St Peter’s Bethnal Green, St Peter’s Close, London E2 7AE [email protected] 020 7033 0244 www.stpetersbethnalgreen.org St Peter with St Thomas Bethnal Green ANNUAL REPORT 2013 (January – December 2013) Part 1 Sections 1-6: The Vicar’s Report 1. Reference information Members of the PCC are elected as Trustees at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. During the year the following served as members of the PCC: Vicar: The Rev’d Adam Atkinson, Chairman Assistant Priest: Canon Dr Angus Ritchie Wardens: Pam Haluwa, Elizabeth Ker Representative on the Deanery Synod: Helen Quail (Triennium to 2014) Elected Members: Heather Atkinson (Secretary), David Butler (Treasurer), Helen Crane, Hannah Fleetwood (Chair, Development Working Group), Nigel Holland-Williams, Tim Ker (Chair, Finance Working Group), Joy Middleton, Nigel Mycock (resigned in July), Katie Purser, Magaly Rojas, Andy Walton, Edna Waterman, Maria Wyard. St Peter’s Bethnal Green is a registered charity number 1154668. St Peter’s Bethnal Green uses the banking services of Reliance Bank Ltd at Faith House, 23-24 Lovat Lane, London, EC3R 8EB. Mazars (Times House, Throwley Way, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 4JQ) were appointed to carry out the audit for 2013. Postal address of the church: St Peter’s Bethnal Green, St Peter’s Close, London E2 7AE. Administrative address: The Mission Hall office, 56 Warner Place, London E2 7DA. Page 1 2. Structure & Governance Responsibilities of the PCC The PCC of St Peter’s Bethnal Green, has the responsibility, together with the Vicar, the Rev’d Adam Atkinson, to promote in the parish the whole mission of the Church. This includes the pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical aspects. It is responsible for the maintenance of the buildings of St Peter’s Bethnal Green. As a Church of England Parish church, the PCC and Vicar follow requirements of Church of England Canon Law. Objectives and activities The objectives of St Peter’s Bethnal Green are to promote in the parish the whole mission of the Church by ‘living and giving with God’s passion for Bethnal Green’ as we worship God, make friends and change the world. The PCC organises itself to carry out its aims and objectives by having regular meetings and various sub-committees. The PCC held six formal meetings over the year. Two Working Groups of the PCC were formed, the aims of which are to carry out action and planning in each of their areas, preparing Governance decisions for the PCC and taking forward management matters with the Vicar. These Groups, each Chaired by a PCC member, were Finance and Development. Day-to-day management of the church is delegated to the Vicar, Rev’d Adam Atkinson and his staff team. The 2013 electoral roll had 101 registered members. Those on the Electoral roll are able to nominate candidates for the PCC. The PCC and Church Wardens are elected annually at the APCM. PCC members are introduced to the workings of the PCC at the beginning of the serving year by the Vicar who provides a briefing paper and verbal comments. Public Benefit The PCC members confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit. St Peters’ Bethnal Green works alongside a number of organisations as partners in undertaking mercy, justice and evangelism. We support these practically, financially and/or in encouraging people to volunteer and we receive support from them in fulfilling our calling as a local church. These include: Tower Hamlets and Hackney Foodbanks, The Mission Practice, Shoreditch Citizens, Tower Hamlets Citizens, Citizens UK, The Contextual Theology Centre, Church Resource Ministries, Caring for Ex-Offenders, Arch 76, The Shoreditch Group and other local churches, individual ministries and social enterprises. The church of St Peter’s Bethnal Green benefits the community by the activities described in the section below entitled ‘Change the World’, notably through outreach and supporting others through our volunteer programme, prayer and financial input. Page 2 3. ‘Worship God’ Church attendance Average Sunday attendance at St Peter’s Bethnal Green in 2013: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 (Jan-March) (April-June) (July–Sept) (Oct-Dec) 10am sung Eucharist communicants 35 35 39 45 adults 36 40 38 46 children 1 3 3 5 11am service of the Word adults 46 50 47 50 children 12 12 10 9 10am monthly Family service communicants 68 58 50 56 adults 67 58 54 60 children 20 12 7 9 6pm monthly worship & wine adults 17 11 Regular services Throughout 2013, St Peter’s Bethnal Green continued to hold a liturgical Sung Eucharist service at 10am and an informal Service of the Word at 11am, the two congregations combined on the 1st Sunday of the month by one 10am cross-tradition Family Service with Communion, followed by a community lunch. On Sundays in August one 10am cross-tradition service was held. ‘Worship & Wine’, a monthly informal service, occasionally with Eucharist was begun in the Autumn. Morning Prayer was held in the Chancel at 8.30am Monday to Friday. The 7.30pm Thursday evening Communion Service continued, celebrating a number of festivals and growing in number towards the end of the year. Page 3 Guest preachers at St Peter’s Bethnal Green included Rt Rev Adrian Newman, The Bishop of Stepney, Ven Rachel Treweek, The Archdeacon of Hackney and Andy Blacknell of All Saints Peckham and the St Mellitus church planting course. The clergy and a number of lay members of St Peter’s Bethnal Green have led and preached at services. We follow the Church of England lectionary at our Eucharistic services. Occasional services There were 5 baptisms, 1 wedding and 1 funeral officiated at St Peter’s Bethnal Green in 2013. Other Occasional services included: • Confirmations of 5 people by The Bishop of Stepney on 6 January; • Seminar with Evening Prayer, ‘Silence: practice the presence of God’ on 17 Feb (16); • A seminar and series of prayerful reflections entitled ‘Walk into Lent’ on 10 Feb (24) and ‘Walk with the Trinity’ on 9 June (20); • Holy Week including a performance of Riding Lights’ ‘A Different Drum’ in the church, choral Compline twice, a Children’s Good Friday, 3 hour Good Friday meditations, including an hour led by The Bishop of Stepney; • Induction conducted by The Bishop of Stepney at a Deanery Synod party on 12 Sept; • An afternoon Harvest Festival service on 6 October; • An All Saints service on 1 November (4, 24); • An Alpha Day with two other local churches on 9 November (28); • An act of Remembrance with The Archdeacon of Hackney on Remembrance Sunday, 10 November (68); • ‘Access’ youth events on 14 June and 6 December; • The ‘Carols by Candlelight’ service on 10 December (138); • ‘Jesus on the Green’, a service of carols on Jesus Green on 22 December (6, 68). The Vicar undertook 4 additional funerals at local cemeteries for members of the parish and friends as well as wedding, presiding and preaching engagements including: • St Andrew by the Wardrobe • St James, Garlickhythe • Christ Church, Spitalfields • St John on Bethnal Green • St Mary’s, Stapleford • St Andrew’s, North Oxford • St Withburga, Holkham Worship Music St Peter’s continued our relationship with Worship Central, and having seen Sean Currie return to South Africa we received a new Worship Central intern from Scotland, James McSporran. James brought stability to our Sunday services and has been drawing in a wider team. We hope to keep him on rather than lose another talented leader. Our classical and choral music led by our organist Tom Daggett, included Carols on Colombia Road in the Christmas Wednesday market on three occasions, by invitation from Janice of ‘Open House’ the Chair of the Colombia Road traders association. Page 4 Our cross-tradition worship has developed with particular highlights being the Carols by Candlelight service and the monthly 10am cross-tradition Family Services. Worship and Wine is becoming a space to develop contemporary musical talent. Children’s church The year has been characterised by a continued commitment to ensure the children and young people are central to our vision, worship and mission. The children continue to be in the centre of the worship space for the beginning of the 11am service and engaged with all-age, interactive talks in the All-In Family Services. Although a few of our families with young children moved out of London we continue to have a steady flow of local children into church, with or without their parents. The 11am service has seen our children grow in discipleship and we have had some new additions from around the locality. Our 10am service has seen steady growth with some children being born and some coming along with their families. The furniture and storage in Rooms 1 and 2 was upgraded thanks to the generosity of one of the parents. There is a pressure on the use of these rooms and a need for more volunteer and staff time to make these spaces more usable for children and families. Prayer Prayer is foundational to all the work we do. Any visible action and growth is built on the unseen life of prayer. Morning Prayer in the Chancel at 8.30 became established. The monthly church prayer meeting on the last Tuesday of the month at 7.30-9pm continued through the year, regularly attended by around 12 people. Every month in 2013 a prayer walk in the parish was held. The Thursday 7.30pm Communion is an additional weekly space for contemplative prayer. Events with a prayer emphasis took place, including ‘Silence, practicing the presence of God’, facilitated by CTC on a Sunday afternoon in Lent which had sacramental meditation.