Leytonstone United Free Church

Annual Report 2017

Fri 1 Jan 2016 – Sat 31 Dec 2016

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Contents Secretary’s Introduction Amy Willshire Page 2

Ministerial Transition Report Amy Willshire Page 3

Minister’s Report Gemma Dunning Page 5

Members, Pastoral Joy Park Page 7

Church Meetings Amy Willshire Page 9

Church Council Amy Willshire Page 9

Leading Worship & Preaching David Mackay Page 10

Brigade Jenny Fidler Page 11

Junior Church Ben Gbeve Page 12

Baby Space Wendy Jones Page 13

Baby Yoga Simon Owen Page 13

Crèche Claire Lilley Page 14

Schools Amy Willshire Page 14

Fathers’ Day Ben Gbeve Page 14

Light Party (Halloween) Amy Willshire Page 15

Holiday Club Amy Willshire Page 16

Leytonstone Youth Matters Amy Willshire Page 16

Living Well Yvonne Phillips Page 17

Women's World Day Of Prayer Joan Pantling Page 17

Social Prescribing Abbie Beale Page 18

Mat-to-Fore Simon Owen Page 18

Eco Church Bob Park Page 19

NCS The Challenge Amy Willshire Page 19

Community Garden Joyce & Gordon Dykes Page 20

Church Vegetable Patch Amy Willshire Page 20

Churches Emergency Night Shelter Simon Owen Page 21

Christian Aid Week Kimora Thompson Page 21

Food Bank Gordon Dykes Page 22

Church Social Bob Park Page 23

Community Stall Amy Willshire Page 23

URC Local Update Gemma Dunning Page 24

Baptist Union Local Update Gemma Dunning Page 24

Macmillan Coffee Afternoon Gemma Dunning Page 24

Lent Bible Studies Grace Owen Page 25

Gospel Choir Beverly Collins Page 27

Worship & Songs Amy Willshire Page 28

Hire Report Fiona Buddell Page 29

Building and Equipment Simon Owen Page 31

Facilities Fiona Buddell Page 31

Website & Social Media Amardeep Riyat Page 32

Finance Simon Owen Page 33

Jumble Sales Amardeep Riyat Page 34

Secretary’s Intro We sometimes talk about church as a family – a group of people who don’t always agree on everything but a place where everyone is welcome and loved for being themselves. It is great to know Gemma holds some of those same values. But that is not “job done” – if we believe this, it is something we must all work at. We have asked “how much diversity can unity hold”; let’s keep considering this to ensure we can welcome those we feel threatened by, share tea with those we disagree with, and get to know the new person who sneaked in after the notices.

In April we held a Leaders’ Away Day at the Bromley By Bow Centre (thank you to Grace for the recommendation) and this was a really inspiring time. Thinking back to the Vision 2020 work we did in 2014, we saw a real potential to link this into Social Prescribing which was just about to be launched in Waltham Forest.

In preparing for the new minister there were some changes to the offices, Simon’s desk moved upstairs and the ministers desk moved downstairs. There were many other small changes to get ready for Gemma.

We prayed for our world this year, for all those affected by the conflict in Syria. We prayed as the country voted to leave the EU, we prayed for our leaders as Teresa May became Prime Minister after David Cameron stepped down, as Jeremy Corbyn was re-selected as leader of the Labour Party and as Donald Trump was elected as the next US President.

I will be stepping down as Church Secretary at the 2017 AGM after 8 years on Church Council to focus on my final year of study towards an MA in Dramatherapy. Bob Park is standing as your next Secretary.

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Ministerial Transition Our previous minister, Alison Mackay left in January 2015 to take up the role of Regional Minister for the Heart of England Baptist Association. We spent most of 2015 considering what we wanted in our new minister and I

reported in last year’s annual report that we closed the year with two applications; one from Gemma Dunning and one from Keith Ponto.

In January both Keith and Gemma submitted articles for our church blog and Sunday Sheet. Both were invited to “Preach with a Peep” by the Transition Group.

Keith on 10 January 2016

Gemma on the 16 January 2016

This involved preparing and leading the service (preaching style), having dinner with a church member (pastoral), a tour of Leytonstone and meeting partners including Care 2 Share then volunteering at Night Shelter (social action) - a full day’s schedule!

In the week leading up to Gemma’s visit there was uncertainty about whether Gemma would withdraw her application. The Baptist system does not allow ministers or churches to consider more than one option at once when they progress to the “preach with a view stage” and Gemma had just been invited to this stage by another church. Due to the short notice the visit went ahead but we believed she had turned us down to allow her to explore ministry in the other church first.

At the church meeting on the following week we discussed both applicants with the assistance of our moderator, Jonathan Boyce. There was not felt to be enough unity within the congregation to take Keith’s application forward any further. There was support to take Gemma’s application forward if that option was possible.

I shared this news with both that Sunday. By the following Tuesday we had heard no further from Gemma and believed she was progressing her application with the other church as previously noted. The Transition Group met to discuss two new applicants who had come through Baptist Union official channels.

This all changed when later that week Gemma did get back to us: after much prayer she felt called to explore ministry in Leytonstone. At this stage we stopped considering any other applicants.

In February we asked Gemma to submit examples of sermons she had preached.

In March Gemma attended an interview with the Transition Group. We asked questions about Gemma, what attracted her to LUFC, theology, ecology, practicalities, pastoral care, and practicalities of part time working.

In April Gemma was invited to Preach with a View. Following this service there was a fellowship meal and Q&A session between the Dunning family and the church.

The next week at the church meeting we were asked to vote on “Should Gemma Dunning be called to be the next minister at Leytonstone United Free Church?” The members decided not to separately count the votes from Baptist members and URC members as we are a united church. The break down was:

Results Members Friends Combined On this result we called Gemma to be our minister and she accepted this call.

Yes 27 (93%) 15 (94%) 42 (93%)

No 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

Abstain 2 (7%) 1 (6%) 3 (7%)

Total 29 votes 16 votes 45 votes

Over the next four months the Transition Group continued to work hard on preparations, looking at: employment checks, contract and legal arrangements, preparing the church office and manse, creating a welcome pack, planning the commissioning service, and creating publicity.

Gemma arrived at the start of August and we celebrated with a Commissioning Service on Saturday 20 August.

Ministerial Transition Group Members: Amardeep Riyat, Amy Willshire, Ashley Matthews, Ben Gbeve, Beverly Collins, Bob Park, David Mackay, Elaine Wheeler, Fiona Buddell, Gordon Dykes, Grace Owen, Jenny Fidler, Joanne Neal, Jonathan Boyce (moderator), Joyce Dykes, Joy Park, Keith Ponto, Marion Barret, Simon Owe, Ste Fidler, Yvonne Phillips.

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Minister 2016 saw my call to Leytonstone affirmed and what an adventure it has been so far!

The preaching of God’s word and the leading of Sunday worship has worked its way through the lectionary year C during 2016. As most of the year was spent in interregnum we are thankful to all those who guest-led and preached for us, enabling the voices of many to help shape our teaching. What a gift diversity is to us!

We are eternally thankful for all those who came and pitched in with the life of worship in the church during 2016. We give a special thanks to:

Grace & Simon Owen, Revd David Mackay, Imed & Sarah Mhamdi, the Matthews Family, Bob and Joy, Ken and Fiona, Revd Paul & Maureen Bailey, Beverley Collins, Keith Ponto, Phil Slaney, Revd Dr Ruth Gouldbourne, Amy & Andrew Willshire, Revd Jonathan Boyce, Luke Dowding, Revd Dr Simon Woodman & 1st Leytonstone Girls Brigade Company

Saturday 20th August 2016 saw my official Commissioning Service into ministry here. Presiding minister and preacher Revd Dr Stephen Finamore from Bristol Baptist College brought a word of challenge and encouragement. After which a thoroughly good spread was enjoyed by many of our guests, the hospitality of the church shone brightly.

Heading into Autumn together we experienced a new season of learning together, of getting to know each other and bringing together two different sets of values and traditions. This made for an encouraging Advent as we journeyed together in worship, using The Well Good News of Christmas along the way. Much thanks to Andrew and Simon for helping to outwork the vision of a stable on the platform in the chapel and for all those who donned a costume and pitched in!

It was with much sadness that 2016 saw Olive gain her promotion to glory, we continue to pray for her friends and family.

2016 has also been a year of celebration as we have dedicated the following little ones; Jack, Kaylan, Khaliah and Christopher – John, welcomed Georgia into

membership, and of course saw David and Elaine get married! Let’s continue to stand with each of them in prayer for the days ahead.

We saw a busy season of Night Shelter and a continued vision to work across the area to support those who are homeless and in need. We are eternally thankful to Simon, Bob and Joy for their coordination roles and to all those who have rolled up their sleeves to help.

2016 has also seen an increased depth to our relationship with Care 2 Share, supporting both residents and staff as they seek to provide a safe and nurturing environment for young families during their assessments. I am encouraged by the way they have taken to working together and hopeful about the support we can continue to provide in 2017.

2016 has seen a bumper year for room hirers, our building has been overflowing at times! We continue to offer hospitality to two other congregations; BREC and Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana. Many thanks to Fiona for her continued joyful presence in navigating the hires and management of the building for all the different group it is home to.

As we head together through 2017, our Sunday worship will see us learning from the Sermon on the Mount, pondering what it means for us, as individuals, to follow Christ. Then in the later part of the year our focus will shift to considering what it means to follow Jesus together as a gathered church.

Alongside this we’ll continue to work with Waltham Forest’s Social Prescribing team as we envisage and develop how we can be holistically present to our community across their needs, opening up space and time in our schedule to give support to our local neighbours who are isolated and lonely. Friends, there is much to do but with God all these are possible!

Isaiah 40:28-31 says :

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

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Membership & Pastoral 2016 saw the start of a new era in the life of the church with the arrival of Gemma Dunning as our new minister in August. It was with great pleasure that we welcomed Gemma and her whole

family into the life of the church.

Gemma is a welcome and very caring addition to the pastoral team, but the Pastoral Groups remain central to the pastoral care of the congregation.

There have been some changes to the leadership of the groups, reflecting changes in the life of the church. The 5 groups are now led by Joyce Dykes, Wendy Jones & Jacquie Howlett, David & Elaine Mackay, Bob & Joy Park and Claudine & Ashley Matthews. Within those groups are others who have responsibility for some of the members to spread the care more widely. The groups use existing links and friendships, with newcomers being allocated to a group as soon as possible ensuring that no-one is left without someone to turn to that they know and trust. The aim of the groups is to provide a network of friendship and care both in good times and when life is tough. If you do not know which group is yours, please ask.

In addition, Gemma Dunning, David Mackay and Joy Park are available for anyone to call in emergencies or if that is more appropriate than going to their group leader.

We have been joined by several new friends during the course of the year and I would encourage you all to ensure that newcomers are always made to feel welcome and loved.

It is with great sadness that we said goodbye to Olive Cartwight, who passed away during the year. During her life she had dedicated herself to the church, particularly the Girls Brigade. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, particularly Freda.

We also said farewell to Ivy and Terry as they moved closer to Su and Mike. Marion Barrett has transferred her membership to a church closer to her home and Julia Cleary left when she moved to America to be with her spouse.

Several of our members need especial care, either being housebound, in poor health or in difficult circumstances. We know that some are being well cared for, but there is always room for improvement in ensuring that all needs are met, and I would encourage anyone to let me or a group leader know if they are aware of a pastoral need.

Members List on Total Baptist URC N.B. 2 people were approved for membership in August but have still not formally come into membership

January 1st 2015 54 29 25

January 1st 2016: 48 26 22

Adherents (non-members who attend worship regularly): 20

Children/young people who attend worship regularly: 16

Baptisms and Blessings Believers Baptisms: 0

Infant Baptist: 0

Infant dedication: 5 (Ava Garcia-Clarke, Jack Theobald, Kaylan Weir, Khaliah Weir, Christopher-John Willows)

Some of our new members:

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Church Meetings Ministerial Transition – church meetings considered applications, voted to appoint Gemma and prepared for her induction.

Church Rules and Constitution – we considered different charitable models and looked in detail at proposed wording. This was later deferred due to a technical issue tied up with pension debt which would be due if we changed legal status.

Same Sex Marriage – we considered our church response to the evolving position of the BU and URC. We reaffirmed our commitment to register the church for same sex marriage.

We considered church events including Night Shelter reports and planning the calendar for next year and discussed how we could share responsibility and jobs in the church. We made a commitment to Social Prescribing.

Attendance: 37 members and 26 non-members attended at least 1 church meeting this year. 23 people came to 50% or more of the 7 meetings. 100% attendance award to Amardeep Riyat, Andrew Willshire, Freda Clark, Jacqueline Howlett, Joan Pantling, Joy Park and Wendy Jones.

Church Council Main focus of each meeting Jan – Leytonstone food bank, church rules and hires

Feb – eco church, dementia friendly church, inclusive church

Mar – church rules, vulnerable adult policy, gambling in Leytonstone

Apr – nominations to council, preparing for the AGM, same sex marriage

Apr 23 – Leaders Away Day to Bromley By Bow Centre on Social Perscribing

May – pattern of Church Council , ministerial transition, away day distilling

Jun – logistics and costs of hiring a minister, church constitution

Jul – building maintenance, ministerial transition

Sep – choir, hire review, church group review (Gemma’s first meeting).

Oct – church calendar, social prescribing

Nov – Budget, Eco Church, church calendar

Dec – Christmas meal

All meetings also consider pastoral needs of the congregation and church finance.

Church Councillors Amardeep Riyat (since May 2016), Amy Willshire (secretary), Ben Gbeve, Bob Park, David Mackay, Gemma Dunning (minister since August 2016), Jonathan Boyce (moderator until August 2016), Jacqueline Howlett (since May 2016), Joyce Dykes (since May 2016), Marian Barrett (until April 2016), Simon Owen (treasurer), Wendy Jones (since May 2016), Yvonne Philips.

Number of Church Council lors at 1 Jan 2016: 6 / 13

Number of Church Council lors at 1 Jan 2017: 11 / 13

Leading Worship & Preachers In 2016, the following people have led Sunday worship:

LUFC members and friends: Gemma Dunning (minister), The Matthews family, Simon Owen, Grace Owen, Ken & Fiona Buddell, Beverly Collins, Keith Ponto, Joy & Bob Park, David Mackay, Amy & Andrew Willshire, Church Council, Brigade

Visiting Preachers:

Revd Paul Bailey - The Regeneration Project

Lynne Ling: Shoreline Conversations

Imed and Sarah Mhamdi - BMS

Phil Slaney – Member of Highams Park Baptist Church and LBA Trustee

Maureen Bailey - The Regeneration Project

Revd Dr Ruth Gouldbourne – Minister at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church

Jonathan Boyce - LUFC moderator & Minister at Highams Park Baptist Church

Luke Dowding

Revd Simon Woodman – Minister at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church

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Brigade 2016 started tentatively as we continued to investigate the feasibility of running the company with just one Brigade leader. Our Brigaders attended the District training weekend in March, a weekend away at the Scout hut in Highams Park. This was an experience for all, and a good opportunity for the girls to gain leadership skills and start to take a more active role in helping out on a company night.

We hosted the annual District parade service in the spring, though with the police request not to parade the streets from a safety perspective we trialled a joint service with a fellowship picnic after at Hollow Ponds which was great fun. In the summer we said a sad goodbye to Joan Pantling due to ill health, presenting her with a GB vase, and also to Julia Cleary, who had been helping for the past year and was moving to America. The extent of the role Joan has played in the company for so many years cannot be quantified and we miss her incredibly.

In August we used Ros’ Jack Petchy money to go to an “escape room” activity experience.

After the summer break we started with a much depleted team and I was again unsure whether I could keep the company going. Jacqueline Howlett helped by doing the subs for the first few weeks as I found my feet and both Jacqueline and Wendy Jones have been a great support in their retirement. We reorganised the evening back to a 6-8pm evening with all children together and this has been a successful change. In September we had our enrolment service which the Brigaders and Seniors wrote and led superbly. In October Amy Willshire finished her leadership training and became a GB leader. This has been a big relief following our leadership struggles. The year ended with our Christmas parents evening and awards evening which was well attended. For the most part of this year we have been a very small (but committed) group, which worked well with the changing leadership situation, but we are growing now and the need for more helpers is greater and of concern right now.

Leaders: Jenny, Joan (until August), Beverly, Irena, Amy, Julia (until August). Children: (age group at end of 2016) Explorers 3, Juniors 3, Seniors 4, Brigaders 3

Junior Church Jan–July: We continued to explore the Gospel of Matthew with a term led by Ben and another by Fiona. Topics included Jesus healing the man with leprosy where we explored what it meant to be sick, isolated or excluded and how we could cheer others up who were in this situation. We made prayer boats out of folded paper as we looked at Jesus calming the storm and calming the fears of those who called on him. We also watched animated videos such as the calling of Matthew the tax collector, and responded by making and decorating money bags that would have been used to pay taxes.

On Valentine's Day we discovered the story behind who St. Valentine actually was and marked this special day by cutting out love hearts and making Valentine cards from them.

Sep – Dec: The academic year kicked off with Amy taking the lead with a focus on Luke and the various parables and teachings found in that gospel. The term concluded with the Junior Church members selecting a favourite Christmas carol (X-Factor/The Voice style) and choreographing a dance for the Nativity service. Since September, planning of the sessions has mostly centred around content taken from various Scripture Union online resources where we generally try to select a range of interactive activities, games and crafts per session that tie in with the theme of the day. This year the children have enjoyed playing parachute games, making get-well cards and practising their Bible reading.

Attendance through the year has been somewhat erratic with anything from one child to up to eight children on any given Sunday. Sometimes we’ve had to include some under 3’s from the crèche to make up the numbers for activities. As the aim of Junior Church is to make coming to church entertaining and enjoyable for the younger attenders, in addition to introducing them to popular Bible stories, I would thoroughly encourage your young ones (or those belonging to others) to come along regularly to join in the fun!

Leaders: Amardeep Riyat, Amy Willshire, Ben Gbeve, Beverly Collins, Fiona Buddell, Irena Radburn, Jenny Fidler, Simon Owen, Yvonne Phillips.

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Baby Space We meet on a Monday afternoon from 1:30-3pm at the same time as the baby weigh in clinic at the Allum Medical Centre next door. It is a group for parents, carers and children from birth to older toddlers.

We provide a ball pool and soft toys for younger children, push chairs, walker and cars for the slightly older ones. Puzzles and crafts are also available when needed. We finish with singing time at the end of the afternoon.

The group is also attended by grandparents who are visiting their families, and the families from Care 2 Share are always given a warm welcome and the chance to meet other families with young children.

Numbers fluctuate weekly depending on the weather or children’s sleep patterns.

Eleven children and their parents attend our Christmas party.

Leaders: Irena Radburn, Joyce Dykes, Wendy Jones

Number of children: 103 attended in total, 49 came more than once.

Baby Yoga 2016 was a good year for Baby Yoga, meeting once-a-week on a Friday morning. Our diverse group enjoys singing, stretches and movement for the adults and babies. Some parents come from Wanstead, Woodford and Walthamstow and some from Care 2 Share in Leytonstone. An important aspect of the group is the friendships which are forged and provide an important support network for these new parents. In the year we raised £2,132 for Mat-to-Fore which has been used to support the work of the preschool in Ghana. Mat-to-Fore is very grateful to LUFC for the donation of our hall which makes a real difference to our fundraising.

Leader: Simon Owen

Number of children: 710, weekly average of 17 babies

Crèche The crèche is vital to my ability to come to church, as my toddler would not be able to sit in one chair for a whole service. It means I can bring her to church and then move there when she becomes restless, otherwise I would feel a bit embarrassed that her noise might disrupt the service and other people’s worship. It is a lovely space, full of a variety of great toys that are always well maintained and clean etc and she loves it, especially the slide! It is good for me because I can still hear the service when I am in there, and I have also had some lovely conversations with other parents in there, which makes me feel very welcome at church. Thank you to everyone who helps to maintain it.

Schools No visits this year perhaps reflects on our availability and the schools capacity to arrange trips with tightening budgets.

We have hosted the Gwyn Jones PTA and the nursery awards ceremonies.

We continued to partner with the Muslim Teachers Association to host the Big Iftar meal in June, this was hosted at Leytonstonr School

Fathers’ Day Party In June we attempted to host a Father's Day party for children and dads to come along and enjoy the day together. Unfortunately this was not as successful as we had hoped and turnout was rather low. We will reflect on others ways to engage with families to celebrate the day in future.

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Light Party (Halloween) We had a lot of fun at this year’s Light Party. The announced theme was Pumpkins and Pokémon but only one person dressed up as a Pokémon (thank you Georgia Dunning – you were the star Pikachu). We did have lots of fun carving the pumpkins with lots of talk about what tasty recipes they could cook tomorrow such as pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup – did you know that 18,000 tonnes of Pumpkins are wasted every year in the UK? That’s 1,500 double decker buses!

Other fun included face painting, cupcake cake decorating, scratch art with stencils, donuts on a string, bobbing for apples and grapes in flour. We played with glow in the dark balloons and had two “mummy races” where two children wrapped an adult in toilet roll before racing across the room.

The concourse was full of families who came to enjoy the fun under the UV lights. There were a couple of questions on whether it was more Halloween and less light this year; personally, I still think it was light as the games and fun did not refer to the darker themes of Halloween - lots of treats without the tricks if you will. Although we did not include a Bible slot this year I found several people wanted to talk about the church. I told two primary school age children about the history of All Saints Day and that we don’t see death as scary but as a chance to be at peace in heaven. I talked to Mary Dunne and a few of her parents about the church’s desire to start a memorial service from next year

and asked if they would like to light their pumpkin tea light in memory of anyone special? I talked to a family about how Jesus said we should not be afraid of anything but should pray about everything. Jesus is the light of the world and He shines in the darkness.

Leaders: Amardeep Riyat, Amy Willshire, Ashley Matthews, Bob Park, Daisy Bennett, Fiona Buddell, Freddy Cochran, Gemma Dunning, Georgia Dunning, Joy Park, Kimora Thompson.

Next year’s theme: Lazarus Escape Room (John 11: 1-44)

Holiday Club – Story teller We had so much fun at holiday club this year. We jumped down the rabbit hole and entered the land of fantasy. Where the three Little Pigs met the Wise and Foolish Builder and where Little Red Riding Hood and the Little Lost Sheep both had big bad wolves to worry about. Each week we learnt about a story told by Jesus and a favourite fairy tale.

Highlights included the story telling talent show on the last day when the children made up some fantastic tales about skeletons, ducks, good witches and space; many of the stories shared a theme of friendship. Trips to the gunge were also enjoyed, particularly the first day when Karenna looked alarmed as she put her hands in!

We had a fantastic team this year, and a special thank you is due to our junior leaders who worked so hard.

Leaders: Amardeep Riyat, Amy Willshire, Bob Park, Cemore Phillips, Daisy Bennett, Fiona Buddell, Jo Neal, Joy Park, Kimora Thompson, Ros Bailey, Simon Owen, Yvonne Phillips.

Leytonstone Youth Matters Mentoring We completed the Mentoring for Emotional Health and Literacy Course in partnership with Waltham Forest Community Active Local Mentors in February.

We also ran two five day mentoring courses in May and August and a Safeguarding Training course for mentors in February 2016.

Leaders: Amy Willshire

NCS The Challenge – see page 19

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Living Well The Living Well Group is a friendly group for anyone (of either sex) of retirement age. We have a monthly rolling programme of activities on Wednesday afternoon between 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm.

Our monthly programme is as follows:

Week 1: Devotional - Prayers and Hymn, Scripture Reading and short Sermon.

Week 2: Board Games - (our champion is Freda as usual)

Week 3: Guest Speakers – for example Fiona spoke to us about walking tours in London (National Portrait Gallery & Jack the Ripper) - a lady spoke on the subject of pet dogs, and the Community Police came to talk about security. The Fall Prevention Team also came to speak.

Week 4: Armchair Yoga - exercises for mental and physical stimulation to promote mobility and co-ordination.

Week 5: An outing to the cinema or some other venue recommended for entertainment.

Most members make a donation of £2.00 but this purely voluntary and financial concerns should not prevent anyone from joining us. We do, however ask for £3.00 per yoga session.

At the end of the session we have a general conversation, and tea, coffee, fruit juice and biscuits are provided. We are a warm and friendly group and would be happy to welcome any new member.

Women's World Day of Prayer Each year on the first Friday of March the Women’s World Day of Prayer is held throughout the world. During 2016 the emphasis was on the country of Cuba. Members of LUFC joined other ladies throughout Leytonstone and Leyton at either Trinity Methodist Church. Leyton, or Cann Hall Methodist, Cann Hall or at St. Mary’s, Leyton, for the services, organised by the ladies of Cuba.

Social Prescribing - Abbie

Social prescribing – A way of linking patients in receipt of health and/or social care with sources of support within the community.

As a church we have been building on our relationship and partnership between Sharon Hanooman (Senior Social Prescriber for Waltham Forest); Terry Day (Befriending Manager for Age UK Waltham Forest); Tracey Rogers (Outdoor Pursuits Manager for Leyton Sixth Form College), and other key volunteers in the community. It is our aim to build, with the Living Well group, a social prescribing community group based out of LUFC. Sharon has a long list of people who are isolated and would really benefit from connecting with a group. Tracey has several cohorts of students at the college who have skills in health and social care, art, as well as being members of the community themselves. With advice, guidance and assistance from professionals currently and formerly in NHS and Age UK, and some committed, skilled and valuable volunteers, we will bring these older people and younger people together at LUFC.

We are currently putting in the foundations for this project, including exploring funding, management and organisational options, in preparation for making this a sustainable community resource as we move forward into later 2017.

Mat-to-fore The main focus for this charity in 2016 has been running a preschool. The thirty children of Kotei, a village in Ghana, receive a good meal which is so important for their development and a foundation in maths and English to prepare them for the primary school which is in the next village about 60 minute walk away. The work on the foster homes has continued but at a slow pace, mainly due to lack of funds and the change in exchange rates. The plans for the two foster homes have been revised, partly to correct the design and partly to maximize the living space. The new design includes an exterior staircase and new internal toilets.

Donate Online: https://www.justgiving.com/mattofore/donate

Or visit the website for more information: http://www.mattofore.org/

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Eco Church During 2016 we explored the new Eco Church Online Survey. This has replaced the previous award system in which we participated some years ago but is still managed by A Rocha UK. It asks us questions over five sections: Worship and Teaching, Buildings, Land, Community and Global. By answering these questions, the website lets us see how well you are progressing and shows gauges at the end of each section that turn bronze, then silver, then gold. In turn we can then apply for Eco Church Awards based on this. A group of us sat down to score ourselves and the good news is that we do well in some sections but the bad news is that we do less well in others. There is a lot still to do. Nevertheless, it has allowed us to report back to Church Meeting and it was pleasing that commitment was given to reaffirming our intent to be an Eco Church.

Highlights in the year have been the conversion of all of the lights in the Concourse to very low-energy LED tubes and bulbs. This was a priority as these are perhaps the most used lights in the building. The Concourse now costs very little to light when needed but don't be afraid to turn these, or any other light, off when not needed – it all helps! It has been great to see the arrival of new, home built, planter troughs in the car park and around the building and this has offset carbon whilst growing vegetables, herbs and attractive flowers whilst attracting many favourable comments from those passing by. Many thanks to all who helped but particularly to the young people from Brigade.

NCS The Challenge In collaboration with Leytonstone Youth Matters, during the summer we partnered with the National Citizen Service. A group of young people participating in The Challenge helped us to build more flower beds, painted them and planted our first vegetable seeds.

They also helped us to take down the wall near the kitchen, as advised by our insurance company, and move some of the paving slabs. They gained skills and helped their community and we were blessed with their time and enthusiasm.

Leaders: Amy Willshire, Andrew Willshire, Simon Owen

Number of young people: 12

Community Garden A very small group has continued to make fortnightly visits to look after the small garden on the corner of Hainault and Leigh Roads where a number of people sit and chat from day to day. Although the Council street cleaners sweep the area from time to time, they don’t trim the shrubs or roses, dig out the weeds, or remove the beer-cans, plastic bags, fag-ends (and more) that the sitters seem to take delight in hiding in and under the shrubbery: that’s our job! There’s a Council brass plaque on the wall that records LUFC’s work, and we are often thanked by passers-by for what we do to keep this little area in order, especially when the roses are in full bloom.

But of our small group, one is a nonagenarian and one a late octogenarian, and it would be so good if a few younger folk would like to join in this rewarding work. It’s been very good to welcome Gareth Dunning recently, to join Freda Clark and Joyce and Gordon Dykes and occasional other volunteers.

Church Vegetable Patch Brigade completed a badge on vegetable growing and built a small bed outside of the Fillebrook room to grow peppers (very hot peppers) and some beans against the walls. There was much squealing as they tried to grow organically without pesticide which involved a lot of picking off creepy crawlies and removing their eggs.

Over the summer this project was extended, Amy, Andrew, Gareth, Simon, Bob and Joy built some beds in the car park and later the team from NCS The Challenge built some more.

Carrots, kale, cauliflower, broccoli and herbs were planted. The carrots provided tiny fruits but the broccoli was very successful with some of the crop being used to feed the guest at Night Shelter.

Leaders: Amy Willshire, Amy Peirson, Daisy Bennett, Kimora Thompson.

Amy

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Churches’ Night Shelter

The Forest Churches Emergency Night Shelter (FCENS) Our annual report for 2016 covers two different seasons of Night Shelter. LUFC continued to host Sunday night from November to April and was helped by three other churches – St Andrew’s, St Joseph’s (Grange Park Road) and Wanstead Quaker Meeting House.

Many of our regular volunteers are not church-goers at all and answered adverts placed on social media. FCENS provided a staff member, Tunde Rotinwa or Antony, to book in the guests and Antony stayed awake overnight for their safety. This helps keep the atmosphere calm and makes a tremendous difference in aiding the guests to move out of homelessness.

Now Simon would like to say a big thank you to all our cooks who give up their time to shop and cook for 35 people and always provided delicious meals: Ben, Grace, Irena, Beverly, Bob, Joy, Drew, St Josephs, Wanstead Quakers, and Chris. After sleeping upstairs in the hall the guests are woken at 6am for a simple breakfast provided by St Andrew’s volunteers in early 2016 and Dawn (Gemma’s mum) and Bernadette in late 2016. The duty of setting up the shelter was shared between Bob and Joy Park and Simon Owen. Many thanks to all who prayed for the Night Shelter and who donated socks, toiletries, hats and gloves.

Both these seasons of Night Shelter helped up to 100 homeless men and women but there is so much more work to be done in supporting these vulnerable people, often with mental health problems and addiction to drugs and alcohol, back into normal patterns of life. During 2016 LUFC spent a total of £1,138 supporting this mission.

Christian Aid Week Freda, Simon, Daisy, Kimora, Amy Wilshire, David and Elaine stood outside Leytonstone station in three shifts to collected money for Christian Aid.

Unfortunately we did not raise as much as in previous years but it was good to try something new ,as we did not have enough volunteers for door to door collections. We also collected in church. We raised £173.

Food Bank How many members of our present congregation know that LUFC is a receiving point for gifts of food that can be passed on to Leytonstone residents who are in dire need? Very few of us seem to contribute anything to the Food Bank collection box that sits on or behind the coffee-bar these days. Of course, a number of folk do provide food help in many ways: with the Night Shelter for homeless people during winter months, making cookies for the coffee bar, contributing to bring-and-share meals, and so on – all much appreciated.

The comparatively small amounts of tinned goods, pasta, and the like in our Food Bank box were greatly boosted in some recent months however by big gifts from some unidentified neighbours – so that one of our members with a car was able to make some substantial (and greatly appreciated) deliveries to Leytonstone’s Food Bank Distribution Centre at the Salvation Army premises in Southwell Grove Road. Meanwhile a few tins and packets were retained under the coffee-bar so that we could help the one or two chaps obviously in need who come to us on some Sunday mornings seeking help, and it’s so good that we have been able to respond to their requests. But this means that more recently there’s not been much from LUFC to be transported to the Salvation Army distribution point.

It would be good if, when we all do our weekly shopping, we got into the habit of picking up just one tin of meat, fish, soup, fruit, or veg (but not baked beans too often, please!) or packet of rice, pasta, tea or sugar, and brought it to church on the following Sunday morning to put into our Food Bank box. That needn’t cost any of us too much, but would be so appreciated by those locally in real need.

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Church Socials There were a number of social events throughout the Church year: some aimed at raising funds for Wider Mission, others as fellowship meals and others as, less formal, ways of simply getting together to enjoy something. These included:

A games afternoon on Wednesday 13th January aimed at raising funds for our Wider Mission giving.

Creative Café and Pancake Night on the 9th February – with Simon in charge of batter and flipping!

Our early Summer BBQ slipped to the 20th August and the joyous occasion of Gemma’s Commissioning Service and it was wonderful to welcome so many visitors from Bournemouth and elsewhere – as well as exposing them to the mental challenge of a few rounds of ‘Dingbats’ as the post BBQ entertainment.

Some of us rambled around the Hollow Pond on the 6 th September as the inaugural meeting of the walking group which we hope will become more regular in 2017.

On the 1st October we had a formal, sit down, Harvest Banquet and Quiz Night. The Concourse was full and the tables decorated splendidly, elegant frocks abounded, there were a few penguins, Amardeep wore a tie and Simon his best tee shirt and shorts! We were particularly grateful to the young people who dressed up as waiting staff for the night.

The community Christmas meal for retired people was on the 7 th December and there was a full and hungry house. As ever, it was great to have the children from Gwyn Jones School to serve the meal and then entertain us with singing in the Chapel after the meal.

Community Stall During 2016 there was no joint stall from the Churches Together group at the Leytonstone Festival and we were too late to book our own stall so a group of us took the opportunity to wander around, talk to people and hand out leaflets.

URC Local Update The end of 2016 saw the formalisation of the East London Group of United Reformed Churches with steering committee members from Barking URC, Grange Park URC, Gants Hill URC, Seven Kings United Free Church, Vine URC, Trinity Walthamstow URC, Wanstead URC, Walthamstow Asian URC and of course Leytonstone United Free Church. This group is newly forming and despite some struggles to fix dates that everyone can attend is starting to take shape. We hope that 2017 will see an ever stronger sense of unity.

On Sunday 11th September 2016 history was made when Memona Shahbaz was called as the first Pakistani woman to become a URC Mininster. Memona ministers across Gants Hill, Trinity Walthamstow, Wanstead and Grange Park. We will continue to stand with her in prayer as she outworks this exciting calling.

As Memona is welcomed we also get ready to say goodbye to Revd Francis Ackroyd as he will be finishing his ministry time at the Vine Church with a celebration on Sunday 8th October 2017 at 3pm. It is an open invite so if you would like to attend tell Gemma so we can arrange transport and let them know a unified attendance figure.

Baptist Union Local Update In July 2016 the London Baptist Association saw Phil Barnard become team leader. Phil has his hands full, as London Baptist Association is the largest BU association with 330 churches under its care. This means Phil really needs our prayers at this time as he shapes the team under his leadership and engages with the challenges we face as a diverse association.

Safeguarding has been an interim priority with the LBA resourcing 12 trainers across the association who can all deliver the Level 2 Excellence in Safeguarding course. There are plans to upskill trainers with level 3 training later in 2017.

We continue to be part of the North East District and under the gentle care of Revd Jan Larkins, Minister at Hainault Baptist Church, with monthly ministers’ fellowship lunches for support, networking and prayer. Please do pray for this network as Gemma finds her place amongst the group.

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Macmillan Coffee Afternoon Friday 14th October saw a handful of us gather together in the manse to share some coffee and a lot of cake. Macmillan is a charity very close to my own heart as cancer has affected us as a family in a number of ways. We had a lovely time getting to know each other better and discussing cake recipes! A great time was had by all and despite being a select group we still managed to be able to send £106.96 to Macmillan.

For 2017 Gemma will trial hosting a coffee morning in the church concourse area, join in by submitting your favourite recipe, baking or turning up on the day. Put 10am – 12noon on Friday 29th September 2017 in your diary now to ensure you don’t miss out!

Lent Bible Study To kickstart the Lent study season we had a visit from Lynne Ling of Shorelines Conversations. She was involved in the design and production of the 7-week pack of booklets which were created around the theme of Pilgrimage. It was hoped that the resources would inspire those familiar with pilgrim journeys and those who wanted to explore it as a metaphor for our spiritual journey through life. Each week, we are gathered in small groups for reflection and conversation around a series of seven themes drawn from the overarching title of ‘Pilgrimage’. We embarked upon on a spiritual journey through Lent, alone and in company, sharing with others our personal reflections, stories and insights. The seven Pilgrimage themes were:

Week 1: The Open Road

The hope, longing, purpose or invitation that motivates us to leave our normal environment or present perspective; seeking spiritual sustenance as we begin an intentional spiritual journey.

Week 2: Taking and Leaving

The need to travel lightly and the process of becoming unencumbered. Making choices about what is essential and what is peripheral to the undertaking.

Week 3: Becoming Present

Cultivating a certain availability and openness; allowing experiences and environments to speak to us; a quality of being, self-discipline and attentiveness to what is within and without.

Week 4: Alone and Together

Our need for companionship on our journey to God, beginning to trust those who do not share our own perspectives; reflecting on the experience of many people on the move today, fleeing war and persecution in search of a better life.

Week 5: Living with Uncertainty

Between here and there; living with paradox and uncertainty; questioning the journey yet keeping faith; emerging dimensions prompted by unexpected events, people and places.

Week 6: Sacred Encounter (Holy Week)

Reaching our chosen destination; encountering the Sacred in silence and suffering; changing expectations and the invitation to change and renew.

Week 7: Pilgrim Living (post-Easter)

Returning home and its implications; what we are learning, how we are changed by the journey, things we are motivated to do that are different than before because of the experience.

Study sessions were held on Sunday afternoon at the Matthews home led by Grace and on Thursday evenings at the church led by David. Approximately 20 people (adults and children) attended. Irena Radburn gave feedback about her experience saying “the materials were unusual, poetic and spiritual. It was good we could all take turns reading. I felt safe, cared for and got to know others on a deeper level. What enhanced the whole experience was the venue: in the house of a happy family, where even occasional interruptions by the children made it all very real.”

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Gospel Choir Firstly, I would like to thank Church Council and members for supporting my vision of a community gospel choir based at LUFC.

Having found and contacted Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir in December 2015, with the help of Alison Beck, their Toolkit Manager and Workshop leader, we held a successful “Gospel Singing Workshops Day” on 7th May 2016, when 70 people attended. This was followed by a “workshop style” choir rehearsal on 25th June, resulting in a 19 strong gospel choir who sang during our Gospel themed Worship Service the next day.

Together with Grace’s invaluable support, as well as help and advice from other individuals, including Amardeep, Amy, Elaine, Fiona, Irena, Simon, Yvonne and members of The Cornerstone Church, I felt we achieved much and had developed the potential to become an established gospel choir. Unfortunately, the estimated costs showed that funding the choir would be difficult to maintain, and I felt that it would be inappropriate to ask the church for further financial support. Ideally, I would have been asking the church for use of the chapel for 2 hours on 1 evening a week, & then paying for a choir director and musician(s) from the subs.

Meanwhile, Alison had already recommended Kathy McLeish as a potential choir director. Unbeknown to me, in January 2016, Kathy, a member of The Wesleyan Christian Centre, had formed Harrow Green Community Gospel Choir. On meeting, we shared our visions, and discussed the possibility of joining forces.

The CommUnity Gospel Choir was agreed as the new name for the trial amalgamation,, of Harrow Green Gospel Choir and East London Gospel Voices. We started meeting on Tuesday evenings at The Wesleyan Christian Centre 7:15 – 9:00pm, from 4 th October.

Our membership increased to more than 50 during our first term, with the average weekly attendance being 30 singers. The choir is been made up of singers from local churches, as well as non-church-goers in the local community.

After 10 weeks of choir rehearsals, on 9th December, we put on our first concert at The Wesleyan Christian Centre, the success of which contributed to our decision to continue in 2017 as one joint choir, “The CommUnity Gospel Choir”. We held a second concert on 28th April 2017. (Longer report online)

Songs and Worship This year we worshiped together 56 times. We sang 357 times a total of 199 different songs (unique songs indicated below by the number in brackets). This includes songs from different cultures and a mix of old and new hymns:

2014 2015 2016

Unknown 5 (4) 3 (3) 1 (1)

Pre 1899 57 (45) 69 (55) 70 (45)

1900-1969 40 (30) 61 (41) 47 (25)

1970-1979 35 (23) 28 (19) 25 (14)

1980-1989 63 (40) 60 (35) 52 (30)

1990-1999 84 (50) 81 (45) 67 (34)

2000-2009 52 (24) 33 (18) 63 (31)

2010-2017 29 (13) 18 (6) 32 (15)

Total 360 (231)

353 (216)

357 (199)

Of the 357 songs sang 60 were written or co-written by a female, 293 were by a male composer and lyricist, and 4 are by an unknown person. That is 38 individual songs written by females.

Most sung composers:

Graham Kendrick 13 songs on 24 occasions

Stuart Townend: 9 songs on 17 occasions

Chris Tomlin: 5 songs on 16 occasions

Matt Redman: 5 songs on 10 occasions

New songs: Freedom is coming, God of glory, God of grace, God will make a way, He is the King of Kings, Jesus is my Superhero, House, I Don't Know What The Future Holds, Since Jesus came into my life, If I can help somebody as I walk, King of Love, Longing for peace, May the fragrance of Jesus fill this place, May the road rise to meet you, O praise ye the Lord!, Singing Hallelujah Lord, The Lord is my Shepherds (round), This is my desire (I Give You My Heart), We Praise You Oh Lord, yes I love you with love of the Lord, You are my hiding place, You Bring Peace but not as the world gives.`

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Hire Report Regular & Semi Regular Building Users We have a long list of regular users who put our facilities to good use. Many of our renters do very good work in their fields and serve the community in which we all live. It has been our policy to encourage worthy causes with rentals at a slightly lower rate as part of the church’s local mission and some of our tenants have been with us for many years, while some, like our Tai Chi. We have been generally fortunate that our users have treated the building and its furnishings with respect and care. We were sorry to say goodbye to our Asian Disability Group who have had to retire due to illness.

Alcoholics Anonymous (Monday & Tuesday groups), Baby Sensory, Baby Yoga and Adult Yoga, Biblical Revival Evangelical Church, EP Hope Church of Ghana, Fairwood Court Residents’ Association, Gwyn Jones Parent Teacher Association, Jikan Dojo - Leytonstone Karate, Jacqueline Peart Ministries, Leyton & Wanstead Liberal Democrats Committee, Leytonstone Labour Party Committee, Marsh Quilters, Mary Dunne Theatre School, Narcotics Anonymous, Pilates, Play Therapy, Tai Chi, Waltham Forest Counselling Service

One-Off Hirers We also generate income through many one-off rentals for parties, seminars and meetings. These are usually generated by word of mouth, from the website and through our regular activities such as Baby Space, Youth Matters and jumble sales etc. As we do not have a license for alcohol and would not want one, our customers are usually to be found amongst groups whose celebrations do not include the consumption of alcohol: mothers, Muslims and Methodists being the most prominent groups. All these hires require supervision and stewarding. Some also require technical assistance for which we add an additional charge to pay the technician. Many of those who rent with us are charities and non-profit organisations who are comfortable in a church setting and respond to the Christian ethos of the building.

Stewarding the Building Keeping up with our hirers requires stewarding during the hours of occupation. We would like to gratefully acknowledge the immense contribution of Freda Clark, who has recently retired as Monday steward. Without our dedicated team of stewards; Yvonne Phillips, Joan Pantling, Bob & Joy Park and Wendy Jones, we would be unable to serve regular clients such as the Dancing Class, the AA and NA. This is a year round regular commitment as AA and NA meet regardless of wind, weather or bank holidays. We can always use volunteers to help out in cases of sickness and holidays so please think if you could be part of the team.

One-off Hire Stewarding One-off hires happen at irregular intervals and no rota is, therefore, possible to keep up with this type of usage. Thus the stewarding of these sessions has to be covered by the person who takes the booking if no one else is available. Although several people including: Bob & Joy Park, Yvonne Phillips, David Mackay Simon Owen, and Amy & Drew Willshire have been kind enough to help out, the bulk of the stewarding has devolved on the Buddell family.. The weekend is naturally the most popular time and the main time during which the building is free for such hires.

Looking to the Future We are currently looking at ways to increase our rentals and hence our income. Finding the right tenant is not always simple, as we already have a fairly full programme in the evenings, and daytime users are not easy to find. As a relatively new building we have the advantage in terms of accessibility and provision for small children. This is reflected in the fact that many of our tenants work with babies and young families. It is a major concern that we maintain our building in good condition in order to sustain this revenue stream and we can all help in small ways to keep things clean and tidy. One of our greatest assets has always been the willingness of the church family to help out in many different ways and I would ask you all to heed the call to help when you can.

The total banked through hires for 2016 was £23,000. The total banked through one-off hires was circa £5,000.

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Building and Equipment In 2016 there has been a relatively small number of building and equipment issues at the church. The upstairs kitchen had the hot water dispenser replaced, costing £1,100 and the fridge, oven for £460. The photocopier was replaced costing £2,274.

The church roof was repaired at a cost of £550 and the front door mechanism was replaced for £636. In the summer planters were installed around the church with the materials costing £600.

At the manse the dishwasher and microwave were replaced costing £480, the fence in the back garden was replaced at £800.

Facilities Report The building is currently in good repair: however we have experienced certain problems during the year. The roof has perhaps been our biggest source of concern and we will not be certain that all leaks have been fixed until the next heavy rainstorm. Our increased hire usage has of course increased the need for carpet cleaning and other servicing but this is not a large budget item. We were grateful in the recent extended holiday of Perpetual, our regular cleaner, to our new Minister's mother, Dawn, who took over the cleaning during her absence. There have also been several cupboards arranging days and general cleaning sessions and we are very grateful to all members of the Church family who have assisted in these very necessary jobs. We have a new Alarm System provider, Bell Security. The car park has received new additions in the form of planting troughs for vegetables, herbs and flowers which has considerably enhanced its appearance. The door repairs necessitated by the break-in last Christmas have improved their overall function. We need more people to be trained in the use of the moving panels between the Concourse and the Chapel so if anyone feels that they could usefully learn this skill please let us know so that we can arrange a training session.

Website & Social Media During 2016 our Website was visited, on average, 32 times a day by 28 different people; our busiest day was the Sunday 4th September 2016 where we had 120 different visitors while on Saturday 2nd April 2016 we only had 12 visits.

Over the 12 months period.

11,815 visits

93.7 actions (page views, downloads, links, searches) per day on average

32,678 page views, 24,537 unique page views

95 downloads

Some of our most popular pages other than the home page include The Blog, Hire The Building, Baby Yoga, The Calendar, Get to Know Us and Contact Us.

Please do keep sending us articles, pictures and ideas for the website and blog and consider helping as an editor.

Our Facebook page continues to be updated with events, comments and pictures. We started 2016 with 122 likes and ended the year with 153 likes on Facebook. On 24 April we had 187 people engaging on our Facebook page – that was the day we announced Gemma would be our new minister. The post about our church covenant had a reach of 640 people. The only post with more views was John Cryer MP’s coffee morning (878)

Our Twitter followers for the year started at 185 and increased to 256 followers on Twitter. Our tweet on Thursday 15 December 2016 abput the Retired Christmas meal got 536 views.

According to YouTube, our total number of views in 2016 is 1,111 . Our most popular video in 2016 was Gemma is Coming with 157 views. The most viewed service were Be Still and Know that I am God by Alison (256 views)and the Cristingle Service by Gemma (72 views). What was your favourite service?

We continue to use MailChimp, which is an easy way of sending out general notices and events to attenders, members and friends. We add blog post and messages as well. Our member and attender list has increased from 41 to 45 at the end of the year, but our friends list has shrunk from 243 people to 200. Grace Owen wins the prize for reading the most notice emails (94.3%).

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Finance INCOME 2014 2015 2016

Weekly Giving 30575 27637 25775

Thank Offering/Harvest 4016 5469 3543

Legacies, donations 16229 4299 659

Coffee bar 968 895 318

Wider Mission/baby space/living well 882 1648 913

Gift Aid refunds from Inland Revenue 8584 11000 6294

Rents from users of premises 19683 22959 30645

Rent from manse 0 10027 11255

Solar panel green electricity income 1043 1000 1000

Investment income 6268 6345 5506

Total Income 88320 91279 86173

EXPENDITURE

Minister & expenses 30908 4650 16615

Manse maintenance and costs 6185 12837 3947

Church upkeep 17487 16418 14620

Building and Hire Manager & expenses 7362 6837 7391

Furniture and equipment provision 6500 6500 6500

Youth work 9217 58 199

Printing & stationery and admin costs 5694 4868 3897

Miscellaneous ministry costs 3125 2832 2725

Wider Mission payments 12500 12500 12500

Total Expenditure 98980 67500 68394

SURPLUS/DEFICIT( - ) -10660 23780 17779

2016 was not a typical year, because for half the year we had no minister, with Gemma joining the church in August. Over the year the church ran a surplus of £14,600, which is similar to the previous minister-less year. Our collection on Sunday morning has decreased by £2,000 which has been a trend over the last four years, partly due to members moving away and less generous giving. Rent from the church has increased by £5,000 in 2016 which is due to an increase in regular hirers such as councillors and one-off corporate training. This year the manse rental produced an income of £11,255 and will be the last rental income from the manse.

It is hoped that next year 2017 the church will be close to living within its means and the outlook for a sustainable future will be strong. A snapshot of church finances is given below.

assets 2013 2014 2015 2016

Value of Church Share Investments £87,000 £89,000 £87,600 £94,772

Liquid assets in bank accounts £57,400 £52,400 £78,700 £93,824

To the left is a more detailed picture of income and expenditure.

Jumble Sales

Jumble sales, which take place 3 times a year, are a vital part of the life of LUFC. They are highly popular with many people.

Many things are sold including bric-a-brac, toys & games, bags & shoes, clothing for all ages (both male and female) and also linens. The coffee bar is always stocked with many different types of cakes. Simon's lemon drizzle cake is a favourite.

We couldn't put on any of these jumble sales if it wasn't for the army of volunteers who give up their precious free time to help with setup on Fridays, and those who help on the jumble days themselves.

The highest sum raised in 2016 was in the Autumn time, when we raised £638.26. Overall in 2016 we raised £1,809.35.

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Contacts Address

55 Wallwood Road, Leytonstone,

London E11 1AY

Phone

020 8518 7725

Emails Contacts

Church Secretary (Amy): secretary@leytonstoneunitedfree.co.uk

Church Treasurer (Simon): simonyoga@btinternet.com

Building and Hire Manager (Fiona): reception@leytonstoneunitedfree.co.uk

Website Editor (Amardeep): webmaster@leytonstoneunitedfree.co.uk

Online

Church Website: http://www.leytonstoneunitedfree.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeytonstoneUnitedFree

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/LstoneUFChurch

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/LUFC6543