Review of the Year 2020

Contents Overview & Clergy Reports ...... 4 Rector’s Overview and Vision ...... 4 Associate Minister Report ...... 5 Pioneer Minister’s Report ...... 6 Report on progress against our Parish Mission Action Plan in 2020/21 ...... 7 Pastoral Care ...... 9 Pastoral Visiting and Home Communions ...... 9 Bereavement Support (including Minus One Friendship Group, Lighthouse & Service of Memories) ...... 10 Nursing Home visiting and Services ...... 10 Lunch Club ...... 10 Families, Children & Youth ...... 11 Youth ...... 11 Children...... 11 BibLE2GO ...... 12 Babies, Biscuits & Banter ...... 12 Schools Work ...... 12 St James School – Foundation Governors ...... 13 Safeguarding ...... 13 Buildings and Logistics ...... 14 Church Wardens’ Reports ...... 14 Warblington Church Project ...... 15 Sides teams at TaB ...... 15 Sidesteams and Welcomers at St James ...... 15 Parish Hall ...... 16 Parish Office ...... 16 Houses (19 Church Path & Trinity Cottage) ...... 16 Deanery Synod ...... 18 PCC Report ...... 18 Communications ...... 18 Running Free ...... 18 Website ...... 19 Social Media ...... 19 Publicity ...... 19 Christians Together in Emsworth ...... 20 Becket 850 and the Museum Exhibition ...... 20 Discipleship, Prayer & Worship ...... 21

Home Groups ...... 21 Emen ...... 21 Mothers Union ...... 21 Breakfast Church & Café Church ...... 22 Seasonal and Community Services ...... 22 Prayer Ministry & Healing Services ...... 22 St James' Choir...... 22 St Thomas à Becket Choir ...... 23 Worship Band ...... 23 United Choir ...... 23 Morning Prayers ...... 24 Mission & Life Events ...... 24 Alpha ...... 24 Mission Support and Awareness ...... 24 Warblington Teas ...... 26 Baptisms & Baptism Preparation ...... 26 Marriage Preparation ...... 27 Weddings 2020 ...... 27 Funerals 2020 ...... 27 Financial Report 2020 ...... 27 Planned Giving ...... 32 Appendix A ...... 33 List of Clergy ...... 33 PCC Membership – 2019/20 ...... 34 Appendix B ...... 36 Standard Sunday Services at St James 2020 ...... 36 Standard Sunday Services at St Thomas à Becket ...... 36 Appendix C ...... 37 Values to live by and to shape our parish ...... 37

Overview & Clergy Reports

Rector’s Overview and Vision Naturally, the last year has been very different to what we expected and many of our plans for 2020 have not been possible. This will be true for all of us personally and it is true for the Parish of Warblington with Emsworth.

Instead, we have been thrust into new ways of operating and learning new skills. The most obvious of these for the parish was the switch we needed to make suddenly last March to offer worship and conduct our services online. This was new to all of us and we are enormously grateful to Tim Brook for helping to get us started on this, and to Jo Northey who has helped us to sustain this technically over most of the last year. Sarah Pinnell has worked tirelessly behind the scenes preparing music for these services – we look forward to having our own choirs back soon! We have learnt as we go with this, but most people agree that online opportunities to worship are here to stay for many churches. It does mean people can join with worship even when they cannot physically get to church; and for some with busy lives, that they can join in worship at a time that works for them even if this is not on a Sunday morning. We are currently considering how we can sustainably continue to make worship available online even when many of us are back to meeting regularly in church.

The pandemic of the last year has affected us all in different ways, and we have reacted differently to it. It has been evident that whilst some have been very eager to meet up with people again as soon as possible, others of us have wanted to be much more cautious and have not felt safe to return to church for over a year now. These differences are understandable, and I am personally committed to trying to ensure that we serve all our members as well as possible, which means we will probably need to do things in more than one way in the future.

For much of the last year it feels like we have been in ‘reactive mode’, just trying to meet the needs of the current situation. Finding ways to care for people and remain in touch even when we cannot see each other, looking for ways to share God’s love with our local community when it is not possible to meet in person, and trying to hold our Christian community together as the Body of Christ, when we have needed to remain in our own homes and not meet in Church.

For some individuals in particular, but also for all of us, there has been sadness at the loss of life over the past year, and I particularly want to acknowledge those of our own community in this parish who have died and those of you who are particularly grieving this year.

Although it has not been easy for us, there have been ways in which we have seen God at work that were unexpected and a blessing. Many people have commented to me on the deeper connection they have made with God through our lockdowns and the value of re-assessing our priorities.

Many of us have been delighted to experience worshipping outdoors in the Churchyard at St. Thomas à Becket and the garden at St. James – and to experience a great sense of God’s presence as we appreciated the beauty of the natural world around us. We have been surprised at how well we can pray and worship together on digital platforms like Zoom, as well as their value in keeping in touch with family and friends.

Though the world has changed, God has not! His faithfulness and guidance have sustained me, and I know many of you through uncertain times. I am even more thankful than ever before, that my life and future are in the loving arms of God whatever happens in the world around me. I hope you feel the same.

I am very grateful in the last year for the excellent support provided by Churchwardens, their deputies and others. At TàB, David Habershon has been a tower of strength, supported by Miriam Moore and notably by Jeff Murphy who has taken on additional responsibilities as verger whilst Robin Freeman has had to shield. At St. James, I have been very grateful to Dave Jupp for ‘holding the fort’ as Deputy Warden during a period last year and for the support Dennis Chandler, James Mant, Murray Boaz and others gave especially as we negotiated the complexity of re-opening St. James in a COVID-safe way. Since her election as Churchwarden in October, Gill Andrews has offered great support and wise counsel which has been important with so many changes taking place.

In the parish office, I want to pay tribute to Monica Crawley for all her work especially as we got to grips with working remotely and booking people in for services. When Monica left in November, Clare Jury graciously took this on temporarily but brilliantly over the very busy Christmas period (thank you Clare!!) before Selena Barber joined us in January. Selena has learnt quickly and is now managing the office and administration of the parish with great efficiency.

I consider myself very fortunate to work with Julie and Jo as clergy colleagues. During this last year they have demonstrated again their dedication to God first, and to this parish. I am deeply thankful for their flexibility and willingness to serve the greater good and to do it cheerfully and generously. I have particularly valued this at a time when wider responsibilities in the Havant Deanery have taken a significant amount of my time – they have ‘covered for me’ whenever needed.

Finally, I am thankful for the faithfulness and resilience of many members of our parish. You have kept faith in a wonderfully faithful God and found ways to support one another and to keep worshipping and praying. As we come out of the latest and hopefully the last lockdown, I pray that our love may have deepened and that we are able to renew our vision together to:

‘See the lives of many people in Warblington and Emsworth transformed and renewed by encountering God and responding to his love’.

With love,

Andrew

Associate Minister Report I continue to work as associate minister, with special responsibility for St Thomas à Becket Church alongside my primary role as chaplain at St Wilfrid’s Hospice, Bosham, Chichester. Due to time demands I had to resign from my position of Assistant Diocesan Director of Ordinands this year. My work in the parish is primarily concerned with supporting Andrew by leading and preaching at the weekly services. However, with the pandemic, this has been mostly with online services with the addition of services at St Thomas à Becket when we were able to worship together in church. The pandemic had a devastating effect on our plans for Becket 850, most of which had to be cancelled, which was a huge disappointment to us all. Despite the pandemic, I was able to lead one Lighthouse

Group through all six sessions and lead several funerals. We have also continued with our fundraising effort for the Warblington Church Building Project and were very pleased to reach our target in the autumn of 2020. Building is scheduled to start in the spring of 2021. Looking to the future, I hope that the building work will help us to engage better with our wider community as we seek to expand the breadth of ministry that we can offer there. Julie Price

Pioneer Minister’s Report Fresh Expressions (Fx) and Pioneer report

This has been a tough year with the progress of the Teas in the Park coming to a halt with lockdown #1.

We have however managed a successful trail in the woods, the ‘Angel Trail’ at Christmas and the ‘Easter Trail’ both in town and at the meadows, engaging the wider community where possible.

Zoom Breakfast church meant that we were able to achieve our aim to have a 2nd Breakfast Church in a month and we hope to expand to a 3rd Sunday too in the future. Zoom has been tough for some to interact with, while others have quietly enjoyed the kids being able to gently get on with Lego/colouring/clay in the background while taking in the worship and enjoyed it. We have had several new families join us over this past year and being able to meet online has been a helpful way for them to join in.

As we move into the future Breakfast Church needs to adapt with more, smaller meetings and make use of our outdoor space over the summer.

Café Church has not run this year due to the limitations of COVID-19 restrictions, however we remain committed to finding appropriate ways to offer worship at a different time to a Sunday morning. As other activities resume some people will once again find a Sunday morning tricky.

The things which God has certainly been speaking to me about which I wonder about being the main pioneer focus moving forwards are around wellbeing as we support our community in the post lockdown world. I think the outdoors will have a big part to play. By nature, we are a community that likes to be out and about: on the beach, on the water in different ways and over lockdown many of us have explored the woods and meadows locally much more too. I have very much been meeting with God in the wild and I wonder if some form of ‘Wild Church’ may appeal at this time.

If you feel God nudging you to be a part of this do get in touch. Being a pioneer minister means I want to encourage you to be a catalyst to create new, small expressions of Christian community rather than to create one big thing myself! So, if God is speaking to you about something, let’s meet, pray and find the way forwards together!

God is at work in Emsworth & Warblington, I pray that we will see it and join in! Jo Northey

Report on progress against our Parish Mission Action Plan in 2020/21 At the APCM in 2019 we launched our Parish Mission Action Plan identifying 7 specific goals for our parish to work towards. It is important to give you an update of progress against this Mission Action Plan, even though the last 15 months has been significantly affected by the COVID 19 Pandemic. During 2021, we expect to work with the PCC to develop goals for the next 3 years.

1. Children’s and Youth Ministry To offer weekly, high quality age-appropriate ministry to children and young people (0-18 years) to nurture and encourage them in the Christian faith. This ministry will primarily be alongside Sunday congregations in St. James therefore allowing families to worship and belong together at St. James Church each Sunday. By when Commencing Jan 2019 Led by Jo Northey, Denise Chapman & team Up until the lockdown in March 2020, we had a weekly rhythm of activities for children and provision for young people through FROG and an evening youth group. However, since then, it has been much more difficult to have physical groups meeting. A smaller youth group has continued on Sunday evenings (mainly online) and ‘BibLE2Go’ has proved very successful since its re-introduction on Zoom. Breakfast Church has concentrated more on worship for all ages together. Numbers of children at family services and Breakfast Church have continued to rise year on year. It is now very important that we recruit and prepare a larger team to pick up our children’s and youth work from September 2021.

2. Fresh Expressions & Contemporary Worship

Review and evaluate the existing fresh expressions of church in the parish (Breakfast Church and Café Church) with the aim of developing a weekly ‘Fresh Expression’ congregation for all ages which offers the opportunity for growth in faith through worship and discipleship as a community. By when Jan 2020 Led by Jo Northey, Andrew Sheard & team We consulted carefully on this and launched a 2nd Breakfast Church each month from April 2020. Breakfast Church is now regularly on 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month. Our goal remains to offer Breakfast Church alongside Holy Communion in St. James Church on most Sundays, with a joint family service on the 1st Sunday of the month. We aim to have children’s and youth groups each week that are accessible for families attending either service. However, there is a challenge as to the location of Breakfast Church and we need to think carefully about how many people we can fit in the parish hall. Extra rooms (in the community centre?) will be needed for our children’s work.

3. St. Thomas à Becket Development.

Help to secure the longer-term future of the church by exploring how to build on the strong affection for St. Thomas à Becket church which many in our community feel. We will identify ways in which occasional visitors could be encouraged into more regular worship and at the same time look to raise the profile of the church in the parish and beyond as we celebrate ‘Becket 850’ in 2020.

By when Jan 2021

Led by Julie Price, David Habershon, Miriam Moore & Christopher Morrison

‘Becket 850’ (an ambitious range of events and services planned for 2020) was almost totally wiped out by COVID 19. However, we have successfully raised the funds for the toilet and vestry project during 2020 and added a ‘welcome area’ in the SW corner to our plans. Work started in March 2021 and will be finished by July. We still want to encourage occasional visitors to worship regularly with us once the building work is complete and COVID restrictions are lifted.

4. Mission Opportunities of Occasional Offices

Each year we come into close contact with at least 120 families through baptisms, marriages and funerals. We want to give them the best possible opportunity to experience the invitation from a loving God to experience his guidance, healing, freedom, comfort and friendship. We will look carefully at all the ways we relate to these families and how we can sensitively invite them to connect with God and become part of the Christian community. By when Jan 2020 Led by A team for each ‘office’. Andrew (marriages), Julie (funerals) & Jo (baptisms) We have found several people joining our churches following occasional offices and in 2019 we launched a short-term group for newly bereaved called ‘The Lighthouse Project’. However, in 2020 weddings and baptisms were heavily curtailed by COVID-19 restrictions. We continued an important funeral ministry in challenging circumstances and we were able to hold ‘Services of Memories’ in the building and online. At Easter 2021 we gave families an opportunity to come and remember a loved one who had died through our Easter Cross in the town centre. 5. Leadership and Vocations

Encourage people to develop their leadership potential within the church and beyond through specific training opportunities in leadership and identify and nurture vocations amongst members of our congregations.

By when Encouraging Vocations – Jan 2019 onwards. Leadership training – Jan 2020

Led by Andrew Sheard We have been encouraged by the way new people have stepped into several important roles in the last year. A group of approximately 12 people began a Growing Leaders course in Jan 2020 but it has been curtailed. We hope to pick this up again in 2021. At least two members of our parish are exploring the possibility of ordination.

6. Pioneering Mission

Develop a team to serve alongside our pioneer minister, Jo, to reach out to people in our community who currently have no meaningful connection with our churches. We aim to build relationships with them and explore ways of helping them to connect with God and in time build a new community of faith.

By when Team formed – Sept 2019

Led by Jo Northey 8

Teas in the Park was major step forward in 2019 and Jo found a team willing to support this venture with food and other practical help; however, this was curtailed in 2020. Jo’s involvement in the ERA has proved very worthwhile and there are some encouraging ideas in the pipeline about exploring faith and building community outdoors in creation.

7. Effectively resourcing our Mission and Ministry

Provide all the resources needed for the ministry to which God is calling us and aim to achieve a balanced budget for the year 2020 and beyond. To achieve this, we will encourage Christian giving regularly and investigate cost saving and fund-raising opportunities.

‘Giving Cheerfully’ By when June 2019 Led by Stewardship Team

‘Fund-raising & cost saving’ By when December 2020 Led by PCC subgroups

We exceeded our expectations here. The response to Giving Cheerfully allowed us to balance our budget in 2019 (a year ahead of schedule) and many planned givers switched to the ‘Parish Giving Scheme’. We have also been blessed by some generous bequests which offer opportunity to consider some new ways of achieving our vision ‘to see God transforming lives in our community’. 2020 was a challenging year financially, but the success of ‘Giving Cheerfully’ has largely sustained us despite that.

Pastoral Care

Pastoral Visiting and Home Communions Caring for all our members has been more important than ever in 2020/21 and has been quite challenging. A small team from TàB has done a great job of keeping in touch with members there. In March 2020, a group of pastoral carers met in St. James’ and by going through the electoral roll, agreed to regularly telephone people they knew to offer practical help and to check how they were managing. This ministry of caring, mainly through telephone calls, has been sustained and developed over the last year in both our churches; we appreciate the persistence and kindness of all those who have been keeping in touch with church members. Visiting has been a much-reduced activity with the restrictions imposed on us to tackle the pandemic. Whenever possible, attempts were made by those sitting outside for pastoral visiting or giving communion by passing the wafer, suitably untouched for 72 hours, through an open door or window to the recipient who sat inside their home. There came a time when even this was precluded, which added to the sense of isolation for some. Contact by telephone became the main source of contact. For those who were able to do so, the ability to see and hear their friends on Zoom was much valued. It is hoped to reinstate this ministry in 2021 when COVID restrictions permit. Dennis Chandler

Bereavement Support (including Minus One Friendship Group, Lighthouse & Service of Memories) Due to the pandemic, we have been unable to fulfil our services to the bereaved as we would wish and as we have done in the past. Fortunately, we have benefitted from good communication with our clergy, from the Pastoral Care Team and from members of our church family. This has helped us to connect the bereaved we hear of but we are very aware that others may have been missed in the support we like to give. Thanks to the effort of our clergy, we were able to hold a virtual Service of Memories in November which was well received. We also held two Services of Memories in St Thomas à Becket in November, observing social distancing and permitted numbers allowed. Invitations were sent to all those who had been bereaved in the past 18 months. These services proved so popular that a third service was planned for November which sadly had to be cancelled due to lockdown. One positive and very successful development to our service this past year has been the Lighthouse Group led by Julie Price and Bereavement Team Members. The aim of this group is to help and support the newly bereaved for a time limited period of six weeks and with a maximum of only 8 members in each group. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, Julie was only able to run the first of these groups which had a positive outcome. Friendships were made with meetings arranged between group members once the group had ended. Julie plans to run more Lighthouse Groups once it is allowed and has a waiting list for them. Let us hope that during the coming year we will be better able to support the bereaved especially following the COVID pandemic. The Minus One Friendship Group met for the first time again in May 2021. Pat Hales

Nursing Home visiting and Services One of the first restrictions imposed by COVID regulations was the closure of residential homes to visitors, resulting in no services being held after January 2020. However, contact was continued by sending them the link to virtual services and publishing the freephone number for recorded prayers and the sermon. Residents who had access to a phone in their rooms, could telephone for a chat. It is hoped to reinstate this ministry in 2021 when COVID restrictions permit. Dennis Chandler

Lunch Club We have sadly missed many of our ever-popular Parish Lunches during this past year. The pandemic has caused The Kings Arms Pub, where we hold the lunches, to be closed apart from a brief interval during the summer. Landlord Gavin could not have tried harder to accommodate us all by having a large gazebo in his back garden at the pub. He ensured that social distancing was respected both at the tables outside and inside the pub. We are most grateful to Gavin for all the effort he put into this. It is always a bonus at our lunches to have a visit from our rector, other members of the clergy and our church wardens. It has been such a pleasure this past year to welcome friends from the Minus One Friendship Group and from the Lighthouse Group. We hope our lunches have provided friendship to those feeling loss and loneliness. They are happy occasions with a very good lunch and we welcome anyone, including husbands and wives, who would like to join us. We hope to start the lunches as soon as we are allowed to gather, and if the weather is good enough, in the open-air gazebo. Pat Hales 10

Families, Children & Youth

Youth FROG met over Zoom and then ‘in person’ during the summer at the park but with the new school year and heading into lockdown again, we combined with the Sunday night group.

Our youth have been meeting on Zoom on a Sunday night led by Jon White & Aaron Todd.

During the good weather in the late spring and summer (2020) we met a couple of times on Zoom and then outside for quite a few weeks - this was with no real agenda other than spending time together and having some fun.

In the Autumn we took a more structured approach using some Urban Saints (formerly Crusaders) ‘Energize’ teaching material; this is very good, well-structured and thought through for different age groups.

The usual format is to have an icebreaker or other fun activity such as a quiz followed by a look at the topic and what the Bible teaches us. We spent numerous weeks looking at ‘Wellbeing’ and how God cares about us as people: this seemed very appropriate during the various degrees of lockdown. Since March (2021) we have moved on to looking at another Urban Saints series entitled ‘Influences’ - what influences us in life and how.

We have currently 3-4 regular young people – let us pray we can build on this core group.

Children Most of our children’s provision has been through intergenerational worship over this year. We have been getting to grips with the best ways to do this over Zoom and for many this seems to be working well. It is never going to be quite the same but the kids have been able to do treasure hunts, help lead readings and prayers and even some crafts - there were some lovely candle stands made for Mothering Sunday!

On a 3rd Sunday, BibLE2GO has worked well on Zoom (see below). Over the last couple of months, the young people have been able to show their Lego creations in the service if they wanted to which some have really enjoyed. Zoom seems a pretty good medium for this and it has been encouraging to see some parents really getting involved with their kids!

Andrew and Jo have been carrying on with some virtual assemblies for St James.

There was an Easter trail (2021) organised by Jo & Heather (Baptist Church) on behalf of CTiE along and around the Mill Pond and Hampshire Farm Meadows to tell and celebrate the Easter Story for local families. At the time of writing, the COVID restrictions permit 2 families to meet up outside so I hope this will be well used by both our church and wider communities.

As restrictions are slowly lifted, we will continue to re-evaluate our children’s provision and will return to face to face meetings as allowable and sensibly given the mix of nurseries, primary and secondary schools attended by our young people. We hope to make use of our gardens initially.

A year ago, we agreed as a PCC to fund the hiring of 2 rooms in the community centre to use for our young people’s groups. When we head back to face-to-face kids work this will be needed. We have subscribed to both a ‘Roots’ package of resources which runs alongside the lectionary that we use and another resource called ‘Energize’ which are to help our leaders create interesting, varied sessions.

We need to recruit, DBS check and train new Children & Youth Leaders ahead of September so that we will be able to provide the best support to our families as they disciple their children.

Two home groups have recently enjoyed doing the brilliant ‘Parenting for Faith’ course which really encourages families in their discipleship of their children. I would love to use this in the training of our new leaders to encourage them in building relationship with God as the heart of our Children & Youth programmes.

BibLE2GO BibLE2GO has been running via Zoom since November with a structured approach to looking at Bible stories. Numbers attending and age of children are varied, ranging from approx. ages 3-10

We get everyone together, pray and do a short ice breaker exercise, then look together at the Bible. We look at the story from two angles. Someone reads from the Bible then we watch the same story as a video followed by some questions to help the children understand the meaning of the story. The children then build models using Lego which show some aspect of the Bible story. Afterwards the children are encouraged to talk about and share the ideas behind what they have built. Some of the ideas are very creative. Jo Northey, Aaron Todd, Jon & Vicki White

Babies, Biscuits & Banter BB&B met over Zoom during the 1st lockdown and then at the park, back on Zoom for a bit which did not work the 2nd time and since schools returned, we have been back as a support group in the hall with careful social distancing rules. Both Lizzie George and Beverley Lewis have been wonderful helping with the group and making mums feel welcome and valued. It continues to be a vital support for new mums as they navigate parenthood without the support usually available. Jo Northey

Schools Work Our aim is that we have a significant presence in each school in our parish and in that way each child or young person gets to know a member of clergy and to hear something about the love God has for them expressed through Jesus Christ.

Of course, our ability to achieve this has been severely limited in the last year. Andrew and Jo have continued some limited presence in St. James’ CE School through online recorded assemblies. In March 2021, Jo was able to attend St. James’ school in person for the first time in over a year. An act of collective worship was held outside in the school grounds and at this service Bibles were presented to every Year 4 and Year 3 pupil at the school.

Later in 2021, when schools return to normal, we hope to develop our links with Glenwood School and to strengthen our links with Emsworth Primary School. We also hope to fill the vacancies we have for Foundation Governors at St James. Jo Northey & Andrew Sheard

St James School – Foundation Governors This year, the school has had to cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Children of keyworkers were able to attend during lockdown periods in restricted numbers, whilst teachers provided home-learning and Zoom sessions for those unable to attend. In September, the whole school returned but with ongoing pressures to reduce mixing, maintain social-distancing and ensure hygiene measures. Collective worship has continued daily by video-link, led by the headteacher on Mondays for the whole school, with class worship on other days. Jo Northey and Andrew Sheard have been sending a video service to school most weeks, shared remotely with those at home. The diocese has provided support by sending a wide range of activities for the pupils to enjoy. We have been working hard to improve our outdoor areas to enable the children to play in the fresh air. Plans are afoot to have a new trim-trail installed in the summer term of 2021, which will encourage social skills, problem solving and physical challenges such as balancing and climbing. We believe that the physical well-being of our children is linked to maintenance of their mental health.

Our pastoral work is based on our Christian values. Children have had to learn to get on together socially again after being apart from friends for so long. The values of respect and friendship are a key priority. Staff are retraining our youngest children in skills such as turn taking and sharing. The school has been guided throughout this difficult period by the inspiring leadership of our headteacher, Jill Pearce-Haydon, and the devotion of all our loyal staff. Peter Willicombe

Safeguarding Despite the strange year that we have all lived through the need to maintain a safe environment within the church remains. Accordingly, those volunteers who work with our young people and those adults with additional needs have continued to maintain their safeguarding training and we have ensured that those who need DBS clearance have been kept up to date. All DBS checks are done online and, other than a delay at the beginning of the first lockdown, are processed in a timely manner. Safeguarding training is mostly online, all face-to-face sessions having been discontinued by the Diocese in the first lockdown. Liz Brook and I were able to provide face-to-face training for a small group in the summer, ensuring that it was done in a COVID safe manner.

The Church of England is conducting a past case review of safeguarding issues and as a parish we were able to respond to the diocesan request for information.

As we return to more public forms of worship and hopefully resume pastoral visiting and youth work, I would be most grateful if I could be informed of any new volunteers so that I may take them through the safeguarding journey to ensure that we maintain a safe environment for all. Terri Kemp

Buildings and Logistics

Church Wardens’ Reports St James 2020 saw a change of Churchwardens with Liz Brook stepping down in June - I am very grateful to her for the organised way in which the handover was able to take place. Prior to my election at the APCM in October, Deputy Warden Dave Jupp took over responsibility for the church building; we all owe him a considerable debt of gratitude for his diligence in ensuring that it has stayed well-cared for and secure. His continued support and that of others since my election have been much appreciated.

Despite these changes and the cessation of services held in the church at various points during the year due to the pandemic, maintenance of the fabric continued as usual. The 5-yearly statutory inspection of all fixed electrical installations was completed in January and a certificate confirming that their condition was satisfactory was issued. Several issues raised in the inspection were subsequently addressed: faulty pew-heater switch fuses were replaced and fire-hoods were installed and earthing connections remade on Baptistry and under-gallery lights.

In 2019 it had been noted that lead in the south valley of the church roof was faulty and faculty permission was given to undertake the necessary repairs. Due to the pandemic this work was delayed but was successfully completed in July 2020. The other notable piece of work to take place during the year was the installation of pew heater guards. The church was alerted to the need for this following an incident in which a child had been hurt while playing under a pew adjacent to a heater.

The Quinquennial Inspection by the Parish Inspecting Architect, Simon Goddard, was due to take place in 2020 but has been postponed due to the pandemic. Arrangements have been made for it to take place early in 2021 and this will be the opportunity to ensure that further works needed to maintain the building for the next five-year period are initiated. Gill Andrews

St Thomas à Becket Happily, the church fabric at St Thomas à Becket is bearing up well. Although preparations for the Diocesan Quinquennial Inspection were completed during the year, the inspection was postponed due to the pandemic and rescheduled for March 2021. Routine repairs have included clearance and repointing of the brick gullies on the east and southeast sides of the church, and a new drain cover. A brass engraving on the lectern handrail in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Jones was completed and blessed by the rector in the presence of the family.

The church was closed to services on 23 March 2020 during the first lockdown. Sunday services were resumed on 5 July with a booking system and the church opened for private prayer on Sundays and Wednesdays. Constant vigilance and cleaning were required to reduce the risk of virus infection during this period. Loose items such as hassocks, hymn/prayer books were removed and alternate pews were used to achieve social distancing.

Perhaps the highlights of the summer were the three well-attended Sunday services held in the churchyard. On one of these occasions, we welcomed the Bishop of Portsmouth to preach.

Looking to 2021, plans are afoot to install wi-fi in the church and to repair the uneven paving stones on the west path. Finally, we look forward to the completion of the building project in the summer, with modern facilities to benefit us all.

Reports on Becket 850 and the building project appear elsewhere in this document. David Habershon

Warblington Church Project The project to create a disabled toilet in the NW watch hut, and an improved kitchen/ serving area; to upgrade the vestry and to create a visitors’ area in the SW corner of the church moved slowly in early 2020. With restrictions lifting in the summer, we embarked on a major fund-raising drive to raise £50,000 and thereby to reach the grand total of the £150,000 needed. This was achieved within 2 months thanks to the incredible generosity of parishioners and others further afield. Building starts in March 2021 and we hope will be complete by July. Christopher Morrison

Sides teams at TaB The Sidesteam at St Thomas a Becket have given their loyal support throughout the pandemic. The church has reduced Services to 11am each Sunday, and on three occasions had memorable outside Services. On one of these we had the visit of the bishop. We had two carol services on 20th December at 11am and 6.30pm at which we had a full complement of different readers. Michael Buchanan

Sidesteams and Welcomers at St James We started 2020 with 4 sides teams and a total of about 30 people taking it in turns to provide one or two sides people at each main service. This included 8am, 10am and 6.30pm services. There were also 16 welcomers with two on duty at 10am services. Church buildings were then closed by the government between the end of March and the beginning of July. When St James reopened for 10am services with COVID restrictions in place, the role of the welcomers and sides teams was somewhat different. A friendly welcome would still be given but it was also important to ensure that COVID precautions were observed. A combined sides team and welcomer rota was drawn up with 16 participants. During the autumn, 8am services restarted, drawing sides people from their own congregation. Evening services did not restart during 2020.

From September until the end of the year the welcomer and sides team rotas were again separated into two sides teams of 6 each along with 6 welcomers, although some continued serving in both roles. Volunteers have therefore had to take on duties rather more frequently, but it is fully understood that many are yet to feel able or comfortable to return to coming to church. James Mant and Carol Sheppard

Parish Hall There was an ominous start to the year with the loss of two good friends: Hilary Bolt, auctioneer extraordinaire and good friend of the church, died; TS Defender left due to falling unsustainable numbers of recruits. They are both missed.

The function of the parish hall was severely curtailed by the pandemic. Before March attendances were healthy but dropped rapidly to zero in line with church closures during lockdown.

After this first lockdown the hall reopened under COVID safe rules. Breakfast Church sessions ran with pre-booking but numbers of attendees had to fall to a maximum of 30 to satisfy social distancing measures. Some church meetings, support and community groups resumed safely but most ceased.

The financial loss of TS Defender, auctions and other bookings was offset partly by welcome income from solar energy panels. Energy fed into the National Grid generated £1,356.48, supplementing £2,728 from bookings and a donation of £26! Gross income of £4,110.48 was offset by £5,192.25 outgoings - utilities, consumables, maintenance and insurance, etc. The net loss of over £1,000 for the year contrasts with around £3,000 annual profit in recent years.

The future will be brighter. We pray circumstances will allow the hall to return to full use soon. The committee are prepared. Tomorrow will be a good day. Gordon Braddock Parish Office Monica noted previously that role of the parish office changed significantly due to the pandemic. The office was closed to the public and Monica worked remotely. Booking parishioners in for services was a new experience! Monica Crawley’s last day in the position of parish administrator was Friday 6th November 2020, Clare Jury held the fort until the New Year. Interviews were held on 8th December 2020 to appoint a new parish administrator to start January 2021. The successful candidate was Selena Barber. The office has continued to manage various tasks including the compilation of weekly pew sheets, updating the parish diary, the administration of weddings, funerals and ad hoc enquiries from parishioners and public. The office is usually open to the public every week on Monday and Thursday from 9.30am-12.30pm. During the COVID-19 restrictions, the parish office has been closed to visitors, the parish administrator has been working remotely throughout this period. The parish administrator has had a key role in the Track and Trace requirements for COVID-19. Selena Barber

Houses (19 Church Path & Trinity Cottage) 19 Church Path Anyone walking through St James’s churchyard recently will have noticed that the ‘For Sale’ sign on 19 Church Path, formerly the verger’s house, has come down. The property was finally sold in February for £276,000. However, the parish will only receive a fraction of this money. For years, it was widely believed that the vergers house was owned by the parish. Indeed, when I became the 19 Church Path fund treasurer in 1997, that is what I was told. However, the truth is more interesting. 19 Church Path was built as part of the 1863 Victorian church school. Originally it was the ‘Master’s House’, though it was subsequently occupied by the school caretaker. When the new St James’ School opened in Bellevue Lane in 1974, most of the Victorian school became the property of the Local 16

Education Authority, Hampshire County Council. However, 18 Church Path, formerly the headmaster’s house, and 19 Church Path were transferred to Portsmouth Diocese. In 1979, 18 Church Path was sold for just £14,680.69! Around this period, many old church schools were being replaced and their disposal was governed by an Act of Parliament. This mandated that, since clergy had previously been able to use school premises on Saturday afternoons and all day on Sundays, parishes should receive 3/14 of the net proceeds of any sale, with the balance being retained by Dioceses. The parish’s portion was not available for general use but had to be placed into a restricted fund to be used for ‘religious education in accordance with the tenets of the Church of England by means of a Sunday School or otherwise’. Hence, by the time you read this, it is hoped that the parish will have received approximately £60k which will underpin rewarding Christian activities for our children and young people for many years to come. Jamie Barr

Trinity Cottage As many will know, Trinity Cottage at 41 South Street was formerly the home of ‘Janna’ Cundall for almost 60 years. The house was named Trinity Cottage because it was created by knocking together 3 adjacent semi-derelict properties that had been bought by Janna’s father, Rear Admiral John Cundall. The charming story that the Cundalls also bought a fourth cottage next to the Anchor Inn, now ’36 On the Quay’, and knocked it down to improve the view of the harbour is, regrettably, untrue as 47 South Street had already been demolished! As a committed Christian who recognised the value and unique position of her home, Janna hoped that it would continue to be used for the benefit of the parish and local community. In 2017, whilst still living there, Janna donated Trinity Cottage to the PCC of Warblington-with-Emsworth. In 2018, Janna moved into Prinsted Care Home where she died on 3 May 2019 at the age of 95.

It is sad that the future of Trinity Cottage was not settled during Janna’s lifetime. As a naturally modest and unassuming person, she initially did not want others to know of her generosity. Hence, for over two years, no decision on its future was made. An evaluation of the options revealed that Janna’s wish for her home to become a retreat house was unrealistic. Fortunately, thanks to the involvement of our diocesan legal team, the transfer deed agreed with Janna authorised the PCC to sell the property on condition that the proceeds were used for the purposes that she originally envisaged, namely ‘to provide resources for rest, relaxation, recuperation and or spiritual mental or physical refreshment to parishioners and others within or visiting the Diocese of Portsmouth whom the Council in their absolute discretion consider may most benefit’. In January 2020, after public consultation, the PCC decided to sell the property. This required diocesan consent hence the house did not go onto the market until June 2020. Within three weeks, a sale was agreed with a local couple. However, in November, the buyers had still not obtained sufficient finance and the property was put back on the market. Two further offers were agreed in November and January but both were subsequently withdrawn by the buyers, who were understandably concerned about the burger van parked next door. It is probable (but not guaranteed) that the Local Planning Authority will require the burger van to be removed once COVID-19 restrictions on hospitality venues are finally relaxed. Hence there has been a renewal of interest in the property and at the time of publishing this report, Trinity Cottage is again ‘under offer’. Jamie Barr

Deanery Synod Synod meetings were curtailed this year. In February Andrew Sheard was inducted as joint Chairman of the Havant Deanery, a reflection of the impact he has made here since his arrival. The synod heard: a presentation on the Children’s Society; that the parish capitation rate would remain at £10 per 100 on the parish electoral roll; and that Diocesan Synod stated there was ‘no longer a legal requirement for every church to hold Sunday services’. The June meeting was cancelled. In the autumn, the synod began to wrestle with the remit from the diocese to consider ways of growing the diocese in depth, impact and number whilst saving money equivalent to 1.5 stipendiary priest posts [to include through-life costs]; the diocese has taken a loan of £2M this year. Much work was done in short order by deanery and PCC committees and the result fed back to the diocese in February 21. Work in progress. Christopher Morrison

PCC Report During the year there are six Parochial Church Council meetings and five PCC Standing Committee meetings to support the rector with the smooth running of the parish. As has become the “norm”, during 2020, from March onwards, all have been via Zoom. My role as the minuting secretary is to assist the rector with the preparation for these meetings, by drafting the agendas, collating reports, and transcribing the minutes in a timely manner after each meeting. After each PCC meeting, I also write a piece for the parish magazine “Running Free” highlighting aspects of and decisions made by the PCC members. It is a privileged position, as the minuting secretary, and I feel very fortunate to have been given responsibility for this role and to be working with the rector and the members of the PCC and Standing Committee. Clare Jury

Communications

Running Free In the course of 2020, we have seen an increase in the amount of material we receive. We would like to thank all those who supply articles and photographs for Running Free. This is your magazine and it can only thrive with your contributions.

In December we had a meeting to discuss the future of Running Free, including whether we should reduce to an A5 format, but concluded that for now it is right to continue with the current format. Andrew suggested that it would be good to have more real-life stories and the outcome for 2020 was the new ‘Journeys of Faith’ series.

We would like to thank Neil Levis for his work as distribution manager and Richard Taylor for his past work as advertising manager. He has now given up this role so for now Colin has taken on the job of contacting advertisers to renew their adverts. We are still hoping that someone will take on this role. Colin and Tricia Brotherston

Website During 2020 Lindsay Spencer continued to manage the parish website and worked on fine-tuning the new design. Her task became more onerous very suddenly as the parish took its services online following the COVID-19 restrictions imposed on places of worship in late March. She rose to the challenge and very quickly the parish website was able to boast a digital library of services and other worship resources, alongside weekly online services. I am sure that everyone who has accessed the digital resources on the website will join me in thanking Lindsay - and the others who helped create them - for their hard work.

At the end of 2020 Lindsay handed over the role of voluntary webmaster to me, Phoebe Atkinson. While no longer a churchgoer, I have a long association with the parish, having served on the PCC and as a churchwarden for St Thomas à Becket. It is a tribute to Lindsay that the website design survived (more or less) its handover to a WordPress newbie!

The goal for the coming twelve months is to review the website considering everything the parish has gone through during the pandemic. This will not happen overnight: as the parish re-opens the website will need to reflect any shifts in how the parish thinks and operates, so it is likely that while another re-design may be on the cards, this is not likely to happen until Autumn 2021. Phoebe Atkinson-Eberle

Social Media The parish has an active Facebook account for St James (approx. 220 followers) and an active Instagram account for Warblington Church (also approx. 220 followers). It also has a Facebook account for Warblington Church, which has a lower profile.

DIGITAL GOALS FOR THE COMING YEAR: • As the country comes out of COVID-19 restrictions and begins to return to ‘normality’ there is a need to reassess how to use the parish website both to support our parishioners and to reach out to the wider community. • To make frequent and regular use of social media to raise the profile of our two churches and all that the parish can offer the wider community. • To look how the parish should use its new digital skills in the future. Phoebe Atkinson-Eberle

Publicity Since the end of March, communications with the parish have been primarily through the twice- weekly emails written by Andrew and sent out by Murray. This has been very effective whether we

19 have been holding physical church services or not. Letters have been sent out to those parishioners on the electoral roll who do not have internet access. This has given them the opportunity to hear our parish recorded service over the telephone. Running Free has also been delivered to those without the internet. The parish website and Facebook have been used extensively to stream recorded services. James Mant

Christians Together in Emsworth It has been a significant year for the Group in providing an opportunity for the churches together to respond to the needs of its community but without actual church. Our youth workers have taken a lead in providing stimulating activities around the town for the various holiday festivals including a popular ‘Angel Trail’ at Christmas and ‘Easter Trail’ more recently. Christmas and Easter cards have been delivered as ever, giving the various types of services digital or otherwise for households to join in. We are grateful to Paul Chapman for taking on much of the co-ordinating of this. The week of Prayer for Christian Unity in January brought a large Zoom response with each church presiding over one morning during the week. Now we are busy preparing for Easter with a wooden prayer cross being erected in St Peter’s Square for Good Friday when it is hoped people passing will remember and name their loved ones who they may have lost during this past year from COVID or other reasons. On Easter Sunday posies of flowers will be placed on this cross by the churches and we hope by others passing by. Easter cards of thanks are going to be given to all our traders and hospitality outlets. Instead of the usual Good Friday walk with the cross, each church will have a cross outside for people to visit. It has been rewarding to be part of this ecumenical group during this past year and with God’s grace, we hope serving our local community. Pat Hales and Sue Ingram

Becket 850 and the Museum Exhibition 2020 was the 850th anniversary of the murder of St Thomas à Becket and we had planned some 9 months of activities to bring the church to the attention of the public and to draw people in to experience the contemplative and spiritual atmosphere which permeates the much-loved thousand- year-old building. Two thousand flyers were distributed, banners and bunting made. In the event, the first lockdown occurred in the month we were to launch and the programme came to naught. We will make a coach pilgrimage to Canterbury in 2022. One element, the exhibition in Emsworth museum, happened in September. It was titled ‘Thomas à Becket, the Church and the Man’. Family and historical memorabilia were lent by our patron Jim Norris; Gordon Braddock, others and I helped with research, and Andrew Norton designed the display panels. 365 people came through the doors in the month and we had £185 donated to parish funds. Christopher Morrison

Discipleship, Prayer & Worship

Home Groups The year was a challenging time for homegroups but it highlighted the dedication and commitment of leaders and members for their groups. Groups arranged to meet in many varied and challenging ways managing to keep in touch. Some groups took to Zoom easily but on finding that not all members could access Zoom, they managed to find other ways to include them – by way of an open phone line during meetings, for example. Other groups were kept in contact by their leaders via regular emails and phone calls. One new group was established by studying using email contact. During the summer groups were able to meet in gardens and for a short time, the parish hall or office were available. This has shown me the commitment to meet and to grow in faith by so many in our parish. A few new people have joined groups over this time. I have kept in regular contact with group leaders and we had one very encouraging meeting with Andrew when leaders were able to gain insights from one another on ways to meet/keep in contact and materials to use. We really look forward to the time when we can meet again in person to share fellowship with one another. Pauline Nelson

Emen This gathering of parish men, with a membership of about 54, met only once in 2020. We had an Italian supper in Niccolinos arranged by Andy Economides. This was followed by a fascinating talk by Jon White, who accepted the challenge to discuss whether the world and universe could in fact have been formed as a result of a mind-boggling series of infinitesimal scientific coincidences - or ‘Intelligent Design’ as it is called or is it an inescapable conclusion that there must have been a supreme being responsible. A very stimulating and thought-provoking presentation. Christopher Morrison and James Mant

Mothers Union This is my final report as branch leader. I have decided to pass on the reins to someone new. 2020 has been a traumatic year for us all, and nothing like we imagined when we started it in January. We can only pray that 2021 will be better for us all. It is hard to write a report on things which have not happened this year. We did not have a garden party, a Christmas party in the hall or a Christmas meal at the Brookfield. All understandably cancelled but still disappointing that we could not get together. We did have a ‘Wave of Prayer’ service in the churchyard, suitably socially distanced. We did manage to have our AGM by Zoom which allowed us to catch up with each other when the official business was over. Sadly, Betty Jones and Olive Colson died earlier in the year. Both were regulars at our communion services and meetings for many years. They will be sadly missed. Unfortunately, we could not attend their funerals due to COVID restrictions. I am pleased to say that Vivian Gowlett has agreed to become the new branch leader and I am sure she will bring a fresh outlook and enthusiasm into our branch. I wish my successor good luck and I know that the members of the branch will be supporting her in every possible way. Felicity Keeping, Branch Leader

Breakfast Church & Café Church Breakfast Church is now operating twice per month; for much of 2020 it has been via Zoom with open air services in the church garden when the weather has allowed. Numbers have held up well in this format although we all miss the breakfast and the interaction that was possible in the parish hall before the first lockdown. Café Church has not run since the pandemic began and Jo is considering new ways to draw others into our worshipping community. Jo Northey

Seasonal and Community Services There is an excellent tradition of working together with our fellow churches in Emsworth and for marking significant seasonal occasions in public in Emsworth with services or events.

Sadly, very little of these public services and events were able to happen in 2020. Andrew did say very simple prayers at the Memorial Gardens on 11th November, and a small number of people were there to quietly pay their respects and pray.

The normal Good Friday walk of witness, Easter Sunday sunrise service, St. George’s Day parade, harvest festival and Christmas celebrations were all cancelled this year. As was the civic Remembrance Day service in St. James (although a recorded version of this was distributed).

As part of ’Thy Kingdom Come’ between Ascension Day and Pentecost, Christians from across all our churches joined in prayer each morning via Zoom. Andrew

Prayer Ministry & Healing Services With the restrictions on church opening at various times of the year and given the need for self- distancing and wearing of face coverings, it was considered that this ministry could not continue for the time being. It is hoped to reinstate this ministry in 2021 when COVID restrictions permit. Dennis Chandler

St James' Choir Owing to COVID-19, the choir has not been able to meet regularly since Sunday March 15th, 2020. However, we were very lucky to be able to have two socially distanced choir practices and a fish and chip supper in the church garden in the Autumn and it was wonderful to see everyone and to sing together again. We also sang for the outdoor carol service in December, which went some way towards alleviating the sadness of not being able to participate in any of the Christmas services.

We have kept in touch by email and enjoyed listening to some diverse music, both choral and instrumental via links to YouTube. We have also had fun completing several rounds of a hymn quiz. I hope we will be able to restart in September 2021, or sooner if the guidelines permit.

We are always keen to welcome new members, children (from age 7) and adults of any voice part. No auditions required – please contact Sarah or just come and join us on a Thursday evening at 6.30pm for a trial practice. Sarah Pinnell

St Thomas à Becket Choir Following government guidelines, the choir have not been able to sing together at all since Sunday 15th March 2020 but a few of us were able to see each other briefly at services at St Thomas à Becket during the latter part of 2020. We hope to be able to restart Choir in September 2021, or sooner if the guidelines permit.

In the Summer of 2020, we were sad to say farewell to Esme Chapman, who has played the organ at St Thomas à Becket, supported the choir and faithfully contributed to parish life for the past 40 years. In March 2021, we were sad not to have an opportunity to say goodbye to Jenny Griffith, one of our choir sopranos, who has moved to Leicestershire to be near her family.

As always, we would like to add a plea for new members. We are now woefully short of singers of all parts and the choir will not be able to continue if we do not have some more volunteers to help lead the singing at our services. No audition or requirement to read music is necessary. We practise at 4.30pm on Thursdays, so please just come and join us for a trial if you are interested – we would love to see you! Sarah Pinnell Worship Band St James’ Church Band, in all its various combinations of personnel, has continued to provide invaluable musical support at Family Services and Breakfast Church, both in person for several Sundays when COVID-19 restrictions were lifted slightly in the latter half of 2020 and online in the virtual services. Adrian Lincoln and Chris George have both played live and recorded music for use in the Zoom Services and we are very grateful to them for their continuing support.

We are always keen to welcome new players, so if you think you may be interested in joining us, please contact Sarah. I hope we will be able to play together again soon! Sarah Pinnell

United Choir As reported last year, the United Choir disbanded as numbers were too low to sustain our standards. This was a disappointment after 45 years of providing a presence at our united services with the Methodist church and others. We had hoped to continue with the Good Friday presentation of sacred music, but after 2 rehearsals, this too had to be abandoned for 2020. Sue Ingram

Morning Prayers We first started praying Morning Prayer publicly in the parish in September 2018. The take up has been encouraging from the start. For licensed clergy, my guidelines are that we should join in prayer as a commitment on each day we are working unless something important prevents us.

Following lockdown in March 2020, Morning Prayer switched to Zoom. One of the unexpected blessings of the last year is that this has made it possible for more people to join us in praying and it is now not unusual to have 18-20 people praying each morning at 9am via Zoom.

Whilst it is encouraging to pray with others on Zoom, it is also perfectly possible to follow the pattern of Morning Prayer on your own from home and to know you are joining with others spiritually if not physically. To pray at home you can download the app ‘Daily Prayer’ on your smart phone or tablet, or you can go to it on the internet by searching for Church of England Daily Prayer or this link - https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/join-us-service-daily-prayer

We now pray Morning Prayers, six mornings a week at 9am (not Sundays) and I am delighted to say that a wide variety of people now lead these prayers. For me it is a great source of joy and of encouragement to pray with others from the parish each morning.

During the coming year, I hope this foundation of prayer may grow by others joining us. I think it is likely we will continue to pray together mainly via Zoom. Andrew Sheard

Mission & Life Events

Alpha Two Alpha courses were run during the year. The first was led by Andy Economides and met in the parish office with desserts served instead of a full meal. This course was successful, the film series being particularly enjoyed but was condensed slightly due to impending lockdown in the spring.

The second course ran in the Autumn on Zoom. There was a wealth of training resources provided by Alpha UK as to how to run this course on Zoom. One homegroup from the parish joined the course along with other participants. Even though by then we were all getting used to Zoom, there was a certain amount of screen weariness. Having said that, it did work very well on Zoom and was appreciated by all those who attended. The Holy Spirit Day (again on Zoom) was a moving time. We were unable to serve any food but the bonus of not having to go out on a cold evening may have compensated in part. Pauline Nelson

Mission Support and Awareness Every year the Parish aims to give 10% of its own regular income from planned giving and plate offertories to several Christian mission charities. The sum of £16,952 was made available by the PCC by way of the annual tithe allocation and in accordance with current written policy. The Mission

Committee met in February and agreed initial allocations to the main charities we support with some further allocations made later in the year.

Christian Aid received the sum of £1,000. Sadly, the usual Christian Aid Week in May was unable to take place and there were no additional door to door or church collections made. It currently looks as if Christian Aid week will not be taking place in 2021 either.

£2,600 was donated in total to support the work of Tearfund. Of this £1,000 was allocated to support Tearfund’s work in Nepal; the parish is a Tearfund ‘Connected Church’ with this work carried out through the United Mission to Nepal. £1,000 went to their general fund and a further £600 was allocated to their work in Sudan and South Sudan. The Tearfund ‘Nationwide Big Quiz’ took place on Saturday 14th November 2020 via Zoom. This was reasonably well supported by the parish and the sum of £340 was raised. Grateful thanks to all who attended and a big thank you to Paul Chapman who organised this with Jo Northey (for technical assistance): a successful social and fundraising event, albeit via Zoom. There is hope for a more ‘normal event’ in the parish hall next November and full details will be advertised by Paul later in the year.

£2650 was donated to Open Doors for their work with persecuted Christians of which £650 was specifically allocated for their work in Syria. The Open Doors ‘Worldwide Watch List’ has been issued for 2021 and the top 3 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution are North Korea, Afghanistan and Somalia. Trevor Roth from Open Doors spoke about their work at Breakfast Church. Further information on Open Doors can be obtained from Pat Hales who holds regular prayer meetings. Sadly, there was no Open Doors Garden Party this year but subject to government restrictions an event is being planned for Sunday 27th June 2021.

The parish continued to support the Marylebone Church Army Homeless Women’s’ Project in London with £2,000. Unfortunately, the annual collection and delivery of toiletries and sundry items organised by Gill Edwards has not taken place but a visit is planned when restrictions permit.

There has been continuing support of the distribution of ‘love packs’ organised by St Andrews Church in Cape Town, South Africa (£1,500) where food and toiletries are made available monthly to local HIV and Aids sufferers. Gretta Pescod is regularly in touch and an update on their current difficulties will appear in Running Free shortly.

Other Charities receiving financial support this year included The Soteria Trust (£500) whose office is in Emsworth, The Roberts Centre (£500) supporting children and homeless in Portsmouth, the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (£500) in Thailand, Mosaic Middle East (£300), Mampong Diocese Development Trust (£300), Just One Portsmouth (£300), IDWAL - Portsmouth Diocese Project (£500 ) and Bungkokho Rural Development Centre (£500) where John Harwood remains in contact with the Church Army project in Uganda and receives regular updates.

‘Stamps for Mission’ continues to be organised solely by Bryan Wilson. Thanks must go to all those who purchased the lovely 1st class pictorial stamps for the price of 2nd class with 10% of all purchases made going to churches of Sudan and South Sudan. Bryan is very pleased to report that he sold £2,250 worth of stamps.

As many will be aware, inspired by Captain Tom, Canon John Harwood’s 94 walks for 94 years was an amazing success and John raised more than £15,771 for CMS. John appeared on South Today and despite the COVID restrictions, a good few were there to welcome him to St James on his final walk in

July. CMS CEO, Alistair Bateman and International Director, Paul Thaxter attended and interviewed John, thanking him for his significant fundraising effort. You never cease to amaze us, John. Well done!

The Mission Committee have continued to meet via Zoom and thanks to John Harwood and other Mission Committee members, ‘Mission Matters’ information regularly appears in Running Free.

Mission prayers for our named charities have been appearing (one per month) in the ‘Home Prayers’ section of Running Free. Although funding is important, continued prayer is crucial to our mission support. It goes without saying that it has been an extremely challenging year and there are extreme financial and logistical pressures for all those involved in mission worldwide. Many are struggling with the current situation and lack of resources.

Thanks all to the finance team who have now set up a Dropbox system so that the Mission Committee can keep direct track of monies been paid out.

For any specific questions on mission or the charities supported, please contact Sally Adams on [email protected] or Patricia Williamson. Sally Adams and the Mission Committee

Warblington Teas Sadly, we were unable to offer churchyard teas at St Thomas à Becket during July and August because of COVID 19 restrictions. We will be eagerly watching the progress of the Warblington Building Project that includes renovating the watchman’s hut. This will provide a modern kitchen area with running water which will be greatly appreciated by the many volunteers who, for many years, have had to carry heavy water containers over from the church kitchen! We look forward to serving teas to our summer visitors once again when life returns to normal. Ali Willicombe

Baptisms & Baptism Preparation

Liz Rogers stepped down in 2020 after co-ordinating our baptisms for several years in the parish. She has been the ‘face of the parish’ with many families and has served us wonderfully well in this role for which we are very thankful.

We have had few baptisms this year but there have been some very special ones with one of our Alpha Course and TaB regulars and some of our young people making the vows for themselves both in church and down on the beach. There were 5 at St James and 2 at TaB. Moving forward we will have baptism slots in St James on the 1st and 3rd Sunday each month this year as only one family at a time can come. We will resume at baptisms at St. Thomas à Becket later in the year. Jo Northey

Marriage Preparation One marriage preparation course was held in February 2020. Sadly, many of the couples have had to defer their weddings until 2021 because of lockdown restrictions. A further course has been planned for 2021 but we are surprised to see fewer weddings booked than anticipated. Maybe this is because of uncertainty regarding the way ahead and numbers allowed at present. The team changed in that we said thank you to Lesley Grist who decided it was time to stand down and welcomed Simon and Rosie O’Hea to join us. Two members of our Mothers’ Union branch assisted in serving refreshments and lunch. We used material produced by CARE (Christian Action Research and Education) but are keen to view the new course filmed from HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton) which we have found to be excellent in the past. Pauline and Rob Nelson

Weddings 2020 In 2020 because of government guidelines and restrictions, there was 1 wedding in St James’ Church and 3 weddings in St Thomas à Becket Church. Selena Barber

Funerals 2020 In 2020 there were 4 funerals in St James Church and 29 funerals in St Thomas à Becket Church. Many other funerals were conducted by parish clergy at the local crematoria or in Warblington cemetery. Selena Barber

Finance

Financial Report 2020 The Annual Report for 2020 was independently examined by Hughes Spencer Ltd and approved by the PCC on 24th March 2021. The full report can be found on the parish website and the website of the Charity Commission.

Total unrestricted income in 2020 was £435,000 (£270,000 in 2019). The higher income in 2020 was mostly due to a legacy of £224,000 from Janna Cundall, which more than offset the reduction of £18,000 in general collections and fundraising events that could not be held because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Total unrestricted expenditure was £233,000 (£232,000 in 2019). The Parish Share was biggest part of our expenditure, totalling £153,000 (£152,000 in 2019). Parish Share is the money that each parish contributes to the mission of the church across the diocese and is used to pay for clergy stipends, housing, pensions and training. The General Fund, excluding the legacy, decreased by £20,000 in the year.

During the year, an appeal was launched for the Warblington Project which generated restricted income of £86,000 with expenditure of £11,000 set against it. This money in addition to that already received from outside grants or donations and other promised funds gives confidence for the project to be started in the new year. Overall, the year ended with the balance on all funds of £636K (£326K in 2019).

Our unrestricted reserves funds were £487,000 (£254,000 in 2019) which includes the unrealised gain of £34,000 on the £200,000 investment made from part of the Janna Cundall legacy.

It is intended to review the reserves policy in 2021 to consider the use of longer-term investments rather than bank deposits which are at present not providing sufficient returns. Dan Robinson

General Legacies TOTAL INCOME Income 43% 40%

Appeal 17%

Legacies £225,000, Appeal £88,000 & General £211,000

GENERAL INCOME Parish Hall Other Fees re W &Magazine F Donations Tax Recoverable

Plate Planned Collection Giving

Planned giving £142,000, plate collections £4,000, Gift Aid Recovered £31,000, donations £15,000, hall £6,000, magazine £3,000, fees £6,000 and others £4,000.

EXPENDITURE

Administration Church Magazine Other Maintenance Hall

Church Running Costs

Tithe Diocesan Parish Share

Diocesan Parish Share £153,000, tithe £15,000, church running costs £20,000, church maintenance £14,000, administration £15,000, hall £5,000, magazine £4,000 and others £7,000.

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31st December 2020:

Parish of Warblington with Emsworth Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2020

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment TOTAL FUNDS Funds Funds Funds 2020 2019 Notes £ £ £ £ £ INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS Voluntary income 2a 417,325.83 88,179.33 0.00 505,505.16 239,534.51 Activities for generating funds 2b 7,668.70 203.50 0.00 7,872.20 21,874.74 Income from investments 2c 960.69 229.94 0.00 1,190.63 1,970.72 Church activities 2d 9,066.92 0.00 0.00 9,066.92 12,781.64 Other incoming resources 2e 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 195.00

TOTAL INCOME 435,022.14 88,612.77 0.00 523,634.91 276,356.61 EXPENDITURE Church Activities 3a 227,021.01 14,009.85 0.00 241,030.86 235,486.82 Raising Funds 3b 4,220.92 0.00 0.00 4,220.92 1,158.25 Governance 3c 1,929.00 0.00 0.00 1,929.00 1,661.00

TOTAL EXPENDITURE 233,170.93 14,009.85 0.00 247,180.78 238,306.07

NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) BEFORE TRANSFERS 201,851.21 74,602.92 0.00 276,454.13 38,050.54

TRANSFERS BETWEEN FUNDS 5 (3,000.00) 3,000

NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) BEFORE INVESTMENT GAINS 198,851.21 77,602.92 276,454.13 38,050.54

NET GAINS ON INVESTMENTS Gains on investment assets 6b 34,523.99 (29.82) 34,494.17 25.31

NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS 233,375.20 77,573.10 0.00 310,984.30 38,075.85

TOTAL FUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD AT 1 JANUARY 2020 0 254,161.54 65,612.44 5,885.01 325,658.99 287,583.15

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD AT 31 DECEMBER 2020 487,536.74 143,185.54 5,885.01 636,607.29 325,658.99

Balance Sheet 2020

Parish of Warblington with Emsworth - Balance Sheet at 31 December 2020

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment TOTAL FUNDS Funds Funds Funds 2020 2019 Notes £ £ £ £ £

FIXED ASSETS Investment assets 6b 234,523.99 121.59 234,645.58 151.41 234,523.99 121.59 0.00 234,645.58 151.41 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors and prepayments 7a 4,312.10 11,827.50 0.00 16,139.00 8,000.89 Short term deposits 7b 221,008.56 62,483.34 5,885.01 289,376.91 263,189.31 Cash at the bank and in hand 7c 38,643.16 68,798.21 0.00 107,441.37 61,866.94 263,963.82 143,109.05 5,885.01 412,957.88 333,057.14 LIABILITIES 8 (10,951.07) (45.10) 0.00 (10,996.17) (7,549.56) NET CURRENT ASSETS 253,012.75 65,461.03 5,885.01 401,961.71 325,507.58

487,536.74 143,185.54 5,885.01 636,607.29 325,658.99 TOTAL NET ASSETS

9 PARISH FUNDS Parish General 45,066.17 45,066.17 65,817.86 Parish Hall 6,374.26 6,374.26 7,514.76 16,452.00 16,452.00 16,952.00 Tithe Fund G Shepherd Memorial Fund 12,643.89 12,643.89 13,550.63 M Packe Memorial Fund 59,540.00 59,540.00 59,540.00 J Pilkington Memorial Fund 22,000.00 22,000.00 25,000.00 65,949.61 65,949.61 65,786.29 Warblington Church Rooms (U) Cundall Investment 24,986.82 24,986.82 Warblington 3,233.39 3,233.39 3,215.75 Warblington Fabric 22,512.11 22,512.11 22,211.51 80,625.71 80,625.71 3,000.00 Warblington Appeal Emsworth 1,521.02 1,521.02 1,300.59 Emsworth Fabric 4,563.01 4,563.01 4,550.73 1,396.52 1,396.52 1,390.61 A H Martin Trust Poor 1,299.85 1,299.85 1,294.36 Trustees, 19 Church Path 8,621.29 8,621.29 9,722.50 Warblington Church Rooms (R) 0.00 0.00 16,036.15 16,036.15 19,876.19 Property Refurbishment Fund Rector’s Discretionary Fund 3,254.90 3,254.90 Investments - Appeal 121.59 121.59 151.41 Investments - Cundall 234,523.99 234,523.99 5,885.01 5,885.01 5,885.01 Education

487,536.74 143,185.54 5,885.01 636,607.29 325,658.99

Planned Giving Although the pandemic had a significant effect on plate collections, regular planned giving was largely unaffected, except for the small number who use weekly giving envelopes. Many of these still took the trouble to get their envelopes to the treasurer or switched to another method of giving.

The Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) has now been operating successfully in our parish since spring 2019. At an outdoor socially distanced meeting, the Stewardship Committee decided to write to those who still give by standing order encouraging them to join the PGS. 68 letters were sent out in July 2020 and by the end of the year a further 10 givers had switched to PGS, 4 of whom increased their giving. The majority of our PGS givers have opted for an annual inflationary increase on their giving which helps the parish’s income to keep pace with inflation.

We would like to thank all who give faithfully to God’s work here by whatever means. Colin and Tricia Brotherston

Appendix A

List of Clergy

Clergy & Licensed Ministers

Rev Andrew Sheard (Rector)

Rev Julie Price (Associate Minister)

Rev Jo Northey (Pioneer Minister)

Rev Barbara Hammond (Retired)

Rev John Harwood (Retired)

Rev Bill McCoubrey (Retired)

James Mant (Licensed Minister)

Church Wardens

St Thomas à Becket, Warblington

David Habershon

Miriam Moore (Deputy)

St James, Emsworth

Gill Andrews

Dave Jupp (Deputy)

Dennis Chandler (Deputy)

PCC Membership – 2019/20 The Parish of Warblington with Emsworth comprises the churches of St Thomas à Becket, Warblington and St James, Emsworth. It is part of Havant Deanery in the Diocese of Portsmouth within the Church of England. The PCC is a Registered Charity and our Registration Number is 1128391. PCC members who have served from 1st January 2020 – 31st December 2020 are listed below: Ex Officio Members: Incumbent Rev Andrew Sheard Chairman Associate Minister Rev Julie Price Pioneer Minister Rev Jo Northey Lay Minister Mr James Mant

Deanery Synod Mrs Felicity Keeping Mr James Mant Mr Christopher Morrison Mrs Stephanie Goffin From 14 October 2020 Mrs Jo Lorimer From 14 October 2020 Diocesan Synod Mrs Felicity Keeping

Wardens: Mr David Habershon St Thomas à Becket from 24 April 2019 Mrs Elizabeth Brook St James from 24 April 2019 until 11 June 2020 Mrs Gill Andrews St James from 14 October 2020

Elected Members: St Thomas à Becket Mrs Pamela Bulford * Until 14 October 2020 Mr Edward Hollis Mrs Miriam Moore Deputy Warden Dr Peter Willicombe * Until 14 October 2020 Mrs Barbara Matthews From 14 October 2020 Mr Rodney Stone From 14 October 2020

St James Mr Gordon Braddock Mr Dennis Chandler Mrs Denise Chapman Mrs Gill Edwards From 14 October 2020 Mr Anthony E Harris Until 31 March 2020 Mr David Jupp Deputy Warden Mrs Elizabeth Rogers* Until 14 October 2020 Mrs Ros Stamper From 14 October 2020 Mr Aaron Todd Mr Jon White

Co-opted Members Mr Richard McMillan Hon Treasurer : 24 April 2019 until 18 March 2020 Mr Dan Robinson Hon Treasurer from 18 March 2020 Mrs Clare Jury PCC Minuting Secretary from 24 April 2019

Due to the government restrictions because of the Coronavirus *Mrs Pamela Bulford, *Dr Peter Willicombe and *Mrs Liz Rogers who had been due to stand down in April 2020 agreed to extend their membership until the rescheduled APCM on 14 October 2020.

Appendix B The following list of services were our pattern prior to the COVID 19 pandemic. From March 22nd, 2020, our services went online due to the lockdown. Since then, the service pattern has varied as circumstances have changed. During 2021 we are steadily re-introducing services across both churches. We will evaluate each step and expect to introduce some new opportunities for worship, whilst some previous services may not re-start at all. Standard Sunday Services at St James 2020 1st Sunday 8:00am Holy Communion 10:00am Family Worship 6:30pm Holy Communion with the Methodist

2nd Sunday 10:00am United Service of Holy Communion with the Methodist Church 10:00am Breakfast Church (Parish Hall) 6:30pm Evening Worship in the Emsworth Methodist Church

3rd Sunday 8:00am Holy Communion 10:00am Holy Communion with Children’s Youth Groups 5:00pm Café Church (Parish Hall)

4th Sunday 10:00am Holy Communion with Children’s Youth Groups 10.00am Breakfast Church 6:30pm United Worship in the Emsworth Methodist Church

5th Sunday 8:00am Holy Communion 10:00am Holy Communion 6:30pm United Worship (rotates around churches in Emsworth)

Standard Sunday Services at St Thomas à Becket 1st Sunday 11:00am BCP Matins 12:10pm Holy Communion BCP Shortened

2nd Sunday 8:00am Holy Communion 11:00am BCP Matins

3rd Sunday 11:00am Holy Communion 6:30pm United Evensong

4th Sunday 8:00am Holy Communion 11:00am BCP Matins

5th Sunday 11:00am BCP Matins 12:10pm BCP Holy Communion 36

Appendix C

Values to live by and to shape our parish Who we are is more influential than what we do. We have identified some core values which are important for our life together as a parish. They influence who we are becoming and how we behave. These values hold true across all ages and groups within our churches from the youngest to the oldest.

Inspired Worshippers To worship regularly and wholeheartedly, by offering ourselves to God in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Prayerful Disciples To seek through prayer and Bible study a deepening relationship with God through Jesus Christ, bringing healing and peace.

Loving Community To be a community loving and caring for one another in tangible ways with the love God gives us.

Welcoming and Inclusive To welcome all newcomers and strangers with the understanding that God loves all people.

Learning and Growing in Groups To encourage learning from the bible and discipleship in small groups (and other contexts) that offer mutual support.

Willing Servants To understand that each one of us is called to use our gifts in the service of God, one another and the wider community.

Faithful Witnesses To share with others God’s message of love through our words and our actions.

Wise and Thankful Stewards To identify and generate the necessary resources to help achieve our vision in gratitude to God, and to play our part in caring for God’s beautiful world.

A Family of all ages To recognise that we are all God’s children and so a family of all ages living together and honouring one another.