St John the Baptist Chapeltown Parochial Church Council Trustees' Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 December 2019
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t ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CHAPELTOWN PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL TRUSTEES' REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019 Charity Registration No. 1131768 ST JOHN'S PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Address St John’s Parish Centre 21 Housley Park Chapeltown Sheffield S35 2UE Clergy Revd Richard Stordy – incumbent Revd David whitehead –curate Independent Examiner Bankers Yorkshire Bank plc 12 Loundside Chapeltown Sheffield S35 2UN Charity Number 1131768 2 ST JOHN'S PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Ex Officio Members of the PCC Clerks in Holy Orders beneficed in Revd Richard Stordy – Vicar - Chairman or licensed to the Parish Revd David Whitehead – Curate Lay Workers Mr Carl Brooks-Plunkett – Youth & Families Minister Church Wardens Mrs Barbara Rodgers Mr Tony Gardiner (Vice-chair) Mr Ian Watson Readers Mr Paul Ruddlesdin Standard Representatives Mr Sam Bacon from April 2019 Mr Steve Brook (Treasurer) Mrs Ruth Langan Mrs Ann Boldock Mrs Barbara Rodgers Mrs Georgina Battey Mr Stephen Battey Mrs Pat Smith to April 2019 Mrs Sylvia Charles MrsMr Tony Ann GardinerBoldock Mr Michal Lipka Mr Fred Winks (Deanery Synod Representative) Mrs Judith Winks (Deanery Synod Representative) Mr Paul Smith from April 2019 Miss Ruth Gardiner from April 2019 Officers of the PCC Secretary Mrs Pat Smith Safeguarding Officer Mr Carl Brooks-Plunkett Vulnerable Adults Officer Mrs Sylvia Charles Giving Secretary Mrs Monica Sharp Electoral Roll Officer Mrs Fiona Battey 3 TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019 The trustees present their report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2019. Structure, governance and management St. John's church is based at the Parish Centre, 21, Housley Park, Chapeltown, Sheffield. Due to the legal closure of its building in 2003, the congregation meets for worship both at the Parish Centre and at the Newton Hall on Cowley Lane in Chapeltown. St. John's is part of the Diocese of Sheffield within the Church of England. The PCC has enjoyed charitable status since 23 September 2009 (Charity number 1131768). The PCC has up-to-date policies which are regularly reviewed: a Safeguarding Children Policy, covering all issues relating to the safeguarding children and young people, a Vulnerable Adults Policy, a Health & Safety Policy (all updated and approved in July 2018) and a Domestic Abuse Policy (approved in November 2019). The trustees who served during the year were: Rev Richard Stordy (Chairman) Rev David Whitehead Curate Mr Sam Bacon from April 2019 Mr Stephen Battey Mrs Georgina Battey Mrs Ann Boldock Mr Steve Brook (Treasurer) Mrs Sylvia Charles Miss Ruth Gardiner from April 2019 Mr Tony Gardiner Mrs Ruth Langan Mr Michal Lipka Mrs Barbara Rodgers Mr Paul Ruddlesdin Mr Paul Smith from April 2019 Mrs Pat Smith to April 2019 Mr Ian Watson Mr Fred Winks Mrs Judith Winks The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. All church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and to stand for election to the PCC. New trustees are welcomed and receive training in their duties and responsibilities at their first PCC meeting after the Annual Parochial Church Meeting each year. They also receive a leaflet published by the Diocese of Sheffield on the responsibilities of Trustees. At each PCC meeting any further questions or issues are dealt with as they arise. PCC member who served during the year and are not trustees of the charity was Mr Carl Brooks- Plunkett (Youth & Families Minister). The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks. In planning our activities for the year we kept in mind at our trustee meetings the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit. 4 The activities of our church provide tangible benefits to many in our community, and in particular by 1. The provision of weekly public worship open to all. 2. Pastoral work, including visits to the bereaved and the sick. 3. Teaching of the Christian faith through sermons, courses, special events and our cell groups. 4. Taking of religious assemblies in schools. 5. The provision of a youth group in a locality which has no other significant youth work of any kind. 6. Supporting other charities in the UK and overseas. Objectives and activities St. John's PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, Revd. Rick Stordy, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church: pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical, in accordance with the Church's vision statement: St. John’s is a church here for God, here for you, aiming to grow UP towards God, IN with each other and, OUT to others The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake. The PCC has maintenance responsibilities for the Parish Centre, which is used for a weekly communion service on a Sunday morning, a midweek communion on the first Wednesday of each month, the Rooted and Element youth groups, the Bumps & Babies and St. John’s Tots groups and Wednesday Friends who use the Parish Centre each week and contribute to the Parish Centre income. There are also a number of occasional or less regular users, including the Autism Hope group and the Nigerian Anglican Church who meet at the Parish Centre on Sunday mornings, after our 8am Communion. Achievements and performance The full PCC met 6 times during the year with an average attendance rate of 74%. The Standing Committee (Development Team) met between meetings, and their deliberations were received by the full PCC where necessary. Electoral Roll & Sunday worship There was a decrease on the Electoral Roll from 149 down to 130, of whom 33 are non-residents in the parish. This is quite normal for a year when there is a new Electoral Roll, and represents those who have moved away or died in the last few years. Average Sunday attendance showed a healthy increase: it was 109 (94 adults and 13 children), overall 9 more than 2018. Obviously this number was very much greater at Christmas, Easter and on Remembrance Sunday. We were delighted to welcome new regular members throughout the year – a total of 8 new adults and 11 new children. Our Sunday Club has 11 regular children 11 years old or under, and 11 young people are part of Rooted Sundays (11-16 years old). An indication of congregational size used by the Church of England, which counts those who attend church reasonably regularly – the ‘worshipping community’ – offers another measure of those who call themselves ‘regulars’ at St. John’s. It includes young people and families who regularly attend our midweek activities. That figure stands at 224, which includes 74 children and young people, down a little on last year. The overall picture is that St. John’s saw some encouraging growth in 2019. Our worship was led by a team of clergy, Youth & Families minister and readers, and our music group, all of whom give of their time and skills with great generosity. Our childrens' groups: crèche, Sunday Club and Kidz Klub, meet three Sundays out of four and are led by a team of committed adult volunteers, who selflessly give of their time and gifts. Christian teaching and learning The heart of our spiritual diet is Sunday morning preaching. This year saw several sermon series: 5 • This Changes Everything, concluding our series in Paul’s letter to the Romans (Chapters 8- 16); • HAPPY: exploring the shape of joy, in which we spent some good time in the Beatitudes from Matthew 5 (May-July); • Wings of Refuge a short summer series on the wonderful book of Ruth (July-August); • a series on Maturity: signs of a healthy church in September; and • we ended the year with an inspiring – if stretching! – series on Revelation: visions of reality. All these are available online on our website and this resource is regularly used by those who miss any particular Sunday. As a supplement to this, our Lent course, Dangers, toils and snares was held on Tuesday evenings with a variety of speakers, both our own and guests. It explored some of the hard places of Christian discipleship, and clearly touched a nerve, being attended by around 50 people a week. For leaders and those considering leadership, this year’s Chapeltown Leadership Conference saw Joy French of St. John’s Owlerton sharing some very inspiring reflections on Leading Like Jesus. Cell groups Alongside weekly Sunday worship, our cell groups continued to be the other side of the coin in our core activities. At year’s end, there were 80 people involved in these, meeting in 9 groups. The groups meet weekly, at different venues, times and days of the week, with a threefold aim: 1. To build up Christian disciples 2. To develop new leaders 3. To reach out in evangelistic witness In a congregational survey we conducted in June, it was striking how often Cells were mentioned as a place of real spiritual life and support. One-to one discipleship We continue to encourage each other to form intentional one-to-one partnerships, centering on friendship, Bible reading and prayer. The goal is to help each other grow in love for Christ and in confidence in sharing the gospel. This was resourced in October with a ‘Refreshing One To Ones’ evening with ideas for starting and developing these partnerships. Many find 1-2-1s a real resource, but we are still only beginning to see how to develop these with those who are not yet Christians.