The Parish of Kilwaughter & Calrncastle with All Salnts Registered with the Nl Charlty Commtssion- NIC 10358 ANNUAL REPORT st For year ending 31 December 2023 For any queries arising from this report or the Parish Accounts, please contact: Parish Treasurer c/0 9 Oakdene, Larne BT40 2FD Tel.. 07450 284484 Email: kca arish lnail.com
The Church of Ireland, Parish of Kilwaughter and Cairncastle with All Saints includes two churches: St Patrick's Church, Cairncastle and All Saints Church, Craigyhill Objectives and Activitie5 The principal function of the Parish of Kilwaughter and Cairncastle with All Saints is to support the advancement of the Christian religion by promoting, through the work of St Patrick's and All Saints Churches the whole mission of the church - pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical, being open to and engaging with society as a whole and offering support for those needing help are fundamental to the practical delivery of the benefits of Christianity. As a result of activity in the pursuit of the advancement of the Christian religion, the parish has custody of the property and records, materials, and artefacts of significance to the cultural and religious heritage, the maintenance of which is undertaken by the Select Vestry of the Parish. The Select Vestry is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our churches and to become part of our parish communityi fully supporting the clergy in the delivery of worship throughout the parish. To facilitate this work, it is essential that we maintain the fabric of both churches In the parish, and the church hall. Achlevements and Performance Worship and Prayer- the provision of regular weekly services of Morning Prayer and Holy Communion continues in both churches. The traditional Psalm and Canticle chant repertoire was increased in St Patrick's, and choir anthems and sung blessings included more in special services. A new more informal Kidz/Family Service of the Word was added on the fifth Sunday of the month. This included contemporary worship songs and children's action choruses as well as an interactive type object lesson. A Back to School Service was also introduced for the start of the new school year in September. During Lent, a parish retreat day was held for the first time in Drumalis with 15 attending and very positive feedback. Mid week Communion services were restarted in All Saints and a new lectio group met in St Patrick's. Both had on average 6 people coming along. Rogationtide is traditionally the period in the church calendar for'beating the bound5' and a booklet was produced including Short prayer walks around
various parish local areas with stops to pray for other churche5, community groups and businesses. These were also distributed to local hotels and some community facilities for the use of casual visitors and the general public. Sunday School and Messy Church - Enabled by a generous Diocesan grant, SS members, young people and leaders opted for an all age family day out at Belfast Zoo in the Spring as a means to reestablishing their fellowship and commitment post covid. A few new children have been added to SS class at St Patrick's and some have taken an active role in services. The Children's Leadership Team planned a series of themed Sunday afternoon Messy Church sessions. Rev Arlene Moore developed links with local primary schools and started to take assemblies, as well as attend special events and open days. This facilitated the advertisement of MC on internal school-home communications. Property- A complex legacy issue relating to an extremely narrow strip of land left over from the sale of the former Millbrook Hall took many months, considerable effort and the involvement of both Diocesan Council and RCB lawyers to resolve. Despite un5ucce55ful attempts at securing a realistic professional valuation, a mutual agreement was reached which resulted in maximum benefit to the parish in the form of a donation to the value of £1750. In order to improve the livestream of the services at St Patrick's and to resolve the persistent buffering and weak signal issues It was agreed that a high speed Broadband connection should be installed in the Church. This took much longer than expected as St Patrick's did not have an official postcode registered with Royal Mail, or the local Borough Council, and so no telephone/internet provider could action any installation. The process of rectifying this situation was delayed further by Royal Mail strikes and department closures. It was also discovered All Saints did not have a correct postcode registered either. Both churches have now been registered, p05tcodes secured and full fibre Broadband installed in St Patrick's. Additionally upgrades to the sound systems have been made in both churches. The organ in All Saints had not been in use since pre Covid and was not working. Initial consultations with organ tuners seemed to suggest it was beyond repair and the need for a replacement was considered. However, a local specialist fixed the organ at minimal cost to the parish {labour and parts).
Flnancial Revlew Total receipts (General Account) for the 2023 financial year amounted to £64284.62. Investment dividend income from Church of Ireland Trustees and RCB Unit Trusts accounted for £3708.27 of the total receipts (with £919.38 of the dividend total coming from the Broadford account). Endowment income may be used up to supplement clergy costs. Gift Aid for the benefit of the parish was not received during this reporting period. Baptism, funeral and other donations contributed towards a closing balance in the St Patrick's restoration fund of £14008 (the sl ight increase of £42 in 2023 being due to a loose change bucket collection). The Select Vestry has approved the use of this account for the maintenance of St Patrick's Church as well as its adjoining graveyard and grounds. The account may also be used to help maintain the rectory (if required). Donations, loose change collections plus income from a fireside quiz at All Saints raised £270.75. A major fundraising Harvest Concert (which included the sale of raffle tickets for some excellent donated prizes, and donations of £130) brought in a total of £4052 after all expenses had been paid. All Saints Hall rental agreements were initiated in 2023 with Dogs Trust Nl and Larne School of Highland Dancing, but payments received do not show on the 2023 accounts, coming in rather in the early part of the 2024 accounting period. The 2023 end of year balance for the All Saints Hall Account totalled £12497.75. The All Saints account is designated for the maintenance of All Saints, Church, parish hall and grounds. This account may also be used to help maintain the rectory (if required) Freewill offering through envelopes (£30,391.77), Standing Orders (£17507) loose plate collections (£1208.35) and annual donations (£430) totalled £63052.49 in 2023. This was a decrease of £7896.73 on the previous year's (2022) total of £70949.22 but it should be noted that the 2023 Gift Aid claim is not included in the 2023 figures, while Gift Aid is included in the 2022 figures. The 2023 Gift Aid was not received until 2024 (a total sum of £11347.28) If it had been received in 2023 it would actually have meant a final total of £74399 and an increase of £3450.55K over 2022 figures. An additional (2021 delayed) payment of £1500 in March 22 along with a one-off Diocesan post covid recovery grant of £400 towards the restart of SS/youth work placed the 2022 dividend income figures at a higher level than those for 2023.
In 2023, a total of £86693.70 was spent on the provision of Christian ministry within the parish. This includes diocesan quota contributions, staffing and superannuation costs, as well as repairs, maintenance and all other general running expenses. The net result for the 2023 financial year was a total increase in expenditure of £36750.42 over the previous year's total of £49943.28. The majority of this increased spend is due to clergy stipend/expenses. For six months of 2022 there was no full time minister in post, hence less expenses incurred in that year. It should also be noted that 2023 saw generally increased costs for light/power (additional +£lK), rates (+£1500) and more was spent on repairs / equipment {£1500) than in 2022. 5t The four bank balance totals carried fonNard on 31 December are as follows: General account (£75641.83) Broadford account {£5132.88) St Patrick's {£14008.00) and All Saints (£12497.75) providing an overall combined total balance of £107280.46 Reserves Pollcy It is the Select Vestry's policy to maintain a balance on unrestricted funds (if possible) which equates to at least three months unrestricted payments, (equivalent to approximately £21,000 to cover emergencies that may arise. The balance held on unrestricted funds at year end is in excess of thi5 target. Volunteers We would like to thank all the volunteers who work so hard to maintain our parish and give of their time freely to develop various activities and events. Structures. governance and management The method of appointing Select Vestry members (Trustees) is set out In the Church of Ireland Constitution. Annually, during the month of February, if they have not already done so, individuals (proven to have subscribed to parish funds in a traceable form in the previous financial year) are encouraged to register as resident or accustomed members of the General Vestry (Electoral Roll). The General Vestry Register is revised annually at a public meeting which is well advertised in advance. Individuals who have moved from the parish, passed away or ceased subscribing are removed and new applications are considered (as above). All those named on the General Vestry Register are eligible for appointment to the
different offices of the church and to stand for election to the Select Vestry at the next Easter General Vestry {AGM), held within a given period around Easter. In a united benefice with two churches, such as ours, a Select Vestry normallv has an allocation of one appointed Rector's Churchwarden for each church site; and one Glebewarden shared between the two churches. At present the officially nominated Glebewarden comes from St Patrick's Cairncastle but an additional local Glebewarden role for All Saints ensures availability and coverage at the Craigyhill site. An Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer and Two People's Churchwardens are then elected at the Easter General Vestry along with other members to make up the full complement of the Select Vestry. In the case of St Patrick's Cairncastle the role of People's Churchwarden is fulfilled not by a single elected individual, but by various Select Vestry and other General Vestry members operating a monthly rota system together in pairs. Select Vestry members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish, including deciding on how the funds under the care of the Select Vestry are to be spent. The Select Vestry had regular monthly meetings (with the exception of the summer months of July and August) in the 2023 financial year. Administrative responslbllities The Parish of Kilwaughter and Cairntastle with All Saints Craigyhill is part of the Diocese of Connor, within the Church of Ireland. At the 2023 Easter General Vestry {AGM) Ms Lorraine Craig resigned her position as Treasurer and stood down from serving on the Select Vestry. Mr Brian Mcllhinney also stood down. Their positions along with the vacancies created the previous year were filled by four new Trustees: Mr William Rutherford, Mrs Elizabeth Rutherford, Mrs Marie Hayes and Mrs Edna Gibson. A Commissioning Service for the complete Vestry for 23/24 took place during morning services on Pentecost Sunday, 28th May 2023.
The complete list of serving Trustees in this reporting period is as follows: Rev Arlene Moore Chairperson Mrs Janice Jones Honorary Treasurer Mrs Jennifer Stafford Honorary Secretarv Mr Peter Samuel Kaye Churchwarden Mrs Mabel Gilpin Churchwarden Mr Hugh Craig Glebewarden Mr Trevor Alexander Hassln MBE Glebewarden Mr Herbert Francis Mr Allan Jones Mr Colin Stafford Mr lan Mccallum Mr lan McGarel Mrjohn Hamilton Mr William Patton Mr William Rutherford Mrs Elizabeth Rutherford Mrs Marie Hayes Mrs Edna Gibson This report was approved and signed on behalf of the Select Vestry at their monthly meeting on Wednesday 8th May, 2024 CHAIRPERSON Rev Arlene Moore HON TREASURER Mrs Janice Jones