ANNUAL REPORT

2019/20

Welcome by Marc Baker, Vicar

Dear Church Family,

This past year we have seen God’s loving kindness and blessing in many different ways. What you are about to read in this Annual Report is evidence of that. I pray it will be an encouragement to you. I am more convinced than ever that God is at work in the South West, across and in and the surrounding localities. Back in 2018 at St Kea we clarified our beliefs and values as a church family, the principles that guide our life together. You can read more about them at stkea.org.uk/beliefs. We summarise them with the simple statement “seeing God transform lives”. Our great God is in the business of transforming lives through the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit - calling those who don’t know Him to follow Him and calling those who do know Him to live for Him.

As churches together across Truro we also committed ourselves prayerfully to an audacious goal “that everyone who lives and works in Truro and the surrounding locality would have the opportunity to hear the gospel from someone who loves them”. For us at St Kea this has meant us growing the life of our four congregations (All Hallows, Truro, Old Kea and CAP Lanterns) to enable this to happen. It has also meant us supporting and encouraging others in gospel partnership.

Staff Team In 2019 we completed the rebuilding of our staff team. Alongside Sian Goddard and Steve Murray, who both joined us in 2018, we welcomed Will Harwood as Curate and Hannah Green as our intern.

Congregation Developments With the team complete and with a clear commitment to continue focusing on families, children and young people, we wrestled in 2019 with changing the structure of our congregations. Steve Murray took on the leadership of the All Hallows congregation and Will Harwood of the Truro congregation. My role changed, now training and supporting them in leadership and the overall work of the church. In 2019 we were able to move the All Hallows congregation to the earlier time of 10:15, now serving refreshments before the service and developing a more informal atmosphere for children. It has been a pleasure to welcome a good number of new church members over the last year, especially at All Hallows.

Children's and Youth Work Our focus on children’s and youth work is now showing real signs of growth. Sky-Riders is established, both in Truro and at All Hallows. Friday Night Youth has grown in numbers and this year we are adding a mid-week girls cell group alongside our boys group. We have grown our work in schools (including our strong link with Kea School) and continued the work of Sunday Club.

Building Improvements In 2019 we introduced a new AV system to All Hallows and produced plans that have now received positive feedback for the internal reordering of All Hallows. We have also raised the money for new toilets and kitchen facilities at Old Kea and they will be built this year. Moresk Centre in Truro We have been able to work in conjunction with Truro City Council who are right now investing £80k into refurbishing the Moresk Centre, a facility that we will open this year, run in conjunction with other churches in Truro to serve the local community.

Discipleship As new people have joined our church we have welcomed some into small groups. We have seen the start of a new small group and this year we are planning for more new small groups to be launched. We have seen new ministers trained to be licensed for Local Pastoral Ministry. We have launched Christian Ministry Training (CMT) on Wednesday mornings for anyone involved with a Bible Teaching ministry in our church who is able to attend. This year we will offer CMT more widely to other churches and we are looking to find ways to train those who can not attend mid weekday sessions. You will read more details about these activities and news about many other aspects of the life of our church in this report.

Challenges that Grow Faith Of course not everything has been positive and plain sailing. The Lord continues to provide wonderfully through many generous financial gifts but we still set significant deficit budgets. Some church family members have moved on from St Kea, some to be with the Lord, others to new ministries locally and in other parts of the country. For all the prayerfulness of our church I sense we could be more prayerful for our life together. I long for us to work more effectively with gospel partners in the South West and pray that we might see more people coming to trust in Christ for themselves.

Thankfulness At the start of 2020 I have very much to be thankful for. What a privilege to be a part of St Kea with so many wonderful, committed and gifted people. I want to especially thank Neil Bridle and Martin Handford, churchwardens who have supported me. I am very grateful for our PCC, Standing Committee and the members of each of our Leadership Teams who share with me the responsibility for leading our congregations. Thank you for all you do. Thank you for joining me in praying for our church and the journey ahead this year.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” Matthew 28:18-20

ENGAGE AND EVANGELISM

Open the Book The Open the Book team visits Kea school every other Wednesday to act out a Bible story. We always receive a very warm welcome and the year 6 pupils enjoy dressing up and taking part. We present our stories to fit in with the important dates in the church year to try to give the children an understanding of important festivals from a Christian perspective. Due to the generosity of church members we are able to give all the Year 6 children a Real Easter Egg. In addition to this we explore a theme or concentrate on an individual to help the children find out more about the Bible and its relevance today. We meet in the church hall half an hour beforehand to rehearse the story and pray. If you feel that this is something you would like to be involved in do have chat with us about it. It is a great way, and a privilege for us as a church, to be involved with children in our parish, many of whom do not have any other contact with the Christian message. Peter and Janet White

Kea People Lunches A loyal following of Church members and their non-church friends have continued to enjoy a monthly lunch together. We appreciate the excellent service and good quality food at value-for-money prices, whilst knowing we are supporting several local pubs and restaurants. Usually at least 20 people attend, and on several occasions in the year our numbers have been over 30. Newcomers are always welcome, so why not come along one month and join us. Erica Brown

Light Party The church was once again opened to Truro’s primary age children for the Light Party on October 31st. The event is held as an alternative to Halloween, and very young children are welcome with the accompaniment of an adult. This year’s event once again surpassed expectations with a total of 77 children in attendance, 51 of whom were not church regulars. The night was made possible through the hard work of a team of 16 adult volunteers and 14 secondary-age Friday Night Youth attendees, who together coordinated sign-in, games, crafts, refreshments, entertainment and a short talk. Adults were provided with teas, coffees and cakes.

Many children heard about the Light Party through local schools, Stay and Play and our Autumn flyer. Each one went home with their own party bag containing sweets, church flyers and an age-appropriate booklet presenting Jesus as the light of the world. The youth helpers had a party of their own in the church hall after helping to clean the church. Kea Youth Team would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who helped – let’s pray that next year is even bigger! Hannah, Kea Youth Intern.

Stay and Play Stay and Play has had another busy year. At the end of the summer term 2019 six children left us to move on to school and some moved to nurseries. In September we received an influx of mums with babies and toddlers and our register very quickly rose to 50 +. We very quickly introduced a waiting list but had one or two sessions when we felt almost uncomfortably busy. Since the beginning of January our numbers have fallen a little to a more manageable level.

With such high numbers and regularity of attendance, it is clear that we are providing a community resource that is really needed for many parents and carers who feel isolated and lonely. They can enjoy conversation with others in similar situations, while the babies and toddlers have a wide range of toys and experiences to explore safely. Of course, there are also home-made cakes with coffee and tea.

There have been two highlights over the year. The first was our end-of-year celebration, during which we had a face painter who was so good and quick for children who find it difficult to sit still for long. During the session we gave Bibles to those moving on to school. The second was our Animal Encounter in the Autumn. The children (and parents) where able to hold and get close to a snake, tarantula, frog and other animals. Fortunately, none escaped!

Each week there is a story and singing time. The story is often from the Bible or about God’s love and creation. Through conversation and the created environment, we try to spread the Christian message. It is encouraging to see some of these families attending special events at Kea. The Light party and the Christmas Eve crib service were two events that attracted families.

After six years our pool of volunteers is slowly diminishing due to age and illness. It can be very rewarding seeing small children growing and developing, learning to walk, talk, and play with others. If you feel you could help moving furniture, washing up, or developing conversation and friendships with the parents and carers we would be delighted if you would join our team. Kathryn Walker

Christians Against Poverty Our CAP Centre, which is a free Debt-Counselling Service, has now been running for 11 years with the support of our amazing team, Kea church and working in unity with a number of churches throughout the city. CAP HQ has been undergoing some changes to their processes and development, which meant new client bookings were put on hold. I am delighted to share that CAP has now reopened their booking lines. During this time we were able to give ongoing support to our existing clients.

We are thankful that 10 households went debt free. The impact of CAP goes on. After working with CAP many people remain debt free. Last year two people who had previously worked with CAP went on to invite Jesus into their lives and are attending church, well after they finished working with us. One of them is planning to be baptised shortly. “If it wasn’t for CAP I don’t know what we would have done.”

At the heart of our work we love to share the gospel and we saw 15 people either making a first-time decision or recommitment to invite Jesus into their lives. We have also been blessed with a number of people being baptised. This year saw Martin being baptised in Truro and we have another baptism under preparation.

Lanterns continues to be a great support for all who attend, a place where people can offload, grab coffee, lunch, receive prayer, learn more about the Christian Faith in an informal and interactive way and have the benefit of support groups for men and women. It also benefits from a CAP Drop in Desk to support our CAP Clients. Lanterns has been an inspiration for CAP and it was a pleasure to inspire the CAP network at our National Conference. We believe that Lanterns is a wonderful expression of churches working in unity together. One Lanterns Member said: “The thing I love about Lanterns is meeting new people, God touching you, seeing people walk through the door, being able to serve, feeling welcome, being there for each other. The worship makes it special. I used to be shy and never used to do things, but now I’m serving and meeting new people. I’ve really come out of my shell. I now have confidence to pray for others – It’s lovely to be a family.”

Paul Salaman and his team run Echo, which is an extension of the work we do with Lanterns and helps clients during the week with emotional support, fun and looking at the Christian Faith. It was wonderful to attend Creation Fest, which is a main fixture in our calendar and is attended by about 25 people. Christmas was truly a time where the church family pulled together to serve those who were without. Kea Church, Truro Baptist, Grace Church and Sembrador raised over £2,000, together with hampers and gifts. The team went the extra mile packing hampers and providing a memorable party for all.

Thank you to our amazing support team and catering team, Kea Church and Marc for your continued support. Together we are helping those in our community who are struggling with debt, and sharing the Gospel wherever we go. In all these things we praise God for all He is accomplishing: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”. John 15v5. Natalie Gavan, CAP Centre Manager

St Kea Community Lunch Every third Thursday of the month we welcome folk to community centre from the village and beyond. We have a core of regulars each month with others who join us less often. They are given a warm and friendly welcome. Homemade soup and rolls are served followed by yummy puddings ,cheese and biscuits, tea or coffee. All served between 12 noon and 1.45pm - quite a challenge at times!

We try to follow the church calendar, celebrating with a special meal at Easter, Harvest and Christmas. We are very grateful to Marc Baker who joins us on these events. Will Harwood spoke of the holy birth at our Christmas lunch, it certainly made it a very special occasion. We have been fortunate to have two new helpers who have joined our “Band of Merry Ladies “ I am so very grateful to each and every one for their commitment and willingness to help. It is a hectic couple of hours but we do have fun. We look forward to 2020. Jenny Quinn

Handbells The handbell group has been meeting regularly at 2.00pm on Thursday afternoons in the Church Hall. We would like to be able to ring all 16 of our beautiful bells. Membership varies, but we have recently recruited Kate and Alison who remember playing handbells at school some time ago. Is there anyone else who would like to join us? We have not been able this year to join other local teams at rallies throughout the County. The Village Carols at Kea Community Centre, Playing Place on 13th December was a highlight of our year. We played a variety of carols at the beginning and end of the evening. We also entertained for the Christmas lunch on December 19th, when we were rewarded with a fantastic meal.

If you have an hour or so to spare on Thursday afternoons why not come and join us? A sense of rhythm is helpful, as is reasonable eyesight, but there is no need to read music as we play by numbers! Please phone me on 01872 863887 to check we are meeting. Pam Roberts

ESTABLISH

Youth and Families Can you believe that it has been over a year since I first joined this wonderful thriving church and community at Kea/Truro. As I reflect over the past year, I think of all the people God has strategically placed in my short time at Kea, be that either in a supportive, encouraging, friendship or church and community capacity. I am ever thankful for His wisdom and grace and for the people of Kea/Truro as together we seek to Glorify and serve Him. I must also give special mention to the appointment of Hannah Green, her support, skill- set, and energy amongst the varied youth and families activities has been a true blessing and influential in achieving many of the goals we set out at the start of the year in relation to our Youth and Families work. And finally, a big thank you to Sam and Lorna Trenchard who kept the youth group running in-between and after I was appointed. They played a massive part in keeping the core youth together and we are now seeing the fruit of that as that core group offers so much to our younger youth by being good examples and loving servants as well as continuing to grow in their faith.

The below is a sort of highlights reel of what we have been involved with and doing as a church amongst our Youth and Families this year. We firstly acknowledge God for His provision and love that make all of the below possible.

Friday Night Youth(FNY) – Team; Hannah G, Debs S, John H, Alison B Our FNY attend from the following schools; Penair, Richard Lander, Truro and Penryn. It has been such a blessing to see this young group flourish. I remember when I first joined our FNY we were boy heavy, however, the pendulum has shifted and we are now about 50/50 and boast a new female table tennis champion!

Most Fridays, we gather in the church hall and the youth spend the first part of the evening catching up over a game of table tennis or similar. This is normally followed by a few games and an interactive talk and of course some food. The youth are particularly keen on a game called ‘MANHUNT’, and they like this to be on the agenda most weeks, come rain or shine. We have met a few times with other youth groups in Truro at the Methodist church. This normally includes games, talk and fellowship with over 40 youth attending – We hope to continue these nights as our youth see a wider picture of God at work in our wider community.

SKY Riders Truro; Will H, Hannah G, Stephen and Liz Baird, Jean S, Claudia L & Hannah C. All Hallows; Hannah G, Mary R, Catharine & Martin H, Monique C, Rachael H.

Sky Riders launched in April 2019 with two fabulous teams at both Truro and All Hallows. Truro SKY Riders was originally based at Penair and has since moved to Tregolls school where they meet on Wednesdays from 4-5.30pm and have a growing group of young people who enjoy their time together each week.

All Hallows SKY Riders meet on Fridays from 3.45-5.15pm and also have a good number of young people who attend each week. Some of them will join our older youth at SPREE camp in June. The beauty of being involved with Sky Riders is that the leaders also get to join in the fun with the young people – it is not uncommon to see Stephen Baird dressed up as a different character each week or Rachael Harpur striking a Pilates pose as the kids attempt to do the same. Each week has a real community and relational emphasis with games and laughter and a time of reflection as we seek to learn more about God and pray for each other. We are excited as come September we will see our first wave of SR year 6’s move up to our FNY.

SKY Boys Home Group Year 10-11. Team; Hannah G, Natalie R, Sam T We meet every Tuesday night from 6.30 - 8pm in the BBQ HUT at the Stanhope’s. We have a fantastic group of 8 boys sharing life and growing together with God and eating the odd toasted marshmallow over the open fire in the BBQ HUT.

Schools Work We have a number of primary schools attending Kea Church for Easter workshops during the last week of March and for the first time we will run four workshops at Devoran school. We are really excited to host the schools again this Easter as we endeavour to form stronger relations between school, church and community. We continue to praise God for the opportunity to speak at assemblies at some of the Secondary schools in Truro, which is opening doors to build relations between student, school and community.

Sunday Club at All Hallows and Penair Truro; Liz S, Liz B, Emma B, Pete B, Naomi H, Joe s, Alan S, Claudia L, Catharine R, Christina D, Debs S, D Harmer.

All Hallows; Sheryl B, Heather A, Rachael H, Peter S, Liz S, Nikki C, Melissa CH, Alan J, Sue G, Janet B, Janet W, Jonny A, Ben G, Catharine H, Karen S, Jenie M, A Battersby, M Thomas. Chris R,J Horner, Hannah G, Jo S, Jo C, Alison B

These groups are well attended and we are blessed with a rich wisdom and passion amongst our leaders and helpers who run, teach, and assist the groups every Sunday. We praise God for His provision of new families at both congregations as well as new leaders and helpers. Last year we had Marc Arnold from Urban Saints deliver training with a focus on behaviour and special needs. This included; what being inclusive looks like from the perspective of children and young people with additional needs, and their families; what the challenges and pressures they experience are, especially relating to church; and how as a church we could think more broadly about how to support these families not just for an hour on Sunday mornings but in a more pastoral sense. The training was well received and we hope to recap and further our understanding around this training later this year. Steve Murray – Minister with responsibility for Youth and Families

Sky Riders Truro SKY Riders at Truro has continued to have a good time looking at the claims of the Christian faith while enjoying a range of fun activities. Our team of committed leaders have enjoyed getting to know a group of Y2-6 students really well and this term moved to Tregolls School at 4.00pm. This will hopefully allow us to engage with more children as the earlier time tends to work better for parents. The new space at Tregolls is even better, and we are enjoying looking this term at emotional intelligence from a biblical perspective. Will Harwood

Living with Loss This year we have sent 35 Anniversary cards, 13 Bereavement cards, and delivered many floral plants on first anniversaries. We have had numerous support visits with two ongoing throughout the year. The support group continues to meet monthly. Paul Salaman has included Living with Loss on the community website, which has resulted in a few referrals, two of which have joined the group.

This year we lost Terry Barr a faithful and much loved member of our group: he is greatly missed. We enjoyed our annual outing and cream tea at Trebah this year. At the end of the year we said our goodbyes to Jenny Cook, one of our team members, who moved to be near her family. We are very grateful for her loyal support and faithful service over the years. Thanks to Frances who continues to provide beautiful cards, and keeps all the records up to date and to Ann Glinn who has been a faithful support throughout the year.

Three more people join the team over the next few months. It is hoped that we will now be able to support people more fully in their bereavement, with more members on the team. The Memorial Service was held at the end of October in the afternoon. Mr Malcolm Henderson took the service beautifully as always. It was supported by the faithful few and much appreciated for its reverence and quiet reflective ambience. We feel humbled and privileged to be able to comfort the bereaved, and thank everyone for their prayers and support throughout the year. Jan Argall, Frances Gray and Ann Glinn - Living with Loss team.

EQUIP

Bible Reading Notes By the end of 2019, the total number of people subscribing via the church to Bible notes had dropped to 12. This was partly because of personal circumstances and partly because the last remaining bookshop in the area, the Sacred Place in , had to close. We used to order Bible Reading Fellowship notes from them, which they sent on, but now people order their own direct.

Every quarter 6 people receive Encounter with God and 3 people have Daily Bread, both from Scripture Union. We also order 30 copies of Word for Today from UCB, of which 3 are for named individuals, the remainder going to Lanterns congregation and a couple are available at All Hallows for anyone to use. These are in a basket on a shelf near the font, along with back copies of SU material. Several people have said how useful they find these notes, as they can be encouraging in many ways, as well as deepening knowledge of God through His word. Mary Reynolds

CMT CMT (Christian Ministry Training) is an initiative that was started by Marc in January 2019 to encourage church members and those in leadership roles in their understanding and handling of God’s word. Over the last year it has grown into a committed and thoroughly encouraging group incorporating staff, bible study leaders and anyone wanting to dig deeper in a supportive atmosphere! On Wednesday mornings this year we have enjoyed diving into the book of Romans and encouraging one another in our skills in teaching the bible. In September we hope to expand again into a Gospel Partnership Training Course to serve other bible teachers across the region. I’d be grateful for your prayers as we try to plan this and get it rolled out by the end of the academic year. Will Harwood

Internship At Kea we have supported an internship training programme for many years and the work has supported not only our work at Kea but the individuals who have joined us. Some have gone on to ordination, others have gained valuable skills which have led them into permanent employment or further study. In 2018 we were gifted funds from another church based in Cheltenham to support a one-year internship. The PCC matched this funding and we were able to seek an intern to support our youth and families work.

Hannah Green started with us in September 2019 and will be with us until the end of August this year. A requirement of the Internship programme is regular formal training and therefore Hannah undertakes weekly Christian Ministry Training as well as her experiential training with Steve and the youth team.

We would love to be able to make the internship a continual part of our work here at Kea and also explore other areas where this programme may be of benefit; such as pastoral and worship internships. If you would like to know more about the Internship Programme or are able to support this, please contact me. Sian Goddard

Pastoral Support The Pastoral team at Kea tries to bring to others the loving and caring aspects of our faith, to respond to Christ’s command to “Love one another”. This care takes various forms as we respond to the needs of others. We visit the sick and the housebound, sometimes taking Holy Communion, sometimes taking food and sometimes providing transport. Most of our work is simply meeting and listening, praying when needed and generally ensuring people feel loved and valued. Visits are always positive and we usually leave feeling brighter than when we came: it is very much a two-way thing. And we laugh - a lot. Pastoral work is often made to sound worthy and serious, but we are all human and a smile and a joke is very much a part of cheering people.

I took up leadership in September, following on from the inspirational work of Rachel Hancock: her support and advice has been invaluable as has the dedication of the team. I have been humbled by the work being done and the deep care which underpins it. It really is a privilege to be part of this team and this work.

Our team is growing and we have a Commissioning Service on May 31st when the Archdeacon will officially commission us all and seek God’s blessing for the work we do. But needs increase as our church family ages and health issues restrict people’s ability to participate as they once did. But illness and bereavement can affect all ages. Specifically now we are looking at training for the team as we become more aware of mental health issues and our need to raise our awareness and knowledge of them. We can never have too many people doing this work. So if you feel you may have a calling to join us, either as a full member or as a praying supporter, come and have a chat: it really is very rewarding work. Geoff Aver

ENABLE

Prayers for the Parish For 16 years every Monday, about five of us have met to pray for Kea: for the leaders and their families, those of the congregation who need God’s healing and encouragement, all the groups involved in or connected with Kea and our outreach in the community. Any specific prayer requests are kept in confidence within the group. More recently we have felt led to pray for the needs of our nation and the world, including persecuted Christians, and all suffering the consequences of war or natural disasters. We always thank God for the Holy Spirit’s presence and for hearing and answering our prayers, remembering Ephesians 3: 20&21. Ann Amos

Prayer Chain We have a prayer chain set up for use when there is a need for urgent prayer for a church member or someone very close to them. Anyone wanting urgent prayer can use the confidential email address: [email protected] which is monitored by Ann Glinn or, in her absence, Frances Gray. Alternatively people can contact Ann or Frances by phone. With the agreement of the person being prayed for, a short message giving their name and an appropriate summary of their need for prayer is emailed to all the Small Group leaders who will then pass it on to their members. The message is also passed to others with leadership roles within the church, including the pastoral care team. Ann Glinn

MISSION PARTNERS Over the past year the church has continued to partner in the work of mission both at home and abroad through financial and prayer support. To facilitate this, the Missions Working Group was reformed and is engaged in the process of reviewing our current support, looking at new opportunities and encouraging the church in praying for our partners. We support a number of organisations and initiatives to a lesser extent but have a special focus on our key partnerships. We are currently in the process of engaging with Compassion to become a fully- fledged fourth key partner alongside our ongoing support for the Wallaces, Mercy Rescue Trust and Truro Foodbank. Paul Salaman

Truro Foodbank We have experienced a number of changes during 2019. Bob Girvan our manager, retired from this post in June but only stepped sideways to manage our food storage system which will be of huge importance during 2020. Simon Fann was appointed as manager in July and Andy Bersey now looks after setting up our distribution session. In April our Chairman William Trinick told us he would be leaving us in September and as a temporary measure I have become chairman. The good news is that four new trustees have joined the board and we look forward to their contribution. We also have a new Secretary to the trustees, Wendy Vincent, who has efficiently organised several areas of activity that needed help!

During 2018 we saw another increase in numbers needing our help, up by 14% to 2,523, of whom 995 were children. Once again the main reason people come to us was low income - up a staggering 35% on 2018. This ought to be unacceptable in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The generosity of local people, businesses, schools and churches never ceases to amaze me as we received 43 tonnes of food and distributed 41 tonnes.

During the years we have held several social evenings including a summer barbecue, a curry night and a film night. We also held a Thanksgiving Service at Truro Methodist church to mark our tenth anniversary, which was attended by over 150 people. Thanks again to Kea church for supporting us financially and for members who volunteer and are part of our Board of trustees. You can always keep up to date through our website www.truro.foodbank.org.uk or you can find us on Facebook. Malcolm Henderson, Chair of trustees

Compassion UK St Kea sponsors an 11-year-boy called Steve who lives in Peru. Compassion works to bring children out of poverty and through our sponsorship, Steve is receiving the supplies and financial help he needs to go to school. Our monthly gift also allows Steve to attend a Compassion project run by his local church each Saturday. The project teaches him how to develop life and communication skills, maintain good health and how to follow Jesus. There are also different workshops he attends such as jewellery making and cookery. We write to Steve regularly and our children from Sunday club recently asked him some questions about his school; it was lovely to hear his replies. He has been on several outings with the Compassion project and really enjoys them. In his most recent letter he asks us to pray for his family, his school work and for his faith in Jesus. Nikki Callis

Richard and Riekje Wallace Following some significant and painful changes to our ministry, God opened a new door for us in the middle of last year. We were invited to join Global Training Network (GTN) that have a vision to train church leaders in the Majority World to effectively lead their communities for Christ. They have empowered us to be involved: Internationally (Ethiopia), in the training of national leaders that are equipping others.

Locally (Madrid), with church-planting and the multiplication of emotionally-and-spiritually-mature leaders.

Internationally, in 2019, I, Richard, made two inspiring trips to Ethiopia. The leaders we are training are themselves training Christian leaders throughout the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Djibouti) and thousands of churches are being planted and hundreds of thousands are finding Christ (there is a revival going on). Locally, Riekje and I offer leadership and pastoral care to about 40 people, including children. We have a vision to establish a network of smaller congregations in Madrid that share a common vision and values. In 2019 our "house church" included: rich times of worship and teaching, challenging leader development seminars, several outreach events, two baptisms, one wedding and we welcomed baby Cooper into the world. "Even the hard pathways overflow with abundance" (Psalm 65:11). Richard and Riekje Wallace

LEADERSHIP TEAMS

All Hallows Leadership Team Team Members: Marc Baker (acting Chair), Heather Alford, Liz Aver, Ben Goddard, Lucy Larkin, Steve Murray, Martin Handford (Church Warden)

Our main priorities as a group have been to focus on the following:

Change of Sunday service time and structure at All Hallows In October 2019 we launched our new-look Sunday service. Behind the change was the intentional plan that this would be a step in the right direction as we seek to offer a more family orientated and relational service that would benefit our whole congregation and community. We are nearly six months into the change and there is much to praise God for such as: 4 new families joining the church; more time before and after the service to pray and for fellowship; and an established children and family area. As a leadership team we recognise that change also exposes areas that need tweaking and/or attention and we want to be pro-active to things that are perhaps not working so well with the change. Following Easter, the team will meet to evaluate how the first six months have gone as we have been actively seeking feedback from congregational members.

Music We said goodbye to Ben, Julian and Jane in 2019 as they embarked on serving God in other areas of the county and country. We are fortunate that we still have a strong music team operating at Kea but are mindful that the workload for many has increased and that we need to make sure we are making the appropriate steps to train and recruit people in this area. After Easter we have planned with the two younger Sunday club groups to have a time of song and praise each month in the church hall, before the normal lesson. We have also arranged to meet with our music leaders as we plan how to move forward and encourage more musicians and singers to join the team.

All Hallows Building Refurbishment The buildings committee is moving forward with how to make the church building more user friendly for the various activities and people using it both on Sunday and during the week. They are currently in conversation with the architect regarding restructuring, including talks with another church about the future placement of the Father Willis organ. S Murray – on behalf of the All Hallows Leadership Team

Old Kea Leadership Team Team Members: Maureen McNally (Chair), Jan Argall (Titular Warden), John Draper, John Glinn, Malcolm Henderson, Marc Baker

In this combined report and on behalf of the Old Kea Leadership Team, Maureen McNally writes; “this past year has been a time of great progress and recent significant disappointments with setbacks at Old Kea delaying the work on our re-development project. The following word is particularly relevant: ‘For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and not delay’ (Habakkuk 2:3). As we continue to meet and pray we are encouraged to know that”: with God all things are possible, (Matthew 19:26). I take this opportunity to thank our small team for their tremendous efforts throughout the year and to thank the people of Kea Church for their ongoing help and support.

Old Kea Titular Warden’s Report The nice thing about being the Titular warden at Old Kea is that you meet lots of lovely people who visit the church, either on walks or researching their family history, or regular visitors who become friends. People really appreciate the quiet tranquillity it provides, and are leaving Prayer requests beneath the cross which has been in situ since Easter. Maureen and I decided to leave the Prayer Stations in the windows to help people to reflect on their prayers, and there have been many favourable comments about them.

Unfortunately average attendance for the services over the year was 10 and, both at Easter and Christmas, there was a fall in numbers. However several of our congregation have been unable to attend due to illness and of course we lost Terry Barr, who was so faithful in his service to Old Kea and is very much missed. During the summer, the grounds continued to be cleared, thanks to Maureen’s working party. In August the Leadership Team was asked to take the service. It was decided to have a Songs of Praise, this proved very popular, with different people choosing their favourite hymn and giving the reason why they had chosen it. It was well attended and enjoyed by all.

Harvest and Kea feast in October was kindly organised by Jenny, and Michael Quinn as I was unable to assist following knee surgery. Frances Gray kindly provided the refreshments. Unfortunately the weather was too wet and windy to have the marquee, but it was cosy in the church. It was a lovely atmosphere and very enjoyable. Many of our ladies decorated a window for this event. Thank you, to all of them and to those people who helped, particularly with the refreshments. For Remembrance Day, Bunty Hood and her daughter Mandy decorated the windows, it was beautifully done. Again, my thanks to them both.

Just before Christmas we were asked by the Karenza Quilters if we would like a quilted wall hanging depicting St Kea, as a gift. It is quite lovely, and we are honoured to receive it. We thought it would be nice to convey our thanks to the ladies, in a special service to be held on the 16th February. The service was more informal than our usual Evensong, and the ladies gave us an insight into the making of the wall hanging.

Finally, my sincere thanks to all those that help clean and decorate the church, especially Bunty Hood, Jill de Sausmarez, Jenny Quinn and Jean Billings. Also to all those that read, and help at the services, especially, John Draper and John Glinn, who choose the hymns and play the organ for Evensong. Finally, a big thank you to Ann Amos, for all her support and encouragement, may she soon be well and with us again soon. It has been a privilege and honour to be the Titular Warden of Old Kea over the past year. Jan Argall.

Truro Leadership Team Team Members: Stephen Baird (Chair), Marc Baker, Will Harwood, Neil Bridle (Church Warden), Ruth Bridle, Jean Stanhope

We have been focusing on establishing our Bible teaching and planning for the future in the light of new staffing issues and the challenges of our growing congregation. Will Harwood, having joined as Curate in summer 2019, became Congregation Leader in October, and has been able to be a consistent presence within the church family, providing leadership and vision under the guidance of Marc as incumbent.

We continue to see healthy numbers at Penair, with a wide demographic and age range. The new service times across Kea have allowed us to re-focus on the need for intentional fellowship before and after the service. We continue to benefit from the hard work of the team of people dedicated to setting up the site as well as creatively using the space available to us. We are delighted to see our numbers of children continue to grow and we are keen to ensure that the provision of children’s work matches this effectively, especially since we no longer have the input of Steve Murray. Our SKY Riders after-school club has moved from Penair to Tregolls School to allow for a more suitable time slot, and we continue to pray for growth and engagement with local children.

Our home groups have gone from strength to strength, providing much needed encouragement and a chance to go deeper with God’s word together. The level of fellowship and investment in one another is a real strength of the Truro congregation, for which we thank God. Our evening sessions at Starbucks were a particular highlight, as the Truro home groups prioritised attending in order to focus on evangelism training. This initiative also allowed us to work in partnership with Truro Evangelical Church, a welcome gospel-centred chance for ecumenism. We are still working with Churches Together in Truro, , Truro City Council and the ‘Love Truro ’initiative to secure a presence in the city centre. Work on the Moresk Centre continues in earnest and we hope to be able to have some groups meeting there midweek once the site is usable. We remain prayerfully reliant on the Lord as we seek to hold out the gospel hope in the city of Truro and see Him working among us. Will Harwood – Congregation Leader, St Kea Truro

Fabric Report Since the start of the last year the church has been working under a financial situation that has required us to operate with considerable restraint on expenditure. With this in mind works of any kind on the church, the church hall and the church yard and Old Kea have been kept to a bare minimum, with work that has taken place being only done only when necessary. In the last year most of this has been of a minor nature: broken light fittings both internally and externally, replacing blown bulbs, a broken small gate, a broken window in the church hall and an area of stained glass broken by persons unknown during a break-in to the church, a leaking toilet, radiators needing painting and a servicing and replacement of worn parts of the central heating boiler. The stained glass window was repaired by a specialist repairer under the church’s insurance policy and as such only the excess was costed to the church.

A great deal of thanks must always go to Ben Goddard, Trevor Grose, David Clewlow and Alan Stanhope who, along with their team of additional helpers, have carried out a variety of maintenance tasks and repairs that have kept the church, church hall and the graveyards in such good condition and have saved much money . There are still some minor works to do including repair a piece of ceiling in the church hall damaged from water ingress caused by a leaking window, replacement of approx 100 missing or loose roof tiles on the church roof and some on-going tree work in the churchyard which is likely to be carried out in a period when we have some better weather. It may be necessary to employ a tree surgeon if that cannot be carried out by church family members.

In the future, however, there are also two important pieces of work which are likely to be large and very costly; the investigation and subsequent repair of the stables and the Lych Gate. Even the initial investigations of the possible works may well be expensive as they are likely to require professional structural engineer’s reports. At present a small amount of work has been done to ensure safety, but more extensive work is required. Accordingly, the PCC will at some stage need to determine a way forward, starting with how funding might be found separately, to enable investigations to be started. Martin Handford – Church Warden All Hallows.

Churchyard This report relates to the memorials in the lawn cemetery (the area straight ahead as you leave All Hallows via the main south door). This is the only area where burials are currently taking place. Because this cemetery is often visited by the public (including children) the memorials are regularly inspected for safety using a visual check for leaning, cracking or looseness plus a hand test by pushing against the monument to identify a risk of it falling.

The latest inspection was in early February 2020, when 1 out of 288 memorials was considered an urgent hazard, 10 needed monitoring or scheduled action by the churchyard gardening team and the remaining 277 were considered safe (including several that were leaning but considered not to be hazardous at present). Any memorials considered in need of repair are referred to a surviving relative when known, and if no-one is contactable the PCC have agreed that the memorial should be laid flat by the gardening team to make it safe. Several memorials have had work performed, and the 10 identified in need of monitoring or work by the churchyard team this year are those with looseness, a severe lean, or where the memorial has been laid flat with the plinth sticking up, which looks unsightly and is a trip hazard.

The gardening team continues with the usual ongoing maintenance of the lawn cemetery, including back filling of plots with earth, mowing and strimming, and trimming of boundary hedges. John Glinn and Trevor Grose

Powder Deanery Synod Powder Deanery followed its usual schedule of three meetings in 2019 and received interesting and instructive presentations from Luci Isaacson ( Diocesan Environmental Officer), Revd Dom Whitting (Chair of Diversity and Equality) and Liz Wallace ( Parish Support Officer).

However, as reported last year, the main issue concerned the decision by the Diocese to pass to Deaneries the responsibility of allocating and raising the Ministry and Mission Fund (MMF), which is the amount each parish pays to the Diocese for clergy salaries, insurance, vicarage costs, training and much more. Powder Deanery, being comfortably the largest in the Diocese, had the largest shortfall, of about £150,000, between the amount parishes were paying and the amount the Deanery ‘costs’ the diocese. This was later reduced to £120,000 but is still equal to 2.5 full-time clergy. The Revd Marc Baker was appointed Chair of the Deanery Development Group who were tasked with sorting this out. Initially good progress was made. Unfortunately ‘the Diocese’ and others felt it necessary to contribute to the process, with the result that despite many hours of discussion nothing had been resolved by the end of 2019. Trevor Grose, Synod member

Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults – 2019 report to APCM There continues to be high national awareness of the need to guard against all forms of abuse. The Church of England has introduced further comprehensive guidance to PCCs and their churches. Kea church has many activities serving children, young people and vulnerable adults so it is essential that we continue to be vigilant to ensure our people are kept safe. To keep us up- to-date with the changing guidance, in 2019 the church carried out a review of its systems and procedures. As a result we have modified our record keeping. ChurchSuite has been beneficial in helping our processes to run more smoothly and efficiently. We aim to comply with Safer Recruiting, the national process used when volunteers offer to serve in our church. Many of our activities with vulnerable groups are regulated, which means in the first instance: it is essential that as a volunteer you need to have a “job description”. If you do not have a job description, please ask your team leader for one. A DBS certificate, if you need one, refers back to that job description. If in doubt ask Alan Stanhope (contact details are on ChurchSuite). Currently there are 83 holders of an up to date DBS certificate. Your certificate should be kept safe as if it was a driving license, we do not have copies. Much more training in safeguarding good practice was undertaken in 2019 to ensure we are compliant. Everyone who has a DBS has completed online level 0, introductory. We are well on the way to everyone completing level 1, recommended for all DBS certificate holders. Team Leaders also need to complete level 2 training and we will be following this up once there is clarity from diocese about their recently changed recommendations. It is important to say that safeguarding is the responsibility of every member of our church, not just those who have a defined role in our safeguarding systems. If you have any concerns please make either me, or our vicar, aware as soon as you can. Better safe than sorry. Alan Stanhope, Safeguarding Co-ordinator