Inclusive Church Annual Report 2018

Chair’s report

It is a privilege to serve Inclusive Church as trustee and as Chair of the Board.  We are so grateful to all our volunteers, our ambassadors, our member churches and our many supporters. Highlights of the past year are further in this report but I’d like to particularly celebrate our partnership with St Martin in the Fields and the annual Disability Conference, the first five years of which was commemorated in a book launched during the Church of England General Synod in February.  Our trustees give of their time during the year to support the work of Inclusive Church behind the scenes. They join me in thanking our regional ambassadors who creatively draw people together to work for the inclusion of all people in the church of God so that we all are not only ‘welcomed’ when we arrive but ‘missed’ if we are absent. During the year we recruited a new National Coordinator, Ruth Wilde, who succeeds Bob Callaghan with energy

and creativity. Ruth has exciting plans to support the work of our ambassadors and to continue to be the ‘face’ of IC nationally. This is possible because of the excellent work done by Bob Callaghan, who retired from the post in December 2017. Among other areas of work, it was Bob who established the network of ambassadors and widened the geographical reach of IC with more events happening outside of London and the southeast. Thanks to Bob we are now established at Greenbelt and firmly committed to the Disability Conferences. We have been able to put energy and focus into widening inclusion across all areas of diversity.  This year, we delight at the first ‘Inclusive Deanery’ from Manchester Diocese. A deanery is a small group of Church of England churches which work together to serve their community. There is a diversity of churches in any deanery and they don’t all ‘agree’ on things. The Withington Deanery is an excellent example of what Inclusive Church seeks to be – a place for all people who work together for the good of the whole church so that the whole church in all diversity proclaims the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Our reputation as a charity is growing and the initiatives we are asked to participate in are often of national significance. Without the financial support of our supporters, this wouldn’t be possible. Thank you for being a vital part of Inclusive Church.

The Very Reverend Dianna Gwilliams. Chair of Inclusive Church and Dean of Guildford

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National Coordinator’s report

It’s a bit strange for me writing this report, as I haven’t been here for all of the last year. I only began as National Coordinator in January 2018 and have been incredibly busy since- learning the ropes and meeting lots of brilliant people who volunteer for us as trustees and ambassadors around the country. It’s a privilege to work with people who have so much dedication and passion for inclusion!

I’ve been all over the country since taking up this role. One of my main aims in my first six months was to meet all the regional ambassadors, and I have only a few more to meet now. The picture on the front page of this booklet (bottom left) shows ambassadors and supporters in Salisbury. In October, Inclusive Church trustees will have their strategy day and I will report back all the things ambassadors and supporters

around the country have said to me about what they think about the charity’s work now and going forward. There are couple of important moments from the last six months of Bob’s tenure as National Coordinator represented on the front cover of the report too- his last Greenbelt (he is pictured with IC supporters and Natalie Bennett of the Green Party in the top left picture) and the 2017 Disability Conference, at which the booklet ‘Calling from the Edge’ was launched. The booklet celebrates the first five years of the Disability Conference, which we co-run every autumn with our partner, St Martin-in-the-Fields. In the middle top picture, one of IC’s trustees, Tim Goode, is standing at the entrance to St Martin’s, where the conference takes place, and in the middle bottom picture is a display of the commemorative booklets.

In April 2018, I was lucky enough to do a return trip to Sweden with IC trustees Jonathan Draper and Sally Barnes. We also went with two vicars from the first ever inclusive deanery of Withington in Manchester- Stephen Edwards and Nick Bundock, who are pictured alongside me and Jonathan in the picture on the right. The purpose of the trip was to see and learn from what the Lutheran Church in Stockholm is doing on inclusion. They visited us last year to see what we were doing in the UK. It is the beginning of what I hope will be an enduring and close friendship between IC and the Lutheran Church of Sweden.

Ruth Wilde

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National CoordinatorHighlights of 2017/18

700+Members of Inclusive Church

MembersIn 2017 we reached a total of 700 members – these are individuals who have signed up to our statement of belief.

3000 Emails received throughout the year

Emails and enquiriesThe National Coordinator of Inclusive Church receives about 60 emails a week! As well as this, she issues a newsletter each month and maintains the website.

34Ambassadors are working with us

Regional ambassadors Our volunteer ambassadors are active in 24 regions. They are the eyes, ears and voices of Inclusive Church on the ground and they are indispensable!

52Churches joined IC this year

Inclusive churches 52 new churches joined Inclusive Church this year, and we have our very first inclusive deanery, as every church in Withington deanery in Manchester joined IC.

4000Miles covered by the National Coordinators

Miles coveredFrom Salisbury to Stockholm, the National Coordinators (Ruth and Bob before her) have been out and about meeting people, visiting churches and attending events all year!

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10k+Social media followers/friends

Social mediaInclusive Church has a strong presence online and uses Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to raise its profile and highlight issues.

The Inclusive Church Lecture

The Inclusive Church Annual Lecture provides an opportunity for a leading theologian or commentator to reflect on the nature of inclusion.

Previous lecturers have included Martyn Percy, Linda Woodhead, Michael Jagessar and Loretta Minghella.

The 2018 Annual Lecture was held at Leicester Cathedral with Ruth Hunt, CEO of Stonewall giving the lecture. It was entitled ‘LGBT and Faith: Building Bridges in a Divided World’.

The 2019 Annual Lecture will be given by Sam Wells- author, theologian and vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar, London. The Disability Conference is organised each year in partnership with St Martin’s.

Small Group Study Resources

In 2016 Inclusive Church added new

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Small Group Study Resources

resources to complement the Resource book series.

Using a grant from the Jerusalem Trust, we produced 6 separate home group study guides exploring core themes of inclusion.

These are Ideal for lent, advent or general homegroup use. They designed to be freely available as downloads from the IC website.

Going forward, IC are looking at new ways of supporting churches and volunteers. Watch this space!

The Pioneering Disability Conferences

Inclusive Church in partnership with St Martin in the Fields has held an annual disability conference since 2012.

These conferences have become distinctive in that they are ‘organised by and for people with lived experience of disability’. The conferences have drawn

together over 200 people, for whom the conference is a vital annual event.

In 2016 the conference became a whole weekend event at St Martin in the Fields. As well as the Saturday main conference, there was a full programme on the Sunday.

At the main morning service, the liturgy and sermon reflected the themes of the conference. In the afternoon there was a screening of Notes on Blindness, the award-winning film based on the audio diaries of the late John Hull.

In 2017 we produced a booklet commemorating the first five years of the Disability Conference.

Partnership working has always been at the heart of the work of Inclusive Church. Some of the trustees of Inclusive Church represent partner organisations.

Partnership Day. In 2017 Inclusive Church hosted the annual

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Inclusive Church and Partnership

Partnership Day together with Ministry Division from the Church of England. The theme was vocation, as we explored how our various partner groups might better raise the profile of vocation amongst our partner groups. In early 2019, IC are planning to organise another partnership day.

Church of Sweden In May 2017 Inclusive Church hosted a visit from the Church of Sweden. They wanted to see examples of good practice on inclusion and we took them to churches and schools in the UK. In April 2018, we were lucky enough to take an IC delegation to Sweden to see what they are doing!

Summary of Financial Activities for year ending 31 December 2017

Incoming Resources Total 2017 (£) Total 2016 (£)

Balance brought forward 15,083 15,338Donations from individuals (incl Gift Aid) 32,589 33,907

Donations from corporate bodies 6925 4,745

Other income (incl. Prepayments and book sales) 1,272 2,439

Total Incoming Resources 40,786 41,091

Resources Used Total 2017 (£) Total 2016 (£)

Cost of generating donations 948 816

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Charitable activities 34,813 39,169

Governance costs 1,415 1,411

Total Resources Used 37,176 41,396Balance carried forward 18,693 15,083

Certified statements of financial activity presented to our AGM are available on our website and the Charity Commissions website. For financial matters contact our Treasurer: office@inclusive-church.org - please quote FINANCE as the subject.

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Statement of Belief and contact information

The Inclusive Church statement of belief as of the beginning of July 2018* is as follows:

We believe in inclusive Church - church which does not discriminate, on any level, on grounds of economic power, gender, mental health, physical

ability, race or sexuality. We believe in Church which welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ; which is scripturally faithful; which seeks to proclaim the Gospel afresh for each generation; and which, in the power of the Holy Spirit, allows all people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus Christ.

*Changes to the statement will be voted on at the AGM on the 25 th July 2018.

How to get in touch   Registered Office:  Inclusive ChurchSt John's WaterlooWaterloo RoadLondon SE1 8TY Ruth WildeNational Coordinator

T: 07935 374877E: office@inclusive-church.orgW: www.inclusive-church.org

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