CHARITY REFERENCE NUMBER - SC016572
ST JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH FORFAR
ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025
ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
CHARITY REFERENCE NUMBER SC016572
CHARITY TRUSTEES - Members of the Vestry
Chair Secretary Treasurer
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER
BANKERS
Bank of Scotland 72 West High Street FORFAR DD8 1BJ
CHURCH
East High Street FORFAR Angus DD8 2EP
PRINCIPAL OFFICE
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ST JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
REPORT OF THE VESTRY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st AUGUST 2025
The members of the Vestry present their annual report together with the financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2025
Structure and Governance In terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, the Vestry reports to the congregation as follows:
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St. John's Episcopal Church - Forfar is a registered Scottish Charity (SCO16572).
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It is a member of the Diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane of the Scottish Episcopal Church and is in full communion with the Anglican Church
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The superior authority is the Bishop of St Andrews
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All of its affairs are governed by the Vestry. Appointment of Vestry Members Wennestablished membersby constitution are elected orand appointed byunder Canon AnnualLaw of the GeneralScottishMeetingEpiscopal givenChurch.to ensureThere isthat no formal Vestry inductionmembers programmeare familiar with but ongoingthe Church's guidancevalues,is aims and responsibilities as the designated trustees of a charity. Administrative Structure It is the duty of the Vestry to manage the temporal affairs of the congregation with responsibility to keep the fabric and property of the church and other buildings in good working order and to lookafter the finances of the church.
Statement of Risk The Vestry keeps under review the major risks to which the Church is exposed and has established procedures to mitigate any risks identified.
Charitable Objectives and Activities The Church's principal activities include public worship in sacrament and prayer, Christian education, charitable work and fund raising for local, national and international needs, social meetings, predominantly for the elderly and many community groups of all ages. Volunteers. The Vestry is grateful for the time freely given by a eu number of volunteers, without whom many of the activities would be unable to operate.
Achievements and performance
During this financial year we have maintained our normal sunday service together with the Wednesday mid week service despite a small and reducing congregation. A regular monthly Taize service has been introduced both in St John's and in St Margaret's ,Lunanhead.
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ST JOHN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
REPORT OF THE VESTRY (continued)
Financial Review
Our ability to raise funds since the pandemic has not yet returned to pre Covid levels. Property maintenance remain a priority with repairs to the tower increasing in urgency.
Our investment portfolio is with the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) Unit Trust Pool.
Plans for the future
With a new Rector now in post the Vestry is hoping to increase the current range of activities.
Reserves
The Vestry has adopted a policy of trying to maintain a level of unrestricted reserves such that in the event of a significant drop in income the church would be able to maintain its current level of activities for a reasonable time until replacement funding is obtained.
Statement of the Vestry Members’ Responsibilities
The members of the Vestry must prepare financial statements which give sufficient detail to enable an appreciation of the transactions of the church during the financial year. The members of the Vestry are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which on request must reflect the current financial position of the church at that time. This must be done to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the church and must take reasonable steps for the detection of fraud and other irregularities.
On behalf of the Vestry
INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS REPORT TO THE VESTRY OF ST JOHN'S FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025
| report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 August 2025 which are set out on pages 5 to 7
Respective responsibilities of Vestry Members and examiner The Church's Vestry members are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. The Church's members of the vestry consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (d) of the Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44(1) (c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner's statement
My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeks explanations from the trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently | do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts
Independent examiner's statement
In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements: - to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations, and
- to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 9 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations have not been met
|ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH|ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT|||||||||||
|FORTHEYEARENDED31STAUGUST 2025||||||||||
||||||2023||2024|2025|
||||Notes||£||£|£'
||
|Receipts||||||||||
|Donations received
Voluntary Income:
|
||Collections
Tax reclaimed (Gift Aid)
Donations||4||
||16580
4596
825||14789
3467
0|15225
3271
5554|
|Receipts from investments otherthan|than land &|buildings|||2710||2929|2430|
|Sale of investments|||||0||10000|35000|
|Gross receipts from other charitable activities
Miscellaneous|||5||34082||15150|34586|
|Grants received|||6||0||0|0|
|Total receipts|||||58793||46335|95966|
||||||||||||
|Payments.|||||||||||
|Payments forcharitable activities||||||||||
|Cost of Rector|||||14404||6649|29204|
|Quota|||||10521||8683|7692|
|Trustees’ expenses|||||0||0|0|
|Property expenses|||7||24741||26703|34987|
|Magazine expenses|||||863||1014|1122|
|Other expenses||||8||6744||8923|8950|
|Total payments for charitable activities||||||57273||51972|81955|
|Grants paid|||||||0|||
|Governance costs|||||||0|||
|Total payments||||__|57273||51972|81955|
|Surplus/(deficit)foryear|||||1,520||-5,637|14,011|
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ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
| STATEMENT OF BALANCES | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31stAUGUST 2025 | ||||
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | ||
| £ | £ | £ | ||
| START OF YEAR | ||||
| Bank and cash in hand | ||||
| Bank Balance | 12043 | 10224 | 5363 | |
| less prior year chqs | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Surplus/ (deficit) for year | 880 | -5637 | 14011 | |
| Closing balance | 12923 | 4587 | 19374 | |
| END OF YEAR | ||||
| Bank Balance | ||||
| End of year bank | 10224 | 5363 | 20888 | |
| Less o/s cheques | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Prior year/s cheques cancelled | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10224 | 5363 | 20888 | ||
| Investments | ||||
| Market value at beginning of year | 84528 | 89132 | 92493 | |
| Unrealised gain/ (loss) in year | 4604 | 3361 | -30732 | |
| Market value at end of year | 89132 | 92493 | 61761 | |
| Assets | ||||
| 5500 | 5500 | 5500 | ||
| No depreciation has been charged on fixed assets | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5500 | 5500 | 5500 | ||
| ESTIMATE OF FUTURE LIABILITIES | ||||
| Tower repairs | 40000 | 40000 | 40000 | |
| Lighting (green initiative) (Church) | 10000 | 5000 | ||
| Electricupgrading | 10000 |
Approved by the Vestry and signed on their behalf
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TREASURER
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ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
NOTES TO ACCOUNTS ;
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st AUGUST 2025
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1 PROPERTY The churches and the hall are not shown in the statement of balances as the Vestry believes that it is not possible to place a market value on them. The combined valuation of the buildings for insurance is £12.56 million.
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2 FUNDS The various funds are held for the following purposes: Unrestricted Funds General Funds: to support the work of the church Restricted Funds
None
- 3 TRUSTEE EXPENSES
Remuneration
None of the Vestry members received remuneration in respect of their position on the Vestry.
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | GIVING | £ | £ | £ |
| Gift Aid offertory | 12628 | 10628 | 9999 | |
| Gift Aid Donations | 825 | 50 | 5554 | |
| Cash | 3952 | 4111 | 5226 | |
| 17,405 | 14789 | 20,779 | ||
| 5 | GROSS RECEIPTS - miscellaneous | |||
| General Fund Raising | 1613 | 949 | 2282 | |
| Hall Rent | 10267 | 11850 | 11666 | |
| Misc(excl HMRC) | 6031 | 1782 | 19688 | |
| Magazine/Admin | 1171 | 569 | 950 | |
| Legacy | 15000 | 0 | 0 | |
| 34,082 | 15,150 | 34,586 | ||
| 6 | GRANTS | |||
| 7 | PROPERTY EXPENSES | |||
| Heat and light | 9801 | 9983 | 14414 | |
| Church repairs | 5499 | 4162 | 8720 | |
| Church insurance | 8123 | 8433 | 9000 | |
| Rectory repairs | 0 | 3448 | 100 | |
| Rectory Council Tax | 888 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rectory insurance | 430 | 677 | 2753 | |
| 24,741 | 26,703 | 34,987 | ||
| 8 | OTHER EXPENSES | |||
| Organ playing & maintenance | 3337 | 3574 | 3373 | |
| Cleaning expenses | 1600 | 2407 | 1993 | |
| Misc loan repayment plus garage costs | 1807 6,744 |
2942 8,923 |
3584 8,950 |
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