Parish of Leatherhead

Canon Eaton welcomed the French mayor and his team warmly in English and then handed over to a member of the congreagtion [Jane Haslam] "to do it properly" in French! M. Houllemare and his team were delighted with the informality of the service, which involved much singing and hunting for apples on the part of the under-10-year-olds! Afterwards everyone enjoyed coffee in the church hall and our visitors were delighted to be spoken to in quite fluent French by several members of the congregation!

Triel is a small town of 11,000 inhabitants on the banks of the Seine about 30km west of Paris. There is great enthusiasm in Triel to link up with local organisations over here - representatives from French churches, choral societies, football clubs, schools and a host of other organisations in Triel are keen to foster links with similar organisations in the Leatherhead area. The twinning committee would be delighted to hear from any local groups who would like to join "Friends of Triel".

On a more personal level, the welcome and hospitality met by the various groups who have visited Triel over the years is always warm and generous. The committee are keen to expand the membership of the Friends of Triel and would welcome any individuals or families who would like to join as new members. If you are interested in joining or finding out more, please contact Peter Brader on 01372 275862 or email him on peter_braderATuk.ibm.com (replace AT with @ before sending)

Toast to Friendship - Dec 2004

The ceremony to formalise the twinning of Leatherhead and District with the French town of Triel-sur-Seine took place in October. There have been regular exchanges for the past 12 years, but in May 2003 the twinning committees, led by their respective "mayors", met for the first time. Since then, work towards formal twinning has been progressing apace, and on 2 October, Jean-Pierre Houllemare (Mayor of Triel) and Bridget Lewis (Chairman of Mole Valley District Council) signed the Charters.

The Registry Office was packed for the ceremony with representatives from a variety of local groups in attendance, including Canon David Eaton from St Mary's & St. Nicholas. Following an invitation from Canon Eaton, most of the French delegation, Mrs Lewis and several of the Friends of Triel went to the parish church for the Harvest Service.

New Wine - October 2004 magazine

During the summer a group of us spent a week camping/caravanning on the Bath and West Showground near Shepton Mallet in Somerset at New Wine, a Christian Conference. It was a great week of getting to know each other better as well as enjoying the wide variety of things on offer at the conference - from morning bible studies to late night concerts.

There was something for everyone - old and young - whether it be the huge choice of seminars, the quiet contemplative rooms, the bustling cafes and eating places, the market place, the time spent in our "camping village" enjoying meals and fun times together (we had two birthday parties), the skateboard park or maybe exploring the local area.

It is already time to think about booking for next year, especially if we want to get the discounted rate which means booking before the 30th November. We have already booked our caravans for next year from 31st July to 6th August 2005, but it is also possible to book a self catering cottage or B&B in the area or hire a tent.

Revd Dean Tapley - from Sep 2004 magazine

We welcome this month The Revd Dean Tapley as the new minister at Christ Church United Reformed Church, as one of our Covenanting partners. Dean comes to Leatherhead from Crawley. He and his wife, Lydia, were married at Christ Church, where his father-in-law was then minister, so there is a warm family connection with the church. We remember Christ Church in our prayers. It has been a long wait since The Revd Brian Treharne retired and we are delighted Dean has now been able to respond to the Call to Ministry. Dean's Induction is at 7pm on Saturday 11th September.

More on the D-Day Service 6 June 2004 - from the August 2004 magazine

(Because of an e-mail mix-up, this arrived too late for the July magazine - Parish Magazine Editor) It was splendid to see such a full church on 6th June for the 60th Anniversary Service for D-Day. From the feedback we have received the Service taken by Canon David Eaton could not have been more meaningful; the service was just about right. We felt very humble when David spoke with the three people who had played their part and done their duty without complaint. We owe a lot to such British Legion Branch individuals and to those who lost their lives.

After the service, those who could lined up behind the Redhill Corps of Drums to parade back to the Legion Headquarters, after the Chairman of Mole Valley together with the RBL Branch President and RBL Women's Section Branch Chairman laid a wreath at the War Memorial from the people of Leatherhead.

At Headquarters we took tea consisting of wartime food such as bread and dripping and modern day food such as ham sandwiches. Our grateful thanks to all those who helped to make the day the success it was.
Derrick and Jane Summerfield

D-Day Memories - July 2004 magazine

What a splendid service we had to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of D-Day. Thank you to all who had the idea and made it work. Just as for the Millennium, I am preparing a page on our website to 'capture the moment', aiming to use the order of service, the contributions of those who spoke of their experiences and the address given by David, together with wartime photos of them (!) and some background information.

I would like to invite others in the parish to contribute material to this page: short accounts of what you or a member of your family was doing on 6th June 1944 (irrespective of whether actually involved in the invasion), if possible, with relevant photos.
Frank Haslam 379341

Planned and Outward Giving - from the May 2004 Magazine

At the AGM of the Parochial Church Council a shortfall of £4,000 was forecast, based on the projected income and expenditure for the year. Expenditure had been reduced where prudent to do so, bearing in mind the call on reserves in 2003 due to high expenditure. It was not considered prudent to resort to reserves again in 2004. We are fortunate that the Poplar Road Fund covers our share of the cost of the Youth Worker and for the Sunday Club. It was suggested that we could not sustain the 10% of Giving, plus the Christmas collection, presently allocated to "Outward Giving".

It was therefore proposed that the Outward Giving be set at £4,000, 5% of "Giving" in 2003, in line with that recommended by Bishop John Gladwin; and that the Christmas collection be retained for the work of the church in Leatherhead. Otherwise, balancing the budget would require an increase in Giving over a full year of 6.5%. (8.6% over the remaining nine months of the year). As many of our regular givers under the Planned Giving Scheme are retired, with incomes likely to increase, at best, in line with inflation (2.8%), it was felt unrealistic to expect such an overall increase.

Following considerable discussion the proposals were overwhelmingly adopted on a show of hands.

In the February issue of the magazine some statistics were given showing that half of our planned giving comes from only 17 individuals/families. Even more startling, that 97 pence in every pound is given by those over age 50, of which 42 pence comes from those age 70 and above. By the very nature of life we will be losing many of these members over the next decade. We must therefore actively encourage younger members of our congregation, who are presently not giving through the Planned Giving Scheme, to commence at the earliest opportunity. Failure to do so will present enormous financial problems in the future.

Where a person who gives money to the church is a taxpayer, the church can recover 28 pence in every pound given, from the taxman, if that member completes a "once off' simple declaration. No further action is necessary by the person who gives in this way!

A standing order from your bank to the PCC is the ideal method of payment as it is regular (just like our church expenditure) and simple for the Treasurer to administer. Alternatively, you could join the envelope scheme and put the regular amount of "planned giving" into such envelope, on a weekly or monthly basis, as you wish. Each member's envelope has an identifying number and in this way only the Planned Giving Secretary will know how much each person gives.

We take the opportunity of sincerely thanking all those who give financially towards the work of the church and ask, where possible, to review the amount they give.
Bernard Salsbury, Frances Presley and Martin Cole

Parish Budget - Are we falling short? - from Feb 2004 magazine

Our financial year ended in December and the PCC will soon have to review the Accounts and future budgets. Initial forecasts are not encouraging, as you will see. The figures exclude financial support for the Churches Together youth worker:

INCOME	Actual 2001	Actual 2002	Forecast 2003	Budget 2004	Budget 2005	Budget 2006
Collections & Donations	83,371	85,579	81,061	81,800	82,800	83,800
Halls, Properties, Funds	27,386	26,754	22,438	29,000	30,000	31,000
Weddings, Funerals, Etc.	8,685	9,838	11,416	10,000	10,000	10,000
Other Fund Raising	7,038	4,639	6,166	5,000	5,000	5,000
Total	126,480	126,810	121,080	125,800	127,800	129,800
EXPENDITURE	Actual 2001	Actual 2002	Forecast 2003	Budget 2004	Budget 2005	Budget 2006
Outward Giving	9,998	10,144	11,421	9,800	9,900	10,000
Hall/Property Costs	6,433	7,394	7,023	7,330	7,572	7,825
Church Running Costs	41,537	42,624	46,204	45,203	37,935	38,699
Quota/Clergy Costs	64,830	60,055	66,869	72,424	75,768	80,342
Total	122,798	120,217	131,516	134,756	131,175	136,867
SURPLUS/ (DEFICIT)	3,682	6,593	(10,437)	(8,956)	(3,375)	(7,167)

The answer to the question in the title seems to be "Yes", particularly as the lower deficits in 2005/6 result only from lower anticipated maintenance costs, very high in 2003 and expected to be high at All Saints in 2004. The PCC will therefore need to find ways to increase income or reduce costs .

"Blessed are those who are generous" (Proverbs 22:9). Our church is very grateful to all those who give. We recognise that a small sum to one person may be a greater sacrifice than a large sum to another person. Younger families have huge demands on their income and retired people face increasing costs without corresponding increases in their pensions. It is therefore difficult for existing donors to give more and more. We are publishing the following statistics relating to our current giving as background information which can be considered when we ask in March/April whether you can increase your donation towards church funds.

The yellow Gift Aid envelopes were introduced in 2003 to improve tax recovery. However, if you give money, are a tax payer and haven't signed a Gift Aid form/used a Gift Aid envelope, please consider doing so as the Revenue will add 28p to every £1 you donate.

A 50p piece met a £5 note and said, "Hey! Where have you been? I haven't seen you around here much." The £5 note replied, "I've been hanging out at the Bingo, done the lottery a few times, had a Chinese takeaway, gone to a couple of football matches, done a bit of shopping, had a few holidays abroad and all that kind of stuff. How about you ?" The 50p piece said, "Oh, you know. Same old stuff - church, church, church. . ." (from A Box of Delighls, J. John and Mark Stibbe, Monarch Books)

If you can afford to give more to the church it will be very much appreciated. "My wife and I measure the success of the year on how much we give away. The bulk of it goes to church and related activities." (Novelist John Grisham in USA Today - 2/11/99)

Judging by the figures above, 2003 would have been a good year in John Grisham's view, but was it really a good year for the church? We used £30,000 of reserves/special donations to maintain the tower, the new sound system was funded by a large donation plus a separate appeal, donations supported the new lighting and yet we had a substantial deficit. Can we really afford our outward giving? Should our outward giving be more focused on activities in which church members are involved rather than independent charities?

The Parish Share, often called the Diocesan Quota, is the charge levied by the diocese to cover clergy costs, diocesan support and a contribution to the central costs of the Church of England. It comprises two elements: a charge based on the number of clergy allocated to the Parish and a charge on the number of people on the electoral roll. For 2004, we pay 0.75% of total cost of all clergy in the diocese and 0.83% of total diocesan other costs, which include the contribution to the Church of England; for each member of our electoral roll, we will be charged £172. We must therefore consider the rules for membership of the electoral role and whether irregular members should be included. For those who want to be challenged on this, refer to the views of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York:

Church membership - the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have issued the following short guide to the duties of church membership.

All baptized and confirmed members of the Church must play their full part in its life and witness. That you may fulfil this duty you are called upon:

We the churchwardens encourage you to think and pray about the issues raised above and would be pleased to hear from you with any ideas for going forward.

Once again, many thanks for your enormous support in 2003.
Bernard Salsbury, Frances Presley, Martin Cole and Tim Hauxwell

Parish of Leatherhead - 2004

Chronology

Leatherhead twinned - Dec 2004 mag

Toast to Friendship - Dec 2004

New Wine - October 2004 magazine

Revd Dean Tapley - from Sep 2004 magazine

More on the D-Day Service 6 June 2004 - from the August 2004 magazine

D-Day Memories - July 2004 magazine

Planned and Outward Giving - from the May 2004 Magazine

Parish Budget - Are we falling short? - from Feb 2004 magazine

INCOME

Actual 2001

Actual 2002

Forecast 2003

Budget 2004

Budget 2005

Budget 2006

Total

126,480

126,810

121,080

125,800

127,800

129,800

EXPENDITURE

Actual 2001

Actual 2002

Forecast 2003

Budget 2004

Budget 2005

Budget 2006

Total

122,798

120,217

131,516

134,756

131,175

136,867

SURPLUS/ (DEFICIT)

3,682

6,593

(10,437)

(8,956)

(3,375)

(7,167)

Actual
2001

Actual
2002

Forecast
2003

Budget
2004

Budget
2005