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2023-12-31-accounts

Annual Report of the Trustees for the year 2023

to be presented to the Annual General Meeting on

17[th] July 2024 at 2.00 pm

At the High Leigh Conference Centre

Office address :

2 The Orchard, Dowell Close, Taunton, TA2 6BN.

Website : www.modernchurch.org.uk

Email : office@modernchurch.org.uk

Registered charity no : 281573

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ABOUT MODERN CHURCH

faith in the world

We understand that

We encourage

We expect our theology to be

Public benefit

As a charitable organisation we consider that our objects have the following public benefits:

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Report from the Chair of Trustees

In 2022, I outlined the recommendations made by our Council in March of that year concerning our principal priorities for Modern Church. These were:

I am pleased to say that in 2023 we can see significant progress on all these fronts. Sections of this Annual Report will offer more detail on specific aspects of Modern Church, so my introduction will only briefly identify some of the highlights.

A major achievement this year has been the successful transition to in-house membership. This has enabled us to establish a more direct relationship with supporters, aided by a streamlined and updated subscription package.

We have also progressed towards a more integrated strategy of events and activities. While there is still a place for in-person meetings, our online events represent opportunities for outreach to new constituencies and different ways of working. In 2023, this included a fascinating interview with the US-based pastoral theologian and psychotherapist, Bruce Rogers-Vaughn. In November, we joined with SCM Press in organising an online panel to promote Luke Larner’s edited collection on Church and Social Class, entitled Confounding the Mighty (2023).

Other enduring features of Modern Church’s life have included the Public Square group, which continues to debate aspects of political significance, and our regular online Blog which, similarly, aims to keep abreast of current issues in church and society and is reflecting an increasingly diverse range of voices. We continue to be well-served by our print-based publications, Signs of the Times and Modern Believing, which maintain our reputation for high-quality, thoughtful and open theological debate.

As we move forward into 2024-25 we hope to offer members and supporters a range of activities and resources that reflect changing needs and interests. We are increasingly aware of a need for introductions to basic aspects of faith and spirituality, which we intend to pursue through activities such as short online courses and residential retreats. In 2024 we plan to relaunch our online Forum group as a space for members to pursue matters of shared concern informally.

During 2023, we began actively to consult external groups and organisations with a view to planning collaborative ventures. For example, we will be working with the Church Times in 2024 on some webinars, with a likely presence at their Festival of Faith and Literature in 2025. In July 2024, we hold our first day retreat, Queer and Green, jointly organised with Open Table and OneBodyOneFaith.

As we continue to raise our profile within our membership and beyond, I am grateful to

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members of Council and Trustees for their advice and wisdom. Finally, my thanks go to our great team of staff and officers – Alison Webster, Nic Tall, Joe Priestley and Diane Kutar – for their skill, energy and commitment to everything that Modern Church represents.

Professor Elaine Graham FBA Chair of Trustees

Modern Church General Secretary’s Report 2023

1) A Year of Experiments

During 2023 we deliberately set ourselves the task of experimenting with new styles and formats for online events. We have explored lectures, panels, and 1-2-1 conversations with scholars and spiritual leaders. Stand-outs include the session on Caribbean Contextual Theology at the beginning of 2024 (focusing on Carlton Turner’s new book of the same name, and with excellent contributions from Evie Vernon and Stephen Jennings as well as the author) – and our own Adrian Thatcher’s launch of Vile Bodies (deemed, ‘the best book launch ever’ by one contributor in the chat). Other contributors to the latter included Helen King and Jarel Robinson Brown. Following on from our exploration of social class (via Luke Larner’s ‘Confounding the Mighty’), and a session on Anthony Reddie & Carol Troupe’s ‘Deconstructing Whiteness, Empire and Mission’, we have been able to draw on and showcase a wide range of thinkers and activists.

2) A Year of Teamwork

The Executive Team (Chair, Treasurer, Administrator, Communications Officer and General Secretary) have held regular meetings and away-days throughout the period, giving detailed attention to the work, profile, and development strategy of the organisation. Taking our membership in-house from Liverpool University Press has been a major piece of work, and the restructuring of our membership that followed has provided an excellent foundation for future growth, which is already (at the time of writing) beginning to bear fruit. Each officer and staff member has played a significant part in the changeover.

3) A Year of Partnership-building

A key part of our development strategy is to work with other organisations where possible, to amplify and reinforce our reach and impact. An important partnership throughout 2023 and into 2024 has been with the national ecumenical Mission Theology and Apologetics Group (MTAG) to organise our 2024 Conference. The Chair of that group is to be Chair of our Conference (Prof John Drane), with the Executive staff member, Anne Richards, responsible alongside him for a significant part of the conference input. The conference theme (‘Finding the Sacred in the 21[st] Century: New Ways of Looking at Spirituality) and design owes a huge amount to the experience, knowledge-based and expertise of Anne and John.

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Other partnerships that have been worked upon throughout the year are those with the Church Times and Sarum College, along with our usual long-term partners (SCM, Inclusive Church, One Body One Faith, Open Table and Progressive Christianity Network). Looking ahead, 2024 will see a pilot day-retreat on Queer and Green issues (with OBOF and OT); and we will work with Inclusive Church to ensure our effective outreach to potential new members by sharing a stall at Greenbelt. As mentioned in the Chair’s report, the partnership with the Church Times promises to bear fruit in online webinars and an event at the Winchester Festival of Faith and Literature.

4) A Year of Working Towards Integrating our Output

The Executive Team has worked hard on finding ways to ensure that our ‘offer’ to our members, and more widely, is effectively integrated. In 2024 we will look to bring the Forum back into this overarching strategy, enabling members to meet together regularly online building relationships and delving more deeply into issues of theological and spiritual importance. The aspiration is for in-person events to be of a more diverse nature (geographically, and in style), both picking up on and driving our published material (Modern Believing, SOTT and our blogs). Our published material, in turn, can resource Forum discussions, retreats, quiet days, and online panels and lectures.

In summary, 2023 has been a very successful year for Modern Church.

Alison Webster General Secretary

Modern Believing Annual Report 2023

1. The Publisher

The quinquennial contract with our publisher, Liverpool University Press [LUP], expired at the end of 2023. It was renewed for a further 5 years, until Autumn 2028. In order to keep publication costs down, and in accordance with the charity’s policy of making greater use of its website, the journal will cease to have a print edition, and move to online only, from the Spring of 2026 (67.1).

2. Access

There are three possible ways of reading the journal:

  1. In print and online through the charity’s website. Most subscribers read the journal through its print edition, even though the online edition is usually published 2 weeks earlier and is free for them to read there. Subscribers have direct access to the journal, and many back copies, there, by going to the Modern Church website,

  2. https://modernchurch.org.uk/modern believing and clicking on ‘Find the journal online’.

  3. Online only through ATLA (American Theological Libraries Association) data base. The journal can be read by staff and students whose institutions subscribe to ATLA.

  4. Online only through LUP, a leading journal publisher. Significant numbers of Universities

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and Colleges hold a block subscription to LUP’s journals, and Modern Believing attracts a growing readership from this source.

3. Content in 2023

64.1, ‘Living in Love and Faith: Radical Perspectives’, contained 6 presentations given to the 2022 Modern Church conference, the second to be held entirely online due to the covid crisis. Copies were lodged in Lambeth Palace Library. All C of E diocesan bishops were offered print copies, gratis. 11 accepted.

There were 649 requests to download this issue from the LUP data base, nearly 6 times as many as 64.2 (our 2[nd] most popular edition in 2023) which scored 109.

Tina Beardsley’s article in 64.1, ‘Trans People and LLF’ was downloaded 578 times (nearly

15 times as many as our next most popular article, Sanjee Perera’s ‘Gauntlet at the Lychgate: How and Why is the Church of England Racist?’ (39 downloads)).

64.2, ‘He is Risen Indeed’ was a timely attempt to introduce fresh thinking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The edition included a contribution from the well-known Roman Catholic pioneering feminist theologian, Elizabeth Johnson.

64.3, ‘Animals, Agriculture and Theology’ introduced the Christian Ethics of Farmed Animal Welfare project, and contained an article by Carol J. Adams, an author considered notorious in 1990 for her book The Sexual Politics of Meat.

64.4, ‘Women and Theological Modernism’ was an enlarged, 154 page edition, describing and celebrating liberal theology – in the 125[th] anniversary year of Modern Church and Ripon Hall (the theological college which became associated with English modernism) – by exploring a neglected aspect of its history: the contribution of women in the early years of the 20[th] century . It is a treasure trove for researchers into early Feminist Theology. Its editorial, 8 articles and Jane Shaw’s sermon will ensure it is sought out for years to come.

4. Ethnicity and Gender

No statistics are kept on ethnicity. However a continuing effort is made to identify nonCaucasian authors. Of the 24 authors in 2023, 9 were men, 15 were women.

5. Readership

5.1 Journal subscribers

Listed below are the numbers for MC members who are subscribers , i.e., recipients of the print edition. Figures are taken from the annual reports from LUP.

Membertype 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Concessionary members 69 72 82 78 72
Individual members 147 122 141 137 128
Jointmembers 7 8 8 7 6
Jointmembers (bothconcession) 8 7 7 6 6
Jointmembers (one concession) 1 1 1 1 1
Student members 12 5 5 7 5
Total members 252 223 244 236 218

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In addition 45 institutions subscribe (2022), a decline from 71 in 2018. 32 are print + online: 13 online only. However, many institutions make the journal available to readers from their subscriptions to ATLA or LUP, so the figure of 45 may not represent a loss of readers. This is the last year when membership statistics will be presented in this form. At the end of the year MC wrested back from LUP full control of membership administration, maintenance, and support. Early signs are that the new arrangements, including ease of supporting MC and subscribing to the journal through the MC website, are reversing the long slow decline in membership.

5.2 Readers on LUP website

There were 21,875 page views in 2023. Over 2,000 of these occurred in a single day in January, coincident with the publication of the Living in Love and Faith edition (see above for download figures). The next highest figure was 850 (on a day in November). The top 10 Institutions downloading articles from MB, on the LUP website, were

Institution Total
Requests
1 Modern Church 368
2 Nuffield College 39
3 Graduate Theological Union 27
4 University of St Andrews 25
5 University of Exeter 24
6 Queens Foundation 23
7 Boston College 22
8 Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen 21
9 Duke University 19
10 University of Birmingham 19

5.3 Readers on ATLA

ATLA has provided monthly totals for ‘hits’ on Modern Believing between Sept. 23 and Feb. 24, with comparisons for the same months in 2020 – 2022.

Month Abstract or
full text		 2020 2021 2022 2023 %
increase
2020-23
Sept23 A 45 63 75 143 317%
FT 75 106 150 222 296%
Oct A 59 48 99 144 244%
FT 89 92 146 211 237%
Nov A 63 74 76 225 357%
FT 76 114 122 271 356%
Dec A 23 42 53 82 356%
FT 56 74 101 163 291%
Jan 24 A 23 39 60 79 343%
FT 59 63 94 190 322%
Feb A 40 85 74 169 422%
FT 66 119 109 270 409%
Mar A 31 70 69 161 519%
FT 86 107 125 319 370%

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6. Reviews

Michael Brierley, distinguished Reviews Editor since 2009, edited book reviews for the last time in December (these reviews appeared in the Spring edition, 2024, 65.2). I paid a fitting tribute to his outstanding work on behalf of all our readers in this edition. He is followed by Victoria Turner whose thorough work already undertaken for the journal is already becoming evident in 2024.

7. Conclusions

  1. The ATLA stats show that the online reach of the journal is growing rapidly. The charitable object of MC is ‘the advancement of the Christian faith for the benefit of the public… ’. The journal contributes increasingly to realizing the charitable object of its owner.

  2. Outstanding authors and emerging scholars continue to write for us. The editorial policy of setting themes for each edition and inviting authors to contribute to them continues to work well.

  3. A transformation of the charity’s administration has taken place in 2023, making it easier for potential readers to subscribe, and for the charity to maintain contact with them. It is hoped that these new arrangements will increase the number of online and print readers in 2024.

Adrian Thatcher Editor

Modern Church Membership Report

In 2023 Modern Church made major changes to its membership structure, taking direct management of its membership in house from LUP, who had managed membership for ten years.

The new model allowed people to sign up directly through the Moden Church website, and gave Modern Church notice of new members instantly allowing a quick response in welcoming them. Members who had historically been on an annual direct debit payment were retained on that basis, while all new members signed up on a monthly direct debit including the option to make an extra donation each month to further support the work of the charity. The previous distinction between full members, who received the journal, and affiliate members who did not was ended. Under the new scheme any person who made a financial contribution to supporting Modern Church was classed as a member with the full benefits arising from that, with some members opting to pay extra to receive the journal.

The changeover to the new system happened in late 2023 to coincide with the scheduled annual direct debit payments inherited from LUP. Around one third of members were not

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on the direct debit system, so much work happened through early 2024 to encourage resubscriptions. As a result the membership figures from 31[st] December 2023 are artificially lower than the real position. There are still some affiliate memberships in place as they operate on a 12 month subscription basis, but on their completion those on the old affiliate membership scheme are invited to transfer onto the new monthly direct debit system. This has led to some former affiliates subscribing to the journal.

Membership numbers over the last few years, measured at the end of the year, were as follows:

follows:
Subscription Type 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Members 336 321 316 251 215 208 213 187
LifeMembers 10 9 9 8 8 8 7 7
AffiliateMembers 0 0 0 0 0 45 33 15
Total Memberships 346 330 325 259 223 261 253 209

Since taking membership in house at the end of 2023 Modern Church has seen a steady increase in people joining, showing the new method of signing up was working as planned. On a month by month basis so far in 2024 membership numbers have changed as follows:

----- Start of picture text -----
Subscription Type Jan 24 Feb 24 Mar 24 Apr 24 May 24 Jun 24
Members 187 196 203 214 222 225
Life Members 7 7 7 7 7 7
Affiliate Members 15 15 15 15 8 8
Total Memberships 209 218 225 236 237 240
----- End of picture text -----

The topline number of subscribing members is now at its highest level since 2019, the vast majority of members are now on automatic direct debit payments meaning that membership retention should remain high. While the new system is at a very early stage it has been satisfying to see new members signing up and we look forward to seeing if the upward trend continues over the months and years ahead.

Nic Tall Administrator

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

I am delighted to report that my appeal for contributions to our quarterly newsletter, included in last year’s Annual Report, has borne much fruit! The past year has had its fair share of significant events in both Church and world, and in Modern Church itself, on which our readers have offered thoughtful comments. Associated bodies like the Public Square Group are a particularly valuable support of such material. Besides all this, ongoing theological discussion points have been dealt with, in ways usually serious but sometimes more humorous, and some completely new contributors have shown that they have much to offer.

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Along with our website, our blog, and an increasing diversity of online events, Signs has more than ever become our principal “shop window”. As well as being distributed to members, it can be made available to enquirers as well as those attending other events in which we are involved. If anyone would like extra copies to distribute to enquirers in their own church or neighbourhood, or at events which they attend, they should request these from our administrator (office@modernchurch.org.uk).

Articles by members (and indeed others) about contemporary issues likely to be of interest to our readership, are always welcome, though it may not always be possible to find space for them at once. More responses to those articles would also be of great value. The management of book reviews - of which we have also had some notable examples in the year - has now passed from Trevor Pitt to Terry Drummond, who is always looking for books to review and people to review them, and your suggestions to terry.drummond@hotmail.com will be appreciated.

Thanks are due to them both, and to the other members of the editorial team – our General Secretary, our Communications Officer, and Rosalind Lund, Lorraine Cavanagh and Helen Burnett – and to our designer Richard Remington; but above all to our contributors.

Anthony Woollard SoTT Editor

Treasurer’s Report

The outcome for 2023 in the face of it looks better than 2022. However, it should be noted that the receipts for 2023 have been inflated by the change in how membership is processed, and we are yet to pay LUP with respect to costs associated with the publication of Modern Believing. We have benefited from the improvement in the performance of the CCLA shares after taking a significant hit last year. This sees the value having recovered by £22k over and above the value of shares sold in the year, improving the balance sheet despite the deficit in the income and receipts statement.

Legacy

We began the year with £66k of the original amount which was set aside for special projects. During the course of the year, we spent circa £25.6k of our planned spending over a five-year period on designated legacy projects including spending on SOTT, and the salary of our General Secretary. This is in line with expectations. This leaves just over £40k of the legacy for continuing projects which have started or for new ones. Trustees and the new General Secretary continue to review the legacy and reserves policies to ensure that we can continue to work with other organizations and fellow travellers to bring the insights of Modern Church to a wider audience, as well as protecting the continued existence of Modern Church.

Signs of the Times

This continues to be sent to all members. It is currently costing around £6,000 pa. We have produced additional copies on occasions for distribution at events and these have proved a useful marketing tool.

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Modern Believing

Adrian Thatcher, a Trustee, is paid an annual honorarium of £2,500 as Editor as previously agreed by Trustees. The cost of printing and posting out of MB has remained consistent with 2022.

Subscriptions and Membership

Subscription income appears to have risen substantially in 2023 but this is due to the change in processing of membership with the move in house. There remain costs to be met at LUP which will not be quantified until 2024. The early indications are the change in membership and fee structures is having a positive effect on income and the levels of membership.

Conference

We have continued to experience significant losses relating to the Annual Conference. This amounted to circa £10k this year. This is primarily due to having to commit to a volume of places that we failed to fill. The officers of Modern Church and the Trustees are holding discussions to consider future plans as clearly this level of losses is not sustainable.

Policies

Legacy Policy

MC has been very fortunate to receive a number of fairly substantial legacies from former members over the years for which Trustees are very grateful. We wish to encourage members to continue to remember the Society in their wills in this way to help ensure that the work continues for future generations of church people.

Reserves Policy

In light of the receipt of substantial legacy funds in 2017 and the decision to pay a salary to our General Secretary, it was agreed to modify our Reserves Policy for the time being. Thus, legacies received during 2017 have been considered as a project fund to pay for the General Secretary’s salary and expenses. It was agreed at this time that the reserves held by MC prior to 2017 and which provided an annual income towards the day-to-day running expenses of MC of over £8,500 should continue to be held as designated reserves.

Data Protection Policy

Modern Church adheres to Government guidance on data protection. We pay an annual registration fee to the Information Commissioner. Our membership records and subscription management has been moved in-house. Liverpool University Press continue to publish and distribute Modern Believing on our behalf.

Independent Examiner

I am grateful to Jonathan Rudge once again for agreeing to act as our Independent Examiner and his report is attached.

Diane Kutar Treasurer

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Receipts & Payments Accounts to 31 December 2023

2023 2023 2022 2022
Receipts
Subscriptions Subscriptions LUP 15037 8165
Subscriptions Affiliate 307 785
Gift Aid 567 446
15885 9396
Investment
Income 13239 14057
13239 14057
Conferences Annual Conferences 8328 9598
Council Residential 1437 164
Other Conferences 0 215
9764 9977
Miscellaneous Donations (Note 4) 20 1164
Publications (MB Royalties)(Notes 2 & 3) 313 1034
Other 404 0
737 2198
Total Receipts 39624 35627
Payments
Legacy Project General Secretary 18620 16746
(Note 5) Projects 0 6948
General Secretary Expenses 404 1057
19024 24750
Publications Modern Believing 4167 3913
SOTT (Legacy Project) (Note 6) 6296 5974
Editors 2500 2500
Other Publications 0 0
Legacy Relaunch 0 0
12963 12388
Communications Communications Officer 7308 6481
Advertising 0 2503
Website costs 467 552
7753 9535
Admin Administrator 7358 8043
Accounting Fees 570 441
Trustees Room hire 539 248
Admin expenses 3112 1739
Miscellaneous 185 262
11764 10733
Conferences Annual Conference (Note 1) 16945 19295
Council Residential 4344 1098
Other 982 0
22271 20393
Total Payments 73775 77799
Surplus/deficit -34150 -42173

Bank and Investment Balances at 31 December 2023

2023 2023

2022 2022

FUNDS STATEMENT - Members' Funds

Opening Balances
Undesignated 142476 217573
Designated Reserves 263429 263429
(Note 5) Legacy Projects 66006 96730
Student bursary
Restricted fund 821 472732 746 578478
Surplus/deficit Cash Flow -34150 -42173
-
Unrealised holdings gains/losses (Note 7) 41261 7111 -63573 105746
Closing Funds 479843 472732
Represented by
Undesignated 171664 142476
Designated Reserves 263429 263429
(Note 5) Legacy Projects 43929 66006
Student bursary
Restricted fund 821 821
Total Funds 472732
Members' Assets
CAF Bank 12457 25861
Paypal 263 1053
CCLA Deposit 1391 14111 1348 28262
CCLA Shares - revaluation
29/12/2023 (Note 7) 465731 479843 444470 472732
Total 479843 472732

  1. Expenses: This figure includes the deposit paid for the 2024 conference - please see the separate section on treasurer's report on the 2023 conference financial outcome.

  2. This figure has been reduced by the payment towards to joint publication of the Race/Clatworthy book on Christology for which there have been no receipts yet.

  3. Modern Church receives payments from LUP in relation to subscriptions from libraries and institutions, referred to as royalties.

  4. Donations: No donations have been received this year.

  5. Legacy Projects - legacy expenditure in 2023 relates to the work and remuneration of the General Secretary and SOTT (see Note 6). Of the funds allocated to legacy projects just over £40k remains.

  6. Signs of the Times (SOTT) continues to show high costs since a re-design in 2019 and is considered as part of our Legacy Project.

  7. There has been a significant upturn in the share price of our CCLA investments, sufficient to offset the sale of shares.

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Modern Church For the year ended 31st December 2023 Registered Charity no. 281573

Independent examiner’s statement

I report on the accounts of the Modern Church (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 December 2023, which are set out on the attached pages and show a cash deficit of £34.150, together with funds totalling £479,843 at the year end.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Jonathan H. Rudge MA FCA 20 Blackthorne Close Solihull B91 1PF 13th June 2024

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Modern Church Officers and Post-holders: 2023

President and Chair of Council: Professor Elaine Graham

Vice Chair of Council Anthony Woollard

General Secretary: Alison Webster

Secretary: Revd Canon Dr Jan van der Lely

Treasurer: Revd Diane Kutar

Administrator: Nic Tall

Communications Officer: Joe Priestley

Vice Presidents:

Prof Paul Badham The Revd Jonathan Clatworthy Prof Elaine Graham Rev Dr Nicholas Henderson Dr Peter Mills The Most Rev Barry Morgan The Very Rev Prof Martyn Percy The Rt Rev Dr John Saxbee The Rt Rev Brian Smith The Rt Revd Tim Stevens The Revd Canon Dr Richard Truss The Rt Revd Martin Wharton

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Modern Church Council Members 2023

Revd Dr Jeyan Anketell Hugh Bryant Revd Helen Burnett[1] Revd Dr Lorraine Cavanagh[1] Revd Dr Yin-An Chen Very Revd Dr Jonathan Draper Professor Elaine Graham Revd David Howard Revd Tom Keates Dr Anne-Marie Kramer Revd Diane Kutar[1] (Treasurer, elected annually) Rosalind Lund Revd Stephen Parsons Revd Canon Trevor Pitt[1] Revd Canon Dr Alan Race[1] Revd Angela Sheard Professor Adrian Thatcher[1] Ven Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes[1] Revd Canon Dr Jan van der Lely Professor John Vickerman Anthony Woollard[1] Revd Sonya Wratten

1 Term of office ends at the end of the 2023 AGM but can stand for re-election

In bold – current trustees

Also served on Council during 2023, but no longer on Council:

Jean Barnett Revd Canon David Driscoll Revd David James

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