The Parish of Saint Andrew and Saint Mark Surbiton

2015

P.C.C. Annual Report

Churchwardens’ Fabric Report

Financial Statements

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF SURBITON, SAINT ANDREW & SAINT MARK

REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2015

Objectives and ActivitiesThe sole charitable object of the PCC is the promotion of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the doctrines and practices of the Church of England. In furtherance of this object the PCC has a statutory responsibility to co-operate with the minister in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.

The PCC is also firmly committed to our Vision Project, in which we seek to renew the strength of our Christian community and to use that strength to serve God by serving the people of Surbiton.

The PCC has sought to achieve its primary object by:--1. maintaining the whole mission of the Church, and supporting the ministry team in so doing;2. continuing with the Vision process, with the more immediate aims of:--

a) Managing our churches and the rooms associated with them, both at St. Mark’s and at St. Andrew’s, so that they can be used in a variety of ways both liturgical and secular.

b) Considering further how the next stage of the Vision Project can be developed now that refurbishment work on the buildings is complete.

c) Considering how to manage and deal with maintenance issues in both churches that have arisen out of the last quinquennial inspections.

The first objective involves both the regular provision of opportunities for divine worship; and the promotion of the Gospel, and of Christian fellowship, by other means.

Day-to-day Management The PCC has delegated some of its powers and duties (but not its trustee responsibilities) to a number of groups and people. These have been concerned in particular with lettings and Child Protection and while the Churchwardens have dealt with matters to do with property maintenance and will continue to do so, at the end of 2015 a Property Management Group was formed to assist with routine maintenance activities and has a delegated budget in support of this.

A number of individuals, including the sacristans and the director of music, fill specific roles in the running of the parish; and these individuals are authorised to incur expenditure on behalf of the PCC within prescribed limits.

Annual Report SummaryIt has been a wonderful year at St Andrew and St Mark, a time of growth. I believe that we can begin to feel the fruits of all the work put into the churches’ redevelopment over previous decades.

Easter Day, St Mark’s, 2015

Hello and GoodbyeMany new people have come to church. We welcomed the Reverend Laura Selman as a curate in the summer. Among the laity, in terms of particular responsibility, most noteworthy is that Martin Taylor began as churchwarden in May and has since then contributed greatly to the work of the church, especially through an indefatigable ability with DIY tasks that are otherwise too tough to handle, but in other areas too.Joyce Palmer, sister of Vera, and a regular at the 8am congregation, died in the autumn, aged 94. She and her sister both attended St Mark’s before the war and can remember seeing the church on fire after the World War 2 bombing. Vera remains very healthy but we miss Joyce.Several families moved away from the area, not because they didn’t like Surbiton (or us) but because they cannot afford to buy a house here. This is only likely to increase as an issue as house prices go up, though it should be added that overall the population of the parish is increasing so someone is living here!Tim Lavis stood down as churchwarden after serving for six years, having given fantastic service to the parish at a time of great change, though he’s far from gone as a member of the congregation, Emmaus course leader, musician, person-who-understands-the-heating-system-at-St-Andrew’s… and many other things.

WorshipThe number of people worshipping at St Andrew and St Mark is growing.Below are two charts. The first is from 2008 to 2015 and is drawn from our own service registers. It adds up all the people who attend St Andrew and St Mark on a Sunday morning, be that at the 8am, the 9.15am or the 11am service. The number of worshippers in 2015 is higher than at any other time this century and has built further on the congregation growth in recent years.

Chart 1: Sunday morning attendance

Source: Service registers, St Andrew and St Mark

Chart Two (below) is taken from the Church of England parish returns submitted by each church, including ours each year. It relates to services in October and November, so does not present such an annual picture and is less representative in that way, but it does stretch back to 2006 and enables us to compare us with how attendance on average is in the diocese.

Chart 2: Sunday attendance at St Andrew and St Mark compared with Southwark Diocese average

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20150

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All Age average Sunday attendance

All Ages Average Sunday AttendanceAverage Across Diocese

Source: Church of England Parish returns, Southwark Diocese

This also shows growth, especially in the last three years, and is enormously encouraging. In an era where it cannot be assumed that people will naturally gravitate to church, there is clearly something on offer at the moment at St Andrew and St Mark that is helping people to worship God. It is extremely likely that part of the growth comes from the enormous outreach through the buildings themselves, which opens up the possibility of going to church to people who would not otherwise think of it. The colossal work of those involved in the Vision project in the last 20 years is bearing fruit, with benefit both to the community and to the church. I hope that those who put in hours of seemingly thankless and often stressful work during that time, mostly long before I was present in the church, have a feeling of satisfaction at what is happening today.

Chart 3: Attendance at the different types of Sunday service

Source: Service registers, St Andrew and St Mark

Also encouraging is that church attendance growth is not limited to one kind of service. On average, the biggest service in each of the last three years has been the All Age eucharist at St Mark’s, though this is partly due to the times when this service is also a ‘Parade’ service.

The 9.15 family worship service at St Mark’s, especially for those with young children, only established itself as fortnightly in 2012. It is potentially the most ‘fragile’ service in that people attending are often people with little church background, but now has a steady attendance. It seems to meet the needs of parents and young children in how they engage with the Christian story and is often full of joy. At times, the “action song moment” has to be experienced to be believed.The 11am choral eucharist at St Andrew’s has also experienced small but significant growth. Over 100 people are present there, more often than not. The expansion of the discussion group option for a sermon slot into October, having previously just been on Sundays in Lent, was only a mixed success this year, possibly because the topics for discussion did not lend themselves to the right slot. We can think more on this, but I believe this is still a potentially fruitful way for us to be a church together on Sunday mornings some of the time.

At a time of growth, it is still a time to think about how we ‘welcome’ people into the church. Systems that work well for a certain sized church will not work as well when there is growth. Laura the curate is chairing a working group looking at this, and this is part of our Mission Action Plan.

Growth among childrenChart 4: Children on Sundays: St Andrew and St Mark compared with the diocese

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 201505

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Children average Sunday attendance

Child Average Sunday Attendance Average across DioceseSource: Church of England parish returns, Southwark Diocese

When the parish profile was prepared for the new vicar’s appointment in 2012, the then archdeacon remarked to the PCC that it was important to be honest about the greying nature of the congregation. This met with some puzzlement from those preparing the profile.What I now see is that the archdeacon was right in one way about the lack of children: however, he was only right from when he first visited the church in 2006, not when the profile was prepared in 2012 and certainly not 2015. Things have changed.The thinking about new ways to approach children that was overseen by church leaders, both clergy and laity, back then, has been bearing fruit. In the last ten years, we have moved from being a church with 50% less children on a Sunday than the diocesan average to one with 50% more children than average.

That said, we already have the first ‘generation’ of children who once enjoyed the 9.15am service now gravitating away from it because they have ‘grown out’ of it. Part of this need can be met by Sunday Club at St Andrew’s, but it will also need to be met in further new and creative ways. This is the reason behind the identification in the Mission Action Plan of “Junior Age children” as a key priority. It is unfortunate that the needs of Sundays and ‘day to day’ church life sometimes inhibit that focus being pushed as hard as it should be.

Children at the Good Friday service for children, waving palms

We have involvement amongst a small group of committed teenagers. It would

be great to find a wider source of fellowship for them too. In 2015, we

offered confirmation classes at Surbiton High School, but in the end no one came

to be confirmed, though three children began. We are offering these again in

2016 with more success. Admission to Communion service

Evening worship

Some of the most powerful worship of the year has been during evening services, which offer a great variety of different ways to worship God and often unlock gifts from around the congregation in terms of leading them. Once a month, the choir essentially lead choral evensong. Richard Weir also leads worship in the style of Taize, six times a year, assisted by Peter Pritchard among others. Sue and Anthony Airey their prayers with laying on of hands, in our services of wholeness and healing. The photo above comes from candle-lit compline during Holy Week, where the St Andrew’s sanctuary was used to stunning effect. Candlelit Compline during Holy Week

Impact at Christmas

There merits a particular word about the extraordinary growth in attendance at Christmas services. This has been led by the Christingle services for children, which now takes place twice on Christmas Eve because it is so popular. However, there were more than 200 at both Midnight Mass and on Christmas morning and the traditional Christmas carol service was absolutely packed.

Simon Harvey rehearses the choir in St Mark’s church just before the carol service.

Chart 5: Attendance at Christmas services

Source: Church service register: combined attendance at Carol service, Christingle service, Midnight Mass and Christmas morning eucharist.

The phenomenon has not been matched in the diocese more widely. Perhaps the reason is that our church is able to articulate clearly how it is at the heart of the community, through the many events that already happen throughout the year and so people turn to it at a time like Christmas when they want to be rooted in this community and they recognise something in themselves which wants to feel a sense of real Christianity. Growth at Christmas services has been 150% over the last ten years in this parish, while it has been flat across the Diocese.

Some of this at least must also be due to the continuing excellence of our choral tradition, which people enjoy but cannot find elsewhere: the carol service this year was fantastic musically. Some of it is also due to holding to worship which is distinctly within the Anglican tradition but which is accessible to all.

Chart 6: Attendance in the 24 hours around Christmas: St Andrew and St Mark compared with Southwark diocese

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20150

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Christmas attendance

Christmas Day / Eve Attendance Average Across Diocese

Source: Church of England parish returns, Southwark Diocese

Marriages and Baptisms2015 saw a recovery in the number of weddings taking place at St Andrew and St Mark. Both churches are such fantastic buildings that it is to be hoped that they continue to be well used for marriages. Particular thanks to Anne Barker and Jackie Page for all their work with flowers and more.

Iris and Lee’s wedding at St Andrew’s

Furthermore, our one day Marriage Preparation course, which is compulsory for all who get married with us, is very popular with couples. Couples are asked to talk to their partners about their relationship, offered solutions as to how to resolve possible conflicts and we also look ahead to the service itself. 100% of those who attended last year both found the course useful and would recommend it to others.

While weddings recovered to a good level, baptisms are down from their peak in 2012. I am not quite clear why this is, although we’re fielding plenty of enquiries about them and we’re a long way up on the diocesan average.

Photo: Danny and Sereena at St Mark’s

Chart 7: weddings at St Andrew and St Mark compared with Southwark Diocese.

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 201502468

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Weddings

Weddings / Blessings Average across Diocese

Source: Church of England parish returns, Southwark Diocese

Chart 8: baptism at St Andrew and St Mark compared with Southwark Diocese.

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 201505

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Baptisms / Thanksgivings

Baptisms / Thanksgivings Average against the DioceseSource: Church of England parish returns, Southwark Diocese

ConfirmationEight members of the congregation, of all ages, were confirmed at St Mark’s, in May 2015.

It is a great pleasure, both working with people towards confirmation as teenagers (a more ‘conventional’ time) but also bringing people to confirmation as adults, at a time when their engagement is meaningful in their lives in a new way.How to offer either a ‘refresher’ or a ‘beginning’ course to Christianity and to deliver that well to the right people, continues to be a challenge, but one that we will enjoy in years to come.

Confirmation, May 2015

St Andrew’s and St Mark’s Junior SchoolThis has been an excellent year at St Andrew and St Mark Junior School. The school was judged ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted in 2007 and continues to be outstanding, under the leadership of Alison Vigurs as headteacher.

Glynis Kortwright stepped down as chair of governors in the summer of 2015, marking an end to almost three decades of school governance. It is hard to overestimate the colossal, positive impact she has had on the school and I would like here to pay tribute to the work she has done, in all sorts of areas, from both chairing meetings with a firm but fair hand, and also handling paperwork with commitment and ease. I have taken over as Chair from September this year.

The school has moved from two form entry with an occasional ‘bulge’ class to three form entry and has some splendid new buildings, which were opened in the summer by Bishop Richard. James Berry MP was also there.

One of the key contributions the church makes to the local communities is when people offer themselves as governors. At present “Foundation” governors are: Kathleen Dempster, Joan Young, Marc Crank, Edward Davey (now Sir Edward!) and the vicar. Fred Houwen served for a short time for which we are grateful. “Diocesan” governors are: Anne Barker and Cecile Stearn. Between them, foundation and diocesan governors are a majority on the governing body of the school. I am grateful to all of them for their diligence and wisdom.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land with St Matthew’s For many of us, 2015 was an unforgettable year because of the trip to the Holy Land that took place

at the end of October. This was led by the Reverend Helen Hancock and Janice Price together.In the picture on the left, four members of the congregation are contemplating their first sight of Jerusalem, from the Mount of Olives. In the picture below, Hugh and Lara are relaxing on a boat on the Sea of Galilee.St Jerome described the landscape of the Holy Land as ‘The Fifth Gospel’ and it was a privilege to go, and a delight to explore this place as part of a group. The Holy Land has a complicated past and a complicated present, which meant that we were forced to reflect on many levels. However, being present in the places where Jesus himself walked cannot help

but change one’s own faith and it was full of powerfully charged spiritual moments. There seems to be an appetite in the congregation for pilgrimages and as a result of reviewing this pilgrimage, Janice Price will be taking on coordinating a regular programme. One of the aims is to offer pilgrimages ‘at all budgets’: for example, not everyone can afford to go to the Holy Land (though we offered bursaries). We are actively exploring a trip to Iona in 2016, and there may be another pilgrimage to the various sites of the Northern Saints. We will also aim to go for a day to St Alban’s.

If we do another pilgrimage on the scale of the one to the Holy Land, it will not be for some years.

However, we hope to keep the spirit of making pilgrimage going. It’s a great way of going further along our spiritual journey, though admittedly not every experience was spiritual in Palestine and Israel. If you are interested in possible pilgrimages, ask Janice Price for more details.

Spot the vicar in the Dead Sea.

Service to the communityThe Christmas lunch for the community was again hosted at the YMCA and this time was coordinated

by Moira Greenfield and the Reverend Carole Bourne. It was a wonderful occasion.

I always find it very impressive how many members of the choir (who’ve just down a serious number of services in church) are still present to sing carols at the Christmas lunch. The Christmas lunch remains the single biggest way in which the church reaches out to the community in pure service, although every month, the church supports the community also through letting its buildings and halls cheaply to charities.

There is room to do more to serve the community and more is planned. In 2016, we hope to launch a regular group working with the Joel Community Trust and offer lunches on a Wednesday at St Andrew and St Mark.

Finance issues that need considerationAs can be seen from the Treasurer’s report, the parish’s finances are broadly in a healthy state. Giving from the congregation increased by just under 10% last year and rental from our halls has increased again. The major costs for the stonework repairs to St Mark’s are complete and, God willing, the leak in the North aisle at St Mark’s is all but solved.There remain genuine issues for us financially however and in particular there are four areas which all make a call on finance. In what follows, I outline the areas as I see them.

The roof at St Andrew’s.While the main body of the church was overhauled five years ago, the roof was left untouched. At the last quinquennial, this was noted as something that needed major work in the near future. The ballpark figure for this from our Inspecting Architect is £500,000 (five hundred thousand pounds). The venomous cost comes from the height of the roof and the associated costs of scaffolding needed to reach here. While Lottery funding may be possible, this is an area for which we need to save.1 The Mall

This is the house where Laura Selman is currently living as curate and previously used by the vicar of St Andrew’s when that post existed. Due to a quirk of its purchase, the parish does not own this house: it is owned in a rare mortgage arrangement whereby the Church Commissioners own a third of the house; the Diocese of Southwark own two thirds of the house; we as a parish have an interest in that we pay the mortgage interest on the house. (This was intended to be a bridging arrangement at the time of the house’s purchase in the 1990s, but became semi-permanent when the parish chose not to use capital on purchasing the mortgage back off the diocese and the church commissioners but rather to keep capital raised from selling another house (in Cheyne Hill) to support the church redevelopment project.)Part of the condition of the Church Commissioners’ involvement is that the house must only be lived in by someone in ordained ministry (except for upto 12 months in-between tenancies). While a curate lives in the house, that is always the case and it is an excellent house for a curate. In the short term, this will continue to be used in this way.Vicars are allotted curates on the basis that they will be present to oversee the majority of their training i.e. at least two years. Let us imagine a situation in, say, 2026. A curate leaves and the vicar, in all probability me (!), is thinking of moving on from the parish and cannot guarantee that he or she will be present for the next three years. There would then be no one in the house who could offer ministry to the parish for a period of considerably longer than 12 months, possibly upto four or five years.In this time, the Church Commissioners would be justified in wanting to release the funds put up for that house by selling it at market rate. The parish would both lose access to the house nor would they gain from the capital accrued in the increase of house prices.A way out of this loss is for the parish to buy the one third share off the Church Commissioners. This would, however, cost in the region of £300,000 at today’s prices. To do so in the future, however, would in all likelihood cost considerably more.

The parish support fundThe diocese of Southwark is the central body which spends most of its money on clergy stipends, their pensions and the property they live in. The hope and expectation is that wealthier parishes and parishes with greater revenue streams can support parishes in poorer areas and/or with fewer revenue streams. We currently spend £99,000 a year supporting the Parish Support Fund. We could choose to offer a greater sum as part of our desire to support the wider church, especially given the high revenues we get through our hall and rooms lettings, which is a revenue stream that is unavailable to some other churches.

Human capitalOur churches are extraordinary organisms where perhaps a hundred different people volunteer their skills in all sorts of ways, from being churchwardens or treasurers to welcoming at the door on a Sunday or pouring coffee and tea. It would be hard to quantify in financial terms exactly how much is given freely, and often with genuine delight, by people in the congregation.There are other people who are paid. The vicar and the curate are two of them but they get paid through the diocese. The parish directly pays the parish administrator and the director of music: we also pay cleaners through a cleaning agency.It could be that we seek to spend more parish money on human capital, be that a wider brief for a director of music or a children’s worker to develop the ‘junior’ church offer, or some other person entirely. One must be cautious in adding to a ‘salary bill’ but equally I think we should not be afraid of it. Arguably, we need to attend to this in particular as a result of growth. The fact that we have grown both in number and in the scope of activities is wonderful. It has been made possible for the most part by the continued work of volunteers, often doing even more than they did before. Much of the time people are happy to give in this way; there is also a sense at times of overload, because people are covering so many areas of activity and are overstretched. Paid human capital could be part of that solution. There are of course other issues that will come to light, but it seems to me that we must think carefully about those four areas: the St Andrew’s roof, 1 The Mall, the parish support fund and human capital, in working out how we will raise and spend money in the coming few years. Making a judgement about the balance of money to spend in which area requires wisdom and care.

Unsung heroesIt is generally invidious to single people out for praise in a report like this, as to name one or two risks seeming not to appreciate the others. However, there are two people who I would particularly mention for their sheer level of unselfish commitment and lack of fuss in what they do.

The first is Simon Harvey, who picked up the role of acting director of music after Derek Barford was taken ill at the end of 2014 and has worked just for expenses for the entirety of 2015, leading the choir and most services on the organ, to a remarkable standard. He has been a joy to work with, and we owe him an amazing debt of gratitude.

The second is Marilyn Wood who has coordinated tea and coffee, not just on the rota, but frequently filling in quietly where someone has not turned up or been taken ill, or purchased milk where none was existent or in sundry other ways. Of course she has done this for many years and her work in 2015 was not greater than her work in 2014 but I have wanted, one year, to mark out what she has done, and I thought this is a year to do it.

Personal noteI have felt blessed to be part of this parish and to be living here with my family at this time. There are some tough times with this job as with any other, but they are greatly outweighed by the blessings, and the glimpses of God that are at work here and which I am privileged to be present to see. I hope that someone reading this considers whether they themselves are called to the role of ordained ministry; there seem to me to be several people in the parish who may be called to this work.The job here is vicar for both churches; ten years ago, that was not the case: then the parish had two vicars, as well as assistant clergy. Looking back at 2015, I was feeling under pressure essentially through sheer weight of work quite a lot during the spring and then again towards Christmas. One can cope with the day-to-day and the week-to-week, but one loses some of the medium and long term goals, because of the demands of the more immediate rounds of services, occasional offices and other parish commitments. I am as acutely conscious of things ‘not done’ as things done. The presence of Laura as curate has made a real difference, and with two fulltime clergy there is a much stronger platform of ministry. I just note that for the future I believe this parish can be held for a time by one member of clergy working on his or her own, but really I would suggest that it will only ‘fly’ in a way that is sustainable when there can be two clergy at least present in the parish. That said, there are wider financial constraints at work, and I am aware as I write of colleagues in rural dioceses who look after seven or more churches and who would feel that vicars like me “have it easy”. Everyone works in a challenging context: I just make the above note as a reference point that may become relevant at some point in the future.

Communication and publicity

2015 has been a year of consolidation rather than innovation in our publicity.Wendy Dobing has continued to run the website with heroic commitment despite a painful transition from one type of host to another. She has expressed a desire to step back from this role from the end of May 2016 and this may be a good time to reconfigure how we do things on this. Laura will oversee the transition. I would like to thank Wendy for her colossal contribution to the church through this service over the last six years.The magazine had six successful issues. Hazel Gidley did a stint in charge of organising our advertising but she too has stepped down and that position is vacant at present. Laura has edited the last three issues, but will look to share that role out more: it’s a delicate balancing act between honouring the different contributors, nagging other and editing those that need to be edited.

We are now in a position of being able to reuse banners and thanks to Martin, we have a more permanent banner display place at St Mark’s.We are now in the second year of usage for our banners and they have made a genuine difference.

Emmaus

The Emmaus Group, led by Celia O'Neill and Tim Lavis, completed another three modules of the course. It follows study material which explores different ways of understanding Christian living and discipleship and is suitable both for those new to faith and those already on their own personal journey of faith. The group met 12 times during the year and completed modules entitled, ‘Being Church’, ‘Growing in Worship – understanding the sacraments’ and ‘Life, Death and Christian hope’. A couple of social events have also taken place, including a joint cinema trip with the Faith & Fun Group early in the year to see the film ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’. Although the numbers attending each session were slightly down on 2014, this may have been a blessing in disguise for it allowed for deeper and more wider ranging discussion than is possible in a larger group. That said, new members of the group are always welcome either on a ‘try it and see’ basis or more permanently.

The Faith & Fun Group

In 2015 the Group celebrated its 2nd birthday. It was founded as a fellowship group for 20-40 something adults at St Andrew's and St Mark's by Rosie Nel, after identifying a need for members of the congregation in this age group. Rosie continues to be a valued member of the group and has passed over the responsibility of planning, organising and marketing, which has been willingly taken on by old and new members. Laura Selman, Curate, chaired the 1st meeting at the Vicarage, for 2016 which has seen an increase in members and enthusiasm amongst the group to focus more on the faith and reflection aspects. Some great new ideas have been scheduled for the year ahead, and the mailing list is growing.Two events occurred per month last year: one reflection session at St Mark’s and one social. One of

the reflections included a presentation by Jacky Bone, Chaplin at the YMCA. We joined up with the Mothers Union, held Lent discussions based around the film Philomena, and had a variety of faith based discussions on challenging and stimulating topics,

such as Syrian refugees. We have also continued to make Operation Christmas Child Boxes.

Social gatherings have included wine tasting at the Vicarage, playing skittles and sharing meals together. What has been significant in our second year has been the strengthening of relationships forming in the group. This has allowed us to have deeper, reflective based sessions, whereby we all feel supported by each other.

Children’s Activities

Sunday Club38 children accessed one or nearly all the Sunday Club sessions at St. Andrew’s during 2015 with an average attendance of 7 per week. There were 8 children who achieved 75% attendance over the 3 terms.

The Sunday Club team has remained largely the same. Celia O’Neill, Anne Miller and Diana Lewis leading sessions with invaluable help from Caroline Johnson and Brigid Crew every week. In November Atsuko Carroll, Kitty’s mother, joined the team and has been helping regularly alongside Caroline and Brigid. The team meets twice a year to review, plan and to discuss ideas and patterns of working. I am very grateful to all the team for their continuing commitment and support and the commitment and support of the parents and grandparents who bring their children regularly to Sunday Club.

Material and ideas for the weekly sessions are mainly drawn from http://www.rootsontheweb.com and the resource ‘Roots Children and Young People’ to which the Parish subscribes. At every Sunday Club the children light a candle, sing, pray and are encouraged to speak, listen and take part in all sorts of activities that support the teaching and theme for the lesson. Generally the lesson is presented around the gospel reading for the Sunday. As the congregation are listening and learning through the Word and sermon in church, the children in Sunday Club are doing the same, in a way that, hopefully, is meaningful and memorable for them.

During Lent and October Sunday Club moved away from the Roots teaching. In Lent, on Robert’s suggestion, Sunday Club looked at the Ten Commandments and he led the children for the first session talking about Moses going up the mountain and receiving the commandments from God. Following sessions focused on remembering the Sabbath, honouring your father and mother and not stealing.

In October Sunday Club adapted Robert’s ‘Church and the World’ theme of teaching and discussion for the congregation. The first subject was family; talking about how family can mean different things to different people, the one constant being love. Then, on the feast of St. Luke, the children talked about illness, healing and about not being healed sometimes. The final session focused on the story of the Rich Young Man and how difficult it can be to let go of our precious possessions and share with others.

We are thankful for all the children who come to Sunday Club. It is often a great privilege to be alongside them and to listen to their ideas and sometimes very profound thoughts. Praying with them is also a great privilege and we trust God will help us, adults and children, grow in spirit and learn lots more next year.

Other events – Services and SocialsThe Good Friday family worship at St. Andrew’s used the idea of the well-known book ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ to give the framework of lots of tricky sensory scenarios as the children searched for Jesus, encountering desert, sea, garden, soldiers (featuring Mike Gidley as a Roman centurion), a hill (Calvary) and a cave (empty tomb) chanting ‘We’re going to follow Jesus, we’re not scared!’ all the way. Some wonderful artwork was created by the parents and children illustrating all these adventures and this was displayed in the baptistery throughout the Easter season. The morning was suitably and satisfyingly completed with hot cross buns and drinks for everyone. Thank you to everyone who helped to make the whole morning so interactive and engaging.

Sunday Club again ran the sweet tombola and lucky dip at the Parish Christmas Fair, held this year at St. Mark’s. A number of children and parents, as well as other members of our congregation, prepared and decorated jars of sweets.

Dads, in particular, were invited to bring their children to help make Christingles during Christmas week. The smell of oranges and sweets pervading the glass room at St. Andrew’s was memorable. Over 25 adults and children worked enthusiastically and fairly consistently (except for sweet tasting forays and drinks from the hatch) for 2 hours to prepare 300 oranges for the two Christingle services at St. Andrew’s on Christmas Eve. Led by Robert, both these services attracted crowds of families so that 569 people packed into the church that afternoon to light the Christingles and celebrate the birth of Christ. Tim Lavis did a great job organising all the sides people to help these services run smoothly and safely.

Uniformed Organisations and Schools The Parish values its links with local schools and Scout Group (1st Surbiton). There were two parade services: at St Andrew’s on Mothering Sunday and Harvest at St Mark’s. In addition, both churches have hosted a number of school services, specifically leavers’ services, harvest festivals and Carol services which between them have seen around 2,000 children attend one of the churches over the course of the year.

SunbeamsIt was another successful and happy year for our Wednesday morning term-time group for toddlers and their parents or carers. It was organised by a group of volunteers from the congregation, some of whom stayed on to offer support even though their children are now at school. We were safely able to accommodate between 18 and 30 families each week, with more on the waiting list. The normal informal routine was replaced by parties for the last meetings before Easter and Christmas. The church provided a wonderful space for an Easter egg hunt! There has always been a strong element of pastoral support within Sunbeams and although this group is open to all local families it provides a good opportunity to share information, especially about our informal Sunday services for families with pre-school children.

Pastoral Care

The ministry team has met regularly throughout the year to discuss the pastoral care needs of the parish. When appropriate, lay members of our congregation have helped to meet these needs. In the summer a meeting was held for all the regular pastoral visitors to say thank you to them, and also to discuss safeguarding issues around the work that they do. Each person has been given a copy of the Southwark guide lines for home visiting.Examples of the pastoral care given include the provision of transport to church services and hospital appointments; and the organising of individual outings for lonely parishioners. Home communion, visits to the sick and house bound, and help with shopping and occasional ‘meals on wheels’ for a family or individual in a stressful situation are also examples of pastoral care that has been given when the need has arisen. One church member has continued to phone an elderly member of our congregation every day throughout the year to see if he is alright!Members of our parish groups, in particular the organisers of the Friday morning coffee, have given pastoral care to the wider community. They have welcomed and provided a listening ear to all who come. Yet another way of witnessing Christian love.

Lettings

St Andrew’s and St Mark’s rooms and hall are still in demand as venues for activities, classes and parties. Many are regular hires that have been using the facilities for a year or more, but there have been some changes.

Sadly, Margaret Barnes Ballet School had to cut back due to family issues and no longer uses the hall. There had been a long term relationship and it was lovely to welcome them back once the hall was built, after they had been in a temporary home. Playpod has been replaced by Little Bears on Thursdays in the hall, with new management. There are now two after school drama groups in the hall and Rising Stars for the very young at St Andrews. Young children are also catered for with Baby Ballet, Catch-a-Balls and Tiny Talk. Adults can learn with the WEA Art Appreciation courses or keep fit with Yoga, Dance Fitness and Zumba. Regency Dance and Caledonian Dancers continue to enjoy the use the sprung floor in the hall and apart from weekly sessions, often have Saturday events.

Music is still plays an important role in the activities. The bookings for concerts are now into 2017 and early booking is essential to ensure that organisations can have the dates they want. St Andrews is popular because of the acoustics and the staging. Thames Concerts are just completing the third series and have introduced free short Saturday morning concerts, which have been very successful, enabling families with young children to ‘drop in’.

The income from hiring out the parish facilities has increased and this is essential to cover the running costs of the buildings. Routine maintenance costs, such as cleaning, heating, checks on fire extinguishers, decorating – to name a few, are significant. These are essential for public buildings and the bright, clean appearance ensures that congregation and public enjoy using them. The income also helps with the contribution to the Diocese and large costs of maintaining the fabric of two churches.

Music

We were all delighted to welcome back Derek Barford into the choir during January after his period of ill health. Sadly, Derek has decided to step down from his role as parish Director of Music and although his presence in this role will be greatly missed we are really pleased that he will continue to sing in the choir as well as conduct and play the organ for us on a regular basis. Simon Harvey has continued as acting Director of Music throughout the year and it is envisaged that he will remain in this capacity until a permanent successor to Derek can be found.

Our choir have continued to show real dedication and commitment in their singing at choral services and have successfully maintained the high standard of music that we have become accustomed to in our worship over many years. The range of music sung has been as wide and varied as ever and it mustn’t be underestimated the talent, hard work and commitment our singers show both in rehearsal and performance. The choir have averaged around 16-18 regular singers this year although we are always looking to welcome new members in all parts but particularly in the soprano and alto lines, currently.

Thanks must also go to Tim Lavis, Reuben Rhuphus and Edward Miller who have assisted Simon and Derek with some of the organ playing during the course of the year and to Adrian Munt, our choir librarian, who works tirelessly week after week to make sure we all have the correct music for the right service at the right church!

Once again it was a huge pleasure to join forces with the choir of St Matthew’s, Surbiton to sing two choral evensongs during the summer. The first was on July 5th in St Andrew’s Church which was, in effect, the “warm up” event for our prestigious trip to sing evensong at Portsmouth Cathedral on 8 th August. Portsmouth was a thoroughly enjoyable day not only for our joint choirs but also that of supporters from our respective parishes who came down for the evensong and to have a lovely day out on the south coast.

The singing was superb (as was the weather!) with Howells “Coll Reg” canticles, Clucas Responses and Bainton’s “And I saw a new heaven” all sounding marvellous - Portsmouth Cathedral were extremely friendly and welcoming to all. Plans are afoot to organise another trip to a cathedral to sing in 2016 and it is hoped that this can become a yearly event.

The end of the year is always a busy time for the choir and last year was no different. In addition to the usual Advent Carol

Service in St. Andrew's and traditional carol service in St. Mark's, the choir was invited to sing carols at the switching on of the Christmas Tree lights outside Surbiton Station towards the end of November and a small group of singers also sang carols at the DickyBirds Christmas Fayre. Some members of the choir were pleased to be invited by the St. Matthew's choir to sing carols just before Christmas with them at the Star and Garter home in Surbiton and also to sing carols at the Christmas Day Lunch in the YMCA.Finally, as always a huge vote of thanks should also go to the numerous other musicians who lead the compline services and also provide musical accompaniment to the many non-choral/non-Eucharistic services that take place week by week throughout the year. Their input is invaluable and we are extremely grateful to all of them for their time and talents.

Parish Safeguarding

Diana Lewis and Paul Cooney have continued to act as Parish Safeguarding Officers during the year. Online DBS checks have been introduced, and the administration and maintenance of records is being undertaken by Clare Chesterman in the parish office. The list of those requiring DBS checks has been reviewed by the Safeguarding Officers. Together with the incumbent, Diana and Paul have examined occasional issues where people have raised concerns, in particular transport to and from the parish Christmas Day party. They reviewed how the diocesan policy should be applied in certain parish contexts.A parish Safeguarding Policy was approved by the PCC at its meeting in November. This is available for inspection in the parish office. Photographs of Diana and Paul have been placed in both churches, identifying them as Safeguarding Officers. Anyone with concerns in the area of safeguarding children and vulnerable adults should talk to Diana, Paul or the vicar.

Mothers’ Union

Under the leadership of Audrey Eldridge, the Parish branch of the Mothers’ Union has had another successful year. Audrey is very grateful for all the wonderful help she has received over the year to enable this, particularly from Christine Waller as secretary and treasurer and Margaret Palmer, a former leader of the branch. The committee as a whole is also grateful for the support and help which the Vicar has given to them over the year.The programme for the monthly meetings over the year has been varied and enjoyable. Two in particular stand out: a visit to the Quaker Centre and the talk about Fiddlers Green which was particularly well received. Mothers’ Union members are involved in the whole life of the parish whether through Stay and Play (Sunbeams), the 9.15am service with young children and families or through the Prayer Fellowship and the branch leader has visited a number of ‘indoor’ members several times during the year. While the branch hasn’t gained any new members over the year, a number of non-members from within the parish have been welcomed to meetings.Sadly, one of the members, Ann Bradshaw, passed away and the Mothers’ Union held a memorial service for her. The group has also said goodbye to another member, Margaret Howell, who has moved away from the parish to a nursing home in Esher.

Charitable Giving

2015 CHARITY OF THE MONTH TOTAL

MONTHPARISH BREAKFAST *

CHARITY EVENT MENTOR AMOUNTRAISED

JANUARY SHEPHERDS HOSPICE SIERRA LEONE

‘FROZEN’DISNEY FAMILYEVENT

PETER + SARAHSTOKES

£673.40

FEBRUARY * OXYGEN QUIZ NIGHT TIM LAVIS £712.82

MARCH * BISHOP’S LENTAPPEAL

LENT LUNCHES MARILYN WOOD £544.85

APRIL FIDDLERS GREEN CHESS EVENING TIM LAVIS £496.95

MAY * CHRISTIAN AID HOUSE TO HOUSECOLLECTIONS

TIM LAVIS/JOHN PERRY

£2,836.18

JUNE KCAH/JOEL SUMMER LUNCH ANDREW +MAVISINNES

£603.86

JULY MATABELELANDLINK DIOCESE

SUMMER LUNCH ANNE BARKER £1,017.14

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER * ABCD EVENING OF ENTERTAINMENT

VALERIE BAXTER £938.89

OCTOBER UNITED SOCIETY (Us)

PARISH BREAKFAST

JANICE PRICE £333.52

NOVEMBER * FIRCROFT TRUST ST ANDREW’S NIGHT SUPPER

RICHARD WEIR/JACKIE PAGE

£698

DECEMBER THE CHILDREN’S SOCIETY/WELCARE

CHRISTINGLE +CHRISTMAS SERVICES ----------------------------

£974.64/ £566.60

ADDITIONALGIVING

ST PAUL’S,ATHENSREFUGEES

£495.35

It has been hugely encouraging to witness just how generous the parish and our neighbours have been towards the charities chosen by the PCC this year. Clearly, the focus of these organisations has touched the hearts of donors as the totals realised exceed previous giving by a clear margin.In the main, fund raising has been through events involving food and entertainment, an attractive and compelling mix. To all organisers and all who have given so generously, the biggest thank you.

Finances

2015 income and expenditure were largely in line with the budget apart from a few areas. We spent over £30,000 which had not been expected on the restoration of St Mark's tower. Fortunately, we also received a large legacy from Rose King of over £76,000 and increased income from both voluntary giving and letting our buildings. The net effect is a surplus of income over expenditure of just under £80,000. This means we can comfortably pay Lifebuild without touching our longer term investments.

Our stewardship continues to grow, and this year contributed 10% more than 2014. Again, the gift aid scheme which adds over 20% to the money donated helped our finances considerably. Again our income from lettings also grew by about 25% from 2014. Our investment income also stayed the same, although the unrealised gains and losses added only 2k this year compared to 14k last year. Our fundraising for other charities continues to increase, and the Christmas party account is well in credit.

Total expenditure in 2015 was £250k. Apart from the exceptional item already mentioned, the main items are the diocesan quota, which pays for ministry costs (96k), utility bills (16.4k - water, gas and electricity), insurance (11k), cleaning (13k) and office running costs(21k). We have higher than usual maintenance costs as a number of jobs were incorporated into the Tower project. We have had the major upheaval of changing bank accounts, owing to the ending of a pooling arrangement with NatWest which had meant the whole diocese could bank for free. We are still transferring over to a CAF account. This has a few advantages, such as dual authorisation on web transactions, and online fundraising.

As for 2016, we have already received part of a legacy from Thelma Richardson, and should again generate a surplus of around £40,000. This is assuming we have no major building work in the year.The concern for the future is that the roof at St Andrew's church will need to be replaced soon, and while some of the costs may be covered by grants, it is likely to reduce our assets. However, it is comforting to see us running at a surplus to help replenish our reserves, so that we can be prepared for any repairs to our buildings which may be required in the future.

Membership

Members of the PCC hold office in accordance with the Church Representation Rules – either ex-officio; or by election or appointment at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting; or by co-option.

The following served as members of the P.C.C. for all or part of the period from 1 January 2015 until approval of the financial statements on 9 March 2016

Miss Anne Barker Mrs Celia O’NeillMiss Valerie Baxter Mrs Rosie NelMrs Irene Belcher Ms Janice PriceThe Rev’d Carole Bourne Mr Peter PritchardMrs Jenny Edenborough Mrs Sue SabourinMr Michael Gidley - Treasurer The Rev’d Laura SelmanDr Helen Goepel The Rev’d Robert Stanier - ChairmanMr John Holben Mrs Sarah StokesMr Roger Jones Mr Martin TaylorMr Tim Lavis Mr Ian WilsonMiss Clare Mannall Mrs Leslene Woodward - SecretaryMrs Anne Miller Mrs Clare Chesterman - Minutes SecretaryMs Victoria Muskett

Professional Advisors

Churchwardens’ Report on the fabric, goods and ornaments of the churches

Bankers and fund managersNational Westminster Bank plc, 10 Victoria Road, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 4JYCAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQCCLA Investment Management Limited, 85 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4ET

InsurersEcclesiastical Insurance Group, Beaufort House, Brunswick Road, Gloucester, GL1 1JZ

Professional Advisors to the PCCWinckworth Sherwood, Solicitors, Minerva House, 5 Montague Close, London, SE1 9BBPalmers, Solicitors, 91 Clarence St, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 1QY

Sue Kent BSc Dipl.Arch RIBA, Inspecting Architect, Howard : Fairbairn : MHK, 439, London Road, Croydon, CR0 3PF

Bob Wilson, Redevelopment Project Manager, Wilson Stephen Associates, 2-3 Hind Court, London, EC4A 3DL

B C Shepherd & Sons, Pipe Organ Builders, 1 Mill Ridge, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 7PE

Independent ExaminerTimothy Brown, A.C.A., 50 The Ridings, Surbiton, Surrey, KT5 8HQ

This report was made to the parochial church council [PCC] under section 5 of the Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1991 by Roger Jones, Martin Taylor, Anne Miller and Sue Sabourin as churchwardens in March 2016; and is also made by them to the annual parochial church meeting on behalf of the PCC.

General

Following the refurbishment of both churches in recent years, the general state of the fabric is good and the churches are well maintained. During the course of 2015 significant work was completed on the spire at St Mark’s and there are some residual matters to be addressed as a consequence of the refurbishment. It is anticipated that in the coming year the main focus will switch to St Andrew’s where work is needed to address some area of damp and, in the longer term, significant work anticipated on the tower and roof. The PCC has recently approved the establishment of a Property Management Group to assist with routine maintenance of the fabric of the churches, under the chair of Mr Mike Smith.

ST ANDREW’S CHURCH

The roof is an area for concern and is monitored for slipped tiles and general wear and tear. The Blue Room roof has proved to be more watertight now that the lead (which was liable to theft) has been removed and replaced with Ubiflex. Over the course of the year several areas of damp have been identified, specifically in the lower wall at the rear of the south aisle and in the tower. Expert advice has been sought and this has resulted in some work to cut back the foliage by the side of the glass door entrance as this was potentially trapping water and restricting ventilation in that area. In addition, it is clear that work will be needed to repair and replace some of the pointing using a lime based rather cement mortar. Otherwise, the church continues to be well maintained through an established pattern of routine maintenance and service checks. In addition, the church garden is well maintained and we are grateful to the volunteers who enable this and who take turns to cut the grass.

ST MARK’S CHURCH

This year has been mostly a maintenance and consolidation period for the fabric of St Mark's church. The Spire and guttering work has been completed successfully albeit requiring numerous return visits from the contractors to finish the works to a satisfactory standard; it has been observed that there is still one down pipe that is not directly connected to the guttering but instead flows onto a flat roof and this will be addressed in the near future. There were a number of areas of damp in the new buildings that have been resolved, either by contractors or the PMG (on a self-help basis) although there is still one area of internal wall that needs to be redecorated. The Hall was redecorated during the summer with the opportunity being taken to add a sacrificial dado rail to protect the walls from scrape damage caused by people leaning or pushing chairs against the walls.

There are areas of the walls in the main church that require redecorating having suffered water damage before the outside walls were repointed; these areas will only be redecorated once it can be shown that the walls are fully dry. There is one ceiling area that also shows signs of water ingress damage; proving that the leak has been resolved is being problematic since it appears to require a northeasterly gale to soak the north facing wall before any water appears in the church and, therefore, repair work will only be undertaken once a suitable storm has occurred without any detrimental effects.

Apart from these, essentially minor, problems St Mark's church is in good order and the refurbishment and new building are proving to be major improvements to the fabric of the property.