Annual church meeting 2014

Annual Church Meeting 2014 30th April 2014

Contents Agenda ..................................................................................................................................... 2

Message from Jonathan..................................................................................................... 3

Looking Back .................................................................................................................... 3

New developments and extension in mission ............................................... 3 Consolidation............................................................................................................... 5

Networks – Joanna Seabourne ............................................................................. 6

Official Reports ..................................................................................................................... 8

Fabric and Buildings...................................................................................................... 8 A Summary of Work Undertaken in 2013 ....................................................... 8 Annual Maintenance ................................................................................................. 9

Proposed work for 2014 ......................................................................................... 9

Headingley Deanery Synod ..................................................................................... 10

Community Church Report...................................................................................... 12 St George’s Crypt.......................................................................................................... 14

Minutes of St George’s ACM - 2013 ........................................................................... 16

Agenda 7.20 7.40 8.00

Opening Worship Looking Back and Looking Forward - Jonathan Clark Approval of Tellers

PARISHIONERS’ MEETING 1.

Approval of Minutes of last Parishioners’ meeting 2.

Election of Churchwardens (i) Nominated as Churchwardens –Philip Sykes, David Kibble (ii) Nominated as Deputy Warden – Lindsey Pallant (iii) Community Church - no nominations

STANDING ITEMS 1.

Approval of Minutes of the 2013 meeting 2.

Matters arising from the Minutes 3.

Elections (i) to the Church Council – 1 vacancy (ii) to the Deanery Synod – 4 vacancies All the candidates will introduce themselves 4.

Announcement of District Church Council Members 5.

Fabric Report (in booklet)

FINANCE REPORT - Alastair Smith Approval of the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2013 Q’s & A’s on finance matters

GENERAL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Jonathan is happy to receive questions. You might like to email these to him in advance of the meeting – acm@stgeorgesleeds.org.uk AOB 9.30

CLOSING PRAYER

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Message from Jonathan Welcome to our ACM report, which gives us a brief overview of our ministries and activities in the last 12 months.

I want to thank all of you who play a part in the life of St George’s and in being part of showing God’s love to Leeds in many and varied ways.

Thank you for giving your time, thought, talents, financial support, energy, prayers and commitment, it wouldn’t happen without you.

I hope the following reports give a brief outline of what has been happening in the life of St George’s but if you have any questions do contact the relevant leader, or ask me about it.

At the ACM Joanna and I will take some time to answer any questions you have; it would be great if you could send them in advance of the meeting to help us answer them as best as possible.

Email your questions to: acm@stgeorgesleeds.org.uk

Looking Back

New developments and extension in mission More Networks are discovering a sense of missional purpose in different ways. One Network has taken on the Monday evening English classes; another is involved in the local Food Bank, Christians Against Poverty, and taking services and bible studies in a care home.

We had one of the best ever Alpha courses in the Autumn term, under the leadership of Jon Swales, Hannah Robb and Lisa Woodlock. Attendance remained high to the end.

In December 18 people were baptised or re-affirmed their vows. There was a wonderful cross section of people, which was an answer to specific prayer.

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The Lighthouse Network was launched by a strong team in January, ‘doing church’ in the Crypt from 1-3pm on Sundays and running a midweek discipleship group.

Outreach to international students and partnership with Phil Thomas and Transformations Leeds is continuing to flourish.

The PCC completed work on a 7-point Mission Action Plan, and we identified the priority of making whole-life disciples; through our weekly Sunday teaching, Networks/Small Groups and monthly School of Theology seminars.

Jonathan and Mark have joined a new Anglican Church Planting Team for Leeds, working with the Archdeacon, Alistair Kaye (St Lukes, Holbeck) and James Barnett (Riverside). We are working on a new strategy for Leeds.

We commissioned a team of 10 to work with Joanna at St Augustine’s, Wrangthorn, and there is encouraging growth. We are also in the process of agreeing a Mission Partnership to clarify expectations.

St Barnabas Theological Centre was launched in September and is training 6 ordinands, including Jimmy Lawrence and Chris Sayburn. Mark Powley now spends 60% of his time leading this exciting project, and Jon Swales is part of the teaching staff.

Instead of a February “Gospel according to” event in church, we have just hosted a Jazz Night in the Church Centre leading into a Summer Alpha course (starts April 30th).

We have run two Saturday morning welcome events which have enabled new people to find out more about St George’s and get connected to Networks.

We are beginning to grow again: the Adult Worshiping Community is up to 404 (2013:396) and average Sunday attendance is steady at 515 people per Sunday (508 in Jan-March 2013; in 2009 we peaked at an average of 531) 4

Consolidation The Church Centre continues to grow its business which has helped us financially and we have achieved our objective to break-even over the three year period of 2011-13.

We have held the same overall level of staffing and have restructured a number of the ways we work including increased use of volunteers.

We followed through in rolling out the Academy of Life, School of Theology Bible Track and practical teaching on pastoral care and relationships with Joanna Seabourne, as well as looking at same-sex attraction with Sean Doherty.

We have a new 10:30 service team: Jonathan Clark, Jon Swales, Mark Pallant and Dan Hebden.

Pastoral Care continues to be strong through Small Groups and the visiting of John Walker, with the coordination of Janet Gibson, using the gifts of many people.

Community Church has decided to meet just once a month, for ‘Meet and Eat’.

We have updated and implemented areas of policy including Safeguarding and Health and Safety policy.

We are in the process of setting up a Volunteers Coordinating Team.

At the last ACM I said our overall goals were: • • •

Building a strong centre Growing again Impacting Leeds

By the grace of God we can say that we have made progress on all 3.

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Networks – Joanna Seabourne Over the last few years we have been on a journey of establishing Networks that enable more and more people to feel connected to St George’s; to have a place where they can be known and a community that resources and enables them to reach out to Love Leeds and beyond.

Our Networks are all at different stages with different needs, meaning that they have evolved in various ways and at different paces. At times it has felt messy and confusing – but that’s life! New Networks for young adults have started and grown rapidly as people new to the city or recent graduates seek to build friendships and grow as disciples.

Our Networks for children, young people and students have all grown over the last year; enabled by an amazing team of volunteers. Networks like North East Leeds and Home and Away have committed to reaching out in mission in creative ways: supporting the work of Christians against Poverty, ministering at a local care home and serving at our English classes which now regularly see over 60 people attending each week.

Other long-established small groups have grown and, like other Networks, are holding regular social events to invite a wider group of people, working out ways to serve their areas and their families and friends.

Other ways to connect such as the Walking Group have provided ways for people to get to know others and connect to Networks and small groups.

Our Networks have had weekends away together, reached out to many people across our city to share the Gospel, have listened to, prayed for and supported mission partners, hosted meals and events, have supported one another pastorally, have served as welcomers at our services and big events and have blessed one another as they’ve shared life and loved Leeds.

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A big thank you to all those who lead our Networks giving time, energy and prayer to support our vision. We pray that over the next year our Networks will continue to grow in number, diversity, welcome, and in passion for mission as we live bold lives rooted in Jesus Christ.

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Official Reports Fabric and Buildings A Summary of Work Undertaken in 2013 Church Building • Solar panels were installed on the roof • A new water heater to feed the washrooms was installed • A new telephone system was installed • Some redecoration was carried out – Entrance Lobby, Foyer & Community Room • New desks were purchased for some of the offices

46 Vesper Lane • A new bathroom suite was installed • Part-retiling was done in the bathroom • Carpets were replaced in the hall, staircase, landing and lounge • 7 windows were re-glazed • The whole house was decorated • A new back door was installed • The external wall was re-pointed • The drains were repaired • The conifer trees were removed

22 Hanover Square • No major work was carried out on the house, just ongoing repairs Church Centre • No major building work was carried out in 2013.

• The room previously used as a youth office was transformed into a Board Room. An eighteen-seat table and eighteen chairs were purchased 8

Marlbrough Grange • Two bedroom carpets were replaced

Annual Maintenance

Annual maintenance of the fire alarm system, fire extinguishers and clock took place.

Maintenance and inspection of the heating systems and intruder alarms in all Church-owned properties were carried out.

Proposed work for 2014

Church • Refurnishing of the Community Room • Signage at front of church • Repair of vestry roof • Re-pointing and filling in/levelling of church steps • Repair of handrail on church steps • Install new LED bulbs and replace faulty bulb holders in Foyer • Installation of new fuse box Vesper Lane • Garden work and replacing fence • Replace front cladding • Pointing work on side wall

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Headingley Deanery Synod There have been three meetings of the Deanery Synod this year.

At the June meeting, Mrs Liz Williams spoke on “The Change Before Us”.

She unpacked the proposal to amalgamate the three Dioceses of Ripon and Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford, explaining how the proposed change might affect the churches.

A DVD was introduced by Bishop John, explaining in more detail how change might affect parish life in different ways. “Communication” was identified as a key strategy to effective change. Bishop John concluded in reminding members that their Christian lives grow and change but God’s love remains constant.

The October meeting included a report by Rev’d Jonathan Clark from the July General Synod. He described the discussions about preparing for the debate on Women Bishops which gave an opportunity to air issues and concerns and acknowledge the different views represented. Jonathan also reported on the setting up of the newly formed Diocese of Leeds, West Yorkshire and the Dales.

During a time of reflection, Bishop James encouraged members to think about their personal identity and what was most important to each person. He then used the same exercise in relation to members’ churches, asking how they appear to visitors and what were their strengths and weaknesses.

The meeting in March commenced with a report by Nigel Greenwood from the February meeting of General Synod. The new Diocese was to be named the “Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales”. He then described the debate on Women Bishops and reported that as the Episcopal Ministry Act of 1993 had been rescinded, the next stage in the legislation was to go to the Dioceses for approval. Subject to majority approval, the legislation would then go to Parliament.

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There followed a presentation by Karin Shaw on the “Fresh Expressions” movement, which she described as “a form of church for our changing culture”. To share in and understand this modern initiative, the Diocese is hosting a “Day Out” in Harrogate on 14th June. Further information can be obtained from www.visionformission.info Richard Dimery then presented a paper on “the future of the Deaneries”.

In this he discussed new ways of shaping Deaneries to make them a “forum for interactive leadership, to enable the flourishing of ministry and mission in the Parishes”. He said Synods had a weak inherited model which led to lack of clarity of purpose and his paper set out to address this and move forward.

Judith Jackson, Michelle Plant Deanery Synod Representatives

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Community Church Report This has been a varied year. We began with again a new secretary, Sallie Bannatyne. We would like to thank Sallie for her efforts this year even though she has been unable to attend the meetings because of illness.

Thank you to all the people who have stood in for Sallie and done the minutes in her place.

We had a wonderful weekend away at Green Gables in Scarborough. We really missed Barry and Sue Smith because Barry was in hospital with appendicitis, but everyone pulled together to make a good weekend. I would like to thank Joyce Illingworth for her efforts in organizing the programme and her new interesting liturgies. Joyce ran another one of her thought provoking Bible studies. Everyone had a good time. Thanks to those who helped organise and all who took part in the weekend.

Community Choir has been going over a year now and seems to be thriving. There are plans ahead to have another concert. Community Church agreed to support the choir financially and a few of us have joined.

There have been a few concerts where the choir sang.

This year we had a couple of film matinees. The one near Christmas was “Nativity” which was really funny. The other was called “the Grand Marigold Hotel” which was also funny. We had about twenty people at each showing.

In October we had our Harvest Supper and Paul Clegg came, once again, to entertain us with his singing. At Christmas we sang Christmas Carols outside in the Marlboroughs. Thank you to the people who attended, sang with us and shared refreshments afterwards. In March we had our usual Pancake Party.

Thank you to the people who gave out the fliers for and ran these events.

Community Church has a weekly collection for St George’s Crypt and although there are only a small number of us this year we have again donated over £500 to the Crypt. This is greatly appreciated.

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Jonathan Clark and Stuart Roberts have both been attending the DCC meetings this year, trying to find a solution to the running of Community Church when I stand down as deputy church warden. Some proposals were put forward for the future of Community Church but none of them seemed right. However Sheila and Sue both thought of returning to the pattern that we had at the beginning, where we meet once a month for Meet and Eat, and this was agreed. This is on the first Sunday of the month and until such times as we have someone to organize the services, this will be our programme.

Sylvester was 80 this year and we all enjoyed his party. However Lurlene, another member of our church, has been poorly this last year and eventually, I am sorry to say, she passed away. She will be sadly missed.

I would like to say a big thank you to the members of the DCC for their help in the running of Community Church. I would also like to thank the whole of Community Church for their encouragement and faithfulness in making our church plant one of the longest standing in the country.

Ann McKenna Page Church warden for Community Church

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St George’s Crypt We are pleased to say that the charity has managed to ride the storm of the recession against all the odds. We have taken on more work with individuals due to benefit sanctions and the overall fallout from changes in the benefit structure, but, because we always manage to have at least 45% of our income from charitable giving, we delivered a service where others have failed.

Our biggest venture in the past year has been to develop a pathway for the residents of Faith Lodge to access similar therapy to Spacious Places, but with a definite “Crypt” twist. We have moved away from total classbased learning and introduced a two way learning / hard work split. This enables those who are on the periphery of recovery to access therapy without a total 5 day commitment. This is called the Growing Rooms and is hailed a success with at least 50% of the residents attending and succeeding. This is in partnership with Spacious Places and is working well.

The second venture is to grow our business within our NURTURE Company. We have, within the last year, opened the café in Trinity Church and this is proving to be a huge success with a great customer base growing week on week.

Our continued working with HMP Askham Grange in facilitating training and employment opportunities within NURTURE has also been a great success and at present we have employed 8 ex-offenders.

Our retail continues to do well and we are currently exploring the potential for a third shop to expand training opportunities and an extra income stream for the Crypt, independent of contracts.

We have introduced the “HUB” which is a complementary service to our Overnights, effectually tripling our bed spaces in order to “sweep up” those affected by benefit changes, as well as changes in accommodation and the generic homeless. This is in partnership with Leeds City Council and they, in turn, send members of staff to the Crypt on a daily basis to assess and find homes through their housing options department.

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We have also worked a partnership between the NHS and ourselves to create the HALP system (homeless accommodation Leeds pathway). This allows the hospitals to discharge into our service those who are homeless yet needing clinical care. This care is provided by the NHS, thus freeing up the beds at great savings for the city. This has just been re-commissioned for the next year.

We are now currently in the process of exploring the possibility of building, in partnership with St Hilda’s Cross Green, a block of 23 flats which will be let to those who are in great need of quality accommodation at a decent price with appropriate support. This is an experimental model which, if successful, we intend to roll out city wide. This is all new to the charity and is a great learning opportunity for everyone.

We continue to spread our help across the city in helping many foodbanks, and facilitated the return of Fareshare into Leeds following their departure 5 years ago. This is a huge aid to all agencies within the food producing network in supplying greater and more regular food supplies.

We continue to be a forward member of FAN (Food Aid Network) and facilitated a meeting of 30 agencies at the Town Hall in order to ensure no one goes hungry in Leeds.

We are still in negotiations with the Church regarding a lease which will help with our bidding and applications to funding streams.

Chris Fields CEO – St George’s Crypt

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Minutes of St George’s ACM - 2013 Wednesday 24 April 2013

The meeting opened with worship 1.0

LOOKING BACK

Jonathan Clark

Jonathan referred to a recent letter to the congregation in which he had outlined all that had been done through the previous year. He thanked all members of staff, Interns and volunteers for their contribution to the work of the church.

LOOKING FORWARD – Jonathan referred to three main areas of work for the next year:

1.

2.

3.

building a strong centre growing again impacting Leeds

1.1

Consolidation of the 1030 service – with (i) better liturgy, holy communion, integration of hymns old and new; (ii) better integration of children/teenagers; (iii) a new team in charge: Jonathan, Jon, Chris, Mark Pallant; (iv) planning a term ahead.

1.

1.2

1.3

(i)

BUILDING A STRONG CENTRE through:

Discipleship training by continuing to teach Academy of life - and adding 7 practical discipleship seminars, teaching on Relationships/Singleness/Same-Sex Attraction/How to Pray for people/how to discover your Gifts.

Networks growing- This is a key challenge as we need different kinds of groups/networks for all the different kinds of people/cultures that gather in a modern city like Leeds. We plan to:

Hold Saturday morning Welcome Events to find out more about St George's.

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(ii)

Train our welcome teams- to recommend particular networks.

(i)

Led by an Iranian pastor, Mojtaba, alongside Jonathan Beatham.

Managed by Jonathan Clark. Motjaba is supported financially by ELAM.

1.4

1.5 1.6

FARSI GROUP

Community Church- time for change, or, eventually, closure.

Jonathan is meeting with the DCC regularly.

Strengthen Participation by identifying work- that skilled volunteers could take on and by appointing a volunteers’ coordinator.

2.0

GROWING THE CHURCH AGAIN by:

2.1

Becoming a church planting movement.

(i)

We want to see Riverside and St Augustine’s grow. The partnership with St Augustine’s is based on working as one team.

(ii)

(iii)

Work with the Bishops to church plant as opportunities arise – this could mean 25-30 people from St George's moving to an Anglican church that has fallen on hard times but has great potential for growth.

Encourage new leaders to church plant, particularly through St Barnabas Theological Centre.

For this to work, we need to grow the church by 5% over the next 2 years.

2.2

IMPACTING LEEDS- THROUGH WORKING IN PARTNERSHIPS:

2.2.1

Church Planting partnership, working with the Diocese and other church planters.

2.2.2

Partnerships in prayer through a termly Strategic Leaders’ Prayer meeting and working with other church leaders to bring all the 17

2.0

Christians of Leeds- from many different denominations- together to pray.

3.0

John Betts, Graeme Collins, Penny Darragh, Ann McKenna, Che Seabourne and Jane Woodhead were approved as Tellers.

3.1

Minutes of the 2012 meeting were approved as a correct record.

3.2

Richard Smithells was thanked for his 3 years as churchwarden, with particular reference to his practical skills and hospitality.

APPROVAL OF TELLERS

PARISHIONERS MEETING

Election of Churchwardens

3.3 3.4

4.0 4.1

There being no other candidates, Lynne Fox and Philip Sykes were approved as Churchwardens and David Kibble as Deputy Churchwarden.

Ann McKenna was approved as Churchwarden for Community Church.

STANDING ITEMS

4.2

Approval of Minutes of the 2012 meeting - approved as a correct record.

4.3

Elections to the Church Council

(i)

Matters arising from the Minutes – none.

Jonathan Clark thanked Andy Bray, Graeme Collins, Luke Jackson, Ros Kendall, Andy Smithells and Candida Winteler who has stepped down after their term of office.

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(ii)

4.4

There were seven nominations for seven places. No further nominations were received at the meeting so all seven were appointed to the Church Council – Chris Baxfield, Richard Fox, Ruth Gilfillan, Brian Haith, Philip Lancaster, Hilary Vinall, Ann Weir.

4.5

There were no nominations for the one place on Deanery Synod.

4.6

Elections to the Deanery Synod

District Church Council Members

Sallie Bannatyne; Roy and Sheila Foster; Sylvester Johnson; Ann McKenna, Margaret Saint; Barry and Sue Smith;

5.0

Fabric Report- circulated.

5.1

Alastair highlighted 6 key facts

5.1.1 5.1.2

5.1.3

5.1.4

FINANCE REPORT

Alastair Smith

Church finances

Unrestricted income was £480K which included the 2012 Vision Appeal, rental income, a legacy of £10K and investment income of £9K. Restricted income amounted to £17K.

Unrestricted expenditure amounted to £563K and restricted expenditure of £17K.

73% of expenditure was spent on people; 7% on ministries, 4% on Admin and 16% on the Parish Share.

5.2

Church Centre finances

5.2.1

Although the key aim of the Church Centre is to support the Christian ministry of the church, it is also an important source of income to the church.

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5.2.2 5.2.3

The Church Centre is an excellent conference venue with a great team and provided value for money.

5.3

The first 9 months of 2012 saw a downturn in rental income due to the recession. A marketing strategy was implemented and the last quarter saw a real upturn in business.

5.4

At the end of the year, there was a deficit of £7K.

Provision for the future

5.4.1

The finance committee will be seeking to balance the budget for 2013.

5.4.2 5.4.3 5.4.4

5.4.5

Overall picture

The Annual appeal of the last 3 years has highlighted a different way of giving for some member of the congregation and will probably need to be sustained.

The Appeal is a realistic way of raising money but is only good if the pledges are honoured. There is always some leakage as people move away and situations change.

The Finance Committee will be looking at future capital expenditure spending. We currently have unrestricted Reserves of £1.2million. 50% of this lies in properties and equipment; £46K is in maintenance; £37K is for depreciation. We need to look at a 10 year capital and maintenance plan.

Restricted Reserves/Funds are made up of money given for specific purposes. One such fund was the Community Church Appeal for a building for Community Church. This did not materialise and the Church Commissioners had recently approved a scheme whereby the PCC could decide what to do with the remaining money, some of which has been returned to the original donors at their request.

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5.5

Key Challenges

5.5.1

These include a shifting workforce and congregation; providing an operational cost base to cover the salaries and expenses of a large team; maintaining our buildings and replacing equipment.

5.5.2

5.6

Alastair responded to a specific question on the way in which local mission/outreach is shown in the accounts. This is partly covered through the different ministries and by regular donations to local mission partners.

Alastair thanked the congregation for their contributions, the Staff Team for working to their budgets and the Treasury Team for their input over the year. He then proposed ‘that the ACM adopt the accounts for the year 2012’ Proposed by Alastair Smith

6.0

Seconded by Hilary Vinall

The proposal was accepted unanimously.

GENERAL QUESTIONS/THREATS/CHALLENGES Jonathan Clark

Some questions had been sent to Jonathan in advance of the meeting and he replied to them and to further questions from the floor.

Threats 6.1

6.2

(i)

Jonathan could suffer an accident which would put the other clergy members under intense pressure. To this end, the PCC have started work to turn the church vision into a mission action plan for the future.

External pressures such as dealing with sexual orientation could divide the Church of England. Those pushing for change have public opinion and the media on their side. General Synod is due to debate this and St George's needs to prepare for the dialogue through: The PCC will need a discussion on it 21

(ii) (iii)

We need a good pastoral core group to care for people who struggle with same-sex attraction

We need to discuss the Biblical & Theological arguments in our Saturday Discipleship programme.

Challenges and Pressures 6.3 6.4

6.5

6.6 6.7 6.8

6.9

Some mistakes inevitably happen in an organisation of this size.

In 2012, weekends away were over budget and we need to plan these better.

There have been some complaints about children running around the church during services. This is contentious issue as people have different ideas on parenting. All are agreed that families are welcome at St George's and we need to work on a resolution.

Overstretch is a problem for staff with great pressure on the Admin Department, particularly David Sankey, the Church Administrator. There will be no ‘Gospel according to....’ event next year so this will be one pressure less on the team.

We need to better train our Welcome Teams so that they can advise people on joining Networks, but it’s still important for us all to be part of a welcome culture.

It’s sometimes difficult for people to find a way of joining a Ministry team, especially from people who have moved here from outside the UK as language can be a barrier.

There is some concern that we are church planting while ignoring the needs of Community Church. Jonathan said that Community Church needs to change as numbers are now low and, apart from the Marlboroughs, people from the Parish tend to come to St George's rather than Community Church. A move away from their 10.30am service could help.

The loss of the monthly Prayer meeting is a source of regret for many people. This decision was taken in order to allow Networks 22

6.10 7.0 8.0

to flourish and the staff are still looking for a good pattern of prayer. Jonathan encouraged people to start prayer groups in their localities or with people of similar interests. Joanna Pearson said that there is an increasing amount of prayer taking place within Networks and good practice in this area could be shared amongst the Network ministry.

Some good news is that St George's is being seen as very much part of the life of the Diocese and not standing aloof. This is a result of our work within the City and with the Diocese itself.

AOB - None

CLOSING PRAYER. Lynne Fox thanked the staff team and, in particular, Jonathan, for his leadership. She then closed with prayer.

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