The Methodist Church, South-East District
SUMMARY OF THE ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS
for the year ended 31st August 2007
In an attempt to make the Accounts a little more “User
Friendly”, we have produced a Summary of the Annual Audited Report and Accounts.
The full version is available on request from the District Office.
Objectives and Activities
Objects
The District is constituted to advance the mission of the
church in the South-East District by providing opportunities for Circuits to
work together and support each other, by offering them resources and finance,
personnel and expertise which may not be available locally. The District also
serves the local Churches and Circuits in the support, deployment and oversight
of the various ministries of the Church in programmes of training.
Objectives
The District came into being as a new Methodist District on
the 1st September 2006. The main objectives set out at the beginning of year
were:
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To support and encourage the Circuits in mission and
worship as members of a world-wide church and global community;
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To develop pastoral care of lay and ordained staff living
and working in the Circuits and of the lay officers of the District;
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To work together to share ministry, leadership and
responsibility and encourage these ways of working in the Circuits.
Activities and Achievements
The long term aim has been to establish the identity of the
District and to contribute towards developing communication across such a large
diverse District. Meetings of Superintendents and Circuit Stewards and visits to
Circuits by the Chair and Assistant Chairs have also made a significant
contribution towards this.
The basic governance and management structure of the District
has been established so that by the end of the year the District was able to
undertake all of the formal responsibilities required by the Methodist
Constitutional Practice and Discipline, including: support for Probationer
Ministers; the assessment of Candidates for Presbyteral Ministry, complaints and
discipline; safeguarding of children and young people; grant making and property
scheme approval.
In the current and future years, wherever possible in
consultation with our ecumenical partners we aim to give attention to supporting
opportunities for mission development in areas of new housing and encouraging a
deeper appreciation of mission in a rural context. We will also aim to ensure
that pastoral care of Supernumerary Ministers is given consistently across the
District.
Connexional reorganisation brings with it the opportunity to
develop training of both lay and ordained people and to face the need to
reconfigure the Circuit structure so it meets the mission needs of the 21st
Century. A plan will be made to implement other Connexional policies including
action in climate change; safeguarding and ”Extending Discipleship and Exploring
Vocation.”
Financial Review
District Expenses Account
The Net Incoming Resources were £6,607 after setting aside a
sum of £4,000 towards future repairs to the District Manse and before a transfer
of £6,800 from the District Advance Fund relating to Training Grants, resulting
in a total surplus for the year of £13,407. Given the uncertainties inherent in
the setting up of a new District, this is a most satisfactory position with
which to start the new Connexional Year. In addition, the former London South
East and London South West Districts together transferred £34,559 to the new
District.
District Advance Fund
After receiving Circuit levies of £187,710 and Interest and
Investment Income of £14,620, the Trustees were able to make Grants totalling
£126,500 during the year, and a transfer the Expenses Account relating to
Training Grants amounting to £6,800. Many of the grants agreed relate to future
years and under the new accounting requirements, £248,500 has been set aside for
this purpose. Fortunately, former Districts transferred £189,593 to the Fund,
the result of which is that £10,123 is carried forward into the new Connexional
Year.
Plans for Future Periods
The District Policy Committee has approved a Budget for the
Expenses Account which will result in there being no increase in that Assessment
for the current year. It is hoped to maintain this position for the year
2008-2009. The District Advance Fund will benefit from receiving the Circuit
levies and a contribution in the current year from the Connexional Priority
Fund. This will enable the Grants Committee to consider making Grants in the
current year depending on the quantity of the requests received. The Benevolent
Fund and the East Kent Coalfields Trust will continue to consider requests to
spend the resources available to them.
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