Annual General Meeting Minutes

21 November 2019

The Annual General Meeting of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge was held at Westminster School, on Thursday 21 November 2019. A list of those attending is attached as an Appendix.

In the absence of the Society's President, the of Canterbury, the meeting was chaired by James Catford, the Chair of the Governing Body.

1. Opening Prayer and Welcomes

The meeting was opened with prayer by the Chair.

2. Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence are listed in the Appendix.

3. Minutes of Previous Annual General Meeting

The minutes of the Annual General Meeting on 22 November 2018 were approved for signature. Proposed by - Cortland Fransella Seconded by – Jonathan Kerry

4. Matters Arising

There were no other matters arising from the minutes not otherwise on the agenda.

5. Governing Body Membership

5.1 Elections: No nominations were received from members of the Society in accordance with Bye- law 9(b) of the Royal Charter.

5.2 The following members of the Governing Body were re-elected for a second three-year term: James Catford; the Revd Stephen Tudway.

5.3 Co-options: the Royal Charter permits the Governing Body to co-opt up to six members of the Society of Vice-Presidents for such period as may be determined by the Governing Body. The Governing Body co-opted the following members: Professor Sue Halliday, the Chair of the IVP Publishing Board, for a first three-year term; Dr Andrew Fergusson, the outgoing Chair of the IVP Publishing Board, for a further term.

5.4 The Governing Body re-elected James Catford as Chair, and Michael Beasley as Vice-Chair, for the forthcoming year.

Proposed by – John Tattersall Seconded by – Sue Parks

6. Report on the Affairs of the Society

Sam Richardson opened his presentation with a reminder of SPCK’s vision (“a world where everyone is transformed by Christian knowledge”) and its mission (“to lead the way in creating books and resources which help everyone to make sense of faith”).

A number of awards were won in the last year: Christian Book of the Year (Christian Resources Together Awards) Large Christian Publisher of the Year 2019 (Christian Resources Together Awards) Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year 2019 (Independent Publishing Awards) EPCA Top Shelf Design Award Shortlisted for British Book Design and Production Award

Publishing highlights include Catherine Campbell’s Journey With Me (the CRT Book of the Year), John Stott’s Contemporary Christian series, the More> series (ECPA Top Shelf Design Award) Bob Hartman’s The Rhyming Bible (Children’s and Youth Book of the Year 2019 - a video was shown of children enjoying a recital of the book by Bob.) The ’s Lent Book, Richard Rohr’s The Universal Christ, The New Living Translation Bible and The Bible For Everyone.

Project highlights include the assemblies.org.uk website, a resource for schools to choose and deliver assemblies, as well as spiritual resources for schools on a variety of topics; prison fiction which seeks to improve literacy among prisoners through positive and thought provoking novels, and which is now being used in 80% of prisons; the Africa Theological Network Press, which has just commissioned its first titles; Thy Kingdom Come app, now having 10,000 users in over 80 countries; the Clergy Support Trust Library, which is now also available to ; the Good Advent app.

The financial status of SPCK was summarised. This year saw a fifth successive year of income growth, up to £5,827,000. Investment revenue was £561,000 and the overall bottom line was +£687,000 There is an operating surplus due to much reduced pension advisor fees. Legacies, investment income and charitable activities are profitable but not enough to cover costs. Our reserves are in the middle of the target range.

James Catford talked about his personal motivation of pledging a legacy and invited members to consider a similar choice, pointing out the SPCK had been in existence for over 300 years and was likely to be around for a very long time, making a legacy a good investment in addressing the future needs of church and society.

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A video by Fr Matthew Cashmore on the new Bread of Life initiative was played, explaining the program and inviting members to sign up for the launch in Lent 2020. A video was also played showing the work of the new Homegroups website, a hub for study and advice.

Sam thanked the SPCK team for their work over the previous year and reminded members of the library app available for their use.

7. Questions and Comments

The high standard of video was noted, and SPCK productions generally.

A question was raised about the prison reading initiatives and how it was used. Sam explained that we are working in partnership with prisons and prison organisations but that it’s very fragmented; each prison needs a different approach. In some it might be prisoners reading in groups, another might place them with the prison librarian where the books can be read alone. Books are free to prisons. Rebecca Law is responsible for getting the books out, but since prisons are spread out over the country it’s a challenge to have the staff resources available to do this. More funds would help!

A query about the library app addressed the number of ordinands that have downloaded it, and this was confirmed to be around two thirds of the potential 1500 ordinands. Word is getting out, but more work needs to be done, especially with curates who are more difficult to reach than ordinands.

8. Adoption of the Accounts for 2018-19

In the opinion of our auditors the financial statements gave a true and fair view of the state of affairs of SPCK and of its incoming resources and application of resources for the year ended 30 April 2019, and had been properly prepared in accordance with General Accepted Accounting Practice and with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.

Proposed by – Nigel Challis Seconded by –

The members unanimously adopted the accounts at the AGM.

9. Appointment of Auditors

It was proposed that Jacob Cavenagh & Skeet be re-appointed the Society’s Auditors for the financial year 2019-2020.

Proposed by – John Kerry Seconded by Paul Langridge

JCS were therefore duly reappointed.

10. Any Other Business

Tony Collins is retiring and James thanked him for his service to the SPCK, and reflected that whilst this was the end of his formal time here, he will continue to be involved.

There being no other business, the meeting closed with the SPCK prayer.

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11. Date of next Meeting It was noted that the date of the next AGM would be Thursday 19 November 2020.

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Appendix

Attendees (including members, staff and guests): Mr Clive Burrows The Revd Canon Heather Place Mr Richard Place The Revd Jeremy Bakewell Mr Stephen Apted The Revd Steven Mitchell Mr Caleb Woodbridge Ms Dorothy Garland Revd Judith Stephenson Mrs Liz Hopkins Mr Aidan Hopkins Mr Paul Burrage Mrs Christina Hillas Ms Karen Block Mr Paul Langridge Mrs Yolande Clarke Mrs Catherine Hunt Mrs Elizabeth Mellows The Revd Cortland Fransella Mrs Dawn Quartey-Owoo Mr Mark Read Ms Rebecca Law Ms Alison Barr Mr Terry Waite CBE Mr Allan Kanu Mr Angus Crichton Mr Jonathan Cornthwaite Mrs Juliet Trickey Ms Stephanie Moe Mr Dan Simpkins Mr Philip Law Mr Tom Au Ms Emma Collins Mrs Rachel Walls Dr Augur Pearce Mr Guy Negus The Revd John Tattersall Mr Michael Hertford Mr Jeremy Moodey Mr Tony Collins Ms Miriam Hickson Ms Joanna Walker The Revd Jonathan Kerry Mr Michael Cooper Ms Sarah Bailey Ms Sue Parks Mrs Christina Mr William Gibbs Mr David Pattinson 5

Dr Andrew Fergusson Mr Nigel Challis Mr Clive Wright Mrs Patricia Phillips MBE Mr Brian Weaver Mr Eric Thompson Mrs Primavera Quantrill The Revd Canon Philip McFadyen Revd Canon Mair McFadyen Mr Mark Casserley Apologies: Archbishop Dr Cathy Ross Dr Jane Williams Lt Col Peter Blaker Miss Jennifer Harper Miss June Kirkland Ms Maureen Lampard Miss Barbara Scott Mr John Alvis Mr Paul Chandler Mrs Dilys Twigg Miss Florence Badger The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Lord Richard Chartres Most Revd Richard Clarke Mrs Margaret Fair Mrs Geraldine Hamilton Mrs Theresa Moses Mrs Elizabeth Renshaw-Ames Mrs Janet Vaughan Sir Ewan Harper The Most Revd Dr Philip Freier The Revd Stephen Tudway The Revd Canon Anthony Dickinson Revd Canon Hugh Wybrew The Revd Dr Samuel Wells The Revd Dr Norman Gamble The Revd Dr Henry Turner The Revd Sir Ralph Waller The Rt Revd Jeremy Ashton The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Lord Bishop Sarah Mullally The Very Revd Niall Sloane Mr Richard Gough The Revd Canon Michael Moore The Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft Mr Iain Hearn The Rt Revd Richard Jackson His Eminence Vincent Nichols Mr Charles Russ Ms Sheelagh O'Neill Mr Rennie Hoare Mrs Jenny Russ

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Ms Gillian Shaw

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