HOWE OF FIFE PARISH CHURCH (CHURCH OF SCOTLAND 26/1586)
Scottish Charity Number SC005381
Annual Accounts Year Ended 31st December 2012
The Church of Scotland
Howe of Fife Parish Church
Congregation No: 26/1586
Registered Scottish Charity
Scottish Charity No: SC005381
SORP accounts 31st December 2012
Reference and Administrative Information:
Charity Name: Howe of Fife Parish Church (Church of Scotland)
Charity Registration Number: SC 005381
Congregation Reference No: 26/1586
Contact Address: 83 Church Street, Ladybank, Cupar, Fife, KY15 7ND
Trustees
a. Kirk Session Members:
Mr. J Brand / Rev. W. Hunter / Mr. A ShawMiss M Carswell / Mr. M Kervell / Mrs. E Simmers
Mrs. A Corbett / Mr. I Leslie / Mr. A Smillie
Mrs. H Dall / Mr. D Maillie / Mrs. A Smith
Mrs. P Galloway / Miss. E Morgan / Mr. J Stark
Mr. G Hamer (to 19/1/2012) / Mrs. A Page / Mr. J Wilson
Mr. J Hooper / Mr. W Paton / Mr. J. Ross (from Nov. 2012)
Mr. F Janesczko / Mrs. M Richards / Mrs. C. Ward (from Nov. 2012)
Mrs. A Jeffcott / Mr. D Scott
b. Congregational Board Members:
Miss M Anderson Mr A Robertson (to 25/3/2012) Mr A Lafferty (to25/3/2012)
Mrs M Greig Mr D Simmers Mr J Ross (to Nov 2102)
Mrs C Ward (to Nov 2012)
NB. The entries for Mr. A. McCafferty, Mrs. M. Kerr and Mrs. M. Whitson recorded in previous Annual Reports can no longer be included as they no longer fulfill the requirements of Charity Trustees; Mr. J. Balmain died in 2011.
Principal Office Bearers:
Minister Rev. William Hunter
Session Clerk: Mr. John Stark (to 25/11/12) Mrs Ann Jefcott (from 25/11/12)
Clerk to the Board: Mr. Ian Leslie
Chairman of the Board: Mr. Malcolm Kervell
Treasurer: Mr. Alan Lafferty
Independent Examiner:
Mr A Gillespie, Chartered Accountant,
The Counting House,
Promenade,
Leven,
Fife KY8 4PJ
Bankers:
Royal Bank of Scotland,
28 Commercial Road,
Ladybank,
Fife KY15 7JS
Structure, Governance and Management
Governing Document:
The church is administered in accordance with the terms of the Model Deed of Constitution of the Church of Scotland.
Organisational Structure:
The Congregational Board is chaired by the Chairman of the Board and meets six times in a year. Finance and Property are the responsibility of the Congregational Board. The Kirk Session which meets six times a year is responsible for spiritual affairs within the church and is chaired by the minister.
Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees:
Members of the Kirk Session and the Congregational Board are the Charity Trustees.
The Kirk Session members are the Elders of the church, chosen from those members of the church who are considered to have the appropriate gifts and skills. The minister, who is a member of the Kirk Session, is elected by the congregation and inducted by Presbytery. In 2012 we ordained two new elders.
The Congregational Board is appointed from within the congregation and the members of the congregation are invited to nominate individuals who are believed to have the skills and commitment to contribute to the management affairs of the Church, to become members of the Board. Board Members are then appointed at the Stated Annual Meeting and serve for a period of three years after which they must seek re-election at the next Stated Annual Meeting.
Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities
The trustees must prepare financial statements which give sufficient detail to enable an appreciation of the transactions of the Church during the financial year. The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which, on request, must reflect the financial position of the congregation at that time. This must be done to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 and the Regulations Anent Congregational Finance approved by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2007. It is also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Church and must take reasonable steps for the prevention and/or detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Objectives and Activities:
The Church of Scotland is Trinitarian in doctrine, Reformed in tradition and Presbyterian in polity. It exists to glorify God and to work for the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom throughout the world. As a national Church, it acknowledges a distinctive call and duty to bring the ordinances of religion to the people in every parish of Scotland through a territorial ministry. It co-operates with other Churches in various ecumenical bodies in Scotland and beyond.
Locally we have set the following objectives and by the end of 2015 we would like to see our Church:
· Sharing the Glory of God through worship that is vibrant, relevant and closely engaged with the community.
· Living and sharing our faith by worshipping centrally in one Parish Centre and addressing the needs of the wider community.
· Finding “Fun in Fellowship” as we move forward together as one Church, using our facilities to draw people into our fellowship through social events.
· Giving Time and Talents so that all take part in all aspects of Church life, helping one another in a positive and friendly way.
Howe of Fife Parish Church offers services of worship most Sundays in the month at Kettle Kirk at 10am. On the first Sunday of each month, worship is held in Cults Kirk (10am) and Collessie Kirk (11.30am). During 2012 the Kirk Session decided to designate fifth Sundays as Communion Sundays, holding services in each of the church buildings on rotation. On Remembrance Sunday there were services in Cults, Kettle and Collessie Kirks as well as at village War Memorials in Pitlessie, Kettle, Ladybank and Collessie.
Special services were also held during Holy Week (reading of Mark’s Gospel, a Christian Passover and Good Friday service) and at Christmas (Nativity plays at Collessie and Kettle, a Christmas Eve Messy Church and an evening service in Collessie and Watchnight service in Cults). Most of these were well attended, especially the evening service in Collessie. There was also a service on Christmas Day and a Big Sing between Christmas and New Year.
At present, the sanctuary of Ladybank Church is out of commission due to the effects of dry rot, but the adjoining church hall was used for worship on six occasions through the year – once for regular worship, once for communion and on four occasions for Messy Church (an all-age style of worship).
The minister has continued the bi-weekly services on Wednesdays alternating between Cults and Collessie. These services are attended by between 4 – 10 people but the opportunity to meet in a less formal way and spend time in reflective prayer, discussion, meditation etc is valued by all who attend.
Additionally, the minister and an elder offer a service every 6 weeks or so in Pitlair Nursing Home on a rota with other local ministers/churches and on several occasions through the year services are held in The Maltings sheltered housing complex in Ladybank.
The Sunday School meets in Kettle Church during worship with between 6 – 10 children regularly. The YPG (Young People’s Group) meets weekly in Collessie Church with a regular 6 children. A third children’s group the “God Club” meets in Pitlessie after school on Wednesday afternoons in the Wilkie Hall. There are regularly between 10 – 13 children attending. A Sunday evening youth club, established in 2009, meets in Kettle Kirk Hall with up to 8 young people. All of these groups meet during school term. In addition a small group of young adults – mostly students – meet at term ends for a Youth Breakfast. Numbers vary according to availability between 4 and 8. The statistical return at the year end records that a total of 45 children and young people are involved in the life of the Church.
The Eden Group is a Bible Study Group which meets in the home of one of the members approximately thirty evenings a year and there is a Prayer Group Meeting which meets once a month in Kettle Kirk Hall. During Advent the minister also organised another home bible study group.
There is a coffee morning that meets at Kettle Church Hall every Thursday between 9.30 and 11.30 am, as well as afternoon tea at The Maltings, Ladybank every Tuesday Afternoon between 2.00pm and 4.00pm. These are important vehicles for care and for outreach to older members of our communities and very much valued. The Kettle group arranges occasional outings and events for the people who attend. Most of those who organise this are themselves older people and their work is to be commended.
Two groups begun during the vacancy have developed over the last year. The Worship Group has contributed to services on special occasions through dramas and prayers so helping to realise one of our objectives of worship that is vibrant and relevant. The other is the Care Group which has taken on regular visiting of members who are housebound or elderly, sharing the pastoral load and giving people more regular contact with the church. The efforts of both these groups have been greatly appreciated.
The Celebrations Group has also organised several social events through 2012 including concerts by a Dysart Colliery Silver Band, CAMS and Cantamus. There was also a congregational trip to see the Sound of Music which featured some of the young people in the congregation and a mixed group which went to Heart & Soul.
The minister has also developed chaplaincy at the three local primary schools and regularly takes assemblies through the year. He has also worked with some classes on themes and helped the children involved to present an assembly to the whole school. Most notable was the involvement of classes in Ladybank and Kettle Primaries around harvest time.
The children of the two schools raised approximately £200 for the charity “Seeds for Africa”. The minister also attends other events in the course of the schools’ life.
The “Friends Groups” at Collessie, Cults and Kettle again assisted with the routine maintenance of church buildings and it is pleasing that our buildings are being actively maintained. Additionally the Planning Group working with the architect and engaging the community has handed over to a Development Group to develop the plans for our new Parish Centre and to begin to raise funds from grants and other fundraising efforts.
As part of the Church of Scotland’s National Stewardship Campaign we ran a stewardship season in September and each weekend held different events which became “A Month of Sundays” including a meal, a concert, a parish walk and flower festival.
Our parish magazine, “Howe’s Life” is distributed to every home in the parish four times a year and our website (www.howekirk.co.uk) is regularly updated with news, reports and photos of events and information about the church and congregation. A prayer letter is distributed to members every month and we advertise weekly in a local newspaper.
Achievements and Performance:
While the annual statistical return for 2012 shows a small fall in membership from 521 to 503 this hides the fact that while we lost 23 members we gained 5, and that two of these were people professing faith for the first time. In the context of national figures we are certainly no worse of that many churches and while not growing, neither are we in terminal decline. That said the age profile of the congregation is quite elderly with a fair number of members in their 80s and 90s. This means we do need to address membership as an issue, but also need to be aware that the age profile for NE Fife is also increasing, therefore if we are to grow as a congregation we should not ignore the growing numbers of older people in the district simply in favour of trying to attract younger people.
Numbers for children’s groups remain fair. The group in Collessie has seen a small increase and the after school group in Pitlessie is doing very well with 13 children from a school of 36! Messy Church also attracted a number of children and young people and their families with regularly around 30 attending, including some who hadn’t attended church before.
The Stewardship Campaign we ran in September was not an unqualified success, however there was a slight increase in giving (just over 5%) which put in context of a drop in numbers is perhaps more reassuring. Additionally there was a drop in the number of unused offering envelopes but this is a matter of concern that we want to address in future. It was agreed that The Month of Sundays contributed more to our life as a congregation than in simple financial terms and that the benefits of the concert, walk and flower festival were worthwhile in themselves.
At our Harvest Thanksgiving we extended a personal invitation to every farming family in the parish and were glad to have a number of them join us for worship where we were able to thank them for their work and pray a blessing for their future which in a year of heavy rain and poor harvests we felt was appropriate. Harvest gifts of food were donated to the Salvation Army in Glenrothes to help local families and a large number of gift shoeboxes were also collected for the Dundee charity Vision Romania as part of our harvest offering. Several fundraising and charitable activities were organised through the year and are detailed in the financial report.