Young people Pastoral Missions and Ministry Communica:ons Governance and Buildings

During the year it became clearer how each of these groups would con:nue and evolve. A Standing CommiTee was established towards the end of the year who would meet during alternate months to the PCC to focus on the Finance, Governance and Building issues that need regular review and progress.

10.30am Sunday service.

Trinity site and St John’s site) with Jessica alterna:ng between the two and one joint service a month. It was decided that from Easter that all 10.30am services be joint services, alterna:ng sites each week. One service / month would be developing the monthly Messy church service to an intergenera:onal service.

In May there was a Church weekend with various ac:vi:es taking place on Saturday and concluding with the APCM on Sunday afer the 10.30am service.

A sub group of the PCC led a consulta:on open to all the congrega:on, at the end of June / beginning of July to help inform the decision that needed to be made about the church site for the 10.30am Sunday service going forwards. This was a par:cularly difficult decision for the PCC to make at the PCC mee:ng on Monday 4[th] July. Jessica announced the decision made in church on Sunday 10[th] July that ‘following extensive consulta:on with the congrega:on and prayerful, honest, and detailed discussion in a long

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mee:ng on Monday evening, the PCC has agreed that our 10:30am services will take place at the St John’s site. This will take effect from October 2022’. Jessica said she ‘ wanted to emphasise again that the PCC is absolutely commiTed to keeping both buildings open as sacred spaces and places of worship’.

In the weeks following the announcement about the 10.30am service being on the St John’s site from October, three leTers were received by the PCC regarding the decision. The PCC focussed on this issue and afer extensive thought, prayer and discussion responded to the leTers and offered mee:ngs with the individuals. It was also decided that there would be an 8am Holy Communion every Sunday on the Holy Trinity site and a 5.15pm monthly Communion on the Holy Trinity site on same Sunday as Connect (the new 10.30am Intergenera:onal service).

Other worship related decisions included:

With the 10.30am service being established on the St John’s site from October 2022, a budget was agreed to resource the children’s and young people’s groups on a Sunday morning and, in par:cular, to refurbish and equip the room the Ignite (Young people’s group) meet in.

Other items discussed throughout the year included:

Very sadly the PCC were informed in October that the decision had had to be taken to close the Holy Trinity Pre-school, as it was no longer financially viable. The Pre-school closed in December at the end of term.

Looking ahead the PCC agreed a ‘Vision’ process to be carried out during the 10.30am service on the last Sunday of January, February and March 2023, to help inform the next steps for the church / benefice. The PCC is very aware that 2022 has been a year of great change and that there have been difficult emo:ons around the transi:on to a United Benefice and in par:cular the decision around the site for the 10.30am Sunday service and that none of the decisions have been made without considerable discussion and prayer.

The PCC welcomes any feedback from the congrega:on and has commiTed to be more visible, with regular updates afer each mee:ng. If any member of the congrega:on wants to raise any issues, or

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know more about any of the issues we discuss or make decisions on, they are encouraged to speak to, or contact, a member of the PCC.

Sally Nicholas, PCC Secretary

1.8 Deanery Synod Report

In 2022 there were two standard synod mee:ngs and one combined mee:ng with other deaneries in the diocese.

In the March and July 2022 mee:ngs the main topics were:

Ukrainian refugees

Support for Ukrainian refugees were in place within the deanery area, including St. George’s church liaising with the council and various other agencies regarding and accommoda:on. Living Well, café lunch, LiTle Fish and a hub at St John’s Eden Park. Hope Church in Bromley Common, was also looking at expanding their servicesThe sharing of resources and food banks, clothing, as well as advice and prayer sta:ons was to be developed. English courses at Bromley Adult Educa:on Centre in Penge. It was recognised that dual language speakers/ teachers to befriend would be of great value.

Eco Church Award

St. George’s Beckenham and laTerly St Paul’s Beckenham, with support from St George’s, had started to work towards the Eco Church Awards, where the vision was to care for the environment; God’s crea:on. There were three levels of awards, bronze, silver and gold awards to work towards in five different areas for each church: Worship, Buildings, Reducing carbon footprint, Community and global waste, Life style. At the :me, it was not known if there are any grants available to apply for to support.

Communica8ons

At the July mee:ng Jennifer Ross, Communica:ons Manager and Bishops’ Media Adviser and Katerina Gerhardt, Communica:ons Assistant (07526 171

583, communica:ons@rochester.anglican.org) provided a presenta:on about what their small diocesan team could provide to churches. These included:

Two good blogs from the na:onal church were suggested: Communica:ng well as a church – laying the groundwork: - - hTps://www.churchofengland.org/resources/digital labs/blogs/communica:ng well-church-laying-groundwork

Communica:ng well as church – making a plan - - hTps://www.churchofengland.org/resources/digital labs/blogs/communica:ng well-church-making-plan

Bishop Jonathan. There was a :me of worship, then he answered various ques:ons (lighthearted and

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serious!) posed by members of the congrega:on, covering his life and journey to the present post.

Margaret Riches, Hazel Willson and Ruth Wright, Deanery Synod reps. 2022

1.9 Safeguarding Report

The church’s Safeguarding Team (Beccy, Pete and myself) have con:nued to ensure that the congrega:on and church users are aware of safeguarding maTers and responsibili:es. This is because safeguarding remains everyone’s responsibility!

On 28[th] February the joint PCC approved C of E’s ‘The Promo:ng a Safer Church Policy’.

A day session covering the C of E’s ‘Basic Awareness’ and ‘Raising Awareness Domes:c Abuse’ courses took place on 9[th] July. Although the sessions were not well aTended, there was some good discussions with those present. Other people have undertaken the training online individually instead of being at the session.

which some church members have completed.

The Safeguarding Sunday service in November highlighted the issue of safeguarding within the church. Church members were encouraged to look at the safeguarding courses and complete courses as necessary, or as they wish via hTps://safeguardingtraining.cofeportal.org/ (Please can anyone comple:ng a course provide us with a copy of their cer:ficate for informa:on).

The church’s Safeguarding Team have worked hard to complete DBS checks within the new three-year framework, a move from them las:ng five years.

A handful of safeguarding issues arose during the year, which were handled by the church’s Safeguarding Team and Jessica, with some assistance from the Diocesan Safeguarding Team.

More details about church safeguarding can be found on: hTps://www.churchofengland.org/safeguarding/safer-church and = hTps://www.rochester.anglican.org/safeguarding?tagid

Officers

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Sec*on 2 Worship, Discipleship and Pastoral Care

2.1 Worship

As God’s people, we are, above all else, a people called to worship. Worship forms us as a people; it unites us; it draws us into the presence of God, opens us up to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives, and nourishes us to go out and share the love of Christ that we have received with others.

During 2022, there have been enormous changes in the worshipping life of our church. It is worth remembering that, as I write this, in March 2023, a year ago we were s:ll largely worshipping as two separate congrega:ons. It was only afer Easter that we united for all our services, ini:ally alterna:ng between sites on Sunday mornings.

To facilitate this coming together and to provide some consistency, the Worship and Preaching team worked hard behind the scenes during Spring 2022 to create templates for Orders of Service that would work across both sites. We also thought carefully and prayerfully about sermon series that would help us hear God’s voice through the ups and downs of merging, with series including 1 Corinthians 12-14, Jonah, prayer and the leTer to the Ephesians.

The decision to seTle our 8am service at the Holy Trinity site and the 10:30 service at St John’s was not an easy one, but in God’s grace our worshipping life as Holy Trinity with St John’s has con:nued to grow and flourish, with 70+ adults and 10-20+ children and young people aTending across the two sites on most Sundays. We remain commiTed to ensuring that our life of worship and community con:nues to

From the autumn, in addi:on to these two services, new opportuni:es for worship have begun to spring up. Our monthly evening Communion service on the HT site has been well received, with a regular congrega:on of 15-20, as has the weekly Wednesday afernoon prayer, with a regular congrega:on of 11-12. Friday afernoon prayers at Living Well con:nue to flourish, with 8-14 people aTending – my thanks to Sue and Richard and to Ian and Val who offer this faithfully week by week.

well-received:

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Afer an excep:onally busy and at :mes tumultuous year, I would like to thank especially the Worship and Preaching Team, whose prayerful support, wisdom and good humour have been absolutely invaluable to me personally, and whose gifing in leading and preaching at services are a huge blessing to us as church.

I would also like to thank all those who are involved in our worship week by week – the welcomers, musicians, those who

deal with sound and projec:on, those who work with children and young people, those who read and lead intercessions, those who serve the refreshments we all appreciate so much. As somebody pointed out during our vision discussions, the sheer numbers of people involved are hugely impressive and “a lot of people work very hard.”

Thank you all for your steadfastness, pa:ence and support over what has been a some:mes bumpy journey this year. It is always a delight, a joy and a privilege to worship with you – I look forward to all that God will do among us during 2023.

Rev. Jessica Smith, Vicar

2.2 Music in Worship

Music is an integral part of worship at Holy Trinity with St John‘s, led by a small, faithful team of musicians and singers. Songs for worship during each service are chosen afer liaison with the service leader and preacher for that service, and the focus is always to use songs or hymns that fit in with, and support, the theme and teaching of those services. Different styles of music are appropriate for different styles of service, and different styles are also more appropriate for different points within each service. We are very aware that different people find different types of music helpful and try to achieve a good balance, using a mix of contemporary and more tradi:onal songs and hymns.

the musicians, singers, and teams managing the projec:on and PA systems. The contribu:on made by Colin Stone, playing the organ for some services at the Holy Trinity site, is also very much appreciated.

Sue Miller

2.3 Prayer Mee*ng

The monthly prayer mee:ng has con:nued in various guises during 2022. We began the year on Zoom but aTendance fell as Zoom fa:gue set in.

the parish during Thy Kingdom Come in early June, praying in different loca:ons around the parish. In the autumn, at the request of Home Group leaders following feedback from their members, and to avoid a conflict on Wednesday nights, we moved the prayer mee:ng to a Monday. Since then, the mee:ng has been led by different people each month and has involved a range of different approaches to prayer – from sung worship to silence, from prayer sta:ons to small groups, from crea:vity to contempla:on.

Prayer is the bea:ng heart of the church, and the ac:vity which, above everything else, will shape us as a congrega:on, and I would urge everybody to make this hour-long mee:ng on the first Monday of the

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month a priority if at all possible. It’s very relaxed; nobody will put pressure on you to pray aloud, and a wonderful opportunity to spend :me with God with others.

Rev. Jessica Smith, Vicar

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2.4 Wednesday morning prayer over the phone.

A group of around 6 have met each Wednesday at 8am over the phone using a phone conference call. We used the Daily Prayer app format, the service sheet was emailed on Tuesdays. It was a good opportunity to pay together for many issues.

Janice Bessant, Licensed Reader

2.5 Friday Agernoon Prayers

Prayers take place every Friday afer the Living Well meal. They are well aTended by guests with between 5 and 14 people regularly aTending. In recent months we have introduced a couple of hymns and a short, themed study. Since we introduced the study, it has been no:ceable how much more the guests are engaging in both prayer and discussion. Once a month on the last Friday of the month we focus on healing. We pray for each other’s needs, for the needs of the community and about things on our heart.

We are very grateful for Ian and Val’s input; they have been willing to lead the prayers in our absence. We are planning to do a lent course and Rebecca has kindly purchased booklets which we can give to guests, we also have a supply of Bibles we can gif to those who need them.

During the colder winter months, we have met in the church building before the alter, but once the temperature increases, we will return to the garden.

Richard and I have felt so blessed by these mee:ngs and love facilita:ng them.

Sue Thomson

2.6 Technology in Worship

The use of technology in services (PA, projec:on and zoom) plays a crucial role in ensuring that services run smoothly and are as accessible as possible.

There is currently a team who share the projec:on and zoom roles across both sites, although the PA team is small and one or two addi:onal people willing to join this team would be much appreciated. It is a technical role, but training can be given.

Technology is never without challenges! Considerable work has been done to work towards a resolu:on of the difficul:es with the sound desk at the HT site. It is taking :me to establish the best way to organise this resource and to ensure that it is always ready to be used for any service or other church event.

making it harder for the team to operate the projec:on on the site where they were unfamiliar. We are looking to consolidate this and will shortly be using the same projec:on sofware on both sites, which will give more flexibility among the team.

Steve Miller

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2.7 Home & Community Groups

Home groups con:nued to meet in a variety of places around the parish, on Zoom and in hybrid form. Through the upheaval of the merger process, they have been valued by many as safe spaces to process thoughts and find spiritual and emo:onal support.

Most of the :me, the home groups used follow-up material linked to the Sunday morning sermon series:

The home group leaders have met several :mes with me to give feedback on how things are going and, in par:cular, to think about the ques:on of how we encourage groups to merge. We are aware that, whilst our worship and general church life is becoming ever more merged, home groups remain largely (though not totally) linked to one of the legacy churches. We have been trying to balance the advantages of merging with the benefits of being with a group of people who know each other well, and have each :me concluded that evolu:on in this area is much beTer than revolu:on!

Saturday breakfast at the Moon & Stars and a Christmas social evening. We look forward to more of these during 2023.

Home groups are open to all and we would encourage you to get involved. If you are interested in finding out more, please do speak to me or to any home group leader (names published on the posters on no:ce boards in church).

Rev. Jessica Smith, Vicar

2.8 Lent Course

A whole church Lent Course took place during 2022 on the book of Jonah, in support of our Lent sermon series. This was designed to prepare us theologically, through applying the lessons from the story of Jonah to our church situa:on, and socially, by offering opportuni:es for mixing between members of different home groups aTached to the legacy churches, for the next stage in the merger process.

onsite group in the Holy Trinity lounge. In total around 40 people took part for at least two sessions, although the online group, in par:cular, suffered rather from Zoom fa:gue.

We used a free online course from the Bible Project, with video teaching and a booklet with ques:ons to consider each week.

Rev. Jessica Smith, Vicar

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2.9 Exploring Workshops

Holy Trinity with St John’s held two Exploring workshops during 2022. My inten:on behind organising the workshops was to help congrega:on members explore aspects of the Bible and Chris:an faith on themes that aren’t ofen covered in sermons or home groups. The workshops featured a mixture of hopefully easy-going teaching and informal group work and discussions.

Testaments, including the history of Israel during this period, the origins of groups such as the Pharisees and Sadducees, and some of the Jewish wri:ngs produced. The second workshop, which took place at Holy Trinity in November, covered the book of Job and the ques:on of suffering, and considered the structure, text, and messages of Job in some detail.

Around sixteen people from both legacy congrega:ons aTended each workshop, which I, as the organiser, found very encouraging. Two further workshops are scheduled for 2023.

Terry Wright

2.11 Communica*ons / Website

Afer some delays, considerable work on the new church website has now taken place and we expect that the new website will be ready to go live very soon. This will then con:nue to evolve as more content is added, so that it becomes as reflec:ve as possible of who we are, and what we do, as Holy Trinity with St John’s.

Other areas which will then be looked at include:

Steve Miller

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2.12 Pastoral Care

Pastoral care is a huge part of our life at church and involves, fundamentally, the way all of us relate to each other. When we phone or text a friend at church who is going through a hard :me, we are offering pastoral care. When we invite somebody who has not been able to aTend church for a while for a coffee, we are offering pastoral care. When we no:ce somebody who is standing or sinng alone at the end of a church service and go to speak to them, we are offering pastoral care. When we make a cup of tea for someone who has arrived early for church (some people do!), we are offering pastoral care. So pastoral care, in the informal sense, is happening all the :me, thanks to your sensi:vity, care and concern for one another.

But pastoral care also happens in a more formal sense and one of the challenges of 2022 was making this work in the larger, merged church, senng. A pastoral care working group, led by Ian and comprising Janice, Hopeton, Margaret, Sue T, Hazel, Ruth and Jessica met several :mes during the spring and summer to try to fill some of the post-Covid and post-Merger gaps. Amongst other things, we:

in need take place, but it is inappropriate to report on them in detail. Care is also offered through, eg. the provision of food bags from the small foodbank at the St John’s site for callers at the Vicarage, and through signpos:ng people in need to sources of help – significantly Living Well, but also groups like Open Doors for the lonely and church and community-run Warm Spaces around Penge.

you know of somebody who is in need of a phone call or a visit or support beyond that which you can offer, please do speak to Jessica, Ian or Janice and we will ensure that care is given.

Ian Baldwin, Pastoral Assistant, Janice Bessant, Licensed Reader, Rev. Jessica Smith, Vicar

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2.13 Life Events

Bap*sm

It is part of the calling of a Church of England Church that any parent of an infant living in the parish has the right to ask for their child to be bap:sed.

We celebrated six bap:sms of infants during 2022, for children aged from a few months old to three years, during our 10:30 am services.

It has been good to welcome the families and their wider family and friends to these services, which they have found welcoming, joyful and inclusive. Only one of the families was a “church family”, but, pleasingly, we are s:ll in touch with three of the other families, who have aTended Messy Chris:ngle and some Connect services and, occasionally, on other Sundays.

Bap:sm prepara:on has largely happened through conversa:on between Jessica and the families. I would like to be more inten:onal about this, and about following up with families aferwards – if this is an area that interests you, please do talk to me.

Weddings

As with bap:sms, those living in the parish or those with a Qualifying Connec:on to the church have a right to be married in church. We celebrated two weddings during 2022 – that of Le::a and Sean in June at our Holy Trinity site and of Ash and Santon in October at our St John’s site.

Funerals

Janice and I between us conducted 5 funerals during 2022.

In October, we were delighted that the Archdeacon licensed Hopeton Reid as a Lay Funeral Minister afer he completed his training with the diocese.

Every funeral involves an ini:al conversa:on with a funeral director, at least one mee:ng with the bereaved family, and prepara:on of the service before the funeral itself takes place. It is both a responsibility and a privilege to walk alongside people in their bereavement.

In late October, we held our annual Commemora:ve Service at the Holy Trinity site which included the reading out of a list of names of those we wanted to remember and the opportunity to light a candle for them. There were 36 people present, a good mixture of visitors and regular congrega:on members, and people appreciated both the space to give thanks, remember and grieve and the :me of fellowship aferwards over tea.

I am very grateful to Janice for sharing in funeral ministry with me and look forward to Hopeton also joining the team in 2023.

Rev. Jessica Smith, Vicar

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Sec*on 3 Children and Young People

3.1 Blast and Blaze

2022 has been a new beginning for children’s work at HTSJ with the coming together of the children’s work across the two legacy churches. BLAST and BLAZE now run on a Sunday morning during the 10.30am service and provide fun ac:vi:es, a caring and safe environment, as well as an opportunity for children age 3-11yrs to learn about faith. BLAST (preschool/ infant age) and BLAZE (Junior age) meet together in the church hall and follow the outline from the material from

Heartshapers. The sessions generally consist of an icebreaker game, followed by the bible story for the day, then some form of response in the form of a craf or ac:vity together, and finally crea:ve prayer ideas are used to finish the session. This could be using bubbles, prayer boxes or even party blowers. The leaders use a variety of ac:vi:es to explain ideas and engage the children. These are differen:ated by age group to provide for all children in the session. There have been crea:ve prayer sta:ons used during sessions, as well as understanding God through nature by using both the indoor and outdoor spaces, enac:ng the fall of the walls of Jericho and much paint, glue, :ssue paper and playdough put to good use!

We are so grateful for the amazing and commiTed team who input into the children’s work at HTSJ. There are currently 3 leaders (Diane, Fiona and Jonno) who are ably supported by a team of 9 fantas:c and enthusias:c helpers (Cordelia, Sue, Sally, Val, Cath, Margaret, Ruth, Jade, Gillian). It has been so encouraging to see this team work so well together and bring many of their skills and gifs to demonstrate to the children what it means to live by faith and have a rela:onship with Jesus.

It has also been really encouraging to see how children from the two legacy congrega:ons have integrated so well and consider each other friends now as they have fun and learn together. Although numbers are not everything, it has been really heartening to see a consistency of children coming back every week. Between the two groups there is an average of around 12-16 children every Sunday and on occasion this number has reached the early 20s!

We know there are those in the congrega:on who pray regularly for the children and their leaders, and for this we are so grateful. We are asking that others would join them as we seek to encourage all the children in their spiritual journeys of faith throughout 2023.

Kate Campion-Smith

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3.2 Ignite

Ignite is the youth group for HTSJ. During 2022 we began mee:ng again on a Sunday morning at the same :me as the 10.30am service in the upstairs room. We meet every week, other than the second Sunday of the month which is Connect. Each session with Ignite involves games and ac:vi:es to engage with a par:cular life issue and look at what the Bible has to say about this. We use the Youth for Christ material to do this and amongst other things, have looked at what the Bible has to say about rela:onal poverty,

trustworthiness, and how we see ourselves. We have breakfast together at the start of the session, including many crepes and hot chocolate!

It has been really encouraging to see a consistent number of young people aTending on a Sunday morning, including those who do not have parents at the church. Our numbers range from 2-12 and usually there are 6-8 young people on any given Sunday. We have managed to organise a pizza and film night and are hoping to make social ac:vi:es a regular event for the young people.

The team working with Ignite consists of Kate, Julian, Jonno and Angelo. It has been great to have a consistent team of people who have been able to get to know the young people beTer throughout 2022, and we are grateful for all those who pray for the young people – this is invaluable.

Kate Campion-Smith

3.3 Pizza & Games

Pizza and Games is an informal 2-hour session after church on the 1[st] Sunday of every month for 7 to 18 year olds where children and youth can enjoy a relaxed social time together around pizza and games as the names describes. Pizza and games is a continuation of a session that took place at the Holy Trinity pre-merger.

We set out badminton and board games, lego and more interactive games in the church hall and just invite then to spend time with one another and leaders. There are no activities associated with a church service as the time is simply about fellowship and eating pizza.

There have been about 10 children and youth attending most weeks ages 7 – 17, with the younger age group more strongly represented, and the atmosphere has been relaxed and vibrant with children and youth being able to relax and be themselves and have fun as well. The mix of age does not appear to have been an impediment as the different age groups gravitate to their own activities but also mix in the same space as well.

The church hall lends itself well to these sessions with space to spread out and run around as well.

We hope to maintain these sessions as long as there is an interest. There is a core group of 3 helpers but it would be good to have others dropping in to help as it is a great way for children and you to get to know the adutl of the church and vice versa. Because this is an activity working with children and young people, safer recruitment applies – please speak to Ruth, our Safeguarding Officer, or to Jessica if you are interested in being involved in this.

Julian Providence

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Secon 4 Working Towards Intergeneraonal Community

4.1 Messy Church

Messy Church has evolved in two ways during the course of 2022.

Firstly, the monthly Messy Church that was taking place at 10:30am on a Sunday has evolved into Connect. The decision to do this was not easy and strong views were held on both sides, but we began trying out different ways of “doing” this sort of worship during the Summer term and ac:vely sought feedback and engagement from those aTending. During the summer, our Messy Church congrega:on also submiTed sugges:ons for the name for the “new” service from the autumn, and we voted on a shortlist in July – in line with all our discussions on this issue, it should have been no surprise when the outcome was a :e and we had to have a deciding vote!

Secondly, we have developed a community focused, currently seasonal, Messy Church. Messy Easter on Good Friday morning was aTended by … children and … adults and Messy Chris:ngle on the first Sunday of Advent kicked off our Christmas celebra:ons in style with … children and … adults aTending. Both :mes, numbers of adults include a team of around 25 volunteers, who give of their :me and gifs in

prepara:on, senng up, welcoming, leading craf ac:vi:es, serving refreshments and :dying away. The

importance of our exis:ng rela:onships with members of the community – especially those built up through LiTle and Big Fish and through our bap:sm work – has been very evident in the aTendance at these services.

Messy Church could not happen without the dedicated support and hard work of a large team of volunteers – thank you all for your commitment.

If you would like to be involved in Messy Church in the future, please speak to Jessica.

Rev. Jessica Smith, Vicar

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4.2 Connect

Connect began in its current form in September 2022 and our first service was somewhat overshadowed by taking place during the period of mourning for HM Queen Elizabeth. However, during the autumn, we began to build momentum, with a Harvest Fes:val, a service for Christ the King and a Christmas Celebra:on. The decision to serve breakfast before the service in December proved very popular and has had las:ng consequences!

Connect has sought to be

inten:onally intergenera:onal in approach. An intergenera:onal service involves much more than people of different ages worshipping side by side, with some sec:ons designed to appeal to adults and others designed to appeal to children. In a truly intergenera:onal community, all ages are included and all of us are invited, in humility and wonder, to listen to and learn from those of different genera:ons. And so we arrange the church café-style for Connect, so that people are encouraged to talk and share with one another –

whether that is a parent connec:ng with a child, an eighty-year-old connec:ng with someone in their for:es, or a sixty-year-old with a young adult.

Our stated aims at Connect are:

Our services follow the same broad structure as our other Sunday

services, but are inten:onally more interac:ve and less wordy. We are seeking to learn through doing and through the conversa:ons inspired by what we are doing.

This is a service that con:nues to evolve, but I believe that it is an exci:ng development in the life of our church. And you can come for breakfast!

Rev. Jessica Smith, Vicar

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4.3 Li[le / Big Fish

These are our toddler groups serving the local community, running during term :me.

LiTle Fish runs on Monday and Wednesday mornings, 9.30 – 11am, although the team are there earlier and later than these :mes, to prepare and clear up. Each session caters for up to 60 ‘family units’ which means that at each session there could be about 70 adults and 90 or more children. Mondays are almost always full, and Wednesdays are genng fuller. During a week, we are welcoming over 100 adults and over 150 toddlers through the doors.

Big Fish runs on one Saturday morning each month (usually the 3[rd] Saturday) 9 – 10.30am, although again, some of the team arrive earlier than this to ensure that everything is ready, and stay later to set up the church for the Sunday morning service. This has grown considerably as a group compared to before pandemic, and the numbers are currently around 45 adults and 50 – 60 children at each session.

At all these sessions we aim to provide a safe space where children can play with a very wide range of toys, and where parents can chat together and connect with each other and with the team. Each session includes a bible story and ends with a lively song :me. From a mission perspec:ve, one of the most valuable aspects is the opportunity for relaxed and meaningful conversa:ons with many of those who visit, and the links that this brings.

The Fish teams are very commiTed, but there is an urgent need for at least two addi:onal people to join the LiTle Fish team. Currently we are short of two team people on a Monday, and this is being covered by Wednesday volunteers doubling up each week. For those who are not available during the week, but who could come along one Saturday a month, addi:onal volunteers would also be welcome for Big Fish.

During October 2022, we had the privilege of being invited to join a research study being carried out by the Na:onal Ins:tute for Chris:an Educa:on Research (NICER) based at Canterbury Christ Church University. They were looking at ‘Spirituality in church-run toddler groups.’ The team visited over 4 sessions and spent :me observing and channg to parents/carers, children and the team. The final report will be published when the research is complete, but their ini:al feedback was incredibly posi:ve about both the provision and the atmosphere in the group. The feedback that the researchers had from the parents and carers was glowing and it is clear that the group is providing an extremely valuable service to the community. The researchers had visited many other groups, and all had experience in working with children of this age, and

they described LiTle Fish as ‘The Gold Standard’ of church toddler groups. As a team, and as a church, this is a great affirma:on of the work we are doing.

Steve Miller

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4.4 Over 50’s – Open Door

Open Door is a group mainly for those over 50, with a few excep:ons. We aim to give the members a chance to meet socially. Many older people become socially isolated and we aim to address that issue. We met most Wednesdays star:ng with lunch at 1pm followed by a

variety of choices of ac:vi:es, Boccia, art and craf and games,(Rummikub has very been popular) or a chance to sit and chat. All with tea, coffee and cakes. We average 20 people each week.

A big thank you to those who cook the meals especially Peter and Carol, Robyn, Angelo and Julia. We do need more people to cook, if you would like to help in any way please contact Janice Also thank you to those who host etc. and to Sue and Sally who

provided the art and craf ac:vi:es. In September we changed the group name to Open Doors.

Janice Bessant, Licensed Reader

4.5 Over 50’s – Holiday@Home

Holiday@Home is an adult holiday club that met 1st to 3rd August. The club was well aTended and people came from various number of groups, it gave everyone a chance to get to know each other, there was a good mix of church members and others from Open Door etc.

decora:ng flower pots.

And Boccia or Table Tennis. Singing with

Jessica and Giant Team Scrabble.

We had a garden party on the Tuesday at St John’s Vicarage. A big thanks to all who came and helped, (the list would be too long, so if you helped THANK YOU.

from Joo Doo Drums.

Janice Bessant, Licensed Reader

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4.6 Holy Trinity Pre-School

This will be the last report from the pre-school and will be a mixture of happy :mes and sadness. The year started with a bang as in early May, I received a phone call from OFSTED to say that they would be coming to do an inspec:on the following day. I quickly contacted Camilla, the head teacher and she rallied her staff to get things ready for the inspec:on. The inspector came and duly inspected and a few days later we received the ra:ng which was “Good”. Given the :me that they had to prepare, the staff were congratulated on this.

During the year many events took place. Claire from Penge library came and read a book and led a planned ac:vity.

In July, they had a visit from Wild Fangs, who bought along some of their exo:c animals such as chinchillas, giant hissing cockroaches, tarantulas, scorpions and many more. The children really enjoyed this visit.

In July they had an end of term party where the children were entertained by Honey Bee party entertainer, which the children thoroughly enjoyed.

Our treasurer had done a projec:on and determined that the pre-school would be running at a loss which was unsustainable. The trustees had an emergency mee:ng and regreTably it was decided that the pre=school would have to close. It was decided to close at the end of the autumn term. This would give parents and staff two months’ no:ce instead of the statutory one month and that there would be enough money to pay the staff their statutory redundancy which had been worked out by the Treasurer and one of the trustees who worked in HR. Afer announcing the closure, a mee:ng was held with parents to explain the reasons for closure, which were low numbers of children on roll and no increase in funding from London Borough of Bromley.

During the autumn it was felt that as it would be the last term the pre-school operated it should be made as entertaining as possible for the children, so a few events were held close to Christmas. Wild Fang came in again with his exo:c animals, a magician came in just before Christmas, his rabbit was a success with all the children. Jessica came in and gave a talk and led an ac:vity about the Na:vity. This was enjoyed by the children and some of the trustees. In October, Jessica did a talk at Harvest fes:val and led an ac:vity. The feedback from the parents on this was excellent. The year finished with an end of term party on December 20[th] , Honey Bee entertained the children and parents were invited to aTend. Afer the party and the clearing up, the staff and trustees went out for a meal together.

Afer the pre-school closed, work had to be done to close the charity. Applica:on was made to the Chari:es Commission to dissolve the charity, and this was accepted. There will be a three-month no:ce period and if no objec:ons the charity will be dissolved, and the trustees will cease to be trustees. As a condi:on of the dissolu:on, all assets must be disposed of, in the case of the pre-school this is the children’s equipment. Being a CIO charity (Charitable Incorporated Organisa:on), no profit must be made from the disposal, so the trustees decided to donate the equipment to other pre-schools in the area associated with churches. They duly came and took what they wanted. At the :me of wri:ng, the pre-school area is cleared and duly handed back to the church. There are a few small items lef in the shed in the pre-school playground and two Wendy houses. It is hoped to dispose of these at some stage.

wish them good fortune in the future.

Pete Carter, Chair of Trustees

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4.7 Knit & Na[er

We’ve had another good year at K&N. We’re enjoying being able to meet in-person at the St Johns site. We've seen a small growth in numbers and its been lovely to start to get to know some new people.

Some of us have been focusing on helping BeTy by kninng lots of squares so she can turn them into blankets which are then sent out to Ukraine. But we do this whilst con:nuing to drink tea, eat cake and, of course, lots of naTering.

Saturday of the month, between 10:30am and 1pm (flexibly during that :me).

Beccy Short

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Sec%on 5 Community & Mission

5.1 Living Well

Foodbank

Community Café

Con:nues to run during foodbank sessions. On Tuesdays the Art Café to guests to encourage engagement and is led by our Art Therapist Fiona Barnes. This has become a popular ac:vity with users coming from outside of Living Well.

Community Lunches Hot meal provision was 53% higher in 2022 than in 2021, with 9,569 hot meals given out in total. We were able to reopen a table service op:on for those wan:ng to eat at Living Well.

Takeaways s:ll remain the favourite op:on.

Advocacy

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New look Living Well

We launched our new branding and a clear, precise tagline, vision, and values:

Tagline : Food and support that changes lives

Our vision : food and fuller lives for all in our community

Our mission : ensuring people have food, guidance and the support of an uplifing community to live life to the fullest

Other services Clothes bank is run every 2[nd] and 4[th] Saturday monthly, Blend choir every Thursday evening and prayers every Friday afer the foodbank session. We con:nue to offer face-to-face and telephone counselling and pastoral care.

Rebecca Day, Opera8ons Manager, Living Well

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5.2 Blend Community Choir

Blend is a community choir primarily for Living Well guests and volunteers, but also has members from the church and local community. It meets on a Thursday evening at Holy Trinity site. We start at 6.30pm with cakes and refreshments. The choir sings from 7-8pm, we end with a reflec:ve song (Take oh take me as I am) and a prayer.

The average aTendance has been 9.

been blessed by these people and are grateful for their ongoing input. The choir members enjoy much laughter and joy, there is a great sense of community.

We have a commiTed team of volunteers, both from Living Well and from the Church, headed up by Rebecca Day who has given us great prac:cal and moral support. The piano has been tuned this month. Jessica our vicar aTends whenever her other commitments allow and is a great source of advice and support.

Although we have not been able to hold our own concert this last year, we have made guest appearances at services and concerts.

In November we sang a song at the remembrance service at Holy Trinity, in December we sang at the carol service and at a fundraising concert with hidden voices.

Looking forward to the year ahead, we are now prac:sing a hymn for Good Friday afernoon and plan to sing at the May Living Well plant sale.

Our pianist suggested we could do a promo:onal sing along at the Living Well community lunch to encourage more members.

those who par:cipate are many, singing is great for releasing endorphins and with a mixture of secular and Chris:an songs, its great for the soul. Thank you for your con:nued support.

Sue and Richard Thomson

5.3 CAP Centre

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CAP CENTRE REPORT - 2022

By Rachel Williams, CAP Centre Manager

At the beginning of 2022 we had resumed face to face meetings with clients, but were still having to wear face masks and by the end of the year everything had returned to normal.

Our centre is always busy and the current economic climate increased demand for our service. Clients have struggled more than ever before with energy costs, food costs and in some cases keeping a roof over their heads. Two of our clients had difficult decisions to make around selling their homes to clear their debts. However, we have still helped 5 clients go debt free in 2022 and £65,264.30 was repaid and £27,251.71 was written off through insolvency. That is a total of £92,516.01 debt cleared last year.

5 clients might not seem like a large number, but these are the ones who went debt free. There is always a proportion of clients who decide not to work with us and some who do, but aren’t able to complete the entire process. We need to remember that we still have an enormous, positive impact on the clients’ lives. CAP’s covid emergency aid response enabled clients to have online food shops delivered to their door and top ups were given towards the cost of energy bills. We always offer prayer and Lin, Gareth and I often go the extra mile to help support our clients in difficult and challenging situations. We have supported clients through ACTS 435 enabling funds to be raised for debt relief orders and essential items for the home.

Words can not adequately express the amazing response to our Crowdfunding campaign. In my last report I said that funding was a real issue, but at the time of writing this report March 2023, we have more money in the bank than we have ever had before! My original target was £25,000.00, but we not only reached that target we doubled it!!!!!! When we step out in faith God provides. OUR GOD CAN DO MORE THAN WE EVER IMAGINE. PRAISE HIM.

Before I go any further, I would like to thank both Lin and Gareth for the amazing work undertaken during this last year. Well done to you both, I couldn’t have kept things going without you. I would also like to thank Sally Jones, Gail Gee, Christine Wood, Sarah Murrell and Paul Breakspear for being our CAP volunteers. In addition Russ Jones and Andrew Griffiths for their help and support with the finances. I appreciate your time, commitment and service to our centre.

Christians Against Poverty are still in the process of our “Debt Transformation Program.” We are looking at all the services that CAP offers, our debt service, our money courses, our job clubs and our life skills. More information should be available next year. Head Office moved locations, but are still based in Bradford.

I have detailed below my key objectives:-

1) Ensuring all that we do is centred on serving our local community.

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Serving Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord is our calling in the Debt Centre. We need to action our faith and working for CAP enables us to do this.

2) Prayer

Praying regularly for the centre, our clients and funding. On a Monday and Wednesday morning, we pray and read our bibles before we start our work. This has always been a priority of mine.

3) Finance

To engage more individuals and churches to regularly support our work.

4) Food Bank

To continue to provide food as and when it is needed to our clients.

5) CAP Volunteers

To continue to grow our volunteer team. I am always on the lookout for more volunteers to help support our clients, run events, lead CAP money courses and various other roles too. I am very keen to have a strong body of people able to see clients with us.

6) Drop in sessions

Our client drop in has been temporarily suspended. Initially we had quite a few clients who would come on a Wednesday morning, but as time went on the numbers decreased. Some of our clients don’t live near the church and often don’t have transport or money to pay for travel costs.

Finally I would like to thank everyone in Holy Trinity with St. John’s, Christ Church Beckenham, St John’s Eden Park, St Paul’s, Brackley Road, Grace Church in Beckenham and Neighbourhood Church for their support through prayer, food bank donations and financial giving. We couldn’t run this centre without you. May God bless every one of you.

Rachel Williams, Centre Manager

5.4 HT Community Garden

This garden wraps around the east and north sides of the church building and is visited by guests and volunteers aTending the Living Well charity, members of the public and our churches, used occasionally for outdoor worship and cared for by volunteers.

In May there was a successful plant sale raising funds for Living Well. In the summer a diseased tree was removed bringing new light to the vegetable and flower beds, and in autumn lots of new daffodil and tulip bulbs were planted.

and the changing seasons.

Sue Smith

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5.5 Work in Schools

Part of the role of a Church of England church is to be present for all who live and work in the parish. In our parish we are blessed to have a church school (St John’s Primary), an infants school (Alexandra Infants), a junior school (Alexandra Juniors), two community primary schools (Harris Primary Crystal Palace and Harris Kent House) and a secondary school (Harris Girls). We are even more blessed to enjoy excellent rela:onships with all of them.

Work with schools was one of our key areas of growth during 2022.

St John’s Primary

One of my favourite moments of the week is Tuesday morning Collec:ve Worship at St John’s Primary, a weekly link with the children and staff there and an opportunity to share a Bible story and hear the children’s enthusias:cally expressed views on it!

During 2022, each class, from Recep:on to Year 6, visited the church (St John’s Site) to deepen their understanding of the work they were doing in RE. Following two years of COVID, end of term assemblies for the whole school in church also returned to the St John’s site, with an Easter service, the Leavers’ service, Harvest Fes:val and the Christmas service. It is pleasing that the number of adults aTending these services has grown through the year and, with the support of a team of willing volunteers from the church, we were able to welcome them with coffee and mince pies before the Christmas service.

Working with the Deputy Head, Kat Nash, I was able to apply successfully to the Diocese for a grant to develop an outdoor area in the school into a sacred garden – and I very much hope that this will be a place where we can work with the school to start to bring church to their families.

YveTe Evans and I also supported the school as cri:cal friends through the Aquinas Advisory CommiTee.

Other Work with Schools

We are growing our rela:onship with other schools in the parish, especially with the primary schools. Our involvement during 2022 included:

Thank you to all who supported these visits as welcomers and to work with groups of children, especially during the busy run-up to Christmas.

If anybody is interested in praying for or being involved in work in schools, please do speak to me.

Rev. Jessica Smith, Vicar

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5.6 Mission Giving

The PCC of Holy Trinity with St John, Penge, made the decision to set aside £6,500 to support mission organisa:ons that are linked with our vision and purpose. These organisa:ons were agreed based on the legacy giving of each church, with half allocated to those St John's used to support and half to Holy Trinity. These totalled:

Further, the PCC agreed a budget of £6,500 for 2023, and the alloca:ons will be discussed and agreed by PCC in due course - sugges:ons are always welcome.

5.7 Auc*on

Our 12th Auc:on was held at the Holy Trinity Site on 26th March 2022. All the Lots sold had been donated over the previous year. Throughout the day we had approx 85 people in aTendance, many of whom had supported our previous auc:ons. Breakfasts, lunches, tea, coffee & sof drinks were served throughout. At the end of the proceedings, lots of people asked when the next one would be......a ques:on that we couldn’t answer!

The total raised was £2092, making a running total of all 12 auc:ons of just over £38,000.

Our thanks go to all who helped, in any way, to make the day a successful community event.

Lionel Riches

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