Vicar's Report from the APCM on 25th May 2025
These notes formed the basis of the Vicar's Report at the APCM on Sunday 25th May 2024.
Introduction
How was 2024? What are the plans for 2025 and beyond?
Last year I described where we are by using the picture of a pushing a boulder up a hill. It’s been hard work, and it feels like we’ve reached the top. Where will the boulder go next? I hope that we can push forward, and roll the boulder down the other side, and watch it pick up momentum.
This year, it looks at lot like the boulder is starting to move in the right direction, and to pick up some pace.
I’m going to try to report on the church in three areas, last year, they began with the letters BBC, this year it’s the letter S.
Stones
What is going on with our buildings?
Starting with St Thomas.
Monitoring the movement has continued during the year and, although no progress has been made, we will be looking at it in more detail when we’re back in St Andrew. A hot, dry, summer will not be good for the building.
Our faculty to protect the west window by removing it wasn’t approved, and so we’re not sure what the next step for that will be.
Shifting to St Andrew, we all know what is beginning to happen in there. The floor is part laid, the wiring is in place, and all seems to be going according to plan. I’m hoping that we’ll be back in before the summer break.
We were offered a new organ for St Andrew’s at a fantastic price, this will replace the non-working one we have at the moment, and will be the 4th in the building. It was encouraging to raise all the funds in a very short space of time. We’ve actually raised more than we need to, and need to look at that over the coming weeks.g
We need to buy some chairs for St Andrews, so will allow us to use the building to its potential. There’s a cost to that, and any donations for that will be very gratefully received!
Please would you continue to pray for us as we think about our buildings: for us to make wise decisions, to plan for the future, and to have the resources we need.
Please also pray for God’s provision of churchwardens.
Sums
We do need to talk a little about finance. If you are already one of those who give to the church, let me begin by thanking you: without your giving, we would be unable to carry out what we currently do.
Roughly speaking, the church costs around £100,000 each year for its day-to-day running, and we receive in income roughly £70,000. For many years, this has resulted in a deficit each year, and the gradual reduction of our reserves. That deficit has continued in 2024, and looks to be the same in 2025. While we do have reserves, they won’t last forever.
During 2024, planned giving has unfortunately dipped slightly. That means that our finances have started to go in the wrong direction.
In terms of our expenditure, Undercroft income still hasn’t recovered to pre-covid levels, but we have increased rates slightly, after the refurbishment. We also hope to use the body of St Andrew’s for appropriate event hire.
We’re also spending a lot of our restricted funds this year on reordering St Andrew. We have been given a lot of grants for it, but there’s still a cost to us – one that we have the funds for, but that will reduce the amount we have for future works.
While we’re in the finance section, you have hopefully picked up a leaflet about the Parish Giving Scheme. This is a way that you can help us with our administration. Using the scheme for monthly giving costs us nothing, and costs you nothing. The benefits are the our finance team have less work to do in reclaiming the Gift Aid. If you don’t pay tax or you want to make one-off gifts, the PGS is not the right thing to use. It’s easy to set up, you can do it by phone, post, or online. The only thing you need to do is to cancel any existing Standing Order.
One option you can take is to automatically increase your giving by inflation each year, that means that your gift to the church maintains its value to us. If you already give regularly to the church, or would like to start, please could I ask you to use the Parish Giving Scheme.
Finally, would you pray for our finances, the Finance Committee, and the provision of a treasurer.
Society
Our church family is one of the joys of being here. We are a group of people who have been chosen and adopted by God, and then brought together. Like any family, we have our ups and downs but, in general, we live and work together, not for our individual good, but for the good of the whole church.
Our children’s church continues to grow and develop, with many children each Sunday. Our aim is for our young people to be a full part of our church family.
The 9am service continues nearly every Sunday and has grown in number over the last 12 months.
Our Monday Morning Service has continued to be a great success. Each week, the Northaw School community are invited to join us in St Thomas. It’s not just for children, although there are 100 of them there. I’d love for it to be another way for us to help build links between the school and the church.
Please pray for our church family. My regular prayers are that we would grow first in our knowledge and love of God, and that each week I would see someone new at our Sunday or Wednesday services, and that they would continue to meet with us. Will you pray that with me?
Finally
I couldn’t make this begin with S!
Things that don’t really fit anywhere else.
First, and I know it’s a while ago, thank you for supporting my sabbatical last year. I spend some time thinking about how the church should function as the best possible place for people to gather, to be known and to build relationships.
Our plans for St Andrew – going back 20 years or more – are seeing fruition, and our vision is that we will be able to use the building more, and more flexibly, over the coming years.
Our relationship with Northaw School continues to grow. Dan Ruge-Cope stood down as a PCC governor this year – with our thanks, and we’ll need to find another governor, or two.
The Monday Morning Service continues to be a great way of building that relationship with the school, the students and the parents – why not come and join us: 9am-ish on nearly all Mondays in term time.
What are the plans for the future?
The main event will be to look at how we can use the new interior of St Andrew to support our mission. We have lots of ideas, starting with how we will restart the Coffee Shop, and a ‘Work from Church’ day during the week – since 2020, the number of people working from home has increased dramatically, why not do it in company?
I am really encouraged to look back on 2024 and early 2025 and see all that has happened, and to look forward to 2025, 2026, and beyond.
Finally-finally, can I thank you and the whole of the church family again. It is my joy, my pleasure, and my privilege to be your vicar.