2025-12-31-accounts - Modern Church

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

Annual Report of the Trustees for the year 2025

to be presented to the Annual General Meeting on 16[th] June 2026 at 7.30 pm

In an online meeting via Zoom

Office address :

97 Court View, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, GL10 3PJ

Website : www.modernchurch.org.uk

Email : office@modernchurch.org.uk

Registered charity no : 281573

ABOUT MODERN CHURCH

faith in the world

We understand that

genuine faith is committed to the search for truth, wherever it comes from
it is possible to think and talk about God in ways that make sense in our time and culture

We encourage

open discussion: freedom to explore ideas, ask questions and change our minds without fear of disapproval
critical scholarship: keeping up to date with good research, examining the implications of new insights and discoveries
willingness to change: so that what we believe now can be expressed in the things our churches do and say.

We expect our theology to be

public: talking the language of ordinary people, not that of a religious club
relevant: engaging with what is going on in society, informing our faith and how we live
respectful: willing to learn from others, within and outside Christianity, since we accept that we don't have all the answers.

Public benefit

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

we have a duty within our present-day society to present Christianity in a way which can be understood by ordinary people
we encourage all church people, both ordained and lay, to play a full part in the governance and activities of their churches and foster greater engagement with the mission of the churches to support the poor, sick and needy in society
by engaging in research and study we can help our fellow Christians come to a deeper understanding of their faith and how it has developed our approach to theology will encourage people of all faiths to better understand one another thus promoting constructive relations between the faiths.

Report from the Chair of Trustees

Introduction

The year 2025 has been one of continued growth for Modern Church, both in terms of membership and scope and range of activities. This report outlines some of the most significant achievements and developments over the past year.

Membership and Engagement

Since revising the administration of membership, with a new streamlined subscription structure, we have seen a marked growth in new members. Efforts have been made to improve member engagement through regular communications (such as our monthly members’ email), online discussion forums and webinars as well as opportunities to meet and participate in face-to-face events.

Publications and Communications

Modern Church continues to produce its flagship journal, Modern Believing , publishing four high-quality issues exploring contemporary theological themes including Biblical scholarship, ethics and social justice. Modern Believing is overseen by an editorial team, who contribute to future planning and help to ensure a vibrant and diverse range of perspectives, and supported by an Editorial Board comprised of leading theologians and biblical scholars.

Adrian Thatcher, who has served as Editor-in-Chief since March 2019, stepped down in 2025. We are most grateful to him for ensuring that Modern Believing maintains such a consistently high standard, something which ensures that its reach and influence extends far beyond our membership alone.

In 2026 we will be welcoming two new co-editors: Victoria Turner and Stephen Burns, whose combined expertise in ecumenical studies, post-colonial theology and global Christianity promises to extend the scope and reputation of the journal still further.

Signs of the Times also continues to thrive under the editorship of Anthony Woollard; we welcomed Terry Drummond as the new book reviews editor. SOTT’s mix of items, including poems, current affairs and book reviews always means it is topical and accessible -- but further suggestions from prospective contributors are always welcome.

Our digital communications expanded significantly in 2025 and were used strategically to engage non-members, share theological insights and promote events. In particular, our regular series of blogs continues to attract attention and helps to maintain a regular flow of traffic to the website.

Conferences and Events

The highlight of the year was the annual Conference in Leeds in October, which focused on the theme of “Enacting Hope in a Ruined World”, addressing topics such as climate emergency, theologies of hope and the role of the local church in community cohesion. In addition to input from Susie Snyder, Al Barratt and members of Citizens UK, we were also fortunate to have Andrew Nunn, former Dean of Southwark Cathedral, leading our worship throughout the day. The location and format (one-day non-residential) ensured that as well as attracting regular conference-goers the event attracted a significant number of new participants.

In addition to the annual conference, a series of webinars and other online events were held throughout the year, ranging from church growth, assisted dying, intercultural mission and women’s embodiment. These events enabled wider participation, including international attendees, and advanced our aims to encourage open and topical discussion on pressing theological and social issues.

Partnerships and Collaborations

Throughout 2025, Modern Church strengthened relationships with partner organisations such as Church Times, Campaign for Equal Marriage, Student Christian Movement and Together for the Church of England. The Public Square Group continues to organise a programme responding to contemporary social and political issues. Such collaborations are a vital part of our commitment to being a thoughtful and constructive voice in public discourse and church life.

Governance and Administration

The Trustees and Council met regularly throughout the year to ensure effective governance and strategic planning. We continued to review our organisational strategy to ensure that Modern Church remains responsive to changing contexts and opportunities in the years ahead.

Financial Overview

Modern Church maintained a stable financial position in 2025; careful and strategic stewardship of resources is vital for our long-term sustainability. A future priority will be to diversify income streams through increased digital subscriptions, donations and event participation.

Conclusion

2025 has been a year of meaningful activity and steady progress for Modern Church. We have continued to provide a platform for open, thoughtful and progressive Christian engagement, while extending our reach and deepening our impact. Our growth in membership has been especially encouraging, but despite all our efforts in publicising our activities as widely as possible, our existing members and supporters are still our most effective and persuasive ambassadors. So please spread the word about Modern Church! Ask for additional copies of Signs of the Times , consider using MC material in your local church and encourage others to take part in our events.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to all our members, contributors and supporters whose ongoing commitment makes this work possible. Special thanks as ever go to our staff (Alison Webster, Nic Tall and Cas Bending) and to those who have served as Council members or Trustees.

It seems appropriate to conclude this overview with the Conference Prayer for this year, prepared specially for us by Andrew Nunn. It encapsulates our openness to the realities of God’s world while remaining firmly rooted in the hope of the resurrection:

Hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5.5)

Hope-full, hope-filled God,

you sustain us through the darkness and bring us to the light; enable us through your Spirit to be your co-workers in bringing hope to the world as you companion us on your kingdom journey. Amen.

Professor Elaine Graham FBA Chair of Trustees

General Secretary Annual Review 2025

The aim of our Modern Church programme is to balance creative consideration of enduring theological themes, with responsive reflection on contemporary events in the church and the world. Modern Church was not alone in choosing ‘Hope’ as our theme for 2025 – a fact that needs no explanation given the challenges of geopolitics at this time.

Our Annual Conference in Leeds (as described in the Chair’s report) was our flagship event of the year. Experimental in terms of venue and format, it was a fabulous day with excellent theological and liturgical input. Combined with the meeting of the Modern Church Council residential immediately beforehand, we plumbed the depths of theologies of hope, and also the nature of our ‘ruined world’.

The year kicked off, though, with an excellent online panel in January entitled, ‘We Need to Talk About Bodies’, a celebration of the publication of a book by Helen King entitled, ‘Immaculate Forms: Uncovering the History of Women’s Bodies’. A long-time Modern Church supporter, and a passionate advocate for inclusion in the Church of England (and retired professor of Classical Studies from The Open University), Helen enabled us to address such questions as: who are we ‘really', and how does our body ‘function’ in asking and answering that question? What does history teach us about how we are named and valued according to the body we have? Is there anything essential in gender and sexuality? How does power circulate and operate to include, exclude, decide what is normative, and shape what is possible? What might a liberated theology of embodiment look and feel like? Helen was joined on the panel by Rachel Mann (trans theologian and priest, poet, writer and broadcaster), and Evie O’Brien (Jamaican womanist theologian with a revolutionary bent, and advocate for racial justice).

Whilst Modern Church is wholeheartedly ecumenical, we continue to play our part in changing the Church of England for the better. Such activity is, after all, our heritage. To that end we held a joint online discussion in February with the Relational Church Network to coincide with a meeting of the General Synod. The theme was ‘What Needs to Change in the Church of England?’ Tim Norwood of Relational Church was joined by three members of the Modern Church Council: Yin-An Chen, Angela Sheard and Anne-Marie Kramer.

Our collaborative working with the Church Times continued in 2025 as we hosted a panel

conversation at the Festival of Faith and Literature in Winchester. In celebration of Jane Austen the Festival theme was ‘A Truth Universally Acknowledged’, and we addressed the question, ‘Whose Truth Universally Acknowledged?’. Contributors included poet and priest Mark Pryce of Birmingham Diocese, and Natalie Collins, writer and campaigner on the theme of gender-based violence. We had a full house, and hope to offer something at the next Festival in 2027.

We joined the Church Times again in June, co-hosting a webinar on the theme of Church Growth. Contributors this time included myself, Angela Sheard (Anglican Tutor at the Queen’s Foundation) and Christian Selvaratnam (Dean of Church Planting at St Hild College).

In November a Modern Church online panel explored the theme: ‘A Polyphonic God? Exploring intercultural Mission’, focusing on a book with the same title edited by Israel Oluwole Olofinjana. He was joined by two other contributors to the book. The conversation explored how intercultural churches are significant in multicultural British society, and serve to create a counter-cultural kingdom narrative demonstrating how we can find unity in the midst of diversity and how this can enrich the lives of everybody involved

In addition to our online and in-person events, open to all, we have also continued to develop our online members-only Forum. Each meeting takes a theme, which often ties in with Modern Church’s other publications and events. It is proving to be a helpful context for new members to get to know others, and for all members to find space for creative thinking and spiritual support.

Alison Webster General Secretary

Modern Believing

Volume 66: Winter 2024 – Autumn 2025

This is my last annual report as Editor. Since my appointment in 2019 there has been a redesign and a re-launch of the journal (February 2020). A different editorial policy that prioritized the invitation and commission of distinguished and emerging scholars was immediately introduced. In 2024 the administration of subscriptions to the journal was taken in-house. These developments have contributed to the recent and sustained increase in subscribers to the journal and to Modern Church. I have reported every year my delight at the quality of commissioned articles, the alacrity and enthusiasm of responses from authors, and the breadth of authorship and scholarship the journal has achieved. 2025 is no exception.

Continuity

I am delighted that from January 1[st] 2026, the editorship is in the hands of Dr. Victoria Turner and the Revd. Prof. Stephen Burns. In their hands the journal will move from strength to strength. The Trustees delegated all the arrangements regarding the appointment to the Editorial Team – a mark of confidence in the robust support of its members.

Content

Readers will be familiar with the content, namely, 17 articles and 74 reviews in volume 65 in the usual 4 editions:

66.1 ‘Finding the Sacred in the 21[st] Century: New Ways of Looking at Spirituality’ was derived from presentations at the 2024 residential Modern Church conference of the same name. This is a record of the last residential Modern Church conference (at least for the present).

66.2 ‘Emerging Theologies’ contained articles on trauma, settler and liberation theologies, and masculinities and theology. Michael Mawson’s ‘Challenges for Theology in Settler Colonial Contexts’ was top of our LUP monthly download chart, for 8 months during 2025, reaching 92 in a single month.

66.3 ‘God and Mammon: Theological Challenges to our Monetary Culture’ was guest edited by our Reviews Editor, Victoria Turner, who later in the year became joint editor.

66.4 ‘Mission as Solidarity: Solidarity as Mission’ was guest edited by Duncan Dormor, general secretary of the United Society Partners in the Gospel. Duncan is a member of the Editorial Team. This was the second recent edition which featured partnership with USPG, both guest edited by Duncan.

Journal Information

Much of the information in the Editor’s Annual Report is taken from the annual report from the publisher. Unfortunately in 2026 the report from the Press has moved forward from March to April, and the AGM of Modern Church has moved backwards (from October to June). Information about the number of downloads, popularity of articles, ranking of user

institutions, etc. is therefore not currently available. When it is received it will be widely circulated and available to any readers who would like to see it.

Finally, my thanks to

Thanks

Victoria Turner, Reviews Editor, for providing copy on time and activating a new range of reviewer contacts;
all the authors (for their willingness to write gratis for the journal, their support for the journal and its aims; and the excellent quality of their work);
the journal staff of Liverpool University Press for their help, promptness, efficiency and professionalism in producing the journal;
the Editorial Team for their counsel and advice;
and the Trustees for their interest in and support for the journal throughout my editorship.

Adrian Thatcher Managing Editor in 2025

Signs of the Times

The flow of material for our quarterly journal has continued at a pleasing rate. Many contributions have come from members of the Public Square Group, in response to the current state of our nation; but a range of other topics, not least the Church’s fault-lines over missiology and sexuality, have figured also.

Along with our website, our blog, and an increasing diversity of online events, Signs is our principal “shop window”. As well as being the principal material distributed as a benefit of membership, 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. Our book reviews editor Terry Drummond 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 Terry, 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 Editor

Modern Church Membership Report

In 2025 Modern Church continued the steady growth in the number of members seen since the introduction of a new membership and sign-up process that was put in place in 2023.

Subscription Type	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Members	316	251	215	208	213	187	236	256
Life Members	9	8	8	8	7	7	7	7
Total Memberships	325	259	223	216	220	194	243	263

The continued increase in membership indicates that the programme on offer from Modern Church, through publications, events and the online offering, is engaging people. For example, there were several members who signed up as a result of attending the day conference held in Leeds in October 2025.

Nic Tall Administrator

Treasurer Report

The accounts enclosed herewith have been approved by the trustees and signed off without amendment by the Independent Examiner.

Membership management has now fully transferred in-house and 2025 is the first year we have seen the full impact of this. It can be seen that subscription income has now recovered. As reported last year, we did not expect to have a really accurate representation until we have a full year of the new model.

LUP have confirmed they will be invoicing in the new year based on circa 245 members, as they did last year, which shows membership accessing the journal has stabilised and we know overall membership of Modern Church is rising.

The 2025 figures include an invoice from LUP for the production of the journal in 2024 and likewise 2026 figures will include the 2025 LUP invoice. This is estimated at £7,320 (244@ £30 per head).

Again, we did come very close to breaking even on conference and with a £262 loss on conference. The change of structure resulted in a substantially lower risk re: cancellation or unfilled places. Losses are slightly higher on council residentials. If the total deficit across these activities is removed from the deficit, then we have maintained the position where the deficit is principally the expenditure on Legacy projects of £25k as the agreed amount every

year for five years, then extended for a further three. The forecast deficit was £29k and we ran a deficit of £28.8k.

We were able to reduce our drawn to £25k from the CCLA reserves, a reduced amount partly because the new membership model is beneficial to cashflow with an income stream throughout the year. The rise in share prices in most years had offset the drawdown, but as I commented last year this cannot continue for ever, and 2025 was in case in point with our balances at CCLA falling by just under £42k. With over £400k in reserves we are still in a sound financial position.

Diane Kutar Treasurer

Receipts & Payments Accounts to 31 December 2025

		2025	2025	2024	2024
Receipts
Subscriptions	Subscriptions (Note 1)	13023		11490
	Subscriptions Affiliate	0		0
	Gift Aid	0		0
			13023		11490
Investment Income		12303		12442
			12303		12442
Conferences	Annual Conferences (Note 2)	815		12318
	Council Residential	1120		1130
	Other Conferences	0		0
			1935		13448
Miscellaneous	Donations	720		765
	Publications (Note 3)	114		956
	Other	2244		512
			3078		2233
	Total Receipts		30339		39613
Payments
Legacy Project	General Secretary	17837		17837
(Note 5)	Projects (CT insert, MB launch, Sponsorships)	500		0
	General Secretary Expenses	603		657
			18940		18495
Publications	Modern Believing (Note 4)	7170		236
	SOTT (Legacy Project) (Note 6)	4944		5527
	Editors	3750		3750
	Other Publications	0		330
	Legacy Relaunch	0		0
			15864		9843
Communications	Communications Officer	7093		6235
	Advertising	50		25
	Website costs	494		1511
			7638		7771
Admin	Administrator	7358		7358
	Accounting Fees	0		480
	Trustees Room hire	293		689
	Admin expenses	3761		2608
	Miscellaneous			0
			11412		11135
Conferences	Annual Conference (Note 1)	1077		12658
	Council Residential	2314		1447
	Other	1912		1340
			5303		15445
	Total Payments		59157		62688
Surplus/deficit			-28819		-23075

Bank and Investment Balances at 31 December 2025 2025 2024 2024

FUNDS STATEMENT - Members' Funds

Opening Balances
Undesignated			179712		175229
Designated		Reserves	263429		263429
	(Note 5)	Legacy Projects	23428		40364
Restricted		Student bursary fund	821		821
Surplus/deficit Cash Flow			-28819		-23078
Unrealised holdings gains/losses	(Note 7)		-16897		10625
Closing Funds			421674		467390
Represented by
Undesignated			156100		179712
Designated		Reserves	263429		263429
	(Note 5)	Legacy Projects	1324		23428
Restricted		Student bursary fund	821		821
Total Funds			421674		467390
Members' Assets
CAF Bank			15029		19447
Paypal			654		122
CCLA Deposit			1532		1465
CCLA Shares - revaluation 31/12/2025	(Note 7)		404459	421674	446356	467390
Total				421674		467393

Notes

1) Subscriptions are now all managed inhouse and processed via GoCardless. The figure quoted here does not include charges applied by GoCardless which are included in administrative costs.

2) Conference receipts (and expenses) are lower this year with the change to the format. A small loss was made on conference but the associated risk from the larger residential format is all but eliminated.

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

4) We have yet to be invoiced for the publication costs of Modern Believing in 2025, the figure relate sto the publishing costs in 2024

5) Legacy Projects - legacy expenditure in 2025 relates to the work and remuneration of the General Secretary and SOTT (see Note 6). Of the funds allocated to legacy projects just under £1.3k 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 but we have seen some savings this year. Included in this is ordering additional copies for events as they

7) This year the end of year revaluation of the share account has seen a fall in value of £16k. £25k was drawn down to meet legacy expenditure.

Modern Church Officers and Post-holders: 2025

President and Chair of Council: Professor Elaine Graham

Vice Chair of Council Anthony Woollard

General Secretary: Alison Webster

Secretary: Revd Dr Anne-Marie Kramer (taking over from Revd Canon Dr Jan van der Lely)

Treasurer: Revd Diane Kutar

Administrator: Nic Tall

Communications Officer: Castor Bending

Modern Church Council Members 2025

Revd Dr Jack Belloli Hugh Bryant[1] Revd Helen Burnett

Revd Dr Lorraine Cavanagh Revd Dr Yin-An Chen[1] Revd Dr Terry Drummond Professor Elaine Graham Revd David Howard

Dr Anne-Marie Kramer Revd Diane Kutar[1] (Treasurer, elected annually) Rosalind Lund[1] Revd Jidé Macaulay Revd Naomi Nixon Joe Priestley Revd Angela Sheard[1] Professor Adrian Thatcher Revd Dr Malcolm Torry Revd Canon Dr Jan van der Lely Revd Don Witts Anthony Woollard Revd Sonya Wratten[1]

1 Term of office ends at the end of the 2026 AGM but can stand for re-election

In bold – current trustees

Also served on Council during 2025, but no longer on Council:

Revd Dr Jeyan Anketell Very Revd Jonathan Draper Revd Stephen Parsons