Latest Annual Report 2021

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

All Saints Church is situated in the village of Rennington, Northumberland, and part of the Diocese of Newcastle within the Church of England.

The correspondence address is: PCC Secretary, South Croft, Rennington, Alnwick. NE66 3RR

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a charity exempted from registration with the Charity Commission.

PCC members who have served from 2nd March 2020 until the date this report is approved ( March 2021) are:

Incumbent: Reverend Alison Hardy (Priest-in-Charge)

Lay Chair: Mr. Jay Bosanquet

Reader: Mr. William Devonshire

Church Wardens: Mr. Paul Weston (Rennington)

Mr. Jay Bosanquet and Mr. Brian Eke (Rock)

Representatives on the Deanery Synod:

Mr. Paul Weston

Elected Members :

Mrs. Sara Eke

Mrs. Hilary Walls

Mrs. Judith Weston (Assistant Church Warden)

Mrs. Carole Dent (Safeguarding Officer)

PCC Secretary: Mrs. Judith Weston

Treasurer: Mr. Brian Eke.

Bankers:

Barclays, 20 Bondgate Within, Alnwick

and

CBF Church of England Funds, Senator House, 85 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4ET

Independent Examiner of Accounts: Ms. Wendy Kenway-Smith, 4 Southfield, Rennington.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The method of appointment of PCC members is as set out in the Church Representation Rules. All Church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

All Saints PCC has, with St Philip & St James Rock, the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent in promoting the whole, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical mission of the Church in the ecclesiastical parish. It also has maintenance responsibilities.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Church Attendance

There are 11 parishioners on the Church Electoral Roll which was fully revised this year. The attendance figures for 2020 have been severely cut due to the Covid-19 parademic. Two Sung Eucharists and three Holy Communion Services took place before the Lockdown with attendances of 29 and 27 respectively. The church remained locked from 15th March as we were unable to satisfy the safety requirements for opening for private prayer. The church was reopened for a service of Holy Communion on Sunday 2nd August following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, however space was only available for up to 24 in the congregation due to Covi-19 Rules. Services of Holy Communion continued on the first Sunday of each month until November, a total of seven services at which the attendance averaged 12. A Christmas Communion Service was held on Christmas morning at which the attendance was 12.

Following this, another national lockdown was put in place. Although churches were allowed to remain open, the Priest-in-Charge, Church Warden and PCC decided that it would be more socially responsible to keep the church locked and not hold any services. The Archdeacon was informed of this decision.

However, a range of services via Zoom, YouTube and telephone were provided by the Priest-in-Charge and the Curate with contributions from members of the Benefice congregations. These were available on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Before the National Lockdown began there were no Marriage Services, but one Adult Baptism Service, one infant Baptism Service and one funeral took place.

An Act of Remembrance was held at the village War Memorial in the Churchyard on Remembrance Sunday. The short service was conducted by Rev. Alison Hardy, the Chairman of the Parish Council laid a wreath and The Last Post & Reveille was play by a trumpeter (Ron Creasy). Due to Lockdown restrictions only the wives of the aforementioned, the Church Warden and PCC Secretary attended. A few members of the public listened on the road.

Review of the Year

The full PCC of Rennington and Rock met twice in person with 5 members in attendance and held the Annual Meetings in March before the Lockdown began. The PCC have communicated by telephone and a have held three virtual meetings by Zoom in 2020 and one in February 2021. An Extra-ordinary Meeting by Zoom was held in July to discuss the reopening of the churches in August.

A meeting by Zoom was also held with the Aln & Coastal Parishes with whom the Benefice have now amalgamated

Mrs Carole Dent was appointed as Safeguarding Officer at the AGM in 2020.

We thank the following:

Mrs. Judith Weston for assisting with the administration of the Chalice.

Ms. Wendy Kenway-Smith for being our Independent Examiner of Accounts .

Rev. Alison Hardy and Janet Hardy for their assistance in cleaning and making the church ready for safe services in August.

Hilary Walls and Susan Hawkey for their help in decorating the church for the Christmas Service.

The Church Warden requested that the Church be kept informed of developments with the formation of a Neighbourhood Plan by Rennington Parish Council. He was invited to observe (on Zoom) the first meeting of the group preparing this.

Finally, thanks to those who tirelessly give their time and efforts to sustaining the church and its grounds, including Mr. Neil Cockburn who braves the heights of the tower to maintain the clock, raise the flag and do minor repairs with Mr. Brian Connelly who has also worked hard to keep the clock chiming.

Fund Raising

Unfortunately, we have been unable to fundraise in traditional ways due to Covid-19 restrictions. On June 16th we joined an account with Easyfundraising.com which enables small donations to be paid to the account by retailers when supporters of All Saints Church shop online. To date we have twenty-seven supporters and have raised £152. The money is paid automatically to the church’s bank account every quarter with £56.78 paid in October2020. We were awarded a grant by Northumberland County Council, under a Government Scheme, of £10,000 to help with the fixed running costs of the church including the payment of the Parish Share. We have also received various small donations some of which were anonymous.

We are also raising small amounts by selling items such as the old insulators from electricity poles replaced by Northern Electric and books donated by Susan Hawkey on Ebay.

(Also see Treasurer’s Report)

Fabric Review

Gutter cleaning and some mouse holes blocked up near the Font were the only general maintenance undertaken during the year. We were thankful to Neil Cockburn for unblocking the tower drain which caused a small flood in the tower in December. This appears to have now dried out.

Some concern was expressed by Mr. Cockburn and Mr. Connelly regarding a crack in the castellations of the tower on the north side. Comparisons were made with photographs taken at the previous Quinquennial five years ago and there appears to have been no movement in that period. We await the Architect’s report in 2021.

The Quinquennial Inspection postponed from 2020 was re-arranged for January 2021 but again postponed until restrictions are lifted. We have changed our Church Architect to Mr. Christopher Baglee. The DAC have approved this.

Churchyard

The smaller of the Paynter plaques under the west window has been replaced, and a new plaque has been placed over the Ashes of Elizabeth Allen in the Ashes Plot.

The Closed Churchyard area continues to be maintained by Northumberland County Council who have provided very welcome work not only grass-cutting but trimming trees and hedges. NCC have also agreed to cut the grass in the Open graveyard free of charge when they cut the grass in the Closed Churchyard.

NCC have also, at the request of one of the Civil Parish Councilors, re-pointed the outer side of the churchyard wall next to the road.

The PCC will still retain overall responsibility for the graveyard and continue to provide Public Liability insurance cover; future burials will continue in the newest section, and interment of cremated remains in the area set aside for this.

RESERVES POLICY

A policy will be stated when needed with an increased level of funding.

This report was approved by the PCC on March 2021, and signed on their behalf by:

Rev. A. Hardy (Priest-in-Charge) …………………………………………………………………………………