Walmer Parish Churches
St Mary, St Saviour
and Blessed Mary of Walmer
Open lives, open hands, open churches
ANNUAL REPORT
and
ACCOUNTS
2017
(Walmer Parish Churches is a registered charity – no. 1128470)
The Parochial Church Council
of the
Ecclesiastical Parish
of
Walmer St. Mary w St. Saviour
(Reg. No. 1128470)
Annual Report
and
Financial Statements
of
Walmer Parochial Church Council
For the year ended 31 December 2017
Vicar:
The Rev’d. Seth Cooper
Elizabeth House
32 St. Mary’s Road
Walmer
Deal
CT14 7QA
Banks:
National Westminster Bank Plc
31 High Street
Deal
CT14 6EW
CCLA Investment Management Ltd.
The CBF Church of England Deposit Fund
85 Queen Victoria Street
London EC4V 4ET
Independent Examiners:
Spain Brothers & Co.
Westgate House
87 St Dunstan’s Street
Canterbury
CT2 8AE
Walmer St. Mary w St. Saviour – Annual Report for 2017
Administrative information
St Mary’s Church is situated on St. Clare Road, Walmer; St Saviour’s Church is situated on The Strand, Walmer; The Blessed Mary of Walmer church is situated on Church Street, Walmer. It is part of the Diocese of Canterbury within the Church of England. The correspondence address is The Parish Office, Elizabeth House, 32 St. Mary’s Road, Walmer, DEAL. CT14 7QA
The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Walmer St Mary w St Saviour was registered as a charity with the Charity Commission on 10th March 2009. The working name of this Charity is ‘Walmer PCC’. Walmer PCC was constituted under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure (1956) which came into effect on 2nd January 1957.
Walmer PCC members, who are Trustees, are elected at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting and those who served during 2017 were:
Incumbent: The Revd Seth William CooperChairman
Curate: The Revd Chris Maclean
Wardens: Mrs Mavis Stevenson
Mr Jerry Swallow
Deputy Wardens: Mr Nick Nettleship
Mr Richard Harris
Mrs Susan Case
Representatives on the Mr Jeremy Daniel
Deanery Synod: Mr Paul Henderson
Mr Kasim Sheikh
Mr John Featherstone
Elected members: Mr Christopher FlintTreasurer
Mr Leslie Aldridge
Mr Howard Binsted
Mrs Patricia Binsted
Mr Victor Coldwell
Miss Monica Hawkins
Mr Tim Sharp
Mr Michael Webb
Mr Gerald Williams
Mrs Janet Stephenson
Mrs Lesley Smith
Mr Jack Roberts
Mrs Tina Roberts
Structure, governance and management
The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. All Church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.
The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are spent. To this end the Trustees are given an introductory booklet, ‘Trusteeship – An introduction for PCC Members’, produced by The Archbishop’s Council.
Given its wide responsibilities the PCC has a number of committees each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. These committees are all responsible to the PCC and report back to it regularly. Their deliberations are received by the full PCC and discussed as necessary.
Objectives and Activities
Walmer PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, the Rev’d Seth Cooper, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It also has maintenance responsibility for the three Churches, Parish Hall and Parish Office.
Financial Review
The financial statements have been prepared under the Financial Reporting Standards FRS 102 (2016) as the applicable accounting standards and the 2016 version of the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP). The PCC has adopted SORP (FRS 102) in the current year and an explanation of how transition to SORP (FRS 102) has affected the reported financial position and performance is given in Note 19.
Total receipts on unrestricted funds were £138,110, of which £84,185 was unrestricted planned voluntary donations and includes £11,898 from Gift Aid. Restricted grants and donations of £17,001 were also received, the majority of which contributed towards the major structural repairs to St. Mary’s church tower, and details are shown in the financial statements.
The planned giving through envelopes and banker’s orders fell from £57,714 to £53,286 and there was a decrease in the use of Gift Aid from £19,921 to £12,059.
£150,588 of unrestricted funds was spent to provide the Christian ministry from Walmer Parish churches, including our contribution to the diocesan parish share that increased by 6% in the year to £85,366 and which largely provides the stipends and pensions and housing for the clergy. The sum that the churches in the deanery have to find is shared between the churches according to an agreed formula.
Net movement in funds on unrestricted funds was an overspend of £12,478. There was a reduction on restricted funds of £12,980 due in part to a falling off of donations to the Tower Appeal. During the year, total fund balances decreased from £226,268 to £201,133, of which £157,725 is unrestricted.
Reserves Policy
The PCC attempts to maintain an adequate balance in its unrestricted funds for the purpose of properly maintaining its various properties. The cost of repairs to the Parish Hall and other properties has meant this balance has not yet been restored.
It is our policy to invest our funds balances with the CBF Church of England Deposit Fund.
Public Benefit
The Trustees have complied with the duty on section 4 of the Charities Act to have due regards to guidance published by the Charities Commission, including public benefit guidance.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in notes to the accounts and comply with the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities / Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland published on 16 July 2014.
Review of the year and PCC business 2017
Open lives, open hands, open churches
You may be excused for thinking that these reports can simply become a list of ‘thank yous’ to the many people who do so much for the life of our churches year in, year out – and so they should be!
Let’s start by saying thank you to YOU! It’s likely that if you are reading this, you have in some way contributed to the life, mission and ministry of our churches over the last year and that contribution, is much valued and appreciated. There is no way that a few words of thanks can really express how important the part that everyone plays in our Christian witness is, but, words are all we have so, THANK YOU.
Looking through our church magazines for 2017 to get flavour of church for the year I think the following gives an idea of the range and activity of our life together.
Early in the year our curate, Chris Maclean, and his wife Melanie, left us to become Rector of Lydd. Chris’s ministry had grown and developed in his 3 and a-half years with us and he, and Melanie, had very much become part of things; so their leaving left a significant ‘hole’ in our shared life together. I’m glad to say that they are flourishing in Lydd and I hope and pray that our encouragement of Chris in the early years of his ministry will continue to be valuable to him in years to come.
However, God provides…. as soon as Chris left so Malcolm Sawyer, parish Reader, moved in to the area and has become part of St Mary’s joining with the ministry team in the parish. Malcolm has been a Reader in the church for many decades in various parishes as his work with the police moved him around. His experience and dedication will be an asset to our parish (and to the wider deanery) for years to come. Please do keep Malcolm and Sally in your prayers.
Our ministry team is enhanced by the hard work of our Authorised Lay Ministers, Julia Cox and Paul Henderson, and by the help of retired clergy – Frank Kent, Christopher Dent, Julia Hedley, and Dave Warren who celebrated for the last time at Michaelmas deciding not to renew his PTO – thank you Dave for your many years of priesthood in the church both here and in London. Our volunteer worship leaders, Jennie Cooper, Kasim Sheikh, and Jane Lopacka complete a strong ministry team.
In time this team will be added to as Walmer joins with the new parish of Cornilo. Throughout the early part of 2017 there were consultations to create a new benefice from the parishes of Kingsdown, Ripple, Ringwould, and Sutton (to become the parish of the Cornilo churches) and Walmer. The new benefice will come in to effect on 1st March 2018. A new Associate Priest will be appointed to oversee most of the mission and ministry of Cornilo and the benefice team of ministers will grow with the addition of existing Cornilo ALMs John Gray and Anne Ford, and retired priest John Winn. Your prayers for this partnership would be very much appreciated.
The practical life of our churches is mentioned in other reports but we do need to pay tribute to those who worked so hard on the St Mary’s Save the Tower campaign. In mid-2016 the possibility of raising £40,000 and completing a significant amount of work on St Mary’s tower seemed a remote possibility. However, guided by the energetic enthusiasm of Jerry Swallow the team completed the whole project by late spring 2017, an amazing feat. Thank you to all involved.
Much of the blessing around raising funds for the Tower appeal was the tremendous response of the local community – it shows how much appreciated the existence of the local church is even if, for many, regular attendance or involvement is harder to achieve. This is amplified by the many groups that are now regularly using St Mary’s church for concerts – including The Handelians, the White Cliffs Symphonic, and the Deal Festival – it’s a privilege to welcome high quality performers to the churches. These links were affirmed by the tremendous success of our well attended Christmas Market organised by Tina Roberts and many helpers – thank you so much.
Another aspect of those community links was expressed in August when we joined with others from the parish and around the world (!) for the rededication of the Hawkshill Memorial, to airmen who lost their lives at Walmer’s First World War airfield. The event was organised the Walmer Parish Council and hosted by the Lord Warden. Our parish choir sang at the service and members of the churches were involved in various ways – not least John Clapson who led the procession as crucifer.
Our church links go much wider than the local community as well. In 2017 we confirmed our long-standing relationship with Bishop Todd and Rev’d Patsy MacGregor of Toliara in Madagascar, and signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the newly built St Patrick’s cathedral. This commits us to pray for one another, keep in contact, and to support each other as Christian disciples.
Of course, all of this serves the ministry of our churches to be God’s disciples each and every day. We express that ministry in our ‘strap-line’, Open lives, open hands, open churches’ our willingness to love God in prayer and worship, to love our neighbour in service and ministry, and to encourage others to explore their faith with us on the Christian pilgrimage.
In 2017 we have continued that pilgrimage by studying together – not least during our Lent course, Not a Tame Lion by Hilary Brand based on the Narnia tales of C S Lewis. We also had a number of people who wished to explore their faith more deeply through Alpha and in September, we were joined by Bishop Trevor Willmott both to confirm some of those and to give thanks for our tower appeal. Special services like these help to enhance our worship life and we were again to be blessed with such an event when our own Johann Schneider, Lutheran priest, preached and celebrated at a service for the Quincentenary of the Reformation in October.
Our memories of 2017 are also tinged with the sadness as we remember the many kind and faithful people who have been such an important part of our parish and have now died, receiving their reward in the eternal kingdom. Among them, Joan Bush, Elizabeth Marsh, Edna Griffiths, Jim Preece, Jim West, Jeanne Ruddick, Elizabeth Cook, Bill Ward, Patricia Peasgood, Marion Satterley, Buffy Irwin, Lew Harris, Joan Westall. May they rest in peace. As well as those who have moved on to a ‘higher’ place, some have simply moved away and it wouldn’t be possible to write this report without mentioning Pam & Gerald Williams who, for over fifty years have been loyal attenders, avid supporters, and faithful pilgrims of St Mary’s. We wish them every happiness in their new life in Devon.
I feel privileged (and rather overawed) as I read through all of this again – this is only a cross-section, a snapshot, of everything that makes up our Christian life together. I know that I couldn’t do it unless it was all done in God’s strength and, also, with the support, love and encouragement of my family. Without Jennie, Josh and Mollie my earthly strength would soon be sapped. Thank you team Cooper….; likewise I am ably supported by Elaine in the office and her help is invaluable.
And so thank you again to each and every one of you who choose to serve God through the ministry and mission of Walmer Parish Churches.
with every blessing.
The Rev’d Seth Cooper – February 2018
PCC business 2017
The new PCC was formed at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting on the 24th April. A list of members appears elsewhere in this Annual Report. The PCC met 6 times during the year. All meetings were well attended. Notes of the PCC are published regularly in our parish magazine Church News and approved copies of the minutes are available for inspection at the back of churches. The report above, in effect, forms a summary of the PCCs business.
February 2018
Churchwarden’s Report for APCM 2018 – St Mary’s and Blessed Mary of Walmer
St Mary’s
- Repairs to the tower roof were completed by Colman’s and the certificate of completion issued on 13/07/17 by Katharine Rutherford. The louvers on the liturgical north side of the tower were replaced with seasoned oak as the originals were found to be rotten and removed to access the top of the tower via scaffolding. No further unexpected expenditure was incurred.
- The fundraising efforts yielded a sum well in excess of the amount required. Hence this will be used for further repairs as necessary to the church, kept in a specific account by the treasurer.
- New bell wheels were installed to the upper bells and all steel clappers, bolts and nuts were painted with Hammerite to prevent rusting.
- Relevant safety signs regarding trip hazards and assembly areas were put up at St Mary’s, BMW and St Saviours.
- Permission has been granted to repair the plaster work around several windows reveals on the liturgical south, west and north sides. The work is scheduled for April/May.
- The surface to the driveway nearest Clare road, some 40 square metres, was replaced with new asphalt to a depth of 6mm.
Blessed Mary of Walmer
September – Colman’s Contractors replaced some 300 missing or loose roof tiles mostly on the south side. However the battens on the north side were found rotten. A rough estimate for the replacement of tiles and battens is £15000 +VAT. This repair will be carried in conjunction with the publicity for the 900th anniversary of the building in 2020.
Churchwarden’s Report - St Saviour's
It is mentioned elsewhere in the report that both churches have lost a number of faithful and much loved members of the congregation. St Saviour's has managed to attract several new people who attend on a regular basis, so there has been a slight and encouraging increase in numbers attending services.
Evensong continues on 3rd and 5th Sundays. To Chris and St Mary's choir we say "Thank you for the music".
The path on the York Road side of the church has been patched and essential interior repairs will be carried out in the coming months. The bell tower roof needs refurbishment and quotes for the work are being sought.
Annual Report from the Plant Committee
Parish Hall
The hall is in good decorative order internally and has been well used in the last twelve months. Work has been competed on the external fascia boards.
The improvements to the heating system has been very effective and considerably reduced our electricity bills. We have accepted an estimate for a new lighting system at the hall and all being well this will completed early in 2018.