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Christ Church Chorleywood

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL MEETINGS

at 2.00 pm in the CHURCH (Optional bring & share meal beforehand at 12.30)

On Sunday 28th April 2019

If you would like to clarify any points from the reports in this document,

please contact the report’s author before the meeting.

PLEASE BRING THIS WITH YOU TO THE MEETING

NB: The FULL 2018 Annual Report & Accounts will be available on the Christ Church website where there is also a copy of this report.

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Registered Charity No: 1129662

CHRIST CHURCH CHORLEYWOOD Contents of Booklet

APCM Reports Page

Meetings Agenda 4

Electoral Roll Report 5

Membership of the PCC at 31st December 2018 5

Those Proposed for Election to PCC (& Notes) 5

Those Standing as Deputy Wardens & Sidespeople 6

Minutes of APCM Meeting of 19th April 2018 7-10

Vicar’s Letter 11-12

Deanery Synod 13

Wardens’ Report on Fabric, Goods & Ornaments 13

Matters Discussed at PCC 13

PCC Action Group Reports

Facilities Management Group 14

Personnel Care Group 15

Finance Committee 15

Mission Action Group 16

Volunteer Care Group 17

2019 Objectives - Mission Action Plan 18

Safeguarding Statement 18

Celebrating Ministry & Activities in 2018 Page

Pastoral Care 19

The Junction 19

The Extra Services 20

Christ Church C of E Primary School 20

The Rock Children’s Ministry 21

Youth Ministry (school years 6-9) 23

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YPF (school years 9-13) 24

Gather and Send 25

Home & Bible Study Groups 26

Appendix 1 Finance table for year to 31st December 2018 Separate Document

APCM 2019 Schedule Time

Welcome 14.00

APCM – Agenda as per page 4 14.05

Discussion in Groups and Caption competition 14.40

Feedback from groups 15.00

Closing Prayers and Hymn 15.30

Please read the reports beforehand; questions are encouraged either at the meeting or with the author be-forehand.

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Agenda for the Annual Parochial Meetings to be held in the Church on Sunday 28th April 2019 at 2.00pm

1 Opening worship

2 Appointment of Secretary for the Meetings

3 Apologies for absence

Meeting of Parishioners (Vestry Meeting)

1 Approval of Minutes of the Parishioners Meeting held on 19th April 2018

2 Election of Churchwardens

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

1 Apologies for Absence

2 Approval of Minutes of the APCM Meeting held on 19th April 2018

3 Matters arising from the Minutes of 19th April 2018

4 Vicar’s report and reflection for 2019

5 Report on the Electoral Roll

6 Approval of Audited Accounts for 2018 (NB Full audited accounts available at www.cccw.org.uk)

7 Appointment of Auditor of 2019 accounts – Cansdales of Little Chalfont is proposed

8 Elections of 2 members† of the Parish Church Council (PCC)

9 Elections of Deputy Churchwardens* and Sidespeople**

10 Reports on Fabric, Goods & Ornaments, Safeguarding, Deanery Synod, the PCC and its committees

11 Other matters of parochial or general church interest (as raised at agenda item 3)

12 Declaration of Any Other Business

13 Prayers

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Electoral roll

Membership of Christ Church means: ● Regularly attending Sunday worship at Christ Church, ● Being involved in the fellowship of a small group, ● Committing to daily personal prayer and Bible study, ● Supporting world mission, especially in prayer, ● Seeking to share our faith with our neighbours, ● Giving regularly in financial support of, and……

● …..Giving time in service of, Christ Church’s ministry.

Having declared their membership, there were 357 on the electoral roll at 26th March 2018, compared with 371 at the APCM in 2017.

Inclusion on the Electoral Roll simply allows one to stand for election and to vote at the APCM. Church of England policy is that the electoral roll is completely renewed every six years so the latest one, started from ‘zero’, has been prepared prior to this APCM (but this is still a ‘work in progress’). Geoffrey Roberts (Churchwarden)

Membership of the PCC at 31st December 2018

Ex Officio: Vicar: Rev’d David Hall* Curates: Rev’d Jacob Harrison and Rev’d Terence Russoff

Churchwardens: Sylvia Mann, Geoff Roberts* Diocesan Synod: Duncan Kerr* Deanery Synod members * marked

Elected: 2017-20 Gordon Cutting* Brian Donnelly* Andy Farr* Mark Sullivan*

2016-19 Mary Alderson James Gardner Rodger Lutterodt Geoff Marshall-Taylor

2018-21 Pippa Greenslade Olu Olanrewaju

Retiring: 2016-19 Geoff Marshall-Taylor Mary Alderson

In Attendance: Vimala Hillier (Secretary)

Photographs of PCC members are shown on a board next to the Foyer TV, adjacent to those of staff members.

Those Proposed for Election to the PCC†

There are two vacancies with a three year term to 2022 for the Parish Church Council (PCC).

James Gardner and Roger Lutterodt being eligible for re-election have agreed to stand again.

Notes on those Proposed for Election to the PCC

James has worshipped at Christ Church since he, Eileen and their twins Christopher and Rachel

moved to Chorleywood in 2002. He was a lawyer at a London firm for more than 25 years, and now

works with various organisations including RZIM Zacharias Trust, an evangelism and apologetics

ministry. He has served on the PCC since 2016.

Rodger and Karen, who live in Croxley Green with their two children Isaac and Grace, have been

members of Christ Church Chorleywood for six and a half years. Rodger is a solicitor by profession

and works for the Government Legal Service (HMRC). His interests include swimming, cycling and

badminton.

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Other Nominees: Should you feel called to serve as a PCC member and are on the electoral roll, please con-tact the PCC Secretary to find out more about it, for a role description and for a nomination form. The re-sponsibilities of PCC membership are detailed both in the ‘Church Representation Rules’ and the Charity Commission booklet ‘The essential trustee: what you need to know,’ since members are also Trustees of the registered charity.

Elections of Deputy Churchwardens and Sidespeople

Deputy Wardens Proposed for Election* (NB The following names are those currently on the Rota)

Ian Brocklesby Sue Clode Maureen Cockburn Neil Cooper Amertha Devadoss Brian Donnelly Kemi Gabriel-Ojo John Heyward David Hillier Duncan Kerr Moira King Rodger Lutterodt Andrew Rickard Andrew Robertson Roy Rosenthal Fiona Shore Mark Sullivan Patrick Turnbull Martin Waldron Gary Waller Jill Walton Richard Walton John Watkiss Martin Wench Sidespeople Proposed for Election ** (NB The following names are those currently on the Rota)

Felix Ampah-Korsah Carolyn Baul Sue Bebb Anna-Kay Brocklesby Linda Brown Chris Donnelly Tricia Ellingham Ursula Fahey Andy Farr Robert Finney Kerry Giggs-Jones Pete Giggs-Jones Melanie Hamilton Marilyn Hampton Vimala Hillier Richard Hulme Charlotte Kohnhorst Jonathan Lilley Karen Moorhouse Nick Moorhouse Marta Postlethwaite Gillian Pugh Cora Lynn Rathbone Anne Ratcliffe Julie Roberts Angela Scully Audrey Timberlake Kathleen Waller Pam Ward Frankie Whitby Dora Wilkins

Reserve Sidespeople:** Lynne Watkins (8.30 am service) & Esther Robertson (10.30 am ser-vice) We are grateful to our Deputy Wardens and Sidespeople, who serve so faithfully in their roles and we express our thanks for all they have undertaken to Peta and Nigel Norman, Sue and Vince Savin and Flo Watson, who have now stepped down from these duties.

And a final thought…we are going to change the title from Sidesperson to ‘Meeter and Greeter’ because that really is a better reflection of the really valuable role that is played!

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CHRIST CHURCH CHORLEYWOOD

Minutes of the Annual Parochial Meeting held at Christ Church, Chorleywood on Thursday 19th April 2018

Present: 67 members of the church, and Rev’d David Hall took the chair.

Appointment of Secretary for the Meetings: Peter Cockburn is standing down after 6 years serving as the PCC secretary but will continue as the Finance and Gifts secretary. Peter was unable to be present tonight, his report on Finance and Gifts can be seen in the written report. David Hall stated although Peter is not present it would be great to acknowledge our appreciation for his dedication and hard work in the usual way and there was prolonged applause.

Vimala Hillier was nominated and appointed as the new PCC secretary as there were no objections.

Apologies for absence were received from 15 members of the electoral roll: Carolyn Baul, Judy Cansdale, Peter Cockburn, Zippy Harrison, David Heath, Emma and Richard Hulme, Joan Lundie, Peta Norman, Jim Rathbone, Barry and Sarah Roberts, Marion Smith, Carole Tranter and Brenda Wa-ters. Meeting of Parishioners (Vestry Meeting) 1.Approval of the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 27th April 2017 was Proposed by Mark Sullivan,

Seconded by David Cansdale and carried nem con on a show of hands.

2.Election of Churchwardens David Hall thanked Sylvia Mann and Geoff Roberts for their exceptional leadership, hard work and per-sonal support as wardens during the year to the Church family, staff and especially to himself. David Hall was pleased to announce that Sylvia Mann and Geoff Roberts are willing to continue as Church Wardens. Under the rules of the Church of England the two nominations for the two vacancies were uncontested and not receiving any other nominations, the reappointment can be described as uncon-tested. David Hall requested a show of hands to affirm the continuation of Sylvia Mann and Geoff Roberts as Church Wardens. David Hall also requested all present to express our thanks for their hard work and dedication in the usual way.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting 1.Approval of the minutes of the meeting held on 27st April 2017 was Proposed by Beryl Greenslade, Se-

conded by Geoff Marshal-Taylor and carried nem con on a show of hands.

2.Matters arising: none was notified that was not on the agenda.

3.Declaration of Any Other Business. There was none.

4.Report on the Electoral Roll. David Hall reported that at the date of closure on Sunday, 18th March 2018 there were 356 members with 13 joining the electoral roll whose membership takes effect after this meeting. A list of the names is available to view under the church tower.

A full revision of the electoral roll will take place next year

5.Finance. Sam Devadoss, Treasurer praised God for his many blessings in 2017 and the generosity of the Church family prior to presenting his report.

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He informed us that the audited accounts are available on the Christ Church website.

The main points of the current Financial position are as follows:-

Overview

• 2015-2017: Surplus in 2015 and 2016. In 2017, however, the year ended with a £25k deficit. The deficit is a result of an unexpected shortfall in the rental income and ‘one off’ gifts. The deficit was covered by previous years surpluses.

• 2018 – It is estimated that there will be a deficit of £31k, largely due to the continued shortfall in the rental income during the transitional period of rebalancing the housing portfolio as this exercise has taken much longer than was anticipated.

2017

Income

Approximately 90% of the total income is derived from donations via standing orders, envelopes, collec-tions and associated tax credits

A further 8% comes from the rental of properties, donations to the Café, hire of the Junction and Fees.

Expenditure

• Parish share to the Diocese – 33%. Please note that the Parish share is used by the diocese to pay for clergy, other Diocesan ministries and for the running of the Diocese. This payment is based on the number of members on the electoral roll and who attend the Sunday services.

• Young People and Children’s ministries – 21%.

On average:

- 56 children under 11 years of age attend the Sunday morning groups.

- 10 children between the ages of 11-12 years attend the Sunday morning services

- 30 YPF attend the evening services

- There are also the mid-week and summer activities for the youth and children

• Mission Activities – 15%.

- Sam Devadoss explained the various activities and informed that the full list and activities is

on page 11 of the Annual Parochial Meeting Report

• Pastoral Care – 5%.

The Pastoral team made 150 visits and 300 telephone calls. They contacted members on the

electoral roll and asked them for their prayer requests. There is also a regular daytime service

for the elderly.

• Buildings and Maintenance -12%.

• Management and Administration – 5%

• Clergy Expenses, Mortgage repayments and other activities – 9%

Sam Devadoss thanked the bankers - David Linden, who had sadly died at the end of last year, Mike Bell and Barry Roberts and all the sidespeople for counting the collection at each service and requested all of us to remember the Church’s finances in our prayers throughout the year.

Sam Devadoss concluded the presentation by commending the approval of the signed audited accounts for 2017. Proposed by James Gardner and Seconded by Geoff Roberts.

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There being no questions the recommendation were carried by acclaim.

6. Appointment of Auditors for the 2017 Accounts

Sam Devadoss recommended that the current external auditors, Cansdales of Little Chalfont be reap-pointed for 2018 accounts. Proposed by James Gardner and Seconded by Geoff Roberts.

7. Election to the Deanery Synod (Parochial Church Council)

As it is a requirement that a third of the elected members stand down each year but may stand for re-election if they wish. The three-year terms of Jim Rathbone and Margaret Wheeler have now ended and they do not wish to stand for re-election. Geoff Roberts thanked them for their service. As a token of appreciation, Sylvia Mann presented gifts on behalf of Christ Church to Jim Rathbone (accepted by Cora Lynn Rathbone on Jim’s behalf) and to Margaret Wheeler.

Election - There are 4 vacancies and 4 candidates:-

Olu Olanrewaju – skills in property management

Sam Devadoss – co-opted last year

Pippa Greenslade - skills in HR

Duncan Kerr - mission and diocesan leadership skills

As there were no other nominations, and as the number of vacancies equaled the nominations, all were declared to be duly elected for three years unopposed, which was met with the fellowship’s show of hands and warm applause as a mark of encouragement. It was noted that further candidates could be co-opted to the PCC during the year.

The whole PCC was also acknowledged with thunderous applause for their hard work.

8. Election of Deputy Churchwardens and Sidespeople

Sylvia Mann thanked all the Deputy Churchwardens and the sidespeople for their commitment, superb organisation and the welcome they give to church members and visitors alike.

Deputy Wardens:

The following 26 people were proposed as deputy wardens: Ian Brocklesby, Brian Donnelly, Moria King, Roy Rosenthal, Gary Waller, Sue Clode, Kemi Gabriel-Ojo, Helen Lees, Fiona Shore, Richard and Gill Walton, Maureen Cockburn, John Heyward, Nigel Norman, Mark Sullivan, John Watkiss, Neil Cooper, David Hillier, Andrew Rickard, Patrick Turnbull, Flo Watson, Amertha Devadoss, Duncan Kerr, Andrew Robertson, Martin Waldron and Martin Wench

Sidepeople:

The following 39 people were proposed as sidespeople: Felix Ampah-Korsah, Carolyn Baul, Sue Bebb, Anna-Kay Brocklesby, Linda Brown, Chris Donnelly, Tricia Ellingham, Ursula Fahey, Andy Farr, Robert Finney, Melanie Hamilton, Kerry & Pete Giggs-Jones, Mari-lyn Hampton, Vimala Hillier, Richard Hulme, Charlotte Kohnhorst, Rodger Lutterodt, Nick Moorhouse, Peta Norman, Gillian Pugh, Marta Postlethwaite, Cora Lynn Rathbone, Anne Ratcliffe, Julie Roberts, Vince & Sue Savin, Angela Scully, Audrey Timberlake, Kathleen Waller, Pam Ward, Martin Wench, Frankie Whitby, Dora Wilkins, and 5 Reserves: Nick Beloe, Esther Robertson, Marion Smith, Rosemary Vickery and Lynne Watkins Confirmation of the two lists was adopted nem con on a show of hands, with warm applause for their contribution week by week to our Sunday worship.

9. Report on Fabric, Goods & Ornaments etc

Geoff Roberts drew attention to the Fabric, Goods & Ornaments report on page 7 of the annual report.

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Summary of the presentation:-

Music – Loudspeaker system and the piano were replaced.

Energy Survey- Planning permission for solar panels is being undertaken. The financing of the solar pan-els will be from the capital fund and the payback period is 8-10 years. Although it is a long term invest-ment, the energy generated from the solar panels will reduce electricity costs.

Properties -

Oakfield – the sale has been completed, funds are currently with the diocese

Ruardean – up for sale and subject to an offer

Little Croft - being used by Jacob & Zippy Harrison

Berry Way - currently rented

The purchase of 47 South Cottage Gardens discussed last year did not go through but the property is still on the market and is under active consideration once Ruardean has been sold.

New pipes and radiators in Church - currently there are too many leaks so total replacement with more efficient units is being considered.

Bride’s door – Proposal to relocate the current door to the outside and a new glass door to replace the existing location.

Volunteers – Debbie Bloomfield co-ordinates a number of volunteers to whom we are largely indebted for the maintenance of the church and the Junction

Vicar - Geoff Roberts thanked David Hall for his dedication and for his excellent leadership. Geoff Roberts commented that David Hall, even on his day off, works tirelessly and hoped that he would take more time to rest. Appreciation was also extended to Mary Hall and the Hall family.

10. Vicar’s Report David Hall commended his review of 2017 on pages 6 & 7 of the annual report for reading outside the meeting, but highlighted a number of the many aspects that had greatly encouraged him during the year and described on the placemats including:

Prayers for community.

The 1,100 homes visited & leaflet-dropped another 2,176 homes in the run-up prior to major festivals

The growing attendance at Café Church, held alongside the 10.30 Sunday service.

Launching “Alpha for Educators” course in partnership with Christ Church school

The formal business of the meeting then ended, but the evening continued after refreshments with a light-hearted quiz, and then David Hall presented his vision for the future.

11. The evening concluded with open prayer, praise and blessing.

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CHURCH REPORTS – 2018

Vicar’s Letter

“A SEASON OF OPPORTUNITY” “Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43 v19)

These words from Isaiah inspired us at last year’s Annual Parochial Church Meeting, as we looked forward and sought the Lord’s leading in how we should take the ministry forward. As we continued to fulfil our core vision: “God’s love: know it, show it, share it, declare it”, we recognised that we were entering a “season of opportunity”.

The summer term was a time for prayer, reflection and consultation. As is often the case, the summer was also a time of departures, developing roles and new arrivals. We said sad farewells to Children’s Minister Holly Draper, Junction Manager Debbie and Administrator Emma Hulme. We praise God for their faithful service of Him and know that their skills and witness will continue to be a blessing to others in their new positions elsewhere.

Reshaping roles slightly, we were pleased to welcomed Sarah Wright as Administrator and Finance Secretary and Tarja Kesanto as Junction Manager. Brianna Riccardo, ably stepping into the role of Children’s Minister (one-year contract) following a successful internship, and we were joined by our new interns, Josh Besley and Daniel Robson. We were also able to invest in our first ever Worship Minister, Ben Holbrook, who has combined looking after our older teens (14+) with developing the worship at our 6.30pm service, enabling the launch of CHURCH@12 and boosting the worship content of many other aspects of church life.

This summer, we also celebrated as Kevin Shaw was licenced as a Lay Reader, and began to assist at services here in at Christ Church and further afield, and our curates Terence and Jacob were priested, and stepped-up to preside at Holy Communion, conduct weddings as well as helping out other churches in the deanery facing resourcing challenges. All these developed roles and new appointments have blended very well with our existing team, and placed us in a strong position to develop the ministry in the autumn term.

In our September financial giving appeal (to be followed by a January serving appeal), we focused on five core areas for forward development, very much of course, in harmony with the other development work taking place across the church family:

1. Community 2. Small groups 3. 18-30s 4. Website/communications/admin 5. Worship (6.30pm+)

The response to the financial giving appeal was very encouraging and we were able to make real progress in these areas of particular interest: 1. COMMUNITY

With our new Junction Manager Tarja Kesanto, the Junction is thriving as a place of connection and blessing, with a pleasing increase in the proportion of Christian youth and children’s programmes taking place in the building. We have supported Christ Church School in its successful transition into a multi academy trust, and continued our parish visiting programme which enables us to visit all 3,200 homes in the parish every two years. We have also been able to mount a succession of outreach events from tea concerts to the recent sell-out production of “Les Miserables – the top ten hits!”

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2. SMALL GROUPS

Small group ministry has thrived under the oversight of Terence and Robyn Russoff, with new groups being established and the Daytime Discovery programme under Lu Chadder and Eileen Gardner going from strength to strength. The Saturday morning Christians in the Workplace group continues to provide valuable support to those bearing witness to Christ in these challenging times. All this is of course in addition to the 14-week Discovery Programme, which ran with a shared meal and a choice of three programmes from Octo-ber to April.

3. 18-30S GROUP

Under Jacob and Zippy Harrison, the new vision of “Gather and Send” has been established and the group has blossomed with: hospitality, teaching and equipping at its core and an outward focus on evangelism.

4. WEBSITE/COMMUNICATIONS/ ADMIN.

The administration and finance functions have been combined within Sarah Wright’s role, and we have com-pleted a review of website design and content. A new website has been established and is the process of being further developed. Once this is completed, a review of our social media profile will follow.

5. WORSHIP+

Ben’s appointment as Worship Minister has enabled the 6.30pm service to grow, and worship in the youth and children’s programmes has been enhanced. We have also been able to launch CHURCH@12 in the Point (Junction), which has proved to be a wonderful development of our Sunday morning service portfolio.

We also give thanks to God for the ongoing hard work and dedication also shown by the rest of the staff team, Anne Lovegrove, Anne Fulker, Simon, Tracy, Laura and Cathy, all wonderfully supported by many faith-ful volunteers.

I am enormously grateful for the large team of preachers, leaders, worship leaders, musicians, PA and laptop operators, welcomers, involvement team, deputy wardens, sidespeople, children’s and youth volunteers, intercessors, ABCs (The Junction refreshment servers), pastoral visitors, Bible readers, coffee makers, brass polishers, those who care for the church linen and members of the flower team – and all those who work unseen to support our worship, learning and witness as a church family.

All forward movement generates a vast amount of work, made possible by the generous responses of the fellowship in supporting the work of Christ Church through increased giving of their time, skills and financial offerings. All this work is brilliantly overseen by our dedicated staff team and wonderful wardens Geoff Roberts and Sylvia Mann, which brings me to another sad farewell: after six years as Church Warden, Sylvia is finally hanging up her boots. We give thanks to God for her faithful and hugely effective work for Him, in which she has continued, despite the recent sad loss of her husband Ron, to be an enormous blessing and encouragement to us all.

Mary and I, along with Daniel, Emily, Chloe and Sophie, are so grateful to God for bringing us here to work alongside you fulfilling his plans for the blessing of this parish. We have learned much together and look forward to further opportunities to serve the church and parish in the future. Thank you for all your kindness to us, and the prayers which you continue to offer on our behalves. Yours in Christ David Hall

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Reports on Deanery Synod, the PCC and its Committees, and Fabric, Goods & Ornaments

Rickmansworth Deanery Synod

The Deanery comprises 9 parishes and there are currently 13 clergy and 29 lay members of Deanery Synod, drawn mainly from the parishes*. Synod met three times in 2018. The February meeting was held at Christ Church. At the June meeting, held at St Oswald's, Croxley Green, Tim Lomax, the Diocesan Director of Mis-sion, spoke about 'Reaching New People' and the significance of Fresh Expressions' initiatives in that project. The final Synod meeting was held at Christ Church on 27th September when Bob and Mary Hopkins, founders of Anglican Church Planting Initiatives, led a very successful participative session about the role of Fresh Ex-pressions in helping churches to grow.

There were two successful, well-attended deanery events: a Quiz Night held at St Oswald's on 3rd February and the Ascension Day Service held at Christ Church on 10th May. The yearly meeting to review the deanery MAP goals was held on 13th January. The triennial elections for membership of the Diocesan Synod were held in June and 2 clergy members and 3 lay members were elected. A 4th lay member was elected subse-quently. Duncan Kerr *Footnote - The nine parishes are: St Lawrence, Bovingdon; Christ Church, Chorleywood; St Andrew's, Chorleywood; All Saints, Croxley Green; St Oswald's, Croxley Green; St Mary's, Rickmansworth; St Paul's, Chipperfield; Holy Cross, Sarratt; Mill End & Heronsgate with West Hyde; There are also four Chaplaincies: HM Prison The Mount, Bovingdon; Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood; Royal Masonic School for Girls, Rickmansworth; Mount Vernon Hospital, Northwood

Wardens’ Report on Fabric. Goods & Ornaments

In a year which included the Quinquennial Inspection the focus was both on general maintenance and up-grades to basic systems: a new Fire Alarm Panel and System was installed, the server was upgraded (not least to help with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations) and various aspects of plumbing were improved! We continued to progress the concept of Solar PV panels on the roof of The Junction - but ran into problems in getting the requisite planning permission so that project carried over into 2019. We are also conscious of the pressures on space in terms of office accomodation, additional ‘quiet’ and work rooms as well as a distinct lack of storage space: accordingly quite some time has been spent in considering what options are available - something that has been happily taken on board by the Facilities Management Group. Several contracts for professional routine maintenance continue, from electrical and gas inspections, check-ing of the lightning conductors, door maintenance etc. through to carpet cleaning in the welcome area. These typically consume half the maintenance budget, but we are also indebted to a number of volunteers working with the Facilities Management Group who quietly ensure that our church continues to be well maintained.

Sylvia Mann & Geoff Roberts

Matters Discussed at PCC

The PCC met 11 times during 2018; average attendance was 90%*, the Standing Committee also met 6 times.

In the past, meetings of the PCC have considered a mixture of administrative and organisational issues, and well as broader issues concerning the vision and future direction of the church, and how we can (as trustees) support development of the church. This has led to packed agendas and long meetings, and an unfortunate tendency for the more important vision and direction considerations to be addressed after the organisational

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concerns. So during 2018 we have been trialling a different way of doing things: some PCC meetings are labelled as ‘business’ and others as ‘strategic’.

The former can then concentrate on the ‘business’ fully, knowing that we have time to consider things fully; the latter can also be more focussed, again having time to consider some aspect of the church’s life. In these, for example we were able to undertake detailed reviews of the work with those under 18 years of age and also develop our thinking in regard to the recruitment (successfully completed!) of a Worship Minister. We also looked at the possibility (again, now realised) for adding an additional service on Sundays (Church@12)

This has not meant many more meetings - in 2017 the PCC met 10 times but there was a less structured approach in terms of considering issues that needed more time for consideration than that available in a routine (mostly business) meeting. Having the clear structure of meetings also means that we can plan more effectively.

Reports from the PCC Action Groups are included below. Considerable work is done within the groups within the remit set by the PCC. The PCC role is to receive and review their reports and, as necessary, endorse or amend any conclusions and recommendations for action.

Governance has been an important issue during 2018, and considerable time and energy has been given to trying to make sure our processes, and our support of those working for the church, are appropriate, this included preparedness for the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). With hundreds of people coming to the Church and Junction each week, and dozens of people (paid or volunteer) involved actively in support-ing all the church does, the PCC considered carefully what best-practice governance might look like in 2018 and beyond. As well as having appropriate processes in place, this also means supporting people in their roles. The business of the Church is people, not things, so the support of people is important.

Finance (inevitably) has needed attention this year. We have been working to develop a more sustainable model for a church with an income of over £600,000 p.a. (thanks for all your generosity), and this is covered in the Finance Committee report. Also noted in the report, we are planning to purchase a house in central Chorleywood: longer term this would be available for use by a curate, in the short term to provide a rental income.

Members of the PCC are the Trustees of the charity that is Christ Church Chorleywood, and the various re-sponsibilities of Trustees have been reviewed during 2018. The importance of safeguarding, and how this impacts on those involved in the various roles within the church, has been considered during the year, in-cluding training programmes. At one programme, we were encouraged to find out that all people can be vulnerable (at different times, and in different ways), so we all need to be treated ‘safely’, or work in ways that are safe.

Grants proposed by the Mission Action Group were approved from the allocation of 17% of church donations, it was also decided that, subject to a finance review in July 2019, this 17% would be raised to the previous level of 20%. The church continues to be entirely dependent on its members’ God-inspired gifting, availabil-ity, experience and commitment (in time, talents and treasures) in fulfilling its mission: ‘God’s Love: Know It, Show It, Share It, Declare It.’ Geoff Roberts & Mark Sullivan

PCC ACTION GROUPS PCC – Facilities Management Group

Membership: Geoff Roberts (Chair to September 2018). Olu Olanrewaju (Chair - Sept. 2018 to date), Tony Leather, Frank Kay, Rob Corden, Warren Tranter, Tolu Fatogbe.

The role of the FMG is to be responsible for the maintenance and development of physical resources, includ-ing church, land and buildings (59 Lower Road; 1 Ruardean Cottages (sold July 2018) and 4 Berry Way); fur-niture and equipment and audio/visual equipment. Also to provide a framework to apply technology to the ministry and administration of Christ Church, particularly but not exclusively involving ICT, AV and the Web-site. A key responsibility is in managing the response to the Quinquennial report for the church – as noted in

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the Finance report, the latest report was received in October and action plans have been developed to re-spond to all the identified issues. FMG also organises similar Quinquennial style reports for owned housing. It met three times during 2018.

Geoff Roberts

PCC - Personnel Care Group

Membership: David Hall, Duncan Kerr, Sylvia Mann (chair), Geoff Marshall-Taylor, Geoff Roberts.

During the year the members (Sylvia Mann (Chair) David Hall, Pippa Greenslade, Duncan Kerr, Geoff Marshall-Taylor and Geoff Roberts) have met on ten occasions. Following decisions by Debbie Bloomfield, Emma Hulme and Holly Draper to move on to pastures new, we appointed from 1 September 2018 Tarja Kesanto as Junction Manager, Sarah Wright as Finance Secretary and Administrator, Brianna Ricciardo as Children’s Minister (1-year contract), Ben Holbrook as Worship and Youth Minister (14-18 year olds) and Josh Besley and Daniel Robson as our interns for the 2018/19 academic year. With input from a specialist legal firm, our contracts of employment for all incoming staff from 1 September last were updated in accordance with cur-rent employment legislation and requirements and the Staff Handbook continues to be reviewed and up-dated. During the year we have addressed staffing and volunteer (in conjunction with the Volunteer Care Group) needs and initiated changes, where appropriate. Geoff Marshal-Taylor stepped down at the end of the year and we are indebted to him for the invaluable experience and wise counsel he brought to our meet-ings. Sylvia Mann, Chair PCC - Finance Committee

Membership: Mark Sullivan (Chair. Treasurer & Gift Secretary), Gordon Cutting, John Heyward, Steve John-son, Geoff Roberts, David Wilson, Sarah Wright (Finance Secretary).

The committee met 6 times during the year to assist the PCC in its financial governance role, both operation-ally and strategically, such as by advice on policies, risk, insurance, non-gift income, financial training and asset review.

The membership of the Committee has changed considerably during 2018, with Sam Devadoss (Treasurer & Chair), and Peter Cockburn (Finance Secretary and Gift Secretary) stepping aside after many years of service. Their commitment and work over the years are much appreciated and acknowledged. John Heyward has also announced that he will be retiring from the Committee with effect from the APCM, and his work and insights have been much appreciated. As Treasurer, I wish to record my great thanks for all their work, and for leaving the Church in a strong financial position as I took up the role in September.

The work of the Committee has changed during 2018, as the Church has moved to a different model to meet the complexities of financial management that are now needed. Our Auditors, Cansdales, who are very fa-miliar with the Church and its finances now provide support during the whole year. They work closely with Sarah Wright, who is part of the office team and is Finance Secretary as a major part of her responsibilities. Sarah’s main role is to make sure that the Treasurer/Gift Secretary is up to date on everything (!), and also makes sure that everything is done as necessary. This new pattern seems to be working very well. One major change 'behind the scenes' has been setting up a new accountancy software programme, which Sarah has been working on hard - with great success! One challenge is that the new programme, and the old one which served us well for years, are almost completely incompatible with each other! I am told this is normal for these programmes, but it does make a change very hard work. Sarah's work on this is greatly appreciated! Total income for 2018: £607k

Total outgoings for 2018: £573k

Audited accounts are available on the church webpages.

Total outgoings are higher than last year, as we have increased the expenditure on staff, but this is more than covered by the increased in giving by the generous people who attend the church!

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The overall financial position in 2018 has been strong, thanks to the generosity of all those who have given so much during the year. There is an overall surplus of £34k, which is a considerable turn-round from the deficit of £25k in 2017. The overall turnover of the church is more than £500k, so that deficit was a concern, but manageable. Giving has increased during 2018, mostly following the appeal to support an additional member of staff, a Worship Leader / Youth Leader (in that order). So the credit for the change belongs to the readers of this summary!

The Parish Share to the Diocese remains the biggest single cost (£197k), with salaries for staff of similar size (£205k). All stipends and salaries exceed the National Living Wage. The policy of the PCC is to give 17% of all unrestricted gift income for Christian work outside the parish, which amounts to £90k. Details of the or-ganisations and individuals supported are available on the church webpages. These three items account for 80% of the annual expenditure, with all other church activities being covered by the other 20% of income. See Appendix A for draft Statement of financial accounts (SOFA)

The policy of the PCC on housing has been reconsidered, with the aim of refreshing our ‘stock’, as well as concentrating the housing into central Chorleywood. Access to shops, transport, and school catchment areas are important considerations for potential tenants. During the last 18 months, two houses have been sold, and we are in the middle of buying a property in Chorleywood. This has taken longer than we hoped, but we are aware that we need to be good stewards of the money with which God has blessed us.

Christ Church has adequate reserves to cover contingencies and anticipated outflows, and still carry a signif-icant balance of funds forward. The legacies are particularly assigned towards any issues identified by the quinquennial review, which was carried out this autumn. The review can be seen on the church webpage.

We are much indebted to those who bank the monies from the weekly collections, Mike Bell, Barry Roberts and Gordon Wheeler, which is a key ministry – it complements the kindness of many who organise regular giving directly, which makes planning ahead much easier.

In summary, we have been very blessed financially during 2018, for which we thank all who have given, often sacrificially, to the work of Christ Church. This makes it possible to do the many activities that are part of church life – Thank You!!!

Mark Sullivan, Chair

PCC - Mission Action Group

Membership: Julie Dickins, Brian Donnelly, Andy Farr, Duncan Kerr (chair), Sylvia Mann.

In the context of mission beyond the parish, "knowing, showing, sharing and declaring God's love" means helping people to see Jesus - in our lives and through support for our Mission Partners and Christian organi-sations as they seek to do the same.

Highlights of 2018

Support - A vital part of mission activity at Christ Church is the steady, long-term support we give to our Mission Partners (MPs) through prayer, friendship and financial back-up. They live in different parts of the world, doing very different kinds of work but they are linked by a common purpose - to take the love of Jesus to others! We were delighted to welcome Tom and Joanna Appel as mission partners in late 2017; they moved to France early in 2018 and are now based in Caen working with GEM and Blessnet on a programme of church planting and outreach.

The internet means that we now have easier (and more frequent) contact with our MPs, providing us with fuller and current news whilst strengthening and enriching our links - and it also enables us to respond more quickly to emerging situations. In turn, our MPs are also able to keep in touch with life at Christ Church via email and our website. However, occasional personal visits are also special - during the summer we enjoyed a brief visit from Elizabeth Broomhall (home from Tanzania) and then from the Appel family in November. In May, Dr Sasa, founder of Health&Hope (one of our Preferred Mission Organisations), which is based in Burma, also visited us.

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Development - The amount available for normal mission support amounted to about £107,000 (£118,300 in 2017). A wonderful outcome - Thank You All!

Lazarus Box - Started in the 1980's, this initiative aims to help people living in the third world who face major challenges in daily life, by financing self-help programmes and infrastructure projects. Funds are raised for projects from the savings achieved by our living a simpler lifestyle - "living more simply that others might simply live". During 2018, the balance of the target of £2,500 was reached (£1,910 of which had been carried forward from 2017) in support of "Fixing the Roof", a project to provide permanent roofs for churches in Sierra Leone; the grant of £2,500 will provide 3 new roofs! About £2,400 was also raised towards a target of £3,000 to help equip Health & Hope's new Training centre in Lailenpi, Burma being built to replace the earlier Centre destroyed by Cyclone Mora in 2017 - this target was reached last month. Harvest Supper - Edward Woods, Head of International Fundraising & Partnerships was the key-note speaker on 'Fifty Years On' as we celebrated Tearfund's 50th anniversary.It was an enjoyable and entertaining event which closed with a lively Q&A session. In total £1,000 was raised, shared between Tearfund's general fund and their Emergency Appeal following the Indonesian Tsunami.

Mission Giving in 2018 About £107,000 was available for distribution (£118,300 in 2017). The 17% allocation from the regular giving of church members plus some special gifts amounted to £105,700. In addition, a balance of over £1,300 was carried forward from 2017.

Grants made amounted to just over £105,600, as follows: MPs - £28,180; Christian organisations - £58,700; one-off grants, emergency appeals and special gifts, etc - £18,750. In addition, a Lazarus Box grant of £2,500 was made (see above) and about £1,400 was carried forward for general mission giving in 2019.

REJOICE once more in this generous response and PRAY that everyone at Christ Church will continue to show God's love in this way. Duncan Kerr

PCC – Volunteer Care Group (VCG)

Membership: Mary Alderson (Chair), Carolyn Baul, John Heyward; Karimi Kihato; Rodger Ludderodt, Alison Rickard

The VCG has met three times during the year. We assist the PCC in the recruitment, management, training and support of the 290+ volunteers that give their time and talent in over 50 different ways, many in multiple roles, to support the ministry at Christ Church. This year we have introduced a volunteers notice board, under the tower, where opportunities to serve are publicised. We also have an area under development on the new church website.

The focus for the three week January initiative was Every Member Ministry and we hope to develop this throughout the year. Thank you to all those who took time to respond and for the new offers of help.

During the year we met with the volunteer manager at Westminster Abbey to look at how we can improve out support of volunteers and hope to implement some of the ideas we shared in the next 12 months. In addition one of the members of VCG is working alongside the churchwardens and office staff to consider introducing a volunteers management system where all the information for volunteers can be held.

We have completed many of role descriptions for volunteers which are available from the rota or sector leaders.

Several volunteers who have served over a long period have stood down over the last 12 months, some to re-balance their capacity for other areas of ministry. We would like to thank them for all they have contrib-uted to their former roles and for their continued involvement and ministry in the life of our Fellowship.

Giving time in service is one of the seven attributes of membership of Christ Church. We would like to en-courage anyone who wishes to find out more about volunteering to get in touch with a member of staff, a member of the Involvement Team, a member of the VCG or the church office.

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Thank you to the many volunteers who give generously of their time and talents to support the work of Christ Church both within the fellowship and within the community. Without you many church activities would not happen. Mary Alderson

2019 Objectives & Mission Action Plan 2018 Report

The 2018 Mission Action Planning (MAP) meeting and associated work reaffirmed the vision and programme from previous years: to continue the work on "Reaching our Community for Christ", with ongoing teaching affirming the Church statement: “God's Love: know it, show it, share it, declare it.” The aim continues to be to enable an all member evangelistic ministry to reach all those with whom we interact.

The single most critical element is the continued commitment to visiting all the homes in the Parish, with face to face discussions with 3-400 three times a year and ‘post’ to the remaining 2500. The weekly ‘Discov-ery’ evenings continue during term time. Starting with a meal, people attend one of a variety of group activ-ities.

Use of The Junction continues to grow, offering more opportunities to show Christian care and concern for both the community and church members. Again, as Outreach is so dependent on relationships, we seek to involve even more volunteers of all ages in the church’s ministry, as well as to improve communications within the fellowship and with the wider community.

Having successfully sold Ruardean we made an offer on a property. This, however, did not complete. Ac-cordingly we are continuing the search for a suitable property in order to invest existing funds to provide a steady income stream to support the church’s ministry and to provide housing for future curates.

Geoff Roberts

Safeguarding Statement

Geoff Marshall-Taylor took over as Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) in 2018 following on from Simon Tulett (Youth Minister – 10-14 year olds), who had undertaken the roll with great care and attention to detail over the previous few years. In 2018 the PCC adopted the Church of England’s Safeguarding Policy on Domestic Abuse. All the Church of England’s Safeguarding policies have been adhered to and are on display under the church tower. A case of alleged historic emotional abuse was addressed in conjunction with advice from the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser and EIG, the church’s insurers, and no further action was required. All checks have been undertaken as required by the Disclosure and Barring Service and we are indebted to Alex West, who is our volunteer Administrator, for her thoroughness and attention to detail. Staff and volunteers have undertaken safeguarding courses organized by the diocese and these include those for safer recruitment. Geoff, who has provided invaluable support and guidance during the year, will step down as PSO at this year’s APCM and I will take over that role as I step down as Churchwarden. Sylvia Mann Safeguarding Lead on the PCC

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Celebrating Ministry & Activities in 2018 Pastoral Care

Looking back over the past year I am filled with thankfulness for all that Laura and I and our faithful volunteers have been able to do in our pastoral work. Many people have been prayed for, visited, and received deliv-eries of food, cards and flowers. We have sadly said goodbye to faithful friends and welcomed new babies. There have been lots of ‘significant’ birthdays to celebrate and baptisms and weddings to enjoy. Claire Kay faithfully contacts those on the Prayer Diary each week to ask for their prayer needs and each Tuesday we pray for these as well as other pastoral need. Our annual Bereavement Service was again very well received and attended and as always we offer our thanks to our Bereavement Team for their continued support.

As I write, we have just enjoyed our Daytime Easter Service with 75 people gathered to hear the Easter Story beautifully illustrated by Anne Lovegrove and then staying on afterwards for lunch. These services continue to be really popular and word is gradually spreading around our parish and beyond. We love to welcome our neighbours from the local care homes and seek to offer a place of solace for both the cared for and the carers.

Last summer we held an extra Daytime event with a lovely strawberry tea and this nicely filled the gap be-tween Easter and Harvest and was another opportunity to reach out to our local care homes, we have already had requests for a similar event this summer!!

Another highlight of this year has been the launch of our Carers Group which meets on the first Sunday of each month. Jill Walton has kindly given up her time to help me with this and shares her expertise with us. The group is proving to be an enormous support to those who attend.

Finally another initiative was a quiet evening in the Autumn to remember any unborn children or children who died shortly after birth. We joined the nationwide Baby Loss Awareness week and I set up an area in the Point with candles and flowers and provided materials for anyone who came to light a candle for their baby and write whatever they wanted to onto a ribbon and hang it from a tree. I remained in the room to talk to anyone who wanted to share and/or pray. This was an emotional but very special evening.

I want to end by thanking all those who help with pastoral work, there are many of you, please know how much you are valued by those you care for and by Laura and myself. Just as a footnote, Laura would also like to include a personal thank you for the prayerful support given to Craig and herself over the summer last year, they both felt upheld and supported throughout a very difficult time.

Tracy Brown & Laura Joiner

The Junction 2018

This year has seen one major change in The Junction: Debbie who had nurtured the growth of The Junction outreach moved on to pastures new and Tarja took over as Junction Manager. Debbie’s commitment and vision was fundamental and it is great to report that the areas she was passionate about continued to grow and prosper in 2018. The Junction is pretty well fully utilised for church and non-church groups, it is genuinely a ‘Junction’ between church and community. It is acknowledged as a welcoming place – thanks to the amaz-ing volunteers who provide coffee and a welcome and to the way in which all the staff team engage with visitors.

Of course things don’t always go according to plan – sometimes we struggle to get the right number of chairs and tables in the right place, sometimes we or the hirers have had problems with AV or computer – but the way in which such problems are sorted has proved to be a great opportunity to share what motivates us, to provide support and to put things right!

Last year we were reminded of the original vision, that the Junction would be both a physical bridge for church and community but also that it would provide “a ‘junction’ for people on their spiritual journeys – a place to encounter the love of God, to meet others and to experience the care of the church family”.

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That remains the case and we have seen it used exactly in that way. We do still need more volunteers to serve coffee and provide that welcome – and being part of the team is great for finding new friendships – so please let Tarja know if you would like to join in!

Geoff Roberts

The Extra Services…

We are blessed with beautiful buildings (and good parking!) which lend themselves to great missional oppor-tunities in relation to weddings, baptisms and funerals. However, these could not happen without the excel-lent organisation and coordination provided by Fiona Shore (Weddings), Claire Kay (Baptisms) and Sarah Wright (Funerals) – together with the amazingly creative support of the flower team. We are truly thankful!

Geoff Roberts

Christ Church Chorleywood C of E Primary School

This has been another good year for the school, both in terms of academic results and sporting and artistic success, but also for its continuing journey in relation to Christian values and teaching.

The five yearly inspection by the Diocese of St Albans in November 2017, which focussed particularly on the school’s distinctive Christian character, concluded that “the distinctiveness and effectiveness of Christ Church Chorleywood as a Church of England school are outstanding”. The inspector challenged us to consider the concept of spirituality, and also to look at the different Christian denominations and other faiths. The school has also continued with its “Roots and Fruits” programme for collective worship or assemblies, focusing on a different value linked to biblical teaching every half term. As a direct result of the inspection, an excellent Alpha course for educators was run over the past year, led by David Hall, with support from Anne Lovegrove and Anna-Kay Brocklesby, for an average of 12 staff who attended the whole course.

This year we have continued with the process of developing a more formal partnership with other schools, and are pleased to announce the formation of the Chess Valley Primary Education Trust from 1st April of this year. This Trust now takes overall responsibility for Christ Church School and Sarratt School, and we are already seeing the advantages of the two schools working so closely together.

There are many links between the church and the school. David Hall and Sylvia Mann have represented the church on the initial Academy Trust and most of the 13 school governors worship at Christ Church. Under the new arrangements, Gillian Pugh will chair the Members group of the Chess Valley Primary Learning Trust, with Gill Collison, David Hall and Simon Flamank as members; whilst Nick Moorhouse will chair the Directors Board, whose members include Guy Foxell, Fiona Shore and Gillian Pugh. We have welcomed Cora Lynn Rathbone, Zainab Odutola and Jacob Harrison on to the school’s local governing body this term, to join Mary Alderson, James Bardwell, Jeremy Fletcher, Charlotte Kohnhorst, Sheila Marshall-Taylor, Coralie Naalchigar and Gillian Pugh.

Geoff Marshall-Taylor is our main contact for church services and the rota whereby church staff lead collec-tive worship in the school once a week. We are most grateful to all the church team who have contributed to our collective worship in school over the past year – David, Terence, Jacob, Anne, Geoff, Bri and Simon. The school also holds services on a regular basis over the course of the year, led by Jane Broadis and the pupils in Year 6 - at Harvest, Remembrance, Easter and Christmas as well as a leavers’ service at the end of the summer term. The school choir has also contributed to a number of other services over the past year, as well as singing on Radio 4 and at local events such as Chorleywood Christmas Shopping night.

This year the church has helped to fund a bible for each of the Year 6 children, and also a class bible for each year group.

We continue to be fortunate in the excellent leadership of head teacher Duncan Gauld, who is now executive head of the Trust, and the quality of the teachers and teaching assistants. The school also enjoys a high level

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of support from parents and from the church community, several of whom are involved in the school on a regular basis listening to children read.

Gillian Pugh, Chair of Governors

www.christchurchschool.herts.sch.uk/

The Rock Kids Ministry (ages 0-10)

Christ Church Children’s Ministry

Here in the kids ministry I’ve been fortunate enough to experience God’s amazing work in the church as well as the community outside. While it has been an interesting year getting used to all the different opportunities there are in our Kids Ministry, it has been such an exceptional year of learning and growing and I am so thankful to all that help serve alongside Nikki and myself and all that support in prayer too!

Kids Church on Sunday

On Sundays, we have our Kids Church, made up of 5 different groups between the ages of 0-10 years. We run at the 10:30 service as well as the 12:00 service! In 2018 we had a weekly average of 53 children who join us on a Sunday morning and all are incredible and have so much fun! Our Kids Church includes fellowship, worship and teaching and a time of prayer and listening and ‘soaking’ in the Spirit. Over the last year we have explored God’s Power and Wonders in the old testament- discovering who God is, what He’s like and how we can get involved and be in relationship too! In the last term we’ve been looking at Jesus - of royal descent - when he came to us as a baby and all the miracles he did when he started his ministry.

Illuminate

Illuminate is one of our weekday groups for those in Year 4-5 and meet together on Monday. We meet at the Junction and play lots of games, do crafts and have a space for teaching as well. Earlier this year we looked at Spiritual Gifts - how we can use them, and what we can use them for which was so amazing to see how different and precious each child is and how some of them were so excited to use them to build God’s Kingdom, as well as praying for each other that they may receive and use any gifts God wants to give. We have also enjoyed fellowship together in doing ALPHA but child friendly - this was a wonderful way to get back to basics and allow space for the children to ask any questions they may have about faith and life. We have 11 children that join us on a Monday afternoon and are all individually funny, kind, caring with a very competitive spirit which has been so much fun!

Lighthouse

Lighthouse is for Year 1-3 and meet on a Wednesday after school. I can’t express how much fun and liveliness this group have for being such little people. We have a great time exploring God’s word through games, craft, stories and creative prayer, learning more about God and his Son Jesus along the way. In our first term of 2018 - we were having an average of 16 as numbers decreased from 24 due to a clash between clubs. In the last term we have been having 21 children join us on a Wednesday afternoon which has been very exciting! Earlier this year we looked at ‘Does God really know how I’m feeling’ where we explored the many stories in the bible that teach us on different situations we may have in our life. We’ve also looked at Jesus’ I AM’s this term which has been both fun and challenging but we have fun getting to know the kids, teaching God’s word and spend a lot of time laughing - Oh the joyful presence God gives!

Toddlers

Every day of the week we are blessed to host a Toddler Group in the Junction for those of our local and church community. Each group has between 15-20 families who attend - that’s between 75-100 families in total. Some are church families, but for at least half, their Toddler Group is the only connection to church they have. What an opportunity!!

We want to support and love these families. To get to know them, to build relationship with them. To show and share with them the love that Jesus offers. We have also recently had the opportunity to restart our Jumping Beans service. Jumping Beans is our Toddler service once a month where we come together to have

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a bible story in the church, a craft that links to this story and we sing songs! Once a month we join Toddlers and supporting the great work that goes on in each group. We provide a craft activity which then links into a Bible story we then tell in the church.

Socials and Other Events

We also have lots of fun socials where we grow together – treasure hunts, movies, camps and adventure socials being just some examples! These are great times where the children from Sunday groups and mid-week can come together, to get to know each other and continue to build community.

We had our annual Light Party at the end of October with our theme of Light and Colour. We had 40 kids who all came dressed up and very eager for all the fun we had! We spent the evening celebrating how Jesus is the Light of the World and how he brings tremendous colour to our lives. We had a number of fun activities including a bouncy castle, glow in the dark games, pizza making, popcorn and candy floss, prayer activities and our annual glow stick hunt in the church!

We have been continuing our Family Films. These are afternoons where we host a screening of a family favourite or a new release at the church which are free with free treats provided. The aim of these is to provide space for families to spend time together but also to show that church doesn’t close over the school holidays. As with last year, they have been growing in attendance, but we did have to pause over these holidays. We hope to bring them back in the next half-term.

Christ Church School

Each week someone from the church team is invited to lead an assembly every Tuesday to the whole school, where we look at a Bible story or festival. This has been a wonderful opportunity to build relationships with the children and school staff team.

Detonate

Detonate is the summer holiday club for children from school years 1-6 when all the churches in Chorleywood come together up at the Russell School. Christ Church has continued to be very involved in the leadership and running of this holiday club. Our last theme was Detonate Crazy Scientists, where we explored miracles of God, we looked at Jesus and many bible stories. It was a week filled with games, crafts, sports, praise and community for the children. We had 350 children come across the week which was incredible to witness. Again the week was filled with joy, excitement, creativity, and there were some beautiful ministry moments where the Holy Spirit was really ministering to the children there, including a handful of them making com-mitments to Jesus too! Please pray for the planning and preparation for Detonate 2019 which has already started.

I would just love to really lift up and thank Nikki who has been doing the Sunday co-ordinating and how amazing she has been - a true blessing! And a huge thank you to our Interns Daniel, and Josh who work so hard for our children and youth here with us at Christ Church in planning, in prayer, in support and encour-agement and all the practical aspects too. I’m so excited for what God is planning to do here at Christ Church and in the next term that I am here for - and that God will pour his continual blessings in this ministry and church. Please continue to pray for all that serve on our teams, their handwork and faithful serving is incred-ible and that we’d be ready to listen and discern. Please also pray for our children, that they’d experience a tangible and glorious God, a Father that loves, protects and looks after, that they’d know his presence in them and their families lives.

Brianna Ricciardo

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Youth Ministry

REAL – Years 6 – 9 Mission Statement REAL is there to give God the space to show 10 – 14 year olds that He is REAL and to share His love for them Values Firstly, we’ve got some values at REAL that we always want to hold to: • REAL - We believe that Jesus is real and we aim to provide a space to allow Him to show others that he is

real. We want to give Jesus space to meet with and work in the lives of young people. • Jesus - We want REAL to display the character of Jesus to everyone it touches. • Dynamic - We want our events to be dynamic, never being afraid to pull off big and creative ideas that

leave lasting memories. • Authentic - We aim to be authentic and transparent by being honest and open about who we are and what

REAL is. Living our lives authentically and with integrity as followers of Jesus. • Humility - We aim for humility by always giving the glory for any success to God as we rely on His strength

for all we do. • Courage - We will always be courageous and bold to proclaim who Jesus is and never being afraid to be

brave in how we do so. • Safety - We want those who attend REAL to be safe and know they are safe, physically and emotionally.

We also want to give safe opportunities to ask questions and have discussions. • Invest - We want to give opportunities to young and emerging leaders to use the gifts that God has given

them. • Family - Everyone should know that to be a part of REAL means they are part of a community that loves

each other. That means we can be our real selves and know we'll be accepted. No one should feel shamed for being who they, or where they are on their journey, but supported through their ups and downs. We cheer each other on, be each other’s biggest fans, as we pursue Jesus in our lives.

Ministry Breakdown

REAL on a Tuesday

Tuesday nights are designed to fulfil our mission statement by providing a safe and high energy space for those in school years 7 – 9 to meet with their friends, enjoy themselves, and explore the question “Is Jesus REAL?” We work hard to make the environment look and feel engaging, fresh and welcoming, and each evening allows ample unstructured time for young people to socialise using our games consoles, sports equipment, and social spaces. We also play group games, have a 10 min talk, worship, and leave space to listen and pray to Jesus. Tuesday nights have become an inspiring place of encounter for young people, as God blesses us with his presence each time we meet.

REAL Life on a Sunday morning

Sunday mornings meet our mission statement by focusing on building a community that knows each other well and inspires each other to grow as disciples of Jesus. We do this by studying the Bible and providing safe spaces and opportunities to ‘practice living’ what we learn. We are also passionate about encouraging our young people at REAL Life into being the leaders of today – not just the leaders of tomorrow. REAL Life plays a key role in visioning and praying for our REAL summer events.

Going Deeper

Going Deeper is our new dedicated midweek group for children in year 6. Our main aim at Going Deeper is to build the young people into a community that is: Safe, Open, Inclusive, Fun, and centred in Jesus. Going Deeper aims to be a safe transition between the children’s ministry and REAL. REAL Summer

REAL Summer is an exciting 4 day event for 11 – 14 year olds that builds its program out of the mission statement and values of REAL. We aim for high quality hangout areas, mains sessions with high quality wor-ship, large scale activities, but most importantly the aim of all of this is to provide God the space to show

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these young people that he is REAL and that he loves them. Highlight videos and booking information for this coming summer are available on www.realsummer.co.uk. In REAL Summer 2018, we expanded to 4 full days in our 2nd ever REAL Summer. We prayed for over 80 young people to attend and 83 came and God blessed us with and incredible week. Our Thursday evening session in particular was the most special night I have personally ever had in youth ministry, the whole church was full of young people authentically worshipping and meeting with Jesus. People were healed, lives were given to Jesus, and young people fell deeper into relationship with Him. It was a beautiful evening.

REAL Leadership

A new project for this year, REAL Leadership is a 5-month leadership training course for young people. It is an opportunity for young people to commit time to God, asking Him to grow the as disciples and leaders who ‘give God space in their lives’. Young people are enrolled on teams where they can receive regular feedback, a mentor to meet with them regularly, support as they read through our daily bible readings, and 5 Saturday morning session where they get practical teaching on practical leadership skills, discipleship and character lessons, as well as guest speakers such as J.John & Killy and Gary Grant speaking to them. This year 10 young people from Christ Church and Mill End Baptist have attended.

Looking back over 2018/2019

Looking back over the last 12 months it’s been an interesting time. Some ministries have grown such as REAL Summer, others have solidified and matured what they are and how they function such as REAL Tuesday, and others have started fresh and brought new life into the ministry such as REAL Leadership. Personally as a leader I am beginning to learn that there are so many new projects that I’d love to start, but waiting on Gods timing through provision is essential. The YouTube channel I hoped to launch has struggled to get started as we do not have a team to get this time intensive project off the ground. But with REAL Leadership, a ministry I was not expecting to start this year, God provided a perfect leader who had the gifts and passion to help us turn the dream into a reality. It is so important that we continue to be a ministry that places trust in Gods provision as we love the young people in our care and in Chorleywood.

Looking Forward

The two most important goals for REAL over this coming year are to build our team and develop active prayer support.

Building our team

If REAL is to continue to grow as a ministry both in terms of the number of young people it reaches and the number of ministries it runs, then it needs to grow its leadership team. REAL needs to learn how to build a large and strong team that both understands and is passionate about its vision and values. A team that knows it is loved, invested in, heard, and valued. Joining the team at REAL should feel like joining a family and it is my goal to pursue this over the next calendar year.

Prayer Support

One of our values at REAL is humility - giving the glory for any success to God as we rely on His strength for all we do. It is so important then that REAL has foundation of prayer support underpinning us as a ministry. I’d love to build a team of dedicated prayers who can pray for the ministry, its team, and its young people.

Simon Tulett

YPF 14 – 18’s (Years 9 - 13)

Core values

YPF is all about encouraging and equipping young people to live whole heartedly for Jesus, strengthening each other in the context of community. Ministry breakdown

YPF meet once a week on Wednesday evenings during term time, alternating from a larger gathering in the junction to smaller ‘Life Groups’ which are hosted in people’s homes. During our meetings together we give

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space for prayer, worship and hearing from God’s word. Life groups are a more relaxed time, exploring the Word of God together and prayer for each other in a smaller context.

On top of the weekly meetings, as leaders we meet with young people on a one on one basis to help mentor and disciple them. Occasionally we meet outside of our Wednesday for different events, socials and meeting with other young people (e.g. ‘After Hours’ hosted at St Andrews).

Twice a year we get away, one for a weekend away together and a longer time away together in the summer at Soul Survivor.

Looking Back and looking Forward

This being a first year as the youth minister for 14-18 has served as a great opportunity to get to know the young people here at Christ Church. There have been learning moments but I’m immensely privileged to serve and lead such great young people. We have had a good number attending week in week out, with the numbers in the junction over 20 fairly regularly. The Christmas social was a highlight as was the weekend away in the Isle of White. As we look forward to the coming year my heart is that young people grow in their devotion for Jesus as well as each other, that they would model what it means to be church and love one another as Jesus commands in John 13. With Soul Survivor summer conferences coming to end, it will be exciting to envision what the YPF summer holiday will be in the coming years. Worship Core Values

To grow organically, a community of musicians who are worshippers first to lead and serve the people of Christ Church Chorleywood in Christ centred, Spirit led corporate worship. Ministry Breakdown

The heart the worship ministry to help train and grown a team to serve our 12pm and 6:30pm congregations in Spirit led worship which means developing and training team members not only in musical gifting and ability but also in discipleship. To lead worship, you must yourself be a worshipper. We have made good strides since my arrival in September, utilising new technology (pads, music software) and introducing new songs for the church to sing. In addition, we meet for rehearsals midweek which helps develop musicianship and band unity. Looking back and looking forward

As mentioned previously, the worship at 6:30pm has developed strongly, bringing more consistency with style, as well as song choice. It has also been encouraging to see members of the team develop their gifting and try new things, young people in particular. It has been great to develop in creativity and use of technology especially incorporating MainStage 3 software in our keys setup to bring a wider palette of sounds to the process. Looking forward to the coming year, the desire that we grow larger as a team whilst continuing to develop the current team. That everything we do as team would be for God, to God, and about God, and not about our musical talents.

Ben Holbrook

Gather & Send

Gather & Send, the new name of our eighteen to thirty group at Christ Church, has been meeting for fellow-ship, Bible study and social activities on Monday evenings for over a year. We started with a small group of 6 meeting around our dining room table at Little Croft but have outgrown our home and now meet at church. We have seen many members gather for a time and later be sent out into new jobs or further education. We have been able to provide a stepping stone for YPF leavers who are not yet in a position to join the home group network. We have become a place where friendships can develop and individuals can grow closer to the Lord Jesus within the community.

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Our hope for the coming year is to build upon the successes of this past year and to nurture leadership gifts in group members that Gather & Send might be established long after Zippy and I move on from Christ Church.

Jacob & Zippy Harrison

Home/ Bible Study Groups

Home groups and small Bible study groups, plus the daytime evangelistic outreach groups led by Lu Chadder, play a vital role in helping us grow as followers of Christ, and in loving and caring for each other.

The New Testament calls us to meet together as a body of believers to worship, to fellowship with each other and mutually support each other. Times together after our Sunday services and midweek gatherings like our Discovery evenings provide great opportunities for this. Home and small Bible study groups, how-ever, offer an extra dimension and depth to our fellowship through meeting regularly as a group to socialise, study the bible together, pray for one another, and support one another practically.

This past year, we have promoted the benefits of home group membership including a Special Focus slot in the Autumn in all the Sunday services. It is especially encouraging to report that we have formed two new evening groups since then in new locations and more people have joined groups.

Home groups and small Bible study groups comprise around half the members on the Christ Church elec-toral roll, plus quite a number who are not. They offer a rich diversity for new members, being daytime, (principally female), evening (mixed), one with a crèche (specifically catering for parents with young chil-dren). Geographically, the groups cover a wide range of the surrounding areas including Chorleywood, Little Chalfont, Rickmansworth, Arnett Hills and Bovingdon, plus the Junction. There is bound to be one near you! And they vary in size, with many having around 8 to 12 regular attendees.

They vary in style and composition but all provide refreshments and plenty of discussion and loving fellow-ship. There is always a session of bible study / teaching and discussion, and another key ingredient is one of supporting one another with prayer. Most groups also hold occasional social events ranging from summer barbecues to Passover meals.

If you are interested in joining a group, we would be delighted to help locate one which is convenient for you. Finally, we give special thanks for:

• Our leaders, hosts, servers and members who have helped enrich so many people’s spiritual journey with fellowship, love, grace and compassion.

• The new groups which are enabling more people to be blessed in fellowship, prayer and love.

• The richness and diversity that new family members are continuing to bring to our church. Terence and Robyn Russoff